The Gap castle ended up a major flash point between Immer and Zorn, begin host to the majority of combat in Minaria so far.
Despite the slight edge in forces, Zorn took heavy losses in early battles.
Later Muetar became a major Zornite ally and, committed their forces to the vicinity of the Gap Castle.
Massed Goblin and Muetarian forces attack the Gap Castle and...
....it holds strong, despite their numerical advantage.
Meanwhile, Immerian ally Hothior attacks the entirely undefended city of Plibba in eastern Muetar.
The Dwarves and their allies take advantage of the distraction in the western Immer to lay siege to Castle Altarr itself.
A slight skirmish against an isolated unit of Zornite regulars goes awry for the mercenary attackers.
Unfortunately the diplomatic offensives against Muetar begin to bear fruit, with the central kingdom dropping from the Goblin alliance the first of many times. This breaks the siege of Gap Castle and opens up Immer's defensive options.
At the end of the session, the various kingdoms remain stuck at a stalemate. Immer and Zorn remain stuck in a death struggle. The Dwarves are slowly building their forces and making small moves throughout Minaria. Many allies have been gathered to the various alliances. It's impossible to say who may yet be the winner.
Notes
What stood out the most to me this session was something that seems kind of obvious in previous games. How a player can use misdirection to achieve sieges unchallenged and, how no player strategizes in a vacuum. In the above session, while I was trying to pin down and annihilate Immerian military power in northern Minaria, the Dwarves moved in to siege Altarr. While the Dwarves were occupied in the central and eastern parts of Minaria, the Zorn aligned trolls surreptitiously make their way to their undefended homelands. Finally, while Zorn is occupied, Immer aligned forces attack their Shucassmi ally.
Movement and positioning haven been long discussed as the main mechanism of strategy in DIVINE RIGHT. Player moves do not exist in a vacuum however, and are effected by the diplomatic and military moves of the other players. It is interesting to note in this game how we created weaknesses and openings between each other and, how we exploited them to achieve sieges.
I'm not sure when this game will continue in the future. My search for effective strategies continues however. One thing is for sure though, it's not over yet.
I chose this time to play more defense.
ReplyDeleteHow to break up a siege?
- Diplomacy by deactivating the attackers allies
- combat by attacking the besiegers stacks to break their required zone for a siege. If you eliminate enough units that they can't legally hold a siege, or if you cause them to retreat so their siege is broken.
I've probably forgot one of the things here.
This was my first game of DR. As a first time player, I understood the basic flow of the game but struggled with the nuances - and this wasn't even taking the battles and sieges into account!
ReplyDeleteSpecial movement rules were forgotten, such as a kingdom's units getting clear movement within their own territory and moving elves in forests/dwarves in hills.
How long will an ambassador be banished after failing a diplomacy role with a threat, bribe, etc. was another nuance to remember.
On a positive note, this gave me some great ideas for how we will want to implement AI decision making! Diplomacy is very important in establishing or diminishing an early threat to an opponents kingdom which indicates that distances between units and royal castles play a factor. In the end, victory points are king in who wins and you get the most victpry points by capturing/killing the opposing players ruler. Let the tactics support the overarching strategy!
This is a fun game! I look forward to playing it without having to remember the rules!