Dividing the Spoils - Tournament 1: Concluded

[kronenblatt]

The army of Macedonia supported by thracian allies marches to reclaim kappadokia from the unjustified cruelties of aetius39

And your satrapy-at-stake is then Phrygia.

Supporting my Ally's attack.

Karvon: Which army will you be using?

deeter: it's your turn now.

[kronenblatt]

Attack declarations so far
1. rbodleyscott attacks Media from Persis with the army of Gedrosia and Indian allies.
2. kronenblatt assists rbodleyscott with the army of Paropamisadai.
3. Blagrot attacks Kappadokia from Phrygia with the army of Makedonia.
4. Karvon assists Blagrot with the army of Aigyptos and Kyrenean Greek allies.
5. deeter refrains from attacking.
6. Aetius39 attacks Mesopotamia from Armenia with the army of Armenia .

[Karvon]

Sorry, my usual mix of Aegyptus with Kyrene Greek allies.

Karvon

[deeter]

Deeter the Adequate has no attacks this turn.

Challenges up for RBS and Krinenblatt. PW: DiSp.

Deeter the Adequate

[kronenblatt]

Deeter the Adequate has no attacks this turn.

Challenges up for RBS and Krinenblatt. PW: DiSp.

Deeter the Adequate

Yes, you have one attack that you should use. And you can attack Karvon's Mesopotamia from Babylonia.

[deeter]

I'd rather not.

Deeter the Adequate

[kronenblatt]

I'd rather not.

Deeter the Adequate

Ok, fair enough.

Aetius39: you're next.

[Aetius39]

Aetius39 from Armenia attacks Karvon in Mesopotamia.

Armenian army with no allies vs. Mesopotamian army.

[kronenblatt]

Battle Resolutions phase, round 6 (315 BC)

Five battles to be concluded
1. rbodleyscott attacks deeter in Media with the army of Gedrosia and Indian allies. => deeter drew with rbodleyscott 3-9.
2. kronenblatt attacks deeter in Media with the army of Paropamisadai. => deeter beat Kronenblatt 48-21.
3. Blagrot attacks Aetius39 in Kappadokia with the army of Makedonia. => Aetius39 beat Blagrot 40-9.
4. Karvon attacks Aetius39 in Kappadokia with the army of Aigyptos and Kyrenean Greek allies. => Aetius39 drew with Karvon 0-0.
6. Aetius39 attacks Karvon in Mesopotamia with the army of Armenia . => Aetius39 beat Karvon 43-11.

- Make sure you all have version 3 of the mod installed and that you have deleted the obsolete versions 1 and 2.
- Defenders set up challenges (PM'ing opponents) and report battle results in this thread. Battles are resolved simultaneously during a three-week period between February 19 and March 12.
- If all battles have been resolved before that, round 7 may commence earlier, but plan for first order of attack declarations for round 7 on March 14.
- There are still only two diadochi left alive: Aetius39 and Karvon!
- This may actually be the last round, since if the coalition of rbodleyscott and kronenblatt captures Media, they will together control 13 satrapies, more than half of the total. And that will trigger the end to a tournament, with rbodleyscott as the winner... If that happens...

[rbodleyscott]

Response to Andréas's questionnaire:

Hello guys.

The first tournament of Dividing the Spoils is (or may be) approaching its end now. Personally this has been a really fun and exciting tournament (hope you've liked it too!) but there's always room and need for improvement, so I'd like to hear from you what you liked and didn't like (along with constructive suggestions). Among the specific aspects that are under review to be changed for next tournament are the following:

1. Declaration orders to be determined by incurred (i.e., suffered) casualties, with the lower the value, the earlier the declaration. (Currently inflicted casualties are used.)

Seems OK

2. A player's Force Points (FP) in a round's battle(s) to be adjusted somewhat by his incurred casualties in the battles of the previous round. (Currently FP are fixed at 1600.)

I am against this, because, though it might be realistic, it is a positive feedback mechanism which will be depressing for a player who already probably lost a province last round. If anything, the system should put dampers on the conquerors, not punish the player who lost a province. (This is from a game design point of view, not a realism point of view). Plus it is a PITA to have to remember to set up a battle with unequal points.

You could just as easily say that the conqueror (who presumably had smaller losses) should lose points for his next battle because he has to garrison the conquered territory!

Much easier on everyone to simply ignore this issue and use equal points armies throughout.

3. A player defending against several enemy coalition partners will be able to gain the attacker's satrapy-at-stake, if he's the victor in at least one of the battles and the loser in none. (Currently he needs to be victor in all battles.)

I am not too bothered either way about this one.

4. Coalitions to be more dynamic and less rigid in the sense that they can be entered and abandoned instantaneously within a round or maybe not even formalised, just involving aiding other players' attacks; allowing more dynamic diplomacy á la the DIPLOMACY board game. (Currently changes are becoming effective the round after having been announced.)

I don't like this one.

5. Armies to a larger extent be based on Macedonian/Hellenistic units, still with regional variations and each satrapy army being unique. (Currently some satrapy armies consists very little of Macedonian/Hellenistic units.) For your convenience, a suggestion can be downloaded HERE, to be extracted into the CAMPAIGNS folder for single-player.

I don't like this one. I really like the wonky armies in the current version. They are also almost certainly more realistic for the early wars of the diadochi.

6. Choice of map terrain to be agricultural to a larger extent in more satrapies. (Currently only one alternative per satrapy, and only 6 out of 24 are agricultural; 2 being steppe, and 2 desert.)

Use the realistic province type, don't artificially make the terrain easier. It is also worth noting that the wonky army lists in the current version are admirably suited to dealing with any type of terrain.

[kronenblatt]

Response to Andréas's questionnaire:

Hello guys.

The first tournament of Dividing the Spoils is (or may be) approaching its end now. Personally this has been a really fun and exciting tournament (hope you've liked it too!) but there's always room and need for improvement, so I'd like to hear from you what you liked and didn't like (along with constructive suggestions). Among the specific aspects that are under review to be changed for next tournament are the following:

1. Declaration orders to be determined by incurred (i.e., suffered) casualties, with the lower the value, the earlier the declaration. (Currently inflicted casualties are used.)

Seems OK

2. A player's Force Points (FP) in a round's battle(s) to be adjusted somewhat by his incurred casualties in the battles of the previous round. (Currently FP are fixed at 1600.)

I am against this, because, though it might be realistic, it is a positive feedback mechanism which will be depressing for a player who already probably lost a province last round. If anything, the system should put dampers on the conquerors, not punish the player who lost a province. (This is from a game design point of view, not a realism point of view). Plus it is a PITA to have to remember to set up a battle with unequal points.

You could just as easily say that the conqueror (who presumably had smaller losses) should lose points for his next battle because he has to garrison the conquered territory!

Much easier on everyone to simply ignore this issue and use equal points armies throughout.

3. A player defending against several enemy coalition partners will be able to gain the attacker's satrapy-at-stake, if he's the victor in at least one of the battles and the loser in none. (Currently he needs to be victor in all battles.)

I am not too bothered either way about this one.

4. Coalitions to be more dynamic and less rigid in the sense that they can be entered and abandoned instantaneously within a round or maybe not even formalised, just involving aiding other players' attacks; allowing more dynamic diplomacy á la the DIPLOMACY board game. (Currently changes are becoming effective the round after having been announced.)

I don't like this one.

5. Armies to a larger extent be based on Macedonian/Hellenistic units, still with regional variations and each satrapy army being unique. (Currently some satrapy armies consists very little of Macedonian/Hellenistic units.) For your convenience, a suggestion can be downloaded HERE, to be extracted into the CAMPAIGNS folder for single-player.

I don't like this one. I really like the wonky armies in the current version. They are also almost certainly more realistic for the early wars of the diadochi.

6. Choice of map terrain to be agricultural to a larger extent in more satrapies. (Currently only one alternative per satrapy, and only 6 out of 24 are agricultural; 2 being steppe, and 2 desert.)

Use the realistic province type, don't artificially make the terrain easier. It is also worth noting that the wonky army lists in the current version are admirably suited to dealing with any type of terrain.

Thanks, Richard. Any suggestions on changes or other thoughts?

[kronenblatt]

5. Armies to a larger extent be based on Macedonian/Hellenistic units, still with regional variations and each satrapy army being unique. (Currently some satrapy armies consists very little of Macedonian/Hellenistic units.) For your convenience, a suggestion can be downloaded HERE, to be extracted into the CAMPAIGNS folder for single-player.

... I really like the wonky armies in the current version. They are also almost certainly more realistic for the early wars of the diadochi...

Any particular sources for that?

[rbodleyscott]

5. Armies to a larger extent be based on Macedonian/Hellenistic units, still with regional variations and each satrapy army being unique. (Currently some satrapy armies consists very little of Macedonian/Hellenistic units.) For your convenience, a suggestion can be downloaded HERE, to be extracted into the CAMPAIGNS folder for single-player.

... I really like the wonky armies in the current version. They are also almost certainly more realistic for the early wars of the diadochi...

Any particular sources for that?

Not really, but Seleukos in his early days certainly seems to have raised a lot of local troops to supplement the few Macedonian troops he had available. I don't really know about the western satrapies, but I suspect the current lists aren't far off for the Eastern satrapies.

[deeter]

Deeter (Media) defeats Kronenblatt (some ugly, non-descript satrap) in his vain attempt at invasion 48-21. The Medes were favored with an impregnable position featuring a bad stream backed by high hills. Undeterred, the invader gamely attacked and was easily repelled. Mede will stay Median, for now.

Deeter the Adequate

[rbodleyscott]

rbodleyscott and Deeter have agreed a draw in Media.

rbodleyscott the More Cautious

[kronenblatt]

rbodleyscott and Deeter have agreed a draw in Media.

rbodleyscott the More Cautious

OK, which were your scores when concluding the game as a draw?

[deeter]

The score was 0-0. Lot's of long distance maneuvering ate up the time until it was obvious no one could be broken by the end. Plus, I suspect RBS was seduced by the offer of free Median swag.

Deeter the Hopeful

[rbodleyscott]

The score was 0-0. Lot's of long distance maneuvering ate up the time until it was obvious no one could be broken by the end. Plus, I suspect RBS was seduced by the offer of free Median swag.

Deeter the Hopeful

It was actually 9-3 in my favour, if you need to know the score. We managed to trap and rout a couple of his non-light units.

[deeter]

Sorry for the oversight RBS.

Deeter

[kronenblatt]

How are these three remaining battles progressing?

3. Blagrot attacks Aetius39 in Kappadokia with the army of Makedonia.
4. Karvon attacks Aetius39 in Kappadokia with the army of Aigyptos and Kyrenean Greek allies.
6. Aetius39 attacks Karvon in Mesopotamia with the army of Armenia .

Battles are expected to be resolved during a three-week period between February 19 and March 12.