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user:records-of-failure [2021/11/10 15:19]
naaira [Pretender Design] 		user:records-of-failure [2021/11/14 14:29] (current)
naaira [Records of Failure]
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 I hope to give an honest account of a game that I failed. As people come to lavish every detail of my failure I will incorporate any useful feedback I receive into this AAR. Happy reading. I hope to give an honest account of a game that I failed. As people come to lavish every detail of my failure I will incorporate any useful feedback I receive into this AAR. Happy reading.
  
-<WRAP box 800px center>+<WRAP box 670px>
 ==== Records_of_drainage on Immersion ==== ==== Records_of_drainage on Immersion ====
-<WRAP column 140px> {{ :nations:flags:ma_vanarus.png |}}</WRAP><WRAP column right 140px> {{ :nations:flags:ma_vanarus.png |}}</WRAP>**Author:** Naaira \\+<WRAP column 100px> {{ :nations:flags:ma_vanarus.png |}}</WRAP><WRAP column right 100px> {{ :nations:flags:ma_vanarus.png |}}</WRAP>**Author:** Naaira \\
 **Nation:** MA Vanarus \\ **Nation:** MA Vanarus \\
 **No. of players:** 12 \\ **No. of players:** 12 \\
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 ===== Early diplomacy and picking my first war ===== ===== Early diplomacy and picking my first war =====
 +As my scouts gave me more information of the world I began to get a picture of who my neighbors were. My coastal position meant that I was faced with three choices:
 +<WRAP group 800px center centeralign>
 +<WRAP column third>{{ :nations:flags:ma_asphodel.png?nolink&64 |}}Asphodel to my south-west.</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column third>{{ :nations:flags:ma_naba.png?nolink&64 |}}Na'ba to my west</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column third>{{ :nations:flags:ma_pythium.png?nolink&64 |}}Pythium to my north.</WRAP></WRAP>
  
 +My scouting suggested that Pythium had had a rough expansion phase and was significantly smaller than me. Asphodel had not done spectacularly either, but on the other hand the prospect of taking control of his population-depleted lands was not an attractive prospect. In the end I decided to attack Na'Ba. My reasoning was three-fold:
 +  * Na'Ba just gets more and more cancerous with time. With excellent high-path mages, good magic diversity, decent summons and the potential for ??Shaytan??s in the late game I felt it would be better to deal with Na'Ba early.
 +  * I had fought the player before and knew I would be in for a challenge. It just seemed more fun.
 +  * The Thrones placement in the game meant that any contender would have to go to the belt of land north of Na'Ba where Ashdod resides. I could approach that land either from the north through Pythium or west through Na'Ba.
 +
 +With that in mind I reached out to Asphodel and Pythium and declared my intention of not attacking them at this stage. When Na'Ba reached out to settle borders and asked for a NAP I answered ambiguously. The stage was set for a war with Na'Ba....... What a mistake!
 +
 +
 +<WRAP box 800px center> ==== Mistake #4: Picking First War Target ====
 +While there were plenty of reasons to go to war with Na'Ba I missed some key reasons **not** to go to war with them.
 +  * Remember my bless? No fire resistance was a fatal vulnerability in my lineup that Na'Ba's fire mages could easily exploit.
 +  * Na'Ba's lands were located far away from my capital which meant that it took longer to amass troops on the border.
 +  * Geography was awkward with a mountain range that meant that my initial movement would be very predictable.
 +  * The delay in infrastructure meant that I did not have the research advantage I was banking on to win my first war. As I discovered much too soon, Na'Ba was never behind in research to any significant degree. They might even have had the lead.
 +
 +What I should have done is attack Pythium instead. They looked weaker with a much smaller expansion, were closer to my cap, had fewer answers to what I could bring. Had I set out to win the game at any cost I should have accepted the NAP from Na'Ba and gone north, researched the Fire resistance buffing spells and my midgame suit of magic like Wailing Winds.
 +
 +.... or I should have played the diplo game and formed a coalition against Na'Ba. 
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +===== Analyzing my opponent =====
 +So let's have a look at my opponent nation. Na'Ba is one of the more powerful nations in MA with some amazing tricks up its sleeve once it gets its research online. I have played it two times before using a build similar to [[150-proof-guide-to-na-ba-by-baalz|Baalz' Na'Ba guide]] but adapted to vanilla with the help of Txoumin. Let us have a quick look at what I think are Na'Ba's strengths and weaknesses:
 +<WRAP box 800px center>
 +==== Na'Ba Strength and Weaknessess ====
 +<WRAP column half>**Strengths**
 +  * **Amazing mages with high paths:** 
 +    * ??Malikah??, 
 +    * ??Sahir??, 
 +    * ??Hermit Sahir??
 +  * Decent half-giant scales troops:
 +    * ??'Adite Archer??
 +    * ??'Adite Elite Warrior??
 +  * Foreign recruit options:
 +  * Great mobility and lots of stealth
 +  * Vision: ??Nabaean Scout??
 +  * Scaling
 +  * Blood potential
 +  * Decent summons
 +</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column half>
 +**Weaknesses**
 +  * Research-reliant
 +    * Mages need to "come online"
 +  * Weak early game
 +  * Mediocre sacreds:
 +  * {{path>N1}} only on cap-only malikah
 +</WRAP></WRAP>
user/records-of-failure.1636557547.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/11/10 15:19 by naaira

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