[NO PLAYERS] 82nd Airborne Dropping in to Lurk

[Zed-F]

I don’t see any reason Commodore would be eager to war with Scooter and certainly not without allies who he can be confident are committed to that war. It would be much easier for him to profit from Cornflakes making one mistake or oversight than from Scooter making a number of them.

[Magic Science]

I don't want to post this in Scooter's spoiler thread, so...

As for the Golden Age, the main thing(s) holding me back from kicking it off are 1) fear of the attention it would draw and 2) I haven't figured out a serious Great People plan. These are not the best reasons, but they are reasons. A third better reason might be that the Engineer is for Guilds and the Artist is for tactical utility.

Number 1 is actually an excellent reason in the current metagame.

[Mjmd]

I'm not sure I like this Scooter culture bomb spot. 



Like yes on the horse archer is probably too aggressive if you think keeping Cornflakes happy is important (not that I think that was likely and once Commodore and Cornflakes peace out I think Scooter might reconsider). But in any case assuming you wanted it back a bit I would pick one of the two grassland hills along the river south of the pig. Probably the SE one as it already has a road. Grabs more land east without being much more forward. Makes a city around the crab much safer to settle for instance.

[Zalson]

I'm not sure I like this Scooter culture bomb spot. 



Like yes on the horse archer is probably too aggressive if you think keeping Cornflakes happy is important (not that I think that was likely and once Commodore and Cornflakes peace out I think Scooter might reconsider). But in any case assuming you wanted it back a bit I would pick one of the two grassland hills along the river south of the pig. Probably the SE one as it already has a road. Grabs more land east without being much more forward. Makes a city around the crab much safer to settle for instance.

Alas, it would have been a better choice than the two-on-one dogpile. If only he had been able to alphastrike Cornflakes to speedalong the duel.

[klops]

this game is madness :D

[Mjmd]

Ya things just got dire for Scooter. He needs WAY more cats. I know he argued now is better than later, but just for more cats and possibility of my opponents deciding enough damage had been done I would retreat here.

[El Grillo]

Going from 4p to 3p like this is a tricky dynamic for sure. I didn't think either Commodore or Cornflakes would be willing to get bought out without inflicting some damage first, and if scooter withdrew they could combine their stacks and make a counterattack much less effective (both in Civ4 combat math terms and in psychological rattlesnake terms), and as he pointed out, the sequential nature adds an extra risk.

My guess is that Commodore advances, Cornflakes thinks about it but is ultimately committed to ending the game with the current generation of military and leaving yuri's land unclaimed, and then moves up as well. Scooter hits Commodore's stack as promised (though I agree with Mjmd that it may not be a clean wipe with 1 cat per defending pike), and then Cornflakes pulls back. Commodore kills the two southern cities by himself, and then we see what happens when the enforced peace is up.

EDIT: Well, so much for that prediction!

[thestick]

I really wish I knew the sequence of events here. Commodore should have seen Cornflakes's stack, right? Or did Cornflakes not see Commodore's stack?

[El Grillo]

Per scooter, the turn order is scooter -> Commodore -> Cornflakes, so if I understand correctly, then Cornflakes saw Commodore stay put and advanced anyway.

[Mjmd]

With the angel of approach it seems like he did not see the army.

I still don't like that attack out of Scooters. Yes he did damage, but he lost his army and therefore the game. Make them wade through culture. Get more cats. Bring in your knights from the east. Yes the 3rd city is on flatland, but it seems like he knew he would lose the stack on the hill so why not buy more time. There is always a chance both stacks don't advance on your 3rd city.