Solium Infernum - PBEM the Third

[Zarathud]

13/15 tokens. Legions have been sent to storm heaven, but I think the real action is about to happen in Hell over the next few turns.

[Zarathud]

Yeah. That was my Machine that made everyone lose 2 Intelligence. You really didn't need that extra Order anyway.

Spoiler:

Paschetti avoids the stat loss, both because of his Bowl and because he's my Blood Vassal. My hope is that it reduces Slutty's orders enough to make him twist.

Slutty and Lord of Aragua have joined forces -- which is a bit concerning since they both have an avenue to attack my Stronghold. I am VERY happy that I decided to issue a Demand on Slutty, since that means he has to wait for my Vendetta to finish before starting his own. That gives me an opportunity to finish fortifying my Stronghold ... Slutty's Beast and Aragua's Darking Legion are both within flying distance to attack.

If they decide to go rogue, my own legion is poised to take out Slutty's Stronghold or Pandemonium (if I'm crazy). The way I see it -- Paschetti and I will win as long as I'm not knocked out of the game. They're going to have to gamble recklessly, since there are only a few turns left -- although this game has run far longer than ususal.

Our score is 446 = 333 (me) + 83 (Paschetti) + 30 (Gluttony) + 9 per turn (6 from me, 3 from Paschetti).
Slutty's score is 265 = 222 (Slutty) + 43 (Aragua) + 3 per turn (all from Slutty). He's no longer in control of the Temple of Lust, so no + 30 for his Lust Public Objective
Sepiche is at 150 Prestige, and AI Zord is at 76 Prestige.

[Zarathud]

Turn 59, and the Events hit the fan. This game...will...not...end.

Spoiler:

Legion Tax - The Infernal Conclave announced a tax where everyone has to pay 1 Tribute card per Legion. Nicely played, since the Great Unholy Crusade failed, and we have to send someone new into the grinder. That's 4 Tribute flushed away.

Test of Loyalty - Everyone must sacrifice a Praetor, Artifact or Relic. I have 11 Artifacts/Relics to choose from, and 4 Praetors. Still, those Drums of Woe were doing me no good if I have to send a unit to Heaven.

Beast is Loose - I wanted to get rid of Slutty's Beast before he could use it in a Vendetta -- like this turn, when he's issued a demand. That wasn't what I expected to happen...the Beast disappeared and immediately went for my +3 Prestige City of Dis rather than attacking the nearest unit or my Stronghold which would have received +10 Ranged, +13 Melee, and +3 Infernal because the Tent of the Flayed Apostates allows them to boost everyone nearby at the FULL value. The Beast is going directly after everyone's Place of Power rather than dying. Still, anything that hurts everyone else is good for me right about now.

Consume Souls - I just ate 24 souls in one turn! I'm eating the last tasty morsels this turn, so that's +30 Prestige. I'm up to 516 Prestige now. 351 +30 + 89 for Paschetti + 46 for our Cantons. Slutty has 302 Prestige. 221 + 43 for Aragua + 38 for Cantons.

[NickAragua]

Eh, it'll end soon enough.

[Zarathud]

I killed Sluttalia by taking out his Stronghold last turn. His Blood Vassal, Lord of Aragua, would have survived another turn in his excommunicated state -- except the final Conclave Token was drawn, ending the game!

At the end of 63 Turns (63!), the End Score:

599 - Zarathud (401 + 131 Paschetti + 67 combined cantons)
190 - Speiche
80 - Zord
54 - Lord of Aragua (excommunicated)
BANISHED - Sluttalia (excommunicated)

One more turn and two heads would have adorned my Infernal Throne. My Slaves were 16 Range, 10 Melee, 7 Infernal with 3 move from the Wyrms, while Aragua's Stronghold was a mere 4 Range, 4 Melee, 1 Infernal.

My Artifacts: Faust's Contract, Throne of Skulls, Key of Solomon, Orb of Oblivion, Tent of the Flayed Apostates, Wyrm Mounts, Pseudomonarchia Daemonicum, Talisman of Greed, Hellfire Ballista, Beliit.

My Avatar:
Marital - 5
Cunning - 1
Intellect - 4
Wickedness - 4
Charisma - 3 (+2 from Artifacts)

When I went underground, I built up an economic engine. I was able to complete the Marital Ritual for +2, but never finished the manuscripts for the Rite of Flesh Rapture and Rite of Aether Rupture -- or the last 1/2 of the Machine of Despair. The Wyrms + Sons of Typhon seem a nasty mix.

[AWS260]

I was able to complete the Marital Ritual

Congratulations!

[El Guapo]

I was able to complete the Marital Ritual

Congratulations!

What's more, successfully completing the marital ritual can give you a blood vassal.

[Zarathud]

<- fails to proofread when his kid draws sitting on his lap

What? No jokes about Marital status affecting my ability to complete the Rite of Flesh Rapture and Rite of Aether Rupture?

[El Guapo]

I really don't want to think about what "Aether Rupture" would mean in this context.

And holy crap! With all those tribute artifacts it's no wonder you were able to ream us all pretty good. Of course, you did get a huge break what with Zord suddenly dropping out, and then AI Zord deciding that it would rather not take the City of Dis back after all. But what can you do.

Amongst the fun facts from this game: when your vassal gets excommunicated, not only do you get excommunicated (this I knew), but also your vassalage relationship is broken. Which I'm not sure makes any sense, but hey. The more you know!

[Zarathud]

Keeping the City of Dis was a nice break, but getting all of those Tribute Relics was better. This was a loooong game, and I had plenty of Tribute to shovel into the Sons of Typhon. I think they really terrified the AI.

The AI plays a very cautious game -- probably because Vic let it know all of the horrible permutations that can happen. I think it also turtles up once a player starts to pick fights, and it looks from this thread like a few people were bleeding the AI for Prestige.

At this point, I think I want a big enough Prestige lead that it doesn't matter whether I lose a few Vendettas or sacrifice some Prestige to let an insult pass.