Part 58: Battle: En Gra-de!

Update 33: En Gra-de! (Battle)

Welcome back to the worst pun of an update title, and Gra is happening. Let’s finish this lameass one-map nation and get back to kicking down Hardin’s door. I’m sure nothing could distract us after this anyway. Nothing.
















Don’t have too much else to say about How’s Everyone, now that we’re in the last stretch of the game. Time for the game.




Oh, there’s another 50/50% chance of being a familiar face! It’s Samson. In chapter 15 of Shadow Dragon, those two villages that had a Dracoshield and Energy Drop had Samson and Arran instead. Neither of them were good.

: I see... The end draws near. Samson, I ought to apologize for burdening you. However I must see my kingdom through till the very end. You may go.

: That's quite enough, I think, Princess. King Jiol took your mother away from you: you should despise him. Now, you're just lettin' Hardin make a fool of you.

: I probably am a fool. I did as he asked, because he told me the people of Gra wished for their motherland's restoration. But Hardin only intended to use us. Now that we've outlived our use, he's tossed us aside like rubbish. All the same, I won't move! My men are not disposable!

: How sad... You'll have new recruits hold back the elite Altean army alone? Fine. If you say you'll remain here, then I'll fight for you until the end, too. Well, this should be fun, at least.

Everyone here has a death wish I guess.
: Samson... Why would you do this? Don't you mercenaries only live for gold? I have no more to give you...

: Well, I don't quite get it, either. But... there are times when a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. That's all I can say... For now. Besides, I want to see how that kid fights. If he's a true hero, perhaps your decision will change.

That would be a good idea.




So on turn 1 you can reach this village. Good news, free character.




Bad news, Tomas. He was in Shadow Dragon and that bonus map we did ages ago. I’ll forgive you for not remembering him because he might be the least memorable character ever.

: Prince Marth, I've been waiting for you. I'm Tomas, an Archanean soldier--or was. I've since retired from the army. The Archaneans here just want to sacrifice the defenceless Gra soldiers. This act of brutality by my former homeland... I cannot tolerate. Please, Prince Marth. Let me fight with you in some way.




I love that Marth doesn’t even say anything.

Anyway here’s Tomas. He’s uh...not great. I don’t even know how you make it to Sniper with 10 Skill. (Jeorge had 10 Skill in Shadow Dragon but you got him in Chapter 9) His Growths are pretty good, (Around a 70% in Strength and Skill, if I’m remembering right?) but this is sort of a case of “Good luck using them”. If you’ve been using Gordin, Jeorge, or Norne, they’re probably outdoing him at this point anyway.




Speaking of villages, this one stands a chance of getting destroyed if you don’t do something about it. Catria is certainly something.




The first Sniper outside here gets Steve’d.







No one can wield an axe like Barst. No one. At least when he doesn’t miss the second throw.




Thankfully Luke is on cleanup patrol.




I just noticed Luke’s getting close to hitting 50 HP? Nice.




This would come in handy if I forgot Julian.




Basically just trickling everyone south at this point.







A bit of a beating, but Luke survives. More than can be said for the Warriors.




This was the fate of all three Dracoknights. I think one of them had a Hammer.




About the expected result.




This is at about the furthest south point of the map, and this thief is just...taunting me. I could reach him if I just had Luke or Steve dash for him immediately, but that would put them in danger and trigger the reinforcements.




Catria downs a generic brand “Energy Drink”, restoring 20 HP but probably disintegrating a couple organs.




Healing Magic is much safer. (please do not use Let’s Play Fire Emblem 12 as your real life health care advice)







These enemies are fairly weak for their levels, which means a lot of easy levels. And good ones! All but Mag and Res is nearly perfect.




I want the thief. I want him.




This Sniper is not going to make that as easy as I’d like.




If you take a peek at that hit rate you can see the number 1 weakness of Warriors. In a game with an extremely forgiving hit rate, this guy REALLY blows.




Moving Steve over to deal with the Sniper in that northwest building. You’ve probably noticed by now that those Gra soldiers won’t attack us, even if they won’t get countered (like archers).

This makes them a billion times easier to deal with than Katarina.




Sirius and Luke down the Sniper. I’ve given up on that thief because my attention span is horrible while I play this game.










Speaking of Thieves, there was one here. There is only Catria now.




...I really like Nosferatu.




Marth, can you get something for Malicia?







SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER







You might call that a waste of a Warp use. I call it free Nosferatu.




This map is pretty much all Snipers and Warriors. Those both have pretty exploitable weaknesses!




Pretty solid level on Steve there.




Have I mentioned Warriors can’t hit for shit?




Neither can Snipers if Navvvvvvvvvvvvvv leans casually.




What? Single digit health?




Julian’s time to shine!




wait why does Julian have higher defense than Ogma. Like ½ the health, but...wow.




Hypothesis: Jumping very high makes you hit men harder and also what appears to be a lens flare or urine covers the camera.




Hypothesis confirmed, and that’s about all the enemies dealt with...so why does it say there are still 7 Archaneans left? They’re hiding.




So, uh, the reinforcements are supposed to trigger when you run down here, but apparently Warping someone all the way to the edge of the map just skips it. I’m gonna go back and see if I can wake them up.







Here we go.







There, my actions are justified!




This too, would be scary, but apparently Dracoknights also can’t hit for shit. Axes still have that issue if you aren’t Barst.




And that’s all the reinforcements.




So here’s what Marth’s been doing this whole time.







Generic Villager: But didn't you Alteans come here to exact revenge on us?

: No, we've no intention to fight Gra. Gra and Altea were like siblings once.









That’s the weirdest sex euphemism I’ve ever heard.




It’s sort of dangerous to have Julian open this door, so I’m just going to use a key on Luke. Also Merric’s here now. This map has a lot of downtime where you’re just scooting guys around, so I didn’t bother screenshotting all of that. I don’t hate you.




Oh, hey, here’s...an open chest? I guess the Nosferatu was in there. Also a Warrior and a Sniper, a shocking twist for this map.










Speaking of Door Keys, I was looking for one but uh...we just still have this. We will never use this.







A little charred, but it works.




Now to move Julian in for the other chest in here. Not this one. I may not have been fully awake while I took these screens.




Thanks to the amazing power of the ethereal convoy, I can grab that Key Merric sent there from across the map, saving me crucial turns on this, the world’s highest turn count run.




Opening that door is a little more frightening though. That’s...uh...that’s a lot of guys.




Also it spawns reinforcements when you open it. Because fuck you.




Low hit rates save me again.




And...again.
















And now Nabab is on a roll. (and has more defense than Ogma what the fuck Ogma)




Aw. Well, it had a good run.




Meanwhile this parade of men tries to murder Marth.




Catria can pick one of them off.







Kind of a lame treasure for one you have to go so out of your way to get, but...eh.




I know I’ve been bitching about Ogma’s defense all update, but I’m sure he can hold this point.




Again. I may not have been fully awake.




Oh, good. All is right with the world again.




Hypothesis confirmed again on repeat test.




Well, I’ll just have to dig in the pile of these we have lying around later.




So uh, Sheema’s here, but it is impossible to reach her with Marth on one turn outside her range without Feena/Again Staff usage. We’ll have to soak a hit from Samson.




It shouldn’t be that big a deal.










See? Everyone was okay.




Actually hey, thanks Samson.







Smug Marth get the fuck out of here you’re ruining it again. (holy shit Sheema’s expression is so good for this)

: Let us be clear: I do not hold animosity towards the Kingdom of Gra. Our kingdoms were once one. It grieved me to watch us go our separate ways in the last war. Princess Sheema, I would like to try once more. I do not wish to fight with Gra.

Considering they literally stabbed his dad in the back and nearly murdered Cain too, Marth is really forgiving.

: Prince Marth... It surprised me to learn that you hadn't laid a finger on my fleeing soldiers. You may just be the second coming of King Anri. I believe you. If it's not too much to ask... Please, accept the people of Gra... as you would those of Altea. I entrust all of my country... to you, Prince Marth.

Sweet, we got a Vassal State. Now we can achieve a Space Race victory. Naturally you can’t get this conversation if you kill one of the Gra soldiers, Sheema won’t even speak to you.




Sheema is a general with 32 HP and 8 Speed. I’m trying to look for a good stat here, and I guess the 17 Defense is okay? Her growths are good, but like so many other characters, it’s hard to get her to use them. She was apparently pretty solid in the original FE3, especially because mounted units were severely nerfed on indoor maps, but that’s not the case anymore, so...uh...8 speed. The game just gave you Macellan and Dolph anyway.

Pretty much the only interesting things about Sheema are that she has an A rank in Lances so she can use the legendary lance when we get it, and that if I google “fe12 sheema” there is apparently actually fan art of this character, which is more than I can say for most of the cast of Fire Emblem 12.

She can, at least, talk to Samson.

: Well, Sheema. I guess my job here is done.

: Samson... You're leaving...?

: I don't think you'll be needin' me. After all, the prince will protect you from here on.

: Don't go! Please, don't go...!

: W-what? Why are you makin' me stay? This ain't like you. ...Well, whatever. If you still need me, then I'm not goin' anywhere. Wherever you go, I'll protect you. Is that the deal?

I uh...guess this is romantic?

: Yes…



Here’s Samson he is also bad. If you desperately need a hero, I mean...I guess? But you could just reclass someone and you never NEED a specific class. At least Astram had Mercurius. Don’t worry though, he gets support bonuses from...Arran.



Wait, Tomas, what are you doing?




TOMAS NO!













Yeah, if you kill a Gra soldier even after recruiting Sheema and Samson, they will defect to enemy units. This apparently didn’t happen in FE3, so it was recommended you have Sheema slaughter all her own citizens to take advantage of her growths.

But let’s just go back to the real timeline where none of that happened and we still have Sheema and Samson.









THISMAP.PNG

: All we are accomplishing is buying Hardin more time.

: My thoughts exactly. If we continue like this, more blood will be spilt for naught. Steve, do you have any sort of plan?

Since when was Steve our tactician? We have Katarina now, wasn’t she an actual tactician, sorta? I mean, she was BSing, but she still graduated knight training. Will the game ever acknowledge Katarina again? yes, once or twice

: According to our information, the enemy's primary force is concentrated along the highway. I wonder if we can avoid that route, by passing through the mountains?

“Let’s go look for things to put on my head up there.”

: Hmph, we'd have to cross Adria Pass... But the steep mountains make it dangerous for an army of our size.

We’ve already had our fair share of vertigo narration.

: That's true, and I fear the enemy may have prepared an ambush as well. Our bravery could be our undoing. But it is the fastest possible route. If we could just break through there, we'd be in walking distance of the palace.

: I am prepared for the danger. We managed to conquer the same perilous road that Anri walked. Compared to that... Jagen, Steve. We can overcome this challenge. Order the advance!

Alright, now onto Hardin!




huh

: Hmm...and you are?

People keep doing this.

: My name is Frost. I am a priest of Macedon. When Macedon was taken over by those warmonging rebels... You came and saved our country. Thanks to you, my family's now safe. I have come to return the favor.

: I see. But hasn't it been some time since Prince Marth freed Macedon...?

Chapter 3.




We crossed an ocean. We walked through a volcano. We teleported once. Holy shit Frost owns. (i know it probably means he only followed for a while but shh don’t ruin my second favorite old man priest in this game)

: But then I heard that Marth had freed Altea as well, and I finally managed to catch up with you here, in Gra. I am old now, but I can still fight. Please, allow me to to join you.

Uh, so, we have Frost now. Frost brings with him a THREAD VOTE.

Just like Dice/Maris, he originated in a BS FE chapter. So, the question is, would you rather I do that one now? Or should I wait a few maps to do it? Either way it’ll be pretty relevant to what we do next. Next time...one of those things. Thanks for reading.