[Spoilers] Molach updates Genghis Khan of Portugal

[Lord Parkin]

Yeah, I was wondering whether your single Axe defense was a little light.

Happy to help out.

[Molach]

Time for an update!

I think if I were closer to the lead, I'd be inclined to report more.
Same if I was about to be eliminated - reporting war turns is more fun.

Since last update I've done....well nothing. Built units, buildings, some settlers, some improvments. Teched some techs.

Re: WillLP - I refounded my city, he has a city 3 tiles south. I also plopped a city on the north part of this island. They shall bring me much-needed commerce and be the first to inform me when WillLP decides to invade.

Heres a picture of the south-southeast:

Just whipped lighthouse, gonna overflow into a longbow. Keep building those while slowly growing back into whipping shape again. WillLP is growing a LOT of power, almost too much to just be invading that island, so I guess(hope) he is going after someone else. He is double my score, and the big fish around my lands.

Also in the picture, building buddhist monastery. I'm at least 7 turns from GA, so no OR. This city will spread buddhism around meanwhile. Also a decent place for +2 culture.

Speaking of my lands, an overview here:


From top left, we have yuri (orange) then AT (purple). Deep south has some Cyneheard (yellow) then WillLP (brown) and back up eastwards is Zanth (yellow). I've not been able (noone has the tech) to get open borders with AT or Zanth, so no scouting that way. WillLP has the tech but refuses open borders. I've got open borders and very welcome foreign trade with Fine Old Harry and Cyneheard.



These cities are lightly held, I guess AT has a counter-strike force somewhere, or perhaps more towards Yuri. The Yuri-AT war went badly for Yuri, AT defended well and turned back the attack. Both are now behind me in score. I need to attack AT at some point. I could hope someone joins in after I attack, like Yuri, or Will, or Cyneheard. Once I get guilds I should have the technological advantage for a while, use knights to take some land, have longbows reinforce cities and see what I can do. These two close cities should be easy to take with some sacrificial knights and then I can immediately move defenders inside due to my culture in the area. Anyway, I'm not gonna just sit and wait for the game to be called, tried that already.

Demos:


Showing my excellent foreign trade. Also, 8th in land? How did that happen? Much of the land is tundra, so that is probably why rest of stats are so bad.

Techs:


Feudalism 1 turn, Machinery about 6, then I'll have a GA ready and speed up knight research (or guilds if you will) by some unknown amount. Caste while in GA, of course.

And TBS has confu, shrine built, and now got the AP. So anyone who gets confu spread will likely spread around their lands for the hammers, leading to even more shrine income for the sword. Wonder if that will be enough? I'd say winning by dom or conquest is a tall order on this map, so sending off a spaceship might be the best shot at winning. Or, hold an AP election and hope the other confu guys are finished enough with the game to vote winner. So TBS my current favourite to win this?

Anyway, top of the thread list! Yohoo.

[Molach]

Zanth declared a couple turns ago, took my far NE marble-giving city.

I've gone into WHEOOHRN-mode, moved 80% of my military east by northeast. I need that city back.
My army is ill equipped to fight him, he has landesknechts and war elephants. Best units for me I think are catapults and longbowmen unless I can get either alone.

Anyway, for posterity, I wonder why is he offering me cease fire twice now.

I need the city back. Abandon it, then I'll offer a cease fire back after I take it. No point now.

If the idea is that he is signalling that his war aims are attained and that he will stop at the city and let me be in peace....why not peace deal? If I needed peace right now why would I want a cease fire - no guarantee of new war next turn.

So I'm puzzled.

Getting knights next turn, as well as having a look at what he's put into my capured city then.

We've also skirmished a bit in the seas, I lost a 50% trireme vs trireme attack, then lost a 91 % galley follow-up. Had to employ 2nd galley to finish it off. Bad luck is for losers, eh.

[Molach]

G-ah.

I got a peace offer from Zanth (actually Gavagai) - peace treaty, and he gives back my marble city of Sagres.

This time I remembered game rules and rejected.

And let me put this on the record - I really hate this rule.
"Don't be a jerk" - with some discussion on what city gifts are 'jerk' moves - should cover this.

I mean, how are we supposed to end this fight now? Neither of us wants a fight to the death. I just want my city back, and he probably want's his units back on the mainland to consolidate his gains vs. MYKI (I think).

But Zanth can't evacuate his city safely since it is across water. He'd need a lot of ships to lift off all units in a turn. If he lifts half off, his units will die wastefully without giving 'value' back. No diplo means I can't say "Ok, just move out in the open out of the city then I'll take just my city back and offer peace and leave your units alone."

I sent him a mail informing him that city gifts are not allowed and that I was forced by game rules to reject the deal. Not necessarily because it was a bad deal.

Maybe he knew this, and just offered the deal to signal his willingness to withdraw? Maybe I should offer the deal back to signal agreement? Is even offering such a deal allowed?

In short, I hate this rule.

I really wanna keep my precious knights and ride to ruin and world's ending somewhere else than in the frozen north. I get enough of that at home.

Edit:
* No city gifting or trading
* No using trade window to communicate (e.g. using letters or numbers in a way that could be interpreted something else than a real trade offer)

This makes it pretty clear, an offer that is not meant to be accepted (not a real offer) is illegal as well.

[Commodore]

This is why I think that rule is frankly stupid.

[Molach]

Peace in our time!

It worked - I massed troops, he evacuated his army. I was kind enough not to attack when there were only 2 units left (but I would have had to use knights vs. pikeman/landesknecht, so no real gain in doing that). Next turn city was empty so I let my chariot of fire take it.

I got a "build knight" quest earlier, I'll finish that and perhaps take the "spread religion" option. I started festivus, and revolted to buddhism, caste system, org. religion. Org. rel. should help a bit getting new shiny stuff built, but I only have buddhism in 3 cities or so. However flanking promo might help if I need to decimate a collateral stack in the future. Hm.

I'd debate mercantilism, but since I'm getting +5 trade routes I'd lose out on commerce, so probably just go back to slavery when I can switch. Even though workshops are decent too.

My tech went guilds -> banking, capital building all the +commerce stuff. I think I'll try to go optics so I can scout a bit and see the world. It will make the game more fun, knowing more about the world. And there is a possibility of making contact for more +bonus on techs.

Other than that, I'd need optics to get units to actually move somewhere interesting, so I avoid...

[Molach]

WillLP took my stone city-on-an-island city.

He offered peace.

I declined, WHEOOHRN.

...I'm gonna fight, and take my city back or die trying.
Hopefully making some WillLP troops die along the way.

Will, I have nothing to lose, I will not win the game. Why not offer me some token compensation for my city? 10 gtp, a couple lux's, 50 gold....all of these would (hopefully) be a lot cheaper than fighting a war against me.

Don't take a Molachian city and expect me to be okay with it. War it is.

[Molach]

4 turns of war (or so)

Me and WilLP have moved our pieces around, much like Carlsen and Anand...(I'd like to think of myself as Carlsen here, being Norwegian and all)

This war hasn't seen me crash-build a thousand units yet - I've been c(h)aste, and I've had some banks and missionaries to build. But I've put all my chips on the block here:


If WillLP has a navy of any sorts in the unseen tiles here, I'll lose my knight strike force.
If not I'll either take my city back or maybe raze a couple of his.

I could have based my navy in Viceu here to threaten "Flash", but I'm greedy enough to try for "Buck" as well. My navy full of knights being able to move 3, like those chess-knight things means I had to go for a forking attack here. I can also sail back to Viceu, unload and charge my Breganza city back with support from the galley-knights.

He can now retreat from my former city, I'd take that back and offer peace (in our time) back.

Ironic, I _really_ wanted just a few carracks to sail around and see the world (map) and meet new and exciting people and leech known-tech-bonuses from them.

One good thing from the war, I won a low-odds battle on defense against a knight, and got enough GG points for a great general. Used him to make a super-medic-knight (mostly to unlock HE). So that's why I'm doing lit research. I guess a NE town can't hurt either.

[Molach]

Battle for the recapture of Breganza:



This highlights, in my view, a weakness in Civ IV combat model. This was 7 pretty modern units, muskets with guerilla promo, longbows with city defense, on a city on a hill. I lose...5 ancient units? I did use a couple knights as attackers, to get better odds and save an axeman or maybe two. Attacking a city on a hill with better units should not end in materiel advantage for the attacker. Massed collateral is too effective in the game compared to 'real life'. Catapults should reduce defenses, not be primary-unit-killers.



Also razed the city of Buck. Cost me 4 knights, maceman and (unluckily) a longbow. Killed 2 knights, spearman, 2 chariots, one a Great General medic. (George patton). This means his navy can't reach my ships by sailing through the city...unless he has a settler on standby down south.

I threaten Flash and Scout, Scout has only 2 units now but Flash has 9 knights and 6 slowmovers. WillLP went into slavery, theocracy, nationhood and whipped away a lot of pop. I offered peace - perhaps he'd like to fight someone on his own continent. If he doesn't accept I'll eat anarchy and revolt into slavery and start the great whipping. I'm still in anarchy, but have channeled funds into a crash-upgrade program - horse archers, archers, axemen, spearmen oh my.

[Molach]

WilLP dropped somehow 6 knights and 2 catapults to retake Breganza. However I had forces in the area, including some fresh knights and a fresher upgraded spearman.



I would have preferred a few more catapult hits, had to make do with 1.5 (1 slightly damaged, one pretty beat up one from last battle). Hit knights were 10, 9.0, and rest around 8.something after two catapults. And this result was very lucky for me, I won two lucky battles at 30% and 4-ish % odds, lost no fights with 50%+ odds. I had more units ready to die and would have won this regardless, but nice to avoid casulties when I can. Because;



WilLs power is steadily rising, mine has sort of levelled out. I realized I could starve my GP-city a bit, and will get a GP in 3 turns now, so I will wait for the revolt till then. Switch to slavery and vassalage, and embiggen my army as best I can.

Good thing about the war - unlocking the HE.

Bad thing - watching Will whip/draft 35 score points worth of army.

I'll lose my precious Breganza and that whole isle, hopefully I get time to fortify my Moai island. My mainland will build some more catapults/pikes and longbow defenders and prepare to fight them on the beaches and never surrender.

I offered peace again...with a gift of 50 gold as reparations for razing his city/cost of him building a new settler for it. But I'm not sure that is enough to appease the evil empire...