RB PBEM #1 - Mehmed (SPOILERS!)

[Dreylin]

Sounds like Ruff is going to go for it full-force....

Thanks for this information. It will prove useful in about 7 or 8 turns from now. I will also be trying to send about 4 or 5 axes to this city location - then it is a matter of waiting 5 turns for a border pop. Sooooo will be putting out 2cpt from his city - any chance of a missionary for sooooo blocking city so that I can match that cultural output (Stonehenge monument + religion)?

Ruff

[Dreylin]

OK, with mh out of he picture for a week, it's time to pause and assess the situation so far.

What's your general short term and long term aims now? Have you really been influenced by all these emails or do you think you'd be in the same position otherwise?

OK, let's talk about internal concerns before we move to international relations. Clearly my first short-term goal is to land the Oracle to start generating some Prophet points - and probably grab CoL. Beyond that right now, I'm working to get Edirne & Ankara up to speed - lots of Worker actions.

Mid-term, here is how I see the current three cities developing:

Istanbul: This is clearly a production city, so once the Oracle is complete I'll be turning it into my Military pump (at least temporarily). I'm feeling fairly "pants-down" militarily at the moment, so I'll probably pump a couple of Chariots out, then put a Barracks in and get a few more going. I'll also be looking to slip a Library in here when I get a chance.

Edirne: with the Gems going it will be making more Commerce than at Istanbul, so clearly a Library is first priority. This will probably develop into my Religious centre so I can get Monasteries going, and so will likely end up building Missionaries in the medium-term. After the Library though, I will probably build another Worker here.

Ankara: In the short-term, with two food resources this will be where I build Settlers & Workers. Mid/Long-term, I'll put down some cottages and may move the Palace here.

My other domestic concern at the moment is Happiness. The Gems will bring the cap up to 5, but I do want to be adopting a Religion sooner rather than later. Which religion I adopt will depend on whether I land the Oracle or not. If I get the Oracle, I'd want to put my first Shrine in Istanbul to contribute to the Prophet point accumulation, so will adopt Hinduism; if I lose out on the Oracle, it makes more sense to plan for a Shrine in Ankara, so Judaism may be the way ... even though it's currently only in one city.

Now in conjunction with adopting a Religion I will also probably want to go into OrgRel, and if I'm revolting already I should be going to HR at the same time for even more Happiness.

Now athlete seems pretty set on researching it himself (though I'm not sure why), but after Writing finishes next turn with significant overflow, Monarchy would be just a 6t tech.

Reading your earlier emails, it seemed like you were in 'superfriend' mode and giving more info than you were receiving, do you see a peaceful game as the most beneficial to yourself?

I'm not sure I've really considered whether a peaceful vs. strife-filled game would benefit me more. I know that I don't want to be directly involved in an early conflict, since that side of my game is not particulary strong, but some strife on the periphery will certainly help me. In that respect things are shaping up quite nicely in the East. Ruff and I have reached an understanding which will allow me to focus my expansion towards the West, and he and sooooo appear headed for a conflict which could occupy them for the rest of the game.

The West is going to be a different game entirely since the terrain seems a lot more open. It's definitely time for a diplomatic push over there to get an idea of the situation between athlete & mh. So far athlete has been fairly uncommunicative - which will probably work against him - and while I haven't had any more contact with mh, it's probably mostly because we haven't had much cause. That he's talking to Ruff is a good sign given our relationship, but I also need to engage with him next week once he's back.

So diplomatic plans for the week: find out why althlete is fixated on Monarchy and either line up a deal or try to convince him to trade it from me, and contact sooooo to discuss a deal for Alphabet and arrange Open Borders.

[Dreylin]

OK, now this is interesting:

Hi Dreylin,

Just a chase up on tech trading. From your position, I predict that we'll both share borders with Ruff-Hi. It seems that your civ and mine could be served well from cooperating with each other. Thus I don't want you to get left out of any tech trading deals that could occur. I'll get alphabet in 10 turns and have already arranged deals for mathematics and monarchy. Are you planning on researching a different tech that you'd want to trade for alpha, such as Metal Casting or Iron Working? Obv those techs have beaker differences, but I'm sure we could make it into a fair trade.

sooooo

Now as far as I can tell from my diplo screen, he hasn't met anyone other than Ruff & I, so if he's set up a deal for Monarchy it's been with someone he hasn't met yet. Now I must admit that I didn't think we were communicating with the other players until we had met them in-game, so I don't know whether to be upset by this or just take it as read and move on!?

[Dreylin]

My reply:

Hey sooooo,

I was actually just about to get in touch with you to discuss the same thing! I'm strongly leaning towards Monarchy next myself, but if that's a duplication then I may want to reassess. I know athlete had mentioned going for Monarchy in the public forum, but I didn't think you guys had met yet in game?

If I do change my plans then either of the techs you mention is a possibility, but it may just come down to what is necessary to secure Monarchy for myself. Seem like it might be a good job that we're getting a break this week, so I have a chance what to research next! I guess I'll have to get back to you once I know more.

BTW, I requested Open Borders with you in game. You've seen my Warrior exploring in your vicinity, and he was wondering whether you'd mind him coming if for a look around? It would also give your exploring Phalanx a much easier time getting to the other side of my territory.

Cheers,

Dreylin II.

Basically a delaying tactic. I don't really want to be feeding him Military techs is I'm going to be allying with Ruff - though IW probably isn't too much of a threat with his Phalanx's out there.

[Dreylin]

A quick note to athlete:

Hey Athlete,

How's your research into Monarchy is progressing; I'm wondering what to research next myself, and whether you had any ideas about what you'd want to trade for it?

Dreylin.

I guess we'll see what he says....

[Dreylin]

Dreylin,

Just a heads up - with my push to seal sooooo, I might not be ready to accept the mono portion of the trade that we discussed. I am more than happy to swap maths for the other two and get mono from you once I have cleared that other religious tech - what ever it is called.

I hope that is ok with you.

Ruff

Ruff,

Not a problem.

Have you thought about what you'll be researching after Maths? Maybe we work Polytheism into our next deal.

Dreylin II

[Dreylin]

As I suspected, his ETA on Monarchy is significantly longer than mine, so I wonder if I can persuade him to switch...?

Hey Dreylin,

I still have somewhere's around 10-12 turns I believe. I can't remember what I did on my last turn (hence my recent post to the public players forum). I'd take either Alphabet or Aesthetics for it, & I would also consider Horseback Riding + something minor (preferably archery, however this one is not a sure thing). Take that under consideration & if you would like to do a deal let me know your preference & I'm sure we'll get something worked out.

Athlete

Athlete,

If you've not put too much into on Monarchy yet, I wonder if I could persuade you to turn your research elsewhere?

I've been looking at Monarchy myself, and with both pre-reqs my ETA is ~3t ahead of yours. I'm intending to run a double-switch to HR and OrgRel - so obviously the faster I get there the better - but I'd rather we not duplicate research at this stage, which is why I'm asking.

I would of course offer it to you at a discounted value for your trouble. Maybe a straight swap for HBR if you were inclined that way?

If you're not interested, then no harm no foul and I will look to grab something that will entice it from you in trade.

Cheers,

Dreylin II.

[Dreylin]

A couple more exchanges with Ruff:

Dreylin,

In short - NO.

Options: Archery is a strong contender. As is calendar. I have sailing so I could go straight on to Calendar - and that would also help our happy caps.

Hey! Sailing is 88 beakers, as is polytheism (although I have 13 invested in that through a mis-click <grrr>).

I think I will finish maths, pull some tech trades while I research Archery and then see what is happening?

What about you?

Ruff

Ruff,

A Poly / Sailing deal would work for me if that's what you're suggesting. I'm happy to consider myself slightly down for the next deal as well, though a 13beaker difference will be hard to reconcile! 8-)

tbh, I'm probably going to be spending the rest of the week's break trying to work out what to research next as well. I was/am thinking Monarchy (for the double switch) with both pre-reqs it should be a fairly quick turn-around, but I think athlete has his eye fixed on it and I'm not sure I want to duplicate research if at all possible.

Iron Working is another possible, but I'm also looking for something to get an Alphbet trade with sooooo and I'd rather not be feeding him military techs....

Dreylin,

Yep - lets roll sailing / poly into our tech trade deal.

I just took my dog for a walk. I mention that, because if you want to improve your Civ4 game out of sight - buy a dog and take it for a walk. I wicked idea just occurred to me. If we don't open borders with sooooo and we can manage to cut him off, it will take him ages to meet mh and Athlete and he will not be able to trade with them. Then, if we don't trade with sooooo, it will be him against the 4 of us. Nasty!

Not a suggestion ... at the moment. But something to think about if you cannot get open borders with him.

Ruff

Ruff,

The trade additions sound good. We should discuss the timings since it can't all go through in the same turn. If you propose Sailing for Poly on your turn, then I can offer back Maths for P-Hood, Med & Mono?

This is all assuming that we don't piss sooooo off sufficiently that he doesn't want to trade us Alpha....

I'm waiting on a response from him, but OB may already be a done deal - I proposed them in-game last turn when my Warrior reached his border - however it is worth keeping in mind as an option.

[TheArchduke]

Thanks for the huge load of info.

I do not know about the rest, but I am devouring it. I just love MP games.

[Dreylin]

Thanks for the huge load of info.

I do not know about the rest, but I am devouring it. I just love MP games.

Appreciation is always welcome ... as long as it's here or in the public thread and not over in Ruff's! :neenernee