Ok, I've read a bit about the culture bomb mechanics online: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy...hanics.php
Based on this I'm almost certain we can get the tile 1W of Ur with an artist-bomb, allowing us to pass our troops through to threaten (but not attack) Kish, Lagash, and plainfood the turn we take Ur. I don't know if we can get the the tile 1S of Ur, which would let us attack Lagash the turn we take Ur, and plainfood as well with a Great General. For this to work, though, Lagash has to not have 60% culture (4th-ring) borders, or if it does we have to put the Great Artist only one tile from Ur the turn before attacking, or else it can't get into the city to bomb it due to enemy culture. I would really like to know how much culture Lagash has; is a spy available to check in the next two turns?
Let it be said I think we should be attacking and forking Ur and Eridu no matter what, and that the Great Artist should in any case stand by in case we want to use him. If we have enough healthy knights after taking Ur, I think bombing it to secure even just the tile immediately 1E would be valuable, to allow us to pass them through and attack the capital the turn after (and if we lucked out and got the tile 1S of the city as well, that would be even better, as it might allow us to snag Lagash and maybe even the capital without warning too). If we only had a couple unused knights after taking Ur, we would have to evaluate how weak we thought mackoti's defences were at that point and probably hold off on the Artist, perhaps for just a turn or two (for all our knights to have movement available/for our knights to heal a turn as well), or indefinitely. But we should have the Artist available in any case anyway - we can always decide not to use him, but we can't decide to use him if he's not around! And the stakes (mackoti's capital) are high enough to have him around.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. I'll just end by mentioning how I came to the above conclusions - according to that article we'll have (I believe) 1120 plot-culture on the tiles in Ur's first ring after using the bomb, which is the same amount Ur would have in that tile after possessing second-ring borders for 56 turns. Considering Ur still only has second-ring borders, and that mackoti only took it about 50 turns ago (and thus reached second-ring borders some time after that), it seems to me relatively assured we would get it (and if not, artist-bombs are a useless game-mechanic). If Lagash has 60% culture, it will have added plot culture to that tile for several turns as well, and decrease the chance of it flipping accordingly (not chance, that implies randomness ...). So I'd really like to know what its culture-level is at. Again, can the spy in suttree's territory reach the city centre within two turns?
Anyway, for me the price of peace is not indefensible Barcelona and gold that will be quickly spent, with no diminution of mack's economic capabilities, but Eridu and Ur, which I believe we stand a very strong chance of taking, and with an artist-bomb and an attempt on his capital in our back-pocket if things go well from there. I'll reiterate I think this is *the* risk we've been intending to take all game; this is our best and probably only chance to do mackoti irreparable harm, which is in the end the sole and only path to possible victory in this game. He will win, at least in our area of the world, by default if we don't. Let us put our boots in the stirrup, I say, and decide this game - at least the fate of our continent - while we still have the power to do so.
Based on this I'm almost certain we can get the tile 1W of Ur with an artist-bomb, allowing us to pass our troops through to threaten (but not attack) Kish, Lagash, and plainfood the turn we take Ur. I don't know if we can get the the tile 1S of Ur, which would let us attack Lagash the turn we take Ur, and plainfood as well with a Great General. For this to work, though, Lagash has to not have 60% culture (4th-ring) borders, or if it does we have to put the Great Artist only one tile from Ur the turn before attacking, or else it can't get into the city to bomb it due to enemy culture. I would really like to know how much culture Lagash has; is a spy available to check in the next two turns?
Let it be said I think we should be attacking and forking Ur and Eridu no matter what, and that the Great Artist should in any case stand by in case we want to use him. If we have enough healthy knights after taking Ur, I think bombing it to secure even just the tile immediately 1E would be valuable, to allow us to pass them through and attack the capital the turn after (and if we lucked out and got the tile 1S of the city as well, that would be even better, as it might allow us to snag Lagash and maybe even the capital without warning too). If we only had a couple unused knights after taking Ur, we would have to evaluate how weak we thought mackoti's defences were at that point and probably hold off on the Artist, perhaps for just a turn or two (for all our knights to have movement available/for our knights to heal a turn as well), or indefinitely. But we should have the Artist available in any case anyway - we can always decide not to use him, but we can't decide to use him if he's not around! And the stakes (mackoti's capital) are high enough to have him around.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. I'll just end by mentioning how I came to the above conclusions - according to that article we'll have (I believe) 1120 plot-culture on the tiles in Ur's first ring after using the bomb, which is the same amount Ur would have in that tile after possessing second-ring borders for 56 turns. Considering Ur still only has second-ring borders, and that mackoti only took it about 50 turns ago (and thus reached second-ring borders some time after that), it seems to me relatively assured we would get it (and if not, artist-bombs are a useless game-mechanic). If Lagash has 60% culture, it will have added plot culture to that tile for several turns as well, and decrease the chance of it flipping accordingly (not chance, that implies randomness ...). So I'd really like to know what its culture-level is at. Again, can the spy in suttree's territory reach the city centre within two turns?
Anyway, for me the price of peace is not indefensible Barcelona and gold that will be quickly spent, with no diminution of mack's economic capabilities, but Eridu and Ur, which I believe we stand a very strong chance of taking, and with an artist-bomb and an attempt on his capital in our back-pocket if things go well from there. I'll reiterate I think this is *the* risk we've been intending to take all game; this is our best and probably only chance to do mackoti irreparable harm, which is in the end the sole and only path to possible victory in this game. He will win, at least in our area of the world, by default if we don't. Let us put our boots in the stirrup, I say, and decide this game - at least the fate of our continent - while we still have the power to do so.
Any chance of some pics with arrows showing what you're describing, I'm finding it a bit hard to follow.
