[Spoilers] Bacchus debuts on RB showing unmatched vision and slick dice-rolling

[Gavagai]

What I'm thinking about is that RBmod indirectly weakens chariots. Everyone will need hunting very early anyway, which lowers the opportunity cost of spears.

[Bacchus]

Well, Khmer starts with Hunting and we don't have any other neighbour against which we could legitimately employ chariots. In fact, I don't think we should even employ them against Khmer, except defensively — his copper city is too weak to take without taking the cap, and taking the cap puts us into conflict with developed Inca, which has better supply lines to Khmer lands anyway. I'm perfectly fine with chariots playing zone defense for us, look at all the space we have to settle, why war, even at these distances?

[Gavagai]

Why war!? War doesn't need "why"...

[Cheater Hater]

I thought Spears were moved to BW directly in RBMod, so that wouldn't even matter now?
I'm fine with no war, especially since it doesn't seem like there's a neighbor close to us in the south--how's the southern land btw? I mean, it certainly looks worse than the northern land, but that's a given

[Bacchus]

The immediately southern land is excellent, a bit further into the jungle and it's bordering on poor. South of the jungle there is a pigs/irrigated corn spot (!), put I would be so surprised if there really is no neighbour down there able to get it before us.

[Bacchus]

Ekh, Retep built an axe in the copper city last turn:



This really comes at the worst possible time, as we just whipped Forever Machine for the worker and there is 45 overflow sitting on the queue. Had we started on Archery, it would have finished just in time to chop an archer, but as it stands, situation is grim -- the Wheel comes in 5, just as we finish the pasture, two turns too slow. Need to think. We might have to feed the axe Warriors until we can whip the chariot (yuk).

In other news, we do have a southern neighbour, it's Serdoa:

[Bacchus]

Well, frankly there is no good way out of this, and getting horses on the river was a really greek gift — should have continued with Archery, not gotten distracted towards the Wheel. A stupid gamble and a worthy reprisal. To get the most out of the city, we will 1-turn a worker, who will go to the eastern forest and chop us an archer. A chariot would come out a turn later and a turn too late (we can only feed the axe three warriors). Or is this so pissing in the wind that we should abandon the city whilst teching the Wheel?

Actually, what we can try and do is get a chariot whipped in the cap, whilst spending the FM pop point on two warriors. That axe will have insane experience though. The reason I don't want to go with Archery is that it does nothing for the long term, we will just have to watch as the axe pillages around, and actually he can go pillage the horses before we invent the Wheel, if he puts his mind to it.

[Bacchus]

Went with Archery.

[Bacchus]

So, life sucks:



Got Archery, started archer, to be whipped next turn. Retep is yet to move, so he'll take off another warrior this turn. This means that next turn our two warriors (unreinforced) will have to defend against three attacks. Fortunately, the axe is already at 3.8, our first kamikaze got a sound two hits in. I wonder whether he'll burn the city down, I guess it will autoraze.

Oh yeah, in terms of "Hahaha, wrong again, you noob!" — as there was no reasonable hope to save FM, it looks like there was little to no point going Archery first, I could have roaded the horse next turn for something better than archers in the field. To be fair, a part of me expected him to go straight onto the capital, but I guess retep thinks better of me than I deserve.

[Krill]

It's always entertaining to see the thousand warrior defense strategy run in practice. Please keep us updated