Well, it looks like the game is over. Technically this is the time to do a large post-game report, but, given that my interest waned after turn 50 or so (and so did any semblance of reporting), I'm just going to close this out with some observations:
First off, any past issues that I had with Pitboss games were really just as present this time around. The larger amount of teams and required regular turn-action and diplomatic efforts can quickly become overwhelming, especially for a one man team. Looking back, a team mate would have made things a lot easier. But hey, apparently I am a glutton for punishment.
Another big problem that happens when so many teams jostle for top position, it's only a matter of time before you start screwing over others in an attempt to get ahead yourself. It happened in PB2, it happened in PB3, and I'll be damned, this one was no exception. If there is any one thing that I realized while playing, it's that when a game has participants who all reached a certain plateau of skill, and there really are only one or two winning strategies, anyone who is even slightly competitive will tend to quickly turn to twisting rules in their favor. I suppose I can't really blame anyone for that, but as someone who is not competitive, more than once I just felt out of place.
And remind me never to sign a NAP again. They just have no value anymore since breaking them isn't nearly the taboo it used to be.
So, for the foreseeable future, this was my last Pitboss. I'm not to keen on starting new PBEM games either if the only thing that separates them are the map design and variant restrictions. But we'll see.. I'm not sure if the rambling of someone who ended up near the bottom of the rankings holds any real weight, but it's something I've been meaning to say.
Thanks for the game everyone, and perhaps we'll meet again in another someday.
