"A Song of Ice and Fire", veterans-only game, MA. In progress, midgame...

[Baalz]

I can't express how bloody frustrating it is that 6 out of the last 10 games I've been in have resulted in 3+ (usually 4+) dogpiles on me before the end game, usually before the end of my first war. 2 were anonymous, and 1 is in progress and early enough that's still a possibility - which means I pretty much can't play non anonymous games. Justified however you want to, lopsided dogpiles are bloody miserable with neither attackers nor defender getting a good game. There's no strategy, no skill, I basically got voted out the game before the first blow was struck. I've got the research and skill to inflict a bit of damage and draw it out, but having intimate experience with this what usually happens is everybody knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have no chance and thus nobody is super motivated to actually pay in blood to finish me off once I'm good and crippled by storming castles, etc. Putting up a defense will likely result in me limping along for some time in a hopeless situation. Why would I do that (yet again) when a significant portion of the players of the game just let me know they're not interested in having a good game? Every one of my neighbors was attacking me last turn (sounds like TC gained a token border...though he did let me know that he'd attack me if it looked like I couldn't hold off the dogpile), so I don't even feel any guilt for unbalancing the game with a power void since half the bloody game should more or less get an even piece of my corpse. I do apologize to you specifically Corwin, but I can't in good conscience stick a sub into this miserable situation - they're too hard to come by for even viable positions. My own frustration aside, it's best hat Shin just implodes evenly at this point.