02-15-2018, 05:30 AM
Whack-a-mole? If you and the BL hadn't decided to both attack me at the same time, things might have gone a bit differently. The BL was more of a nuisance than a threat, but he did suck off enough resources before he dropped that I wasn't able to concentrate on you as much as I'd have liked.
This was a brutal game - 10 started with only 3 left at the end. In my case, shortly after I got 9 the AT decided to come after me. He mostly kept his groups in the sea areas where he had the advantage, but eventually his army group was forced to meet mine in the marshes around Gundibar, and that as they say was that. Once he dropped, I realized the WA was making inroads into the Steppes, so I went right into battling him. I pushed into 3 and took it. He dropped, and right on cue both the DU and the BL showed up in 3. I was kind of expecting the BL to back off as it was obvious the GN was attacking him, but he kept his army groups running around the Steppes.
Meanwhile, the DU decided to move his capital to a village in 3, and I spotted it with my Crystal of Seeing (one of the most useful artifacts in the game, IMHO. As Gordon Gecko said in "Wall Street", there's nothing more important than information).
I debated whether I should move my army group to the DU capital, which was defended by an army, or use my L19 agent to kidnap the DU king. In the end I decided on the kidnaping, which is why he had a regent for the rest of the game. In retrospect, I should have done both.
I eventually met the DU army group with mine at Hammerhold, and we pounded each other to a bloody pulp.
Now here's something this game got me curious about. Does the Wall of Flame spell actually do anything? I threw a wall of flame, he crossed it, I had hold at all cost so we both ended up in the combined arms phase, and yet his casualties were only 54.79%, which is about what I'd expect without the wall, and the effect is supposed to be enhance in Ice Age. I've noticed that if the battle ends before the magic phase, the wall effects don't seem to be applied, even though the enemy would have to cross it before the battle was joined. Now I'm wondering if it does anything at all.
So he was down to 4 brigades and I was down to 3 after the battle. We traded Summon Death spells, but his went off first so mine had no effect since I had no brigades when I threw it. Luckily I had one wizard turn invisible which kept the group alive.
I had to head back into the Steppes to deal with the BL, and lost control of 3. The DU then teleported an army group to my capital - I hadn't realized he got that at level 6. The DA gets it at 7. This unfortunately allowed him to rescue all the princes of his that I had managed to kidnap - I think it was 3 total. We were facing each other at Jukanta when the RA attack into the Mists forced him to teleport out. I gave him a summon death as a going away present.
So at this point I started recruiting troops and trying to build myself back up. I considered going after the Mists, but then the DU nicely declared me neutral so he could have room to declare the RA and GN enemies. I figured that would give me a chance to attack into 3, as I was now friendly, and I hoped he'd be distracted enough that I could grab it. I had also found a quest sighting, and had the key of the slayer and the key of the gem. I knew where Elan was, so I had a 50% chance the gem would be at the sighting. The plan was to get the gem, teleport my army group to Vanasheen, and send enough diplos into the Sands to take it. If I could get 3 also, that would give me the 4 regions I needed to win. A desperate plan, but the only game in town.
Sadly, the artifact turned out to be the Ring, and the RA dropped the same turn I made my move into 3, so the DU was able to respond. Que sera, sera.
I think the DA is a good kingdom for Ice Age. The troops don't eat much, and the Rider's trait is amplified, as it provides a 16.67% increase to range for emms, versus a 12.5% increase in the normal formats. Plus they can move 3 areas in any terrain except mountains without force marching.
At any rate, congratulations to Windstar for the win. A fun game all around.
This was a brutal game - 10 started with only 3 left at the end. In my case, shortly after I got 9 the AT decided to come after me. He mostly kept his groups in the sea areas where he had the advantage, but eventually his army group was forced to meet mine in the marshes around Gundibar, and that as they say was that. Once he dropped, I realized the WA was making inroads into the Steppes, so I went right into battling him. I pushed into 3 and took it. He dropped, and right on cue both the DU and the BL showed up in 3. I was kind of expecting the BL to back off as it was obvious the GN was attacking him, but he kept his army groups running around the Steppes.
Meanwhile, the DU decided to move his capital to a village in 3, and I spotted it with my Crystal of Seeing (one of the most useful artifacts in the game, IMHO. As Gordon Gecko said in "Wall Street", there's nothing more important than information).
I debated whether I should move my army group to the DU capital, which was defended by an army, or use my L19 agent to kidnap the DU king. In the end I decided on the kidnaping, which is why he had a regent for the rest of the game. In retrospect, I should have done both.
I eventually met the DU army group with mine at Hammerhold, and we pounded each other to a bloody pulp.
Now here's something this game got me curious about. Does the Wall of Flame spell actually do anything? I threw a wall of flame, he crossed it, I had hold at all cost so we both ended up in the combined arms phase, and yet his casualties were only 54.79%, which is about what I'd expect without the wall, and the effect is supposed to be enhance in Ice Age. I've noticed that if the battle ends before the magic phase, the wall effects don't seem to be applied, even though the enemy would have to cross it before the battle was joined. Now I'm wondering if it does anything at all.
So he was down to 4 brigades and I was down to 3 after the battle. We traded Summon Death spells, but his went off first so mine had no effect since I had no brigades when I threw it. Luckily I had one wizard turn invisible which kept the group alive.
I had to head back into the Steppes to deal with the BL, and lost control of 3. The DU then teleported an army group to my capital - I hadn't realized he got that at level 6. The DA gets it at 7. This unfortunately allowed him to rescue all the princes of his that I had managed to kidnap - I think it was 3 total. We were facing each other at Jukanta when the RA attack into the Mists forced him to teleport out. I gave him a summon death as a going away present.
So at this point I started recruiting troops and trying to build myself back up. I considered going after the Mists, but then the DU nicely declared me neutral so he could have room to declare the RA and GN enemies. I figured that would give me a chance to attack into 3, as I was now friendly, and I hoped he'd be distracted enough that I could grab it. I had also found a quest sighting, and had the key of the slayer and the key of the gem. I knew where Elan was, so I had a 50% chance the gem would be at the sighting. The plan was to get the gem, teleport my army group to Vanasheen, and send enough diplos into the Sands to take it. If I could get 3 also, that would give me the 4 regions I needed to win. A desperate plan, but the only game in town.
Sadly, the artifact turned out to be the Ring, and the RA dropped the same turn I made my move into 3, so the DU was able to respond. Que sera, sera.
I think the DA is a good kingdom for Ice Age. The troops don't eat much, and the Rider's trait is amplified, as it provides a 16.67% increase to range for emms, versus a 12.5% increase in the normal formats. Plus they can move 3 areas in any terrain except mountains without force marching.
At any rate, congratulations to Windstar for the win. A fun game all around.