[Arryn]

Originally posted by CharonJr:
Well, to me it looks like there is/was quite a lot of fighting between the AIs since this seems to be the most likely explanation of this patchwork of provinces to your west (unless the single provinces are conntected in the uncharted portion of the map).

I am convinced that Man is at war with both Atlantis and Vanheim. I do not know whether Vanheim is at war with Atlantis, but it's possible. It's also possible that Vanheim and/or Man may be at war with Ulm. R'leyh is offscreen to the upper right on the map, and it's even possible that the squids could be at war with Ulm if Ulm extends far enough to the east.

If this is the case you have an interesting decision to make, strengthen your position while letting the AIs slug it out and attack the AI who is getting the upper hand or step in as soon as you have finished with the samurais while ignoring the unclaimed indie provinces.

I've been pondering this question for the past few turns ever since I discovered that Man and Atlantis were going after each other. Man is the weaker of the two, but they are no threat to me. Atlantis is a threat, and their dominion is infringing on me, but they've been busy with Man and have left me in peace. The problem with attacking Atlantis would be that I would have to build magic items and/or do summons specifically for this purpose, which would slow my expansion on land. Vanheim is still questionable. They are a tough nation, and I do not know where their capital is yet. So my choice, as I see it, is to either attack Man, or go for the indies just to my north and east. I may do both. I plan to begin after I've begun the seige of Ashikaga. Ashikaga will take quite a while as they have a 350-point citadel. I plan to pile large numbers of Jotuns there, with many priests equipped with Wine Bags. And send my wyrm to play with the indies while that's going on.

BTW, what would be your guess (unless you know it from the score-graphs anyway) about the relativ power of the AIs left in the game ?

Provinces:

• 1. Van
• 2. Pan
• 3. Utgard (me)
• 4. Atlantis, Mictlan (tied)
• 6. Ulm
• 7. Marignon
• 8. Arco
• 9. R'leyh

Dominion:

• 1. Marignon
• 2. Utgard (me)
• 3. Atlantis, Pan (tied)
• 5. Van
• 6. Ulm
• 7. Machaka
• 8. Arco
• 9. Abysia

Army size:

• 1. Van
• 2. Atlantis
• 3. Pan
• 4. Arco
• 5. Ulm
• 6. Mictlan
• 7. R'leyh
• 8. Marignon
• 9. Utgard (me)

I am #1 on the other graphs, by a sizeable lead.

[ February 23, 2004, 19:53: Message edited by: Arryn ]