How many settlements does TBS have?
I can't see any need for it except as a way of mass-producing crusaders via spread...but it seems like there are better options.
Probably best to not pop the dungeon, especially if we want good relations - we know how that went for Yell0w don't we
Who's GC is that? It doesn't look like the free one...
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
(September 26th, 2013, 02:19)Qgqqqqq Wrote: How many settlements does TBS have?
I can't see any need for it except as a way of mass-producing crusaders via spread...but it seems like there are better options.
Probably best to not pop the dungeon, especially if we want good relations - we know how that went for Yell0w don't we
Who's GC is that? It doesn't look like the free one...
oops, I forgot to check TBS' settlements. Last i knew he only had 1, but his megacities are ridiculous (his 3 cities have ~same number of citizens as my 11...). I didn't pop the dungeon, although it's probably too late to get good relations there as he's already opened borders with HK. No idea who got the GC.
Anyways, on to the turn!
Turn 84
Can't. Stop. Expanding.
Data mining will be just what it sounds like: slow and boring. It'll be nice to have another dedicated military pump though.
This bad boy is really just a filler. Probably not even worth building (maintenance is killing me right now), but it hooked dye this turn and will eventually get the clam as well.
Finished trade last turn and decided to go on to warfare before feudalism. Noone's building up an army quite yet, and I'd like to get the epics done before starting on vamps. Just need to make sure to grab it before funds run out (which is depressingly soon). I might even need to find some other way to fill the coffers....
Yell0w moved one of his warriors out of the fur border city and I almost took it. I could have struck with 2 moroi and a BP (against one warrior); only thing holding me back was that it would have autorazed. Well, that and the fact that I don't yet have the northern strike force in place. So here's the situation right before ending turn.
Fur City:
He's got great vision here due to the ancient tower, plus the fact that I chopped the forest NE of Garryvoe. Who knew he was going to road the hill 1S of the peak, allowing me to one-turn him around that way? Current thinking is to put no more than 3 units in Win-Win, and stack the rest 2N of there where he can't see them. Plan is for 4 moroi and 2 BP, ready to attack turn after next (hopefully it'll hit size 2 by then).
The North:
Here I can strike directly from Networking, safe from any prying eyes (lurkers, please, please, please correct me if his borders give him vision over the hill/forests into Networking). I can have one 2-move BP and up to 6 moroi if I strip my western border with TBS to just bloodpets. This will be simultaneous with the attack in the south. If I have to delay a turn (due to Garryvoe not growing yet), Networking can add a 7th moroi to the ranks. The thing is, Yell0w just got priesthood recently, so I need to strike (and force sanctuary) now, before he can defend with units.
Power graph
Yell0w's power has actually dropped recently, so an attack couldn't come at a better time. Sanctuary should give me time to build a nice vampire army to finish the job later.
Of course, you probably noticed TBS's huge spike for Valin. Turns out he grabbed stirrups recently as well. Plus, both he and Yell0w now have smelting(?). Iron crusaders coming my way...?
Demos
Hmmm, looking at these I should probably be going after TBS (#1 in GNP, MFG, power, and population - HK is tops in food), but I swear he hasn't built a single road towards me. I'd like to have some death nodes up supporting a vampire army before going after him.
Sorry I thought I responded to this earlier
I don't think you should try and force sanctuary from Yell0w. Why?
Because if he fires it, you have no way of getting peace for the next 30 turns, which would be extremely painful if he keeps throwing thins at you. Not forcing it now means you can't come back and absorb him later, tis true, but if you can secure a long enough NAP by threatening to force his WS, then it won't matter.
We're not short of land, after all, and can always just expand into it rather then tackling the Elohim. It also allows you MUCH more flexibility ti respond to TBS (who I admit my paranoia of), and possibly even strongarm concessions to the North.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
(September 30th, 2013, 13:35)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Sorry I thought I responded to this earlier
I don't think you should try and force sanctuary from Yell0w. Why?
Because if he fires it, you have no way of getting peace for the next 30 turns, which would be extremely painful if he keeps throwing thins at you. Not forcing it now means you can't come back and absorb him later, tis true, but if you can secure a long enough NAP by threatening to force his WS, then it won't matter.
We're not short of land, after all, and can always just expand into it rather then tackling the Elohim. It also allows you MUCH more flexibility ti respond to TBS (who I admit my paranoia of), and possibly even strongarm concessions to the North.
Sanctuary: Ok, I just ran a hot seat game game on quick, and I was able to enter Elohim borders on turn 14 after they declared sactuary on turn 1. If it's really only 14 turns on quick, then that's the perfect amount of time for me to build an army of vamps to finish him off afterwards. Anyways, I'd expect that I couldn't get peace during that time, but my power is a lot higher than his, and I'll have vampires really soon, so I don't think he can throw anything at us we can't handle.
International relations: Now of course, vampire aggression might be met with a bit of a dogpile, but since he's got sanctuary, I don't think people will be rushing to his aid. Could also throw up a screenshot in the banter thread showing the location of his recent plant, which should be explanation enough for an attack.
Land: Right now I think I can grab at most 5 more cities (2 of them barb cities) which might be more than I can financially manage anyway. But his fur border city controls 2 mana (i.e. same amount currently in my borders) which are golden for spectres. We've just about got enough land regardless; war is for pillage gold and gaining XP (lots and lots of XP through feasting captured cities into the ground).
Also, Yell0w's committed quite the list of aggression against me: opened a dungeon 3 tiles from my city (after I asked him not to), threatened to come at me with monks because he thought I was settling close too him, and then turned around and settled as close to my borders as physically possible. Right now he's talking nice (see spoiler), but what else do you expect when he settles the way he did?
Yell0w Wrote:Look there are other guys asking for my resources, so far I've not given them since I wanted to give you the option of taking them first. I'm serious about building a friendship. You haven't gotten back to me, so I don't know where we stand. I'll start trading resources in the next couple of turns. I'd like my trade partner to be you
Marble is the only useful thing he has; it would shave a couple turns off each of the epics, and that's about it.
Pros:
Punishes his aggressive diplomacy (mostly just satisfying for me)
Fulfills a long-term plan to sneak attack his second city (ok, these don't seem to be very objective)
Gain access to two more mana
force a sactuary pop (enables full scale war in 15 turns)
Cripples an opponent
gains a rice for Networking
pillage gold
gains fur (if I can ever hook it)
lots of fun
a reputation that will have neighbors in future games settling less aggressively towards me
Cons:
An enemy for life (just of the game hopefully)
Makes other people think about how uber vampires are
allows TBS to easily set up a multi-front war with me
more time required on saves
potential for Yell0w to take even longer to play his saves
I'm really leaning towards declaring war next turn. I've got 5 moroi and a BP charging into the fog in the north, 4 moroi and 2 BP up against 2 warriors (plus a third on the ancient tower) in the south.
One other thought: if I wait two turns, I could squeeze in animal handling (1-turn) and build a hawk to scout Glen of Killybegs (target in the north). But that's two more turns of not responding to Yell0w's email while my power keeps climbing.
I may have been misunderstood there: I definitely want to grab the furs city for the mana, the idea was to not force sanctuary to avoid aggression from TBS to the west while we are vulnerable, which is my greatest concern. That said, if its only 14 turns, then I think you should go for it anyway (but make sure to be careful about TBS).
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
(October 1st, 2013, 13:11)Qgqqqqq Wrote: As to waiting a turn: take the city the second you can and still capture it with a garrison that can hold it. AH isn't worth waiting for IMO
Just got the save, and couldn't resist taking a look to see what Yell0w's defenses look like (but I've got class in 8 min, so I can't finish playing now).
Fur City
Still only 1 warrior in the city, plus two siting around outside (one 1N, one still on the tower).
Glen of Killybegs (which I believe is his second city.
2 unpromoted warriors on flatland v. 5 moroi and a BP... Now we just need to decided whether to keep or raze. I think I've got to raze it, as his culture will make keeping it impossible once sanctuary is cast.
Yell0w Wrote:Since our little border dispute you haven't answered any of my messages, combined with a power spike this makes me weary.
The Kuriotates are looking for allies and I'd rather side with you than them, but I need to hear something back.
War!?!? whatever gave you that idea?
So let's get to it. We have a new city.
Only 10 unique tiles (3 of them lakes), but it can work a lot of Collaboration's good tiles while she's running specialists. Anyways, Best Practices already brings in more commerce than her maintenance costs (not including increases in global maintenance), and I think...skip that, time for the interesting stuff.
Ok, for real now. The battle in the south was quite short.
Sent in my highly promoted BP first since he'd gained a spirit guide promo from a lair and I didn't want to spend the money to upgrade him. Lost as expected, but gained 6XP on a moroi up north.
cleaned up with a moroi, and got the warrior to the north with another moroi, both of which are now at 10+ xp (get vampirism -> chariot upgrades!)
Gave Garryvoe an appropriate name (thanks Molach!)
Situation EOT
Left the warrior on the ancient tower, since my odds on him are currently ~5%.
The battle in the north was even shorter.
Moroi with just mobility promos couldn't get odds, but city raider + burning blood made things look much better.
Two moroi with burning blood made short work of the unpromoted garrison; just hope they don't turn barb! Granary and library are nice, but there's no way I could hold this right on his borders if he uses Sanctuary (which I think he has no choice but to use it)
I did get a huge pile of pillage gold though.
situation EOT
I'll raze his gems city next turn if he doesn't cast sanctuary.
Now that we're at war (and with TBS' power skyrocketing) it's time to get serious about an army.
Maybe next turn.
I did 1-turn animal husbandry this turn though, and will build a hawk per turn for at least the next 3 turns. Should give good advance warning just in case TBS decides to get involved.
Now we just need to decided whether to keep or raze. I think I've got to raze it, as his culture will make keeping it impossible once sanctuary is cast. 
