Interesting game as the Calabim:
Turn 227: Khazad and Doviello wiped out all other AIs. We're last place on the scoreboard, no real vampires yet, just Moroi. This could've easily be the end had either AI decided to DOW me, but instead the Khazad decided to go after the Doviello.
Turn 238: I kill steal the Doviello capital like a fucking boss. Needless to say the Dwarves didn't take kindly to my funny prank and DOW me. 0.3 was our strength ratio, meaning there was simply no way in hell we could ever hope to defeat the Khazad's army. I decided to take my doomstack and run back north, for there was still hope on the horizon: Losha. The Calabim hero had just been recruited, so I finally had my source of vampirism. Only problem was my army was in the other side of the map. We ran like hell, giving cities back to the Doviello along the way, just so the cultural borders would delay Khazad advance.
Turn 253: with my army healed and linked back with Losha, I finally got my secret weapon operational: vampiric Paladins. Yes, you read that correctly. It's fucking amazing how well the Calabim synergizes with the ORDER religion.
Turn 269: the tide begins to turn. In a desperate last ditch effort to survive, the Doviello became our vassals. With the Dwarven armies tied up south, besieging the Doviello's final stronghold, my army managed to score some gains on the center of the map. We mostly took the former Elhoim territory, now firmly under Khazad rule.
Turn 276: Khazak FALLS to the vampire horde and gets feasted down to size 3. The Doviello are dead, but their sacrifice meant the elite of the Dwarven army was tied up southwest, allowing us to strike at the core cities of the midget menace. You might think it was over, but the reality is that 60% of the map was still under the Khazad banner and their doomstack could crush mine any time of the day. We had to think outside the box...
Turn 301: knowing we couldn't possibly beat Bambur's army due to the AI having absurd numbers (56 stonewardens, just to name one unit), we decided to lay waste to the dwarven cities instead. My 3 move army outmaneuvered the dwarves, took all their remaining core cities, FEASTED on their carcasses and then abandoned a Size 3 husk for the Khazad to retake.
Turn 315: after spending almost 100 turns avoiding the Khazad's main force, the time had finally come. On a hill overlooking the occupied dwarven city of Kadar, Valin Phanuel (now a vampire) led the Brujah, the vampire-Paladins, regular vampires, mages, Moroi and even confessors to a final showdown with Bambur's massive doomstack. The elite of the Khazad army would perish on those hills, alongside most of my Moroi, some vampires and our beloved Losha. But it's okay, she's immortal and came back for more later. This is the point where I really won. After that it was mostly mopping up with the help of the mercurians (summoned on turn 313).
And that's the end, boys. Vampire Lords only showed up when the game was already won. I got my victory screen on turn 334. One of the hardest campaigns I ever had due to the Khazad almost conquering the entire fucking planet with their OP Mines of Galdur/early Iron. Knowing how to buy time for my powerspike (vampires) paid off. Had I decided to make a dumbass "stand" on turn 239 it would've been a fucking L. Sometimes the best strategy is "let them come". Once Losha arrived in Timberling my army had more than doubled in size due to constant reinforcements from my core cities. Drafting also helped a bit and the mercurians were kinda useful near the end. Desperate measures were used, success was achieved.
Hope you people commenting are also playing this gem and having some fun.
EDIT: important tip: DON'T sleep on the Tower of Eyes, it's the single most important late game wonder. Rampant war weariness can and will demolish your economy. In my game I actually improved my finances by switching to fucking despotism, of all things. 100 turns of constant warfare, with just a few 10 turns peaces in between resulted in 20+ WW angry faces in my capital.
