[SPOILER ALERT] Grimace hopes this one doesn't BSOD.

[spacetyrantxenu]

The question is: Do I try to expand by going to war with Gavagai, or raid/raze whatever I can of retep and Commodore's?

[Grimace]

Turns 125 - 126

I'm now down to my last "main" city, Quiet Riot. It's got two archers in it and no cultural or terrain bonuses, so it's toast next turn.

Commodore took Warrant on T125, but it took him an extra turn to take Winger this past turn. Best as I can tell he had insufficient forces and I killed a couple of his units, but I didn't look that closely at the combat log. He's earned himself two Great Generals from his conquest of my territory.

I'm going to do a raid on retep next turn...he's got a worker chopping that's within reach of my galleys, so I'm going to send a chariot over and take him out. That will also allow me to scout how well-defended his closest city is, and if it's not too bad I can send my Gallics in to raze it.

EDIT: Oh, incidentally on T125 HAK offered me his extra Copper for 20 gold...obviously he's trying to help me die as hard as I can. Also looks like he's gone to war with Borsche as well.

[Grimace]

Turn 127

And Commodore razed Quiet Riot.

Retep either intentionally or accidentally left a single unescorted galley within reach of my navy sitting in Whitesnake, so I took that opportunity and attacked it with my trireme at 88.1% odds...


Success and 2 XP for a promotion!

I also have 4 galleys loaded with 2 chariots & 6 G3 Gallics which will be ready to go after targets of opportunity.

[Grimace]

Turn 128

Commodore offered me peace, but I declined. There's no benefit to my doing so -- it lets his WW start to recover and I''ll end up dying anyway, if not from him than from Gavagai or retep. Peace with him benefits him way more than me.

I spied on retep's nearest city with my newly promoted C1 Trireme and saw it well-protected...six units total...archers, spears and axes. It is unlikely I could take it with my "raiding" force without losing most of them. So I will wait and see if I get an opportunity somewhere. Not much else I can do.

[Grimace]

Turn 129

Retep offered me peace. I thought about it for a while, but decided to accept. I don't think he's accumulated as much WW as Commodore with me, so there's not as much of a benefit for me to keep the war going. I was tempted to keep it going just to inspire him to finish me off because there is absolutely no chance of my being anything other than someone's snack.

I whipped a forge in Quiet Riot, and finished pasturing the horses near QR this turn so I can build mounted units again. Sadly, I'm limited to Chariots. But I'm researching HBR! Only another 15 turns or so to go!

[Grimace]

Turns 130 - 139

I haven't really been reporting because there's nothing to report. Though Commodore and I are at war, the only cities of his I can get to (my former ones) are all too well-defended for me to successfully attack.

However, looks like Gavagai is finally ready to end my suffering.


I moved all of my chariots into Quiet Riot and whipped a spear there. Probably not enough to stop him, but especially if he doesn't knock down the cultural defenses, enough to hurt him. If he stops to knock down the cultural defenses, I'll add another 4 Gallics to the defense next turn.

On the other hand, Commodore has a couple of galleys and 3 triremes in the strait (and I have no idea how he did that so fast given that the only two cities there are the two he captured from me, and they've never gone above pop 2). They're also C1, which means he settled a GG in one of the cities -- I suspect my former capital. So he might be ready to launch an attack as well. I sent out my 2 triremes and 4 galleys to see if I can provoke an attack -- on defense it'll be 50/50 for my unpromoted tris, and they do me no good sitting in the city. And if they die, well, that helps my economy by reducing my military expenses.

Looks like I have less than 10 turns left, though.

[Grimace]

Turn 140

Commodore offloaded 4 knights near Whitesnake after destroying one of my triremes (at the cost of one of his triremes). At present, I have 3 units in Whitesnake -- an axe and two Gallics. I whipped a spear, which will appear before his attack, so if only one of them fails to win (either through a loss or a withdrawal), I'll still have the city next round.

I also took out one of his triremes he had sitting by itself. I suicided two galleys against it, then finished it off with a trireme. The galleys are essentially useless to me right now, but if I can get some XP for my trireme, it's worth it. And the loss of them reduced my military cost, as well, helping the economy!

Meanwhile, Gavagai invaded.


I moved my four Gallics in to help with defense, but the main thing I did to weaken his attack is move a stack of 5 chariots around him and into his territory. Unless he destroys them, I can attack his city (which is only protected by a single archer right now), so he has to divert some of his units into an attack against them unless he wants to lose that city. And they're across a river, so even though they don't get defensive bonuses, I'll get the 25% crossing a river bonus if he attacks.

So we'll see what happens. Should be exciting either way!