MOM comparison game 2

[Father Beast]

I decided to try this one.

2 each of life, nature, chaos, sorcery.
alchemy. conjurer, node master
Halflings (I just couldn't resist)
Impossible, of course.

no mithril in the opening city, sorry.

I don't know how I'll do, but I thought it was time for another try.

have fun, report your results.

this will go in your last save slot.

[DaveV]

Father Beast - thanks for starting this one. I've been playing, and it's been interesting so far.

Spoiler:

I'm up to 1406, and have just banished Tauron - I don't want to be facing Meteor Storms like in last game. He's casting Spell of Return, but at least I don't have to worry about him casting annoying spells in the mean time.
I took over the neighboring halfling cities early, currently have a war party working on the human island next door, and am flooding the map with slingers. Rjak and Kali are both unfriendly, and I'm hoping to send them to the void next.

[Rex Little]

Gee, that was fun. Raiders took out my fortress on about turn 10. (They had slingers already.) Surrender seemed reasonable at that point.

[DaveV]

Rex - ouch. I always hate starting next to halflings for that reason: the early city-leveling slingers. I had good luck with swordsmen, though: 4 defense * .4 = pretty good at withstanding slingers.

My game is over:

Spoiler:

July 1401 - All 4 cities connected by road to capital are conquered by swordsmen.
January 1402 - Zaldron hired . Bremen conquered.
May 1402 - Rjak gives Fire Bolt for Phantom Warriors.
August 1402 - Hickorydale conquered.
November 1402 - exploring Magic Spirit destroyed Tauron's outpost.
December 1402 - encountered Rjak, he won't trade spells.
January 1404 - exploring Magic Spirit destroyed Tauron's outpost.
July 1404 - encountered Kali, no spells worth trading.
June 1405 - Earth Lore discovered in empty lair. Rjak gives Web for Earth Lore.
July 1405 - Exeter conquered.
March 1406 - Hsi-raz conquered, Tauron banished . Wall of Fire, Warp Creature found in ruins.
May 1406 - Cambridge conquered.
January 1408 - Buy Shield of Speed for 600 gold.
May 1408 - Tauron returns to Honeypool.
June 1408 - Kali declares war. Honeypool conquered, Tauron banished. Corruption and Shatter spells found in ruins.
August 1408 - Rjak declares war.
May 1409 - Cornberry conquered, Kali defeated. Spell Blast and Disenchant True found in ruins.
May 1410 - Sacred Vale conquered, Rjak banished. Disenchant Area and Dispel Magic spells found in ruins.
July 1410 - Tauron returns to Ixtu.
November 1410 - True Light spell found in tower (Doom Bats).
December 1410 - Sss'ra gives Enchant Road for Earth Lore, Counter Magic for Shatter, Change Terrain for Wall of Fire.
January 1411 - Ixtu conquered, Tauron banished. Chaos Channels and Floating Island found in ruins.
February 1411 - Sss'ra declares war. Theria hired.
November 1411 - Torin summoned.
January 1412 - Tartz conquered, Tauron defeated. Eldritch Weapon and Summoning Circle Spells found in ruins.
February 1412 - Morgana hired.
April 1412 - Purchased Plate Mail of Diversity.
May 1412 - Rjak returns to Ethridge.
July 1412 - Ethridge conquered, Rjak defeated. Enchant Item and Resist Elements spells found in ruins.
March 1413 - Ultigar conquered, Sss'ra banished. Summon Hero and Fire Giant spells found in ruins.
June 1413 - Finnrock conquered, Sss'ra defeated. Final score: 7293.

[Father Beast]

OK, it's about 1416, and I'm going to lose.

Spoiler:

I conquered the two nearest halfling cities and turtled in, making contact with tauron about 1403. About 1408, I was doing allright and had gotten two more halfling cities connected by road, when Tauron declared war. it has been going continuously for the last 8 years, and now that Tauron has started dropping flame strike during battles, on top of him suddenly having huge amounts of mana, I realized that I'm slowly going down.

At this point I think I should have chosen Warlord instead of Conjurer. maybe even done without the Node Mastery in order to not drop a book. Conjurer isn't doing much good for me at this point. I am having trouble getting the gumption to see this game through to the end.

[Father Beast]

OK, I got myself banished by Tauron in Dec 1417. I realized I was in for it when I attacked a single stag beetle with 9 regular slingers and Tauron's flame strike destroyed all of them.

Since people seem to have pretty much finished with this game, I'll dispense with the spoilers and start asking questions.

DaveV, I don't get how you could conquer all the cities. the one in the bottom was especially bad because it had slingers to start. but that does explain how you could have such a power base.

Your log also states that you traded with Rjak in may 1402, but didn't enounter him until Dec 1402, was that actually Tauron you traded with?

I am also very impressed by conquering hickorydale early on. By the time I discovered it in 1407, it was a bastion of Tauron's

[DaveV]

Originally posted by Father Beast
DaveV, I don't get how you could conquer all the cities. the one in the bottom was especially bad because it had slingers to start. but that does explain how you could have such a power base.

Unfortunately, I was too busy playing to keep good notes.
I noticed a red 1/2 in the initial city screen, so I knew I had a neighboring city, and I built nothing but swordsmen until I had all of the surrounding cities under control. I converted a lot of gold to mana and called in some phantom warriors for reinforcements in a couple of the key early battles. I saved the city with slingers for last, and attacked with a stack of (4-5?) swordsmen, who were pretty experienced by then. I've had trouble using slingers against halfling swordsmen, so I expected I'd have enough survivors to take the city.

Your log also states that you traded with Rjak in may 1402, but didn't enounter him until Dec 1402, was that actually Tauron you traded with?

Yes, I meant Tauron.

I am also very impressed by conquering hickorydale early on. By the time I discovered it in 1407, it was a bastion of Tauron's

I had a lot of swordsmen at that point .

[Father Beast]

oh, OK. You warmonger,you. I guess my problem was that I stayed put with the two cities I could take with my initial swordsman and spearman, until I could build slingers. I guess I'm just addicted to slingers

But in comparison, I guess that slingers aren't that much tougher than swordsman, and an early jump on things is more important than turtling in an impossible game, where your neighbors have those ridiculous bonuses.

unless you have adamantium