Part 88: Lanka - Turn 36
Turn 36 - Secret preparations
I actually don't remember what I traded here:
The two brands, fire and frost, are the go-to thug weapons since they're both high damage and chaff-clearing AoE. I can only make the frost brand, and only from my pretender. The fire brand is better versus single targets because it is armor piercing and has a higher attack bonus. And this despite Melqart fire resistance (only the AoE is elemental)
Sauro continues his advance
Hinnom tests the defenses at the capitol with a national Scout.
KILLCOUNT
pre:
Avvite Scout 1/1 @ 45g = 45 Battle Total 45 T'ien Ch'i Grand Total 905 Hinnom Grand Total 6852 Sauromatia Grand Total 7454
The Melqart I was targeting with my army has flown away. Coward. Also, thanks to someone else sitesearching it this province now has 4 sites and is worth +7 gem income. Nice!
I'm not patrolling. There are a few forging items I need to take care of before I can deploy what I need to win these battles.
This is a Lanka national spell that makes hordes of ethereal undead. The undead in question unfortunately have a "mr negates" weapon, so they are useless offensively. It's a magetime efficient spell for chaff. I have lots of gems, but few mages.
Next turn: will tell me a lot about how Sauro and Hinnom have planned their offensive. They obviously have a division of territory in mind, and that plays in my favor, because it means if I focus on a subsection of my territory I only have to fight one of them. This is something I'm keenly aware of at this point in play. Metagaming isn't just diplo!
At this point I'm 99% sure Hinnom is after my cap, because otherwise why would he test it with a scout the turn before his army arrives. He's obviously being cautious, which plays into my favor. Learned the wrong lessons...
Turn 37 - Just in time delivery
Nice! These are the last components I've been waiting for. Also I don't remember the other side of this trade.
Just in time too (just like all my other just in times this was 100% planned)
Not risking his full army on this siege is in my opinion a cautious tactic. Also I have to watch out for a classic siege tactic: take the province with one force, immediately swap it out for another force in a bait and switch.
So, bring out the army, with my newest research at the ready. Also I'm gambling on cutting the enemy retreat with a drop in Nardago, but without scouting there it could go badly for me. If I can kill the 3 thugs on my cap it'll be worth it.
Next turn: stop running away mr melqart