End of Time 3 - Running

[johnarryn]

The settings for this game will be as follows:

Llamaserver PBEM game.
Late Age
Map to be determined (depending upon number of water nations)
Random nations (I will indicate to you the nation you have received after you sign up, and will update this thread to show who has what).
10-12 players, depending upon interest.
CB 1.6.
Graphs will be off
We will begin with 24hour quickhost, transition to 48 hours when turns are more complex.

I'd like to encourage newer players to sign up, the best way to get experience is to play!

PM me or post in the thread for a spot.

Players thus far:

johnarryn - Gath
Juffos - Jomon
Quitti - Ermor
Alpine Joe - Pythium
Pelthin - Ulm
Erebus - C'tis
Immaculate - Caelum
ghoul31 - Midgard
Mearlande - Tien Chi
Deathjester - Utgard
Ishamoridin - Man

[Juffos]

I would like to join.

[Quitti]

I'd like to join this one too. The MA one is fun to play, at least for the moment ;)

[Alpine Joe]

I would like to play in this.

[johnarryn]

Nations Assigned:

Juffos - Jomon
Quitti - Ermor
Alpine Joe - Pythium

[Pelthin]

I am game for a random nation.

[johnarryn]

Pelthin - Ulm

[Erebus]

I'd like to join.

This would be my first game here, but I've played quite a lot of SP and several (smaller) games with friends before.

[Immaculate]

i too would like to join- i have never MP before but i have 1 1/2 SP games under my belt. I am very new but i don't mind getting my *** handed to me in th ename of learning.

I would also ask that the turns take slightly longer for the first 2 turns so those of us that are really new can get a feeling for how to submit turns and use the server and stuff like that without freaking out.

Immac.

[ghoul31]

I'll play

[johnarryn]

Erebus - C'tis
Immaculate - Caelum
ghoul31 - Midgard

Please keep in mind when designing your pretenders that you should first download the Conceptual Balance 1.6 mod from here:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=43949

Make sure the mod is on when you design your pretender, as some values are changed and a non-CB made pretender may not work once we get started.

Welcome to the newer players. Immaculate, to respond to your concerns, the first few turns are really, really short, so you probably won't need any time. The llamaserver is very easy to use. You can go here:

www.llamaserver.net

and scroll to the bottom to read the faq.

[Maerlande]

I would like to try for this one.

[Deathjester]

I would like to play. I'm new to multiplayer on here, but have played SP extensively and a few games of MP with friends. I do know how to use llamaserver though.

[Ishamoridin]

I'm interested in this game, count me in

[johnarryn]

Mearlande - Tien Chi
Deathjester - Utgard
Ishamoridin - Man

With that I am going to close the game. I will shortly post an announcement when the game is set up on the llamaserver. You will then be able to send your pretenders in to pretenders [at] llamaserver [dot] net. Importantly, you must have "EndofTime3" in the subject of your email.

Don't forget to use CB 1.6 when creating your pretender. Try to have your pretender in in the next 48 hours so we can get started.

See you all in the game!

[johnarryn]

Ok, the game is set up and the llamaserver is ready to receive pretenders. We'll be using the "Cradle of Dominions" map. Good luck.

[Immaculate]

Okay, pretender uploaded.
I've never played Caelum (or even met an AI caelum yet in my SP games) so it was a bit of guesswork but hopefully it will work :)

Immac.

[johnarryn]

You may want to look under the strategy index thread on the main page at LA Caelum strats... you can always send in an updated pretender if you change your mind, no rush.

[Pelthin]

Don't worry, I am just plain horrible with Ulm. They do not fit my style at all. But at least I have played a few blood nations recently, so I think I am okay.

[Ossa]

You said 10-12 players - can I still join in?

[johnarryn]

Thanks for the interest, Ossa. Unfortunately, i've already set up the game, and many pretenders have been sent in, so I can't easily hold open a spot for you. Sorry.

[Immaculate]

Only two players are left to submit their pretenders...?

[Maerlande]

I'll have mine this morning. I was tested a couple dozen variations and I'm finally happy.

[Immaculate]

I got to say i really agonized over pretender design and i talked to someone i know through these forums that i trust a bit and got their advice. I'm not sure i am completely happy with mine, but it sure seems like an important decision.

[Deathjester]

And we are off. First time playing Utgard, SP or MP. Should be interesting.

Good luck everyone and may the best pretender win! :viking:

[Immaculate]

It seems like the independents are weaker then i played in my solo games. Did i get strange scouting results or can the independents be weaker in multiplayer games?

[johnarryn]

The independent settings are at normal.... of course, variations can happen, and/or scouts returning odd reports.

[Quitti]

The Ermorian legion has started it's march. Well, in a turn or so anyway. Do not stand in our way, it'll just bolster our strength...

Immaculate: Don't worry too much, one of my first (if not my first one) MP game was with LA Caelum also. They were fun to play with, but I didn't get too far with them. It's a complicated nation ;). Still, you only learn by playing.

Game on.

[Ishamoridin]

Heh, first time I've used LA Man so I've also got a learning experience ahead of me :P

[Immaculate]

Did Jamon's god die?

[Deathjester]

It's good to be a giant, even though my starting position was not great. How is everyone else doing?

Immaculate: Jomon's pretender dead? Why would you think that?

[Immaculate]

the hall of fame.

[Deathjester]

Well, he/she has died once, that is for sure. Question is, is Jomon still dead?

[Maerlande]

Hey,

I bumped a neighbour. Would the neighbour kindly check Private messages? :) I'm Tien Chi btw.

Cheers.

[Immaculate]

I sent a message via PM on this website but its not showing up in my 'sent mail' box... If someone got mail from me, please respond... if not... i'm not sure what i'll do.

i.

[Quitti]

Shrapnel Forums doesn't save sent mail automatically from what I remember, so don't worry. You pm should've gone through.

[Ishamoridin]

I'm disappointed at my lack of neighbours =/

Ah well, more Indies for me ^.^

[Maerlande]

Won't you please be my nieghbour?

[Pelthin]

Heck all I have are neighbors, take some of mine. I have like 5 of them, and I have a feeling that I am soon just going to be watching this game..

However, Mother has arrived, so you all might want to be a little careful around Ulm now. :)

[Ishamoridin]

Well the turn after saying that, I found three neighbours, so never mind...

[Pelthin]

hehehe... I got 4 neighbors and they all hate me. :)

<sob>

[Maerlande]

I, Nebechadnezar, Emporer of T'ien Ch'i, send greetings to my honorable neighbours.

I am having some trouble controlling the zeal of my barbarian tribesman so I suggest you keep out of their way. They will continue to pillage the pathetic independent hordes. I apologize to those of my neighbours that have been victims of their zeal. I will do my best to restrain thema and keep peace on my borders.

Sincerely,

Nebechadnezar, Emporer of T'ien Ch'i, Celestial Ruler, Righteous Leader, and all around nice guy.

[Immaculate]

Can we get a turn extension please?

[johnarryn]

Shouldn't be a problem... but you still have 16 hours to do your turn... how much longer do you need?

[Immaculate]

I had time this morning after all... sorry for the confusion.

[Immaculate]

Well, that was fun.

I am going AI- i just lost all my generals:
http://i33.tinypic.com/119p4km.jpg

Anyway, like i said, good game.
Tien'Chi totally schooled me- i hope next time i can last a bit longer.

Immac.

[Quitti]

Interesting. Enjoy your next games :)

[Deathjester]

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Well, seems like Tien Chi is a rising power if Caelum falls..

[Maerlande]

I, Nebechadnezar, Emporer of T'ien Ch'i wish to clear up a misunderstanding. Our troops were simply regaining ancestral lands. They will soon return to garrisons in our cities. It is regretable that all the lords of Caelum fell in a single early rout.

[johnarryn]

I would encourage everyone to stay in until they are literally out of the game... it can make a big difference to the people around your opponent whether you call it a game before your main castle is taken, or whether you stick it out and prepare as many nasty surprises as possible for when the storm the castle =)

That being said, if there is literally nothing for you to do, I understand if you'd rather go AI.

[Maerlande]

Immaculate,

Very good effort to hold your capital. Your air magic cost me quite a lot along with the frighten spam. You nearly won the fight.

Maer

[Immaculate]

cool.

[Deathjester]

I seem to have a problem submitting my turn. Is anyone else experiencing this too?

Johnarryn - could you postpone a bit just in case?

[Maerlande]

I'm having the same problem.

[Calahan]

The turn submitting problem is due to the llamaserver currently moving home.

More details here.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44190

[Immaculate]

llamaserver is down. Llama took it offline so he could take it to his home (see a seperate thread in this subforum)

EDIT: ninjaed

[Deathjester]

This might be a hasty question, but could this cause any problems in this particular game?

ie - the game processing before our turns are registrered when the server goes online again (and the turn is processed due to the hosting interval).

[Calahan]

This might be a hasty question, but could this cause any problems in this particular game?

ie - the game processing before our turns are registrered when the server goes online again (and the turn is processed due to the hosting interval).
Well as far as I know, on every occasion that the llamaserver has gone off-line in the past, llamabeast's standard procedure has been to delay all games by 24 or 48 hours. So I'd be very surprised if this didn't happen again here.

But don't worry, in my experience llamabeast is always on the case in this regards, and I'm confident he will not let any games host without the players having had plenty of chance to get their turns in (ie. When he turns the llamaserver back on, he won't just let a bunch of games host that have a load of missing turns to them)

[johnarryn]

I will keep an eye out and delay on my own if the server comes back up and people haven't put their turns in.

[Maerlande]

Did anyone stale that last turn? It looked very close for Pythium and Utgard.

[johnarryn]

Pythium staled, as did Utgard (you can look at this on the llamaserver).

Utgard staling was my fault. He had asked me for an additional 4 hour delay, which i thought i had inputted, but apparently did not. I've already apologized to him, it was a crappy mistake =(

[Alpine Joe]

SOrry about the stale, but with my commanders scripted and awaiting the final battle I don't find myself doing much with my turns.....now if Gath or Ulm would just finish me off!

[Maerlande]

Are you going to offer a rollback for Utgard?

[Quitti]

You can check llamaserver game stales from the webpage (www.llamaserver.net) -> game page -> admin options -> staling data. While it's in located in the "admin" part of the game, anyone can access it.

I'm usually not a fan of rollbacks...

[Erebus]

The situation between Utgård and C'tis is quite delicate at the moment. So if Utgård wants a rollback, it's for a good reason.

[Deathjester]

I (Utgard) did, yes. It seemed there was a misunderstanding with regards to the postponing of the hosting. Very bad timing.

Edit: If a rollback is doable (I have little experience, except a small 2-player game once), it would make a big difference for my chances of survival, simply put.

[Deathjester]

The situation between Utgård and C'tis is quite delicate at the moment. So if Utgård wants a rollback, it's for a good reason.

Coming from the god of C'tis, that's a honorable statement. Thanks.

[johnarryn]

Im just going to go ahead and roll it back as an executive decision, so people, please take the same actions you did previously (except for Utgard and anyone interacting with him) so as not to gain any advantage from this.... ill trust everyone to abide by that.

Actually, looking at the llamaserver faq, it seems that as long as deathjester sends in his .2h and no one else does, they will all take the same actions as they would have anyhow. So NO ONE ELSE SEND IN A .2h but Deathjester

[johnarryn]

Folks,

I rolled back the turn, and then allowed Utgard to take his turn. I then hosted... your old orders should have been the same. Let me know if this is not the case.

We will otherwise proceed as normal. So make sure you send in the .2h for the most recent turn.

[Maerlande]

Status page is sitting at turn 33 with only Utgard submitted. No turn received.

[Maerlande]

Actually, I see that llamaserver stopped updating at 14:40. Looks like it's stuck.

[johnarryn]

It hosted, and I received my turn with no problems... so game continues as normal.

[Quitti]

I've recieved my turn also.

[Deathjester]

Me too, and I can confirm that things did turn out a bit differently when I could actually do something with 25-30 commanders under siege.

Thank you for handling it well John, a mistake can anyone do, it's how you handle the consequences that count.

And thanks to everyone else for the patience..

[Maerlande]

It's looking like we'll have 3 stales coming. Get your turns in please.

[johnarryn]

Again, if people don't contact me previous to a stale, not much I can do... I am generally not willing to delay the game unless a reason is given. Them's the breaks, as they say.

[Maerlande]

I'm cool with that johnarryn. Just bugging them to get turns in. Nothing to do with you.

[Maerlande]

johnarryn, Did you happen to change my email on llamaserver? My turn file is not arriving and I've tried resend.

[Maerlande]

Never mind. Third time lucky. It finally got here.

[Deathjester]

I did not get mine at first either, but after about 30 mins I did.

[Erebus]

I tried to send in my last turn an hour or so before the deadline, but I got no response from the server. I tried sending it again, but I didn't get a response until only some hours after the deadline. It said I was trying to send in a wrong turn. I'm quite sure I wasn't... but so my turn staled. I should've asked for postponing immediately when I didn't get a response from the server, but I was a bit busy with life outside Dominions and didn't think too clearly. Anyway, I wouldn't have done much on that turn that I can't do now, so losing it isn't catastrophic.

[johnarryn]

Ok, that's good to know... the llamaserver can be weird sometimes. Its possible, also, that because of the rollback the turn was a little screwy. Also, Erebus, it would be helpful if you could turn on private messaging in your profile.

[Maerlande]

Pythium has staled 10 times. Perhaps if the player isn't playing it should be set to AI. Has to do a better job than a stale.

[Erebus]

Also, Erebus, it would be helpful if you could turn on private messaging in your profile.

I hadn't thought that the feature might be disabled by default. It's turned on now. :)


Also, I'll be out of town for the whole weekend starting on friday morning. That means I can submit the next turn (37) as usual, but I won't be able to play turn 38 until on Sunday evening. So I'd very much appreciate a postponing of the deadline of turn 38 to something like Sunday 22:00 GMT.

[Deathjester]

Which is another 18 hrs to the current deadline..

[Maerlande]

I see that Erebus got his turn in. The holdout is Pythium. Any chance of a forced host since we were waiting for Erebus?

[Alpine Joe]

my mages are scripted and ready to fight, so I do absolutely nothing on my turns at this point. Go ahead and force the hosting.

[Maerlande]

Something is funny with Llama. The time limit ended over an hour ago, but the game isn't hosting. Anybody know why?

[Maerlande]

Okay. Resend turn worked and I got the new turn. So all's fine except the status page is wrong.

[ghoul31]

I'm going AI. Tien Chi wiped out my last army. And he has like 1000 troops. He controls the entire southern part of the world now.

good luck

[Maerlande]

For the record,

Midgard attempted a surprise attack on us. It's been a long war in which we, T'ien Ch'i, lost a lot of ground before returning to retake and advance. It was not our plan to conquer Midgard but the continuing attacks by sneaky Vans required a massive response.

As our other neighbours know, we have maintained excellent border relations with all others who communicate and don't attempt stealthy sneak attacks.

Sincerely,
Nebechadnezar, the peace loving Emporer of T'ien Ch'i.

[Deathjester]

I sent my turn in without response, but on the other hand the turn has not processed, and the time on llamaserver is not updating.

[Maerlande]

I see that quickhost is turned off. Was that deliberate?

[johnarryn]

Oops. Yet, it was deliberate, but should be on now. Thanks for the reminder.

[johnarryn]

Delaying for 24 hours, got a little too much on my hands right now.

[johnarryn]

Sorry for the inadvertent stale there, folks (though im sure my opponents didnt mind). Anyway, im getting a bit crushed by school, so im delaying the next turn until after tuesday evening, when i should be able to resume. thanks for understanding.

[johnarryn]

Hey folks - after this turn (turn 59) I will delay the game until the 27th to allow people extra time for the holidays, although people can always send their turns in if they wish.

[Maerlande]

Sounds good.

[Maerlande]

We, Nebachadnezar, Emporer of T'ien Ch'i, do annex the lands of Man. We trust our fine allies will understand our requirement for more space and not interfere with this simple annexation. Man has clearly demonstrated a lack of comprehension of the way and must be absorbed into the empire.

Our best to you,
Nebechadnezar

[Quitti]

I will be gone from 31st to 3rd, but I'm in a position where a stale or two won't really matter about my own outcome. Still I would like to request a postponement or perhaps leave it to max one hosting while I'm gone.

[Deathjester]

Utgård would like to make clear that we do not accept the annexation of Man by T'ien Ch'i. We are worried by the ambitions of Nebachadnezar and we stress that they are a danger to the rest of the world.

We hereby declare war upon T'ien Ch'i, and we encourage any who do not want to be 'absorbed' to follow our example.

[Deathjester]

Postpone 48 hours?

[Maerlande]

Did someone request a 48 hour extension? It's kind of frustrating to have unannounced extensions.

[Deathjester]

Did someone request a 48 hour extension? It's kind of frustrating to have unannounced extensions.

Agreed.

[Ishamoridin]

Hey guys, I can't apologise enough for the stales. I had a catastrophic computer falure and, living in the back-end of nowhere, haven't been able to access a computer to warn you >.<

I doubt it's had much influence, though, since I was getting soundly trounced by the legions of Tien'Chi.

Happy Gaming!

[johnarryn]

I apologize for the unannounced 48 hour delay. I was traveling from Japan to the U.S. and needed some extra time. Hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.

[Maerlande]

No problem with extensions. It's just that unannounced makes a fellow wonder about llamaserver and stuff.

[johnarryn]

Good game all - I had fun playing Gath for the first time. Would anyone be interested in taking over as admin for the game? I am happy to continue, but will probably not be as responsive to delay requests as someone who is still playing.

[Maerlande]

I can do it. Unless someone else wants the job.

[Quitti]

Indeed, good game. Johnarryn was a worthwhile opponent, both pushing the border from cap to cap :)
I have very little left, and no way of climbing up from this position as I don't have any D gem income nor much else, just plain skeletons, so I'll be going AI instead of waiting for someone to finish me off. (There are armies and SCs readily available on many sides to take the few provs I have, I know of that ;))

Good game. An useful experience in what LA Ermor can and can't do.

[johnarryn]

Mearlande is now the admin. Well done to Ermor and Jomon in defeating me... Quitti, you did quite well holding out a number of times when i thought you were done for =)

[Quitti]

Thanks :) Ermor sure isn't a very diverse nation, so tactics had to be simple enough...

[Maerlande]

Good game Johnarryn. We never crossed swords but you made those two pay for the gains. I know that from watching. :)

[Maerlande]

I postponed two hours as Jomon and Ctis look like they are about to stale. I would have left Man to stale as he appears to be unavailable. Ishamoridin, would you prefer to be set to AI if your computer is broken?

[Erebus]

I got sick yesterday and couldn't play my last turn because of that. I actually sent a request for postponing to johnarryn after it became clear I don't have enough energy to do any thinking, but it was quite late and, of course, he's not even the admin any more.

I didn't look at the new turn yet, but somehow I think it'd be quite important for me to give some orders.. is it possible to get a rollback?

[Maerlande]

Rollbacks are nasty and tend to cause more problems then they are worth. But I can tell you that you weren't hurt much by a stale. Have a look at the turn first. I know I didn't do anything of significance to you and I believe I'm your only enemy at the moment.

A roll back would be too advantageous to me because I could potentially then dodge some nastiness. The random number generator was not kind to me this turn.

I don't feel comfortable agreeing to a rollback as I would likely get a large advantage. We need Juffos and Deathjester to comment. Otherwise I'll leave the stale.

[Maerlande]

Of course, you could just accept annexation by T'ien Ch'i and there would be no concern. Our enlighted management is enjoyed by many others.

o_o

[Ishamoridin]

I'd say to set me AI, much as it pains me to say it. I'm still not sure when I can expect my PC to return to me, and it wouldn't be fair to put someone else under the thumb of Tien'Chi.

[Deathjester]

Of course, you could just accept annexation by T'ien Ch'i and there would be no concern. Our enlighted management is enjoyed by many others.

o_o

The giants of Utgård can confirm that Tien Chis recruitment and marketing "personell" are very convincing indeed, and we are beginning to see the advantages of joining the enlightened empire.. :)

[Erebus]

Ok, I looked at the turn. There's no need for a rollback, as Tien C'hi didn't react to my attack on them.

[Maerlande]

Yes, we, Nebechadnezer require time for consultation and planning before launching our overwhelming counter attack.

[Maerlande]

Juffos requested hosting increased to 72 hours and I granted it.

[Maerlande]

Greetings from Nebechadnezar, Emporer of the World,


We trust that our loyal subjects in lands as yet not annexed will welcome us with open arms. Remember, enlightened rule by T'ien Ch'i is to the advantage of the peasantry. Overthrow your cruel lizard and giant overlords and embrace the five fold path.

Our ministers are advancing as we speak. We are sorry for the small amount of collateral damage. Shock and Awe has consequences.

Those willing to pay tribute will be spared and allowed to carry on their less than ideal lives.

Regards,

Nebechadnezar the Omnipotent.

[Maerlande]

For the record, as offered by Ishamoridin, I'm having Trumanator set Man to AI. It's 11 stales now so clearly Ishamoridin is not coming back. I have not looked at Man's turns.

[Maerlande]

Folks,

I need an extension so I'm giving myself 12 hours. Hopefully I won't need all of that.

[Maerlande]

Sorry guys. I just can't finish my turn in time. I've extended another 12 hours

[Erebus]

This weekend (has been and) will be extremely busy for me. I don't think I can get a turn played before monday evening, so I'd like to request a 24h extension. I won't need all of that if I can play on monday morning before work, but I wouldn't count on that.

[Maerlande]

No problem. I'll extend for you.

[Maerlande]

Guys. I haven't been able to get my turn done before bed tonight and I see the Erebus is still not done. So I'm extending 12 more hours. I'll check in the morning and see the status and finish my turn.

[Maerlande]

Folks, I had a request for a delay until Monday and I've granted it.

[Maerlande]

Sorry guys. I just couldn't get my turn done in time. I postponed 12 hours.

[Juffos]

Jomon of Jomon would like to apply for godhood.

[Maerlande]

Folks,

I would like to concede to Juffos. I've done my best but frankly I don't see any chance to win against him.

Let me know if you are okay with this and I'll end the game.

Cheers,
Maer

[Erebus]

C'tis can hardly be expected to win a fight that's hopeless for Tien C'hi.

Long live Jomon!

[Maerlande]

Thanks everyone for a great game. This one had lots of great play and no drama. Gotta love that. Congratulations to Jomon/Juffos for superb turtle play and keeping me in the dark until the end on his massive power.

For the majority of the mid-late game I though I had a win in sight. Pretty exciting for my first MP game, but I'll happily take second in such a big and hard game.

Juffos: I'd really love to see your last turn now. Would you upload it? I'm damn sure I was a goner but of course it would be nice to have verification.

Amazing play by everyone. Thanks to all those who played in the early mid and got eliminated. Everyone did a great job of playing to the bitter end. Especially thanks to Ctis and Utgard for hanging on a making my life hell even when overwhelmed. You guys just never let up the pressure so I could not focus on Jomon.

And last but not least. Congratulations to Juffos for out playing me in diplomacy.

[Juffos]

Here is my last turn.

And thank you all for keeping this game drama-free. You were gentlemanly competition. I would gladly play another game with all of you.

[Deathjester]

Thanks everyone for a good game!

C'tis and Utgård, along with Man I suppose, bled eachother and became small fringe nations. Fringe nations, but not easily conquered it would seem.

We also had a legendary werewolf prophet with well over 500 hundred hitpoints and a crazy regen of over 200 hitpoints per turn. :shock:

It was my first multiplayer game and I learned a lot of (hard earned) lessons, mostly from C'tis - thanks for spectacularly beating me a handful of times - very humbling. :)

[Maerlande]

Thanks for sharing your turn Juffos :) You were right. Your turtle strat was unbelievable. 45,000 gold saved!!! And even your base gem income beat mine.

[Erebus]

I'd also like to thank all of you other players for making my first MP a positive experience. I too think that I learned a lot during the game.

The war of C'tis and Utgård turned out to be a loss for both. At first I was too reckless. The werewolf-thugs I had to deal with were a new experience for me, and I think I was too afraid of them. After beating back Utgård's first wave of attacks, I thought I absolutely must beat Utgård down to a point of no recovery immediately. Thinking about it later, it must have been an overreaction. Even though countering raiding werewolves was difficult, I think C'tis had the advantage in big fights. Certainly I shouldn't have tried to attack Utgård's capital, defended by strong astral mages, with a group of sauromancers protected only by mindless undead! I even took my pretender to that fight, as that was my only way of getting reinforcements (more mindless undead...) for my attacking army. Turned out not to be the greatest of ideas to get my master lich killed for real.

After losing the magic paths I'd planned to have for the endgame, I probably got too passive. I don't think I really tried to take the initiative again. Even after Utgård took one of my forts and stopped advancing, I mostly built up my forces to defend against another large scale attack that never came. Until Tien C'hi attacked, of course, but my forces were quite insufficient to deal with that.

[Maerlande]

Now hold on a sec! I didn't attack either Utgard or Ctis :) You guys decided I was too big and declared war on me. I wish you'd left me alone to fight Jomon though. My whole point in attacking Man was to block Jomon from moving west. Sadly, I probably should have negotiated that with both of you and then maybe things MIGHT have gone differently.

My 3 front end game war was a disaster.

Oh, one thing. I don't mean to sound like I'm blaming anyone else. I screwed up by not securing agreements over the attack on Man.

[Erebus]

Well yes. I meant "attack of Tien Chi" only in the sense "sequence of events that led to Tien Chi occupying my lands". :)

I have to say I didn't have any idea of Jomon's power either. During the endgame I kept myself informed only on what went on in Man, Utgård and the closest parts of Tien Chi and Tien Chi certainly looked overwhelmingly strong from that perspective.