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A Cry in the Heartwood Forest (MP)
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| Author |
File Description |
| Arctic Wolf |
Posted on 07/04/04 @ 12:00 AM (updated 07/05/04)
| File Details |
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| Ruleset: |
TS Standard Rules |
| Map Size: |
X-Large |
| Playable Races: |
Some |
| Surface Levels: |
3 |
| Difficulty: |
Hard |
A Cry in the Hearwood Forest
Preamble
The Forests of Heartwood rang with the laughter of Elves and Halflings upon receiving the news from The Valley of Wonders. The Keepers of the Light were victorious. Julia had forged an Alliance with the Highmen, and Inioch, the Undead, was defeated. Meandor, the leader of the Cult of Storms laid down his arms and magnanimously accepted defeat. Joseph, the Human leader, was slain in Battle, and his half sister Josephine, determined peace was better than war and gave up the Valley to Julia and the Keepers. The New Age of Enlightenment was born. Julia, ruled in the Valley of Wonders for a short time, whenceforth; Julia left the Valley for Evermore. What became of Meandor was uncertain, for in his magnanimous defeat he left the leadership of the Dark Elves and travelled in solitude it was said to heal his soul.
During this time the Heartwood prospered and the Elves grew in abundance adding beauty to the forest and happiness to their hearts. But with the Age of Enlightenment also came the Change! The rivers which once flowed swelled into seas and the lands were connected no more. In the North the great mountains receded into the earth and new forests lush were born. In places the rains ceased their abundance and the lands turned to deserts, but elsewhere the rains multiplied bringing jungles which none had seen before.
The Change brought new settlers to the Heartwood, the Highmen and Dwarves were given the Northern Forests by the Elves, and the Halflings were given the Jungle basin to tame. But others came also, Azracs claimed the new deserts in the east and the Goblins returned to the deserts of the south . The Lizards still claimed their homes in the southeast though sand had replaced their beloved swamps.
Some say it was the cold which brought the Frostlings, others say the Frostlings brought the Cold. What is known for sure is that suddenly a new Cold crept south and changed the Heartwood forever. The Forests in the north blackened in the cold and then the Elves became wary. But when the Frost crept further south and tangled the Heartwood, the Elves found sorrow in their hearts.
It was then that upon the land came a traveller, an Elvan Wizard grey with age. "Let us save the forests," he cried. "I will show you the way! Help me!" cried the wizard. "Help me and the forest may yet be saved." And so they did. The Wizard and the Elves travelled the land erecting great Altars to the sky.
"Now find all that is vile, that we may cleanse the land," said the Wizard, and the Elves brought all that was vile to the altars; spiders with poisonous venom, and trees rotted with age. The Altars were filled that the land would be cleansed, and the Wizard smiled with delight.
Suddenly the Wizard threw back his cloak, and at once the Elves were dismayed! Meandor! The Wizard was none other than Meandor who had returned to seek his revenge. The Altars belched! Poison and ash filled the skies. The Black forests grew darker and the Heartwood tangled yet more. Destruction reigned upon the land and Meandor disappeared again.
After a time the ash and poison waned, but still they clung to the mountains, a dark wicked veil. The Forests were now dangerous as wolves and spiders filled the woods. The Forests were now impassable and travellers clung to the roads. Years passed and the dangers of the woods thickened with plants of venom taking root and unholy growth abounding. The Heartwood was no more for now the trees were dangerous and safety was only found upon the Well Worn Roads!
The High Council of Tangletree
Deciding it was time to discuss the degradation of the Forests, Sandy Lois, Leader of the Elves, invited the leaders of the pure races to convene at Tangletree for a Forum of the High Council. The Highmen sent their leader, Felgar the Sanctified; The Halflings sent their leader, Mherwyn the Pale, and of course, the Elvan Leader Sandy Lois, administrated the meetings. Each race sent several heroes to the gathering, and the discussion was noisy and pointed. The younger heroes sought to convince the elders that action was required. They must find and destroy Meandor! The elders thought this unwise as Meandor had fought at the Battle of Wonders and was extremely powerful. The Land is strong they said, it shall heal itself given time, and so it was, the council ended with the decision to do nothing! And so begins our tale.....
Author's Notes:
This Down load contains the Multi-Player Leaders On and Leaders Off Versions of my map scenario ‘A Cry in the Heartwood Forest'.
For Multiplayer Leaders Off:
Substitute leaders have been provided as heroes!
Do not Customize Leaders: Everything is set the way it's supposed to be.
Play with leaders off, and customize leader off. Explore must be set to on.
The game will begin with civil wars breaking out amongst the races due to the results of the meetings at Tangletree. Because of the first mission given you, do not be surprised that all races are at war with each other. Gather your Army and Good Luck!
For Multiplayer Leaders On:
Play any of ten races: Orcs, Goblins, Frostlings, Azracs, Lizards, Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Highmen, or Elves.
Do not Customize Leaders: Everything is set the way it's supposed to be.
Play with leaders on, and customize leader off. Explore must be set to on.
The game will begin with civil wars breaking out amongst the races due to the results of the meetings at Tangletree. Because of the first mission given you, do not be surprised that all races are at war with each other. Gather your Army and Good Luck!
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| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| Alphax |
Posted on 12/13/04 @ 12:00 AM |
| Mac_Biodiesel |
Posted on 04/08/11 @ 11:47 AM
-Played as Azrac
-It lasted 67 turns, but the game was over well before that. It took a long time to clean up.
1. The start is challenging. Your economy is in the red, so you have to expand quickly to not lose units. Taking the nearby 4-hex isn't too hard, with the right race (Elephants rock), and is key to building your economy.
2. The hero given to the Azracs had Dominate. I finished the game with 7 heroes (had 9 different ones throughout the game).
3. I thought there were too many raiding Big Beetles. I'd prefer something without wall crushing, perhaps, so opening cities aren't so easily taken. Perhaps Trolls or cavalry units.
4. AI doesn't know how to deal with close proximity and everyone hostile. Most of them just holed up and waited for a siege, except the Highmen, who expanded underground a little bit. Goblins never even attempted to take the 4-hex town assigned to them.
5. Dark Elves never really came out of their hole. The only races they even encountered were mine and the Frostlings. They sent one scout to the Frostlings, and a couple stacks in that direction which I eliminated before they got far. The Dark Elves retreated to their 4-hex quickly when I sent two 8-unit stacks down: a mix of artillery, cavalry, and lvl 1 units. They also ignore the stacks of Doom Bats that are Seeking Refuge. That blocks one of their tunnel exits.
6. I accounted for every leader death. The CPUs did not really fight each other. I'd watch them advance on each other, only to pull back.
7. I expected to see lvl 4 units, especially from the Frostlings who were alone and uncontested on their island, but only the Dark Elves managed to create any (summoned or otherwise).
8. It's funny to trap a leader on a road using Pestilence clouds. With a lot of mana stored, I was able to keep the Human leader in place until my poison-immune flyers and artillery got there to take him out.
9. I liked the idea of putting heroes as guards for crypts, etc, but they were easy fodder for Dominate. Perhaps customize them with increased resistance? I would perhaps cut down the number of treasure sites, though, especially in spots where there are 2 almost right next to each other.
10. I liked the map layout. Getting Poison Protection and True Seeing early in your leader's development seems prudent.
11. Does the spell Liquid Form no longer grant Physical Protection? I don't see that ability added to my hero's stat sheet when I cast the spell.
12. Balance is okay. Some races have a more favorable start position I think, like those in the corners. I think the Elves and Haflings have it rough to start. Goblins and Dwarves get a boost from their innate Poison Protection.
13. I look for maps that make good co-op play against CPUs, and I think that with some tweaks this one would be great for it. Maybe it would make a difference to set all of the CPUs to Aggressor or Expander, though the Dark Elves were set to Expander and did very little of that.
14. I really liked the background story and how you wove that into the opening turns. Nice placement of signs on the map, too.
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
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| 4.4 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 4.0 | | Balance | 4.0 | | Creativity | 4.5 | | Map Design | 4.5 | | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 1,680 |
| Favorites: [] | 2 |
| Size: | 365.38 KB |
| Added: | 07/04/04 |
| Updated: | 07/05/04 |
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