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Empire Main >> History >> History of Games >> Ice World IV

Ice World IV

Deity: John Yockey
Start Date: October 7, 2002
End Date: January 4, 2003 (89 days)
Code used: Wolfpack 4.2.11
Winner(s): Ski
976-SHEEP
Zirconia

Original Game Announcement

September 26, 2002

The days got shorter. The temperature was falling. Lack of rain caused the harvest to fail. Rumors of open warfare were in the air. The Ice Lord called out,"Who is willing to set their longboats to the sea and go a viking! We need warriors to find supplies for our families."

The Ice Barbarian Warlord announces the start of Ice World IV. Players of all skill levels are invited to join. To sign up send the following information to johny@frii.com.

Country Name:
Password:
Preferred Email Address:
Empire Rank:

(for rank see http://www.empire.cx/simplerank.html)

Ice World IV will be hosted at empire.wolfpaw.net on port 6665. The game will be openned to players Monday October 10th, with the first update on Tuesday October 11th. There will be a five minute update window every 15 hours for the first five updates. After that there will be 30 hours between update windows. The update closest to midnight Saturday night will be disabled so there will be a 60 hour gap on weekends.

Before I forget this time, I am setting the following victory condition on this game: No more than 10% of the starting countries will be recognized in the victory declaration.

The game has been set up for naval warfare. Ice World IV will be about 93% water. Each country will start with one start island, and there will be many small free islands to fight over.

The following modifications have been made for this game:

The update time happens at a random time in a five minute update window. This is done by the server and has been tested.

Venture enterprise sectors from IW3 are back; however, based on player feedback the equation is now:

A venture enterprise turns 1 lcm and 2 hcms into 1 goods.

The total goods produced by a nation are automatically sold and generate $100000 * goods / (goods + 4000).

Goods and cash are automatically done first by the update.

Hopefully this will eliminate the Wicked effect from IW3.

The following modifications have been done to prevent 24/7 playing. Note that there is a minutes restriction this time and BTU generation has been reduced to 1200 per day. The server will limit logins per day to 50 per country. For this reason there will be no visitor country. So you should be able to play and keep your life without getting a co-ruler.

Radar range of all ships is doubled to make it easier to find each other at sea.

I've added a couple planes and modified some others for naval warfare.

There are some minor defects with sonar/ships on the wolfpack bug list that I may or may not address before or during the game, but I will tell the players if I do.

Deity,
John Yockey,
aka The Ice Barbarian Warlord!

Note that the server is currently running. If players wish to play around or test any of these features, they may do so. However I may interfere or reset the server without notice as I prepare for the game.

Empire 4.2.11
(KSU distribution 1.04, Chainsaw version 4.00, Wolfpack version 2.11)

The following parameters have been set for this game:
World size is TBD.
There can be up to 99 countries.
By default, countries use their own coordinate system.

An Empire time unit is 1800 seconds long.
Use the 'update' command to find out the time of the next update.
The current time is Thu Sep 26 20:52:16.
An update consists of 60 empire time units.
Each country is allowed to be logged in 180 minutes a day.
It takes 40.00 civilians to produce a BTU in one time unit.

A non-aggi, 100 fertility sector can grow 0.12 food per etu.
1000 civilians will harvest 1.3 food per etu.
1000 civilians will give birth to 5.0 babies per etu.
1000 uncompensated workers will give birth to 2.5 babies.
In one time unit, 1000 people eat 0.5 units of food.
1000 babies eat 6.0 units of food becoming adults.

Banks pay $200.00 in interest per 1000 gold bars per etu.
1000 civilians generate $6.00, uncompensated workers $1.00 each time unit.
1000 active military cost $83.33, reserves cost $8.33.
Happiness p.e. requires 1 happy stroller per 10000 civ.
Education p.e. requires 1 class of graduates per 10000 civ.
Happiness is averaged over 48 time units.
Education is averaged over 192 time units.
The technology/research boost you get from the world is 50.00%.
Nation levels (tech etc.) decline 1% every 96 time units.
Tech Buildup is limited to logarithmic growth (base 2.00) after 1.00.

Sectors Ships Planes Units
Maximum mobility 127 127 127 127
Max mob gain per update 60 90 60 60
Max eff gain per update -- 100 100 100

Ships on autonavigation may use 6 cargo holds per ship.
In order to build a nuke, you need 0.33 times the tech level in research
Example: In order to build a 300 tech nuke, you need 99 research

Fire ranges are scaled by 1.00

Options enabled in this game:
ALL_BLEED, DEMANDUPDATE, DRNUKE, FALLOUT, GODNEWS, INTERDICT_ATT,
LANDSPIES, NEUTRON, NEW_STARVE, NEW_WORK, NEWPOWER, NO_FORT_FIRE,
NO_PLAGUE, NOMOBCOST, NUKEFAILDETONATE, ORBIT, PINPOINTMISSILE,
PLANENAMES, SAIL, SHIPNAMES, SHOWPLANE, TECH_POP, TREATIES,
UPDATESCHED

Options disabled in this game:
BIG_CITY, BLITZ, BRIDGETOWERS, DEFENSE_INFRA, EASY_BRIDGES, FUEL,
GO_RENEW, GRAB_THINGS, HIDDEN, LOANS, LOSE_CONTACT, MARKET,
MOB_ACCESS, NO_HCMS, NO_LCMS, NO_OIL, NOFOOD, NONUKES, RES_POP,
SHIP_DECAY, SLOW_WAR, SNEAK_ATTACK, SUPER_BARS, TRADESHIPS,

"info Options" for a detailed list of options and descriptions

The person to annoy if something goes wrong is:
John Yockey
(johny@frii.com).
You can get your own copy of the source using:
ftp://ftp.empire.cx/pub/empire/server or
http://www.empire.cx/

back to top

Mid-game Updates

Blue coloring on countries in the power charts indicates the eventual winners of the game.

Two days after start, October 9, 2002

Since there is no visitor account for Ice World IV, the Barbarian Broadcasting Company will be posting periodic updates for people to follow along. Two updates have now occurred. All but one country broke sanctuary by Tuesday morning. That country was replaced and all countries were Active before the first update.

Even though all countries self rated themselves as 3 or better, there was starvation the first update. Amber took the yellow jersey for the first update by digging up lots of amber colored ore but none of the grey stuff. Cathouse has taken the award
for building the first ship.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Wed Oct  9 12:02:13 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Temekula  35   14% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  300  1.6K   0    0    0    0   25K
       Amber  35   16% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  550  1.2K 250    0    0    0   25K
         eno  35   18% 3.5K  10    0    0    0  1.6K 1.0K   0    0    0    0   25K
      Pendor  35   20% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  750  550    0    0    0    0   25K
       Limbo  35   26% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  900  800    0    0    3    0   25K
     Parpara  35   20% 3.5K  30    0    0    0  550  750    0    0    2    0   25K
    Cathouse  35   23% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  600  500    0    0    1    0   25K
        beep  35   29% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  150  400    0    0    2    0   25K
      Wahbit  35   23% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.1K 350    0    0    3    0   25K
     RedTape  35   22% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.1K 500   18    0    2    0   25K
         Ski  35   19% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  950  400    0    0    0    0   25K
   976-SHEEP  35   19% 3.5K   1    0    0    0  1.1K 300    0    0    1    0   25K
   SiliconSo  35   17% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.4K 500  250    0    0    0   25K
    Zirconia  35   17% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.1K 500    0    0    3    0   25K
   Shakespea  35   16% 3.5K  40    0    0    0  800  500    0    0    2    0   25K
        Spam  35   20% 3.5K   1    0    0    0  750  400    0    0    0    0   25K
    Armengar  35   20% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  850  400    0    0    0    0   25K
      NamNam  35   25% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  450    3    0    0    3    0   25K
        Zern  35   23% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  900  450    0    0    0    0   25K
     Myseria  35   20% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.0K   0    0    0    1    0   25K
    Mackland  35   28% 3.2K   0    0    0    0  1.2K 400    0    0    0    0   25K
     Thistle  35   22% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  650   27    0    0    2    0   25K
     Kamoria  35   22% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  2.0K 300    0    0    2    0   25K
      Tanugi  35   18% 3.5K  33    0    0    0  600   50    0    0    4    0   25K
       Junta  35   23% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.1K 250    0    0    2    0   25K
    Bubastis  35   23% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  800    0    0    0    2    0   25K
     MELINUS  35   14% 2.6K   0    0    0    0  500  900    0    0    0    0   25K
        Rook  35   18% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.4K 100    0    0    2    0   25K
   fishing_n  35   20% 3.5K   2    0    0    0  900    0    0    0    5    0   25K
   IndustMec  15   36% 3.5K   0    0    0    0  1.4K   0    0    0    0    0   25K
          RS  35   13% 3.0K 100    0    0    0  1.4K 400    0    0    0    0   25K
   routerman  35   24% 3.4K 100    0    0    0  400    0    0    0    0    0   25K
     Iceland  35   14% 3.4K 100    0    0    0  900    0    0    0    0    0   25K
      Naraxi  35   14% 2.7K 100    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   25K
    Zantonia  35   12% 1.8K   0    0    0    0    0  500    0    0    0    0   25K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 1.2K  20% 119K 550    0    0    0   30K  14K 550    0   40    0  845K
 

back to top

Three days after start, October 10, 2002

Countries have set sail in Ice World IV -- making an unusually high number of ships for this early in the game. 115 of the 121 ships are frigates. Players are eager to meet their neighbors. Especially if that neighbor is near the bottom of the power chart.

The Christopher Columbus Award goes to Ski for being the first country to find free land. Being the only country to find free land before the forth update gave Ski an edge in the sector race; however, a strong showing after today's update put the Sheep Shagger into the polka dot jersey of the sector leader. Bubastis is in the green jersey of the tech leader. While Temekula has been using a strategy of gold and technology to hold on to the yellow jersey.

It will be a couple more updates before countries start making contact with each other.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Thu Oct 10 19:03:21 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Temekula  35   37% 6.0K   0    0    0    0  600  1.8K 100    0    0    0   20K
    Cathouse  35   44% 5.9K 150    0    0    0  900  450   50    0    2    0   15K
     Myseria  35   37% 5.9K 100    0    0    0  1.1K 450  100    0    4    0   20K
         Ski  40   27% 5.8K 150    0    0    0  800  500  100    0    6    0   15K
    Zirconia  40   31% 5.8K 100    0    0    0  1.0K 700  100    0    8    0   15K
    Bubastis  35   34% 5.8K 100    0    0    0  1.2K 350  250    0    2    0   20K
   IndustMec  25   48% 6.0K   0    0    0    0  1.2K  50  250    0    0    0   20K
   976-SHEEP  45   29% 5.8K 150    0    0    0  1.4K  37  100    0    7    0   15K
        Rook  35   33% 5.9K 100    0    0    0  700  400  100    0    3    0   20K
       Junta  35   33% 5.9K 100    0    0    0  1.0K 650  150    0    3    0   20K
   Shakespea  35   34% 5.7K 300    0    0    0  1.6K 500  100    0    7    0   15K
        beep  35   57% 5.8K 200    0    0    0  1.3K 400   50    0    6    0   20K
      Pendor  35   39% 5.8K 200    0    0    0  1.1K 600   50    0    5    0   20K
     RedTape  35   40% 5.8K 100    0    0    0  1.0K 750  100    0    2    0   20K
        Spam  40   34% 5.8K 200    0    0    0  1.4K 400   50    0    3    0   15K
     Thistle  40   32% 5.7K 200    0    0    0  1.1K 250  100    0    5    0   20K
      Tanugi  35   40% 5.7K 250    0    0    0  750  350  100    0    5    0   15K
      NamNam  35   46% 5.8K 150    0    0    0  750  450  300    0    4    0   20K
   fishing_n  40   38% 5.8K 150    0    0    0  1.1K 200   50    0    7    0   15K
     Kamoria  35   43% 5.7K 100    0    0    0  3.0K 400   22    0    3    0   20K
   SiliconSo  35   32% 6.0K  15    0    0    0  2.0K 150  250    0    5    0   20K
       Amber  35   29% 6.0K   0    0    0    0  1.5K 2.5K 400    0    0    0   25K
     Parpara  35   34% 5.6K 350    0    0    0  750  450   26    0    7    0   20K
      Wahbit  35   31% 6.0K  22    0    0    0  1.3K 350   50    0    4    0   25K
       Limbo  35   36% 5.8K 200    0    0    0  1.4K 600  100    0    7    0   20K
    Armengar  35   33% 5.8K   0    0    0    0  1.4K 900   50    0    3    0   25K
         eno  35   20% 5.6K  10    0    0    0  3.4K 1.0K 400    0    0    0   25K
    Mackland  35   60% 5.5K   0    0    0    0  1.2K 550    1    0    3    0   25K
        Zern  35   37% 5.8K 200    0    0    0  1.4K 500   24    0    3    0   20K
   routerman  35   33% 5.4K 100    0    0    0  850  700    0    0    3    0   25K
     MELINUS  35   26% 4.3K   0    0    0    0  800  800    0    0    2    0   25K
          RS  35   30% 5.2K 100    0    0    0  2.9K 600    0    0    2    0   25K
     Iceland  35   24% 5.6K 100    0    0    0  1.0K  50    0    0    0    0   25K
    Zantonia  35   35% 2.5K   0    0    0    0    0  500   37    0    0    0   25K
      Naraxi  35   19% 2.8K 100    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   25K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 1.2K  35% 194K 4.0K   0    0    0   43K  19K 3.6K   0  120    0  720K
 

back to top

One week after start, October 14, 2002

This is the Warlord reporting from the Rook capital, where dozens of Rook farmers have come to protest for more government subsidies. This could get ugly as the Rook government ponders who is growing the crops while the farmers are protesting in the capital.

Elsewhere in Ice World IV, countries are beginning to encounter each other. So far, there has been peace in the world (except for the occasional hostile act against the peaceful citizens of beep). However that should only last another update or two. You can always count on a good amount of blood shed when empire players get together.

Ski has taken the polka dot jersey of the largest country. Bubastis has drained his treasury setting a blistering pace for the green jersey. Temekula continues to have a strong hold of the yellow jersey using a strategy of gold and tech, while ignoring expansion.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Mon Oct 14 16:58:31 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Temekula  35   57%  10K   0    0    0    0  1.2K 1.8K 150    0    0    0   15K
    Cathouse  50   43% 9.8K 300    0    0    0  2.0K 400  100    0    6    0  5.0K
        Rook  35   50% 9.8K 150    0    0    0  2.2K 850  100    0    3    0   10K
   976-SHEEP  60   30% 9.7K 300    0    0    0  1.9K 850  100    0   10    0  5.0K
    Zirconia  65   28% 9.7K 200    0    0    0  2.9K 1.0K 100    0   10    0  5.0K
         Ski  70   27% 9.7K 300    0    0    0  2.1K 450  100    0   10    0  5.0K
     RedTape  40   44% 9.9K 150    0    0    0  2.0K 500  200    0    4    0   10K
      Pendor  45   38% 9.5K 400    0    0    0  1.8K 350  150    0   10    0   10K
     Myseria  35   49% 9.6K 400    0    0    0  1.9K 300   50    0    9    0   10K
    Bubastis  35   42% 9.8K 200    0    0    0  1.4K 700  400    0    8    0  753 
       Junta  50   39% 9.8K 200    0    0    0  1.7K 1.1K 250    0    5    0   15K
   IndustMec  35   46%  10K  10    0    0    0  2.1K 350  600    0    0    0   15K
      NamNam  40   54% 9.1K 150    0    0    0  1.7K 550  150    0    6    0   10K
      Tanugi  60   35% 9.5K 400    0    0    0  1.1K 800  200    0   10    0   10K
        beep  40   61% 9.5K 400    0    0    0  1.8K 550  150    0   10    0   10K
     Thistle  45   39% 9.4K 300    0    0    0  1.9K 550  100    0    9    0   15K
       Amber  35   45%  10K  10    0    0    0  2.6K 3.5K 650    0    1    0   20K
   SiliconSo  40   41%  10K  50    0    0    0  2.6K 350  200    0   10    0   10K
        Spam  50   35% 9.5K 350    0    0    0  2.2K 300  100    0   10    0  5.0K
      Wahbit  40   46% 9.8K 200    0    0    0  1.9K 350  100    0   10    0   15K
   Shakespea  45   38% 9.2K 600    0    0    0  2.6K 450  150    0   10    0  5.0K
   fishing_n  50   41% 9.6K 250    0    0    0  2.5K 550  100    0   10    0   10K
     Kamoria  35   72% 9.4K 250    0    0    0  4.2K 750  150    0    5    0   10K
     Parpara  40   47% 9.2K 550    0    0    0  1.4K 600  100    0    7    0   15K
    Armengar  35   57% 9.4K 150    0    0    0  2.8K 2.0K 250    0    8    0   20K
       Limbo  45   34% 9.3K 450    0    0    0  1.8K 250  200    0   10    0   10K
        Zern  35   66% 9.4K 350    0    0    0  1.9K 650  250    0    6    0   10K
          RS  35   48% 8.7K 200    0    0    0  2.4K 750  150    0    3    0   20K
   routerman  45   36% 9.2K 150    0    0    0  1.1K 850  150    0    5    0   20K
     MELINUS  35   39% 6.4K  46    0    0    0  1.2K 500  150    0    5    0   25K
    Mackland  45   77% 9.2K 100    0    0    0  1.0K 450    6    0    5    0   25K
         eno  35   44% 9.5K  10    0    0    0  5.8K 1.0K 500    0    0    0   25K
     Iceland  35   42% 9.5K 100    0    0    0  1.9K 350    0    0    1    0   25K
    Zantonia  35   46% 3.8K  30    0    0    0   29  500  150    0    0    0   25K
      Naraxi  35   41% 4.8K 100    0    0    0  200  100    0    0    0    0   25K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 1.5K  44% 321K 7.8K   0    0    0   70K  25K 6.2K   0  240    0  470K

back to top

Ten days after start, October 17, 2002

We have had a crash in Ice World IV tech race. Bubastis set a blistering
early pace, but ran out of funds and had to cut tech production. Bubastis
is now far behind many nations, leaving IndustMech clad in the green jersey.

976-SHEEP was the first nation to join the century club. Several islands
are now shared between nations. Peace has continued throughout Ice World
IV -- mostly because nations want to use resources searching for free land,
but partially because the free islands are small enough that they should
easily be taken later in the game.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Thu Oct 17 04:39:02 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Temekula  35   80%  17K  40    0    0    0  3.1K 1.1K 500    0    0    0   10K
     RedTape  50   53%  17K 250    0    0    0  2.8K 1.1K 550    0    4    0  422 
    Cathouse  55   45%  16K 400    0    0    0  3.5K 750  200    0    9    0  2.0K
   976-SHEEP 100   23%  16K 450    0    0    0  2.8K 900  100    0   20    0  1.4K
      Pendor  60   39%  16K 550    0    0    0  3.0K 550  550    0   20    0  1.5K
      NamNam  45   63%  15K 250    0    0    0  2.4K 1.3K 200    0    9    0   10K
         Ski 100   28%  16K 450    0    0    0  3.8K 400  150    0   20    0  1.3K
    Zirconia  95   26%  16K 300    0    0    0  4.5K 400  100    0   20    0  5.0K
       Junta  80   40%  16K 200    0    0    0  2.0K 1.4K 600    0   10    0  5.0K
        Rook  40   63%  16K 300    0    0    0  3.7K 100  350    0    8    0   10K
        beep  75   37%  16K 500    0    0    0  2.5K 1.1K 150    0   10    0  2.6K
      Tanugi  95   29%  16K 500    0    0    0  2.2K 1.4K 200    0   10    0  5.0K
     Myseria  35   59%  16K 850    0    0    0  2.5K 500  250    0   10    0  309 
   IndustMec  35   71%  17K 200    0    0    0  4.5K 300  450    0    4    0  5.0K
     Parpara  70   38%  15K 700    0    0    0  3.1K 1.2K 450    0    7    0  3.7K
     Thistle  65   38%  16K 550    0    0    0  3.1K 350  200    0   10    0   10K
      Wahbit  60   39%  16K 550    0    0    0  2.7K 550  200    0   10    0  5.0K
       Amber  35   59%  17K 200    0    0    0  3.5K 3.4K 800    0    6    0   15K
   SiliconSo  50   53%  16K 200    0    0    0  3.5K 700  100    0   10    0  2.8K
        Spam  65   37%  16K 550    0    0    0  4.2K 550  100    0   20    0  2.8K
    Bubastis  45   44%  16K 250    0    0    0  2.5K 1.6K 700    0    8    0  1.2K
   fishing_n  60   40%  16K 450    0    0    0  3.6K 650  200    0   10    0  3.6K
     Kamoria  45   65%  16K 500    0    0    0  4.7K 400  400    0    7    0  2.1K
   Shakespea  75   31%  15K 850    0    0    0  3.8K 450  150    0   10    0  2.0K
        Zern  45   77%  16K 550    0    0    0  4.7K 1.5K 500    0    7    0  1.8K
       Limbo  60   36%  15K 650    0    0    0  2.3K 850  350    0   10    0  596 
    Armengar  50   52%  14K 300    0    0    0  4.8K 2.8K 300    0   10    0   15K
   routerman  60   46%  15K 400    0    0    0  1.1K 900  750    0    6    0   15K
          RS  35   67%  14K 250    0    0    0  1.7K 900  600    0    3    0   10K
     Iceland  35   58%  16K 100    0    0    0  2.6K 700  250    0    1    0   10K
     MELINUS  35   47% 8.9K 200    0    0    0  1.8K 500    5    0    5    0   20K
         eno  35   70%  16K 100    0    0    0  6.2K 600  700    0    4    0   20K
    Mackland  60   59%  15K 250    0    0    0  2.3K 850   40    0    6    0   30K
      Naraxi  35   80% 8.1K 150    0    0    0  900  350  100    0    0    0   25K
    Zantonia  35   71% 6.2K 100    0    0    0  400  550  250    0    0    0   25K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 2.0K  45% 529K  13K   0    0    0  107K  32K  11K   0  320    0  285K
 

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Two weeks after start, October 21, 2002

This is the Warlord reporting from a 976-SHEEP petting zoo where I took my niece this weekend. She particularly enjoyed "Friendly" the sheep, who in true Bungy sytle lived up to his name. With all the grazing land 976-SHEEP has accumulated, he'll soon be bring petting zoos to every corner of Ice World IV.

Elsewhere in Ice World IV, tensions are rising as there are less than 400 free sectors left in the world. Ski was the first to draw blood. Unfortunately it was his own as his
troops got slaughtered assaulting a RedTape wilderness. Iceland was the first of successfully take a sector, and is now fighting routerman over a small unpopulated island. Fishing nation has found the Naraxi homeland and spent the Friday update harassing Naraxi until his frigate got boarded. Expect fishing nation to be back with some friends soon. Cathouse was the first nation to build land units.

One of the main battles from Ice World III was between Rook and Parpara. They have now found that they are neighbors this time, and apparently there is still some bad blood between them. Expect some fireworks between these two heavyweight.

RedTape has been filling the Ice World IV patent office with paperwork and is now clad in the green jersey of the tech leader.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Mon Oct 21 16:01:21 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Temekula  35  100%  35K 550    0    0    0  5.2K 950  850    0    0    0   25K
    Cathouse  75   49%  36K 700    0    0    0  5.3K 200  300    0   20    2  1.6K
   976-SHEEP 175   25%  35K 900    0    0    0  6.0K 400  350    0   30    3  5.0K
     RedTape  65   56%  35K 850    0    0    0  5.6K 700  750    0   10    2  3.1K
    Zirconia 135   27%  35K 900    0    0    0  6.7K 400  600    0   40    6  2.3K
         Ski 125   36%  35K 800    0    0    0  8.3K 450  250    0   40    6   10K
       Junta 100   40%  35K 450    0    0    0  3.5K 1.8K 2.7K   0   10    0  5.0K
        beep  85   47%  35K 650    0    0    0  5.5K 900  1.5K   0   30    4  1.2K
      NamNam  55   71%  33K 400   25    3    0  5.9K 250  950    0   10    0   25K
      Pendor 120   31%  34K 650  125   10    0  6.0K 300  1.0K   0   20    1  2.4K
   IndustMec  60   59%  36K 600   75   15    0  5.3K 700  2.0K   0   10    0  5.0K
        Rook  60   61%  32K 1.1K 125   15    0  4.4K 450  1.8K   0   10    0  4.3K
      Wahbit  85   41%  35K 900   50    5    0  4.0K 450  900    0   30    0  863 
     Parpara  95   38%  33K 1.1K   0    0    0  5.5K 550  1.1K   0   10    0  2.6K
       Amber  40   86%  35K 600   16    4    0  4.3K 1.9K 3.6K   0   20    0   15K
     Myseria  55   66%  34K 1.0K  75   10    0  4.5K 900  550    0   20    4  629 
      Tanugi 150   25%  33K 800    0    0    0  3.2K 450  450    0   30    0   10K
     Thistle  90   41%  33K 850  150   20    0  5.0K 750  1.4K   0   20    5   10K
        Spam 130   27%  33K 1.0K   0    0    0  5.2K 700  300    0   40    0  4.5K
   SiliconSo  55   70%  32K 400   50    5  500  5.7K   8  1.0K   0   10    0  5.0K
    Bubastis  60   60%  35K 800    0    0    0  5.5K 950  1.5K   0    8    0  1.5K
     Kamoria  65   55%  34K 450  100    4    0  3.8K 1.0K 1.4K   0   10    0  322 
   Shakespea 130   27%  32K 1.4K  24    3    0  5.8K 400  650    0   30    4  3.5K
       Limbo 110   27%  31K 800    0    0    0  5.8K 1.4K 1.1K   0   20    0   41 
   fishing_n  85   41%  30K 1.0K  10    0    0  7.0K 250  500    0   20    1   49 
    Armengar  80   42%  30K 600    0    0    0  8.9K 1.8K 650    0   20    0   15K
        Zern  50   68%  32K 800   50    5    0  3.5K 1.4K 550    0   10    0  677 
          RS  35   97%  31K 400   25    3    0  2.0K 600  1.5K   0    7    0  1.7K
   routerman  65   53%  29K 900    6    3    0  2.6K 1.0K 900    0   10    0  4.7K
     Iceland  40   83%  32K 150    0    0    0  7.2K 1.6K 1.4K   0    3    0  3.2K
    Mackland  55   64%  34K 200    0    0    0  4.7K 1.8K 450    0    5    0   35K
         eno  35   95%  34K 100    0    0    0  8.0K 800  2.9K   0   10    0   25K
     MELINUS  35   49%  11K 450    0    0    0  2.8K 550  100    0    6    0   35K
      Naraxi  35  100%  17K 550    0    0    0  2.9K 300  350    0   10    0   25K
    Zantonia  35   72%  10K 250    0    0    0  1.1K 350  550    0    8    0   30K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 2.7K  46% 1.1M  24K 950  105  500  176K  27K  37K   0  610   40  320K
 

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Two and a half weeks after start, October 24, 2002

Since there is no visitor account for Ice World IV, this is a periodic report from the BBC. Old reports can be found at http://empire.wolfpaw.net. There are currently two main battles being waged.

Wahbit and Spam had a disagreement over who was the first to land on a small island between their countries. Wahbit became sick of all the Spam showing up in his telegrams, and threw Spam off the common island. Spam has pledged to take 35 sectors (the size of a start island) as compensation for this act. Spam frigates are now harassing most Wahbit's islands.

In the second main battle, Parpara became the first nation to use shells -- sinking a Rook frigate. However Rook has temporarily taken the advantage by having Shakespeare join the battle on his side. Rook now controls the island where hostilities began and is working on a second island.

Most of tech leaders are now able to build light cruisers and battleships that are capable of effectively bombarding enemy land. Most of the bottom ten countries are being targetted by at least one country above them. One of these countries has the armies of three other nations approaching.

976-SHEEP has now taken over the yellow jersey. He is now allowing his ewe friend wear the polka-dot jersey he had on before. When not posting bait to rge, he has been using most of his three hour allocation per day, and so have most of the other land/power leaders. I can't believe he caught anything with stink bait that smelled worse than his sheep.

This is the Warlord signing off for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Thu Oct 24 14:51:42 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
   976-SHEEP 175   40%  55K 1.2K  75   15    0  8.0K 1.9K 550    0   70   30  4.8K
    Zirconia 155   32%  51K 850    7    5    0  6.7K 2.5K 750    0   80   10  285 
    Cathouse 105   52%  51K 900   75   15    0  7.7K 1.7K 450    0   50    6  846 
         Ski 130   50%  53K 1.0K 100   10    0  9.9K 500  400    0   70   20  5.0K
        beep 100   47%  46K 1.1K 125   10    0  6.5K 2.6K 1.4K   0   60   10  2.7K
      Tanugi 150   37%  49K 1.4K 100   10    0  5.2K 2.9K 300    0   40    8   15K
       Junta 110   49%  45K 350  425   50    0  6.2K 2.1K 3.3K   0   20    0   15K
      NamNam  65   69%  40K 500  100   20    0  5.8K 950  1.2K   0   20    0   40K
        Spam 145   33%  49K 1.8K  75    5    0  5.0K 1.4K 400    0   50    0  2.1K
      Pendor 125   34%  42K 950  250   20    0  6.4K 1.2K 1.1K   0   50   20  5.0K
     RedTape  65   61%  42K 650  125   10    0  6.5K 450  350    0   30   10  5.0K
      Wahbit  95   45%  44K 1.1K 200   20    0  4.8K 1.1K 1.6K   0   40    7  290 
       Amber  50   80%  42K 1.0K  75   15    0  4.3K 1.4K 3.9K   0   30   10   15K
    Temekula  35  100%  35K 950  250   45    0  5.8K 400  1.2K   0    0    0   35K
        Rook  80   49%  39K 1.5K 375   45  350  5.7K 550  2.0K   0   30   20  742 
     Parpara  85   52%  40K 1.4K 175   25    0  5.7K 600  1.2K   0   20    5  5.0K
     Myseria  80   52%  38K 1.8K 200   30    0  5.0K 1.8K 900    0   20    4  2.9K
     Thistle  95   45%  40K 1.3K 375   40    0  5.0K 1.4K 1.3K   0   20   10   10K
   IndustMec  70   50%  41K 1.0K 150   30    0  6.4K 650  1.8K   0   30   20  1.1K
   SiliconSo  55   79%  39K 850  175   20  500  7.2K 350  1.4K   0   20    4   10K
   Shakespea 140   36%  43K 2.0K  75   10    0  6.5K 400  450    0   40   10  285 
   fishing_n 105   42%  40K 1.9K  25   10    0  7.8K 1.1K 350    0   30   10  187 
       Limbo 115   33%  37K 1.0K  75   15    0  8.6K 750  1.3K   0   20    0  3.1K
     Kamoria  70   59%  39K 550  300   15    0  3.8K 950  1.2K   0   20    1  1.0K
    Armengar  85   44%  36K 700    0    0    0   11K 600  750    0   20    0   20K
    Bubastis  60   60%  36K 1.2K 200   35    0  5.5K 250  1.3K   0   10    0  1.4K
        Zern  60   69%  39K 900  200   25    0  4.2K 1.0K 700    0   20    0  1.9K
          RS  50   76%  37K 550  100   10    0  2.6K 600  2.0K   0   10    0  5.0K
   routerman  75   50%  35K 1.4K  25    5    0  3.0K 1.0K 1.6K   0   10    2  5.0K
     Iceland  40   90%  34K 800    0    0    0   13K 1.0K 2.6K   0    6    0   10K
    Mackland  35  100%  34K 700    0    0    0  7.1K 850  400    0    5    0   55K
         eno  50   69%  36K 300    0    0    0   10K  12  3.3K   0   20    0   35K
      Naraxi  35  100%  28K 1.1K   0    0    0  3.0K 950  700    0   20    0   15K
     MELINUS  35   50%  12K 600    0    0    0  3.6K 550  400    0    6    0   40K
    Zantonia  35   74% 7.8K 250    0    0    0  1.3K 150  600    0    8    0   35K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.0K  50% 1.4M  36K 4.5K 580  850  215K  37K  43K   0  970  220  415K

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Three weeks after start, October 28, 2002

I'm reporting today from a Tanugi tavern. Usually Octoberfest is a joyous time in Tanugi; however this year's celebration has been soured by a joint attack by NamNam and Thistle. Tanugi has lost two islands to NamNam and part of two others to Thistle. The Tanugians had a prolific exploration phase, so these islands were on the fringe of their empire. High Priest Matata is organizing his forces to strike back.

So far none of the fodder have fallen; however one of them escaped death on Sunday by dumb luck. Don't expect that to last too long. Cathouse was caught betting on the Giants and has gone broke this weekend; however he hasn't been broke over the update and should be fine if his citizens are productive enough.

Zirconia has proven to be a diamond in the ruff and has captured the yellow jersey. RedTape continues to lead the tech race. The tech leaders can now build submarines, and are producing a little over five tech per update.

There has been a regime change in MELINUS this weekend. We hope the new leaders will do a better job than the past. At this point some players have been asking about co-rulers or replacements. If you are interested in becoming a substitute or co-ruler, e-mail the deity at johny@frii.com with your usual country name, rank, and preferred email address.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company. Now if that Tanugi waitress would bring me another beer we can get back to your regularly schedule war.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Mon Oct 28 04:32:13 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Zirconia 165   47%  79K 1.3K 175   25    0   14K 5.4K 2.1K   0  100   10  4.7K
    Cathouse 120   68%  78K 1.6K 225   45  150   13K 1.6K 650    5   80    8 -247 
   976-SHEEP 175   57%  73K 1.9K 425   50    0   12K 3.5K 600    0  100   40  2.4K
         Ski 130   78%  74K 1.2K 600   65    0   13K 1.4K 600    0   70   30  2.3K
      Tanugi 145   58%  64K 2.1K 400   35    8  7.8K 5.8K 900    0   50   20   10K
        Spam 145   54%  66K 1.6K 275   40    0  9.7K 5.0K 800    0   60    2  1.1K
        beep  95   66%  58K 1.9K 400   45    0   11K 3.6K 1.1K   0   60   20  2.1K
      Pendor 125   49%  55K 1.4K 400   35    0  8.0K 1.8K 700    0   50   20  1.7K
       Junta 110   62%  53K 500  950  115    0  7.8K 4.0K 3.6K   0   20    0   30K
      NamNam  80   68%  43K 750  250   50    0  6.8K 2.5K 1.3K   0   20   10   35K
     RedTape  65   81%  50K 750  275   40    0  6.7K 2.5K 400    0   40   10  3.4K
      Wahbit  95   62%  50K 1.4K 400   45  350  7.8K 1.8K 1.3K   0   50    5  3.2K
     Parpara  90   70%  44K 1.9K 325   55  400  6.0K 3.0K 1.0K   0   20    9  5.0K
     Thistle 100   52%  43K 1.9K 700   70    0  6.2K 2.4K 1.6K   0   40   20   10K
     Myseria  80   57%  42K 1.9K 325   50    0  6.5K 2.3K 1.1K   0   30    9  347 
       Amber  60   73%  47K 1.2K 225   35    0  5.1K 1.5K 3.5K   0   30   20   10K
        Rook  80   62%  42K 1.8K 625   70  350  5.8K 1.2K 2.2K   0   30   20  2.7K
   IndustMec  75   61%  43K 1.2K 375   50    0  7.0K 600  1.4K   0   50   20  2.2K
   Shakespea 145   49%  49K 2.3K 225   25    0   11K 350  300    0   50   10  878 
   fishing_n 105   61%  45K 2.2K  75   25    0  9.8K 1.9K 150    0   40   10  1.5K
    Temekula  35  100%  35K 900  425   70    0  5.5K 300  950   10    0   10   35K
   SiliconSo  55   84%  40K 850  325   35  2.5K  11K 650  1.6K   1   30    8  4.6K
     Kamoria  70   75%  44K 1.0K 500   30  150  4.0K 1.4K 1.0K   0   20    6  1.4K
       Limbo 125   35%  39K 1.4K 300   55    0  8.2K 1.1K 1.1K   0   30   10  2.4K
    Armengar  95   65%  41K 1.0K  75   25    0   12K 850  700    0   30    0   30K
        Zern  60   86%  44K 1.6K 350   60    0  7.8K 1.2K 850    0   30    8  1.1K
    Bubastis  60   63%  36K 1.6K 350   35    0  5.0K 200  1.0K   0   30   10  1.3K
          RS  50   81%  38K 900  275   20  1.0K 3.5K 850  2.1K   0   10    3  5.0K
   routerman  75   56%  36K 1.6K  75   10    0  3.0K 950  2.0K   0   20    4  5.0K
    Mackland  35   97%  34K 1.4K  50    5    0  9.3K  32  850    0    5    0   60K
     Iceland  35   97%  34K 1.1K 150    0    0   19K 850  3.0K   0    8    0   15K
      Naraxi  40   84%  36K 1.2K  25    5  200  4.1K 1.1K 1.2K   0   20    0   15K
         eno  45   78%  36K 1.1K   0    0    0   14K  12  3.4K   0   20    0   50K
     MELINUS  35   51%  13K 700    0    0    0  4.7K 550  650    0    6    0   50K
    Zantonia  35   75% 5.6K 250    0    0    0  1.5K  17  650    0    8    0   40K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.0K  63% 1.6M  47K  10K 1.3K 5.0K 287K  62K  46K  20  1.2K 350  440K

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Three and a half weeks after start, October 31, 2002

Happy Halloween from the Ice World IV graveyard. Over the past three updates, several nations have been eliminated from the Ice World IV game. Todays report is on how not to play empire. Hopefully some of this tale will help the new players
lurking out there.

Here is the grave of MELINUS. MELINUS abandoned his county almost two weeks ago, and didn't notify the deity to find a replacement. Last weekend a player asked for an abandoned country that he could test the WinACE client with. However
his late arrival was too late to save MELINUS. Zirconia had already made plans and invaded MELINUS early in the week, claiming the first cap sack.

Here is the grave of Naraxi. Naraxi starved his civilians. Feeding your population is very easy to do. There are many reasons why it is important, but the most important is that starvation shows up in news. If you continually starve your
civilians, your neighbors will target your country -- thinking that if you can't figure out how to feed your people you won't know how to defend your country either. Five of Naraxi's six neighbors knew where Naraxi's mainland was and were racing to
be the first one there. 976-SHEEP won the race and claimed the second cap sack of the game.

Here is the grave of RS. RS was doing alright in the game. However when Pendor attacked, RS put up no effort to resist. Sure Pendor got the third cap sack of the game, but RS still had enough left to fight back. Reputation is very important in empire. If you have a reputation of not fighting back, all your neighbors will target your country. If you fight hard, in the next game your neighbors will think twice before attacking you. Empire players like having strong dependable allies. That's why you should always fight to the last man. So in the next game you can say that "I was RS that harassed Pendor for two weeks," not "I was RS that folded as soon as
I was attacked."

Here is the grave of eno. eno started the game very strongly and was in the top five during the first week. However eno failed to make any tech. When Ski's battleships arrived early in the week, eno had no weapons to defend himself with and
Ski scored the forth cap sack of the game. Unless you have made arrangements to get high tech weapons from an ally, all empire players should start making tech early and often.

Here is the grave of Iceland. Iceland was by far the most inquisitive player in the game -- filling the deity's mailbox with questions. Iceland was learning a lot from this game, but failed to be logged in for updates. Shakespeare attacked nine hours before the update taking but four coastal sectors. Had Iceland spent a couple minutes to be logged on for the update, Shakespeare could have easily been repelled. However by the time Iceland logged in one hour after the update, Shakespeare had claimed the fifth cap sack of Ice World IV.

This hole over here is soon to be the grave of Zantonia. Zantonia has done all of the above, and has only survived this long because most of his neighbors have built few (or no) ships or been involved in early bloody battles. However Spam is busily overrunning the Zantonia mainland, and may soon have the sixth cap sack, unless Zantonia suddenly shows up, for the update, and fights back.

Players who have lost their countries shouldn't take this too personally. Both Naraxi and Iceland tried very hard and learned a lot during this game. RS and eno showed some promise and understanding of the game. With a little more practice in the blitz games, they all may become good players.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Thu Oct 31 21:24:58 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Zirconia 205   67% 125K 2.2K 575   90    0   29K 9.1K 4.8K   2  140   20   10K
         Ski 175   84% 125K 2.7K 1.2K 155  1.9K  23K 6.3K 3.0K  30  140   50   25K
   976-SHEEP 210   78% 123K 2.8K 875  135  1.3K  25K 4.8K 2.4K   6  150   50   10K
    Cathouse 125   89% 117K 2.1K 925  125  150   16K 3.7K 1.6K   5  100   20   10K
      Pendor 160   77% 114K 2.2K 500   70  2.5K  15K 5.2K 1.9K   0   80   30   15K
        Spam 170   77%  97K 3.0K 725   85  500   16K 6.7K 2.4K   0   80   20  4.8K
      Tanugi 150   78%  91K 3.7K 1.1K  65  1.1K  14K 7.5K 900    2   60   20  5.0K
        beep 100   88%  80K 2.6K 1.6K 135    0   17K 5.5K 3.2K   0   70   30  2.8K
       Junta 110   76%  68K 1.0K 2.1K 230    0   13K 6.8K 5.2K   0   30   20   25K
      NamNam  80   89%  61K 900  850   95  1.0K  11K 3.1K 3.0K   0   50   10   15K
   Shakespea 165   79%  86K 3.0K 675   60  800   20K 450  1.1K   5   60   20  5.0K
     RedTape  70   90%  62K 1.8K 600  135  700   10K 1.9K 2.5K   0   50   20  1.5K
      Wahbit 100   79%  67K 2.3K 550   75  350   11K 3.0K 750    0   60    5  2.4K
   fishing_n 110   74%  73K 2.4K 175   45    0   15K 2.4K 650    2   60   20   10K
   IndustMec  90   76%  61K 1.7K 800   80  1.9K  13K 900  1.9K   0   60   20  1.5K
     Parpara  95   83%  55K 1.9K 350   65  800   11K 5.8K 1.6K   2   30   10  4.7K
     Thistle 100   77%  56K 2.4K 975  115  800  8.8K 4.0K 1.8K   1   60   20   15K
       Amber  65   90%  57K 2.3K 500   90    0  6.9K 2.6K 4.2K   0   40   20  5.0K
     Myseria  80   72%  49K 3.1K 800  130  2.5K 7.9K 3.0K 1.4K   2   40    9  371 
        Rook  85   80%  51K 1.6K 550   90  1.1K 7.0K 4.2K 2.0K   4   40   20  1.1K
    Armengar  95   91%  54K 1.5K 350   50    0   12K 5.5K 1.5K   0   50   10   35K
     Kamoria  70   92%  56K 1.4K 875   55  650  8.2K 4.0K 1.1K   0   30    8  1.3K
   SiliconSo  55   94%  45K 1.8K 700   85  2.5K  12K 1.5K 2.5K   1   40    9  5.0K
        Zern  65   90%  53K 2.5K 775  120  1.1K 9.7K 1.5K 1.1K   0   50    9  2.1K
       Limbo 115   36%  39K 1.5K 650  125    0  7.3K 900  1.0K   0   30   10  4.2K
    Temekula  35  100%  35K 1.3K 900  135  1.2K 5.4K 150  700   30    0   20   30K
    Bubastis  60   79%  42K 1.9K 625   90    0  5.2K 700  1.2K   0   30   10  1.2K
   routerman  80   66%  41K 1.9K 225   35    0  1.2K 1.3K 2.0K   0   20    6  1.5K
    Mackland  35  100%  35K 1.1K 250   25    0   11K 350  750    0    7   20   50K
     Iceland  10   92%  11K 750   25    4    0  8.7K  33  1.6K   0    9    0  721 
     MELINUS   4  100% 4.0K 750    0    0    0  4.5K 850  600    0    6    0   15K
          RS   4  100% 3.5K 150   10    3    0  950  400    0    0    8    0  4.0K
    Zantonia  10   78% 3.2K 150    0    1    0  1.7K  10  350    0    8    0   45K
      Naraxi   5   24% 1.4K 350    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    8    0   10K
         eno   0    0% 600    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0   30K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  79% 2.0M  62K  22K 2.8K  23K 380K 104K  61K  90  1.7K 520  400K

back to top

Four weeks after start, November 6, 2002

It's the day after the US election, and after counting the votes it is apparent that the Libertarians have been crushed and the Republicans have taken over again -- even in Ice World IV. Limbo's Libertarian dream of limited government if failing miserably. 976-SHEEP, Ski, Myseria and SiliconSorcerer are all voting with their battleships that Limbo will be the next country to depart Ice World IV. Governments with industry friendly policies and large defense budgets are dominating the power chart. The few wilderness sectors that the Greens have be able to get designated are being regularly shelled by battleships.

In the past weeks, Amber has angered some of his neighbors by invading both a beep and a RedTape colony. The citizen leader has recently responded by taking his colony back.

routerman joined NamNam and Thistle in attacking Tanugi. However on the following update, routerman was backdoored by Junta who has taken two islands on the opposite side of his empire. Leaders on both sides of this battle are busy making deals in smokey back rooms. This war will probably expand to include additional neighbors soon.

Parpara continues to hold off the combined forces of both Rook and Shakespeare. Parpara has managed to push Rook off one of his colonies and take a Rook colony. However Shakespeare will be growing stronger as he consolidates the territory taken from Iceland.

Mackland is surviving on the bottom of the power chart by making deals with his neighbors. He was recently seen paying protection money to Cathouse by allowing his neighbor to sack his capital.

One of the most vocal battles between nations has been between Zern and 976-SHEEP. This conflict began with Zern boarding a sheep vessel that had wandered into his seal hunting grounds. Since then Sheep vessels have been more aggressively mapping the prime seal breeding grounds. While this conflict has only been naval battles so far, one would expect that the seal breeding grounds will be replaced with petting zoos in the near future.

This has been the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcast Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Wed Nov  6 19:54:08 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Zirconia 210   91% 192K 3.4K 1.9K 240  1.8K  72K  12K  11K  20  200   40   20K
         Ski 220   85% 172K 3.7K 2.5K 340  8.6K  53K 4.8K 6.7K  70  180   70   15K
   976-SHEEP 220   94% 180K 3.9K 2.1K 320  4.0K  45K 4.4K 6.7K  20  210   60   10K
      Pendor 165   96% 159K 4.2K 1.7K 170   11K  23K 6.7K 1.6K  30  120   60  5.0K
    Cathouse 125  100% 142K 5.0K 3.7K 320  150   22K 3.4K 4.2K   5  140   40  4.7K
        Spam 180   93% 141K 4.8K 1.7K 245  1.3K  27K 7.2K 3.6K  10  110   20   10K
      Tanugi 150   97% 131K 4.8K 2.6K 145  2.5K  20K  11K 2.1K  20   90   30   10K
        beep 110   94% 107K 4.4K 3.1K 285  4.0K  21K 3.6K 4.5K  50   90   30   10K
       Junta 130   91%  98K 3.6K 3.6K 380    0   28K 7.3K 7.5K   0   50   30  4.0K
   fishing_n 115   95% 106K 3.6K 1.1K 125  2.9K  20K 4.4K 5.7K   2   70   30  5.0K
      NamNam  80  100%  84K 950  2.0K 255  5.0K  16K 3.8K 5.8K   4   60   20   25K
   Shakespea 175   93% 120K 3.2K 1.4K 140  3.0K  28K 400  4.5K  30   80   20  310 
   IndustMec  90  100%  88K 2.4K 2.0K 220  5.2K  17K 5.1K 9.2K  20   80   20  2.9K
      Wahbit  95   94%  87K 4.7K 1.2K 180  350   14K 4.4K 2.6K   4   80    6  2.9K
     Parpara 105   87%  82K 2.7K 1.6K 140  1.1K  15K 4.1K 1.9K  20   60   10  4.7K
    Armengar  95  100%  83K 3.4K 625  105  850   18K 5.5K 2.1K   0   70   20   40K
     RedTape  70  100%  68K 2.1K 1.3K 260  700   10K 1.5K 3.4K   0   70   30  5.0K
     Thistle 100   85%  77K 3.0K 1.6K 185  1.0K  12K 3.1K 2.9K  20   70   20   10K
     Myseria 100   78%  66K 3.8K 1.3K 225  5.8K  12K 5.0K 2.5K   8   50   20   15K
     Kamoria  70  100%  72K 2.5K 1.2K 105  1.1K  16K 4.3K 1.8K   7   40   10  5.0K
        Rook  75   99%  66K 2.2K 1.1K 150  3.0K  13K 4.5K 1.7K   8   40   20  5.0K
   SiliconSo  60   91%  57K 1.6K 1.8K 220  2.5K  13K 1.7K 3.5K   1   40    9  5.0K
       Amber  55  100%  55K 1.6K 750   95  850  7.9K 2.7K 6.5K   0   30   20   10K
        Zern  70   88%  62K 3.0K 1.4K 230  2.4K  12K 1.6K 1.9K   2   60   20  336 
    Bubastis  60   88%  49K 2.6K 925  125    0  9.2K 950  4.1K   0   40   10   35K
    Temekula  35  100%  36K 1.6K 1.5K 165  2.1K 6.1K   6  550   30    6   20   45K
   routerman  60   82%  46K 1.8K 300   30   31  1.2K 1.3K 2.5K   1   20    6  1.5K
    Mackland  35  100%  34K 2.2K 775  110    0  5.5K 750  450    0   10   20   30K
       Limbo  35   49%  20K 1.4K 1.1K 230    0  6.0K 150  150    0   20    9   10K
     Iceland   5   86% 3.4K 300   13    3    0  1.8K   5    2    0    5    0 -2.7K
         eno   0    0% 600    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0   30K
    Zantonia   0    0% 900  150    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    8    0   20K
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   47    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    6    0   15K
          RS   0    0%   0   29   10    2    0    0    0    0    0    2    0  603 
      Naraxi   0    0%   0  150    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    4    0 -733 
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  92% 2.7M  89K  48K 5.7K  71K 564K 116K 111K 380  2.2K 710  405K

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Six weeks after start, November 16, 2002

One would think that all the water in Ice World IV would protect most nations from attack. However this has not been the case.

Each of the big four nations now controls three start islands each. They are currently expanding their empires by lawnmowing weaker nations on the power chart. Zirconia devoured the the Bubastis empire. Pendor swallowed SiliconSorcerer. 976-SHEEP followed up several weeks of naval engagements with Zern by invading the seal hunter's homeland. Ski finished off Limbo's territory and is now has his sights on the Armengar lands.

Not all of these countries will not make it to the victory circle because the victory declaration will be limited to three countries. Pendor has been openly friendly with Spam and Tanugi. 976-SHEEP has been openly friendly with Wahbit and Shakespeare. Ski has made no public alliances; however, has often worked with 976-SHEEP. Both Zirconia and Cathouse have allied with Mackland, but havn't declared anything with each other yet.

In the past week several nations have flirted with bankruptcy. Both Shakespeare and fishing_nation went broke by cutting their budgets too close. Both have returned to solvency, but their temporary lack of funds gave Parpara a brief break in his multi-front war. Zern went into bankruptcy when 976-SHEEP bombers hit his bank shortly before an update. This small openning allowed Bungy a relatively easy kill of Zern. Wahbit went bankrupt during a Spam raid on the Wahbit capital. While Wahbit is still fighting, Spam was able to inflict critical damage while Wahbit was bankrupt for two updates, and other nations are beginning to eye some of the outlying Wahbit islands.

Several nations are facing attacks on multiple fronts. Amber was dismissed from the game by Real Life and the combined attacks beep and RedTape. routerman has been eliminated by attacks from Junta and Tanugi. However Cathouse jumped several Junta islands while he was engaged with routerman. NamNam has joined Shakespeare and Rook in attacking Parpara. Several other nations have also been assisting the alliance against Parpara. However Parpara has held ground against NamNam and Shakespeare while advancing on Rook.

RedTape continues to lead the tech race, holding over an update lead over most nations. The leading countries are now at jet technology. Doctor Temekula has the most medical research as several countries are beginning to make some research thinking of nuclear weapons in future even though no Ice World Game has reached nuclear tech yet.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Sat Nov 16 11:26:56 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
    Zirconia 265   98% 255K 5.0K 4.0K 605  3.5K  96K 6.8K  19K 170  400   80   35K
         Ski 295   87% 255K 7.0K 7.0K 955   18K  85K 4.7K 8.5K 170  340  110   40K
   976-SHEEP 270   95% 238K 5.8K 5.0K 625  9.9K  62K 6.9K  10K 120  320   90   15K
      Pendor 230   97% 217K 5.5K 4.5K 505   24K  80K 4.3K 6.0K  80  180   50  3.3K
    Cathouse 150  100% 184K 9.0K 6.3K 485  1.5K  31K 1.4K  10K  20  190   70   15K
        Spam 210   91% 190K 6.8K 3.3K 425  2.3K  44K 4.5K 5.7K 110  150   20   15K
      Tanugi 175   95% 164K 5.5K 6.7K 270  6.0K  33K 8.2K 2.9K  90  150   50  5.0K
        beep 145   95% 137K 4.6K 3.5K 410  4.5K  34K 5.0K 5.6K 100  120   50   10K
   Shakespea 185   97% 166K 5.0K 3.1K 360   14K  39K 1.9K 5.7K  90   90   60  465 
   fishing_n 110  100% 117K 4.7K 3.9K 530   11K  36K 3.7K  11K  20  110   40  5.0K
      NamNam  85  100%  92K 1.4K 4.3K 370  4.6K  23K 2.0K 8.3K  30   70   20   15K
   IndustMec  95  100% 101K 5.0K 4.5K 475   11K  19K 4.5K  12K  20   90   30   15K
       Junta 125   93% 101K 7.8K 5.9K 625  2.8K  29K 3.6K 5.0K  10   70   50   15K
     Parpara 105   95%  90K 2.1K 2.2K 270  1.8K  22K 2.5K 3.6K  60   90   20  5.0K
     Myseria  90   89%  85K 5.8K 2.7K 350   15K  17K 2.1K 3.5K  30   70   20   35K
    Armengar  75  100%  78K 4.2K 2.2K 265  7.8K  19K 2.5K 8.3K  80   50   50   30K
     RedTape  80  100%  76K 3.7K 2.5K 340  1.3K  14K 900  4.3K  30   80   30  286 
        Rook  80  100%  80K 2.7K 2.5K 190  5.3K  16K 3.5K 5.0K  50   70   30   10K
     Kamoria  70  100%  75K 3.5K 2.1K 275  3.1K  22K 3.4K 3.9K  20   60   10  4.0K
     Thistle  80   93%  69K 3.1K 1.8K 225  1.4K  13K 3.0K 4.4K  30   70   30  5.0K
      Wahbit  65   64%  54K 2.9K 725  185  550  8.7K 2.5K 3.2K   0   80   10  4.8K
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 1.7K 1.9K 265  1.7K 8.9K 250  2.2K  40   10   20   40K
    Mackland  35  100%  37K 1.6K 1.6K 185  900  7.8K 150  1.2K   8   20   20   15K
        Zern   5   87% 6.2K 1.0K 400   60    0  2.7K   0  350    0   40    6 -1.7K
   routerman  25   89% 6.3K 600    7   10    0  750  600  2.1K   0    8    3 -1.9K
    Bubastis   1   47% 2.5K 450  125   35    0    0    0  1.6K   0   20    0 -6.8K
   SiliconSo   1  100% 2.9K 300  300   50    0    0    0    0    0   20    2 -6.7K
    Zantonia   0    0% 900  150    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    8    0   15K
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   30K
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   47    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    6    0   10K
       Limbo   0    0%   1  400  125   35    0    0    0    0    0    9    6 -7.4K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  95% 2.9M 108K  83K 9.4K 152K 763K  79K 153K 1.4K 3.0K 970  360K
 

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Seven weeks after start, November 24, 2002

This is the Warlord reporting from the battlefields of Ice
World IV. Ski has taken over the yellow jersey as several of
the players of the larger countries are reaching their limits
on the size of country they can manage with only three hours
per day.

Three countries have been eliminated in the past week. Parpara
could no longer hold off against Rook, Shakespeare, and NamNam;
and abandoned his nation. fishing_nation became occupied by
Real Life, and couldn't defend his country against 976-SHEEP
and Ski. Junta has lost significant ground against Cathouse
and RedTape, but continues to fight on his mainland. Shakespeare
gained territory from all three dieing countries, and is now
one of the largest countries.

The battle between Wahbit and Spam is now the longest battle
of the game. This battle is also having a significant impact
on the formation of alliances between countries. Spam had
heavily shelled the Wahbit mainland, and was close to controlling
it, when 976-SHEEP intervened and attacked Spam's position on
the mainland. Spam has formed an alliance with Pendor and
Tanugi. Pendor is now battling 976-SHEEP near the ex-Zern
mainland. Wahbit has also been negociating with Zirconia for
assistance. Zirconia has also attacked some Spam outposts,
and Tanugi has sunk a Zirconia fleet.

RedTape continues to lead the tech race by almost a full update.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Sun Nov 24 22:06:13 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
         Ski 350   91% 311K 8.8K  12K 1.5K  30K 117K 3.3K  11K 300  400  140   20K
    Zirconia 280   98% 292K 6.1K 6.0K 900  8.3K 116K 5.0K  24K 300  560   90   20K
   976-SHEEP 330   94% 297K 8.6K 9.2K 965   27K 104K 8.6K  12K 240  430  140  4.7K
      Pendor 225  100% 227K 7.5K 6.8K 790   40K  82K 4.7K 4.5K 210  240   70  3.0K
    Cathouse 175   93% 201K 9.1K 6.2K 645  2.4K  46K 2.5K  14K  40  220   60  3.9K
        Spam 195   98% 196K 6.8K 7.1K 525  3.5K  46K 3.2K 5.2K 160  200   30  3.1K
      Tanugi 195   99% 189K 6.7K  11K 390  9.2K  46K 5.5K 3.9K 140  180   60  3.7K
   Shakespea 255   91% 207K 7.6K 6.8K 810   23K  46K 1.8K 9.5K 180  120  110  2.1K
        beep 155   98% 155K 6.5K 4.9K 500  7.3K  51K 3.7K 8.3K 180  120   60  5.0K
      NamNam 100   97%  98K 2.3K 6.6K 595  7.3K  21K 1.0K  11K  50   90   20   15K
        Rook 120   98% 104K 4.0K 4.4K 595  6.4K  30K 2.6K 7.8K 130  110   30   15K
     RedTape 115   91% 103K 5.0K 3.7K 340  8.2K  34K 1.1K 6.9K  30   80   30  129 
   IndustMec  85  100%  94K 4.0K 5.5K 765   11K  20K 6.2K  14K  30  100   30  5.0K
     Myseria  80  100%  84K 6.2K 3.6K 465   26K  19K 1.4K 3.0K  50   70   20   20K
     Thistle  75  100%  80K 3.6K 2.3K 350  2.5K  15K 1.7K 8.0K  80   80   40  4.6K
    Armengar  65  100%  66K 3.2K 5.3K 420  9.0K  22K 200  8.8K 100   40   50   25K
     Kamoria  75  100%  76K 4.2K 3.1K 445  6.2K  21K 2.7K 4.5K  30   70   10  2.7K
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 1.8K 2.5K 365  5.2K 7.5K  50  2.5K  30   10   20   30K
       Junta  45   96%  40K 3.2K 1.4K 215  3.2K 8.9K 1.9K 5.0K  30   20   40   20K
      Wahbit  50   68%  39K 2.5K 1.3K 190  300  6.1K 1.6K 2.2K  10   80   20  4.4K
    Mackland  35  100%  37K 1.4K 1.2K 230  850   12K 250  1.6K  10   30   30   10K
     Parpara  20  100%  13K 1.1K 700  115    0  3.1K 100  1.1K  10   60    1   35K
   fishing_n  10   92%  20K 900  1.4K 210  2.5K 3.5K 200  3.5K   3   60    8   15K
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   30K
    Zantonia   0    0% 900  150    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    8    0   10K
   routerman   4  100% 1.7K 200    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0 -6.8K
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   47    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    6    0   10K
        Zern   0    0% 650  800  225   60    0    0    0    0    0   30    2  -21K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  95% 3.0M 112K 114K  12K 239K 878K  59K 171K 2.3K 3.4K 1.1K 225K
 

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Eight weeks after start, December 3, 2002

Today we are reporting from the broad Zirconia front. Many nations have had to face multiple opponents during Ice World IV, and it is now Zirconia's turn. Earlier in the week, Zirconia and 976-SHEEP declared an alliance. Zirconia was already engaged with Tanugi and Spam who along with Pendor form the other major alliance in the game, when he was attacked by NamNam, Thistle, and Rook. This attack was partitally a response for Zirconia grabbing two small Parpara islands after Rook and NamNam had driven Parpara from the game. Zirconia losses were great over the Thanksgiving Holiday as he wasn't around from Thursday morning until Sunday -- missing two updates.

976-SHEEP is also engaged with multiple enemies, but hasn't lost as much ground. 976-SHEEP is currently battling beep, Pendor and Spam. This battle began as 976-SHEEP came to the aid of his ally Wahbit. Both Wahbit and 976-SHEEP have sacked
Spam and Pendor airports over the past week; however, Pendor just sank a major SHEEP fleet just this morning.

While this major battle goes on, Ski continues to be uninvolved and is munching on the small country of Armengar. Cathouse was attacked by Myseria mid-week. However Cathouse had just finished his invasion of Junta and quickly responded to Myseria by taking a pair of islands.

All twelve of the top countries have a plausible shot at victory at the end of the game. RedTape continues to lead in the tech race, but hasn't increased his lead over the past two weeks. The tech leaders can currently build SAMs. Cathouse has taken over the research lead and already has enough research to build the largest nukes even though technology won't reach nuke tech until January 1st.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Tue Dec  3 16:26:29 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
         Ski 370  100% 381K 8.7K  21K 1.9K  51K 139K 1.4K  16K 410  450  150   15K
   976-SHEEP 325   99% 327K  10K  13K 1.4K  40K 131K 4.1K  14K 400  410  160   10K
    Zirconia 230   96% 240K 6.8K 6.3K 1.4K  11K  85K 1.5K  18K 300  470   60  2.4K
    Cathouse 230   92% 262K  11K 9.2K 945  7.5K  72K 4.2K  18K  90  250   60  5.0K
      Pendor 225  100% 232K 7.5K 8.0K 860   49K  72K 1.4K 4.7K 240  270  110  4.9K
      Tanugi 205   96% 205K 7.8K  13K 450   11K  50K 2.4K 4.5K 200  210   60   10K
   Shakespea 255   99% 244K  10K  12K 1.7K  29K  61K 250   16K 240  180  160  4.0K
        Spam 195  100% 206K 8.9K  12K 880   16K  57K 1.4K 4.2K 190  190   70   10K
        beep 165   99% 165K 8.1K 6.5K 660   12K  65K 3.5K  10K 220  120   60   15K
        Rook 150   97% 141K 7.3K 6.0K 795   12K  33K 3.0K  14K 160  130   30  5.0K
      NamNam 135   88% 116K 4.0K 9.4K 870   12K  35K 750   13K  60  110   30  5.0K
     RedTape 120   99% 118K 5.3K 5.8K 535   12K  40K 1.1K 7.2K 110  100   30  1.7K
   IndustMec  80  100%  89K 4.3K 5.6K 895   12K  27K 6.1K  16K  50  100   30   10K
     Thistle  85   87%  82K 4.2K 3.9K 575  5.0K  14K 1.4K 7.7K 100  110   40   15K
     Myseria  70  100%  68K 6.5K 4.4K 625   27K  24K 1.7K 2.6K  60   70   30   15K
     Kamoria  80   94%  78K 4.2K 3.9K 590  9.2K  16K 1.8K 6.0K  50   60   10  4.3K
    Armengar  40   93%  40K 2.4K 4.5K 510  7.8K  12K 150  8.2K  80   30   40  5.0K
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 1.6K 2.4K 405  4.8K 8.0K  40  2.7K  60   20   30   60K
      Wahbit  55  100%  55K 3.0K 2.5K 345  550   10K  33  2.0K  40  100   20  2.9K
    Mackland  35  100%  37K 1.4K 2.7K 510  850   16K 150  2.1K  10   40   30  4.6K
       Junta  10   99% 7.5K 250   75   10    0  850  1.9K 2.1K   0    6    0   20K
   fishing_n   3  100% 3.6K 250  325   50  750    1    0  1.6K   1   20    8 -2.8K
     Parpara   0    0%   0  300  275   75    0    0    0    0    0   30    0   20K
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   30K
    Zantonia   0    0% 900  150    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    8    0  4.4K
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   47    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    6    0  5.0K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  97% 3.1M 125K 153K  17K 328K 966K  38K 191K 3.1K 3.5K 1.2K 190K

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Ten weeks after start, December 14, 2002

This morning we're reporting from the edge of the Empire black hole that causes Empire worlds to be shaped like a toroid and occasionally causes distortions in time. Ice World IV recently passed too close to the black hole as an upgrade was done to the server machine. It escaped without having to resort to a backup, but the past two updates had to be cancelled and some of the news reports are out of order.

On the field of battle, Zirconia continues to face off against five other nations. Zirconia has been holding on very well, and has recently been gaining ground on Rook. Surface ships are having a harder time navigating in the world as most nations are making heavy use of harpoons.

The 976-SHEEP dictator reports losing hundreds of planes and ships in the past week as he has exchanged an island with Pendor nine times. 976-SHEEP's latest tactic has been to station minimal fleets in the warzone to act as Pendor targets. "As long as penrod is spending time sinking my fleets, it's time he's not attacking my islands." Many nations of the world, have been using similiar tactics in order to run their opponents out of time.

Ski continues to be the fastest growing country. This is mostly due to strategy rather than tactics. Ski has continued to select to attack weak opponents at the right time, and has managed to avoid any conflicts with other powerful nations. Ski has finished off Armengar and has now seized onto Rook's recent weakness.

The last main battle is between Cathouse/Resvon vs. Shakespeare/Myseria. This battle began for the noblest of reasons -- Myseria was bored and decided to attack Cathouse. Cathouse has now taken back the island Myseria stole from him and few extra islands to boot. Resvon has attacked and taken an island from Myseria's biggest supporter, Shakespeare. This battle will only increase as the non-aggression pact between Cathouse and Shakespeare will end after the next update.

RedTape has changed his country name to Resvon. Some attentive countries had noticed that Administrator Derm was Mr. Ed spelled backwards. Mr. Ed took offense to the last report of not increasing his tech lead and has now stepped up production to increase it again.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Mon Nov 25 02:49:35 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
         Ski 425   98% 411K  11K  28K 2.8K  74K 168K 1.4K  20K 600  490  150   10K
   976-SHEEP 325   95% 313K  11K  18K 1.8K  50K 164K 4.0K  14K 570  450  150  4.6K
    Cathouse 240   98% 289K  13K  14K 1.2K 9.2K 101K 3.1K  21K 160  270   60   15K
    Zirconia 275   88% 242K 5.5K 5.9K 825   15K  93K 1.4K  17K 470  320   90  981 
      Pendor 225  100% 231K 7.8K 7.5K 880   50K  81K 350  3.5K 270  280  120  3.3K
      Tanugi 210   99% 211K 8.1K  13K 480  9.8K  63K 3.1K 6.6K 270  210   60  4.9K
   Shakespea 245   99% 258K  10K  14K 2.1K  35K  68K 300   19K 480  200  180  679 
        Spam 205   99% 211K 8.6K  12K 765   21K  54K 2.5K 3.8K 210  160   80  4.5K
      NamNam 125  100% 140K 2.8K  14K 710   16K  53K 650   16K  50  100   20  4.8K
        beep 165  100% 169K 7.5K 8.5K 790   18K  65K 3.2K  12K 230  130   60  3.9K
      Resvon 130   95% 124K 6.0K 4.3K 455   12K  39K 2.1K 7.2K 120  100   20  2.6K
        Rook 110   94% 110K 6.3K 6.9K 785   19K  21K 1.2K  12K 150  130   60   20K
   IndustMec  80  100%  89K 4.6K 6.5K 915   17K  28K 2.0K  16K 140  120   30  4.6K
     Kamoria  90   97%  84K 4.6K 4.8K 785  9.4K  19K 950  5.5K  80   70   20  3.6K
     Myseria  60  100%  65K 5.6K 5.2K 785   27K  24K 1.4K 2.9K  70   40   20  2.9K
     Thistle  70  100%  78K 3.4K 3.3K 550  6.4K  18K 1.1K 6.1K 100  110   30  3.2K
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 1.9K 4.5K 490  4.8K 8.2K  20  3.8K  60   20   30  115K
    Mackland  35  100%  37K 2.0K 4.2K 670  850   10K 150  2.5K  30   40   30  5.0K
      Wahbit  55   79%  46K 2.2K 1.2K 280  1.1K 8.1K 100  2.7K  50   80   20   10K
     Parpara   0    0%   0  300  250   75    0    0    0    0    0   30    0  3.4K
   fishing_n   3  100% 3.0K  46  100   10  750    1    0  600    0    0    0 -4.1K
       Junta   2   60% 150  100   75   10    0    0    0    0    0    6    0   10K
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   30K
    Zantonia   0    0% 900  100    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    7    0 -662 
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   42    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    5    0  2.9K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  97% 3.1M 122K 177K  18K 398K 1.1M  29K 192K 4.1K 3.4K 1.2K 170K

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Eleven weeks after start, December 24, 2002

Happy Holidays from Ice World IV. Once again an Ice World game has reached Christmas and required a pause in the game. Several players tried to end the game by declaring victory, but the declaration has been contested.

The Spam alliance has been defeated. Most of their countries still have significant power; however their will to fight is gone. Their collapse begun as they were unable to advance on 976-SHEEP and Zirconia dispite greater number and resources. Rook then became occupied by real life and lost much of his territory. In order to emphasize the point, Ski attacked beep's flank shortly after beep lost most of his fleet while attacking 976-SHEEP. Breaking your opponents will to fight remains a key of Empire.

With the collapse of the Spam alliance, Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia declared victory. Resvon and Cathouse have contested the victory. Resvon has a three update tech lead over three countries that have declared victory and nuclear weapons are only a couple weeks away. However several former nations of the Spam alliance have now pledged their support to the countries that have declared victory. So Resvon, Cathouse and their allies will soon face off against most of the rest of the world. Resvon and Cathouse will have to hold off more numerous troups until the nuclear card can be played.

This is the Warlord reporting for the Barbarian Broadcasting Company.

        - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
         as of Tue Dec 24 10:29:44 2002
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
         Ski 445  100% 434K  12K  35K 3.5K 107K 189K 1.1K  26K 770  580  170   20K
   976-SHEEP 335   99% 348K  14K  23K 1.9K  59K 150K 1.4K  13K 690  630  180   15K
    Cathouse 260  100% 301K  13K  19K 1.4K  18K  93K 1.9K  20K 210  270   80  4.8K
    Zirconia 290   89% 254K 6.0K 6.3K 1.1K  18K 124K 1.1K  15K 380  300   70   10K
      Pendor 225  100% 232K 8.9K  12K 1.0K  47K  74K 350  4.3K 380  300  130   10K
      Tanugi 210   98% 213K 7.0K  14K 325  8.4K  81K 1.6K 7.8K 320  170   70   50K
      NamNam 125  100% 144K 5.5K  17K 1.4K  18K  47K 450   20K 100  120   30   25K
   Shakespea 230  100% 246K 9.9K  16K 2.6K  39K  59K 300   21K 630  210  180  314 
        Spam 175   98% 181K 9.0K  11K 790   26K  54K 400  4.6K 230  150   80   30K
      Resvon 140  100% 135K 6.2K 5.9K 450   14K  36K 1.8K 6.9K 140  100   20   10K
        beep 140  100% 145K 5.3K 4.2K 500   16K  53K 3.1K  13K 260  110   50   15K
        Rook 110   98% 113K  12K 9.7K 850   29K  26K 1.3K  10K 160  120   60  2.8K
   IndustMec  80  100%  89K 5.8K 8.9K 1.1K  17K  33K 1.7K  17K 170  120   30   15K
     Kamoria  90  100%  90K 4.5K 6.0K 975  9.3K  34K 650  4.8K 130   70   20  4.5K
     Thistle  80   94%  80K 4.2K 4.0K 740  8.0K  21K 900  6.4K 130  140   30   20K
     Myseria  55  100%  59K 4.5K 6.5K 940   25K  19K 900  2.6K  80   50   20  1.6K
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 2.4K 5.6K 510  4.8K 8.8K   0  4.3K  50   20   30  185K
      Wahbit  55  100%  55K 3.3K 3.2K 495  2.0K  12K 100  2.4K 140  100   20   10K
    Mackland  20  100%  35K 500  3.3K 540  750  9.4K  50  2.1K  40   30   20   10K
   fishing_n   3  100% 2.2K  46  100   10  750    1    0  600    0    0    0 -2.0K
       Junta   1  100%  31  100   75   10    0    0    0    0    0    6    0   10K
     Parpara   0    0%   0  200  225   60    0    0    0    0    0   20    0 -4.4K
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   30K
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   42    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    5    0  991 
    Zantonia   0    0% 600    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0 -2.5K
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  98% 3.2M 133K 211K  21K 468K 1.1M  19K 202K 5.0K 3.6K 1.3K 365K

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Game Summary

Ice World IV is now over with Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia being declared the winners. All three of these nations followed similiar strategies. They each were amoung the leaders in number of exploritory ships built early in the game, and they found a lot of small free islands. This gave them the ability to grow faster than thier neighbors. The exploritory ships also allowed them to find weak neighbors first. They each bagged a newbie in the third week of the game (Ski/eno, 976-SHEEP/Naraxi, and Zirconia/MELINUS). Spam, Pendor, and Shakespeare were also following similiar strategies and had grabbed lots of land and bagged a newbie in the third week.

Cathouse had also made lots of ships early, and found a moderate amount of free land. Cathouse was ready to invade Mackland very early on, even before anyone else had done a cap sack. Mackland started off fairly well, but then started to give
his free islands away. I think he wanted to do what Wicked did in IW3, not realizing that the venture capital formula had changed. Cathouse had his entire army ready for an invasion, and I was logged on as Cathouse navigated a cargo ship over to check out the Mackland harbor only to find out that Mackland had moved his harbor. In the following telegrams, Cathouse was finally convinced to accept Mackland's offer of free supplies in exchange for allowing Mackland to live; and the Cathouse armies headed for Junta. For the rest of the game, Mackland allowed Cathouse to sack his capital each update and lived under Cathouse's protection.

Tanugi also got off to a fast start grabbing lots of free land. However this angered two of his neighbors who thought the High Priest Matata was being too greedy and overextended. Tanugi found himself under attack from both NamNam and Thistle. NamNam and Thistle had an undeclare alliance even before the first update. Tanugi fought well and only lost a couple islands despite a surprise attack, long supply lines, and multiple opponents. However by defending against the attack, he lost out on expanding against fodderous neighbors.

Early on the main battle was between Rook and Parpara. These two nations had a feud remaining from Ice World III, and ended up as neighbors. Note that this was not intentional -- start islands were assigned by a random number generator. Rook
immediately attacked Parpara. As the battle waged on, Rook convinced Shakespeare and NamNam to join the attack against Parpara. At first, Shakespeare only made a small effort against Parpara, but attacked with greater ferocity once he had defeated the newbie Iceland. Rook had to broker a cease fire between Tanugi and NamNam before NamNam joined the battle. Soon Parpara became frustrated with the time limit while defending against three opponents and left the game. However Parpara was holding on well until he departed.

Meanwhile Ski, 976-SHEEP, Zirconia, and Pendor had all moved on to thier second kill each against semi-experienced players. Ski moved in on Limbo who abandoned his country without any notice just before Ski attacked, which really annoyed Limbo's allies. 976-SHEEP and Zern had a long going naval battle going as 976-SHEEP sent a continuous stream of ships into Zern territory to map a spy on him. Bungy finally attacked, and quickly disabled Zern by bombing his bank right before an update. With Zern bankrupt, 976-SHEEP had an entire weekend to dismantle Zern's defenses and keep him broke by sacking Zern's capital. Zirconia attacked Bubastis who early drove his economy into ruin by building tech too fast too quickly. Pendor attacked SiliconSorcerer who had sent much of his fleet to assist Zern.

Spam got involved in a battle against Wahbit. This battle began over a single sector on a island these two nations both landed on. The two nations argued over who landed on the island first (for the record, Wahbit did land on the island one update before Spam did). Spam refused to give up the sector despite having found twice as much free land as Wahbit had, and threatened to take 35 sectors (the size of the start islands) if Wahbit took the sector. Wahbit ended up taking the sector, and the battle was on.

Tanugi, Spam, and Pendor were the first to declare a major alliance. With Pendor's help, Spam almost eliminated Wahbit. However Wahbit had friendly relations with 976-SHEEP, and Bungy rushed to his aid just as the Wahbit mainland was about to fall. Zirconia who had friendly relations with 976-SHEEP, promised aid to Thistle against Tanugi and Pendor. He also began cooperating with Wahbit to battle Spam. However Zirconia was also Parpara's ally in Ice World III. As Parpara was leaving the game, he gave maps of his territory to Zirconia so his former ally could grab part of his territory. This offended the Rook alliance which had driven Parpara from the game, and delayed Zirconia's aid to Thistle. Pretty soon 976-SHEEP, Wahbit, and Zirconia were facing off against Tanugi, Thistle, NamNam, Rook, Spam, Pendor, and beep -- with Zirconia facing the most opponents on the longest border.

Ski continued to avoid major battles against highly experienced opponents. First taking parts of fishing_nation whose defenses were compromised when his ally Limbo abandoned the game. fishing_nation quickly ceded his territory to 976-SHEEP and Shakespeare rather than allow Ski to get it. Ski then moved on to Armengar. Armengar survived early by appeasing Ski by abandoning all islands they shared. As Ski attacked, Armengar didn't try to defend any of his remote islands, but dug in on his homeland. Once Ski finally attacked the mainland, it took three updates for him to subdue it.

Spam was growing tired of the game and began to encourage his allies to give up. With Armengar gone, Ski finally got involved in the main battle by attacking Rook. However Rook had gotten busy in Real Life and quickly lost several islands to Ski and Zirconia. Rook agreed to peace, and Spam begged Ski to declare victory. Ski decided to ally with 976-SHEEP and Zirconia. He then gave notice to beep that he was ending their non-aggresion pact just a few hours after 976-SHEEP had sunk the main beep battle fleet. With most of his navy destroyed, beep was destined to lose several of his southern islands, and the Ski, 976-SHEEP, and Zirconia alliance declared victory.

This did not sit well with Resvon and Cathouse who had been pushing tech most of the game and were only a couple weeks away from nukes. They contested the win; however most of Spam alliance decided to support the win and turned on Resvon and Cathouse. Only beep decided to continue to oppose the win with Resvon and Cathouse. The battles in Ice World IV were mostly quiet over the Christmas period as nations moved armies for the new world order. Guns rung out again as the new year came. However that didn't last long as Cathouse had to withdraw from the game.

A full movie of the game can be found at http://empire.wolfpaw.net/map.mpg.

[Editor's note: a copy of that mpeg may be found here as well.]

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Final Power

Blue coloring on countries in the power chart indicates the winners of the game.
     - = [   Empire Power Report   ] = -
as of Sat Jan 4 16:01:49 2003
            sects  eff civ  mil  shell gun pet  iron dust oil  pln ship unit money
         Ski 463  100% 478K  13K  44K 4.3K 132K 206K 7.3K  28K 931  724  172   22K
    76636.64
   976-SHEEP 407   96% 410K  14K  36K 3.0K  65K 172K 1.3K  15K 885  702  189   50K
    49666.40
    Zirconia 350   91% 298K  11K  16K 1.5K  24K 141K 960   14K 515  433   65   85K
    37613.19
      Pendor 243   96% 241K 9.5K  17K 1.3K  47K  83K 283  6.8K 420  329  143   21K
    28707.48
   Shakespea 296   91% 302K  14K  20K 2.8K  46K  76K 296   23K 658  235  191   12K
    26475.80
      Tanugi 211   99% 218K 8.6K  19K 357   14K  99K 954  6.8K 410  203   79   76K
    25922.59
      NamNam 126  100% 145K 3.9K  16K 1.7K  20K  48K 364   25K 184  131   44   36K
    23549.06
    Cathouse 113   99% 154K 5.9K  13K 945  6.7K  43K 2.0K  16K  45  244   11   25K
    19282.10
        Spam 171   98% 169K  13K  11K 785   22K  77K 734  5.7K 217  139   77  9.5K
    16737.64
        beep 123  100% 127K 5.4K 3.7K 488   14K  43K 3.0K  11K 236   88   48   56K
    14615.71
        Rook 113   99% 120K 8.3K  12K 793   35K  40K 851   11K 158  117   55   68K
    12535.73
      Resvon 105   99% 109K 2.2K 3.2K 153   11K  33K 853  3.9K  69   63   16   42K
    12479.45
     Kamoria  89  100%  94K 5.2K 7.2K 1.2K  10K  40K 416  6.0K 159   81   15   14K
    10589.02
     Thistle  89   97%  87K 4.8K 4.4K 758  9.0K  23K 745  6.1K 147  150   37   22K
    10231.73
     Myseria  60   93%  60K 6.3K 8.3K 1.1K  24K  17K 657  3.2K 126   58   29  8.8K
     8241.67
   IndustMec  49   90%  51K 2.8K 4.5K 677  9.9K  16K 803  9.5K  54   78   13   25K
     6622.27
    Temekula  35  100%  37K 2.8K 6.4K 513  4.8K 8.7K  80  4.5K  62   24   27  245K
     5480.65
      Wahbit  55  100%  59K 3.2K 3.8K 502  5.4K  16K   2  3.2K 151  104   23   28K
     3636.12
   fishing_n   3  100% 2.0K  46  100    8  745    1    0  604    0    0    0 -1.1K
       98.88
         eno   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0   29K
       46.11
       Junta   1  100%  31   28   73   12    0    0    0    0    0    5    0  5.6K
       41.51
    Mackland   0    0%   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0  9.4K
       35.26
     MELINUS   0    0%   0   42    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    5    0 -404
        6.75
             ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
   worldwide 3.1K  97% 3.2M 133K 244K  23K 500K 1.2M  22K 199K 5.4K 3.9K 1.2K 770K

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Final Report

Blue coloring on countries in the report indicates the winners of the game.

Sat Jan  4 16:01:59 2003
# name tech research education happiness capital
0 Ice Barbarians 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
1 routerman 104.42 54.93 0.00 0.00 126,40
2 Tanugi 243.08 78.37 23.48 22.93 104,78
3 Armengar 181.07 70.68 0.77 0.00 29,53
4 Zantonia 80.36 54.93 0.00 0.00 -28,72
5 Bubastis 128.55 54.93 0.01 0.00 -114,84
6 Kamoria 252.53 64.69 28.08 13.30 37,87
7 Rook 217.73 54.93 28.81 18.02 -77,57
8 Temekula 209.87 143.78 48.13 0.00 -39,37
9 eno 80.36 54.93 0.00 0.00 71,21
10 MELINUS 87.52 54.93 0.00 0.00 -147,-93
11 Myseria 255.35 123.21 48.88 14.98 -156,18
12 Shakespeare 203.17 54.93 14.36 11.24 -157,19
13 Iceland 99.03 54.93 0.00 0.00 176,26
14 fishing_nation 146.58 54.93 0.03 0.00 -116,26
15 Limbo 128.30 54.93 0.01 0.00 -47,-1
16 Parpara 157.30 54.93 0.03 0.00 -157,57
17 Zirconia 241.57 108.82 18.68 10.62 -145,-89
18 Ski 243.44 102.09 23.93 11.57 7,11

19 Junta 158.60 54.93 0.05 0.00 145,37
20 Naraxi 90.83 54.93 0.00 0.00 -91,-7
21 Resvon 263.88 112.61 53.50 18.66 75,-13
22 Amber 133.56 54.93 0.01 0.00 96,-72
23 Mackland 187.32 54.93 8.59 0.38 182,-38
24 976-SHEEP 231.76 84.65 12.72 10.16 -131,-45
25 beep 244.31 107.74 24.39 0.00 72,-52
26 RS 107.29 54.93 0.00 0.00 69,99
27 IndustMech 252.83 137.91 24.88 24.77 142,-66
28 Cathouse 256.64 124.46 33.91 7.21 133,5
29 SiliconSorcere 133.28 54.93 0.01 0.00 -25,-35
30 NamNam 252.68 54.93 36.74 18.54 174,62
31 Thistle 251.48 54.93 26.62 18.83 156,-100
32 Zern 124.30 54.93 0.01 0.00 -61,-35
33 Wahbit 140.04 54.93 0.01 1.43 -122,-68
34 Spam 225.02 54.93 4.98 43.46 -9,-89
35 Pendor 252.28 85.04 24.67 0.00 9,-81
36 BBC 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
37 Lurker 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0
38 Mapmaker 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0,0

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Awards

And now the Subbies:

Both the yellow and polka-dot jersey went to Ski. With a lot of skill and luck, Ski was able to continue to expand to be the largest country and be on the top of the power chart. Not a single nation fought back against Ski. Limbo's last login was the day before Ski's attack. Even in the final battle, Ski honored his non-aggression pact with Resvon and allowed 976-SHEEP and Zirconia to actively finish off the opposition.

The green jersey goes to Resvon. Resvon pushed tech all game and had a four update lead over the Ski/976-SHEEP/Zirconia alliance and at least one update over everyone else.

The white jersey goes to Zern. Zern is being named the best new comer because he actively tried to resist 976-SHEEP. Even after his mainland had fallen, Zern was trying to get unbroke and fight back. Armengar gets honorable mention for digging
in on his mainland; however he didn't try fight back on any of his colonies.

The Hydra award once again goes to Zirconia for fighting off five opponents at once. Admittedly the fighting this time around wasn't as intense as IW3, but one has to wonder if Zirconia has five heads. Honorable mention goes to Bungy for holding off Spam, Pendor, and beep.

The memorial Mirk-o-Vision award for excellence in announcing goes to Tanugi. Matata's stories of world exploration and needing medical attention for Thistles were hilarious. Zern's announcements on Gargool and sea hunting were also amusing. As was 976-SHEEP's petting zoos, and Resvon's tech reports. No doubt Amber will show up and accuse the award's of being fixed.

The Jerry Jones award for Micromanagement goes to Spam. Spam went to great lengths and pain to micromanage his economy.

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Announcements

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 00:07:06 2002
zdone y

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 14:28:07 2002
}To all players, thi sis Zantonia, I am looking for anybody who may want to be an ally with me, get in touch wiht via telgram/flash.
}
}
}Zantol
}

Why am I hearing the theme song from "Jaws"?

Cathouse

> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Mon Oct 7 14:36:45 2002
} On Mon Oct 7 14:28:07 Cathouse wrote:
} }To all players, thi sis Zantonia, I am looking for anybody who may want to be an ally with me, get in touch wiht via telgram/flash.
} }
} }
} }Zantol
} }
}
} Why am I hearing the theme song from "Jaws"?
}
} Cathouse
}-- End of excerpt from Cathouse

I think the player who was rated "1" on the list has been revealed :)

VIU

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 7 14:43:46 2002
damn it... Now everybody knows I'm a "1" :)

decl w 16
Cathouse

> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Mon Oct 7 15:53:36 2002
} On Mon Oct 7 14:43:46 Cathouse wrote:
} damn it... Now everybody knows I'm a "1" :)
}
} decl w 16
} Cathouse
}-- End of excerpt from Cathouse

Yeah, killing you is always a safe bet to survive ;)

> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Oct 7 16:28:11 2002
he figured out how to send a message to everyone at once, that ought
to be worth a 3-4 rating at the very least...

> Announcement from Shakespeare, (#12) dated Mon Oct 7 17:38:27 2002
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24)  dated Mon Oct  7 18:04:17 2002
                                   __  _
    Hi boys!  Single White      .-:'  `; `-._
    Sheep looking for open     (_,           )
    farm  land  for   wild   ,'o"(            )}
    grazing and fraternity  (__,-'            )
    hazing.  V/MC accepted     (             )
    Call now 976-SHEEP.         `-'._.--._.-'
                                   |tag3


> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:17:44 2002
Alright, how many times can I be logged
in before it kicks me out .. and how many
minutes am I allowed to be on each time ..

Come on .. inquiring minds want to know.

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:20 2002
Never mind on the minutes .. found it...
will make my life easier .. sorta

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:39 2002
Anyone got a client that'll run on a NT box?

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:18:50 2002
Damn .. I'm bored .. I need to kill someone.

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:19:28 2002
Hot damn .. at least I'm not on the
bottom of the list again ...
Sheesh,

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 18:20:52 2002
Btw, for those of you who have notified
me... go fuck yourself. I'm not
changing my name. If this Amber
girl or suckass Lord Corwin dude shows
his face, I'm going to thoroughly
fuck him over and anyone that gets in
my way

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 7 19:18:57 2002
In fact, you're all nothing but a bunch of
panzies. If I had you in a blitz, I'd kick
all your asses

> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Oct 8 00:31:18 2002
} he figured out how to send a message to everyone at once, that ought
} to be worth a 3-4 rating at the very least...

Yep, definitely at least a 3. A one doesn't login, doesn't
break sanctuary, and forces the deity to replace him.

Since I have a country on the replacement list, Roddland the
one has been tossed.

Ice.

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Oct 8 07:25:20 2002
does the US and NATO have the SLOW_WAR option enabled or something?
it sure takes a long time to get all this red tape processed.
can't we just send in some commando's and take him down?


> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 8 07:40:28 2002
Amber,
WinACE runs on NT as a GUI app.
The Windows client from the Empire website runs in an NT DOS box.
Raw telnet is also an option...

> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Tue Oct 8 08:36:35 2002
anyone know who S or 7 is (from blitz.empire.cx)?

> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Tue Oct 8 09:41:15 2002
The first prophecy:

"MY world is bigger than the few huts you are living in. Go and
explore MY world. You will find good friends and you will have to
fight Evil. But those who anxiously stay in their place are not worthy
of MY loving kindness."

And so the Tanugians left their village and found out that they were
on an island. There was water all around, and Klaupe, a
young warrior, said: "I'll swim out into the world and will tell you
what we have to expect there!" and jumped into the water. Klaupe was
the best swimmer, he could cross the village's pond six times. The
Tanugians stood at the beach for hours, waiting for his return....

Then Matata, the priest, said: He must have found either good friends
and is now partying with them, so we should follow him. Or he faced
Evil and died, in which case we should follow him in numbers, face
Evil and crush it. And King Hakuna gave orders to cut some trees,
build rafts, and sail out into the unknown.

> Announcement from Bubastis, (#5) dated Tue Oct 8 15:17:13 2002
>> Announcement from (18) Ski dated Tue Oct 8 15:37:07 2002
>Amber,
>WinACE runs on NT as a GUI app.
>The Windows client from the Empire website runs in an NT DOS box.
>Raw telnet is also an option...

Or you can use ptkei.

> Announcement from Ice Barbarians, (#0) dated Tue Oct 8 16:23:54 2002
Just to make sure everyone is clear on the conditions for the
victory declaration, no more than 10% of 35 starting countries
means a maximum of 3 countries will be recognized.

To be fair to the players that did not play in the test game,
you can download a copy of the Ice World IV plane file at:
http://empire.wolfpaw.net/plane.c
Actually there was a last minute plane addition that wasn't
in the test game either.

The test game and real game have slightly different land
configurations. There is a lot of free land out there. And
a friggin HUGE amount of water.

Ice.

> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Tue Oct 8 17:09:19 2002

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 9 00:18:16 2002
Hot damn .. I'm on top .. told
you fuckers I'd win...
I'm declaring the top 3 players to
be the whiners of the game ...
Who dares to disagree.

> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 01:53:12 2002
Dear Amber,

The chance of you winning this game are about the same
as Mr Saddam being around to attend the next "Gassing
your neighbors" convention ... and for the same reasons.

> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Wed Oct 9 05:17:22 2002
Amber,
Your lack of iron production on the first update shows
all that you do not understand efficient edu and tech
production. You must make edu as soon as possible before
you civ population ramps up (exponentially). Tech production
is most efficient if you make a constant amount throughout
the game - even more so with log base 3. You cannot make
up the difference later no matter how much money you through
err... throw into it.

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Wed Oct 9 07:28:46 2002
Hard to argue with someone who claims to be
one of the top three whiners of the game...

Cathouse

> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 19:31:13 2002
From the top of his palace towers, the Sultan surveyed his minions below. From this vantage point, he could see from coast to coast in all directions. Clusters of igloos dotted the landscape, and the peasants went about their daily work clad in the heavy furs. In the mines and the forests they toiled and sweated to acculmulate the building materials of a nation.

The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion. "Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered, casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of warmth and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and forests of date palms as far as the eye can see. " He lifted his gaze to the foam crested waves on the horizon. "Somewhere out there, such a land exists."

The chronicals of Zern.

> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Wed Oct 9 19:35:26 2002
From the top of his palace towers, the Sultan surveyed his minions
below. From this vantage point, he could see from coast to coast in
all directions. Clusters of igloos dotted the landscape, and the
peasants went about their daily work clad in the heavy furs. In the
mines and the forests they toiled and sweated to acculmulate the
building materials of a nation.

The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion.
"Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered,
casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of warmth
and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and forests of date
palms as far as the eye can see. " He lifted his gaze to the foam crested
waves on the horizon. "Somewhere out there, such a land exists."

The chronicals of Zern.

> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Wed Oct 9 19:42:51 2002
>> Announcement from (32) Zern dated Thu Oct 10 11:28:29 2002

>The Sultan's eyes furrowed and he frowned in a concerned fashion.
>"Ah, my people deserve so much better than this" he muttered,
>casting his eyes across the icy landscape. "I dream of land of
>warmth and plenty. A land of rich deep soils, fertile seas and
>forests of date palms as far as the eye can see. "

"warmth and plenty"..."deep"..."fertile"..."date"..."palms"....

Is this Zern-speak for "The Sultan wants to pound sheep"?

Administrator Derm

> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Thu Oct 10 02:04:12 2002
From his youth the Sultan had sailed the shallow waters of the Bay of Zern, honing his seamanship by
racing his brothers around the floating icebergs and hunting the Zern fur seals for their sweet meat,
thick furs and the tallow for candles. But that was so long ago ...
long before the ice had moved down
from the north and enfrosted the landscape in a deep winter. Where
once the people looked forward to a brief summer, now the ice was
everlasting.

The Sultan however, was an optimist. The climate, while not
without its drawbacks, did confer a certain beauty to the landscape
that did not go unnoticed. In the early morning, the first sunlight
shimmered and sparkled across the ice. The cry of sea birds of every
kind filled the air, and penguins,
seals and walruses lazed on the rocky beaches. The peace
and tranquility of the landscape was breathtaking.

The Sultan smiled and called to his servant. "Fetch my harpoon ...
we're going hunting."

The Chronicals of Zern.

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 10 14:03:34 2002
the suspense!

> Announcement from SiliconSorcerer, (#29) dated Thu Oct 10 17:38:46 2002
Suspense, you said it!

So did he find the sheep? What did he do when he did? Was that him with the sheep in the URL posted on the newsgroup?

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Thu Oct 10 19:52:17 2002
sorry, the URL you mentioned has no affiliation with 976-SHEEP.
however, the following URL is:

http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/bungholio/SheepDungeon.html


> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Oct 11 03:20:39 2002
There is a story, that had been told since time immemorial,
to the children of Zern. It is about a monster
that lurks deep in the icy seas. Although no-one has actually
survived to give an eye witness
description of this monster, it is believed to be massive
and terrible. It lives in the seas surrounding
Zern, although it is not know how far its natural range
actually extends.

Many a grieving widow was made the day that their husbands
met this monster on the high seas, in the
small fishing boats that troll the waters of the Grand Straights
of Zern.... boats that disappeared without
a trace .. into the icey depths. They call it "Gargool .... the fiend
of the sea, monster of the depths and the eater of ships."
But as I said ... this is only a story for children.

The Chronicals of Zern.

> Announcement from Tanugi, (#2) dated Fri Oct 11 04:58:40 2002

The fourty-second day of the journey...

"we are out here far too long. No land in sight. We were crazy to go
on this trip. Where is Matata, the priest?"
"He's in the cabin, for his rituals, my king."
"Have him come up on deck."

"King Hakuna, what a pleasure to see you. How can I serve you today?"

"Matata, I'm worried. We are at sea for weeks, haven't seen land since
we left Tanugi. Our food reserves are low, we reduced rations three
times already."

"Buuurrps. Excuse me, my King. We are on a mission, our Gods want to test
us. We should be patient, the new land is not far away. I learned this
when I sacrificed some food this morning."

"Uh, Matata. You are the priest. Your faith in the prophecies seems to
be endless. You even don't seem to suffer from our food shortage."

"Food will be plenty in the new world, Hakuna. We shall not listen to
our stomachs. And would you please now excuse me - I want to go back
to the cabin to the rituals. I just had a vision that the Gods require
another sacrifice of holy beer."

> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Oct 11 05:08:48 2002
Beer. Beer!
Did someone mention beer? And Holy Beer at that?

You know, they had a sign up over the door leading into
the Leasdership Class that said:

"Beer and BTU's Don't Mix"

I never passed that class, go figure.

So Tanugi has some beer. The hunt is on!

> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Fri Oct 11 05:14:21 2002
Starvation *again*?
<look of unbelief>

Didn't anybody sent those guys some tips on how
to feed their population?

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Fri Oct 11 07:37:22 2002
wow there's lots of water out there. I think we should all go out
and rent the movie "waterworld" for inspiration. that would be a good
homework assignment for everyone, and to help kill idle time waiting
57 more hours for the next update. besides, that kevin costner guy
is pretty cool.

976-SHEEP


> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Fri Oct 11 19:08:41 2002
hmmm ... Treasure Island might be more exciting.

> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Fri Oct 11 21:33:16 2002
i want another update

> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Fri Oct 11 21:57:46 2002
Vote "y" for zdone :)

> Announcement from IndustMech, (#27) dated Sat Oct 12 12:08:20 2002
y

> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 05:04:42 2002
What the Empire News will read:

Rook civilians starve in disasterous famine.

What will be published in the the Castle Daily:

Headlines:

Migrant workers go on strike.
No food in the supermarkets
Emergency workers sent to the farm district
Strikers sent to Gulag
Anti-war protesters march on capital.
"There's enough food on each ship
to feed 2 counties!! Why are we
looking to colonize when we can't feed
ourselves" Helen Waite, protester
Naval Commander-in-Chief recalled for incompetence.
"All you see is sea? What kind of response is
that?"


> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 05:04:56 2002
What really happened:

Stupid ruler, juggling multiple RL responsibilites,
including helping daughter get to the next level on
Pokemon moves civs out of 'a' to 'c' without
checking impact on food production.
The whole reason was to improve BTU production
when (now if) islands were/are ever discovered....
Burned over 100 BTU's moving uw's to an empty
sector to starve them off without affecting
("significantly")
the rest of production, and juggling civs
to save their frickin' asses.
This country is on a maintenance diet, no
growth thus update. Only 8 food short for
starvation, a whopping 116 for no growth...

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered...

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 14 10:52:54 2002
In the interests of fair play,
this is to inform you that I have
laid claim to all areas out to 25
sectors from my most northern,
eastern, western and southern shores.

Anyone disputing this statement may
file a complain with the Bureau of
Extra-Regional Affairs, C/O W.E. Grabbum
Or
You may contact our attorneys,
Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.

Your cooperation in vacating all structures
and or occupied lands will be greatly
appreciated.

> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Mon Oct 14 11:56:48 2002
--------------------------------------
In response to Extra-regional Affairs:
Since your dept is interested in
'fair play' all nations complying may
assume to be compensated at market value
since this appears to be a 'eminent domain'
case.

Ambers accountants should calculate the FMV
as the future value of all cash streams
as generated from 'v' and 'b' sectors
using a generous interest rate and exchange
funds into the selling nations monetary
unit.

The Bank of Thistle is expected
to earn a commission for all exchanges.


> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Oct 14 12:53:46 2002
is there any way we can convince the deity to enable the zdone function?
this waiting 30 hours per update is unbearable!
I'd vote for the formula for a zdone to occur when 1/2 the active countries
+5 vote yes. Thus, if you are one of the pansies that wants to de-cap,
then you do not count in the equation. so with 35 active countries,
that makes it: 35/2 + 5 = 22.5 zdone's. That's not unrealistic.
SirShaggsalot


> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Mon Oct 14 14:15:40 2002
It should be 100% to force the update. Some people might not log in till right before the update in these early stages since it's unlikely that anybody will attack them yet.

Unless you'd rather have people quit when they come in and find an unexpected update happened while they were away.

Cathouse

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Mon Oct 14 15:21:27 2002
We've heard an argument for and against
a proposed change in the zdone formula.

What say the people?

> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Mon Oct 14 15:51:25 2002

bZdone = true

> Announcement from Thistle, (#31) dated Mon Oct 14 15:53:41 2002
Keep the update schedule as is.
We all knew the schedule when we
joined the game. Some people may
not have joined if the time between
updates were any sooner.

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Mon Oct 14 17:08:55 2002
re: zdones
ok, points well taken. I guess I am the only one without a life and
lives update to update. does nobody else log in hourly to check to see
if somehow mob_access got accidently turned on or something?

anyway, just kicking back some cold ones here, listing to some Rammstein.

976-SH33P


> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Mon Oct 14 17:37:22 2002
I'd vote for mob access in a heartbeat.

> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Mon Oct 14 18:06:15 2002
You've got to admire Bubastis ... he's
cranking tech and building ships ... sadly,
he hasn't found a spot of land and now we are
all hoping to see him go broke ...


> Announcement from Zern, (#32) dated Mon Oct 14 18:54:50 2002
I'd vote for 15-24 hour updates ... one a day
is not unreasonable .. with no updates on
weekends. 30 hours is too long.

People more than likely joined this game
as it is the only one happening .. more than
they joined for the 30 hour updates.

Why don't we have a vote. Someone put forward
3 update options ... and everyone votes.
Having a set time for updates is better than
using the zdone option ... because you know
in advance when the update will be... so there
are no surprises.

Am I making sense?


> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Mon Oct 14 19:22:49 2002
spam mail sez - "Give your hand a break, this mouse works!"

hmmm....nah, some things are better the low-tech way.


> Announcement from fishing_nation, (#14) dated Mon Oct 14 22:59:49 2002
?> Announcement from (32) Zern dated Tue Oct 15 02:50:49 2002
? I'd vote for 15-24 hour updates ... one a day is not unreasonable
? .. with no updates on weekends. 30 hours is too long.
?
? People more than likely joined this game as it is the only
? one happening .. more than they joined for the 30 hour updates.

I can not speak for everybody, but I joined this game largely due
to the 30 hour updates. I wouldn't mind another week of 15 hour
updates but I am playing in more then just this game *and* trying
to have a life, a 40 hour/week job and a university study, all at
once.

?Am I making sense?

A happy fisher.

> Announcement from Temekula, (#8) dated Tue Oct 15 05:18:53 2002
It seems every game has a spasm of bored people at the
beginning wishing for a faster update schedule. Back
in the day, the 4 update/day games had people whining
for 6 a day, today it is whining for q24hours instead
of q30 hours.
Of course, the deity announced the game a certain way
for a reason, and its fair for the players to assume it
will stay that way.
Enjoy the brief respite. In a week or two, you will
either :
a) be dead
b) be busy killing

In either case, unless your life consists of an anal
retentive production of chips/cheese/salsa and photo
ops using an inflated sheep (see Bungy's web site at
www.angelfire.com/empire2/bungholio) then you hopefully
have better use for your time than playing 6 hours/day
of empire ... or playing 30 minutes/day and whining for
5.5 hours about how you want zdone updates.

Oh, another suggestion is to join a blitz when you are
bored ... and take your friends with you.

> Announcement from Parpara, (#16) dated Tue Oct 15 05:21:59 2002
I rather expect a switch to 60hr/update in a couple of months.

-- VIU

> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Oct 15 10:54:22 2002
what idiot screwed up the territory command?

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Tue Oct 15 11:06:06 2002
Dear Temecola,
Thank you for your kind feedback on my website. It's positive
feedback like yours that inspires me to greatness. If you have
any requests for sheep poses, perhaps we can arrange a 1-on-1
custom photo session. Call 976-SHEEP to book a reservation.
Regards,
Shaggs Radammas, VP Customer Service


> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 15 11:10:47 2002
beep,
You can blame Ionica for the terr command changes.
They are useful, and very confusing to use.
Ski

> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Tue Oct 15 11:28:53 2002
bastard just wanted to screw us over after he retired, that's my guess.

decl host Ionica

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 15 13:16:40 2002
I wanna see some practical examples
of the terr command ... egads, this
is just damn confusing

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Tue Oct 15 13:36:22 2002
The new territory commands are, I think, a way to help
the people who still use a text based client to keep up
with the winace whippersnappers. Territories don't have
as much value if you are using winace. The thing that
pissed me off the most about the change is that "ter" was
no longer a good abreviation for territory, you have to
use "terr".

Cathouse

> Announcement from Ski, (#18) dated Tue Oct 15 13:48:33 2002

Cathouse,

I disagree. I use the new territories and I use
WinACE. I will sometimes use a territory for
che management, another for distribution area
management and a third for highway planning
when playing in a large land map game where
realms are not really useful. The later versions
of WinACE include the ability to shade the map
based upon values such as the territory.

Ski

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Tue Oct 15 14:03:31 2002
Still, since I'm using a "text" based
client ... I'd like a practical example.
the Info doesn't do it for me ...

Thanks

> Announcement from Cathouse, (#28) dated Tue Oct 15 15:58:11 2002
Ski: I didn't say that territories had no value, just
less value to people using winace. I find them
critical to gameplaying with a text based client, and
merely handy with winace.

Amber: Read Ski's last post for examples.

Cathouse

> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Tue Oct 15 17:00:00 2002
today we commemorate beep's great uncle,
e e cummings, born today in 1894

no capital letters in annos till the update, eh?

> Announcement from Rook, (#7) dated Tue Oct 15 17:03:19 2002
territory and winace

i lurked r.g.e for a couple of years and tried the
empclient but failed miserably until winace was
released

winace is was got me into empire

i use territories *a lot*, but have not figured out
how to use the multiple territory feature with winace,
i think that will be of more benefit to a text client
than graphical

(do you realize how hard it is *not* to capitalize while you
type when you have been doing it for 35 years...)

> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Tue Oct 15 21:51:08 2002

duuhhhhhh.... Gee TC.
What's a territory???

> Announcement from Armengar, (#3) dated Wed Oct 16 00:05:55 2002
territory

The only use I make of them is to specify different
geographical regions as territories (instead of realms),
because they're more flexible than realms. Typically
I have a different territory for each warehouse.

Sinari

> Announcement from beep, (#25) dated Wed Oct 16 00:10:57 2002
how come easy_bridges is disabled?

> Announcement from Junta, (#19) dated Wed Oct 16 02:32:47 2002

Yea, why is that?
Hmmm... Seems like a conspiracy to me.

> Announcement from 976-SHEEP, (#24) dated Wed Oct 16 20:10:40 2002
so, it seems N Korea has nukes... big surprise there?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=North_Korea


> Announcement from Mackland, (#23) dated Wed Oct 16 23:45:14 2002
big deal
we have our abm's, right???

RIGHT!???

> Announcement from Amber, (#22) dated Wed Oct 16 23:49:21 2002
-*- Ministry of Peaceful Anexation -*-

Please, allow me to reiterate, that
the Foreign Affairs Minister has given
the policy of this country. We claim any and
all (developed and non-developed) area's
out to our rightful national border -
Hence forth anything beyond our national
borders will be considered International territor
err .. damn scribes...
territory. However, anything with
25 sectors is rightfully considered
- who the hell gave a gurls name to
this stupid country anyway and is there
anyway I can change it? - to be part of the
Amber nation.

All complaints may be delivered via a
war declaration to Ice Barbarian.

After all, he did receive a keg for
allowing me into this game. And btw,
has anyone heard from that jackass
Lord Corwin? This is supposed to be his
country. He's the only one I know of who's
a friggen pansy-ass. At least he
could have used the name MunchMunch.
A hellava lot better than AMBER!
God! What a fucken moron.

> Announcement from RedTape, (#21) dated Thu Oct 17 00:16:37 2002

Ice Barbarians: RedTape Says Has Nukes
By IDO IDO, Barbarian Broadcasting Company Writer

RedTape (BBC) - In a startling revelation, RedTape has told the Ice Barbarians
it has a secret nuclear weapons program, the Warlord said Wednesday night.

Spokesman Warlord said RedTape was in "material breach" of an agreement under
which it promised not to develop nuclear weapons before technology and research
levels permitted.

The commitment had raised hopes for a nuclear-free Ice World IV, but that hope
is dashed for the time being.

The two countries had just resumed high-level security talks less than two
updates ago for the first time in nine years. It was during those discussions
that RedTape informed the Ice Barbarians of its nuclear activities.

"We seek a peaceful resolution of this situation," the Warlord said. "Everyone
in Ice World IV has a stake in this issue and no peaceful nation wants to see a
nuclear-armed RedTape."

"The Ice Barbarians call on RedTape to comply with its commitments under theagreement and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable manner."

Ice Barbarian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said RedTape
told Ice Barbarian officials that it is no longer bound by the agreement.
The officials report that Administrator Derm was believed to have said "Get
stuffed!"

The Ice Barbarians have been suspicious about RedTapes's nuclear intentions
for some time despite the agreement.

A Barbarian Intelligence Agency report previously said that during the last
few updates, RedTape "continued its attempts procure technology that could
have applications in its nuclear program.

"We assess that RedTape has produced enough uranium for at least one, and
possibly two, nuclear weapons."

Assistant Secretary of Ice Nanoo Nanoo visited RedTape several updates back
and demanded that the country address global concerns about its nuclear and
other weapons programs.

In response, the RedTape government accused the Warlord's special envoy of
making "threatening remarks" and subsequently released pictures of him being
intimate with a small flock of very furry sheep.

A source said Nanoo also raised with RedTape evidence that RedTape may have a
uranimum-enrichment program. The program, which the Ice Barbarians believe
would only be used to develop a nuclear bomb, began before the first update,
according to the official.

Surprisingly, Administrator Derm of RedTape confirmed the allegation. "Yeah,
we're working on making a big-ass bomb. And we reserve the right to
indiscriminantly use it."

Apparently RedTape civilians agree. A recent nationwide referendum for a
new term in office for Administrator