[spoilers] Going Dutch: The Commodore Files

[Whosit]

The world:

It's a pretty not-small world after all.

So, this being the only world map you posted (that I could find), it raises some questions. What parts of Egypt would you conquer? Would you simply take all the islands between? Would you land on the main continent? If you did land, how would you hold territory vs Mack and Gavagai? I assume that with the amount of units you'd have to produce, simply burning and pillaging wouldn't turn a profit?

[Mardoc]

On balance, I'm in favor.

Here's my thinking:

It's a safe war. Should circumstances change, the worst case is that we retreat, save our army, and HAK can't really counterattack us. May have built an army for no gain, but that's just opportunity cost, not actually losing what you have. Assuming that you maintain your usual flair in war and don't make any major blunders, that is.

The risk is plako and/or Dtay piling on at home, possibly dragging the other in as well. But honestly, this risk will be there whether you hit HAK or not. The only way that HAK could cause it to happen, is by a tactical disaster where you let him kill an army. Anything short of that - well, you're going to leave behind a deterrence army anyway, right? Plako will want to hit you regardless, if you leave an opening. He's out of room to grow, and might have revenge on his mind. Dtay...probably doesn't want to right now. He's got islands to grab, and another border, and a land advantage. He might join a dogpile. I don't know how his PB18 experience will influence him - might make him reluctant to invade someone, might make him respect the dogpile.

RtR balance, especially the known-civ bonuses, means land uber alles. It's a lot harder to get uncatchably ahead in tech, than it was. But a big hammer lead - and hence a big army - can't really be caught. I don't see us ever having a better opportunity than now to gain land.

If it works, this puts you in a possibly-won position. Next big priority is probably Steel, to hold the gains. But a Netherlands that owns your current holdings plus Egypt:
a) doesn't need any more land
b) has the initiative
c) and has a naval advantage that can grab bits of more land, anyway.

By score, you're in...6th? I figure if you do nothing big, just stand pat and tech, you'll stay there til the end of the game. If you do this, it's 70% to be top 2, 30% to be dead now or in an era.

One possible exception, which Paper might inform: how bad is Plako's land/tech/demos? Are we enough ahead that conquering him instead is/will be an option? It would let us only worry about dtay + target, instead of dtay + plako + target

Edit: Still gonna blame you for execution if it doesn't work

[Commodore]

SadGit, I dub thee Cheeky Git. But "how long to assemble" is the question, ain't it?

If we go, it'll be to conquer. Which means a big force. But time is also the enemy. But on the gripping hand, suddenly mass-whipping Netherland...won't have good effects with the neighbors. So the other option really is to carefully mass while hitting Economics, then zoom up to Astro, mass-upgrade galleys, go in.

I'll need to study the tech tree a bit for timing.

[Commodore]

Well, that sure was exciting while it lasted. Unfortunately, among the usual news (Gawdzak firing a golden age to secure the Taj, Gavagai hitting Mackoti hard, HAK being HAK), there is this little gem:

Yeah, didn't last long at all.

Yeah, Plako ended his golden age with a Theocracy swap. And he's building up; we're now neck and neck and the third way of Gunpowder looks attractive...

Being yellow is being weak.

Bummer. Here's the map of the Atlantic. East Indiamen are coming, either for HAK or for Plako.

Hold the dream.

[Whosit]

What if you whipped out your EIM invasion force, sailed the east, declared war on HAK, and then a few turns later swung around to land on Plako's eastern shore?

[Mardoc]

How recent is that map? It seems to me that East Indiamen + settlers might take as much overseas land as East Indiamen + Knights...

[Commodore]

Sir Samuel Brandywaite was an English trader, entrepreneur, and part-time rabbi reasonably famous in his own day for his lurid poetry and complex Talmudic scholarship; upon his death in 743 his estate also published a popular book of children's parables. It is in his vast body of correspondence, however, that his greatest legacy lies. His vivid and engaging letters to his brothers Benjamin and Edward, as well as to his pen-friend Hannah Smith (whom he apparently never saw in person, despite her living a mere twenty miles from his estates...this a man who traveled thousands of miles of his trading expeditions), are one of the best sources of information about the world of his day.

My Delightful Friend Hannah,

I have been reading, of late, the Rabbi George Milton's graphic descriptions of Sheol. He waxes long about the dusty dry heat of the gravelands west of Abraham's Bosom, and although he writes to warn the uncircumcised of their danger, I must confess I find his grave soothing. Truly, to those upon whom G-d wishes to unleash the fullness of His wrath, he will send here to the steaming rot of Netherland.

I thought the fine port city of Changes was hot and humid, but out here in the indigo plantations I feel as if I am in a Carthaginian sauna. On the edges of each plantation the jungle strives mightily to return, and although the Dutch have hewn great inroads into the center of this land, in the dark heart of this kingdom an untamed lush jungle thrives and bows to no man.

The Dutch seem to pay it but little mind, sweating under those ridiculous woven hats of straw and shouting at one another in their vowel-overloaded tongue. You have seen few Dutch, I am certain, but they are not a very remarkable race. A little taller than the average Englishman, perhaps, and running a bit more fleshy, nonetheless an average Dutchman would not raise an eyebrow in synagogue at home. They are a People of the Book, of course, even if they dwell far away from the Temple. They can be uncomely or handsome, as with most people anywhere.

To see a Dutchman in his day-to-day raiment is to be blinded, however. The richest and most vain noble in England would appear drab beside the most common laborer here in Netherland. Dyes are cheap and plentiful, and even the ratty linen tunics worn by the plantation slaves are a riot of color. I am delighted to be here with good English gold for trade, but my poor eyes weep for the sight of gray or brown homespun at times.

I shan’t bore you with tales of how my business goes, save to say it does well. I am certain you are familiar with dyes we trade for; from their deep jungles the Dutch find more colors every year. While up in the city of Changes I began negotiations for gem trades as well; truly G-d has blessed these people with all the colourful pretties in His world. But they are hungry for turmeric and pepper and sugar, and so we do well together.

Please don't think I am blind to the charms of this land. The bright sunlight upon the green sward every morning reminds me of England on her best days. I have seen some impressive works; a small section of The Canaal, easily the most massive irrigation project men have ever attempted, impressed me so much that I have composed a poem to it and shall perhaps write several more. Rare and beautiful tropical birds alight on every wall and roof, their plumage rivaling even the garments of the Dutch themselves.

Yet in I grow weary after these months here, and I shall return again soon for England I think. May G-d grant our armies strength against the Han and that the king vex the wiles of the Mandarins; I shall be traveling back with Egyptian traders I think, just to be safe. Ere long I shall see the true lands of jolly old England once again, and I'll shake the sweaty memory of Netherland's humid jungles. Until I may write you once more, keep yourself in good health and give J and L a merry hello for me.

As ever I remain your devoted friend,
-Samuel Brandywaite

[Commodore]

Well darn. Stupid game. I mean, from all the direct attributions I've read Socrates was really more of a Great Prophet; Plato's “Socrates” was a philosophical device while the real man was a moralistic anti-corruption crusader. Bah. Bad luck

Academies. Are they actually ever really worth it?

I was about to despairingly just set up the bloody Philo bulb anyway when I realized that the golden age odds weren't actually quite as bad as all that yet. Storm Front needs another 101 great people points to yield the next one, and there are only 200 scientist points in the bucket. Building this temple, we can have another great person in five more turns and it's only 50% odds of being another scientist. So there's that. Plako's mobilization isn't incredibly rapid but we need a higher ground force level at home, and loaded East Indiamen in the west as well, before we can go adventuring (Plako's main core is on the west coast). So let's get Economics and use the GA to net Gunpowder and Astronomy.

Waste of a perfectly productive Bureaucracy, shown.

How recent is that map? It seems to me that East Indiamen + settlers might take as much overseas land as East Indiamen + Knights...

Settlers for that big wasted jungle mass aren't a bad idea, either. Although who can tell what HAK will do in the new world of Mack vs. Gav deathmatching.

[Whosit]

So I take it you aren't a fan of academies?

[spacetyrantxenu]

Not all academies are created equal.

By the way, this is a perfect opportunity for some gratuitous Ottawa porn to show an academy done right.