Independent SCs and Magic Loot

[Cainehill]

Turn two of a SP game on the Aran map, I notice one of the neighboring provinces is full of undead. Great, says I - I'll just send in a priest (3), a prophet Prince General, and a Celestial Master, along with the entire T'ien C'hi army. I'll set 3 commanders to banish undead, it'll be an easy conquest, with heroes in the Hall of Fame.

Three archers alone returned from that ill-fated expedition, reporting undead behemoths, an undead knight of some sort, and a huge mummy towering over the field. The loss of my army and my noble commanders (and one eunuch) was a grievous blow, tempered by the knowledge that the majority of the undead hordes had been cast down into dust.

Swiftly rebuilding the army, and persuading another Master of Ceremonies and Celestial Master to enlist in my cause, I myself took the field with my troops. Yet, once again was my army repulsed, though this time their leadership was more judicious and regrouped at my citadel.

Nought was left of the horde save their leaders after this assault, and most mighty indeed were they : A grand Mummy of Ptah, weaponed and attired well with puissant magics: sword, shield, helm, dragon armor, and more. Even his lieutenant was equipped with magic sword and armor.

It took three more assaults, each time recruiting more Celestial Masters, each time researching stronger magics to use against them; finally we succeeded in breaking even the master of Ptah's will and conquered.

To discover naught but the Desert of Ptah - a sad and miserly trophy to show for a year and a half of combat. The mummy's magical accoutrements had disappeared into the sands.

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From reading other Posts, I'd gotten the impression that when you nailed a commander who was carrying magic items, that you looted the magic from the corpses of the fallen. (Or at least that there was a chance of this.)

With at least 8 magic items on the two independent commanders (one with honest SC status and one SC-lite), I would have expected to retrieve -something- from their corpses; indeed, the (greedy) expectation of magic loot fueled my monomaniacal pursuit of the undead.

Is it that the mummy routed and wasn't out-right destroyed? Or is there only a small chance of retrieving the commander's magic and equipment after the battles?

[ It was rather cool to come across this, though - a regular SP game on the stock Aran map, and to find such an unusual province with an independent SC. (Almost 200 HPs, 20 armor, 30 MR - banishment was _not_ getting through.) ]