"Got Blood?" -- BF Ulm AAR (Newbie)

[Scott Hebert]

Personally, SelfishGene, I have to go with Daynarr here. BF Ulm, while not having a very good magical base (it IS Ulm, after all), or a very diverse troop base, has most everything you need to play.

First, the Rangers are quite powerful. As others have said, the ability to mass-produce them works very well. Second, you get excellent heavy infantry in the Morningstar Infantry of Ulm. Third, you get free, speedy, expendable flankers with the Wolfherd's wolves. They are excellent to shut down enemy archers and mages, crossbowmen especially.

Finally, you get access to slightly more diverse paths than base Ulm, and Communion. Something I've contemplated is this. Sabbath and Communion work with each other, right? So, if I enter my Vampire Queen or Blood Counts into a Sabbath while my other Mages go into Communion, and one of my Astral mages cast Astral Shield, my VQ/BCs will get the Shield without needing Astral Magic, correct? I might need this later, and thought to check now.

Also, I'm on turn 7 'in game', and I've gotten a Hero that I don't think anyone has commented on. Has anyone else seen Ulrich, the Ghoul Baron? If you want, I can post his stats when I write up his turn.

Anyway, on to the writing! Oh, and if you want to refer to me, it's "Tasogare" or "Taso" or "That incompetent supercilious idiot." My handle is written in Japanese style.

Bayushi Tasogare

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Bayushi Tasogare:
[QB]So, if I enter my Vampire Queen or Blood Counts into a Sabbath while my other Mages go into Communion, and one of my Astral mages cast Astral Shield, my VQ/BCs will get the Shield without needing Astral Magic, correct?[/QB

They will only get the astral shield if they are the slaves and a master casts the spell.

[Scott Hebert]

So... I can have my VQ/BCs absorbing the fatigue cost of my spells (and healing it through Life Drain attacks), and getting Astral Shield and whatnot?

Sounds good to me.

Bayushi Tasogare

[Scott Hebert]

Turn 2

Irma reclined on her throne made from the skulls of the Inquisition, and called for the report from Nan Bagor. Apparently, with the passing of the Malediction, the people of Cun Aral had reverted to barbarism, and 25 of them stood in the path of her armies. She dismissed him, and asked if the Fortuneteller she had requested had arrived or not.

Her chamberlain hesitated. "She... has arrived, Your Majesty. However..." He trailed off as she leaned forward intently.

"However..? Lord Chamberlain, I do not like my commands disobeyed. Where is sh..." Irma trailed off as a woman entered the throne room, looking somehow determinedly vacuous.

"Your majesty, may I introduce the Fortuneteller you requested?" The Chamberlain seemed eager to withdraw, and so Irma waved her hand dismissively.

"My dear, you must have been quite fatigued from the trip," Irma purred at the new arrival.

The Fortuneteller giggled, and replied, "The wolf does not know that the serpent hunts for it."

Starting to wonder at the girl's sanity, Irma continued, "What do you know that can help me in my mission to bring the Malediction to all?"

At that, the Fortuneteller laughed out loud. "A curse cannot be spread with a blessing," she said.

Irma's eyes narrowed in displeasure. "Are you having sport with me, woman? What is your name?"

The girl's eyes focused momentarily, and said hesitantly, "I do not remember. Once I started to See, I have been known as Coma."

Irma's anger changed abruptly to amusement. "You were well-named, child. Come, and help me in my studies."

And that is how Coma (2S) the Fortuneteller came into the service of Irma.

I got the Barbarians. Removing 3 Pikemen from Karl's formation (he started with 16), I put the 12 Rangers with him, put them off to the side, and along with Rexor's troops, have them go off into Fenatice. My reports had said that it had ~8000 pop, and so it would be a good province to Blood Hunt in. Also, I had seen bad Dominion to its NW, so I wanted to grab the province before someone else could. While Irma and Coma continue researching Alteration, Nan Bagor summons a couple of wolves. I pay 156 gold for another Fortuneteller, 3 Rangers, and 3 Morningstar Infantry (I greatly prefer these to Pikemen when using Rangers, because the shields help to cut down on friendly fire).

Summary:

Treasury: 8
Income: 180 (-2)
Upkeep: 29 (+13)
Gems: 2S6D2N
Gem Income: 1S3D1N
Research: Alteration 1 anticipated
Research Income: 25 of 25

As always, comments welcome.

Bayushi Tasogare

[Tuna-Fish]

Do post the stats of Ulrich.

Also, the communion/sabbath thing does not work, because the slaves will not do anyhting after becoming slaves. This is probably to save them from getting fatique, so giving astral shield to people who are essentially o0n "hold" orders is not very productive...

[Psitticine]

Hmm, I've just finished up a game with a lot of Communion magic going on. The Slaves cast spells quite freely after the first Communion Slave as long as I told them too. Maybe Sabbath Slaves are different. I haven't messed around with them.

[SelfishGene]

Well i wasn't aware that the effects of Fortune Tellers stacked nor that how influential the luck value in the capital was throughout the kingdom.

Ulm crossbows are a great deal with 12 precision. I guess i was trying to play Ulm as a blood nation and found them sorely lacking in that regards compared to the others.

And i must admit, ive yet to use any sort of communion or sabbath mage combos in either single or multi . So i can't judge the usefulness of Ulm's large supply of 1 Astral casters.

I thought I'd offer a little advise to those who use VC's and their uses.

Reasons I use VC's:

1. Summon Lammashatas (Go immortality)
2. Cut supply lines inside your dominion without fear.
3. High Surviviable Leadership with Stealth (Important midgame after you've steamrolled 2 or 3 people and people trying to assassinate, etc).
4. 2 Death and 2 Blood allow you to summon Bane Lords and Blood Thorns.
5. In a Communion can Drain Life like a Champ.

All of these things make me use VC's. Don't look away from the good advise of some of those here, but also don't forget the lowly VC. He fills a gap for BF Ulm and can be changed to suit your needs because of his Blood-Only Resource cost. And until you need him he can provide you with Slaves to feed your ID addiction.

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by SelfishGene:
Well i wasn't aware that the effects of Fortune Tellers stacked nor that how influential the luck value in the capital was throughout the kingdom.

If I remember correctly, the luck scale in the capital determines whether the events that happen will be good or bad events. Fortune tellers only protect the particular province they are in from a bad event.

[Scott Hebert]

Turn 3

No real story this turn. Sorry. I'm not very good at writing this stuff.

Anyway.

I get several surprises in the Messages. First and foremost, there was not 1 but 2 battles in Fenatice Last turn. I also see that I had an event in Ulm... dreading the worst, I am pleasantly surprised that it's a benign finding of 5 Air Gems. Now, if I only had an Air Mage...

Anyway, Pythium and Caelum make prophets out of a Serpent Lord and a Storm General, respectively.

I look at the first battle of Fenatice, and see that I had taken out the LI/X-bow enemies losing only 2 troops (I think Barbarians). Looking at the second battle, I find out that C'tis also wanted the province, but I beat him out destroying his initial army losing 12 troops of my own. I plan to capitalize on this immediately.

Finally, Evita (1S1N) joins Irma & the Ditz (WB show coming soon!) in the research squad.

Now, for orders:

Karl + Rexor move to attack the C'tissian province of Zimmria, located to the NW of Fenatice. The plan is to see if we can rapidly roll back C'tis to their starting province, and take them out before they get any worse.

Nan Bagor takes the troops produced so far (minus the Wolves) and moves to Fenatice.

My mages research.

I recruit a 3rd Fortuneteller, 3 Morningstar Infantry, and 4 Rangers (168 gold).

I reduce taxes in Fenatice to 50%, to offset unrest.

Status Report:

Treasury 11
Income 196 (+16)
Upkeep 40 (+11)
Gems: 5A3S9D3N
Gem Income: +1S+3D+1N
Research: Alteration(2), Thaumaturgy
Research 'Income': 32 of 32

More to come, so stay tuned!

Bayushi Tasogare