[spoilers] Going Dutch: The Commodore Files

[Commodore]

Surely youll have dikes before he can reach sirian mass... youre not dead yet!

I would love nothing more than to hit up Steam Power; it's only technically two techs away and with some KTB help from our betters we're still okay researchers. But rifles and cavalry come first. Then Astronomy finally I guess...

Pretty advanced tech level to still be woefully behind!

...because critical mass for Sirian is easy when you have galleons and the other guy doesn't. I won't be able to ever match Dtay in tech levels, even if I get frigates he'll effortlessly get ships of the line, etc. But the nice thing about East Indiamen is that they can stand up okayishly to all the wooden line in battle. The point might be moot, because Dtay is roading our way through the oasis. This might hurt a lot you guys, with only seventy catapults we're in trouble if he's got stacks above a hundred invading. :nervous:

At least with free flanking the sentry knight can look all intimidating!

I suppose I should leave a geopolitics note here. As I'm sure you all are hearing from other quarters, we live in very interesting times...Gawdzak hit Dtay for a single city then NAP'd, while Gavagai is just murdering his way through Donovan Zoi right now. All very interesting and exciting, but for local news the upshot is that Dtay is going to be feeling his oats:
A. He's got a NAP in his western ocean area.
B. His chief rival is gaining a butt-ton of nice territory very quickly.
So really the question that remains is where will Dtay go. His Portuguese neighbors are impressively advanced but small, while his Dutch neighbor has a vast outdated army and another neighbor on the other side ready and able to snap up vast amounts of turf. I don't rightly know which one of us I'd hit as Dtay, but my reading of the geopolitical cards is that he's got to get a move on one way or the other soon. He might opt to go in after his current golden age is done, Kremlin rushbuying himself a murder-force out of nowhere. We'll just see I suppose.

Meanwhile? Twiddle thumbs, whistle, research Rifling. We got us a small bumper crop of new victims filler cities growing for the draft.

Thank you, Free Market, for making even this city a ridiculous profit.

[Mardoc]

Raze Ursa Major and offer a peace treaty? It works in the north...

[spacetyrantxenu]

Raze Ursa Major and offer a peace treaty? It works in the north...

Yeah, how long has that city been there? My guess at the purpose would be to flip the hill tile your knight is standing on in the picture. That would give dtay an attack vector into Death Masks that doesn't involve crossing a river, which would make a T0 attack with mounted into the city less costly. What is the culture percentage split on that tile?




How long until he is able to build a navy to bombard down the coastal defenses, and do you have a naval sentry net off to the southeast where he would come from? He can't cause collateral damage but losing your city defense bonus would hurt anyway.

Also, the comment about "only 70 catapults" reminds me why I dislike late game war. Maybe there's merit to your 1 vs. 1 swordsman duel after all.

[Commodore]

Raze Ursa Major and offer a peace treaty? It works in the north...

Yeah, how long has that city been there? My guess at the purpose would be to flip the hill tile your knight is standing on in the picture. That would give dtay an attack vector into Death Masks that doesn't involve crossing a river, which would make a T0 attack with mounted into the city less costly. What is the culture percentage split on that tile?

Also, the comment about "only 70 catapults" reminds me why I dislike late game war. Maybe there's merit to your 1 vs. 1 swordsman duel after all.

Yeah, it's 50%-49% for us. Finally, actually; it was his for the longest time. Flashed my knight stack at him this turn, so he knows I can effortlessly wipe both bears if I want. But I need to hurry back north, because Plako is being tricky again...

Shown: Reasons for Dtay to get a move on.

[Commodore]

By the way, I also turned on tech and swapped targets. We need more these:

Although why merchantmen are such great fighters I'll never figure.

[Commodore]

We live in very interesting times. The irascible wee Porch Uggles, perched on their tiny tip of the continent, got themselves to MilTrad/Rifling and mass-upgraded, and have hit Dtay, taking at least one city. I would love, love, love to take advantage of this and join the dogpile...but unfortunately, Plako will be able to attack again in four (three now) turns. So...I declared war on Dtay and immediately offered peace. Not fond of the solution, but it's survival.

Yes, that artist could have been used to gain an appreciable chunk of Incaland before Sumer wiped me out.

I hate this. Plako will not allow me any hope of victory, so we're just going to remain here; stuck in and hating it. Darkest Hours is our latest edition city, doing nothing for the remainder of its brief existence than work a caste artist and build culture. Broken Free Market being what it is, the city still turns a profit.

Which, I mean really, is just kind of silly. Makes me feel like an AI.

The brief culture slider thing is because I can always use culture on the pressed borders and we've lost Dtay's wines as an additional price of security. On the plus side, popped another one! Desert gems, folks, basically incense with a little extra class.

Also seen, part of the fifty plus catapults heading back up north.

We've now got some decently staggered treaties going, but the see-saw plan is never really a safe one, so I burned the great artist on three additional tiles and a whole turn's worth of safety. Plako has got to hate this, but this is the price for a militarized border. Dtay, I can trust (mostly) because we have a nicely equitable border region and he badly needs the security. If Plako made more butter, fewer guns, I'd have less cause to battle him so hard culturally and skirmishingly. But eh, cest la vive.

Ask for “Tips on How To Make Commodore Your Good Neighbor”. White paper forthcoming, but chapter one is “Respect His Borders and Don't Pink Dot His Natural Sphere”.

Chemistry ain't happening, but guess what we do have now?

Fighting frigates “well enough” since 2004.

[Qgqqqqq]

First two pictures are the same.

[Mardoc]

So, tell me again why we can't go burn all of Plako's ports?

[Whosit]

[Commodore]

Good catch Quincy.

So, tell me again why we can't go burn all of Plako's ports?

Highlighted. And also see yellow circles.

Grim tech screen over all.

Reasons for that tech rate, but also why they aren't messing with us?

Not shown, some fifty knights and cuirs too.