[no players] Six little newbies sitting on a tree...

[Commodore]

Well that's the morale side, does it also seem pretty definitely endgame on the ground? Looks like Shallow is pretty well in the lead now, but I'm not 100%.

[Hollybombay]

It feels odd to step in now, when the game still looks at least vaguely competitive, but Magic obviously can't win, Elkad is aware he's out of the running, and SD is willing to concede to shallow, who is getting fatigued, so... should someone tell the players that it's fine to call the game for shallow thought?

Im not seeing a reason to not do this ^

[Gavagai]

Unless a lurker would voice objection in 24 hours, I would tell players that the game is finished and Shallow won.

[Charriu]

I'm still no expert, but I'm not so sure about this. Shallow is still behind in military tech.

[Charriu]

To any lurkers that may be wondering.. I am still conceeding to Shallow. If he isnt granted this concession for some weird reason, and i begin my attack on Elkad.. i might rethink the concession, but its likely this will be just for entertainment value rather than potential comeback.

Ok, I think you are right, in telling them this is over.

[Gavagai]

After some consideration I decided that I cannot call the game in good consciousness as it seems, from a cursory look at screenshots that Superdeath underestimates his situation and there is some potential for him to come back. I have not really followed the game closely, so I would like some veteran player with better knowledge of this particular game to chime in. Some decision should be made because if Shallow is unreachable, it is simply disrespectful to force him to keep playing time-consuming late-game turns. Commodore, what would you say?

[Commodore]

Morale is to the material as ten is to one. Seems like Elkad has retaken everything right now, that's why I've asked him how he's done.

[Zalson]

superdeath has the position and power to really hurt shallow_thought -- and the edge with rifles vs cuirs and muskets. In my estimation, he's making the same mistake as McClelland, etc in the Civil War: he's refusing to attack because it might fail. shallow can't have forces everywhere!

I know pillaging is never a fun tactic but he could burn his way toward and destroy shallow's production and research centers. That'll slow down shallow from reaching rifling and, once he reaches it, recovering from the inevitable draft downturn that MUST occur. Then he can get peace and go finish Elkad. Also he could burn down cities...

I am reading a biography of Grant right now, yes, why do you ask? (not saying that his position is similar to Grant's but at a certain point, you have to commit to fight.

Don't give up, superdeath! You can probably win this game!

[Bobchillingworth]

I think this game would be best called as a draw this point, if everyone involved wants out (it's not clear to me if that is indeed the case).


That said, I'm not a fan of lurkers urging Superdeath or any other player to fight on. Telling him that he has a chance due to the size of his military is revealing to him that his opponents lack sufficient forces to conquer him in the near term. This may or may not already be obvious to SD, but it's still spoiler knowledge derived from the omniscient lurker perspective.

[Charriu]

So far it seems that Magic is still enjoying the game in some way although he has no chance of winning. Elkad and Superdeath both don't seem to be that involved into the game. Right it really looks like Shallow has the best chance of winning and is willing to go that way.
With Rifling he is now on equal footing with Superdeath, who stopped teching. Even though Superdeath has this big military, it looks like he will run into a wall against Elkad. With the peace between Shallow and Superdeath I expect the former to come out in a winning position.
And yes I agree that encouraging Superdeath wasn't the best thing to do.