First of all, this is the best fantasy strategy ever, beating even such competitors as Disciples II and Dominions III. Very well done. My wrists and back might disagree, though, but my body isn't a democracy. It does have its moments, though, as frustrating as they're hilarious. Here follows a slightly dramatized account of one of them.
*
The young archer stumbled into the forest clearing, desperately wheezing and missing half of his face. Tears of panic mixed in with freely flowing blood from the horrendous clawmarks. For a moment it seemed as if his strength was failing him, as he fell down on the muddy ground, but drawing on his terror, he rose up and ran the last hundred yards to the army camp.
Bannor army was a proud sight. Though technologically primitive, it had a definite air of professionalism and strength. The cream of their armed forces were all there, valiant heroes from Battle of Galveholm who had squashed the serpent in its egg, before it had time to grow into world-threatening proportions. The first detachment of archers trained by their people had also been there, intended to garrison the new city, and sent ahead to fortify the hilltop site. Something, however, had gone dreadfully wrong.
A sergeant stopped the wounded man near the edge of encampment.
"What the hell happened, soldier? Where is the rest of your group?"
"Dead... They're all dead. They came from the woods... Too fast... We just couldn't hit them."
"Who came? The scouts haven't reported anything except some goddamned bears around here!"
The archer grinned, desperation and mirth dancing in his one intact eye. He opened his mouth to respond, but was silenced by a horrible chorus of growls and roars from the forest.
"They're here..."
Alarm was sounded in the camp, and the warriors ran out from their tents to form up, but it was already too late. The first bear ran into the first company with eye-dazzling speed, somersaulting above it while tearing off limbs and cracking skulls like eggshells. The second one followed, ripping weapons from warriors and laying into them like some insane dervish, rending flesh with five axes and monstrous jaws. In less than ten seconds, the men were turned into a mishmash of flying body parts, intestines and torrents of blood. As the rest of the army watched in terror, they were followed by the rest of horde, leaping straight into their midst from the treeline. It was a complete slaughter. What the witch Os-Gabella couldn't achieve in years, the bears did in five minutes.
That night, the few survivors huddled with the settlers near the hillsite. All was not yet lost. Their sacrifice had bought the settlers the precious few minutes they needed to run away, and if they could just erect few huts tomorrow, the beasts would surely stay away. Then, a little girl saw some movement in the undergrowth.
"Oh, look! It's a little baby bear!"
"What? NO!!"
Their screams seemed to echo across the forbodding forests and grim hilltops for a long time. Far away, Archangel Sabathiel banged his head against the wall and cursed profanely.
Fall From Heaven II. The final battle between man... and the bear... begins tonight!
*
I've had some games where the unsettled territories between empires come to be full of ravenous hordes of bears. This is propably because all the other animals are perfectly killable with your warriors and scouts (except non-hostile elephants and stationary spiders), but the Strength 5 bear is just too much. So, if enough of their lairs survive the very beginning, their numbers start to build up, and by killing the unwary scouts, they can gain decent amounts of experience too, making them hideously dangerous. Usually, settler escorted by 4-5 warriors can run the gauntlet, but sometimes even that isn't enough. It is really a bit silly to be honest - though I admit it is quite amusing to gain my revenge upon those freaks by building some hunters and turning them into an unstoppable legion of bears.
Possible solutions would include turning some of the bear lairs into wolf lairs, and maybe changing bear Str to 4 (with +25% against melee units perhaps). I also had a related idea of these lairs having a chance equal to AC of spawning a Dire version of the animal, with +2 Unholy Str & Mutated. Now the lairs become soon irrelevant, but this would make them add some flavour... And what Balseraph player doesn't cherish the thought of employing tentacled, seven-eyed bears and pink wolves in their army?
*
The young archer stumbled into the forest clearing, desperately wheezing and missing half of his face. Tears of panic mixed in with freely flowing blood from the horrendous clawmarks. For a moment it seemed as if his strength was failing him, as he fell down on the muddy ground, but drawing on his terror, he rose up and ran the last hundred yards to the army camp.
Bannor army was a proud sight. Though technologically primitive, it had a definite air of professionalism and strength. The cream of their armed forces were all there, valiant heroes from Battle of Galveholm who had squashed the serpent in its egg, before it had time to grow into world-threatening proportions. The first detachment of archers trained by their people had also been there, intended to garrison the new city, and sent ahead to fortify the hilltop site. Something, however, had gone dreadfully wrong.
A sergeant stopped the wounded man near the edge of encampment.
"What the hell happened, soldier? Where is the rest of your group?"
"Dead... They're all dead. They came from the woods... Too fast... We just couldn't hit them."
"Who came? The scouts haven't reported anything except some goddamned bears around here!"
The archer grinned, desperation and mirth dancing in his one intact eye. He opened his mouth to respond, but was silenced by a horrible chorus of growls and roars from the forest.
"They're here..."
Alarm was sounded in the camp, and the warriors ran out from their tents to form up, but it was already too late. The first bear ran into the first company with eye-dazzling speed, somersaulting above it while tearing off limbs and cracking skulls like eggshells. The second one followed, ripping weapons from warriors and laying into them like some insane dervish, rending flesh with five axes and monstrous jaws. In less than ten seconds, the men were turned into a mishmash of flying body parts, intestines and torrents of blood. As the rest of the army watched in terror, they were followed by the rest of horde, leaping straight into their midst from the treeline. It was a complete slaughter. What the witch Os-Gabella couldn't achieve in years, the bears did in five minutes.
That night, the few survivors huddled with the settlers near the hillsite. All was not yet lost. Their sacrifice had bought the settlers the precious few minutes they needed to run away, and if they could just erect few huts tomorrow, the beasts would surely stay away. Then, a little girl saw some movement in the undergrowth.
"Oh, look! It's a little baby bear!"
"What? NO!!"
Their screams seemed to echo across the forbodding forests and grim hilltops for a long time. Far away, Archangel Sabathiel banged his head against the wall and cursed profanely.
Fall From Heaven II. The final battle between man... and the bear... begins tonight!
*
I've had some games where the unsettled territories between empires come to be full of ravenous hordes of bears. This is propably because all the other animals are perfectly killable with your warriors and scouts (except non-hostile elephants and stationary spiders), but the Strength 5 bear is just too much. So, if enough of their lairs survive the very beginning, their numbers start to build up, and by killing the unwary scouts, they can gain decent amounts of experience too, making them hideously dangerous. Usually, settler escorted by 4-5 warriors can run the gauntlet, but sometimes even that isn't enough. It is really a bit silly to be honest - though I admit it is quite amusing to gain my revenge upon those freaks by building some hunters and turning them into an unstoppable legion of bears.
Possible solutions would include turning some of the bear lairs into wolf lairs, and maybe changing bear Str to 4 (with +25% against melee units perhaps). I also had a related idea of these lairs having a chance equal to AC of spawning a Dire version of the animal, with +2 Unholy Str & Mutated. Now the lairs become soon irrelevant, but this would make them add some flavour... And what Balseraph player doesn't cherish the thought of employing tentacled, seven-eyed bears and pink wolves in their army?
