Abysia CB 5.0 AAR

[RedRover]

TURN 25
Two more disasters! A sudden earthquake released Troglodytes, which wiped out the northern force. Only the Lizard Shaman escaped, even the mighty Pak-Ur perished. Man just hired Hector away from me, which delays the Second Army attack on the magic site. On the other hand, the Longdead were only about 40 strong, and were guarding a Shambler Reef, which opens up the surrounding waters (sort of: 40 Triton Guards are there) and gives me a way south. With enough time and money, I might even be able to exploit this. As a money source, though, the island�s a bust�my income this turn (566) was greater than the island�s population! First Army returns to the east bridge.

The Celestial mercenaries turn up. I bid on them�maybe they can destroy the Troglodytes and open the north to me. The Trogs seal me out of the whole northeast corner of the map. I can�t afford the dozen or so provinces this will hand over to C�tis. I have to get rid of them.

While waiting for Grom to show up, Second Army invades a wooded province. It has a 1-gem Earth site! If I can just get the right caster (Amazons take note), I may be able to find some more Earth sites. My gem income is now up to seven (5F1S1E)!

TURN 26
Good luck and bad. The Celestials are on board, but my Lab near magic site one has burned. No more Lizard Shamans until I get it fixed. The Celestials move on the Trogs, backed by the Lizard Shaman. Past the east bridge, a huge force of 90 heavy C�tis infantry are headed my way. Lots of building this turn, lots of remote scrying, especially the island magic site. Second Army moves on the northernmost magic site. My blood hunting has been sporadic, I can summon only one Devil this turn. I need more Apprentices and more provinces with higher population.

TURN 27
Here it comes. East bridge�90 Heavy Infantry and Longdeads, with 90 more right behind them. And me about 3 turns off Construction 4. My Prophet, who had left to found a new Temple, force-marches back�there is no money for temples this turn. One of my two Demonbreds leaves the capital with all the Devils he can scrape up; he�ll arrive at the east bridge in two turns. In the north, something went wrong: the Celestials didn�t march. I make sure they do this time, and my Salamander priest, who has finally arrived, will go with them. Second Army in the northwest rests after cleaning up the third magic site. This turn will see much remote scanning of that site. I only have two more scans for Nature sites after this�I need a hit or I�ll be forced to wait for another random Nature gem find.

Once again, short term need has overtaken strategic planning. I switch most of my research this turn to Conjuration. Will�o Wisps and Tangle Vines next turn look more important than Fire Rods in three turns. We�ll see how it works out. I miss a shot at rehiring Hector, who still has 10 knights, but 220+ gold is more than I can spare, and Man may kill the unit before it shows up, anyway. Too risky. I put the gold into another Salamander priest at the east bridge.

[RedRover]

TURN 28
C�tis doesn�t attack me, it must all be going north, east of the river. He�s left about 40 Slingers and Lizard Warriors watching me, and the rest are gone. My assassin moves north after them�I need more scouts out here (one is on the way, but it will take awhile).

In the north, the Celestials overrun the Trogs. I will push them forward while building a base up here. I need some of these wooded provinces for my last few shots at Nature magic.

In the northwest, magic site three proves to be Astral. Still only 1 gem, though. Phooey. From the map writeup, I thought the special sites would have something better than one gem each. Or maybe they do and I just don�t have the right paths to find out. But my gem income is now at eight. If this force can hold together for four more fights, I�ll cost to the west continent have a good place for a blocking fort on the west side of the great bay. Right now there are 60 Barbarians across a river saying no. I look at the bridge in front of me and say yes. If I sit here, I starve.

I will have Construction 4 next turn. I put the rest back into Conjuration, but after I hit Level 2 I�m going to start on Enchantments. We haven�t seen a global yet, but my main protection is Dispel, and that�s Level Five�it�s a long way off and I haven�t started on it yet. We�ll look at the graphs on turn 30.

TURN 29
Random Nature gems! Now I can keep the scrying going, but can�t quite get a Thistle Mace. I expected a Fire Wand at Construction 4, but it�s not on the list. I will empower a Salamander and check again (besides, the Fires from Afar spell, Evocation 3, will be useful if C�tis does come my way).

In the north, I�m across the river. I can either turn west and take on a second province with Amazons and Nightmares, or turn east against normal Militia. I go east�once I establish a border with C�tis up here, I can clean up what�s behind me (I hope). If I lose the Celestials, I�m absolutely done up here until I can build a base and make Abysian troops in big lots. It�s tricky�I want the base as far forward as possible, with as many high resource provinces as possible, yet I have to take the ground, build on it, and establish a vible military force before C�tis comes after me. I suspect I�ll probably wait too long to start it, but we�ll see�

In the northwest, I am in supply trouble. I thought I could attack out of it, but disease has struck and I have no counter. This could be really bad�I hope the scum troops die first.

Elsewhere, I have detached an Apprentice to head northwest to build a lab and activate the Amazon leaders in the province I conquered. Nightmares mean Onyx Amazons, which gives me Death and Earth magic seekers. The blood hunts are ramping up again, and I think a Devil a turn is now sustainable indefinitely. Time to go for two. Hector has been on the market for a few turns. I was saving for a fort, but I can use him up north with the Celestials. I couldn�t hire him last turn; that would have lined up four mercs in the same month�couldn�t afford that. Question is, is the hire going to be worth it at this point? I bite�

[shovah]

if your thinking of a wand that increases fire lvl i dont know of any that exist, theres the helmet (with -3 reinvig) or the misc which requires fire and death

[RedRover]

shovah: The only wand I've mentioned specifically so far is the Wand of Wild Fire, which throws Fireballs, as per the spell. It's great for plugging holes in the line when faced with masses of cheap troops. I just got a little confused about when it becomes available (my fault, when I solo I generally don't have the item reference open).


TURN 30
In the north, I find my first Nature site�1 gem, but at least I have an income�C�tis forces are now visible to the southeast. I�ve taken the last choke point I�m going to get. By next turn, I�ll have enough money to start building. In the meantime, there�s one more province to clear�50 Heavy Foot/Archers. I�m going for it.

Hector is back. Crud�the men are about gone, over half are diseased and have 4 hit points or so. They have maybe one battle left, if it�s soon. I�m sending them northwest to hit the Amazons at the map edge�maybe they will kill a few before they die. No one�s coming back, though. Never buy a used merc!

All quiet on the northwestern front, which I�m pushing. All quiet at the east bridge. I will reach Conjuration 2 and Enchantment 2 next turn.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is leading, followed by me (Abysia), C�tis, and Man. I hold 25 provinces, so I guess Ulm has about 30, C�tis about 20, and Man 17-18. For income, Ulm is first, I�m second, barely edging out Man, who apparently lost a province recently. Caelum is fourth. For gems, the top three are Ulm, C�tis, and Oceania in that order. There is a distinct second tier, with me, Caelum, and Man. For research, I�m running sixth (still). Arcoscephele has a huge lead; Man and Caelum are practically tied for second, with Caelum accelerating. Pythium, Oceania, and I form the next tier, all growing about the same pace. For dominion, Caelum is the clear leader, with Ulm, C�tis, me, and Pythium forming a second tier. C�tis is accelerating sharply. I�m growing slowly and unevenly here�I need to build more Temples.



TURN 31
Caelum bought Grom away from me, just as I won a battle and Grom found an enchanted pike. Figures. My guess is, Grom is about two-thirds used up, but there�s no way to check it now. This halts the attacks in the northwest�I�m just out of steady troops.

In the north, Hector dies and takes out only three Amazons. I start my northern base near the map corner, but west of the river (province #208) to block the river crossing. All my surviving mercenary contracts expire next month, which means I have only enough money left to start the fort. I can�t afford troops or other structures. Nothing else breaks, but I will probably commit the Devils to coastal projects when I have a few more of them.


TURN 32
In the northeast, the Celestials divert across the barrier river eastward to clear the last independents adjacent to the fort site, which is getting a Temple this turn. The Lizard Shaman also goes, with some archers built locally and some recently arrived Lizard Warriors.

In the capital, enough Blood Slaves are available for two more Devils (hunted in the capital, ouch!). I start collecting ground troops for a west coast campaign. The Green Horde is available and I scrape up enough to bid (it takes some alchemy). Remote scrying locates another 1-gem Nature site. Great! Random Earth gems! Double great!!


TURN 33
In the northeast, Celestials push on to the corner province, which has 50 Lizard Men, the other choices are an open province (40 Heavy Infantry and Cavalry), sit, or retreat. There are still two unknown provinces between C�tis and me, so we might split the difference on this one. I don't care, just so I have enough breathing space to finish the fort. The Temple is built, the Lab is going up this turn.

Northwest force sits, except for some scouting, but a big attack toward the west coast begins now (Fourth Army). The Green Horde, a Salamander (now that the Amazon Lab is done) and a Demonbred with 14 Devils should clean out the 40 Heavy Cavalry and Militia in the coastal town. After that, it�s southward along the coast�I might even get as far as the big forest before hitting someone else. We�ll see.

By the east bridge, a few new scouts are arriving and sneaking across the river. I can see two C�tis units of 40, but not much else. I�ll try to get a scout past the C�tis capital and see what�s south. My fort here has become home to my scrying efforts. Meanwhile, I should hit Enchantment 3 this turn.

[RedRover]

TURN 34
Well, this turn the secret is out! C�tis hasn�t been pushing into the north because the last river line is blocked by a huge independent: the Earth Mother--with 110 Vine Men, Vine Ogres, and Dryads. The last two independent provinces near me that are mine if I can take them before C�tis takes out this block. My attack this turn is successful, but I lost all my Lizard Warriors. Fortunately, this is a Lizard Man province, so I�ll soon have enough fodder to take on the 30 Heavy Horse in the last independent province to the southwest.

In the west, the whole Green Horde is gone, only the Salamander and Devils remain! It was my own fault. I left the commanders in their default positions and the Demonbred heat effect set the Horde commander on fire. Gah! I deserve that for playing into the wee hours. However, other foot troops are close enough so I can finally clear the Heavy Horse out of the last province adjacent to my capital next turn. All my mercs renew this month; I wonder if I�ll lose any more of them. I recruit an Amazon Sorceress.

In the northwest, I try a risky attack with Orion and some common spearmen. I�ve been sitting only one province short of where I was considering a base, and it�s guarded only by Militia. I�ll try a defensive tactical setup and see if they impale themselves on it.

By the east bridge C�tis is back, with 70 Ghouls and Tomb Guards. I�m not worried if this is all they bring up.


TURN 35
I have very few reserves of Astral or Nature gems; I�ve been burning them off doing remote scrying. I�m going to stop this for a while�I have a feeling I�m going to want these gems before long. I also need to forge at least one Thistle Mace to upgrade a Druid. However, remote viewing pays off. I increase by 3 Astral and 2 Fire gems. And Pythium just declared war on me.

In the northeast, I mass for my next attack. I strip the new fort of troops to form a second prong for the assault. On examination, I discover that the river line blocked by the Earth Mother is more porous than I thought: C�tis can cross into my target province from the south! I would hate for my attack to run into a block of 90 C�tis. Turns out, that chance is remote�

�because across the east bridge, C�tis gathers 110 troops! I build some more Abysian Infantry and Woodland Archers in the fort, and summon two Fire Drakes to help hold the line. All wizards are issued gems.

In the northwest, on the western continent, the river assault was successful; I have my site (now I just need the money to develop it). It has a black candle, so I leave Orion to preach, while the other leader scrambles back a province to retrieve some routed troops. I wonder if the candle is Pythium coming? Also, barbarians have struck deep into my northwest territories, taking my Earth gem site. *pain*

The west (coastal) army stops to rebuild. The Demonbred and Devils return to the capital to pick up more infernal troops. Next turn they will clean out the barbarians. I need a Salamander to set up a Temple in the Amazon province so I can get an Amazon Priestess. Across the river south of the capital, I am also seeing black candles. It might be C�tis, Pythium, or maybe someone else.

I�ve been trying to build more internal Temples recently. I divert enough funds for the Prophet to build one in the first magic site. I also have a Salamander on the way to rebuild the Lizard Lab that burned down.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is ahead, I am second, followed by C�tis and Man; no change. For income, it�s Ulm, me, Man, and Caelum. I am declining here, probably due to blood hunts and some bad unrest randoms. For gem income, Ulm and C�tis are tied, I am third and accelerating past Oceania, which is declining. For research, Arco soars, while Caelum has shot sharply past Man. I�m still sixth, in a third tier pack that includes Oceania, Pythium, and me. For dominion Caelum is still first, but Ulm has almost caught up. C�tis is third and climbing. I�m fourth and stagnant. Pythium is behind me and will catch up unless I raise more Temples. Man, Oceania, and Arcoscephale are far behind and in decline, the last two sharply so.

(Oops, forgot armies�I trail badly, last I think.)



TURN 36
If I want a base on the west continent, my northwest force (Orion) has to start it this turn. Caelum territory is about three provinces west and Man territory is about three provinces south. I have barely enough money to start construction, but would it be stretching my resources too far? I decide to risk it.

The west coast force is stuck; too weak to advance without the Devils. I discover I miscounted, the Devils can�t reach the Barbarians this turn, so they go as far as they can. Blood hunts dried up last turn, so no Devil this turn. Maybe Devil next turn.

C�tis pulls away from the east river fort again. OK with me. I think I can grind up anything he can send in the next few turns. I�m going to put the east bridge theater on hold for now. Incidentally, my Scout did not get past their capital. We hold brief services.

The north just turned messy. C�tis is across the river up here. If I attack my independent province target and win, we have a one-province front. Worst case is we try for the same province and he comes in second with a bigger army.

I�m going for it. Worse news is that Bogus the Troll has showed up and besieged my north base! No reinforcements, no gem restocks, and the expeditionary force has no way home. Great. If enough Celestials survive the coming battle, then that might be enough to get rid of the raiders, otherwise, the siege is a lo-o-ong march from anywhere I have troops.



TURN 37
In the northwest, scouts are trying to track down the capitals of Caelum and Man. When I get a chance, I�ll make more scouts for this area. There is a special magic site here (number four), near my base location, but the way in is limited, and I�m not positioned well for it; Man is closest.

On the coast, the Devils go in unsupported against the barbarians. The Amazon Sorceress is at the north (third) magic site and is searching. I am consolidating ground troops in the large coastal city for an advance down the coast; also hunting blood here.

In the north, the raiders are actually damaging my fort. I grab the Celestials and other troops and send them back to break up the siege if they can�it�s a long walk, though.

Elsewhere, I concentrate on infrastructure, building two Temples and a Lab. Oh, yes, an Arena fight (to ignore) begins.


TURN 38
Aha! The Amazon Sorceress found an E1D1 source at the magic site three. Finally! And oops! Forgot to renew my mercs! They�re all gone now. Rexor just appeared, so I will have to break the Bogus block with his barbarians. I don�t think this will work, though. I have to handle this personally�the Manticore moves out.

Typically, someone (Caelum in this case) sends their Pretender to the Arena fight: Wyrm with a Ring of Tamed Lightning. Ooch.

It worked, Caelum nailed two enemy Prophets. Idiots. Maybe I�ll buff and ambush the sucker next time there�s an Arena fight. I�ll need protection against poison�but is a Champion�s Trident worth it? And do I get it if my misc magic slots are filled? And if I don�t, am I forced back into the next Arena fight? I may do it just to test this.

In the northwest, with Orion gone, I have to commit the Devils. They are on their way, but I have to build a second unit or I won�t have a strategic reserve. I need another two Demonbred, one to build and one to lead, and probably at least one more Apprentice to blood hunt. This turn yielded lots of slaves. I could probably afford a Sanguine Rod or two now, which would improve my hunting. Also, I could use two or three more researchers.

My big global is at Evocation 8 (Second Sun), and I really need to be targeting it now. Also, now that I�m getting gems, it may be time to think about better magic items. Starting now, I split my research between Enchantment and Evocation. At Enchantment 5 (the Dispel spell), I will switch to Construction. At Construction 4 (Major Items), I will switch to Blood (Archdevils). So much for theory, we�ll see how this two-school advance plan works. I�ll phase into it as soon as I complete current work on my infrastructure.


TURN 39
A bad turn. The west coast force, Army Four, was destroyed and all three leaders slain! My fault for not sending in a spy to count numbers, the intelligence report was low again (like I had a spare spy!). I still killed about 35 of 50 defenders, but it will take me several turns to rebuild and several more to get into position to try this again.

In the northwest, I lost a Scout to Man, so I am effectively blind until another one gets here. Figure three moves. The Devils arrive. Since the Boar Mage mercenary is available, I will bid on him to be here. With the Devils and local troops, this should ensure the base and give me a shot at the special site nearby. The black candle is back, but since Orion built a Temple before he left, I recruit a cheap Priest to keep the locals in line. I�m going to recruit another cheap Priest to build a Temple in the Amazon province. It would be quicker than trying to schedule a Salamander priest at the capital and walking it out.

In the north, I don�t attack the Bogus raiders yet. Next turn, the Manticore will be in position, and a Salamander priest can join the attack, too. I order a Fire Salamander and some foot in the north fort; they will break siege next turn when the attack comes in...OK, so I forgot you can�t build while under siege; sue me. The Lizard Shaman builds a Lab in the northeast corner province (Lizard Men)�more Shamans will be showing up soon, I think.

My infrastructure work is almost done for now. My tenth temple is up. I think I need one more soon, since one of my temples is especially vulnerable. I can see that C�tis is also building Temples as fast as he can. Next turn, a Warlock, maybe two.

By the east bridge, the C�tis troop mix has changed: 60 Desert Rangers and Heavy Infantry. Seems quiet, though.

Next time: One Little Indian. Stay tuned

[RedRover]

TURN 40
Oceania has been eliminated. At times like these I really want a post-game playback. I haven�t done much with that nation, and I�m curious to see the progress of its collapse.

In the northwest on the western continent, the Devils attack, hopefully opening my way to the special site. The Amazon Sorceress at the fort site builds a Lab. The cheap Priest I built here is on his way to the Amazon province and another has been recruited for local defense.

On the coast and capital region, I�m reorganizing and resetting the blood hunting. I rarely play Blood magic, as I prefer �good guy� factions overall, so I�m on a fairly steep learning curve here.

The blood hunts all failed this turn. I have enough for 4 Devils, or 3 and a rod.

In the north, the attack against Bogus goes in. The forces cut off by his siege overloaded their province, but I doubt it will be a problem. If I win, there�s plenty of food in the Citadel. If I lose, there won�t be enough troops left to trigger starvation. In we all go.

My script for the Manticore: Berserkers, Twist Fate, Astral Weapon, Attack Large Monsters; I positioned my Pretender carefully next to Rexor. Besides the Manticore and Rexor, there is a small squad of 3 Lizard Warriors, a squad of 5 Militia, and a unit of 17 Archers, backed up by a Salamander priest with orders to cast Blessing first, followed by general spellcasting. Everyone else dogpiles Bogus (attack/fire at large monsters). Waiting for this turn to resolve is tough. Bets are on the table.

On the northeast C�tis border, he threatens with 80 Militia, City Guard, and Tomb Worms. I shove all local troops in to face off, increase province defense to 10, and build a Lab in the northeast corner province.

The east bridge area is quiet, but small C�tis units of 30-40 seem to be moving into the area. The balloon might go up next turn.

My scout against Caelum had been following a trail of temples back to the capital. He didn�t get there, this turn he is discovered and killed.

Scores: For provinces, Ulm is ahead, I am second, followed by C�tis and Man, though Pythium is accelerating and should pass Man soon. For income, it�s Ulm, me, Man, and Caelum. Man actually led me for a short time, but I�ve spiked up past him. For gem income, C�tis leads, I�m second by a gem or two, Ulm is third and static. Man and Caelum form a second tier at a little more than half our levels. For research, Arco leads, Caelum is a clear second, and Man is clear third. I�m fifth by virtue of Oceania�s elimination, though I still am below it in the third tier pack that includes Pythium and me. For dominion, Caelum is still first and declining, with Ulm almost caught up and climbing. C�tis is third and static with an up-tic. I�m fourth and stagnant with a down-tic, Pythium has plateaued behind me and is static. Man is far behind and static, while Arcoscephele has declined almost off the graph. (Forgot armies again�I�m last.)


TURN 41
In the northwest on the west continent, the Devils open the way to the special site. However Caelum turns up next to my base with 60 Caelian Archers, independent Archers, and Militia. I ramp up the province defense and order the Devils back to hold the fort. A cheap Priest is recruited.

In the north, Bogus is annihilated in an epic battle. The enemy Dark Knight Griffon Rider swooped down and slew the commander of my archers. I am disappointed that the Berserker spell only affects four barbarians, and they�re in the back.

The raider Warrior-Mage and Troll Mage buff, the Troll Archer shoots, and Bogus the Troll just looks mean (Str 31!). The Dark Knight is killed immediately by Rexor�s barbarians, while we suffer incoming Shards and Ghost Wolves. The barbarians turn and charge the advancing Bogus, supported by my Archers (I don�t mind a few friendly fire hits on the barbarians; it just makes them mad). The Manticore finishes buffing with Twist Fate and Astral Weapon, then flies to the attack and slays the Warrior-Mage outright.

That leaves just the Troll Archer and Bogus. The Archer took on the Manticore, while Bogus was swarmed by the entire barbarian force. The Archer didn�t like the odds and fled, narrowly missed by a Fireball, but Bogus did not go down until the Manticore itself entered the fray. Rexor took Precious (the ring) and Black Steel Armor, Abysia recovered the Faithful short sword and a Cat Charm. The victorious survivors received a great feast that night. I recruit a cheap Priest here, renew Rexor, and bid on the Ghostfather. Next target, the local Amazons.

In the northeast, C�tis backs off as the Celestials show up for me. Turns out they are a little battered but still potent; about half have an affliction or two, but no disease. Should they last until I can summon a Faerie Court (Conj 8), I might be able to restore the entire unit.

At the east bridge, I recruit an Anathemant Dragon. My total income now is 1,112 gold, with troop upkeep 310 gold. I have reached a milestone in which I can build a fort without saving for a turn. Next turn should see another Warlock or two and, finally, the rebuilding of the Lizard Lab.


TURN 42
In the northwest on the west continent, Caelum backs off, followed by one of my scouts. The Devils fly directly to the special site. Lots of enemy dominion popping up to the south; I have to remember that Man is there and we are at war. I need to reinforce this base quickly so I will be hard to push off the west continent.

In the capital, I�m trying to reorganize blood hunting again. I am recruiting another Demonbred, but I don�t have enough Apprentices blood hunting to support two full-time summoners. A continuing problem is the low population of the inland provinces, which is making the coast look increasingly attractive.

In the north, the attack against the Amazons commences. The northeast corner is static; I put the Lizard Shaman on research.

By the east bridge, C�tis seems a little twitchy, and my dominion is shrinking here. The Anathemant Dragon sacrifices a precious Blood Slave to bolster my dominion. My Druid forges a Thistle Mace.

I�m thinking that I�ll probably have to fight C�tis before Caelum. I will try to fortify my foothold on the west continent and expand down the west coast of the east continent first, at least to the large forest, but the instant C�tis puts up a global spell, I will re-evaluate this stance. I figure I have enough Astral gems now for one Dispel attempt, but it�s really hard to build a reserve of these. I have reached Construction 4. I will reach Evocation 4 next turn (rushing a little), so I shift the rest of my production to Blood (to be adjusted to half the following move).


TURN 43
Disaster in the north! Total annihilation of Rexor�s expedition: both mercenary units and commanders, my Hall of Fame Salamander priest, and my Prophet are all dead. I will be devoting half my income to building up the north fort garrison. Right now, I am sending the Manticore and bidding on the Wind Lord to get a force to crush the Amazon resistance. There are 2 commanders and 12 troops surviving the battle, so two turns should see the ladies off. To make sure, I will recall the Celestials and guard the northeast front with Lizard Warriors.

On the west continent, the special site is secured; next step, last independent province adjacent to my base. A new Demonbred flies over from my capital with more Devils; I will build another Demonbred this next turn. I beef up the normal troop contingents and province defense in the west continent provinces.

On the east continent coast, blood hunters flock to my large coastal city, and the first one in gets a Sanguine Rod. Small numbers of troops move in to reinforce the city guard. The cheap Priest arrives in Amazon province.

By the east bridge, the dominion loss is now alarming. Despite this, I dispatch a Druid to the island with orders to raise Shamblers and build a Temple. The Anathemant Dragon conducts a blood sacrifice. If this doesn�t work, I�ll have to pull the priests off research to preach up the province dominion. Incidentally, I have exactly one Warlock with Water magic, and he's in the capital. The Shamblers don�t come with a leader. I must build a replacement Warlock before moving the one in place, and it�s five moves to the island, so I have time to put together a Shambler force before their leader arrives. Or I can make a Water Breathing Ring and send a local commander.


TURN 44
In the northwest on the western continent, the Devils return to the base for refit and reinforcement. It takes three turns of flight to get to this base from the capital. Just hunkering down, scouting, and building a little PD and a few more troops on this front. I�d really like to connect the two cities across the bay, but I don�t think that�s too realistic an expectation at this point.

In the north, the attack goes in on the Amazons. It occurs to me that this may be a poor use of the Windmaster, since I have no Air sites and this is my ticket in. Still, I make sure to transfer 11 of his gems to the Manticore, so I will have a stock if he falls.

I play a deep tactical position, setting up on my baseline to draw in the ground troops. After holding two turns, I�ll attack rear to take out the commanders before the ground troops can get back to them. In the last battle, both commanders had bodyguards, so maybe that will draw in my attacks (normally combat units ignore commanders unless they actually run into them).

The northeast just got interesting. C�tis just took out the Earth Mother with 110 City Guards, Militia, and Falchioneers. We now have a two-province front, and I�m really weak, since his other province has 50 units! It�s a good thing the Celestials are headed for the fort. If C�tis attacks, I will be hard pressed to man it. It is imperative that the Amazons be subdued and added to my forces before a general war starts. Although it will cost me two sure Abysian Infantry, I risk a bid on the Dragon Tamer to bolster the fort.

It�s quiet by the east bridge. I have two Salamander priests out to build temples on my side of the river, but there is no money in the collection box this month, so they preach.

As a refinement of my strategic vision, I will try to slowly shift forces so the east continent is mostly Abysian, while mercs and normal humans spearhead the effort on the west continent. We'll see how it works.

[RedRover]

TURN 45
In the northwest on the west continent, Caelum is pushing hard toward the coastal city two provinces south of me. The only way to forestall this is to send the Devils (who are getting a little battered) up against 50 Ichtyids. If they're successful, Caelum�s access is blocked. I can wait a turn and go in with 5 more devils, but run the risk of having Caelum come in behind me while I�m weak.

Since I�ve lost touch with Man, I decide to move immediately. Man may have a problem (war with Caelum?) because in about 10 turns he doesn�t seem to have moved north at all.

((A short digression about my Blood economy. It is very weak and I'm not exactly pushing it hard. A few turns ago I said I had enough Blood Slaves for four Devils. That didn't mean I summoned four Devils that turn. I have one Demonbred raising Devils and one researcher flying them to the front whenever I get a half dozen or so, so the statement indicates my expectation that I have four turns of Devil-summoning before I'm out out Blood Slaves. In the event, as I recall, I summoned one Devil and forged the Sanguine Rod with the other Demonbred.))

In the north, the Amazons are finally crushed. Tempus the Wind Lord, who picks up Precious, sets up a Lab, while the Manticore Pretender flies to the north fort. The Dragon Tamer is there, and the Celestials will arrive next turn. C�tis has moved away from the border, though, so there is no war this season. This sector will henceforth become the "northeast front." The north front has disappeared with the conquest of the Amazons. I own the whole north map edge on the east continent (hurray!).

On my side of the east bridge, I build two more temples to support my dominion. Blood sacrifices continue and seem to be effective, I am holding my own here. No money for new Priests or Warlocks, though. Remote scry turns up a Death gem site here! Gem Income: 7F/2E/5S/2D/2N + 8-9B on average (seems low for turn 45, but it's a low-magic game).

Scores: For provinces, I lead, Ulm is second and declining, followed by C�tis (stagnant) and Pythium (growing); the latter has passed Man. To me, it looks probable that a Pythium/Ulm war is in progress, with Ulm getting the worst of it�probably on the south continent. Man and Caelum may be at war as well.

For income, Man is ahead, growing steadily. I�m second, after a sharp spike up and spike down (blood economy flux, hunting brings unrest, which requires low taxes to fix), then Ulm, Pythium, and Caelum. (Economic advisor shorthand for my condition is that I've "got the bloody flux again.")

For gem income, C�tis leads with some recent big finds, I�m second only because Caelum lost some. Ulm trails me as much as I trail C�tis, and next is Man with about half of what C�tis is getting. (There may be a math challenge in here somewhere.)

For research, Arco leads, Caelum is a clear second at about two-thirds Arco�s value, and Man is clear third. I�m fourth, and growing faster than Pythium, I�m about two-thirds Caelum�s value.

For dominion, Ulm leads, but Caelum is closing the gap. C�tis is third, oscillating but static. I�m fourth, oscillating but growing. Pythium is falling rather sharply. Man is oscillating but static. Arcoscephele has fallen completely off the graph.

For armies, C�tis is looking very scary (if I�m at 1, C�tis is at 18!)--almost as strong as everyone else put together. Ulm and Man are about equal (at about 8), Pythium leads Caelum (about 4 to 3). Arcoscephale edges me into the cellar at 1+. I knew my military was weak, but holy cow! Looks like it�s long past time for me to build more troops!

[RedRover]

TURN 46
Be careful what you wish for! In the northwest, Man showed up adjacent to the blocking province I just took, with 120 mixed infantry! Since the Devils took no losses, I think it�s safe to leave them there.

I build up the province defense, bring in my infernal reserves from the west continent fort (5 Devils + 1 Demonbred and gems) and dig in. This might be an important province, because it�s a source of Ichtyids, which I will need in order to go aquatic, plus there�s an Arena site here. It also would make my fort placement awkward, because if I built a base here to maximize Fish Man production, I would overlap the first northwestern base in two provinces. On the other hand, a base here would secure the large coastal town. Looking back, I think I might have been better served not to try the west continent at all, but to have concentrated on the east continent. Consider:

I am badly overextended now and exposed to Man and Caelum both instead of just Caelum. I am suffering in my blood hunting because I don�t have the populous coastal plains of the east continent. If Man and C�tis both attack me, and Caelum joins a general dogpile, it will be very bad for me. I empower my Amazon Sorceress so she can find Earth sites.

It occurs to me that I might be able to use the map names to target magic sites: Godsgrave Mountains might be a Death site, Aeros River might have Air gems, and so forth. I will test the theory this turn. This wouldn�t work in a standard game, because most of the names are randomized, but I haven�t played this map much, or recently, so I don�t know how much of it is designed (yes, I could look at the map text file, but that�s cheating, so I won�t).

On the coast, the large city is played out. Apparently, it can�t support two Apprentices with Sanguine Rods hunting monthly. I need to thin out the hunters, only hunt even turns, or maybe transfer one of the Rods to another blood hunter. Unfortunately, this city and my capital are my only provinces with over 10,000 population, and I haven�t had much luck hunting in provinces under 6,000. Provinces in the 6-10K range are scattered widely and few have Labs, so I would need some Scouts as porters or more money for Labs. It would take some time to reorganize along these lines. My blood hunting strategy is still a work in progress.

In the northeast, I move some cheap Priests into position to build Temples, get the Wind Lord busy scrying for sites, put the Manticore back on research, and add a few units to fort defense. And hope the balloon doesn�t go up this turn.

By the east bridge, the outlying Priests are recalled, and I ramp up research. The blood sacrifices to restore dominion seem to be working, and the new Temples should help hold the dominion line. Also, I suspect the reason I started losing dominion was that the C�tis Prophet had moved next to my province. But now the C'tis garrison has shrunk to 20 Militia and no commander is radiating power, so things ought to be back to normal soon on this front.

I rush slightly to get Blood 4 next turn, must rebalance research then. I also need to let my Death gems build up a little. I could use a few Mentor Skulls for research and Horror Helms for the commanders.

[RedRover]

TURN 47
Hmmm. Looking at the Blood 4 spells, I see Call Horror. If I give a Starshine Cap to an Apprentice, he can cast this. Could I nuke a large enemy army by running a single Apprentice and soldier onto the field, cast this spell, then flee while the Horror cuts down their number? Might be a way to preempt a C�tis horde attack�I�ll keep it in mind.

The Godsgrave probe was a huge success! Two sites, 2D1A1W. This gives me unlimited Air scrying as long as Tempus remains, and getting access to Water is a big plus also. I now have sources for all gem types, a major milestone! On the other hand, Aeros River was a bust, so the theory stays only a theory, after all.

On the west continent, Man backs off. I�ll take a chance and send the Devils to grab the last independent province close to the Fish Man province. If I build a Fish Man base, I will need the adjacent province for production. The only danger is accidentally hitting a huge Man force and losing the Devils and Demonbred. Looking at this whole area, I am losing badly here on dominion. I must fix this or my position here will be untenable. Next turn�s priority, though.

In the northeast, I quietly build, scry, and research. The C�tis masses are gone except for a watch group of 50 Ghouls and Tomb Worms, but his Prophet is here. If he starts hurting my dominion, I�ll either have to build a Salamander priest or get the Manticore over there.

The west coast of the east continent has a new development. Arcoscephale (!)--I wondered where they were--has taken the woods province next to the large coastal city south of my holdings. I have to start an offensive here soon or lose the high population centers of the coast. This area is the only expansion zone I have left after this turn. I'm blocked on the west continent by Caelum and Man, and on the east side of the east continent by C'tis. South along the west coast of the east continent is my only growth option.

The God�s Justice mercenary appears at this moment. Perfect! It nearly breaks me to lay out the 400+ gold this turn, but if the bid works I will have a shot at the two Plains provinces along the coast and maybe even the inland town, if Arco doesn�t press. It occurs to me that I wouldn�t have much of a game if it weren�t for the mercenaries. I must play this difficulty level more often and see if I can make it with more of an all-nation army.

[RedRover]

TURN 48
The dead prophet�s power is back, so the Anathemant Dragon gets it. Temple count: 14. I must build at least one more this turn (my starting Dominion was 5, at +1 per 5 Temples, one more temple increases me to Dominion 8, making it much harder for enemy priests to preach down my influence).

In the northwest on the west continent, the attack on the independent succeeds in classic manner. My deep set-on draws in the ground troops, then the Devils pounce on the command group. There is just one more open province between Man and Caelum, but going for it is just asking to get hammered. I patrol and preach, instead.

In the northeast, C�tis is back to 110 Falchioneers, Heavy Infantry, and Tomb Guards, led by the Prophet, and my dominion is down to 0 in the target(?) province. I reinforce with a small force of Lizard Men and the Manticore. Might be a mistake, I don�t think this can hold him off if the intel is accurate. Magnus�s Crossbows come up. Sheesh, am I a merc junkie this game, or what? I think I have to�

On the west coast, the attack on independent provinces begins. A scout reports an Arco force of 50 Slingers and Heavy Cavalry, with an Elephant. May be enough to take the big city, if he attacks. Next turn I may have to choose between a coastal plain and a small inland town.

By the east bridge, C�tis has bulked up: 110 Militia, City Guard, and Tomb Worms. Not enough to take me here, I think, but may be enough to block my gutting his nation if he hits me in the northeast. No matter. If he attacks, I will go berserk against his forces, cut off his expeditionary force, and ravage his holdings up and down the east map edge, or die trying. I also think Arco may dogpile him if he does attack me. Too bad we are the wimpiest military forces in the game. I convert most of my researching priests to preaching this turn.