[Spoilers] Defining the phrase "€˜Hung Like a Horse"€™: Pb & the Kuriotates

[darrelljs]

plenty for even the Kuriotites except half of the top row is cut off. Is your field of view different?

This is exactly what I see! I assumed from the discussion more was cut off for others, as like you say this is enough to manage the city.

Darrell

[pocketbeetle]

Diplo:

Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 11:41:28 AM
Subject: RE: Developments

I didn't really need good luck so far. Sareln's city was left abandoned. I'm pushing on towards the capital, which should be a lot more fun.

Trade routes coming on line would definitely be a good thing so I've sent you an open borders offer and should have my half of the road building project done in the next 10-15 turns. Stelvio Pass is a great name. Nice picture.

Hey Selrahc,

Accepted!

Regards,
Pb, Putting up Parking Lots Boy-King.

From Sareln:

Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 4:28:44 AM
Subject: RE: RE:^2 Cartography

I offered a map-for-map trade in-game, maybe my scouting will actually
benefit someone :P. I'm not going to be able to contest what Selrahc
has sent against me, I'll get the details to you and Bob later when I
write them up. Coincidentally, I do have a settler who is finishing
just about now - what are the rules for elimination? It's a corner
case I haven't had the "opportunity" to explore for some strange
reason...

Couple of points in there:

• Do I want a map-for-map trade?
  Depends how much more info he has compared to my current one.
  I would gain info on his capital and second city, which Selrahc will have already taken, and probably a bit more info on the South.
  On the downside, I don’t know how much more, I’d be giving away complete info on my lands, plus the fact I’ve got total knowledge of the land around Selrahc’s capital will probably clue him in that there’s some kind of deal in place (although the now accepted OB is a giveaway I guess, didn’t meant to sign that before a road was in place).
  Either way, I think I’ll have to politely reject.
  
• Settler finishing just about now.
  Lucky boy, but combined with the Hunting research (see next post), reinforces that Sareln left alone could have done quite well in this game.
  
• Rules for elimination.
  It will almost certainly be that you have to have a city in place.
  There is a total elimination option, ie all cities + all units have to be killed before a civ is considered dead, but I think it’s unlikely Darrell enabled that.
  
• Overall.
  I need to be careful how much help I try to give Sareln, no need for it to start filtering back to Selrahc.
  I’ve already crossed the line slightly by telling him to look for the GC and Orthus Axe promotions that I knew would be there, and advising him to run rather than fight.
  Two reasons for me nudging Sareln in that direction:
  • If Sareln chooses to make a final stand, then the best outcome I could hope for is that he gets lucky with the combat RNG and manages to kill a Priest at low odds.
    If Sareln simply chooses not to fight, there’s no chance of a Priest dying, but equally Selrahc doesn’t get free xp to reach Combat V (+100% str) or something horrific.
    
  • Sareln fleeing through the forests/jungle will provide Selrahc with the dilemma of chasing after him, or leaving an understandable unhappy human player alive to possibly return and fight a Guerilla war.
    Either way, there’s a higher likelihood of the Priests being tied up for longer = more security time for me to focus on economy and defense.
    
  
  

So:

Hello Sareln,

I'm afraid I've had to reject the map offer, but I both appreciate and thank you for the intentions behind the gesture.
My reasoning behind this, is that the world seems to have become a much more dangerous place all of a sudden.
Any information on my capital location and surrounding terrain has become of huge strategic importance to me.
I'm sure you wouldn't deliberately or willingly tell any other player, but I can't rule out the possibility that you could end up with no choice in the matter.

Regarding game rules, I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect that having no city will eliminate a player.

Kind Regards,
Pb, Sympathetic Boy-King.

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 76:

Two diplo screens greeted me on loading the save:

Rejected Sareln’s map trade, accepted Selrahc’s OB offer.



Over at Kwythellar, Bob-A-Long started mining, Bobbo moved W, while the GC created a Command Post.
Two reasons for that:

• Overcomes Pacifism’s -20% military unit production penalty.
  Would’ve slowed down the 2+ workboats in Kwythellar’s production queue, allows me to build some warriors without penalty if I feel the need.
  
• Command Post gives +1gpp/t.
  That boosts Kwythellar’s gpp output from 4 (3 + 50% = 4.5 = 4) to 6 (3 + 50% = 6).
  Means I’ll get the next great person out 10 turns faster at around T95, same as if I’d stayed Philosophical.
  The only problem is: those added gpp/t are Great Commander points, not scientist. Means there’s a risk that the next GP could be a GC, estimate it’s around 15%.
  But hey, sure things are boring aren’t they? =)

At Caledor, Bobbin moved NW-N and put in a turn of mining on the ph, next turn will move NW and farm the wheat, will complete just in time for Caledor’s next growth.



Bob started farming the rice at Avelorn, RoK was spread.
Maintenance costs dropped from -11/turn to -8/t thanks to the loss of two units (thane + GC) and RoK in Avelorn producing +1 gold/turn.


Demographics:

Selrahc took Gereth Minar off Sareln, as can be seen in the trade screen at the top of this post.
He gained 11 points to retake top spot (good), suggests that the city is at 2 pop.

More importantly though, Sareln’s score only decreased by 4 points ie less than 1 pop point, which ofc makes no sense, unless you factor in a tech gain.

Sareln:
Last turn that he researched a tech: T47 -> Assigned Mysticism
Next turn he researched a tech: T54
Therefore gap = 7 turns
GNP during period: 14 ie research 12.
7 turns x 12 = 84b

Allowing for a small overflow, it’s clearly the level 1 tech Exploration at 85b.
Sareln has: Agri, AH, Anc Chants, Mysticism, Exploration.
I’m surprised he’s not now going Crafting/Mining for production however.
He 100% does not need the roads from Exploration, he’s virtually in the middle of a forest, so it must be as a prereq for something else.
Fishing is a no, Cartography is a possible, but Hunting makes a lot more sense both for the Hunter unit and as a prereq for the FoL religion.

Sareln:
Last turn that he researched a tech: T54 -> Assigned Exploration
Next turn he researched a tech: T75
Therefore gap = 21 turns
GNP during period: 20-31 ie research 18-29.
21 turns x 23.5 = 494b

This one’s merely a formality, but it’s nice to see even rough estimates matching up well. Hunting at 495b.
He just got it a touch too late unfortunately.

I’m not even going to try and guess what tech he goes for next.

[darrelljs]

I did not enable any options unrequested by the players .

Darrell

[pocketbeetle]

I did not enable any options unrequested by the players .

Darrell

Thanks for letting me know.
I'm tempted to ask you whether there's any copper on this map at all, but I'll restrain myself.

Something I've yet to do is try and figure out how much land is on this map, ie if there are any islands.
Meh doesn't matter for now, too busy dealing with other 'problems', more details tomorrow.

[darrelljs]

I'm tempted to ask you whether there's any copper on this map at all, but I'll restrain myself.

I will tell you that I did not add or delete Copper .

Darrell

[pocketbeetle]

I will tell you that I did not add or delete Copper .
Darrell

Okay thanks, that just means the distribution is screwy then.
Shame, Soldiers of Kilmorph + copper would have been a nice str 5.

Message from Sareln:

Sent:Thursday, August 26, 2010 11:23:03 PM
Subject: RE: RE^3: Cartography

Fair enough.

Selrahc's Hammer:

Riuros (Priest of Winter) Str. 9 (6 +2 Cold +1 Fire): Channeling I,
Channeling II, Combat 1, Divine, Great Commander, Homeland, Ice I, Ice
II, Ice Resist, Medic I, Medic II, Orthus' Axe, Winterborn
Anagantios (Priest of Winter) Str. 7 (5 +2 Cold): Channeling I,
Channeling II, Divine, Homeland, Ice I, Ice II, Ice Resist, Medic I,
Medic II, Winterborn
Dumannios (Priest of Winter) Str. 7 (5 +2 Cold): Channeling I,
Channeling II, Divine, Homeland, Ice I, Ice Resist, Medic I, Medic II,
Winterborn
Sleet (Warrior) Str. 3: Combat I, Combat II, Combat III, Combat IV,
Healing Potion, Homeland, Shock I, Winterborn
Hail (Warrior) Str. 3: Combat I, Combat II, Homeland, Winterborn
Frost (Warrior) Str. 3: Homeland, Winterborn
Snowflake (Warrior) Str. 3: Homeland, Winterborn
Blizzard (Warrior) Str. 3: Homeland, Winterborn

Priests of Winter + Support I could probably stand against, but the
great commander and Orthus' Axe turns a implausible situation into an
impossible one. I'll be fleeing, but I may just be delaying the
inevitable by a handful of turns. I'll try not to feed him any more
XP then is necessary to prolong myself .

Flee Rules: When no cities, dead. Ergo. Must plant new city before
capital falls.

-Sareln-

Ouch.
Note that one of the Priests doesn't have Ice II though.

Taking a look at the distances, I think even if Selrahc were to turn his Priests around straight after taking Sareln's capital, he'd still need 10-15 turns travelling time to reach Avelorn.

Should be enough time to get the Giants out, but I need to stop adding things to Kwythellar's build queue.
(Watch me break this next turn).

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 77:

Straight in this turn.
The Savant spread Ashen Veil to Avelorn, one splashscreen and some chanting music later, one Holy City founded.



Note the GSci born to Selrahc also. He can either bulb KotE or build an Academy, I expect it’ll be the latter.

Units all moved as planned.



Clicking end turn built the Kurios’ 5th worker in Kwythellar, a granary in Caledor, Festivals research completed.


Demographics:

Nothing happening, that Savant was worth 6k soldier points for some reason, so now my power looks really anemic.

It’s been a good while since Cull researched anything – going on 20 turns now.
Either he’s researching a big tech or storing cash to keep his cities happy.


Diplo:

Hi Sareln,

Yeah, that looks pretty nasty.

Obviously I can’t do much to help you at this point.
But if you can manage to pull yourself out of this situation, who knows for the future.

Stay in touch.

Kind Regards,
Pb, Feeling Religious Boy-King

[Ilios]

Which religion are you planning on converting to?

[Krill]

Thanks for the updates PB