15 turns in sounds about right. It usually either Macedon or the Greek Cities you are mixed up with by then. But Town Watchmen!! Oi!

Rome is your fwiend.

Finishing up PMD: Explorers of Sky, which is actually a lot more laborious that it might sound. The list of goals to accomplish that so far are:

-Recruit at least one of each 492 Pokemon, including variants. Only need Grass and Trash Cloak Burmy as far as variants go, but I have like, half of the grand total recruited? Need to train and evolve some because recruiting them otherwise is a pain.

-Get Celebi to Level 100. Required to complete the above, since Kecleon can only be recruited by a level 100 Pokemon with the Fast Friend IQ skill. It's the ONLY way to get its Recruit Rate out of the negatives (along with either the Golden Mask or Amber Tear held item), because screw you. Level 76 with the IQ skill learned so far.

-Clear Zero Isle Center. Not as hard as the other dungeons I tackled, but I kinda want to put that off till the end.

-(Stretch Goal) Get Infernape to level 100 so I can have a full team of Max Level Pokemon for Zero Isle Center. Probably not necessary but I like to have options.


In spite of all this I'm already thinking of (finally) getting Pokemon Ultra Moon to continue this Pokemon thing and also maybe get Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I've been on the fence for the latter, so I'll let my friend who preordered it to try it out before I buy.

Started Divinity: Original Sin last week, after getting it on a GOG discount for $10. Larian Studios earned my trust after how excellent Divine Divinity and Divinity 2 were.

So far it is decent. I'm a little frustrated at the slower pace, which is partly because of the turn-based combat that I typically don't like. But what is more frustrating is trying to figure out all the things to do to sufficiently level up enough so I can go beyond the port town of Cyseal at the beginning (the monsters outside the gates are too tough for my characters at the moment). But I'm still having some fun and giving it a chance since it is Larian has not disappointed me yet.

I really enjoyed D:OS, but yes I agree that the start is quite slow. I've been thinking about going back through the game again as a different race (was lizard the first time) now that I know how everything works.

Pro tip: Talk to animals is a super handy skill to have.

Isn't it D:OS2 where you get to pick a different race, though? Or did I completely miss that option in D:OS? I like my characters, though. Nice to know I am not alone on thinking the start is kind of slow.

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking about getting it the next time I level up (if I'm able to) because I tried talking to a couple animals and it said the Animal Friend, or whatever it was, was needed. So it looks I will definitely get it then.

Ah my mistake, it was the second one I was thinking of!

Funny story, that. I originally planned and used my faction leader as a stonewall (even built a fort lol) to dissuade reinforcements from Athens and Corinth when I assaulted Larissa with my main stack (all of my generals with a bucketload of Hastatis and mercenary bois). Larissa only had like, a hundred or so militia hoplites defending it for some reason so the going was ridiculously easy.

And I (foolishly) thought that was all Macedon, the heir of the Great King, had to offer.

So with my ego running high, I had my faction leader charge (WITHOUT REINFORCEMENTS) at a gathering of Macedonian soldiers thinking that they were probably along the same level as the skeleton crew that I massacred at Larissa.

Two things.

1. Like I said, I didn’t reinforce my faction leader (who only had like a pair of Velites, one hastati and five Watchmen).

2. I didn’t check the Army composition of my enemy.

It turns out that they were ridiculously decked, to the point that it had me thinking that maybe THESE were the garrison at Larissa. Cavalry, archers, a mother lode of phalanxes, EVEN A GODS DAMNED BALLISTA FOR SOME CURSED REASON. A BALLISTA.

So you know. Bye-bye, G-Pop Brutus I went.

I did actually survive a siege once with my faction leader and about half a dozen peasants. The trick is to let the computer lay siege, and then sally. The AI does not handle sallies well. You can ride out with your cavalry from a back gate, go around the city, and attack them in the flank. Once you get a few units coming after you, break off and head back to the city. Hopefully you have some decent walls with towers, because the towers will shoot the enemy once they get in range. Then just ride around the city with the enemy pursuing you the entire way. Wait until they get exhausted, then turn and charge them again. That will often rout them.

In the case of my faction leader plus peasants, I put all the peasants behind the city in one big pile. Then the leader sallied, got some of the enemy to pursue him, and then lead them back to the peasants. The enemy routed as soon as they got close to the peasants, because they were tired, and suddenly the were way outnumbered (peasants are not worth much in a fight, but there are always a lot of them!). Then I just rinsed and repeated, taking rest breaks to rest my general.

Here, I found a link to it.

The good ol’ Bait and Bake! Thank you for this knowledge, O Lady of War, I will use it should the Civil War happen and my Tartarre-Croutons get besieged by the Reds and Blues. I especially like the use of peasants in this strategy since I’m planning on focusing the East and the South with my main stacks (although I’m probably going to use a mixture of Peasants and Principes now that I can make the latter). It should be a good exercise in micro-ing too since I’m still getting used to the controls.

I really like the fact that terrain plays a huge part in combat as well. Had a skirmish on a slope against a Macedonian army and I decisively won by forcing them to fight uphill. This game is awesome!

I have been thinking about it for a while, and Uleni inspired me even more. So last night I started a new Amazon Total War campaign, playing the Valkyrja from my Amazon: Total War mod. So far so good. The first time I played them the early game was really brutal, as I was fending off both Scythia and the Sarmatians at the same time.

This time out I did not spend as much time building up my resources (and allowing the Scythians and Sarmatians to do the same. Instead by turn 6 I had attacked Scythia. I am up to turn 15 or so, and have them on the ropes. Mercenaries have helped a lot. They are about half my army. Losses have been heavier than I would like. But that is the problem with fighting against a horse archer faction. They always end up hurting you, no matter how many archers you have yourself.

The Sarmatians appeared on my border attacking a rebel city a few turns back. They took it, but so far have not moved against me, yet. My hope is that I can knock out Scythia and then take some time to consolidate before going against the Sarmatians. Once I can finish them, the game should be easier, as it will be mostly non-horse archer factions. Though Armenia might be trouble.

Where did you put the Valkyrja homeland? Scandinavia?

No, Scandinavia is not part of RTW1. TheValkyrja are in the equivalent of modern Belarus, and a little to the east. The other Amazon factions are the Bean Sidhe in Ireland and Scotland, the Gorgons in the Western Sahara, and of course Amazonia in north-eastern Asia Minor.

Ah, ok gotcha.

I've been feeling a bit of Total War coming on recently too, though I am currently doing another playthrough of Divinity Original Sin 2 so TW will have to wait a few more days.

Good luck with the Scythians Rosa! Hopefully the Sarmatians are polite enough to wait for your current business to be concluded before they invite you to dance.

I smell the beginnings of an AAR! Honestly ever since I read this https://lparchive.org/A-Scotsman-In-Egypt/ way back when, I always wanted to make one.

And now that I have Rome: Total War....

I decided to buy Star Control Origins from Steam and so far I love it.

This post has been edited by Dark Reaper: Oct 2 2018, 01:54 AM

Go for it. An AAR is a lot of work (I did a few in my time), but they can rewarding.

I will be a good AAReporter, even if it kills me!


... or anyone else, for that matter.