Uncommonly Good: A Story of Elves

[NobleHelium]

You could play on the laptop and then make the post at the same time on the iPad, lol.

[Gaspar]

You could play on the laptop and then make the post at the same time on the iPad, lol.

Can't get the save w/o the browser though.

[NobleHelium]

Could connect the iPad to the laptop and do a file transfer? Not sure if that works. I don't like Apple stuff.

How can the web browser not work anyway? Do you have some ancient web browser and can't get a new version due to the old version being messed up or something? Could try to store the Firefox installation file onto a flash drive before you go and get it on the laptop? Or whatever browser you prefer.

[Gaspar]

Could connect the iPad to the laptop and do a file transfer? Not sure if that works. I don't like Apple stuff.

How can the web browser not work anyway? Do you have some ancient web browser and can't get a new version due to the old version being messed up or something? Could try to store the Firefox installation file onto a flash drive before you go and get it on the laptop? Or whatever browser you prefer.

I suspect something weirder is in play as I was able to use dropbox to transfer the Firefox install file over and install it, so the web browser is up to date. Really makes no sense at all to me.

In other news, we have a turn!

WotE hasn't fallen yet, and by twigging everything as much as possible, I can get us up to 102 bpt (this includes starving Paradise City, etc.) We need 112 beakers to finish it. So clearly I should have done this last turn. Ah well, given that I can't finish it, I'll revert to normal configuration.

No cities settled by anyone we've met, the Grigori got their 3rd Adventurer though (Branding, Panlupan and Needles, if you're scoring at home.)

Barb kill team advanced, presumably on Cypress Hill. I decided to take a 70-ish shot at getting Terra Ryzing some xp, and succeeded, without a scratch no less. I moved a pair of warriors out to cover him as well. Obviously Terra Ryzing should take Subdue Animal and then go grab that bear. Feel free to farm up some more xp off the kill team if they don't attack. I suppose its possible that we could lose the Hunter, but the odds are pretty good I think.



Nicolae's stack took a bit of a beating in the south, but the kill team is no more and as best as I can recall he lost no units.



I left a LOT of signs on the map, so you could see what I was thinking. This doesn't mean I expect the turnplayer to follow my micro, simply that I wanted you to know what I was thinking. I'd actually prefer that we continue to debate even the minutiae, I think it makes for better decisions. Make sure if you put any workers within 2 tiles of Kyan, you cover them. I don't think he'll take the shot, but I also don't want to tempt him. And I expect loads of screenshots.

No Ancient Forest growth, while I'm thinking about it. Really need those PoL's in the field.

Ending turn saw Cypress Hill get a Veil spread. Gotta love Veil, second only to order in spreading like the plague. *pimp*

[Gaspar]

This just came in from Rawkking. Not sure what to make of it, tbh.

Hey, good to hear from you again, I wasn't sure what to make with the lack of responses. Also sorry for the late save today, it completely blanked on me today.

I don't particularly plan on keeping any forests around my lair, so I'm not too sure what use nature promos will be for me. Then again assassins might come in handy against the clowns so poison blades might have more of a use than there is usually in a hippus military. Water is definitely up for trade as very low amounts of desert are under hippus control.

Doesn't look like there's much possibility for trading other resources; I do have a spare silks and ale and might get extra furs in the distant future but I already have an absurd amount of health resources on top of having the expansive health bonus.

I can research carto pretty easily now, it's just a matter of actually establishing a functional trade route on this rather large map. You needn't worry about cartography when it comes to trading with the Hippus.

Yeah, I've lurked both PBEM II and III. It's even worse as clown summoners are on a very close tier to vampires when they get established, and even better in the end-game. While his flood plains start isn't nearly as good as illios or thoth's (he has maybe 10-12 floodplains), he has a better combat civ and extremely good lair pops that boosted his happy cap early and still has that extended length golden age from his worldspell to boost his stellar economy even further. Frustratingly enough I can't comment on the length of my NAP (that clause probably means he is planning on staggering NAPs) but I do not plan to extend it further.

If you haven't already, do you mind pointing out to the Sheaim that my drown is traveling on the coastline near your patria city?

[NobleHelium]

Well if you have Dropbox on your laptop, don't they have an iOS app? Download the file on your iPad, put it into Dropbox, and bingo. Also I highly advise against taking 70% odds battles with the hunter now that he qualifies for Subdue.

[Ilios]

While his flood plains start isn't nearly as good as illios (he has maybe 10-12 floodplains)

Sigh...

[uberfish]

Sigh...

Lol. You did have a lot of high end commerce specials though.

[Man Behind the Mask]

Hope you have a good trip, Gaspar. I’d tend to agree with NobleHelium that it should be possible to transfer files in some way, especially if you’ve got an IPad to hand, but I don’t think we’ll get it so wrong that you need to worry about all the hassle.

No cities settled by anyone we've met, the Grigori got their 3rd Adventurer though (Branding, Panlupan and Needles, if you're scoring at home.)

I know that dogpiles have a fairly chequered history around here, but we have pretty amazing ingredients for a successful group strike. We’ve all already lost if you can’t make progress with three fronts of Warcried Hippus, flaming zombies, and three Adventurers. If you can gift captured cities to the Elohim under Sanctuary to prevent Balz counterattacks, and then sort out the land division later, maybe we do still stand a chance. Coordinating that lot would be a nightmare, though!

Good news and bad news on the C&D front. The good news is that it looks very much like the Elohim and Balseraphs got techs last turn, so hopefully we are in the clear for founding Runes of Kilmorph. The bad news is that Rawking says he’s built Dereptus and I haven’t spotted that at any point. I’m not quite sure what I’ve been fiddling to make it all add up (and if he actually only completed it on the most recent turn, then I may still be on track) but it certainly suggests the C&D machine should start winding down.

Ending turn saw Cypress Hill get a Veil spread. Gotta love Veil, second only to order in spreading like the plague.

With no religion, Cypress Hill would have been the Runes holy city. Now, I believe it’s actually likely to land in Paradise City for the potential double-shrine (although it was a “certainty” to be Hash Pipe when we got Leaves, so I’m not trusting that particular RNG). What were people’s thoughts about whether we use the upcoming Disciple to spread Leaves to Cypress Hill or the new city?

Also I highly advise against taking 70% odds battles with the hunter now that he qualifies for Subdue.

This would have my support. The hunter is now a proper asset, so we need to keep him on a strict animal diet. A bear for starters, one for main, and then in search of the Bahamet-consuming spider for desert.



I agree that Rawking’s message is difficult to interpret. It does sound like he is hoping for more to and fro, so we should probably up the frequency of our emails. Very positive that he’s happy to go to Cartography and trade us something to put out fires. On the other hand, it’s less pleasing that he seems more than willing to make observations about the danger of the Balseraphs, but never suggests any solutions. It’s going to be pretty difficult to organise military action if he feels unable to tell us when he can attack.

How do we feel about our map information? If we get open borders with the Hippus, then we can Hawk half the world, but RG might only agree if we trade him the results. Do we want to keep our city locations from him?

[Mardoc]

+1 on enjoying your trip.

but I don’t think we’ll get it so wrong that you need to worry about all the hassle.

Say, actually, I was thinking that Iron is Holy. And thus next turn we should swap research to an Iron beeline, and delete every unit that can't use Iron.

I know that dogpiles have a fairly chequered history around here, but we have pretty amazing ingredients for a successful group strike. We’ve all already lost if you can’t make progress with three fronts of Warcried Hippus, flaming zombies, and three Adventurers. If you can gift captured cities to the Elohim under Sanctuary to prevent Balz counterattacks, and then sort out the land division later, maybe we do still stand a chance. Coordinating that lot would be a nightmare, though!

And, well - we've got elven Hawks/Hunters, presumably Spiritual Priests, to dump into the mix.

Good news and bad news on the C&D front. The good news is that it looks very much like the Elohim and Balseraphs got techs last turn, so hopefully we are in the clear for founding Runes of Kilmorph. The bad news is that Rawking says he’s built Dereptus and I haven’t spotted that at any point. I’m not quite sure what I’ve been fiddling to make it all add up (and if he actually only completed it on the most recent turn, then I may still be on track) but it certainly suggests the C&D machine should start winding down.

I'm not terribly surprised that you eventully lost track, there's just too much info to deduce from the same 7 numbers. It's easy enough when only one thing can be happening at a time, but we're probably to the point where there are multiple correct answers every turn, mathematically.

With no religion, Cypress Hill would have been the Runes holy city. Now, I believe it’s actually likely to land in Paradise City for the potential double-shrine (although it was a “certainty” to be Hash Pipe when we got Leaves, so I’m not trusting that particular RNG). What were people’s thoughts about whether we use the upcoming Disciple to spread Leaves to Cypress Hill or the new city?

I'm thinking whichever city has improved tiles faster and is closer to its happiness cap. And is closer to being able to spare the hammers to build a Temple. Which is probably Cypress Hill. Adding in an extra culture to the new city isn't likely to make a significant difference in our upcoming culture war, and it won't be able to take advantage of the other benefits. Plus, well - we might get another free spread if we hold off .

I'm already thinking Paradise City ought to go immediately to Elder Council next and start running a scientist on top of the priest, so our odds of a near-term AV shrine increase. The only debate is, if we get a great prophet first, do we make the Kilmorph shrine anyway and continue running priest + scientist, or do we go for the immediate payoff of Ashen Veil? I suppose it'll depend partially on the situation at the time.

This would have my support. The hunter is now a proper asset, so we need to keep him on a strict animal diet. A bear for starters, one for main, and then in search of the Bahamet-consuming spider for desert.

Yeah - time to start multiplying with that Hunter . He'll get XP from his successful captures, anyway.

I agree that Rawking’s message is difficult to interpret. It does sound like he is hoping for more to and fro, so we should probably up the frequency of our emails. Very positive that he’s happy to go to Cartography and trade us something to put out fires. On the other hand, it’s less pleasing that he seems more than willing to make observations about the danger of the Balseraphs, but never suggests any solutions. It’s going to be pretty difficult to organise military action if he feels unable to tell us when he can attack.

How do we feel about our map information? If we get open borders with the Hippus, then we can Hawk half the world, but RG might only agree if we trade him the results. Do we want to keep our city locations from him?

My vote on map info is to go ahead and share, perhaps with a no-further-trading clause. He can deduce most of our city sites from the shape of our borders, but the combination of Creative and hills + trees ought to mean he'll have difficulty organizing a good Pearl Harbor anyway. But knowing what everyone else is playing with, that would be golden. And perhaps as significantly - if we're ever going to have hope of getting a dogpile going, we need someone in contact with everyone (us), and someone to gather accurate info on what we're facing (us), and someone to provide real-time info during the war (still us).

Add in a small bonus on tech research, perhaps, if the Grig or Elo beat us to a tech we're going for.

As for RG in general - well, we've been generally saving up things to talk about, and dumping them all at once after getting team input. It probably means "we" (Gaspar) need to instead just keep talking to him about small stuff as soon as it comes to mind. Don't worry too much about polishing, just on keeping a conversation going. And if you commit to something that on reflection wasn't a good idea - well, at least you'll be simultaneously demonstrating that we can communicate on a quick schedule and thus could be depended on in case of dogpile.

So, some potential topics of conversation over the next few weeks:

• Settling agreement?
  
• Open borders + Hawk scouting
  
• Dogpile (always)
  
• Religious spreads, both ways
  
• Getting a trade route connected
  

On other topics - I don't know if we've got a consensus on next tech yet. We'll need at least one turn of savings, regardless, so we have time to discuss.

It's either Philo or Festivals - Azoth's been advocating Festivals, Gaspar's leaning Philo; I lost track of MBTM and NobleHelium's views. I think I lean Festivals, but I can see the argument either way. Particularly now that our barb city is our best remaining city site .

And - in general for upcoming builds - I think the default should be workers/settlers/garrisons, we've still got 4ish sites to settle after the linker, right? With a secondary priority of getting various temples built everywhere, and elder council/markets built (assuming we go Festivals), and Dereptus. The good news is that we really do have a lot of hammers to play with, and that will continue to improve. What I have no plans to build: Training Yards, Hunting Lodges, Granary/Smokehouse, military beyond garrisons

For the sites, I'm thinking a rough priority list would be

1. Linker
   
2. Southeastern mana/jungle
   
3. Northwestern sheep
   
4. Southwestern clams, if Nicolae doesn't beat us there
   
5. Northwestern filler to establish Hippus borders
   
6. 2nd city around the barb city