Clash of Kings, an ASOIAF Game (The End)

[Spamage]

My initial plans were to set up Steffon in the Stormlands and name his a Tyrell, give Garlan the Westerlands, and see Loras given the Riverlands. I was getting close too, especially in the Westerlands, with my raids on Lannisport. The Tyrells would've then been the best House in the game

[bullmoose88]

I really wanted Littlefinger dead (that's more based on my view of the relationship between the two characters on tv and in the books)...I also wanted the Red Priestess to be kaput...magic and all.  My only other real attempt as varys was to kill renly and blame it on Stannis to sow discontent in the Stag ranks but that didn't work at all.  When everyone went after Euron (which was extremely predictable), I had my birdies steal the horn.  Which ended up in Daemon's hands.  A tad too late for the prospect of having all three dragons

As varys I believed that the Starks had to be brought into the fold for any pro-dragon resolution...personally I'm sympathetic to their cause (who couldn't be).  Tywin/X was the most crafty player...manipulated me once (a good lesson)...I was hoping some global resolution with Danys, Dorne, Stark, and the Lions could be worked out, but when everyone basically decided she was the biggest threat, there was no hope.

In my view I was a pretty straight shooter the whole game.  Certainly as much as one could be and keep one's head. 

As both characters I wanted to restore order and try to get most things to status quo ante, save change in realm rulers.  True status quo ante was impossible by the time Daemon rolled around.  So a new order was necessary.  I would have liked slightly more power in King's Landing, but I didn't have many cards.  Still not a bad result from a "bastard"-line.

[Dereich]

I was excited to start as Lysa Arryn; the Vale was right next to the action, known for its high quality soldiers and completely free to choose whichever alliance it wants. Very early on I made a deal with Stannis to marry Shireen and Robert and to make Lysa Lady Paramount of the Riverlands, which would work if the other two candidates, Edmure and Catelyn were rebels. He was planning to murder Renly at the first possible opportunity, so it all looked like it would work out great. After that I waited around, building my strength and pretended I was open to an alliance with Robb or Tywin. After Daenarys landed and Oakvale starting becoming inactive I started trying to make deals with any party I could think of in his name to try to keep the cause alive. It was right about then when I'd started my march south that Stannis died and I realized I had no backup plan.

The Lannisters were down to half an army and X!Tywin was less trustworthy than book!Littlefinger, so I couldn't side with them, the Starks had nothing to offer except a (politically worthless) marriage to Sansa and Renly never communicated with me whatsoever.
So at that point I joined up with Daenarys and was minutes from sending in an order to crush Tywin when Robb sent me a secret plan to sneak attack the Daenarys-affiliated Tyrells. It was waaay too good to pass up what looked like an easy betrayal that would end the war in one battle, so I doomed myself by attacking the Starks. Until that moment I intended to completely ignore them the whole game through and let some other army of whoever I was working with deal with them if I couldn't reconcile both sides; if I had resisted that one temptation I think I might have made it through the game keeping one of the craziest people in Westeros in power.

Mance was very unsatisfying. Once I chose him and looked at my options it basically came down to a) face the united armies of Westeros and be slaughtered or b) make peace with Robb and keep it. I kept the peace, but other than a little bit of drama with Bolton there was never much to do.

[Donerail]

My initial plans were to set up Steffon in the Stormlands and name his a Tyrell, give Garlan the Westerlands, and see Loras given the Riverlands. I was getting close too, especially in the Westerlands, with my raids on Lannisport. The Tyrells would've then been the best House in the game

Oh yeah, I should probably come clean about that. Besides sacking Highgarden in my first incarnation, Baelish may have had a hand in convincing Baelor Hightower to rise up and overthrow the Tyrells. Sorry Spamage

[Antonio the Sixth]

The Lannisters were down to half an army and X!Tywin was less trustworthy than book!Littlefinger, so I couldn't side with them, the Starks had nothing to offer except a (politically worthless) marriage to Sansa and Renly never communicated with me whatsoever.

I could have offered you the Vale's independence - as I eventually did after Royce too over. In fact, I was planning to tell you about that possibility right after we crushed the Tyrells. I really thought we had too many interests in common to fight each other, but meh, I guess you taught me a good lesson.

Also, my favorite moment in the entire game was getting my revenge against you. I was genuinely ecstatic when I read the POV with LF sending you fly.

[Spamage]

What happened to Olenna and Margery?

[Lumine]

What happened to Olenna and Margery?

Both escaped Highgarden after the rebellion, but Olenna died because of the toll the rebellion and the losses took on her health. Margaery survived, and despite a failed suicide attempt during Tyrion's coup she now lives in King's Landing, under the careful watch of the Lord Protector.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Bumping this just to ask, doesn't anyone else think that what we did here makes up for a better storyline than what we've gotten from the show lately? If only we had addressed the menace of White Walkers and the religious issue, we could have gotten to a full resolution for the whole plot.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Bumping this just to ask, doesn't anyone else think that what we did here makes up for a better storyline than what we've gotten from the show lately? If only we had addressed the menace of White Walkers and the religious issue, we could have gotten to a full resolution for the whole plot.

Nah, the show's been great (other than Dorne, but that sucked in the books too).

[Lumine]

Bumping this just to ask, doesn't anyone else think that what we did here makes up for a better storyline than what we've gotten from the show lately? If only we had addressed the menace of White Walkers and the religious issue, we could have gotten to a full resolution for the whole plot.

That is very kind of you, Antonio, although I do think some of the outcomes in this game weren't the ideal by storyline terms. It is more satisfying if you consider the Starks made it alright and Westeros, while damaged, found a way to stabilize itself into a loose "Commonwealth", but it did involve leaving those issues you mentioned aside and a deux ex machina Lord Protector in Daemon Blackfyre (which I was forced to invent).

The new game may lack some of the grandeur due to many crucial characters being dead at the start (Tywin, Cersei, Renly, Robb Stark and so on), but it is also one that explores much more the damage and the anarchy that might ensure if you consider the Sparrow Rebellion, Essos in flames, the White Walkers, and so on (all of which was only hinted in the past game).

The show, by comparison, has the disadvantage of having too many storylines and too little time to portray them in detail, and the fact that we do not know whatever lies ahead in TWOW, which makes some outcomes weird or unexpected (save for Show Dorne, that mess is unexplicable), but I still enjoy it, Season 5 was still pretty good to me.

[Lumine]

I really hate necroposting, but after Dereich and X brought it up I just had to.

Congratulations, lads! We predicted the constitutional Westeros ending - via Deus Ex Machina - five years ago!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I really hate necroposting, but after Dereich and X brought it up I just had to.

Congratulations, lads! We predicted the constitutional Westeros ending - via Deus Ex Machina - five years ago!

We did that with a few things.  Arya killing the Night's King, Stannis getting killed by Ramsay was posted literally either a day before or the day of the episode where he loses the Battle of Winterfell and then gets killed (albeit by Brienne), Benjen dying at the Others' hands in a sacrifice that accomplished absolutely nothing, Theon being killed by the Night's King in the final battle in a last act of courage shortly before Arya kills the NK, etc.