[SPOILERS] Lurkerloos and map discussion

[Qgqqqqq]

Didn't Lewwyn win that game?

[Sareln]

That escalated quickly...

[timski]

It is interesting to compare an amount of discussion/thinking/simming we saw in India thread earlier when they mostly have only routine empire management to talk about and now when they are engaged in a hot war for their survival.

India are in a bad spot, but then so is their opponent. India could pro-actively fight on, probably learning quite a bit about defense in the process. Yet reading between the lines, CFCJesterFool (especially) is subconsciously evoking another advanced single player trait, called "we're losing because the enemy did something unexpected, so let's start another game."

India played what I think someone jokingly referred to as "the ultimate 300 turn micro plan". Even if that was a strong strategy - which we broadly agree it wasn't in this context - without a willingness to vary from it, India was going to come unstuck sooner or later: Because human players do not play by a predictable game. And while Zulu's actions were especially unpredictable, that India were attacked now by someone was a distinct possibility - just look at how quickly Xenu got upset with Brick.

That goes beyond trying to build redundancy into one's initial strategy. Instead it highlights the need to be able to change strategy.

(As ever, I appreciate Jester has a learning curve here. I'm just trying to put a few markers down on that curve, for future reference.)

[Krill]

Er...scooter might win. Somehow. I think he'll get enough of the cities (and metal) that he'll win long term, at least. He'll get the holy city, and he'll get the two northern cities leaving, what, 3 cities on the island? He really did get lucky with this attack (but not RNG lucky).

[Fintourist]

Er...scooter might win. Somehow. I think he'll get enough of the cities (and metal) that he'll win long term, at least. He'll get the holy city, and he'll get the two northern cities leaving, what, 3 cities on the island? He really did get lucky with this attack (but not RNG lucky).

I assume you mean that they win against India. Regarding this whole game they still need a miracle even though they would not lose a single unit when they continue their attack.

[Krill]

Oh god, they lost the game ages ago. I just meant the war with India.

[Bacchus]

I think they stand in really good shape after this attack and only with a little bit of RNG luck, tiny in effect compared to, say, the walls-whip. I don't think either the crabs city or the horse city have the ability to whip up a defense in time to stop a 2-mover rush, should the Zulus pursue it. Slightly costly for them, but northern cities have no chance of defending themselves long-term, even less of mounting a counter-attack.

[Krill]

The northern cities fall to the second wave in the next few turns anyway, hell one city is defended by a chariot which should fall to an impi from a boat...If Jester slaves archers, the cities should still fall to the axes, just hte axes can't land until the chariot is dead or the impi is in place to defend the axe stack.

[timski]

The wildcard now is how other players respond. It's pretty obvious from the scoreline that India just lost their capital to the defacto (lowest score) most backward civ in the game, and hence nobody on that island must be capable of beating off a committed third attacker:

• Xenu could be well placed, with both an army from their non-war with Brick, and a need to expand.
  
• Less so Serdoa, who has trouble brewing on too many existing borders. But Xenu and Serdoa probably don't trust each other enough to engage in action to their south.
  
• In the west, Commodore might just be tiring of war, and instead trying to get their economy going. Although sometimes when Commodore smells blood... who knows?
  
• Slowcheetah is out there to the east somewhere, but probably unaware of most of what is going on.

And hence Team Zulu might yet survive longer than anyone expected. What a game.

[Bacchus]

The issue with Xenu's potential expansion into the island is the necessity to be fully committed to capturing the entirety of it. That would require, rightly a comitted attacker, who would himself become quite vulnerable. The Zulu were successful precisely because they could fully abandon their rear, I don't think Xenu has that luxury. He could easily capture CC with a casual three-turn sail from his capital, but that would not stand on its own against an isle full of Zulu, and waging a bigger campaign in turn opens him up to Brick, whose power graph is quite imposing.

Easier pickings for Portugal would be the Indian-settled isles. I haven't read Xenu's thread for a while, does he have MC to control Zulu's considerable fleet?