[spoilers] Going Dutch: The Commodore Files

[Commodore]

So this was radically unexpected; one of the most under-expanded civs in the game is a lock for the Hanging Gardens, right? It's weird, HAK is Boudicca so no Exp boost is happening. Okay, whatever, he's also Jewish. I'm trading him gems for his spices; coupled with a gem-fur swap with Drey/OT/ninja, our happy cap is much better now. HAK's at least taking the wonder from someone who could really use it...

Still like you, dude

Here's a picture from a couple turns ago of the capital. It's just sad, man, this city needs to grow. Which means needs to be happy...that unhooked clam is a nasty indictment about my growth cap management. Just stupid my part, I should have just gone monarchy, frankly. Just because I can't manage an Ottawa is no reason to have, well, this.

Airing the dirty laundry

The barbarians are being critical, too. If I may translate:

Yo, Dutch, y u no claim this nicely isolated peninsula?

There's no good answer. I'm rectifying it, but uber-late here past turn one hundred.

Soon to sport Sumerian colors

As you saw, I've finally settled White Night, and (Mardoc, feel free to grumble) Ghost Story in the wunderland. I've yet to get a single event all game, but sure I'll get some sort foresty event now, right? Anyway, enjoy our empire in all its 13-city glory.

More settlers than workers, at the moment

[Commodore]

So, anyone want to start a deadpool? REM/AI dying first is a gimmie.

Like, really a gimmie. DreyOTninja are good.
   
For those watching at home, that's one raze, one capture and hold. Nicely done.

[Mardoc]

Mardoc, feel free to grumble

I was never super attached to my proposed dotmap. The more you scout, the more I can see a case for packing the cities a bit more loosely in the mainland.

But....2nd ring food is the best you can do? When there's corn/fish to the west, and sheep to the east? It doesn't even get marble faster . And with 2nd ring food, you figure a library is the best culture?

At least you've finally got a city down for the horses and that unused clam.

DreyOTninja are good.

Dang it, there goes the hope of a counterweight to Dtay

Unless REM really botches this, or is exceptionally forgiving, I don't see them getting out of the war as easily as they got into it. At least...at least that means Dtay will have a better target for knights than us...

[Commodore]

I was never super attached to my proposed dotmap. The more you scout, the more I can see a case for packing the cities a bit more loosely in the mainland.

But....2nd ring food is the best you can do? When there's corn/fish to the west, and sheep to the east? It doesn't even get marble faster . And with 2nd ring food, you figure a library is the best culture?

Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that; Proven Guilty's borders have already popped, so Ghost Story owns some cows already. Couple that with the fact that I've opted to chop in a library first, and you'll see this city is up and running pretty quickly. Obviously, we're poised to quick-chop a wonder here, but I'm not picky about what we land. Great Library is the obvious prize, but given Gawdzak just landed what has to be the music artist (ow), I doubt it'll last. The Statue of Zeus is a fine alternative; this is actually a very hammer-heavy city with all these hills. I wouldn't cry about the Parthenon, either.

Future ecological disaster area. Suck it, Greenpeace.

We'll need to fire a golden age before too long; need to get into a religion, monarchy, and some fairly modern other civics, plus get started on a second golden age's Great People for economics (RBmod Rule: Thou Shalt Get Thyself Into Free Market Posthaste). That great person comes from Death Masks in twelvish turns...seems like a long time, but really we need that much time just to get the civic-techs. I actually think that long term, the best GP farm location will be Storm Front, with its four good food sources and enough mine-hammers to get the national epic in a decent time frame.

Watermills by Turn 200 or bust!

Yeah, you heard me, I'm still not making that coastal blight the final capital. The future capital is Changes, now with all three gem mines online (and furs and spices are from trading spare gems, no worries). I'll be slowly growing, make no doubt, but with just a wet rice for our supper you can bet this dear will never hear a whip crack in anger. Such a sad commerce situation, now...this is a city with three gem mines and a couple nice hamlets, plus IC-Trs...and I'm betting it's outputting a bare fraction of the gold one of the Gawdzak or GermanJojo (cothon) fishing villages. We need to get us some more foreign routes and then beeline Free Market.

More jungles than the Jungle Book.

[Commodore]

GEOPOLITICS:

DreyOTninja are good.

Dang it, there goes the hope of a counterweight to Dtay
Unless REM really botches this, or is exceptionally forgiving, I don't see them getting out of the war as easily as they got into it. At least...at least that means Dtay will have a better target for knights than us...

Actually, let's talk a little bit more about this, because the geopolitics are insanely interesting right now (how is it possible that the lurker thread is so slow?). First of all, GermanJojo (of neighboring REMAI and Numidians) has been whipping hard, and a couple people's power has climbed. I'm actually pretty willing to bet that the poor AIREMs are about to be made into a sandwich, if the Porch Uggles keep pushing.

However, the Porch Uggles might also just not push farther. We know there must be some islands connecting them to REMAIland, and we also know (Colossus) that Team Dreyotninja has metal casing, so triremes. It might well be they just opted to steal the islands, and I'm willing to be there is nothing at all poor AIREM can do about that. Free shock axes, just for one thing...


Dtay is in a really really interesting place right now. He's doing quite well, with lots of cities, good enough tech, solid north border...but he's also in between two almost-as-strong civs with an obviously positive relationship. I'm really not sure what he's going to do here, but he's got to get moving before long or he'll be consigned to our doldrum-land. For our part...we need to crack him if we're to win, but sans East Indiamen that ain't happening, even with a dogpile. His border is just that good.


Gawdzak is playing an excellent game; his island start and the GLH coupled with Julius Caesar has come up gangbusters. I am getting a nervous feeling that we're going to be in conflict with him before too long over the Pacific, which I absolutely hate, because he's also well on his way to becoming a superpower able to counterbalance even Mackoti. Gawdzak will look to be winning for a while, actually, until his tragic lack of new land becomes clear. If he can sweep Furungy he might have enough, but sea-based empires are viable only as long as they have control of the initiative. The second someone(s) else gets naval advantage, the sea empire vanishes like spit in a griddle. Or like the actual British Empire in the Twentieth Century, natch. Mackoti will win this unless Plako or Dtay take us hard and fast, but Gawdzak will be scary before the land advantage tells and holy crap will he suck to contest the Pacific with.

So, generally, I have some mental categories here:
Natural Allies:
-Dreyote the Ninja (Portugal)
-Gavagai (England)
-GermanJojo (Carthage)

Natural Victims:
-HAK (Egypt) *maybe

Natural Enemies:
-Dtay (Inca)
-Plako (Sumer)
-Gawdzak (Zulu) *maybe

Weak Players to Trade With But Who Are Doomed:
-HAK (Egypt)
-AIREM (Korea)
-Furungy (Viking)

Potential Game Winners, in order of likelihood:
-Mackoti (China)
-Plako (Sumer)
-Dreyote the Ninja (Portugal)
-Gawdzak (Zulu)
-Dtay (Inca)
-GermanJojo (Carthage)
The thing is here, obviously winning is a binary outcome, but clearly this is even more granulated for outcomes; Mackoti needs no failures to win, Plako needs us to fail to win, Dreyote the Ninja need REMAI to die fast, a good border with GermanJojo, and Dtay to fall to win, etc, etc. Mackoti can do well and Plako can do well independently, but Dtay and Dreyote the Ninja are destined for a showdown. That's actually why I discount us entirely; too many excellent players have to really miss the boat for us to win for that to be an even remotely realistic chance.

But I'd rather be us than poor Gavagai.

[TheHumanHydra]

The second someone(s) else gets naval advantage, the sea empire vanishes like spit in a griddle. Or like the actual British Empire in the Twentieth Century, natch.

Spoiled for random historical debate:

I'm not an expert in this field, but my impression is that this is not exactly the case. British naval dominance was indeed supplanted by American, but the United States never challenged Britain for control of its colonies or the maritime routes to them. The (largely voluntary, if not eager) collapse of the British Empire seems to have had more to do with decreased financial means (as a proportion of GNP or of world trade, not as a raw figure, of course) and national will (~ greater ethical sensitivity), both brought on largely by the experience of the First and Second World Wars. If you mean that British maritime economic dominance was edged out by American competition, you may be right; I don't know (as it pertains to the colonies). I don't really know about my own hypothesis either, of course, as I have never really read anything on the subject, but it seems clear to me in any case that the British Empire did not collapse on account of any strategic challenge (not that it could have been maintained in the face of such challenge, either).

Anyway, sorry, just enjoyed the opportunity for random historical observation. It's the only use I get out of my degree. Keep up the good reporting. (As for why the lurker thread might not be more abuzz at the geopolitical situation, I know I for one am only reading a couple of the threads, so I don't really know what's going on elsewhere beyond what you report.)

[Commodore]

I guess I was thinking about the RN in the Pacific, more than anything else. I think more fundamentally the British Empire was lost through huge world wars killing off the flower of two generations' finest manhood. But that's a depressing tangent. Let's instead talk about happy things, like scouting out the rest of our contact Rolodex.

Yo, ho. Yo, ho.

There is a mild worker gap in Dresdenville at the moment, less actually due the number of workers vs. cities, more due to the cost of chopping Ghost Story's forest to the ground. So, while I rally a few troopers west to go capture us a barbarian peninsular city, the latest settler is getting routed to the mining filler location beyond the capital. I could set it to share the clam, but given Monarchy is near and the food needs a National Epic city...I'm instead going to share those pigs. Three mines and a plains hill city tile will get you a healthy hammer filler, y'know?

Oh, Literature needs Polytheism, you say? Huh, okay then...

LAZY BLEG: Normal speed quarry is how many turns?

[Mardoc]

What's happening with the REMAI/OTmetralin war?

[Whosit]

I think a quarry is 6 turns, but that's only going off of memory.

[Commodore]

What's happening with the REMAI/OTmetralin war?

Nothing for sure known, but I suspect it's resolved. Because...

Good luck guys, but not too good please.

We cannae take even a spot of advantage on this one, sadly. We don't have any mobile anythings around. Although we're up to a region-dominating fourteen cities now! So that's yay.

I have no idea why I forgot Turn Coat...