[Spoilers] Louis XIV of Babylon

[SleepingMoogle]

Ugh.. I'm really feeling bad about not updating this nearly as regularly as most others. Anyway, Monarchy finishes in two turns which should finally see the cities grow a little. At that point I'll probably do a thorough report, but the highlights in the meantime:

*The NAP with Mackoti was agreed on. Aside from a location just south of Dudu Georgescu (probably botched the spelling), all that land to the southeast will be mine once I get around to settling it.

*Locke has sent a proposal to every Civ about boycotting plako. There doesn't seem to be enough goodwill to let it happen though, so it's unlikely anything will happen. Besides, all that would really do is it easier for Lord Parkin to take the lead.

*Adlain has approached Rego about a settling agreement, in which he basically claims all of my land. It's unfortunate for him that Rego and me are already cooperating, and I now won't feel nearly so bad about blocking him off.

*My economy sucks right now, and I definitely need to pick up Currency after Monarchy to avoid falling behind.

[SleepingMoogle]

Phew.. Monarchy is in, and with that my cities can finally grow a little. As Hangover was settled on top of a Wine resource, every city immediately got a point of happiness and most grew this turn to take advantage of it. I'm currently working on a Settler in the capital which I'll want to finish before revolting into HR. At this point I haven't quite decided whether I should revolt into OR at the same time; that'll depend on whether the ability to spread Buddhism around is worth the civic upkeep. But probably not.. getting Currency is becoming urgent. I'll revisit it once I can revolt into Bureaucracy.

Overview shots:







Tech's set to Currency. After that, I have a few options available.

Ironworking (Jungle chops)
Code of Laws (Courthouses) (+CS)
Metal Casting (Forges)
Archery/HBR/Construction (Defense)

Probably in that order since the expected expansion in the south will be severely hampered if I can't clear the jungle there.

[Sciz]

looking forward to how this game will turn out!

[SleepingMoogle]

Hmm, some of the rules that are active for this game are a major pain in the rear. I had to sit on the save last night and delay my actions until now just to avoid breaking the 6-hour timer. Clock games are bad, and hopefully this will not be an issue so much later on, but when the only alternative is potentially sleeping through the window of allowed time, what other choices does one have?

Case in point, I had to move in the first 6 hours of the turn for this:



A pitifully small stack, yes. I doubt it would have worked against any of the other civs, but I have scoped Ianamus Zure and surrounding area with that scout every turn since Adlain founded it, and he still hasn't placed a single defender in there. Rather than wait for the city to grow to allow for whipping and culture expansions, I might as well take it down now and make it clear to Adlain the area is mine.

Hey there Adlain,

Perhaps we are both to blame for this, but the frequency of our messagin back and forth has simply been lacking quite a bit for two neighbors. That is probably why you chose to settle a city in what is, at best, disputed land without notifying me beforehand. Consequently, I thought my response didn't really need an advance notice either but hopefully we can keep in touch from this moment onwards.

My terms are simple enough. You will abandon your recently settled city and in return your Workers will be granted safe passage back to your lands. Any other cities you choose to settle further north of your border will be considered an act of aggression and responded to in kind.

Pleasant dreams,
-SleepingMoogle
Patriarch of the first tribe of Somnus

It's unfortunate I'll have to raze that city, but it overlaps with the marked city locations so badly there's no way to make it fit. And since those locations are part of the agreement I made with rego and Sunrise, options are limited.

Currently waiting for Adlain's response, but I'm not too concerned at this point given his power chart.

[Krill]

Woot, war. Good times

[spacemanmf]

So how small is "pitifully small"?

[DMOC]

I only see one red dot, so perhaps 1 axe? It's possible the coloring could be a bit clouded.

[SleepingMoogle]

It's two Axes, a Spear and three Chariots. Basically most of Jet lag's garrison along with some zone-defense for good measure. If Adlain had put up a defense like that, this would have no chance of succeeding. But as it is, he planted a city a long way from his lands, without a road connecting, and chose not to bring up any defense.

He did offer me a resource loan for leaving him alone though.

[SleepingMoogle]

A pretty decent turn all in all. Currency research finished, allowing me finally to have something resembling an economy. Also, I got a GS from my assigned scientiests, who will be heading to the capital to build an Academy there.

The conflict with Adlain isn't really going to be that much trouble.



I suppose I should thank him for building me a Plantation. Why he hasn't withdrawn his workers last turn after I made my intentions clear is a bit of a mystery, but provided he won't further contest my settling the marked locations (which is doubtful, see below), I'm willing to let them go back to his lands unharmed.

The units in the top left of the screenshot are actually 4 Workers covered by two axes roading towards the location marked NW of Adlain's workers. The Settler currently being trained in Jet Lag can alternatively resettle the city 1E of where it is now; I haven't quite decided on it yet. But it will be fairly important to settle both locations quickly, as well as a third location a bit to the NE that grabs Fish and jungle Gems, as well as blocking Adlain from expanding further east without resorting to ferrying troops.

The diplo between Adlain and me over the last day:

Hey there Adlain,

Perhaps we are both to blame for this, but the frequency of our messagin back and forth has simply been lacking quite a bit for two neighbors. That is probably why you chose to settle a city in what is, at best, disputed land without notifying me beforehand. Consequently, I thought my response didn't really need an advance notice either but hopefully we can keep in touch from this moment onwards.

My terms are simple enough. You will abandon your recently settled city and in return your Workers will be granted safe passage back to your lands. Any other cities you choose to settle further north of your border will be considered an act of aggression and responded to in kind.

Pleasant dreams,
-SleepingMoogle
Patriarch of the first tribe of Somnus

Hi SleepingMoogle.

Well, i must admit i am alittle supprised at your reaction, Sure im alittle north than desired pahaps, but to send a full military Stack and demand i leave my city and never expand further north than my current holding is, to be frank, abit rich.

Now, with that said, i am willing at looking at a compromise here. I would like to keep my city, as i have already spent the hammers on getting it there, the time to move my settler has already been wasted moving him there and hell i have already upgraded one Tile and will finish the other in 1T.

Would a resource loan prehaps help smooth over this disagreement or something other than losing all the time and hammers spent on the city?? Please atleast come to the Table with somthing before you smash your way though as we have atleast been freindly when we have talked in the past and i dont see a need for that to change in the forseeable future.

Kind Regards,

Adlain

Hey Adlain,

A resource loan might have been a nice offer before my happiness cap was removed by HR, but right now it simply won't cut it. Similarly, a settling agreement would have been an option before you planted the city, but it is positioned so poorly for my own expansion plans that the current situation is simply unworkable. Nor do I feel there is much you can do right now to stop the advance.

While I am not out to create an enemy (and I don't consider you one at present), you erred when you planted that city without adequate defenses or the ability to reinforce it. The next couple of turns will probably see us either patch things up or dig in. Unfortunately that city simply must go, but anything else I am willing to negotiate.

-SleepingMoogle

Hi Sleeping Moogle,

It really has you rattled that much over a simple City, Fine - but please do say what your City positional workaround is then - pref Before you start knocking on my doorstep with "Big Guns" so to speak. I accept what you say about my tactical blunder of Defences - i assumed as we had all gotten along upuntill now that there was not too pressing a need for a high garrison immediately after plating - my mistake, But if, for arguments sake, i agree to allow the city to fall, what do you consider a reasonable comprimise over this then city placment wise.

Kind Regards,

Adlain

Hmm, I am planning to refound the city on the tile east of the current plant. Anything further south than that I didn't really make plans for, so that might make for a good border. If you want to settle the remaining land south or southwest of it I probably wouldn't oppose it at least (but I'll have a look at the map when the turn rolls around to confirm that). One silver lining is that expansion there would be a more natural progression for you and make for a far more defendable border.

-SleepingMoogle

Hi Sleeping Moogle,

so, your new proposal is basicly a direct reversal of our current position, save for 1 tile further east. thats me losing claims to 3 happy sources (Elephant, Sugar and Furs) and getting allowed my workers back in return......... could i posably ask for a 2nd option.

How about you settle 1N or 1NW of Inanimus Zuras Location, i settle 2SE, You get sugar, Elephants (3rd Ring) and hourses, i get Corn and Furs. is that prehaps a workable comprimise??

Kind regards,

Adlain

Adlain,

I can borrow you the Furs resource once the city has been replaced as I already have a native source up north, and we can probably arrange something similar for the Sugar once expansion heads east to the resources there. The Ivory isn't that big of a help right now for either of us, until border expansions and Iron Working to remove the Jungle on the tile will allow it to be hooked up.

Regrettably there is little room for moving the city. I mentioned earlier that the current location is very awkward for other settling plans and the 1E location as close to other cities as the game will allow. Isn't there a suitable location or two for your cities that take advantage of the Deer and Spice resources in the area? 1NW of the Copper looks like a fairly strong location at least, and I have no intention of opposing your settlement of the area near that Spice resource either (which you can also hook up for happiness as you have Calendar already).

As the game rules require me to act within the first 6 hours of the turn I declared and moved in. The timing is a bit unfortunate, but I think we can come to an arrangement here.

Regards,
-SleepingMoogle

Hi dleeping moogle,

Fine, I'm not happy, but that is the best I an going to get and I can see that. In regards to the turn timer, there's no problem on my side if it creeps over, as it stands it will be more of a fake war as opposed to a real one as we have atleast somewhat resolved the issue via diplomacy. I suppose you can "feel free" to "relocate" inanamus zura.

I am glad however that we have atleast talked out our problems, and I hope we can repair our relationship into the future.

Kind regards,

Adlain

Maybe I do feel a bit bad about bullying Adlain like this, but there really isn't much that he can do to prevent me from dictating the terms. His power level is the lowest of all Civs I have demo visibility on (and somehow I doubt luddite will be lower), and he doesn't seem to have the production capability to field a big army anytime soon. From my interactions with him he's a nice guy, and if circumstances had been different we definitely could have been allies, but I need to do this if I want to remain at least somewhat competitive in the game. Expanding in that eastern jungle uncontested will be hugely beneficial once all that jungle is replaced by juicy cottages.

Anyway, in the last message Adlain basically gives in to the demands; I do plan on trying to at least keep civil relations with him until Rego and me decide to advance, which doesn't look to require much more than borrowing him the Fur resource and letting his workers go. I can live with that.

[spacemanmf]

Anyway, in the last message Adlain basically gives in to the demands; I do plan on trying to at least keep civil relations with him until Rego and me decide to advance, which doesn't look to require much more than borrowing him the Fur resource and letting his workers go. I can live with that.

Imagine how crestfallen he's going to be when you team up with rego and declare war, you big bully!

At least you can use his misspelling of your name as reason for war next time.