[Spoilers] Peace and Purity - Einion Logos of the Elohim

[Mist]

Unless you get Darrell to leave you alone somehow ( right of passage to go bother Toth? ) I can't see how to get out of this without loosing Sanctuary. But that means you should start negotiations about extending NAP with Malakim like yesterday.

I'd say sanctuary, draft/rush some Priests and Monks, bash Darrell for being annoying and then richer by a source of Iron go gobble up Sheaim. Darrell knows he's got you by the balls and any non-violent settlement will be too expensive.

[Selrahc]

richer by a source of Iron

You mean by building the Infernal Palace?

[WarriorKnight]

You mean by building the Infernal Palace?

Yep, although I think I'll be able to get Iron via IW before I get the Infernal Palace. There are several other advantages though:

• The Gela, a piece of equipment spawned with Hyborem that gives 2 extra Unholy damage (affects everything but Demons).
  
• the Infernal palace gives me no WW, which compared to the Elohim palace (+20% WW) will be a serious help
  
• The palace also gives out a serious boost to State religion buildings. I already have temple's everywhere and it gives me a better reason to build Balisca's everywhere.
  
• Thanks to tolerant, every unit I build from an Infernal city gives the demon racial promotion, which can be useful at times (and will be essential against the Sheaim)
  
• Native source of Entropy mana, since my own mana types are fairly lackluster.
  

I'm getting ahead of myself though, first things first:



Behold, one of the most powerful worldspells of FfH.

I'm now safe until T175. Eliminating the Infernal's shouldn't take longer than 10 turns. I'll wait for a bit and see what the reaction to Sanctuary is before trying to extend the NAP with Thoth (besides there's still 15 turns left in it). As for the Sheaim, thanks to NAP's I'll only get 5 turns before Sanctuary expires, so it probably won't be a factor against him, but oh well.

Back to the demon problem, I can probably have 6-7 monks, Valin, Snowfall Corlindale, a Confessor and a few adepts which should be ready to attack in 7 turns or so. If darrel decides to attack the Sheaim, I don't see how Heisenburg will be able to hold those units off (maybe they'll weaken each other considerably ).

I couldn't switch to Conquest this turn since it's only been 8 turns since I last switched. I'll fix that when I can. Thanks to hell terrain and possible undead units in the future, Poisons for Devouts is my next tech.

EDIT:

PBEM III is about to get pretty interesting.

I couldn't agree more.

[WarriorKnight]

Hi WarriorKnight,

I have offered the Ice mana trade as requested.
Looking forward to seeing Corlindale in action~ =)
Good luck in the war.

Best Regards,
Heisenberg

Excellent.

On another note, why hasn't he said anything about the dogpile, Sanctuary or the Infernal? I doubt Cyneheard or Darrel will just keep their army in Dis waiting for me to eliminate them, surely they'll head after the Sheaim if they can't attack me. Oh well, just have to wait and see how this plays out.

[Selrahc]

The palace also gives out a serious boost to State religion buildings. I already have temple's everywhere and it gives me a better reason to build Balisca's everywhere.

Plus the fact that you'll suddenly have a very badly located palace, as far as maintenance reduction goes.

[WarriorKnight]

Plus the fact that you'll suddenly have a very badly located palace, as far as maintenance reduction goes.

Very true. I should build Forbidden Palace somewhere to help fix that problem (maybe even in Cahir Abbey). Although Courthouse's aren't that much of a priority since I need units for the next/first world war. They'll probably be built only if my maintenance gets critical.

[Mist]

I'm now safe until T175. Eliminating the Infernal's shouldn't take longer than 10 turns. I'll wait for a bit and see what the reaction to Sanctuary is before trying to extend the NAP with Thoth (besides there's still 15 turns left in it).

There are few reasons to do it now, including
1) You'll get more time to haggle out more favourable terms
2) If the talks won't go anywhere you'll notice earlier and have more time to prepare.
3) He won't have a reason to up the price now, he might want more once you go to war with Sheaim.
4) You need that extension a little bit more than he does. But he doesn't know it yet.

If you think getting the extension won't be a problem, sure wait. Otherwise it might be better to start testing the ground now.

[WarriorKnight]

There are few reasons to do it now, including
1) You'll get more time to haggle out more favourable terms
2) If the talks won't go anywhere you'll notice earlier and have more time to prepare.
3) He won't have a reason to up the price now, he might want more once you go to war with Sheaim.
4) You need that extension a little bit more than he does. But he doesn't know it yet.

If you think getting the extension won't be a problem, sure wait. Otherwise it might be better to start testing the ground now.

True, I was thinking more along the lines of "wait until he knows I've cast Sanctuary" rather than "wait 5-10 turns until our NAP is close to expiring".

However, I also need to extend my NAP with nyktorion (our current one ends at T150) and I'm sure if I went to Thoth first and nyktorion found out he wouldn't sign one with me. I've asked for a extention until T190 with nyktorion, let's see if he goes with it.

After Poisons, I think I might go for Drama if my border cities are close to expanding. Since Sanctuary is active, culture will be very important, and if my border cities are close to expanding then I'll need to boost their culture a bit. Plus it's cheap.

After that, not really sure yet. Maybe Smelting to start the path to Iron Working as drafting Champions may be my best emergency defense option (can't draft monks). The other option is sorcery if some adepts get enough experience, however I doubt I can reach that level unless they get lucky against the Infernals.

[Mist]

After that, not really sure yet. Maybe Smelting to start the path to Iron Working as drafting Champions may be my best emergency defense option (can't draft monks). The other option is sorcery if some adepts get enough experience, however I doubt I can reach that level unless they get lucky against the Infernals.

If you want emergency defence draft go Bowyers. It's cheaper, Longbows are also draftable IIRC and have much better staying power.

Some food for thought regarding future tech patch

1) You don't have much coast to defend now, so there's not much to worry about regardless competitiveness on the waves yet. But if you do swallow Irgy/Heisenberg you're going to end up with a huge coastline and people around you running Privateers and OO Priests. You could use something to fight blockades and fend off the tsunamis.

2) Sorcery path is not a bad idea. There's the Nexus waiting down there, and your empire might end being kind of vast. And last Altar layer is hidden at Omniscience anyhow.

3) Now that you got Iron lined up there's not a lot for you to gain from going up metals.

4) Do you have capability to switch to Theocracy yet? You will need it for the Altar.

5) Do we have Engineering? +1 Movement would be handy. Did the Guild of Hammers fall yet?

[WarriorKnight]

If you want emergency defence draft go Bowyers. It's cheaper, Longbows are also draftable IIRC and have much better staying power.

I forgot about the Archery line. Mainly because archers suck, but Longbows are fairly decent units (definitely beat champs in defense, and aren't too bad in offense either). It also let's me use Defender's cheap archery ranges instead of having to build training yards.

The main reason against Longbows is because IW leads to Animal Mastery, which is very cheap given that it gives a Tier IV unit. Of course, since there's the national limit, whether or not it'll be worth getting is debatable. Given that Feral Bond leads to Omniscience and is the other pre-req, I though it would be worth the minor sidestep. Still, Longbows are much quicker to get to (cheaper tech and pre-req building) and are almost as good now that I can get Iron.

1) You don't have much coast to defend now, so there's not much to worry about regardless competitiveness on the waves yet. But if you do swallow Irgy/Heisenberg you're going to end up with a huge coastline and people around you running Privateers and OO Priests. You could use something to fight blockades and fend off the tsunamis.

I already have Optics for Privateers. Getting Astronomy in the future isn't a bad idea, although still a bit too far away. Still, something to keep in mind.

2) Sorcery path is not a bad idea. There's the Nexus waiting down there, and your empire might end being kind of vast. And last Altar layer is hidden at Omniscience anyhow.

I do want to climb the arcane path at some point thanks to that last altar piece. Pass through the ether vs Strength of will might be a bit tricky to decide, even though I don't have anyone near archmage level yet I'm still a very long way from either tech and things can change quickly (plus thanks to tolerant if I conquer the Sheaim I can get Eater of Dreams! How awesome would that be?). Omniscience also gives Birthright regained, which would also be totally awesome (for me anyway, although anyone else who gets there will probably build it for denial). Although that's a little too far ahead in the future.

Sorcery in the near future is for mages if I get any potential candidates, or maybe for metamagic mana if I can't work something out with nyktorion (don't need Floating Eye though, Dispel Magic on the other hand will be essential).

3) Now that you got Iron lined up there's not a lot for you to gain from going up metals.

True (except for Animal Mastery but that's covered already).

4) Do you have capability to switch to Theocracy yet? You will need it for the Altar.

No not yet. Need religious Law for that, and while it does give Basilica's and Social Order (although I probably won't run it) there are several other things to get before then. Neither is there a great rush to get it either, as it'll be a long time before I switch to Theocracy since my entire economy relies on Aristocracy farms (I probably only have 2-3 cottages in my empire) and switching out of that will cripple me. Still, as you say I'll need it for the altar eventually since there's no other way to get enough Prophets.

5) Do we have Engineering? +1 Movement would be handy. Did the Guild of Hammers fall yet?

Don't have Engineering right now, although it's one of the techs I plan to get shortly for the movement bonus. Guild of Hammers is still available, but since I also don't have Math while Mardoc and Thoth both do I doubt I'll get it. Plus I really should be building units and not wonders. (even though the only wonder I have is the shrine, I've mostly been building infrastructure and expanding, that'll soon change).