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Scenario 14
Commandeering a Ship 101

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Having defeated B?ser, the companions pursued Bernhardt who had fled the castle during the ensuing chaos. Hot on his trail, the companions planned their journey to the evil land of Velzeria. With water being the fastest route from the mainland to Velzerian peninsula, the party made haste to a harbour. In yet another unfortunate twist of fate, General Imelda is departing from the same port - also likely headed for Velzeria...

Pressed for time, Fighter and his companions decide to attack and attempt to steal one of Imelda's ships in the confusion.









In a bit of equipment switcheroo, Langrisser moves into Cherie's hands and it means I can demonstrate how to keep glitched/ineligible items on your characters. Instead of reselecting the Platemail, if I select Unchanged, the ineligible equipment remains equipped. So Fighter gets the Long Sword again and we prepare to go to town on Imelda. Have a gander at the map and especially the detail on the ship:



Just beautiful as far as I'm concerned. The plan for this map is pretty straight forward, be efficient and don't overextend your troops i.e. don't expose them to mage/ballista fire. Here's the plan in a more graphical form:



Now, it's time to steal a boat from the first instance of Imelda actually using her Navy against us... with an entire fleet consisting of one boat - you're the best, Admiral Imelda

Video: Liana gets captured... who didn't see that coming?



Be sure to watch this as I feel doing it in SS format won't give it justice, but also note the glitched graphics above... I don't remember this happening on my last playthrough... Also, Liana why are you back to being a Lv 1 Sister? You (and Valkyrie) could totally take on Egbert. But anyway, as you'll see the interesting graphics will persist for a little bit but let's just keep on trucking.





No, not yet. Please, be a little more patient!

Hurry up! We have to set sail soon - our enemy's right behind us.
I wonder if this is how Kr?mer felt on that bridge...





How fortunate! We'll take their sails and head for Velzeria!

Shit! The enemy has caught up to us. (CC:57)
How much longer will the preparations take?

Umm... We still need more time. There are so many supplies to load and we don't have that many soldiers...
*mumble* due to you insisting on taking out a strategically unimportant border village...

Such inefficiency! Get to work scum! Don't waste your time on worthless excuses!
*sigh* I guess it can't be helped then. No matter what, we've got to buy some more time.

Imelda showing some humility and common sense? She's still going to have morale problems though.

Yes, my Lady. I understand. We will hold them back, even if it costs us our lives!

One save and load later - hello beautiful unglitched graphics! Keith nabs the secret tile - turns out it wasn't the chimney but the wooden boxes next to said chimney.



Will you open it?
Yes, I want an item No, I haven't figured out the pattern to getting free loot yet

Obtained Gleipnir.

Oh snap! This... this is a great get! You'll see why next update but to keep it short, it is a much easier to get Iron Dumbell but with a Norse theme.



That's it for the north team, KCS, with Scott having effectively blockaded access to Cherie's airborne forces so none of those pesky Elves can shoot at her broadside. Keith continues fascinating over that sweet, sweet box and so, we move onto team Best Friends Forever.



Who reiterate that movement in an SRPG within very tight corridors/staircases with a lot of units is not fun. Now to the emerging stars of team Ol' Bastards And Loving It.



The lesson is thoroughly enjoyed... Fortunately, for the most part the tedium is over. Bring on Turn 2!



It can't be helped... So, loading all this baggage is going to take a while?



A new generic mugshot! Although, he's in our PC colours but still

There's still a good deal to move aboard.

If they board, I'll have to thank that scruffy peasant boy for our last encounter!



Heh, someone can read the writing on the wall. Imelda's forces do nothing, which is a same - I swear they used to come at you but maybe that's only after a few turns?



Let's hurry, Fighter.
Even if we succeed in taking their ship, it's still going to be a long voyage to Velzeria.

You're right.
Even with a boat like that, the Direth Straits will be a struggle to cross this time of year.

The departure preparations look like they're going slow.
Let's commandeer the ship while we have a chance!

And now, when Scott strikes out at ...

Impertinent fools!





By stepping on the boarding plank to take on the Elf, this happens:





Laird is here! Of all the times!

Isn't that Laird!? You've come to help us? I'll have to thank you later!

It's moments like these, that make me happy we're doing the Imperial path next. They are a worthy and tactically-minded foe, that is aside from a few nutjobs here and there.

Hmph. We're here because our General is operating independently on a covert mission.
Though our ranks have thinned, please allow us to assist you.

Leon must have been worried to have deployed you here.
Anyway, until the boat leaves, please help us impede the enemy!

Certainly, General Imelda. Fighter, you won't be going anywhere today.
Knights, strike for General Leon!

See? The enemy knows that they can't take us on fully since we're the number 1 reason they are suffering from lowered manpower. So instead they engage in smart tactical maneuvers like this pincer attack and holding strong points against us such as what Imelda is doing on her ship. Their objective is not to gain an outright victory against us but rather to delay and impede us - in short, being focused on the end goal rather then getting petty revenge for previous slights. In case it's not obvious, I like this kind of gameplay and story integration a lot!

It's not like some FE maps where enemy reinforcements appear... just because. There's a rhyme and reason to this. Anyway, it's still our turn and activating Laird so soon was actually significant boon as everyone is in position to smash his troops without worrying about Imelda's forces. I have 21 turns left... so plenty of breathing room for now. But firstly, back to Scott and his working over of that poor .





Gah...! I'm being called away...

Level up! AT+1



Sharp-eyed people will note I missed out on killing another Grenadier - that is because noone had the Mv to reach him and he was surrounded on all sides by other Dragoons. I do worry about how much damage Scott's men will take from that Ballista/Mage unit next turn but here's hoping it's not too lethal. It's Keith's turn to fight.





As we expected. It seems General Leon assesses his enemies quite well.

Laird... thanks a lot. Next time, leave it to me. Please fall back.
If I let you die, I'll never be able to face myself Leon again.

I was of no help... How regrettable...

That's not true. You bought us some more time to escape. Godspeed, Colonel...

Yes...

You know, I kinda like the idea of Laird/Imelda... I feel he could benefit a lot from her no-nonsense approach and she could soften up her 'victory at all costs' viewpoint - they complement one another well in this regard.

Level up! AT+1, DF+1, Class Change!





Now, stat-for-stat there's no question that Knight Master is a better choice for Keith - same AT, +1 DF, -3 MP, +1 MV, A+1, D+1 and unlocks High Elves as a troop choice. But still in this path, here there be dragons. Plus, his model looks slightly weird on the legs straddling the horse part of the KM imo. Now, we can move on to Cherie who is also close to her own class change. Let's move some bodies around.





Here's why I hate tight corridors - they mess up your formation, fortunately Fighter is far too boss for the enemy to consider attacking him plus they're playing it safe - I think the same will hold true for Cherie, who's in a good tight formation (and probably my favourite/most commonly used one). Hmmm... I don't think I've talked much about formations - I'll note that for the next mini-update. Hein has a very important role this turn despite his placement - he needs to support Aaron, who's going to be eaten up by those cavalry.



Now, here is Hein and his High Elves - right now, if he summons Freyja, she'll appear in the east spot adjacent to him. Why? Because summons have an order of precedence for where they appear and no, you never get to choose. It is based on what squares are already taken up so in this example, if the High Elf next to Hein moves away, Freyja will appear in her place if summoned. The order for where your summon will appear adjacent goes West, East, North and lastly, South. I ideally want my summon popping up as close to Aaron as possible so South would be ideal. Thus, I need to block off W, E & N.



As you can see above, this isn't possible due to it being impassable terrain for ground-based units. So my next best option? Summoning Freyja on the west of Hein, which means I only need to move one unit out of the way. In the end, it looks like this:





All of that, results in Freyja being on a ground tile rather then the building and means I can use Aaron to hold the stairs and cast Protection1 on himself. Then, once the initial enemy attack is over - Aaron will still be standing and so, he can move off and Freyja can take his place - thus, fully holding the stairs and preventing any sort of major damage from the enemy cavalry. Even so... I still managed to make a blunder of it - can you guess how?



Lester heads for the water, though it'll be at least two turns before he can engage that marine unit. Still, the Ol' Bastards ain't got time for this shit and want the whole battle to move along. Oh, one last thing before we move onto Turn 3 - there were no enemy reinforcements in the center where the BFFs started - that could have been a major thorn since I gave Fighter Grenadiers.











Scott manages to avoid to losing 3 men in total but still loses a Dragoon, Kain was his name - a faceless knight who's past shall forever remain a mystery... he was just about open up to Scott! RIP Kain, maybe another game will treat you better.



When attacks with a Ballista:

Ha Ha Ha-! Die! All of you, die! Lalala-la~ Watchers!





I don't get it... Is she kind to anyone besides herself?

Hein, you worry about the strangest things.

But that general of theirs seems to hate everyone.
She rails on her own men, and even the dock workers - those people are working hard to save her.

At least the Blue Dragon Knights battle with honour. Imelda and Leon are two of the Empire's four generals...
Yet their behaviour are leagues apart. They treat their men so differently...

These are fair comments unlike Aaron's from back in Scenario 9. Though I agree with Cherie about Hein - you're in the middle of battle, it's not the time for reflection on your foe. Think about that stuff before meteors and axes start flying. Speaking of flying, it's time to shoot for another class change - Cherie's.



Son of a-! You think you can take this boat from me? It's not going to happen. Too bad for you.
You imbeciles! Really, how can I put up with you! The enemy is marching right in front of us! Get moving!

Yes, Sir!

I'm sorry, General.

This means they are now on the offensive which is fine by me.



Level up! AT+1, DF+1, Class Change!







This should go without saying but ohfuckitsadragon! The Sage class does have some fun spells though. But the aura Cherie & Keith are giving off now is insane! Cherie's is A+18, D+7, whilst Keith has A+16, D+9... that turns Cherie's Angel friends into AT42, DF30 monsters - that's stronger then Cherie herself!



Keith moves in to take over for Scott - who's seen better days, he needs to get in Hein's range for next turn if he wants to stay in the fight. But in order to do that Fighter must clean house and block up that boarding plank. When Fighter strikes:

Come on, bring it punk!



Level up! AT+1, DF+1, MP+1

I'm actually quite happy with how this turned out - the mage/ballista unit will focus on Fighter and that commander will just heal himself rather then move or fight. Scott should be clear to get some TLC from Hein next turn.



Now back to Lester and Aaron and my stupid blunder.



It's great that the plan worked but letting Freyja get surrounded was never part of the deal! It's more a set back then anything else as Aaron can't move on until Freyja can take over his chokepoint. Let's make some progress towards that then.







Aaron re-casts Protection1 and Lester moves into sea... finally. And that's all for Turn 3 - it's been quite an action packed scenario so far.



You should be thankful to die by my hand!



This happens 3 more times before another mage finally does some damage.





Rinse and repeat like 5 times until...







That poor pincushion takes an unlucky hit and suffers 2 damage. Then the Ballista moves onto the ledge of the boat and attacks one of Scott's vulnerable Dragoons... killing it.

RIP Highwind. The saddest part is that he was just two days away from retirement... all he wanted was to live out his dream of being an airship captain!



First things first. Kill the commander then heal up.



General... Imelda...



Now... Revengeance can begin.







BLOOD!



BLOOD FOR LUSHIRIS!



BLOOD FOR THE FALLEN!

Now for Keith's turn as boats utterly wreck cavalry's Mv, which makes sense in a way. A boat rocks around even in harbour and horses wouldn't be able to deal with it very well.

I can't lose!





You may be wondering why I'd do this when I have a good threat of retaliation with an affinity disadvantage - well, similar to how Cherie's Angels are offensive monsters, Keith's are defensive ironclads. They should be able to take it and reduce the ranged focus on Fighter. He's off-tanking, if you will. Nowm let's go back to the monster herself.



Ugh... I can't fight like this...

Yup - still a beast. At this rate, she could soon give even Fighter a run for his money. Back to the Freyja/Aaron clusterfuck situation.



Problem solved. Lester, you're last at bat, make it a good one!





Lester does some mean damage but he needs to class change soon to remain relevant. I think he'll get it next turn if my hypothesis, that he has just enough EXP to get it post-killing the commander, holds water. That's all she wrote for Turn 4 - I estimate it'll be 3-4 more turns until victory barring extra reinforcements.





Times this by 8 - Imelda and that northern mage have got a rage-on for that Grenadier. The Elves also do no damage to the Grenadier, so why bother showing it









I just wanted to feed Scott some kills, Der Langrisser! DAMNNITALL! Cid's dead too. He just wanted to be Highwind's mechanic... they were total bros! And yes, I've been replaying FF4!

Time to bring some more pain! This calls for a music change to pump it up!





General Imelda! Gah-!

Level up! AT+1, MP+1

Cherie's done it! That's the northern part of the map secure, she can flank for us next turn. Let's move onto to Keith.





Ugh... They really... lived up to their reputation...

Keeping this train rolling, it's up to Scott & Fighter.







When Imelda's Ballista comes under attack:

Son of a-! No one should dare to raise arms against me!





Eeek! W, why...

You know damn well why. Time to break the back of Imelda's force.



Only 2 full health ballista and 1 full health Elf remain. Should be able to sweep her out next turn. I send Hein down to aid Freyja and move Aaron up to support. Perhaps not the best move, but I'll live with it - I try a different tack with Freyja and cast Sleep to make the cavalry blockade themselves, so she's free to wallop on them next turn.





Not too bad... I guess the commander had enough MDF to resist it. I have no idea how the formula for status effects works but suffice to say, if you have a theory - post it in thread! So, now that Lancer is asleep and won't do anything unless he gets cured with a Heal spell or gets hit awake. Now to Lester, cleaning up the remnants in the south.





Im, Imelda...

It takes 3 Nixies to off that marine commander, but now Lester is free to attempt a flanking maneuver. And a level up as I hypothesized!

Level up! AT+1, DF+1, Class Change!





I will admit KM Lester's sweet exposed ponytail had me seriously considering it for a while, plus the better AT, MV and more unit choices... but DF, a better aura A+1, D+1 and riding a fucking Nessie wins hands down.



Unfortunately, I can't just jump straight on the boat from the south so Lester has to go the long way around. And we're coming close to the scenario now, but that was Turn 5.







By Lushiris and heck, even by Chaos, she will pay for this! RIP Caim, Angelus will miss you but it's better then being shot down by a couple of Su-47 fighter jets after overcoming a nightmare-inducing rhythm battle. Still Imelda and that generic cavalry are all that's left, so this should be it. Hein's up first with the current music - no more Knights Errant that time is over now.





Let this loop 2 more times and that's what Hein did this turn. I feel a strong urge that I should burn another turn and give Hein the full EXP for killing them all. After all, the game isn't tracking your turn counts for a ranking system like in FE - just that 23 turn limit. In that case, Imelda needs to be put unto a state of near death and despair. But first, a heal courtesy of Fighter.







I could finish off Imelda with a Grenadier this turn but that's just not right. Only one man can claim that scalp. The enemy turn is inconsequential as Imelda and the cavalry can't do jack. Hein's up first, of course.



Level up! DF+1, MP+2





Freyja, I'm disappointed you. Hein finish this joker off.



Please... Please give Leon my regards.

I understand brave knight. I shall let him know.

Damn it! My division's falling apart. (CC:58)
What useless fools! I'll just have to do this myself!



Obtained Long Sword & Platemail.

Gah! So... so beautiful... I'm... in a far... off place... It's too dark...





Level up! AT+1, MP+1

Level up! AT+1

Level up! DF+1

All right, time to set sail! Next stop, Velzeria!

Raise the anchor! Let's catch some wind.





Now that Imelda has met her ignominious end, to avoid doing an extra update with just one relatively short bit - I'm going to show off what happens if the clock runs out.

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After Turn 14:

How are the preparations? How close are you?

We've just finished loading our weapon stocks.

That's it!? Hurry with the rest!

After Turn 18:

Still not done yet?

Almost everything is in the hold now. Give us a little more time, and we're done!

You screw around and I'll leave you here!

Aye, aye! Come on lads! Give it all you've got!

After Turn 20:

Cut the mooring lines and raise the anchor!

There's no time. We must win at once!

After Turn 21:

You're still not done!? How... You must be the world's most incompetent crew!

There's no time!

There's no time! Work as though your life depends on it - because it does.

After Turn 22:

Prepare to depart. Ready the mast!

This is bad. Hurry, now!

After Turn 23:

Ho ho ho! It seems we've made it. Bye bye, little man!

Shit! We're too late... (CC:59)

Next time, we're in for a monster of a coastal battle. The mirror world update will come after that update.