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Thread: Feelings ~ TVK 70

  1. #16
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    Good read! I love this "theater of war"

  2. #17
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    Thank you, Mr. Baggins.

    You guys have a fine kingdom. Hoping you're having a fun age.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
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  3. #18
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    What Else?

    It would occur to those accustomed to multiple engagements in war/hostile/waving how certain types of distribution work. If you're from a disorganized kingdom then perhaps the stage 2 process hasn't been realized.

    When I mention how we engage undead core: by heavier ops and sabotage with lower reliance on attackers. The obvious question is, where does the bulk of the attacker distribution migrate? It goes toward the upper echelon. In the example case, the enemy faeries. This is no small task. Large numbers of faeries are daunting and I'm not saying this is the winning formula, but it is founded in simple logic. The faery don't carry plague and they are the conduit for which the undead have their offensive lifeblood. In other words, you gotta take your medicine.

    When I mention how we engage orc core: by heavier sabotage and higher reliance on attackers. The obvious question is, where does the bulk of the magic and ops migrate? Again, it goes toward the upper echelon, but in this case, toward the enemy rogues specifically and ToG, etc. So while these are guidelines the ideas are based in fundamental truths. We don't want to beat our heads against the wall when we can cleanly, quickly and efficiently rid ourselves of credibly breakable enemies. We aren't ignoring mystics, sages and heretics as much as eliminating threats that will creep up later. Meanwhile we can capitalize on economy, reinforcements and isolating enemy t/ms.

    I'm tired and may edit later. To be continued...
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
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  4. #19
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    Top Strats to the Naked Eye

    I'm not here to bash war kingdom accomplishments or effectiveness in their wheelhouse. I've been in some and their dedication, research and fundamental strategy are sound.

    What's lacking is forethought and projected obstacle preparedness.

    You notice certain things lacking in top kingdoms? From the kingdom page you should. You'll notice largely a plague free environment. Undead aren't commonly in the top circles with a few exceptions. When you look at top kingdoms you should think in terms of drag coefficiency. The exception? CR going full faery is what we should see as the challenge idiom. Both a seasonal theme and the willingness to try and crown with a relatively poor whoring setup.

    But it's important to know why or why not. Let's look at orc warrior. Why? Meter efficient. When you random for acres you want the most with the least use of the meter. Warrior has significant reach so the top kingdom can take acres from safe nw range. Orcs are nw efficient enough that they can hit higher value targets for longer as the top kingdom separates from the herd. Longevity isn't a plus, but whoring kingdoms are concerned with the acre race, not the winning of wars.

    This system serves itself in that because you gain acres faster to reach a diplo vacuum you are passively rewarded by not facing contemporary whoring kingdoms that can inflict plague. Undead sustain is irrelevant to the whoring doctrine.

    You'll notice very few rogues and halfers, but if you do you'll see them in a nw shelf. That shelf is absolutely by design. Several top kingdoms will have nw bulges just above the core and includes calves/killers. A Mothers Advice(kingdom) had a very pronounced and specific mid nw shelf and they were the best warring whoring kingdom I'd seen. But why here? Many of you must've guessed, but the point is to be effective in preventing concerted efforts against your cows while inflicting relative damage on the enemy cows when possible. These are nw stories in a nw game. If enemy attackers etc. are in the nw max of a t/m then the effectiveness will be most efficient. The reason you see so few halfer rogues is because the effective range is narrow and the design can be disabled rather easily. When you do see them it's normally because the kingdom strat is designed to key off this weakness, like a counter strategy. Like any strategic array the purpose will vary but the ability is sought after architecturally.

    Humans have been part of whoring circles for many ages and their basic design is why. Before the current income bonus and Revelations, humans had Tree Of Gold(ToG) and Fountain Of Knowledge(FoK). These may not be nw efficient like orcs but a human sage is a nw monster at the whoring level. This design assumes the expertise of the kingdom will ascend to the whoring tier based in solid whoring fundamentals. With stacks of scientific capability and unheard of gold reserves, a fully developed human sage is a load. To understand these mechanics, a human will reach a science max sooner and operate at a higher level longer. Thus, their military efficiency will be very high despite a nw value that would otherwise be a hindrance. Additionally this creates a vast nw chasm from traditional war kingdoms making top feeding arduous. Low loss defenses are the cherry on top.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
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  5. #20
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    The 4 Faeries of TVK

    I chose faery based in personal experience. While many players can speak to faery capability as a t/m I can endorse faery as an attacker. Now I didn't role them in TVK as attackers, but I've run faery enough to be a comfortable mid core attacker, exchanging attacks as any other attacker race.

    Faery is a capable race in raw state but the addition of the defensive spells alone make them a rock. The addition of the offensive spells and bonus damage seals it. This doesn't mean I think faery is better, but that their versatility allows them to cover a lot of ground.

    The array of faeries in TVK includes Heretic, Mystic, Rogue and Sage. The idea was to put them in roles that could put enemies in a crossfire. The true aim is to have the faery backing the elf and halfer who do the high penetration work. Once the heaviest obstacles are removed the faery can unleash their high damage specialty. This is why you won't see the faery grouped with the elf and halfer who are more fragile and require judicious care.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  6. #21
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    Divisional Layout

    You can array divisions into smaller units, larger units or reconstitute the system by which they function.

    In real war there are combat engineers that clear mine fields etc. So let's truncate one division and call it a bunker buster.

    Elf mystic
    Halfling rogue
    Orc warrior

    While I prefer to match targets man-to-man the imperative to control certain t/ms may be an urgent objective. Assume our target is faery with any variety of personality. Now I'm not saying this will get you there, but by applying pressure on all 3 defenses we can give ourselves the best chance from an aggressive approach.

    The reason I place interference running attackers in these types of division is because the needs to defend/offend are immediate for elves, halfers and orcs. While they all share in the highest penetration attributes they also all have exploitable defenses. We could mute these builds by making them sages or tacticians but the crux of their purpose is to break the tough ones. This personality array offers the deepest possible capability at a raw level. Later in the age the faeries may surpass or the the various sages. For the 1st two thirds of the age we would likely rely on these three builds.

    Perhaps a universal zone control squad would look like so:

    Faery heretic
    Undead tactician
    Avian cleric
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 06-02-2017 at 23:45.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
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  7. #22
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    Knowing your Game

    My history is in pencil & paper games, long before computers were the norm. By 1981, the players of our current gaming sessions began. We played strategic war games like Starfleet Battles, superhero games like Champions, adventure games from Bushido! to D&D, spy games like Top Secret and finally a snail-mail game called Feudal Lords.

    I'd imagine the reason I find Utopia an instinctive game to play is because I can draw from many mechanical variations that apply to the roles we play. What I find most lacking is the team locomotion I was use to.
    Many of you are young and may not believe the narcissistic rhetoric aimed at your generation, but it is actually true. It's not something that defines you as individuals, but it makes finding a team and understanding the strength of a team rare. Can you see how narcissism implodes and results in hierarchy? You only have belonging at the cost of servitude and it's not founded in your intangible value. Your leadership is quantified by your followers, not based in the depth of your commanding qualities.

    This division system is a tutorial in the development of teamwork. It has to be framed to initialize impact; to start the wheels turning. I'm not a deeper soul or a more intelligent person than any of you. I'm offering what I can from what I've learned.
    The greatest players in this game predate the narcissism migration and therefor we see the innovations applied and executed at the top. I for one can attest to only seeing staid and trite movements in the Utopian kingdom core. There is a lack of innovation blunted by false reliance on organizational philosophy. You must understand this. If you are building the race and personality dictated by few and following those orders you can only learn by doing what you're told. Not only that, most everything learnable is only quantitative.

    Quality of experience is transcendent. This is the organic connection that purifies our depths spiritually and intellectually. That a person requires a digital replay to reinforce the impact of a life moment, when the moment has passed...if there is a God he grows lonelier.

    But I digress.

    Lets get to the cogs and cranks of how I see Utopia through different games.

    Starfleet Battles offer an array of ships and legendary crew members. One ship for example, the Kzinti Super Space Control Ship, was a dreadnought class with fighter bays and classic Kzinti drone armament. The intended purpose was to occupy hostile environments to anchor invasion force after invasion force.

    In D&D there were 4 broad personality types that were further enhanced by player choice: controller, defender, leader, striker. Controller varies, but classically renders the entirety of the battlefield in favor of her allies. This would be wizards laying a sheet of ice or a firewall to constrict enemy movement. The impact is soft but cumulative.

    Chess offers assigned movement in most pieces and then truly amps this with the queen.

    In Utopia the faery is your Kzinti SSCS/wizard/queen. Though Captain Obvious might realize this in it's engineering he might not be privy to the intent. I'm saying this because I've run faery attackers who are more focal and less influential on the theater. This is where many "controllers" fail. They may cast Meteors on as many provinces as they can. That's not control that's generalized logistical leverage. It's still good, but it's not control.

    What about tornadoes? I'm not saying it's the best spell(by far), but let's consider the impact. As a mystic controller I want to bring in my fellow attackers and rogues/thieves. By impacting the build of the target I can knockdown Guard Stations for the attackers or Watchtowers for the rogues. We're now creating the conduit for high penetration by the team. Oh sure, slow melting of defense is nice but it doesn't help with overpopulation,..and the possibility of a friendly Mystic Vortex means someone turned off the heat for your stew.

    Who needs Meteors? The hardest to hit, and this is why teamwork is about perseverance and respecting ones wheelhouse. If my rogue can Assassinate Wizards it still isn't enough for my faery to reliably land Meteors. But what about my elf? See, now we begin to see the point. The elf can't defend himself from rogues but the faery can stick it to the rogue and get attackers in on the pile-driver. You can't let a dwarf sit at home camping out your best attackers. You need to push that dwarf. We win more wars when we think about the team.
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 11-02-2017 at 13:03.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
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  8. #23
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    Become One

    ~ * The doomsday machine is a robot from another galaxy, several miles long, with a conical shape; the wider end consists of a huge glowing maw, large enough to swallow a dozen starships. Its bluish-white hull is composed of solid neutronium, and phaser blasts just bounce off. The machine is propelled by a total conversion drive. It's essentially self-sustaining, acquiring energy by smashing planets to rubble and converting the debris into fuel. The machine uses a pure antiproton beam to carve up a planet, and it has an energy-dampening field that can "deactivate" antimatter and which generates heavy subspace interference. It possesses a program-defensive sphere that attacks any energy source entering that sphere. Kirk theorizes that the machine was a doomsday device used in a war "uncounted years ago."** ~

    Analogies are the byproduct of a mental state. In my case, being left handed and right brain, I'm wired for qualitative interpretation and not for mathematical inference. Wondering why and asking why is also a right brain bias, whereas asking how is more a left brain function.

    In many martial arts, cars and motorcycles we often name these after animals. This is specific to The Virtual Kingdom because this is a stylized kingdom: the strat is dictated by a central interest. Do you understand this?
    When you see the kingdom made entirely of undead or entirely of faery, these are stylized. They celebrate a pageantry in gaming and sacrifice a degree of utility. This doesn't effect the seriousness of play but crystalizes the interpretation of its niche.

    Analogy: The all faery kingdom is akin to a Mopar club, even specific to a particular model like a Challenger. While they may all look the same from where we're standing there would be significant differences to the trained eye.

    When I ran a faery sage in TFC I was an assigned attacker and it became stronger than I had anticipated. Before this I had no confidence a faery built as an attacker could pose significant resistance to bottom feeders. I was wrong. It was sloppy and flawed but quite capable and I was willing to defend myself. - how does this apply to the subject?

    I wanted to be an attacker and I became one, within the discipline of faery.

    And why is that important; the pageantry of idealized confinement? Isn't MMA for example proving mixed non-traditional fighting is superior? Aren't new cars faster and more maneuverable than old ones.

    Yes, if you're just kicking asses. But I began to notice that some of these fighters proudest moments were in achieving belts in the antiquated arts. Cars speak for themselves. This is heritage and tradition.

    You see, what happens is we begin to believe what we hear without investigating it ourselves. "All old fighting styles will lose terribly to mixed martial arts". Let's turn that around and remember the initial generation of stylized fighters had never faced mixed styles. We have that advantage now, and you can face a non-traditional style with a traditional one fully aware of the disciplines at odds. How does this apply?

    Because not 1 person in the Utopian community took a halfling cleric or an orc mystic, but I did. About mid-age I looked at the race/persona combinations and reset my human cleric for an orc mystic because nobody was playing one...and we have too many t/m races in kingdom. Personally I think halfling cleric has better traction but in an offense starved kingdom the choice was clearly orc. Based on player choice, this combination shouldn't work or compete. We can at least say, no one thinks there is as much value here as with warrior or even sage.

    This seems juxtaposition to my tradition rant but it's because I'm making a point about inefficiencies. Is the orc mystic inefficient? Is the halfling cleric inefficient? Actually there's nothing going wrong here. The question is in the practice of the arts we've chosen. I know I'm facing a world of hyper pumped undead warrior and orc tacticians and I've done it every age. I'm aware of my competition and their forward prowess.

    Do you know why I eliminated my human cleric? Because he was deemed oversized and a land drop was recommended. I can't do that in good conscience so I reset to meet the demand of my challenge idioms and kingdom. That challenge idiom includes not attacking unprovoked. I need you the reader to understand this because I'm no mechanical genius in Utopia. In fact I barely use math at all in Utopia, yet I'm achieving viable and dangerous position. This could be interpreted as a brag, but my intentions are to show you that anyone can do it.

    If anyone can do what I'm doing then you shouldn't be afraid pursuing top kingdom status. I've been up there and yeah it's more competitive but I was still able to follow my challenge idioms once I learned how things worked. They can step on their own toes with micromanaging to a fault. Nobody is perfect and nobody is twice as smart as anyone else here. They are organized in ways most of us can't. And this is why I moved division array from 8 down to 5 provinces. The acceptability level that 5 people can work together should be achievable. I can even envision smaller divisions but we should aim for 5 if we consider ourselves competitive.

    Thank you.
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 12-02-2017 at 13:49.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  9. #24
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    Hello...Hello...Hello

    Communication is a biggie and it can effect all levels, including top kingdoms. So let's share.

    I've been in several long wars where the t/ms aren't communicating their inability to remain unbreakable or their inability to land ops/sabotage on enemy t/ms. Some might think it's none of a core players business, but apparently leadership never reached a solution or an alternative. Seems like the type of thing that'd only happen once, but it's not unique. I've seen this reaction high and low. My guess is that we as humans have repeatable tendencies; instincts we don't believe in that can save us or instincts that can betray. So how do we navigate? With wisdom.

    We need to understand shame, arrogance and elitism. We need to understand the patterns of failure.

    Many of us have seen our fellow players assume a war is won based in nw/acres. We've seen them scoff at our enemies refusal to withdraw, only to be forced to eat their words later. I'm mildly astonished to see players 10 years in have never been in a back and forth war. Or did they just forget? Just like some forget very basic tactics, like engaging t/ms or proper chaining techniques.

    You don't have to be in an organized kingdom to learn fundementals but the narsisism I spoke to earlier(post #22) may be creeping into unlikely places.

    - If you're a tactician you only need use 1 thief for 100% accurate intel.

    - If you want to reduce your trade balance you send dragon gold to a bank/t/m with a massive positive balance.

    - You do most aid while the recipient is online, and if you don't have the amount necessary, send what you can. I've noticed a decline across the board of players not mentally registering the idea of aid and chipping in.

    - Many players use old intel and don't understand that the 10% thieves for accurate intel by non-tacticians auto loads provided you refresh the screen. They bounce attacks unnecessarily.

    - See if your target is online. Particularly if you're going for a chain target. Predictability can be your enemy.

    - Ask for aid well in advance of your need, including intel. Consistently request help when necessary and pay attention to basic province maintenance.

    - Train thieves so you don't have to ask for intel or resources that drain teammates.

    - Let other ailing provinces know about easy theft targets. Don't be greedy.

    - On a general scale. I don't random attack, but if you do, Snatch News from a likely target kingdom. Review the kingdoms that random the hapless target and random the predators. They have all the resources.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  10. #25
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    Another Look

    Part of the make of The Virtual Kingdom involves compromise, but I tried to work with the idea of effectiveness.

    Avian cleric
    Avian cleric
    Avian warrior

    Dwarf heretic
    Dwarf sage
    Dwarf war hero

    Elf heretic
    Elf mystic
    Elf sage

    Faery heretic
    Faery mystic
    Faery rogue
    Faery sage

    Halfling mystic
    Halfling rogue
    Halfling rogue

    Human sage
    Human tactician
    Human tactician

    Orc cleric
    Orc tactician
    Orc warrior

    Undead war hero
    Undead war hero
    Undead warrior

    The way I want t/ms to operate has to do with caliber of opposition.

    The elves were dispersed in order to grant high penetration with the variety of spells available: heretic - blizzard, nightmare; mystic - chastity, meteor swarm; sage - amnesia. Elves self spells are also valuable in consideration to their intended targets.

    Faery was set up in a full t/m quadrilateral to provide the higher damage on lower defenses( or defenses lowered ) by the elves and halfling rogues. Faery has superior defense and thus can be expected to take up where the others left off.
    So the spell array is equal to the elves plus rogue.

    Two halflings were set to provide the high penetration at rogue: assassinate wizards, propaganda, greater arson. One was set as a third mystic. I had toyed with the idea of using heretic on the third halfling but wanted to give the province it's best chance at landing spells along with space efficiency and considerable theft capability.

    Dwarves make up the last line of t/m capable races based in their decent defensive spells, well balanced elite, free build and building efficiency bonus. Because dwarves can switch builds rather easily they are incredibly versatile if not completely durable. Again, this is projected to take shape later in war.

    We can guess the enemy will look to knock out the halfling rogues, elves and high offense attackers. This is why the default strategy is to run interference. It's not necessarily the survival of these provinces that we are concentrating on, but the target rich environment provided by the enemy effort. This is where the avian warrior and human tacticians start making sense. So the off color builds like the dwarves, humans, faery etc and personalities like sage and war hero provide economic strength if the high performance provinces are tackled. The turn of war has to be considered to offer a mechanical explanation for adaptation.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  11. #26
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    And Bottom Feeders

    There is a level of fragile-to-effectiveness balance in running the elf, halfer and high offense attackers. The idea is to be able to reach deeper and further into large kingdoms that will inevitably target The Virtual Kingdom. Perhaps all the high penetration provinces are targeted, but this provides the valued meter.

    We rewind to the division system because we want to be able to answer threats quickly, before all hardened capability is diminished. We want the ability to strike from magic, theft and marching at maximum range; not maximum gains, with some authority to position ourselves between ceasefire and declare: amnesia, fools gold, assassinating wizards.

    Violence is not always the answer. The point is that you are capable and willing to force some decision making from larger kingdoms. You don't want to have resources worth the punishment, you want to be able to inflict punishment above the worth. You should endeavor to have a reputation of measured retaliation and telling effect. This will provide a much more hospitable diplomacy environment.

    I would venture to say The Virtual Kingdom isn't ideal to war crown focus, but is overall able to deal with a variety of threats that many war kingdoms must accept for their inability to effectively retaliate. The option to hybridize The Virtual Kingdom into a more effective war kingdom is there, but I find the ability to consider land charting as a truer course. It has nothing to do with not wanting to war, but more to be able to define a position. Predation increases as one moves up the charts, particulary unfamiliar kingdoms with low CF totals. Being able to answer multiple threats is something I have experience with. The division system allows that all provinces are within arms length of communication, which is important when monitoring the meter on multiple fronts. You have to be weary of enemy allies who may bait a reaction while another kingdom waits for your commitment to a particular battle front.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  12. #27
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    Triangulation: understanding unbreakable

    There are 3 ways of getting things done in the mechanics of Utopia. You can cast spells, you can use thieves and you can march with your armies. These again, seem very basic, but based in my observations I see it doesn't transmit in some circles.

    Think of it as a triangle. If you can establish only one plane then you might consider using that plane until you can establish the second and thus the third. The inability to establish a plane equals unbreakability or as some call it, virtual unbreakability. Just because you can defeat a defense doesn't necessarily equate to success. You may only be succeeding in the narrow window of closing door.

    Consider a human cleric with their damage resistance. If the human cleric can resist casting and theft effectively enough then his march resistance can slowly overtake. Most offense will die faster than a human defense. This is why we raze, massacre, etc.

    That is where I'm trying to take you: the tactics you use are applicable to each plane of an encircling triangle. A triangle is a simple shape, a simple idea. It's in the details of how we establish and maintain each plane that separates strategy.
    My kingdom is currently in a war where the enemy has a large halfling rogue. Apparently unbreakable by theft and marching, I managed to cast a short meteor swarm on him. This was not followed up, either by desire or capability. Maybe we can't break him. This is unbreakable.

    What your doing is surrendering a certain fundamental in that your enemy can attack and not be attacked. While there may be bigger fish to fry you have to be aware of the economic impact this has in war. Without needing to repair damage and having a size, thus army advantage, the enemy can force repairs on you that you can't force on him.

    A Simple Method ~

    Not many players are like me in how my brain is wired. I'm referring to people who think in shapes and what ifs. So if intel by numbers looks as rediculous to you as it does to me, then we can umbrella these things under a color code triangulation system.

    Sides of the Triangle - blue for breakable, yellow for iffy, red for unbreakable
    Magic
    March
    Theft

    We had guys in The Faery Circle who could illustrate charts and it'd be nice to have one of those guys in your kingdom. You can chart this by degree of breakability cross referenced by province name. You can do one for you and the enemy.

    This doesn't mean that my mind doesn't accept the numbers, but that the initial idea be shaped in a system that serves at a glance. The way it works is I need to see the big picture to see the small picture. Many left brain thinkers are lost on this and they only see accomplishments in their microcosm. They want execution and speed in a caveat that has no meaning. This in itself explains the system of waving without a global view of the theater of war. You can add the theater of war as a byproduct of being a smart person or someone who gets the prefix numerical world of Utopia.

    I'll tell you because you're still with me here. Hypothetically the mystics are having a hard time casting meteor swarms on core enemy provinces. Hypothetically you have rogues in your kingdom that can assassinate wizards or attackers with plenty of raw offense to massacre with one tap out of a multitap. Well geez...I mean you want to hit the enemy with meteors. Ok, so we're assuming now that the rogues have bigger fish to fry but this decision process renders your mystic array useless. You have to get your team involved. If it's a race between t/ms then sure, you do what is right. Again, no absolutes. But it is perplexing to me that a global conquering of the enemy can't be realized because our expectations aren't being met by typical trite methods.

    This has a vibe of coming off in a harsh manner, but my intention is to invoke realization.
    What happens is instead of thinking about how to correct a correctable situation, we point fingers.

    I'll have you know the work world is no different. We have people at the top that make money off of certain results and at the bottom we have people only delivering in that single aspect. It is of the essence that we realize quality of life as our obligation. I'm not talking about screwing off, but many negative minds would go there. I'm talking about respecting our ethics, delivering quality and doing it safely. In our world there are plenty of real life examples of idiocracy. We should be adamant in defending our culture, even from the most mundane work environments.

    Kingdoms that are doing well aren't necessarily the Mecca of culture. There are still numerous examples of totalitarianism. Sure they can be friends. That doesn't address the game and the way it's played. What am I going on about?

    The cultural aspect of the game. The individual ownership of provinces. Philosophically I've seen guys explain away everything. The philosophy here is pragmatic freedom. That includes mutual respect as a core value. My gauge is based in where individualism becomes greed or griefing. When we prescribe to a kingdom philosophy of totalitarianism we are but sheep riding the coattails of a winner, as it were. My choice has been pragmatic freedom.

    You are in a game world but it takes real time to play. In that time I don't spend it capitulating, being afraid, or griefing the downtrodden. I simply can't reason with doing what Joe says if Joe is wrong. Its not for me to disrespect but to attempt to privately guide a leader toward the good.
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 19-02-2017 at 15:39.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

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  13. #28
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    Triangulated Details

    Once you have an understanding of breakability in a given field you can then grade the quality of that capability.

    How reliable is it to cast meteors and chastity?
    How reliable is nightsriking up to propaganda?
    How many taps can an attacker safely land on a target?

    And the reverse for your province and kingdom provinces.

    Being aware of your kingdom is equally important. If you have a t/m that must be offline for said number of hours, what tactics will you implement to prevent enemy theft or assassination of wizards? This is why we can't be focused totally on offense for offense sake. Sure we think about it, but we should be taking action and not hoping.

    A good practice is to feed runes, in cast quantity, to a t/m who's casting lightning strikes on an enemy that has reflect magic. By getting use to doing a conservative thing you can start thinking about doing other things that minimize self harm.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...+say&FORM=VDRE

  14. #29
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    Sculpting Tools

    I've been using what most believe are wave based tools as an individual for some time. Oftentimes I've seen individual use of particular game powers discouraged. The idea that spells like nightmare or personalities like war hero are only effective en masse is not true.

    I'll reflect on my exposure to the truth from many ages ago. Back when I was with Aggression is the Liquor we were simply barbarians trying to outdo each other. We never really fought as a team and some of us were off on our own. One such individual was known as a grumpy old man who played an elf mystic. He barely chatted a word, but to complain. He was incredibly adept as a self propelled province and I can't recall the guy being in trouble or requesting aid. What struck me was the gains he made marching by himself against formidable targets. Enemies couldn't handle him. I did manage to get him to mention he used nightmare once.

    Several ages later, with 5 weeks left in the age I get recruited by Jerks in an age off for them. I started a new elf cleric and developed it as hybrid. By the 3rd war I moved with complete confidence among the strongest provinces and the strongest kingdoms in my vicinity. We entered war where my province was being attacked from both the declaring kingdom, a random kingdom(Ascension) and sabotage from War Monkeys who we also had relations. When a kingdom declares they tend to unload on you and these guys did...but it didn't matter.

    Prelude to my army return I opened with nightmares on the attacker that'd moved against me. As the spells landed and the damage mounted my nemesis went afk. So here's what I did: I opened with nightmare to reduce troop counts including thieves. That's important. I cast faders, greed, explosions and pitfalls. I mixed in a couple of tornadoes to loosen up his war strat. After I used up most of my mana and the nightmare effect was in full bloom I began Nightstrike, arson - a little, riots and bribe general.

    You see that I was hybrid and completely comfortable in core exchanges in and around the top 10 vs known high powered kingdoms with players who know exactly what they're doing. The Virtual Kingdom system will work. Why? Because in an age off Jerks weren't super waving or conducting war in the fashion that our enemies were. This means my capabilities weren't part of a nightmare network or universal hybrid kingdom strat. I was just me in bigger acres than usual.

    If I had 4 other player to coordinate ops and stack sabotage then I would be quite confident. I like to see how we match up one-on-one, and if I'm successful, spread the love amongst additional enemy provinces. This goes to the root and reason to recruit solid, active players. You want guys that are confident 1vs1. You won't always win, but there's no fear in the isolation of 1vs1 combat. From this wellspring is where teamwork flows.

    You can wave just like a super wave kingdom, but you can most efficiently operate solo; effectively. Here is where the reality of elliptical waves comes into play. The positive side effect is reduced exposure to Oops! messages. This is corrective meta, but not over the top. It takes a common ghetto slop wave and gives it focused, organized execution.

    Here I've only reflected on the sculpting power of elf, but every race and persona has its own sculpting ability. In the confines of the divisions these should become second nature and congruent to division objectives. As you achieve objectives your victories drive the kingdom to overall success.

    The elf need only cast enough nightmare to allow attackers additional taps. My hybrid was going alone, but not in this scenario. Each province offers the nudge to triangulate the effort of the others.
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 27-02-2017 at 01:13.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...+say&FORM=VDRE

  15. #30
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    To continue...

    In age 63 I went solo in a kingdom shell as a human war hero. Granted, things have changed but certain fundamentals remain with alternative benefits. Plague immunity is gone but fanaticism and pitfalls are welcome additions to the spell array. War spoils is an excellent spells if largely misunderstood.

    Many hold the idea that war hero is a kingdom strat. I think this is as flawed as any other unproven notion. Their logic dictates something along the lines of dragon usage. This is missing the point. What this really does is force a question of efficiency. If it's obvious to the enemy that sending a dragon is useless they'll spend their gold elsewhere.

    The question is about where war hero fits best. Avian has redundant spells, humans have redundant resistance and neither can protect their honor. The two races that come to mind are dwarf and undead: both have 14 total combat points per elite. It's how I measure the worthiness of conversions.

    Dwarf is good for war hero for several reasons.
    - First, immunity to gold dragons is good for dwarves. Very good.
    - Dwarves have a nicely balanced elite that can be a great benefit to reduced army sizes in war.
    - They can build acres in 6 ticks which is well under most kingdoms wave times.
    - Among the best pure marching races that can cast spells.
    - Racial spells make honor retention highly probable.

    Undead benefit as well.
    - War spoils allow the undead to random in normal without being ambushed.
    - This in turn makes elite conversions more efficient.
    - Income protection helps a race that can't steal.
    - Honor bonus/war spoils make for good flypaper.
    - Spell array makes for mismatches in troop losses.

    One of the things The Virtual Kingdom offers is different types of problems for enemies to solve. This also offers The Virtual Kingdom more creative ways to engage the enemy.
    Last edited by StratOcastle; 28-02-2017 at 00:36.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Correct me then, instead of being a dick about it.
    love that thick mahogany back with no belly carve or anything...pure thick wood ! The thing ROCK is made of !
    ________
    Weed bowls

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...+say&FORM=VDRE

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