Part 46: BF41 - Drominos Marsh

Yggdra's desperate pleas fell on deaf ears, and the Bronquian youths who resisted to the end were lost to the flames of war.

The words “Fantasinian invasion of Bronquia” had gained solidarity both in the minds of the Royal Army as well as the Imperial citizenry.

The Holy Sword was gradually becoming tainted from the constant combat... The Royal Army had no choice but to believe what they did was just and to continue their advance toward the Imperial Capital of Flarewerk.

However, the Imperial citizens continued to take up arms against the Royal Army in Drominos Marsh, where the war had started to seem like a neverending hell.







...Esq. Milanor. Do you think the Princess is uncertain?

Huh?

Her spirit seemed to be flagging in battle.

Oh... Yeah, I-I guess so...

The Princess is too kind. I understand her sentiments, but...

Ah, give her a break. We're fighting a bunch of commoners. It was easy to fight when she was a rebel against an army. Here, the ones she's killing are parents... lovers... people. I think she's realized that things aren't like they were.

….........

But hey, it's not our responsibility, is it? If the Princess tells us to fight, we fight. She's got to bear the weight of command.

I see...

It's a hard lesson, but I think she's learning it. She's seeing what it means to rule... and to conquer.

….........

Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. That's why we're here, right? Our job is to support her.

...You're right.

Anyways, looks like the next wave of enemies is here.



That's... Imperial militiamen and...

Looks like Emelia's aerial division. Careful, everyone!



Drominos Marsh... While some levels are stupid, like taking a barrage of cannon fire unavoidably for a half-dozen turns, this one seems to want to punish you for playing the game.



Firstly, we see there's a new tile – Poison Marsh. It's a good, and the only, opportunity to use Mantrap. Except we won't because it's terrible.

It's also a completely ridiculous tile. Like Sand, you can only move one space per turn. You also have a GEO handicap, but in this case it's -30%. Unlike sand, you take 10% morale damage every turn you are in the swamp.

There are at least 2 items that require traversing 10 turns worth of swamps, and that's if you defeat the enemies in time so they can't slow you down. You're expected to bring every card in your inventory to this map, just so you have the movement to complete it. It's all but two in the PSP version, assuming you've collected them all.

I'm not going to play this mission straight. The battles are borderline trivial, so it's nothing more than a morale / time sink. Instead, I came prepared. The Marchen Wings I gave Yggdra come into play here. With them she can pass over the swamp, avoiding the movement handicap, as well as the damage.



Just in case, we restore some morale back to Yggdra.



Mistel can take these boots. We get them from Mizer really early, first or second encounter, and they work here. While they prevent the poison damage, Marsh tiles still give a movement handicap. Still, Mistel can provide some backup.

I've got to hurry! The people need me!



Here we see the two groups, strategically placed to be annoying and slow you down. They're as weak as the rest of the militia we've encountered.



Emelia's the only real opponent again, but she can't fight off Yggdra.



First turn, Yggdra flies over, and targets the first enemy. She kills them all without breaking a sweat.





It's not a very nice place to fight, and the enemies take an additional 30% damage over the already ridiculous damage Yggdra deals.





Emelia advances her Griffon Riders. On a normal play through, she generally gets to you in time to assist the militia.



Next turn, Yggdra targets this Fencer. The Necromancer in the bottom, and the Hunter in the top are the group leaders. Their deaths with clear the remaining militia.









The Undine manages to win, but barely. It doesn't matter, as her leader was killed anyways.



Emelia pushes forward more. We have some space to collect items, now.



Night falls, and it's at night we need to visit this village. It's a moment we've long been expecting.



Whoa, you've got some duds! I collect those!



This's the ultimate weapon. It can bust up the hardest rock! Have fun with it!

While it's far from the ultimate weapon, it makes sense for a Golem to fear something that breaks rocks. It's not even that good of a weapon, overall, but it's required for something special.



It looks very old.

Emelia continues her advance, but Yggdra ignores her to collect another item.



We end our turn like this. Yggdra will draw the attention of any nearby griffons, and Mistel will join her union. Unnecessary, but Mistel can use some Exp.



Three Griffons attack.











The Griffons can't put up a fight against either of them.

Yggdra continues her item collecting spree on our turn.



Imperial Citizen: This is our country! You don't belong here. Take this!





After being egged by the villagers, she Crusades two Griffons.

All that's left now, is Emelia, and she goes after Yggdra on her turn.

It's useless to resist us!

I'm gonna protect Brother and everyone! I won't run away!









I actually have to hold back against Emelia. In her already weakened state she'd stand no chance against a Crusade, or even a large Surviving Unit victory. We still have one more item to get.



It's some kind of weapon.

This item is annoying to get. It's in the back of another swamp, but Emelia and her riders will almost always be in the way. And as you've seen, Emelia isn't strong enough to stay alive long. If she goes down early, the level ends, stopping you from collecting remaining items.



With all the items collected, it's time to deal with Emelia.

















Ahh!





The way ahead is all clear, Yggdra.

*huff* *huff*

You okay?

Yes, I'm fine.

(It pains me to fight common people... Is this a just war? But there are so many who believe in me... I won't rest until I win a peaceful world for them!)

Emelia, the final Dragon General, has been defeated. All that remains is Eudy's unit, Gulcasa's main force... and the valkyrie Aegina's army.

Those three will be the toughest, though. It'll be a hard fight. After all...

Yes. The battleground will be the gates of their Capital.

How shall we proceed?

I'll ask Gulcasa to surrender first.

…...!

I wish to avoid any more bloodshed. We will gather our troops at the Arc of Triumph.

And if that doesn't work?

If that happens... Then, it's war.

...Understood, Princess. I shall prepare at once.



It took 13 turns using the Marchen Wings, of which 6 were ours. The game gives you 50 turns to get the Quick Clear MVP bonus, so that goes to show how long this map should take normally.

Loot


Black Maria: One of Nietzsche's end-game items, and it isn't too bad. It doesn't address her crippling fire weakness, though, which is an issue with all the Imperial Knights and Gulcasa we'll be fighting. Lasts 3 maps.


Egg Shell: Hehehe, you wear it like a hat.


Hresvelgr: A Milanor end-game item, and it frankly isn't that good. The ATK UP is very likely to be redundant, and Heavy Counter is incredibly unreliable. Lasts 3 maps, though.


Hyper Drill: The end result of carrying around a bunch of cannonballs. The item itself is for Durant only, and isn't that good, but it's used to get a special item. Damage Max isn't something we've seen a lot of, but it makes it so you always win with a 64% Surviving Units bonus. It lasts 2 maps. I know it's probably a drill on the end of his spear, but I like to imagine a horse with a giant drill on its head. Not on the top, like a unicorn, but the front, like a beak. … …


Shaman Mask: Ups the Gen Elena doesn't use, and lowers the stats she does. Even lowers Tec, which you need for GEO cards to be effective, which is the entire point of this item. Garbage. 1 map.


Mjollni- : Almost there. When we finish the next battle, we'll finally have our prize.

Depending on the number of Duds you turn in, there are 4 total items to receive. 7 nets you the Hyper Drill. 5 or 6 gets you the Guillotine Cutter, a 50% crit item for Milanor. 3 or 4 give you the Gattling Bow, a Gauge Up item for Elena. 1 or 2 end up with Night Scope, a Night for either Bow user. All in all, the Gattling Bow is underwhelming, but all the items are decent.

There's another item here hidden in the swamp, but ultimately you need Roswell, and to follow a trade chain I never initiated. The entire chain is full of morale down, stat down items, so I don't really miss it.

Notes

I hate this level. It's slow and has a bunch of mandatory damage, and the enemies usually prevent you from collecting all the western items, since they get in the way and die too quickly.

I've cheesed it with the Marchen Wings ever since I've found how to get them. Barring them, you may as well solo it with the Tough Boots. It's annoying as hell watching the morale drop every single step, and if you take an unlucky crit the enemies can deal a decent amount of damage.

The upcoming missions are pretty intense, so I'll quickly forget about this abomination. The final portion of this game is a weird combination of plain stupid, and exciting. Thankfully, the stupid is over with.