[Spoilers] DZ'CH is apparently a catchy name

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey greenline, for now religion is only important to me in that we can get 2xp out of it under Theo.

Our Golden Age just completed this turn, and we fell short of some lofty goals in order to be in a position to beat back the only early aggression in the game. This is because our peace treaty with the Khmer also expired this turn, and they have been spiking nicely on the Powergraph. I did some math and while the average soldier count of the other 5 players is around 270k, Dreylin/OT4E are sitting at 480k. We, the relative lightweights, are setting at 380k now and both of these numbers can escalate into the millions now for all I care. I just need to whip one Settler so we can complete Iron Works (as long as we are able to save Staalplaat, which really depends on how they choose to advance on us if at all).

I had to stop at two Settlers and no Levees during our GA but in return we have 8 Cavalry, 4 Cats, 2 Rifles and 1 Grenadier defending Zoth Ommog. There's a Ship of the Line guarding the channel to the north of Wax Trax. Our cities are still in double digits though two of them have fallen out of the top 5 (small taters under the circumstances). And now it looks like Dreylin and OT4E are bantering about furiously in their thread, likely having advanced upon us and wondering if they are able to go through with any plans they may have had.

For the record, I made sure we had the turn open and am not sure what effect that may have had from a naval standpoint. After shuffling units around, I declared war and then offered 10 turns of peace. And I see that Dreylin has just logged in to hopefully complete the turn. Let's see what happens...

UPDATE: Oh good, they just whipped 4 times.

[Cheater Hater]

Hey greenline, for now religion is only important to me in that we can get 2xp out of it under Theo.

Our Golden Age just completed this turn, and we fell short of some lofty goals in order to be in a position to beat back the only early aggression in the game. This is because our peace treaty with the Khmer also expired this turn, and they have been spiking nicely on the Powergraph. I did some math and while the average soldier count of the other 5 players is around 270k, Dreylin/OT4E are sitting at 480k. We, the relative lightweights, are setting at 380k now and both of these numbers can escalate into the millions now for all I care. I just need to whip one Settler so we can complete Iron Works (as long as we are able to save Staalplaat, which really depends on how they choose to advance on us if at all).

I had to stop at two Settlers and no Levees during our GA but in return we have 8 Cavalry, 4 Cats, 2 Rifles and 1 Grenadier defending Zoth Ommog. There's a Ship of the Line guarding the channel to the north of Wax Trax. Our cities are still in double digits though two of them have fallen out of the top 5 (small taters under the circumstances). And now it looks like Dreylin and OT4E are bantering about furiously in their thread, likely having advanced upon us and wondering if they are able to go through with any plans they may have had.

For the record, I made sure we had the turn open and am not sure what effect that may have had from a naval standpoint. After shuffling units around, I declared war and then offered 10 turns of peace. And I see that Dreylin has just logged in to hopefully complete the turn. Let's see what happens...

UPDATE: Oh good, they just whipped 4 times.

You know, all this positioning talk doesn't help without pictures--if you don't have the time or ambition to report, just dump a bunch of pictures in a Dropbox folder and link it here, like I do.

[Donovan Zoi]

Demographics



We are rocking the soldiers compared to 5 others but all anyone will remember is that we got dropped first. This is because Dreylin is ahead by the equivalent of at least 10 current units. So due to dumb luck, the Donovan Sucks camp can be vindicated yet again when we actually had a pretty good start.

Compare this to delivering a knockout punch to BGN, a former PB winner and a much bigger feather in someone's cap than this scrub, still sitting at 3 cities and hardly any movement on the PG This is old, ours has recently spiked but not enough:



Plus this:



The blank tile just east of Chameleons means that the Khmer have built a canal fort here. I didn't get a good screenshot, but at the end of my crudely drawn arrow is the one tile that stands between the sea and the BGN city of Panama Papers. If you're gonna go though the trouble to build a canal, the smart thing to do would be to totally disable a respectable civ that is falling behind and waltz to grab the rest of their free land. The jury's still out if they will see or plan to do that, as I guess it makes more sense to go after someone who already has a shit reputation here. I hope I'm wrong, but am ready with whatever we can muster.

The War Front



For some reason, we didn't get a stack on our shores this turn. But rest assured it is coming. We'll have 9 Cavs and 6 Cats here next turn, two of which I have moved to prevent boating at the Ivory or Silks. If I had been more lucid, I would have gone into Nationhood and Free Market during the last turn of our GA, as our enemy seems to be using the former to good effect. The latter because once we get our next two GPs, it will be tougher and tougher to get them so Merc is a bust. Plus I refused OB from BGN because he would get a trade benefit that we did not.

Let me know if you are interested in wasting a turn to go into Nationhood and/or FM. With the size of our cities it could save us!

[Cheater Hater]

Aren't you the one who technically declared war? I know it was to try to get an enforced treaty, but...

Have you seen any aggression from Dreylin? For all we know they could be using our war as a cover to try to go against BGN (as obviously a peace treaty would be a sign the aggression would go elsewhere--who are Dreylin's other neighbors?). What percentage of our military is concentrated on the Dreylin border--we've had friendly relations with Scootlla so far (despite meta concerns), so I assume we don't need that many troops, especially if our power graph is starting to ramp up.

Nationhood doesn't feel like the most important move--any idea what Dreylin's troop composition looks like? I also don't think FM is that good yet, especially if you aren't prioritizing a corporation (though I think it's a fine swap if you get it for free).

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 287 - 1834 AD

Crisis Averted!


Last turn, Dreylin actually offered us peace and we are good for another 9 turns. So my apologies for previous rants, but when a neighbor matches or exceeds your efforts to ramp up every turn it gets extremely frustrating. But it appears we showed enough resistance at Zoth Ommog for them to consider looking elsewhere.

As it turns out, that unsuspecting victim is Gaspar, to Dreylin's east, who has already suffered the loss of one city. And even that is not enough to placate the global threat that is the Khmer (of all civs) who whipped/drafted another 5 times last turn and is just decimating everyone else in Soldiers. Including us in a distant second.



So look for the situation to our north to be a ongoing concern for the rest of this game. I am taking a quick break from military in order to address some much need infra concerns:

That 6th Settler: working on it in Wax Trax now and may have to whip down to 7 or 8 to match our discovery of Steel (4 turns).

Our 10th Worker: We will be back to square 0 next turn , after our recent loss of 3 workers.

Staalplaat/Glitch Mode: After devoting two units each to our military efforts (and being whipped down to 1 and 2 respectively), our workers are getting these cities ready to provide even more support. Leading with culture to grab Pigs and Whale, then possibly a Barracks in Glitch Mode (our Theo religion spawned there) and a Library in Staalplaat (to win over my beloved Bananas).

Iron Works: We get the GE next turn, Steel in 4 and hopefully the new city on that same turn. Once we have IW, our last set of peacetime turns will be devoted to military. If I can get 2-3 Nav I Ironclads up to our sea border, we can dissuade a naval landing at Zoth, while also building a dual Fort/Canal that we can defend outside of Staalplaat to protect our valuable interests here.

And one military concern:

Conquest of Percy (REM): This 10 turns of peace gives us an opportunity to grab a fast growing Fish/Corn city that will fall in nicely with our interests. My first build out of Zoth was a Spy since there is a well placed lake that will alert REM of any encroachment. My best hope is still seeing 2 Rifles there, but I am guessing we will see at least 5. Still we will be able to roll up with many of our Cats and land just outside of the city as long as his borders do not pop over the next 3-4 turns. The FWs are essential here as we would not be able to quickly road the hill without them.



I am even wary of developing the Pigs right now, to keep suspicions down, but I think we will be able to mask our advance under the guise of city development, and then stage an attack from 1W of Staalplaat (not visible to the lake). Hopefully the size of our attack, along with the Pink Dot nature of Percy, will be enough to get peace right after and not become a Vietnam disaster that distracts us from our issues with Dreylin.

Thoughts?

[greenline]

Why is our city count so low compared to Dreylin? Some military action, preferably against the weakest nearby target, would be a good way of fixing that.

[Donovan Zoi]

Why is our city count so low compared to Dreylin? Some military action, preferably against the weakest nearby target, would be a good way of fixing that.

Well, we should have had at least 6 cities by the end of our GA, but I feel it was important to have whipped a semi-proper defense instead. It also appears to have bought us some time for now. Other than that, it probably comes down to 2-3 factors.

1. Building wide - by staying small and leaning heavily on Slavery whips with the occasional draft via Nationhood, the Khmer have been able to field a massive army without having to rely heavily on city infra. Workers are utilized to ensure an solid roadnet instead. Staying small insures there are no happiness issues short term.

2. The Baray - using above strategy is helped by a free default building giving each city +1 food. Pair this with favoring growth improvements in each city (and default Granaries/Lighthouses), and their whip strategy has been extremely effective.

3. Spiritual - Dreylin/OT4E have been able to adjust their civics frequently, going from UniSuff/Philo to purchase items and bulb early techs/wonders, to Slavery/Theo to ensure that whipped units get some needed promos.

The above 3 have ensured that they start strong out of the gate, but over time they will likely be stifled from growing larger due to happiness concerns. The GPs will also begin to slow somewhat. However, each bit of land they take will offset these concerns as they gather foreign luxuries and more potential GP sites.

We on the other hand are taking the exact opposite path, building tall and rich, and using our two GPs for long-term research (Academy in Wax Trax) and a Golden Age for Size 10+ cities and a needed civics swap. A third GP will bring us Iron Works in 4 turns, getting us closer to 1-turn unit builds and 4-5 turn Settlers. So while we appear to have been bested at Stage One, I do like what our second act holds.

Especially if we incorporate more of the wide-build tactics from our larger cities, by incorporating Slavery/Theo and getting back in the settlement race.

[greenline]

The thing I'm worried about with that is that the map seems rather cramped and waiting too long might end up with there being no room left

[Cheater Hater]

BTW I'm still here, there just wasn't much to say. I wish there was a way to check the city before committing the worker turns--maybe a spy?

[Donovan Zoi]

BTW I'm still here, there just wasn't much to say. I wish there was a way to check the city before committing the worker turns--maybe a spy?

Yep.



So our Spy has eyes on only two Rifles in hilled Percy, but that city has dropped from 8 to 6 recently. I am sure that REM realizes we are looking for something to do, and may be preparing for it. Or he may just be supporting his Silver city on his northeastern island.

But there is a pesky Japanese Galleon present that can totally blow our cover. This is why I asked a bit more of poor Staalplaat, which can whip out a Frigate (and relive Size 1) next turn due to the 42 stored hammers from a recent Cat chops (saved while I built Culture there for 2 turns)

Our raiding party will consist of 11 units not counting the Workers: 5 Cats, 5 cavs and 1 Grenadier. This should be more than enough against two defender, but may be rough if we somehow end up with 4 there. Unfortunately I wasn't able to position any slow moving Rifles to be part of this. I may be able to build a more direct road to get one to Percy if we end up successful.

It's also very possible that REM is hiding some units SW of Percy that can either fully defend our outright counter us, which I am extremely wary of considering we only have 7 turns left in our peace with Dreylin. So even though I have staged for this, I am not fully committed to it since anything less than victory will set us back even farther than we are now (from 2nd to 6th on CivStats)

In fact, we will have Steel and be able to rush Iron Works in 2 turns. So it may be better to wait until after, consider that Zoth will be able to 2-turn Cavs (perhaps 2 every 3 turns) and or Rifles. This will also make us the only ones with Cannons, Drydocks and Ironclads (limited use but can still block a channel or stop a boating).

The above will all be made possible by our Silver island city to be completed just in time to allow Ironworks.



I chose the western spot along our channel, only because it grants us port-to-port access from two spots on the mainland, which could have some tactical value as we contest Dreylin for holdings on this island. We lose two land tiles and 1 chop, but still retain all 3 resources (Silver, Crab, Clam). We also still block scooter from settling here.

Anyway, let me know what you think on each of these. I am above 70/30 in favor of waiting on the REM attack of 3 defenders show next turn, especially since we do not have graphs on him. I am 80/20 in favor of the proposed island settlement location.

Oh, and Dreylin/OT4E have entered global epidemic status, now with 12 cities, having torn through half of Gaspar's city count already (4 of 8). Along with another 5 pop drops on Civstats --- they'll probably be at 800k troops to our 450k, but hopefully most will be on the other side of the world.