Racial Notes: +10% damage bonus when using spears. +15% chance to avoid arrow attacks. +20% damage taken against fire.
Worker Notes: -5% to stone & wood gathering.
Defensive Notes: +10% to morale when near another army unit.
Attacking Notes: +15% speed when using mounts. +5% accuracy with archer ability.
Small, fast, but with crappy hit points. The hit to the resource gathering was glaring. From what little I knew of Battle Fields, this game was about resources. The more you had the better your ability to create defenses and units.
I scratched Goblins of my list.
Next was the elf. Thin to the point of being reed-like, it had long flowing hair and stared pensively into the distance.
Race: Elf
Hit Points: 100
Speed: 25
Racial Notes: +15% accuracy, +15% speed when using mounts.
Worker Notes: +10% to wood gathering.
Defensive Notes: +20% morale when defending the banner. +10% chance to avoid arrow attacks. Cannot use heavy armor.
Attacking Notes: +15% to accuracy when near a forest tile. +10% damage with archery. Cannot use heavy weapons.
Light-footed and good with bows. Not surprising. The wood gathering bonus was nice, but the lack of any heavy armored units was a let down.
The last selection was Human.
Race: Human
Hit Points: 100
Speed: 20
Racial Notes: +10% damage bonus when using bows. +5 morale boost when near a Unit Leader.
Worker Notes: +10% to stone gathering. +10% to wood gathering.
Defensive Notes: +10% morale when defending the banner.
Attacking Notes: +5% to melee damage. +5% Hit Points to structures. +10% damage taken when attacked by fire.
Perhaps because my avatar was human, I liked what I saw. The bonus to melee damage and structures looked great. But what really got my attention was the advantages with resources gathering.
If I was going to flail around trying to learn how to command an army, I needed all the resources I could get (and potentially squander).
Selecting Human was a no-brainer for me.
Race selected.
I wondered which Amara had chosen.
Then it asked:
If you would like to send a message to your opponent, do so now.
Huh, I didn’t quite know what to say that didn’t involve cursing, so I just sent: That banner is mine!
Yeah, lame, I know.
Amara responded with: Eat FILTERED, you FILTERing FILTERED!
Charming.
Then my view-screen cleared again, the line of races vanishing. A message appeared which made my heart race with anticipation.
Prepare For Battle!
CHAPTER THREE
You Have Entered The Battle Field.
The white void which enveloped me dissolved into a picturesque landscape.
I stood on a grassy plain. The blue sky above was dotted with white puffy clouds. A breeze tugged at my cloak. This was no longer the cavern.
The plain which stretched off in all directions, was encompassed by a forest, thickly packed with trees almost resembling a green wall. Beyond, on all sides, were high vaulted cliffs.
The only direction that did not have these imposing cliffs was north. At first glance it appeared the forest thinned out to the northeast and northwest.
There was another aspect I took immediate note of.
I was completely alone. No army, no buildings, no base, no anything. It would appear I would be starting from scratch.
It was then I noticed I held a wooden pole which was topped with a flowing banner. It looked identical to the Lost War Banner of Y’Godda, only its color was red.
I looked at my cloak and leather armor. They, too, were the same deep red coloring.
Guess I’m team red, I thought, glancing around with confusion. But what do I do now? And where was Amara?
As if sensing my thoughts, the game brought up a small rectangular map which appeared at the top right of my view-screen. Near its bottom, surrounded by a mass of dark trees was a tiny red icon.
Me.
Okay. This was the map of the Battle Field. I was at the south end so I could assume Amara was standing, holding a banner, at its top northern end.
A system message appeared.
Amara Frostwalker has placed her banner.
I frowned up at mine. Where to put it?
I gave the map another look. If Amara was going to be attacking from the north, then I needed to keep as far back to the south as I could get.
The southern part of the plain ended at the tree line forming a natural cul de sac. I’d set up at the back and work from there.
I jogged south about a hundred paces feeling like I was just wasting time, now that Amara had begun building the apparatus which would potentially bring about my destruction.
Now, now, I admonished myself. An able commander must always be optimistic. No one else would be.
I stopped about thirty paces from the trees and gave my domain the once over. Seemed as good a place as any.
Gripped firmly in both hands, I brought the end of the banner’s wooden pole down into the ground.
Instantly the earth boiled, forcing me to stumble backward.
From the roiling earth emerged skeletons.
My sword appeared in my hand as I looked at these undead apparitions with alarm.
Almost a dozen of the things forced their way up out of the ground, but none gave me the slightest bit of attention. Crawling over one another they each reached forward with a hand and grasped the banner’s pole.
Then they all went still.
I blinked at this strange sight. In a macabre form of an altar, the skeletons had created the base from which my red banner fluttered.
Then a large shaft of light fell upon the banner and its grotesque keepers. The light formed a column that reached up into the sky, shifting like a curtain and glowing brightly.
I stepped back, head craned up to look at this bright column. Like a spotlight. Then a thought hit me.
I spun around and looked north.
There, far in the distance, well beyond the trees, like a golden thread but still noticeable, was another column of light that stretched up into the sky.
The location of Amara’s banner.
Be seeing you soon, I thought.
A new icon shaped like a shield flashed at the left of my view-screen. Selecting it brought up a menu with various selections.
Command Menu:
Build Keep: 1,000 gold, 300 stone, 150 wood (upgradeable)
Other Buildings: (Keep required)
Build Woodyard: 200 gold, 100 wood
Build Quarry: 200 gold, 150 wood
Build Goldmine: 200 gold, 150 wood
Build Barracks: 350 gold, 200 wood
Upgrade Keep: 3,500 gold, 1000 stone, 600 wood.
I frowned at my selection. Was I to use my own gold to make the initial purchases? That didn’t make sense, but no one said this game had to be fair, either.
A loud clinking of metal drew my attention back to the banner’s skeletal altar. A large sack was held up by a pair of bony hands.
Okay, then. I approached to find the sack was partially open. Gold coins glittered within. My start up fund.