Invisible Swarm III: over

[Boron]

Jurri probably wins when you can't dispel the arcane nexus.
Together with his clams this is devastating.
Even if he clammed only moderately he can do so now.

Without item mod Ryleh is too easy to abuse as Jurri has shown us.

[The Panther]

If he has clams, it is essentially impossible to dispel the Nexus. You can assume he put it up with a level 10+ astral mage with 999 pearls. You can dispel it by doing the same, but he will pile up hundreds and hundreds of pearls from the Nexus before you can get enough for the dispel. Which means he just casts it again within a turn or two. And if he has an enchantment site, it is likely not possible to dispel or overwrite without a lot of luck.

If you have not nerfed clams and spells, then the Nexus + Wish is basically a game winner in the hands of a good player like Jurri.

The only real strategy is for everybody in the game to quit casting spells, convert everything to pearls and give them all to somebody who has a high level astral mage. If you have an enchantment site, you can go for an overwrite. Otherwise, you will have to dispel to make sure it is eliminated. Without casting your own spells to stop feeding him pearls, it will take many turns for him to pile up 999 pearls again just from clams and other natural income.

In a large multiplayer game, clams are the most unbalanced item in the game. Norfleet was the first player to discover this, and I think he was winning games doing that long before he started to cheat.

[CUnknown]

Sorry, I just don't agree with the idea that clams are overpowered (except on very large maps). Jurri hasn't abused anything except for the lobo guard. What is all this defeatist attitude? Pasha, I assume you're going to fight Jurri now, or stay out of the coming war, right? Fighting me is just handing the game to Jurri.

There is no way he cast that spell with 999 pearls. Not at the rate he's been teleporting -golems- around and mind hunting, etc. I'm guessing something around 400 or so pearls. And in any case, it will take a while before he even breaks even on this investment, so perhaps this is all much ado about nothing.

I've said it before, but I just have to say it again: Zen's item mod makes me want to puke. I will never play with it in one of my games. If Jurri is indeed winning this game, he's winning because of superior skill (and perhaps overly cheap lobo guard, but mostly skill), not because of clams! I could have taken him out earlier in the game.. I see now that perhaps I should have. I thought that Jeffr was a huge threat, and you know what...he was! I had to pick one threat to double on at that point, maybe I picked wrong? Who can tell.

This game is not over! I don't care what your gem income is, if you can't control the map, you're going to lose. We're going to see how good Jurri's armies are. Obviously, all he has to do is slow me down, and he'll win. With my main forces deep in Pangea and out of position, perhaps he's got enough time anyway. If that's true, I really think the Council of Philosophers should urge Pasha to attack him!

[Cainehill]

Hmm. I'm curious just what's so sickening about the item mod? Making lifedraining weapons less common is a majorly good thing about it, imo; likewise making staff of storms, etc, harder to attain.

[Jurri]

Nexus isn't a game-winner, certainly. It will only yield 1/4 or 1/8 (can't remember) of used gems (not slaves or pearls of your own) in pearls, so I would assume you and Boron have possibly even more astral income combined than I, with your clammy attitude. At least if Boron plays like he speaks, and it's not him who's dispelling Pangaea's enchantments.

Without Wish it's not quite as easy to turn pearls into useful things, so Panther's concerns are invalid to a point. I wouldn't necessarily agree with his assesment even in unmodded, but that's another discussion... My take on Nexus has sometimes been ignoring it and hunting down the schmoe that cast it, but I haven't seen a high-astral nation cast it before (figure that), so it's not necessarily the god or hero or ether lord who cast it. This small a game, I would possibly even ignore it if I wasn't an Astral nation.

All in all, I still think Chris has the strongest position, since Boron is completely and utterly devoted to helping him win. Indeed, I couldn't believe my eyes when he said he declares war on me! Without it, I would be happily destroying myself against Chris, and Boron would be the one eating up jeffr's remains, and in a very strong position against the one who would emerge victorious. He's a great strategic asset to Chris if used wisely, and Ulm still has the most lands and hence the greatest gem and monetary income, besides which I'm a total apprentice compared to Chris when it comes to building and destroying invincible armies. I'm expecting one kick-*** endgame if I can get Boron out of the picture by the time Chris is content with the state of Pangaea! Especially if Pasha compensates for Boron, and sides with me against the Evil Empire.

There's always something to be abused, so I wouldn't worry about it too much: that's one thing that's so fun with all these mods flying around, that you get to break a new toy every time!

On another note, weather conditions have prevented me access to my dominions-computer all day, so could you please extend the deadline a few hours? (I should get to it on time, but I can't quite remember when the deadline was.) Pretty please? I hate to be a pain like this all the time, but some vacation this turned out to be: Instead of languishing in the sun and playing dominions all day I've been doing all sorts of odd jobs up here in the country. Fun, certainly, but eating up on computer-time! I guess I should get a sub, but this is too much fun and I've been managing a ~48h cycle so far. And I should have much more free time starting Tuesday.

[CUnknown]

"Nexus isn't a game-winner"

"All in all, I still think Chris has the strongest position"

That spell can definitely be a game winner. As long as it stays up, you've certainly got the strongest position because of your massive gem income (easily twice or three times mine, I believe--it will probably give you around 100 pearls a turn, right?).

"and Ulm still has the most lands and hence the greatest gem and monetary income,"

Yes, I may have the most provinces, but Pangea's provinces were all set to 200% tax forever, and aren't worth much. They are also fairly gem-poor. And with your growth-3 scale, Jurri, your capital is worth around 500 gold/turn. You have a massively higher income (both gold and gems) than I do.

"Especially if Pasha compensates for Boron, and sides with me against the Evil Empire."

If Pasha attacks me, the game is basically over. Everyone must join against Ryleh or else he will conquer the world! Pasha, at least remain neutral, please think about that. If you attack me, Jurri then gets the time he needs to put his amazing gem income to use.

Pasha, if you were helping me, we may still have a chance to beat Jurri.

[CUnknown]

Oh, you have like 30 hours from now (~5pm eastern time on saturday), Jurri. I may have restarted my computer, so the deadline re-set.

[Jurri]

Thank you! ...although it looks like jeffr hasn't yet done his turn, so no new turn just yet.

You forget that you have over 70 provinces and I under 40. (Notice how I count Boron's provinces as yours.) I have a hard time believing that even with the Nexus I would have even close to the gem income those provinces must certainly yield. Also, it's more than likely that you and Boron have more clams combined than I.

Gold income, well, my growth scale hardly doubles my gold income, so with you having so much more provinces and way better earth/fire gem income there should be no doubt that your income is better. Also, my mages cost twice that of yours, so after upkeep the difference might be even greater. (I wager I have three lobos for every mortal chump you have )

Pasha may or may not be a king-maker, but even if he sides with me the game is very far from over - I suppose there's no use in bickering over it, though, as ultimately everyone must draw their own conclusions. I think you stand a great chance of winning, no matter what Pasha decides. (If I haven't said so yet, I greatly admire your handling of Ulm. Have you played any other nations?)