Tophats: Squirreloid wins!

[Burnsaber]

TheEarlyDays ended and my fix of Dom3 is running thin. My hands are shaking like mad.

I need more!

Because I'm a very silly person, I need spice up each of my games with odd mods and rules. This time I'm going for something very different from "Dramatica". It's time for all of us to act like men of stature & education. Definately not some vagabonds who live under bridges.

Also, my mod nation, Bretonnia is in need of MP test. I'm sure that one of you gentlemen will take this nation for a whirl. If none of you fancy it, I'll play it, but it would be preferrable for someone else to play it for objectivity.


Rules

Era: MA
Players: 11. 8 land players and 3 water players.
Settings: Renaming on, otherwise normal
Mods: Gentleman's Compilimation mod, containing CBM 1.6, Nehekhara, Bretonnia and Ogres. Downloadable from this post. Note that you will need to download the actual mods too, since I forgot to include the graphics of the mod in question.

Diplomacy:

1) All agreements are binding, we are Gentlemen after all.
1a) Should a player break an agreement, all other contracts the offending player has made shall be made void.

2) All agreements are public and must be stated in this thread for them to be under protection of clause 1). There is no need to be too verbose though, something like "Shinyama has signed NAP3 with Bretonnia" is enough. Both signing and retreating from an agreement must be announced.

3) The admin of the game shall keep a list of all announced agreements on the first post for quick reference.


Map: Islands and Tunnels (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=728745)

Other rules
1) Ashdod is not a nation for gentlemen. We will keep it out of this game.
2) Roleplaying by characteristic posts (both in-game and in this thread) is heavily encouraged and appreciated.
3) Fighting to the last breath is expected in this game. If you are too time strained or unmotivated to play, please at least try to find a sub.
4) In sign-up, you have to put the word "Monocle" (no context needed) in the post where you sign up. Consider it a sort of test for me to know that you have read the rules of the game and know for what you are singing up to. I mean, imagine if some vagabond managed to sneak into this friendly spar between civilized men. The mere thought is propostereous!

Hosting:
26h for turns 1-25
36h for turns 26-40
48h for turns 41-60
72h after turn 60

Delays granted on request.Gentlemen have important stuff to do outside of this game.

Victory Condition:

1) Ruling 4 capitals for 3 consecutive turns.
2) Concensus from other gentlemen

PLAYERS

Player -- Nation
1.Burnsaber(admin) -- Shinyama
2.Trumanator -- Ogres
3.Cleveland -- Oceania
4.Apsophos -- R'lyeh
5.GameExtremist -- Arcosephale
6.Alpine Joe -- Bretonnia
7.fungalreason -- Vanheim
8.Squirreloid -- Nehekra
9.Starshine_Monarch -- Tien C'hi
10.ghoul31 -- Agartha
11.Grijalva -- Atlantis

Agreements:



Bretonnia <-> R'lyeh -- NAP 3
Bretonnia <-> Ogres -- NAP 3
Shinuyama <-> Agartha -- NAP 3
Shinuyama <-> Nehekhara -- NAP 3
Shinuyama <-> Vanheim -- NAP 5
Nehekhara <-> Arcosephale -- NAP 3
Nehekhara <-> Oceania -- NAP 3
Ogre Kingdoms <-> Atlantis -- NAP 5

[Alpine Joe]

I will play Bretonnia (If I can ever get a moment away from the country club...)

dash it what happened to my monocle!

[cleveland]

A most interesting proposition, indeed!

Quid pro quo, good sir: I put together a little map this weekend designed for just such a 10 player game (115 land/25 uw provs, 8 land/2 uw players). This map is also in need of some testing.

Perhaps a gentlemen's agreement can be arranged? Consider the map, and I shall consider the game?

Here is a screenshot, though you'll have to wrap-it-around in your head:
9310

Upon close inspection by monocle, you'll see it too has several silly features included strictly for spice:
1) It's "planetary," i.e. east-west wraparound with "polar" connectivity at the poles, much like the map in my signature.
2) It's made of a number of small islands, and therefore has a large number of chokepoints, by design. This is particularly true in the ocean, which is usually strategically neglected by mapmakers.
3) Sailing is consequently very strategically important. Also by design. Who doesn't like boats?
4) To compensate, the islands are connected by underwater passageways...these passageways are cave provinces.

Let me know, my good man.

[Trumanator]

Why hello old chap! I must say, after examining that there map with my trusty monocle I find it terribly exciting! We'll see how my ogres enjoy its lush terrain.

[Apsophos]

This souds very interesting. I would like to join this little monocle-wearing club of yours, with a couple of reserves:
- English is not my first language (I mean... don't true gentlemen all speak French?) and I am not accustomed to written roleplaying. I can offer no guarantee regarding the quality or quantity of my participation.
- I have absolutely no idea of which glorious nation I should lead to its demise. I am open to suggestions, or maybe I will just wait for all the slots to be taken and pick a nation at random.

[Humakty]

Mes biens chers amis, après ce cours préambule dans la langue de Molière, je me livre a mon propos :

I'm a young dominions 3 gentleman, having just been granted the right to wield my monocle in public, but I'm very enthusiastic about having my first MP experience in this kind of game.

My english isn't top nuts either, RP will be painfull, and I'm for the moment quite uncertain about who to play, let say Bandar Log.

[Sombre]

Hear hear!

[Burnsaber]

A most interesting proposition, indeed!

Quid pro quo, good sir: I put together a little map this weekend designed for just such a 10 player game (115 land/25 uw provs, 8 land/2 uw players). This map is also in need of some testing.

Perhaps a gentlemen's agreement can be arranged? Consider the map, and I shall consider the game?



Dear Sir, I ogled at you map for quite a while. My peculiar curiosity was roused, if you excuse my strong language.

We would be honored to use your map in our game. I also took the freedom of signing you up. The presence of such a industrious gentleman as yourself will do the game only good.




- I have absolutely no idea of which glorious nation I should lead to its demise. I am open to suggestions, or maybe I will just wait for all the slots to be taken and pick a nation at random.


Perhaps you'd like to play underwater nation? Their survival rate is quite high, allowing you to experience quite a lot of the game. There are good guides for MA R'lyeh & Atlantis.

For all those concencerned about your roleplaying capabilities, don't sweat over it. The theme is not supposed to be *that* serious. It's just good set-up for jokes.

To talk like a true gentlman, Thesaurus (http://thesaurus.reference.com/) is a good tool. Just type the word you are about to say and just use the most verbose synonym thesaurus offers instead. Calling people "chaps" also works.

[fungalreason]

This venture sounds most promising indeed. My monocle has been gathering dust for quite some time, but I do believe it's time to don it once again.

Since the people of Vanheim do not yet appear to have proper representation in this righteous quarrel, I humbly submit myself as overlord in their quest for victory and honour.

[Squirrelloid]

I suppose, as I am soon to be unjustly slain in Utopia, I perchance have time for a little additional dalliance with some good fellows.

I do question the honor of a man who chooses to play a glamour nation. This is a game amongst gentlemen, yet you, sir, choose a nation who obfuscates and deceives. Hardly forthright behavior, you shame your monocle.

In that spirit, if there be no objections from my esteemed colleagues, I will graciously accept the reins of Nekehara. The dead, after all, have no secrets and tell no lies. And I will promise not to use the preposterous gilded scorpion, which no gentleman should sully his hands with.

I have one question regarding the OP: "Shinyama has singed NAP3 with Bretonnia"? Would that be a statement of intent to end a NAP, or simply minorly transgress it? I suppose perhaps some people prefer to lightly singe their bridges rather than burning them.

[Gandalf Parker]

I scanned but didnt see.
Is this pbem?

[Starshine_Monarch]

In all the games I've hosted, diplomacy was mostly Machiavellian in nature, so I'm sure this will be a nice change of pace for me. Fortunately the game hasn't completely filled up yet.

*Starshine considers the monocle for a minute before tossing it aside and donning a set of green and gold imperial diplomat's robes.*

Tien C'hi please.

[Burnsaber]

In that spirit, if there be no objections from my esteemed colleagues, I will graciously accept the reins of Nekehara. The dead, after all, have no secrets and tell no lies. And I will promise not to use the preposterous gilded scorpion, which no gentleman should sully his hands with.


How could I refuse such a modest and civilized request? The undead are yours to command.

Any players signing up now should notice that we are full on mod nations and no further reguests to play one are accepted. To keep the game in good spirit, I'll write a post descriping the mod nations in this game, just like I've done in the infamous "Dramatica" and "Blood Red" threads. You fellows must wait for it for a while, since this moustache isn't going to fax itself.


I have one question regarding the OP: "Shinyama has singed NAP3 with Bretonnia"? Would that be a statement of intent to end a NAP, or simply minorly transgress it? I suppose perhaps some people prefer to lightly singe their bridges rather than burning them.

My original post might be a bit misleading on that aspect. It is my intention that both signing and abolishing a NAP-agreement (as per the terms of the agreement in question) should be stated in this thread.


I scanned but didnt see.
Is this pbem?

Yes. In llamaserver.

[Squirrelloid]

I have one question regarding the OP: "Shinyama has singed NAP3 with Bretonnia"? Would that be a statement of intent to end a NAP, or simply minorly transgress it? I suppose perhaps some people prefer to lightly singe their bridges rather than burning them.

My original post might be a bit misleading on that aspect. It is my intention that both signing and abolishing a NAP-agreement (as per the terms of the agreement in question) should be stated in this thread.

My dear sir, you may note that in the quoted text from the OP the word 'sign' does not appear. I was merely curious as to what singing a NAP meant. Presumably it is not quite as bad as burning it entirely.

[Burnsaber]

My dear sir, you may note that in the quoted text from the OP the word 'sign' does not appear. I was merely curious as to what singing a NAP meant. Presumably it is not quite as bad as burning it entirely.

Oh, you rascally chump! Now I see what you did there! I should've had my legal advisor check that post before I sent it.

Unintenteded grammatical error has been fixed in the OP.

[cleveland]

Dear Sir, I ogled at you map for quite a while. My peculiar curiosity was roused, if you excuse my strong language.

We would be honored to use your map in our game. I also took the freedom of signing you up. The presence of such a industrious gentleman as yourself will do the game only good.


Jolly good!

If it pleases the assembly, I humbly submit version 0.1 of the aforementioned map for review by the gentlemen gathered. Mind you it is by no means a finished product, and I ask these most learned scholars to test it for connectivity/province mask irregularities:
9314

I graciously accept the opportunity to be the first gentleman to honor his agreements: I choose Arcoscephale. After all, what could be more civilized then a proud phalanx of hoplites marching in good order to meet the enemy?

I must inform you, however, that I will be traveling this Wednesday to Sunday. I suspect it shan't effect our start date, and will post on this thread once I've established a viable connection, but if you don't hear from me, kindly hold the start until Sunday evening USA time (or midnight Monday in Mother England, God Save the Queen).

Post feedback on the map! Don't be afraid to say it's crap and unusable!

[ghoul31]

Agartha would be honorred to play.
Our people only have one eye, so we always use a monacle.

[Humakty]

@ dear gent Cleveland, Lord of the Oaks : your map seems good and fine, even if I haven't checked every land mark ( I have my usual thursday golf starting soon). The only ichy points are there are no startpos, which can lead to disapointing startups (in my test game I had the whole lot of 1 land neighbour), and also that water provinces 133 and 104 have a great deal of land neighbours, which can result in some very cheesy situations for water nations, as far as i know. (which is not much, it's my very first MP game)

[cleveland]

Some additional info on the map I forgot:

1) To use it, unzip the file and place resulting .rgb and .map files directly in your dominions3/maps folder. It'll now be available when you start a new game.

2) I haven't begun to sort out the starting provinces yet. The final product will have 10 valid start locations, randomly assigned by the computer (sorry Vanheim, your not necessarily starting on the coast!). These start locations will be as balanced as possible, so all capitals will have plenty of indy neighbors, etc.

3) If you find a problem with a province, please report it with the province number. Most of the province names are randomly assigned.

4) Make sure you take some time to understand how the poles, tunnels, and the southern mountains are connected. As mentioned, this map has unusual connectivity, you don't want any surprises mid-game.

5) Some unexpected terrain quirks:
-tunnels are [small] [cave] provinces
-passes are [small] [true mountain] provinces
-poles are [deep sea] provinces, much like Earth's North Pole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Charlotte_%28SSN-766%29)
-poles have "Tundra" magicsites to force them to be cold; the equatorial waste regions have "Desert" magicsites to force them hot. Real climates!
-there are invisible "rivers" that permeate the map. Each mountain forms the start of a river that ultimately drains to the sea, and a river runs through every farm/swamp province. This has no actual effect on gameplay other then to slightly alter the magicsites that will appear.

-----

@ Burnsaber - underwater nations seem to be the fat kids at gym class...as designer of the proposed map, if you & apsophos don't want them, I'll play an uw.

[cleveland]

@ dear gent Cleveland, Lord of the Oaks : your map seems good and fine, even if I haven't checked every land mark ( I have my usual thursday golf starting soon). The only ichy points are there are no startpos, which can lead to disapointing startups (in my test game I had the whole lot of 1 land neighbour), and also that water provinces 133 and 104 have a great deal of land neighbours, which can result in some very cheesy situations for water nations, as far as i know. (which is not much, it's my very first MP game)

@ Humakty - Right-o! You beat me it, I haven't picked the valid starts yet. I've done it for a number of games and take it very seriously, you won't be disappointed come gameday.

Agreed, there are several water provinces with many land neighbors. This is a consequence of the island nature of the map, of trying to have lots of sea chokepoints, and of trying to keep the number of water provinces relatively low (I think it's currently ~12/uw player, as opposed to ~15/land player). Lots of water is - in my humble opinion - much worse than lots of land-water connectivity.

But everything can be changed, so if our cabal wishes to further section the oceans, it shall be done.:up:

EDIT: I checked the numbers, I was way off on the per-province numbers. I'm going to recommend we either add an additional player, for a total of 8 land and 3 underwater nations, or change the mix to 7 land and 3 underwater nations. That'll bring the numbers more in line with the 15/12 target.

[Grijalva]

darn, I too am in need of more Dom3 fix...but it seems ghoul beat me to it,*dips monocle in glass of water* but please consider me if someone drops out...

[Starshine_Monarch]

Good sir Cleveland, your suggestion to recruit 3 underwater nations will of course force some poor gent to pick up MA Oceania when he might have otherwise chosen a different nation.

As we all know that MA Oceania is quite underpowered and rather not so interesting to play, If we do decide to play with 3 underwater nations I then propose that we give them a bit of help with Burnsaber's fine Underwater Gameplay Improvement Mod.

I have noticed a problem however in that the Tomb Kings mod changes weapon 710: the Warhorse Hoof in CBM used on Heavy Cavalry and the like (which somehow always end up in provinces adjacent to your capital), into an utterly preposterous "Divine Flail" that Tomb Kings mentions are only supposed to be used on pretenders. I believe these to be simply copies of the CBM Divine Flails found on the Egyptian-style titan pretenders, so I shall upload a version of Tomb Kings that does away with these weapons in order to avoid unfortunate conflicts with CBM.

[Apsophos]

Mes biens chers amis, après ce cours préambule dans la langue de Molière, je me livre a mon propos :
Il est fort agréable de voir qu'il existe d'autres gentilshommes aussi bien instruits dans notre belle langue.

Perhaps you'd like to play underwater nation? Their survival rate is quite high, allowing you to experience quite a lot of the game. There are good guides for MA R'lyeh & Atlantis.
I actually considered playing R'lyeh before asking for suggestions. I never played an underwater nation, and astral magic and tentactles somewhat fit my current mood. I'll take R'lyeh then.

[Grijalva]

I was so quick to post that I didn't see Cleveland's recommendation; if you guys end up doing the 8 land nations 3-underwater mix (or just need another water-player) I'll take Atlantis OR Oceania... monocle...

[Starshine_Monarch]

I have noticed a problem however in that the Tomb Kings mod changes weapon 710: the Warhorse Hoof in CBM used on Heavy Cavalry and the like (which somehow always end up in provinces adjacent to your capital), into an utterly preposterous "Divine Flail" that Tomb Kings mentions are only supposed to be used on pretenders. I believe these to be simply copies of the CBM Divine Flails found on the Egyptian-style titan pretenders, so I shall upload a version of Tomb Kings that does away with these weapons in order to avoid unfortunate conflicts with CBM.

Would have edited, but I was a bit too late.

What I meant to say was I WOULD upload a new mod if I had any clue whatsoever on how Llama's mod combining script works. There are likely many other conflicts as well and as it is now there's no real easy way for me to fix this issue, so I humbly request that someone who knows what the heck he's doing run the mods we will be using through Llama's script...

[Squirrelloid]

MA Oceania is better than MA Atlantis, Starshine. The only good MA water nation is Rlyeh...

[Sombre]

No way is MA Oceania better. Atlantis has way, way, way better magic and can produce thugs pretty easily. It's also far more interesting imo.

They're both bottom tier though :]

[Squirrelloid]

No way is MA Oceania better. Atlantis has way, way, way better magic and can produce thugs pretty easily. It's also far more interesting imo.

They're both bottom tier though :]

I would have said that Oceania has better troops, and therefore a better early game. Thus it can diversify its magic via pretender easier, because it doesn't need its pretender for anything else.

[Burnsaber]

Sorry for being off-character, but there is a lot of things to get straight. It's easier if I write like a normal person.

First: We will go with 11 players. I put up Grivalja with Atlantis (because, IMHO, it's a lot better than MA Oceania + more starter friendly). I'll play Oceania (it will be a good handicap for me, since I'm more experienced than the other water players). We won't be using UWGIM, I'll take this experience as research for further UWGIM advances.

- I'll fix the "Divine Flail" bug. I'll make a complimation mod* (likely to be finished by Thursday) that will have bug fixed. Once I've made the mod and the map is ready, I'll put the game up to llamaserver.

*complimation mod is one huge mod that combines all of the mods in use in this game to one big mod.

[Warhammer]

Dang it, I got my monocle in a twist and didn't sign up for the game when I should have...

[cleveland]

Noble Burnsaber, your selflessness is unmatched, but I insist on the privilege to fall upon the MA Oceania sword. Twas my own miscalculation that led to the misadvertisment, and I would be remiss if you were forced to suffer the consequences in your own game.

Besides, twill be good sport to turn this common flower girl into a proper lady. Wait, er, I mean turn this menagerie of sea beasts into an omnipotent global power. That's it.

Unless of course you're already invested in the Capricorns, in which case I shall of course yield to my original choice of Arcoscephale.

Regardless, I have worked diligently on our map, completing the start locations this morning, and present it to the counsel for final inspection:
9320

Be sure to overwrite both of the old files! Please review & report any issues. [Note that if you try to start a game with more than 8 land nations, a bunch will die off on turn 2 due to a lack of existence.]

I'm now off to the dark side of the moon. I expect to be incommunicado for the next 48hrs, though possibly through Sunday; I shall send a post as soon as I have the means.

[Wrana]

Greetings, oh noble Burnsaber!
It's with a heavy heart indeed that I learned about the imminent commensement of this game. I have few excuses for having learned about it so late and a lack of a monocle isn't a fitting one for such an untimely intervention, I admit it freely.
Still, I would dare to presume so much as to impose my unworthy self. In short words, I would like to ask you, if it is still within a realm of possibility to include myself in this most illustrious company as a future leader of one of the most cultured nations of the era in question, which is at the same time still sadly absent from this great project. I mean, of course, the noble and learned Pythium!

with a hope for fortuitous ending
for my humble proclamation,
Wrana

[Burnsaber]

Okay, Gentlemen, I'll work out the mod today. Sorry for the delay, I tried to delegate this work to my servants but as I should have foreseen, those low-class men had no insight to the nuances of this Gentleman's game. If any of you manage perceive any problems with the map, it would be most recommended to report your finding right away.


Once the complimation mod is completed and if the map has gotten no negative feedback, I'll put up the game to the llamaserver. This should happen within 12 hours.



Noble Burnsaber, your selflessness is unmatched, but I insist on the privilege to fall upon the MA Oceania sword. Twas my own miscalculation that led to the misadvertisment, and I would be remiss if you were forced to suffer the consequences in your own game.


Very well dear Sir, if you insist upon it. Oceania is yours to command. I salute your bravery.

I have chosen the Shinuyama as my nation. Sure, they are bit savage, but a gentleman like me should manage to polish up their edges.

Greetings, oh noble Burnsaber!
It's with a heavy heart indeed that I learned about the imminent commensement of this game. I have few excuses for having learned about it so late and a lack of a monocle isn't a fitting one for such an untimely intervention, I admit it freely.
Still, I would dare to presume so much as to impose my unworthy self. In short words, I would like to ask you, if it is still within a realm of possibility to include myself in this most illustrious company as a future leader of one of the most cultured nations of the era in question, which is at the same time still sadly absent from this great project. I mean, of course, the noble and learned Pythium!

with a hope for fortuitous ending
for my humble proclamation,
Wrana

I'm sorry to inform you that the map is simply full, at least in my perception. But should some gentleman withdraw from the game before the start, I'll contact you immediately.

Also, if I ever see it as necessary to start up Tophats II, I'll give you chance for a VIP sign-up.

[Lingchih]

I offer my monacle, and my services, should some fine gentleman need to bow out of the contest.

[Burnsaber]

Game is up on llamaserver. Here is the map download (I had to take out spaces from the title of the original map, no other changes). The mod is downloadable from the first post.

Send in your pretenders Gentlemen!

[Burnsaber]

Just 3 more prentenders to go. As I promised a while back, here is a short description of the mod nations in play, so that no gentleman is struck by suprise by their odd tricks.

BRETONNIA

Bretonnia is a feudal nation, full of knights and noblemen of most fitting stature. Should one encounter in the game, they should be prepared to deal with absolutely devastating heavy cavalry (most likely best in the game), with custom hoof attacks and lances that allow for strenght in their damage. This cavalry is often supported by peasant infantry, which is cheap but lacking in equipment and morale.

Bretonnian commanders are quite high in quality. They have recruitable knight commander thugs who can "muster" (summon allies-command) some infantry. Thy have only two mages/priests, Grail Damsel & Grail Maidens. Damsels are absolutely magnicifient with strong W/N/A magic. However their cheapest mage (Maidens) costs 220gp is not really that great of a researcher. Also, Bretonnia is a very superstitious nation and labratories cost 800 gold for them, these handicaps often make Breton last in the research race.

It also very important to note that Bretonnia has access to heroic knights who can deal 3x damage to larger beings. Grail Hero is a recruitable size 4 flying commander with this ability and they can summon Questing Knights (size 3) with the same heroic qualities. Protect your high size SC's/thugs well!

Bretonnia has some national spells that are custom farsummons. Although somewhat expensive, these spells are quite powerful and any opponent of Bretonnia should be prepared against them. Also note that all Grail Knights are magic beings and are thus vulnerable to all counters that come with that status, like Opposition, Control, Arcane Bolt, etc...

NEHEKHARA

Nehekhara is a undead nation, but not like ermor. They need to pay gold for their troops. Their infantry is solid and becomes great when supported by their national undead boosting spells. They have great magic resistance, so banishment is not recommended without some penetration boosters.

They have solid battlefield magic with E and F access and you should prepared for some hefty "Sulphur Haze" spam. They also have some quite nice late-game summons.

OGRES

Ogres have good, although expensive troops. They really shine in the early game, but their mages are lacking and need to use their national summons to diversify. They also specialize in ranged weapons (Scrap Launchers) that can absolutely devastate "chaff troops", sort of like the spell Blade Wind.

They also have thuggable commanders and nice national buffing spells.

[Humakty]

Dear gents,

A newbie game have just been created, and I feel I'd be more fitting competing in there than here, seeing as Tophats is full with hardcore veterans.

So I'd gladly backup, and leave my place to someone else, if someone shows up before the start of the game. If not, I'll manage some heroic last stand. :)

[cleveland]

Very well dear Sir, if you insist upon it. Oceania is yours to command. I salute your bravery.

Jolly good!

Our future former ruler's carriage has just departed for llama country. We look forward to succumbing to each of you fine chaps on the field!

Most sincerely yours,

Colonel Chester J. W. Filmore IV, Esquire
Senior Diplomatic Adviser, Oceania

[Burnsaber]

Dear gents,

A newbie game have just been created, and I feel I'd be more fitting competing in there than here, seeing as Tophats is full with hardcore veterans.

So I'd gladly backup, and leave my place to someone else, if someone shows up before the start of the game. If not, I'll manage some heroic last stand. :)

Duly noted. I've contacted Wrana about taking your place. I've also set the game not to start when all pretenders are in to give him time to respond.

[Burnsaber]

Wrana has not yet responded. To keep this thing moving, I've contacted Lingchih about the available spot.

[cleveland]

Chaps,

Some chatter in the common forums has given me a rather silly idea, and I wish to present it to our Assembly for review.

First, some background. There are many new faces here on the boards. A very encouraging sign, indeed. However, as we all know, volunteering for one's first MP game can be intimidating.

It has been and remains the sacred duty of distinguished gentlemen like us to encourage future Dominions generations to participate in our sport. Indeed, our community's continued vitality depends upon it.

I therefore propose that I make my turns in the Tophats game visible to "tourists" - those who are not participating in the game, but are interested to see how an MP game works, what strategies are involved, etc. The intent would be to allow those interested in MP to experience the game without commitment, thereby piquing their interest and spurring participation (forgive the harsh language, I implore!)

Specifically, I would post a solicitation in the main forum asking all interested parties to contact me via email. I would then send my .trn & .2h files to those individuals. These would be sent with a 2-turn delay, to ensure no unscrupulous parties sabotage our game with unauthorized .2h files.

I would maintain a discussion thread in the MP forums providing insights, rationale, and pathetic attempts at humor. Essentially, it'd be a living After Action Report (er, or perhaps a During Action Report?)

Regardless, such an experiment would not be possible without the full endorsement and cooperation of all members of the Tophats Congress. Afterall, the integrity of the game would be compromised should any of our members choose to use the situation to thier advantage. Though of course, given that all of our members of Persons of the Highest Quality, this notion is laughable, therefore making our game the perfect laboratory to test such an Idea.

However, this Idea cannot and will not proceed unless each of our cohort agrees to the following stipulations:
1) No active member of the Tophats game will view .trn & .2h that I make available.
2) No active member will view the AAR thread I maintain on the board.
3) No active member will discuss information from (1) or (2) with anybody who has access to (1) or (2).

So gentlemen, what do you think? Again, without positive affirmation of this proposal by all Tophats members, it will not be implemented.

Most sincerely,
cleveland

[Trumanator]

Why, what an absolutely SMASHING idea good sir! I would also be willing to take part in this endeavor. However, it strikes me that it would be rather rare fun to read each other's DARs. Perhaps if one were to update them 2 turns behind schedule it would be fitting? Of course, one may conceal what one wishes, and if it is felt to be best to simply ban other players' observation of them I will acquiese.

[Frozen Lama]

well i have a question: what is this madness gentlemen that you have allowed the OGRES to join such a civilized game!!

[Squirrelloid]

well i have a question: what is this madness gentlemen that you have allowed the OGRES to join such a civilized game!!

Like the dead, Ogres are straight-forward and tell no lies. Unlike those sneaky Van.

[Burnsaber]

I find out sir Cleveland's idea to be most well-thought proposal. I hereby declare to follow all the rules stated in the afro-mentioned proposal.

Also, Sir Lingchic turned down the offer to join the game due to time-constraints, so the game is up for recruitment once more. Should the worst thing happen and no one signs up before sunday, I'll start the game nevertheless. We will deal with the possible imbalance issues like gentlemen.

[GameExtremist]

By jove!

I have not seen such a fine gathering of gentleman in many a year, I would of course be delighted to accompany you all on this fine journey!

I do perhaps muse upon weather I can ride the back of my elephants (Arcoscephale :up:) without dropping my monocle.

[Apsophos]

A During Action Report, now this is a brilliant idea! Needless to say, I agree to all the conditions.

[Burnsaber]

By jove!

I have not seen such a fine gathering of gentleman in many a year, I would of course be delighted to accompany you all on this fine journey!

I do perhaps muse upon weather I can ride the back of my elephants (Arcoscephale :up:) without dropping my monocle.

Oh, jolly good!

We will start as soon as this fine young chap manages to get his pretender in. There is no need for rush though, please take all the time you need to produce the pretender of most fitting stature.

However, I do wish that we could manage to start the game before Saturday.

[GameExtremist]

Oh Blast!

Pardon me my good chaps but I am having a spot of bother installing the Gentleman's mod correctly.

I place the unzipped files in the mod directory, start the game and enable the mod, only to have nonsensical message

"myloadmalloc: can't open ./mods/./Warhammer ogre Kingdoms/flag.tga"

Do I need to install other mods seperately or should I be unpacking the gentlemans mod in a different manner upon which I am habitually accustomed too?

Sorry chaps in the delay.

[rdonj]

Oh Blast!

Pardon me my good chaps but I am having a spot of bother installing the Gentleman's mod correctly.

I place the unzipped files in the mod directory, start the game and enable the mod, only to have nonsensical message

"myloadmalloc: can't open ./mods/./Warhammer ogre Kingdoms/flag.tga"

Do I need to install other mods seperately or should I be unpacking the gentlemans mod in a different manner upon which I am habitually accustomed too?

Sorry chaps in the delay.

Yes, it turns out that the way the mod was packaged, you must already have all the mods used in this game already on your computer.

Here's a link to the ogre mod: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=35298

[GameExtremist]

Well it seems I am all set then upon this course of action.

Good luck chaps!

[Burnsaber]

Game started! Sorry for the mod confusion GameExtremist. I forgot to mention that detail in the OP.

Anyways, the game is on. Let this game on skill and luck commence! And may the best gentleman win!

[Squirrelloid]

Good luck, gents. May the best man, woman, or pardon the expression - monster - win.

[cleveland]

Splendid! Good hunting, gentlemen.

Regarding my proposal from Post 41 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), here is the current status of respondents;

1.Burnsaber(admin) -- agreed
2.Trumanator -- agreed
3.Cleveland -- agreed
4.Apsophos -- agreed
5.GameExtremist -- pondering
6.Alpine Joe -- pondering
7.fungalreason -- pondering
8.Squirreloid -- pondering
9.Starshine_Monarch -- pondering
10.ghoul31 -- agreed
11.Grijalva -- pondering

If you are among the pondering, I respectfully request your decision at the earliest possible convenience. Kindly read the post (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), and let me know if you agree or disagree to its 3 stipulations. No need to justify or apologize if you disagree.

However, I do ask for your prompt reply, as I will require positive affirmation from all players before moving forward, and the window of opportunity is closing.

With gratitude,
cleveland

[ghoul31]

Splendid! Good hunting, gentlemen.

Regarding my proposal from Post 41 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), here is the current status of respondents;


If you are among the pondering, I respectfully request your decision at the earliest possible convenience. Kindly read the post (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), and let me know if you agree or disagree to its 3 stipulations. No need to justify or apologize if you disagree.

However, I do ask for your prompt reply, as I will require positive affirmation from all players before moving forward, and the window of opportunity is closing.

With gratitude,
cleveland


I agree

[fungalreason]

My apologies for the lack of correspondence of late. Vanheim will certainly abide by the stipulations of Cleveland's proposal.

[Alpine Joe]

Agreed. I think this is a great idea cleveland.

[GameExtremist]

Agreed!

[Grijalva]

sorry, I agree most emphatically and raise my monocle in salute

[Squirrelloid]

I would be delighted to abide by those restrictions.

[Starshine_Monarch]

This proposal, after extensive legal debate in the Imperial capitol, has finally passed and is agreed to be perfectly acceptable by the Imperial Bureaucracy.

Splendid! Good hunting, gentlemen.

Regarding my proposal from Post 41 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), here is the current status of respondents;

1.Burnsaber(admin) -- agreed
2.Trumanator -- agreed
3.Cleveland -- agreed
4.Apsophos -- agreed
5.GameExtremist -- pondering
6.Alpine Joe -- pondering
7.fungalreason -- pondering
8.Squirreloid -- pondering
9.Starshine_Monarch -- pondering
10.ghoul31 -- agreed
11.Grijalva -- pondering

If you are among the pondering, I respectfully request your decision at the earliest possible convenience. Kindly read the post (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=729756&postcount=41), and let me know if you agree or disagree to its 3 stipulations. No need to justify or apologize if you disagree.

However, I do ask for your prompt reply, as I will require positive affirmation from all players before moving forward, and the window of opportunity is closing.

With gratitude,
cleveland

[GameExtremist]

Oh I must say, how in blazes did my entourage and I end up in such a savage and backwater place?

No matter we shall soon pacify our barbaric neighbors.

*removes a piece of lint from immaculately pressed trousers*

[Squirrelloid]

"Who disturbs my slumber"

"Uh... my lord..."

"Speak!"

"A thousand apologies ancient one, but..."

"SPEAK!"

"Yes, hmm.. about that matter of eternal paradise we promised.."

"This isn't it."

"..Yes, we know. We seem to have been somewhat wrong. Well, the good news is you still have your mind, am I rii..." *snap*

"So it seems I am awake after all these millenia once again. You."

*Cringing* "Me, my lord?"

"Did I stutter? Yes, you. You're the new high priest. You have 24 hours to tell me the situation."

"Uh, my lord? Didn't my predecessor make that, well, clear?"

(beat) "Ok, so I can't stare at you without eyes. Stop lollygagging and find out what's going on outside these walls! Twenty-four hours or I'll have you replaced. Do you understand me?"

"Y-y-yes my lord."

*muttering* "I swear they were more intelligent when they were alive."

---------
In the antechamber:
"Was he this grouchy in life?"

"You'd be grouchy too if you were woken up early from a Millenia long slumber to discover your were nothing but bones and the nubile virgins you'd been promised weren't there waiting for you. Now, unless you really want my job..."

[cleveland]

Gents,

Thank you all for your cooperation regarding the tourism idea. I have opened the thread in the MP forums, kindly disregard its existence :)

Also, here's a picture of all the start locations, in case you haven't sorted them out for yourself. T'wouldn't be fair for the mapmaker alone to know them, of course:
9408

Starts are in red.

[Alpine Joe]

"A telegram for you sir"
"what is it Jeeves"
"I believe it is from your Aunt Agatha, sir"
"Egad Jeeves! What do you think that blight on the landscape wants with me"
"Sir, perhaps you have not stayed abreast of current developments vis-a-vis, the empire. Your aunt Agatha is engaged to sir Fannon Cadsbury, the earl of Waycaster and her majesty's new secretary of defense"
"Egad Jeeves! My Aunt so close to the-how do you say- reigns of power. Bad luck for the old empire wot?"
"Perhaps sir. His lordship is rallying his dukes. He apparently plans a program of 'aggressive expansion' in regards to what her ladyship refers to as 'barbaric savages.'"
"Well I should think the savages of Borneo would be lucky to only face the might of the queen's finest. I have to meet with my Aunt Agatha."
"Indeed sir. Will that be all."
"Ah Jeeves...One of your morning concoctions would hit the spot right about now."
"I will prepare one immediately, sir."

And the stout fellow vanished in that way he does like a disapparating Hindu Fakir.

[pyg]

I just want to say that I think the DAR thing is very cool and I look forward to checking out the game from the different perspectives.

[Starshine_Monarch]

To the fine and gracious nobles and royalty of Brettonia,

While we of Tien C'hi do not wish to question your policies on the expansion of your kingdom, one of your generals has been found guilty of trespassing upon his Divine Majesty's sacred territory.

By Imperial decree the provinces of Pack Woods, Ionia and Ene Umrul are to be taken under the protection of the Imperial Bureaucracy of Tien C'hi. Imperial legal administrators and judges have seen fit to give you one month to remove your rabble of peasant "soldiers" from the vicinity of our glorious capitol before our own generals and military ministers are forced to do something... rash.

Best regards,
Chancellor Baogu, Minister of Foreign Policies

[Apsophos]

I announce that the nations of Bretonnia and R'lyeh have agreed on a non-agression pact with a three-turn warning period.

[cleveland]

My word! Squabbles and alliances already! Good show Bretonnia!

[GameExtremist]

My Dear Vanheim,

As your brave and noble troops may have noticed the last province they had a tea party in was of course adjacent to my lofty little fortress. My elephants need this land to graze on and I do regard the lands as mine, my sincerest apologies if this is a bother for you.

I'll be sending a quaint little fellow named Urgek to see if your men have been good chaps and left it empty for my elephants and other assorted chaps.

Good day to you sir.
Arcoscephale.

[Burnsaber]

Shinuyama and Agartha have signed a non-agression pact with a three turn warning period.

[Squirrelloid]

Would the good chaps at Arcocephale please enable their PM box? I have tried to send by post a communique most timely, but the post master keeps regretting to inform me that my letter has been returned. The words 'return to sender, address unknown' are applied with utmost care to the envelope, which vexes me greatly since I am sure I have the right address. That my calls haven't been returned is only because of extreme distraction by pressing matters on your part, I am sure.

Sincerely,
Puppets
Prophet of Master of Puppets

P.S. It would utterly devastating if you told me you just wanted to be friends. I'm sure we can work things out.

(sorry, couldn't resist, but seriously - turn your PMs on!)

[GameExtremist]

My sincerest apologies my good sir,

Alas I have been forced to have the head of my mailing service flogged to within an inch of his life, please be inclined to send any outstanding mail posthaste.

Arcoscephale

[cleveland]

Oh blast! Our Champion has been slain! At least he died with his shell on. Rest in peace, Gorenigrai, we shall commission a plaque in your memory at the Arena.

Good show, R'lyeh. We look forward to the next competition!

Oceania
Arena Combat Silver Medalist

[Squirrelloid]

Nekehara is proud to announce a formalized treaty with the good fellows of Arcocephalia, in which we both plan to abstain from hostilities and give 3 months notice if either party decides to terminate the treaty.

[Squirrelloid]

Nekehara and Oceania shall forthwith not engage in hostile action against each other, excepting 3 months notice have been duly given and elapsed before the onset of hostilities.

[fungalreason]

Let it be known that Atikoshi, god of Shinuyama, is dead.

Their foolish disregard of our diplomatic overtures proved quite costly indeed. Let this serve as warning to other nations to consider their actions carefully before they make the same mistake. To those who border Shinuyama and have grown alarmed at their rapid and reckless expansion - your window of opportunity is open. Join us in the fight, and help cleanse the land of this grey plague!

[Burnsaber]

Their foolish disregard of our diplomatic overtures proved quite costly indeed.


Well, dear sir, we all came to this game expecting a certain amount of excitment. Constant napping (pun certainly intented, fellow chap) does not create excitment. But sir, I must admit that you really managed look like easy pickings, with having failed to expand into 2 of your capital neighbours and having awake rainbow pretender. But now I see that was just a clever ploy, showing most devious cunning as I should have expected from a nation of glamourious elves.

Well, it matters not. Let us meet on the fields of battle and show our respective mettles! May the best man win!

[Starshine_Monarch]

Well, gents it seems the Celestial Empire will have to pull out of this game. I've fallen for an early game sucker-punch from Bretonnia and somehow managed to forgot to send my turn file as he closed in on my capital. Good show Bretonnia. It took guts to try a rush so early in the game and I applaud you for it.

[Burnsaber]

Well, gents it seems the Celestial Empire will have to pull out of this game. I've fallen for an early game sucker-punch from Bretonnia and somehow managed to forgot to send my turn file as he closed in on my capital. Good show Bretonnia. It took guts to try a rush so early in the game and I applaud you for it.

As a creator of the mod, I must ask: Hopefully you did not find the nation OP? (a'k'a do you feel that you could have countered the rush if you had done something differently?)

If you found the nation OP, do you have any suggestions about fixing that aspect?

[Starshine_Monarch]

I've messed around with Bretonnia myself in SP a small bit before, but I do not believe it to be terribly overpowered, just very dangerous in an early rush situation.

I do think that perhaps the lords getting a freespawn Knights of the Realm in battle may be a bit much. You don't need very many KoTRs to be very dangerous in the early game since it practically requires a normal human nation to have Lightning Bolt or something similar if Bretonnia continues to build Lords. As of now, the Bretonnian Lord costs the same amount of gold as an indy Knight Commander and has roughly the same stats even excluding the Lords other abilities. I'd suggest perhaps bumping their cost slightly (10-20 gold maybe) and making the Lords' freespawn knight be a foot knight like the Grail Damsel, so that it can still be fluffy and helpful in certain situations without being possibly battle changing.

[Squirrelloid]

While a cost increase may be warranted, I think its a nice design feature that a non-mage can be battle changing. Mages already are battle-changing, why can't other commanders be? Strenuously object to reducing the freespawn to being unmounted.

(Also, its not like those freespawn are overly useful since they can't be scripted. So if you're actually depending on them to do something, no clever scripting for you).

Edit: Indie mounted commanders are really overpriced anyway. So they're hardly a good measure of appropriate cost. And we're talking a single KotR, right? ... Seriously, might be effective against 2 PD or something, but its not going to take much out on its own.

[cleveland]

...these handicaps often make Breton last in the research race.

Indeed!

[fungalreason]

In a big brawl between gentlemen
only Vanheim was left without friends.
Although perceived to be frail,
our magic not yet unveiled
made us difficult to apprehend.

Shinuyama was first to the fight,
a general convinced of his might.
He rushed in all alone,
was surrounded when prone,
and vanished in a great flash of light.

The aggressor not yet deterred,
his lord's judgment obviously blurred,
sent more troops to the fray.
Yet Vanheim won the day,
and Shin's prophet joined the interred.

Then Arco became infected with greed,
without caution did his forces proceed.
His traveling zoo
thought they could fight too,
but in fetters were dispatched with great ease.

And so begins Vanheim's humble tale,
with a tip from those under assail:
When choosing to double team,
you best topple that regime,
or expect to be mocked when you fail.

[Alpine Joe]

As the rusher in question, i'll make a few comments.....

Grail Knights are very strong early units. They are almost impossible to stop with human troops without magic. Of course, they are tremendously expensive, both in gold and resources. Five of them cost as much as a fort..... They aren't nearly as cost-efficient for what they do as many other sacreds. However, against MA tien'chi they were facing pretty much ideal opponents.

MA tien'chi also happens to be one of the easiest nations to rush. As soon as I saw them, I knew I had a target.

As the game progresses, I will figure out better whether this nation's early power will translate. I plan to write a guide with comments on balance once I am done.

By the way starshine, nothing personal. You just happened to look juicy :)

[Squirrelloid]

MA TC isn't that easy to rush... they have a great troop line-up and great mages that can cast most of the early rush counters. Admittedly, some cleverness may be required, but to say they're an easy target vastly overstates the case.

Of course, you have to make a point of researching the early rush counters...

Also, with celestial soldiers being sacred, I can totally see playing MA TC as a bless nation. Your sacred cavalry will benefit from the same blesses the celestial soldiers will, so they'll help foil rushes while you research your way to your real sacred.

[Trumanator]

Squirrel, they were _two_ provinces apart. Unless you have a research pretender and only research alt there's no way you're going to stop E9 Grail Knights. Even if you did manage not to die immediately, they'd just build up a bit more and own you in 10 turns or so.

[cleveland]

Good game Starshine! Sorry it didn't work out in your favor.

But I must ask, why didn't Celestial Chastisement work? 7+ AN against magic beings seems like perfect counter to 14hp Grail Knights. And only Evo1...?

[Trumanator]

Mr negates?

[cleveland]

Irresistible, and precision=100:
9489

But if he DOES fail an MR roll, he gets enslaved. Not bad for a level 1 spell.

[Burnsaber]

Mr negates?

Only the "charm" part is mr-negates. The AN damage is always dealt.

EDIT: Dear sir cleveland seems to have beaten me to the bunch.

[Squirrelloid]

Nekehara, insulted over never having been invited for tea and crumpets, hereby publicly declares war on Agartha. Sorry chap, but you're sitting on land that was ours millenia ago and we really must have it back.

Puppets predicts the opposition will be stony-faced.

[Apsophos]

Well it seems that the end of R'lyeh is near. The early game is not my forte but this one has been properly calamitous and the good chaps of Atlantis duly took advantage of my weakness.
My sincere apologies to all other gentlemen for failing to put up a proper opposition.

N.B. I am not out yet and I will fight to the last breath, but I don't have much to fight with.

[Squirrelloid]

My turn file is corrupted and I cannot play the turn. Can we force a rehost or something? Having recently started a war it would be rather poor if i had to stale.

[cleveland]

I'm not sure Atlantis would approve :D

Well done good sir! I'd hoped you were too busy in the south to notice my too-late aid for the dying R'lyeh. If it rehosts, I won't change anything, you deserve the win.

Tophats! Oceania is also lost! We walked into a marvelous ambush, and our God, Prophet, army etc were all annihilated! Oh the sharks! I'll never permit my servants to swim again!

But we too shall hold out to the last. Come and get us, fiends!

Most sincerely,
Sergent Finkelstein
Highest Ranking Soldier, Oceania

[Grijalva]

Thanks, if the Mighty Glug could breath air he would have been holding his breath over that one.

I wasn't sure how many of those Ichycentaurs you had but I was planning for 150 plus your God-SC, so that's why I went a bit crazy on the sharks, which there must have been around 200 of by the end.

I really liked the beserking-prince thug,BTW

Glug, the Invincible god is limping back to Atlantis after freeing our enslaved brothers from the cold, squishy grip of Rylah. A new era is dawning and we shall rebuild our great empire on the ruins of the Fallen Star!


PS: About the rehost, can't you just request a resend? If not, I trust Cleveland to not change anything and I won't as well of course.

[Burnsaber]

My turn file is corrupted and I cannot play the turn. Can we force a rehost or something? Having recently started a war it would be rather poor if i had to stale.

Yeah, there is nothing to do but rehost. I'll do it once I get home. (I'll rollback and instantly force-host so that no one will be able to send a new turn)

As for events, battles and stuff "lost" during rehosting... Well, *boo-hoo-hoo*. It is much, much more important to allow each player to actually make their turn than anything else. Consider the results from the first turn to be from alternate dimension or something.

Just for the record, I haven't looked at my turn file. I might have gotten the Chalice from RND-event, but we will never know now, will we?

[Trumanator]

Well that earned me a province I wouldn't have had otherwise :D I'm not at war with anyone, so no worries. Lets try to not do this again though of course.

[Apsophos]

In the alternate dimension we just had a glimpse of, our chief summoner managed to bring more interesting things from the void AND not to get lost in time and space. Oh well, as if it could make a difference in the war against Atlantis anyway...

[Burnsaber]

Lets try to not do this again though of course.

Yeah, I agree.

But Squirrel informed that his new turn was fine, so I'm confident that the game will along just fine.

[Trumanator]

The rare and excellent gentlemen of Brettonia and the Ogre Kingdoms have signed a NAP-3

[cleveland]

Friends! Tophats! Gentlemen! Lend me your monocles!

I come to prevail upon you fine chaps the rather dire straits the Oceanians face, if you'll forgive the paltry pun.

Following the defeat of our most esteemed leader, Monsieur le Marquis de Sous-Marine, and his Prophet Monsieur le Comte de Maquerau, the Atlantian-Oceanian boarder has remained quite devoid of excitement.

But I daresay a bit of a foul tide has drifted our ways of late, and it is with trepidation I report that Glug, the Slayer of Starspawns, the Omnipotent Octopod, et cetera now sits upon our boarder like a Baby Ruth bar at the bottom of the country club pool.

Learned gentlemen, I surely do not need remind you that per Divine Law and Union Rules (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=728073&postcount=1) the next True Pantokrator shall be crowned after conquering only 4 Capitals. Nor do I need to point out that when Oceania falls, Glug shall have his 3rd, and need only to strike whomever he deems the weakest of you terrestrial chaps to claim victory.

The Oceanian peoples therefore issue a Call to Arms: to all gentlemen who find Tartarus to be a proletariat final destination, join us in our resistance against the eight-armed menace that now washes toward our walls.

Glug the Ancinet Kraken is the centerpiece of the Atlantan offense, and he swims now toward the Sea of the Mermaids in the North. His beak faces us, strike his soft and vulnerable underbelly!

To assist any nations that never earned their Water Wings, Oceania will provide - at cost (!) - underwater breathing items to those who will answer our Call. Should you find this proposal agreeable, have your servant PM my servant.

While he has surely proven to be a worthy adversary, I come to bury Glug, not to praise him.

Most sincerely and respectfully,
Field Marshal Finklestein
Chief of Staff, Oceania

[Grijalva]

The Benevolent Glug scoffs at such shameless propaganda.

This "call to arms" is nothing more than a "call to conquest," a measure intending no doubt to enslave the long-suffering people of Atlantis and our allies the Amber Clan :)

Land dwellers! Make no mistake! Whatever effort you put into helping Oceania will be a waste because the result will be the same: there can be only one ruler of the seas.

The bureaucrats of Oceania are only concerned about their own survival, their warning of doom is without merit; the power they claim to fear is the power that they SEEK.

So Glug, The Invincible God will sends forth this proclamation:

Those who side with Oceania now will find themselves relentlessly raided by Atlantians and our allied peoples.

However, those who ignore the pitiful pleas of Oceania and render them no aid will be receive an NAP10 from Atlantis and perhaps the friendship of the Seas in any future wars.

- Faella, Prophet of Glug, the Big, Squishy and yet somehow Invincible Power

[cleveland]

The humble nation of Oceania announces they have signed a NAP-3 now with the powerful nation of Arcoscephale.

Oh, and Oceania must announce that our forges have reached capacity for the next 2 turns; kindly forgive any delays, we shall fulfill all orders as soon as possible.

[Burnsaber]

The noble Shinuyama have found the valiant Vanheim defense to be most honourable and fitting for a gentleman, therefore an agreement has been reached between these people. No more bloodshed shall happen before these people and a NAP 5 agreement will set this fact in stone.

[Squirrelloid]

Nekeharan scouts surveyed the battlefield as the Agarthan army buried its dead. Many massive corpses of the bloated one-eyed things littered the field still, the mages and their cursed living statues simply too overwhelmed to bury the fallen quickly. The shattered bones of nekeharan soldiers protruded from once-proud suits of armor about them, along with the occasional crumbled stone remains of a once animated statue.

The mage-priests conferred. The loss of the soldiers was inconsequential - already more issued forth from the tombs in a never-ending stream of servants for the tomb kings and their will. But something had to be done about the living statues upon which blow after blow was rained with no effect. A priest was chosen to carry the report to the Tomb Kings and apologize for their failures and ask for help. The Tomb Kings would know a way to destroy the animated statues of their foes.

[cleveland]

Oh terrible day!

The Oceanian capital vanguard has been defeated by the vile Glug and his entourage!

But our mighty fortress is unscathed by the assembled invaders. We have provisions to last a lifetime, and more defenders than there are sands on a seabed. You shall never breach our walls! You don't frighten us, Atlantian sea-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you, so-called "Glug King!" You, and all your silly Atlantain lob-ssssstairs!

Perhaps some of your NAP-10 allies can send some assistance! Ho ho ho!

With profound and palpable disdain,
Field Marshal Finkelstein
Organizer, Oceanian Capital Defense

[GameExtremist]

"Sire, some news of the diplomatic kind has just arrived"

"hmm, yes pass it here my good man"

*reads proclomation*

The noble Shinuyama have found the valiant Vanheim defense to be most honourable and fitting for a gentleman, therefore an agreement has been reached between these people. No more bloodshed shall happen before these people and a NAP 5 agreement will set this fact in stone.

*Immaculately trimmed mustache quivers in what could be well-concealed rage*

"Didn't we sign some sort of alliance with those little Shinuyama chaps? Of the Victory or death, to the winner goes the spoils, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact type of thing....though without the secrecy and all that?"

"Ahh yes sire I believe we did as laid out in this article signed by the Lord of Shinuyama himself dated the 13/2 m'lord"



Therefore we propose an alliance between our nations to vanquish the glamourous ones once and for all!

Yours in good faith
Arcoscephale.

We accept your proposal.

"Oh bother seems he lacks a backbone of sorts, a pair of crown jewels, some lead in his pencil oh my...well I suppose in hindsight it was rather perposterous of me to have placed any sort of trust in a nation of goblins".

"Sound the trumpets, we march on Vanheim then, who dares wins!"

[Burnsaber]

Well, my dear sir, that agreement was never made public and thus was not under protection of clause in the first post.

Also, alliance also reguires for the parties involved to contribute to the war effort. My scouts saw hardly any considerable action in your front as our noble warriors perished under Vanheim sorcery. Ergo, I considered our alliance void of any true meaning and withdrew from the contract in favour of Vanheim, who we finally saw of being more worthy of our friendship.

Sakajoro,
Bakemono Diplomat and most pious worshipper of Akitoshi.

[cleveland]

Gentlemen,

I was quite perplexed by the announcement contained in the most recent turn file:
9566

I would like to state unequivocally that I have never cheated in any way whatsoever, ever.

If there is any doubt to this fact, I will absolutely submit my turns to external audit upon request.

Further, I have been providing all turn files in my DAR thread, and I encourage all esteemed Tophats players to verify my honesty upon exiting the game.

Strangely, our income is rather minuscule thanks to Glug and company (perhaps it's one of his dirty tricks! :) ). Fortunately, I have all my turn files archived for the DAR, and will send them to Shrapnel for glitch hunting pre-3.24.

[Grijalva]

Of course not, we are all gents here...the great Glug took a nap last turn (damn stale) but upon waking didn't for a second suspect any foul play.

Actually I thought it might be a glitch caused by other nations sending you money to help fund the oceanean insurgency...

[Squirrelloid]

Agartha has great faith in the word of the bakemono of Shinuyama, with whom they have concluded a gentlemanly agreement to avoid fisticuffs lest due and proper warning has been given 3 turns prior.

[cleveland]

Gents,
Oceania respectfully requests 24 extra hours. Big presentation tomorrow.
With deepest gratitude,
Oceania

[Burnsaber]

Gents,
Oceania respectfully requests 24 extra hours. Big presentation tomorrow.
With deepest gratitude,
Oceania

Granted.

[cleveland]

Thanks for waiting, fine sirs!

Twon't be more than a moment...not that we have much to do :rolleyes:

[Grijalva]

Sorry to keep you guys waiting, I'm at work now but I'll be submitting my turn right under the gun later....don't worry, no need for a delay.

[Burnsaber]

Work. Hectic. Overtime. Tired. Next shift... 10 hours.

Sleeeepy...

Put up extension.

[Apsophos]

Je tire enfin ma révérence.
Now I can read the DAR's.

[Alpine Joe]

Yeah I am really looking forward to the DARs. It will be really interesting to see how other players decided to play this. Someone eliminate me so I can look at them too!

[Grijalva]

Je tire enfin ma révérence.
Now I can read the DAR's.

Good show sir,

My guess is that your Ghost King was killed by indy-Iclyds just as my invasion started---a terrible streak of luck. The Great Glug had to attack one province THREE TIMES to wrest it from those net-throwing bastards.

Despite such misfortune, you put up a good fight; I tip my top-hat to you.

[Apsophos]

Je tire enfin ma révérence.
Now I can read the DAR's.

Good show sir,

My guess is that your Ghost King was killed by indy-Iclyds just as my invasion started---a terrible streak of luck. The Great Glug had to attack one province THREE TIMES to wrest it from those net-throwing bastards.

Despite such misfortune, you put up a good fight; I tip my top-hat to you.

This was very bad luck indeed. Also I am invariably in the bottom of the province count graph in all of my games.

[Trumanator]

Well, EA Rlyeh is hard in the best of circumstances. You might need to practice expanding some more though. Whenever you join a game, get an expansion strategy that nets you at least 15 provinces by Late Winter.

[Burnsaber]

Hosting scheducle updated to 36h, as stated in the OP.

[Grijalva]

The Great Glug has flailed his many tentacles with delight at the announcement of an NAP5 with the mighty Ogre Kingdom.

Unfortunately his flailing destroyed several coral temples and he poisoned a nursery of lobsters when spewing ink with glee.

[Grijalva]

After defeating a minor force of Shinuyama Kappas, a Deep Seer that took part in the battle picked up a manual of water-breathing from a fallen foe, "no no no, they've got it ALL WRONG here" he was heard to remark.

[cleveland]

A foul day indeed, Tophats! The eight-armed menace has clearly demonstrated his dexterity, simultaneously stamping out the Aliens, swatting back the Goblins, and constricting the Capricorns!

The doomed Tritons that guard the Oceanian citadel salute the brave Shinuyamans that sacrificed their lives this day. We shall be sending an Encyclopedia of Water Breathing Manuals this turn to aid them in their struggle, and continue to offer our presses to any nation unwilling to be dragged to the watery depths.

Join our righteous efforts! We have expelled the squid from our walls, and our insurgency forces have begun attacks behind his lines! He will surely press his attack unless challenged! Strike now! The seas may yet not be lost!

[Grijalva]

My dear sir, we both know that there needs to be a battle in order for one to claim to have "expelled" an enemy.

Every Triton in Oceania braces the giant kelp walls when Glug comes by to say hello, very brave indeed.

The very ocean has come alive and boils for the cause of Atlantis, even now its myriads are on the march. Monster fish have have agreed to snack only on tastey visitors from above although their help was not necessary to drive those pesky goblins from the seas.

[Burnsaber]

Hosting postponed because Bretonnia was going to stale (I noticed this just 3 minutes before the turn host, lucky for Alpine).

[Alpine Joe]

thanks burn. Friday night is always a little interesting for me, but I appreciate postponing the turn. Thanks


In others news, the queen's men have conquered the chinese savages of tien'chi. We look forward to peace with the rest of the world's nations-.

[Squirrelloid]

Huh, it just told me I staled, despite receiving confirmation of turn receipt for the last turn I received, and in the meantime Llamaserver was waiting to be updated and not sending any turns. Did we all stale a turn?

Hmm... it appears turn 28 was the last one I sent and this is turn 30... So what happened to turn 29?

[Burnsaber]

Huh, it just told me I staled, despite receiving confirmation of turn receipt for the last turn I received, and in the meantime Llamaserver was waiting to be updated and not sending any turns. Did we all stale a turn?

Hmm... it appears turn 28 was the last one I sent and this is turn 30... So what happened to turn 29?

It sounds like you never received turn 29. This thing has occasionally popped up with llamaserver, where it just fails to send the file to some player during the hosting.

[Squirrelloid]

Huh, it just told me I staled, despite receiving confirmation of turn receipt for the last turn I received, and in the meantime Llamaserver was waiting to be updated and not sending any turns. Did we all stale a turn?

Hmm... it appears turn 28 was the last one I sent and this is turn 30... So what happened to turn 29?

It sounds like you never received turn 29. This thing has occasionally popped up with llamaserver, where it just fails to send the file to some player during the hosting.

Sure, its possible, but I seem to recall sending a turn file shortly before the llamaserver went on delay for patching, and so i imagine it would have hosted during the delay, meaning i should have received turn 29 following the server patch. Or am I really confused?

[Grijalva]

So, what are we doing about this problem? Does Squirrelloid just need to bite the bullet and take a stale? Or do we do something else?

I ask because I need to do my turn in shortly if we are proceeding.

thanks

[cleveland]

- - - . . . - - -

- - - . . . - - -

- - - . . . - - -

The great Capricorn hope is fading. We'll be dom-killed in approximately 3 turns.

Won't anybody contest the seas!?!?!?!!!!!111?!1/11//!?!

[Burnsaber]

It sounds like you never received turn 29. This thing has occasionally popped up with llamaserver, where it just fails to send the file to some player during the hosting.

Sure, its possible, but I seem to recall sending a turn file shortly before the llamaserver went on delay for patching, and so i imagine it would have hosted during the delay, meaning i should have received turn 29 following the server patch. Or am I really confused?

Sorry. The turn now hosted, should've had postponed the turn but I had just gotten back from work and was dead tired an just forgot. Hopefully you can bite the stale? Rolling back two turns would be... extreme.

I'll add a warning to the game page that the game might be having problems sending .trn files.

[Squirrelloid]

I'm fine eating the stale, I'm just confused is all. Mostly, I would have actually liked to see turn 29....

[Squirrelloid]

It was a great victory, at least that's what the history scrolls would say. But many warriors, dead and not quite dead, gave what was left of their eternal lives in the opening hour of the engagement. A memorial should be erected here.

A Funerary procession wound its way back to the capital, carrying the remains of over a dozen honored high priests who valiantly died in battle. But Atankhara could not do more than briefly pay his respect as the silent pilgrimage wound its way homeward, his was the task of reorganizing the remaining forces.

The enemy was totally annihilated, his magical might destroyed. Now was the time to end this conflict and reclaim lands which had long ago been theirs. Already, more troops freshly woken from their slumber marched to join their position. They would pour like water over a sill into the underground warrens of their enemy, and drown them in their own blood.

[Grijalva]

Glug has been slain! beaten to death by Giant ice elementals. Oh well, he'll be back in a few turns.

Cleveland, I should have known you would try to destroy my holding force since you were under the impression that you were about to be dom-killed.

However, you're dominion is alive and well in the polar-caps.

Now that I think about it, its probably better that you spent those 100+wgems now rather then when I was trying to storm your cap.

Nonetheless, I tip my hat to your powerful volley! :)

[cleveland]

I was merely applying the lesson you so deftly taught me, kind sir! After all, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't repay your earlier favor? :)

Indeed, Tophats, it seems that Oceania has some fight left in her! Strike the seas now! The Atlantian menu is quite boring without the calamari!

[Grijalva]

Ethereal, quickened monster fish are quite delicious actually. If you can managed to kill one and cook it up, that is...

[GameExtremist]

By Jove!

Jolly good show Vanheim! If we had some cannonfodder left or even a stray beast we would have them flogged! Our armies lost every decisive battle, our elephants usually trampled somebody of importance and our score and a half of Astrologers kept telling me it was all going to be all right!

We do hope you enjoy our old lodgings at our former castle, I found it to be much more comfortable and loftier then my current lodgings (hiding under a bush from your herdman and skinshifters).

We do have a large amount of gems left over...and we like to think of ourselves as good sports so we'll send them to next month.

Cheerio!

*Can be heard whistling a tune from Monty Python's "Always look on the bright side of life"

[Squirrelloid]

Master of Puppets is extraordinarily sorry about the second stale that occurred, this time entirely his fault. He is unfortunately locked in his chambers with an apothecary, and was unfortunate enough to need a nap lasting the 3-4 hours up to turn hosting with a mostly done turn sitting and waiting for him to return to it. Our sincerest apologies.

With deepest regards,
Son of Puppets
Prophet of Master of Puppets

[Grijalva]

what's up with Cleveland? He seems pretty dedicated but has staled the last two times, probably some RL problem came up.

Anyway, I suggest we postpone until hearing from him.

[Burnsaber]

what's up with Cleveland? He seems pretty dedicated but has staled the last two times, probably some RL problem came up.

Anyway, I suggest we postpone until hearing from him.

Duly noted. If it looks like it, I'll postpone the turn tomorrow.

[fungalreason]

By Jove!

Jolly good show Vanheim! If we had some cannonfodder left or even a stray beast we would have them flogged! Our armies lost every decisive battle, our elephants usually trampled somebody of importance and our score and a half of Astrologers kept telling me it was all going to be all right!

We do hope you enjoy our old lodgings at our former castle, I found it to be much more comfortable and loftier then my current lodgings (hiding under a bush from your herdman and skinshifters).

We do have a large amount of gems left over...and we like to think of ourselves as good sports so we'll send them to next month.

Cheerio!

*Can be heard whistling a tune from Monty Python's "Always look on the bright side of life"

You are most kind indeed, good sir!

[fungalreason]

-- excerpt from The Lost Ballads of the Norse

T'was indeed a troubling time
in the once peaceful Vanheim.
A great goblin host
marched toward our coast,
along with his partner in crime.

Most forsaw a quick end
to 'heim's quest to ascend.
Yet, the Norse rallied to arms
and they inflicted great harm
much to our foes' chargrin.

A mass of archers arrived first at Van's door
after engaging in a leisurely tour.
But the Vanir were prepared;
a meagre army was reared,
by imposing heavy taxes on our poor.

Several demons led the assault,
a strategy clearly without fault.
Yet Van had priests on hand,
who spammed banish as planned,
sending those Oni back to their vault.

Very soon the sky darkened with blades;
Bakemono expired in waves.
They fled the grisly scene,
and in month Seventeen
A truce with Shinuyama was made.

The other foe had been conspicuously hiding,
but on the eve of the new-found peace tidings
Arco lauched their attack,
giving no time to slack.
Our early research lead was rapidly subsiding.

Arco's forces this time were a bit more diverse;
great chariots posed a potent threat to Vanherse.
But my dwarves had discovered Destruction
and were ready to give some instruction...
to drive the invading horde back home in reverse.

Despite several attempts to surround,
Arco's quick movements were hard to pin down.
With his troops heavily malnourished,
There was hope Van really might flourish.
Then abruptly, his troops pulled back to town.

With that curious move, Van expected a trap of some sort.
and quickly perused countless grimoires to glean its purport.
With luck a wise leader predicted the plot
and quickly withdrew every Vandrott.
With a great hunt impending... there was but one last resort.

Forces fled with haste, and just in time,
they dodged the vicious assault of mind.
Even the capital was tried in vanity,
but those mages were soon repaid with insanity
...perhaps the victory most sublime.

And just when things started to look grim,
Van's movements subject to Arco's whim,
the services of an crucial merc were engaged...
a dread legion of ghosts led by a spectral mage.
With luck the future wasn't so dim.

And so the ragged bunch continued north,
bravely challenged their foe to venture forth.
With fearsome weapons were they encumbered,
Arco's last days here were surely numbered.
a fight would resolve the fate of the Norse.

In the next engagement, many souls departed.
Both sides were destroyed before forces darted.
Odin's favor stayed with Van all along,
and when dust settled, the siege still held strong.
However, a grievous toll had been imparted.

And thus concludes Vanhiem's next thrilling chapter,
with valiant leaders erupting in laughter
at those whose spied an easy prize
only to meet their own demise.
Lets hope the next verse ends, "Happily there after".

[Squirrelloid]

Please, rhyming verse from the Norse? What nonsense is this?

I was expecting something more like this:

Great the gall // of the goblin host
Deadly descending // on doomed Vanheim.
Their arrows aloft // blackened the air;
Their armor dim gleaming; // Their gloating echoing;
Already they thought // their foe de-throned
But bravely breaking // the brash invaders
Were the valiant Van // vanquishing their foes

... and so on.

(// represents spacing - each line is two half lines. But the forum reduces multiple spaces to a single space, so...)

[Burnsaber]

I got a rather sudden chance to go into a boardgaming event* this weekend, and I've decided to go test my mettle in this noble sport of minds.

I have done my turn for the turn 39 and I'll the extend the next turn from within this event to host on Monday evening. I hope you fellows don't mind.


(Twilight Imperium! Twilight Imperium!)

[Apsophos]

Ooooh, Twilight Imperium. Still have to try this one with my noble crew of Dune players.

Sorry for the off-topic, chaps, but I've been kicked out of this game and back into the boredom of Life.

[cleveland]

Can we delay now? At work, must prepare for final stand of OcEanian citadel. Thx c

[Burnsaber]

Can we delay now? At work, must prepare for final stand of OcEanian citadel. Thx c

Sorry about the missed delay. When I got to the event, I quickly found out that my wireless internet just failed to work. No connection to llamaserver, no delay.

Luckily it was only me who staled, I just have to hope that Atlantis was gentle..

[Grijalva]

Its a bit overdue, but I would just like to salute Cleveland for his valiant defense against the Atlantian myriads.

Even though he staled a few times at the end, he still did an amazing job of slowing me down and seriously hurting my forces. Many Atlantian warriors still suffer from his insidious use of chemical warfare (foul vapors? I mean really, of all the spells that don't work underwater, this one actually does?)

He even slew my god and drove me from his capital a few times.

Anyway hats off to you sir Cleveland.

On another note, what's the deal with these gorgers? Every recent land battle I've seen has these ogre-gorgers spawning at the edge of the battlefield. It's a bug right? Does anyone else see this?

[Burnsaber]

On another note, what's the deal with these gorgers? Every recent land battle I've seen has these ogre-gorgers spawning at the edge of the battlefield. It's a bug right? Does anyone else see this?


I was also rather confused by this and looked into it. It's a bug given by the Ogre Kingdoms mod.

To make a long story short, the item "Lantern Shield" is now bugged and summmons gorgers instead of lanterns because the Ogre mod overwrote the vanilla "Corpse Candle" spell. This bugged spell is also castable and appears in the conjuration tree just like the normal one (the bugged one summons 5, in te case you have difficulty to make them apart).

Since we are all gentlemen, I'm going to suggest everyone to withdraw from building any lantern shields and not to script the bugged secondary "Corpse Candle" spell. (I have built one lantern shield and I'll throw it away once I get the chance to start Dom 3 once more.)

[Squirrelloid]

Hilarious. Um, I'll change my corpse candle scripting then - i was wondering why we had two of those...

[Grijalva]

doesn't matter now, but I noticed that the bug includes corps candles AND gorgers in one battle...ouch! :)

[Grijalva]

sorry guys, but I have to request a 24hour delay due to RL craziness.

oh, and: DAMN YOU LANDLUBBERS! :)

thanks,
Grijalva

[Burnsaber]

sorry guys, but I have to request a 24hour delay due to RL craziness.


Extension Granted

[Squirrelloid]

Dear sirs,
We seem to find ourselves in a bit of a quandry. We have recently... acquired... a whole lot of fish meat, and as we do not eat, are at a loss on how to dispose of it. So if anyone is interested in some good eating, please contact us. Of especial interest might be the ancient kraken meat - we hear it is quite the delicacy.

Sincerely,
Son of Puppets
Prophet of Master of Puppets

[Grijalva]

Well, you all did a fine job of convincing yourselves of how "dangerous" poor old Atlantis was, when I couldn't even beat Shinuyama much less take his capital.

Now, however, its pretty clear to see who is about to win.

Neckhara has:

The highest research

The highest income

The highest GEM income

artifacts

three capitals (he's about to take Oceania)

he just dealt me a serious defeat in which he killed my god and charmed away my champion: ANZUUUU!!!

So even though I can stop your small raiding forces, Neckhara actually put a real effort into taking the seas and is now damn near unstoppable.


and he also has the most over-the-top death magic of any nation (of course) so get ready for swarms of tartarians backed by all of the sweetest artifacts.

@ Squirrel

Oh, and Glug was "disintegrated" so your only quandary is what to do with Kraken-flavored sand. :-)

[Squirrelloid]

What? Nehekhara threatening? Ha!

Our vaunted gem income? Mostly F. Seriously. Oh, it burns, it BURNS! (Literally!)

That research lead? Yeah. We had to research fricking Ench 9 to cast Thetis Blessing to stop you from winning. Yeah, we've got a lot of research, but much of it was spent accomplishing silly things.

And as to three capitals, well, it was either let you keep it (and thus have 3 capitals), let Vanheim take it (and thus have 3 capitals), or I took it (and thus had 3 capitals). So someone had to have 3 capitals. On the plus side, I have few neighbors, am at peace with 2 of them, and thus you know exactly where the next capital I can aim for without causing a political incident is. So I am by far the safest owner of 3 capitals in the game, because my options are the most limited.

Any rational player will see your warmongering for what it is - a shameless attempt to reclaim your third capital and make another play for a 4th one.

[Grijalva]

Wow, I was just making some rather light hearted assertions, but I see that you take my thesis rather seriously...but really, who are you trying to kid?


That research lead? Yeah. We had to research fricking Ench 9 to cast Thetis Blessing to stop you from winning. Yeah, we've got a lot of research, but much of it was spent accomplishing silly things.

So you have researched ench 9 AND construction 8, are you trying to strengthen my argument, or did that just slip out? :)


Our vaunted gem income? Mostly F. Seriously. Oh, it burns, it BURNS! (Literally!)

Haha, I guess we should all just take your word for it....




What? Nehekhara threatening? Ha!

And as to three capitals, well, it was either let you keep it (and thus have 3 capitals), let Vanheim take it (and thus have 3 capitals), or I took it (and thus had 3 capitals). So someone had to have 3 capitals. On the plus side, I have few neighbors, am at peace with 2 of them, and thus you know exactly where the next capital I can aim for without causing a political incident is. So I am by far the safest owner of 3 capitals in the game, because my options are the most limited.

Any rational player will see your warmongering for what it is - a shameless attempt to reclaim your third capital and make another play for a 4th one.

Yes, its true I had capitals, but I never even came close to taking Shinuyama - we were fighting a brutal war though, so I'm sure he was happy for your help- and I certainly never made a "play" for it.

YOU, on the other hand, now have three capitals AND :

Artifacts

Ench 9

The highest research lead by FAR

the highest GEM income

A powerful land army and a large border with three other nations.

Any rational player can see that you just want everyone to look the other way while you build up your forces for a quick dash to Vanheim, Arco, Shinuyama or my own capital.

In fact, its quite easy to see that you are the most dangerous nation to have 3 caps and I don't need to call it shameless to make that point. :)

[Squirrelloid]

Ench 9 was obvious from having cast Thetis's Blessing. Everyone knew that already.

Similarly, my large F income is obvious because of the Pillar of Fire global.

I mean, its not like i've been making any statements that aren't independently verifiable.

My research lead isn't that big when you figure a lot of that lead was spent on crap like Ench 9. I mean, I'm not *that* far ahead of, say, you.

I should also note that you demonstrably have Conj 8, which I do not. Heck, you may well have Conj 9. Speaking of guilty consciences, your quip about tarts might be revealing of your own motives, eh?

And making a quick dash for the capital of nations I have standing treaties with? Ha! Nothing quick about that. I, sir, am a man... err... well-embalmed corpse of my word.

[Grijalva]

Too true, these are all more or less verifiable facts.

I justed wanted to list them in one place to make the situation very clear.

You can downplay ench-9 all you want, but being the first to artifacts and being able to get the best is a game-changer. Which is why you don't mention that in your retorts.

Also you're research lead isn't getting any smaller, not for most nations.

I have no death magic and as everyone probably knows, my pretender doesn't have ANY magic, so no, I can't pursue a tartarian strat.

Anyway, I think we've laid the facts pretty bare. True gentlemen can decide for themselves what the best course of action is.

[Squirrelloid]

You can downplay ench-9 all you want, but being the first to artifacts and being able to get the best is a game-changer. Which is why you don't mention that in your retorts.

Someone else is already to artifacts as well. Its not like I'm the only one. I don't know who it is, but I am quite capable of noticing when stuff is already forged, and that I didn't make it.

[Grijalva]

Someone else is already to artifacts as well. Its not like I'm the only one. I don't know who it is, but I am quite capable of noticing when stuff is already forged, and that I didn't make it.

Ha, that would be funny if it was me.

Sadly, no...

[Trumanator]

I have ROTC basically all weekend (31-32), so if it would be possible to make sure I don't stale that would be great.

[Burnsaber]

I have ROTC basically all weekend (31-32), so if it would be possible to make sure I don't stale that would be great.

Sure, I'll keep an eye on the game.

[Squirrelloid]

Brettonia has a serious staling problem. Is it time to look for a substitute?

[Burnsaber]

Brettonia has a serious staling problem. Is it time to look for a substitute?

I'll try to contact Alpine Joe first. If I don't get a response saturday, I'll start the search for a sub.

[Alpine Joe]

Brettonia has a serious staling problem. Is it time to look for a substitute?

I'll try to contact Alpine Joe first. If I don't get a response saturday, I'll start the search for a sub.

I'm in the game and still ready to play. The hosting just happens to occur during my sleeping time, and while I have the turn ready, I always wait to send it in because I am in the middle of war....I honestly have every turn completed, then wake up and realize I never sent it in. On the same note, would it be possible to slightly increase the hosting interval?

[Burnsaber]

. On the same note, would it be possible to slightly increase the hosting interval?

Sure, we are up for one hosting interval change anyway. Moved the hosting to 60h

[Burnsaber]

Shinuyama hereby declares all of it's NAP's void. Do not think of this as delaration of war, more like a.. increase of possibilities on different political status with the relations between our nations.

[Squirrelloid]

We assume you intend to honor the termination terms of the NAP, if nothing else?

[Grijalva]

woe to Atlantis! Glug took another one of his disastrous naps at the worst time.

Of course it probably didn't matter much, Nekhara's power was already too great for the the underwater empire, but now there is very little stopping their forces from marching directing to the gates of Atlantis!

[Burnsaber]

We assume you intend to honor the termination terms of the NAP, if nothing else?

Correct.

[Grijalva]

A warning to the gents of Tophats:

The undead armies are only a few turns away from breaking the gates of the Coral City!

Oh Glug! you may not be around to see the end of your empire!

[Squirrelloid]

I take it that means you aren't going to come out and fight? If you wish to die like a rat, so be it.

[Grijalva]

I take it that means you aren't going to come out and fight? If you wish to die like a rat, so be it.

Now, that's now way for a gentleman to converse :)

I know your intention with that remark was to draw me out, but in the highest of gentlemanly fashions I accept your challenge, be you prepared or not.

Pretenders of Tophats: a major decision will take place this turn, whether the Undead Legions will achieve the mantle of godhood by conquering Atlantis within the next three (give or take) months. The only thing you can do is attack the hated undead with everything you have and hope to wrest another capital from him.

BTW: my troops are starving in Atlantis, so I have little choice. Though it may seem folly to announce my attack to Nekhara, I'm sure he will prepare for it either way.

[Squirrelloid]

My apologies, I was under the misapprehension you were going to cower. But I see now you intend to die like a gentleman. I must therefore salute your courage. May you make such an end as to be worthy of song.

(ok, i can't promise we'll sing of it later. No lungs, makes it kind of hard. Maybe an epic poetry recitation).

[fungalreason]

I believe that's game over.

[Grijalva]

Sorry, gents, it wasn't my intention to throw the game...just to go out in a blaze of glory. Of course that's roughly the opposite of what happened. Unless someone's already besieging one of Nekhara's occupied capitals it doesn't look good...

[Burnsaber]

Sorry, gents, it wasn't my intention to throw the game...just to go out in a blaze of glory. Of course that's roughly the opposite of what happened. Unless someone's already besieging one of Nekhara's occupied capitals it doesn't look good...

It's of no matter. I appreciate the "blaze of glory" mentality.

However, it seems that Sir Squirrel has this game in a bag. At least I don't have anything I could send to his caps in time. We can play the next 2 turns to see how it goes, but I wouldn't be against letting Nehekhara win by concensus before that.

[Squirrelloid]

My dear Vanheim:
I hope that wasn't an Attack Commanders order on those vampires, because copying bogus's orders is not gentlemanly behavior.

[fungalreason]

No, I would never stoop to anything like that.

You can even check if you like with -ddd (which I would advise doing before accusing someone).

[Burnsaber]

*pops monocle*

What a scandal!

[Squirrelloid]

I'm honestly not sure what -ddd does or how I'd interpret it.

They did a splendid job of ignoring all the other units and going right after the commanders, you have to admit that was kind of bizarre. But as you are a gentleman, I will take your word on the matter.

[fungalreason]

It adds extra debug information to the combat replay, one of those being the orders given to each squad (as a number). I don't have the game in front of me at the moment, but you can spot a cheater that way if you were motivated enough. You'd have to create a test game to see what the numbers for the standard orders are. The "Attack Commander" command would show up as a different number.

I believe I had the vampires in question on attack rearmost. I'm guessing the troops (or at least some of them) were on guard commander? I didn't check the turn too carefully before I had to leave this AM.

[Squirrelloid]

Could I get an extension of like 6h? My computer access is going to be funky tomorrow.

[Burnsaber]

Could I get an extension of like 6h? My computer access is going to be funky tomorrow.

8h extension granted.

[fungalreason]

My apologies.... I just now noticed that victory requires control of 4 capitals for three turns.

I didn't mean to short-change anybody earlier.

[Squirrelloid]

I would like to claim victory. I meet the 4 capitals for 3 turns requirement next turn, and am in no danger of losing a capital this turn. Indeed, only one of my 4 is sieged, and its walls are unbroken, so no storming is possible. Thus I will still have 4 capitals next turn.

[Squirrelloid]

Details of claim for victory:
My own capital.
++Unsieged

Agartha's capital - Shinuyama can confirm I've had it ever since I took it from ghoul31.
++Sieged starting this turn by Burnsaber, 700+/800 wall strength remaining. Burnsaber can confirm he is unable to storm this turn.

Oceania's capital - for like the last 20 turns or so. Vanheim can confirm I still have it, Atlantis can confirm I took it from them a long time ago. Shinuyama can probably confirm I've had it a long time too.
++Unsieged

Atlantis's capital - Owned since last turn (can be confirmed by Atlantis and Vanheim, at least), making next turn the 3rd turn.
++Unsieged

[fungalreason]

Drat, I acted a bit too late. Well played, Squirrelloid.

[Burnsaber]

Yeah. Congratulations to Sir Squirreloid for his victory. I'll end the game the tomorrow, unless I hear any objections in the next 24h.

My short AAR:

My early expansion went well enough, but I couldn't find a indy scout province to save my life. So my scouting was really lacking. When I conquered a independent province and then noticed that it actually was a province bordering Vanheim cap, I took a quick look at graphs and came into the conclusion that I was dealing with an inexperienced player. I went into "SMASH NOOB!" mode and my armies got blasted by turbo-researched thunderstrikes (oops!). I took his cap twice and started some raiding action, but I eventually noticed that I really couldn't muster a force that would be able to storm his cap without horrible losses.

It also didn't help that Arco, my ally. Was proving pretty much useless in the war effort. He was likely just waiting for me to get exhausted from the war with Van and then do a backstab galore. I decided against this obvious losing mode, made peace with Van and started looking somewhere else to expand. I read about clevelands pleas to help in the UW war effort and decided to go for it. I wanted to test how effective the N1 breathing manuals really are at giving UW access so I made some and attacked atlantis.

It was a pretty ugly war for me. Shuras proved quite ineffective because MA Atlantis gets a H3 priest in the 20+ pd and Shuras had AP like 4 with underwater item breathing penalties, meaning that they got banished pretty easily (I had no S for ammies). I was also extremely pissed about having to equip my Ghost Samurais with underwater *breathing* items (they don't breathe! It makes no sense! GAAAH!). My armies got overwhelmed pretty quickly and since my raiding was completely dependent upon Shuras, I was quickly forced to go defensive.

I was able to hold my important territory until Nehekhara came in for the save and I managed to get my lost territory back. Then "Sea of Ice" came up and my route of expansion was blocked. I was now sandwiched between Nehekhara and Van, both of which could crush my exhausted nation like a bug if they wished so. It was a lose-lose for me, so I just sat on my *** and summoned stuff so that I would go out with a bang when either Van or Nehekhara would decide to cancel their NAP with me.

When I finally canceled our NAP Nehekhara, it was too late. There was no way I could do anything in time.

Well played Squirreloid. Thanks to everyone for this good game, we really got some good RP going in here, although the "Sirs" sort of died out in the end, but that was to be excepted based on my previous experiences.

Also, a suprise!

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http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6770/redsquirrel.jpg

Lolz!

[Squirrelloid]

Quick AAR:
Started next to ghoul31's Agartha, which means I could expect to face lots of H3 banishing action, oh boy. Of course, I could make an army almost capable of wiping his forces out in 2 turns, and he had to stop researching entirely to beat me off - so i traded lots of material for research tempo and eventually overwhelmed him.

Having finally consolidated my position in the north, I noticed Vanheim whacking Arco and Atlantis beating up on Shinuyama. Given Atlantis's commanding position, I decided killing Atlantis was probably my best bet, especially since my troops were mostly poor amphibians and thus i only needed breathing gear for my commanders. (And I agree with burnsaber, it feels silly providing breathing gear for commanders who aren't breathing).

So I organized an impromptu alliance with other concerned powers to thwart Atlantis, by getting them to pool enough w for me to cast Thetis's Blessing. For safety, i also made some breathing items for critical commanders - a precaution that proved invaluable when after I beat Atlantis around abit he cast Sea of Ice - inconveniently overwriting Thetis.

My initial foray UW was successful because of massive skelly spam, which allowed me to overcome poor amphibian penalties by dint of numbers, and they allowed me to use Rigor Mortis since they were immune while Atlantis's forces were not. Rigor Mortis was definitely key in some major victories.

Because I was making abundant use of Army of Gold anyway, after Sea of Ice and the loss of my skellyspammers, I started massing indies because they didn't suffer penalties and AoG made up for their biggest shortcoming - poor protection. (To that end I also focused on the lightly armored indies). This let me quickly build up quite a large army relatively quickly. I had to stop using Rigor Mortis because I was using living troops.

Two other things contributed to my ability to totally dominate Atlantis. I had an A2 Tomb King with 2 boosters for A4 that could cast Fog Warriors, and my pretender (S6 Son of the Sun) w/ 2 boosters who could cast Master Enslave (who had a void eye + eventually a rune smasher). These pinch hit against Atlantis's army in major engagements, including the battle at Atlantis's capital at the end.

Other helpful things:
-the charm hat was worth its weight in gems for stealing away critical units and creating distractions. (Ultimately, it even stole a QoW).
-the northern fort had the underwater academy site, which gave me some W3 mages for Shark Attack
-Wavebreakers for auto-cast friendly currents (Atlantis, why weren't you using them?)
-Atlantis not mage dueling my S1 Tomb Kings. Seriously, that could have sucked.

Thanks for the graphic Burn, that's awesome!

[Grijalva]

yeah, this was my first game playing an underwater nation, so I learned a lot.


Basically I was at war the entire game (also a first for me); being in the middle I had to quickly knock out one of the two ocean powers, Ryleh, before they both ganged up on me. This was nicely accomplished by my pretender with Ryleh's ghost king conveniently getting killed by indies just as I started my attack.

You all know roughly what happened with Cleveland's oceania, after I ambushed and destroyed his initial army it took a long time too finish him off, largely because of 1mapmove underwater and this map being "polar." He made me pay for that victory too.

Shimunyama was the only power who directly tried to help Oceania, and yes, I was very pleased with how that war was going. Had I planned differently I may have been able to make an attempt at his cap, but it was difficult with Cleveland still giving me trouble.

When Thetis's blessing came up I really lost the initiative, first staling, and then not prioritizing, my defense against Nekhara, who was clearly the biggest threat to me being amphibious and a game leader in some respects.

There were definitely some things that I should have done against the undead hordes, but I really despaired after my first encounter with his master-enslaving pretender. I lost something like 15 battlemages and a big army on that one, plus -may be another battle - he charmed Anzu, the HoF escaped slave prince who had won the Champion's trident and in early in the same battle disintegrated Glug!

Things went downhill quickly from there, and it was at that time that I started clamoring for other nations to attack Nekhara, to no avail though.

That was a great game guys, I really enjoyed it through and through!


Squirrelloid (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/member.php?u=23151), great job, you taught me some hard lessons!