Anyone still playing Empires?|1.) Yes

What's your favorite game these days?|2.) Not realy sure, I like CoD, BF1942, Commandos 3, Soldat, and empires alot. Btw, anyone tried united offensive for CoD? I was thinking about getting it.

Have you looked at R&F yet?|.3) Not realy, not interested to much. These game designers wont take that extra leap and get good graphics and good gameplay+realism.

What do you think of AoEIII & EE2?|.4) Hav'nt realy looked at either one.

Let's get up to date...|5.) Erm, okay

Anyone still playing Empires? Yes.
What's your favorite game these days? No idea now. MoH franchise now sucks because of EA.
Have you looked R&F yet? Yeah. I might get it, if developers will give better support than in Empires.
What do you think of AoEIII & EE2? AoEIII looks amazing. EE2, no, doesn't feel much like a sequel to me.

Sadly uninstalled Empires a few weeks ago.

I'm at a lack of a good game these days. I finished GTA:SA recently and now completely lost. Been getting in a few games of BF1942, been playing that for at least 3 years now.

Occansionally looking at R&F when it pops up on radar, too early for any real conclusions to be made and many months still left.

I really was saddened to find EE2 didn't have a decent scenario editor. A real pity to the history of HG's RTS supported games. The gameplay itself just didn't catch with me although I applaud a lot of the innovative features they tried. I used to write a lot of theory game threads here with similiar thoughts that EE2 had.

AOE3 is still not out. But the game does look absolutely amazing. I may just patch up my rift of the last 3 years with Ensemble, happy after all these years they finally went back to the historical RTS. Though their persistent Home City seems like a sham to me to make addictive play, but who knows, maybe it'll be fun.

Anyone have suggestions on what to play? I had planned to switch to BF2 but my video card was one of the ones that got axed.

Anyone still playing Empires? Yes

What's your favorite game these days? I play the Battlefield Franchise, Halo PC, and Empires a lot

Have you looked at R&F yet? I've heard that they are leaving Activision, so as CS said, perhaps we'll get some better customer support.

What do you think of AoEIII & EE2? I've heard wonderful things about AoE3, nearly won some awards at X-Play's
Best of E3 Awards, but F.E.A.R. took the PC award. EE2, I have only heard about here, and poeple here don't seem too thrilled with it.

Empires, Yes

Empires

I will probably buy R&F because I like SSSi games so much. They might patch it, they might not. It will probably depend on sales and on how many ppl play multiplayer. If they only see 200 ppl on R&F's lobby they probably wont patch it.

I need to check out AoE and try newest ee2 demo still

It's encouraging to know that there are still people (here) who play Empires. While I only play online a couple of times a month, it is still enjoyable when played with guys you know, as we (R&F staff) did a couple of weeks ago.

You should put me on your IM list - my contact info is located in my profile. If we get another bunch of good guys together, you should consider joining us for a day/eve for some GGs.

Rise & Fall is SSSI's next game, and while I have always shared MP concerns over medium-long term support of their games, I think this time may be different. Partially, because I think R&F will be far more successful than Empires, but also because this is Midway's first foray into PC gaming, and I think they want to be successful with this effort.

R&F is probably the most ground-breaking RTS game to hit the scene since AoK - it has the core concepts of a true RTS, but has some elements that make it entirely different and refreshing. It has elements that have been on the RTS gamer's wish list for a long time, including *real* formations and truly realistic naval warfare. Add to that the hero mode element of the game, and you've got something *really* special!

Drop into the forums at R&F: http://raf.heavengames.com and check it out. Post your thougts, and join a growing community! But keep playing Empires with friends, and join those of us who still enjoy playing the game the right way. It doesn't matter how good you are, we'll figure out a way to put together some fun matches. It's still a ton of fun played with the right people....

Quote:

If that is how you feel than take the noob on your team buddy.

Actually, some of most enjoyable games I've had have included noobs

But yes, some of the least enjoyable games have been with noobs

It's like Forest Gump said, "you never know what you're gonna' get"

I once had a 2 v 2 game with a total noob as ally, and had to take on two others from minute 1. The result was I smoked the other 2 guys and my ally never died completely. Now that was fun

Of course, there were plenty of times that I had allies building walls and playing as Germany or UK thinking that they would pwn everyone because they were so uber... and they had no clue how to do anything but boom. Yuk. Those games sucked.

[This message has been edited by Chonaman (edited 08-17-2005 @ 09:43 PM).]

I once played a game. Twas 2v2. Me (UK) and Germany vs two other guys. The rule was no rush for 30 min. My guy rushed with one tank at the beginning, and then sent a V2 over. The other guys said somethin like "Hey, no rush" and he said something like "f*ck off, I can rush if I want". He sent a few more soldiers and tried another V2, which was promptly shot down. I began talking with the enemies, and they asked me to tell my partner to stop rushing. I asked him nicely, and guess where the next V2 was targeted!? He hit my base and decimated it. I stood no chance when the enemies finally got sick and rushed our island. They weren't going to attack me, but they figured 2v1 against a crippled nation wouldn't be fun; I agree personally...

Who ever said that war was ever fair? That's a simulated war for you...

ok, if you see me on I will play with you guys. Some of you have my msn as well. my name on gamespy is [AIrBoRnE]_gamergc

I actually loaded up my Europe map the other day and played a diplomacy game online. The game was really enjoyable so I’ll run through a quick summary, highlighting the best parts.

The settings for the game were as follows.

Ages: World War – World War II
Resources: Standard
Teams: Diplomacy
Historical Starting: Yes (This means that civilizations start in their historically correct location)
Game Variant: Standard
Game Mechanics: Infinite Resources (The resources on the map never deplete)

I started the game as Great Britain, which is probably the worst country to start as, as you are confined to the British Isles initially and it makes expansion difficult. I quickly allied with Russia and Italy. While Spain, France and Italy allied with each other. Germany dropped out the moment the game began, so it was just the five of us fighting for control of Europe.

I went with the boom approach, pumping out lots of citizens, and quickly moved to grab gold mines in Scandinavia, Ireland and Germany. In order to protect the English Channel I built a series of fighters, bombers and battleships. However, France built numerous artillery pieces to counter my navy and started to bombard my costal defenses and battleships. I fought back with fighters and bombers, but Spain quickly arrived in Northern France with mobile AA units. Suffice it to say, I lost the first battle of the English Channel.

During this period of time, I had not remained idle in other parts of Europe; in Poland I built an extensive military base near Russia, in Scandinavia I built several airports and in Ireland I built multiple ports and began reconstituting my shattered navy. Italy and Russia began trading planes in an air war over the Balkans, but it their attacks can really only be described as skirmishes.

At this point, Spain came out of the Iberian Peninsula and started using small groups of men to destroy my numerous gold mines across the continent. France slowed me down by attacking my continental military base in Poland with bombers and planes reducing my ability to effectively counter Spain’s small groups on the mainland. Once most of the gold mining establishments had been destroyed, Spain merged its forces and went after my forward base in Poland. After quickly brushing aside my forces, Spain began to knock down my buildings. I continued to produce tanks and other implements of war to try to stop him, but it was in vain. Russia then came to my aid with a large squadron of bombers and destroyed the Spanish forces attacking my base.

Now it was my turn to go on the offensive again. I had successfully rebuilt my fleet out of Ireland and I was working on several fighter/bomber squadrons in Scandinavia. I used my fleet to attack France’s mining, lumber and farm operations on the coast of Western France. Spain sent its fleet to protect France, but I was able to sink. After destroying the Western Coast of France and reasserting my control over the English Channel, I moved to attack Northern Spain. Initially my attacks were successful, but a series of Spain artillery pieces and fighters, forced me to retreat to English Channel.

Both Russia and Italy had dug themselves in pretty deeply. Both had extensive wall systems defending their main bases. At this point, Russia seized the initiative and launched bomber and fighter attacks against both Italy and France. Italy successfully defended against the attacks, but France, who was in the process of building defenses in Eastern France and its damaged economy from my naval raids, took extensive damage across its Western front. At this point, I used the land forces I had constructed at my Poland base to attack France. Spain countered my move by moving its tank force north and repelling my attack.

With an awesome economy, partially fueled by the endless amounts of gold that come from unlimited mines, I went into hyper production. In both Poland and Scandinavia I produced large squadrons of fighters and bombers, and in Poland I created a diversified land force, consisting of tanks, infantry and artillery. Both Russia and I used our bombers to soften France and Spain in Western France. Then I drove into France with my army and knocked France out of the game.

During the battle, I noticed that my forces were hit with a large weapon of mass destruction. This could have been one of Spain’s nuclear bombers, or it could have been one of Italy’s V2 rockets. I did not want to take any chances so I assembled a squadron of bombers and declared war on Italy. My surprise attack, though it should not have been much of a surprise as the giant mass of blue on the mini map was a dead giveaway, was completely successful; most of Italy’s base on the Italian Peninsula was wiped out in a single attack.

Using my navy and a reinforcement of land units, I struck Spain, destroying his AA, tower and mobile defenses. At this point, Spain raised the white flag and dropped out of the game. At this point I though the game would over shortly, as all that would be necessary to win, was to hunt down what was left of Italy. I could not have been more wrong. Like the Mongols before them, the Russians rushed (no pun intended) across Eastern Europe destroying everything in their path.

After my initial dazed shocked that my ally would betray me at this point in the game. I started to pull my forces out of Spain and France and move them to meet Russia in Germany. Though I didn’t defeat the Russians I stopped the Russian advance through Europe. Quickly I moved some citizens to France and began constructing a new military base.

My respite was short lived as Russian planes and bombers began to attack my base in Scandinavia. My wonder, and several of my airfields then fell to V2 rockets launched from Africa where Italy had constructed a new base. Despite my initial loses, I managed to win the air war against Russia and saved my Scandinavian base. Not pausing for a second, I got all my air forces together and attacked the heart of Russia. Russia moved its AA guns to counter my attack, but they were too closely bunched together and several bombers annihilated them. The path was now clear to Russia’s airfields that I wiped off the map with my bombers as Russia’s planes were refueling. Not stopping to pause, I continued to pump out bombers at my airfields in England, France and Scandinavia. With non-stop bombing runs I managed to destroy most of Russia’s base. Though Russia had already rebuilt in the Balkans. My mass production of all kinds of units won the day as I through tanks, planes and infantry at Russia with blinding speed, from three points across the map. Despite massive casualties I prevailed, smashing Russia’s new airfields and military buildings. Victory was mine as both Russia and Italy retired, leaving Great Britain in control of Europe.

This was perhaps not the most satisfying win from a strategic standpoint, as I largely won the game due to quick reflects and the mass production of units, it was a fun game nonetheless and it helped to remind why Empires is such a enjoyable game to play in the first place.

Bravo, Intrepid! I think this is a fine reminder of how much fun Empires can be in the right circumstances!

[This message has been edited by Chonaman (edited 08-25-2005 @ 07:11 PM).]

Now I wish we could all get together and play that scen. Wouldn't that be awsome, get together on Friday or Saturday and play a huge European war scen?

One of the best games I played with a noob was on Team Islands. I was German and I think he (my noob ally) was German also. Anyway, we started out on the bottom area of the map. I started building my defenses up. I used a technique I learned from Field Marshal BM on how to place AA guns. That really helped in the all-out defense of my base. The enemy started to attack. There were two opponents, one was really good, the other was more of a intermediate. The American player attacked with B-29s of which was a financial mistake because of my superior AA gun set up. So I decided it was time for me to launch a V-2 attack on the weaker of my opponents. The only problem was that he just got up an AA gun and was building more of them, so my V-2 got shot down. I asked my ally to watch our base while I was preparing an amphibious attack. Well, there was no response so I tried again. Still nothing. So at this point, I was about to resign but said to myself, "Well, I’ll fight to the death." So I started on my amphibious attack when my ally, after about five minutes, got back from… what I could only guess as being a bathroom break. Now finally I got through to him what my plans were. Now I started loading my troops up but this was slowed because I was practically running his base. I was telling him to build this, build that, make more troops, get those troops organized, and for crying out loud your being bombed by B-29s--build AA guns (of which he really didn’t listen)! Well, I finally got the troops loaded and was about to cross the great river when I was warned that my ally’s base was being attacked. So I looked to see what was happening. There were about two carriers launching hellcats into his base while at the front of his base (the forward base that I had ordered him to destroy), was attacking him. Now it was a full-scale invasion (it looked like the Eastern front lol). I knew the end was near so I unloaded my troops to prepare the defense of our base. It was an all out technology war for me because I was using everything that was available to my command (including my unfortunate noob ally). Well, the initial assault started in my ally's base (because of his lack of organization and skill in empires MP--but I'm sure he'll be an Albert Einstein player soon), so there were hardly any defenses on my left flank. I had to think fast. Then it came to me--I used the Black Forest technology to seal up the gap between my ally’s base and my left flank. This decision sealed the fate of my ally. He was wiped out as his troops were too few, too spread out, and too disorganized. Well, once he was dead I used the troops I had accumulated from the stalling of my ally to defend the base. I had no time to think because, although the forest mostly protected me from land attack, their air support was horrendous and there was a space that enemy troops were rushing through like a great river. So I used all technology at my disposal. But it was an overwhelming attack. I was out numbered three to one, but in the end I ended up killing more enemy troops than anybody else because of wise use of technology and strategy.

I must say, though, I have never seen a game like it. It may have seemed like I was being mean to my ally but, trust me, it kept him alive longer which was about ten minutes because he never really followed through with my orders. If he did, it was only partially (i.e. when I told him to build his AA defenses, his version of defending himself against B-29s was to build four AA guns).

Oh, and my brother has Call of Duty United Offensive. It is a good expansion pack. A lot was changed, like portable Mg’s and an automatic rifle for the Germans and Russians. The forests and bombed-out cities are much more detailed and the cities are bigger. There is more realism than in the original. Multi-player now includes player rankings and use of the new weapons, like the flame-thrower satchel charges and cookable grenades. When a player reaches a certain rank, they are able to call in artillary strikes (only one player reaches this top rank during a game). There are new maps, such as Berlin, and maybe five others. The Berlin map is basically a copy of the last Russian mission in which the player has to raise the Russian flag, except it's at night. There is a lot more city added to it, including sewers. Multi-player also includes the use of jeeps and tanks.

Here is a list of the new weapons…

UNITED STATES.

Browning .30 Caliber M1919A6 Deployable Light MG

2.36-in Rocket Launcher, M1a1 “Bazooka”

RUSSIA.

Tokarev SVT-40

Degtyarev-Pekhotny 28

Tokarev TT-33

UNITED KINGDOM.

Silenced Sten Mk Iis

Webley Mk 4

GERMANY.

Gewehr 43

Machinjegewehr 34 General-Purpose MG

Raketenpanzerbuchse “Panzerschrek”

Flammenwerfer 35

ADDITIANAL WEAPONS.

Smoke Grenades

Satchel Charges

VEHICLES.

RUSSIA.

SU-152 Heavy Tank

T34/85 Medium Tank

Gaz67b Light Truck

UNITED KINGDOM.

Sherman M4A1 Medium Tank

Willys Jeep

GERMANY.

“Elefant” Heavy Tank

Panzer IV Medium Tank

Horch 1a Light Truck

I think the expansion pack is good, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it.

[This message has been edited by Phoenix_SoR (edited 09-13-2005 @ 02:28 PM).]

Glad my AA tech helped you out Oh and, where did you learn it? I dont remeber ever posting it Maybe I did, dunno. Also that expasion sounds good, I was thinking about purchasing it for about $10-14 on ebay, do you think its worth that? I've got a bit of money from working 3 summer jobs More than half of it stored in the bank of course though

FMBM, you must teach me your AA tactic some time, personally I build walls with AA spaced every other grid square, but it is only sorta effective.

Well now, theres a reason I did'nt post it Cant have everyone knowing it now can I? If I fight somone who uses my strategy then I wont be able to pummel them with air force

[This message has been edited by Field Marshal BM (edited 09-13-2005 @ 08:29 PM).]

Perhaps an email to a poor ineffective soul who can't win PvP in Empires?

brebuga4@gmail.com

FMBM: "Glad my AA tech helped you out Oh and, where did you learn it?". You showed me at your house. And when you said: "to pummel them with [my] air force”. I suppose you meant your German Luftwaffe dint you, you Nazi scum (sorry couldn’t resist ;P).And 10 to $14 sounds good for UO (like you really need me to tell you).

P.S. I think I spread out the AA guns a lot farther then you told me so I was using range over built up attack. But I did (basically) keep your initial strategy, so for every B-29 he sent over that actually got to drop a bomb, I only lost one AA gun,of which I'm not so sure would have happened in the original strategy (I probably would have lost more like three). Oh I almost forgot to ask where were you working this summer?

[This message has been edited by Phoenix_SoR (edited 09-14-2005 @ 03:17 AM).]

"nazi scum" Lol, I'm not always German, it's just nice to sweep across the landscape with an army of unstoppable King Tigers! *Ahem* And about my jobs, I'm working at my local library watering shrubs, I'm mowing a lawn weekly and I'm sharing janitorial duties with my mom and brother. Also, how's the multiplayer in UO? Do you get the flamethrowers etc in it? And is there an option to choose custom skins for different levels or is everyone stuck the same like CoD?

1. Flamthrowers, tanks, jeeps, satchels, smoke nades, portable mg's, and basically any thing I listed above, its all there.

2. New skins, no.

3. If you have any more questions ask Matt, he also played it.

4. Your fascist king tigers are stoppable, especially when I'm playing as American (long live the U.S.A!).

[This message has been edited by Phoenix_SoR (edited 09-14-2005 @ 05:26 PM).]

ZU DEUTSHLAND (aber nicht Hitler oder seine Nazis)

Yes, that's why I play as Germany. Personally Germany is hard to play as in a 1v1, but in a 1v1v1 or a 2v2 Germany can do great things if not targeted first or protected by his partner near the beginning. Germany starts with a low eco and I can't seem to get a military as fast as most other players...but if supported at the beginning I can usually become self-suficiant...but this new AA tactic may help me become a better German player. You gotta show/tell me sometime. Perhaps we could get on and skirmish...I'd like to get tips from people other than CS here and there.

Thanks for the responses - yes, there are lots of good reasons to play as Germany or in fact, anyone else in EDMW. Have fun, and if you want to do even better, check back with your stat. and we vets can probably give you even MORE help!

Yes I will admit Germany Is really good. Yes they start out slow but once they get going, boom-baby lol.

One thing I have to ask is has anybody mastered Russia? I cant seem to play them so well, but when I play against them they sorta kick butt... or at least the AI does better than I can with them.