[SPOILER] The Steak, Beer, and Cigar Saloon

[Catwalk]

Forgot to add another important news bulletin: 2metraninja declared war on Sian. Sian has two coastal cities that I can 1-move out of the blue, each has a single axe for garrison. I probably couldn't hold them, but I think I'd be able to raze them. The big question is whether or not I'd gain anything from weakening Sian, I worry that free land will be grabbed by his mainland neighbours instead. Also, I have Jowy to deal with first and foremost. Sending 2 maces into each coastal city sounds tempting, though.

EDIT: Also failed to add that Naskar launched a golden age this turn, so he was no doubt pleased with getting 40 gold for sitting in GA for 8 turns I still think it's a good deal for me, 40 gold is pocket change and my buildup against Jowy's hordes will be much less expensive this way.

The early wonder and growth race will soon be concluded with Taj Mahal being grabbed before too long (hopefully by me) and land filling out everywhere, this is definitely war season we're approaching. My plan is still tentatively to whack Jowy with maces, possibly Sian as well depending on how well I do against Jowy. After that I want to consolidate some more and reach Red Coats, then use that to gain a decisive military and land advantage.

[Catwalk]

While we wait, here are a few screenshots.

Barbarians:

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This barbarian city is located in fertile lands, yet noone has shown an interest in it so far. It's nicely located in the intersection of slowcheetah's, Naskar's and my own sphere of influence. To clarify, the barbarian city is 2N of the peak over there. I think I should prioritize this as my first conquest when I start getting some military, while waiting to amass enough to go after heavier targets. Also, notice that I'm about to catwalk those crabs


Sian:

And here's one such tasty target. Axe in Bonkers, Axe + Warrior in Rescue Rangers. Already I've been sailing a galley by him without him paying any attention to it, I could ship two chariots up to Rescue Rangers right now and burn it to the ground. Two galleys would alert him, although I might be able to get away with sending one galley at Bonkers and one at Rescue Rangers. With both 2metraninja and furungy warring Sian, I might be able to grab cheap gains. I may well be too late to the party though, and I'm not sure how much use overseas possessions will be to me. So as always, I'm in doubt about my military plans

Graphs and demos:

Nothing too surprising here. My GNP is with zero research, but it's still sad. I improved it by 5 gpt by not renewing my 2 gpt bribe to Nakor and cancelling my 3gpt purchase of Wine from BaII, since I now have my own source. Only 4 turns more of having to put up with extortion from Jowy This time I'll have scouting units in his territory, so hopefully I will have one more turn of advance warning this time. Barracks are finishing in Always Wrong, getting spearmen afterwards. I have a growing feeling I'm about to underestimate Jowy's army again, though. So I had a closer look, and these are the facts on the ground.

I am moving the following troops in position:
12 spears
9 axes
5 archers
2 horse archers

I'll be producing another 4-6 units by the time our NAP expires. Facing off against that is around 23 horse archers and a few other assorted units. I have 40% defense in both border cities. Yuri's military is still weak, so he'd be able to commit his entire army against me if he so chooses. I'm going to whip plenty over the next several turns, both to provide more defenses and to discourage him from attacking me by seeing my power spiking.

[Catwalk]

Turn 135

Catwalk wonder status
Vacuuming: 310 hammers (+67 from a forest shortly and +60 from whipping a worker), 45 production

zanagai wonder status
La: 175 hammers, 34 production
Quasi: 162 hammers, 29 production


It looks like they're building a wonder in each of these. They researched Philosophy recently and advanced to the Renaissance era afterwards, so it's all but certain that they got Nationalism afterwards. There's no other immediate purpose for Philosophy (unless they really wanted Taoism or Philosophy), and I find it hard to believe that they were able to complete both Paper and Education ahead of me while I got Nationalism. I'm guessing they're putting the National Epic in one of these and trying to get Taj Mahal in the other. EDIT: They researched Alphabet this turn, so I can see for sure that they do indeed have Nationalism. They don't have Paper yet, so I guess they wanted Alphabet for semi-visibility on enemy research. If they go straight for Liberalism next they can take Constitution or Military Tradition with it.

They also gave birth to a great scientist this turn, which was not entirely unexpected. It worries me a bit, as a GA can boost production in La massively. It maxes out at a staggering 80 at size 12:
(9 Moai water tiles + city tile + 2 grass mines + 1 plains cow) * 2.5 (marble + OR + forge)
If they trigger GA this turn and slow build Taj Mahal, they're set to complete it in 7 turns. Whipping can shave off up to 2 turns if they're willing to burn down a very nice city in order to land Taj Mahal safely.

Vacuuming can complete Taj Mahal in 6 turns its current pace, taking the worker whip and the last forest into consideration. I won't be able to shave off any turns by whipping it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they plan on saving the great scientist for bulbing Education or something. I also gave birth to a great merchant this turn as planned, it's heading for Sian's little coastal town same as last time. Expecting to get 1100 gold again from the trade mission. I can't check right now as he's on a galley. I'm busy whipping spears, catapults and horse archers in order to make my power rating look intimidating when Jowy decides what to do at the expiration of our NAP in a few turns.

[Catwalk]

zanagai just ended their turn without launching a GA. This takes them to 7 turns to complete Taj Mahal, would have been 6 turns if they launched it this turn (small mistake above). They can still take it to 5 turns by whipping it to completion, so I'm not out of the woods yet.

[Catwalk]

zanagai launched a GA this turn, one turn delayed. I think it's down to a coin flip now if they go full throttle, and one turn before me if they whip it Keeping my fingers crossed, a free GA will be worth far more than 700 failgold.

EDIT: He's at 200 hammers with 80 hammers per turn, I'm at 335 / 462 hammers (before / after chop + whip) with 45 hammers per turn. He can complete it in 7t without whipping, 5t with whipping. I can complete it in 6t without whipping, 5t with whipping. I'm 3 measly hammers away from being able to whip it in 4t instead, don't have any way to boost production further.

[Catwalk]

Turn 137


- cashed in another Great Merchant for 1100 gold, another one ready soonish from Always Wrong
- Jowy NAP expired, declared war on him again and offered peace for 4 gpt (he'll probably feel greedy because of my fat bank account)
- tons of military whipped and shifted to my Jowy border, I'm not at much risk of invasion anymore
- Naskar is still in GA and still hasn't mobilized further on my border, him and Jowy are both rising very slowly in power last few turns
- zanagai aren't going full throttle on wonder production in Quasi-Classic, only produced 47 hammers last turn instead of the full 80 they can put out (this almost certainly means they're working a priest specialist there)
- 2metraninja is completely steamrolling Sian and seems poised to take most of his cities, this will give him a lot of territory if he can hold on to it but his economy still seems weak
- I'm panicking over an assignment I should have done ages ago, so my activity on here will likely be low rest of this week and next one
- yuri and BaII are in outrageous farmer's gambit mode, both are on small military with a flat power curve
- zanth is putting 10 EP on me per turn, I'm putting 4 on him, won't get demos anytime soon at this pace

[Commodore]

Ways you make your forefathers weep number 237612: You're the one paying Danegeld?

[Catwalk]

While coughing up 50 gold per turn definitely made my forefathers weep, I don't think 4 gpt is a bad move. I'm guaranteed a peaceful border for another 10 turns, allowing me to train far fewer units than I would have had to otherwise and mostly waiting for drafted maces to arrive rather than getting a bunch more junk units. If he tries to negotiate I'll go down to 3 gpt, and each turn of negotiation is one more turn of peace where I'm not paying anything.

[Catwalk]

Turn 138


- Jowy demanded 200 gold for peace and moved his stack closer, I offered 40 and brought the rest of my army in sight
- zanagai is producing 90 hammers per turn in Quasi, can finish it in 5 turns without whipping or 3 turns if he whips
- zanagai produced National Epic in La
- Sian is crumbling like a house of cards, 2metra is getting a huge empire
- zanagai researched Feudalism this turn, can get Guilds next

[Catwalk]

zanagai are now at 387 hammers, it will take them 4 turns to slowbuild it or they can whip it to completion next turn at a cost of 6 pop. I can slow build it in 3 turns (I'm short 4 hammers), or can whip it to completion next turn at a cost of 3 pop. I'm planning on playing last next turn, as they may be alerted if they see a 3-pop whip and whip in response. Is this unethical? I don't plan on holding up the timer doing this, nor will I be asking for a pause. I'm not sure how likely it is that they will 7-whip it to completion, especially given that they don't have much info on my construction pace.

EDIT: Doing a ninja update here because I don't want zanth to see me scheming in my thread He can whip Taj Mahal this turn for 6 pop, I can whip it for 2 pop. I'm 2 bloody hammers away from finishing it this turn, but at least 2 pop isn't too expensive (was expecting 3). I could have delayed the worker whip and the forest chop by one turn each and I would have had enough hammers for completion this turn. Quite embarrassing, considering that I did actually try to work out the details previously and nothing unexpected happened.

Nakor is putting a few more troops on my border, but it seems to be a defensive posture in response to my renewed NAP with Jowy. I should have plenty defenses for any immediate threats, although I do have limited visibility on his rear lines. I'm proposing open borders, partly to spy on his troop movements and partly to re-establish mutual trust.

I'm still unsure what my upcoming military plans are going to be. I'm still quite keen on drafting an army of maces, and I think I can go stomp on Jowy with them. Especially if he can be lured into attacking yuri shortly. I also now have a huge army of spears that works wonders against his hordes of horse archers, would be a shame to let it go to waste. I have a 9-turn NAP with Jowy now, coincides nicely with me getting the Taj golden age next turn and going into Pacifism first then Theology + Nationhood (also getting Engineering for faster transportation). He'll no doubt see what's coming, but I don't think he'll be able to get enough units to stop an army of maces.

EDITSOMEMORE: It seems like zanth is doing the same thing, waiting to play last and see if I whip anything. With 2metra and Sian delayed, it seems there'll be no harm in waiting until I wake up in 7 hours to play but after that it'll be dicey. If zanth still hasn't played by the time I leave for work, I'll just whip it and hope he's not alarmed by a 2-pop whip. I may even try to disguise it along with a number of other 1 or 2-pop whips, looking like a military buildup.