Exile chuckled as he sat in The Raider’s Horn, stroking his beard. ‘I think I see why Mike prefers strategy games now. There is so much that can change at a moment’s notice. Nothing remains constant.’ His eyes narrowed as he studied the map. ‘I’ll have to thank him for his advice this time and the books he ordered for me. Though, it will take some time to properly understand them.’
‘Parthus’ one weakness is that he should be used to commanding NPC’s without personalities. He’ll be focused on the numbers and whether he can beat his enemies based on that. However, I should consider my followers as being as real as myself. The same goes for the warriors that Parthus commands. The best path to victory is to crush their will to fight. Then, no matter how much he orders them to attack us, their heart won’t be in it. They’ll be likely to rebel and less willing to follow him.’
Exile nodded as he remembered the last pieces of advice that Mike had given him. ‘When Winter returns, I’ll change her orders. It’s about time that we learn about our enemies…’ Exile tapped the map as he pictured how it would change over the course of the campaign against Parthus.
‘Both Parthus, and the Royal faction, will believe we have everything committed to the front line. This will draw the royal fraction into throwing everything into the fight as well in the hopes of seizing a chance to crush us when it’s over.’ Exile placed a handful of markers on the mountain range where Thovok’s people lived.
He then made this group of markers march through Stormcrown, capturing all of the important cities that would be lightly defended at that point. A broad smile crept across his face as those markers then marched up behind the royal faction and trapped them between Exile and the Dwarf King’s forces. ‘The key is for this to happen before the fighting ends. If needed, we may have to delay the end of the Holy War to secure a solid victory in the Civil one.’
Mike had given him the overall strategy, but it was up to him to figure out the tactics needed to bring it to fruition. There were two major parts to this strategy. The first was to throw the Sommerdan invasion out of Skardia. While the second was to seize Stormcrown for Harik as bloodlessly as possible. The lack of bloodshed would earn him the favour of the citizens. While the loss of their homes to the enemy would weaken the Royal Factions warriors’ resolve to fight against the rebels.
If he were to consider that they would react like real people, then that was the reason for limiting the bloodshed. If their families were killed when the cities were seized, it would give them vengeance as a powerful reason to keep fighting. However, ensuring the civilians’ safety and having them treated well would earn him the respect and good graces of those same warriors.
‘Win the war, even before any fighting takes place…’ Exile nodded. He approved of this plan. War did not have to be about who could spill the most blood. ‘The goal of war is not to kill your enemies, but to win with the fewest losses and to crush your enemies’ will to fight.’
He knew he would have to study this type of game more. He was sorely lacking in the key areas that this game focused on. Strategy and tactics in all areas of the game. Not just in war. In Mayhem, he only had to worry about small scale fights and overall strength was based entirely on numbers. Players followed the strong.
However, Pantheon required a much different mindset. A different set of skills was required to win. While individual strength would still have its own value, it truly tested the qualities required by a real leader. Not in the terms of a team captain, but someone capable of leading the hearts of entire nations into accomplishing their dream.
‘I can only try to fix this flaw of mine going forward. It’s no wonder that I always felt like I still lost, even when I won in this game so far. I was too narrow-minded in what this game required of me. I thought because it was made by the same developers as Mayhem that I could do much of the same to succeed here.’ Exile shook his head as he realised how blind he had been.
Sure, when it came to actual fighting on the battlefield, he had come away with victories. Using tricks he had picked up in Mayhem to secure them. But when it came to the big picture, he was constantly losing ground. ‘I need to broaden my mind and be mindful of everything. I can’t be blinded by just what I want to do or achieve. I have to plan for the many things that can change at any given moment.’
‘This isn’t Mayhem. I won’t always find the same mobs at the same levels in the same zones with each visit. NPCs will not stay where I found them. Treasuries likely won’t regenerate either, so it’s first come, first serve. I have to seize every opportunity before it turns to dust.’ His eyes shone with determination as he felt like he had unlocked a part of himself he never knew existed.
Like he had just discovered another piece of a jigsaw when he thought it was already complete. He started laughing as he thought about that. ‘I thought I had reached my limits as a gamer… But it seems like I can still grow!’ Of course, he was not just thinking about his play style. But how he could still challenge himself to do better mentally. To secure victory before even stepping on the field of battle.
As he glanced at the map yet again, he felt a rush of excitement. There were new doorways opening up to him at that moment. New paths as a gamer that he had never considered. For a brief moment, he even wondered if his skill in fighting on the front lines might turn out to be the weakest part of his potential.
His eyes scanned the map for the next opportunity that could be seized immediately after his victory in Stormcrown. ‘The next move should not be to chase the Sommerdans if any survive and flee. Instead, we should build on our momentum and seize other nearby kingdoms as the Ruling Faction give chase. Finally, allowing us to stabilise the power base we wanted from the start.
‘From there, any survivors from these regions will be more likely to defect to us. Plus, Thovok’s people will be seizing Oracles and forcing some Ruling Faction Pantheons to either become neutral or join us. This is a war after all, so I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a way to switch sides…’
His eyes narrowed as he thought about how he could weaken the Pantheons that would still be outside of their sphere of influence. ‘They’ll suffer a mental blow when we succeed. The time will be ripe to enter negotiations to put an end to the Civil War. Then, the fight to seize Skardia as a whole can begin. But we won’t fight that war with weapons and at the cost of lives. Looks like I need a long discussion with Midas to find out what benefits we can seize that the others would want.’
It was clear now that there was much work to be done. He had been naive about the game until Mike opened his eyes. He would have to look up different offices usually used in governments to help keep them running. He would have to establish something similar within his own Pantheon. Although they had a semblance of that in the Alliance, it still did not cover every area that could affect them. It would take a lot of planning and finding the right people for the right roles. ．
‘This is definitely why Camelot has been succeeding. Arthur has the charisma and skill in battle to make people want to follow him. Merlin was known as a demon for the tricks he could pull off out of nowhere when you were least expecting them. Both of them are excellent, but even they can’t cover all of this between just them.’
‘I have to become more than Arthur. I have to become more than Merlin. I need to be the best at both in one person. With skilled people around me, that can ensure the plans come to fruition. I need generals who can hold the war front. And skilled administrators to work behind the scene. If either of them is lacking, everything is doomed to fail.’
He tilted his head back and laughed loudly. He felt like he had succeeded in seeing through another trap that the developers had set in the game. ‘This is what will separate the wheat from the chaff… I wonder how many will realise it?’