Turn 192 to 193 – 1320 to 1330 AD
Just as expected, I lost the Battle of Almaty this turn, so the Incan League has been completely driven off of the mainland. At least it wasn’t a complete massacre like the Battle of Cuzco, but it was still veteran praetorians attacking a city half-full of ancient trash units, so it wasn’t a great battle for me by any means. That said, my war elephant and catapult stack survived intact, so the aftermath was fun. Elkad offered me a peace treaty immediately, which I accepted, and then I was able to do this:
PILLAGE AND BURN! Nevermind that those were my tiles less than five turns ago, PILLAGE AND BURN! Thanks to the peace treaties, there are no significant forces in the area that are mechanically allowed to attack mine, so I could disperse and pillage at my leisure with no mind for defense. I made 219 gold this turn! Sadly, I doubt that I will make much more, since both Elkad and shallow_ru will surely decide to join in the pillaging too once they see what I am up to, and they have a lot of two-movers still around to do it fast. I would like more, of course, but the 219 extra gold is plenty to last the islands a few more turns while they build courthouses and harbors and grow onto coastal tiles. Then I can think about starting on another technology after having research shut off for twenty turns now.
Here is an overview of what is left of my civilization: seven cities scattered around on islands at the top of the world. They aren’t much, but I’m happy to have them. Riga became the island capital after Almaty fell, but I’m not sure why. It has less culture than Quebec City and Scythian, and it had less population than Quebec City before I triple-whipped it for a courthouse this turn (I was waiting to see if it actually did become the capital before whipping a courthouse there). Is there another factor that goes into determining where the capital relocates too? Or is the process partly random? Whatever the reason, Riga is an acceptable spot for the capital to move too. It is a little disappointing considering that it was poised to finish a courthouse in three or four turns, but I had only put a few hammers in so far, so there isn’t much waste, and it is near the geographic center of the islands, so maintenance costs are not too bad.
I have found it interesting recently to think about how the game has gone for me in comparison to how events have played out for Charson.
I would say that many turns ago, maybe 50 or 60 turns ago now, our civilizations held fairly similar positions to one another. Mine was a little weaker because I had lost Geneva in the One Turn’s War while Charson had not yet suffered a disaster of similar magnitude, but in general, we both held roughly similar positions in terms of technology, Crop Yield, etc. Then we went down different paths, which is how we have ended up in our respective very different situations today.
I committed to Astronomy, ignoring standard medieval military and economic technologies in favor of the hope of island colonies. I also entirely ignored workshops in favor of cottages for tech power, and I didn’t fire another Golden Age because I needed my scientist to bulb Astronomy. Meanwhile, Charson apparently took the more typical route, obtaining Civil Service and probably some other technologies that I haven’t been able to keep track of, building workshops all over, and entering another Golden Age. For a while, these different strategies did not produce too much obvious difference between us, but when you look at how we fared in the dogpiles against us, the differences become clear.
When Charson was attacked, he performed impressively when you take into consideration the fact that he was facing the combined might of three stronger civilizations. After being reduced to a mere three cities, only two of them mainland, he counterattacked, rebounding to five cities, burning one of Elkad’s, and securing peace with all of his attackers. The Interdimensional Rift remained in semi-intact shape after the first round of invasion. For my part, you can read the past few reports to see the chronicle of my easy defeat when I was attacked. I never made a successful counterattack or won a defensive battle. This is despite having twenty more turns to prepare than Charson did.
However, successful execution of the Astronomy plan has granted me a second lease on life in the form of my island colonies. Meanwhile, the second round of attack is probably going to push Charson off the mainland for good in the next ten turns or so. If Superdeath doesn’t finish off Liquid Flame, then I’m sure Elkad or shallow_ru will. Then, there is only the one-tile island city of Magissa to retreat to. Therefore, despite the fact that Charson’s route produced a far more impressive defense of the mainland than my Astronomy plan did, I think that the Astronomy plan turned out to be the right one to take.
(Side note: there is a decent chance that I would be cursing my Astronomy plan from exile in Quebec City right now if Elkad had attacked me on Turn 160 instead of Charson. Maybe I could have raced to Astronomy in time to start colonization before being pushed into the sea, but it would have been close. The Astronomy plan was by no means guaranteed to turn out to be the better way)
Of course, the island colonies aren’t going to be a safe haven immune to attack forever, just for now. My fellow Northern Ocean inhabitants can research Astronomy too and chase me down, and Moncacht-Ape’s sighting of a Traumhaft caravel makes me afraid that such an eventuality may not be as far off as I want. I hope that Elkad simply researched Optics because he wanted a better ship to secure his coastline against my raiders in the event that I didn’t make peace, or in the event that I come back after peace, but there is also a decent chance that he is pursuing Astronomy to take over my colonies. Luckily, I at least don’t need to live in uncertain fear, since I can use the pillage gold to fund espionage so I can see his research again. Report good news, spies, I want to keep playing in my sandbox.
Just as expected, I lost the Battle of Almaty this turn, so the Incan League has been completely driven off of the mainland. At least it wasn’t a complete massacre like the Battle of Cuzco, but it was still veteran praetorians attacking a city half-full of ancient trash units, so it wasn’t a great battle for me by any means. That said, my war elephant and catapult stack survived intact, so the aftermath was fun. Elkad offered me a peace treaty immediately, which I accepted, and then I was able to do this:
PILLAGE AND BURN! Nevermind that those were my tiles less than five turns ago, PILLAGE AND BURN! Thanks to the peace treaties, there are no significant forces in the area that are mechanically allowed to attack mine, so I could disperse and pillage at my leisure with no mind for defense. I made 219 gold this turn! Sadly, I doubt that I will make much more, since both Elkad and shallow_ru will surely decide to join in the pillaging too once they see what I am up to, and they have a lot of two-movers still around to do it fast. I would like more, of course, but the 219 extra gold is plenty to last the islands a few more turns while they build courthouses and harbors and grow onto coastal tiles. Then I can think about starting on another technology after having research shut off for twenty turns now.
Here is an overview of what is left of my civilization: seven cities scattered around on islands at the top of the world. They aren’t much, but I’m happy to have them. Riga became the island capital after Almaty fell, but I’m not sure why. It has less culture than Quebec City and Scythian, and it had less population than Quebec City before I triple-whipped it for a courthouse this turn (I was waiting to see if it actually did become the capital before whipping a courthouse there). Is there another factor that goes into determining where the capital relocates too? Or is the process partly random? Whatever the reason, Riga is an acceptable spot for the capital to move too. It is a little disappointing considering that it was poised to finish a courthouse in three or four turns, but I had only put a few hammers in so far, so there isn’t much waste, and it is near the geographic center of the islands, so maintenance costs are not too bad.
I have found it interesting recently to think about how the game has gone for me in comparison to how events have played out for Charson.
I would say that many turns ago, maybe 50 or 60 turns ago now, our civilizations held fairly similar positions to one another. Mine was a little weaker because I had lost Geneva in the One Turn’s War while Charson had not yet suffered a disaster of similar magnitude, but in general, we both held roughly similar positions in terms of technology, Crop Yield, etc. Then we went down different paths, which is how we have ended up in our respective very different situations today.
I committed to Astronomy, ignoring standard medieval military and economic technologies in favor of the hope of island colonies. I also entirely ignored workshops in favor of cottages for tech power, and I didn’t fire another Golden Age because I needed my scientist to bulb Astronomy. Meanwhile, Charson apparently took the more typical route, obtaining Civil Service and probably some other technologies that I haven’t been able to keep track of, building workshops all over, and entering another Golden Age. For a while, these different strategies did not produce too much obvious difference between us, but when you look at how we fared in the dogpiles against us, the differences become clear.
When Charson was attacked, he performed impressively when you take into consideration the fact that he was facing the combined might of three stronger civilizations. After being reduced to a mere three cities, only two of them mainland, he counterattacked, rebounding to five cities, burning one of Elkad’s, and securing peace with all of his attackers. The Interdimensional Rift remained in semi-intact shape after the first round of invasion. For my part, you can read the past few reports to see the chronicle of my easy defeat when I was attacked. I never made a successful counterattack or won a defensive battle. This is despite having twenty more turns to prepare than Charson did.
However, successful execution of the Astronomy plan has granted me a second lease on life in the form of my island colonies. Meanwhile, the second round of attack is probably going to push Charson off the mainland for good in the next ten turns or so. If Superdeath doesn’t finish off Liquid Flame, then I’m sure Elkad or shallow_ru will. Then, there is only the one-tile island city of Magissa to retreat to. Therefore, despite the fact that Charson’s route produced a far more impressive defense of the mainland than my Astronomy plan did, I think that the Astronomy plan turned out to be the right one to take.
(Side note: there is a decent chance that I would be cursing my Astronomy plan from exile in Quebec City right now if Elkad had attacked me on Turn 160 instead of Charson. Maybe I could have raced to Astronomy in time to start colonization before being pushed into the sea, but it would have been close. The Astronomy plan was by no means guaranteed to turn out to be the better way)
Of course, the island colonies aren’t going to be a safe haven immune to attack forever, just for now. My fellow Northern Ocean inhabitants can research Astronomy too and chase me down, and Moncacht-Ape’s sighting of a Traumhaft caravel makes me afraid that such an eventuality may not be as far off as I want. I hope that Elkad simply researched Optics because he wanted a better ship to secure his coastline against my raiders in the event that I didn’t make peace, or in the event that I come back after peace, but there is also a decent chance that he is pursuing Astronomy to take over my colonies. Luckily, I at least don’t need to live in uncertain fear, since I can use the pillage gold to fund espionage so I can see his research again. Report good news, spies, I want to keep playing in my sandbox.
Participated in: Pitboss 40 (lurked by Mr. Cairo), Pitboss 45 (lurked by Charriu and chumchu), Pitboss 63 (replaced Mr. Cairo), Pitboss 66, Pitboss 69, Pitboss 74
Participating in: Pitboss 78 (lurked by GT), Pitboss 79 (lurking giraflorens)
Criticism welcome!
Participating in: Pitboss 78 (lurked by GT), Pitboss 79 (lurking giraflorens)
Criticism welcome!
At least he can live on as a spectator in Magissa…
”
The trouble with that path is that it takes longer to pay off than either of the other ones, and I’m not sure if I will have enough time. Still, I think that the reward at the end is worth the risk of not getting a reward at all, so that is the path I will try.
