[spoilers] Commodore: Worse than Toku, it's Giggles of Siam!

[Commodore]

Well, I am reminded of a historical wit. What shall characterize this new turn, Mr. Commodore? Why events, dear boy, events. In this case, meet Subway, new city, crab contesting, claiming the iron, pulling back the cover impi. Pindicator pushed forward this axe/impi combo too, burning the road to protect the city.


Well, that most certainly won't do. I hop out, sim the battle ten times, and am able to wipe out both units all ten times. Good enough. Let's try, then:
Archer vs. axe (~5%) LOSS, axe down to 2.8
Archer vs. C1 impi (~11%) LOSS, impi down to a mere 3.4
Archer vs. C1 hurt impi (~44%) LOSS, impi down 2.9
Archer vs. C1 hunt impi (~70%) WIN, archer down to .3
Warrior has too low odds to hurt axe, so covers victorious archer.


Blah. Okay, that was annoying but not disastrous. The warrior covers the archer, renamed of course to "Krill's Vengeance Company", which can in turn promote to C1 next turn. The chariot can pop the wounded axe next turn with worker support, assuming Pindicator can't cover it with a fresh impi (the cover bastard is 1NW of Subway). Next turn an archer completes in Hidden Valley.


Up north, our iron plant is all the more imperative, although it's even more abysmal. I aggree about the hating-it, by the way, but dammit, we need the metal. I guess I could be convinced on the hill instead, although that both opens it to boating and makes it absolutely completely worthless in the long-term. 1S at least can be Moai-redeemed into a halfway decent burg. Anyway, current plan has iron hooked t80 as can be seen, with pressure on Subway hopefully stopping a pillage crew.


I 100% agree we need more workers, but in Lakeside Garden, I queued a workboat, and highlighted why as well. Event happy goes away next turn, we can take a turn of unhappiness but we need those whales online the turn after. Current plan is to overflow into 20/30 on a chariot, and then whip to get 60/30 next turn, allowing us to 1-turn an axe the second iron comes online. TM will be doing likewise, and Hidden Valley and Verdant Acre whip in axes the turn after.


Entertaining, at least, I hope.

[kalin]

Very entertaining. Thanks for the great reports!
Kalin

[Commodore]

One thing odd you might have noticed in the screenshot above; it seems like the sheep are outside of their pasture; they would assure you they are not.

You see, Francis Mutton and Samuel Eweler got to talking. Samuel Eweler, an intelligent sheep but prone to vertigo, was feeling particular woozy after a proto-Seder had deprived the flock of one of their fellows, poor Arthur Lamb. Samuel had the most distinct impression that rather than being upon flat ground, he was clinging to the side of a great cliff. Noting the horizon's curvature, he mentioned to Francis that it would be odd indeed if the world was round.
The offhand comment worked its way into his mind over the next few days and Samuel, knowing that the December was swiftly approaching, devised an experiment to relieve his nagging impression.
At winter solstice he positioned his brother Big Jim Eweler on the southernmost point of the pasture's fence, and had Jim's friend Percy Fluffington climb atop his stout, if dim, fraternal scion. The sharp-eyed Ed Ramsay, as good as a gnomon for measuring the sun's angle of elevation based on stacked sheep, estimated the angle for Samuel at noon. Bartleby Woolsey, although scoffing at the experiment, nonetheless prided himself on knowing the shortest distance between the south edge of the pasture and the Tropic of Capercorn. Some modest flattery saw him yielding the information, and from that Samuel estimated that the world was in fact round, with a circumference of roughly thirty nine and a half million meters. While this is obviously wrong, much of the blame can be lain on Ed's mild astigmatism.
Francis, still reeling from discussion of paradoxes with black sheep Z-Nose (not rendered due to Civ4's racist graphics, see the tanned-white-guy Zulu axemen), the philosophical sheep pointed out that in a spherical world, one could see one side or the other of the fence as being "inside" the pasture. Freaking out enough already, the sheep all swiftly decided that the larger "enclosure" was inside. So, that's why the sheep are where they are above.

[Commodore]

Okay, the prospect of doing a complete analysis for each player/combo is a bit daunting, so as I meet the competition, I'll plunge into much more in-depth thoughts...

Azza - Napoleon of Rome
Napoleon, rocking the mildly buffed Chm and the nicely boosted Org, doesn't exactly synergise with Rome, but both are pretty good. The new forum is nice, the nerfed Preats are still decent deterrents...not bad, not bad. Azza won't be able to capitalize on this, but he should do 'aight.
Combo: B-
Player:C

Better late than never, eh? Heck yes...

Azza (victimized, inscrutable) as Napoleon (Charismatic, Organized) of Rome (Fishing, Mining, Praetorian, Forum)

Azza is hard for me to get a read on, as a player. He's certainly no idiot, managing his civs competently although without much in the way of micro or pizzazz. He reports sporadically, so some aspects of his play are mysteries...did you guys know he earned a great general? I'd bet, no. He's very willing to fight and make a dodged defense in his situations, but a certain passiveness means he rarely if ever has the initiative, and he's prone to slip into "hum-de-dum" builderation if left unmolested. Generally, it's best no to molest him then unless you plan on murdering him quickly.

I'd love to play Napoleon/Rome in this setup. Cheap libraries, courthouses, lighthouses, and boosted markets mean that we're talking about a builder's paradise, and although strength 7 Praetorians won't rock the world, with a mere 1xp post-barracks they can still hold their own very respectfully. It's pretty clear that hasn't happened here, for which I suppose we should be very grateful, given his nice peaceful builder direction is south into our home jungles (which might still happen). Let's see how the war in the north goes...hopefully its a stalemate for a good long while.

[Thoth]

My on the WB.

But we do want some more mines online for the cap asap. ( "p" standing for "practical" OFC)

I like the 3 archers on the Forest t79.
Scooticator either cover the axe with the Impi in forest, and we get Iron or they move the Impi back to cover the invisible Iron and we kill an axe. So given that they're teching towards Alph...I think we get some Iron soon.

And if they don't get any boots into Subway by 80.....heheheheheheh.

Not likely, but we should be able to make them jump a bit.

BTW: not sure what we're doing with EPs atm but I'm liking keeping the EPs on Scooticator for the moment. I'd like to keep on seeing their research.

[Thoth]

I 100% agree we need more workers, but in Lakeside Garden, I queued a workboat, and highlighted why as well. Event happy goes away next turn, we can take a turn of unhappiness but we need those whales online the turn after. Current plan is to overflow into 20/30 on a chariot, and then whip to get 60/30 next turn, allowing us to 1-turn an axe the second iron comes online. TM will be doing likewise, and Hidden Valley and Verdant Acre whip in axes the turn after.

Agreed on the need for those whips, we need metal units yesterday.


But I hate whipping this capital more than needed. We'll get more overall hammers working the last two mines at size 6/7 than we will by whipping. Once those mines are actually complete ofc.

So, yeah. We need to beat back a pillaging party of Impis/Axes with archers/Chariots/warriors. And build another pile of workers, settlers and galleys. Plus whip out a bunch of Axes (and maybe a Spear for good measure ).

All at the same time.

W00T!

[Commodore]

I like the 3 archers on the Forest t79.
Scooticator either cover the axe with the Impi in forest, and we get Iron or they move the Impi back to cover the invisible Iron and we kill an axe. So given that they're teching towards Alph...I think we get some Iron soon.

And if they don't get any boots into Subway by 80.....heheheheheheh.

Not likely, but we should be able to make them jump a bit.

BTW: not sure what we're doing with EPs atm but I'm liking keeping the EPs on Scooticator for the moment. I'd like to keep on seeing their research.

Heh, yes, yes, and yes. No sign of more impi, although average power jumped so that might be them, honestly hard to tell with this many people, could be a swarm of warriors for all I know. Average power did go down one axe's worth though.


I covered the wounded 1xp chariot with a warrior, naturally.

[mackoti]

Be carefull like mackoti dont be hurt please.

[Commodore]

Be carefull like mackoti dont be hurt please.

Tell it to the company; everyone here is going to have to pull their weight. We are hilariously screwed here, having to settle into the teeth of impis and axes with archers and chariots and warriors. But, Willowbrooke gets settled next turn and in the turn after iron gets hooked, damnit.


Demos show the combination of whipping and faded happiness, and they're going to get worse before they get better. Still, researching full-bore we've only got five more turns to Mathematics, and there still is a lot of lumber to go into the fires of our demos before this is over. Stupid, stupid, stupid metal.


At least next turn the active riots are getting quelled. Whale oil is the least glamorous luxury, but if it shuts up the worthless ingrates revolting in Tranquil Meadow and Lakeside Garden, I can't complain. When I can shake those hammers loose for a galley, I'll be getting fish/horse island up fast.


I know Scooter and crew, I know they're whining at the moment. Don't care, it's this or 3861631 impi choking us long before whumpies ever come online.

[kalin]

Why not making the city on the desert hill, for the sheep?

EDIT: Also, what's on that tile 1E of the iron, an unprotected worker by any chance?

Kalin