Turn 14. damn did things ever go badly for me

On the bright side this first dwarf hammer is only 12gems not 13.

The gorgon is in province 283.

Damn did things ever go badly for me, pythium teleported into a province of no consequence and won a magic duel against an astral adon.

As a result of this 12troops didn't join the battle against shinyuma! (i still beat shinyuma but i'm sure it would've been better to have the reinforcements)

Also somehow 30pythium troops beat 6giant blessed sacreds no problems(well half his army died). His troops are just reallly heavily armed! about 15of his super calavry and 15of his infantry or so showed up for battle unexpectedly. This was a province I was almost sure would be undefended. He felt like mobilizing half of his armies against me despite having deployed none anywhere except against ermor before.

Really though I guess we got lucky... I beat shinyuma DESPITE half my army not showing up due to it's leader being teleport/magic dueled to death (that could easily have caused me to lose that fight). The absolute worst part of the turn is knowing the pythium is now ready to teleport/magic duel my adons anywhere anytime (well maybe not anywhere anytime and the one i lost was ungeared).


One of the bad things about about having half my army not show up to fight shinyuma was the fact that half of shinyuma's army routed safely off the field if O had had double the numbers I doubt as many would have escaped. They definitely coordinated things so that teleport would stop my commander from joining the battle with his reinforcements.

Also with the loss of two of my commanders and the 12troops which refused to move due to the magic duel during magic phase... i can't consolidate my forces to finish shinyuma's army off this round. I can however consolidate my forces in pythium's territory but after seeing what serphant cataphracts are like I'm not sure my forces there are prepared for that role (there are also about 100gladiators in the area i'd rather try and destory with a scout on another turn than actually have to fight them).


SORRY GUYS that porn wasn't there last time i used imagevenue



It looks like I might have to recruit this turn 1adon and 1zamzumite or 1adon 1sage 1troop (really few troops despite my need for them) because it looks like I'll need to buy a lab in the east to gear up an earth or fire adon to try and save that fort from those barbarian hordes (perhaps even gear both of them... especally since it's now so dangerous to leave any gear on astral adon's) as you can see there are huge armies near the gorgon but the gorgon for some reason isn't enjoying the safety of any protection.. if the gorgon could somehow be killed this turn, my 10troops and 1or2 scs (after i make the lab) could then probably drive back the enemy armies without losing the fort... if the fort is even the enemies target.


As a result of knowing that pythium is now setup to magic duel with teleport... and since I have a geared astral adon on his border (which he can find out is astral by comparing the hall of fame records with c'tis last turn) I might end up losing my first geared adon. Although... if pythium doesn't consult with c'tis he'd have no way to know it was astral so it might be safe to fly that adon out of there and try removing his gear at a lab. The mixed news on this front is that I recruited another astral adon which is the strongest type of adon except that pythium now seems intent on magic dueling even ungeared ones. So having 5out of my 7recruited adons all be suspectible to magic duel is really quite terrible. I can forge myself luck pendants now though so I should be able to convert the setups for the two astral adons into earth/fire adon setups on my own.. but that doesn't allow me to alter the randomizer and stop getting so many astral ones out of the recruit pool!

Well, we knew magic duel was coming, it was just a matter of when. Other than that, I don't really see how the turn went badly at all. Keep in mind that although Pythium has some strong troops, you're the only one who's in position to handle him, and he certainly is the biggest threat in the north at the moment. Poor luck on the continued astral adons, but what can you do about that?

A quick pic and summary:



The only thing that didn't happen as planned was I lost my heavy infantry meatshield (and the battle) in 27 against some exceptionally strong Arco PD. Ironically Arco didn't build PD at all in 46 and I took it with a scout.

That means arco can reinforce from his cap -> 24 against a likely attack from atul if he chooses. He also got a fort up somewhere in his backfield where I can't see it, yet.

Jotunheim got his behind kicked in 102 and I plan on doing the same thing again in 75.

Got a good look at the Machaka armies so I'll be able to sim a potential battle in 78. My armies are stuck here for another 2 turns while a fort builds, so I might bleed some more territory if he sticks to raiding.

No attack plan yet, as the Jotunheim/Caelum front looks complicated since Eriu, Vanheim and myself all have forces within 1 prov. My army only has 10 heavy infantry as a meatshield for 70 xbows so not an ideal situation to be fighting without PD on my side, but it can be done. I'm moving in royal guard to reinforce.

Yeah, didn't sound that bad to me either. Teleport and Magic Duel are only 180 RPs or so, they were going to appear sooner than later. But, unfortunate anyway.

Caelum didn't attack my Jotunheim siege, apparently he tries to either raid me or combine his raiding forces on Jotunheim siegers next turn. Looking at the situation I could use 3 Seeking Arrows on 21, there are only 3 commanders and each one is High Seraph.

But, Arco retreated to 24 without a fight, I managed to get some provinces from Jotunheim, lost one farmland to event. Nothing much to write home about.

Oh, Abysia's in the seas.

I found The Statue of the Sitting God in Helmshire (9). It bestows 20% Enchantment discount, any good ideas how to use it? I do have Ench research done quite a lot, so some global maybe...

I'll be mulling over my next moves soon, something should be done to Caelum. TheDemon and Baalz have fun in his northern parts, I'm focusing in south only. He's got 18 mammoths and 4 High Seraphs in my lands there, so dunno what he's bringing to table anymore up north.

Pic:
Edit: FINALLY!

Ulm continues to be a major thorn. I did have a nice proof of concept in a battle though, a dozen guardians went down satisfyingly quickly to a few lightning bolt spammers backing PD. Given how completely ineffective everything else I have (slingers, holy thugs) is, I've decided to go ahead and spend three more turns researching to get orb lightning rather than sending my pretender out site searching. I finished thunderstrike this turn and am doing some hit and run on Ulm's forces in 177. Also, away from the war front my scouting has revealed that he's got just 1 PD, so I'm hitting him in his heartlands. I'm also setting up ambushes in provinces he's likely to attack.

Attacking Ulm: 187, 167, 141, 153

Attacking Caelum: 139, 116, 98

I'm not attacking Jotunheim so no worries on collisions down there.

Castle #4 is going up next turn.

Bandar's pretender is a freak lord, E9 D1 N1 B2, currently in province 219.

Finally, I still need shields and brands! Set for MR amulets now.

Just to recap some things on earlier threads:

What Vanheim can do for the team:

• Start expanding to the seas

• Beat one army in Ermor area (preferably a big one)

What Vanheim needs to do those things:

• Ring of Water Breathing

• Gear for Allfather, concentrating on Reinvig and MR, Regen and PR being a bonus

Other things needed without immediate benefit for the team:

• Seeking Arrows to 21 and 49; 21 has 3 High Seraphs, 49 one Commander and one High Seraph

Other things done for the team unconditionally:

• Keeping up the good fight

I'm well aware that some (or even all) of the requests fall into "can't" category, but thought to mention just in case.

Thank you for your time.

my plan to be able to reach ermor capital three turns from now has utterly failed, i'm unlikely to ever reach ermor's capital now. The big army you probably wanna smack around is probably a sieging army which either has already begun or will soon begin... if those items you need can be forged this turn, and then sent next turn, you can teleport in... and perhaps break the siege? Although if baalz is unable to kill the gorgon soon, it might be a good idea to try doing that with your pretender... i do worry that pan will wise up and after this current turn the gorgon will either fly home for gear, or hide amongst his throngs of troops.

Well I'd be happy if my 100 design points put on pretender being dormant instead of imprisoned won't go to waste.

Edit: Picture upload finally worked, in my first post of this thread.

I'm in California. Fighting some Abysia, some Pangaea. Meh.

Sending 1,350 gp to Ashdod.

Making Crytal Matrix for *myself*, also winged shoes and an amulet of AM. Someone has a God that just awoke and I'll make items for them next turn, if the post a list of what they want.

Sending *this turn*:
(Marignon) Crystal Coin
(Ashdod) Snake Ring, Bracers x 3, Amulet of AM, Frost Brand
(Eriu) Frost Brand x 3, Amulet of AM x 2

That's what I'm *sending*, I *made* those items last turn. I'm going to stop making bracers for Ashdod (more efficient if he makes them himself, I think.)

I'm attacking Cythia/193.

Is Ermor's capital under siege? With what strength et al?

If I'm sending my pretender in I'd need at least:
AM amulet,
Amulet of Reinvigoration OR Girdle of Might OR Boots of the Messenger.

PR Ring if it's C'tis I should kill, Copper Armour if it's Pythium.
Or is Rainbow Armour accessible?

Ring of Regen would make me happier.

But, if we are in hurry beggars cannot be choosers.

Sending TC 6E 20S. That's all I can spare, need some A myself this turn... :/

Any money going my way gets into anti-Jotun/Caelum/Arco war fund. But we're all in war now...

I wouldn't mind a few hundred spare gold either, but its not a necessity.

So, the dream list:

Fire Brand, Lucky Coin, Rainbow Armour, Boots of the Messenger, AM Amulet, Ring of Regeneration.

But would need to know the resource limitations. Weapon/shield is only nice to have, also one of the reinvig items can go. Ring of Regen also as a last ditch.

In addition to that, I'll need a escape route. I was thinking of a Vanjarl trapezing to neighbouring province, building a lab and trapezing out with Allfather. He would probably need:

Brand, Shield of GG.

Unless it's a very low PD province.

drp what are you sending me this turn (that'll help me decide what i need)? also i'd suggest not making me a snake ring unless i lose my current one to a teleport this turn (which i hopefully won't)... theres no way i can possibly engage c'tis in any battles ever. the other three nations near me are doing too well to even consider it anymore. if you'd like you could skip one of the bracers and send me the gems for a 2nd dwarf hammer which... if i use the first one should cost ~9 gems and i'll have ~6-7 of my own

this turn i'm forging one luck pendant one dwarf hammer and one horror helm... is there anything i can actually forge that you want me to forge atul? i only have const2...


i really could've used an extra 800 gold this turn... next turn theres a decent chance i'll be getting sieged at one of my forts but if you wanted to send me 400-500gold i can probably spend it all on nationals next turn (i could spend more like 800 in donations if that fort doesn't get sieged but i think it will)


i updated my first post to remove the porn

Yes, I am under siege. I've included descriptor boxes for both the Pyth and C'tis armies in this screenshot:

https://i.servimg.com/u/f86/13/76/96/87/ermor_19.jpg

Ctis attacked the cap with about 100 troops, and won, scattering my patrollers. I killed about 57 of his, so the army on my cap now cannot harm my walls. As you can see though, there is no shortage of reinforcements.

The army on my cap is mostly poison slingers, and 13 commanders. They are all H3 Lizard Kings and Marshmasters, totally set up for killing undead. An SC dropping in could wreak some havoc, but it needs to be poison immune and able to take about six smites a round. Not sure what Pyth is going to do. He has the larger army though, so Ctis might withdraw and and let Pyth take over the siege.

I have about 60 troops, six Grand Thaums and two Thaums inside the cap. I will also have skelly spam and communion researched this turn.

Routed Prophet and Censor are regrouping in Oak Halls, so no one pop in there please.

Oh, and who needs money? I have 800 I can't spend.

Just pointing out that I updated my post above with my actual turn.

Sending 500 to Atul and 300 to TheDemon.

DrPraetor wrote:
Someone has a God that just awoke and I'll make items for them next turn, if the post a list of what they want.

So, the dream list:

Fire Brand, Lucky Coin, Rainbow Armour, Boots of the Messenger, AM Amulet, Ring of Regeneration.

Also: Brand, Shield of GG.

i could attempt to suicide my SC against c'tis army but i expect to get hit with teleport/magic duel this turn so... if i don't script retreat in my first round i might just die.... and if i fly away and then fly back it might no longer be worth suiciding my guy on c'tis army to buy a few points of wall strength... plus... even if i could harm c'tis and slow c'tis down.... pythium's army has nothing to fear from that unit and wouldn't even get dented really... anyways you'll probably be on irc later today

if i can get 2earth gems this turn and 7more per turn after that i could forge 1dhammer per turn

if i could get 2earth gems this turn and 5more every 2turn timeperiod i could forge one next turn and one every two turns afterwards


if drp isn't going to be forging anymore bracers of protection hopefully there will be some spare earth gems? i was thinking of keeping my first hammer to forge more hammers with and then giving drp one than baalz one then drp one then maybe drp again? etc? thoughts?


also i could use more brands... frost brands are cheaper than fire brands... i only have 3brands so far i could definitely use more than 3... one or two bracers + the brand make a great thug... and now that my astral adons have been strategically countered i don't have as much desire to load the items on one guy (thankfully pythium fizzled out his first attempt killing only a naked adon and losing a naked adon killer)

namad wrote:if i can get 2earth gems this turn and 7more per turn after that i could forge 1dhammer per turn

if i could get 2earth gems this turn and 5more every 2turn timeperiod i could forge one next turn and one every two turns afterwards


if drp isn't going to be forging anymore bracers of protection hopefully there will be some spare earth gems? i was thinking of keeping my first hammer to forge more hammers with and then giving drp one than baalz one then drp one then maybe drp again? etc? thoughts?

baalz, I'm guessing, has no need of hammers as he likely has no const. drp on the other hand could use as many as you have.

I don't think dhammers are the best use of time or gems right now. They pay themselves off in the long run, of course - but more supercombatants kill enemy forces and conquer provinces and thus also pay themselves off in the long run

It only takes 40 gems worth of items for a dhammer to pay for itself, assuming no rounding discount and only a dwarven hammer discout in its forging. Since we do get rounding discount, and we do get an extra forge bonus, its probably more like 30 gems. A dedicated forge mage goes through 30 gems of items in 4 to 5 turns. We're not going to have won in 4 to 5 turns, so forging 3 or 4 hammers to use between the two of you doesn't sound like a bad plan to me.

each dhammer is 9gems. making a 10gem item with a dhammer saves 3gems making a firebrand saves 4gems making a 5gem item saves 2gems lets say the average gems saved per usage is 3


this means after three turns of usage (1turn to send it) so 4turns to pay itself off...


now besides being an investment where the interest on your investment pays back the investment in only 4turns... you can spend earth gems and save a gemtype of rarerness like nature/water might be

I make 1dhammer 1horror helm 2luck pendants. I send 1fire 1air 7water to teinchi. I recruit 0troops 1adon 1zamzumite build 1lab.

I plan for battle in 284, I give up on the 3leaderless giants, astral adons flying to nearest labs to strip, I have plans to thwart pangaea's invasion with items next turn, hence the lab, then if I need to, I swing the items back to the east to save that fort.

pythium and c'tis have unstoppable armies destorying ermor.

I'm kind of pleased that poor clueless Arco doesn't see me as a legit threat, nor does he see the point of my raiding. Of course if things go badly for me next turn (doubtful, but shit happens, and I've never fought spiders before) then he'll be proven quite right.