USEC_OFFICER and whoever is playing Jomon (I didn't actually write that down), you've both staled for the past 3 turns. I'm not mad, its just a game, but is there something that can be done to get your turns in? I can extend the turn timer, I can nag you (within reason). But there's only so many times I can check on the deadline before I mess up and miss an extension. If you're not having fun subbing out is an option, although it would be nice if we could all make it to the end.
Well, now that it doesn't matter any more - just a tip to everyone: Don't just think that you know that your god is immortal. Double check BEFORE you send him out alone to try to take a province.
Wasted hundreds of research points due to that.
Ouch. Was it the fire resistance icon? It looks a lot like the immortality one. That being said you should have just let him stay dead or revived him with indy priests; that pretender you had was not worth hundreds of research points. I'm not sure ANY pretender is worth hundreds of research points in the early game.
Something similar almost happened to us. I thought I could ease my friend into Dominions by giving him an awake god even though he's playing Mictlan, but it never occurred to me the rules would be different in disciples games. He messed up a couple of times on expansion (he was the one who got an indy commander at the top of the hall of fame super early) but he did fine. Any if I had realized he wouldn't have a god, I would not have taken 3 misfortune; he could have gotten a MUCH more brutal introduction into Dominions.
I have two pieces of advice for you. I think you and Arco would have done better if your research had gone down different paths; you didn't get much variety off of each other. The other one would be to consider more carefully your first war. A lot my success against you was just your armies being dead. I suspect you got tempted a bit claiming the throne of might, but... the effect of that was mitigated by the fact that neither of you had a sacred-centric strategy. You were still fighting Agartha in an environment that gave them an advantage and made it hard to use your greater numbers to raid. Honestly you could have attacked us, Mictlan's inexperience made him vulnerable early and there was a point where I had a temple and an almost complete fort you could have knocked over in one turn with Arco's god. Alternately, you could have gone for Jomon. unless I'm mistaken R'yleh would have little ability to come to Jomon's aid in the first two years, so you could have overwhelmed Jomon with numbers and then dug in and endured the squid nuisance for the rest of the game.