I always like reading what everyone else is playing and where and what they have done during their campaign. I currently have several going and thought I would post a couple of them.
Crusader Kings II:
I started out as a Polish Duke and within the first 80 years was able to become the King of Poland after several civil wars and gaining my Independence and reclaiming territory to reunify. The year is 1280 and my linage has ruled now over 100 years. I have strong ties to Hungry and Sweden through arranged marriages. The Golden Horde has now reached my borders and conquered all of Russia, which tried to marry into my family to draw me into the war, however they were too far gone and I refused several request. I have spotted a 40K stack on the border and am bracing for the invasion. This could spell the end of my rule.
March of the Eagles:
I am playing Austria and have just concluded a border skirmish with Prussia resulting in their surrender of about 1/3 of their territories. I was able to capture key supply areas and marched on and captured Berlin. After the truce I withdrew my forces and started to resupply my armies. I was planning a second war with Prussia, this time cutting them in half or total capitulation. Their armies where mauled because I used the march to sounds of the gun while they tried to cut my supply lines.
I have had peace for a year and with 2 months to go before my truce with Prussia expires, the Ottomans decided to declare war on me. I have no troops in the South as I was massing and preparing for another run in the North. I have started to send my armies south in preparation for invasion. Hey Ottomans, Don't Sing it, Bring it!!!
Victoria II:
Starting as Prussia. Economy is strong right now although the liberal movement is giving me grief. I have started to get the hang of the mechanics of the game but I am having to do a lot of referencing. I am currently trying for the Germany Unification and undermining Austria.
Auroa:
@#*$(#@$(P&@(#P%$&(#*$P(#@*$@#
PE
:D
CK2
1066, started as Count of Brabant. Took Bishopric of Liege and also weaseled my way into the Barony there, too. Then took Julich. All thanks to an excellently rated Chancellor. I also arranged a marriage between my son & heir and the first daughter of Seeland (2nd in line of succession). Got lucky as their male heir eventually died, so my current (2nd) count of Brabant is married to the countess of Seeland and Ypres. That means my (only!) son should inherit those two when my current self dies.
It's been pretty touchy business, however. My son & heir has been staying with his mother, so I couldn't arrange his marriage as he was under her spell (in her court). My wife was also imprisoned by a nearby Duke for a few years - thus I only currently have one male offspring :o. To boot, the Dukes of Flanders and Holland, Prince Richard (son of Billy the Bastard), along with the friggin' King of France, and some of his counts, were constantly warring over claims on the whole area and I wasn't sure if my wife would still have ownership of the place once that mess is all done, much less whether my son will inherit the two counties that are now beholden to the King of France (and not the HRE/Duke of Lower Lorraine as I am). I foresee the French steamrolling my heir's holdings in Flanders once he inherits, since some of his boys have claims there and possibly the King himself.
At the same time, I'm attempting to make a grab for the county of Hainaut so I will have the requisites to create the Duchy of Brabant, if I can ever beat down my own liege, the Duke of (both) Upper and Lower Lorraine. My situation isn't the best for growth here, especially since Medium Crown Authority was passed in HRE not long ago - so I cannot make petty war for claims against other HRE members now. Looks like marriage and the knife will be my best approach for awhile. IIRC, the date is currently somewhere around 1106.
In a completely different CK2 I started, on a different computer, I had begun as a Count owning two counties and my scheming against my Duke had very quickly earned me a Duchy after I demanded the title from my liege, and went to war with him at a rather opportune time he was busy elsewhere. It's the fastest I'd ever gone from Count to Duke - only something like 2 years and two separate wars. My previous liege absolutely hates me. IIRC, it was the Duchy of Lombardy I swiped, as I had started as the two-county German Duke on the north Adriatic coast. I've not played this second game in a couple weeks but it's been calling. 8)
Strategic Command: WWI The 1914 Call to Arms campaign as Entente. I'm taking a beating from the Germans on the West Front but I've slowed their advance up enough to make the reinforcement situation look good, despite being precariously thin in places. The East front looks like hell, however, as a German thrust into Russian-occupied Poland has given them the initiative there and put me on the defensive. Makes me think that either Germany moved more troops to the East or that they're taking a big offensive gamble there. On the Russo-Austrian front, there has been some small progress in a Russian offensive, as the Russkies have taken a city and surrounded a second. Turkey just joined the war, so Russia will become hard-pressed soon. The Russian Navy has eliminated a couple German Destroyer Flotillas and even a Cruiser squadron in the Baltic, and they've not been so eager to venture East as they initially had been. Shipping is being blocked from Sweden now. :)
I've opted to drop the ANZAC and Indian forces off in Egypt, so hopefully the canal gets shored up and perhaps they can even move against Turkey if the stars align properly.
Wars in America: Playing as the British in the Revolutionary War. It's early 1779 and Spain and France have just declared war on England.
South: Cornwallis is doing a fine job in the Carolinas in that I've captured Charleston, Camden, Ninety-Six and Hillsboro. Basically only Savannah is left to capture out of the strategic objectives in the South. Though I'm having to split up my British forces to deal with the small American groups (guerrillas) that are still active in the Carolinas.
New England and Middles States: I was repulsed in summer 1778 trying to take Philadelphia using Lord Howe's army. He's retreated north into Woodbridge to recover. I recaptured Boston in 1777 and the areas surrounding it using a amphibious landing with both British and German troops. However I left New York weakly defended and the US sent a strong force right through my lines to capture it in late 1778. My other main force (Hessian) will have to pull back from advancing on Albany (to support Burgoyne) to recover New York.
North: A complete disaster regarding Burgoyne's northern campaign in 1778 as it floundered badly while still north of Ticonderoga with Burgoyne's poor activation number and the slow movement attribute of his. By the time he reached Ticonderoga, the Americans had reinforced it and I had to order the retreat back north just as winter started. Needless to say, Burgoyne's force fell apart in the bad weather and doesn't exist anymore. Joseph Brant's force is still harassing the enemy in upper New York state.
Distant Worlds: Legends: Playing as the Free Worlds Commonwealth, the Zenox (feline-looking rodents) being the dominant race.
To my mild dismay, I quickly discovered that I started almost right next to the Ancient Guardians. (For reference, this would be like if, in the Babylon 5 universe, your planet was just a few measly light-years from the Vorlon homeworld. *gulp*) They're very nice to have as friends if you're one of the "good" races (which I am), but even then, you'd still prefer to have them at a somewhat...safer distance (and gods help you if you piss them off for any reason).
We're competing for some of the same strategic resources in the region -- especially certain metals and gases (for fuel) -- but thus far, we've managed to stay out of each other's way for the most part. Fortunately, the AG's generally aren't bullies; and aside from extra-solar mining bases, they don't colonize outside their home star system (therefore fewer territorial conflicts to worry about). Given that, I'm cautiously optimistic that a mutually-beneficial long-term accommodation can be reached with them.
Pirates. Fricking. Everywhere. Between the two of us, the AG's and I have already taken out like 5 pirate groups, and 3 more have since appeared. Fortunately, none of the buggers have actually harassed me all that much, but they're still a bloody nuisance just by their presence.
However, despite it sometimes turning into an annoying game of "Whack-a-Mole", killing pirates has quite a few benefits: Upon destroying their base, you'll usually receive some sort of reward -- generally cash, tech, and/or valuable information (such as a new colony location or directions leading you to an ancient but powerful derelict vessel somewhere). Also, taking out pirate groups increases your reputation, which is useful for diplomacy.
Standard strategy when dealing with these bozos: Pay them "protection" money so they'll leave me alone...until I find their base. Then, I send in a fleet to smash them flat. ;D
Not far to the northeast, I ran into the Ugnari, a fellow rodent race. Generally you can't trust these guys any further than they can be thrown, but for some reason they just *love* me! (Races from the same "family" tend to get along better, so that's undoubtedly part of the reason why.) In return for a few kinds words and some modest gifts, they've been throwing money at me like I'm their favorite stripper or something. I feel a little guilty accepting the cash, as I don't really need it, but I haven't the heart to reject their hospitality. ;)
I've also made contact with the Wekkarus -- imagine Cthulhu in a roughly hominid form. Not sure where they're located, but I suspect it's to the galactic west/southwest. They're not overly fond of me, but then that's generally their attitude toward most folks -- they're sort of the grumpy old man ("get off my lawn!") type. I have a Respectable reputation, though -- thanks to the aforementioned hunting for pirates -- so they don't mind putting up with me.
Expansion/colonization has take a slightly...unorthodox turn, but overall it's going well.
I wasn't having any luck finding Continental planets/moons, which are the preferred habitat for the majority of the game's races (including the Zenox). I only *just* discovered my first one several hours(!) into my current game, which is a little worrisome. Even suitable Marshy, Ocean, and Desert planets (which I could eventually settle if I researched the appropriate technology) have been rather sparse.
...Until, that is, I came across three desert planets -- all fairly close together, and all in a line pointing southwest. No, I didn't yet have the Desert Planet Colonization tech, *but* all three worlds had already been colonized by Teekan. Even better, they weren't part of any existing star nation (so I don't need to go to war to grab these worlds), but rather were independent colonies.
Best of all, as the Teekan are yet another fellow rodent species, they welcomed Zenox colonists to their badly underpopulated worlds with open arms. (Hurrah!) Also, having a somewhat significant Teekan population grants me a small portion of their inherent abilities (faster mining and higher colony income) to my growing empire. (Hurrah again!)
All in all, my current game is off to a decent start. I know it won't stay that way, but I'll enjoy the good times while they last. :D
Quote from: Martok on March 01, 2013, 04:22:22 PM
Distant Worlds: Legends: Playing as the Free Worlds Commonwealth, the Zenox (feline-looking rodents) being the dominant race.....
Looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet and purchase.... none of the other Space 4X games are going it for me, maybe until Endless Space gets the next expansion. Thanks for posting.
PE
great idea for a thread - micro AARs - best way of immersing anyone in a game is to read about their experiences - i always thought this would be a good way to review games
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 01, 2013, 04:57:33 PM
great idea for a thread - micro AARs - best way of immersing anyone in a game is to read about their experiences - i always thought this would be a good way to review games
Well said, I couldn't agree more.
I haven't had a lot of time to play games in the last few weeks since work has been busy as heck, but here are my campaigns (most of them on pause while I try to get less busy at work :( )
World in Flames - PBEM with 3 guys from Spain taking the Axis side vs 2 guys from U.S. and 1 from France taking allied side. Summer 42. Japan and Russia fought a war for a couple of years before signing a peace. Japan is in India, has Burma, has Madagascar, and has a very strong position in Central Pacific. Axis have taken Egypt and the Italians are threatening to land in Aden, India, or Persia. Iraq has already been taken by the Italians. Germans got a late start in Russia, not being able to break the border garrison ratio until July 41. Then the campaign season was short and weather has been awful. But now in mid May Germany looks very very strong and are about to take Kiev and Vitebsk. Brits are ashore in France and Belgium and it's doubtful the Germans can push them out but the Germans are focusing on Russia. My poor USA took a Pearl Harbor style strike against the fleet at San Diego that sunk several carriers and devastated transport and convoy assets. A long-term focused build strategy on my part left the USA unprepared for the early Japanese DOW and only now in summer 42 are strong U.S. land-based air about to show up in the Pacific theater....just in time as Pago Pago is cut off and the Japanese have marines advancing toward New Zealand while zeroes dominate around the Marshalls and Polynesia. It's a very tense game with everything uncertain now.
Battlefront (SSG) - Operation Market Garden scenario. I'm Germany playing against a guy from the UK. UK XXX corp has reached Nijmegen by turn 6 or 7 (don't recall which turn they got there) but has spent a lot of its force hammering the German 86th and 88th korps on its flanks rather than rushing up the road. This has let the 3 Fallschirmjager division and Wehrkreis VI corp make inroads on the east flank of 82nd airborne around Nijmegen while some SS battalions have filtered into Nijmegen, making it a strong redoubt that XXX corp will have to spend time to reduce before it can advance further toward Arnhem. The Red Devils (Brit 1st Airborne) has launched some devastating counterattacks against the German forces hemming in the airdrop zone. But 9th and 10th SS divisions have focused on reducing Frost's battalion in the city center and now hold the bridge so there is little chance that XXX corp will be able to cross. Meanwhile the arrival of the Polish para brigade north of Nijmegen is anticipated soon. Since XXX corp probably won't make it into Arnhem, the victory will be decided by losses on each side and various victory point locations and how long they are held....outcome still TBD.
Tales of Maj'Eyal - my level 33 Cursed has made it to the far east and cleaned up Ardunghol the spider lair as well as Vor Armory while only taking 1 death so far. There's a decent chance I can finish the game with this Cursed character...my build is Rampage+Antimagic+Fungus-heals
iPad Football Manager 2013. My Tottenham side finished 2nd in EPL in year 1 and has made it into UEFA this year. I've signed some good young players but a couple of them want new contracts so team morale is hurting - still hopes are high for an EPL win this season and a long run in UEFA.
Eastern Front Android tablet- it's mud season 41 and I just now took Minsk, barely advanced past Riga, and don't have Kiev yet. Either I'm awful at this game or it doesn't model the campaign in 1941 and the rapid German advances very well.....I'm thinking about stopping and trying the Barbarossa game instead of the Eastern Front game.
Commander Europe at War (GS 2.1 mod) - 1 game as Allies just finished with a decisive Allied victory in October 1944. My opponent is from Italy. We're going to start another with me as Axis. I've got in mind a 39 blitz against the low countries....
CEAW - In another game vs a guy from France, the Germans took Moscow during December 41 by the skin of their teeth. The Soviets have deployed several new tank corps around Moscow but the forest, rivers, and rough terrain there are minimizing the damage they can do during the winter counteroffensive and Moscow will remain in German hands. Leningrad was also taken earlier in 41 and Rostov is also still in Axis hands. Spain was aligned to Germany and the Regia Marina is raiding in the south Atlantic, battling the U.S. fleet. Meanwhile Tripoli is surrounded by the British 8th Army and will fall within a few turns. But the Mareth line is fortified by Italians and Malta is held by Germany with the Luftwaffe operating out of Malta. This will make it tough for the Brits to go anywhere fast after Tripoli falls. However, Dakar is still allied so I suspect he may try to reinforce it and advance into Morocco from the south.
CEAW - I'm also playing mirror games vs a guy from New Zealand. We are in late 42 and it's amusing that both of us did the same thing - Sealion (his in 41, mine in 40), followed by Barbarossa 42. Both of our Axis sides suffered serious counterattacks in late summer 42 courtesy of the powerful Red Army in each game. He managed to lose Manstein, a panzer korp, an pzg korp, and an Italian korp at Kharkov, as well as some other stuff. My Axis side got hit just as we tried to attack the "land bridge" southwest of Smolensk. I lost several pz and pzg korps. The Red Air force that he built was huge with thousands of Soviet ground attack planes and fighters overwhelming the limited Luftwaffe support available to Army Group Center in 42. My Axis managed to take Leningrad, but other than that the positions are similar although my Axis hold Spain, Egypt, and Irak while his Axis don't and my Allies were never completely kicked out of the UK so are now counterattacking south from Scotland - just recently breaching the line of Hadrian's wall.
CEAW - I'm playing a 43 scenario vs a guy from Finland. Things look pretty much historical but his defense is very well coordinated and his casualties are low so I doubt the Allies can end up achieving the historical result - it's late 43 now.
Book - Landfall Campaign on Kindle, book 2 of a series - great read - space-mil-sci-fi/space opera. I'm 94% done and The Nameless alien race conglomeration is giving Humans a pasting - can humanity survive? I'm glad to see the author sometimes kills off characters, makes it a little more realistic.
Quote from: TheCommandTent on March 01, 2013, 08:58:30 PM
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 01, 2013, 04:57:33 PM
great idea for a thread - micro AARs - best way of immersing anyone in a game is to read about their experiences - i always thought this would be a good way to review games
Well said, I couldn't agree more.
This is actually how the "friday" thread started. But yeah I like to read about other people's games too.
Tales of Maj'Eyal - This one looks pretty interesting. I hadn't heard of it before.
Crusader Kings 2:
Italy: Started of as an Italian Duke and within the first 50-60 years I formed the Kingdom of Italy. Since then my power has steadily grown with only a few minor inconveniences in the form of inept rulers. I claimed the Duchy of Swabia fairly early on. Its the title I give to my heir whenever I need to give him some land. I took the Kingdom of Lotharingia when I pressed a minor claim that could only be pressed if the target kingdom had a civil war. If the two sides hadn't been at each others throats it probably would have been a good fight. As it turned out I was able to bring the full power of Italy against them, and picked off their armies and counties one by one. Recently I have formed the Kingdom of Burgundy giving me three total. The mongols have just started their invasion, the Byzantines seem the be doing a good job at holding them at bay. Going to keep chipping away at the independent HRE realms, before making a grab for the HRE itself.
Venice: Only a few years in so not a lot to report. Unless your the Doge, it takes awhile to have enough money to be able to do anything. Still not sure if I should be building new trade ports or building improvements to existing ones.
Distant Worlds:
Playing as humans in a sandbox galaxy, with the story turned off. I found the Way of the Ancients government in some ruins within the first hour of the game (think that may be a bug). Ran into the Secura Consciousness (Sluken) and the Securan Paradise (Securan) early on. The Sluken declared war on me, so I allied with the Securans and we were able to push the Sluken back. Although we were unable to finish them due to war weariness all around. I emerged from that war with the strongest military and economy. I have conducted 2 more wars against the Sluken but just can't quite finish them off. Need to many troops to take and hold all of their planets. Got dragged into a war against the Yaga Minor Collective (Gizurean) with one of my MDP. For the first time since I've had the game, I set my fleets to attack anything within a sector. My fleets ran rampant and pounded the Gizurean's military and civilian shipping into dust. Again wasn't able to finish them, although I did take 3 of their more valuable colonies. I'm up to 61 colonies in 58 systems. I think I'm done with this campaign and am going to look for some AI ship designs/mods before I start a new game.
Quote from: Bison on March 02, 2013, 09:42:02 AM
Tales of Maj'Eyal - This one looks pretty interesting. I hadn't heard of it before.
TOME is a fun pseudo-roguelike. It has a lot of modern RPGs standards mixed in, and even a bit of a story. Turn-based (woot!).
Quote from: PanzersEast on February 28, 2013, 04:06:57 PM
I always like reading what everyone else is playing and where and what they have done during their campaign.
Just Third Wire all week-end with Elusive Victory as a scenario suggestor.
The campaign is in terms of getting more mods to work. But some missions were pretty memorable:
1) Shooting down a Bear over the med with Israeli realism style f-4s. The flight was way out toward Cyprus from Israel. The Bear evaded
for quite a way -- shot down one f-4 and dumped enough chaff and flares to avoid a dozen sidewinders and sparrows -- I finally went really close and blew him up with a sparrow -- not what you would expect I guess.
2) I had a pretty elaborate set of Elusive Victory missions over the Gulf of Suez assuming some kind of helicopter and ship raids going back and forth contingent on reconnaissance and attacks not working. I was hoping the Israelis would get some commandos over the Gulf, but the Egyptians rolled amaingly and consistantly got thier recon planes in to spot what was supposed to be sneaky goings-on.
3) Some Super Mysteres managed to shoot down some Mig-21s (that was a bit of a surprise).
How are you tying Elusive Victory into Thirdwire?
Quote from: Toonces on March 04, 2013, 06:35:04 PM
How are you tying Elusive Victory into Thirdwire?
Very loosely. I'll try some Elusive Victory scenarios (very small ones -- eg. 2 flights of SU-7s and one of Mig-19s try to recon and bomb an Israeli patrol boat) and then try to set up something similar on Third Wire.
Interestingly, in Elusive Victory, it is pretty rare to have somebody get shot down. The boardgame rules make for a lot more ways to survive than the simulation lite does. Or maybe the Egyptians are just a lucky bunch.
I envy you guys that are playing more than one game a time. I can barely handle playing just one. ;D
Quote from: bbmike on March 05, 2013, 01:19:11 PM
I envy you guys that are playing more than one game a time. I can barely handle playing just one. ;D
S'ok. I also tend to get sick of them all at the same time too! :-[
Quote from: Nefaro on March 06, 2013, 04:13:14 AM
S'ok. I also tend to get sick of them all at the same time too! :-[
I'm right there, right now. I haven't been able to find anything I want to play since last Friday. It's making me nuts.
Quote from: panzerde on March 06, 2013, 06:45:06 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 06, 2013, 04:13:14 AM
S'ok. I also tend to get sick of them all at the same time too! :-[
I'm right there, right now. I haven't been able to find anything I want to play since last Friday. It's making me nuts.
I had hit that stretch this past week.
Ya know.. the kind where you are staring at all the game shortcuts and nothing seems to really call out to ya. Fire one up, then shut it down after 5 minutes, rinse-repeat. :-[
In these cases, I tend to fall back on Roguelikes and maybe some match-based online games.
War Thunder has been keeping me a little busy although I still tend to shut it down earlier than I used to.