Faerun MA PBEM (Calmon/Ermor Wins)

[Hadrian_II]

yes i got it, but i cant host, as long as i am not at home
the next turn should arrive shortly

[Amhazair]

Pffft...

Only four turns of war, and I'm already effectively beaten by a very well executed and coordinated Ermor assault. The combination of massive undead armies, many (many!) Tartarians, half of them able to teleport through one means or another, and massive use of ghost riders has pummeled me to my knees.

Apart from plain and simply being stronger than I was (which was the case), the main cause of this fast collapse was that Calmon was apperently perfectly ready for the war, and I wasn't. I needed about a turn or two (without enemy interruption, which I obviously didn't get) to get everything in place to start a war as I'd have wanted to start it.

You could argue (and you wouldn't be wrong) that it was not very smart to cast a powerful spell like the Arcane Nexus when I wasn't totally ready for a war. I did however have a NAP with Ermor lasting until turn 70, and after having read this http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...=&fpart=1&vc=1 thread some time ago, I was under the impression that even the casting of such a powerful global would not be considered enough cause to break it. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame Calmon in any way - comming from a (board)gaming background where a rare, carefully planned and game-winning betrayal was much admired I was quite worried about being tied hand and foot by "the way things were done here" unable to react if a player I had a deal with did something potentially game winning. I'm quite glad that this at least seems to be considered just cause to attack the offender. - but that thread had me convinced that I was free to do what I wanted untill turn 70, and I was aiming for a war at that point, and not earlier. (with Ermor at least, I was less worried about some other nations )

Having said all that: anyone who's still planning of doing something in this game better to it soon, while Ermor is still occupied with me (I still do have some forces left), because soon he'll be able to turn his full attention elsewhere. And trust me, his attention hurts a lot.

P.S. I did have some smaller successes spread around the heavy blows I kept receiving. Honorable mention for fondest memory for a battle in this game goes to an attempt to break the siege of my castle in Veldorn. Most of the reinforcements I planned to arrive for that battle were stopped by teleporting (or cloud trapezing, or gatestoning, or otherwise jumping about) nasties, so in the end I only had about 50 regular troops with massive mage support to face a roughly 1000-men (3/4 undead) army. The result was a totally destroyed opposition, with only 1 master smith and 2 heavy infantries dead. (and 2 charmed legionnaires to replace them with ) Even though it wasn't a terribly important win (there was nothing particularly valuable in the opposing army), I still thought it amazing fun.

[Sandman]

Is that it, then? Should we declare Calmon the winner?

Ermor has an unstoppable advantage in money and gems. I saw that much when I had Eyes of God up.

[calmon]

I weren't prepared for this war. For me this declaration was also surprising. Maybe we can provide our passwords and 2h files at the end of the game. Not necessarily for this issue but because of the much and often nice battles we had (and will have).

The thing with our NAP and arcane nexus may be discussible. As i said before for me is nexus a very aggressive spell (like utterdark) which has a heavy impact in all others gem using. This spell could be taken as a declaration of war to everyone. However thats my viewpoint but i admit that this may be debatable.

Well, i think you aren't defeated. You take over my best combat global and you have much armies with very good combinations of mages. Your huge arcane income give you a big advantage and good options to react. How many gems did you get from the nexus each turn?
Furthermore T'ien Ch'i decided to attack my backlands and take out most of my water provinces.

I appeal on all other player not to believe that ulm is defeated. Like a good diplomacy player he just play down his own strengths.

[Hadrian_II]

I dont think this game is over yet as Agharta and I have some forces left to join the battle at some point. But in the moment it is not easy to say who will win, as ermor might be stronger now but Ulm with the Arcane Nexus will become very powerful in the long run. Too bad i neglected my scouting and cannot say how the war is going in the east.

[Amhazair]

calmon said:
I weren't prepared for this war. For me this declaration was also surprising.

I didn't necessarily mean that you had planned out your moves in advance or anything, but apparently (a large part of) your forces were in position to attack straight away. While I was using the first turn(s) of the war to move my forces from where I had recruited/summoned them to where I actually needed them, you teleported stuff on top of them, preventing them from arriving (and incidentially also destroying much of them ), while your conventional armies moved into my un-reinforced border provinces. You might have noticed that all my moves up to now where made in an attempt to counter your attacks, and that I didn't manage to launch any (even minor) offensive of my own.

The thing with our NAP and arcane nexus may be discussible. As i said before for me is nexus a very aggressive spell (like utterdark) which has a heavy impact in all others gem using. This spell could be taken as a declaration of war to everyone. However thats my viewpoint but i admit that this may be debatable.

As I said: I totally agree that this is a valid reason to attack me. I just thought that the gaming community on these forums thought otherwise, and as such I was not prepared. I won't make that mistake again.

Well, i think you aren't defeated. You take over my best combat global and you have much armies with very good combinations of mages. Your huge arcane income give you a big advantage and good options to react. How many gems did you get from the nexus each turn?
Furthermore T'ien Ch'i decided to attack my backlands and take out most of my water provinces.

dont think this game is over yet as Agharta and I have some forces left to join the battle at some point. But in the moment it is not easy to say who will win, as ermor might be stronger now but Ulm with the Arcane Nexus will become very powerful in the long run. Too bad i neglected my scouting and cannot say how the war is going in the east.

Let me rephrase what I said and clarify what I actually meant: Ermor has dealt me some big blows that hurt me badly, and has huge and powerful forces ready to deal some more blows. If the two of us would be left alone I might still win a battle or two, kill of some stuff, and resist a while longer, but I don't see myself capable of doing any serious harm to his empire. That does not necessarily mean this game is over. If other nations launch a serious attack on Ermor, doing real damage and possibly forcing him to pull back some of his troops, Whatever I still have left at this point might help me hold out long enough for the nexus to pay of more, and then the situation could possibly change.

I also have only very poor information on the strength of the other nations, as T'ien Chi fought his war underwater and thus out of sight of my scouts, Man was on the opposite corner of the map and I only saw some minor engagement where unsupported knights fought of some stupid AI attacks, and Agartha actually hasn't fought any war yet (which could mean he has huge forces at his disposal) In none of these cases do I have the slightest idea of any independent mages they have that might widen their magical spectrum, of their gem income and reserves, of any kind of SC they might have, etc...

Oh, and the income of the Nexus is quite nice. It almost doubled my total gem income. (with less diversity obviously )

[Sandman]

Hadrian_II said:
I dont think this game is over yet as Agharta and I have some forces left to join the battle at some point. But in the moment it is not easy to say who will win, as ermor might be stronger now but Ulm with the Arcane Nexus will become very powerful in the long run. Too bad i neglected my scouting and cannot say how the war is going in the east.

If by 'at some point' you mean now, then there is a slim chance that Ermor may be defeated. Ulm is already in ruins, their astral gems will not save them.

[Teraswaerto]

Teraswaerto said:
the world is fit for ashes and suffering on dark fields of bare bones. In the eye of the void we have seen that Ermor shall bring all this in ample quantity.

Doubt not the void.

[Amhazair]

Teraswaerto said:

Doubt not the void.

[calmon]

Sandman said:

If by 'at some point' you mean now, then there is a slim chance that Ermor may be defeated. Ulm is already in ruins, their astral gems will not save them.

+I conquered 1 ulmish castle in the borderlands to me
-He still has more than 20 castles left

+I took some land in the former machaka domain.
-The rest of the provinces are nearly untouched!

+I destroyed some armies
-i lost some armies too and there are many ulmish armies left

+I destroyed some of his elementals
-I lost tartarians too, he charmed some of mine and build up his own tartarians

If you say ulm is in ruins maybe you should give your scouts a better training.