Someone else's shoes [spoilers]

[Dreylin]

[Aurorarcher]

Was it rushed with a GE?

There's always the option to capture it for yourself...

[Dreylin]

Adrien completed it 2t after the GE was born, so I assume that it was rushed.

Yeah, capture is an option, but Adrien has a notable Power advantage at the moment - one I've already started to work on closing given our proximity - and there are better/easier targets available IMO.

[Dreylin]

t66 -

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later:


He was pushing a Dog Soldier in towards the target, while my Settler is on the way (due in 2t). Chariot had 96% w/o promo and promo-healed once afterwards. Offered a Cease Fire, but no expectation he'll take it. Once I get the city down I'll offer him Peace with $$ compensation and see if that will entice him. Meanwhile I'm gearing up in the North to set the NW border against Adrien.

Calendar in 2t @ -60gpt.

[Dreylin]

t67 & 68 -

Ginger is interested in Peace:


And then a turn later:


Nice to know there's negotiating room, although I guess hat may change once the city is planted. That'll be next turn, at which point I'll probably offer him back the 25g option.

Things are a bit dicey in the NW:


Shot from last turn; both units moved SW and I pulled the Chariot back. Settler is now on the forest so I could plant the "x" next turn, but I'm strongly considering the more defensive option of planting on the forest itself - Adrien's city has a head-start on controlling that hill and would take a long time / effort to flip and gain security.

Pickle beat me in the NE:


so I can't secure my preferred spot, but the location behind the Cows is still a good defensive spot to control the area and provide a secure border.

[Fenn]

Nice to know there's negotiating room, although I guess hat may change once the city is planted. That'll be next turn, at which point I'll probably offer him back the 25g option.

What?! Your enemies should pay you to stop the ravaging of their lands by your numberless hordes!

Keep up the quality reporting, I'm following with interest.

[Dreylin]

Nice to know there's negotiating room, although I guess hat may change once the city is planted. That'll be next turn, at which point I'll probably offer him back the 25g option.

What?! Your enemies should pay you to stop the ravaging of their lands by your numberless hordes!

Keep up the quality reporting, I'm following with interest.  

Well certainly, but I'm also playing around this on the opposite side of my empire:


At least Adrien's adopted Rep for now, but as SPI he's never going to be far from a Police State push...

[Aurorarcher]

I can't quite see from the pics, but from the minimap the map seems to be filling up fairly quickly? Is that land NE of Havaianas Adrien's or free? So hard to see that grey colour, at least for me that is . Where are your next cities going other than those two you've just mentioned (close to GE and Adr)?

[Dreylin]

t69 -

Righty-ho, where am I settling? Well, you've already seen this plan I think:


Named per REM's original request.  I did offer Gingereagle a Peace Treaty, but with no cash payment attached - not sure whether he'll take it as I killed a second of his Dog Soldiers this turn when it popped up near Moccasins.

Speaking of that area, I took final consideration of where to plant the Adrien border city and decided that I had to plant adjacent to the Wheat to prevent Adrien from doing so on the far side:


Bumped the Axe and lo and behold here's the Settler in transit as well! He can now plant where the Spear is, but it would be mostly cut off from the rest of his empire. This area is obviously likely to be a flashpoint, so Walls will be high on the build list and troops will be bused in.

So that's me ahead in cities again and break-even at 10% research, but I think I've enough cash to complete CoL next turn with the overflow from Med&Priest. This shot also shows the next city location - the "x" in the bottom left with the victorious Chariot - which will be settled in 3t when the Settler just whipped from Loafers arrives. Loafers will put the overflow into the start of the MoM.

Here's the second priority in the NE:


And you can see the Settler cooking in Walking Boots. Not rushing this one though, as I doubt Pickle is pushing to claim this area.

I might even push that Settler down here instead to fix the borders with Gingereagle:


The other outstanding area:


Still lowest priority, but I can get the Settler out of Moccasins pretty quickly once I've got a couple of Courthouses built and can afford the expense of another city.

As for the North/Northeast, I've sketched out Adrien's current borders (in green, of course) for better view:


This will eventually be the Adrien/Pickle border and I don't think there's much to gain from my pushing another city up into the gap between them. Adrien & my existing cities are all at 3rd ring borders and now competing over the Cows; there's space there for another city, but I'm not sure either of us will try to squeeze it in ... at least until after the other is dead! 

[Dreylin]

t70 -

No pics, apparently, but Adrien has redirected his settling party directly West and the Spear moved back NE. I should be able to get that area for myself if I can beat Pickle to the Corn spot (2t now).

Gingereagle returned the Peace Offer with a request for 25g; can't afford that since it'll take all but 6g (at 60%) to complete CoL. I returned the offer with 6g.

CoL completed EoT and founded in Havaianas - which is perfect to counter Adrien's culture; since I haven't had a single spread of Judaism yet, I'll probably adopt Confucianism.