Archer EOG statement
 
First of all great game by all.  I really enjoyed it.  Loved the map.  Thanks for GMing in an excellent fashion Mike.  Thanks to my Northern Alliance partners and to the especially valiant and steadfast Gnome who I could not have won without!
 
Here goes!
 
Initially I had local agreements with two players,  the Gnome and the Rogue.  That gave me the opportunity to take the key opportunity to take the KOH center quickly and position against the Faerie, Mike Hoffman, who had a reputation as a tough opponent.  The Rogue also opened up aggressively against the Faerie and I believe we would have had him on the ropes in due time, but as Dirk pointed out,  the Trolls and Undead made a pact and the Rogue turned north against the Centaur and Knight., a trap apparently set by the FCKT at that time.  I was disappointed the original Nomad headed south instead of north initially.  This also hurt the Rogue.  That was his undoing and presented me with a problem.  Instead of a Rogue Archer pincer around the Faerie I had to take him on by myself.  Fortunately he had reached out to me earlier and the appearance of cooperation was critical to getting position to
stab the Faerie.  This gave me the upper hand with him for the remainder of the game as I slowly wore a very tough opponent down.
 
The Gnome and I aggressively headed north with him making good ground quickly.  The attack of the knights against the Barbarian helped that cause.  But eventually after the Barbarian fall, the Gnome had to retreat though fighting fiercely until safely behind the final front,  where we finally halted there advance.
  
Lets talk about the alliances.
 
I was excited at the offer of the Super Alliance and had reached out to the Nomad at game start as I thought his positioning would be a boon.  I hoped he would join the Rogue and I to take out the Faerie but he headed south.  I urged him to help the Rogue but he was too busy elsewhere to my chagrin.  The Pirate and my position,  along with my tie to the Gnome gave us peace on my home continent and was a huge part of my success.  Though our dipping was minimal,  the benefit of that peaceful line was enormous.  Mid-game I had to send a couple of units south to scare the Wizard away and take some Nomad centers in a center swap and was nervous the Pirate would misread that as a stab, but we both kept the faith thank goodness.   We did get to work together some to help the Gnome and to expel a Troll invasion.  Thanks Justin!
 
Thanks also to the Samurai and Ogre for their timely invasion and clearing out of the Underground.  It sapped centers away from the North and the appearance of an Ogre and Samurai at my disposal in Dragonsteeth came at the most opportune time.
 
Dirk,  I know you chose to play a balance of alliances but I think it was that balance that was not received well.  Your attacks on the Nomad centers. albeit a replacement player was both a setback to the Super Alliance and the only sign of real betrayal.  We almost worked through that with you but your refusal to attack the Troll was too much to take at a time when the wars were still very up in the air.  I wasn't in on the Samurai Ogre stab on you, but I certainly thought it was the right thing to do. 
 
What can I say about the Ogre Samurai Machine.  Juggernaut is the right word.  They played brilliantly to keep their potential opponents divided and confused. 
 
Dirk is right that Super Alliance dialog was less than it could have been, but I believe the real dipping on a weekly basis stayed local and was the difference.
 
As far as the Northern Alliance,  its presence was exposed when the Rogue was stabbed by the Faerie.  I think one mistake they made was in being too confidant in themselves.  As a result they broke some bridges with potential allies Lille the Gnomes.  Were I them I would have been nice to the Gnome and try to turn him,  but some unwise words put Robin firmly in our camp,  Had he switched sides,  the game would have been very different.  I would have been hard pressed and I think the Pirate would have suffered as well.  So the Gnome,  though reduced to three units, in my opinion played the role of the 300 Spartans.  Tough guy.
 
Thanks to all my allies,  to my stanch enemies who made me feel I was in a long arduous fistfight and especially to my immediate neighbors, Gnomes, Nomads and Pirates. 

 




From: Dirk Knemeyer <dirk(at)knemeyer.com>
To: Michael Sims <mike(at)fuzzylogicllc.net>
Cc: twelvewarrens(at)gmail.com; bobbarkerfan1ped(at)yahoo.com; brian(at)diffell.net; corruptjackyl(at)gmail.com; derekthefeared2(at)yahoo.com; Jason Koelewyn <githraine(at)yahoo.com>; hmtucaz(at)gmail.com; justin(at)darkenedpath.com; joergwallner(at)yahoo.de; kelly058(at)verizon.net; mjn82(at)yahoo.com; mrh(at)panix.com; ponkwilliams(at)yahoo.com; rodtheworm(at)hotmail.com; Sturmkraehe(at)comcast.net; untitled36(at)hotmail.com; fredrik(at)familjenblom.se; diplomacy(at)diffell.net; jnatdelta(at)yahoo.com; Jorge Saralegui <jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com>; dc303 <dc303(at)diplomaticcorp.com>
Sent: Mon, August 23, 2010 4:00:51 PM
Subject: FLWC: Undead EOG
statement


The story of this game was the alliances. At the start of the game I was part of the "Super Alliance" put together by the original Nomads player. It included: Archers, Nomads, Ogres, Pirates, Rogues, Samurai, Undead. It was a flawed alliance at its core, as geographically it was really centered around the Nomads' interests moreso than an objective strategic review of how best to win the board. This led to tremendous success in the south - particularly romping by the Ogres and Samurai - and disaster in the north - the Rogues being eliminated very early and the Archers, Nomads and Undead under attack and great pressure.


I was in the Super Alliance whole hog and loyally. That changed for a couple of reasons: first and most essentially, the downfall of the Rogues which was facilitated in part by the Trolls, with whom the Rogues and I had (what I thought was a) tight local alliance. The Trolls and I got along so well that, after the Rogues were eliminated, he invited me into a secret Northern Alliance, the FCKT (Fairies, Centaurs, Knights, Trolls). The second major factor was the original Nomads player leaving: he had been the glue, and the Super Alliance in general were terrible communicators. The Samurai and I were the only real regular "talkers" on list. For me this does not facilitate a healthy alliance and creates uncomfortable paranoia.


What I decided to do was be part of both alliances and undermine neither. This was a difficult process, playing hard for both alliances without betraying the other or even directly revealing the existence of the other alliance. At first this worked well. There were still a handful of diminishing powers in neither alliance and I was able to use their destruction to avoid the issue of my dual alliances coming into conflict. As the game went on it was clear the old Super Alliance would win and the Northern Alliance was doomed, so I set toward trying to figure out how to cast in with the Super Alliance in the strongest way possible that played well with my conscience. Unfortunately, the Super Alliance had decided it needed to turn on *me* in order to keep expanding and thus, with the attacks from the Ogres and Samurai, I was forced to stick with the Northern Alliance instead, riding that ill-fated association to the bottom of the sea.


I do want to say I REALLY liked diploming with those guys though. We may have had our faces shoved in the mud but you're a great group of guys that are fun to play with. FCKTU forever!  


Finally, I want to give special mention to Michael Norton, the Archers player. He and I hardly diplomed at all this game, but he had a tough, tough position located right in the teeth of the Northern Alliance and was in peril at various times. For him to come out of this with a 3-way draw is just an exceptional piece of playing. Enjoying none of the benefits of the Ogres and Samurai as they easily cleared out half a continent he ended the game with the most centers. Very impressed, Michael. Huge props from the raggidy Undead.


As to the variant, while it would have been great fun as the original fog variant, I didn't like it revealed at all. 18 people are just too many to deal with. I would not play it again. But it must have been grand in the fog, and hopefully someone creates a great, new fog variant as I would really enjoy it.


Thanks for GMing this Mike, it must be a bear. Your consistency and quality as a GM are always appreciated.


Dirk
Undead




On Aug 23, 2010, at 4:03 PM, Michael Sims wrote:




Well there ya have it folks, unexpected from my POV, I have checked my list and checked it twice - we have 11 votes in favor of a 3-way Archer-Ogre-Samurai draw!  Duhn-Duhn-Duuhnnnnn... And just like that, peace descends upon the Haven, tho the landscape surely slashed, smashed, and shot full of holes by our victorious trio.  Congrats!  This is the best result ever attained in the Haven world, and done in very efficient time. 
 
The final center-counts that will go down for our leaders are 17-16-14, or 47 total centers, just shy of half the 102 dots on the board.
 
EGS's?  Of course!  All should send them!  Let us know what you thought.
 
With this game done unexpectedly quick, I'll have to run something else.  Any suggestions?  A Colonial has been suggested in the forums...
 
Enjoy,
-mike