[Spoilers] Biggus Decius and the Sucking Vampires (Bobchillingworth / Calabim)

[Bobchillingworth]

We don't need any more troops except for a few more catapults. We're going to be building a lot of vampires soon, so any more bloodpets or Moroi right now are expenses we really don't need. Seriously, build some granaries and smokehouses- otherwise the cities can't grow back quickly enough from feeding.



Also I had a brief chat with Sareln, and he's ready to start a settler to take the southern copper spot once you send him a screencap showing the "nice spot" location.

[Bobchillingworth]

Holy shit we have a lot of units. How the heck did you manage them all? We need more cities and workers, and you have exactly that cued up in all of the developed cities, so I'll be following your builds for a while. Combat units are being re-routed either to defend the soon-to-be-founded cities plus a small group to explore the ruins & barrow in the SW. I reduced (read: began shifting around) the garrisons of every city that doesn't border another civ- I don't want to build more troops right now, and I need more guys free for defense in the north than defending reasonably safe cities.



Explored the ruins near Sareln, got a treasure chest in the jungle between Sareln & PB- I dispatched our scout to check it out (ETA 6 turns).



I'll try to post some more images tomorrow. Need to get some sleep right now

[DaveV]

Yeah, I hate to delete units - it's the miser in me. I figure they'll be useful for city garrisons, and the most experienced ones can always be upgraded to vampires.

Some notes on diplo with Iskender: the worker in his territory is supposed to move north and chop the jungle off the gems there. He is supposed to move an archer to provide protection. As soon as you move outside his territory (next turn), offer peace and open borders; he has promised to accept. You have an NAP until turn 200 (I figured I would have vampires by then and would be pretty safe from attack). You are not allowed to settle any cities west of Acaia, but there are good city sites due north and south.

My plan: finish sanitation, build public baths, spam farms, beeline to feudalism.

[Bobchillingworth]

Image from last turn:






Like I said, I have a scout en-route, hopefully he doesn't die along the way. Actually, since the treasure chest is invisible, I could just leave it in place and use it as an early warning beacon. If I explore it I might get a free tech, but it could also be just some gold. Hmm. What do you recommend, Dave?





And just for fun, a picture from my test game I played while trying to get FFH working (deity, OCC, barbarian world, raging barbs):






(The psychedelic sheep frogs and other graphical oddities are the result of my trying to find the right combination of graphics settings)


Serdoa, I dare you to get more promos on a mimic in PBEM II :neenernee He actually stole about three times as many than are visible, since he has every combat, city raider, barrage, etc. promotion. I got a little under a dozen more on him before I finished off Tebryn, but most of that was various pieces of equipment. I have no idea what his strength level was by the end, actually I don't even know what his name is =) Pretty cool guy tho

[DaveV]

If I explore it I might get a free tech, but it could also be just some gold. Hmm. What do you recommend, Dave?

It might be better just to leave it as an invisible sentry. Even if you get a free tech, it may be one you don't even want. Here's the approximate breakdown if you open the chest:

There's a 25% chance the chest is trapped:
8% unit is poisoned and damaged
8% unit is damaged by fire
8% unit is frozen in place (as if spored by a Myconid)

Whether the chest is trapped or not, you get one of the following outcomes:
14% chest is empty (nothing)
14% gold
14% healing salve
14% jade torc
14% rod of winds
14% timor mask
14% tech

[Bobchillingworth]

Thanks for the results breakdown!


I *think* that if you get one of the bad results, you still get a good one to go with it. I seem to remember that happening a few times before in SP games.


A tech would be awesome, and the timor mask would be _really_ awesome. I don't need another salve or gold, the wind rod is useless, and the torc is probably the most pointless artifact in the game.


I guess I'll leave it in place for now, I can always pop it later for a chance at an even more expensive tech. It's in a nice position for a sentry net, too.

[DaveV]

I *think* that if you get one of the bad results, you still get a good one to go with it. I seem to remember that happening a few times before in SP games.

Yeah, you're right. I'm not very good at reading python.

Edited the post to reflect reality.

[Bobchillingworth]

86% odds for a decent result is pretty good- if I have to pay for the chest in unit costs, I might consider opening it, but then keep the scout fortified in that area as a sentry. He won't be invisible, of course, and therefore can be maneuvered around and killed by barbs, but such are the perils for any other sentries I establish elsewhere. I'll think more about it when the time to make a decision draws nearer.



Also disturbing amount of activity in PB's thread and the lurker thread. Is he giving away free money? Planning to attack me? Considering summoning Hyborem and everyone is fighting over who can claim him? Who knows!

[DaveV]

86% odds for a decent result is pretty good- if I have to pay for the chest in unit costs, I might consider opening it, but then keep the scout fortified in that area as a sentry. He won't be invisible, of course, and therefore can be maneuvered around and killed by barbs, but such are the perils for any other sentries I establish elsewhere. I'll think more about it when the time to make a decision draws nearer.

The other advantage of the chest is that I think it will remain if overlapped by non-open borders; the scout would be booted outside the borders.

Also disturbing amount of activity in PB's thread and the lurker thread. Is he giving away free money? Planning to attack me? Considering summoning Hyborem and everyone is fighting over who can claim him? Who knows!

Well, maybe we'll make PB nervous by posting in this thread

[Bobchillingworth]

From yesterday's turn:






Founded on the marked tile. Yellow dot & eastern copper city are next; I'm going to hold off found the sugar site to the far NE for a while now. If I found that city and Cull attacked, I'd have to defend a massive front of brand-new cities, which would be both tactically unsound and a waste of resources. Plus I'd rather not pay vast sums of maintenance just to block Cull in, and if I settle the copper first I don't really have much more that I need to block him from anyway.


In other news, my treasure chest was destroyed by a barbarian tiger! I had no idea that they could see invisible units... Probably was one of the ones that Iskender released from a lair long ago, the dick.


Oh something I just thought of- Do treasure chests have a bias to spawn on isolated landmasses? I've noticed that in SP games they always seem to appear on uncolonized islands. If they do, then it might imply that there really are no islands on this map, and darrell simply removed several world features he felt were unbalanced and didn't relocate them.