545 Ends By Rex

[Hawk_]

Congrats to VBall Mike with his win as the DA.

I achieved my personal goal of being the first BL player to reach the podium in a Steel Anon game.

I think a lot of it was just luck on my part.   I expected Amberland to get targeted early but somehow other Kingdoms just fought around me while I attacked the Druid.  I think after I had two regions I was avoided because of perception of strength.

My motivation on attacking the Druid was just trying to get out of the center of the map as quickly as possible.   I do think the new changes for the magic kingdoms made my battle versus the Druid easier than past Black Dragons had it.  The BL matches up well against magic kingdoms in the early game.

I did make a move to Arcania on the last turn but it was too late as the DA captured before I could make a difference.


At times I found the BL very frustrating to play and here is why-  their 565 orders are a pain to work with.  You need a veteran for everything so no recruiting until you attack a town and loose some kingdom troops.   Then you need to always plan ahead and keep veteran brigades in your group to recruit.

The fact that you can't 565 in a pop center square is a pain when you are trying to be a military kingdom and there is no WE/NO to recruit.  It is tougher on the BL because you are limited to 4 groups.

Most all kingdoms have one stronger troop type that you can achieve later in the game.  The BL get Phoenix but you need to go to the void to get them with 3 brigades which can be a logistical nightmare.  Limit of one per group means lots of shuffling around at a location that may be far away from your current conflicts.

I think the BL would be a lot more fun to play if they got a 5th group.  

I also think they should have access to another troop type besides Phoenix that they could recruit 2 brigades of.   Something you need an elite brigade and a Marshal to get.   Maybe Great Wyrms which would fight  like a heavy infantry or be similar to mammoths with little range but good defense.

My game end data is below.  I tried to maintain 3 large groups throughout most of the game and it worked well for me.

Note- I think the ring of spells should now be worth more than 100 status points because it is now a superior artifact.





1,000   Regional    Control of a region: Oakendell
                            1,000   Regional    Control of a region: Amberland
                              200   Regional    Signficant in a region: Torvale
                              400   Military    Have a warlord: (3BL) Warlord Thunderhead
                              200   Military    Have a marshal: (1BL) Lord Commander Gorstorik
                              200   Military    Have a marshal: (2BL) Grand Marshal Stormer
                              200   Military    Have a marshal: (3BL) Grand Marshal Fastorian
                              200   Military    Have a marshal: (4BL) Marshal Sirroco
                              200   Military    Group with > 50k vs. PC: (1BL) 50,647
                              200   Military    Group with > 50k vs. PC: (2BL) 52,680
                              200   Military    Group with > 50k vs. PC: (3BL) 51,248
                              200   Magic       Have a pwr 5-6 wizard: (4BL) Pwr-6 Asamodia
                              200   Artifact    Based on Item: Altar of the Holy Ancients
                              100   Artifact    Based on Item: Golden Spear of Lerix
                              100   Artifact    Based on Item: Ring of Spells
                              100   Artifact    Based on Item: Knowledge Totem
                              400   Political   Have an influence of 20+: 23.20
                              200   Political   Member on the High Council
                              400   Political   Per active kingdom declaring you as an enemy: Amazons
                              400   Covert      Have an agent 11+: Agent 11 Dusk
                              400   Covert      Have an agent 11+: Fanatic 11 Cuttalius
                              400   Covert      Have an agent 11+: Fanatic 11 Promise Made
                              400   Covert      Have an agent 11+: Fanatic 11 Zeta
                               90   Covert      Based on Prisoner: (Druid) Agent 6 Newgrow At Area CD
                               60   Covert      Based on Prisoner: (Druid) Fanatic 4 Raven At Area CD
                              400   Economic    Total gold production of 150k+: 231,498 gold per month
                              400   Economic    Total food production of 100k+: 176,217 food per month
                            1,000   Citizenship Survive until end of game

[VballMichael]

Thanks, Hawk. Congrats on a fine job with the Black Dragons. And to Avantar for the Bronze as the Necro.

I played the Dark Elves and really wanted to just take this game a little slow and relax and just enjoy building up and finding artifacts, but it seems the Demon Princes had other plans for me. Even with his initial invasion, I only defended, but he just would not leave, so finally I had to go to his region, and once I was thinking invasion, well, you know....

DE takes my village in 6. I take the DE town in my region. DE denigrates me in 6 and declares me enemy. Makes me nervous. On turn 7, the DE invades with emmies and an army group at my cap (yes, on turn 7, scary) in the water and tried to sabotage my fleets 3 times (all failed). I picked up a Marshal at an unusual. Maintained at a town and captured a DE emmy. Several more DE emmies move in. I did enemy declaration and denigrated so he is now hostile. DE army group bounced off my capital and took 67% damage. Ouch. Ok, now I figure out it is probably a newer player. Thus, I am not retaliating, just defending. But the Demon Prince's Eastern Steppes goes uncontrolled even though nobody was invading. Very weird. But then the DE killed 2 of my low level wizards; that made me sad. I now have 12 ships of quality 15, so I can chase away the remainder of the group at my capital. There are 6 DE emmies (including all 3 demon princes) in my region but they are not taking anything anymore. On turn 10, I got my ESO, took a P1, P0, P0, and a DA brigade. I have 4 artifacts, 5 princes, 3 L10, 1 army group, P5, P4. Time to finish off the DE in my region.
I have nearly wiped the DE fleet and group to eliminate the division still at my capital. Bad season started. NO gains Arcania. I move numerous emmies into Eastern; the city and all towns and villages are neutral and there are no emmies there. Weird. Maybe this newb tried a lot of 240 orders without fully understanding? I join the High Council. DE surrenders and fortunately I already own almost half of Eastern Steppes so maybe I can take it before any vultures arrive. Finally wipe DE fleet and group at my cap. I am avoiding WA PCs in Eastern to minimize my enemy-making. I took region 6 on turn 14. The UN moves an emmy into my town in Synisvania and I do not defend it. He takes my town. I declare him ally to let him know I can share some. RA surrenders. I enamor Southern Sands and find pop centers since the Nomad is clearly in Arcania. The Halfling plunders Meridon (not the first nor last thing to be plundered over there). I am enamoring Arcania and looking for PCs. I am just prepping to invade 8 and 10, building up and scouting. On turn 18, I am ready to invade: 7 princes, 3 other good ems, 3 L18, 2 L16, 23 influence, friendly in both target regions, 1 army group, 3 mobile brigades, P6, P5, plus several 3's, 9 artifacts, including some nice weapons and some Bats. Then the Halfling surrenders even though he had been 1st in status points the whole game including last turn. I move in force into 10 and send a couple of emmies into 8. I make a near disastrous mistake when I sent a prince to a non-PC square but survived (cost 5,000 gold and .3 influence). I see the UN cap at a village in Arcania and lots of agents there. Target. I made Southern go uncontrolled but was careful not to take it over (I also see Torvale and Runnimede both uncontrolled). I land at the UN capital village invisibly but it is no longer his cap, just a lone UN brigade sitting there.
On turn 21, the UN gains Runnimede but I make Arcania go uncontrolled and I can take it next turn. Plus I take Southern this turn. I must finish next turn or I will get crushed by attackers. I wiped the UN brigade and village just for fun. Finally, on turn 22, I barely take Arcania and win by Rex. On the final turn, I was invaded by UN ems, WA ems, NO ems, WA multiple denigrates in 6, Prince kidnapped, armies all over (WA, BL, NO, UN), multiple attempts to kill my wizards (all missed). 

Very exciting game even though I just wanted to relax in this one.

1     DA     Vball Michael             17,500      21,675
2     BL     Hawk                       9,250      12,938
3     NE     Avantar                    7,400      10,650
4     UN     Imperial Tark              6,625       9,511
5     AM     Acererak                   5,400       8,425
6     WA     Rellgar                    6,215       8,390
7     NO     Son of Conan               4,940       8,235

[Avantar]

Well I really only got 3rd because I never entered into conflict with anyone and had a ton of wizards going on. Besides taking 2 more wizards for my ESO, I also found the twins. that gave me 11 Wizards total with the lowest level being a P5. It could have made thing interesting had the game lasted longer.

[RELLGAR]

Good game, congratulations  Vball. After fighting off the RD I was about to move into R6 when the NE took my sea town in the Mists, cutting off my merchant fleet Gold. Then after reconning and preparing  to fight the NE, I realized he wasn't  moving against me, then decided to move into R6 to late. 

I don't care for anonymous  games  and  will not likely play in another.

[Hawk_]

Good game, congratulations  Vball. After fighting off the RD I was about to move into R6 when the NE took my sea town in the Mists, cutting off my merchant fleet Gold. Then after reconning and preparing  to fight the NE, I realized he wasn't  moving against me, then decided to move into R6 to late. 

I don't care for anonymous  games  and  will not likely play in another.

Fighting off the RD certainly was no small achievement!

 I wonder how things went down with the Ranger.    They had Arcania up until turn 10.  Lost to the NO alone or maybe HA/NO?

 Loss of the RA, DE and HA really impacted the early end this game IMO.

[Son of Conan]

I played the nomads here. Split southern with underworld then invaded Arcania. Thought I invaded alone but I think underworld was helping because I saw he had ranger prisoners. Then invaded Runnimede but game over. Underworld already invading so I just took amazon or neutral. But then underworld started sleeping my princes and taking things from me. Fun game and good job all. VBM seems unstoppable in this format.

[Acererak]

I had the Amazons and enjoyed most of the game. Having a hidden capital is of course great. Honestly I was outplayed by the Halfling earlier in the game and right before he dropped he landed on my hidden capital. Not sure why as I had expected to lose it. Turns out it didn't make much difference after because as I tried to take advantage in Runnimede all of a sudden I had a full on BL invasion in Torvale, Underworld taking pop centers there and in Runnimede and even the Nomad getting in on the fun. In the end I did salvage a little pride by whipping the 1BL on the final turn. Not much of a salve but still nice. I wish I had cast Chaos though. My capital finished producing 86,350 gold per turn so I was very much viable regardless of what I lost.

Battle between the 1st Amazons army group and the 1st Black Dragon army group in the
forest of area NF:

Amazons Black Dragon

Commanders
Grand Marshal Tasha Yar Lord Commander Gorstorik
Grand Marshal Windrider Captain Major Xali Storm
Captain Evor Starburst Centurion Roc of the Storm

Wizards
Power-5 Mysteria Power-4 Eye of Death
Power-4 Sage of Illyria Power-4 Indigo Wind
Power-3 Phoebie Night Power-1 XYVOR

Brigades
1 Amazons Veteran 3 Black Dragons Veteran
3 Amazons Regular 3 Black Dragons Regular
8 Westmen Regular 1 Phoenix Regular
1 Westmen Green 2 Wyverns Elite
2 Zealots Regular 3 Wyverns Veteran
2 Great Bats Veteran
2 Great Bats Regular

Combat Factors
Very Good Leaders Good Leaders

Tactical Selection
Standard Battle Plan Organized Withdrawal


Due to the ruthless nature of the Black Dragon, the Amazons forces became weakened as they
succumbed to their fear. Late in the afternoon, the 1st Amazons army group rushed to
attack the defensive position of the 1st Black Dragon army group commanded by Lord
Commander Gorstorik. Knowing that their liege had declared the Black Dragon to be treated
as an enemy of their nation, the Amazons forces were clearly anxious for battle and had
their morale raised as they prepared to fight their declared enemy! The Amazons fielded
its pride: its 1st group. Across the field, the Amazons' forces saw the banner of the
Black Dragon 1st group, it's pride. As the attackers crossed the sparse woods, the first
missiles sang out.

- Archers -

Long range missile fire from both sides was not a significant factor in the battle. The
short range Amazons archers advanced adorned in animal skins and the caustic acid breath
of the Black Dragon force initiated their attack. The Amazons forces caused minor damage
upon the Black Dragon ranks and, in return, the Black Dragon caused minor casualties
against the enemy.

- Magic -

Amazons conjurers dismounted barely beyond the range of defending bowmen and began an
incomprehensible incantation. With a mere glare from his fiery eyes Mysteria's presence
power changed the course of the engagement. Blinding light shot forth from the wizard.
Power-5 wizard Mysteria threw back his hood and gestured in an animated fashion. A light
sparkling mist seemed to fall briefly over the troops, and then they grew clearly more
intrepid. Sage of Illyria also had his presence be known in similar manner. Power-4 wizard
Sage of Illyria began sorcerous incantations in an unknown tongue. A dark mist seemed to
fall briefly over enemy lines, and then they grew clearly more fearful of the battle.
Phoebie Night likewise had his presence be seen in like manner. Power-3 Wizard Phoebie
Night made a series of intricate gestures. He then created a powerful warding, which would
protect the heroes and wizards of his force from the black magics of any opposing
spellcasters. Black Dragon wizards dismounted just past where the defensive missiles were
falling and began an incomprehensible incantation. With a mere glare from his fiery eyes
Eye of Death's presence power changed the course of the engagement. Ice blasts shot forth
from the wizard. Power-4 Wizard Eye of Death made a series of intricate gestures. He then
created a powerful warding, which would protect the heroes and wizards of his force from
the black magics of any opposing spellcasters. Indigo Wind also let his presence be known
in similar manner. Power-4 wizard Indigo Wind made a series of intricate gestures. He
sought through his magic to kill an enemy hero, but the target was protected by wizardry
magic. Power-1 Wizard XYVOR began sorcerous incantations in an unknown tongue. He then
created a powerful warding, which would protect the heroes and wizards of his force from
the black magics of any opposing spellcasters. The Amazons forces dealt out light
casualties upon the Black Dragon lines while the Black Dragon inflicted light casualties
against the enemy.

- Conclusion -

Lord Commander Gorstorik saw that fortune was not with the Black Dragon this day, and
signalled the retreat. Retreating caused additional losses for the Black Dragon were
minor. Amazons casualties were put at 3.81%. All Amazons leaders survived the battle.
Tasha Yar showed great courage and has been recognized as a Lord Commander. All the
Amazons wizards survived the fray. The troops are anxious for more victories: morale is
up! Black Dragon casualties were put at 17.29%. All Black Dragon leaders survived the
battle. All the Black Dragon wizards survived the fray. The toll of battle has reduced the
group's morale.



Current Update #22 Total
AM Subtotal: 5,400 8,425

400 Regional Substantial in a region: Torvale
200 Military Have a marshal: (1AM) Lord Commander Tasha Yar
200 Military Have a marshal: (1AM) Grand Marshal Windrider
200 Magic Have a pwr 5-6 wizard: (1AM) Pwr-5 Mysteria
400 Artifact Based on Item: Anglakel, Sword from the Sky
200 Artifact Based on Item: Great Axe of Hurblind
200 Artifact Based on Item: Green Dragon Mates
100 Artifact Based on Item: Bow of Heracles
400 Artifact Based on Item: Last Herd of Winged Stallions
400 Artifact Based on Item: Staff of the Great Orator
100 Artifact Based on Item: Armor of Anon
200 Artifact Based on Item: Onyx Amulet
100 Artifact Based on Item: Ring of Protection
0 Artifact Based on Item: Scrying Mirror
100 Artifact Based on Item: Knowledge Totem
200 Political Have an influence of 17-19: 19.70
400 Covert Have an agent 11+: Fanatic 13 Falcon
200 Covert Have an agent 8-10: Agent 10 Yergin
200 Covert Have an agent 8-10: Agent 9 Alana the Wolf
200 Covert Have an agent 8-10: Agent 9 Kerra
1,000 Citizenship Survive until end of game