[SPOILERS] The Peaceful Centaur: a Study in Possibility

[Azoth]

I was afraid that if I didn't keep its attention, it would go have fun at Podagros. It still might .

Hmm. Maybe you should ask Jkaen how he managed to get rid of the Mistform? You're working together in PBEM X, after all, and he openly admitted to the Mistform problem in your spoiler thread. Actually I was wondering about that... the war plans will have to be shelved for now, but would it have been awkward to be teammates in one game and enemies in another, the games running concurrently?

[Mardoc]

I checked that with him before we started, out of worry, and got this response:

No problem with any fall out from PBEM6, to be honest I think everybody knows I am mistformed right now, hence I will be amased if I can fight back into any
sort of relevancy (my main goal now is to just kill the darn thing!)

I think the key is to remember it's a game.

I think he got rid of the Mistform by having nothing for it to kill for long enough. Which...isn't really an option for me, now that Goblins have started appearing.

[Mardoc]

I think the game may be decided by where the Mistform chooses to go next. Now that there are constantly spawning barbs, it'll kill, not just choke. If it does go for a neighbor of mine, though, then by the time it kills them and comes back, I should be to Hunting. If it goes for me - well, I don't really see how I'll be able to build a Hunting Lodge, a Hawk, and a strikeforce while it's near, but maybe 1 turn warriors would turn the tide.

The really funny thing would be if it ends up depopulating the world . I don't know that anyone will go for Hunting fast enough, or be able to apply it if they do, especially given the list of promotions it must be accumulating.

In any event, I turned up the research slider to 100%; it didn't shrink the time, but maybe next turn when two cottages grow up, that'll cut off a turn.

[Mardoc]

Well, so far no Mistform. If it had beelined Podagros, it would be here already. A lot of barbs, though, upon which I'm training up my Warriors. And a lot of bears, griffons, etc; Hunting won't be completely useless even if the Mistform decided to go find Selrahc or something. I will have a lot of rebuilding to do, though.



A thought that came to mind; if I choose not to attack Jkaen due to him catching up while the Mistform was bothering me, maybe stealing Selrahc's capital site would be worth doing. It's not like he's using it (I believe). Yeah, it would probably put me on a collision course with him, but he's also a scary player with a scary civ, and my strength is early (or will be, if I ever recover from the Mistform).

[Mardoc]

Rumors say that a large orc was seen slain by a ferocious horde of green-colored warriors outside the gates of the magnificent city of Starvald Demelain. The orc wielded a large burning axe which killed many men, but he was finally bested by the forces of freedom!

Did I mention lately how glad I am that Sciz is on the complete other end of the world from me?

[uberfish]

Bad terrain, a mistform destroying everyone and Tasunke with Orthus' axe, what more could you ask for

[Mardoc]

Bad terrain, a mistform destroying everyone and Tasunke with Orthus' axe, what more could you ask for

Don't ask! Please, for the love of...

[Mardoc]

I think...maybe we dodged the bullet. Still no sign of Mistformish activities at home. Still pressing onward for Hunters and Hawks regardless, though. .

There's also lots of barbs; killed an orc last turn, and this turn and orc and a goblin show up on the borders. The downside to having all these cottages around is that I feel the need to kill the barbs in the countryside, but at least it's good XP. I'll definitely feel better with Hunters and Centaurs to do it with, though.

Well, and we need to think about refounding Deinos in the near future. Specifically - do I want to build a Hunting Lodge and Hawk first, or go straight for a settler and escort and assume the Mistform is far enough away that we don't have deja vu?

[Mardoc]

1 more turn until Hunting. And Dereptus ought to finish this turn. Then...I think I'm going to go for Writing, and warriors/settler next. Since I still haven't seen any Mistformish activities, I probably have a bit of time before I need to have Hawks, so I should go for extra growth instead. I'm still debating on this one, maybe I should at least build a Hunting Lodge and a Hawk before risking it. And/or go for Horseback Riding so that I can have Centaurs around both for emergency Mistform duties and for keeping the barbs cleared.

We've only got 8 more turns to research Writing and build a library if I'm going to use Philo to full extent, which is awfully optimistic given the Mistform's disruption. And I'm definitely going to Financial, not staying Philo, at T71. So maybe it makes more sense to just go for the military tech, and start up the path to KoTE and AV.

[Azoth]

Since the early game hasn't gone particularly well, another option is to beeline Infernal Pact and switch to the Infernals. A plains heavy map is perfect for Fallow leaders; and civs stunted by Mistforms and a lack of food are ripe for demonic invasion. I suspect Sacrifice the Weak will be a popular choice on this map, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to collect manes. I wonder if anyone else has had the same idea? It would be a strong play, especially for the Lanun. What do you think? It would mean abandoning the Kuriotates, and doing exactly the opposite of your original game plans. Tempted?