[Spoilers] Cometh the Messiah - Varn Gosam and the Malakim

[Ilios]

He was drugged and accidentally posted his update in uberfish's thread, which he edited out before anyone saw it.

Ah, ok, thanks.

T124:

The Foreign Advisor tells me Serdoa is getting Copper from Mist, at a steep price:



I have declared war on Serdoa. I just can't allow the Calabim to grab all that land. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the whole situation, so I've decided I will raze every Balseraph city I manage to capture.

Hostilities start with a Tiger:



The city of Coombe View is taken by a Tiger:



It didn't seem to have a whole lot of buildings:



I've grabbed Deception, and on the previous screenshots you can see I've converted to Ashen Veil, and have set research to Infernal Pact.
I could get it in two turns, but I need three more turns before I can make the Civics switch to Sacrifice the Weak and Slavery, so I save some more gold, and set research to 70%.

The Settler that was destined for the Malakim north moves into the empty Balseraph lands instead:



After reviewing the screenshot, I think I'll feel more comfortable founding on the tile the Settler is at the moment. The city will be on the Calabim frontlines, so needs to be within range of a two-mover from Horus. That does mean I could have founded this turn...

The City screen:



Switching to AV has made two cities unhappy. A couple of Ritualists should do the trick.

Ending the turn finishes the National Epic in Ra:



I'm hoping on either a Sage or a Prophet. If it's a Sage, I'll build the AV shrine. If it's a Prophet I'll build the RoK shrine.

If I get something else, I'll use a Catapult to fling it at a Vampire...

And finally, demographics:



Golden Aged, ofcourse... I did finish the Bone Palace!

[Ilios]

Diplo:

To Amelia:

Hi,


I wanted to avoid us not talking at all in the game, and then suddenly have an army at my doorstep.

So, how are things on your end?

Me and Uberfish have been steadily freaking out as the Calabim's Power rating keeps growing. Especially now that Serdoa has been effectively beheaded after Darrell took Jubilee.

It is only a matter of time now before the Vampires take over all of the Balseraph land, leaving a large and well-promoted army with nothing to do.

Not wanting the Calabim right at my doorstep, I have declared on Serdoa and have captured and razed Coombe View, a border city closest to your lands (I noticed you still haven't officially met the Balseraphs ingame).

The Elves and the Malakim are afraid that the Calabim could go for a Conquest Victory, taking us down one by one while we scramble to churn out Tier 3 units.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Regards,


Ilios

I also got a terse message from Darrell. He's pretty angry I razed a city which he obviously believes is part of the Calabim spoils of war.

Sorry buddy, but I'm not going to stand around twiddling my thumbs while you take over an entire nation (even if said nation should have done a bit more to bolster its defenses, why keep building Warriors when you can build Archers or Horsemen or Swordsmen?)

[Ilios]

From Amelia:

Flauros de la Calabim to uberfish, me
show details 7:05 AM (9 hours ago)


Despite having a NAP with Serdoa, and a NAP with myself, and promise not to become invovled in my war with Serdoa, Ilios has razed a city I was on the verge of capturing. I consider this a clear violation of our NAP and will respond appropriately. This e-mail is to inform you of what happened, give you an opportunity to ask me any questions, and assure you I fully intend to honor all deals I make, as long as they are honored in return. It is also to give you an opportunity to some spoils, if you are interested :-).

Darrell


This was from Darrell to me and uberfish.






Ilios


I can't join in any war for now, i need till T175 to get out an army (and i have a NAP with calabim till then). I'm hoping to get Hemah + HAs out by that time, and when it comes i'll start attacking.


I will not attack your borders during that time, we all can see a powerful Calabim on our borders =) I'm hoping to get a sneak attack asap with boats or water walking, since the only road there is effectively... dumb to pass. No road, super long way, full of hills and forests...


But anyway, i won't attack your borders till the Calabim threat is over.

Sigh... Do I really have to make troops now?

[Krill]

Sigh... Do I really have to make troops now?

It's called a consequence.

[Ilios]

It's called a consequence.

I suppose... But someone needed to step in, or this game would be over in forty turns.

Also, I do not agree that my action violate an NAP with Darrell. I said I wouldn't join any offensive action into Calabim. I haven't attacked any Calabim units.

Darrell is understandibly pissed off because he would have liked to take over all of Serdoa's land.

But if I allowed that, Darrell would do the following:

- build a Governor's Manor in every Balseraph city.
- draft Vampires in every city
- invade the world

I still think my move was morally questionable, but necessary.

[Ilios]

Also, I'm not worried about diplomatic fallout. Uberfish pretty much advised me to attack when I asked if I should do it, and Amelia is not planning on attacking me, as she says in her message.

[mackoti]

Which are the best units you can build?How do you plan to fight against them if they are coming after you?

[Ilios]

Right now, I think Ritualists and Diseased Corpses are the way to go. Ritualists for the awesome Ring of Fire, and the Corpses as grunt units, because being undead, they negate the fear effect of the Spectres. They are Str 7 (once healed of their odious diseases), so will not succumb to Vampire attacks as easily as the Bronze Warriors Serdoa was using to defend his cities.

The approach to my land from the east is split in two choke points, one north (Surya), one south (my planned city site, one tile west). I plan on making my stand there.

I can switch civics in three turns. Sacrifice the Weak is a given, but I need to figure out if Slavery/Agrarianism (slave out all my new units) or Apprenticeship/Conquest (build units with food, more exp) is the way to go.

Darrell will find out I will be a much tougher nut to crack than Serdoa...

Also, keeping my fingers crossed Hyborem will appear right at the Vampire's doorstep...

Too bad he'll be played by an AI, so will do nothing at all probably!

[Ilios]

From Sciz:

Sure, propose the trade on your turn, my enchantment mana for one of
your happy resources.

On another note, I really need to start discussing future plans with
you. I like to think that we've been friendly for a long time, and you
have a lot of more hostile enemies on your other borders than me. My
major problem in this game is Uberfish. As you probably have noticed,
his power has spiked for a long time and is now higher than yours. If
we could somehow agree over some kind of long NAP or maybe mutual
defense or something it'd be really nice. Surely you don't want
Uberfish to just gobble me up? Because he could easily do that if he
wanted to right now, especially with our own NAP being so short, I
can't be sure of your own intentions. I am working towards peace with
Mist now, and it will hopefully be resolved soon, which will help me
reinforce my border against Uberfish better. But still, anything we
can work out would be very beneficial to us both. Either a long NAP,
enabling me to go very easy on my eastern defense and wholly
concentrating on keeping Uberfish out, or maybe you helping me out if
he attacks me. In return I will help you if the old coalition attacks
you again. I am not so strong of course, but I can get WGs and
catapults to your border and I am negotiating with Mist to get
Barnaxus back to get my WGs stronger. I am also on my way towards
Gargoyles which could also help you defend if you really need it.

In my eyes, I am your only safe border. You might have longish NAPs
with Amelia, Serdoa and Darrel, but they all obviously will want to
continue to curb your expansion, since they still have a shot at
winning this game. I don't, I just want to survive and develop as much
as I can, and you're my best hope here, and my worst enemy is
Uberfish, OR you if you decide in that direction. But remember that I
am much more likely to help you than your other neighbors, and your
other neighbors all have anger towards you for their failed assault.
It wouldn't surprise me if they try again, and if they do, wouldn't it
be better with an ally completely defending one of your flanks? If you
decide to attack me you will suddenly border Uberfish, the second
strongest player in the game, with currently the biggest power. If you
don't attack me but also don't renew our NAP and just let it go, I
will have to reinforce my border towns to you and it will be a
cakewalk for Uberfish to take over my lands. Then, uberfish suddenly
borders you too, and with a much larger territory, he might even grow
stronger than you overall.

A long message I guess, but I feel that I might not have much long to
live if I don't send this now, so if we can work something out it
would definitely be in both our favors.

-Sciz

Aahh, not now!

Damn you Serdoa for spamming Settlers instead of consolidating your empire and crumbling like a house of cards at first attack!

[Ilios]

From Darrell:

You razed a city that was clearly about to be mine, I call that a naked act of aggression! After sleeping on it, I decided not to respond in game. I saw with my Hawk that you had a Settler ready to plant in the newly created neutral zone between our two nations. I uge you to hold off planting a new city until we can come to a settlement over this unfortunate situation. I am open to suggestions.

Darrell

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to suggest. Surely he doesn't mean reparations? Do I look like Weimar Germany?