MP: Asia Twist - Wraithlord Wins!

[archaeolept]

Originally Posted by DonCorazon

Congrats Wraithlord, however you may have won. "All is fair in love and war". If someone did just hand you a VP, well, I personally would never do that since I think both from an RPG and a good sportsman perspective it makes no sense, but suppose there is nothing explicitly against it in the rules

This does, I think, get to part of the heart of the issue. Certainly colluding to have the game thrown was not explicitly against the rules, but has it really come to this? Do all possible bad behaviours need to be explicitly forbidden in a game's OP? Rather, I would say there is a whole host of behaviours that are implicitly rejected; hacking, looking at someone's unpassworded turn, not entering a game with the intention of trying to win or at least play well. Certainly Wraithlord won; it is the manner of winning that is under dispute.

As a sort of Kantian, I might look at these implicit rules and conventions as to good play as those things which are the conditions for the possibility of good games of Dominions. I would argue that what happened here is destructive of the possibility of good games. Diplomacy is a fact of life, and the results are rarely fair, but I would maintain there is a significant difference between actively supporting an ally, and eventually helping him to victory, and doing an end-run against the actual fighting, you know, the actual playing of the game, in order to guarantee a "cheap" and easy victory.

[DonCorazon]

Wraith - no need to change your style. I suspected it might be a cultural thing, but not knowing you, was not sure. I appreciate openness and empathy, but admittedly am suspicious of compliments when they come in the context of a negotiation with a stranger. Please don't let the cynicism of a North American big city dweller dampen your enthusiasm...

As for indies / luck - well you know from some of my comments of the unusual streak I have been on in a few games. Call me a fairweather fan - when things get better, maybe I'll be less bitter.

I'm always interested in AARs. I started a super detailed one for the latest RAND game - complete with screenshots and turn write-ups aimed at beginners. This turned out to be too ambitious and I dropped it probably around turn 15. I would love to start a RAND like game, with like-minded players, where everyone kept an AAR. Wouldn't need to be as detailed as the one I intended, since I think those are prone to being abandoned, as happened in Chronicles, but would be cool to hear perspectives of all the players in a game, to better understand the reasons behind everyone's actions after the game was over.

Finally, thanks for the blessing. Who knows, given the fact I no longer sleep, I may actually have more time for Dominions

[WraithLord]

Originally Posted by DonCorazon

...
I appreciate openness and empathy, but admittedly am suspicious of compliments when they come in the context of a negotiation with a stranger.
...

Hah, considering we are all playing this game here in a friendly atmosphere. I'd say we ain't that strangers to each other

Originally Posted by DonCorazon

...
Finally, thanks for the blessing. Who knows, given the fact I no longer sleep, I may actually have more time for Dominions

So no chance you'd take the AAR project of this game from my hands
BTW, you are absolutely right, my daughters first year I slept little and actually had *more* time to play dominions - albeit in strange state of consciousness

[WraithLord]

Turns 16-20:
16. Everybody has 2-3 castles only I am left stuck with 1. Those blessed giants cost a fortune!
Recruiting Gygja for D/N/S/B access

17. Ok. The two forts I was so busy constructing are at last complete, now I have 3 castles. Burn in her celestial prison smiles in content.
The war between Pythium and Van erupts.

18. Oceania is close to extinction at R'lyehs hands. He sends to me a wave breaker that I'll use until the game ends. This wave breaker has literally hundreds of notches, one for each vanquished foe of the true faith
Reach Thaum 2. for site searching.

19. Ulm goes AI with Ashdod being the driver.
Pythium asks for my help against Van but I prefer to concentrate on Ctis. Perhaps this was a mistake on my part as Van will cont. to grow and expand and eat lesser nations and ultimately become a superpower.
Recruit first Joton Skratti. These will prove to be an unstoppable force throughout the game. Properly equipped they even eat Tartarians. An amazing commander with a wide range of abilities that Baalz has described well in one of his guides.

20. Several wars are raging. Most notable is a band of nations against Ashdod led by Pan.
Me and TC finish working out the details for attacking Ctis. The attack is imminent.

[WraithLord]

Turns 21-25:
21. Start war against Ctis with a probe attack. Gere is leading that army.

Expand far enough to contact Arco. Send him PMs and in game msgs w/o response. That's unusual considering his small stature.

22. Trade for dwarven hammers with TC.
TC hits Ctis from NW, I from SE.
Pythium sends a huge army at Van. A mistake IMHO, since Van is a raiding nation, you can't kill him with one clean strike only get your self dead.
Ashdod is under heavy pressude and losing ground.
Ermor and Atlantis start what would be a very long war.

23. Arco attacks me w/o warning and I lose 1200g and an army securing a castle const. site.
Needless to say Arco officially joins my hit list.
Van is raiding Pythium.

24. Van attacks Bandar as well.
I secure a NAP with Van.
I am now sieging Ctis capital. Nor my first Skratti SC is dispatching the PD like so much chaff, equipped with the same old wavebreaker
I finish 2 more castles and climb to first place in that score graph.

25. Ctis has lost its prophet and what remains of its military force to Nor. It is fading.
Pan and R'lyeh lead the VP race with 2 each.

[WraithLord]

More pics.

[djo]

AARs can be great to read, but they are hard to write well. Not everyone can articulate their strategies clearly. I also play SP Civilization IV, and over on the civfanatics.com forums, there are some wonderful SP AARs that greatly improved my game. The ALCS games were especially useful, where the author played the game as they posted, soliciting advice from the readers as they went, posting screenshots and saves along the way. I have wondered if such a thing would work here, but I haven't got the ambition to try it myself.

[WraithLord]

This kind of detailed AAR is way beyond my meager authoring abilities or my free time allocation.

I did however saved all my turns so can gladly give them to someone ambitious enough to write a decent AAR.

Otherwise I'll just cont. with my telegraphic, poor style AAR

[PashaDawg]

If anybody wants any turn files, please let me know. I have backups of all turns and a master password.

[rdonj]

I'd still like to see meglobob's.