AAR: Time of the Ice Giants

[sachmo]

I've been inspired by Arryn's AAR to write one of my own. Since I have a habit of turning AAR's into novellas, I'm going to use his style of writing to keep my narrative down and keep the game stats involved in the AAR. Otherwise, it will get swallowed in a morass of meidocre writing!

Comments are welcome, but I feel it's important to point out that I'm still a rather inexperienced player. I'm sure many people know more than I do, and may find my choices baffling. The point of this AAR is to entertain, so hopefully you will enjoy it even if my strategic decisions have you scratching your head! So, without further ado...The Time of the Ice Giants!!

[sachmo]

So, we'll start with the Pretender creation. I love this part. So many options to choose from!

Since I love Jotunheim so much, that's who I'll start with. The Jotunheim are a race of ice giants. They are expensive to build, but hell in melee, which I like.

I've played a few games. Once with a Bog Mummy, which was pretty neat, and the Son of the Neifel, who was a melee master. I've decided to try a new tactic, and selected a great Blue Dragon. He shall be known as Rhyvinter!

First, we'll select our Dominion scale selection. Jotun giants prefer cold, so I'll tip the scale 3 notches into Cold. Then to make up for the slow production I'll tip the scale one notch in our favor. That gives us 530 points to use...not bad.
Well stay with the default Iron Woods theme and see how that goes. I usually play Niefelheim, but I want something a little different.

I'll bump Dominion Strength to 5, and hope that our people spread the word of Rhyvinters greatness with zeal. Time will tell.

We'll leave the castle as a Watchtower, allowing us to build more of them quickly. I plan on attacking the whole game, so I'm not too worried about defense.

For magic, I'm going to try to go one color. The Blue Dragon starts out with 2 Water, so I'll go for the 9 and take the Quickness blessing for my blessed troops. That should make a difference on the battlefield!
Now, I've got 236 points left, but it's going to cost me 80 to buy a new path, so I have to make it count. I'll go 4 Earth, because I think it's a cool path.

I'll take my remaining 80 points and bump my dominion up to 7! Take that, baddies!

Thus is born Rhyvinter, Prince of the Oceans, Prince of All Water Sources, Lord of Niefel, the Narrow Face!! Let the enemies of Jotunheim tremble at his approach!!


Speaking of enemies, I've got to set up the game.
We'll add Ermor to the mix, Machaka, R'lyeth, Pangea, Man, Pythium, Caelum, and Mictlan.

Yikes!

I'll play on good old Aran! And we're ready to begin!

[sachmo]

Turn 1
Spring, Year 1

In the early days, the Jotun were led by a powerful Blue Dragon. Years of struggle between the tribes of the giants had ended when Rhyvinter the ancient Blue slew his rivals during a huge battle at The Dagger of Rinheim. With no one to contest his rule, Rhyvinter joined all of the Jotun tribes into a powerful nation. Once his reign was secure, he turned his attention to the lands beyond�


Treasury: 400
Income: 150
Provinces: 1

Initial Forces:
Farbaute the Jotun Herse, commanding 8 Jotun Axemen
Fjollvinter the Jotun Scout
Rhyvinter the Pretender God

I see that the mercenary company The Black Fists are available for 150 gold. At this stage, mercenaries are invaluable to my forces, so I shell out the gold for them.
Since we know nothing about the forces in the lands surrounding Jotunheim, I decide not to attack anything this turn. There are seven provinces adjacent to the capitol, so next turn we should have our pick.

Rhyvinter will research Evocation, so that we can get some good combat spells.
I recruit 1 Jotun Gode, a very powerful priest, with plans to make him Rhyvinter�s prophet. We also recruit 1 Jotun Spearman and 1 Jotun Militia.

I send Fjollvinter to one of the adjacent provinces.

[ June 19, 2004, 16:05: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 2
Late Spring, Year 1

As was fortold, the armies of the other nations rose up as well. Word quickly spread through the land that Askator, Pretender God of Ermor, Warrior Against the Sky, Sky of all the People, Prince of Famine had named Boneater, a Wraith Centurion, as his Prophet. Rhyvinter was unconcerned. The enemies of Jotun could prepare however they wished. In the end, they would all fall�

Treasury: 271
Income: 150 (+0)
Provinces: 1

Blackfist joined with Pythium, taking our gold with him. Having him would have helped at this stage of the game, but it can�t be helped.

Visbur the Jotun Gode has joined our forces. He should be able to maximize the benefit of our blessed troops. We�ll make him the Prophet before we send him out with the armies.

So instead, I believe that Rhyvinter will go out alone to one province, while Farbaute goes after another.

Farbaute will be facing about 10 militias and heavy infanty, and Rhyvinter will take on 10 militas, along with the Scout Fjollvinter.

Recruitment:
1 Vaetti Hag, to research spells and create magic items.
1 Jotun Spearman
1 Jotun Hirdman
1 Jotun Woodsman

[ June 19, 2004, 16:12: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 3
Early Summer, Year 1

In the Forest of Gun, the enemy formed their lines, around two hundred men in all. Across the field from them stood two men. One appeared as an old man dressed in robes of frost, and the other was a worn looking Jotun scout. The commanders of the local forces laughed when they saw what was arrayed against them, and ordered their forces to march out and slaughter the hapless foes. Just as they cleared the trees, the old man in the robes of frost cast a spell. Hundreds of rock and stones flew up from the earth, came together in a large cloud before the wizard, and hurled themselves with tremendous force against the advancing soldiers. Some fell, and the lines paused, but quickly regained confidence. The commanders began yelling at their men to close the distance more quickly, embarrassed at the light losses they had already suffered at the hands of the two from Jotun. Another could of stones flew at the soldiers, killing a few more. The soldiers increased their pace, and were now getting very close to the old man and the scout. Suddenly, the old man bent over as if to touch the ground with his face. To the amazement of the soldiers, he began to change before their eyes. His entire body seemed to expand in all directions at one, and in an instant, where and old man had once stood there now stood a great Blue Dragon. The soldiers stopped their advance as stared in horror as the thing spread it�s great wings and bellowed in rage. One of the commanders stepped out from the ranks of soldiers and tried to rally the troops. The dragon rose into the air and bore down on him. The commander screamed a war cry, and this helped to stiffen the resolve of his men. They charged the dragon even as it swooped down to claw great numbers of them. Most of the weapons used against Rhyvinter bounced harmlessly off of his great hide, but as chance would have it, the commander who was the first to be hit by his great claw had thrown his spear, which flew with uncanny precision through the air and slammed into one of the dragon�s great eyes. He thrashed about in pain and anger until the missile dislodged itself, but the damage had been done. His eye was ruined. Maddened by pain, Rhyvinter threw himself against the soldiers, his icy breath freezing mobs of soldiers in an instant, his mouth and claws ripping flesh from bone. In moments, it was over. The few remaining soldiers fled the field, melting into the countryside. Rhyvinter and Fjollvinter made a bandage for his ruined eye, and then set out for the village. It was time for the heathens of this land to gaze upon their new master�

Treasury: 240
Income: 150 (+0)
Provinces: 2

Rhyvinter and Fjollvinter won their battle against the independent land of Forest of Gun. The battle was costly, as Rhyvinter lost an eye, which lowers his Attack by 2, his Defense by 2, and his Precision by 3! Now it will be harder for him to hit with ranged spells. Bah. Lesson learned, I suppose. Not much to be done about it now.

Farbaute attacked the province of Worskin. Our forces took no losses, but they retreated before the battle was won. I�ll have to remember to bring a Gode along with my Herse, to bolster morals. What a waste. He did gain a heroic endurance, however.

Farbaute and Visbur are going back to Worskin to try to finish the province.
Jord the Vietti Hag was recruited. She will research for now.
Rhyvinter will head back to Jotunheim. No sense getting him hurt further.

Recruitment:
1 Jotun Jarl
1 Jotun Hirdman

Taxes in the Forest of Gun are reduced to zero to bring unrest down.

[ June 19, 2004, 16:10: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 4
Summer, Year 1

Visbur invoked the power of Rhyvinter, and the holy troops felt as if they could move with the speed of a mighty river. Farbaute ran out in front of the Jotun lines, taunting the defenders of Worskin. Their undisciplined troops could not hold, and they ran down the hill to meet the giants, ignoring the screams of the priest commanding them to hold their positions. It was their undoing. As Farbaute turned to face them, they could feel the power radiating from him, and watched in awe as he moved with uncanny speed, cutting them down by the dozens. Inspired by the heroics of their commander, the Jotun soldiers charged to meet the independents, and quickly surrounded them. Spears and axes stabbed into the soldier�s lines, cutting men down. The slaughter was complete. Not a single Worskin defender remained. The few villagers who had watched the fight from the woods beyond the field were awed by the power of the Jotun, and the power of Rhyvinter�

Treasury: 225
Income: 196 (+46)
Provinces: 3

All unrest in the Forest of Gun was quelled. Taxes were raised back to 100%, raising the total income of Jotun lands to 240.
The unrest in Worshin was relatively low at 13, so the tax will be reduced to 70. Also, in Worshin is an arena, which contributes 15 gold per turn to our cause.

Our Jotun Jarl has been recruited, and we�ll name him Godzilla Blitz! YAY!
GB will take on a small force and move against some of the weaker provinces surrounding the capitol. His first target will be Temigila, a province held by a small force of archers.

Rhyvinter will research this turn.
Farbaute and Visbur will move against the Farseer Mountains. A small force of light infantry hold this province.

Recruitment:
1 Jotun Scout
1 Jotun Hirdman

[ioticus]

Thanks for writing this, I enjoy reading AARs. Since I'm a very poor player, it helps me to learn strategy. One of the hardest parts of the game for me is learning what spells to research and how to use them effectively. Could you let us know what path(s) you're researching and you're reason for doing so? Also, what AI levels are you using? Thanks!

[sachmo]

Originally posted by splooger:
Thanks for writing this, I enjoy reading AARs. Since I'm a very poor player, it helps me to learn strategy. One of the hardest parts of the game for me is learning what spells to research and how to use them effectively. Could you let us know what path(s) you're researching and you're reason for doing so? Also, what AI levels are you using? Thanks!

I don't know if you want to follow my strategies, but thanks for reading!

As for the magic, I'll try to remember to put a note about what I'm researching. Here is an excerpt from day 1:

Rhyvinter will research Evocation, so that we can get some good combat spells.

If that suffices, I'll try to keep the same sort of information coming. Let me know.

All of the AIs are easy. I thought about using normal, but I haven't played a game with this many AIs so I don't want to get wiped out too quickly!

[ June 19, 2004, 17:14: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Another note...if anyone would like to see their name in the story, speak up and I'll see if I have a commander who can wear your name with honor. Or garrison with honor. Or research. I think you see my point.

I want to see Wooly Bolothorn. While not me per say, he is after all, a great and adept leader of men, giants and mooses.