[Gaming Staff HS] The Powers of Arda

[Matto16]

The Powers of Arda
Third Age 3.2 Total War



Official hotseat hosted by TATW hotseating staff for the most experienced players who wish to enjoy in Middle Earth and confirm just how great military commanders they are!

We already have a lot of hotseats with youngbloods and experienced veterans, but now is the time to open a new one just for those players who already showed their talent for hotseating as they impressed us in various other games. May that be old veterans or young players with great talent and lust for greatness, all are welcome here! A winner of this hotseat may receive a special reward at the end but despite of that there will be a lot of fun so you don't want to miss it! It will be moderated by Dux as I will join the players and ten factions will be randomly given to players. You will find all instructions regarding downloading this mod here, while I suggest you also to download and install fraps which you will need in game for taking pictures of battles as a proof of your success or failure. Check this site for informations regarding hotseating and ask your own questions if you cannot find an answer.
Map (area west of the white line is inaccessible):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

General information: Long Campaign, Manage all settlements, M/M, password

Admin:Loose Cannon

Players:

• Kingdom of Gondor: *Ranger*
• Kingdom of Rohan: Knight of Meh DEFEATED
• Kingdom of Dale: Joeroc22
• Dwarven Kingdom: Nice
• Woodland Realm: Jwant
• Mordor: subbed by Gimli10 (afterArrow2daknee left)
• Isengard: PandaChef
• Orcs of the Misty Mountains: TheBlackWolf
• Rhun: Chieftain Khuzaymah

Rules: (adapted from Aldor's Hotseat and Big Four Hotseat)
General

• Reloading allowed (to certain extent, see battle-section)
• 24h to play your turn, though you may ask for 48h or someone to sub.
• Visitor message for the next player, when you upload the turn.
• Raging against participants cannot be tolerated. Use in-game faction name and be polite.
• It is almost impossible to list all possible violations. The admin has the final word. Please use common sense.
• Delete old attachments to lower the burden on the site (My Account > Miscellaneous > Attachments). Keep the previous 3 turns you've played in case a replay would be needed.

Gameplay

• No good vs evil restrictions.
• Play to win.
• Original moves must be kept when replaying turns if they involve battles versus other players. The factions which were the reason of the replay, can move forces involved freely, but other battles must be done as in the original save.

Victory conditions

• Victor is declared by a voting system

Spoiler for Extra info on this topic::

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A player can attempt to claim victory by demanding a voting round. The admin can, however, decide to continue the HS and deny the attempt. Vote question: Do you agree that player X has become unbeatable and should be recognised as winner of this hotseat? Vote scenario's:

- All players give a positive vote: victory!

- At least 3 players deny victory: no victory.

- Only 1-2 players deny victory: admin looks into the save/arguments sent per PM and determine if a(n) faction(s) could be considered a threat to the 'victor'. So basicly: if all factions on the map would unite versus the victor, do they stand a chance? If negative: victory!

In case of victory, reputation and congratulations to the victor!

Destroying buildings and sieges

• Buildings cannot be destroyed after capturing a settlement. After 10 turns, you are allowed to destroy inns and guilds. After 20 turns these settlements are considered 'own settlements'.
• You can destroy buildings in your 'own settlements', but only when they are not at risk to be captured.
• You are only allowed to exterminate a city once, and should you capture the city again you must either sack or occupy it.
• You cannot sally out when facing certain defeat for any reason such as denying the attacker the option to sack/exterminate or luring him/her in a trap.
• You cannot besiege a settlement to deny the besieged arrmy from participating in battles (with enemy forces next to the settlement).

Agents

• No assassins. No recruiting allowed.
• Whether a spy may open the gates of a city depends on the size of the city garrison. If a city is defended by 456+ men, or 756+ orcs, then spies may NOT open the gates. If a city is defended by fewer than this number, then spies may open the gates without restriction.
• The purpose of this rule is to allow players to defend their cities without fear of losing their garrison due to spies. Its justification is that cities with more defenders have better surveillance and it would be harder for spies to operate. I also want to keep the rule simple, which is the reason for the hard limit.
• So basically if you defend a city with 6 full units worth of troops, you are safe from spies
• Spies may open the gates against the Rebels (AI) without restriction
• No bribing.
• Gifting settlements is allowed, but spawned troops must be disbanded except for one unit within 3 turns.
• You cannot gift settlements that are at risk to be captured.
• You cannot kill agents by surrounding them with troops, unless this move was needed for other purposes.

Battles

• Battles against other players must be auto-resolved. Battles against the AI can be fought.
• Post screenshots of all battles against other players: deployment screen and results screen. I think this makes following a hotseat much more interesting. Note – you do not need to post screenshots for lopsided battles, i.e. 1,000 vs. 100, but please mention the battle in your post
• No surrounding of an army with single units to deny a retreat.
• You are not allowed to move armies next turn if they were defeated by a player that comes after you in turn order.
• Use of ships is not allowed in any way.
• You can cross Anduin in the South only in Osgiliath, Cair Andros and just south of the falls of Rauros. All other crosses cannot be used.
• If you can get clear victory use that instead of heroic victory. Battles with only heroic victory as a result are not allow to be played.
• The admin must be able to get a similar outcome after 'reloading' 5 times. (adapted from Emperor of Hell)

Spoiler for Extra information concerning this rule::

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tell the admin how you placed your men and other changes in the turn that may have contibuted to your win. The admin will execute the moves the player did to win the battle and reload up to 5 times. (adapted from The Norseman) To put it short: reloading is allowed but don't reload endlessly to win a battle as this will be discovered. The admin has the last word on the decision (example: victory due to a bug is never allowed) and punishment. Some guidelines that might aid you to judge your actions before you post the turn. These are not rules:

- Heroic victories are generally due to reloading. - Victories with odds less then 3 vs 5 are generally due to reloading. - If the outcome seems unlikely, reload the turn yourself and observe if you can win the battle within 5 reloads.

[Matto16]

We will start this hotseat on saturday or on sunday. Until then I will still add a map, rules, and names of players after Dux will make a lottery.

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

So if I understand correctly, nothing will be done in this hotseat yet about somewhat balancing the game right? Except for the usual Eriador pop boost.

Btw, I like and appreciate the random faction assignment

[Nice]

Yes I think that no balance changes will be used.
Sorry for the critics but here is my opinion:
This will be very imbalanced. I wrote that the matchup OoG, OotMM vs Dwarves,Eriador, SE, HE favors good factions a bit.
If you remove Mordor, SE can fully concentrate on OotMM which would change the balance to extremly favors good.
I suggest removing OoG, Harad, Eriador and HE, while also cutting of the western regions and removing ships.
The shipban should be very strict: ship usage=ban
For OotMM vs Dwarves(East) and SE I suggest giving OotMM the Wodden Castle below Gundabad from the start.
Without changes(despite shipban) Gondor vs Mordor should work fine.
Additionally noone has to fear to be absolutly powerless because of getting HE or Eriador.

[Matto16]

Yes I think that no balance changes will be used.
Sorry for the critics but here is my opinion:
This will be very imbalanced. I wrote that the matchup OoG, OotMM vs Dwarves,Eriador, SE, HE favors good factions a bit.
If you remove Mordor, SE can fully concentrate on OotMM which would change the balance to extremly favors good.
I suggest removing OoG, Harad, Eriador and HE, while also cutting of the western regions and removing ships.
The shipban should be very strict: ship usage=ban
For OotMM vs Dwarves(East) and SE I suggest giving OotMM the Wodden Castle below Gundabad from the start.
Without changes(despite shipban) Gondor vs Mordor should work fine.
Additionally noone has to fear to be absolutly powerless because of getting HE or Eriador.

Allright let it be so. I don't have so much experience with balancing so it is good to have other more experienced players who are willing to give us their advices and that helps a lot. Since this will be championship hotseat we shouldn't be imbalanced and I have nothing against those changes. I will ask Dux to make lottery with playable factions today so that tomorrow or in two days we can begin this hotseat.

And yes it won't be good vs evil.

[joerock22]

But this is not good vs evil, right? In that case I don't worry so much about imbalance. There is no guarantee that the good factions will stay allies to destroy OOG and OOTMM.

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

True, no one mentioned anything about good vs evil.

Personally I like good vs evil though it depends on what you guys want, but then some adjustments could/should be made ?

[Aldor]

I agree with Nice (post #4). This will be very imbalanced. "I suggest removing OoG, Harad, Eriador and HE, while also cutting of the western regions and removing ships. The shipban should be very strict: ship usage=ban" I agree with these ideas that Nice proposed. Let's be honest... Nobody wants to get Harad, HE or Eriador as your chances of winning are nearly unexistant unless all the great AR factions are commanded by the most nooby players.

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

So I might be new to this, but this is the first hotseat I see where invasions are allowed. Doesn't that give an evil faction a huge advantage over a good one?

[Matto16]

I don't see a reason why since all factions are played by real players so it is up to them to decide if they will join invasion or not. And in case invasion is called also the other side can step together and fight against invaders.

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

It is not obligatory to join an invasion. Nor is it good vs evil so invasions will not be used for the purpose of invasions.

The thing is, if someone for example is Mordor, he can call an invasion on both the Osgiliath's and Minas Tirith. He can join the invasion, probably hire about 1000-1500 orcs as merceneries and have the entire army free of upkeep...

That is my concern, an evil faction can use this pure to gain advantage over his opposing good faction by getting an army and economy boost. And since this is no good vs evil hotseat anyways, I don't see the point in having invasions at all...

[joerock22]

I agree with Chieftain about invasions. Could turn the tide in a war and there is little the unlucky faction on the receiving end can do.

[Aldor]

No invasions. You can send stacks in free upkeep, get a massive movement increase and can hire mercenaries. It gives the first evil faction in turn order a massive benefit. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Since we follow Nice's advise and the number of factions is tuned down. Who is still participating in the lotery? _____________________________________________________________________________________ I have a feeling that we went from a 'Pro Player' hotseat to a 'Veteran (long playing TATW HS)' hotseat concept. This isn't an issue for me. Just don't make it appear as these players are 'the greatest commanders in Arda'. Some of the players on the list get owned very hard and consistently in several hotseats after making error after error. Let's just say we checked the long-playing pool for availability and are hosting a normal 'invite only' hotseat.

[Matto16]

No invasions then. Dux will begin this hotseat once he make a lottery and give us our factions.

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

About the map, left to the white line is inaccessible, but what about the south? The area of Harad.

[Dux]

The factions after the random lottery:

Knicolas2 - Ootm
Matto16 - Gondor
Chieftain Khuzaymah -Rhun
Gallus - Mordor
Aldor - Isengard
Jwant - Silvan elves
Nice - Dwarves
Knight of meh - Rohan
Joeroc22 -Dale

[Chieftain Khuzaymah]

) I am excited to start with Rhun So when will we start?

Plus the borders are not yet clear to me.
- I assume I can take Khand, but not go any further into Harad?
- The island of Goben Tolfalas is part of the map?
- What will be the border for Gondor? At the river crossing, or Has Yayb( desert crossing)
- What will be the border for Mordor? Tir Ethraid?

[Nice]

The island is obvious: ships are forbidden. Harondor should be taken out, these regions will just give free income to Gondor which already has a great economy. The same goes for Rhun and Khand. All those regions are normally taken by Harad. I suggest this map:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Matto16]

I agree with this map. Lands that original belongs to the unplayable factions should be taken out or again there won't be balance as some factions can greately expire their domain by conquering empty lands in Harad and Eriador. I also believe that the river crossings should be taken out so that armies can cross Anduin only in Osgiliath, Cain Andros and around Rauros like in Big Four HS.

[Matto16]

It would be the best to put this hotseat to a waiting for some time. This site is working very bad and until this is fix we cannot play normaly without constantly delays.