Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Demonstration? What demonstration? *whistles innocently* http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

I was afraid of the late-game power of astral magic (communions, master enslave) myself, so I decided the best way to deal with you was to avoid large army vs army battles, except those on my terms. Massive raiding of your territory seemed to be a good way to accomplish this. Your PD raising campaign from the last few turns required me to use more resources/province than I hoped to have to use, but on the other hand it obviously did cost you a lot of gold, so I'm not sure if it was in your advantage or not. I have to say I'm curious to see what your responce will be.

Not that providing my enemy an insight into my strategic thinking necessarily is the smartest thing to do or anything... but making a bit of conversation spices up the thread, right? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Heh, my "response" is fairly lukewarm. Although i've managed to get good enough at Dom3 that I generally can survive to the late game, I find that i'm not terribly great at this aspect of the game... Tarts are all well and good, but there's only so much one can do with them. And i do not have the meticulous preparation that you do (how many MR 29 demons can one person have????).

I would also say that Arga Dis is a bit gross - although you have also played them very well. Earth and blood is a nasty combo - blood stones, easy hammers, the late power of blood... and you seem to have found a loremaster site, which I imagine is rather helpful. Im rather amused by the fact that you can spam ghost riders more than I can.

Anyhow, my hat goes off to you... I shall continue to fight, but it looks rather bad for me.

Could we move to 72 hours, by any chance? Im in several games, and it takes me a bit on my turns in Uakari. Dying gracefully is difficult =)

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Aye, I did have some time to prepare, and I tried to make most of it. I started building high-MR SC's from the moment I witnessed Pythium master enslaving Van's army early in the game. At that point I knew putting conventional armies in the field was most likely to just gift my opponent with free troops. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif Of course, after the defeat of Pythium you were strongest nation left, with quite a bit of astral magic of your own, so I just continued down the same road.

I agree that Arga Dis is a strong nation, for the reasons you mentioned and a few others (if we're talking in the context of late game they also have the ability to develop a really good magical diversity from their national mages and summons, without pretender help for example) Do you have the impression that they are too strong, as a nation? I myself don't, they have a number of weaknesses to balance their strengths, but I'm happy to hear other opinions. I'm sure Sombre would also like any feedback you might have on the nation. (though to quote from the guide I wrote on the Arga Dis nation: "In my game I managed to recruit about 40 mages without getting a single 2E one, meaning no site searching, and, maybe worse, no earth boots -> dwarven hammers. I ended up having to empower one mage to 2E. " so getting to hammers wasn't exactly easy for me this time around. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif)

I have to say I also have had outrageous luck with my magic sites. Loremasters help, but to be honest they're the least of it. I won't give away everything while we're still playing, (I can tell you the specifics when we're done) but let's just say (the) god(s) is/are entitled to at least a votive candle or two.

Oh, and I love ghost raiders. Must be my favorite spell in the game. I got reamed by Calmon using them in my first ever MP game, and never forgot. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I've set the timer to 72h. I just started working again today after being in-between jobs for the last couple of weeks, so I'm not entirely opposed to the idea myself either. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

i'm back, thanks for delaying the turn. I should be able to get my turn in, in a few hours.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I'll certainly try to give some commentary on Arga Dis when I can do so from a more objective viewpoint - i.e., when i'm not getting stomped by them.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Johnarryn requested a short delay due to general being business. Sorry to disapoint those who were anxiously awaiting the new turn to see if their plans of achieving world domination were close to comming to fruitition.

Oh, wait... that was me.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Two hours until the next turn and I'm concerned that johnarryn might stale. If there is time, can the turn be extended a few hours. I wouldn't want Ermor to be denied any opportunities at this delicate moment.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I just got home and found a PM from him. Hosting is delayed by 12 hours. (He requested ~6, but no need to be skimpy, right? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif )

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Many thanks to you both. I have found everyone in this game to both exceptionally talented and exceptionally courteous, and I look forward to playing another game with you folks.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I postponed hosting 24h, because I'm lazy and don't have character, and apparently took Johnarryn's request to delay hosting on the turn after the current one as an excuse to laze about and not play my turn.

Oh, and also because I have power and thus feel the urge to misuse it.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

It seems that Sombre has released an updated version of the Arga Dis mod. Since we're so close to the end of the game though, I think it's not really worth the trouble to have you all patch up to it?

Edit: Come to think of it, it's probably the host computer that matters, so if Llamabeast were to update his own Arga Dis mod to check out the changes for himself, all of us would have to follow suit anyway. Or am I wrong about the technicalities? I'll check with Llama.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Llama got back to me, and it's basically up to us: So anyone who has an opinion either way feel free to say so.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Grrmbl. A couple of miscalculations cost me two nice tartarians this turn. I could have won both battles had I judged some appropiate measures necessary. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

On the bright side: teleporting a pretender on top of a big high-MR army of mine with the intention of master enslaving them turned out to be quite risky. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

How come your army graph didn't show a steep downward turn with your water breathing global gone, AoE? (That abreviation does look really silly when applying to a person, btw. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif)

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

First, my defeat had more to do with a lone air elemental then it did with your MR. My penetration bonus was +6. I didn't plan on it being risky as my pretender was scripted to cast returning... when he recovered from fatigue that is. I on;y wonder why the AI didn't choose to use just one more gem in the initial casting.

As for my armies in the sea, I didn't lose many (some, but not many) because I fortified the armies with water breathing items. I'm a big believer in back-up plans.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I postponed hosting by a couple of hours (again) since I just managed to play most of my turn, only to then 'quit without saving' http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

I will have to redo it tomorrow after work.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

By the way, is everyone still having fun? I'm more than happy to play on as long as you guys like, but I think we all know how it's going to end.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

If you mean that we all know Ermor will rise from the ashes to dominate the land, then yes, we know how it's going to end

In all seriousness, I don't mind playing as long as everyone else does. But given Amhazair's meticulous end-game, unless AoE has some nasty tricks up his sleave it's probably over.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I have nasty tricks.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Here's the deal. I'll concede the game the instant you manage to take my capitol from me.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

With my current strategy, I'm more likely to take every one of your provinces except your capitol than the other way around. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

No worries though. I'm not bored or anything. As long as you have fun I'm happy to play on.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

well i'm defeated.. thanks for a good game everyone http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

You too Janlm. That thunderstrike spammage of yours was looking very impressive in midgame. (when luckily I wasn't your enemy yet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif ) It was good having you around.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Ok Amhazair. I've been impressed by your attacks. What do you say we call it a draw?

=)

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Nice try. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I've been quite busy these last few days, and didn't quite have the energy left to sit down and play my turn. (For those that hadn't noticed yet, I have a rather large sized ampire to run. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Playing a turn takes quite a bit of time and concentration, even if I'm in a position that forgives a couple of mistakes. )

All of that to say I extended the turn timer. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
I liberally granted myself 48h, though I hope to submit the turn tomorrow.


P.S. I also postponed hosting by 12h on the previous turn, when Mictlan hadn't submited his turn yet 5 mins before time. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I couldn't post here at the time since it was when the forum was down, but I guess you all noticed, and survived even without me posting about it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I thank you much for the considerations and extent ions you have provided. Though I have to admit that you have the upper hand and projections say you will still win, I hold out hope still.

This next turn will decide if we continue or not. Currently I've managed to stagnate your troop growth for a turn while raising mine. I've also eliminated a few of your super combatants, though surely their are plenty left to go around. If this trend does not continue, then I will concede.

As for land, I've made that as unimportant as possible for me and do not measure my victory or failure by such things.

Thank you for allowing me this valuable end game experience. It is indeed rare that someone gets to learn from this position.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I would also like to thank johnarryn for his contribution to the Mictlan effort and JanIm for the infinitely useful air booster he forged for me so very long ago.

As this is my first multi-player game through the interweb, I thank everyone who has played in this game for the experience. (Though I'm sure most of them now ignore this thread.)

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I hate to disappoint you, but the increase in army graph strength from the moment I went to war with Ermor until now is almost entirely due to remote summoned imps. Last turn I simply had enough imps on the map within range of all provinces I wanted to attack not to have to summon too many new ones. It is true I also lost a fair number of imp to heavy PD and your global, but it's just imps. They're meant to die. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Loosing the SC's is worse of course. When I first saw that battle where my tartarian was soundly trounced by eagle warriors I just didn't get what was different. In previous teleporting attacks my tarts remained at max hp's throughout the fight, and now this time you managed to kill him in just a couple of turns. The mind boggled... until I realised that the previous tartarians came from deep inside my own dominion, and thus had twice the hp's as the one that died, and that they did actually loose quite a lot of hitpoints, but that it didn't show because they remained (just) above their normal maximum. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif Talk about Doh!

As I said before, I'm happy to play on as long as you want. I know I've allways had great fun when trying to use all the resources at my disposal in an attempt to harm a superior foe as much as possible, and as you say, end game experience will help you a lot in future games. I've also started some experimenting of my own. I just wished up my first ever Mandaha. And of course forgot to have a nature mage present for the gift of reason, so it's now just sitting prettily in my garrison... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Man, I came to congratulate you on the win and now I'm tempted to keep the game going. We could play on or you and I can call it and duke it out again in a fresh game.

Your choice. I'm not out of ideas if you aren't.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Well, let's put it this way: I don't mind playing on. I can test out some things of my own, discover some new ways to abuse the power of blood (the storming of Ermor castle was quite nasty, even if I say so myself), think of optimal ways to counter your annoying moves, and generally still have some fun.

On the other hand, it takes quite a bit of time now to play my turns. I'm sitting on several k gold bacause I can't be arsed to find ways to spend it, I really should crank out a few dozen more blood hunters to improve the blood flow (even more) but don't because of the MM nightmare that would be (hmm, actually... I could build labs in my hunting provinces, that would solve both problems at once. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif), I have a few dozen commanders stuffed with equipment because I need to clean out my lab every turn to make room for the new forgings, so in the end when I'm equipping a new SC there's allways some item that I know I have lying around somewhere, but takes me quite a while to find,...

So, bottom line: I know you said it was up to me, but I'll return the favor. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I don't especially want to play on, but I definitely don't mind playing on either if you'd like me to. It won't feel like you're forcing me or anything. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Up to you.

As we're talking anyway, I'd also like to commend Johnarryn, for holding out to litteralilly the last man standing. (I do believe your last castle is empty, right?)

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Right, I suppose it won't hurt anymore to reveal the big secret.

My outrageous luck with sites:

* I found loremasters and enchantresses quite early on. A W/B loremaster gave me the ability to summon the Ice devils without having to empower for it. (which I probably wouldn't haven't bothered to do)

* I found a 20% enchantment site. Not that impressive - a simple 2-gem site would probably have given me more gems over the course of the game (except that this site also gave me 3 gems of his own, so it was still quite nice http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif ) but it still saved me a couple of gems for summonning my liches (that I needed to spam ghostriders and tartarians) and my casting of earth blood deep well.

* The ultimate gateway (50%! off conjuration spells. Massive, massive site. Second time I find it, and it's absolutely ridiculous. Not quite so good early on since I went for blood first, but from mid game on... Troll king court for 28 gems, fearie court for 20. I had massively more W gems than I could use, so I started to spam Streams from Hades, giving me 3D/3W mages for a measely 20 gems... Earth attacks were cheaper too. And then of course the clinchers. Tartarians for 5 gems, and ghost riders for 3. Johnarryn was impressed by my ghost rider spam ability: this explains one half of it.

Around the same time I found the ultimate gateway I also found a 40% blood site. Cheap, cheap augurs for my magical diversity, all those greater devils were a big chunk cheaper, and the little demons were dirt cheap. (One casting of infernal forces gave me 7 devils and 20 imps for 30 slaves. Infernal crusade with boosters was 13 demon knights for 30. ) And finally the remote summoned imps only costed me 27 slaves for 25 imps + the commander devil. Without this site my ability to spam this spell would have been halved. To sweeten things up even more it was adjacent to the gateway, and both were within 2 provinces of my capital, and within 2 provinces of my enchantress site, so I had no trouble moving my mages around.

And then finally, I conquered a 20% construction site from Pythium, shaving quite a bit off my forging costs. Additionally I managed to grab the hammer of the forge lord, which gives a 50% reduction. Together that made for one ridiculously cheap item/turn, like rings of sorcery for 14 pearls. The cheap rings is the second half of why I could spam ghost riders so easily (I didn't even need 4D liches for it, my Kokyathids could get in on the business too. ) Then towards the end when I got the forge up...

All of that together...

I think I'll go luck scales again in my next game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

Good lord that's a great haul of sites. Granted, you have plenty of territory, but nevertheless some nice luck there. I wondered how you could possibly spam ghost riders three times a turn!

This game was extremely enjoyable, though I got a bit slaughtered at the end due to Amhazair's good planning and some mistakes of my own. Very good job on your part, Amhazair. You certainly used the late-game power of Blood to your advantage. I expected imp-spam, but not to the extent that you were able to employ it - that really was hard to fight against. Plus the MR 29 guys you had were well-prepared to fight against me - hard to spam disintegrate or soul slay with that, I didn't even bother.

I also have quite a bit to learn about SC's... when I hit Construction 8 early on, I thought I was sitting pretty, but even having access to many of the artifacts didn't help much. Ah well.

I would love to start a game with you guys again sometime, although i'll be traveling for about 2 weeks starting August 7th, so won't be able to participate if a new game starts before I get back.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

AreaOfEffect, since I gave you the choise on whether to continue for a couple of extra turns, but you didn't reply, and didn't submit a new turn either, I'm guessing you're ready to call it a day?

Johnarryn, I'd certainly be happy to play a new game with you guys, but it probably won't be very soon. I'm currently in two new games at around turn 20-25 (one of them being the megagame), so while they don't take that much time yet, if I do well in both things might start to become very busy soon. I probably won't start a new game unless it's clear I'm fast heading for the exit in one of the others.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

I've been busy this week. Sorry, but a couple of friends of mine got married and I forgot to say something about it. Personally, I say we call the game and move on to new maps to conquer.

It has of course been a ball.

Re: Uakari - MA game (upload pretenders)
 

All righty, I'll declare the game finished on Llamaserver then.

Weddings are fun, I've apparently also reached the correct age to be invited to loads of 'em.these past 2-3 years.

Unfortunately there's not many friends left unmarried now, so I suppose it'll soon be time to start to feel old. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif