MP: Morla MA noob game (running)

[triqui]

Originally Posted by SpaceViking21

If you assign troops to "guard commander", then they will be present during assassination attempts. However, only 5 at a time can act as bodyguards.

This is the best solution, yep.


Vineshield (or any protection actually) won't really work. In an assasination, once the assassin start to create 1 minion per turn (skellies or imps), the victim is defenceless unless it can:
1) fly
2) kill more than one skellie per turn and still move (quicken self for example).

Every single turn, one skellie is built. Once you are "grab" in combat, your only action is to attack. You attack one of the skellies and there are 2 options:
1) you kill the skellie, so you are grab by the next one in the queue
2) you don't kill the skellie, so right now there are 2 skellies in the queue, you can't kill them faster than they produce, and you will eventually go down. At the very least, you will fail morale sooner or later (fleeing from assasination means death), while skellies are unroutable.

The easy counter is to put bodyguards. While one of the body guards kill the skellie, the main character advance (or the other way: the character kill and the guard advance). The assasins aren't nothing to write home about stat wise (the human ones at least), so pretty much any soldier would kill him.

But they are damn cheap, and a cool tool to try here and there. They aren't the ultimate weapon, but they do their tricks.

[Olm]

Originally Posted by SpaceViking21

If you assign troops to "guard commander", then they will be present during assassination attempts. However, only 5 at a time can act as bodyguards.

Unless you use a ring of warning, then its 10 bodyguards.
But 5 Knights of Avalon or Wardens of Avalon would make a short story of that skellyspam.

[Olm]

[quote=SpaceViking21;786132]

Originally Posted by Olm

3. The big weakness of giants in this situation is their size. Since every attack towards a unit reduces their defence, he can glob more guys onto my giant commanders and win via attrition (those skeletons will hit eventually).

I don't think thats important. If you only have one unit it can be attacked from all surrounding squares. Regardless if it is a Jarl or an Hoburg.

[triqui]

Originally Posted by Olm

Unless you use a ring of warning, then its 10 bodyguards.
But 5 Knights of Avalon or Wardens of Avalon would make a short story of that skellyspam.

LOL :P
5 guys with clubs will beat the crap of that skelliespam :P

[Olm]

Originally Posted by triqui

Vineshield (or any protection actually) won't really work. In an assasination, once the assassin start to create 1 minion per turn (skellies or imps), the victim is defenceless unless it can:
1) fly
2) kill more than one skellie per turn and still move (quicken self for example).

Well the shield will hold the skellies, the brand will wipe one square (=3 skellies).
I'd bet it would work.

[triqui]

the brand alone is enough to win, I think. The Vine Shield won't add much (in this very specific situation. It's a wonderful item, no doubt)

I made some test before making the attempt, anything that can kill 2 skellies in a round will defeat them. That includes a werewolf with 2 claw attacks: eventually will find a spot to advance a couple steps, until he has the chance to put his claws into the poor assasin.

However, anything not able to kill at least 2 skellies a turn (or kill one and advance), is pretty much doomed. And that includes some (few) SC Pretener chasis...

[SpaceViking21]

and THAT'S why he's the king.

[triqui]

Yep, it's a good SC chasis.

[shatner]

Ermor has been handling itself well against T'ien Ch'i. And just as importantly, T'ien Ch'i has not been handling itself particularly well against Ermor (more on this below). The particulars of Ermor's front against the giants we know almost nothing about.

T'ien Ch'i is a nation characterized by two things: magical diversity (all paths but blood and death are available in meaningful quantities to MA T'ien Ch'i) and specialized troops. T'ien Ch'i has composite bows, crossbows, towershields and spears (in light, medium and heavy infantry varieties), glaves (also in light, medium and heavy), pikes, cavalry archers, medium cavalry archers and straight-up heavy cavalry. Their recruitable commanders include have cheap patrollers, spies, healers, fortune-telling priests, cheap sacred researchers, sage-bonus researchers who can be hired without a lab, cheap communion casters as well as two flavors of super diverse cap-only mages. Their recruit screen is substantially larger than most other nations'. About the only things they don't do are recruitable thugs and sacred soldiers worth creating a bless around. However, all their troops are either unimpressive outside of their specialty or too resource-heavy to properly mass. That means you either bring the right tool to the fight or you face an expensive battle (win or lose). This includes bringing the right magic to a fight because T'ien Ch'i under-performs without good magical back-up unless facing indie-level opposition.

The normal response to high-caliber undead is to spam dust to dust; a low-research, D1 spell. Unforunately, MA T'ien Ch'i, unlike every other age of T'ien Ch'i, has no native death access so we've been forced to use the S2, evocation spell Solar Rays instead. So T'ien Ch'i charged into the battle with a finely tuned and intricately crafted host meant to burn the undead to cinders with stellar lasers... only to find that the undead aren't nearly as laser-able as was previously hoped. I'm not 100% sure why; I thought that spell didn't allow for an MR save but it just doesn't seem to be zapping particularly well. Regardless, T'ien Ch'i has lost a few minor and one major engagement with Ermor and has been engaging in a fighting retreat ever since.

Either we will find something that does work or we will be overrun and assimilated into the Ermorian empire. Playing T'ien Ch'i gives you access to almost every type of unit and almost every type of spell this game has to offer, which is excellent. However, until you learn to use those troops effectively and until you do whatever is required to unlock those spells (research, forging boosters, forming communions, etc.) you are a slightly expensive and very squishy nation of humans wearing robes.

T'ien Ch'i: succeeding or failing really, really big with virtually nothing in-between.

[Olm]

It was a bristling cold dawn in the province of Feldan Woods when finally the two large hosts of knights clashed. Man forces where prepared and waiting. 32 Knights of Avalon on their white unicorns. White armor, blue shields, glistening lances and horns shimmering with magic. Commanded by Lancelot, their commander, a black spot in their ranks due to his black steel plate armor.
In addition 17 Knights, commanded by Beorthric the Knight of the Stone.
Those forces were supported by a squad of longbowmen commanded by Cibragol, a host of ghouls under Yazrid ibn Hassar, some Wardens and the local Militia. And last but not least by several mothers of Avalon and Bards.

The Marignon attackers brought 48 Knights of the Chalice under Angelique d'Armant the Heroine and Peter the Paladin (so 51:50, counting the horses). They were supported by few foot soldiers, 2 High Inquisitors and one Grand Master.

Man opened the fight by Songs of Quickness and some Lightning Bolts. Then the ghouls and Militia attacked. The Knights waited.
The Marignon Knights charged into the Ghouls, piercing a many of them with their lances, which became useless after this charge.

Then the countercharge of Mans Knight came and their Lances finished the lives of many a Knight of the Chalice. This decisive charge essentially sealed the fate of Marignon, tilting the numbers in Mans favor. Marignon fought valiantly, and many a Knight of Avalon died, but the outcome was inevitable.

Great deeds were performed that day the greatest by Beorthric, who charged all alone to the back of the Marignon formation, taking on 7 Knights of the Chalice single handedly. He took several minor wounds but in the end he saw the tails of his enemies horses.

The battle was over by noon. The snow all around a bloody mess, littered with corpses of men and horses.

20 Knights of Avalon and 12 Knights survived the day. Together with most of the Archers and Wardens. Of the leaders of Man only one Mother fell. The Ghouls were eradicated completely.

Of Marignon 9 Knights managed to flee the field of battle as well as the Heroine the Paladin and one of the High Inquisitors.

A glorious victory for Avalon, which opens up the road to Marignon itself!