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Game #111 - Anonymous No More
#11
For my first game back in Alamaze since 1988 and game 33 as the Westmen, it was possibly a bit odd to have an anonymous game. I did play Fall of Rome a few times a couple of years ago and was super psyched to see Kingdoms of Arcania coming along. Alas, as we all know that wasn't completed but I also got excited to see Alamaze return!

So after looking at the old pegasusprod site a few times and remembering the daily run to the mailbox and the excitement of ripping open the envelope and re-reading my turn results over and over and over I jumped in.

I did think that being the Troll in an anonymous game would be an advantage because the Troll just wants to smash. Without diplomacy available and no one to talk you out of smashing them I figured it would be good fun to build enormous armies and rampage around. It worked out that way for the most part. I suppose I'm happy with 2nd place but you'll see how close I was in the recap as follows:

I liked how Thalion broke his recap out so let me try to do that a bit as well:

Early Turns:

I knew that Torvale and relations with the Ancient One would be fairly key so I did some hand wringing on whether I should just flat out fight him for the region out of the gate or take an alternate approach and grow my strength. The Ancient One is really powerful out of the gate (3 power 3 wizards to start!)- I may think even a bit TOO powerful so I wasn't keen on rolling the dice to just straight up attack him. The Troll starts out with a decent army but not a huge one, influence is really low but thank god for those 5 extra orders. I decided I would hire a priestess and divine villages in Torvale- as well as put my group together and go siege Meridon. I did think about sending my duke to Avalon, but didn't want to overstretch myself and without the ability to ask for sleep/ward spells I figured that was a lost cause. This worked out well for me as I had one other group that could go around and attack villages (with some orcs recruited as able) to raise up leaders and get morale boosts.

Turn 1: Hire Orcs, Hire Orcs move to Meridon. Hire a priestess, divine villages - enamor Torvale to Friendly. I figured I could grabe 5+ villages plus Meridon and with my low troop costs that would give me a start.Detached a captain to my 4TR for a patrol to run around and look for pop centers- and what does he find on turn 1? The AN capital! It's in the forest too so I automatically mask. I decided I'd park there to keep him on his toes- good luck for me. Also found a neutral town in Runnimed and a neutral one in Torvale. Good start. Recon Avalon just so I could kick myself if no one shows up and AN and RD both show up there. Glad I didn't waste the order or my Duke. Also decide I'm going to raise up some agents.

Turn 2: Spread out my emmy's to 4 villages and a town. Start the siege of Meridon. Recon AN capital and Meridon- AN tried to get Meridon too but apparently didn't understand he needed to rebel it first. Also has his consuls moved into the cities- they don't work that way. It lets me know that the AN is a beginner player. Sorry for him, we can't talk so I decide he will be attacked sooner rather than later. Run into a GN group in Runnimede with my 2TR. Not ready to fight yet.

Turn 3: Get a town, and 4 villages won over. Feeling alright- the Troll troops cost so little . Start setting up standing orders for attrition reduction in each group. No reason not to do this for future combat. Divine towns in Torvale. Still not fighting- siege is tying up my army. Hurry up! WA, DA, DE get their regions.

Turn 4: Oh! Here we go...AN tries to denigrate me in Torvale. That pisses me off- it fails. It's on now. Raising my influence...it's up to 11.4. Ranger getting on the high council hurt me. Sigh. I'm up to level 8 on my main agent. That's decent. Priestess is still alive as I divine my first artifact name. Thinking ahead here. Meridon falls and I move on a town in Torvale that turns out to be the Gnome's. Still wringing hands on whether to attack the AN. Waiting for reinforcements. Giant takes my town in Amberland. Jerk. I'm up to City 2 towns and 7 villages. Winter is coming! I move my Duke and Count to Avalon..no one has it yet and the AN got incarcerated trying to. Why not? Move my baron and governor on another 2 towns in Torvale. AN didn't take much.

Turn 5: Bag the Gnome town, sorry buddy. It's in Torvale. I flip Avalon to me, take the towns and the rest of the region falls in. That was too easy. I also go whole hog on the AN move my main group to his capital along with force marching my 4 brigades reinforcements and combine. Have an army group of 8 trolls and 3 orcs over 40K on turn 5. Not bad. His 1 AN is opposite me with 3 brigades and 2 power 3 wizards. Lots of juicy targets at his capital. My mouth is watering for Turn 6. Have an agent 9 and 4 now. Looks like the WI is on the AN now too.

Turn 6: AN doesn't even defend..he's surprised. I only attack on a 2 as I'm afraid of Wall of Fire. He loses most of his army but retreats. I sack his capital on the same turn. Get 6 prisoners and I pursue the 1AN. I don't move anywhere as he sits still. My 2nd group takes an Elf Village in Torvale. Sorry Elf, it's my region. I doubt you want to fight me. I'm up to Power 2 as a wizard! ;-) Huh, Giant shows up at a town right next to my capital. Gotta run home.

Turn 7: Wow, that's a lot of enemy declarations..apparently the whole world is fighting each other. I destroy the remnants of the 1AN, great morale and leader gains for my first group. Up to 120% morale and still only 3 generals. Need to keep fighting. Giant takes my town but doesn't show up at my capital. I had run home anyway. Giant disappears..must have just been on his way elsewhere. Time to decide what to do next. AN seems to have dropped.

Turn 8: Really focusing on orc recruiting and transferring to create two good groups. I'm up to 18 brigades and my main group has a value of over 60K. Producing over 100K gold and 80K food....I can do anything I want from an orders perspective...raising influence constantly now. Divine towns in Runnimede. My capital is near the lower part of Torvale so that kind of decides why I would go there instead of Oakendell. I recon Cradia and see the UN has it. Hmmm.

Turn 9: I take back the Giant town and march into Runnimede and onto two towns I had divined. I figure I'll work my way down to Cradia and see what happens. Recruit 6 brigades of orcs and combine as I move down. Main Army is now 16 brigades and second is 9. 70K value in first. Land on what looks like the Gnome capital and an UN town. Find the Troll Slayer name. Still no artifacts. My ESO is power 2 (check), a city and substantial (check) and a weapon artifact. Don't have that yet. Will get by turn 15.

Turn 10: 5 brigades reinforcements + 3 orc recruits = another smashing group. Instantly. Now I have 3 good ones. I sack the Gnome capital and the UN town and move to the next two. My groups are hardly touched, the regenerate and get morale and leader bonuses. Crazy. I'm at 3 marshals and 3 generals now. My main group lands on Cradia and runs into the 1GI Army. Interesting. I have 75K value in the mountains. I'm not afraid...I can lose troops (mostly orcs) and he can't. I decide I'm going to fight him and cast valor with my power 2 (worth a lot with an 80K group).I have two cities, 9 towns and 8 villages. Agents 11 and 9 now. I have two priestesses looking for artifacts and locations now. I find the troll slayer location and it's in reach.

Turn 11: Giant is surprised..did he miss his turn? I kick his butt and take another Gnome town. I'm in with emmissarries now too..I've been recruiting governors as they only cost .1 influence. My reinforcements + 3 recruits combine in with my first group at Cradia and now is worth 120K. On turn 11. Wow. I feel invincible. I'm starting to plan on how I win this game. 4 artifacts is going to be the toughest part. I will move on Oakendell next. The hardest thing with the Troll is lumbering around the map at 5-6 squares at a time.

Turn 12: Move on two more towns, take Cradia easily. Warlords in the house. Split off a detachment as let's face it- a 130K group is too powerful, no reason to have all that together. The giant appears to have dropped. Now I have 4 groups that can attack and take any village or town. I move for Runnimede the region. I have already divined villages too so am taking 4 pop centers a turn. I retrieve Troll Slayer. My first weapon artifact..it's in E Runnimede. My eso is assured. I set up a standing order to add 2K defense to my capital per turn (there are many instances in the future where I wish this had been 3K..not sure why I didn't do that. I had plenty of money and food).

Turn 13. Runnimede falls. I slowly start sending two main groups north to Oakendell. Putting governors in towns and such throughout Runnimede. I think the GN is gonna drop..I've taken his capital a few times now. Still never got his king. Oh, so you max out at 160% morale. Huh. My 4 groups are the following values: 85K, 28K, 40K, 15K. Still raising influence, up to 17.8 (which gives me 22 orders that still don't seem like enough). I'm producing 180K gold a turn, and can't spend it all. No one to give it to and can't level up wizards because I never end up at my own pop centers. I have 3 priestesses divining artifact names and locations. Sword of Alvinitar is on the way to Oakendell. Find skeletons for UN and GN with my agents and bribing prisoners. Ran into an UN group and a GN group. Good. We like to fight.

Turn 14: Gnome tries to incite in Cradia..guess he's not out. I incarcerate him.I have 15 prisoners. Battle the UN. He's lucky he survives...I have close to a 90K value and he has 4 underworld brigades. He is surprised..doesn't even defend. Somehow he survives and runs away....there's that crazy Alamaze battle results again. I lose 48 troops, he loses 3400. GN runs away wisely, I win that battle too. My morale is maxed out in those two groups. I don't care about not paying them to save money as I have surpluses in both I can't spend no matter what I do. Also take 4 pop centers by force, villages and such. 7 battle reports in one turn. I win them all.

Turn 15: I release GN and UN skeletons, wow, kingdoms are dropping like flies. Nice that the GN got hit in Runnimed on the skeleton. I'm stockpiling Governors in an island up north for my assault on Oakendell. My main group now has 3 warlords and 160% morale. It's hardly even fair. Oh look- 6 brigades of Trolls join up! Total brigades now: 43. Gold production: 190K. Gold surplus in my vault: 300K. Ridiculous. I have 3 cities, 12 towns and 12 villages. I spy on Evanon and see a warlock group with 3 power 7 wizards (shudder). Oh..an artifact too. Ruler Eliminator on his agent 14. I have something to steal! My 1TR army group is in Amberland for a turn at KG, that's where the sword of alvinitar is. I bet alarm bells are going off in Warlockville. Damn. Nice- open high council seat. I'm positive I can get that.

Turn 16: I bid a paltry 100K gold for the high council seat. I win. Warlock declares me an enemy...that damn regional intel. I am not even going after him. At this point all my sights are on Oakendell. My Duke dies ( so the UN is still in the game?). I get the Sword of Alvinitar and my agent 13 steals the Ruler Eliminator from the Warlock! Nice. I am only 1 artifact away and I have a bead on it in Arcania (altar of old gods...). While I head over there maybe I'll pop in on the Ranger in Synisvania and say hi. The group will be too late to get to Oakendell. I move in on Oakendell...mass governor invasion and two groups - OH NO. Damn order mixup on my 1TR. Crap. Put the wrong hex in and it stays put. This puts a damper on my invasion plans...and will slow me down by one turn. Double- no TRIPLE check those movement orders. Lots of moving pieces. But luck is with me too..the Elf drops! The turn I move in. That means I can stay friendly. I recon several towns and Lorethane and no one seems to be moving on the elf yet. That is sure to change.

Turn 17: ACK! I get my results and there are no changes! WTF? I email Cipher and show him I had sent in my orders..he re runs the turn. Whew.I screw up my high council proposition by using a zero instead of an o. TRIPLE CHECK PEOPLE! Man do we need that web order entry. I take a whole slew of towns and villages and am a turn or two away from control of oakendell. I'm on top of the alter of old gods but bad luck..in a fight at a village on the way my main leader dies in that group and I don't have much to take it. I teleport my level 3 wizard in.What a waste of my 2TR army group. An army of 90 K slowly trudging over in Arcania to get the Altar of Old gods. I consider for a moment...I should take Troll Slayer back somewhere safe. This is my fatal mistake. I don't. Here they come..I see WA and WI emissaries fly into towns in Oakendell.

Turn 18: It's close...I think I can win soon...but people are converging. I need 3 regions and 4 artifacts and more brigades than the Ranger (that's easy..I have over 50 now). Gold surplus: 450K. Influence of 20.5...I'm now denigrating WA in Oakendell. I screw up the high council again. Ugh. Oakendell goes uncontrolled. I take two more towns in Oakendell by force and land on Lorethane. Next turn might be it. Still one artifact away. Now the WA and I are playing cat and mouse/ incite status quo with a few pops. I decide to keep denigrating him. My capital defense is up to 28K..if I had done the 3K/turn it would be over 35. I'm in position to take the region, grab the altar and declare victory. But it's gonna be clooooose. I decide to wait one more turn. I can take the city but then march on a few more towns to make sure I take control.

Turn 19: Good thing I waited, Oakendell is not quite mine. I get the Altar though so have the artifacts! Now all I need to do is take the region and victory is mine.Warlock emissarries moving into a lot of towns now. I get warnings. I am still denigrating him. Ranger army at Avalon? Damn. Time is short...gotta go for the victory now!

Turn 20: I open it and see I got Oakendell! Hooray! I think I won. Scroll down and NOOOOOOOO- Troll Slayer got stolen. I fail my SVC by a freaking artifact steal. Damn. Now everyone knows - I have 3 regions and tried to win. And here we go...multiple towns and villages lost...all over the place. Torvale, oakendell, Avalon falls. Ranger pops up at Meridon. I lose my reinforcements but don't care. I have groups all over...way up north in Oakendell. Walking back south is taking forever to defend Torvale. I feel like i missed my chance. Now I'm playing whack a mole with status quo and groups. Damn. Gold surplus: 665K. Doesn't matter..can't do but 1 denigrate a turn and my armies are slow. Sigh. Doing counter espionage on my capital to protect prisoners and my other artifacts. Caught a Warlock Duke..gonna bribe him. UN diplomacy on Cradia. Have nothing down there anymore except governors.

Turn 21: Bid another 100K gold for the high council seat I was ejected from. Too easy. Losing pop centers all over. 25 orders not near enough. Meridon falls. Lose torvale. Trying to hold onto stuff now. Ranger takes his 3rd region. I take Almaren just cause I can. Not enough. I can see him winning now.

Turn 22: Damn, my capital falls to that pesky Ranger Army? It was at 35K defense for a town..and figured he might drop by after Meridon but felt like I was pretty secure. He loses 2K troops? There's that weird Alamaze battle algorithm again. He does cast some powerful shields though. I guess it makes sense, and it went back and forth. Well done Ranger. I did use the Ruler Eliminator on the final turn and kill the Ranger king though- that felt good. Worst part of losing my capital was the prisoners! That really hurt my status point total. All said I guess I was happy with 2nd place.

Some other thoughts on my first game back and the Troll:

- As I mentioned, TRIPLE check those orders. It's very frustrating to get your results and see that a crucial plan failed because of a wrong number or letter.
- The Troll can be fun and powerful but it's weaknesses are that it's hard to react quickly, no magic and weak agents. I think everyone knows that. Your military can become nigh invincible though and it's fun to just smash things without a care
- I could have won this game if insted of going to Almaren I pulled back and did a CE in my group with the Troll slayer. I even considered this but wanted to sack the Ranger city. That cost me the victory
- I was lucky. You need some luck to win this game. AN one didn't put up much of a fight and neither did the GN or UN. GI missed a turn in our battle. Priestess lived a long time.
- Should have raised a couple more agents to level 4 and started casing the map for unusual sightings early in the game. This is something most experienced players do. Seems more effective than priestess artifact hunting


Thanks for a good time and see you on the battlefield.
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#12
Really good job for your first game back. I would agree that you lucked out a little bit with a new AN player. He moved into Viperhead right away with a consul and tried to denigrate me a few times in the mists. I think one of them worked on turn 4 or 5 and that was aggravating.
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#13
I had no clue there was action between the Dwarf and WI. I spent a lot of time on agents, Wizards, navies and groups. I had 4 Fanatics in the 12 to 15 range doing things like stealing arties and assassinating emmies and finding skeletons. It would be nice to say how great I did with these activities but I only managed a couple assassinations, a couple artifacts stolen and more skeletons that backfired than not. Influence was my biggest challenge. I paid for it with the King and lost it do to bogus skeletons. I also had very fine navies that saw no action all game. A missed a turn or 2 because yahoo.com can’t resolve ActiveGames@Alamaze.co hurt but my own goofing orders was more damaging. I was surprised to find the WI all over Talking Mountains when I showed up thinking I was helping the WA fend off an attack by the DW. It seems I should have been looking in other directions.

Harry O
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#14
I love this thread so much Smile
I did learn one thing from my "mentor".
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#15
(11-20-2013, 11:38 PM)mdrapeau Wrote: I had no clue there was action between the Dwarf and WI. I spent a lot of time on agents, Wizards, navies and groups. I had 4 Fanatics in the 12 to 15 range doing things like stealing arties and assassinating emmies and finding skeletons. It would be nice to say how great I did with these activities but I only managed a couple assassinations, a couple artifacts stolen and more skeletons that backfired than not. Influence was my biggest challenge. I paid for it with the King and lost it do to bogus skeletons. I also had very fine navies that saw no action all game. A missed a turn or 2 because yahoo.com can’t resolve ActiveGames@Alamaze.co hurt but my own goofing orders was more damaging. I was surprised to find the WI all over Talking Mountains when I showed up thinking I was helping the WA fend off an attack by the DW. It seems I should have been looking in other directions.

Harry O
"Skeletons that backfired" - did they backfire because kingdoms got kicked off of the hc and were replaced by someone opposing you??
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#16
I've asked a few times now with no response:

"RYVOR, DO WE GET TOO SEE THE ENTIRE PLAYER ROSTER, OR DOES THAT REMAIN ANONYMOUS?"
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#17
I copied pasted what my agent uncovered into order 380 and it gave this message on the turn.

ORDER #380 EMISSARY 'QARZ' ATTEMPTED TO REVEAL AN INVALID SKELETON (INFLUENCE DOWN ONE).

I assumed my agent got some bad codes.
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#18
(11-22-2013, 12:01 AM)bluefile2 Wrote: I've asked a few times now with no response:

"RYVOR, DO WE GET TOO SEE THE ENTIRE PLAYER ROSTER, OR DOES THAT REMAIN ANONYMOUS?"

Geez, so pushy!

Game 111 - Anonymous Steel
ArchangelKS AN
Kulvac BL
Harry O DA
HeadHoncho DE
Lord Brogan DW
Telrandir EL
Loric GI
Pedinski GN
Lord Moontree RA
Mokkaron RD
Wynand SO
Acererak TR
Lord Thanatos UN
Thalion II WA
Bluefile2 WI
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#19
I think one thing that should happen at the end of all Alamaze games is after victory is declared each remaining kingdom gets a wrap up turn that includes all remaining kingdoms final turns in one big pdf (with personal information removed of course). That would be awesome.
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#20
(11-22-2013, 06:32 PM)Acererak Wrote: I think one thing that should happen at the end of all Alamaze games is after victory is declared each remaining kingdom gets a wrap up turn that includes all remaining kingdoms final turns in one big pdf (with personal information removed of course). That would be awesome.

That is a great idea!
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