New hotseat game - Glorious Achievements

[Quirl]

Egypt please. :)

[_Tristan_]

France for me if it is possible

Keep in mind I won't have Internet access from the 23rd till the end of the month...

[SilverShield]

Egypt please. :)

serious? u are up for the beginner spot? ... man those treacherous mameluks...

[Quirl]

serious? u are up for the beginner spot? ... man those treacherous mameluks...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[SilverShield]

most surreal pic i have seen in a while. thats Dali 2.0! actually was just wondering u chose egypt. guess u wanna pwn us all

[Zim]

Sicily if they're still available.

[Quirl]

most surreal pic i have seen in a while. thats Dali 2.0! actually was just wondering u chose egypt. guess u wanna pwn us all

I always played as Egypt in the vanilla game... though it's been awhile since I played the vanilla game. :P

[phonicsmonkey]

... though it's been awhile since I played the vanilla game. :P

You're not the only one! I'm hoping the nostalgia and the patching to 1.03 make it a good experience overall..the last campaign I remember playing in vanilla was my Moors campaign in which I was only allowed to gain land through diplomacy or from conquering rebel-held settlements. That was in 2007!

[Quirl]

You're not the only one! I'm hoping the nostalgia and the patching to 1.03 make it a good experience overall..the last campaign I remember playing in vanilla was my Moors campaign in which I was only allowed to gain land through diplomacy or from conquering rebel-held settlements. That was in 2007!

lol. Yeah. I think it will be an interesting experience to play vanilla again. But I have to disagree with Silver. I won't be winning this hotseat. I'm the only Muslim faction so far and I've watched the SS game long enough to know that it won't take too long to have a crusade called on my @$$.

[SilverShield]

well man i ve just witnessed what u ve accomplished with the kycpchac so i guess this already is the egypt version of camila talking trying to make us think u are weak. i still think she had something going with the little servant boy that had been around her all the time... z z z what a perv mum she might was

[phonicsmonkey]

I won't be winning this hotseat.

yeah yeah, that's what you said last time...

[TriforceV]

I guess ill be up for the HRE.

[phonicsmonkey]

I guess ill be up for the HRE.

Great! So everyone who said they wanted to play has now picked. Looking at the spread of factions we seem very West-heavy...Egypt and Hungary are largely unopposed in the east.

Unless anyone else wants to switch (and I'll give it a little while for people to respond, or for any lurkers to pop up and say they want to play) I might move over and take the Turks instead of Milan.

So I'm planning to start the game in the next couple of days.

I know a couple of people have said they will be out or without internet access for a few days in the next month - could I please ask those people to nominate a sub and provide them with some instructions so we can keep the game moving? Otherwise those turns will need to be skipped, and we only have 20 each!

[Kavhan Isbul]

I have not seen anything about rules, so is it safe for me to assume the following?
- 48 hours per player for a turn
- Battle mode
- Everything except outright cheating is allowed - spies, assassins, crusades, jihads, merchant forts, etc.

[Thanatos Eclipse]

Crusades/jihads wouldn't be much fair to egypt considering they're the only human controlled Islamic nation, plus if anybody ends up joining as an orthodox then they're left out. Of course we can still do RP Crusades ;)

[Kavhan Isbul]

Did not someone take the Moors as well? Personally, I do not care much what we decide on the rules, as long as we clear the issues out now, instead of later in the game.

[phonicsmonkey]

48 hour turns
Battles can be fought or autoresolved
Spies may not be used to open the gates of settlements or forts
No reloading
No in-game crusades or jihads
No destroying buildings for cash in a city that's under siege
No fighting losing defensive battles on purpose in a besieged city, just to deny the invader the sacking option
No exploits, including (but not limited to) no merchant forts, no surround and destroy, no tribute deals that deliberately put you into debt greater than 10k, no deliberate diplomatic exchange of territories just to get a free garrison, no tribute deals with or monetary gifts to the Pope.

Let me know if you have any questions

[Quirl]

Hmmm... I don't really have the time to play a non-autoresolve game. I may not be able to play this after all. Sorry. :\

[phonicsmonkey]

Hmmm... I don't really have the time to play a non-autoresolve game. I may not be able to play this after all. Sorry. :\

Nothing to stop you auto-resolving all your battles if you want to. I often do this in hotseats regardless of whether battles can be fought or not, because like you I have very little time to play each turn. I don't really find it unduly disadvantages me..

The whole point of this game is that it's more flexible in terms of strategy than other games where you just have to conquer everything to win. Why not try for achievements that don't involve fighting too many battles? If you get attacked you can play defence (which is much easier with the embargo on spies) and concentrate your forces for autoresolve victories on the counterattack.

[Quirl]

Well... fighting battles in map makes a big difference. Remember when Merlox was playing the SS hotseat early on? He'd capture an entire city with just a few general's bodyguards. Maybe he was cheating when he did that, but I don't think so, because he detailed the same kind of strategies I use when I do that. And were I not to fight the battles in map while other players are doing such things... well... I think I'd just find myself in quite the disadvantage. :P

[phonicsmonkey]

Well... fighting battles in map makes a big difference. Remember when Merlox was playing the SS hotseat early on? He'd capture an entire city with just a few general's bodyguards. Maybe he was cheating when he did that, but I don't think so, because he detailed the same kind of strategies I use when I do that. And were I not to fight the battles in map while other players are doing such things... well... I think I'd just find myself in quite the disadvantage. :P

Like I say, it depends on what your strategy is to win the game. I think you are being inflexible in your thinking. I never play like that and I do ok, don't I?

[Quirl]

Sorry. Didn't mean to seem inflexible. I was just sharing some of my concerns before the game started...

[Thanatos Eclipse]

Well... fighting battles in map makes a big difference. Remember when Merlox was playing the SS hotseat early on? He'd capture an entire city with just a few general's bodyguards. Maybe he was cheating when he did that, but I don't think so, because he detailed the same kind of strategies I use when I do that. And were I not to fight the battles in map while other players are doing such things... well... I think I'd just find myself in quite the disadvantage. :P

I can assure you that I for one will not be destroying armies with one or two generals, cause I wouldn't know were to start :)

[phonicsmonkey]

Sorry. Didn't mean to seem inflexible.

Hey no worries, it's up to you whether you play or not and it's supposed to be fun, right? Sorry if I sounded critical, I didn't mean it that way - I just meant I thought you could make it work if you use your (vast) imagination and play differently to usual..

So it sounds like you're in, am I right?

And if so, how do you feel about making us a nice graphic for the game thread?

[Quirl]

Yeah I am. And I'd be honored to make the banner! I'll hit you up with something when I can. :D

[Kavhan Isbul]

No reloading

I understand the rest, but would this mean that if I start a game and have to stop and do something else due to an emergency, I do not get to finish my turn?

Just a few clarifications:
- the limit on spies applies to human vs. human, or also to human vs. AI? The latter may be very hard to monitor and enforce.
- surround and destroy refers to surrounding an agent on the strategic map with unit, but does it also mean I cannot surround an enemy with armies/fleets to cut off escape?

[barcamartin]

I understand the rest, but would this mean that if I start a game and have to stop and do something else due to an emergency, I do not get to finish my turn?

This basically means you are not allowed to save your turn, say, before an important battle, then reload and replay the battle if the results aren't satisfactory. Same goes for spy infiltrations, assassinations and army movements. Basically, you don't get second chances. Of course it's ok to save, do something else and then continue where you left off.

[phonicsmonkey]

This basically means you are not allowed to save your turn, say, before an important battle, then reload and replay the battle if the results aren't satisfactory. Same goes for spy infiltrations, assassinations and army movements. Basically, you don't get second chances. Of course it's ok to save, do something else and then continue where you left off.

This

Just a few clarifications:
- the limit on spies applies to human vs. human, or also to human vs. AI? The latter may be very hard to monitor and enforce.
- surround and destroy refers to surrounding an agent on the strategic map with unit, but does it also mean I cannot surround an enemy with armies/fleets to cut off escape?

All of these rules are hard to enforce and there is no policeforce monitoring everybody for compliance. It's an honour system - but if we see someone expanding very quickly (quicker than looks plausible) the GM may spot-check turns to see that everything is above board, and if it is not corrective action can be taken.

Yes, surround and destroy means you have to leave an exit tile for fleets and armies - the idea being that you always get a chance for at least some forces to escape.

[TriforceV]

First of all Quirl is correct when detailing Merlox's ability to use a few general body guards to take out a full stack army,
In fact, so can I! ( it's real easy, have the whole army chase your horses for awhile until they get exhausted, then charge, retreat and repeat quick enough and keep the horses on the move so the reinforcements can't arrive on time, slowly take out the whole army)...

It's kind of lame and is an abuse of the weak AI, normal human played armies would stick together, but that's the problem with Battle-mode, so easy to abuse the mechanics, and so hard to force yourself not to do it..

Also based on the "Do not reload your turn" to win a battle or enable a spy entry into a city is also impossible to enforce.
This is a highly competitive game, and I doubt someone would accept an accidental humiliating defeat that may cost them the game, think about it?
And lets just say hypathetically out of 10 players, 9 are honorable, and only 1 is dishonorable in this regard, that 1 player will have a hugely unfair advantage, and there is no way of knowing who that person is.
Have you ever heard of "Game Theory?", I think it applies here,
A rule that cannot be enforced is not a rule at all.

Anyways, Battle-mode or not, honor system enforced its your decision, just don't say I didn't warn you

[Quirl]

( it's real easy, have the whole army chase your horses for awhile until they get exhausted, then charge, retreat and repeat quick enough and keep the horses on the move so the reinforcements can't arrive on time, slowly take out the whole army)...

Shhhh! I wasn't going to tell them how to actually do it! ^_^

And lets just say hypathetically out of 10 players, 9 are honorable, and only 1 is dishonorable in this regard, that 1 player will have a hugely unfair advantage, and there is no way of knowing who that person is.

Good point. This was my concern.