Heracles - LA game, Running

[ano]

This is a new game with the following settings:
Game link (http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=Heracles)

Settings:
Era - late
Map - Alexander (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=5900&d=1199233709) by PashaDawg, balanced fixed start positions not tied to specific nations. See attachment below.
Mods - Worthy Heroes 1.8 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=5714&d=1193952379)
Players - 15
Sites - 50%
Renaming - on
HoF - 15
Indies - 6
Graphs - off (use scouting)
Rest - standard
Host - Llamaserver. Please read the FAQ (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=35160) if you don't know how to use it
Schedule - quite moderate. 24h until turn 16, then hosting interval will be increased once someone requests it. Delays on requests.

Still playing:
C'tis - ano
Ulm - Ilkazar
Utgard - Dragar
Pythium - Tyrant
Ermor - Jarkko
Caelum - karnoza (started by licker)
Marignon - Pelthin (started by Torin, then played by Natpy)

Defeated:
T'ien Ch'i - defeated, started by Scarlioni
R'lyeh - defeated, started by Juffos
Atlantis - defeated, started by Magical Gohda Chef
Mictlan - defeated, started by Alpine Joe
Bogarus - defeated, started by PsiSoldier
Gath - defeated, started by hEad
Midgard - AI, started by don_Pablo
Pangaea - defeated, started by veto

Some more notes:
- the more experienced you are the better.
- Ermor allowed to non-experienced players, Rlyeh allowed to anyone
- pacts and NAP's are supposed to be honored. This may be handled in the following way:
You either make your NAP public and post a message about it in this thread or ask someone to be a judge and keep information about it if you don't want your NAP to be public.

[ano]

Bumping this one. I am not very determined to start the game ASAP but I'd definitely like it started:)

[Scarlioni]

LA T'ien Ch'i plz

[Juffos]

I would like to take R'lyeh.

[Dragar]

Utgard please

[Magical Gohda Chef]

LA Atlantis please

[Alpine Joe]

In as Mictlan

[PsiSoldier]

How about Bogarus

[ano]

No problem, sure.
Guys, there're 8 of us now. I think we'll be starting closer to weekend with whichever quantity of people gathers.
Hope, nobody is in a hurry to get this game running ASAP.

[Tyrant]

Pythium please.

[don_Pablo]

Sign me as Midgard and veto as Pangaea if you don't mind

[Jarkko]

As the group I usually play MP with seems to not be available for games at the moment, I would be interested in this :) If I qualify for the game, please do sign me as Pangaea.

[ano]

Pangaea is already taken. See post above.

[Dragar]

btw on the subject of mods I think we should include worthy heroes

[Jarkko]

Pangaea is already taken. See post above.

Ah... :doh: I just read the first post of the thread...

Well, I've never ever played LA Ermor (not even in SP :eek: ), so perhaps I could qualify as the noob for that?

[hEad]

Put me down for a tentative Gath please!

[licker]

If this is still open pencil me in for CAelum please

[Jarkko]

Regarding the Heroes mod, I don't have anything against it (even though I've not actually used it before).


Regarding statistics being off, does this also prevent the stats to be viewed on the llamaserver score table (I am quite a noob with llamaserver...)?

[Dragar]

yep, no scores are visible

[licker]

Regarding the Heroes mod, I don't have anything against it (even though I've not actually used it before).


Regarding statistics being off, does this also prevent the stats to be viewed on the llamaserver score table (I am quite a noob with llamaserver...)?

I say yes to heros mod.

Stats off doesn't show on llama either. Fortunately :)

[llamabeast]

Would have been quite a noob error on my part otherwise! :)

[Jarkko]

Would have been quite a noob error on my part otherwise! :)

It's an error I would have been able to make without blinking my eyes :D

[hEad]

Another yes for Heros.

[Torin]

If not taken i would like marignon

[ano]

Sure. I think we will close recruitment at this point. 15 people is quite enough for this map so that everyone will have some space for expansion. I will (most probably) modify map and create game on Saturday.

[ano]

Sorry for delay guys - I was quite busy last days:).

Game has been created and is now ready to accept pretenders. Link is in the first post. As for the image file, it may be found in the original thread devoted to Alexander map.
Map file is also attached. It contains 12 random starting points (#start command) and 3 tied to nations (#specstart). Specstarts are added as a try to balance Ermor and R'lyeh (Don't think their positions are bad though. They are not).
Starting positions are:
21, 239, 270, 96, 203, 41, 144, 280, 118, 217, 66, 146
...and
Atlantis - 188
R'lyeh - 281
Ermor - 75

[Scarlioni]

Trying to create my pretender for this game. With the worthy heros mod 1.8. For Tien'chi I have access to the Marverni Champion of the Horn Pretender chasis.

[ano]

It is WH bug. Every nation has access to it. Just don't take him:)

[Jarkko]

I did put the starting positions on a jpg for easier comprehension of the situation, perhaps others would like it useful too. Notice that the colours of the font were chosen for readability (black on dark blue or brown wasn't too clear, while the same can be said of white on light green for example :) ). Hopefully I did get all the starting positions right from the .map :)

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5544/heracles.jpg

[Dragar]

You have starting spots listed there for each nation - presumably except for the few specifically mentioned by Ano they are all random, and those on your map are indicative?

[Jarkko]

You have starting spots listed there for each nation - presumably except for the few specifically mentioned by Ano they are all random, and those on your map are indicative?
Damn... I am no good at reading .map files then :(

Disregard the map in that case, please. Can't remove the link to the faulty map anymore...

[ano]

I think it is useful so don't remove it. Good job:)!. All starting spots are correct but, perhaps, they should have been marked with something like asterisks instead of nation names. Names may be left for R'lyeh, Atlantis and Ermor though

[Scarlioni]

What are those little temple things on the alexander map? I havent seen those before.

[ano]

Babylon and Athens had libraries in original version of the map. But most people prefer no predefined (and discovered) sites because it makes game a bit unbalanced.

[Tyrant]

I'm foncused, do we all have fixed starts, or just the three?

[ano]

Starts for Ermor, R'lyeh and Atlantis are fixed and public. All other starts are fixed but not tied to specific nations. The list of them is somewhere above. You may also download the map file and look at it :).

[ano]

We are waiting only for PsiSoldier and Torin to start.

[Alpine Joe]

I cannot play my turn because I cannot find Alexander.tga It doesn't appear to be included in the .zip attachemet, which only has Alexander_Heracles.map

Anyone know where I could get Alexander.tga?

[ano]

There was a link (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=5900&d=1199233709) in the first post to Alexander map discussion thread

[Alpine Joe]

I cannot play my turn because I cannot find Alexander.tga It doesn't appear to be included in the .zip attachemet, which only has Alexander_Heracles.map

Anyone know where I could get Alexander.tga?

[ano]

See post above

[Alpine Joe]

oops strange double post. Thanks for the link, i don't know how I missed it.

[ano]

After all issues with llamaserver I changed hosting interval back to 24h and set next hosting to tomorrow 22:19. Hope, Mictlan will be able to send his turn in until then.

[ano]

Any known reasons for this "cheating" message? It seems to me that it is more a spam than actual cheating detection. Patch notes also say that cheating detection has been improved.
Don Pablo, what happened with your money? :)

[don_Pablo]

Nothing interesting.
231 gold in treasury at the beginning of the turn.
I don't know why this message appeared...

[Torin]

Who is ulm? cant find Ilkazar in the forum.

[ano]

He is not registered here. I'll PM you his email shortly.

[ano]

AlpineJoe, stop staling! We need you!

[ano]

4 stales (if he stales again) is a bit much for this stage of the game. Any thoughts? Should we set Mictlan to AI?
I think we should.

[Dragar]

yep

[ano]

OK. I'll pause current turn and ask someone to set him AI. It won't take long

[licker]

I'm also going to be gone from March 27th through March 30th, so I'm not sure how everyone wants to handle that.

I would prefer a pause, but if that's too long I'll try to find a sub if we can go to 48h turns or so so he'd only have to do one.

[ano]

It would be wonderful if you could find a sub for these period but if you don't we'll pause the game of course

[Jarkko]

Holy lizard, Batman! C'tis seems to be where ever my two scouts happen to go :eek: This no-stats policy (which I've never before played with) surely does make one paranoid; when I see a nation holding two provinces in different directions, I automatically assume they've built up a massive empire to fill up all the lands between those two spots :D

[ano]

That's wrong, so what? Also, I can't imagine what you mean by "different directions". Our nation is small but proud. Scout better and you'll know more:).
What makes me paranoid is your undead hordes combined with R'lyeh mad cultists and two deadly killing dominions I am badly surrounded with.

[ano]

Caelum will be temporarily controlled by rdonj because licker is going to leave for some days. Hosting interval will be set to 48h while he is away (starting from next turn).

[licker]

Caelum is back but cannot get in a turn for 24h, check your pm for the email change ano, and thanks to rdonj for helping me out with those two turns even though he set all my taxes to 200 and sent my mages on suicide runs.

:p

[Dragar]

I hope rdonj made proper mention in his handover notes of the tribute agreement he signed requiring caelum to pay 200gp/turn to utgard

[rdonj]

I also gave all his gems to Pangaea. True story.

[hEad]

Hi guys,

well with easter coming up i need to let you all know that I am taking my self and the family away for a week. (much needed mini holiday...)

I'll be leaving good Friday 10th April and returning the following Friday, the 17th. Would it be possible to get a week break in the game turns or...?

[ano]

Well, frankly speaking, I wouldn't want the game paused for a week at this stage. It's just too much. Maybe you'll try to find someone to sub for you?

[Torin]

ok for me... dont know the rest

[hEad]

thing is, i've got a few games on the boil so getting subs may be a bit tricky... What about a compromise of say, 48hr turns for that week and i'll try find a net connection for my laptop?

[ano]

Actually we already have 48h schedule and I ain't gonna change it (seems like it suits everyone). Also, if you don't submit your turn in time I may guarantee you'll have additional 12-24 hours - as I will know you're away I'll postpone hosting.

[hEad]

Actually we already have 48h schedule and I ain't gonna change it (seems like it suits everyone). Also, if you don't submit your turn in time I may guarantee you'll have additional 12-24 hours - as I will know you're away I'll postpone hosting.

Are we already on a 48hr schedule? life is so fast i didn't even notice. Ok well if thats the case, does 'may guarantee' mean will guarantee? and, up to an additional 24 hours, thus a possible total of 72hr between a turn?

I am sure i could work with this!

[ano]

I can't promise but I'll do my best to check it if your turn is submitted. Yes, it results in 72h per turn at max.

[ano]

I postponed hosting for 5 hours because I'll need some time today evening to complete my turn.

[hEad]

I'm off early in the morning (10th) Back next friday (16th). I will endevour to get a turn or 2 in to keep things moving.

Hope you all get a few eggs each.

[licker]

Now that softball season has started my schedule has gone to hell, so I need to withdraw from this game.

Ideally a permanent sub can be found, and I will play on for a bit, but realistically I'm not going to be able to keep up with it in a meaningful way, and I'm guessing that AI isn't really all that welcome to the folks I have agreements with.

Sorry, but it is what it is.

[ano]

Could you please also start a separate thread in MP forum in addition to the post in "subs" thread?

[Torin]

whats the deal with this, i didnt miss any turn and now im saled. looks like llama didnt give me the turn 25

[ano]

Oops... Maybe a bug indeed. What may we do?

[Torin]

could we go back? i didnt receive the turn 25 mail

[ano]

Hm. Let's discuss it.
Rehosts are in most cases very bad option and it is really so. Maybe we may compensate your stale somehow. For example, if each nation sends you something like several gems or gold?

edit: also, email problems do happen time to time and it may very well be a problem of general email system or of your email server. I think it is even more likely than llamaserver problem in this case.
You should always check the game page at llamaserver and game thread here if you don't receive email with turns for a period longer than hosting interval.

[Torin]

I dont think loosing this turn is ok to me

[ano]

I won't make a rehost on my own. Rehosts ALWAYS lead to situations when someone receives worse or much worse results than before and it is always a short way to conflicts and long-long discussions.
The only solution I can suggest it to pause the game, discuss the problem here and perform some voting.

Will send a message to everybody via llamaserver now.

[ano]

I must say I'm voting against and it's not because I've had some terrible luck this turn. Nothing like that. I just know what rollbacks usually lead to.
If you insist that this stale was absolutely crucial for you, I don't mind a rollback though.

[Scarlioni]

I'll abstain from voing.

[PsiSoldier]

Doesnt matter to me either way.

[Dragar]

Also indifferent - unless a player is likely to be severely disadvantaged (launched surprise attack, major battle went well, etc) by a rollback I feel we should accommodate Torin

[Tyrant]

I hate to be harsh, but the turn hosted at it's regular interval, you could have checked Llamaserver and/or consulted this forum. I also did not get my turn, but I noticed and hit the resend turn request button on the Llamaserver game page.

I have no stake in this, my repeat turn would mostly likely be exactly the same. I vote no rollback, it sets a very bad precedent.

[don_Pablo]

I also vote against.

I hate to do the same turn twice. And I always suggest to treat any stale turns as illness of a ruler or his going on a drinking bout.

[Jarkko]

I definitively vote against a rollback.

If a player does not recieve the turn *and* not also recieves the remainder that the turn is about to be hosted, then the game status can still be viewed on the llamaserver. Besides, we do have a set time for hosting, so it should not be a suprise (unless the hosting has been spesifically postponed).

[karnoza]

Hello. I will take Caelum position but I need a pause until weekend yo clearly understand the situation, plans and contact my allies.

[ano]

Ok then. No rollback by majority and postpone by 48h (hosting on Saturday morning). Is this enough?
p.s. Glad to see you in, karnoza!

[Torin]

Ok. I will post for a sub to take on my nation.

[ano]

Strange position indeed. I just can't understand it. Do you feel offended or what?
You are free to do what you wish to, of course, but I really can't see any offense in this situation. If you tell us what was so important in the turn you missed we may think about a rollback but if it is just your obstinacy then I think that you just don't want to play and seek for suitable occasion.

[licker]

Thanks for taking it off my hands karnoza, drop me a pm sometime with an update about how you're doing and what you decided as a course of action.

I really like LA Caelum, but just don't have the time right now :(

[ano]

Torin, why do you keep silence?
If you feel offended, let's discuss it.
If you just don't want to play, let's discuss it. This can happen to everybody and is quite understandable.
If you want anything else, let's discuss it.
But don't be silent, please, because your silence really spoils the game not only to you but to everyone else as well. If we started discussing it several days ago we could come to some decision (I suggested something and asked you what was so crucial in your turn but you ignored)
I'm adding another 24h to the current turn and I really hope than we will discuss the situation in normal way.

Everybody, if you don't want this game paused forever, let's discuss the problem. I think it is quite clear and any suggestions are welcome.

[Torin]

I dont think is in any way fair that i loose a turn when the server failed.
Even considering the host timing can be delayed by request. So theres no reason to think beforehand it would fail. It never failed before that i know of.

I understand anyone has a right to do what they want so there was a votation to a rollback or not. But im not forced to play if i think its detrimental to me. So i choose not to.

Maybe the ones that are lost can use my nation...

[ano]

Ok, once again.
Does anybody have serious objections against rollback? I don't. don_pablo, Tyrant and Jarkko, you were against the rollback. Please, comment.

p.s. For now I resent Marignon turn to a potential sub.

[Jarkko]

Well, I got a damn good event (thefirst really good event I've had in this game), and I'd seriously hate to lose it because of the rollback :(

[ano]

Sub has been found. Natpy will play for Marignon.
I hope nothing happens again in the nearest future.

[Natpy]

Hi to all. I will take Marignon. Those who have had any diplomatic relations with Marignon, please PM me

[Dragar]

Utgard is keen to trade for hammers and/or earth gems. We have cash, astral, death, water and nature gems on offer

[ano]

I'm in need of 24h delay today so I'll pause the game slightly.

[Jarkko]

I'm in need of 24h delay today so I'll pause the game slightly.
Micromanaging Ermorians is a daunting thing, and I really can use this extra time :) Am I right in thinking I can send in my orders tomorrow at around noon (GMT) and they will still make it?

[ano]

Yes. I'll postpone hosting now.

[Natpy]

Could you please postpone the current turn by another 14h? I am sorry but I still didn't complete it.

[Dragar]

I may need a delay later this week. I am going in for corrective eye surgery (lasik) on Thursday, and am not sure how long until I'm seeing well enough to play. My guess is two days.

I'll play every turn I have available Thursday morning my time (late wed night US), which means nothing will be due for at least a day, but may not be able to play turns then, and even if I can probably shouldn't be staring at a screen.

So, if we can either put a delay in then, or if the admin can keep an eye out and if I haven't got a turn in I'd really appreciate it. Obviously as soon as I'm ok I'll play turns and post.

If for whatever reason I'm not back longer than people are prepared to wait, I'll wear a stale or two - don't think I've vanished and waste time searching for an AI.

If I don't come back for ages please look up a good eye specialist for me because mine obviously hasn't done his job right!

Thanks,
Dragar

[ano]

No problem, of course. I'll try to monitor the state of your turn and, if you don't submit it in time, will add up to 3 days one by one. Is it ok?
Hope everything goes ok with your eyes. I do understand your problems because I share them.

[Dragar]

Thanks, that would be perfect. And cheers for the good wishes, it should be fine but of course it's a bit nerve wracking

[Tyrant]

Pythium is willing to trade our Air and Water gems for your Death and Nature gems. PM offers.

[Jarkko]

I'll be traveling from June 3rd to June 17th. I *should* have access to the internet June 7th to June 12th. Thus I will not be able to send in turns between June 3rd - June 6th and June 13th - June 16th (will be home late on the eveing of 17th).

I would like to ask wether I should try to find a sub for those two periods, or can the game be slowed down during those two periods?

Thanks,

-Jarkko

[ano]

I think there's no problem in such pause (it will be definitely less than 3 days) at this stage of the game. If anybody thinks otherwise, please reply.

[Jarkko]

I think there's no problem in such pause (it will be definitely less than 3 days) at this stage of the game.

Thanks :) :up:

[ano]

I postponed hosting by 38h as it was requested by Natpy who unexpectedly had to leave for a weekend.

[ano]

Guys, I'm a bit busy now and my current turn needs to be thought of well. I hope that nobody will be against a 36h delay (I'm sure I'll make it sooner) so that I could think of everything.
Also, Tyrant still didn't submit his turn and, taking into account his stale, we surely don't want him to do that again. Hope, he is ok.

[ano]

Did anybody hear from Tyrant? It will be no good if he stales again.

[Tyrant]

?? I did not stale.

[ano]

Oops, I am sorry, I was sure you did. Probably you sent you turn in a last minute:)

[Jarkko]

We seem to be on a 72 hour schedule now, so me going on the trip to Germany won't hamper my participiation in this game :) I've sent in the next turn for Ermor now (due to be hosted on Friday morning) and I should have a connection to the net before the next one is due. Thus nothing special will be required from me :)

However, if somebody is trying to contact me with diplomacy, notice that I won't be online until Saturday afternoon (llamaserver time) :)

[ano]

No problem.
Yes, I switched to 72h because summer is starting and probably people (including me) need a bit more free time than usually. Also, it's quite reasonable for this game stage, in my opinion.

[ano]

C'tis is willing to buy nature gems for gems of any other type. PM me if you're interested.

[ano]

Postponing by 16h as requested by Natpy who will come back to the city tomorrow evening.

[ano]

Ulm will be temporarily controlled by danbo while Ilkazar is on vacation

[Jarkko]

Emor has lost so far some 5000+ troops assaulting this Atlantis fort, and Atlantis has lost about 5 of the defenders. I tried to be clever and did summon sharks, but they ate my troll instead of the fishmen...

I really need to figure out (pretty soon too ;) ) how to play with Ashen Empire. Or alternatively I'll keep on sending 1000 undeads every turn (if they can kill off one from Atlantis each turn, then it is not such a bad trade) :P

[ano]

Game will be again paused by 24h because of the troubles in the lands of Marignon (or their ruler's).

[ano]

Ulm has asked for a delay until Sunday morning and it has been provided

[ano]

Hello everyone.
I postponed hosting by 24h because I need to make some corrections in my turn. After I resend my turn I will force hosting because Atlantis is obviously not in the game anymore and staled many times in a row.

[Dragar]

should we get him put AI then?

[ano]

I think there's no sense in this now. He has one besieged castle with a few mages in it.

[Dragar]

fair enough

[ano]

He should have been switched to AI earlier, most probably. But it wouldn't decide anything for anybody.

[Jarkko]

Any chance of delaying the hosting by 9 or 10 hours?

Helluva day today, I'll be home very late today and will have at most about one hour to complete the turn. And doing the Ermor turns takes close to two hours for me, and I'd prefer to actually have a somewhat rested brain before tackling the task....

[ano]

no problem at all. Will delay by 12h

[ano]

Jarkko, do you really think that heavy mindhunting during a NAP is a sign of good manner? Believe me, I also have a plenty of nice remote spells to show you but I don't do it. Probably, everyone should be treated in the way he treats others.

[Jarkko]

Jarkko, do you really think that heavy mindhunting during a NAP is a sign of good manner? Believe me, I also have a plenty of nice remote spells to show you but I don't do it. Probably, everyone should be treated in the way he treats others.

Eumph... huh? :confused:

I don't have anybody (except my pretender) able to even in theory cast Mindhunt, and my pretender for sure did something else last turn... I think you are now seriously mistaken.

I am quite willing to let a neutral part to check my turn to confirm this.

[ano]

I am sorry then. Perhaps I am mistaken indeed.
Probably it is Utgard. I just wonder why would he need it...

[ano]

Kanoza, the lord of Caelum, asked to tell everyone who might want to contact him that he is on vacation and has poor internet connection. If anyone wants to contact him, write him inside the game and he will check the forum then.

[ano]

I need something like 18h pause in order to complete my turn. Hope noone objects because only two turns are in atm.

[ano]

I am sorry but I need another 19h delay. Very complicated turn which I nearly finished but I can't send it unchecked.

[ano]

We've got a substitution in our ranks. Pelthin will become a king of Marignon starting from the next turn.

[ano]

15 hours added for Pelthin to get acquainted with his nation and make his turn

[Dragar]

The long long war between Utgard and Ermor is finally over, as the last resistance from Ermor finally crumbles.

Well played AoE, I felt I had a much stronger position at the start and it took a long, long time to slowly win through, with some of the 3rd party mulligans going my way. You kept resistance up to the very end, even after the decisive battle it was painful.

Also, thanks to our neighbours for letting us fight it out all the way 1 on 1, it's rare that happens and it is so enjoyable.

[Jarkko]

The long long war between Utgard and Ermor is finally over, as the last resistance from Ermor finally crumbles.

Well played AoE, I felt I had a much stronger position at the start and it took a long, long time to slowly win through, with some of the 3rd party mulligans going my way. You kept resistance up to the very end, even after the decisive battle it was painful.

Also, thanks to our neighbours for letting us fight it out all the way 1 on 1, it's rare that happens and it is so enjoyable.

You are welcome. It has been a very secret war in fact, so secret I as Ermor haven't even noticed it. Then again, Ermor has more than hands full with C'tis and Caelum, so minor conflicts easily slip my notice.

Unless of course "Ermor" was a typo, and you actually meant somebody else? ;)

-Jarkko the Wraith

[ano]

I think it was just another game because Dragar is referencing AoE. But it sounds nice:)

[Dragar]

Gah!! Me idiot!!! Meant for milkshake. Carry on

[ano]

I postponed the game again. I think it will be the last one. I have extremely little time now and so have decided to abandon the other two games I'm in. So I hope it'll be easier for me to play here.

[Jarkko]

I have extremely little time now and so have decided to abandon the other two games I'm in. So I hope it'll be easier for me to play here.
Oh *bleep*. I think you should *not* abandon any game and just do half assed turns in all your games. Would be *much* better for us all, and especially Ermor in this game ;):p

[ano]

I think I will postpone hosting by 48h now because Tyrant mysteriously disappeared and at this stage it is very painful to stale twice in a row for anyone.
I hope he returns soon and once he submits his turn quickhost will trigger.

Opinions are welcome.

[ano]

I'm adding 24h to the current turn because of my own time restrictions. Am not sure I will need it but it seems so.

[ano]

Time added again because Pythium's turn still isn't in. From now on I will add some time each time I see that someone is going to stale

[ano]

Next turn will be postponed by 24h by requests of both karnoza(Caelum) and Ilkazar(Ulm)

[Jarkko]

This turn is the last I will take, I'll go AI after that. My capital will fall this turn, and I have absolutely zero chances vs the Tartarian legions and elemental royalty C'tis is fielding... It looks to me certain C'tis will win this game.

Kudos to Caelum too. I'm pretty sure we would have had interesting fights if we'd been fighting one on one, I for sure felt like I was doing a suicide when I attacked you :D Then of course C'tis joined the fray, and I was doomed for sure :p

It has been an interesting experience playing LA Ermor. Quite comparable to when my blind gut got infected (my life would be different without that experience, as I learned the true meaning of pain, learned a lot of being a patient in a hospital for extended periods, plus I have some nice scars on my stomach to show to my kids), ie something I do not wish to have ever again :D

Thanks for Ano for the excellent GMing!

[ano]

Yes, probably, there's no sense for you in continuing just because everything is decided.
Ermor is always considered a super-threat and it is really so. That's why mutual defense agreements have been signed long, long ago. But, frankly speaking, I didn't want this war and definitely didn't expect you fall so fast. You didn't even try an expected undead mastery or bone grinding on my chariots:).

Thanks for your good words. It is always very pleasant when people notice your efforts. I rarely organize games but when I do, I'll definitely send you an invitation:).

[Jarkko]

You didn't even try an expected undead mastery or bone grinding on my chariots:).
I have had Bone Grinding scripted for my pretender in every fight. He's chosen not to cast it though. I attempted to assault with mages scripted with BoneGrindx4 on three occasions, each time they were killed by some Earth Elementals appearing from the sky ;) Undead Mastery I sadly do not have researched, didn't feel like Thaumaturgy was a priority until it was way too late...

[ano]

Guys, I've got unexpected news that there will be no electricity at my home till tomorrow so I have to postpone hosting by 24h. Sorry for that unexpected thing.

[ano]

I think everybody received a stale turn...
This is a first time I run into such a situation. Anybody experienced this before? I think that rolling back and redoing turns will be ok. By "redoing" I mean opening last turn .2h and changing at least something slightly. AFAIK, this should help.
Other opinions? I am, of course, ok with everybody just having a stale but that will mean that about 4h I spent on my turn were wasted and, frankly speaking, I don't like that.

[Jarkko]

Yeah, my devious plan of going AI failed...

I don't mind a roll-back, I'm ready to change something in the orders.

[Dragar]

agreed, need to rollback

[ano]

Ok then, I make a rollback and then everybody makes a slight change in his orders. If the same thing (dominions crash) happens again then we just continue with a stale.

[Pelthin]

We lost 2 players last turn? Includeing my nemisis ULM?

What's up? I know I had a little advantage with ULM, but not that much.

Did the messed up turn drop him, or did he set to AI becasue I killed his pretender?

Just wondering what's up?

[ano]

He said there's no chance for him in this game and so decided to quit. He played well but indeed he has no chance to win.
As for Ermor, I think, he described his reasons well.

[Pelthin]

Makes sense. I haven't even begun to fight yet, however.. ;)

[ano]

Guys, I have a very busy week now so I'll most probably need something about 1,5 day pause. Not sure but quite possible

[Dragar]

no problem

[ano]

Successful turn for you, Dragar. I made several major mistakes but I hope it will decide nothing in the long run.
I just wanted to say that damn AI sometimes decides not to cast a spell and casts something completely different. And this results in loss of 2 powerful SC's and more than a thousand army. If I didn't generate about 400 chariots each turn it could have been a big loss...

[ano]

Also, after such a defeat I will definitely need some time to recover, namely 1 day extension so that I can think and plan on Saturday. Also, turn 70 seems an appropriate time to increase the hosting interval permanently.

[Dragar]

wow.. i haven't checked the turn yet, had assumed I'd be whitewashed once you overwrote Arcane Nexus.. to be honest after your previous turn I had thought it was game over and didn't put much time into my last - perhaps a useful lesson in itself!

[Dragar]

just saw most of the turn.. wow

couldn't watch all of that long battle though, what happened? how did your tarts die? were you just bottlenecked forever getting banished? That's remarakable.. the other successful defence was at least planned as something decent, that major one is certainly one to shake your head at

Not that it changes anything overall, you are swarming with tarts and have the good globals.

If anyone wants to take the slightest sliver of chance against c'tis now is the time, he has taken a bit of a setback and i should be able to cause some more pain, but alone I see no chance at coming out on top of this or even stopping him for too long. Unless he send more tomb chariots my way, they are much tastier than tarts :)

Edit: never thought I'd see a telesitic animate wearing Amon Hotep ;)

[ano]

I also didn't watch to the end. Who cares what happened if AI cast Arrow Fend instead of Mass Flight? Now let's imagine that AI did what I asked him for. Can you predict the results?:)
I already ran into the same s**t once but after that it was told that devs got rid of this Arrow-Fend-high-priority bug, but... This battle was not my mistake and that's what makes it so disappointing.

Frankly speaking, I am EXTREMELY tired of this game and dominions altogether atm. Yes, my empire is huge, it's nearly enormous and the hordes of undead I generate can now be compared to Ermorian, not even mentioning tons of gems, tarts, wishes and other tasty stuff.
All this is cool but I am too busy at work and real life now and have no time (and wish) to spend on dominions. I turned my nation into a monster but it is so hard to maintain this monster that it leads to a sad conclusion: the better you play the harder it is to keep playing.
All that said, I am very close to suggesting both you and Caelum (of course) a draw. I doubt that an adequate sub can be found for 100-province empire so that's probably the only option aside of continuing.

[Dragar]

i'm happy to call it in your favour to be honest, there's no question yuo have an unassailable advantage. My chance was to fight you while you were attacking ermor, but pythium attacked me and I couldn't do both

[ano]

Eh.. Forgive me my English. What does "call smth. in one's favour" mean?

[Jarkko]

"I call this in your favour" = "You win (although if I really really wanted, I could make it a long and windy road for you, but the end result would still be that you win)" :)

[Pelthin]

So are we calling the game? I don't want to spend the time on my turn if the game is over.

Thanks.

[ano]

No, not now. I'll try my best to continue.

[Dragar]

If no-one has the will or belief to challenge C'tis I'd like to end this game. He is so far superior as to make turns now just painful, and I don't see anyone else particularly trying to win?

[ano]

Caelum has a not much less empire in fact and we have a "until-only-two-of-us-are-left" alliance which was signed before war with Ermor. I'm very tired of this game and also don't want to continue so it will probably be a draw if you concede. If we started war with Caelum, it would last for ages. His SC's are numerous and powers are vast.

[ano]

So what? Do we end this game? I suggest a draw between C'tis and Caelum.

[Pelthin]

<sigh> Since no one seems to want to continue this game, I say we call it.

I was just getting my fighting groove on with the big C miester. But I know I am more of a speed bump if anyone really came a knocking.

[Dragar]

let's end it, any result you like. I think you are in the much stronger position but it's up to you if yuo want to call it a draw

[ano]

Of course, I'm stronger. But I just don't want another 20 turns of this...
Enormous armies and lack of free time are painful together.

Let's wait for karnoza and maybe Tyrant though the latter seems to have lost interest in this game long ago.

[karnoza]

I am of course agree to a draw. :)

[ano]

Ok. I don't know where Tyrant disappeared. We formally need his agreement but he seems to have lost interest in this game long ago so it shouldn't be a problem if I stop the game and declare a draw.

[Jarkko]

Cheers for the winners, and once more thanks for having had an opportunity to play in this game :)

[ano]

Thanks to you, Jarkko, and everyone for participating:)