The Wisdom of War: Quotes Relevant to MP Games

[DonCorazon]

"He knew men such as these. Their courage held so long as they outnumbered their victims, the hollow glory they thirsted for came with overpowering and terrorizing the helpless. Such creatures were common in the world, and a land locked in war left them to run free, the brutal truths behind every just cause. They were given a name....the vultures of violence."

- Kalam, Deadhouse Gates

This to me is the number one truism in Dominions MP games. You can rarely survive for long without communicating with your neighbors - trading, treaties, and alliances. If you fail to secure friends, expect to be attacked. Most people will only attack in numbers and will definitely attack as soon as you demonstrate some sign of weakness. As soon as you are involved in war, expect to be attacked if you have not secured treaties with your neighbors. Most MP players are by their very nature vultures of violence - VoVs.

[DonCorazon]

One more from Gardens of the Moon (you can tell what I have been reading) -

Kallor: "I I walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?"

Calladan Brood: "Yes, you never learn"

Number two - expect to lose in MP and to keep coming back from more.

[GrudgeBringer]

"The Good General looks to Win and then to Battle while the Poor general looks to Battle and Hopes to win".

The Art of War
Sun Tzu

[K]

"Be my brother, or I will kill you."

Popular slogan during the French Revolution(English translation)

[lch]

Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick. -- Terry Pratchett

[Deadnature]

Before all else, be armed.


-- Niccolo Machiavelli

So many mp games have been lost by players choosing to research/build too much to the detriment of being ready for war.

[Tifone]

Originally Posted by Deadnature

So many mp games have been lost by players choosing to research/build too much to the detriment of being ready for war.

Eh eh. To me, it's probably the most terrible problem in strategic games. I really don't know how much to invest in research and how much in units... if you don't use your units, they're a dead cost - so either you don't buy them and invest in research, and you're probably zerged by some rusher, or you buy and use them, but it's difficult to know how many are enough to attempt an assault, and if the assault fails, you have lost money to nothing and you can be left behind in research and someone else gets the big guns before you do.

Well, I'd contribute, even if I have never played an MP game of Dom3 yet ^^

"If the large power voluntarily abstains from using its full power or feels the strategic situation to be such that it cannot do so, it in effect loses the advantage of being a big power." [Elliot Richardson]

Well, easy to understand. Efficiency is the way to win... even the large power which lets his armies be divided and conquered separately loses every advantage. Sun Tzu, Caesar and even Bruce Lee (and, well, many economists) have similar quotes about maximum results for power and efforts, as probably all of you know

[WraithLord]

Originally Posted by DonCorazon

"He knew men such as these. Their courage held so long as they outnumbered their victims, the hollow glory they thirsted for came with overpowering and terrorizing the helpless. Such creatures were common in the world, and a land locked in war left them to run free, the brutal truths behind every just cause. They were given a name....the vultures of violence."

- Kalam, Deadhouse Gates

Kallor: "I I walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?"

Calladan Brood: "Yes, you never learn"

Amazing! I'm reading Deadhouse gates now. Both quotes caught my attention and got me thinking of dominions. The kallor quote I read while on vacation and it brought back lots of memories from past dominions MP games.
Sometimes when I read the malazan books I get this eerie feeling that the author is/was familiar with dominions. Similarities in concepts are striking.

As for my quote: "Greetings X would you be interested in a NAP+Y?"
This one sentence is a must for every MP player, as well as the following response: "Yes, that sounds reasonable. Agreed!"

Unless in a clear advantage early, wars usually lead to mutual attrition that, in turn, leads to an early exit from game.

[Tichy]

"He who calculates with a bad memory deserves the war he gets."
[G.W. Sok]

[RonD]

Originally Posted by Tichy

"He who calculates with a bad memory deserves the war he gets."
[G.W. Sok]

"As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want." -- Donald Rumsfeld in 2004

Somehow, those 2 quotes just need to go together...