M-200% No. 6

24.12.2012 ~no1_knows_me~ (Red, ? Castle, Edric, Vala) def LSM (Blue, ? Inferno, Pielena, Sandro) 2sm2c 133

First game where I won without a mage (not Dimer as usual :D )

111. Roads are slow. Edric obviously has no bows, but is fully built up in the castle. Mullich brought a couple more with him. Have a hatchet +2.
112. Aeris brought 20 Centaurs and 3 Dwarves. Have an external dwelling of Pikemen. Hit the Smithy. Ran up to the GO (50-99 Demons) and right behind it the Griffin Conservatory :(
113. Vala appeared, bows were upgraded and she broke through to the swampy adjacent zone.
114. Have a bunch of Crypts and a prison with a scroll for 50-99 Hell Hounds, took a secondary Rampart. 5 heroes. Built Swordmen at home.
115. Pre-mini Crypt, barely squeeze further into the swamp. Stables at home.
116. In the prison Christian is level 1 :mad: the scroll has Mirror Image :( at least he brought a Ballista with him. Citadel at home.
117. Medium Crypt. Built Griffins at home. Vala took Offense and Logistics — turns out to be a decent fighter... and I was thinking of leveling Elshara (Wisdom specialty)...
121. I dive into the Crypt like a noob — it's a max one, I make a mistake — instead of waiting I hit Skeletons with Marksmen, but the plan was for Vala and that the Marksmen would move first... good thing I noticed it immediately, so I stand next to the Marksmen with Pikemen (48) and Dwarves (11) hoping that the Vampires on their turn will hit anyone but the archers. The Vampires pound the Dwarves :smile03: phew, then I managed it properly, lost all the Dwarves and 15 Pikemen. At home we build the Mage Guild — have Slow, Stone Skin, Shield, Archery — good.
122. A plan matures to give Vala at least Advanced Archery, upgrade a hundred Pikemen, Griffins and Swordmen and go hit the GO, because the blues are already scurrying around there and the Conservatory will be checked soon...
123. They push Archery through for Vala, camp near the GO.
124. All the army is upgraded — into battle :smile19: there are 95 Demons in 5 stacks with Gremlins. Vala has 33 Marksmen, 105 upgraded Pikemen, 10 upgraded Swordmen, 15 upgraded Griffins, Centaurs, Dwarves and a couple of single Griffins. Turned out pretty well to split the Demons, and morale procced for the archers and Crusaders after counterattacks were removed. So losses were: Rampart's meat and a dozen Pikemen and a couple of Griffins. I immediately check the Conservatory like a noob — it's a mini. Vala takes it right away. Then I grab the Breastplate +2 and just enough movement points to crawl into the blue swamp.
125. Running on an Angel I race along the path to the blues, also destroying a couple of blue scouts on the way. A couple of movement points short of reaching Sandro on Efreeti :mad: But I think he's unlikely to attack, and he wouldn't have enough gold for hit-and-run. So overall it's good.
126. Sandro is holed up in the castle. Screw him :smile21: well, if it was a Citadel it'd be half the trouble, but a Castle — scary. I turn around and run to the treasure zone, a couple of quest artifacts have been revealed there — I think I'll sweep everything in a couple of days, deliver them, maybe the army will be boosted... and the blues aren't going anywhere, with slow roads, no Logistics, no gold...
127. A Warrior's Tomb and a Dragon Fly Hive behind the Dwarves have been revealed — I naturally run there with Vala, the blues are far away so I position Vala on the Angel. Sandro runs after Vala.
131. In the tomb — Boots of Necromancy :smile48: and the Dragon Fly Hive is minimal :( I push a bit further — there's a Pandora's Box for 50-99 Earth Elementals. Sandro runs to the other side of the treasure zone.
132. The Pandora's Box gives 50 Dwarves :smile12: I also take a Hive of Magi, a plan matures to use Mullich to steal the growth from the blue noob, while Sandro is looking for something in the treasure zone. But on the last movement points the blues reunite :smile21:
133. Vala with expert Logistics on the Angel, replenishes mana at the well, also combines armies and attacks:

Vala 8-6-3-(20) expert Leadership, Offense, Logistics and Advanced Archery
Sandro 2-1-4-(21) expert Sorcery, Advanced Earth and Basic Necromancy

Fireball there was probably impossible for the blues to pull off.

Thanks for the game.