Darkness Rising v2.0 - 'Tenebris Unleashed' Campaign

[0beron]

Do we have Imps near Dis City? And if so, by turn 12 have they spotted any wild groups? Turn 12 is the soonest Vinny can be prepared to depart, as that is when he will have the 6 Golems required to make a suitable Hunting Party.

[CroverusRaven]

I guess turn by turn:

Turn 10: Donovan spends most of this turn sparring with his fellow heavies, and impressing the non heavies with his great arms.

Turn 11: Donovan decides to explore the city, leaving his brothers to do whatever they will. He goes places most of the others wouldn't go. He had not yet made it known to the leadership that he was experiencing his sense of free will, and had not ran into a situation where he was ordered to do something and would have the opportunity to choose if he followed the order or not.

[WhirdCheese]

I arrive on turn 12 right?

I'll gain Luck Thief

2 Juice
1 Defense

Wait on conformation that I'm here on turn 12 before moving into IC

[Nnelg]

it appears *cough*meta*cough* that we may need a larger force to handle that caster.

OOC: Nemo evaluated the area in front of the door as a classic kill zone - literally suicide, I think he called it.

To clarify, I meant it was suicide to march an unready force on a prepared position of unknown strength with no means of retreat. Of these four factors, the last was the most significant; by itself enough to justify postponing any attack.

Still, that position wasn't too strong. My rough guess is that a single platoon (with attached sappers) might be able to take it, although more could be required to hold it from possible counterattack.

[WaterMonkey314]

I'll be traveling tomorrow, so I'll try and work out what Triage's new spell load-out is and what he does with the next few turns then. I'll take Ward requests till then. Swod, does Tod have any priorities on which units should be warded?

People I have:
Vinny
Brick
Will (probably already has a ward if I'm not guilty of gross negligence)

[MarbitChow]

Just a quick note that the Rules section has the Squad rules added.

Note that the Mining Pick has had its damage reduced to d6/2. (This was discussed in the Rules thread, but didn't make it into the final revision until now.)

Rules are now in their final state, subject to player review. No new rules will be added, and rules will only be changed for clarity or to address a significant issue or omission at this point.

And 0beron, I *know* you're eager to begin power-leveling, but no combat will occur until all players and NPCs have been converted to the new rules.

You can assume that nothing happens on turns 10-16, which gives enough time for all New Batch units to reach Dis City.

Current popping orders
Tenebris Turn 10/11: 16 Imps x2
Dis City Turn 10/11: Heavy Ballista x2 (City already has 2 Heavy Ballista, which in the new rules can be moved and used to attack other cities.)

The side's treasury will be on hold until I know whether you've built out any of the NPCs as Regents.

[ETheBoyce]

T. Coil will continue to be in a foul mood, and any day where there lacks a prospect of hunting some sort of non-friendly down he will spell up the Tower with Ickyprons unless he receives other orders he considers...reasonable. He will also inquire about any news on the Ixian conflict, hoping his arguments convinced the Ixians to continue to fight.

[Swodaems]

The side's treasury will be on hold until I know whether you've built out any of the NPCs as Regents.

I'm thinking that the garrison warlord will have the regent special, and at least one other should be assigned it as well. I was thinking that either Wandereus should take it, or one of the current dancing warlords would be a good choice.

[0beron]

So, with 6 turns using the Rod, I will produce the following:

• 3 Steadycrows
• 6 Scarycrows
• 3 Jack-o-Lanterns
• 12/16 Juice into a Bomb-o-Lantern

I also believe I have 2? Fire Cloaks that were made an never claimed.

Vinny spends the coming days devising a host of different golem types, inviting Bill to observe his creative process if he is still interested. Once he has mastered the art of crafting his straw-based minions, he obtains a handful of pumpkins and begins whitling away at them to make nimble little ankle-biters. On the final day with some Juice left over, he decides to begin experimenting with ways to cause the enzymes in the pumpkin's flesh to explode violently when triggered....

[bob the 6th]

do we make a pit stop by the capital to talk to the king, or just a straight shot to dis city?

[WaterMonkey314]

So, with 6 turns using the Rod, I will produce the following:

• 3 Steadycrows
• 6 Scarycrows
• 3 Jack-o-Lanterns
• 12/16 Juice into a Bomb-o-Lantern

I also believe I have 2? Fire Cloaks that were made an never claimed.

Vinny spends the coming days devising a host of different golem types, inviting Bill to observe his creative process if he is still interested. Once he has mastered the art of crafting his straw-based minions, he obtains a handful of pumpkins and begins whitling away at them to make nimble little ankle-biters. On the final day with some Juice left over, he decides to begin experimenting with ways to cause the enzymes in the pumpkin's flesh to explode violently when triggered....

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a Fire Cloak, and maybe we should get one for Junetta as well if she doesn't have one.

[MarbitChow]

I'm thinking that the garrison warlord will have the regent special, and at least one other should be assigned it as well. I was thinking that either Wandereus should take it, or one of the current dancing warlords would be a good choice.

Wandereus could take Leadership and Regent, and bank the remaining AP until he reaches 4th level.

do we make a pit stop by the capital to talk to the king, or just a straight shot to dis city?

You'll arrive at the city with 0 move left. You'll most likely spend the night; even if Nemo and Sto are rushed to Dis City on Turn 12, they'll still meet with King Creperum first before heading on, and there will be a feast welcoming the new units.

Vinny spends the coming days devising a host of different golem types, inviting Bill to observe his creative process if he is still interested. Once he has mastered the art of crafting his straw-based minions, he obtains a handful of pumpkins and begins whitling away at them to make nimble little ankle-biters. On the final day with some Juice left over, he decides to begin experimenting with ways to cause the enzymes in the pumpkin's flesh to explode violently when triggered....

Spoiler: show

[0beron]

...Thank you Marbit, I just about died laughing and my whole family looked at me really funny. Worth it.

[Exate]

Swodaems, what is our overall plan here? I tried to get Yuri to bring it up in the conversation Turn 10 morning with the King, but it seems to have been passed over. We cannot afford to just sit around without a good idea of what we should be working toward; are we planning an assault? With what units? What turn do we think we'll be ready? I know that we don't get a lot of valuable scouting data until later, but if we wait around for full information before we act then we leave the elves two steps ahead of us and with larger armies to boot.

With the gobwin providing natural allies, we can pop zed Gobwin Warriors/Spearmen/Sappers at 25 shmuckers each, and zed Gobwin Archers at 50 shmuckers each. That means that if we're willing to dump the treasury into it, we could pop literally hundreds of natural allies at the start of turn 13 and launch an all-out assault immediately afterward. We could reach Logan Run with a full assault force as soon as Turn 17, Rainbow Springs by Turn 18, or Scarlet Hills by Turn 19. I'm not saying that's necessarily the best plan, but it is an option.

Once we have a plan of attack worked out, Yuri will want to send some thinkagrams.

I'm thinking that the garrison warlord will have the regent special, and at least one other should be assigned it as well. I was thinking that either Wandereus should take it, or one of the current dancing warlords would be a good choice.

Wandereus could take Leadership and Regent, and bank the remaining AP until he reaches 4th level.

That's true- since we can rebuild our units, we can use this opportunity to reinvent him as a city management build, and he's most of the way to making it work already. Is there any reason not to?

[MarbitChow]

That means that if we're willing to dump the treasury into it, we could pop literally hundreds of natural allies at the start of turn 13 and launch an all-out assault immediately afterward

Ack. I think I'm going to have to nerf the Natural Ally summoning cost. Breatheairia has more cash than you, and if they can pop 200 Marbit archers in a city the turn before you attack, you'll be in a world of hurt...

I just ran a quick spreadsheet, and here's the estimated Tenebris Treasury for the next 20+ turns. (This assumes that you've got Regents managing both cities.) Note that at no point do you cross the 16,000 shmucker threshold that will allow you to promote Dis City to Level 4.

Spoiler: show

Turn 10: 9160
Turn 11: 10020
Turn 12: 10780
Turn 13: 11440
Turn 14: 12000
Turn 15: 12460
Turn 16: 12820
Turn 17: 13080
Turn 18: 13240
Turn 19: 13300
Turn 20: 13260
Turn 21: 13120
Turn 22: 12880
Turn 23: 12540
Turn 24: 12100
Turn 25: 11560
Turn 26: 10920
Turn 27: 10180
Turn 28: 9340
Turn 29: 8400
Turn 30: 7360
Turn 31: 6220
Turn 32: 4980
Turn 33: 3640
...

At the point the highest point, you'll have 13,300 on Turn 19. If you popped 200 sappers on Turn 13, that would cost you 5000 shmuckers, and an extra 1000 shmuckers/turn in upkeep. Your treasure would be exhausted by Turn 20.

Natural allies need to be useful, but the way they're set up right now, they're a free win for the defenders, if they've got enough money. I think I'm going to have to bump their cost from 25/UP to 100/UP.

But since you can pop equipment now (in the form of structures), let's say that popping a Mining Pick costs 0.5 UP. Thoughts?

[Exate]

I just ran a quick spreadsheet, and here's the estimated Tenebris Treasury for the next 20+ turns. (This assumes that you've got Regents managing both cities.) Note that at no point do you cross the 16,000 shmucker threshold that will allow you to promote Dis City to Level 4.

Spoiler: show

Turn 10: 9160
Turn 11: 10020
Turn 12: 10780
Turn 13: 11440
Turn 14: 12000
Turn 15: 12460
Turn 16: 12820
Turn 17: 13080
Turn 18: 13240
Turn 19: 13300
Turn 20: 13260
Turn 21: 13120
Turn 22: 12880
Turn 23: 12540
Turn 24: 12100
Turn 25: 11560
Turn 26: 10920
Turn 27: 10180
Turn 28: 9340
Turn 29: 8400
Turn 30: 7360
Turn 31: 6220
Turn 32: 4980
Turn 33: 3640
...

At the point the highest point, you'll have 13,300 on Turn 19. If you popped 200 sappers on Turn 13, that would cost you 5000 shmuckers, and an extra 1000 shmuckers/turn in upkeep. Your treasure would be exhausted by Turn 20.

There are other considerations here. If we can take a city before then, we get more income. If we take casualties, our upkeep goes down. If we pop units that take more than one turn to pop, our upkeep is slightly less while they're popping. If we negotiate with other sides we might gain or lose money. If we devote units to foraging... you get the idea.

But yeah, those figures aren't pretty. If only Breatheairia's treasury was as tight, doubtless due to supporting large armies facing off against Ix! Surely they will be financially crippled by the upkeep of all those troops they'll be popping during their truce. And sending against us. Argh.

[MarbitChow]

Interrogation Results - Triage/Junetta/Wandereus
Over the next few turns, Triage's constant, reassuring presence draws information out of the Altruistic Elves, Dusk and Twilight. Dusk and Twilight still have vivid recollections of Rainbow Springs, and their out-going natures had them conversing with many units that came from the surrounding areas. The details they supply help to refresh Wandereus' & Junetta's foggy memories, and together the group builds an estimate of the sizes of various cities that they've been in or have heard of.

Logan Run (Lvl 1)
Rainbow Springs (Lvl 3)
Scarlet Hills (Lvl 2)
Tyrone (Lvl 1)
Longoria (Lvl 2)
Myst Glade (Lvl 4)
Breatheairia (Lvl 5)

These are estimates, of course, and it's possible that, in gearing for war in their back-field, the Elves may have promoted one or more of these cities already, but they thought this information would be valuable.

[WhirdCheese]

As Fortune wanders around Dis City he finds T. Coil spelling up the tower. As Fortune watches the more experienced mage work he feels envious and decides to engage in a conversation "Hi. My name is Fortunes Chance. I'm kind of new around here and am looking for someone to show me the ropes.

[CroverusRaven]

Day 12: Donovan simply wanders the city, interested to learn about other things. He hears about new arrivals and goes to see if any of them are heavies that he could learn a thing or two from.

[Nnelg]

As Fortune wanders around Dis City he finds T. Coil spelling up the tower. As Fortune watches the more experienced mage work he feels envious and decides to engage in a conversation "Hi. My name is Fortunes Chance. I'm kind of new around here and am looking for someone to show me the ropes.

You're assuming a few things... not least of which being that it's a healthy idea to casually approach a Mad Shockamancer like that.

There seems to be a general assumption that Nemo, Fort, and Sto get a Balrug ride to Dis City on Turn 12. Well, presuming Tod doesn't veto that, Nemo's leaving Melissa in Anexa's care for now (Melissa's always liked the girls better for some reason).