RBP3 - [SPOILERS] - Team DIM (Mehmed of HRE)

[Ilios]

Email from France:


Subject: Cartel membership

Greeting Allies,


We are concerned be cause we have not be able to make diplomatic contact with the Egyptians, We hope that this is an oversight and there has been a miscommunication.

We wish to be a valuable member of the CAN and are prepared to work diligently and tirelessly for common goals.

Team MODM has not received one single alliance email or joined in any discussions on how to proceed, if you were in our shoes i can assure you it is a mighty cold view we have of world around us. it would be very well received to have some information of the goals and discussions that have been decided and how we can contribute to them. You'll understand that we have been saving gold and are anxious to continue researching, we have asked the English and the HRE for guidance in what to research, however no answer has been forthcoming. We wish to proceed and research major technologies To achieve this efficiently we need writing, it is our highest priority and is delaying our technological advancement without it. We would be most grateful if you would gift this technology to us immediately and advise on what technological path we should be studying, duplication between members is something to be avoided.

Whilst we are ready to play our part within an alliance and contribute in the areas and traits we excel in; perhaps we are not wanted within this group and we are being strung along? If that is the case please let us know directly and we shall make other arrangements to proceed with our empire.

We hope to receive a response soonest so we can plan accordingly.

Regards

KM

ANG-FR

This is what I sent to the Cartel members copied (us Ottomans, england, krill)

Ok, nobody answer anything yet, until we can get a coherent reply ready.

Krill, can you gift them Writing at least? We can only hope they will be building libraries instead of units...

I suggest that with Writing gifted, we tell them to head for Aesthetics.

I also suggest everyone does send something back after one of us has replied re the tech path. We don't want them to get too suspicious...


Ilios - DIM

Mukha of Portugal already answered something, pretty good actually:

Whoops already responded sorry.

Here's what I said, try not to say exactly the same thing or that really would be suspicious:

Hello Anglo-French Empire,

I'm sorry that there has been so litte communication between us and I apologize for our role in that. The private complaint to HRE was merely short-lived frustration that you appeared to move your warrior away and miss out on contact with Ottomans who had pottery to give you. As you have now contacted the Ottomans, that crisis appears to be averted and you can now focus on cottages. We are also Fin like yourselves so we have similar goals there. Something that you can do that we can't is use your Phi trait for a super quick academy and then the rest of the CAN could fund you once we get access to Currency. This is why it is imperative that you meet Egypt as quickly as possible as Egypt is the only one who can trade you writing. I can help to arrange a meeting as I have contact with Egypt. Could you let me know the position of all your roaming scouts relative to our capital that you found earlier? I will request the same info from Egypt and then I can hopefully direct you two to gain quick contact. We still don't know the precise location of yourselves actually, we just believe you are somewhere to our southwest. If you are very close perhaps it may be prudent to discuss some sort of settling agreement? At the moment however our next cities are going in the opposite direction, so it could be a while before we are both considering the same land.

On that topic of land, we still have very little information of what's to our south. If you have done extensive exploring between us perhaps you would be open to the idea of a screenshot swap of the lands we have explored?

We also haven't had much communication with the rest of the alliance, but from our communications a while ago we are under the impression that our role would mostly be one of commerce gathering to feed to the Phi leaders such as yourselves. So I think a goal once you obtain writing would be to set yourself up for a specialist/cottage economy and farm/cottage every tile in sight. Egypt also has a Phi leader in Gandhi but I think it was probably his plan to focus more on prophets/artists and not scientists. I'm not sure what tech you are currently researching and what your eta to completion is? Or are you just saving money at the moment? As for ourselves we are just saving money at the moment, funding a military to rid ourselves of some nasty CANTs.

I noticed that the last email from us that you quoted had an old version of our map so I'll go ahead and give our current one:

England France Egypt Carthage

Mali Babylon Byzantium Maya

-------------10-12 tiles of Desert/Floodplains/Jungle-----
----------------
Sumeria

Incan Rome India Aztecs

HRE CBE Korea Ottomans


We still don't have contact with Aztecs/Byzantium/Maya/Mali so if you know of the locations of any of their scouts that would be much appreciated.

I apologize again at the lack of communication between our empires and will endeavour to keep you apprised of all further developments as quickly as possible. Actually that's reminded me, I'm not sure if you have contact with India or Sumeria, but if you don't, they are at war and we hope to assist them shortly. Although I don't think they will need much help to be honest as they were able to catch Sumeria with their pants down, hence the flurry of posts in the IT thread.

And in response, an e-mail from England:

To HRE and Egypt,

(Feel free to forward to Portugal and the Ottomans if you deem it necessary, especially if Portugal is granting them techs. The tactical data doesn't need to be known, at most the time of arrival)

I see two main options for how we respond to France's message:

1) Come clean that they've been dumped. However, England is planning on a 1-move assault on Lyons with 5 chariots on T75. Our stack will include 2 workers to road 1W of their copper. France has Hunting, so if they have 1 spear in Lyons + 2 warriors or axes, our odds of success are decent. Any more than that, and our chances of success with the first turn drop dramatically. We would still be able to pillage their copper on T75 if we didn't attack. Coming clean is not our preferred option.

HRE, I've included a map with signs for our route. There's enough time for an axe started this turn @ Midas & whipped next turn to join in, to cover us in case of 2 spears. Hopefully he isn't needed, but if he is, it will save all sides many hammers in units over the turns to come. If they have sufficient workers, they could chop out a fair number of units. If we are to succeed in destroying France, removing their copper source is critical. Discussion on what to with Lyons after capture, assuming it doesn't autoraze, is needed, although our current plan was to simply raze it, and worry about a replacement settler later. If they expect an attack, they're probably preparing for it to be at Lyons.

France's copper should be online by T70 at the latest. They might be worrying about a Byzantine chariot force to their south.

2) String them along. If we tell them that they're going for Monarchy, then they'll need the religious line (but won't be able to get Mono); those 3 techs are otherwise useless. However, they might still want Writing for Libraries. The other option would be to assign them Aesthetics. If they want Fishing/Sailing, Portugal can do that. Archery, HBR, and IW are clearly no-go techs. Does anyone know if France has Horses? Their copper will be online soon enough.
Simultaneously, us and HRE could propose that a settlement agreement is needed before we move forward (including NAPs or OBs: Clearly, neither would be a good idea for us since we're about to burn down a city of theirs). And then it might just happen that our teams take too long to respond.

Well, I'm not dying to whip Midas to size one. The granary should finish in two turns, and we can start working the corn tile this turn for a 5 food surplus. Whipping Midas would mean we can't work the Gold tile for at least four turns, and we probably won't be able to finish the Granary before growing back to size 2.
My idea is to send England a message that we'd wished they'd informed us before so we could prepare accordingly. I'd tell them we've been deliberately stumping Midas' growth to keep working the Gold mine (which is true). One option would be to provide them with Copper for a couple of turns (not sure if, like in SP, the deal can only be cancelled after 10 turns), so they can build the axe themselves. Thoughts?