Part 10: Retreat by Invasion

So last time, despite wiping the floor with over a hundred enemy units, we were forced to retreat and regroup to avoid Grunia's seemingly endless waves of enemies. And what better way to retreat than to turn around and invade some other country for no particular reason?



No one will escape alive.

Burn and become sacrifices to the Salamander tribe.

Looks like we picked a great place to retreat to/invade. If you'll remember, the Salamander tribe is the Fire Dragon tribe of the Mamkutes, and they're not the one on our side.

So, here we are at Peraty:



There's a door that serves as a shortcut to the boss, but we're not in any particular hurry there, the enemy Thieves can't open the doors themselves and all the chests are behind said doors, so we'll just take the long way around. The most important goal to start the chapter is saving the village - we start on the opposite end of the map, but the first enemy Thief will reach the village in just three turns. There's a different mix of enemies here that more closely resemble the earliest chapters, with the return of the Pirates. There are also a bunch of forts on islands to the south, so I would expect to see a bunch more Pirates pop out of them at some point.



I was thinking of having Saji take out the Devil Axe as tribute to TenaCrane's LP of the remake of this game, but a dead unit's inventory is gone forever so it'd be just a one-time thing. However this Pirate happens to come with a Devil Axe of his own, so maybe we can set up some kind of reverse-trial instead.



The boss here looks pretty similar to Banutu, and even has his own Fire Dragonstone to play with. Manuu will be tough to damage by normal means but has less base Attack (18) then the previous few bosses have had and will be unable to double-attack any of our units.


Turn 1:




We have the same starting lineup as last chapter, with Julian and Kashim both returning. Saji is also here because the luck we got from Abel's noble sacrifice last chapter all got soaked up by Hardin and Navarre, leaving Saji's buddy Barts out to dry.



Hardin can just barely reach the village in two turns so he takes point while half of our army bunches up behind the bottleneck on the bridge.



The first Pirate approaches the village, while the majority of the enemy army begins to advance.


Turn 2:



Not a whole lot of action here just yet but we keep moving forward.



Hardin squats on the village while the rest of the army crosses the bridge. Julian also visits the only house on the map:



I heard one is in the eastern castle.

Big hint that the southeast chest contains a Dragon Killer, which can be conveniently used against the boss.



The nearby Pirate goes after Hardin, who dodges and then counter-kills (that sounds familiar) for a level:



Looks like any luck we got from Abel last chapter has worn off.



The enemy army gets a little closer, though the Thieves stay put since they can't access the village. The north-most Pirate is the one holding the Devil Axe. Like most enemy generic units, he has no Luck, so he'll have a 21% chance of striking himself when he attacks. However the other 79% of the time he'll be sporting a 27 Attack, not something we want to take lightly.


Turn 3:



Hardin could probably take a hit from the Devil Axe but there's no need since the Thieves didn't advance last turn. Instead we'll move him down to the bridge to the southeast and let Marth visit the village this turn.



After the battle at Pales, I was captured by Durhua. I escaped recently.

When I heard Princess Nina joined you, I waited here for you. I'll help with my Bows.

Another new recruit, and we didn't even have to force Sheeda to do her seduction dance this time.



George is a pre-promote, as the Sniper is the promoted form of the Archer. He's certainly usable - his growths are just a bit worse than Gordon's, so he's no Jeigan - but Gordon has only marginally worse stats as just a Level 13 Archer (and he sucks, too). The bigger gain here is George's Silver Bow, which Gordon or Wolf can use for a much-needed Attack boost.



Everyone finally makes it over the first bridge, making sure to stay out of range of the Devil Axe Pirate.



None of the enemies are in range to attack us, so just they keep advancing.


Turn 4:



Saji moves up to protect everyone from the ravages of the Devil Axe. The northeast island is still mostly exposed but everything west of the drawbridge is safe.



Wolf crosses over and gets the Silver Bow from George.



Kashim softens up the Pirate for 16 damage to get a little free Exp.



Hardin can't attack the Pirate to the south without exposing himself to the other Pirate and the nearest Hunter, so he stays and blocks the bridge instead. Sheeda and Marth fall in behind him, leaving only Saji in range of the Pirate with the Devil Axe.



One Pirate scoffs at the need for bridges and crosses the water to attack Marth, who dodges and counter-kills.



The other Pirate charges straight at Hardin for minimal damage and is also counter-killed.



And for some reason the Pirate with the Devil Axe ran away. Maybe he's afraid to use it? The two groups of Hunters continue to advance.


Turn 5:



The Devil Axe wielder is lurking but we can block him off again rather easily. The nearest trio of Hunters is now ripe for the picking.



Sheeda straps on the Silver Lance and takes out the farthest Hunter.



Marth kills the closest Hunter.



And Hardin finishes off the final Hunter.



Saji challenges the last Pirate again. The rest of the army continues to cautiously advance.



And the Pirate runs away again. Saji is apparently just that intimidating. The Thieves again stay put, and the last two Hunters move up. Also off to the southwest, the Cleric starts heading towards us for some reason. I think it's because we left that last Pirate wounded.


Turn 6:



The Devil Axe Pirate is going to get in the way this time, so we'll need to be a bit more aggressive in baiting it.



Marth moves up to clear out the Thief and is the highest priority thing for the AI to attack, so if he doesn't draw in the Pirate then I assume nothing will. He'll also draw attacks from the Hunters, but they shouldn't be able to get in much damage, and hell, Marth has 40 HP to soak it up with anyway. Marth also gets a level out of it:



Another great level, though he's now three behind in Speed (he's also three ahead in Skill so it works out). Marth now has a base 15% critical rate, with the Rapier giving him an additional 10%.



And everyone else continues to circle around. This map really is a bit of a slog if you don't take the shortcut.




I'm kind of curious what I can do to make the Pirate attack me now. Maybe I'll have to put Saji out there in a position where the Pirate can attack him and not be exposed to anyone else in my army? Marth took 7 damage from the Hunters, nothing major.

Turn 7:



Well, at least we can get rid of those Hunters now.



Sheeda takes out the first Hunter with a nice critical.



Navarre finally makes it to the front line and claims the other Hunter for himself.



Hardin moves up to kill the last Thief and gets another level:



And another meh level for Hardin.



I leave Hardin out in front just to see if the Pirate will attack him - he should survive with 1 HP even if he gets hit.



No such luck - the Pirate retreats and then parks himself on the Fort, just to be extra annoying. Also shown - what waits for us with the boss at the southwest island.


Turn 8:



Right, another turn of shuffling around the tiny paths.



The Pirate heals up a bit on the fort, screws up his courage, and suicides on Marth.


Turn 9:



The Cleric's patient killed himself, so, realizing that he's all alone against Marth's army, he wisely retreats.



Wolf takes a couple shots at him, mostly just to harass him.



Still slowly advancing. Sheeda is off to the Storage for a Silver Lance, and Hardin is headed over to the Armory since he's almost out of weapons entirely after last chapter.


Turn 10:



The Cleric tries to retreat again, but it's not nearly far enough. Wolf easily finishes him off for a level:



All of our bow users are now 2-3 points behind their already bad averages. Fire Emblem 1, everybody!



Mostly the status quo here. Marth and Daros hang out in the hills.



These two Pirates show up on the enemy phase. The one on the left has a Hand Axe, the one on the right a Steel Axe.



The Pirate on the right misses Hardin and is killed on the counterattack.



The Pirate on the left attacks Daros from range with the Hand Axe and misses. Daros, whom I had prepared with a Hand Axe of his own, connects on the counterattack for 7 damage.


Turn 11:



Who knows what'll show up at the end of this turn, but for now there's one more Pirate to finish off and half of our army is still lagging behind.



Hardin picks up a Steel Sword at the Armory.



Daros throws an axe to the face of the Pirate again but can't finish him off alone.



Kashim takes the kill. I left him a little exposed but he'll be fine for one turn.



Ready for another round.



Another turn, another couple Pirates appear.



The east Pirate this time goes after Sheeda, who dodges but even with the Silver Lance can't quite kill him in one round. Sheeda does get enough Exp for a level, though (come on, Power and Defense! ):



Not really a bad level, just literally everything except Power and Defense.



The west Pirate attacks Kashim from range and
hits for 6 damage, but Kashim quickly takes revenge and also gets a level:



The RNG is mad at me for not being successful with giving Saji to the Devil Axe.


Turn 12:



Clearly my first priority needs to be setting up an appropriate sacrifice for Saji.



Sheeda finishes off the Pirate.



Some more shifting around. Our whole army is finally available to us.



Pirates show up at all five of the island forts this turn. The one to the far left has a Steel Axe, the next one to the right has another Hand Axe, and the next one over (from the left fort on the island with two) has a Hammer - good thing Doga isn't close by. They'll keep coming like this for the next five turns now, but we're set up pretty well so I'll fast-forward...

Navarre gets a level killing a Pirate on Turn 13:



It's ok Navarre, I know it's not your fault.

Oh and Marich gets a level counter-attacking a Pirate also on Turn 13:







Meanwhile, Julian picks up the Dragon Killer sword from the southeast chest. The Dragon Killer is similar to the Armor Killer, and has triple Might against Dragon Knights and Mamkutes. How convenient.

Hardin gets a level counterattacking on Turn 14:



I think I've run out of enough smilies.



Saji is going to turn this around.

Kashim gets a level counterattacking on Turn 15:





Marich gets another level killing a Pirate on Turn 16:



That's...at least average.

And on Turn 17 Wolf gets himself a level:



Apparently intent matters...

Gordon gets a level on the last turn of reinforcements as well:



No amount of luck turnaround was going to help him anyway.


Turn 18:



The reinforcements are done. Time to enact Plan B for Saji after cleaning up that last Pirate.


Turn 19:



Getting closer.... (Barts is hanging back on the fort to let his cousin shine.)


Turn 20:



Almost there...



One of the guard Pirates comes down to attack Saji but misses. It's too late to stop this now anyway...

Turn 21:



Not exactly the dramatic confrontation I was expecting.

Sheeda attacks the nearby Pirate for a level:



And immediate punishment for Saji's failure.



I'm honestly not sure what's going to happen on the enemy phase, but I have Rena heal up Saji from afar just because.



Okay, apparently bosses have dialogue but only if I sit there and let them attack me. I guess through the first eight chapters I killed every boss on the first turn. I might have to go back and check those out again.



Second verse, same as the first.









One of the Pirates goes after Saji and misses. The Devil Axe finally does its thing. Farewell Saji, like Riff, you had so little personality you didn't even get a death quote.



The other Pirate goes after Sheeda from a distance and misses.



I forget that the enemy Magician can actually damage Banutu, but he survives with 4 HP anyway.


Turn 22:



Right, time to wrap things up.



So not much happens when the two Mamkutes fight each other, it turns out.



Sheeda kills the enemy Magician. Wolf also kills the enemy Pirate by the castle.



Manuu attacks Banatu again. Fortunately I had Rena heal him up first. Also the last Pirate left scratches Marth.


Turn 23:



Well I'm about out of patience here. Navarre kills off the Pirate first - just Manuu left now. There are two options here - use the Dragon Killer, or use Marich. Since Marich can promote and has a bunch more levels to go, he's a pretty good option.



And Marich comes through. He gets a Door Key and a level:



Marich gets an almost perfect level to close out the chapter. Saji, we salute thee.

One more thing - Julian eventually picks up those two chests we passed at the beginning of the chapter:



More gold for the pile is nice, but the real price here is the Goddess Statue, which gives a unit +7 Luck.

Marth finally seizes the castle:



Oh hey, I remember you. One of the Pegasus triplets from a couple chapters ago.

We, Princess Minerva's regiment, plan to rebel against Durhua, but Durhua captured the Princess's little sister Maria.

Please help us in rescuing Maria!

We figured this little plot point would come up eventually - looks like it'll be next chapter.


New Characters

George - Sniper

George is our latest pre-promote, and he's more useful than Jeigan, that's not saying a wholt lot - he's still worse than Gordon, and that's a pretty damning indictment.

Growth Rates:

• HP: 60%
  
• Power: 20%
  
• Skill: 10%
  
• Weapon Level: 50%
  
• Speed: 20%
  
• Luck: 10%
  
• Defense: 10%
  
• Total: 180%

Our current roster, with the active units in bold. (Full stats in this post.) If you want to make a change, propose a recall motion and, if seconded, we'll have a recall vote and vote on a replacement. (Only applies if there is a replacement, of course.)

Lord: Marth
Pegasus Knight: Sheeda
Social Knight: Hardin, Abel, Kain, Machis, Biraku, Roshe, Jeigan [Paladin]
Armor Knight: Doga, Roger
Archer: Gordon, George [Sniper]
Cleric: Rena, Riff
Mercenary: Navarre, Oguma, Caesar, Raddy
Fighter: Barts, Maji, Saji
Hunter: Kashim
Pirate: Daros
Thief: Julian, Ricardo
Magician: Marich, Wendel [Priest]
Bow Knight: Wolf, Zagaro
Mamkute: Banutu

I need two votes this time around:

1) Sacrificing Saji didn't quite work out the way I had planned but at least Marich reaped the benefit at the end. With that said, next chapter we can bring 14 units and we have exactly 14 classes, so we have a choice: bring a sacrifice and bench one class, or stick with the starting lineup. If the former wins, also vote for which class to bench (we don't technically need a Thief but it'll be useful) and which unit to sacrifice this time around.

2) We got a Goddess Statue which gives +7 Luck to the unit lucky enough to use it. So we'll have a straight-up vote for the unit to receive the Goddess Statue. Marth and Sheeda definitely don't need it, but otherwise pretty much any unit could use it for some extra crit rate and magic evade. (If you want to hold onto it to give to someone we haven't seen yet, feel free to vote for that option.)

Next time:



We rescue one Princess to recruit another.