Emulating Sir Robin: How to run away on Horseback

[Thoth]

Optimistic aren't we :P

Given my usual early game FFH body count at the hands of barbs....optimism doesn't pay in FFH.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

The settler was built just as a lizardman popped out of the lair.

...this'll be interesting

Should be able to 1-turn build a second warrior in the capital with a bit of starvation, thankfully the food box is half full.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

welp



Hey, it's the griffon that killed Sir Robin!

Maybe I should use warcry against the barbs :T

This screenshot is a hint of where my next city will be if you think about it.

A hill giant was spotted south of the capital in that little coastal river/grass hills/forested area. Wondering if there is a connection to the clown deserts if the giant got over there somehow.


In other news, the city of Anita Bath is visible on the clown's diplomacy screen, beating the expansive Hippus to founding a second city. At least they were kept at size 4 for a while from building that settler. Not having to build military to fight barbs helps too, naturally.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

Hmm, so basically I've got

- A lizardman ruins to my north
- A goblin fort to my west
- A combat II (now likely combat III, my scout was killed) griffon to my west (they get +50% vs. mounted units, gotta remember that as well)
- A hill giant to my south
- A combat II spider and combat II bear to my east.

Feeling a bit penned in!

I think the next step in stopping these barbs is to send some warriors north to camp out the lizardman lair for fun and exp. Going to need a few promotions to get into the wild.

Also just stacks in general, not going to be able to survive any combat with the substantial bad luck resulting in a few highly promoted beasties lurking my borders. What's going to make stacks difficult is my land is very hilly and forest-filled, so when I lose a defensive battle my retaliatory warriors will likely be attacking a monster in defensive terrain. Ugh.

Bronze warriors will probably be my best bet to even get settlers out of my base. I can talk to Kyan about sending up his free hunters, he was interested in acquiring animals. Could take the likely C3 gryphon off my hands and use it to harass one of our neighbors maybe?

[Thoth]

Early game FFH is very tough on exploring units. Getting bronze usually marks the tipping point between "every explorer is a dead man walking" and "some of my explorers might survive their first fight".

Oddly enough, it's easier once the animals stop spawning and the regular barbs start appearing.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

Yep. As perhaps hinted by my civ choices my favorite civ in FFH has been the Grigori. I was aware of my reliance of a highly promoted barb-busting warrior in the early game, but the extra pressure of multiplayer and not doing silly stuff like waiting till T50 to get a second city has made me feel just how much not having that adventurer hurts!

[Rawkking Goodguy]

And the results are in...



The winner is 1S of Beige dot!

Some nasty overlap with the capital, but I think it's the right choice economically (this would be a horrible city to defend from a rush). I overlooked the fact that this city site will get 4 grasslands farms with mining, two without. No need to rush for construction or suffer through tundra farms like beige dot would have to. Beige dot wouldn't be that bad with a couple farms and mines, but the capital's already a production center. Finally, as previously mentioned this site will allow me to utilize a coastal city with that northeastern riverside sheep more easily.

...though most importantly of all, 1S of beige dot was in my cultural borders :P

We'll see if this crowded city placement comes back to haunt me. It's useful in the short-term at least.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

:zzz:

This lizard failed to do anything but bring Sir Lancelot up to 2 xp and his first promotion.

The bear manages to wander around the mountains and to the northeast, allowing me to send in a party to claim the hut.

Uh...hey there spider...sure fooled us by hiding on the flat ground. This is a strange deviation from how they normally behave for sure.

(I can see the spider due to a scout being on the ancient tower with the warrior)

The hut ended up being another 5 exp hut. Guess I'm making another combat 1/subdue animal scout, though what can we actually do with it? Maybe save it until I can upgrade it to a hunter or horseman.

Also pigs! Lots of somewhat decent coastal cities around, I wonder if I'm supposed to be settling coastal instead of rushing the vastly imbalanced aristofarms

Skirmish with a poison goblin to protect the plains incense and get experience. Fortified a warrior on the hill instead of taking the coinflip odds for a two promotion warrior.

T41 (current) Demographics

Still GNP leaders

Clowns have their second city to size 4 now.

Kyan seems to be back, I should talk to him and see if he wants a C2-C3 gryphon, as well as what his scouts have been up to.

[Rawkking Goodguy]

So stuff has been getting a bit more eventful and I wanted to put out a megaupdate with some diplomacy a few days ago...then I got hit with what is probably the most aggressive sinus infection I have ever come down with.

It should be mostly gone come tomorrow, so I can get you all up to speed then.

For now, a teaser!



It's looking like next turn will be interesting...

[Rawkking Goodguy]

Turn 44-48

Pictured: irony (that city note was posted when I hadn't scouted north).

Not that bad of a city spot, though it needs techs we don't have to really shine. With an ancient forest spotted I can declare those new forests intentional.



Of course the spider promptly moved to block that site, opening up the arguably better terrain to the east. Though I'm not exactly sure where I'll place the third city. Settler's in production, after a recent turn of 100% gold it will finish exactly when code of laws finishes.

Elf city. This is only their second city and they haven't grown, the elven economy really is slow to start up.

With contact established I figured it was time to post the

Graphs

Even with the creative culture the clowns are really getting up there in GNP. Their capital has increased to size 7(!!), so it may be possible that it IS a lot of culture and he's just teched festivals and added a dancing bear + carnival to his capital. Code of Laws is coming in soon so I will reclaim my rightful place :P





Pictured: agrarian floodplains.



Pictured: Free hunters from a lair. That last downward spike is apparently a hill giant that got lucky and killed one of the lizardman according to talks with Kyan. I'm a bit about that even if we are working together for the time being O: )

Still need to do a Hippus-Clowns diplo dump, but for now here is the welcome I sent out to the elves.

[COLOR="YellowGreen"]The sounds of galloping hooves is heard over the hills to the west. The elven sentries take up defensive positions among the treetops.

The galloping grows stronger. For what seems like an eternity the galloping grows closer. What’s taking them so long?

Finally, the intruders are spotted on a hill to the west. On foot. Banging coconuts together. Human warriors being followed by what seem to be human pack mules, carrying an absurd amount of gear stop and hail an elf cautiously emerging from the trees.

What appears to be the human’s leader speaks up. “Greetings, long-eared humans! Tell me, who is the lord of thi-“

One of the overburdened human servants whispers into his ear.

“Er, sorry. Greeting, famed elves of Ljosalfar, Elven defenders of the forest! Please, could you tell me who is the Lor-“ more whispers “…Lord or Lady of this castle!”

“We are the horselords of Hippus, led by the Rawkking-king, and we wish to share tales of our explorations of Erebus, as well as negotiate passage so we may make further discoveries!”[/COLOR]

Their reply

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]You see a a heavy cloud of smoke on the horizon. Cheerful sounds of giggling accompany the smoke, and you think even the animals in the forest look happier than you'd expect. A small band of elves emerges from the smoke, laughing at apparently nothing, and stopping often, almost as if they're not motivated to complete their task. Finally, they reach your encampment after what seems like hours. One of the elves steps out in front of the others...

"Duuuuude," says the Elf.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuude," agrees the Elf behind him.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude," agrees the chorus of the remaining elves.

"Dude, hahahaha," says the second Elf.

"Dude. Here, man," says the lead elf again, first handing you a crude looking pipe, then absent-mindedly realizing his mistake, pulls back the pipe, bursts into laughter, and hands you a scroll on, naturally, paper made from hemp.

"Peace, dude, hahahaha," says the leader again, and the elves make their way giggling back into the cloud.

You open the scroll, a small, curious-smelling pouch falls out as you unravel the scroll. Ignoring it, you read:

"Greetings, Emissaries of the Rawkking-king,

Welcome to the lush and expansive forests of the Ljosalfar. We hope you enjoy your stay in the wilds, and encourage you to sample the local flora (we've enclosed some of our finest.) The Ljosalfar are a peace-loving tribe, and we hope to befriend the Horselords in a mutually beneficial relationship. Currently, we know little of the world outside the forests, as it is indeed a cruel world out there, beset on all sides by harsh peaks, strangling jungle and untamed waters. Only the serenity of the forests gives us comfort in this harsh world, though our people dream of an empire which has relations all over the world. We have met only one other tribe, a curious group of zombie lovers beneath the jungle who call themselves the Sheaim. Thus far, despite our differences, our relations have been peaceful and we hope that this peace lasts for many years.

What can the adventurous Horselords tell us of the rest of the world? We have heard rumors of a band of vicious clowns with a fearsome military? Are these "Balseraphs" located near you? Do you know any other tribes? We have also heard rumors of a band of Adventurers who eschew the Gods and get very lucky with huts, any word of them?

We ourselves have little else to share, other than a desire for peace. To that end, your leader alluded to a hope for passage for continued exploration. While we can indeed appreciate such a desire, we have not yet learned of the appropriate technology to make maps which would allow for the opening of borders to such outsiders, and as such, any incursion into the forests of the Ljosalfar would require a declaration of war. Unfortunately, given the presence of a local hostile band of Lizardman, we believe there exists the opportunity of unpleasant temptation which we cannot graciously accede to. The only path which we are aware of in which you may be able to reach lands south of our own without crossing our borders would be to loop around north of the mountain ridge which separates us from the rest of the world, any other route would require boats.

Is there anything else the Elves of Ljosalfar can assist you with? Please do send word if so.

Yours,
Gaspar, Leader of the Elvish High Council."

</RP> If you find this too over the top, I do possess the ability to communicate normally. Just let me know if it gets annoying. <RP>[/COLOR]