OOC Thread and Chatroom

[TinCow]

The armies aren't that bad. Most players with a decent half stack should be able to destroy them. These are not triple silver armies nor are they meant to be. They're simply a roadbump in expansionism that's designed to slow you guys down a bit and force you to bulk up your garrisons a bit more. I expect all of the threatened cities to be under Byzantine control by the end of this coming term. If you don't mind swallowing your pride and temporarily retreating, then it won't be anything more than a short-term problem.

Besides, this is nothing in comparison to what I really can do. Remember, now I can personally control all enemy movements. The insanity has not yet begun.

[OverKnight]

Hmmm, I'm flashing back to the good old days in Outremer: Stick and move, bleed 'em and run and find the nearest mountain or river crossing and make them come to you. I thought I'd left my guerilla warfare tactics behind in the last game.

Ironically when I clicked on the stack near Bucharest, it said "Come and face the might of the Reich" and we're now the perfidious Greeks.

[TinCow]

For the record, the bulk of the western armies are Religious Fanatics, Sergeant Spearmen, and Peasant Archers. The bulk of the eastern armies are Ghazis, Mutatawwi's, and Desert Archers. None of those units have any upgrades. Each army will also get a single upgraded general's bodyguard. All other units (most of which were in the armies when I teleported them) will be disbanded when I take control of the rebels. I will probably replace them with a couple units of Mounted Sergeants in the west and some low-level mounted missile unit in the east. Again, unupgraded. Not exactly doom stacks.

[Ferret]

Does you controlling the rebels mean that we wont be able to control any defensive battles? Because you would be controlling them as rebels...

[TinCow]

No, not at all. I will not be initiating any attacks with the rebels and I actually only plan on 'controlling' them for one turn. I will take one turn to finish tweaking the armies and then move them to besiege the nearby settlements. I will then queue up a long list of siege equipment for them and end the turn. After that I will disable control over the rebel faction and do not plan on taking control of them again. When and if they finally assault the settlements, it will be intiated by the AI, not me, so it will be a proper defensive battle for you to fight. I promise that nothing I do will force an autoresolve on a player, though I reserve the right to personally obliterate Captain-led armies in future Events by commanding the enemy attack myself.

[Ituralde]

I have to say I also find the stacks to be a bit drastic. Not to mention the fact that you reserve the right to alter their numbers next turn. How shall I decide whether I should pick a fight when I don't know what I'll be up against?

Guess I'll retreat then. Oh well, gives me a reason to take the Royal Army on a little detour!

Although I liked the story the actual implementation leaves an artificial aftertaste for me. I'd prefer in the future for those events to come on a little bit more naturally. Then again I wasn't around during the period of triple silver armies in KotR so maybe my definition of challenge is a bit behind the rest. I still try to get back into the things and how battles work in the mod. Well looks like I'll be up on a steep learning curve.

Just a disclaimer that no hard feelings are involved, but I needed to do some rambling and muttering, feel better already!

[TinCow]

Your comments indicate that I have succeeded in my attempts. The armies are intended to force you to retreat, but to be easily destroyed with a full stack. As unupgraded rebels, they will quickly rout and won't pose much of a challenge. My objective was to force you to assemble stronger armies to confront them. If they could all be instantly destroyed, it wouldn't be much of an event, would it? Based on what's already available, I think armies can be quickly assembled to deal with them in both the west and east. The only problem will be Zagreb and Sinop, which are a bit isolated from the likely assembly area for the larger armies. Barring truly heroic defenses of those cities, they will likely have to be temporarily abandoned, which is, again, the entire point of the Event.

As for feeling artificial, I think we passed that point after we started taking large cities with only generals bodyguard units.

[_Tristan_]

So it is back to Strator for poor Methodios...

Can't get a hold on any territory...

Can't even win an election, that guy...

What a loser...

[Ituralde]

As for feeling artificial, I think we passed that point after we started taking large cities with only generals bodyguard units.

A thing I would never do...

And before somebody feels stepped on his toes, I'm fine with the event and I'm also fine with seeing other playstyles through these games. It's one of the interesting things to see how other people play these games, interact with them, and so on!

[BananaBob]

I'm kind of upset that their is now a roadblock to expansionism.When many of us great deal of us still don't have land and are are essentially out of the game except for reading about others exploits.



Id prefer if we were all involved before something like this happened

[_Tristan_]

A thing I would never do...

I would hav said the same but the rules of the game require much of us to have control of any army (which are not not many in any case...) so it is either twiddling our collective thumbs or move our bodyguards' basement and do something of our lives...

I see it as a kind of Russian roulette... Everything could happen when you lead a charge with your bodyguard... or

[TinCow]

This is more negativity than I expected, so I've put up a poll to assess the general feelings. I will go with whatever course is deemed proper.

[Privateerkev]

If you see the way people fight battles in these games, you'll see that it is only a tiny roadblock.

I think there should be consequences to expanding too fast. We'll get bored if we accidently take over the whole map. And now TC is in the perfect position to put roadblocks in our way.

Personally, I'm excited about all of this.

[Ferret]

No, not at all. I will not be initiating any attacks with the rebels and I actually only plan on 'controlling' them for one turn. I will take one turn to finish tweaking the armies and then move them to besiege the nearby settlements. I will then queue up a long list of siege equipment for them and end the turn. After that I will disable control over the rebel faction and do not plan on taking control of them again. When and if they finally assault the settlements, it will be intiated by the AI, not me, so it will be a proper defensive battle for you to fight. I promise that nothing I do will force an autoresolve on a player, though I reserve the right to personally obliterate Captain-led armies in future Events by commanding the enemy attack myself.

Okay, this sounds good, I'll check out the army size but I'm gonna vote yes anyway, I'd rather have interesting expansion than an unstoppable blitz.

[Privateerkev]

It might help to make clear that the event2 poll is OOC. I don't want Bananabob, or anyone else thinking they have to vote how I do.

IC however I will DEMAND OBEDIANCE! Bow you peasants!!! BOW!!!!!! Bow and scrape! Lick my boots and use your voting cards to pick the gravel out from between the treads!

[TinCow]

For those people worried about expansion, Event 3 is already in the planning stage and it will almost certainly actively encourage expansion.

[_Tristan_]

Far from my mind from calling a stop to Event #2, though I feel responsible for the whole ****load coming our way...

Though I could deal with Randolph and a half stack... A full stack is truly a nightmarish sight...

[Privateerkev]

wait a minute...

We're in danger of losing Hypatos Hypatios!?!

Then the event must be called off!

I was counting on that title providing me years of entertainment.

[AussieGiant]

It sounds like I need to pull out my KotR monologue on gaming philosophy.

I remember a long and detailed post in which I expounded on the virtues of "struggle" and the feeling of "accomplishment" rather than settle for the easy route of total domination and meta gaming.

Should I go find that and give it another shot?

[Cecil XIX]

Bah! Young wippersnappers, complaining about a single full-stack. Back in my day, I faced half-stacks of triple-silver and triple-gold chevron enemies. And the only reward for beating them was the knowledge that another one was going to take it's place next term! Kids today...

[Privateerkev]

wait till there is full-scale PvP battles. Humans are much more of a challenge than the stupid AI...

[AussieGiant]

wait till there is full-scale PvP battles. Humans are much more of a challenge than the stupid AI...

Given the MAD nature of PvP battles you'd have to be bonkers to start one without a landslide position in effect. Hell, can you imagine how much damage one of the KotR top tier General's would have done, knowing he had no chance except to inflict as many casualties as possible...oh man.

[Ramses II CP]

Yeah, I've messed with some SS 4.1 battles and it's pretty incredible how jedi-like our bodyguards are, significantly more so than in vanilla. Spearmen are horrible against them. I don't see us having too much trouble with these rebels beyond the next turn or two.

In fact I'll wager that the rebel bodyguards cause more casualties on their own than all the rest of their troops put together. Find a way to deal with them and you've got the V. I have a feeling the pace of things will pick back up in a hurry afterward, especially since we have to put together some big armies in order to put down the rebels. We aren't going to absorb huge losses, and those troops are going to have to do something after the rebellion is smashed...

[Privateerkev]

Given the MAD nature of PvP battles you'd have to be bonkers to start one without a landslide position in effect. Hell, can you imagine how much damage one of the KotR top tier General's would have done, knowing he had no chance except to inflict as many casualties as possible...oh man.

Sounds like your talking about FactionHeir...

My point was, if people think this is hard now, they haven't seen anything yet.

[AussieGiant]

Sounds like your talking about FactionHeir...

My point was, if people think this is hard now, they haven't seen anything yet.

You’re right I was thinking about FH. He would be an unmitigated disaster for the opposition. But there are a few other “quiet” achievers in the General list from where I’m sitting.

TC’s imagination will be really let loose in this game. The options he has at his disposal now are beyond what I can realistically comprehend!!

[TinCow]

TC’s imagination will be really let loose in this game. The options he has at his disposal now are beyond what I can realistically comprehend!!

Yeah, this game gives me a lot more freedom. Rule 1.5 and my lack of an in-game avatar give me a lot more 'moral' freedom to do whatever I want. During the Cataclysm I was always worried about treating Bavaria and/or the Illuminati differently due to my IC affiliations with them. I'm much more comfortable manipulating things as a neutral observer. I also cannot understate just how significant it is to be able to use the hotseat console commands. That gives me almost total control over anything in the game. I no longer have to scrape the barrel to find armies that fit my desires. As long as I've got one turn to prepare, I can take control of a faction, I can build as many armies as I want in exactly the right configurations without any error. They will always move where I want them to (with some limitations) and I can even do diplomatic things like declaring Crusades, declaring Jihads, or even (I hope) ending wars.

That said, it is NOT my objective to use these tools to create an uber AI challenge. We've been there and done that and it gets dull. The main excitement is competition between the players, in whatever forms that takes. Most of my 'Events' will be designed to increase this competition and spark internal crises which will generate far more interesting scenarios than I can create on my own. I will prop up the AI if it's really being horrid or if it helps further the plotline, but I want to work towards a situation in which the players are competing with each other, not with the AI.

[AussieGiant]

Yeah, this game gives me a lot more freedom. Rule 1.5 and my lack of an in-game avatar give me a lot more 'moral' freedom to do whatever I want. During the Cataclysm I was always worried about treating Bavaria and/or the Illuminati differently due to my IC affiliations with them. I'm much more comfortable manipulating things as a neutral observer. I also cannot understate just how significant it is to be able to use the hotseat console commands. That gives me almost total control over anything in the game. I no longer have to scrape the barrel to find armies that fit my desires. As long as I've got one turn to prepare, I can take control of a faction, I can build as many armies as I want in exactly the right configurations without any error. They will always move where I want them to (with some limitations) and I can even do diplomatic things like declaring Crusades, declaring Jihads, or even (I hope) ending wars.

Just waaaay too much information there TC...I'd like to keep the exact details blurry so I can sleep relatively peacefully.

Vivid detail is like hearing someone talk about your grandparents having sex.

[Privateerkev]

Vivid detail is like hearing someone talk about your grandparents having sex.

wait a minute...

Exactly what part of TC taking control of the AI is like your grandparents having sex?!? o_O

[Privateerkev]

Bah, SS keeps CTD'ing for some reason.

I'll try to find a cleaning disk tomorrow in case it is the lens.

Regular TV show DVD's work fine. M2TW starts up. But SS, and another DVD game won't start.

I don't know if it's related to all the other crap people seem to be downloading lately by accident.

Anyone know of a good free anti-virus software that will both detect AND let me remove the offending invaders for free?

I have Ad-aware and Spybot but those do not seem up to the task. I run ZoneAlarm as well but it obviously isn't helping.

Bah...

Just wanted everyone to know. I will keep everyone updated.

Good thing I was planning on having Mak sit things out for awhile...

[Northnovas]

When is it crashing? There are some CTD issues with SS. It usually occurs in the AI turn trying to create an event that can't happen. If you check the log you will see what the AI was doing last and the event that was trying to occur. This is the only CTD bug I am aware of with SS.