Rezzy Tries to Ironman FE Fates: Conquest

[Rezzy]

This map is a bit deceptive, in that there are two enemies that barely tickle our units and then one that can one-shot our weaker units right next to them, so we send in Xander.

Soleil and Laslow join in the parent-child joint combat bonding.

Xander cleans out the room.

Next, we have some weird AI, more often seen in Echoes, where this guy shows an uncharacteristic sense of self-preservation and opts to run away rather than fight to the death.

This dastard is within range of the boss, so even if I felt comfortable sending a unit to finish him off, I don't want to finish the chapter just yet.

Back up north, we clear out the enemies between the Butlers and the rest of our army.

Soleil's turning out very nicely, but hopefully, she can get some more bulk.

This map is turning out a lot easier than I remember it being, though I usually do it a lot earlier.  I can really see the difference between promoted and unpromoted enemies here, where the lower ones are complete push-overs, and the promotes are threats to my survival rank.

The unit that does pretty much no combat also has the highest Skill in my army.

We will try to draw the enemies away from the boss.

Even with the low hit chance, that much damage is scary.  At least no crit chance.

Jeez, only 29% chance to hit with WTA?  That's only a good rate in baseball.

This guy is a little too close to Forrest for comfort.  If we miss here, we may have to storm the boss and finish the chapter.

[Rezzy]

Luck is on our side and this dastard is almost down.

He goes down, and Kana gets the taste for blood.

Mama Rezzi makes the scary man go away.

Now Azura can dance us back out of range of the boss.

Only if you say something nice about your son, Jakob.

We can take out the boss, now, but if we wait a few turns, reinforcements will show up for some more XP.

Time to grind out some more XP.

That level-up was worth waiting for.

Rezzi's kids are turning into remorseless killing machines, Daddy Garon will be so proud.

It's so nice to see a 0% crit chance against Arthur.

We'll give Forrest the final kill here.  We could wait for more reinforcements, but taking out the first wave drew the boss, and I don't want to let him get an Enemy Phase and take out one of my units.

Okay level-up.  Not great, but not terrible either.

[Rezzy]

Dwyer shows appropriate gratitude for being rescued.

Jakob is always one to find the cloud in the silver lining.

Why do we never see these caretakers?  Is the reason we never see them is that they always bail at the first sign of danger?  Why did we leave our children in their care again?

Never change Dwyer, never change.

That's why we came here, after all.

You can't go wrong with a mounted healer with tome access.

Sometimes I think Jakob just doesn't want to be happy.

I thought the reinforcements were supposed to stop coming after we beat the boss.

You bring him nothing but shame, but you're still willing to help ol' dad out.

Jakob, why do you want him to melee when he inherited Elise's Magic growth?

Dwyer knows he may be taking Jakob's roster spot away from him.

Since our Green Units miraculously survived the map, we get a couple extra goodies.

And Dwyer's Paralogue Complete!

Deaths: None, not even Green Units

New Units: Dwyer

[Rezzy]

Ooh boy, this next chapter.  While I prepare, enjoy this crappy drawing of Zola.

[DisobeyedCargo]

1 minute ago, Rezzy said:

Ooh boy, this next chapter.  While I prepare, enjoy this crappy drawing of Zola.

Why is he holding a coffee mug?

[Shadow Mir]

4 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

Ooh boy, this next chapter.

What's so bad about it?

[Rezzy]

5 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Why is he holding a coffee mug?

I got a request to draw him, Izana, and Yukimura having coffee together.

1 minute ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

What's so bad about it?

Mostly the plot, but I do remember it being tough last time I played it.

[Pengaius]

Well, wellity, wellity well

looks like it's time for: The Corrin spares some Hoshidans and prolongs the war, potentially leading to the deaths of her friends and family Show

also because of lunatic Sakura is gonna get insanely buff in a few chapters look at her now and when you fight her damned Hoshidan infinite grinding

[Rezzy]

1 minute ago, Pengaius said:

Well, wellity, wellity well

looks like it's time for: The Corrin spares some Hoshidans and prolongs the war, potentially leading to the deaths of her friends and family Show

also because of lunatic Sakura is gonna get insanely buff in a few chapters look at her now and when you fight her damned Hoshidan infinite grinding

And that Strength growth!  Between her and Azura, it's funny that the dainty princesses are the buffest units in the game.

[Vaximillian]

2 hours ago, Rezzy said:

And that Strength growth!  Between her and Azura, it's funny that the dainty princesses are the buffest units in the game.

They aren’t delicate!

[Punished Dayni]

7 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Why do we never see these caretakers?  Is the reason we never see them is that they always bail at the first sign of danger?  Why did we leave our children in their care again?

Must have been the cheapest of the lot. That's what happens when you go for cheap services.

Also, next chapter: Xander forces the game to go on for 9 more maps. Just, fucking Xander.

[Shadow Mir]

48 minutes ago, Dayni said:

 

Also, next chapter: Xander forces the game to go on for 9 more maps. Just, fucking Xander.

Being too short can suck the fun out of a game, I find.

[Bartozio]

20 hours ago, Rezzy said:

What's Jakob's problem with healing?  Running into the the battlefield unarmed to heal your comrades isn't exactly cowardly behavior.  When I graduated from med school, my parents didn't say "You know practicing medicine is great and all, but why aren't you punching people?"

They asked why you weren't shooting people instead, right?

20 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Jakob, you've been mostly healing in this LP, why the sudden aversion to it?  If Dwyer was fighting, would you get on him for not healing?

If you do all the fighting yourself, there's no people to heal kappa.

20 hours ago, Rezzy said:

 

It has me tearing up.  It's just like when Daddy Garon brought out prisoners for Rezzi to kill.

You're turning out just like your father Rezzi *snif*

19 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Why do we never see these caretakers?  Is the reason we never see them is that they always bail at the first sign of danger?  Why did we leave our children in their care again?

Nohr lack money after all (actually winning a war would solve that, but...)

19 hours ago, Rezzy said:

I thought the reinforcements were supposed to stop coming after we beat the boss.

Leave it to Conquest to find a way to catch you off guard.

[Rezzy]

16 hours ago, Vaximillian said:

They aren’t delicate!

Nice to know that my offspring get Lissa's growths, too.

12 hours ago, Dayni said:

Must have been the cheapest of the lot. That's what happens when you go for cheap services.

Also, next chapter: Xander forces the game to go on for 9 more maps. Just, fucking Xander.

Discount babysitters, why didn't we just keep them at our castle?

Yeah, this is the low point of Conquest's story.

11 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Being too short can suck the fun out of a game, I find.

Good for story, bad for gameplay

 

We begin our chapter with Azura thinking that Izumo is a kingdom for some reason, despite being led by an Archduke.

Yeah, neutrality is just a suggestion for Hoshido and Nohr here.  Meet the World Wars' Belgium of Fatesland.

We meet our welcoming host.

@eclipse Ever since Rezzi stole Iago's shampoo, Izana has been running rough shod over the rest of the competition.

Leo believes Classic is the only way to play Fire Emblem.  Although that Casual mode could have come in handy for Izana in Revelations.

To be fair, he runs a Archduchy, not a kingdom, but maybe I'm just splitting hairs. @Septimius Severus

As nice as getting access to Tomefaire would be for you Elise, Izana can only support with Rezzi for some reason.

Well, this isn't ominous at all.

Well, maybe we could get some nice diplomacy at this neutral site going, since our element of surprise is long over.

Yeah, it hasn't been that long since I updated.

Shouldn't Ryoma have known we were heading this way?  His top two retainers just got unconditionally released by us last chapter, and you'd think two unencumbered ninjas would travel a lot faster than an entire army.

Is this war all about who loves Rezzi more?  Am I just Helen of Troy or something?

I guess Mikoto when she stole Rezzi away from her biological father?  Rezzi's been captured more than all the recruitable units in Echoes put together, though.

Izana remembers that he's the boss in the neutral territory.  I really wish they had taken the neutral nation's status into account more in the story.  The ramifications of engaging in hostilities in neutral territory never really seem to come up.  Remember how the Grand Ducks of Nestra did nothing while Hoshisdo and Nohr made a mockery of their neutrality like the DH makes a mockery of baseball?

[Shadow Mir]

9 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

Good for story, bad for gameplay

I would sooner say it's bad for story. Just look at Sacred Stones. Its story wasn't exactly mind-blowing, but the condensed nature of the story only made things worse.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Levant Mir Celestia

[eclipse]

IMO THIS is one of the localization's glaring errors.  There's ways to write Izana as less formal without making him sound completely unbelievable.

Fun fact: Izana and Iago shared hair care tips, and the entire attack happened when Izana let it slip that to Iago that the Hoshidans were behind the theft of his shampoo.

[Shadow Mir]

19 hours ago, Rezzy said:

I do remember it being tough last time I played it.

Are you expecting death, destruction, and diarrhea to plague you here?

[DisobeyedCargo]

2 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Are you expecting death, destruction, and diarrhea to plague you here?

North and South Korea!

Poo poo! Poo poo!

Edited June 2, 2018 by DisobeyedCargo

[Vaximillian]

44 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

To be fair, he runs a Archduchy, not a kingdom, but maybe I'm just splitting hairs.

As far as I know, the only archduchy IRL was Austria, and that was a kingdom status in all but the name. There was only one king in the Holy Roman Empire—the king of Bohemia—and other rulers were forbidden to take up the royal title. The Austrian duke forged a deed which entitled him to an “archduchy” with rights basically equal to a kingdom because he wasn’t allotted a seat on the College of Electors. The current emperor refused to accept the obvious forgery until the duke’s relative became emperor in about hundred years, when he granted himself permission to use the archducal title. Holy Roman Empire was… a complicated thing.

Anyway, all these words summarised: the translation goofed up (remember FE7’s marquesses who didn’t rule any marches?) but archduke is almost a king.

[Rezzy]

4 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

I would sooner say it's bad for story. Just look at Sacred Stones. Its story wasn't exactly mind-blowing, but the condensed nature of the story only made things worse.

I guess it's all about pacing.

4 hours ago, eclipse said:

IMO THIS is one of the localization's glaring errors.  There's ways to write Izana as less formal without making him sound completely unbelievable.

Fun fact: Izana and Iago shared hair care tips, and the entire attack happened when Izana let it slip that to Iago that the Hoshidans were behind the theft of his shampoo.

How's he sound in the Japanese version?

That dastard

4 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Are you expecting death, destruction, and diarrhea to plague you here?

Yep

3 hours ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

North and South Korea!

Poo poo! Poo poo!

If Azura has her way, this war would also last 68 years.

3 hours ago, Vaximillian said:

As far as I know, the only archduchy IRL was Austria, and that was a kingdom status in all but the name. There was only one king in the Holy Roman Empire—the king of Bohemia—and other rulers were forbidden to take up the royal title. The Austrian duke forged a deed which entitled him to an “archduchy” with rights basically equal to a kingdom because he wasn’t allotted a seat on the College of Electors. The current emperor refused to accept the obvious forgery until the duke’s relative became emperor in about hundred years, when he granted himself permission to use the archducal title. Holy Roman Empire was… a complicated thing.

Anyway, all these words summarised: the translation goofed up (remember FE7’s marquesses who didn’t rule any marches?) but archduke is almost a king.

I'm not sure the Fates writers deserve the benefit of the doubt here.

 

We're still pretending that Izumo's neutrality is important, which makes the later development all the more frustrating.

Spoilers: nothing ever comes of it.  Thankfully Xander respects the rules of war.

Yeah, it's actually Azura pulling all the strings.

Isn't it obvious?  Ryoma has come to claim the title of "Best Hair" this year.

Yeah, maybe you should have crowned yourself king by now, so you'd have a little more authority.

It's funny how none of this ever came up back in Nestra.

Really gunning for that "Best Hair" award, isn't he?

It seems that Nohr has infiltrated Izana's palace.

Or maybe Izana has decided to join our side in the war.  Hopefully he didn't hear from Kotaro's people how we treat our allies.

So, this should end right here, really.  Xander appears to be mid to late 20s.  He's the crown prince, of age, and likely the second in command only to Garon.  Zola appears to be acting on his own and not directly by Garon's order, so there's no reason not to do as Xander asks here.

And I'm not left handed!

At least Zola kept Izana alive, so this diplomatic crisis can be resolved peacefully.

Slow down there, Zippy.  Why kill them now?  They are far more valuable alive.  Alive, you can use them to march into Hoshido and take the capital peacefully.  Kill the entire royal family, and they'll likely fight to the death to protect their country.

Even if you want to kill Ryoma and Takumi, keep Hinoka and/or Sakura alive, so Xander can marry them to legitimize Nohr's claim to the Hoshidan throne.

So, we see that Garon does not know of this plan, so there is no reason not to listen to Xander here.  Even if he blabs to Garon later, right now, he is duty bound to listen to the crown prince's wishes.  Xander is well within his rights to issue orders here.

Capturing the Hoshidan Royal Family: Good, Violating a Neutral Country's Sovereignty to Do It: Bad

Did we forget that Izumo is supposed to be neutral?

Yes, we could, but keeping them alive, at least for now, would make that a lot easier.

WHY?  By what authority?  They're far more valuable to us as prisoners, and even if sentencing people to death is Daddy Garon's favorite pass time, the execution of the royal family seems like something that should be ordered by someone more important than some random underling.

But Xander, you attack Kotaro along with me!  Oh, you don't mean my treachery.

You know, there's a spectrum between murdering them in cold blood and just letting them go.  Of course we could have already captured them twice over if we didn't just let them go every time we beat them.

You know, Xander, you could relieve Zola of command.  Say "Zola, you are relieved of command, and I am taking these prisoners!  We will use them to force Hoshido itself into surrender.  If they do not comply, then their crown prince dies."  Even if Zola protests, I'd bet that most of the Nohrian army would side with Xander over Zola.  Let them go, and murder them right now are not the only two options.

Rezzi appreciates that Xander will prolong this war, so more innocent civilians can suffer in this war of hers.

It's the writing, Xander.

[eclipse]

32 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

How's he sound in the Japanese version?

Less formal than what you'd expect of a lord, but nothing as ridiculous as this.

[Rezzy]

10 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Less formal than what you'd expect of a lord, but nothing as ridiculous as this.

It's always hard to tell what is the fault of localization and what was intended to be that way.

Even with him being this way, I like Izana and wish he A got more supports and B didn't get screwed over in Revelations.

[Shadow Mir]

5 hours ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

North and South Korea!

Poo poo! Poo poo!

Murder! Death and constipation! Bathroom time frustration! All the western nations! I have IBS!

...okay, got that out of my system.

1 hour ago, Rezzy said:

I guess it's all about pacing.

 Perhaps. And pacing was one of many aspects SS screwed up on. It does not help that there were too many filler fights against monsters that didn't add to the plot. Or that Eirika's part of the story felt more like some random filler arc.

[Julius Nepos]

On 1-6-2018 at 2:26 AM, Rezzy said:

I wonder how the supports go in the Japanese version or if it's a localization thing.

I've noticed that when Leo calls Elise a child in the supports, that bit is always cut in the English version.

On 2-6-2018 at 3:34 AM, Rezzy said:

While I prepare, enjoy this crappy drawing of Zola.

 

I love it.

9 hours ago, Rezzy said:

To be fair, he runs a Archduchy, not a kingdom, but maybe I'm just splitting hairs. @Septimius Severus

 

Izana remembers that he's the boss in the neutral territory.  I really wish they had taken the neutral nation's status into account more in the story.  The ramifications of engaging in hostilities in neutral territory never really seem to come up.  Remember how the Grand Ducks of Nestra did nothing while Hoshisdo and Nohr made a mockery of their neutrality like the DH makes a mockery of baseball?

I didn't even know the localization did this (it is consistently 'duchy' and 'duke' in the Japanese), and I can't really think of an explanation for them going back and forth between 'kingdom' and 'archduchy' other than 'bad writing'.

The Nestra situation is something I can't wrap my head around either. Nestra doesn't seem to have a military of any kind of significance compared to Hoshido or Nohr, so I could understand the duke more or less letting the whole thing slide to prevent a war against Nestra, but you'd expect there to be at least some kind of reaction?
At least here, there are probably no ramifications because the whole thing was kept secret (Zola never told Garon anything, of course Corrin et al. wouldn't tell Garon, the Hoshidans don't tell Garon and Izana is too grateful for being rescued to take any measures, presumably).

 

You also expressed my gripes with this chapter's writing very well. The chapter where Xander, who likes making a fuss about how he'd never betray Nohr, actually goes and commits treason. He's not even trying to resolve things legally and peacefully.
And Corrin's "I'm behind you 100%" doesn't make any sense, since her sole goal in this war is to get daddy Garon to sit on the Hoshidan throne and end the war as soon as possible. Even if Zola's methods are wrong, they could have ended the war right here. 

[Punished Dayni]

8 hours ago, Rezzy said:

It's funny how none of this ever came up back in Nestra.

Nohr has a strict killing rule: Do it.

Besides, those other nations in Nohr don't matter, because they're part of Nohr. Despite the fact that none of these nations really matter at all-

I'll just shut up before I get off topic.

8 hours ago, Rezzy said:

WHY?  By what authority?  They're far more valuable to us as prisoners, and even if sentencing people to death is Daddy Garon's favorite pass time, the execution of the royal family seems like something that should be ordered by someone more important than some random underling.

Well, it's all about killing your way to the top. He's just following orders.

It's a bonus just how high ranking they are.

8 hours ago, Rezzy said:

"I mean, I let my sister betray someone. But THIS time, it shall be punished!"

8 hours ago, Rezzy said:

You know, Xander, you could relieve Zola of command.  Say "Zola, you are relieved of command, and I am taking these prisoners!  We will use them to force Hoshido itself into surrender.  If they do not comply, then their crown prince dies."  Even if Zola protests, I'd bet that most of the Nohrian army would side with Xander over Zola.  Let them go, and murder them right now are not the only two options.

Xander's just living by his code of justice being an illusion.

I mean, there's not much justice in just letting them go after all they've done in Nohr, though execution will also lack justice and involve plenty of treachery. Must be the treachery that's putting Xander off. Only Corrin can do it then?

8 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Rezzi appreciates that Xander will prolong this war, so more innocent civilians can suffer in this war of hers.

Azura must be proud of her pawn.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Dayni