Gavagai manages his personal GULAG

[Gavagai]

Took Jerry Reed. Rng was bad. I lost a Longbow, a HA, 4 Swords and 2 WEs. All of them (except a HA) died at odds above 50%, some of them - at odds significantly above, in 70ish zone. To compensate I got only 1 of 5 suicide cats killed, 1 HA won at low odds and 1 HA retreated. Beside that I won, I think, only a couple battles in which defeat could be reasonably expected. Got a general, so did Tsargon.
After JR has fallen I moved a chariot south to scout and hello!




Taotao. Interesting. He has 27 cities to my 22 which is OK.
Also - Guilds in 4 turns.

[Gavagai]

Let's talk big picture, shall we?

I was thinking about taotao and implications of our meeting. Not long ago I got a trade connection with him - something which made me wonder already. And now this chariot.
This is strange because we have already placed taotao on another continent - and with a good reason for this. We now that he neighbours Serdoa - because he took a city from them. We know that he neighboured Donovan who, in turn, neighboured CH because Donovan's territory was split between these two. And I think (though I'm not sure) that Donovan was taking cities from Commodore. That means that REM and Elkad are also somewhere close.
This is a whole bunch of civs and I don't have trade connection with any of them. But I have (not for a long time) trade connection with taotao. How?
OK, here is my answer: taotao got Astro and this chariot was ferried to our continent by East Indian.
Oh. Fuck.
It can be true. Astro can be bulbed, I think, without Civil Service and Civil Service isn't a big priority on this map. Given this, schedule seems realistic. Also, it would explain a sudden change in Krill's/boak's behavior which I observed earlier (and also Krill's decision to abandon this game, though he never seemed like this kind of pussy): taotao must be to the south or south-east of HAK and it is possible that Krill/boak knows it and feels threatened. I did feel that the desire to attack HAK isn't a good explanation for boak's persistent peace offers.
What does that mean for me? Well, beelining Frigates was my knee-jerk reaction. However, I don't think this is the right thing to do. Building a fleet and contesting taotao for sea dominance would mean to stop my expansion on land. Also, it would mean surrendering initiative and allowing taotao to dictate my actions. Better option, I think, is to surrender seas for a time. I don't think taotao has resources for a full-scale invasion and I can defend against raiders with CG2 Muskets and a mobile mounted force. My cities aren't even particularly dependent on seafood, so I should survive blockade. Even if I lose a couple of coastal cities, it still will be acceptable.
On the other hand, I have a uniqe shot at land-based expansion. Conquering HAK is now pointless because his shrine (and, probably, every coastal city he has) will just get razed. On the other hand, Barteq in the north is very vulnerable and he is far enough to make it difficult for taotao to interfere. I wanted to attack him with Cuirs (because castles) but, OK, fuck it. Knights can do the job, I have some ideas. Boak, I hope, will remain frozen in place by the threat from taotao and HAK will just seat there and develope land for me (I think razing his cities should be currently very low priority for taotao and if taotao would want to take and keep this land it will be very good news).

[Gavagai]

Btw, I think that taotao building East Indians is a good thing: each ship is one less knight bashing CH.

[Bacchus]

Absolutely no point trying to tech Frigates -- the GNP is too low to compete here. Knights for taking Barteq over are fine, especially with that Moral Treb we banked on, or two, if there's a spare general.

Getting Compass to figure out what the hell is going on still seems like a good idea to me though.

[Gavagai]

Absolutely no point trying to tech Frigates -- the GNP is too low to compete here. Knights for taking Barteq over are fine, especially with that Moral Treb we banked on, or two, if there's a spare general.

Getting Compass to figure out what the hell is going on still seems like a good idea to me though.

I'm definitely going to tech up to Caravels. Actually, I now think that it is better to settle GG in Moai to produce sentry/nav1 Caravels in mass.

[Bacchus]

Oh yeah, I meant Optics, not compass, of course.

[Bacchus]

As for the general, at least one in the Moai city feels appropriate, we've been saying that for a long while now I think you can settle one that will be generated off the Barteq war though?

Also, losing the swords in the attack is probably a good thing, they have little further military use and just eat maintenance. Getting 2 HA survivals is, on the other hand, great, as they can be upgraded into Knights. Actually, the upgrading spree is another reason not to rush settling the GG, it will delay Optics somewhat.

[Gavagai]

As for the general, at least one in the Moai city feels appropriate, we've been saying that for a long while now I think you can settle one that will be generated off the Barteq war though?

Also, losing the swords in the attack is probably a good thing, they have little further military use and just eat maintenance. Getting 2 HA survivals is, on the other hand, great, as they can be upgraded into Knights. Actually, the upgrading spree is another reason not to rush settling the GG, it will delay Optics somewhat.

I don't want to upgrade much, to be honest. Commerce is by far scarcer than hammers now.

[Bacchus]

Sure, but isn't having smaller cities build Wealth a better way to have them contribute to an increase in power than having them slowly build Knights?

[Gavagai]

Sure, but isn't having smaller cities build Wealth a better way to have them contribute to an increase in power than having them slowly build Knights?

We won't have small cities slowbuilding knights . Small cities will build vital infra and knight-pumps will build knights in four turns maximum. Keep in mind that all knight-pumps will build 3-promo units and we don't have a lot of HAs that well promoted.