[Spoilers] The Golem Factory: Beeri Bawl of the Luchuirp

[Selrahc]

Looks like its crunch time then. We're a small power, without good relations with anyone. Someone wants to snap us up before anybody else... (Quite possibly as a prelude to eating up Mist afterwards)


Here is what I think of the diplomatic situation:

First we need to make as sure as we can that Uberfish is attacking you, and not Ilios or Mist or Amelia.

If he is, I think the key to possible survival is to take advantage of other players self interest. Ilios isn't going to want one of his biggest rivals getting a big chunk of territory right on his borders, including Muntabo with its free engineers. So we sell out. We bluster and posture that we're willing to throw the fight if he doesn't help, and we agree to helping him in whatever capacity he needs that doesn't threaten our status as an independent power. Pseudo vassalage.

Of course we don't actually throw the fight, even if he flatly refuses negotiations. We build up the biggest army we can. Because doing anything else isn't much fun for anyone. Threatening to throw it is just a negotiation tactic, to get Ilios to really consider Uberfish as a powerful neighbour with a war ready army.

Of course the worst case scenario? Ilios and Uberfish have already put together a partition plan. If so, I think we're massively screwed. The best we could possibly do, is get in contact with the Coalition that attacked Ilios earlier in the game. Possibly try and get Mist to realize that if someone takes the Luchuirp out, the Doviello can't be far behind. But even the best result from that is bleak.

Whatever happens, if we get invaded we want to make those who do so pay for their attack. If the golems are going to get rolled over by a bigger force, we're going to make sure we at least make them remember us as they weep at the graves of their soldiers.

[Sciz]

well I sent off two long mails to Ilios and Uberfish. They will probably fail, at least one of them anyways. But I had to gamble.

Basically I told Ilios that I wanted a longer NAP or a mutual defense pact or anything like that, and I would help him in return, because my border is much safer than his other borders, he wouldn't want Uberfish to attack me and thereby challenging him, with a NAP i could solely concentrate on Uberfish, with an MDP he could help me and I could help him if the coalition attacks again, etc.

To Uberfish I said I wanted a long NAP because he has refused before, but this refusal has lead to me splitting my troops in the west and east, and that my NAP with Ilios is running out soon, timing well with his potential switch to raiders, and that if he wanted me to at least stand up a bit to Ilios he should sign a NAP or MDP with me so that i could focus on the east, slow down Ilios, etc, otherwise he would steamroll me. Also said that if he attacked me himself I would probably beg and plead to Ilios for help and give him large concessions to get that help, and that would suck for Uberfish because it would make Ilios stronger and Uberfish would probably lose in a war vs the two of us.

i expect both to decline, but you know. you have to try

[Sciz]

uberfish responded that he doesn't really like NAPs, and that he has signed an ill-adviced NAP with the calabim that had enabled the Calabim to attack Serdoa? I had no idea there had been a war between darrel and Serdoa. he also asks me what I would do with a NAP. I answered, mainly develop, but also maybe attack Ilios if he gets into another major war. have to tell him what he wants to hear.

[Sciz]

no response from ilios yet

here's an overview of the lands:



not great, but you know. my new cities (east and south of ithralia) desperately need culture, but markets first for eco. Then sculptor's studios and monuments, perhaps the other way around though, as I need the +2 culture more than the ability to build WGs there. Military State doesn't help as it gives -25% culture but oh well. Mutanbo will start on a settler in 2t, when I get sanitation, it grows and it finishes its library. Ithralia and Tia'ran are on libraries too but should really be working on WGs and Catas, dunno why they aren't. I'm also still low on mud golems, got five right now, two at the eastern new city, one at the southern (definitely need at least one more down there), one finishing the last road link between ithralia and mutanbo, and one up north at tia'ran.

maybe i should get OO just for some culture, idk.

[Sciz]

also serdoa has only like 4-5 cities left, and is currently at war with ilios and mist. Maybe darrel too, but i dunno since I still don't have contact with him.

[NobleHelium]

Weren't you building a Sculptor's Studio in CV? What happened to that? I see its borders have still not expanded.

[Sciz]

borders expanded EOT. Went much slower because instead of 1 culture per turn it got 0.75. Which is why im building a monument to reclaim my cotton from mist.

[Sciz]

well here are the responses i got from ilios and uberfish, and they weren't very good:

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi,


I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier, but I was engaged in some pretty intense diplo with the Calabim concerning the Balseraphs. (Basically, I razed a Balseraph city right before the Calabim were about to capture it)

A very contentious issue was in fact NAP's, and their implementation.

I've had too many problems being tied down because of these NAP's, so I have decided not to sign them anymore. Suffice to say that in my experience they are more of a hassle then an asset.

I have noticed the Ljosalfar military build-up as well, and am about to take appropriate action.


Regards,


Ilios[/COLOR]

Again more talk of the Calabim. From what I can gather from my exchanges with Uberfish and Ilios is that the Calabim attacked the Balseraphs some time earlier, and have been owning them pretty hard, since they have much fewer cities now. Then the Calabim have accused Ilios of breaking a NAP or something because Ilios declared on Serdoa and razed a city instead of letting the Calabim take it. Idk. Now Mist declared on Serdoa as well, probably just sensing weakness.

Still this news is both good and bad. Bad because if I can't convince him otherwise, this means after T140 he can attack me whenever he wants with no possible for me of preparing. Good because it means Ilios is caught up in stuff in the east and probably won't concentrate on me for quite some time. Also the fact that Ilios is going to "take appropriate action" against Uberfish. We'll see what that means. I'm gonna try for one more email to see if I can get him to change his mind, we can write out some very clear rules on our NAP maybe, try to really impress on him the need to sign a NAP, because otherwise i'm going to have to place a large amount of my military on his border, which will make it that much easier for Uberfish to run over me. Probably won't work but we'll see.

[COLOR="Lime"]Hi Sciz, hope you're feeling in good health

Well, as you may or may not be aware Calabim are apparently going to attack Ilios on the basis that Ilios broke a NAP by destroying Serdoa's city last turn. Ilios doesn't think he did. So he might have been planning to invade you but he won't be able to do so now.

On ther subject of a NAP between us. I am annoyed with NAPs at the moment for a couple of reasons. Firstly I signed an ill advised NAP with Calabim earlier that really caused me to lose leverage with them, when they wouldn't have been able to just go off and easily conquer Serdoa without this NAP. Secondly we have an imminent war between Calabim/Ilios on the basis of a NAP which one party claims was broken and the other claims wasn't. So right now my question would be, what would you do if I did agree to a NAP? Build up to attack Mist? Attack Ilios? Stay neutral?[/COLOR]

More news on Calabim vs Serdoa. Not really much to say here. I told him that I was probably going to stay neutral, that I was on my way to signing peace with Mist, but that if i got the opportunity I would attack Ilios, which I hope Uberfish would like. Otherwise it seems like a bit of a stall. Oh well.

[Sciz]

got sanitation this turn, which pumped up my food a lot which is great. Mutanbo will start work on our probably last settler now, while Ithralia will finish the library and then mainly focus on WGs and Catapults. Tia'ran will finish a library in a few turns and then build a few mud golems, then contribute to the military build up with WGs. The two new cities and CV will continue building eco and culture buildings for a while.

[Sciz]

not much going on

market completed in eastern new city, getting out a monument now.

Decided to build the national epic in Mutanbo before the settler. Only a 4t build, 2 turns left now, and it will help us get another great engineer faster.

Ithralia and Tia'ran almost done with libraries now. Ithralia will concentrate on WGs and Catapults, Tia'ran might make a MG or two before going military.

Should I focus on Catas or WGs in Ithralia? It's my only siege workshop city atm. I need catas for collateral obviously, but they'll be meaningless when i get blasting workshops. But that's still very far away of course. 7-8 turns left for maths, I forgot. CV retook its cotton tile which is nice. Southern new city desperately needs culture, is being squeezed by the ljosalfar from the south and west, and by the malakim from the east. Market first though.