LA Newbie Game: Blood Sacrifices (BS!) [Started] [14/14]

[Legendary League]

Name; Blood Sacrifices (BS!)
Host: The land of Peruvian Llamas (aka Llamaserver)
Age: LA
Map: Riverlands (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=45414)
How Often on Turns: 36 hours quickhost to start, additional turn extensions upon request.
Number of Players: 14
Mods: CBM 1.92
Non-Standard Settings: Special Site freq. 45%; Hall of Fame entries 15; rename on; No graphs (this is removable by popular demand);
Victory Conditions: Last one standing (or whoever is willing to go on with the late game grind)
Diplomacy Policy: All trades are expected to be completed. It's just good sportsmanship. Everything else? Go nuts. Just keep in mind that breaking treaties may or may not earn you a reputation, both in game and out. You can also choose whether or not to keep treaties secret or announce them publically in the thread (or via message system). Doesn't do anything, of course, except makes betrayals known (and thus attaches a cost to breaking treaties). Coalitions against one nation are also allowed (and tbh, encouraged when necessary [again, sharing of intel]).

Also, you are allowed to pick LA Ermor or LA R'lyeh, just remember that doing so will likely make you an automatic diplomatic pariah. No one likes bordering those pop-killing dominions and all. And do be aware that you will also likely die from the micromanagement, so don't take these up if you're the faint of heart.

Also, the more thematic and IC you are for in-game and diplomatic messagings, the more awesome points you win (redeemable for absolutely nothing).

Also, what are considered exploits and really blatant cheese (free Ettins from the Atlantean City, sending 50 items to a nation who just put up Forge of the Ancients, etc.) is very much frowned upon.


Also, I personally prefer to remove score graphs from a game, because it actively rewards scouting and diplomacy versus a game where it doesn't. It being late age and scouts being abundant, it should be quite easy for everyone to maintain large scout networks. It also incentivizes the use of patrollers like Watchers to keep your army size, etc, under wraps, and of remote scouting spells like Astral Windows. It just in my opinion adds a new dynamic to the game (though I can be easily overruled if the supermajority [66%] prefer score graphs on).

Nations (14/14)
Me - LA Ulm
Anaconda - LA R'lyeh
Angry_Hominid - LA Caelum
mattyburn7 - LA Abysia
Strabo - LA Atlantis
skymoon - LA Utgard
himselfbh - LA Jomon
Immaculate - LA Patala
Keithz - LA Man
lunaje - LA Midgard
Balaskar - LA Gath
Russian_Comrade - LA T'ien C'hi
Vishniac - LA C'tis
Kungfoo - LA Marignon

[Anaconda]

Give me R'lyeh

[Angry_Hominid]

Marignion for me please!

[mattyburn7]

I'm busy and shouldn't play but don't think I can resist.

I'm all for score graphs being off. I love looking at them, but I agree. It really adds to the game to have them off.

I'll wait and see who everyone else picks and then scarf off the bottom.

ok...that's all vague. LOL. So yes I'm in. Nation unknown!

[Strabo]

Sign me in as Atlantis, please.

[skymoon]

I'm in. LA utgard.

[himselfbh]

I choose LA Jomon. Thanks~

[Immaculate]

Define Newbie? I've played about 8-10 MP games. If you'll still have me, i would join as Patala.

Also, i require first turn sets to start at 30h or even 28h instead of 24. This is because i often work 12-16h shifts and cannot submit until 11 or 12pm after submitting at like 8 the night before (27-28h differences). I can still submit every day in the early game- i just can't submit on exactly a 24h schedule.


MAPS: I don't like the start coding on Land of Legends even though the map itself is pretty cool. I find that i often start with only two neighboring provinces, neither of which provinces good resources. And if you are resource constrained for your starting troops, this can be very bad indeed.

[KeithZ]

Chelms ,please

[Legendary League]

Define Newbie? I've played about 8-10 MP games. If you'll still have me, i would join as Patala.
I define newbie as ~10 games or less.

Also, i require first turn sets to start at 30h or even 28h instead of 24. This is because i often work 12-16h shifts and cannot submit until 11 or 12pm after submitting at like 8 the night before (27-28h differences). I can still submit every day in the early game- i just can't submit on exactly a 24h schedule.
That's fine.

MAPS: I don't like the start coding on Land of Legends even though the map itself is pretty cool. I find that i often start with only two neighboring provinces, neither of which provinces good resources. And if you are resource constrained for your starting troops, this can be very bad indeed.
There are a couple revised "fix" starts for Land of Legends which help fix that problem, but we can take that into account.

Any preference on the maps listed? The final map will likely determine the number of players we use. I don't want more than 12 players if we're going to use Shadowshore, but Riverlands I'd prefer to hit 14 players. I'm honestly leaning towards Riverlands this game, but Oriana is another good map (when the glaringly OP sites are removed, of course).

I'm naturally going to assume R'lyeh would prefer Oriana (due to concentration of water provinces), and Atlantis and Marignon would prefer Riverlands (due to sailing). :p

[Lunaje]

Claiming Midgard.
No graphs seems a good choice.

[mattyburn7]

I'm in as Abysia before all my choices get taken!

[Russian_Comrade]

Tien Chi.

[Balaskar]

I'll take Gath if there is still room

[mattyburn7]

The strongest nation in the universe is still available!

[Legendary League]

Oh, you mean post-nerf Mictlan?

[Legendary League]

As a reminder to all, please enable your forum PMs for the shrapnel forums (as it makes diplomacy a heckuva lot easier and quicker to conduct; and which is essential to score graph off games [diplomacy is how you help gauge world events, and both real and perceived power levels]). The default setting for forum PMs is disabled (not sure why).

[bobskizzle]

I'll take a random nation. Time to learn, I guess.

[Legendary League]

Alright, decided on Riverlands as the map for this game. There's a number of lakes connected by rivers (so a water nation has great strategic mobility), which also help strategic mobility for sailing nation. There's a moderate deal of medium population plains coupled with strategic forests and mountains, and numerous strategic chokepoints.

Just an overview for those of you who haven't used the map before (neither have I).

[Legendary League]

Alright, a couple questions. First, would everyone want to wait for another player, or do you guys want to lock it in here?

Second, how do you do these start point fixings? Riverlands is a pretty fun map, but I would like to make sure the starts are evenly spaced (or someone can help me do it! :p)

Since the original Riverlands map has a number of phantom provinces and false connections, the base map will be utilizing this (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=45414) revised version.

[Calahan]

I have two versions of the Riverlands map that I did for a game last year. They have fixed starts for either 13L+1W or 12L+1W (I think the former fits this game). I also modded the map to change the 2 province island to water provinces, otherwise the water nation is really struggling.

But I won't post the map yet until you decide if you are either having VP marked capitals, or revealing the capital locations before the game starts. As if no to both, I will just post the image file that you will need to play the game, and upload the .map file to the llamaserver for you to use (as you do not need the .map file to play games on the llamaserver). As if I do this then nobody will know where other players capitals are until you find them in game (which some players prefer). If you are revealing caps or having them marked with VP's though, then I'll just attach the map and image file to a post, as it won't make much difference if players know the cap locations pre-game in that case.

[Legendary League]

I think at present, leaving out the VPs is advisable, since the goal is to promote intelligence gathering, and the sharing of intelligence. I'd like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this, however.

[Immaculate]

either is fine for me.

[Vishniac]

Hello!

First time here. Only 2 MP games played.

I'll be your 14th player with C'tis, please! :cool:

[mattyburn7]

I'd prefer to leave out VP's. Fog of War.

[Cerlin]

Hey Gents,
I havent been active lately but If you would like another Id play LA C'tis. I recently got Coe3 and its been getting me thinking about playing Dom3 mp again. I have played maybe 10ish games over a 2 years ago...so Im rusty.

[Legendary League]

Sorry Cerlin, you were just beaten by Vishniac. :( Some other time, eh?


As for the splitting of the map/img files and the fog of war, I'd like to hear back from more people, but thus far no one seems to have objections (and I personally favor it). Giving it another 24 hours.

[Lunaje]

I agree on no VP.
Less information -> More paranoia -> All senses alert -> Try to play better
(Though I might get stuck in the paranoia part :p)

[Anaconda]

I would like to c a bit higher turn interval. With QH enabled, its still pretty fast, but allows a little bit more space for a player to manage his/her personal time and strips some early extension hassles. Can we consider having 36H in the beginning, and 48H no later than from turn 20?

[Angry_Hominid]

Can I request that I change to Caelum please?

[mattyburn7]

Does that have anything to do with "Stumble To Victory". If so join the club. Caelum put a hurting on me in my first MP game and I thought. What a fun nation to play! Just be forewarned. THey are not without their weaknesses.

Cheers and Good Luck!

[Legendary League]

@ Anaconda: Absolutely!

@ Angry_Hominid: Again, absolutely! The raiding is quite good, yes, but their troops are, pound for pound, hideously terrible (size 3, high encum, fragile). However, all flying is really annoying.

Also, it means I become the biggest blood nation on the block, and I can't argue with that (better blood than Abysia and Midgard, anyways). :p

[Legendary League]

Alright, since there seems to be no objections, I think we'll go with Calahan's proposal. Can we get the .image file (or is it the same as what the other Riverlands maps are)?

[Calahan]

Attached is the Image File you will need to play the game, and a Map File (random starts) that allows you to play test the map. Please please note that the .map file in the attachment has completely random starts (ie. you can literally start anywhere), and is only included for simple play testing. The .map file you are using for the actual game (which you don't need) is not this one, as the one for the game has fixed starts for 13+1.

Also please note that for those familiar with the map, I have removed the province connection between 44-28 to allow equal distance between starting locations. There should also be no nations starting on a Forest, which means your capital will not (or at least should not) get hit by the Ancient Presence event (for those who take the required scales for this to trigger).


@ LL - I will be uploading the map now to the llamaserver, and it should then be available at the bottom of the list for you to select/use. (Edit - Map is uploaded. it's at the bottom called "Riverlands - Fixed Starts for 13L + 1W")


Edit - @ All - If you find any problems with the attached map, such as missing connections or terrain errors, then please let me know (although you obviously can't report start location problems). I've tested the map this morning, and put it through considerable testing last year for the game it was originally created for. So all bugs should have been ironed out by now. But if I missed one then please let me know (although I won't really be around this weekend, so any bugs might have to wait until Monday for me to sort out. Or just live with them if they're minor)

Best of Luck with the game.


-------------------------

Finally, a future note for those finding this post from the llamaserver link, and who likely want to use this map for a MP game. All that is contained here is the Image File for the map, but that is all you need to play the game on the llamaserver. So all you need to do to use the map for a llamaserver game is to select the map, and then download the Image File. That's it. No .map file is needed.

If you do want the original .map file then please PM me, and I will send it to you. But I have intentionally not included the .map file that has the 13L+1W fixed start info in the attachment, as the players in this game want to keep the starting locations hidden. (as such I obviously can't attach the actual .map file that contains that info)

[Anaconda]

wait, wut?

[Legendary League]

wait, wut?
Basically just download and use the files he's given us for the map. The difference is that the map file he's given us has random starts (as opposed to the balanced, fix start we're going to be using).

I've set up the game here (http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=BloodSacrifice_BS), so upload your pretenders!

[Angry_Hominid]

Does that have anything to do with "Stumble To Victory". If so join the club. Caelum put a hurting on me in my first MP game and I thought. What a fun nation to play! Just be forewarned. THey are not without their weaknesses.

Cheers and Good Luck!

Haha yeah its exactly why I want to play them :) They look cool! One of their weaknesses in this game will be that im playing them Im sure... :p

[Legendary League]

We are missing pretenders from Jomon and Pythium, still.

[himselfbh]

Sorry for the delay~ Jomon is ready.

[Legendary League]

Still missing a pretender from Pythium.

[Immaculate]

Yeah, this is taking an inordinately long time. Games usually get pretenders uploaded inside of 1 or 2 days. i wonder at player reliability; not to say anything about anyone but if there was another player that wanted to join but was too late- maybe we should go with him or her.

[Anaconda]

Yes, theres a point. Maybe we wanna check on him also, when last time online and stuff...

[Legendary League]

According to his profile, he was online just 30 minutes ago.

Sent him a private message and will give him 24hrs to respond. If I don't hear anything back from him, I'll open up the last slot for another person interested in the game.

[Legendary League]

Alright, PMed him and he apparently is dropping. Opening the last slot for anyone else who wants to jump in.

[Kungfoo]

Oh sweet! I missed initial signups while waiting for my account to be authorized.

In on LA Marignon.

[bobskizzle]

Sorry for wasting your time guys, my fiance's sister's wedding was this weekend (thankfully I was there and saved the day!) and I'm in for another one just as crazy with term projects etc, so I withdrew.

Happy murdering!

[Immaculate]

Awesome! Submit pretender and lets get this train-wreck rolling.

[Kungfoo]

Soon as I get home :D

Pity there's no iPhone port for dom3... could kill what little productivity remains in my day.

[Legendary League]

Damn, here I was thinking I was gonna get a monopoly on blood summons.

:mad::o:p:D

Submit your pretender, and I'll get the game rolling.

[Kungfoo]

It's a race to Belphegor!

Pretender's up.

[Legendary League]

In the words of Mortal Kombat narrator man,

FIGHT!


:p

[Legendary League]

Bella Swan, Princess of Suffering, the Man Eater, Lady of Blood, has spoken to the people of Ulm. May her dark slumber be lifted!

[Anaconda]

Now everybody join our gospel:

Do you hear the pipes, Cthulhu?
They were being played by shoggoths on the shores of Carcosa
Can you hear our prayers, Cthulhu?
Deep in sunken R'lyeh waiting for the rightness of a star?
Where the Deep Ones worship Dagon, Mother Hydra in sea chambers built afar?

There was chanting in the air that night
The stars were right, Cthulhu!
You were dreaming of your destiny
Beneath the sea, Cthulhu!
Though the Elder Gods have cast you down
Have no regret
As the Al-Azif has prophesized, R'lyeh will rise, Cthulhu!

We are waiting O Cthulhu
Sacrificing virgins while the nightgaunts hover 'gainst the moon
Seeking power O Cthulhu
Drawing sigils in their blood and Elder Signs and other runes
They were dying drenched in madness and the eldritch vapors of a thousand dooms

There was chanting in the air that night
The stars were right, Cthulhu!
You were dreaming of your destiny
Beneath the sea, Cthulhu!
Though the Elder Gods have cast you down
Have no regret
As the Al-Azif has prophesized, R'lyeh will rise, Cthulhu!

You are sleeping Great Cthulhu
Never knowing the unspeakable things we do in your name
But don't worry Great Cthulhu
We will carry on destroying without sanity or shame
Till the universe resounds with all the sounds of lost souls shrieking out in pain

There was chanting in the air that night
The stars were right, Cthulhu!
You were dreaming of your destiny
Beneath the sea, Cthulhu!
Though the Elder Gods have cast you down
Have no regret
As the Al-Azif has prophesized, R'lyeh will rise, Cthulhu!

As the Al-Azif has prophesized, R'lyeh will rise, Cthulhu!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_STCenzr3Y

[Vishniac]

What is it you seek?
A standard.
A symbol.
Perhaps on a shield.
Two snakes, coming together.
Facing each other...
... but they're one.
With a sun and a moon below.
Black sun, black moon.
Yes.

How about two snakes coming together over a black sun? A magnificent standard!
The only snakes I know of are those of Set and his cursed towers. Their evil has spread to every city. Two or three years ago it was just another snake cult, now... they're everywhere. It is said that they are deceivers... they murder people in the night... I know nothing.

http://tragicocomedia.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/thulsa-doom-1.jpg

[Legendary League]

Gave Caelum a 12 hour delay. However, birdmen need to turn in turns faster and not wait till near the end of hosting (its only turn 2!). We can get turns together faster than 36/48 hours this early, folks!

[Vishniac]

Alright, decided on Riverlands as the map for this game. There's a number of lakes connected by rivers (so a water nation has great strategic mobility), which also help strategic mobility for sailing nation.
So, does it mean that a sailing nation can attack any province bordering one of these lakes? :viking:

[Legendary League]

Alright, decided on Riverlands as the map for this game. There's a number of lakes connected by rivers (so a water nation has great strategic mobility), which also help strategic mobility for sailing nation.
So, does it mean that a sailing nation can attack any province bordering one of these lakes? :viking:
Maybe. :p

It's only across one water province, anyways.

[Lunaje]

Alright, decided on Riverlands as the map for this game. There's a number of lakes connected by rivers (so a water nation has great strategic mobility), which also help strategic mobility for sailing nation.
So, does it mean that a sailing nation can attack any province bordering one of these lakes? :viking:

Thinking about it, my people have decided to rename themselves Midgarrrrrrr!
Aye aye, sir

[Kungfoo]

Marrrrrrrignon might have something to say about that!

[Russian_Comrade]

I... Request... 6-hour delay.
This work is going to kill me and multilate my corpse.

[Russian_Comrade]

Still didn't managed to make a turn - was like 10 minutes late.
Well, work certainly broke my life, my soul and my fingers.

[Legendary League]

Terribly sorry.

I was asleep at the time so I was unable to make a second last minute extension. :(

Would someone like to volunteer to be a second host to keep track of this?

[Immaculate]

RC: what do you do?

[mattyburn7]

LL: I don't mind helping out with this if you'd like.
Just let me know.
Cheers.

[Anaconda]

One thing might help is adding 12H to the interval. W/QH enabled that wont slow the flow of overall game a lot, but removes a hazzle a bit...

[Kungfoo]

Yeah, it does seem to be running on a 24h turn cycle as opposed to 36, which caused me to almost miss a turn :D

[Vishniac]

2 questions:

- where can I find a list of forgeable items and the magic paths needed to forge them for this mod? I have one but...it's from Dominions 2! It has not changed much for Dominions 3 but the CBM 1.92 seems to be...tricky. I'm playtesting and can't find Gate Cleaver or Dwarven Hammer.

- has everybody enabled the PMing of the forums? I have encountered my first neighbor and sent him a PM to talk things straight! But no reply though he played his turn since.

And otherwise: people don't talk about the game it seems.;)

[Anaconda]

Dwarven hammer is unique in CBM, IIRC

the list of usefull reference material: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=630236&postcount=2


Sometimes not responding is PART of diplomacy or playing the role of prospect nation.

[Kungfoo]

Vishniac: There's a CBM forging reference that comes with CBM - check out .\dominions3\mods\CB1.92 forging reference.pdf

Pretty sure the only changes of note are gemgens/hammers being made const-8 uniques.

I think the boards will start to liven up once we start encountering each other - I've only run into one neighbor thus far, and they're quite clearly insane so I've little hope of viable diplomatic communication establishing itself there.

[Immaculate]

Yeah, for my part, things are pretty quiet. Observed that Ti'en ch'i seems to like killing their immortal. besides that- all quiet over here.

[Legendary League]

Yeah, it does seem to be running on a 24h turn cycle as opposed to 36, which caused me to almost miss a turn :D
:confused:

Oh, that is strange. I was certain that I set it to 36h, but apparently not.

Fixed.

As for diplomacy;

All I ever wanted, were neighbors to see,
its all I ever wanted, the wait is killing me,
that's what we are waiting, oh baby why can you see
that all I ever wanted, were neighbors to see.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OADkgY4Kx1c)

[Lunaje]

Well, I lost one of my beloved Vans, but more particularly, an insane one !
So, something is rotten in the state of Midgard, but the stench seems to come from below the waters.
Strange times indeed....

[Vishniac]

Another question: on the map, we can see a number of crowns as icons.
In a former MP game, the crowns were the capital provinces of the different factions but here we are far from having 14 ones, more like 7 or 8.
So, are these crowns relevant or just some left-over from designing the map (if you see what I mean)?

[Kungfoo]

The crowns are indicative of Victory Points (VPs), and are only relevant to gameplay if VPs are enabled as a win condition (aka, not this one).

They may or may not correlate to starting positions, but as there are more starting positions than VPs (and the start locations have been modified), you could say the same about almost any province so that point's probably moot.

[Russian_Comrade]

Yeah, for my part, things are pretty quiet. Observed that Ti'en ch'i seems to like killing their immortal. besides that- all quiet over here.


Yep. I love killing plauge- spreading guy. Poor bastard. It's all for the better good, I promise.

[Immaculate]

Did he get diseased himself yet?

[Immaculate]

I hereby award the 'best names for commanders' award to midgard.

[Lunaje]

I hereby award the 'best names for commanders' award to midgard.

Thanks! There are more of them, though most probably won't be so famous.

[Vishniac]

I don't know how you are doing but I have a bad feeling.
It seems to me C'tis has an awfully slow expansion rate this game: few provinces because we are surrounded by indie heavy cavalry, no mercenaries till this turn, nobody in the Hall of Fame when guys from Gath have kills in the double digits...
Ok, I follow my plan and I'm better safe than sorry, so I don't worry too much but I was wondering...
That said, the fact that I have only met one neighbor yet makes me think that I'm not the only one experiencing a slow start.

What is the independent toughness level by the way?

[Kungfoo]

You can check game settings by loading up your turn, clicking on 'Options', and then selecting 'View Game Settings'. In this case you'll see that indie strength is set to 5, which is default. Bear in mind that this is late age, so indies are going to have a generally better level of equipment/armor than they would in earlier ages - more heavy infantry, crossbowmen, etc.

We're playing on a fairly large map for the number of players we have (works out to 17.5 provinces per player), so most people should still have some room to expand, as well as time to recover from any initial expansion stumbles. That said, I'd be careful openly advertising strength or weakness in a game without graphs!

...unless, of course, it's a trap...

:D

[Legendary League]

See above. :p

As for Gath, that is to be expected. He might be running a heavy bless and using commanders and his prophet to solo provinces. Strong start if he does it right, but it does constrain his late game more with the limited paths and worse scales overall. Or he might be running a scales approach, I dunno.

[Vishniac]

...using commanders and his prophet to solo provinces.Gath can solo provinces with just his commanders?!? :shock:
Wow! Could well be what is happening: his 2 Hall-of-famers are neither prophet nor pretender.

There are many nations in this game that I have never played and thus I know nothing about: Tien Chi / Gath / Patala / Chelms / Jomon
I really need to do my homework when I'll meet them on the ground, otherwise I'm in for some nasty surprises :hurt:

As for advertising weaknesses...I didn't give any numbers.:D

[Legendary League]

I'm fairly certain Gath can do it with his sacred commanders with the right bless (E9N4, or somesuch, I believe), if not with a small attachment of giants. I know their earlier counterparts (Himmon, Ashdod) can do it more or less, and other glamour/ponymen nations can pull it off with just a smidgen of research (for Vanheim/Helheim, Eriu/Tir'Na'Nog, hit alt-3 for Mistform and combine that with an E9N4 bless and you're good to go with all of them, since they can be thugged out easily). Midgard can still do this, but Vans are cap-only for them, and they have werewolves to do their expansion/mid game needs for them.

[Vishniac]

I don't know what is the norm here but...having a NAP with someone and watching one of his assassins trying to kill a commander of mine, well, that's not what I would call clever diplomacy.
:mad: :soap: :censor:

Someone shall learn that cheating C'tis it is courting Death itself! :haha:

[Immaculate]

Yeah- thats a pretty bad break of a NAP. I think you are well within your right to point out the guilty party so that we are all aware of who is willing to break their NAPs so very easily.

[Vishniac]

I think you are well within your right to point out the guilty party...
Let's stay cold-blooded! (easier for C'tis :D)

I am reluctant to do so before being 100% sure that it's really a transgression.
Launching far away spells (earthquakes, hurricanes, seeking arrows,...) during a NAP seems ok (even if the guilty party, though anonymous, is well known) so I had to ask about 'special actions' like assassinations. It seems it's not. Good!
I have to ask about the CBM 1.92 too: I never experienced such a random event as an assassination attempt in SP. That said, it wasn't written "X attacks C'tis" but "Independents attacks C'tis". I haven't enough MP experience to know whether it's the norm or not. Whatever, the assassin was typical of my neighbor's nation; a big coincidence...:rolleyes:

So, badly-timed rare event or wicked move? :smirk:

[Calahan]

"Independents attacks C'tis".
If the message with the assasian attempt actually said "Independents" then it was a random event, as there is a random event(s) that result in a special assasian attempt ('special' meaning no bodyguards can be used) against a random commander in the province. (check the random events list attached to Edi's signature).

If the message said "Special Monsters" then it was a remote assasian spell cast by an anonymous nation.

If the assasian was from another nation in the game then it would say "Nation A v Nation B". There is no way for a player to simulate the "Independents" message during an assasianation, so it can only be a random event if that is the case. (the same/similar assasian unit is just a coincidence)

[Legendary League]

Oh, so you got the ninja assassination event and are bordering Jomon? :p

It isn't connected, actually. The event is independent of Jomon. It's like the bands of Ronin which are also, while Jomon-themed, not actually caused by Jomon (besides perhaps them being in the game, but then you'd get barbarians instead probably and those are honestly worse in my opinion).

That being said, as for remotes, if you can tell who they're coming from and its being sent at you, then you are well within your rights to call them out on it as a violation.

What you do have to worry about though are those Mind Hunts when there are 4 astral nations running about. :p

[Vishniac]

Thanks, Calahan!

The message said:
"There was a battle in Province X (special)"
Then "Independents attack..."

So it was indeed a coincidence! Wars have begun like that! :rolleyes:
I was right to stay cautious then.
After years of playing the game SP, I don't think I have ever seen this random event targeting a lone commander.:shock:

Ok, sorry to have cast a doubt on someone. But that's the goal of the thread too: to ask questions about what's happening.
-------
Speaking of it, there's a lot happening these turns. How come nobody talks about it? For fear of losing a slight advantage? For me, discussing the game (even in general terms) is part of learning more about it.
Information is power, that's true.

Information, the first principle of warfare, must form the
foundation of all your efforts. Know, of course, thine enemy.
But in knowing him do not forget above all to know thyself.
The commander who embraces this totality of battle shall win
even with the inferior force.
-- Spartan Battle Manual

[Legendary League]

I'm currently trying to contact Utgard in the event this is all a giant (hehe) mistake.

If it isn't, I'm kind of annoyed since it does throw off game balance somewhat, and he should've told me so we could've grabbed a sub instead. Oh well.

[Immaculate]

In another MP game (valhala heroes) i lost my prophet on turn 2 or 3 to an indie assassin. It was kind of funny. I've never seen that even since then.

[Legendary League]

Thank god the 90% poploss event was removed for the first few years.

[Anaconda]

-------
Speaking of it, there's a lot happening these turns. How come nobody talks about it? For fear of losing a slight advantage? For me, discussing the game (even in general terms) is part of learning more about it.
Information is power, that's true.

Information, the first principle of warfare, must form the
foundation of all your efforts. Know, of course, thine enemy.
But in knowing him do not forget above all to know thyself.
The commander who embraces this totality of battle shall win
even with the inferior force.
-- Spartan Battle Manual

Well, I am keeping a record for thorough AAR
, but because of my particular strategy I cant start posting the entries for awhile now. Maybe not before I am out for good.

[Vishniac]

Well, I am keeping a record for thorough AAR
, but because of my particular strategy I cant start posting the entries for awhile now. Maybe not before I am out for good.Out of the closet, out of the water or out of the game?
I hope it's not the latest. Seeing as everybody here and in other forums speak of LA R'lyeh as extremely dangerous, I expect you to stay with us some more time.
In fact, I'd like to fight you later...if I'm still alive :D
For the moment, you're nowhere near my shores. :happy:

[Anaconda]

I am not dangerous with R'lyeh - I am very bad with it.

[Legendary League]

Going have to give myself a postponement (since my laptop is refusing to reboot and has been in startup repair for 24 hrs as of now). I can't say for how long, unfortunately, but even if I don't get it fixed, I'll eventually get ahold of a laptop I can download Dom3 on again and convert that and any necessary files onto a flashdrive.

[Lunaje]

Don't know how regularly the people I replied to via in-game messages visit this thread, but seems to me that some of you may need to enable personal messages in your account options (I think it's disabled by default) for faster communication between parties.

[Anaconda]

... some might have chosen NOT to reply for thematic (or other, on that matter) reasons :cool: just speculating

[Lunaje]

Don't worry, I already know that ;). But that was my subtle way to confirm it, as I was referring to Jomon and Marignon.

[Kungfoo]

I'm quite certain that my PMs are enabled. Perhaps your Vans lost their way in the snow before arriving to deliver your response? It is Winter, after all. It might be worth sending out a second messenger.

[Lunaje]

Oh it was just Jomon that I sent a PM, and he did reply later, but in game. As you also contacted me in game, I took a wild guess with both. All fine then, I prefer the forum way.

[Anaconda]

Yay, Ulm made it! Can you play the next one straight up?

[Soyweiser]

Small warning, skymoon went AI in Awestruck without warning. If he already send in a turn, you might want to put it on hold and have an admin check it to prevent AI goings.

[KeithZ]

Small warning, skymoon went AI in Awestruck without warning. If he already send in a turn, you might want to put it on hold and have an admin check it to prevent AI goings.

Too late, he has already turned himself into AI in this game as well.

[Lunaje]

If Utgard is AI who's reaping the spoils? Or that's classified info :p ?
But anyway, it can become an easier gain of territory this early in the game..which it's not good news.

[Vishniac]

If Utgard is AI who's reaping the spoils? Or that's classified info :p ?C'tis know who: our scouts are monitoring the development of this situation turn by turn.
:eek:

[Anaconda]

There are some strange things in this map:

1) My amphibians, who have water movement 2, cant cross a province (meaning, they cant map move 2 under water).

2) the city icons dont seem to have any significance? No extra population and so on...

If Utgard is AI who's reaping the spoils? Or that's classified info :p ?C'tis know who: our scouts are monitoring the development of this situation turn by turn.
:eek:

Wanna spill the beans?

[Kungfoo]

Movement through water is limited to one province/turn irrespective of map move, as I understand it.

[Vishniac]

Wanna spill the beans?
NO!

Information is power, and a secretive diplomacy is even more powerful.
You'll understand that I can't disclose the whereabouts of other nations if I want them to keep their respect for us and for our word.

http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/small/0903/all-i-have-in-this-world-is-my-balls-and-my-word-tony-montan-demotivational-poster-1236731440.jpg

More to it, speaking about it in the open could affect the balance of power. That said, if you come in private and offer us something (information, treaty, gift,...) then you may perhaps know...:p

[Anaconda]

I come with open arms, and tentacles, every time and everwhere...

coming to think of that, you said your scouts are monitoring things, how come this has something to do with your word? Like, you 2 (or 3) have open borders -policy for each one anothers scouts? If not, the info achieved using scouts is not classified diplomatic intel per se, but instead a commodity, which, as you pointed out, CAN affect on the balance of power, and therefore should be shared (wisely with me)!!!11

[Vishniac]

coming to think of that, you said your scouts are monitoring things, how come this has something to do with your word? Like, you 2 (or 3) have open borders -policy for each one anothers scouts? If not, the info achieved using scouts is not classified diplomatic intel per se, but instead a commodity, which, as you pointed out, CAN affect on the balance of power, and therefore should be shared (wisely with me)!!!11No policy with anyone concerning scouts (or...empoisonners;)): I use them and in large numbers since there are no graphs.
The info they gather is not 'classified diplomatic intel' as in "he told me this and I shouldn't repeat" but it is none the less valuable material which I invested gold and recruiting slots to get, and I intend it to profit me, either by selling it or by getting a slight tactical/strategic edge with it.

If you want to know, make an offer!
But, as I see, you already have no shortage of enemies since you have a foothold on the shore...:rolleyes:

[Anaconda]

Well, I am R'lyeh, I have nought but enemies. And for the same reason I cant get involved in a formal diplomacy.

But there are unformal ways to share intel also, and lucky for me some of my dear friends at shore have understood the these mechanics...

...there is lot our cultures could share. For example, I can share you my candles, all you want (even those you dont want) and all for free!

[Anaconda]

Legendary League, if you have complications playing turns, you might want to consider playing two turns in row. I mean, you have played your turns as a last player few couple of turns, so if theres any possibility wait few minutes and play the incoming turn right away. Just a suggestion, might ease up a bit your problems with access - if you still have 'em.

[Legendary League]

Apologies, I'm in the process of packing up stuff. Everything should be resolved soon.

That being said, anyone up to be a second host? It may be that they'll be needed soon. :p

[Kungfoo]

Is Patala that intimidating to Ulm? :D

[Legendary League]

Dunno. Are they?

[Immaculate]

I hope not- we sort of stalemated pretty early.

[Legendary League]

It's more that it's a 2v1, really.

[Anaconda]

Whos on who?

[Immaculate]

Man's on Utgard.

[Lunaje]

Poor robot-controlled Utgard. I should enact a Norse Defense Campaign...but oh, I'm too far.

[Immaculate]

Patala will pay gold or gems for a crystal matrix. Please PM me if you can make this deal.

[Anaconda]

Man's on Utgard.

Cthulhu damn it, why no1 told me before!!!11

[Immaculate]

Maybe you were too busy making friends with C'tis?

[Anaconda]

That might be the case... thus, no friends from now on!

[Vishniac]

Maybe you were too busy making friends with C'tis?You could thank me instead of instillating rumors: my army stopped a land invasion of the R'lyehan hordes heading your way.

That said, my fellow lizards love grilled squids. And with 50 magic beings down, our BBQs lasted all night long.
It should make them think twice before going out of the water.

(makes me think of an old t-shirt, from US Army Camp Gruber, with a mosquito saying:
"SEND MORE TROOPS! The last ones were delicious." :D)

[Immaculate]

I didn't mean to start rumors. I was just teasing Anaconda a little bit. No offense intended.

And yeah, thanks. We don't particularly like their nasty black candles.

[Anaconda]

Dude, you were lucky. I tell you, LUCKY! Your frikkin' lizards were breaking - unfortunately RNG favored you.

[Vishniac]

I didn't mean to start rumors. I was just teasing Anaconda a little bit. No offense intended.

And yeah, thanks. We don't particularly like their nasty black candles.And no offense taken.

Someone has spotted the troops from Atlantis? That should be their job to go under the waves and fight these abominations from the void.
I have tough desert and swamp fighters but we won't go further as standing our ground against R'lyeh. (Against others, that's another story...:p)

[Soyweiser]

You might want to stop the turn send in by Himselfbh (Jomon) he suddenly went AI in the game Awestruck.

[Legendary League]

I'll postpone the hosting and PM him. If he doesn't respond, I'll go find a sub.

[Anaconda]

Turn off the auto host also.

[Anaconda]

In addition to PMing him, send a "host message" from Llamaserver also. That should go to his email even if PMs dont go to his email. If no response, then just look quick for an outsider / sub who will evaluate his condition and either playes him to the grave or turns him AI depending on his forces...?

[Anaconda]

What up?

[Lunaje]

I thought this weekend hosting was being postponed, and I assumed it was due to the warnings about Jomon. But a turn came in and he is AI. Any thoughts about a classy solution to this? Or just Piñata Party for everyone?

[Anaconda]

At least after having so long dealy we aint gonna roll back, right?

[Anaconda]

East of Abysia the hills dont rise that wild, and one would not find there steep valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. Instead, those gentle slopes and olive-tree groves are crowded with fields and farms, homesteads ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old Riverlands secrets in the lee of peaceful, lengthy seaside; but these are all vacant now, the wide chimneys crumbling and the shingled sides bulging perilously beneath low gambrel roofs.

The old folk have gone away, and Abysians nor foreigners do not like to live there. Caelumians have tried it, Northmen have tried it, and the Monkeys from the east have come and departed. It is not because of anything that can be seen or heard or handled, but because of something that is imagined. The place is not good for imagination, and does not bring restful dreams at night. It must be this which keeps people away. Old Ammi Pierce, whose head has been a little queer for weeks, is the only one who still remains, or who ever talks of the strange days; and he dares to do this because his house is so near the open fields and the travelled roads of Riverlands.

When I went into the groves and fields to search a place for a new colony they told me the province was evil. They told me this already in Abysia before I left, but because Abysia is a very old kingdom full of warlocks I thought the evil must be something which rustic grandmas had whispered to children through centuries in countryside circling around the mighty Abysia. The name "blasted cold" seemed to me very odd and theatrical, and I wondered how it had come into the folklore of a heat lovin' fiends. Then I saw that dark westward tangle of those once cultivated fields and dapper groves for myself, and ceased to wonder at anything beside its own elder mystery. It was morning when I saw it, but shadow lurked always there. The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy Riverlands wood. It was too silent amongst them, and the fields were now covered with the dank moss and mattings of decay. Upon everything was a haze of restlessness and oppression; a touch of the unreal and the grotesque, as if some vital element of perspective or chiaroscuro were awry. I did not wonder that the noone would stay, for this was no region to sleep in.

But even all this was not so bad as the blasted cold. I knew it the moment I came upon it at the spacious field; for no other name could fit such a thing, or any other thing fit such a name. It was as if the prophet had coined the phrase from having seen this particular region. It must, I thought as I viewed it, be the outcome of freeze; but why had nothing new ever grown over these five acres of grey desolation that sprawled open to the sky like a great spot eaten by ice in the woods and fields? It lay largely to the east of Abysia. I felt an odd reluctance about approaching, and did so at last only because my duties took me through and past it. There was no vegetation of any kind on that broad expanse, but only glacial, grey dust or ash which no wind seemed ever to blow about. The trees near it were sickly and stunted, and many dead trunks stood or lay frozen at the rim. As I walked hurriedly by I saw the tumbled bricks and stones of an old chimney and cellar on my right, and the yawning black maw of an abandoned well whose stagnant vapours played strange tricks with the hues of the sunlight. Even the long, dark walk on a forest province beyond this province seemed welcome in contrast, and I marvelled no more at the frightened whispers of Abysian people.

In the evening I asked old people in Abysia about the blasted cold, and what was meant by that phrase "strange days" which so many evasively muttered. I could not, however, get any good answers except that all the mystery was much more recent than I had dreamed. It was not a matter of old legendry at all, but something within the past weeks. It had happened in the last month, and the regional guard corps of farmers had disappeared or was killed. Speakers would not be exact; and because they all told me to pay no attention to old Ammi Pierce's crazy tales, I sought him out the next morning, having heard that he lived alone in the ancient tottering cottage where the trees first begin to get very thick. It was a fearsomely ancient place, and had begun to exude the faint miasmal odour which clings about houses that have stood too long. Only with persistent knocking could I rouse the aged man, and when he shuffled timidly to the door could tell he was not glad to see me. He was not (yet) so feeble as I had expected; but his eyes drooped in a curious way, and his unkempt clothing and white beard made him seem very worn and dismal.

Not knowing just how he could best be launched on his tales, I asked vague questions about this province and of those beyond this one. He was far brighter and more educated than I had been led to think, and before I knew it had grasped quite as much of the subject as any man I had talked with in Abysia. He was not like other indies I had known in the parts where usefull land for new colonies were to be found. From him there were no protests at the miles of old wood and farmland to be blotted out, though perhaps there would have been had not his home lain outside the bounds of the possible future presence of Abysian settlers. Relief was all that he showed; relief at the doom of the dark ancient slopes and fields through which he had roamed all his life. They would be better under protection of Abysia—better under protection since the strange days. And with this opening his husky voice sank low, while his body leaned forward and his right forefinger began to point shakily and impressively.

It was then that I heard the story, and as the rambling voice scraped and whispered on I shivered again and again spite the summer day. Often I had to recall the speaker from ramblings, piece out scientific points which he knew only by a fading parrot memory of professors' talk, or bridge over gaps, where his sense of logic and continuity broke down. When he was done I did not wonder that his mind had snapped a trifle, or that the folk in Abysia would not speak much of the blasted cold. I hurried back before sunset to the capital of Abysia, unwilling to have the stars come out above me in the open; and the next day returned to the royal court to give up my position. I could not go into that dim, freezing chaos of old fields and groves again, or face another time that grey blasted cold where the black well yawned deep beside the tumbled bricks and stones.

The new Abysian colony will not be build there, it turned out. All those secrets the earth holds will be safe forever. Neither do I believe I would like to visit that province by night—at least not when the sinister stars are out; and nothing could bribe me to drink water of that province.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs36/f/2008/246/7/e/The_Colour_Out_Of_Space_by_BryanBaugh.jpg

BTW, if you havent seen it yet, get Die Farbe from Netflix or buy it... its awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0lRP-00BgI

[Kungfoo]

Since it looks like a sub has been found for Caelum ( AlbertTheObscure by a nose), I'd like to see a ~12h extension to the current turn to allow the changeover to happen smoothly.

[mattyburn7]

I agree.

[Lunaje]

What about Gath? He staled last turn, and it is a really bad time for him to be unresponsive in-game (starting a war, if i'm not wrong).

[Lunaje]

Turn hosts in two hours and so far it will mean two stales. I'll send a PM to host.

[Angry_Hominid]

Hey,

Its with a deep regret that I must exit this game just as its starting to get interesting. I apologise for this but will state that it was unforeseen

As mentioned earlier I have found a sub - alberttheobscure who has asked to be PM'd with regards to this.

Good luck to you all and hopefully see you again sometime in the future!

[Anaconda]

Hey,

Its with a deep regret that I must exit this game just as its starting to get interesting. I apologise for this but will state that it was unforeseen

As mentioned earlier I have found a sub - alberttheobscure who has asked to be PM'd with regards to this.

Good luck to you all and hopefully see you again sometime in the future!

Please inform him of everything!

[Lunaje]

Volvas from Midgard predicted the future! We need to stop this game for a while.
And thanks Angry Hominid for properly finding your sub.

[Immaculate]

I will be away from computer from friday, May 25th, to Tuesday, May 29th. Can we get a super long may-long weekend extension?

[Vishniac]

What about Gath? He staled last turn, and it is a really bad time for him to be unresponsive in-game (starting a war, if i'm not wrong).
A war? With whom? The new AI brain of Jomon? Patala? Or...something else?
For neighboring Gath's territories are now those of R'lyeh.

It's interesting to notice that at the top of the Hall of Fame stands now Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young! :shock:
And let me tell you, I have seen it in action. It's not actually a goat but something beyond all comprehension, something powerful beyond your imagination, it is a...Wait! What, who are you, what do you want? No, no, nooooooooooaaaaarrgh.....................

[Anaconda]

I aint fighting with Gath but last time our cultists were mumbling anything that made even a bit sense, the rumor had Gath was approaching the order of C'tis?

[Immaculate]

Oh Kay,

I have yet to hear anything from our moderator but i have submitted my last turn before i leave for the long weekend. I will be back on Wednesday, the 30th of May. Please ensure that there is an extension set on the next turn.

I have tried to PM Legendary League as well as posting here and no one has answered but i hope that my posting again, this request is not forgotten.


Immaculate of Patala.

PS: fun game- i hope everyone else is enjoying themselves.

[Anaconda]

The turn got delayd as needed, but we are still missing

1) Gath player

2) Caelum sub

[mattyburn7]

Has anyone heard from LL lately. I haven't seen him on other games either for awhile?

Does anyone else have admin pwd? If so we should put in a delay.

[Lunaje]

I also tried to PM LL. Seems like he's having some trouble, but we are still getting the delays. With an extra admin, the missing players issue could be solved, but LL would need to give the pass to someone else.

[Anaconda]

I PMed the late Caelum and Gath both, with no answers. The important thing would be the new Caelum get his email to llamaserver, and only LL can get it done.

We need to stop this game for a while.

Also, I wonder what this means?


PLUS, now I also PMed AlbrechtTheObscure who offered to sub Caelum....

[AlbertTheObscure]

I'm more than happy to sub in for caelum.

[Lunaje]

We need to stop this game for a while.

Also, I wonder what this means?



It means that last week there was more than one player absent but we continued to play our turns. It was a call to do a quick fix before going on.

[Anaconda]

Immaculate submitted his turn, so feel free to play yours, guys!

Also, should we try and find sub for Gath even without his consent because he dissapeared completely?

[Kungfoo]

I'm not sure that Gath is in a position wherein a sub would benefit him much. Jomon going AI is much more regrettable than Gath disappearing, with respect to how it'll impact the game going forward. What we really need at this point is for LL to show up and either pass off admin duties to someone else, and/or hurry up and get Caelum subbed before ANOTHER unnecessary stale rolls through. It looks like another admin might be in order soon anyway, as Ulm seems to be getting the worst of their exchanges with Patala...

[Anaconda]

So, post a paw if your fighting with Gath! I am bordering him and havent seen any sings of any1 taking advantage of the situation yet, not to mention him fighting with any1 except scavenging the spoils of Utgård.

[Kungfoo]

mattyburn7: I don't suppose the admin password for this game is the same as the LL used for BSoD? As much as I hate the idea of someone hijacking admin, even temporarily, it'd be really convenient to prevent further stales and get some subs in.

[Lunaje]

Gath Capital is on siege by Marignon. That would be getting a capital from an enemy who isn't fighting back. I'm forced into a similar position now with an AI Jomon by my side. But at least I tried to stop this from happening, because it's not fair for other players.

[Anaconda]

I C, and, I also C why he left now.

[Kungfoo]

My war with Gath began before he started to stale, and followed a proper 3-turn notice ending our NAP-3. Casus Belli was brought on by his unnecessary and unduly-threatening troop buildup on our border (as there was no other reasonable place for them to go other than into my territory, I had no choice but to view the existence of a large army of giants as potentially threatening).

NAP termination was given and received on turn 17, and hostilities between our nations broke out on turn 20. Although I deeply regret that Gath has elected not to mount a stronger defense of his peoples, this attitude further justifies my moral high-ground in liberating his peoples from the tyranny of cannibalistic giants who clearly have no regard for their well-being.

That the majority of Gath's forces fell while still under command of their erstwhile God-King furthers my case for continuance of this action, until such time as we are able to secure our borders against the threat of future aggression, and provide the citizenry of Marignon with the prospect of the safe, productive, and happy lives that they so richly deserve.

Let us not lump this just and declared engagement in with the unprovoked and unjustified predations that are happening elsewhere along the borders of Gath and Jomon. That there is a large power vacuum is obvious to everyone surrounding them, and I have no doubt that a peaceable and sensible resolution will sort itself out among all affected nations over the coming months. Engaging in unprovoked and ill-informed public speculation as to the rights and motives of your neighbors is hardly the best way to solve these issues.

[Lunaje]

I'm not blaming it entirely on you. I'm sure you had your reasons and differences with Gath so you two ended up warring each other. But I'm not doing ill-informed public speculation. I'm just saying you continued your war with them even when he had stalled four turns in a row and without saying anything here about it. If memory serves me right, you weren't besieging their capital four or three turns ago. True, they could be badly hurt by that moment but at least in my view that doesn't justify silently taking their staling capital. And I doubt, if given the proper public notice, that anyone would've tried to grab a prize that you were in a better position to claim.
Maybe I'm nitpicking and I'm too much into making moral stands (I'm blaming you Albert Camus) but I still believe there was a better form to proceed.

[Anaconda]

What went down, went down. Now we need a sub to give Gath a clean death fast. And a postponement of the next host until one is found.

[Kungfoo]

Perhaps you're right; I chose to view it as an internal matter. From my viewpoint, as Gath's ability to make war had been effectively neutered, there was little difference in the actions open to him whether his nation was controlled by sentience, AI, or uncontrolled entirely - so I simply followed my initial course of action, which was necessitated by his actions in the first place.

I also second the vote for postponement until the Caelum sub, at least, can take over that nation - finding a sub for Gath at this point is unnecessary, although I certainly wouldn't mind someone taking them over if they wanted to. I'd argue against having someone set them to AI, as the AI's handling of siege mechanics is pitiful and it's frankly more difficult to beat a staled army in a siege.

[Anaconda]

Legendary League delayed the host. Now I asked him to change the emails for both Caelum and Gath, it shouldnt be impossible to get this going already today.

[Anaconda]

Guys, just remember to click "request turn resend" -button when your email might be in, at the bottom of the game page on Llama.

[mattyburn7]

Sorry guys. Life has been very busy. I just saw Kungfoos post and I'll check on password.

[mattyburn7]

Different password anyway. It sounds like LL is administering this game.

[Kungfoo]

I still see this as hosting in ~5 hours

[Anaconda]

I still see this as hosting in ~5 hours

I thought the original hosting time was this morning, and it got postponed 12H but mayhaps I was mistaken.

[Vishniac]

I still see this as hosting in ~5 hours

I thought the original hosting time was this morning, and it got postponed 12H but mayhaps I was mistaken.
You are not mistaken.

BTW, I also support that we wait until AlbertTheObscure has taken Caelum. I can see that the nation had a good start and it would be bad to let it stale more.

[AlbertTheObscure]

I'm keeping tabs on this thread/my PMs/etc, but I haven't gotten any word yet, and I had the turn resent earlier today (but didn't get it) so I'm assuming that I'm not subbed in yet.

[Lunaje]

Hope we can get the two subbing players in. I was really liking the kind of drama diplomacy that no-graphs brings to the game; not many strategy games can provide that.

[Anaconda]

Hope we can get the two subbing players in. I was really liking the kind of drama diplomacy that no-graphs brings to the game; not many strategy games can provide that.

The last resort is to turn to Llama. We need some1 to step up, ask him to override the old passw and they take over the admin duties.

[Kungfoo]

Should probably just go ahead and do that now, as this has been going on for over a week.

I nominate Anaconda as the new admin, if he's able to; if not, probably either Lunaje or myself, just going by forum activity.

[Anaconda]

Should probably just go ahead and do that now, as this has been going on for over a week.

I nominate Anaconda as the new admin, if he's able to; if not, probably either Lunaje or myself, just going by forum activity.

I am hosting currently 2,5 games, could you do it?

[Kungfoo]

Yeah, sure. Just sent a pm to llama.

[Lunaje]

I could do it if needed, but mind you I've never been an admin before.
I'm fine if Kungfoo decides to take the Fantasy Man's Burden of keeping this world in proper check; so maybe we can survive this awol storm.

[Anaconda]

I could do it if needed, but mind you I've never been an admin before.
I'm fine if Kungfoo decides to take the Fantasy Man's Burden of keeping this world in proper check; so maybe we can survive this awol storm.

People are too worried about hosting games, its far less complicated than it sounds. Once you do it, your exited to do it again. I would but I got hands full with other games atm :(

[mattyburn7]

Yea. Hosting is very straightforward. Just have to make sure you at least check boards/PM's occasioally for delays...I mean. Even I can do it and I'm an idiot!

[KeithZ]

Chelms want to trade for some astral pearls, we can offer N, D, E or A gems. Anyone who is interested please feel free to give me a PM.

And hopefully we can get a new admin soon.

[Anaconda]

Llama is, for example, currently online. So whats up with the hijack?

[Kungfoo]

I'm still waiting on a reply.

[llamabeast]

Done! :)

[Kungfoo]

Thanks llama!

[AlbertTheObscure]

Now Assuming Direct Control.

[Russian_Comrade]

How about changing to 48 hour turn?

[Lunaje]

Nice !
And welcome to the subbing players.

[Kungfoo]

I think we're far enough into the game for 48h turns to make sense.

Changing hosting to 48h if no one objects.

[Anaconda]

sounds great. also get Gath's sub in so he can put up at least nominal resistance.

[Kungfoo]

Sent him a pm, although if you have his email address just send it to me and I'll make the changes immediately.

[Immaculate]

Its interesting to note that despite all the difficulties with administration, LL managed to not stale this turn.

[Kungfoo]

Gath has been handed over to lucheng, and we're now back to a full suite of participants.

[lucheng]

Hello, everyone. I am now the new leader of Gath.
Marrigon is sieging my capitol at the moment. The war will continue.

Lucheng/Gath

[Kungfoo]

Caelum has requested a 12h extension to properly acclimate to his new nation. I'm putting this through; normal hosting schedule will resume following this turn.

[Russian_Comrade]

OK.
Comrades, I found something interesting.
What can be a reason of summoning 100+ Sea Trolls (one by one) at this point of a game?

[Immaculate]

Contact Sea Troll
Paths: Water 3
School: Conjuration 3
Spell Type: Ritual

Summon 1 Sea Troll.

Special Effects: Works underwater

Description:
The caster contacts a Sea Troll and persuades him to serve in exchange for the chance to eat a child or two. Sea Trolls are robust humanoid creatures of huge size. They are larger than ordinary Trolls, but their skin is softer. Sea Trolls are known to regenerate wounds and can enter the sea.

Gem cost is 1Water


Someone is summoning them?

[Anaconda]

Attacking R'lyeh! Who, actually, is doing this?

[Kungfoo]

At the moment they're more likely to be repairing bricks in castle walls than attacking anyone.

[Vishniac]

At the moment they're more likely to be repairing bricks in castle walls than attacking anyone.
You mean that 100 sea trolls are unable to break siege? :shock:
Must be some powerful army over there...

[Russian_Comrade]

1 Sea Troll costs you 1 W gem and ~8 RP. Summoning 100 Sea Trolls = 100 W gems and ~800 RP. It is a very heavy investment - mostly because of casting time. Also, large unit and attack skill 9 - so they don't do lots of damage. I for one found only two uses of those guys - serving as a lightning rods (a small number of those guys standing in your forces to soak bad magic and arrows) and expanding underwater - and that army have no water in sight. And they use gold for upkeep, so it is damaging for your economics as well.

I'd say that summoning 60-70 Winter Wolves is much easier (6 or 7 turns of casting time) and have more capability to create problems for your opponent.

[Calahan]

I have no idea of the specifics of this game or the situation, but I haven't seen anyone mention the Sea King's Court spell yet. Which for 55W gets you 15 Sea Trolls, 5 Troll Guards, and a W3 Sea King. So if someone has a big load of Sea Trolls, then it's more likely they came from this spell and not from multiple casting of the "Summon Sea Troll" spell.

Also please keep in mind that the intel reports you get from Scouts and from bordering provinces can under/over estimate troop numbers by between around 50%-200% (although please don't quote me on those exact figures as it's from my memory rather than notes, but I'm pretty certain those figures are in the right ballpark). So if such a report is saying "~100 See Trolls" then there might only be ~50 there.

[Kungfoo]

A better (if completely unrelated) question might be: Is there anything left of Ulm worth salvaging? LL staled last turn and is on track to do so again, while being involved in at least two wars. I'm not really interested in postponing the game for this if his position is doomed, but I need someone closer to the action to fill me in on the details.

[Anaconda]

Two months ago Patala was next to his capital and this month Abysia seized maybe their second last fortress. I assume Patala is sieging their capital as we speak. I oppose delaying for him, and favor asking some1 turning him AI instead. In my experience AI puts up fierce resistance in siege.

[Russian_Comrade]

I have no idea of the specifics of this game or the situation, but I haven't seen anyone mention the Sea King's Court spell yet. Which for 55W gets you 15 Sea Trolls, 5 Troll Guards, and a W3 Sea King. So if someone has a big load of Sea Trolls, then it's more likely they came from this spell and not from multiple casting of the "Summon Sea Troll" spell.

Also please keep in mind that the intel reports you get from Scouts and from bordering provinces can under/over estimate troop numbers by between around 50%-200% (although please don't quote me on those exact figures as it's from my memory rather than notes, but I'm pretty certain those figures are in the right ballpark). So if such a report is saying "~100 See Trolls" then there might only be ~50 there.

Nope. You did my mistake, I supposed the casting of court in the beginning as well. But there is no Troll Guards or Sea Kings. About numbers - it is not the estimates, it is the battle reports.

[Anaconda]

So what is the point? Possibility some1 is cheating, exploiting, just making wrong decision, or the exact right ones, or what?

[Immaculate]

Its a newbie game; i wouldn't worry about it too much.

And Ulm still has a bit of fight left, but not much.

That said, LL does occasionally get some good shots in. He likes his vampires.

[Russian_Comrade]

So what is the point? Possibility some1 is cheating, exploiting, just making wrong decision, or the exact right ones, or what?

Nothing really - some time ago I just tried to find cost-effective mass summon from W magic. Played LA Atlantis, went high bless etc. I had money problems and not enough troops so I started to summon Winter Wolves, but I'm not totally sure that it was a right choice. Sea Trolls was the only alternative to Wolves, but I was somewhat disappointed with them after some testing.

[Lunaje]

Well, we can say Atlantis is trolling himself :p.

As for Ulm, pretty much what Immaculate says. He seems to still deliver turns, staled last one, but is playing I guess. We still don't know what happened to him, though.

[Vishniac]

He staled this turn too: 2min before the turn, he hadn't played.

[Kungfoo]

Yep, sure enough. Guess I'll look for a sub. Does anyone know if Ulm has any provinces that aren't under siege?

[Anaconda]

How about just turning them AI? Otherwise their provinces go for free.

[Kungfoo]

I'll have a neutral party take a look at the turn file and see if it's worth finding a sub, and if not, set Ulm to AI.

[mattyburn7]

I think Ulm is pretty much beat at this point. However he might have a huge army in 1 province...Not sure though.

[Anaconda]

Problem solved, I take it.

[Kungfoo]

Yeah, I waited until the last minute for LL to show up and then had someone check the nation out and decide to AI it. Pity.

[mattyburn7]

ANy idea what happened to him? He is still playing 1 game.

[Russian_Comrade]

No idea. A pity that he is mostly out of a game.

[Anaconda]

It takes me about 6-8 hours to play my turns and write the AAR of it. Anybody else making notes on whats going on? I am quite eager to get it out but it seems I cant publish it before I am finished. Too much intel for my "friends"...

[Immaculate]

Do you find that the careful consideration of what you are doing just so you can write it is making you play better?

[Anaconda]

That is something I wrote down in the beginning of the story so its funny you mentioned it.

I play better because the story makes me think my situation over and over again, thus improving the performance. Also find mi self submitting the .2H file multiple times every single turn. And, if writing a long and deep AAR you want to play better to be able to have even moar fun. It would be dissapointing to play poorly after contributing so much time on wirting AAR.

The answer is Y E S with double caps!!!11

On the other hand, I am very bad a player by default so "playing better" is a matter of perspective :wave:

[Immaculate]

Well, you fixed a scripting error you had with your vastness i noticed... I bet you feel its a lot more effective now

[Anaconda]

You mean attacking with it?

The thing is, I dont have enough good experience on R'lyeh - nor on anything else on that matter.

I know, it is sad because I have been playing since 2002 (Dom2). I spend too much time on flavor texts and too little on effect-cause -relations :P

With Vastness I used several different scripts from attacking with it to Mind Blast to fire rear. It was even more complicated because few test SPs I did when the game begun, in each and every one I lost the Vastness quite early and wasnt able to figure out if the attack actually did anything at all (most likely I lost it because I used wrong scripting to begin with). It was hard here also, because enemies die like flies even if the script is wrong.

But now I am satisfied with it's performance.

[Immaculate]

Yeah, one of those things... :)

[Lunaje]

I had never seen one of those things before, the vastness. Beautiful, in its own outer space way.

[Anaconda]

I had never seen one of those things before, the vastness. Beautiful, in its own outer space way.

When I saw the message I thought it was Abysia trying to gather intel on my battle formation, but it was you!

[Lunaje]

I had never seen one of those things before, the vastness. Beautiful, in its own outer space way.

When I saw the message I thought it was Abysia trying to gather intel on my battle formation, but it was you!

Yep, I'm just a witness neighbor, drinking midgardian beer and watching around in my porch, but ready to draw the shotgun sword if things gets too much Howard Phillip around :p.

[Vishniac]

I had never seen one of those things before, the vastness. Beautiful, in its own outer space way.
Same with me. Though I have played Dom2 since 2003, only last year did I start MP so there's a lot of units, spells, nations, tactics,... totally unknown to me.
But watching his vastness in action for the first time through my C'tissian scout was the scariest thing Dominions delivered to me. I then thought: "THAT is the thing that should not be!" :shock: :eek: :cold:

And now, a musical pause :cool::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5srpggS-2-g

As for writing an AAR, I'm not doing it now but events, strategies, mistakes are clear in my head. I should write them, the game will probably last a long time (even for me I hope :D).

[Anaconda]

For those of you that are done with your current turns, I just realised the original re-animator in on Youtube- you can kill the time with it.

And those of you that havent done their turns, play them!!!11

[Vishniac]

And those of you that havent done their turns, play them!!!11It's not that simple.
Sometimes, one needs to wait for a diplomatic answer before planning and moving.

[Anaconda]

And those of you that havent done their turns, play them!!!11It's not that simple.
Sometimes, one needs to wait for a diplomatic answer before planning and moving.

Sometimes moving before will speed the diplomacy up!

[Vishniac]

There is also the gunboat diplomacy: first, striking, then talking.

[Immaculate]

need 12h extension

[Kungfoo]

need 12h extension

Done

[mattyburn7]

Everyone: I'm on vacation from 6/22 to 7/1. I'm going to try my best to get turns in on time, but if I stale once or twice don't panic...I'll be back!

[Kungfoo]

Cool, thanks for the heads-up. If you're likely to be able to get turns in on a semi-regular basis, I can add an extra 12-24h onto the timer for that time period - I'd hate for you to miss turns at such a critical juncture.

[mattyburn7]

Could you add 24 hours please...That will help a lot!!
Thanks!

[Anaconda]

I will be gazing stars, so postpone the incoming turn until 25th. Scary Solstice everyone! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftld7Ohojg)

[Anaconda]

Midsummer's eve -weekend is very big celebration at least in the Nordic Countries so no wonder every one was away.

From my part, I can get my turn in the morning of 26th, latest. Thanks for postponing the host.

[Anaconda]

Sry, couldnt keep my word about sending my turn this morning. Something came up, I am working on it and will submit one right away when possible.

[Kungfoo]

That's alright, I'm watching it :)

There are a couple of other slackers out there whose turns, I assume, are contingent upon your diplomacy; after you submit I'll be sending out a warning message and then hosting in ~24h.

[Anaconda]

Anybody who had eyes in the Second Battle of Abysia (a.k.a. Battle of Blackwater Bay), did you experience crash close to the end of battle recording?

If you didnt, I am very interest to know what actually happened there?

[Immaculate]

turn your graphics settings down as low as possible and try watching it again Anaconda? If someone tossed a 'rust mist' out, it gets very graphic heavy for some reason.

[Russian_Comrade]

Nope. No slowdowns.
Well, R'lyeh retreated (with some losses from horror rampage), most of Abysian mages killed by Horrors, Abysia managed to kill Horrors. No horror marks on R'lyeh's pretender or SC.

[Vishniac]

We have learnt that Atlantis has been vanquished.
Though there is still a line "Atlantis Waiting for 2h file" in the game page.
:confused:

[Anaconda]

Nope. No slowdowns.
Well, R'lyeh retreated (with some losses from horror rampage), most of Abysian mages killed by Horrors, Abysia managed to kill Horrors. No horror marks on R'lyeh's pretender or SC.

I was more interested whether Abysia has more of Salamanders or Warlocks left? And, I consider this legi information because its technical glitch that forbid me seeing the end of the battle.

[Russian_Comrade]

I'll try to send you an end-battle screenshot this evening (Moscow time).

[mattyburn7]

Anaconda. I'll be happy to share, but it will probably not be until Monday. Unfortunately on this vacation I'm scrambling just to get turns in...Been a REAL BUSY week! I apologize. Fair is fair and if you didn't see the battle I'll provide what info I can, but it'll have to wait until I get home. Cheers!

[Anaconda]

Anaconda. I'll be happy to share, but it will probably not be until Monday. Unfortunately on this vacation I'm scrambling just to get turns in...Been a REAL BUSY week! I apologize. Fair is fair and if you didn't see the battle I'll provide what info I can, but it'll have to wait until I get home. Cheers!

Thank you but no need, I saw a picture of it already.

[Anaconda]

Please delay host 12H, thank you.