Treachery

These games are impossible to win through battle tactics alone. It is a disadvantage to get out of the gates too fast, because without any communication the forces of equilibrium will unite the others to tear down the leader, who has little hope outnumbered three, or even two to one.

Skill matters little. To win you must be either very lucky, or your enemies very unlucky. That or someone has to make a huge mistake, but we’re all too damn good for that now. Or sometimes you could, by luck, inherit an open field created by the hard fought battles waged by stronger enemies, and then expand so fast that no one can stop you.

The only other way is through some form of treaty, which by the very nature of the game is bound to be broken sooner or later. But how soon?

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. Swiftboat, battling against Lady Luck, could not hold on to his succulent cities and was devoured early on. Joe Biden, having lost a few early battles, experienced glory for a moment, but then found himself at the confluence of three greater powers, each looking to expand his territory against the one warlord who could not resist them.

Rev. Wright survived against all odds, and forged a stronghold in the swamps of Arkansas and Louisiana, where he hides his numbers and invents early American guerilla warfare while attempting to unite the clans. Bishop, fighting just has hard, has expanded his following to include two great states. Though their industrial output is not enough to satisfy his heavenly hunger, he has opened up a pathway to fight the holy war without angering his neighbors.

Palin’s Daughter’s Baby Daddy, executing a ruthless campaign to control one of America’s strongest states, made a grab for the big-time but encountered stiff resistance and then found himself at the locus of war. Does he continue to expand against his weaker neighbors, but what if he’s unlucky? Which great superpower will sweep in to control his territory? How can he survive when surrounded by five of the worlds greatest armies? He must wait for the tension to break.

Oh Nader, you wisely decided to take over the most productive region of the Confederacy, but the world moved to quickly for you. The opportunities created by McRage in the northeast quickly closed up, and you emerged second strongest, and with many enemies. When the tension broke your forces were scattered by a vengeful General looking for blood.

McRage, goddess, sing the McRage of Admiral John’s son John. John the warrior. John the diplomat. From humble beginnings in the Ohio River valley, John created an army destined for glory. Through might, skilled rolling, and shrewd negotiations he created the most impressive force in the land, only to be betrayed by his oldest brother, the treacherous Bob Barr.

Poor Bob. His soul twisted by the dark side. Even when you have friends you don’t know who they are. You propelled yourself to a position of power by grabbing the industrial cities and vast fertile farmland of the Midwest that others seemed not to want. But your power was your undoing, and still you seek only to maintain it. Friends are only those who have not yet stabbed you in the back, so you stab first. Neighbors, fleeting entities that only exist until they disappear by your hands or another’s, unless they “disappear” you. Joy has become Fear. Hope has become Despair.


Is there no hope yet for peace?