Industry and Isolation: A Khazad Story
- Thread starter Shatner
- Start date
Shatner
Warlord
While I have every intention of finishing this AAR, I haven't finished the actual game and don't think I will. In part it's because I don't enjoy the mop up that separates the establishment of my successful empire from the actual victory screen. Also, I'm suffering from an issue where my game crashes after I have revealed too much of the map. I suspect a memory leak, since the game gets increasingly slower as I play and I'm working on getting a proper Bug Report made.
So, if you don't mind spoilers about the state of the Dwarven Nation (which will be covered in the final chunk of this AAR), you are free to download the save game, currently on turn 390. I have placed a bunch of quips around the map for the heck of it.
All that said, there's still plenty of gameplay left. Currently the dwarves are taking on the single largest trifecta of nations on Erebus and you'll have to fight your way through one heck of a war... or extricate yourself through an art largely unknown to Khazad: diplomacy.
Just remember that you are only as small as the last man standing; cut them down to size and even a dwarf can tower above all others.
So, if you don't mind spoilers about the state of the Dwarven Nation (which will be covered in the final chunk of this AAR), you are free to download the save game, currently on turn 390. I have placed a bunch of quips around the map for the heck of it.
All that said, there's still plenty of gameplay left. Currently the dwarves are taking on the single largest trifecta of nations on Erebus and you'll have to fight your way through one heck of a war... or extricate yourself through an art largely unknown to Khazad: diplomacy.
Just remember that you are only as small as the last man standing; cut them down to size and even a dwarf can tower above all others.
Lade
Prince
Great story, I might actually try to the Khazad now
Never really liked dwarf fortress. I could never figure out how to make an outside tile inside to build a bed, or how to actually mine
Never really liked dwarf fortress. I could never figure out how to make an outside tile inside to build a bed, or how to actually mine
UNIT 666
One of Many
I haven't figured it out yet, so I guess I'll just ask. What does "AAR" stand for?
Remember the most important rule, and get familiarized with the controls. It's tough, but rewarding. (Believe it!)
Remember the most important rule, and get familiarized with the controls. It's tough, but rewarding. (Believe it!)
KillerClowns
Emperor
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2007
- Messages
- 1,139
After Action Report.
HadesScorn
Warlord
Sometimes called an After Action Review [US Military]. Originally, following training exercises or actual combat, those involved get together and cover intended vs actual results. This differentiated it from the post-mortem, which would come up with suggestions for other command groups. The term got ganked first by businesses and then by gamers. In Gaming, an AAR covers action [sometimes from an in-universe perspective] and focuses less on the planning phase and more on the execution phase.
Shatner's are some of the most enjoyable I've read though. Much more fun than sitting through an actual AAR.
Methinks someone is a fan of OOTS:
Shatner's are some of the most enjoyable I've read though. Much more fun than sitting through an actual AAR.
Methinks someone is a fan of OOTS:
Attachments
WarKirby
Arty person
I am
My favourite webcomic. even xkcd is second.
Also, having read this thread, I'm think the Khazad need an Axeman UU named Auditor.
Nikis-Knight
Deity
Very good 
Shatner
Warlord
Shortly after our trebuchet stack headed into Clan lands, Amelchier (our neighbor on the South side of the inland sea... where the grass really is greener) decided our lands were lacking in dwarf-mulch and decided to do some aggressive gardening. Hed come around the East side of the sea, whipping through those forests that Treb had been so keen to demolish, with a force of satyrs and swordsmen to attack Khazak. Uh, hello?!* The elves were attacking us at our proudest fortress, with SWORDS?!? Where was the mighty elven magic, the terrible treants and the archers of infamy? The grounds outside Khazak became killing fields littered with cratyrs (50% man, 50% goat, 100% dead) and the faint pine scent of elf blood.
*Building the walls around Khazak had been a sort of pastime for the various mason-guilds within the kingdom and so there was a palisade, a mighty wall, an additional wall maintained by our adepts (they may not know magic, but they know rocks), a moat brimming with dangerous sea creatures (courtesy of the Heron Throne, a relic from the Age of Magic we found in a musty basement back in 115), crenellations patrolled by slingers and mercenaries (even though we never actually HIRE mercenaries, housing the organization was found to be a loop-hole in the tax-code) AS WELL AS a mighty citadel in an adjacent field to further bolster the capitals defense. All told, Khazak was just a culture-expansion away from having 200% defense.
Treb was oddly thrilled about our slow moving cavalcade of carnage being sent to thrash the elves; I guess he figured that by whipping the pointy eared gits wed show those trees once and for all whos boss. Eodd fell, Dendrum was razed and Bruti was captured (finally a city on a hill!). Still going strong, we rolled up to Evermore, a city older than the dwarves themselves, and began to pelt the walls from an adjacent hill. Even after the walls had crumbled, Evermore remained defiant because Gilden Silveric, hero of the Ljosalfar, made a frontal assault too costly (our health care doesnt cover arrow wounds). Around the time the McGyvers were preparing to build a tunneling device using only bamboo, axle grease and a hand-winch, Bambur grabbed a tower shield, approached the wasted city and shouted a challenge to the elves. He offered to fight Gilden in single combat and the army of the defeated champion would depart the city in shame. Gilden signaled his acceptance by shooting an arrow and not actually hitting one of us; where the arrow fell, the two would do battle.
On the following morning, the two paragons of their respective races dueled. The blow-by-blow of the battle has an entire mural within the Kings Palace depicting it, so I will spare you the details. Let it simply be known that after a titanic melee, Bambur was bleeding from holes in his ruined armor but stood over Gilden, whose bow and wrist were shattered by Bamburs hammer. With his one good hand, Gilden pulled a bauble from around his neck (a single seed encased in polished amber) and prepared to speak. My associates degree in Narrative Causality informed me this would be bad. Very bad.
You have beaten me and my people have all but fallen to your abominable machinations (uh oh). Though the elves are lost (not good), Sucellos will have his children avenged (crap!). He shattered the amber (preparing to run) on a nearby fragment of Bamburs armor and then... he went still. Why do all heroes have time to utter some parting curse before they die? And why did Gilden die; his wounds werent fatal? And why do the elves have a doomsday bauble? We dont have a doomsday bauble*!! And why is a big tree sprouting out of his chest and WHY ARE ALL THE OTHER TREES AROUND HERE GETTING AMBULATORY?!?
*We just have an 80ft tall mithril statue awaiting the end days to carry out Kilmorphs wrath. As far as over-the-top retaliatory measures go, it is in no way travel sized.
The McGyvers were all dead. For six days, Bambur had fought off the treants and the satyrs; on a hill Bambur drew upon the strength of Kilmorph and became a mountain of defense. On the seventh day, six treants attacked in unison and Bambur, immortal champion of Kilmorph, was overwhelmed. We fled; Treb shouted obscenities, firing his trebuchet with murderous accuracy (it turns out the crazy old miner/inventor was right... the trees really were out to get him) while I had to count my trousers among the casualties. For two weeks Treb and I were forced to commit premeditated herbicide while leading our machines south to an unforested peninsula. Near the tip of this peninsula we were surprised to uncover a ruined dwarf fortress from before the Age of Ice; an obscure outpost that we cowered in while awaiting rescue. Though little remained, the elephant bones and lava-scarred landscape showed this to be the fabled lost outpost of Boatmurdered. There were worse places to die... but not many.
For years Treb and I lived at Boatmurdered, taking pot-shots at any goblins that wandered too close. Eventually, we were approached by a band of champions (oh, those are new) and told that the elves had been defeated but Decius, his vassal Tasanke and his angelic ally, Basium, were at war with the dwarves. It turns out the three had made a short joke within earshot of Kandros; a new motivational poster was being distributed throughout the kingdom that showed a human by a tape measure and said You must be at least this tall to be brutally dismembered.
When Bambur had died, Kilmorph had lost her most devoted champion. However, word traveled through the Umber and Maros, last of the Umberguard, resolved to cease his crusade with The Order and return to safeguard his people. Needless to say, while he guarded Khazak, the world would never move the dwarves from their capital (he actually lowers our insurance premiums just by being there).
Im glad to say Im back at my desk and that my ax (signed by the late, great Bambur himself) is the envy of the office. The world seems to be changing for the worse; Stephanos, the first harbinger of the Armageddon, has arrived. Khazad now controls six cities and several civ-slayers (champions from the McGyver clan, a stonewarden, several trebuchets and one or two adepts with Enchantment 1) are methodically crushing our enemies abroad. We dwarves have gotten our foothold and now we, without respite, without powerful mages, without allies, are challenging the world.
Personally, I pity the world.
"Invest in Khazak Mutual Funds. To do otherwise is treason."
"Don't worry, everything is going to be Arete."
That's it for this AAR. The dwarves have lots of unfinished business that YOU can finish if you want to download the save game. I will come back and post some general observations about my experiences tomorrow; I have to get to bed early because my new job starts tomorrow and I have no idea what to expect from the commute.
If you didn't notice (or don't follow through on links) this AAR referenced Dwarf Fortress, an awesome little game that can suck you in if you let. For those so inclined, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD read the wiki before attempting to conquer the game. It has a learning curve that can charitably be called steep.
*Building the walls around Khazak had been a sort of pastime for the various mason-guilds within the kingdom and so there was a palisade, a mighty wall, an additional wall maintained by our adepts (they may not know magic, but they know rocks), a moat brimming with dangerous sea creatures (courtesy of the Heron Throne, a relic from the Age of Magic we found in a musty basement back in 115), crenellations patrolled by slingers and mercenaries (even though we never actually HIRE mercenaries, housing the organization was found to be a loop-hole in the tax-code) AS WELL AS a mighty citadel in an adjacent field to further bolster the capitals defense. All told, Khazak was just a culture-expansion away from having 200% defense.
Treb was oddly thrilled about our slow moving cavalcade of carnage being sent to thrash the elves; I guess he figured that by whipping the pointy eared gits wed show those trees once and for all whos boss. Eodd fell, Dendrum was razed and Bruti was captured (finally a city on a hill!). Still going strong, we rolled up to Evermore, a city older than the dwarves themselves, and began to pelt the walls from an adjacent hill. Even after the walls had crumbled, Evermore remained defiant because Gilden Silveric, hero of the Ljosalfar, made a frontal assault too costly (our health care doesnt cover arrow wounds). Around the time the McGyvers were preparing to build a tunneling device using only bamboo, axle grease and a hand-winch, Bambur grabbed a tower shield, approached the wasted city and shouted a challenge to the elves. He offered to fight Gilden in single combat and the army of the defeated champion would depart the city in shame. Gilden signaled his acceptance by shooting an arrow and not actually hitting one of us; where the arrow fell, the two would do battle.
On the following morning, the two paragons of their respective races dueled. The blow-by-blow of the battle has an entire mural within the Kings Palace depicting it, so I will spare you the details. Let it simply be known that after a titanic melee, Bambur was bleeding from holes in his ruined armor but stood over Gilden, whose bow and wrist were shattered by Bamburs hammer. With his one good hand, Gilden pulled a bauble from around his neck (a single seed encased in polished amber) and prepared to speak. My associates degree in Narrative Causality informed me this would be bad. Very bad.
You have beaten me and my people have all but fallen to your abominable machinations (uh oh). Though the elves are lost (not good), Sucellos will have his children avenged (crap!). He shattered the amber (preparing to run) on a nearby fragment of Bamburs armor and then... he went still. Why do all heroes have time to utter some parting curse before they die? And why did Gilden die; his wounds werent fatal? And why do the elves have a doomsday bauble? We dont have a doomsday bauble*!! And why is a big tree sprouting out of his chest and WHY ARE ALL THE OTHER TREES AROUND HERE GETTING AMBULATORY?!?
*We just have an 80ft tall mithril statue awaiting the end days to carry out Kilmorphs wrath. As far as over-the-top retaliatory measures go, it is in no way travel sized.
...
The McGyvers were all dead. For six days, Bambur had fought off the treants and the satyrs; on a hill Bambur drew upon the strength of Kilmorph and became a mountain of defense. On the seventh day, six treants attacked in unison and Bambur, immortal champion of Kilmorph, was overwhelmed. We fled; Treb shouted obscenities, firing his trebuchet with murderous accuracy (it turns out the crazy old miner/inventor was right... the trees really were out to get him) while I had to count my trousers among the casualties. For two weeks Treb and I were forced to commit premeditated herbicide while leading our machines south to an unforested peninsula. Near the tip of this peninsula we were surprised to uncover a ruined dwarf fortress from before the Age of Ice; an obscure outpost that we cowered in while awaiting rescue. Though little remained, the elephant bones and lava-scarred landscape showed this to be the fabled lost outpost of Boatmurdered. There were worse places to die... but not many.
For years Treb and I lived at Boatmurdered, taking pot-shots at any goblins that wandered too close. Eventually, we were approached by a band of champions (oh, those are new) and told that the elves had been defeated but Decius, his vassal Tasanke and his angelic ally, Basium, were at war with the dwarves. It turns out the three had made a short joke within earshot of Kandros; a new motivational poster was being distributed throughout the kingdom that showed a human by a tape measure and said You must be at least this tall to be brutally dismembered.
When Bambur had died, Kilmorph had lost her most devoted champion. However, word traveled through the Umber and Maros, last of the Umberguard, resolved to cease his crusade with The Order and return to safeguard his people. Needless to say, while he guarded Khazak, the world would never move the dwarves from their capital (he actually lowers our insurance premiums just by being there).
Im glad to say Im back at my desk and that my ax (signed by the late, great Bambur himself) is the envy of the office. The world seems to be changing for the worse; Stephanos, the first harbinger of the Armageddon, has arrived. Khazad now controls six cities and several civ-slayers (champions from the McGyver clan, a stonewarden, several trebuchets and one or two adepts with Enchantment 1) are methodically crushing our enemies abroad. We dwarves have gotten our foothold and now we, without respite, without powerful mages, without allies, are challenging the world.
Personally, I pity the world.
Unused Motivational Posters
An auditor standing in a doorway in front of a pile of mangled enemies, his feet somehow melding into the stone beneath him with the caption "An object at rest cannot be stopped.""Invest in Khazak Mutual Funds. To do otherwise is treason."
"Don't worry, everything is going to be Arete."
That's it for this AAR. The dwarves have lots of unfinished business that YOU can finish if you want to download the save game. I will come back and post some general observations about my experiences tomorrow; I have to get to bed early because my new job starts tomorrow and I have no idea what to expect from the commute.
If you didn't notice (or don't follow through on links) this AAR referenced Dwarf Fortress, an awesome little game that can suck you in if you let. For those so inclined, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD read the wiki before attempting to conquer the game. It has a learning curve that can charitably be called steep.
Valkrionn
The Hamster King
Very nice work, as always.
Rutee
Warlord
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2007
- Messages
- 178
-9: you carped us!!!!!
Also, a less charitable description of Dorf Fort's learning curve is that you will wish it were as gentle as being hurled off of Mt. Kilimanjaro without the benefit of a parachute.
Fortunately, losing is fun!
I've been lurking and enjoying your stories, but this right here got me to create an account. Good job!
Shatner
Warlord
It's time to wrap this up with some observations of the actual gameplay. While there is a lot I could say about the supremacy of the melee line or just how darn awesome trebuchets are, I've said all of that before. As such, these will be the other things I've notice; peripheral stuff that never-the-less stood out.
1) The Khazad can survive a lot on a hill with a wall. Being unable to settle a second city until you hit 1000gp means you spend a LONG time at the bottom of the leader board, meaning you spend a LONG time under attack. However, three warriors, a hill and a palisade make you immune to anything except a big stack of axmen.
2) Great Prophets are arguably the best settled GP. The game is all about hammers and gold. Food, GP and culture are all just means of getting hammers and gold. And no one delivers the hammers and gold like a Great Prophet. One or two settled early can change your game.
3) Enchantment Mana is the Bomb. +1 happy, +20% to melee units and, for the dwarves, repair. Aside from edge-case stuff (Sun mana in a marsh, water mana in the desert), all mana bows to the low-level utility of Enchantment mana.
4) Dwarves + lack of Cottages = raider resistant. This game involved a lot of my defenders hiding in a city with a defense score in the upper 100s until my enemies got tired of pillaging the countryside and made a suicide charge out of sheer boredom. However, if you have a squad of dwarven workers at the ready, you can have those mines and farms rebuilt in no time flat. This also holds true for the OTHER dwarves (luchirp) since their mud golems are productive as heck.
A few pointers for those wanting to play their own version of Industry and Isolation.
- Be willing to rush RoK. I actually made that my first priority after I researched agriculture. Besides, you pick up some necessities along the way (namely mining and mysticism for the sweet, sweet God King).
- Be willing to do anything for money early on. I had to spend a lot of time working sub-par coast tiles early on for the 3 commerce. The same holds true for forcing that market-born merchant specialist, when you'd rather work a mined hill or something. It takes a LONG time to get to 1000 gold so anything you can do early on, even if it's small, will make a big difference.
- Focus your genocide stacks on enemy cities. I've read a couple of posts of people complaining about how slow a stack with trebs is. While that's true, cities tend to only be four or five tiles apart so you can kill those quickly enough. All the stuff in the field is only to be touched if your march-promoted axmen can jump them without leaving their stack. Everything in the field is either going to attack your cities (a legally recognized form of suicide) or defend theirs. Either way, your troops will encounter them on your terms and the enemy will fall before your trebs and enchanted axes.
- When in doubt, build Soldiers of Kilmorph. They are good units by themselves but the fact that they have a war-time AND peace-time use means you are never wasting hammers building them.
By the way, why does this thread have a little blue tag that says "ffh story, khazad" when you mouse over it? How did that get there?
Lastly, I want to ask you all how to proceed from here. Rather, I already have an idea for my next AAR (Amurites - though I may nix it if it proves to be infeasible or unfunny) but beyond that... I got nothin'. So I am opening the floor to suggestions. These should include a civ (possibly even a specific leader, though no unrestricted leaders combinations unless you have a very, VERY compelling reason), FFH or Fall Further and a restriction or two to make it interesting. Note that I will always attempt to roleplay the civ above and beyond what the restrictions enforce; in this one I always chose the most conservative, money-preserving events even when it would have been advantageous to do otherwise.
1) The Khazad can survive a lot on a hill with a wall. Being unable to settle a second city until you hit 1000gp means you spend a LONG time at the bottom of the leader board, meaning you spend a LONG time under attack. However, three warriors, a hill and a palisade make you immune to anything except a big stack of axmen.
2) Great Prophets are arguably the best settled GP. The game is all about hammers and gold. Food, GP and culture are all just means of getting hammers and gold. And no one delivers the hammers and gold like a Great Prophet. One or two settled early can change your game.
3) Enchantment Mana is the Bomb. +1 happy, +20% to melee units and, for the dwarves, repair. Aside from edge-case stuff (Sun mana in a marsh, water mana in the desert), all mana bows to the low-level utility of Enchantment mana.
4) Dwarves + lack of Cottages = raider resistant. This game involved a lot of my defenders hiding in a city with a defense score in the upper 100s until my enemies got tired of pillaging the countryside and made a suicide charge out of sheer boredom. However, if you have a squad of dwarven workers at the ready, you can have those mines and farms rebuilt in no time flat. This also holds true for the OTHER dwarves (luchirp) since their mud golems are productive as heck.
A few pointers for those wanting to play their own version of Industry and Isolation.
- Be willing to rush RoK. I actually made that my first priority after I researched agriculture. Besides, you pick up some necessities along the way (namely mining and mysticism for the sweet, sweet God King).
- Be willing to do anything for money early on. I had to spend a lot of time working sub-par coast tiles early on for the 3 commerce. The same holds true for forcing that market-born merchant specialist, when you'd rather work a mined hill or something. It takes a LONG time to get to 1000 gold so anything you can do early on, even if it's small, will make a big difference.
- Focus your genocide stacks on enemy cities. I've read a couple of posts of people complaining about how slow a stack with trebs is. While that's true, cities tend to only be four or five tiles apart so you can kill those quickly enough. All the stuff in the field is only to be touched if your march-promoted axmen can jump them without leaving their stack. Everything in the field is either going to attack your cities (a legally recognized form of suicide) or defend theirs. Either way, your troops will encounter them on your terms and the enemy will fall before your trebs and enchanted axes.
- When in doubt, build Soldiers of Kilmorph. They are good units by themselves but the fact that they have a war-time AND peace-time use means you are never wasting hammers building them.
By the way, why does this thread have a little blue tag that says "ffh story, khazad" when you mouse over it? How did that get there?
Lastly, I want to ask you all how to proceed from here. Rather, I already have an idea for my next AAR (Amurites - though I may nix it if it proves to be infeasible or unfunny) but beyond that... I got nothin'. So I am opening the floor to suggestions. These should include a civ (possibly even a specific leader, though no unrestricted leaders combinations unless you have a very, VERY compelling reason), FFH or Fall Further and a restriction or two to make it interesting. Note that I will always attempt to roleplay the civ above and beyond what the restrictions enforce; in this one I always chose the most conservative, money-preserving events even when it would have been advantageous to do otherwise.
Shatner
Warlord
Big time.
Auditor = axmen with bounty hunter promotion and, optionally, the racketeering promotions available for CoE units in Fall Further.
Valkrionn
The Hamster King
The blue tags are a result of someone tagging the thread down at the bottom. I'm just glad they don't show up next to the name like the did when they were first added... If only for the first hour or two.
And honestly, if you're planning on the Amurites I say go FF, as Iceciro got them to incorporate some very nice new mechanics. Personally though, I'd love to see your take on my Doviello+.
And honestly, if you're planning on the Amurites I say go FF, as Iceciro got them to incorporate some very nice new mechanics. Personally though, I'd love to see your take on my Doviello+.
WarKirby
Arty person
You could try playing Ljosalfar in FF.
Get a great engineer as soon as possible, build a master fletcher, and never, EVER build any melee units. Make an army entirely of archers. You'd be surprised how effective it can be.
Get a great engineer as soon as possible, build a master fletcher, and never, EVER build any melee units. Make an army entirely of archers. You'd be surprised how effective it can be.
Similar threads
