[spoilers] Commodore: Worse than Toku, it's Giggles of Siam!

[Ceiliazul]

Lol Mackoti.

[Commodore]

So for those watching at home, Scooter's already made mention, his impi is a coward. Apparently, he sent it towards my city and it chickened out and fled this turn. We spoke briefly; this probably is a low-impact weirdness, but if Pindicator wants to reload, we can reload as needed. In any case, I chopped out a fourth archer for peace of mind.


Anyway, Azza has departed, leaving with exchanged maps (non-zero chance of getting traded back to Scoopin, but eh) and a song in his heart. A nice swarm of barbarians is coming down the chute, or as I like to call them, "a promotion".


I dunnae think she'll make it, cap'n! Iron Working will alas be delayed a touch, as Verdant Acres lost a wee bit o' commerce for going piggin'. Worth it long-term for the faster growth, though. Overflow from the granary whip (at size 3) will go towards a library; this place is our future.


Our past, Tranquil Meadow, donated corn to speed things up in the capital a bit. There are three more turns until the worker finishes, then the archer will be finished to provide escort to the newest city, which will be to iron if needed, otherwise out along the northern edge of the Long Salt Lake.


Meeting in a bit, when I return I'll go over our new map knowledge and talk about the world a bit. Upshot: We Are Not Alone.

[Commodore]

Okay, so, we know a loooot more about our landmass, which is actually pretty huge. Let's divide it by four:

Zululand:


First of all, copper third ring, rabble, rabble. They've settled a fourth city by this point, In-N-Out Burger. I'd bet on it being for the eastern corn, but south and north are also possible. This is tight, lush land perfectly set up for Fin, with non-riverside grassland predominating. Any major core offensive against these guys would probably work best at sea, with that lush little seafood bay just screaming "fork" as well as "one ship blockading wrecks 75% of our food and half our commerce".

The Long Snake-Jungle:


North of Zululand, there is this long stretch of jungle. Looking at it now, there's no reason to think there might not also be more land/another player to the east, who knows. This is a looot of coast, again good for them, but not much food. As well, I'll let them do through to trouble of dotmapping this all, long-term this is very strong.

Roman Territory:


Here's Azza's core lands, and very nice core lands they are too. That's two precious metals there, both unhooked (?!), as well as unpasteurized pigs? Someone's been pillaged, alright, but given the mines on the metal I think it was self-inflicted, yer honor. It's anyone's guess how long he's going to delay settling for that copper; if worst comes to worst we could reach for that island. I am a little nervous about how close he is to "our" jungle knob, but we can whumpy it clear if any Roman infestations manifest.

The Battlefields:


Finally, north of Azza is a bunch of bloody nubs of road and ruins. Yep, that's a clear sign of Lewwyn on the warpath right there. Unless Azza gets a strat resource soon he's in trouble (checked with yields, he lacks iron in his borders). That lake must be his best hope, now that Lewwyn's burned past the line I think the boys in Orange are ascendant here. I'm frankly terrified of Lewwyn now, too...Steam Power will mean this whole knotty marginal land will become a million awesome Moai spots. Should we achieve our goals here in the south, this is where our fear shall come from.

[Commodore]

As an aside, I know in PB5 Seven never posted the map so that lurkers could get educated along the way, is that the case here? Would anyone be interested in an updated stitch?

I'm sure wherever Serdoa is he's got a full map stitch of his view.

[Krill]

Yeah, I haven't posted the map in the lurker thread. Lots of people aren't happy with me, but whatever...

[Commodore]

Yeah, I haven't posted the map in the lurker thread. Lots of people aren't happy with me, but whatever...

Cool, I'll stitch 'em then. This long snaky bay we're around makes me whimper at the thought of East Indiamen, by the way...

[Thoth]

Looks like Azza got royally screwed:

No early strat resources.
Rome.
Lewwyn as a neighbour.

Hard to tell from the screenies what the second raze was (one set of city ruins is obvious), so I'm not sure if Azza settled up on Lewwyn without backup or not.

Hope Azza's got Archery by now.

[Commodore]

The world as we know it:

[Krill]

So...you taking bets on where the iron pops?

[mackoti]

I'll say on the hill where is the archer.