[Spoilers] Coldlight: The Commodtay Saga

[Commodore]

I had figured on my land's decidedly unattractive features to be my best form of defense.

It's pretty solid; you got kind of screwed there man. 2metra took down Sanders (armed with the power of MATH) so he's climbed aboard the continent now too. I'm still pretty happy with the haul; 8 cities in as many turns, with two more island cities that shouldn't be too hard to take.

Bush is, ironically, the probably site of America's last stand. If TBS doesn't do something completely idiotic we should definitely have a nice border area.

[Commodore]

If Mackoti is done here...shouldn't we concede to Old Harry? He's been blessed with good land but made an excellent use of it; the only way he wasn't winning was if Mackoti knocked him down. Anyone else's chances hinged on those two giants pummeling each other.

Someone mind asking in other threads about this?

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Noted.

[Commodore]

Hum, so mack is back. And taking Old Harry core cities. So it might go the other way, honestly. I've forgotten what I'm doing, but generally it's all about turtling in America.

[Commodore]

TBS peaced out!
http://i.imgur.com/Tfrzf12.mp4

[Commodore]

Okay, Brick be ded. It wasn't a hard fight, but it required some finesse. There was a nonzero chance of this dragging out another turn; the island city of Rubio had a lot of archers. The knights didn't have too much of an issue cracking through, but then the musket died so it was crossbows and swords for the last bit.

This island is an absurd stretch for territory. Our capital is four tiles away from the Arctic tundra line; this island is giving us penguin furs. Expensive stuff; a forbidden palace can't come soon enough but that's going to require a lot more courthousing first, plus, well, the new realms need dozens of muskets post-haste to stop the TBS invasion that'll be any day now.

2metraninja was worrying me, and he still makes me a little uncomfortable; he's running around with a metric crapton of classic-era stuff (loaded onto galleys seen here). I suspect he's going to sit back and prioritize being prickly for the inevitable Mackoti invasion, but you never know with this guy.

A crab/dry rice/gold city on hills makes Mistam a very strong southern bulwark; I am content with my gains in this war. I just suspect TBS is not content with my gains.

I need cash, early and often, but the production disparity between my coastal empire and the land-bound Big Three means I also need slavery. This cuts back the appeal of Serfdom and Caste System; and all this to being coastal IMP Portugal...yeah, I'm on a beeline to Economics. Mackoti, I know you have dibs on the Great Merchant, no worries...but Free Market and cheap Feitorias mean I can continue to make sweat-free cash out the wazoo as long as the overseas buddies keep trading; given the empire's position geopolitically I don't see why they won't.

[Commodore]

Realms Beyond ISO 9000 compliance regulation 2.4.7b clearly states that a player *must* post a screenshot of both his capital and his Moai city in the middle of a golden age. I can kill two birds with one stone:

It ain't all that amazing of a place, but it is the best city in the empire and one of the better cities in the world. Bureaucracy is an extremely brief dip for me here; I'll be back in Vassalage and Slavery before you can say "TBS don't hit me".

Here's the demos. I'm bottom MFG and top Crop Yield, because that makes sense.




This has been an extremely weird game; nobody has been able to snowball nearly as well as normal thanks to the crummy land. TBS, not shockingly, is actually in the lead for second place now; I'm not sure if Mackoti cases to do anything about that directly or if he'd rather instead keep on eating nibbles of the 2mn/OT4E guppy nations.

[Commodore]

Is this the end, folks? I dunno, but it's not looking good for 2metra. He got out timer-camped, and now he's down to two cities. I'm never pitbossing with him or Mack again.

Basically, either TBS can successfully thwart Mack here soon, or this is game. I'm fairly sure that directly or indirectly Mack is setting up for a showdown with the Zulu, unless he's showing way too much faith in me.

[2metraninja]

Is this the end, folks? I dunno, but it's not looking good for 2metra. He got out timer-camped, and now he's down to two cities. I'm never pitbossing with him or Mack again.

You being serious here man? OK, I might be not the fastest or most available all-day long to play (RL happens alongside with civ, you know, especially in the summer), but what camping are you talking about when talking about me?!? Can you please elaborate? Am I not supposed to maintain a turn order once I decide I am going to attack someone? Or to maintain a turn order if there is a possibility of conflict? Ever since I play on RB, I am being told to maintain turn order just to be on the safe side (which I hate) and now I am being called a camper?!?!?!? I am frustrated and disappointed to say at the least.

[Commodore]

I'll admit Pindicator's comments about earlier turn situations colored my perceptions. It's crummy, but there is a point at which pacing > order.

Anyway, this game, man...

...I won the Economics merchant. I'll probably burn an anarchy turn next turn to revolt to Free Market. It's weird, but my Portuguese Miracle Economy keeps cranking along; I'm not a world beater, but darned if I'm not at least drafting the pack. My safety is largely based on the Athens/Sparta titanic standoff of Mackoti/TBS; Mack is ahead massively in cities but TBS with his Zulu Vudu is surprisingly close. He's on the fast track to rifles, which are meh, but I have no good response to cavalry. So...heya, Viking buddy, keep on looking big and potentially backstabby. All of this complicated by Old Harry and REM being darned good players too.

It's actually a fascinating game, I need to fire up and do a big overview post.