1 DU DuPont 14,570 24,689
2 AN Wayde 10,370 22,629
3 IL Rellgar 9,170 18,857
4 GN Vball Michael 7,480 16,541
5 LI Eregnon the Black 7,520 15,425
6 WA Canticar 5,960 14,353
7 SO Ohman the Heartless 5,300 14,213
I had the Druids in this game. Things opened as I like them to – I got the first HC seat and took control of my region on turn 3. But early on there was trouble – the SA decided to start voting against me on the HC, thus turning him into my first choice of an enemy. That may have been in response to me moving on his town in Oakendell, but I needed it for control so felt it was worth any blowback. I made a point of leaving the NE town alone.
I wasn't really sure what was happening with the SA – he never managed to lock down his region. When I move in there, I also found the SO competing for it and this brought me into conflict with him. He got the region before I could, but I realized it wouldn't do to back off at that point. I had to keep hammering at him. He got the better of me, though, and by turn 22, I had to pull my diminished troops out and let them rest and rebuild and I was reduced to minor holdings in Amberland. I started to move some emmies into Torvale since the SO had his groups busy in Amberland, hoping to draw them back and also to prevent them from moving into Oakendell. I'd had to put up with the SA being a nuisance with a rouge group up there until he finally dropped.
The SO moved into Oakendell anyway, but I had enough people to dome and thus reduce his impact. I finally caught a break when the NE declared the SO an enemy and charged into Amberland, knocking him out of control, there. The next several turns involved me and the SO flipping pop centers in Amberland and Torvale, while I did my best to stay out of the way of the NE. He eventually declared me and ally and took Amberland on turn 30 – I had accidentally captured one of his princes, but dropped my guard for a couple of turns until he was able to escape, so I think we understood we were not going to fight each other. Then on turn 32, I took Torvale. Despite the SO continuing to fight back, I was able to keep it for the rest of the game. I places priority on degrading his troop and emmies as much as possible and soon stocked my dungeon with his people. The one down side was by constantly confronting his groups, he was able to kill most of my wizards with Slay Wizard spells – cast 'em enough times and you'll get some lucky rolls, but I wasn't willing to use my wizards to cast protect spells as I preferred to summon death instead. It paid off because I found his hidden capital on Turn 35 and that gave me just enough time to send my largest group there and siege it. I knew there was no way I was going to get it via conventional attack as he had way too many wizards who could dome, but he didn't have enough troops to break my siege so I was able to take it on turn 39 and add some more prisoners to my stash. This was important because on turn 36, I was in second just behind the AN and just ahead of the NE.
Then I got lucky. With Torvale safe in my hands and the SO not having enough time to take it back, I considered trying to move to Amberland or Runnimede to pick up a few more status points. The GN and I had had some border scrimmages but I wasn't in a great position against him. The NE was controlling Amberland, but I had not kept up with things and I thought if I moved into all the towns and the cities, I might find a couple that had been taken by somebody else and could possibly snag enough to lift my Significant to Substantial. But inexplicable, the NE dropped on turn 39 – I found myself in a bunch of Human controlled places with nobody opposing me. That gave me the region on the last turn and lofted me into the top spot (though I would have been there even without that, based on the AN's final score.)
As usual, I had great fun with this one, particularly against Ohman as the SO – we were in conflict nearly the entire game and it was epic. I think if the NE hadn't jumped him in Amberland, I would have been in a lot worse shape. Always a pleasure to see an Alamaze game go until turn 40 and for most of the players to still be in it.
2 AN Wayde 10,370 22,629
3 IL Rellgar 9,170 18,857
4 GN Vball Michael 7,480 16,541
5 LI Eregnon the Black 7,520 15,425
6 WA Canticar 5,960 14,353
7 SO Ohman the Heartless 5,300 14,213
I had the Druids in this game. Things opened as I like them to – I got the first HC seat and took control of my region on turn 3. But early on there was trouble – the SA decided to start voting against me on the HC, thus turning him into my first choice of an enemy. That may have been in response to me moving on his town in Oakendell, but I needed it for control so felt it was worth any blowback. I made a point of leaving the NE town alone.
I wasn't really sure what was happening with the SA – he never managed to lock down his region. When I move in there, I also found the SO competing for it and this brought me into conflict with him. He got the region before I could, but I realized it wouldn't do to back off at that point. I had to keep hammering at him. He got the better of me, though, and by turn 22, I had to pull my diminished troops out and let them rest and rebuild and I was reduced to minor holdings in Amberland. I started to move some emmies into Torvale since the SO had his groups busy in Amberland, hoping to draw them back and also to prevent them from moving into Oakendell. I'd had to put up with the SA being a nuisance with a rouge group up there until he finally dropped.
The SO moved into Oakendell anyway, but I had enough people to dome and thus reduce his impact. I finally caught a break when the NE declared the SO an enemy and charged into Amberland, knocking him out of control, there. The next several turns involved me and the SO flipping pop centers in Amberland and Torvale, while I did my best to stay out of the way of the NE. He eventually declared me and ally and took Amberland on turn 30 – I had accidentally captured one of his princes, but dropped my guard for a couple of turns until he was able to escape, so I think we understood we were not going to fight each other. Then on turn 32, I took Torvale. Despite the SO continuing to fight back, I was able to keep it for the rest of the game. I places priority on degrading his troop and emmies as much as possible and soon stocked my dungeon with his people. The one down side was by constantly confronting his groups, he was able to kill most of my wizards with Slay Wizard spells – cast 'em enough times and you'll get some lucky rolls, but I wasn't willing to use my wizards to cast protect spells as I preferred to summon death instead. It paid off because I found his hidden capital on Turn 35 and that gave me just enough time to send my largest group there and siege it. I knew there was no way I was going to get it via conventional attack as he had way too many wizards who could dome, but he didn't have enough troops to break my siege so I was able to take it on turn 39 and add some more prisoners to my stash. This was important because on turn 36, I was in second just behind the AN and just ahead of the NE.
Then I got lucky. With Torvale safe in my hands and the SO not having enough time to take it back, I considered trying to move to Amberland or Runnimede to pick up a few more status points. The GN and I had had some border scrimmages but I wasn't in a great position against him. The NE was controlling Amberland, but I had not kept up with things and I thought if I moved into all the towns and the cities, I might find a couple that had been taken by somebody else and could possibly snag enough to lift my Significant to Substantial. But inexplicable, the NE dropped on turn 39 – I found myself in a bunch of Human controlled places with nobody opposing me. That gave me the region on the last turn and lofted me into the top spot (though I would have been there even without that, based on the AN's final score.)
As usual, I had great fun with this one, particularly against Ohman as the SO – we were in conflict nearly the entire game and it was epic. I think if the NE hadn't jumped him in Amberland, I would have been in a lot worse shape. Always a pleasure to see an Alamaze game go until turn 40 and for most of the players to still be in it.
