[PB78 SPOILERS] GT and Magic Science in the Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

[Magic Science]

I will report more when I wake up, but for now:

Superdeath smartly stayed back for a moment to give me the opportunity to destroy Dreylin's invading army, which I have now done, mostly. What else could I do? But because Superdeath stayed back so far away, my army might just have enough time to heal and accumulate new Catapults in time to destroy him too when he arrives at Marathon after the delay. The Pikeman vs. Knight/Cuirassier mismatch in my favor is vital. It will be incredibly close, but I think that saving Marathon is still possible.
The wrench in the works is Superdeath's other army in my east. It can probably force me to sacrifice Mycale for Marathon.

[Magic Science]

Dreylin refused my offer of white peace, but began to withdraw. He is still interfering with my logistics towards Marathon but is otherwise out of the fight. I offered another Peace Treaty with me giving him money and letting him keep New Tabriz and Pasargadae for now. Eliminating his interference might be worth another few units in Marathon for the big battle on Turn 185.

Superdeath did indeed invade in the east and west as soon as he saw the fate of Dreylin's army. I realized that instead of sacrificing Mycale for Marathon, I can sacrifice Issus for Mycale. A lot of the troops that were defending against Donovan Zoi in the south will now defend against Superdeath in the east.
Donovan Zoi can capture Issus if he really wants to, but that city is sadly exhausted (only 5 citizens left), and I also offered him a lot of money to leave me alone already.

And I do think that winning both big battles against Superdeath is possible! According to Vodka! It will be painfully close, but the Battle of Mycale on Turn 184 (next turn) and the Battle of Marathon on Turn 185 can be horrific bloodbaths for both of us with a lot of room for luck. Luck. I need some luck. A lot depends on what Superdeath has on his Galleys and where he places the ships themselves. I should never have let the enemy dominate the seas like this.
I am rambling. The point is that at both Mycale and Marathon I can attack out before Superdeath can attack in and on average we should suffer about equal casualties. Then my superior position in my own cities with tile defenses and production means that my mauled army will have the advantage, barely.
But that is only the average. Luck! And I do have 2 Great Generals.

Of course this is a lot like the Battle of Segou in Pitboss 74, and that fills me with hope. In that battle, I was a bit lucky and things went decisively in my favor. It could happen again twice.

[Magic Science]

This dogpile is a stable equilibrium until I am dead.
All 3 enemies have suffered bad casualties. Horrific casualties. Superdeath in particular. Dude. How many units do I have to kill at the gates of Marathon before you get the idea? How many reinforcements will you send to their deaths? Well, Marathon is the greatest city in the world.
None of the 3 enemies have seen any actual gains yet, because the cities they took are culturally crushed. But it doesn't matter.
There is no outside force or factor to worry them. Nothing that makes losing so many units and taking so long with no success a risk. Their backlines must be empty, but they are perfectly safe. The happy cooperating 3.
Only 5 players, 1 a city-state, 3 cooperating, 1 the enemy. I need something from outside this context to pressure them, but there is no outside context! Also I think I like cylinders more now.

Eventually, I will lose. At Marathon I think it is coming soon. A counterattack this turn could be devastating, I'm not sure, and there is the eastern army that took Mycale linking up. But I think that I will get 1 more good murderous sally forth.
In the south I still have some time. Everything but New Tehran must be slowly sacrificed, but then whoever dares attack the 2nd-greatest city in the world will suffer a murderous sally forth too. Fewer hitters than in Marathon's case, but more collateral. Musketmen to compensate for the loss of Iron (no one outside the dogpile to give me free Iron for Pikemen)

I played as great of a development game as I ever have, but my politics were horrible, and now it is too late. There is a lesson here. .
But I also stand by my assertion that I am simply so good at Civ IV that not one, but TWO dogpiles, separated by a temporal gulf of 70+ turns, is what it takes to defeat me. .

[Magic Science]

Hello again.
I see that the last turn I reported properly was Turn 40 on 18 July 2024, and the last time I said anything at all was 10 December 2024 on Turn 188.
Disgraceful! This was a game worth reporting.
I now bring you a report for…

Turn 203 – 1430 AD

…, the last days of the Iranian Civilization.

   
Donovan Zoi finally captured New Tehran earlier turn, so now Map (named for what the Tribal Village on that island gave me long ago) is all I have left.
At this point, playing is just a question of how petty and spiteful I want to be until I meet my end.

Staying at war with everyone? A perpetual state of war would better express my feelings for the other players, true, but I am tired of this turn-split and the game is slow enough, so everyone will get a Cease Fire at least.
You can see that Superdeath already has a binding Peace Treaty with me, though. He offered a Peace Treaty for Map last turn when I still had another city, but that would have been suicide, so I refused. Then I proposed a Peace Treaty for most of my money, which he accepted this turn. There is nothing left to upgrade and no useful technology in reach, so the money is useless to me, and a Peace Treaty would have neutralized Superdeath’s Triremes and let me evacuate more units to Map.
Unfortunately, Donovan Zoi attacked too soon and killed all my units.
The point of this story is that now Superdeath’s units are trapped in Marathon. . He wants Open Borders to get them free.

Should I give him Open Borders at any price? Trapping his units for 10 turns would be pretty funny, but I would also feel a pang of guilt about (ab)using the Peace and Culture mechanics like that. Compromise: Superdeath can have Open Borders if he gives me back all my money + Iron + World Map. That is appropriate.

Should I pillage some or all my irreparable tiles? The Coastal Town, the Hill Workshop, etc. They are still in my territory, and I have 1 Galley left.  .

LASTLY, some good news! Map’s borders are more expansive than I thought they would be. Shouldn’t I only retain control of tiles within 2 tiles of Map’s 1-tile “continent”? Well, this good news could vanish at any moment (though it at least lasted through the turn roll to Turn 204), but for now my last bastion is spiting my enemies better than I thought it would.
You want to work my precious tiles? Over my dead body! .
And Map will expand borders again in 5 turns. Excellent. If I had known that its borders would work like this, then I would have used the Great Artist here instead of in New Tehran.

[Magic Science]

By the way, I hope to post some more retrospective reports to cover the long Dark Ages, so feel free to ask about anything from earlier in the game if you want me to focus on it.