TI3 Post-mortem
Yes, we finally finished the game.
Michael, Jon, Ben, Scott, Chad and myself set out on a different sort of race for the galaxy in TI3. Ben got the Embers of Muaat, Michael the L1z1x Mindnet, I played the Naalu, Jon was the University of Jol-Nar, Scott the Xxchas, and Chad was the Mentos....er, Mentak Coalition. Ben quickly showed off his nice new War Sun and everyone cowered in fear and left him alone for the entire game. Jon spent his time in his University library and had many technologies to show for it. Scott played cautiously, expanding slowly but inexorably to Hope's End and the wormhole nexus. I darted towards the center and grabbed a few inner ring planets which slipped in and out of my control throughout the game. Michael built up his usual locust-like swarm of forces and took Mecatol Rex, all while shielding his eyes from the glory of Ben's War Suns (which turned out to be a winning strategy). Finally, Chad soaked up pretty much all of Ben's wrath and scrambled for footholds in the galaxy while Ben razed his homeworld. Credit Chad for taking a difficult position early in the game in stride and continuing to play for VPs (and survival) when all seemed lost. And credit Ben for being aggressive, because that's what he needed to do to get his VPs.
In the end, Michael's hold on Mecatol Rex and the only artifact in the game proved too much to overcome. Long game, but enjoyable and well-played.
Brian and Jacqui stopped by with Aidan and played Puerto Rico and To Court the King with Steve. I think they may have gotten in one or two other games, but I'm not sure, as pretty much everything besides TI3 was just a blur today.
Oh, and Michael discovered Call of Duty 4. Should make for entertaining nights ahead in the in-game chats.
posted by Anonymous @ 11:16 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Call of Duty 4, eh? Break out the s'mores cause everyone loves the camping!
...I'm not bitter...
Masterfully played, Michael.
Chad: I feel a tad bit guilty for what I did to you in the game. I hope we can put all that behind us, and not carry any vendettas forward into future games. Lets just forget it ever happened!
We also got in a few games of Race, which should surprise exactly nobody.
I'm not rabidly against TI:3, but it just seems way too long and freeform. Any multiplayer game should have a way to constrain who can attack each other. Otherwise it becomes a gang up on the leader issue. Also (in many games) whenever two people fight, they are both weakened versus the non-fighters. Not to mention Kingmaking, turtling, etc.
Check out This article by the designer of Brittania.
If everyone wants to play Titan, I can arrange a few hours for that.
So exactly how long did it take? Ya'll were at the 5+ hour mark when we left, and I predicted 3 more hours.
We started at 10 AM, and the game wrapped up close to 5PM. We did have one player who was completely new, and everyone was at least a tiny bit rusty on some of the finer point. I am pretty sure if we were focused we could complete a 6-player game in six hours. Personally, the game didn't feel overly long, and Chris, Michael, and I all had a sot until the last turn, when we suddenly realized Michael had successfully run away with it.
I'm already plotting my revenge, and not just against Ben.
CoD4 seems to censor less of Michael's in-game emotions than does Halo, which I think adds to the fun. I only need to inflict 100 more head shots with my trusty M-16 to unlock blue leopard camoflage. Hooray!
This game sounds like it was truly GLORIOUS. I'm sorry that I was not there, but learning to play Twilight Struggle is a good trade in my book. I can now look forward to either game.
I'm glad that you were able to hang in there, Chad. Those War Suns can be pretty devistating. I think that this is at least the second time that Ben plays the Embers of Muat. He is probably getting better at driving those War Suns.
Chad:
I agree. Jon, Scott, and Chris also need to be taught a lesson after what happened.
It was fun watching Jon play Heroin Hero with the technology all game. I was afraid it was going to pay off with him blossoming a crusade of death across the galaxy at the end of the game, but somehow Steve was able to successfully run into his laboratory with grenades strapped to his chest. Problem solved!
I'm still cursing misreading my secret objective. Doing so cost me a full turn, which I could have used driving my War Suns towards Michael's relatively undefended homeworlds. I had the tech to drive them 3 spaces per turn, so I could have arrived ready to re-enact what happened to Alderan. Who knows if this would have actually made a difference, but it would have been fun.
But our Maginot line!!!! You wouldn't have violated that sacred pact...right? right????
The Maginot Line served us well, but there can be only one!
The weakness of the Muatt is fragility. I never had more that a fleet size of three. Yes, two of those three were War Suns with six fighters each, but still, I think I could have been attritioned down to where I lost them or at least had to sit there for more turns regrowing my fighter cloud.
One thing I learned is that even if Mecatol Rex isn't your secret objective, it might be good to take and hold it to prevent others from doing so. One thing I might have been able to do was park my 2 War Suns on over it early and turtle up. Of course, Chad then might have been able to come back, which would have been counterproductive. Decisions, decisions.
Post a Comment
<< Home