[Spoilers] Boldly Going...on a Bender and Pissing Off Xenu

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Next tech target is HBR, right? And Slowcheetah does like a good specialist economy, eh?

Yeah. HBR. And, Slow has given up an awful lot to land the Mids (335/2 = ~168h IF he had stone the entire time). He's lagged in GNP because, I'm assuming, because he's developed less cottages and worked more farms/mines. He settled a stone city (65 foodhammers) that he's now lost, plus the investment in the galley (33) to get it there which he may still have, then any hammers in the defending units, workboats, etc. He's paid for the Mids. This is reflected in the Demos, see last turn. His GNP spiked upward, I'm assuming once he got off all those mines, but he's still last place, 12 behind me while I'm saving gold and have no tech selected. He's second in crop yield but not as far ahead of the other cottage economies as he would probably like, and a good distance behind me. His economic position is going to improve, but I wouldn't want to trade places just yet. Despite financial and thus the cottage spam being nerfed a bit by the small map, and PHI/bulbing accordingly better, I think the tradeoffs he's made in the end won't be worth it. I reserve the right to eat my hat if I'm wrong, but this feels more like Davy in PBEM 38 (sorry Dave!) where Dave went hell for leather for the Mids, settling halfway across the map for stone, and less like Mackoti. Though, to be honest, a Mack comparison is only fair to a very select few players, none of whom (particularly me) are playing in this game. No offense meant toward any of my opponents.

While I'm in a ponderous mood, and no turn yet to play, let's do a brief state of the game. Right before Sian starts pounding me with HRs and Cats, I like my position in this game. I'm not exactly a military weakling anymore, though it is certain that some of my solider count is population. I like to think of that as potential energy, rather than the kinetic energy that is my standing army. Potential energy in this sense costs less to maintain and can provide economic benefits in addition by working cottages, etc. You just have to manage the timing right in converting the population to units via the whip, or you get whacked. Now that Sian has moved up, I'm wishing I had dumped those overflow hammers into a wall instead of the settler, but the min/max part of me couldn't waste the 4 food on the two angry faces. Sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world to write off a little loss here and there, and I'd do well to remember that. Anyway, I don't think Sian has the horses (pun intended) to do much to me before his cats come online in force. I think he is showing that force to prevent me from any shenanigans around Baba Yetu. If so, mission accomplished. He still should chop those trees next to his city/on my border. We'll see if I'm right pretty soon.

Commodore is an enigma to me. My best guess is that he Oracled MC and has spent much of the game building forges and a solid production base, as well as investing food/hammer potential in an early GS. Or, is he angling for machinery? I haven't tracked techs and have very little inclination to do so, so I don't have a clue about his goals. All I know is that he has not yet connected the pasture for horses on his border with Slowcheetah near Holly.

Speaking of Holly, Slow hasn't reinforced it yet. On garrison is a shock Chariot and an unpromoted Axe. I'm guessing he's stretched very thin at the moment. If Sian could just back down a second, I could push 3-4 chariots over to Holly and raze it, then set up a city 1 tile SE on the hill for MY SHEEP AND SILVER and culturally contest Commodore for the gold and grain while forming a very defensible border. Not sure where I'll find the time for that force, though I guess I could whip for it. I'm just reluctant to whip much in my population centers after going through so much trouble, teching to Monarchy and dealing with unhappiness for so many turns, to grow them tall. For Sian, I can somewhat guess his techs: He's up Construction, Math, and HBR on me (751 beakers). I'm fairly certain he does not have Monarchy, Monotheism, Polytheism, Masonry, Mysticism, or Priesthood, and perhaps lacks Sailing as well.

While I'm posting, I'm not sure I've mentioned, but I think Sian is about to plant his fourth (?) city on the hill 3E of Megatron. He has a settler positioned under a worker building a road 1E of that hill, and has a Skirmisher at full fortification bonus on the hill for defense.

[spacetyrantxenu]

It hurts my heart to say it but just keep playing defense and let your economy roll ahead. Knights would be a tasty time to attack someone who hasn't made it to LBs yet when the time comes.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Today's turn report: Tide 32 Dawgs 28.

I'm seldom enthusiastic about my team having a chance in a big game, but for once I was and we looked equal to the moment. We came out ready to play and looked great, played with great effort (for once), and executed the gameplan, not relying on talent to win going through the motions. Great effort. And still, fatigue, being bruised by the monsterous OL of Bama, then we couldn't stop the run, then gashed for the big play once too often, and in the end came up short. If this or that had gone a little differently...Bama kicks an extra point instead of chasing points by going for 2 early in the third quarter, which at the end of the game leaves Georgia unable to kick a tying field goal with 8 seconds to play inside the Bama 10 yard line...Seriously, go for 2? You got it, good for you, but I always hear critique the process, not results. How about the flagrant cheapshot on our QB in front of the ref that didn't draw a penalty before halftime that would, at the very least, made for a more difficult FG attempt? Who knows what changes after that if Bama is down at the half. I'm not trying to be sour, congrats to the Alabama team, I'm trying to get up off the floor.

There will be no turn report for Civ today. Move along everyone. I'm going to attack my kegerator now and bleed it dry. If the sun comes up again tomorrow, maybe there will be a turn report. Not that anyone is reading anyway.

Go Dawgs.

[Merovech]

I'm reading. This game is my baby and I read every post in this subforum.

[spacetyrantxenu]

Yeah I was pretty pissed that 'Bama's DT crippled the dummy on Murray at the end of the first half. They deserved every bit of a 15 yard penalty for that one, I've seen it called so many times but the referee standing right behind them somehow didn't see it. I was shocked that the DT who made that hit was able to survive the rest of the game. On most teams taking a cheap shot at someone's QB is a way to guarantee someone will knock you out of the game later on. I would have ordered plays running toward that guy cut blocking at his knees or had someone "accidentally" roll up on him or something if I was the Georgia coach. Unfortunately Coach Richt is too moral / lacks fire / whatever you want to call it to do something like that. If I was one of his players I would have had to gone rogue if I managed to get under a pile with that DT and could get away with doing something nasty. You don't fuck with QBs and get away with it.

All that said about that one cheap shot, I was disappointed with the outcome, especially right at the end of the game. I know the last pass of the game was deflected and the receiver just reacted to the ball, but still....Where was his head? You can't catch the ball in that situation. There are some situations in a game as a receiver where you just have to know to drop the pass, you can't afford to catch it in bounds and be tackled when you can't stop the clock. Drop the ball or knock it down, and then try one last play into the end zone. For all the years I've been anguished by UGA receiver dropping passes in big spots (like clockwork), was it too much to ask for the guy to drop one when it would have worked to the team's favor?

I agree with the post-mortum...gave up too many big runs on defense to win the game. For once the team gave maximum effort and Richt had the stones to put out a fairly aggressive game plan (for him anyway). They didn't really lose the game so much as 'Bama won it. Both teams played well enough to win, the clock just ran out on them at the end. Tough break.

Now, for the final poke in the eye, get ready for UGA's bowl bid. It isn't going to be pretty. I'm seeing speculation they may drop all the way down to a home game for the bowl, staying in Atlanta for the Chik-fil-a Peach Bowl. (I'm sick of naming all these bowls for corporate sponsors.) So from finishing #2 in the conference they could drop to the 4th best available bowl....super lame.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

The Dawgs willl be playing in Orlando on New Year's Day. I'll see if I can manage to change my flight to go to the game. If it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, at least.

So, turn report. Several turns have passed without a report, mostly because I either played in a hurry or couldn't be bothered with taking pictures for whatever reason. Sorry everyone (Merovich)! Basically, we saved gold for a couple of turns to get enough for HBR, then saved for one more turn timed with a chop/completed library in DH and a sweet 60/60 overflow/whip library in CC. Now that our two commercial centers have libraries, we can tech. Turned science on, and our GNP is sick:



Nice. Until we get ganked, at least. The past few turns we were languishing 3rd and 4th, so the others are in a saving cash phase at the moment. But, at their best, for now they can't touch us when we're teching.

Most interesting this turn:



Either Slow didn't learn the first time that I'll take a chance to hit a poorly defended city or he has no choice. In either case, I've done a clumsy diagram of the plan above. I've put one turn of road into the tile the chariot is standing on, to complete next turn. Last turn I moved the axe/spear and two workers onto the hill/forest. I've let the workers put a turn into a chop and left it so that Slow can see they're chopping, same as I did the last time I tried to knife his city. My belief is that he can't see my chariot lined up one tile back because of the forest/hill. Me chopping a forest that could go back to his cultural control isn't too much of a stretch, and you don't want to leave defensive units tied down too long on a hostile border, so doubling up on worker labor isn't terribly obvious I'm after him, so hopefully he won't think twice about the units. In case this attack is successful, next turn I'll have my settler that's been patiently waiting to go to the island go to the tile 1E of the sheep. You can see the settler standing on the corn. I'd also move the axe/spear, and my trailing chariots to cover and found city #5 the following turn. As of now, Commodore does not appear to have any cultural control over either the wheat or gold tiles, so I should be safe enough to get them second ring by settling on the hill. After settling, I'll finish the chop and move to chop another forest for the Terrace, or perhaps walls if I'm feeling threatened.

I still want an island city, but Commodore has shown a trireme, so I've repositioned my two gallies:



My hope is that rather than moving 2S to pillage my seafood (his best play), he'll move 2W and try to catch up to my galley. I should be ok either way, but would prefer not to lose my food. I've loaded up an axe/spear on the leading galley and a chariot on the second. No specific plan for these units yet, just keeping options open. As a result of Commodore's trireme, I've adjusted our tech path to MC so I can counter with triremes of my own. I don't anticipate offensive warfare other than this opportunistic strike on Slow, so I can delay cats for just a few more turns. I'm more worried about Sian showing up with a large stack of Cats, so I'll be building HAs in the coming turns now that we're done with HBR. No need for cats of my own immediately, but they won't be long delayed, hopefully.



The west. Sian seems intent on cramming in another city. I'm not sure what he hopes to gain there, unless he teched IW after leaving his science set on Mysticism and then Preisthood while saving gold the last couple of turns. If he isn't going for an Iron resource that I can't see, I have no idea what he's trying to achieve there. If he managed to wrest control of those tiles from me, an agonizingly slow proces for him, I'd just play TwinkleToes defense in CC and stuff every unit ever made into the city to prevent being 2-moved. I'd rather Sian keep building marginal cities than actually threaten mine. Maybe he has a plan, though.

Cities:

DH:

Working as much commerce as possible. I had hoped (rather than sensibly testing in a sandbox) that my chariot would auto-upgrade to a HA. Well, there are still opportunities for chariots, mainly pillaging and whacking lonely axemen.

CC:

Finally put a turn into some walls. You know, just in case. I still want to get out some missionaries. Not sure if we've started hammer decay on the settler yet, can't be bothered to check just now. I think we still have a couple more turns. Finally starting on my scientists for an academy. I figure I've waited plenty long. Question lurker(s): Should I go for a stable for 2 promo HAs or just put the hammers into HAs? I'm thinking it's an easy whip and I am on the lake anyway, even after running scientists, and we still have a food surplus, so I'm inclined to build the stable. Let me know what you think.

Megatron (thanks for the awesome fantasy weekend, btw, Megatron!!!):

I put a turn at 1h into a replacement WB so I can whip it as soon as it's needed. Finished the walls for some peace of mind/deterrence. We're a little lighter on defense here with a unit on the boat, but I think the wall is sufficient for now. Going to put some time in on an overdue lighthouse. Hopefully that is my next whip (after the trireme), but I doubt it. Stacking up whip anger here because we can whip so often. Thankfully, we're in HR, so it's not an issue. 4/2 whipping is the order of the day here for some time yet to come.

Swiper:

Basically, thanks for the horses and some light hammers/commerce. I'm sure you will be something special one day. Just not soon.

If you have any thoughts, hit me up.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Annnd... just like that, a new turn is in. I love it.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Great Success!!

I deleted the worker because it's very likely I'll lose the chariot. Still, this is very much worth it. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of his axes dies trying to kill the chariot. Our conquering chariot has just one hit left, but I'm using it as bait. If Slow moves in to kill it, I will kill the offending axe with a reinforcement chariot coming in from the south next turn. I can avenge one of these units in that way, but not both. I could have covered either with the axe that is now on the hill with my settler/spear, but the risk isn't worth it. He couldn't hit the forest/hill where we'll settle #5 (now we need a name) with any 2-movers next turn, but he can take out my chariot (or covering axe) on either tile if he has something across the river. I'm not positive he doesn't have construction, though my guess is he does not. I wasn't willing to take the risk with my new city without knowing for certain.

Fun turn.

Other turn stuff, quickly:

• Sian settled on the hill tile 3W, 2S of CC. His play here is to win control of the desert hill tile SE,SE of CC to 2-move me.
  
• Whipped walls, overflow into stable in CC.
  
• Commodore went after my galley, not the seafood.
  
• I retreated both galleys just out of range, including one into Megatron. Offloaded all units. We'll dance for now. 1T until MC comes in, then 1T more and I can whip my Trireme.
  

That's basically it. Best turn in a while.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Slowcheetah took his two axes and retreated into Rimmer, his copper city. He settled as I did, on the plains hill:



I've taken this opportunity to do a little exploring. I hope to recall at least one of these units, the more southerly chariot next turn. It appears that I'm not the only one to take a bite out of Slow recently, but this provides a slightly lower risk for our scouts. Sorry, buddy.

Cities:

DH:


CC:



M:



S:



Introducing Monty Burns. Welcome to the cruel world

Demos & Graphs:

The culture graph faintly depicts a double dip for Slowcheetah. This, combined with the sharp drop in the other graphs, except GNP, is what I'm basing my hypothesis on. That, and Sian's cheeky comments to Slow in the tech thread. You're giving information away there, guys.

[spacetyrantxenu]

The food graph and especially the MFG graph show he has lost two cities because it is not a linear decline on the graph -- that line is not straight in either graph. Both graphs show a larger drop for the city you took last turn than the one Sian took the turn before. I'm guessing you burned the bigger city.

Commodore is being annoying with those troops on your stone. Did you have any plans to build a city there at some point? Because you're going to have to kill those guys, or settle on the flat land tile (not recommended). I'm glad to see a trireme coming soon out of Megatron to protect your fish. I doubt he'd try to attack at less than even odds in a trireme vs. coastal trireme fight.

Did you guys ban blockades? He could screw with your food supply over there if you aren't careful. Not that you couldn't do the same to him, though. Now I have a trireme, ho ho ho!

Quick question, what is your build in DH? Forge? I'd really like to build a few HAs just to have them handy. As for stables vs. HAs in CC: If you're going to build a lot of HAs I'd build the stables. If you're not going to keep pouring them off the assembly line I'd just go for the HAs now and skip the stables. And what did Sian garrison his new city with? Probably a freaking skirmisher but can you kill that city before it finds its way in the world? Nevermind, I just checked the screenshot, at least two skirmishers on a hill, across a river. But...HAs can handle it if it's soon. He'll get cultural defenses up in a hurry, though. But if you pack in your desert hill site 2S of CC you could push the culture right back. That site may be tough to defend for now, though. Maybe the sensible thing is to hold down the fort around CC for now and eat what you can of Slowcheetah before he's all gone. You know, kick a man while he's down. Nice job on that one, by the way.