[SPOILERS] Emporium For Sale. We Don't Rent Pigs.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

I have a few reports to get to, but first I need to play the current turn. I had a busy day at work today so couldn't do too much with the save. I opened the save to this:





Ok, that could be really bad. The timing is not great, as I've been pushing wealth builds hard to make up my mistake on the GM bulb (I did not notice that Civil Service came after Monarchy on the bulb list despite typing the list and posting it) and get to Bureaucracy. Because of the wealth builds, I've been unable to churn out a bunch of units. And, to be honest, I thought Dazed was just mailing it in, so I'd take a cursory glance at Saddleback when playing the turns and focus my attention on novice. Bad idea. Shit like this is why I think I qualify for PB11.

Anyway, I have built 2 triremes in San Antonio in the last 3 turns, which Dazed was paying attention to (he said so in gchat today). The ONLY thing I have in my favor here is that novice turned his navy around (we traded triremes this turn and he went back home, for now). Because I was preparing for him to invade, I had built an Impi in Austin, four tiles away, that can just reinforce San Antonio this turn. Also, I can (and will) dry whip another Impi in San Antonio. So, the situation is thus:

Attackers:
8 chariots this turn (no promos)
second wave (next turn): Vulture, Spear, Archer (all no promo), CG1 archer

Defenders:
Archer (city1, 25% fortify)
Combat 1 Axe, 25% fortify
Combat 1 Axe, 25% fortify
Combat 1 Impi [from Austin]
Impi [dry whip]

Prior to testing I wasn't sure if I was doomed or not.

<><><><><><><><>

chariot vs. combat 1 impi - (4.0 vs. 11.8) <.1% win, 10% retreat
chariot vs. CG1 archer - (4.0 vs. 9.5) .2% win, 10% retreat

first attempt: one kill @4.9% (chariot vs 6.77 archer), one withdrawal. axes never fight.
second attempt: one withdrawal, no kills
third attempt: two withdraw, no kills
fourth attempt: one withdrawal, no kills
fifth attempt: two withdraw, no kills
#6: no kills
#7: two kills - chariot vs. archer win @ 4.9%, chariot vs. impi @ 10.3%
#8: no kills
#9: no kills
#10: no kills
#11: no kills
#12: no kills
#13: no kills
#14: no kills, one withdrawal
#15: no kills, one withdrawal
#16: no kills
#17: no kills
#18: no kills
#19: no kills, two withdraw
#20: no kills

In all sims, axes never defend!

This is going to be an absolute blood bath. Unless I botched the sandbox run, I should net a GG out of this and not too much damage at all. Or, he's on a pillaging spree and I can mop up his forces in the field. This is a setback, as I'd prefer to continue expanding peacefully, but I don't think it's a game ending move at all. I'll pull as many reinforcements down as I can and see what I can do in the next few turns. I am cautiously optimistic here.

Can someone please check my sandbox to ensure that I didn't skew the results with a bad sim? I'll be playing the turn in the next hour or so. The sandbox is here. Thanks!

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

For anyone visiting redirected from my request for a sub June 6-10, I do have several updates to post but have been short on time to get them up this week. I'll make sure to give whoever subs enough info to guide any decisions. And, if not, no worries. It's a game, after all, I just don't want to cause another weekend long holdup on the save going around.

Thanks to all for consideration.

[Ceiliazul]

I can sub for you if I'm given instructions. Also the more you report the better this week. I'm unspoiled on the game so far. Sounds like the turn pace is pretty slow, right?

[Ceiliazul]

Shit like this is why I think I qualify for PB11.

You spent the whole rest of the post arguing against this point.

[spacetyrantxenu]

Yeah but then he teamed up with me so how smart was that?

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

So, the last proper update was T85. I have a bunch of pictures saved up that I intended to post in updates, but never quite got around to. Forgive me, lurkers!

T86

T87

T88

T89

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Continuing the mega-picture dumps:

T90

I'm ever watchful in the south, as novice has superior firepower. I'm far-flung and flabby, and it's expensive.

T91

No pictures.

T92

Still no pictures.

T93

Lotsa pictures.



Ok, first, I'm not in love with this city's placement at all. But, I may not be able to do much about it. Zak has a much shorter line of reinforcement here, so he can match my build up, as you will see. Also, a swap into HR/Vassalage/Caste. Vassalage is probably saving a bit of gpt on unit costs, but really he's benefiting from 2 promo melee units in barracks cities, which I know he has because I've seen plenty of two-promo HAs.



And, a strong blockade of my stone. Crap. I can't dislodge two triremes, so I'm stuck with an expensive, useless city until I can break the blockade. This is a HIGH PRIORITY. I need stone to get a number of objectives: Heroic Epic (Ogallala), Hanging Gardens (Dodge City), and Moai (Great Bend). I botched an awesome opportunity to 1t The Great Wall in Great Bend the turn that Dazed moved his chariots in. I didn't document that invasion well at all, but I ran 20 sims, concluded that the axes would never have to defend, then realized that he had promos available, so ran 20 MORE sims against combat 1 chariots and my second axe only defended once, so I attacked out at ~75% or so odds (it's been a while ago, so I don't recall exactly) so I would have a second promo available on one axe, should I need a medic or melee unit available for the follow up stack of axes, etc. Dazed took his chariots home, toward his northern border with Zak. Anyway, I decided to not build TGW because I mistakenly believed the combat bonus to only apply to the continent it is built on. Uh, derp...the continental aspect applies to barbs entering borders. The increased Great General production bonus is empire wide. This, dear reader, is a class one fuck up. As it stands, I still have a chop + overflow hiding behind a wealth build in Great Bend, waiting for the day I can break the stone blockade. Since this turn, Zak has built TGW. I really feel like I've frittered away a good position in this game.




Another blockade. I hate this mechanic. Even if I had boats stationed on the resource, I'm denied its use. This caused me some unhealthiness in a couple of cities.



This is going to be my National Epic city. The food surplus is much better when I have my clams (nets pillaged after novice won a ~33% naval fight). As of T93, I have an aqueduct and two forests ready to overflow/chop into HG. Just need stone.



Stats and graphs:



GNP is not good. I've over expanded and under courthoused. Raising cash is a difficult proposition. I was anticipating fail gold cascading in by now.








Zak may be running some spy specialists. He's ORG/SPI, and so has also likely finished a bunch of courthouses.

T94

Still keeping an eye on Fall's garrison. Each turn I run the Impi in and out of novice's borders. I do the same with a chariot near Virginia City. I just have to know if he's moving units up. Also, I want to think that by me keeping an eye on his garrison that he'll be less likely to push in. He must assume I have reserves, but really I don't have much down here other than the whip if he should decide to move in. I'm running a calculated risk here. I have to get these cities productive/profitable, or I'll be an era behind on tech in no time. Also, I broke the blockade. Commodore goaded me in gchat into not being a sissy, so I took the ~33% fight and won. I did have a galley and another trireme that could clean up next turn if I lost, but I wanted my damned clams back!



The Great General. I love supermedics, but a fast boat is all the rage these days. I haven't used the general quite yet. Still deciding. Also, me unloading more troops at Zak's very annoying city. But, as I said before, his line of supply is shorter and he keeps dropping units in.



I've strangled myself with junk cities.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T95

I've seriously gotten lazy reporting. Life has been busy lately, and the weather is finally nice so I want to be outside doing other stuff. And, reading Game of Thrones. I haven't slacked on effort playing the turns, just on reporting. Lack of lurker participation, I'm sure, is the cause for that. Anyway, GNP is still shit and I haven't done much about it.

T96

The current turn:

After breaking the blockade, I thought I'd see what was behind the curtain, maybe get a cheap raze opportunity. Nope, novice is (as usual) ahead of me. I'm not going to take a bad odds attack to get more bad odds attacks. And, he can 4/2 slave/overflow another couple phalanxes in consecutive turns no doubt. So, we'll keep the lads on the boats and just blockade him for now.



Still waiting for the stone blockade to be lifted, so I'm setting up another 2-pop whip for some overflow cascading goodness. We need courthouses everywhere anyway. I still have workers on hand (within 1t movement) of the chop2/farm2 tiles for when we do have access to stone. Whip the Aqueduct first, overflow into the Courthouse/whip, overflow into Hanging Gardens. Note, I have NOT crunched all of the numbers. I just don't have time to do heavy handed micro adjustments. In general, though, as long as I'm waiting out the blockade, I'm going to keep stashing away hammers. I've already lost TGW. I hope I don't lose HG too. If novice gets it... shudder.



So, to that end, here's the plan to break the blockade. I'm counter-blockading all of two coast tiles, but I can't move any closer without being whacked. So, I'm trying to set a trap, but most likely, novice will sniff it out and withdraw. Next turn I'll hide my three triremes behind my city and move the bait/blockader 1N and hopefully induce an attack. Best case is that he attacks, loses, and cleans up (outright lose twice? I can't even fathom that happening), then I wipe out his other boat the following turn. More likely, he'll smell a rat and fall back. But, in that case, I have 4 triremes to his two and force him to build more boats. I should be able to keep the stone for a while with these four boats. I hope.



So after novice's failed attack, I've been blockading his fish. I'm sure he isn't done contesting this, but I'll do what I can for now. I have three Triremes here and I build more out of San Antonio when I can. Each turn I blockade with one trireme and move NE/SW with the other, just checking to see if there is an imminent attack coming. I'm still very short of land units behind my wooden wall. Tombstone is vulnerable, so the 1t advance notice would certainly help me get the forces I'll need to defend. I really hope I can keep him from working that fish for a while. Interestingly, he has not built a lighthouse in Byte. But, he does appear to have done a solid job cottaging, an area that I've done poorly, to me great regret.



Zak just has too many units for me to dislodge here. Keeping the army on the jungle/hill in his borders was expensive. I'm nearly as dangerous here, but I'm in my own borders and so the cost is less. I sent an impi and a chariot to the south to prevent him flanking me to my soft underbelly, Great Bend (1 axe).

The best way to get control of this island is to prevent him from reinforcing it, which means a sneak raze on Jerdan. This would be an awesome use of the GG, and something I'm considering. A five move galley stationed on the clams tile could do an amphibious attack on Jordan. Last I checked, the city wasn't strongly garrisoned. I'm guessing Zak is doing much the same as I am, pushing units forward and skimping where he can. IF I can raze Jordan, I can finish off Liechtenstein whenever I am able. I'll have triremes (Zak lacks MC) and can bring over enough units to kill that city at that point. But, let's not get crazy, I don't think this happens immediately.



Dear God this city needs a courthouse. And, because they're so cheap (CRE), a library. I just hate to dump all of that one-time hammer awesomeness into a building that I can easily whip. The stone blockade removal task force HAS to work. Look at that maintenance...



I'm finally getting around to courthouses. I'm late to the party here, obviously. Dazed's economy has rebounded and is much stronger than mine. The market completing in Lonesome Dove will help, but truly it is the courthouses that I need. Ikhandas too, if I ever have a chance.



I see that GNP and I could just cry. I need fail gold and libraries!

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

I can sub for you if I'm given instructions. Also the more you report the better this week. I'm unspoiled on the game so far. Sounds like the turn pace is pretty slow, right?

Ok, so this is all the reports churned out. If you want, we can gchat through a turn. boldlygoingnowhererb at gmail. Or, feel free to open up a save and have a look around. Tracker here, password: bolder. If the tracker isn't showing my save, try here for the previous turn (T96).

Tomorrow may be the last turn before I'm out of town, so if we can't look at the save together, open the save when you get a chance and if you have questions, let me know. I'm usually able to chat pretty freely during the day at work, if that helps.

Thanks again, and have no fear about wrecking my sweet ride. Novice wins, it's just a matter of how, just like we've all known since the signup phase.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Ceil, thanks for covering.









First in crop yield for the first time in the entire game! Look at that GNP though. Love and marriage, eh? I don't have time to check, but I wouldn't be surprised if novice has whipped a good bit. He may have decided it's time to take me down a few pegs. We got a WLTMD in Ogallala this turn. I'll take it!

Tech: I'm just saving money right now. I have enough builds to work on. Iron Working would be helpful to clear a little Jungle at Great Bend, but I don't have any workers there and I can't afford to settle the banana/gems city right now, nor can I spare the units. Construction is a placeholder unless we're being invaded (so as to not place you in an awkward position since you're spoiled, if using the scouting moves I've indicated, you can see a buildup and troops where they shouldn't be and it looks aggressive, tech Construction). If that happens, tech and whip cats with reckless abandon. Calendar if we can't lift the stone blockade so we can build MoM in Dodge City with the overflow cascade and chops. It's ok to save gold another 2-3 turns, I think.

-----

City planning section. Sorry no pics, just flat out don't have time. I have to be on the road in less than 6 hours and will likely be driving ~12 hours tomorrow. Ugh.

Lonesome Dove - Bureaucap. I have Buddhist missionary next to spread the word. Wealth as needed too. Wealth is good, and a confucian monestary ok but I think missionaries are more important. Units are around and/or can be built to cover population growths, as the city is happy capped now.

Austin - hammer pump. units/wealth.

San Antonio - Trireme set to 2pop, overflow for lighthouse. Be watchful of dazed. As long as his chariot stack is in Eridu we're probably safe here. Just in case, the Impi in Austin can reach San Antonio if needed. Run an engineer when you can here.

Abilene - T98 - grow on coast, T99 whip courthouse

Ogallala - work coast for food when running 0%. When tech is turned on, run mines for wealth.

Dodge City - Whip cascade. T98 swawp/2pop whip Aqueduct. T99 2pop Courthouse. T100 hopefully stone is no longer under blockade, build Hanging Gardens. Have chops complete this turn. If HG unavilable, decision time. There should be enough gold to 1t Calendar and take a shot at MoM. Prefer HG though, as it is at greater risk. Only Dazed thus far has Calendar. Run wealth to preserve overflow if needed due to stone blockade, but go ahead with cascade. HG is going to fall soonish and I don't want it to go to novice.

Fort Smith - Sad city that was whipped repeatedly for a navy. It is working marginal cottages for the capital and low food surplus while it recovers from the whips. Keep plugging away at the courthouse. Buddhist spread would be nice here, as in the islands and Miles City.

Great Bend - overflow/chop preserved by wealth. Waiting on stone to dump into Moai. Take bronze mine as needed.

Leadville - needs Buddhism. Otherwise, was a resource plant for furs. Whip the courthouse when it is available. The worker is preparing for the other city up north, but I can't afford it at present. If the worker runs out of stuff to do, ferry it back towards Miles City to cottage. Finish the chop if expedient. I was waiting for Buddhism, but I won't wait much longer. The courthouse is important.

Miles City - Working cottages and building infrastructure. Need more improved tiles here, so whip the courthouse when it is available. The nearby worker can work on the grass and cottage after finishing the mine. When the mine is done, keep the impi nearby on zone defense.

Tombstone - be on alert for novice here. He made a play once and lost, he's likely to try again. I have a small fleet positioned between our borders NW of Tombstone blockading his fish. Each turn I move one boat NE/NW to scout the row of tiles to give an extra turn warning of an incoming stack. I want to whip the courthouse in tombstone, but it may be better to save the population for an emergency whip, just in case. The zone Impi to the east and Austin to the south can get units there if we have enough warning.

Also, just to the SW of tombstone, on the pig resource on the island, I have a stack that is basically out of position and harassing Zak. It's in my borders to be a threat and also save money. It is better positioned 1W, but that costs. I don't ahve enough money to take the city, as Zak can easily reinforce. He lacks Metal Casting, though, so two triremes near San Antonio (one to be whipped next turn) can block the passage between his mainland and island. I have a galley down there too. If possible, kill Jordan so he can't reinforce the island, but don't take any outrageous chances.

Virginia City - whip the forge T97. Courthouse next. Same deal scouting the borders down here. I have an impi 1E of the gems that goes SW/NE and a chariot on the forest that goes SW/NE. Keep an eye on the garrison in Fall. I've noted a few units pulled back, I think novice may be making another push on Zak. Or he may have built some boats and is going to adventure some with me.

To the south of Virginia City I have 2 triremes and a galley (loaded with axe/chariot). Blockading. Next turn move a trireme 1S and evaluate. We may be quickly outnumbered here, so it is probably prudent to fall back toward Virginia City and play defense. The most important thing is that novice doesn't blockade the marble. I'm counting on fail gold to get me out of the overexpansion phase.

Sheridan - hopelessly blockaded until now. This turn I set my trap, hopefully novice attacks my blockading boat and I can clean up and remove the blockade. As soon as that's done, Moai in Great Bend and HG in Dodge City. There's a workboat here as soon as you can defend the tiles.

Baxter Springs - Granary, grow, and don't get blockaded.