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[Failbird105]

Revision: Major Missile
Magic Missile is a good spell, a dependable spell. At the same time, it's not exactly the strongest of combat spells. Major Missile's first change is very, very simple. Add more Power(in our case, Good) to make a stronger(and larger) projectile, at the cost of being more draining on the caster. The other change we've made however, is arguably the more important one. The caster of the Major Missile can choose their target and, so long as they can accurately gauge where said target is, focus the Missile to follow the target. So if the target was to move into a crowd then while the missile would likely fail to hit them unless the caster had exceptional eyes, it would still hit the general area they had moved to.

[chubby2man]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (1): C2M
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen ():
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip ():
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins ():
Major Missile (1): C2M

[Failbird105]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (1): C2M
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen ():
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip ():
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory (1): Failbird
Javelins (1): Failbird
Major Missile (1): C2M

[Powder Miner]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen ():
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip ():
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory (1): Failbird
Javelins (1): Failbird
Major Missile (1): C2M
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Jilladilla]

So. We have a solid defensive spine in combat. Our influence game should be decent as well with the massive success of our relevant designs.
What we lack is a solid punch in battle. Hence why I am voting for both javelins, for general purpose ruining their day; and Major Missile, to ruin the days of things that don't mind being stabbed a lot.

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen ():
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip ():
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory (1): Failbird
Javelins (2): Failbird, Jilladilla
Major Missile (2): C2M, Jilladilla
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Twinwolf]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen ():
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (1): Twinwolf
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory (1): Failbird
Javelins (2): Failbird, Jilladilla
Major Missile (3): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[m1895]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers ():
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (1): Twinwolf
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory (1): Failbird
Javelins (3): Failbird, Jilladilla, m1895
Major Missile (3): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Failbird105]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (1): Failbird
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (1): Twinwolf
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (3): Failbird, Jilladilla, m1895
Major Missile (3): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

HOAK isn't really a 'get our foot in the door' thing, it's a 'we're already in the building, let's buy ourselves a room' thing. It's something we do later, when we already have enough influence to be taking Overt actions.
And there's no way I'm voting for mental manipulation when there's less evil options available.

[Taricus]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (1): Failbird
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (1): Twinwolf
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (4): Failbird, Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (4): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Twinwolf]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (2): Failbird, Twinwolf
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (0):
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (4): Failbird, Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (4): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Failbird105]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (2): C2M, Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (2): Failbird, Twinwolf
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (0):
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (3): Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (5): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus, Failbird
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

Moving my vote from Javelins to Major Missile just to give the Preachers less competition. After thinking about it, we really do need something that is dedicatedly for influence.
We have something with influence as a secondary purpose, and something meant to help with other influence tasks rather than do influence itself. They both went really well, but we could still use proper, dedicated influence.

[chubby2man]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 (1): Powder Miner
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (3): Failbird, Twinwolf, C2M
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (0):
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (3): Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (5): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus, Failbird
Healers Of All Kingdoms (1): Powder Miner

[Powder Miner]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 ():
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (4): Failbird, Twinwolf, C2M, Powder Miner
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (0):
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (3): Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (6): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus, Failbird, Powder Miner
Healers Of All Kingdoms ():

[Strider03]

Improved Singing Courses ():
Mass Heliel’s Love V2 ():
[Angel]'s Soothing Embrace ():
Shieldwall Training ():
Cultist Spearmen (1): m1895
Revolutionary Preachers (5): Failbird, Twinwolf, C2M, Powder Miner, Strider
Heliel’s Love Range Increase ():
Ghost Emotion Manip (0):
Plumbata ():
Officers Armory ():
Javelins (3): Jilladilla, m1895, Taricus
Major Missile (7): C2M, Jilladilla, Twinwolf, Taricus, Failbird, Powder Miner, Strider
Healers Of All Kingdoms ():

[NUKE9.13]

Angel Team: Revision Phase T1
TURNTURNTURN

Revision: Major Missile
Magic Missile is a good spell, a dependable spell. At the same time, it's not exactly the strongest of combat spells. Major Missile's first change is very, very simple. Add more Power(in our case, Good) to make a stronger(and larger) projectile, at the cost of being more draining on the caster. The other change we've made however, is arguably the more important one. The caster of the Major Missile can choose their target and, so long as they can accurately gauge where said target is, focus the Missile to follow the target. So if the target was to move into a crowd then while the missile would likely fail to hit them unless the caster had exceptional eyes, it would still hit the general area they had moved to.

Major Missile: Normal: (2+1)=3: Buggy Mess
You can't win 'em all. The basic magic missile spell has a limit on the proportion of a caster's power that can be used to cast it. Turns out that just completely removing that limit from the spell is a baaad idea. Let's just be grateful that you weren't the one to try casting the modified spell- because the unfortunate Acolyte who performed the inaugural casting was immediately drained of both her Mortal Magic and Good reserves, which wasn't great news for her (she was unconscious for about 24 hours), but who knows how bad it might've been for you, what with being entirely made of Good.
On the plus side, the Acolyte did fire off a spectacular blast of magic, although since she passed out immediately you have no idea whether the tracking aspect works. In theory it should work at least a little- most development time was spent on it, which may explain why the other aspect wasn't so carefully considered.

Major Missile is technically a Common spell, castable by Acolytes, but it is designated a 'last resort', as passing out for 24 hours in a combat situation is... not recommended.

Revolutionary Preachers: Revision of Acolytes

In the Fortified Frontier and the Trade City, there are men and women who cry out for justice, for relief from opression. Tensions simmer and flare like a pot boiling over. Into that mixture goes the Revolutionary Preachers. The most fiery and persuasive acolytes are taken from the battlefield, and given additional training in oratory. They then go into these oppressed places, and spread hope. They are just as skilled in magic, usually, but focus more on healing and restoration.

They go from place to place, spreading a belief in the value of human life, and of freedom. They encourage resistance and rebellion, and encourage young fighters to journey to the Desert to join the Angel’s armies.

Revolutionary Preachers: Normal: (1+1)=2: Utter Failure
You really can't win 'em all, at least not today. It seemed sensible enough- bring in some Acolytes, show them the ropes w/r/t the arts of persuasion, and send them forth to rile up the people. Yet somehow, it all went wrong. It first emerged that your Acolytes, while possessing some natural talents in the field of magic, are not exactly social butterflies. When you set them the simple task of trying to persuade a cultist acting as a civilian of their good intentions, not one of them managed to get through a minute-long spiel without stammering, mumbling, or in one case passing out. Considering the time and resources available for this project, it was evident that a more radical approach was called for if your 'preachers' were to be ready to deploy in time. So, you- perhaps somewhat unwisely- decided to directly impart the relevant skills into their minds.
In principle, directly imparting skills can work (indeed, the training process for Acolytes involves small amounts of it, where you give them the ability to 'feel' the flow of Good, a skill that might otherwise take years to acquire- once they have that foothold, actual manipulation comes much more quickly). Unfortunately, in this case it seems you imparted too much too quickly. The Acolytes' minds were overloaded, and while they may or may not have acquired new oratory expertise, it overwrote more important things, like speech and object permanence.

The stricken Acolytes may recover in time, and on the plus side they get to enjoy peek-a-boo again until they do. However, the Revolutionary Preacher project has effectively been shelved, with nothing gained except for a little experience in teaching mortals persuasion. 


Our forces have secured an unguarded route into the Mountain Passes, but ran into an issue before making it through to the Rice Terraces. We advanced past two more abandoned forts before scouts brought the news: unknown forces, bearing banners of red and black emblazoned with grinning mouth, had been spotted moving towards our position. These were almost certainly the Demon's forces.
We've sent some troops to garrison the closest abandoned fort, but getting caught in a siege would not be good for us; the forts are old and crumbling, not to mention small, and the Demonic forces could cut us off from supplies and reinforcements easily. The fort should be a fallback; ideally, we should defeat the enemy in the field. There are plenty of places suitable for an ambush, so we need to be careful- even as we look for opportunities to ambush our rival. If we avoid ambushes, combat is likely to occur in the narrow passes, limiting opportunities to manoeuvre- at least, for conventional forces.

A similar story arrives from the River Crossings. Our forces are far too small to contest the more well-guarded bridges, so detours are necessary to find crossings where we will go unopposed- by the queen's armies, at least. The terrain is more open in this region, making it harder to spring an ambush, so victory will be determined by who can cross the rivers. Quick, decisive action to secure a beachhead will be key.

Meanwhile, our missionaries continue to infiltrate the kingdoms of Lesimor and Dolgoth, with the most intrepid travelling as far as the Scholarly Towers and the Wartorn Wastes. It will be hard to operate so far from friendly territory, however, so most of our efforts will be focused on the Fortified Frontier, Lawless Capital, Trade City, and the Ostentatious Capital. Undoubtedly the Demonic cultists have similar plans, and though we have no real way of directly interfering with their efforts at present, it is possible that they have developed ways of interfering with ours; we should be on guard.

With the war set to start any day now, the only question remaining is this: where will you, our glorious merciful mistress, make your presence felt this month? 


It is now the Strategy Phase! How exciting.

Spoiler: Strategy Primer (click to show/hide)

So, there isn't much for you to do in the Strategy Phase at the moment, but just so you know what's going on:

One decision you definitely have to make every turn is where to send your Avatar (that is, the Angel/Demon). You can choose to send them to either of the two combat lanes, in which case they will fight on the front lines, or one of the two influence lanes, in which case they will generally disguise themselves as a human and act as a missionary/spy/counterspy/whatever (but more effectively than regular cultists). Of note, the influence lanes have no front line, so your Avatar can be sent to any of the six influence provinces.
Any champions should also be deployed, in a similar fashion (although not all champions will be equally effective in both lane types).
 

COMBAT
Combat lanes will see direct confrontation between your armies and the other team's. At the start of the game, your armies are small, but it is still not feasible to sneak an entire army past the front line; you'd get encircled and destroyed easily. So gradually pushing your opponent back is the goal. As mentioned in the rules, combat outcomes are determined by me, and depending on the margin of victory, the front line may move up to 2 sections per turn.
Of note, you have not actually conquered the combat-lane kingdoms. Your 'control' over their provinces represents your ability to move troops through them unopposed, but the human rulers still hold the major settlements and strongholds. Indeed, while you have identified forts that you could fall back to, at the start of the game you haven't even garrisoned the ones behind the front lines, since you don't have the manpower. Lack of manpower is also the reason you cannot simply conquer the combat-lane kingdoms outright.

As the game goes on, however, your forces will swell, and it will become possible to start exerting more control. After a certain number of turns, opportunities will be presented to conquer some strategically valuable targets in the human kingdoms, seizing them for your own benefit. This will involve fighting the human armies, temporarily diverting forces from the front line (not all of them, but enough to make a difference- you'd have to be winning by a pretty big margin to keep advancing). Once captured, however, the passive human monarchs will usually give up on retaking them, and most of your forces can return to the front. Of course, if the other side also has access to the location, they can try taking it away from you (and if both sides attack a human-held location at once, they will fight each other before fighting the humans).


INFLUENCE
The Influence lanes are where your cult operates in the shadows, seeking to slowly convert/subvert the influence-lane kingdoms to your cause. In other words, don't march in and announce your presence to all and sundry; that's a great way to get arrested, along with your associates. Your influence in each province is measured on a 5-point scale. However, going from 1 to 2 does not mean going from 20% converted to 40% converted. Rather, the scale can be thought of as working something like this (actual situations may vary):
0: No influence- almost no members in the province; maybe a handful of converts, but certainly not enough to yield any material rewards. Also makes more complex infiltration actions trickier.
1: Marginal influence- a reasonable number of peasants or other lower-class people have been converted. Provides a support network that makes it possible to perform more complex infiltrations, but not much in the way of rewards.
2: Minor influence- somewhat more important people (minor merchants, government clerks, maybe a few soldiers, etc) have been converted, or your cultists have managed to get themselves appointed to such positions. Allows for a small amount of resources and specialists to be sourced from the province, and opens the doors for intricate intrigue interactions.
3: Moderate influence- your tendrils spread steadily through the upper classes, bringing people who can exercise real power into the cult (wealthy merchants, town mayors, military officers, etc), or seeing cultists promoted. This enables your cult to siphon substantial resources and manpower from the province, and can use political power to aid the cause.
4: Major influence- the real big fish (merchant princes, members of the nobility, senior officers, etc) fall under your sway. At this point, it is obvious that something is up, but it's hard for anyone to do anything about it. Your cult can drain the province dry (if need be), and can exert major control over political decisions.
5: Total control- the ruler(s) of the province (whoever that may be) are members of your cult (one way or another). You can operate openly, for none would dare defy you. The main reward here is that if all three provinces in a lane reach this level, you can absorb the entire kingdom, placing you at the head of both the kingdom's armies and your own, effectively winning the game (as the combined might will easily crush the other team's armies).
Moving up the scale becomes progressively harder as you go, as the more important someone is, the less likely they are to join the cult. Not to mention, the other team can interfere in your efforts, while the mortals' own politicking can throw a wrench into things.

Note that unlike control in the combat lanes, you and your enemy can have more than 5 influence combined (though only one side can reach 5/5). You do not need to root out every last one of your rival's agents to control a province. Of course, the stronger your rival is in the province, the more they will be able to interfere with your own infiltration efforts.

Gaining influence can be achieved in many ways. Converting people is crucial, as the cult needs manpower and infrastructure to support its efforts; in a way, one might consider missionaries to be 'influence footsoldiers', in that they are not the most exciting, but nothing else can function without them. Infiltrating the government or other important institutions will also greatly help the cause, as control over such institutions is almost required to control the province. Spying will not directly increase influence, much as scouting will not directly win battles, but an army without scouts is gonna have a bad time. And obviously defensive efforts- counterspies, inquisitors, suchlike and so forth will prevent the other team from advancing their cause too quickly. This is not an exhaustive list- feel free to get creative. I will tell you if you try to do something totally infeasible.

It is difficult for your cult to operate in isolation, so increasing influence above that of the adjacent provinces is harder. Eg, if the Angelic team has 2/5 influence in the Trade City, they will have a harder time raising their influence in the Ostentatious Capital to 3/5 (unless they have 3/5 or higher in the Wartorn Wastes)- harder, but not impossible; if their infiltration techniques happen to work especially well in the OC, but not so well in the TC (or mortal politics play out in a particular way), they may still reach 3/5 in the OC before the TC. For this purpose, your home base may be considered to be at 5/5 influence. 

TLDR: This turn, all you have to do is choose where to send Heliel, from the following: Mountain Passes, River Crossings, Scholarly Towers, Lawless Capital, Fortified Frontier, Trade City, Ostentatious Capital, Wartorn Wastes.

Spoiler: Equipment (click to show/hide)

Heliel: The benevolent leader of your faction, a being of immense power. There is very little they cannot do. Needless to say, they are Unique. Their Power is currently 20.


Mundane Units:
Armed Cultists: Equipped with fairly respectable equipment- a well-made gambeson, padded iron cap, sturdy spear, shiny dagger, and a solid shield-, combined with rudimentary training, mean that while these are not elite warriors, they would stand a chance against a real soldier. More importantly, they're cheap and plentiful. Like regular cultists, their dedication (and communal singing) makes them more resilient mentally than civilians.  Common

Cultist Archers: Cultists who have some experience with a bow are valuable assets in combat, harassing the enemy from a distance. They aren't sharpshooters, and their bows are not high-draw war-bows, but they're a good bit better than nothing. Also provided with gambeson and iron cap. Like regular cultists, their dedication (and communal singing) makes them more resilient mentally than civilians. Uncommon

Acolytes: Cultists who have begun their exploration of the magical arts, studying under the Angel. They can cast any Common spells (unless noted otherwise). Their physical strength leaves something to be desired, but their mental fortitude is even greater than regular cultists. Wear a gambeson, but forgo iron cap. There are not many Acolytes in a unit. Uncommon

Cultist Officers: Featuring a whole two tiers of military hierarchy, the sergeants and captains impart a modicum of organisation upon their fellow cultists. While not massively better than self-organised troops, it's still noticeable. They are distributed amongst all cultist units (eg Armed Cultists, Cultist Archers, Acolytes).


Summoned/Mutated Units:
Bright Shadows: Souls of fallen cultists (or other Good people), empowered with Good such that they may continue to serve in death as they did in life. Invisible and incorporeal, with an uncanny ability to find whatever they are looking for, they make for excellent spies and capable scouts. Immune to physical attack, but not magical. Not useful in actual combat. Uncommon


Spells/Rituals:
Magic Missile: Known by many names, the simple technique of blasting your opponent with raw Magic/Good/Evil is a tried and true method of making things go away. Efficacy increases with caster's mental might, and decreases with the target's. Common
    Major Missile: A very dangerous spell... to the user. Produces a stronger blast than the standard Magic Missile, but has the unfortunate side effect of completely draining the caster's energy reserves, knocking them unconscious for ~24 hours. Not usable by Heliel, or other beings animated by Good and/or Magic. Common

Heliel's Love: A very efficient basic healing spell. A slight touch and channelling of angelic love initiates a self-sustaining healing process that can heal up to moderately serious injuries and diseases fairly rapidly. The magic has lingering effects even after healing is complete, leaving the subject healthier and more resilient for a few hours afterwards. Heliel casts this magic automatically on all in her vicinity (unless specifically choosing not to). Common
    Mass Heliel's Love: A markedly less efficient variant of Heliel's Love, that affects all targets in a small area (~15 at a time). The healing effect is reduced, to the point where even stabilising moderately serious injuries is a gamble- sometimes doing enough for the patient to survive until more personalised healing can be applied, other times only giving the appearance thereof. It cannot be cast as often as Heliel's Love, but is still Common


Infiltration Techniques:
Proselytise: Cultists go forth and spread the Good word, finding those sympathetic to their cause and slowly winning them over. Not the fastest way of gaining converts, as baseline cultists are not expert missionaries, but it keeps the cult growing. Common
    Travelling Medics: Acolytes accompany proselytising missions, curing the sick and injured in order to win over the local population. Uncommon
   
Spy: Agents of Heliel travel the land, seeking secrets, while going unnoticed themselves. Does not directly increase influence, but aids in most other infiltration endeavours. Currently only Bright Shadows are suitable for this role. Common


Infrastructure:
Basic Training Camps: Rudimentary facilities, where cultists learn the basics of combat and warfare. Singing is integrated into the training programme, serving to boost morale.
    Basic Officer Training: A stumbling, amateurish step towards proper military organisation, the officers trained thus are still better than leaders chosen in the moment.
   
Military Workshops: A series of mines, smelters, forges and workshops that provide the forces of Good with arms and armour.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

DARRIN (Combat)
Dry Plains: 4/4 | 0/4
Mountain Passes: 2/4 | 2/4
Rice Terraces: 0/4 | 4/4

LESIMOR (Influence)
Fortified Frontier: 1/5 | ?/5
Lawless Capital: 0/5 | ?/5
Scholarly Towers: 0/5 | ?/5

XA-NAM (Combat)
River Delta: 4/4 | 0/4
River Crossings: 2/4 | 2/4
Light Jungle: 0/4 | 4/4

DOLGOTH (Influence)
Trade City: 1/5 | ?/5
Ostentatious Capital: 0/5 | ?/5
Wartorn Wastes: 0/5 | ?/5