Bringing Armaggedon: A semi-introductory Sheaim game.

[im_robertb]

Welcome to Fall from Heaven 2.023, the final Vanilla Civ release of the Fall from Heaven module. I'm not playing 2.025 because it (as with all future versions) requires the Beyond the Sword expansion pack, which I do not have (yet). So some features in other playthroughs won't be in this one - random events, probably some units, I don't know all the details. Anyhow, here we go.

Here's the main menu:

And here's me setting up the game's options. I'll be playing as Os-Gabella, so I can give you a look at how this leader (and the Sheaim civilization) work from a player's point of view.

Os-Gabella's traits are Spiritual and Summoner. What does this mean? I can build temples faster, change governments faster, and once I get Summoners, their summons will last for 3 turns instead of 1.
Now, the Sheaim are all about DESTROYING THE WORLD, and I'll show you how I'll do that. My goal isn't to get a traditional victory condition, though I may try for one along the way; my personal goal is to get that Armaggedon Counter (the circle with a 0 inside it, near the research bar) as high as possible.

Here we go. This is my starting location:

In FFH2, your starting settler can see a larger area and move faster than normal, so you have a few more options for placing cities while still being able to found your capital on the first turn.

Not a bad starting position; lots of resources nearby, a mana node (more on those later), and those flood plains will mean my city grows quickly and can sustain more population. So let's build our first city, Galveholm, right where we're standing.

Building a warrior to start. YES, I WILL need it. There are a LOT more barbarians and animals in FFH2 than in normal civ. Also, techs are slower, so you have time to play with your new toys before they're obsolete.

This is a Barrow. It spawns skeletons. My scout will destroy this before I have a problem on my hands. Meanwhile, my warrior to the south will grab a tribal village, gaining us...

AGRICULTURE! HELL YEAH! This is a good early tech to have, and now I'm tempted to build a worker real soon. Also, I'll set our research to Mysticism, which will unlock a great early-game civic, God King, as well as leading towards the religions. (It is very important for the Sheaim to grab the Ashen Veil, especially when trying to destroy the world.)

YEAR 2:

Next to my Warrior we see a Ruins. These spawn Lizardmen, which are MORE of a hassle than Skeletons. So we'll destroy that before it spawns one to guard it.

YEAR 3:

My scout grabs a village for 50ish gold. Not bad - but nothing stacks up next to a technology. I think I'll have both my units continue to explore, and hope I get the Warrior built in Galveholm before I get any problems. In FFH2, getting unlucky with this gambit can wipe out your civilization before you get started.

YEAR 5:

Grabbed another village for 30ish gold. Oh well.

Meanwhile, my scout has already found the north pole.

 

[Copper Golem]

As I wrote before, Have read Tebrin Arbandy's story?
So how could he use AV?

 

[Nikis-Knight]

There's not necessarily a contradiction. Just becasue he causes hell to enter his lands doesn't mean he is in its power. Its a gamble; the AV is the quickest way to bring Armageddon, so he will use it, even if around his lands he sees reminders of what he wants to avoid.

If you want to intrduce new players to the game, you could put a link here.

 

[im_robertb]

Alright, from here on out, I'll try for a better text to picture ratio.

YEAR 9:
Our scout grabs a village for...

MYSTICISM! HELL YEAH! I'm well on my way now. To the civics screen!

We'll switch to God King and Agriculture - this causes no anarchy because Os-Gabella is a Spiritual leader. God King is great for the early game - there's not much in the way of maintenance costs to increase, and the bonus hammers and commerce in my capital will be a great help. Agriculture is a tough call, but it'll mean every 2 farms support an extra 1 population at the expense of 2 hammers on those farms...and typically, 1 citizen will be earning more than 2 resources, so I think with the health bonus, it's a good trade-off.

There's the technology options, sorry I forgot about them the first time. I'll choose Animal Husbandry next. Although it doesn't get me towards religions (that'd take Philosophy), it does lead to some good worker actions and enables the Subdue Animal promotion. More on that if it ends up being useful. All in all, a very good year.

YEAR 11:

And there's our first animal. Yes, it's very strong, but don't worry; elephants can only defend. This generally indicates I might start bumping into animals soon; it might be a good idea to stop exploring and pull back...nah.

And our Warrior has met Cardith Lorda of the Kuriotates. Their most noticeable aspect is that they have the Sprawling trait. Their first 3 cities can work THREE tiles out instead of just TWO, but all the rest of their cities are settlements, which limits them severely. He doesn't like me, since he's Good and I'm Evil, but neither of us will have any chance of destroying the other until we've civilized more of this continent.

YEAR 14:

Oh look, Cardith has a Hill Giant in his backyard. I'm not sure if they can even enter your borders, but it'll severely stifle his expansion to the east if it sticks around.

YEAR 15:
Back in Galveholm, we've completed that Warrior. I'd like to build a Worker before a Settler, and even some military units after that - and Galveholm will grow in 2 turns. So let's have it do 2 turns of work on a Warrior, and then come back and set them to a Worker. Also, I'll start pulling that Warrior back from the south.

YEAR 16:
And our Scout has found another village, which gives him some experience. This is actually great! Once I finish researching Animal Husbandry, I can give him Combat I and Subdue Animal, which will let him tame any animals he defeats - assuming he doesn't die.

YEAR 17:

Here's a look inside Galveholm. It looks pretty much like a city in any other Civ game. Now that its grown, we'll have it make a Worker, which will be completed in 9 turns. 2 turns after that, we'll have Animal Husbandry. After the worker, I'll have to decide to build another Warrior or a Settler. I'd like to expand, but I'd hate to have a settler get eaten by wolves.

Year 21:
Cardith Lorda offers me Open Borders. I say no. Why? I don't know, I'm a jerk like that.

Year 26:
Galveholm has finished its Worker, and since my explorer Warrior is back from the south already, I've had it start on a Settler. Meanwhile, the worker will start to build a farm on the nearby Corn resource.

Year 28:
Animal Husbandry done. Next, we'll research Crafting, to make use of that Wine near Galveholm as well.
Also, our Warrior bumped into a Hill Giant. Run away!

 

[im_robertb]

Year 37:
Oh crap.

Good thing we can escape by moving 2 squares Northwest, or we'd be out 1 scout. I don't think I'll risk exploring more down there - I've seen plenty of nice territory to expand to.

Year 41:
Research complete. Masonry next, to build a Quarry on that nearby Marble. Maybe Mining after that for the gold to the north.

Now, my Settler's done, but I'm not sure where I want to send him, so I'll ask your advice. What seems like a good location? My Civ III instincts say to move towards Cardith before he puts a city in an annoying place, but come on - those are Civ III instincts. The mana node to the west I do want, but I obviously can't make any use of it yet. Maybe north for the gold, which, once mines are added, will mean a city with great production and commerce? Or into the dangerous Southeast, for some reason?

 

[Kwaichang]

I'm amazed your scouts are still alive!

 

[im_robertb]

That's all about luck and intelligent movement. Try to have exploring units end their turn on a hill, in a forest, or better yet, on a forested hill - that way if they get attacked by an animal, they've got a decent chance of survival. For units like Hill Giants, keep track of where you last saw them and when, and be aware of all the squares they could possibly be in. Even still, it is luck.

 

[im_robertb]

Year 42:
Oh, damnit. Got a bit overzealous and that Hill Giant will probably kill my Scout soon, and with a village so close. Well, all we can do is spend his promotions and hope for the best. So I'll give him Guerilla I (+40% on hills) and Woodsman I (+40% in forests and jungles), since he's on a hill with a jungle. His promotions give him +80% defense, and the terrain naturally gives him +75%, for a total of +155% to his 2 strength...making it 5.1 vs. the hill giant's 7. I think that still gives him next to no chance, though.

Oh, and there's a terrain feature in my Scout's square called an Ancient Tower, which gives any units in the square +2 visibility range – which is how he's seeing so far away.

Year 43:
And our scout dies. Galveholm just finished a warrior and will grow in 3 turns, so I'll have it make a new scout (also taking 3 turns) to go try to snag that village. Then, no more exploring, I promise.

Year 46:
Galveholm finishes its scout. I have it make a worker.

Year 47:
We found (that means build/built) our new city, Grottiburg here; it grabs a few resources, moves our expansion in the way we want it to go, and with a few improvements, it will become pretty good land. At the same time, it's not so far that it's isolated from our capital.

Year 49:
Our Scout is heading for that village; we've gotten one of our Warriors onto the Ancient Tower, and he spots the Hill Giant – this will make avoiding him much easier.

Year 51:
Galveholm finishes the worker, which we'll send to help out Grottiburg, I think. Also, its cultural borders expand. Not wanting another Settler just yet (we are running at -1 gold per turn at 100% science, Grottiburg needs a bit of time to grow first), we get to work on an Elder Council, which provides +2 science.

Year 52:

We're the largest civilization in the world! I'll bet we're the only one with 2 cities. That village, it turned out, was only worth 41 gold.

Year 54:
Masonry discovered! Mining is next. Also, we've just seen our first Barbarian unit – a Warrior. Note how they're orcs here. Neat, eh? I'll move my warrior onto the jungled hill next to him and hope for a fight.

 

[im_robertb]

Year 55:
The orc moved away instead of fighting. Smart move. I moved after him, again onto a jungled hill. He moved away again.

Year 57:
Still chasing that orc, hoping it attacks me. Ooh, a barbarian Goblin (STR 2) northeast of Galveholm. I'll send Grottiburg's brand new warrior after it, and start working on an Elder Council Meanwhile, we find our Scout and our Warrior adjacent to that Orc Warrior (the scout had to run from the ancient tower – hill giant.) We'll have both fortify and hope for an attack. Our scout will still have good odds – fortify + jungled hill = +80%, meaning 2 vs. 3 becomes 3.6 vs. 3.

VICTORY! Also, Galveholm finished its Elder Council, so I had them make a Warrior, which will only take 1 turn, before working on another Settler. P.S: That was an action shot – the orc was falling down. It's harder to see with it not zoomed in – maybe I'll turn that option on.

Year 58:
We give our scout the Combat I promotion (prereq for Subdue Animal), and have him fortify until healed, which will take 3 turns. Galveholm begins on its settler.

Year 61:
Our scout finishes healing, we send him north, hoping to he'll be able to help with goblins and not get slain by a hill giant. We see Cardith Lorda has begun expanding; he's got a Settler and a Warrior near our Warrior we fortified on that hilltop 4 turns ago and forgot about. We'll just move right next to him now...oh, and interestingly, he offers us Open Borders again. We reject him again.

Year 62:
We moved a warrior onto the Ancient Tower near Galveholm last turn. Now we can see an elephant, an orc warrior, a goblin, and a wolf (STR 2, move 2) not too far off our borders. Time to pull our military back and be ready to defend ourselves – the threats are multiplying.

Year 64:
Cardith Lorda has founded a city, Naggarond, here, grabbing Mana, Gems and Bananas. You can also see he's got another warrior nearby, so my warrior won't start any trouble, and will withdraw to the north.

Year 65:
A warrior exploring to the north defeated a Wolf Pack while defending in a forest (those are STR 3). We'll have him fortify until healed, and let the promotion he's earned wait until it's needed.

Year 66:
Another warrior defeated another wolf pack, again defending in a forest (on a hill!). There's a ripe spot I want to expand to towards the south, but there's always that Hill Giant. I think I'll let Cardith expand there, let the hill giant remain his problem, as I go in every other direction.

Don't worry, I'll conquer him eventually.

Year 67:
Got Mining. This'll give my workers something new to do. I want exploration next, to build roads. And it'll take me a bit before I'm ready to start towards religion. Galveholm's settler is ready, and goes to work on another warrior.

 

[im_robertb]

Here we go again. Where to expand towards time. Things you should know: I don't have the technologies to exploit the incense, sugar, dyes, clams, or mana yet. But the gold and gems both look tempting. We have a few warriors and a scout in the north, and one warrior in the southwest, near Cardith's new city. As for the enemies, we can see some orcs and goblins in the western desert, but I'd actually relish a fight with them. What I can't handle is the hill giant still wandering around somewhere in the southeast. If I try to expand there, I may lose my settler, I may get my settler to a building point and then lose my city. Besides which, while there's a bit less gold, it's still more profitable than 3 sources of gems, and quicker, since there's less tiles to exploit. Going north also gets me copper, which, if I research a certain way, can give me bronze weapons, making some of my units stronger. The advantage to going south is, obviously, that it's where Cardith will go next, but even if I go there, he'll probably waltz around my territory and expand around me anyway. I'm thinking of putting a city here:

On the blue dot. Before expanding culture, it has sheep and incense (which I can't use yet), but it's on the river and there's plains and grassland near it, also on the river, which can be farmed or maybe cottaged, which I might grab the technology for after I get exploration. After it expands once (which will probably be sometime after religion), it'll pick up 2 sources of gold and 1 of copper.
Or, here:

On the red dot. Before expanding culture, it has two sources of gems, and later on grabs clams, cattle and gems, but it's neither on the river (easier trade routes, health) nor on the ocean (naval units, and this blocks access here.) And of course, getting the settler there without getting eaten by the hill giant will be a trick, and the city might eventually get eaten anyway.

I'm leaning towards going north, to blue dot, but since this is a good time to stop, I will, and ask what you think. Blue dot? Red dot? Somewhere near but not on one of the dots? Somewhere completely different? What say you?

 

[Nikis-Knight]

I'd say one space to the left, north, or right of the red dot would be preferable, but unless you anticipate some, ahem, "slash and burn" I'd go for the blue dot area instead.

 

[JanusTalaiini]

Blue dot is more useful right now, you'll need sanitation to get much use out of the red. If you do go red, I'd also suggest either going all the way to the ocean or move one spot to the left. Having a city one tile away from an ocean is best avoided in my experience, since you can't build improvements that'll make those tiles more useful, like a lighthouse, harbor, or work boats. Besides, one spot to the left puts the sugar in your city radius, too.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

But if you really need happiness right now, you could build on the gem by the sea and have access immediately, as well as claiming horses and having another decent spot for later.

 

[BeefontheBone]

I'd be going 1SE of the 1-tile lake in the last shot (and bumping red dot 1NE for later; it's much better anyhow), but then I'm pretty aggressive in settling against the AI. It's rather jungly though - where's that dragon when you need him?

I'd also be grabbing Education next; those FPs are far tastier with cottages (assuming you don't want to farm them for GPP of course) and it's on the way to magic and planar gates

Another suggestion - could you resize those pics? The massive filesizes aside, they're an arse to scroll over to read the text even on my widescreen monitor - must be awful at 800*600...

 

[Copper Golem]

There's not necessarily a contradiction. Just becasue he causes hell to enter his lands doesn't mean he is in its power. Its a gamble; the AV is the quickest way to bring Armageddon, so he will use it, even if around his lands he sees reminders of what he wants to avoid.

If you want to intrduce new players to the game, you could put a link here.

well, as I understand, bringing Armageddon by using AV is OK for him, but summoning Infernals is impossible, as Hybry bring his own Armageddon, not destroying word, but transforming it into hell. This would be deathtrap for Tebrin Arbandy. He could use AV, tricking them, but he must banish Hybry. Tebrin Arbandy doesn’t share infernals dreams about converting Erebus into province hell.