Dominions 3 Grogheads Battle Royale (5 man 1 day turnaround game)

[undercovergeek]

Bleeping ethereal protected giant werewolves... I sure hope I don't have to fight those things any time soon...

its funny you should say that - there is rumour of an upstart in the North, with his fancy ways and wings and chariots - i dont like the sound of him at all

[undercovergeek]

Turn 9 - more of a management shuffle and action hiatus:-

Level 2 in construction - good for minor forges but not what i need. And Ermor with their God, Dave - Crazy Dave and his prophet, he's Welsh - theyre like that down there!



Here's the werewolf factory - now ive found the eastern limits of our borders i can look west and south with an aim to building another army and 2 expansion armies for the purpose.



End of the turn then - Surt and his band are heading out West - its the Lizardmen next in the Midge Fens - income 6, resources 7 - what a catch that will be! The new commander further north is coming south west to rendezvous eventually with the western marching army that's been planned



Next turn - Cursing Lizards - not good

[Ogaburan]

Well im back - what I do know is, like Men in Black, I have been mind wiped and I remember nothing at all! Had to redo the tutorial, I am working my way through an excellent set of Lets Play vids on Youtube and learning as I go - not the best for a multi player match, but we'll see how I get on.

Could you recommend some?
I only found 2 lets plays... and weren't impressed by them.

They were entertaining, and eventually got me to buy the game... but i dont think these r the guys i wish to learn how to actually play from...

[undercovergeek]

have you tried the Das ones?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4erpr0d4G20&list=PLGB6RkFB7ZmPy9ezc07UXWZ8TNVFnRZUF

[Ogaburan]

Yeah!

Das kinda put the last nail in my decision to buy it eventually...

[undercovergeek]

Yeah!

Das kinda put the last nail in my decision to buy it eventually...

have you read the Mrs Butterfield AAR?

[Ogaburan]

Yeah!

Das kinda put the last nail in my decision to buy it eventually...

have you read the Mrs Butterfield AAR?

Yeah!
So far its the best one ive read... (No Offence) haven't finished it yet tho, im ~pt40.

[undercovergeek]

Turn 10:-

Mictlan say 'hello' and state their intentions - it looks like it will be a peaceful border - we'll see how that goes. Alteration 2 passes by - were still talking sawing old ladies in half and pigeons from sleeves but we're on our way.



The Midge Fens fall and we reap the......... umm rewards:-



See the black smoke? Pffft thought I, a curse, heh, how bad can that be? Shitty as it turns out! It wont benefit the denizens of the Fens at all - theyre all dead - but what it does mean is any of my now cursed troops/commanders (including Surt) get a horrendous affliction the next time they take a hit in battle - this could be a split nail or your eyes hanging out and arms falling off - dammit:-



However, there is one advantage to taking this god forsaken pit - it comes with Indy mages who are proficient in Nature and Astral, and what paths do Protection and Ethereal need - oh hell yeah - its almost like i know what im doing. Just need to build a lab down there and the mage factory opens:-



In the meantime i find this guy mooching around in the mercenary table - he brings an extra 9 research points to the kingdom:-



End of turn moves - Surt and his cursed werewolf band head west, the commanders come down from the North (this was before i remembered the 2 province move for some of my troops!). Striking out from the capital are the Lord of Biscuits, a Skratti skinshifter and a N3 Gygja that should give me at least 3 in every field i need on a site search.

[undercovergeek]

A rider approaches from far flung lands bearing messages of import, wise counsel indeed, but i know not where either of these lands are:-



The battle in Juec goes pretty much the same as the Midge Fens:-



Sick of this cursing nonsense the bog dwelling, affliction flinging mage gets it in the face. Surt is cursed forever in this battle:-



Northwest of my newest conquest (crossed swords) lies Yldmyre - a perfect spot for a new castle - my biggest problem right now is lack of resources - Yldmyre borders 4 provinces with a mountain terrain type - it will receive a huge bonus from all these mountains........... when its mine. I say that because bordering it to the Southwest is another black candle - the race is on



Whilst perusing the map it occurs to me there is a huge tract of land to the southeast, under the lake and into the corner of the map that only Mictlan and I are fighting for - the race down here also starts in earnest lest most of it go to Mictlan



End of turn moves - the scout heads northwest to check out the new castle site, whilst cursed Surt heads south to expand there. From the capital comes an indy commander with reinforcements for Surt or a new army depending on how the fight goes. The King of Custard Creams and his minions search the Midge Fens for magic sites

[JasonPratt]

Since we're doing an AAR retrospective delay thingy, I'll explain the message:

1.) Caelum had just recently appeared near my borders, far to the north on the map;

2.) Caelum at that time had the three or four most experienced and deadly heroes in the game.

Since I didn't know their cultural path or intentions at the time, I had to assume they would be an enemy; and since this was a kind-of-newbie game, I thought I would try a prank and see how many players were paying attention to what "their" spies were telling them.  ;D

[undercovergeek]

To turn 12 then............

Two magic sites found in the Midge Fens and a battle in Nilmeria where Surt headed South - can he avoid injury and the cursed affliction that will follow?



Quite a sizeable force of Deer Tribe warriors and archers prove to be nothing short of a speed bump for the now experienced Surt Band:-



Like a true Neifel hero, Surt wades into the archers oblivious of his curse, while the wolves clear the warriors further up - here an injury strikes Surt



And heres the cursed affliction - a limp - it could have been worse - it just means he'll be last to reach the front lines - no bad thing for a commander of troops i suppose



The end of turn shot then - Mum R'Ah, the N3 Gygja and the W2 Skratti head west to the 'crowned' province for more site searching (you can see the first magic sites we found in this shot - they turn out to be Burial Mound bringing in extra Death gems and Brigand Lair which allows me to build Villains (scouts) but increases unrest. An indy commander heads east into Neifelheim from Midge Fens to lead more reinforcements, a Holy Jarl, recruited last turn is heading west out of Neifelheim to build a temple and lab in the Midge Fens for mage recruitment. Our 2 armies combine to move west and south into the province where cavalry can be seen as we try and cut off Mictlans free run across the south. The scout heads into Yldmyre itself to check out fortress plans and a border with whoevers over there - although the black candles have receeded

[airboy]

Hoping for a few more updates???

[undercovergeek]

Lol I'm on it - crazy work schedule at mo

[undercovergeek]

Turn 13 (we're on 53 at the moment).................

A battle i expected, Swande pulling in more gold, Alteration 3 has now been reached and we can start protecting our warriors some more and another messenger from afar, maybe with offers of gold and gems, alliances, intelligence reports even?



The nation of Neifelheim looks at each other, shrugs and collectively says 'Muh?' whilst looking like this -  ??? I love him to bits, but sometimes you have to let Jason be Jason  :P............



The battle of Ardun - its our first time facing cavalry en masse since the humiliating crushing at the start of the game. We close our eyes and prepare for the clash of werewolf and horse..........



And a few seconds later theyre all dead, leaving the priest to get a javelin to the face and its all over...........



These are the two armies that combined in Ardun - all the troops will be transferred over to Surt and their march will continue. Hippomachos will head back North for more reinforcements



End of turn movements. Now theyve arrived, Mum R'Ah (may Mcvities bless him forever) the Skratti and the Gygja (now collectively called the Searchers) search the province of Juec for magic. Surt and his cursed band head southwest - although it has more defenders it offers a greater income, we will move east from there into the lake area ASAP. Saxe the holy Wolf builds a temple at The Midge Fens, and behind him reinforcements leave Neifelheim and enter the fens. The scout leaves the planned fortress site and heads Northeast with the plan to go round the mountains and see whos up there - the candles have gone from the West and this coincides with Ermor (Huw) complaining the Indys are tougher than he thought - i suspect that might be him out west

[undercovergeek]

Turn 14 -

Right then, a shit ton of money drops out of the sky in Venna, god love my luck scales. The searchers uncover magic sites. Dagan goes back on the market and we lose his research points and there is a battle we expected.................



The battle of Mnace. Wait, WTF???????? Oh Noooooooooooooes - rampaging elephants!!!



Bwaaaaahahahahahaha - im taller than they are - your stomping skills are no good here fat boys!!! However, they will come in handy for stomping other indy provinces - ill leave a commander here and we can start recruiting the big grey fellas ASAP



The 2 new magic sites in Juec, where we can see Mum-biscuit in his purple robes. The Bile Marsh allowing Hydra Hatchling production - yawn, and the Painted Cave giving 1 Astral Pearl - at the top right, im already rich in water and death gems



'THIS IS NEIFELHEIM' - 5 researching Gygjas and a newly recruited Neifel Jarl, Svipdag - a bad ass indestructible deliverer of cold and ice and doom. Well, he will be as soon as ive covered him in phat goodies charmed up by the old hags, while he waits i make him Prophet, a) because hes big blue and awesome and b) once he gets marching he will deliver the message of the Crumbly King with him, and he'll be doing a lot of marching..................



..........and for creating the goods im going to need Construction 4 - our next magic goal is locked in then:-



A picture paints 1000 words - the black candles are back to the West, theyve appeared to the South East so Mictlan has had the same plan i have - arse, and theyve also appeared to the North, 2 provinces West of Mictlan so its not him. I figure Ermor to my west and Caelum or Arcosophale to the North



End of turn shennanigans - Surt goes Northwest to meet the reinforcements coming West (still hadnt figured out the 2 province move yet!) - the presence of Ermors candles have made me nervous he'll claim the fortress site before i do. Hippomachos heads North towards the fens because i forgot to move him last time, and the searchers head south to Mance to search for any magic elephant stuff. The scout goes North to see who's there