Sticks and Bones- LA, intermediate players (running)

[Groundworm]

http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=Sticks_and_Bones

Looking for intermediate players- you know the game, have a few MP games under your belt, but you're nowhere near a veteran.

Map: Plane of Rusty Nails v4
Players: 9
Mods: CBM 1.92
Era: late age
independent strength: 7
site frequency: 45
Hall of Fame: 15
score graphs on
all other settings default
banned nations: Ermor, R'lyeh
hosting: Llamaserver
24h turns for as long as possible, extensions granted liberally (but not every turn, please)
diplomacy is binding

1) Groundworm- Bogarus
2) vargr- Midgard
3) yandav- C'tis
4) Hurmio- Ulm
5) Bullock- Abysia
6) ghoul31- Agartha
7) HoleyDooley- Pangaea
8) bgifu- T'ien Ch'i
9) mockingbird- Marignon

[Immaculate]

No chance of 56h turns?

If you can move to a 56h schedule i will join as Patala- otherwise i'll skip i think.

[vargr]

I should have a late game ending soon, so I think I'll have time for this. Midgård, please.

[Groundworm]

Immaculate- if by 56 you actually mean 36, I'm willing to do that. If you actually mean 56h turns, I'm looking for a faster game than that. Sorry :(

vargr- welcome aboard

Also, I edited the initial post- forgot to mention that I'm setting indie strength to 7. Meant to do that from the get go.

[Immaculate]

k- i'll catch the next one- have fun y'all.

[yandav]

I'd be glad to play c'tis.

[Hurmio]

Hi!

I'd like to join as Ulm.

[Bullock]

I'd like to give a try to abysia in this era !

[Ossa]

I'd happily join with Atlantis

[Groundworm]

Welcome aboard yandav, Hurmio, Bullock, and Ossa. 3 slots left!

[ghoul31]

agartha

[Groundworm]

ghoul31- I've seen your name in a lot of games and a lot of threads... are you sure you aren't a vet?

[HoleyDooley]

Arcoscephale

Cheers,

Dooley

[HoleyDooley]

Arcoscephale

Cheers,

Dooley

Change of heart, Pangaea thanks.

Dooley

[bgifu]

Jomon please!

[ghoul31]

ghoul31- I've seen your name in a lot of games and a lot of threads... are you sure you aren't a vet?

I've never won a game, so I don't consider myself a vet.

And I usually die pretty quickly when I play LA agartha, I haven't figured them out yet.

[Groundworm]

All right, we've got our 9. I'll put the game up on Llamaserver, and we'll start as soon as everyone's pretenders are submitted.

See you on the battlefield :)

[bgifu]

If it's possible, I want to switch nation to Tien Chi

[Groundworm]

Sure, I don't have a problem with that.

[Groundworm]

Still waiting on Atlantis and T'ien Ch'i.

[HoleyDooley]

Where can I get a copy of the map?

[vargr]

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?p=738772#post738772


The last (#10) post should have the v4 of the map.

[Groundworm]

Still waiting on one last pretender submission. Ossa, how much more time will you need?

[Bullock]

We should have done already at least a couple of turns ... =/

[bgifu]

I think you should modify thread name for "Submit Pretenders" and post game URL in thread.

[Groundworm]

Done and done. No disrespect intended, but without hearing a word from Ossa, we've waited long enough. The question becomes: should we find a replacement, or play with 8?

[HoleyDooley]

Go with 8.

[Bullock]

I'm fine with 8 or to wait for a 9th.

[mockingbird]

I am game to step in if you still want a ninth player.

[HoleyDooley]

sign up mockingbird with your race on the server, then we can start.

[Bullock]

Yeah come in :)

[Groundworm]

Sure, welcome aboard mockingbird! Glad and terrified to be playing against you again! :)

[mockingbird]

I just sent in a pretender as Marignon.

[HoleyDooley]

Turn 3 and already its zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[yandav]

I've sent my orders but llamaserver seems to be stuck.

[yandav]

Nevermind, it works now.

[Groundworm]

I'm delaying the current turn by 24 hours, as I've been extremely busy these past few days and haven't had nearly as much time for Dominions as usual.

[ghoul31]

Oh look, another three on one. I'm getting uses to it though.

I've already realized that everyone that plays this game is complete coward without an once of integrity.

[Groundworm]

I'm sorry, ghoul. It's nothing personal, especially seeing as how we've never played together before. Just the way alliances worked out this game. :(

[mockingbird]

I am not going to have any problems getting the current turn in, but I am not going to have internet access Dec 24th & 25th, and possibly the 26th. Could I get a turn extension for that turn period, please?

Thanks!

[Bullock]

I could also need a 24h extension for the next turn.

[Groundworm]

Certainly. Though, the turn just cycled again, so perhaps we could get one more in while you still have access. :)

Just to be on the safe side, I will extend the turn if I see you haven't had a chance to take it.

And happy holidays, all.

[Bullock]

yeah i will submit the turn 30min before leaving ;)

[mockingbird]

I will probably need some extra time for the next turn since I have a ridiculously long flight to take soon.

Thanks.

[Groundworm]

All right, I'll keep an eye on things and extend as needed.

[Groundworm]

Well played, ghoul31. Your armies remained a real threat until the very end, and even though you were attacked relentlessly, you used your mages and your very good troops to excellent effect. You had me wondering how I was going to defeat them for quite awhile.

Looking forward to playing with you again, and thanks very much for sticking it out until the bitter end.

[mockingbird]

The turn didn't send properly and now I am too busy. Could I get an extension (say, 24 hours to be sure) on this turn please?

Thanks!

[Hurmio]

Has the hosting schedule been upped to 48h or why is the next host tomorrow?

Anyway, i will be away for the weekend, but hopefully i'll be able to play my turns in time.

[Groundworm]

Sorry, that was my fault. I had to extend the turn because I wasn't able to take mine; should be able to do so tonight. Didn't have a chance to post until now.

Hurmio, if you need an extension over the weekend, let me know.

[mockingbird]

Alas, I die! I've definitely played better, but there's a limit to what one can do in a triple gank situation.

Some fun facts for the rest of you to enjoy:

Province 110 has the Crown of Night (40% Thaumaturgy)
Province 143 has the Fire Prison (20% Enchantment)
Province 17 has four astral sites.

Enjoy the rest of the game! I look forward to facing you all again.

[Bullock]

Well we were more 2 than 3 with the fast withdraw of TC.

You are playing well but you are losing because you don't do any diplo. It's true for all the 3 games we are both involved (and in war ;))

Thanks for being a great opponent and for fighting 'til the end.

See u !

PS: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=48229

[Groundworm]

I saw some of your battles, mockingbird. Very entertaining to watch, and you did very well against players who had the advantage over you in both numbers and power. You clearly played well, as I've come to expect from you. Thanks for playing, and hope to see you again!

On another note, I'm not going to be able to dedicate my full attention to this turn right now, so I'm postponing the turn 24 hours. Apologies for the delay.

[vargr]

Diplomacy in this game is specified as binding. Is it still ok to anonymously attack someone you have a NAP with? Just asking as there was some mind hunt attempts against me and I'm not at war atm.

[Bullock]

With binded diplo it shouldn't be allowed ...

[Groundworm]

In the spirit of the game, mind hunting someone you have a NAP with is disallowed. Against the spirit of the game, it is anonymous, so none of us have any way of proving who did it (I've also been subjected to several mind hunt attempts). But Bullock is correct in his assessment, in the end.

[Bullock]

If it's a rule it sounds more like cheating if you breaking it, like some1 recruiting 0g Ettin.

Btw if the caster of mind hunt is caught by an other astral mage don't you have some sufficient info on the caster to know where he comes from ?

[Hurmio]

I've always thought that doing something naughty and not getting caught would not count as breaking a NAP. :p Well, you live and learn.

In this case though, as i'm not "napped" with Midgard, it wouldn't matter. But, i'm not the one to blame for this (or the attacks against Bogarus!). Perhaps there's someone else who has been thinking the way i have or maybe Vargr doesn't have a NAP with everyone?

[vargr]

Looking more closely, one of my provinces has a black candle now, most likely Abysian, and there's a mage in it. So I guess it could be the SoAP as well. Anyway, I think the discussed point was worth bringing up.

[Bullock]

indeed i caught a mage with my SoAP without harming him.

[vargr]

Well, that should be it then. My Dom-fu isn't strong enough to tell the difference in the report text :p Hopefully you recognize my right of dominion in my own lands and we don't have to compete for it. Think of the poor innocent virgins!

[yandav]

Small quizz, just for fun :D
1) Who's n°1 in provinces?
2) Who's n°1 in forts?
3) Who's n°1 in income?
4) Who's n°1 in gem income?
5) Who's is stockpiling storm demons and vampires with his good blood income?
6) Who's n°1 in dominion?
7) Who's n°1 in army size?
8) Who's got the best mages?
9) Who's got the better magical diversity?

Hint: the answer is the same for all the questions :p:

Edit: Oooops, I forgot:
10) Who's got almost all the best artifacts (including the chalice)?
11) Who's got a wish caster?

[Bullock]

4) It s me now :)

[yandav]

- Hmm, wait a minute, I think that our Ulmish contestant knows the correct answer, we're listening to you:
- C'TIS!
- Well, I think that you should look at the graphs again and come back next week.

[Hurmio]

- Hmm, wait a minute, I think that our Ulmish contestant knows the correct answer, we're listening to you:
- C'TIS!
- Well, I think that you should look at the graphs again and come back next week.

Yup, i saw the charts and realized you got so much to share. ;)

Infact, i'd like to invite everyone in the game to share some of the goodies of C'tis. He has lots of stuff so there must be enough for all of us! Free tarts for everyone!


Ulm

[Groundworm]

Small quizz, just for fun :D
1) Who's n°1 in provinces?
2) Who's n°1 in forts?
3) Who's n°1 in income?
4) Who's n°1 in gem income?
5) Who's is stockpiling storm demons and vampires with his good blood income?
6) Who's n°1 in dominion?
7) Who's n°1 in army size?
8) Who's got the best mages?
9) Who's got the better magical diversity?

Hint: the answer is the same for all the questions :p:

Edit: Oooops, I forgot:
10) Who's got almost all the best artifacts (including the chalice)?
11) Who's got a wish caster?

All of what you say is true except, as Bullock says, for #4. He has now surpassed me in gem income after stealing away my Eternal Pyre. I would like to point out that my lead in almost all of those categories is minimal at best.

I'd also like to ask a few questions of my own:
1) who's got the Well of Misery and the Mother Oak?
2) who has 3 global enchantments?
3) who has death mages capable of spamming Tartarians, and the nature gem income to Restore Soul?
4) who's completed magical research?
5) who's been turtling all game and summoning massive undead armies?

I am not the clear threat in this game. I daresay that honor could just as readily be applied to C'tis or Abysia.

[Bullock]

Lol Hurmio nice answering ;)

[Hurmio]

Could i get a 4 hour extension, so i can get home in time to play the turn?

[vargr]

Well done everyone - turn 55, 24 h hosting and no stales! But I would vote for 48 h from now on. My turns are likely to get busier soon ;)

[Bullock]

Don't bother, he won't need 48h for long ;)

[Groundworm]

I have no objection to 48h hosting. What does everyone else think?

[Hurmio]

I was actually going to suggest the same. Sounds good to me.

[yandav]

I fear that my turns may become quicker and quicker to play :o. Anyway, I'm ok with 48h.

[mockingbird]

Well we were more 2 than 3 with the fast withdraw of TC.

You are playing well but you are losing because you don't do any diplo. It's true for all the 3 games we are both involved (and in war ;))

Thanks for being a great opponent and for fighting 'til the end.

See u !

PS: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=48229

I finally got some time to respond. TC attacking me was key, because I had to use too many resources beating him off, and was weakened versus Abysia and C'tis. If I had been given a bit more time to consolidate and research, I think I could have held the two of you off.

What was up with that, anyway? Did one of you convince TC to commit suicide, or was it lone bad judgment?

I will note that no one who has ever attacked me first has ever won a Dominions game. For that matter, all but one of them has been eliminated before me, and the lone exception was Atlantis, who could hide in the water.

We'll see if R'lyeh in Colonial Conquest can beat the trend. :)

[Bullock]

What was up with that, anyway? Did one of you convince TC to commit suicide, or was it lone bad judgment?


no he took his decision alone and i joined him because you didn't let me have one land i asked for =p (like in colonial where we are in war for one or 2 seas ^^)



We'll see if R'lyeh in Colonial Conquest can beat the trend.


I hope so lol it's a 1v3 !

[mockingbird]

What was up with that, anyway? Did one of you convince TC to commit suicide, or was it lone bad judgment?


no he took his decision alone and i joined him because you didn't let me have one land i asked for =p (like in colonial where we are in war for one or 2 seas ^^)



As a matter of policy, I don't engage in appeasement. If you offered me balanced deals, then I might actually accept. :)



We'll see if R'lyeh in Colonial Conquest can beat the trend.


I hope so lol it's a 1v3 !

Oh, I'm not talking about whether the three of you can defeat me (probably, but not necessarily), but whether R'lyeh will be the ultimate beneficiary. I rather doubt that you will be better off in the end than if had you started a war with someone else -- you could have completely crushed Abysia, for example.

[Bullock]

Yandav ?? i hope he s not dropping of this game.

[Bullock]

Please don't let Ctis stall... If you think he's a leaver ask Ossa to sub, he might be interested.

[Hurmio]

Looks like C'tis staled. Shall we wait for Yandav to come back or try to find a sub? Playing without a C'tis player will brake this game.

[Groundworm]

Sorry... I had been extending the turn, but apparently not enough, and I missed the deadline.

Let's give Yandav till the end of this turn. If he hasn't taken this turn before it's due, then I'll extend the timer by a week and we'll look for a sub. After that, we'll have to talk about what we want to do, because I'd really rather not delay for more than a week. At this point, where the game is beginning to become micromanagey, some of us might not want to get back to it after that.

Also, I PM'ed yandav to see what's going on and if he's planning on continuing.

What do you all think?

[Bullock]

100% agreed.

[Bullock]

Ask Ossa for subbing, he's a good player and might be able to do somethings with the current position of Ctis.

[Groundworm]

Created a looking for sub thread and PM'ed Ossa, as recommended. I also PM'ed Allium, who is also a capable player and has subbed for me in the past. He's considering it.

[Ossa]

Just so I dont accidently attack my only remaining ally - I'm at war with Bogarus and whom again;) ?

[Groundworm]

As you can see, Ossa has agreed to sub for C'tis. Good call, Bullock, and thanks to both of you.

Ossa, you're at war with Bogarus (me), Ulm (Hurmio), and Pangaea (HoleyDooley). I'm not sure what your exact diplomatic status is with Midgard and Abysia, but I do know that the two of them are fighting each other.

[Groundworm]

So we're actually waiting on Midgard now. Vargr, we haven't lost you too, I hope!

[vargr]

Didn't notice the game was on again. I'll do my turn, tomorrow the latest.

[Groundworm]

Apologies for the delays. I'm out of town, and my internet access is far more limited than I thought. I will attempt to.submit my turn ASAP, but worst case scenario is I return home Weds evening.

[Ossa]

Pah - a sound victory in the battle review in yellow mountains but the summery tells me I lost the battle by far. I hate it when this happens:(

[Bullock]

oh yeah ... this is the worst bug of the game... and it's happening quite often.

Anyway it's some kind of reborn of Ctis, thx to you Ossa.

[Hurmio]

Hi,

i'm going to a whisky fair straight from work and i realized that i probably won't be able to play my turn today. Since the hosting is scheduled in early morning tomorrow i doubt i can make it. So could i get a 6h extension? Sorry about this, i should have played it yesterday.

Bullock, you got awfully many Zmey's going around. Care to donate some fire gems? :D

[Bullock]

Oh you know Zmeies are almost free spawn for Abysia :)
And i'm keeping my gems to buuuuurn your troops !!

[Groundworm]

Extension granted, Hurmio.

Ossa, you certainly have been more aggressive than your predecessor. I don't know how many of your Sauromancers I've killed so far, but it's easily over 100. That at least explains your massive early research lead.

I also got that replay bug in Yellow Mountains, for what it's worth.

[Bullock]

Well i took a hard blow learning that the explosion of phenix pyre isn't fire dmg only ...

That's going to cost me a lot !!

[vargr]

Well i took a hard blow learning that the explosion of phenix pyre isn't fire dmg only ...

That's going to cost me a lot !!

It wasn't exactly cheap for me either, especially as you managed to kill my gem shuttling scouts and commanders earlier, so no big spells in the castle storming.

Anyway, the skinshifters and galdermen are really good against the pyre, with the second life and regeneration.

[Hurmio]

Oh you know Zmeies are almost free spawn for Abysia :)
And i'm keeping my gems to buuuuurn your troops !!

Thanks for the firestorm...

[Bullock]

Oh you know Zmeies are almost free spawn for Abysia :)
And i'm keeping my gems to buuuuurn your troops !!

Thanks for the firestorm...

:p you were warned !

Btw you had a lucky bane lord leaving such a battlefield with 1hp !

[Hurmio]

:p you were warned !

Btw you had a lucky bane lord leaving such a battlefield with 1hp !

I was sure he would die while trying to kill those phoenix pyre'd mages. You had your chance, i'm sure he's now going to be your undoing.

[Bullock]

what's going on ??

[Groundworm]

Apologies once again. Unexpectedly busy weekend coupled with internet outages prevented me from posting.

I've delayed the turn 24 hours (from now), and expect to take my turn tonight. Not sure what's going on with Hurmio, as he also hasn't taken his turn.

[Hurmio]

Sorry, was a bit busy yesterday and noticed that the hosting had been delayed to tonight. So decided to play it tonight. :)

[Bullock]

Nice :)
I hope everybody enjoying the game as i do.
Abysia MA is so fun to play !

[Groundworm]

So, I'm really sorry, but I'm delaying the turn again. I spent the last hour taking my turn, and was pretty much done (just fine-tuning some stuff), when I misclicked and assigned the Forbidden Light to a non-mage. I'm going to have to redo the entire turn, and I don't have it in me to do that right now.

Will take my turn tomorrow. That was a *really* annoying mistake.

[Hurmio]

Nice :)
I hope everybody enjoying the game as i do.
Abysia MA is so fun to play !

I did enjoy killing that invalid arch devil finally. An epic fight it was!

[Groundworm]

I think you killed him 10 times. That was seriously painful to watch, but I cheered when he finally died. :)

[Bullock]

haha it was looking like a victory but you damn wraith lord decide otherwise.

RIP

[Hurmio]

Llama stuck or something? Everyone has their turn, but no host...

[Bullock]

Why Quickhost is off ?

[Groundworm]

I'm not sure, but I re-enabled it and the turn cycled. Didn't need to force host or anything.

[Groundworm]

Apologies once again- Work has been keeping me particularly busy lately. I'm delaying the turn, and will take it later today.

[Hurmio]

Apologies once again- Work has been keeping me particularly busy lately. I'm delaying the turn, and will take it later today.

Should we change the hosting the 72h since you clearly have problems with this schedule? Feels kinda pointless to play turns in time as the hosting keeps getting delayed on most of the turns.

[Groundworm]

I know. And I feel bad every time I delay, but my turns are getting so long that my work schedule doesn't always allow me time to take them. I was all set to do my turn at work last night when I got called away from the computer. That's happened several times.

I'll change hosting to 72h, and still try to take my turns more frequently than that, as possible.

[Bullock]

I m doing a big collect of gems to delete this nasty global which is going to break the game !!

Even the small donations can make the difference! ;)

[Groundworm]

Break who's game? You've all but destroyed Midgard, you've attacked Ulm repeatedly, and Pangaea and I are fighting C'tis. So who are you collecting gems from? The only one I'm interested in using all those astral pearls against is you, Abysia. And despite the Arcane Nexus, it's highly debatable which one of us is the bigger threat. You've got Zmeys all over the place, and they're virtually unstoppable.

[Bullock]

Break my game :) actually we are the 2 remaining who can pretend to be the true god. Maybe some of your previous allies want to switch side, who knows lol.

Btw Zmeies aren't that good in late game.
And to be honest i'm broke in gems after a first fail attempt of dispelling ...

So at this points it was worth the try :)

[Bullock]

Well the charts are talking by themselves.
I can't handle everybody at once :)

Therefore i'm ready to bow to Bogarus victory.
What do you think guys?

[HoleyDooley]

I can't argue against that.

[vargr]

I don't mind declaring the game. It wasn't long ago when Abysia still seemed to have pretty impressive lead in resources but the tide seems to have changed. I can, however, still continue if people want to try toppling Bogarus now but I guess it's quite an uphill battle already.

[Groundworm]

As much as I'm enjoying this game, I'm willing to end it if everyone else is. Let's wait to hear from Ossa and Hurmio.

[Hurmio]

Ending the game is ok for me as well.

[HoleyDooley]

If Ossa agrees, then let me be the first to congratulate Groundworm on the win.

This was my 1st PBEM and I can assure you I have learned a lot from it.

GG guys.

[Groundworm]

All right, then I shall take the liberty of assuming Ossa is ok with it as well, since he only has 3 provinces left.

Thanks to all of you for an excellent game. Ossa, you put up some very stiff resistance after you took over for C'tis. I don't know how many Sauromancers I killed (at least 200), and I feared every one of them for the bane fire. Bullock was right to suggest you take over.

Bullock, you are a monster, and I mean that in the best possible way. :) This is the second game I've fought you in, and you also put up a really mean fight. Raiding armies everywhere, zmeys flying everywhere and ruining my day, stealing my Eternal Pyre- for awhile I wasn't certain I was going to be able to defeat you. Thanks for giving me a really great, enjoyable fight. I very much look forward to our next game together!

vargr- you similarly put up an excellent fight against Abysia, even when you were down to very few provinces. Thanks for sticking it out even though things weren't going well for you.

Hurmio- we were basically allied since the beginning of the game, and you make for an excellent neighbor. Looking forward to what the next game brings us... :)

HoleyDooley- not bad for a first MP game, you survived to the end! Hope you learned a few things!

TL;DR- thanks to everyone for a great game! Looking forward to playing with you again!