This will be yet another of my play-throughs. The purpose of this one will be to demonstrate a starting strategy for a race that has no particular 'overpowered' 'exploits', i.e. a race with none of the overly effective synergies that lead the player into a particular strategy.
This will be, at least in the beginning, a very meticulous description of every turn, and I will try to include the reasoning that goes with every choice.
Thus, do not hesitate to ask questions. I will post a save game of turn 1, as well, but I am asking you not to inform me of anything that I have not discovered yet - because of the comments and screenshots, I will not be going very quickly.
And now for the quick links.
Old play-throughs: .913, .915, .952, .98, .981, .982, 1.00.
The settings: The faction, the sovereign and the home rules.
Turns 1-28: Initial exploration, founding of the first three cities, contact with Karavox of Kraxis
Turns 28-50: Hostilities with Kraxis, conquest of three Krax cities, lost contact with Kraxis
Turns 51-65: Contact with Tarth, expansion and merging of the dominion, assimilation of the occupied cities
Turns 66-81: Peace with Kraxis, pacification of the homelands, contact with Pariden
Turns 82-91: Contact with Altar and Gilden. The onset of an economic race with Altar
Turns 92-104: Contacts with everyone but Yithril. Dominion push against Tarth. Altar grows unfriendly.
Turns 105-120: Liberation of the Northern Wastes. Dominion push against Altar. Contact with Yithril
Turns 121-127: The events leading to the war with Yithril
Turns 127-133: The war against Yithril
Turn 134: Diplomatic victory (with a number of victory screens)
As I've also come to notice, the free archer unit very early in the game is rather strong. With a unit or two just defending (or preferably with a counter attack) the archers can take down most early units.
Or anything in general that you get free very early. If you manage to luck out and get a wolf token or a few rock golem statues, you've got a solid army to crush cities early.
Looking at your situation though, you should be ok. Yes the cities are going to be useless for some time, but that's not really an issue this early in the game. If you can keep pushing Kraxis into a corner he might just surrender - leaving you all of his stuff.
A scout unit or two to go find peaceful settling grounds wouldn't hurt either.
Turns 51-65
Turn 51: Lady Irane makes contact. Tarth is slightly more powerful than my side.I do not know which way the last Kraxis city may be, so I send Jack and his army to the Northeast, and Bacco to the South.Turn 52: Lady Irane builds an outpost North of Farmstead III. I do not want to have to go around her dominion, so I sign a non-aggression pact and a trade treaty. Tarth is a kingdom, and I see no reason not to try to remain in good relations.
Tarth has clearly researched stealth buildings
Turn 53: There's a number of lairs and monsters wandering near Tarth's outpost and stables. I do not think there's a chance that the monsters will threaten the AI's improvements, so I decide to clear them, and eventually snake Farmstead III North so that the outpost is absorbed into my dominion. Of course, this will take a while.Jack finds a hate stone, and switches his precognition belt with it. Then he destroys a group of darklings.
No way Bacco will get through. If Karavox is to the South, he is safe.
Turn 54: Bacco's progress South is arrested by a Drake's army and a banished orge with a pet pack drake. If the last Kraxis city lies beyond them, it will be safe for a while. It may have been better if Bacco had gone North and Jack South, but I had no way of knowing.Turn 55: "Enchantment" completes. I target "Education".I rush the mason in Conclave I and starts a monument. Once it's complete, Conclave I's zone of control will join the dominion.I rush the cleric in Conclave II and start a bell tower.Jack destroys an igny and a group of bandits.I am starting to think that the last Kraxis city is beyond my reach. There is no real need to finish Karavox off. He is not going to catch up with me, so I'll wait until he becomes amenable to peace.I think I'll focus on assimilating the three former Kraxis cities, and exploring the Southwest.Turn 56: Farmstead I finishes the market, and starts building a grocer.Bacco finds a copy of "Defense for fools".Jack kills some air shrills and spiderlings, reaches level 8, and learns "Dodge II". Usually I would love to get the dodge line, especially with the Darkling cloak. But this time, I have a home rule not to use the dodge/blindness combo.I sign a economy treaty with Tarth. I was hoping that the road would run near Jack, so that he could go back to his homelands quickly, but unfortunately the road runs Northeast from Farmstead I.Turn 57: Capital finishes the granary, and start building a grocer.Jack kills a group of air shrills.I notice that Kraxis has built a second city somewhere. Unfortunately, I should expect a visit from his soldiers, unless I go looking for his lands. Turn 58: Jack finds a wood shield. Bacco is moving North to trade with Jack.
Turn 59: "Education" completes. I target "Craftsmanship".Conclave I finishes the merchant and starts a garden.I rush the town hall in Farmstead II, and start building a workshop. Now that the unrest is under 20%, I replace "Meditation" with "Inspiration".
Uza is very powerful, but wears no armor. Bad idea.
Turn 60: Farmstead I finishes the grocer, and starts building a well.Jack finds a caster's staff, sells it, reads "Defense for fools", defeats Uza Terraki and his skaths, reaches level 9, receives "Potential III", switches to Uza's burning axe, and sells the fins from the skaths. Bacco gets the rusty sword, the wooden shield and the spider's venom sack. He sells the ice spear.I rush the cleric in Farmstead III, and start building a bell tower.Turn 61: Conclave I grows into ... a fortress. Why? Because I need a fortress, and it is the only unspecialized settlement I have. Of course I rename it to Citadel, and rename Conclave II to Conclave I.I rush the bell tower in Conclave I, and start building a logging camp.Jack finds a sharp axe.Turn 62: Capital finishes the grocer, and starts building a festival.Farmstead I finishes the well, and starts building the Great Mill.I rush the workshop in Farmstead II, and start building a monument.Turn 63: Jack is attacked by an army of Ignys, reaches level 10, and becomes a Water Disciple.Bacco is attacked by an air shrill.Jack finds "From tents to thrones" and reads it. Bacco finds a wolf token and uses it.Ouch! The zone of control of Farmstead I has awoken an army of silt skaths, and they are moving towards Farmstead I. I do have mana to keep them tremor'd for a while, but that's not a long term solution. I have Jack use the recall scroll.Each unit of Guards will need 51 Gildar to upgrade. It's worth it, but I do not have the cash.
I rush the logging camp in Conclave I, and start developing a life altar. After I hit the button, I remember that I am saving for lightning hammers.
With Anna's help, Bacco is starting to pull his weight
Turn 64: Bacco casts Stoneskin on himself, and attacks an army of darklings. With Anna's help, he's finally starting to pull his weight.After the fight, I have enough Gildar to upgrade the weapons of one of the guard units to lightning hammers.
One hero, two squads of guards, one group of archers. Damn effective.
Turn 65: The silt skaths attack Jack. The lightning hammers work really well for bashing. Jack reaches level 11, and receives "Fast".Farmstead II finishes the monument, and starts building a mason.Jack sells the skath fins.I rush the life altar in Conclave I, and begin developing a clay pit.I rush the garden in Citadel, and start building a fire altar.Bacco finds another jug of Trog blood.At this point, the Kingdom is starting to look pretty solid.
Well, I guess that this concludes another stage of the game. Apart from Farmstead III, the former Krax cities are all assimilated, and III is on its way. I have two wonders in the queue, Kraxis is far away, Tarth is firmly on my side (and weaker, that HELPS)
After beating the skaths, and once I upgrade the second Guard unit, Jack will be able to handle everything but draconic enemies, so I will try to colonize the Southwest, which I left unsettled because Bacco got mauled (I do not remember by what, but it was not a dragon)
Bacco is finally starting to pull his weight. He has two wounds, so I see a governorship in his future, but with Anna he should be able to mop up the mites, darklings and shrills infecting my homelands.
I do not have access to horse and metal yet, but there's metal near where Jack is, and the Tarth stable will eventually flip to me, once I snake Farmstead III North.
All in all, things are looking good, and soon I will start planning my army.
Question: You seem to be extremely fond of the Potential traits. I have mixed feelings on these usually, as you could have had something else that is perhaps more useful than +2 HP and +1% to a few things? What are your reasonings behind choosing them at each opportunity?
They snowball. I use my sovereign extensively, and right now he is getting 110% xpt. Sure, I have sunk 4 levels worth of traits in them, but getting double experience will end up giving me a few levels to compensate. And once you get acrobat, which my assassins usually end up doing, every level, including the ones I used for xpt bonuses will give me 4 hit points, 1.25 dodge, 1.25 accuracy, 1 spell resist, 3 spell mastery. And if I am lucky to get a weapon that gives me bonus damage per level, 1 or 2 point of lightning damage.
Now, for this character, the value of dodge and spell mastery is lowered, because I play with home rules which prohibit me from using the darkling cloak to make my dodging sovereign untouchable.
But I am trying to show people how to play a race with no strengths, so that they can apply the lessons to ANY race WITH strengths they decide to play. So I am playing and leveling my sovereign the way I usually do.
In the game I played before this one, my sovereign was level 33 by the end. By that level, Potential traits have repaid themselves a few times over. Unless I am being hard pressed at the time of the choice, I always trade early power for late power.
As for the Trainer line, the same reasoning applies for the units my sovereign leads. The 'Shock' line gets extra damage, the 'Elusive' line gets extra dodge. I really believe in high level troops.
Can you please clarify what you mean by the 'Elusive' line?
Thank you for your walkthrough - there's a lot to learn about this game!
You seem to rush a lot to save from an inefficient last turn of building. How do you know how much production is left?
Sorry, it's something from my other walk-throughts.
The short answer is: It's how I name the line of troops that rely on dodging to survive.
The long answer is: I like to take my troops through the whole game, and so I design troops that can do their job and survive. I've found four ways to survive: (1) attack from afar (2) neutralize the target with your initial attack (3) have a lot of health and armor (4) dodge everything.
I call these four lines Ranged, Shock, Heavy and Elusive.
The Elusives work best when you are playing a Krax based empire with lucky and defensive, but can be used by everyone. Even on turn 1 you can design a trained troop with "Acrobat", "Lithe", and "Balance", and if they survive, they will be getting harder and harder to hit. Later in the game, you can give that same unit your best shield, a warg, a monk's robe, a cloak of shadows... and depending on your race traits, you can start training units with 30-80 dodge out of the door.
Those are the Elusives.
Example: in the present game, I have Jack's guard.
They started as Heavy. They had 11 armor out of the door, and a lot of health.
Right now, they are actually Shock troops, because their armor no longer impresses the enemies they fight, but with the lightning hammers, they knock down their enemies often, if they do not kill them outright.
In the late game, they will become Heavy again. They were designed as heavies, that is, they can carry a ton of armor. Their damage will start to pale compared to the damage of large late game troops armed with magic weapons boosted by amulets. But they will have a ton of health and I will upgrade their armor to at least light plate.
When you look at the building in the queue, you see how many turns are left. If you have Civics, you have a [Rush] button.
When there's only two turns left, hover over the button, and you will see the cost of rushing. Subtract the production of the city, and you get how much of the cost will be needed for the last turn. If you feel that it's worth it, go ahead and rush.
Note that it's a bit more complicated when the city has a black market. But if it's worth rushing without the black market, it's certainly worth rushing with it.
Of course, you do not have to wait until there's only two turns left to rush. I only do this in the beginning, when I play 'wealthy' and try to speed up production without being too wasteful. In the current stage of the game, I mostly rush in my occupied cities - I take the taxes from the rich cities, and build unrest buildings in the poor cities.
I also rush on the last turn in my high production cities, when I'd rather pay 25 Gildar instead of spending a 65 production turn finishing a project.
Turns 65-81
Diplomacy works best when backed by a big stick
Turn 65: I sign a peace treaty with Karavox, then follow with a non-aggression pact, and an economy treaty. I do not have enough Gildar for a trade treaty until Jack sells the sharp axe, but once I'm done with him, Karavox is my closest economic partner.Turn 66: Jack searches a lost library.I notice that one of the fertile spots to the Southwest has been settled by Altar. I insert a pioneer in front of Capital's queue, so that I can settle the other known fertile spot.Turn 67: Bacco kills a group of darklings, and becomes a governor. I rush the bell tower in Farmstead III and start a town hall. Turn 68: Citadel finishes the fire altar, and starts a town hall. Why a town hall? Because the city cannot expand in either of the two useful directions. As soon as I clear the quest blocking the South or raise the bay blocking the North, I'll switch to something else.Conclave I finishes the clay quarry, and starts developing a gold deposit.Turn 69: "Craftsmanship" completes. I target "Guilds".Capital finishes training a unit of pioneer, and resumes work on the festival.Citadel switches production from the town hall to a mill.Turn 70: The rest of Jack's guards get lightning hammers.Bacco and Anna go chase the air shrills, wolves and trolls wandering around my homelands.
It took me a long time to get to this, but finally, the spider's time has come
Turn 71: Capital finishes the festival, and resumes working on the Merchantcross Bazaar.Farmstead II finishes the mason and start working on a mill.Jack kills the ravenous harridan for the quest Bacco started a long time ago.Turn 72: Conclave I finishes the gold mine, and starts building a workshop. Why I am I not building a town hall, despite the unrest? Because there's a dragon nearby, and I have nothing that can scratch it, so I am very careful not to disturb it.Bacco kills a troll.
Killing elemental armies brings very good experience
Turn 73: The pioneers found the settlement of Farmstead IV on a 2/4/- tile Southwest of Capital. There are wild wargs and and an Earth sard nearby, as well as a deadly Earth elemental army.I start a logging camp in Farmstead IV.I rush the Great Mill in Farmstead I, and begin developing an iron deposit.Bacco kills an air shrill.I cast Stoneskin and Nature's Cloak on Jack. He destroys a deadly fire elemental's army, reaches level 12, and learns "Dodge III". I cannot overemphasize how hard the lightning hammers hit against elementals.I rush the town hall in Farmstead III, and begin work on a workshop.Turn 74: I rush the iron mine in Farmstead I, and begin developing a crystal crag.Bacco finds a pair of leather vambraces.Jack finds a ring of the glacier.Turn 75: Conclave I fishes the workshop and starts building a mason.I rush the logging camp in Farmstead IV and start building a workshop.Jack finds a stone mace.I notice a Deadly Earth elemental army headed for Farmstead III. It needs to be stopped. I cast "Freeze" to delay it, and send Jack back towards the homelands. Turn 76: Capital grows to level 3. I choose the Guild Grocer improvement, because my cities seldom stay idle (thus the warehouse would be underutilized) and because this city growth will be limited by food (thus the slums would be irrelevant) Farmstead I finishes the crystal and starts building a mill.I rush the workshop in Farmstead III and start building a mason.Bacco finds an ice warg cloak.Turn 77: I cast Tremor on the Earth elemental. I would cast the cheaper "Freeze", but Jack's the only Water Disciple and his spell is on cooldown.
The Kingdom is a bit light on conclaves, but the one we have is highly productive
Turn 78: Bacco kills some wolves and sells their skins. I rush the workshop in Farmstead IV and start building a warg den.Turn 79: Pariden contacts us. They are slightly less powerful than us. We sign trade and economic treaties.Conclave I completes the mason, and starts building a mill.Jack reports the defeat of the harridan, and is joined by the brothers Sparus - an unit of Krax spearmen.I cast Tremor on the Earth elemental's army again.
Turn 80: I rush the mill in Farmstead II and start building a well.
Terraforming spells are so cheap, I use them for urban planning
Turn 81: Bacco kills an air shrill, reaches level 5 and becomes an Earth Mage. Now I have access to terraforing spells, as well as "Set in Stone". I raise the land North of Citadel, so that I can extend straight North. I'm doing this to allow quick movement between Farmstead I and Citadel.
Governor Bacco the Beggar. Works on all sorts of levels for me.
Enjoying the playthrough.
Turns 82-91
Jack finally caught the Earth elemental and plugged the mana drain. No need for more Tremors.
Turn 82: Farmstead II finishes the well and starts building an inn.Farmstead III finishes the mason and starts building a mill.I rush the mill in Farmstead I and start building a missionary hall.Bacco enters Citadel so that he can help it grow to level 3 faster. Anna heads toward the known Altar city, because I want to begin trading with Lord Relias.Jack finally intercepts the Earth elemental's army, reaches level 13, and learns "Double strike".
The man himself. His equipment is underwhelming, but his stats are solid.
Turn 83: "Guilds" completes. I target "Cooperation".Citadel finishes the mill, and start building a study.Farmstead I switches production from the missionary hall to the labor guild.Anna makes contact with Altar. They are quite a bit ahead of us in the power ratings. Fortunately, they are a kingdom, thus unlikely to look for trouble with us. I spend 93 Gildar to arrange a technology exchange with Altar. I would be happy to sign other treaties, but Altar wants me too pay more than I can afford for them.Altar has six cities, and nearly as much population, research and income as I do. To outpace them on expert I will have to expand. Force of arms is an option, but clearing the Northern wastes may be a better one. And of course, some of the deserts nearby may rejuvenate as my dominion spreads.Jack finds a copy of "Tandis vs Talax", reads it, and destroys a group of mites.My caravan to Pariden reveals a number of monsters. I may send Jack to clear them.Turn 84: I rush the warg den in Farmstead IV and start building a mason.Turn 85: Tarth declares war on Kraxis. I really hope that they do not manage to wipe them off, Kraxis is more useful to me alive than dead.Capital finally finishes the Merchantcross Bazaar and starts building a town hall.
Notice how the caravans are exploring the world.
Turn 86: Conclave I finishes the mill and starts building a study.I use my last 87 Gildar to convince Lord Relias to sign an economic treaty.Turn 87: Farmstead II finishes the inn and starts building an Earth altar.Turn 88: "Cooperation" completes. I target "Weaponry". I am still focusing on my infrastructure. The warfare tree has the upgrades to the lumber camp, and I am going after that.Citadel finishes the study, and starts building a merchant.Jack kills a bear army.Turn 89: Capital finishes the town hall and begins a monument.Farmstead II finishes the Earth altar and start building a garden.Conclave I finishes the study and begins a sage. I notice that Tarth has built a outpost nearby in order to develop a Life altar. I am not worried, Conclave I will soon snake to that Life shard.I rush the merchant in Citadel, and start building a granary.I rush the mason in Farmstead IV and start building a bell tower.Jack destroys an Earth elemental's army, reaches level 14, receives "Graceful", and loots a band of the stalwart.Turn 90: Jack defeats the Trog champion Poena, and gets an axe.Anna spots a Gilden unit while exploring but for some reason there is no contact.
Allowing Anna to continue scouting the South is well worth 15 mana
Turn 91: Contact with Lord Markin of Gilden. They are a kingdom, and are significantly weaker than us, so it takes no time to set up trade and economy treaties.Capital finishes the monument, and starts building a mill. I cancel the "Inspiration" enchantment and replace it with "Enchanted hammers". The one point of research does not matter as much as it did when it was doubling my research, while 11 points of production in my largest city are quite important.I rush the mill in Farmstead III for 44 Gildar, because only 3 out of 41 production would have been used on the second turn. I start building a monument.A rock spider's army is interfering with Anna's exploration of the South, but three casts of Lower Ground allow her to avoid the problem.A pack of wolves wanders too close to Citadel. Bacco steps out, kills them, sells their pelts and goes back to governing, without mussing his hair. I rename him Bacco the Governator.Jack kills a forest drake. He's officially in the big leagues, now. Well, his army is.
OK, at this point, I have contacted all kingdoms, and it's unlikely that any of them will start any trouble: Altar is the only one that's stronger than me, but they are friendly so far, and Lord Relias is an adventurous monster-hunter, thus unlikely to start a war. I have trade and economy treaties with everyone, except for Altar - I have a tech treaty with them instead of a trade treaty.
Of the Empires, I have only encountered Kraxis, and I have thoroughly cowed them. Of course, this make me a warmonger in the eyes of everyone, but it is not going to matter - weaker kingdoms can still ally with me, and Empires will have to be handled otherwise anyway.
At this point, I need to clear all monsters and lairs that can threaten my cities, finish developing my productivity, then focus on income, while keeping an eye open for possibilities for expansion. I may be able to soon clear the Northern Wastes, rejuvenation may give me new places to settle, and of course, a war with an Empire may be just around the corner.
In any case, my major concern at this time is to match Altar economically, to prevent Relias from getting any ideas about attacking me. He has seven cities to my seven, and he gets bonuses from Expert, but I still should be able to match him. He is ahead of me in research tech, I lead him in production tech. I should be OK, especially once I do the research to sign technology treaties.
I have targeted "Animal husbandry" because my cities are coming against the food limits. I'll research "Education" next.
https://forums.elementalgame.com/435930
It is my sense that map errors of this sort are not going to be fixed, there was a post where the developer indicated that part of his team is off working on the next project.
Too bad, since there are a couple of annoying and frequent map errors aside from rivers. There are hills without elevation indicators, and of course the everpresent forest tiles without trees.
Turn 92-104
Relias is arrogant, but Jack's army seems to be keeping him subdued
Turn 92: "Weaponry" finishes, and I target "Animal Husbandry".Conclave I finishes the sage, which extends its zone of control over a Life shard previously controlled by Tarth. I start the construction of a Life altar on the shard.I notice that the guild grocer in Capital has been placed in a location I do not like, and rebuild it, for 25 Gildar, on the South end of the settlement.I split the brothers Sparus from Jack, and send them to hire the Altarian champion Janusk. He is a merchant bringing 5 Gildars per turn, and thus well worth having. Even better, I can immediately use him for looing the lairs that Jack clears, saving Jack some turns.Jack kills some air shrills, reaches level 15, and becomes an Acrobat.
A smoothly running Kingdom
Turn 93: Farmstead II finishes the garden and starts developing a crystal crag.Farmstead III finishes the monument, and start building a well.Farmstead IV finishes the bell tower and start building a town hall.Janusk finds a banishing warhammer.Jack destroys an Air elemental's army.
I will wait for better spots to be rejuvenated. Spots near forests.
Turn 94: Emperor Magnar contacts us. He is significantly weaker than us, and we sign trade and economy treaties without any trouble.Jack is attacked by an army of air shrills."Shard Harvesting" completes. Research continues to "Animal husbandry".Conclave I finishes the Life altar and starts building a merchant.Janusk temporarily taskes command of Jack's army, and defeats an ogre.Jack gives all his collected loot to Janusk, then finds an enchanted backpack.I notice that Farmstead I's influence has regenerated a patch of land. It's just 3/3/- so I decide to see whether something better won't become available.Turn 95: Farmstead I finishes the labor guild, and resumes work on the missionary hall.Farmstead II finishes one crystal quarry and start work on another.Conclave I finishes the merchant and start building a lumber yard.Farmstead III finishes the well and start building a study.A wolf army approaches Citadel, and Bacco steps out to destroy it. Unfortunately, I mess up the move and he will have to wait until next turn to go back in Citadel.A rock spider's army has entered my dominion from Tarth, and is threatening Farmstead II and Conclave I. I send Jack's army back East to deal with it.Janusk finds a doom hammer.Anna's progress Southeast is blocked by the Magnar city of Imperium, which stretches across a landbridge. She turns back.Turn 96: "Animal husbandry" completes. I target "Literacy".Citadel finishes the granary, and starts building a school.I rush the town hall in Farmstead IV, and start building a merchant.I sign a non-aggression pact with Pariden, and use the Gildar for a trade treaty with Altar.
Jack doesn't quite make it in time, so he casts "Freeze" to delay the rock spider's attack
Turn 97: Conclave I finishes the lumber yard, and starts building a cloister.Janusk finds a leather helm.The rock spider army has come too close to Conclave I, so I cast Freeze on them.I rush the mill in Capital and start building a bakery.
Since Tarth claimed the horses, Farmstead III has been expanding North. This is why.
Turn 98: Magnar declares war on Tarth. I'm not concerned. Quendar armies would have to go through my lands to get to Tarth, and I will not let them.Farmstead II finishes the crystal quarry, and starts building a festival.Farmstead III finishes the study and starts training a pioneer.Farmstead IV finishes the merchant and starts building an Earth altar.I rush the missionary hall in Farstead I, and start building a smelter. Jack destroys the rock spider army.I dispell the "Meditation" enchantment on Farmstead III and replace it with "Inspiration".
I will settle one of these tiles, but not before the Iron Works are complete
Turn 99: One of my caravans discovers the Pits of Namtur. The importance of caravans to exploration cannot be overemphasized, and this is on top of the diplomatic goodwill and capital income bonus.I rush the smelter in Farmstead I and begin constructing a foundry. In case you are wondering, I am using my most productive city to rush the Iron Works. The iron deposit in question is next to a 2/4/- forest tile I want to settle. If I found a new settlement before the Iron Works is completed, it will take me dozens upon dozens of turns to finish the Iron Works, because the new settlement will have much less production than Farmstead I.I rush the pioneers in Farmstead III, and start building an apiary.The pioneers head toward the fertile spot near Tarth's stables, but notice an army of darklings. I will have to somehow deal with them.
One can be very aggressive without any overt hostilities
Turn 100: Farmstead IV grows to a town.Conclave I finishes the cloister, and starts working on a school.The pioneers settle Farmstead V right next to Tart's stable and the darklings army. The darklings do not appear strong enough to tackle my militia, and as for Tarth, they will have to shut up and take it.I rush a workshop in Farmstead V and start building a logging camp.Janusk finds a pair of leather boots.Jack spots the lair of a drake. This is the real deal, the kind that breaths fire.I rush the Earth altar in Farmstead IV. The town resumes work on the lumber yard. I did this to boost the power of Jack's Nature's Cloak for the fight against the drake.
Every time the drake breathes, one unit has to run for dear life. But I have enough units.
Turn 101: Capital finishes the bakery, and starts building a lumber yard.Farmstead III finishes the apiary, and starts building a merchant.Farmstead IV finishes building the lumber yard, and start bulding a mill.I rush the school in Citadel and start building a forge.I rush the logging camp in Farmstead V and start building a bell tower.I enchant both of Jack's guards with Nature's Cloak, and attack the drake's army. Everyone gets hurt, some more than others, but at the end, all of my units are standing. Jack reaches level 16, learns "Trainer II" and loots a sharp broadsword.Turn 102: Farmstead II finishes the festival, and starts a study.I rush the foundry in Farmstead I and start building the Iron Works.I rush the merchant in Farmstead III, and start building a market.Turn 103: Capital finishes the lumber yard, and starts building a butcher.Conclave I finishes the school, and starts building a life shrine.I rush the forge in Citadel, and starts building a training yard.Jack kills some air shrills and a pack drake.Janusk finds a hate stone, and promises to kill the butchermen who slew a woman's husband.Turn 104: "Literacy" completes. I target "Mounted Warfare", because Tarth's stables have finally been converted by Farmstead V, and I would like to upgrade them into a ranch, and start training cavalry.Kraxis offers us tribute, and attempts to bribe us into attacking Altar. I refuse... for the time being. Altar is becoming definitely unfriendly as its power grows.Ceresa of Resoln contacts us. She is weaker than us, and quickly agrees to technology, trade and economy treaties.I proceed to sign technology treaties with Kraxis, Gilden, Resoln, Magnar, Tarth and Pariden. As expected, my research shoots through the roof.Yithril is the only Empire I have yet to encounter. I have an idea where Pariden and Resoln are, but I know nothing about Yithril. I wonder how powerful they can be if I have yet to see any sign of them.
This is getting slow, and I am afraid not so interesting...
I am trying to illustrate some tricks in the play-through: rejuvenating, expanding with dominion push, etc... but I am not sure how much interest there is now that the game is firmly into the 'exploit' stage.
By the way, I am deliberately avoiding some options that are open to me: at this point, Jack could solo big beasts by blinding them, and using his high dodge to scratch them to death.
I could also give Janusk's Athican leather armor to Jack, make him fire immune and send him on the final quest.
But I intend to win this game the hard way: ally with those that are willing, and then beat up everyone else until they are humbled into surrendering or allying.
So, I'll post at least one more 1 hour session, but unless there is interest, I'll call it an useful thread (for the beginning strategy) and just post about the victory screen (because I will take the Jacks to the end)
Rather than a turn by turn description or jumping straight to the victory screen could we perhaps have 20-50 turn updates? Perhaps with a world map and mention of the couple of most important events in that period. (E.g., Altar declares war is important, Janusk loots new leather underwear is not.)
I interested in how you queued that logging camp. Doesn't placing the workshop clear the forest needed for it?
Turn 105-120
Jack may not hit particularly hard, but he is a great defender
Turn 105: "Mounted warfare" completes. I target "Heroes" with "Tireless march" in mind.Farmstead II finishes the study, and starts building a grocer.Conclave I finishes a life shrine, and starts building a library.I rush the training yard in Citadel, and start building barracks.Bacco gives Janusk all of his combat gear. Janusk heads for Farmstead V, where he hopes to purchase a warhorse.Jack finds a wellspring scroll.Turn 106: Altar declares war on Kraxis. I have no idea how Relias plans on getting troops there. They are certainly not welcome to invade my trading partner through my lands.Farmstead III finishes the market, and start building a grocer.Farmstead V finishes the bell tower and starts building a ranch.Jack finds a balanced shortsword, destroys an air elemental army, reaches level 17, and becomes an apprentice swordsman.
My cities interfere with traffic, and channel Tarth's troops through hard terrain
Turn 107: "Heroes" completes. I target "Ereog's Journals".I rush the grocer in Farmstead II, and start building a merchant.
Janusk has a warhorse now
Turn 108: Farmstead IV finishes the mill, and starts building a monument.I rush the merchant in Farmstead II, and start building a market.I rush the ranch in Farmstead V, and start building a town hall. Now that the city walls are around the ranch, visiting heroes can purchase warhorses. Warhorses are white and can carry more weight than regular horses. Janusk buys a warhorse for 200 Gildar, emptying the kingdom's treasury in the process.Turn 109: "Ereog's journals" completes. I target "Warg riding", and it completes as well. I target "Blacksmithing".Farmstead II grows to level 3, and I choose the guild grocer improvement.I cast Tireless March on Jack and Janusk.
A good horse and a loyal wolf sure make a difference
Turn 110: Pariden declares war on Magnar.Citadel finishes the barracks and starts building a fire shrine.Farmstead III finishes the grocer and starts building an inn.Farmstead IV finishes the monument and starts building a well.I rush the Iron Works in Farmstead I, and start training an unit of pioneers.Janusk destroys an army of darklings, reaches level 4 and becomes a governor. The reason that I am leveling my heroes into governors is that I want to be able to grow my cities quickly, and that I plan on conquering enemy cities in the near future. Furthermore, there are kingdom aligned heroes which I can hire.Jack destroys a group of ice elementals.Turn 111: I rush the butcher in Capital and start building a market.I rush the pioneer in Farmstead I, and start building a lumber yard.I rush the well in Farmstead IV, and start building a study.Jack kills a garotte, and finds a scroll of fireball.
So far, all wars are across allegiance lines
Turn 112: Altar declares war on Resoln. Farmstead II finishes the market and starts building a school.'I rush the lumber yard in Farmstead I and start building an inn.I rush the library in Conclave I and start building a Life shrine.The pioneers settle Farmstead VI near the Iron Works. I rush a bell tower, and start building a workshop.Janusk kills an air shrill.
Vetrar proved less dangerous than the drake
Turn 113: Vetrar attacks Jack's army. Jack kills Vetrar, reaches levels 18 and 19, learns "Shadow Strike I", becomes a skilled swordsman, and loots the two-handed sword Heart of the Glacier. Vertrar's fist is sent to Citadel, where it will increase growth and inspire defenders.As Vetrar's dominion dissipates, the Northern Wastes become available for colonization. I immediately rush an unit of pioneers in Farmstead III and send them towards the center of the former wildland.Bacco sells the Banishing warhammer.I rush the study in Farmstead IV, and start training an unit of pioneers.I rush the workshop in Farmstead VI, and start building a logging camp.In all the excitement, I had forgotten that Warlord Verga of Yithril has contacted us. His Empire is weaker, and treaties should be possible, but with all the rushing, I am all out of Gildar.
Terrarforming spells make navigating the Northern Wastes much easier
Turn 114: "Blacksmithing" completes. I target "Armor".Some ice elementals attack Jack and are easily dispatched.
Citadel grows to level 3, receives a strike garrison, finishes the market and starts building a tax office.Farmstead I finishes the inn, and starts building a festival.Citadel finishes the fire altar and starts building a blacksmith.Conclave I finishes the Life shrine and starts building a herbalist.Farmstead III finishes the inn, and starts building a school.Jack kills an ice elemental and a garotte.Janusk kills a couple of bears, reaches level 5, learns "Trainer I", loots a pair of leather vambraces, and finds a pair of rusty greaves.I sign a technology treaty with Yithril.
I will use this settlement to wrestle all these resources from Altar
Turn 115: Farmstead V finishes the town hall, and starts building a mason.Farmstead VI finishes the logging camp and starts building a town hall.Jack finds a boar spear.I settle Farmstead VII on a rejuvenated 2/4/- tile South of Farmstead IV, near the Altar border. I rush a logging camp, and start building a workshop.Janusk starts governing Farmstead VII. His growth bonus will halve the time it needs to become a town. I will use this town for a determined push into Altar's sphere of influence.
With the two handed sword from Vetrar, Jack has become a fearsome fighter
Turn 116: Farmstead I finishes the festival, and start building a school.Conclave I finishes the herbalist and start building an apothecary.I rush the school in Farmstead II, and start building an Earth shrine.I rush the kennel in Farmstead IV, and start building a merchant.Jack kills a garotte, a cave bear, and a group of ice elementals. The Northern Wastes' guardian may have been killed, but they are not a safe place for pioneers.Jacv's last fights bring quite a bit of Gildar, so I use the money to convince Warlord Verga that trade and economy treaties are in our best interests. I want to sign alliances with everyone I can before I go to war with anyone. When you are too successful in war, other factions start distrusting you.I rush the workshop in Farmstead VII, and start building a bell tower.
When swamps are preventing you from building, you can drain them with Raise Land
Turn 117: Jack finds a telescope.Bacco leaves Citadel, and heads toward the center of the Northern Wastes, where I intend to start a new conclave near the Water power node. I cast "Tireless march" on him.I rush the bell tower in Farmstead VII. There are swamps in the direction in which I want to expand, so I use Raise Land to make room for a monument.
This is a very valuable spot: gold, crystal, iron, and of course, the Water power node
Turn 118: "Armor" completes. I target "Alliances".Citadel finishes the blacksmith, and starts building an armorer.I rush the monument in Farmstead VII, and start building an air altar.I settle Conclave II in the center of the Northern Wastes. I cast Enchanted Hammers and Set in Stone to maximize production, rush a logging camp, and start building a workshop.Jack kills some ice wargs, travels to Altar's territory, and sells his loot.I rush the school in Farmstead III and start training a pioneer, because I need an outpost to link Conclave II to my dominion.
Growth 4 and production 48. Not bad for a city that's five turns old.
Turn 119: Farmstead I finishes the school, and starts a bakery.Farmstead II finishes the Earth shrine, and starts a bakery.Conclave I finishes the apothecary, and start building a garden.Bacco starts governing Conclave II.I rush the pioneers in Farmstead III, and start building a festival.I rush the workshop in Conclave II, and start building a bell tower.Jack kills a garotte, reaches level 20, and learns "Strength".I rush the Air altar in Farmstead VII, and start building a merchant.Janusk ventures out of Farmstead VII, finds a copy of "Tandis vs Talux", and goes back to governing.
The Jacks of no trade, after 30 years of expansion
Turn 120: Farmstead IV finishes the market, and start training a pioneer.Farmstead V finishes the mason, and starts building a lumber yard.Farmstead VI finishes the town hall, and starts building a mason.Bacco ventures out of Conclave II, finds a shortbow, and goes back to governing.Jack finds a pair of ophidian scale gauntlets, and sells the fireball and air elemental scrolls.I rush the merchant in Farmstead VII, and start building a study.I rush the bell tower in Conclave II, and start building a monument on top of the Paraudrah. (the Water power node)I dispel the "Inspiration" enchantment on Citadel, and cast "Set in Stone" instead. I want to speed up the construction of the Armorer and Command post.
This game will be over before turn 150. At turn 120, I am only a few turns away from alliances, and once I have that, at least six nations will join me.
Once that's done, it will be a matter of killing off Yithril, and possibly Altar.
Which turn are you referring to? Chances are that if I built the workshop first, it was because the forest was at a diagonal, and I needed the workshop to actually place a logging camp on top of the forest.
I was referring to Farmstead V on turn 100. But you are right now that I look again, that's what happened. I was seeing the two buildings on the same tile.
Turns 121-127
The citizens of Farcross are lucky that Jack is nearby
Turn 121: Yithril declares war on Kraxis and Magnar. This will not make him popular with anyone, kingdom or empire. As soon as I research alliances, I will try to engineer a pileup on Warlord Verga. Capital finishes a tax office, and start building a school.Conclave I finishes the garden, and start building a granary.Jack intercepts a Death demon's army right before it razes an Altar fortress, sells the demons horns for 64 Gildar, and heads toward Kraxis territory. Yithril can't get to Magnar quickly, but Kraxis is right next door, and I do not want my trading partner wiped out.I rush a pioneer in Conclave II, and resume work on developing the Water power node.
By attacking fellow Empires, Yithril makes other Empires less likely to hate me for attacking him
Turn 122: To reward Jack for saving his city, Relias kicks him out of Altar territory. Farmstead I finishes the bakery and start building a fire shrine.Farmstead IV finishes training an unit of pioneers, and starts building an inn.I switch the production of Farmstead VII from the study to a town hall. I do this because I would like to send Janusk on an errand as soon as the settlement grows into a town, but without a governor, unrest would raise its ugly head.Contrary to what I have been doing so far, I do not rush anything this turn. Next turn, I will be able to make alliances, and I want to use my cash to bribe people into what I need.
One of these is not like the others...
Turn 123: "Alliances" completes. I target "Glyph Stones". I aim to speed up my crystal production, and to enhance the trained troops damage with amulets of Flames and Frost.Farmstead III finishes the festival, and starts building an iron mine.Conclave II finishes developing the Water node, and starts building a town hall.I sign alliance treaties with Kraxis, Resoln, Pariden, Gilden, Tarth, Magnar and Altar. By the time I'm done haggling, Warlord Verga must be feeling pretty lonely.
Some people think assassins are weak. But once they get a good weapon...
Turn 124: Farmstead I finishes the Fire shrine, and starts building a butcher.Farmstead II finishes the bakery, and starts building a tax office.Conclave I finishes the granary, and puts all efforts into research.Farmstead V finishes the lumber yard, and starts building a mill.Farmstead VI finishes the mason, and starts building an iron mine.I settle Farmstead VIII on a 3/3/- tile West of Conclave II. I rush a logging camp, and starts building a workshop.Jack finds a set of throwing knives, and kills a cave bear.Janusk ventures outside of Farmstead VII, kills a group of fire shrills, and goes back to governing.I rush the armorer in Citadel, and start building a command post.I rush the iron mine in Farmstead III, and start building a smelter.
They have marched at Jack's side since the beginning, humming "Heavy Metal Thunder"
Turn 125: "Rituals" completes, and research moves on to "Glyph Stones".Yithril takes over the capital of Kraxis. I need to get there and either cordon the last Kraxis city off, or start killing Trogs.Capital finishes the school, and starts building a storehouse.I rush the workshop in Farmstead VIII, and start building a monument.I upgrade the armor of Jack's guards. It costs me a lot, but between their high health and new armor, they have become very hard to kill.
Janusk is not the greatest of warriors, but he soldiers on
Turn 126: Farmstead IV finishes the inn, and starts building an iron mine.Farmstead VI finishes the iron mine and starts building a smelter.Conclave II finishes the town hall, rushes and iron mine, and start building a gold mine.Jack approaches the former Kraxis city of Aegonford, and notices Karavox trying to retake his capital. I'll let him try, and if he fails, I'll declare war on Yithril.Janusk ventures outside of Farmstead VII, kills two groups of ignys, reaches level 6, becomes an apprentice swordsman, and finds a compass. I rush the town hall in Farmstead VII, and start building a study.
There will be no alliance with this guy...
Turn 127: "Glyph Stones" completes. I target "Economics".I rush the command post in Citadel, because I will need my fortress for troop production... finally.I start training a new type of troopers - shock cavalry. They wield lightning hammers, wear light plate and chain belts, and have amulets that add initiative and cold and fire damage.Janusk heads to Citadel. He will lead the new unit in battle.A large Yithril army blocks Karavox's path toward his former capital. There are juggernauts in both the garrison and in the army, and another is being built. There is no time to lose. I talk to my allies, and allow myself to be bribed into attacking Yithril.
War!
at last! (not the game wasn't won by some 50 turns ago (about the moment you got heart of glacier))
Heh. It only feels like forever. I actually killed Vetrar less than 15 turns ago.
Starting a war before I had signed alliances would have been risky. Altar could have decided that he liked Yithril better than he liked me, and attacked, and then some misguided fools could have thought that mine was the weaker side...
I'm playing it safe. This is supposed to be helpful for new players, not just an ego trip.
You know, I snake my cities so much, that I pretty much consider two buildings on the same tile a mistake.
In most cases, you want to cover as much ground as possible. Even when you have limited space for a city, you still want to grab the tiles first, and fill them later.
I love these posts. I probably spent 2 hours this weekend taking notes.
Turns 128-133
Jack is untouchable, and his guards simply too tough to take down
Turn 128: Gilden declares war on Kraxis. Poor Karavox is getting dogpiled, because he is on the bottom on the food chain. Somehow, I do not feel all that guilty for putting him there.Farmstead III finishes the smelter and starts building a foundry.Farmstead IV finishes the iron mine and starts building a smelter.Conclave II finishes the gold mine, and starts building a smelter.I rush the shock cavalry in Citadel, and have it join Janusk and Anna.I then go shopping for iron. I buy two loads of iron here, five loads of iron there, until I talk to Ceresa of Resoln, who has 72 loads in stock. Figures, Wraiths cannot use metal armor. I trade almost all of my technology for her iron, and start training another shock cavalry in Citadel.Jack attacks the Aegonford. The juggernaut in the garrison is slowed and shot down before he can join the fight. The rest of the defenders are simply no threat to Jack's veterans.Aegonford starts building a bell tower, which is a bit pointlkess. Frankly, there is no way any city conquered from now on will be of any use by the time the game ends... unless Altar joins the fight on Yithril's side.
The shock cavalry is healthy, well-armored, and hard-hitting
Turn 129: Gilden declares war on Magnar.Farmstead V grows into a town.Farmstead VII finishes the study, and starts building a water altar.Farmstead VIII finishes the monument, and starts building a bell tower.I rush the shock cavalry in Citadel, and let it resume work on the town hall. I cannot start training another cavalry because I am out of iron again. I buy 36 loads from Guilden for 10 horses, 20 wargs, and all of my magic research notes, but it's still not enough.I rush the smelters in Farmstead IV, Farmstead VI, and Conclave II, and start building foundries.Janusk is joined by the second shock cavalry, and heads towards the Yithril front.An Yithril army is fleeing from Jack, and he pursues. It's unfortunate that they managed to exit the zone of control of the conquered city.
The Trogs will be frozen in place until Janusk arrives
Turn 130: "Economics" completes. I target "War Colleges".Farmstead III grows to level 3 and builds the Guild grocer improvement.Farmstead I finishes the butcher, and starts building a crystal mine.I switch the production of Farmstead II from the tax office to a crystal mine.I buy 20 crystal from Resoln for 300 Gildar.A new Yithril army is headed towards Aegonford. Janusk cannot make it in time to intercept, and Jack does not want to let the other Trogs escape, so he casts Freeze on the new army, which in under my dominion.Jack catches up with the fleeing army and destroys it.
Janusk's army is nowhere as strong as Jack's, but is quite effective nevertheless
Turn 131: Farmstead I grows to level 3 and builds the Guild grocer improvement.Farmstead VII finishes a Water altar, and starts building an iron mine.Jack finds an Anguine edge dagger and a glyph round shield on his way to the Yithril city of Alhain-al-Assan.Janusk destroys the frozen Yithril army, reaches level 7, and becomes a skilled swordsman. He then captures an enemy outpost, kills some ice elementals, destroys another group of Trogs, reaches level 8, and learns "Road Building".I rush a unit of pioneers in Aegonford, and have them build an outpost that connects Aegonford to my dominion.
Jack and Janusk each lead armies that Yithril cannot stop. These cities will fall.
Turn 132: Farmstead VII grows into a town.Citadel finishes the town hall. I buy 10 loads of crystal from Resoln, and start training another unit of shock cavalry.Janusk arrives under the walls of the Yithril capital, Ahilga.Jack conquers Alhain-al-Assan, reaches level 21, and learns "Shadow Strike II".I cast "Enchanted hammers" and "Inspiration" on Alhain-al-Assan, and start building a bell tower.
In just a few turns, Yithril has been devastated
Turn 133: Conclave II grows into a conclave.Farmstead I finishes the crystal mine, and starts building a crystal trove.Farmstead II finishes a crystal mine, and starts building another.Farmstead VII finishes the iron mine, and starts building a crystal mine.Jack destroys a death demon's army.Janusk leaves his wolf behind, and conquers Ahilga and Timbraikat.I rush an unit of pioneers in Alhain-al-Assan, and have them build an outpost that links Ahilga and Alhain-al-Assan to my dominion.I rush an unit of pioneers in Ahilga, and have them build an outpost that links Timbraikat to my dominion.I cast "Enchanted hammers" and "Inspiration" on Ahilga, and start building a town hall.Timbraikat starts building a bell tower.
Warlord Verga in defeat
Turn 134: Gilden takes over the Magnar city of Imperium, stuff gets built, but the important thing is that Warlord Verga surrenders.Diplomatic victory.
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