State of the Stronghold (Turn 70)

At the end of the Summer of 176, the Kraxis Empire has been destroyed and its lands and population have been assimilated.  We will have a quiet harvest, but expecting a long period of peace would be shortsighted.  Even our fellow Kingdoms look at our military successes with apprehension.  As for the Empire aligned nations, hostilities are only a matter of time.  The best we can do in order to prepare is to pacify our homelands, and establish control, via monoliths, over every square mile of land.

It seems that our champions are still sufficient to handle any force the enemy can muster.  Thus, we will postpone work on trained units, and will continue to focus on development and infrastructure.  And, of course, no resources will be spared toward the completion of the Great Mill project.

Stronghold is growing nicely, mostly due to the influx of prisoners of war.  Our food stores will be adequate for a few more years, and by then, grain with be flowing in from our remote farms.  

Other resources are also being developed on schedule.  We are bringing in clay from the former Kraxis lands, and our mana income has passed the point where we can afford to erect one monolith every season, while still retaining enough mana to cast "Haste" twice.

With the recently raised taxes, there is some unrest, but the research and production is barely affected.  At the first opportunity, we will construct a town hall, and further subdue the malcontents.

Boss Smiley is still the most powerful fighter in the known world, and with his recent advances in Air magic, he can react to any threat to our homelands.  In the immediate future, he will explore in the direction of our most likely future enemy - Yithril.

Badra has made great progress in the last few years.  The recipient of all available enchantments, she has been wiping out monster lairs, and improving her fighting skills.  Her armor is still lacking though.  We will look for ways of getting some of the equipment collected in the Northwest to her.

Karavox is no longer an Emperor, and his ability to impose his will and magic power is not what it used to be. Still, he remains a valuable asset, and can be very useful in a support caster role.  Or he could be sent to the south, to bring some equipment to Badra, and then explore the  Kingdom territories that are likely to be less dangerous, and thus more suited to his low health.

Oracle Ceresa has found her new role.  She supports Boss Smiley in every task - she allows him to move much faster, she targets his enemies with her fiery bow, and is able to provide support magic when needed.  Her summoned wargs can be very effective scouts, although they do not seem to be very tough.

To conclude, by the end of the Summer of 176, the state of Stronghold is PEACEFUL.

Play-through (Turn 70 - 79)

An amazing show of restraint by an Umber pioneer. Lets hope the Slag stays asleep

Turn 70: A number of Yithril pioneers approach from the West.  I only have enough mana for one monolith, and decide to use it to deny some prime real estate to the Umber pioneers.  I'll kick the Yithril out next turn.

Deprived of arable land, the Umber pioneers show commendable humility and erect an outpost far enough from the slag that he fails to wake up.  Badra, on the other hand, is in range, and Borun orders her to get out.  She is done there anyway, and takes the offered free ride to the border. This puts her near the lair of a cave bear.  She skins it without breaking a sweat.

Smiley and Ceresa head West, to exchange equipment with Karavox, and to be in place for a possible Yithril invasion.  To await them, Karavox makes camp in the middle of an crossroad, and forces everyone else to walk around him, losing the benefit of the road.

Even our friends don't like us much.

Turn 71: Smiley's party and Karavox meet, and Karavox picks up everything that they are not using, with the exception of a banishing mace.  Smiley plans on using that against the Earth elemental's army nearby.

Badra loots some healing herbs from the bear den, and heads towards the Empire hero Shimsher.  He's got good stats, but his weapon is an axe, and her chainmail and "Stone Skin" are great against cutting weapons.

I erect a monolith in the pass from which the Yithril pioneers are coming, and ask Warlord Venga to leave my lands.  Unhappily, he complies.  I check my foreign relations report.  Our wars are not making us many friends amongst the Empire aligned nations.  One the other hand, our wars aren't leaving many Empire aligned nations, either, so I see no reason to change.  If there's any problem, it's that even some Kingdoms are worried.  

The one good thing about this sword is the selling price.

Turn 72: I receive a message from Magnar.  His scouts are coming from Yithril's direction, so I instruct my archers to make camp at the border, and watch for intrusions.  They immediately spot some Yithril pioneers, and kick them out.  Warlord Venga informs me that the harder I make this for him, the more likely he is to try to conquer me.  As if I did not consider war with him already inevitable.

Karavox heads South to look for Badra, who has nearly reached Shimsher's army.

Boss Smiley and Ceresa destroy the Earth elemental's army and loot its lair.  They find the Scythe of the Void.  A strange weapon.  Amazingly effective, but so hard to control that Smiley won't be able to use it until he is at least twice as powerful as he is now.  On top of that, whoever uses it never learns a thing.  It seems destined to gather dust in a merchant's display case.

Not so tough when his elemental falls behind, is he?

Turn 73: Lord Relias of Altar lets me know they have discovered the secrets of training.  I guess they will start building troops.  As long as they do not use them against us...

Badra attacks Shimsher, making sure she's coming from friendly territory.  It's an interesting fight.  As expected, Shimsher's attack is very ineffective against Badra's chainmail.  But he casts "Stone Skin" on his elemental, and Badra has to use her superior mobility to avoid getting hit by the elemental until Shimsher goes down.  Running is a two edged sword.  Shimsher is fast enough to keep up with her, but she regenerates while Shimsher's own berserk is draining his life.  Even once Shimsher is unconscious, Badra has to sometimes run away from the elemental, and circle the battlefield in order to regenerate.  Fighting an Earth elemental enchanted with "Stone Skin" is no easy task, but eventually Badra triumphs.  The experience elevates her to Apprentice Swordsman.  Well, she is actually an axewoman, but close enough.  She sends Shimsher to Stronghold, but keeps his great axe.

Boss Smiley and Ceresa attack Irsa's army. Smiley chops the snakes into mince meat, while the girls trade shots with their identical bows.  But Irsa dodges most of the shots, and Ceresa has "Stone Skin" and "Nature's Cloak" active.  At some point Smiley gets bored, pulls Irsa from her skath, and sends her to work in Stronghold.  Unfortunately, the skath runs away, and all they recover is an axe.  On the plus side, all the flames from the Ignys arrows have given Ceresa a better understanding of Fire, and she becomes a Fire Mage.    

Smiley's party heads West into Yithril territory, while I keep erecting monoliths around the South homelands, and secure two prestigious locations and a farm.  Unfortunately, I also uncover a group of knights, and a Fire elemental's army.  I hope Badra makes it there in time.

Clockwise around Yithril's lands: Altar, Gilden, Pariden, Tarth, Slavers

Turn 74: Warlord Varga asks Smiley to leave his lands, and Smiley complies... for about a minute, only to take a running start and get as far in Yithril territory as he can.  He is rewarded by a glimpse of Altar, Pariden, Tarth, and Gilden territory.  Stuck between us and another four Kingdoms, Yithril is unlikely to be too aggressive.  While he's in Yithril, Smiley finds a rich fool who pays 408 Gildars for the Sythe of the Void.  

Badra heads South, and enters the area controlled by the Pariden outpost that we somehow allowed in our homelands.  She takes the opportunity to go shopping, but all Pariden has researched is magic.  She is briefly tempted by a robe and a belt that would significantly increase her initiative, but she has a pretty good idea about her next few fights and knows she will not need better combat gear.  What she needs is a mount, so that she wastes less time traveling.

Fortunately, the wolves have discovered a Capitar outpost in the South, and maybe she will get a warhorse soon.  If not, we are researching "Animal Husbandry" ourselves, and "Mounted Warfare" is not that far off.

The treaty will take a while to pay for itself, but its greatest dividend is peace

Turn 75: Once again, Varga asks us to leave his lands, and once again Smiley's party accepts the ride to the border.  This time, they are taken to the West, and end up in Altar territory.  After trying, unsuccessfully, to purchase mounts, they raid an Eart elemental lair, and find spectral chain shirt, which Smiley equips.

Karavox keeps chasing Badra with her new equipment.  He's no faster, but she will be fighting on the way, so he will eventually catch up.

I notice that Gildar has pulled ahead in the power rankings.  Well, slave-based, centralized economies aren't exactly the most efficient, so this was to be expected.  Still, no reason not to arrange for some trade relations, if only to make them more friendly.

Why did I not go for the non-aggression pact instead?  Because those expire, and I do not think I'll have the time to explore Gilden's lands in the immediate future, at least not with an force that could actually raid lairs or undertake quests.

With move and initiative of one, even the biggest spider isn't much of a threat.

Turn 76: We rediscover the secrets of "Animal Husbandry" and start working on "Training".  Time to start exploiting wild game and twilight bees.

Karavox gets a nasty surprise.  A ravenhous harridan has emerged from a lair that Smiley cleared but did not bother to destroy years ago.  Fortunately, it has not gotten its bearings yet, and does not attack.  Karavox has very little health, and his broken spirit makes him a poor damage dealer.  But he has combat training, and is carrying a lot of gear.  Furthermore, he has a silver goblet which will counter the spiders' poison.  So I buff him with "Stone Skin", "Evade" and "Regeneration", and cast "Freeze" on the harridan's army.  He eventually gets his "Slow" to affect the harridan, and then it's all over.  He misses a lot, but he regenerates so quickly that the spiders cannot hope to take him down.  The destruction of the lair yields a pair of champion greaves. 

I hesitate briefly, but end up taking Karavox's enchantments away after the fight.  It's unlikely that he will need them any time soon, and I want to build up my mana reserves in preparation for war.  Once I start taking enchantments down, I debuff the wolves and the archers as well.  For years, they have been acting as watchmen rather than warriors.

Yithril needs better management.

Turn 77: We finish researching "Training", and move on to "Mounted Warfare".

Boss Smiley's party keeps pushing West, and discovers the Yithril city of Alhain-Al-Assan, population 80.  We also spot Warlord Verga.  The city has run out of food, the Warlord is weak and poorly equipped...  The Empire of Yithril certainly appears ripe for conquest.

Badra nears a group of knights that has been roaming our homelands since Smiley first set foot out of Stronghold.  They have never done us any harm, so she decides not to attack.  

Such an important crossroad cannot be left unmonitored.

Turn 78: Stronghold completes the construction of the Great Mill and start building a conclave.  

A crag spawn enter our lands and heads for an Earth shrine.  It's out of Badra's way, so I send Labor Disputes to deal with it.  It was not so long ago that I removed their enchantments, and now the wolves need to fight.  Figures.

Boss Smiley erects a monolith on an extremely busy crossroad.  Not only does this allow us to monitor the comings and goings of whoever uses the roads, but it's a an easy way for Smiley to teleport back when we decide to obliterate Yithril.  

Look at them milling about. They must yearn for the productive life of a Stronghold worker.

Turn 79: Our researchers not only figure out how to stay on top of a horse, but also how to teach horsemanship to others.  "Education" is important indeed, which is why it's our next research topic.  

Stronghold production capacity is so high that only after one turn of construction, the conclave can be rushed for 23 Gildars.  We do so, and begin  building an apothecary.

All of our champions purchase horses, and find someone to teach them how to ride.

Badra captures the Empire hero Csilla and sends her to Stronghold.  Csilla's broadsword is a very nice weapon for an assassin, and Badra retains it, although for now she'll keep using her axe.

The crag spawn leaves our territory, but the wolf keeps tracking it.  We do not want wandering monsters in the homelands.

Boss Smiley's progress West is checked by a throng of Yithril companies.  Pioneers, scouts, spearmen and warriors are milling around aimlessly.  Smiley decides that the Yithril subjects lack any kind of leadership or direction and will be happier leading the productive lives of Stronghold workers.

With that in mind, he starts writing his next "State of Stronghold" speech.

Thanks for the kind comments, they are a big part of my enjoying this log.

Rhadagast, the pace of the updates is unlikely to increase - I updated to 0.914, and I have to restore to 0.913 in order to play Boss Smiley.  But I am enjoying it, so you can expect that while slow, the updates will continue... until the Slavers are wiped out, or until the whole world is enthralled by Stronghold. I just hope that Startdock does not force an update, because my game will not run without calling home.

Sentinemodo, my net mana income is about 40 point per turn, and thus I can make a monolith every turn.  I could increase it by debuffing the wolf-pack, and Ceresa probably does not need all her buffs, but with no restores, I prefer to play it safe.

OrionM42, I do not object to selling loot, but I missed my chance while I was in Pariden territory, where I should have checked for horses.  As for selling in a home store, I can do it at any time, and probably will when I need the cash.  I usually hoard it until I can buy mounts, need to buy passage or peace, or when I want to rush a cheap building or unit that is tying a high production city for 3 turns.  The latter will probably be coming up a lot, in this game.

State of the Stronghold (Turn 80)

At the beginning of the Winter of 178, Stronghold is enjoying a period of peace.  In the last few years, a number of monster lairs have been destroyed, and all the known resources have been improved.  The homelands have been successfully sealed from Kingdom pioneers, and the new Imperial outposts are isolated and vulnerable.  While all Empire nations hate us, our heroes'  renowned prowess acts as a deterrent to war.

Stronghold has built the Great Mill, and is unlikely to ever have food problems again.  Its production capacity is outstanding, and its research is increasing with the rapid construction of advanced buildings.  Our mana income is unmatched, and our reserves are growing.  Shrines have been built on all known shards, and while we have been unlucky with Fire and Air, our Earth and Water spells are enjoying tremendous boosts.

Our heroes have been successfully accomplishing their missions and improving their skills.  It appears that two teams are likely to form, each consisting of a front line fighter and a support caster, namely Smiley & Ceresa and Badra & Karavox.  It is unlikely that anyone, friend or foe, will be able to field a force able to stand against either team.

But we must not grow complacent.  Gildar's economy is already surpassing ours, and the other Kingdom nations are also becoming more powerful, benefiting from the destruction of the Slavers' past enemies.  It is a sad fact that Stronghold, by itself, cannot hope to match the research of nations with multiple large cities.  Even if such nations do not seem to exist today, one day they will.  By then, we must have magical control over as much of the worlds resources as possible, and that means that we have to dislodge the surviving Empire nations from every patch of land worth ruling.

As Yithril has been adequately scouted, and appears to be very poorly prepared for a war, an attack shall be launched immediately.

To conclude, at the beginning of the Winter of 178, the state of Stronghold is IMPETUOUS.

Play-through (Turn 80 - 89)

A list of the active enchantments

Turn 80: We sign a trade treaty with Altar, then ask around if anyone thinks that we should attack Yithril.  Pariden offers us 167 Gildar, and we accept them.  War with Yithril.  

Boss Smiley lines up all the pioneers nearby, and sends them to Stronghold.  That's 12 new workers.

Stronghold's sphere of influence expands, and covers a caldera guarded by a Fire elemental's army. I hope Badra gets there before it sets anything too important on fire.

An overview of Stronghold's economy

Turn 81:  A pack drake shambles into view.  It seems to have originated in Umber's lands.  Smiley casts "Tremor" on it, while Karavox takes yet another detour, and heads to intercept.

Smiley continues toward the Yithril city, collecting new workers all the way.  As he nears the walls, he notices Magnar's colors flying further West.  

Labor Disputes kills the crag spawn she's been tracking, and starts looking for its lair.  She finds it, next to a colony of bees we had somehow failed to spot.  She won't be able to destroy the spawns guarding the lair, but she can lead someone else to it.

It's not every day that monsters kill our enemies. It sure feels good, though

Turn 82:  The fire elemental near Stronghold incinerates an Umber scout unit.  Maybe it will also rid us of the Kingdom scouts...

Boss Smiley and Ceresa capture Alhain-Al-Assan, and send its 18 defenders to Stronghold.  Then they head to the Southeast where we have spotted Yithril's colors.  On the way, they notice some Yithril pioneers led by Alexan the Beetle.  They cannot reach him yet, so pin him down with a "Tremor" spell.

Badra and Karavox ride hard towards their respective targets, and the wolves continue to explore.

Arcane monoliths make conquest immediately rewarding

Turn 83:  We receive a message about losing an arcane monolith, but we cannot find where it happened.  We raze Alhain-Al-Assan and erect a monolith to control the nearby Air shrine.  

It costs only 3 Gildar to rush the apothecary's construction in Stronghold.  We do so, and begin work on a town hall.

Boss Smiley follows the road Southwest, enslaving enemies, destroying outposts, and erecting monoliths over the shrines he finds.  We also erect a monolith over the twilight bees found by Labor Disputes.  We should have done that earlier.

Badra attacks and annihilates the Fire elemental's army.  In its lair, she finds and equips a champion's cuirass.  She heads toward the other Fire elemental, the one South of Stronghold.  The trip will be short, as she will travel across the city's streets.

Verga's not where he needs to be.

Turn 84:  We finish researching "Education", and begin work on "Warg Riding" because our lands contain a lot more wild wargs than wild horses.  Our non-aggression pact with Pariden expires.  Unfortunately, Queen Procipinee is too busy to talk.  We'll have to wait to renew it.

Boss Smiley follows the road until it takes him under the wall of Ahilga.  This is the capital of the Yithril Empire, as well as its last city.  Four heroes are in residence, recovering from earlier fights.  Incompetent to the last, Warlord Verga is spotted as he rushes, I assume, to destroy one of our monoliths.  When he works for us, he'll be told what to do.  Maybe he's just not cut out to be a leader, and will do just fine under Smiley's command.

Smiley and Ceresa attack Ahilga.  It's not as easy as I expected.  The enemy heroes do a rather good job at healing each other, despite being aligned with the Empire. In addition, their "Tireless March" enchantments stack, more than doubling the militia's movement rate.  And of course, everyone concentrates on Ceresa.  At some point, she's quite hurt, but her "Regeneration" brings her back.  Smiley on the other hand, is never seriously threatened.  Eventually, all the enemies are captured, and Ahilda is ours.  Boss Smiley become a Life disciple, probably from watching the enemy champions heal themselves.

We waste no time in razing the city, and erecting two monoliths to control the nearby resources.  No shards, but there's horses, food, gold, iron and crystals.  Smiley catches a few pioneers close to the city, and decides that it is time to ask Venga to surrender.  He accepts, and joins the Slavers' cause.  The Yithril Empire is no more.

This kind of aggressive settling will not go unpunished.

Turn 85:  We learn how to ride wargs, and start researching "Literacy".  Time to domesticate all the wild wargs that live in our lands.

Smiley, Ceresa and Verga explore the former Yithril lands.  They find two shards, one Water and one Fire, as well as some iron deposits.  It looks as if they are on an island.

Karavox kills a pack drake, and resumes his neverending journey towards Badra.  Only then do we notice that the Umber have settled not one but two cities inside what we consider our borders.  Something tells me that these cities will not be getting much bigger.

A truly nasty crowd is hanging out in our backyard.

Turn 86:  Boss Smiley's party finds a land bridge leading South from the former Yithril lands.  They decide to explore, relying on Smiley's "Cloud Walk" to get them back, should an emergency arise.  

Verga buys a warg, and heads North, planning to explore around Altar and Magnar.  

Badra destroys another fire elemental's army, and becomes a "Skilled Swordsman", that is axe-woman.

Will Karavox ever make it to Badra?  This time, his journey is delayed by the new Umber city that forces him to take a detour.

Labor Dispute's exploration uncovers a concentration of hostile creatures in our backyard.  We had seen them before, but now they've bred, and some have decided to wander around and cause trouble.

Please, leave the resources alone, and chase the wolf.

Turn 87:  Stronghold grows again, and to celebrate, we approve the plans for the bathhouse complex that will reduce unrest.  We will build it at the earliest opportunity.

Smiley and Ceresa travel the land bridge South.  They locate an Earth shard and erect a monolith nearby.

Badra finds a ring of Storms in the Fire elemental's caldera, then heads toward the monsters uncovered by Labor Disputes.  As for Labor herself, she is running from a wandering group of spiders.  She is deliberately moving much slower than she could, because she wants the spiders to stick to her, as opposed to ravaging our resources.

Karavox notices yet another group of Umber pioneers looking to settle within our borders.  He chases them out, but this may have been a mistake.  After all, we can always use more slaves.

Verga heads toward Magnar's lands.  

Trading with our friends

Turn 88:  The non-aggression pact with Capitar expires.  We contact Lena, and have a nice chat, during which we notice that they have been focusing their research on magic, while we have been rediscovering the secrets of civilization.  We sign the non-aggression pact, and trade our research results.  This is all it takes for us to acquire the spells in the "Book of Frost".  

The spiders obligingly chase Labor Disputes, almost, but not quite, catching her.

An Ignys slithers into our lands.  It is too close to an important monolith, so we cast "Tremor" on it, and Karavox once again detours to deal with it.

Smiley and Ceresa capture the Empire hero Hyru, confiscate his spellstaff, and sent him to work in Stronghold.  The experience from fighting the Death demon guarding Hyro allows Ceresa to become a Fire Master.  She immediately casts "Mantle of Fire" on Smiley, and will do the same for Badra next turn.

As they continue their exploration, Smiley and Ceresa discover a dragon statue.  They lack the knowledge to decipher the inscriptions, but make a note of the location.

One wolf, two buffs. Fifteen spiders that do not stand a chance

Turn 89:  The spiders give up on catching up with the wolf, and head toward a monolith.  No one else is nearby, and "Stone skin" and "Regeneration" are cheaper than even one destroyed monolith.  Labor gets the enchantments, and attacks the spiders.  After she has killed all 15 of them, I dispel her buffs.

Boss Smiley's party discovers the arena of Slakhanan, right next to a Pariden outpost.  We erect our own monolith to check the Pariden expansion, but it is clear that pushing that way is counter-productive.  Our common allegiance forbids us from pressuring Pariden or Capitar, and they are all that lays that way.

Warlord Verga discovers the Magnar city of Khaffara, population 13.  We now know where to find all of the remaining Empire aligned nations.

It's time for another short victorious war, it seems.  Smiley starts writing his "State of the Stronghold" speech.

State of the Stronghold (Turn 90)

At the beginning of the Summer of 181 A.C. the State of Stronghold is strong, if politically isolated.  Our wars of conquest have earned us the hatred of the remaining Empires, and the distrust of most of the Kingdoms.  This does not worry us in the least.  We probably control a majority of the world's resources, have located every other nation, and have the magical power to react to any emergency.

It is true that Gildar and Altar are growing in power, and may surpass us in the esteem of other nations.  But their power lies in numbers - more cities, more troops.  None of their cities is half as important as Stronghold, and it is unlikely that they can concentrate their forces to the point they could threaten Boss Smiley or even Badra.



As for our heroes, by now they have very definite roles.  

Smiley and Ceresa are a fighter/caster team that has so far forced its way through any obstacle.  Between themselves, they have some skill in every element, and great power in Air and Fire.

Badra has become a monster slayer.  She has been pacifying the homelands, and has grow in power to the point that she is considering attacking the Fell dragon, and investigating the Pits of Namtur.

Karavox and Verga are acting as scouts and couriers, while lending their considerable skills as mages, merchants and leaders to our cause.

In the near future, we should attempt to destroy the remaining Empires, and secure their resources.  Once this is done, we will turn our attention to training and equipping regular armies, so that they can guarantee the security of our borders while our heroes attempt to discover the mysteries of the dragon statues.

So for now, we should finish securing the uncovered resources.  As soon as we build up our mana reserves, we will attack one of the remaining Empires.

To conclude, at the beginning of the Summer of 181 A.C. the State of Stronghold is FLOURISHING.

Play-through (Turn 90 - 99)

Those monoliths drained our mana reserves, but they are well worth it

Turn 90:  It only costs 112 Gildars to rush the construction of the school in Stronghold.  We do so, and start work on the Hediga bathhouse.

Smiley and Ceresa attack the Imperial hero Kulan, confiscate his scimitar, and sent him to Stronghold.

Karavox kills the "Tremored" Ignys, and heads, once again, towards Badra.

Badra attacks the Imperial hero Tsomok.  He manages to blind her, but between her "Haste" and her axe's backswings, that makes no difference.  Badra sends him to work in Stronghold after relieving him of his great axe.

Verga tries to go West from the Magnar city of Khaffara, but finds that there's no way around.  He decides to explore Altar instead.

With all this exploration, we discover a number of shards.  We erect as many monoliths as our mana allows.  Our reserves are gone, but our mana income next turn will be probably over 60.

Back on top

Turn 91: The numerous monoliths we erected last season have taken over a lot of land, and bring us, once again, to the top of the nation rankings.

The only other news is Labor Dispute's discovery of an Umber outpost on the other side of the Pits of Namtur.  It seems that Umber has grown to cover a lot of territory.  

All our heroes are rushing toward their goals, with no one daring to stand in their way.

Why fight for free when people are willing to finance our wars?

Turn 92: To everyone's surprise, we complete the research on "Standing Army".  We were supposed to be working on "Literacy"!  The guilty are whipped, and focus is switched where it was supposed to be in the first place.

Badra wipes out a hoarder spider's army.  During the fight, it becomes clear that Ceresa has forgotten to cast Mantle of Fire.  Badra still wins handily, but it seems that the whole nation is slacking off.

Labor Disputes has to run away from an Ophidian army disturbed by an Umber outpost.  Umber is not making friends among the Slavers.

Boss Smiley and Ceresa attack the hero Hertia and her slag.  After sending her to Stronghold, they use a "Cloud Walk" to arrive at the Magnar border.

We contact Altar.  In exchange for us declaring war on Magnar, Altar provides us with magical knowledge.  It's enough to rediscover the secrets of "Channeling".

Smiley and Ceresa attack Khaffara, and take it without problems.  Once inside, they notice Magnar nearby, but cannot catch him, at least not yet. 

Khaffara is razed.  The whole operation grants Stronghold 29 new workers.

Magnar should have been focusing less on pioneers

Turn 93: Boss Smiley decides to let Magnar be, and push into enemy territory.  Not that Magnar's army is particularly impressive, we just want him undamaged at the time of his inevitable surrender.  Thus Smiley and Ceresa head Southeast, capturing 24 assorted Magnar subjects in the process.

Badra loots a band of Might from the hoarder's lair, then heads towards Karavox, in order to retrieve the equipment she'll need against the Fell dragon.

The archers capture some Magnar scouts that were trying to enter our lands from the North.

Karavox reaches Badra after 26 seasons.  It took us only 22 to finish the Great Mill.

Turn 94:  The Magnar burn down one of our farms.  Unfortunate, but not unexpected.  The archers capture the offending scouts.  A "Tremor" spell will keep Magnar's army in place.  While not particularly impressive, it is still more than the archers can handle.

Boss Smiley makes no progress toward Magnar's homelands whatsoever, because his way is blocked by a throng of troops.  He sends 33 new workers to Stronghold... which by itself means a significant increase in research and production.

Badra and Karavox finally meet.  Badra receives a shield of the West Wind, a clock of the Night, a set of champion's greaves and a silver goblet.  She feels ready to take on anything, but she's under orders to clear the crag spawn's wandering army and everyone else nearby before she risks herself againt the Fell dragon.

Badra attacks Norii the Quick, takes his longsword, and sends him to work in Stronghold.

Stronghold - one Hell of a city, especially if you're an enslaved worker

Turn 95:  We finish the research on "Literacy", and target "Blacksmithing".  The immediate topic is "Leatherworking".  It's time to rush the bathhouse construction for 544 Gilgar, and start work on the library we just learned how to build.  

The bathhouse allows us to raise taxes to high without adversely affecting unrest.  

Now that we have learned how to coordinate our research with other nations, we sign technology treaties with everyone.  That costs us over 800 Gildars, but it reduces the time needed for "Blacksmithing" from nine to six seasons.

Badra destroys the crag spawns' army and learn how to perform "Vital Strike" in the process.  Karavox searches the spawns' lair, but finds nothing.

Smiley and Ceresa push into Magnar's territory.  They do so only slowly, because they take the time to round up 18 new workers for Stronghold.  With the influx of Magnar "recruits", Stronghold's population has grown over a thousand.

Buffs make all the difference

Turn 96:  Altar declares war on Magnar.  So, they pay us to attack, then join in once we weaken Magnar, but call us warmongers?  

Umber asks us to leave its lands.  Badra grudgingly complies, and the free ride out puts her next to the Fell dragon.  She's in a terrible mood, and attacks.  We barely have time to erect a monolith nearby so that she fights with the homeland bonus.  

It's not even close.  She dodge more than half the blows, and the rest barely hurt her through her armor.  Soon enough a critical finds the dragon's heart.  She takes an amulet of the Eagle from the dragon's corpse, and gives it to Karavox, who will be acting as her personal scout from now on.  Why doesn't he join with her?  She claims that she cannot guarantee his survival in the Pits of Namtur, but we suspect she just does not like sharing.

Boss Smiley locates the Magnar city of Curgen's Hold, population 75.  In addition to its militia, it is defended by four units of Chosen, armed with flaming axes, and equipped with Scar stones and rings of Embers.  Unfortunately for them, we control seven Earth shards, which means that "Nature's Cloak" grants elemental immunity.  Ironically, the Magnar themselves still get burned by Smiley's mantle of Fire.  

Soon enough, Curgen's Hold is taken and razed.  Stronghold receives a total of 39 new workers.

Verga explores Altar's territory, and discovers their capital.

The two cities of the Kingdom of Altar

Turn 97:  Badra defeats Bibiyana and her assassin demon and confiscates a banishing staff.

Karavox wanders around the Pits of Namtur.  He marks the caves on the map, but stays out of them.

Verga locates the second and last Altar city.  If Altar were to attack us they would not last an year.

Smiley and Ceresa defeat Noshima, confiscate her spear and send her to Stronghold, together with some Magnar pioneers.

Our monoliths deny Altar the use of the former Magnar lands

Turn 98:  We finish researching "Weaponry", and focus on "Blacksmithing".  Stronghold constructs the library, and begins work on an almshouse.

A bone ogre follows a road between our monoliths and shrines, but does not seem to be planning any vandalism.  We don't bother him.

Badra starts looking into the caves Karavox has mapped.  She find a leather cap and no excitement whatsoever in the first one.

Smiley finds the capital of Magnar.  It has only 100 citizen, and has still managed to run of out food.  Smiley and Ceresa attack.

There are a number of enemy champions in residence, and their "Tireless March" spells combine to allow the militia to rush Ceresa.  She goes down with a broken leg before Smiley has the time to help her.  This is not as much of a problem as it would have been if Verga had not been carrying a Restoration potion.  As soon as possible, they will meet, and Ceresa will be healed.

Imperium is razed, bringing Stronghold's population to 1218.  We ask Magnar to surrender.  He accepts.

We use our mana reserves to erect monoliths all over the former Magnar lands, in order to prevent anyone else from taking advantage of our victories.  We spot Lord Relias leading three units of pioneers.  We weren't a moment too early, it seems.

Badra surveys the Pits of Namtur from the top of a hill

Turn 99:  A river slag wanders into our lands, but Smiley and Ceresa are nearby, and will be able to intercept it before it can do any damage.  An Ignys, on the other hand, is close enough to a monolith to require a "Tremor" spell.

Badra searches another cave, and finds another piece of head gear - a Warding chain coif.  She equips it, but still complains that this is the seventh helmet she has found.

Magnar sells his unused loot, and buys himself a horse.

Karavox joins with Labor Disputes and continues to explore the Pits of Namtur.

Verga is riding toward Ceresa with the Restoration potion.

Everything seems under control as Smiley starts writing his "State of Stronghold" speech.

It looks to me as if you have pretty much "turned the corner".

With your four strong heros (two tag - teams), Scouts (your wolves), and the occasional impromptu Courier (to exchange goods from hero to hero), you clearly seem to have an unstoppable Military Superiority, as compared with any other Kingdom.  Coupled with an abundance of Mana and Gildar, adequate progress in technology, and an essentially secure homeland, I can't see where any other AI controlled empire or kingdom can stop you.  Even a coalition of 2-4 would probably not be a serious threat.  I think you have pretty much reached the "mop-up" phase.  So, while I will probably read "the rest of the story", if you post it, I don't think it carries as much weight ...

I should say: I am genuinely impressed with how rapidly you achieved this outcome!  Also, I view this as a solid tutorial, in its own right; and a Discussion thread that I would readily recommend to folks who are looking for strategic and tactical tips.    In that regard, I should mention that I have already recommended your Thread in my Reply #9, to the Discussion thread entitled: "Frustratingly Hard!!!! -- even on Easy.  Please fix".  Again, thanks for sharing! -- a lot of folks could benefit from reading this!      

I still read (I keep this page open and refresh few times a day, looking for changes in the last post - so I missed the question).

I've to agree that you probably won by now, though I wonder if you'll be able to go against Gilden, so let's see at elsat until that point.

I check this thread sometimes even tho i dont read it all. I think you should probably start a new one when 0.915 comes out.