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Author Topic: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun  (Read 17940 times)

oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2020, 08:51:10 pm »

I do have one generic priest prov. It's the forest province that I took. Eventually I'll get a temple over there but that's 6 turns spent walking a priest over there to build it and back.  We have score graphs disabled.

Turn 8. Late fall in the year 0
Paimon the Warlock Apprentice found 5 blood slaves for us in Abysia. Unrest in the capital went up by 2 but our province defense will reduce that back down next turn. I put him back on research duty.

Steve lost a single soldier shoving the bandits back out of Polgrave. Word of his exploits and his heroic quickness has spread far and wide and bards sing of him.  Entering the Hall of Fame as a hero gives units a randomly chosen bonus. Steve's is Heroic Quickness. He can move and attack more quickly while in combat.  Here's the current hall of fame:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man has 3 units in there, though two of them are dead already. Lothar and Ferdinando are from Agartha.  No sign of the sneaky Vanheim yet.  Have we seen Agartha's god's titles yet?  The Second Stone, God of Agartha, Master of the Oceans, King of Rain, God of Water.  Guess he has some water magic on him. I'd say that bodes poorly for us but the only water spell that really messes up our armies is rain and it's a low level cheap spell that most players can cast.  Anyway, congrats to Steve for being Abysia's first renowned hero!

Ogorol's battle in Lorborough also went extremely well.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Both Steve and Ogorol are ordered to converge on the barbarians. After that battle we'll finally have all of the provinces connected to our capital.  Carniel, our new Salamander also grabs the Lava Warriors hanging out in the barracks and leads them in as well. This should be an absolutely overwhelming force here. Far more than is economical but with the layout of my territory they would all have to pass through it anyway to reach new lands to conquer.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On a second thought, this really is too overwhelming. I had planned for two armies to hit them, forgetting about the third that was ready to go in our capital.  I leave Carniel and Steve's orders as is but command Ogorol to instead cross the river into Pholothras.

Our income this turn is spent getting a temple up in the Spires of Ascension. There's enough left over to train a single Lava Warrior but not enough for any command units at this time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Karlito

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2020, 09:29:53 pm »

It seems like you're off to a good start! I'll enjoy following this.
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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #17 on: March 27, 2020, 01:59:27 pm »

Turn 9. Early Winter in the year 0
Winter has arrived. Our units don't perform as well in the cold, thankfully the power of our goddess will keep lands already in our control nice and toasty but the cold will make for a slightly more difficult time for our forces trying to extend our nation's borders.   The Second Stone of Agartha contacted us. After some discussion we have agreed to hold expansion towards the caves and in exchange are being granted the lands south of the river without opposition, though I suspect we'll run into Vanheim as we proceed in that direction.

Current border agreement:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We also researched Conjuration 3 this turn opening up the basic elemental summons. Two of the spells here are in our interest. Phoenix Power is a combat spell that increases the fire magic ability of its user. Casting this first will ensure that our mages can cast more fire spells at higher strength. The second spell here of interest (and really the most important of the two) is Summon Lesser Fire Elemental. This spell costs a gem to cast but fire elementals are very strong in combat against enemies without fire resistance. The go-to strategy of our mages will be to buff themselves with Phoenix Power, summon a lesser fire elemental, then throw whatever evocation spells they can. For particularly nasty battles or when dealing with homeland defense I will have them summon multiple lesser fire elementals but one each should be sufficient against most things at this stage.

Conjuration 3 spell list:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next up on our research queue is Blood Magic level 1 to give our warlocks at least something to do if they are attacked. I'm considering changing the direction after that. Currently I have it set to construction (magical constructs and item forging) but a few points in Evocation will give our fire mages better spells to cast after summoning their elementals.

Agartha proclaimed their prophet this turn. Twoson the Oracle of the Ancients.  Ogorol encountered almost no opposition in his battle this turn and is immediately ordered to continue south to Binophe. Thankfully The Veiled One's dominion has already spread here so we will be fighting in the warmth. The battle against the barbarians was also successful but was something of a bloodblath, at least compared to most of our fights so far. Here you can see the forces of Abysia lined up as the barbarians charge in.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Steve and Carniel are behind the two lines of standard infantry while our Lava Warriors are on the flank. Combat results:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We saw Steve enter the fray himself in this battle.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A maul wielding Barbarian immediately struck him in the head and burst one of his eyes. Steve retaliated with both of his axes. One missed but the other was swing so forcefully that he cleaved his opponents arm clear off.   With his immediate opponent downed, Steve backed out of combat and fell back from the battle.  Not staying to see it through, he made his way back to the cleared lands of Umidor where he could receive medical attention. 
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Glancing through his surviving infantry, many of them are in just as bad shape. Thankfully the no-longer barbarian lands of Dothian are fairly prosperous compared to most of the others that we have conquered.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With this new influx of gold and resources we are able to recruit 6 new Lava Warriors as well as a full Warlock.

Work on the temple in the Spires of Ascension was completed. We're late for building a second fortress due to the nature of the terrain around Abysia so we order a generic human commander in Boddern Weald. Next turn, funding permitting, he can begin construction of Palisades there.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Alijan Ba'al also moves that direction. He'll be another turn or two arriving but once there he will see to construction of both a lab and a temple. Steve isn't ready to retire yet, one missing eye isn't going to stop him. He's ordered to move back to Dothian to retrieve his stranded troops and from there will return to Abysia to receive a new unit of Lava Warriors. Carniel begins marching towards our front lines with his 11 Lava Warriors.

We also had a couple of random events occur this turn. It rained toads in Boddern Weald, upsetting the population and causing the province to experience a Misfortune +3.  Then we found new gold deposits in Abysia and began mining them. +60 gold income per turn there will definitely be appreciated.   

Final note, Man built palisades in the province neighboring us. That's reasonable to expect from him but it does mean he's prioritizing fortifying the border between us. 
Spoiler (click to show/hide)


I'm the last player this round so the next turn will be coming up very shortly.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 02:01:20 pm by oldark »
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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #18 on: March 27, 2020, 02:27:08 pm »

Turn 10. Winter in the year 0

Do you guys like how I just talk about things as I decide and look at them in game to see my thought process or prefer I standardize the reporting order (aka. Research->existing unit order->construction->recruiting or something like that)? At the moment I'm going roughly in order of the message/event queue but mixing in some commands that I issue as a response to one event before moving to the next but I can see how that may make things more difficult to follow.

First research in Blood Magic level 1 is complete and research on Evocation begins. I won't explain every spell there that we can now cast but if one is of particular interest feel free to ask and I'll give you the details. What you will notice from the spell list is that almost every blood magic spell in the game costs some number of blood slaves to be sacrificed.  Of note to us at blood one is any of our warlocks who gain a level in fire magic (about 1 in 4 will) can use Blood Boil without any slaves. Otherwise Blood Burst and Summon Imps will be our early game spells for our warlocks and apprentices.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ogorol had another victory against some humans calling themselves the Deer Tribe. They did have one barbarian chief among them and were able to pick off one of our Lava Warriors, leaving Ogorol with 10 remaining.  Ogorol summoned our first Lesser Fire Elemental, though it was somewhat wasteful in this case since our Lava Warriors had routed the enemy before it got into combat.  He also picked off one fleeing human with a fire cantrip. Getting this kill was enough to get him added to the Hall of Fame. Ogorol the Prophet is widely known for his Valor. He receives increased morale and leadership and all troops under his command will be less likely to break in combat.

A lucky event in Pholothras gave up +3 Dominion there as the people threw a festival to celebrate The Veiled One. A nice boost considering this will be a border province with Agartha. 
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As you can see from the map our goddesses heat power can't completely eliminate winter, especially on the border regions but she's keeping us warm in Abysia itself and neutral in most of our other provinces. The lower our dominion score in any province the slower the temperature heats up.  The Warlock we recruited last turn (Forneus) spawned in with level 3 Astral magic.  He's going on research right now but I'll have him go site searching soon along with a partner for earth and fire paths.  In order to provide that partner, I order the recruitment of our first Anathemant Dragon. These guys are the oldest and wisest among our standard mages. They are also very powerful priests (level 3 holy magic) equivalent to that of our Prophet. He will take two turns to recruit and come with level 3 fire magic as well as level 1 earth magic with a small chance at additional levels.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This doesn't leave me enough gold to begin construction of our palisades this turn but given that we need both a temple and lab there to make it truly useful for our purposes I think the delay is acceptable. Or expansion armies continue their advance. Though we have resources and gold remaining, I only recruit 5 Lava Warriors in Abysia. I'm going to need 600 gold for palisades next turn and 400/500 the turns after that for the temple and lab. 

During this turn we're contacted by Agartha. Confirming sighting of Vanheim to our east and warning that they have used ships to sail and conquer a throne already. Conquering a throne and claiming it are two different things in Dominions 5.  Conquering it just means they own the province it is located in. They will need a level 3 priest, prophet, or their pretender himself to go to the throne and claim it in his name. When a throne is claimed all players are informed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #19 on: March 27, 2020, 07:51:19 pm »

Turn 11. Late Winter in the year 0

The Second Stone has sent a plea for aid. He says many sacred elves have rushing into his lands during the winter. Our notes from an earlier age warned against the elves more strongly than any other and I think it is in our best interest to at the very least try and reach their borders to pull pressure off of our neighbor. I've asked for the exact location of Vanheim's provinces and army but the reality is that we are several turns from being able to directly effect things on their front regardless.

Evocation 1 was researched. There's nothing of significant note that this opens up to us other than some slightly improved fire spells.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ogorol only encounters very light resistance in Ba'an Dagor and takes it with no losses among his troops. He finds a handful of death and water gems after the battle and sends them back to our stores.  In Lorborough a small gold desposit was found. Not enough for a mine but it did provide us a one time benefit of 112 extra gold.

There was no notification for it but I did notice that Carniel is in trouble. Due to his old age and the winter weather he's developed a disease. Diseases in most cases will spell doom for our units. He's incapable of healing and will lose some hp every month until he dies. Barring further injuries he should have several turns left before he keels over but we'll want to keep that in mind and have someone nearby to pick up his troops. Both him and Ogorol are ordered to converge on the nearby horse tribe in Bitra.

While I was giving these orders The Second Stone contacted me again with locations where Vanheim has been spotted and a prediction that their capital is located on the forested peninsula.  Agartha's elf sightings in red, I added the green as Man sent a message informing me that they were planning to move into the marked province very soon.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next I order the palisades to be constructed in Boddern Weald which will take 4 months to complete. Our Salamander will arrive next turn to begin temple and lab construction.  5 more Lava Warriors are queued up in Abysia.  I had originally thought to send Steve out immediately with the contents of our barracks but with a skirmish with Vanheim on the horizon I elect to wait and give him these 5 when they are ready and then send him out.  Abysia's unrest is back to zero so we also order all of the Warlock's there to bloodhunt for one turn and will then put them back on research.  I also give Steve 20 fire gems that he can ferry to the mages on the front when he sets out.

Here's a relatively 'full world' view of things as they currently appear.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Edit: After further talks with Agartha it seems as though Vanheim has most of their army raiding his lands and marching on his capital already.  I've decided to have our two expansion teams move east instead. Even if we don't directly combat Vanheim having 2 squads appear on his border could cause him to assume a defensive posture.  His bless isn't active yet according to the Second Stone and without fire resistance from that our armies can probably take his.  I also queue up a generic priest in the temple we build a few turns ago just to preach on the border with Man and ensure his dominion doesn't push into ours.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 07:56:12 pm by oldark »
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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #20 on: March 27, 2020, 09:28:29 pm »

Tun 12. Early Spring in the year 1

The first notification on the table this turn is an announcement that the dormant gods are awakening.  I'm not sure what the range on it is but this means that dormant pretenders will become available in the world as units over the next few turns. In particular, "The entire nation rejoices. The Veiled One, Goddess of Abysia, Mistress of the Wildlife, Queen of Nature, the Hidden One has awakened."

Our blood hunters brought in 37 blood slaves at the cost of 23 unrest in Abysia. Our advancing forces again suffer no casualties but they are now out of fire gems, severely hampering their offensive potential.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
  And we've found Vanheim.   Now's the moment of decision. If we push into Vanheim territory it will be war and possibly one that we're not prepared for.  There's also the possibility that Man is already in contact with them and will hit us on the other flank near Abysia itself.

While I mull that over, I send our new Anathemant Dragon, Harut, along with The Veiled One, and the astrally strong warlock Forneus to begin searching for sites nearby.  I also give Steve the order to move out with his stash of gems and his new reinforcements.  I also order the recruitment of a new unit that I haven't ever made before. The Demonbred.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The idea is that since he can fly it would be a good emergency method of transporting fire gems to the front lines. He also has enough fire magic to participate in combat himself if needed.

After pausing here for some thinking, I've decided to not attack Vanheim directly yet. Our goddess isn't ready to take the field and we don't have large numbers of fire mages or access to stronger evocation spells at this stage. I may end up making more of these Demonbred to replace my Salamanders for basic fire mage due to their easy of being able to reach the front lines but they are both expensive and slow to recruit. A few of them for rapid deployment will likely be sufficient.
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EuchreJack

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #21 on: March 28, 2020, 05:55:32 am »

Standard tactics for Vanheim (and Man) are blitzkrieg.  Imagining Ride of the Valkyries would be entirely appropriate, although Van's actual use of Valkyries is unknown.  Up your Provincial defense, ideally over 10 if possible so that it has a chance of catching stealth units.  Defense in depth is key, as they are likely to bypass your front lines.  Your site searching is quite prudent right now.

Find out what resources Agartha needs, and see if you can spare them.  You want Van's conquest of Agatha Cristie to either be unsuccessful, or expensive and blood.  My guess is that they need gold, so try and send them some each turn.  Feel out Man to see what are their intentions.  If they aren't sharing in the conquest of Agartha, they might just support offensive action against Vanheim.

My apologies of my tactical advice is too windbaggish or alarmist, it seems you have most of this covered at any rate.
As for the updates, write them in whatever way is easiest and most fun for you.  We're all pretty comfortable with the Jack Kerouac stream-of-consciousness method of writing, if that is your preference.

Karlito

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #22 on: March 28, 2020, 11:38:45 am »

As for the updates, write them in whatever way is easiest and most fun for you.  We're all pretty comfortable with the Jack Kerouac stream-of-consciousness method of writing, if that is your preference.
I was going to post this same thing, so consider that a second vote for writing however you want to.

Being a practitioner of the stealth rush myself, I have to say that since it's only turn 12, that Vanheim's offensive abilities are probably a bit brittle and may crack if pressure is applied. Still, your armies are slow, and you have only one fort so your instinct to avoid early conflict is a good one, I think.
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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #23 on: March 28, 2020, 04:31:05 pm »

I definitely don't mind the advice EuchreJack. As I mentioned earlier I'm learning to play this so it's good to hear the thoughts of more experienced players. I will limit how much of it I put directly into play so don't be offended if ignore much of it (I promise I'm still absorbing it!). IMO there's a fine line of accepting and exploring the advice and it still being me that my friends are playing against and not a collection of experts.

Turn 13. Spring in the year 1.
A light turn this time. Evocation level 2 is researched. Our strongest mages get access to the Flare spell here, which from my understanding is stronger than fireball and requires less research but a level 3 Fire mage to cast.  Our level 2 fire mages can now Fire Blast, which is a weaker version of Fireball.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A lucky event in Abysia. A spring fairy was sighted, spreading joy and laughter in the land. It removed the unrest from the province and gave us growth +3 and Luck +2 there. We also found a new copper mine in the Obsidian Waste (that wasteland Steve conquered long ago that he had the long march back from. The +20 gold income will be of great use to us. We also found a handful of air gems in Binophe. 

I had planned to have Carniel and Ogorol hit the nearby horse tribe and then split up but Vanheim's border is expanding in front of us so instead I send them both to ensure that if we bump into their expansion party in Dumna we will have a larger force present. The temple in Boddern Weald is complete and we start constructing a lab there and our site searching party begins it's work in the Spires of Ascension. They will be making their way throughout all of my lands, I won't report on them unless something of interest is found.  Another thing of note is the territory of Aenasia that we conquered last turn has a Slave Market located in it. This increases local unrest but will provide us +3 blood slaves every turn.

For recruitment, the Demonbred is still being worked on (takes 2 turns to recruit) but I do order another set of 5 Lava Warriors. I also order a generic commander recruited in Ba'an Dagor that we just conquered. This will be a good location for another fort and if I save up a little gold he can begin putting the palisades together next turn.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now straight to

Turn 14. Late Spring in the year 1
Both Forneus the Warlock and The Veiled One found magical sites.  Crystal Flames and Garden of Frozen Flowers, increasing our income of fire, astral, and water gems. The astral ones are of particular importance.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)


Ogorol and Carniel did not bump into the elves in Dumna, but they did conquer the independent armies there without a single loss. We send both groups at the mid sized tribe of horsemen nearby. 
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I also have Ophis, our new Demonbred (all of these names that aren't a Prophet or in the Hall of Fame are up for grabs and since we only have a few watchers feel free to request multiples or specific roles in the future) grab 30 fire gems and fly to meet them there.

Another Warlock is recruited in Abysia but after ordering the palisades constructed there isn't funding for anything else at this time.

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EuchreJack

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #24 on: March 28, 2020, 06:58:59 pm »

Dibs on the Generic Commander!  Call him "Jack-of-all, the fairy", since its a generic commander who does generic commander things but mostly acts as a ferry for fresh troops.

oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #25 on: March 28, 2020, 07:01:05 pm »

Have a preference for which one?  One is finishing a palisade in the forest southeast of abysia soon. The other will be nearer the front line and is just starting his construction.
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EuchreJack

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #26 on: March 28, 2020, 07:11:02 pm »

Have a preference for which one?  One is finishing a palisade in the forest southeast of abysia soon. The other will be nearer the front line and is just starting his construction.

I'll take the palisade guy, sounds like he'll live longer.  :P

oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #27 on: March 28, 2020, 08:08:44 pm »

Turn 15. Early Summer in the year 1.

As requested, Jack-of-all, the Fairy. Currently in the marked province and he finished building the palisades there this turn.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Man was able to catch a battle between Agartha and Vanheim. They sent me reports on each of their Blesses. Vanheim's bless is Morale +1, Shock Resistance +10, Fire Resistance +10, Blood Bond (range 5).  This is about the same one they used to such great effect in our previous game in the early age. Blood Bond means that any damage dealt to a blessed unit will be divided up and shared among other nearby blessed units.  Last game he packed them tightly enough that this meant 0-1 damage being spread throughout his army from fire drake breaths and large fire evocations.

Agartha's bless is Morale +1, Shock Resistance +10, Fire Resistance +10, Quickness, Reconstruction.  Again with the fire resistance. You'd think they didn't like how their early armies were affected by our units' heat wave aura or something.   Quickness makes his units strike and move faster in combat, and Reconstruction lets any golems he makes have the ability to regain health.

I also inquired about trading for any earth gems he has but he hasn't uncovered any earth sites yet.

On to our events. Our expansion battle in Bitra was successful but the horse tribe cavalry forces were able to bloody us.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Carniel's down to 4 hit points. With his disease that means we'll only have him for another 3 turns.  He's only given a single gem so that we don't forget about it and have him croak with a stack of them on him. Ogorol is given most of the rest while Ophis keeps a few on him for emergencies. Jack-of-all, the Fairy completed construction of his palisade in Boddern Weald. We've already gotten a temple and lab there so this place will be recruiting Anathemant Salamanders for as long as we can afford to do so and having them research. I won't mention that every turn unless I change the production to something else. 

Jack's ordered to improve the palisades into a fortress. Among other bonuses, this will increase our recruitment speed so we can get a Salamander every turn instead of every 2 turns. Alijan Ba'al, the Salamander that was constructing the other buildings with Jack begins a practice of making blood sacrifices to The Veiled One every turn.  I also order a generic priest to be recruited in the Spires of Ascension to be put on the same duty here. I think I'll need a lab or someone to bring him the blood slaves for sacrifice each turn. Probably the latter, I can transfer 20 to him and he'll be good to go for a while.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I consider trying to take this throne. Both the throne itself and the farmland it sits on are definitely tempting but I think it will wait. Maybe once Steve gets down here with reinforcements. Until then I instead send our expansion crew south to Kunal while Ophis heads northeast to Ba'an Dagor to construct the lab and temple there.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Warlock we recruited last turn has arrived with a Blood Magic skill of 5! That's by far the highest in our nation  at this point.  To celebrate, I order all of the warlocks in Abysia to blood hunt this turn. I'm sure our people will appreciate it. A warlock apprentice and 5 Lava Warriors are queued up for next turn.

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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #28 on: March 29, 2020, 04:30:43 pm »

Turn 16. Summer in the year 1.

A Stone Circle and a Garden of Pearls were found this turn, giving us +1 nature and +2 astral each turn.  The Stone Circle also allows us to recruit Woodhenge Druids, stealthy priests with rudimentary nature magic, here.  I would love to get a few of these going to help with both crafting nature based equipment (once we have the gems stockpiled for it) and perhaps to send into other dominions to preach. They do require both a temple and a lab in order to produce so the cost is a definite consideration at this stage.

In Abysia we rounded up 25 blood slaves at the cost of 31 unrest and apparently our efficiency was so impressive that a band of mercenaries swore off the mercenary life and swore allegiance to us. This gave us an army of 39 swordsmen and 18 heavy crossbows - which I didn't even realize existed in this age. The mercenary captain is named Bogliod, but I did check and he's still renamable if anyone wants to do the honors.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For now I put him to patrolling in Abysia itself. That should help to reduce the unrest from blood hunting much more quickly. Where can I see the patrol strength of his army? I know it's a stat but I don't see the display for it anywhere.

Our expansion into Kunal was very successful. Once again no losses to our own forces. Carniel's disease will kill him next turn or the one after. We are going to make a somewhat risky push here. I think that we'll have a chance of success but I don't think it will be easy.  Steve's arrived at the front and he's being given orders to march on Dunheim to conquer the Throne of Ascension located there. Carniel and Ogorol will do the same from the south.  I've adjusted the mage orders to summon multiple fire elementals. The enemy has crossbowmen which will be particularly deadly to our heavily armored but slow infantry. To deal with that I've pulled Steve and the mages back a little further and given two squads orders to try and get to the enemy's backline rather than engaging them on the front.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Meanwhile, Ophis the Demonbred begins construction of a temple in Ba'an Dagor.  Next month he'll build a lab as well and Fenric should finish the palisades here at the same time. For recruitment, I'm going to be sticking with warlocks and apprentices in Abysia for the most part, maybe with a few salamander's once in a while but ideally just warlocks. Unless I have particular plans for one of them I'll stop reporting on that every turn. I'll also continue to pump out Lava Warriors as often as I can at this point. Depending on what types of forces we encounter among our opponents that could change to include Salamanders (the beasts, not the mages) or a shield line.

The final action for this turn is moving our new priest into Abysia where he can stock up on blood slaves to sacrifice to The Veiled One.

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oldark

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Re: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun
« Reply #29 on: March 29, 2020, 09:50:45 pm »

Turn 17. Late Summer in year 1.

Evocation 3 research has been completed. This unlocks 3 spells of interest for us, Fireball, Fires from Afar, and Magma Bolts. Fireball is our standard combat evocation for aoe fire damage and Magma Bolts is a hard hitting but inaccurate attack on a single target (it can scatter some of it's projectiles I believe). Fires from Afar is a ritual spell that lets us cause minor damage to forces in far away provinces. Primarily will be used to soften up large groups or harass enemy forces that are sieging a fort of ours.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Throne of Summer has been claimed by Man, and the Throne of the Moon by Vanheim.  Next up we have our battle to conquer a throne.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The battle went extremely well, far better than I had hoped with those crossbowmen. Either they're not as scary as I feared or they just need to be massed in greater numbers to be threatening.  The throne here is the Throne of Spring. I immediately order Ogorol to claim it.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We seem to have hit Man's northern border here as well. In order to try and grab those last two available independent provinces all of Ogorol's remaining troops are transferred to Steve who will continue to advance while Ogorol performs the necessary rites to claim the Throne of Spring.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If we can grab these last two that will complete our national borders short of breaking treaties or going to war.  The claiming of the Throne of Summer by Man has unleashed it's power, increasing Heat by +1 all around the world. Since we fight better in the heat I don't think too much complaining is in order. Jack-of-all, the Fairy finished upgrading Boddern Weald's palisades to a fortress as well.

Jack-of-all, being nicely faster than my other commanders, makes his way to the capital. Indeed, his purpose will be to ferry troops around for a bit.

Some end of turn discussion with Lifebringer of Man raises concerns about a surprise early Vanheim victory.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I began discussion with Man and Agartha about a joint attack to each take one of Vanheim's thrones. We'll see how it goes and I'll update in the next post. I'm still not prepared to face them with a fire resistance bless but if they are only one ascension point from victory then there isn't much choice.
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