Woot, I finally managed to convert that endgame!
There's a lot to say, but I'll do my best to give a summary below:
Early game I was frantic. My start was hideous, and I was immediately completely at the whims of the Berbers. My first turn I had to guess Rabat vs. Bay of Sevilla. Bay of Sevilla was more centralized and was larger (plus, the outline implied it could move everywhere Rabat could, plus other places), so I chose that instead of Rabat. Choosing Rabat would have spelled a quick demise. In the Fall I had to choose either Portugal or Morocco. I chose Portugal because Iberia's my favourite region of the diplomacy board, generally being sc heavy and easily defensible. It's the right call, and doesn't lose quickly (Morocco would have been almost immediate death) Phew! I must be nearly out of the woods!
Except everyone has more centers than me. Uh oh. I'm sitting on 1, and Tunisia's already up to 3. To make matters worse, the Berbers are in Iberia as well. Spring 2023 (and the Fall!) is an important turn. I've been negotiating with the Berbers (as well as everyone else on the map), and it's a good thing. This is the turn that they could have killed me, and there was nothing I could do about it. If Granada-Cordoba is ordered, there's no way for me to ever move out of Portugal. There's no line in which I keep more than 1 sc. The Berbers' extra unit in Africa would mean that they could continue growing while this occurred, until they decided to finish me off properly. Fortunately, he goes for the more defensive route, and I finally have a game!
I get a stroke of luck when the Berbers' army gets converted into a fleet, meaning I get access to the mainland provinces. The next few years are just me expanding, and completely forsaking exploration in exchange for brute numbers of armies. This tactic gets me to 8-9 scs no problem.
Now for my first moral crisis. The Berbers have been the perfect ally. They are communicative, honest, and have let me get the better end of a few deals. Unfortunately, my debts are piling up. I've loaned 2 scs off of the them, and, completely reasonably, it's time for me to return the scs. I spent a long time deciding whether or not to stab Blade, but in the end I saw it was my best option and this is a game for ruthlessness. I stab the Berbers, and promptly eradicate them from the map (I knew I could do that easily enough, the question was whether it was worth it).
The mid-game is my biggest regret from this game, even though I eventually won. I made at least 2 or 3 big mistakes, one of which cost me 5 scs (trusting Israel to support me like he said he would). However, after the Berbers went down, I didn't realize it, but due to the distribution of research scs and my complete domination of the North, I had a very clear path to the solo.
This was really fun to play, but a couple of suggestions:
1. In the future, make it explicit when everything occurs.There didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to the part of the orders phase that plagues moved. Here's an example:
You could cut support for a unit supporting a plague. This implies that plagues move AFTER other units, since another unit moved before its move was set. However, a plague can infect a unit, which then turns into a plague BEFORE its move, implying the reverse. This really messed me up on several occasions, since it meant that a responsible player (which I am not
) had to check many, many different scenarios with the GM. Instead, having a universal system that determines how moving parts of the game interact would have been much smoother.
2. Minimize guesswork required, especially in the early game. Had I chosen to go to Rabat or Morocco instead of bee-lining Iberia, this game would have turned out very differently. Rabat doesn't really count as guesswork, since from the outlines I could tell that Bay of Sevilla was a strictly better move, but I could have lost Fall 2022 if I'd chosen to go to Morocco instead of Portugal. I say lost because there would never be a way for me to kick the Berbers from Middle Atlas, so I'd be stuck at 1 units forever.
This was a really fun game though, and I enjoyed it throughout! The plagues and darkness created a really nice atmosphere for the board, and the flavour was well done.
Players:Blade: I'm really sorry. I was pretty torn up about having to stab you, but I also saw that I'd get at least 5 scs off of it, which meant I pretty much had to. You were a wonderful ally, and I hope we get a chance to play again where I can be less stabby. I deeply considered just going for the research victory with you - if you look back in my Discord channel, you'll see a page of me waffling to Aeschines.
Groo: I never had an intention of working with you. There was no chance that I let you into Berlin. I'm really sorry to string you along, but I wanted to get an advantage through negotiation if possible. It was a terrible decision that slowed me down a TON. I should have just flat out declared war on you and attacked you. It would have been more honest and tactically stronger. You fought on in a lost endgame for a long time, which I respect. Thanks for the game, you were a great opponent!
NoPunIn10Did: I met you when you were at 1 sc. I was sincere about being willing to give you one shot to research a win. I would've simultaneously done so elsewhere though, to be sure. However, as the game progressed, you slowly became more of a thorn in my side. Your scs were primary targets for my solo run, but I'd given you my word I'd keep you alive. I was relieved when you let Israel finish you, since it meant I didn't have ANOTHER ethical dilemma to be faced with. You played a really resourceful game in a hard situation.
Gooderian: I was planning to stab you, but Groo beat me to the punch. I decided I had a very good chance of winning a 1v1 with Groo, so I finished you off to make the game simpler and more in my favour. We had a short and very one-sided relationship. I can't say much about your play, since I acted solely as the Grim Reaper for you.
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