Dreylin stops for a bite with Decius

[Dreylin]

t66 -

And here's a second Griffon:


This might be Auror's, so the Workers scattered out of range.

Lizards paused to gather themselves for the attack ... that just means an extra turn for me to produce defenders.

[Qgqqqqq]

Lack of damage or promotions makes me inclined to believe it's not, but definitely still worth scarpering.

[Dreylin]

Lack of damage or promotions makes me inclined to believe it's not, but definitely still worth scarpering.

I thought about that too, but the same is true of the Northern Griffon and I haven't spotted an openly Khazad unit yet so have to consider both as potentially HN until proven otherwise.

Noggin finished its Manor last turn, so will 1t a Bloodpet next turn of it looks threatening.

[Dreylin]

Er, so full disclosure I think I might have worked out / stumbled upon the "Calabim Spoiler".

The discussion in the '44 tech thread, and in particular your comment about "not relevant for first ~75t" got me to thinking about timeframe and where we are in this game, which is nearly at that point. Then I was playing the turn in my Jalepeno duel and looking at the Adept promotion options (Dude Tsunami'd my Body node ) and somewhere as I was settling down to sleep the idea of the interaction of Loyalty and Burning Blood popped into my mind. Thought being "would Loyalty prevent Burning Blood from turning the unit to Barb, and thus making the spell zero-risk".

Then this morning at work I was considering tech paths and ended up searching for some info in the cumulative changelog (specifically, what are the requirements for Vampires) and as I was skimming down towards the older changes I noticed the entry about Burning Blood removing Loyalty and vice versa. If I was right about the interaction, then I could see that this would be the simplest way to get a fix in, but as you also said there's definitely still some benefits still there: i.e. cast Burning Blood, attack, cast Loyalty to remove. So yeah, if I'm right then the conversation in the '44 thread is irrelevant now.

It does seem to be something that you could avoid abusing with a conscious effort (i.e. don't cast Loyalty on all Moroi), so we could discuss that in the Tech thread here before moving on with the game.

[Qgqqqqq]

Yup, that's it. Before v12 units with BB and Loyalty would never leave.

[Dreylin]

Righty-ho, since no-one has replied to my offer to reign in my use of the "Calabim Spoiler" I shall feel no obligation to do so.


t67 -

Well, I think that this positioning confirms the Griffon to belong to Aurorarcher:


Noggin has finished its Manor, so will spend a little while 1turning Bloodpets to reinforce this side of the Empire.

Meanwhile over in the West, the Lizards decided not to hit the city, but instead move to the flatland next to Willo. After an initial I realised that I had 5 'pets available to hit, so I needn't be worried. And indeed things worked out admirably:


Bagpuss is C2 and attacked at ~68% finishing on 0.2/3
Jones the Steam took C2 and went in at ~34% coming out unscathed

Also of note is that Aurorarcher is in danger of becoming a bit of a runaway, so we need to work out a way of starting to reel him back in.

Basic plan is EXPAND; Step 1: build a respectable Army. Due to the unexpected success against the Lizards I have some extra 'pets to send around, so one is heading North to camp that approach, and I'll distribute a few SW and SE once they've collected their shiny new Weapons. Bagpuss now builds a Training Yard (+1 Happy) and then some Moroi to go and clear out some of the Lairs nearby. Noggin will reinforce the East with 'pets.

Step 2: with Army in hand, start planting additional cities. Ivor will get started on that now that the Manor has completed - grabbing the Pig back from Noggin - and Noggin will also contribute subject to Military needs.

Step 3: rule the seas. Maybe it's my experience with '39, but early control of the shipping lanes certainly made a difference there. Also, although 3/4 of my current cities are inland, the majority of the new ones will be coastal. Coincidentally, the Sailing route also takes me towards Trade, which is a pre-req for Feudalism.


Technology. Probably going to sit a couple of turns to refill the event budget and then return to teching. As can be seen above, the build queues are pretty full for the foreseeable future, so research for buildings is not really of benefit. I'm really leaning towards the Fishing-Myst-Message plan because it addresses 2 outstanding issues - border pops and Happy cap - in a cost-effective manner. Drama without the Bard doesn't offer the same value IMO.

Thoughts, questions?

[Qgqqqqq]

Are we still building those 'pets, after that victory? I thought we might be able to shuffle some around - especially considering that the east is largely backfill. The plan, too, seems a mite more army-oriented than I would think necessary. I mean, I famously underbuild military, but still...we want to have exactly against the limits of that which we need to expand, and no more (IMO).


I agree with MotD, I think. Should be noted, though, that we won't get all that much benefit from Trade, as we're not going for cottages/FT.


Also, whilst I don't want to underestimate Auroracher - he's a scarily good player, IMO - I think that it's important to note that the Drama->Sanitation path really does a good job of boosting ones score, both from the techs involved and from the boost to city size the food gives.

[Dreylin]

Are we still building those 'pets, after that victory? I thought we might be able to shuffle some around - especially considering that the east is largely backfill. The plan, too, seems a mite more army-oriented than I would think necessary. I mean, I famously underbuild military, but still...we want to have exactly against the limits of that which we need to expand, and no more (IMO).

Well before I spotted the Lizards incoming we had 6 'pets for 4 cities, which was 1 per city + Yaffle on the tower and one roaming and I felt very exposed. We had 8 last turn after the attack, but with all the spares in the West and the East a 3t walk away, so a second was definitely needed at Noggin with the Griffon around, and I think a third so that we can send a pair off hunting (or guarding the Worker). Bagpuss put out another one primarily to fill the gap until BW finished and it could start the Training Yard.

So that's 11:
4x City MP
1x Tower guard
2x Griffon Hunters
1x Hold Northern Choke
1-2x Southeast choke / defog
1-2x SW Lizard warning / Worker guard

Something like that. Then we start adding Moroi to go after the Lairs and work out the best way to get a trade connection to Ventessel (once that's done we'll need Cartography, of course).

I agree with MotD, I think. Should be noted, though, that we won't get all that much benefit from Trade, as we're not going for cottages/FT.

Well I think that beautiful swathe of unirrigated Grassland backfill to the NE is dying to be filled with Cottages, but I agree that Trade is needed more for where it allows us to go than as an end destination.

Also, whilst I don't want to underestimate Auroracher - he's a scarily good player, IMO - I think that it's important to note that the Drama->Sanitation path really does a good job of boosting ones score, both from the techs involved and from the boost to city size the food gives.

True, but in general More Food = More Stuff = More Winning and in this case he's just run Food=Commerce with Aristocracy. It also means that he's at tech par with us excluding Drama-Sanitation - I'm guessing he doesn't have AH, while we don't have Festivals (I need to check if he has Myst and GK). His GNP is now significantly higher than ours as well - I'll post Demos next turn - so we're definitely playing catch-up.

[Dreylin]

t69 -

I think that both of these Griffons belong to Aurorarcher:


Switched Ivor to a Bloodpet and put another out of Noggin since I now have to guard all of my Workers. Both will return to Settlers next turn.

[Dreylin]

t70 -

Um:


Going to settle this Eastern spot next, BTW. Picks up Rice straight away, and Corn once Noggin pops 3rd Ring in 15t.

Second Settler will either head NE or more likely SW. North needs Ivor to pop borders to access the Pigs, and SE needs a larger military support. Auror's Griffons are really a PITA since they tie up troops to guard the Workers.