Urapara - [finished - Abysia + TC win]

[DonCorazon]

The sons of Grom prepare to make their final stand. Shin, we are removing all spies from your forts. In return, we ask that you bring you your pretender for one last showdown at our last remaining citadel.

[Zeldor]

Didn't he do it already? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[spacht]

The mighty Malaranthus laughs at this challenge. Ulm is no longer a worthy opponent, its so-called god brought down, pounded into dust and strewn into the sea. Soon only the keep of Ulm will remain as the last and powerful symbol of the former ulmish oppression. So, go back, ambassador, and live out your few remaining days knowing you will never again ...arrrgggghhlll... *sickening crunch of neck snapping*

What is this nonsense?! I, Malaranthus, never refuse a challenge. But Grom and his prophet are long dead. So who is this mortal who has the courage to stand against a god?

[DonCorazon]

The Last Prophet of Grom, and High Captain of the Remaining Order of Black Knights of Ulm issues this request. We wish to die with honor crossing blades with our oldest enemy, rather than grow old and waste away in this cursed ocean front citadel.

[DonCorazon]

REJOICE URAPARA!! Miracle of miracles!
If only Grom were alive to see...
The Last Legion of Ulm has won its first victory ever against Shinuyama's regiment that has tormented Ulm since the earliest of days. Many 3-star trolls and crack samurai archers were put to the blade, and that rascal Malaranthus was sent running with greybeard between his evil little legs. How close we were to cleaving him in two...

[Zeldor]

Heh, all that Knights made my Dominions crash...

[spacht]

That was battle to Malaranthus' liking, vastly outnumbered by the enemy and yet putting most of them to the sword. Too bad Malaranthus didn't receive some battle scar. It would've looked nice on all the statues erected for him after his ascension to true godhood.

[Zeldor]

After that turn we have a break, till I get back on net. I am 99% sure it will be on Monday, there is slight chance it will be 1-2 days later or even on Sunday. If I won't be able to get on net I will surely go into cafe and send turns from there.

[DonCorazon]

spacht said:
That was battle to Malaranthus' liking, vastly outnumbered by the enemy and yet putting most of them to the sword.



Upon closer review, most Ulmish casualties were victims of our own semi-blind smiths trying to fire off bladewinds into the darkness.

Anyway, Ulm will now quietly slip away into defeat (though we will try to chase Malaranthus and give him that scar he so craves. And I know exactly what to cut off if we can catch him again, and it won't be his beard!)

[Firewalker]

Well, Abysians, we see that not all horrors come in the waking world, but also in the realm of sleep. We give you our condolences regarding the death of Belial, murdered in a nightmare by 166 Freddie Kruger look-alikes. We understand that it was quite a mess awaiting his personal servants when they came into his bed chambers that morning. But, then again, he got what he deserved.

{Hmm, what do Abysians sleep on -- stone beds? Being so hot must cause awful back pains.}

[Zeldor]

Ha!

"the deadline for the next hosting has been automatically postponed by inf hours"

[Firewalker]

Llamabeast's server can calculate infinity? That's some pretty good coding ...

[parcelt]

Bandar, thanks for your sympathy.

Also, thanks for those boats you brought us, some of my warlocks have been nagging me forever about going sailing!

[Firewalker]

Abysia, you are quite welcome. Talking apes apparently make poor sailors. Try not to let the water splash aboard if you decide to come sight seeing. There some fascinating Arcoscephalian ruins to check out. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Firewalker]

Zeldor (T'ien-chi) asked that I post a note that he will get to his turn for this game tomorrow as he is strapped for time.

[DonCorazon]

Malaranthus, come out of hiding and face the revenge of Ulm's last legion!

[spacht]

Maybe later, even a mighty god of war needs his beauty sleep.

[Zeldor]

Heh, it is really hot in China here. I managed to get Internet access today and I will make a turn today, after that we get back to 48h hosting, but we can extend it to 60 or 72h if someone needs it.

[DonCorazon]

"The Features:

* MA & LA Ulm sexier.
* Ulm Iron Faith: Black Priests in MA Ulm, Priest Smiths.
* Iron Faith spells: Iron Darts, Iron Blizzard.
* Iron Angel, MA Ulm summon to battle enemy sacreds and magical beings.
* Guardians got Black Halberds that stun enemy sacreds. "

Damn, I could have used some of these 3.15 features. Next time...

[Firewalker]

Yeah, your nation got buffed just before dying ....

I'm playing EA Ulm in another game, but I don't see much difference. The Antlered Shamans now have a slight chance for a random magic. I don't think they had that in 3.14. Otherwise, same-same.

I laughed when I saw 'sexier' -- I assume it means the sprites were prettied up?

[DonCorazon]

I am just holding on long enough for one more shot at Malaranthus - come out, come out wherever you are!

Meanwhile, Shin's rescue legions approach...

Then again, who knows where Malaranthus really is, the wily old guy may have spirited himself away.

Ulm really should not have outlawed magic (dumb, dumb, dumb).

[Firewalker]

Alas, people are seen sneaking away from Nararaja's vicinity now that he has been cursed and horror-marked. Not really "the kind of company" to be around. Rumors floating about that he is also limping.

[Zeldor]

DonCorazon:

I know where he is http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Firewalker:

Nah, do not exaggerate horror marks, there not so bad, I got plenty of them already.

[spacht]

After his beauty sleep Malaranthus now takes some quality time in the forge to work off the stress. In the meantime golems will be provided to entertain the ulmish remnant, courtesy of T'ien Ch'i.

[DonCorazon]

Noooo!!! He has somehow escaped the vengeance of Grom!
But the new smiths were pretty snazzy in their debut.
First time Ulm has won a battle against Zeldor's monstrous golem. It was pretty sad, yet humourous to see hordes of black knights charge into that medusa shield and see the 999 damage obliterate them. Fine line between courage and stupidity.

[Firewalker]

Zeldor:

The rishis of course know that -- but try explaining it to a bandar swordsman. Not too swift on the uptake, as they say.

Nararaja will await Father Illearth in the safety of a fort this turn. Come, Abysia, let us fight it out.

[Zeldor]

DonCorazon:

Heh, that didn't go as planned. I guess one Knight made a really lucky hit, which saved your entire army... I guess they are well trained and they fear nothing. After getting some battles in total darkness meeting one golem cannot be so harsh http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Firewalker:

I have my first prophet parked in capitol of Man as living statue. He got few missing parts, but he managed to survive for almost 70 turns. I guess he should get at least +2H for that.

[Firewalker]

What a brilliant demonstration of how truly pathetic Bandar PD is ... Arch Devil, please kindly meet these cute and cuddly markatas ... whoops. Please accept these roasted markatas as our gift, enjoy.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

PS: I have other things in store. Should be some fun battles to watch soon.

[Zeldor]

There are some horrors harrasig my golem http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Zeldor]

I have postponed hosting by 24 hours. C'tis staled last turn and would stale that one too. I don't know what is going on with him, but he has the same situation in other game, where he is not in a bad position, so it is not despair. If he does not show up within that addiional 24 hours I will think about setting him AI.

[DonCorazon]

Ulm is going AI - thanks for the game - it was a blast. See you around!

[spacht]

And thanks to you, too. You made a fine enemy, i really enjoyed waging war with you over the last 50 turns. After years of playing Dominions singleplayer this game was (and is) a totally new and great experience, thanks in part to you.

[parcelt]

50 turns of war (!)

thanks for playing Ulm - althoug we have not had the honor to face Grom on the battlefield, we enjoyed reading of his great deeds!

[DonCorazon]

Thanks spacht/parcelt. Shinuyama was an honorable and humorous foe, worthy to get crushed by. It was a great group for a first MP game.

I will be curious to see who comes out on top in Urapara.

[Firewalker]

> I will be curious to see who comes out on top is Urapara.

Yeah, if we kill Abysia, it'll be every man for himself. Kind of like Survivor at the end.

BTW, Abysia, I saw something ... eh ... Abominable crawling in your general direction ... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Firewalker]

It would appear that Abominations are not so ... Abominable.

On the other hand, Nararaja has been kind enough to allow the guru who manage to mind-enslave Father Illearth to keep him as a "pet." The guru was last seen giggling uncontrollably whilst commanding Illearth to carry stones to-and-fro. Very strange.

[parcelt]

Yes, I guess this turn had some mixed results for both of us. We do encourage you to keep shipping in those elephants... mmmh roasted elephant steak!

Bandar, I'd be interested to learn a few things: that damn worthless Illearth was fully equiped - did you get any of the items after enslaving him or do they simply disappear? Also, how do you get an abomination?

(if you'd rather share once the game is over that's fine).

[Firewalker]

Abominations are summoned -- Conj9 (S5 W2). I have been advised that I ought to have cast Gift of Reason on him so he could be given magic items.

No, Illearth didn't come with his gear. Actually, he was rendered a non-commander, which may be why. I will need to cast Gift of Reason on him to make him a commander again. I suppose all the gear was lost as a result. We'll see later. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Zeldor]

You get some of gear when you kill enemy. You get all equipment if you Charm him. But I think you lose it all when you just enslave mind.

[Firewalker]

Hum ... not sure how Nararaja survived that, but he appeared in a province next to the battle (yet, the seige goes on!). There are goofy things with this version of the game when it comes to battle resolution.

That aside, the end is in sight for the noble Bandar nation. Its heros are dead, most of his stalwart armies, and now half of its rishis and gurus. Even a newly awakened Tarrasque (which just happened to be dozing near the fort in which Nararaja had been holed up) could not change the course of events. All of Bandar is open to Abysia's hordes to conquer. Truly, a sorry state.

Mental Note: In the future, don't bother with Mistform when the opponent is casting Fire Storm.

[parcelt]

What? You mean the evil Nararaja still lives, even after being trampled by a horde of demons?? (seriously, that seems kind of strange as he doesn't have the immortality treat iirc...)

By the way, Bandar, Heartless the wraithlord asked me to pass a message. He did not appreciate that beating he received, and has vowed to pillage and plunder the next bandar province he conquers until no living soul is left... he didn't look like he would take no for an answer either.

A good ruler knows what's best for his people. Surrender now and assimilate peacefully into the migthy Abysian empire, and you will spare your people these unnecessary horrors. Come Bandar, and let us fight no more!

[Firewalker]

Weird, isn't it? I've seen other strange situations after a battle since the patch. In a battle against Shinuyama, I was defending a fort he was seiging -- broke the seige and chased him off. But then my armies were retreated and he was still seiging an empty fort!

Well, I shall have decide if I want to keep building useless troops and personally throw them under the flaming-Abysia bus, or just AI myself.

Edit: I hope Heartless enjoys his new suntan after catching all of those Solar Rays! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[spacht]

Malaranthus, the mighty god of war, has already demanded much from his followers but the time has come for the final sacrifice, the sacrifice of the lands and people of Shinuyama itself. The world will go down in a torrent of flames and we shinuyamans will lead the way.

We consider all our treaties null and void. No offensive action will be undertaken during the next two months but afterwards everything is free game.

(The winner of this game will be decided from TC and Abysia. Shinuyama never recovered from the war with Ulm, i never got out of mid game, my research is non-existant. I don't want be the deciding factor in this duel so i am breaking all my ties. Good luck to both of you.)

[Zeldor]

For me it looks like that:

Provinces:
1. Abysia
2. Shinuyama/TC [I am not sure about some water provinces of Shinu]
4. Bandar Log

Forts:
1. TC
2. Abysia
3. Shinu
4. Bandar

Income:
1. TC
2. Abysia
3. Bandar Log
4. Shinuyama

Research:
1. Abysia
2. TC
3. Bandar
4. Shinu

Gem Income:
1. Abysia
2. Bandar Log
3. TC/Shinu

Army Size:
1. Abysia
2. Shinuyama
3. Bandar Log
4. TC

For me Abysia is clear leader and 3 next people are not so far from each other, though far from Abysia, who had extremely good starting location.

[parcelt]

Zeldor,

You are a great diplomate, and the way you present yourself as the underdog is admirable http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Yet, I think some of your estimates are not quite accurate:

Provinces:
1. Shinu
2. Abysia

Forts:
1. TC
2. Shinu
3. Abysia

Income:
1. TC/Shinu
2. TC/Shinu
3. Abysia

Gem Income:
1. TC (your global enchantments alone put you far in the lead. Not fighting an active war allows you to stack up too)

Army size:
1. TC
2. Shinu
3. Abysia

Concluding, it still looks pretty close among us three. If anything, TC is the overall nr 1 at this moment, although none of us is a necessary winner at this point.

[Zeldor]

I get just 15 gems per turn from globals and it took a lot of time to get return on them.

Most of the game I have been the smallest player, then second from the end. And you had most of peace time from all of us - about 60-70 turns. I had constant war with Man, then also was rather not so peaceful time for me. And in that time you were stockpiling research, gems and gold. And wraith lords http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DonCorazon]

Funny, I thought Z was on the brink of extinction a long, long time ago (even to the point where I encouraged him not to go AI http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif ) and now see he has surpassed the mighty Shin. Will be curious to hear the story of his remarkable recovery when this ends as well as see who pulls this one off.

[parcelt]

Mmmh, I would think those globals get you some more gems, judging by their descriptions. And how about all that gold?

I am not complaining about my starting or my current position. But none of that changes the current relative positions on forts, gold income, army size, etc. Things are still quite equal.

And about those wraithlords (I will probably regret this later): do some research and you will find they can be killed rather easily.

[parcelt]

There is no doubt in my opinion that TC has survived, and recuperated, on the strength of their leader's diplomatic efforts.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Zeldor]

They just sound nice. Mother Oak is 10N per turn [I would prefer every other gem] and Stellar Focus is just 5S, so really pathetic. Maelstrom, Arcane Nexus, Well of Misery, Gale Gate - those are good gem givers http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

And gold - well, I can buy soldiers for that. And last time I tried to use them against you it was rather sad view.

P.S. My Golems are much easier to kill than wraith lords.

[spacht]

Ok, here is my entry into the underdog contest http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif :

My research is at 7706600 with 140 RP/Turn. One abysian wraithlord chased off my 700 man (incl 20+ mages) underwater army.

[parcelt]

How is that an underdog? At least you are fielding a 700 soldier / 20+ mage underwater army!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Zeldor]

I wouldn't be surprised if Abysia had all research completed.

[parcelt]

Zeldor please. Not even close.

[Firewalker]

Just so everyone knows (and no one has a head start on the land grab!), I set myself to AI last turn. I summoned a few things and concentrated all the armies together before handing it over to the computer just so it wouldn't be quite the pushover, whoever decides to go for the capitol.

It's been a fun game -- I certainly got a eye opener about the endgame -- and how difficult a geared up wraith lord can be!

Hope to see everyone on the battlefield again soon.

Bandar.

[Zeldor]

Oh, well. When we are finished we can repeat the game with the same people http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Zeldor]

I will postpone hosting by 24h for that turn, I really have much less free time now than I would like to.

[Zeldor]

For some strange reason my turn was not accepted and I will havve to talk with llamabeast about that. Strange.

[parcelt]

It could have been an important turn - do you want to set the server back a turn and re-submit?

[Zeldor]

It got my turn 2 hours after hosting http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Of course with message that it is 2h for wrong turn number.

Extremely important turn it wasn't, but still, there were some things done. Let's just wait for llamabeast.

At least one really funny battle occured because well, my armies didn't move http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Zeldor]

Heh, staled again :/

I had problems with net so I postponed hosting. Then I was sure I have plenty of time left to finish my turn, but for some strange reason I didn't get notification e-mail about hosting, so I was just recruiting some units and suddenly new turn came on e-mail...

[spacht]

I will go AI now. Shinuyama has been more or less idling around for the last couple of turns. I had a great time here and learned much. Bye-bye

[Zeldor]

Thanks for playing spacht.

T'ien Ch'i, as last civilised nation, has to try and banish demonic forces back to Abyss. Thus last turn our heroice armies started an invasion. Many heroes died in just cause and much more will, be we shall prevail! 21 provinces have been liberated from forces of evil.


Couple other announcements:
- that Shinu going AI was surprising and caused some losses, lost some valuable lands
- Abysia is still much stronger, but I hope that first attack will give me at least some chance to fight
- second Heliophagi, bleh
- I hate wraith lords, especially when there are probably of 10-15 of them
- I do not like that king of elemental fire
- I do not like Demon Knights, especially so many of them
- 10 wolves + werewolf cannot take down 1PD, what a waste of gems...
- Send Horror is a waste of good virgins, I could use them for other things http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


Parcelt:

I guess we can extend hosting to 72h? OR even longer if you want. I t will be a lot of micro...

[Zeldor]

WTF? My Golem won the battle and died... he had plenty of HP and nothing could harm him. And he suddenly became dead...

[parcelt]

Zeldor, what a shame. A great diplomat such as yourself shouldn't need lowly tricks like this. Or did you forget our formal NAP?

Alas, whether you win or lose, it will now be without honor. Why would you bring such disgrace on yourself? Honestly, you are not that weak, with your army of decked out tartarians, that you really need this.

Anyways, having said that, we hold you no grudge, as it makes the game all the more interesting. So let's have a fight!

Moving to 72h hosting is fine with me, turns will indeed take longer and longer. I wouldn't want to go beyond 72 hours or we will never finish this game.

[Zeldor]

Welcome to multiplayer, parcelt.

Lowly tricks? NAP? There are just 2 of us left so that's a duel. There are no NAPs in duel http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I was actually living in fear all the time that you will do the same thing to me.

You have Belial, you have enough gems to summon Iron Dragons, Siege Golems, hordes of Demon Knights. You have 4 capitols. You are sitll in far better position.

[Zeldor]

Game is FINISHED.

Result: DRAW

Winners: Abysia + TC

That game lasted 20-30 turns too long for that number of players and mapsize, became micromanagement nightmare and a slow war. With heavily fortified landscape on both sides invading each other became extremely hard and there would be at least 30-50 turns before winner would be elected. Both of us also had some stales, so we decided that draw is the best solution. In that time we can probably start and finish more than one game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I will upload my turn file soon. I will also make my archive with all files.

[Zeldor]

Turn 91 with my big attack on Abysia.

Password is 'haslo'.

[DonCorazon]

Congrats guys.