Battle Report: May 27th

Another week, another trip to the world of DIVINE RIGHT. There's a new ADVANCED four player game this week. Pon, Hothior, Rombune and the Eaters of Wisdom vie for Minarian Hegemony. Played by Jared, Werepuppy, lastRedoubt and yours truly, respectively. 

At the start, the majority of the player kingdoms are clustered in the west, Pon alone being relatively isolated in the east. Besides this, Hothior and Rombune are both naval powers albeit Rombune has a slight edge in naval power. Notably, I managed to get one of the Magiciains in this game, they start with lots of magic but, almost no army.

With early diplomacy there were few successes. Rombune managed to ally Shucassam within a few weeks. Hothior opted to bring in the famed Juulute Wolfheart to lead it's armies. Pon and the Eater's diplomatic overtures largely failed. Then, things started to heat up. 

In the first of many battles between Rombune and Hothior, a small Hothiorian expeditionary force makes an amphibious incursion to southern Shucassam. Where Juluute Wolfheart leads the Hothior aligned "Outlander" southern barbarians against the Rombuni-allied Shucassami city of Jipols Rombune immediately raised it's own "Cannibal" barbarians against the invaders but, things remain at a stalemate. 

Unfortunately, things didn't quite go so well for the expedition when the Shucassam royal army made its way to the south. The Outlanders were defeated in battle against the combined forces of Shucassam and the Rombuni barbarians and, Juulute Wolfheart was captured. 

Meanwhile further west, uncowed by the advance of barbarians Rombune and Shucassam marched on Hothior. Making an amphibious landing near Farnot Seafolk, they attack the Hothiorian forces stationed there. 

Hothiorian regulars stationed there quickly retreat, while the fleets remain in port. 

Following the initial engagement, the Hothiorian Royal army heads east to interdict the Shucassam-Rombuni forces that are heading for Castle Lapspell. Just below Farnot the Hothiorian fleet fights the Rombuni. 

After having defeated the main Rombuni fleet, the Hothiorians attack the Shucassami fleet just outside of Castle Lapspell. 

They are unsuccessful. 

Back in Shucassam, Pon makes its moved against the distracted kingdom. Hoping to get the drop on them, the Ponese royal army attacks a contingent of regulars heading for Adeese. 

Their victory proves Pyrrhic however. 

The situation worsens when Juulute Wolfheart, having decided to join his captors from the dungeons of Jipols, arrives with fresh Rombuni allied troops to meet the Ponese threat. Pon elects to beat a hasty retreat from this ill-fated campaign. 

After a series of engagments, Hothior is ultimately victorious against the Rombuni forces in the vicinity of Castle Lapspell.

All is not well in Hothior however. As the Eaters having finally gained an ally, lay siege to Tadafat in nothern Hothior. 

This is coupled with Juulute leading Rombune's recently acquired Muetarian allies against Hothiorian regulars near the Huts of the Scum. 

Where things go poorly for the Hothiorians. 

Muetar is also put to good effect in the east, with a fresh siege on the castle of Crow's Nest in northern Pon. 

The most pivotal moment of the Hothior-Rombune battles happened on the Khuzdul-Zefnar trade route in the Waste of Vah-Ka-Ka. Hothior's pet dragon, Harambe Hamahara, caught up with the fleeing Rombuni Monarch from his disastrous invasion of Hothior. The King and his retinue were captured by the beast and, taken to Castle Lapspell for immediate execution. Rombune admitting defeat, gave large amounts of tribute to the middle kingdom. Yet to the north, Elfland rises. 

Taking advantage of the chaos in Rombune, Pon sponsors the efforts of an ursuper to gain a much needed ally. 

This is where Minaria stands now. Despite their vast military alliance Rombune has fallen but, Elfland takes up their mantle in these supremacy wars. Pon hunkers down in its own territories but, perhaps with the aid of their old enemies they can make some headway. Hothior is victorious against Rombune but, their forces are vastly weakened from the conflict as they face an invasion from the Eaters. However, they still have the aid of several powerful mercenary agents, in addition to the vast forces of Zorn. Things are just getting started.

Notes

When it comes to this game, the biggest thing that stands out was the death of Rombune's monarch. Something similar happened to me near the end of the last game, when I had made a bad move with my monarch's army and, Jared was able to force a successful leader fate roll. Like in real life, monarchs represent a vulnerability. Losing a non-player monarch functions as a automatic deactivation, losing a player monarch is similar, with the player being ejected from the game.

This is still a relatively rare occurance in the game. In the above case, it took about four leader fate rolls before lastRedoubt got an adverse result. That being said, the game rules allow for this possibility and provides a mechanic to return ejected players back into the game following the death of their avatars in Minaria. This is why Elfland activated.

Although, this re-entry comes at the cost of the victory points of the player in question. So, the closer the game gets to it's conclusion the less of an option re-entry becomes. Thus it can be said, even if you die in game, it's not over yet.