2941

I think the idea would be that it would not be automatically adjudicated, but rather someone could “claim victory” and have it verified with a turn file, not an auto win condition.

2942

I still like 3 caps.

2943

I have very real reservations that holding three capitols for two full turns is still not the victory condition that I’m after, but as the host I don’t want to be the one leading the parade for a change. 8 nations on a map that seems to really constrict mobility.

In my test games, the games have been won very quickly and I have never really had a border with more than 4 countries, leaving some out. I think instead of a full out king of the hill, you need to think of this condition as a race. Less dogpiling on the leader and more picking off your weakest neighbors.

The game has not been set in stone. If you have an opinion please voice it and I’ll take it into account.

2944

This is the sort of game that goes against my normal playstyle… I’ll have to really try hard to go against form on this…

2945

i fine with the auto win on 3 caps - worked out well in Munin.

2946

It did work well in Munin, but there’s a difference between a 6-player game and an 8-player game. Whoever gets three caps in the former is fairly likely to win the whole thing, in an 8-player game that’s far less certain. Not having to worry about dealing with the superpower on the other side of the map and just focusing on taking down the two weakest neighbours makes for a different game. Might still be an interesting game, but quite different from any game I’ve played in.

2947

I thought Munin had seven. Me, pyrhic, sharaleo, Nikolaj, Austen, farfrael, and…

um

2948

We could always up the capital count to four. 50% and all.

2949

Isn’t that what Newbies was set to? Eight players and four capitals? I thought that game took too long, myself. Just my opinion, though, of course!

2950

That was 7 players and 4 capitals to win.

2951

Ah! Then I am fine with either 3 or 4 capitals to win.

2952

I would prefer 4 shrug of course, I’d also prefer a slightly roomier map too ;)

2953

It’ll be quick and full of violence. Communication will be essential, as anyone getting double teamed will need immediate help.

2954

3 vps and tight map. Should be a lot of bless rush designs or awake scs. Unlikely to see any scales builds.

2955

Springlion was 4 and 7 too, iirc, and that went long.

I’m still fine with 3 - what happens if two nations get 3 on the same turn, anyone know?

2956

Let’s keep it at 3 and see what happens.

2957

I like the image of it being more of a race than a dog pile.

Just fwiw…does everybody have the ability to PM? Everybody should probably check their PM box to make sure new message will fix and if they want automailed PM’s they should enable that. I’m HOPING the thread starts having some interesting in game woofing.

yup. I just thought we should have this discussion while folks were still thinking about their builds.

Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.

Yeah. I’m done playing roomy maps. You are welcome to set that up if you want one. (I’m not trying to be flip, I’ve very much enjoyed some of the games that have taken about a year, but I’m not looking for that right now.)

Austen seems to be the only one really in favor of going to 4 capitols. I’m going to leave it at three with the clause that you have to keep all three castles for two turns. That would likely have extended Newbs and Sharks for another half a year or so.

2958

Sorry all for the unannounced extension. I was called away for an out-of-town job yesterday and probably won’t be able to make my turn until tomorrow (Saturday), meaning I’ll have to slap on even more time.

SOWWY!

2959

I would think with 3 castles and 8 players we should have no trouble with major delays to reach conclusion from a 2 turn hold rule. With 4 I can see it.

I’m fine with 3. It just makes a different game and I need the practice at fighting early. I tend to be conservative in general. Not a turtle, but I love scales builds and careful late game preparation and THEN massive attack. This will be much more doing the best you can with armies, early research, and maybe thugs. I’d expect that big battlefield enchantments, SC’s, and major forging will never happen. And that’s fine by me. I ran a bunch of very poor settings games to try to create much the same thing. They ended up fairly long in terms of turns but not that long in terms of time since micro was way below normal. You just didn’t have the magi, troops and resources to waste a lot of time on micro. Quite fun really. But I’d say not viable at slow pacing. Those were deliberately set to 36 hour pacing forever. Kind of a strange decision but it worked.

Ramble ramble ramble :) Anyways, I expect a fast a vicious game. I know that will be my plan.

2960

First of all, kudos to pyrhic for holding out as long as he did and giving the hordes of Marignon a good fight. Much appreciated.

Looking at the state of the game, Atlantis’s and Marignon’s research graphs are soaring skywards in perfect sync like the contrails of two lovebirds with their rear sections on fire. With the conquest of Agartha completed, Marignon’s income is shooting up as well, and dominion will be soon to follow, filling the vacuum left by Agartha’s passing.

The lead in gem income is contested – if you are willing to ignore blood, that is. If you’re not, then please recall Scribble’s Dictum that the blood income of a blood nation should be twice its gem income and Do the Math.

As for the rest of the world, things are looking confused. Caelum does not appear to be making a lot of progress in its relentlessly brutal annihilation of Mictlan, while Gath is biding its time building up a nice pile of demons who are twiddling their thumbs so far.

This game is for victory points. Marignon has the lead with two and needs two more for the win. I’m relatively optimistic that I can keep Scribble out of my own forts for the time being; water magic has some amazing stuff against demons. (For example, CBM has moved the Bell of Cleansing down to const-6. Crazy shit!)

That said, I don’t think I will be able to do more than fight Marignon to a standstill for a while even in the best case. Scribble is defending his lands with vampires, lots of vampires, and the buggers refuse to die even when the Fallen Angel leading them succumbs to an overdose of fatigue and ethereal lion puke.

I believe it is time for some nations to make up their minds and enter the fray on one side or (preferably) the other.

Thank you for your attention.