Fog:Emp multiplayer 2 -- BARBARIANS ARISE (game 2 running)

[Tuna]

Want me to Ally with Barth? MD would still have Speedy?

[JasonPratt]

That seems fair.  O0

[Barthheart]

Want me to Ally with Barth? MD would still have Speedy?

:D

[MetalDog]

I'm down.  Looks like I am working towards you, Speedy!

[Tuna]

YOu can still take Galla MD.. Germanic subjects will be 'kinder' to Speedy, less revolts for him.

[MetalDog]

Thank you, sir!

[Yskonyn]

Any open spots in this game or are you guys too far along? In which case I prefer to wait for newly started game.

[JasonPratt]

We have open slots, but I have no idea how to add someone to a game already running.


Meanwhile, the Arabs have counter-invaded me and I'm hoping we can hold the line long enough to wear them down, or things will be grim for the Saba-Qats team!

[JasonPratt]

Would you be interested in a "wall against Rome" team game, Ysk? The Rhaeti are an interesting dirt-poor faction that I enjoy playing, but kind of need a good ally to keep from getting flank-raided by literally everyone until Rome works its way northward to the Alps.  O:-)

It's conceivably possible we might set up more than two players on that, too, with the goal of securing the Alps as a bulwark against Rome (and against Successor expansion from the East), while expanding north to the coast(s).

[Tuna]

With less players, the game does move a lot faster.. Me MD and W8T have a game going and sometimes, we get sessions in where we've been able to go through multiple turns!.. Bummer it doesn't have a 'live' MP, like Civilization.

[MetalDog]

We're over 100 Turns. 

[JasonPratt]

Re Blucher #1: yes, I've been having a lot of trouble getting onto the mp servers, too, in the past week or so. My guess is that between the Thanksgiving sale(s), their own Winter Sale, and any stacking with yearly loyalty discounts, their servers are just getting hammered. I guess in a way this means their business is good (if I'm correct in my guess)?

Re Blucher #2: Good grief, those indies are taking you apart! I'll be down to help sort out problems soon, but I've got to protect against Arabia, too...

[JasonPratt]

Okay, I've got enough free cash I can vomit forth a respectable one-turn merc army.

I sometimes wonder if provincializing is even worth doing -- all my troops now appear at the capital, aside from a few out-of-place ones like the elephants, and if I was insane enough to buy more of those again they'd still count as part of the provincial limit of eight groups per turn!

Anyway, I've got a returning heavy inf who should arrive at my capital in time to gang up with three regular mercs and five merc cavs -- not the very best possible mix, but the best I can do on short notice. My doomstack is at least two turns away (and that by sea!), which would leave all the Arabian gains exposed to Arabian recapture and Felix Arabia itself to be invaded! This way I can help you with your problem, and also protect us from a riposte by the Arabians. (I'm pushing onward to their next new capital, which also happens to be my newly assigned goal target. The best defense in this case is a good offense. I may leave their remnants meandering in the central desert as a buffer against Judea for a while however; maybe offer them peace, or take an offer from them, and have them become a client state.)

Once I'm able to secure your side of the coast, I'll briefly declare war with you (or vice versa) and hotfoot out of the area so that you can come in, retake things easily, and then we'll make peace again.

[MetalDog]

The benefits of forming a province far outweigh a gaggle of regions.  For one, all of your regions production is combined, Infrastructure and Equipment being the biggest beneficiaries.  This allows faster building times and larger amounts of troops at one time.  It also allows you to specialize a region.  For instance, as you observed, all your new troops arrive in your capitol. That being the case, choosing military buildings will kit out your troops to the nines.  Plus, the province overlay is a trove of information and allows you to zero in on a region instantly rather than trying to remember the names of regions.  Decadence reduction is another benefit.  Plus a region with a dearth and one with bounty tend to balance in a province.  I am sure there is a counterargument, but, I just can't see it being persuasive ;)

[JasonPratt]

Yes, I know you're certainly right (I'm convinced survival as the Rhaeti depends completely on being able to take one more region at the start of the game and provincializing). It's just annoying that I can't produce units at the point of threat. Tradeoffs for game balance I guess.