Emberglow

Emberglow. In this land, Keeper Gormagon is currently under siege by Lord Sigmund and his allies. A lack of foresight has found this rival of ours falling foul of both the creatures and the land itself within this treacherous realm. Although his position now looks irretrievable, perhaps when he falls his old dungeon will be of some use to us?

Enter the Giants’ caves and take the Gem back. The Gem is on the Lord of the Land, who leads the Giants.

Business Model

You start out with a respectable prospects for minions, which is good because you’re going to need to be able to both defeat anyone who attacks you in the beginning, while simultaneously building a workable dungeon. Don’t spend too much time in sinister contemplation — it’s time to roll up the ol’ robe sleeves and get those whips cracking. Right off the bat, a lone Hero Giant will head to your dungeon to make trouble, but don’t be too concerned … reinforcements will arrive in time to clobber him. What you should be primarily concerned with is your growth statement: quickly dig out the area to the south and build a Prison and Torture Chamber. You’ll need these as your forces begin to take a toll on the enemy ranks. Waste not, want not. In these troubled times it would be a shame to simply kill something as valuable as a Giant just because you didn’t have the means to convincing him it is a good time for a career change. Still, you’re going to need more troops. Command that a small Lair and Hatchery be built. Without these, you’ll find it impossible to recruit creatures — and you’ve got a serious headcount shortage to make up before you can take on the other Giants that guard the empty dungeon. Now comes time for a management decision. You want to clear out the “excess” Giants. The most conservative course of action would be to place traps at all the entranceways to your dungeon, and wait for the Giants to come to you. As natural-born pounders, they’ll eventually be drawn to your halls by the opportunity to make your loyal subjects go squish. One by one they’ll come to you, and you won’t have to go to the trouble of finding them. On the other hand, you can close down the Giants’ Hero Gates by bridging across to their barracks (you didknow you could use the neutral “stepping stones”, didn’t you?), claim all the land around the Gates, and then close down the Gates themselves. It has the attraction of being more proactive and straightforward, but it’s more dangerous to your workers. If you decide on this method, be sure to send some fighters along with your Imps, to protect them from any wandering Giants who might be offended by the invasion.

Your next project is to break through to the Guard Room. Once again, claim all of the neutral path leading up to it (killing/capturing any of those pesky Heroes who get in your way) and then launch your attack. You can either smash down all three doors at once — if you only attack one door, they’ll come around and flank you, not a good tactic — or dig through a block of Hero wall between 2 doors. If you decide to knock down walls, don’t skimp. Break a largehole to allow yourself as much room as possible for getting your minions into the fight. Once you’ve hit your Guard Room objective, you’ll want to find the best route to Lord Sigmund. This is where Sight of Evil comes in handy. While you’re peering into the private world of Sigmund and company, you might also find routes that, while not so direct, do offer Specials or more creatures to convert. It’s entirely up to you to determine the path you think will be most beneficial. There is an obstacle due consideration, an enemy Wizard who is wise enough to fear you, but goody-two-shoes enough to try to face you down. The sniveling sneak hides behind Barricades and fires spells at your fighters. Your best option in this situation might be the judicious usage of a combination of Possession and Salamander. Try it .. it’s eminently gratifying. Your next major milestone will be to take on the strike force waiting for you — a group of Heroes (4 Giants, 2 Wizards and a Knight) have designs on your company. Destroy them utterly and continue to Lord Sigmund’s Castle. There is an Increase Level special on the way, of which it is highly recommendyou take advantage. Now it is time to destroy the enemy and claim everything they hold of value. There are two different venues of attack — front or back. The plan should hinge on whether you have plenty of fire-walking creatures (or you have an unhealthy faith in the strength of your Bridges). If so, then simply attack through the front door, watching out for Hero reinforcements that appear through the castle’s Hero Gates. If your troops are the more traditional sort, you can claim territory all the way around to the back of the castle. Then use a wooden Bridge and an Imp to claim the neutral tile and break through the back door. This will mean a bloody battle with a large bank of Sentry Traps, but the benefit is that you will be able to use all of your creatures in the final battle, not just the fire-proof ones. Then all that is left is picking up the gem, and there you have it: the only thing that this miserable place called Emberglow has to interest you.

This is a hellish realm to bring to heel. The bad news is there’s no land to dig out and hardly any gold. The good new is that your defeated rival, Dante, has left all his rooms intact, though they have been scattered around the land by the spells of Lord Titus’s five irritating Wizards. You’ll generally do better to use the rooms as you claim them than to sell them and build others. Lord Titus and his Wizards still guard the land. Each Wizard is protecting an area of the map, and Lord Titus is ready in his fortress to attack you should his Wizards fall.