FFH2 Challenge I - Arendel Phaedra of Ljosalfar

[Qgqqqqq]

If so, I recommend EitB. If not for the actual game, then at least as a method for determining the save (as the techs/units would be the same) as EitB provides an actual era system (though the units aren't well thought out...)

 

[Ororo]

I have a save prepared with an interesting leader/civ and an excellent starting location. (I have a rather specific concept in mind that I would like to try out) Won't say any more so that you still have something to look forward to. It's not a later era start but it won't be as easy to win Conquest/Domination as on this one. At least, not without ships

But I will wait a little bit before hosting the next challenge so that you guys have time to finish this one if you want to. Lurkers, don't be afraid to post your game report... we won't eat you.

 

[akatosh]

Yo, I am ready for the next game

Unfortunately my EitB installs still are busted. Not sure how to fix this no-interface bug. I am able to play Terkhen modmod just fine though, and it's built on EitB.

 

[Ororo]

Don't worry, I have used Tholal's 2.5 for the next one as well. If I use EitB then it's going to be for that later era game Q has requested.

 

[Qgqqqqq]

I don't think I'll bother replaying this one, feel free to move on.
Also, we might consider playing on Torusland to avoid the early eliminations.
Looking forward to naval warfare though

 

[Ororo]

Ok. If all goes right, the new thread should be up tonight.

 

[UnforcedError]

Sorry, my games will get delayed a bit. Had a lot of work to do this week and I still got two SGs to play in. Will follow along however, even if I won't have enough time to play.

 

[CyberForte]

So, I don't normally play unmodded/MNNAI FfH, but I just had to give this a go after I saw it. First try was a mild disaster, mostly caused by the differences between this and what I normally play (RifE on quick speed). Not much to say about it except that I hate the whole rushing paradigm.

Spoiler :

So, take two. Recovering from my initial silliness of settling on the riverside because river health is significantly more important in RifE, I decided to settle on the elephants.

Anxious to avoid a disaster like the first, I took a somewhat poor tech path to get to archery quickly. This led to the neglecting of worker techs, and I've never been good at getting out early settlers, so I ended up in a somewhat backward position at the beginning of the game, but I had a significant enough army of warriors defending Evermore to stave off attacks until about turn 140.

Around then, Mahala decided she finally wanted some conquest, and unleashed a rather nasty stack of Beastmen, blowing her world spell on the same turn. However, by that point, I had gotten Gilden up, and through three exp he was already Drill IV. Thus, when the Doviello threw themselves against the trellised walls of the great elven capital to no avail.

Almost singlehandedly, with the helm of a few warriors hardened by fighting off the goblin hordes, Gilden fended off the Doviello in what would thereafter be known as the Battle of Evermore, in which the elves routed their attackers utterly, taking almost no causalities. Not one but two great elven generals emerged from the common soldiers, in the wake of this, and although their foes used wolves to launch scattered attacks against them in the following weeks, these met with no more success than the first had. Another expert elven commander emerged amidst these skirmishes.

In the wake of such a crushing defeat, the Doviello found themselves caught up in civil strife. One of Mahala's ministers declared independence, and although the kingdom was quickly reunited into a single state, the government remained split in two, a fact the elves decided they would later exploit.

But, their trials had not ended. Seeing that Mahala had declared war upon the elves, and seeking to capitalize upon this, the crafting Flauros, who had sworn his people into service of the Octopus Overlords despite his own contempt for the superstitious faith, decided that he would join in the siege of the elven capital.

Though much more well trained and equipped than those of the savage Doviello, the Calabim forces were no match for the skilled archery that was Evermore's first and strongest defense. Gilden honed his skills upon their many soldiers, perfecting his aim so that he could not only kill the brutish Moroi and other such melee-based adversaries with the greatest of ease, but do so without damaging their equipment. With the trophies of their victory, the elves paid to outfit many of their warriors with the implements of archery.

Soon after, the elves finally established a second city, with an eye for defense, which would become known as Hyll, and in the weeks that followed, Arendel's position as queen was elevated to something akin to Godhood amongst her people, for having led them to victory in the face of such dangers. Although the Calabim and Doviello were inclined to launch further attacks, the newly-ascended God-Queen's skillful negotiations quickly ended both wars.

Yet, even now the elves' ills had not ended--Arendel's peace was to be short-lived, for soon after the treacherous Malakim set their eyes upon the elven kingdom, and bribed their Amurite allies into the fray as well. The Hippus, ever eager for profit, soon joined in the battle as well...

[Alright, so... I probably won't finish this. I could win, but I don't enjoy warmonger only games at all, and I can't see this as being anything but that at this point. But I had written up too much just to throw it away, so... figured I'd post anyway. Maybe I'll try the other one you've put up.]

 

[Ororo]

@CyberForte

Spoiler :

Nice story Wow, you sure as hell drew the short stick. One thing that has really helped me while getting rushed by 2 neighbours at once was my world spell. Not sure how far you are from teching FoL?

I have some good news for you: I am planning on using RifE for one of the challenges... maybe IV or V. I actually used to play that mod a lot ~ year and a half ago. Though I really hate how long it takes to build basic tile improvements

Definitely try Challenge II, it is a lot easier in my opinion, especially considering how nice the starting spot is.

 

[The Flame8]

I failed my first 4 times rather quickly. I'm learning slowly to play on these higher levels and it's hard for me. I buildup my military but I keep getting rushed by Hippus, Calabim, and Doviello (and occasionally Malakim) making it impossible to expand at all.

I shall continue to try!


Currently my 5th try:

Spoiler :

Turn 100: So based off of my other games I've decided that expansion early isn't a great idea. I've built up huge defenses while utilizing the resources nearby. Currently I'm going to focus on going for Fellowship of the Leaves and attempting to expand it. Luckily Decius decided to be "good" this time so he isn't instantly ticked at me. Capria is acting weak and useless so so much for more good support. No one has attacked yet, but Mahala and Flauros are at war with both pressuring me into it and they'll likely come for me next.

First war begins: Flauros pressured me into declaring war on Mahala. I feel the Calabim are more of a threat at this point, so I opted for the Doviello. Still going all defense with a settler in planning for a city to the north.

First Religion Founded: Bannor founded Runes of Kilimorph on T149. I'm half way done with hunting on my way to Fellowship of the Leaves. Currently hold two well defended cities, but the unit costs are draining my research. Malakim and Hippus are at war (Hippus #1 in power, Malakim #2) and hopefully will concentrate on each other more than me. Doviello have yet to stage an attack on me.

Third City Built: T164, built my 3rd city by the rich amount of Dye to the South. Still defending all of my cities well. Octopus Overlords was founded by Calabim and spread to Hippus. Still only at war with Doviello. Amurites decided to attack Decius (good). Still planning for Fellowship of the leaves.

Fellowship of Leaves Founded: T194 I founded Fellowship of the leaves. Apparently open borders isn't an option so I can't hope to spread it through missionaries.

Gilden Silveric built: T238. Still really no invasion by opponents. Finally got some open borders and am attempting to spread FoL. Military State and Aristocracy helped me bring research back with reduced costs. Now attempting to catch back up in techs.

Mercurians enter: T270 Capria is done sitting quietly. She calls the Mercurians into the world and my hopes continue to fall as religion is only at 35%, I doubt cultural victory is possible, the enemies have far too much power, and a time victory is unlikely with the alliance formed.

I'm giving up at this point. No real chance of victory as I'm boxed in. Great experience on higher level. Going to try challenge #2 for now.

 

[Ororo]

Don't worry. This is actually a really tough map to try higher dificulties on for the first time. I struggled a bit too - hence the loss on my first attempt.

Things that can help you speed up the early game:

Spoiler :

1) Worker steal. I stole like 4 workers from Mahala. This made her really pissed as me because of the "You declared war on us." but she was always willing to sign cease fire after like 5 turns. This a) slows her down since she will have build another worker and b) speed you up by a lot - couple of extra workers mean that you will get all your improvements up and running faster. Getting plantations on all of the tiles quickly is the key for early game research in this particular game. Note: Only steal workers if there is no military unit nearby otherwise you may get you unit, which will mean less war succes points and will prevent you from signing cease fire.

2) Early religion bulb. I think it's fair to say that the worldspell save my butt in my playtrough. You can see on a screenshot that I managed to found FoL at ~ T100. This was done by prioritising Mysticism early and running a Prophet (and later a Sage as well to speed things up) under Pacifism and getting a Great Prophet in return, which can bulb FoL if you have already researched Hunting.

3) Priests of Leaves. Spamming these can overwhelm anything that the enemy throws at you in the early/mid game. You can always summon as many Tigers as you have priests. This means even if you have 2 stacks of units each consisting of 10 priests and 10 tigers, you can delete the 10 tigers on 1 stack and summon them on the other if it's necessary . This "teleportation" trick is quite helpful if you happen to run into heavily fortified cities (in my case Malakim capital). Note: If you're running OO or AV then spamming Cultists or Ritualists is a very viable option as well.

4) Getting the 2nd city. I think the rule of thumb is to start building settler at ~ T50. Send it for a hammer heavy location so that it can contribute by building warriors (which means the capital can focud on research). If there is a Copper nearby, always go for this location.

5) Hero. Getting him up early is a key. A well promoted hero can take down a whole civ with a little support. I used Gilden to take down Calabim and got him to 100+ exp (this was <T150!) by doing so.

 

[The Flame8]

Thanks! Especially on the FoL and Hero ones. It seems like I turtled a bit too much and got boxed in because of it. Will definitely use those on the next go.

 

[The Flame8]

6th go is having more success, but failed in the end. Still my best game yet. Officially moving on from this one now.

Spoiler :

Started out similar to last time but expanded more rapidly. Settled city directly to the north. Hippus invaded quickly and took my capital leaving me with the city to the north. Responded by compiling enough units to counter and take former capital back. I made peace
with the Hippus and quickly settled another city to the south only to have the Doviello attempt an attack that I barely managed to repel. Converted to OO somewhere in this time (founded by Flauros) and was disappointed to see Amurites discovered FoL far before I had the chance.
Settled another city to the Northwest where the Hippus and Malakim avoided and built a palace in the former capital to make it the capital again. With Military State, Aristocracy, and Undercouncil (no one is good at this point except Decius's alliance buddy Minister Koun) I decided to take a U turn on strategy and beelined for AV. Founded it and quickly called Infernals. With my already built Gilden Silveric and some ritualists I went all out on the Malakim Alliance slowly beating Decius back down to 3 cities (with some help from the Infernals who spawned just to the south of Decius) before I accepted a treaty receiving an additional city (which I gifted to the Infernals as I had no use for it) and multiple techs. Ok, the combined raid has destroyed the Malakim and I'm officially scared of the Infernal. They're bowling over everyone else which is nice, but I'm regretting the fac I'm probably going to either have to beat them, or spread AV enough to win. Crushing the Bannor on my own with the same stack (ring of fire spell is awesome) but probably not going to finish them off yet as they have 2 cities on islands that will be hard to reach. Stephanos also decided I was the perfect target (AC is at 43) and is being extremely annoying. Beat Stephanos and slowly advancing on the Hippus. Infernal are friendly but beating me in score so I'm probably going to opt for cultural or religious victories (religious by killing all non-AV). And Hyborem has decided to attack me. I've vassalized the Hippus by beating the crap out of them, but Hyborem is going to be tough. I was quickly overpowered by Hyborem and lost. I brought my own demise