[SPOILERS] Bismark of Sumeria (luddite + Atlas1998)

[luddite]

I decided I needed more information, so I logged in and moved my scout.

Nothing there. Now, if only my scout was actually a chariot...

[Ellimist]

If a player has already demonstrated that they are willing to break diplomatic agreements, why on earth would anybody agree to a NAP with them?

[luddite]

in game chat with Mackoti. He says he's got 2 axemen, and a settler that he'll use to settle by the wines. He still won't consider any sort of deal.

[Lewwyn]

Well guess you're gonna have to go with perma war!

Give up everything else and just make the main objective to crush Mackoti!

[luddite]

his screen. He says he'll get another axemen next turn in his closest city.

[luddite]

Big problem, he actually does have a unit in the south, which could be a warrior. The one above that, on the west side, is probably the settler.
I could be reaaally sneaky, and settle a city NE of the blocker site. I could get there in 1 turn, settle and move in the warrior before he can attack.

[luddite]

Right then. With the units he has in the south, I don't think I could defend the blocker city. So I've made peace with mackoti. Here's the message that I sent him:

All right, I've decided to accept peace with you for now. I'm actually very surprised you were able to get a chariot, 2 warriors, and a settler down there so fast. I really didn't think you had anything there.

So here's my agreement. I will not settle past the wine, and I'll move my current settler back. I'll settle on the east side, you can settle on the west side, and no one settles on the 2 tiles in between. Sound good?

I don't want to agree to an NAP right now, though. Sorry, but I feel nervous since you broke our last NAP. Instead, I propose that, after I move my settler back, we should declare war, and then immediately make peace. That way, you can be sure that I won't settle past the choke point, and then we'll have an unbreakable 10 turn peace treaty.

I don't care what wonders you build. Hopefully at some point we can still trade wine for ivory, though.

Anyway I hope we can avoid building unnecessary units, and build settlers instead, to compete with Parkin and Plako.

his reply

Hi,

I will give you right i broke the NAP because i should wait you to move the worker setlers from there because were right in the choke, no excuse for that.But was in your benefit because after moving you had warior in one side, and chariot the other side so no place to run.
Just to be clear because last time wasnt so clear, you gave me your word you will not setle any cities past the wine in the are which i sustain is mine.I understand that you want to declare war and after that peace so you to be sure that i will not do any 'stupid things' to you.I am asking you want open borders or not? Because if we declare war will lose the benefits.I give you my word that if you dont setle in the area past wine i will retreat my chariot and i will do no harm.

Its to bad to loose the routes benefit.

Give me your toughts regarding this.

regards,
Mackoti

So in the end, he gave me a cow, to enforce the peace. We've also got open borders, and he promised not to send his chariot to scout me, but I wills end my scout through his land to make contact.

Now, you might say that I'm foolish for agreeing to peace with someone who won't keep an NAP. You could also say that I really need that land if I'm going to keep up with Parkin and Plako in the long term. And I'd agree. Which is why I'm looking at another plan.

[luddite]

Oh, and in other news, mackoti finished the pyramids this turn . And he's switched to slavery and representation.

Parkin traded me gems for 10 turns. He's also using the open borders to scout out my land, which is quite annoying. He said he just wanted to make sure he had a trade route, but he's obviously not doing that.

someone founded judaism, and it's in a very small city. Must be plako, since he said he got a lucky religious pop.

[luddite]

At least I'm doing better in demos now. Only really trailing Plako and Parkin, now. They're clearly the runaway's here.

[luddite]

Here's what my scout saw in the north.

From his military screen, I can see that he does not have vision up there yet- he hasn't even scouted it! I can also see that he has very few units in his core cities. Nothing in Lupu except the axe that finished there this turn, and nothing but one warrior in his capital.

This gives... possibilities.

I can send a settler over by galley, and settle on or above the silver. At the same time, I'm building chariots. I could have 4 chariots appear out of the fog. He'd only be able to whip at most 1 spear in Lupu, and I could take it.

At that point, he'd be furious. He'd probably send all his units to the south, not realizing that I now have a canal to his inner sea. I could either research HBR, or send 3 galleys of chariots over, and strike directly at his capital with only 1 or 2 turns of warning. He could whip 1 spear, maybe upgrade the warrior (but probably not), and then that's it. It would take a while, but I'd eventually win the war in the south, with his capital destroyed (and his resources gone).

This is a really wild plan, but it just might work. And, either way, it would be a lot of fun to try .

And this is why it's not a good idea to sneak attack someone, and then try to talk peace. It tends to make us a little... stabby.