Fall from heaven SG - High to Low

"War.. War never changes..

Since the dawn of Erebus, when our ancestors first discovered the killing path with rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from Junil, to justice, to simple psychotic rage of the Veil.

In the year 535, after centuries of armed conflict, destructive nature of man, could substain itself, no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of holy fire, and purgatory.

But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was just the prolouge to another bloody chapter of human history. For man, had succeded destroying the world.."



'twas the year 525, Sphener eyed over to the Malakim desert with its riches.

Junil has spoken to me, that land belongs to Bannor. By our god and honor, our destiny must be fulfilled.

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Sphener, however, saw no way to reach his goal. The desert people were tucked deep in the burning sands and their garrisons were too numerous for the zealous crusaders to tackle. For now, Sphener waited.

In the north, Bannor armies were thinned by constant raiding of the tundra peoples and the city of Kabhalg faced imminent siege.

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The garrison of Kabhalg was to hold by the skin of their teeth. During this dire time, several missions were launched to gain strategic advantage over the lesser nations on Erebus. Vice-Regent Fleme launched a mission to dislodge the old man Einion Logos whose borders closed the strategically important sea passage to an unclaimed source of Mithril. Commander Lugh, as cited by the historian Mallus described this a mission of plagued by attrition. As Bannor armies were stretched as is, he was tasked to march to the heart of the Elohim land with what he had. Mere 2 units of catapults, his loyal retinue and the bulk of his army consisting of fanatics the odds were against him.

However, in a show of heroism, progress was made:

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The fortress city of Inishbofin was the first to fall. The Elohim mission was showing promise although empire-wide rioting against the war was rising its ugly head.

Some said that Vice-Regent Fleme had lost his mind setting a mission on the uncharted island to the north and committing valuable Paladins to the cause but he envisioned a highway for transferring Mithril in case the mission through the Elohim lands failed. He planned a forwards base immediately north of existing Bannor lands and a savage city would serve that purpose. From thereon he planned a highway through the wastes to the source of Mithril

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Back south, Sphener, guarding the money chest of the Empire faced siege from the desert dwellers. Armed to the teeth the dervishes laid siege on Evermore:

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Sphener stood unrelenting.

Having found a way to meddle with the issues of other nations thinking of themselves as "Good", Vice-Regent Fleme voted to outlaw the usage of Death Mana. Resolution passed without objection all the while the Paladins had fought an established a beachhead on the northern island.

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In his folly, the Vice-Regent dispatched an army of zealots to face the last remaining elven stronghold. Reality here struck like the hammer at the forges of the Khazad.

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Due to poor scouting and ill preparation, this army seemed to face it's demise and it was forthcoming sooner rather than later. The army was ordered to withdraw as the tacticians calculated that the odds were heavily against the zealot army.

In the former Elven lands, yet another story came to be. The scene was the Mage Guild of Yonna. While this small event seemed very minor at the time, historians would later come to consider this as one of the pivotal moments in the development of magic and understanding the "darker" schools for warfare.

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The immediate benefit of course being, a heightened understanding of Magic as a sphere rather than a coin with good and bad sides, black and white.

Sphener and his army in Evermore stood stalwart and held the waves of desert dwellers crushing against the trellises. While many lesser warriors were slain defending the heathen Song of Autumn, the city stood. Valin Phanuel inspected the field after the onslaught and a boon was discovered - the Axe of the former Barbarian Lord Orthus. Sphener would claim the Axe as his own... Holy Fire would descend upon the non-believers.

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Here the Vice-Regents folly started the show. Armies spread thin, reinforcements sparse and the Vanguards of the garrison in Kabhalg, the Paladins, dispatched on the Mithril Mission, the city fell. The savages from the northern wasted laid a prolonged siege on the city which could not be reinforced. It fell.

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The Elven mission had failed. The formerly captured city of Bruti had been reclaimed by the elves and the army of zealots was without support. In a desperate attempt to save themselves, the army moved on the city and burned it. This was done to remove remaining elven claims on Bannor lands and to open a way for the army to return to Evermore.

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Returning to the topic of heightened understanding of magic, the events that transpired in Yonna had spread to neighboring cities and more and more adepts were starting to ask questions that were formerly forbidden. In Hyll, things took a turn to the darker side of things and in an attempt to keep things on a need to know basis, the guild master Gaelan was hired to the ranks of the Bannor. He knew the secrets of Chaos magic which enabled him to be able to mutate lesser men into... as some say abominations but what in reality are often the pinnacles of human evolution. The Vice-Regent, being an avid student of the magics himself granted Gaelan the grim task to evolve select Bannor soldiers beyond their natural limitations.

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The desert army faced peril after peril during their voyage back home:

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And little did the soldiers know that whoever would survive, would be subject to Gaelans tests.

Meanwhile, in the very core of the empire, the northern barbarians were sending raiders to strike the heart of Bannor.

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Sphener, having been dispatched to alleviate the northern threat, was just in time to defend the ever so important city of Astrum and it stood.

While missions were failing, the Mithril Highway was well underway. Having dodged raiding ships of the Illians, a group of Workers, a Settler and the aforementioned Paladins had landed on the island and were hard at work to secure the precious metal for the cause.

Sliktor, being the new stronghold against the evil civilizations, stood to face raiding from both the Illians and the Calabim. Sphener had taken over the garrison and was holding the line.

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Donal Lugh, suspected lost in the Elohim lands and slain, surprisingly re-established contact with the Bannor command in the year 538, after having been out of reach for over 10 years. His army had miraculously survived off the land and not just that, but also dislodged a good portion of the Elohim armies in the process. Heroic victories had made his troopers into hardened veterans and his clergy and mage retinue into something the Bannor had not seen before.

And yes, Donal had good news:

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A garrison was set to guard the Tower of Eyes and reports were heard from across the empire that the citizenry were not complaining about the war anymore.

With the coast opening up for trade, the newly found city of Mithril Haven was shipping enough Mithril to upgrade all the Bannor armies with weapons of unparalleled quality. The edge was finally turning in the favor of the Bannor.

The year 538 also saw the resignation of Vice-Regent Fleme. He had developed the magical schools and focused the efforts of Bannor researchers on Blasting Powder not to mention claim Mithril, he felt confident to hand the scepter of command to the next vice-regent in line.

"But war.. War never changes.."
 
But what happened to Valin?
Nice getting the Gaelen event too a Hero-archmage is always nice to have.

I'd say more except I see no save.
 
I knew I forgot something. Valin remained in Evermore to hold the line against the elves. Lots of Siege Workshops were built or are being built because armies couldn't make any progress due to lack of siege. Should be easier now that Mithril is online.
 

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Should be easier all right.

Looks good, though Inisboffin looks lost. I think we have enough to hold everywhere else at the moment, just not enough to charge the line.

Varn looks vulnerable, so personally I'd suggest going after him first, at least until he's crippled.
 
I was honestly just responding to situations as they rose. Kabhalg was a lost cause and would've been lost even with the 2 paladins there. There are some Phalanxes and a good number of units rallied to Sliktor and Sphener is a monster. Gaelan is back home and imo should be used to mutate as many of the lesser units as possible and send them to the front accordingly. Withered units are good to garrison anyway.

Cannons will make it easier to make progress and I set up a lot of Siege Workshops in anticipation of it. The northern island has 4 soldiers - the Paladin at the Mithril mine has already seen action from barbarians and that city is definitely something we want to defend. Mithril Weapons gives a good edge for our grunts and we should be able to reclaim Kabhalg with some preparation. A word of warning though, I did try to reclaim it but to no avail; I sustained losses and was forced to retreat because the Calabim army started its approach.

All in all west is secure, east-northeast is where the threat is.
 
lurk lurk

very interesting and very nuts :)

Do yall have AW on?
 
No we just unilaterally declared on everybody half way through the turn timer.

And due to the civic we're in we cannot perform diplomacy with any civ we're at war with. I'll upload a screenshot in a minute.

Ok the screenshot:
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Ok I took the palace and world spell as well (from the FfH manual).

First effect War weariness, we've an automatic 10% from the palace, and then a 75% from the civic thus we have only 15% war weariness remaining, allowing us to war with near impunity. We also get nice happy boosts in SR cities. Couple all this with capturing the Tower of Eyes (basically gives a free jail equivalent) and poof the hate is gone.

Second effect Units, we get a 25% boost on production, which couples with a 10% boost on Order temples giving us a nice boost in prod. We also get a pretty large increase in unit support (especially if we run synergistic civics on the other trees). And we get 20% on producing a str 5 unit in every town every turn (at the cost of pushing it back to a village). The world spell is a big kicker though, if you manage your civ right you can go from a 50 pound weakling to a 300 pound orang-utan overnight, giving a huge advantage in war.

Third effect Diplomacy, essentially we've declared everybody anathaema and until we kill them or drop the civic war is unceasing.

Finally Buildings, all non military options are off the table, only allowing us to produce the military buildings and units.

Apologies if you know all this already.
 

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Mmmm, Mithril!:drool:
Good story too!

Looks like I am up. The heathens will feel the fury of Lord Crusader Jusos!

I'll see what I can do, but I think we need to take down our opponents one by one, if we want to get anywhere, so that's what I'll try to do.
 
Einion is on the ropes. Elves are tucked in their stronghold and will require a sizeable army to dislodge. The Malakim armies are superior to ours in the desert but with numbers they'll be manageable. The Calabim are a joke and a non-issue, while the Illians are the most active threat we have.

Advancing on Auric is going to be a grueling task so if you want an easy way out, just hold the line and take out Einion but eventually someone will have to man up and take on the Malakim and the Illians.
 
Okey, I played 13 turns and after heavy fighting I managed to get at least some things done! I give you my report tomorrow..
 
The successor of Vice-Regent Fleme, Lord Crusader Jusos abandoned his predessors title and claimed a new one Lord Crusader. His ambitions laid in the conquest of the remaining Elohim lands and gaining ground on the other fronts were the Bannor lines were spread thin. He rose to power on the year 539.

After reporting back from the Elohim lands Lord Crusader Jusos ordered Donal to lead his battered veterans deeper into Elohim lands and wipe them from the face of the Erebus.

Donal knew that his armies were desperately outnumbered by Elohim troops, but he felt no fear, rather interest on the matter that many would have considered as pure insanity. He saw this as an ultimate test for his small but heroic army.

Meanwhile Sphener was ordered, well as much an almighty angel can be ordered, to muster the defences against Bannor's greatest threat, the Ilians.

Lord Crusader Jusos' first years were a struggle to gain the upper hand on every frontier as each of the Heathen Lords sent a wave after wave towards the Holy Bannor lands. The situation on the northern front was particularly dire when the Perps greatest general, waving the Nether Blade that he had taken from the cold and dead hand of Rathus Denmora, joined forces with Alexis and Auric. But how could a man defeat an Angel?

Thus Sphener felt only little, if any, joy after he had slayed the clown down. He was far more interested on the blade that this mortal corpse had carried into the battle. This blade was truly the one that he had been seeking, a blade worthy of his divine touch, the Nether Blade! He ordered his troops to face yet another Ilian army approaching Sliktor.

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Donal campaign had gone better than nobody had expected, as he suddenly appeared at the gates of Glens of Killybegs in the year 546. Soon the last Elohim stronghold in their homelands fell under his army. The northwestern threat had been wiped out.

However, Einion still held some lands in the northeast.

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Meanwhile Arturus Thorne had sent the greatest army that the dwarwes had ever assembeled to conquer Evermore, the pagan holy city. However, the Bannor Phalanxes and mutilated subjects of Gaelan's tests massacred Thorne's army without significant losses.

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The nearly extinct elves were outraged by Donal's campaign to wipe the Elohim lands clean and Arendel sent all the troops she could spare against Donal through the pass of Killybegs. Donal triumphed to an easy victory as the gutted elves were beaten down.

Lord Crusader Jusos then ordered Donal to lead his army to the northern Malakim lands. Donal obeyd with joy as he had long wanted to challenge the desert fanatics. Once again he and his army disappeared into the mist.

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Sphener had defeated everything the Ilians had sent against him and Auric had trouble raising armies to make another push against Sliktor. Sphener saw that his moment had come and marched towards the Ilian stronghold Kabhalg. Sphener together with Valin beat down the defenders without difficulties and Kabhalg was once again reclaimed for Order and Junil!

After receiving these great news Lord Crusader Jusos decided to step down as the Supreme Commander of the Bannor Armies. It was time bring fresh ideas and plans to the numberous Bannor battlefields.

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I believe I'm up I think.

Well if so my main objective is to prosecute the war in the south, try and cripple Varn and his machine of war.

I think this basic plan will cover me, but I'll hold off a day for any elaborations (and just in case it's not my set).
 
I think the best way to strike against Malakim is from north. If you check the save, I have put up quite many signs around the map.

And I almost forgot, we have gunpowder:
Spoiler :
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Some notes that I forgot to mention:
-I am assembling an army for operation Elven Night on the raw mana node, which should be turned into Air Mana.
-Paladins should be brought back from the Mithril Island. They didn't see any action there, so at the moment they are completely wasted. Replace them with 2-3 demagogs.
-We managed to capture a Stonewarden and a body II mage, keep them alive. Especially thestonewarden, which can basicly give +10% strenght to every soldier we have got.
-Donal has blitz and with the body II mage in his stack he can attack three times in a turn.
-I don't really see the need for siege weapons, because so many great soldiers. Push on with law II HoEs and soon Air II, maelstorm.
-Hyol should be razed, so that we can access the gunpowder. There are other sources, but that's as easily reachable as any of those.
 
Sweet. Good read, thumbs up Jusos, I'm getting in the rp vibe here :)

This is becoming more and more interesting towards the end, very fun game. Nice location for the gunpowder to boot, if not necessary ideal as it's not in our lands. But hey, fight for everything!
 
Thanks!:) Me too, excellent game!

And I keep forgetting things:

Which tech should we go for next? I have chosen Theology, but we only just got Blasting Powder, so we haven't invested anything towards it.
 
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