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

[Merovech]

Why do you have a non-resourced mine that no city can use, down by Kursai? Preperation for another city?

[Bigger]

Why do you have a non-resourced mine that no city can use, down by Kursai? Preperation for another city?

perhaps it was being used by the city that no longer exists?
[you may be throwing salt in the wound....]

[Commodore]

Why do you have a non-resourced mine that no city can use, down by Kursai? Preperation for another city?

[novice]

perhaps it was being used by the city that no longer exists?
[you may be throwing salt in the wound....]

He's asking about the mine between Sasha and Kusari, not the mine between Sasha and Riffington.

[Merovech]

He's asking about the mine between Sasha and Kusari, not the mine between Sasha and Riffington.

Yeah, I know Commodre lost Sam, but that was the only one, right? The mine I'm looking at isn't within Sam's former BFC.

[Commodore]

Yeah, I know Commodre lost Sam, but that was the only one, right? The mine I'm looking at isn't within Sam's former BFC.

Ah yes, that one. Sorry, yeah, that's a mine for a potential future filler city I might one day carve out of the jungle. It was effectively free, as I made it with spare worker turns while shuffling them to Kusari and back.

This turn, my wonderful research visibility shows Mist at Rifling in 4 turns, and Gaspar one turn from finishing Replaceable Parts. Our lead is evaporating, and both China and Byzantium are very close to being able to field large Pinch or Flanking II swarms of cavalry.



Gaspar turning tech on is highly depressing, as out one big lead in the demos evaporates like so much spit on a hot griddle. Our metrics are sad, my friends, and only going to get sadder.



One part of that is us being forced to stick in Nationhood until we're willing to either eat a turn of anarchy or we can fire off the two-man golden age. Once Oxford comes online, in particular, we need that boost. I could start it in three turns if I wanted once Gwen's university gets whipped (ow) in.



So what can we do? Well, I requested stone from Mr. Dave, as Palaven is something he owes me. Alas, he refused this turn, although he did offer pigs for the health issues we've started seeing crop up.



You saw the grim picture of tech. But there's one guy there that looks pretty hopeless, actually. He's a long way away from even musketeers, let alone cannon or rifles. Plus, he's been spamming pikes...and we've been spamming landsknechts. Hum.



I am hesitant to attack Dave for a few reasons:

• He's a competent general, who will fight tenaciously.
  
• He'll ignore Mist, who will snap up a chunk of France as well.
  
• This is a big one for me, he's the only player who's been friendly to us all game.
  

For all that, if I could take Tachunka, Palaven, and The Citidel and raze Thessia, I'd feel a lot better about my territory. Even more so if I could take his whole southwest:



Unfortunately, weakening Dave will mean Mist snap up at the very least southeast France, probably more. Not to mention the ugly front that Palaven owns against Byzantium, alas. Plus, I'm not sure if Gaspar will sit pretty, despite his hot war with Yuri.



So it's a question. The other option is to sit quietly and calmly, tech to Combustion and Assembly Line, and try the naval reaver option. We've got a little hopeful boat trying to make that dream a bit better.



The time for decision is soon. The world will not wait upon us.

[Nydaeli]

I am hesitant to attack Dave for a few reasons:
...
This is a big one for me, he's the only player who's been friendly to us all game.

Just pretend he's MNG The PBEM19 deja vu is palpable.

[Commodore]

Just pretend he's MNG The PBEM19 deja vu is palpable.

Heh, very much so, down to him being France. Let's hope we do just a bit better this time around.

One trouble with either scenario (do nothing, tech to navy, or eat France) is that really France has another twenty-thirty turns max of relevance at all, and the Turks on on the way out too. I was talking to Brick a bit this morning and kind of organized my thoughts:

Brick:best option is Mist and Gaspar fight which you can do nothing about
[COLOR="Yellow"]me: Yeah
Second-best option is a Mexican standoff.
Mist and Gaspar are both paraniod.
(I know I've sounded that way too, but I think it's a bit justified by events)
If we kill off Yuri and Dave and borders stablize, then we're looking at another builder phase.[/COLOR]
Brick: yeah
[COLOR="Yellow"] me: Which is its own complex setup
Probably a race to either space or culture.
I think I'm trait-wise in the best shape, but they're both well off for modern era too.[/COLOR]
Sent at 10:02 AM on Wednesday
[COLOR="Yellow"]me: Mist has Imp, which isn't much, but also Fin which is great and the most potential for growth.
Gaspar has Spiritual with all civics unlocked, and the very real benefit of Exp's +health in the pollution era.[/COLOR]
Sent at 10:06 AM on Wednesday
me: I have Fin goodness, and the Colossus for a little while, although Physics needs Astro, so I can't keep from researching that forever, plus Org factories and reduced costs for corperations.
Sent at 10:07 AM on Wednesday
[COLOR="Yellow"]me: That's in the most likely positive scenario, the Mexican Standoff.
The negative scenario is that one or both of them attack me.
I'm holed below the waterline, and whoever didn't get involved wins.[/COLOR]
Brick: yeah
Sent at 10:09 AM on Wednesday
[COLOR="Magenta"]Brick: gah
this game is frustrating
and i'm not playing[/COLOR]
Sent at 10:10 AM on Wednesday
[COLOR="Yellow"]me: Heh
It's interesting
3-man FFAs are often frustrating
Sent at 10:14 AM on Wednesday
me: It's very very interesting, though.[/COLOR]

[Commodore]

So the turn dawned with Dave getting himself a reprieve. But also, getting himself in big big trouble, because he used the stone those extra two turns for Notre Dame. I have major happiness issues, man. I wanted that wonder!



Well have it I shall. I'm going to be massing a set of forces to conquer France. Given I'm forced to stay in Nationhood at the moment, I might as well draft a rifle army, and look at Mr. Ripe here. But it won't be immediate, he's still a long long way to rifles.



One hitch in any particular get-alongs is Mist, more specifically at Bravery. They're two turns from rifles, so this is my last shot to beat them down there. I'm moving out a big rifle/cat stack to poke at them through Palaven's land, and I'm tempting out a few defenders too.



For burning Thessia and playing with Mist, I'll need at least a few two-movers available, so I'm having Sasha bang a few out. Heroic Epic is epic! I really hope Mist hits Dave soon, I'd much rather have room to play with here. Cannon will be waiting a bit, though.



Gaspar, terrifyingly, is researching at a faster clip than I am. Given his capabilities to wealth/research build, and to fuel his research with capture-gold, we can't mess around anymore. Also see tied crop yield!



Killing Yuri is just a matter of time. The slowly rolling CKN stack of doom is grinding forward and Yuri is no Krill...horse archers ain't going to cut it, man. It's only a question of "how long" before Yuri is out and China truly is the runaway.



So the PLAN. We just researched Chemistry, which opens up Steel. But, we also just researched Chemistry, which opens up Scientific Method. Going full-bore, Scientific Method and Communism are 8 turns away. What else is eight turns away?



So then, head hell-for-leather towards Communism and its Great Spy. Kick off the two-man golden age, swap to Bureau with Oxford online. Still have stone, so then make the Kremlin in Riffington. Tech Steel, Democracy, and start up towards Railroad...rely on US/Emancipation, and see if those Kremlin-boosted rushbuys really are all that. It's a plan with issues...but it's also a plan. Let's see how this puppy works, eh?

[Commodore]

So that was a trifle bit annoying. Cataphracts, lest anyone doubt, are very strong. I killed the top defender with a rifle and then tried to mop up the wounded one with a landsknecht to ensure the 2xp needed. And he died, but wounded the cataphract a lot. Only a nearby longbow got low enough odds to gain 2xp from the kill. But he did, so...



I am tempted to spend him on a trick rifle to wipe out this irritating little filler. But I think with a couple 5xp rifles I can wipe it out anyway barring reinforcements. I'll road the corn to enable s Gorillas into the Mist, eh?



Sadly, nothing is as easy as it would be in Turkey. For Gaspar, it's just a question of how fast he can waddle around killing stuff. No meaningful resistance remains, it's just pillage gold and great general points.



That pillage gold is fueling a lot of beakers, too. Mist and Gaspar are both nearly at rifles. Dave is nearly at Paper. Sorry mate, you going to have to die. My extra soldier points go onto three-move galleys to redress that land area issue.



Meh. Well, it'll look awesome in a bit once I go Bureau. Oxford is a five turn build if I go all-out, which I might. Poor capital is still recovering from having its villages pillaged. I want to grow to size 18, but not sure if I can in time for the Kremlin Push.



I'm pretty chill about the wrist-flapping in the banter thread, for my 2c. I do have an awesome way of describe the game's relationship in terms of the best movie of the world. Any interest?