I like to challenge myself at times when playing Battle Realms. Usually I play 3 vs. 5 team skirmishes where the challenge becomes managing our team's limited troop supply for the first half of the game and preventing either of my AI allies from getting overrun. I had it in mind one day to try a 2 vs. 6 game but knew I'd need a specially-designed map to make sure my base camp could only be attacked from one point.
Anyway I built such a map a little over a year ago and used it off and on for less frustrating skirmishes. Then about a week ago I decided to go ahead and try a 2 vs. 6 game. I figured since the Lotus tend to be best at large self-sustaining assault squads once they're built up I'd use them. The game would be played on Hard which is what I have Battle Realms set to most of the time.
Well when the game started I knew instantly my team was in trouble. My camp was up on the protected hill where it was supposed to be but the computer put my ally not at the hill's base where I expected but the next start point out. This meant I couldn't reinforce them when they'd inevitably come under fire and I also had an enemy right at my doorstep. Things looked pretty grim but I decided to play anyway on the gamble that the AI would concentrate on me for the early part and leave my ally mostly alone. The Lotus aren't that great at early camp rushes (no fire units) so I couldn't afford to waste any of the initial troops trained trying to harry my immediate neighbors.
Yeah, no. I had a few troops, most of my early build order complete and was putting up the first watchtower when the first assault wave hit my ally. Clicking on them in the minimap it was quickly clear they were doomed. All I could do was shore up my defenses and wait for the inevitable swarm. Well the swarm hit and hit hard but I think I had three towers up by that point and every Lotus of fighting capacity standing their ground with a Crypt of the Brothers and an Aviary built. Good thing I know to fast track the Foul Nest upgrade because the Aviary's channelers would desperately need that to have any hope of keeping up. They were the real MVPs of my defense.
Anyway I wish now I had taken a screenshot of the huge assault wave that showed up on my doorstep. I was a little panicked and trying to activate clickables as needed so I didn't think of it at the time. Long story short, we held and the slow process of winnowing my defense squad to the necessary minimum began. I had to demolish and adjust three of my towers - on at a time - to optimize their lightning blast coverage. The lightning would protect the tower bases and was used often to kill melee rushers. Two unclean and two warlocks sat in the towers with a mixture of units on the ground. Soon, though, I had to add Yvaine to this group because she's the only one with enough range to hit units like ballista without sending melee down the hill.
This is a screenshot from the end of the game but this is how the gatekeeper squad and towers ended up.
Click to go to the view page on Photobucket which has a few more details. Soban was added to defense detail just because I had nothing better to do with him once he freed up three peasants by creating golems. The golems weren't threatened so I figured he could soak up some enemy melee attention at the gate.
My first priority was to max out my population. Once a team was away reinforcements would not be able to reach them. My second priority on offense was to get my attack squad also on stand ground. Some would pick up assist aggro and head down the hill to attack. Once they got moving it was hard to get them back under control. This kept delaying any counteroffensive. So I had to make sure all new troops were grouped and were always holding their position - even on the stand ground setting units tend to drift around if they're involved in fighting. Defense squad units would be repositioned over and over again to counteract this effect.
An assault squad did make it out the door. Their first test would be the worst. They had to destroy the Dragon camp right below me - the camp some AI's were using as a rally point for their own purposes. Several reloads and attempts later they did succeed. A brief lull in assault waves brought victory with the few losses easily patched up. I had no access to horses (and Yvaine was protecting basecamp so no Prison of Ice either) so keeping my channelers alive was... interesting.
Now the assault team had to survive completely on their own. Referring to the minimap in the screenshot above the team headed southeast, crossed the river, then headed east then south. A Serpent camp was next. Once that was destroyed they turned southwest, crossed the bay while weathering constant sneak attacks and attempts to pull them to ambush squads and headed for what I was a Wolf camp. Sometime in all this a couple units, including one channeler, died and I expected the assault team to wipe at any moment if the AI's managed to sandwich it between big groups. Thankfully the AIs divided their attention and troops between chasing my team and attacking my base.
The wolf were destroyed and the team headed west along the southern river to the rice patties where there was a crossing. Just north of that was a well-defended Lotus camp. The AI the Lotus had drawn was a less aggressive one and there were more losses but the team won. By that point their numbers were getting dangerously low. Zymeth, Koril, and Issyl were still alive but Brother Tausil had perished along with some of the unclean, blade acolytes, and leaf disciples who initially set out. I still had a Dragon and a Serpent camp to destroy. Tackling a Serpent base with low numbers and no brother for re-blessings for the inevitable swordmen muggings seemed foolish. Meanwhile all Dragon AI's build hordes of spears and guardians and they would overwhelm my squad without more melee and crowd control. The only choice was to send them back to base. Standing on the pond shores the Serpent camp was directly to their east. The Dragon to their northwest. The team would have to thread between them as they headed north to the river then followed that east to the first crossing.
Making it back safely the team picked up reinforcements ending with the squad in the screenshot below. This is after the destroyed the remaining Serpent encampment but none of my units died in that battle. Also, I got a few horses from a herd that was too far from any AI to plunder.
The player list is open to show the team assignments and who is left. Soban doesn't have much hope of fighting off a force like this but you never know. Sometimes the AI manages to surprise me. The game was soon wrapped up and I got my final results as shown below.
1626 kills over about four hours? That's a lot of killing! The average game goes to maybe 300 - 500ish depending on length. I also lost only 28 units which accounts for why I collected half the rice and water my major opponents did. All in all it was a challenging game but not a challenge I'm eager to repeat.
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