Horselover Fat's journal - Iskender and the Hippus

[Twinkletoes89]

I'm pretty sure that the 'new civs' will be AI controlled the whole time due to the 6 player limit on PBEM games.

[Iskender]

I've done a quick test and no matter what I did one of the civs always landed in hands of the AI. This sucks

The only other option i can think of is if someone painstakingly recreated the game in Worldbuilder at the moment of summoning (but then again Worldbuilder erases some game data such as GPP counter?)

[Iskender]

By mousing over the rice, you can see where it says "Requires: Farm." If it had a farm on it, it would say, "Requires: Route." If it had a road, it would say nothing. We use this trick in MP to estimate the location of enemy cities in already scouted areas (by seeing which food they are using), and more importantly, to know when they have hooked up their horse/copper/iron. It actually took the MP community a few years before this became widespread, and it may not even be fully known, but I use it all the time.

Looks like Bob hooked copper. I mouse over his copper tile every turn and now it does say "Requires Route".

So we have a situation. I'll try to deal with it tommorow, gotta go to sleep now.

[Iskender]

Score and demographics show that in turn 94 Bob researched a classical tech and got a +5k increase in soldier points. This could translate into researching BW or Archery and building a warrior.

Maybe I'm just panicking over a silly mine, but I've cancelled the plans to settle on the yellow dot and chose the pink dot instead.

And extended a hand to Bob:

Dear Calabim

This message is an attempt to initiate a diplomatic contact. I am observing your progress with care and there are some things that caught my attention. Namely, the tech researched back in turn 94, the mine you've just build over copper and a trickle of new warriors. If these are portents of a conflict I feel obliged to advise you that neither of us would benefit by it. In the worst case I would be forced to waste my world spell.

Both of our civilizations excel at warfare. It would be a great waste if our best abilities canceled out against each other while the bigger civilizations out there keep growing.

As a sign of good intentions I have sent my scout to a vulnerable spot near Prawn. He says 'Hello'.

Iskender of the Hippus

"HELLO":

[Iskender]

A reply from Bob!

Heya,


Thanks for letting me know about your concerns. It's much better to discuss potential issues in the open then allow suspicion or fears to accumulate in silence.

I wish to assure you that I am not currently preparing for war with the Hippus. I am building a steady stream of military, but these are for either garrisons, barb culling (my civilization is quite literally ringed by lizardman and skeleton lairs), and for an assault I am building up for on a barbarian city to my east. Depending on how that attack goes, you may notice my power falling precipitously. I am indeed currently working on connecting my copper, but given the dangers of Erberus I think it's only prudent that I do so ASAP. I fully agree that it makes little sense for our two empires to fight at present, with peaceful expansion and development being far greater priorities than warrior-to-warrior combat. The growth of the Kuriotates and Ilians is also quite troubling, although I'm not sure there's much that either of us can do about that at present (I haven't even found PB's territory yet). If you do later have any ideas on that front, I'm all ears.


However, if you do try to open another lair / barrow / ruins etc. near my territory, then all bets are off. I killed the azer you unleashed without loss and have decided to let it slide without further issue, but please do not test the limits of my tolerance again. To be clear- if you do decide to explore another lair on my border again, I will consider it an act of war. You have been warned.

I'm relieved to see this kind of a reply. First, I believe it's genuine - Bob indeed seems to be surrounded by lairs, what explains both his reluctance to explore (hence the late hut that popped Fishing) and the fact that he's been sitting on only three cities for quite a long time.


So I've decided to switch back to the original plan of settling on the Yellow spot. The tile is only 5 moves away (Horse Archer with mobility I!) from the nearest Calabim city, but the area is just awesome for a production city. I'm going to settle there ASAP (most likely turn 106) and then spin the thing. After all Bob's only caveat regards exploring lairs. Well, technically I am going to pop that barrow, but I'll deal with the outcome myself ( RNG)



Edit:
Also, I've sent this message to Sareln after noticing that we have a trade route:

Hi there

I have just noticed that we have established a trade contact (I thought we're poles apart!). Interested in trading Cotton for Ale?

Best Regards

Iskender of the Hippus

[Sullla]

Your name change for the thread has been effected. Good luck!

[Iskender]

Thanks!

[Iskender]

Operation "Den of Evil" completed. In a first battle a combat II shock warrior (scratched by a 2nd skeleton to 2.6 last turn) died at 78% odds. No biggie, i like to take my chances vs. barbarians. Another warrior, unpromoted, died at 89% odds which left me only with a scout. Fortunately the 2nd warrior damaged the skeleton badly enough that the scout had 99.9% odds to win. He promptly swept the bones and opened a lair and...

Meet Comillo:



Thank you RNG Now what to do with this guy? Horse archer seems to be the obvious choice. In the short term he'll have 5-6 promotions. I could take combat IV commando, and later on either combat V heroic strength II to make him a first-hitter for stack busting or mobility II for a really scary 12-move commando.


More good news in diplomacy, Sareln might trade Cotton for Ale:

I'm still considering whether or not to go through on the trade - most
likely yes. It won't be permanent, since both of those cotton sources
eventually secure my not-death, but there will probably be a good
stretch of 20+ turns when the trade nets aren't up that I can ship it
to you instead.

Would be a great deal! I wouldn't have to hook up gems to grow the capital to size 8.

And friendly resolution of tensions between Hippus and Calabim.

ja: i guess i can put my response here
22:53
i'm relieved to see that your actions are not against me

and i'm glad that we have a similar view on the overall situation
22:54
bobchillingworth: cool
22:55
apologies for asking, but are we on the same page regarding lairs?

I've lost far too many sp games to the dreaded "Ogre + 4 mistforms" and similar results to not be deathly afraid of someone exploring them on my border
22:56
ja: there are some that i am going to explore, but they shouldn't be a bother for you

bobchillingworth: fine, as long as they aren't those barrows between us or that dungeon to my north
22:57
graves are fair game... they never spawn anything worse than spectres I think

I don't know if there's any near me anyway though
22:58
ja: you should get contact with PB any time soon. his workboat is floating your way

bobchillingworth: awesome

I am amazed that it has not died yet

unless he is closer than I suspected

It better not be feints within feints stuff as I'm terribly weak right now, after losing those two warriors. Not including garrison duty, there are only TWO warriors left. Fortunately soldier points (4k) from the Adventurer obscure my power graph, it looks as if I lost a scout.

Actually, in retrospect I see that the "Den of Evil" operation was 1 turn premature. I will be able to plant a city one turn earlier, but it will be a turn of anarchy

Pocketbeetle has gone quiet for a few days. I wonder what's he up to.

[Iskender]

A quick update: I've researched CoL and Calendar, but decided to delay switching civics until next turn. Bob saw my adventurer and must have realized that I had popped the barrows, which gives him an excuse for DoW.

I'll have 2 warriors and 1 scout ready next turn boosting soldier count by 8k - the exact value of a horseman or an archer. Simultaneusly with researchin CoL I've also finished palisade (worth 2k points), so it appears as if I researched a classical military tech and then produced a tier 2 unit. Of course in the span of 2 turns it's not likely to have happened, but once again I hope it'll at least cause some confusion. The bluff will become obvious next turn when I'll finally switch.

We struck a deal with sareln - Ale for Cotton.

[Iskender]

Bob's power graph is rising, which leaves me no choice than to spam more warriors. ETA for Archery is turn 113.

Also, (some of) my warriors are no longer anonymous! I wanted to name them after characters from Philip K. Dick works, in reference to the name of the thread, but...

In a desperate publicity stunt I've decided to use [SIZE="5"]you [/SIZE]instead*. I'm naming my units after RBers, specfically, after those who have posted in this thread, in order of appearance. However, so as not to run out of names too soon, level 1 and 2 units shall remain anonymous.

So, meet TheArchduke and Rowain




[SIZE="1"]*By posting in this thread you retroactively agree to have your nickname processed for the purposes of bringing greater glory to the Hippus.[/SIZE]