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Mist Wrote:I would not give away that site. It's awfully close to our core and we could really use a crumple zone if he goes wild.
If it's really about mana... Keep the site but offer the mana from the node and tomb ( or just palace mana ) free of charge once it's converted/connected to a trade network? It's not a short term prospect and backfilling KotE+mana tech 50 or so turns in the future won't set us back a lot. It would be good to have him somewhat dependent on trade with us.
On the other hand - if it is a short term prospect, you should seriously start questioning his motives, as this would make for quite an outrageous landgrab. How far is his capital again?
Getting a settler off him would be nice, but this is probably not a good bargaining chip.
Another good idea, thanks Mist.
Replied with the proposal of a free mana from me. If he rejects that stating that he wants the spot then I'll try and find his motives.
My hunter completed EoT. Now I need to try and get him up to 5exp so I can start capturing animals. There is a barrow near Inishbofin that should help with that task.
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And, Irgy accepted my proposal. 
In other news, nyktorion told me that Thoth is in a massive military buildup, running apprenticeship and conquest and is 1st in power with over 100k. I'm 3rd with 55k consisting of 8-9 warriors and a hunter so he has a decent amount of units. It must be costing him a ton of maintenance though. At this point I'm not sure if nyktorion is also going to invade or not but I don't think it'll end well for the Bannor either way.
Barb cities seem to be sprouting everywhere. One near the Broken Sepulchar has 4 warriors in it already so they'll head my way soon enough. Another one just appeared near the Tomb of Sucellus.
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Eh, things aren't going so well with nyktorion. He's turned down a border agreement and he's sending Gilden and a couple of warriors to capture the barb city between us. When he captures it it'll make it really difficult for me to create a decent front with him.
![[Image: nyktorion%20troubles.jpg]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15873301/FFH%20PBEM3/nyktorion%20troubles.jpg)
Pic of the area along with my pitiful attempts to dotmap. Copper city won't be able to keep the pig so it'll have no food, but I have to put something there or else he could walk right into my capital with the elf movement bonus. Dragon Bones city could also be 1NE, but coastal cities are a liability without either Lanun or OO and it's only 3 tiles away from Kabhalg. I wish I could just get away with not settling this area but it's too close to my capital. Perhaps I should try a lightning raid on nyktorion once I get monks to fix this problem?
Stack highlighted is a traditional 4 warrior barb squad heading to my lands while nyktorion has units nearby to capture the city.  (although I'll admit my barb luck in this game has been fairly good, these are the only barbs to come at me since those Goblins Irgy bought to me ages ago).
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I talked with nyktorion and it turns out I'm just being paranoid. He'll take the barb city and that will be his border city with me. I'm still worried about Gilden heading my way but I guess that's just natural when you only have warriors.
Downside is that copper spot is hardly viable now that the pigs are gone. Perhaps I can get a city with the nearby mana node to claim it so it isn't completely useless. Dragon Bones are still viable though, and will likely be my 5th city. I don't like that I'll have a multi-city front here, but seeing as it's close to the border with Irgy I can live with it.
Also Irgy got Aristocracy and slavery this turn. I doubt he has KotE yet but he's well on his way to AV. Hopefully that will make early Order seem less noticeable.
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In a classic  moment of mine, I completely forgot that I popped copper in GoK, so I was confused by the 'upgraded to bronze weapons' upon loading the save.  Good news though that I don't have to connect my natural copper now that I won't put a city there for a while.
My scout managed to divert the barb warriors heading to me back towards Kabhalg by sacrificing himself, while nykrotion has some warriors and a weakened Gilden. He also popped the Broken Sepulchar and got a Timor Mask. Might as well forget about attacking him until I can get courage on my units.
Also in other news, I got a trade route with Irgy. Probably because he has fishing and we finally have a river connection going. He has some extra gems that could be traded for Ale, which I'll offer next turn.
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Quote:War has come and i'm pretty much pinned down in my capital. Thoth has approached with a stack of 5str. mobility promoted swordsmen, one with the axe and 5 combat promos. Think i can hold off the first assault, but i'm in dire need of help if i'm gonna hold this off.
There's a watch tower 5 tiles northwest of the border city with gold. It should give you a view of my capital.
- Sir Yellow, barricading the palace
Poor guy. Strength 5, 2 move swords lead by a mini-hero who has Orthus's axe and 5 combat promotions (effectively 12 strength) is a very scary stack. I wouldn't be surprised if that kills him at this stage of the game.
Copper warriors won't be enough to deal with it, and that's all I have at the moment. Plus it'll easily be 10+ turns before I can even reach his borders. All I can hope for is that by teching HBR and warfare and building Training Yards and swords this early, Thoth will fall behind later on.
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Yup. But I can't shake the feeling he brought it on himself. Think about it, this map is huge, there are acres of space between players. Just look at the distances between you, Irgy, Mr. Y and Nyk. If he, at this point, is solidly bordering two players that just screams aggressive settling without, as it seems any muscle to back it up. Kind of reckless.
It's good you're not involved, you may be playing good guys, but it does not make you charity for saving greedy farmers.
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And Irgy accepts Gems for Beer. :dancing5: That will really help getting to Order quickly.
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Someone built Form of the Titan, probably the Malakim. Which is a shame since it's quite a useful wonder for anyone but if he has warfare this early there's nothing I can do to stop him. I actually saw a scout of his via hawk this turn, but I guess that doesn't count since we still don't have contact.
![[Image: First%20sign%20of%20Malakim.jpg]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15873301/FFH%20PBEM3/First%20sign%20of%20Malakim.jpg)
Order ETA is T94. After that is Priesthood, and then I'll need to think of a new tech plan.
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OK, somehow I don't know the rules for hawk contacting and I've met the Malakim. They are clear first in production and near the top in food (even with Conquest instead of Agrarianism). Also has 6 cities, although I think one of them is a former Bannor city. And has about double the next highest power. Needless to say, I'm probably going to have to keep my hawk scouting in the west for the foreseeable future.
A barb warrior was kind enough to get my hunter to 6xp, so now I can start capturing animals. The settler for my 5th city is complete too, and will settle near Dragon Bones (probably 1NE of DB thanks to nyktorion's possession of the barb city). I really do need to go on a settler spam and fill out all of my available space, but I can't shake off the feeling that I need more units.
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