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Attacked From All Sides

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Attacked From All Sides
Attacked From All Sides
Attacked From All Sides
Mode : Singleplayer
Players : 4
Stone Heads : 2
Vault of Knowledges : 3
Alliances : Dakini, Chumara, & Matak
Difficulty : Intermediate

Attacked from all Sides is the 14th level in Populous The Beginning, where the player faces all the 3 tribes. The level is mostly known for the peculiar land shape, the AI offensive strategy, and the spies.

Starting Speech

"In my vision I have again seen the Angel of Death. I shall find it and use it against my enemies."

<html5media height="720" width="1280">https://ts.popre.net/files/mp3s/Level%2014%20-%20Introduction.mp3</html5media>

Setting

Blue tribe's Reincarnation Site is in a low-land area with the sea north, and south of the player's base, overlooked from the east by a high plateau where the Matak base is located, and by rugged hills to the west (too bumpy to build on these) which separate blue from the Dakini base. Across the sea, the Chumara have their base on a medium sized island within easy reach by boat from either north or south.

Enemy tribes: Dakini, Chumara, Matak

Worship Objects:

Item Shots Spell/Effect Follower Count
Stone Head 1 Angel of Death 5
Stone Head 1 Landbridge, Earthquake 6
Vault of Knowledge Firestorm
Vault of Knowledge Magical Shield
Vault of Knowledge Flatten

Strategy

Throughout this level, you need to be prepared for attacks by boat from the Chumara, whose Shaman brings spies, preachers, warriors and firewarriors often with Magical Shield. The Matak periodically flatten the land from above to destroy your buildings and steal your land. The Dakini Shaman comes with a small raiding party through the rugged hills from time to time and often sends spies to damage your base. Later, the Dakini send a few balloons.

This is a hard level to defend on, and you have to be prepared for losses, especially since the Dakini Shaman will try to get close enough to cast Firestorm on your buildings. If she's out of mana, she'll try Lightning on your Shaman instead.

To start off on this level, get some huts up quickly and convert as many wildmen as you can. Get a couple of warriors and preachers trained as quickly as possible: once the Chumara attack with Magical Shield protecting their followers you can't rely as much on firewarriors or your Shaman as you can on your other followers. Despite this, remember to get firewarriors later on as well since they will still prove quite useful.

Since you have little land to build on, make sure that charging Landbridge is a priority throughout this level. You can use it to flatten the hilly land to the west or to steal some of the Matak land from their plateau (remember they do the same to you). Landbridge requires less mana than Flatten so if a land war starts you should be able to win it.

When it comes to defense, you'll want a couple of Guard Towers dotted around your base, especially on the north side and a few on the south side where you can expect Chumara attacks. Do not just focus on firewarriors to house your Guard Towers as they will prove ineffective against the shielded Chumara troops. Some preachers work well too. You should even consider getting some spies in a Guard Tower or two to catch enemy spies before they do any damage. Make sure to have some trained followers patrolling your base as well as Guard Towers can't do much more than offer support against enemy attack forces.

When you get a chance, travel to every Vault of Knowledge to get all the spells they offer since they can prove quite useful.

Once a proper defense is set up you can prepare your attack force. The Matak and Dakini can be attacked by land if you prefer this method using the usual army composed of warriors, preachers and firewarriors with your Shaman to soften them up with her spells. An alternative method is to fill a couple of balloons with firewarriors and your Shaman and protect them using Magical Shield during attacks. This can be a devastating attack force. The Magical Shield spell is not always that necessary since oftentimes your enemies fail to build Firewarrior Training Huts. However, this is not always the case.

Once the Matak are eliminated make sure to pray at the Stone Head south of their base for the Angel of Death spell to use in later attacks. Follow the same strategies to destroy the Dakini and Chumara one by one and victory is yours.


Quick Way

A quick way to complete this level is to charge Landbridge from the start, building huts to give you some mana. Using landbridge you smooth the path up to the Matak plateau and quickly build a Temple on top. Convert every Matak you can then steal Flatten from their Vault of Knowledge and cut off the plateau from access from your starting settlement. The Chumara will stop attacking you but the Dakini will switch over to balloons. Build five or so Guard Towers with firewarriors on the north east part of the plateau to counter all balloon invasions. Next, worship the Stone Head to the south to get an Angel of Death. Build a Balloon Hut and some balloons so you can attack the other tribes with firewarriors and your Shaman then finish them. Note: do not allow any of your balloons to be taken over by an enemy tribe since they will use them to attack you.

Rushing the Dakini

It is possible to rush the Dakini by gathering all your starting followers and quickly heading over to their tribe while converting as many wildmen as you can without stopping. Kill their Shaman as quickly as possible with blasts to ensure that she does not convert too many wildmen. There are quite a few wildmen near their base that you can convert while instructing your braves to fight the Dakini. Once the Dakini are destroyed it will make the level a whole lot easier. Just make sure you build up quickly as by this time the Chumara will start sending a few people by boat with Magical Shield.

Levels
Single Player: TutorialThe Journey BeginsNight FallsCrisis of FaithCombined ForcesDeath From AboveBuilding BridgesUnseen EnemyContinental DivideFire In The MistFrom The DepthsTreacherous SoulsAn Easy TargetAerial BombardmentAttacked From All SidesIncarceratedBloodlustMiddle GroundHead HunterUnlikely AlliesArchipelagoFractured EarthSoloInfernoJourney's EndThe Beginning
UW Single Player: AftermathLava FlowSoul SurvivorWorld Wide WebHuman ShieldNo Man's LandProtection RacketPrisonsOvershadowedFortressL'AssassineNatural Disaster
Multiplayer (2 Player): Hills Divide UsEye of the StormTwo CrabsSkirmishAll Around the World
Multiplayer (2 Player) UW: BarricadeCogFortressesSliced BeetleTwo WayMultiple Choice
Multiplayer (3 Player): Linked IslesSkirmishThree EyeAvenging-AngelsSandy Castles
Multiplayer (3 Player) UW: CanyonAnglesThree Crabs
Multiplayer (4 Player): Two on TwoCratersDead SeaFace OffPressure Point
Multiplayer (4 Player) UW: CogClockwiseWalls