RBP3 [SPOILERS] - Zara of the Ottomans

[WarriorKnight]

T68:

Valeria moved onto the hill N/NE and we have view into Portugal's capital. It's trying to find the best place to heal.

We now have 2 unnamed workers and an unnamed chariot . DIM's chariot moved to the S of the lake and is next to a barb warrior. Free exp.

Ruff's Sancha is now on our borders. However, we thought that he would gift Belit back now but I guess it's a small misunderstanding that doesn't really matter.

We have Indian demographics next turn. However Inca are spending points on us and I don't think they'll stop at 43

Speaking of demog's we are 1st in prod and 3rd in food . And 11th in GNP . We might be running with no economy until a trade route one when we found 5th and 6th cities. Krill and DIM are low in the graphs since they both only recently got their 3rd cities. Carthage however is beating us in food and has a huge GNP. Good thing they are getting maths instead of us.

DIM's Tricky Dick (which is wood2, unfair) is on our Eastern border probably to defog trade routes.

[Sockboy]

Ok, meet Edric and Fredur (AKA workers E and F). I think you missed an unnamed axe too We should give a name to the DIM chariot so that every time they move it they think of us I nominate 'Conan's Rides Again' or maybe 'Conan goes Bananas!' Whatever we call him, don't forget we need him back near the gold to hand over around t75.

The axe I started to move over to the gold site for fog-busting/scouting purposes, but then thought maybe he should swap being city garrison with Livia in Cimmeria and Livia should go scout out the gold. Or maybe it's better to fogbust over near the pigs since we expect more barbs from that direction.

The micro is on track, there are some minor changes in the city tiles for Aquilonia, I'll add them to this post. Biggest thing is check is that Aquilonia doesn't grow until we're ready to whip the Hammam. To do this we need to work the unimproved plainshill for a turn (next turn, t69) to prevent growing.

I'll also add here that I've stopped closely following C&D. I might try and keep track of techs and cities, but techs will be easy now that alphabet is in and cities we can check via the diplo menus. I don't think there's much benefit to be gotten out of continued tracking now that trading has started (That plus there's too many teams for getting solid numbers out of the demog averages).

[WarriorKnight]

Well, while DJ and Exploit are arguing over who gets the first half (I'm staying right out of it), I logged in and saw the Indian demographics. They aren't really doing hot on much right now except power where they have spiked heavily during the last few turns (we are 5th and they are beating us). The next options for EP spending are:

Ruff
Inca
Portugal
England
France

Ruff and Inca are probably too weak to be worth it. France will probably be a target soon and Portugal will soon be going to war (they whipped 3 times 2 turns ago and twice 2 turns before that) so I think England is probably next. We do have a EP agreement with them (along with the NAP) so let's not forget this one.

Ruff has moved Sancha W/SW. This is strange given that we can't see Belit yet and makes me wonder what Ruff's intentions are. I'm guessing that Ruff is moving Sancha through our land to go to Portugal and Belit hasn't reached us yet?

Sent this:

Hi Ruff

Can you clarify something for us? We see that Sancha is on our border but you have moved him rather than gifted him. Do you intend to give Sancha back now and have already sent Belit to meet Portugal? Or do you intend to give Belit back when it reaches our borders and Sancha is just going a more barb free route to them?

Enough Talking!
WarriorKnight of A4

[WarriorKnight]

OK, this is pushing it.

A4,

Sorry guys - been meaning to email you about this. I have a warrior that is at 0.3 health and will take 9 turns to heal. Totally not worth waiting 9 turns so I am just sending him on to Portugal and hoping he makes it. Your chariot (B) is backing him up and generally heading in the same direction. If my warrior makes it, then I can return B. I have talked to India about running him into their territory to provide some additional cover if they need it - is that OK with you?

Re S - I am tempted to return him but would like the option of sending him to Portugal if the above ideas go south. What do you think?

Ruff

Belit is OK since Ruff is keeping him for Portugal but Sancha? The chance that a chariot dies to these barbs (no archers) is practically zero, provided you play it safe. I would be against letting him keep Sancha for now.

Dunno about India, what could one chariot do? Also aren't India the attackers so defending isn't needed? I would probably be against this too (although after Ruff has met Portugal it might be fine).

[Sockboy]

Agree WK, Send him a quick note saying that we need Sancha back ourselves for scouting/barbwatch/worker guarding and that we feel Belit should have ample time and opportunity to make the meeting with Portugal. Belit pushing into Indian territory is ok with me if they need the help. India are on the offensive v Exploit (or will be once the game starts moving again), but aren't they on the defensive v someone else? (Can't remember who at the moment), they did lose a city. Maybe the chariot which took it out is still roaming about their territory or waiting on reinforcements?

EP wise I'd like to get a look at the Incan graph around t90 if we can swing it. That way we'll have an idea as to how much power they've got. At 4EPs per turn we've got about 80 odd EP to spend by t90, so pick another CAN member first then Incan please (I agree Inca will be weak, but prefer to have knowledge on my enemies rather than my friends...) I think the Incans will probably stop around 40/50EPs on us anyway since they'll want graph coverage of as many CAN members as possible (unless they already have DIM and Ruffs graphs?).

[WarriorKnight]

EP wise I'd like to get a look at the Incan graph around t90 if we can swing it. That way we'll have an idea as to how much power they've got. At 4EPs per turn we've got about 80 odd EP to spend by t90, so pick another CAN member first then Incan please (I agree Inca will be weak, but prefer to have knowledge on my enemies rather than my friends...) I think the Incans will probably stop around 40/50EPs on us anyway since they'll want graph coverage of as many CAN members as possible (unless they already have DIM and Ruffs graphs?).

You're probably right about the Incans. England first than Inca.

Greeting Allies,


We are concerned be cause we have not be able to make diplomatic contact with the Egyptians, We hope that this is an oversight and there has been a miscommunication.

We wish to be a valuable member of the CAN and are prepared to work diligently and tirelessly for common goals.

Team MODM has not received one single alliance email or joined in any discussions on how to proceed, if you were in our shoes i can assure you it is a mighty cold view we have of world around us. it would be very well received to have some information of the goals and discussions that have been decided and how we can contribute to them. You'll understand that we have been saving gold and are anxious to continue researching, we have asked the English and the HRE for guidance in what to research, however no answer has been forthcoming. We wish to proceed and research major technologies To achieve this efficiently we need writing, it is our highest priority and is delaying our technological advancement without it. We would be most grateful if you would gift this technology to us immediately and advise on what technological path we should be studying, duplication between members is something to be avoided.

Whilst we are ready to play our part within an alliance and contribute in the areas and traits we excel in; perhaps we are not wanted within this group and we are being strung along? If that is the case please let us know directly and we shall make other arrangements to proceed with our empire.

We hope to receive a response soonest so we can plan accordingly.

Regards

KM

ANG-FR

Uh, OK. It seems they are quite communicative with us, contrary to what Portugal said.

[WarriorKnight]

Had a combined chat with Portugal/Krill and an individal one with Carthage. Summary (with my thoughts in brackets):



France is 99% out, and we are just waiting for Ruff's response before we confirm it. Given they are PHI and don't have writing, they aren't playing to their traits. (don't mind much about this, they have played kinda bad so far)


Babylon and Mali are joining in France's place. Reason is the 2 are good friends and one wouldn't join without the other. (ok, it's now a 10 v 6 ???, I wonder how long CAN will last for)


Portugal plans on attacking Rome with their whipped units. (hope they do so before Rome get iron hooked up)


We have confirmed that maths is T70 and we will get it then. (:2dance


Carthage moved on the 1st turn but they didn't know that they moved away from a rice. Instead they have 2 plain sheep. (Ouch, but they are doing well on the chart as well. These guys have to be watched)


Carthage also has yet to meet Ruff. They are planning on sending a scout to Portugal to meet Belit when it arrives. (not much of a problem provided they find Belit soon after it arrives)



What do you guys think?

[WarriorKnight]

Message to DJ:

Hi DJ

How are you guys doing? It's been a while since we've exchanged messages and we would like to keep talking to your team. Maybe this wasn't the best timing on our part given that you've just DOWed on the Sumerian's but let's not talk about that.

What are you researching? Or are you going max gold since you're in 2 wars. We expect to have IW on T71.

Let's keep talking and PAR-TAY-ING!

Enough Talking!
WarriorKnight of A4

Just trying to get these guys to start talking to us. Otherwise we may reconsider AWTA.

Also to Ruff:

Ruff

We have no problems with you holding onto Belit until you meet Portugal. That was what we agreed to in the first place. We have informed Carthage about Belit and they are going to send a unit to Portugal to hopefully intercept Belit.

However, we already had plans for Sancha when he returns. Therefore, we would like him back ASAP. Belit shouldn't fail at reaching Portugal provided you play it safe so Sancha is of limited use to you.

We don't know about the Indian war yet. It seems that India are going to be quite sucsessful given the power graph and don't need much help. However, we would like to ensure that your 1st priority is to meet Portugal and Carthage before possibly sending him to India on the return trip.

Enough Talking!
WarriorKnight of A4

[Sockboy]

Wow, so looks like Exploit had enough of rules lawyering and quit! At least the down time should be minimal with Yaz picking up his place. From the sounds of things in the IT thread it sounds like his stewardship of Exploits civ might be shortlived, which is good news for the CAN! As for Portugal hitting Rome pre-Praets , I'm just glad it's them doing it and not us! if the Iron pops in a good place for Rome then they'll have a real fight on their hands! That should clear DIM of being a target for Rome too, so more good news for us (Praets are heading the long way round to us )!

Message to DJ looks good, we do need to keep in touch with them, and not knowing what people are researching is a major pain right now. The CAN just seems really disorganised ATM.

Message to Ruff is also ok, just not sure about the last paragraph, but if it's already sent it's no biggie. Feels a bit heavy-handed is all, otherwise it's great.

The French news is BIG! I'm really surprised by this decision, although if they've been playing suboptimally then maybe it's a good call. I'm not surprised that Babylon got let in as I mentioned earlier. :neenernee Anywho, regardless of whether they're in or our of the CAN I think they raise a valid point or two. The lack of communication on who is headed for which tech is really annoying, we shouldn't need to be sending other civs little reminder notes asking what they're teching. It would make sense for the war teams to tech away at low priority techs, maybe they can finish them before anyone misses not having them (Aesthetics, Compass). Alternatively they could be saving cash so a techer can get later techs faster with gifted cash, although we need to wait for Currency before we can do that. Are there any plans for further CAN chats? That seems the easiest way to sort all this out and get everyone on the same page.

Us: IW ETA T71
Carthage: Math ETA T70 (maybe T69)
DIM: HBR ETA T72 (maybe T71)
Krill: Mono ETA ???
England: Monarchy ETA T80

Ruff : Crippled due to war (Inca)
India : Involved in two wars (Sumeria and ???)
Portugal : Involved in war (Rome)

Babylon : ??? (saving cash for Currency/Code of Laws?)
Malinese : ??? (Saving cash for Currency/Code of Laws?)

Do we know anything at all about these last two teams? I thought I read somewhere that Bablyon was researching Alphabet, but that seems a bit weird now if they're going to be in the CAN.

[WarriorKnight]

Good news:

A4,

Fair enough. I will use B as a backup to my 'Find Portugal' warrior. I will not gift him to India without your approval. I have returned S - many thanks.

Ruff

2 bad news:

DIM's chariot won but is now on 1.8 health. We can't heal him and get him back in time. Maybe ask for an extension or build another chariot? Or maybe we can give them Sancha now that Ruff has given him back. Thoughts?

Also France caught me in a chat.

9:36 PM DMOC,Rash: Greeting ottermas
me: hi
just call us A4
9:37 PM DMOC,Rash: Ok A4, thought i'd have a quick chat with you if you have some spare minutes
me: well i do need to finish my turn
but I think i could
bed time soon as well
9:38 PM DMOC,Rash: No probs, we managed to speak with Egypt last night, going to be researching Mcast. could we inquire what you guys are teching?
9:39 PM me: we are going IW
DMOC,Rash: cool, any eta?
me: well sometime in 5-7 turns
9:40 PM give me a sec
DMOC,Rash: cool, thanks. about 14 turns for us right now
9:41 PM me: sounds good
i need t finish out turn, can you give me 2 mins?
9:42 PM DMOC,Rash: of course, we can chat another time as your busy. just wanted to say hello really.
me: np
DMOC,Rash: please let know if we can help in any, juts ping an email over.
9:43 PM me: will do
DMOC,Rash: ctach ya soon
me: ok, bye

The real stupid thing I did was tell them that IW was in 5-7 turns when it's in 2. We aren't going to be trading them IW (I hope) and now it looks like they know we lied to them for the rest of the game. Hopefully they die soon.

Sent this to the France discussion (Krill,DIM,Portugal,England):

They chaught us in a chat. They mentioned that Krill told them to go metal casting(14) and asked what we were going for. I replied IW in 5-7 turns (which is a lie, we'll have it in 2). In hindsight I probably shouldn't have lied about the number of turns left to go but too late now.

Given that we won't trade them IW and we'll get it before anyone else gets their tech (they haven't met Carthage but might be tied with DIM), they'll learn the bad news from us. We'll need to get a rejection mail ready.

Enough Talking!
WarriorKnight of A4

EDIT: India replied

Hey there,

Good to talk to you. We've had quite a whirlwind few days, especially with regoarrarr out of town, who is clearly the most awesome and important member of this team (or.... maaaaaybe just the person writing this email currently :-D) You're right that we should be continuing to talk and keep in touch. As you've no doubt figured out, trying to do diplo with 17 civs is craaaazy!

So as you have probably seen, we have taken one of Exploit's cities. We are going max gold, though unfortunately with our war that isn't so maxy . It appears our contributions to CAN, at least for the immediate short-term, will be militarily based. Thank you for your ETA on IW - clearing out the silver at our capital will definitely improve our commerce!

It's amusing that now all the CANTies that didn't want to be a part of CAN are all of a sudden singing a different tune! Unfortunately (at least for them) it looks like that's going to be too late for most if not all of them. Personally I find it a bit unfortunate that with trading on these games tend to devolve into large tech trading blocs like this. It doesn't really make Civ quite as fun. But you know what else isn't that fun? Losing! And that's what tends to happen. Maybe PB4 (if we have one) will be Always War with teams or something. At least that way you know the teams and it doesn't just degenerate into who finds who fastest.
Anyway thanks for keeping in touch - we will try to keep the diplo flowing in the future

PARTY ON!
DJ Civ
India