The Haunted Forest: Mardoc puts the Sidar to the test.

[Thoth]

What are you, an oracle?

Well, this:

They're now forking Sludgehome and Nubia, on defensive terrain. Bob brought in a million Tigers to Sludgehome,

Is another way of saying: "our stack can be hit by a million disposable summons plus units from two cities"

[Mardoc]

Is another way of saying: "our stack can be hit by a million disposable summons plus units from two cities"

Yeah. . Well, not any more, picked up the netherblade and ran. I don't think Bob can catch us this turn, and next turn we can DS to run even faster (pick up NB is a spell).

Meanwhile, the trends of werewolf movement/growth and Ritualist movement mean that Hippusland might actually have a pretty decent defense without having to strip our core. And of course our financial situation is a bit better now

[Mardoc]

-> Ergo, I do not think that you should ban the Sidar for finishing ... 2nd ... in a game perfectly suited for them

Not Dead Yet

[Mardoc]

Did you know that adding Hyborem to the game increases the max AC counter?

I didn't.

No Blight yet .

[NobleHelium]

AC is scaled by number of players.

[Thoth]

Did you know that adding Hyborem to the game increases the max AC counter?

I didn't.

No Blight yet .

Should only be a couple more turns with the Prophecy I think...haven't looked at the latest save but a unit/turn from PacMan =+1 AC/turn

[Mardoc]

Should only be a couple more turns with the Prophecy I think...haven't looked at the latest save but a unit/turn from PacMan =+1 AC/turn

We need 4 more on the AC. So yes, within ~3 turns; maybe can do it in 2 if next turn we one-turn Mardero. But that's 2 turns later than I expected.

Ah...apparently Bob and Ellimist have three of the lesser towers built already. So this may not last much longer, regardless . Going to have to launch our invasions before we're quite ready, I think. If only I knew what the target should be

Actually...hold that thought.


Aren't these towers? Makes sense, on reflection - Ellimist is running God King, Bob isn't, and this is a very production heavy city - probably part of why it was chosen for the Gate in the first place.

So - just have to strike at the heart of Bob's power, and win this time . That'll buy us a delay, anyway. Hopefully Blight also buys us delay. Worth a try, anyway.

Main question is when we attack. Ideally, we could bring along four Beastmasters, four Beasts of Agares, and a ton of wolves. And Mardero, and adepts, and Ritualists, and ghosts and rangers and magi and...at some point we're going to have to declare it close enough and attack anyway.

[Mardoc]

Well - Ellimist has all four lesser Towers, plus Strength of Will, and a capital capable of ~75 hammer/turn (~88 if he's got a Forge; maybe slightly better if he's running Priests and Engineers). With a 1340 hammer Tower under construction, we're looking at less than 15 turns probably left in this game. OTOH - this turn we Blighted him! Maybe that'll buy us a bit of time.

The nice thing about having Blight hit right after you enter Sacrifice the Weak - I don't think we'll lose a single population to Blight. Of course, we'll lose a bunch to the Beasts, and our Conquest bonus hammers are a bit gimped for a while, but you can't have everything.

We're currently assembling a last-ditch effort to hit and take Ellimist's capital. It's actually pretty amazing that the state of the game is such that a last-ditch effort is likely to be 4 Beasts of Agares, 4 Beastmasters, ~20 WW's, ~4 Ritualists, two heroes, a stonewarden, Hawk, a couple Rangers, and hopefully an adept or two. Plus a bunch of posturing on the eastern front (and/or capturing cities if he pulls a Commodore and sends everything to the Tower city). And yet, I'm not at all confident it's enough to do the job I expect to lose at this point, but we're close enough to the end that it's worth playing out the string. Who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to sing.

[Commodore]

Aww, pulling a Commodore is stripping his borders? Not throwing together a massive hail-Mary play trying to get a decent horse song?

[Mardoc]

Aww, pulling a Commodore is stripping his borders? Not throwing together a massive hail-Mary play trying to get a decent horse song?

I was thinking more abstractly. Pulling a Commodore is a ruthless focus on the goal, discarding anything that doesn't help, even if you've spent all game building it. So, yes, abandoning the periphery when there's only one city left that matters. But that's just an example.