[Arryn]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
Maybe he hacks them up in big metal chainballs later, like cats hack up hairballs?

That would bring new meaning to the idea of "projectile vomiting" ...

Had you perhaps found a way to act faster, this COULD have been avoided. Or at least postponed.

You've been reading this AAR from the beginning. You know that wasn't really an option, unless I was willing to just let Vanheim have Man, which would have been stupid. Ulm didn't begin its land grab until I was already committed against Van. I redirected my largest army, and my pretender, as fast as I could. Had Ulm waited 1-2 more turns I would have been even more awkwardly positioned than I had been. And I am not in the habit of starting needless wars when I am already involved in other wars.

So, I could have ignored Van, the (now-ex) #1 power in the world and let them take Man, grow even more powerful, and permitted them to come right up against my richest provinces (the ones surrounding Ashikaga), for the sake of grabbing some indies which weren't important -- at that time -- that I was using as a buffer against Ulm. And preemptively starting a war with a third-rate nation like Ulm who had been totally passive until I went after Van. I don't think this was ever a reasonable consideration. Had I done this, you would be harassing me about Van instead of Ulm, and rightfully so in such a case.

Go back through the AAR and be my guest at finding an appropriate, auspicious moment when it would have been good to grab the indies and/or instigated a war with Ulm (while at the same time stopping Van, the by far more dangerous enemy) -- with the caveat of only using the knowledge available to me at the time, and not 20/20 hindsight. If you can do so, which I sincerely doubt, I'll be gracious enough to acknowledge your point. Otherwise, please give it a rest.

You were also harping on Atlantis a while back, and has been amply seen, they have plenty of other ... fish to fry. Had I taken Ministra (as I did Imictan) I would have had yet *another* war I didn't want and been in even worse position to deal with.

So far, *my* timetable and plan has been achieving what I feel are acceptable results, methodical or plodding as it may sometimes be. You may find new amusement in seeing (on turn #40) that I am now a tad overextended. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't, Mr. Devil's Advocate.

Hey, don't mock my paranoia!

Why not? You're also the guy who pumps ridiculous amounts of gems into globals. These techniques of yours that perhaps serve you well in MP are unnecessary in SP. You have to keep the proper perspective about just what sort of game is being played, how good (or not) your opponents are. You and I both know full well just how aggressive (or not) the SP AI is. Just like you get a feel for your MP opponents, so you can react to each according to their weaknesses, so too is it fair to exploit the weakness of the SP AI (as compared to a human). We both know that many of the things I've been doing would be suicidal versus humans. I've always made that abundantly clear in this AAR, or at least I hope I have been, for the sake of the noobies.

P.S.
Did you get my AAR compilations on the end of the Argitothian Empire?

Yes, thanks, and I won't discuss it in this thread.