This post is the first in a set of posts: Part 1, Part 2
And if you liked this, here is a previous let's play with the Amazon!
Day 15
I had to look up the rules for flying a controlled creature and it turns out, you need the creature to be following you for the day to record FLY phases. I intend to fly a bat out of here and see if I can find a safer, more lucrative hunting ground. I am also thinking of getting closer to the Chapel to get my Ashes curse removed and to sell the Sacred Statue. It won't get me into positive VP territory, but I will edge a little closer.
So, I am going to FLY to Nut Woods, because that ensures I will end up in a clearing that will get me to the Chapel, get the bat out of the way, and maybe I will find the Small Campfire there too and have a shot at getting my allies on the board.
Whatever happens, I will head to the Caves to see what lies there, and then to the Chapel to conduct the sale of the Sacred Statue and get my Ashes curse lifted. (The other two controlled bats will end up in Evil Valley just to get them out of the way if I ever return to the Cliff.)
Day 16-17
So, flying to the Nut Woods didn't really pay off. I found the Large Campfire, but that doesn't help me much. I am going to try to get to the Caves and so I record three MOVEs and a HIDE to end up in the Oak Woods. I will then record a MOVE and HIDE to check out the Caves.
Day 18
Not sure if my luck can get any worse as far as finding treasure sites. I indeed found the Lost City and two treasure sites. Unfortunately, the one closest to me is the Vault, which I cannot possibly open. At this point, I think I need to try for the Shrine, leaving enough time before the 28th to return to the Chapel.
I head to Caves 3, and search for the passage. Any shot I have to win depends on my finding that passage quickly.
Day 19
Luckily, I manage to find the passage in a single day, so my path to the Shrine open. Unluckily, I also spawn two groups of goblins to the tile, blocking both the Shrine and my way out of here! With that monster roll, I have almost certainly lost the game.
Day 20
Alright, we are in a pretty bad spot, but let's see if we can make something of it before our time runs out. I am going to head northeast into the Bad Valley, see if I can kill the ghosts and then maybe take on the Heavy Dragons and Trolls to pad my score.
I boldly record two MOVES and stride into the Bad Valley. The ghosts are always prowling, so they pounce.
The ghosts have a move speed of 4 which means even unhidden, I can ready my bow with a FIGHT L3*. I am covering my move to protect me from the ghost's attack. Although because it always comes with a random roll, covering your move with a missile weapon is a more dicey proposition -- even undercutting I only kill the ghost 2/3 of the time.
The reposition roll is a 4, so no one moves, and neither box changes tactics. Now, it just depends on my missile roll... which is a 3 for no change. The ghost takes L** harm and dies.
Sweet! Now, I play the identical move on the sole surviving ghost.
Everything goes our way in Round 2 and with a missile roll of 1, we kill the ghost.
The ghosts are dead and we gain 6 Notoriety.
Day 21-22
We quietly make our way to the Heavy Dragons, hoping our luck in battle will hold. On day 22, the Dragons prowl and come to me.
I will take a shot from hiding, hoping to get a kill -- but I have only a 1/3 chance to kill a heavy, armored target, so this is much more dangerous than the ghosts. I roll a 5 for the missile roll and the attack bounces impotently off the Dragon's scales. Worse, the Dragon flipped and with his new move speed of 3, I can no longer alert my bow, so I flee into the woods.
Day 23
I repeat my sneak attack with a similar result. This time the Dragon does not flip and so I will stay for a second round of combat.
We are a little luckier here, and our missile roll is a 1, killing the Dragon. Unfortunately, his buddy flips which will make my life a little harder.
On round 3, we are hoping to avoid the Dragon and miss, thus alerting our bow for round 4. There is a 5/18 chance that I die (or take a serious wound) here. A 1/18 chance to actually kill the Dragon with an errant shot, and a 2/3 chance that my bow is alerted and we move on to the next round.
Ouch... I get hit by the Dragon on its L4 side and take 3 wounds, and my bow is unalerted still. Fortunately, with my tactics as they are, I have quite a few MOVE chits to burn before my situation gets bad.
Round 4 is slightly better and both the Dragon and I miss each other. The Dragon also flips to his H4 side, so we are hopefully ready for a productive round 5.
We are once again hoping for a nice missile roll here... and we get it! A 1 increases our damage to H**, killing the Dragon.
Day 24-25
I am up to 18 Fame and 24 Notoriety from my dragon-slaying exploits. Still, I am short a tiny bit on Fame, and the darn Ashes curse means Gold is a big -10. Not much time left, but I see that the Trolls have left the Ruins, so I am going to make a run (literally, I am not HIDING at all) at the Hoard and see if I can find anything.
Day 26
I do reach Ruins 6 which contains the Hoard. I record 2 SEARCH phases and hope for the best. On the second SEARCH, I find the Hoard. That gives me two days to loot.
Day 27
I find the Eye of the Moon and the Amulet. The Eye is a medium weight treasure, which means it is really too heavy to carry and fight/run at the same time, but I with a single day remaining, am going to take it for the Notoriety and hope nothing attacks.
Day 28
I find... the Flowers of Rest and end the game with a whimper... falling into a blissful slumber. My final score is -12, mostly because of my Gold shortfall.
Conclusion
In retrospect, I probably should have played more aggressively at the beginning of the game, instead of rushing for points at the end.
Also, I am rethinking my previous stand on the ambush rules. If you are playing with standard combat, then bow have one disadvantage that melee combatants do not -- uncertainty. Any given combat round, you can hit your opponent and still suffer from a poor missile roll, and usually that will mean wounds or death. This is something the melee fighters needn't worry about. Using the ambush rule brings the Woods Girl and the Elf into that "Tier 1" fighter category, which I think is a good thing.
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| Darn Goblins |
I boldly record two MOVES and stride into the Bad Valley. The ghosts are always prowling, so they pounce.
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| Round 1 Setup |
The reposition roll is a 4, so no one moves, and neither box changes tactics. Now, it just depends on my missile roll... which is a 3 for no change. The ghost takes L** harm and dies.
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| Round 1 Result |
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| Round 2 Start |
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| Round 2 Result |
Day 21-22
We quietly make our way to the Heavy Dragons, hoping our luck in battle will hold. On day 22, the Dragons prowl and come to me.
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| Round 1 Start |
Day 23
I repeat my sneak attack with a similar result. This time the Dragon does not flip and so I will stay for a second round of combat.
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| Round 2 Start |
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| Round 2 Result |
Ouch... I get hit by the Dragon on its L4 side and take 3 wounds, and my bow is unalerted still. Fortunately, with my tactics as they are, I have quite a few MOVE chits to burn before my situation gets bad.
Round 4 is slightly better and both the Dragon and I miss each other. The Dragon also flips to his H4 side, so we are hopefully ready for a productive round 5.
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| Round 5 Start |
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| Round 5 Result |
I am up to 18 Fame and 24 Notoriety from my dragon-slaying exploits. Still, I am short a tiny bit on Fame, and the darn Ashes curse means Gold is a big -10. Not much time left, but I see that the Trolls have left the Ruins, so I am going to make a run (literally, I am not HIDING at all) at the Hoard and see if I can find anything.
Day 26
I do reach Ruins 6 which contains the Hoard. I record 2 SEARCH phases and hope for the best. On the second SEARCH, I find the Hoard. That gives me two days to loot.
Day 27
I find the Eye of the Moon and the Amulet. The Eye is a medium weight treasure, which means it is really too heavy to carry and fight/run at the same time, but I with a single day remaining, am going to take it for the Notoriety and hope nothing attacks.
Day 28
I find... the Flowers of Rest and end the game with a whimper... falling into a blissful slumber. My final score is -12, mostly because of my Gold shortfall.
Conclusion
In retrospect, I probably should have played more aggressively at the beginning of the game, instead of rushing for points at the end.
Also, I am rethinking my previous stand on the ambush rules. If you are playing with standard combat, then bow have one disadvantage that melee combatants do not -- uncertainty. Any given combat round, you can hit your opponent and still suffer from a poor missile roll, and usually that will mean wounds or death. This is something the melee fighters needn't worry about. Using the ambush rule brings the Woods Girl and the Elf into that "Tier 1" fighter category, which I think is a good thing.
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