[SPOILERS] - Tredje and Mardoc are Sheelba of the Clan of Embers

[Tredje]

Something else that came to mind - at the moment, the most effective thing Bob could do against us in war is to use Loki to capture our cities. Monuments may not just be a utility building, they could also be a defensive building.

I agree completely.

If Udenerat falls, can we hold it?

We probably can't, but the way I see it it doesn't really matter. If he retakes it we kill more Warriors. If he deletes it we can resettle it.

Although - that does make me think he's probably organizing a Son-hunting party (or a city razing attempt), while he still has enough force to have a shot at that. You might keep an eye out for that - maybe split off the warrior to go scouting

That is definitely a possibility, and something that I might attempt were I in his situation. Our Fire Elementals get a decent look on their way to Udenarat, but he could be going around north or south.

[Mardoc]

Well, one piece of good news from the Bob situation: it seems Iskender can keep a secret. Going from no contact whatsoever from Bob to aware and concerned about the Sons at the same time as Sareln figured it out strongly suggests to me that Bob found out about the Sons from Sareln.

I don't think there's much we can do to reassure Bob, since we do in fact intend to conquer him next. On the other hand, I don't think there's all that much he can do, although admittedly with 5? cities, and obviously at least enough tech to get to Ashen Veil, he'll be in a better spot than poor Sareln.

[Mardoc]

Hmm, actually, there is one possibility for Bob-reassurance. Suppose you propose a rolling 10 turn cooldown NAP? If the Amurite war prospers, then you notify him T100 that it'll be ending as scheduled at T110. If it doesn't, then we have a delay, and it'll probably be around ten turns to get the Sons into position against Bob anyway. That would give us a little insurance against an Lacuna.

Also, when we do fight - we know that Iskender has Hunting. And hence presumably Hawks. We should ask for reconnaissance of the battlefield.

[Mardoc]

[COLOR="Plum"]Greetings all.

After much deliberation I have found it necessary to order my casters to block the flow of magic to Erebus for the time being. This is a temporary measure, but if it is the difference between certain death and uncertain life for the Amurite kingdom, I must do so. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Good Day. [/COLOR]

Well, that answers that question!

Now just to deal with the fallout. I am, though, very glad you attacked immediately with the first Son rather than waiting for all of them. That means the Lacuna will be over by the time our NAP with Bob expires, for instance.

As a lurker, my inclination is to suggest you pull back for the moment, and devise a plan for the best way to use all four Sons 14 turns from now. And, of course, prepare for oncoming Bronze warriors with Adept support.

[Tredje]

Hmm, actually, there is one possibility for Bob-reassurance. Suppose you propose a rolling 10 turn cooldown NAP?

That is a good idea, and something I think I will try. But I'd say that the chances of Bob agreeing to it are slimmer now that Sareln has cast AL.

Now just to deal with the fallout. I am, though, very glad you attacked immediately with the first Son rather than waiting for all of them. That means the Lacuna will be over by the time our NAP with Bob expires, for instance.

As a lurker, my inclination is to suggest you pull back for the moment, and devise a plan for the best way to use all four Sons 14 turns from now. And, of course, prepare for oncoming Bronze warriors with Adept support.

Yeah, it would have been much worse if he waited 5-6 turns to cast AL. And we got to kill two of his promoted Warriors before magic was shut off.

Turn 93:

Ancient Chants has finished and we are moving on to Education. Upon loading the game I am greeted by this splashscreen:

AV has spread. Neat. But to which city?

Dragon Bones city! That's exactly where we need culture the most. That is quite lucky.

And a look at the western front:

What is giving me headaches is the lake between our two cities here. Sareln could move more easily between them than we can, which will make it very difficult to defend them both. They also have defensible terrain next to them, meaning hitting his stack will be dangerous. (I am assuming that Iskender won't let Sareln march through his lands.) Let us briefly consider what our main objective during this AL will be: Don't lose any Sons! And preferably not any Archers either. A secondary objective is to minimize the damage to cities and infrastructure, but not at the cost of losing any Sons.

I am producing more Warriors to bolster our defences. They are quick to produce and we can handle the maintenance now. The question is where do we position our troops? I want to have one Warrior scouting, while the rest prepare to defend our homeland. When (if) he comes he will probably bring at least 10-15 Warriors with bronze weapons. If we fortify three Sons, two Archers and several Warriors on the hill 1 NW of Shazak I think the odds would be in our favor, but I really don't feel safe with using Sons on the defense (even if it would be Str 4.8 against Str 18. FFH2 has shown me time and time again that numbers overwhelm stronger units very easily.) The loss of even one Son would be horrible. The safest option (for our Sons) would be to sacrifice one city and put most of our forces in the other. But which city would be "expendable"? If we lose the northern city it will probably lose the DB tile to Iskender, which would be unfortunate. Shazak is a good city, but one we could afford to resettle I think.

Perhaps I am painting this picture with too gloomy colors. I don't know. All I know is that 14 turns from now I still want to have 4 Sons of the Inferno. Our third Son will arrive on the front in 4 turns from now.

[Mardoc]

Dragon Bones city! That's exactly where we need culture the most. That is quite lucky.

I hate to be a killjoy here - but Ashen Veil doesn't produce culture. The temple produces 2 beakers and +20% culture.

It will be extremely nice to have, though - Ritualists are one of the better Priests in the game.

Perhaps I am painting this picture with too gloomy colors. I don't know. All I know is that 14 turns from now I still want to have 4 Sons of the Inferno. Our third Son will arrive on the front in 4 turns from now.

Well, I don't really have a plan, just some random thoughts. First - a fortified Combat I warrior in a city is easily a match for a Bronze Warrior attacking - 5.1 equiv Str vs. 4.0 equiv Str. So if we can approximately equal Sareln's numbers in the right spot, we can hold him back. Even unfortified, we're still 4.35 equivalent Str to his 4.0. Tentatively, I'd be inclined to put a Warrior stack 2 SE of Renegade Hill, where it can get to RH in one turn and Shazak in 2. Or maybe split it, with half there and half 2E of Shazak, so that either way he comes, half the stack will be started to fortify. We're the Clan - we should have no problem pumping out Aggressive Warriors like there's no tomorrow. . We can always use them as cannon fodder or disband them later.

Second - he probably doesn't know his target just yet. I think both our western cities were founded after we started the choke. If I'm wrong - then he knows of the Dragon Bones city and not the southern one.

Third - really, this is one of the few times that giving up defensive terrain is ok. Once the Lacuna wears off, the Sons ought to have an easy time picking off any Warriors in our lands (and collateraling the survivors down so that any units we want to train can have an easy time, too). As long as we hold, and delay, we win.

Add in the archers, at Str 6 + 25% for city defense as well - as long as there's a sufficiently large stack of warriors beneath them, we shouldn't even lose them in the process.

[Tredje]

I hate to be a killjoy here - but Ashen Veil doesn't produce culture. The temple produces 2 beakers and +20% culture.

Did you look at the screenshot? I was unsure if we would get culture, but the city screen does say that we are producing 1.10 culture in Renegade Hill.

Tentatively, I'd be inclined to put a Warrior stack 2 SE of Renegade Hill, where it can get to RH in one turn and Shazak in 2. Or maybe split it, with half there and half 2E of Shazak, so that either way he comes, half the stack will be started to fortify.

I was thinking about this as well, but if he plants his stack on the grassland sugar he will be only one turn away from both Renegade Hill and Shazak. From the position 2SE of Renegade Hill we can reinforce Renegade Hill, but we will not be in time to save Shazak. That is why I was considering sacrificing Shazak. He can't know this of course, with our stack hidden in the fog, so he will have to gamble where we have put our stack. And perhaps he will be reluctant to end turn on a grassland tile for fear of an assault, which will make it easier to defend both cities.

[Selrahc]

I hate to be a killjoy here - but Ashen Veil doesn't produce culture. The temple produces 2 beakers and +20% culture.

With no state religion all religions give a passive benefit for being in the city. +1 culture for Veil, Empyrean, Order, Esus and Leaves, +2 culture for Overlords, +1 gold for Kilmorph. When a state religion is chosen only the state religion gives this passive bonus as well as +1 happiness.

Veil used to give a free beaker for every city as its bonus, but that was changed for some reason.

[Mardoc]

Did you look at the screenshot? I was unsure if we would get culture, but the city screen does say that we are producing 1.10 culture in Renegade Hill.

You're right, that will be an excellent thing - help our borders, protect against Loki, soon give us an extra tile of scouting.

I'll keep thinking about the tactical problem, maybe something will occur to me.

[Tredje]

Turn 94:

We are greeted by an event:

Boo! Since we don't have the required 22 gold we lose all the food stored in Renegade Hill. It's not really that bad as the city is working the three good tiles in its BFC. Until we can pasture the pigs it will grow slowly. A Great Prophet spawned in a foreign land. Two Warriors were produced this turn. Two more will be produced next turn. Our third Son reached the mainland. A Plantation finished on the Incense. Still no sign of the Amurite army. A brave (suicidal) Warrior is scouting in the west.

I have decided to station the army 2 SE of Renegade Hill, as you suggested Mardoc. What I am still unsure about is this: Let's say Sareln moves up to a city, and that we can reinforce it in time, do we include the Sons in the garrison? With them in the city it will be practically unassailable, but there is also a small chance of them dying to a bad roll of the dice. It says they have a smaller likelihood of defending the stack, but with Str. 16+, how can anyone defend before them? I think that I might actually have to wb the scenario and test it out.