Sunday, November 20, 2011

Late Heavy Bombardment: Hindsight

This game was awesome. I won it, but I can't claim that I had some masterful plan and executed it. I had a plan, and I got unlucky, and I got lucky. I was very close to losing the game at least twice. If I was aware of my peril twice, maybe I was unaware of existential peril at other points. As usual, the real winning strategy was to pursue a plan aggressively and adapt rapidly when the circumstances didn't cooperate.

I was sometimes surprised by specific tactical and strategic choices from my rivals. I looked back and saw some mistakes in my own play. I let myself run out of resources at some unfortunate moments, and I wasted an order slot in the tight endgame moving a legion that didn't stay Juggernauted long enough to kill the target it was moving towards. The biggest lessons I took away from it included that I eked out a narrow victory as an excomm, and if my rivals had coordinated better, I could have been thwarted. That likely would have required the majority of them identifying me as such a serious threat that they prioritized neutralizing me over securing their own prestige victory.

Great game from everyone, thank you all for playing.

Late Heavy Bombardment: Endgame

My excommunication starts with a bang. Someone Loots 8 cards from my Vaults. Primate of Carceri launches a demand at Pele, while Pele demands on Gaffer and me simultaneously. Even though I'm excommunicated, my turn log gives me the option to concede to Pele's demand. I start up Strategic Deception to hide my legions and target Primate's 2 legions with a PCB ritual each.

I've used Dimensional Gate to position my (Infernal Juggernauted) Gorgons within range of both Pele's and Purcarp's strongholds. They both go before me, and I want to maximize my chances of killing someone this turn and reducing the field of opponents. Purcarp has a legion he could interpose, so I march instead towards Pele's stronghold in phase 1. I launch a Planar Lock at Purcarp as a consolation prize. I don't think it was a bad plan in itself, but someone opened a new fissure in Hell to kill my Gorgons and Purcarp's legion on phase 1. This really amuses me, because they're still acting against each other. They don't realize that they'll have to work together to stop me.

I get a deluge of Corruption of Essence coming my way. They interrupt one of my PCB's and my ongoing Strategic Deception. I never get a good chance to restart it. I think CE probably is the most convenient and efficient way to hurt a rival, but it's got the restriction common to all destruction rituals: it can only be used in vendetta, against an excomm, or with ritual masking. I still manage to PCB one of Primate's legions, so I do the Infernal Juggernaut and Dimensional Gate combination again, targeting a canton that did not recently open up in a fissure, which is also within range of Pele's and Purcarp's strongholds. By placing my legions in positions that threaten multiple rivals existence, I make it that much harder to guess my immediate intentions. I target two more legions with PCB.

I get Looted and the CE's continue, this time interrupting my Gate, but not my Juggernaut. The successful Juggernaut contributes to my newly stolen Stygian Guard surviving three Afflictions thrown its way. My PCB's both succeed. I Juggernaut another new legion and march the Stygian Guard towards Dorobou's stronghold, lacking the resources to Gate them. They'll get there soon enough on foot.

The ritual hate keeps coming, but it hardly matters now. I get hit with a "successful" CE that does nothing, because I have no resources left to destroy. The constant barrage does dissuade me from trying to restart Strategic Deception, so that's something. Dorobou and Primate of Carceri get into a vendetta, and I believe its sole purpose is to allow Primate passage through Dorobou's territory to get at me. The joke's on them, as I'll kill Dorobou this turn anyway, and all of his territory will go neutral. I continue demanding resources regularly and using my income as much as possible each turn, since CE makes it silly to try saving up. I continue Juggernauting my legions as I steal them.

The conclave tokes are piling up. We're at 13/15 and I haven't captured Pandemonium or killed anyone yet. I have to get down to business. On turn 45, I've killed Dorobou. I have 4 Juggernauted legions and 4 enemies. Sowing Confusion is attempted on me, but fails. The Looting continues while I'm granted a brief reprieve from CE, but since I'm still anticipating it, I didn't even try any rituals. I start up a Planar Lock on Pele now. Maybe they've all spent their stockpiles and can't afford to CE me so much any more. I continue marching and Gating around to try to kill them. I go a turn without demanding resources, as I have several powerful legions and I can keep using my orders to move them without having to pay anything.

On turn 46, two of the worst possible events (for me) happen. Back Room Dealing brings us up to 14/15 tokens, threatening to end the game abruptly in a prestige victory for someone else. Simultaneously, the Infernal Monsoons begin, significantly frustrating my plans to march around capturing strongholds. By sheer dumb luck, I have a Juggernauted legion adjacent to Pandemonium. It just captured Purcarp's stronghold and happened to pop out in the one canton that allows it to march on Pandemonium immediately, even with the monsoons. I have to do it, or I run the risk of the 15th token ending the game. I can't even do it on phase 1, as I need to create a combat card for my legion first. Fortunately, I can also kill another rival this turn, to reduce the head count further. The monsoons incidentally benefit me, because no legion is close enough to my stronghold to threaten it at a movement rate of one canton per turn. And my Dimensional Gate is now even more valuable.

I get Pandemonium and use my Juggernauts to kill more rivals, but IJ has a downside. Eventually, all of my legions are exhausted and I still haven't killed Gaffer. I throw as much Infernal Affliction at his legion as I can and Planar Lock him, as I only have to hold Pandemonium to win. If I can neutralize him as a threat, that's as good as killing him. After I kill his legion, I switch to spamming Looting the Vaults and Dark Augury on him. My first DA reveals his stats, and having seen them, I do not believe he can stop me. He concedes the game to me.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Late Heavy Bombardment: Turns 31 - 40

On turn 31, I increase my Cunning to 5, so that I'll have 2 turns to try to steal the Cube from Pele while I can still see it. There has been some curiosity expressed about what I would have done if the Cube had never come up on the market or if I had failed to acquire it. I would have tried to take Pandemonium, maybe kill a rival or two, but mostly just try to hold Pandemonium for 5 turns. Acquiring and using the cube cost significant quantities of resources and orders, which I would have used elsewhere. Still, taking the Cube from Pele was absolutely a good call since it was an option.

I also launch one last demand on Dorobou. It's a total bluff. I wouldn't even have declared vendetta if he had refused. Fortunately, I had been hammering away on him steadily, and I played the event Evil Tax the same turn that I demanded. This is generally a good combination, forcing your opponent to give up resources, while simultaneously giving him the option to give up more. It puts him in an unenviable spot, and it seems very much like I'm trying to force a vendetta. He conceded. Double reverse unpsychology for the win.

Turn 32, I aim a Pilfer, Coerce, and Bribe ritual at the Cube and demand a lot of resources. This same turn, I receive a cryptic, defeatist message from Pele. He says he'll be more careful next time. I didn't think just surviving to this point was all that impressive, and I hadn't actually taken the Cube yet. What else did Pele know I was up to? I got the Cube on the first try, too.

I continue Looting and demanding resources like crazy while I accumulate order slots. I have 6 orders available on turn 36. I use the Machine of Omens on turn 35 and Machine of Despair on turn 37. Dropping everyone else by 2 points in each of 2 stats at this juncture is pretty brutal. It's likely that I cost many of my rivals an order slot or 2 each.

Pele sends another demand my way on turn 34. It's the third consecutive demand, so even if I concede he can declare vendetta soon. I concede anyway. No real sense in letting him fight me any sooner than absolutely necessary. Besides, this way he'll have to commit one more order slot and he'll only get a handful of 1-tribute cards out of me for my concession.

Towards the end of this turn block, the action is intense and the shape of the endgame is becoming sharper every turn. Someone played the event that doubles Destruction damage, as if we really needed that. All of my legions are dead from Pele's vendetta. I'm not the only one in this position, as I've used ritual masking to Infernal Affliction everything I can to death. I have Martial Skill 6, Cunning 6, Intellect 5, Wickedness 5, Charisma 6 (with Faust's Contract.)

I'm not certain exactly when Pele tried to rally the troops against me, but it didn't work. For one thing, most of them were already busy and/or had their legions killed. For another, I had spent much of the game appearing weak, which doesn't really mean as much as it might look like.
Clearly, I had grown quite strong in secret. Finally, I claimed that Pele was trying to involve everyone in our personal rivalry, and I think they bought it. They should have banded against me long ago, but now would have still been better than later, when they actually tried.

Turn 39, I start to consider the fine details of the endgame. I've just drawn the Writ of Rescindment, which is a hilarious plan B to my intended excommunication. It's tempting to make my move now, as there are no legions close enough to threaten me. I eventually decide to hold off for another turn or two before I excommunicate myself. I need to acquire at least one legion to use, and I still have to assign the Puzzle Cube to my Ritual Chamber. I also move Faust's Contract to my stronghold, just to free up the ritual slot it had occupied. It's more vulnerable there, but I've just used the Machine of Despair, and even if I do lose it, I can make do. I purchase the Gorgons, as they are strong and their upkeep does not bother me in the least.

On turn 40, I set my order to Afflict Pandemonium. I'll officially be a rogue. It's nice to see Gaffer is still demanding on Purcarp. They clearly don't realize they have bigger problems coming. I also start up Strategic Deception, which seems overpowered, though I'm eager to test it against human opposition for the first time. I demand resources with a couple slots and cast Infernal Juggernaut on my Gorgons. My notes indicate that I used Dimensional Gate to move them into range of both Pele's and Purcarp's strongholds. I'm not sure how I did this, as I wasn't currently excommunicated. Perhaps there was a well-placed neutral canton available? I take the risk of leaving my stronghold unsupported as I don't see any threats to it. Then all hell broke loose.

Late Heavy Bombardment: Turns 21 - 30

Sorry about the ridiculous delay in posting. My real life has been rather chaotic lately. I'm going to finish posting this AAR over the next couple of days, but no promises on starting anything else.

To recap turn 20, Pele and I had launched coordinated demands on Dorobou by coincidence. Dorobou was understandably wary of denying them both, so he only denied mine. Works for me. That means I'll get to capture his Temple of the Damned. To do so, I end up having to equip the Infernal Engine, revealing to all that I stole it from Primate of Carceri. I don't think I'm really in the prestige game any more, but if I can give the appearance that I am by competing for PoP's, hopefully I can take those conclave loyalists by surprise.

I've also noticed that Pele launched a demand on Purcarp before Dorobou's concession reached him. Pele is risking having two denied demands at once. Is he really that confident in his ability to warp around the map, or is he also sitting on an advanced single combat praetor? Or was he just lucky that Dorobou conceded? Pele is definitely presenting a lot of self-confidence, and that puts me on the defensive. I concede to Pele's 4 card demand on turn 22, not knowing what he could be planning.

On turn 22, I've already got Diabolism 6 from Charisma 5 and Faust's Contract. That's a great position to build from, but it doesn't mean anything if I get killed. I'm seriously worried that Dorobou will use his mountainwalking, combat-card-carrying legion to kill my only remaining legion before it can take his Temple. That would have left me only my stronghold, and then anyone would have been free to declare Blood Feud and take me out. This screenshot is from turn 23, after Dorobou declines to do so. I guess his card wasn't that strong after all. My Lords of the Pit get hit with a successful Combat Deception ritual, reducing their melee stat by 6, but they're able to take the Temple without sustaining damage, thanks to the old Infernal Engine. I still don't have a lot of room here for comfort.

I bid on the Hell Blades legion around now, trying to muster some kind of defensive force. I win the auction thinking that they'll pop out in a canton adjacent to my territory (there's even a neutral one just north of the Temple) but I'm surprised to find out that it doesn't work that way. I simply don't get them. My bodyguard legion also fails to reform, for lack of an empty space next to my stronghold. Next turn, Dorobou moves his legion away, and my bodyguard appears there.

The diplomacy is fast and furious. There are too many demands (but very few insults) to list those that don't involve me personally. Praetor single combat gets serious. The bazaar is also very active. Now that I've stabilized with 1 PoP, 2 legions, and no cantons to spare, the others allow me a moment to breathe. Big mistake. I start using Demand of Supplication and on the off turns, I Loot Dorobou and Pele (my highest threats.) I hide the Infernal Engine back in my vaults to allow the Lords of the Pit to fly again. I claim another canton from Dorobou with Evil Revanchism Target, though I'm disappointed not to take more.

On turn 25, Pele has Eligos and the Hellfire Ballista on his main legion, with the Puzzle Cube in a ritual slot. The legion's ranged stat is 17, with all ranged damage doubled. It wouldn't have taken much more than that to capture Pandemonium, and I was honestly surprised it didn't happen. I thought I would be too little, too late to stop Pele. I mention this fact in the public chat log, but there is no consensus to stop him now, before he begins. My general policy of misdirection and smack talk still payed off in the end, I think. Pele would later try similarly to rouse public opinion against me, but I portrayed it as a personal squabble and no one else joined in.

Turn 28 is a real tipping point in the game. I just increased my Charisma to 6, giving me Diabolism 7 total. That allows me to keep 5 cards per demand, which I doubt any one else can touch. I've got an incredible flow of resources, allowing gradual but sustained increases to all of my stats. Independently, I began launching Dark Augury at Pele the previous turn, to see the Cube in his Ritual Chamber. It worked on the first try. I buy more time on turn 29 by conceding to another demand from Pele, but I'm lining myself up to explode soon. I actually don't quite have Cunning 5 yet, so I can't steal the Cube. Getting it is currently my highest priority.

This block of turns concludes with me rearranging my threat list. I had Dorobou on top with Pele second. Now I put Pele on top with Purcarp second and shuffle Dorobou to the bottom. I've punished Dorobou a bit these last 20 turns, and since he's the prestige leader, I expect him to feel disproportionately much hate from the general public. He hasn't messed with me since I took the Temple, so I don't need to mess with him. I want to put a little hurting on Purcarp now, mainly because he's so close to my stronghold and Pandemonium. I'm totally committed to an Usurper run now, and I'm starting to plan for it. If Purcarp's going to be in the thick of the action, I want to soften him up beforehand.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Late Heavy Bombardment: Turns 11 - 20

And I start getting Looted. Turn 11 opens with someone Looting my Vaults for 6 cards. Fortunately, I don't presently have any big consolidated cards for the thief to steal. I still haven't begun my own Looting. I've needed my darkness for Faust's Contract and increasing charisma. I guess I could have used it for Looting, but I have so far chosen to demand resources in the order slots where I would have Looted. Demanding is a guaranteed income, without cost. The big advantage to Looting is that not only does it help you, it hurts your target. At this stage, I'm not so worried about any one rival to prioritize hurting them over helping myself.

We get our first conclave token on turn 12, one turn after I mentioned the lack thereof in the chat log. My bad. I continue increasing my Intellect. I'm mostly after that order slot, but the ritual slots are nice, and I may want to maintain Demonic Premonitions at some point. I feel that it's unlikely to save me more resources from failed Lootings than it costs, but its effects are not that simple. It may be best utilized when its use and its strength are known to the Deception player, to encourage him to rearrange his threat list because you aren't worth targeting. In that case, it need not be maintained for long. If you're clever enough, you may not actually need to cast it at all.

I acquire three pieces of the four piece manuscript for Machine of Omens by turn 13. I hope those don't get Looted away from me. I'd love to use a Machine or two in the endgame *ominous foreshadowing music*.

All told, during this stretch of turns, I Loot 4 times for a total of 16 cards (including a "successful" Looting on Pele for 0) and get Looted 4 times for a total of 18 cards. I don't know who is Looting me, but the nature of the threat order list (which I rearranged questionably on turn 15) means that all of my Lootings are aimed at Pele or Dorobou.

Bowl of Abject Darkness, Tongue of the Liar, and Finger of Betrayal all got purchased, but none of them got assigned to strongholds or PoP's. Drat. I was hoping to steal some of those. It looks like someone will be immune to Machines, and at least one of my rivals is committing to Deception. The Puzzle Cube is clearly best hidden away in a ritual slot, but its use reveals its presence. So around this time, everyone knows that Pele has it. It's a higher priority than any of those other relics. Faust's Contract is great to get early and use continuously, but the Cube is fantastic to have late in the game and use a handful of times to devastating effect.

I declare in the chat log that I have plans for the PoP's to my immediate north and that I'll put up a fight if anyone else should try to claim them. I do actually think this is a perfectly reasonable sentiment. Their proximity to my stronghold put them within my purview from the very beginning. To deny me these sources of prestige would be to exclude me from the prestige game, leaving me no alternative but to attempt usurpation. Still, some of my rivals react incredulously, as though the PoP's present neutrality voids my claim upon them.

I buy the Lords of the Pit to attack these PoP's, and because their flying is unaffected by my slothful trait. Pele reaches and claims The City of Dis to my northwest thanks to that Puzzle Cube and Dorobou captures the Temple of the Damned to my northeast. That's ok. My real purpose has already been served. I wanted to give the impression that I still cared about prestige, when I've actually committed to improving my stats and eventually going rogue. Buying the Lords of the Pit was a valid component of that strategy, but using order slots to take a PoP would be kind of a waste. Hopefully, I'll successfully misrepresent my intentions when I do that. It's also a good excuse to Pilfer, Coerce and Bribe the Infernal Engine away from Primate of Carceri. I need the Engine to defeat the Temple's garrison, and I believe I'm less likely to incur that Primate's wrath if it appears that I took his artifact for need instead of greed.

I deny a demand from Pele, who declares vendetta. I lose my bodyguard legion to Infernal Affliction and lose one of my few cantons to Pele's invasion. I'm dangerously close to having nothing but my stronghold. If I reach that pitiful position, anyone could declare Blood Feud and kill me. Pele offers to be my Blood Lord around this point. I am glad to see so many players proactively seeking Blood Vassalage. Perhaps Power Behind the Throne is more viable than I thought. I don't think I need Pele's patronage to survive, so I deny the offer rather rudely. In retrospect, I don't think I had much to lose by accepting. Sending the petition would have cost me an order slot, but I could still go rogue as a Blood Vassal, and the entire diplomatic landscape would have shifted. I can't say how that would have played out.

This section concludes with Pele and me each demanding on Dorbou on turn 20 by sheer coincidence. I suppose that's what Dorobou gets for being the leader in visible prestige.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Late Heavy Bombardment: Turns 1 - 10

http://middleborosi.blogspot.com/2011/10/late-heavy-bombardment-initial.html
As I said in the above linked post, my highest priority at the very beginning was a relic, Faust's Contract. I focused heavily on acquiring it in the early turns, to the extent of spending all three of my order slots in turn 1 demanding tribute. Turn 2, I demanded twice and consolidated towards paying for it. Everyone knows that when you take Obscure, you'll get less resources per demand, so you'll have to spend less or demand more. A consequence that I didn't appreciate at first, is having to consolidate more often because with lower average resources per card, you can't fit as much tribute into those 8 tribute slots.

Some players moved their legions around early. Some didn't. Those who don't, I assume they're also gathering a lot of tribute. I had enough resources by turn 3 to bid on Faust's Contract, and I overbid on it intentionally because I believed Madame Pele also had significant resources and was likely also interested.

Both of the praetor single combat manuscripts that I noted got bought from the bazaar almost immediately, so someone (or ones) are pursuing praetor combat and therefore prestige. The more strongly they commit to it, the less incentive I have to compete with them for a prestige win. It's too early to be sure, but it seems like the majority of my rivals will focus on prestige to the detriment of their stats. If that's the game, I'd rather take my chances on the usurper niche.

So on turn 4, I'm assigning Faust's Contract to my Ritual Chamber, and someone else has just bought the Finger of Betrayal. Someone else is interested in succeeding on Deception rolls. I wasn't too interested since I already had Prince of Lies. There are definitely times when I'd appreciate as many bonuses to my Deception roll as possible, but right now I don't know that I'd need it. I would like to know who else is playing Deception and what their Cunning stat is at. At the same time, I get a message from Madame Pele: "Stop that." So it seems like someone else has used Deception on Pele, who wrongly assumes it was me. It's also possible that Pele is just talking nonsense to mix it up or throw me off.

When those two relics got purchased simultaneously, they got replaced. The Bowl of Abject Darkness appears. Nice, but not spectacular. Also, the Puzzle Cube. That's a game changer. The ability to Gate around the map makes every PoP and stronghold reachable. Whoever has it is a great danger to the rest of us. This could easily lead to one of those situations where it's up to the rest of the game to unite against this one player, or that player will run away with the game. I want it. I've just spent my darkness. The cube sells immediately, before I can save up for it. It has a secondary effect, +2 Healing Rate. If I notice anyone healing particularly fast, I'll be appropriately suspicious.

Goblet of the Traitor appears on the Bazaar at this point. This looks to be a game with lots of praetor combat action, and unless I secure some significant foothold within it now, the prestige game is steadily slipping out of my reach. I have a +2 prestige and a +3 prestige PoP immediately to my north, but that means they're strong. I can't get my bodyguard up there, around the mountains, and I can't afford another strong legion. I decide right now to divert my attention and resources away from prestige. I demand a lot, in pursuit of increasing my stats, particularly charisma.

Dorobou meanders around the mountains in between our territories. That's curious. He can't claim them, and I don't see why he would want to cross them, except to fight me. By turn 7, Purcarp has established his borders with Pandemonium inside them. Gotta keep an eye on that one. Dorobou winds up mountainwalking to my south to take the Vaults of Avarice, which Primate of Carceri had so kindly softened up for him, in his own failed assault on it.

The first Event Card I draw is Neutralize Schemers, which can reveal and remove the Power Behind the Throne perk from a player. That's completely irrelevant unless someone takes a Blood Vassal, and pretty pointless unless I'm the Blood Lord. I want Power Behind the Throne to be viable, but I'm not seeing it. I certainly don't anticipate having a Blood Vassal in this game. I draw Evil Revanchism Target to replace it. That, I'll hold onto until someone borders me. It reassigns control of random border hexes from a player of my choosing to a player of my choosing.

So by turn 10, I have Charisma 4 with Faust's Contract, for a total of 5 Diabolism. I have Cunning 4, for a third order slot. My economy is healthy, and I'm planning what to do next. I believe that Intellect is the most convenient stat to increase in-game for an additional order slot, so I want to pursue that. I have 13 souls, 6 hellfire, and 11 darkness right now. That's enough to increase my Intellect from zero to one and from one to two on this turn and the next. If I keep up demanding while I do that, I may be able to increase it once per turn until it gets to 4, where I unlock another order slot. To do that, I'd need to acquire 13 souls, 8 hellfire, and 3 darkness in 6 "demand resources" actions. It's certainly possible.

The last thing I have to do in these first ten turns is to set my threat order list. Pele and Primate of Carceri are on top already, and they have the most unaccounted points in their avatars. I can't be sure, but I think that makes them most likely to have the most charisma, so I'll leave them at the top of my list. The rest of the list is unfortunately largely irrelevant. The 3rd slot is somewhat easier to attack than the 5th slot, but I don't really want to attack anyone below 2nd with my rituals. I'd rather rearrange the list first if I want to fight any of them.

Late Heavy Bombardment: My Rivals

Avatar Name (Forum Name)
Legion's combat stats summed: for an explanation, please see
Rank:
Public Objective:
Visible Perks: I just started a thread to address this
Points Remaining: These can only be spent on charisma and invisible perks. I speculate a bit sometimes.

Dorobou (Sord)
Legion's combat stats summed: 11
minimum cost: 8
Rank: Baron
cost: 3
Public Objective: Gluttony
cost: -3
No obvious perks
Points remaining: 22
charisma 3 & Infernal Cardinal? charisma 1 & King Maker? A noncharisma stat at 4?

Purcarp (purporc)
Legion's combat stats summed: 15
minimum cost: 12
Rank: Duke
cost: 9
Public Objective: Gluttony
cost: -3
No obvious perks
Points remaining: 12
if he has charisma 3, then he also has a negative perk and another (cheaper) perk or different distribution of non-charisma stats

Madame Pele (Fuu)
Legion's combat stats summed: 10
minimum cost: 4
Rank: Duke
cost: 9
Public Objective: Lust
cost: -3
Slothful
cost: -8
Points remaining: 28
too many possibilities

Gaffer (Moth Bones)
Legion's combat stats summed: 15
minimum cost: 12
Rank: Marquis
cost: 6
Public Objective: Lust
cost: -3
No obvious perks
Points remaining: 15
charisma 3? charisma 2 with different noncharisma distribution?

Primate of Carceri (Chaosguy)
Legion's combat stats summed: 8
minimum cost: 2 (also max cost)
Rank: Baron
cost: 3
Public Objective: Gluttony
cost: -3
No obvious perks
Points remaining: 28
too many possibilities

Marble Mouth (Marble Mouth)
Legion's combat stats summed: 11
minimum cost: 8
Rank: Marquis
cost: 6
Public Objective: Gluttony
cost: -3
Slothful
cost: -8
Points remaining: 27
too many possibilities
what I actually did