Anyone up for a Pitboss game?

[fed1943]

Agree with everything

[Black Knight 427]

settings are good with me. I would like a shorter timer like 12hrs but 24 is ok too.

[Zoid]

I'm ok with everything you guys suggest.
24h turn timer is ok, I wouldn't mind a 12h turn timer though. (and perhaps even an 8h turn timer for the first 100 turns)

Will we have a special double move rule, or do we keep it simple and just leave such a rule out?

24h is a reasonable timer setting IMO, suits even those who have a life AFK (not that I am one of those... ) but 8h or 12h requires a dedicated group of gamers. Maybe you could host such a game? I'm not sure my old desktop comp turned pitboss server could handle 4 simultaneous games...

And I suggest we use the Double Move rule used in the last two DG's here at Poly, outlined here

[Robert]

Can you according to that rule do the following:

civ 1 moves
civ 2 moves
- new turn -
civ 2 moves and declares war on civ 1 and invades his territory
civ 1 moves

-------

What about 8h turn for the first 100 turns? It's not that bad to miss a turn in the early game when you automate things. We do it for our diplogame.

[Zoid]

As I see it yes. The DM rule doesn't come into effect until war has been declared, ie no DM was made prior to the DoW.

And I'd rather not automate things, it takes some of the fun out of the game IMO...

[Robert]

I'm ok with that rule, though it can be exploited when declaring war.
24h is ok (pls make it 21h, b/c pitboss adds extra time everytime someone logs in, thus 24h will be 27h effectively)

early 24h turns will be boring, but ok with me.

[Zoid]

I'll make it 21h (effective 24h)

And it's not an exploit per se, the alternative would be to issue a DoW and then be forced to wait while your opponent can deal the first blow. That's just plain silly IMO...

[Robert]

The alternative would be to wait till you opponent (who doesn't know about your DoW yet) has played, and then declare war and move in.
There have been countless debates on this issue, I'm ok either way. I just want to know if I must keep in mind that people can pull this trick on me.

[LzPrst]

the faster the better, I may not have 3 years to play

[Zoid]

The alternative would be to wait till you opponent (who doesn't know about your DoW yet) has played, and then declare war and move in.
There have been countless debates on this issue, I'm ok either way. I just want to know if I must keep in mind that people can pull this trick on me.

I must say I fail to see the difference here... You're still declaring war and moving in at the same time. How does letting him play his turn before you declare war make it more fair and less of a trick?

[Zoid]

the faster the better, I may not have 3 years to play

Not to worry, Pitboss games usually don't last more than a year/year and a half...

[Robert]

I must say I fail to see the difference here... You're still declaring war and moving in at the same time. How does letting him play his turn before you declare war make it more fair and less of a trick?

Because you move twice in a row without your enemy in between.
Your enemy doesn't have a chance to respond on your first move.
It's a matter of concistency, if you apply the double move rule on the 2nd-last turn of the war, then maybe also apply it to the first turn of the war.

Example:
[] = empty tile
X = 15 tanks player A
O = friendly city with 4 mechs player B
H = Hill with fort defended by 2 mechs player B
| = border

situation:
[]H[]|[][]X
O[][]|[][]
[][][]|[][]

Turn 1:
B moves nothing in this area

A moves 15 tanks 2 west:
[]H[]|X[]
O[][]|[][]
[][][]|[][]

Turn 2:
A moves (without B ever moving, and thus noticing the 15 tanks and being able to anticipate on it) his 15 tanks again 2 tiles west, defeating the 2 mechs (losing 5 tanks):

[]X[]|[][]
O[][]|[][]
[][][]|[][]

Now A was able to move his tanks 4 west to a very strategic position on a fortress hill next to the city without Player B ever having a chance to react to A's first move. (ie. by bringing more mechs to the hill)

Now the question is:
1. is this allowed during wartime?
2. is this allowed if turn 1 = turn before war and turn 2 = 1st turn of war?

Situation 1 and 2 are exactly the same. Same advantage, same exploit. but situation 2 is oftenly forgotten to be included in the rules.

[Black Knight 427]

I say we just keep the rules simple or as my old football coach used to say Keep It Simple Stupid.

So when ya plan on starting this game.

[Pinchak]

I say we just keep the rules simple

Amen... main reason i ducked out of DoC at the last minute.

With this DM rule (the one EVERYONE uses) you have to keep your boarder cities well defended. Perhaps some more than others based on spy intel, power graphs, and relationships. It also gives more meaning to cultural investment (if your city has boarders of 3 or more squares, it cannot be taken in the first turn of war).

The bottom line however, and why it is fair is that it is applied evenly to everyone. Perhaps it give the attacker more of an advantage then the DoW version, but that is simply something that must be factored into all players overall strategy.

[Zoid]

I'm all for simplicity. And I intend to start this game tonight GMT.