Uncommonly Good: A Story of Elves

[Gaspar]

Sent this message, which is essentially MBTM's:

Hey Rawwking,

Good to hear that you’re open to some trades. It sadly sounds like the map is pretty resource poor if that is all you have available, but I’m sure we can find other ways to work together.
You said you were hoping to get contact with the Elohim. Did you ever make it that far? We’d love to get some more contacts beyond our quiet corner of the world. Perhaps later on we could slip a Hawks through you to meet the west once we get open borders going?

We spotted that Kyan has settled yet another city, and we’re still struggling to keep up in that regard. We’re reduced to settling the jungle sites over here, and our borders with the Sheaim are forming up quite naturally. Despite some initial wariness because of his civ, we’ve found Nicolae quite positive to work with, and he’s also worried about how we all catch up with the Clowns.

We’d love to provide support in any efforts to drag down the leader, despite the difficulty for us in gaining anything directly from the action, but it’s problematic when people can’t even suggest a timeframe. If the Clowns first military action is a successful offensive, they will be impossible to catch.

Regards,
Gaspar

Feel like maybe we should pop something off to Kyan, though I've no real idea what to say to him. Any ideas, team?

[Mardoc]

Feel like maybe we should pop something off to Kyan, though I've no real idea what to say to him. Any ideas, team?

Um...well, we could trade info. Any idea who got Kilmorph (stole it from us (to make Kyan feel more ahead))?
Not sure how to do this properly - but we could hint at attacking RG and/or Nicolae in combination with Kyan to try to get an idea on NAP duration

[Gaspar]

Alright, let's try this:

Hey Kyan,

Haven't chatted about the game much lately so figured I'd drop you a line to see how things are going. Well, fairly obvious they're going quite well for you, but beyond the obvious I mean.

Not a lot going on in the forests here, though your Gargoyle can see that no doubt. Just trying to overcome the sluggish start, no exciting lair pops to overcome the Elves naturally slow takeoff, but I think we're doing okay at the moment. Certainly helps to have lots of people to chatter about things with.

I suppose we owe you congratulations on Form of the Titan and the Drama bard. Anything else I've missed? I saw someone got RoK - any idea who that was? Our close to shutting down C&D department is fairly well convinced it came from a Thane-lair pop, but as nobody's adopted it yet and our map knowledge is incredibly limited we don't know who. 4 down, 3 to go. Wonder who'll land Esus?

I suppose you probably know more about the world political situation than we do, so I'd be curious for any information on that front. Have you devised an order in which you plan to take over the world? I'll appreciate it if you leave us last. Sorry for the 21 questions, but you pretty much already know everything we know, so not a lot of tit-for-tat I can offer. I'll understand if you don't feel like dumping the whole of state secrets on us, but appreciate it if you do.

Unrelatedly, how do you feel about the Barton sale? I'm still mad at him for the Gervinho suspension, so I'm happy to see him slide into irrelevance.

Regards,
Gaspar

[Gaspar]

We have the save. We also have this:

Hi Gaspar,

I'll take the deal. Also, I'd be interested in that Wine for Ale you bought up earlier, I'd be happy to advance you the wine trade to seal the deal.

Cheers,
Nic

Peace in our time! Nicolae captured Domir this turn, apparently at the cost of one warrior:



I swapped the builds in Cypress Hill to a Worker, and Where It's At to an Elder Council. I also offered Nicolae the trade as suggested.



I'd say we need another half-dozen workers, and then we can really start cranking settlers. I'd like to see us get the west border and the jungle mana source secured ASAP. I haven't had the time/motivation to get the sandbox up, I'll try and talk myself into it tomorrow.

Clearly, Kyan's got Sanitation now. Look at that crop yield. Just ridiculous. On the plus side, we're #1 in production, for a moment at least.

By the by, we really should get Gilden done at some point, yes? If nothing else so we can build the Heroic Epic some time. Maybe after Priesthood?

[Mardoc]

Well, that was easy. Wines and peace for, well, the asking? Definitely worth finishing dereptus, then, to keep Nicolae happy, but - wow. I'd have figured Domir would have demonstrated to him that his military's pretty decent right now...maybe it's the treants?

And RG's military is stagnant - we might as well go for a landgrab, yes. I would definitely plan to grab sites right up in Nicolae/RG's face, don't worry about the sheep for now. We can backfill later, but they can't compete with us culturally and have given up militarily.

[Gaspar]

Well, that was easy. Wines and peace for, well, the asking? Definitely worth finishing dereptus, then, to keep Nicolae happy, but - wow. I'd have figured Domir would have demonstrated to him that his military's pretty decent right now...maybe it's the treants?

And RG's military is stagnant - we might as well go for a landgrab, yes. I would definitely plan to grab sites right up in Nicolae/RG's face, don't worry about the sheep for now. We can backfill later, but they can't compete with us culturally and have given up militarily.

Should I hit up RG for a NAP?

[Mardoc]

Should I hit up RG for a NAP?

I don't see the point. He's got no military and clearly has no short term military plans. By the time he could build one, we'll be to Priesthood and won't fear him anymore.

I mean, we don't intend to invade him, but maybe the situation will change so that we want to - maybe Kyan takes half his cities, or maybe we discover he's got awesome land just outside hawk range, or something. Why tie our hands when he's not a threat?

[Gaspar]

I don't see the point. He's got no military and clearly has no short term military plans. By the time he could build one, we'll be to Priesthood and won't fear him anymore.

I mean, we don't intend to invade him, but maybe the situation will change so that we want to - maybe Kyan takes half his cities, or maybe we discover he's got awesome land just outside hawk range, or something. Why tie our hands when he's not a threat?

Fair enough. I just worry that he could be a threat in short order. I'll feel a lot better when we can build PoLs, Stonewardens and Ritualists.

[Mardoc]

Fair enough. I just worry that he could be a threat in short order. I'll feel a lot better when we can build PoLs, Stonewardens and Ritualists.

You're trying to justify an NAP to me? I've seen everything now.

Look, he's number 6 in power. With presumably at least two other borders to worry about. MotT counters Warcry quite well. With an NAP with the Sheaim, we only have to worry about a one-front war, if he changes his mind and tries for us.

And, in addition - we're maybe 12-13 turns from Priesthood. With every reason to build at least a few Priests of Leaves, economically, between tiger cages and Bloom. There's no way he can build to a threatening position in that time period, not without us noticing and being able to spam at least bronze warriors to counter.

Looking at the situation in game - no wonder we're feeling a little short on workers, we've only got 8 of them for 5 cities. Even if we weren't looking to start chopping jungle, I think we'd feel short. I can agree with knocking out another wave of them, then a couple settlers for pushing right up to the opponent borders.

[Azoth]

Peace in our time!

Best news I've heard in a week.

I'd say we need another half-dozen workers, and then we can really start cranking settlers.

Absolutely. I wouldn't settle a jungle city until we can assign three workers as full time support.

I'd like to see us get the west border and the jungle mana source secured ASAP.

I'm in favour of securing the two mana nodes next, at western Sheep and eastern Rice. I suggest we move the eastern Rice city one tile north. That leaves the Rice in the third ring, but otherwise trades four peak tiles for three unclaimed riverside Jungles. It also puts the city behind a river from Nicolae and preserves one of the few Jungle free tiles in the area. Dry Rice is hardly a priority resource so I think we can do without it; we can work a couple of riverside Grassland Farms until we have enough Ancient Forests for food. We'll have access to the Rice after the second border expansion anyway.

I haven't had the time/motivation to get the sandbox up, I'll try and talk myself into it tomorrow.

What do you plan to include in the sandbox? Our current cities, the barbarian city, and any land we could settle peacefully? I'd definitely omit the other players; and I'd only attempt a rough approximation of cottage growth with preset Cottages, Hamlets, and Villages. I wouldn't worry about inflation as determined by turn count, either. But maybe you should replace the Pyre with a Mana Node, to bring the total to four?

By the by, we really should get Gilden done at some point, yes? If nothing else so we can build the Heroic Epic some time. Maybe after Priesthood?

As a matter of fact, I don't think the Heroic Epic has any unit requirements in FFH. Archery after Priesthood is still worth a thought.

There's no way he can build to a threatening position in that time period, not without us noticing and being able to spam at least bronze warriors to counter.

Now it's my turn to indulge in paranoia. Any chance he's training Scouts for a mass upgrade to Horse Archers?

EDIT: By the by, where in Ontario are you, Azoth? I'm from Buffalo so I've been there quite a bit - though admittedly, mostly visiting the "ballet" in Niagara Falls or Fort Erie in my younger days.

I live in London, Ontario.
It's quite unfortunate, really.
People so often confuse the issue and imagine I live in the UK;
and I have to disabuse them of their assumptions.
Anyway, London is no touristy border town.
Just dreary Canadian suburbia.