Gotta Catch 'Em All! Hiding Kneel plays the Svartalfar

[HidingKneel]

New turn.

Alazkan and four satyrs were just enough force to kill the four axemen + adept that Yell0w had in his capital:



Sadly, no shades (other than the one we all started with, which Yell0w settled as a merchant).

That left Kithra free to make mischief. So I sent him up the road and found two Sidar axemen rushing to reinforce the capital. Killed one of them and redlined the second with an illusion. Then sent the illusion further into Sidar territory and captured a worker. (I figured out why I was confused about the illusion healing thing. Illusions heal when they win a combat. But on offense, illusions never win combats: they redline their opponents and then withdraw. Workers are an exception.)

Also got a look at what remains of the Sidar. Two more cities, each guarded by a single axemen. A redlined axe on the road, and two workers (which I could have swooped in and captured, but decided to guard the first captured worker instead). Unless Yell0w's got something up his sleeve, this is over in two turns (don't have quite enough mobility to finish him off next turn).

Already I'm starting to send units back to the core. Yell0w's done for and I have an NAP with Mardoc, but check out what GreyWolf's been building:



I think that's the bulk of it, though he also seems to be keeping a Fyrdwell in each city. If he came at me right now, he might have a shot at doing some damage. Once my army gets back to the core, no way.

At EOT, the Song of Autumn finally started paying off :



My first free FoL spread! Also, I built the Great Library, and finished teching sailing. Looks like four more turns until I get my first island city.

[HidingKneel]

Four more turns gone by.

Quick summary: Conquered Yell0w, in the process of consolidating. Military is rather quickly returning to my core (got a bunch of 4-move satyrs now). Researched Trade and Code of Laws; Currency due at EOT next turn.

Trade let me have a look at opponents tech. They're all pretty backward. The only techs they have on us are Sanitation (for the Elohim) and Archery (for the Ljosalfar). At least as of turn 109: between turns, GreyWolf teched Animal Handling. So he'll now have an information advantage (for the moment, at least). But he's missing a ton: no bronze working (so he can't clear jungle) and no philosophy (let alone priesthood).

Mardoc conquered the Elohim capital this turn. I think they're down to one city now, so they'll probably fire the worldspell between turns.

Here's a quick overview of what the empire is up to:

[Merovech]

Those demographics are insane.

[HidingKneel]

Those demographics are insane.

Just wait for my golden age! (5 more turns)

Two more turns played. Nothing terribly interesting. Most of the Sidar cities are out of revolt now (all except for the Kilmorph Holy City).

One of my satyrs cleared a goblin fort and popped it for an acolyte. And I still have that Ecclesiastic. I'm going to use them to found some holy cities on my border with the Ljosalfar, once I've got enough military in the area that GreyWolf won't be able to attack.

In other news... Currency came in. But no extra trade route? Is that something that changed in EitB v9? I don't see it in the changelog...

[HidingKneel]

Alright, a few more turns down.

GreyWolf is sending in the navy:



Not sure if he's got any units in that galley, or if he's just trying to scout me. Well, I've got enough units onhand to kill anything that comes out of it (worst cast, 5 Fyrdwell), and I built myself a trireme to go chase it off.

Meanwhile, I've continued building. Spring adepts are turning my desert cities into paradises. Got myself a first island city, I'll have a second next turn, and a third not too long after. And I've got a settler en route to put a city in range of those Fyrdwell in GreyWolf's capital. I'm thinking that ought to trigger some kind of response. I'll put the settler in his path next turn, and guard it with illusionary Kithra. Maybe he won't notice Kithra is an illusion and will bounce some Fyrdwell off him. Turn after that I'll settle the city, make it Empyrean holy city, and pour a ton of units into it.

Mathematics came in at EOT. Next up: taxation. Though tbh, I'm not sure if swapping to republic is a good move: given the size of my empire, city states is probably saving me 150 gpt. And I don't have many towns outside my core.
I definitely want to swap nationhood for consumption (especially since it's bugged and not giving me any benefits) and
Guardian of Nature for foreign trade (looks like that'll give me at most one or two unhappy faces, and will really help the economy).

[HidingKneel]

Turn 115. Things are starting to heat up.

First off, GreyWolf's galley ventured perilously close to Nameless Tower:



On the same turn, I finished my trireme. I guess he didn't do a hawk flyover? Anyway, now his galley sleeps with the fishes.

Meanwhile, he's moved Gilden to Evermore (not his capital):



Griffon flyover reveals this in his capital:



That's 18 Fyrdwell. Not sure if it's all he's got, or if he's still keeping one per city. Anyways, makes me think he's planning to make a lunge at my western, non-core cities. Those have one or two defenders each. But due to the jungle, he won't be able to reach them without making himself vulnerable for a turn, at which point my moderately-sized stack of fawns, satyrs, and assassins ought to be able to inflict some heavy damage (I don't have enough critical mass to kill a whole stack, though. Time to get some more military built. And to start keeping my fresh-built PoL around for fighting, rather than sending them west to terraform. Summoned two tigers this turn, to have more warm bodies if I need them).

All in all, I'm not too worried. Fyrdwell don't receive defensive bonuses, so it'll be even more of a slaughter than last time if he wanders into my forested territory. The only thing they've got is mobility. Which is something of a worry: he might try to fork my cities. But I think Illusionary Kithra ought to be able handle that pretty well. C5 with 1-2 first strikes means he'll have ridiculous odds against an attacking Fyrdwell, and will heal after each victory... that one unit ought to make me immune to attack.

On the other hand, I really want to use Illusionary Kithra to wreak some havok on the Ljosalfar. I positioned my settler this turn with only the illusion guarding it. Assuming it's still there next turn (he can hit it with his Fyrdwell stack), I'll found a city, make it the Empyrean holy city, give it a wall of stone (Tablets of Bambur, thanks to Yell0w), and move a small stack of bronze warriors (and maybe some other units) in.

Meanwhile, teching Taxation (5 turns at just under breakeven science). Three turns to golden age.

[HidingKneel]

Turn 116! Time to start heating up my cold war with the Ljosalfar.

First off, I build a new city and founded Empyrean:



Then I realized that it was pointless to do so: holy cities don't give free culture unless you adopt the religion. So there's no point in having Empyrean there. On the bright side, there's no point in having Empyrean anywhere else, either. At least I'm not paying maintenance on the ecclesiastic anymore.

Then it was time for the fun to begin. Ladies and gentlemen, I have nothing up my sleeve. Kithra started his turn here:



Travelling southeast, I got myself on GreyWolf's road network here:



Then summoned a second Kithra, and moved the first one back into the city of Bait.

Illusionary Kithra travelled south, taking in the sights:



Stopped briefly in a quaint little town:



And finished by making a second friend:



Note: if I'd had better recon, I could have grabbed a cluster of three workers a little further in. I guess that's the price I pay for leaving animal handling so long. Still, 2 workers and 70gp of pillage gold isn't a bad start. Presumably GreyWolf will start guarding his workers better, but it'll be a pain to do so. And he can't guard his improvements: there's plenty more towns to pillage where that came from.

Now, the question is, can I actually keep that city? Here's what Greywolf's got:



Gilden's back in the city of White Horse (which is not actually his capital, despite what I said last turn), along with 18 Fyrdwell and a smattering of other units. The Fyrdwell can hit my city next turn. So I moved a big stack of my own in there to defend it:



That's 7 warriors, 7 fawns, 3 Priests of Leaves, 4 tigers, an adept (for Wall of Stone), and Kithra.

All his Fyrdwell are mobility-promoted. With the aggressive trait, defensive bonuses (hill city + Wall of Stone), and
combat-related promotions I've given my units, most of them have good odds on the defense. I ran a few simulations to see what might happen if he attacks. In ten battles, this is what happened:

1) GreyWolf kills 2 warriors and 2 fawns, loses 9 Fyrdwell.
2) GreyWolf kills 4 warriors and 1 fawn, loses 7 Fyrdwell.
3) GreyWolf kills 1 warrior, 2 fawns, and a PoL. Loses 6 Fyrdwell.
4) GreyWolf kills 2 warriors, 1 fawn and Kithra. Loses 6 Fyrdwell.
5) GreyWolf kills 1 warrior and 3 fawns. Loses 7 Fyrdwell.
6) GreyWolf kills 2 warriors and 1 fawn. Loses 12 Fyrdwell.
7) GreyWolf kills 2 warriors and 3 fawns. Loses 8 Fyrdwell.
8) GreyWolf kills 1 warrior, one PoL, and 1 fawn. Loses 9 Fyrdwell.
9) GreyWolf kills 2 fawns. Loses 12 Fyrdwell.
10) GreyWolf loses 1 warrior and 2 fawns. Loses 11 Fyrdwell.

Now, in all of these cases, it's really effectively "GreyWolf loses all Fyrdwell". Any survivors would be redlined and stranded next to my city. And I've got a moderately-sized stack of heavy-hitters (satyrs and assassins) behind the city.

It would be a shame to get unlucky and lose Kithra, but I'm not too worried.

What else? I changed the micro on my GP generation. Delayed the golden age 1 turn to produce the GP in Nameless Tower rather than the capital: that ought to let both cities produce another GP a few turns later (thanks to the boost from the Golden Age). Taxation due in 4 more turns. After that, I'm thinking construction -> engineering -> sorcery. (Why bother with hawks when I can have floating eyes? Plus, I've got an adept who's almost ready for a mage promotion.)

[HidingKneel]

Another turn played. GreyWolf didn't protect his workers... I sent Kithra in a second time and nabbed three of them.

Not sure how best to prosecute this war. I've got a powerful offense but no defense. I definitely don't want to put a satyr stack in front of GreyWolf and have him shred it with Fyrdwell. Within his own territory, he has the mobility advantage.

One idea is to try sneaking up on Evermore. He's guarding it with two (non-bronze) warriors right now. If he doesn't put more units in there, I can probably conquer it with illusionary Kithra, griffon, and giant spider. I'll keep my other forces back so as not to spook him, for the time being.

Taxation and GP due at EOT next turn. But I've decided not to revolt right away. Deception next, and I can add Undercouncil to the list. That'll also give me more time to finish a Summer Palace in Svartalfheim, which should save me a *lot* of money if I'm going to switch to republic. Also founded Order in Svartalfheim... kind of pointless, but I figured there was no reason not to.

[HidingKneel]

Question for the lurkers:

Can hawk flights locate giant spiders?



Taxation in, Great Commander generated.

[DaveV]

Question for the lurkers:

Can hawk flights locate giant spiders?

No. Only units in the recon line.