Elves, Day 32

The plot thickens! Our cousins are not so weak as everyone, including themselves, thought. We've set up a nice little relay-race with our heroes. Each will carry the ring of Tunnelling once the other's horse is worn out. We should eb set to explore the underworld speedy as anything!

Orcs Day 32

Well, so the Darkelves took WIntergarden. Maybe they can help me pin the halflings down, since they keep taking out my stacks. And yes, its uhhh... (ahem) time to explore the underground! Starting... uh... now!

Bockwit, Day 32

Good job taking out Wintergarden, Dark Elves. Interesting items your new hero has.

In other news, apparently we're now Neutral, so our Archon archer wants to bail.

TS

I don't even want to hear it from the guy producing level 3 fliers from multiple cities.

Yep, definitely time to finally get started exploring that underground. I bet it has all sorts of treasures no one has seen yet!

Elves, Day 33

We zoom underground and snag some Production Resources.

Bockwit, Day 33

We do what we must. Now to see if the cavalry decide to try their luck.

Also, hello Elves. Watch out for neutrals!

TS

Elves, Day 34

We are dismayed to see we aren't as swift to the underworld as we thought. We declared war on the halflings as they already hold a Watchtower down here.

Bockwit, Day 34

And that makes 5. I'm now at war with everyone, including the independents (who have taken more towns from me than the orcs) and my own incompetence. It will be nice when this game is over.

TS

I'm just after securing that watchtower and anything else you've flagged with a passing scout, not a real war.... hopefully.

There isn't much else there flying my flag. The indies have already reclaimed it all.

If James doesn't slack off, then I shouldn't be around much longer anyway.

Orcs Day Latest

OMG this war is exhausting. So Bockwit is at war with five enemies? I only count 3. Have either elves engaged the halflings at all? There's a big difference between declaring war and fighting constant battles. I get the shakes every new turn I open, dreading what the turnlogs only hint at. Yes, Bockwit killed yet another of my heroes, as well as an additional full stack. I just can't get a break with heroes on this map, I tells ya. Well, my orcs had their revenge, killing the dwarven hero and his gang of rogues. They then stumbled on none other than Bockwit himself, guarded by only a single rogue. This troublesome wizard is obviously the head of some gang of bandits and ne'er-do-wells, to have such bodyguards. Well, my loyal cavalry, despite already being wounded in the previous battle, were able to send Bockwit to the void. Of course he'll respawn in his tower, but hopefully he'll have to lick his wounds for awhile. I have troubles of my own below.

Allow me to formally announce what you elves, both light and drow, undoubtedly have already realized. The halflings and I have been underground for some time now. As far as I can tell, we got there around the same time. BE WARNED: the underground is chock full of patrolling indies. And these are not pushovers. I killed two leprechauns in two turns and just barely survived. I hate those things. They are impossible to hit. I had them surrounded and all my guys did was chop air. As Bookwyrm said, these are actually one of the biggest threats. I think they spawn when triggers are stepped on, but I really don't want to look it up in the editor. I like the RPG aspects and appreciate that the mapmaker wanted to make something challenging. I just have this sinking feeling that these indies will be a constant issue. Don't send out weak parties unless you have scanned the area. And even then... leprechauns! (shudder)

*snort* The only unit worth a damn in that stack was the hero. Your tier 1 trashed wrecked my rogues.

I managed to get my first unit down there around turn 10, and I think he got there slightly earlier.

The difference between us is that I had to do my explorations and collections with summoned lurkers until I found a city that would join me for only(!) 600 some-odd gold. Unlike the rest of us, the orcs had a starting hero with the ability to learn tunneling. James has been able to explore and pillage the underground in force pretty much from the moment he started looking around. It doesn't help that the Orcs, Goblins, and Hell Hounds have access to Night Vision, which lurkers do not.

I don't fault James for his massive advantage (he's made some smart moves, and I've had some terrific blunders), but the map maker screwed the pooch on this one.

Bah, why didn't that even occur to me?

I dunno, but I was laughing at you inside when you wondered aloud about how we're supposed to get downstairs. James and I talked about it, and we decided to let you guys find out the hard way that we were already downstairs.

This is true. Plenty of Tier 3 units roaming around, actively heading for player controlled stuff. A Vampire+Bone Horror pair crossed half the map, systematically unflagging my stuff and killing any of my units it could reach.

I saw both of those leprechauns die. You killed them, true, but you killed them pretty handily. You lost only a few units, and all losses were replaceable units. :P