Hehe, should we ever happen to be in a game together Allanon don't send me a message like that. Here is my translation of your message:
"I'm pretty much dead and I beg you to stop attacking me."

Course, I'm also of the opinion that given the opportunity (e.g., no NAPS, alliances, mutual enemy, etc) that I can always put my neighbors resource buildings/castles/barracks to much better use than they are able to. For some reason I can't explain I just seem to be more efficient with them than they do - maybe it has to do the with the fact that if I can maintain control of them and they can't that I must be doing something more efficiently than they are doing things.

In any case, good luck to you in your besiegement.

Heh, yeah, it was worth a try any how; got to practice my politicking skills too. Besides; maybe I was tricking him into believing that i am actually weak.

I still have a number of ace's up my sleeve; but i'm not revealing them to you guys in this forum until i've safely executed them ( cause he could be reading all this).

Cheers,

A.

Last Edited : Wednesday, 19 February 2003 - 20:23

I think the fact that he replied might give the game away.

The general approach should have been something more like - 'You'll win this round but I have something rather nasty planned'. Try to give a little evidence that it's not just an idle bluff if you can - even if the nasty thing isn't entirely possible

Only then do you add '...but of course, you could stop fighting :-)'. Also be careful to show that yes - you do want peace, and it would help you - but in the long run it will help him far more

Remember to nip at his confidence every now again with the odd sly remark, but be careful not to get into namecalling or lengthy arguments unless you're in total control of the situation :-)

oh, well, its all moot now; he's started attacking my boundary walls ( thank god they're 5000 hp), hurt my level 11 archers with an advance unit of scouts; needles to say i exacted my revenge with my ballista, turning it into a soggy mass of guts.

I'm doing the finishing touches to my castle defence but i wouldn't mind any useful tips concerning sieges.

Cheers,
A.

Last Edited : Thursday, 20 February 2003 - 11:12

Umm, what's better to recruit: 200 archers, or 70 ballista in context of a seige?

I'd go with ballista, for their range, ranged defense and size bonus. Put the ballistas in a tower, and get +3 range. If you attack another stack of ballista further away than 9, he can't retaliate.

Ballista EASILY. Archers only contribute to your opponent's kills and your losses

I say Demi-Gods.... oh wait that wasn't one of the options... ok ballistae then

Allan,once you're teched up to produce ballistae(well spotted cro)and marksmen then forget about archers...Completely...
Unless you have a very high level archer stack that is worth reinforcing.

Please don't take this as a complaint. Often in games, it becomes necessary for allies to work together to take out a common, stronger enemy. Is this not "gangbanging" though? At times, players seems to angry about that, and yet I see it as necessary some times. This particular group of posts talks about the two allies working together on an attack. I see nothing wrong with this. What is the general opinion?

If they started the attack unnanounced then it's gb,if they both started by defending against the aggressor then it's not.
If say,you're enemy is attacking your allied neighbour and is already fighting someone else too then you've still got to defend your neighbour.I usually send a message first explaining my intentions and if the enemy is smart he'll concentrate on his other war and be 1v1 instead of 1v3.Thus, cos you put the ball in their court and made it their decision,they can't accuse you of gangbanging.

Alternatively, decide on your policy and stick to it - then people will know what to expect against you :-)

Frankly, I think the whole GB thing is a little silly except against new intake as it doesn't apply in most other games (that I know of) or in reality. I mean, the reason why it do't happen in reality is ot because nations have a sense of fairness, but because their friends would thwack the merry chuff out of any aggressor :-)

E.G.s...

Lots of countries attack the U.S. - Europe comes to aid.
Lots of countries attack the old-time Soviet Union - Warsaw Pact nations come to help.
Lots of neighbouring states attack some tiny African nation - their neighbours attack THEM while they're down, and probably the western world too :-)

Being 'fair' doesn't come into it, it's a case of very good diplomacy ;-)

if someone has a very strong defensive network, and 3 (perhaps even weaker) players team up to try to breach it, but suffer major losses whilst trying so, and if the single player with the strong defensive network is to be considered a threat, anyway, it might be okay to engage him 3 on 1.

but it really, really depends on the situation in this case, i should add.

just my 2 cents.

Last Edited : Sunday, 23 February 2003 - 08:00

Basically, don't start something where your opponent hasn't got what's termed as 'a snowball in hell' 's chance :-)

heheh; i was inactive all weekend, but before departing i sent a message offering "a last option truce" to chewbacca after i let him have taste of my ballista bolts.
I was expecting this afternoon, when i logged on, that my castle would be invaded and my troops decimated.
But no, he had accepted the truce on Friday, and not followed through.
That was great; except for one thing. My other neighbour; the one I had been originally attacking had sent a considerable amount forces into my territory. Indeed an army of 80 macemen were sitting bang in the middle of my castle!. Luckily he must have been slow to realise that I have been inactive for a while, so that he only started the assault proper rather lately ( he also wasted time on some archer armies on his path to my catle-- see, they do have a use after all---). That's why all my ballista, spearmen, and about half of my archers were still intact. Needless to say, 64 macemen immediately fell before my wrath. And his approaching ballista were immediately amushed by my legion of spearmen. My commandeers quickly jumped back into activity and sealed one of the alternative passes that his other melee units would be taking ( as the other was blocked up by his own ranged troops, now blocked by my spearmen); and furthermore i used the considerable amount of capital accumulated to recruit over 200 ballista.



The saga continues

A.

All the more reason to try ALL of the options you have, whether physical or political :-)

What's the ideal stack size for ballista in a campaign game? Around 90?

A.

We'll find out if req brings in maxpop.
C'mon Al,stop asking questions here.This thread was offtopic before it even started,by dint of it's title.

Very well; no more questions.

Do you Wish me to close the thread?


A.