MP: Mists of Time: Early Era Game [full]

[thejeff]

It is a shame you both didn't make it to the death match. The Mandeha would have been interesting.

I'll second the thanks to everyone for a good game, especially the subs who came in and helped out.
The announcement post went up 5/21/09 so just about 10 months. A good, but occasionally rough ride.

Unless someone has strong objections, I'm going to take the game down from llamaserver so it doesn't start emailing us stale turns.

[hoo]

Congrats to Pan and sorry I missed it. I was debating sending a Chayot equipped with either a) the unique 2 handed sword that banishes to inferno or b) Summitt/Aegis. Would also have had the monolith army for protection/regen, boots of calus for endo, and ardamon's soul trap for insta undead warriors & mages.

A good game that sadly fizzled as I think it was a long way for ending and the turns were more of a chore than a pleasure for most players. By the end, I think I have 10+ chayots/serpahs, 2 air queens, a host of golems/irondragons probably about 60% of the unique artifacts. I had a construction bonus site so I was pumping out multiple iron dragons/golems a turn. I also had the blood 40 or 50 site as well as a few other bonus sites like evocation.

I was going to unleash an offensive on Van aimed at taking 30 provinces around one of the capitols and being able to construct a lab and then take over one of the main armies using gateway. I know that Van probably had enough for about 100 seeking arrows saved up so I was preparing counters for that. I would lost a lot but I had a few other tricks up my sleeve since I had a lot of mobility and magic diversity. Still don't think it would have been enough unless Atlantis was able to get going.

[Stretch]

My last turn is available online earlier in the thread. Massive armies would fall like chaff before the might of the vandrotts and vanjarls, which could be summoned to strike at any place, any time. Atlantis and I were busy throwing SCs and thugs at each other non-stop or else Mavreni would not have grown so quickly. It was good that you took advantage, but any large armies would be decimated by an airborne strike, and any grouping of thugs or SCs would be banished to kokytos/life-for-a-lifed/thugged into oblivion. Chayots and Seraphs were not much of a trump card any longer, and Vanheim had vast blood reserves that it was never forced to use. None ever successfully assaulted a Vanir castle, and none even took Vanir lands and held them unless they were given over of our own free will. Our capitals were stuffed with troops, with more on the way should I have chosen. I was eagerly awaiting the day that someone would bring a force of note into my lands, as I had several horrible traps in wait (a battalion of immortal demiliches, more 4A vandrotts than I could count ready to unleash air magic on armies who tried to protect themselves via army of lead, high level mages in all paths at the likely attack points, ubiquitous blood magic, etc).

Regrettably, I was putting less and less effort into my turns (and trying to win the game by attacking TNN and then wrestling 3 more capitals from someone else), but were someone to launch a huge assault on me would have spelled doom for many of their raiding troops and near-immediate retaking of all lands, with horrible reprisals for any scouted armies, I guarantee you! Everything except massed tartarians would have had a nightmarish time taking down myself (or, likely, Lanka) since end-game blood magic coupled with air magic on the same unit (i.e. vandrotts, vanjarls, and dakinis) is brutally powerful. What air queen or chayot could stand against massed blood sabbath/life for a lifex4 communions except tartarians (who I do not think it effects), unless you were using blood magic yourself? Seraphs are so vulnerable to mind duel I'd hesitate to ever summon one against a diversified opponent (I had about 20 sorceresses and the skullcaps/crystal coins to equip some nice mind dueling strikeforces which took out 2 seraphs without a hitch via power of the spheres/mind duel/returning scripts). Chayots are fun but they lose forms quickly and route somewhat easily against life for a life spam, when they don't just get banished to inferno by a vandrott that they have to get a lucky roll to even strike.

[thejeff]

Seraphs are vulnerable to Magic Due, but you got ridiculously lucky with the duels you won.

Remember, though I wasn't going to point it out to you at the time, only base Astral level counts for Magic Duel. Not items, not booster spells.

I played around with the first of those duels using Ctrl-U to add chaff and rejigger the RNG. Several times the Seraph surived, I think once one of the Sorceresses suicided to take him out.

[Stretch]

Ahh, really? I did not know that! Another good thing to keep in mind for games in the future. As you can see, fantastic luck was on Vanheim's side as well! In any case, that'd lower the cost of magic dueling to just the cloud trapeze which isn't bad, and after seeing life for a life in action I have trouble being scared of any SC that doesn't have insane regen or is immune to it (I assume that undead are immune but I didn't have any time for testing late game).

[Gregstrom]

Lifeless units are immune to L4AL, not undead. Many chaff undead are lifeless, but not Tarts IIRC.

[Sambo]

Interesting, seeing how powerful the main players were. Lanka, unfortunately, was a broken nation after our war with T'ien and Neifel, and we never recovered. Our ultimate plan was to throw up a Astral Corruption / Utterdark combo and rampage through the world, but it looks like they would have been dispelled (even though we had the gems / slaves to cast them at full power).

We had just started an exploratory campaign against Atlantis / TNN, but we were seriously considering shifting course and invading our old allies, Vanheim (sorry, Stretch!), when the death match idea came up. Considering how long turns were already taking, and that we were a minor power, it was an easy decision.

Great game, I certainly learned a lot!

[Stagger Lee]

Hey guys. The second Thain of Tir na n'Og here. My predecessor was not acquainted with the theory of clamming. When I took the reins on turn 70 or so, we had some gems in reserve, but we were generating one earth gem/turn by bloodstone with no clams or fetishes. By the time of the tournament, we were getting more than 40 pearls/turn via clams, and a dozen or so fetshes. Blood slaves were impossible for me to come by. I kept hoping for my small random chance mages to produce a blood hunter or two, but I should have traded for them.

On the turn before the tournament, I got to cast my first wish. I wished for a cyclops. I got one, non tartarian, and not a leader. Should have looked at the list. I had been pumping out tarts for 6 turns by then. All bad. My best was a limp cyclops that I GoR'd anyway, and he was working his way to the front with an impressive (to my mind) army. I know I was well behind most of the leaders. Blood was off the table, and death was rare. I had Tarrasques, and that Eater, and an Air Queen.

Marverni and I were in discussions, and though I probably wouldn't have been much help, he would not have stood alone against the rest of you. A doomed campaign against Lanka would have been interesting, and hopefully fun. But against Van too? No, the tournament was the only chance.

When I subbed in, I'd only had the game a little more than a month, and I'd never seen turn 70 in MP. I found all of this new and fun, and I did what I was there to do - nobody got free provinces while I was watching. Thanks for the game, and the chance to try some things I'd never been able to before.

btw:I don't mean to knock Iron Duke, wherever he went. I think he did remarkably well without gem gens in this sort of game. My position was solid, and the nation is not a traditional power.

[hoo]

"It was good that you took advantage, but any large armies would be decimated by an airborne strike, and any grouping of thugs or SCs would be banished to kokytos/life-for-a-lifed/thugged into oblivion."

I think a lot of it is countering what's thrown at you and the reactor has the advantage.

I figure I'd take my licks but be able to draw you out. I also planned to attack and then script returning. So you attack me, I teleport out and re-attack outside a lab.

Marverni is a pretty solid late-game powerhouse b/c of their diversity and since every druid has a good astral/spells recruitable at every castle.

And I agree that L4L and claws are 2 gamewinner spells. But there's others as well.

I still think Van would have won since Pan was going to support him. Getting the Nexus up was the gamewinning move.

[Stretch]

I had to consult this game thread for a few things and wound up reading the last few pages. What a great game of Dom3!