[Spoilers] Hashoosh, Gaz and the crew - The CANZAC Alliance sail the high seas

[Gazglum]

Also does that last pic work for you?

Angry desk-flipping guy below suspicious Hyperbole girl? It does. If others say they cannot see it I shall Review and Improve, however. Not that it matters. Feel free to replace with this little guy:

And thanks Harry!

[Old Harry]

Probably my phone's fault then.

[NobleHelium]

Everything happens at end of turn except for bulbs and healing.

[Gazglum]

Turn 70something...LET THERE BE LIGHT!


(Me enjoying the view from my latest creation)

Yes Sir, one of the Glum plans has finally come off. Not as neatly as it could - ideally I would have 2 more island cities running now to keep the cash flowing in. But I'll have more in a few turns, this is an investment that should help keep me in the game for the long haul.

That's if I get to the long haul. Yuri just turned his research up to 11 and is finishing construction this turn. I'll have it done in another 2 turns I think. But right now he's going to have more soldiers than me, and the ability to chop out a few quick catapults. He also has workers lurking around to do a quick road to The Argo.

I was hoping to spend 4 turns hurrying a round of forges in the empire, then switch to full military. But now I'm thinking i may not have time for that - if he attacks with 2 catapults and 4 axemen in 3 turns then he would be able to punch through the Argo. If he waits to build up further, I should be able to whip out a counter-attack force.

My guess is that he will go for the Death of 1000 cuts strategy. Destroy the Argo, pillage a cottage or two, and retreat in readiness to hit me again in another 15 turns with knights. The Argo is going to regain control of its own borders in 10-20 turns, so I assume he wants to get rid of it before then. This picture shows the current setup (2 vultures and a spearmen behind walls, him with a lurking axeman and worker).



Bah! If only we could be as brothers and share the bounty of the sea between us.

[Old Harry]

and

Is the Jungle E of the cow on a hill?

[Gazglum]

and

Is the Jungle E of the cow on a hill?

It is. A large population of mountain gorillas live there, and its where my Vulture trainees practice their famous talon-strike style.

It should probably be a mine, but I have the usual worker shortage I always end up with. It hasn't been a problem until now, but Naglfar tipped me over the edge and is now working an unimproved tile while wild sheep gambol outside the walls. It is a great shame to its people, and the governor has offered his resignation.

[Old Harry]

If Yuris burns your city you could Dianne Fossy up that hill for a more defensible border...

[Gazglum]

If Yuris burns your city you could Dianne Fossy up that hill for a more defensible border...

Yeah, I might. Thought islands are more important right now.

I'm drunk! This is the best time to post in my thread and make grand strategic plans. Just ask Napoleon, I'm sure he had a tipple before striding east to Moscow.

Catapults bombad 8% and that is halved by walls. So 4 catapults will take 3 turns to get the walls of the Argo away. So if he built catapults next turn, moved them up over the next two turns, then attacked with them and his existing axemen/cavalry, then I would have 6-7 turns before being attacked.

Problem is that at the moment, with only 3 units, he won't bother to bombard, he'll just attack. 2 catapults would be enough to weaken them that he could then mop up with 4 axemen.

I think I need to get it to 5 units in the city. That is enough that he will need to bombard a bit, or bring more catapults. And if I can just get him to hold position and bombard a turn, it would give me an opportunity to counter attack if that seemed best.

If I whip another vulture from the Argo, and add another one from the capital, then I might have enough time to get the forges whipped before going full military.

No need to respond anyone, this is just me swirling in my own thoughts.

Also, might be worth begging some money from Ilios in exchange for my bonus clam. This is one of the fun parts of AI diplomacy - trying to actualy conduct diplomacy. When Yuri attacks I will see if I can get Ilios to threaten his western border. Unlikely, but possible - after all, Yuri eating me is looking like the only thing that could threaten Ilios cruising to a victory in this game.

Ilios has gold, stone and sheep, which are the resources around Yuri's western city of Cambridge. So if I ask him for those in exchange for copper or something, maybe he will get the idea. That kind of charades is considered fair game in AI diplo, isn't it?

[NobleHelium]

Also, might be worth begging some money from Ilios in exchange for my bonus clam. This is one of the fun parts of AI diplomacy - trying to actualy conduct diplomacy.

Ilios has gold, stone and sheep, which are the resources around Yuri's western city of Cambridge. So if I ask him for those in exchange for copper or something, maybe he will get the idea. That kind of charades is considered fair game in AI diplo, isn't it?

Yes. No spelling out words or morse code though.

[Gazglum]

Yuri's power did indeed jump last turn. We're at Defcon 3 baby.

I called in my most serious, dignified, negotiator and asked him to discuss with Ilios the possibility of military action that may mutually benefit our great nations.



I dont' actually think this will come off, not because Ilios won't understand what I'm saying, but because he has no good reason to do it. Here is me asking him to hit Cambridge:



But you can see that there are 6 tiles between them, and Cambridge is a Holy City on a hill. Not nearly as appetising for Ilios as hitting Whosit.



Still, if Yuri does attack me he'll probably throw everything he has, so there would be a better opportunity to do him some damage than Ilios will get for a while.

But this is more about flagging good intentions. I also asked for another map trade. Next turn, so not to confuse the messaging this turn, I'll ask for a small cash for clam trade.

Right now I have 6 vultures and 2 spearmen, but a lot of them are out of position. I'll have another vulture in the Argo next turn, and 4 more built around the empire in the 2 turns after that. But if Yuri comes within 4 turns, I'll lose the city. Thanks to him stealing circumnavigation he would have a shot at burning one of my coast cities too, but I'll have them protected by a trireme in 4 turns too.

GIVE ME 4 TURNS YURI!