RB PBEM #2 - Justinian (SPOILERS!)

[Dreylin]

t36 - Lion got in 1 hit, but the Scout won as expected.

Yep, definitely the end of the continent out there past SL:



Maybe I'll revisit my request for the Copper settling location.

Constantinople now working both Mines and Oracle is due in 8t. It'll actually be 7t as the city is due to grow in four and start working a third mine. I could knock off 1-2t with another chop but I think I'll use the whip instead and save the forest for another day.

Eastern Worker will put a road down on the Mine and then move East to improve Constantinople's Cows.

Research back up to 100% and AH due at end of turn....

So both SL and I have Horses; his are next to the Wines and mine are just East of the Corn - so will fit very nicely with my Eastern city site.

[Dreylin]

Finally get around to replying to this message SL sent yesterday:

Dreylinian I,

Just to let you know - I have now met Yaz. He is situated on the same island as Ruff further to the west. I am waiting 2t before entering his lands with OB since I can then short cut through his capital rather than take a longer route to the north.

I should hopefully meet Darrell next who has a WB in the area according to Yaz.


Cheers,
Sitting Bull of the Native Americans

Sitting Bull,

Thanks for keeping me up to date with the contact situation; I should have a boat out fairly soon to head East so that at least between us we'll have met everyone.

My Scout survived his encounter with the Lion and has just-about reached the edge of the penninsula. I didn't realise there was so little land out past you, and probably would have been less bold in requesting the Copper spot had I known. By now your exploring Warrior may have spotted that I decided not to settle that spot with my second city (our extended NAP let me feel secure enough to not grab for the Copper straight away), so if you want to renegotiate for more land I'd be happy to do so.

Dreylinian I.

[Dreylin]

Hey Dreylinian I,

No problem - your ep's are building up against me until you meet someone else so get cracking! ;-) I got the writing splash at the end of turn so if you can request OB when the save gets you please feel free to - if not then I'll do it on my turn. My warrior is poised to enter your lands next turn but can skirt around if OB are not in place straight away.

I am glad that you appreciate how tight the space is on our island. If the others are this tight then it is no wonder that one island has already come to blows! They must be hooligans unlike us!

I did have map knowledge of the area to my west when I negotiated the copper spot with you and so for you to offer me a "get out of jail free card" is very generous however, when we agreed the deal I used the statement " My main offer here is goodwill between our two nations."

People talk about taking risks in Civ to really get ahead and some of the best risks to be taken are those when you are most vulnerable at the start of the game. I am taking a risk here because you could easily try and run though me with Cataphracts when the time comes. This is the start of my mitigation against that. I hope that the Byzantines appreciate the goodwill that the Native Americans have shown by conceding this site and that we can build a long-term relationship.

So - in answer to your question - No, the deal is fine, but I appreciate having the chance to re-negotiate.


Cheers,
Sitting Bull of the Native Americans

Sitting Bull,

It is in those same interests of goodwill that I made the offer of renegotiation. Your explorer is about to discover that I have quite a bit more land area immediately available to me than you do, and although much of it is Tundra and Ice there is space for 3+ decent-ish cities behind my existing lines as well as the Copper site between us. I do not want you to feel that you have given away too much by agreeing to that site ... in all honesty, I had expected you to deny my request and I'd have happily settled the back-up site! It'll be a little while before my next Settler is out, so I won't take a final decision from you until you've had a chance for more of an explore past my borders.

I don't remember noticing your Warrior last turn so I don't know exactly where he is, but the land splits to the North of the desert; if you head directly North, past my second city, the land takes a jink to the NW and then up to the North Pole. Trending NE from the Copper you will pass my capital and then the land trends East for a while before turning North and again ending near the Pole. There doesn't look to be a direct island-to-island boat connection, however the borders of my Capital will allow me to jump a boat to another landmass to the SE, and hopefully from there to Krill, etc.

Dreylinian I.

PS: "you could easily try and run though me with Cataphracts when the time comes" had certainly crossed my mind; but so had "argh there's a giant army of Dog Soldiers ravening at my borders ... Help!" 9-)

[Dreylin]

t37 - AH comes in and I dial up Pottery (since it's required for Metal Casting).

Hmmmm, there are Elephants visible on the next island over to the West ... I guess he doesn't have too much to fear from Cataphracts after all.

[Dreylin]

Well I missed him online, but Krill dropped by to deliver a message:

Keith: yo dreylin
got a moment?
You're afk, that's cool
this is just a curtesy call
If you have just built the Oracle, congrats
if not, I'll finish it when I end turn
just thought you would appreciate the heads up.
And to give you more time now so you didn;t hold the turn later on...

(and he wonders why people gang up on him....)

Well, that's disappointing, but I can't say I'm particularly shocked to have missed out; I did leave it rather late and he's probably micro'ed it to infinity to get the shortest possible build. Anyway, guess I might stick out a couple of extra land units, followed by a Setller and then a Galley. Of course I do also have to Buddhist action to get involved with soon....

[T-hawk]

he's probably micro'ed it to infinity to get the shortest possible build.

That he did, which I hardly think is a spoiler to say.

I'm following along on everything in this game, it's much easier to keep track of as a lurker than Pitboss 3.

[Dreylin]

That he did, which I hardly think is a spoiler to say.

Nope, I don't think it's a spoiler, but it's probably something I should have taken into account once I knew he was researching down the religious line.

And again I comment that he still wonders why people gang up on him....

I'm following along on everything in this game, it's much easier to keep track of as a lurker than Pitboss 3.

Well 6 players at ~1t per day is much easier to cope with than eleventy-billion players who are probably managing multiple turns per day as well as intra-team dynamics.

Anyway, it is nice to know that there are lurkers out there watching! I'm conscious that the one thing I haven't done yet this game which I did in RBPBEM1 is build an uber-map for you guys, but I'm guessing that the whole thing is posted in the "no players" thread. I can put one together though if there's interest ... and let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see.

[Dreylin]

t38 - Time for a change of plan it seems.

Damn, I had the post all written out and then I seem to have forgotten to actually post it!

Anyway, Constantinople files away the Oracle and starts work on a new Warrior (since the hammer seems to have aged off). That will take 2t, by which point the city will be able to work Fish, 3Mines & Cows (Eastern Worker started pasture this turn) for 13h +6 Imperialistic +3food surplus for 22hpt and 3t Settlers.

I'm also going to switch research away from Pottery (not needed at the moment) to Sailing. That will get the foriegn Trade Routes swinging, and the 5t research time coincides nicely with the Settler popping out from Const and allowing a Galley to be started immediately. That can ferry the Scout to the SE continent and then return to take over the next Settler to grab the Stone & Wheat.

Western Worker finishes the Mine and will then road before heading to Thessalonica's Cows. Thess grows at EOT, will whip the WB to completion, and then build a Warrior while growing back to Size2 to work the Cows/Clams. At that point, I suspect a Worker will be the next build.

Const's MP heads out to de-fog the near NE to help finalise the settling pattern:



Grey and Yellow are the current marked sites, but Grey could be split into Blue & Red. There is a grass forest abandonned in between the three locations which could be grabbed by moving Red 1W, and that may be a better option if there's no more Seafood, and Blue would be a marginal location to settle later.

Of course fingers crossed for religion spread between the two cities before foriegn routes kick in ... not this turn, and 59g seems hardly compensation for missing the Oracle.

[Dreylin]

Exchanging e-mails with SL:

Dreylinian I,

Thanks for the directions - I have offered OB in game. Looking forward to some hog roast in Costantinople! We can talk again in a couple of turns about the settling if you like? Your scout must be on his return leg by now! ;-)

Cheers,
Sitting Bull of the Native Americans

Sitting Bull,

I got the diplo window, but it didn't seem to contain an OB offer. I re-offered myself so hopefully it should be in place for your turn. No worries though, as my Scout is still a few turns away from your Borders.

I noticed the Ivory on the next land over ... very nice insurance from Cataphracts, amongst other things, and grabbing it must be a priority for you. I'm guessing you haven't researched Sailing yet, and since I'm about to do so myself, would you be interested in pencilling in a trade? Maybe just a first-refusal at this point as I'm not entirely sure where my research will head next ... though Monarchy is a strong possibility.

Dreylinian I.

Trying to lay the groundwork here for good cooperation between the two of us ... particularly with Krill starting to ease his way into a front-runner position.

[Dreylin]

t39 - continue the plan set forth last turn:

Scout: returning to SL's lands
Warrior1: Guarding Thessalonica
Warrior2: Moves to "Here?" sign (grey dot) and spots a barb Warrior 2E.
Worker1: Pasturising Cows (complete next turn)
Worker2: Roading Plains Mine - I do prefer to do that at the time the Mine is built rather than "mortgaging" another Worker turn later on.

Constantinople: Warrior completes at EOT, as does growth to Size5.
Thessalonica: WB whipped to completion, Warrior queued behind.

Research: Sailing in 4t. (On hold: Pottery (2t))