Hello Cha & Wilbo. Wilbo: I play on a 56K connection with no problems as long as the game type is 3v3 (3 versus 3) or less. 4v4 tends to lag for me (but, my 56K connection's average transfer rate is only 28.8, so if yours is truly 56K you can probably play 4v4s fine).

Cha: I don't operate a fake server because of my slow connection. I have a friend who was running one for a while. Sometimes he and I and other friends arrange to meet for games using it, but it's no longer available to the general public (not enough people were using it to justify him keeping it up all the time). Note: they are very easy to install and operate. The only caviat is you must give out your PC's IP in order for others to connect to your server.

I am usually awake at the times you mentioned. I'll repatch and see if I can access Tosa's fake server tonight around 10:30pm. If you log in and don't see me there, stay logged in if you can so we don't miss each other; I'll do the same. If you see me there but I don't respond, and get an automessage when you try to message me directly, then I'm "AFK" (away from keyboard). If this is the case I will be checking every few minutes to see if you've logged in.

If you guys have MTW, I've heard it would be worth your while to try what Puzz3D suggests. They've invested a lot of time and effort into the Samurai Wars mod, and deserve to have some players give it a shot. The mod is supposed to be excellent--for online battles too. The primary reason why I haven't tried it because my platform can't handle it.