An Easy Target
From Populous Wiki
| An Easy Target |
 |
| Mode : Singleplayer |
| Players : 4 |
| Stone Heads : 0 |
| Vault of Knowledges : 3 |
| Alliances : N/A |
| Difficulty : Intermediate |
An Easy Target is the 12th level in Populous The Beginning, and the first level featuring all the 4 tribes. The name derives from Chumara's tribe being in the middle of the other 3 tribes.
Starting Speech
"For the first time we must face all three Enemy tribes. I must prepare for a mighty struggle."
<html5media height="720" width="1280">https://ts.popre.net/files/mp3s/Level%2012%20-%20Introduction.mp3</html5media>
Setting
The blue tribe has their own island, which has a lot of high elevation, but not much space to build on. The player has small hills around the island that are ideal for Guard Towers, and south of blue's island is another island which is much bigger and has the Chumara and the Matak tribes on it. The Chumara tribe's village is on a peninsula with a Vault of Knowledge with the Spy Training Hut building plan on it. South of the Chumara base is another nearby island that is quite big. The Dakini settlement is here along with another Vault of Knowledge containing the Tornado spell and high land.
The southeast side of the Chumara's base features a ridge blocking a path to the Matak village, which is directly north of the player's own island. The Matak area is half high land and half low land. At the south end closest to the blue's base is the Vault of Knowledge containing Erode.
Enemy tribes: Dakini, Chumara, Matak
Worship Objects:
| Item | Shots | Spell/Effect | Follower Count |
| Vault of Knowledge | Spy Training Hut | ||
| Vault of Knowledge | Tornado | ||
| Vault of Knowledge | Erode |
Strategy
This level may take longer than the previous levels took due to the presence of all three enemy tribes. The first thing to do is to convert the wildmen on your island and build as many huts as you can. Build the training huts on the highest point of your island and build towers on the small hills provided.
Protect yourself until the Chumara tribe is killed off by the Dakini and Matak tribes. While that is happening you can worship the Chumara Vault of Knowledge using a boat. Keep your eye out for Chumara spies which will land periodically to sabotage your buildings. Be prepared for dangerous spells such as Erode and Tornado and try to keep enemy Shamans away from your base by killing them as quickly as possible. You can use the Landbridge spell if you wish to wall off most of your base except for the west side to ensure that the enemy can only land there. It may be helpful to also use Landbridge to cause the north end of your base to end in a sheer cliff so that the Matak cannot land there to cast Erode. A well placed Erode spell in that elevated region can be devastating for such a small settlement.
Try to steal the Tornado and Erode spells early on by sending your Shaman by boat. Make sure she has some spells such as Blast and Swarm ready to protect herself since she may be attacked. The Erode spell particularly can help keep the Chumara at bay since it can be used to sink the landbridge they will try to cast before their first land attack.
After the Chumara are dead, you can landbridge to what was the Chumara's base and extend your settlement into their base. Alternatively, you can keep your island separated to try to better protect it and rely on Landbridge spells to expand its size. You should be able to fend off the enemy attacks fairly easily as they don't attack with a huge force. Expect Dakini warriors to land occasionally in one boat to attack you, so keep some preachers around. Some of the enemy warriors may be invisible, but your preachers can convert them even in this situation.
When you're ready, gather up an army and destroy the Dakini tribe using a lot of force and spells. Once they have been finished off you can build a small base on their land for extra mana if you feel the need to. Gather up another army to attack the Matak. You can landbridge from the Dakini hill to the Matak hill for an easier approach. Make good use of the Erode and Tornado spells since they can be very devastating to the enemy base.
You can then win by finishing off the Matak with all your troops. Another way to do this is to backdoor them from your Reincarnation Site.