A Tale of Fire and Blood

[General Tacticus]

The sun is setting on the Mictlan Empire, and the sky is red. The red of fire, and the red of blood. From the top of the palace (a 17 step pyramid that is now also, of course, the most Holy Temple of the Mictlan Faith), two small figures watch the sunset. Tacticus Sanguinus, God of the Mictlans, turns to his new chambellan. The man is kneeling, and doing his best to stay very, very still.

- A good omen of things to come. My reign starts under the most favorable auspices.
- Indeed it does, O Mighty One.
- You have, I believe, being chambellan here a long time ?
- Since before the days of your predecessor. I served his predecessor before him, although not in so exalted a position, O Great God.
- So you remember the old days, and the old ways ?
- Indeed I do, Most Powerful of Lords.

The God considers a moment. Then he pats the old man on the shoulder.

- You may keep your heart, then, and serve me in that office.
- I am honored, O Most Ben.. Tenacious One.

With his head still bent low, the man has nonetheless felt .... something ... And with the promptitude of tongue that marks only the best chambellans, those that keep their tongues, he changed his words, without faltering. The God reflects on this, and find it good. He still has many good servants to find, a charismatic prophet, cunning generals, talented priests... but he has already found a very good chambellan. And that, too, is a good omen.

- I have much to ponder. Dispose of the remains.
- As you command, O Wisest One.

And the chambellan goes to find some servants. Meanwhile, the God looks a Last time on his predecessor , the Lawgiver, late king of Mictlan. He is lying on his back on the altar at the top of the pyramid. The great wound where his heart used to be proclaims that the old ways are back.


This is the tale of my conquests as Tacticus Sanguinus, God of the Mictlans (and other silly randomly generated titles omitted here) It will be, or so I hope, a story of glorious and bloody conquest, and utter triumph over my enemies

Before you ask, the details :
Tacticus Sanguinus
Smoking Mirror Pretendor, ruler of the Mictlans
Magic : 9 Fire, 4 Blood, 4 Death
Castle : Fortress
Dominion 7, Turmoil 3, Heat 1, Growth 1, Luck 1, Drain 1, no special theme.
World War Scenario, 339 provinces, all 17 nations, all impossible AIs

I welcome any and all comments, and all general strategy advice. I have extensively played Ulm, and Pythium and Marignon a bit, but never Mictlan before. I hope I can cope with a lack of armored troops http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[apoger]

You have chosen an extraordinarily challenging path.

Good luck! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Orlanth]

Mictlan and 17 Impossible? Kudos you are a gutsy guy.. I don't know about the chance of glorious conquests but this will at least be a very good read!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I think your bless effect is great but you might be better off with Sloth than Turmoil. Other than that I've no idea - best of luck http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[General Tacticus]

Well, I like random events, so turmoil 3 with a bit of luck should make the game fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

And my first conquests have been glorious (a bit) and bloody (extremely). I used cheap troops (even by mictlan standards) as arrow fodder, more cheap troops as sword fodder, then there was sling fodder, javelin fodder, assorted fodder... oh, there was a commander as well, he was under strict orders not to become fodder http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Keir Maxwell]

My advice is extreme caution towards other nations. Raise defences on border provinces to 10+ before they become border provinces. Show troops on the border if anyone is looking upitty. Try and build a nice compact empire which doesn't get in to many other peoples road and let them fight each other. Then when your blood magic really gets going kick their butts as they are only silly computers in the end! You on the other hand are a God to be!

Jade Knives are important as are the Sanguine Dousing Rods.

I like Sun Warriors but I use them with earth so that I get the double whammy of +4 prot and reinvigoration for my mages. The fly boys could be good with your combo of extra offence and fear generating fast routs.

Mass Protection gets rid of all your problems. Good luck surviving till then.

Have fun

Keir

[Psitticine]

One thing I've found helpful with Mictlan is to make good use of their cheapest priests, the ones just called Mictlan Priests. Equip them with Jade Knives and Sanguine Dowsing Rods and let them spread the Dominion as well as rounding up the Blood Slaves. The more expensive guys have better work to do!

Oh, and summons are very important to Mictlan, IMO, and not only blood summons. Anything you can conjure up will be a help.

[General Tacticus]

to Keir Maxwell :

All my provinces get 10 defence as soon as they are conquered. It has already served me well.
I do plan to make good use of the fly boys, with hold and attack rearmost orders, they should make things interestings for the enemy archers and commanders.

to Psitticine :
I was already planning to use my basic priests to hunt slaves / spread faith, since faith doesn't spread by itself I have little choice...
And by turn 15, I am already summoning some nice things, but I just don't have enough to put them on the battlfield yet.

[General Tacticus]

The fist Pangean War

On the first morning of his new reign, Tacticus Sanguinus took stock of the situation. In the secret of his own mind, he pondered and reflected, thought, devised plans, weighted their chances, and plotted a course of action. The future looked grim, he thought, but not impossible.

On the minus side, he was now the ruler, and God, af a small and backward nation.
On the plus side, saying so would now cost the offender his tongue, which was some consolation.

On the minus size, his nation lived in a poor and desolated continent. With nice mountains, to be sure, and some truly beautiful swamps, and arguably the best jungle on the world, but not very big on farmland.
On the plus side, he was the only God walking that continent.

On the minus side, his two main cities were set apart, with unexplored jungles and savage barbarians between them.
On the plus side, they were not that far apart. And compared to the Mictlans, the savage barbarians suddenly looked like quite civilized.

And so the God made his plans. The best chance for his people, he judged, would be to secure a strong position, one which could easily be well defended. South America would do. Whole America would be better, but South America would be a good start. North America, he knew, held outPosts of Man, of Vanheim, of Jotunheim, of Caelum, and some of them were not to be taken lightly. South America had only Pangea and Marignon, and Pangea at least had no way of bringing reinforcments from their capital.

That was to be the plan, then : focus all ressources on taking South America, and first of all take out the Pangean presence there. Marignon should be next, but if it does not expand too much it might wait until most independants there have been conquered. No expansion shall take place North of the capital.

And the God sent his orders : divert all available ressources to the South !

Magnus crossbows were recruted in Tiahuanaco. Also some warriors, and a tribal king. In the capital, nothing much, some slaves were levied, and Tacticus went to tour his lands, looking for useful sites. One such was already known : a Jungle Temple (where lamias can be recruited by a nature mage), in Chichen Itza.

The next season brought the first surprise : Pangea attacked and captured Beni, right on our frontier. They were showing us the way ! The plans for attacking them were hastily advanced by a few month, and the first (and only) Mictlan army marched to Beni. Pangea had gone to Ucayali, so they followed. Hector’s heavy horsemen joined our army, and we regrouped in Ucayali before attacking Pangea’s starting (and well defended) positions.

In the North, Tacticus discovered a second site in Chichen Itza, the Bowl of the Lost, were banes could be summoned. A king priest (nature 2 blood 2 holy 3) was on his way there to summon lamas, he would soon be joined by a death priest. Man conquered the Island of Cuba, dangerously close, but in accordance with the Grand Strategy, nothing was done to anger him.

And thus the first year of Tacticus reign came to pass.

In the second year, the first army (still mostly mercenaries) took Negra and started to siege Amazonas, the two starting Pangea provinces in South America. One Pangean counter offensive was crushed, but another made a wide flanking movement and attacked our southern positions in Pampas. All in all, the war proceded well.

In the North, Mictlipoctli the king of legends arised from his tomb to serve the God (death 3 blood 3 unholy 3). He was promptly sent to summon banes in Chichen Itza) A High priest of the sun (Fire 2 Blood 3 Holy 4) was recruited and made prophet. But, there being no way to send him to the war in the south, he stayed home to find some blood virgins. And Atlantis was sighted on the coast in South America. This will require additional planning, the order went to leave them alone for now.

Finally, a deathmatch arena was called. Having no commander to spare, we sent none. Only one pretender attended, a lich from Atlanta, and two prophets, from Jutonheim and Vanheim, plus various nobodies from other races.

A few memorable fights took place :
A minotaur lord (Pangea) was killed by a machaka commander. Apparently trampling wasn’t successful at all, but the commander’s sword managed to hit the minotaur from time to time. Size 3 trampling sucks, why not use the minotaur’s axe instead ?
A slugging match took place between Jotunheim’s prophet, a Jotun Herse, and Atlantis pretender, a lich. Flying shards vs banish, nothing much happened until the two hit 100 fatigue (more or less simultaneously). Then the lich slowly took the advantage, managing to land some flying shards (easier with 100 fatigue on the Jotun), while the Jotun’s banish did not improve much (but still took a few hps from time to time). The jotun died, but kept fighting as a longdead (Death 9 blessing I believe ? ). And so we had a longdead trying to banish a lich... but the lich eventually won...
... only to face Vanheim’s prophet, a van jarl, who mixed his blessings with phantasmal warriors. This was too much for the lich, which went under, leaving Vanheim the champion (when it reached 100 fatigue, the lich could no longer stop the phatasmal warriors)

Things, the God felt, were going quite well. Pangea was being crushed, they fielded armies of satyrs, militias, light infantries and slingers (nothing too overpowering to Mictlan). Oh, and speaking of minotaur lord, one was met in battle in Amazonia. It took a glancing hit by an arrow while his armies routed, went berserk, and single handedly tried to halt the Mictlan army. Berserking commanders are a very bad idea...

The third year of the Pangean War saw Amazonas captured (after a year of siege to breach the walls of a watch tower ! But I was busy elsewhere), As well as most of their lands : Gran Choco, Pacaraima, Parana, Pampasn, Caracas, and Piaui. But it also saw man declaring war, for no good reason. The official doctrine is : sit tight and don’t answer their taunts.

In the north, a small army managed to capture Tegucigalpa and Cali, joining with the main force in the South. Cali was defended by a lamia queen, and netted me an Enchanted Sward and a Fenris’ Pels, but the latter went to a merc commander.

Pangea was still holding out in Coqimbo and Patagonia, the South tip of South America. The fourth (and Last) year of the first Pangean War was spent wearing them out and finally conquering them. A handful of centaurs made things quite difficult, and had to be swarmed under the sheer numbers of warriors :no less than 3 attacks with 50+ cheap warriors and then militia (random event) before I finally routed an army of 5 centaurs and a dozen slingers...

And by the end of the fourth year, Pangea had left South America, although it still made its presence felt with an occasional Call of the Wilds.

And thus ends the record of the First Pangean War, and the first 15 seasons of the reign of Tacticus Sanguinus.

[ January 04, 2004, 09:12: Message edited by: General Tacticus ]

[Endoperez]

Create Revenant to summon Banes. Reaching Enchantment 3 takes some research, but you get useful death spells and can use the mage for something better. And you might need Mound Kings to lead your banes... It depends on your death gem income, though. If you get death gems enchantment will propably be worth it, but otherways it might not be worth the work.

If you get your death priest animating dead, Marignon's mage-priests will most propably Banish them instead of casting something else. But then, it might not work and they would fry both your mage and the dead man with a Holy Pyre.

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Torvak:
Nice story, looking forward to the next chapter http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">World War Scenario, 339 provinces, <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Where can i find that? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It's on

http://www.illwinter.com/dom2/maps.html

it is designed for the 2.05 patch, which has not yet been released, but it works fine as it is, except that Marignon is missing some of the units they should get at the start. No big deal however

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Endoperez:
Create Revenant to summon Banes. Reaching Enchantment 3 takes some research, but you get useful death spells and can use the mage for something better. And you might need Mound Kings to lead your banes... It depends on your death gem income, though. If you get death gems enchantment will propably be worth it, but otherways it might not be worth the work.

If you get your death priest animating dead, Marignon's mage-priests will most propably Banish them instead of casting something else. But then, it might not work and they would fry both your mage and the dead man with a Holy Pyre. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I most definitely do NOT plan to attack Marignon with my undeads !! I'll overwhelm them under sheer numbers if I have to, but I won't risk the few banes I have against a race designed to counter undeads.... And I won't send my devils either.
No I think I'll start with some crossbows (I can recruit some in one of my castles) on fire and flee, protected by expendable slaves and cheap warriors. Hopefully I can take out their heavier units that way, and only have to deal with the lighter ones afterwards...
So far my death gems income is at 1/turn, but I have a large number of provinces to explore. It seems that, not too long from now (say in 20-30 turns) I'll have to do something about atlantis. Throwing them back into the seas shouldn't be too difficult, but I really should find a way to follow them there, and undead might be a solution. I have some 2 water 2 blood priests, they should be able to enter the sea, and lead some undeads, right ?


Coming back to Marignon, I have just had a front seat in two battles they fought against some tough indies (bloodhenge druids with dark vines). These battles cost them most of their heavy infantry, but they still field right now about 20 flagellants, 80 militia and light infantry, 10 medium infantry (swordsmen mostly), 1 paladin and 2 knights. They also have an inquisitor and a friar. If I can gather my forces fast enough, I might try for an early strike while they are somewhat weak, specially if they follow up in the next indies provinces (vine and vine ogres, and the next one has more dark vines...)

[ January 04, 2004, 14:31: Message edited by: General Tacticus ]

[Bossemanden]

Ooh an AAR! How delightfull.

[Gandalf Parker]

Nice writing. Snag a few screen-captures and toss just a couple html tags it would make a nice site link just as it is. Many people have been hoping for some good AAR's

To keep from angering a nation, watch the scoreboard. If you are getting too high in anything, figure it into your strategy. Dont push anything super high just because you can. too many provinces? Well I dont need that little one there so I will pass it by. Too much research? Well I will stop at 1-point short on a couple of categories until I need something there, switch my mages to making equip for awhile. Seiging a castle? Lets not invest alot of troops in taking it. Having the province for taxes or blood hunts is enough for now. Dont let the scoreboard paint you as everyones target until you are ready to be the target. (this line of strategy works for solo and mp play)

[ January 04, 2004, 15:05: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Nice writing. Snag a few screen-captures and toss just a couple html tags it would make a nice site link just as it is. Many people have been hoping for some good AAR's

To keep from angering a nation, watch the scoreboard. If you are getting too high in anything, figure it into your strategy. Dont push anything super high just because you can. too many provinces? Well I dont need that little one there so I will pass it by. Too much research? Well I will stop at 1-point short on a couple of categories until I need something there, switch my mages to making equip for awhile. Seiging a castle? Lets not invest alot of troops in taking it. Having the province for taxes or blood hunts is enough for now. Dont let the scoreboard paint you as everyones target until you are ready to be the target. (this line of strategy works for solo and mp play) <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well not getting too high is not yet a problem except for castles. I already got one from pangea, and I have my eyes on an other from Marignon. Do you think having 4 castles where the other nations have 2 will cause problems ?
I could delay the inevitable by razing and rebuilding them (a watchtower and a mausoleum, I prefer my fortress), but the one from pangea at least is very well placed, and I really want it...

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by General Tacticus:
Well not getting too high is not yet a problem except for castles. I already got one from pangea, and I have my eyes on an other from Marignon. Do you think having 4 castles where the other nations have 2 will cause problems ?
I could delay the inevitable by razing and rebuilding them (a watchtower and a mausoleum, I prefer my fortress), but the one from pangea at least is very well placed, and I really want it... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Im not sure. Im still kindof testing it. Provinces seems a definate one. Army and Dominion maybe. Still trying to figure out what the AI looks at. Of course with humans in multiplay all of them are something to consider http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Im not sure. Im still kindof testing it. Provinces seems a definate one. Army and Dominion maybe. Still trying to figure out what the AI looks at. Of course with humans in multiplay all of them are something to consider http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, I'll go on building forts, we'll see what the ai does

Originally posted by General Tacticus:
[QUOTE]Mictlipoctli the king of legends <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Be careful with this unholy priest, he is able te reanimate undeads but unable to cast unholy spells (bug ?). So, no Protection/Power from the Sepulchre even after a Sabbath...
Cheers

[Saarud]

Superb, very good job. I am eager waiting for the next installment.

[General Tacticus]

<big><big><big>The arrival of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent</big></big>

The sun had set some time ago, but Tacticus Sanguinus, the Great God, was still gazing at something far away, as he had been for 2 hours. Gazing to the North. The majordomo was worried. The God was angry, and this was not a good time to be kneeling near Him. Moving near Him, however, would almost certainly result in swift death, and leaving without being dismissed would anyway be a grave breach of etiquette, something that would get a majordomo fired. Literally, while his heart was torn from his chest and, if he was found worthy, devoured. No, better to keep kneeling and stay very, very quiet.

Then, from the south, came the sound of wings. The majordomo threw a quick glance – it was a great feathered serpent – it was the Feathered Serpent himself, Quetzalcoatl, the Lawgiver, and once his master. Even in serpent form, there was a great scar where his heart should have been. But the majordomo had seen the Great Jaguar defeat the Great Feathered Serpent on this very place, and tear away his heart !

- I see you have found yourself a new heart, said the God.
- Your instructions were very clear. I am now ready to serve you, O My Master.

There was a blur, and there was a man where the Serpent had been. He went to stand beside Tacticus Sanguinus.

- Tell me, O My Master, what you are looking at.
- Today a few malcontent took what they could carry of their property, and started a trek North. They plan to leave my lands, cross the lands of the Atlantis half men to the North, and settle in the land of Man. I have been too busy with the Marignon campaign of late, and have paid too litle attention to my people, I fear.
- Allow me to offer my congratulations on your brillant victory, O My Master. Defeating Marignon in barely one year is truly a great accomplishment.

The God smiled sadly.

- It was only their american outPosts. And they had overextended, expanding into those Dark Vines provinces with their pesky druids. Still, I feel it was very well planed, and reasonably well executed. I am pleased with Nanauatzin, the Priest King of Tiahuanaco. Not only was he the first priest to swear fealty to me, but he has proved a reasonably competent leader as well. And the number of soldiers killed on both side is truly a tribute to my Greatness.
- Yes my lord, I was there to witness some of the desperate counter attacks from Marignon in Xique Xique. They killed two of our warriors for each of their soldier who fell, a spectacular fight ! And I have heard of the earlier encirclement in Piaui, where you surrounded half of their armies and then had their peace emissary sacrified with the full ritual, in plain view of the Marignons. That raised them to a battle fury I could feel from three provinces away.
- Yes, a good war. But my attention has strayed, and from my neglect my people suffered. 6000 of them, a fifth of the population of the capital, have left.
- What shall you do, O My Master ?
- Catch up with them, and make amends for my earlier neglect. I cannot take them back in, nor can I allow them to go to Man, but I can certainly ensure their souls a good place in my service, in their next reincarnation. Will you join me ?
- Your service is my pleasure, O My Master.
- Come then, and we will celebrate your return.

Tacticus Sanguinus, the Divine Jaguar, leapt, and started toward the North. Over him, the Feathered Serpent flew through the skies.

The majordomo carefully stood. Suitable rooms would have to be found for the new guest, and suitable servants. There was much work to do, but work was good. It meant he still lived. While those that had left their position, soon wouldn’t. He threw one Last glance to the North, but the great shapes were already out of sight.
</big>


The artists of Mictlan have put together this map for your pleasure : it shows most of the known World. Most of South America is under the rule of Tacticus Sanguinus, but there are two encroachments from the aquatic races : Atlantis to the East, and R'lyeh to the East.

The Marignon citadel in Natal has just been taken, and the victorious commanders are displayed in their glory.


http://perso.wanadoo.fr/emmanuel.laurens/dom2/World29.jpg

[ January 04, 2004, 20:24: Message edited by: General Tacticus ]

[Torvak]

Nice story, looking forward to the next chapter http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif


World War Scenario, 339 provinces, <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Where can i find that?

[ExitJudas]

hehe! this is awesome! I'm still waiting for my copy of the game to arrive by mail. Keep the battle reports coming!

[Bossemanden]

Great writing. Now run those seamonsters back to where they came from.
Go Mictlan!
And those emmigrants had it comming. Should have known better than to up and flee. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
Edit: Yep I knew it was a random event, but very well written on your part.

[ January 05, 2004, 16:58: Message edited by: Bossemanden ]

[General Tacticus]

For the strategically minded, here is a short run-down of my Marignon war :

I was quietly building up before attacking, when I noticed they went off to bash some indies, specifically a province with five dark vines. They lost the battle, and most of their heavy infantry (I had a scout there, and enjoyed the show). They tried again, won, and followed up by attacking two more provinces (one with vine ogres, one with more dark vines). All in a straight line from their starting provinces. Net result : they lost half of their army, including most of their heavy.

Sensing an opportunity, I had by that time brought all my forces. I had a two to one advantage in numbers on their conquering army, now split in three, and about equal quality (mictlan troops at their best being about on par with a heavy-depleted Marignon army). Plus, they wouldn't have raised provincial defenses yet.

So I cut them off with my first attack, then defeated the surrounded army, which led to total destruction since they had nowhere to retreat to. Then I divided their three remaining provinces in two isolated ones, but found out they had bought themselves more armies, and the remaining province defences were tough. So I paused a few turns to bring back reinforcements of my own, defeated their counter attacks, and went in for the kill.

It Lasted from turn 21 (first attack order) to turn 29 (Last province taken). Even with a 2 to 1 numerical advantage (at least) in all battles, I suffered heavy losses, almost always more than they did. I was fielding slaves and cheap warriors
in good numbers, plus lots of archers/crossbows, but nothing even close to heavy, and no sacred troops (capital too far away).

I clearly took advantage of an opportuniy there, if they had not lost so many troops (and the better quality one to) to the indies, I would not have attacked so soon.

Now, for the future : so far, I have mainly expanded by rushing opponents who were off balance, and funneling all resources to ensure they went down and stayed down (well, Pangea still sent the occasional Call of the Wild, but a provincial defence of 10 can handle it). My blood economy is pathetic (actually, so is my gold economy, turmoil 3 and forests and mountains don't help) My research is very backward, I have drain +1 and haven't found a library, si I have no descent researcher, the only good thing is my +1 bane +2 lamia income.

So I feel I really need to focus on building my economy for a few turns, and am doing so. Anyway, I don't want to shoot up in the province graph before I can handle it. But I also need to choose a target for my next expansion, and the choices are :

- Atlantis. They hold 3 provinces that should be mine. I can kick them back into the sea whenever I want (they are not heavily defended), but keeping them there afterwards will be difficult, and following them there is for the moment impossible.

- R'lyeh. They hold 4 provinces I want. Basically, the situation is the same than with Atlantis.

- North America, i.e. Man, Jotunheim, and Caelum. Caelum is fairly weak, but is not my neighbor. Man and Jotunheim split the rest of North America between them, and I am technically at war with both (they declared war, not me). But the new territory will be very difficult to defend, unless I aim for the whole continent. The good news is, they can be kicked out, and I won't have to worry too much about their coming back.

Oh, Atlantis in R'lyeh are ahead of me in most categories, so is Man, Jotunheim is barely ahead, Caelum is overall a little lower.


And to conclude, a newsflash of the situation in the rest of the world : Pythium has been kicked out (by Machaka and Ulm), Ulm has taken the capitals of Ermor (for which my thanks), Pythium and Vanheim (I think), and Machaka should have the other Pythium fortification. Ulm is doing very well, top in income, close to top in provinces, will make a nice challenge later... All this is from observing the graphs, I could of course be wrong. Pangea and Marignon are now bottom, and probably doomed.


Oh, and the population leaving was a random event (I have turmoil 3 and luck 1, I do get some nice gems almost every turn, but I have to take the consequences) that happened to happen (can I say that in English ?) the same month my serpent friend joined me. At which time I learnt (from his description) that he was the Lawgiver, my predecessor (from the Mictlan empire description) that I had unfortunately killed in my first post. Hence, the new heart. After all, we are both blood mages http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ January 05, 2004, 15:10: Message edited by: General Tacticus ]

[apoger]

>- Atlantis.
>- R'lyeh.

I suggest avoiding conflict with the water nations unless you have the ability to pursue them into the water. Otherwise you will have to defend yourself from endless attacks from the sea.

Frankly, if they go to war with you before you are ready, your situation is bad.


>- Man and Jotunheim split the rest of North America between them, and I am technically at war with both (they declared war, not me).

There is nothing "technical" about it. If they declared then you are at war. They are your first things to deal with, since they will attack you with armies if you and they share any borders.

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by apoger:



>- Man and Jotunheim split the rest of North America between them, and I am technically at war with both (they declared war, not me).

There is nothing "technical" about it. If they declared then you are at war. They are your first things to deal with, since they will attack you with armies if you and they share any borders. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">True enough, except that the borders we share are very close to my capital and starting provinces (40 provincial defense) and very far from their recruitment centers. I am, therefore, relatively secure and can afford to ignore them a little longer. In fact, Man has been at war with me for 20 turns, and has yet to launch more than a token attack.

[SurvivalistMerc]

Apoger,

I am noticing that in my current non-Mictlan game. It is quite annoying as one sea province borders quite a number of land provinces. They can attack almost anywhere.

I am building up a sea force, but it isn't easy. And it looks as if my sea units are going to get wiped out. I haven't found those cute little land amphibians...icthyds?...despite controlling 80+ percent of all coastal provinces.

I was planning on more land conquest...but Atlantis declared me. And they have every sea province but one...the one I have.

I thought triton troopers were the way to go...but they're not. Numbers prevail over quality troops in the sea, it seems.

[apoger]

>despite controlling 80+ percent of all coastal provinces.

Check for a special site called a shambler reef. It allows the recruitmet of shamblers. They are expensive, but it does offer acess to the water.

Keep in mind that water mages can go underwater anytime, and can take a small number of troops with them.

Other than that you may have to rely on magic items that allow water breathing, or the summoning of sea trolls.


>I thought triton troopers were the way to go...but they're not. Numbers prevail over quality troops in the sea, it seems.

Two issues.

1- Many of these guys have poison weapons, so numbers do help since strong troops fall eventually to the poison.
2- Since tritons "fly", combats with them often allow one side or the other to get access to their enemies commanders.

You can often "cheese" the computer AI by setting high armor troops up front which absorb the attention of incoming tritons (usually) and having a group of your own underwater flyers attack rear, which will often catch enemy commanders (who hold back from combat). This can lead to short battles if it works right.

[Bossemanden]

Now to not only make this post a bump, then I´ll ask for a chapter more of this AAR. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[General Tacticus]

Coming in in a few hours http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

With :

- The Entre Rio "We love our God" reeducational program, with particular focus on traditional religious ceremonies
- The treacherous attacks by Man, following our preemptive retaliatory strike, and in particular their use of Angels of Mass Destruction
- The "Voice of our God" massive research program.

and perhaps more...

[General Tacticus]

<big><big> The Entre Rios "We Love Our God" Reeducation Program</big>

It had been 3 month since the final defeat. It had been three quiet months. Of course, it was not peace. That would have been unthinkable. No, Mictlan was still at war with four different nations. But Pangea and Marignon where on the other side of an ocean, and not a pressing concern. As for Man and Jotunheim, the other two nations at war with Mictlan, they were bickering in North America and generally leaving Mictlan alone. A vast program of reforms had been started, with most of the southern armies making their way back to the capital, several fortresses in construction, and a few temples and labs planned. Serious thought was been given to a complaint by the priesthood that there was a lack of quality material for proper ceremonies, which accounted for the slow progression of the Mictlan faith in newly captured territories.

At the top of the Most Holy Temple, Tacticus Sanguinus, Quetzalcoatl and Mictlipoctli were discussing the situation, when the majordomo came in. He took three steps, knelt, and bowed his head.

- Yes, what is it ?
- O Most Glorious Lord, the head priest of the Sun, your prophet, wishes to speak with you of an important matter.

The God frowned. This was unprecedented. He had made it very clear, on several occasion, that nobody in his right mind would want to interrupt him and ask to speak with him. There had been several importune nobles, at the start of his reign, that had tried to gain favor by coming in with carefully composed flatteries. He had driven the lesson home, untill they took it to heart, that he did not like to be interrupted frivolously.

- Well, send him in, and let’s see what he wants.

The prophet came in, and kneeled very carefully, like a man who knows he doesn’t dare make a mistake.

- Forgive me, My Lord, but an important event has taken place. Somebody has just put a great burden on every living soul on this disc (the Great God had not yet gotten around to revealing to his followers that the World was, in fact, round. « They are not ready », he had said only Last year to the Feathered Serpent). Everybody is aging at an accelerated rate. Already some of the troops are suffering from various afflictions.
- Everybody, including our enemies ?
- Yes, My Lord.
- Well, then it actually plays in our favor. I do not care if my arrow fodder loses an arm or an eye or two. They’ll still do very well at catching arrows, and I can get some more whenever I want. Plus I have a few undead troops that are immune. Those pretenders out there are going to suffer more. No problem.
- Yes, My Lord.
- But you were right to bring this to me. You may keep your heart.
- Thank you, My Lord.
- Who did this ? I thought Ulm had Ermor squarely on the defensive, and was using Ermor’s pretender for arrow practice ? And Pangea and Abyssia haven’t played with death recently, so who is it ?
- It is Jotunheim, My Lord.
- Jotunheim ? Are you saying they are busy giving afflictions to their expensive, slow to train, very hard to replace giants ?
- Yes, My Lord.

The God looked at Mictlipoctli and Quetzacoatl, and laughed. Mictlipoctli joined in, but Quetzacoatl looked a little worried. The prophet was dismissed, and they prepared to resume their conversation, when for a second time that night, the majordomo entered.

- What is it this time ?
- A runner has just come from Entre Rio, O Great and Powerful God. He says he brings an urgent message.
- Ah, the tedium of running an Empire. Bring him in, and bring me my jade knife while you are at it.
- At once, O Most Unforgiving One.

A young runner was soon introduced. He was dirty, and shaking from both exhaustion and fear. Behind him knelt the majordomo, with the jade knife.

- Forgive me, O God, but I was ordered to report to you as fast as possible.
- Speak.
- O God, a few weeks ago, various trouble makers started spreading vile rumors in your peaceful province of Entre Rios. And one week ago, 3000 people took their belongings and left your domains. The Priest King of Entre Rios sent me at once.
- Left ? Where to ? It will take them months for them to reach my borders.
- O God, there was a Marignon flotilla waiting for them just beyond javelin range, and they boarded the ships and went.

The God considered this a while. This was getting troublesome. Some sort of example would have to be made. With a gesture, he dismissed the runner and the majordomo.

- What do you think ? I can’t have my people just leaving me.
- I think, O My Lord, that you have a public relation problem, said Quetzacoatl.
- What do you mean ?
- People do not properly realize how lucky they are to live under such a wise ruler as yourself, O My Master. They see the taxes and the occasional brigand, but not the stability and the prosperity.
- And how should I change that ?
- Well, I think we should start with the people of Entre Rios, O My King, here are my ideas....

The next morning, the runner was summoned.

- You will take a Divine Proclamation back to Entre Rios. Go see my majordomo, and see that you learn it well, I want not a word changed.
- Yes, O My God.

The runner was so relieved to have kept his heart, that he nearly stumbled on his way out. Only a quick reflex saved him from this unforgivable breach of protocol, and the jade knife.
<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" border="2" width="90%" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc">

By Proclamation of the All-Knowing and Allmighty, Tacticus Sanguinus.

The dreadful plight of the habitants of Entre Rios has particulary touched Us. To help them recover from the terrible experience they have just had, losing so many loved one to foreign treachery, We therefore order :


- The habitants of Entre Rios shall indefinitely be exempted from all taxes to the Church and to the Empire.

- Three regiments shall henceforth at all time patrol the province. To make sure they act with all due kindness, the soldiers of these regiments shall be recruited among local people. Three loyal tribal kings have been sent for this purpose.

- Each and every child shall have acess to free and mandatory education. A number of priests are been sent for this purpose. They shall tutor the children in history, social responsability, religion, and the importance of abstinence before marriage.

- All unmarried people, regardless of wealth or rank, shall be granted the opportunity to serve their God, and the priesthood, in whatever capacity they are most suited for.

- A temple and a lab shall be constructed next to the fortress. All funding shall be provided by the Empire.


Rejoice, faithfull people, for the days of trouble are at end !

</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

And thus in the following months ten priests (including a high priest of the sun), and three tribal kings, were permanently assigned to Entre Rios, and the devotion of the population increased tremenduously.
</big>

[ January 08, 2004, 18:24: Message edited by: General Tacticus ]

[General Tacticus]

Short interlude :

With its armies at Last finishing their trek North, Mictlan is ready and in position. Seeing no reason to wait, Tacticus orders an immediate attack against Man, who at the time controls the Eastern half of North America.
Quetzacoatl will attack across the caribeans, towards Florida, with a force af lamias and banes.
Miclipoctli will take some banes and longdeads and attack North from Teotihuacan, the capital, following the coast.
Various mercenaries and slave armies will attack from Teotihuacan and strike inland, capturing landlocked provinces.
All goes quite well, and Man’s castle in America is in sight.

For those who are counting, this covers turn 40 to 43. Abyssia was destroyed by Machaka on turn 40, and R’lyeh cast Wrath of the Seas, which I ignored, lacking Dispel.

[Bossemanden]

- All unmarried people, regardless of wealth or rank, shall be granted the opportunity to serve their God, and the priesthood, in whatever capacity they are most suited for.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">"And what capacity would that be oh Great Eater of Hearts?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif "Lord Almighty why do all the teaching priests carry around a red rod that twitches sometimes?"

This is great. Keep it up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
BTW does Burden of Time afflict leaders as well?

[ January 09, 2004, 10:20: Message edited by: Bossemanden ]

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Bossemanden:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">- All unmarried people, regardless of wealth or rank, shall be granted the opportunity to serve their God, and the priesthood, in whatever capacity they are most suited for.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">"And what capacity would that be oh Great Eater of Hearts?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

Well, that depends, but remember the article above, about the importance of abstinence before marriage. And what the God and his heroes were discussing at the start of the story. Still, I DO need the occasional loyal, smart but not too smart, talented priest.

This is great. Keep it up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
BTW does Burden of Time afflict leaders as well? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, yes. Even Pretenders, as a slightly arrogant Tacticus is about to discover http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

If you must know the truth, Burden of Time was cast while I was at war (OK, I am always at war http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ), not sure yet of victory (in the short-term, I have no doubt about my final victory), while my research was going on very slowly, and I had only Enchantment 3 (and that had been an oversight, I meant to stop at 2). I badly needed to research blood a bit to do something useful with it, a lot of my attention was on the battlefields of North America, the rest was used in getting my blood production up from artisanal to industrial level, so I just decided to gamble that my Pretender was immune to old age, and high MR would save him anyway, and he could afford an affliction anyway since he was always at home researcher, casting or forging.

Guess what will shortly happen to him ?

[General Tacticus]

<big><big>The Voice of our God</big>

It had been a good year so far. Man was busy trading ground for time in North America, and was fast running out of ground. Abyssia had been defeated, probably by Machaka, which means one less false God running around confusing poor hapless peasants. The lamias were doing well, the mercs were as efficient as ever, despite their doubtful devotion to the God, and the slave soldier were providing good entertainment. The God was usually in a good mood these days, and that was the best news of all, as far as the majordomo was concerned. He entered the God’s chamber, carefully following every detail of correct protocol, as always, but more confident than usual.

The God turned toward him. The Divine Jaguar opened his mouth, but only produced an unarticulate groan. The God tried again, without success. It was however clear to the majordomo, from the way the God’s Hand were turning to jaguar paws, that the God was in a very bad mood. The majordomo’s finely homed survival instinct kicked in at full steam, and he bowed very low. His brain slammed into maximum overdrive. This could only be the result of the Burden of Time spell. But the God Himself had previously dismissed it. Don’t bring it up. We’ll need some serious magic there. And clearly blood will be spilt today. Better get some slave up here on the double. Make that two slaves. And two more to clean up afterwards. And two more in reserve, just to be safe. First get out of here.

- Most Powerful God, shall I fetch your chief mages ?

The God nodded. That was enough for the majordomo, who rose and left in the absolute minimum time compatible with protocol, and started running the second he was out of sight. Two slaves were dispatched, with orders to “clean up the mess in the God’s rooms”. Inexperienced ones, they surely would commit some breach of protocol. Then there would be a mess to clean up, so he sent an experienced team of slave to wait near the God’s chambers. Breathless, he entered the chief researcher’s room. That was against protocol, but the emergency was dire.

- Forgive me, My Lord, but a terrible thing has happened. The God has been struck by the Burden of Time spell.

The chief researcher’s face became pale as death.

- You took measures ?
- Two slaves have been sent to His rooms. I have more ready. But He is expecting you.

The chief researcher was already busy making calculations

- This is very bad. But tell me the worse. How was the God affected ?
- He was struck mute.
- Forget worse. This is worsest! Why couldn’t it have been a limp, or an eye ? Let’s run.

The God’s rooms were covered in blood. The God was looking outside his windows. Neither man commented. The chief researcher spoke, a minor breach of protocol in normal times, but waiting for the God to speak first was probably not the best idea right now.

- Most Wrathful God, a young researcher has just found a new way to manipulate magic. If we refine the idea, we could quickly devise a mean to both dispel and reverse the effects of Your enemies’ spells. I humbly beg Your permission to proceed, as well as the permission to use some of the magical gems in Your treasury.

The God did not turn, but made a sign with his paw. This was enough for both men. They knew the signs. After bowing, they left the rooms.

- How quickly can you do it, asked the majordomo ?
- Four moons of research if I draft the priests I have searching for magical sites, and the best of the blood hunters. Quetzacoatl can do the dispel, but I’ll need to train and equip a king priest for the curing spell. That can be done in the meantime. Fortunately, we have enough gems on hand to ensure both spell work the first time.
- Four moons ? The God is not very patient, these will be four very difficult moons…
- Even then, it will take time for the cure to take effect, I fear. But I can do no better.
- This will be a difficult time. Fortunately, the war is going well. Let us both pray there are no bad news in the mean time.

On their way out, the majordomo sent the cleaners. The God's hands were still paws. Better stray on the safe side. Their were always more cleaners.

</big>


Well, as you can see, Burden of Time does affect leaders and Pretenders. And the good old Murphy-based RNG that determines Pretenders afflictions is still working as intended : instead of a limp or something that would have affected only combat, I got mute, which divides all magic skills by two. Whereas a combat cyclop would have lost an eye on the first wound (as previous research clearly show). Still, I was lucky, I could have gotten Feebleminded instead...

[Bossemanden]

I really like this majordomo of yours. His survival instinct is quite keen. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
Two slaves were dispatched, with orders to “clean up the mess in the God’s rooms”. Inexperienced ones, they surely would commit some breach of protocol. Then there would be a mess to clean up, so he sent an experienced team of slave to wait near the God’s chambers.<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif
Hmm it seems I´m the cheerleader here...Well so be it.
Go Tacticus, Go Tacticus (makes feeble gestures in the air, marginally compatible with actual cheerleader thingy)
Edit: Oh great and Majestic Hearteater. I apologise for debasing thy hallowed name Tacticus by bastardising it Tacitus. Please forgive me.....(sound of heart being ripped out) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ January 11, 2004, 14:41: Message edited by: Bossemanden ]

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Bossemanden:

Hmm it seems I´m the cheerleader here...Well so be it.
Go Tacitus, Go Tacitus (makes feeble gestures in the air, marginally compatible with actual cheerleader thingy) <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Is it voluntary that you altered his (Mute) God's name from Tacticus to Tacitus?

(Beware, he doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor!)

And I'll double as a cheerleader. Virtually, that is - I still have a little self-esteem.

[Bossemanden]

Originally posted by PhilD:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Bossemanden:

Hmm it seems I´m the cheerleader here...Well so be it.
Go Tacitus, Go Tacitus (makes feeble gestures in the air, marginally compatible with actual cheerleader thingy) <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Is it voluntary that you altered his (Mute) God's name from Tacticus to Tacitus?

(Beware, he doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor!)

And I'll double as a cheerleader. Virtually, that is - I still have a little self-esteem. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Argh stupid me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif I´ll edit that post now

[Sammual]

These are the best AAR ever.
Keep them comming.

Sammual

[Bossemanden]

Heh. The rule that people dont read stickys is still true. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
I was down to looking at page 2 getting more and more desperate. "Where is the AAR?". Before I found it here at the top of page 1.

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Bossemanden:
Heh. The rule that people dont read stickys is still true. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
I was down to looking at page 2 getting more and more desperate. "Where is the AAR?". Before I found it here at the top of page 1. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Me too !

But now that I've found it, I can write the next chapter http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[General Tacticus]

Tacticus Sanguinus’ governing style has its downsides : being chaotic in nature, it results in permanent turmoil in the Empire ; and many people are sacrified while they could still be usefull. But when it comes to implementing radical changes of policy, it is very hard to beat.
So it is that all available resources were shifted to researching Enchantment : traditional researcher, site explorers, and blood hunters alike joined in this quest (althoug a minimum service was maintained in Entre Rios, in deference to the earlier neglect of its population).

Simultaneously, plans were made to ensure that the necessary casters would be ready as soon as the research was completed. The Dispel would be cast by Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, himself ; but that would only dispel the Burden of Times spell, not reverse its effects. So a Nature 5 mage had to be found, to cast Gift of Health. All existing king priests being currently out of easy reach of their laboratories (searching for sites and leading the armies against Man), a new one was recruited and would receive intense training in Nature magic. He would also forge himself a nice thistle mace. This would make him ready just in time to cast the spell. Fortunately the gem reserves, particularly in Nature, were very high.

Apparently, the fact that this was a particularly bad time to bring bad news to the God quickly circulated in all the empire. The generals won victory after victory, destroying Man’s armies in North America, sieging and breaching his castle. A local baron gifted the Empire with a new fortress, then a new lab. Jotunheim and Caelum fought each other, and pretended Mictlan wasn’t there. Only Man, always the spoilsport, dared to claim a small victory : not in the main theater in North America, but in Caracas, in South America. There he unleashed a dreadful weapon, something to give nightmares to generations of Mictlan children : an angelic host ! Under the command of an archangel, this unspeakable army took control of the province ; and for several month, subjected it to its horrible mismanagement.

An unrelated piece of gossip : His Holiness the personal majordomo of the Magnificent God, was seen at the slave markets at about that time, buying an great number of unskilled slaves, soon after these news reached Teotihuacan.

After 4 moons of intense activity, the rituals were finally ready. Failure was unthinkable, and everything possible was done to insure success. Thus it is that 123 astral pearls were used in the dispel (base cost : 30), and 150 nature gems in the Gift of Health (base cost : 40) – in both cases, the entire stockpile. The final assault on man’s castle was also scheduled for the same day, ont that the astrologers had marked as particularly favorable. And indeed it proved to be, as everything was succesfull this day ; and more : a library was found, finally giving the God easy access to some serious research potential. It took three more months for the God’s voice to come back, but thanks to the majordomo’s foresight, nobody really important died.

After all this excitement, the following years were uneventful (turns 52 to 72). Blood 7 and Construction 8 were researched ; R’lyeh’s Wrath of the Sea was dispelled ; the angels were defeated ;a asuccubus was sent against a independant vampire count (who would have made a nice addition to my forces) but was defeated ; Vanheim was attacked and their pretender permanently banished by our glorious armies ; Marignon also disappeared at about the same time ; and some nice artifacts were forged : the Alchemist’s Stone was given to an alchemist that was hired, and the Orb of Atlantis was placed in the teasury for future use.

Mictlan now holds most of America. Caelum holds the Western coast of North America, Jotunheim occasionally raids from Greenland, and Atlantis and R’lyeh retain their small footholds in South America, but the rest is ours. We are now in first place for provinces, neck by neck with R’lyeh and Tien Ch’i. We are still rather low in gold income and armies, but ahead in forts and gem income.Ulm seems to be doing very well in Europe (where only Man still resists) ; Tien Ch’i is big in Asia, and Machaka in Africa. R’lyeh is also doing very well somewhere (in addition to the Pacific), or just possibly a little bit everywhere, and the other races are second rate powers at best.

The obvious next target is Caelum, followed by Jotunheim. Preparations for a conflict with the aquatic races is quietly proceeding. An attack across the oceans, using ships, is also a possibility.

To be frank, I am surprised at how well I am doing. My other tries at 17 impossible AI’s in the World War scenario, notably with Ulm and Pythium, were far less successful (although I have learned a few valuable lessons and would probably do better now).

[Gandalf Parker]

Yes this is excellent. Maybe it could be edited later and put on a web-page.

-- Too many people have no idea how to properly pay for things that are free.

[General Tacticus]

Well, I have all the AAR Posts in a word file, and when it is over, I'll be more than happy to edit it so it reads like one story, and give it to anybody that wants to host it on his web page... I do have some web space available, but nothing that could even marginally be called a web site http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Bossemanden]

Apparently, the fact that this was a particularly bad time to bring bad news to the God quickly circulated in all the empire.

An unrelated piece of gossip : His Holiness the personal majordomo of the Magnificent God, was seen at the slave markets at about that time, buying an great number of unskilled slaves, soon after these news reached Teotihuacan.
[/QB]<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That majordomo really looks out for his gods needs doesnt he? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
I mean if he tried any harder at avoiding loosing his heart, he´d be noticed and loosing it anyway. A fine line to walk on. Currently he´s my favourite character in the story.
BTW Any more chapters forthcomming?

[SurvivalistMerc]

General Tacticus/Tacitus,

I am really enjoying your tale of Mictlan. Thank you for sharing this with the community. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Bossemanden:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">
Apparently, the fact that this was a particularly bad time to bring bad news to the God quickly circulated in all the empire.

An unrelated piece of gossip : His Holiness the personal majordomo of the Magnificent God, was seen at the slave markets at about that time, buying an great number of unskilled slaves, soon after these news reached Teotihuacan.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That majordomo really looks out for his gods needs doesnt he? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
I mean if he tried any harder at avoiding loosing his heart, he´d be noticed and loosing it anyway. A fine line to walk on. Currently he´s my favourite character in the story.[/QB]</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Even the God likes him. And is quite aware that finding a suitable replacement would be very difficult. After all, he is very competent, he knows his place, and without him what little order is left in the palace would dissolve. Still, protocol is protocol, and rules are rules, and they can't be ignored. Besides, if he can't manage to keep his heart, then he's not as good as the God hoped, and doesn't deserve to keep his place. Or his heart.

BTW Any more chapters forthcomming? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, my AAR as managed to catch up with the action, so I have to play first (and by now hosting takes quite a bit of time), then write... There will be more chapters, but in a few days.

[SurvivalistMerc]

General Tacticus,

Can you give us an update on Mictlan's situation? How fares the majordomo?

[Cthulu13]

Awesome report, do you take requests? Could you do R'lyeh next?

Anyway, very intresting reports.

[General Tacticus]

Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. I promise, I'll update this week-end !

I might take requests when I finish this AAR, but that may be in some time yet. Or perhaps not... I am at a crucial point where I'll convert most of my economy to blood and summons, and depending how well that goes, the time needed to finish the game may be surprisingly short.
Just a teaser : I've got Forge of the Ancients going, and the Hammer of the Forge Lord. That should allow me to make 1 soul contrat a turn, each one bringing 1 devil a turn... I have also found a site with a 40% reduction on Blood spells. And I have Blood 9 researched.
Oh, and my pretender now has 4 in each and every magic path (except holy and unholy of course)
So If I can work in peace for 20 years, I'll have an economy where gold income is irrelevant (I can alchemize gems with my indy alchemist + Alchemist's stone), I'll have a major source of decent, flying, very mobile armies (the devils) led by whatever strike my fancy (arch-devils, ice devils, succubus...). On the other hand, with some heavy handed blood hunt, I'll probably need to expand to maintain my supply of blood slaves http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Coffeedragon]

Originally posted by General Tacticus:

So If I can work in peace for 20 years,... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I am glad this strat works only in SP [because in MP, others wouldn´t let you alone presumably], or the game would be in need of a patch! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Great AAR!

[General Tacticus]

Peace.

Quiet, uneventful, blessed peace.

In his quarters, the majordomo was relaxing, sipping some of the “wine” the Mictlan troops had liberated from Man. Nobody seemed to know how it was made, but it certainly was better than the cactus alcohol that passed for a national beverage in Teotihuacan.

The Most Exalted God, may all his enemies crumble beneath his Paws, was touring the Empire, looking for magic sites. And having great success too, clearly all those elaborate preparations and carefully forged items were paying off (4+ in every magic skill except the priestly ones).
Mictlipoctli, the King of Legends, was North, celebrating his victory over Vanheim and raising a new army.
Quetzalcoatl was South, on Mount Chaining, (40% blood discount), experimenting with ever more powerful rituals with a few of the best priests of the Empire. At Last reports, he had summoned a Fallen Angel, a second Arch-Devil (not as powerful as the first one, but still nothing to sneer at), two Succubus, and his cross-breeding experiments had yielded about 200 assorted foul things, including a basilisk, a chimera, and two big bad things without names. The basilisk and the chimera were put in storage, to use against Ulm (ranged, area-of-effect, armor-negating attacks should work nicely against the tin men).
Many unique artifacts had been forged. The Hammer of the Forge Lord had been given to the Fallen Angel, who was busy forging Soul Contracts. With the Forge of the Ancient spell, those were very cheap, and already 5 devils were joining the armies each turn.
Blood slaves were found in great number. Nobody had a clue what to do with the mounting piles of gems – Nature was already over 300, with income of 25 by turn. The God had vaguely spoken of “higher summons” and “Gift of Reason”, perhaps that would help.
Gold production was still weak, at about 800 gold pieces, half of which went to pay the armies, but gold was rather irrelevant. A particularly obnoxious young priest had been given the task of finding “where all that money went” - the majordomo suspected it went mostly to the priests -, but truth to tell gold was not important.
Research was doing well, 200 spell pages a turn and climbing.
And the Empire was at peace. Well, not technically. Technically, it was still at war with Jotunheim, Man, and probably half a dozen others which it had never met. But apart from the occasional spiteful Arch-Angel from Man (and one Arch-Devil had made short work of the Last one), no battle was happening. The God had left explicit instructions during his journeys : “Pounce on the first one that so much as looks crossly at us”, but so far nobody was looking. Still, better schedule a Horror, or perhaps a Horde from Hell, to answer Man’s provocations, before the God came back. Just to be on the safe side.
And finally there was an opportunity to retrain the palace staff. Experienced servants had become few over the years – but now the new ones were being trained to acceptable standard. The majordomo opened one eye. “More wine !”, he told the slave girl he was personally training at the moment. Yes, they were coming up nicely, although there was still room for improvement. “I shouldn’t have to ask !” he scolded her…

Peace was good.

And it would not Last forever. Now was the time to enjoy it.

“Come here”, he ordered the slave girl…

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by Coffeedragon:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by General Tacticus:
[b]
So If I can work in peace for 20 years,... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I am glad this strat works only in SP , or the game would be in need of a patch! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Great AAR! </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hey, so far, I have been actively fighting for about 60 of the 70 first turns, and the other 10 where mostly moving armies into place. I deserve a break ! I want to play with improved cross breeding ! I want to see what my succubus can bring me ! I want to cast the big bad-*** spells !

Hopefully my current neighbours (Caelum, Atlantis and R'lyeh) will leave me alone for a while. Truth to tell, only R'lyeh of the three could give me a good fight...

[Bossemanden]

Originally posted by General Tacticus:
And finally there was an opportunity to retrain the palace staff. Experienced servants had become few over the years – but now the new ones were being trained to acceptable standard. The majordomo opened one eye. “More wine !”, he told the slave girl he was personally training at the moment. Yes, they were coming up nicely, although there was still room for improvement. “I shouldn’t have to ask !” he scolded her…

Peace was good.

And it would not Last forever. Now was the time to enjoy it.

“Come here”, he ordered the slave girl… <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmm the Majordomo is becomming too relaxed for his own good. It seems he needs the fear to keep on his toes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
A saying comes to mind: "When the cat is out the mice play on the table" (a more or less direct translation from Danish).
Anyway keep up the good work. Looking good so far.

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Bossemanden:
Hmm the Majordomo is becomming too relaxed for his own good. It seems he needs the fear to keep on his toes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Agreed. I suspect he's going to come to a bad end soon.


A saying comes to mind: "When the cat is out the mice play on the table" (a more or less direct translation from Danish).
Anyway keep up the good work. Looking good so far. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Actually, that's interesting, 'cause there's a French saying that goes (direct translation as well): "When the cat's away, mice dance"

[Psitticine]

There's an English Version too: "When the cat's away, the mice will play." I wonder where the expression originated?

In any case, I think the Major-Domo had also better hope for a long campaign. His god will get bored once the world is won, and that might not be good for the ol' M-D . . .

[ January 27, 2004, 18:39: Message edited by: Psitticine ]

[ExitJudas]

in danish: "når katten er ude danser musene på bordet" --> "when the cat is out, the mice dance on the table".

Oops sorry PhilD, didn't see the danish reference. Oh well. Now at least you can see how its spelled in danish http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ January 28, 2004, 08:34: Message edited by: ExitJudas ]

[Norfleet]

It sounds like Tacticus has hit the stable point, where you're no longer really credibly threatened by any AI opposition, and can more or less sit there indefinitely and power up. I'd suggest empowering up to Astral-6 or so, putting on the the Starshine, Crystal Coin, and/or Ring of Sorcery/Wizardry, and wishing your way up to 10-all+power, just for kicks. Wish up some clones of yourself, too, and then go nuts.

[General Tacticus]

I don't know about that... According to the score graphs, Ulm and Tien Ch'i have as many provinces as I do, and R'lyeh is just behind. I have about one-third the gold income of Ulm (which put him at about 2500g/turn !), my gem income is on par with Tien Ch'i, and I am third in research... Ulm also has a good number of castles.

But it's true that with Atlantis and R'lyeh serving as buffers, I have no credible threat in North America. Atlantis seems to be no threat, R'lyeh just might pull off some dangerous void summons.

On the other hand, I cam muster some really heavy blood summons myself, since I have blood 9, an income of about 60 blood slaves a turn, and a 40% reduction site. I have 2 Arch-Devils, 2 Fallen Angels, and one Ice Devil, just for starters. And I haven't even tried the 2 biggest summons yet ! I am working my way through the Artifact list, my Pretender is off searching the Empire for site.
Actually, I am ramping up for a devastating, multi-pronged, overwhelming attack on Ulm. Caelum will be dealt with whenever I'm bored, Atlantis and R'lyeh when I can cast Thetis blessing and don't need the buffers anymore...

Meanwhile, I watch Man die. Apparently he lost his capital a few turn backs, has only one or two provinces left, and his God is shooting up in the Hall of Fame diing gloriously every other turn http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif He already has 609 kills to his name, not bad http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Norfleet]

I've been through a great many games against the AI, and I can clearly recognize the symptoms: You've got a more or less secure border with fairly passive opposition that seems otherwise occupied...even in the case of one of my Jotunheim games, when Pangaea was absolutely massive and occupied all of Europe and West Asia, having an absolutely massive army and more than twice my provinces. Of course, eventually all hell broke loose when the shooting started, but by then, I was certainly ready for it.

One of the things AIs have traditionally done poorly in is concentration of force. Once your position is fairly stable and consolidated, in your case, the Americas, the AI won't pose a really credible threat unless he's absolutely supermassive.

As a nice sidenote, if you can get some fairly cheap death-4 mages, you can cut loose with the Ghost Riders and the AI won't realize what the hell is happening: You can sack province after province, then just roll in and take it over without a fight, by leading with a bombardment of Ghost Riders. Eventually, you'll accidentally arrive at the same time as an AI's force, and that might start the war in his eyes, but by this time, you're probably already on his front doorstep....and you haven't lost a single unit. Even if he knew what was happening, it would STILL be a good strategy, modelled after the classic German blitz: Bombers, tanks, infantry.

[ January 29, 2004, 19:47: Message edited by: Norfleet ]

[undead dolphin hacker]

Originally posted by Cthulu13:
Awesome report, do you take requests? Could you do R'lyeh next?<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not to steal Tacitus's thunder, but if I were to do a R'lyeh AAR, would anyone mind?

[General Tacticus]

Originally posted by undead dolphin hacker:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Cthulu13:
Awesome report, do you take requests? Could you do R'lyeh next?<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not to steal Tacitus's thunder, but if I were to do a R'lyeh AAR, would anyone mind? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

R'lyeh is not really my cup of tea, if you do an AAR on them I'll be able to choose someone else (after the curent one of course, which i really must finish)

[SurvivalistMerc]

I think we are all looking forward to your next post about your tale, General Tacticus.

[Peter Ebbesen]

Update! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[General Tacticus]

All right, I'll update this evening when I come back from work.

Seems like Norfleet was right - I'm in the mopping up stage. The AI doesn't seem to handle level 9 spells too well.

[SurvivalistMerc]

/cheer!

[General Tacticus]

The Tien Ch'i War : prelude

The majordomo pondered the implications of the news the messenger had brought him.

According to the succubus that was toying with Caelum, Tien Ch’i had crossed from Siberia to Alaska, and was even now laying siege to Caelum’s Last fortress in Tsimshian (North America). This would upset the God’s plans. Caelum had been a weak and unagressive neighbour, which had suited Mictlan perfectly. The plans called for a gradual build up of troops, with a devil factory in North America, Mictlipoctli in Newfoundland raising undead – he was almost ready to try Behemoth – and cross breeding experiments on Mount Chaining. Then, when the Lord judged the build-up complete, Caelum would serve as a testing ground, before moving to the real powers, Ulm, Tien Ch’i, and R’lyeh.

Now those plans would have to be revised. The God was touring His Empire and looking for places of magic power, which made things more complicated. Clearly the God would have to be informed. The news on themselves weren’t bad – the majordomo had long since stopped informed the God of news of hurricanes, tidal waves, and earthquakes that seemed to come from the Empire each month – but the God would be angered if he was unable to respond to them immediately. The message must be drafted carefully, and point out from the start that the armies of Mictlan were ready and in place, or the messenger would die. And then the God would have to come back Himself to issue orders, and would be in a foul mood. The majordomo shivered.

First things first. The majordomo called his 3 fastest messengers, and sent them with carefully worded Messages to the three commanders closest to Caelum : Igarak the Archdevil and his devils, the Prophet of the God with his sacred troops – they were good enough for a small mop up war, and the Prophet was a master of Smiting – and another sun priest leading 50 banes and 50 lamias. The majordomo suggested (he was only a majordomo after all, with no power to issue orders outside the palace) that the season might be just right to take their troops on “training marches”, with full equipment, on “a general North-Westerly direction”. The majordomo hoped they would take the hint. They most likely would, since nobody could reach their position under the God without exquisite political instincts.

Then the most delicate part. The majordomo summoned his most experienced messenger, and for the next three days drilled him mercilessly, not only on the message itself – that took the messenger only a few minutes to memorize – but on how to approach the God, at what moment of the day to time the arrival while still having traveled as quickly as possible, how to greet the God, and so on. The majordomo really wanted that messenger to survive. On the dawn of the fourth day, the messenger departed.

Finally, the majordomo sent a few scores young servants and apprentice messengers, at a more leisurely pace, to the God. They would be needed to take the God’s orders to the front and back, and the majordomo knew that war brought the potential for unpleasant news- better prepare for it and make sure the persons close to the God when they reached Him would be easy to replace.

[SurvivalistMerc]

General Tacticus,

Have you abandoned this project? Or is it just on hold? I look more often than I should here to see if we will have a new installment.

I confess...I enjoy your AARs.

[Norfleet]

It probably got mutilated by the numerous patches since then.

This should probably be unstickied and allowed to sink, since Tacticus hasn't updated it in some time.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
It probably got mutilated by the numerous patches since then.<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If anything, Tacticus should be in a better situation, since he can now recruit Jaguar Warriors in any fortress. I doubt it got mutilated. It's much more likely that he either ran out of time or inclination to write.