Part 18: Chapter XVII: The Beginning of the Canon Story's Trip to Outer Space

Chapter XVII: The Beginning of the Canon Story's Trip to Outer Space



As if you didn't see this one coming, the general rule from now on is if a warlord or big boss gets a turn before you, they WILL use this.



Another rule of thumb in RPGs in particular: no support usually results in bad results for the enemy. Gotta dig tough guy pink slashes!

"I assassinated Sun Ce but I was deceived by Cao Pi of Wei. I'm filled with guilt. I'll have to face my brother in the afterlife. Waahhh..."

"Sun Quan, the last of his line, has died."



In the book, they actually fail the expedition of Wu, but whatevez, winning is much more satisfying anyway.

"Sun Quan was a good man until he was corrupted by Cao Pi."

"You are entering the land of Wei. Watch your back."

"Cao Pi scatters his family among his castles. He has eyes everywhere."

Meanwhile, in the castle:

"Zhang Bao, now that Sun Quan is dead, we must stop Cao Pi. True peace cannot come until he is either dead or chained to a wall. You must be weary from so many battles. But defeat Cao Pi and all [of] China may actually be at peace once more. Attack Wei from Jianye Castle of Wu, north-east of here"

With that, no break, no nothing, onwards to Wei, because it's conveniently right next door.
.."Chained to a wall" says he? Liu Bei is one fun guy with fun ideas at times.



The Lance is the strongest weapon you can buy in this game, but even better weapons are on the horizon. The last two pieces of armour are the second best armour in the game. With no real use of funds any more, we can safely spend, spend, spend like an emerging middle class member in a country.



The other side of Wu is (surprise!) a bunch of simple strips of land, bound together by bridges and impossible to stray from the path, as there is only one.



I greatly enjoy the rewards to follow after taking this city.

"Where's my enemy?"



Ahh the Xiahou's! They're sort of a "you know you're in Wei when.." sort of people. Fortunately, he isn't such a pain in the ass to deal with as the Xiahou's are in general in the book. I don't even think I have talked about the enemy's STR/INT/A.P/A.C values since the Riverlands, or even Yuan Shu, this is because tactics are all that matter now as I have said a bunch of times now.

"I am Zhang Liao. Let's fight."



Him, Guan Yu, and Dong Zhuo are all in league for the "manliest beard in Destiny of an Emperor" prize. He knows you-know-what, as most castle warlords do, as well as the overly dangerous Ana Sha.



This is all he has for support, but at least commander fights become really scary after this fight!



As usual, Huo Shen to knock all the mooks out is a good idea, and this green is the final colour bar if you're into that kind of information.



We are greeted by a long bridge to the castle for no apparent reason. They must think they're good or something?

"Is Zhuge Liang here? I'm Jiang Wei of Wei. Zhuge Liang is a true master of strategy. I have come, hoping to learn from him if he'll have me."

Yes
No

"We will serve you faithfully."



Little did you know that there was a hidden tiger general. Yes, a general so hidden, he stands on the middle of the street in broad daylight, begging to join. Meet Jiang Wei, he's the fastest general in the game, which means paired with Red Hare, no enemy stands a chance against the team now. Some guide said that you can only get him if Zhang Bao isn't in the party, but obviously not.

There's also a heated debate between fans to either make him or Pang Tong strategist, and have access to the ever so fabulous Ana Sha, Ji Mian vs Ce Mian, as well as Zhuge Liang in the team, which is like kill everything, attack mode Deoxys right there. Or else, one can have Kongming acting as the tactician and while not have Ana Sha, but have ultimate healing, Ce Mian, as well as highest possible T.P making the team virtually invincible. While Kongming can be seen as technically unnecessarily defensive, and drags fights on longer than they should in a game where one can simply Ana Sha 75% of the commanders, I like to go with Kongming for both semi-canonical reasons, but more importantly getting Ji Mian cast on the party over and over is no fun, nor is enemies using Wan Fu. Also not to mention, Zhuge Liang's speed reminds me of Neptune's orbiting pace around the Sun (an overwhelming 56 AGL), while Jiang Wei is one hot Jupiter in another solar system, having 250 SPD. But oh wait, Kongming's SPD is completely irrelevant, because every other tiger general save Jiang Wei are all equally deplorable in the SPD department, and Red Hare fixes everything anyway. On the flip side, with Jiang Wei having Red Hare, he is the fastest person in the game. Ever. Enemies included. And will ALWAYS have the first turn to pop Ce Mian off.

Then again, one can make the argument that Jiang Wei eventually replaces Kongming as the official tactician of Shu, and leads the assault on Wei when Zhuge Liang dies of old age and malnutrition, making Jiang Wei the technical strategist around this part. But that isn't until after Cao Pi is betrayed by the Sima clan anyway. But I'll stop there, debates have no end. To make things simple, we'll simply go with Zhuge Liang as the tactician and leave it there.

TL;DR Jiang Wei has tactics meant to kill things fast, but Kongming has tactics to make the party invincible. We're going with Kongming as leading tactician for the rest of the game because Liu Bei still lives, so having a canon party means nothing.



Enjoy your retirement, old man, you're like technically over one hundred at this point anyway.

"I'll go fight too. Ha, ha...."

"Oh no! I think I lost my sword. It's one I stole from some thieves."

"Ouch, I cut my foot on something under that tree."



Oh just a light sliver/scratch from THE STRONGEST SWORD IN CHINA, nothing more.



Why hello there, strongest armour in the game sold at a dirt cheap price.



Onward and upwards!



Although the game did its best to try and prevent the intermingling of soldier bars, it will become inevitable soon.



The world map becomes even easier to navigate, as the strips of land become more thin, but commander fights also become stronger.



What is it with bridges so suddenly?

"To the battlefield! Destroy Liu Bei's army!"



He has Zhang Liao as support, but seeing as the two rely on spamming tactics, and we have Jiang Wei, the fight goes as expected.



I missed raiding camps.

"Zhang Bao. Liu Bei, once a mere merchant, now has the audacity to declare himself Emperor and attack me. Well, I was planning to attack Shu anyway. I'll just have to crush him earlier than I planned."



Oh for god's sakes!

Who will emerge the victor? Read on.