Completed Sword of Aragon with a Codexian War Council

[Overboard]

I'll wait by a warm fire for the Others Orcs to attack.

 

[Azira]

I'm not even there yet, otherwise I'd volounteer.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I'm not even there yet, otherwise I'd volounteer.

The game won't allow me to add anyone else right now through character hirings, but we'll continue to get volunteers joining our forces as we gain victory points. Right now I am waiting for a Ranger volunteer for octavius, a priest volunteer for Kashmir Slippers, and another priest volunteer for you. If the game automatically generates a mage, knight, or paladin volunteer next instead, do you want me to fit you in as one of those instead of as a priest?

 

[Azira]

Sure. I'm not too picky.

 

[Elfberserker]

I can go to another scouting mission!
One of these days I will get that epic escape death by hair situation in my resume.

 

[octavius]

Sure. I'm not too picky.

Ditto.

 

[Ulminati]

I'm up for another raid along the english coastline scouting mission

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Send me out this time.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

So I decided to pick up the game manual again and read about the winter months. I found out they occur in December, January, and February. Since it was just the start of October, the scout party had two months to get back. This was plenty of time to take a short detour north of the road leading to Marinia, before heading back to Aladda. So Erykfrad, Elberserker, and Ulminati took the cavalry to look for the boy before heading back south and came up empty. This was curious since they searched almost all the territory before this that stood between Marinia and Brocada. I decided to reload the game and do an experiment, having them investigate every hex between the two foreign cities, and not once could they find the boy. Which means there is either a bug in the game that prevents us from doing so, the game is mistaken and the boy is in a different location, or there is no way to save the boy. Players of the Amiga version may have had a change of outcome, but the crpgaddict ran into the same issue in his attempt in the DOS version.

I had an infantry unit join the scout team and help them explore the surroundings in order to grind for experience while the rest of us defend and prepare the city for winter. They only got one tile west of Aladda before they are attacked by a massive force of orcs.

The cavalry, Erykfrad and the 2nd Infantry join up to head off the orc parties, entrenching right in their path, while Ulminati casts Light and Elfberserker takes a couple shots from a distance. Our soldiers are battered, yet still standing, while Erykfrad took the orc attack and was unscathed. The orcs lose nearly a hundred men. And that's before our counterattack clears the field of many more.

Elfberserker gets a level out of it and a spell called Dry which allows him to effect muddy terrain, and we gain a few hundred gold. I also decide to upgrade our party members' equipment in town. Irenaeus gets chain mail armor and a small shield, Overboard gets a heavy horse and mail barding for it, Desktop Commander gets his horse barding upgraded to chain, and Monstrous Bat gets a large shield and chain barding for his horse. I don't get an upgrade, but mages rarely do. I also train our 1st Infantry and Bowmen.

We start the month of November with a new message: "News has come from Tetrada that Lucinian III has died! His son, Lucinian IV, is heir to the throne and will succeed him. The new Emperor has said 'I promise to restore Tetrada to its proper place in Aragon. I shall make the Jewel of the Eastrealm shine again! Tetrada will regain its position as the center of the known world.'" Looks like we have a rival. This city-state is ambitious and can be found directly east of us on the other side of the continent."

Also "The case of Olag has been resolved with the return of the 'victim' to Aladda, alive and well! He says that he was knocked on the head, losing his memory of his home for the past month. He says he was attacked and robbed by one of those who spoke in witness against Olaf!" Good thing we didn't execute him.

The scouts return without incident, and I take time to upgrade the equipment of our heroes. Erykfrad gets a large shield and chain barding for his horse. Ulminati gets a light horse where once he had none, and it also gets leather barding. Elfberserker gets mail armor and a kite shield. We also receive 21 more reinforcements, so our infantry units and cavalry get restored back up to decent numbers.
We huddle up for the winter, but an army of orcs attack. Oh, what a bunch of idiots to attack right when we reinforced. This is going to be a slaughter. Note the screenshot showing how much of our city has grown and developed. The orcs outnumber us about 3 to 1 and also decide to surround us from the east and north.

Overboard and the 1st Infantry take the northern and weakest flank we put up. We buff up where I expect the main thrust to come from, which is against our northwest, with two heroes (Eryfkrad and Monstrous Bat) as well as the 2nd Infantry. Desktop Commander, Irenaeus, and the 1st Cavalry take the east, while I, Elfberserker, Ulminati, and the 1st Bowmen take the center for support. Ulminati casts Light, Elfberserker and the 1st Bowmen tear up a large orc force east of us with arrows, and I finish it up with a Confusion spell.

All three of our fronts get hit hard, with the cavalry taking the brunt of it all. It would have been worse if my Confusion spell didn't cause when very large orc unit to march north instead of hitting us. I cast a second confusion spell at another unit. This time we attack on our eastern front against the newly confused orcs with Desktop Commander leading the cavalry. Monstrous Bat and Eryfkrad lead the 2nd Infantry in an effort to wipe out another force to their north, and Overboard takes the 1st Infantry to wipe out the northeastern confused unit who had yet to attack.

The ending was never in doubt since we had our entire host of units and heroes together for perhaps the last time. However, the suicidal orcs still hit hard and fast. The 2nd Infantry, 1st Cavalry, myself, Overboard, and Desktop Commander all gain a level. I can cast Fear now. We also attract a level 2 mage to our cause. Azira joins us!

Winter comes. "Extremely cold, wet weather comes to the land. Commerce, logging and mining porjects are almost halted."

I have been increasing lumber development lately, which has pissed off some elves. "The Tranavan Elves have sent an ambassador to your realm. He would like to see that relations between men and elf are not hostile. He asks that you reduce lumber development as a show of good faith."

I decide to do so, which gains us a Tranavan ally. I stopped developing lumber in November anyway, so I could start spening money upgrading the equipment of our heroes and military anyway. Stopping lumber development will have no effect on my foreseeable plans. We also receive a message that we are exporting food this winter month, which is a great surprise as we have a higher population than I did at this point the last time I played, and the last time I played I had people dying of cold and hunger. I guess the agricultural development is really paying off. Too bad the winter has hurt our economy to the point I can really afford many other upgrades.

Winter is almost over and we have to import food, but no one starves. Also, we receive another message: "One of your spies reports that the Brocadans are very disturbed by the growing military might of Aladda and Paritan. In addition, they seem to hate Pitlag and the Paritanians." Bracada is to our north, Paritan to their east.

We make it to March, but then receive this disturbing set of news. "Rumors reach you that Paritan and Brocada are about to enter an economic and military alliance.
The Elven ambassador from Tranavan suggests there is a possibility that Paritan may be a common enemy. Although he may make no specific promises, he tells you that Pitlag is a hated foe of the elves."

Winter is over and now it's decision time. We can continue to wait in the hopes that events will turn in our favor. Before if we had to attack a military target, I would have hit Marinia first, then Brocada. But now it seems that Brocada is preparing to move against us by forming an alliance with its old enemy. Should we strike at Marinia, strike at Brocada, or continue to develop our cities and armies? Whatever we do, so far Ulminati, Elfberserker and Monstrous Bat have dibs on joining any agressive attacks we perform.

Info from the manual:
NAME Marinia
POPULATION 1,000
LOCATION Northwest Aragon, near Garroth River
RESOURCES River and some fertile land
ECONOMY Trapping, fishing, some farming
RULER Gardwell, Duke

Marinia is an inhospitable land that borders on the swampy areas of the Garroth River. The land is mostly poor, with
few trees. The inhabitants make a living of sorts, through small scale farming, trapping and fishing. A standing army exists to protect the locals from the monsters which sometimes emerge from the swamps. When the military is not busy battling monsters, it engages in domestic plunder, helping itself to the possessions of the down-trodden commoners. Though old, sickly Duke Gardwell doesn't sanction this pillage, it coincidentally helps to supplement the poor wages lame Gardwell can afford to pay his soldiers.

NAME Brocada
POPULATION 2,000
LOCATION North coast, western end of Galation
RESOURCES Galation Sea
ECONOMY Fishing, some farming and trading
RULER Petrov, General
The area known as Brocada lies to the north of Aladda. It borders the Galation Sea, and therein lies its economic
vitality. The land is flat with a few low, rolling hills. Foliage ranges from sparse to thick coastal scrub brush. Most of the inhabitants live either along the coast in small villages or in the city of Brocada itself. The people are not rich, but tend to be hale, hardy and proud. Their independent character leads them to jealously guard their freedom. The military is made up of volunteer militiamen from the city and surrounding villages. They are said to train weekly, but my spies tell me that their morale and performance would be suspect in an actual battle.

NAME Paritan
POPULATION 4,000
LOCATION North Coast, central Galation
RESOURCES Harbor on Galation Sea
ECONOMY Smuggling, piracy, fishing, trade
RULER Pitlag, Lord Redux

Paritan sits beside a harbor protected from seaward invasion by the storms that blow out of the north. Though the land
surrounding the harbor is not rich, there are bountiful forests to the south (the Tranavan forest.) The lay of the land is like other coastal areas - essentially flat with a few rolling hills and rough areas. All discernable evidence suggests that Lord Pitlag is wily and crafty. Anyone dealing with him had better keep his eyes open and watch his back. His privateering ventures are prospering and he has created a more professional army than the rulers of other cities.

There are rumors that Pitlag has cast his covetous eye on new lands. The only question lies in the direction of Pitlag's next expansion, toward Nuralia or Brocada - a prime location from which to threaten Aladda.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Stay and fortify.

 

[Irenaeus]

Great update. I say strike at Brocada.

 

[Elfberserker]

Sign me up for any attacking party!

I am no expert tatctician, but attack Brocada. Aim big or not at all.
I am also fine attacking Marinia, if you guys want it.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

I'd say attack Brocada. It would suck to take Marinia just to lose it to Brocada attacking you when you are spread out.

 

[Overboard]

Great update. I say strike at Brocada.

Economic vitality sounds good.

 

[octavius]

Deuce Traveler, last time I played I recall doing the rescue of the merchant's son when playing the Amiga version. Unfortunately all my Amiga files are on my previous computer, so I can't check the details.

As to what to do, it seems there are lots of choices now:
Move fast and hopefully prevent an alliance between Paritan and Brocada, and before Paritan can muster all its strength.
Wait and see if Paritan will attack something, and then pick up the pieces and/or a weakened Paritan with most of its army missing.
Move towards Marinia first, since it's the smallest of the three cities in question.

I'm not sure if there's any right answer. Another thing to consider is that if you conquer a city, as opposed to make it a vassal, you'll need to garrison it, which can be a pain if it's a poor city.
So for the time being I think I'd play it rather defensively and build up more forces (if you can afford it) and see how things develop.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Hmmm. Do you think Paritan will attack Brocada? If so, we should take Marinia first, then strike at Pitlag's army while it's weakened from the attack on Brocada. If you don't think Pitlag is going for Brocada, however, we should try to take Brocada while we can.

 

[Ulminati]

Marinia will burn! I will see to it!

 

[Azira]

Attack.

I'm just happy to be in.

 

[SCO]

Let me explore any time you have a vacancy. Any class you need.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The Battle for Marinia....

Well, this wasn't confusing at all. I had 3 votes for fortify, 2 votes for attack Brocada, 2 votes for attack Marinia, and 2 votes for attack either. So there were definitely more people in favor of attacking, but their votes were completely spread out on who to target. Being the deciding vote, I decide to spend a turn rearming our forces before we target Brocada. Being on the main road, which makes travel faster, we may be able to attack Brocada and return some of our armies to Aladda on the same turn in order to defend it.

We use reinforcements from Aladda to bring up the 1st Bowmen to 40 men. They are now our largest unit, but they have been very effective in support, especially against stacked enemies. The 1st Cavalry also are increased in number, going up to 34 total men, a significant difference from when we first created them with only 28. We are out of recruits after that, so I then move to increase Azira's movement by purchasing for him a light horse with leather barding. Now he should be able to keep up on our march. As a last bit of upgrades, I also train the 1st Cavalry. These improvements to the units result in them being unable to act next turn, however. I also spend some remaining wealth on improving our Agriculture once more. We now only have 1000gp to spend and I stop improving the units and city as we may need emergency funds to boost Brocada's infrastructure after our attack damages it.

We do not export agriculture in April. In fact it shows we are importing 46gp of agriculture production, most likely as we are recovering from the winter still and are not harvesting. We also get this message: "Your spies report that Malacon, the leader of the Marinian cavalry, has been sent on patrol most of the time. This is reported to keep him from leading the peasants against the corrupt army." With Marinia's forces divided against themselves, it would seem that they would be a prime target for us to attack. The Brocada invasion is put on hold, and we instead move all of our forces against Marinia.

We are one space away when this happens: "You meet a patrol from Marinia. You see about one hundred cavalry. The leader, Malacon, rides toward you and demands that you return to your lands." We can talk to him or retreat, and it's a tough choice because that many cavalrymen can be defeated, but we'd take some losses. There is a third option to talk, which we try with good result. "When Malacon sees that you are reasonable and fair, he will propose that you join him to defeat the vermin that have assumed leadership in Marinia. Malacon promises to become your loyal vassal, and to protect your new city from attack. He promises to pay a monthly tribute of 250 gp." This is pretty awesome. Really, I am more concerned with Brocada and its eastern neighbors, so this would in effect protect our western flank and give us a new ally while providing some much needed revenue. If we reduced Marinia to rubble and conquered it we would be spending a lot of our gold rebuilding the city at a time when funds are low and we have a threat to our north. I accept the proposal.

With our new cavalry force of allies we attack Marinia. "Your combined force is met by a group of about 200 militia. They appear weak and disorganized." For once we outnumber someone. We have our 153 troops and 55 of Malacon's cavalry arrayed against 160 "rabble". The other nice thing about this rabble is that they are all infantry. Our infantry, cavalry, knights, and warriors move up and form a wall to defend the support units. In turn, our archers and Elfberserker take the time to pelt our opponents with arrows. I am trying to make the enemy come forth from their walls. I cast Fear from long distance in order to really screw up their day.

We rain arrows down on the Marinian rabble for three straight turns. That, combined with Fear and Slow effects from myself and Azira begin to take their toll as the eastern-most enemy units begin to disperse in panic. By turn 8 our arrows and magic have wiped out a fourth of their force, mostly on that eastern unit. Overboard, Monstrous Bat, and Desktop Commander lead the 2nd Infantry to wiping out the weakened soldiers. At the same time, myself, the 1st Bowman, Azira and Ulminati get a little closer and pepper the last group of rabble with arrows. They seem entrenched, so it was harder to hit them, but we still get some good shots in. Elfberserker takes the 1st Infantry closer and also fires off some rounds to soften them for the final attack. Finally, Erykfrad, Irenaeus, and the 1st Cavalry move in to finish it. Surprisingly the rabble withstood the attack, though we now hold the city. Not only that, but they were able to injure some of our melee forces. Our allied cavalry moves in to aid us, finally, but at this point he is still letting us take the brunt of the fighting. Which pisses me off since I was hoping to use his forces to take the brunt of the opposition's attack, leaving my forces stronger. Distrust between feudal allies? It's almost like real life.

The enemy has been split into two clusters of forces, but our critically wounded cavalry is in bad shape and retreats. In retaliation for their loss, Overboard, Monstrous Bat, Desktop Commander, and the 2nd Infantry wipe out the weaker of the rabble and help surround the remaining elements. Azira first slows the enemy, then hits them with a few arrows. I follow up with a similar maneuver, but use Fear which disperses a number of the rabble.

Our archers hit the dispersing forces for a total of 25 hits of damage. With the forces as weakened as they are, Ulminati fires off some arrows from his position before the 1st Infantry, Irenaeus, Elfberserker, and Eryfkrad to attack in hand to hand combat. It's over. Surprisingly the enemy fought to the last man. If a pack of rabble defenders fights this bravely, I would hate to see a well led opponent. We are a few hundred gold richer, we have a new ally, Marinia is our vassal, and Irenaeus, Eryfkrad, Ulminati, Monstrous Bat and the 1st Infantry all gain levels. Ulminati can now cast slow, and Irenaeus can cast Rally. It would be a grand day if our 1st Cavalry hadn't lost 13 men. Next time I will have the knights lead them and hope their leadership makes a difference. We get word that a priest has joined us, by the name of Kashmir Slippers! I hope to get octavius and SCO in next.

"You have liberated Marinia from the mob rule that had befallen. All the citizens hail Malacon and Deuce as great liberators!" We trust Malacon with the defense of Marinia, and we are able to get our entire army back home to Aladda in the same round, ensuring its protection. As it is now under our protection, Marinia shows as blue instead of red. I develop some more agriculture, then move onto the next turn while we lick our wounds. We do not have enough recruits to bring our cavalry back up to strength.

The good news is that we are now exporting agriculture again. We also get this message. "A strange rumor from Paritan has reached your ears: Lord Pitlag is offering a bounty of 20 gold for each pair of elven ears brought to him." What an arse. No wonder the elves hate his guts.

We are at a bit of a crossroads here. I would still like to attack Brocada, but the blow against our cavalry in the last battle was quite painful. I could use conscription, but that would hurt morale. On the other hand, we could patrol and see if any more local quests pop-up, therefore building up our levels and gaining money in order to strengthen our forces for a push before the next winter. What does the War Council advise?

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

I vote to just rest for now and to see what develops. We got a city, so there is no need to overextend.

 

[octavius]

I vote for patroling the area around Aladda and see what develops further north. Hopefully you'll be able reinforce the cavalry next turn.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Much as I'd like to see the fall of Brocada, our army is in no shape to challenge the Brocadan-Paritan alliance right now. We should focus on recurperation right now.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Let's just chill a bit.

 

[Azira]

Explore/quest.