There was some talk about RAND format before, it needs to be adjusted a bit
And recruitable thug/SC nations seem to have an advantage.
Anyway, my comment from Mictlan perspective [and rant about Ermor's behaviour]:
It was really obvious for some time that Jotun is running away with the game - some easy victories over weak neighbours + his superior nation [at least over Mictlan].
And it was really clear who Jotun player is - even QM knew that when he was subbed out. For everyone else it should have been obvious that it's at least a vet.
Ermor got some easy victories and then was just sitting and making undead. He could have taken BL when I was acquiring MAchaka + Vanheim. Or he could have attacked me then, when I was fighting 2 enemies. But he was sitting and doing nothing.
Meanwhile Jotun was finishing AI Arco off and what Ermor did? Move armies to my border. Sure, I somehow understand his reasoning, but whole idea was wrong from the beginning.
Situation was that:
BL and Pan being 2 lesser powers, fighting each other. And Jotun with massive army, after Arco conquest, just on their border, 2 turns from BL caps... Some people noticed it. I moved armies in, to block Jotun. So did C'tis.
I can say only good things about C'tis here. He did not give up in tough war with Pyth. He won it, paying huge price. And he refused to give up, even knowing that he had no chances to win. He wanted to make sure that no one gets an easy win. HE blocked BL and Pan caps from easy grabbing. He had armies on Jotun border, ready for action.
Anyway, Squirreloid made even more abd assumptions, deciding to go to war with me. He knew I have D9 bless, so Undead Mastery guaranteed. He knew about flambeus thugs. He knew about nasty communions. He knew about Tlaloques. He knew about my indy mages. All that makes it that attack really stupid move.
There was no way that Alpine Joe can stop Jotun, or at least slow him down enough. It was obvious that me and Ermor fighting pretty much give Jotun a victory. So I never planned to attack Ermor - but I could not attack Jotun with Ermor armies constantly on my border [even though they faced only PD - can I send better sign when I have 1k undead on my border?].
So pretty much what Meglobob said. I don't know if Jotun would be stopped [BoT would hurt me a lot], but I consider just helping him this way a bit lame and unnecessery.
I was most of the time against calling the game with result other than a draw. Jotun had no way of winning in reasonable timeframe, unless someone helps him [by playing sub-par]. And Ermor did, so I changed my mind and agreed for calling the game. I am pretty sure I'd win the war, but TC would fall down faster. And Jotun would just grab 2 VPs from weakened Ermor - as they'd be the easiest VPs around [and owned by someone who proved to be making tactical mistakes]. I really hoped that it'd end in soem final battles, where someone has to prove that he deserved a victory. Now it feels like it's victory because other players got bored with the game and Micah refused to accept a draw [it's hard to blame him for that though].