For the record, I like to believe that this entire run is a dream Judith Howell has after she's sedated during the storming of the Servants HQ by a strike team belonging to one of the not crazy factions.
Patient reports "prophetic visions" in between sedation. Cites them as her reason for unbridled aggression towards medical staff. We only administer medication with the help of our most burly assistants. Frankly it's inhumane to keep her like this. Some of the doctors may have ideas for how to treat her but she does not want help. The Pherocytes in her system seems to have permanently altered her. -Nurse Thuy, 203X
Frankly, I find it interesting to see their rationale and how people might delude themselves into certain ideologies. But you can't understand their approach if you "yadda-yadda" over all their story inputs. Ultimately, they're a cult, not unlike MAGA - starting from "everything sucks, perhaps X knows best" into excusing missteps and getting deeper and deeper into denial and "learning to love the bomb". I find it extremely insightful to follow the rabbit hole, even if it's all fictional and rather idiotic. But then again, HF is also rather idiotic and probably responsible for more human death and suffering than the Servants.
so yeah I do appreciate the writing of the Servants being competent and true to actual IRL cults. Frankly I don't understand why they're not the "tutorial" -run you tell everyone who's new to start with, since they're so much easier to play but still make you engage with most of the game's systems.
Perun is a very good entertainer. 1st half of video is an absolute SALT MINE then the attitude gradually softens till he plays it off as a professional at the end.
„So it is 2040 and our Protectorate Ships are more powerful than the Aliens, Humanity First has some guy called Max who killed off the entire Servant movement, the Initiative has drowned an Alien army in T-72s but we should still surrender, because the Aliens have yet to send in their real forces“
@@davidrossa4125 this is absolutly what some people would say... want proof, just replace "Aliens" with "Russia", and it suddenly sounds really familiar...
Actually, as an American, I find the Servants to be scarily realistic. It's all faith-based thinking. They've never met an alien - never even _saw_ one - but they still imagine they know what they're like. Because they have faith!
@@Bill_Garthright the bible belt would easily fall to the servants but the Midwest and pacific would go full humanity first. Think of all the doomsday prepers who are now purely focused on fight aliens. It would be interesting in the US
its kinda sad that the servants are so easy, because I love the idea of being against the rest of humanity trying to help the aliens from the shadows, its a concept that is so rare to see. also Judith's writing seems a lot more interesting that I expected, I was imagine she would just be the standard lazy crazy fanatic, but she has some depth.
My hope is that in future iterations of the game, the human AI will improve significantly and the tempo/type of alien operations will be adjusted to make the human vs human game much more significant in the 2020s. Not sure how easy it would be to adjust the 'phases' of a standard game, but I'd like a race to prepare (while the servants sabotage) while the aliens only run cover operations and the Servants (with covert xenos aid) and Protectorate become the early game space threat for most factions.
Yea, I was wondering if a Servant run could be done with SIGNFICANT handicaps in terms of what you can control and do [no territorial expansion, everything must be covert], but otherwise it seems far too easy for Perun haha. But it does feel like even then, you'd need significant changes to the flow of the game to be able to do that for a real length of time. Ah well lol.
@@Cyrribrae playing servant on the hardest difficulty should mean the other AI get a lot of advantages, get extremely aggressive, and the Aliens get nerfed.
Yea, I was worried Judith's character would end up being pretty boilerplate and flat as well, but color me impressed that there is actually something interesting here. Maybe I might give the initiative a try. They seemed pretty flat as well, but maybe there's also something more there than just the stereo typical "greedy corpos being greedy" thing.
Request to play as The Resistance and gun for the Phoenix achievement, which requires you to play and win as the Resistance after the Servants or The Protectorate have met their win conditions.
She does occasionally raise valid points, showing she is not just some drugged madwoman. Like asking why would the aliens 'crash' if they have come from so far perfectly fine. So thats neat, she is portrayed similar to Sister Miriam in Alpha Centauri. Religious zealots, but not stupid.
@@Runetrantor Most cult leaders aren't usually completely brain dead, but she really is just a drugged madwoman with a bit more charisma and leadership skills than the average. If someone lacks the capacity to make extremely basic observations about the world, they usually do not last long. I have occasionally met people like that, they are typically quite separate from crackpot conspiracy theorists, drugged up lunatics, and the whatnot. The former are basically incapable of living life without external support, the latter often find themselves participating or starting scams, grifts, and ponzi schemes. She is the latter, not particularly unusual other than her influence and being at the right place and time to take advantage of the aliens arriving.
@@Runetrantor you should rewatch what she actually said because there was nothing smart about it. Her logic: aircraft are safe because humans smart=> alien space craft must be safer because aliens smarter => aliens crashed for a reason. This is not smart this is basic logic. She IS just some drugged madwoman.
that's the thing with the servants, they don't become the hydra's tool on earth because they give the aliens what they want, that's the partectorets thing, they become the alien's tool because they understand and empathize with the aliens the most.
Ironically, the Servants leave Earth in a better position than the Protectorate, which has us locked down under orbital lasers. The Servants see the surrender demands and deem them insulting and get better ones for us to at least work beside the Hydra and gain their trust. Protectorate fold like wet paper instead.
@@coopsbomb4 Yeah... the Illuminati want to maintain the status quo. They do not want a "better" Earth. They want the economical divides to remain, so they can control and manipulate from behind the scenes. The Hydra have more compassion than the Initiative.
Not going to lie, I was kinda looking forward to this one - the speedrun was a given, but at least we'll get to see mechanics normally not seen on this channel because there is never an alien nation. And it is a pleasant surprise that the Servant story is almost reasonable, so far. As much as a cult can be reasonable, at any rate :P
"Make the host and the guest exchange roles." Judith is making a huge long-term power play by offering Earth's voluntary vassalage, she asserts mankind can serve better as the curators of the Hydras' technology and shapers of their culture instead of as slaves and disposable shock troops. Thus putting mankind in a position to usurp their interstellar empire. It's brilliant.
I mean she's not strictly speaking wrong: The hydra's actions *are* driven by cultural trauma and healing that trauma is important. I'm not sure that surrendering earth's independence is an acceptable price to pay for that, but... I guess if our alien overlords are mentally healthy and able to get over their fears they can be pretty good overlords?
"I cant believe your all making me do this" For the record I did not vote for this option... ok maybe I did because it seemed like a jolly good laugh at the time. But you did put this up as an option... which I admitedly could have, and possibly should have, voted against... But it was an option, and if there is something I know about the internet, its that people will vote for the most hilariously painful option every time, without fail. Look on the bright side, it could have been worse. This could have been a Protectorate playthrough.
Judith is either a 5d chess grandmaster by befriending the alien and tearing them apart from the inside or she is your regular lunatic old lady that inhaled too much crack laced meditation incense, probably the latter
if anyone see this the protectorate is objectively the worst ending I wont spoil but ill say this the leader of the faction is a cynical woe is me character that hates humanity and dispite being proven wrong over and over showing humanity can fight back and humanity is capable to great change and 50% of his faction leaving him he still sells out humanity
The Servants are a really great faction to play as your first faction, because you can learn the game without too much pressure, and without needing to go deep on the space part of the game. The Servants are the game's easy mode for sure.
Quick note: IIRC, when playing as the Servants, difficulty effects on the aliens are reversed. You are not playing on Brutal -- everyone else is playing on Cinematic. Have fun!
I mean, when I tried Servants on Brutal about a month ago, the -2 penalty I got on any check which was against another faction directly certainly made things harder.
The writing for Judith Howell is really interesting. It reminds me of the foundation series by Isaac Asimov. More of a "Use psychology" based approach, as opposed to the other factions "Build better warships" approach. "Conquer them from within as that is where they are weakest" idea is a really interesting change of approach that I think could really lend to almost an entirely different game if the developers really implement mechanical systems to support it and to me, really helps to support the more 'open' design I find sandbox games I like most have. I'm really impressed by the quality of Terra Invicta in terms of story writing so far, I think the writing has been very good for all 3 factions Perun has played through so far.
The real aliens would just laugh a this and demand you be the Academy or Protectorate instead. Servants: "You are gods." Real Aliens: "Please stop, this makes us feel very uncomfortable." Protectorate: "Do whatever you want, just don't hurt us." Real Aliens: "Um... Better-ish." Academy: "We want to learn from you and become equals." Real Aliens: "Perfect." Humanity First: "Death to all..." Real Aliens: "No. Grow up."
I'm wondering how Judith knows so much accurate information about the Hydra and their motivations before ever meeting them. Is she psychic or was she somehow contacted before the game even started?
Initially I was appalled that you were playing the servants, but it has been hilarious to hear your comments and personal disgust in having to play them, so I for one fully endorse the public vote 🤣🤣
Nah that's clearly the protectorate, if you watch the simpson clip it's hilarious how close it is to the protectorate's ideals, the devs probably based the entire faction off of it ua-cam.com/video/8lcUHQYhPTE/v-deo.html The servants are so insane that the only way the devs could try to explain them is by saying they were just religiously insane people who worship the aliens, I feel like it's still a cool concept, they should make it so the servants are extremely popular in all the nations that are very religious, those are usually the third world, this would create a dymanic where players will always go for the superpowers, not uganda, but as they do, the servants would be able to create a lot of problems for earth by gaining access to a huge population and landmass for xenoforming, that doesn't provide enough ressources for a player to want to ever take over, but, that does provide a lot of power to the aliens
I remember doing a Servants playthrough. I gave the aliens China, and they went on a fun rampage through Asia. Nuclear winter happened as they tried to grab Russia. I decided I was bored once I realized that going to space wasn’t needed at all, and once the alien nation shattered because of incohesion, I decided the playthrough wasn’t worth continuing.
And yet somehow the theocracy isn't as odious as the corpos :D Really enjoying the playthroughs, Perun. I know this is kind of a drag for you after you spent so much time swatting the xenos, but if the game truly wants to be one that has excellent asymmetry, the devs need to get this faction right, too. I will be looking forward to seeing what is different about the gameplay mechanics to get a Servant win...
I was thinking to try to do a minimalist Exodus playthrough, take over as little of earth as possible/needed, focus exclusively on the critical space technologies needed for the Ark, don't even bother developing and building weapons on ships(at least until after they get attacked), and so on.
Perun X Servants; The Collaboration everyone wanted And of course he starts his journey to glory in the USA, the western country with the weirdest religious and/or militant cults.
The U.S. has far from the weirdest religious and militant cults. Get out of here with that shit. US groups aren't still crucifying people, for one, or throwing them off of roofs. Or beheading them for not being virgins.
It's my precious homeland of the USA. You just *know* that at least a third of the population would welcome the alien overlords if anyone in one of the political parties says that they are an enemy.
I just finished my Brutal-Servants playthrough. You will want to put an emphasis on Espionage on your Councilors and having them hide away whenever they are detected by HF or the Resistance, or they will be dead. I used China and Russia as my center of power and it worked fine. I always had enough military and nuclear power to deter the AI. Due to laziness, I got beat-up on Mars in the late-game but at the same time I completely took over the Earth orbitals. You have no reason not to stack up the Earth interface orbitals. Overall it's a pretty straight-forward path to victory with the Servants on Brutal difficulity. I think the biggest question is which nation to start the alien nation with? I picked Iran, and used them to take over the middle east and Africa. If I did it again, I would pick a nation with higher military to be the nucleus, since I rapidly built up the aliens to a huge number of armies but they were always little atomic-age zerglings. This could be instead, for example, Israel or Singapore. Ideally you would give the Alyys the USA as their starting point, as no one else in the Americas has nukes and they had such a strong military. Edit: I did it without any nukes being fired on Earth with ease, and I finished in 2035 without trying to do a speed-run.
Protectorate are even more pathetic. When the aliens make contact and give their demands, Protectorate just accept it. The Servants, the ones who follow them religiously, figure out that it's a bad idea to just take the first terms offered because it means humans will never grow closer to the Aliens. The Servants also oddly enough intuit that the Hydra act not out of contempt or base nature but a learned paranoia. The Protectorate just doesn't care. The Aliens are strong, give up. They're the most Quisling, self defeating and self serving group imaginable. I was hoping it'd be more Dr. Breen from Half-Life, selling humanity for perks. They're more like, Vichy France.
0:06 don't blame me, it was the only terra invicta campaign in that vote, i wanna see exodus or initiative but a Terra Invicta campaign is a Terra Invicta campaign, and Terra Invicta campaign is gud. Also thanks for showing Battle Brothers, got the game myself and i'm having a blast
I, for one, welcome our alien overlords! Perun's self-loathing and constant insults to the Servants even as he leads them to glorious victory is just the icing on the cake
Ok, I'm only a quarter or so into this video, but it is hilarious. For the record, though, being on Brutal is going to give a -2 on any check which is directly against another faction. So if this hasn't been discovered yet, I'm putting it out there so people realize that playing on Brutal does still matter, even as the Servants.
Such a fun style. I resisted looking into this game for a long time. I found myself watching this only because of the geopolitical content on your other channel…. Then I had to buy it. Well played, sir!
I feel and share your pain. But it's interesting to see this from a completely different perspective. These nutjobs somewhat remind me of the Brotherhood of Nod. Thanks for this sacrifice!
I’m curious what the plan of the Servants is, because I’m getting the vibe that there’s a secret ulterior motive at play here. It seems to be the one faction where the leader tells us to trust them without actually explaining their plan
It seems like she wants to run a turn about play on them. Shes all like "we have to teach you not to fear" I get the feeling that she wants to cozy up to Hydra leadership and become the woman behind the throne pulling the strings of the hydra.
I would have wanted a Protectorate run for maximum Perun suffering. Even servants refuse the Protectorate endgame and negotiate something (arguably) better
The salt was glorious. I'll admit it felt a little bad when you just started up on the US but I don't begrudge you trying to speedrun this. And it is an interesting direction they're taking it - "let's be the Hydra's therapists"
Look, there is something out there that can almost wipe out the Hydra. We are better off joining with them if we want any chance to survive. (If we know how this faction plays, it becomes easier to beat them)
The further I'm getting into your video, listening to this woman the more certain I am that she views these super-advanced interstellar civilization aliens as small children who need her to be their mom. I'm 100% certain that's her schtick now.
Hey, it could be worse, you could have had to play the Protectorate. That said, I do love how utterly defeated you sound. Like you are still the HF commander under Castille, forced at gunpoint to work for the Servants and you are doing it, but you will make it abundantly clear how much you hate all of this at every step of the way.
Hey, i enjoy your playthroughs! Id love to see a playthrough where you literally unite the entire world in one nation, according to reddit it is entirely possible with a bit of moving capital shenanigans. It seems quite hard but i think it'd be great content!
![John Tesla transforms the child malastors of space station 14 into pure coaluim [ss14]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OVZeu6Qr1yU/mqdefault.jpg)
For the record, I like to believe that this entire run is a dream Judith Howell has after she's sedated during the storming of the Servants HQ by a strike team belonging to one of the not crazy factions.
Copium, this is canon now (appreciate your stuff btw)
Patient reports "prophetic visions" in between sedation. Cites them as her reason for unbridled aggression towards medical staff. We only administer medication with the help of our most burly assistants. Frankly it's inhumane to keep her like this. Some of the doctors may have ideas for how to treat her but she does not want help. The Pherocytes in her system seems to have permanently altered her.
-Nurse Thuy, 203X
Now I have an image of Max Picardo in my head where he is driving an ambulance, and delivering Judith to the mental hospital. (:
Frankly, I find it interesting to see their rationale and how people might delude themselves into certain ideologies. But you can't understand their approach if you "yadda-yadda" over all their story inputs.
Ultimately, they're a cult, not unlike MAGA - starting from "everything sucks, perhaps X knows best" into excusing missteps and getting deeper and deeper into denial and "learning to love the bomb". I find it extremely insightful to follow the rabbit hole, even if it's all fictional and rather idiotic. But then again, HF is also rather idiotic and probably responsible for more human death and suffering than the Servants.
so yeah I do appreciate the writing of the Servants being competent and true to actual IRL cults. Frankly I don't understand why they're not the "tutorial" -run you tell everyone who's new to start with, since they're so much easier to play but still make you engage with most of the game's systems.
Viewers: votes for servants
Perun: "my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined"
I came here expecting a Perun video, I instead found the biggest natural reservoir of salt on Earth.
Perun is a very good entertainer. 1st half of video is an absolute SALT MINE then the attitude gradually softens till he plays it off as a professional at the end.
"Cash Bland" does sound exactly like the sort of fake name an 18 year old would come up with when striking out into a new career as a spy.
Once upon a time, I had a banker with a first name of Kash.
It also sounds like the movie character name of the sort of an 18 year old actor would play in some teenager spy movie.
I love how Peru almost got to hire Mario this game. Letsego from Mozambique. 😅😂
Is he working out of his parents basement?
He is connected at least, so he has some potential in this new life of his.
The second most painful, just imagine playing the Protectorate and see you rage because you would have to actively force Earth to surrender 🤣
worse, having to fight, realising we can win, and then surrendering anyway.
„So it is 2040 and our Protectorate Ships are more powerful than the Aliens, Humanity First has some guy called Max who killed off the entire Servant movement, the Initiative has drowned an Alien army in T-72s but we should still surrender, because the Aliens have yet to send in their real forces“
@@davidrossa4125 this is absolutly what some people would say... want proof, just replace "Aliens" with "Russia", and it suddenly sounds really familiar...
@@randombystander5324 that's the joke. Lol
@@davidrossa4125 "It's all going according to the Alien plans."
>Aliens invade our solar system
>USA instantly surrenders and turns traitor
Doomed world playthrough
the most realistic timeline
Zap Branigan was probably running the operation.
Actually, as an American, I find the Servants to be scarily realistic. It's all faith-based thinking. They've never met an alien - never even _saw_ one - but they still imagine they know what they're like. Because they have faith!
@@Bill_Garthright you raise a good point and he gets an in game event saying that the servants gained a strong base with devout Christian’s
@@Bill_Garthright the bible belt would easily fall to the servants but the Midwest and pacific would go full humanity first. Think of all the doomsday prepers who are now purely focused on fight aliens. It would be interesting in the US
its kinda sad that the servants are so easy, because I love the idea of being against the rest of humanity trying to help the aliens from the shadows, its a concept that is so rare to see. also Judith's writing seems a lot more interesting that I expected, I was imagine she would just be the standard lazy crazy fanatic, but she has some depth.
My hope is that in future iterations of the game, the human AI will improve significantly and the tempo/type of alien operations will be adjusted to make the human vs human game much more significant in the 2020s. Not sure how easy it would be to adjust the 'phases' of a standard game, but I'd like a race to prepare (while the servants sabotage) while the aliens only run cover operations and the Servants (with covert xenos aid) and Protectorate become the early game space threat for most factions.
Yea, I was wondering if a Servant run could be done with SIGNFICANT handicaps in terms of what you can control and do [no territorial expansion, everything must be covert], but otherwise it seems far too easy for Perun haha. But it does feel like even then, you'd need significant changes to the flow of the game to be able to do that for a real length of time. Ah well lol.
@@Cyrribrae playing servant on the hardest difficulty should mean the other AI get a lot of advantages, get extremely aggressive, and the Aliens get nerfed.
Yes, HF officer. It's this one right here.
Yea, I was worried Judith's character would end up being pretty boilerplate and flat as well, but color me impressed that there is actually something interesting here. Maybe I might give the initiative a try. They seemed pretty flat as well, but maybe there's also something more there than just the stereo typical "greedy corpos being greedy" thing.
„Oh we got a critical failure, who cares, WE ARE PLAYING A CRITICAL FAILURE!“
Request to play as The Resistance and gun for the Phoenix achievement, which requires you to play and win as the Resistance after the Servants or The Protectorate have met their win conditions.
that sounds disgusting
Huh. Gotta wonder what story pop-ups are involved in that.
Eesh.
Probably wouldn't be too awful though honestly, just have to massively lean into the space game and let earth fall apart.
Pheonix? Are you sure it isn't called X-Com 2?
Heck, you could have both games, call a standard resistance win X-Com 1.
@@erikvale3194XCOM1 and 2.
X-COM 2 they come from the deep :)
X-Com 3 it's interdimensional and a bit more squishy.
I'm old :(
Judith is a manifestation of that "Source? It was revealed to me in a dream." meme.
She does occasionally raise valid points, showing she is not just some drugged madwoman.
Like asking why would the aliens 'crash' if they have come from so far perfectly fine.
So thats neat, she is portrayed similar to Sister Miriam in Alpha Centauri. Religious zealots, but not stupid.
@@Runetrantor Most cult leaders aren't usually completely brain dead, but she really is just a drugged madwoman with a bit more charisma and leadership skills than the average. If someone lacks the capacity to make extremely basic observations about the world, they usually do not last long. I have occasionally met people like that, they are typically quite separate from crackpot conspiracy theorists, drugged up lunatics, and the whatnot. The former are basically incapable of living life without external support, the latter often find themselves participating or starting scams, grifts, and ponzi schemes. She is the latter, not particularly unusual other than her influence and being at the right place and time to take advantage of the aliens arriving.
@@Runetrantor you should rewatch what she actually said because there was nothing smart about it.
Her logic: aircraft are safe because humans smart=> alien space craft must be safer because aliens smarter => aliens crashed for a reason. This is not smart this is basic logic. She IS just some drugged madwoman.
It is kinda neat that the Servants are the first ones to start questioning whether the crash really was an accident.
that's the thing with the servants, they don't become the hydra's tool on earth because they give the aliens what they want, that's the partectorets thing, they become the alien's tool because they understand and empathize with the aliens the most.
And that argument is the only thing out of Judith's mouth to make sense in the entire video
Ironically, the Servants leave Earth in a better position than the Protectorate, which has us locked down under orbital lasers.
The Servants see the surrender demands and deem them insulting and get better ones for us to at least work beside the Hydra and gain their trust.
Protectorate fold like wet paper instead.
Perun: "We're the bad guys"
Initiative and Protectorate, in unison: hold our entire global supply of beer
Initiative isn't even close to being the bad guys, they end up pulling a fast one on the aliens and enslaving them back.
@@coopsbomb4 And all the humans too...
@@coopsbomb4 Yeah... the Illuminati want to maintain the status quo. They do not want a "better" Earth. They want the economical divides to remain, so they can control and manipulate from behind the scenes. The Hydra have more compassion than the Initiative.
@@coopsbomb4 Ah yes, something a good guy would do XD
Judith, are we the baddies?
Not going to lie, I was kinda looking forward to this one - the speedrun was a given, but at least we'll get to see mechanics normally not seen on this channel because there is never an alien nation. And it is a pleasant surprise that the Servant story is almost reasonable, so far. As much as a cult can be reasonable, at any rate :P
The CONVERSION of Perun is progressing nicely. Note how Perun's attitude towards the servants has mellowed by the end of the run.
The Indoctrination goes well
This is going to make the weekly non gaming video 'interesting' 🤣
Man, it’s crazy how detailed this fever dream miss Judith is having. I’m sure Max will be around to help her soon.
"Don't let people vote for outcomes you don't want" seems to be the moral we should learn from the last 6 or so years IRL
"Make the host and the guest exchange roles." Judith is making a huge long-term power play by offering Earth's voluntary vassalage, she asserts mankind can serve better as the curators of the Hydras' technology and shapers of their culture instead of as slaves and disposable shock troops. Thus putting mankind in a position to usurp their interstellar empire. It's brilliant.
I think it's hilarious that Judith is like becoming the Hydra's therapist.
That was definitely my impression too hahaha. What a strange way for this to go.
yeh. The game does a really good job at making every faction compelling when you're playing them. Except maybe the initiative.
I mean she's not strictly speaking wrong: The hydra's actions *are* driven by cultural trauma and healing that trauma is important. I'm not sure that surrendering earth's independence is an acceptable price to pay for that, but... I guess if our alien overlords are mentally healthy and able to get over their fears they can be pretty good overlords?
@@tortugagreen9924 The Hydra canonically HAVE been benevolent in the past.
"Now where on the doll did those Salamanders hurt you?"
After seeing 20 minutes of the playtrough, I have just one solid conclusion:
Miss Judith is into some REALLY, REALLY kinky stuff
You were the chosen one, Perun! You were supposed to destroy the aliens, not join them!
"I cant believe your all making me do this"
For the record I did not vote for this option... ok maybe I did because it seemed like a jolly good laugh at the time.
But you did put this up as an option... which I admitedly could have, and possibly should have, voted against... But it was an option, and if there is something I know about the internet, its that people will vote for the most hilariously painful option every time, without fail.
Look on the bright side, it could have been worse. This could have been a Protectorate playthrough.
I'm starting to think that Judith was, in fact, not on any drugs at all during the cat rant. She's always like that.
Judith is either a 5d chess grandmaster by befriending the alien and tearing them apart from the inside or she is your regular lunatic old lady that inhaled too much crack laced meditation incense, probably the latter
I instictively saw purple councilors on the map and thought "Max should pay them a visit"
Max, come in Max. We have a new assignment for you.
If surrender monkeys was an option on that poll I would have selected that as I think you would 'enjoy' that even more than the servants.
Let's not try to make Perun cry. Protectorate is just suffering.
if anyone see this the protectorate is objectively the worst ending I wont spoil but ill say this the leader of the faction is a cynical woe is me character that hates humanity and dispite being proven wrong over and over showing humanity can fight back and humanity is capable to great change and 50% of his faction leaving him he still sells out humanity
Perun betrayed humanity. Compulsory human resource redistribute and realignment is required.
Where is Max when you need him?
The Servants are a really great faction to play as your first faction, because you can learn the game without too much pressure, and without needing to go deep on the space part of the game. The Servants are the game's easy mode for sure.
Agreed, it's also a great way to learn the aliens behavior and weaknesses.
6:07
Just hit the 6 minute mark and Perun says he will "fire this diplomat at the appropriate junction". I am predicting another Max situation.
I think by now he only makes that threat to one Councillor in every playthrough to motivate them all to become better 😇
Quick note: IIRC, when playing as the Servants, difficulty effects on the aliens are reversed. You are not playing on Brutal -- everyone else is playing on Cinematic. Have fun!
I mean, when I tried Servants on Brutal about a month ago, the -2 penalty I got on any check which was against another faction directly certainly made things harder.
Never have I seen Perun so distressed, and I'm all here for it 😆.
The writing for Judith Howell is really interesting. It reminds me of the foundation series by Isaac Asimov. More of a "Use psychology" based approach, as opposed to the other factions "Build better warships" approach. "Conquer them from within as that is where they are weakest" idea is a really interesting change of approach that I think could really lend to almost an entirely different game if the developers really implement mechanical systems to support it and to me, really helps to support the more 'open' design I find sandbox games I like most have.
I'm really impressed by the quality of Terra Invicta in terms of story writing so far, I think the writing has been very good for all 3 factions Perun has played through so far.
40:22 "weapons and technology can indeed protect you" Castillio : Okay, the dude hasn't completely lost it
The real aliens would just laugh a this and demand you be the Academy or Protectorate instead.
Servants: "You are gods."
Real Aliens: "Please stop, this makes us feel very uncomfortable."
Protectorate: "Do whatever you want, just don't hurt us."
Real Aliens: "Um... Better-ish."
Academy: "We want to learn from you and become equals."
Real Aliens: "Perfect."
Humanity First: "Death to all..."
Real Aliens: "No. Grow up."
I'm wondering how Judith knows so much accurate information about the Hydra and their motivations before ever meeting them. Is she psychic or was she somehow contacted before the game even started?
the living embodiment of "I for one welcome our new alien overlords"
I want to remind them that as a Media Darling Tech Mongul, I can be useful in rounding up other humans to work in their Volatiles Mines.
I'm kind of sad at how fast you're playing this, the servant's story is actually surprisingly good and has a twist I never saw coming.
Initially I was appalled that you were playing the servants, but it has been hilarious to hear your comments and personal disgust in having to play them, so I for one fully endorse the public vote 🤣🤣
22:46 servant membership is gonna skyrocket.
They are *so close* and yet *so far* from realizing the truth.
And I for one welcome our new Hydra overlords.
Nah that's clearly the protectorate, if you watch the simpson clip it's hilarious how close it is to the protectorate's ideals, the devs probably based the entire faction off of it
ua-cam.com/video/8lcUHQYhPTE/v-deo.html
The servants are so insane that the only way the devs could try to explain them is by saying they were just religiously insane people who worship the aliens, I feel like it's still a cool concept, they should make it so the servants are extremely popular in all the nations that are very religious, those are usually the third world, this would create a dymanic where players will always go for the superpowers, not uganda, but as they do, the servants would be able to create a lot of problems for earth by gaining access to a huge population and landmass for xenoforming, that doesn't provide enough ressources for a player to want to ever take over, but, that does provide a lot of power to the aliens
I don't care what anyone says...this is my favorite Perun video.
Fight me. 😛
Oh yeah I like this campaign too, faction is garbage tho.
Finally a proper Challenge Run worthy of you Perun!
I have laughed my ass off cuz Perun struggles about read the Servants text bullshit
I remember doing a Servants playthrough. I gave the aliens China, and they went on a fun rampage through Asia. Nuclear winter happened as they tried to grab Russia. I decided I was bored once I realized that going to space wasn’t needed at all, and once the alien nation shattered because of incohesion, I decided the playthrough wasn’t worth continuing.
i'd be much more willing to give in to the aliens if they make a good beer.
gotta be some perks to the ultimate betrayal, right?
Gotta say I voted Servants in the last poll specifically because I knew it would wound your soul. I'm proud of the lads for getting it in this time.
The madlad actually did it. Thank you, Perun.
Yeaaaah! I was waiting eagerly for this playthrough !
Thanks for listening the community :)
Death to the alien, death to the collaborators, humanity will rise to rule the stars.
Those of us watching in 2024 will hit 13:17 and realise that this is realistic game confirmed.
This is by far the best video i have seen from you to date! Love the salt and also the 'if i have to do it, ill speedrun it' attitude :)
And yet somehow the theocracy isn't as odious as the corpos :D
Really enjoying the playthroughs, Perun. I know this is kind of a drag for you after you spent so much time swatting the xenos, but if the game truly wants to be one that has excellent asymmetry, the devs need to get this faction right, too. I will be looking forward to seeing what is different about the gameplay mechanics to get a Servant win...
The absolute disgust is Perun’s voice for the intro, and just in general for this one, absolutely warms my heart.
Next one exodus, but before lunching ark you destroy earth with nukes so no alien ever will touch earth soil
I was thinking to try to do a minimalist Exodus playthrough, take over as little of earth as possible/needed, focus exclusively on the critical space technologies needed for the Ark, don't even bother developing and building weapons on ships(at least until after they get attacked), and so on.
This Run makes me wanna see one going for the win with the Resistance after the Servants or Protectorate win.
Perun: plays Servants
*Max wants to know your location*
So true...
Perun's next action: Go to ground. 😇
I'm sorry that this hurts you and it is so funny. I do feel your rage though after two excellent playthroughs of humanity winning against the aliens
Perun X Servants; The Collaboration everyone wanted
And of course he starts his journey to glory in the USA, the western country with the weirdest religious and/or militant cults.
South Korea has both too. Check out the gun-toting off-shoot of the Moonies.
The U.S. has far from the weirdest religious and militant cults. Get out of here with that shit.
US groups aren't still crucifying people, for one, or throwing them off of roofs. Or beheading them for not being virgins.
It's my precious homeland of the USA. You just *know* that at least a third of the population would welcome the alien overlords if anyone in one of the political parties says that they are an enemy.
Nice, I was hoping for a Servants run. Super interested in their mechanics and what makes playing as them different.
I hope it's not too weird to feel excitedly dirty with this run.
Good end: Max appears through the wormhole and Doomguys the Servants
I was looking forward to this one! Sorry, not sorry Perun!
I for one welcome the cleansing flame of our benevolent alien overlords. So long as they bring Advent burgers.
I just finished my Brutal-Servants playthrough. You will want to put an emphasis on Espionage on your Councilors and having them hide away whenever they are detected by HF or the Resistance, or they will be dead. I used China and Russia as my center of power and it worked fine. I always had enough military and nuclear power to deter the AI. Due to laziness, I got beat-up on Mars in the late-game but at the same time I completely took over the Earth orbitals. You have no reason not to stack up the Earth interface orbitals.
Overall it's a pretty straight-forward path to victory with the Servants on Brutal difficulity. I think the biggest question is which nation to start the alien nation with? I picked Iran, and used them to take over the middle east and Africa. If I did it again, I would pick a nation with higher military to be the nucleus, since I rapidly built up the aliens to a huge number of armies but they were always little atomic-age zerglings. This could be instead, for example, Israel or Singapore. Ideally you would give the Alyys the USA as their starting point, as no one else in the Americas has nukes and they had such a strong military.
Edit: I did it without any nukes being fired on Earth with ease, and I finished in 2035 without trying to do a speed-run.
The servants though misguided make a lot more sense when you play them and hear their side lol. I do wonder about the protectorate though.
Protectorate are even more pathetic. When the aliens make contact and give their demands, Protectorate just accept it. The Servants, the ones who follow them religiously, figure out that it's a bad idea to just take the first terms offered because it means humans will never grow closer to the Aliens. The Servants also oddly enough intuit that the Hydra act not out of contempt or base nature but a learned paranoia. The Protectorate just doesn't care. The Aliens are strong, give up. They're the most Quisling, self defeating and self serving group imaginable. I was hoping it'd be more Dr. Breen from Half-Life, selling humanity for perks. They're more like, Vichy France.
I Mean There is a Reason People Like the Servants,The Protectorate are Just Universally Hated
0:06 don't blame me, it was the only terra invicta campaign in that vote, i wanna see exodus or initiative but a Terra Invicta campaign is a Terra Invicta campaign, and Terra Invicta campaign is gud.
Also thanks for showing Battle Brothers, got the game myself and i'm having a blast
and i, for one, welcome our new hydra overlords
Aw I was hoping for an Exodus run. Guess we can watch the traitors run. For education purposes on my next next HF play through
I, for one, welcome our alien overlords! Perun's self-loathing and constant insults to the Servants even as he leads them to glorious victory is just the icing on the cake
You know what, the salt from Perun is amazing. It's so beautiful.
Perun must suffer for our sins. Through him we are redeemed and made dearer to the Emissaries.
Lol, I can feel Perun's disgust in his voice. A prime example of living long enough to be a villain
Ok, I'm only a quarter or so into this video, but it is hilarious.
For the record, though, being on Brutal is going to give a -2 on any check which is directly against another faction. So if this hasn't been discovered yet, I'm putting it out there so people realize that playing on Brutal does still matter, even as the Servants.
Ayys are also less aggressive than they otherwise would be so it takes longer for them to land and really establish a presence.
Your commentary through this playthrough is hilarious!
Such a fun style. I resisted looking into this game for a long time. I found myself watching this only because of the geopolitical content on your other channel…. Then I had to buy it. Well played, sir!
Ahhh this is going to be brilliant. :D
EPIC, I was waiting for a youtube video of someone playing the Servants... and I'm glad it's my favorite player!
I feel and share your pain. But it's interesting to see this from a completely different perspective. These nutjobs somewhat remind me of the Brotherhood of Nod. Thanks for this sacrifice!
Your obvious distaste somehow makes the playthrough even better. Thanks for suffering through this.
man, everytime you say hail Hydra, I'm thinking about Captain America
Would have been really funny if you put the whole run into one video and named it "E1 - END"
I’m curious what the plan of the Servants is, because I’m getting the vibe that there’s a secret ulterior motive at play here. It seems to be the one faction where the leader tells us to trust them without actually explaining their plan
"We won't become the alien's soldiers, we'll become their new pet cats!" - Judith Howell
It seems like she wants to run a turn about play on them. Shes all like "we have to teach you not to fear" I get the feeling that she wants to cozy up to Hydra leadership and become the woman behind the throne pulling the strings of the hydra.
@@kaymish6178 as a certain person from the Star Trek universe would say about her plan: "Sheer. Fucking. Hubris."
Oh joy! A new play through and as a Surrender Monkey as well! Love it!
I have me a Cash Bland in my current playthrough! Poor bugger looks scarily like me. Thanks for saving me from playing these nutjobs!
That's a lovely video, best intro you've had so far :D
I would have wanted a Protectorate run for maximum Perun suffering. Even servants refuse the Protectorate endgame and negotiate something (arguably) better
Not going to lie, it is very entertaining watching you loathe your faction.
The salt was glorious. I'll admit it felt a little bad when you just started up on the US but I don't begrudge you trying to speedrun this.
And it is an interesting direction they're taking it - "let's be the Hydra's therapists"
Perun **organizes a vote**
Subs **pick Servant playthrough**
Perun "I can't believe you've done this"
The salt is delicious :3
Hahaha, I knew this was going to be your reaction when I saw the poll and I'm not going nna lie, I'm here for it.
Look, there is something out there that can almost wipe out the Hydra. We are better off joining with them if we want any chance to survive.
(If we know how this faction plays, it becomes easier to beat them)
The 18 year old hacker known as Cash Bland.
Don't worry, this is all for the Greater Good. Thanks for putting up for this.
At last, we're going to break Perun!
Im just happy we get more uploads again, i need quantity
The further I'm getting into your video, listening to this woman the more certain I am that she views these super-advanced interstellar civilization aliens as small children who need her to be their mom. I'm 100% certain that's her schtick now.
Hey, it could be worse, you could have had to play the Protectorate.
That said, I do love how utterly defeated you sound.
Like you are still the HF commander under Castille, forced at gunpoint to work for the Servants and you are doing it, but you will make it abundantly clear how much you hate all of this at every step of the way.
Have to give you props perun, after the resistance and HF runs I tried to do servants and just couldn't bring myself to.
Cash Bland, the 18 year old spy joining an alien-worshipping cult feels like a Hideo Kojima character
Hey, i enjoy your playthroughs! Id love to see a playthrough where you literally unite the entire world in one nation, according to reddit it is entirely possible with a bit of moving capital shenanigans. It seems quite hard but i think it'd be great content!