Gotta Catch 'Em All! Hiding Kneel plays the Svartalfar

[HidingKneel]

in the bag. "swoosh"

I'm in a strong position, there's no denying that. But don't underestimate me! I thought XXI was "in the bag" too, but I managed to lose it anyway. How will I manage to lose this one? The only way to find out is to read on!

So, another turn. Tech in:



And the event log was interesting:



GreyWolf built Gilden, and thereby retook the lead in power rating. I'm definitely going to want to keep an eye on him.
And maybe prioritize Hidden Paths, to deny him a second hero.

Took me a while to figure out how I managed to be at peace with Yell0w. I'm guessing he must have used the Seven Pines.
Anyway, that peace isn't enforced (and even if it were, I could just violate it using my worldspell), so I redeclared and had a look at his defenses:



City guarded by two somewhat promoted bronze warriors. It's built on desert, and they don't even have full fortification bonus. I think the phrase is "hot knife through butter". The only question is: do I want to keep that city, or raze it?

Elsewhere, one of my exploring fawns has found some interesting things:



First, a highly promoted spider. I'll capture that with one of my super-hunters soon. Second, another barbarian city has sprung up. My fawn moved for a closer look: it's just north of the Yggdrasil. So I think that city's worth capturing, once it grows a bit more. It's pretty close the Sheaim border, though.

Meanwhile, my other fawn stepped on the Mirror of Heaven:



I was hoping he'd spot that named giant scorpion, but no such luck (probably dead by now). Instead, I made contact with Mardoc. So I've now got graphs on everyone:



GNP is roughly as expected. The Ljosalfar and Sidar were a little ahead of me pre-golden age, and the Elohim and Sheaim are lagging way behind.



Manufacturing shows a little uptick for the Sidar last turn. Wonder what that's about?



Power shows the Elohim and Sidar with roughly nothing; the rest of us much stronger and rising.



Crop yield shows us way ahead. We've got eight cities, after all. The Sheaim and Elohim have three each. The Sidar have four for the moment, but will almost surely lose one next turn. Only the Ljosalfar are competitive: GreyWolf added two cities recently, bringing him to a total of six.

Teched cartography this turn. Next turn, civic swap. I'm thinking city states/religion/military state/agrarianism. Since this is my last turn of apprenticeship, I built a bunch of military. Three fawns in the core cities, and a warrior in Idris. I want to look prickly enough to keep GreyWolf and Mardoc focused on each other.

[HidingKneel]

Alright, another turn in. First, our tech:



I briefly considered a 4-turn detour to hidden paths before revolting, so I could add Guardians of Nature to the list. Decided against it because GoN won't do much for me right now. Only the capital is at the happy cap.

Revolted to city states/religion/military state/agrarianism. The financial advisor thanked me profusely. It was an immediate savings of 33 gpt. Plus an extra pair of happy faces that the capital needed, and extra food in the former Doviello capital.
Next up: military strategy (3 turns).

Saw something interesting:



Hope those zombies aren't coming my way. Though I don't think I have to worry... with diplomacy off, I should be safe until I see a peace declaration between the Sheaim and Ljosalfar. Still, can't hurt to be vigilant. I think I'll keep that fawn on the Mirror of Heaven. I also put one in the watchtower south of Thariss, giving me a good view of the jungle that separates us from the Ljosalfar.

Finally: the Sidar war. Yell0w's defenders were no match for my highly promoted recon team:



It's probably a bad move, but I decided to keep the city. It'll be annoying to defend if Yell0w manages to mount a counter-offensive, but I suspect the next phase of the war will be fought deeper in his territory. Despite his "gg" in the banter thread, I don't think he's in any immediate danger. I took what must be his newest city, but he's got three more productive ones that can spam CI bronze warriors. I don't see myself taking him out with the forces I have on hand. But forcing him to spam warriors sounds like a good outcome to me.

Incidentally, one of Yell0w's defending warriors was named "Faceless", just like the warrior that killed my scout earlier. So it sounds like maybe I did get some revenge .

[HidingKneel]

Turn 80 in.

My griffon finally finished exploring the shipwreck. Found nothing. Lame. Oh well... on to shipwreck number two.

The only really big news is this:



Do I smell a dogpile? If Mardoc and Greywolf were to come for me simultaneously, I'd be in trouble. Especially with all my best units off fighting the Sidar. Good thing they can't coordinate. Also, if the Elohim get turned over to the AI, Mardoc might divert his pyre zombies to go conquer them. Which I wouldn't mind at all... the Sheaim are dangerous because of pyre zombies, but I think Mardoc is hopelessly behind in tech, and not likely to catch up with either of the elven economies. So given a choice of fighting him now and fighting him later, I definitely prefer the second.

Meanwhile, I'm playing builder at home (need.... more... workers....) while my very experienced units are healing up next to Yell0w's territory. He revolted into conquest and god king, so I expect a dramatic boost in his military strength in the near future.

[HidingKneel]

Alright, turn 81.

Got a nice event:



And one of my fawns made an alarming discovery:



I'm guessing that Mardoc's crew is headed for that barbarian city, and not for me (since he hasn't scouted me yet). But I don't like the idea of him getting a toehold in my territory. Maybe I should promote that fawn to C2/cover and raze the city next turn. Well... I'll see what Mardoc does. Meanwhile, I'm moving some other fawns in that direction, in case Mardoc starts looking at me funny.

Two of my Yell0w-harassing units were fully healed this turn, so I sent them into his territory to have a look around. Next turn I'll probably be able to get a look at another one of his cities.

And military strategy came in at EOT:



Great commander is mine. I'll probably use it for a command post in Thariss next turn, and get started on the heroic epic (2 turn build). Then I'll just churn out units for the forseeable future.

What's next? I'm thinking Hidden Paths. I've already put off priesthood longer than I intended, but I'm paranoid about Grey Wolf poaching Kithra from me. Running 100% science, I should be able to tech hidden paths in three turns. And with the command post/heroic epic/overflow management, I should be able to get Kithra built the turn after.

Another thing that Hidden Paths will buy me is the ability to promote fawns to satyrs. I've got two candidates already, and that fawn that's scouting Mardoc will probably be a third. I was saying earlier that I didn't have the firepower to finish Yell0w off. But if I promote some satyrs... well, that's a different story. I've got a disciple of leaves in theater, so all I need is to save a bit of gold, put that stack in a city, spread FoL to it, and voila.

Mechanic question for the lurkers: can I promote a fawn to a satyr in a city with FoL while that city is in anarchy?

[HidingKneel]

Alright... turn 82 in.

Got a tech:



Used the great commander for a command post in Thariss, and started the heroic epic. Could have finished it this turn with a little micro, but only by working lame tiles. The overflow will be handy for 1-turning Kithra on turn 85.

It turns out Mardoc's got a lot more pyre zombies than were apparent last turn:



I count 11. This does not look to me like forces for conquering a barbarian city. So... what to do? Well, the pyre zombies were on a forest tile. Which is an opportunity, since fawns get +65% forest attack. So I promoted him up and killed the top zombie. Now I've probably got 10 pyre zombies incoming. Which I think I ought to be able to deal with: I've got a lot more productive capacity, and a mobility advantage. I started moving some fawns in that direction, and queued up some more fawns. I also offered Mardoc a cease-fire. Not sure what he'll do.

Meanwhile, I got a look at Yell0w's next city:



That's a non-negligible defense. To get through it, I'd either need to play risky with my elite units, bring reinforcements, or promote some satyrs. I'm thinking the third, but maybe I should just pull out and bring my elites back to kill pyre zombies.
I've already accomplished my mission with Yell0w: he's down a city, and no longer purely econ-focused. Well, I'll decide when I see how Mardoc reacts.

[HidingKneel]

Alright, two more turns played. Very eventful. As you can see from the banter thread (or reading other spoiler threads, I imagine) we're now at war with all the human players left in the game.

No pictures this time. Mardoc had a lot more zombies than I expected. In addition to the large stack I showed you last time, I spotted another stack of five about two turns further south. I put a fawn in their way, promoted to C1/shock, and tried to take out the top zombie, but lost.

Also, Mardoc killed the fawn that I used to initiate the war. I didn't notice that his mutated pyre zombie has the "light" promotion, and is therefore a two-mover. But I got revenge this turn, killing it in a lucky battle with a fawn. The fawn was exposed, though, so I deleted rather than let Mardoc kill it for xp. I'm guessing Mardoc has neither education nor HBR: he seems to have gone all-in on the zombie rush. So I think the zombies will be "slow" from this point on.

Also, Mardoc captured the barbarian city next to the Yggdrasil. Looks like it cost him a pyre zombie, and another one is healing up there. I positioned myself to visibly menace the city, so he either needs to reinforce (buying me time), interpose his stack (letting me hit it with a fawn on forest terrain), or let me raze the city (so that he's given up barbarian peace for nothing).

Still got 7 zombies incoming, and at least another five shortly behind it. It's going to be tight. But I think I can survive it. I've got two elephants in the city he's targetting, and it can almost 1-turn fawns.

But Mardoc isn't my biggest worry! GreyWolf has declared his intention to invade. His stack isn't yet visible; not sure why he decided to announce in advance and give me another turn to prepare. Anyways, I think I know the direction he'll be coming from, and it puts him in a position to potentially fork Thariss and Gereth Minar. His army is almost as big as mine; if he's bringing all of it, I'm in very serious trouble (since my forces are spread all over).

Anyways, the Svartalfar are on high alert. I've pulled all of my units out of Yell0w's territory (I've abandoned the city of Dust, but I've got it spamming warriors, so it should be a pain to reconquer. At least it would be, if it wasn't built on desert.
All cities are building military (warriors or fawns).

Yell0w spawned a prophet last turn and used it to build the Tablets of Bambur. Pretty sure that's a mistake when there are at most two cities in the world running RoK. (Building the Song of Autumn was definitely a suboptimal move for me, which I'm now regretting).

Finished Hidden Paths this turn, and I'll be able to get Kithra out in the capital next turn. Might come in real handy if GreyWolf is using Gilden as a stack defender. I don't think going priesthood next is in the cards. Probably bronze working... that'll let me put a big stack of aggressive bronze warriors in whatever city GreyWolf is targetting.

Meanwhile, I've got the capital running four specialists. Due to get another great person out to immediately fire a second golden age after this one ends. At that point, I can switch religion for nationhood and agrarianism for conquest, and hopefully survive this. Fingers crossed.

[HidingKneel]

Alright, another turn in. New tech:



So, Mardoc parked a second pyre zombie in his new city, and promo-healed the first one up. Both defenders are now in good health with a bunch of combat promotions, so I backed off of that plan. But that's fine... the manuever was worth it even if it only bought me a one-turn delay. I can't handle well-promoted zombies in a cost-effective way with the forces I've got onhand, but I'll be fine once my elite fawns arrive and get promoted to satyrs.

Meanwhile, he advanced his stack of 7 pyre zombies another square. I killed one with a super-hunter, who's now in pretty bad shape, and retreated back a tile. Next turn he'll be able to move on a hill, and which point I'm not going to want to attack him (because of the defensive bonus, and because I won't be able to retreat even if I win). And after that he'll be practically at my gates. I haven't been as effective as I hoped of whittling down his stack, but hopefully that'll change as reinforcements arrive.

Finally got a look at GreyWolf's forces. I thought I had a screenshot, but apparently not... anyway, he's got three hunters,
three archers, and five fawns, topped up by a C2/M1 Gilden, and a fourth hunter with the hero promotion, promoted up to C4/S1. He's also got a pair of workers building a road behind them, guarded by a warrior. So I wouldn't be surprised if reinforcements are on the way.

My griffon finally finished exploring the second ship, which got him a spirit guide promotion. I might a well just declare nationality on him; no one is going to be fooled now. But I sent him to menace the coastline... GreyWolf will be forced to either reinforce his workers, or retreat them, or lose them.

As for GreyWolf's stack... I'm not super worried by it. It looks like I'll have ten fawns and eight bronze warriors in the area.
The sinister/aggressive fawns have odds on everything in his stack, whether he's on forest or flat ground. And, of course, there's this guy:



Tech is on bronzeworking, due at end of next turn. After that... either priesthood (if I'm feeling safe) or HBR (if I'm worried about Mardoc). Probably with some satyr upgrades thrown in.

Wondering if I want to swap to conquest or not. I have several cities near their happy caps with plenty of spare food, so Guardian of Nature is pretty tempting. Though I guess Conquest is also a good option in that case. Well... don't have to decide that for another few turns. We'll see how the war goes.

[HidingKneel]

Alright... been a while, the game's been exciting... time for a proper update.

It's turn 86. The calm before the storm. Even with diplomacy off, the Sheaim-Ljosalfar have been pretty effective at coordinating their dogpile... there was no action on either front this turn, but next turn should be plenty interesting.

Well... this is technically a 3-front war, but Yell0w doesn't seem to be joining in. He hasn't sent any units to reclaim the city I took from him. He ought to know it's abandoned: all the units I invaded with had to pass next to his culture on the way out. Maybe I broke his morale? Anyway, I'm slowly roading towards the city... Ahepetr will be connected to my road network next turn. If I manage to reach Dust before Yell0w acts, I'll have a bunch of bronze warriors defending the city, and he's not likely to retake it without a serious investment.

Anyways, the real worries. First off, the Ljosalfar:



That's GreyWolf's main stack: a heroic hunter, Gilden, 2 more hunters, 5 fawns, and three archers.
He's also got reinforcements on the way: a C1 hunter (carrying the mask that causes fear), a M1 archer, a warrior guarding two workers, and an M1 fawn (I'll have to watch out for those!)

He seems to be heading straight for the capital. That's where I want him to go... it's got the best cultural defense, and is centrally located so I can get lots of units there.

My only real worry is if he moves to that tile NW of the griffon. From there he can fork Thariss and [strike]Gereth Minar[/strike] Nameless Tower.

On my side: I've got a stack of eight fawns that are just out of his reach, ready to hit him wherever he moves next.
One fawn each in Thariss and Gereth Minar. Five warriors "scrambled" that can reinforce either city, and another three that can reinforce the capital. I've got that griffon over the lake, who would make a pretty good city defender too (C4 with a promotion free). And, of course, Kithra.

All in all, I'm not too worried. He doesn't have enough firepower to take my cities, and only the archers in that stack can pillage.
Sinister aggressive fawns should have odds on everything in that stack except the heroes. I can weather this pretty easily just with brute force. And while he's got reinforcements trickling in, I've building them a lot faster.



The Sheaim I'm more worried about. That's Mardoc's primary stack... six pyre zombies left, three with C2 and three with C1.
They'll almost surely move NW onto that hill. I've roaded it so that my fawns can move to the tile, hit the pyre zombies, and retreat into the city. It's not ideal to hit him on defensive terrain, but next turn will be my last chance to damage the stack before it reaches the city. After that, any explosions will hurt all my defenders.

Mardoc's also got that other stack of five pyre zombies on the way. Possibly more... I imagine one of those highly promoted zombies from the city might join in. My forces in the area are a lot more sparse. In position to hit him next turn I've got
five fawns (one of which I might promote to a satyr) and one of my super hunters. I'll also have a disciple of leaves, three warriors, two elephants, and a wounded super-hunter in the city. Plus another two elite reinforcements on the way (in addition to reinforcements the city can build itself).

This situation I'm a lot more worried about. Mainly because I don't have a strength advantage in most of these battles. My
elite units can kill pyre zombies with odds in the 90s, but unpromoted fawns get even odds on flat ground, and poor odds if he takes up defensive terrain. At least it isn't the end of the world if he reaches the city... it's built on a hill, and he probably won't want to attack across a river. And hey, pyre zombie explosions can't kill in EitB (phew).

What else? Oh, I did something very stupid a few turns ago. After the Elohim got turned over to the AI, I thought I'd try to befriend them. Maybe I could talk them in to declaring on Mardoc, or something. So I exchanged maps with them for a diplo bonus. It didn't occur to me at the time that anyone else who trades maps with them will now know the exact layout of my territory. Hopefully this doesn't occur to anyone else (Mardoc at least doesn't seem to be on good terms with the Elohim, and probably doesn't have enough power to demand the map. GreyWolf is another story.)

But it's not all downside; I know a little more about Mardoc's western border:



Finally, sad news: my golden age ended this turn. Here's a look at the non-inflated demographics:



Still looking good. A hefty lead in all categories. Enough to take on the entire rest of the world? I'm not so sure.
But I got a great merchant at EOT, so I can kick off another golden age next turn if I like. It's not like the merchant's good for much else... I doubt anyone is going to let me send it on a trade mission

Anyways, I'll decide next turn after seeing how the wars are going.

Also, got bronze working at EOT. Assuming I have the GreyWolf situation under control, I might start building FotT in one of my core cities next turn. Next tech... HBR or priesthood. Depends on how the wars go.

[Commodore]

By the way, you are to be complimented. You have achieved, not once but twice, that most rara avis: A coordinated dogpile. That both have been in banter-only games is even more impressive.

[HidingKneel]

By the way, you are to be complimented. You have achieved, not once but twice, that most rara avis: A coordinated dogpile. That both have been in banter-only games is even more impressive.

A dubious distinction, perhaps. But I'll take it! What's my secret?

1) Take the lead and look scary.
2) Overextend and attack someone who's not a threat.
3) (Optional) Declare war on every player in the game.

Using my momentum to go after Thoth in XXI was definitely a big mistake... I should have listened to you and targetted Bob instead. We would have had some heavy losses, but we also would have bought ourselves some breathing room (and a well-developed city). The road not taken... c'est la vie.

Going after Yell0w in this game? Probably a mistake as well. If I had sit tight, maybe Mardoc and GreyWolf would still be at war, and I could just build. Now I've got to fend them off.

Anyways, turn 87. First up, a handy tech:



Main point of that was to be able to defend my cities with bronze warriors. But it has some other uses as well. Nameless Tower has two jungled food resources, and there's lots of room to expand into the jungle. If the game ever gets peaceful again, which I suspect it won't. Also, bronze lets me build the Titan at double speed.

So... time to fight a war. First off, the home front:



GreyWolf did the thing I was most worried about: positioned himself to fork my cities. Which basically meant that I had to act this turn. Fortunately, I was pretty well-positioned. He placed himself on an ancient forest, which is +50% defense bonus.
Except: fawns get a +65% to attack on ancient forests. Give them a woodsman II promotion (as I did for that one) and
it's up to a +95%. Enough that a fawn with 2xp has odds on his hunter hero. Sounds like a good deal... I've got plenty of fawns, but he's only got two heroes.

So I shredded his stack:



Here are the remnants:



Gilden's still alive: he never came up as a stack defender (though he did get one defensive strike in). But he's pretty much neutralized. He won't be taking any cities with what's left. I also killed all the archers aside from Gilden (though he has a few more arriving as reinforcements), so he can't pillage me. Lost three fawns of my own, but the seven which are left can be promoted. And put four bronze warriors in each of Thariss and Nameless Tower. So I'm feeling pretty safe at home.

The war with the Sheaim isn't so rosy:



I don't know where I got the idea that Mardoc doesn't have education. He's been running apprenticeship+conquest for as long as I've had info on him. This turn, all his zombies had two promotions. Odds were not great, but I was able to do a bit of damage. Killed two zombies with my elites, but lost a fawn pressing my luck. So I'll have four zombies next to my city next turn. At least they'll be on flat ground, so that regular fawns will have a fighting chance.

Fortunately, there's a more cost-effective solution to my zombie problems:



Satyrs are friggin' scary, man. Promoted one this turn, and there's another I can promote later (the fawn is wounded though, so I might hold off).

I had a spare scout from back when I was building those, so I've sent it to try and reclaim the Mirror. Got a view of more zombies on the way:



I suspect I'll be able to handle them. But just in case:



Saving gold for the moment, but next tech is probably priesthood. And I started the Titan in Nameless Tower, since it doesn't look like I'll have any trouble driving GreyWolf back.