Welcome to the my Strategy blog for the campaigns!
This is the third level of the Elven Court Campaign, Faith Reborn.
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Intro[]
Nomlik believes he has a divine mandate to save his enslaved followers from the Emperor's blasphemy, and is convinced I will help him. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth has retrieved a powerful weapon from the cursed land of Nirvenkiln. Regardless of heaven's wishes, it's time to help Nomlik sow seeds of discord throughout the Commonwealth. Seeing the factories where Nomlik's followers labor should yield the intelligence I seek.
- --Sundren
Mission Intro
Nomlik's Story
Nomlik's sad story starts with a priest named Voraditius. This charismatic priest forsook all gods and declared Emperor Leonus to be Divine Ascendent. Naturally, the Emperor appointed him High Priest Eternal. Voraditius purged all rival gods from the Imperial Temple, replaced the signs of the Allfather, and demanded all priests bow to Leonus.
Instead of yielding, Nomlik pleaded before the assembly, "Remember the Allfather! Leonus only cares about gold, and power. Voraditius, stop this!"
Branded a heretic, Nomlik awaited martyrdom, until a ragged stranger slipped into his cell, telling him his prayers were not in vain. The Allfather wanted him to live. He set Nomlik free, directing him to Ralikesh, where the Allfather would send a sign. Nomlik lit his temple ablaze rather than see it corrupted, and fled to Ralikesh where he fasted and prayed until I appeared.
There's something intoxicating about his story - this reassurance that my actions have consequences, enough to get the attention of gods. When I think of my fallen brother Thannis, it's strangely comforting.
Xablor Province
Nomlik leads us to the downtrodden goblins he ministered to, before he destroyed his temple in protest. Xablor province is blackened by soot from the foundries that forge the Emperor's machines. Voraditius rules here now.
The nobles in Xablor are very pious, believing their devotion to their god keeps them in power. They are the Emperor's most trusted. His whims are revelations from their infallible god. By his decree, they build his weapons and make obscene profits, with which they build opulent churches. His High Priest has no objection to their generosity and pardons their sins.
Nomlik preaches that a true god's love has nothing to do with wealth - that wealth corrupts the soul. He seeks to liberate his goblin converts from their debt to a false god.
This is a battle of beliefs. Voraditius exploits the urges of the body, while Nomlik appeals to the yearnings of the soul
Strategy[]
In this scenario, you're going to play as a Theocrat. Your starting race is Goblins, while getting access to dwarves later, and humans at the final stages of the map.
Players:
- Nomlik Trismegistus (Goblin Theocrat)
- Gustav Gorsmog (Dwarf Dreadnought)
- Voraditius Pontifex (Human Theocrat)
Opening[]
You start in the far east, with three heroes(Reskar is on vacation, ehm, building up Ralikesh), and a couple of units. Don't forget to spend Nomlik's hero upgrade points. The first objective is to "Rally the Swamp", which means visiting all villages and performing some small tasks which will make them join you. Best is to split in 2 stacks, so you can traverse the swamp from east to west, but one stack more to the north than the other one. While completing quests, you'll notice getting a lot of units, while getting only Outposts, which give no 
Gold income until they grow, and you'll face negative income for the largest part during this phase of the map. If you have money, consider building a Store House first, because it's bonus will stack with the Goblin racial bonus, and this will make your cities grow and provide gold earlier.
Since you've got a lot of troops but little gold, you need to expand fast at the start, at least until all your cities have expanded at least once, and preferably twice. You can summon a couple of Cherubs, to aid in combat(They flank for much, especially if they're in the army of either Sundren or Groshak, and if you've given them 
Poison Knowledge or 
Charged Army as upgrades), and to traverse the wetlands at goblin+ speed. They can also serve to pick up some of the gold piles around, to sustain your army, and scout out so you can move your armies more efficiently. Since your first city has a Crystal Tree, the +20 
income can sustain a couple of Cherubs easily.
Meeting Gustav Gorsmog[]
Before long(usually, around turn 15), you'll encounter Gustav Gorsmog's dwarves. Don't be afraid of him - you have a significant numeric advantage. See if you can take out some of his units in the field, and combine your forces to take some of his cities. He has four cities, three on the surface which are neatly arranged side by side, and one subterranean city which is his Throne. It's possible to take him out as early as turn 17, with no units build. This is the time to start thinking like a Theocrat: If you lack the strength to defeat your opponents, you can always drown him in the blood of your believers. Goblins are very suited to this - and with the flanking and Action Point mechanics, you'll find it pretty easy to take out most armies, even those containing Dwarf Firstborn. Be sure to take advantage of the Goblin Untouchable's 
Disgusting Stench - the debuff is guaranteed, and will reduce the amount of enemy critical strikes while making them take more damage from non-physical channels - like 
Blight. Throw in your Goblin Blight Doctor's 
Weakening, and you're doing high damage to all.
If you wait much longer to attack him(around turn 30), he'll be building Golems and Flame Tanks. Both of these are extremely effective against goblins, so don't waste your time.
When getting a foothold in the dwarven cities, you'll notice that they are much better build up that those you started out with, and you'll even be getting positive gold income. If you want to build up a bit, do so when you've taken out Gustav, and captured all of his cities, and the one of Voraditius to the south of Gustav's valley. Try to rush research buildings - Crusaders are excellent infantry that are immune to 
Spirit and conversion - two main parts of a Theocrat, your main enemy. They also have 
Holy Champion, which means a +5 
Fire damage boost when attacking 
Devout units, which is pretty powerful. On the same note, try taking the Holy Champions and 
Divine Justicars upgrade on Nomlik - you'll get an ability point reset anyway, and the both of these are just to powerful to leave lying around. Other priorities can be 
Divine Channeling, and the Empire upgrades boosting your Supports and Infantry/Cavalry(
Order of Sacred Support, 
Order of Healing and 
Order of Templar Knights), preferably before you build those units. You can build 
Dwarf Forge Priests, which are sturdy, deal Fire damage(not resisted by humans or theocrats, unlike Spirit), and have 2 heals (
Guardian Flame and 
Healing).
Finding Voraditius[]
While building up, scout your surroundings. Voraditius isn't just laying around somewhere, but there are two routes to get to him. One is by the river leaving Gustav's stronghold on the northern side(Don't forget to take the city to the north - it used to be Gustav's.), and the other is west from Gustav's subterranean Throne, where you will find a teleporter after a 4 or 5 day underground travelling. Upon reaching getting there, you will receive the objective update to take him out, which you should do.
Voraditius has a tendency to entrench himself - he almost won't attack, but he will collect a sizable army. You may want to attack him from multiple sides, or take out his other cities until his upkeep does most of the work for you - though this might not work on a higher difficulty.
Mission Outtro
A New Hope
Nomlik's uprising has hampered the Empire's ability to create machines of war. Leonus looks foolish. An infallible God should have foreseen this. Spies inform me this crisis of faith permeates the whole Commonwealth.
Nomlik's work is miraculous. His belief is sincere. He refuses every luxury. Now that he has a substantial following, he uses all his means to buy the debts of captives.
I admit I was skeptical that Goblins could be useful in this battle of giants, but Nomlik proves that even the smallest being are strong when united by a worthy cause. Who knows? Perhaps an all-out war can still be averted.
I must warn my Father of the evidence I collected in Xablor, and heed the warnings of the Wanderer.
With a convoy of freed slaves in my wake, and a growing Draconian army eager to crush the Commonwealth, I'm ready to face my parents. I'm strong. I should be there in person to explain my brave brother's death and mingle my tears with theirs.
Information[]
- Third level of the Elven Court Campaign (Sundren's Story)
- Previous Level: Promised Lands
- Next Level: The Sapphire Archipelago
- Max Hero Level: 12 (800
Exp)
My Estimation:
- Estimated duration: 30-60 Turns, depending on play style
- Difficulty: Medium
