Aurorarcher plays again

[Aurorarcher]

To answer the question: None! I have been able to run 100% science for every turn but now on T84 I have to save some for the first time.

Anyway, I got back to earlier picture where Mig's units were. He pulled his units back this turn but I noticed his scout has animal capture promotion + the unit has been poisoned... That can only mean that he has fought with Giant Spider! Or Scorpion I can't think of others? I must be careful he might sneak Giant Spider into my territory. The unit still being poisoned most likely means he has fought with the Spider just a couple turns ago. And that means the Spider must be really badly injured at the moment. I'll probably build one scout just to make sure nothing comes my way + I don't have to be paranoid all the time...

[Aurorarcher]

Well, hello there Spider!



Didn't know he had one in this direction. Maybe he has one on the western front as well. Need to check it out soon.

[Aurorarcher]

T89 opened with some interesting trade offers by Mig. Now that I have Sailing we have trade connection.

#1



#2



#3



I'll take this as a sing of friendship. #2 I took immediately because it gives me something useful (+1 happy). #1 and #3 means "we'll have a steak together with some beer if you like". Very well sent message indeed. I didn't take it by I re-offered it back meaning acceptance. I hope he doesn't really take it. It's not meant that everyone know about our relations in detail.



So this is good news. I was going to build a wave of paramanders + training yard soon to upgrade my Warriors into iron weapon Axes. Now all that is unnecessary (for now). I think Mig realized that mack is the one who needs to be stopped (I don't even know where he is!), which is true. Mack just built Titan and didn't use his GE for it. He also got Great Commander from Military Strategy.

I'm sure Mig knows where mack is because he got FoL spread (I think). It's possible he also researched it but not sure. And he must keep units on that border as well.

Okay, so what's the plan now. Well. Techs:



Plan is to research Sanitation and CoL. And by that time I should have my GP born (or close to):



9 turns. Actually Sanitation takes about 7 turns + CoL like 3-4. So not quite in 9 turns, also some turns I need to save gold. Then I'm going to use my GP for GA. Revolt to Aristocracy (+2c per farm, -1f, -20% distance cost) + Arete.

My 3rd city.



Going to finish MoG in 3 turns. It's only using GEs, going to slowly keep this GP pool clean. The plan is to rush ToD at some point and take Commune with Nature for Dwarven Druids. That's the ultimate long-term plan but we'll see how that goes. With MoG I can use 4 engineers in this city + 2 GE GPPs from Tables of Bambur that means 14 GE GPP per turn. With GA 28. Of course for ToD I need 4 manas (Spirit, Mind, Sun, Law). I already have Law and 3 mana nodes almost next to me.

My other cities. 2nd city.



Just finished a settler. Going to grow to 10 and build more settlers.

4th city.



Going to build a Lighthouse. Maybe some failgold from TGL because I think mack is going to grab it with his GE soonish.

5th city.



My Heron Throne. Going to grow grow grow, that happy cap will go up once I spread RoK here (soon). Will build galley soon to scout that island.

6th city.



Border city with Mig.

Next city spot going here.



Pearls, Clam, Sheep. Grassland. Decent spot.

Other potential city spots nearby.



This could go 1NW and act as a canal city. Likely a border city with Mig.

This spot for mana + Pig + Fish. Later.



Potential back line city. Later.



Cairo has a city nearby.



I think he took this from barbs but not 100%.

Demos as of end of turn 89.



Mack clearly leading in almost all categories. Power #1 is Dave.

[naufragar]

Thanks for the update!

[Aurorarcher]

Well, mack didn't grab TGL with his GE. Instead he used it for Catacomb Libralus (I can't believe he would slowbuild that). That wonder doesn't get built too often. This means mack is planning to play with mages for sure.



So. I got The Great Lighthouse.



I did got my GP as planned and now I'm in a GA. It's feeling pretty good. Demos as of T102. 






I'm now running Arete + Aristocracy. Teching Smelting for my super Forges (Dwarven smith gives +20% production and +10% with Copper and +10% with Iron). I have both so my production will go sky high. Almost like God King in every city! Of course being IND those will be built quickly too.

That 18 GNP is... not great. And then I noticed it, Dave just lost a city. That's not good. He lost it to mack obviously. I offered a map trade with Dave to know where mack even is. Dave's power didn't show a sign of dropping end of turn so I don't know really what's going on. Maybe mack surprised him? It wasn't his cap anyway but his 3rd city that Dave lost. Dave must be close to mages or even already have them so I hope he stays strong there.

My cities.



Riyold will get GE out in two turns, running 4 Engineers. That one will likely be saved for ToD later. I'm still building a lot of settlers, still a lot of land to settle. I just settled my first island city Deep Well. It's a crappy icy city with only Clam and tundra forest. But as it was settled I gained +15c from trade routes so... that's worth it. I will settle more island cities shortly. Having TGL obviously helps.

Riyold is actually not building a monument. In that city I'm slowly building Axes just to have some kind of an army. My neighbours seem peaceful but they both have way higher power than me. With my production + Arete (cash rushing) I can create an army quickly if needed. Mig is showing friendly signs, he offered Ale again this turn. I offered it back to say yes so I'm not worried really.

After Smelting the plan is Masonry -> Construction -> HBR (for Chariots). I need some mobility. Also Trebuchets. After that Philosophy -> Priesthood -> KotE -> Divination -> then ToD Commune with Nature.

That's a lot of beakers yeah I know. Mas -> Const -> HBR is 904 beakers.

Phi -> Priesthood -> KotE -> Divination is 2024 beakers.

So total of 2928 beakers. Some of them are faster to tech with KTB (for example KotE). My current tech rate is about 280 bpt, so that would mean 11 turns. But that's assuming 100% science (not realistic) + my GA will be over after 6 turns. Break even is about 70% science and then I make 200 bpt. So assuming around that I'll make 1200 beakers during the rest of my GA. I still need to finish Smelting for 230 beakers. So about 1000 beakers left after that so I can finish Mas -> Const -> HBR before GA ends.

That means that there's about 1900 beakers left to research after GA ends. After GA my tech rate will drop to around 140 bpt at break even so that would mean rest of teching takes about 14 turns to get 1900 beakers. So total of 20 turns to research all those techs that I said earlier. Of course, my economy will likely improve during these turns a lot and the time will be less but that's a rough max time estimation.

[Aurorarcher]

Dang. Dave got eliminated. Now it's reset of the world against mack. Mack declared war on Mig too. I forgot to declare against Mack to say that we will fight together. Will do next turn. I hope he doesn't take peace next turn (mack might offer that), that would be a disaster!

It's not over yet. I have Dwarven Druids now. And a plan, more on that later maybe.

[Aurorarcher]

So I did declare on mack too. Now all 3 of us against him. The problem is it's difficult for me to attack mack because there's water between us. I'm trying to attack with ships but that's also difficult. I had Optics first and have Frigates now (thanks to Iron) but mack got Optics just couple turns after me (he has had it now for 2 turns). So he can build Privateers but not Frigates. He shouldn't have many yet unless he upgrades Triremes (which he also shouldn't have too many either for no reason really). There's almost only ocean between us. The only way to get to mack without Optics is via small spot way north of me, it's inside Mig's borders.

We had contact T117 when he scouted me with his floating eyes (that's also not good) so it's possible he started preparing to defend against my naval invasion. He can most likely see my ships and have seen all my units moving etc. for the last 6 turns. I hope most of his army is on the old Dave/Cairo front so I might have a chance of hurting him. Next turn will be interesting.

Mig has his super Assassins (and hero) so that's very useful against mages if we could somehow work together. Mack is obviously almost building mages out of the gate with his civics (+4 xp) + FoT (+2 xp) + Command Post with GC (maybe, not sure + 2xp) + Deruptus (+2 xp). That's total of 8-10 xp for adepts and then Shrine of champion for +1 promotion. So yeah, he can get his mages with 4 promotions from the get go... still not quite mages but yeah. Actually I'm regretting a bit for not picking up Military Strategy at some point. With ORG I could build those Command Posts. I have been too busy researching other stuff.

I wonder if it was possible to attack mack through land but the distance is just so long! Maybe if he gets closer to eating cairo it might come as a possibility. I need more mobility though...

[Aurorarcher]

Well I got shot down. Look at those ships with all those promotions. That's plenty, I forgot Air I giving +1 movement. And of course mack won all the meaningful battles. Notice the order of his attacks. Why not use all fireballs first to collateral my Frigates? I guess it was worth risking his Privateers first? Oh well... I would be very curious to know the odds of all the combats because he attacked with str 7 privateers. Maybe you can tell me after the game mack? I'm just curious because after Maelstom my Frigates were down to 90 hp so still very strong. Regular Fireballs only get around 3% odds against them (unless his mage had some combat promos)!

Unfortunately in those ships I had 3 Dwarven Druids . All of which had 5 xp (could summon Earth Elementals). This is a big hit but we're not giving up.

[Qgqqqqq]

Hey Auro, long time no see. Want a dedicated lurker to bounce things off? I've not even read up on this game but happy to serve.

[Aurorarcher]

Hey, Q! Long time no see indeed. How you doing?

And to answer your question: That would great. Although, I think the game is at a point where mack is so clearly leading that it's hard to stop him. On the other hand I can't see how he could conquer us (or Mig's assassins) any time soon so there's also that.

Want me to give some details of the game status and/or look at the saves as well? Either or both is fine for me.