Silent Seas AAR

[st.patrik]

Nerfix said:
Warrior musicians? Bards? Show them!

but i haven't summoned them yet...

[st.patrik]

Turn 28
Six Gandharvas answered my call. Gandharvas, unlike Yavanas, wear armour. All around pretty impressive. Add the water blessing and you have a very impressive warrior, especially for Early Era.



Also I finally found a Yaksha who is able to summon others of his kind: Candakirana. For 25 Nature gems I can call another Yaksha to join me. This is good, since if I want to recruit one I would have to pay 360 gold. I will soon have plenty of semi-divine mages to carry out my bidding.

Ananda is crossing the border as we speak into the independant province next to Caelum's capital. He has a force of 10 armoured Bandar apes, and 30 Yavanas divided into 2 squads with orders to outflank the enemy. I expect no trouble.

I had decided that as soon as the next breakthrough in research is complete I will direct the yogis attention to the science of Construction. I want to outfit my (expensive) commanders with items that will make them likely to live longer. After all, if Boreda the Yakshini is any guide, they have at least another 230 years before they hit old age.

[Ballbarian]

Just curious, but do the summoned Yaksha cost the same amount in upkeep as the hired ones? Oh, and while I'm on the subject of upkeep, is math still required or does the UI display upkeep for a given unit somewhere? It may be that I have seen a screen and missed that detail???

[okiN]

Wow, those Gandharvas are regular hard boys. The AI doesn't stand a chance!

[Agrajag]

Ballbarian said:
...Oh, and while I'm on the subject of upkeep, is math still required...?

Not that I have any idea, but "Divide by 15" isn't such difficult math (neither is "If Holy, Divide by 30")

[Nerfix]

How many Gandharvas for how many gems the spell summons?

[st.patrik]

I would assume that summoned Yakshas/Yakshinis cost the same upkeep as recruited ones. As to upkeep costs, you still need to do math for the individual units as far as I can tell.

You get 6 Gandharvas for 18 astral pearls, so 3 pearls per Gandharva. I think this is about right - it means you can get a small elite force, but you can't flood the field with them.

Personally I think they pretty much rock, especially considering that in early era there are almost no prot 17 units - armour that thick just doesn't exist yet. So these guys stand out.

[st.patrik]

Turn 29
Took over the independant province easily, although I may need to reposition Ananda - I'm not sure he was close enough to the second group of Yavanas to bless them. Here's a shot of the action:



In other news, Caelum sent some more hawks my way (when will he learn?). I guess there's not much else he can do right now. Also, whether by accident or attack I do not know, but somehow there was an earthquake in one of my provinces, which destroyed my temple there. Frustrating setback. Arana must now go back there and build another one. It's an unlucky province, which may have something to do with it.

The Yaksha that answered Candakirana's call, Asamati, is somewhat skilled in Astral magic, which is unusual for a Yaksha. I have heard tell of a powerful spell which, when invoked, sends great meteors crashing into the ranks of one's enemy. I believe that Asamati may be uniquely gifted to exercise this arcane power. However, I have no idea of the specifics of the incantation. Maybe I will task my Yogis on researching this rather than Construction.

Divya called up more Gandharvas this turn. They can withstand frontline action, even including the arrows T'ien Ch'i is likely to use.

Ananda is pausing in his tour of Independant territories to build a temple. Now all that is needed is for these bars that restrain me to crumble and let me come in person to oversee my people.

[Nerfix]

Gift from Heaven eh? You think it's worthwhile to purse it?

And a setback, nasty.

[st.patrik]

Gifts from Heaven is a great anti SC spell, although that's more important in MP play than SP. However, I do want my Yakshas and Yakshinis to be able to be able to cast some enemy-damaging spells - blade wind, falling frost, gifts from heaven, etc.