[Spoilers] Commodore as Darius of the HRE

[Commodore]

De turns dey be flyin' by! First of all, note that an ounce of good diplomacy is worth a pound of war preparation.



Ugh. I feel bad now, this is going to be a cakewalk. Ah well, the defensive war after I secured the hub was always going to be the real party. A turn saving gold shows why I need to expand here.



...and the next turn, at 100% science for reference.



Need to start spamming Rathausi. That soldier points spike is accounted for with the two newest purchases:



And the other two will be gifted in two turns.



Looks like we're about ready to rumble. MNG either suspects something is up or he's about to try his own sucker-punch.



Nemedia is preparing herself with military builds and probably walls slipped in with a chop.



I finally feel like I have enough workers. This must mean I have nowhere near enough cities, right?



A final sad note, see the worker's name up there? It's just worker. I've been naming 'em after posters on this thread but it feels like Ceiliazul and I are all alone in here, pinging off on a giant echo chamber. Anyone out there? I certainly hope to be providing an interesting show.

[pindicator]

Of course we are are here! Eagerly awaiting the fireworks too

[Ceiliazul]

Pindicator just wants to have his name in-game. ;-)

[Ceiliazul]

Commodore, in response to your last:

"Rathousi"?? Words like that are the reason you're Dictator for Life!

1 defender in Avignon, a road toward Nemedia, sounds like you better consider whether to commit all of your firepower out on the hub.

Finally, yes. Feeling like you have enough workers means you need more cities.

[pindicator]

Pindicator just wants to have his name in-game. ;-)

Or i'm providing you with additional options to name your workers with. It's all about how magnanimous you think i am

[novice]

What's the plan for the GP from Nemedia?

[Commodore]

What's the plan for the GP from Nemedia?

Well, I'm trying for a prophet mostly, I added the engineer and scientist for a few turns because I wanted to speed it up and I wouldn't mind getting either flavor. But a shrine would be really nice.

Or i'm providing you with additional options to name your workers with. It's all about how magnanimous you think i am

Done and done.



It will be you who in fact aggressively roads into Avignon.

[Commodore]

As can be seen above Avignon's borders have popped again, so it'll be the t86 capture plan. Still only one defender though.



My forces are really massing up.



Enough of them are eastward that I actually made GES a little nervous.



Pro-tip: This is when you should be worrying about your neighbor who you have no NAP with.



It is now Turn 80 and I am officially running the worst farmer's gambit of all time. Eek that's a screwed up HRE set of stats.



My economy should begin to improve again as calendar resources come online by T82. Lots and lots of workers, need more even so.



In expansion news, 2-turns until the settler for the southwest comes in, then another for the hub needs to be built.

[Commodore]

So, mechanics question just to be sure:



MNG cannot see the Trireme in this shot or the forest 1W of it, right? Also, to make landfall on turn 84 I could stage on the trireme tile 82, move 2NW on 83, then 1NW 1N on 84, with the cats being selected on the galleys and moved 1N after the galleys move. Is this correct?

[Commodore]

So I need to start drafting my letter to MNG:

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Hi Commodore,

Just wanted to congratulate you on holding out and keeping open borders. You are now the only person to keep his own head on his shoulders.

Would you like my exploring chariot that's currently in your lands? You may use him for any purpose you want except any kind of aggression against France, and I would be happy to offer him to you as a gesture of goodwill and appreciation on the next turn.

As an additional gesture of goodwill, I would be happy to offer you silver for the super-low permanent price of 3 gold per turn. As far as I can tell, I have a worldwide monopoly on silver, which makes them an extremely rare and valuable resource. In addition, I know you are heading to HR, which makes me believe silver would be a big help for you. And considering that you have a very erratic and generally aggressive neighbor in GES, I want to help you as much as I can.

The gift of the chariot is unconditional, not tied to silver or our existing stone deal, and truly free. If you want it, just let me know.
The silver deal would be a permanent price with only one condition: I would ask that you maintain our mutually beneficial open borders. It is independent of any other deals, agreements, etc that we may make. I want you to know clearly that it is a generous offer of gratitude for continuing to maintain open borders, which surely must cause ripples for you on the international scene.

Let me know what you think. Hopefully I can execute these deals on a fourth turn tonight
Until later,
MNG, Hattie of France[/COLOR]

Why couldn't you have talked about these offers back when you were expanding into my face, when you were on top of the world? Dangit dude, I like you, and I hope we can have good relations after this, but I've built up so much military that this is the only win path for me now. Sigh.