Dominions 4 Play By Email - Game Complete!

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[KoolNoodles]

The "SCs" were largely unequipped because I felt they didn't need to be. They were not going to be in any combat roles, if the battle went as planned.

Edit: And you did kill that Ice Devil, but blood magic being blood magic.....he's been back for a while.

 

[Kane]

Lemuria is shit news at 11. At least the Mound Fiends did their fucking jobs, which gives me a sliver of hope, cuz they were the only ones I actually cared about.

 

[Malakal]

Wait, what turn is it? 238? Holy shit really?

 

[Norfleet]

Ah, yes, giant Ermorian kill counts, I remember them well. People used to totally lose their shit at the huge numbers involved, but mostly, those huge hordes just put you up there in the Body Count Hall of Fame.

 

[Dreaad]

Honestly for all that people laugh and say Ermor is terrible. I've seen far more games won by Ermor than lost. Especially at the lower levels of competition. Even in high level games several people immediately make an alliance to deal with Ermor before their dominion wrecks their winning chances. Lemuria however is not Ermor.

 

[Norfleet]

Honestly for all that people laugh and say Ermor is terrible. I've seen far more games won by Ermor than lost. Especially at the lower levels of competition. Even in high level games several people immediately make an alliance to deal with Ermor before their dominion wrecks their winning chances.

Ermor isn't "terrible", but it's extremely one dimensional, destructive, and toxic to the Standard Paradigm. This is why players feared it back in Dom2, too. I initially made my name as the top Ermor player, but ultimately moved away from it because it was kinda one-dimensional and didn't offer as much strategic flexibility as the others. That said, it WILL gut standard-paradigm by sheer weight of numbers. But I never feared confrontation with another Ermor player, I knew the weaknesses and how to brutally exploit them. On the list of "top threats", Ermor wasn't on my list. It was basically a noob-crushing antipattern: Strong against those who didn't know how to counter, but there were a large number of hard counters that shut them down cold and could contain them early. Too many got fixated on trying to clear them off the map: That's a mistake. It's expensive to do and pays poorly because the devastated landscape offers little in the way of gain when taken early. Containment is key. The fact that so many people are motivated to cut deals out of fear, though, that is a strong point for Ermor, but it is not a point intrinsic to Ermor. I got much of the same effect no matter which nation I played simply because an early fight with a strong player WILL wreck your chances of winning, whether you win or lose. Since people falsely believed any Ermor player was automatically strong and dangerous, they would cut deals when they should have just contained.

Lemuria however is not Ermor.

Was in Dominions 2. I recognize that unit roster as being mostly SG-Ermor derived. Having not played beyond that, I just call what I recognize. The numbers, the unit list, that's whatever they're calling Soul Gate Ermor now.

 

[KoolNoodles]

To borrow some of Raw's poetic imagery, this is pretty much how it went down. (I'm compiling a video, but having trouble with the sound, might go soundless).

 

[Norfleet]

It seems more or less like what I'd expect to happen when you crash a horde of expendables into a real force. Impressive-looking wipeout, probably little in the way of strategic significance, though. Thousands die, then you crash another wave of a few thousand a stack more into about 8 provinces at once. Maybe half of those will also spectacularly wipe, but they'll find it hard to be everywhere, so ZERG RUSH KEKEKE.

I remember scenes like that often. We'd be in the IRC, the guy would attack, wipe out a giant stack just like that there...start rejoicing...look at the strategic map...discover that his army was now surrounded by 8 more stacks like that on all sides...good times. I remember battles where I'd lose 3000 guys...the score graph would indicate I ended up with more guys anyway, and that the effect only SLIGHTLY SLOWED the rate at which the horde increased. Takes a lot to thin out the horde. Does Fire From the Sky still work the same as it did before?

 

[Dayyālu]

You are quite wrong , but only in this context as this match is peculiar.

That was the last desperate attempt of Lemuria, an army built in dozen of turns, that Ragha slaughtered effortlessly with half a dozen SC chassis and some chaff. That is quite a defeat for us, as the game has now become an attempt to contain Ragha as he is almost unstoppable thanks to high gem count, dozen of SCs and excellent mages/sacreds.

There are only two armies, in my opinion, in the entire world that Ragha cannot slaughter easily. Only two.

The battle itself was won with Firestorm. I'm looking forward to the edited video. No one wants to talk about the arena, however? How sad.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Well, I wasn't even going to send anyone to the arena actually. I figured people didn't want to win/lose through it either.

 

[Norfleet]

Nah, you always send someone to the arena. Even if it's just an empty scout. Or a scout with a cursing shield and a skellington summoner.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Nah, you always send someone to the arena. Even if it's just an empty scout. Or a scout with a cursing shield and a skellington summoner.

Sure. It wasn't meant as "I won't win blah blah", I just can't be arsed and don't care about the items.

 

[Norfleet]

You'd be surprised how often you win by default because everyone didn't bother to show up, or sent contestants that were just a bit goofier than yours, like the time I sent a scout that battled its way to the grand championship against...12 other...scouts...

Only noobs and the AI ever send anyone good, though. The items are generally a hindrance to a good build and being required to attend next time is a nuisance when you're on campaign. Hilarity does ensue when noobs send their gods and you kill or curse them, though. Even funnier when you curse them and recall, and manage to LIVE through the deathmatch.

 

[Kane]

Only noobs and the AI ever send anyone good, though.

I send one of my best! (He will die to an angry stare by the scout)

 

[Johannes]

The arena items are actually good now.

 

[KoolNoodles]

This is gonna be a shitty turn.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Only noobs and the AI ever send anyone good, though.

I send one of my best! (He will die to an angry stare by the scout)

I sent a guy last minute, it would be funny if he wins(you'll see). Truly, he would be Arthur sprung from legend.

 

[Norfleet]

Heh, I remember an episode like that. I once sent a diseased, feebleminded expensive wizard to the tournament, for the obvious reasons. He managed to blindly flail his way to victory against the 2 other opponents I got to fight, probably because the opposition sent even sorrier participants, only to drop dead in the next turn from the injuries received, as diseased units do not heal and therefore his long, drawn-out half-a-dozen-plus turn dying process had greatly accelerated by being stabbed a few times.

 

[Dayyālu]

This is gonna be a shitty turn.

Tell that to my army on Walden. Luckily it hit mostly Undead, but still 60 diseased troops are nothing to scoff at. D5, even. That was unexpected, D5 mages are not in huge supply without conjurations. Damn Ragha and its endless amout of everything

Gosh, this match is starting to giving me headaches.

Annnd the Arena death match concludes in the best way possible: no one fought and Atlantis, being the only one that bothered to show up, won by default.
All hail Miki, my starting commander and only thing in the Hall of Fame that's not a Raghan. Mute, covered in wounds, but still alive and was in pretty much every major engagement I fought. Lucky bastard with a stupid name.

Can it be that the other contenders killed each other in amusing ways?

 

[Norfleet]

So who's Ragha? Who's playing them, and what's their backstory? They're not a familiar face I recall from D2. Surprising they manage to take hall of fame. Usually when I'm on my victory march, the hall of fame is filled with the other side's guys from all of my cannonfodder they kill, while my guys struggle to make the Hall of Fame due to a lack of a target-rich environment to slaughter in. I forget whether I ever got any credit for friendly-fire kills, but apparently it's not enough to beat out what they kill. Don't judge me! I have a lot of cannonfodder that I actively don't care if they die.

 

[Dayyālu]

So who's Ragha? Who's playing them, and what's their backstory?

They're the source of all evil, I say. But what is Ragha....

Spoiler

Ragha, Dual Kingdom.

I don't know much bar having tested them in SP. They are a weird mix of Abysian and Caelian units, with the added perk of having two sets of recruitment, one for cold dominion (Caelian-based) and the other for hot dominion (Abysia-based). If the temperature is not right, they cannot recruit the "proper" troops.
Magical variety is good, with Fire Death Blood Air Astral and Water, plus their troops are nothing to scoff at, with good Caelian archers with composite bows and Abysian infantry and cavalry more than good enough to keep at bay human enemies. Summons are quite expensive but kinda nice. They have access to an insane number of possible SC chassis, and the Zhayedans are probably one of the best Sacred units around (with N9, the only reliable way I've found to kill them is Frozen heart spam),

As for why Ragha is ruling the Hall of Fame, I have already said that all this match is a desperate war of containment against KoolNoodles, that was left for about thirty turns quiet and alone to build an impressive gem base and summon Ice Devils/Archdevils/Elemental Royalty/Vampire Lords, thanks to Caelum keeping up a suicidal war against me just because.

KoolNoodles can probably paint them better, however. I've only killed them in MP.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Lol, damn. I thought I sent a peasant with as close to a pitchfork as I could get(a pike), but I guess not.......

 

[Berekän]

was he The Chosen One? Need report

 

[KoolNoodles]

It was not meant to be I suppose. He will go on to greater things!

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