"Some hope to control their destiny by building. Others through science or by conquest. Do they not see...? that only dust can give them what they want."



Hi. (: This is my Roving Clans build. I have not finished the game, and I might very well lose in which case I should probably start another one.



I don´t win every endless game I play, not nearly; but I do win more than I lose so I take that as a sign I´m doing something right. My hope is to shed a little light on their general gameplay, as well as to expose the things I consider to be optimum to the scrutiny of other experienced players. I´m sure there are things I could do better - there always are - but I also put a lot of thought to my actions so I usually have good reasons for the things I do.



I hope this can lead to some useful discussion.



Settings



So, the Roving Clans love Dust. You do care about the rest, sure, but you seriously need Dust, lots of it, always. So consider that when choosing a capital location. Your high mobility can easily get you out of a poor region, and Setsekes guarantee you don´t lose the first turn of yielding, in case you still need to move further.



Mercenary Comforts is a great trait. It means you absolutely do not need to produce a single unit for a long long time, and that´s a lot of industry you´re saving. Most of the money you produce and find on ruins during the beginning of the game has to be put into units for a very simple reason - there´s nothing else at that point in the game with the same rate of cost/benefit.



A Vaulter has to pay around 230 dust for an 80 life marine. A 330 hp Daemon on turn 2 costs 113.



The Roving Clans can get both first deeds very easily (although I did not do so in my game for a choice) due to early access to the market, strong units and high mobility. A daemon with a couple of dervishes can take on anything and anyone, especially so with Siryi Alastra. But when you get a poor Industry start like mine, it´s very useful to pursuit Roads of Dust as fast as you can, and send Siryi to govern.



Turn 3 - This is my city with Siryi+roads of dust.



Turn 4 - Finding the drakken.



Turn 5 - For several reasons, you need to expand a lot as quick as you can as the Roving Clans. My sheer lack of food is a huge one (I wouldn´t grow much further than 2 even if I wanted).



Turn 8 - Manuevering the things you find on ruins with the market, you can buy key things very fast. Buying those 5 luxuries you need to activate the third to achieve the deed is a drastic example, but usually you can just get an Empire Mint really fast. My Daemon is going around getting ruins and killing key villages. My dervishes are hoping to fish Drakken settlers, as well as keeping around a Lust for Loot ruin. I never went for it, because I never felt like I could spare the Industry.



Turn 9 - Aaaand instead of a settler, I find a large army and run. Finishing the Settler in one turn would leave me with 2 idle turns I would have to invest on a dervish, which is a complete waste. Instead, I send them to work science.



Turn 10 - Finding the necrofages.



Turn 11 - Going for science.



Turn 13 - I finally get a chance to lower his armies.



Turn 14 - Sometimes you can get stronger units at the same level. I have no idea why, anyone?



Turn 15 - More settlers, and trying to get him to attack me.



Turn 16 - And there you go.



Turn 18 - Military Overview



Turn 20 - The Roving Clans have to make Cold War feel like War. For empire plan, I´m going economy, and then I can start saving for the Wild Walker hero.





I still have to keep expanding, but those Necros there might force me into producing some units for garrison. The costs for mercenaries are starting to scale, but their levels are not, so for a while it will be much better to produce Dervishes and Kassais.



That´s it for now, comments are welcome.

From now on, I´m not sure of anything. I have a feeling I might be going for too many buildings instead of districts, but I think things are not going that bad.



Turn 22 - It´s really easier for me if he just declares war on me right now. The longer it takes, the more his benefits surpass those of Mercenary Comforts. It won´t happen in this game though. I will find a large army with reinforcements coming, so I´ll have to run for my life again.



Turn 24 - Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaah...crap. I did fish a Wyvern in the south though...stay positive!



Turn 25 - How much do warnings really count? Honest question. I´m not sure I should really always prepare for war after this, although I usually do anyway.



Turn 26 - It´s the little victories...



Turn 29 - Done. The bugs start showing their ugly faces.



Turn 30 - Military Overview



Turn 31 - Fishing; Battle Turn 1. Also, great opportunity in the Market, you always have to keep an eye out.



Turn 32 - Comes winter, and I realise I need a little more influence in order to get two different ministries on turn 40. I´ll really need more units to remain safe from Necrofages incursions.



Turn 37 - Winter is going...



Turn 38 - Now that I got essentials, garrisons are in order.



Turn 40 - Really great news. Wayra Sigo is a production monster, in the right city he can spit out entire armies in a matter of turns. But I don´t think I´ll be building the High Towers Wonder for a little while.



Turn 41 - Military Overview and Dust Overview.



Next I´ll probably be saving for a couple more Heroes and inflating my armies. That should give time for some level 2 mercenaries to start poping up. I need more cities and districts, and I might want to go around with Wayra Sigo to build Apprentice Registries really fast. After that, districts are much more worth it.



Cya, hope this helps someone, and I hope someone can help me play better. Those bugs are scary!

Tensions are rising as the map grows smaller. Circumstances have pushed me into spending more money and generating less, so I´ll be delaying those heroes for the next 20 turns - which should be much richer now that I got roads and Gold luxury, even with winter coming.



Turn 41 - My capital, my second city and my third city. Gotta keep moving those population around to find the sweet spots.



Turn 42 - After the border tension, the Drakken is bound to try and deny me my regions, so I´m starting to spread looking for settlers, while still trying to keep everyone reinforced.



Turn 43 - Setting up an ambush, when I discover these beauties. You might want to mind using them because of diseases - best to leave them away with low morale so that they become targets, and when the enemy engage the drones you just crush them from behind with cavalry.



Turn 44 - Wyverns try to engage the lone daemon, which retreats. The cavalry then engages the settler, first only one unit (because they´ll run) and then with a reasonable reinforced army - when the settler is about to die and there are reinforcements, they will try their luck, which is good news for you.



Turn 46 - Using zone of control to isolate the Rumbler from a quest. To the east, securing passages for the settlers.



Turn 49 - Another settler with a deathwish. To the north, damn cockroaches!



Turn 50 - Realising Rexos might be too large a bite.



Turn 51 - I want level 2 Empire and Expansion plan to support the new cities, so I´ll try to leave the settlers in position and only settle if I understand I´ll surely lose the region.



Turn 52 - And now I realise I can manage Pop in order to get Economy plan level 1 as well.



Turn 54 - It´s about time I become real productive.



Turn 55 - If only we could still be friends...wait, we can.



Turn 58 - This drakken is probably doomed.



Turn 60 - Empire plan set, now I´m looking forward to assimilate my many Sisters of Mercy as a meta against those Foragers, and for the awesome Mercenary healing too of course. Whenever possible I should start getting watchtowers for the further health regen. When those trade routes are finished, I´ll probably be able to get a new Hero every 5 or 6 turns. I have to be careful not to buy too many governors and lose mercenary opportunities - their amount of health is surely the only thing that has been holding both Necros at bay.



What do you think? say "mashed avocado" if this is helpful

Things are looking positively grim now. I have little hope of winning this game now, but I shall report to you to the very end, like the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm.



This cycle starts not bad really. Comes Turn 61 and I discover that the market also has a problem with insects - so I promptly rid them of some.



Turn 62 - A minor setback not entirely unforeseen.



Turn 65 - I realise I still have to complete Master of Luxury, although I´m pretty sure I had done that already. I´ve been getting some issues when loading saves.



Turn 66 - That´s one sad way to discover the last player of the game.



Turn 68 - And there´s our income



Turn 70 - I need that glassteel. The settler I´m making on my capital is in case he tries to get Itleni.



Turn 73 - Military Overview. Those necro mercenaries were quite a boost.



Turn 80 - The Cult was gone on 79, and I guess so was the Drakken, although it was only official now. If only I could try to accumulate Influence and send a bug against the other, I could still have a reasonable chance of winning. The way it is right now, though, I need myself some strong repellent.



What could I have done to prevent this?

Well, that was fast. They´re not even caring about ridiculous unit maintainance anymore. I would eventually lose all my armies on turn 85.



So, I should make some self-critic right now.



My initial scouting tricked me on this one. I knew the drakken was in the game, and when I quickly found them, I thought there could be nothing worse than being their non-war-declaring neighbor. So I adopted my usual hostile stance with the one faction I could have traded in the game. Turned out it´s way worse to be surrounded by Necros. Had I found the necros earlier - especially finding both of them - I would surely have had started complimenting the hell out of the drakken in order to try and form an alliance against the bugs.



I would also be fishing their armies, which is not a good idea with most factions, but double life endeds and daemons can deal with them just fine.



I should maybe have gone for more districts everytime I went for a settler. That would keep my science and industry in more acceptable levels.







Well, I´m onto another one, which I´ll probably post way less pictures since the general idea is that. Hope I win this time.

This second attempt is looking much more promising.



Turn 1 - I spot a happiness anomaly in a region with Gauran, so I send a dervish and find this awesomeness.



Turn 4 - I´m putting some Pop on influence to finish this real quick. This is a cool quest!



Turn 6 - Trying a slightly different approach, I´ll use the extra approval to go for a district when I´d go for a settler. I think it was much better, but I´m not sure about this when you lack the approval.



Turn 10 - The amount of strategics already puts me in a mindset to try the Industrial Megapole. I seem to have reasonable room for a late expansion, and my second city seems able to get me a third city pretty fast without losing efficiency. Later, it will be a matter of catching up with the military game - but I guess endless is always like that.



Turn 14 - Headed to get myself the rest of the titanium.



Turn 17 - Only Roads of Dust make that possible.



Turn 27 - Not much goes on, I´m waiting the megapole to build districts on the second city, while I get mill, settler, mint and sewers. I´ve fished a couple of settlers, sothere´s a little tension with the ardent mages. But this wine is going to help wonders! That in practice means I´m not bound to level 2 Empire and Expansion ministry in order to expand. Deeds make a whole lot of difference. I only did not get the +15% initiative because it´s impossible to finish a battle before the AI, we were tied all the way.



Turn 28 - There it is, actually before I needed to finish. Everything should be much easier now.



Here´s the save file from turn 31, in case anyone is interested. It´s on Dropbox.



Cya, wish me better luck this time

Steady as we go



Turn 32 - Guaranteeing I can grow my capital whenever I want. My end goal is to have 6 cities in the most efficient way possible, and that might include still getting settlers there. I found Wayra Sigo very early, so he´s already monstering out in the north. Later, I´ll use Functioning Imsomaniac to go around growing cities which still lack a governor.



Turn 34 - First time actually getting him - thanks BuzzKillington. His governor traits are really really cool, and I can see him being a major pain leading assimilated Haunts.



Turn 36 - Bribing and checking a bunch of Broken Lords. Certainly the fact that I chose not to engage made it easier for a lucrative peace later.



Winter comes and goes.



Turn 47 - Almost done with expansion



Turn 50 - Peace with neighboring factions (was not gonna happen last game i.i)



Turn 56 - Keeping my "friends" away from "my" lands.



Turn 58 - All hail Eslek.



Turn 60 - Waiting to settle, I reactivate wine and set the same Empire Plan as before.



I already got Bela the Bat, But I´m really looking forward for at least one Jasah Murdap. The rest of governors will be according to opportunity. I want a Nachampassea as General.

Getting there



Turn 63 - I don´t have many good opportunities in the Market, so I´ll be saving to try this deed.



Turn 65 - Gotta love this governor



Turn 67 - If only the Necros could be this reasonable



Turn 72 - This is why there´s also the quest in which you´re supposed to get an Ardent Mage - the roving clans only need a little early push from a single science governor in order to start snowballing the crap out of their research.



Turn 76 - Deed done, and Wild Walkers out. Got myself an influence governor. The Cult would be killed shortly afterwards.



Turn 82 - Paying for vision to assess how badly I need food. Not much, but I´m going granaries.



Turn 84 - That´s more like it



Turn 85 - Dust OVerview



much better when your neighbors can talk, uh

I lost on turn 150 something, the Ardent Mages rolled over everyone and got a scientific victory when I was about 70% of economic, getting 14k a turn. I´ll post pictures later.



My mistake this time might have been keeping Wayra Sigo and Eslek as governors for too long, instead of changing over to Roving Clan heroes who could boost my trade routes.



It happens.



edit: I´ve been looking through these games and I notice I´ve also heavily underestimated the importance of glassteel for the +dust/pop equipment on governors. That´s kind of a must, since it the early you equip them, the early it gets more profitable to work Dust Pop than Industry Pop.

I´ve uploaded pictures to the steam library, but I have terrible wifi signal right now so I can´t even load the library in order to get the link to post here. I´ll edit this post later to add them.



I´m considering starting yet another, it´s a matter of principle now. I´d like to know if there´s any specific setting someone wants to see, or if perhaps someone wants me to give it a try with a different faction since apparently I suck with the Roving Clans , or something like that?



I´ll probably start playing in an hour or so

Wanna read about succesfull Roving Clan story !! Don't suck ! Go on please !! No surrender my friend. May the power of Auriga be with you !

Hey, great to know someone else cares!



I´m on it then, just started this one. I´ll try to be more objective.



edit: Got rushed on turn 40 by a desert broken lord with a bunch of production/approval anomalies i.i this game is unforgiving to the point of being cruel, I really tought this was going to be a good game.



edit2: Fourth one. That thing about winning more than I lose includes a loot of drakken and wild walkers

Turn 2 - This time I went for both tier 1 deeds, and no wonder. It proved wise. My scouting was very efficient (as in lucky with ruin and settlement placement) too.



Turn 5 - I´ve been sending her to govern early for several reasons, now I´m keeping her in the field till the deed is done.



Turn 8 - Look who´s my neighbor again



Turn 11 - Initiative



Turn 12 - Dyes



Turn 14 - Cool region and all...



Turn 21 - Hired the mage after completing a Second Mouse.



Turn 23 - Short winter



Turn 26 - Trying to get to Trader´s Tent faster than before



Turn 31 - Securing my last wave of expansion



Turn 34 - Hiring Jasah



Turn 41 - Using influence as painkillers



Turn 42 - Last settler. The watchtower is to complete a cool quest I also rarely ever get.



Turn 48 - "only" getting Management Sciences now, fourth tier 2 tech iirc



Turn 49 - getting a resource multiplier



Turn 50 - Tier 3



Turn 52 - Second winter



Turn 61 - Much earlier



Turn 64 - Another one of her, maybe the mother, who knows



Turn 65 - My dervish 2 has tier 3 iron ._.



Turn 69 - "For it is money, and power, and magic - all intertwined in a single miraculous substance...!"



Turn 70 - "It is the essence that binds our civilizations together."



Turn 70 - Note that from 60-80 I did not have Economy plan level 1 because of all the diplomacy. I had to keep buying my peace with people, and I actually given up on the Vaulter since right now I can probably take her with all the foragers.



Turn 70 - Second city - the glassteel equipment more than made it up though.



Turn 77 - "Perhaps, as we let them believe, it is our weakness..."



Turn 79 - Want lots of spices to guarantee all the world sends trade routes to me. Oh, and these are the foragers I was talking about.



Turn 80 - Well, they do like pain..





this is looking even more promising than the one with all the districts and the megapole. Quick Right of Way, cunning diplomacy (i.i), early RC heroes and glassteel equipment. Of course, that´s counting the necro don´t come at me with all the 11 units armies.

And there you go, finally won, with necros and everything.



Turn 86 - Tech tree



Turn 89 - Dust Overview. Probably around the time I started working exclusively Dust.



Turn 92 - Tier 4. Around now I changed the Mage for another Roving Clans hero. Finally Trader´s Tent.



Turn 97 - A bunch of gifted glassteel from the Cult, such a nice gentle folk.



Turn 100 - Empire Plan and an essential trait playing with necros.



Turn 102 - Poor attempt at questing ^^



Turn 104 - These are incredibly useful



Turn 112 - We´re getting close to the end of things. Research Overview showing necro closer to science victory than mages. Dust Overview showing when Economic Victory actually happens. Note that I´m at 10% now...



Turn 125 - ...and 34% now.



Turn 129 - The icing on the cake



Turn 133 - Those techs mean nothing without loads of mithrite



Turn 135 - It´s beautiful to watch.



Turn 140 - Empire Plan



Turn 144 - 50%



Turn 147 - World´s Most Expensive Titanium required.



Turn 156 - noooooo



Turn 158 - jk



Turn 161 - gg



(:



any faction anyone wants to see?