[spoilers] Regoarrarr teams up with your mom

[regoarrarr]

He could build it in the capital, which also does 21 base hammers, but could benefit from bureaucracy, which would be 29 base hammers but multiplied by the Big B Bonus.

Short answer - if he goes into a golden age, it's going to be pretty much impossible to beat him.

[regoarrarr]

So..... I'm not getting Taj. Pindicator has 174 hammers into it at the end of his turn 113. He should get 78hpt into it (I forgot he has Buddhist Temple and Monastery with AP also), so he should complete at the end of his T117. I don't think I can get it before the end of my T119. So I'll lose it by 2 turns.

[regoarrarr]

I whipped a bunch of markets and Oxford University also completed this turn (EOT114 for the record). Yes, that would be Oxford completing before anyone else has Paper

[regoarrarr]

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe *I* could kick off a golden age (I currently have 1 prophet and 2 scientists cooling their heals)

I believe I have previously mentioned the awesomeness of Moai cities in an golden age

So that could get me up to 44 base hammers, which (grr) leaves me 9 hammers short of completing it on EOT117

Gotta figure out how many pop I can whip

[regoarrarr]

I'm currently at 130/469 at the end of my T114. So 339 hammers to go.



14 pop whip hmm. That seems to indicate that each pop whipped is worth 25 hammers (total, not base)

I can 8 whip, which means I can whip when I have 269 hammers in the box. I'm 5 hammers short of being able to whip it on T117.

His city is size 13 which means he can 6 whip it, for 150 hammers, which he could do on T116 (if he thinks he needs to)

[regoarrarr]

I need those 2 dang mines from Sian (pictured in the east). I've actually gotten it down to 50/49. Wouldn't that be advantageous if I snagged those in the next turn or so?!

[regoarrarr]

So some disappointing news from Gaspadore

Dear Your Mom,

Sorry things have come to this but after sending us to summer camp one too many times we have come to decide that your head would look good on the end of a pole.

A more accurate AI diplo message would be "We fear you are becoming too advanced." Though the most accurate would be that we're opportunists. After securing a tasty little fleet of Navigation 1 galleys filled with these curious Dual Wielding Axe fellows who seem to be extra good at attacking from said boats we decided the opportunity to see them in action would be wasted on the rump nation-state of Cartoonistan. So we took a little sail and lo and behold, we found some ripe-looking low hanging fruit to pick.

We are currently holding the save with a stack of many, many berserkers sitting outside of your new sheep city. We will raze it this turn if you are unwilling to meet our price. Next turn we will capture your marble city which I believe will put a dent in your plans for the Taj Mahal. We will also be landing some veteran troops from the Sianic wars outside your megalopolis of So Skinny while the Drunken Viking Trolls catch up. Ultimately, the only way you will hold that city is through tremendous RNG luck while whipping it well into the ground. While we hold no delusions of being able to take you out, there's no question that we can put enough of a hurt on you to leave you in a long grinding battle and likely put pindicator in a winning position.

Being the rank opportunists that we are, we could be persuaded to move our hungry berserkers in a different direction, but only for the right price. The right price would be:

City of No, REALLYstinky (lost anyway)
City of So Stinky (lost anyway)
City of HerSSNis8
City of BaptizedSeaWorld
City of SitsArndThHouse
Your World Map
100 gold

In this world you get to keep your core cities and remain relevant, perhaps even still the global hegemon. We will even loan you Marble for 10t to keep you on even footing in the Taj race. We will sign a 30t NAP as part of the treaty.

The choice is yours, choose wisely.

High Warlord Gaspadore of the Troll Empire.

The lurkers probably already know about this already. Gonna have to ponder on this one...

[regoarrarr]

A few random thoughts

1) I'm kind of ticked at my "ally" Pindicator. I have been trying to bend over backwards to help him out and treat him as an ally - look out for his interests, etc. But he seems to be trying to sabotage me.

I know that I've gotten crap for doing those kinds of diplo shenanigans in previous games. I've actually been trying to not do that in this game as somewhat of an experiment. But it seems like Pindicator has taken up that role . Gifting a bunch of Nav 1 galleys and berserkers to Gaspadore without so much as a heads up to his ally? Seems shaky. I understand that as the #2 power currently he has to at least secretly wish that I was taken down a notch. But it's still disappointing for an "ally". Hard to say what his actual involvment in this was - could be anything from Gaspadore specifically told Pin that he was coming after me, to Gaspadore specifically told him that he was going after Yuris, or anything in between.

2) I'm kind of disinclined to take the deal as structured. I'm only one tech away from Gunpowder, and I have (draftable) Janissaries there. They get 25% vs. everything Gaspadore is going to have (Mounted, Melee, Archery).

3) He did strike at a good time, and I would probably be willing to pay him to "go away". Even without those cities, I will be in a much better place in 30t, especially if I don't have to deal with a war. He's got 4 move galleys (Nav1 + circumnav), and they will be annoying to deal with for sure. In 30t I should have Sci Method, Communism, Astronomy, maybe even Physics or Chemistry. Tech-wise, Gaspadore is way behind me, and will be even more so in 30t (I think?)

4) The problem is that Gaspadore does not have a great chance to win, and he knows that. So he is playing to have fun, and doing so militarily I think. So he doesn't really have a lot of incentive to deal / negotiate with me.

Anyways just some ramblings...

[regoarrarr]

What I mean by 4) is that I can say stuff like "You're not going to do much against me since I have draftable Janissaries in a few turns" but they're not going to care. They'll just say something like "Okay well I have nothing else to do with my big army"

[Nakor]

Maybe you can offer him a sweeter deal?
Scooter used that against him in PBEM whatsthatnumber with Serdoa and Lewwyn...
Don't know what you could offer him though...