The Re-Conquest of Zeteginea: Interactive Ogre Battle Dynasty

[Vince]

So in a further effort to motivate me in my New Year's Resolution (beating a handful of video games before I'm allowed to buy any new ones), I've decided to make my latest endeavor interactive. The game is Ogre Battle, a tactical RPG that first debuted on Super Nintendo back in the mid-nineties, and was later ported over to the Playstation. I will be playing the Playstation version of the game.

The premise of the game is that the Zeteginean Empire has grown large and corrupted. You, the hero, have been chosen to lead a rebellion against the empire. As the hero, I will be commanding the troops, liberating towns, collecting tribute, and defeating the forces of the Empire. Throughout the game, our units will gain experience and level up. At times, certain classes have the option to choose different 'promotions' to change into other (usually better), classes. For example, a fighter can change into a Wizard at level 4, or a Knight at level 5, or a Samurai at level 7, among other options. This is where the interactive part comes into play.

While I will be controlling where you go and what you do in battle, YOU get to choose what career path your character will take. Will your fighter grow up to be a powerful wizard? Or will he learn the ways of the ninja, eventually graduating to a ninja master? It's up to you.

If you're interested, put your name down on the list, and when I start up the game in a few weeks, you can follow along and see how your soldier fares in the rebellion!

Update: Sign-ups are now on a first come, first served basis. Any of the remaining 'open' troops on the troop roster in the second post are fair game.

[Vince]

Troop Roster:

Name	In-Game	Class	Lvl	HP	Str.	Agi.	Int.	Cha.	Ali.	Luk	Group Name	Item?
sachmo71	Warren	Wizard	9	114	64	78	104	99	28	55	The Wizards	Burning Band
katon	Walter	Wizard	9	105	55	67	87	86	35	51	The Wizards	Houlou's Robe
JeeberD	Musashi	Wizard	9	105	53	66	88	90	32	51	The Wizards
(Available)	Kapelila	Dragon	8								The Wizards
kingfc22	Lans	Knight	7	116	83	76	69	86	78	55	The Liberators	Honour Shield
BYU 14	Heckamete	Giant	6	144	75	60	47	81	64	46	The Liberators
tucker342	Stanley	Knight	7	113	67	64	54	66	53	47	The Liberators	King's Crown
MrBug708	Jean	Cleric	6	113	62	64	75	91	86	51	The Liberators
Travis	Pierre	Samurai	7	121	92	74	69	75	68	49	The Crimson Slayers	Sword of Evil
Raven Hawk	Collin	Hawk Man	7	119	76	76	59	83	63	43	The Crimson Slayers	Boleas
ntndeacon	Marco	Doll Mage	10	127	77	74	61	95	69	47	The Crimson Slayers
Tellistto	Steve	Samurai	8	117	70	71	59	81	70	46	The Crimson Slayers	Flame Sword
(Available)	Nelson	Knight	7								The Crimson Slayers
law90026	Bruno	Beast Tamer	11	146	97	82	61	98	48	46	The Nightcrawlers	Flame Sword
(Available)	Baron	Berzerker	9								The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Forrest	Werewolf	11								The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Eric	Wizard	11								The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Elliot	Ninja	7								The Nightcrawlers
cschex	Clive	Beast Tamer	8	127	98	64	54	99	42	44	The Heavy Hitters	Rune Axe
Godzilla Blitz	Iante	Hell Hound	9	141	78	87	58	85	14	52	The Heavy Hitters	Hydra's Fang
Blade6119	Nusse	Giant	8	146	101	58	47	83	60	45	The Heavy Hitters	Black Axe
Sublime 2	Roni	Cleric	6	112	57	59	90	75	75	50	Alternate Liberators	Mystic Mace
(Available)	Misha	Princess	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Gemini	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Rasberry	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Lipp	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
ardent enthusiast	Belecros	Griffon	4	107	63	72	48	48	47	55	The Scouts
TonyR	Bakis	Griffon	4	106	60	71	47	52	47	55	The Scouts
(Available)	Barkley	Beast Tamer	5								The Scouts

There are plenty of other characters available, so if you don't see something you like, feel free to ask about character availability!

[Vince]

The way this will work is as such. I'm going to post my troop roster, and people who sign up should post their preferences for characters. A list of three options should be fine. I won't start actually playing the game for a little while yet, so there's plenty of time to sign up. Once I decide to start, I'll randomly select the 'draft order' for your characters. The #1 person on the list will get their top priority. From there on down the list we will go until everyone is assigned a character. If you somehow don't get a role you would like, take heart. I am allowed to recruit new soldiers, and we acquire new people all the time as our adventure continues.

Unlike something like the X-Com Dynasty, if you die, I can resurrect you. So no worries on that count -- once you're in, you're in. We start with 52 troops on the roster (I've already played through the opening battle, so I have my army already assembled. I simply need to arrange them into units, which I will do once we have decided who is who), and I'm certain we'll go much higher than that as the campaign progresses. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, here are some nuances that might affect your decision making come hero-picking time:

Ogre Battle was a pretty intricate game...one of the major philosophies of the game is the concept of 'alignment.' Every unit in the game has an alignment rating that changes every time that unit kills another unit. If the attacker is of the same level or lower than the target, the attacking unit gains alignment. If the attacker is of a lower level than the target, the attacking unit loses alignment. For example...

Godzilla Blitz = Level 10
Kodos = Level 8
Blade6119 = Level 15

If Godzilla Blitz were to kill Kodos, he would lose alignment, since Kodos is of a lower level. However, if he were to kill Blade 6119, he would gain alignment. Think of it as the underdog vs. the bully. The higher level character is the bully, and the lower level character is the underdog. No on likes a bully, so he is perceived as 'evil.' There are other factors that affect alignment, but this is the main one.

There are two ways alignment affects the game. First is in the class change mechanism. When a character has gained sufficient level-ups to change to a new class, the character must conform to the alignment restrictions of that class. For example, Samurai are noted for their honor. Even if a fighter gets to level 7, they are only allowed to become a Samurai if they have an alignment of 50 or more.

Similarly, the citizens of Zenobia are also swayed by alignment. If we, the rebellion, liberate towns with high alignment, good characters, our reputation increases. However, if we use low alignment, evil characters, they will not be impressed, and our reputation will decrease.

Lastly, humans aren't the only ones on our side in this war. We also have beasts on our side as well -- Giants, Hell Hounds, Griffins and Octopi will start the adventure with us, and we might even pick up some new ones along the way: Dragons, Wyrms, Hawkmen, even the undead. It should be noted that MOST beasts do not have much choice when it comes time to class change -- humans are much more flexible in that regard.

That's about all you need to know...here's a list of the character classes available, so you can pick what you would like your character to be:

-Bold indicates a character class we have to begin the game.
-Normal text indicates a class we can either grow into or find along the way
-(Parenthesis) indicate a class that is only attainable through the use of an item, and there is no guarantee we will ever find the item necessary. A bonus, however, is that alignment doesn't matter when using an item to convert someone to a different class.

Fighter
---Knight (Fighter Level 5, High Alignment)
-----Paladin (Knight Level 15, Extremely High Alignment)
-----(Vampire) (Knight Item: Blood Kiss)
---Doll Mage (Fighter Level 5, Medium-High Alignment)
-----Enchanter (Doll Mage Level 14, High Alignment)
---Samurai (Fighter Level 7, High Alignment)
-----Samurai Master (Samurai Level 15, Extremely High Alignment)
---Wizard (Fighter Level 4, Low Alignment)
-----Mage (Wizard Level 10, Extremely Low Alignment)
-------(Sorceror) (Mage Item: Undead Staff)
---------(Lich) (Sorceror Item: Undead Ring)
---Ninja (Fighter Level 6?, Low Alignment)
-----Ninja Master (Ninja Level 15, Extremely Low Alignment)
---Beast Man (Fighter Level 5, Low Alignment)
-----Beast Master (Beast Man Level 12, Low Alignment)
-------(Dragoner) (Beast Master Item: Stone of Dragos)
---------(Dragon Master) (Dragoner Level 20, Neutral Alignment)
---Wild Man (Fighter Level 6, Low Alignment)
-----Black Knight (Wild Man Level 15?, Low Alignment)
---(Were-Tiger) (Fighter Item: Full-Moon Stone)
---(Were-wolf) (Fighter Item: Werewolf Virus)

Amazon
---Cleric (Amazon Level 4, High Alignment)
-----Shaman (Cleric Level 10, High Alignment)
-------Monk (Shaman Level 18, Extremely High Alignment)
---Valkyrie (Amazon Level 5, Mid-to-High Alignment)
-----Muse (Valkyrie Level 15, Extremely High Alignment)
---Witch (Amazon Level 5, Low Alignment)
---(Princess) (Amazon Item: Royal Crown)

Giant
---Ice Giant (Giant Level 8, Low Alignment)
---Fire Giant (Giant Level 10, Neutral Alignment)
---Titan (Giant Level 15, High Alignment)

Dragon
---Black Dragon (Dragon Level 7, Low Alignment)
-----Tiamat (Black Dragon Level 15, Low Alignment)
-------(Zombie Dragon) (Tiamat Item: Undead Ring)
---Red Dragon (Dragon Level 7, Neutral Alignment)
-----Salamander (Red Dragon Level 16, Neutral Alignment)
-------Flare Brass (Salamander Level 23, Neutral Alignment)
---Silver Dragon (Dragon Level 7, High Alignment)
-----Gold Dragon (Silver Dragon Level 17, High Alignment)
-------Platinum Dragon (Gold Dragon Level 24, High Alignment)

The rest of the development trees involve no choices, but here's a list anyways:

Wyrm---->Wyvern
Hell Hound---->Cerberus
Octopus---->Kraken
Hawk Man---->Eagle Man---->Raven Man
Imp---->Demon---->Devil
Gryphon---->Cockatrice
Faerie---->Pixie---->Sylph
Angel---->Cherubim---->Seraphim
Mermaid---->Nixie
Golem
Rock Golem
Iron Golem
Skeleton
Wraith
Ghost
Phantom

Remember, if you want to be a character class that we don't have, I can try to recruit them, or you can grow a fighter/amazon into the class if it is a human class. I expect to be able to find a Dragon, Hawk Man or Golem fairly early if need be. Other than that, I make no promises, and you might be waiting a while until we recruit one.

Post in this thread if you would like to join the rebellion!

[Vince]

Different format for class trees:

Fighter
Good Alignment Choices:

• Knight (Paladin / Vampire*)
• Doll Mage (Enchanter)
• Samurai (Samurai Master)

Evil Alignment Choices:

• Wizard (Mage/Sorceror*/Lich*)
• Beast Man (Beast Master/Dragoner*/Dragon Master*)
• Wild Man (Black Knight)
• Ninja (Ninja Master)
• Werewolf*
• Weretiger*

Amazon
Good Alignment Choices:

• Cleric (Shaman/Monk)
  
• Valkyrie (Muse)
  
• Princess*

Evil Alignment Choices:

• Witch

Giant

• Fire Giant (Neutral Alignment)
  
• Ice Giant (Evil Alignment)
  
• Titan (Good Alignment)

* = Special Item Required to create this class

[Vince]

And finally, the troop roster for our fledgling army:

1 Lord
16 Fighters
9 Amazons
3 Knights
1 Samurai
2 Valkyrie
3 Beast Tamers
5 Wizards
2 Clerics
2 Giants
4 Hell Hounds
2 Octopi
2 Griffons

So if you're interested in following along, post your intention to enlist, and pick your preferred character class from the list above. Since not everyone can be a Samurai (or fill in the blank cool class) right off the bat, please list two alternates in case you get unlucky in the random draw.

[tucker342]

I'm in

1. Samurai
2. Giant
3. Fighter

Need anything else?

[Izulde]

Um, are you sure it's the SNES port? cuz like the SNES/N64 ones were RTS based to a large extent, whereas the only PS ones I remember from the OB series were strictly turn-based.

[law90026]

Pick me


1. Beastman (Beast tamer?)
2. Octopi
3. Hell Hound

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Um, are you sure it's the SNES port? cuz like the SNES/N64 ones were RTS based to a large extent, whereas the only PS ones I remember from the OB series were strictly turn-based.

Absolutely positive. I loved the original game so much I was almost accused of theft by my local video rental place. I was always disappointed that I could never find an original SNES cart. When it came out on PlayStation, I bought it immediately.

You might be thinking of Tactics Ogre, which is almost exactly like Final Fantasy Tactics -- turn based tactical combat.

Good to have my first two recruits already aboard, however

[Vince]

tucker, you're golden.

law -- yeah, in the SNES version it was Beastman...in the PS port it's Beast Tamer. Same difference.

[Blade6119]

Just like last time, ill take giant #1

1.Giant
2.Knight
3.Fighter

[sachmo71]

I'll be a Wizard!

[Katon]

1. WIzard
2. Knight
3. Griffon

[Travis]

1. Samurai
2. Fighter
3. Dragon

[Vince]

sach, want to give me two alternates in case you get unlucky in the draw?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Oh oh!

I want to be a HELL HOUND! Boo ya!

It's not every day you get to be a Hell Hound. This is a good day.

If I can't be a Hell Hound, I won't play.

Just kidding.

Alternates:
2. Octopus
3. Griffon

Good luck with this. I'll have to go see if I have this game. I thought that I did, but now that you mention Tactics Ogre, I'm not so sure which one I have. I didn't realize there were two.

[Godzilla Blitz]

dola...

And do I get to kill Blade6119 in this game?

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Oh oh!

I want to be a HELL HOUND! Boo ya!

It's not every day you get to be a Hell Hound. This is a good day.

If I can't be a Hell Hound, I won't play.

Just kidding.

Alternates:
2. Octopus
3. Griffon

Good luck with this. I'll have to go see if I have this game. I thought that I did, but now that you mention Tactics Ogre, I'm not so sure which one I have. I didn't realize there were two.

Great to have you! I'm probably not going to be starting the game for a little while, if only to give people an opportunity to sign up. The first set of promotions come fairly quickly (probably by about battle 4 or 5), so I want to have a pretty well-established group of players before I get too far into the game.

And no, you don't get to kill Blade6119 in this game. That's my job

[Godzilla Blitz]

Bummer on the not killing Blade6119 stuff. Oh well, I'm still in. I look forward to when you get around to starting it up.

I just took a look for the games. Turns out I have both:
A Japanese version of Tactics Ogre for the GBA and an English version of Orge Battle for the SNES. I'm guessing the SNES version and the PS version are basically the same?

Now that I think of it, I actually remember playing Ogre Battle for a bit, getting really confused, and...humm, I don't remember what happened after that, but I'm guessing that I must have just quit and not gone back. I vaguely remember some dark, grid-like battle fields with pieces at both ends. I remember dying a lot too.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Vince

sach, want to give me two alternates in case you get unlucky in the draw?

1. wizard
2. cleric
3. fighter

[Raven Hawk]

1. Hawkman (proceeding to Eagle Man and Raven Man)
2. Angel
3. Fighter/Weretiger route

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

dola...

And do I get to kill Blade6119 in this game?

Originally Posted by Vince

And no, you don't get to kill Blade6119 in this game. That's my job

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Bummer on the not killing Blade6119 stuff. Oh well

Thank you...now my nightmares about a dynasty can continue...and i was worried i was going to be ok mentally after X-com

[Sublime 2]

I'm in!

1. Cleric
2. Wizard
3. Fighter

[Vince]

So I've been trying to mess with some HTML tables, but they don't seem to work here. Anyone have any ideas?

[kingfc22]

I'm in

1. Knight
2. Dragon
3. Wizard

[BYU 14]

I'm in too

Giant
Knight
Fighter

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Vince

So I've been trying to mess with some HTML tables, but they don't seem to work here. Anyone have any ideas?

Not sure about HTML, but Excel tables have worked well for me in the past. You've got to turn on that WYSIWYG option in your FOFC profile in order to display them work properly.

[cschex]

I would like to play

1. Beast Man
2. Weretiger
3. Gryphon

[Vince]

Thanks for the heads-up GB...I'll see if my Excel stuff shows up over here correctly at all.

Troop roster updated through cschex. Glad to see we have a good deal of interest!

[MrBug708]

Cleric vincey

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Vince

Godzilla Blitz = Level 10
Blade6119 = Level 15

See, even in examples im better

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

See, even in examples im better

He didn't post everything. The real post would have looked like this:

Godzilla Blitz = Level 10
Kodos = Level 8
Blade6119 = Level 15 (KIA)

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

He didn't post everything. The real post would have looked like this:

Godzilla Blitz = Level 10
Kodos = Level 8
Blade6119 = Level 15 (KIA)

Nay, it would have looked far more like this:

Godzilla Blitz = Level 10
Kodos = Level 8
Blade6119 = Level 15 (TKd by Godzilla Blitz, who just happens to be 5 levels lower)

[JeeberD]

I want in!

1. Wizard
2. Octopus
3. Knight

[Vince]

Start of the workweek bump. Kyle, I need alternates for you.

[Vince]

Bump again for the weekend crowd. Also, note the application 'deadline.'

I'll run the troop draft live on Sunday evening, probably around 4:00 PM PST. I'm babysitting my lil' sis on Sunday and Monday, so I'll have very little to do elsewise

[Vince]

And our draft is complete! Here's how it went...

I had my little sister assign each of you a number from 1-14. Then, I had http://www.random.org/sform.html generate a sequence of the numbers 1-14. Here's how it went...

The numbers SamiJo picked:

tucker342 11
law90026 8
Blade6119 2
sachmo71 4
katon 13
Travis 1
Godzilla Blitz 3
Raven Hawk 5
Sublime 2 14
kingfc22 12
BYU 14 7
cschex 10
MrBug708 9
JeeberD 6

And the random sequence:
9
14
10
4
3
2
7
1
8
6
12
5
11
13

So our draft order, and results are...

1. MrBug708 Cleric
2. Sublime 2 Cleric
3. cschex Beast Man
4. sachmo71 Wizard
5. Godzilla Blitz Hell Hound
6. Blade6119 Giant
7. BYU 14 Giant
8. Travis Samurai
9. law90026 Beast Man
10. JeeberD Wizard
11. kingfc22 Knight
12. Raven Hawk Fighter (Hawk Man)
13. tucker342 Fighter
14. katon Wizard

The only people who did not get their first choice were Raven Hawk (only because we don't have any Hawk Men yet) and tucker342 -- tucker got bumped all the way down to choice three, because Blade and BYU took up all the Giants. His fighter class is pretty flexible, though, and since he's the first, he'll already be at level 4 as one of our higher ranked fighters (tucker, if you want to do something different, say the word!). Stay tuned for your players' stats, unit assignments, and our first battle!

[Vince]

So I'm still unsure on tables...let's see if this comes out at all well:

Name In-Game Class Lvl HP Str. Agi. Int. Cha. Ali. Luk sachmo71 Warren Wizard 4 102 49 65 75 51 42 54 kingfc22 Lans Knight 4 98 67 66 57 60 65 53 Godzilla Blitz Iante Hell Hound 4 109 60 70 42 17 44 51 katon Walter Wizard 4 93 41 56 57 50 45 50 JeeberD Musashi Wizard 4 93 40 55 57 50 45 50 tucker342 Stanley Fighter 4 95 53 53 43 46 50 45 Raven Hawk Baron Fighter 4 92 52 53 43 46 50 45 MrBug708 Jean Cleric 3 97 47 56 60 57 65 49 Travis Pierre Samurai 3 99 58 60 55 56 61 47 cschex Clive Beast Tamer 3 99 57 51 40 50 45 43 Sublime 2 Roni Cleric 2 92 45 55 56 57 65 49 Blade6119 Nusse Giant 2 100 57 42 33 33 50 44 BYU 14 Heckamete Giant 2 97 57 44 32 33 50 44 law90026 Bruno Beast Tamer 2 93 54 51 40 50 45 43 Vince Vince Lord 1 78 51 47 46 50 51 51
Hrm, well I'm not sure how to get rid of this dead space, but the table doesn't look so bad. Here're some tidbits about the roster as we have it... Healthiest Soldiers Class Lvl HP Smartest Soldiers Class Lvl Int 1. Godzilla Blitz Hell Hound 4 109 1. sachmo71 Wizard 4 75 2. sachmo71 Wizard 4 102 2. MrBug708 Cleric 4 60 3. Blade6119 Giant 2 100 3(t). Kingfc22 Knight 4 57 3(t). Katon Wizard 4 57 Strongest Soldiers Class Lvl Str 3(t). JeeberD Wizard 4 57 1. kingfc22 Knight 4 67 2. Godzilla Blitz Hell Hound 4 60 Charismatic Class Lvl Cha 3. Travis Samurai 4 58 1. kingfc22 Knight 4 60 2(t). MrBug708 Cleric 4 57 Quickest Soldiers Class Lvl Agi 2(t). Sublime 2 Cleric 4 57 1. Godzilla Blitz Hell Hound 4 70 3. Travis Samurai 4 56 2. kingfc22 Knight 4 66 3. sachmo71 Wizard 4 65 Highest Aligned Class Lvl Ali 1(t). Kingfc22 Knight 4 65 Luckiest S.O.B.'s Class Lvl Luk 1(t). Mrbug708 Cleric 4 65 1. sachmo71 Wizard 4 54 1(t). Sublime Cleric 4 65 2. kingfc22 Knight 4 53 2. Travis Samurai 4 61 3(t). Godzilla Blitz Hell Hound 4 51 3. Vince Lord 1 51 3(t). Vince Lord 1 51

[kingfc22]

Sweet. Lans is a freakin badass!

[Vince]

I have looked over our troop roster, and have separated our army into 11 units ready for battle. If you leaders want to, feel free to name your group -- I'm just going to give them vanilla names to describe what they do for now. Also, if anyone is unhappy with their role, please let me know -- I'm flexible, and have no problem changing things.

The Liberators, Part 1
We start with Knight Kingfc22 and his group of high-aligned warriors. Kingfc22 is joined in the front ranks of this group by the Fighter tucker342 and the Giant BYU 14. Supporting them from the back row is Cleric MrBug708. With three mighty swings from BYU's club, and two sword slashes from kingfc22 and tucker342 each, they have a potent attack. Bug's healing efforts from the back row should help them withstand enemy attacks.

Our highest-Aligned group, this will be our army's face, and will liberate towns, cities and Roshian Temples in the name of the rebellion. Putting a good face forward is key to having a good reputation, so we'll let these guys get it done.

The Liberators, Part Two
Our sole remaining Cleric, Sublime 2, leads a band of 4 Amazon women with their formidable bows and arrows from the back row. Also boasting a good reputation, they will help kingfc22's group liberate towns and cities. Although not too terribly strong, once the Amazons begin to level up, they should pack a pretty good punch.

The Brawlers
A good fighting force is led here by Samurai Travis. Shelling out damage in the form of devastating Sonic Strikes from the back row (only one per battle, sadly), Travis is flanked by 4 Fighters, including Raven Hawk. They will be a solid group of city defenders who will move in after the Liberators have turned the cities to our cause.

The Heavy Hitters
We have appointed Beast Tamer cschex with a daunting task -- keeping things civil between Hell Hound Godzilla Blitz and Giant Blade6119. With 6 devastating strikes between the two creatures manning the front lines alone, any opposing unit will be in a sad state after facing this brutish unit.

Forces of the Night
Master Wizard sachmo71 leads two fellow Wizards JeeberD and Katon from the back row, as they sling spells at our enemies behind a ferocious Hell Hound guard.

The Scouts & Envoys
Our second Beast Tamer law90026 takes flight with a pair of Griffons to be a combination scout/quick response unit, who will oftentimes be sent to find mercernary units in the field to win to our cause.

The Scourge of the Seven Seas
Led by the Valkyrie Natalie, our two Octopi will prowl any waterways we come across.

The Ground Crew 1 and 2
Two separate units, each led by a Knight, one with 4 fighters as support, the other with 3 fighters and an amazon.

The Dark Ground Crew
Our final Beast Tamer, two Wizards and two Fighters make for a formidable low-alignment team.

The Home Guard
I will lead the remainder of our troops (2 Fighters and a Hell Hound) from our base of operations -- keeping myself out of harm's way (game over if I die) and keeping my character from being completely overpowered due to extra experience. This story isn't about me -- it's about you guys!

[Vince]

Before we take the field for the first time at the Borders of Sharom District, we have acquired some Magical Items, and it is up to me to divvy them up. For the most part, I'll make sure things go to people they will help the most -- a Ring of Intelligence +25 isn't really going to help a Giant very much, nor is a Battle Axe of Kill Everything going to look too good in a Wizard's hands. That being said, I'm also going to try to be fair about rotating things around so that no one is neglected. After a few battles, we should have a bunch of pretty cool items, and unless this gets wildly more popular, I can see us all having items by the 6th battle.

We currently have in the Army's storehouses:

The King's Crown (Physical Defense +17)
The Black Axe (Strength +18, Intelligence -8)
The Thunder Ring (Thunder +15, Strength +3, White +6)

The Thunder Ring is really the only class-specific item we have, and it would obviously look best on a Valkyrie (who attacks using Thunder from the back row). So I gave that to Natalie, our local Octopi rider. Since tucker342 was the only person who didn't get his top choice of character, I've given him preference between the two next items. For now, I think the Crown is going to look better on him, but Tucker if you're out there and you would rather have that Axe, let me know.

That leaves the Black Axe. It lowers intelligence, so I don't want to give it to just about anyone. I narrowed it down to a few of our more brutish brawlers, and using a random number generator (my little sister ), picked a name from our list. Congratulations Blade6119! You're now quite a bit stronger, and quite a bit stupider.

With that all finished up...it's off to battle for the first time!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Rawr!

I have the charisma of a...

...um...

Hell Hound!

I shall sunder all and mighty with my massive jaws of destruction! Let me at 'em, boss!

And even as a Hell Hound, I'm smarter than that fat ass giant Blade6119.

Rawr!

[JeeberD]

Well...at least I'm kinda smart.

[law90026]

Woosh ... that was me you just saw flying past you. Faster than a speeding bullet and all that

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

And even as a Hell Hound, I'm smarter than that fat ass giant Blade6119.

Rawr!

And now i am quite a bit stronger. When is the last time the science nerd beat the jock in a fight? Exactly

[tucker342]

That's too bad that I didn't get my top choice... but oh well I can take it

And I'll happily take the crown

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

And now i am quite a bit stronger. When is the last time the science nerd beat the jock in a fight? Exactly

You silly giant! I'm a Hell Hound, Blade6119, not a science nerd! Rawr!

Meat!

I want meat!

When do we start! I'll kill 'em all, and Blade6119, don't you be slowin' us all down. I'll claw my way over you if you can't keep the pace.

Rawr!

(Reminder to self: lay off the Hornsby Hard Cider from now on! Stuff has got a kick to it.)

[Vince]

Chapter 2: Sharom Border

Usar, formerly a bandit leader, has been made the ruler of Sharom Border for his help in establishing the Zeteginean Empire and murdering former King Gran. Defeating him will open up the Sharom District, and allow us access to the Empire.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to get pictures of the battlefields -- that would help tremendously, but I can't think of any way other than to use a digital camera and get creative...for now, we're stuck with my description.

The Sharom Border is basically a bay, with the opening to the Ocean to the North. We have established our base of operations at Svastpol, on the Southeast corner of the bay. Just north of our position is the town of Valna (which has a shop). To our southwest is the town of Abdella, and further along the coast is a Roshian Temple. As the coastline turns northwards along the rest of the bay, is another town called Valikesh, and finally Usar's base of operations in Jindark, all the way around the other side of the Bay. At the top of the bay is a chain of small islands, and there is another chain of larger islands across the middle of the bay, beginning at about Valna, and 'connecting' to Valikesh on the opposite side of the bay. This far out in the boondocks of the empire, we expect their troop organization and power to be rather weak, so we don't expect much opposition here.

To start with, we deploy kingfc22 and his liberators to the southwest, intending him to liberate the city of Abdella, then move on to liberate the Roshian Temple. We order them to hold position at the Roshian Temple, until we can assess the enemy's tactics -- if they follow the roads around the bay, the Roshian Temple will probably be where we make our stand.

Simultaneously, we send Sublime 2 and his Amazons north, to liberate Valna. From there, we order them to advance a position along the northern island chain, in case the enemy decides to approach from that side.

Along with the two liberating parties, we deploy cschex and the Heavy Hitters, law90026 and the Scouts, sachmo71 and the Creatures of the Night, Travis and the Brawlers, and finally Iva and the Ocean Dwellers as the main body of our army.

cschex, Godzilla Blitz and Blade6119 head to the north, to maintain a garrison at Valna so that once the town is liberated, it will not fall back to enemy hands.

law90026 begins canvassing the mountains to the South for potential recruits -- rumors of Dragons and Hawkmen with rebellious intent have been swirling around, and law and his griffons are just the people to find them.

Iva and the Octopi scope out the water, and check out the lower Island Chain -- but they aren't going to be much use on the islands, so they quickly head back to base.

sachmo71, JeeberD and Katon head south to garrison Abdella when kingfc22 and company move on to the Roshian Temple.

Travis and Raven Hawk head to the main island in the lower Island Chain -- if the enemy decides to approach our base straight across the Bay, this is where the majority of the action will be.

We press onward remarkably quickly -- in no time at all, Valna, Abdella and the Roshian Temple are ours, and there is no sign of the enemy anywhere. What's more is that we are fortuitous enough to discover an item at the Roshian Temple! We receive the Hydra's Fang, good for +4 Strength, +6 Physical Defense and +8 Fire. For the rest of the battle, BYU 14 will be wielding it, and after the battle we will divvy up the spoils accordingly. kingfc22, sachmo71 and cschex are all in position, fortifying the Roshian Temple, Abdella and Valna, respectively. With no sign of the enemy, we hold strong, and wait for Travis and Sublime 2 to get into position, and send us word of enemy troop movements. law90026 is scanning the mountains, but as of yet no word on potential recruits.

Travis and company finally make it to the central island, and set up shop momentarily, awaiting troop movement on the far bank. In their spare time, they find buried treasure! We have discovered a Flame Sword, good for Strength +6. Raven Hawk picks it up for the battle, and afterwards we will find a more suitable owner. Shortly after the discovery, we see our first sign of the enemy. Heading directly across the bay, right at Travis, Raven Hawk and the fighters, enemies are coming along in groups of two and three. They should be easy pickings for our boys, especially since we are in groups of 3, 4 or 5. Travis's group waits patiently on the island, letting the enemy come to them...and our first skirmish with the Zeteginean Empire has begun!

Setting our tactics to take on the strongest of the enemies first, Travis and Raven Hawk engage a Knight and two Fighters. Travis, the fastest on the draw, immediately lashes out at the opposing Knight with a Sonic Strike, a massive blow that is so powerful, it even hurts Travis a little. The Knight takes a severe wound for 39, as Travis takes 12 damage. The enemy strikes a few times, wounding Raven Hawk, but not severely. Raven Hawk and the fighters exchange blows, and the first skirmish ends in a rebellion victory! Chased away for now, the Knight and his two fighters regroup, and press on. Without a chance for respite, the Brawlers tense again as a Wizard and Giant are next to test their resolve. Another monster Sonic Strike from Travis puts the severe hurt on the Giant, as he takes 45 points of damage. Raven Hawk and the fighters follow for about 12-20 damage apiece, and the Giant is definitely reeling! After the enemy strikes back, Raven Hawk runs forward, and with a leap stabs the lumbering Giant right in the heart! Quickly removing his sword, Raven Hawk backpedals as the Giant topples over in a heap, dead! The first Empire Casualty lies at the hands of Raven Hawk! The Wizard manages to scurry away, but not for long. Eager after their first taste of action, Travis and the Brawlers press forward, and a Sonic Strike from Travis is more than enough to dispatch the already wounded Wizard.

With the Empire's force of about 5 units all concentrating on the island in the middle, our tactics focus switches -- instead of focusing so much on defending our cities, I decide we need to press the attack. kingfc22 and the Liberators press on along the road towards Valikesh, the last remaining Empire city on the map. sachmo71's garrison moves up from Abdella to replace kingfc22 at the Roshian Temple, while we dispatch Kurse and his fighters to replace sachmo71 and the rest of the Wizards at Abdella. With Sublime 2 and the Amazons continuing their press on the northern island chain, and tightening the noose around Usar's hideout at Jindark, I forsake the garrison at Valna, and cschex presses on across the lower island chain to engage the enemy. If all else fails, Valna is close enough to our home base at Svastpol that my own unit can rush up there to defend the city if need be.

The Brawlers are still holding off minor attacks at the middle island, but nothing major as the units of a Cleric and two Amazons are tough to kill because of the Cleric's healing power. Travis is able to throw down a monstrous blow of 65 (!) on one of the Clerics, however. After our garrisons have moved up, I call on Travis's unit to retreat south to the Roshian Temple, and sachmo71, JeeberD and Katon head north to replace them, as cschex, Godzilla Blitz and Blade6119 close in from the east. cschex and the Heavy Hitters get there first, and they are the next to enter battle.

The Heavy Hitters are aptly named, as both Godzilla Blitz and Blade6119 and his Black Axe each hit for 25+ damage almost every time. Godzilla Blitz crouches, and with a vicious dash forward ends the life of a foe with ease. Blade and his enormous club (yes, this game was too archaic to update the fact that he's wielding an axe) aren't quite as quick as his compatriots Godzilla Blitz and cschex, but he makes those hits count. Cschex himself is deadly with his whip, and two attacks from the back row are a great supplement to the hammering that the enemy takes at the hands of the frontliners. Amazingly enough, this game must have it out for Blade as much as we do -- in this entire first mission he is the ONLY one in this group to get hit with any sort of damage at all. Every single enemy concentrated their attacks on him (no joke -- and there's nothing I can do to influence that, I don't think). This group is so nice and powerful though, that they were able to dispatch people with ease, and Blade was never in danger of dying. Blade6119, Godzilla Blitz and cschex all picked up a kill in their rush through the lower island chain.

Meanwhile, kingfc22 and the Liberators have captured the city of Valikesh, and we now have a stranglehold on this area. Valikesh is close enough to Jindark (enemy HQ) that we can see the only troops back at the enemy base are Usar and his cronies -- if they manufacture any more troops, we'll know about it right away.

Similarly, Sublime 2 and company have reached the largest island in the northern chain, and found a hidden city! Ellery opens its doors to the Liberation, and Sublime and his Amazons take up residence, garrisoning the town themselves.

Travis and the Brawlers are licking their minor wounds at the Roshian Temple, and sachmo71 and the Wizards have entered the fray in the middle of the bay. Their group, made up of three wizards guarded by a Hell Hound, is quite formidable. In their first encounter, two spells is all it takes to fell a fully healthy Giant, as Katon's Ice Field is too much for it to withstand. A few blows later, and sachmo71 throws a tornado that literally blows the opposing Wizard away! Try as I may, JeeberD is the only one I can't manage to get a kill for, as sachmo71 and katon each pick up two kills in their quick run down of the enemy.

law90026 is still flying around the countryside with his Griffons, wondering who these people who are spreading rumors are, and how he is going to rend them limb from limb when he gets back.

The enemy seems to be regrouping at this point -- we have decimated their early charge, and there are only a few stragglers left at this point. New units are coming out of Jindark -- a Witch and an Octopus, a Valkyrie and a Griffon, and two Beast Tamers with a Hell Hound each. The Valkyrie-Griffon combo worries me -- they are a 'High Sky' group, and they can boogie across any type of terrain really fast. If they sneak around our defenses, they could get to Valna really quick. Unwilling to give up my defense of the central part of the map, I leave sachmo71 and the Wizards on the central island, order cschex and the Heavy Hitters up to Ellery, and send Sublime back across the northern island chain to get back to Valna. With all the intervening water for cschex and sachmo71, Sublime will probably make it back to Valna the quickest.

The stragglers from our initial confrontation in the middle of the Bay are limping back home, and instead of letting them get back to replenish themselves, I order kingfc22 to take a short trip out of Valikesh to finish them off. A few swipes of kingfc22's sword, and the last few stragglers are mopped up from the first wave. Kingfc22 picks up 3 kills for his trouble, and BYU 14 and tucker342 get in a few swipes so they aren't completely green anymore. They head back to Valikesh to maintain the garrison.

Usar sends his Beast Tamers towards Ellery and cschex and the Heavy Hitters...now that they are enjoying the benefit of city walls, the enemies are even less of a threat, and each of the Heavy Hitters gets their second kill of the battle.

With little left to do, we tighten the noose ever further, moving sachmo71 and the Wizards up onto the northwest coast of the bay. Suddenly, I get a message that Kurse's unit has engaged the enemy! What the hell? he's way back at Abdella...

...and sure enough, the Valkyrie and the Griffon slipped around our perimeter and tried to take a city. Though they only managed to weaken them at the first pass, Kurse and his Fighters made short work of the weakened unit the second time around. What is amazing is our stroke of luck -- we find a Dream Crown on one of the corpses! This amazing item will turn one of our Amazons into a Princess, quite possibly the most badass unit in the game. While the Princess is the leader of a unit, every single unit in the group gets an extra attack, including the Princess.

Usar seems to have no more units left to deploy, so I surround Valikesh by moving cschex and kingfc22 off their city garrison duties, making an impenetrable ring around the city so that there can be no more Griffon incidents. I send Sublime up to explore an island off the coast past the mouth of the bay, and I send Travis down the road to the southwest leading into the mountains. law90026 is going to ring my neck at the end of this battle, as he is STILL seemingly patrolling for no reason. Sublime finds a hidden Roshian Temple on the island, and they present us with a 'Star of Heroes,' supposedly the mark of a true hero, and a very important, valuable item. I suppose it can't hurt. Travis and the Brawlers find the city of Fallsala, where they lament the fact that war has started up again. Giving law90026 one more day to recruit, and making sure that Usar has no more units, we wait patiently...and when nothing comes of it, we collect our tribute for the day, and send kingfc22 to Valikesh to deal with Usar.

kingfc22 and Usar have dealt with each other before -- kingfc22 was a great friend of the late King Gran, and was quite upset when Gran was murdered, and Usar had a major role in that. Usar attacks at the head of his group, with two wizards supporting him from the back row. kingfc22 lands the first blow, a solid 32 to Usar. Usar responds in turn, wounding kingfc22 22, but MrBug708 is right there to heal him back up. BYU 14 and tucker342 get a few shots in at Usar, and he is reeling -- down to 42 health with quite a few attacks remaining. The Wizards get in a couple of good shots, and Usar tags kingfc22 one more time, but a quick slash by kingfc22 sends Usar reeling, and BYU 14 is right there to smash Usar's head in with his mighty club. Their leader fallen, the Wizards surrender, and Sharom Border is ours!

[Vince]

The Haul:

Kills:
kingfc22		3
katon		2
blade6119		2
cschex		2
sachmo71		2
Godzilla Blitz		2
Travis		1
BYU 14		1

The Hydra's Fang: +4 Strength, +6 Physical, +8 Fire
The Flame Sword: +6 Strength
Dream Crown

Level Ups:
Blade6119 (3)
cschex (4)
BYU 14 (3)
3 Fighters (3)

We returned to Sharom Border after the dust cleared to see if we could find anything -- the people at Falsalla gave us a Gnomish Nugget, as our peaceful manner after removing the Empire convinced them that we are good guys. We also ran into a man named Badista in Valna -- he claims that he will give us a great reward if we get him a Book of the Dead. Finally, law90026 was able to find a couple of new recruits; sachmo71 and the Wizards now welcome a Dragon to their frontline, and say goodbye to the Hell Hound that was at their bidding before. Also, Raven Hawk the Hawk Man joins Travis and the Brawlers, and the previous Raven Hawk the fighter is now available for anyone to take. Our next foray is into the Sharom District, where we expect to meet a bit firmer resistance, but still nothing excessive.

[law90026]

Cool, call me Drew Rosenhaus, I'll get the people you need ... for a price.