Open challenge: Duel to the Death

[Askthepizzaguy]

Sorry for the double post but your PM box is full ignoramus, I forgot to send you your password.

Just so everyone knows, the passwords here are just an annoying formality. I can change them if you want privacy, but otherwise the default is "1"

Thats your password.

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 1 summery.
Strategy: Turtle.
Current Priority: Secure border relations

Diplomatic information: Sent diplomat to Trebizond, secured trade rights at the cost of map information from the Romans, turned diplomat eastward and will initiate trade talks with Great Seljuks on Turn 2.

Military info: (will be hidden as blitzer gets closer) Combined two border armies into one, marched toward Yerevan. Will besiege on turn 2.

Build info: Building Port in Kutaisi, training Kypchack Horse archers and Georgian Horse archers in Tblisi.

End of Georgian turn 1.

[Askthepizzaguy]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 1 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Infidel

Diplomacy: None yet
Military movements: Encircling Jerusalem
Build Info: 2 shisha bars
Mercenary recruitment: None yet
Garrison recruitment: minor

End of Saladin turn 1

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 2 summery.
Strategy: Turtle.
Current priority: Secure southern border.

Diplomacy: Signed Alliance with Great Seljuks at the cost of Trade rights/Map info.
Military movements: used trained units at Tblisi to march toward Ani, will siege on turn 3. besieged yerevan, will assault on turn 3.
Build Info: None.
Mercenary recruitment: None
Garrison recruitment: None

End Georgian turn 2

[Askthepizzaguy]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 2 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Infidel

Diplomacy: Trade rights with the Armenian scum... for now...
Military: Saladin is at the gates of Jerusalem. Another general is at the gates of Jaffa. We have reinforcements in forts outside the infidel's capital.
Build info: Spies recruited
Mercenary recruitment: none
Garrison recruitment: minor

Other:
Merchants now earning 670+ per turn.

End of Saladin turn 2

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 3 summery
Strategy: Turtle.
Current Priority: Get out of financial debt by securing Southern border.

Diplomacy: Moved diplomat north to talk with Kypchaks.
Military: Took Yerevan, left minor garrison and beseiged Dvin with the same army. beseiged Ani with Giorgi the champion.
Build info: None.
Mercenary recruitment: None.
Garrison recruitment: None.

End of Georgian turn 3.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Bloody Georgians... how nice it must be to have rebels to destroy.

[Monk]

Bloody Georgians... how nice it must be to have rebels to destroy.

Haha, you'll meet rebels soon enough, though they will be the pesky full stack kind. I'm not going to make your march easy!

[Dead Guy]

I'm just curious what you consider the win conditions to be, perhaps you've stated it already. For the blitzer it's obvious, but for the turtle? Is it enough to prevent the blitzer from winning or does the turtle have to eliminate the blitzer? =)

[Askthepizzaguy]

Win conditions for the Blitzer are to destroy the opposing faction. Win conditions for the Turtle are to make the Blitzer either declare a cease-fire, peace treaty, surrender, or forfeit. It is not necessary for the Turtle to destroy the blitzer, because if I see that they have destroyed my entire invasion force and are poised to bring the offensive to a grinding halt, I will concede.

However, If I've prepared enough recruitment facilities and spies, they can expect a second wave...

=========================

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 3 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Infidel

Diplomacy: Trade rights with the Roman scum... for now...
Military: Jerusalem and Jaffa have both fallen, and the main imperial army of Jerusalem has been utterly annihilated.
Build info: Spies recruited, shisha dens and bars constructed
Mercenary recruitment: major
Garrison recruitment: major

Other:
2 Merchants now earning 670+ per turn.

End of Saladin turn 3

[Ferret]

I pick BC, as we already have the same version, and I shall play as the mighty turtles of the Shah. Might not be able to play as fast paced as this one though lol.

[Askthepizzaguy]

theres more than one shah. Did you mean the Ghaznavid Shah or the Khwarezm Shah?

[Ferret]

Oh right, I meant the crazy ones I can't spell that's not the Ghaznavids...

[Askthepizzaguy]

Khwarezmids. Khware, zmids. Simple right? Ok maybe not.

You pick a Blitzer's faction for your turtle empire? lol... you're going to give me a huge challenge, EF. Hmmm... who is good against a massive Khwarezmid empire?

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Turn 4 summery.
Strategy: Turtle.
Current priority: Strengthen strategic position.

Diplomacy: None.
Military: Ani and Dvin have both been added to the Georgian Kingdom, financial debt is gone, moving north to secure a coastal black sea city before the Kypchaks can.
Build info: Began building port in Ani, minor building other than that.
Mercenary recruitment: Major.
Garrison recruitment: None.

end of Georgian turn 4.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Ok, Elite Ferret, I've chosen Rome to take you down. But first I need to eliminate those pesky Turks. Bwahahaha... AI spawn intact. I'm uber hardcore.



What's your email? I need to send you the save file.

I haven't forgotten about you Ichigo, I'm going to send you the save file for our game shortly.

I now have 4 challengers. If for some reason I don't play my turn in 48 hours, just send me an email and remind me. I have 4 hotseats to play as well. However, I'm on break from college and I have a lot of time on my hands. I can handle this.

[Askthepizzaguy]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Ayyubids versus Georgia.
Turn 4 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Infidel

Diplomacy: Trade rights with Turkish brethren... for now...
Military: Acre, Tyre, and Tripoli have all fallen. Baalbeck and Tartus beseiged.
Build info: more shisha bars, spies, merchants produced. Many ports begun this turn.
Mercenary recruitment: All available recruited
Garrison recruitment: Emptied treasury.

Other:
Merchants earning close to 1500 per turn.

End of Saladin turn 4

=======================

ATPG vs Elite Ferret. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Rome vs Khwarezm.
Turn 1 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Rebels

Diplomacy: Trade rights with the Turks
Military: Beseiging Dorylaeum, Ani
Build info: none
Mercenary recruitment: heavy
Garrison recruitment: light

End of Rome turn 1

=======================

ATPG vs Ignoramus. Vanilla 1.3.
Turks versus France.
Turn 1-
(France's turn)

=======================

ATPG vs. Ichigo. Vanilla 1.3
Moors versus England.
Turn 1-
(England's turn)

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Ayyubids versus Georgia.
Turn 5 summary.
Strategy: Turtle.
Current Priority: Further strengthen position

Diplomacy: None.
Military: Internal troops movements to better strengthen position.
Build info: Ports and land clearance.
Mercenary recruitment: Minor.
Garrison recruitment: Major.

End of Georgian turn 5

[Askthepizzaguy]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Ayyubids versus Georgia.
Turn 5 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy the Infidel

Diplomacy: Secured peace and alliance with the Kingdom of Kerak (Jerusalem faction nearly obliterated, they relented)

Military: Baalbeck and Tartus fallen. Hama under seige.
Build info: numerous spies, merchants, assassin recruited. More ports constructed.
Mercenary recruitment: All available recruited,
Garrison recruitment: Emptied treasury.

Other:
Merchants earning close to 2200 per turn.

End of Saladin turn 5

Many freshly-recruited spies fell to their deaths on missions this turn...

[Ferret]

I would have chose the Ghorids if I was you. I didn't know they were a blitz faction though, I just thought they were fairly large and at the edge of the map and have lots of good rivers for choke points.

I'd rather you sent the save via PM if that is okay as I rarely check my emails these days but I'll send it to you anyway.

edit:just read your PM and in that case e-mail will be fine, I'll make a habit of checking it.

[Monk]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Ayyubids versus Georgia.
Turn 6 summary.
Strategy: Turtle.
Current Priority: Expand borders to give breathing room.

Diplomacy: Made alliance with Kypchak(turn 5, didn't report) and Abbasids, as well as trade rights.
Military: Using garrison recruitment to march, besieged coastal province (who's name i forget) and will besiege Van on turn 7-8.
Build info: None.
Mercenary recruitment: Minor.
Garrison recruitment: None.

end of turn 6, Georgia.

----

I'm watching your advance ATPG, it's a bit worrying.

[Askthepizzaguy]

I would have chose the Ghorids if I was you. I didn't know they were a blitz faction though, I just thought they were fairly large and at the edge of the map and have lots of good rivers for choke points.

I'd rather you sent the save via PM if that is okay as I rarely check my emails these days but I'll send it to you anyway.

edit:just read your PM and in that case e-mail will be fine, I'll make a habit of checking it.

The Ghorids? Meh.

You're almost expected to expand east into india with your huge stacks of troops that you're given from the start. You waste too much time moving west and you lose a lot of money, only to beseige Ghazni and then what? Worthless provinces they have...

The Ghorids are an anti-Rajput faction. Once they take the east they can turn around, but I just can't disband good Ghorid troops or go heavily into debt just to take out the Ghaznavids. Besides, the Romans get to paste 3 AI spawn stacks of Turkish troops. Mmm.... beefy.

With any luck I'll be the one pasted instead. Maybe the AI will attack me for once.

I can send you saves via PM it's just... ugh... I already get so many diplomatic pm's that I need a bigger inbox or something. 125 messages is not enough.

[Askthepizzaguy]

I'm watching your advance ATPG, it's a bit worrying.

Famous last words...

[Privateerkev]

There are a number of people who would disagree with you. I believe Sapi and privateerkev and a whole horde of turtle lovers truly believe the turtle can fight on slightly even terms if played effectively.

I've said no such thing. A turtle will lose to the blitzer. Period. The only point I've ever tried to make is that I can make your victory take longer than you think. Not that I can actually change the eventual outcome. That is why I haven't joined in this challenge.

I am not a "turtle lover" because I think that way is better, or would win. I am a "turtle lover" because that way of playing is simply more fun for me.

[Ferret]

ATPG vs Elite Ferret. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
ERE versus Kwarezm Shah.
Turn 1 summary.
Strategy: Turtle, after a wee blitz.
Current Priority: blitz south so I can secure borders to turtle within

Diplomacy: send diplomat to Great Seljuks
Military: Used spies to get into Merv and Balkh, both opened gates and both cities were taken.
Build info: Queued up a barracks in Merv and grain exchanges in my two starting towns.
Mercenary recruitment: 2 units of Kypchak Auxilia to take Balkh.
Garrison recruitment: A unit of Steppe archers in each of my starting towns.

__________________________________________________________

how come you only have 125 messages in your inbox? I have 400 max...

[Askthepizzaguy]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I've said no such thing. A turtle will lose to the blitzer. Period. The only point I've ever tried to make is that I can make your victory take longer than you think. Not that I can actually change the eventual outcome. That is why I haven't joined in this challenge.

I am not a "turtle lover" because I think that way is better, or would win. I am a "turtle lover" because that way of playing is simply more fun for me.

Fair enough, and my apologies Privateerkev, my memory is quite terrible. Just wait until I am old and senile...

[Privateerkev]

Fair enough, and my apologies Privateerkev, my memory is quite terrible. Just wait until I am old and senile...

As for the Turtle vs Blitzer challenge, it is like watching a 20 mile race between someone running, and someone in a car...

I don't think it will be very fun...

[Ferret]

Well in the challenge 'rules' it says that you can blitz, turtle or be moderate. Besides being a turtle doesn't mean you are extremely weak, I'm looking forward to defending the rivers of the Shah.

[Privateerkev]

Besides being a turtle doesn't mean you are extremely weak

No but it does mean you just gave up the best way of making quick money.

[Askthepizzaguy]

ATPG vs Monk. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
Ayyubids versus Georgia.
Turn 6 summary.
Strategy: Blitzer.
Current Priority: Destroy Syrian Rebels

Diplomacy: Secured peace and alliance with the Seljuks and the Abassids, I believe. Or the Turks I forget. Looks like my allies are your allies. I wonder whose side they will pick...

Military: Hama and Aleppo have fallen.
Build info: More shisha bars and plenty of agents
Mercenary recruitment: All available recruited,
Garrison recruitment: recruited some, but still some treasury remaining.


Other:
Moved Capital.
Even though my merchants take a huge hit, I'm still earning more with the capital in Jerusalem.
LOTS of dead spies.

End of Saladin turn 6

======================

ATPG vs Elite Ferret. BC 1.5 with hotfixes.
ERE versus Kwarezm Shah.
Turn 2 summary.
Strategy: Blitz
Current Priority: Destroy Turks

Diplomacy: made alliance with Armenia
Military: Took Dorylaeum and Ani, used money to recruit more mercenaries, build brothels.
Build info: Brothels.
Mercenary recruitment: minor
Garrison recruitment: none