Dominions 3 Monkey Demons of Death

Started by PsiSoldier, April 16, 2013, 08:46:57 PM

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PsiSoldier

This is an AAR for an ongoing Dominions 3 game from a different forum. So the likelihood of an opponent reading this is somewhat slimmed down.   I may delay the turn information somewhat if I feel it is critical and that someone from the game may be reading this.

Game: Vini Vidi Vici
Number of Nations: 11
My Nation: Lanka
My god: Psi   (Master Lich)

My scales:  Order 3, Sloth 3, Heat 1, Growth 3, Magic 1

My plan...   Build lots of forts and cheap Kala-Mukha's that can research and when the need arises they can switch over to reanimating undead to boost my armies.     This will put me behind in research in the early parts of the game but I will be able to pump out large numbers of undead for free.

Early research goals are simply site searching spells to increase my gem income.

At the earliest convienience the plan will be to begin blood hunting and blood research for some of the more powerful demon summons that Lanka gets to mix into my hordes of undead.   The Demon summon that auto casts Darkness will also be of high priority.   And if I can manage to push my mediocre dominion outward some I may invest in some immortal vampires at the very least vampires and their flight make for some nice homeland defense forces and anti-raider's.
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At long last after a thousand years in his slumber the great god Psi rises once again.  He has heard the death chants of his followers and their cries for his intervention.  Each time Psi rises is a little different. In ages past he commanded magical powers so vast he could tear the world asunder with but a thought. He has wished for strength and possessed power so great that he has defeated the worlds most terrifying super combatants single  handed.  He has slain Doom Horrors, Grindlekin, Seraphs and Demon Lords. He has commanded armies so vast that the very earth trembled at their feet.  But alas after his long slumber he finds that his brittle body has returned to it's natural weakened state and while he still controls great magical power it is no longer as vast as it once was.

Finally thoughts of his past conquests and victories subside and he turns his attention to his new found believers. At first he is displeased. These new followers are not much more than simple apes.  Mere animals that cannot even defend and repair a fortress.  Psi wonders how it is that they managed to build one in the first place.  But he sees that they do have their uses. Given a bow and arrows these monkeys are more than capable of sending arrows flying across the battlefield although if the arrows will hit friend or foe is anyone's guess as they are about as accurate as..  well as accurate as a monkey...



That is when Psi detects the ever so familiar scent of death...  Ahhhh These apes possess the secret of necromancy, In fact they are very capable at reanimating the corpses of the dead.   Psi trembles with delight as memories of leading hordes of the dead to victory in ages past come rushing back to him.    So it would seem that he will have his disposable screen of infantry to place in front of his throngs of monkey archers.   

Then Psi detects something more.  These are not just monkeys and apes but they are directed by Demon Ogres and possess the power of blood magic while also having learned to summon unique demon's to field of battle.   

Psi lets loose a wicked laugh that fills his tomb with an air of malice.  Let my enemies learn my name and tremble at the thought of facing me in battle...

PsiSoldier

Turn 12

Psi turns his attention to his fledgling kingdom.  The apes and their demon overlords have been busy but cautious in their expansion.  To their west they are bordered by the nation of Abysia, The apes have sent a request for a NAP 3 to the ruler of the Abysian's but it has gone unanswered.  There also remains one Independent province to the west north of the Abysian's with 20 Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry,

To the east lies Tir na n'Og led by the god Bullock  The apes have already obtained a NAP 3 with the god Bullock and a degree of peace has been established.

To the north of Tir na n'Og and Lanka lay two more independent provinces and the monkeys are preparing to invade the province bordering the capital directly to the north which is the only remaining province connected to the capital that has not been taken.

To the south lies Agartha and their god  Arioch. Once again the Apes have established a peace with the nation of Agartha with a NAP3 however Psi knows from past dealings with their god that he cannot be entirely trusted.

To the west of Agartha lies another independent province with over 120 slingers, heavy infantry and elephants.  It does not appear that Tir na n'Og or Agartha are preparing to attack that province for fear of the elephants.

The main Lanka army is returning home from a neighboring province to re-supply and pick up new undead and monkey reinforcements while Psi decides to move to the south and begin site searching.   

We also recieve a message from the nation of Arcoscephale requesting a NAP 3 with us.  We do not even see them and unfortunately we have not discovered any new provinces with the ability to recruit scouts so our intelligence is limited. We accept however as we have no reason not to at this point.

PsiSoldier

Turn 13 

The main Lanka Army is prepared and marching north 250 strong with a mixture of over 100 Monkey and Ape Archers and close to 150 longdead soldiers.

Psi has arrived in Thing Woods and is preparing to search it for magic sites.  While 3 more Kala Mukha's cast Dark Knowledge to search for more death sites.

Another Kala Mukha is recruited for their ability as both researchers and their ability to reanimate the dead to fuel my armies, while the bulk of my gold is reserved for building another fortress in a neighboring province.

PsiSoldier

Turn 14:

The Lanka Nation as it stands now.



From their casting of Dark Knowledge my Kala Mukha's have discovered 2 new Death magic sites increasing my death gem income to 5 Per turn

Psi discovers a new magic site in Thing Woods  a painted Cave. Thus increasing my Astral income to 1 per turn

The battle to the north ends in victory however my undead suffer heavy casualties. (Mostly from my monkey archers pathetic aim)  in the end I loose 56 out of 138 undead and 1 normal troop.   But as they return to their home province those numbers will be recovered and increased by an addition 59 undead.



I begin building a fortification in Linshire to my west, which is one of my more valuable provinces and over 7000 population. The fortress will reduce the resources in my capital but I do not really care.  The ability to recruit more mages and increase my research is of the higher importance.  Province defense in that province is also increased to a good level.

I also recruit a Raksharaja Demon Ogre commander in my capital which will probably be used to site search for Air sites and research with his higher research value along with recruiting 9 more light bandar archers.



The conquering army is set to return home where they will be directed to the south to take out the indy province with elephants as quickly as possible.

It appears that in the last turn Ctis has shown its ugly head and taken the province that was previously independent to the west of our newly conquered province.   A message requesting peace and a NAP 3 may be sent to Ctis as we have received no reply from Abysia.

Psi moves to the east to continue is site searching and one Kala Mukha continues his casting of Dark Knowledge in the newly conquered province.

Thus ends turn 14.

undercovergeek

awesome - im just looking at mastering remote site searching myself

PsiSoldier

#5
Turn 15

As it turns out we did not need to send Ctis a message...



Our response:  "Very well we accept your eggs and the NAP 3.  I am sure our demon overlords will find your eggs to be very tasty.  I am sure your offspring will satisfy their appetite nicely"

Research in Thaumaturgy level 1 has been completed.    Research in the same field will continue as our current goal is site searching for Air and Nature.

Our remote site searching in the new province found no sites, the site searcher is set to reanimate undead now...

One interesting thing happened.



Can't complain about free PD..  Although I wish I had already bumped it up to 20 or 30

And so here is my world as it stands now...



Psi begins site searching in Halbathria

My Monkey and undead army is reinforced and is now over 320 strong, enough to turn any indy province or pretty much any army they meet at this stage of the game into jelly.  They are now moving south towards the Indy province.

Recruitment...

I struggle with the decision between a Kala-Mukha  or a Raksharaja



They are both holy so they have reduced upkeep but the Kala is 110 gold cheaper.  Both can renaimate undead at the same rate so there is no difference there.  But the Kala is pretty much worthless in battle as he has fairly useless paths without investing any blood slaves.    Where as the Raksharaja can throw down some lightning when the time comes and perhaps cast some blood and death spells as well.    In the end at this point I need to save gold for Labs, temples and another fortress so I go with the Kala..

I also move a Kala to the province where I am building a fortress so he can begin building a temple and laboratory before construction is done.

Thus ends turn 15

PsiSoldier

Turn 16

Gem Income:

Air + 1 (16)
Astral + 2 (4)
Death + 5 (27)
Nature + 2 (32)


Fairly uneventful...

Psi Found two new magic sites.  One site with +1 astral and another with +75 gold

Our world as it stands now..



very little change.  Psi is moving to search another province, we are building a temple in the province with our new fort construction and we are attacking the indy province with our army...



Most of our forces are set to hold and attack while our bandar archers are targeting the elephants to soften them up before they reach our battle lines.   

Meanwhile two sacrificial markata's are stuck out front to catch arrows (or slinger's stones) with their stupid little monkey faces.   But they are already dead so they don't care.

And a group of our archers are also set to fire on the enemy archers to take out some of the slingers.

I also recruit another Kala-Mukha and send another one to the province my army is currently occupying in order to begin building a temple and lab because that province has recruit-able crystal sorceresses with astral magic that I can use for some remote site searching later.

One Kala-Mukha also is set to cast the spell Revive King as I will have almost 130 undead in my capital next turn in need of a commander to lead them.  That army will either be sent south to reinforce my main army or north in an attempt to take the remaining Indy province north of Abysia.  However 30 Heavy cavalry may be a bit too much for 80 longdead to take and I do not wish to simply soften up the defenders so Abysia can take it easily..   Although I will soon be at war with Abysia regardless as soon as I run out of Indy provinces to take unless I encounter another hostile nation.

That pretty much concludes this turn..

PsiSoldier

Turn 17

Gem Income:

Air + 1 (17)
Astral + 2 (6)
Death + 5 (29)
Nature + 2 (34)

Research in Thaumaturgy was completed.  Research switched to Evocation for  Astral probing  site searching.

Revive King was cast for another Undead commander with 80 Undead leadership.


The Battle!!!!



HOLY $H!T  That's a lot of elephants!



Our forces clash!



Heavy Undead losses and we lost our little markata archers but our forces won the battle. 

My world as it stands now.



Spell Casting and recruitment.    Recruiting another Yogini  (Correction to the last turn, I recruited a Yogini there as well because it has Nature 2 and can site search with my newly researched Thaum spell.) 15 more Bandar archers are recruited as well for the coming war with Abysia.

Also casting Host of Gana's 3 times which will give me 60 Ethereal Undead to bolster my forces from my losses this turn.

Site searching the new province with Dark Knowledge also casting Haruspex once to search for Nature and Auspex twice.

One commander is still researching towards the Arcane probing goal and 6 are reanimating undead.

My commander in Duvan is ordered to build a temple and the one in Linshire begins building a Lab

Psi begins site searching in The First Forest.

The conquering army begins it's trip home to restock on undead.

Province defense in the new province is increased to 20 to match the 20 in Linshire and in Duvan to 10.

Thus ends turn 17

PsiSoldier

Turn 18

Gem Income:

Air + 3 (12)
Earth + 1 (1)
Astral + 2 (8)
Death + 5 (10)
Nature + 2 (30)

Fairly uneventful  Found a nice new magic site with + 2 Air and +1 Earth

My world now


Finished constructing the second fortress.

Recruiting one Kala-Mukha and one Raksharaja

Have two revived kings in the capital with 80 undead each counting 60 ethereal Gana's opting to move them to the province bordering the indy province along with my main army instead of wasting a turn grouping them up in the capital

Moving Psi to search for sites in the next province

Casting Auspex and haruspex twice each.

Thats about it for this turn.

PsiSoldier

#9
Turn 19


Air + 3 ( 11 )
Water +1 ( 1 )
Earth + 1 ( 2 )
Astral + 2 ( 10 )
Death + 5 ( 15)
Nature + 3 ( 30 )

Found a really nice new magic site. + 1 water and + 1 Nature and also allows me to recruit Enchantresses that have a chance at 4N3W3F3E3A    That will be really nice for site searching Fire, Water and Earth.



My world as it stands now...



Looks like Abysia was already planning to either attack me or to try to take that Indy province..     But my guess is I will win that battle..   My archers alone should cause plenty of trouble for his shieldless troops.   The only chance I think for it to really go bad is if I suffer heavy losses (not likely) against the Indy and then Abysia attacks me after that in the same province..  But even then I don't think I'll have trouble winning.

Psi Searches the new province,  and Auspex and Haruspex are both cast twice again.

Province Defense in The First Forest is bumped up to 10 from the previous 5 in case of an attack from Abysia.

Construction of a fort begins in the old province with the elephants.

a Kala-Mukha is sent to build a lab and temple for construction in the province with the Enchantresses.

My army moves to attack the Indy province.

Another army of 80 undead is sent to The First Forest where my main army is currently at both to be close at hand for the next battle and also to cause some trouble for Abysia if they attack that province (something I do not think is likely)

Thus ends turn 19... Things may start getting interesting soon.

PsiSoldier

#10
Turn 20


Air + 5 ( 12 )
Water +1 ( 2 )
Earth + 1 ( 3 )
Astral + 2 ( 12 )
Death + 5 ( 20)
Nature + 3 ( 28 )

Found 2 more Air sites for another +2 air gems per turn.

The battle with independents was won. Abysia did not attack.. suffered only a few losses about 35 undead



My world now...



Moving Psi to the next province to continue site searching.

Recruiting 2 more Kala-Mukha's

Also attempting to recruit a mercenary Giant in the province next to Abysia.

Regrouping all my armies in the province south of the newly conquered indy province. This will allow me to decide which province of Abysia's I want to take next turn..   Abysia also completed construction of a fortress this turn. I may just go ahead and take that province.

Building a Lab in the province with Enchantresses.

I am also moving two Kala-Muka's from the province with my second fort to the capital.. This kind of wastes a turn of reanimation or research but I want them reanimating in the capital with everyone else to save time on trying to transport undead from different provinces.   

Leaving one Kala Muka in the Linshire province to continue researching.

Bumped up PD in the new province to 10.

Still casting Haruspex and Auspex twice each.

Thus ends turn 20.  Next turn War with Abysia will begin.. Or at least troops will be on the march unless something unexpected happens.

PsiSoldier

#11
Turn 21

Gem Income



Events... Found another magic Air site. This one gives +1 air and +1 Nature.

The Mighty Pak-Ur has been bought!  I succeeded in recruiting a merc. 



This guy will be mixed in with all my undead in battle.   He's got crappy defense skill but hes got a good attack, good armor and he hits like a truck so as long as the undead can keep a lot of Abysia's troops attention he should chew through a good number of them before he goes down IF he goes down.

My world now...



So yeah I still don't have a single province where I'm capable of recruiting a scout outside of a fortress so I have pretty much zero Intelligence which totally sucks.

Psi is site searching his current province of Old Man Mountains.

My army is moving to attack Abysia at their fortress. Intel shows Abysia has roughly 40 troops in that location mainly burning ones and Abysian infantry.    My army numbers 436 strong so unless he moves more troops into the location I outnumber his (Normal troops) by 10 to 1  Dont know what his PD is though.    A probing attack might be the wiser choice here but this player is more or less a noob as far as I can tell and even if he does have a fair number of province defense I would be reasonably surprised if he even has his real troops set to patrol the province which means they will not even take part in the battle due to him having a fortress in the location.  They will more than likely simply hide in the fort while I kill the PD and then take them out separately.

It is terribly dangerous for me to be attacking Abysia with no intelligence on how strong they are or knowing troop numbers and locations but I pretty much do not have any choice.  I do have fairly strong gem income at this point in time and a better move might be to simply turtle and build as many forts as I can while doing a bit more research in construction and forge bows of war and maybe eyes of aiming for all my undead commanders and set them to fire at rear where Abysia's squishy mages are likely to take an arrow in the eye while casting a fireball.  But this is an 11 man game with around 190 provinces about 16 of which are water.  That gives an average of 15 or 16 provinces per player on land.  I am only at 10 so I am likely one of the smaller nations.  Where Abysia lines up in that I can't say they could be roughly equal to me or twice my size but either way I may risk more not to expand than to make an attempt.  But I have peace treaties with all my other neighbors and if my attempts at communication with Abysia have gone unanswered then I deem it likely others may feel the same way about Abysia.  In fact it is entirely possible that Arco may be gearing up for an attack on Abysia.

Casting Auspex once and Haruspex twice.   Also casting Revive King again for another undead commander.

Recruiting one more Kala-Mukha, one Raksharaja and one Enchantress.

Research in Evocation only lacks 15 points so I am splitting research between that and Conjuration. Evocation should be finished next turn and then I will be on my way to having Voice of Aspu and Revive Bane in conjuration.

That's pretty much it for turn 21


PsiSoldier

Turn 22

Gem Income


No new magic sites found...

The battle with Abysia...



As I said, Abysia did not have his army set to patrol so I took out his minimal PD without any real battle.  But his heavy Armour was still able to stop more arrows than I was hoping. I still thought his lack of shields would be more detrimental to him. Regardless he is now cowering in his fort.

My world now..



I have already broken down the gate at Abysia's fort so I will storm his fortress next turn hopefully before he has a chance to send reinforcements.  I could instead opt to raid his provinces and branch off my forces and take 3 or even 4 of his neighboring provinces in a single turn but then this is where my lack of spies and intelligence really hurts me.  I do not want to risk loosing my living troops in a raid on a province when he could be sending a larger army into the same province during the attack. So I will just take his fort (or at least try to)

I am also moving another revived king with 80 more undead to reinforce my attacking army further.



Recruitment..



Got my first Enchantress.  And as a nice bonus she is capable of site searching for water.  Or at least she will be in another 2 turns when I have Conjuration 3 finished. For now I am moving her to the capital where she will research before she can begin her site searching.

This turn I am recruiting another Enchantress, Kala-Mukha and a Raksharaja.   

Building a Lab in the province with the Crystal sorceresses so that I can recruit some to begin site searching in Astral.  Not really a super high priority as my pretender has 4 Astral skill and likely already found most astral sites but there are still lvl 5 sites to be found (if memory serves level 5 is the highest level magic site available)

The other new fortress in the elephant province will be completed in 2 turns so I am sending a Kala-Mukha from Linshire down to that province to begin building the temple and lab there that will be required for recruitment.

I am moving Psi to Linshire to search that province.

Auspex and Haruspex are both completed and all sites have been searched until I complete taking the province from Abysia. So those mages are switched over to research or reanimation while one of them revives another king.

Thus ends turn 22

PsiSoldier

#13
Turn 23

Gem Income.



Events.



Two Assassination attempts!!



It appears Abysia was smarter than I gave him credit for.  He has managed to assassinate two of my revived kings. And one of his two assassins is decked out with magic items.   My fault for not giving my commanders body guards but I will not make that same mistake again.    This also has the effect of weakening my attacking army by 160 troops.   NOT GOOD..

The disaster of a battle...



Turns out that big fat piece of crap Ettin mercenary that I recruited never even tried to attack. In fact he simply ran away at the start of the battle.. WTF..     



With no Big bad Ettin supporting my troops and the loss of 160 from the attack due to assassinations the burning ones chewed through my forces pretty quickly and engaged my archers before they had a chance to run.

I did however verify that he keeps his mages all in the rear as I would expect which means with bows of war and orders to fire at rear my commanders will hopefully take out his squishy mages that have no armor.

His Burning ones have no defense but great armor and high attack skill  with burning weapons, re-invigoration AND regeneration.


This battle hurt...



My world now...



Ok my new priority is now research.. Switching from reanimation for a turn to research with the goal of being able to forge bows of War. My commanders will then each have a bow of war that they can shoot assassins in the face with while their body guards delay them.  At least I'm thinking the next level of Construction will give me bows of war.. Either way that is what I'm going for and I will complete two levels of construction and one level of Conjuration next turn.

Regrouping what forces I can back to the capital.

For the next good battle with Abysia I will be casting Rain to cause more fatigue for his mages and lessen the effect of his heat and fire.    I will also hopefully have a few bows of war to shoot his mage's in the face with.

Recruiting another Enchantress, Raksharaja and Kala-Mukha.   Building a temple in the elephant province.. 

Also casting Host of Gana's X 3   for another 60 Ganas..  ((Note: Ganas are not mindless so they can repair fortresses in the event of a siege))

Thus ends turn 23