Warthog - running

[Fantomen]

Warthog

Dark times had come to Sharivar. The once prosperous and peaceful world suffered from a grand vexation, a sense of great loss. It was as if a plague of mind and soul infested the very soil, spread with the wind, seeped through every crack and rathole from east to west, north to south. Brother turned against brother, children sat bored and hostile in the playgrounds, the elders stopped in the middle of a campfire tale, staring into the void, all stories forgotten. And soon the memories of better times began to fade. Happiness, lust, belief and courage became meaningless words, repeated like an abandoned baby sucks it's empty bottle to ease the pain.

But there where those who would seek, those who would not rest in hopeless content. And in the limbo new powers awakened, some good, some evil, or neither, all drawn by the vacuum of godlessness. They thrived on the seekers willing minds, grasped for the weak, the desperate. And everywhere in Sharivar there were those who stopped in their tasks, frozen in the moment of revelation. Straightening their crooked spines. Staring at their brethren with a new light in the eyes, the light of fanaticism.

And from the stuff of faith, the essence of dreams, the power of hope and despair, illusions became real, ideas began to take solid form...

Hey ho, another game!

I'm also posting this on the dom3mods fora here (http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=180)

hosted:llamaserver.net
Number of players: 12
Era: LA
Map: Sharivar
Mods: Conceptual balance, Endgame diversity, Worthy heroes 1.9 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=84L9ILTT)
Settings:Sites 45, renaming on, graphs off, the rest are standard.
Diplomacy/metagame: Non-binding, roleplaying encouraged. Any metagame whining, blacklisting or similar wanky out of game BS will not be tolerated. (note that I'm a woman, and thus have absolutely no sense of mercy, regret or compromise)
House rules:Single commanders must not attack with the sole purpose of blocking army movement(i.e: scouts repeatedly stalling large armies etc.) No bogus orders, LaD must be used only for real battles etc. Be a good player, use common sense.

You may suggest changes, maps, and leave other input. I'll make the final decisions though. Same goes after game start, admin calls the shots.

The players:

Fantomen - Agartha, Ktonian dead
Nikelaos - Bogarus, Age of heroes
BvG - Ermor, Ashen empire
13lackGu4rd - Marignon, Conquerors of the sea :rip:
BigandScary- Ulm, Black forest :rip:
Ghoul31 - Midgård, Age of men :rip:
Waterhazard - C'tis, Desert tombs
Diceman - Jomon, Human daimyos :rip:
Squirreloid - Abysia, blood of humans
Baalz - Patala, Reign of the nagas
Samulus - Man, Towers of Chelms :rip:
Dark kitty - R'lyeh, Dreamlands

[Nikelaos]

I think I'll be the crazy one and choose Bogarus.

[Fantomen]

Welcome.

I think Bogarus is quite awesome btw.

[BvG]

Hi

I'd like to try Ermor.

[13lackGu4rd]

I'll try Marignon. also, if we get enough players Sharivar is a great map for us to use. it's not a wrap around but its balanced and has seen plenty of MP games already...

[Fantomen]

Hi

I'd like to try Ermor.

You're in.

I have no problem with your nation choice as such, but as I see from your post count that you might be a new player, I'd like to note that Ashen empire is extremely micromanagement intensive. Also a bit tricky to leverage and you need to expect everyone to gang up on you. In short, it's not a nation I'd personally recommend for your first MP game. But do as you wish.

Welcome aboard 13lackGu4rd. Sharivar is not a bad choice, and I believe there is a version with more balanced special sites somewhere, right?

[13lackGu4rd]

yeah, there are plenty of Sharivar versions on Llamaserver.

[BigandScary]

damn, I was really hoping that I would be able to snag ermor, but with my preferred undead taken, I'd like to join as Ulm.

[BvG]

I have no problem with your nation choice as such, but as I see from your post count that you might be a new player, I'd like to note that Ashen empire is extremely micromanagement intensive. Also a bit tricky to leverage and you need to expect everyone to gang up on you. In short, it's not a nation I'd personally recommend for your first MP game. But do as you wish.

I agree completely. But they're soooo totally weird, I just couldn't resist..

Alas I expect to be not more then an advanced independent, no matter what nation i try (and fail) to play, so I might as well have some weird undead fun :)

[BigandScary]

[/QUOTE]

I agree completely. But they're soooo totally weird, I just couldn't resist..

Alas I expect to be not more then an advanced independent, no matter what nation i try (and fail) to play, so I might as well have some weird undead fun :)[/QUOTE]


They are cool, but for a new player they are often more of an unpleasant burden than fun. If you want to play them in a multiplayer game, I would suggest that you first play a game or 4 against the computer and that you read some guides, specifically Velusion's old guide(which technically no longer is accurate to the patched game version) but it is an awesome introduction to how Ermor plays.
Here is the link: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=35061

[ghoul31]

Midgard

[BvG]

They are cool, but for a new player they are often more of an unpleasant burden than fun. If you want to play them in a multiplayer game, I would suggest that you first play a game or 4 against the computer and that you read some guides, specifically Velusion's old guide(which technically no longer is accurate to the patched game version) but it is an awesome introduction to how Ermor plays.
Here is the link: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=35061

Oh I always play test games... actually i doubt there's anyone who does not at least shortly test if the scales and pretenders mix well with their current race. I mean, for people like me, testing is mandatory. At least until "grudged old forum coot" status is achieved.

I do like to read strat-guides and play troughs, and then do something completely different then advised. ;)

[Nikelaos]

Welcome.

I think Bogarus is quite awesome btw.

Yeah I love Bogarus, I really don't think they deserve their reputation as underpowered. I'll try to do em justice this game.

[WaterHazard]

I'd like to sign up as C'tis.

[Fantomen]

BigandScary, Ghoul31 and Waterhazard welcome aboard. We have also been joined by Diceman and Squirreloid over at dom3mods.

We now need just a few more players and then we'll start.

Game will host on Llamaserver PBEM btw.

[BigandScary]

nice, I've always like llamaserver

[Fantomen]

We have 9 players. So to play on Sharivar it would be ideal to have one more land nation plus possibly R'lyeh if someone wants them. That would give us about 16 provs each.

Hopefully those slots are filled tonight so I can create the game and hopefully get started tomorrow evening. Please get you pretenders ready for upload.

The first turn will be on 48h quickhost and then I'll put the game on 24h for the first 30 turns or so. If you know already that you'll need adjustments within the coming month please tell me now rather than the last minute if possible.

I'm thinking about whether we should have a victory condition of some kind to avoid getting one of those typically dom3esque tedious locked down endgames. Any suggestions?

[Baalz]

I'll play Patala

[Fantomen]

Ok, signups closed. We got three more signups, one here and two at dom3mods, so I just need to sort it out if all three can play or not. More later. (after my daughter falls asleep, that is)

[Fantomen]

13 players on Sharivar is ok if one plays R'lyeh, right? In that case we have ourselves a gamein a few hours hopefully.

[Fantomen]

Game created, cheesy flavor text added, first post updated, strutty attention whoring admin post written.

Please upload your aspiring gods now.

Don't hesitate to post overly kliché and cheap roleplaying posts in italic text for our common amusement and waste of time.

PM me for any admin requests, expect about a days latency in response as I'm sometimes very busy.

Edit: Oh,yeah. One more thing. Graphs will be off. I forgot to write that in the OP, sorry. I hope you're all ok with that, I think it makes the game more interesting.

[Squirrelloid]

I'll take Abysia I suppose.

[Nikelaos]

Vladmina, Goddess of Bogarus is in.

[Squirrelloid]

Request, while it can still be changed. Strip out all the pre-set sites from Shahrivar, they're very asymmetrically distributed.

[Fantomen]

They are, but we are using a version where their power has been toned down to not imbalance the game too much. There is no discount or mage recruitment sites for example. And nothing too extreme in other areas either I think. So hopefully it won't be such a big deal.

That said, feel free to have a look at it and if you think it is still a big problems you may do a fixed version. The map can be changed without recreating the game so it's trivial for me to switch between finished map files. But I have never mapmodded and don't have time to do it before we start.

This is not a reason to not upload pretenders! Come on folks!

[Squirrelloid]

If you're using the 'balanced' map version, i'm pretty sure there are still preset 3-5 gem sites on teh map. Needless to say, this is not cool.

[Fantomen]

It's the one Burnsaber adjusted some time back. I've played a few MP games on this version, I personally think it is ok. I like the special sites. But I don't really care. You want to fix it? Just go ahead and I'll change it if you do it tonight.

[Squirrelloid]

If you really want to play with it with some set sites in, that's your perogative. But some starting spots are rather gem poorer than others based on pre-set sites alone. (In particular, the west end of the map seemed better off overall than the east end of the map, with the east center being notably bare.)

[Fantomen]

I'm not arguing your point, you're 100% correct in your statements. It's just that I think it's a minor problem and can't be arsed. As I said, I'm completely indifferent to the issue. It's much more important for me to get started asap.

Either fix it or don't fix it, whatever you wish, but I'd like to start the game today. End of discussion.

[Squirrelloid]

I'm not arguing your point, you're 100% correct in your statements. It's just that I think it's a minor problem and can't be arsed. As I said, I'm completely indifferent to the issue. It's much more important for me to get started asap.

Either fix it or don't fix it, whatever you wish, but I'd like to start the game today. End of discussion.

Ok, attached is the fixed map file. (Which is only zipped because shrapnel won't allow uploading of .map files).

All i did was delete the section of known sites of shahrivar. It took like 10 seconds. (Ok, i renamed the map too so it can be found). It uses the same .tga file as the burnsaber version.

The only person who needs this is Fantomen, so it can be uploaded to llamaserver and added to the game. But if you want a copy, whatever.

[Fantomen]

I wasn't aware it was that trivial actually. Couldn't open your .rar file on my mac so I edited the mapfile myself. So I have been completely wasting your (about 10 seconds) time I'm afraid. :o

Feel free to facepalm :p

Anyway, map switched. Now where are those last pretenders? Seriously, get them in today!

[Squirrelloid]

my pretender will have to get in tonight, sorry.

[Squirrelloid]

Ok, pretender submitted, but, um... you do realize WH 1.9 includes a CBM 1.6 mod, right? And trying to use it and CBM 1.6 and it at the same time will work badly.

I should have looked before submitting my pretender. We'll probably need to restart.

[Dark Kitty]

The game seems to work (I just had to rename the .tga file "Shahrivar_Som.tga")

[Fantomen]

Oh, I didn't realize they were rolled together:doh:

While it seems to work ok, I think it's better to be safe than sorry. Bug might turn up later on instead so...

...Game restarted with only WH 1.9 and EDM, please IGNORE THE FIRST TURN you got and use the second instead.

Now that should finally be the end of the hassles. Phew.

The timer has been extended for the first turn in order to avoid any first turn stales, please don't let that delay you.

[Fantomen]

Pud Coughed in the smoke. Dizzy from the heavy fumes and struggling to think straight. The cavern was huge, and looked eerie with the slowly moving smoke trails clouding but every detail. When he moved his gestures caused the smoke to spin and flow into dreamy figures that lingered and danced like ghostly jesters, so he tried not to move.

In the middle of the cavern stood the enormous hookah, 18 feet high and richly decorated. And somewhere behind it in the fog, barely visible, lay the god Pothead, The patient one, on a huge divan.

It was always a test in itself to take orders directly from The patient one. The divine weed wasn't meant for ordinary men, and the fumes themselves brought Pug into a world unknown to him, where he couldn't tell what was real or not, and what words had been spoken and which were his own hallucinations. You never got a quick answer from Pothead, and when it came it was never short.

Pothead finally spoke:

- EH, DUDE...YOU THAT PUG PERSON? EH...
- Yes my grace.
- I...EH...YOU KNOW...I HAD THIS IDEA...WHAT WAS IT?...AHEHEH...

[ghoul31]

Where can I download the mod?

[Squirrelloid]

Oh right, WH 1.9 was only posted on dom3mods because burnsaber has forsaken these fora.

[Fantomen]

Oh right, sorry.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=84L9ILTT

I made a link in the OP as well.

[BvG]

"What do you mean 'not dead'?'" The thunderous voice of their God echoed in the gigantic hall, even tho the roof had collapsed eons ago. It made the Acolytes shiver in fear, their bones rattling below their dried husks. Dusk elder Okedur grinned. It was the only facial expression he was able to perform.

He tried to explain "We are few and in great Peril, oh deadly one, ..." but the lord of exosceletal flies interrupted him: "Deadly is not the issue at hand!" - "Yes sire, but you see, the prophecy..." Okedur gestured vaguely to the grim looking altar on the west side of the Ruin. "The prophecy was not clear on..."

But the living are not as patient as the dead, especially when their godly blood is steaming in anger: "We WROTE the damned thing, and We remember specifically to only be called when everyone is dead." The god was now pacing fore and back. All that quick striding was unnerving the dusk elder, looking left and right all the time was bad for his dried neck. "Dead shall everything be, and the One shall arrive and be dead too" His angriness recited, "and Us too!" He underlined with dangerously lowered voice. "But here We are, fully alive ourself. How could that have happened?" His furrored browdom stared at the messenger of the inappropriately vivid news. "Begone foul Soul!" The god screamed at the dusk elder. His deadliness shortly stared at the small pile of dust that used to be the most powerful mage of Ermor.

"We will shape the world until it becomes as we want it." The god declared, pointing at one of the Lictors. "You! Go and kill some people, and don't stop until We are pleased." The lictor thus appointed to these new honours bowed. Then he turned around, looked at his small flock of followers, and grinned dispiritedly.

[Nikelaos]

The lands of Rus were once a chaotic battleground, rival princes leading their clans in hope of glory. Much to the pleasure of the now jubilant populace, order was restored to the land with the coming of the new faith and a new age, an age of heroes.

Today the first of these heroes was to be chosen, an intermediate between the people and the still slumbering goddess to whom they owed so much. Near the front stood the Eparches hoping to be rewarded for their service to the Goddess, further forward stood the Grand Princes; each smug with overflowing pride and confident in their chances, even more confident though was Alexej - the patriach of the faith and a former khlysty and occultist.

Alexej soon found himself disappointed, a divine spirit erupted from Vladmina, staring Alexej in the eyes the spirit turned away and drifted outside of the sacred home of the Goddess, embedding itself into the body of a lowly scout.

Gasps of sheer surprise thundered from the mystified crowds. The chosen one feeling holy power surge through his veins immediately collapsed on his knees to pray. Alexej gave a deep piercing glare before storming away, abandoning his duties. The nation of Bogarus will be missing the help of it's former religious leader, but has gained another. Many also believe this is not the last that shall be seen of the Patriach, perhaps he shall return to prove himself worthy.

[Squirrelloid]

Come on Samulus, its turn 1, what's taking so long?

[pyg]

I think Samulus is a pretty cool guy, eh dos his turn last and doesn't afraid of anything.

[Fantomen]

Samulus apparently had difficulties finding the map tga. :rolleyes: I helped him and now the second turn is finally out. Let's all help to keep a bit of tempo now shall we?

[13lackGu4rd]

aye aye sir!

[Nikelaos]

Wow, I did that whole aar roleplay thing about assigning a prophet, got thanked for it, and then got the new turn and realised I hadn't prophetised anyone... I suck.

Let's hope this one is accurate. Redemption time.

(RP)

The time has come, a generous Prince offered a few Malaia Druzinha to fight for the goddess immediately... for a small price. Research has been begun by the starets to give them new ways to use their magical abilities to serve the goddess and the gears of war are finally in motion.

The 'donated' cavalrymen are grouped together with the city garrison under the command of Sviotoslav the voivode. Sviotoslav grew up as the child of an unsuccessful farmer who raised just enough money for his family to get by, he would be proud now to see his son; a commander of men, going forth to conquer in the name of the most holy Vladmina.

Sviotoslav himself was full of pride aswell as fervor. "Look now to the horizon men" he bellowed at the men under his command. "It is ours! Rus was once known as a land stricken by civil war, plagued by thieves and vagabonds. Today this changes, united now we march on to show the world the glory of Rus - a land of HEROES!" As the regiment roared in approval, Sviotoslav roared back louder. "Heroes of Rus, look now to the horizon, TAKE IT...IT'S YOURS!"

With the second cacophony of cheers they were off, marching to unknown lands without fear or hesitation.

[Fantomen]

Pug stod on the battlefield, resting on the sword and gazing out over the scattered bodies. It had almost been to easy, the iron clad Agarthans shook off the rain of arrows as if it were no more than a light summer rain. And the infantry who stood before the archers had fallen like straw to the massive cave drakes and their stout riders.

Yet the smell of blood and atrocities of battle were new to Pug, well trained as he was he'd lived his life up until now in peaceful isolation underground. The surface world with all it's brightness and vivid colors made him squint and get dizzy. And the bloodshed made him feel sick, though he was careful to hide his feelings from the soldiers. It would get worse, that was for bloody sure, Pug could only hope he would harden with time.

[Nikelaos]

Crossbow bolts slammed hard against the shields of bogarus' heroes, but they trudged on unwaveringly and slammed hard into the enemy line. At this point it seemed almost like a stalemate, with the men of Rus on having a mnor advantage.

This illusion was soon dispelled as the Druzinha looped around the edge of the battle field, charging at the leaders of the heretics. In one swift action the enemy force was decapitated and fell limp against the might of Rus.

Sviatoslav buried two brave heroes this day, a statistical triumph considering how many wicked ones were slain, but it was a personal defeat as these men had grown up with Sviatoslav and he had failed them. Already shaken by the horrors of war, Sviatoslav swore not to let their deaths be in vain, he would fight on for Rus so that it's heroes would always be remembered as such.

[Squirrelloid]

From the journal of Mortal Kombat, prophet of Fatality:
mmm... blood

[Squirrelloid]

ok, seriously, its turn 4. Samulus!!!!

[Fantomen]

I agree Squirrel, but Samulus is not on this fora unfortunately. Nag at him in dom3mods

[Nikelaos]

A wild Koschei appeared. No virgins be safe no moar.

[Squirrelloid]

wait, virgins were safe before? Fatality, god of Abysia, does formally protest any such insinuation.

Problems with virgins being too safe? Send them to us - we'll take care of themit.

Edit: Is there no strikethrough command on this forum?

[Nikelaos]

atleast sacrificed virgins get their essenced used usefully (demons yay), but virgins raped by koschei? I swear, we need to escort him in and out of the lab incase he does anything.

[Dark Kitty]

Disguise a few Fivefold Angels as young maiden and tell them to roam around the lab...:angel

[Nikelaos]

Tried that, apparently wearing make-up is a sin...damn you religious extremeists!

[Fantomen]

Careful what you say, those are what keeps you from being domkilled you know.

[Dark Kitty]

Put it on anyway, it's not like they can remove it (unless they're very handy with their feet :P)

[/irresistible_jokes]

[Fantomen]

Pug rested after yet another victory, leisurely cleaned his armour from blood and reflecting on how fast you got used to the act of killing. The campaign had been successful and scouts reported that several other more powerful forces had followed to claim the world for Pothead. The future seemed pleasantly dark. (obviously a positive term for Agarthans)

Suddenly the watch sounded the signal of alarm, clang of steel and shouting was everywhere. Pug rushed out of the tent just in time to face a magnificent fay horse rearing above him. The rider was a tall blond man with feirce blue eyes screaming like mad in a strange language. The heavy hoofs came down and struck the unarmed Pug to the ground. Just before dying Pug absentmindedly reflected upon the fact that these warriors must have been after the same garrison that the Agarthans had just fought, in order to claim this land as their own.

"Dying by accident... somehow it fits perfectly" Those were the last words of Agarthas first fighting commander, words neither heard nor remembered.

But Pothead heard those words in his head, as he heard the words and thoughts of all his servants. And they made him chuckle to himself as he took another drag on the hookah.

[Nikelaos]

The Druzinha were a force to be reckoned with, skilled and deadly they swiftly cut down all in their way. Province after province fell, and the list of vassal states grew - The heroes of Rus had built an empire. Their travels took them far and wide in and across the horizon they were promised.

They met other great nations along the way, among them the Ashen Empire of Ermor. Here the land was barren, the people fell in such great numbers that it were as if a plague had swept the land, and the dead rose continueing to praise the grim god of death. The foreign faith wormed it's way into the lands of Rus, and soon Bogarussian people had fallen to the plague dominion of the death god.

The Princes agreed enough was enough and the Druzinha rode of to destroy this threat. Upon reaching a fortress of the dead, these great men witnessed skeletons rising to protect it. The Druzinha were known to be great brave men, but a fear overcame them. "How do we kill that which is already dead?" one man asked. Obaric the chosen scout emerged from the shadows. "Let me show you" he replied with an authoritative voice. Throwing his arms into the air he called down the divine might of Vladmina to banish the dead back to the underworld, two score and five he destroyed in total. Meanwhile Sviatoslav rallied the men to charge at those whom Obaric had missed. Lances shattered ribs, swords cleaved skulls, and all manner of bones were crushed beneath hooves. All the dead were laid back to rest, and not a single hero of Bogarus had died. They celebrated their triumph over death, but knew a larger battle was soon to come, it is then that they shall earn their status as heroes.

[Squirrelloid]

Mortal Combat cursed under his breath. Thrice-damned fish-people and their insanity-causing dominion, it was enough to make one go crazy...

[13lackGu4rd]

I threw down a glove I made the mistake
Of picking it up now I'm gone
The choosing of guns or fighting with swords
The choice of weapons is done
They'll tear me apart as soon as I start
I know I don't have a chance

OH...OH... Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for the Pleasure
OH...OH... Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for my Life!

Ready to start the duel begins
the best man wins in the end
A lunge and a feint, a parry too late
A cut to the chest and I'm down
Seeing the stain then feeling the pain
Feeling the sweat on my brow

The fighting resumes, a silence looms the
Swordsman move 'gainst each other
A cut and a thrust, a parry, a blow
a stab to the heart and I'm down
The Angel of Death hears my last breath
Meanwhile the reaper looks on

OH...OH... Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought for the Pleasure
OH...OH... Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought to the Death

Courtesy of Iron Maiden: The Duelist

R.I.P Marignon, good luck to the rest of you and may the best man win in the end.

[Fantomen]

Thanks for playing Blackguard, may I ask who killed you?

[Nikelaos]

It may be ermor, I heard from the horse's mouth that they neighboured marignon. I've also been expecting a PoD to drop down to accompany his legions in fighting my invading army, and that hasn't happened so this might explain it.

offcourse just speculation...I'm probably wrong.

[13lackGu4rd]

R'lyeh dealt the killing blow but it was a mixture of Ermor and R'lyeh, with Ulm blocking my path and taking a province as well. basically I died due to being in a very bad position(right next to R'lyeh's lake, Ermor to my immediate North East and Ulm to my North as well as making some crucial mistakes early on and being very unlucky on turn2 expansion.

[Dark Kitty]

I suppose you had to divert a lot of ressources to fight off my dominion and Ermor's but you defended yourself until the end. See you in a next game

[Squirrelloid]

Abysia is aghast at the actions of Ermor, and announces the following:

1) Casting BoT is an attack against all nations of the world.
2) As such, the caster of BoT has summarily violated all non-aggression agreements which he maintains.

Thus, Abysia requires that Ermor eliminate this heinous global within one turn or we shall consider all of our agreements with the nation of Ermor to have been ended by them without notice, and done in violation of our NAP. We also publicly announce these charges in view of the nations of the world, and will gladly succor allies to our cause and make war upon its enemies. So swears the warlock council and the god Fatality.

[BvG]

Unfortunately there is no dominion local spell that helps in this war. If you have a suggestion we'll gladly change to that. The war will be over in 7 turns or so, so how about I cancel the spell again in 5 turns?

[Nikelaos]

That wasn't a smart move Ermor, the men of Rus can fight through this, we could cast gift of health next turn, and our blood magic allows us to fight the aging on our old mages.

Even if we should fall you have hung yourself unless you drop BoT immediately since everyone now sees you as an enemy. We also would like to point out that we actually can dispel this with 1 in 3 of our starets, I doubt it would be that hard to raise the gems since everyone wants to get rid of this.

It saddens us that you cannot keep your harmful magic to the battlefield or within your own dominion. We shall stamp your armies into the ground, mark my words.

To all others in the realm, put your trust in Bogarus who are actively working to rid the world of this scourge, laying to rest hundreds of undead. The donation of pearls would be required for us to dispel the BoT. Thank you all in advance for your co-operation against the evil ermor empire.

[Squirrelloid]

5 turns is unacceptable. The one turn we've had was unacceptable.

[BigandScary]

Ulm will give 25 astral pearls to the nation that dispels this abomination.

[BvG]

Oh well if you want to be like that, then I'll cancel the spell, spoilsports :P

Or not doesn't matter anyway. you guys spend the pearls on this..

[BigandScary]

If you cancel it then the whole map probably won't go to war with you.

[BvG]

I'm already at war with all my neighbours. When I lose, the spell might prolong my un-life. If I win against them, then going to war with everyone else is going to happen anyway.

[Fantomen]

As it looks like 3 players are about to stale I delayed the timer 6 hours. Abysia, Bogarus and Man, please get your turns in or ask for a delay.

[Squirrelloid]

can the warning be increased? 6h is short enough that i forgot and went to sleep, and it would have hosted while i was sleeping.

[Fantomen]

I can put in at 12h if you want.

[Squirrelloid]

12h would be great

[Fantomen]

As Samulus is possibly about to score three stales in a row I'm preparing to sub him out or turn him AI. I sent him a PM and I hope he replies but in case not I'd like some information from those who are his neighbours or enemies in the game.

Is his position good enough that we need a sub or can we turn him AI without huge balance problems?

[Nikelaos]

I'm going to be looking for a sub, I really don't have the time to play (fffuuuu... homework).

[Fantomen]

Ok, Nikelaos. It's been great playing with you, I hope to see you in future games. Tell me if you need help finding a sub.

I'll rather delay the game than let such a powerful nation stale, so if you don't find time to do your turns while looking for a sub please tell me. Alternatively we can set a longer timer (48h) if that would give you the leeway you need to stay in the game.

On a side note, it seems Samulus is back with us for now. Although he didn't respond to my PMs he's started submitting turns again, so I'm leaving him be for now.

[Nikelaos]

feel free to help looking for a sub, I might not be able to check online and sort things out everyday so...

also there is a password set, the (unecesary) password is "bonjovi"

[Fantomen]

Jesus cockslapping christ, 5 stales! I better put the game on hold until that sub is found.

[Fantomen]

Ok we found a sub for Bogarus, welcome back in the game Blackguard!

I will also set Man AI now.

[BvG]

uh oh, that smells like revenge time :(

[Fantomen]

Timer changed to 48h

[BigandScary]

Well, I'm finally gone. Good game everyone.

[BvG]

Hi
Unfortunately there is no Internet in my vacation Place. I was Promissed thered Be. I Need a Substitute or posponement until sunday. Sent from someones iPhone whom i gave fifty bucks.

Sorry for this horrible Missmatch
BVG ermor

[Dark Kitty]

Nice fight BigandScary, see you soon in Gotm :)

[Fantomen]

Hi
Unfortunately there is no Internet in my vacation Place. I was Promissed thered Be. I Need a Substitute or posponement until sunday. Sent from someones iPhone whom i gave fifty bucks.

Sorry for this horrible Missmatch
BVG ermor

Alright, game postponed.

Nice game BigAndScary, thanks for playing.

[Fantomen]

Turn postponed on Squirreloids request

[Fantomen]

Turn postponed by 12h on my own account.

[Fantomen]

Turn postponed 24h due to sudden call for overtime work, so I can't make it home tonight.

[BvG]

haha that was fun... I only wish the death rate wasn't 2 of mine for 1 of yours :(

[Squirrelloid]

BoT beat me. BoT > LA Abysia. And of course I had the absolute worst luck with site searching, and have virtually no pearl income to even attempt a dispel.

So now I can't use national mages in combat, which means I can't beat the undead hordes because all my H3 priests just die in 3 turns.

This game has been extremely frustrating because the morons who do have pearl income have let BoT stay up for forever. You know who you are. (And in any normal game, Abysia would have pearl income, but yay 1 astral site in 22 provinces?) So that was a desperate attempt to do something to stop the pain. Because this game has been unplayable for me for like 30 turns.

[Dark Kitty]

Sorry:o

BoT doesn't really affect my mages and helps me reduce upkeep and micromanagement of freespawns :angel

[Fantomen]

Yesterday the dates on llamaserver displayed incorrectly, leading me be to believe several players was about to stale. So I postponed the game, as it turned out to be, for no reason.

So Ermor and Abysia, please don't let the long timer detain you.

[BvG]

wow lots of ppl haven't submitted a turn yet. maybe they did read "0:45 thursday" the same way as i did at first: meaning thursday night, not the first hour of thursday (and hence in about 3 hours)?

[Fantomen]

All that smoking finally starts taking it's toll, Pothead is going insane.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10683&stc=1&d=1291147668
_____________^^^_________________

So don't expect too much out of any diplomatic attempts from now on.:D

[Baalz]

FWIW I'm about to the point that I'm completely unstoppable, nows the time for everybody left to make their last ditch efforts against me.

[BvG]

Hollidays. I'll be away from friday 10th to wednesday 15th and then again from 22th to the 3rd. Should I get a replacement, or do dom3 games take breaks on the off season?

[Fantomen]

Good question. I'd like some more details as to Baalz power level, if he can convince me that he is at the point where a win seems the only likely outcome it would make sense to concede the game to him before christmas. If the outcome is uncertain we play on and get sub or delay whichever seems convenient.

So perhaps Baalz could PM me his thoughts on the matter.

[Baalz]

My guess is I am barely stoppable right now if Argatha and R'lyeh play well, but would not be in a few more turns if you continued to fight and let me sit to build up power uncontested- though that's my assessment with no score graphs and spotty scouting (hurray BoT!). I've no objection if your call is that the remaining fighting would be lopsided and want to call the game. I'm in control of a bit over 1/3rd of the map with 54 temples and good scales. Pulling in around 100 blood slaves and 158 gems, though that'll jump up by 15D when I capture Ermor's capital in a turn or two. I'm summoning/GoR'ing 2 tarts per turn (under Gift of Health) along with 1 cyclops, 1/2 grendlekin, 1 Dakini and a sporadic rudra when I can scrape together the gems after outfitting all that. I've got about 8 earth attack spammers and the gems to drop that every turn when I pause cyclops summoning, and 3 guys who can drop ghost riders/manifestation when I pause on the tarts. Just got around to getting artifacts and found them mostly untouched so my SC summoning is on pause for a couple turns while I nab all the good ones. If a slot opens up I'll probably cast a very large wrath of god - those 54 temples are pushing my dominion out nicely. Might put up haunted forest too, that seems likely to be fun with the monkey PD. I've got an alteration bonus magic site - though I'll not cheese wish on it. I've been preparing for a war with R'yleh to the tune of having a whole mass of S2 Gurus to magic duel anything that crawls up on land, with rudras to drop wrathful skies and firestorm for any big masses of buffed chaff or dakinis to chain penetration boosted bloodlettings if that seems more appropriate. I've also been cranking out armor of souls, lead shields and MR amulets for my SCs in preparation for sitting on the squids. Swinging my research up for flame storm and niefel flames next. Will probably just ignore Argatha for the moment while I steamroll R'yleh and C'tis.

That's what I've got and what I'm planning, will be happy to fight it out if you guys feel it'll be a fun fight.

[Fantomen]

Ok, I'll think about it for a bit before deciding. I'm not that powerful by a long shot as I've been fighting a two front war under BoT most of the game. But I do have 20 or so kitted SC and a fairly strong vampire defence on top of mages and troops. Also a bunch of fairy queens and lamias etc. If we cooperate well and all attack now there might at least be a entertaining fight I think.

I also need to delay the game until tomorrow on my own account.

[BvG]

I'm just a small cog (if not a unused bolt) at this point of the game. So i think i'll just stale, because any replacement would just go AI immediately ;)

[Fantomen]

Alright, we'll play on a while still. I will attack Baalz now and I expect everyone else to join in, NAP:s should be ignored at this point. My prediction is that we will lose anyway, but it might be a fun show.

I will not have BvG or anyone else staling, because I ****ing hate to have players staling even when small. So the game will be delayed over your holidays.

[13lackGu4rd]

chain staling is just bad, and there's no excuse for it. right now I'm only holding on to Bogarus' cap, the rest has been chewed up by Ermor, R'lyeh and Agartha. do you see me staling? not once. sure, most of the times I just click "end turn" cause I don't have anything else to do with my capital being under constant siege, but it's still better than staling and turning AI. I still have a last stand when someone will finally storm my capital, and AI sucks at scripting so I stay just for that right now.

[Baalz]

Alright, we'll play on a while still. I will attack Baalz now and I expect everyone else to join in, NAP:s should be ignored at this point. My prediction is that we will lose anyway, but it might be a fun show.


I'm willing to take the disadvantaged position of me honoring existing NAPs one sided in case prep time is desired, so specifically I'm not going to attack R'yleh until turn 73 *or* he attacks me.

[Squirrelloid]

sorry for chain staling, but i really have nothing to do on my turns. Basically, BoT ended me. I don't understand why I lived so long...

[Baalz]

sorry for chain staling, but i really have nothing to do on my turns. Basically, BoT ended me. I don't understand why I lived so long...

Because I pretty much immediately moved all my stuff up to attack Ermor when you crumpled and it's taken me a long time to siege/storm all your mostly empty castles with reserve forces. :) You're down to one castle but it's apparently got all your leftover strong flying demons/imps in it which takes more manpower to breakdown the walls than I have troops available for that duty with me trying now to take as many Ermorian castles as I can before I have to actively fight everybody else.

[Squirrelloid]

sorry for chain staling, but i really have nothing to do on my turns. Basically, BoT ended me. I don't understand why I lived so long...

Because I pretty much immediately moved all my stuff up to attack Ermor when you crumpled and it's taken me a long time to siege/storm all your mostly empty castles with reserve forces. :) You're down to one castle but it's apparently got all your leftover strong flying demons/imps in it which takes more manpower to breakdown the walls than I have troops available for that duty with me trying now to take as many Ermorian castles as I can before I have to actively fight everybody else.

You know what else it has? the vale of infinite horrors. Seriously, you don't want it =P

[Baalz]

So, victory conditions weren't specified, but I'm in control of about half the map now and have been destroying at will everything not hiding in a castle for some time. Does anybody really have any hope of doing anything other than guerrilla defense as I roll over everything else?

[Baalz]

So....I take it there are no objections to me declaring myself the winner? I'm not going to take my next turn unless I hear otherwise (they take considerable time with my size).

[Dark Kitty]

I may still have one or two cards up my sleeves... If you don't mind going for a few more turns, I would be curious to try them (however if everyone is bored with the game and wants it over, I don't mind declaring you the winner now)

[Fantomen]

After examining the current turn and measuring my power, I'm declaring Baalz the winner now.

We could probably put up a good fight for a while me and Dark kitty, but it's obvious to me the that Baalz would still win in the end.

And frankly I don't feel like playing it out either when I feel the outcome is predictable, I'm a bit burned out on Dominions and have a hard time getting all turns in in other games.

Sorry Dark kitty, your plan was admirable but it'll have to linger in its platonic perfection.

Well played everyone. And congrats to Baalz, I only regret we didn't get the opportunity for a midgame war between us. I was hoping for that when you signed up, but I guess we'll be toe to toe in some other game instead.

[Baalz]

Thanks for the game guys! @Fantomen - maybe we're fighting right this second in No Wankers. ;)

@Dark Kitty - I'm curious what you had in mind if you don't mind sharing. I had so many resources (184 gems and 92 blood slaves came in this last turn), artillery (earth attack, mind hunt, ghost riders, hoard from hell, seeking arrow) and nearly immune to everything (~30MR Cold/Frost/Lightning immune) SCs ready to teleport/trapeze anywhere, along with air drop army killer mages (staff of storms + wrathful skies and firestorm, rain of stones, bloodletting) that I couldn't really think of anything you could do to cause me enough damage to even overcome how much income I had for one turn. I figured you undeniably could cause me some losses on defense by fighting in castles and the water, but I couldn't imagine you successfully every going on the offense, same for Fantomen.

[Dark Kitty]

Well, Baalz has well deserved his victory (and Fantomen is right, you would certainly have won in the end), congratulations ;)

It was nice and very instructive to finally cross blade with vets, I hope I can fight you and Fantomen in another game soon :) (and do better:angel)


My "plan" (which was more of a few ideas) was not THAT good, plus I didn't tell Fantomen everything so I suppose she is merely patting my ego^^ (what a nice and feminine touch, /me purrs) :

My main problem was your SCs, so I was going to start using my starpawns (they stayed in my castles all game, I didn't use them in battle, except a few times) to try and kill your SCs (although admittedly your SCs were very tough, I think half a dozen penetration boosted Starpawns casting Paralyse, Enslave Mind and other nasty stuff from the back could have taken a few down), mostly in my dominion since I supposed you couldn't afford to fight too long in it and risk not being able to order your commanders (I'm curious, how inconvenient was insanity so far? how about you Fantomen?) and continuing my "guerilla" in your backyard with more flying stuff (you have probably noticed I was targeting your temples to weaken your dominion in the long run)

I was going to cast Arcane Nexus and WoM (well, I was actually going to "offer" WoM to Fantomen because I had seen how difficult her SCs and thugs were to deal with and I had other gems to make SCs, thanks to the Endgame Diversity Mod), useful for various stuff including spamming Dreams of Ryleh on your commanders and making Void Spectres factories.

I was going to start using my gems to make good well-equiped SCs/thugs instead of economical ones (which didn't work, either against you or Fantomen (I think I have learned what real SCs/thugs should be like from seeing you two play, I'll have to practise in the next game:P))

The long term idea was to wear you down : that Fantomen and I "contain" you while I tried to slowly choke you with Harvester of Sorrows and Void Spectre (kitted out to be able to take your 10 PD provinces) : cut your money and make it unwise to use gems to compensate, make your commanders sick and insane (or dead), in short try to make your empire impossible to manage so you would crumble... :P


However I think it would have probably necessitated a more experienced hand to execute : LA Ryleh is not so easy to use and I didn't play it well. Upkeep quickly became a problem, I should have played more agressively instead of sitting on firepower (stockpiled gems and great mages) doing nothing. But with what you describe I doubt it could have been enough...

Thanks for the game :) (and thanks to BvG for the help ;))