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

[Ravus Sol]

Isn't Pact of the Nilhorn a ritual not a wonder and thus unrushable?

[NobleHelium]

Pact of the Nilhorn is definitely a ritual and not rushable, yeah.

[Tredje]

Turn128:

Scouting reveals:

Bob has lots of Puppets/Skeletons spread out, but me and Iskender think we can isolate Argenteria in preparation for an attack next turn. I move to the hill 2S1E and summon three Elementals. They pillage two roads and block all entrance to Argenteria. Bob might try to break through the blockade, but he should lose lots of units doing so, and we can probably hit Argenteria anyway.

Our stacks are on a hill and should be safe from any attack.

Also, thanks for clarifying what can and what cannot be rushed with the GE. I'll ponder my decision a bit.

[Mardoc]

Also, thanks for clarifying what can and what cannot be rushed with the GE. I'll ponder my decision a bit.

Next time you're playing, would you mind grabbing the list of wonders already built? In particular - we should be pretty close technologically to being able to build the Bone Palace if it hasn't been taken yet, which would get us our free golden age without incrementing the counter, give us Engineer GPP, and be generally useful. We just need Philosophy for that, which is one tech beyond our current Mysticism research, and a tech we're likely to want anyway, since it unlocks Priests, is on the way to several religions, etc.

There may be other wonders worth considering too, but I need to know what's already been taken. Form of the Titan would be a nice one, of course, and even Heron Throne would be worth considering.

[Ravus Sol]

You are going up the magic line anyway... you could try getting one of the towers as a wonder? (+1 Elementals, +1 free tech etc.) I can't honestly think of any others that are close enough that are worth deviating for, apart from the Mines of Galdur. (+3 IRON!)

[Tredje]

Turn 129:

Enemies have landed near Hezic'kul:

I have two Axemen and one Warrior defending the city. Another Warrior will be done in two turns. I am not sure I can hold the city, as Bob might let the Swordsman use the Axe as well. I will have two Triremes done next turn. I was thinking I would have one or two more turns to prepare, but that was obviously wrong.

Meanwhile in Balseraph lands Argenteria has been razed by Iskender. We are now positioning our units to hit Coombe. Road connections have been pillaged, which will make reinforcing the city difficult for Bob.

Empyrean has been founded in a distant land.

You are going up the magic line anyway... you could try getting one of the towers as a wonder? (+1 Elementals, +1 free tech etc.)

That's an excellent idea. I think we are too far behind to get Mines (assuming SL wants to get it), but a Tower would be great. What do you think about getting the Tower of Divination for Iron Working and then train as many Ogres as we can? Getting a Tower for ELementals would also be good, but I don't think that the Strength of our Elementals is an issue at this point.

Next time you're playing, would you mind grabbing the list of wonders already built?

As of last turn the only Wonder that has been built is the Stigmata on the Unborn.

In particular - we should be pretty close technologically to being able to build the Bone Palace if it hasn't been taken yet, which would get us our free golden age without incrementing the counter, give us Engineer GPP, and be generally useful. We just need Philosophy for that, which is one tech beyond our current Mysticism research, and a tech we're likely to want anyway, since it unlocks Priests, is on the way to several religions, etc.

Bone Palace is definitely a possibility, but unless I'm wrong it's quite hammer-expensive and would probably require additional turns to one GE-bulb. I am also not 100% sure if I want a GA before we manage to incorporate Balseraph lands, even if it's basically free.

[Mardoc]

Enemies have landed near Hezic'kul:

I have two Axemen and one Warrior defending the city. Another Warrior will be done in two turns. I am not sure I can hold the city, as Bob might let the Swordsman use the Axe as well. I will have two Triremes done next turn. I was thinking I would have one or two more turns to prepare, but that was obviously wrong.

That looks very close. Obviously his unpromoted warrior can't beat our troops, but his sword and that uber-warrior might have odds. I don't see any way for him to take it in one turn barring extraordinary luck, but if he can kill a defender without taking too much damage on the sword and Orthus axebearer, he could manage it. Of course city defense bonus will help us there, as will Aggressive.

I think, if we can survive the first set of attacks here, at least doing lots of damage to the attackers, training Bronze Warriors will let us do damage faster than they heal, and we'll win eventually. No way to know about that 'if' until the RNG speaks, though.

Meanwhile in Balseraph lands Argenteria has been razed by Iskender. We are now positioning our units to hit Coombe. Road connections have been pillaged, which will make reinforcing the city difficult for Bob.

Looking good on this front.

Empyrean has been founded in a distant land.

Hmm, interesting. We ought to know who next turn when someone revolts. I suppose Blinding Light on the Sons would dramatically limit their usefulness, and of course Chalid eventually is as scary as they are.

That's an excellent idea. I think we are too far behind to get Mines (assuming SL wants to get it), but a Tower would be great. What do you think about getting the Tower of Divination for Iron Working and then train as many Ogres as we can? Getting a Tower for ELementals would also be good, but I don't think that the Strength of our Elementals is an issue at this point.

Bone Palace is definitely a possibility, but unless I'm wrong it's quite hammer-expensive and would probably require additional turns to one GE-bulb. I am also not 100% sure if I want a GA before we manage to incorporate Balseraph lands, even if it's basically free.

Of course the real restriction on the Towers is mana - I think Divination is Sun, Nature, Mind, and ...maybe Life? I'll have to look it up in the manual or FFHpedia next time I have a chance. In any event, we'll only have one of those manas naturally, we'd need to trade for or build nodes for the others. On the other hand, getting Iron Ogres would put the cap on our military, especially built with Warrens. And with three peoples' land, Iron Ogres ought to be eminently possible . I can definitely see it being a good place to go. It might have the same issue as Bone Palace - I admit, I forgot there was a cap on Engineers, and yes, Bone Palace is expensive - but so are the towers. Still....Iron Ogres...Str 10, Combat I, Warrens-doubled - it's a nice sound.

[Ilios]

Tower of Div is Sun, Mind, Spirit and Law

[Tredje]

Turn 130:

On his turn Bob killed a Warrior and an Axeman in Hezic'kul, but it left his two beefy units at 2.2 and 0.3 health. Then I noticed, much to my dismay, that I had forgotten to start building a Warrior last turn, meaning that it would take another two turns until it would finish. By then I was sure that Bob's three units, who might heal by getting promotions, would capture the city. And then he could move to threaten Shazak or even Cevedes, and I would have to assign a big force to stop him. Therefore I decided to hit his Combat IV Warrior at 2.2 health with my Axeman. The odds were 86% if I remember correctly. Sure, he would get injured and die to an attack next turn, but then Bob would only have one dangerous unit in the vicinity, which is much easier to handle.

My Axeman took no damage! Haha, that is so lucky! Even if his Warrior picks up the Axe I should have very goods odds against him, and I don't think the Swordsman can reach much higher than 2-3 health by promotions. Hezic'kul might survive for another Warrior to be trained. Wow, Bob must be really pissed.

In Balseraph lands:

The siege of Coombe View has begun. Three fireballs brought the defenses down to 45%. That enables Iskender's Tigers to have 90%+ odds and his PoL chances are above 95%. Thereafter I casted Haste and attacked with three of the Sons to kill the Warriors and Swordsman in the city. There are still plenty of Skeletons in the city, but only two Adepts and four Puppets to resummon Skeletons. Unless something unexpected occurs I think Coombe should fall in two turns, and this city I intend to keep. Both me and Iskender have reinforcements en route, and with the fall of Coombe they can join our stacks.

SL converted to Empyrean this turn, revealing who founded that religion.

I increased our slider to get KotE in one turn. I want to train two Adepts to cast Haste. By the way Regeneration works on both mine and Iskender's units. The NAP between us and Iskender ran out this turn. We have agreed to prolong it to T150. We have also agreed to trade Sugar for Cotton, while the Body Mana loan is finished.

[Mardoc]

Looking good, all things considered.

SL converted to Empyrean this turn, revealing who founded that religion.

I increased our slider to get KotE in one turn. I want to train two Adepts to cast Haste. By the way Regeneration works on both mine and Iskender's units. The NAP between us and Iskender ran out this turn. We have agreed to prolong it to T150. We have also agreed to trade Sugar for Cotton, while the Body Mana loan is finished.

Our NAP with SL runs out pretty soon too, doesn't it? Will we have Bob on the ropes by then?

I like the idea of having a lot of adepts, honestly! We ought to be able to really spam them, between no Mage Guild required and Warrens. And there are many good spells - Haste is obvious, starting some with Fire for the path to join the Sons would be nice, don't forget to get Enchantment from Iskender and Enchant all our blades (only melee units, but that's pretty much our whole army), even Nature has its value - insta-fortifying our main stack would be very nice in case Bob (or a future enemy) deciding to attack it.