Come on Ichabod, play your turn! I want to get my middling empire rolling!
|
[SPOILERS] Small Wunders and Izzy of Inca: The fat lady sings
|
|
Yeah I saw that post. Finding a sub for this game not too spoiled might be tricky.
I have no idea if it's real life issues or a Mikehendi-style realization that he's not having any fun trying to keep pieces of his sandcastle standing in a rainstorm and rising tide. For my turn: I got double-moved by the pirate but I don't really care because I wasn't going to attack it anyway. WB sims weren't encouraging to my chances with 4 galleys (3 C1) vs 1 Privateer. Though, I'd estimate they have 33% or so to sink it and maybe I can deal with it if I add a couple of caravels too and don't get terrible rolls. (That, and Dtay can't think it's worthwhile to send another one over.) I maybe should offer Dtay GPT to see if that would stop it but I haven't completely proven it's him yet... He and Harry's team tend to play very close together. Plako is advancing on Bacchus's weird defensive pattern one tile at a time. Am I nuts for not attacking Bacchus myself now that I can have Cuirs? I don't know. What I have in mind is the behavior of the German team in the ISDG - double teamed from both sides and facing sure destruction they started to just cede to the stronger side in order to pick battles with the weaker side that they could actually defend, and were presumably more fun to play out. Also if Commodore is assembling a mass of galleons in the fog ready to do a multi-pronged attack on any given turn, this wouldn't surprise me. He could certainly raze cities like this, though holding them would be more of a problem. I get RP in 2, then I'm going to head for Rifling. After that, I probably go to Chemistry and Steel since Cannons and Cavalry are a plausible defense against infantry with a numeric and mobility advantage. I don't think there's any way I can afford the Constitution -> Corporation path. And MSci is a little pointless this late since Grens will be obsolete by the time I get there. One big problem I have, in hindsight, is that not having an Academy in the capital is kind of a crime. I've always put off investing in spawning an extra scientist thinking there was something more pressing or the game wasn't going to go long enough for it to matter. I get the next GP in 4 or 5 turns, but it will probably be a merchant. (April 4th, 2014, 10:45)WilliamLP Wrote: I have no idea if it's real life issues or a Mikehendi-style realization that he's not having any fun trying to keep pieces of his sandcastle standing in a rainstorm and rising tide. Mikehendi (Sulla) retired while there was still a chance to win. Icky has no chance and continued to defend even after that became apparent. Props to Ichabod here, even if he is quitting for morale reasons: he toed his line for a dang long time. Even more props to you, obviously out of contention since t70, for doing so well. Hey, you keep outlasting people, who knows. I'm sure no one would have bet for you to finish above Lewwyn and Ichabod! (April 4th, 2014, 10:45)WilliamLP Wrote: One big problem I have, in hindsight, is that not having an Academy in the capital is kind of a crime. I've always put off investing in spawning an extra scientist thinking there was something more pressing or the game wasn't going to go long enough for it to matter. I get the next GP in 4 or 5 turns, but it will probably be a merchant. What does your F1 screen look like? What civics are you in? 
I attacked the pirate ship this turn with a C1 caravel. I had 80% chance to score at least 1 hit and 55% for 2 or more. I missed and did no damage though. If I got the hit I have 4 galleys (3 C1) to follow up.
That thing majorly fucks me over in return for a few gold pieces. It's the right call for him to make and a good move though, since there's no downside to fielding the privateer. (April 4th, 2014, 12:52)Ceiliazul Wrote: Mikehendi (Sulla) retired while there was still a chance to win. This thread isn't really the place for me to argue but there are those who think otherwise. If he had a chance to win he needed to be completely left alone to tech and that didn't happen. Quote:Hey, you keep outlasting people, who knows. I'm sure no one would have bet for you to finish above Lewwyn and Ichabod! I'm not going to attribute that to anything but luck of the draw in the forces that are inevitable with the map and the decisions the larger players in the game decided to make! Quote:What does your F1 screen look like? What civics are you in? (Most of) the F1 screen. There are 4 small cities off the scrollbar.  I switched civics last turn out of slavery and into Serfdom and Theocracy. I would consider running caste to get a scientist but the pirate ship is removing all food from my NE city. An event could happen that makes me regret being locked out of Nationalism but I'm risking it.  Forces:  Tech:  My plan is: 1. Spam Cuirs. 2. On rifling, game still going and I'm still alive? If yes, run gold and upgrade all my mounted forces to Cavalry. 3. Spam Rifles, head to Steel. (Astro and corp first are possible but are luxuries.) 4. Game still going and I'm still alive? Spam Cannons, head to Railroad. 5. Game still going and I'm still alive? Spam Machine Guns, head to Assembly Line. 6. Game still going and I'm still alive? Consider self-mutilation in real life. Spam infantry. If Bacchus doesn't go down like a hot knife through butter in the next 3 turns, and it's apparent I can get rifles in time to be a pain in the ass for Plako to attack, I'll take at least one city off Bacchus probably. There are conceivable but unlikely scenarios where I'd consider attacking Ichabod or his sub if he can get one, if he's being torn apart from the other side and I feel safe-ish from opportunism on my other side. (April 5th, 2014, 19:48)Dhalphir Wrote: Based on what you know, what do you think Plako will do towards you after finishing off Bacchus? Well, I'm building 80% military for a reason.  Dominating the continent is about as straight-forward a plan as there can be for him, and I'm sure everyone in this game knows this. I don't know that he's going to try plowing through me after he finishes Bacchus or if he is going to want to consolidate for a while but he's going to find stiffer resistance here if he tries.The factors that give me some chance to hold the line are that he's not one of the world leaders in tech (yet?) He's behind Scooter and Mackoti for sure, probably Commodore too. He won't be able to get Infantry before I can get cannons I don't think. Also he has to worry about Mackoti, or possibly even Scooter if Bigger dies soon, spoiling his plans with a boat attack on his very long coastline. He's going to be having some war weariness issues with Bacchus, if he isn't already. So he's going to want to finish him off ASAP. If there's an opening in a few turns I'm not ruling out making a pre-emptive strike on his advancing army either, while Bacchus still has a city or two that's causing him unhappiness. Anything that slows him down from dominating the continent is good.
I think, in several hundred turns of pitboss play, this may have been the first time I've ever been last to end a turn! It wasn't deliberate, there was 11 hours left on the timer, I think it has more to do with the fact that I'm irrelevant enough that nobody cares enough to game for small advantages against me.
 The big news is that Bacchus has been broken, and his capital conquered by Plako. Unless something crazy happens I'll play after him next turn and declare war on Bacchus too.  I'm going to take Hippo, for sure. It has 1 musket, and just longbows and spears other than that for a total of 7 units. Obviously I could take it out next turn with my mounted stack but I think I'm going more conservatively and moving the cats next turn first to reduce losses. Forever Machine will fall to Plako in 2 turns. I don't think the 2 axes it has will be much resistance for his cannons and rifles. Yes, I concede that I could have been more aggressive and owned the whole front with Kerkouane, Forever Machine, and C of Conscience right now. But, there's a possibility that would have woken up Ichabod or Commodore. I don't mind having played conservatively on the way to rifles at all. For next move: 1. Just take Hippo and turtle up. 2. Try to race Plako for Kerkouane. I probably can't do it when he figures out he can just rush Cavalry in unguarded right now. 3. Rawr! Try and push forward against Plako right now while he's wounded and a little out of position and end up with at least these 4 cities. My sentry chariot doesn't see much from his core that's on his way to this front. With rifling in 4, and the possibility to use the draft for an emergency, number 3 may not be totally crazy. This is sort of like doing what I fear being done after a conquest, not engaging a full force but engaging the much weaker and wearier part of what's left, after he's done all the hard work of breaking Bacchus.  Scooter and Bigger had a large battle that looks like an even power trade. This can't be good news for Scooter! It feels like the forces of this game look to be headed more toward a Mackoti concession again. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but the turn timer moving quickly may indicate others feel this way too!
So here we go! I declared on Bacchus, aiming to take a bit of the hyena's share of his land.
 My major mounted force of 48 units is forking Hippo and C of Conscience. I can actually take C of Conscience next turn I think, since Plako has already gone to the trouble of bombarding down its culture with Frigates! Rather than Blitz at Hippo, I moved my 22 cats next to it to take it next turn with fewer losses. What I'm really lacking here are 1-move defenders. My muskets are mostly in defensive positions around Ichabod and trying to make it not trivially simple for Commodore or Scooter to snipe cities. Plako is likely to take Forever Machine after my move next turn. (I have the first part of the timer on him.) Kerkouane is so lightly defended it's possible that he could get it by sea, too. The main question is whether I try to contest Plako for this front. I think I can get C of Conscience before him, if I want it. The tile marked "Plako Stack" doesn't have much in it right now, I forget but it's maybe 12-15 units and I don't think there's a rifle there. The big question is whether I should contest Plako hard for this front, even attacking his victorious force at Forever Machine. I'm not sure yet, I'll see how the next couple of turns go down. Things that make this effort possible: 1. Plako's advance force is just not that scary right now. It's a force for beating Bacchus and it is more than enough for that, but it's not a force for continuing onward into my lands. If he has a massive follow-up wave, it's not going to get to an attacking position before I can set up with rifling units. 2. Plako can't get too crazy because he has to worry about the world superpower on his coast and defending an extremely large empire with a very long coastline. Oh and Mack just got Assembly Line too and will have Organized factories in a few turns. 2. Bacchus is now completely broken so for the war itself there isn't much sacrifice or risk at all. 3. Ichabod obviously doesn't want to play and is mailing in the turns. I can be sure he isn't poised to instantly react with a detailed war effort, the way he was (maybe) for the Retep attack. 4. Scooter is really preoccupied! Lewwyn and Bigger's team just took a very bite back. The poked bear is pissed off. 5. Commodore seems very peaceful still. His power is low. He'll have Infantry soon but he doesn't yet and it's unlikely he'd stage a major attack just before that timing window. 6. I'm apparently going to get to Rifling in time to be a pain for Plako to make gains on. |
