Re: Odyssey

From: quixote@hing.lcs.mit.edu (Chris Conley)

Date: Sat, 02 Mar 1996 00:00:00 +0000

In article <snortonDnJxt4.KsI@netcom.com>,
Scott Norton <snorton@netcom.com> wrote:
>Chris Conley (quixote@hing.lcs.mit.edu) wrote:
>: First of all, I strongly disagree with the assertion that a starting
>: army is a necessity.  I've attacked 2 locations/turn in HQ-6 despite
>: starting off with a grand total of 20 troops.  Spend the points on
>: a priest or necromancer and let 'em summon troops and learn battle
>: spells (which make conquering hamlets and even villages effortless).
>
>	What spells would you suggest for this?

Plenty of choices, depending on where you want your characters to
go.  Personally, as I hinted at elsewhere, I like to combine a
necromancer (w/ Summon Skeletons/Zombies and Grave Rot) or Earth
Priest (w/ Summon Stone Statues) for "tanks" to absorb damage and
a Fire Priest (w/ Summon Flame Throwers) for missiles.  Once you
have a few locations, let some of them churn out Lt. Xbows, then
set the army to HOLD; your summoned front-liners should absorb the
damage while the missile troops dish it out.

For a single-character force, you can't beat an Air Priest.  They're
the only priest with good available battle spells - including Mental
Nova, perhaps the best battle spell in the game - and Wind Gliders
are good all-purpose troops.

>	I'm beginning to think that trying to treat this as a
>role-playing game very much will severely limit any effort to be
>successful in the wargame.  Anyone who wants to play a "good guy"
>position would be at a severe disadvantage if he scruples at robbing even
>his own church.

Yep; this is something that I find really strange, but very hard to
avoid.  The Disciple titles are among the best in the game as far
as stat/ability gains are concerned, so it's difficult to simply
"wait" for a Crystal to fall into your lap.

>	What exactly makes a character a scrub character?

My definition of a "scrub" character is one who cost less than, say,
3000 startup points.  For example, my secondary Fire Priest in HQ-6
was a troll with +10 wisdom and some basic equipment; he's now able
to summon twentysome Flame Throwers per turn, plus another 20 in
battle.  My total scrub scout (no improvements whatsoever) has 1300
Experience after 6 turns; in another 5, she'll be able to acquire a
third action and start contributing in other ways, but for now the
INVESTIGATE results are valuable enough.

>	Can you practically start with ten characters, a location, and
>an army?  How important is it to have that many sacrosanct characters
>compared to a sacrosanct location as the game goes on?

Remember, "sacrosanct" locations can still be captured; they just
can't be CLAIMed away.  I see no reason to start with a location in
HQ; for the same cost, you can get an army capable of taking a
location on turn 1 with troops left over...

- Chris

References

Odyssey
christopher@city-net.com (Christopher Wood)
Mon, 26 Feb 1996 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Odyssey
christopher@city-net.com (Christopher Wood)
Tue, 27 Feb 1996 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Odyssey
quixote@hing.lcs.mit.edu (Chris Conley)
Wed, 28 Feb 1996 00:00:00 +0000