Ministry of Silly Walks

[Shoot the Moon]

I'm guessing they're researching Sci Method as they have 2 pre-req's for that tech and we've already got it, unlike almost every other tech they've researched recently. If their next tech isn't Sci Method, then we should start worrying.

Agreed if it is sci meth that makes the GNP some 25% higher by virtue of going from a 1.2 modifier to what a 1.5-1.6 modifier? If they don't research sci meth I will be very scared.

[oledavy]

Team #1 two turns Scientific Method.

Team #2 births another Great Artist, 11th I think.

[Shoot the Moon]

Team #2 births another Great Artist, 11th I think.

You sure razing Beijing is even going to stop them from winning? Team 1 better know what they're doing is all I have to say.

[oledavy]

You sure razing Beijing is even going to stop them from winning? Team 1 better know what they're doing is all I have to say.

Assuming Beijing and Istanbul are close to, or on par with Milkshake's culture, Team #2 has approximately 50,000/75,000 culture accounted for. My best guess at this point is that they're going to position all their artists to bomb the legendary cities up on the final turn. If current rates of culture increase stay roughly the same, and assuming they birth 1-2 more GAs, they're looking at winning the game in the next 13-18 turns. They'll be winning sometime between t192 and t197. I can't emphasize how closely we're cutting it here. This is why we absolutely have to be staged to attack Beijing on t192, even if that means invading a turn earlier. I would feel more comfortable if we were in position for t191, giving us two turns before the earliest possible victory date. We shouldn't do this, if it seriously compromises the strength of our army though. Hopefully it will not be necessary, our army moving through their territory, denying them tiles and increasing costs as they build more military should keep them from hitting the inside mark.

Taking Beijing will buy us approximately 15 turns. I'm guessing they're holding 4-5 artists to bomb Beijing up. If it falls, they need a city with ~12,000 culture as a back up. While I'm sure they have cities approaching this figure, I doubt they'll have any on hand at that moment. It will take time to reposition artists anyway. In summary, we can seriously and probably fatally delay their cultural victory attempt, but it will take effort from Team #1 to completely rule it out.

What we really need to scupper their chances at a culture victory is for Team #1 to take Milkshake. That, in and of itself, is a terrifying prospect. Milkshake holds seven wonders The Sistine Chapel, The University of Sankore, The Spiral Minaret and Notre Dame will all be extremely useful to Team #1. I'd rather us capture it and raze it just to deny it to Team Spullarise. However, that's such a far-fetched venture I doubt we could pull it off. We're in a bit of a prisoner's dilemma here.

There's another reason I'm pushing our invasion to the last possible moment, besides accumulating as many forces as possible. Presuming Team #1 actually grasp what is going on (I would be shocked if they don't), we need them to invade first. We need Lewwyn to commit all his forces to countering Team #1's push to Milkshake before we launch our attack on Beijing. This means stringing things out as long as possible, giving Team #1 the time they need to start their attack.

The lack of perceived action from Team #1 to date is somewhat disconcerting. I'm operating under the assumption they're just putting off their assault until they've accumulated enough infantry. If they don't actually realize what is going on and aren't planning an assault....idk what we'll do. Exterminating Lewwyn as fast as possible would be the only option in that scenario.

Wish we had razed Macau on the turn of our culture bomb Things would be so much easier.

[oledavy]

Btw, what do you guys think about asking Team #1 to ban the space race victory at some point after we assault Beijing?

I doubt they would go for it, but it would make things more interesting

If any lurkers are wondering why this would be good for us, see: http://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showp...tcount=200

Been in my mind for awhile, but I would rather not do it until we're actually sure Team #2 doesn't win a culture victory. It would just be rude.

[WarriorKnight]

I highly doubt they would ever go for it, as surely they're aware of their MFG and GNP lead. If you still think its worth asking then go ahead, but I don't.

[oledavy]

Team #1 researches Combustion, as expected. Team #4 researches Military Tradition.



It only took 100 turns, but we've stabilized our tech rate in relation to Team #1. Our GNPs are now roughly the same, and we're holding at about 18,000 beakers behind them. With any luck, we'll start slowly catching up as we start integrating Lewwyn's land into the empire. I also have a couple golden ages to pop.

It looks like Team #2 has just turned tech off altogether, which means they probably won't be getting cuirassiers before our attack.

As for Team #4, I really can't do anything but tip my hats to those two. They're being a pain in the butt right now, but I can't help but admire their spunk. Nabaxo and Thoth took a losing team, and are well on the way to making themselves respectable again. Last turn, they climbed above Team #2 in score! They've managed to take a city from me, and now have a tech that we don't and access to cavalry

I'm still a little surprised they've chosen to attack me though. If they want to go for maximum effect, they should troll the leaders, AKA, Team Spullarise. If they want to improve their position, they should go after ASM - who is defending with muskets and catapults. With a fire sale about to commence on Team #2's lands, they should be prepping to capitalize on it. Still, I can hardly fault them for wanting to reclaim their city, I'm just hoping they stop there. While I want to take out Nabaxo eventually, right now is not a good time for us to get in a pissing match with them. 20 turns from now, it will be, but in the meantime, we have some Chinese to kill.

Team #4's biggest challenge is going to be not getting steamrolled. After the presumed fall of Team #2, they're next on the chopping block, and they'll have to contend with tanks. I mentioned earlier in this thread that while infantry are scary, they're not game winning. Tanks are. While you can hold against infantry with rifles and enough collateral, there is absolutely nothing you can do about tanks - they shred everything that comes before them. The only way to hold them is to have units of the same tech level. To that end, Team #4 desperately needs to get up to Assembly Line. Steel is also going to be a must for them to survive. The issue is that they don't have the tech rate to get there. However, they did receive a boost last turn:



If they research Education, throw up Oxford and Universities everywhere, they might have a shot at staying relavent and weathering the coming storm. I'll be curious to see what they can do with their position.

[oledavy]

I missed music for Team #4 in my tech round-up yesterday.

The fixed chart:



Team #2 birthed a Great Engineer. Guessing they were aiming for a GA and got the GE at low odds.

[oledavy]

PBEM35 Spoiler

Their UB (China's Pavilion) is next to useless, unless maybe for a cultural victory. But then again, who does that?

[Nicolae Carpathia]

^^^ Am I privy to the above?

Probably not, the anticipation is going to hurt.