[SPOILERS] scooter - Zara Yakob

[regoarrarr]

Some pictures of the front areas would be nice

[scooter]

Well things didn't go well. Apparently Timmy came ONE horse archer short of razing Chillingworth, and Twinkletoes stack got nearly obliterated. All of us got this message from Timmy:

Goddamn it. Completely my fault for not waiting a turn to attack Chillingworth. If I had done that, he doesn't move his stack back in Germany, and TT+my horse archers inflict major losses if not wiping it.

Sigh. It's been bad enough that I've been mailing it in two months (look at my lurker thread, or complete failure to do anything diplomatically until faced with a 3 front war). To be honest, when job started heating up for a prolonged period of time I should have asked for a replacement but didn't want to out of a sense of obligation or committment. But I just feel awful for ruining the the rest of your best chance of cutting Sandover down to size and its clear I need to move out. Will post something in the forum when I figure out the best language to use. I will continue playing until I get a taker, and be no more stupid or uninvolved than I have been.

Well sounds like Timmy's going to be looking for a replacement. Doesn't shock me as it sounds like he's been extremely busy for quite some time. It's really something I'm not nuts about though, because if it's someone spoiled (I gotta think it will be), then someone like me who's been writing my plans here (like more or less faking the war) is in a bad position.

Also got an odd message from Twinkletoes:

I have CC'd all of you because this is a request that I want to make of everyone to see if they will support it.

My army is crippled and being bottom of the leaderboard by a massive margin has destroyed a lot of my enjoyment of this game. I will not quit as it is my civ and I want to see it through to an end at some point, and it would let you all down even more.

I have one proposal I would like to make that would make things interesting for me but costs you relatively little. This is what it is:

1) I sell off my cities to the highest bidder except Cha Cha Cha and become an Independent City State
2) I get NAPs from everyone for 50 turns to resurrect my capital which has been weakened.
3) I get to transport my few remaining units to my capital unhindered to protect my new city state.

I will still be a non-entity for winning the game so you don't lose anything important.

I know this isn't exactly a massive win for any of you, but I am hoping you will agree to this. If not, I will play on as best I can, but I will just fall as far behind and someone will take my cities later on.

Thanks,

TT

He sent it to everyone in the game, including Sandover. I think it's sort of lame, as seriously, does he really think me or Timmy are going to buy cities way up there?? I wish he'd just gift them to SleepingMoogle to give him a chance at becoming relevant again.

[Serdoa]

I too think it is lame - though for a different reason.

[scooter]

Got another mesage from Twinkletoes:

Hi everyone,

With little alternative, I have capitulated to Sandover. He will take control of all my cities bar Cha Cha Cha and I will be effectively a German City state who is aligned with Egypt. I apologise that I was not able to conduct the war as we all had hoped, but my decimation has now left me little option.

As a result, I will be unable to aid you or receive aid from you while Egypt survives and so I doubt we will be hearing from each other from this point.

I wish you all the best,

TT

Whaaaaaaaaat??

I am NOT a happy person. He didn't even consult with us, AND he did this in a span of four hours. Four hours!! He couldn't even bother to let us know of the offer, he just went ahead and accepted immediately??

He stuck this out for two turns and quits? Just like that? We all come to his rescue and that's how he repays everyone? I paid for him to get Feudalism. I provided intel about Sandover's attack so he could prepare for it. We all jumped on the coalition thing to aid him. And that's the stunt he pulls??? Wow.

Twinkletoes, when you eventually read this... Really? Come on man, at least let us know about the offer instead of just immediately accepting. That was weak.

[scooter]

Against better judgment, I responded:

Gee thanks for at least letting us know he made an offer. Oh and for ditching the people who all came to your aid. Quality stuff. If you're going to just give away your cities like that, why not give them to someone like SleepingMoogle or Bob who's try to help you instead of the guy who's been trying to kill you all game long??

scooter

Alright, now that this war is likely over for all intents and purposes, time to see if I can somehow manage a peaceful victory. Somehow.

[scooter]

Well Bob had a more...colorful response. Rightfully so as this effects him even more than me. I try to keep my threads rated PG (my thread, sue me), so I've taken the liberty to blank out a few words. Use your imagination .

Well, _____. Guess I'm dead.


Thanks a ton Judas, I've really enjoyed sacrificing my empire for nothing when I should have just let Sandover continue to steamroll your sorry _____.

Considering that you've been a non-entity this entire ____ game, I'd think that you'd at least want to go out on a moral high note or blaze of glory. Oh well, whatever.

[scooter]

We might be ending this one. Bob sent out an email suggested we concede. SleepingMoogle agreed, Twinkletoes is on permanent OCC, and Timmy wants a replacement. Very high probability that we will concede this to Sandover.

[scooter]

So let's talk about this game and why it might end. First, let's give a player-by-player update:

Sandover - heavy favorite to win, probably would like to play on, but I imagine he'd be fine with a concession win
Timmy - Wants a replacement, and has considered asking for one for awhile but he stuck it out.
Bobchillingworth - Wants to concede. Has no real interest in trying to gut out a losing war against Sandover
SleepingMoogle - Would like to concede, but will stick around if need be.

So that leaves me. Here's how I feel. If Sandover were to declare peace with everyone and race me to a peaceful victory condition, I think I have a realistic shot. I really do. Stop laughing at me. Here's why:

1. Him getting Twinkletoes cities puts him even with me in cities. Yes that means I was ahead
2. I'm just now getting to the point where I'm growing onto the rest of my cottages. Many of them were unused because I whipped so hard in the previous war that my population was low and so was my happy cap.
3. I can squeeze in a couple more cities if need be.
4. I believe (but can't confirm) that my land quality is higher than Sandover's due to geographic position and my knowledge of everyone else's land.
5. My research rate is slightly better than Sandover's I believe (though I can't confirm that). Combine that with the fact that my cottages are much less developed than his since his population has been much higher for forever, and I have a much higher research ceiling than he has.

That said, a peace right now is unlikely. Sandover's most likely course of action is now that he's got his north border sealed and safe, he'll turn his full attention to Bob at his south, and if that happens... Bob is toast. Then he can take his pick. He could go at SleepingMoogle next or Timmy, doesn't really matter. Either way, if he pushes on, there's no way I can win. He could hit domination pretty easily. Since I have a really hard time thinking I could talk Sandover into making peace now, conceding seems like the logical move.

Bob offered me all his cities. He caught me on chat, and said I should sign a game-long NAP with Sandover (which honestly he would probably accept), and then accept a gift of all Bob's cities. If that happens, I'd likely have a realistic chance at winning again.

That said, the game would be a farce at that point. I hate cheesy city gifts, and to rob Sandover of a win because of that would leave a bad taste in everyone's mouths. I'm not going to do that. Actually what's tempting is to go ahead and do it just for Sandover's reaction, and THEN concede. His style makes me think that email reaction would be beyond priceless.

So I'd put the odds of a concession win at 80% right now. I'm going to wait for a response from Timmy first though.

[pocketbeetle]

Actually what's tempting is to go ahead and do it just for Sandover's reaction, and THEN concede. His style makes me think that email reaction would be beyond priceless.

+1!

Edit: Damn, I've fallen for that stream-of-thought half-baked-plan tactic to get lurker posts again, haven't I?

[scooter]

+1!

Edit: Damn, I've fallen for that stream-of-thought half-baked-plan tactic to get lurker posts again, haven't I?

Too easy...



Well it looks like we are going to play on. Timmy of all people wants to play on:

Heh, part of me wants to continue now just because the battle is so uphill. So I'll lay out some ideas. One thing though is that I really abhor mass city gifting (whether to Sandover or others). I won't accept any from Bob, not just for those practical reasons.

Does he really have that much of a tech lead compared to scooter? (on the rest of us, probably the answer is "yes", although I have a golden age about to begin that should allow some catchup).
In big army battles, siege initiative is just so crucial. I honestly think TT and I, despite having a less impressive stack than Sandover, would really have won a big battle had I not jumped the gun in the other theatre (leading Sandover to withdraw instead of advance) and TT had not screwed up and let Sandover hit him first. Sandover's main stack will need a couple turns to heal and some more to move towards Rome, if Bob crashes out a lot of cats and I crash out more knights (and maybe even scooter has some time to crash some knights that will arrive in time), making a stand wouldn't be impossible.

my 2c,
timmy

If they turn this war into a war of attrition for Sandover, then yeah I'll stick it out too and I might have a shot after all. We'll see... But for now, it's play on.