Imperialism II PBEM

[voltar]

I'd play.
Never did PBEMs on ToT. Same as MGE?

 

[McMonkey]

Yes, exactly the same concept. Which nation tickles your fancy mate?

 

[voltar]

My first choice is USA I guess.

 

[McMonkey]

Cool, welcome abroad. Does anyone else wish to state their preference for a nation?

 

[voltar]

I don't think people playing multiple nations is a good idea, clearly the collusion with be total.

I'm almost thinking that if we can't get 6 players, Japan should be AI? But then I dunno, Japan and Germany may work ok, they're not neighbours as you said.

Also any house rules, like can we trade tech with the Independents?

 

[McMonkey]

I think all tech trading should be banned. Trade should be the driving force for progress.

This seems to be the current lineup:

Russia - McMonkey
Japan - Patine
Germany - Jerec/Prof Garfield/Other
Independent - AI
American - Voltar
British - Jerec/Prof Garfield/Other
French - Jerec/Prof Garfield/Other

If we can find 'Other' then we're good to go. Alternatively, if Patine would be willing to play at Germany/Japan combined or swap to let another player do so and take Britain or France instead we can get going. Without an 'Other' then combining Japan/Germany makes the most sense as they are both moderate size powers and their spheres of interest don't overlap too much (Tsingtao and the Dutch East Indies being the possible exception).

 

[McMonkey]

France and Japan could also work as a combo, however, they do not follow in the play order which will slow down the scenario a little.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

I'm willing to play any nation, but I have a slight preference for the British Empire. It's probably best, however, if I play after someone living in Europe. Northerner said he'd play, so I think he counts as "other."

How about this lineup:

Russia - McMonkey (United Kingdom)
Japan - Patine (Canada?)
Germany - Jerec/Northerner (Europe?)
Independent - AI
American - Voltar (Canada)
British - Jerec/Northerner(Europe?)
French - Prof Garfield (Canada)

I think this alternates between players who live in Europe and America nicely, so, hopefully, there is a decent chance of two people playing on the same day. I don't think we should try for three like in Soaring Spirit since turns are much longer in Imperialism.

 

[McMonkey]

Three turns per player per day may indeed be pushing it with six people, especially considering the larger scale of this scenario

Your suggested turn order makes a lot of sense. Has Jerec confirmed he's on board? If so then all we need now is for Jerec & Northerner to decide between them who will play as Germany and who will play as the British plus clarify the house rules. As soon as this is sorted I will get the game started.

 

[Northerner]

I've had no reply from Jerec. Attempts to find a way of contact another than his account on civforum.de - he hasn't been online in years - has proven unfruitful.

 

[Northerner]

There's still a chance we hear from Dario? We could perhaps wait a few days and see? On another note, I wanted to see if anyone was interested in trying out a game of Curt Siblings "Battle of Zarklaw" as a PBEM? It's quite optimal since everyone starts out with a sizeable military, and distances between the different powers are small. It could become interesting very fast.

Regarding Imperialism, my experience from the games at the civforum is that they tend to reach a very quick pace once players have their strategies sorted out, and perhaps until the wars start. The first dozens of turns should be mostly just moving ships around.

Jerec is, as far as I understood, an american. I'm from northern Europe, same timezone as McMonkey.

 

[McMonkey]

I could be tempted into other PBEMs but I think we should concentrate on getting this one up and running first. If Jerec or Dario cannot be recruited then I think were going to need to look at the combined Germany/Japan option. If this is the case would Patine be willing to take on both or swap to another nation if not?

 

[Patine]

I could be tempted into other PBEMs but I think we should concentrate on getting this one up and running first. If Jerec or Dario cannot be recruited then I think were going to need to look at the combined Germany/Japan option. If this is the case would Patine be willing to take on both or swap to another nation if not?

Not without great hesitance. I'll wait a few days to see if one or two others can be enlisted before deciding on that.

 

[Northerner]

I'm happy with either Germany or Britain. That still leaves us one short. Taking both Germany and Britain would make for, perhaps, far too strong a duo.

 

[McMonkey]

And not natural bedfellows judging from their 20th century history, that is despite the British monarchy being from German stock.

 

[McMonkey]

Unless someone shows up over the next few days we're at a bit of an impasse.

I would be happy to play as Russia and France if Prof Garfield would be willing to take over Germany?

I think a Franco-Russian alliance seems inevitable, but we could have a house rule that this could only be a defensive arrangement and only based on German aggression in Europe (IE if France or Russia clash with Germany in the far east or elsewhere the other party cannot get involved).

In fact I would like to see if we could work out a way to have colonial wars of limited objectives without it inevitably turning into WW1. I think we devised a system like this for one of the old First Strike games and it worked fairy well. I would imagine that in the early art of the scenario there will be a lot of trade activity and campaigns against the barbarians & independents and not a huge amount of player-on-player conflict, but I could be wrong about that!

 

[Patine]

Unless someone shows up over the next few days we're at a bit of an impasse.

I would be happy to play as Russia and France if Prof Garfield would be willing to take over Germany?

I think a Franco-Russian alliance seems inevitable, but we could have a house rule that this could only be a defensive arrangement and only based on German aggression in Europe (IE if France or Russia clash with Germany in the far east or elsewhere the other party cannot get involved).

In fact I would like to see if we could work out a way to have colonial wars of limited objectives without it inevitably turning into WW1. I think we devised a system like this for one of the old First Strike games and it worked fairy well. I would imagine that in the early art of the scenario there will be a lot of trade activity and campaigns against the barbarians & independents and not a huge amount of player-on-player conflict, but I could be wrong about that!

I'll tell you what. If no one else signs up, I'll take Germany as well rather than having them paired with Britain. I know historically the two didn't become allies until 1940, but other than Tsingtao and the Dutch East Indies, their spheres are very much separate, unlike Germany and Britain. And, for the record, all the Royal Families of Europe at the time, except for the Ottoman Sultans, were of German stock, either through origin or marriage.

 

[Northerner]

That leaves the British Empire for me, I guess?

 

[McMonkey]

That would be fantastic Pat. You don't have to make the two have an alliance unless you want to. Someone needs to tame the Russian bear I suppose

I will post the final play order in the first post for reference and will get the game started ASAP.

We can work out the house rules as we get the game going. For now all the usual ones (no ship chaining or other exploits apply).

 

[Prof. Garfield]

I would be happy to play as Russia and France if Prof Garfield would be willing to take over Germany?

I'm more than willing to play any nation (or pair) to get the game going.

In fact I would like to see if we could work out a way to have colonial wars of limited objectives without it inevitably turning into WW1. I think we devised a system like this for one of the old First Strike games and it worked fairy well. I would imagine that in the early art of the scenario there will be a lot of trade activity and campaigns against the barbarians & independents and not a huge amount of player-on-player conflict, but I could be wrong about that!

I would like this a lot.