[Spoiler] Suboptimal's Next Attempt at Lurker Frustration

[suboptimal]

Eh, the fallout will resolve itself in 5-6 turns if the tooltip is to be believed. That'll give me enough time to send two settlers east and then resettle at Howard. I'll wait and see what happens on my southern coast before settling Smiler. I'm half tempted to commit Truly to the Manhattan Project, build a warhead and then drop it on Woden's fleet but there isn't enough time for that right now. The project alone would take 12 turns. What should also be noted is that as of my last turn about 2/3 of Woden's remaining milpower was his fleet. If anything, right now Ichabod could very well be in the driver's seat because of that disparity in force distribution (and the loss of his industrial valley).

There was also a brief temptation to spam discounted Holy Sites and attempt to flood the zone with Rock Bands just for kicks. However, I think I have a chance to build my way into a reasonable recovery, even if it means I get crushed by Brazil (or am the last one standing as I expect Ichabod would likely wipe out Canada first).

[suboptimal]

They're called "thermal neutrons" for a reason.

Come to think of it I don't know if anyone has built any of the DV-specific wonders. It'd be funny to have gotten this far along, failed at the quixotic CV, get nuked and razed into near oblivion and then threaten a DV at the end of it all.

Goals.

[roland of gilead]

i mean the tourists lol

[suboptimal]

Ah, true. The number is still climbing, but slowly now. My earlier calculation of about 500 raw tourism per turn is what I'd need to have a shot and without Leakey and the loss of a few of my museums (though I could reconquer Barry...) that's no longer achievable.

Hmmm...how to quickly get 13 more DV points?

[suboptimal]

Turn 252

Space Race is complete. Start Globalization. Rocketry completes in two. Military First out, Public Works in. The hole in the Phoenician Empire is not any larger. Ichabod’s lost about 500 milpower, Woden about 100. No sign of the fleet.

Siege towers do a bit of relocating. Settler at Foggy moves out.




I get three era score for settling in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. City buys the 7 tile to the east, starts a granary, four turns to complete. City will grow in five due to the limited housing. Builder goes next door, plops down a volcanic mine. The city will complete the granary in three turns. The builder will mine the 7 tile, camp the elephants, chop the woods into a sewer and then chill for a bit before harvesting the wheat to make room for the Commercial Hub. I also lock the Campus, or rather, I don’t because I need to acquire the tile first. Truly will get it in six turns. That’s fine – that’s long enough to build the granary and a monument. The new city is pulling in 26 per turn and as it rapidly grows I should be able to get things built quickly. I’ll get another builder up here as the city nears 5 population to put down some forests and lumbermills. I also wouldn’t be above putting down a Neighborhood for more housing, either.

James Joyce drops his second great work into the National History Museum. That’s now full. Tourism is up to 230 raw per turn. Uranium mine goes in at Marina and I earn the inspiration to Venture Politics. Canada is sending a tank army in for a look. Uh huh. I got my eye on you, bud. I send Sinan out from Marina, over to the mountains and through the mountain pass to Isaac’s Holy Site. The city is unoccupied. I’ll see if I’m allowed to wander around or if a unit chases me out. There is a temptation to send the lone wolf tank over to pillage the Holy Site for another rock band.

MODERN PANTHEON moves out from Bruins. There aren’t any wonders nearby but there is a border district in Blackhawks and then I’ll wander into Brazil to play the districts there. The nearest wonder is the Potala Palace but it’s three turns of movement to get there. However, first stop is the Entertainment Complex at The Blues. I get there with 0.25 movement left and push the button:




Hey, they didn’t disband and that’s two more tourists. I’ve got 66 and need….343.

Gossip says that Woden dropped another nuke. He did – Misty Mountains is down to zero defense, zero walls. Hopefully they can keep this up for some time. As for me, well...there’s this guy:




if I can last three more turns at 19 GAP per turn. Two random techs, you say? If you’d be so kind I wouldn’t mind getting Satellites and then Robotics.

[suboptimal]

Turn 253

Lock Neighborhood at Peter Sallis

I get a couple of housing notifications and there’s a flood on a river out in Brazilian territory. Check out the battefield in that direction. Three of my spies have arrived:




Lots of AA, some modern armor but no airplanes. Interesting. I start Gain Sources and Listening Post missions and leave the third spy (Loefflaed in Gondor) stationary. Gondor is where the missions are right now as the other cities don’t have much in the way of mission-targeted districts. All the percentages are low, which tells me that Woden’s got cryptography slotted. While looking around I also see that Fez has been nuked. Interesting. I decide to take a chance at this opportunity – the ironclad armada sails from Nora Batty and heads south (“out of the way”). It’s going to make like The Doctor and take the long way around. If I can get there, though, I have a chance to wreck (or rather, liberate) the city. The armada isn’t doing much in Nora Batty and would just get killed if I keep it there, so why not?

The armada has arrived at Glenda, however, as the city’s defenses have been worn down a bit – the walls are down to 175/400. There’s likely a spotter sub right outside the city’s borders. I send Magellan off in that direction to go have a look. He’ll get there in a turn or two. The good news is that the bombers at Truly’s airstrip can reach the third ring of Nora Batty from their location. I’ll have a second airstrip in that range next turn for the other bombers so I might be able to take out a sub group or two.

Relocate siege towers. Canada has a warrior in the “donut hole”, which is completely within my territory at this point. When the alliance ends in a turn or so it’ll be expelled and I’ll park my tank on it...for future settlement. The builder nearby is going to head for the exposed coal north of Foggy, mine it, then go mine the uranium under the airstrip by Nora Batty.

Up at Peter Sallis the builder moves to the 7 tile and will mine that next turn. I lock a Neighborhood down on the tile SW of the city. At some point I’ll need the housing so better to fix the cost now. It’ll be 4 housing once complete.

MODERN PANTHEON heads for Blackhawks but there aren’t a lot of railroads down here. I’ll play a concert at the Theater Square next turn. Sinan is still at Isaac’s Holy Site – the corridor from Isaac to Gordon Malloy is devoid of units. I move up to the Commercial Hub and will see how far west I can scout before I get intercepted. I also need to weigh the merits of using a bomber to take out (or retake, even if temporary), Barry. I’d have to base the units at Marina and Howard II to do it as the airstrip at Compo is coastal and too far away. That leaves the matter of what to take the city with. I don’t have much. I could take the city with a weak unit but if I want to pillage I’ll need tank armies or something else. I don’t think the lone wolf tank would get much pillaging done. I could toss out a bunch of cavalry, I suppose. If I got a metric shit-tonne of it’d speed things up a little bit – Robotics is 48 turns away right now.

I’m also a bit wary of Canada, though they seem to be a bit wary of Woden and Ichabod. Good.

The game says I’ll achieve a cultural victory in 92 turns. Heh heh….heh. I did just pick up three tourists last turn, though.

[suboptimal]

Turn 254

I open the save to find out that Glenda is almost gone. This is my surprised face. Settler will be out next turn and will head for the River Avon and Greenlee Lough. Woden also hit the swordsman with a bomber. Engineer at Truly puts in an airfield. I’ll rebase the bombers here as they heal up. Magellan rounds the bend and finds a battleship armada:




He’s likely using bombers off the carriers with the battleship as a spotter. Makes sense to me. My ironclad heads due east and finishes the turn nine tiles southeast of that armada. I’ll go east one more turn then head north towards Fez. The city is regaining health so I’ll need to lurk outside while I wait for some Brazilian help with the garrison (or maybe I just start pillaging stuff). Still no units near Isaac.

Rocketry is complete, I start Lasers. Reposition a few units. The 7 tile at Peter Sallis is mined. Granary will complete next turn and I’ll start the sewer, chopping the forest into that. That’ll get some housing cushion while the city builds its Campus (Truly acquires the tile in three turns). The builder near Foggy heads towards the coal. I’ll mine it next turn. I’m also not going to mine the uranium down at Nora Batty since I’ll likely lose control of that city in a few turns. Instead I’ll put in a plantation at Foggy – the city does have a slight issue right now and I could also use some extra with the upcoming loss of 16 income from the loss of Glenda.

MODERN PANTHEON reaches Blackhawks’ Theater Square.




Three more tourists in the books and I convert Blackhawks, which removes Catholicism as the majority religion of Canada. They reach max level as well. Nice. Tourist count is now 69 and I’ll gain three more next turn. Next stop is John Lamarr’s Street Carnival. While the band keeps playing my conversions will pose an interesting question for Woden and Ichabod. I have Zen Meditation as a follower belief and any city with two specialty districts will gain an amenity. They’re likely both starving for amenities so I wonder if they’d let me continue unchecked as long as the band survives? I just need another 486 and I could buy another one.

I think Truly is going to finish its bomber and start the Manhattan Project. That’ll take 12 turns and then I’ll build a nuke. It’d be nice to be able to complete one in time to hit Woden’s fleet with it but that’s not going to happen.

[suboptimal]

Forgot to note a few things in my turn report:

1) It's remarkable that Ichabod's milpower is lower than mine.
2) It's highly likely, given the milpower he has at sea, that Woden has few to no land units left and can't afford to shift them east.
3) I need to make plans for razing Auntie Wainwright in the event Woden takes it but doesn't raze it. Corollary to this is having a plan for if a melee ship shows up in the lake - subs and battleships can't take cities (IIRC) so I don't mind trapping a few of them in the lake if he moves them through. A destroyer, though, is what he'd take the capital with.

[suboptimal]

Turn 255

Woden’s taken and razed Glenda. Income and tourism has dropped by a bit with the loss of the seaside resorts there. Magellan is back at Nora Batty. My ironclad is still alive and apparently unseen. What I need to do is start putting together forces NE of Auntie Wainwright to retake and raze the city if he decides to keep it, along with disposing of any destroyers that More on that in a bit.

Governors are established. I’ve got a great person and a diplomatic deal waiting for me. The diplo deal is Ichabod:




Sure, why not?

I’ve actually got two great people waiting for me – Grace Hopper {retire for two free techs) and Sofonisba Anguissola (artist). They show up in Foggy and Truly, respectively. I immediately retire Grace Hopper, completing the Guidance Systems and Satellites techs, which puts me into the Information Age. That also completes two of the three remaining prerequisites for Robotics. I also get three era score out of it. Hmmm..eight more and I’d get another golden age. That’d be funny.

Compo has finished its submarine and it starts a mobile SAM (4 turns). It also only costs 280 to upgrade existing AA guns to SAMs. I’ll upgrade the one at Foggy now and the one at Marina once it reaches Foggy in a couple of turns. Marina’s fighter also rebases to Foggy. I’m going to put as much AA as possible around this city for when the bombing starts. Peter Sallis has completed its granary and starts a sewer. I’m going to chop the forest last, just in case there’s a sub lurking off the coast. The city is happy and bringing in 8.8 per turn right now. The new citizen will work the 37 tile. I’ll also be placing the Campus next turn. The builder returns to the city and I’ll camp the elephants next turn. Builder at Foggy, with the tank army escort, mines the coal. No subs right off the coast. The second settler at Foggy is complete and heads east towards the River Avon. I’ll pick up an escort at Truly for the trip to the Greenlee Lough. The next settler is due in two turns and will settle the new Howard II the turn it completes. That’ll also be the turn after the fallout clears itself out. Magellan leaves Nora Batty but doesn’t see anything approaching (yet). The sub at Compo heads due south. My plan is to try to avoid the Phoenician fleet and perhaps sneak up on the carriers to try to sink one (or more) with my bombers.

The ironclad heads east for a few hexes and then cautiously turns northeast. No sign of anything Phoenician. Looking up towards Fez it appears that Fez is healing but Natal was nuked and both Porto Allegre and Rio de Janiero have been placed under attack. Ichabod also earned promotions on three different spies.

Woden’s milpower is at 2204, Ichabod’s is at 743. That means that Canada has the largest military by force right now. . Most of Woden’s milpower is also naval at this point, which isn’t doing him much good against Ichabod. There are no units of any sort in the former Egyptian lands.

MODERN PANTHEON moves into Brazilian territory but does not perform any concerts this turn. Next turn I’ll hit the Street Carnival and then perhaps turn into Phoenician territory.

I’m up to 72 tourists and a victory time of 92 turns.

Regarding Auntie Wainwright, Woden’s got two choices – raze the city or try to keep it. Keeping it while Truly, Compo and Foggy all exist will be difficult as it’d flip in two turns. However, it’s also the only way he can get to my capital to take it. In the event he razes it that will save me the trouble. I can resettle inland one tile to the NE (where its Theater Square now stands). If he tries to keep it then I’ll need to dispose of both the city and any melee class warships that enter the lake in order to protect the capital. For taking the city I’ve got four bombers, a tank army, a machine gun army (forms up next turn), a musket army, a fighter and two field cannon armies. Some combination of that should be able to deal with everything. If I happen to trap a submarine or a battleship group, even better. I can dispose of them over the course of a few turns. It’ll cause some mayhem, but thems the breaks. I do want to get the bombard up to Truly’s Encampment, upgrade it to mobile artillery and get a drone out as that will give me full coverage of the lake.

[suboptimal]

Turn 256

The Thames flooded but my Dam stopped it, my alliance with Canada has ended and I’ve got a city complaining about housing problems. Trust me, citizens, housing should be the least of your concerns.

Take a look around, Magellan is in Nora Batty. That means that the fleet is right around the corner. Send Magellan out for a look and…




I also got a glimpse of something south of the Canadian ironclad. The artist goes for a look and finds an apostle. The bombers are too far away to hit the destroyer group – that’s the one that needs to die though I now know it’ll take two fully healed bombers to get the job done (and leave both redlined). Submarine from Compo heads for the south pole to sneak by the incoming fleet. Out in the eastern ocean a battleship armada has moved into range of my ironclad group:




Why yes, I think I’ll try to sink that with my horribly outdated unit that is somehow more powerful than yours. The attack fails but I reveal more naval units to the north:




That’ll be a goner next turn. Eh, I tried.

The AA gun from Marina gets into Foggy’s first ring and upgrades. The fighter unit there deploys. Canada’s warrior got kicked out of the donut hole spot by the alliance ending. I move my tank into that spot to reserve it for my future potential use. I move the field cannon army out of Auntie Wainwright and the nearby bombard gets up to Truly’s Campus. Other units reposition and I put in a banana plantation at Foggy with that builder’s last charge. Bombers at Truly rebase to the airstrip to the southeast. Truly starts a mobile SAM.

It’s occurred to me that if/when Nora Batty gets razed I’ll be able to settle directly on the horses. That’d keep the niter, oil and uranium reachable from that city with the appropriate tile buys. In theory I could be cheeky and settle directly on the wheat, which might actually be a better spot. Of course I’ll have to see if he actually razes it or just liberates it (that city was formerly Armagh).

Sinan is still not finding any units in former Egyptian lands. Woden’s milpower appears to have bottomed out around 2240 or so, Ichabod is back up over a thousand. Canada has a navy:




If you didn’t have an alliance with Phoenicia I’d be making “aw, how cute” jokes. Nonetheless that navy is bigger than my own right now.

MODERN PANTHEON reaches the Street Carnival at John Lamarr...or rather, Talla Keyali.




They keep on truckin’! That’s an additional tourist in Brazil and most of a tourist in Canada and Phoenicia. My tourist count is now up to 76 (out of 345 required)

Gossip says that Phoenicia razed a city – yep, they took out Natal.