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 What is Anbennar? Anbennar is a fantasy mod for paradox map game Europa Universalis 4. To quote its steam page: “Anbennar is set in a fantasy world evoking themes from D&D, but through lens and time period of a strategy game like EU4. See how a fantasy world changes from an age of adventurers and good vs. evil to an age of gunpowder, colonialism and magical decadence” Originally started by one man (JayBean) as a passion project, it now has a fairly big community and a bunch of devs working on it. Its updates are frankly huge and, in many ways, it has more content than base EU4. It has a patreon and even a merch store! There’s been quite a few Paradox LPs in these forums but Anbennar remains mostly untapped. So far the only other LP is A great deal of ruin in a nation, by MonsieurChoc, who graciously let me copy a lot of his opening post for my own LP. There’s a lot of stuff in this mod: huge Mission trees, new Religions, new Mechanics, etc. New Mechanics? Oh yes. There’s a lot of new mechanics for this mod. We’ll get more details as we encounter them during the game, but here’s a quick overview (again, thank you to MonsieurChoc for originally writing these out!): - Fantasy Races! Every country gets a modifier for who’s in charge of the administration and who makes up the bulk of the armies (they can be two different races!), and every province has one or more modifiers representing the majority and minority(ies) present in the province that have positives and negatives depending on how much you accept each race. - Magic! The Mage estate is available to all countries with mages and can be used to cast spells for various effects. Also, if your ruler is a Mage you get the Ruler Magic menu from which you get access to all kinds of unique spells depending on which of the 8 schools of magic they know. - Artificers! Usually shows up in the late game but some countries and/or races get access early. You can research inventions that buff your nation or special artificer infantry. - New Government Reforms! There’s a lot, some of which are unique to certain Mission Trees. - Dwarven Holds! Deep in the Mountains are these huge dwarven cities built over centuries. They can be expanded by DIGGING DEEPER. - Expeditions! In the mountains you can also send troops to look for treasure. Hope you gave them enough supplies, or maybe they’ll never return. Maybe you’ll even find a Dungeon? - Disasters! So many new disasters. Many are unique to certain regions, races or even specific nation Mission trees. - There’s also special mechanics available only to specific regions or nations, like the Raj or the Sunrise Convocation. Those we’ll see if they come up. - Monstrous nations! Monstrous is more of a social and political distinction than anything else. Some nations are considered monstrous, with unique CBs both for and against them, and can de-monsterize eventually to be seen the same as any other non-monstrous nation. How this LP will work This will be a screenshot LP with a casual narrative focus. I’ll be dipping in and out of story voice as needed to explain game mechanics, and I am still fairly new the mod so if I do describe something incorrectly, please let me know. While I will try to stick to the narrative disposition of the mission tree and the thread votes, I can’t guarantee I won’t occasionally make the gamey choice. And on that note, there will be audience participation! Votes will be held throughout the LP, including for our starting nation, our idea groups, and occasionally some event decisions. Spoiler Policy As mentioned, there are a lot of unique events, mechanics and disasters throughout this mod. I would prefer for spoilers on anything that hasn’t already been mentioned within the LP itself be limited and kept within spoiler tags if they are brought up. While we will be touching quite deeply on the events within our region, there will also be events going on in the rest of the world that may not be entirely elaborated on and I would like to leave a bit of mystery for future LPs, whether by myself or others. So, in that regard the policy applies not just to events that impact our nation directly, but to others as well. What is free to discuss is anything that happens up to the game start. Ancient lore, existing characters, national histories. Anything that you could find by looking at the starting map or the Anbennar Wiki is fair game.
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Feb 27, 2023 20:59
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Chapter 0: History and Nation World History It is the year 1444, same as in vanilla EU4, but year 0 in Anbennar is when The Day of Ashen Skies happened. A huge cataclysm happened that destroyed the ancient empire of the precursor elves. The surviving elves either stayed behind and got all mutated into ruinborn elves or escaped in huge fleets of boats eventually making it to the other continents where their arrivals caused great upheaval. The big recent historical event is the Greentide. Orcs were historically disunited, organized in clans and tribes. They worship their god Dookan and think strength is everything. A super strong orc appeared calling himself the Dookanson, united the Orcs and swept forth to attempt to conquer the continent. They seemed unstoppable, until Corin. Corin was a young red-headed woman who died during battle, but came back to life as an avatar of the fallen god of war Agrados. She then led a ragtag army of adventurers against the invading Orcs, defeated the Dookanson in combat in the ruins of Escann and then ascended as the new god of war. But these aren’t the stories that we’ll be following, though their impact will be felt. Local History So, where are we?  The Serpentspine, as it appears ingame  And with the provinces highlighted The Serpentspine, also known as the Dwarovar, or ‘Dwarf Home’, is a continent-spanning mountain range that reaches from the far north of Halcann (the supercontinent containing Cannor, Sarhel and Haless) all the way to the edge of Haless in the far east. It divides the continent, separating the vast and untamed Forbidden Plains from many of the more civilized regions of the world and creating choke points in many other regions as well. It is said that the mountain range was created when the dragon Malliath was struck down by the gods, with his body forming the main Serpentspine, and one of his severed heads forming the Dragon Coast on the west coast of Cannor. Whether this is true or not, the Dwarven people forged their home in the tunnels and caverns of the mountains. They founded a mighty empire, the Aul-Dwarov, which spanned the length of the Dwarovar and established a rail system that extended their reach to every corner of the mountains.  Flag of the Aul-Dwarov Thousands of years before the Ashen Skies, the ancient dwarven empire fell. Civil war, conflict with the Precursors, and finally the creation and unleashing of vast orcish hordes, brought the empire to its knees, shattered the rail system that brought it together and ravaged hold after hold. Those dwarves that survived were forced to either flee to the surface or seal themselves inside their holds. And so that was how it remained for millennia. Dwarves integrated themselves into surface societies or quietly lived out their long lives in isolation and stagnation. The splendors of the old empire lay plundered and rusting. That all changed when the Greentide poured from the mountains. The devastation wrought across Escann was to be the Dwarven people’s opportunity for rebirth. Dookanson had conscripted countless orcs and goblins who had previously been occupying the ruins of Dwarven civilization, so for the first time in thousands of years there was the possibility that the ancient holds could be reclaimed, and that home could once again be reforged. The long-sealed holds are starting to wake up. Adventuring parties sent forth by the surface Dwarves are plying the tunnels, seeking long-lost treasures and liberating ruined holds. The time is right for reclamation, and a new age for the Dwarovar! Vote Who will we be playing as? There are two main options, either we can start as one of the surviving holds or we can play as an adventuring party and form a hold. This list is not exhaustive of all possible Dwarf tags, I have curated based on who has a mission tree that I haven’t played before. I am also limiting it to the western and middle Serpentspine, as I am not familiar with playing in the eastern part of the map. Surviving Holds A: Krakdhûmvror – In the far north wielding unique ice magics, seeking to create a new empire rather than rebuild the old. B: Ovdal Lodhum – Ruled by a Human adventurer who fell in love with a Dwarven woman. Love and diplomacy (unless you are an orc or goblin). C: Seghdihr – Having maintained an alliance of holds throughout the dark ages of the Dwarovar in the more southern reaches, said alliance fell apart only recently by Dwarven standards and must be restored. D: Verkal Gulan – Sitting on vast reserves of gold, can they overcome their decadence and make use of their incalculable wealth? Formable Holds E: Orlazam-az-Dihr – Tasked with guarding the fertile surface lands of the Serpent’s Vale, they did so with gusto atop war rams. F: Verkal Skomdihr – Fallen due to invasion from the Deepwoods, revenge must be won and what better way than to deforest their lands to supply material for rebuilding. G: Mithradhûm – Sitting on a large deposit of mithril and with a long history of producing powerful and loyal warriors, this hold is capable of producing the greatest army for sale that Halcann has ever seen. H: Khugdihr – Having only fallen recently as a result of the Greentide, reclamation is just a short step away. From there, close ties with the surface nations will make the reclaimers a foremost economic power. I: Orlghelovar – Glass, crystal and science. The technological heart of Dwarven society, looking to stay one step ahead even as a new technological age dawns on the rest of the world. J: Shazstundihr – The home of great builders and craftsmen. Those who take up the legacy seek to extend Dwarven architecture to the world beyond.  Locations, for reference. Voting will remain open for 72 hours Sybot fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Feb 27, 2023 20:59
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I'm very excited for this LP. Let's go I: Orlghelovar for maximum 
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Feb 27, 2023 21:18
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I: Orlghelovar seems fun.
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Feb 27, 2023 21:23
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Let's go with I: Orlghelovar
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Feb 27, 2023 23:00
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Kughdir, let's become the bank.
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Feb 28, 2023 00:19
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War Rams! (E)
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Feb 28, 2023 01:16
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A - Krakdhûmvror for magicky dwarves Is there a mechanic for digging too deep?
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Feb 28, 2023 06:29
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Seconding A - Krakdhûmvror!
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Feb 28, 2023 06:42
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Aesculus posted:Is there a mechanic for digging too deep? There are two disasters related to digging too deep (tough) and also events for digging into caverns held by hostile orcs/goblins (easy).
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Feb 28, 2023 08:41
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Caustic Soda posted:There are two disasters related to digging too deep (tough) and also events for digging into caverns held by hostile orcs/goblins (easy). It wouldn't be a dwarf game without it. Try not to give any more details though, the disasters are one of the big draws of this mod so I'm looking forward to people who've never seen them before finding out just what they are like. VideoWitch posted:Let's go with I: Orlghelovar Currently in the lead with three votes, I'm starting to get concerned that my thread title will become very ironic. From the wiki (referring to the ancient hold, not the refounded one, so not a spoiler): quote:The hold of Orlghelovar was facing the surface, allowing the Cobalt dwarves to experience sunlight, but they were unsatisfied as they created intricate mirrors and lenses to direct sunlight inside of the hold.
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Feb 28, 2023 08:53
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Sybot posted:It wouldn't be a dwarf game without it. Try not to give any more details though, the disasters are one of the big draws of this mod so I'm looking forward to people who've never seen them before finding out just what they are like. Sure thing, I was trying to keep it vague for just that reason 🙂 H: Khugdihr for banker dwarves.
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Feb 28, 2023 09:47
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I'm gonna buck the trend and vote for Seghdihr. They have a lot of cool stuff going on in the middle of their mission tree onwards.
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Feb 28, 2023 10:31
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G Let's dig greedily and deep. Ere the wild dingos come. Strike the earth!
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Feb 28, 2023 16:09
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sullat posted:G Let's dig greedily and deep. Ere the wild dingos come. Strike the earth!
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Feb 28, 2023 16:12
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I: Orlghelovar
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Feb 28, 2023 16:33
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I've played Anbennar as dwarves a few times, and it's a real fun experience. Guess I'll vote for... A: Krakdhûmvror For no other reason than it's one I haven't played as yet.
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Feb 28, 2023 17:12
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B! - who doesn't love dwarven women?
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Feb 28, 2023 19:21
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e; 
Hiveminded fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Mar 1, 2023 |
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Feb 28, 2023 21:26
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I, while there are weirder dwarves in Anbennar the glass dwarves are a good time.
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Feb 28, 2023 23:17
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Hiveminded posted:Definitely Seghdihr. All of these other dwarves have cool and thematic mission trees, but Seghdihr goes a step beyond with basically a baked-in narrative campaign. Also, we'll be in a position where things happening outside of the mountains can impact us from the start, and we'd have some very interesting neighbours indeed. this is enough for me! Seghdihr please!
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Mar 1, 2023 01:06
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Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the Dwarves, except imho Almdhir/Aul-Dwarov and they're fixing that in the next big update.
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Mar 1, 2023 01:24
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I was checking around on the anbennar discord and it looks like Seghdihr might actually be partially broken rn due to recent changes in the layout of trade nodes relevant to their MT. sad! anyway let's see orlghelovar
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Mar 1, 2023 01:28
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D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi_fq7rjxAo
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Mar 1, 2023 03:48
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"This is a formable dwarf hold. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. This object menaces with spikes of clear glass. On the item is an image of Malliath the Dragon being struck down and forming the Serpentspine in crystal. On the item is an image of several dwarves surrounding a forge and producing weaponry in crystal." (I: Orlghelovar)
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Mar 1, 2023 04:04
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Hiveminded posted:
Okay, that's convincing enough for me. I'm changing my vote from A - Krakdhûmvror to C - Seghdihr.
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Mar 1, 2023 04:31
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Hiveminded posted:I was checking around on the anbennar discord and it looks like Seghdihr might actually be partially broken rn due to recent changes in the layout of trade nodes relevant to their MT. sad! anyway let's see orlghelovar I'm playing the current Steam version, not the Bitbucket version with all the Sarhel (and thus trade node) changes, but I'll look into it and see if there is a problem is this version as well. I'll count your original vote, and if there is a problem then switch it over With half the voting time gone, Orlghelovar is currently leading but there is plenty of room for a swing. Voting ends tomorrow. A - Ice Magic Dwarves: 2 B - Romance Dwarves: 1 C - Alliance Dwarves: 4 D - Gold Hoarding Dwarves: 1 E - Cavalry Dwarves: 1 F - Deforestation Dwarves: 0 G - Mercenary Dwarves: 2 H - Banking Dwarves: 2 I - Science Dwarves: 6 J - Construction Dwarves: 0 Sybot fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Mar 1, 2023 |
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Mar 1, 2023 09:03
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Voting I - Science Dwarves for glorious trains everywhere
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Mar 1, 2023 15:48
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GunnerJ posted:Voting I - Science Dwarves for glorious trains everywhere The Train Dwarves in the Hold of Er-Natvir is not a listed option. Which is probably fortunate, since it's not very fleshed out. Expect abstract trains for the listed holds. The Train Goblins in Railskulker are fairly fleshed out, in contrast, what with their Circus Maximus-but-trains and Capital City-but-a-train. Playing dwarves you may meet them, although probably violently and briefly.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:02
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Xerophyte posted:The Train Dwarves in the Hold of Er-Natvir is not a listed option. Which is probably fortunate, since it's not very fleshed out. Expect abstract trains for the listed holds. I was fairly disappointed by Er-Natvir when I played them, which is why I didn't have them as an option. The mission tree is mostly 'conquer the rails', which you'll be doing anyway, and 'dev up the railway provinces', which spends all of the mana you should be spending on digging deeper in your holds. I originally considered including goblins as an option for the vote, but found the number of options was getting too big so decided to limit it to dwarves.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:07
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Yeah, Er-Natvir are one of the less interesting dwarven nations in the mod. Not including them was the right choice, same as for the equally skipped mission-less holds like the Sewer Dwarves, Volcano Dwarves and Lovecraftian Astronomy Dwarves. In general in Anbennar you want to check that the tag you're picking has a recent mission tree. Avoid doing what I did the first time I played and get stuck playing Castellyr and wondering what all the fuss about the missions was about. There's a lot of developing going on and I believe the remaining holds are getting stuff in the next update or soon after, for anyone who really wants to play Europa Universalis as a short plumber or have the stars gaze back.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:23
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I've never played Anbennar and my entire knowledge of it comes from the ork LP. Dwarves are my favorite fantasy race though so I'm really excited. I have no clue what to expect from science dwarves but I'm really hoping it means we can build machines to dig harder and deeper than anyone else. Then I hope we build adamantine mecha to fight the balrogs. https://youtu.be/34CZjsEI1yU
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Mar 1, 2023 16:40
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Xerophyte posted:The Train Dwarves in the Hold of Er-Natvir is not a listed option. We're gonna invent something better than those old trains, it'll be beautiful: Dwarven. Monorails.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:49
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I still want to play a Goblin and Dwarf rail nation. United by trains!
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Mar 1, 2023 17:40
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We shall delve an It's A Small World ride far beyond the petty dreams of surface dwellers.
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Mar 1, 2023 21:48
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A protest vote for Hul-az-Krakazol because they are perhaps the most dwarfy of all the dwarves in Anbennar.
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Mar 1, 2023 22:06
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There haven't been any votes for a while, and there was a clear leader so I'm going to close this a few hours early and declare Orlghelovar the winner! We'll be doing some dwarf . First update should be done tomorrow.
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Mar 2, 2023 17:37
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Ah, screw it. Apparently I can write an entire update in an afternoon/evening. I'll still be aiming for a twice-weekly update rate though. Before we start, I will be playing with Great Conquerors enabled. We will be seeing certain (relatively random) AI tags blobbing up a lot more than they would have otherwise. Not Mythic Conquerors though. Mythic only applies to Great Powers, so it'll inevitably see the same superpowers forming over and over again while GCs can cause unexpected minors to rise to prominence. Chapter One: The Blackbeard Cartel 1444 - 1449  Captain Dwosgraeg Blackbeard Dwosgraeg Blackbeard was an ambitious young dwarf. Not even 50 years old, he had chafed against the gentocracy in Silverforge and its submission to the half-elven nobility of the Empire of Anbennar. When the call went out for dwarves to join the reclamation efforts, he saw his opportunity to make a name for himself. He did not want to join Silverforge's official expedition, nor the one funded by the Asra Bank, nor the old man Blueshield's company. Instead, he took advantage of the countless other young, like-minded dwarves eager to participate but not willing to answer to the elders at home. There was wealth to be found, ancient technology to be rediscovered, and above all, glory and names to be carved into the history books. As the cartel made its way through the treacherous, orc infested lands of Escann, Blackbeard found that he had a natural talent for leading dwarves in battle. His strict discipline kept his soldiers moving no matter what dangers they faced.  The Serpent's Reach After finding an entrance into the Dwarovar, the cartel made its way south and passed through the Arg Tunad tunnel into the Serpent's Reach. To Blackbeard's knowledge, the other expeditions were plying the northern tunnels but the Reach was completely free for the taking. Rather than face competition, his cartel would have these tunnels all to themselves.  Ferocious, aggressive orc and goblin tribes dwell in the tunnels Themselves, and thousands of goblins. While the tunnels were not as teeming with the vermin as they had been before the Greentide, there were still enough to give the cartel pause. Progress was slow going, as the cartel's camp had to be carefully moved, and every cavern and side passage checked for ambushes. It is generally a bad idea to send troops out from your single province to start with. The goblins and orcs will chew up your manpower for little to no gain, and purging the natives to prevent uprisings is prohibitively expensive.  Only the Diamond Hold of Arg-Ôrdstun remains in dwarven hands Officially, the dwarves of Silverforge followed the same religion as the rest of the Empire, that being the gods of the Regent Court. Unofficially, many dwarves still venerated their ancestors, and it was that sort of dwarf who was much more eager to join the reclamation efforts. As ancient shrines and temples were uncovered, long ransacked but solidly-built enough to survive the millennia, more and more of the cartel began to revert to the old ways and pray to the ancient inhabitants of the mountains to protect them. Ancestor Worship, the primary dwarven religion, follows the Coptic mechanics. Right now, only one Holy Site (aka major hold) is occupied by dwarves, so we are only allowed to select one bonus. Given that we aren't heading for a second Holy Site and I can't guarantee that we'll pick up a second blessing off the AI adventurers any time soon I've picked extra settler growth to help us once we start expanding beyond one province. Otherwise, I would have picked a morale bonus to help us initially.  Cartel Organisation The council advised Captain Blackbeard and lobbied him for their endeavours. One part was the Marchers, the military commanders who lead the armed forces of the cartel. With so many dwarves under arms just to keep them safe from the ever-present threat of goblins, they were the strongest political force in the cartel for the moment. The next were the pioneers, who were most interested in finding a place to settle down and begin building a home. While their dreams were still distant, they were making good use of the experience in setting up, maintaining, and tearing down the cartel's camps to regain experience in underground living that had been lost in the millennia since the exodus. Finally were the fortune seekers, the mercenaries and adventurers who were in the cartel for the fame and fortune. They were responsible for collecting the treasures of the Dwarovar and finding ways to turn that into money and knowledge. Blackbeard hoped to turn them into eager soldiers and not just a set of gold-hungry rabble. Adventurers make use of a mix of mechanics from the base game. First is factions, which allow the company to swap between a military focus, colonization focus, or treasure hunting focus with the expenditure of a bit of mana (for those not familiar, a catch-all term for Admin, Diplomacy and Military Points earned by your nation). Presently we are getting a few military buffs, combined with some diplomatic debuffs. The second is Adventuring Efficiency, which is a rebranded Militarization. For a small mil mana investment we get a scaling buff that gives us some income, and makes our armies cheaper and easier to replenish. I hit the button once to get us over the first threshold where the scaling buff begins to kick in.  The Blackbeard Cartel migrates to an expedition site The cartel was an ever-shifting camp stretching miles along the path of the ruined Argrod rail line. Scouting parties set out ahead of the bulk of the cartel's forces, charting out the path of the rail line through the vast caverns and over pitch-dark crevices. Regular combat with the goblins and orcs saw a steady rate of attrition to the dwarves brave enough to take the lead, but they were rewarded with first choice of any loot that was liberated from the savages that had plundered it. When one such party found a cave opening up in a separate direction to the main rail line, and evidence that goblin looters had passed through that way with a large haul of rightful dwarven treasure, word quickly sped back to the command tent. Blackbeard made the decision quickly, the whole cartel would move to the entrance and set up to support a full expedition deeper into the unknown cave system. The last mechanic shared by all adventurers is the ability to migrate, so long as they remain an OPM (one-province minor). Doing so earns us some mana and can be done once per year. There are also tribal land and development mechanics that some adventurers use, but these are restricted to Escann nations afaik so are unavailable to us dwarves.  The Argrod Expedition The preliminary scouting of the expedition site confirmed that it extended for many hundreds of feet deeper in the mountain, far below the level of the rail lines. However, nothing had been sighted that presented a significant threat to a well-prepared dwarf, and the scouts had returned with gold, forged metal, and ancient trinkets that proved that there was a veritable haul of stolen relics to retrieve and place back into rightful dwarven hands. Or sold to the many merchants that were trailing with the cartel and looking for unique goods to take to the surface. One of the newest big features in Anbennar is expeditions. There is an impressive amount of work put into the interface and back-end scripting to add a dungeon crawling minigame to grand strategy game. I'll go into everything else shortly, but the key stats for determining the difficulty of an expedition are the danger level and the length. Danger level will increase the risk of bad events, and might have an impact on attrition. Length will increase the number of 'levels' that the expedition has to progress through. However, the greater the risk the greater the reward.  5000 dwarves, led by Blackbeard himself, prepare to brave the unknown With the camp firmly in place, Blackbeard commandeered the standing defence forces of the cartel to join in the expedition. There were rumblings of discontent from the dwarves, but these were placated somewhat by holding a great feast for their departure, making sure that the soldiers would be well fed and full of ale before setting off into the unknown. Supplies were purchased from the merchants, and a whole logistics train was set up to carry cured meats, barrels of booze, and whatever treasure was found. Blackbeard gave a rousing speech before the expedition set off, announcing his intention to join the party and uncover the ancient secrets of the Dwarovar himself. The empire fell because it grew too stagnant, too inwardly focused. Now was the time to take risks, uncover lost knowledge and find out what really lurked in the darkness. Before you launch the expedition, you have to prepare it. This is done by using the interface to spend units (as in literal units on the map, not manpower from the pool), money, and mana to boost the expedition stats before you begin. Manpower does what it says on the tin. If this hits zero then the expedition fails. Over the course of the expedition it will be ground down by attrition, based on the other stats. Morale represents the troop's willingness to continue. If it hits zero then troops start deserting and manpower declines that much faster. Organisation is equivalent to the discipline stat in combat, and in fact we get the same 5% bonus from Blackbeard's 'Strict' trait. Manpower and morale losses will be reduced by increasing this. Supplies are straightforward. If you run out, morale plummets much faster, troops die faster, everything goes to pieces. You can also see the expected loot and resources spent preparing, which will help give an idea of the profit you'll make. It's a delicate balancing act between making the expedition worth it, and the risk of losing it all if you don't send enough dwarves or supplies.  Blackbeard Cartel adventurers undergoing training While Blackbeard delved into the depths his second in command, Drominarsaraor, focused on training new arrivals into a proper fighting force. Despite being deep in the mountains, there was a steady flow of smaller adventuring companies and well-guarded merchant caravans travelling back and forth along the rail lines, which were relatively clear following the larger expeditions driving away the tribes squatting on them. This was how word got to the outside world of the treasure that could be found simply by digging deeper. The first wave of trinkets and artefacts that the scouts had returned with proved to raise the cartel's profile with those backers who remained on the surface. Sending all your soldiers down into a hole you found isn't the best idea, but luckily right now there aren't any other nations that can see us to take advantage of it.  The adventurers flee a rolling boulder The expedition was not without its perils. A massive rockfall flattened nearly one hundred of the party who were unable to escape in time. It was far from the only losses. Constant skirmishes with goblins, with the vanguard driving away tribes that had settled on the path deeper inside, or raiding parties attempting to attack the logistics train, all took their toll on the dwarves. Nonetheless, with Blackbeard at their head they remained resolute. Throughout the expedition you receive events dealing with their progress. These quite nicely show the current stats of the expedition and their progress through the current floor. Some expedition events are a straight loss/gain depending on the dice roll. Losing 100 dwarves isn't a big deal as I overspent on manpower in this expedition.  Blackbeard personally executes a dwarf accused of dereliction of duty Morale was perpetually a problem, one that many dwarves bolstered with alcohol. As the expedition wore on, some dwarves began to drink more than their ale rations and discipline started to break down. Blackbeard was left with no choice but to stamp down on the worst offenders and make an example of them to restore order. Sometimes you get a choice in what stats you gain and lose. The other option cost a whole 1 morale, so I took the 0.5 option since I underspent on morale during preparation.  The burning of the great gelatinous gobbler In the deepest part of the tunnel, Blackbeard and the expedition vanguard found a monster of incredible proportions. A gelatinous cube the size of a building had scoured the rock clean and absorbed all the treasures into its body. A debate broke out among the party members whether to fight the creature or destroy it through fire. After discussing it with some of the foremost monster experts, Blackbeard agreed that attacking the cube was too risky with expedition morale dropping. Any treasure that could survive so long in the acidic belly of the creature could survive its destruction by fire. Destroying the cube took many days of effort, and all that remained once the slime had been burned away was piles of warped metal equipment and half-melted gold and silver trinkets. One item stuck out of the pile. A brilliant gemstone caught the eye of a member of Blackbeard's retinue, and the dwarf presented it to the captain. Blackbeard fell silent upon seeing it, and remained quiet for the remainder of the journey back to the cartel base camp. Sometimes you have to pick an option without knowing the outcome. The loot was tempting, but I suspect has lower odds of a good outcome. In this case, the event results gave a morale boost that fixed that perilously low morale.  The victorious adventurers return The return of the expedition was met with jubilation. A great feast, a mirror of the one at the beginning of the expedition, brought together the newest arrivals and the veterans who had returned from the depths. Immediately the labourers and merchants began to unload the loot from the logistics train and appraise it for sale. All in all, there was enough gold, silver and mithril among the treasure to fund the original expedition three times over, as well as a significant amount of ancient dwarven literature. At the height of the feast, among the celebrating and drinking dwarves, Blackbeard climbed up onto the highest table to address the entire cartel. After the expedition, you can regain the survivors as manpower or as troops in the field. You also gain adventuring efficient, money, mana, and any special treasures that you found during the expedition.  The First of Seven Held high in Blackbeard's hand was a brilliant diamond. He had spent the journey carefully cleaning off the soot and muck that had accumulated on it over the thousands of years it had been missing, and upon seeing the perfect unblemished gem it was undeniable. It was the Aegis. The Diamond in the Dwarovkron. Every eye in the cavern was drawn to its glittering light. As the captain began to speak, his voice struggled to keep from cracking. This discovery was a sign from the ancestors, a symbol that the Blackbeard Cartel was on the path to become the true inheritors of the Aul-Dwarov, proof that the past could be reclaimed, and that a new future could be forged. Blackbeard is not exaggerating; this is a huge deal from both a lore and gameplay standpoint. If you remember the flag of the Aul-Dwarov, this gem was one of those seven that appear in the flag. Finding all seven is one of the requirements for declaring the revival of the Dwarven Empire. Each gem has a nice, if small, buff associated with it. I'm amazed I got one so early.  Relearning the lessons of the past Among the treasures of the expedition were documents, mostly those carved into stone or metal rather than anything like paper that would decay. These were handed to the cartel's administrators to try and extract any useful management techniques. The other option would have given us something that we could use when we reach a hold, but that is a way off so I decided to take something that'll cut a couple of years off of our government reform time instead.  An ancient mithril golem leads the adventurers After the excitement of the expedition the cartel continued to travel slowly along the rail line westwards. There were supposed to be several holds in the westward direction, and if the cartel was going to set up a true base rather than the ad-hoc moving campsite then it had to be in a proper dwarven hold. Along the way, a minor expedition uncovered a mithril golem. Even as ancient as it was, it took very little for the cartel's magesmiths to reactivate it. Blackbeard refused those who suggested melting it down to reforge the mithril into weapons and armour. Such a brilliant invention had to be seen in action. The other options give some mana, which would be nice but we already have plenty, or some innovativeness, which I'll explain below. Immediate military benefits are probably more important.  New techniques introduced to the cartel After leading the cartel for several years now, through dozens of minor battles and one major expedition, Blackbeard was getting more of a handle on making the best of the soldiers he had on hand and integrating the ragtag mercenaries and adventurers into properly disciplined formations. Those troops would face a real test sooner than he expected. Speaking of innovativeness. For those unfamiliar with this relatively recent addition to EU4 mechanics, it provides bonuses to nations that stay at the front of the pack in tech and national ideas. It is gained by being one of the first to research a tech (thank you Blackbeard, with your 6 in military), one of the first to pick an idea, or just generally being ahead of the intended year for tech. It is lost by being behind in tech, and it falls off a lot faster than it goes on so it usually isn't worth aiming for unless you are close to where the institutions spawn (and that is a topic for another day). Anyway, this tech is very important as it gives us more morale and military tactics, improving our troops survivability immensely and giving us a leg-up over the goblins we might encounter.  Face-off between those who remained and those who returned The forward scouts reported a barricade on the rail line, one that didn't look like a ramshackle goblin stockade. Blackbeard personally joined the scouts on their probe of the barricade, and when they managed to clamber over they were faced by a shocking sight. Dwarves bearing the garnet heart insignia of the long-lost hold of Ovdal Lodhum on their flags, had set up a defensive encampment on the rail line. The two sets of soldiers stared at each other, not sure what to make of the situation. Eventually, Blackbeard stepped forward to attempt to greet the garnet dwarves. He was met by anger and rage, and had to back away before he was peppered by crossbow bolts. The dialect of the garnet dwarves had shifted from the one spoken by Silverforge, but it was enough to get across the idea that they didn't believe the cartel dwarves were real. Blackbeard and the scouts retreated to the far side of the barricade and set up camp while trying to work out a way to prove themselves to the garnet dwarves. A day later, a horn sounded on the far side of the barricade, indicating a call for parley. Atop the barricade was stood a dwarf in full armour, Balgar Orcrend, King of Ovdal Lodhum. He declared that he been given a mission to open up his hold and retake the Dwarovar, in the name of his deceased father. The Blackbeard Cartel should kneel, or be struck down as goblin-crafted apparitions. With thoughts of the diamond safely stowed back at camp, Blackbeard did not kneel. To be continued… There were a lot more gameplay notes than I expected in this update, but perhaps I should have expected it. Paradox games are very frontloaded in terms of getting your nation set up, and I didn't expect to have such a fruitful expedition so early. Hopefully later updates should be filled more with notes on the action and strategy, rather than explaining how things work.
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Mar 2, 2023 23:06
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Ah, good old Ovdal Lodhum. Thankfully the remnants usually aren't much more than a speedbump early on. They don't appear to have fully colonized that rail section, so you can easily raze the colony and then take their lunch money. Also, I don't believe it's explained anywhere, but morale decay scales based on the gap between the expedition party's cut and the estimated available loot.
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Mar 2, 2023 23:18
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