[SPOILERS] Donovan Zoi takes a wrong turn at Waterloo and ends up in Valhalla

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 114 – 25 BC

So this turn started well enough with the jubilant prospects of Vikings seeing the world! Learning some intel about my neighbors, and then meeting new civs on the far side of their land to trade with as well as to hopefully lower my research rates (thanks for confirming, suttree!).

However, it ended with me in a mild state of xenophobia, not willing to beat my swords (ok, still spears at this point) into ploughshares just yet. Let me explain.

Sooooo, remember how impressed I was of Seven’s Size 1 city defense last turn? Well get a load of what my standing Galley got to witness today:




I am sure that this is just another day in paradise at Realms Beyond, but I found it to be a bit unsettling at this stage of the game. Even if this stack was not meant for me. After all, it could only be intended for the Spanish (Cheater Hater - subbing for HAK), who recently endured a city razing from Seven’s Russian troops some time in the recent past. Here’s a look at the FA screen to confirm this, as well as how cozy my other two neighbors may be with Seven:




Another interesting tidbit, Seven at war with Parkin? How many troops did these Russians have to spare 13 units to cause trouble on the frontier? I am poised to find out in 25 AD at my current plodding rate of espionage, and the answer will likely be a factor on how I respond to this. With two (albeit small) Russian cities sharing the sea with my most undeveloped land, I now planned to make southwest settlement a priority in the hopes of not being caught off guard in the near future.

In other news…

--My reverse binary plan worked, as MC was now at 4 turns at 40%.
--I met The Black Sword (proxy for German Jojo) this turn, but did not make any deals. I didn’t even see a unit on the map, but I figure that he and Parkin must be the next layer of civs west.
--I get two Settlers next turn, and will be sending them both southwest, natch.

Next turn 1 AD. I’ll post some before/after shots of my demographics since I took over, as well as some other updates that may be helpful for you to follow along.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 115 – 1 AD

The Last 9 Turns

OK, here is a look at my less than stellar progress in Demographics to this point:

225 BC



1 AD



I have also dropped from 7th to 9th in CivStats score.

It should be noted that since taking over on 225 BC I have initiated 11 whips, which is only surpassed by Parkin’s 15. wetbandit also had 10 whips during that period, yet both he and Parkin had recovered their CivStats score much more quickly than I have.

I was particularly surprised by how poorly I had done against the rival average on pretty much every aspect of the demographics sceen. But I suppose the whips are accountable for that to an extent, especially considering the size of my cities.

What’s Next?

I expect a bit of a turnaround by my next demographics update in 200 AD, as my fledgling cities are poised to grow at this point. Yet there is also wild card in play that could turn this prediction on its sunny little head. As I write this, war has been successfully initiated upon HAK’s Spanish by the Russian stack I mentioned earlier, falling two of Spain’s 8 cities. Even if that rate of conquest is not maintained, it still could lead Russian troops right to the doorstep of Bishopsgate sooner than I am prepared to accept.

Conveniently enough, Seven’s war with Parkin no longer shows on my diplo screen, so it looks like open season on Spain will continue unabated. I also found it odd that all 3 parties have recently been playing the save in the last 4 hours of the turn.

Just something I found interesting, but I certainly have more pressing matters to concern myself with than that!

EDIT: Correction - Spain had 8 cities at the start of the 1 AD turn, not 10

[Donovan Zoi]

Forgive me, lurkers, for I have slacked. It’s been 125 years since my last update.

Overview

Here is the lay of the land from recent explorations. I have met everyone except Parkin, Gavagai and Haram:




I have chosen to have Open Borders with all players except mackoti, as I only wanted to meet the current points leader for research purposes. Once I spotted mackoti’s borders, I chose to head north with that particular scout and will likely use it to casually monitor Gawdzak’s troop movement once I map out the fog in this region. For each other civ, I realize that I may be helping to fill their coffers, but that is the price of mapping out their lands.

But why is Seven’s land labeled in red?

There are several reasons, starting with what I was able to see in 25 AD:




Pretty much as I expected.

Seven’s power graph dropped a bit during 25 AD due to the war against HAK, but has begun to recover since. It’s also important to note that Seven has taken no further cities since the 1 AD outset of this war, but it still continues. Based on the FA screen, Seven has also had an off again/on again war with Parkin which has me a bit perplexed. I guess it could explain why Parkin always seems to be in a diplo screen when he logs in.




Here is a shot of my southwestern territory at 25 AD, and the threat Seven could pose to it. In addition to the two cities you see, I am certain that at least one of the cities captured from HAK is coastal. I also need to map around the vicinity of Sakae(now captured/destroyed) to see if this land is an island or not. Either way, the aggressiveness my Russian friend has displayed so far has forced me to label him Public Enemy #1, even as we remain cordial for the time being.

[suttree]

Forgive me, lurkers, for I have slacked. It’s been 125 years since my last update.

Say 3 Hail Meier's, sing a Baba Yetu, and update your spoiler thread daily.
I absolve you from your slack in the name of the Sid, and of the Soren, and of the Realms Beyond. Amen!

Hail Meier,
Spitfire Ace,
Beyond the Sword is with thee.
Blessed art thou among producers,
and blessed is the Railroad Tycoon (and Pirates!)
Holy Meier, Father of Civ,
Pray for us players now and at the time of our capitulation.

[Donovan Zoi]

Forgive me, lurkers, for I have slacked. It’s been 125 years since my last update.

Say 3 Hail Meier's, sing a Baba Yetu, and update your spoiler thread daily.
I absolve you from your slack in the name of the Sid, and of the Soren, and of the Realms Beyond. Amen!

Hail Meier,
Spitfire Ace,
Beyond the Sword is with thee.
Blessed art thou among producers,
and blessed is the Railroad Tycoon (and Pirates!)
Holy Meier, Father of Civ,
Pray for us players now and at the time of our capitulation.

This rocks right here. Done, done and....looks like I'll be seeing you again soon.

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey everyone,
I'll be starting a new game for RB24 shortly, with the latest RtR mod and 5 others from this game. As it turns out, I never really provided a breakdown of my game and ultimate demise, but this is pretty much it in a nutshell:



If anyone has any questions about the game, let me know. If you're out of the game now, feel free to drop by for some post-participation discussion.

Good game all!