Game 115 ends. Victory for the Trolls on Turn 21.

[Jumbie]

The final results looked like this:

1 TR Wynand 4952 6817
2 WI Yellowbeard 3677 5959
3 DA Jumbie 2831 4614
4 RD DuPont 2550 4613
5 SO Hile Troy 1628 3596
6 AN Mauler 1306 3492
7 GN Helix 1260 2310
8 UN Cargus10 926 1872
9 BL Thalion II 704 1633
10 RA DESTITUTE NOBLE 820 1270



I once wrote a thousand words to Kevin Dusi explaining why the Dark Elves were my favorite kingdom. I'm thrilled to say that I'm the first person to place the DA on the podium since the 2013 restart. (based on a basic perusal of Valhalla. I note also that over in game 120, VBallMichael has become the first to win with DA)

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PRE-GAME

The game started for me with emails to the nearby players, looking for people I could work with. I struck an agreement with the DW to give each other PC locations. And the RD and I agreed on a 12 turn NAP.

Most importantly, I made a loose alliance with the RA and SO.

Our plan was to knock our arch-rivals (WA, TR, EL) out of the game one after the other, using our 3-1 advantage to work our way across the map. We were going to avoid going for regions specifically and just commit serial genocide. The idea was that wiping 3 players off the board would create opportunities for us to gain our victory goals, while growing our kingdoms/resources and getting rid of the three players we knew for sure were going to harm us just by existing. I liked it because it was a flexible plan the allowed for opportunistic game play.


EARLY HITS

Things got immediately easier when the TR brutally and efficiently invaded the Elves and destroyed them before turn 5 was over. We had eliminated our first target without doing a thing.

We divined the WA locations and went after them. I was really torn on this because I wanted to do a comprehensive attack to prevent him regrouping, but my people were out of position and we also didn't want to give him time to grow since he was only at 7 PCs. So we ended up going in piecemeal (2 emissaries from me, 1 military from the Ranger in the south of Amberland etc)

We did reasonably well (I sacked his capital), but then the GI allied with the WA and declared the RA an enemy and now we were fighting 3-2.

Again the agenda of another kingdom saved us when the RD descended on Amberland and in 4 turns took Zarathon from the Giants and Evanon from the WA. So awestruck were they by his might that they both resigned.

At this point I figured the RD's victory goals probably involved owning a number of cities, but we had our NAP so I just enjoyed our peace. The RD had sole ownership of the Talking Mountains and all its gold since the DW had dropped out from personal issues and I was scared as Hell RD was coming for the Steppes next so I approached him about our NAP and got it extended to the end of turn 17.

I spent a few turns chasing artifacts, raising wizards and botching orders. On one turn I botched 5 orders which affected a subsequent 3.

I needed two weapon artifacts for victory and on one occasion I divined that the Trollslayer was in the possession of the 1WI, but didn't want to attack/steal from WI and start a war.


THE MIDDLE ROUNDS

At about turn 13, I approached the Witchlord to jointly either take on the RD or the AN/TR, since they seemed closest to winning.

However, the WI said he couldn't fight against the AN/TR due to a NAP and he wouldn't fight the RD due to sentiment as they had helped each other out earlier.

To me this meant that the WI was going to end up targeting me with either RD or TR helping.

The AN took the Sands from the BL, so the RA, SO an I got the BL in on a plan to take Torvale. The idea was that the AN seemed closest to victory by now owning 2 regions, so we would knock AN out of control in Torvale, take whatever TR owned in Torvale and move to the TR holdings in Oakendale.

This is where we organized a BEAUTIFUL joint operation. I had 7 emissaries of baron or higher level plus a military group to strike from the north. The SO was sending a Duke. The RA had a group to strike from the south and so did the BL. Everything was coordinated to happen together.


TWIST ENDING - A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Then the RD tried to declare victory just as our NAP was ending, so leaving him alone seemed like granting him the win without a fight. Most importantly this was the first Alamaze game where I had a chance to do an invasion and he was SPOILING my big fight in Torvale. I had put a huge amount of effort over 3 turns organizing the attack and I wanted to see it go off.

Since I felt cities were key to RD's victory conditions and since I had an Army Group in range, I moved to RD's city at Evanon on turn 17, so I could attack T18. I also moved an emissary to one of his towns in Amberland (Gold Peak) thinking to take it as well, but ultimately decided this was too provocative.

The RD was upset of course, but I told him it wasn't personal and I intended on just taking the city from him and then spend the rest of my time fighting his closest rival. He said fine, but he was still going to spank me over it. I told him he could better spend his time getting a new city for his SVC than spanking me because then I could devote my time to his rivals not to him- and hey how about a peace deal?

He agreed!

But only starting Turn 20.

I realized immediately that meant he as going to move his military to Evanon on T18, the same turn I was going to attack it. He hoped to take it back T19. I contacted the SO, asking if he could lend me a Dome spell to keep Evanon mine. I got no reply.

So I decided to switch my military over from the Torvale operation (which was still a go) and after they took Evanon on T18, used a Speed spell to get them to Zarathon. If the RD indeed moved against Evanon, I'd be able to take Zarathon city for city and keep him from victory.

Another wrinkle I faced was that the RD military had just happened to stop at one of my villages in Western Amberland where my princess was waiting to move into Torvale. I sent a message to the RD that I had an emissary at the village that I was going to use against one of his rivals, could he pretty please not attack it since taking it would not harm me in any real way, but could prevent me taking a town from his rival.

His reply was that the village was needed according to his calculations. I figured this to mean there was some percentage threshold he was trying to meet so I decided to go ahead and take Gold Peak since it would cancel out his gain.

Everything went off well, except that I did indeed lose my princess. RD showed up at Evanon just as I showed up at Zarathon.

RD felt I had deceived him. I had told him I intended to take the city and move on, and instead I had taken a town into the bargain and showed up at another of his cities.

I proposed that we have a mini-truce and not spend orders taking each other's cities.

RD said, no, he could never trust me again and would never enter any agreement with me.

So I ordered the attack on Zarathon.

Next turn report I was shocked and terrified to see I had taken control of Amberland. The SO had provided a Magical Dome for Evanon after all and I had taken Zarathon, thus accidentally giving me control of the region. I was terrified because I knew that owning two regions would make me a target.

The 1WI had already showed up at one of my towns (as I had expected from our soured negotiations). I remembered that the 1WI had an artifact I needed for victory so I had an agent steal it, having the shortname from the earlier divination.

The SO, RA, BL and I pulled off a spectacular coordinated attack in Torvale and knocked the AN out of control giving me Substantial in the region.

I ended up with everything I needed for SVC except I was short a Count-level emissary. Had the RD not taken my princess I could have won here.

It was a decline after that as the AN retaliated against me, with the WI already having targeted me. My princess escaped on the last turn, but Wynand the invincible had already won.

I did get to fight my first big battle ever in Alamaze when I guessed where the 1WI Army would teleport to and met him there with my Army Group. The battle report was glorious in its pyrotechnic complexity with my P6, P-3, P-3 against Ry Vor at P-8 and also a P-6 and P-5. Warlords in command...Skeletons and Archers and massive earthquakes and glimmering shields, The Axe of Farin and Trollslayer on my side, the Shield of Hector, Wizard Slayer and Giant Killer on his side...

My only disappointment is the 1WI set an early retreat and didn't commit to battle so things ended early without any clear victor.

-----------------

Overall, this was my most enjoyable game so far with the exception of the personal stress of bruised relations with a player whom I'd gotten along with previously.

I enjoy playing Dark Elf. I deliberately waited until my third game to play as DA since I wanted to make sure I had some competence to offer the role.

The DA is an awesome kingdom where you can trust your wizards, military, agents or emissaries. The only problem is that you never seem to have enough orders to use all those expensive toys and they tend to sit idle a lot for the cost.

I honestly can't figure out why only two people have hit the podium with DA so far. If the trend of low podium numbers keeps up, I'd recommend a tweak in probably the regional reaction levels which I found to be a big stumbling block.

Thanks to Destitute Noble and Hile Troy for working with me. Destitute Noble can be like a hyperactive puppy sometimes with his constant need to bite something, and Hile Troy enjoys radio silence too much, but they both came good when it mattered and proved their worth as allies. Hile Troy was like Han Solo at the end of Star Wars coming in to save the day at Evanon and Destitute Noble was always up for action.

I'm in the next steel game starting, as the UN, so see you all there.

[DuPont]

I played the RD in this game and (mostly) had a blast with them. Playing a kingdom that is that strong militarily isn't usually what I go for, but it was a nice change. My first choice was if I should target Runnimded or the Talking Mountains. I contacted both the GN and the DW and found that the GN was a lot more receptive to making deals than the DW. With that in mind, I also brought the UN into the equation, basically saying I would leave the region to them if they would give me some early funding to help take out the DW (which would also benefit the GN). They were agreeable, so I also contacted the DA and WI, securing NAPS with both and the SO, letting him know I'd leave his town in the Mountains alone if he told me where it was. This enabled me to move on Zabzanka on turn 1 with a sizable group and take it. I'd hoped to catch some big DW people there, but no luck. However, I moved right to his capital next and took that. He seemed caught off guard by my direct attack and he was never a threat to me again, dropping quite quickly.
I had control of my first region, but winter was coming fast, so hunkered down in the mountains and conserving my strength. When the spring came, I moved my large group down into Amberland to hit the two cities with the WI helping me by going after some of the towns. I wanted to go and help my allies and my ESO included needing a Southern Sands pop center. I had a rough plan to snag the two cities and then take over the S.S.s for my second region (a long term plan). The GI and WA didn't put up much of a fight, to my surprise. I did get my ESO but then the AN/TR team also showed up in the Sands (they were invited) and I found that they wanted to bulk of it. I simply moved up to Synisvania, since I had no deal with the SO (I was friendly with the RA, though there was no NAP, but really didn't want to attack him). I got the city, so now I had the four I needed, but the AN/TR had followed me into the region and I could see I wasn't just going to get control. Talking to the WI, he offered enough of his towns in Amberland for me to go over the top.
So I should have won, but I forgot that I was only suspicious in the region. I moved into the needed pop centers, but they didn't flip and I'm sure my failed victory claim set off some alarms. I tried the next turn as I was taking two villages with groups, but again fell short. It must have been only by a couple of thousand, but those were the breaks.
I saw the DA had shown up on Evanon – I had thought that our NAP ran through turn 18, but he correctly pointed out that it was turn 17.
Then I made the real mistake of the game – I continued to negotiate with the DA instead of just settling in for a nice war and wound up agreeing to a renewed NAP after a two turn pause. I took some things he said at face value when I should not have – you know what it means when you assume something. I can best describe the experience as what it must be like to negotiate with a Ferengi. Suffice it to say that an the end of it I wished nothing more than to take a long shower.
I also had a screwed up move where a speed spell didn't work because it went over water – I later discovered that's an actual flaw and it should have worked, but I just thought it meant you couldn't speed dragons over water and didn't complain. With a NAP kicked in with the DA, I had no choice but to turn around and seek out the BL to fight, though I was fairly sure that I no longer had a chance to win. I screwed up anther move order, but did end the game with my largest group on his capital.
Congrats to the TR for his win! And thanks to the GN and the (long suffering) UN for being such great allies. Also to the WI for his offer of Amberland pop centers even if it didn't pan out.
Incidentally, I did not tell the DA that I would never trust him again or make deals with him again - my only response to his last proposal was 'Nope' because I simply found conversing with him was distasteful.

[Wynterbreeze]

I can best describe the experience as what it must be like to negotiate with a Ferengi. Suffice it to say that an the end of it I wished nothing more than to take a long shower.

lol

[Destitute Noble]

Rangers Game 115 – A tale of a “Trackless Traveler” and/or a “Hyperactive Puppy”

So long about September in the middle of games 105 and 110 I decided it would be a good idea to start yet another game (first mistake). This time I decided to try a “full diplomacy” game to see how it would go. It was highly encouraged to make peace with someone close by, and there is where my second error was made. I sent emails to SO, DA, and BL mainly counting on alliance with SO. Through first few interactions, it was apparent that Hile Troy and I could get along just fine – we agreed to alliance where I would let him take r9 and I would focus on r6 or r10. That’s when I received emails back from both DA and BL indicating a desire for at least non-aggression. I agreed to both , agreeing myself right out of a region to go after – not so smart!

Luckily Amberland looked fertile, so I decided to expand there hoping to go in with either GI or WA against the other. Through initial communication it was apparent WA/GI were also working together, and WA made it clear there was no room for me there. Nonetheless I moved forward. I marched into Amberland and had initial success until getting denigrated by both kingdoms, and running across a patrol full of warlock wizards with my 1RA group on turn 7. I had never had this situation in any prior game – so I figured I did not have anything to worry about since patrols can’t attack an actual group. Imagine my horror when I read the turn and my best wizard and top two leaders in the group were killed. By turn 10 I had been totally kicked out of Amberland and was searching for a way to get my ESO. I needed to be substantial in two regions, and I was close in 9 (knowing my allies would give me other PCs to get to substantial) so I only needed one more. At that point the various forces had teamed up on the BL and had pushed him out of r8 so it made the choice for me – I would try to become substantial in r8 to achieve my ESO.

By turn 15 I was indeed substantial in Arcania – but I forgot to enter a 330 order to take the last PC I needed in r9 to be substantial, and as such missed my ESO. This, on top of my numerous other failures in this game was the last straw. I mobilized my kingdom’s armies to march West into Torvale to do damage to AN (as much as possible). The SO and I even worked together towards the end to lower the defense of a town where there was a lot of other emmys and 4 AN consuls so that the SO could destroy town the next turn. Plan went off perfectly, we lowered the defense of the PC with agents, then next turn SO cast the destroy spell – all 4 AN consuls escaped the flames, though my agent and emmy both died, along with some of SO's, kinda summed up the game.

Though the game was enjoyable, it was also overwhelming. On top of the constant interaction with those I was working with, I also had dealings with RD, UN, AN, and WA. Trying to co-ordinate so many moving parts proved to be too cumbersome for me. If I play another game like this – I will need to limit allies to one at most, else lose my sanity. Gratz to the winners (including my “ally” Jumbie who took 3rd).

D. Noble

[Jumbie]

DuPont is correct. His last email to me was a simple 'Nope.' However, I assumed that was connected to the email from a few hours earlier when he said he would honor our peace agreement but he wasn't willing to deal with me again.

Anyway, I forgot nominations:

Iron-willed: Thalion, who seemed to get beat up early, but was still making waves at the end in Runnimede.
Infamous: Destitute Noble for always wanting to do stuff.
Chancellor: Clavatus, who had to quit early as the DW, but told me where to find the Axe of Farin and his PCs in r6 as a parting gift.

[Wynand]

First off, really enjoyable game.

Mauler and I, upon realizing we would be forced to share 4, began working from the outset together to secure an expansion option for the trolls. We moved very aggressively into 1, and with his consuls support (which had effectively rendered the elvish political core ineffective), I was able to overwhelm the EL, sacking almost all of his PCs in 3 turns.

By turn 6, I had secure control of Oakendell, we were exiting winter, the EL had dropped and I began to build up my wizards and political core. At the same time, Mauler and I had secured permanent NAPs with the WI, GI, WA and GN. This meant that we needed an innovative expansion option; we chose 10, as we knew the BL was assaulting 7. We began aggressively looking for the portal in 1, using agents and High Priestesses.

Moving into 10 required enhanced coordination with the UN and GN, and the RD for good measure, so we opened a dialogue and negotiated a NAP with the three of them until turn 25. The AN then viciously assaulted 10, taking the city with an invisible group and moving his capital there in a single turn. I believe he flipped every single PC in the region in two turns..leaving me one town that was in range for one of my groups after I passed through the portal.

After 10 fell to the AN's political might, 9 became the obvious next choice. I recruiting 6 governors into the town I owned in 10 and then scattered them into the villages and towns of Synnisvania. At the same time, I moved three very large groups into the region, with support from some AN groups, and began an assault on the SO and RA. The SO put up an admirable fight against a very well prepared, multi-pronged assault but ultimately couldn't keep up the overwhelming TR-AN attack.

By turn 19, I realized I was close to victory as I had almost obtained control of 9. In our initial victory roadmap, the AN and I had decided to attempt a joint declaration, which would involve me ceded territory in 1 to him (he required 4 substantials I believe). Similarly, he had agreed at some point to give me control of 10 (I required control of 3 regions). I began moving on his PCs in the Southern Sands when Torvale was assaulted by 5 kingdoms. We agreed that victory would be difficult for him at this stage and he graciously supported my claim.

I had an unreal amount of resources at the end of this contest and an extremely well-develop kingdom. A few highlights:
- 1 Duke, 1 Count, 6 barons, 14 governors, 2 ambassadors (every PC in 1 was defended by a political) and a 19+ influence
- 8 agents, including 3 agents 10s
- 3 powers-3s, 1 power-2
- 1TR had a value of 97K, Standard of Valor, Stone of All Minds, Sword of Alvinitar, Crystal of Seeing
- 2TR had a value of 103K
- 4TR had a value of 31K
- 156K food production, 232K gold production
- Balance of 126K food, 343K gold

And I didn't lose a natural TR brigade the entire game!

Many thanks to the AN, who was a brilliant ally and the consummate team player. Equally, the GN, UN and RD were always great at coordinating and we tried to support each others victory attempts as best we could.

Many thanks also to the WI, WA and GI...all of whom were honorable and lived up to their commitments throughout the game.

My nominations:

Iron-willed: Thalion, who never gives up. Ever.
Infamous: Also Thalion. Even though we overwhelmed him in 10, I was filling my pants through the entire campaign.
Chancellor: Mauler, ambassador of this Alamaze contest.

[Cargus10]

This was a group of exceptional players, and a great contest...and I've never been more miserable.

It started out well. I, as the UN, made contact with the GN and RD early on and we agreed to work together. The GN was to get Runnimede, adn the RD was off smacking the DW around, so I looked for stuff to do. I made a long-term neutrality pact with the RA, and I moved my Prince into Triesa in order to, ah, persuade the DE to give me a bit of turf in Arcania. The DE didn't bother to answer my messages, so I sat there with a 310 order and the occasional Ward spell from the GN (or purchased form others - the WI once I think) as needed. It worked insanely well -at one point all 3 Demon Princes were prisoners in Triesa. All of this put the DE so far behind the eight ball that he dropped, I think.

That was the last thing that went right. I've never had worse random number luck in my life. In total, I succeeded a four - FOUR - non-recon missions. I stole gold once, assassinated a DE Agent 2 (I think - low level anyhow), kidnapped a slept BL Ambassador, and assassinated a slept BL Fanatic 10 (my one sterling moment). I also lost 5 Agent 1's on recon missions, and early on, in 13 978 orders I found...nothing at all. I gained a Ring of Protection from a village early on, and never even saw another artifact until the teens. At one point I was trying to kidnap a slept EL baron jsut for the status points - the EL was long out of the game - and I failed at least 5 times. Of the few hostages I ended up with, I bought most from the RD (trying for my ESO which I almost had - until the BL took Triesa from me the turn I would have managed it. Of course).

Easily the most frustrating game I've ever played.

Shout outs to Dupont and Helix as excellent allies, and to Thalion as a dogged enemy. Also kudos to Destitute Noble who (except for one wee taking of a town when he tried to claim victory) was very interesting and honorable. In fact, I nominate both Thalion and Destitute Noble for Iron Willed.

[Destitute Noble]

Wanted to add my nominations for this game:

Iron-Willed: Cargus
Throughout the game it was apparent that the strongest part of his kingdom was not going well (as he described in his report)...despite that he continued on to the end.

Infamous: Mauler
An early game swap of a prisoner of his I took got things off to a rocky start between Mauler and I - that escalated as the game went on via clever biting e-mails from both sides. Though we ended things on a positive note, I will long remember our exchanges!

Chancellor: Jumbie
This one was tough...I learned a ton from Hile Troy in this game, Dupont (even though we were not allied) was accommodating and good to work with, and it was great interacting with both Thalion and Cargus also...but in the end I had to choose Jumbie. Every turn, he was the first to send emails to the rest of us letting us know the goings-on of the turn, and suggesting routes of action. He definitely was a force in trying to get the 4 of us (DA, BL, SO, RA) moving in the same direction.

[Lord Diamond]

Game Details