OK folks, so I was on the losing DS side (nations 22 and 23), so anyone like to own up to all the carnage? wouldn’t mind any final turns if folks would like to share so we can get an idea of what the map turned out like.
Finally if anyone wants to consider joining a team to take on Scott’s FA grudge match challenge let me know.
Hi, Jim! Hats off to you and your teammates for solid opposition.
This was a first-rate game, with great plays by both sides. I’ve lost track of how many turns came back with surprises.
Jim, I was the one who snagged your MT’s in our back-and-forth at 3710/ 3711/ 3612/ 3712, and it was fun skirmishing with you there. But with starting on the opposite end of the map, in the SW, you and overlapped only toward the end.
Early fights for me were with N16/ N17. He had some smart plays, too, and only after he went out was I able to push north. Next rounds were vs N18/N19, then with N21, which seemed re-invigorated by coordination with N20 and N22.
I’m happy to share turns and info. I’m especially curious about what the DS map looked like around T15 or so, before North and South connected.
Super fun. Thanks to all who played.
Dan N
N10 Sostol, N11 Revanir
Hi Jim and Dan
Thanks to all for the game. Ill share turns with those who want:-)
I played N4 and N5, and took over N6 in the late game. (Harlindon, Near Harad and Agmar.)
It was a tough and good game and appreciate the effort of the DS to keep on while on the defence.
I was on the brink of destruction several times in the early game as N16 and N17 realy made it difficult especially for Near Harad by excellent manouvers. If it wasnt for the good play of Sostol and Revanir and the economic support from them I think I would have lost the fight.
In the mid and late game the superagents of N19-N21 was a real pain and some blunders from me made my situation worse, many were doubled, but the toll was high…
Best regard,
Martin
N4 Ghost, N5 Dwindling (and N6 Aesir)
By the way, I could be interested in a Grudge match:-)
Or even a rematch, with switched starting locations between DS and FP…
Martin
I am trying to raise a team to take on scott’s challenge, would you like to join? thinking a team of 6, 2 nations each?
If you guys can get a team together I would be interested in joining.
Hi David
Can you send through an email address, Then I can loop everyone in.
At the moment we have myself, Simon Aalders and Martin Svendson (so with yourself 4 definitely in)
Dan Newman is thinking about it. My plan was for 6 players, 2 nations each.
Let me know if this works for you and if there is anyone else you could invite to join.
Cheers,
Jim
Hi guys. I was nations 16 and 17, and after the player to the north of me dropped, i got nation 18. I thought I was going to have a chance in the game, but the combined might of 4 rich southern lands FP nations against my 2 (SE & S Mordor) was too much. I did have a point in the game where I thought I might take out nation 5’s capital having taken through surprise emmie action the MT at 3631. I knew I had to attack fast and win to have a hope because of the map configuration at the start. I was hoping that the DS to the north of me would send help, but he never did. I think if he had, it would have made the difference. There was one point a bit later where I failed with several emmie actions on the same turn that if they’d have succeeded would have prolonged my life. But alas. 
Anyway, well played by the southern FP. Apologies to my fellow DS that I was unable to hold the 4 rich southern FP at bay a bit longer…
Hi Dave
Yes Dan caused a lot of mayhem. From the original setup I had the DS outnumbering the FP in the south 5 to 4 so I figured you guys would win that. I concentrated on Rohan and Lorien who I eventually managed to knock out, but with the early onslaught from Dan’s forces (never seen that artefact haul from a startup position before) and Dunland and Enedwaith getting hammered early we did well to hang on as long as we did.
So one thing people should ponder for FA GB is that doing a mage focused nation is a non optimal thing. Because you can’t communicate, and because the other team is likely totally focused on nation designs that will crush opposition fast, a mage nation is in a world of hurt on the front lines, and of minimal help to the team on the back lines. just my $0.02 after looking at another nation in this game. a backline nation needs to project power to the front line nations (either military or character). sitting back and researching / artifact hunting might be fun, but it hurts the team.
interesting. I had a nation with 40 mage ability bonus, but also conjuring mounts. At one stage I was producing close to 2000 mounts a turn and sending HC armies in one move to the front line. This was one reason I was able to take out Lorien and Rohan as they were quite a distance away. FP won the artefact race and they were assassinating with impunity in the north. Do you think its worth taking the stealth bonus SNA?
I chose stealth bonus in another FA game and it was truly an abomination. I argued with Clint (unsuccessfully) that it is bugged. I named & retired so many characters w/o stealth bonus in that game it was really ridiculous. To this day, I believe that either it’s bugged, or the implementation of that particular game instance was bugged. My evidence is that Uncover Secrets continually told me (from other nations) that my nation had Challenge Bonus SNA (and for sure I got characters with challenge bonus). So, at this time, I do not believe the SNA works correctly. If it did work correctly (let’s say 1/4 or 1/5 chance), then it would be worthwhile. I do find it unfortunate that when given evidence, that the GM ignores said evidence, but it may be that it required debugging/programming skill to check it out that wasn’t available.
also, a conjure mounts focus is quite a bit different than a research artifacts, teleport to get them focus. one is a military strategy (good for GB) and the other is a support strategy (not good for GB). So I should have been more crisp in my description. Thank you for pointing out the difference.
I have a Mage designed nation that I want to try in FA GB. Maybe one day!
Hi, Dave! Sorry for the late reply here - glad to see the post-game thoughts.
You did great with 16 and 17! You hit hard early and even after the Dreadnaugh fell, the Aestherog threatened to endlessly steal gold & snatch pc’s. Had me running a zero economy while trying to catch up with Evvard and his groupies. Solid play for sure.
>for FA GB... a mage focused nation is a non optimal thing.
That was my experience here, with one mage nation whose SNA’s I never used. My plan was to use one as a support nation for arty info & hunting, but the game unfolded so quickly that both ended up in constant battle anyway, and I needed the other characters.
I know other players make good use of them. Raven and Jason V get good intel (and arties) with their mage-friendly setups, and I’m sure it’s possible. But it does seem a challenge if you aren’t left alone with your spell books.