Part 55: Lanka - Turn 1
Turn 1
Lanka is the "evil" monkey nation. Several things set it apart from the Kailasa/Bandar Log/Patala trio of "good" monkeys.
Firstly, recruitable sacred demons. This basically means don't have to use your monkey troops at all, except in niche situations. And thank god for that because monkeys are god awful as line troops.
Secondly, the ability for any Lanka priest to reanimate undead. Free units are always useful.
Thirdly, Air magic. Air magic is extremely versatile. And it comes on commanders with strong stats, who might be able to "thug" given the right equipment
Lastly, Blood magic and national blood summons. Blood summons are very dangerous, national ones doubly so as they are usually either more efficient or at a higher power level than the standard summons.
e: That cool lightning screenshot in the OP is from a game I played as Lanka. If I survive into endgame you'll hopefully see something similar!
I'm going to be all business in my turn summaries. I'm hoping to provide insight into how a veteran handles all the little tiny decisions that make up dom3 strategy and tactics. Of course its possible I crash and burn despite this.
Did Lilli mention this game is using the AwesomeGods 1.7 and Awesome Endgame 1.3 mods? I don't think she did.
AG has little influence on play decisions, but the influence on pretender design will be pretty obvious, once they're known.
AE will definitely have influence later.
Other than that the game is Vanilla, which means Gem Generators and Dwarven Hammers will be in play.
Welcome to Lanka, where the monkeys await the arrival of Peak Theorycrafting.
The start position is potentially strong defensively, but could be easily isolated if an opponent starts close. It doesn't suit my playstyle, as my preferred expansion pattern and my preferred mobile tactics in war greatly favor open terrain.
On this map the rivers can't be crossed except at bridges. I'll be quite happy if I can secure both sides of the 4 circled bridges. However, if those provinces are in enemy cap circles, that will greatly restrict my expansion.
A cap circle is the ring of provinces surrounding and directly connected to a capitol, from which its fort draws resources. It's considered good etiquette to leave other players' cap circles alone, and hostile intent to insist on holding onto a province in someone else's cap circle.
Recruiting a priest and 7 demon sacreds. One of the disadvantages of having demon troops is they require undead leadership. Neither of my starting commanders has that ability, so I must recruit one that does.
The demons in question. I'd rather have Palankashas, but they cost a ton of gold, and a capitol without any surrounding provinces doesn't produce nearly enough resources. Anusara are the second choice, they are much cheaper in both gold and res while still having bucklers.
Next turn: The myriad uses for the Lankan starting army
You may now start making bets on my bless.
e: I think I'm the resident game mechanics expert, so if you have non-spoiler questions or clarifications feel free to ask.