FFH7 - Old Harry trails in last

[Old Harry]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party - I've been on holiday this week and lost track of the reporting date so didn't have access to my notes. Not that I'll be challenging for the win here.

A little background:
I've played FFH/EITB as Launn, Kurioates, Banor and a few others, but I've no idea how to play well - I usually just research fireballs and then mop up. I've never played the dwarves so I didn't realise just how badly having no golems would gimp things...

The start:
I reckon I need a couple of warriors and a mud golem to improve wine and get chopping. So the tech plan is Mining-Agri-AH-Calendar, to get chops, food and happiness. Beyond that I've no idea what to do...

Early on we meet Os-Gabella, Sabathiel and Basium, which kinda balance each other out. Hopefully I can gang up with the two good leaders on the evil one. Seems reasonable, right?

T13 - I lose the scout.


T23 - I finally start improving the wine (I'm too used to playing Civ, I have no feel for how fast I should do stuff in EITB) and then T25 the Banor ask if I'll declare war on the Sheaim. This sounds great, so I jump right in (without contributing any units or material, but it's the thought that counts.)

T43 - The Banor leaving us out to dry - signing peace with Os-Gabella who won't sign peace with me.

T57 - This feels very late for a second city, but it locks down the gold region, and secures horse. One of those will prove to be a terrible mistake...


Over the next few turns a couple of juicy barb cities pop up, but then on T65 everything goes horribly wrong. The Banor adopt Ashen Veil and are suddenly evil and not my best buddies any more. A while later I pop Arondcha the White - a spectre with four lions for company - from a lair. They nearly take my second city - killing the last warrior, but luckily I'd put a mud golem in to save the place. A stack of warriors manage to kill the spectre on T82.

T87 - Finally settle city 3. Please don't laugh.

T104 - The Svartalfar declare war with a small stack of warriors by city 2. They don't do much.

T105 - I get horseback riding from a treasure chest - boar riders get great odds vs the archers in the barb cities so I just need a few of these and I can actually start to expand! Also note the Sailor's Dirge dropping skeletons next to my capital, it just holds thanks to a 1-turned God-King warrior. Have I been Unlucky With Barbs or Careless With Defences? More like Bad At The Game.

Over the next thirty turns Sheaim and Svart stacks gradually trickle in and gradually strengthen with pyre zombies and diseased corpses. My world spell is kinda handy but gets me a mere four golden hammers. My stacks of warriors and boar riders get whittled away repulsing the enemy. Then on T145 Tasunke joins in the dwarf-bashing.

T153 - The boar riders, a catapult and a few warriors take a barb city and set up for a quick conquest of the next barb city, but it's looking like my time is up - the elves have Satyrs now and I can't get peace with anyone... Also, why two Hyborems?


Around now I start trading maps and the world looks pretty amazing. I just wish I'd been able to influence it a little more...


T166 - The Illians make it snow. Gah.

T170 - Looks like my time is up - maybe now wasn't the best time to try to expand?


T172 - I also picked a bad time to explore a tomb.


I manage to kill off five assassins and Slow half the other units with Lentum Friggis' ice mana, but the capital and Kalocly fall and I don't have the heart to continue past T175. Well played Bob, you win.

What did I do wrong? Overbuilt smokehouses and granaries, boar riders (this was the terrible bit of the second city - these were way too expensive for what they were) and catapults. Didn't build enough settlers or warriors. I had a blast though, and am already playing through again to see if I can do a less terrible job this time. Thanks Bob!

[Miguelito]

Just blame it on weird diplo. Sabathiel going AV is unexpected, and how he made peace with Os-Gabella outside of an event I'm also not sure. And why did Volanna attack you? Also black Hyborem actually expanded onto the main donut ?

Thanks for the report, fun to read, I hope you had at least some playing as well.

[Bobchillingworth]

Thanks for the report- I'm almost certain you were the victim of catastrophically bad luck; the Bannor could theoretically make peace with the Sheaim on their own, but it should have been impossible due to them being allied with the Mercurians, barring an event- which did happen to me in one of my test games. Varn going Veil is also completely bizarre.