[SPOILERS] Dark Savant leads the noble Inca as half-noble Churchiill

[Dark Savant]

Turn 82 (825 BC) - Part 2

Kojja Mo finishes scouting the southern island, and I land our settler on the island.



I over-cropped the shot, but there's no other food and still no sign of whoever is over on the other side there.

There's a forest tile right to the south of that crab.  If I plant where the archer is now, I can't even guarantee I control the crab -- superdeath planting directly on the forest can take it over.

I'll probably plant on the fish-banana-pig site next turn, since it's easier to send units to from the mainland, gets the fish in first-ring, and is best way to eventually get food from the banana tile.

Over to the west, our scouting work boat meets JR4's galley.



JR4 could declare war and sink our work boat, but that's unlikely, since it'll make it even less likely I'll want to sign Open Borders.

Stonesnake is still stuck here.



I was watching to see if was up to something, and also he might have been kicked out by expanding borders, but 's whip in Nongoma was not for an ikhanda.  Getting kicked out will now take a long time, and I need all the cash I can, so I disband him.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 82 (825 BC) - Part 3

Core overview:

• Silver is now connected.  We still have a at King's Landing, due to decay next turn.
  
• Formerly unhappy cities now work more tiles.  We're now at positive GPT at 0% science.   
  
• King's Landing finishes a chariot.  I order up another archer.
  
• Castle Black builds The Wall , next up is archer.  The next units out from the west are staying there.
  
• Highgarden finishes its whipped chariot and resumes the barracks.  I'll just let it grow for a while.
  
• Science to 90%, Writing due next turn.  I need to work a random coast tile to squeeze out enough science.
  
• More units move towards Charriu.
  

We'll need more worker labor in the older cities soon, with the improving happiness situation.

Our GNP is poor enough that I'm not sure Mathematics then Currency is best.  Alphabet so I can get Open Borders myself and build Research may be better.

I'm not sure more chariots will do much good; I'll see what Charriu has nearby before building too many more.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 82 (825 BC) - Part 4

Latest demographics and graphs in spoiler.

• Our GNP looking good is illusory, as it comes from researching Writing with two arrow bonuses and four known tech bonuses at a huge deficit.
  
• The gigantic food producer isn't JR4, it's .  I suppose that makes sense too.
  
• wetbandit actually is showing a significant power increase now.  So is everyone else (though the 7000-point hit to Charriu's won't appear until next turn).
  
• planted an 11th city this turn.
  
• Charriu also planted a city this turn.  It would have been his 7th, but it's now his 6th.
  

[Dark Savant]

Turn 83 (800 BC) - Part 1

I enter the game to find a peace treaty offer from Charriu.  I'm going to at least look around first.

Nope, no chariot incursions; this was the last turn they could have given me serious fits.

Small Paul, 1 XP axe, flawlessly defeats the barb warrior.  He sees this:



I don't know what that single axe is doing there, but he might place it in a stack where it's harder to attack.  I'll attack it with a chariot, even though I very probably lose the chariot.



That shows this.



So he does have a spear after all.  Well, one axe and one spear is still something I can handle, though it wouldn't take much on top of that for me to agree to a 10-turn peace.  Charriu didn't whip anywhere this turn; let's see if he does so next turn.

I assemble a modest attack stack to move in next turn and attack on turn 85.

Man, such a small army to capture one city and try for two with. 

[Dark Savant]

Turn 83 (800 BC) - Part 2

Core overview:

• Writing is in.  I set research to Alphabet next, though I'm going to be at 0% science for some time.
  
• Winterfell 2-pop-whips a galley.  This is a little early, but why not.
  
• White Harbor 1-pop-whips a terrace.  wetbandit already has a barracks in his border city, so he'll be ahead on culture and probably stay that way.
  
• City #10, Riverrun, is planted on the northwest corner of the southern island.  (Uh ... does a strait count as a river? )
  
• Septon Chayle gets on a galley to sail back to our core.  One worker is enough to develop the southern island.
  

Taixue will come out of resistance next turn.  I'll rename it then.




I may need to sign Open Borders with JR4 just to not go bankrupt.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 83 (800 BC) - Part 3

Multiple people have declared war on wetbandit.



I'm not sure what declared for, though he may already be contesting island cities.  WilliamLP is wetbandit's western neighbor, and this may or may not be a real war.

Well, if WilliamLP fights wetbandit, Charriu isn't going to collapse quite that fast.

No sign of the other two undiscovered players still.

Other news:

• superdeath planted cities #7 and #8.  Okay, so he did have a plan to catch up. 
  
• wetbandit planted city #7.
  
• Aside from JR4 being the lone rival with Alphabet, one rival has Mathematics.  No one is known to have Aesthetics, Horseback Riding, or Metal Casting.
  
• The Oracle still has not yet been built.
  

[Dark Savant]

WilliamLP played after me, whipped four times, rolled the turn, and immediately logged out.

He's probably Up To Something, but any causalties from his war with wetbandit won't show on the graphs until turn 85.

[Hollybombay]

Got a ranking of threats to win the game?

[Dark Savant]

Got a ranking of threats to win the game?

Right now?

I'd call JR4 the favorite.  He's got a lot of cities, has a solution to this map's happiness problem, and has a solution to poor GNP, with the Great Lighthouse and Alphabet.  I expect him to border Charriu, which is another plus in his favor (though I do not actually know that for certain).

Charriu is going to be first eliminated, even if we sign peace right now -- I expect him to have two other neighbors, and it may only be another 20-30 turns before he's in a death spiral.  WilliamLP may be declaring war on him Real Soon Now.  (I haven't posted t84 yet, but I offered a peace treaty.  I'd like 10 turns to get more force together -- and give WilliamLP or JR4 an opportunity to draw forces away from me.)

yuris125 is in great shape if he builds the Oracle and takes Currency soon, but if he doesn't he's next-to-last.

would be in second place if he did not have JR4 and me as neighbors.  He might still be, depending on what's going on with his mystery third neighbor and if he is able to get a decent attack force together soon-ish.

If isn't second, then I probably am (I have the demographics to back that up), but that can slip easily if something goes wrong.  I may need to do more against a possible attack by wetbandit in particular, though I think he's more likely to attack his mystery eastern neighbor than either me or WilliamLP.  (He'll have graphs on me imminently, so he'll know I'm higher in power, meaning he has a better target -- the geography at our choke point makes attacks in either direction awkward.)

[Dark Savant]

Turn 84 (775 BC) - Part 1

Taixue, renamed The Eyrie, comes out of resistance, pushing me into negative GPT at 0% science again. 

Charriu killed the chariot in his territory, as expected.  I have another chariot advance and pillage the flood plain cottage.



He did whip Museion this turn; either another axe or another spear is enough to have a good chance to resist what I currently have, even if he isn't moving reinforcements from the east.

Oh well, I wasn't expecting to take more than one city any time soon.  So I offer a peace treaty.



I need to do something about avoiding bankruptcy and actually being able to research, so I re-offer Open Borders to JR4.



I can always cancel later once I can offer my own Open Borders.