[spoilers] Commodore: Worse than Toku, it's Giggles of Siam!

[Cornflakes]

We first Privateer finishes this turn; then three more over the next three turns.

Ah, I was judging based on the newly started privateers in the screenshot above which apparently is not representative of the empire

[Commodore]

We first Privateer finishes this turn; then three more over the next three turns.

Ah, I was judging based on the newly started privateers in the screenshot above which apparently is not representative of the empire

Oh, it's representative, but we can motivate faster build times:

[Commodore]

Okay, a real update now. Badly timed war, I know...good news is, ten days hence shall be mid-week, so you'll actually get an update when the ball goes up. And yes, we'll be back, and this time with some heavier naval power. Sink all the Zulu fleet; then grind forward with rifles. I need to depress impress the hopeless of the case upon our plucky underdog friends.


Apparently, I'm the only one who can prosecute a successful war against the Zulu. Now I have two forward bases, one to threaten their Moai city:


...and one their capital and shrine.


I'm still in the build-up. Scooter's badly positioned galleon might have torn offensive 1.0, but 2.0 ought to be all kinds of fun. Callum's, Swallowdale, and Stoney will all get out privateers, and then it's another round of frigates. Naval superiority >>> all else in this fight. If I can sink/neuter the bulk of the Zulu fleet, I can easily destroy them with a relatively small force. Naval forks, baby.


My western empire is building a few frigates as well, the further the city, the sooner the frigate needs to be built. Also, Hawk's Ridge is now ridiculously populous.


About to grow to an insane size 22, Lakeside Garden is even sillier. Sure, it'll then start starving at 1fpt, but that's a long, long time before I need to whip it. Great Spy is hanging out, he'll pair with the Blessed Seas prophet for a revolution soon enough.


The quest is coming along nicely. Three more turns, and this little beauty gets settled, our last island needed. Yeah I've got nothing; it's going to be about as cruel an exile camp as they come.

Turn: 214
Status:

[MindyMcCready]

Yaarrrr! Ya land lubbers! Pirate Mindy!

....

Looking for some action, ya know.

[mackoti]

Or build a windmill.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

Windmills are cheating.

[Thoth]

Or build a windmill.

On a non riverside tile please Commodore. It's worth a bit more during a GA.

[Commodore]

So, it's not exactly Time of Death, but the scores are in, the writing is on the wall, and we can sure see where this is heading. I strongly suspect that if you look at the scoreboard right now, you'll see the final ranking of the game. What happened? Lol Commodore, Y RU sux?

Well, I'm going to take a hard look around, but I strongly suspect the problem is that I opted to go Liberalism -> Astronomy:

...yeah, I know old dude...

So I got greedy. I played a good early war, was kinda blessed by the Zulu leaving at a certain point...but as a result, I ate too much land too quickly. Thus, the midgame was a long period of rebuilding my economy while nervously watching Serdoa on my far-flung border. Then, I think I played very well economy-wise, winning Taoism (+shrine!), a well-timed first Golden Age, and finally Liberalism. I was poised then at the apex of the world's economies, while the bigger empires of Serdoa and Plako painfully digested their victims. Then, of course, I grabbed Astronomy and easily gobbled up the remains of Rome.

Of course, I know now, and knew then, this is going to be a long haul kind of game. I should have been normal and taken Nationalism with Lib, building the Taj (grimly whipping the capital if needed) and taking a "free" second GA. Then I would be able to research Astro->Printing Press->Constitution->Democracy->Scientific Method->Communism in some order, probably chaining golden ages like there was no tomorrow. I could have been assured of the Kremlin, and in the end wound up in a very good cottage-economy with cheap rushbuys and a leg up on Physics.

Instead, I opted to take Astronomy, which led to eating these lovely little -100gpt islands (at 0% tax, they "break even" at 100% gold) and building a substantial navy. Which I then pushed towards the Zulu, and damn the luck...they saw my galleon heading their way, although I suspect the size of their navy means they were possibly going to push me either way. Still, I torched off prematurely, took a couple little island bases for a song, and now we're in buildup mode. Now, Plako and Serdoa are going up SciMethod to race for Communism and I'm out of that. I should have accepted the moment I clicked "Astronomy", I was going to need to make it pay. Which means Rifles, and the real remaining prize: India:



This is going to be a stoneplated bitch to conquer. Scooter and Pindicator are highly motivated, resourceful, and completely and totally hopeless. So, I expect them to fight us in the coasts, to fight us on the beaches, to fight us in the towns and farms...but, if we can prevail, we're looking at a net gain in land making us even bigger than Plako or Serdoa, plus a second amazingly rich shrine, plus the Great Lighthouse (for however long that's valuable, Economics will be needed before too long for the Factory Line). So, basic plan is to push hard to find and sink the Zulu navy, then use heavy early-Sirian fleets loaded with Riflemen in the vanguard. So, yes Ceil,

P.S.


I'm slightly less sure I could have made it, but I might should have tried...the Blessed Sea quest's second reward is a (Taoist) temple in every city above size five. I should have immediately hit up Theology, Paper, Divine Right upon getting the quest...a monk economy with zero temple investment would have been kind of insane. Ah well, wishes, horses, beggars, rides.

[Commodore]

11/13


I also managed to shave a turn off of Replaceable Parts, so that's boosting my mines (a pox upon windmills!) in four turns. Meanwhile, though, Plako is annoying a is cheerfully gaining techs the easy way.


Bah. It's irritating, but not actually at all damaging. What we must focus on is PIRATES.


6 more GG points, 11 more frigates, and 27 rifles, what say?

Turn: 215
Status:

[Merovech]

Doesn't The Great Lighthouse obsolete with Corporation, not Economics?