[SPOILER] Shaka of Inca - gingereagle1969 & Sandover

[gingereagle1969]

Wow .. turns come round quickly again

Well looky-here:



Wonder if he's spotted me?

So, there's N-S wrap ... hmm, should I investigate E-W? Nah, let's head around his culture & see if Shabba03 can link up for the assault

OMG!! The Settler is ready at end of this turn in WakaWakaShaka ... I hope Shabba10 can fly to the rendezvous point I'll look at the Library, so the city can grow, but may go for a Worker instead

SheWolf grew as planned, so I've switched to a Worker ... I've calculated that the 20 hammers from the Mine will knock 2.5 turns off [have moved Shaggy02 to assist] I'll switch back to the Library as the city is actually only 2 turns from size 4(!) ... this means the Mine can be worked as soon as it comes online.

OK demos:



OK!! Will people's borders stop popping ... or is someone whipping out new cities like there's no tomorrow? With my population, I'm not liking being 5 in land area.

[gingereagle1969]

Gah!!!!



"the best laid plans of mice and men", etc ... bloody Barbarians!!! OK, I'm flexible ... Whovus has won a reprieve by the actions of an outside hand ... fate

right, how's this? Numidian is a shite city site, so it will have to be razed .. so which promotion do I bestow on the 3 ready to strike? They currently have a 20.9% chance of beating the top Warrior, so do I take Combat II (+10% Strength), Shock I (+25% vs melee) or Raider I (+20% City Attack)? Also there is another Quechua, with a promotion to spend [and one that doesn't] 1 tile behind.

In the meantime, I'll move Pleb01 [think he's kind of earned a renaming ... to "Tupac" ... not sure how I missed this trick; Tupac was an early King of the Inca and the rapper's surname is Shakur ... hmm] onto the Hill near those Pigs in Whovus's culture .. maybe I'll get a look at the city, at last!!

Shabba03 is currently skirting the northern edge of Whovus's culture ... guessing this is his capital, as, from what I can see, it's on the same squares [all be it reversed] as mine

Now, here's a quandary ... do I settle the "EyesLikeYours" site? It's close to Numudian, is it too close to settle unless I raze the Barbarian one? Similar problem with "BackInBlack" too. Or do I go for "CazadorDeAmor" as previously planned?

[gingereagle1969]

Hmm ... working out the odds, even with promotions, it may be better to leave Numidian until later ... besides, the close proximity of my Quechua may provoke an attack and the defense bonus of the forest may mean I don't lose anyone [guessing those Barbarian Warriors have similar odds] .. if the city is undefended next turn, I can just walk in and raze it with my unpromoted one, Shabba06 .. in other words, we press on!!

No turn yet .. but I had this in my Inbox:

Goeiedag Lord Protector GingerEagle,

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding. Most of our time was spend helping our coaches chop some forests for the new Stadion.

We would like to tell His Illustrious Majesty [may his hips never lie] that our conversation with the Crazy empire have been irregular as well. They seem like a two headed hydra who's head aren't really working together and have trouble meeting, though part of the same body. Killing such a fierce creature, would give His Illustrious Majesty [may his warriors be as brave as he is good looking] a great trophy, of course.

We would also like to tell His Illustrious Majesty [my his Number One Wife be the sun in his life forever] that we have met all other civilizations on the map.
As a gesture of our honest intentions, we will give you our first scetch of the world as we know it:

Malakai : Tredje : Whovus
Kyan : Nakor/Haspar : GingerEagle

Our people hope His Illustrious Majesty will visit our cities once day in the name of friendship, and bring his Number One Wife with him, so our people can enjoy the songs in the wonderfull voice we have heard so much about.

Kind regards,
Co-trainers Gaspar and Nakor, Totaal Voetbal

Are they goading me to take out Whovus completely? I'm now doubting I have sufficient forces to take that lake-city, let alone whatever other city[ies] he has.

Sandover, if you're about, any thoughts?

[gingereagle1969]

Contact from the Koreans:

Greetings Ginger Eagle, leader of the Shakirite peoples

This message is to advise you that our scouting warrior has found your city

Please note that my warriors comes with peaceful intentions and is there for exploration only, although that being said he did kill some wild animals just outside of your city, and I hope that act of protecting your people from possible animal attacks helps to show my good intentions towards your people.

By way of goodwill, I can confirm that my warrior came from far to the west beyond Nako / Gaspar land, I can also confirm that I have now met ALL other civs except for Trefe, so I may be willing to help facilitate a meeting with any of these others if you so require.

It is my hopes that our people will be able to build a peaceful and productive relationship that will benefit us both.

Regards


Malakai
Emperor of Korea

let's hope his "peaceful intentions" are better than his spelling of players' names

damn, that's 2 messages I'll have to craft now ... at least it seems the turn has moved on a bit.

[Sandover]

Sandover, if you're about, any thoughts?

Not much at this point. It might make sense to pursue some kind of border agreements with the neighbours you aren't going to war with, but it's probably too early (i.e. not enough scouting) to go down that road.

[gingereagle1969]

Not much at this point.

Great ... guess I'm asking the wrong person to talk me out of this venture

It might make sense to pursue some kind of border agreements with the neighbours you aren't going to war with, but it's probably too early (i.e. not enough scouting) to go down that road.

True, it's likely they know a lot more about the map than I do ... hell, I only managed to work out NS wrap because the game allowed me to view my most southerly unit by moving too far north with the cursor keys!!


OK, turn received and played ... actually had it for about 10 hours, but I didn't check my inbox before going to bed

The fortified Warriors in Numidian chose not to attack, so they obviously didn't like the odds. Incidentally, my odds to win are down to 12%, so I'll skirt around them on my way to the lake ... will have Copper [already Mined and being worked for SheWolf] hooked up in 2 turns, so I'll start building Axemen [thinking they'd be better as "TupacXX" ... I'll call the Warrior "2Pac" instead] Worker [Shaggy03] built in SheWolf at end of turn, game has switched back to Library [7 turns] which will improve tech rate*, will do same at WakaWakaShaka after the Worker completes there [may look to whip it once the pop reaches 7 and it reaches happy cap]

*On the tech front, trying out the 'binary' system ... noticed I was @ -2 G/turn on 90% tech! 1 turn on 0% will get me 23G, which will easily cover 8 turns @ -4G/turn on 100% - currently have 15G [38G total] ... may have to tech this way in future

Warrior Pleb01 [to be renamed "2Pac" when I remember] moved onto the hill, but still cannot see what's going on in the lake city ... grrr! Shabba03 is still skirting around the north of Whovus' culture [his capital?] Wonder if he's worried I'll sneak in and unhook an improved tile, or two [] however that would mean declaring war too early Dammit!! Forgot to check if I had his graphs

[gingereagle1969]

OK ... onto the diplomacy front

I think the Ace Ventura joke is possibly wearing a bit thin and the persona I've been using, although fun to start with, is now making composing messages a chore. I'll now take the title "Ambassador" [I'll leave it to Nakor/Gaspar to consider who is now "Lord Protector" ] and not over-use the "Illustrious Majesty [yada yada yada]" bit beyond the signature, and maybe the first line, in future.

Will update with replies shortly ...

To Nakor/Gaspar:

Sanibona Nakor & Gaspar of the Totaal Voetbal Empire

His Illustrious Majesty [yada yada yada] accepts your apologies. We also find the forests infuriating and wish we could just set them ablaze and be done with it!

So, The Crazy Empire are slow to respond, eh? That would explain why it took them about 400 years to reply! We are considering leaving it as long before they see our response to their suggestion that we settle an identical lake to our South-West! Maybe the "two-headed hydra" of which you speak is the "dragon" our Quechua were babbling on about.

Interesting that you place Whovus to our North only, as one of our roaming Quechua stumbled upon the northern edge of his culture whilst scouting south! This is a very strange map, don't you think?

We have recently met the Koreans, and find Malakai to be most pleasant. Indeed, his Warrior even dealt with some local wildlife for us on his travels. This now just leaves Tredje and Kyan to meet. Regarding the latter, and bearing in mind the strangeness of this map, do you believe him to be to our East as well as to the West of you?

His Illustrious Majesty [yada yada yada] accepts your kind invitation to visit your capital city. We hope to do so sometime in the future.

Sobonana,

Ambassador GingerEagle
on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty,
Shaka Rex of The Shakirite Empire
[may His hips never lie, may His breasts remain small and humble]

PS I have been moved sideways to 'Ambassador' and given free rein over diplomatic messages

and to Malakai:

Sanibona Malakia, Emperor of the Koreans

I, Ambassador GingerEagle, welcome you on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty, Shaka Rex [may his hips never lie], to the lands of The Shakirite Empire.

His Illustrious Majesty [may his breasts remain small and humble] is grateful for your Warrior's assistance with the local wildlife, and appreciates the kind gesture. We too hope for "a peaceful and productive relationship" with you, but does not require any binding pact at this present time, if you were thinking of offering one.

Your appearance means we have only Tredje and Kyan to encounter. Any directions towards the latter would be most appreciated.

Sobonana,

Ambassador GingerEagle
on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty,
Shaka Rex of The Shakirite Empire
[may His hips never lie, may His breasts remain small and humble]

[gingereagle1969]

reply from Malakai:

Hi there Gingereagle.

Thank you for your reply.

I can confirm that Kyan's land is somewhere to your distant west, south of my own lands.
I hope this helps, if you would like us to facilitate a meeting of some kind let me know

Interesting, he's not giving any map information away. I found a lake to my south-east, who's lands lie beyond? Tredje? Maybe I'll investigate that way later.

[Sandover]

Great ... guess I'm asking the wrong person to talk me out of this venture

Sandover like war. You go fight war now.

[gingereagle1969]

Sandover like war. You go fight war now.

Roger Wilco, Lord Protector