Slitherine

Lascar moves from Shikanoshima to Saka.

lascar wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 2:09 am Lascar moves from Shikanoshima to Saka.

A moment before they are forced to surrender, the garrison of Dazaifu cheers when they see relieving Hojo banners on the horizon!

...they then immediately groan in disgust when they recognise Ludendorf's banners.

Ludendorf moves to relieve Dazaifu, marching the length of the frontline for the third time in a week to the dismay of his by now near-mutinous soldiers, many of whom point to the completely undefended Hirado shrine less than ten miles away from the castle they just finished liberating.

(Challenge is up. Password 'bridgehead'.)

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 4:43 pm A moment before they are forced to surrender, the garrison of Dazaifu cheers when they see relieving Hojo banners on the horizon!

...they then immediately groan in disgust when they recognise Ludendorf's banners.

Ludendorf moves to relieve Dazaifu, marching the length of the frontline for the third time in a week to the dismay of his by now near-mutinous soldiers, many of whom point to the completely undefended Hirado shrine less than ten miles away from the castle they just finished liberating.

(Challenge is up. Password 'bridgehead'.)

• Ludendorf's Hojo moves overland to relieve Dazaifu and await Bob's acceptance of the challenge.

• GDod's Yuan take Murotsu unopposed.

• Gdod's Yuan move by sea to Matsuura castle. Adverse weather effects yet to be revealed.
  Spies reported that citizen's were seen throwing down Ludendorf's banners with relish (clearly they're holding a banquet of hot minced meat crammed into sheep intestines with onions, all rolled into bread buns to celebrate their departure). As the Yuan approached, the Yuan were met with audible sighs and cries of NOT AGAIN"

• Kiwiwarlord's Hojo take back Kashii.

KiwiWarlord entered Kashii on the 16th August and departed on 21st August travelling overland to the Manakata Shrine.

KiwiWarlord enters Manakata Shrine 21st August.

Kashii was occupied unopposed for 4 full Days so has reverted to Hojo control.

If a player challenges for a town/port, or shrine, and the rival faction cannot get a player's army to it within four game-days it automatically falls to the challenging faction.

• Kiwiwarlord captures Kashii unopposed.

• KiwiWarlord moves to Manakata Shrine

Lascar has occupied Saka for more than 4 days without being challenged.

lascar wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 2:58 am Lascar has occupied Saka for more than 4 days without being challenged.

• Lascar's Hojo take the Yuan port of Saka unopposed

• Gdod's Yuan takes Ludendorf's Matsuura castle unopposed

• Gdod's Yuan move by land to Ludendorf's town of Imari

August 26th, KiwiWarlord leaves Manakata Shrine after 4 full days of Occupation and moves to Murotsu.
Manakata was occupied for 4 full days so reverts to Hojo control.

Lascar moves to Geoje Island

• Gdod's Yuan take Ludendorf's town of Imari unopposed

• Gdod's Yuan move by land to Koshudake

The Japanese and Yuan are going to end up swapping home bases at this rate.

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 3:25 am The Japanese and Yuan are going to end up swapping home bases at this rate.

I have had a delegation from city fathers from all the towns, ports and shrines demanding that the constant armies at their gates demanding they change allegiance will have to stop. Otherwise, no clear governing body will ever be established.

They advise both Yuan and Hojo that from next month - cities will only change allegiance once, even though the other side may turn up to retake it on the next full moon!

• KiwiWarlord takes Murotsu unopposed

Gavin this Divine Wind is now blowing us around in circles and getting us nowhere.
Maybe time to have a rethink and maybe look at trying to get more players and alter the game mechanics or change the goals for each side.
I have found that players are better off just moving to occupy vacant areas then move on without a fight as you can gain 4 towns etc in less time than having 1 battle.
How say you fellow Players ?

Not that everything has to be a strict competition, but no turns has kept me away from this one. I don't want to feel like the results are skewed by speed of play of individual matches. I think for this sort of territorial style campaign, kronenblatt's Dividing the Spoils is a pretty good model to use as a starting point:

https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=111779

I think that it is probably a good moment to wind down the campaign. We should commend Gavin for his innovative system and of course thank him for running it so smoothly and humorously.

If we do another campaign (as opposed to a simple series of battles) then perhaps we could use a simplified version of the system proposed by Snuggles, though without the pages and pages of rules please! If Gavin wants a break I could try to design something (simple). I think we should try to avoid the over-competitive approach that is prevalent in FoG2 tournaments however - that just does not interest me, personally.

ahuyton wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:56 pm I think that it is probably a good moment to wind down the campaign. We should commend Gavin for his innovative system and of course thank him for running it so smoothly and humorously.

I think we should try to avoid the over-competitive approach that is prevalent in FoG2 tournaments however - that just does not interest me, personally.

Well spoke that man !!!!
I do enjoy Gavin's "no organised turns" approach, great system, and 'non - Tournament' minded Campaigns is the best for a bunch of gaming mates.

Just as I get a handle on the Yuan list! I jest as I agree the format doesn't seem conducive to a swift conclusion. If this is winding down then GG to all and thank you to Gavin for organizing.

BobGanoush wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 9:25 pm Just as I get a handle on the Yuan list! I jest as I agree the format doesn't seem conducive to a swift conclusion. If this is winding down then GG to all and thank you to Gavin for organizing.

I think we can safely say the Yuan have made very little headway. Moreover, Yuan seers have foretold that Goryeo will eventually fall to the Hojo. As such, the Yuan have not only been recalled to deal with Jurchen threats from the north, but have abandoned all claim to lands south of the East China Sea.
Thanks to the players that stuck with this experimental territorial campaign. Now for the autopsy...

• In terms of this campaign two factors interfered with the flow. Namely, the restrictive army list choices, and I believe Brian touched on this point early on, that the Hojo were without doubt a better list. It also became clear that tying up your army in a battle for a number of weeks wasn't a smart move when a player could merely take a city in four days

However, these are lessons to be absorbed and retained for the future. At the same time...

• I'm convinced free-flowing territorial campaigns are more conducive to friendly play and communication between players, rather than the standard good luck/have fun, or gg of tournament play. They provide a depth of play that competitive tournament play lacks. Moreover, they provide a vehicle for game innovation and development.

• I'm convinced that not having turns enables players to participate when they otherwise wouldn't be able to commit to an extended period of constant gaming. They enable players to be as active, or as passive, as they choose. Moreover, it enables them to change their level of engagement as their "real-life" circumstances change

So, until next time (Alan, looking forward to your simplified version of kronenblatt's Dividing the Spoils)