[SPOILERS] yuris125 on a Pitboss77 boat

[yuris125]

SD diplo message




I'm interpreting it as "stop giving money from trade routes to Scooter, give it to me instead"

I noted before that I didn't think protective leaders got value from international trade routes thanks to the bonus to their domestic trade routes. I probably was wrong - theit domestic trade gets the same multiplier as to international, +100%, but international also gets the modifier for sustained peace - which currently stands at 150%, so is higher than 100% a protective leader would get from domestic overseas trade

That said, it is still a fact that protective leaders benefit from open borders significantly less

Now, since my plans involve a post-Astro attack with samurai, I have to consider both my neighbours potential targets, and would like to have established friendly relationships with one of them. When choosing a friend between Scooter and Superdeath, I think Scooter would be more reliable, both for in-game reasons (an expansive leader is less military-oriented than charismatic) and for meta reasons (I consider Scooter to be a more trustworthy player). Additionally, with my plans for the marble island, hostilities with Bing are becoming ever more likely, in which case I would like to maximise the chances of Scooter being on my side of the conflict

All in all, I believe OB with Scooter is more beneficial to me than OB with Superdeath would be, and I benefit from this agreement more than Scooter

That said, I am expediting settling the stone city and bulding walls on the border with Superdeath, just to discourage any silliness

[yuris125]

The marble city should be secured - admittedly, for now it looks like a city AI crammed into an open space it managed to find




The two archers are getting there next turn thanks to a galley chain, not a perfect one, but serviceable. Two workers are not far behind

I do need to get culture into the city, hence the Monument first. Not improving the clam for now because I will lose it to Epione Lab, at least temporarily

If Bing doesn't reinforce Lemuria, I will be attacking it very soon, just 2 galleys/4 swords is near guaranteed to take a city defended by a single archer. Ise also helps in this sense, as he is going to see constant galley movement in the area for the next few turns, and may not realise the danger. And I have a gap in production queue until marble comes online, I would've started Parthenon already if there was nothing better to build, but think I should build a few quick swords and seize this opportunity. Don't think anyone else made the Aesthetics/Literature detour, so a small delay shouldn't hurt

[yuris125]

Bing now has an axe in Lemuria. Still over 90% to take it with 6 CR2 swords. Of course, I will need a few turns to get the fleet down to the core and load the galleys. But I'm definitely in war build-up mode now, with Osaka and Kagoshima working on swords, while Tokyo and Izumo will provide more galleys and a few triremes to cover

Was considering letting Scooter know about my plans, but decided against - Scooter is not the player I want to help make gains

Research set to Compass - I'm actually late on this, 3 players already researched it, but I'm also late on circumnav which makes Harbours good. I'm also tempted to go for the Music great artist, as I will need a great person for a golden age to generate great scientists for Astro and switch to military civics afterwards. Don't think it's mega urgent, but should be relatively soon just to ensure no one thinks of competing for it

[yuris125]

The north is looking not as useless as I expected, in fact there's winter paradise up there




I already moved the planned city on the icy island one tile south, it can fit one more city in the north. But I do want to go for the oases and flood plains as well

For the attack on Bing, I'm still hesitating on how much I need. The problem is that I only have one point of entry; if I were to strike Lemuria, I have to park my fleet on the tile S of the peak before going in. There's no possibility of a strike coming out of nowhere. One of the reasons I want Lemuria is that if I take control of the tile highlighted on the screenshot, I have an easier route towards the north

That said, there's nothing stopping me from landing before hitting the city, and I can also go for the cities to the west of Ise, which are currently not defended at all. If I control them, I can blockade Lemuria, and bring as many swords as needed to overpower archers on defence

Think I will start sailing north with 6 swords, but will not stop building units in case I need more

[yuris125]

Actually looking at the screenshot, what I said about a single point of entry is not quite true, thanks to the inner lake, if my fleet is parked in Ise, it's forking Lemuria and Epione Lab. There are some interesting tactical opportunities

[yuris125]

Scooter closed borders, so I went ahead and offered OB to SD. Now that my first attack is going in another direction, might as well let him scout me

[yuris125]

We sailin'




Will be 9 swords, Izumo just finished another one

Still 5 turns to get in position though, and Bing got a 3rd defender in Lemuria. We'll see how it goes

I am getting 2 axes on the mainland next, they can cover the stack so that swords don't die to axes if I decide to disembark and not attack from galleys. But after that it's wonder production time, marble will be connected next turn

[yuris125]

Next turn is the go turn




Two more swords are on the galley in Ise, 9 total, I think all but one have 2 promos available

Vodka is showing about 70% chance of taking the city amphibiously. I checked the option of landing on the tile N of the city, it is available and may be a better play: an unpromoted axe vs a sword in the forest is only ~27%, and I can take C1/Shock instead of CR2 on one of the swords. Depends on Bing gets another defender; if he does, I definitely need to land

[yuris125]

Bing built another axe in Lemuria, which dropped the chance of taking the city to sub-50%. So unfortunately attack is a no go for now

Instead, I'm going to sail into Ise and threaten Epione Lab and Nyx Station. I also have another galley with 2 axes on the way, which might swing the odds at Lemuria. Plus there's an axe in Ise who can join the attack

[yuris125]

A dangerous turn as the fleet is in Ise




If Bing has the forces to take Ise this turn, it will be a huge blow. Pretty sure he doesn't though. We'll see where we are next turn, right now Epione Lab with only 3 archers on defence looks like a good target, and maybe from there I can take some of the northern cities. Lemuria will need more than I currently have, and I need to finish the wonders before another round of units

Superdeath sent an iron/iron deal with me going to war with Scooter. I'm not going to do that, Scooter is still leading the game, and is likely closest to Astro. SD may simply be worried about me being the highest power in the game, with him being the lowest. Must be something he's not used to I didn't respond, perhaps I should've sent back a fish for fish to calm him down, but I think it wouldn't be a bad thing for him to build some units

Scooter may be preparing his own attack on Bing btw