[spoilers]Commodore is Darius II of the HRE, now with less excuse.

[Ceiliazul]

Yo Ceil, we want to move the garrison forward more to take out Gaspar's copper?

You got graphs on him yet? Any 3k power jumps that look like archery? Any 6k jumps that look like an axe? If no to both, then pile in!

...but where'd Dave's warrior go?

[Commodore]

You got graphs on him yet? Any 3k power jumps that look like archery? Any 6k jumps that look like an axe? If no to both, then pile in!

...but where'd Dave's warrior go?

Wait, what? I was joking. I don't want to always be the ancient-era warfare guy! They have four cities, they're not exactly in the chariot-rush stage. Um. Although I guess we're not in terrible shape to rush if it came to that...no axe nor archery seen yet...damnit Ceil, you're my sane dedlurker, I was expecting Xenu to push for the rush!

Dave's warrior went south, in what I'm translating as a "leave me alone to make my stone-pinkdot-'mids scheme in peace" move.

[Commodore]

If we want to go peaceful, we can offer OBs now. I need to choose by next turn, I'll have a lot of overflow to dump into either a library or a barracks. Math is next, long darned treck to get there.



Momentum aside, Dave is the annoying neighbor here. For some jungled wet rice, he's orphaned some poor clams.



The biggest overflow next turn comes from the two-pop granary whip in The Bun. I can 1-turn the barrack, for what it's worth, or get a good start on a library, Bun is going to want the library soon, a Fin lake + two riverside Fin cottages is a decent little commerce pile this early.



That's more expensive, in a large part, due to Kiki. She's a great spot, with those cows already hooked for good food in this pre-clam time. If I was Gaspar, I'd be irate about us snagging it, but it's a natural border location. Maintenance isn't crippling but rathausai will be nice.



Need to decide before next turn comes in. I can move two of the workers to road north of Kiki and land the axe/spear combo on one of the hills. I guess technically I could also just sit them all there and the turn after road the neutral ground to bring the axe/spear next door in one turn, but it's not like that wouldn't also be seen as an insanely hostile move.



I guess the real question, in my mind, is if Gaspar and Noble will sit for Kiki. If this could be our borderline, I'd love for them to continue to plug away at maybe beating Dave to the 'mids or whatever. But if this is considered an insult...well, nothing for it, we might as well wage war to wipe them out immediately.

[Commodore]

Game opens with a sign. Nah, they won't sit for this.



No sign of axe or archer yet. Dave's GNP tanked and he settled his fourth city. Yup, that was stone-reach.



Aha, hooked copper and size four, dry whip of an axe incoming.



I think I'll tech HBR.

[mackoti]

man you are so agresiv,i belived you had something with me in pb7 because of Pbem24,but seeing how you dow your 'friend' Gaspar i am sure i was wrong.Apologize.:neenernee

[Commodore]

It's considered kosher to check the situation (without moving anything) before accepting diplomacy, right? In any case, the Chinese offered a peace treaty, and upon inspection, they have the copper mined as well as roaded. Bleh.



Welp, nothing for it, just accept peace, chalk it up to the usual farcical comedy of errors that characterizes my gameplay, and fortify the axe/spear in Kiki. I need to remove the sign of good sense, it mocks me down there.



The benefit, beyond pissing off Gaspar, of Kiki's location is this awesome copper mine coming online post-haste. I was going to whip, but that's actually probably sub-par. Two less turns of monument culture, but a faster granary, it'll obviously be ready to whip just as I hit size three.



I'm hesitant to chop right now when Math is so close. One more turn of gold should allow me to pile on further at 100%. Oasis is making a work boat and next turn will finish the settler for the fish/flood plains in the northeast. That might be it for new cities this side of Currency, actually.



The demos reflect the far-flung empire's costs. CY and MFG will bump in a couple turns as I continue to regrow, I'm going to spare the rod a bit to spoil the child.



At least we're not in Davy-land for painful costs. Here's his pink dot of us. We better not get pushed more by this absurdly lush city spot, or else...well, I dunno. I'll flail about a bit.



Finally, as mentioned and missed this morning, Yuri built the Oracle. Next up, forge, Colossus, strong economy this side of Astronomy. Maybe he'll win this one, it'll be about time if he does. Dave is of course the other primary contender, skills and economy aside it'll actually probably be who gets 'phracted that dictates victory.



As for us...well, let's just see how absurdly high we can push GNP with fishing villages and cottage spam. There is no plan for victory.

[Commodore]

Mean ole' Gaspar. We've got plenty of improvements, and more incoming. The worker swarm will be finishing up the essential improvements for HRE-East with a couple more turns.



Math next is more or less a must. Then we have a choice...cheaper or better, towards CoL? We need those Rathauses post-haste, but going via Currency is fine for those needs. I suspect Gaspar is ahead of us on the standard path. How much is Confucianism worth?

[Commodore]

Welcome, Torg. And Gaspar will be griping again, I'm sure, but this one isn't even conceivably a pink dot. Fortunately, still seven more turns of enforced peace to go. Also, I think I'm going to need another monument. :rolleyes:



Still a lovely city, though. I'll whip it once for a monument, and then with a math-chop we'll have the granary complete with a second whip. Then it's flood plain, flood plain, oasis. Awyeah.



Ignore the ETA shown, that's actually four turns on Maths once the fish is worked. Not sure who owns the stratospheric GNP there, probably Yuri (who, taking out culture, is lower than us...okay). CY top, MFG, top. Looking good in the demo-sense...



It's the bloody geopolitics. Surely I have the right to feel just a little bit squished here? Mine is not an easy placement. I see the lurker thread buzzing, I'm sure debating about the wisdom of DoWing Gaspar, or else Davy's ballsy move. Well, the two are related. I realized how pink the Kiki dot was, knowing Gaspar he declared WAR TO THE DEATH as soon as he saw it I'm sure. So if the chance to cut copper was around, excellent. I'm sure there is some sort of 'mids game plan in the Gaspar/Noble camp, waiting for Maths no doubt. Sad thing is, they will not make the Dave-eque reach for stone, which I'm assuming is as distant between them and Yuri as the stone is for the three of us south-landers. So Dave will win the 'mids, and Gaspar will give up and assault his neighbor (me). So China/HRE relations were never going to be anything but sour, alas.



Now they might actually hit us before they're ready, though. Need to watch them closely, but if we can manage it, them going off half-cocked is out best chance of relevance before Dave wins. Still regret Kiki's placement, though.

[Commodore]

Given stone this was bound to happen. Dave built Stonehenge, and I am sooo very happy he did. I would much, much rather his first GP be a prophet, rather than an engineer or *shudder* spy.



Also, thank goodness, Dave and Gaspar met! Or they met last turn when I didn't check. Anyway, now I can finally swap EPs off of Gaspar and onto someone else. I'm betting on Dave now, although Yuri might be the worthier goal. I am so very happy that Mistabod is far away.



Wonder of wonders, Yuri actually poked towards me with his warrior. If he takes the coinflip and wins I am screwed blued and tattooed six ways to Sunday but I doubt he will. And, um, geography means I am anyway.



Swapping to the corn farm means I'm still first in CY but surpassed in MFG, we're all in a nice tight little grouping though. I suspect Ichabod, with his FFH-trained massive cities, is the top MFG. He's doing fine though, really we're all pretty solid.



The plan is to get to Mathematics in two more turns, and I'll manage to just squeak by to that goal. Definitely need more cottages down, at least. I'm going to have to time the whip here in The Bun, but having the library online can only help the next wave of techs. Still waiting on hiring scientists, need the Great Spy first.



So, I'm still weighing the benefits of Currency vs. Polytheism/Priesthood towards Confucianism. Xenu, still about? Ceil? I'm seeing benefits for either path.

[Ceiliazul]

Since you're going to want monarchy soon anyway, I think priesthood is the way to go. It's also more likely to land you a confu holy city.