Hi



I don´t think anyone has any trouble with this faction really, but I went random and that´s what it was. I could try a very peaceful diplomatic victory later, but I had decided I would play this game militarily.



I believe that the two most important aspects of Drakken are the ability to get the level 2 empire plan for building discount at turn 10 (fast speed) and to get the level 4 military empire plan at tech tier 3 (turn 40-50). They do have a lot going on for them - Force Truce, high health units, healer starting hero, fast learner, Ancients, two flying units, influence from ruins - but I believe those two moments are the most decisive.



Since I was Drakken, I ended up imposing myself some restrictions. Not only did auto every battle, but I did not equip my units with any strategical equipment and didn´t use Guardians. I built two Drakkenlings with glassteel swords and gave insginias and glassteel wands for my two Generals. I fought most the game with tier 3 iron, even well after I had Dust equipment. I´m pretty sure I killed two Gios (ok they retreated, but that has to be for a reason) with T2 equipment.



My point is, this is a strong and easy faction.



I´ll post the turns in the next post.

Settings



Turn 1 - World Map - Tech tree - This here (this little pillar in the shadows) tells me there´s probably a village there.



Turn 2 - Looking for resources



Turn 3 - Bribing that



Turn 5 - Lust for Loot beside my capital. The second would be inside Necro´s territory, so I didn´t pursuit.



Turn 6 - Capital - Tech tree



Turn 7 - Master of Luxury



Turn 9 - Killing Eyeless Ones



Turn 10 - South for strats, west for wine - Empire Plan



Turn 11 - About to settle - Tech tree



Turn 12 - Buying extractor



Turn 14 - Buying extractor



Turn 15 - Tech tree



Turn 17 - Killing Delvers



Turn 19 - Preparing to try Megapole



Turn 20 - Winter - Empire Plan



Turn 21 - Roads



Turn 22 - Starting Megapole



Turn 23 - I buy Exid to put in the capital - Tech tree



Turn 25 - Megapole done, now I need units



Turn 26 - There he comes



Turn 27 - War it is then - Capital



Turn 29 - He attacks and loses



Turn 30 - Healing - Empire Plan



Turn 31 - Tech tree



Turn 32 - Forgotten pillaging, but I´d never get there in time and if I move, I´m sure the Necro will take my city.



Turn 33 - Sure enough, there they are



Turn 34 - He´s relentless



Turn 35 - Getting a Spy



Turn 36 - My spy is forced to retreat, so I go back to heal.



Turn 37 - Winter



Turn 40 - Resisting, healing and building up - Empire Plan - Tech tree



Turn 41 - Winter gone



Turn 42 - Dust Transmuter next turn



Turn 43 - The Cult getting aggressive



Turn 45 - Deed from getting level 8 hero



Turn 47 - I steal vision from one city to be able to infiltrate the capital



Turn 49 - Two gios ^^



Turn 50 - Ok, let´s win this - Empire Plan



Turn 51 - I buy another Drakken general



Turn 53 - Fighting Gios and sieging



Turn 54 - One is gone (winter)



Turn 56 - The other is gone



Turn 57 - Now I´m just waiting for empire plan (winter gone)



Turn 60 - Set Empire Plan, conquer and go west



Turn 61 - Steamrolling



Turn 64 - This is a tier 3 iron drakkenling, level 9



Turn 65 - Steamrolling



Turn 66 - Steamrolling



Turn 68 - Just waiting for empire plan



Turn 70 - Away we go - Empire Plan



Turn 71 - This is a tier 1 dust drakkenling, level 10



Turn 72 - Rolling in the winter



Turn 74 - Almost there



Turn 75 - There



gg



Comments, questions or suggestions are welcome!

Nice! I always like to see the Drakken kicking ass.



From what I see, I assume you used wyverns as reinforcements. I was pondering on whether an army of wyverns and ancients would be any good. The strategic benefits are obvious (if a hero is not present), but I am not sure how well it would fare tactically, esp compared to the drakkenling / ancient combo. Do you think it would be something that can work?

KnightofPhoenix wrote:
Nice! I always like to see the Drakken kicking ass.



From what I see, I assume you used wyverns as reinforcements. I was pondering on whether an army of wyverns and ancients would be any good. The strategic benefits are obvious (if a hero is not present), but I am not sure how well it would fare tactically, esp compared to the drakkenling / ancient combo. Do you think it would be something that can work?

I didn´t really research them. I was facing two forgotten, vaulters and cult, that´s too much possible Ranged damage, and wyverns rely too much on manual to not die. If I´m facing more Drakkens, Broken Lords and Necrophages, then I tend to preffer Ancients+Wyverns to escape the Infantry Slayer and to actually deal damage against high def units. Plus the fact they´re both flying, so Eslek Tarosh couples with them greatly.



From a tactical point of view, Wyverns are superior to drakkenlings when coupled with ancients since the boosts from Shared Wisdom tend to be more significant and they can hit-and-run anywhere regardless of terrain. It´s the perfect combination for manual battles, imo, but it´s strategically not a good choice to depend entirely on armies without Infantry.

BPrado wrote:
I didn´t really research them. I was facing two forgotten, vaulters and cult, that´s too much possible Ranged damage, and wyverns rely too much on manual to not die. If I´m facing more Drakkens, Broken Lords and Necrophages, then I tend to preffer Ancients+Wyverns to escape the Infantry Slayer and to actually deal damage against high def units. Plus the fact they´re both flying, so Eslek Tarosh couples with them greatly.



From a tactical point of view, Wyverns are superior to drakkenlings when coupled with ancients since the boosts from Shared Wisdom tend to be more significant and they can hit-and-run anywhere regardless of terrain. It´s the perfect combination for manual battles, imo, but it´s strategically not a good choice to depend entirely on armies without Infantry.

Yea I was thinking of trying out a game with a "military doctrine" where the Ancients / Wyverns are the arm of decision, while Drakkenlings are in garrisons and act as a strategic / tactical reserve. Since I manual 90% of battles, I think I can draw a lot of benefits.



Thanks for your input ^^