[SPOILERS - PBEM19] Huayna Capac of Ottomans - yuris125 & Maestro

[yuris125]

Played T130. Quite unexpectedly, we're 2nd in score now, although RL7 are in their own league. We discovered Democracy and Economics, so can adopt UniSuffr and Free Market whenever we want. This turn we discovered Steam Power; thanks to Commodore, I already knew where our coal was, and mined it in advance. I want to get to Railroads and start building them before going for Cavalry techs

A great artist was born in Maximum this turn; another GP is due in 2 turns out of Echo of Moscow, and there's no chance of him being an artist, so we're good to extend the GA

Heroic Epic built in Maximum, National Epic will be finished next turn in Echo of Moscow. I opted to settle the great general in Maximum

[yuris125]

T131

Great merchant was born in Echo of Moscow

Otherwise nothing interesting happening. Building infra in cities and workshops on tiles

[yuris125]

Really quite turns now. I'm building infra and trying to catch up in research. This turn (T134) I've got Railroad and started building the network. We have enough overflow to get Music in 1 turn and MilTrad or Rifling in 2 turns at 0%

I'm thinking of upgrading all our Axes to Machine Guns, it will cost 2400, we can get the money in 3 turns. Spending hammers on Cavalries and Cannons instead seems to be a good idea. Will think about it

Relations between Seven and Luddite seem to be quite hostile. Seven told me yesterday that Luddite adopted Mercantilism and sent him a message "ha ha I killed your trade routes". Good for us I think, gives me reasons hope he's concentrated on a war vs Luddite and won't attack us when the NAP expires. The NAP between Luddite and RL7 is until T150, and Luddite seems to be set to attack when it expires. Commodore and I are keen to join, although I feel like they're not counting on me. Not surprising - we're far behind in tech, and won't be able to stage better units than Cavalries and Cannons, while both Luddite and Commodore intend to have modern uranium-powered ships and Marines. Oh well. They seem to be understanding that we stay away from active fighting and mostly defend, and they're willing to gift us units if Seven attacks us. It currently looks like we will not take active part in the war - and it could let us get back in the game

In a word, the current plan is: build adequate military, survive, concentrate on research, try to grab extra land if an opportunity presents itself

[yuris125]

T137

We discovered MilTrad, and I set us on the way towards Assembly Line and Artillery. I will delay Assembly Line, because I want to go through a round of Rifle draft after the GA ends, then upgrade them to Infantries

Speaking of GA end, we popped a GS from Best FM this turn. I'll check if we can get 2 more GPs quickly, maybe another GA extension wouldn't be a bad idea

Started Ironworks in Ultra. Thought about building it in Maximum, but Maximum already provides 140hpt when building units, we will have problems spending even these hammers In Ultra, Ironworks will help to overcome production deficit when we switch out of Bureau, so I think it's a better option

[yuris125]

T138

I'm using our research overflow to collect money while researching Compass and Optics, will have around 5k by the time we need to turn research on again, this will fund research for a long time

Decided to hold on to the great scientist for now. Bulbing provides just 1t worth of beakers at this stage. Of course, this will drop significantly when we're out of the GA and lose Colossus, but still it seems to be a waste. I will get a GP our of Echo of Moscow before the GA ends, and then see where I can produce another one. Of course, using the 3GP GA now might be not the best idea, farming 4 GPs for the next one will be difficult, so I'll see when the best moment to start it comes

In foreign news, Luddite closed borders with RL7, and RL7 activated an AP resolution to sign OB with all members. I abstained, my 61 votes don't change anything in any case, RL7 can vote in any resolution he proposes. But this is another definite sign of tensions between RL7 and Luddite - which is good for us

[yuris125]

T139

Got this at the start of the turn



Wow! Didn't expect that at all. Didn't realise the proposal needed more than 50% votes to pass

As for that "enemy at the door message", it's this privateer (note its name)



I wonder if getting an ironclad out and killing it would be an excuse for Seven to start a war. I'm going to name it either "Just in case" or "Pirates begone!"

The starving city visible in the screenshot is where a great merchant is being produced. We can get the 3rd GP out of Ultra, the odds are it will be a prophet, which is just fine. But there's a 1/3 chance to pop a GS, and we don't need it at all. So I fired the scientist in Ultra, and hired an artist, to increase the chance of getting a GP which can be used for another GA

[yuris125]

Well, our GA has ended, our Colossus is obsolete, and our research rate dropped from 1800 to 1200bpt at 100%. I adopted Nationhood and Theocracy on the last turn of the GA, and started drafting Rifles. The plan is to go through a round of draft, then research Assembly Line and upgrade the Rifles to Infantries. Unit upgrade should help us have a formidable force. Then fire off another GA - we now have 2 GPs, scientist and merchant, and I'll try to get an artist out of Ultra or Echo of Moscow in 5-6 turns

Ultra and Maximum are capable of producing a Cavalry per turn with a lot of overflow. Other cities can help too. My goal is to have at least 30 Cavalries, 20 Infantries and 20 Cannons in 10 turns. If I can get to Artillery and start building Anti-Tanks, even better

[yuris125]

Seven offered a 20t NAP for wheat. It's a unique resource for us, but we don't really have health problems and can spare it. Given the current standings, seems foolish not to accept. He also threatens he can raze "a couple" of coastal cities if he attacks; we know he bluffs sometimes, but this is very believable

Sent a message to Luddite and Commodore asking for advice. If I sign the NAP, it ruins the possibility of a 3-way attack on Seven. If I don't sign it, a 3-way attack won't be on the cards anyway, it will be strictly defence for me. Don't really know what to do, peace with Seven just lets him run further away, but war right now doesn't help me at all

[yuris125]

Looks like we're going to war

This is what I sent to Seven this morning

I got an interesting piece of information, and now seems to be good time to discuss it. Allegedly, when we told you about our Apostolic Palace plans, as agreed in our wonder build information exchange deal, you spawned a great engineer and gifted him to GES, to let him beat us to the wonder. If this is true, I consider it to be an appalling violation of the spirit of the information exchange deal. And afterwards, you had the nerve to talk about how adopting mercantilism broke the spirit of the open borders agreement

I'm hoping this is some kind of misunderstanding, and will be eagerly waiting for you to comment on these allegations. However, if they turn out to be true, there is no way we will sign a new NAP with you. The rumours have already leaked to the public, and my people will not understand if we sign a NAP in spite of everything

Looking forward to hearing from you

Then we had this chat

(4:13:54 PM) Seven: hey
(4:13:59 PM) yuris125: hey hey
(4:14:14 PM) Seven: let me tell you about the AP thing
(4:14:33 PM) Seven: we'd been talking with GES about having him build AP for a while
(4:14:48 PM) Seven: hence adopting confucianism, for example
(4:16:04 PM) Seven: when you told us you were thinking about AP, we could honestly say that we (mali) were not considering building it, but we couldn't tell you that egypt might build it due to our agreement with them
(4:16:28 PM) yuris125: well, I would've expected you to at least say "don't build it", without specifying a reason
(4:17:02 PM) yuris125: that was the purpose of the info exchange deal - not waste hammers on wonders other want
(4:18:35 PM) Seven: I interpreted it a bit differently - I've tried as hard as possible not to give away information from diplo with another team
(4:19:19 PM) Seven: I've tried not to hint to anyone that we've even talked about wonders, nor that I talked about the AP with GES
(4:19:44 PM) yuris125: well, I see your point. but to say that I was annoyed when I heard it would be putting it mildly
(4:19:54 PM) Seven: I understand
(4:20:52 PM) Seven: I won't claim it wasn't mean to you. But it wasn't mean for the sake of being mean, it's just that I had already spoken more about it with GES
(4:21:31 PM) Seven: we had a closer relationship with that team at the time because they loaned us marble
(4:23:41 PM) Seven: whereas, our relationship with you was that lewwyn settled a city at you when ranamar and I were gone for two days, and then we came to an agreement but it really didn't favor us at all
(4:23:48 PM) Seven: I know that's not your fault
(4:24:41 PM) yuris125: yeah. well, what's done is done. but I'm not inclined to sign a new NAP. the way I see it, signing it would be just delaying inevitable. so if you want to attack, bring it on
(4:25:15 PM) yuris125: I won't deny losing cities on the 1st turn would be a blow, but I think I'll have to live with it
(4:25:29 PM) Seven: if you like, I guess we can live with it too
(4:25:38 PM) Seven: I do ask you to reconsider:
(4:26:04 PM) Seven: we'll be going to war vs commodore and GES simultaneously in a bit it seems
(4:26:19 PM) Seven: I expect all of us to take severe losses
(4:26:41 PM) Seven: this map is such that it's really hard to defend, and my expectation is that a lot of coastal cities on all sides will be razed
(4:27:29 PM) Seven: so I think it's probably good for you to stay out of this conflict, and you may even come out ahead at the end of it
(4:30:30 PM) yuris125: well, is the NAP still on the table? I didn't offer wheat this turn, and I won't agree to another turn of not reinforcing coastal cities. I suspect you want to attack this turn, if at all
(4:31:18 PM) yuris125: as you can see, I have a lot of gold, will get Assembly Line this turn, and have been getting ready to upgrade the defences as soon as I get it
(4:32:22 PM) yuris125: and I'm still not sure I want to stay out of the war, should it happen
(4:32:39 PM) Seven: hm
(4:33:37 PM) yuris125: what I can offer is that you demand wheat from us, and we take 10t of forced peace, then discuss what happens next
(4:34:26 PM) Seven: I wouldn't take a 10t NAP. obviously, facing three opponents at once is the worst case for us
(4:34:55 PM) yuris125: I understand
(4:35:33 PM) Seven: I need to think about it a bit. I'm sort of put off by first your delay until your next turn and then the further stall (even if it has good reason)
(4:35:58 PM) yuris125: ok, sure, tell me what you decide
(4:36:12 PM) yuris125: I do hope you prefer not to attack us, but ready to accept if you decide to do it
(4:36:38 PM) Seven: right, makes sense
(4:36:58 PM) Seven: what are your current thoughts on 20t NAP with wheat gift?
(4:38:31 PM) yuris125: well, the point is, I'd prefer a shorter NAP. while for you 20t is probably the minimum you would agree to. I don't see how we can bridge the gap here
(4:39:13 PM) Seven: ok. I think we'll probably just attack you, then
(4:39:32 PM) yuris125: ok, see you on the battlefield then
(4:39:39 PM) Seven: sorry :/
(4:39:43 PM) yuris125: that's fine

I don't think staying out of conflict would be as good for us he implies. And in a conflict, I'd prefer to be on the side of the teams who didn't do anything mean to us. So... I'm looking forward to getting the turn and seeing how bad the first turn went

If he attacks us at all, of course. We talked about signing defensive pacts with Luddite and Commodore last night, and they don't mind doing it. Luddite plays after Seven, so a defensive pact with him won't come into play if Seven attacks this turn. But if Commodore agrees to it, it could put Seven off the attack

The bad thing, of course, is that most of our cities are almost unprotected right now. But nothing I can do about it until I get the turn again

PS Assembly Line this turn is a lie, it will take at least 2t to research it

[yuris125]

OK, I didn't get the turn yet, but according to Seven, we lost Echo of Moscow and Retro FM. The former was a Moai city, which also had National Epic, so its loss will be huge. Retro FM was the landbridge city without any production, it provided decent commerce with Colossus, but now we can handle its loss