Milaga
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2008
- Messages
- 470
So I finally got one of these. You might know the game I'm talking about, the one where you don't get crushed, and you aren't completely dominating. You've had good times and bad but the outcome really isn't clear. You still don't know if you will win or not.
I've been trying out Orbis 1.0 over the last few week. After getting used to the plot economics, tech tree and return to the RPS mechanic I started to delve into the civs to see their changes. I've really liked what I've seen for every one I've tried. The AI certainly needs some work since I faced a steep learning curve and even on a tough difficulty I got to the point where I was dominant in nearly every game I played and moved on.
I always liked the Sidar, but when I saw the changes Orbis made I had to try a game. Shades as a race! Brilliant!
Shekinah started off on the eastern side of a modest sized landmass. The starting plot was mostly forested grassland, with three tiles of tundra. But with deer, silver, two flax and two marble I decided to keep it. It didn't take to much exploring up north to discover the frozen pole, separated from the tundra and grassland by a mountain range. The mountain range was book-ended by forts which the Sidar quickly took and held, keeping the skeletons and wraiths at bay. The animals in the north were too numerous so the rest of the exploration would have to wait until later. The giant steadings to the west were of more concern.
The rest of the landmass, while covered in trees, was relatively devoid of resources. There were only two interesting spots for future cities. Southwest, by the coast, there was a nice plot with pigs, duskwood and fish. Due south of the capital lay cow and deer. The landmass was connected to the rest of the continent by this plot, so this is what Shekinah eyed first.
As the Sidar scouts entered the main continent they were immediately approached by Malakim lightbringers. Malakim hospitality is not without equal in the desert, and Kane became a quick friend and ally. Golden Leane lay in a desert not far from the landbridge connecting the Sidar landmass with the continent. To the west of Golden Leane was Cassiel and his Grigori, carving out an existence from the lush forest and jungle rich with resources. The Grigori lived uneasily as their peninsula was frequently rocked by the roars of Acheron who ruled a city at the tip. To the north east of the Malakim lay the Elven Empire run by Amelanchier. The Sidar quickly established open border agreements with their three neighbors and there was peace for a time.
Soulless scouts roamed the land and when artifacts were found in lairs they were quickly deposited in the capital. Occasionally in the throne room a scout's soul would waver and fail and Shekinah knew they were lost forever.
Eventually one of the scouts meets up with a scout from Mahala's empire. The Dioviello had most of the large part of the continent to themselves. Part animals themselves the wild offered little threat and they quickly expanded. The peace that Ljosolfar and Dioviello had with animals did not extend to their guests, and Sidar scouts were unable to press further into the continent. Mahala began to demand tribute, and despite (and perhaps because of) the acquiescence of Shekinah, the Sidar were still not regarded very highly.
The Sidar had found copper just outside the limits of the capital. An army of woodsmen was formed and the giants, lizardmen and other barbarians sharing the land with the Sidar were vanquished. Two cities were founded. Preparations were made to establish a fourth on the mainland along the coast, where there were still trees and not desert. The Sidar could not be restricted to their land by the Malakim, they must break out.
The Great Library was built, and the Sidar seemed to be content. They had three neighboring allies and were well isolated. They had an army that could match if not best the elves in forest warfare and the economy was thriving.
Then, Esus began to whisper to Shekinah. She in turn whispered to Mahalla and they started the Undercouncil. The Sidar people welcomed Esus with open arms and began to truly love Shekinah. She was now a true leader of the Sidar. I eagerly accepted the Philosophical and Ingenuity traits that were offered to me. A Philosophical Sidar leader? YES! That's the only reason I chose a minor leader!
But Kane had been listening to the gods as well, and had formed a council of his own. The Sidar were not included, but the elves as well as other allies that Shekinah had not yet met were. Just as the first expansion city outside of their lands had been founded the Malakim declared war. The army, used to fighting among trees and hills was unprepared to defend their city and the Malakim quickly overran it and burnt it to the ground.
The Malakim army was stopped and destroyed when it tried entering the woods. The Sidar began building siege weapons and equipping soldiers for a counter attack. One morning a golem made of clay stood at the castle gates. The Luchuirp were greeting the Sidar with a declaration of war. The golem was destroyed and used to pave a road into Malakim lands. Shortly after a diplomat from the elvish lands delivered a similar declaration, albeit in a much more traditional fashion.
It was not known how Rathus Denmora got to these Sidar lands but his appearance was most welcomed by Shekinah. She gave him the artifacts the scouts gave their lives to obtain and asked him to lead his army to march on Golden Leane. Gibbon Goetia, having heard the conversation, asked for inclusion in the army. All he asked was rule over the Malakim when they were conquered.
The army marched into the desert, pillaging where they could, destroying scouting parties and pickets. They were presented with little opposition until they reached the city gates and prepared for a siege.
The Radiant Guard held the city devoutly! Just as the Malakim were out of their element in the forest so too were the Sidar in the desert. The Sun was strong, the light was bright and the soldiers found themselves unable to throw an organized effort at the walls of the city. Three Radiant Guard were enough to keep my units from doing anything every other turn.
It became clear that this war would not be won quickly despite military superiority. Rathus ordered the retreat back into Sidar lands. As they fell back the Malakim Zebra riders picked off the stragglers.
Shekinah was furious with the defiant Malakim and disgusted with Rathus. She sent him after the Elves. They would not have the protection of Lugus and the army would be better equipped for fighting among the trees. City after city fell. Gilden Silveric lost his soul to Rathus' nether blade. Rathus and his army seemed unstoppable.
That is, until they reached the foot of the hill to the capital. It was then that the trees came to life. One soldier tells the tale in great detail, about his death and subsequent awakening after his body was returned to the capital. He saw the trees close in from all sides and crush the soldiers as tree after tree smashed into the Sidar lines. Rathus was able to end several treants with his nether blade before he too was crushed by the moving forest. It is not known what happened to Gibbon Goetia, but he was never heard from again in these lands.
The trees even retook one of their cities. The remnants of the armies regrouped and held back the elven counter-attack.
Their army crushed and all momentum lost, the Sidar return to building up the infrastructure of their empire.
To the frozen north iron is discovered. An expedition is mounted and a city is founded. The resources bolster the army and spies indicate that no neighbors have access to their resource. The expedition uncovers an angel trapped in a ring of magic. No one can penetrate it, so this is something to be studied.
The citizens of the Sidar empire were upset. Promises were not being kept and heroes were dying. For the moment, worshiping the Old Ones instead of Esus proved a sufficient distraction. Shekinah even conceded her leadership, demanding a rule by the people instead. All the while she began building the Tower of Complacency. While the citizens thought their voice would count, this new republic would be controlled entirely by her.
The spy network of the Sidar began to grow, and before long they had eyes in almost every city. Eventually Cassiel joined the Overcouncil and soon after declared war. A spy met with a representative from Albrect's Palatinate empire. For a while, things were cordial, before Kane's council deemed it necessary for the Palatinate and Sidar to be at war as well. The Palatinate were just east-southeast from the Luchuirp, who were east-southeast of the Malakim.
The spies discovered that Mahalla had been at war with Raitlor's Illians in the far north east. They were small, liked by no one, and very remote. It seemed like a good diplomatic tool to declare war on them. Mahalla began to trust the Sidar more than she should.
It was a long time before Sidar spies uncovered the eighth other civilization sharing the continent. Tebryn Arbandi was west of Mahalla, well isolated and secretly plotting the destruction of the world. Shekinah learned of the coming blight a mere season before it struck. Preparations were made and few succumbed to the disease. The Grigori, living among the jungle, were struck hard, and it looks like it was time to make the foolish angel pay for siding with Kane.
...
And this is where I am now. I'm on good terms with the score leader, Mahalla, who has a very large empire. I'm also on good terms with Tebryn Arbandi. I am at war with everyone else in the game. I don't have very many cities and only three are major ones. I'm in serious risk of being out-produced.
The Armageddon counter has been steadily cranking up. I'm evil, but I am not looking forward to my lands becoming hell terrain, especially since all those forests and lumber mills will vanish. I'm most worried about my capital, which has tower of complacency and city of a thousand slums. If those forests that are propping up my population cap vanish I'll definitely start having people starve. Unfortunately Tebryn is literally on the opposite side of the world.
My hope is to conquer and vasselize Cassiel and perhaps make another attempt at the elven capital and vasselize them. Although it cost me a lot, it is good to know they are without their world spell and there are few trees between me and the capital.
At this point perhaps I will switch to the Overcouncil, although enlisting their aid in destroying Tebryn seems somewhat hard considering he is protected by Mahalla. I may have to destroy him entirely myself with a naval assault.
Unfortunately the good civs, while slightly behind me in technology, have solid empires and good economies. Except the elves, who's economy seems to have completely crashed, perhaps by their use of their worldspell? My allies offer me nothing in terms of technologies so it's only a matter of time before the alliance of good civs starts to out-tech me. And eventually I will need to deal with the Malakim but I can't get past the radiant guard without some massive stacks. I just don't have the hammers to produce big stacks now.
I can see this ending badly in three ways.
I will be outproduced and SoDs from my many enemies will demolish me. This is the least likely. My empire is nicely isolated from all civs and barring a good sea-borne attack (not likely) I can easily hold. My home land is very much like Australia in Risk. And you all know how good it is to be in Australia in Risk. Or maybe you don't, so take my word for it it's very good.
I will be out-teched by the good alliance and be overwhelmed by an alliance of tier 4 units. I've got the great library and three or four settled sages, plus academies in my three major cities. My tech output is great and once I'm the first to education and arcane lore my capital will be more than enough tech. Right now I have a slim margin over these guys. It might be enough to get me these crucial tech favoring techs. But the Malakim, Luchuirp and Palatinate are all very friendly and if they shared discoveries I'm not sure I can keep up.
My biggest fear, though, is that Tebryn Arbandi will win an Armageddon victory. He is really well positioned to do so. He has the largest civ with the largest military that has a bunch of annoying animals in it's lands as a buffer.
However this ends, this is definitely the most fun I've had playing Orbis. Thanks to the whole Orbis team for making this possible.
I've been trying out Orbis 1.0 over the last few week. After getting used to the plot economics, tech tree and return to the RPS mechanic I started to delve into the civs to see their changes. I've really liked what I've seen for every one I've tried. The AI certainly needs some work since I faced a steep learning curve and even on a tough difficulty I got to the point where I was dominant in nearly every game I played and moved on.
I always liked the Sidar, but when I saw the changes Orbis made I had to try a game. Shades as a race! Brilliant!
Spoiler Game Details :
The rest of the landmass, while covered in trees, was relatively devoid of resources. There were only two interesting spots for future cities. Southwest, by the coast, there was a nice plot with pigs, duskwood and fish. Due south of the capital lay cow and deer. The landmass was connected to the rest of the continent by this plot, so this is what Shekinah eyed first.
As the Sidar scouts entered the main continent they were immediately approached by Malakim lightbringers. Malakim hospitality is not without equal in the desert, and Kane became a quick friend and ally. Golden Leane lay in a desert not far from the landbridge connecting the Sidar landmass with the continent. To the west of Golden Leane was Cassiel and his Grigori, carving out an existence from the lush forest and jungle rich with resources. The Grigori lived uneasily as their peninsula was frequently rocked by the roars of Acheron who ruled a city at the tip. To the north east of the Malakim lay the Elven Empire run by Amelanchier. The Sidar quickly established open border agreements with their three neighbors and there was peace for a time.
Soulless scouts roamed the land and when artifacts were found in lairs they were quickly deposited in the capital. Occasionally in the throne room a scout's soul would waver and fail and Shekinah knew they were lost forever.
Eventually one of the scouts meets up with a scout from Mahala's empire. The Dioviello had most of the large part of the continent to themselves. Part animals themselves the wild offered little threat and they quickly expanded. The peace that Ljosolfar and Dioviello had with animals did not extend to their guests, and Sidar scouts were unable to press further into the continent. Mahala began to demand tribute, and despite (and perhaps because of) the acquiescence of Shekinah, the Sidar were still not regarded very highly.
The Sidar had found copper just outside the limits of the capital. An army of woodsmen was formed and the giants, lizardmen and other barbarians sharing the land with the Sidar were vanquished. Two cities were founded. Preparations were made to establish a fourth on the mainland along the coast, where there were still trees and not desert. The Sidar could not be restricted to their land by the Malakim, they must break out.
The Great Library was built, and the Sidar seemed to be content. They had three neighboring allies and were well isolated. They had an army that could match if not best the elves in forest warfare and the economy was thriving.
Then, Esus began to whisper to Shekinah. She in turn whispered to Mahalla and they started the Undercouncil. The Sidar people welcomed Esus with open arms and began to truly love Shekinah. She was now a true leader of the Sidar. I eagerly accepted the Philosophical and Ingenuity traits that were offered to me. A Philosophical Sidar leader? YES! That's the only reason I chose a minor leader!
But Kane had been listening to the gods as well, and had formed a council of his own. The Sidar were not included, but the elves as well as other allies that Shekinah had not yet met were. Just as the first expansion city outside of their lands had been founded the Malakim declared war. The army, used to fighting among trees and hills was unprepared to defend their city and the Malakim quickly overran it and burnt it to the ground.
The Malakim army was stopped and destroyed when it tried entering the woods. The Sidar began building siege weapons and equipping soldiers for a counter attack. One morning a golem made of clay stood at the castle gates. The Luchuirp were greeting the Sidar with a declaration of war. The golem was destroyed and used to pave a road into Malakim lands. Shortly after a diplomat from the elvish lands delivered a similar declaration, albeit in a much more traditional fashion.
It was not known how Rathus Denmora got to these Sidar lands but his appearance was most welcomed by Shekinah. She gave him the artifacts the scouts gave their lives to obtain and asked him to lead his army to march on Golden Leane. Gibbon Goetia, having heard the conversation, asked for inclusion in the army. All he asked was rule over the Malakim when they were conquered.
The army marched into the desert, pillaging where they could, destroying scouting parties and pickets. They were presented with little opposition until they reached the city gates and prepared for a siege.
The Radiant Guard held the city devoutly! Just as the Malakim were out of their element in the forest so too were the Sidar in the desert. The Sun was strong, the light was bright and the soldiers found themselves unable to throw an organized effort at the walls of the city. Three Radiant Guard were enough to keep my units from doing anything every other turn.
It became clear that this war would not be won quickly despite military superiority. Rathus ordered the retreat back into Sidar lands. As they fell back the Malakim Zebra riders picked off the stragglers.
Shekinah was furious with the defiant Malakim and disgusted with Rathus. She sent him after the Elves. They would not have the protection of Lugus and the army would be better equipped for fighting among the trees. City after city fell. Gilden Silveric lost his soul to Rathus' nether blade. Rathus and his army seemed unstoppable.
That is, until they reached the foot of the hill to the capital. It was then that the trees came to life. One soldier tells the tale in great detail, about his death and subsequent awakening after his body was returned to the capital. He saw the trees close in from all sides and crush the soldiers as tree after tree smashed into the Sidar lines. Rathus was able to end several treants with his nether blade before he too was crushed by the moving forest. It is not known what happened to Gibbon Goetia, but he was never heard from again in these lands.
The trees even retook one of their cities. The remnants of the armies regrouped and held back the elven counter-attack.
Their army crushed and all momentum lost, the Sidar return to building up the infrastructure of their empire.
To the frozen north iron is discovered. An expedition is mounted and a city is founded. The resources bolster the army and spies indicate that no neighbors have access to their resource. The expedition uncovers an angel trapped in a ring of magic. No one can penetrate it, so this is something to be studied.
The citizens of the Sidar empire were upset. Promises were not being kept and heroes were dying. For the moment, worshiping the Old Ones instead of Esus proved a sufficient distraction. Shekinah even conceded her leadership, demanding a rule by the people instead. All the while she began building the Tower of Complacency. While the citizens thought their voice would count, this new republic would be controlled entirely by her.
The spy network of the Sidar began to grow, and before long they had eyes in almost every city. Eventually Cassiel joined the Overcouncil and soon after declared war. A spy met with a representative from Albrect's Palatinate empire. For a while, things were cordial, before Kane's council deemed it necessary for the Palatinate and Sidar to be at war as well. The Palatinate were just east-southeast from the Luchuirp, who were east-southeast of the Malakim.
The spies discovered that Mahalla had been at war with Raitlor's Illians in the far north east. They were small, liked by no one, and very remote. It seemed like a good diplomatic tool to declare war on them. Mahalla began to trust the Sidar more than she should.
It was a long time before Sidar spies uncovered the eighth other civilization sharing the continent. Tebryn Arbandi was west of Mahalla, well isolated and secretly plotting the destruction of the world. Shekinah learned of the coming blight a mere season before it struck. Preparations were made and few succumbed to the disease. The Grigori, living among the jungle, were struck hard, and it looks like it was time to make the foolish angel pay for siding with Kane.
...
And this is where I am now. I'm on good terms with the score leader, Mahalla, who has a very large empire. I'm also on good terms with Tebryn Arbandi. I am at war with everyone else in the game. I don't have very many cities and only three are major ones. I'm in serious risk of being out-produced.
The Armageddon counter has been steadily cranking up. I'm evil, but I am not looking forward to my lands becoming hell terrain, especially since all those forests and lumber mills will vanish. I'm most worried about my capital, which has tower of complacency and city of a thousand slums. If those forests that are propping up my population cap vanish I'll definitely start having people starve. Unfortunately Tebryn is literally on the opposite side of the world.
My hope is to conquer and vasselize Cassiel and perhaps make another attempt at the elven capital and vasselize them. Although it cost me a lot, it is good to know they are without their world spell and there are few trees between me and the capital.
At this point perhaps I will switch to the Overcouncil, although enlisting their aid in destroying Tebryn seems somewhat hard considering he is protected by Mahalla. I may have to destroy him entirely myself with a naval assault.
Unfortunately the good civs, while slightly behind me in technology, have solid empires and good economies. Except the elves, who's economy seems to have completely crashed, perhaps by their use of their worldspell? My allies offer me nothing in terms of technologies so it's only a matter of time before the alliance of good civs starts to out-tech me. And eventually I will need to deal with the Malakim but I can't get past the radiant guard without some massive stacks. I just don't have the hammers to produce big stacks now.
I can see this ending badly in three ways.
I will be outproduced and SoDs from my many enemies will demolish me. This is the least likely. My empire is nicely isolated from all civs and barring a good sea-borne attack (not likely) I can easily hold. My home land is very much like Australia in Risk. And you all know how good it is to be in Australia in Risk.
Or maybe you don't, so take my word for it it's very good.I will be out-teched by the good alliance and be overwhelmed by an alliance of tier 4 units. I've got the great library and three or four settled sages, plus academies in my three major cities. My tech output is great and once I'm the first to education and arcane lore my capital will be more than enough tech. Right now I have a slim margin over these guys. It might be enough to get me these crucial tech favoring techs. But the Malakim, Luchuirp and Palatinate are all very friendly and if they shared discoveries I'm not sure I can keep up.
My biggest fear, though, is that Tebryn Arbandi will win an Armageddon victory. He is really well positioned to do so. He has the largest civ with the largest military that has a bunch of annoying animals in it's lands as a buffer.
However this ends, this is definitely the most fun I've had playing Orbis. Thanks to the whole Orbis team for making this possible.
