Teleportig armies

[Viajero]

Easy enough to do for commanders (and their troops) that actually can cast teleporting spells like Gateway, Astral Travel or Stygian Path... but what if I need to teleport more than 1 commander with no teleporting ability aswell? any spell or items that can help me to do that? in the spirit of roleplay why wouldn´t a consenting commander join the army of a commander casting, say, gateway?

[Sombre]

It's a game limitation. I (or anyone else) could come up with some zany justification for why gateway can't take indy commanders with the casting mage, but in the end it's just a game limitation and it isn't going to change.

[Fate]

Two construction 8 items could help here:

Boots of the Planes (3S? 4S?) allow the commander to Teleport, but horror mark and drive them insane (along with possibly zipping them off to the void?). They do give them a bonus towards escaping the void, but that hardly matters after they have gone insane from being there for more than a turn.

Gateway Stone (2E4S? I think) allows the commander to cast Gateway. I don't think (?) it has any side effects.

[Viajero]

It's a game limitation. I (or anyone else) could come up with some zany justification for why gateway can't take indy commanders with the casting mage, but in the end it's just a game limitation and it isn't going to change.

Fair enough, thanks.

[thejeff]

Similar things show up in a number of places:
Commanders with sailing won't let other commanders on their ships.
Commanders who grant water-breathing (either innately or through items) can't grant it to other commanders.
The Flying Ship does the same for flying.


It makes no sense, but at least it's consistent.

[Micah]

The Boots don't cause insanity, just lots of horror marks and a slight chance of being lost in time and space.

[llamabeast]

We just have to assume that all commanders are far too arrogant to accept help from other commanders.

[NTJedi]

Easy enough to do for commanders (and their troops) that actually can cast teleporting spells like Gateway, Astral Travel or Stygian Path... but

Stygian Path.... was the spell ever fixed? Last time I casted the spell it only my commander arrived barely alive and the 100+ troops were gone... also the report read that I lost 9 million units. The report made it clear the spell was broken.

I recall reading it was also a spell which worked better for stealthy units.

[Gregstrom]

Stygian Path.... also the report read that I lost 9 million units.



So they killed your units, then they killed them all a second time, then a few more times for good measure. And after that they chopped them all into tiny pieces and then jumped up and down on them.

Now that's a rough neighbourhood. :hurt:

[Viajero]

Easy enough to do for commanders (and their troops) that actually can cast teleporting spells like Gateway, Astral Travel or Stygian Path... but

Stygian Path.... was the spell ever fixed? Last time I casted the spell it only my commander arrived barely alive and the 100+ troops were gone... also the report read that I lost 9 million units. The report made it clear the spell was broken.

I recall reading it was also a spell which worked better for stealthy units.

Yes, the spell calls for every unit to pass a MR roll or die basically. Unless the unit is stealthy in which case it has only a 20% chance to be subject to the MR death attack. The caster always gets attacked irrespective of his/her stealthiness.

Risky spell indeed, unless you can afford to go with a lot of chaff type Longdead horsemen etc in which case losses may not be a big issue.

[MaxWilson]

Easy enough to do for commanders (and their troops) that actually can cast teleporting spells like Gateway, Astral Travel or Stygian Path... but

Stygian Path.... was the spell ever fixed? Last time I casted the spell it only my commander arrived barely alive and the 100+ troops were gone... also the report read that I lost 9 million units. The report made it clear the spell was broken.

I recall reading it was also a spell which worked better for stealthy units.

Yes, the spell has been fixed and now works as described in the manual. Thus making Death magic just that little bit more awesome. :) :) :)

-Max

[Lingchih]

Stygian Path.... was the spell ever fixed? Last time I casted the spell it only my commander arrived barely alive and the 100+ troops were gone... also the report read that I lost 9 million units. The report made it clear the spell was broken.

I recall reading it was also a spell which worked better for stealthy units.

I've used it fairly recently in MP. It does work, but it's kind of spottish. I would only use it as MA or LA Ermor, transporting a lot of undead. A few times, my armies came through almost intact. Other times, they were decimated.

[chrispedersen]

Or for a sphinx.

[MaxWilson]

I've used it fairly recently in MP. It does work, but it's kind of spottish. I would only use it as MA or LA Ermor, transporting a lot of undead. A few times, my armies came through almost intact. Other times, they were decimated.

Remember there's a minor damaging effect (2 AN?) PLUS an MR-resisted death check. Stygian Paths is less preferable than Gateway if you've got it (just land an SC, have him build a lab on the next round). However, if you don't have Astral access and you have a lot of capital-dependent troops (e.g. you're Helheim) it can be very nice for moving troops to the front and/or on top of enemy SCs.

-Max

[Ishamoridin]

Something to note with Stygian Paths, however, is that the movement is processed in the Movement Phase rather than the Magic Phase. It is strictly inferior to Astral Travel in this way.

[Gregstrom]

I don't know that it makes the spell inferior - just different. For a start, it means you can spam off a couple of Ghost Riders at an enemy province and then walk in with your own army. The defenders may well have burnt their gems on the Ghost Riders, leaving you an easier fight.

[Agema]

2AN is an average of 3.5 damage per unit: it will kill 10% of 10HP units and many left will be in pretty bad shape. With 10MR you'll lose nearly 50% of the remainder from the MR Death Attack.

You wouldn't even want to take more elite recruitables like giants, Van, or Assartut: whilst you'll lose negligible numbers from damage, you'll still lose a quarter to a third with only 12 or so MR and they're very expensive troops. Good options would be demons and some types of magic beings, as they'd have 16MR (<13% lost) or more, and usually plenty of HP.

[Tolkien]

We just have to assume that all commanders are far too arrogant to accept help from other commanders.
Van: Quick, hop in my boat so we can attack that island over there!
Human: No, I'm a leader, not a follower.
Van: How do you propose to get across the ocean then?
Human: I'll swim!

[Ishamoridin]

I don't know that it makes the spell inferior - just different. For a start, it means you can spam off a couple of Ghost Riders at an enemy province and then walk in with your own army. The defenders may well have burnt their gems on the Ghost Riders, leaving you an easier fight.

Agreed, but it's a pretty niche use considering the kind of army composition you need to have to make the spell viable.

[MaxWilson]

Something to note with Stygian Paths, however, is that the movement is processed in the Movement Phase rather than the Magic Phase. It is strictly inferior to Astral Travel in this way.

Really? I had no idea. I wonder if that means you can use it to attack a sieging army (Teleport will just end with you inside the fort).

-Max

[Gregstrom]

That would be rather interesting if it were the case.