Welcome to the 18th Edition of the Silver Shield. Much has transpired around our lovely world of Total War and the team is glad to be back. I really do think that we have some of the most interesting pieces in the history of the Shield this go 'round. Firstly, Adamat has done a knockout job reviewing the RPG section of TWC. After you read GO GO GO and check it out for yourself. Next, for all of our lost and wayward Total War Souls out there, Diamat brings you the TWC Pantheon of gods. CHOOSE WISELY! Also, I'm glad to announce a new Shield exclusive, as Rarity and Princess Luna have teamed up to bring you the instant classic: A Murder in the Colesium. Finally, Parthian Shot has graced us with with an in depth look at the recently released Amazon: Total War 7.0.
ENJOY!!!
Adamat's RPG Overview
Introduction
Hi all, and welcome to Adamat’s RPG guide for the forums. Now, i bet you are wondering, “Who is this guy and why is he messing up the Silver Shield?” Well, let me tell you before i get to the actual article. My current name is Adamat, as you can see, but i changed it many times in only one year on the forums. I have gone through no less than seven name changes in the first year of my TWCenter career. Anyways, let’s get back to the point. Most of my time on the forums used to disappear into the deep, hidden RPG section and the Underhive of The Center, but i longed to do something for the forums instead of just consuming. Well, here i am, as the new member of the Silver Shield. Hope i don’t mess up too bad
RPGs? On the forums?
I kid you not. Now, you might have discovered them once, but chances are you just decided to get out while you still could. It’s mainly for those people i am writing this article, for your amusement and perhaps to advertise a bit as well.
Well, tell me all about it, then.
Your wish is my command. Currently, there are five active RPGs, namely:
-A game of Thrones
For all you George Martin fanboys (guilty). The main goal of this game? Play the Game of Thrones, and follow this one rule: When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no leeway. That said, this RPG is the most active RPG on the forums, and arguably the most fun (I am biased). You play a character in the fictive kingdom of Westeros, from the A Song of Ice and Fire books. Now, you can choose to be a high Lord or a lowly merchant, but your main goal is, of course, clear. You try to get as much power as possible, to become the most dangerous, most respected, or even richest of all. Most players are Lords of the Noble Houses, and boy are they an active bunch! Most of them are constantly looking for ways to increase their power, exile their neighbor, or kill their King. But there’s always the good guys as well, who stick with their lord and be nice. Pff, douches!
-God Save the King One of the most well-known and longest-running RPGs on the forum. This one is all about living your life in medieval England, as a knight, a King, or a poor freedman. Most of the players become squires, and after that knights, and barons, earls, Dukes, and one day perhaps King of England. You go about, smashing all kinds of people into submission, ranging from the Welsh at home to the Unbelievers in the Holy Lands. sign up!
-There and Back Again An RPG about the Lord of the Rings universe, where you play as an important figure of one of the races, be they Goblin, Dwarf, or anything inbetween. This one is fairly new, just weeks old at the moment i write this article. The setting is very long before the movies take place, and thigs are really tense with Elves and Men raiding the Goblins, and the Goblins locked in combat with the Dwarves for the Mines of Moria. You can make up your own units here as long as you don’t overdo it and keep to certain rules, so that’s definitely cool as well. It has, like the other CRPGs hit a bit of a rough patch in the last weeks.
-Deus Vult! The newest creation on the boards. It had very much activity until a few weeks ago, with almost all of the best RPers taking a shot at this game revolving around the medieval Crusader States in the Holy Lands. You take command of a man of the sword or the robe, being a fighter or a clergyman or frankly anything you want to be. The recent creation of this one makes it even more interesting, because there’s still so much to do.
-Age of the Cataclysm The last RPG on the forums, is called Age of the Cataclysm. It is a Dungeons and Dragons based RPG, where the Apocalypse is upon mankind. The gates of hell are opened, and an endless stream of monsters and demons entered our world. There are but few survivors, including the player. Man, elve, orc, it doesn't matter. Can order and peace be restored to Terra, or will it cease to exist? This battle of battles could use all the fighters it can get.
A few interviews with RPers
Okay,people Beware what you are going to read next, because these two interviews are answered by two of the most important men in the RPG boards. I’ll start with the King of the RPGs, Severus Snape, also known as Pontifex Maximus.
1) So, you have been around the RPG section for quite long. What made you join the first time?
My first venture into RPG-like games on TWC was a game a few friends and I made. Looking back it was more of an RP version of a hotseat game. We would RP a certain leader in a TW game and pass the save around. It was good fun but quite a different feel from what is more popular nowadays. That lasted several months before I began moderating and playing You are The Senate, which lasted about two years. I joined because I loved playing TW games, but wanted to have a multiplayer experience that was more collaborative instead of PvP.
2) How hard is it for you to keep track of everything and keep it running smoothly?
It is difficult to strike a balance between what the participants in the RPG forums want and what I can realistically ask for. TWC doesn't have unlimited resources, and while all of the administrators I've worked with have been wonderful in providing fast and appropriate changes to existing forums, I realize that the CRPG's appetite for more forums and more games has to be limited. Screening new proposals is a tough job because I may seem arbitrary in my judgment, but I'm drawing from a longer memory than most when it comes to these things; I think I have a good eye for determining what will and what will not be successful. I like to give every game proposal a chance, if I can. I strive to be fair but not at the expense of using too many forum resources.
In terms of directly moderating games, I have recently decided to take a back seat. I focus more on writing rules than the day to day moderation of games.
3) Have you ever thought about leaving the CRPG's behing and focus on something else? If so, why?
Yes and no. Last spring I became fed up and left the site for three months. Moderating games takes a toll between dealing with constant complaints, feuds and criticisms. It takes hours to write up a set of rules and further hours every day moderating a game. When people show little appreciation or exploit problems patience runs thin. Other than that I don't really have any desire to have other projects on TWC. I've tried a few things in the last six months that haven't worked out. There's really nothing else for me to focus on, whether I wanted to do so or not.
4) Did you RP before you got on TWCenter? If so, which game(s) was it all about?
Not at all
5) Did you really kill Dumbledore?
I couldn't let Draco do it
Sensational! Many thanks to Severus for his great answers!
Continuing with that other VIP i talked about; Lucius Malfoy! He is a very active RPer, and runs a lot of CPRGs as head moderator. He is, as you might have guessed, Severus’ protégé and partner in crime. I asked Lucius the same questions as Severus, with the exception of number 5.
1) So, you have been around the RPG section for quite long. What made you join the first time?
Well I have always been a roleplayer. I have been around RPG forums and various RPG-friendly sites for about 9 years now. When I saw an RPG forum on the site of my favorite RTS series, I had to see what was there. And I immediately loved it!
2) How hard is it for you to keep track of everything and keep it running smoothly, as a mod?
It can be hard at times. It really comes down to the rules and how well they are set. Keep it simple and straight to the point, easier on the mods. Make it complex even for the players and things get messy. I have had my fair share of having trouble keeping track of things and trying to keep things running smoothly. I learn more and more with each moderation role I get.
3) Have you ever thought about leaving the CRPG's behind and focus on something else? If so, why?
I have never really though of leaving CRPG behind. But if I did, I would do so for real life situations such as focusing on school work or finding a job. Real life is always priority to me and if it whines or starts falling apart, I must go to it.
4) Did you RP before you got on TWCenter? If so, which game(s) was it all about?
I did RP before I came to TWCenter. As I said before, I have roleplayed on all sorts of sites, games and forums. I am currently roleplaying on GuildWars 2 and doing some Star Wars RPGs on another site. I really go for sci-fi, fantasy and historical RPGs. Some are based off games, some aren't.
5) What do you think about Snape killing Dumbledore?
Well, in my views, it was a glorious victory for us Death Eaters. One great obstacle out of Voldemort's way and one step closer to achieving absolute victory in the Wizarding World.
Much thanks to him as well, of course.
Well people, we have come to the end of this article of the Silver Shield. I hope you all enjoyed my first article, and of course hope i inspired you to roleplay on the boards!
Total War Center Believes! By: Diamat
A murder in the Coliseum: Part 1
Interview with Parthian Shot, By:SonofPeverel
What led you to the GLORY that is Total War Centre?
I have had a user account at Total War org since the Shogun I days, but TWC has always being the place to get modding information. I just never had the need to became a user, until Amazon Total War needs to be published.
Why parthian shot?
I was one of few females who was allowed to study armored tactics. And in my study, I worked on nomadic's tactics for comparison with modern day panzer or blitzkieg doctrines and understood how the nomads would set up a bait by luring the opponent to pursue them. while the enemy is hot on their heel (or their horse hoofs), the most damage is inflicted by performing the Parthian Shot. When I conducted computer simulation, the Parthian Shot tactics with ambush (like Rommel did in North Africa) won every time. So I am nicked named Parthian Shot and the name stuck.
What lead you into modding?
Again, because I used MTW and later RTW to illustrate combat tactics in school (name shall be withheld). When one of my best friend died, we decided to honor her memory by publishing this mod.
Tell me a bit about Amazon Total War.
Amazon Total War series is about my anthropology theories. And it is also a tribute to ancient matriarchal equestrian society.
- because the ancient horses are mostly small. Mostly 12 hands tall (48" or 120cm) tall, this facet gives women an unfair advantage as cavalry soldiers. - I then came upon the theory that perhaps Amazon is not the name of a nation, or a tribe, but rather, they are a theocracy, or a secret religious order which can also be a parallel underground government from the men society.
The above two theses sparked the beginning of the Amazon Total War mod. When RTW came out, I already spent the two years collecting anthropology and archaeology data to help me to build such a mod. I spent another two years before the first mod was completed
What was the first mod that you played?
I used the Lordz' Napoleon Total War mod for MTW (the original one, not the M2TW) as a demo on mobile rocket launcher. other than that I only "play"ed on my own mod and Subrosa's.
Which historical site would you like to visit? Why?
Actually, to me, "history" is "his-story". I often stated that human existence is 95% her-story and only 5% his-story. Since no one can disagree that human started with matriarchal society (though none can prove it "historically" either). In transiting to patriarchal society, particularly through Achaemenid and Greco-Roman time, many facets and records of matriarchal society are destroyed or twisted beyond recognition since three thousand years back. So most of the women's stories are only reduced to legends and myths. So I prefer to look to anthropology and archaeology to supply with the untold answers. And I visited many archaeology museums and dig sites. As well as studied many (I do mean many) books on these subjects. I particularly prefer Marjia Gimbutas' interpretation of ancient world. This is not an extremist point of view, although only after her passing, a few "scholars" tend to state so. But I feel that her study as well as books are better visualizations of what happened before his-story even started.
So instead naming "history" book, here are some of the books I used
"The Civilization of the Goddess, The World of Old Europe", Marija Gimbutas, 1991
Here is a fictional book but nevertheless a good illustration of time before men's dominance.
"The Year the Horsemen Came" is a fictional which provides a good visualization of how these people might have lived.
What type of combat will be incorporated into ATW 7.0?
I had to study combat simulation as well as providing analysis on combat study, and would like to apply modern concepts to whatever period.
So in Amazons Total War 7.0 series. We aimed to create a battlefield environment a players can apply as many modern concepts to the game as possible. 1. Wagon Warfare, allowing panzer/armored like tactics to be used on the ancient battlefield. 2. Area Denial "Minefield" Warfare, allowing highly developed culture to deploy field engineers to build "barrier" of command detonated mines or booby-traps before the battle. 3. Super-heating Incendiary Weapons, now also known as the Thermite munition. 4. Guerrilla Warfare, allowing an agent to infiltrate into enemy territory to raise an army deep behind the enemy line. 5. Long Range Mobile Artillery 6. Mobility and Stand-off capability through the deployment of numerous women cavalry units.
In Amazons Total War 7.0, I also try to introduce some old forms of fighting method or weapon people rarely heard, such as the Linked Armor-Clad Cavalry formation. This is the cavalry fighting technique allowing Eurasian People such as Khitan, Tangut, and Jurchen to become superpower of their days. Jurchen is said never to lose a single battle when they deployed the Linked Armor-Clad Cavalry.
What is your favorite feature that will be in Amazon TW?
As I have replied to the previous question, we are super excited to have all the features I just described above incorporated to the 7.0 series mod. The Linked Armor-Clad Cavalry, in particular, would be the first time any mod or even video game ever had such fighting formation.
What is the biggest problem that you see in the world outside of TWC?
I think there are too many believers who blindly followed what they believed without first truly understand what their "faith" is really about. And I don't mean this only in the religious context. One example, when I asked about if Rome II would have woman as ruler of a state (i.e. the provision to allow different gender to rule). A few people (none of them from CA, BTW) flooded back with messages saying all kind of nasty and nonsensical things just so, they hope, women will be left out as ruling class of any faction in Rome II. So when I listed about a hundred women rulers even down to Alexander and Caesar's time, these people came back with even more messages filled with anger and rage, stating all kinds of disqualifying or discrediting "logic" to try to justify the exclusion of women as rulers in Rome II. The most ridiculous one being that because there were four women on the "ruling list" I provided who only ruled about four years, that is deemed "too short" as ruler, and therefore the "entire" list should be thrown out, and the bottom line, they argued, still is that women should not be part of a ruling caste in Rome II game engine. My answer to these comments is that if fours years are too short, than Sulla only "ruled" Rome for a few month, and Julius Caesar was "in power", if we can even call it that, less than four years, so by their logic, are we going to preclude Caesar or Sulla from Rome II as well?
That was just an example of many, about how people followed a blind "belief" and never come to a realization why and how they arrive at certain state of mind.
What are your plans for your future at TWC and in real life?
We are very excited about the 7.0 Series mod, and after this, we intend to publish Amazons 7.0 mod on M2TW as well. We will continue to maintain the Amazons mods for both M2TW and RTW/BI game engines for as long as possible. In real life, things can not be better, as I am continuing to get permissions to visit ancient dig sites and continue to discover more and more fascinating facets of human existence. Perhaps we will strive to incorporate the new discovery in the future mods.
Two of them are already on the drawing board. One is an infantry support chariot and the second one is the Artillery Launched Area Denial Munition.
I recently uncovered some fascinating description from UCLA library, translated from Chinese to English, on how the China's Warring Kingdom foot soldiers were actually assigned to heavy chariots by squads. When an assault started, each squad would follow their assigned chariot and use the chariot as cover to move towards the enemy position. As they approach the enemy battle line, the heavy chariot would also provide fire suppression as well as tank-on-tank battle. Finally, when they reached the enemy line, the chariot would attempt to breach into the enemy formation with its squad of infantry following closely behind to exploit that breach. This sounds almost identical the WWII infantry support armor tactics. I actually provided white paper description on how to implement such tactics using RTW/BI or M2TW game engine. We would use the RTW war-dog unit as baseline and in this case, animation-wise, the squad of soldiers would be the dogs and the dog handlers would the chariot. When commanded to attack the enemy, the handlers would charge with the dogs, except, unlike the vanilla RTW dog units, the handler would run faster because it is a chariot, so you would have a unit of chariots charging towards the enemy with the dogs (the foot soldiers) following closely behind.
On the Artillery Launched Area Denial Munition, it is a bit more challenging to come up with the animation. Basically it is stemmed from a Cold War Era armored doctrine which states that when enemy attacked en masse, the best way is to use artillery or air-support to lay a barrier of minefields directly in front and behind the enemy's advancing formation. Once the advance got stalled because of the dynamically created the minefield barriers, the real fire power would then be used to concentrate on destroying the trapped enemy formation. The United States Area Denial Artillery Munition (ADAM) is a family of US land mines and 155 mm artillery projectiles (M692/M731) which were specifically created to support this doctrine.
But in the ancient battlefield, it is not hard to imagine a commander orders buckets of caltrops (tetrahedral spikes) to be loaded onto catapults or ballistas to be launched at a predetermined location to stop an enemy charge, or even to prevent their retreat.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
On closing, I want to say "Thank You" for this opportunity. It is great to be able to share our thoughts and ideas with the community through this interview.
As the final words of this particular session, I would like to say that I do wish one day the RTW/BI engine or even the original MTW engine (not M2TW) would become public domain, so people are free to add to the game engine as well as correct its existing bugs. As a matter of fact, personally I actually like the original MTW AI better than RTW's AI. But regardless of which, perhaps if we can establish an open source community where people are free to add or to contribute to that environment, that would help a great deal to free all the modders from current game engine restriction.
Another approach would be, since we (the modders) already know all the file format and interface standard, then perhaps we can create a clone RTW/BI game engine or M2TW game engine where the new engine would be open source, and being able to read all the M2TW as well as RTW/BI files, so all the RTW/BI as well as M2TW mods can be played on this new platform instead of being restricted to the bugs of the proprietary engine.
The cartoons might be a bit outdated, as I made them a while ago
{I cook weird stuff}-{Patronised by the fearsome Chloe} „[...] því að með lögum skal land vort byggja en eigi með ólögum eyða.“
(The Frosta-thing law, 1260)
Is acher in gaíth innocht,
fu-fuasna fairggae findfolt:
ní ágor réimm mora minn
dond láechraid lainn ua Lothlind.
Silver Shield: 18th Edition
