This thread will contain my documented notes from my first full game. I was the Red Dragon in a 5 person limited diplomacy (every 3 turns) game. It starts with pretty much everything related ot each turn, but as time goes by I switch to more of a summary. I will also attach my turn results and Map when possible. I welcome comments, advice and suggestions!
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Diary of a New Player (Game 541)
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03-16-2017, 07:17 PM
Initial Thoughts:
Pre Game thoughts: This is a 5 player game that will be fought on the Resurgent map. This map is pretty big and has 10 regions. Simple math says we might each easily get 2 regions each. As we go into the game we have the Elves, the Dark Elves, the Sorcerer, the Underworld and the Red Dragons(me) as the contestants. I thought long and hard about my Kingdom choice. I had STRONGLY considered going with the Demon Princes as well due to their ability to gate around and take cities. With just 5 Kingdoms I figured there would be a lot of open cities to snag. Imperial Tark was playing in the first Cut Throat game and dominating as the Reds… he suggested I give it a try. As a newer player, I can use all the help I can get! He also was very gracious about answering several game related questions prior to this game starting and I am very grateful for his patience. As the game is starting I will not ask any further questions of him. (edit- I did ask another question related to the High Council as this part of the game was not in my Duel) As I size up my adversaries I think the Underworld will be my greatest challenge. The Elves and DarkElves both seem to be at a similar experience level as me which the Sorcerer is a bit more of a veteran but has yet to podium and I think his Kingdom will struggle to develop quickly enough as wizards take a while to get going (but then watch out). The Underworld however is headed by a player with a lot more experience and who just served as my mentor in my initial Duel (1-1) game. He taught me a bunch, but I know we’ve only scratched the surface. To compliment that, his Underworld is probably one of the few kingdoms that can match up well against my mighty Red Dragons. His edge lays not on the battlefield, but rather in the huge advantage he will have in his Agents and somewhat in his Emissaries. As both the Reds and The Underworld are “dispersed” kingdoms I do not know what regions we will start in. We will be spread out over 2-4 regions though. Normally this is a critical weakness, but in the Primeval game with only 5 players, it’s impact is significantly lessened… or so I hope! As I write this we have just under 2 hours until our Kingdom choices lock in and our game hopefully begins shortly thereafter. As I have time to kill I will give my thoughts on the starting positions and each opponent: Region # (Based on my understanding at game start… could be wrong in some of my assumptions) 1. Oakendell will be the home of the Elves although its possible the Underworld capital could be there as well 2. Northern Mists will be empty unless the Underworld or Reds start there 3. Talking Mountains could be one of the areas my capital starts in but otherwise will be open for contention. This is actually where I hope my capital is as it will give me at least a 1 region buffer in any direction (unless UN starts in Region 2). 4. Torvale will be the home of the Sorcerer (and potentially the Underworld) 5. Amberland will be up for grabs 6. Eastern Steppes will be open to all 7. Runnimede is another region that my capital COULD be in.. or it could be open 8. Arcania is the same as Runnimede 9. Synisvania will be the hope of the Darkelves and potentially the Underworld 10. Southern Sands could be the capital of the Underworld or potentially open • The Elves- My prior Kingdom from the Duel was the DarkElves so I assume these play similarly. It should be a very balanced Kingdom that can have some potent wizards (2nd tier) later in the game. Their success will hinge on whether the Northern Mists is occupied and if the Sorcerer looks northward. I would not want to tangle with him in his home of Oakendell but feel confident that if I start in the north I can keep him contained and push him into conflict with the Sorcerer • The Sorcerer- Has more experience than me for sure, and called out the Red Dragons as a target when signing up. I am hoping that the Underworld starts in his region and they tie each other up for a while. If given time, his wizards are unmatched in potential and could be a late game force. I just hope that by the time that happens I am well ahead! • The Darkelves- As my former Kingdom I know them well. They have few weak points. I can dominate them on the battlefield if their wizards are kept low, so early game they should not be a problem. If the Underworld did not start in the Sorcerer’s region I hope they start here! • The Underworld- Scary player with a scary Kingdom. Not much I can do to defend against them. They will start with an edge with their Agents (I think they start with a level 6!), get gold every time one of us trains OUR agents, and can raise the training costs to make it very difficult to keep up. They can decimate my political game and potentially wreak havoc on my military leaders as well. I must play a cautious game and try to ward/protect all my characters as best I can. I hope they start far away! I anticipate he will quickly get his High Priestess (maybe multiples) and when combined with the agents he will have a lot of information at his disposal… It’s now 8:00PM!! Deadline has passed so Kingdoms are now locked in. My next update will relate to my setup and initial turn submission!
Setup and 1st turn orders:
Setup & Turn 0 A short time after Kingdom selection is final, my initial setup and Turn 0 show up in my Email (You can also access via the order entry website). Example setups of all Kingdoms can be found in a helpful forum post by UncleMike where he lists all the new spell lists. As such I won’t go into the setup much other than to say that I have FANTASTIC movement, and the strongest military units. Since I am the mighty Red Dragon kingdom my recruitment is limited to Wyverns, Great Bats, and the mythical Phoenix. The Phoenix I cannot recruit until I have a Marshal and head to a special location so I will ignore that for a bit. In order to recruit the other units though, I will need to have at least 1 Veteran rank brigade in my group (as well as be in certain terrain with no population center). I also cannot recruit Companions until Turn 4. This is really the underlying focus of my initial strategy: Split my groups up, cover as much ground as possible and try to find some villages that I can attack in order to get my troops promoted. OK, now it’s time to start digesting my Turn 0 Results! The Cover page just lists some account details and lets me know my turn is due in 4 days (currently we are not READY button enabled). Also of note is that we are in Mid Summer. This means that any southern population centers will face a shortage of food and gold production next turn (Late Summer). Then 3 turns of full productions before Winter hits and my norther PCs face the same shortfall. Political Events and Status of the Realm: This section details some basic rules for this particular game related to Diplomacy, the Win Conditions and a few other items. Going forward it will give me some important updates related to my progress or lack thereof… Activities of the Royal Court: This section lists all of my political Emissaries and Agents. As this is my first turn they were all idle, still glancing at them tells me that I got my wish and my Capital is in the Northern Mists! I also see that my Kingdom is in fact split with PCs in Arcania and Runnimede. Next up is my Current Influence (11). This is important for a few reasons. The first is that the number of orders you can enter are based on your current Influence +2 so this means I will have 13 orders to give. It also dictates your political power so that your Emissaries will have a better chance in their missions and others will have a harder time affecting you negatively with their own Emissaries. Following that we come to the Regional Summary. This section shows my relative control of each region, their reaction level to me and who owns each. Currently I am Unestablished (0 control) with a suspicious reaction in most regions. For the 3 regions that I have PCs in (Talking Mountains, Runnimede and Arcania) I have minor influence and a tolerant level reaction. One of my main goals will be to get targeted kingdoms to Friendly as soon as possible! These reaction levels are critical in the success or failure of political actions. From there we move to the High Council. Currently it is empty. There are 5 seats which will be filled one turn at a time. This is done through a blind bidding process. Since this is a Primeval game we will all eventually have a seat… so the question at hand is how much is an early seat worth versus a later one? The following section is a matrix that shows ally/enemy/neutrality declarations between all Kingdoms. As we just started we are all Neutral. I believe that this particular game type also restricts us from formal alliances. Military Encounters and Group Readiness is next. This section lists all of my groups, shows their strength in various combat situations, their leaders, wizards and Brigade makeup. I am utterly stunned at the starting strength of my first group. Their value vs PC is a staggering 17,433 at start. For reference, my prior kingdom from my starter duel had me playing the DarkElves. Their main group was worth just a bit over 9k and they were considered one of the stronger militaries! My first group starts at my capital along with 2 inactive (empty) groups. I believe that I can activate these anywhere but will likely use them in the Talking Mountains to try and recon and capture the region ASAP. My second group (worth 12822 against PC) is located at my town in Arcania and my 3rd group is just a patrol at my village in Runnimede. Navies come next, but the Red Dragons all fly and thus we do not maintain a navy. Each group next reports on their surroundings. As mine are all at my own PCs not much of importance is reported. Similarly each PC reports on groups in their location. Economic Report is next (Dragons LOVE gold!!!). I see my kingdom consists of 2 towns and 2 villages. My production next turn will be 14,213 food and 22,989 gold. My initial treasury is 40,000 food and a whopping 100,000 gold. This is because my kingdom has a trait (RICH) that grants extra gold at start. I also received extra gold as a handicap for new players called Chivalry.(edited.. see post #12) My estimated group consumption is 22,500 food and 22,100 gold. As this doesn’t even include the gold costs from any actions, it seems pretty apparent that I should be motivated to rapidly expand and grow my coffers or eventually my resources will run dry. The next section is a listing of Covert, Esoteric and General news. As it’s the start, this area just informs me that my max agent level is 11 with a training cost of 5,000 (remember that Underworld can change that cost!). Also, my Wizards will cost a whopping 12,000 per level to train up to 5. We now come to a listing of each Kingdom and the player behind the throne. No surprises here as we all signed up on the forum. Below that is a listing of my Skeletons. These are embarrassing facts about me that enemy kingdoms can try to discover and reveal. The main fear here will be the underworld getting my secrets and subsequently getting me kicked off the High Council. Early Strategic Objectives come next. This was not in the Duel so is new to me. The way it works is that each Kingdom can choose several objectives. These must be achieved before turn 15. You can start to claim them as early as turn 10. There are two levels of reward. A minor ESO requires 3 points while a major requires 5. My kingdom starts with 2 as a special feature. This means I just need 3 more to claim the major rewards! From what I can see these rewards are fantastic so it will be well worth my while to pursue them. The next section is a list of my prior orders (blank as this is the start) and my spell lists. I will now walk through my current orders. To make it easy to follow I will list them based on the order entry site tab (ie. Political, Covert, Divine, etc..) POLITICAL (3 Orders): • 350 Move Emissary- My Duke to area CU (Hammerhold. The Human controlled city in the Talking Mountains) • 350 Move Emissary- My Count to area CU (Hammerhold. The Human controlled city in the Talking Mountains) • 470 Enamor Region- My King in the Talking Mountains To gain control of the regions quickly I will need the city and the vast population it contains. I need to use my two highest Emissaries because my next highest is a Governor which is too low. I will need to try and move the city 2 steps (From Human control to neutral to my control) next turn. My Enamor is required to turn the region friendly which greatly increases my chances of success. I initially had additional orders here (relocating Emissaries and using the Fool) but I simply do not have enough orders available and had to cut them. COVERT (1 Order): I start with 4 Agents and a Fanatic, and I would love to be able to use them for scouting or to start training. Unfortunately my orders are very limited so I can only train 1 this turn. DIVINE (0 Orders): I have no Priestess yet. I will first need to build a temple in another tab MILITARY (9 Orders but only 5 count against the limit as transfers are free!) • 699 transfer inactive – From 1RD to 5RD (1 regular RD brigade) • 699 transfer inactive – From 1RD to 4RD (1 regular RD brigade and 1 Captain) • 700 transfer troops - From 1RD to 5RD (1 regular wyverns) • 720 Move 1RD (GV,FW,EX,EY,EZ,FZ,FY,FX) • 720 Move 2RD (VO,VP,UP,TP,SP,RP,QP,QO) • 720 Move 3RD (WJ,VK,UL,TM,SN,SO,RO,QO) • 720 Move 4RD (EV,DW,CX,BY,AY,AZ,BZ) • 720 Move 5RD (ET,DT,CS,DS,ES,FS,GS) • 744 Combine Groups (2RD and 3RD) This is where the bulk of my orders went. I first had to transfer troops to my 2 inactive brigades. I then move each of them in a search pattern. I spent a lot of time thinking about the best path to avoid doubling back later but maximizing spaces covered. Also, I’m afraid that I will end up with my troops inconveniently stuck in the top right corner of the map while the action occurs elsewhere. I’m starting to think that the Talking Mountains may not have been the best starting spot… My goal is to have groups capable of attacking a village but in order to become a veteran brigade the fight must last long enough. So, the key is to find the “sweet spot” where I will take some attrition, but not too much. I hope I did this right! Finally I had my 2nd and 3rd groups (3rd was just a patrol) merge after movement. Next turn I will divide those troops up evenly. MAGIC (0 Orders) My wizards are pitiful, but as mentioned a few times, I just do not have the orders to spare to train them yet. Also, I need to be in a population center to train them and movement comes before training. Since I am moving all groups in a search patterns I would not be able to train them anyhow. KINGDOM (1 Order) • 611 Construct Special building – The temple so I can recruit a High priestess soon. OTHER (3 Orders) • 11 Kingdom Customization- I choose a Mist talisman to help hide my emissaries, +1 Influence and a new Governor (who hopefully will get promoted to Baron when I take control of the Talking Mountains Region) • 210 Bid for Open Seat- This is a big gamble as I do not know how much to bid. Too much is wasted gold while too little results in wasting both this order and the next one, as well as postponing the extra influence point and having my proposal for next month for just 500 gold.. I settle for 23005 gold • 410 Bid for Next issue- Assuming I win my seat on the council, my bid will be unchallenged so I can try to raise my influence next turn for just 500 gold. And that’s all 13 orders! My initial thoughts: • Maybe the Talking Mountains wasn’t the greatest starting area for a game like this where I need rapid expansion. Having 1 village and 1 town in other regions across the map really hurts. • My first turn I was really crippled for order slots. I chose to focus on getting my groups organized and moving • I hinged a lot of getting on the High Council. Hope my bid is accepted! • I am going to make some assumptions regarding population. I will assume that each Region has 5 towns and 6 villages. I will assume that each city has 55,000 population, each town has 33,000 and each village has 16,000. I could be off on this, but that’s what I am going to use to try to estimate my population needs to take control of a region. This would mean that Talking Mountains has 1 City (55,000) + 5 Towns (165,000) + 6 Villages (96,000). Total of 316,000 Population. 50% is needed for control so roughly 158,000. I currently have a whopping 51,427 so I have a long way to go! • This is a limited diplomacy game so we cannot speak on the forum until next turn. Already I am considering how to approach the other players. I realize my kingdom will be the number one target but I need to somehow convince them to look elsewhere. I am strongly thinking of publicly laying claim to Runnimede and Arcania and pretending one of those is my capital while I secretly work to take over the Talking Mountains… Disinformation can be just as valuable a tool as obtaining info yourself. • At the end of the turn I should have a stockpile of 21,370 food and 37,884 gold. As you can see, if I do not get some villages quickly my food situation will rapidly turn dire. • What can go wrong? • I can lose my bid for the HC. The most likely challenger will be the Underworld as he also starts with the RICH trait (extra gold). • Someone else could start with a group or town in Talking Mountains. • My delay in training agents could allow the Underworld to raise the cost (I think he can’t do so until turn 4 which will hurt my attempts to develop a counter-espionage group. • My internal focus could allow the Elves, DarkElves or Sorcerer the time they need to start developing their Wizards • I could have put my orders in wrong (but the order website is a HUGE aid and it’s assistance cannot be understated). • I could get incredibly unlucky and not uncover enough Towns/Villages despite moving 5 groups 7-8 spaces each Other notes: • I suggest taking another look at the rule limiting Diplomacy to only every 3 turns for a new player game. I think it can create some feeling of isolation in a new player when we have an opportunity to expose them to the social aspect of the game. Just my thoughts. On a similar note, I would LOVE for there to be a mechanism like the old post cards which we sent in the postal version. Posting on the forum is a bit public and makes it hard to cut deals or exchange info. Using PMs is not the same because you would then be 100% assured that the sender is in fact who he claims to be. One part about the old postcard system I loved was the ability to “forge” cards from other kingdoms and sow confusion… Num A B C D E F G H I J 11 C7 C5 C4 210 23005 350 LU CU 350 OK CU 410 500 1 R RD O 470 GR 3 500 RO 611 T FU 699 1RD 5RD RD 1 R 699 1RD 4RD RD 1 R L 700 1RD 5RD WY 1 R 720 1RD GV FW EX EY EZ FZ FY FX 720 2RD VO VP UP TP SP RP QP QO 720 3RD WJ VK UL TM SN SO RO QO 720 4RD EV DW CX BY AY AZ BZ 720 5RD ET DT CS DS ES FS GS 744 2RD 3RD Well it’s now 11AM on Friday… and I have to wait until Monday at noon to get my results back. It’s going to be a LONG weekend!
03-16-2017, 07:47 PM
Turn 1 Results are in! I will give the results by Order number and then summarize other important information:
11 – My Kingdom Customization – All received as planned. I will need to transfer the Mist Talisman to an emissary to use it. 210 – Bid for High Council- Success! I hold the first seat on the Council! 350(x2)- Both Emissaries relocated to the main city in Talking Mountains 410- As the only person on the Council, my issue was successfully raised and will be voted on this turn 470 – Enamor Region- Success, Talking Mountains are now Friendly! 500 – Train Agent- I now have a Level 4 Agent in my employ 611 – Construct Temple - My capital now hosts a wonderful temple! 699(x2)- My Main force split into 3 to allow me to cover more space 700 – I transferred an additional wyvern brigade 720(x5) – All my groups moved as ordered 744- My group 2 and 3 merged. This was just in case we ended on an enemy unit. Impressions: So far so good. Everything went according to plan! I should be able to take the Talking Mountains by turn 3, the big question is where to focus after that. Arcania seems the likely choice as I am Tolerant there, have a town and also have uncovered several PCs. The issue is really that I will be operating with a gap between my regions. VERY hard to defend. The alternate is to abandon the south entirely and move into Northern Mists or Eastern Steppes which should both be unclaimed early. These regions are suspicious of me, and I also have no troops there, nor do I know the locations of any PCs. I also will need some southern holdings to get me through Winter… so for now my inclination is to stick with Arcania as my #2 target. My groups moved as follows: 5th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area GS. During movement we passed a Neutral village at CS. 2nd Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area QO. During movement we passed a Human village at UP, Neutral village at TP. 3rd Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area QO. During movement we passed a Neutral village at UL, Neutral town at TM. 1st Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area FX. During movement we passed a Neutral town at EY, Neutral town at FZ. 4th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area BZ. During movement we passed a Human village at CX. The only other item of interest is that I landed on an Excellent Class Unusual Sighting at GS with my 5th group. These sightings can often reveal a great treasure such as an artifact or weapon, but my group leaders are not currently strong enough to have a good chance of success. I also need them to keep moving and land on some PCs to take next turn. I have started to engage the other players on the Forum as we are allowed Diplomancy this turn. It will be difficult as we cannot speak again until Turn 4. I hope to mislead them into thinking Runnimede is my base, but that may end up being a mistake as someone may move into Arcania or Talking Mountains thinking they are empty… The DA King has been a bit aggressive with proposing everyone get 2 issues automatically passed on the High Council without challenge. As I bid a vast sum (23005) gold for the right to sit here, I have no intention of giving it away for free. I offer to agree to his suggestion if he compensates me for the gold I spent. I know he will not do this, but hope it is received better than a flat-out rejection. He has also voiced his intention to vote against anyone that does not follow his proposal. I let him know that this would be ill received by my Kingdom and leave it at that for now. The actual game discussion can be found at the link below if anyone wants to match my comments to those actual diplomacy posts: http://kingdomsofarcania.net/forum/showt...?tid=10981 As a side note, the UN King continues to win game after game simultaneous to this one. If I am not mistaken, in the past few days he has won 2 duels and a team game. Without a doubt, he will be a formidable foe. These Diplomacy Rules hamstring me though, should I post anything that would urge the others to band against him, I will draw his attention. For now, I will need to stay out of his crosshairs (although the Sorcerer seems wary of him as well!). My goals for this turn will be to take the city in Talking Mountains and position all my groups and emissaries at other PCs to be able to take them the following turn. If all goes well, by Turn 3 I may have Talking Mountains and a significant piece of Arcania (but neither of it’s twin cities). I hope to take 1 town with diplomacy next turn and 2 villages militarily. As stated above I think I need about 158,000 for control and currently have 51,427. That plus the city (55,000) plus 1 town (30,000) plus 2 villages ( 2 x 16,000) should give me 168,000 but taking the villages will also hurt their population. It will be close. I could try and take a second town, but it seems like a waste of orders and resources… of course if I fall short of taking regional control it will be a disaster. Such decisions are why the crown sits so heavily on my brow! Following the same pattern, I will now go through my orders for Turn 2: POLITICAL (6 Orders): · 320- Rebel the city of Hammerhold with my Duke · 330- Usurp the city of Hammerhold with my Count · 350 Move Emissary- My Gov to area TM (Neutral Village in Arcania) · 350 Move Emissary- My Gov to area UL (Neutral Village in Arcania) · 350 Move Emissary- My Gov to area EY (Neutral Town in Talking Mountains) · 470 Enamor Region- My King in Arcania Orders remain tight. I really wanted to use my FOOL (to offset my recruitment of the Maiden later) but there just aren’t enough orders to go around. That will cost me an order next turn. If all goes well I should add the city to my nation on this turn and position myself to take 2 villages and a town politically on the next one. The Enamor will turn me friendly in Arcania which I will start to pick up some PCs in COVERT (1 Order): 910- transfer Artifact- I have my agent transfer the Mist Talisman to my Duke to protect him in his future adventures. Wish I could use the others for scouting and training, but there are never enough orders… DIVINE (0 Orders): I have no Priestess yet. I now have a Temple and will recruit a Maiden. MILITARY (5 Orders but only 4 count against the limit as transfers are free!) · 720 Move 1RD (EW, DV, CV, BV,BW, CX) · 720 Move 3RD (PO,PP,PQ,QQ,RQ,SQ,TQ,UP) · 720 Move 4RD (CZ,DZ,EZ,FY,GX,HX,IX,IW) · 720 Move 5RD (FR,EQ,DP,CO,BP,AQ,BR,CS) · 743 Transfer Inactive post move – From 3RD to 2RD (2 RD brigades and my General) Crunched for orders or I would have transferred first and moved groups to other areas. Instead I had to move to a village at UP and then split the group. I chose to try and protect my wizards by leaving them in the old group. From what I can tell, post move I could not use this order along with another order to transfer my other leaders. I would have liked to have moved at least the Captain. Other than that, I moved two other groups to villages and the last one on a PC search pattern bringing him into Eastern Steppes. I am hoping to attack 3 villages next turn in the hopes that I will take them, get a veteran brigade in at least 1 group, and not take too many casualties. The veteran is the key to my being able to start recruiting Companions on turn 4. MAGIC (0 Orders) My wizards are pitiful, but as mentioned a few times, I just do not have the orders to spare to train them yet. Also, I need to be in a population center to train them and movement comes before training. Since I am moving all groups in a search patterns I would not be able to train them anyhow. One of these turns… KINGDOM (1 Order) · 510 Hire Noble Maiden- So I can try to test her as a High priestess soon. OTHER (2 Orders) · 400 – Vote on High Council issue – This was the issue I raised last turn to increase my Influence · 410 Bid for Next issue- Assuming someone else joins me on the council, my bid will possibly be unchallenged so I will bid 1500 gold. Again I will try to raise my Influence And that’s all 15 orders! My thoughts: · Really not liking my positioning. It’s going to be hard to make Arcania my second Region as it’s split from Talking Mountains. I just dip my toe into Northern mists and Eastern Steppes by moving a group for a few squares. · Still really crippled for order slots. Will probably feel this way for the whole game. · Hopefully the new Council member does not start to vote against me. · If all goes well I am on target for a good chance at taking talking Mountains on Turn 3. If I am slightly short on polulation though, it may take me 2 additional turns to get into position to take more. That would be a disaster! · I left some hints that maybe I would be based in Runnimede on the forums. Hoping it helps cause confusion but there is a real possibility that the UN or DA or even SO move into Arcania thinking it’s open. · My gold stockpile has dwindled to just over 5k. I can see that cash will be tight next turn. Hopefully the turn after that I gain control of Talking Mountains and the gold starts to flow. I can also create a Dragons Lair on Turn 4 to produce and extra 20k gold per turn. · What can go wrong? · I can lose my vote on the HC. If the new person votes no, which is VERY doubtful as they would have to bid AND vote and potentially bid for the next issue. Seems like a stretch that someone would have the extra orders just to deny me an influence point. · I am flying blind with no recons. There could be enemy emissaries in the PCs I am visiting and I would never know. · My delay in training agents could allow the Underworld to raise the cost (I think he can’t do so until turn 4 which will hurt my attempts to develop a counter-espionage group. That ends this turn. At noon tomorrow my new results should be in… Num A B C D E F G H I J 320 LU 330 OK 350 RI TM 350 BR UL 350 VA EY 400 Y 410 1500 1 R RD O 470 GR 8 510 E Zzix FU F 720 1RD EW DV CV BV BW CX 720 5RD FR EQ DP CO BP AQ BR CS 720 3RD PO PP PQ QQ RQ SQ TQ UP 720 4RD CZ DZ EZ FY GX HX IX IW 743 3RD 2RD RD 2 R H 910 AB FU 57766 LU 991 T1 P3 A3 D8
Turn 2 Results:
Turn 2 Results are in: 320 – Incite Rebellion – I was able to turn the city neutral! 330- Usurp Control – The city is now MINE! 350(x3)- Relocated 3 Governors into 3 neutral PCs successfully. This turn I shall try to take them! 400- I voted yes on my High Council Issue and it passed, thus raising my influence by 1 410- My issue was successfully raised and will be voted on this turn 470 – Enamor Region- Success, Arcania is now Friendly! 510- Recruit Maiden - It worked, now she will have to undergo the test to become a Priestess 720(x4) Move Groups – I moved 4 of my groups successfully 743 – Transfer post move- I split off my highest Leader and 2 Red Dragon brigades and reactivated group 2 910- Transfer Artifact – I successfully gave the Mist talisman to my Duke 991 – My Early Strategic Objectives are now set! Impressions: Still going according to plan... almost scary! Now comes the key turn. Did I calculate correctly and put myself in position to take the Talking Mountains this turn? One concern is that the city population was only 48k instead of 55k. My margin of error is now razor thin. My groups moved as follows: 4th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area IW. During movement we passed a Neutral town at CZ, Neutral village at DZ. 3rd Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area UP. During movement we passed a Human village at QQ, Neutral village at TQ, Human village at UP. 1st Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area CX. During movement we passed a Human town at CV, Human village at CX. 5th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area CS. During movement we passed a Elven town at FR, Neutral village at EQ, Human town at BP, Neutral village at CS. 3rd Red Dragon A detachment of troops (Red Dragons Regular, Qty 2) were successfully transferred to the 2nd Red Dragon. 3rd Red Dragon An important leader, General Reaver of Fire, was successfully transferred to the 2nd Red Dragon. My goals for this turn will be to take the Talking Mountains and start to shift my attention to Arcania. Following the same pattern, I will now go through my orders for Turn 3: POLITICAL (4 Orders): · 320- Usurp village with my Governor · 330- Usurp village with my Governor · 330- Usurp town with my Governor · 483- Entertain Court with my Fool. Making this a standing order. Orders remain tight and gold is getting scarce. Unfortunately my King, Duke and Count will sit idle this turn. COVERT (0 Orders): I know this will catch up to me, but I have to keep expanding as fast as possible and just do not have the orders or gold… DIVINE (1 Orders): · 509- Test for the Gift With luck she passes the test and I can start to divine pop centers next turn MILITARY (9 Orders but only 7 count against the limit as transfers are free!) · 150 (x3)- I have 3 groups attacking 3 villages · 700 Transfer Troops from 3RD to 2RD (My wyverns and bats leaving me as a patrol) · 701 Transfer Leader from 3RD to 2RD (a Centurion) · 720 Move 1RD (BX,AX,AW,AV,AU) · 720 Move 2RD (UO,TN,SM,TL,UK,VJ,WK) · 720 Move 4RD (JV,JU,KT,LS,LR,MQ,NP,OP) · 720 Move 5RD (DR,ER,FQ,GR,HQ,IR,JQ,KR) 3 Battles this turn. I attempt to take 3 villages and hopefully get veteran units out of the battle. This will enable me to start recruiting Companion brigades next turn. MAGIC (1 Orders) · 91 Self invisible Unfortunately, I need to waste an order turning him invisible so I do not lose him in battle. I hate doing this but as I only have 2 level 1 wizards and 1 adept I kind of have to keep them around. KINGDOM (0 Orders) OTHER (2 Orders) · 400 – Vote on High Council issue – This was the issue I raised last turn to increase my Influence · 410 Bid for Next issue- The DarkElves are now on the Council and will likely bid. It will be interesting to see his reaction to my bidding as it violates his self-proclaimed 2 issues for every kingdom rule. I will bid 2000 to raise my Influence And that’s all of orders! My thoughts: · Getting VERY concerned about my positioning. I have decided to focus on Arcania as region #2 and to try and pick up some spare PCs along the way in Northern Mists or Eastern Steppes. Of concern, I can already see that I am starting to create a map where 3 Kingdoms are to my West and the DA to my East. This means the DA and I will have to be in conflict… My advantage is the early game so I need to look for an opportunity to strike fast and hard. Hopefully I get my Region this turn and he does not get his. · Still really crippled for order slots. Will probably feel this way for the whole game. · DA on the Council… will be interesting to see how this goes. · If all goes well I am on target to take the Talking Mountains this turn. If I am slightly short on population though, it may take me 2 additional turns to get into position to take more. That would be a disaster! · Concerned that other Kingdoms will be looking at Arcania as their second region. This could be the UN or the SO… · Cash continues to be tight (and I am a “rich” kingdom). Looking forward to creating a Dragons Lair on Turn 4 to produce an extra 20k gold per turn. · What can go wrong? · I can lose my vote on the HC if the DA votes no, which is doubtful as they would have to use an order just to try and screw me for no reason at this time. More interesting is the new issue. Will he outbid me? If not, will he be upset and vote no next turn? · I am still flying blind with no recons. There could be enemy emissaries all over the place. Scary stuff! · My delay in training agents could allow the Underworld to raise the cost (I think he can’t do so until turn 4 which will hurt my attempts to develop a counter-espionage group.
03-16-2017, 09:01 PM
Turn 3 results are in!
Well..I miscalculated and did NOT get my region. On the positive side, no other Kingdoms did either. Unfortunately it will take me at least 2 additional turns now as I will have to move to some PCs before I can take them. 91- My wizard turned invisible and sat out the battle 150(x3)- Attack PC- Well all 3 attacks were successful BUT somehow I did not get a veteran unit in any battle despite taking some casualties. This is going to hurt my recruiting 330(x3)- Usurp Control – All went as planned! 400- I voted yes on my High Council Issue and it passed, thus raising my influence by 1 410- The DarkElven King outbid me for the next issue 60 – I successfully established a standing order to have my Fool try to raise my influence 509- Test for Priestess- It worked, I now have a Priestess 700&701- I transferred troops and leaders between groups 720(x4) Move Groups – I moved 4 of my groups successfully Impressions: Not getting my region and also not getting any veteran units really hurts me. It’s kind of a worst case scenario. My groups moved as follows: 5th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area KR. During movement we passed a Human village at DR, Dark Elven village at JQ. 2nd Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area WK. During movement we passed a Neutral town at TL. 4th Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area OP. During movement we passed a Neutral village at KT, Dark Elven village at MQ, Neutral village at NP, Human city at OP. 1st Red Dragon Successfully flew as ordered to area AU. During movement we passed no population centers. My goals for this turn will be to reposition my envoys to take the Talking Mountains on Turn 5 and also move my groups to try and uncover and take as much of Arcania as possible. I think I will also send a detachment into Runnimede to look for unclaimed PCs. Following the same pattern, I will now go through my orders for Turn 4: POLITICAL (6 Orders): · 350- Relocate 5 Emissaries to TL, CV,TQ,KT, FZ · 470- Enamor Region (Runnimede) I debated whether to do Runnimede or Eastern Steppes. I elected to do Runimede in the hopes of picking up some fast PCs. COVERT (1 Orders): · 970- Recon PC- I make this a standing order to recon the city of Esteria vale DIVINE (1 Orders): · 750- Divine PCs- I chose to search for Towns in Runnimede MILITARY (5 Orders) · 720 Move 1RD (BT,CT,DU,EU,FU) · 720 Move 2RD (XJ,YI,XH,WG,XK,WE,VF,UG) · 720 Move 3RD (VQ,WP,WO,WN,WM,VM,VL,WL) · 720 Move 4RD (NO,OO,PN,QM,RM,SN,TO,TP) · 720 Move 5RD (LQ,MR,NQ,OR,PR,QR,RR,QQ) Moving my 1st group back to the Capital to get my reinforcements next turn, 2 other groups to villages and the last 2 just randomly searching. MAGIC (0 Orders) KINGDOM (0 Orders) OTHER (2 Orders) · 410 Bid for Next issue- The DarkElves are now on the Council and will likely bid. I bid again… but increase it to 6500 And that’s all of orders! My thoughts: · I choose to avoid conflict and look to Runnimede for my next PCs instead of Eastern Steppes. This is because I am 1 step better in reaction level there, and I kind of hinted on the forums that this was my capital so hopefully it means others will stay away. · Still really crippled for order slots. Will probably feel this way for the whole game. · DA on the Council… will be interesting to see how this goes. · Will take2 additional turns to get the talking Mountains now. That sucks! I am going to try a hail Mary and raise the gold production of my capital 3 times… but this will only give me about 1500 in population. You never know though… · So far I have only seen 1 Elven town in NM and 2 DA villages in Eastern Steppes. Still concerned that other Kingdoms will be looking at Arcania as their second region. This could be the UN or the SO… · Cash continues to be tight (and I am a “rich” kingdom). Looking forward to creating a Dragons Lair on Turn 4 to produce an extra 20k gold per turn. · What can go wrong? · DA could be upset if I win the HC vote… but that’s life. One kingdom cannot arbitrarily declare rules changes in a game to benefit them. Since I am unlikely to win the game anyhow, I shall make it a fun grudge match should he get mad at me. · I am still flying blind with no recons. There could be enemy emissaries all over the place. Scary stuff! · My delay in training agents could allow the Underworld to raise the cost (I think he can’t do so until turn 4 which will hurt my attempts to develop a counter-espionage group. Order A B C D E F G H I J Gold ------ ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 60 970 RU UM 0 350 BR TL 2,000 350 OK CV 4,000 350 RI TQ 2,000 350 LU KT 5,000 350 VA FZ 2,000 410 6500 1 R RD O 6,500 470 GR 7 16,000 600 FU G 3 12,000 650 VK 0 720 3RD VQ WP WO WN WM VM VL WL 0 720 5RD LQ MR NQ OR PR QR RR QQ 0 720 4RD NO OO PN QM RN SN TO TP 0 720 1RD BT CT DU EU FU 0 720 2RD XJ YI XH WG XF WE VF UG 0 750 ZZ T 7 7,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
03-16-2017, 09:53 PM
Turn 4 results are in!
Darkelves have taken control of Synisvania. No other regions are controlled. At least I did not fall too far behind the curve due to my miscalculation 2 turns ago! Also, Maybe it’s not the worst thing to have someone else take the lead. 60 – Recon PC- My Standing order is now active. Looks like nobody is home in the city. despite taking some casualties. This is going to hurt my recruiting 350(x5)- Relocate Emissary- All relocated as planned 410 – My issue has been raised on the Council and will be voted on this turn. 470- Enamor Region- I am now Friendly in Runnimede! 600- Improve PC- I increased my gold production 3 times… unfortunately non enough population to get the region 650- Dragon’s Lair- My lair is complete and I will now receive an extra 20k gold per turn! 410- The DarkElven King outbid me for the next issue 60 – I successfully established a standing order to have my Fool try to raise my influence 720(x5) Move Groups – I moved 5 of my groups successfully 750- Divine PCs – I unveiled 5 towns in Runnimede… strangely most on the West Coast and 2 in water. Impressions: Not a bad turn. Things went according to plan. If all goes well I will take 5 PCs politically next turn and 2 by combat. Hopefully the combat will result in a veteran brigade. Also, this should clearly give me the region of Talking Mountains so additional PCs may come my way as well. That said, the DA is immediately on the forum stating he will vote against my Council Issue. So be it, if he goes through with that it means that I shall treat it as a war declaration and pretty much result in a MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) scenario. It will let the other 3 Kingdoms shoot ahead of us while we fight, but a man must live by his word, and I did warn him… Plus, sometimes a grudge-match game is more fun than winning! I also made a forum post to an unnamed Kingdom where I mock their attempted attack on one of my units. No such attack occurred, but nobody else should know this. Maybe it will just make some folks a bit more wary about attacking me. 4 days to the next turn, but I already have the bulk of my orders set. Update- Apparently, the DA feels that simply bidding on High Council issues is “extortion”. Not quite sure how we get to that conclusion but at least the path forward is clear. Mutually assured destruction!!! But that can be fun too, especially in a shorter game like this one (24 turn max). I shall try one last time to dissuade him on the forums. Update #2- OK, this is crazy! Now the DA and I seem to be getting on the same page where he will not vote against my proposal this turn and I will not bid for the next two nor vote against his. Out of nowhere the Sorcerer pops in and states he will vote against my proposal and every one that the DA and I propose going forward. Wow... what a turn of events! Well, having the SO as an initial target is actually good since he is a slow developing Kingdom. It’s just unfortunate that my kingdom is split and it will take a bit of time to get into position. By the time we can communicate again (Turn results 7) I will hopefully have taken Talking Mountains and Arcania (though I hope my competitors still think I am based in Runnimede). To try and prepare for that, I have reached out to the UN to offer him one of the cities in Arcania and other PCs. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I have already re-written my orders twice. I give up for the next day until this settles down J Final update: OK.. things are starting to shape up. DA has confirmed the “deal”, UN states he has no desire to move on Arcania and is happy with my offer, but says I should get control first to make it easier. SO does not respond to any further diplomatic overtures. One final note, I also found out that my emissaries can move 10 spaces instead of the standard 8 due to flight. This is listed in the rulebook but NOT on my setup under flight trait benefits. Good thing I asked. Following the same pattern, I will now go through my orders for Turn 5: POLITICAL (6 Orders): · 330- Usurp Control 5 Emissaries to TL, CV,TQ,KT, FZ · 470- Enamor Region (Runnimede) COVERT (0 Orders): No free orders this turn… DIVINE (0 Orders): · I choose to rest the Priestess MILITARY (7 Orders) · 150(x2) Attack Population centers. (2 villages with 4RD and 5RD) · 720 Move 1RD · 720 Move 2RD · 720 Move 3RD · 720 Move 4RD · 720 Move 5RD My hope is to FINALLY get a veteran unit, so I actually plan to have the 4RD end up in a Mountain space to try and recruit… Think Positively! MAGIC (1 Orders) · 800 Rite of the Magi- To try and get my Adept promoted KINGDOM (2 Orders) · 410- Hire Noble Maiden- To try and get a second priestess · 430- Execute Hostages- I set this as a standing order to execute all non-allied Hostages. I know this will cost me potential status points, but with the UN around it’s best to be safe. OTHER (1 Orders) · 400 Vote on issue- We shall see if the SO follows through on his threat to vote NO. I doubt it. With luck I will get another point of influence
03-16-2017, 09:58 PM
Turn 5 results are in!
Not bad. Lots of activity and all went well for me. One bonehead mistake though. In the confusion where I changed my orders 3 times last turn I accidentally Enamored Runnimede again. I was already Friendly so I wasted that gold and order. Oh well. On the positive side I got Control of the Talking Mountains, plus all 5 of my Emissaries succeeded, plus my 2 groups took their villages, PLUS I got bonus PCs from taking the region. Even though it is now Winter my production skyrocketed to 112k gold this turn. Also, the SO has taken Torvale, and the Elves have Oakendell. Curiously, the UN has not taken Amberland yet. It makes me wonder what he is up to. Lastly, the SO has won his seat on the Council and the DA issue will be voted on this turn. The SO and DA abstained from my issue so it passed. 60 – Execute Hostages- My Standing order is now active. 150(x2) Attack PC- both attacks were successful. Also, I finally have 1 veteran brigade! 330(x5)- Usurp Control- All succeeded 400 – My vote passed 470- Enamor Region- BoneHead move. Wasted gold and order. 510- I hired a Noble Maiden 720(x5) All moved as planned 800- I failed the Test of the Magi… my adept lived but has not been promoted Impressions: Not a bad turn. Things mostly went according to plan. I am getting close to control in Arcania with 3 towns and 5 villages. I am also on another village with a group and will take it this turn. I am not in a hurry to take this region as it will just draw a bullseye on me. I think I will take it slow, and take more of Runnimede and another region, either Eastern Steppes or Torvale before I get control of Arcania. I may come to regret that, but I think that in order to have a chance at winning I need to wait until after turn 7 (when we can speak to each other again) so that they cannot coordinate against me. I passed a few more DA locations so I now know of 2 villages in the Steppes and a town and village in the Southern Sands. He could be a dangerous threat if left to his own as I pretty much shield him from the others by geography. Still, I really do not want to be the one to initiate combat. Update- I am readying my orders. I can move and uncover the bulk of Runnimede this turn. I will also move 2 emissaries into 2 towns and attack a village. Still, this will only give me a foothold in the region. I am hoping that my movement uncovers some additional villages which are easy prey for my groups. I plan to recruit 3 brigades of Wyverns and transfer them into the 2RD. this should give me a group capable of sieging Cradia should I decide to go that route. Alternately it can attack a town with certainty of victory and perhaps get more veteran troops. I will also move Emissaries into 2 towns and a village in the steppes. As of now they are Neutral. I debate on moving my Duke into the City of Gundibar as I will not be able to scout it….I could also end one of my groups there to gain a scouting report (flying units get a free recon) ORDERS for Turn 6: POLITICAL (6 Orders): · 350(x5)- Relocate 5 emissaries to YG,HS,KU,JR,TE · 470- Enamor Region (Eastern Steppes) COVERT (0 Orders): No free orders this turn… this is such a bad idea. DIVINE (0 Orders): · 509- Test for Gift- try to get my second Priestess · 750- Divine Pop Centers – Towns in Eastern Steppes MILITARY (10 Orders+1 transfer) · 150(x2) Attack Population centers. (2 villages with 1RD and 2RD) · 565(x3) Recruit Companions- 3 brigades of Wyverns into 4RD · 720 Move 1RD · 720 Move 2RD · 720 Move 3RD · 720 Move 4RD · 720 Move 5RD · 741- Transfer Troops Post Move- Transfer my 3 new Wyverns to 2RD With just 1 veteran brigade it’s making logistics difficult. I am moving my 4RD and 2RD to an unsearched mountain hex. I hope it is clear of any PC so I can recruit again next turn. On the positive side, even it it has a PC it will be simple to take next turn. MAGIC (1 Orders) · 91- Self Invisible- Protect my Wizard in the battle for the village KINGDOM (0 Orders) · OTHER (0 Orders) Summary: A fairly boring turn after the prior few, but now is when I expect others to start moving out. In particular the DA and SO could encounter my groups by accident soon. UN is scaring the crap out of me because there is no reason for him not to have his region yet. My fear is he has so many agents developing that he will one shot my entire political corps in one turn… I’m now in a period of slow but hopefully steady development.. moving toward gaining more control in Eastern Steppes and Runnimede. There is a chance that taking the village in Arcania will give me control but honestly at this point I would rather postpone that a few turns.
03-16-2017, 09:59 PM
I'm going to pause here for a bit. I'll update further turns in a few days.
03-16-2017, 10:07 PM
Good reading so far. Very detailed. I just want you guys to know that i posted about not getting chivalry and no one responded. I sent an email to Rick asking about it and he said no one got it since no one had podiumed. Which i then pointed out that Devil Dog had. Then i posted his response that no one had received it and no one willingly came forth to say that they had which i perceive to be dishonest. You gained an advantage with chivalry. Did anyone else get a chivalry bonus?
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