Spotlight on:   Pictland

Every few weeks or so HWE will feature a review of a different kingdom of Hyboria by players who have either won with them or done well enough that they might as well have.  These contain strategy tips, ideas, and a general direction to go for those interested in making the most of their bid for Hyborian dominance.  Crom is very interested in gathering in as many reviews as possible from veteran players, so don't be shy about sending them in!  

This week's review is by Joe Bradshaw, who went nuts and sent in not one but THREE reviews within a day of each other. This is the first of the three.

Picts With Sticks

Oh My God I Got the Picts

   You woke up that morning feeling very ill, strange because you never get sick. By about noon you have finally dragged yourself out of bed to check the mail and to get the newspaper. Suddenly your heart jumps, and all sense of illness flees your body, for in the mailbox is the characteristic RSI envelope. Is it Aquilonia this time, Iranistan maybe, or do you get to smash the world again with the mighty Turan.

   You rush back to the house with these thoughts, scatter the mail across the coffee table and tear into the RSI package. Your elation is diminished somewhat by the fact that you seem to have received the setup for PICTLAND!!

   "I don't even remember asking for that country?" you mumble between near sobs.

   You are not totally daunted, and gather yourself. You don't even know much about Pictland, and shouldn't assume that they suck that bad, despite having read that they are rated 32nd out of 36 countries on the win list.

   You look over the map, and see provinces like Bear, Eagle and Shrike. You are not quite sure, but you are fairly confident that those provinces can't possibly contain any cities or wealth. As you read further, your life dims still more. Though your report speaks grandly and ferociously, your kingdom does not seem ferocious. You seem to have no heavy troopers whatsoever, and in fact have only 2 different types of medium infantry and one type of mediocre archer.

   If that weren't bad enough, you have absolutely no money. All your provinces hover between none and poor wealth production. And court members? We don't even want to talk about that. All right, so you sit down, trying to regain a little composure as you go over you imperial and victory goals. That's when you totally break down into agonizing fits of depression. Not only does your kingdom have to have large numbers of provinces to win, but you need to conquer 2 coveted Aquilonian provinces.

   You vaguely remember reading a story about the end of the Hyborian Age when the Picts conquered the world. In your opinion this must have been in some other Hyborian Age, apart from the one you were going to play in. Yes, you would play Pictland, not because you are masochistic, but because you knew it would be a sick thrill to watch your casualties mount.

A Few Good Things

   You have a few things going for you, despite all your difficulties. You have a wizard that can cast black death, another that can cast phantom warriors and a couple minor magicians that can call for fanaticism.

   Your main strength however, is the sheer numbers of provinces and troops you posses. Even though your starting army cannot defeat any other neighbor for 2 or 3 kingdoms, you do start out with around 90 troopers and 4 imperial armies. Those 12 provinces, though devoid of wealth, are numerous, and better yet they levy troops faster than you can raise them yourself. It also helps that your troops can fight better in forest terrain. A defensive advantage at least.

Court Members

   Here are a few of the key characters in your kingdom, but remember the best character your kingdom has is you.

Name: Chief Jhebbal Sag  ID: PICT-1  Type: Noble
Personal Combat : GOOD
Diplomacy : ADEQUATE
Rulership : ADEQUATE
Military Command : POOR
Heroism : SUPERIOR
Intrigue : NONE
Magic : NONE
Monarch of Pictland.

   All right, so basically it looks like your ruler is just a pretty good hero. If you read the Conan novels, you would know that this Pictish warrior is a great inspiration to his men. So make sure he is in battle if you want to win. Also, being the monarch, he should be actively ruling Pictland as much as possible. Your provinces tend to rebel a lot without a good amount of AR maintenance. Too bad he is such a weak ruler.

Name: Tuscara Berula  ID: PICT-2  Type: General
Personal Combat : POOR
Diplomacy : POOR
Rulership : NONE
Military Command : EXCELLENT
Heroism : ADEQUATE
Intrigue : NONE
Magic : POOR
spells: Fanaticism.

Name: Mogaraga Seka  ID: PICT-ADJ  Type: General
Personal Combat : POOR
Diplomacy : NONE
Rulership : POOR
Military Command : GOOD
Heroism : EXCELLENT
Intrigue : NONE
Magic : NONE

Name: Sangala Kor  ID: PICT-5  Type: Hero
Personal Combat : GOOD
Diplomacy : POOR
Rulership : ADEQUATE
Military Command : EXCELLENT
Heroism : POOR
Intrigue : GOOD
Magic : POOR
Province Ruler of The Beaver Tribelands. Spells: Rains.

   The three characters just listed are your kingdoms main generals. Notice how each general also how has some heroism to help out also. None of these Generals is going to swing a losing battle your way, nor will any of them intimidate an enemy with your impressive generalship. The guy that knows fanaticism may help out a lot when you have a lot of troops, but in my experience I wouldn't rely on these guys to steer a loss into a victory. Note on the Fanaticism spell, some people aren't sure if it really works, so keep that in mind. In my opinion it does but the effects aren't as awesome as one would like. It's no Black Death or anything.

Name: Kilinoa Rulg  ID: PICT-8  Type: Wizard
Personal Combat : POOR
Diplomacy : NONE
Rulership : GOOD
Military Command : NONE
Heroism : NONE
Intrigue : POOR
Magic : SUPERIOR
Spells: Black Death(4),Far Sight, Force March, Prophecy, Summon Dead.

Name: Traloga Lat  ID: PICT-9  Type: Wizard
Personal Combat : NONE
Diplomacy : POOR
Rulership : GOOD
Military Command : POOR
Heroism : ADEQUATE
Intrigue : NONE
Magic : ADEQUATE
Province Ruler of the Shrike Tribeslands. Spells: Phantom Warriors(2), Long Life(6).

   These two Wizards comprise the sum of Pictland's magic strength. They are also your best chance at defending provinces from Aquilonia with the Black Death and the Phantom Warriors spells. If Pictland has any character strengths, Pict 8 is the one and only. Notice also that these two men are also very good at rulership. They can AR some of your provinces when not crushing armies with spells. Hint: Cast Long Life on Pict-8 as soon as possible. Black Death doesn't come around every day.

Name: Burunda Rulg  ID: PICT-3  Type: Hero
Personal Combat : EXCELLENT
Diplomacy : NONE
Rulership : NONE
Military Command : GOOD
Heroism : POOR
Intrigue : NONE
Magic : POOR
Spells: Fanaticism.

Name: Lapoga Mog  ID: PICT-6  Type: Priest
Personal Combat : EXCELLENT
Diplomacy : GOOD
Rulership : GOOD
Military Command : POOR
Heroism : POOR
Intrigue : POOR
Magic : POOR
Province Ruler of The Otter Tribelands. Spells: Curse.

   These last two characters can be thought of as your utility characters. Pict-3, while not real great at anything but Personal Combat, will act as the bodyguard to your wizards and a front line military commander with his okay military command and Fanaticism spell. Put him in the lead row and maybe see how he does. Pict-6 happens to be my favorite character. Not only does Lapoga Mog not need to really worry about being slain by assassins (that won't even come for him anyway), but he is also the nation's best imitation of a diplomat. Use him as an ambassador, and when the time comes he is your best bet at replacing the mighty Jhebbal Sag. Mog's rulership ability would then be an asset to the empire.

   So overall in your character department, you pretty much need to get Conan on your court if you are ever going to have one that is noticed by anyone. One good thing about having a lackluster court is that you rarely have to worry about assassinations and kidnappings. Not like you could pay the ransom of a kidnapped character anyway. You can expect to get a wizard or two through the course of time, do not be surprised if you end up having two different wizards with the Black Death spell after the first peace years.

Enemies and Empires

   If one would follow the war doctrine of the United States for the past 15 years, one would see that the USA has decided that it will not go to war without a strong coalition of allies. This stems from that Vietnam fiasco and the teachings of Clauswitz. Remember how we all ganged up on Iraq? Well you should take this to heart. It is my firm opinion that a couple of good allies can make up for any military and economic deficiency.

   This brings up another problem. Vanaheim is to the north, and wants a piece of you, count on them invading soon. Aquilonia is to the east, and she also wants a piece of you. Count on an invasion from the Aquilonian front also. Luckily Zingara will be a little busy to want to mix it up with you (you hope). Cimmeria, he will be busy doing other stuff, like fending off invasion and invading Aquilonia. Nemedia wants the central provinces of Aquilonia as badly as you do, and so does Ophir. Asgard and Argos are in the immediate realm of influence also, but Argos will be busy in the ocean and fending off Zingara. Asgard will be mostly going after Vanaheim and Hyperborea.

   So, you see the tangled web of intrigue. There are a few diplomatic methods that you can try, which are explained later.

What in the Heck Should I Do?

   Yes, what should the ruler of Pictland do now that we know the state of the kingdom. Here are a few strategies to try. The first one is the one I tried but was unlucky. It's a good strategy but showed it's weaknesses when I found out that Vanaheim was allied with Zingara (oops) and friendly with Aquilonia.

   First off, try to peace off Aquilonia. Send EVERY diplomat that you have to try and peace her off. This probably will not work, your diplomats suck, but it could save you a few provinces when she invades. Secondly, offer a peaceful posture with Vanaheim, just give them the Bear Tribeslands. It is basically worthless anyway, and the friend you gain is far more valuable. Try to get an alliance going with the Vanir with promises of splitting up the riches of Zingara and Aquilonia. If the Vans still seem unconvinced, explain that if you could just last through the war seasons then your provinces would levy so many troops during the peace years that you would be a powerhouse. Make it very clear to the Vanir that they would have no chance of conquering all twelve of your forest provinces in one war season, and the Picts would destroy his empire after that. Vanaheim should come into the fold nicely with the promise of Bear and a soon-to-be-powerful ally.

   After that, it's prayer time. Set all armies to defensive, raise as many troops as humanly possible and wait out the hordes of Aquilonia that will be coming your way. Raise as many troops as possible each turn, and swell your forces as much as possible. One tactic is to just put your forces into backwater PA's, so that they cannot be slaughtered by the Aquilonians. A second tactic, the exact opposite, is to conscript all your PA's and swell your defensive armies. Keep in mind though, that you will be very lucky to get a 2 to 1 ratio against the weaker army of Vanaheim, and Aquilonia will fare even better against you, regardless of the forest fighting. This maximum defense tactic will be a complete waste of lives, of course, unless your wizards use Phantom Warriors, Black Death and any other battle magic you may have. Remember, you will not stop Aquilonia from taking any single province, but you may stop them from taking two.

   Okay, so you have made it to the peace years, have attempted to avoid the influence of Aquilonia as much as possible, and have levied a billion troops. If Vanaheim is doing okay against Asgard, you should enlist the likes of Cimmeria and Zingara and your Van ally in a good thorough bashing of Aquilonia. Conscript every PA that you have, set every army to active and attack like there is no tomorrow, because there won't be if you don't cut off and destroy that Aquilonian army in your tribeslands. Your casualties will be enormous, and it will be frustrating, but with some allied help, anything is possible.

   If Vanaheim is not doing good against Asgard, but is still a viable state, then you must honor the kingdom that allowed you to make it thus far. Enlist the help of Cimmeria and Hyperborea (they should be amused that you still exist), and pledge to them your undying hatred of Aquilonia. Promise that they each would have use of one of your Pictish armies during an upcoming (be vague here) warseason. All you ask is that they take territory from Asgard in some way. Hopefully this will strengthen your main ally of Vanaheim, and gain other valuable kingdoms such as Cimmeria and Hyperborea into your growing 'coalition'. Don't be too proud to play second fiddle to an ally that is very powerful, Pictland was born a second fiddle, get used to it and have fun.

   Though your allies in this coalition may be different, and you might begin in alliance with Zingara or something like that, the basics are the same. One huge Coalition under the concept of common defense, loyalty and killing somebody (Aquilonia, Turan, Stygia, whoever).

   I do not claim to be great at Hyborian War, but I am versed in diplomatic skills (at least I think I am). I am a huge fan of Sun Tzu, Clauswitz and Attila the Hun. This single strategy might not work for your situation, but may teach you something. Pictland happens to be one of my favorite kingdoms, so try as hard as you can for me, okay?

   If you remember anything about playing Pictland, remember this: RSI gives you military strength, court members and an economy in varying degrees, it is up to you though to take care of the most important and potentially powerful part of the game "Interplayer Diplomacy".

Some General Pictland Hints

Do:

Don't:

ANCIENT CHINESE PROVERB: "Numbers annihilate"