[SPOILERS] Might Makes Amurite -- Tatan tries not to screw up

[Tatan]

A _goblin_? Weird. (I assume this was intentional?)

Anyway, after looking around, I decided that there just simply wasn't enough to justify not settling in place, as vulnerable as it leaves me.



Also, noticed from the log that the Ring of Carcer is in the game.

But enough of that, I know what all the lurkers are just dying to see: DEMOGRAPHICS ANALYSIS!



YEEAAAAAHHHHHH-

:zzz:

Oh, hm, what was that? Wow, just looking at that screen put me to sleep. Anyway, this is my cute way of saying that you shouldn't expect to see the demographics screen more than occasionally for comparison purposes, and you will NEVER see any of that high-falutin' C&D.

I'm just too damn lazy.

[Tatan]

Huzzah!

[Selrahc]

(I assume this was intentional?)

I think it's rather more likely to be a minor fuck up on the part of the map makers. Do you mind terribly?

[DaveV]

A _goblin_? Weird. (I assume this was intentional?)

It's kind of you to assume that, but . Sorry.

[Tatan]

Well, I doubt the difference between winning and losing will rest solely on the shoulders of having a goblin instead of a scout (and if does, well, honestly I'd kinda like to see that ). Since I was planning on keeping him nearby as my garrison unit, I think we can just continue normally.

[Tatan]

Meet Valledia.



Everybody say 'Hi, Valledia!'

Disembodied chorus of kids: "Hi, Valledia!"

Okay, I just creeped myself out with that last sentence, so enough crap. This is an AI diplo only game, and what's more has a supposedly builder-oriented map. Hence, everyone will hopefully have some more leeway to get to the fun late-game shenanigans.

And the Amurites have some pretty damn fun stuff. :dancing5:

Leaders


So, why Valledia and not Dain? They're both Arcane, so it's a competition between Valledia's Org/Ing and Dain's Phi. I went with Valledia for three main reasons:
-Ing = cheaper adept->wizard upgrades
-Phi requires more experience and patience than I possess to play optimally
-I figure someone should try out the new Valledia


The Palace
+8 commerce, +1 production, +2 culture
+1 , -10 crime rate
+1 Body mana
+1 Fire mana
+1 Metamagic

As far as palaces go, this is one of the better ones, on account of having three of the best starting manas in the game. Fire mana is self-evident, body mana essentially gives all units an extra movement from very early on via Haste, and metamagic's floating eyes means I'll never need a single hawk.


Worldspell: Arcana Lacuna
No one else can cast any spells at all for 14 turns. This shuts down all non-siege throwaway damage and screws up micro for things like Bloom.

Obviously, it's an awesome deterrent; the challenge lies in holding it for as long as possible when other players will likely be trying to get me to waste it early on when it isn't as lethal. Hopefully none of my neighbors will bother trying to force it out of me early, because the later in the game it gets, the more and more costly it becomes for the players with magic-based offensives to get me to use Arcana Lacuna.


Swordsman


Wow! Such a powerful replacement unit for axes! And unique as well!! Amazing!!!


Cave of Ancestors

+1 exp for each type of mana owned given to new arcane units
Replaces Pagan Temple

The CoA is one of the main reasons I wanted to try out the Amurites in EitB. Being buildable at Mysticism instead of Sorcery lets me build one in my capital before I really start cranking out adepts, which means I am 99% guaranteed to have some promotable adepts as soon as I reach Sorcery. The main disadvantage of heavily mage-based militaries is the slow start-up time, after all; I believe that, with the +3 exp bonus (in the beginning, that is) and the boost from being Arcane, I may actually be able to build a competitive military. And on this map I will hopefully have a bit of a time buffer anyway.


Chanter
Can cast Escape [teleport to capital]
Replaces assassin

An assassin that can save itself in dire trouble. Nice and all, but Poisons is just not going to be anywhere even close to my priority techs, so I doubt I'll get a chance to build any.


Wizard
Starts with Spellstaff
Replaces mage

A small bonus, though that extra fireball can be handy in a pickle. Nothing gamebreaking, though (unless I can get a staff onto an archmage ; THEN things might get interesting).


Firebows

5/5
Starts with Channeling 2, Fire 1
Replaces longbowman

Awww yeah, that's the stuff. Oh, sure, the realists will tell you I have no chance of ever making it to Bowyers if I also plan on grabbing Sorcery in the same game. But man, if you can get these, they are awesome. Not only do they defend my stacks of wizards, they also provide that extra muscle you sometimes need if you don't want to risk a wizard killing the stack defender. Add Govannon, and they become bona fide mages, to. Speaking of which...


Hero: Govannon

5 str, 480h
Starts with Hero, Channeling 1-3
Can cast Teach [grant all units in a stack the ability to cast any level 1 spell that Govannon can cast]

All those random mage-defenders you built over the course of the game can now cast a host of useful spells. And any firebows or tier II priests you have lying around basically just became mages.

Getting Govannon would be, in three words, pretty darn helpful, and open up the way for a number of cool tricks.



Lastly, a few general plans for the game.
Religion?
Right now I'm leaning towards Ashen Veil. Knowledge of the Ether (a pre-req for Corruption of Spirit) I plan on getting ASAP anyway, and ritualists and Sac the Weak are worth getting on their own in almost any situation. Runes of Kilmorph is also attractive, as I could always use a little extra cash for upgrades, and Bambur makes a great hedgehog.

That said, my first priority is going to be the Magic techs, so religion will be taking a backseat unless I can think of something particularly compelling or the situation requires it.


Mana/Spells?
I already start with fire mana, so fireballs will be my go-to for collateral. Other mana types I'll definitely be looking at getting and their associated spells:
-Entropy: Rust is a useful tool to have against civilizations that won't care about my worlspell as much (I have the Bannor in mind). Plus, it's a great spell for Govannon to give to all my warriors.
-Mind: Inspiration for minor economic gains, maybe Charm for extra insurance on defense.
-Death: skeleton spam obviously (esp. post-Govannon).
-Enchantment: +1 is always nice, flaming arrows + firebows might be too if I can get there.

More situational manas:
-Water: Spring is a must if I'm in the desert (doesn't look like it so far, though), Waterwalking might be useful in a surprise attack (unless Raging Seas is still on the table).
-Life: Destroy Undead eats PZs for breakfast. 'nuff said.

[Tatan]

Jungle! Huzzah! Waddle Doo the goblin is probably going to start looping back to the capital next.

Oh, and looking at the scores, Ilios settled, and Mardoc got a hut tech.


End of turn: Rainbow Route's borders pop!



Cool, another mana node, although I'll have plant a whole city over there if I want to connect it. Oh, and it looks like the hut gave me a
[SIZE="5"]TECHNOLOGY![/SIZE]

Let's see what it is...

[Commodore]

I believe the actual smilie you're looking for is

[Ichabod]

Very fun read so far, Tatan!

Nice hut tech too!

[Tatan]

I believe the actual smilie you're looking for is

:

Very fun read so far, Tatan!

Nice hut tech too!

Thanks!


Turn [STRIKE]3 4 5[/STRIKE] 6

So where was I?



Right. :D




Why yes thankyousir!




Aww what a buzzkill. :\ Time to start bringing my goblin back, because sure enought next turn another goblin spawns, and the turn after that he begins chasing my warrior!




Of course, notice what Waddle Dee uncovered there in the SE. Graveyard, hhhmmmmmm. Should I explore it? On one hand, I've gotten off to a good start, and it would really suck to lose that to a lousy roll. On the other hand...



Fortune favors the bold. Nothing spectacular, but nifty nonetheless.

As you also may have noticed, I moved my civilized goblin on an intercept path with the savage barbarian one. I have a warrior about to complete in Rainbow Route as well, so between the two of them I shouldn't have any problems.


All irrelevant, as it turns out, because the goblin is chasing poor Waddle Dee.



Rainbow Route, as you also may notice in the above pic, completed its warrior. I actually decided to build another warrior instead of a worker; after farming that corn, that worker would have literally nothing to do for 15+ turns, so I figure I can afford to hold off on building one right away.

On a related note, I am top in score, primarily because I appear to be the only one who didn't go worker-first:



Interesting.


Something else worth giving thought into: the game settings, which I forgot to look at until now.



Why is Aggressive AI on?! [*queue Twilight music*] Also, Orthus is off, while Wildlands are on; hopefully, this means that there will be significantly less barbarians and I don't have to defend my cities as vigilantely.

Hopefully I can update more consistently in the future.