[Spoilers] Defining the phrase "€˜Hung Like a Horse"€™: Pb & the Kuriotates

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 22:

I think most of the player threads will be saying the same thing about the Blitz session - we didn't get many turns in, but oh well.

Need to work on the communication in one area I think.


In terms of the game, this turn brought another 'Oh shit' moment on the horizon.



Ffs, I don't need this crap.

That's a barb warrior, and not just any old one, a freaking Combat II one.
It'll almost certainly be from Selrahc's dead warrior.
I don't know for certain, but considering he only lost his warrior 3-4 turns ago, I'd guess it healed up and headed straight for me.

Combat II means 3 +40% strength, vs my unpromoted warrior with 3 +60% strength (fortify + innate city defense are 25% each, + 10% cultural defense).

That's nearly another 2:1 battle, but this time it's the game at stake, not a scout.

So it looks like I'm going to have to fuck up my start by rush building a warrior, and I'm probably not even going to build it in time.
I considered using my world spell to expand the borders, but I'm not sure that would have any effect and I do want to keep it for the future.
It would give me another +20% cultural defense however (+30% total). I may have to sandbox this to decide.

So, working max hammers, warrior in 4 turns (3 after clicking end turn).

Usually barbs pause for 1 turn in front of a city before attacking, but sometimes they don't.
It may come down to that little AI quirk.




Demographics:

Big score changes again due to land ownership, will figure it out later.


Edit: Nothing too complicated. All the T0 settlers gained 17 points for cultural ownership.
The only exception was Cull who gained 13 points.

We now know 100% Cull is the coastal start, definitely having 1 coastal in his BFC, with 3 coastal/sea and at least one 3f tile in his outer ring.

Not too sure how # tiles is converted to score, doesn't matter in this case fortunately.

[pocketbeetle]

Just checked the numbers on the Combat II barb warrior vs my fortified warrior.

4.20 str vs 4.80 str = 30% chance of the Barb winning

If I use my world spell to increase the cultural defense to 30%:

4.20 str vs 5.40 str = 24% chance of the Barb winning.

Ran 5 test runs, and in 4 of those the AI paused for a turn outside the city, allowing me to get the 2nd warrior built in time.
I'd guess this depends on what script the unit is running though.

All in all, pretty sure that Barb warrior is going to beeline towards me, via the wheat 1N.
I think I've got 2 outs to survive, the pause, and the 70% reliance on the RNG.


Finally, to anyone who is thinking that this serves me right for going worker first.
My reply (other than the obvious), is to point out that the standard unpromoted barb at 3 str vs 4.80 str gives odds somewhere in the 1-5% bracket.

But oh no, I had to get Chuck Norris Jnr.

[sunrise089]

Do units killed by barbs become barbs? Or is that the winner of the battle versus the other warrior?

[pocketbeetle]

Do units killed by barbs become barbs? Or is that the winner of the battle versus the other warrior?

That'll be the winner.
Remember Jabah's comment about accelerated xp; the barbs and animals get it too.

Rereading Selrahc's email:

one of my numberless hordes...passed away, investigating a seemingly friendly village. <snip> this stirred up multiple barbarian warriors to the north

I missed it the first time, but it sounds like he used that bloodpet we saw earlier to investigate a lair or hut, which then gave him a hostile barbs roll.
And more than one.

I'd guess the first Barb warrior won, at decent odds (~50%) thereby giving it the 5xp necessary for Combat I & II.
It promoted, healed, and beelined towards me.
Judging from the direction the barb is facing, and the fact my scout never saw a lair or hut that close, I'd guess it was in the red square area.

So there could be another barb or two behind the first, but frankly it doesn't matter.
If I survive the first, the trailers shouldn't be a problem.

Edit: Unless of course, a barb hero was spawned. Hmmm. Guess I find out tomorrow (if) we play another quick session.

[pocketbeetle]

Updated demographics for posts before, nothing really to add in except score increase from culturally owned tiles.

However...

Rival best GNP of 16
Selrahc hasn't changed from his 10 food/9 hammers/14 GNP config.
So that *should* be Archduke. Wierd.

It took a bit of thinking, but I reckon I've figured this out.

I initially thought it was Archduke, simply because only Selrahc and Archduke come before me in the turn order.
Everyone else acting after me was still in Stasis.

But my last figure for Archduke, pre-Stasis, was a GNP of 11. So for him to suddenly exit Stasis with a GNP of 16 would be extremely weird.
Only thing that would fit is a free G Prophet event, possibly from a lair, which when settled would give +2 hammers +5 gold/turn (11 + 5 =16).
But surely

1. that's unlikely, v low odds.
   
2. wouldn't there be a global announcement of a GP born?
   

Which brings me back to Selrahc, who has not changed his worked tiles since last I checked.

Rechecking the graphs for T22, I noticed this:



I also noticed something that was bugging me.
Check on the scout picture for this turn:

Spot the difference?





His cultural borders have expanded, and it's too early for that.
The 3rd cultural ring requires 50 cp, palace provide 2cp/turn, so 25 turns to expand.
Selrahc's borders expanding on T22 means he's picked up (50 - (23 x 2)) 4 extra culture from somewhere.

Compare that with the two graphs above, and it would seem that from T21 onwards, Selrahc has been receiving an extra +2 culture/turn, thereby explaining the GNP 14 -> 16 jump.


So where's he getting that +2 culture from?

The only cultural building he could have the capability to build is a Monument.
But therein lies the problem, Monuments cost 40 hammers on quick.

His last accounted-for-production was a warrior at the end of T18.
T19, 20, 21, 22 at 9h/turn = 36 hammers, add in a bit of overflow and it's possible, sure.
But when you remember that this Monument was up and running on T21, it means he can't have built it manually.
Coincidentally, I should try to keep an eye on what Selrahc is producing. He's obviously keen to build it quick.

So, if it's not a built monument, and it can't be either hired or free specialists, that just leaves events.

At which point one particular event jumped straight into my head.
The ingame text for it reads:

• An affluent duke in the city of XXX has passed away. He has bequeathed his fortune to the government. What would you like done with it?
  • He was a great man, construct a monument in his honor. Free Monument
    
  • Give his money to the poor, I'm sure it's what he would have wanted. +1 happiness for X turns
    
  • Who am I to question his wishes? Have his finances added to our treasury. + XX gold

Now, my thinking was, Selrahc is Charismatic, and so given the choice he'd take the free Monument for the extra +1 happy.
There's no other reason to take it over the gold in your capital, palace gives the necessary cp anyway.
That would explain everything, the extra cp and GNP, the logical choice of a Monument, and also the increased activity I noticed in Selrahc's thread after the blitz. ()

And then it all fell apart when I noticed the Rival Worst Approval hadn't decreased (Selrahc - 58%).
Checking ingame revealed that the Charismatic trait in FFH2 just gives a free +1 happy from the start, ie no extra happy from a Monument.

So, two choices.

• Either something else has happened, that I frankly can't explain at this time.
  
• Selrahc got this event, and then made a mistake by choosing the Monument, thinking it would give him an extra happy even though it doesn't.

I haven't been amazed at Selrahc's play so far, afaik he still has zero workers and is currently sitting 2 below his happy cap working zero growth tiles.
(I'm aware I may be eliminated in 3 turns and thus he'd be doing a lot better than me, but even so).

So I'm going to say Option 2, the Monument event.
It's a bit leftside, and if I'm right I deserve a pat on the back.

If I survive, I may go information fishing later.

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 23:

Nothing too interesting.

Scout moved 1NE and stopped.
Next turn will move to that forested hill.

Barbarian warrior moved 1SW as expected, and will move onto the wheat 1N of Kwythellar next turn.




Demographics:

<<I'll figure these out later if I get the chance.>>

At first glance though, Archduke gained 16 points which I guess might be a tech and pop, (Riv av pop has increased, someone has a size 3 city).

Meanwhile it seems Selrahc is now working only 9 food...with a 5 pop city. The rival best GNP is now 17.
I can't be certain, but I think he's working that incense tile again, and starving his city to do so. Will check graphs next turn.
If so, then yet again he's placing a high priority on GNP?

Av soldier count has changed also.


Edit: Okay, not too hard again, except for the power stuff.

• Score: Archduke +16 points.
  Represents a tech and pop increase. (Riv av pop has increased, someone has a size 3 city).
  
• Archduke Tech is either Exploration or Ancient Chants.
  
• Rival best GNP: 17
  This is Selrahc being slightly weedy with tile management. He's working the incense to bump his GNP up a notch, starving his city of excess food to boot, yet NOT working the 3f/1c that I'm certain he must have. (His GNP would be 18 otherwise).
  Estimate the tiles he's working are: 3f + 3f + 1f/1h/2c + 3h + 3h.
  Including the city base tile that makes 9f/9h and 11c (11 * 1.2 + 4 = 17).
  
• Bob produced a scout on T21 (9k power total).
  Identifiable from power graphs.
  
• Current powers and military breakdown:
  • Archduke: 2(?) warriors +1k pop (7k)
    
  • Selrahc: 4 warriors + 2k pop (14k)
    
  • Cull: 3(?) warriors + 1k pop (10k)
    
  • Sareln: 1 warrior + 1 scout (5k)
  Long-winded explanation below if you're interested.

Important points: Rival Av soldier count 9k and that I know what Bob, Selrahc and Sareln's powers are (power graphs for first two, Sareln from the rival worst soldier count).
Bob has (9k), Selrahc has (14k) and Sareln has (5k) power.
That leaves 17k power to divide between Cull and Archduke.

I had to go back through the demographic screens, and if you look at T13 and T14, you'll see that Selrahc produced a warrior, yet the Rival Av did not change. ie someone lost a warrior on that same turn.
Since I know the others, it had to be Archduke or Cull, and I'm pretty sure it was Cull.

But that still leaves an unexplained power difference.
I then remembered this post from Archduke in the tech thread:

Sigh.
Stasis, stasis, go away, come again another day. My scout mutated, so I am actually only pressing enter.

Enraged units are moved randomly by an aggressive AI, until they win their first fight.
A good rule of thumb, is that enraged scout = dead scout.
Going through the demos, Av soldier count decreased by 2k power (scout) between T15 and T17.
I feel confident in saying that Archduke lost his scout on either T16 or T17. The specific turn doesn't matter.

As a result, the reason I know it was Cull not Archduke who lost the warrior on T14, is because Archduke's power if he lost 2 units would be 4k, and would have overtaken Sareln as the Rival worst count.

So we now have both Archduke and Cull on 2 warriors 2 pop (3k + 3k +1k = 7k) each = 14k total.
We're looking to explain 17k, so one of them has an extra warrior.
On this last part I'm not certain, hence the (?) against their names.
But what I do know is that both produced warriors the turn before Stasis was cast.
The only way for one of them to have produced another warrior so quickly is either through a hut, or working high hammer tiles like I'm doing.

We know Archduke reached 3 pop naturally, and Cull, despite settling T0, has yet to do so by T25
That suggests he's not working the 3f tile we know he has, so I'm assigning the spare warrior to him for the time being.

I don't expect to be able to track power numbers for much longer, my spreadsheet is getting too fiddly.

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 24:

Vanilla Ice moved onto the hill and gained a nice view of the surrounding area, including Letum Frigus, which I wasn't expecting yet.



Selrahc can have no complaints about that placement, to say it's damn close to him would be an understatement.
Thank goodness the Dark Elves reached it first.
Vanilla Ice will move onto one of those forests next turn.

But we don't care about the scout at the moment.
Here's the offending screenshot, taken after ending the turn:



Cover your balls x 2 methinks!


Demographics:

Again, not going into too much detail now.
Seems like all the stats are a mess, as everyone is now growing pop/ producing units right after Stasis.

But one really curious thing to note, is that someone has lost a population point.
Last turn Archduke had a 3 pop capital, now he's back to 2 pop, with a corresponding score loss.

I can't believe anyone would be that careless with tile management, so I guess it's probably one of those events again.
Either a sickness/wasting disease event for -1 pop, or a slave riot type event where losing pop was the least harmful outcome?
Here's the text for the wasting sickness event:

• An unusual wasting disease has spread in the city of XXX. The children seem the strongest hit and the healers warn that many may die if nothing is done.
  • Ease their suffering and quarantine the city until the disease has passed. -1 pop, +1 unhealth? (not sure)
    
  • Send an adept proficient in body magic to strengthen their resistance to the disease. Not an option for anyone yet.
    
  
  

Edit: Further comments

Confirm Archduke definitely lost pop, only two other things of interest.

Bob gained 11 points, ie tech. Almost certainly Agriculture

Selrahc returned to his usual 10f/9h config, stopped working the incense tile, I would guess he has no excess food stored in his food box.

Rival Worst GNP: Increased from 11 to 12.
Archduke had 11 GNP while researching Exploration or Ancient Chants. He's now researching something with a pre-req, hence the small increase to 12.
Three likely routes he's going:

• Exploration -> Calendar
  
• Exploration -> AH
  
• Ancient Chants -> Mysticism
  

Won't know more until later.

[pocketbeetle]

Roll up Roll up! And place your bets!

Ladies and Gentlemen we have 3 delightful outcomes for next turn.

Either:
Conan the Barbarian decides to take an unscheduled toilet break, giving the Kuriotate capital time enough to conscript a garrison;
OR Scrambled Defense wins a heroic 1 on 1 battle against Conan, thereafter being named 'Druss the Legend';
OR Conan with the backing of Krom, overcomes all odds and sacks the proud city of Kwythellar.

1. Conan gets stage fright, delays a turn.
   
2. Druss the Legend shall rise! No Barbarians are going to get over these walls!
   
3. Pb gets the smackdown, and a lot of women start lamenting.
   
4. Don't know or care, but you're an idiot for going worker first.
   

Choose your option, a b c or d!

If I don't get at least 10 votes, I keep hold of the turn and refuse to tell anyone the outcome until we do. (Yes yes I know one of the options doesn't allow that.)

Each choice of d cancels out a vote!

Cast your votes now!

VS
Big Sword vs even bigger Axe, who wins?

[Kyan]

I vote a).

I've actually noticed a really odd quirk with the AI on FfH. They don't seem to like taking emtpy cities. I was playing a game where i had goblin towers either side of the capital and they'd wiped out all my forces. I had nothing garrisoned and 3 barbs adjacent to my capital. Not one of them decided to attack.

However, the moment i built another warrior, one attacked- won and i lost.

I'm not saying this is a tactic you should endorse but just as another example of quirky AI.

I vote a. He will stand there and look pretty, before suiciding next turn.

[Ilios]

I vote b, and I think you should have gone settler first...