Airstrip One Palace Court - No Players!

[Imhotep]

Well, if rego can avoid being dogpiled despite being in the clear #1 spot for winning it after Exploit's exitus I'll certainly be the first one to tip my hat off to him if he wins it.

[Yazilliclick]

Well Imhotep I'm going to have to disagree with you. There was a lot of diplomacy going on this game that you were not part of because you never responded to contact (or if so then usually very late) and had made it known you weren't interested in playing and were putting no real effort in.

I know during my short stint in this game I was having to deal in a lot of diplomacy practically every day. Facts are that Krill's civ has been at the top for a quite some time and it's only now that a very shaky alliance (if you can even call it that) has formed to do something about it, and that was only brought upon by the failure diplomaticaly of Exploit.

The big alliance shift at the end of my rule was based largely around doing something about about the Incans as well and it failed due to diplomacy. I think that stands as one of the purest examples in this game alone that your ability to sway things diplomatically is probably the biggest factor in when, if ever, you're taken out. It completely disproves your notion that everybody will just jump on the leader when they show themselves.

It was also diplomacy that kept the original NUTA and UTA together for so long. They were not just locked together with nobody looking at change. There were regular messages going back and forth from different groups feeling out where and when things could shift and how to make things happen in their best interest.

Unfortunately I think some people in this game have skewed opinions about just how much was going on because they fell asleep at the wheel for a certain period of time and just started being left out on purpose. Heck Regoarrarr cites this as one of the main foundations of how he chose his group to splinter off with, based on who was active and who wasn't due to the frustration of depending on people who you'd be lucky to get a decent reply back from in a week.

[Krill]

Note: read all of the post before making an opinion.

That's a little hypocritical of dsp. First of all take part in an all on one dogpile, then complain that the substitute changed side? Yes, it's iffy that Exploits' friend took over what is a crippled civ, but also remember that dsp was the big dog in that mini-alliance, and he let Broker cripple mhk. No matter what happens after, Byz should be pissed at dsp, after getting no back up, and now dsp is off looking out for himself.

This is the first time something hasn't gone dsps' way. He should suck it up and consider it as extra expansion opportunities. And so should Munro...

EDIT: And now I feel vindicated writing that post: dsp thought that Kodii/shadyforce would support him for a win if he had the best chance. So much for the idea of a Free For All.

[Exploit]

Now that I am officially out of the game and can read this thread I find it very interesting to read the lurkers comments. Here was my reasoning behind some of my more heavily criticized decisions:

1) The statement that I lost a half dozen cities early in the game is erroneous as I only lost 3 in the initial war. Of which two were completely undefendable from the moment I took over the game and the third was only lost due to a double move by Rego. About 90% of the army I inherited were Quechua with a couple elephants and macemen and catapults thrown in. Rego outnumbered me heavily and he had several knights as well (I did not even have guilds at the time).

If Rego had pushed he could have taken at least 2 more cities although he would have taken some losses to do so. My response was the massive draft of musketmen (I had no musketmen at all at the time) and an attack that sacrificed my catapults to wound his stack so I could buy the time while his units healed to get the musketmen in place to stop his advance. In the end my plan worked, Rego never advanced beyond that initial attack which was the goal.

2) The insinuation that I inherited a large civ and largely wasted it is also erroneous in my opinion. Half of the cities were settled by me and I more than doubled the land and population during my reign while at the same time most of my competitors increased their holdings only marginally at best. Some may argue that this was due to position which is partially true however Rego was in a better position to expand even more so than me and failed to do so. (Of course there is the argument that my expansion ultimately led to my downfall.)

3) The diplomacy failure seems self-evident given that my diplomacy ended with a global alliance against me however I think the criticism of the chest-thumping aspect is misplaced. First off, the chest thumping was done explicitly as a bluff. Rego had a vastly stronger army then me for most of my reign and if he had decided to push his attack I would have lost several key cities before I could have stopped him.

Despite all of this, I never wanted a peace treaty with Rego since I had publicly declared there would be no quarter given or asked. The whole destroy Rego as a mission statement was a whimsical decision made to make the game more interesting. Yaz said he wanted to see Rego destroyed so I went with that as a theme (seemed appropriate to have a theme with the emphasis on spoiler threads and lurkers following the action)

My army was inherently weak because I focussed most of my hammers into infrastructure (other than granaries most if not all of the cities I inherited had no infrastructure). This was done because the other alliance had a tech advantage and was heavily out-teching us and there were no powerful researchers in our alliance. If I didn't fill the tech role then our alliance was doomed. I was very successful at becoming the best researcher in the game (and self sufficient to boot) while at the same time holding Rego at bay with bluff and bravado instead of actual troops.

The diplomacy failure was with Dreylin and Broker. Obviously I should have done something different to keep them happy but if the reason given by Broker, that I was just too powerful, is the real reason then there isn't much I could do. First off the perception that I was too powerful was simply wrong both DSP and Rego had much more powerful armies then me plus a huge tech advantage (not to mention more powerful allies).

Second, my "power" came solely from my population and number of cities without which I could not hope to bridge the tech gap between the two alliances so becoming less powerful was really not a viable option.

4) No one mentioned it but I am certain the quick collapse of the Incan empire was anti-climatic for everyone. Yes, I could have put up a better defense and dragged out my demise however to be honest I did not see any diplomacy breakthrough on the horizon and I just wanted the game over.

[novice]

Now that I am officially out of the game and can read this thread I find it very interesting to read the lurkers comments. Here was my reasoning behind some of my more heavily criticized decisions:

1) The statement that I lost a half dozen cities early in the game is erroneous as I only lost 3 in the initial war. Of which two were completely undefendable from the moment I took over the game and the third was only lost due to a double move by Rego. About 90% of the army I inherited were Quechua with a couple elephants and macemen and catapults thrown in. Rego outnumbered me heavily and he had several knights as well (I did not even have guilds at the time).

If Rego had pushed he could have taken at least 2 more cities although he would have taken some losses to do so. My response was the massive draft of musketmen (I had no musketmen at all at the time) and an attack that sacrificed my catapults to wound his stack so I could buy the time while his units healed to get the musketmen in place to stop his advance. In the end my plan worked, Rego never advanced beyond that initial attack which was the goal.

2) The insinuation that I inherited a large civ and largely wasted it is also erroneous in my opinion. Half of the cities were settled by me and I more than doubled the land and population during my reign while at the same time most of my competitors increased their holdings only marginally at best. Some may argue that this was due to position which is partially true however Rego was in a better position to expand even more so than me and failed to do so. (Of course there is the argument that my expansion ultimately led to my downfall.)

3) The diplomacy failure seems self-evident given that my diplomacy ended with a global alliance against me however I think the criticism of the chest-thumping aspect is misplaced. First off, the chest thumping was done explicitly as a bluff. Rego had a vastly stronger army then me for most of my reign and if he had decided to push his attack I would have lost several key cities before I could have stopped him.

Despite all of this, I never wanted a peace treaty with Rego since I had publicly declared there would be no quarter given or asked. The whole destroy Rego as a mission statement was a whimsical decision made to make the game more interesting. Yaz said he wanted to see Rego destroyed so I went with that as a theme (seemed appropriate to have a theme with the emphasis on spoiler threads and lurkers following the action)

My army was inherently weak because I focussed most of my hammers into infrastructure (other than granaries most if not all of the cities I inherited had no infrastructure). This was done because the other alliance had a tech advantage and was heavily out-teching us and there were no powerful researchers in our alliance. If I didn't fill the tech role then our alliance was doomed. I was very successful at becoming the best researcher in the game (and self sufficient to boot) while at the same time holding Rego at bay with bluff and bravado instead of actual troops.

The diplomacy failure was with Dreylin and Broker. Obviously I should have done something different to keep them happy but if the reason given by Broker, that I was just too powerful, is the real reason then there isn't much I could do. First off the perception that I was too powerful was simply wrong both DSP and Rego had much more powerful armies then me plus a huge tech advantage (not to mention more powerful allies).

Second, my "power" came solely from my population and number of cities without which I could not hope to bridge the tech gap between the two alliances so becoming less powerful was really not a viable option.

4) No one mentioned it but I am certain the quick collapse of the Incan empire was anti-climatic for everyone. Yes, I could have put up a better defense and dragged out my demise however to be honest I did not see any diplomacy breakthrough on the horizon and I just wanted the game over.

That's very interesting, to hear your thoughts. Thanks for playing, Exploit.

Are you planning on doing a spoiler thread in RBPB3?

[Exploit]

That's very interesting, to hear your thoughts. Thanks for playing, Exploit.

Are you planning on doing a spoiler thread in RBPB3?

I have no intention of doing a spoiler thread in RBP3.

[Sullla]

For those curious about the coal issue in this game, that's simply a goof on my part. I screened the map for all the early resources plus oil (the most important lategame resource). I admit I didn't pay much attention to coal, aluminum, or uranium, because they all come so late that they rarely make a huge difference. I assumed that the map would distribute them more or less equally.

Instead, it seems like there's a huge shortage of coal on this map. Ummm.... not what I was planning, but hey, maybe it will help make the lategame a little more interesting. That mistake is still totally on me.

[Krill]

Lurkers please note: this is the second time dsp has withheld techs when it has suited him. First Gunpowder in the first alliance shakeup, and now Artillery. Obviously not someone to be trusted when you are back to back...

[scooter]

If I'm following this right, it looks like regoarrar just got totally suckered into peace there. Looks like he's the next dogpile target...

[Krill]

Yup, that is what it is looking like. I think sunrise is going to get absolutely pounded...