[IndyPendant]

Hee. Aww. Good game, Ulm. Things *might* have been different if you hadn't had such *perfect* timing as to attack my 68-PD home province with your SC just as all my leaders that could hurt it left to attack your provinces...

...but then again, it might not. *shrug* My capital's now besieged and I have almost nothing left to fight with, so going A.I. Have fun, everyone!

The AAR has a couple of silly moments in it, so I'll quickly whip one up here. If I stomp on anyone's toes, revealing something I shouldn't, please accept my apologies. Shouldn't happen, though.

So at the game start, I'm doing initial exploration, and bump into Yomi and Fomoria. Grand; Yomi I might be able to handle, but they're far from ideal for my crappy crap-crap armies and trampling elephants; Fomoria is just about the worst nation Caelum could possibly have for an early neighbour. I offer NAPs to each of them; Yomi accepts, Fomoria...attacks me. With blessed giant troops.

Uh oh.

I'm reasonably certain I can't defeat him, so I do what I can to hurt him, by calling public attention to the location of his capital and the fact that he and I are now in a war. Then I *do* hold him back--possibly because he encountered the scale bug and I did not, I'm not sure. But my public post may not have had the results I intended...

Imagine, if you will, foxes and wolves carefully slipping through fields of high grass. Suddenly, they hear the snarls and yelps of fighting, off in the distance. They look at each other--who could have been so unwise as to advertise their position, and their weakness, so loudly?--and begin to prowl towards the sound. With a fight of that severity, even the winner might just be weakened by his wounds...

Strangely enough...everyone suddenly flocks to the provinces I had indicated, while I'm driving Fomoria away. Oops. Still, I'm far from certain even now that I can besiege his capital, so when Vanheim offered to do it for me, I basically smiled, shook his hand, and patted him on the back as he passed through my territories to get there.

And found the rest of my neighbours: Yomi, Fomoria, Vanheim, Arcosephale, and Ulm. Oh gods, not exactly an ideal selection for Caelum. Still, Ulm is probably the one that needs taking down the most--being the most powerful at the time--and who knows? Maybe my tramplers can do it.

So I secure NAPs with everyone else, and attack Ulm. Driving deep into his territories--I think, at peak, I had conquered 8 or 9 of his provinces--only to bump into his capital.

Imagine, if you will, a small regiment of soldiers deep inside enemy territory. Their morale is high, for they have met little resistance thus far. They break out accross some plains to spy a castle in the distance...and guarding that castle, over three hundred enemy soldiers formed in strict battle line. The regiment leader starts screaming into his radio for reinforcements, only to hear it squawk about another army of almost two hundred Ulmites threatening the other regiment somewhere off to the east, and an Ulmite Prince of Death that has conquered the capital and is besieging the home castle! The regiment wilts in near-despair, and they can feel the grins on the Ulmites faces...as their counterattack begins.

Driven steadily and surely back, I retreat to my capital. For the second time this game. Twice now I have been driven back to my home province; my chances of winning this game are now completely kaput. Still, I can have some fun by fortifying the home province and seeing how long it takes for someone to crack the egg.

Then I have a brilliant idea: I note that Ulm is nowhere near me, and divide my army into four parts to attack four of my home province's neighbours. It works like a charm--with one small hitch. The Prince of Death makes another appearance that very turn, attacking my capital just when I led my armies out of it. Aw, no. No! He's left me alone until then, why now, of all turns?!? One turn earlier, they'd have been waiting for him. One turn later, they'd have been back and patrolling again.

*watches 68 PD go poof in the blink of a PoD's eye, and sighs*

A few turns later, yet another 250-unit army defeats the meagre PD I have been able to replace, as well as the armies I had patrolling the province.

Caelum has fallen.