The Anteroom - community discussion thread

[phonicsmonkey]

Hey all you Throne Roomies! I thought it was about time we had our own off-topic thread so we can gather and shoot the breeze about anything that takes our fancy.

There's enough of us hanging around these days to make a decent sized crowd for some banter. (just remember to follow the org rules or I may have to instagib you )

I might begin by introducing myself: I am phonicsmonkey and I am a hotseat addict.

Since 2007 I have been playing in and hosting hotseat games here in the Throne Room and now I have the privilege of moderating the forum too...I'm keen to grow the community and as most of you know I'm evangelical about the great TW experience to be gained from playing against other humans. I have more recently been enjoying the M2TW RPG V&V as well.

Despite having a personal limit of three hotseats at a time I currently find myself playing in six of them and being the admin for five....I just can't help myself it seems...

[Zim]

I know how that feels.

One OOC thread to rule them all?

Despite having a personal limit of three hotseats at a time I currently find myself playing in six of them and being the admin for five....I just can't help myself if seems...

[phonicsmonkey]

Zim, I'm surprised you didn't push for Norway in WotK2...

[Zim]

It was tempting....

Also, death to the Mongols.

[phonicsmonkey]

Myth has been sending me screenshots of defeated Mongols in an attempt to psyche me out...

[Zim]

He's playing the Shah? I think I'd be up for some psychological warfare in that situation as well, probably starting with pictures of the Shah crying while huddled in a fetal position.

[phonicsmonkey]

I must say that playing hotseats in SS6.3 and SS6.4 has made me want to play a SP campaign again...my last one was in BC 1.05 back in the old days before Commanders of the Faithful (2008 maybe?) so it will have been a really long time.

Think I might try a Turkish campaign and fight the Mongols myself...

Anyone else still playing SP M2TW?

[Nightbringer]

I just started playing some ss 6.4 again myself. I came back to an old byzantine game where I am attempting to recreate the Roman empire. I am also doing a relocation game with Aragon in Italy.

On a side note, you invitation to chat here seemed almost ominous.
"Come have a chat with me..."
Oh no, I am going to be flayed alive for opposing the Khan!


(probably just my paranoid nature feeding off a "...")

[phonicsmonkey]

I think all in all I preferred to be the Caliph than the Khan - just a bit friendlier, know what I mean?

Although there aren't many left now who remember me as such...

[Nightbringer]

Khan does have a long and, storied, history. Its good we have a strong player like yourself to really put the fear of Mongols in us all.
I look forward to my lands becoming a smoldering wasteland as armies clash in it. :)

[phonicsmonkey]

Its good we have a strong player like yourself to really put the fear of Mongols in us all.

In the interests of full disclosure I should point out that I have never actually won a hotseat...

EDIT: some images from the first Wrath of the Khan game:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Nightbringer]

those are awesome images.

As to you never having actually won. Not everyone can hope to be as good as I am Phonics.

:)

(or maybe there just haven't been many hotseats that actually ended)

[phonicsmonkey]

those are awesome images.

As to you never having actually won. Not everyone can hope to be as good as I am Phonics.

:)

(or maybe there just haven't been many hotseats that actually ended)

It was quite the epic campaign - ask Silver about it...I confess I have been on the winning side in most games, at least the ones that finished.

Britannia and CotF, DoW...I straight up lost the LotE game after rushing into an early lead. Quirl totally kerbstomped me with his Qara-Suu....still gives me nightmares to think of it...

Obviously lost the WotK game - Mongols thrashed us in the end...

Don't like to talk about WWC these days....and Dual Alliances is going quite well although Thanatos or Triforce are likelier winners than I.

[Nightbringer]

DA is an interesting game. I thought I was a goner when the HRE turned on me, but things have been turning around pretty well. Triforce has been a huge help and is looking to become pretty dominant in that game. At least in the west, I really have no idea what the East is like.

[phonicsmonkey]

I really have no idea what the East is like.

Mostly Purple and Yellow, with a bit of Teal thrown in for good measure

[Nightbringer]

sounds like how it usually goes. Personally, I have never seen a game in which the Turks have had a huge amount of success. Although they do seem to be doing well in GA

[phonicsmonkey]

sounds like how it usually goes. Personally, I have never seen a game in which the Turks have had a huge amount of success.

They are always stuck between ERE and Egypt - it's a rough place to be

[Myth]

LOL :D About time we had such a thread!

OK first of all - I play SP on occasion. Like once every two days or once per day If i have the time. I have a save in SS 6.4 for England, the ERE and recently - Portugal. Man if you want a challenge, start a 6.4 Early game with RR on. Even without BGR Portugal just doesn't have physically as many troops as it needs to beat the might of money scripted, free troops Gracul AI Moors. Even with Crusade mercs they still have 3x your armies! Even if you blockade the land-bridge into Africa! Just wow... And the Ai gets such huge bonuses on the battle map in SS that a unit of skirmisher cav will charge and kill 70% of your general's bodyguard. And the Moorish FL general's Bodyguard stalemates two units of Mailed Knights, your own General + a unit of light cav! Oh and their spearmen sometimes can outrun your knights :D

Autoresolve actually becomes the better choice if you have enough heavy infantry mercs from the crusades.

BTW I installed Broken Crescent yesterday, just to see what the fuss was about. 8000 gold for dirt roads? What? It also seems very imbalanced. But everyone is talking about the 3.0 version coming soon so... we'll see.

TATW is awesome but also imbalanced. Pick the Elves and just stomp with archers who fire farther than siege weapons, run faster than horses and don't tire. And have 11 ranged and 15 melee attack. And shields.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Can I ask why such a name for this thread - the Anteroom? What does it mean?

[phonicsmonkey]

Can I ask why such a name for this thread - the Anteroom? What does it mean?

Good question, it means the same as antechamber - a side room off the main Throne Room in which we can wait and chat.

Myth I haven't played Broken Crescent since 2.0 and I preferred 1.05 to that version. I guess it depends how much you are into the medieval islamic world - I just found BC different from anything I'd experienced before and loved it. It opened my eyes to that whole period of history...

I haven't tried TATW despite all the good feedback - I just don't really like the idea of the fantasy setting. I might give it a go if I start enjoying SP again.

[Nightbringer]

I played TATW for a bit, and truly admired it in every way. It truly is a masterpiece of a mod, but for some reason I never found myself as hooked on it as I have been with SS. I doubt its the setting, as I love LoTR, (books, not movie, but the visuals in the movies work great for it, that's a whole 'nother topic though).
I don't think the balance was a problem for me either, it felt right that elves should be superhuman.

I think the issue ended up being the diplomacy. When it worked as it was supposed to it was too, predictable. Which I guess is related to the fiction. LOTR is less about the strategy and politics of war and more about characters and the more personal aspects of war. Which the tW engine does not do well.
The good guys fight the bad, and that makes it feel more like just one big war, rather than a series of wars with everyone trying to gain power. That is what I enjoy about TW games. The predictability in TATW killed my excitement to see who would rise and fall.

If I were to play another fantasy based TW mod, I think I would go for a "Song of Ice and Fire" based one. Lots of backstabbing and shifting balance of power in that.

[phonicsmonkey]

I haven't read fantasy for many years and haven't come across the Song of Ice and Fire. Good is it?

By the way I have been playing SS6.4 on VH/VH (same settings as WotK2) and have been pleasantly surprised at the level of difficulty on the battle map. It seems like on those settings the cavalry speeds have been adjusted so that you can't as easily win huge battles with a few horse like previously. Which is good for hotseats with led battles.

[Nightbringer]

yep, I feel like the balance in 6.4 is really in the sweet spot. Cav feels powerful but not indestructible.

As for A Song of Ice and Fire, I would definitely recommend it if you were looking to read some more fantasy. It can be pretty graphic and is definitely "dark" fantasy. It is also quite an investment of time, with 4 books currently with ~800 pages each. And a new one coming out soon. The first book is "A Game of Thrones." There is an HBO series of it right now but I haven't seen any of it so I can't speak to the quality of that. There is also an RTS being made based on it, I think that is still a long way off though.

[phonicsmonkey]

Ah it's Game of Thrones. You are officially the third person to recommend that to me. The TV series is for Sean Bean fans as far as I can tell

Speaking of TV, I can't get enough of Spartacus...I just rewatched Blood and Sand after seeing Gods of the Arena. Love it. The acting and dialogue is terrible on the whole but the plot is pretty good and it's full of sex and violence, which is what the monkey likes...

[Nightbringer]

well, there is lots of sex and violence in those books. As for spartacus, I tried and episode and the history major in me had to shut it off. I might enjoy it as entertainment if I gave it more of a chance though.

[phonicsmonkey]

That is the only way to enjoy it. History it is not. My wife calls it gladiator-p0rn and she has it about right. It will be interesting to see whether they attempt to be historically accurate at all about the much-better documented events that follow his escape from the Ludus...

[Zim]

Make that 4 people, it's a great series. My father's reading the books right now. I'll have to ask him how the show compares.

Aside from exposure to the Sharpe series through my father I hadn't really seen much fo Sean Bean before, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Aiden Gillen (from The Wire) in the show.

Ah it's Game of Thrones. You are officially the third person to recommend that to me. The TV series is for Sean Bean fans as far as I can tell

Speaking of TV, I can't get enough of Spartacus...I just rewatched Blood and Sand after seeing Gods of the Arena. Love it. The acting and dialogue is terrible on the whole but the plot is pretty good and it's full of sex and violence, which is what the monkey likes...

[Myth]

1. ASOIAF is one of the greatest fantasy series ever! It's in my top 4 with LOTR, WoT and the Chronicles of Amber. Definitely read it. READ IT. NOW!
2. Watch the TV series after you have read the book. GRRM has done his best with the scripts and advising the HBO staff, but there is only so much stuff one can fit in 10 episodes per season. Books first, TV after.
3. SS is great. Definitely play with Gracul's AI, the other AIs are too passive and it's too easy to have unbreakable 200 turn alliances. Gracul is the way to go if you want a challenge. Try BGR4 if you have tons of time to read and learn the rules. It's somewhat of a chore though, so i've abandoned it for now. BTW in an Early campaign in SS Genral's Bodyguards still rule the battle map. Wherever there is only one enemy cav unit (or better yet-none) you can win with a GB alone. I've taken every rebel settlement on the British Isles in SP with just a unit of GB and a unit of Miles cav. I siege, the AI sallies and I kill them. This doesn't work in hotseat however, as when the Rebel turn comes the AI just autocalcs the sally battle and you lose horribly.

Monkey I'd also advise you to play with Real Rercruitment on in SP - it makes it harder to blitz the AI since you lack quality troops and the AI can always out-spearmilita you with it's massive gold and unit boosts. As England I eliminated the moors but had to fight around 6-7 full stacks to do so! And they had a bunch more but I eliminated them before they could use them!

Oh TATW is great value for a mod. It shows superb effort has been put in the making of it. What I also don't quite enjoy about it is that he map is huge but kind of bland - a settlement every 500 miles or so, not like the clusterfark that is Western and Central Europe in regular M2TW :D

BTW there is a Weseteros mod in the making (hosted on the .net) I've downloaded the alpha and it's nice, but the full version looks so much better.. *drool*. Go and check it out if you want.

[Visor]

I've won a few hotseats. I like a lot of the mods released, BC, TATW, SS, KGCM. (KGCM is good for SP IMO). (Just not the HS patch version.)

I've killed the Mongols turn 2 as Khwarez on LE before.... ;)

I've seen the Turks do well once in a hotseat game, SS6.3. But they would've lost against me (Cumans, love my Cumans) and the Romans.

[phonicsmonkey]

I've killed the Mongols turn 2 as Khwarez on LE before.... ;)

They don't believe you over at TWC