The Tablets of Fate

by Vincent Wong

The Tablets of Fate are a wild card in the game that appears only on turn 20, giving any player a very short time to go out to search for it. In my opinion, any player intending to win with the Tablets must be already prepared for it a long time in advance.

The question is, can one win with the Tablets? Yes, it is possible. Has anybody won with it – thats another question altogether.

The tablets enter the game in a random hex, very usually not a community nor a player owned hex. They are guarded by substantially strong force that moves at a respectable speed starting at 80MP.
Composition:
1 Deva
3 Human Warriors
3 Human Wizards
3 Human Priests
3 Human Knights
Tablet of Fate The difficulty in achieving victory with the Tablets is that first of all, you have to locate them. Secondly, you have to research the ID (Ixxx) of the tablets (not the Item Type Number) to get the information for the time and place to bring the tablets to. And finally, get hold of both Tablets and bring them to the location at the right time (on or after the turn the Celestial Staircase appears.)

The difficulty of this victory condition is in preventing others from winning before you bring the Tablets to right place at the prescribe time.

I had the opportunity to find the First Tablet of Fate in one of my games, the information which I research was that I had to bring it the Tablets to the City of Citadel of Many Arrows at Turn 43 or after (Note: not before.) Which led me to conclude that the Timing is randomly about near the end of the game, say estimate of 50 turns of a typical long drawn out game. And since the wording of the text was it will appear in a community – a random at that. Not to worry though the ID of the destination is provided, so even it is not a known community you can spend 5 gold to investigate the location to get the exact hex coordinates.

The chances of delaying the game is very slim if you are facing a very strong alliance, and if you yourself is not part of the leading alliance. In my experiences, most games will end shortly after turn 30 unless there are strong oppositions which may drag the game on in a see-saw battle.

If you should plan to win a solo victory in a campaign, you will have to plan for this eventuality as a backup plan to a military achievement. That is, you become the top realm in the game, and go all out to find the tablets. And you will need lots of scouts, and a fast and strong avatar that travels alone to find and capture the Tablets. And military might to prevent any other players from winning before your time has arrive to win with the Tablets.

I had the opportunity to spot and capture the First Tablet of Fate through luck and some planning. No, I did not plan to look for the Tablet, but it was a side effect of my plan to grab hexes to summon my avatar. About turn 17, I freezed all recruitment and switched to mass production of light calvaries, I was producing about 20+ Light Calvaries a turn, and sent them out in all directions using a systematic recurring scouting move pattern. On turn 23, I spotted the First Tablet of Fate, and with luck I had a very strong force just nearby, and pursued the Deva and captured the Tablet. At that time I was about to summon my Avatar. The unfortunate story is that I had to drop the game at the time – although I was ranked No. 3 in total Experience and had a Tablet due to the Economic Crisis that hit my country. I was running 5 different games, each costing an average of US$15.00, the value of my country’s currency dropped by 40%, that meant my games cost almost doubly as much. there went my chances for a shot at winning with the Tablets of Fate.

A more realistic win with the Tablets is Duo Victory, you and a trustable partner/ally. Two realms working to find the Tablets, even if both of you are the underdogs. The Possibility of preventing a victory from the leading alliance is more realistic.

The other aspect is that it allows one or two members of the leading alliance to double cross and head for Tablet victory. Of course, usually such an action is already premediated long before this two became part of the alliance but then it could be after. It is food for thought.

Happy Gaming.

more info from John Holt

The two Tablets of Fate arrive in the Savage Frontier on turn 20. They are both well protected and must be found (I.E. they do not reside in any player owned hexagons.) Victory can be achieved by bringing both of the Tablets of Fate to the Right Place at the Right Time. The Right Place and the Right Time are different each game and can only be learned by having a Tablet of Fate in your possession and researching it. So if your realm is in poor shape, you might want to direct your efforts toward discovering the Tablets of Fate and their secrets.

Deva VI
  Human Warrior XLI
    Human Wizard XXX
    Human Priest XXXVI
      8th Human Knights
  Human Warrior XLII
    Human Wizard XXXI
    Human Priest XXXVII
    9th Human Knights
  Human Warrior XLIII
    Human Wizard XXXII
    Human Priest XXXVIII
    10th Human Knights
  First Tablet of Fate

Lich XI
  Tanar'ri XI
    Illithid Wizard XXXIII
      18th Ghoul Flesheaters
      11th Shadows
  Death Knight VII
  Death Knight VIII
  Death Knight IX
    Lycanthrope Warrior XLV
      13th Wraiths
      11th Wights
  Vampire XIII
    Drow Priest XLI
      20th Zombies
      25th Skeletons
      26th Skeletons
      27th Skeletons
  Second Tablet of Fate

The Right Place at the Right Times:

FR124 – Azzkalozz, Turn 38 or later