Okay, finally getting around to the tallying up the scores. Without further ado:
[SIZE="6"]
The Most Honorable Seven Samurai: [/SIZE]
First is Sareln Katayama, Raider of Cities. He earned 83 points from unit kills, and 40 from destroying the
Ottoman and
Carthaginian Raiders. His score-
123 points!
Second comes Ito Ittomise, Bane of Archers. He earned 77 points from unit kills, 40 from destroying the
Holy Roman and
Dutch Raiders. His score-
117 points!
Third arrives Thestikazi Kouhei, Champion of the First Strike. He earned 68 points from unit kills, 40 from destroying the
Egyptian and
Mongolian Raiders. His score-
108 points!
Fourth appears Jkaenmaki Jisai, Unsurpassed Tactician. He earned 76 points from unit kills, 20 from destroying the
Ethiopian Raiders. His score-
96 points!
Fifth descends Bobiro Mifune, Master of Arcane Techniques. He earned 64 points from unit kills. His score-
64 points!
Sixth stirs Fusajironstar Yamauchi, Medical Prodigy. He earned 56 points from unit kills. His score-
56 points!
And finally, we remember our departed brother Hon'iden Matahachibod, Eager Physician, the
Seventh Samurai. We say a prayer for his spirit, and honor his
14 points.
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Thank you all for playing, and giving my unorthodox SG concept a try! Please correct my accounting above, in case my basic math is off (very probable), or I forgot to include civ elim points for somebody (extremely probable).
Just a few thoughts about the game concept-
This ended up being much easier than I had expected. We did have a number of powerful advantages on our side; aside from the obvious bonus of the Seven Samurai, we also had our almost entirely useless Peaceful Village allies, and perhaps critically the Epic speed slowing down enemy Deity AI unit spam.
But I think we mostly did so well due to luck. As a group, we took a lot of 85% or so shots, and only Ichabod lost a fight. At least one battle was under 70%. Had we lost even a couple more of those sub-99% battles, I think this would have been a difficult or perhaps even impossible challenge. We would not have been able to take on multiple civs at once, and losing Kurosawa City to incoming stacks would have been a real possibility.
None of us really went out of their way to screw over their compatriots, which probably made this a more fun game, even if it was clear before the second set completed that the competition for first was rapidly narrowing down to either Compromise or Sareln. Both of them being the first Samurai on their respective fronts to receive City Raider promotions made all the difference. I do think that the scoring system would have prevented someone from going on a fratricide rampage as Seven suggested. You couldn't kill off
everyone without obliterating your score from the point maluses & forfeiting the win due to the application of Honorable Death points. And if you killed off all but one or two Samurai, then all the survivors would have to do is murder you to set themselves up for the win.
Anyway, again thanks for playing everyone, and I hope someone gives this concept another go in the future (Magnificent Seven, anyone?
)
To conclude, an Epilogue:
Bobiro leaned back on his mat in the tavern at Kurosawa city, drinking sake and sharing stories and laughter with his fellow Samurai. They had triumphed at last- the Peaceful Village was free of the Bandit menace, and more importantly the surviving six had bellies full of food and pockets filled with gold. They toasted to the memory of Hon'iden, to honor and geisha.
"Where will you go know?" Jkaenmaki asked Bobiro, his face lit by candle fire.
Bobiro paused in contemplation.
![[Image: red-beard.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qJC_Y9dPNGs/TX-udhpBs6I/AAAAAAAABzo/yLV2uX56o_M/s1600/red-beard.jpg)
"I heard there's a village not far from here, where two criminal syndicates vie for power while the people suffer. I think they could use a Samurai."
