The Kuriotates: A Tale of Centaurs, Hubris, and Unbridled Enthusiasm

[HidingKneel]

I'm not particularly worried about holding Amatheon's. I'm not particularly worried about killing off Bob. But I don't see how we can do both simultaneously - I really need Basium and Sphener to participate in the assault to kill whichever Beast/hero rolls lucky on the WS, but I don't have any other units I believe can outright kill an elemental. If I keep them in Amatheon's, that must delay the Bob assault.

Well, I wanted to delay a turn in any case, so that Chalid can be part of the cleanup crew. (Actually, if I was on the ball, we could have done that without delay: would have needed some Kuriotate workers building roads.)

On plako - if he sniped by Danalin's - I think I'm going to rush a scout there. With all his mages south and Loki dead, I wonder if maybe he has a spider. Now that I've thought about the mage thing - the only way he could snipe with a Spectre and stay hidden, is if he deleted the mage afterward, which doesn't seem a good deal.

Hmm... it said spectre, but I guess he could have renamed a spider?

Except, waitasec, I'm the Angels. Not allowed to build scouts. Could you knock out a 1-turn recon unit from Naggarond, a Hunter or a scout depending?

I think I can do a hunter. We can use it to finally capture our own spider.

Yes, I believe the Angel upgrades are all very cheap, cash-wise. I will certainly create a Valkyrie next turn, and hopefully have the opportunity to get the last couple XP on the other two close candidates. Haven't yet figured out how to train a fourth...almost think it'd be worth suiciding Valin for.

Participating in the Bob assault ought to be good for a couple of xp on the other two. Suiciding Valin sounds like a bad idea... he already hits almost as hard as a Valkyrie, and is a lot faster. And in mortal form, he's gaining passive xp.

But knowing that we can turn him into a Valkyrie if he dies? Ought to make us more willing to take risks with him. And maybe willing to trade him for Hemah, if the opportunity arises.

Anyway, we're fortunate in one respect: his army is extremely difficult to replace. He's got the handful of mages, and Hemah, and that's pretty much it. If we can just figure out a way to kill them, we'll have defanged plako for quite some time. Not like Bob's Beasts that he can almost 1-turn - plako's dependent on the RNG for XP for his mages.

I think we just need a big stack of iron chargers. Promoted to mobility and sprinting, they'll have the range we need to outrun him. And if he does run, we can take cities. And at this point, we should be willing to raze cities we're not prepared to keep. The AC will be under control again after we take out Bob. And even if it isn't: well, the AC has already done its worst. We're better positioned to deal with horsemen than anybody else. We've got the strongest units, so we're best positioned to kill the horsemen and take their stuff.
Given what we've seen of Plako's defenses, I'd imagine he has a lot more trouble with a super high-strength, magic-immune beastie.

Also, he was working on a Spirit Node. Think he might have Strength of Will in mind?

Via a tower? Oh, right... he recently got control of that Mirror of Heaven we saw down south. So Sun from the mirror, Mind from the palace... yep, I'll bet he's building a tower (at double speed, from Industrious). Strength of Will certainly seems compatible with his gameplan so far.

On the one hand: archmages will be very dangerous. On the other: they'll be even harder to replace than mages.

Oh, something that just occured to me: a lot of Kuriotate units in Amatheon's are wounded, maybe even more so if Plako hit us with Maelstrom during his turn. But Sphener can cast heal. So make sure to heal us. That might put us in a better position to attack next turn, if Plako gives us a chance.

[Mardoc]

Hmm... it said spectre, but I guess he could have renamed a spider?

Well, a 'spectre' killed a Str 13, 93 HP Paladin defending in a hill city on the first try. Meanwhile, Hemah just happened to be standing 4 tiles away and no Earth Elemental showed up. I mean, it's not proof of renaming tricks, but it's awfully suggestive.

Given that plako's willing to rename summons, I'd be shocked if he hasn't renamed permanent units.

Participating in the Bob assault ought to be good for a couple of xp on the other two.

Yep, that's the plan. And of course once the Valkyries have been made, they will try to be involved in every single attack anywhere they can reach. Str 11 with 5+ promotions is something only plako might be able to kill without at least giving them XP in the process.

Heck, it's probably worth having them go charge into someone's land merely for the distraction potential. Y'know...hey, Ilios, your stack had better be right here, right now, or you're going to lose a city...oh, so you Tigered the Valk? Well, thanks for the XP on the 5 I killed before dying, see you again in a couple turns! .

Edit: Hmm...that'd be one way to deal with Hemah. Charge straight at him with an Immortal. Sure, he can kill it, but not simultaneously kill something we care about. And if he doesn't kill it, then we might get a shot at him after all.

Suiciding Valin sounds like a bad idea... he already hits almost as hard as a Valkyrie, and is a lot faster. And in mortal form, he's gaining passive xp.

But knowing that we can turn him into a Valkyrie if he dies? Ought to make us more willing to take risks with him. And maybe willing to trade him for Hemah, if the opportunity arises.

On balance I agree. It's not worth suiciding him. It is worth letting him be heroic.

I really would like to figure out how to hurry and get Kurio Immortals too. It's just hard to justify building a slow unit when we need speed, or a Training Yard instead of a unit.

Given what we've seen of Plako's defenses, I'd imagine he has a lot more trouble with a super high-strength, magic-immune beastie.

With the one important exception of hitting by Earth Elemental. Equivalent Str 19.5 at the moment, and he's got two of them. Plus, well, no reason not to try the gamble.

Oh, something that just occured to me: a lot of Kuriotate units in Amatheon's are wounded, maybe even more so if Plako hit us with Maelstrom during his turn. But Sphener can cast heal. So make sure to heal us. That might put us in a better position to attack next turn, if Plako gives us a chance.

Ok. I'm glad you reminded me, I forgot Medic III allowed that.

[HidingKneel]

Hmm... maybe we can stop or slow down Plako's ToD plans. If Thoth is willing to open his borders, we can pillage a road to the Mirror of Heaven in two turns. I'll send one of our new centaurs, so it's no great loss if we lose him on counter. And it might draw some of the fire away from Amatheon's, if Plako decides to bring his mages north.

Well, a 'spectre' killed a Str 13, 93 HP Paladin defending in a hill city on the first try. Meanwhile, Hemah just happened to be standing 4 tiles away and no Earth Elemental showed up. I mean, it's not proof of renaming tricks, but it's awfully suggestive.

Well, Maelstrom was involved. But point taken: that was almost surely an elemental.

I really would like to figure out how to hurry and get Kurio Immortals too. It's just hard to justify building a slow unit when we need speed, or a Training Yard instead of a unit.

Well, I'd definitely like to have a training yard (probably in Avelorn) by the time mithril working is in. We can use that to promote our warriors to champions, at least.

Avelorn has a lot to build in the next few turns. I'm thinking
Eurabatres -> heroic epic -> aqueduct -> temple of order -> training yard
before pumping units (the other cities can pump units in the meanwhile).

[HidingKneel]

Edit: Hmm...that'd be one way to deal with Hemah. Charge straight at him with an Immortal. Sure, he can kill it, but not simultaneously kill something we care about. And if he doesn't kill it, then we might get a shot at him after all.

Or come at him with three immortals, covering a stack of chargers.

[HidingKneel]

One more thought: Amatheon's needs to grow, and it also needs to survive. I think the best build next turn is a palisade, to be cash-rushed the turn after (when the heroes leave). I can have three Kuriotate paladins in the city by then, but after being hit by two maelstrom spells, I'll bet that earth elementals have even odds on them. So an extra +10% could really make a difference.

[Mardoc]

One more thought: Amatheon's needs to grow, and it also needs to survive. I think the best build next turn is a palisade, to be cash-rushed the turn after (when the heroes leave). I can have three Kuriotate paladins in the city by then, but after being hit by two maelstrom spells, I'll bet that earth elementals have even odds on them. So an extra +10% could really make a difference.

That makes sense. I hate to spend the hammers on immobile defenses - but that would make the best thing to leave behind while we focus elsewhere.

Speaking of which - Wall of Stone available here?

[HidingKneel]

Yep, adept is in city and wall of stone is already up.

[HidingKneel]

Alright... another turn played.

Mardoc decided to go with a wall in Amatheon's, rather than a palisade. It'll be pricier (most of the remaining Mercurian gold will go to the rush). I think it might be worth it, though. Without the wall we're likely to lose a paladin or two before we could get reinforcements in. And we don't have an unlimited supply of those: I've got two more confessors with 10+ xp ready to upgrade, but nothing after that.

For those who are wondering what we're worried about, have a look:



Six tiles away, but effectively five tiles for the Balseraphs because of their road. Anyway, they can hit the city with earth elementals. But only if Hemah is willing to either begin or end his turn within four tiles. After Bob, that'll be a good place to put some Mercurian workers... if Plako gives us a chance, we can build a road that Basium could use to reach the stack and kill the top defender.

On the subject of Plako, I made Thoth an offer he might very well refuse:



Put a green centaur in Danalin's. If Thoth allows, I'll send him down to try and cut any roads to that Mirror of Heaven we noticed (of course, Plako might have another one).

So, it occurs to me that since we need to build some infrastructure in the next few turns, we might as well build it while we don't have access to nightmares (which I anticipate to change in three turns... Sphener's unyielding order should give us access to the first ring around Cauldron Lake right away). So I built a temple of Order in Avelorn, with enough overflow to finish an aqueduct next turn. It can then get a heroic epic out in three turns, and then get serious about pumping out military.

Meanwhile, Kwythellar is building Eurabatres (it's four turns either way), and Naggarond got that hunter out.

Engineering in at EOT, dramatically improving our security. Next we'll one-turn military strategy. If it weren't for blight, we could then save gold for a turn and run 100% science to get to mithril working at the end of turn 125. I'm not sure how much blight is going to slow us down. I imagine it won't make much of a difference until turn 122, and then it'll slow us a lot. So maybe we should save gold for two turns, and expect to get the tech on turn 128?

One final matter: we got Chalid this turn. Since we're spiritual, he starts life as a 3-mover. He'll also be able to take two promotions next turn. What should we do with him? Main question: do combat promotions improve the effectiveness of Crown of Brilliance? (If so, it's clear we need to promote him up the combat line first off.) If not, there are some other appealing possibilities. We could promote him to Sun III to give him a spell to cast when Crown of Brilliance is already active (that Sun III summon has +2 sun affinity, and we should have at least two sources of Sun mana soon, so it's pretty appealing). We could also give him command promotions, since his collateral is likely to give him opportunities to beat up on weak units that we might enjoy capturing. (That's a fun option for Sphener too, especially since he can reach Command IV.)

[Mardoc]

Alright... another turn played.

Mardoc decided to go with a wall in Amatheon's, rather than a palisade. It'll be pricier (most of the remaining Mercurian gold will go to the rush). I think it might be worth it, though. Without the wall we're likely to lose a paladin or two before we could get reinforcements in. And we don't have an unlimited supply of those: I've got two more confessors with 10+ xp ready to upgrade, but nothing after that.

Yeah, we can't sustain a rate of letting plako kill two units/turn, certainly. Unless/until those units are Immortal, or it's a trade. OTOH, if we can get the defenses high enough, it could be a handy source of XP.

Six tiles away, but effectively five tiles for the Balseraphs because of their road. Anyway, they can hit the city with earth elementals. But only if Hemah is willing to either begin or end his turn within four tiles. After Bob, that'll be a good place to put some Mercurian workers... if Plako gives us a chance, we can build a road that Basium could use to reach the stack and kill the top defender.

Yes, there's a lot of places we could definitely use workers. And they might make a better bait than a city and its garrison, too.

In any case, plako's aggressive pillaging is the main reason he has a mobility advantage.

If we do this, I want to bring at least Valin along. And probably Sphener. And maybe even a horde of Angelic chariots. Well - killing top defender only is probably all right as long as it's Saverous, but I'd be happier if we can wipe the stack.

So, it occurs to me that since we need to build some infrastructure in the next few turns, we might as well build it while we don't have access to nightmares

I believe that nightmares now work like metal - you can add them later. I really ought to see about slipping an acolyte into the build queue, though, to spread Order if nothing else.

Also - I discovered something I wish I'd realized earlier - Basium doesn't need an Inquisitor to remove AV, Basium removes it automatically from every base he holds at the start of a turn.

Meanwhile, Kwythellar is building Eurabatres (it's four turns either way), and Naggarond got that hunter out.

Good. Any sign of spiders yet?

Very glad to know Eurabatres is on his way.

Engineering in at EOT, dramatically improving our security. Next we'll one-turn military strategy. If it weren't for blight, we could then save gold for a turn and run 100% science to get to mithril working at the end of turn 125. I'm not sure how much blight is going to slow us down. I imagine it won't make much of a difference until turn 122, and then it'll slow us a lot. So maybe we should save gold for two turns, and expect to get the tech on turn 128?

On second thought - there are enough Kuriotates who would benefit from Iron that it's probably not too bad to start early. And Immortal candidates will have an easier time training if they're Iron Champions than Bronze Warriors. Let's go with the 1 turn cash and then head straight for it; if we come up a little short it's probably ok.

One final matter: we got Chalid this turn. Since we're spiritual, he starts life as a 3-mover. He'll also be able to take two promotions next turn. What should we do with him? Main question: do combat promotions improve the effectiveness of Crown of Brilliance?

I believe they do. Just says (+5% to spell damage, not a list of spells, but I can't see why that would be an exception). I'm certain they boost Aurealis.

I tried to give you back your sun mana to boost him, but I guess I haven't held it 10 turns yet. Given there are at least two other Sun sources, he could easily be Str 13 base himself once we get our hands on those.

[HidingKneel]

I believe that nightmares now work like metal - you can add them later. I really ought to see about slipping an acolyte into the build queue, though, to spread Order if nothing else.

Ah... I noticed Rosier had a Nightmare, but I thought that meant Bob had deleted and rebuilt him.

On the other hand... this makes me feel worse about losing our highly promoted units . Would have been awesome to get one for Alan Wake.

Incidentally, have we checked that nightmares benefit centaurs? The pedia just says "mounted units", but it's logical that centaurs would be an exception. But no worse than tigers using the axe of Orthus, I guess.

Good. Any sign of spiders yet?

No spiders adjacent to Naggarond, at least.

On second thought - there are enough Kuriotates who would benefit from Iron that it's probably not too bad to start early. And Immortal candidates will have an easier time training if they're Iron Champions than Bronze Warriors. Let's go with the 1 turn cash and then head straight for it; if we come up a little short it's probably ok.

We have very few units that will benefit immediately from iron. Three chargers atm, and one paladin. We can promote more chargers or promote warriors to champions, but that'll require more gold anyway.

On the other hand, we have hordes of units that could benefit from mithril (just about every unit the Mercurians own).

I believe they do. Just says (+5% to spell damage, not a list of spells, but I can't see why that would be an exception). I'm certain they boost Aurealis.

Alright, Combat promotions first. We can think about what to do next when/if we get to 37xp. Possibilities include Sun III, Command promotions, Commando (might be handy if we want to stack him with Sphener and Basium), and March.

Oh, make sure to have Sphener cast another heal spell before leaving Amatheon's this turn. Our units there are almost completely healed except for the iron paladin. But that iron paladin will be the top defender if Plako hits us.

Just realized that Devouts can hide (must be an EitB change?). That's very, very scary, given the kind of garrisons we're running in our super-cities. What do we need in order to see them? I assume vicars will do it?