Part 123: Hinnom - Turn 27

Turn 27

Alright, I'm done sucking. Time to work on kicking some ass. I can't do anything this turn about TheDemon besieging my cap, but I've been working the diplo channels to get Xanrick to keep up the agreement I had with Dawkish (protip: candy is dandy but liquor is quicker). I also spend a lot of time thinking about what I should be doing and how.


This is the first time I get a gold windfall event. With luck 3 scales. Luck 3 tends to be better when you haven't taken order 3 too, but I've been very much enjoying my steady stream of gem events so I can't really complain.


This is step one. I don't think TheDemon has anything that can touch KING HIPPO JR with full kit in his own dominion. I expect TheDemon to take my cap this turn and then if Xanrick doesn't come 'round KING HIPPO JR is going to kick some Palankasha ass.


I had sent a couple of archers and a barbarian commander and they retake Cacian Forest from Lanka's meager PD.


I lose a couple of independent commanders and ten Dawn Guard in Hinnom and TheDemon is now besieging my cap. He lost a couple Palankasha. This sucks, but I can't do anything about it right now. Oh look, it has all been faithfully recorded in the smug gold counter. Awesome.


Next turn, however, KING HIPPO JR can start killing. He's immune to lightning so all those Raksharaja spamming lightning bolt will do nothing. His fire brand and heroic quickness should clear a square of Palankasha a turn and he regenerates. Oh, how he regenerates!


Look at all those HP. One of the keys is that he's regenerating 20hp a turn. While Palankasha and acid rain could easily eat through all those HP if he didn't regenerate, the eye shield is going to quickly blind the Palankasha attacking him and the regen should keep up until then. Acid rain is only 12 damage a turn and if Peak Theorycrafting is hitting KING HIPPO JR with acid rain then he's hitting the Palankasha surrounding him too. After that it's just slogging his way through a bunch of blind Palankasha with a fire brand and a dream.


KING HIPPO JR also recovers from six fatigue each turn and he has two points of earth magic so he can cast summon earthpower, a spell that grants him another point of earth magic and four more points of reinvigoration. At four encumbrance he will be generating up to eight encumbrance a turn (attacking twice from heroic quickness) and ten reinvigoration should keep him fatigue neutral for the length of any fights.


Let's take a look at the strategic map. KING HIPPO is actually hanging out in the capital. That's because Xanrick has come through. Or Dawkish. Either way, they've agreed to attack and you can see Xanrick brought a nice big army down into the southern tip of TheDemon's island. My bet is that TheDemon doesn't want to lose his cap and so he's going to send everyone back. Know what saves me here? That the province on my side of the bridge is a swamp. That stops TheDemon from moving past it with map move 3 units so he has to move onto it on one turn and then he can move back to his cap next turn. If this weren't the case then he could, potentially, bounce back and forth between my cap and his with any mapmove three units he has (Palankasha are map move two but I think his pretender is three). Anyway, I slow play this a little and I move the horde of barbarianscollege freshman back onto my cap, holding KING HIPPO JR in reserve as a surprise. DIE MONKEYS DIE sacrifices to push my dominion and the effective operating range of KING HIPPO JR.


I'm not sure why I took a screen shot of this other than to show something clever that players can do - keeping gems on units that can't use them. TheDemon needs air gems to cast storm and he's using his prophet to carry them. If his mages that could use them were carrying them then they would use them to throw lightning as soon as they got tired rather than saving them for storm.


Remember how I was talking about the swamp saving me? Here's Peak Theorycrafting. He has to go back to Lanka or else Sauro is going to go take his cap.


Here are the barbarians attacking from Imictan.


And here are the reinforcements, just in case (and because I already recruited them).


Gemgen Counter

1!


My first one! Look how pretty it is! Maybe it will make friends.

Turn 28

I expected battles in Hinnom and Vepitre, but what's up with the battle in Cacian Forest? Those twelve nature gems are for a dwarven hammer.


Well then. It looks like TheDemon broke off five Palankasha to take back Cacian forest.


The battle in Hinnom goes as expected. TheDemon was forced to pull back by Sauro's invasion. Thank you colossal scary dude for building your church on the peninsula of awesomeness. You're the best.


Here you can see what Sauro is threatening with. That is a pretty nasty force and TheDemon will have to bring everyone back to deal with it.


Way down south I build a temple in High Woods to make sure my dom isn't being pushed in too badly.


In Hinnom... shit, that's a lot of unrest. How did I get so much? The answer is that when all those Melqarts fled, some went to Hinnom and that, combined with the battle when TheDemon invaded, raised the unrest over 100 in a turn. The rest is from the battle there this turn.


With the expectation that TheDemon was going to clear off Hinnom last turn, I forged the equipment to let a Melqart fly over TheDemon's army and land on his cap. Not much is required to beat Monkey PD, and the ten air gems I spent on these flying shoes will, hopefully, be far more effective than the ten I spent on call of the winds.


I'm hoping to catch the atavi archers patrolling as well. We'll see how that goes.


I refrain from attacking Laerian Swamp because I'm still nervous about this whole KING HIPPO JR plan and I think TheDemon might try to trick me with a trap of some variety. I'm pretty sure I'll be sieging his cap next turn (albeit not holding the siege) so the risk of losing anything on this province if it's a trap isn't worth the certainty that he's headed back to his cap and I can take it unopposed.



Gemgen Counter

1!


No friends this turn. Sorry little guy, maybe next time.

Diplomacy

Uh, hi dude. I know you're like, uh, a robot and stuff. But, do you think you could help me out a little?

Did you know you can donate one or all of your vital organs to the Mictlan Science Self Esteem Fund for Girls? It's true!

Dude. That's not what I meant. Do you think I could trade you some gems for some rain of toads on Lanka?

You look ugly in that jumpsuit. That's not my opinion; it's right here on your fact sheet. They said on everyone else it looked fine, but on you, it looked hideous. But still what does an old engineer know about fashion? Oh, wait, it's a she. Still, what does she know about - oh, wait. She has a medical degree. In fashion. From France.

Uh, dude it would really help me out.

Very well. Please donate three gems to Mictlan Enterprises and we will begin testing on subject: LANKA. Please donate another three gems for each additional test you require.

So, I'd thought this happened on turn 27 or turn 28 but it turns out I was wrong and this was from turn 25. Sorry. At least now you know where those toads were from, TheDemon.