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In Progress Let's See the World Die. Dominions 4.

SerratedBiz

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Mar 4, 2009
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Even if it ends before reaching its climax (or is this the climax?), this LP was really good and entertaining. 10/10 want moar.
 

Grimwulf

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TURN 23

LATE WINTER IN THE YEAR 2 OF THE ASCENSION WARS

Being a man is hard. Being a God is even harder. Because sometimes you just have to look in the mirror and say to yourself: “I’m fucking done. I lost. I’m a loser. I have no hope and no chance”.

This is exactly what Abhisumat, Pretender of Kailasa, should do. Sorry little fucker. As for me, time to read some messages.

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Don’t mind the background. I’m still a bit underwater, if you know what I mean.

Research. We’ve reached Construction 3 and Blood Magic 2 this turn. Construction 3 grants us a nice, but situational buff.

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Which increases protection of allied units (+3), having a decent aoe 25. Both Andhaira and Crispy can cast this one. But in most cases, an E3 caster can be assigned to do something much more effective.

As for Blood Magic, we have limited use for it in this particular War.

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Ability for Vanjarls to unite into Sabbaths is nice; Agony spell might be used as a last-resort option if Caelum attacks us now; Binding Bone Fiends is a good investment of blood slaves if we manage to roll a Hangadrott with blood path.

We’ll continue researching Construction school for now.

Another black hawk attack on Helheim.

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I expect them to spam this spell like raving madmen. That’s what AI Caelum does from times immemorial, don’t ask me why. Apparently, we had no problems with the birdies.

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Harkon didn’t find any fresh blood. That’s bad. 7 slaves I currently have isn’t enough in my situation.

Battle in Midvale against Agiwulf was discussed in previous update.

As for the Valley of 1000 Deaths, LundB and one of the Skalds succeeded in attacking the province and retreating to Helgate.

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The army of Caelum stays there for the time being. Good.

By the way, I've spotted a Fravashi among their ranks.

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Can't remember for shit where do they come from. Random events? Some kind of hero-ghosts? Guess I'll have to do my homework until next turn.

Sneaking Selvaria and one Valkyrie under her command were discovered immediately. I was planning on using them to attack the province this turn and delay Caelum’s advance a little more, but no luck. Don’t worry though, they were both given “retreat” order, and arrived at Helgate safely.

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The fact they were discovered means that at least part of Caelum’s army was ordered to patrol the province, not to attack Helgate. Which may be a good sign.

We’ve lost Thunder Falls to Ulm.

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We’ve lost Chilmoor to Misfortune scale.

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Other news are more or less casual.

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All in all, we are still in the middle of a crisis. But hey, at least Vanheim didn’t attack Weeping Falls for some forsaken reason! (inb4: they are sneaking towards my capital)

On top of that, we’ve received a massive hit on our income. Chillmoor and Thunder Falls were bringing us a total of 100gp per turn. Gotta grab them back asap.

Right. I have discouraging news, my monocled friends. For you to understand my next maneuvers, we have to dive deep into game mechanics one more time. I’ll try to make it short, though.

Sometimes the info in Dom3 and Dom4 manuals is so scarce, you have to test shit out and analyze mechanics statistically. So, somewhere in another dimension:

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Ermor and Arcoscephale are at war. They don’t like each other. Time to attack!

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3 commanders of Arcoscephale move out from Retardoland to attack Ermor in Incline Mt. At the same time Ermor moves out from Incline to Retardoland to attack Arcoscephale with just 1 commander. Incline is a “mountain” type of province, Retardoland is “farmlands”. You won’t find ANY info in the manual on this, except for 3 possible outcomes and one single word: RANDOM.

Let’s experiment and find out the answer: is it true that Arcoscephale has more chances to reach Incline Mt. first, since this nation has more commanders? It should have more chances, if the movement-order-check-thingie is commander-based.

If we simulate this 10 times and watch the results, we’ll have the following (results may vary during another simulation):

- 3 times Arcoscephale attacked Ermor in Incline;

- 3 times Ermor attacked Arcoscephale in Retardoland;

- 4 times two armies missed each other (Ermor conquered Retardoland and Arcos grabbed Incline).

We have our answers now: the check is not commander-based, rather army-based or province-based. If we give Arcos 999 commanders and order them to attack Incline, a single commander of Ermor would still have the same chances (roughly 33%) to stop their advance.

Now for the interesting part. If this movement-order-check-thingie isn’t commander-based and rather province-based, what are Arcos chances in this situation:

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Let’s do another 10 simulations. The results… differ. 10/10 times Arcoscephale was attacked by Ermor in Retardoland (with combined forces from all three provinces). Even if Arcoscephale had chances to get out of Retardoland before any Ermor commander reaches it, the chances were low as fuck.

Conclusion:
The more different armies (from different provinces; no matter how small they are) attempt to attack moving target (no matter how giant it is), the more chances they have to prevent it’s movement.

I hope I didn’t blow your brains with my poor hangoverish English and all the science stuff. The above is not a result of a single stupid experiment, but rather my subjective experience over the years of playing, that I attempted to illustrate in this test.

Okay. Let’s discuss Helgate.

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Zephyr won’t craft anything from now on, since he gained an experience level. Experience increases research ability, among other things. Zephyr has RP 5 (11 with Owl Quill), while a regular Vanherse-skald has RP 4 (10 with Quill). So let the sorry-ass human do some research before he dies.

Selvaria finally grabbed one of LundB’s rings. Look at her:

Red is blessing bonus.

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Even “naked” she is a giant threat to enemy commanders. I’ll equip her with something as soon as I find more gems.

Selvaria takes her Valkyrie and one more Ring of the Warrior and moves out to reclaim Chillmoor. The second ring doesn’t give her any benefit (coz you can’t benefit from two same artifacts on one commander), but she can give it to Krummi or Ragnar once they meet up. Reclaiming Chillmoor shouldn’t be difficult.

The enemy squad is militia-only

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The plan is simple:

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1. Start as far from them as possible.

2. Bless the Valkyries.

3. Raise one zombie (takes less fatigue than raising skeleton) – he will distract part of militia.

4. Kill enemy commander(s) while militia is away.

5. …

6. PROFIT!

LundB and Grimgravy can’t really do anything right now, except for researching and waiting. After researching Construction 4 they will attend to forging. If they survive that long.

Andhaira casts Twiceborn and prepares to die joyfully.

Two skalds are ordered to forge Longbows of Accuracy.

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Not very powerful, but it’s as close to guaranteed ranged hit as you can get. As you can see, I’m currently lacking gold. That’s why I plan to hire a couple of standard Van Scouts (only 40 gp each) and give them the bows with “Attack Largest” order. That way they will shoot some mammoths on turn 1, with a decent chance of forcing them into routing immediately.

Two skalds are moving out of Helgate. One is ordered to attack Valley of 1000 Deaths. If I have a slightest chance to delay Caelum attack, I’ll take it. Another skald is ordered to sneak towards the Dying Jungle. If I am lucky enough to distract Caelum on this turn, next one will be statistically easier (attacking the Valley from two sides is more effective than from Helgate only).

This sneaking and diversions is one way to deal with Impossible AI. In the end, I’ll have to face that army anyway, but hopefully I’ll have time for preparations.

Moving on to Helheim.

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Since I desperately need women, Ulfric Stormcloak is assigned to help Lord Harkon in blood hunting. I believe they will make a good team. And yes, it might lead to further income hit, but who needs money when you can has virgins?

Crispy casts Gnome Lore upon Misty Hollow. If he won’t find anything again, I’ll send him to Helgate to die miserably like everybody else boldly defend our fortress.

Vanheim front remains unchanged.

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Roark hides in Weeping Falls and waits for them to attack. Lysandus patrols Misty Hollow. Raider Brutus (Edge of the Melt) is assigned to patrol as well, since he can’t pillage effectively on his own. Should have done this earlier.

I can only see non-glamorous part of Vanheim armies right now. But I expect them to be as large as Caelum, and even more dangerous.

The time has come to discuss Ulm front.

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Could it be worse? Probably not. What do we currently have:

1. Five experienced commanders in perfect condition, 4 of them are Hall of Fame heroes (Ragnar entered HoF this month with “Heroic Strength” ability).

2. 13 Helhirdings. All in perfect shape, not a single affliction. Everyone is experience level 2 or 3.

3. 7 Huskarls. All perfect shape, not a single affliction. Everyone is level 3.

4. 4 Serf Warriors. 1 crippled, 1 limping, 2 in perfect condition. Everyone is exp. level 1.

5. 2 Archers. 1 limping, 1 with chest wound. Exp. level 1 each.

6. Shitty PD 10 (10 militia + 10 light infantry + 5 heavy infantry + 1 Vanherse).

Less than 60 men. Half vets / half noobs.

Ulm has something like 300 men on our borders (don't forget that these reports are not accurate), led by the Prophet. Last battle was a warm-up. We’ve only seen unexperienced troops (exp. level 0 each), without mage’s support. Somewhere out there are shamans, and veterans of Ulm-Marverni war. Next fight is going to be much, MUCH harder. I don’t know if I’m willing to sacrifice my elite forces.

All I need in order to turn the tide and pwn Ulm is more chaff (units with low-cost and big numbers, usually weak and useful only as, well, chaff). And to have more chaff, I need a couple of Helkarls with Skull Staves, who will spawn zombies all battle. That requires Construction 4 and a turn to forge artifacts. I’ll finish researching Construction on turn 25, then craft sticks on turn 26, then my Helkarls will join up with army on turn 27. By that time Ulm will conquer all my lands, Throne included.

Sigh. I have no choice once again. I just HAVE to hold on and prevent them from advancing deeper.

Even worse. I can’t stay in Midvale. I need to reclaim Thunder Falls somehow.

- To prevent Ulm’s advance towards my Throne and my capital;

- To restore my previous gold income;

- To get out of surrounded Midvale, or at least attempt to do it.

That means even less chances to win (no PD support). Look at me @ I have gone nutz!

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We’ll use a different approach this time, that will hopefully prevent heavy casualties. More details during War Council meeting.

Hiring is basic this time. A Van Scout in Helgate and another Van Scout in Helheim. One is going to be Valescere, since he insisted on Scout duty. Another one is supposed to be Grunker, according to the list, but I don’t want to be banned. Scouting is dangerous, and not necessarily glorious. (if anybody else wants to be a Van Scout – let me know. You maniacs.)

203gp is saved for s next turn. I need more Hangadrotts.

All that defensive activity will slow my research a little.

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Score graph news.

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C’tis pwnd Kailasa one more time; Ulm did the same to Marverni; Agartha is doing much worse than we are.

Judging by army graph, Ulm didn’t suffer much from our last battle.

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And Caelum even managed to INCREASE his army size from last turn. Despite all deserting and starvation, they are still hiring more than losing.

We are one millimeter away from Kailasa army size. Yay?

Our income is suffering.

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I don’t expect it to improve significantly from this point. That means no more unit recruitment. From now on, all reinforcements will come from summoning stuff, both during and outside combat.

Anyway, I’m going to leave score graph jerking until turn 24 (second year conclusion).

Traditional National Overview:

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And now it’s time for War Council brainstorming. Entrance is free. Bring all your family and friends.

We know you have a hangover. Pour yourself a drink, the Council can wait.

Done? Ok, let’s cut straight to the scheme. The new army formation and tactical approach, developed by Crispy:

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Does it look gud? No? Well, we don’t have any other options at the moment.

Teh Highlights:

1. Both Hangadrotts are placed pretty close to front lines and scripted to spam zombies. Penda and Headless are D3 casters, which means they can summon 12 zombies every turn for the cost of 30-32 fatigue (considering scales). They will run out of stamina after 4 casts, meaning we’ll have 96 zombies in total. Still not enough chaff if we meet a 300-unit army of Ulm, but we should be fine fighting around 150-200 units.

2. Codex Troll will not cast Cermons of Courage, since we use undead as our chaff. Morale of our commanders is 20+, Helhird has 17-18 morale, bodyguards 16-17. This is more than enough. He is scripted to attack on turn 6 for the same reason as last time – attacking is better than spamming single zombie/skeleton every turn (AI will most likely do that).

3. Ragnar and Krummi’s scripts remain unchanged. They performed well in last battle. They should be effective at killing enemy archers and/or casters. Or distracting Agiwulf from casting Banishment.

4. Helhird is going to attack flanks. If we won’t face a giant line formation, they might even assassinate commanders.

5. Penda and Headless both have 3 Huskarls as bodyguards. Just in case someone will attack them while they are unconscious.

6. Codex Troll has 1 Helhirding, 1 Huskarl and 4 Serf Warriors, that will help him in late battle (when he goes melee). They are divided into 2 separate squads because of morale difference (serfs have only 10).

7. Decoy archers are commanded by Krummi. She provides the same morale bonus as Hangadrotts due to Heroic ability.

Why do we think this tactics is superior to previous one:

1. (this one applies to previous tactics as well) If we face a huge army commanded by one-two commanders (like the one that conquered Thunder Falls last turn), we have a mighty fine chance of winning fast and easy, without any losses whatsoever. Ragnar has 18 morale under Blessing, Krummi has 24. This provides a great chance of hitting rearmost enemies. Helhird might hit the commanders too, if the flanks are free.

2. Terror isn’t effective at all when ALL hostile units are united into one single squad, especially in line formation. In this case Terror hits only a small number of units compared to overall squad size. Since all morale checks are squad-based, enemy won’t feel the effect of Terror at all. Besides, breaking super-high morale of Ulm units was never easy.

3. 24 zombies per turn is actually very much at this stage. We don’t need to risk our shieldwall vets, who are beterr off with bodyguard duty.

4. Even if we face a giant line, zombies should pre-occupy it’s center for a long time, while Helhird will get a chance to shorten enemy numbers from the flanks, and surround them in long run.

5. This tactics was developed by Crispy. He is oldfag of this War.

Time will tell if new tactics will prove effective. Wasting Hangadrott’s turns on zombie spam isn’t the best call, but unfortunately, they are they only ones who’s capable of doing it atm.

Let’s hope for the best. And finish our drinks!
 
Last edited:

Got bored and left

Guest
Man, this is one awesome LP, would read again. Made me buy the game, too. Bastard.

So, with all those huge-ass armies at your doorstep, how screwed are you? On a scale of, I dunno, 1 to really damn screwed? Being a relative noob at this game, it's quite hard for me to tell. Also, I'd be more than happy to enlist for whatever role you see fit. Unless I'm too much of a newfag for that :( In which case I'll just sit back and watch. Hail Helheim! :P
 

Grimwulf

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Thanks again, guyz. It means a lot to me, seeing you enjoy your pizza while my Kingdom gets pwnd. All the feedback and stuff.

Also, I'd be more than happy to enlist for whatever role you see fit

Sure! I can put you on the list for some glorious Vanjarls/Hangadrott/Helkarls roles, or you can take a free Van Scout postion right away. You'll travel with Valescere, shoot stuff with bow, die in Helgate next turn. And all that stuff, you know.

So, with all those huge-ass armies at your doorstep, how screwed are you? On a scale of, I dunno, 1 to really damn screwed?

Pff, I'll be fine. I'm a natural.

 

Got bored and left

Guest
Oh, those glorious spots are mighty tempting. But if getting dropped next turn is what the quickly depleting population of Helheim needs, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Sure, whatever, sign me up. VICTORY OR DEATH (probably death)

Pff, I'll be fine. I'm a natural.

Oh, kewl. *Reads spoiler* Weeeeelll... :hero:
 

Grimwulf

Arcane
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Joined
Oct 1, 2014
Messages
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Kodex Kommunistic Kastle

UNION AGAINST HELHEIM

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I want to be clear on that: these motherfuckers work in team. They formed an alliance. And don’t you even try to convince me otherwise. They will pay!

Caelum came first.

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Attacking my main forces in Midvale before they have a chance to move. Rage!

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If any unit or commander gets wounded in battle, and afterwards enters another battle during the same turn, his hp will not restore. Hit points are restored every month, not every battle.

Fortunately, those pathetic black hawks didn’t manage to land a hit on anyone, except a couple of losers from local PD. One sorry little flying fucker attempted to creep on Penda from behind. Bird-brains.

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It could be worse, of course. Imagine if I gave magic gems to my combat casters and scripted them to cast some gem-costy nukes, planning to unleash hell on Ulm. And then fucking black hawk attack (rituals are always proceeded before movement). Casters follow the script, spend their gems in vain, instant butthurt.

I hate Caelum.

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Let me guess: you are now going to attack my capital with another Call of the Winds?

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Wait a minute. That doesn’t look like black hawks at all.

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A small group of Spire Horn Warriors and Iceclads. Every single unit is starving, except for their commanders: Harab Seraph and Spire Horn Seraph.

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That is interesting, actually. This small group could stop whatever reinforcements I could have sent towards Helgate. Little do they know. I have no reinforcements.

Show them yer incredible human skills, Gordon!

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Notice that we’ve got a Vanherse and Helkarl commanders from native capital PD. Which is pretty awesome.

Harab Seraph summons lesser air elemental.

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But I knew already that Caelum researched Conjuration 3 (Call of the Winds belongs to that category).

Elemental itself isn’t a big threat on his own, but might be a bitch in big numbers. All because of “Ethereal” trait.

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But “very hard” doesn’t mean impossible. Thus, a single Ethereal unit on the battlefield isn’t… Oh, shi

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One more air elemental, this time complemented with phantasmal warroir. Once again, phantasmal warriors are not much of a threat, jes hard to land a hit. When you combine that kind of troops with heavy damage dealers, you are fine. Starving birdmen are not the greatest damage dealers I’ve ever seen, though.

Besides, I’ve got a shitton on Vanir guarding my home.

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Mighty fine fighters they are.

To be honest, we had some losses. Mostly among PD. Those ice lances are no joke.

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Long story short, Caelum routed. Only Seraph commanders were too exhausted to run fly (113 and 153 fatigue).

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Our javelins made a quick work of them.

Gordon lost two men in this battle.

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Now he has 12 men of average age 35, all exp. level 1 and in perfect condition. Maybe I should send them defend Helgate too? No. I forgot they are not sneaky, and thus cannot sneak into besieged castle. Oh, well.

Ah, those little victories. They keep my spirits lifted. Speaking of which, what’s new in Chillmoor?

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Just a bunch of militia with two militia-commanders, no big surprises.

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Time for good old rebellion suppressing. Best part of being a King.

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I wish I could show you the whole combat log – It’s fucking hilarious. Militia’s attack value wasn’t anywhere close to girl’s defence.

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Still, last Valkyrie of SVD had much less Defence skill than Selvaria (lvl.2 Valkyrie had 21, while Selvaria has 26). She was eventually surrounded and beaten up to -1hp.

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That’s it for SVD. Our glorious Valkyries helped us win a lot of battles with little or no casualties. They never fled from battlefield and accepted death like honorable warriors of Helheim. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.

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Militia retreated soon after that. Selvaria reclaimed Chillmoor and received exp. level 3.

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Dat magic resistance, tho.

Meanwhile in Weeping Falls.

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Here goes Vanheim. Expect to see mighty Vikings, marching in a huge shieldwall formation? Eat this:

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Seem like Vanheim is hiring everyone and summoning everything. Woodsmen, amazons, bakemonos – the fuck am I looking at? And those are… mantises and clockwork soldiers?

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Of course, the actual native part of this army (huskarls, hirdmen and Vanheres) are experienced and very threatening (exp level 1-3 each). Vanheres are one of the best sacred units in the whole EA if treated properly. And having enough Fay Boars guarantees that Vanheim troops will never starve.

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But Vanheres really need a good blessing to fully unleash their potential. Vanheim’s blessing is shit-tier (reinvigor+3; defence+2). Visrutar has smth like A1W4E6. Being a dormant Pretender with such incredible scales (Order 3, Production 3, Growth 3, Magic 1, Cold 1), he must have had a lot of points to distribute (not sure how much exactly does Impossible AI get).

Anyway, that unusual army is led by a whole bunch of commanders. Bakemono Chiefs and neutral mounted commanders aren’t worth mentioning. Sigverk the Vanjarl is pretty much the same as our own Vanjarls, except for ability to sail (all Vanheim national commanders can sail).

And then we have a true leader of this lot. Kvase the Vanadrott.

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A Vanadrott with A4 is bad news. Thankfully, AI doesn’t use uber-casters who also have H path effectively, but rather wastes their turns on blessings/sermons/banishments and other divine crap. Still, gotta remember that Kvase fucker. I expect a lot of trouble from him.

The battle didn’t start good. We had decent, although not very large, PD in Weeping Falls (h.cavalry, h.infantry and a Vanherse). Cavalry charged head-on, only to catch 9999 arrows and javelins

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And be butchered by Vanheres afterwards.

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Fighting these beasts is never pretty.

Heavy infantry was holding for a couple of turns (armor, shields, spears are effective for defending teh position), but eventually failed morale check.

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PD commander didn’t flee, though. He stayed on the hill, and boldly faced berserkers of Vanheim.

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Something tells me it was just a humble greeting from Vanheim. No experienced troops, except for a few squads, no major commanders (heroes, Prophet, experienced ones), nothing. Heh, some of their killer mantises are at old age already (they’ve got only 28 years threshold).

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A lot of forested provinces provide Vanheim with a lot of neutral chaff (these provinces have much more resources, allowing to hire decent number of units). But most of this chaff is crappy. Amazons are gud, though. Not just as chaff, but as a decent cost-effective infantry unit.

Killing humans. Pff. Old fucker Visrutar must think he’s the king of the world now. Well, FUCK YOU, Visrutar. I’ll see your fuckface when my army gets to your arse.

Btw, how is my army doing over there? Aw, shiet.

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We didn’t make it to Thunder Falls, unfortunately. Instead, Codex Troll’s army was attacked by the same band that conquered the province last month: Tallo the Warrior Chief and his 80 barbarians.

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They are all quite experienced. I don’t think Thunder Falls was their first victory. Tallo made a good call of placing archers behind himself (now archer squad is considered “rearmost”). If I ordered my units to attack rearmost from turn 1, they would target archers, not Tallo.

The infantry formation is standard box (+1 morale; no movement penalties) – good for rush-attacking, while enemy is buffing and only preparing for the fight. Ulm infantry is also placed as close to front lines as possible.

Let’s fucking do this.

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Decoy trick didn’t work this time – hostile archers aimed for infantry (local PD and zombies). No matter.

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Shields help greatly against arrows. Still, our enemy had a lot of freakin’ archers and axe throwers. Lot of allied units were wounded, some were killed, before engaging in melee.

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Ulm front line was ready to murder and slaughter. But then Ragnar and Krummi charge into them, ahead of local PD and zombies.

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Inspired by Ragnar and Krummi’s presence, local PD infantry suddenly got gut.

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Everything went according to plan: Ulm didn’t have enough units to break our zombie wall anytime soon, some Helhirdings passed morale check and went for rearmost enemies (Tallo already moved to archers squad by now, cowardly little sucker), while others engaged infantry. The latter couldn’t land a hit on Vanir as usual, so they used other method instead.

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A couple of arrows and axes connected with our units. One Helhirding got a “Mute” affliction. The battle rages on.

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Part of the Helhird went for rearmost.

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Yet another barrage of arrows, and another Helhiding gets wounded.

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Too late to flee, Tallo. Yer day hast cometh!

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Muted Helhirding took that arrow hit real personal. Look at him ragin’!

Mistakes were made, tho. Zombies weren’t participating in battle at all. Gotta keep my horses at bay for a little longer. This time I’ve lost several Vanir because of that.

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Finally, Ulm armies began routing. Tallo was the first one to escape.

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We managed to finish off most of them before they left battlefield. Unfortunately, 3 Helhirdings were at negative hp by then, including the muted one. They died soon after the battle ended.

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May they find strong mead and good fight in the Grand Halls.

It was fortunate for us to face Tallo’s band one-on-one. Things could get ugly if he attacked us together with Agiwulf or any other reinforcements. It would be even worse if he went towards the Throne and our capital.

But what does it matter? Ulm and Vanheim are still relatively far. Caelum, on the other hand…

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Faggots think they can outsmart my arse. They attacked with only 1/3 of their forces, decreasing starvation hit to some point. 1/3 was still enough to destroy Helgate PD and weak Palisades defences. I expect them to move the rest of their forces to Helgate next turn and finish me off with all available power. Of course, they can go straight to Helheim. Or try to capture Helgate without reinforcements.

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Of course, it’s not as much as we saw in the Valley of 1000 Deaths. But this army is still enourmous. Led by two experienced Sastars in perfect condition.

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And two old and afflicted Airya Seraphines.

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Yes, sure, the whole army is weak and starving. But the numbers. The sheer numbers. Sigh.

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Ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the end.

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Fuck. Even if it is, don’t expect me to go down easily. For every drop of Vanir blood, they will all pay dearly. I’ll give them a fight they never forget!

Brace yourselves, men! We WILL defend Helgate!

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panda

Savant
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
398
Thanks to this LP I tried Dominions and have been playing for the whole last week now.
Started vs Impossible AIs, cause why not, heheh. Dat doomstacks got me every time.

For a total noob it's really interesting to watch how you manage to survive. It seems in 1 on 1 scenario you could beat(or delay indefinitely until BoT do the work) each of neighbors. 1 vs 3 though...
I just hope lizards will bite Caelum in the ass so this LP is not going end too soon.
 

Got bored and left

Guest
I just hope lizards will bite Caelum in the ass so this LP is not going end too soon.

Or Burden of Time magically kills everyone in one turn. Or something. We believe!

Thanks to this LP I tried Dominions and have been playing for the whole last week now.
Started vs Impossible AIs, cause why not, heheh. Dat doomstacks got me every time.

You and me both, man. Except I'm too much of a pussy to try my luck against impossible AI :oops:
 

Grimwulf

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Technical message. Move along, nothing to see here.

Update is ready, but I'm currently having technical issues (ran out of space on Slick Pic). This post will be used for testing different pic hosts. As soon as I'll find a decent one, update will be posted.

And yeah, sorry again for such an enourmous delay. Fucking social life - how do I get rid of it? (next updates will be regular, just like before)

Test 1. pomf.se

psqurv.jpg


Seems gud (links full-res images). But doesn't require registration - therefore, hosting is time-limited? Also, "Our operation is loss-generating, so donations are welcome." Seems like they won't be functioning forever.

Test 2. photobucket.com



Sigh. Resolution limitations.

Test 3. imageshack.us

imageshack-frog.jpg


:troll:

Test 4. imgur.com

iWfGExr.jpg


A nice temporary solution. Has 225 images limit, though (Slick Pic had 1000, and it was enough for only 2 years of game time).

Test 5. google+ (coz why the fuck not)

Test.jpg


Yet another res limitation
:x

Test 6. postimg.org

Test.jpg


Don't judge me! It's my first LP, I'm still learning.

Test 7. dropbox.com

Test.jpg


Nice. 2 Gb limit, tho. It's about 1500 pics. I'll probably lose the session before running out of space, so what the hell. Dropbox it is.

Edit: Fuck, apparently not any browser can see dropbox images. Or maybe they are seen just for me? Anyway, can't use it. The test must go on.

Edit Edit: IMAGE HOSTERS - HOW DO THEY WORK?!
:rage:

I guess I'll just stick to imgur, 'til I run out of space again. If anybody watches my butthurt righ now, you might as well help me out.

1. So. Any gud image hosters?
2. Can anybody say if pomf.se has any time limitation for hosted files? Can't find any info on this anywhere.
 
Last edited:

Grimwulf

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New agitation poster from Crispy! Coz this thread needs more propaganda.

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TURN 24

EARLY SPRING IN THE YEAR 3 OF THE ASCENSION WARS


Before I even begin reading messages, just look at how fucked we are:

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Totally surrounded, I tell ye. Let’s try to find good news among all those messages.

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Andhaira casts Twiceborn. Now I have to make sure he dies during defending Helgate. He costs me 13gp/turn – almost as much as a Hangadrott.

Crispy. Don’t you dare.

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YOU FUCKING UGH!!

Ok. Now this is officially one of the most unlucky sessions I EVER had in terms of magic sites. Earth gems could really help me out in midgame. How can a mere God handle that much butthurt? I don’t know.

Lord Harkon and Ulfric Stormcloak captured 3 more slaves, making it a total of 10. Which is actually pretty pathetic, but should be enough for a battle or two.

Other messages are boring. BoT taking effect, patrolling, etc.

Sigh. Let’s think about orders then. Starting with "easy" front – Vanheim.

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Our three brave commanders will attack them false-vikings, using advace tactics:

CtWjH7C.jpg

That will teach 'em.

If anybody forgot already (sclerosis bros, I salute you!), the plan is to prevent Vanheim’s advance. It might not work, but the chances are fairly high. I think.

Ulm front is almost a no-brainer. Must deliver counter-attack on Thunder Falls while we can.

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This time Selvaria and Everett will join the battle as thugs (will accompany Ragnar and Krummi, doing old-fashioned commander assassination).

Tactical approach is almost the same as previous one.

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We have four thugs, instead of usual two. You can see “Protection from Lightning” in Everett script. Why? Coz he doesn’t have any useful shit to cast, that's why.

Hangadrotts are moved a bit closer, while Helhird is placed a bit further away. Coz I want those slow-ass zombies engage in melee before (or at least on par with) everyone else.

The rest is the same. All our Vanir units and commanders are in perfect shape (humans – not so much).

Now. I should do something about that pain in my holy arse. I’m talking about besieged Helgate, of course. The situation is even worse than I expected it to be, because of some stupid mistakes I made. Correcting:

1. There is no way to sneak into besieged fortress and participate in fortress defending at the same turn. Either you sneak in, but won’t participate in battle, or you engage hostile forces in open field (outside the walls). That means I can’t get Harkon and Ulfric sneak inside Helgate.

2. I don’t know what was I thinking, but Vanjarls can’t cast Sabbath Master – not with my Drain and Cold scales. To be precise, they can. But they will be uncounciouss till the end of battle because of fatigue hit.

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole situation, and let me be straight: it is critical. I’m literally out of options. This whole session is a mess, and I strongly recommend everyone: DO NOT repeat what you’ve seen here.

After long and thoughtful planning, I decided not to defend Helgate. I’m sorry. Change of plans.

I will attack these motherfuckers myself.

ueSYGRj.jpg

This might seem crazy. And stupid. But I have my reasons.

1. Сan’t risk my only fortress, apart from capital. I don’t have enough troops inside Helgate to protect it.

2. I have no gem income. No gems AT ALL. My whole global strategy is based on decent gem pool, so I’d rather nullify research for the time being, than let my Kingdom enter midgame with such a pathetic income. What does it have to do with me attacking Caelum? Well, I decided to change my priorities for a while (from researching to site searching). Sending Grimwulf search nearby conquered provinces is pointless – they’ve been searched for death, air and earth sites already (I know that there are water sites that may give me air gems and whatever, but come on). Grimwulf will search other provinces, to the south-east of Helgate.

3. You heard me right – I’m going offensive on these fuckers. Caelum has one SERIOUS weakness – their pathetic dominion. The closer is Grimwulf to their capital, the easier it is to domkill them all. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. After that, I’m going to enter their undefended capital and make their fucking mountain my new home. They don’t call me King of the Clouds for nuthin'.

4. I want to move Grimwulf away from Helheim capital. If I get lucky, someone else’s dominion (Vanheim, probably) will overcome my own. I could use some positive scales in my capital, especially positive luck scale (having Misfortune 3 in the capital leaves no chances to obtain unique national heroes. I mean it. The probability is 0%).

5. It’s good to have a Great Sage in a province with most researchers. A nation’s capital is never such a province, coz usually you want to recruit unique cap-only commanders there. Not researchers.

6. I HATE CAELUM!

And so, we move to Helgate. All of us, including skalds, Crispy, all bodyguards and even Gordon’s serf warriors. Gordon Cageman is the only one left behind, without a single unit under command. He will remain in Helheim for logistics (he can be used to deliver artifacts, reinforcements, etc). Besiedes, Gordon is absolutely useless in battle.

We have a bunch of commanders and 20 huskarls ready and waiting in Helgate. Time to put them to good use.

EgM1td1.jpg

It’s simple, actually. Two possibilities here:

1. We push Caelum forces back. They will attempt to capture Helgate several times more, but with Grimwulf behind our walls, we won’t have too much problems with them. We’ll prepare some units and commanders, let our dominion spread on their land, let their doomstacks starve a little more, then destroy these muthas.

2. We die.

Our research is suffering. But it’s suffering for Greater Good.

wKcdvAw.jpg

I only hire a Helkarl this turn (Grunker). He will research for a turn or two, then join our Ulm front (as soon as he receives Skull Stave). 163 gp is saved for next turn.

Battle with Caelum is a special one. Fighting against flying units demands different approach, for they are able to reach any point of the battlefield in a single turn. Considering their numbers, they will easily surround all our units and commanders. To avoid heavy ganbanging, Teh Tactical Approach™ was invented.

But before I get to explaining the details, a brief explanation on how every battle against hordes of flying units look like.

Turn 1:

Jc468XW.jpg

Turn 2:

oDEi9t7.jpg

Hope you got the idea. There can be no hiding when you fight against flying fuckers, especially when they outnumber you significantly. People will die, commanders will die, even Crispy will die. Everyone is going to be surrounded. Thus, my only option is all-around defence.

PwVfbPa.jpg

That type of formation gives me several advantages.

1. Center of the circle is well-protected from the hostile flying infantry.

2. Caelum units won’t be scattered across the whole battlefield, and thus will be easier to target with aoe spells.

3. Some of their infantry (outer circle) will be unable to reach my units before allies in front of them die/retreat. They will stale some turns.

This is the basic principle of the upcoming battle. Now, deeper planning:

niAHFYD.jpg

P44d6ch.jpg

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First of all, the presence of Pretender God on the battlefield grants every allied sacred unit a blessing. No need to bless them manually.

In the center of the circle is King Grimwulf and Crispy. They are surrounded by 16 personal bodyguards (15 belong to Grimwulf and 1 to Crispy) and 20 huskarls. Bodyguards won’t move a step away ‘til the end of battle, while huskarls will attack on turn three (we should be surrounded by Caelum forces by then).

Grimwulf casts Communion Master on turn 1.

JrmhzJ8.jpg

Communions and Sabbaths are based on the same principle, they are mergeable. So, Communion master can use Sabbath slaves, and Sabbath master can use Communion slaves – there is no difference in that regard. During this battle, King Grimwulf will be empowered by four Vanjarls (LundB, Grimgravy, Harkon and Ulfric). They will cast Sabbath Slave on turn 1, faint and remain unconscious ‘til the end of battle.

6wT4EHg.jpg

This will grant King Grimwulf +2 to all magic paths. All fatigue from his spellcasting will be distributed among Vanjarls. Besides, all buffs that were cast by Masters affect the whole Communion. That’s why the King will cast Astral Shield on turn 2, effectively protecting himself and fainted Vanjarls.

KketqiY.jpg

After that, he will spam Leeching Darkness.

nIu7Izx.jpg

Considering his D7 (D5 in vanilla + 2 from Communion), Leeching Darkness will have aoe 7, which should do some damage (there are two birdmen on one square, or three lizzurds/humans/wingless temple guards, etc. With aoe 7, Leeching Darkness can potentially hit 14 winged units + remain on the battlefield for some time, possibly hitting more units every turn).

I don’t really have much choice among offensive spell atm. It’s either Leeching Darkness (low aoe, low damage, but stays on the battlefield for some time + benefits from D7 greatly), Terror (bypasses MR, nice aoe 9, but no damage whatsoever) or Agony (great aoe 12, decay+morale hit, very low damage, requires blood slaves (which are hard to protect against flying units, and I kinda need them for later)). In my struggle versus Caelum, dealing direct damage isn’t much different from making them flee. They are at near-death-starvation anyway, 90% of their forces. Most of them will die/desert within months. So Terror and Agony are pretty damn effective in these circumstances. But still, I decided to go Leeching Darkness and cause some direct damage for a change.

Feel free to criticize my choice, here is the full list of possibilities.

7TvhPcX.jpg

Our svartalves, Crispy and Andhaira, have a fairly similar script. During first two turns, they cast mass buffs.

aL9evwy.jpg

In previous Dominions 4 versions all those 25 aoe buffs had some weird targeting. Hopefully, this time they will affect at least our huskarls. Not just summoned undead chaff. Considering our all-round defence formation, those buffs are worth a shot.

I gave Crispy and Andhaira an earth gem, and a death gem. The first one is needed to lower fatigue hit from buffing (two buffs with 40 fatigue hit will make them faint, considering Cold 3 and Drain 3 scales – the gem will prevent it). Second gem is required to provide a one-turn death magic boost, so they can both cast Terror on turn 3. My guts tell me that Caelum infantry is given “hold and attack” command (they were ordered to do so in every single encounter I witnessed in this session). So, as soon as they attack me on turn 3, Crispy and Andhaira will use some foul language skillz. I’ve put Andhaira a bit outside the circle so he can die.

After turn 3 both svartalves will faint.

ArtB and Valescere are expected to shoot some mammoths. “Fire and keep distance” command not only makes them fall back when enemy closes in (which is impossible in that kind of formation), but also guarantees they won’t come closer to enemies to shoot more precisely (archers tend to do that a lot). I don’t want these two go out of the circle.

Finally, the skalds. They form our outer circle.

Royal skalds (Helkarls) will cast Raise Dead twice, using death gems to empower themselves from D1 to D2, then faint.

WpKaS2H.jpg

I’ve got 6 royal skalds assigned for the task – that means 60 zombies on turn 1, and 60 more on turn 2. 120 zombies should be barely enough chaff in case we face 250-300 weakened Caelum units. Considering Vanir and human troops, of course.

Skalds (Vanherses) will buff themselves a bit (once again, I don’t expect Caelum infantry to attack before turn 3), then cast Steal Breath.

8KClcqL.jpg

Each skald accompanies a royal skald (stands on the same square). Hopefully, this will provide some protection for the fainted Helkarls.

We also have a couple of serfs standing in front of everybody else. Good old decoy trick.

As for Caelum forces, I don’t want to make a long analysis – that will make this update even more boring. Just a few major notes:

1. Most of the army is starving. Almost half of units have afflictions because of that.

2. Very low morale. Everybody, except for commanders and a bunch of sacred elites, have 7-8 morale on average.

3. Magic resistance is actually decent, considering the drain scale of my dominion. 11-12 average. Mammoths are exception – they have only MR 5.

4. Mammoths are expected to be the last units we face, since they don’t fly, and our circle is placed as far away as possible. Still, only ArtB and Valescere will attempt to stop them (by shooting them in the face). Since mammoths are VERY low on morale and most of them are afflicted, it is quite possible to kill some them, or force into routing, if ArtB and Valescere land a few lucky shots. If they fail, a lot of our troops will be trampled.

5. I don’t really expect anything dangerous from Caelum commanders.

6. Magic weapons of Caelum (ice blades, ice lances, etc.) don’t really matter in this particular battle.

7. If they send large reinforcements (100+ units) from the Valley of 1000 Deaths, I am pretty much fucked. Then again, if I lose Helgate, I am fucked anyway – no way I can recapture it in the forseen future. I’ve got no means of effective besieging yet. That’s why I’ll do anything to protect the fort.

8. This will be our largest battle yet. Heavy casualties are unavoidable. Although many of us will die fighting, this death will be a glorious one.

Traditional national overview:

PqwVtPk.jpg

By the way, two years have passed since the Ascension Wars started. The time has come for Annual War Council, where we shall sum up the year and draw some conclusions. This might be the last time we do it, so feel free to take photos draw paintings.

Make yourself comfy. Let us begin with score graphs.

Helheim doesn’t look good in terms of territory.

z2MK3dV.jpg

But that is expected to change soon enough. We shall reclaim Helgate province and Thunder Falls. Hopefully, we shall also prevent Vanheim’s advance for the time being.

C’tis seems to be fighting Kailasa and Arcoscephale. Some correlations between Arcos and C’tis prove this statement. Besides, the times when Kailasa managed to fight back, C’tis didn’t lose in provinces (up ‘til last turn), which means that C’tis expanded elsewhere. Judging by province, income and army graphs, Kailasa defeated sieging forces of C’tis. Now Kailasa rules over it's own capital province once again. Btw, C’tis is an aggressive type of AI. These can sometimes attack without war proclamations, but it doesn’t mean they are not able to act neutral. Right now C’tis seems to be neutral towards us. Maybe they will even help us a bit with Caelum.

Vanheim is at peace with Ulm, which is probably the worst news of the year. Yes, Vanheim had a couple border incidents with Oceania and Sauromatia in the past, but right now we are their only target. That’s bad.

Ulm is holding. Any damage we deliver upon them, they can easily compensate by conquering Marverni provinces. This status quo is going to last.

Just look at this beautiful war between Agartha and Sauromatia:

qFu95ZH.jpg

Arcos and Ermor seem to be mostly fighting neutrals.

Oceania has expanded on land. And pretty damn far, for an EA UW nation (they all suck on land).

We have score graph with exact number; we have been following war events of all nations (even if we haven’t always mentioned these events during updates); we know Thrones of Ascension layout; we know all the Throne claims.

hZ2H3BQ.jpg

Let’s see if we can draw a map based on this knowledge and good old deduction.

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Of course, there are some wild guesses here and there, but it should be pretty accurate in most cases. One should always be aware of current global situation.

Let us move to next score graph. Fortifications.

r1WpagG.jpg

More forts = more gold = more research potential = more commanders = more units = harder to take the nation down. Vanheim’s amount of forts is rather threatening.

We need to push our borders towards Ulm before they build more forts. Caelum’s amount of forts doesn’t matter – we should aim for domkill victory over them. And take their empty forts for ourselves afterwards.

And yes, Oceania will be next-to-impossible to get rid of. 8 forts after two years. This is totally insane.

A quick glimpse on gold income graph (because it’s too painful to look at it for long).

Tg3qNVV.jpg

Our gold income is equal to that of Kailasa. Nuff said.

The world didn’t feel the effect of BoT. Yet.

Gem income.

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We aren’t doing bad in comparison to others. But since our strategy depends on gem income heavily, and we’re already running out of gold, this value must be increased asap.

Research.

hOuA0Lo.jpg

Caelum and Arcoscephale still rock. Ermor still sucks. We’re still holding third place, although it won’t last long. No matter.

Dominion.

BNGa1MS.jpg

We are only interested in Caelum in this one. Looks like recent drop-down of Kailasa allowed Caelum’s dominion to spread on their land. Still, their Pretender Amrav has dominion 2, and 5 temples that they have most surely built grants them one more point. Increasing it to a total maximum of 3.

Having 8 provinces (which are going to be 7 next turn), they can’t increase maximum dominion any further. Excellent. This is our chance to conquer the damn mountain.

Army size graph.

YiHhIhn.jpg

Well, we actually managed to deliver a couple of painful ones to Ulm. Look at the drop-down. We shall push forward!

Kailasa seems to recover and even beat C’tis in recent battle(s?). C’tis seems to fight Arcoscephale, and rather successfully too.

Caelum troops die and desert. Serves them right, we say.

Agartha and Sauromatia both have enormous armies. They must have one mighty spectacular war going on.

But who needs wars if you don’t get any glory? Want to know what is the Most Glorious Nation in the world?

reBgxx1.jpg

If we take out the dead ones, half of Hall of Fame consists of our heroes. There are also a couple of alive mercs (“Sir” Guifre, Terminus), and of course Skögu, the Arena Champion. He is probably the person responsible for pwning Agatha.

Mithridates was the only Prophet in the HoF, apart from Codex Troll. The Prophet of Invicta died this month. It means that Arcoscephale did not just lose their main army, but a Prophet too. Maybe even Pretender God – who knows?

That’s it for statistics. Mistakes were made this year, a lot of them. Some mistakes were minor (forgot to pass Grimwulf’s Owl Quill to another researcher, while he was casting Burden of Time), some major (should have figured out that Vanheim is totally neutral towards Helheim, and take the time to fortify Weeping Falls). Partly bad luck was to blame, and not just Misfortune scale. Scarce magic site spawn, Ulm-Vanheim alliance, Caelum attacking us, instead of Ulm/C’tis/Kailasa.

AI have change since 4.07. National troops, active summoning, and it almost seems like AI reacted to our Burden of Time, by attacking us all at once. At this exact period of time.

We’ve lost 20 Vanir this year. Helhirdings, Huskarls, Valkyries, Heimskr, Jon Snow. No point in grieving - next month we are going to lose much more than that.

On the bright side: it’s not the end. We are doing fine on Ulm front, delivering one blow after another. Vanheim has a long way to go before he reaches any important provinces. And Caelum...

Actually, this is The Moment. If we free Helgate, they may throw everything they want at us – we’ll drive them off again and again, until they will run out of breath. If we lose Helgate, well. Then the situation is officially fucked up.

But not before.
 

Kashmir Slippers

Magister
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Messages
1,018
Location
Here, obviously
It is a shame that you don't have an awesomely face-melting super spell to match with your four-man-one-god circle. This makes my feeble attempts at playing against easy AI embarrassing.
 

Emily

Arcane
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
3,068
Dammmnn it is getting exiting :lol:
Please do the next update soon! Or at least the battle
 

Dreaad

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
5,604
Location
Deep in your subconscious mind spreading lies.
Good stuff. I think this is the only single player Dominions AAR or LP or whatever you want to call it, that I've enjoyed reading. Mostly I stick to the MP ones, just the extra effort you put really takes it up a notch. Point is you don't have to rush.

Maybe just pray Caelum doesn't start sending Eagle Kings with thuderbolts at you :lol:
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
I've used Imgur for all my LPs. The 255 images cap, is only for images you can browse and edit yourself. All the other images you upload will stay there, the links will continue to work. If you're using the service without paying, you just need to make sure there's traffic for the pics at least once every six months, and they'll stay there.

I look through all my LPs regularly, to generate the traffic so the images remain. I like the service as it's cheap. Having to click through my LPs every once in a while is a small price to pay when you're miserly like me. ;)
 

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