EDIT: TL;DR. I was really drunk last night.
Sandersson, I love ya bud, but you really seem like an old geezer talking about the old times. "Back in my day!". and so on.
Those days are gone. I think back then people were actually excited about strat. Then they got bored. And us newcomers are left with what's left. Back in the day I was tempted to join strat, but lost interest cuz of al the non stop shit posts I read (kinda like EU invasion thread). Way too much hate. Gamers ran the show then, and gamers insist on winning. Us RPers are just guys who are too cheap to buy a book. I kinda like losing- seemed very dramatic losing to an Eu horde. But I didn't like being called an idiot for losing. Sure we fucked up a lot. Took us awhile to catch on how to deal with big sieges. No biggie.
BUT. We kept our morale up. No one GTX. Sure, pretty much everyone that was not Acre deserted, but Acre itself grew stronger. Something about being a hero against overwhelming odds. But what I find sad is that most of those that deserted deserted cuz of the bullshit posted here (I got pms). They left cuz they believed the enemy propaganda more than ours. Probably cuz most of our propaganda was tongue in cheek.
But I hear our criticisms; "we attacked too much, we attacked too little". "We attacked small clans (we attacked the one that attacked us. I had sent threatening letters to other small clans suggesting they join us or die, but when they resisted I gave in. Eques tells everyone to join them or die, and that's cool. I get shit for trying to build an empire that would never happen (remember before Eques? Everyone who got active in strat was against me), while Eques builds another empire that will probably happen.
And, to be totally honest, I'm ok with this. Black Bird is a total asshole in the forums, but I chatted with him once, long ago, and he seemed decent. BUT, whether I like him or not, the war must go on. Black Bird is the new Dutchy- another guy I like in TS but hate in strat (and NA1- wtf, how can he couch me ALL the time with his bad ping?).
But good news, everybody! The attacks on Durquba have slowed down. We can only hope that this means the stockpiled troops of Eques have petered out. They did highly over estimate our strength, but we weathered them. And yes, we all knew Black Bird could have taken Durq if he was smart. And we think he might be kinda smartish. I'm not so sure he could have won it with his commander skills (ie nice green, less red please) but he could have won it with waves. Standard siege tactic.
And he also knows what we would have done. I went to Eu to make money, giving King James the order to Hold Durq as long as he could, then send defeated commanders to me. That never happened. But he knew if we had men sent to Eu, we would rebuild and attack. Instead he chose to play with Durquba. And then he said a foolish thing in saying that fighting on the walls of Durq was better than fighting tiny armies in the desert, where there were massive amounts of reinforcements available. Strat 101: fight enemies in a city rather than a field.
Strat is not a brainy game. It is a war of attrition, designed to fuck the attacker over. Battles are generally even ticks, so you gotta aim to defend. You take villages hoping to draw troops out of the castles or cities. There are a few instances of cat and mouse. I remember the Squids trying to draw me into a battle with 200 or so troops that had a shit load of goods right outside the fief we were gonna take. I, being gung ho, was about to pounce on it, but my good commander Dirk said:
But I think of the fun and games of Yruma Castle when JayJrod deserted. A big rush to attack the castle when it was weak, with their guys intercepting our guys, and our guys intercepting their guys, and everybody splitting their armies and taking out whoever was in their way. We could have had it, but sJimmy's NTS was fucked, so, after all that maneuvering, I acquiesced. Might I remind you I'm the guy who plays for fun? I like winning, but an honest win. I told the Wardens when their crime was up, because there was no bloody way I'd take a castle thanks to footpads and thieves.
So, fuck you Plumbo! I play this game like it's a good book I'm reading, not to show off my gamer skills. So who's the nerd now? Sorry, unfair question, as I can guess you never read a book. (But come merc for me anyways).
But, Occitan. The more you strike them, the more they will rouse. Perhaps a sleeping giant comes to mind (ok, I failed when I attacked them- seemed to put them to sleep actually. BUT, after I saw they were dead, I stopped fighting them and left their carcass to the Hounds and the Wardens, who took all their lands without resistance).
SO! LCO, ma Quebecois bon amies, I think I repaid you for the gear I took off Goretooth. So let's attack Eques and dance in their spilled intenstines like gentiment Messieurs.
PS: For anyone who thinks I'ma puss, I fought: AI, Squids, Hounds, Wardens, Acre, LCO, GdtD, LL,
