Re: Chicken and egg
 

Hum no you are wrong about the "rend soul" and such. He just changed shape to avoid getting killed in one hit. Also about Claire being riddled with arrow or something. And you also totally forget that I routed because the indy tribe archers did. You also forgot to state that the communion I tried to setup failed.

Basically, you says it's a victory when my script was so bad that indy PD would have beaten me.

Re: Chicken and egg
 

They shall not defile the great halls of R'lyeh, and that is spoken in truth. Not one of those hellish lizard-lovers shall survive, short of retreating like the cowards they are. Though they may have the power to defeat one Aboleth, they have not the power for one hundred.

(yeah, I have ~100 polypal spawn)

Re: Chicken and egg
 

They surely won't defile the halls of R'lyeh - they'll cleanse them for rightful inhabitants to come (hint: look up)! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Chicken and egg
 

Like Ulm has the power to take down the 2-3 nations(not to mention my various allies) necessary to get to R'lyeh. I doubt it has the magic diversity, either. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

However, I am interested in cleansing the halls of Sauromatia. For myself, of course.

Re: Chicken and egg
 

So, tremble R'lyeh! Get ready for hellish Ulm invasion!
Probably you'll understand what I meant when Sauromatia finishes with you... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Chicken and egg
 

No less than six of the dreaded Demonbred Assassins attacked the Sauromatian commanders on the Abysia border. Two even survived.

In other news, the march on R'lyeh continues, with 30% of their former holdings now belonging to Frannabelle. The Seven Riders of Retribution now march on R'lyeh itself to put an end to the evil being Yoth'Shothogg!

Re: Chicken and egg
 

There is still one thing Yoth'Shothogg is curious of. We know that your cowardly tactics are harming R'lyeh, but not of what is happening with Kailasa. Would Sauromatia mind telling us at least a little truth about the war on that front?

Re: Chicken and egg
 

A question to Tien Chi: was it your sense of fair play - or just some kind of joke? Because I didn't get humor in sending your non-SC god by himself against one of my armies... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
Or did he forgot what you scripted him to do?

Re: Chicken and egg
 

Kailasa is no more.

Re: Chicken and egg
 

Atlantis has staled 2 turns in a row now.

Any word on why?

We may need to start looking for a replacement soon for him as I'd rather get another human player than have him switched to AI. But first things first, anyone got info about what's going on with him?

Re: Chicken and egg
 

No idea, I think we'd need his password too.

Re: Chicken and egg
 

He had previously said that he's rare on forums so prefers to make any negotiations using ingame messaging. So unless he calls up himself... However, Ich should have his e-mail & so can ask him... though that doesn't guarantee answer.

Re: Chicken and egg
 

Sorry everyone. I'm on the road now and I've had connection issues. I've only been able to download one turn in the last few days and I haven't been able to updload at all. Real shame too as I was enjoying my fight with Caelum. I can't guarantee that I won't have further connection issues so I think you should try to find another player or switch to AI. The password for Atlantis is passwd (I know, lame password).

I really enjoyed playing while it lasted. Hopefully I'll see you all in future games.

On another topic . . .
 

R'lyeh pleads with Sauromatia, stop this madness! Those men who still have minds of their own and are not an Aboleth are tired, and wish this destruction of R'lyeh's lands to end. R'lyeh asks Sauromatia to retreat back into its land!

Re: On another topic . . .
 

In the high halls of Mount Caelum the council of Four Winds has gathered to discuss about the state of the world of Ascendant.

One of the most intriguing things is Sauromatia's assault on R'lyeh, how is it possible that lords of the deeps are losing on their homeground to creatures who live above the waves? This seems to indicate that aboleth lords are just all talk and no walk at all.

But before we, kings of Caelum, make any hasty conclusions we would like to hear what exactly has caused R'lyeh to lose its lands.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Sauromatia has summoned the seven sins incarnate to ravage the seas. They are near invincible against R'lyeh's armies. There seems to be little chance that these seven sins will leave the seas without Yoth'Shothogg's massive body.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Yes, but what are these incarnates? I can understand if they are beating troops easily, that is very easy to do. However, considering R'lyeh's powerful mages I find it very weird you haven't been able to stop these seven raiders, and rather easily I might add.

So care to elaborate the nature of these incarnates a bit more? If Renojustin has managed to put together some magnificent thugs/SCs, we all could take this as a collective learning experience, no?

Re: On another topic . . .
 

You cannot stop the Six Riders of Retribution!

We have warned R'lyeh several times not to trifle with the great power and monthly temper of Frannabelle. We do not bluff, we do not waste our words in the wind. We do as we say.

Today we say, R'lyeh shall perish.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Claire wishes to say that despite losing another battle, she is happy : this time 2/3 of an invading army was reduced to ashes without any major abysian loss. However, Claire is also sad. Claire had found some animals whose size could rival hers, and the lizards killed them with enlarged dragonflies...

But, none of the Firepriests under Claire's command died in that battle.

I will put a picture of the invading army tonight if I have the chance.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Well, we took 118 losses, all bowmen and infantry.

Our losses = 118 x 10-13 = ~1300gp (+300 for a commander) = ~1600gp

Your losses: 10 elephants = 1000 gp, 38 bowmen = 380gp = 1380gp

So really it wasn't a bad showing considering when you add the value of the PD conquered, it's about equal in gold value. Especially for an attack.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

It is strange! Sauromatia has not attacked R'lyeh. It serems we cannot stop the Six, once Seven, Riders because they have already stopped.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Wow stepping into a new nation can be suprising and difficult. Hello I am the new king of Atlantis. I hope this nation of slackers and nose pickers can turn their lives around before they find themselves on the bottom of the food chain.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

There's an important message on page 12 for you. Do you accept or refuse? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif PM me the answer, please.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Arcosphaele's king will soon join the hanged kings of Helheim in their sacred halls... only one province remaining. It seems though that the doors of Helheim will finally be repaired by 6th of June.

Sorry for the stale turn.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Oh Celes, you poor fool. Do you think your little army can harm Sauromatia?

It's unfortunate and remarkable that you have chosen this course after we have shown so clearly and conclusively that those who turn their hands against us are destroyed.

Faced with the eternity of immortality, I can see the need for a thrill, but this is going to reduce your lifespan considerably. But thank you for adding to our sense of self-satisfaction and achievement.

So continues the greatest legend in the history of Dominions, when one stood against many... and conquered them!

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Woah...

I'm lacking about 1000 points of research to mount an effective counter attack. I don't really think I can handle 300+ troops with mine...

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Except, of course, the Aboleths. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Sauromatia has yet to face any Aboleths other than the older, uncommon ones. Not to mention the problem of Sauromatia's "sacred" lake being taken by one Aboleth. Not a single defender? Tsk, tsk.

Edited because I'm a sucker for roleplaying.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

We of Lanka are not afraid of Sauromatia's banter. We wonder if Sauromatia realizes that we have forces nearly equal to theirs in numbers, not to mention if things proceed as our last battle things will not go well on the battlefield for them.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

If things proceed as our last battle, I would be very pleased indeed.

On that note, enjoy the disease-infested stinkpile you have taken as it destroys 10% of your troops every turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: On another topic . . .
 

The nation of Caelum celebrates as their champion has rapidly risen to the envied top spot of the Hall of Fame.

Voice of the South Wind has been awarded with the most-badass-killer-of-things medal and has received blessings
from the prophet of Caelum. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Bloody, shrunken demons hissed at each other and licked at their wounds. The Lankan army, or what was left of it, crawled, limped, and dragged itself back to its own lands.

The Sauromatian ambush had crippled their forces, destroyed their military, crushed their spirits. The vampire queen Celes, mostly oblivious to her mortal followers, had blundered about the westlands with their forces, playing at being a military leader, and fumbled right into the worst situation imaginable.

Now she rode ahead of the broken column, silent, a cold glare her only communication with the shattered remnants of her people.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Oh, T'ien Ch'i, T'ien Ch'i. I understand now why you are so reluctant to give Sauromatia the stab in the side they so rightly deserve. That is the third T'ien Ch'inese army the people of Kailasa have faced -- this time you sent celestial masters! -- with similar casualty rates every time. You should surrender to Sauromatia now, if you haven't already; your army obviously does not stand a chance.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Well, he has enough Celestial Masters trying to kill me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
You can expect them 2-3 turns after he does that - if he will. Another nice trick he has is a good bunch of Demons of Celestial Rivers (he loves to Etherealize them) - but these will take more time to move to you - unless he is already summoning another bunch.
As for his chances against Sauromatia I think you are quite right - he is trying just to get the honorable second place now... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Why would Sauromatia deserve a stab in the side? So far, we've fought a Who's Who of Ascendant, and won much honor on the field of battle; nobody has had to deal with more hardship than us... except for our enemies!

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Claire says that : because if we don't stab you enough (until you stay dead) you'll become the next pantokrator ?

Claire has been saying so for ages, and it would seem that what Claire says comes true.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Say, why is Arcoscephale computer controlled? I only just noticed it now, have I been missing out on something?

Re: On another topic . . .
 

He's basically dead and only has two provinces left. He had been staling too.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Well, it seems Sauromatia's greed has no end as this turn they attacked Caelum with an army of 200+ troops/commanders. Wisdom of this new assault will be evaluated soon when people of the sky flock together to face the abomination that is Sauromatia.

To Tien Chi: Now would be the time for your people to act against Sauro as you still have possible allies left to fight alongside with. If you side with Caelum, together we would be roughly equal to Sauro in every aspect except that Tien has better(and I have worse) research than Sauro. So our chances to end Frannabelle's rampage would be pretty good. If Tien stays neutral and worst case scenario happens(Caelum falls), the people of Spring & Autumn will be completely surrounded by foul Sauromatians and at that point the extermination of your nation is rather easy. If you side with Sauro, you may get some territory from Caelum but ultimately this option only leads to Tien Chi getting surrounded by Sauro as mentioned above and Caelum will make sure to inflict maximum possible damage against Tien before going down.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

We offered you the Pax Sauromatia. Those who accepted our peace have prospered, while those who have scorned our offer have suffered.

You made your bed, Caelum... now your lands and your women are ours!

Re: On another topic . . .
 

Ha! Pax Sauromatia is the most worthless piece of agreement* ever offered to us as it basically read: let's have 12 turns of "peace" so Sauromatia is safe from possible war acts from Caelum and as soon as our borders touch or that 12 turns has passed Sauro will attack anyway.

But enough of that, let's fight you and I. The eagle kings are awaiting the Sauromatian horde.

-----

*In general I consider making pacts with significantly stronger nations extremely bad strategy as there's absolutely no benefit in them for the weaker nation.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

You can't actually believe there is no benefit to being friendly with a more powerful nation. That's kind of a disingenuous thing to say, really. The reasons are far too numerous and obvious to list, but here's one big one off the top of my head - Having a chance to grow in military and magic to the point that you can defend yourself against anyone, without getting summarily invaded and destroyed.

There's a great equalizer for large armies and nations, and they are called Battlefield Enchantments. I offered the nations of the world the chance to first grow, THEN fight on equal footing with anyone and everyone, just don't jump on the jealousy bandwagon and see to your own nation first, I said. But R'lyeh, Abysia, and Lanka (Atlantis took a potshot) had to be bullies -- and see where it got them! It's just been a pure slaughter since Kailasa fought like the dickens. Some of that had to do with skill levels and scripting, but some of it was just plain not having the resources to compete because they didn't take the easiest ones available to them when they could.

If those nations had instead looked to their more natural neighbors, they'd have conquered them by now, or just turtled up and spent their gold more wisely instead of throwing it away like so much dandelion fluff in the wind against me. They would be more than ready for the coming late game. Like C'tis, like T'ien Ch'i, like Helheim.

Instead, what happened is that they saw someone a little bit faster than them in the early game and panicked, and all have made some very unwise moves, diplomatically and militarily, and in all likelihood, won't be around for much longer in this totally fantastic and dynamic game, which is unfortunate.

Anyway, we'll soon see how well you've put your nation together... but don't tell me that you couldn't have used another 6 or 7 turns, because I don't believe that you are currently prepared for what I have coming for you! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

In 6 turns you could have invaded 20+ provinces with 6 eagle kings. In 6 turns, you could have researched up to level 6 or 7 in a school of magic. In 6 turns, you could have had 6 more forts. But most of all, you could have had the self satisfaction in the fact that you were right to do it; now because of these nations' greed and pride, we gain power more rapidly - we have no deal with you, or Lanka, or Abysia, or R'lyeh holding us back. And even if all four of you were the same nation, you could not hope to defeat Sauromatia now with the heavy and in some cases massive setbacks we have dealt out over the last several turns.

Still Sauromatia is open to diplomatic inquiries and niceties, no matter our successes on the battlefield. It's almost as if I didn't even get to play that aspect of the game, because I was too busy counterinvading Sauromatia's ill-advised aggressors!

See you all in Ascendant.

Edit: Also, I wanted to openly acknowledge and admire Kailasa and Ulm for always coming in and playing their turns still. I don't think either one of them has missed even one turn yet. That's pride. I think either one of you could easily be where Sauromatia is now if you'd had the same start.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

That'd be me. I couldn't figure out how to deal with your raids! But now I do. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

Edit: Apparently I don't. You are a formidable opponent.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

It's ok, Caelum had a really good turn and will put up some fight, apparently; we just took our first significant losses actually!

Edit: Actually now that I've watched it again to see exactly what went wrong, it appears that the battle was majorly buggy.

8 communion slaves, 2 masters... but none recieved any bonuses, so the spells that I needed cast, weren't. All Communions were cast, but... nothing happened.


I'm not really sure what happened here.

Re: On another topic . . .
 

You would've taken some earlier if you weren't such a coward and had deigned the Aboleths powerful enough to fight. If you win, in the end, there'll be a giant Sauromatian empire covering all of Ascendant . . . but that one little province with Giboleths.

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

Yes, that's what Hitler said to his neighbors too... I don't say that it wasn't wise for him to say so - it just wasn't wise for Poland, e.g., to listen. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Yes, & you would be more ready by the time too. And as I've already said, you have more resources to spend on research, forging, etc. at the same time. So much for equalizers.. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif
There was a topic about deal with Abysia some time ago.. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif In any case, as Claire http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif have quite correctly put out, you have enough power to dictate how any deal is should be read by now. And you Kailasa had tried to make a deal with you - everybody can see how much it availed them... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif
Actually, as I already pointed out, Tien Chi used quite the opposite approach - he didn't wait until I would explore conquered lands & grow stronger, but invaded me in time to be successful with it! C'tis also fought 2 opponents at once... As for Helheim I don't know his situation but suspect that he is not ready for late game. In any case this wouldn't matter if you conquer enough victory points soon enough - which is quite possible! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Also I can repeat that I would be dead by now if I didn't invade Fomors from the beginning, & Kailasa used precisely the approach you recommend by making peace with Caelum to grow by conquering independents... Now Caelum can at least try to fight back & Kailasa is no more. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif
Another thing you conveniently forget is that Tien Chi & C'tis both made sure that they have some allies & this possibly added to their success.. One mistake I feel Abysia made is that they didn't made negotiations for alliance against you secret (via PM, for example) & didn't wait finishing of these negotiations before attacking you. On the other hand, it could be too late by that time...
You are wrong once more - actually I missed at least 2 turns - 1 at the beginning & another one about 5 turns back... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I don't think that it was my main mistake - I should probably take time to scout my eastern neighbors & make some preliminary negotiations from the start, for example, so it doesn't matter. And pride is rightly considered a sin http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif - it may be your downfall here, for example... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

Claire says the downfall of sauromantia is pride. Pride that forced him to tell everyone about his victories, pride that forced him to answer, pride that made him lose the diplomatic fight. Being too proud is called arrogance. It seems that every single of Sauromantia's neighbour turned against him !

Claire will probably not survive, this but that is a victory that Claire is proud of. And one more thing. If Claire was in Sauromantia's place, Claire wouldn't have gotten conceited enough to go attack beyond someone's border even before finishing a foe.

Hear the battle cries of Abyssia ! For whether they last or not, they will go out with in a flash of fire so bright that everyone will remember them forever !

All shall burn ! All shall burn ! All shall burn !

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

Caelum have you seen the replay? Can you understand it?

If nobody can say what's going on in it, I will try to have some important people have a look at it. It's had enough of an impact (I'd probably have won that fight if my spells had gone off) that, well, if it's a big enough bug it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for a resubmission of the turn, despite some pretty good victories elsewhere for me, and actually I was kind of excited for you at first, too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

Yeah, I watched the replay and I honestly can't find anything wrong with it. Your communion worked just fine as far as I can tell and magic paths boosted by communion don't show up in the unit inspection screen. Afterall your communion masters did throw antimagic and arrow fend, two spells neither one of them would have been able to cast alone.

So unless you tell what they should have been casting(if it was anything air magic related I assure you it wouldn't have had any effect on the result of the battle) and present some very convincing evidence, I very strongly object turn rewind.

Also, remember that I only had total of six units(opposed to your 200+) in the battle and AI doesn't usually spend gems if the opposing force is considered too small.

So my view to this is that Sauromatia got beaten fair and square this time. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

-----

Renojustin are you going to write a battle report regarding this fight as it certainly deserves one and your reports so far have been enjoyable reading? I'm sure other players agree with this. If you're not interested I might write a report but I'm not as skilled and flavorful writer.

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

I probably did! But mages do indeed spend gems against SCs and thugs, for sure.

I didn't know that the communion bonus paths didn't show up during combat, either... that's odd, because they do for all other path boosting spells.

And it was a good fight - I really didn't anticipate them being thugged up rather than combat casting... but the spells I should have casted would have taken care of that. Oh well, see you next turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: On the same topic . . .
 

From what I observed earlier from a fight between Caelum and Atlantis Caelum had some pretty decent thugs http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif