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

[Profane]

I also like your suggestion a lot, and have decided to make an executive decision on that being the new naming scheme for Centaur Archers (sorry Ilios, Profane, I couldn't make myself do it ).

At least crown your Cultural Trio with each of them?

[pocketbeetle]

Ask and ye shall receive:

You're really very good at those aren't you Maksim?
I shall have to try and come up with more unanswerable questions for you to…well…answer.

For the naming of god forsaken outposts of the Kuriotates empire I humbly suggest Soviet closed cities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city

* Arkhangelsk Oblast: Mirny
* Astrakhan Oblast: Znamensk
* Republic of Bashkortostan: Mezhgorye
* Chelyabinsk Oblast: Ozyorsk, Snezhinsk, and Tryokhgorny
* Kamchatka Krai: Vilyuchinsk
* Krasnoyarsk Krai: Zelenogorsk, Norilsk, Zheleznogorsk and Dikson.
* Leningrad Oblast: Sosnovy Bor
* Moscow Oblast: Krasnoznamensk, Zvyozdny gorodok, Vlasikha
* Murmansk Oblast: Gadzhiyevo, Ostrovnoy, Polyarny, Severomorsk, Snezhnogorsk and Zaozyorsk
* Nizhny Novgorod Oblast: Sarov
* Penza Oblast: Zarechny
* Primorsky Krai: Bolshoy Kamen and Fokino
* Saratov Oblast: Shikhany
* Sverdlovsk Oblast: Lesnoy and Novouralsk
* Tomsk Oblast: Seversk
* Vladimir Oblast: Raduzhny

Don't they just sound perfect for tundra iceballs!

Hi Darkmantle, =)

I like this idea, and if we'd come up with earlier I might have gone with it.
The main problems are that I've now got a scheme (Diso, next one up T120) and also that the whole names are too long to be allowed ingame (eg Arkhangelsk Oblast: Mirny).
I realise that the first part is the province/region that the town is in, but just 'Mirny' on its own doesn't have quite the same impact.
I'm open to persuasion on that though, if anyone else agrees that it's a much better idea we could definitely change.

As for victory, running a bunch of priests until you get some altars is boring. Your leader is posessed by a ancient and terrible golden dragon. Does the prospect of reducing the world to a bunch of client settlements while the mighty Kuriotates rule from their distant kingdom appeal to you or to Veez? With Engineering you can strike 9-12 tiles into anyones empire once you switch over to raider.
Can you honestly tell me that wouldn't be more fun?

Absolutely agree!
It is boring, and stomping all over the enemy to the tune of Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot" appeals much more to me. (And I know Krill wholeheartedly approves of this Public Service Announcement).
But I'm much more confident in my ability to out-tech (see current sitation) than to out-war.
It will depend in part on how the other players react to my growing power rating.

But I promise you that I do have plans, and some do involve large maps, Generals standing around, and underlings pushing little flags around using long sticks.

Also I've been wondering for a while now, Is the road network specifically designed to deal with raiding forces. For example NE NE of Caledor, you have a road link up to the hill which would be a great place for some defending centaurs to dig in. Also the road link down south runs along the ridge of hills which would be perfect for speed bumping any strike force.

Eh, I'm in danger of talking out my arse here in answering this question, but I am trying to keep my land defensible vs Raiders and general unwanted ruffians.

I've been trying to keep all roads junctioning at cities only, and have avoided connecting up the road below Caledor to prevent enemy units bypassing the future capital, even though that's currently causing me some annoyance and wasted unit moves (at least until the desert pass road is completed).
If I had it my way, there wouldn't even be a road on the Easternmost Silks.



Those two forest tiles will of course be chopped.
That way in order to reach Kwythellar, anyone either has to attack Caledor, leave themselves open to attack in the flatlands below Caledor, or go through the very defensible desert peak gap (may have to come up with a name for that I think).

So... that's been the general idea anyway, even though I'm sure some of it is probably pointless.
Just wish Avelorn could have been on a hill. Really need to build walls there soon.

Why, of course, mighty emperor! All live in such fear of your mighty warriors and ratmen (especially ratmen) that they wouldn't dare to doubt the face value of your words! Those who are not intimidated by your soldiers' pointy sticks are certainly intimidated by your sparkling wit or your regal posture!
Of course, these foreign types know nothing of deception in any event. What does a Svartalfar know of lies? Vampires would never consider that someone might not tell the entire truth in their dealing with others! Heck, neither the dwarves nor the horselords even understand how to hide from a foe! And the frosty types are such jolly happy souls.

...And there was me expecting the usual "no spoilers allowed" reply.
That'll teach me for asking won't it?

It's worth noting however, that 'regal posture' may change into me grabbing my ankles at some point!
But for now, things still look good.

At least crown your Cultural Trio with each of them?

What do you mean by cultural trio?
The three Centaur Archers that eventually end up garrisoning Kwythellar/Caledor and Avelorn?
Tell you what, let's name the first Centaur Archer: Priapus as per Ilios' suggestion, because as noted, it does fit very well with the thread title, but after that I'm definitely going with Mardoc's suggestion!


Time for another catch-up turn I think.

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 120:

T120 started with a ‘wtf’ moment as shown in the turnlog.



I was faced with the same confusing questions as Selrahc, who chose to ask, after Bob announced in the tech thread:

A little late to the party, but the Calabim have finally claimed their own free Golden Age, as rightfully befits the true Epic-Masters of Erebus

I'm confused by this... surely you need a religion to get the free Golden Age events? The only exception being for the Illians. Mind clarifying?

You can get a free golden age outside of events. Not... quite the same as you and PB, but you guys were kind enough to post messages here regarding your good fortune, and so I decided to be a champ as well

Yup.
Without a religion, there’s only two ways the Calabim have picked up a Golden Age (GA).

1. Lair outcome.
   One of the ‘good’ outcomes from a lair is a free GA, accompanied by a message along the lines of ‘Tales of your armies exploration have spread, bringing about a Golden Age’.
   
2. Using a Great Person (GP) to start a GA.
   That GP can either be born naturally, popped from a lair, or popped from an event.
   

I’m choosing my words carefully in that last line for a reason.
GP that are ‘born’ naturally, ie by reaching a gpp limit from running specialists or by reaching a specific tech first, come with an announcement in the turnlog if you have contact with that civilisation. However, as we saw with my two GP events (GPro, Artist/Harpy) and also with the Great Commander (GC) from the lair around T55ish, if a GP is ‘popped’ there is no announcement in the turnlog.
Since the turnlog is clear, either the Calabim received the GA lair outcome, a free GP lair outcome, or the GPro/GArt event (I can’t think of any other free GP event off the top of my head).
Of those, I would say the GArt event is unlikely, as I rate Bob (don’t know about Dave, doesn’t seem clueless from what little correspondence we’ve had so far) and a good player would know there’s been no GArt pops so far and would have used it to bulb Drama for denial purposes. Unless of course, they’re being even cockier/greedier than me and intend to self-tech it within the next couple of turns.

So, either a lair GA outcome, a GPro event, or popping a GP from a lair, eg a GC.
Great Commanders are lower value to the Organised Calabim – they can build Command Posts normally, so using one for a GA makes some sense.

Anyway, theorising aside, this now means another damn civ has received a freebie.
If Iskender receives one in the near future (thereby rounding out all of the four main civs in contention), I reserve the right to go back to bitching about the map and my luck!


You also may have noticed the Bear in the first screenshot, who moved out of the fog to threaten c2.
Not a problem, that’s why we brought along Rosebud and co.
First off, let’s found Lave:



Note that Selrahc gets an instant +2(+1) commerce from trade routes, while I get…nothing.
Hmm.

Next, with the improved visibility telling me that nothing nasty is hiding in the fog, Pixiefoot promotes to Combat I to get 89% odds on winning(~73% odds unpromoted) and gets busy kicking some bear butt.



Close battle, but easily dealt with.
Both Rosebud and an unmoved Cloverleaf were within a Mobility-promotion’s range to finish off the bear if it had survived.
Moving Cloverleaf onto the Deer hill afterwards revealed a jumbo lurking around. I might be able to capture that.
Note that the +50% animal bonus subtracted from the bear’s strength ala Shock/Cover promotions.


Moving down South, Moe stomped 1E this turn and with his Sentry promotion spotted an Ice Golem on a hill.
Could this mean the fabled yet elusive Priests were close?



Time to bring in Kes again.



That’s not good.
Dealing with the Ice Golem first: it’s str 6 (2 base, +2 cold, and another +2 cold from Selrahc’s 2 sources of Ice mana).
It also has Empower V because its summoner (a PoW) has Combat V. Empower V adds another 50% str, so those Ice Golems are an effective str 9.
ie Selrahc has a throw away summons that can kill my Giants handily now. Bleh.

The Priests are pretty much as expected due to the Cull war. All heavily promoted to Combat V. The top one has the March promotion also.
Two are slightly damaged, so clearly he’s been using them recently on something (barbs?).
The top Priest has an effective strength of 18.9…which is pretty respectable. No Drill promotions though, could be a mistake there.
Location-wise, Selrahc has placed them in the centre of his Empire, so he can reach either end in roughly the same sort of timeframe (2~3t). Suggests he considers the Calabim and Kurios an equal threat. His capital built another warrior this turn.
If he starts moving those Priests down, my Giants will 100% have to retreat. Can’t stand against those Ice Golems.

The other stack in that picture is a Settler escort.
Not sure where it’s heading yet, but the best case scenario would be the desert tile 1SE. Anywhere further South will infringe on c6’s location. East would be good.
Looks like Selrahc ran out of ‘wintery’ names for his warriors.



Clicking end turn completed the first Centaur Archer (time to start using the abbreviation CA I think) in Kwythellar, Caledor grew, and did I say that Kar Karond completed a Monument last turn?
Well it completed another Monument this turn!
Yes that’s right, over in Kurio land we use hax liberally.

Caledor switched to building the Kurio palace this turn to take advantage of a chop by Bob Carlyle located 2W-1NW.
Over the next couple of turns Caledor will alternate between Palace and Hawks to pick up chops from various workers. I’ll do my best to keep multiple chops coordinated.


Demographics:

I’m bored of the usual screen, let’s have a different one.
Might’ve helped if I’d taken it after ending the turn however.

That red fist tells me I can liberate Diso to Selrahc for a diplo bonus.
Pfffffffffffffffffft.


The Calabim founded their fifth city, Dirage, this turn.

[Profane]

Too bad your Hawks will never attain the rank of Elite by the Federation of Elite Pilots and instead remain Harmless...

But be sure that if you ever bring in Eurabatres, keep track of his number of kills!

When you found Riedquat, will you be defending it with lots of Kurio recon units?

[pocketbeetle]

I knew Lave might be a bit too obvious, but that settlement could end up being important, so I had to call it something decent.
As a plus, anyone trying to Google "Diso Lave" were more likely to be directed to "Disco Love" instead.

Good job Profane, and I'd forgotten about the different populations. Reorte or Riedquat next for sure.

Also I've been wondering for a while now, Is the road network specifically designed to deal with raiding forces. For example NE NE of Caledor, you have a road link up to the hill which would be a great place for some defending centaurs to dig in. Also the road link down south runs along the ridge of hills which would be perfect for speed bumping any strike force.

As a follow-on to this, remind me to witter on at some point about the desert boundary to the East.
Long story short, there's a strip of desert above Diso that I'm aiming to be the border between Selrahc and I, for more reasons than one.

[Mardoc]

On the subject of luck -

Turn played and sent. Erm, since i've been doing alrite with this lair business, i decided to try again...

Promise not to start humping my leg ok?

Granted, it wasn't your luck except by proxy, but...you could have turned the GC into a golden age, I think?

[pocketbeetle]

On the subject of luck -

Granted, it wasn't your luck except by proxy, but...you could have turned the GC into a golden age, I think?

Absolutely.
I'm only joking about the bitching part. ^^

I'm happy with how I used that GC, it's giving me +xp on every military unit I build out of Kwythellar (plus naval units eventually), and it helped me to the second GSci faster.
I'd much rather use a GArt for my first 1-man GA, GCs are more useful to me for building Command Posts or attaching to units.

[pocketbeetle]

Turn 121:

Another catch-up turn. Where are we, and what are we doing?
Oh yes, Selrahc settled another city this turn: “Deck the Halls”.



That makes his seventh city, which is pretty decent.
Problem is, Moe can’t spot any new city borders on the map to the East.
I was intending to pair up Vanilla Ice and Kes this turn, but this I had to check out.



It would seem that Deck the Halls has not been created by that settler escort, but by another. Which means he’ll soon be on eight cities.
Hmmm.

I didn’t expect this – pretty much from the start of the game I’ve been expecting Selrahc to run Agristocracy. I thought the City States switch was an emergency measure, but it would seem he’s using it combined with Slavery to go on an exponential mass settling spree.
And rather than backfilling, he’s doing the smart thing and heading Southwards also.
Good move.

One upshot though, is that his power has barely changed from ~T60 when he first attacked Sareln.
A lot of that power then was the Priests, and the Illians now have to defend five, soon to be six more cities,
In short, he’s becoming increasingly spread out. de-capitalisation is looking more appealing by the hour.

Moving on.
The first CA sprinted into action this turn!
He’s (currently unnamed) heading for the ungarrisoned Karond Kar. Check out what a four mover can do:



And that’s with the desert gap road incomplete.
The red-man-running promotion is the Hasted effect, the purple square above it is the Centaur Fatigued promotion (-10% str, 50% chance to wear off each turn).
Note the Zealot from Kwythellar has nearly reached Avelorn – will spread OO next turn.

In the North, Cloverleaf moved a cautious one tile forward because she be hunting wabb- bears up there, while Pixiefoot moved back into Lave and promoted to Subdue Animal.
Will rest up and heal ~3t.



Clicking end turn completed the settler in Avelorn and Kwythellar grew to size 17.
An unexpected development is that Avelorn celebrated WLTK day, which will save me ~12gp in city maintenance and inflation next turn.
Very nice!

But here’s a question: I was under the impression that WLTK days last two turns ordinarily.
You’ll soon see that this event only effectively lasts for one… you can tell by the gold logs.
Am I mistaken?


Demographics:

Selrahc picked up ~31 points this turn, 6ish will be the new city, definitely a tech in there somewhere judging from the temporary drop in #2 GNP.
No idea what they tech is/could be, but it’s worth noting he now has Horses connected.

Sareln’s still struggling to pick himself up, he could really do with getting another city.
Selrahc sure knocked him for six didn’t he?

[The Reverend Doctor]

Long story short, there's a strip of desert above Diso that I'm aiming to be the border between Selrahc and I, for more reasons than one.

I know I was frustrated playing the Illians when I realized my ice elementals (is that what they're called?) couldn't even attack a city that was built on desert.

Definitely enumerate these other reasons!

[Profane]

Ah, using deserts to foil an Ice Elemental invasion is interesting...
So that Sun Mana will have a use even on Adepts after all!
Terraforming is one aspect of FfH that I really enjoy - I just love to work all those Plains Oasis tiles.

One question though, do you lose a Cottage when you Scorch a Plains tile that it sits on?

Regarding the unnamed Centaur Archer, after giving it some more thought, I think you should not name it Priapus, nor Mutunus Tutunus or Biggus Dickus after all, because those names are better saved up for when you acquire access to Centaur Lancers later on.