5427 shelter in place

[Wookie Panz]

Victory By Rex Is The Gnome Kingdom!
                           Game End Status Points

        Place Kingdom    Player                Results-35  Grand Total

          1     GN     The Painted Man           47,652      66,746
          2     PI     Wookie Panz               33,423      50,851
          3     IL     Strongwill                31,400      46,835
          4     EL     Senior Tactician          25,897      41,508
          5     UN     Canticar                  25,542      38,318
          6     RA     Draugr                    11,698      26,294
          7     RD     DuPont                    10,400      23,383
          8     NE     AlatarTBW                  7,300      16,300

Congratulations to Painted Man on his second victory in about a weeks time.  Ironically its also the second time he beat me to first place by about a turn.  Well done my friend I know you faced quite a few opponents on the way to the top. 

My PI was a lot of fun to play and NE played by Altar put up a heck of a fight.  He was bouncing around in 3 regions making me glad PI had 5 groups.  DuPont was his usual pesky self with RD, causing enough trouble to keep me from applying full force to NE and putting this one away earlier.  You always keep things interesting Victor!
Thanks everyone.

[Ry Vor]

Nice to see those top 4 kingdoms there.

[The Painted Man]

Nice to see those top 4 kingdoms there.

See? Told you I liked GN.

Full write up later. This one was a challenge, and could have gone to RD very early but for a missed victory check. As in he forgot to do the check, but had the four regions.

[Senior Tactician]

Congratz Painted, the GN has always been a force to be reckoned with in the right hands, I'm glad its been demonstrated.  I will say it was a lot of fun stomping your group, but that move cost me way more than it cost you.  Nice job.

I do like the elves for their individual brigade strength and healing, but the gnomes have a much easier time generating income, and therefore raising wizards.


I had hoped to sneak into at least 3rd place... but the elves have yet to podium.  Have to keep trying.

[The Painted Man]

The tale of King Jago Giantbrain, as told by The Painted Man:

The Gnomes had decided on Triumvia to make their home, noting the amount of water would give good odds of a water capital or at least a substantial amount of water PCs that would shield from the more militant kingdoms. They knew they were fragile and could be an early target due to rumors of their ability to quickly increase gold production. They needed defense and time to stretch their stubby little legs. Turns out there were only two water PCs, both of them villages...

The opening 5 turns were focused on getting the region. For customization, they took the bump to influence, the additional governor and baron, and upgraded their agent 2 to an agent 4 to aid in quickly scouring the region. Their hopes for a water capital were dashed and, instead, they were placed on the border of Zanthia, home of the mighty Red Dragon. By turn 5 the Gnomes had a couple of wizards casting hidden ore at the capital and the main group was recruiting as many goblins as they could entice to join. They built a mighty fortress, knowing it would not hold back a truly determined attacker, but helped give them at least a little comfort.

Turns 5 through 10 was more of the same. The mighty 1st Gnome continued to recruit goblins and wander in search of trinkets. Influence was gained and lost as the king handed out a good many titles. Their wizards continued to increase gold production and power levels, getting a decent production of 170k gold per month by the end of turn 10. They achieved their ESO at first asking and took a p1, two adepts, and a wonderful new agent 4.

Here is where the Gnomes nearly made a fatal mistake and became solely focused on their own glory within Triumvia. Population centers were improved, bounty spells were cast, wizards were raised... all while the Red Dragon was carving out his territory in the southwestern corner. The Gnomes were happy simply to not be a target, but realized almost too late that they needed to act or they would be the subjects, and eventual snacks, of the Red. On turn 15, the Gnome priestesses divined the RD holdings in Zanthia, built a forge to arm their now "impressive" military (35 brigades, 60k value in terrain), and moved on the city with concealed emissaries. On turn 16, the RD got his fourth region - Krynn - but neglected to issue a victory check. This same turn, Gnomish emissaries flooded Zanthia.

Lamenting his forgetfulness, the angry Red invaded Triumvia with his mighty groups and by turn 20 there was a tug of war in the region as the Gnomes raced to get enough wizards to effectively protect the populace from RD tyranny. Getting dome at p6 was definitely a boon and allowed the Gnomes to stabilize Triumvia and take the battle to the Red.

Turns 20-25 had a full press on RD holdings by GN political power and the occasional Gnomish military display. Their mighty 1st group had grown in strength, but not size, from the meager 60k to a much more terrifying 155k of combat value. They continue to raise wizards where possible, achieving numerous p7s and a p8 (which allowed for crack the sky, which was alternatively dissapointing and glorious - more on that later). Their princes had helped shake lose the Sword Coast and Zamora. Zamora turned into a quagmire, with the Underworld, Amazon, and Gnomes all vying for control in the vacuum left by the departing Ancient Ones. Accordingly, the Gnomes decided to leave the region to the Underworld and Amazon. The Underworld, however, would not let the Gnomish dignitaries leave and insisted on kidnapping several, including one that would have sealed the game on turn 25. Turn 25 saw the Gnomes conquer Stormgate but, due to a kidnapped prince (that was exiting the Sword Coast), fell one town short of the conquest of Mythgar. Alas, it was not to be for them.

Turn 26 was interesting, as the Rangers came knocking to Stormgate and the Elves to Triumvia. The elves turned out to be the more welcoming of the two as they left things standing. The Rangers, seemingly determined to not allow Stormgate to provide for an easy conquest, simply destroyed it in a fit of rage. The Elves took Imril - the crown jewel of the Gnomish economy - and enough of the scattered villages to end Gnomish control of the region. From nearly 4 regions down to 2, with the Red still playing whack-a-mole, it looked grim. To add insult to injury, the Elves stayed and took advantage of Imril's forge and were still reveling when the Gnome group returned. Over two turns, the Gnomish troops were reduced from 34 brigades to 9, and the Elves built a legendary castle at Imril... essentially the equivalent of giving them the finger. Grim times, indeed.

The Underworld and Red were now coming into Mythgar as the Gnome rebuilt a force with the intent of taking Imril back to solidify Triumvia. More emissaries were kidnapped while a Gnome patrol got to practice Dome of Invulnerability ad nauseum. As the Gnomes looked longingly to Imril, they retooled with undead, ogres, and warg riders to replace their lost goblins and gnomes. Turn 31 saw the return to Imril and 32 saw the successful reclamation. A combination of windstorm, earthquake, and crack the sky, along with undead-inspired-fear, turned the tide and allowed the Gnomes to prosper.

Zanthia and Triumvia were secure, Mythgar was under control - if only just - and it was time for the final push to victory. The Druid had recently departed, leaving Krynn an obvious target, but the Gnomes had a grudge formed against the Underworld and were determined to take Zamora as their final region. A turn getting emissaries in place and preparing our military for the final push - along with taking a couple of RD capitals along the way because the Gnomes, like everyone, love DuPont above all others - and the final assault began. The final push moved emissaries into the bulk of the PCs in Zamora, with the 1st Gnome teleporting to Python Cove. Finding a lack of castles (except for Python Cove, which was no match for the now-again-mighty Gnome troops), and not a defending emissary in sight, the conquest of Zamora was relatively... uneventful.

The Gnomes ended the game sitting on the Underworld capital in The Sword Coast, staring at 4 of their princes through the bars of their prison cells. Their first act as rulers of all the land would be the release of these poor souls. The second act would be the execution of all of the Red Dragon prisoners of war.

The Gnomes proved, in the end, to be the mightiest in the land, but it was on the strength of summoned troops, wizards, artifacts, and politics. Their corporeal troops proved to be far more bark than bite.

A truly challenging - and fun - conquest. The Elf in particular gave the Gnomes fits, and they were far more fearful of a pointed-eared return than of anything else in the game. Well done to all that stayed the course!

[Senior Tactician]

Very nice write-up, and well played.  The second battle with the gnomes, specifically the second round of 2x summon deaths were just too much for the Elven army, there was no coming back due to our inferior economy and wizards.  Had the Elves the good sense to leave after the first battle this might have changed things, but they were haughty, as elves can often be.

[DuPont]

The RD is, of course, a position that relies on speed. I started off quickly enough, grabbing Zanthia on turn 3. I had run into the 3UN in the course of my moving around and had eaten them as a snack and I had also had by groups down in the Sword Coast, finding the locations of all of the pop centers. I noted that the city was still in Human hands, so it seemed the next logical place to go. The UN is a kingdom that is best put down early before they become a problem. I swept into the region and was quickly able to take it, the UN having mostly retreated to their hidden capital and protecting their assets. I would have liked to have found their capital - that was my next plan - hoping that they would not be on the water (they weren't) and I could root them out once and for all. But a lucky recon showed me that the AN was already moving up from the south and would be launching a political blitz on the region the next turn. I was able to strike first and they became the next target. They went down pretty easy as well and I even snagged a nice village with the Plow of the Prophet providing all my troops could want to eat. I had to hurry, now, and the DU in Kryn seemed the best target. I was able to make good use of my groups and emissaries, taking the region on turn 16 for my fourth. And then I realized I had forgotten to declare victory.

Well, I knew I wouldn't get another shot. The RD over time gets tripped up by the lack of wizards and dome spells. The GN had already moved into Zanthia on the same turn, the UN was coming back to life and the DU had not taken a knockout hit. There wasn't any thought of winning at that point, so I just decided to go around keeping things interesting. Of course, the GN dome spells got in the way and now having fighting three kingdoms, I gradually got worn down. I did eventually find the UN capital, but it was really too late to do anything about it. I just zipped about, trying to be unpredictable in the places I would land to avoid wizards who could dome. Congrats to the winners - always a fun contest!

[Ry Vor]

Sounds like fun, guys.  Thanks for taking the time to tell the stories.