My First Game

Day 100 And Counting: What I learned in my first game.

When I first logged on to a game in Supremacy 1914, I didn't know what to expect. I had some questions.


Was this game going to be like Risk?

Well, kinda.


Would it be fun?

Definitely.


Would I understand everything at first?

Nah.



The first aspect of Supremacy that I encountered was the 'real-time' part of 'real-time strategy'. I had played games like RoN before, where you gather resources and build units, buildings, etc., but had not played anything where these tasks took days. To be honest, it was annoying at first. Annoying, but somehow exhilarating. That night was a Friday, and I sat with my laptop in my, well, lap, for hours. Just sitting there, in one game, watching my troops slowly move towards victory, plotting, thinking, and chatting.


I quickly learned that in a game that moves this slow- people tend to get bored. And talk. And talk. And talk some more. Chat was interesting- there were some cool people on at the time, and it was far from dead. I was chatting with Wartrain and others, and asking some questions in the 'help channel'. I still use chat quite a bit, though I now supplement it with external forms of communication like Skype or other chat platforms.

My foray into the world of Europe as Northern Russia was quite successful- I quickly dispatched Perm Krai, and Western Siberia. One of the first things I did was change my name to a more 'Russian' one, because at the time I was playing like a role-player. I posted some articles, later even making a poem about Finland's downfall. Unfortunately, I was not in  an RP game, so DE posts were kept to a minimum, and almost no one responded to diplomacy. However, two players did. And so, my first interaction with Diplomacy was initiated. I divided South Russia with Ukraine, and became steadfast allies. We eventually became some of the most powerful countries in the world. I easily adapted to the gameplay, and found myself rather pleased with the formation of my empire.

The most important lesson I learned in that game was that activity equals success. The more you are on, the better your chances at defeating the enemy. This rule is true for even the best players, and active engagement is required for one to win.

We swept through Europe, and watched warily as Greece bloomed into a massive nation. Soon, the world was divided between only a small number of nations. Greece became a target. He was growing too powerful. We decided to invade, and after careful planning, we attacked. I soon realized that attacking a giant line of railguns was not going to be an effective strategy- I lost a lot of troops. I didn't know there were that many, and I payed the price for my oversight. I adjusted my strategy, and we began a long, drawn out battle, with initial losses, but slow, methodical gains.

I won't go into many more details, as my one game is not of much importance to anyone other than me, but I will say that it lasted a very long time.

Well over 100 days.

I learnt strategies, how to use units effectively, how to invade, defend, and conquer. I learned how to play Supremacy. And, well, I had a lot of fun.

-ThatMcGraw