A History of SR30

'The oracles say the future was written in the dawn of time..'and probably in the intestines of some poor, unfortunate goat too. And since livestock are close to useless, we Wotanites were happy to consign thousands of the smelly little beasts to have their innards charred in smoking braziers. Truthfully, the future of this game was decided early on when the faithful of Wotan forged an alliance that would hammer the opposition into defeat. When the Wotanites joined together, they knew not how sparsely populated the world was. By the time they did, the alliance was sealed and the rest of the world was doomed!

Pulling together Corleth the Briton, Elise and Auroch the Gauls, Nkruma the all-conquering Egyptian and Azamond the Numidian, the early turns were easy as all players sought to expand by conquering independent realms. Then Azamond was attacked by the larger empire of Hazaar the Numidian and Monsoon the Carthagian and the Wotanites pulled together to assist their brother. Elise moved south from her heartland in southern Gaul to invade the lands of Hazaar via bases in Spain. Monsoon dropped out of the fight. Nkruma sped west from the deserts of Egypt, bringing with him more Elephants than any empire has the right to possess. Auroch conquered northern Gaul and invaded western Germanica, then sent an advance party through a series of teleporters to help Azamond, while beginning to amass an army to fight Ivan the Scythian. In Britain, Corleth conquered swathes of the kingdom in preparation for a showdown with Willem de Oranje. In the Mediterranean, the Roman Imperator Filipo strove to build his island base in Corsica.

As the game progressed, numerous rulers came and went in control of Trident the Carthagian, a position that had potential to swing the balance of war in favour of either side, but which never aligned itself permanently with one or other. Meanwhile, cut off from the rest of the world, Willem abdicated to leave Corleth to master Britain. Ivan spread from the steppes of Scythia into eastern Germanica and northern Persia, and soon found his realm bordering the all-conquering locust that was Nkruma! Auroch plodded slowly east, navigating the difficult terrain of rivers and forest in Germanica and Scandia.

In time, only Hazaar and Ivan stood between Wotan and ultimate victory, but both were outmatched by the scale of the forces arrayed by their enemies. Imperator Filipo trod a neutral path, avoiding conflict with the world’s major powers. The war against Hazaar raged on along Azamond’s borders, with both Numidians ascending to demigod status. By the time Nkruma, Elise and Auroch joined Azamond in force it became apparent that Hazaar – despite having fought very well – was now the one of the back foot and the Wotanites pressed home the advantage, whittling down the Numidian’s cities. At the same time, Auroch and Nkruma sent spies and rangers into the territory of Ivan to prepare the path for invasion. With armies massed along their borders and other battle groups ready to step through teleporters, Hazaar and Ivan bowed to the inevitable, abdicating their thrones, leaving their treasuries behind and fleeing into the night like terrified goats escaping the clutches of the oracles! Ivan professed opposition, but in truth never raised a blade against us before retreating into the cold, dark Hades of defeat. To Hazaar alone went the true honour of the worthy, vanquished foe.

With Hazaar and Ivan gone, Imperator Filipo bowed to the might of Wotan and the war for supremacy was ended all-too-rapidly on Turn 64.

If any participant of SR24 (winner or loser) would like to write a potted history of their experience of the game please feel free to send it in.

If any participant of SR21 (winner or loser) would like to write a potted history of their experience of the game please feel free to send it in.