Chapter 3: Quests & Conquests
Our army prepares to march against Somerset in aid of King Idres. But before that, a quest beckons...
We shouldn't let this one wait, it could be important.
This man has suffered enough, we should get those arrogant monks to aid him. I shall attempt to negotiate with the abbot.
The arrogance of these so-called men of God offends me! If you defy the will of King Arthur, I will burn this place to the ground!
We welcome Sir Gareth into the Knights of the Round Table.
He is a Sage, a Knight specialized in magical arts. If the Warlord is the paper that binds the army together and support it with strategies, the Sage is the Scissor capable of cutting down enemy forces rapidly with deadly magic. His offensive capability however, is severely limited by his Mana pool. Mana does not regenerate, yet there are skills that allows one to regain mana or artifacts with special properties.
Currently he has spell Dragon Eye, an army-wide spell that allows our soldiers' vision to pierce even the foulest weathers.
The mighty Dragon's Breath when cast upon enemy units grants a 25% chance to instantly set ablaze and kill each soldier in that unit. From 400 metres away.
The Pool of Shadows is a pool of dark ichor conjured upon the ground, rapidly draining life from any living beings walking past. At low level it does not perform that well. But at the third level, it will brutally slaughter a unit within seconds!
Unfortunately, Sir Gareth is a terrible liege lord:
-Proud Briton grants +3 loyalty to all Briton provinces.
-His corrupted nature reduces trade income by 50%
-Braveheart enables him to earn 25% more experience points from battles. This allows him to rapidly max out his spell repertoire and deliver death in battles.
The current war between Somerset and King Idris's army looks to be a stalemate. Somerset is very lightly defended. As the Codex has agreed, we will capitalize and ally ourself with King Idris.
Oh, also new units we recruited over the winter:
The Spearmen is a highly improved light infantry type. They are capable of withstanding Cavalry charges and possess Armor Piercing capability which reduces defense of attacking enemies. They are also capable of forming the Wedge Formation.
The Axeman is a first tier upgrade to the basic footmen. It's got more HP and slightly higher attack but is still incapable of forming any other formation beyond Closed and Loose.
Sir Aglaral's army never really stood a chance. Sir Gareth practices some spells and enjoys good EXP from direct kills. The best way to utilize the Sage is to attach him to a very fast unit like the Cavalry to zip around, wrecking important units like the archers.
Dragon's Breath
Pool of Shadows
This is just a warm up.
The second battle in the neighboring province is slightly more challenging. Sir Peredur is aided with a second Knight. But both are melee specialists...
The unit clad in red are Sentinels. Cheap, good light infantry of the Rightful Kings. A much better alternative to the footmen.But the lack of archer numbers will make this battle so much easier. Keeping in mind that engaging two melee hero units is a costly affair, Sir Kay is turned into an archer leader.
A lot of people argued that heroes should wade in the melee and wreak havoc. But in the case of Warlords like Sir Kay where his specialty lies in support spell, it is more beneficial to pump his support spells and stick close to the main damage dealer of the army: the archers. At maximum level, Masterful Tactics grants buffs that can encompass 6 units at once for 2 whole minutes!
Here's what the battlefield looks like.
Northwest is a Guard Tower, granting a spell in its vicinity. To the 6 o clock is an Enchanted Spring cutting costs of spells cast near the area. The middle VP is a Sidhe Tower, the most valuable resource in the map, granting an offensive spell. Two villages lay to the eastern-most position. While a nearby Mill to the north provides 20% more food to the victor of this battle.
My plan:
Forget the northwest VP. We can win this straight slugfest. Sir Gareth will capture the Enchanted Springs. While the archers hide in the forest and infantry secure the Sidhe Tower.
The opposing army will be forced to march in open ground whereby our archers will pelt their archer units till dead once they are in range.
An enemy cavalry strayed too close and died within seconds after I triggered Masterful Tactics and Cloud of Arrows.
No you don't survive arrows by running faster at them. So that's one Cavalry unit down.
We start to rain arrows at their archers. Sir Gareth arrives and set several infantry ablaze with Dragon's Breath. While the Sidhe Tower, Crystal Shard spell is triggered at the enemy archer unit at the same time.
Ouch. That looks painful. With no way to fire back, we can now pelt their forces with impunity as they made their slow way through the forest. It was made easier with their two heroes leading a heavy infantry unit. Our archers easily fired several volleys before falling back a little bit to maintain the distance.
Their nightmares did not even end after emerging from the forest. With no cover to be had, our archers put them out of their misery.
We've taken three knights prisoner.
We can torture them for the whereabouts and exact composition of their kingdom's army. But they might die as a result. Tyrant Knights enjoys this, but Rightful ones loses loyalty to their King. A good King can choose to release them for a +1 loyalty bonus to all the Rightful Knights, but be prepared to face them again in battle.
Guess we whipped him too hard. Let's try again, shall we?
Much better. One last army to attack then! With the information complete, we can now remove the fog of war from the enemy hero's kingdom provinces. Making it easier to hunt down their last force.
They are reinforcing themselves and will take 3 turns to complete. When completed they will have 96 light infantry and almost 200 archers. We cannot let this pass.
Attacking an army amidst their reinforcing process will force them to deploy only a partial force they managed to recruit so far. But those archers are still a pain in the ass. How do we minimize casualty against mass archers?
Easy.
First, employ the terrain advantage. Keep your archers hidden in the forests for first strike and ambush bonus.
Second, invoke Fog of Avalon or any foul weather spells to cut down archery range by almost half.
Then with Dragon's Eye, you remove the weather penalty for your army as their archers cannot counter-fire.
Finally, profit.
Victory is achieved.
And that's two provinces secured! Easy right? Hardly. The game barely gives you any breathing space after this because...
Yeah, Andhaira and Andhairi, which one is better and why? Inane quests like this exist. But it basically gives different reward and alignment shift. I accept the Codex vile nature and will rush to the aid of Sir Balin. HOWEVER...
We have another quest to visit.
I shall have a word with the elders...
I heard that a druid lives around here. What do you know about him?
Tell me about that recent battle.
I don't need help to find a whole band of warriors.
Sonuvabitch. OK, fine. I shall pay your price. Ungrateful bastards.
Spent enough time and money trying to find you. In the name of the King, I order you to join my army!
It's time to return to the village and ask them about the Northern Army.
Fuck you. I won't pay you anything. Speak or my soldiers will loosen your tongue.
Do NOT for one second believe this deranged accounts of 'easy to kill' armies.
We head straight to the druid.
When asked for the Horn of Avalon the druid demands that Sir Kay promises there will be no Christian rule in these lands. He wanted the Old Faith influence to remain untouched.
We could tell him yes...or no out of Christian principle....or no because we have swords and he carries a stick.
I cannot make such promises. Hand over the Horn or else...
Seems the Old Faith is capable of teleportation magics...we have no choice. We have to wait till dawn at the lake.
For every choice...a consequence...
Giants. Wargs. And Sidhe troopers. We're going to have to dig deep. Not to mention the fog cutting our archers' range by half.
Sir Gareth marches onward to scout out the enemy location. They weren't visible at the start.
The giants resisted his Dragon's Breath. I decided to save his mana for Dragon's Eye. It's the only chance to drop the two Giant units before they pummel us to oblivion. Further complicating the matters are ultra-fast Wargs the AI loves to use to flank archers.
I'm hoping that this medium patch of forests will force uneven arrival time for their army. And no, you cannot outrun giants while on foot. So under no circumstances should you let the giants even get within 10 metre of archers.
As soon as the Giants came into normal range, I activated Dragon's Eye, Masterful Tactics and Cloud of Arrows to focus fire. The first one thankfully dropped quickly. But the second one is accompanied with wargs...we need to lock them down.
A unit of spearmen and light footmen engages the wargs and giants while archers rained down on them. Friendly fire is ignored. We just have to accept the losses.
It held. The wargs are handily dispatched by the heavy infantry, while archers draw the heavy Sidhe troopers on a hit and run chase that is still effective.
It turned out okay. Although we lost both the spearmen and light footmen unit used to hold back the Giants and Wargs.
The Lady of the Lake restored Excalibur to its former glory.
This is when the real game begins...
We have two choices. Establish a stronghold by taking Virconium to the north...or London to the east? The City of Virconium is a stronghold of the Old Faith and may grant opportunities to ally with the Kingdoms of the Old Faith, antagonizing the Eastern Christian Kingdom in the process. London is the opposite, bordering the Saxons, we will have the opportunity to ally with Christian forces in their quest to spread their beliefs in the land and eventually clashing with the Old Faith kingdoms to the west.
Also, the Quest for Sir Balin is still pending...I'll get to it in the next update...for now..Vote for Virconium or London as our choice of Stronghold.