Game 6020 (low magic tiers only)

[davekuyk]

This was a custom game where only those kingdoms with magic tier 4 and below were available. 

The original participants:

SA    The Crown Islands(1)    The Theocracy of the Sacred Order of Knights  Lord Thanatos
CI    Darkover(2)            The Cimmerian Nation from the North            Meilichios
GI    The Diamond Coast(3)    The Giants Above The Trembling Ground          uncledarkseid
AM    Krynn(4)                The Realm of the Amazon Matriarchy            Mauler
AT    Triumvia(5)            The Legendary Civilization of the Atlanteans  Ozymandius
RD    Zanthia(6)              The Reign of Terror of the Red Dragons        Frostking
DW    Nyvaria(7)              The Dwarven Lords of the Mountains            Xerro
HA    The Sword Coast(8)      The Commonwealth of the Halflings              Windstar
LY    Pellinor(9)            The Vile Culture of the Lycans                JohnnyUtah
PI    Zamora(10)              The Pirates of Avalon and Beyond              Wynand
TY    Mythgar(11)            The Evil Reign of the Tyrant of Gor            Strongwill
BL    The Untamed Lands(12)  The Dark Skies of the Black Dragons            Pine Needle

After 40 turns, the result was a Dwarven victory:

1    DW    Xerro                    65,445    102,581
2    PI    Wynand                    70,656      98,594
3    AT    Ozymandius                62,806      97,615
4    AM    Mauler                    54,529      82,207
5    HA    Windstar                  13,378      34,080
6    SA    Lord Thanatos              6,100      20,731

Congratulations to the Dwarf. As we can see, the results were rather close.

I do wonder if we set a record for the most Great Temples built in a game  

I found this game interesting in that fortified PCs were actually difficult to take, even late in the game. Teleporting groups were still a thing, but were less common. In a typical game that goes the distance, there are no PCs (outside of the water) that are safe from a wizard group popping in and taking them. In this game, one had to be very deliberate to take some of the big PCs.

Thanks to all who played. I'd like to hear what others thought of this "low magic" game.

[Wynand]

This was a custom game where only those kingdoms with magic tier 4 and below were available. 

The original participants:

SA    The Crown Islands(1)    The Theocracy of the Sacred Order of Knights  Lord Thanatos
CI    Darkover(2)            The Cimmerian Nation from the North            Meilichios
GI    The Diamond Coast(3)    The Giants Above The Trembling Ground          uncledarkseid
AM    Krynn(4)                The Realm of the Amazon Matriarchy            Mauler
AT    Triumvia(5)            The Legendary Civilization of the Atlanteans  Ozymandius
RD    Zanthia(6)              The Reign of Terror of the Red Dragons        Frostking
DW    Nyvaria(7)              The Dwarven Lords of the Mountains            Xerro
HA    The Sword Coast(8)      The Commonwealth of the Halflings              Windstar
LY    Pellinor(9)            The Vile Culture of the Lycans                JohnnyUtah
PI    Zamora(10)              The Pirates of Avalon and Beyond              Wynand
TY    Mythgar(11)            The Evil Reign of the Tyrant of Gor            Strongwill
BL    The Untamed Lands(12)  The Dark Skies of the Black Dragons            Pine Needle

After 40 turns, the result was a Dwarven victory:

1    DW    Xerro                    65,445    102,581
2    PI    Wynand                    70,656      98,594
3    AT    Ozymandius                62,806      97,615
4    AM    Mauler                    54,529      82,207
5    HA    Windstar                  13,378      34,080
6    SA    Lord Thanatos              6,100      20,731

Congratulations to the Dwarf. As we can see, the results were rather close.

I do wonder if we set a record for the most Great Temples built in a game  

I found this game interesting in that fortified PCs were actually difficult to take, even late in the game. Teleporting groups were still a thing, but were less common. In a typical game that goes the distance, there are no PCs (outside of the water) that are safe from a wizard group popping in and taking them. In this game, one had to be very deliberate to take some of the big PCs.

Thanks to all who played. I'd like to hear what others thought of this "low magic" game.

Super fun game, and the early dynamics were interesting. I had a similar plan to Ozzy; over-invest in getting a P-8. It took me a few turns longer, and then I had to decide who the biggest threat was. I was one turn away from moving on the BL before his empire collapsed under the AT/TY counter-insurgency effort. Seeing the HA move on the AT forced my hand into attacking the re-established TY. I had no plans to attack the AT, and in fact, had moved into position to flood Nyvaria when the AT declared war. I think that ended up being awesome for the DW.

[davekuyk]

I (the AT) didn't declare war on the PI, I happened to move to a village and saw it filled with princes and agents, which must be where you were about to stage an attack on the DW. That is when I realized you had taken TY villages all over the south, and I assumed you were moving on me. I then made the enemy declaration, denigrates, etc. I was already engaged with the HA so I could do little more than that.

Regarding the P-8. As the AT I needed to get to p-9, as that is when the kingdom gets Crack the Sky, which is the only fear effect available. With it, the kingdom can attack legendary PCs, without it, I'm not sure even a Great Castle can be taken! It seems an oversight that the kingdom does not receive the base Fear spell.

[Wynand]

I (the AT) didn't declare war on the PI, I happened to move to a village and saw it filled with princes and agents, which must be where you were about to stage an attack on the DW. That is when I realized you had taken TY villages all over the south, and I assumed you were moving on me. I then made the enemy declaration, denigrates, etc. I was already engaged with the HA so I could do little more than that.

Regarding the P-8. As the AT I needed to get to p-9, as that is when the kingdom gets Crack the Sky, which is the only fear effect available. With it, the kingdom can attack legendary PCs, without it, I'm not sure even a Great Castle can be taken! It seems an oversight that the kingdom does not receive the base Fear spell.

Figured it was reactive to my presence, but by being in VU, I was hoping you would assume that if I want to take your places in Untamed, I would have by that point.
Oh well, I figured at that stage I was "aii in" and proceeded to try and mop up the rest of 12.

Right - PI is stronger than AT in that type of game by a lot - crack the sky, summon death, and also - trolls! I had no issues taking your Legendary in Untamed. Not too at all!

[Xerro]

Hello all dwarf chiming in here. First I think we should all congratulate pine needle on his brilliant campaign very nearly taking the game early with the black dragon and doing many things that should be impossible for that kingdom. OK on to me and my game. In a low magic game the kingdom with the lowest magic should have the most other advantages? That was my thought in choosing the dwarf. My early plan was to build up and fort up against highly aggressive neighbors. We all were big military powers and I expected a lot of early conquests and very little defense. Boy was I wrong. I started with a strong look at my neighbors the lycans worried me the most. The black dragons were understanding on my accidently moving through his lands and landing on his PCs. When he attacked the lycan I thoght I would jump in and help but he finished the lycan off fast. SO I was happy with the black dragons as a neighbor. Where would I go when it was time to move. The 3 choices left were the giants, cimmerians and atlanteans. Hmm I would have to attack across water to fight the atlanteans, so that was out. Seemed like a BAD plan. The cimerians and giants went to war. This was good for me. I moved in several turns later on the former giants lands. Luck was with me the sacred order was moving on darkover at the same time. He bypassed much of darkover and was heavy in the diamond coast also. While this was going on the black dragon had beat the red. I would love to hear how that happened. he then moved on the tyrant and almost achieved a rex victory. SO most of the rest of the world was busy stopping him. The amazon also moved in on the darkover and diamond coast rumble. I spent the rest of the game slowly solidifying the diamond coast and darkover. Winning mainly because my agents were in range and theirs were not. On the last few turns I made a trip through the crown Islands and made an impact in zanthia. All this time I was building up EVERYTHING in the hopes I would end with more status then everyone else. It was a very fun game. Now since brekk wants to know about kingdoms I will voice my views on the dwarf. VERY BAD magic but lots of benefits to make up for it. If the 2 balance out is questionable. Very good military. Other then bad magic they have 2 other major problems. Slow movement. Their movement makes it hard for a pure military to cover all they need to and with no magic back up others can maneuver around them I think this is part of being dwarf and should stay. The 3rd problems is only 4 groups. With slow movement and bad magic a 5th group would help them cover. I think some minor tweaks in their spells maybe adding earth elementals for flavor, and a 5th group is all they need. However their win rate is low so maybe I am under estimating how big a handicap their magic is.

[Ruingurth]

Hi all,

I did not play but, matched up the regions and the preselected kingdoms before the draft. Was it fair? Were there any issues?


Ruingruth

[Mauler]

Fun game! Enjoyed the low-er magic. Mixed it up with a few of the players. Hat tip to each of them.
I definitely was not in the running for the most great temples as I was engaged with several kingdoms for the better part of the match. Clearly a strategic failure on my part ;op
I had good interactions with my neighbors and fun back and forth.
Good game to all and a very happy holidays!

[Pine Needle]

Hi all,

I did not play but, matched up the regions and the preselected kingdoms before the draft. Was it fair? Were there any issues?


Ruingruth

Close enough. I think the LY are currently among the strongest of this group, so I would put them in Zanthia or Untamed, but these assignments were good. Thanks.

---

Hello all dwarf chiming in here. First I think we should all congratulate pine needle on his brilliant campaign very nearly taking the game early with the black dragon and doing many things that should be impossible for that kingdom. OK on to me and my game. In a low magic game the kingdom with the lowest magic should have the most other advantages? That was my thought in choosing the dwarf. My early plan was to build up and fort up against highly aggressive neighbors. We all were big military powers and I expected a lot of early conquests and very little defense. Boy was I wrong. I started with a strong look at my neighbors the lycans worried me the most. The black dragons were understanding on my accidently moving through his lands and landing on his PCs. When he attacked the lycan I thoght I would jump in and help but he finished the lycan off fast. SO I was happy with the black dragons as a neighbor. Where would I go when it was time to move. The 3 choices left were the giants, cimmerians and atlanteans. Hmm I would have to attack across water to fight the atlanteans, so that was out. Seemed like a BAD plan. The cimerians and giants went to war. This was good for me. I moved in several turns later on the former giants lands. Luck was with me the sacred order was moving on darkover at the same time. He bypassed much of darkover and was heavy in the diamond coast also. While this was going on the black dragon had beat the red. I would love to hear how that happened.  he then moved on the tyrant and almost achieved a rex victory. SO most of the rest of the world was busy stopping him. 

Well, I did have a plan to maximize the BL's only advantage- speed. Its troops are pretty cheap, too, and I was in Untamed, so even cheaper. They can't hold anything, so there was no reason to build up a PC, and more reason to pillage PCs than take them and try to hold. They can't have a sea capital, so building secret passages throughout Untamed and Pellinor was my only active defense.

With the ban on priestesses until turn 4, I knew I could scout two regions before any other kingdom, and chose Pellinor as I thought the Lycans would go after the woeful BL first with their fast, and strong, troops. 

I found and took his capital, and I think his top agents, but he quickly assembled a counterattacking army. I ran to the mountains of Mythgar to recruit, and he tailed me. This was when the Tyrant said "Uh- why are you both in my region?" I believe LY won that battle, but dropped pretty quickly after that.

The Red was flying around Pellinor, and attacked me there but not in force- just one group, so off to Zanthia. His towns were all in the east of the region so I hit them all at once, and I think the AM hit all his villages on the west side at the same time, so the Red dropped without any group battles against me. Realizing I would be overextended with 3 regions so fast, I told the AM she could have it and withdrew to scout Mythgar and plan a 3 region in one turn coup attempt.

Right about know the TY dropped, but a new TY took over. I found his capital and a minor city which the earlier TY had built to like 100k gold, but no defenses? He enamored Untamed which I took as an act of war and took the capital then moved on the city.

The AT then teleported into Pellinor with a Power 8 and I was about done. My secret passages foiled any real damage, but I couldn't fight his group nor hold the TY gem in Mythgar against that. I moved on Stormgate and Zanthia, but the former Red capital had a great castle on it, which I could not take, so that was it.

I pillaged Stormgate and the sweet TY pc and that was that.

I think I might have been able to win had I kept the Red capital in Zanthia instead of totally abandoning it, to have at least one town when I made my coup attempt, but I couldn't fight the Amazon there and didn't want to run the risk of war.

But my coup would have been stopped just as easily if the AT had built a great castle on Stormgate or the earlier TY had fortified either his capital or his sweet gold city, so oh well.

It was fun to try. BL sucks so bad...

P.S. The DW in the first turns was pretty funny. First his group landed on my capital, then a neutral town with my big (at the time) 1BL, and I just said "Toddle along, my bearded brother...." And to think, he won! Congratulations, well fought. I thought the AT had this wrapped up.

[davekuyk]

The placement seemed good. IMHO, there are only a few kingdoms that need specific regions for a "fair" start. Dwarves, Atlanteans, and Pirates all come to mine. Most kingdoms in this format would do well in most regions.

I do want to put a shout out to Lord Thanatos! He was beaten and battered as the SA but stayed in it until the end. He even picked up a region for a few turns in the very late game. Very tenacious!

[Strongwill]

Hi all,

I did not play but, matched up the regions and the preselected kingdoms before the draft. Was it fair? Were there any issues?


Ruingruth

Close enough. I think the LY are currently among the strongest of this group, so I would put them in Zanthia or Untamed, but these assignments were good. Thanks.

---

Hello all dwarf chiming in here. First I think we should all congratulate pine needle on his brilliant campaign very nearly taking the game early with the black dragon and doing many things that should be impossible for that kingdom. OK on to me and my game. In a low magic game the kingdom with the lowest magic should have the most other advantages? That was my thought in choosing the dwarf. My early plan was to build up and fort up against highly aggressive neighbors. We all were big military powers and I expected a lot of early conquests and very little defense. Boy was I wrong. I started with a strong look at my neighbors the lycans worried me the most. The black dragons were understanding on my accidently moving through his lands and landing on his PCs. When he attacked the lycan I thoght I would jump in and help but he finished the lycan off fast. SO I was happy with the black dragons as a neighbor. Where would I go when it was time to move. The 3 choices left were the giants, cimmerians and atlanteans. Hmm I would have to attack across water to fight the atlanteans, so that was out. Seemed like a BAD plan. The cimerians and giants went to war. This was good for me. I moved in several turns later on the former giants lands. Luck was with me the sacred order was moving on darkover at the same time. He bypassed much of darkover and was heavy in the diamond coast also. While this was going on the black dragon had beat the red. I would love to hear how that happened.  he then moved on the tyrant and almost achieved a rex victory. SO most of the rest of the world was busy stopping him. 

Well, I did have a plan to maximize the BL's only advantage- speed. Its troops are pretty cheap, too, and I was in Untamed, so even cheaper. They can't hold anything, so there was no reason to build up a PC, and more reason to pillage PCs than take them and try to hold. They can't have a sea capital, so building secret passages throughout Untamed and Pellinor was my only active defense.

With the ban on priestesses until turn 4, I knew I could scout two regions before any other kingdom, and chose Pellinor as I thought the Lycans would go after the woeful BL first with their fast, and strong, troops. 

I found and took his capital, and I think his top agents, but he quickly assembled a counterattacking army. I ran to the mountains of Mythgar to recruit, and he tailed me. This was when the Tyrant said "Uh- why are you both in my region?" I believe LY won that battle, but dropped pretty quickly after that.

The Red was flying around Pellinor, and attacked me there but not in force- just one group, so off to Zanthia. His towns were all in the east of the region so I hit them all at once, and I think the AM hit all his villages on the west side at the same time, so the Red dropped without any group battles against me. Realizing I would be overextended with 3 regions so fast, I told the AM she could have it and withdrew to scout Mythgar and plan a 3 region in one turn coup attempt.

Right about know the TY dropped, but a new TY took over. I found his capital and a minor city which the earlier TY had built to like 100k gold, but no defenses? He enamored Untamed which I took as an act of war and took the capital then moved on the city.

The AT then teleported into Pellinor with a Power 8 and I was about done. My secret passages foiled any real damage, but I couldn't fight his group nor hold the TY gem in Mythgar against that. I moved on Stormgate and Zanthia, but the former Red capital had a great castle on it, which I could not take, so that was it.

I pillaged Stormgate and the sweet TY pc and that was that.

I think I might have been able to win had I kept the Red capital in Zanthia instead of totally abandoning it, to have at least one town when I made my coup attempt, but I couldn't fight the Amazon there and didn't want to run the risk of war.

But my coup would have been stopped just as easily if the AT had built a great castle on Stormgate or the earlier TY had fortified either his capital or his sweet gold city, so oh well.

It was fun to try. BL sucks so bad...

P.S. The DW in the first turns was pretty funny. First his group landed on my capital, then a neutral town with my big (at the time) 1BL, and I just said "Toddle along, my bearded brother...." And to think, he won! Congratulations, well fought. I thought the AT had this wrapped up.

TY position had accrued a bunch of wizards, and they were useless until they could be raised so I started mass production lol. My luck to have a non magic kingdom, save the P4 wrath I started with, in a non magic blasting game. Well I just tried to see how long it would take to make the TY a magical kingdom. but then had to resign on personal issues, glad it was taken over… congrats on the win.