Like a hot wind Varn Gosam of the Malakim [SPOILERS]

[Thoth]

Liberated Golden Igloo, spread OO, swapped to OO, cast world spell.

Remnants of the Bannor army are fleeing eastwards.

Full report (with pics) to follow in a bit.

[Thoth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1kftCx5-tA


Mr. Yellow pulled a Sir Robin and I walked into his capital unopposed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCq7oQ-dZE


Operation Fishface was going to look something like this:

It's a bit of a messy picture . Worker actions are in yellow, Cultist movements are in greenish-blue, other military movements are in red.

I'm still a bit disappointed that I didn't get to unleash Operation Fishface in it's full glory but a free city is a free city. I should be able to kill his stack of 7 retreating warriors before they can reach safety but I think his lead stack of 5 warriors is going to get away from me.

What actually happened:

I pillaged the last remaining hamlet for a few extra gold as well.

My prize:

The siege workshop is nice. It means I won't have to build one in order to upgrade my axes to chariots once construction, trade and a source of horses are available.

I've got 4 workers in the immediate vicinity plus another that will be moving in shortly to get the city up and running quickly. This is going to be a powerhouse of a city once I get some farms and mines built.




Hello and welcome to the middle of the post. The moment when we take a break to invite you the lurkers to join me the post maker in a game of "find the fish".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QanC47gRBaE&NR=1




After that, I used the free missionary from MftD to spread OO into Golden Hovel, swapped into OO (causing mass unhappiness in several cities) and pulled the trigger on my world spell:

This gave me 10 1xp Cultists. I used 5 of them to create temples (I'll use up another one for an OO temple in Golden Igloo next turn before I use the Thane to snap the city out of revolt).

The others will be used as home defense/deterrent (one is currently joining the chase of Mr. Yellow's retreating army. If he steps onto a tile adjacent to the coast......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CJFt950v...ure=fvwrel

Splooosh.

I've got a lightbringer moving south towards Golden Tipi to upgrade to a Cultist. It will be joined by one of my worldspell Cultists and head out on a scouting mission to find Irgy and defog a sea route to WarriorKnight (popping the shipwreck to the SE of Golden Tipi as they pass).

I'm aiming to upgrade two more lightbringers to Cultists to explore North and West.

End of turn demographics:

My GNP is getting inflated thanks to OO culture, but I like the look of those numbers.


Diplo update in a bit....once I've actually composed my replies to Mardoc and Nyktorion.

[Thoth]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Well, yes, I do still get gold out of the combined deal, in addition to a pretty good site (even if it's not perfect). I'm not complaining, precisely, just a tip of the hat to your negotiation skill.

I did divert the settler who was heading to the site to another location, actually; the T100 concession was real, even though I didn't manage to settle exactly on that date :-). Still, I find myself amazed that you can both expand so quickly and fight your war simultaneously.

About the only thing I'm concerned about, actually, is "I was (and am) willing to go to war to claim those tiles"; if you fail to get culture into your city by T110, there's a chance I may accidentally steal them; I need the culture for getting the second pearls and cove into my BFC, so I can't wait too long on it. Although I guess you just said that you did, in fact, expand your borders there this turn?

Do you mean to tell me that you got a spread of OO before I did? If so, I have an RNG to murder... Or did you research Message on your own?

And on the question of the MBIS - I suppose I'll just have to wait until sufficient time has passed that those files go into the public domain, and file a freedom of information act request for them (I'll read your thread when the game completes).

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"] Sorry if that last message came across as overly aggressive, I simply wanted to ensure that you "chose wisely" when deciding whether or not to relocate your settler. My borders popped at eot 103 so the gold is currently within my cultural borders.

No need to murder your RNG I teched MftD the old fashioned way. Cultists were my cheapest/easiest source of collateral damage against Mr Yellow's capital. As it turns out he emulated Sir Robin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCq7oQ-dZE and Operation Fishface turned out to be unnecessary.

My "war" has consisted mainly of walking into cities without defenders and pillaging/choking Mr. Yellow so I was able to get away with a minimal investment of resources. A barb city in the desert also helped with the expansion as did *comment removed by the MBIS*.

Once the game is over I hope you find my spoiler thread an entertaining read. It's been fun to create.


I find myself in need of a source of Water mana. If possible I would like to borrow yours for 10 turns starting around t120. I can offer a loan of one of my Palace manas in exchange (Mind, Sun or Life). If you aren't interested in my palace mana and are interested in something else instead we can probably work out a deal (depending on what you want for the loan )

Thoth.[/COLOR]

[Thoth]

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]I just played my turn; indeed, Mr. Yellow has completely abandoned his capital, my hawk was the only unit left inside. I already congratulate you on taking the Golden Igloo!

Concerning your offer from before to guide me to Mardoc: thanks, I appreciate that. I think the only contact missing in your collection is Irgy. As WarriorKnight probably already told you, you just have to walk 10 tiles south from Kabhalg in a straight line as soon as you get open borders with WarriorKnight, then you should meet the Sheaim border.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi!

I've liberated Golden Igloo and have moved my forces to intercept Mr. Yellow's retreating army. I'm not sure if I'll be able to take out any of his lead stack but I should be able to ensure that his stack of 7 units following behind (including his c2/shock/heavy warrior) do not survive.

I'm going to send a couple of water walking units to meet Irgry. Open Borders with WarriorKnight aren't going to happen until we both get trade routes out of the deal due to the insistence of the Malakim Bureau of Internal Security's (MBIS) insistence on not allowing foreign hawks within our territory.

Best wishes for your upcoming campaign to liberate your cities from Mr. Yellow.

Thoth. [/COLOR]

[Thoth]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Well, I realize I don't have much of an RB reputation yet, but I do want to build one of being true to my word. The ability to make a credible commitment seems quite valuable; certainly worth more than a single happiness resource. Plus, well, it makes the game more fun; I can just imagine how little fun it would be to play when no one's willing to give you the time of day.

You mean you won't entertain an offer of water mana for three cities? Darn....

I'll have to think about that for a bit, maybe talk it over with Dave. Mind mana doesn't attract, and I have managed to get Sun on my own, so the only one I'm considering is Life. Or, well, have you managed or project to get other manas? Earth from Kilmorph, say, or a planned Fire node?

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]I agree on the value of keeping one's word in this sort of game. I'm having fun playing this game and intend to play more games of this sort so I am also looking to build a reputation for reliability.

OTOH, I also understand temptation.

[joking]
If your city maintenance is a problem I could accept 3 of your cities in exchange for you loaning me water mana. The maintenance would be tough on my economy but I think I could live with it. :neenernee
[/joking]

I will be developing a Fire node eventually, but if I can develop a Fire node I can also develop a Water node of my own.

Earth mana would work, but my GP pool is currently a mix of Gpriest/Gsage points so I don't have a firm eta on getting shrine mana. Based on past experience with the rng, if I count on getting a Great Sage I'll get a Great Prophet and vice versa. (now that my alignment has changed from Good to Neutral I fully expect to see the "buy a Great Prophet for 52g if you're Good" event to show up)

Murphy is a bastard.

My current tech projections have me teching Sailing around turn 110-112 which would enable reciprocal trade routes between us with an Open Borders agreement. I would be willing to Open Borders sooner (giving you the benefit of foreign trade routes) in exchange for Water mana at t120. I can also delay Sailing to increase the relative value of early Open Borders to you if you don't feel that an extra 50+ commerce is worth the loan.

Other options could include a loan (length to be determined) of incense (I have a second source within my cultural borders but it isn't hooked up yet as it lies outside the fat cross of my current cities) if you don't have some of your own.

Thoth.[/COLOR]

[Thoth]

10:13 AM Square Leg: do we have a nap with the pirates?
5 minutes
10:18 AM Thoth: Yes. Until t135 IIRC
10:19 AM Square Leg: shame
Thoth: hehe
I'll have more toys to play with by t135
Square Leg: With 11 cultists from worldspell you could really cripple them too...
10:20 AM Thoth: Only 10. But, yeah I could put a world of hurt on him with those.
Square Leg: I was including the 1 LB upgrade.
10:21 AM it would have been fun to do none-the-less
Thoth: Ooops.
10:22 AM Yes it would have been fun, but I need to focus on getting some infrastructure up for the next little while
I'm heading to Mil Strat next (the GC is still available) then masonry and writing.
Square Leg: Glib
we have marble
10:23 AM Thoth: I'm going to take a shot at grabbing The Bone Palace in Golden Igloo. A GA would be awesome at this point.
Glib would be nice, but I've been expecting WarriorKnight to build it any turn now for about 15 turns. If he goes for it I have no chance at it.
10:24 AM I'm toying with the idea of trying to steal the Heron Throne from Mardoc in Golden Shanty. With marble hooked up it's only a 5 turn build.
10:25 AM Square Leg: Golden Shanty is the place for it if you do go for it. It will be a produciton beast
10:26 AM Thoth: 3 mines + copper + 1h coast tiles = very nice city.
Square Leg: Mardoc will likely go for it in his capital but I imagine he has had it on WB andsettler duty for quite a while
10:27 AM Thoth: erf. NAP with Mardoc runs until 140. NAP with WK is until 135
10:28 AM Mardoc doesn't have his marble hooked up yet, so the HT is an expensive build for him until he does. Workboats/workers/settlers so far. He's about to settle his 7th city.
Square Leg: It would be funny to walk a bunch of cultists around the coast and hide them in the fog off the coast of his capital - wherever that is - then raze it on T141...
if he doesn't have marble
10:30 AM Thoth: hehehe. I was thinking along the same lines.....use Cultists as "Boomers" for a suprise attack. I'm currently planning on sending two South and East....with the intention of doing something along those lines to Irgy. If AV gets founded in a coastal city....SQUISH.
Square Leg: with marble it is a settler and a wb....
whn is your next trait change due?
Thoth: 167 h on quick. Dirt cheap with marble.
10:31 AM Next change is on 145. Not sure what I'm going to take yet
Square Leg: it would be cool to line up loads of tsunami's and then to raiders in with horses...
Thoth: Raider CAs + cultists + water 2/body 1 mages.....
Square Leg: /rubs his hands/
10:32 AM is there time to get those techs though?
Thoth: Its going to take awhile to set all that up....should be doable
Square Leg: sorcery and the mages is tricky
by t145 - and to have them in position
10:33 AM Thoth: My tech rate is going to explode over the next 10 turns. Libraries + natural growth + getting Golden Igloo up to speed. I'll be hitting close to 250 bpt by t 110-115
10:34 AM If I'm going raiders it will take a few turns after 145 to get commando CAs built. The free commando promotion doesn't get applied to existing units.
Square Leg: true
10:35 AM Thoth: General Martok and Kahless will have enough exp to get commando by then.
Square Leg: have to go through elementalism to sorcery
Thoth: c5 + mobility + commando Chariot for the General.
Square Leg: shame it is 5th on the bulb list
otherwise pop a gsci
Thoth: I'm planning on grabbing both Alteration and Elementalism before Sorcery.
10:36 AM 1st Gsic = Academy.
Not sure about future ones
Square Leg: settle them in sci city is usually best
Thoth: Possibly multiple acads or settled.
10:37 AM I've got a couple of cities that would benefit from academies. I'll do the math when (if) I pop a second Gs. My GP gene pool is going to be a mix of Priest/Sage and Great Commander points.

*non FFH3 stuff censored by MBIS*


Thoth:
Govanon <3
Square Leg: yep
10:56 AM Thoth: But he does come late and everyone knows how good he is. It's like playing the Calabim. You put a big "RUSH ME" sign on your forehead.
Square Leg: ifyou get him and firebows then they can all take level 2 spells which is just insane
Thoth: Priests + Govanon are cheaper beakerwise than firebows...
10:57 AM Instant mages
Square Leg: yeah - and this is why I have only played SP!
10:58 AM Thoth: This is my first MP civ game. So far I think it's going well, but we'll see what suprises the other players have cooking
10:59 AM Square Leg: I think you are doing a good job too.
Thoth: I've no idea what Irgy is up to. 4 PZs + a few warriors would have been enough to either raze one of WKs cities or force him to blow his world spell.
11:00 AM Thanks.
Square Leg: Must be going infernal or mages
why not spam pz's otherwise?
11:01 AM Thoth: That would be my guess. He's sitting at the bottom of the scoreboard and is at least 3rd/4th in power so he hasn't got much military atm. WK has a good counter to PZs now. Valin + Order priests
11:02 AM Though he hasn't built Valin yet. I'm wondering if WK is planning on summoning Basium and then switching
11:03 AM Square Leg: Well - he is doing pretty good as Elohim
11:05 AM Thoth: he's got a strong economy, but few cities. I have a view of his third city (EC, Market, Monument and Library) and his 5th city (no infra yet). I'm suprised he hasn't been expanding faster. He's got the land for at least 3 more very good cities.
Square Leg: It is easy to get infra happy - maybe that is what has happened?
11:06 AM or he wanted to tech to order bfore expanding and now he is going to spam
the priests are really good
11:07 AM Thoth: Order priests are awesome. +1 holy strength for all your units is very very nice. I'm going to need to pick up Orders from Heaven at some point.
11:09 AM Square Leg: yep - he will feel completely safe against Sheaim now - maybe he wants to use the tolerant trait and is waiting for some cool buildings to be built but the sheaim are a really bad neighbour if that is the case...
Kuriotates have some nice buildings
11:10 AM Thoth: With tolerant he doesn't even need to wait for the buildings to get built. He can build them himself in captured cities. Elohim PZs would be a PITA
Square Leg: pta?
11:11 AM pita sorry
I'm not down with the kids?
Thoth: Pain In The Ass.
11:12 AM Square Leg: I, for some reason, thought it was only buildings...
i have to go now - catch you later
11:13 AM Thoth: Catch you later.

[Thoth]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]I'll be blunt, my main worry about giving you water mana is that you'll use it to foreclose my options for peaceful expansion; in particular I'm worried about the desert in between us and the coastline to the east, both of which are currently uninhabited.

If we can come to a reasonable agreement for spheres of influence, then I'd be willing to send you water mana in exchange for an early open borders and a future undetermined date call on your life mana for 10 turns. I have no desire for you to delay sailing; quite the contrary, in fact. I'd rather look for positive-sum agreements than negative or even zero-sum ones. There's still 3 and a half foreign civs that we can be negative with .

I am also potentially interested in that incense, but not as a temporary loan; perhaps what makes sense there is for me to connect another happiness resource for trade; I should have some sugar available once I finish de-jungling the site.

- Mardoc

[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi, I don't think you need to worry about me settling that desert. Even after it gets Springed the lack of food (or any other resources) make that area of very low value to me. At the moment I do not have any plans to settle southwards down your peninsula so I think we can easily reach an amicable border agreement (assuming of course that there isn't a triple wet corn site just out of my current vision range )

Incense for Sugar would be acceptable to me however, I won't be able to hook up the incense for at least 10 turns so there is no rush for you to get an extra Sugar connected for trading purposes.

Water Mana for 10 turns starting on turn 120 in exchange for Open Borders now (with a no scouting clause and ROP for Lanun units along the path indicated by the blueish lines in the attached screenshot and an agreement that the Lanun will not attempt to construct any roads within Malakim territory) and a later loan of Life Mana is acceptable, but I would like atleast a 5 turn notification before the Life mana loan begins in case I need to adjust any plans that might require a source of Life mana.

Thoth.[/COLOR]

The desert that he seems to be worried about me settling looks pretty worthless from where I sit. The main reason that I want some water mana is to buff up some of my existing cities without having to tech all the way to Elementalism. The coastal sites on the Eastern edge of his peninsula may be decent, but they are a long way away and I have other sites with higher settling priorities (horse site + a potential site to grab the rice + copper + Remnants of Patria).

I really need to do some scouting in the south.

[Thoth]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Would you mind holding off engaging my units for at least a few turns? I'd rather focus my full attention on the backstabbers planning to take my rear cities while my full attention was on you, than having you to disrupt my final will.

I got pretty pissed at that, seeing them taking advantage of my situation of getting my cities for "free". Right now i just want to hurt them, hurt them badly.

[/COLOR]

*sigh* I'm planning on avoiding replying to this for as long as I can.

Plain old fact of the matter is: His units are easy xp for me and I've already made a commitment to Nyktorion that I will try and kill as many of them as I can before they reach the safety of Trinity/Vallus.

I really don't want to let him know that Nykrorion and I have been plotting against him for the last 20 or so turns.

No reply for a day or two seems better than lying outright or telling him the truth.


There is some temptation to let his army escape as it would make Nyktorion's conquest of Trinity/Vallus a lot more difficult. But I owe Nyktorion a favour for the intel he has provided me so far in this war and the extra exp for my experienced units would be nice so I'm going to go ahead and kill anything I can get decent odds on.

[Thoth]

(TLDR version: Mr. Yellow is done for but Nyktorion may have to pay a steep price to finish him off. I'll be helping out as much as I can)

Nyktorion: Hi, Thoth
1:30 PM Do you have time for a short discussion about the Bannor?
5 minutes
1:35 PM Thoth: Hi! Sure.
1:36 PM Mr. Yellow doesn't seem to be very happy with you at the moment.
Nyktorion: Indeed
I seem to get on his nerves enough for him to completely forget about you
1:37 PM So your world spell wouldn't even have been necessary to get Torrolerial (I think you find those cultists nice to have, though =)
Thoth: Not completely....there is an email in my inbox from him asking me not to engage his units for a few turns so he can try an put a hurt on you. I'm going to avoid answering it for as long as I can.
1:38 PM Nyktorion: Hmm, I tried that with his NAP extension
the result
At some point, he simply said heÄd hold the turn until I clearly told him whether I'd extend the NAP
Thoth: Turned out I didn't need the Cultists to take Torrolerial but having them is useful for scouting and for negotiation purposes with Mardoc.
1:39 PM Nyktorion: Oh, I suppose he's not happy with your growth through the West Bannor lands?
1:40 PM Thoth: If he tries to hold the turn to get me to not kill his units, I'll simply tell him his units are easy exp for me and that there is nothing he can offer me to make me change my mind.
Probably not. However, there hasn't been much he could do about my taking possetion of West Bannor.
1:41 PM Nyktorion: Right, our NAP negotiations ended at least similarly
Well, and I think the cultists ensure there's even less he can do about it
1:42 PM also, the power graph spike resulting from your world spell looked quite impressive
Thoth: Depending on exactly where Mr. Yellow moves his units he'll either have to expose them on tiles adjacent to coast or on a desert tile. Either way his trailing stack is toast.
Nyktorion: Ah, you know about th geography of the lands towards Trinity?
1:43 PM That tactical information was what I wanted to talk about with you
Thoth: Priests are worth ~15k power points. I imagine that there are some nervous people out there right now given how far ahead of everyone else's power we are.
I have some info on the lands to the East of Golden Igloo, but no direct sight of his cities yet.
1:44 PM Nyktorion: Hmm, I think just sending you a screenshot or describing everything tile by tile is not allowed yet, given that neither of us has cartography
but about the position of his units
1:45 PM Thoth: Screen shots are disallowed, but descriptions of lands are OK I think.
Nyktorion: I think too - as long as I don't describe every tile of the map one by one
1:46 PM okay... his two stacks are currently 2N1E and 2N2E of your own Korath-Kolos-3Warrior stack
the trailing one should still be visible to you
1:47 PM the other one not
Thoth: Well, it wasn't explicitly banned. Would take a lot of time though....probably not worth it
1:48 PM Nyktorion: I you move your stack 1N2E, then you should be able to get a free shot at his trailing stack on a flat desert tile if he moves it further east
1:49 PM Thoth: That's where I expected him to move. I'll have to sacrifice a low xp warrior to pillage the road on the desert I think, but his trailing stack is dead meat. General Martok + some reinforcements will catch up before he can get away.
Nyktorion: and if you put your cultist and "all your base are" on the same tile, you should have enough untis there to stand against an attack of the 12 warriors
1:50 PM Thoth: His stack of 5 warriors is going to get away unfortunately. Once he gets them into his hill city they're going to be expensive to kill.
Nyktorion: Hmm
I think
Thoth: "all your base are" was paired with "belong to us" for a couple of turns. hehe
1:51 PM Nyktorion: I even see a possibility to kill the stack of 5
The stack of 5 can further along the road next turn
1E1NE
1:52 PM from the position I described for your stack, you should even be able to hit him by going 1NE1NE
hmm
Thoth: ?? I think they can run away from me. The hill they are on is roaded. I can hit them but it would expose my forces to a counter attack while standing on desert.
1:53 PM Nyktorion: Hmm
I was thinking your stack could withstand that counter attack by 7 for a moment, but
I see
Your stack will be wounded too =(
from killing the 5, in that case
1:55 PM Anyway, the 5 warriors still seem like something I can handle in a relatively quick manner
Thoth: I could with healthy units but I'll take damage when I hit his 5 stack. If I had promoted General Martok a little differently he could have mobiltiy/commando right now and be capable of killing at least the bronze warrior in the 5 stack.
Nyktorion: he'll have 2 or 3 additional warrior in Vallus
so I can snipe one with Gilden
Thoth: an extra 5 warriors isn't too bad, 12 would be very expensive to take out in a city without siege/Mages.
1:56 PM Nyktorion: and then I think I'll have six tigers, and some archers and priests ready
that might very well overwhelm him, particularly if he doesn't get copper again
Thoth: Gilden + tigers + a few disposable warriors should soften him up enough for your other units to make a kill.
1:57 PM Nyktorion: otherwise, Gilden will have to snipe 1 or two more warriors
He should be able to do so safely if I give him Combat III and Shock II
Thoth: If WarriorKnight continues to sit on the fence then Mr. Yellow has no chance of getting copper.
Nyktorion: well
Irgy might give him some
1:58 PM Thoth: Mardoc won't have a trade route to him. Not sure about Irgy/Lord Parkin though.
Nyktorion: Irgy actually has a contract with Mr. Yellow, and already promised to deliver him some
Thoth: Oh. Do they have a trade route?
Nyktorion: as far as I know, they have a connection to WarriorKnight
1:59 PM so as soon as WK and I get connected, the connection Bannor <-> Ljos <-> Elohim <-> Sheaim should be done
Thoth: That is probably enough. That will make things a bit more expensive for you. It's a shame Mr. Yellow doesn't have more coastal cities.
2:00 PM Nyktorion: However, Irgy told me, that Mr. Yellow has already officially given up on the deal once I declared my hostility
So if Irgy dosn't take initiative once a connection gets done...
there's still hope
2:01 PM Thoth: So it comes down to what Lord Parkin does as Irgy's fill in. The war should be over by the time Irgy gets back from holidays.
Nyktorion: Yeah
I still assume Lord Parkin has all our dilpo
diplo
2:02 PM in particular I hope so for the last messages we exchanged
2:03 PM Thoth: As he is Irgy's ded lurker I would be very surprised if he didn't have access to the diplo and Irgy's current lines of thinking.
Have you been in contact with LP?
2:05 PM Nyktorion: Erm no
2:06 PM I've only exchanged messages with Irgy yet
6 minutes
2:12 PM Thoth: It might be worth sending a message to LP to clarify where he stands. You should be able to take Trinity/Vallus even if Mr. Yellow has copper warriors, but it will be a lot cheaper if he doesn't
2:15 PM Nyktorion: I'm back
just did a world builder test to clarify something
2:16 PM The result: just declaring on Irgy won't cut that route
2:17 PM Thoth: You would need to be at war with both Mr. Yellow and either Irgy or WarriorKnight to cut the route.
Nyktorion: well, as soon as I'm at war with Mr. Yellow, I'll just be able to cut that route by force
2:18 PM of coure, then the copper weapons will already be distributed
Well, I guess, then I'll have to depend on Lord Parkin to be slow eough with their Bannor deal
2:19 PM Thoth: Sea routes are tough to cut. You'd need a ship to blockade him I think. Civ 4s trade route mechanics are a little arcane at times.
2:20 PM Nyktorion: Yeah, and they are quick to be established unvoluntarily =(
Anyway, even if he can hold Vallus for some time
2:21 PM I think he'll have a hard time defending Trinity, too, both against you, and against me just walking around Vallus
2:22 PM And Gilden will still have quite good odds against those defenders of Vallus; he should have an easier time sniping defenders than General Martok
Thoth: He can make a solid defense in one or the other but if he tries to defend both he'll loose quickly.
Gilden will have better odds vs shock promoted defenders.
2:23 PM shock isn't worth much vs archery units.
Nyktorion: well, Mr. Yellow won't have any shock defenders at all if you catch the trailing stack
2:24 PM just combat I and Guerilla I
but of course, I plan to give Gilden shock on his own
2:25 PM Thoth: Guerilla + hills is a tough combinations, but I should be able to kill his mutated C2/shock warrior.
Nyktorion: Oh, and I also took a look into Mr. Yellow's cities by zooming in on them and looking for the graphics of building
Thoth: Pity archery units can't take City raider.
Nyktorion: the result: Trinity currently has a siege workshop, but Vallus doesn't
2:26 PM well, I'd need Warfare tech for that in the first place, anyway
Thoth: At this point he may be better off just spamming warriors. Cats are expensive.
Nyktorion: well, warriors are weak (unless they get copper, of course)
Thoth: I've got a couple of Cr3 warriors, but they would take forever to get to the front lines (no mobility promo for them yet)
2:27 PM Weak, but cheap. 1 cat= 60 hammers. 4 warriors =64 hammers.
Nyktorion: wait
I always thought 40...
2:28 PM but I didn't really look ever
ah
good thing I looked
2:29 PM 90 @ normal speed
that's very nice news
Thoth: I thought they were 40 until I started looking into options to deliver some collateral. Siege workshop = 80 h, catapult =60h.
Nyktorion: thanks for pointing that out, that's quite good
so even if he gets a cat soon, the second will still take a long time
2:30 PM Thoth: Getting 4-5 cats to take Mr. Yellows capital would have taken me far too long. Hence my plans for getting Cultists.
Nyktorion: Well, as elf, I don't even have the option for cats
2:31 PM of course, there's other possibilities too
2:32 PM Thoth: Yeah, it's not usually much of a drawback. Cats are so slow that they aren't much use but every now and again they come in handy
Other possiblities indeed but Ritualists or Mages are a lot further into the tech tree.
2:33 PM Nyktorion: Well, mages have synergy with my leader, of course
And tigers still act as some sort of pseudo catapult
2:34 PM No collateral, but still some "free" wounding of enemies
2:38 PM Okay, thanks for the discussion; Mr. Yellow might receive his copper, but I think our odds to win are still very good
I'm sure at least one city will fall very soon, the other one should not take too long either
2:39 PM See you later!
2:41 PM Thoth: Nice chatting with you again. Talk to you soon.

[Thoth]

Ashen Veil was founded this turn, presumably by Irgy/LP.

In the east, my forces continued their pursuit of the fleeing Bannor army:

Golden Igloo is going to shrink down to size 6 at the end of turn due to +4 "we yearn to join our motherland" unhappiness. Getting Gems online + a temple of Kilmorph will take care of the unhappies for the moment but the sooner the Bannor are finished off the better.

Irgy/Lord Parkin made contact with me on his turn, no indication as to how at this point. Possibly a workboat or possibly a bear (there is a wounded c3/HN bear wandering the desert. If it doesn't get it's nationality declared I'm going to either kill it or capture it in a couple of turns)