Bearing the flag proudly, Sabathiel of the Bannors [SPOILERS]

[Mr. Yellow]

I'm still clinging to any tiny tiny hope that he still see me as someone more useful to have around than dead. I did tell him that i'm close to having water mana, maybe he'll keep me alive with that card in hand. Seeing Nyktorions hawks in my town would remove all doubts that i need to be killed off.
Secondly he knows that i don't have Hunting and thus, no hawks. If he sees them then he would hide his army away from their view.
Finally Astrum is close enough that i don't need Tentanio-onis to get a good look of his land.

Anyway, Nyktorion sent me an overlook of Thoths current positions.



Main stack is in the red square and includes what seems to be his entire contingent of Swordsmen. They've been adjusted to be able to 2-move into Tentatio-onis. They've clearly been used to ward of barbs for now and contains lots of experienced troops.
However i see 3 options on how they can be used.

1: Attack me in 2 turns.
2: Move and capture Zholub, although we have an agreement to not contest the city till turn 90.
3: Clean the southern area of barbs and gargoyles, which contains the Ruins of Patria.

Now if he moves to the farmed square next to the Pool of tears, i'll move my troops out and retreat to the capital. Tentatio-onis and Astrum can not be defended at all against such a stack and i have a much better chance at the cap.

[Mr. Yellow]

Got a message from Thoth, finally "answering" my suggestion regarding the barb city.

[COLOR="Yellow"]Our scouting has been limited so far. The need to maintain a strong border defense against continuing barbarian attacks and the need to ensure adequate security for our scouting forces has slowed our exploration.

We have made several contacts as of turn 85.

At the present moment the Malakim government feels that it would be best if we simply left the barbarian city "up for grabs" once turn 90 rolls around rather than entering into any binding land agreements.

Thoth
[/COLOR]

And then i see this next turn.



BULL-SHIT! If the stack was for barbs then first of all, it's overkill and secondly, he wouldn't move it in range of my city! He's futily trying to cover up the fact that he will attack me this turn!

That stack includes 5 swordsmen, 3 warriors and a few thanes. All hooked up on copper. Included is an axe-wielding 5 combat swordsman. He is going for the kill!

I'm abondoning both Tentano-onis and Astrum. That includes my chance of gain copper, so i'm thinking of switching over to Construction next turn for catapults. Also a civic switch back to God King and Nationhood may be needed. It's pretty much just my cap that has good production.


Mardoc sent me an offer for Open borders thid turn, for some reason he managed to find a route to my capital.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]I found a trade connection to your empire this turn, I think through the Malakim. I proposed Open Borders; I figure we could both use the help right now, and I'd still prefer not to be trading with the Malakim at the moment.

Also found a Str 4 warrior, so you're 100% correct on him having bronze.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

Accepting it i see he has copper availible. That can actually help me, i don't need bronze working for str. 4 warriors if an outside source can send me copper.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Open Borders accepted, no trade income though. Nice amount of resources you got there however.

Anyway, Thoth is on the move. Just moved a stack of 6 swordsmen, several warriors and a few thanes right next to my border. Pretty sure i'll lose a few cities and that includes my copper, which were only a few turns away to be hooked. Gonna hold him off at my capital and might have to ask you to lend me your copper.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

Also sent a message to Nyktorion, replying the screen he sent me.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Yupp, this is great info.

Anyway, Thoth just moved his main stack right next to my borders, in range to take the city the next turn. 6 swordsmen, some warriors and a few thanes. 1 of them have the axe and are at str. 6 with 5 combat promotions. He is going for the kill.

I'm abonding both Tentano-onis and Astrum. I have a much better chance to defend myself in the capital. Also i got Open borders with Mardoc this turn and are able to get copper from him should it be needed. My copper seems to be lost though, too close to Thoth.

I'm thinking of going Construction now to get catapults. Gonna need more than warriors for defence.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

Yeah i know i counted the amount of swordsmen wrong.

Finally, forgot to show this last turn.



Both Irgy and Mardoc triple revolted last turn. No suprises in their civic choices though.

Sit tight! We're about to be the defenders in the first war in FFH2 PBEM3!

[Mr. Yellow]

Not suprisingly, Thoth declared war last turn.

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi,

As you have already guessed that stack of units on our borders wasn't just enjoying a nice holiday on the beach.

Malakim troops have crossed over the Bannor border and have liberated the city of Golden Yurt.


As a result our two nations are now at war.
[/COLOR]

And current status?



Managed to progress pretty far.

So what he did here was to capture they city, use a Thane to expand borders (clever) and then promote several units with mobility I, killing all my retreating troops (at least Hogwood managed to bring one swordsman down with him). Gotta love all the gold, sand and axe Thoth's been having.

So suddenly, my capital is a lot more vulnerable than i initially thought. Still i expect to hold off the first wave and have been pretty active diplomatically. I'll give you a more detailed report soon.

[icewolf34]

Was there a hawk in that city? If so, what happened to it?

Also, if people are convinced you are going down, maybe that makes it a bit more likely for that copper loan to come through... then at least you can take a few more of Thoth's guys down with him. It'd be great if someone organized a backstab, since Thoth will be scary with an even more expanded empire.

[Mr. Yellow]

Was about to go to bed when i suddenly remembered that i still have to update this.

Anyway, this turn were quite diplomatic for me.

It started with a response from Irgy.

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Hi. Just to explain the odd formatting here, I pasted this into my spoiler
thread before actually sending it, which turned out to be a good thing because
my email program did something stupid and lost all of what I've written. So
the only version I have is with the colour tags. I figured it's as good a way
to mark what's yours and what's my response as any, so I haven't put the
little '>'s back.

[COLOR="Cyan"](Reason why i didn't contact you first was due to finding out
what to say and figure out the mail you're using, which is stupid now that i
think about it since i already had that adress the whole time!)
[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
No worries, wasn't meant to be a complaint, just an excuse to comment on how
desperate I was for more contact.
[/COLOR][COLOR="Cyan"]
With you in the box, i've managed to reach to every civilization out there!
[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
Yes, I saw the announcement in the tech thread too. Congratulations!
[/COLOR][COLOR="Cyan"]
You're the kind of guys i've been fearing the whole time, though the situation
is quite different now.
[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
Us? No, we're soft and cuddly. You're the one with a hero who regains his
ability by killing the sorts of units that only I produce. I dare say if we
were closer we could have tried to rush you before you got to him, but no need
to for you to worry about that now right? I'm happy filling in the land I've
got, no need to go racing off across the map with movement 1 units.
[/COLOR][COLOR="Cyan"]
Speaking of the desert, it's covering the entire northern and western part of
the continent and has been annoying me the entire game.
Anyway, i'm located on the north part, surrounded by that cursed sand and with
the Malakim to the west and the elves to the east, the pirates are apparently
directly west of you. Oh and the named Hill Giant (Dagan-Gannd) was released
from the pyre by the nomads. Me and the nomads are located pretty close to the
pyre right now.
[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
Thanks for the info. I did notice that desert seemed darned huge. I don't
really have much to add with regards to the land around here. I have a little
corner to myself SE of the Elohim, it's green and jungly. I explored as far as
the Pyre before Dagan-Gannd chased me into a scorpion.
[/COLOR][COLOR="Cyan"]
Anyway war is approaching. Thoths been turning his production to max on
military and have by far the largest army currently. All attention is focused
on west now and expect either me or Mardoc to be attacked pretty soon.
[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
A fairly early war then. Do you think you can hold out? Hopefully you can, we
don't need someone running away with it this early. I would have to assume
that WarriorKnight, being the other score leader at the moment, would want to
step in before the Malakim ran completely out of control. But he's reluctant
to say so out loud. I'd offer some assistance, but I suspect I'm too far away
to be of great use. Depends how long unti the attack though I guess.
[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Sadly he'll be a non-factor during the war. Maybe that's ok though, cause if they were my neighbours the game would have looked totally different.


I knew i wouldn't make it in time, but it was worth a try. Sadly i won't have copper on my own availible for the conflict. Would have been stuck with 3 str. warriors and an early exit, if it wasn't for the curious trade connection with the pirates.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]What's the best way to connect that doesn't require Malakim roads? Lending copper may not be an option shortly.

In fact - if you're willing to trade a future consideration, like a mana loan, I can probably loan copper now, upgrade your current army, and then it'll come right back to me when he declares so I can feel relatively safe in the event he decides to retaliate.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]On further thought, although I certainly wouldn't turn down future gratitude, what I really want at the moment is not to have Thoth on my doorstep next. I offered copper for free in game; if we're lucky the trade goes through, if not, Thoth breaks the trade route before you can accept and we'll have to come up with another approach. In either case, I didn't feel I could wait any longer to have a chance of it getting through.

Although, I'd appreciate it if Thoth never knows the copper came from me. Ideally it goes through, then he breaks the trade right after, and never looks closely enough to understand how your warriors suddenly are on par with his.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Thanks for the copper, i really need any help i can get now.

Thoth just declared war last turn. He also have researched Horseback Riding and has given many of his units Mobility 1. Add the desert tiles in between as well as the axe and he have managed to get pretty far for simple infantry. Either way, it seems i've pretty much lost all chance to win the game. There's only one thing left for me to do currently and that's opposing Thoth to the end.

Thoth by the way has stretched his empire quite far now and has aquirred lots of ground to settle. Currently up to 6 cities.
I don't think i've mentioned this, but i have the full support of the elves. So Thoth is facing a 3 on 1 here, could possibly be more if WK decides to interfere. Really we don't want Thoth to rest at all and have to press him at all times.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Oh, the trade actually made it through? So much for my understanding of how trade works or how I was connected to your empire; I thought that would turn out to be a futile gesture and I'd have to defog another trade route to get copper to you. I'm glad it arrived safely.

I will point out, though, that Str 4 warrior fortified in a city with combat 1 is effectively Str 6.8, while a bronze sword is only Str 5.5 + promotions. Which is why I was so keen to make sure you were Str 4 base instead of Str 3. And if he's spending his promotions on Mobility, that means he's not spending them on +Str.

I did happen to notice a declaration in my inbox this morning " I have declared war on Mr. Yellow and liberated a border city. I regret the need for such a forceful foreign policy but Mr. Yellow has left me with no option but to resort to force."

He also is suddenly interested in trade and peaceful relations with me - go figure. As there's not much I can presently do directly, I'm inclined to play nice for the moment while giving you all the covert support I can. Part of the problem is that I'm at the bottom of the power scale with you, so it'll be a while before I can catch up to his present military in any significant form.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

Curious how we have a connection up, even after Thoth's war decleration, eh whatever. Glad i settled my capital near the coast.
Anyway, copper gained from Mardoc and can now field str.4 warriors. That should be enough to hold of the first wave of attackers.

I asked for more support from Nyktorion as well (and no, there were no hawks in the conquered city as i told him to stick to Astrum).

[COLOR="Cyan"]Thoth might think he doesn't need more units to take me down.
That could be true, as he aquirred Horseback Riding and have promoted many of his units with mobility I. It has allowed him to get some units in range of the capital in just 2 turns.
I lost all my units that were retreating. Gotta love all the sand and gold Thoth's been using, he lost one swordsman though.

Mardoc just sent me copper last turn and expect to have bronze weapons pretty soon. So i should be able to hold the capital for now. What worries me though is that Thoth easily has bigger production capabilities and will eventually win the attrition war. I really need military support from here on if i'm gonna survive this.

Anyway, i've pretty much full focus on just opposing Thoth now. Nothing else to do than to try and grab back what's lost.

This has more or less become a 3 on 1 conflict and more could possibly join if WK wants to interfere.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]First, my condolences on the loss of Tentatio-onis.

As every turn, my hawk has done its scouting run from Astrum. Since maybe not everything around Tentatio-onis/Golden Yurt is in your vision anymore, you might be interested in the way Thoth's army is split now. The picture is color coded the same way as the picture I sent you 2 turns ago.

I am currently starting to produce a bit of military, but it will take me some time to amass enough force to make a noticable strike in this war. I will be finishing my first archery range soon.

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

Wasn't really needed, but it's nice to know what else is behind Thoth's lines.



The front units will undoubtably race to the capital for a quick capture. That will not happen! Even if the eastern warriors haven't made it in time. Thoth's gotta get the rest of his military east if he wants a decent chance at grabbing Torrolerial.
Had workers prepared as well, most certainly to improve the city.

Anyway, i'm fully commited to a war with Thoth now. There's nothing else for me to do than to oppose Thoth and try to grab back what's lost. I won't accept any peace deals that will give him some rest and will seek to keep pressuring him at all times. Eventually both the elves and the pirates will enter this directly and i doubt Thoth can do much if i can force it into a stalemate.

By the way, this was an option i knew i could fall back on during negotiations with Thoth. Nyktorion wanted to focus my attention on the nomads and i managed to gain contact with Mardoc before Thoth did, eventually getting his support.
This would either evolve into me being a rather expensive partner for Thoth or him being completly isolated from the rest of the world. There are already 3 sides opposing Thoth now, 2 of them indirectly. Another one is currently neutral and quite likely to throw his support against Thoth if he decides to interfere (WK) and the final one are too far away to be involved (Irgy).
So i may be in a war that puts me too far behind to have any impact on the rest of the game, but i feel i've accomplished something here.

So currently it's a 3 vs 1, lets throw an another side in the mix!
To WK:

[COLOR="Cyan"]War has come and i'm pretty much pinned down in my capital. Thoth has approached with a stack of 5str. mobility promoted swordsmen, one with the axe and 5 combat promos. Think i can hold off the first assault, but i'm in dire need of help if i'm gonna hold this off.
There's a watch tower 5 tiles northwest of the border city with gold. It should give you a view of my capital.

- Sir Yellow, barricading the palace[/COLOR]

No response yet though, we'll see.

Current teck path was switched from Bronze Working to Masonry and eventually Construction. Catapults are what i need here now. Optionally i might grab one of the mana techs for war adepts. Both enthropy and enchantment mana would be pretty useful now. With rust removing the bronze weapons or Enchanted blade for a strength boost.
I wanted to do a revolt back to God King and Nationhood as well, but are sadly still in cooldown before i can do another, 4 turns from here.

Finally, it's time to say goodbye to our good boy here.



Desert reduces movement by 1, nomads increases it to 2. Add insult to injury by promoting the unit with Mobility I.
Result: A freaking warrior outrunning a scout!

[icewolf34]

My instinct is that you need to get real war declarations and foreign defenders in your cities as soon as possible, making whatever concessions you need to. Bribes could include resources, workers, or possibly even a city.

The longer things drag on, the better the chance that some allies will decide that it's simply not worth it to pick a fight with Thoth on your behalf. (See how hard pb pressed Selarhc for a concrete war contribution in PBEMI, just to make sure what side he was on.) Thoth might even buy off Nyk for one or two cities or settling concessions, and at that point it'd be hard to make a good case for other civs to intervene. Palace mana only goes so far, I'd think. If WK declares on Thoth quickly enough, that might swing things in your favor.

I know you're already moving in this direction, so that's just my two cents on that.

Sucks that those defenders got caught outside a city, that was a clever move by Thoth.

[Hesmyrr]

Can you post a screenshot of your military screen?

[Mr. Yellow]

Right here.



Current tally of my military at the end of turn is 9 warriors. 7 who are active in the war and the other 2 city guards in the east. Of those 7; 1 are defending Astrum, 3 defending the capital and another 3 will arrive at the capital in 2 turns. At the end of turn, another 2 was made in Torrolerial and Astrum.

Facing them is an 8 unit army, composed of 5 swordsmen, 2 warriors and a thane.

Here's current status.



Thoth has decided to send 4 of them directly at the capital, another 2 onwards Astrum and the final 2 still being decided on what to do.

The front 2 units in range of the capital are mobility promoted warrior and swordsman. The warrior in addition has combat I and Shock. Far from enough to have the odds in attack however.
Behind them is the real danger. 2 swordsmen, one with Combat II and Shock and the big baddie himself, the axe wielding General Martok with Combat V and Drill. He will undoubtably be the main striker, so i might have to focus on him eventually.
Behind again is the Thane and an injured poisoned swordsman at 2.5. Both with Mobility I.

Currently we got 4 defenders at the end of turn. 2 are Combat I and another Guerilla. Another 3 is coming from the east, one with Combat II and Shock.

Right now i'm just looking at Thoth's movement and react accordingly. I'm not sure what Thoth will do as soon he realise that he can't go for a quick cap of the capital. Maybe choke, maybe retreat, will have to see.
One thing i'll be watching are the workers. Currently mining the hill to the east for possibly needed production. If Thoth decides to move his frontal units on the southern hill, then i think i'll get my guerilla promoted warriors east to protect them.



I initially planned to abondon Astrum, but seeing that Thoth has just sent a small detachment towards it and that the warrior would be blocked off anyway, i sent him back to guard it. Another warrior got done at the end so he'll need more than the initial 2 units to take it. However, since there's no road connection they are just str. 3.
The nearby worker is sent to road the final bit and should be done before Thoth can reach him, although it means he'll be killed after that.

The 2 units Thoth sent are a warrior and an injured (and poisoned) swordsman, at 4.3 strength. Both with mobility I. Won't help much in the hills though.

Diplomacy coming right next!

[Mr. Yellow]

icewolf, i'm pretty confident that my allies will eventually enter the war directly.

First of all Mardoc. His only neighbours are the Malakim and the massive desert in between that he has dubbed the nomadic highway. Not to mention the nomads are one of the runaway powers. He i believe would rather have someone who doesn't have advantages on the desert and who hasn't teched far. Also a weakened neighbour means more land to grab.

Besides, Thoth's military focus is just on me right now and that leaves vulnerable spots to take advantage of. Speaking about that.

In the event you decide to attack, may i suggest making Thoth's current west coastal(?) city your first target? It holds his copper source, so a quick sea strike could sewer his connection to it.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Very interesting possibility. Coastal cities are already my preferred city sites, and another source of copper wouldn't go amiss either. That said, I currently have no tech for offensive units. I'm working on that, but it'll still be a while.

Plus that would make his war definitely a two-front one, having to pick which direction to send reinforcements.

On a side note, the lurkers explained to me how trade works, and why we still have a route - for you to benefit from trade, every square of a trade route must either be personally defogged the entire path and have the tech to use it, or the path has to go through a neutral empire . So I have a defogged sea route to Thoth and apparently there's a complete road network through his empire up to your borders. Since he's not at war with me, the route works for my cities and any resources.

So if Thoth and I go to war, or your and his borders separate where I haven't defogged, our trade will break and you'll no longer have copper from me. But for the present situation, it works, anyway.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

Mardoc still hopes that Thoth won't notice the copper shipments, but i doubt that will continue much longer. My only source is near Astrum and when you see a mine that yet has to get road connection, yet his units suddenly gains copper weapons, you get suspicious and will search around for the reason. The copper has been recieved through neutral lands, which will cease once Thoth declares war on Mardoc.

Furthermore, he must have spotted the hawk in Astrum as well, so he knows that i'm being supported by 2 sides here.

Speaking of Nyktorion, i'm honestly less sure about him than Mardoc.
However he seemed really concerned about the nomads before and i would find it strange that he'd switch sides and attack me.
Actually if he does attack me, then Thoth can simply grab what's left of me west and then focus on gaining land and other economic decisions. In other words, i'm the very thing that's what stops Thoth from running completely away at the moment. I really doubt Nyktorion would see that happening. Besides he doesn't have that big of issue regarding land than i did.

As for the direct support, i'm rather unsure about that. It can happen that he won't send any units to help if i manage to hold off Thoth.

In the meantime, hawk reports are continually being sent.

By the way, there's no need to continue scouting the army between the border city and the capital, just focus on what's happening behind it.

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Okay, now you're certainly seeing all of that army anyway.

I attached the picture of what is happening behind the lines. Units behind the lines are color-coded as usual. The main thing I can see here is this:

- Golden Shack and Golden Yurt are currently empty
- There are currently only 2 single warriors in the visible area behind the front lines

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

In other words, Thoth believes those 8 units are all he needs to take me down or at least cripple me. So he has gone back to focus on the economy, though i'm pretty sure he'll send more units soon enough.

The only player who i'm really not sure of is WK, who is the best techer currently.

The reply on my last message:

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Ugh, that's not a nice stack to be dealing with. However like I said before, I only have warriors available at the moment, and by the time I can organize a stack and send it your way it'll be too late to matter.

Apologies,
Einion MonkKnight[/COLOR]

Hmm, ok. It's possible he's just focused on builder techs currently. Being the Elohim also means you don't advanced military as badly as the rest, thanks to their worldspell. However, he might feel confident enough that he can take on Thoth later on, even if it means Thoth will have my land in his possesion.
He doesn't know that i have the support of the elves and the pirates though, but i'm not so sure about slipping in that kind of info.
Anyway, he apparently expects that Thoth will eventually eliminate me soon enough and won't have the means to help me in time. Though that can change if i hold on long enough.


And with that, i'm off to bed!
:zzz:

[Mr. Yellow]

Masonry clocked in this turn.



And i'm 7 turns away from cats, but that's the least of my worries now.



Expectedly, Thoth severed the trade connection with Mardoc this turn (road between me and Thoth pillaged), leaving me bronzeless. Furthermore he completed the Titan as well, meaning level 3 units out of the gate, yay.

..you know, i haven't thought much about it. The reason i got connection with Mardoc and eventually copper was because Thoth finished the final piece of road connecting me to Thoth (and Mardoc). Of course he didn't know i'd get it from them, but nicely done Thoth!



Thoth moved one warrior on the hill, initially scouting ahead and then threatening my workers. He also grouped his most experienced men behind, thane included and left one mobility swordsman towards Astrum.
I moved one of my guerilla warriors on the hill to secure the road for the coming group that will join the capital next turn. In addition Thoth's warrior will have bad odds against both the guerilla defender and the group if he tries to attack.
I decided to cancel the mine. I got enough production currently and if he decides to choke me, it wouldn't help much anyway. They are instead sent east to optimize the road between the capital and the eastern cities.

With no more bronze weapons, Thoth will have it a lot easier now. While the warriors are a considerable threat on defence against the overall stack, they are no match against Martok who will chip away my bronze defenders and eventually leave me with simple str.3 warriors. In addition Thoth has started building more units again (level 3 bronze swordsmen which i have no chance against).

Basically, all i can do now is hole up in the city and wait for eventual doom or aid. Depends on what reaches first.

Today's exchanges:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Thoth sadly has seen my copper mine that couldn't be roaded in time and have thus found the reason how i gained copper otherwise. Our trade connection has been sewered and i'm stuck with str. 3 warriors from here on.
Also Thoth has also completed Form of the Titan and can now build level 3 units out of the gate.

Situation near the capital now is that i have 7 warriors (4 of them bronze) nearby against some 4-5 swordsmen, 2 of them decently promoted and one guy with the axe and combat V, essentially str. 12. I'm able to produce a warrior each turn, but Thoth recently started building up his power again and will be aiming for the finishing blow.
I'm expecting military support from the elves pretty soon however.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Yikes! That's a nastier force than I'd realized; I thought you'd have odds on all of them with the bronze.

I do know the elves have archers and Gilden, if they're willing to commit enough force they ought to be able to handle the situation with your help.

I don't suppose Irgy or WarriorKnight is able to help you significantly? Maybe they could replace the bronze I can no longer supply? Well, I'll shortly be sending out scouts to the east, maybe if I find elven borders I can trade with you again.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Thoth found the connection that let me get copper from Mardoc and sewered it. Furthermore he has completed form of the Titan and will now train level 3 units out of the gate.

I sent one of my workers to get the final piece of roading to get trade connection up. In addition the rest of them are optimizing the road between Vallus and the capital.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Please find attached the usual hawk picture.

Bad to hear about the severed connection to Mardoc; at least, this isn't BTS, so even 1 turn of having copper gives a big payoff with respect to bronze weapons. Concerning trade connections: I'm afraid I don't have copper on offer myself, but I hope the economic help from trade routes and resource trades can be helpful, too.[/COLOR]

Nothig significant happening behind the lines, cept for a small reinforcement.

i also recieved a reply from Irgy as well.

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]I was peeking in-game at how many cities you had, and couldn't help but notice
you've researched Cartography. Congratulations! Best of luck with the three
stooges If I'm right in guessing the Malakim have built Form of the Titan,
well, you're probably going to need them.

I don't suppose I could talk you into a map trade? I don't have much to offer
other than my own lands, but surely you must be curious to see them? I'm also
happy to sign open borders if you'd like, even though I won't get anything
particularly out of it. I have trade routes connected with the Elohim, so if
you manage to connect to them you'll be connected to me as well. I have a
spare gold for trade, not sure whether you'd need it or not though.

It's good for us to co-operate as best we can, when we're at the bottom of the
scoreboard together (I whipped myself there to some extent, but I am
definately behind in many things). We're far enough apart that we don't have
much to fight over anyway.

Best wishes as always,
Irgy Arbandi[/COLOR]

Would have liked to initiate some cooperation with them, during peacetimes. Sadly i have no interrests in trades that doesn't help me with the current war. Besides he's likely too far off to be of any help. I turned down his offers.

[COLOR="Cyan"]I sadly have my hands full with a war against current runaway power Thoth right now and it's going badly.
Dunno how long i'll live, but i have no interrest in trade as long as this is going on.
[/COLOR]

What i hoped for here when sending this, is a sympathetic message back which i could ride on for possible shipments of aid.
Although maybe i shouldn't have bothered with that and asked for whatever possibilities he could do to help me here. I'll send him a another reply tomorrow.

Finally, the power graph.



The bad news, Thoth is building up again and will try to crush me with the next wave.
The good news, the rest of the players (cept Irgy) have started to build up their forces too!