The new "Let's Play Master of Magic!" thread - lots of pictures

[seclists]

Finally, here we go. I couldn't get the DosBox screen captures to work (couldn't find the capture directory, tried to redefine it in the DosBoxconfig and nothing was ever saved in the defined directory) so I'm using simple Windows screen captures.



Man, this screen fills me with nostalgy.



Yes! We want to start a new game!
(...at this point I realized I had been saving my screenshots at gifs, yuck, look at the loss of color depth! Fixed for the later pictures!)



Yes. This is how I always play.


"Standard" wizards are good for getting acquainted with the game. For experienced players, however, Custom wizards are the best choice.


Sss'ra is the one wizard I do not want to meet in this game! He ruined one perfectly good game with his killer Planar Seal + Meteor Storm combo. Made it literally Impossible.
So, I'll pick Sss'ra's image and the computer won't pick Sss'ra. Simple.


Since we've got a dragon-looking wizard, let's give him a proper dragonlike name. Nidhogg or Nidhoggr was, I recall, a mythological dragon who lived somewhere around or in the Norse underworld.


As I decided earlier, it's 11 Sorcery or bust!


Tought choice between Haste and Invisibility. I have a fetish for Invisibility, so that's what it's gonna be. Hope I will be able to research Haste later. Or maybe find/trade it.
Spell Lock would be nice to have, too, but let's face it, Spell Blast is vital when playing Impossible level.


High Men it is. Bring on the flying invisible Paladins!


Red is the easiest color to see on the map.


Nastrond is the place where Nidhogg lived (thanks, Wikipedia!).
Not a bad starting spot: I will be able to build Warships here. Got some minerals too. But this town will be blocking a potentially better spot for a town nearby (rivermouth). Oh well.


I want magical scouts...

Magic Spirit is worthless in combat but moves 2 areas per turn and can walk on water. Upkeep 1.
And I could always help those guys in combat with Phantom Warriors and Confusion.


Nagas are slightly better in combat - but move slower (IIRC). They can swim too. The upkeep is higher, though...

I decide to summon a Magic Spirit first, maybe Nagas a little later.


Time to research my first spell! Lets see:
Spell Lock is integral to my strategy...but not quite yet. It's a long time before I have my flying invisible paladins out (let alone enough mana to sustain them and the Spell Lock!)
Disenchant True is likewise very useful. But not yet.
Vertigo can turn an early defeat into a victory. Not too expensive.
Phantom Beast. Phantom Beasts are cool - when they are on your side. I want this spell - but it costs twice as many research points as Vertigo. Besides my skill isn't good enough to cast several Phantom Beasts per battle in the early game anyway.
Aura of Majesty is helpful when I want to go trading spells. But I haven't even met the other wizards yet, and this spell costs mana per turn...
The rest are also useful but not vital in the very early game.

...I choose Vertigo.
...and immediately regret the decision, truth be told! In most combat situations, I will be better off simply casting more Phantom Warriors and Confusions. Should have gone for the 'Beast. Oh well. What's done is done.


The Swordsman unit will patrol and guard Nastrond against wandering monsters. The Spearman can start initial exploration.


Need to build something. Well, before building anything costly and complex, it's best to boost our production rate. Since production and pretty much everything relies on population size, let's build Granary first to make Nastrond grow faster.


A Chaos Node! But Fire Giants are not something a Spearman unit can take, with or without Phantom Warriors. The Fire Giants will probably slaughter my Spearmen from a distance before I can cast any spells. No thanks, let's move on...


My Magic Spirit spell is proceeding to slowly. I have excess gold, I'll transmute it to Mana to speed up the process.


...and there's my Magic Spirit!


Suddenly, another Magic Spirit out of nowhere! Who is that?


Ok, it's Oberic. Not my favorite opponent but not a particularly terrible one either. At least it's not Tauron, Rjak or Kali!
What worries me is that he's this close. I may need to deal with him pretty soon. Best start summoning those Nagas.
Here's his profile:




The Nastrond Granary is complete! Next, Smithy->Marketplace->Farmer's Market. Maybe build a Shrine in between, especially if rebels show up.

So that's where I am, now. One further piece of info: the lair near my Spearmen & Oberic's Magic Spirit contained "Ghouls". Since it did not specify how many Ghouls, I didn't enter. A large pack of Ghouls will be a problem for one Spearmen unit when you've got only Sorcery magic - not much help against the Undead.

Now the questions:

1) Most importantly, what to do about Oberic?
Go for peaceful coexistence or try to wipe him out quickly?

He's got lots of Nature books so he could have the Change Terrain spell I might want to trade later. And he's got only Sorcery book, so I have lots of spells to give in exchange. Even as bribes...

But I'm worried by how close he is. That is not going to end well.
If I want to eliminate him quickly, how to go about it? Maintain peaceful relations until I got Paladins? Or summon Nagas like crazy, build Archers/Swordsmen/whatever early units and rush his capital?

2) Powerbase allocation: What should I prioritize?
Maybe take away from Spell Research, since I already have my key spells (Flight, Invisibility, Spell Blast)?

3) Nastrond development. What should I focus on?
(Obviously this will depend on how you answer to #1 and #2.)

(I think I should make the follow-up posts slightly more compact, fewer images and skip uninteresting stuff.)

[n0z3k1ll3r]

I'd suggest trying to contain Oberic. Build settlements to limit his expansion opportunities then crush him if and when he gets uppity. Which he probably will since he's the Master of Magic AI.

In terms of prioritising I'm a massive researcher in every game. So I'm going to have to say that. But try and balance it with skill a bit.

So saying that, probably try and grab the research buildings while you can, mixing them in with settlers and troops.

[[Vertigo]]

...I choose Vertigo.

YES!

...and immediately regret the decision, truth be told!

no!

[seclists]

Good point about not skimping on spell research. I have 11 Sorcery books so there will lots of spells to research before I see the Spell of Mastery (which I, on the other hand, do not want to see or start researching before I have found 2 more books in Nodes). Skill is imporant too. Mana, on the other hand, can be easily "bought" once I've got a couple more towns.

[Integrity]

\o/ master of magic

Early rush Oberon. That's the *smart* thing to do.

To that end, distribute all mana to MP and Skill for more Nagas faster.

And to that same end, build the Sawmill now for Archers.

[Sturmhaubitze]

Did Oberic's magic spirit come from across the water? If so, he may be stuck on a peninsula that requires a long trek by land to reach. If that's the case, cutting him off and containing him is a possibility.

Even better, he might be stuck on an island, in which case you can safely ignore him until he starts sending more flying units or ships around.

[LoneWolf666]

Can you contain him and then milk him for spells later on?

[seclists]

Oberic's magic spirit came from the south. There might be something (water) between us because he didn't send out troops or settlers. I'll send my magic spirit south to investigate.

It is unlikely that Oberic has any Sorcery spells I don't have or at least get later (his single Sorcery book vs my 11 Sorcery books). However, my long-term plan is (when I got flying Paladins) to capture some Nature nodes on Myrror until I get 2 Nature books, so that's when I could try to trade his Nature spells for my Sorcery spells. I'm especially interested in Change Terrain, for its obvious long-term benefits.

But that would take time. Oberic could turn out to be worse trouble than just a nuisance before then...

[seclists]

A tiny update... my Spearmen and Magic Spirit go south looking for Oberic's capital. In the meantime I pump up my mana and skill, and (temporarily!) take away from research, start building a Sawmill and summoning Nagas. Even if I'm not going to war, it won't hurt to be prepared for the worst. Si vis pacem, para bellum. Or whatever - that was from memory.)

First I come across this:


A Chaos Node - that's what's keeping Oberic from reaching me. And me from him (but not Nagas, of course).
The Chaos Node is guarded by a Hydra (and probably something else too), so I don't expect Oberic to conquer it very soon. But sooner or later he will, or I will, and after that all bets are off.

I send the Spearmen back north. There's no way they can cross the Hydra Chaos Node. Let them explore what's out there to the north of Nastrond.

After I pass the Node with my Magic Spirit, Oberic makes an incomprehensible move - he attacks my Magic Spirit with a Settler unit!
I'm guessing that the reason for this move was that he had sent the Settlers on a certain route, and my Magic Spirit intercepted their course. Being the obedient dolts they are, the Settlers move on as instructed and bump into the Magic Spirit.



I'm in the middle of Naga summoning, and have no mana to spend. Oberic gets out a single Fire Bolt that takes away half of my Magic Spirit's life. Then I just hit auto...


It takes a good few turns, but the Settlers are no match for my Magic Spirit. The brave Magic Spirit ventures further south and discovers...



Oberic's city! And what's more, it's his tower capital:


So it's Halflings. Better look out for Slingers if I'm not fast enough with my attack. Invisibility would be great here. I have the spell but not the Mana for it.
With Invisible Paladins it'll be "exit Slingers, stage left". But I don't have Paladins yet, either.

In the meantime, my first batch of Nagas arrive. This leaves me pretty short on Mana (2) and Gold (0).

The obvious question: how would you appraise the strategic situation (regarding Oberic) with this extra info?

[Elerium]

Avoid conflict like the plague: Oberic if he went straight for you would equal death at this point (War Bears and 2 Heroes is just..) I'd probably suggest using a Floating Island to shuttle some Settlers past the node though into his lands because it seems he got the better luck of the draw terrain wise.. I'd also recommend finding some neutral towns to conquer because he'll be after them soon enough (and then he'll declare war on you no doubt.. and Sorcery is pretty weak when it comes to the early game). Also I'm working on my own LP which has been fruitful so far so if you're interested in looking at that as well it'll be up in a bit :P

Could try flying Galley's maybe, in that case you'll be needing a Shipyard and he does seem a bit weak when it comes to air defence.. when you have about 3-4 Galleys fly them in and nuke his fortress? (Although their ranged attack is a bit crappy it is a chunky unit I guess). Conquer and settle first though because the AI does a fiendishly good job of raising an empire.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

If you could go a bit further south and see how far the island extends that way, it might be a good idea. If he's basically up against the edge there he might not have room to expand southward, in which case you can possibly bottle him in with your own settlers and limit his expansion opportunities. A city just north of the chaos node for instance would stop him settling anywhere north of his capital (it's an awful spot for a city, mind).

[seclists]

Yeah, I believe you are right. At this stage, Oberic has got me outmanned and outgunned. No hope of military victory.

So...I'll go with the maintain peace & contain strategy until I've got a few more cities. And Paladins.

[seclists]

Second update. A tad longer than the previous one.

Scouting around, I find something that looks like a viable spot for a new town. Max population 16 (better than any of the nearby squares), and, best of all, it would really hamper Oberic's attempts to expand in this direction.
Once I get my Sawmill and Ship Yard, I could send a batch of settlers and some garrison here. Until then, I decide to park my Magic Spirit here to kill any Settlers Oberic might send.



Turns out that I have inadvertently cut off stack of Oberic units from returning to their capital. I wonder what Oberic decides to do about that. He will probably just move and attack my Spirit.



(Wait, that Flynn wouldn't, by chance, be the same Flynn who was just in your capital, Oberic?)

In the meantime, I have some problems with rebellion in Nastrond. I garrison my both initial units (Swordsmen & Spearmen) to keep them content until I get a Shrine and send out the Nagas instead to explore. This is what I find to the north of Nastrond:



Yet another Hydra Chaos Node but then, a really interesting discovery! A tower guarded by a Djinn - and friends (like Phantom creatures and/or Air Elementals), without doubt. But nothing really that Paladins can't cut through rather easily. This is excellent news! Once I start expanding, I can use this tower as a stepping stone towards Myrror colonization. This tower moves up radically on my list of priorities. I have to get it before someone else does!

I send the Nagas back via a minor detour to explore what's around this peninsula. And start summoning another batch of Nagas.



Nastrond completes the Sawmill. I start working on the Ship Wrights Guild, and after that Settlers. Surprisingly, Oberic still hasn't attacked my patrolling Magic Spirit. He seems oddly content with having a good stack blocked off by the Spirit.
(Note - they disappeared a few turns later. Either he disbanded them or used a floating island to get them away, I suppose.)

Mercenaries turn up at my door. I have extra food production as is, so why not? You got the gig, guys.



Things start to get interesting. Oberic sends out Settlers. Rather than move my strategically placed Magic Spirit, I send the Nagas to deal with the Settlers (or the outpost they create, hopefully before it develops into a town).



My Ship Wrights Guild is complete but Oberic beat me to building a city here! But my Nagas arrived to the spot right then. Are they too late..?


Nope!

Got me an empty Halfling town and 21 Gold for free. Oh well, I can live with that. I know I could use some Slingers... and Halfling food production. Still, I'm amazed how quickly Oberic's outpost developed into a town. Or how he can have amassed such great units and heroes so quickly.
(Yeah, Impossible difficulty was not supposed to be "fair".)

One thing Impossible level does not give to the computer is extra smarts, though. Oberic clearly isn't the sharpest tool in the shed:

Yesterday's news, my dear Oberic, yesterday's news. Tell you what, Mirndale is already mine.
Unfortunately, now Oberic officially hates me and won't even accept bribes. I believe my capital is safe (for now), but Mirndale might be in for an interesting future. (Maybe I should simply settle it away?)

A Hero turns up...and a very useful one for early game (he's Noble!). I happily welcome him.

...and name him after a French comic book character he clearly resembles.

Oberic finally talks to me again. I give him Word of Recall as a bribe and make a peace proposal but he also wants Spell Blast. No go. He waves me away. But at least now our relations are 'only' Troubled instead of pure Hate.

Instead of the original intended destination, I send my new Settlers to the North and build a second town next to the Tower I want. It's not a great spot (max population 13) but the others nearby (thundra, forest) are even worse.
These guys had better be prepared for wandering Sorcery monsters...


Uh oh! Oberic is already busy expanding his influence!

My best bet is to at least keep him away from my capital. And try to hurry up my Paladin production.
(I use the Trireme to wreck his Floating Island.)
A tribute of 150 Gold takes Oberic from Trouble to Tense. But he still refuses to sign a peace contract.

After a couple of turns and 100 more Gold, Oberic is happy and we're BFF again! Or at least until I get my Paladins out, that is. Just working on the Temple in Nastrond, by the way.


A Bad Moon begins. In the meantime, my Trireme explores the extent of Oberic's empire:

I start building Halfling Settlers in captured Mirndale to send them east so I can release my patrolling Magic Spirit.

Merlin casts Crusade:

Now I know the identities of two opponents. Two unknown ones. And since this is Impossible level, at least one of the three I haven't met yet will be on Myrror.


The Halfling town of AnimoCity is founded. That's a really bad place for a city (too close to Mirndale, to boot), to tell the truth, but at least it prevents Oberic from launching a colony here.

Oberic sends a bunch of halfling Swordsmen to the Hydra Node that separates him from my capital. No Halfling luck this time. Sayonara, Swordsmen.

After a long ocean trip (see map), the Trireme sights land and...purple units.

(The Trireme is there, it just 'blinked out' for the screenshot.) No doubt I'll be hearing from this wizard soon.


Uh oh. Bad news time. Kali. One of my 3 least favorite Wizards. Takes a high priority on my "opponents to destroy first" list.

My Magic Spirit wanders near a big city. A purple Lizarmen unit hangs on to its tail and starts following it around (the Magic Spirit is above the Lizardmen, again 'blinked out'):


The green wizard is Merlin:


His capital seems to be a High Men town - but those look like Barbarian units? Strange.


Kali, on the other hand, relies on Nomads:

More meat for my grinder once I get the flying Paladins out. Oh, by the way, I'm already working on the Cathedral. After that it's one more building before the Nastrond Paladin Factory is launched. (And in this game, Paladins generally equal 'win'...)

Here are the profiles for my new playments (yes, Kali and Merlin have a peace pact):



My Magic Spirit discovers a Neutral Halfling village guarded by 4 Swordsmen.

Hmmm... with Phantom Warriors and a lucky Confusion (not so easy against Halflings), my Magic Spirit might be able to take this. I decide to seize the opportunity!

I choose one of the lower level (lower resistance) Swordsmen and succeed in confusing it. After that my overland skill/mana reserve is good for 3 Phantom Warrior units. Let's see how this plays out:


The Phantom Warriors kill 1 Swordsmen unit and wound 2. The confused unit hasn't engaged combat yet. I'm moving my Spirit around and try to get the confused unit hack and slash their friends.


You can't always win...


And you asked why Kali's personality was labeled 'Chaotic'...

I had done absolutely nothing to offend her. I moved my Trireme immediately away from her cities and units.
I have no spellbooks in common with her, so I can't bribe her with spells, and I have other plans for my money right now, so I choose to shrug off her threats. But if it is war that she wants, I'll give her one. Soon. Still working on the Cathedral...

I summon another Magic Spirit to carry on the scouting task.

Oberic sends a big stack to take the Hydra Chaos Node:

...but then just parks them there instead of attacking? What's he got on his mind?

My new scout finds a War Bear lair. Unfettered by my previous dismal failure at a neutral town, I'm a glutton for punishment and attack.

Just one pair of War Bears? If I can't beat them, I don't deserve my Wizard's hat!

How about this? Invisibility + Confusion, just hit Done (not worried about loss of Fame because of Confusion, you don't get Fame for one War Bear unit anyway).

Keep hitting Done...

Yup. Thought so.
Only 50 Gold. Not that I expected much more here.


Not you too, Merlin! What's his beef?
Oh well, your loss. Old man, you won't be seeking the Spell of Mastery much longer...

Quite accidentally, my Magic Spirit soon bumps into a stack of Merlin Swordsmen. Merlin summarily kills off the Magic Spirit with an Ice Bolt. Short and sweet.

I don't care. I pay 262 gold to complete the awesome Nastrond Cathedral. Now it's only 12 turns (or less if I pay Gold) to complete the Armorers' Guild and Paladins are a go...

[Elerium]

You might want to watch out for Heroes- the enemy wizards will buff and give them items so that they can murder Paladins.. a low level one managed to wipe face with me the game before last (granted I wasn't High Men but Troll ultra-elite units), boosted with Eldrich Weapon and a bunch of AI artifacts. Baslisk spammage can hurt too, but at least Magic Immunity takes away their buffs. I would divert all magic to mana then convert it to gold to buy the Armorers' Guild and get those Paladins because a huge train of units are probably on their way to cronk your capital..

Also damn I knew I wasn't hallucinating when I could recall some Arabian cartoon character trying to kill his Caliph as a kid but I could never find the name of it until now.

[seclists]

Yet another update.

Still no sighting of Kali's or Merlin's armies. On the other hand, Oberic, who I have (nominally) peace with, keeps sending stacks towards the Chaos Hydra Node...or is it my Halfling towns he is after?

The upper stack is 7 Halfling Spearmen and 2 Halfling Swordsmen. The lower stack is 7 Halfling Swordsmen, 1 War Bears and 1 Halfling Shaman. Oberic is clearly up to something wicked.

Turns out Oberic was not interested in the Node nor in my cities. The War Bear/Halflings stack make an attempt at the lair (one step east from their location in the screenshot). I no longer even remember what creatures there were in that lair. Apparently they fail (they vanish).

Next turn, my first Slinger unit is completed in Mirndale. I check out the lair. Earth Elemental...oh. The Slingers decide not to try their luck. They return to protect Mirndale.

In the meantime, Nastrond Paladin Factory is officially opened!

I decide to make my first Paladin stack (maybe just 3-6 units) right away, and leave one unit to protect the factory. The initial run will be V1.0 Paladins, without magic or adamantium weapons or any other niceties. The new and improved V2.0 (with magic weapons from Alchemists' Guild) will be developed a little later. The current market requires the launch of V1.0 right now, with no time for new features or we'll lose our market position!

Again, a tragic navigation failure. My trireme bumps into Kali's.

Kali unsuccessfully tries to Black Sleep my trireme. I turn it Invisible. Kali Berserks her trireme. I Confuse it. And start hitting Done. Kali Dispels the Confusion. I have no mana nor skill for any further spells. I don't want to waste my trireme, so I just keep hitting Done until "All units retreat exhausted".

A hero visits my Tower.

I think he's one of the crappiest heroes in the game but I'm polite enough not to break it to him. Besides, I really need to concentrate my resources on Paladin production. So I just tell him, "Why don't you ask princess Snow White here, I believe she has a thing for Dwarfs. I know where she lives, she calls herself Kali these days, but it's her all right..."
"Uh, yeah," Brax says and leaves. I wonder if I've seen the last of him. He is, if nothing else, tenacious. (I remember an earlier game where my stack of superheroes and Paladins liberated him from captivity in a tower. He wanted to join but my superguys didn't want to join up with minor-leaguers and told him off. Brax set out on his own in search of fame and fortune, and apparently found none: a few turns later, the same stack had to rescue him from captivity in a nearby ruins!)

My first batch of Paladins is out!

I dismiss the Nagas who were helping with the protection of Nastrond, and start casting Flight on the Paladins.

...and not a second too soon! Merlin's uber-stack is already nearing my capital?

Fortunately it turns out to be just a single Water-Walking Basilisk unit. But it will be trouble if it reaches my weaker cities. Now this is something for my flying Paladins to deal with. I start transmuting gold to mana to speed up the Flight spell.


My flying Paladins catch the Basilisk near the northern shore of my continent. Let the games commence!

Merlin Dispels the Flight (blah, but no matter, we're not above ocean right now). I hit Auto. Merlin Webs the Paladins. No use. Paladins make short work of the Basilisk and defeat it without taking any damage at all. (Paladins are overkill, told ya!)

I recast the Flight spell. Since my Paladins have already flown all the way north, I decide to take a peek at the Tower I'm interested in. Maybe if it's just one Djinn, I can take it.
Turns out that it's one Djinn and lots of Phantom Warriors:

Because of their Phantasmal attacks, Phantom Warriors can be problematic for any normal unit when they come in great numbers. So I start summoning some of my own.
The Djinn attempts (unsuccessfully) to Disenchant True (or Dispel true? forget which it was called) the Paladins' flight. This will later turn out to be the turning point of the battle!

Instead of casting more spells, the Djinn concentrates on engaging my Phantom Warriors in melee. I cast as my Phantom Warriors as I have mana for, and the Djinn wastes all but 2 units before my Paladins reach him and kill him.
After that, I'm left with 2 badly damaged Phantom Warrior units and my Paladins.
I send out the Phantom Warriors first. They die without significantly injuring any enemy units.
So it's up to my single Paladin unit to vanquish 8 Phantom Warrior units (without any support from my spells). Or bravely die in the attempt.

Without hesitation, they charge!

And this is where the Djinn's failed Disenchant attempt wins the battle - for me.
Turns out that, since Phantom Warriors cannot engage Flying opponents, my Paladins always get to attack first. The Phantom Warriors could counterattack if they survived the Paladins' initial onslaught.

None of them do.

My Paladins win 2 Fame for me, a Disenchant True spell and the famous Gauntlet of Eastwood (which I give to my only hero, Iznogoud). But none of that really matters. What matters is...
Myrror, here I come!

My plan is to set up a new city there, near adamantium of course, for V3.0 Paladins. And while doing so, also look out for some tough Nature (or maybe Sorcery) Nodes to complete my spellbook library.


Meanwhile, I see Oberic send away a Floating Island. It's already beyond my visual range when my turn begins.

My Flying Paladins explore some ruins on Myrror:

Hmm. Boring. I hit Auto.

Without any means of engaging Flying units, the Zombies and Skeletons simply wait until the Paladins fly to them and chop them into pieces, one by one, without taking any injuries in the process of doing so.
I get 1 Fame and The Golden Staff of Sharee.

Another empty cave nearby yields some Mana (50?).

Lots more Oberic units converge near Mirndale. The newest stack (below Mirndale contains 7 Halfling Shaman units, 1 Sprite unit and 1 Halfling Bowmen unit. (And they keep coming after that...either Oberic is serious about taking that lair or he's about to cut our peace contract to ribbons.)


I have two more Paladin units complete but they're not flying yet. I forgot to transmute more gold to mana after the tower battle.

Another semi-terrible hero wants to enlist.

But at least he is a caster, which is good, so I let him. I'll keep him in my tower, and he'll add to my casting skill. And he can have that Golden Staff.

On Myrror, the Flying Paladins encounter a single Guardian Spirit in a Temple. Short version: I won.
Got Wind Mastery (which ought to be good once I've got more flying units moving around).

Suddenly, Kali sends Shadow Demons near DupliCity!

Only one unit, though, and she doesn't attack right away. Maybe it's a scout? I send two Flying Paladins after the Shadow Demons and leave one to protect my capital. I start building Library (for Sages Guild and Alchemists Guild) in Nastrond.

I engage the Shadow Demons and defeat them easily but Kali succeeds in dispelling one of the Flight spells. I have neither the Gold nor the Mana for recasting Flight right now, blah.

On Myrror, I find a Merlin colony:

Haven't come across any adamantium veins yet. This is the first Myrran Node so far. Guarded by...a Sky Drake (&friends, presumably). No thanks, I'll pass.

I find the fourth opponent:



Tlaloc. He seldom gives me any serious trouble. I'm relieved.

Here's his profile:

Yet another Nature caster...I really need to find that super Nature Node and get those two Nature books so I can, hopefully, trade for Change Terrain and maybe Transmute. (And, after that, kick their @sses out the water!)

Tlaloc is playing Trolls. The tiny village is guarded by 2 x Troll Spearmen, 1 Troll Swordsmen, 1 Troll Shaman. And Shadow Demons.

Speaking of Shadow Demons, Kali sends some more to the vicinity of DupliCity:

Only one of the 2 Paladin units in my stack can fly ATM, thanks to Kali. Mental note to self: move up the priority of Spell Lock, if you can study it...

I have to wait until the Shadow Demons are on land before I can engage them with both Paladin units. Kali attempts to Dispel the remaining Flight, twice. Unsuccessfully. The still-Flying Paladin unit, practically immune to Shadow Demon attacks, proceeds to slowly hack the (regenerating) Shadow Demons to pieces.

In the meantime, Merlin casts Awareness. Big deal.

Finally found a Nature Node on Myrror!

Unfortunately, it's guarded by a Colossus, which is the worst possible Nature opponent for 'mere' Flying Paladins (without Invisibility). I was hoping for Great Wyrms. Oh well, I'll keep searching.

I witness Merlin cast Change Terrain. So he has it. Guess I'll have to keep the old geezer alive for a while!

And I recast Flight on the Paladin unit (that was Dispelled by Kali).

Finally, my first Flying Paladin units comes across a Neutral Myrran town of Beastmen:

It's guarded by 7 Spearmen (only), so the Flying Paladins should be able to take it without breaking sweat. But I'm not sure that would be a smart thing to do this close to Tlaloc (who might already be sending troops to this town, see the Troll Swordsmen nearby).

This is the situation now. As for my towns:
Nastrond - My capital. Currently has Paladin Factory and Library & Sages Guild. Had to switch to trade goods temporarily to support my troops, will switch to Sages Guild once some other city (i.e., AnimoCity) can do trade goods. Protected by Paladins...and that's the only thing you need to know, really. (But yes, my 2 heroes and a single Swordsmen unit are also garrisoned here.)
Mirndale - Has 4 Slinger units, building Sages Guild (towards Alchemists Guild).
DupliCity - Protected by 2 Spearmen units and 2 Flying Paladins. I will be sending the Paladins away soon, though. Working on naval buildings.
AnimoCity - Can't remember who it is protected by, possibly Slingers or just Spearmen. Working on Shrine, after that it will be an official money factory (Trade Goods).

Question:
Where to set my priorities now?
I've got 4 Paladin units completed. One will stay guarding my Paladin Factory (and tower). Where to send the other three?

Option 1: Direct Confrontation with the Enemy Wizards (or some of them) - take the battle to their towers!
The upside: This will win me a lot more breathing room for a while.
The downside: Not sure if 3 pretty 'basic' Paladin units (if you can call Paladins that!) will be enough, especially if the opponents dispel their flight. Also I will no longer have a chance of trading for Nature spells later with those wizards.

Option 2: Patrol and look for approaching enemy stacks
The upside: My cities could be in great danger, and I just don't know it yet. A stack of 3 Paladins should make a short work of most other stacks. This, too, will win me some more breathing room although not as efficiently as Option 1.
The downside: Their Flight can still be dispelled, in a relatively unimportant battle, and this could be trouble if it happened over ocean. And this does not really work towards my ultimate goals. On Impossible level, the enemy wizards will summon or build new units faster than a single Paladin stack can hunt them down. Counterproductive.

Option 3: Find a winnable big Nature or Sorcery Node on Myrror
The upside: More power means more mana, more research and more skill. And more mana means more Flying, Invisible Paladins. I also get the option of trading for Nature spells (if I acquire more Nature books) or simply an even bigger boost on Sorcery (if I acquire more Sorcery books).
The downside: A stack of 3 Paladins might not be enough against the really tough Nodes. Fliers are good against most Nature creatures, but I can't rely on casting more Sorcery spells to assist them in a Nature Node. And I wouldn't send a stack of 3 Paladins, without magical or adamantium weapons, against Sky Drakes (when there are more than 1 of them).
Also, I'm more than slightly worried about what my opponents might do while my honor guard is busy conquering Nodes.

Suggestions?

[WingedKagouti]

Suggestion: Find Kali, kill Kali.

She doesn't have any Nature books, so no Nature spells for you to not get later on. It should help you against Shadow Demon spam, which can be a nasty distraction if allowed to run wild.

[[Vertigo]]

I vote for war against Kali and finding a nature node. Kali is going to be a pain if left alone. I would also keep looking for a nature node you may get lucky and the additional mana would be a huge boon.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

Is is possible to get some of your secondary cities up to Pikeman production? A bit easier to get to than Paladins and still some of the nastiest normal units in the game (especially the High Men version with 8 figures).

[seclists]

So it is decided. The die is cast. Kali's fate is sealed.

I order my 3 Flying Paladin units to set course for Kali's fortress. On the way back from Myrror, the Myrran unit comes across a dungeon with some War Bears:



No challenge. I get the Aura of Majesty spell there!

They also come across an unprotected Merlin outpost:



Since Merlin has already unilaterally declared a war on me, I seize the opportunity. I choose not to raze the city...but so many inhabitans die that the outpost is destroyed anyway. No matter. I won't shed many tears over Merlin's loss.

Kali casts Awareness. That only strengthens my resolve: Kali has to go.

On their way to Kali's fortress, my 2 Flying Paladins have an interesting encounter with a stack of 2 Nightblade units. I see them move but once they stop, they vanish.

I move my Paladins to the square (apparently empty), and a battle ensues.

I kill the Nightblades easily but, you guessed it, again one Flight gets Dispelled. I convert the rest of my Gold to Mana and recast it...

The 2 Paladins reach Kali's fortress:


This looks winnable, but 2 units (even Paladin units) might not be enough. The problems: Werewolves (Weapon Immunity? can't remember for sure), Berserkers and Pikemen. Maybe I'm not outclassed but I am outnumbered. I decide to let the 2 Paladins wander around until at least the third unit arrives.

I also want to be able to cast at least Counter Magic in that combat. But I just don't have the Mana. 19 ATM. Gold? 14. So maybe I should sell something..?

Nastrond doesn't need the Ship Wrights Guild since I'm moving the production of naval units to DupliCity. But it would only bring me 33 Gold. Converted to Mana, without the Alchemy retort, that would give me only 16 Mana. Not worth the effort, IMO.

But I have the Golden Staff of Sharee! Neither of my heroes can use it, and it's worth 875 Mana. I break it for the Mana.

In the meantime, Oberic stacks even more impressive units near Mirndale:

Maybe he'll be the next to go..?

I let the 2 Paladins wander around a bit. They find an empty cave...and something interesting!


And just a turn after that my Vertigo research completes. With this selection, I don't have to think hard what to research next:

Yep. Spell Lock. Take that, Kali (and the others)!

AnimoCity completes the Shrine, and I switch Nastrond to building Alchemists Guild. That leaves my Gold at a breakeven point (+1 per turn). I need to colonize or conquer something soon.

The 2 Flying Paladins find a Temple inhabited by a single Zombie unit. And get 50 Gold. That's nice. An abandoned keep next to it (all within Kali's lands) contains a single Sprites unit. And 100 Mana. Even better. And some more Zombies plus Skeletons: 50 Gold.

Mirndale and Nastrond complete their Alchemists Guilds. I switch Mirndale to Trade Goods (no use for magic Slingers yet), and Nastrond to Paladins...the new upgraded V2.0, complete with magic weapons!

The 2 Paladins find a Nature node on Merlin's continent that seems takable by two Paladins.

I could use some more power, so I decide to try it.


A single Basilisk? Against Paladins?
...a.k.a. 'Auto'.
The Paladins loot a whopping 30 Mana Crystals in the Node! Hopefully it will produce a bit better in the long term...

The single Paladins unit finds another Nature Node next to one of Merlin's towns.

Now this has at least one Great Wyrm in it. Hmmm. Let's wait for the other boys and then try this one.
On their way to this Node, the other 2 Paladin units come across Ruins guarded by a single Zombies unit (30 gold), wandering Skeletons (2 units), and a Giant Spider lair (2 spiders, 3 sprites -> 280 gold, 1 fame).

Near the Great Wyrm Node, I find a neutral Barbarian town.

It's got 7 Shaman units and a single Bowmen in it, so it should be easy as a pie for Flying Paladins. Besides, this town is ideally placed for building protectors for any Nodes I conquer on this continent!
Long story short: I Confuse the Bowmen and hit auto.

Easy victory.


Next challenge: The Great Wyrm node! Are the boys up to it?

Uh oh. But - only one Great Wyrm. And none of these Nature monsters can engage fliers except in counterattack. I feel confident. But just not 'auto' confident.

I choose to engage the Great Wyrm first. I lose 2 Paladin figures to it. Then the Earth Elementals. They aren't too bad but there are 8 of them.

I take out 3 Elementals. The units that are already missing 1 figure lose another and are down to 2 figures each. I decide to hold them back and let the full 4-figure unit do the dirty work.

And they do it pretty admirably:

Inside, I find some gold and mana and a shield (The Resistor). But no spellbooks. Bummer.

Already two units of Paladins V2.0 are complete. I start casting Flight on them. When I have six Flying Paladin units (3 V1.0 and 3 V2.0), I'll pay Kali a visit.

Speaking of whom...

Shadow Demons again. I have some Bowmen in DupliCity but I doubt they'll be enough against Shadow Demons. Better send some V2.0 Paladins from Nastrond, presto!
But Kali isn't interested in DupliCity, after all? The Shadow Demons go straight past it.

Without any provokation on my part, Tlaloc declares war on me! Big surprise there (...not).


My three V1.0 Paladins scout Kali's capital. They now see 1 Berserkers, 1 Werewolves, 1 Halberdiers, and 3 Shadow Demons there. Probably there are Nightblades too in there (I've seen purple Nightblade units moving in and out of Kali's capital). Wait for reinforcements, guys, and we'll go in together...to get her.

One of my V2.0 Paladins catches up with the Shadow Demons. Instead of Disenchanting, Kali relies on Black Prayer. Suits me. Lets me get my Counter Magic out before she can Disenchant the Flight.


Then Kali actually does cast Disenchant Area. But she only succeeds in Disenchanting the Counter Magic. Then the Flying Paladins kill the Shadow Demons, unscathed.

And my third unit of V2.0 Paladins is complete. Now it's time visit Kali.

And my research on Spell Lock is complete! How nice! Just what the doctor ordered.

Not many of these spells are useful in my current situation. It's either Air Elemental, Mind Storm or Magic Immunity. Maybe not Magic Immunity since my main units (Paladins) have it innately. Air Elemental or Mind Storm? Well, since most of my towns are pretty lightly defended, an extra Air Elemental might be nice for turning the tables, especially if the opponent sends troops with ranged attacks (the one significant weakness of Phantom Warriors/Beasts).

Again, more Shadow Demons near DupliCity. I Spell Lock a Flying Paladin V2.0 unit and attack them. Don't even bother to Counter Magic. Kali's attempt to Disenchant is futile, as you might expect.

Some Dark Elf Priests want to join:

They aren't bad but not what I need right now, at least not at this price.

On their way to Kali's capital, one Spell Locked Flying V2.0 Paladin unit runs into (you guessed it) more Shadow Demons. Kali Wraithforms, Berserks and Black Prayers them. And then they died.

Merlin attempts to take the Nature Node next to his town!

I successfully Invisibility & Spell Lock my Bowmen. No luck with Confusion, though. Then I hit Done... Done... Done...
...and win (no fame for this victory, though).
I probably need to send some Paladins here, too. But Kali first.

Then Merlin attacks again. This time he succeeds.

I need the node to sustain my spells. I change my mind and send the Paladins here first. You want war, Merlin, you got it.

Kali casts some spell at the Orc Spearmen mercenaries who are guarding the tower...I'm not sure what it was. It looked like snow raining from a black hole.

The Spearmen take some damage but survive.

Battle royale for the dominion of the Nature Node: Merlin's troops vs 4 Spell Locked Flying Paladin units.

I believe my claim is stronger and this Node belongs to me. I conquered it, after all! Let the usurper feel my wrath!
This will also be a good field test for my Paladins before taking on Kali.

The Iron Skinned Swordsmen go down quickly. The next priority will be the Bowmen. Shamans, with their magical attacks, are pretty much helpless against Paladins (Magic Immunity), Iron Skin or no.

When the Bowmen are dead, I hit 'auto'. Merlin relies on Iron Skinning his Shamans. Not that it helps them. My Paladins easily reap 1 fame.
Good show, boys!

One Swordsmen unit has sneaked to the other side of the Node. I hunt them down and attack with a single Paladins unit. Merlin pumps the Swordsmen with all kinds of silly enchantments (Holy Armor, Invulnerability, and whatnot), and they actually succeed in killing one figure before the (multiple-Webbed) Paladins unit kills them.

Merlin is not happy about this. He makes threats about my being too close to one of his towns.
"Sorry, old man, can't help it, but this Node happens to belong to me..."
I'll need to do something about this sooner or later. For now, I'll just park one Flying Invisible Spell Locked Paladin unit on the Node.

I notice that some of the Spell Locks have vanished. Apparently, if a Spell Lock gets dispelled, the game does not tell you that.

With one Paladin unit left behind, I send 5 units against Kali. Turns out that Kali has made some changes to her roster of defenders:


Obviously, my Paladins shrug off the magic attacks by Shadow Demons and Magicians. I get the Counter Magic going...



Yup. Werewolves have Weapon Immunity:

In fact, Shadow Demons and Wraiths have it too. But without their magical attacks (against Magic Immunity), Shadow Demons are wimps. So I let the guys without the magic weapons target the Demons and normal troops, while the V2.0 Paladins (2 units in this combat) will take on the Wraiths and Werewolves.

I try to sneak in over the back wall. The Wraiths engage the V1.0 Paladins as they are passing by - but don't seem to hurt them at all. So their Life Drain attack is magical as well?


The Berserkers reduce one V1.0 Paladin unit down to 1 figure before going down. The Shadow Demons go down without any resistance at all, really. So does the single Chimeras unit. I decide to hold back the seriously injured unit.


I lose one Paladin unit to the Pikemen. The Wraiths, on the other hand, are utterly harmless but take ages to kill.

I close in on the survivors of the Pikemen unit and the Werewolves, Kali's last protectors. Things are starting to look pretty bleak for her - and good for me.


The Werewolves turn out to be pretty wimpy too:




Bye-bye, Kali! I won't be missing you!


So that's where I am now. Elsewhere, DupliCity has completed the Maritime Guild and has already started building my first Warship. The upkeep on all those spells is putting me at -2 mana per turn. And Merlin is becoming more than a nuisance; on top of it all, he's expanding his empire at a ridiculous rate. But I can't afford to kill him just yet if I wish to trade spells from him...

Options:
1) Now conquer some Nature Nodes on Myrror for the Nature books, then try to trade spells with Merlin. Problem: He's pretty pissed off with me over the Node issue (my guarding troops are just 2 squares away from his town)? But I cuold really use the extra power.
2) Give Merlin the lesson he's been asking for?

[Integrity]

Kill Merlin.

(predictably, integrity advocates WAR at the cost of anything)

[Iamme]

I vote you secure your power base while you have an opening.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

I'd prepare for the possibility Merlin decides to move against you, but try and put it off as long as possible.

[seclists]

Returning to my command post after a brief pause. Turns out that, in the meantime, I've forgotten what I was doing and where my units are headed. Seems that DupliCity has produced my first Warship but I no longer remember what I wanted to do with it. Oh well. I'll just keep producing some more.

I leave the most seriously injured Paladin unit behind to guard the town of Blake, which I just captured from Kali, and turn off their spells (really need that mana for something else). They won't be needing them anytime soon, I hope.
The rest of the conquering heroes, 3 Flying Spell-Locked Paladin units, I send to Myrror to win some Nodes for me.

Merlin nags again about my being too close to his cities.



If I remember correctly, this means that my diplomatic standing with him just got even worse. I don't care. The only thing that is keeping him alive is the fact that I want to be able to trade Change Terrain (and maybe Transmute) from him if I get the chance. After that I'll wipe him anyway.

Oberic sends heroes to capture the Hydra Chaos Node. They die spectacularly. (Or maybe he recalled them away, I wouldn't know.)

He tries again, with a stack of Halflings and "Flynn", and this time he succeeds! I need to be on my toes now, since this could mean he will try to expand in my direction now. The Node was the only obstacle between our Fortresses.
I decide park some troops to stop his progress in this direction. First, I clear some ruins with a Paladin unit:


No contest, I win...80 gold and 1 fame.

This is how close Oberic is now to my capital:




In the meantime, I witness Merlin cast Change Terrain! Yes, he definitely has it.

Soon, Merlin attacks my Node (guarded by Invisible Spell-Locked Paladins):


I try a Counter Magic...and it Fizzles.
Merlin summons an Earth Elemental, Stone Skins up his Berserkers, and tries to Dispel my Paladins. Fizzle again. I hit "Done" ad boredom. Then I win by default.

More bad news for the old geezer:


Trouble with Oberic. A Settler unit sneaks in to my territory.

I send a Swordsmen unit against it. Cracks Called. Next I attack with the flying Paladins. Dispelled and Cracks Called. I send the normal Paladins. Cracks Called straight away. (THREE straight successes in a row, what's this? On Impossible level, computer's Cracks Call succeeds 100% of time?)
I send a fourth Paladin unit. This time I remember to Counter Magic. Oberic wastes his time and MP on futile Stone Skin attempts while my Paladins hack his Settlers to pieces.

My Paladin blockade is finally complete. Phew!


What's this? A Flying or Water Walking Shaman unit near my capital?

Merlin is quickly growing into something much more threatening than a mere nuisance. And my Paladins on Myrror are still looking for that Nature Node...

With my increased income, I start building more Paladins. Because there's no reason not to!

Finally, that Nature Node!

It says "Colossus". Sounds like nothing 3 Paladins can't handle...

Only one Colossus? How...disappointing.
Auto. Lose 2 figures to Colossus. Gain 2 Fame, 160 Gold, Enchant Road, Executioner's Friend, and...no Spellbooks.

My research on Air Elemental is finally complete. I choose Mind Storm next. I seem to recall that almost nothing (except perhaps Death units) can resist it.

Shin Bo wants to enlist:

He's not free but he's Noble, so I let him. More income to support more Paladins!

Agh. Now Basilisks. I need to do something about Merlin, soon!


It never rains, it pours. Tough luck, old man.


Another Nature Node spotted on Myrror:

Colossus/Colossi again. I try my luck with 2 Paladins (1 stayed behind to guard my recently won Node). And fail miserably. There are three Colossi in the Node, and they make short work my Paladins with their distance attacks. Ouch.
I start gathering a new stack of 4 Paladin units...this time, with Invisibility.


A Paladin unit catches up with the Basilisk.

A battle ensues. It seems that Merlin doesn't skimp on Unit spells!

My Counter Magic makes Merlin's spells fizzle. He gets out one Dispel but it doesn't dispel anything, not even the Spell Lock. The Basilisk dies quickly.

My second attempt at the Myrran Nature Node: A stack of 4 Flying Invisible Paladins vs 3 Colossi (bad news) and 3 Basilisks (utterly harmless).

I 'auto' it. Don't lose a single unit.

But still no Spellbooks...bah!

[Iamme]

Nice. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Maybe you can bribe Merlin for a spell while he's hurting.

[seclists]

Seems that Tlaloc wants that Nature Node I just won...

I'm not scared. Due to Magic Immunity, those unit's won't be able to scratch my Paladins.
I stupidly cast Invisibility on the Paladins (forgot I'm facing Death units). Tlaloc isn't doing much better, really. He wastes his time and Mana trying to summon Phantom stuff and Dispel magic. Fizzle, fizzle. Eventually he manages to summon some Phantom Warriors, but they don't help him much.

See why I like Paladins?


I now have 3 Flying Warships. Let's see if I can find something for them to take on Arcanus.

Not this Node, though. There's at least one Hydra in it, and Hydras have Firebreathing so they can engage Warships. And they they are probably too sturdy for Warships to handle.

A Storm Giant sounds more feasible...

They have 2 distance attacks but can't otherwise engage flying units. If there aren't too many of them, I should be able to manage this.

It's 2 Giants (fortunately not more) and some weaker Phantom guys.

But it seems that I misremembered how many shots Storm Giants had. They have at least 3 lightning bolts each. My Warships take some damage but survive (at less than 50% health). After that it becomes a target practice.
The Phantom boys go down fast (roughly 3 stones to kill one unit). The Storm Giants take a little more work but, unable to fight back, there's precious little they can do about it:

I find Spell Binding and the Idspispopd. Plus 1 Fame.

Spell Binding actually sounds cool. Looking at the Magic screen, I see:

Now there's one spell I would never be able to learn in this game, Crusade, and it's something that will be very nice to have for my Paladins! Yes, I think I'll have that, thank you.
I'll just need to build up some Mana to snatch it from Merlin...

On Myrror, my Paladins find a Draconian island. While not absolutely necessary for me, this would be a fine secluded place for expanding my empire, and Draconian units aren't too frightening, so I think I'll try to take it.



First Draconian town, Azurtfall: Swordsmen.

They die, no casualties for me. Not even a single figure.

The next town also has Doom Drakes:

They could put up a fight. But I totally trust in my Paladins.

Ok, it's official: Doom Drakes are wimps.



I learn the Mind Storm spell. Next I start studying Summoning Circle. Guess it'll be useful now that I have cities on Myrror, too.

I also start casting Spell Binding. That'll tie up my resources for a while (600 Mana casting cost!).

Uh oh. Tlaloc sends Wraiths to my Draconian island:

And my Paladins are already a long way away!
Tlaloc stacks 3 Wraiths by the time my 3 flying Warships reach the Draconian city. The Paladins are still on their way. By the time they arrive, there are 4 Wraiths in the stack. And when they do, I decide it's time to take the offensive:

I forget to convert gold to mana first (all I had is being used up by the Spell Binding) so I can't Counter Magic. Fortunately, that makes no difference this time. Tlaloc wastes time Iron Skinning his Wraiths and then makes one feeble Dispelling attempt - doesn't even get rid of the Spell Locks.
The Wraiths die, and I reap 1 Fame.

I convert some gold to mana, and my Spell Binding is complete. I steal Merlin's Crusade spell! Thank you, Merlin, that was awfully nice of you!

Now I just need to fight some tougher Myrran Nodes until I get the Warlord retort!

One of Merlin's heroes arrives near DupliCity:

I'm not particularly worried by this guy (he's alone). And besides I've just dispatched some Paladins there (Myrror-bound, to protect my new Draconian towns from the foul Wraith hordes of the Death-lord Tlaloc - see lower left of the screen).

However, Merlin's Draconian hero leaves and I don't bother to chase him down.

Meanwhile, my Node-conquering, Draconian-defeating, Wraith-slaying Paladins (who are now Ultra-Elite, by the way, thanks to Merlin's Crusade spell) venture deep into Tlaloc's territory...


Finally, a new Nature Node! (It's just to the left from the previous screenshot. This close to Tlaloc's main cities and not taken yet?)


Again, my scouts spot a "Colossus". Ok, given my past experiences, I start preparing my Paladins with Invisibility spells before I enter.

Maybe this time I get lucky?
Maybe...
Maybe...

It's 'only' 3 Colossi. Don't expect to find many Nature books here either...


Nor do I find any. Bummer. Again.

...I was under the impression that you'd start to run into 'super loots' like this (gold, mana, spells, lots of items and whatnot) only when you conquer a tough node or lair and already are fully loaded with spellbooks and retorts, but that shouldn't the case here? And this really wasn't a 'tough' Node, by any means (unless it had already been softened up a bit by Tlaloc's troops).

The Sky Drake spell is a consolation, though.
Yes, Sky Drakes are brutally expensive.
But they also are brutally efficient.
In short, they are IMHO the only unit in the game that is even better and deadlier than Paladins.
(...with the possible exception of a certain hero, though. But you can have only one of him, while you can have a stack of Paladins and/or Sky Drakes.)

[n0z3k1ll3r]

(...with the possible exception of a certain hero, though. But you can have only one of him, while you can have a stack of Paladins and/or Sky Drakes.)

Which hero? There's a couple I think you might mean.

[seclists]

I was specifically thinking of Torin the Chosen (a.k.a. Torin the Unstoppable). The rest of the heroes tend to die too easily, even when you outfit them with the best gear. (At least they do when I'm playing them..)

[n0z3k1ll3r]

The other one I was thinking was Warrax, who's an absolute beast with high levels. His magic ranged attack gets high enough damage to actually hurt things with magic immunity.

[seclists]

From now on, I will split my updates into several posts. The page one is getting too crowded with all those images, maybe this will help the updates to roll over to the next page sooner...

My progress on Myrror is getting bogged down by Tlaloc's presence near my newly-conquered Nodes and towns. I decide to take an action against Tlaloc. First I move my summoning circle to one of those Draconian towns, summon a Magic Spirit for the just-acquired Node, and then start summoning a Sky Drake. I leave one Paladin behind to guard the Node, and move the other 2 + my Flying Warships towards Tlaloc's territory.

In the meantime, Merlin sends some Doom Drakes near my area:



It seems that I might a war on two fronts in near future if I'm not careful.

I decide to dispose of the Doom Drakes. One of the Paladin units engages them. I just drop a Counter Magic and let Merlin do the rest, including attacking:



It becomes a closer call than I expected. Maybe I should have cast Flight on my Paladins to let them attack first. I win the battle but with only figure left in my Paladins unit.

[seclists]

On Myrror, Tlaloc accidentally attacks two Invisible Flying Paladins with War Trolls:




War Trolls are by no means pushovers, they are in fact pretty cool. But they against Flying Invisible Paladins? Again, I just drop a Counter Magic.

Tlaloc Flame Strikes my (Magic-Immune) Paladins. No effect whatsoever.

My first melee attack on the War Trolls kills 2 out of 4 figures. I accidentally misdirect the second Paladin unit and they can't engage War Trolls this turn.

Tlaloc Flame Strikes again. No effect.

My second melee attack on the War Trolls kills them.

Here's Tlaloc's Tower:



Its defenders:



Pretty pathetic IMO. No reason why I shouldn't be able to take them with 2 Paladins and 2 Warships. On second thought, I could even leave the Warships behind (because they are not Invisible, and I'm in the middle of summoning a Sky Drake). Yeah, that's it. Two Invisible Paladins should be able to handle those losers.



Tlaloc makes the mistake of spending his first turn on casting Iron Skin, so I get to Counter Magic before he can Dispel my Flight or Invisibility. The Shadow Demons can see my Paladins and shoot at them with their magic blasts, which - as should be obvious by now - don't even tickle the Paladins.

I give Tlaloc the honor of manually handling this battle though (rather than just hit 'auto' after Counter Magic).

Tlaloc tries to Iron Skin a unit:

Stupid attempt. The only thing it netted him was that it slightly weakened my Counter Magic.

For obvious reasons, I decide to take out the Basilisks first. While I do that, Tlaloc succeeds in Stone Skinning and Iron Skinning his Troll Shamans. They melee-attack my Flying Invisible Paladins (how? I wonder), for the fat lot of good it does them: they die immediately.

Only Shadow Demons left. One unit has Stone Skin. I decide to attack that unit first:



Soon, only one Shadow Demon unit left. This is too easy. Come on, Tlaloc, do something! Put up a fight! Heck, at least look busy!



But no...

[seclists]

I've won another breather. I still need to find Nature books if I hope to ever get those elusive Nature spells off of Merlin (or somewhere else).

Finally, I get my new pet:




Unfortunately, his upkeep cost is forbidding. I can't keep him around for long, I would need to expand my powerbase first, but I will stack him with some Paladins and Flying Warships and wreak havoc on Myrror.

Two wet-behind-the-ears Paladin units find a Chaos Node:


It has a Great Drake (one or more) and these guys can't even fly. Chaos Nodes are not high on my list (I don't even want to find Chaos books!), so I leave the Node alone, for now.

Merlin casts Crusade again. I let him. I don't mind...it's actually good to have an extra Crusade around, so I can steal (Bind) it in case the one I stole earlier gets Disjuncted (or cancelled due to lack of mana).

A funny random encounter: Raiders (two Spearmen units!) attack my Flying Warships!


I move to (almost) point-blank range and shoot them to ribbons.

[seclists]

The wet-behind-the-ears Paladins find some Zombies and Skeletons, defeat them and win...the Blur spell. I've always considered that one almost worthless, but then again, didn't have to pay for it this time.

In the meantime, my mixed stack of 3 Warships, a Sky Drake, a Doom Drakes and 2 Invisible Paladins finds a more interesting challenge:


There's a Djinn in there. I could probably take the Node but decide not to. Here's why:
1) A Djinn can Dispel magic. It could Dispel the unit spells from my Paladins.
2) I might find Sorcery books in this Node. I don't want them, I want Nature books first!

I learn Haste. Next I choose...


Oh yes. Mass Invisibility. Cheese city!

The wet-behind-the-ears guys (from now on, I'll just call them "the new kids", for short) find a challenge:


Kill that Arch Angel, boys, and you'll be ok in my book.

Oh wait, there's two of them!

And they both cast Invulnerability (as was to be expected, I guess). Now here's your chance to make the headlines, boys!

For some reason, I seem to have a 'ghost' Paladins unit in this battle. They are not visible even though they don't have Invisibility. And they are not dead either (3 hit points out of 5 left even though their "Hits" bar is empty). Weird.



I concentrate my attacks on one Archangel first. Once he is dead, I attack the other one. The 'ghost' Paladins die, but I suffer no other casualties.

Inside I find...believe it or not, two Death Spellbooks. AAARGGHH!
There goes my chance of ever learning Change Terrain or Transmute in this game! And I have already killed the two wizards I could have traded Death spells from!

Ohh, those bloody evil, fallen Arch-angels!

On the other, now it is crystal clear what I should (and will!) do about Merlin...
(And I guess that Death magic is thematically sort of appropriate for Nidhogg, the Norse dragon of the netherworld, so I shouldn't really complain.)

[WingedKagouti]

Tough luck with the books, but sometimes that's the way things play out.

Of course, the way the game plays now out should be fairly straight forward.

[seclists]

With no other urgent tasks at hand, I decide it's time. Merlin has been a pain in my flesh, and I no longer have a reason to keep him alive and in good health.

I start amassing troops near Merlin's citadel. I come across an interesting feature. I have 3 Flying Warships. Now I thought Warships don't take passengers - but turns out I was wrong. When my Warships switch the plane, they accidentally take a patrolling Berserkers (tower guardian) along for the ride:


It takes me a while to figure out how to drop the Berserkers. No matter whether the Berserkers are active or patrolling, the Warships will 'snatch' him.

Here is Merlin's fortress:

And its defenders:


Not bad at all. In fact, more impressive than anything I've seen so far. Merlin believes in big strong Nature creatures. And those Colossi are actually, for me, worse than Great Wyrms because they have distance attacks.

I will need invisibility in this battle. In other words, I will need to speed up my research on Mass Invisibility or perhaps cast Invisibility + Spell Lock on my attacking troops. I choose the latter option although it ties up my resources for a while, because it will give me more options in the actual battle.

The game's really got something against Merlin...LOL!


Merlin vents his frustration on poor old me:

[seclists]

All right, here's the would-be-conquering army:

It's 4 Paladins, 3 Warships, 1 Doom Drakes, and 1 Sky Drake. A backup of 3-5 Paladins are on their way.
The Paladins and the Sky Drake are Flying, Invisible, and Spell-Locked. The Doom Drakes and the Warships are merely Flying and Invisible - their purpose is mostly to offer targets for Merlin's troops and soften them up while the big guns (Paladins & Sky Drake) get the job done. I don't really expect the Doom Drakes or the Warships to survive if Merlin is smart enough to cast a Dispel, so I didn't bother trying to Spell-Lock them, especially as I'm pretty low on resources temporarily.

Then...CHARGE!

Big surprise: Merlin doesn't cast anything at all when I do. Maybe I'm not the only one low on resources?

I drop a Counter Magic, naturally.

The Sky Drake is the fastest unit. It is also capable of major destruction all on its own. I send it on a course around the city so I will be able to strike from several directions at once. Doom Drakes and 2 Paladins will attack from one side, 2 Paladins from another, the Sky Drake from the rear, and the Warships will keep shooting straight from the front.



I have now positioned my troops. Let the battle begin!

The Warships do some damage to the nearest Colossus. Not much, but when they are not in the slightest danger themselves, that's fine.

The Doom Drakes valiantly charge their nearest Colossus. And almost die instantly. The nearest Paladins unit comes to the rescue and kills the Colossus.

The Sky Drake takes out a Colossus in a single turn with two breaths.

The Paladins in the bottom left kill 1 Colossus and seriously injure another one. The injured Colossus turns around and engages the Sky Drake - and then dies.

I try to direct the Doom Drakes towards the Stone Giant (maybe that foe is better suited for them) but accidentally click on a Paladins unit and move it instead.

The Warships finish off the Colossus they started firing at on the previous turn.

A Paladin unit kills a Colossus inside the city.

The Sky Drake engages a new Colossus and takes it down to 1 heart with a single breath. The Colossus counter-attacks - and dies.

Third round of battle. Paladins take out a Stone Giant.

After that, there's only 1 Colossus and 1 Stone Giant left. The badly wounded Doom Drakes engages the Colossus, and die, as expected. The Stone Giant attacks one of my units (Paladins?) and dies. The last Colossus is badly wounded. A shot from the Warship finishes it off.


My only casualty: 1 Doom Drakes unit. The other units weren't even injured.
I wonder why Merlin didn't cast a single spell? Was he out of mana in the aftermath of the pirate raid? Maybe he had transmuted everything to gold? Or was he just shaking in his pants? I wish I had clicked on his icon before attacking (then I would have known).


And there goes Merlin. He starts casting the Spell of Return.


This victory has left me feeling...empty, somehow. Only Oberic left, and I don't see any way for him to possibly threaten me. And since this install is fresh from the original install media, I don't think that, in this unpatched version, the enemy wizards will ever complete their Spells of Return.

But the game won't end either until I conquer their last cities. Or cast the Spell of Mastery. The latter option is of course more gratifying.

So maybe I will next just wipe out Oberic (I won't be able to trade anything off of him, anyway). After that, I can concentrate my efforts on the lairs and nodes until I can cast the Spell of Mastery.

Any other suggestions?

[n0z3k1ll3r]

Spell of Mastery!!!!

[Paladin]

Pfft. No spell of mastery! Your enemies must be wiped out completely! Burn their cities! Slay them to the last infant!

[SpardaSon21]

I've never played Master of Magic, but judging by the name it seems like the Spell of Mastery grants unlimited power so I'd go with that.

[Paladin]

The spell of mastery is a cop out... If you cast it, you win the game instantly. I prefer to see my enemies burn.

It's one place where Age Of Wonders 2 outdid Master of Magic... The mastery spells just changed all the nodes to your element and put them under your control. It didn't insta-win, it just made you damn near unstoppable.

[Trizzdog]

I find it kind of funny how old MoM is, yet it's still the golden standard for 4x fantasy games. And yet I feel so much more could be done with the genre.

[seclists]

I always thought that military victory was easier to achieve that casting the Spell of Mastery...at least you're given bonus points for casting the Spell of Mastery. And it's in many cases going to take you longer than a military victory.

Tell you what, I'll do what I usually would do: best of both worlds. I'll end the game by casting the Spell of Mastery but before that I'll conquer all towns except one. I'll leave Merlin one the tiniest town I can find, form a blockade around it and regularly whack its defenders and population with Death spells I may find (maybe with some weaker troops too).
I won't cast or at least won't complete my Spell of Mastery before I've conquered everything else.

[seclists]

Why stop here? While I'm at it, I decide to give Oberic the lesson he's been asking for...(well, not really, since he's the only wizard who's been nice to me, but them's the breaks).

One of the slightly better heroes shows up at my door, Deth Stryke.

When my troops consist of Paladins and the occasional Sky Drake, he is mostly useless for me, and I need the money for Alchemy...but what the heck. I accept him anyway. At least he can work as a mule for the items I find.

Here's Oberic's capital:


It is defended by...

Well, unless Oberic successfully dispels my Invisibility and Flight spells, this should be a piece of cake, really.

So I decide to threaten Oberic first.


Oberic throws in a bribe!

Aww, that's awfully nice of him. I almost feel bad when I do what I have to do. But in global politics, there's no room for conscience or fair game. It's all about power.

[seclists]

Oberic Iron Skins his Slingers - who are just about the only unit that might be able to injure my troops. If they could see their targets. Big if. He'd need to give them True Sight or Dispel my Invisibilities to achieve that.
I'm not going to let that happen. I drop a full-power (+40) Counter Magic.

Counter Magic is one of the most satisfying spells to cast when fighting other wizards, and here's a sample of why:



I let my Warships snipe at the Iron-Skinned Slingers first (almost like poetic justice). Then the Sky Drake descends on them - but can't quite reach them yet.

Oberic's second Call Lightning succeeds. I could try to Dispel it but I don't. IIRC, there's a bug (or maybe feature?) that causes Dispel to also trash friendly spells, and I have a lot of them going. Besides, my only units that need to worry about the Call Lightning are the Warships. My Paladins and the Sky Drake will laugh off the puny lightnings.

It takes the Sky Drake two 'gulps' to swallow the hapless Slingers.

First lightning bolts: 2 at a Warship unit, 1 at the Sky Drake, 1 at a Paladins. Only the Warship takes any damage. They lose exactly 1 heart.

Oberic attempts to Dispel Magic True my Sky Drake, and apparently gets rid of the Spell Lock. Doesn't matter. I was planning to get rid of the Spell Locks and Invisibilies for a while when I've beaten the other wizards anyway - their upkeep was getting too expensive, I'm losing almost 100 MP per turn.

The Sky Drake takes out the Chaos Spawn - but actually takes some damage in the process. He loses 4 hearts. No matter, he's got a plenty more.

Paladins kill the Stone Giant and some more Halflings.
More lightning bolts. The Warship loses a few more hearts.

Oberic's hero is the Barbarian guy:


I rechristen him "The Human Target".
3 shots from the Warships, and he's down to 3 hearts.

The Sky Drake lacks a suitable target and breathes on him.
He dies.

The Sky Drake is still hungry - and swallows the remaining halflings.


Bye-bye, Oberic!


I've beaten all 4 wizards. But the game is not over yet because at least one of them cast the Spell of Return. Suits me. I still had some plans, after all.

[seclists]

I turn off the Invisibilities and Spell Locks. Not much use for them now. After that, I'm actually gaining 8 Mana per turn.

The Nodes will be my next objective. They will make the rest of the game faster.

First, I take a look at the Chaos Node near my capital. It's a Fire Giant Node, so I trust in my Paladins here.



1 Fire Giant and a Fire Elemental. Ho-hum. Auto.

I find Wind Walking, which is good. Mainly because that'll eventually speed up my research on the Spell of Mastery.

The nearby Sorcery Node is Phantom Warriors node. That's actually worse for Paladins (because of the Illusionary attacks), so I decide to soften them up with some Phantom Beasts and Air Elementals first:


I find 90 gold and Black Sleep.

A wandering Paladins unit in Kali's former territory finds a ruins with some Ghouls and 30 gold.

A single Paladins unit explores the Efreet Node between Nastrond and DupliCity:

I try to cast Flight 3 times and fail, of course (no Node Mastery). I give up and just hit auto. The Efreets will engage the Paladins eventually when they run out of zaps.
And they do.

Inisde, I find Joshuas Sword.

Two flying Paladins find a suitable challenge on Myrror:

Suitable because 1) Great Wyrms are powerful enough to hurt them. Badly. 2) The initiative, however, will be mine because Great Wyrms cannot engage flying opponents.

...but since I have those nifty spells, why not use them? I Mind Storm the Great Wyrms to make them a bit weaker.
Even then, I actually lose 1 figure from one Paladins unit to a Wyrm. I get 2 fame, 10 gold, and 2 crap items.

The Node between Nastrond and DupliCity is a Hydra Node. Well, if Paladins cannot handle a Hydra or two, I don't know what can.

It's four Hydras. Again, I decide to use some spells. Mind Storm sounds solid. Just try and regenerate that.


...oops, forgot this was a Chaos Node and I have no Node Mastery. 1st Mind Storm goes off well, the second one fizzles. And so does the third one. I give up and just let my Paladins rip.

All Hydras die easily, not just the Mind Stormed one. I guess that has to do with their reliance on Fire Breath 7 - not terribly effective against Magic Immune units.

I find The Scarlet Bow (+3 attack, +3 defense). Nothing else.

"I beat 4 Hydras and all I got was this lousy bow."

[seclists]

The game has reached the stage where there's relatively little to threaten my towns. I just let my troops wander around conquering lairs and Nodes and defeat any hostile troops. (I'll leave enemy towns until later.)

A wandering Paladins engages a lone Stone Giant (Merlin's) and defeats him.
Another Paladins unit comes across a stack of raiders: 2 Cavalry, 1 Bowmen, 1 Priests. Again, easy victory (although I lose 1 figure).

Then two flying come across something pretty weird:

As you can see, there's a green (Merlin's) Basilisk there. But when I try to attack it, it's a Nature node guarded by a Great Wyrm.

Bug, bizarre feature?

Only one way to find out...


Ok, so it's a Nature Node...with quite a few Great Wyrms, in fact. And a Colossus, to boot. Ouch. The Colossus launches and hurts one of the Paladins units (both units were already slightly wounded, to begin with).

My attempts at Invisibility fizzle. The Paladins survive the Colossus' distance attacks but the Great Wyrms are simply too much for 2 wounded Paladins units. They die.

Obviously, this is the kind of Nature Node I wanted to find earlier when I was looking for Nature books. I need to come back here later with a bigger army.

[seclists]

Elsewhere, a Flying Paladins unit engages Merlin's Warship. Take 1 hit, lose 1 figure. Invisibility, auto.

My research on Mass Invisibility is complete (yay!). But I don't see any interesting spells on the list. Only boring/useless Sorcery spells and Arcane spells. No Death spells of any kind.

I pick Enchant Item because it's pretty fast and not entirely useless.

Some other Flying Paladins find a Temple with 2 Death Knights and a Demon Lord:


The Demon Lord summons some friends, which is fine. The more the merrier, so much better for my Fame. The Demon Lord, the Death Knights and the minor demons fall like hay.
I get 2 Fame and...the retort of Artificer.
Of course.
It had to be that one just when I had started researching Enchant Item. :P
(But apparently, I didn't get the Enchant Item and Create Artifact spells for free? So it lets you start the game with those spells but is less useful if you acquire it later?)

Next, these Paladins find a Storm Giant Node on an island. Since I now have Mass Invisibility, I'm confident and enter.

3 Storm Giants and assorted Air Elementals (5 of them, in fact)...

Mass Invisibility. Auto.
1 Fame and...count 'em, two retorts. Archmage and Node Mastery. For this Node? That feels...cheap. Not complaining, though. I'll be swimming in MP now, and it'll be interesting to be able to cast Mass Invisibility in all kinds of Nodes!

[seclists]

Meanwhile, my main troops (Warships, Sky Drake, Paladins) reach the mystery "Merlin Basilisk" Node (with that ungodly amount of Great Wyrms). Not all of them fly, yet, so they would be Great Wyrm meal. I cast Flight on all Paladins before entering.

Turns out that one of the Paladins only had Wind Walking, not Flight (oops!)....the Wyrms congregate around those poor boys.

I can either can cast Flight and save them. Or cast Mass Invisibility and save some other units from Colossus rocks.

The Colossus has only 2 rocks, and he's already used one.

So I cast Flight on the Wind Walking Paladins.

Soon...1 Great Wyrm left, I've not lost a single unit but have lost some figures, and the Sky Drake is hurt.

I haste the Warships. The hasted Warships shoot down the last Wyrm.

The injured Sky Drake breathes on the Colossus. Battle over.

2 Fame, retort of Conjurer, retort of Alchemy.

This totally could have been 2 Nature books...but no. No room left in my shelf!

[seclists]

The bizarreness continues:

Now you see it... (blink)

Now you don't! (blink)


And here's the kicker...re-entering the Node, I get a new battle!

Yes, Merlin's Basilisk is also there! Even though he hadn't conquered the Node yet! I wonder how that could have happened. Plane Shift?

The Sky Drake and the Paladins rip through the not-quite-Invulnerable Basilisk.

One more surprise...the lair just above this Node also houses 1+ Great Wyrm(s).

Only one of them, in fact. And Cockatrices.


Mass Invisibility, auto.

2 Fame, retort of Sage Master.

Of course, I can't even find the retort I really want: Warlord.

Elsewhere, I send out a Troll Mammoth unit and a Settler and a new town is born...FeroCity!

I learn Enchant Item, and start researching Dark Rituals.

3 Slingers want to enlist. "Not interested, I'm making my own Slingers. You boys don't even have magic weapons! Go away!"

To be continued...

[[Vertigo]]

Looks like the game is almost over.

[Kirjava]

Turns out the most dangerous animal...

...is man.