TROGS vs. MEN: AI Wars I

Published on Friday, April 12, 2013 By Frogboy In Elemental Dev Journals

A Promising Start

It was 165 years since the cataclysm which had wiped out nearly all civilization in the world. In that time, monsters, thugs and other beasts had taken over the land.

In the far wastes of Ishira, a land long forgotten in the world of Elemental, a young adventurer named Thalan had risen and intended to bring civilization back to the land.

That summer, Thalan founded Aduron, which means “Civilization” in the ancient tongue of the Magi. The land around Aduron was rich and fertile and contained enough magical essence to support two enchantments.

Opening his spell book, Thalan decided he would cast Inspiration and Enchanted Hammers on his city. This would double the research and greatly increase the productivity of his fledgling capital.

Thalan was one of the few people born into the world with the ability to channel magic. Across the world were pieces of the Telenanth crystal called “Shards” in which the Titans of old had encapsulated the magic of the world. The more of these he controlled, the more powerful he would become.

As it happened, a shard of fire was near Aduron itself. A promising start.

Bringing hope back

Aduron began construction of the Tower of Dominion. This beacon would send the world a message – a new power had arisen in Ishira. This would increase migration to his city and hopefully attract champions to his cause.

Part of his mission would be to bring order back to the wilds of Ishira. This would mean destroying the various vile creatures that had taken ahold of the land. This this end, Ralle Stomborn would join him:

Two champions answered the call but always hungry for glory, they would require that Thalan choose between them.

Thalan and his crew clean the barrens of the violent Wildings

In the meantime, Aduron had grown and it was now time to specialize.

The proto-city council met and after much arguing, it was decided that the most important focus their new kingdom would need is food and capital. To this end, they chose for Aduron to be a town (which provides a much better environment for merchants and farmers than the alternatives).

The city fathers now determined it was time to send pioneers off to construct a second city nearby. 30 citizens volunteered for this mission.

Thus was found the second city of Thalan’s kingdom now dubbed “Valar” by the people. This second city brought an emissary from a shadowing group calling themselves the Syndicate.

“You are not the first so-called “Channeler” to try to tame Ishira. We are the power here. If you expand further, you shall be dealt with.”

The Syndicate

Thalan’s scouts soon found the Syndicate hive.

This particular group was led by a Syndicate Assassin along with an enforcer with a few thugs to back them up. Thalan decided it was time to strike out at them.

While the hive was wiped out, it came at a heavy cost. Only Thalan and his golem survived. Fortunately, as the new power in the region, a band of mercenaries soon arrived and joined Thalan’s party.

Moreover, Adamant had grown in size and given its high production levels, it was decided it would become a fortress which would allow it to train units much more effectively than the capital could.

Trogs

The Trogs were the super warriors of the Titans. They were bred for one thing – killing. When the Titans left, they formed an empire called Yithril. Now they menace all the lands.

Verga and his party (right) meet Thalan and what was left of his part (left) near a fire shard.

With pleasantries accepted it was time for the ambassadors to get down to business..

To compare:

Thalan only had 2 settlements and only had net revenue of 1.9 to Yithril’s 2.6.

Founding cities is a serious matter (during the time of Legendary Heroes). People were a finite resource and given that the typical city was only growing at a couple of citizens per season, it was a considerable sacrifice to send out 30 citizens.

The people of Valar would need to find a good location for a third city at some point. Moreover, peaceful relations with the Trogs were unthinkable. Warlord Verga is a warmonger and militaristic [each game the sovereigns draw from a limited list of traits they might have, these two are absolutely lethal for peace].

Luckily, they had found the perfect spot for a new city. But it would be awhile before they managed to find 30 citizens willing to volunteer. Each citizen represents 100 people [this isn’t documented anywhere as it’s not relevant to gameplay but if you have 100 citizens, you have 10,000 people in your city].

The challenge would be to get the pioneers there. While traveling, Thalan and his crew escorted the pioneers only to be attacked by Brood Hunters. I want to emphasize this: Pioneers require population and going up city levels is the key to victory so losing a pioneer is a big deal.

Brood Hunters are pretty horrible. They lurk in the swamps of Elemental. Their archery skill is, unfortunately, unparalleled. They hit 4 out of 5 shots and they are fast. Very fast.

The Brood Hunters were accompanied by spiders who webbed Thalan’s melee soldiers leaving the Brood Hunters free to strike them from a distance.

Luckily, Thalan had something to save them – an escape scroll!

Their survival a mater of luck more than anything else, Thalan reached the fertile plains.

Thus Providence was founded.

Their first visitor was an emissary of the Trogs:

It was decided that they would pay it. For now. War was coming. Thalan needed allies.

Arriving from the East were champions of…unique skills. Tuatha the Ogre was a reluctant warrior. “The gray skins burnt my village and killed my family,” he said. He wanted revenge. He would get it.

The news that Tuatha had joined the Valar (Thalan’s Kingdom) did not sit well with the Trogs.

The War

It would be a classic east vs. west battle. Morale was high as the Valar controlled plenty of resources, had good champions and good income.

The invasion first came across Trog scouts riding Wargs. The Valar were weak on mounted units at this stage of the war.

With the frontier clear, Ralle Storborn’s army plunged into the Yithril Empire.

The border town of Alkahoud was poorly defended.

Ralle decided to attack before it could be reinforced.

Yithril responded immediately.

Ralle was able to escape with injuries. The Trogs were fast and strong but their soldiers, thus far, had relatively poor weapons. This might be exploitable.

Thus was born the Trog Hunter.

The question is whether they would be able to be trained before the Trogs overwhelmed them. Providence was now under siege.

The other army attacked…and destroyed the city of Outpost.

In response, Thalan sent a sortie that destroyed a Trog army. We were at a temporary stalemate.

Thalan was torn. On the one hand, one of the most beautiful cities in the Kingdom had been razed to the ground. The thirst for vengeance was strong. On the other hand, his army had been mauled destroying the Trog forces in his Kingdom. There would be time to heal.

Worse, the Trogs had built a settlement just on the fringes of Kingdom territory. They were not well established.

(soon after the Trogs declared war again – I have since modified the code so that it takes the amount of time since the last war ended into account so that making peace means something)

The Second War

In the second war, the Trog Hunters would become involved. The strike force included both Arissa and Ralle in them.

The Trogs had sent their zealots known as the Oppressors to wreak havoc in the country side:

The most concerning point was that they had maces which made them quite lethal.

Even against the Trog Hunters, those maces and spears were deadly.

In the end though, the Trogs were defeated without any casualties on the Kingdom’s side.

But the Trogs had sent that force to lure the Kingdom force out of their cities. Now, attacking on opposite ends of the Kingdom were two powerful Trog armies.

The capital would have to be defended. The defenses at Adamant, fortunately held (thank goodness for city walls).

Thalan was able to beat back the Trogs forces and even their intrusive little outpost city had been taken.

However, the Trogs were not without their own answer to the Trog Hunter:

The Manhunter unit was simply…appalling in power. 32 defense. Only the most lethal weaponry would be able to touch them.

The Manhunters drove Thalan far far back to Providence which the Trogs destroyed in the year 239AC.

The Kingdom was reduced to two cities.

This would be a war of annihilation.

Thalan would march his forcest into the East and do his best to exterminate the Trogs.

It was a suicide run but one intended to utterly dismay the Trogs. If the Kingdom could hold in the west, Thalan and his army would take care of the East.

[This also gives me an excuse to improve the AI’s defense coordination]

City after city is burned to the ground. But the Trogs begin to coordinate their attacks [well, with the saved game, updating the AI code and restarting to thwart what I’m doing].

In 246AC, the suicide mission comes to its completion, but not before destroying 4 Trog cities.

For a generation, the war went back and forth gradually stalemating. That is, until Trog’s Bane:

For a decade the city of Adamant had gradually upgraded its capabilities until it could train the most lethal soldiers the world had ever seen.

Instant death to all but the most well defended Trogs. Of course, the entire Kingdom could only support 1.

vs. an army of ogres:

The ogres are no match.

Or against three high level enemy champions?

Utter ruin for the Trogs.

…Time

Passes…

The war becomes more intense as both sides bring in ever more powerful beings. Trog hunters are replaced by Trog butchers. The Trogs begin recruiting ogres and trolls.

The war of annihilation would, at one point, see the kingdom brought down to only 1 city – Adamant.

Only Adamant remained. Even Aduron had been conquered.

But the Trogs of Yithril made their lethal mistake in not razing Aduron. While they had razed every other city, they greedily kept Aduron as a trophy. Had they razed it, the men of Valar would have been doomed.

A force from Adamant reclaimed Aduron and from there, the tide turned.

It would take another decade of bloody back and forth warfare until the Trogs could no longer resist the advance from the west.

By 294 AC, the world looked something like this: