Well. Looks like HK is the only one with a shot at dethroning Ellimist anymore. Elli brought more troops, and more ships, than I expected, and also an Air I adept, to sneak around my stack of galleys. Then apparently promoted his Moroi to Mobility, and added in Haste and Burning Blood, after he landed. I lost every coastal city, including Ringmaster, and also Lion Tamer.
Only bright side is, he went for my cities rather than my mages. Lost most of my swords and four cities, but still have the military to shove him back to sea.
On my turn, I was able to clean up the invaders for the most part - he's got a couple Galleys and 6 damaged Moroi left. If he doesn't evacuate now, I'll kill them all next turn. But of course it doesn't really matter, killing half my empire should put me out of this.
Still, I'll play as long as Molach and HK want to keep going. Only fair. Maybe I'll be able to rebuild a fleet and use Mages (which I finally have, about 5 turns too late) to hurt Elli enough to give someone else a shot at this.
Final verdict: it's all my macro game. I could have won this war, easy, if I'd had a stronger empire and hence Sorcery 5 turns ago. Lesson learned for next time!
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
(July 20th, 2013, 21:44)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Ouch
Do you think aristofarms would've given the tech to save you?
Iffy. I didn't really have a lot of farms, and losing that 1 food hurt pretty bad. I think cottage econ was one of my correct choices, all things considered. Researching Education sooner than T77 probably would have, though. Or settling for food first, commerce second. Maybe even going deliberately for the Drama bard sooner.
Or even getting that Sage to bulb Sorcery, although that was a Hail Mary play by that point.
Really, tech was half the story, the other half was being so far behind in food and hammers. There's no single decision I can point to, just a lot of suboptimal choices.
(July 21st, 2013, 11:05)Whosit Wrote: Aw, man. What are your odds if you just take everything and 1-A? (And by "1-A" I mean "all-out-attack.")
Um. Well, the biggest problem is that Ellimist is across the continent from me; I haven't even found his territory yet. Either I advance 2 tiles/turn with mages, or I have to kill his navy first (without one of my own just yet) and sail to meet him.
I can't hit him anytime soon, is what I'm saying.
As for odds, well, as a magic-user, it all depends on tactics. I ought to be able to harass him from a distance that he can't retaliate, especially if I take back the sea. But I don't know I could stop a second wave from simply running me over.
