Fires of Bhall. Some orcs just want to watch the world burn. [SPOILERS]

[Ellimist]

We're through turn 106. Here's turn 105, from yesterday:

HidingKneel has turned over a new leaf...

I must have barely beaten him to CoS. It doesn't make a lot of sense that he'd use his Savant at that location, though. The only logical reason for him to spread AV there and convert immediately is to start teching Infernal Pact. He'll probably beat me to it, too, as his golden age GNP is 440 to my 334.

Simpson had 5 defenders. I started things off with the peasants:

Low odds battles and predictable results.

After that, General Lash moved in:

And the rest was easy stuff at 90% or higher.

I made sure my Aeron's candidate got a hit in.

Yay for hammer management:

I didn't adopt Ashen Veil until turn 106, but writing overflow let me start on the Pact a turn early. Infernal Pact will finish on turn 107, Necromancy on turn 108, the Grimoire on turn 109 or 110. My GNP is going to crash HARD after the golden age ends and blight hits, but I think I'll have everything I need at that point anyway.

I finished my last Paramanders at Mehrunes Dagon this turn, and my first AV temple at Malacath. A savant pair will complete next turn, followed by some ritualists.

Oddly enough, I'm able to build the Catacomb Libralus without a mage guild, but can't build the Great Library without a library. Meh

[Ellimist]

Turn 106:

Monitoring current events:

Three interesting developments.
First, Tholal built the Great Library. Good for him, he's putting that IND trait to use.
Second, Ichabod built Guild of the Nine. He may have used that Great Engineer from a few turns back, but maybe not. He has enough gold on hand to hire 7 mercenaries. I did expect him to get it eventually, and invested 61 hammers for fail gold.
Third... Weezel took my bait.

"Thus one who is skillfull at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act.
He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.
By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him."

I've left Sahara empty since I took it, and he's split off half his Mount Pleasant garrison to attack it.

His attack:

What's left at Mount Pleasant:

My response:

Thanks to my hasty shaman, I can hit his stack with 3 move wolf riders from Zenithar, in addition to some of the forces still near Sithis/Simpson. The first rider attacked at poor odds and lost, but I also lost another at better odds.

Veezara, my Aeron's chosen candidate, got a few more exp:

As you can see in the picture, I've also advanced the units that are going to take Mount Pleasant next turn. My paramanders will be much more effective against Miracle once they have some more experience.

I'm not sure whether to raze or keep Mount Pleasant. I would prefer to raze it, but then I risk setting off blight a little earlier than I'd like to.

[Ellimist]

107 finally came in.

Mount Pleasant is down:

Paramanders cut right through strength 3 warriors. They gained some experience and razed the city.

The biggest news is that Hyborem/Mafro is in the game, and he spawned just a bit to the east of Weezel's city of Golden Leane.

I should have pre-written a message to him, but didn't remember to, so I threw one together in a hurry.

What I sent:

To Lord Mafroborem, we send greetings,

Welcome to Erebus! We orcs are not known for planning ahead, or I'd already have a message prepared for you.

The map is toroidal, and consists of a series of identical rectangles(3 high, 2 wide). It seems that you've arrived at the eastern border of the Malakim Empire. We orcs are currently devouring the rest of the Malakim Empire. To the north of you are the Ljosalfar, and the Hippus are toward the distant east. The orcish homeland is to the south.

Here's the initial positions:
Ljosalfar --- Khazad
Malakim --- Hippus
Clan --- Kurioate (now clan)

The Clan is currently the strongest civilization, and the elves are the next strongest. I am interested in working with you in various ways, and would love to borrow your iron at some point.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions or proposals.

Good Luck, and Welcome!

Urag gro-Shug, of the United Orc Clans

He spawned in what may be the ideal location for me. My main army is just on the other side of the Malakim, and can easily confront him if he doesn't want to cooperate. I can also rust away his iron weapons(soon), and even go back into RoK and building more Paramanders(strong vs demons.)

I made my initial message relatively neutral, to gauge how he responds. The main thing I need to know is whether he's willing to assist me with resources. If he isn't, then it will be best to eliminate him as soon as possible. If it comes to that, I'll see if I get an opportunity for an Esus-stab.

Meanwhile, I'm also building Rosier and the Grimoire asap. I don't know if I'll be able to keep Rosier, but I don't want Mafro or HK to get him. I'll build four Beasts of Agares as soon as I can, of course, and Eidolons as soon as I can get some iron. If it takes awhile to get iron, I'll make a point of getting cultists to upgrade.

[Ellimist]

T108 is done.

I got an event:

It gave me the option for A) temporary happiness, B) a free sage in Malacath (also +1 unhappy), or C) Pay gold and get an academy (also +2 unhappy). I was tempted to take B, but ended up with C. The timing sucks, and I needed the gold, but I don't even have libraries so it helps.

I now have a trade connection to HidingKneel. Apparently his workers have roaded all the way down to Weezel. I don't think he's going to attack him because Weezel's workers contributed to the last piece. Would HK really be silly enough to give Weezel copper? I'll be able to cast rust in a few turns anyway, so it's not even likely to have much impact.

I sent HK a message to remind him that I'm at war with the Malakim.

Mafro's messages seem friendly enough, but there isn't much substance behind them yet. I went ahead and proposed exchanging Manes for iron. TBH, I have no units that even need iron right now... I just need it for Eidolons. If I can work out some sort of iron deal, I'll see about pursuing other forms of cooperation.

T109 and T110 are my last two turns of golden age, and the AC is at 47/158 right now. Blight will hit at 48, and I'm hoping it won't start until the beginning of T111. At that point, I'll try to push it to 64/158 (Stephanos) and 79/158 (Buboes) as soon as possible with AV spreads, Beasts of Agares, Rosier, Mardero, and hopefully Eidolons.

Infernal Pact came in last turn, and the Grimoire is set to finish next turn.

Necromancy finished this turn, and two shamans will finish the first node on T110. I have a few settlers on hand, and more being constructed, but they're waiting for blight to hit before they settle.

I'm debating whether to research Trade next. The extra trade routes will be significant with the number of cities I have. Octopus Overlords hasn't been founded yet, though, so that may be worth a diversion for Cultists. Smelting is also tempting, as well as some arcane technologies.

[Ellimist]

Blight will hit next turn(110), which is just one turn sooner than I wanted it to. No problem. It will only interfere with one turn of my golden age.

I finished the Grimoire and will of course grab MD with it. Beasts of Agares will be built as soon as possible, and Eidolons may not be achievable for a long time.

I'm starting to plan ahead for how to eventually win this thing. Right now, I have the outline of a plan that is crazy enough for me to consider.

1) Finish killing Weezel.
2) Kill Mafro.
3) Go nuts with settlers. Settle Weezel's area and the land between the three "core" areas. I think I'm almost past the biggest marginal costs for # of cities maintenance.
4) Build a lot of shamans and/or savants for future mages. Get 3 law nodes so that all of them can summon hosts of the enerhijar. Summoned hosts are disciple units, so they do get mobility for free from my SPI trait.
5) Build Nox Noctis and spread CoE to the cities that have hunting lodges.
6) Kill some elves.
7) Get 20-30 hawks with the council of esus religion. They are super cheap, so I can afford to build a lot of them and delete any without CoE.
8) Accumulate a lot of gold and grow my cities as large as possible.
9) Build Purge the Unfaithful, but don't finish it.
10) When the numbers are right, use the hawks to spread CoE to every city in the world and complete Purge the Unfaithful.
11) Win

[Ilios]

That is a pretty cool idea. Go for it.

[Ellimist]

Thanks.

I haven't received turn 110 (and blight) yet, but I've added a few images to my T107-108 posts, and here's a report from 109.

Weezel's units have been equipped with elven weapons:

HidingKneel's explanation is so absurd, I almost believe him.

Almost.

Either way, I won't be cancelling my deals with him until the time is right. I am going to go ahead and start setting up a line of defensive cities on the border, though.

T114 is my earliest target for hitting Miracle. There are a few factors that could delay me, but T113 is the earliest that I can have Rosier and 4 ritualists ready at Zenithar.

I've pillaged two key tiles to prevent Weezel from being able to surprise me with any counterattacks or strikes at Zenithar. (Keep in mind that the Malakim get enhanced mobility in desert.)

Does anybody know how long it takes for ring of flames and smoke to clear a forest? I'm planning to use the ritualists to burn down the forest boxed in red, then attack along the yellow line. Once it's burned, my units in Zenithar will require 2.5 movement to get next to the city, which means I can hit it with everything.

Weezel currently has 7 warriors, 4 stonewardens and a lightbringer in the city. I expect blight to significantly interfere with his ability to keep reinforcing it. Right now, I expect to use the following units:

• 9 paramanders
• 10 wolf riders
• 6 warriors
• 1 Rosier the Fallen
• 2 lizards, potentially upgraded to assassin
• 4 ritualists
  
• 3 stonewardens
• 2-6 shamans, 1-3 of them with Entropy I.

I'm not sure how many units are really necessary, but I'd rather not lose more experienced units than I have to.

I built my first mana node(entropy) and finished the Grimoire at the end of turn. Next turn, I'll adopt Sacrifice the Weak, and possibly switch out of Aristocracy if I need more food badly enough. I'm curious to see what Ichabod does, as he's in Conquest-Aristocracy and blight is a good time to have anarchy.

[DaveV]

Does anybody know how long it takes for ring of flames and smoke to clear a forest?

No fixed time, just random rolls. Ring of flames has a 20% chance of causing smoke in forests. Smoke has a 3% chance of turning into flames. Flames have a 20% chance of causing smoke in adjacent tiles, and a 20% chance of going away.

[Ellimist]

No fixed time, just random rolls. Ring of flames has a 20% chance of causing smoke in forests. Smoke has a 3% chance of turning into flames. Flames have a 20% chance of causing smoke in adjacent tiles, and a 20% chance of going away.

That's crazy.

I wonder if I can get HK to lend me some elven workers.

[Ellimist]

T110 is in.

Blight unhealthiness was a bit stronger than I expected it to be. As expected, I adopted Sacrifice the Weak and still lost 5 population this turn, (but three of those were in Malakim territory and no great loss.) Malacath was the hardest hit city, with +23 unhealthy coming from blight. Overall, it had only a moderate impact on this turn's golden age yields, and most cities will be able to avoid losing population.

Both of Weezel's remaining cities have already lost some population, and are now at size 5, even though blight hasn't hit him yet. I'll be ready to hit Miracle soon, even if I have to pause next to his city before the attack. There is a chance I'll wait for 2-3 Beasts of Agares to arrive, but I don't want to draw things out longer than I have to.

Mafro has 3 units (Hyborem, Champion, Longbow) that seem to be touring Weezel's territory. If they go further west, they'll be vulnerable and I may go ahead and destroy them. He doesn't seem very eager to supply me with iron, which I guess is understandable. Even if he was, I'm starting to think I should just kill him anyway.