[SPOILERS]- Crazy Keelyn is trippin’ Balz: Bobchillingworth of the Balseraphs

[DaveV]

First, if a Son on a boat sails right up next to a city, would he be able to summon a fire elemental to attack it?

WB test says "yes".

Second, do Halls of Mirrors work against elementals?

WB test says "yes".

[Bobchillingworth]

Thanks for the info =)



Sons on boats are bad news. The Hall of Mirrors sounds like a good counter, but Sareln told me that it doesn't actually create the duplicate until the start of my turn. So if he deletes his elemental after an attack, I won't get a copy for myself. Dang.

[DaveV]

Sons on boats are bad news.

If you had a couple OO priests, it would be the best news you could get.

[Bobchillingworth]

Possibly. I've been thinking about going to the Overlords plan again for that reason (and to stock those well-positioned northern lakes for additional defense). But one of the reasons why I asked that question was to know if he could summon fireballs while at sea- his will be empower V, 3 moves, base four strength... against 5 strength, 1 move cultists I'm worried that he could simply pick them off easily with a pseudo-Arcane Barge Son + boat combo.

[Bobchillingworth]

Diplo coming eventually. Might not be until Friday and I have time to edit it all, unless I just do a chat dump before then.


But first- let's play What Should Bob Research Next:





Lots of options to pick from! My tech plan says to go for KotE (5 turns), but I think I can put it off for at least one more tech since I won't be able to make any use of adepts while Sareln's worldspell is active. I'm leaning towards writing (5 turns) for libraries in Coombe, Hexam, and Jubilee, but could be easily persuaded otherwise. Hunting (7 turns) is attractive for getting hawks in the air and my ivory online, although I think I can still put it off for a little while. OO (6 turns) founds OO. But the Holy City doesn't matter too much right now (and at present it'll get stuck in a city where the extra culture won't even help, thanks to all my free Veil spreads.) Philo (4 turns) helps no matter where my final tech path goes- Veil, OO, Esus, and gives the possibility of starting an early Bone Palace (although I really could use that production for other stuff). Drama (8 turns) is all but useless by itself, but could the free artist's golden age make it worthwhile?


I've had yet another idea for the Ultimate Tech path- keep on the the Veil, priesthood, but then before completing the Infernal Pact research OO and Sorcery (could use a great scientist to bulb sorcery, I think), then finish the Pact for free Arcane Whatever for Hemah, then make my way toward fanaticism. Pop the golden age worldspell somewhere in there. No beasts, no Madero, but I would have cultists and ritualists, Hemah, and eventually maybe Stygian. Slightly faster than the current plan, although I don't know if I'll have anything useful by the time Tredje could attack. That might be an issue no matter what I do, though. I'd research the Pact early on until it was one turn from completion before switching, so that I can use the Hyborem Or Perish Endeavour if it all goes terribly wrong before I'll have actually decent army stuff.


Hmmmmmmm.



Oh and the little warrior group in the picture is heading over to capture the barb gold town.

[DaveV]

My tech plan says to go for KotE (5 turns), but I think I can put it off for at least one more tech since I won't be able to make any use of adepts while Sareln's worldspell is active.

Actually, they should be able to build nodes, since that's not considered a spell. They can also gain passive XP. But adept spells are not too impressive against archmages; you're probably better off with priests, some of whom have very good spells available from birth.

But first- let's play What Should Bob Research Next

My vote: priesthood, then OO. Build some ritualists while you're researching OO, then switch to OO and build cultists. A lot depends on where you think Tredje is going next, and how much time you think you have. Arcane Lacuna should have bought you a respite, but you'd better be ready to fight when it ends.

[Bobchillingworth]

Actually, they should be able to build nodes, since that's not considered a spell. They can also gain passive XP. But adept spells are not too impressive against archmages; you're probably better off with priests, some of whom have very good spells available from birth.

The spell I'd want to cast right now is just inspiration, so that I can get to the good stuff more quickly. I think you yourself made a pretty good case for why I want adepts, though- cheap unit spam. Latest news is that Tredje may only have two Sons. If this is the case, five adepts should be able to simply pump Coombe or wherever he attacks (if indeed he does attack) with way more crap than he can kill every turn. He could march in other units of course, but then they risk getting into Rust range and enabling me to smash them in a fair fight.




By the way, would you be able to cover the turns for me from May 31 until June 5 or 6 ? I'm going to be in Paris without my laptop. I *think* that I should still have intermittent internet access if there's something urgent that needs to be discussed, but I can't guarantee I'll have a connection (plus I don't intend to spend a lot of time on the PC while I'm there =) ) I'll provide some basic instructions here, although I trust your judgement enough that you'll have freedom to do pretty much whatever you think is best, should some unforeseen contingency arise.

[Bobchillingworth]

Oh yeah forgot to mention, I went with KotE. Writing would be the best choice if I weren't facing invasion in 15 turns or so, but as it is I don't think that I could get enough use out of it in time. And the production I'd use on libraries is needed elsewhere.

[DaveV]

By the way, would you be able to cover the turns for me from May 31 until June 5 or 6 ? I'm going to be in Paris without my laptop. I *think* that I should still have intermittent internet access if there's something urgent that needs to be discussed, but I can't guarantee I'll have a connection (plus I don't intend to spend a lot of time on the PC while I'm there =) ) I'll provide some basic instructions here, although I trust your judgement enough that you'll have freedom to do pretty much whatever you think is best, should some unforeseen contingency arise.

Yeah, I should be available on those dates. When are you usually playing the save? I know we keep dramatically different schedules, but maybe the time difference will make up for that.

Have fun in Paris!

[Bobchillingworth]

I keep really odd hours, but I usually get the save from SL between 7-11 PM my time (so 2 PM - 6 for you), and then play it within a couple hours. The player after me is Sareln though, and since he's West Coast and may not be able to play the save for many hours after I pass it on, I wouldn't worry about rushing to hand it off.