Mod: CBM 1.7 released

[Corinthian]

Originally Posted by llamabeast

The trouble with that is that the appropriate cost depends on the size of game. For a small 4-player game, vey cheap clams would be appropriate, while for a huge game they should be very expensive in order to avoid being no-brainers. There's no cost which is appropriate for all games.

This point I disagree with. Why? Because big games and small games also play very different in every other way. All actions in strategy games are investments. You can usually chose between quick investments that have a bad but fast payoff. Or you can make long, slow, investments that will make slower but greater payoff. A clam is a long term investment that is safe. It will always pay of after long enough time. The drawback is that it has a opportunity cost. The research points needed to get to const 6 could be spent elsewhere. Those gems and research points could free some unfrozen that could win you wars.

The clam is only a good investment if you live long enough for it to break even. (25 turns in my scenario.) You sacrifice part of your current power in order to gain a greater power down the line. Assuming you survive. And it is not certain that you could not have gained greater power by using your current power to take your neighbors provinces and gem income.

So what does this have to do with small games? Well small games are quick! Late game strategies like tarts and wish will be useless. Anyone that sacrifices short term power, in order to gain even more long term power, will be crushed by people that build troops and battle mages. By increasing the cost and research required to use clams, you delay the repayment and makes it a late game plan. Or rather a plan that come into fruitaition in the late game.

Originally Posted by llamabeast

Apart from that, I think it's horrid that a player can be reduced to one sieged fortress, but still be effectively at full power because the fortress is full of clam bearers. It completely disconnects power from provinces and armies.

If that is your problem then you must hate Late Age C'tis.
I am playing them in a newbie game on the other forum. I have been at war with two other players for proximately two and a half year. I have been loosing that war for almost as long..... They can't kill me though because even though I only had two provinces left at the worst, I still had all my undead reanimators left. And because I had found quite a few death sites in the first year, they were quite many.

The enemy could raid away all my lands, take my gem and gold income, and yet none of that mattered. Because my upkeep-free priests could reanimate 42 upkeep-free tomb chariots each and every turn! My war making abilities are still on top and I could probably hod out at least another year against two enemies that control all my lands. Possibly two!