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[Terenos]

I'm sure it will be fine. Mostly. Again, why would this be the thing that shakes things up? Our city states do what they like anyways.

[Tack]

Well, this is a total farce.
But I guess no power is still more power than the perioikoi had before.

[Aedel]

Dice Spending:
Troop Re-Allocation: (3) Jilladilla, Nirur, Terenos
Upgrade Nippi's fort: (1) Tack
Save it:
Something else?

Free Actions:
Budget: -5% Ships, +5% Hoplites: (1) Jilladilla
Budget: -5% ships, -5% ballista, +5% hoplites, +5% spearmen: (3) Nirur, Tack, Terenos

Move Aphrokema Deployment?
Keep them at Front 3: (1) Jilladilla

Government:
Buzzword League Buzzword: (2) Tack, Taricus
Hadean League Reforms: (0)
Hadaean League Council: (4) Jilladilla, Madman, Terenos, Aedel

How about we make sure a tiebreaker doesn't happen again.

[Tack]

So... everyone is voting for the banana republic?
Cruel.

[Iituem]

Project: The Hadaean League Council

Sticking to the autonomous roots of the League, you draft up an administration based on confederate representative government.  Each city-state receives 3 votes in the council, 2 going to an appointed seat holder and 1 going to an elected seat holder.  To avoid rocking the boat too much, the franchise is extended to men and women owning land valued at least 1000 drachma (for reference, the unskilled helots in our cities earn around half a drachma, or three obols, a day; an average slave, unskilled but young and healthy, sells for 200 drachma), of sound mind and no criminal record, sufficient education and of 25 years of age.  This has the result of extending the franchise from a handful of aristoi worth tens of thousands of drachma to a much larger (though representatively still tiny) proportion of periskoi.  In essence, the "third" as it has become known is the province of the periskoi, since votes are by head rather than weighted by properly value.

While this is disconcerting to the oligarchic aristoi that classically control the city-states, the 2 vote appointee is a fig leaf to ensure their interests remain foremost (most heads of city-states simply appoint themselves, or a close relative who can speak for them in Council).  While the aristoi retain a voting majority in the Council, in terms of representation the two-seat system means that as many periskoi or ]i]periskoi[/i]-friendly representatives appear in person as appointees.  While their votes are slim, the periskoi receive much more vocal representation than before.  It helps that the Head Councillor, or Consul, must be an appointee - the status quo is aided by the use of his or her veto and speaker powers to silence obvious threats.

The saving grace for the aristoi is the decision to place the League's military firmly under the Council's control.  Many of the landed aristoi have grown concerned at the development of a professional military and the power of the strategoi; by placing command of the League's main army directly under the Council, it limits the autonomy of commanders to choose their own deployments and determine their own funding (and bribes).  By placing command of the 'local defence forces' (limited to be no larger than a city-state's contribution) directly under the control of the sitting appointed representative, the local aristoi have powers of funding and dismissal that keep local commanders in check and under thumb.

The aristoi are satisfied by these changes, as are the periskoi.  The helots don't care; for them little has changed.  The strategoi are unhappy indeed with the shifts in power.


Wealth and resources are on your side for the moment, although the officers in the field are less than perfectly disposed.  You receive an Expense Advantage, to be spent when you will.  There are long term effects as well.

For the periskoi, more political freedom means more economic freedom as well.  Their interests include relaxing the monopolies the aristoi have on economic operations such as logging and mining; ore and timber production has permanently increased.

With the power of the aristoi stabilised and codified, and control over militia placed firmly in their hands, they can work to suppress the excesses of the strategoi and keep peace between strategoi and periskoi; unrest is suppressed accordingly.

The strategoi are not happy about the changes and discontent breeds in their ranks.  There is no immediate observable effect, but continued dissatisfaction could lead to a more definite response.


Unfortunately, RL intervenes yet again!  I'm running the prototype version of my RL business this weekend, so I'm afraid the actual turn shall not happen until Monday, most likely.

[Jilladilla]

Well, that went just about as expected:

The aristoi are miffed at losing some power to the periskoi, but they are mollified by retaining the majority of power, and having control of the League's overall military.

The periskoi are thrilled at actually getting a say in government, even if it is restricted to the most well off of them, it looks like.

The strategoi are upset at us. This is fair, we did place this government in direct command of them. Really, Tack's was the only government suggested which might have avoided this.

And the helots.... Ok, we probably weren't getting their approval without completely upending society...


In the end, we got:
+Expense Advantage (This is still a very weird and vague thing for some things...)
+Ore and Timber (Is this a flat bonus or do we produce more per source we own on the map?)
+Unrest between strategoi and periskoi is suppressed
-Strategoi are fairly upset at us...

[Madman198237]

Well, it *might* be time for a complete turn-the-military-on-its-head design that would kill corruption for all time. That also displaces the strategoi from their positions of power.

Anyway, an Expense Advantage is probably going to be us rolling a design's Expense at advantage, meaning using two dice and taking the higher number.

[Iituem]

Year 305

Hinting at further changes within the League itself, the League deploys many more trained spearmen than slaves this year.  The Hive seems to have produced no truly new designs this year, but a larger number of the cat-sized acid-vomiting 'hunters' are spawned this year, moving faster than before and possessing much smoother, less clunky chitin armour.

The Hive pushed forward with devastating effect this year on all fronts, though narrowly on the third front; had they not redeployed the spitters to pushing the line back to Nippi, the additional troops sent from Kroton to defend the town's border would have been enough to push the Hive back.  As it was, the spitters prove to be a deadly retort.  The fort of Oracuse is lost, and the 2nd front pushes to the very border of Kydessos.

All three fronts push back; the 1st Front to the Epidaean Coast, the 2nd front to the border of Kydessos, the 3rd front to the walls of Nippi, a 2nd level Fortification.


It is now the Design Phase.  You have 5 dice remaining.  From this turn onwards, training is now a flat value that only affects production; it is not consumed by existing units.

Spoiler: Front Report (click to show/hide)

1st Front

1st Front [Hive 1st Front vs League 1st Front]

200 fortification power vs 13 siege power.

Territorial Control: 915 vs 199.1

Hive 1st Front
  169 soldiers
  674 workers
  0 spitters
  72 hunters
1399 manpower spent, 37 soldiers, 101 hunters, 911 workers reinforced.
Hive 1st Front Deaths: [artillery] 1 soldiers, 60 workers, 5 hunters, [ranged] 5 workers, [charge] 1 soldiers, 57 workers, 2 hunters, [skirmish] 1 soldiers, 39 workers, 4 hunters, [melee] 11 soldiers, 342 workers, 22 hunters

League 1st Front
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  9 hoplites
  0 cavalry
  0 ballistae
  2 apprentices
  0 mages
  0 spearmen
  0 slaves
  0 aphrokema
918 manpower spent, 9 skirmishers, 16 hoplites, 6 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 3 apprentices, 189 spearmen, 843 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 1st Front Deaths: [charge] 5 skirmishers, 5 hoplites, 1 cavalry, 1 apprentices, 70 spearmen, 421 slaves, [skirmish] 7 hoplites, 44 spearmen, 150 slaves, [melee] 11 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 25 hoplites, 11 cavalry, 3 ballistae, 5 apprentices, 199 spearmen, 678 slaves

---

2nd Front

2nd Front [Hive 2nd Front vs League 2nd Front]

Territorial Control: 773 vs 28.0

Hive 2nd Front
  0 spitters
  123 soldiers
  607 workers
  43 hunters
839 manpower spent, 22 soldiers, 61 hunters, 546 workers reinforced.
Hive 2nd Front Deaths: [artillery] 21 workers, 1 hunters, [charge] 56 workers, 1 hunters, [skirmish] 50 workers, 3 hunters, [melee] 10 soldiers, 491 workers, 19 hunters

League 2nd Front
  0 aphrokema
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  18 hoplites
  1 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  5 apprentices
  0 mages
  3 spearmen
  0 slaves
1687 manpower spent, 16 skirmishers, 29 hoplites, 11 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 6 apprentices, 347 spearmen, 1549 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 2nd Front Deaths: [charge] 2 skirmishers, 2 hoplites, 43 spearmen, 288 slaves, [skirmish] 4 hoplites, 42 spearmen, 175 slaves, [melee] 14 skirmishers, 12 hoplites, 10 cavalry, 3 apprentices, 259 spearmen, 1086 slaves

---

3rd Front

3rd Front [Hive 3rd Front vs League 3rd Front]

Territorial Control: 449 vs 51.0

Hive 3rd Front [National!]
  98 soldiers
  292 workers
  19 hunters
  40 spitters
560.0 manpower spent, 13 spitters, 11 soldiers, 31 hunters, 276 workers reinforced.
Hive 3rd Front Deaths: [artillery] 20 workers, [charge] 38 workers, [skirmish] 1 soldiers, 54 workers, 2 hunters, [melee] 12 soldiers, 493 workers, 14 hunters, 10 spitters

League 3rd Front [National!]
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  23 hoplites
  1 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  6 apprentices
  0 mages
  3 spearmen
  0 slaves
  17 aphrokema
2434 manpower spent, 10 aphrokema, 23 skirmishers, 42 hoplites, 16 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 9 apprentices, 498 spearmen, 2226 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 3rd Front Deaths: [ranged] 12 skirmishers, 8 hoplites, 9 cavalry, 1 apprentices, 190 spearmen, 1213 slaves, 2 aphrokema, [charge] 1 skirmishers, 2 hoplites, 29 spearmen, 137 slaves, [skirmish] 5 hoplites, 38 spearmen, 115 slaves, [melee] 10 skirmishers, 15 hoplites, 7 cavalry, 4 apprentices, 250 spearmen, 761 slaves, 6 aphrokema

---

Spoiler: Map, 305 (click to show/hide)

Spoiler:  Current Status (click to show/hide)

==The League==

Production: 229/1800 ore, 2555/1860 timber, 1086/3125 training (Last turn: This turn, flat training value will equal 2195 as the new base training production value.)
Manpower: 1145/43680 {8736/turn}  {5915 reinforced last turn.}

Kroton [League]: [City] 5400 population, 3 base food, 407 training
  Sends 670 manpower to League Node 3.  Grew by 311 last year.
Sybylan Woods [League]: 1 base timber
Sybylos [League]: [City] 3600 population, 2 base food, 145 training
  Sends 446 manpower to League Node 1.  Grew by 207 last year.
Epidaea [League]: [City] 4633 population, 3 base food, 186 training
  Sends 574 manpower to League Node 4.  Grew by 350 last year.
Nippi [League]: [City] 3600 population, 2 base food, 145 training
  Sends 446 manpower to League Node 3.  Grew by 207 last year.
Kydessos [League]: [City] 6179 population, 4 base food, 249 training
  Sends 766 manpower to League Node 2.  Grew by 467 last year.
Latada [League]: [City] 4633 population, 3 base food, 186 training
  Sends 574 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 350 last year.
Paphessan Mines [League]: 2 base ore
Paphessos [League]: [City] 4011 population, 2 base food, 161 training
  Sends 497 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 192 last year.
Antespiae [League]: [City] 4633 population, 3 base food, 186 training
  Sends 574 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 350 last year.
Samai [League]: [City] 6016 population, 3 base food, 242 training
  Sends 746 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 287 last year.
Dorytos [League]: [City] 8022 population, 4 base food, 423 training
  Sends 995 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 383 last year.
Chersera [League]: [City] 4011 population, 2 base food, 161 training
  Sends 497 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 192 last year.
Arteiros [League]: [City] 4633 population, 3 base food, 186 training
  Sends 574 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 350 last year.
Lissona [League]: [City] 3089 population, 2 base food, 124 training
  Sends 383 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 233 last year.
Borolis [League]: [City] 4011 population, 2 base food, 161 training
  Sends 497 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 192 last year.
Cumida [League]: [City] 4011 population, 2 base food, 161 training
  Sends 497 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 192 last year.
Theros Isle [League]: 3 base ore
Latadan Woods [League]: 3 base timber
Borolis Woods [League]: 2 base timber

League 1st Front
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  9 hoplites
  0 cavalry
  0 ballistae
  2 apprentices
  0 mages
  0 spearmen
  0 slaves
  0 aphrokema
918 manpower spent, 9 skirmishers, 16 hoplites, 6 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 3 apprentices, 189 spearmen, 843 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 1st Front Deaths: [charge] 5 skirmishers, 5 hoplites, 1 cavalry, 1 apprentices, 70 spearmen, 421 slaves, [skirmish] 7 hoplites, 44 spearmen, 150 slaves, [melee] 11 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 25 hoplites, 11 cavalry, 3 ballistae, 5 apprentices, 199 spearmen, 678 slaves

League 2nd Front
  0 aphrokema
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  18 hoplites
  1 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  5 apprentices
  0 mages
  3 spearmen
  0 slaves
1687 manpower spent, 16 skirmishers, 29 hoplites, 11 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 6 apprentices, 347 spearmen, 1549 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 2nd Front Deaths: [charge] 2 skirmishers, 2 hoplites, 43 spearmen, 288 slaves, [skirmish] 4 hoplites, 42 spearmen, 175 slaves, [melee] 14 skirmishers, 12 hoplites, 10 cavalry, 3 apprentices, 259 spearmen, 1086 slaves

League 3rd Front [National!]
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  23 hoplites
  1 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  6 apprentices
  0 mages
  3 spearmen
  0 slaves
  17 aphrokema
2434 manpower spent, 10 aphrokema, 23 skirmishers, 42 hoplites, 16 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 9 apprentices, 498 spearmen, 2226 slaves, 0 mages reinforced.
League 3rd Front Deaths: [ranged] 12 skirmishers, 8 hoplites, 9 cavalry, 1 apprentices, 190 spearmen, 1213 slaves, 2 aphrokema, [charge] 1 skirmishers, 2 hoplites, 29 spearmen, 137 slaves, [skirmish] 5 hoplites, 38 spearmen, 115 slaves, [melee] 10 skirmishers, 15 hoplites, 7 cavalry, 4 apprentices, 250 spearmen, 761 slaves, 6 aphrokema

League 1st Navy
  7 biremes
  3 pentekonters
0 manpower spent, 0 pentekonters reinforced.

League 2nd Navy
  7 biremes
  9 pentekonters
438 manpower spent, 0 pentekonters reinforced.

League 3rd Navy
  7 biremes
  15 pentekonters
438 manpower spent, 0 pentekonters reinforced.

Spoiler:  Budget (click to show/hide)

League Budget

10% of League manpower from all cities is devoted to constructing and staffing ships.

Ships      5%      (Pentekonters)
Skirmishers   5%
Bowmen      -%
Hoplites   17%
Cavalry      5%
Ballistae   1%
Mages      15%      (15% Apprentices, 0% Mages)
Aphrokema   5%      National Effort
Spearmen   47%
Slaves      Excess Manpower

Spoiler:  Current Units (click to show/hide)

LEAGUE

Units

Slaves      Cost: 1 manpower.  Poor unfortunate souls, these 'draftees' are sent into war without training or even real equipment to plug the holes in the lines.  Extremely cheap, but cannot be counted upon to hold or capture territory, as they will flee unless watched constantly.
Spearmen      Cost: 1 mp, 1 training, 1 ore.  Given leather armour and a bronze-covered shield, these militia forces have gone through some training in the simplest of weapons (but still an effective one).
Skirmishers   Cost: 1 mp, 2 training.  Lightly armoured and lightly equipped with slings and darts, these men have better stamina than most and are mobile, able to attack at short range.
Bowmen      Cost: 1 mp, 2 training, 1 timber.  Unarmoured but equipped with fine shortbows, these archers can engage the enemy at distance, thinning their ranks before the melee closes.
Hoplites      Cost: 1 mp, 3 training, 3 ore.  Well-trained troops armed with spear, shield and heavy bronze armour, these are the shock troops of a League army.  They don't move quickly, but when they get there nobody gets past them.  Unless they go around.
Cavalry      Cost: 3 manpower, 1 ore, 3 training.  Armed with spears and riding light, fast horses, these cavalry form a powerful skirmishing force that can harry foes and take advantage of the less mobile.
Aphrokema   Cost: 1 mp, 10 training, 3 ore.  National Effort.  Costs lots of training, some ore.  Hoplites, but hoplites trained from birth in a gruelling manner that costs the lives of the weaker.  These men are deadly beyond measure and will not break, fighting to the very last man.

Apprentices   Cost: 1 mp, 18 training.  Capable of casting Lesser spells.  Can cast up to 3 spells.
   Spell List:  Daze, Magic Weapon, Enchant Armour
Mages      Cost: 1 mp, 45 training.  Capable of casting Greater spells.  Can cast up to 5 spells, including Lesser spells.
   Spell List:  Daze, Magic Weapon, Enchant Armour  //  Webs, -

Biremes      Cost: 20 manpower, 10 training, 50 timber.  Passenger Capacity: 50 manpower.  Combination cargo ship and battle ship.  Limited passenger capacity, but reasonable ranged combat with bows and a ram.
Pentekonter      Cost: 23 manpower, 10 training, 55 timber.  Passenger Capacity: 72 manpower.  Dedicated cargo ship; better transport capacity than the standard bireme, but suffers in battle.

Ballistae   Cost: 6 manpower, 20 training, 10 ore, 10 timber.  Negates siege bonuses, some extreme-range anti-personnel effects.  [Siege stat counteracts fortification bonuses on a flat level.]

Palisades   Simple palisades for defence, on a natural hill.  A level 1 fortress.
Walls      Stable stone walls, built high, to defend cities and towns.  A level 2 fortress.
Keeps         Constructed wooden castles with stone supports, typically within a larger wall.  A level 3 fortress.


Technology

Bronze Working         -   The League is most familiar with the art of smelting and shaping bronze from copper and tin.
Slave-Farmed Smallholds   -   Agriculture is farm-based, with high productivity from slave labour, although technological advances are limited.
Shipbuilding         -   The League is particularly capable at crossing the sea, even compared to the nations of the Continent.
Architecture         -   The League has a functioning understanding of architecture and construction, allowing it to build up to Level 3 Fortresses (Keeps).
Family Education      -   Close-knit groups of kin or kith are responsible for training and educating their own.  Knowledge is preserved, but the quality of troops and scholars alike is highly variable.
Military Training Camps   -   Bog-standard troops are trained in semi-formal camps, led by veteran trainers.  Corruption amongst the trainers has mostly been stamped out, surviving here and there.
Militia Service         -   Armies are nominally part time, but citizen militia can spare time to train and prepare for battle without draining the resources a professional army would.
Early Standing Army      -   A class of professional soldiers exist, but city-states are individually responsible for their recruitment, training and payment.  While they have a quota to fill, some fill this with elite hoplites and others with helot levies.  Not all city states adhere equally to the restrictions, and standardisation is a pipe dream.
Magic Schools         -   Mages are trained in a formal master-apprentice class setting.
Government: Representative Republic      -   The League is a confederate, representative republic, with partially appointed, partially elected government representatives, heavily weighted towards the aristoi.  The military is directly controlled by the state, with local militias directly under the power of local government.


Spells

Lesser Spells

Daze: Befuddles an enemy squad, making them easier to kill.
Magic Weapons: Hardens and balances melee weapons.
Enchant Armour: Hardens and strengthens cloth and armour.  Primary form is sustained on the caster for situationally hoplite-level protection.  Secondary form projected on other targets to harden their armour.


Greater Spells

Webs:  Sticky webs immobilise a squad, rendering them easy to kill.

[Tack]

So we have an excess of training and a dire need to deal with those spitters.

I'm thinking either control weather (rain) or some kind of lightning strike/magic bolt as a greater spell, and we shift a little of our budget towards mages.

Alternatively, for a more ambitious and outside the box idea, I've got a thought about a design for supercharging lesser spells into greater spells for mages, that way they can bring more power to bear with them.
Downside, it might still cost a slot to use the major, upside, the slots aren't dedicated, so it'd be zero downside - if we pulled it off.

[Jilladilla]

Iituem, didn't we re-assign 6 Pentekonter's from Fleet 1 to Fleet 3? Because all fleets are still listed as having 9 each. Or was this another clerical derp?


EDIT: Oh right, the Map Image thing is broken too.

[Iituem]

Ah, crap.  I need to reload the turn.  That might make the difference.

Time Warp Concluded:  Some changes to troop numbers, but no territorial changes compared to past turn.

[Jilladilla]

Here's a suggestion:

Greatflare
Based on our Daze spell, the Greatflare involves the casting mage launching a projectile, which upon impact will explode in a ball of intense light and sound, heavily disorientating anything close by.

At least, that is what those in the blast area of the spell feel, for the light and sound are illusionary in nature, and entirely in the minds of those affected, and as a result things like 'keeping your eyes shut', 'not looking at the blast' and 'covering your ears' won't help much. However, due to its nature the 'Greatflare' has very little effect on anything not caught in the 'blast area' of the spell, other than creating a sound best described as 'wawmp'. A strange and confusing sound, yes, but just a normal, if still strange, sound that isn't even that loud. But for those affected by the Greatflare, they will be lucky if they can correctly guess which way is up.

Due to the power requirements of the spell, it is expected to require a Mage in order to cast.

Basically a supercharged illusionary flashbang. Yes their spitter's acid globs are AoE, but that won't help if they can't even tell which way our forces are.
(EDIT: Changed fluff a bit after getting confirmation on how Daze works)

[johiah]

Here's a suggestion:

Greatflare
Based on our Daze spell, the Greatflare involves launching the casting mage launching a projectile, which upon impact will explode in a ball of intense light and sound, heavily disorientating anything close by.

Technically not playing, but this seemed too funny to not comment.
Like putting an archer with a bow and an arrow into a catapult.

[Jilladilla]

......OH GOD HOW DID I LET THAT GET BY?!?....




But yeah, it is funny.

[Madman198237]

I'd go for a flame-based spell, if anything. Something suitable to roasting large numbers of little things before they do any damage to us.

Or perhaps lightning. Lightning, tuned to specific power levels, can destroy the nervous systems of smaller creatures quite effectively, while requiring relatively low amounts of power. Also, it'd impede the big ones a lot as well.

The Smell Of Ozone   Zeus es Machina Zeus' Fist
Lightning is dangerous. Everyone knows this. However, lightning is much more dangerous when someone is controlling it. By experimenting safely (A little) and accidentally frying some apprentices (Just a couple, we promise!) we've developed a powerful means to send lightning blasting through the enemies, killing the spitters outright and stunning the larger ones.