[SPOILERS] Isabella of Carthage, starring Ellimist, SleepingMoogle, and Nicolae

[Ellimist]

I'll be able to play the turn soon. Before I do, though, have we replied to Noble yet? I don't know what words to use; I'm open to suggestions.

I think we should also ask them for a NAP. Either we get one and we can be a little less cautious, or we don't and we know it's probably not just paranoia.

[Ellimist]

The hut is gone. :duel:

I sent the following to Noble:

"3) I will then move the work boat over to EMC and gift it once I've established trade routes."
Please transfer the workboat this turn.

I tried to keep it simple.



Should we approach them about a NAP? There's nothing we can do to prevent them seeing the settler we just whipped in Sirius, so they'll be able to calculate who will get there first.

[SleepingMoogle]

Nah.. I just don't see them agreeing to any NAP that doesn't guarantee them the Stone resource, and given their diplomacy so far, I don't trust them enough to consider one anyhow. We should just focus on getting the city planted with enough defense to hold it against aggression (and two Warriors will not be enough for that. At the very least we should get an Axe there as well, and probably more than that). Even a single Skirmisher would be able to choke the city effectively enough that it becomes a drain on our resources.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

I think 1 axe should be fine, they can keep the rice farm safe, just make sure there's a road from the city to the farm, and make sure killing a skirmisher isn't leading you into a trap.

You should check out what Kuro did to Jkaen. Settled on the correspond plains hill in the south. No workers, no roads, and no garrison. If we're lucky Jkaen will punish Kuro for that. He deserves it, no military and 3 workers to cover 5-6 cities. NH is no Jkaen, so let's not underestimate him. I agree with no NAP, NH has no skirmishers out and we can probably get an axe to that city before they can tech archery and get a skirmisher to the centre.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

Another idea, bring up the NAP in a non-commital way, but don't bother following through. If they like the idea, then they think they can beat us to the centre. If not, then it means we have a good chance of beating them.

[Ellimist]

Let's use the whip overflow in Sirius to build an axe in one turn. I still want to send the settler asap but the axe can be slightly behind it.

Another idea, bring up the NAP in a non-commital way, but don't bother following through. If they like the idea, then they think they can beat us to the centre. If not, then it means we have a good chance of beating them.

That's what I was thinking. Maybe I'll say something about Lewwyn being super-aggressive and then suggest that a NAP would help us trust them or sonething.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

Okay, but if you're doing that, make sure we have enough gold to emergency upgrade a warrior if NH moves in before our own axe arrives.

I still think whipping Regulus is a better idea, we're going to be lacking improvements at that site for a while because so many worker turns are being sunk into roads. Losing a 3/0/1 tile is no biggie.

[Ellimist]

Played the turn earlier today, there isn't a lot to report. Noble's power rating jumped quite steeply, so I think our fears are justified.

I started an axeman in Regulus, able to be whipped next turn with one pop. I also built an axeman in Sirius with some of the whip overflow.
I went ahead and moved the galley/settler east. Next turn we can unload the settler in Denebola, and the pigs road will finish, allowing the settler and axemen both to move to 2E from Regulus.

After we whip Regulus next turn, I'd like to swap to caste system and get those border pops in Pollux/Denebola.

Securing stone is significant, but if we lose the settler race, I don't see what we can do about it. We should probably have founded Denebola for stone rather than copper, especially as Kuro swears he had "absolutely no plans" for the Colossus. Our power rating jumped a good bit this turn thanks to growth in 3 cities, archery at eot, and our first axeman. I intend to chat a bit with Noble tonight unless I see a good reason not to. I think there's a good chance we can avoid a pointless conflict. I hope to either secure a silly NAP or some other concession. Ultimately, we are best off if we don't fight them and they are best off if they don't fight us. Thanks to their lack of exploration, we can also unilaterally embargo them.

I'm planning to use the following angles with Noble:
Lewwyn is very aggressive and we will end up in an arms race vs him, slowing both nations down.
Kuro is spreading like a plague vs a weak neighbor.
He can't hope to be aggressive towards us and be competitive with Kuro. We will fight him if we have to.

[Ellimist]

Oh, NH has also parked their warrior on one of the forests just west of the stone.

[Ellimist]

Okay, T78 played. We currently have an axe in Sirius and Regulus.

Here is the current NH situation at eot:

They're fortifying their warrior on the forest, and they have two more warriors coming as well.

As you can see, I cancelled open borders to him. They literally don't benefit us at all right now, so I figured it would get his attention. Their power spiked a couple of turns back, and ours spike a bit more last turn, so Lewwyn has been the most recent post in their thread quite often lately, and they're pushing warriors toward us, so I think he's either playing the turns or having a lot more influence than before. I don't think either of us can really "win" an ancient age war.

I'm in chat with him now.