[PB 64] Ginger plays as Charlemagne, famed man of letters

[Ginger()]

Commodore canceled borders and so did Amica, mutual trade against me?
Also he's whipped 8 times in 2 turns.

I guess Commodore wants revenge? Idfk his signalling is so goddamn incomprehensible.

Oh well I landed my merchant in his city, if he declares and kills it, I'm making Superdeath my best buddy and burning all of Celtia to the ground.

[Ginger()]

Well that was quite the balls up. Knights smash and Cannons can't stack defend seems to be the moral of the story. More Guerilla muskets
I don't think it cost SD that much as he'll heal up and have stack parity.

Of the relevant expensive and modern units, I've lost, the total is going to be 13 cannons and about 16 knights, which are some really ugly losses, for no real gain except expending his catapult stack.

I kept 7 cannons in reserve incase Commodore invaded, so I'm sending those forward now.
Well about 4 could have reached in time, the rest would've straggled so I grouped them behind Dune.

As usual I tilted and whacked Gorbachev with three of my CR3 cannons, which is a waste, they'll be mopped up. I need to bombard, too many pikes and Xbows that receive def bonuses. I really really wanted to be able to smash his wounded Wellies and Knights but it looks like he has more than enough static defenders behind that Castle, hill and Chichen Itza to hold it.

However, I have one final technique, one last trick up my sleeve, I'm sure SD will notice and Gav definitely has the ability to interfere, but we'll see...

I'm also teching Astro in 2 and building 2 dockyards. A Frigate a day keeps the Commodore away

[Ginger()]

So the last trick against Superdeath is to run away. The key is his recently signed peace with Gavagai. I've walked my stack into Gavagai's territory, and it should be completely safe unless Gav sent SD OB on this turn. To be double sure I've split off my mounted units and sent them ahead to safety.

The second mistake of SD's peace with Gav is the that his city gift to Gavagai reactivated the Ethiopian culture and lost him the first ring around Gorbachev, so a remade stack can in a couple turns first strike Superdeath through Gavagai's culture.

However I don't think that will be happening, and that's what been depressing me. I just had to be sure. It wasn't enough to see that all the NavI Galleons were missing from the north or that half the knight stack in the Sumerian west had disappeared, I had to know if Nauf would stall the turn, so I got my answer.

Now maybe I'm panicking, maybe Naufragar is stalling to attack Commodore, but thne why would he not have a stack ready in the north? I'm struggling with this because Naufragar's reports read like intelligent writing, but to attack me would be so pants-on-head retarded that it's effectively a concession to Amicalola. Which fine, if Naufragar wants out of this game, then I can't force him to keep it competitive, which is a shame because it's interesting, but thats just how the cookie crumbles.
So I suspect he's attacking Commodore. Because it would be incomprehensibly stupid to attack top power with Cannons across an ocean. Yes my stack is on the otherside and he could score some razes but he keeps nothing.
Hence I assume he's prepping for Commodore. But just in case, in case he's a tall guy who recently hit his head on the doorframe walking in the house, or maybe had a lobotomy sometime the last month, I've dished out a couple hundred gold to upgrade the military police in those cities to actually capable units like Longbows and Pikes.

[Ginger()]

I'm weighing whether to join Naufragar in concession or prolong this out of spite

[Ginger()]

Weird of Naufragar to keep the city since he's just trying to force a concession, but fine, I don't want to be a jerk to anyone's time, so I'll join him and officially concede to Amicalola

[pindicator]

Until any concession, how do you plan on showing your attackers the error of their ways?

[Ginger()]

Uuueeeghhhffff is Nauf that delusional? We really doing this?

Man if they’re gonna drag me by my nuts along for the ride, I’m going to retract my concession until I get some good razes in, because fury is the only way I’m gonna motivate for the rest of these turns.

As for the “error” of their ways, I think it would be useful to break this down. Commodore has every reason and motivation to want me ground into the earth, I had just hoped he was a pragmatist and would help Nauf chip at Amica for a shot at winning. But I made the wrong estimate, he does just play for revenge after all, he’s just patient about it. Which is well done on his part, he had me fooled.

Naufragar’s motive is probably to handicap me enough and earn Commodore as an ally against Amicalola. If Naufragar actually wants to keep land he’s contended with Commodore. Which is pure fantasy, Amicalola will be at Rifling and SoL or Ironclads before Commodore has Frigates. He figured that if he cut my iron, the only units I could produce were Muskets, which to be fair did lose me about 400 hammers of units in build queues last turn when Iron was cut, so wp first strike. But there’s this little thing in Civ4 and I think Naufragar forgot it existed: trade. Naufragar’s mortal enemies Gavagai and Amicalola both have spare iron and I’ve spammed them with copious demands so that hopefully one realizes. I’ve also sent Amica an offer of 100gpt for their iron along with assorted luxuries.

As for the plan? Well my stack is bruised by Superdeath, but it’s still intact. 30 knights and 10 cannons should be enough to smash whatever crap Commodore has and limited numbers Naufragar is willing to commit. I’ll probably lose all my best cities, but if they’re not willing to raze then I’ll just get them back in 5 turns. I have castles, PRO muskets and 3rd ring culture in all my cities, plus an unused Artist bomb. Biggest problem is just going to be the time it takes to heal, 3 turns until I can use my stack again basically.

[Ginger()]

   
This is really why I'm so livid, they're just being dumb. 

Yes it's out of position, wounded, etc. But this army isn't going away, and it isn't going to be matched, so idfk what they are going to achieve besides a game-ruin and handing it on an even bigger plate to Amicalola. Again, I can understand Commodore's motivation, I've invaded him twice. 

But I am really just disappointed in Naufragar. I expected better and more substantive play from him and was looking forward to an interesting and challenging endgame, but now the outcome is sealed. 

Also, to reiterate, I officially retract my concession, if they want to get their kicks out of beating on the non-winner, I'm going to join them and take my turn

[civac2]

You are being cryptic. nauf invaded you and Commodore did too?

[Ginger()]

So yeah it’s stabilized and I still have a larger military than Comm and Superdeath.
Superdeath thinks he can get Embassytown for peace which is absolutely adorable
In 2 turns I knock the Moron off the continent and he will have achieved nothing except dragging me back.
In 3 turns I will set up to blow up Commodore’s stack if he doesn’t retreat, but really I’m just going to offer Commodore peace and either go raze the pyramids or head to Naufragar’s mainland through Gavagai.
I don’t expect Commodore to take the peace since he’s in revenge mode, but oh well.