[spoilers] Pax Commodorica: Pharaoh of Rome

[mackoti]

Random prediction: PB19 will end before this game.

Yeah lessee. Ox and Thoth are piddling around with turn order crap, TBS is lounging around three turns from Rifling, some 30k beakers up.

Yah think?

i remeber having like 40-50 k beakers up in pb13 but didnt matred that much with that crazy known bonus.

[Commodore]

Random prediction: PB19 will end before this game.

Yeah lessee. Ox and Thoth are piddling around with turn order crap, TBS is lounging around three turns from Rifling, some 30k beakers up.

Yah think?

i remeber having like 40-50 k beakers up in pb13 but didnt matred that much with that crazy known bonus.

Your complaints aside, I actually regard this game as a selling point for RBmod; here in BtS, runaways just runaway.

Turn 151: Whereupon Commodore Plans Peace
Turn 152: Continuing One Fifty-One's Report
So I closed borders with the increasingly paranoid Ox and offered to reopen them for the price of a map trade. After a bit of back-and-forth, he agreed, and now before my ravishing eyes Core Maya is lain bare and exposed. The teal lands tremble, I think, for a reckoning cannot be long now. I'd like that long lake in the east north of Rapax to be a Turkic boundaries, but to the victor shall go all spoils.


Over all, I can see most of the world now. It's kind of encouraging, on the one hand...I own about as much as anyone else, only slightly less than Thoth or TBS, But obviously Mongolia has been getting hammers in banks, universities, and courthouses while I've been investing in knights. And, um, apparently a crap-ton of praetorians. I need about 40+ units in a stack with at least fifteen catapults to feel safe moving in on Mali. And then, of course, I'll want to push as many knights as remain back to the blue front as I can.


Meanwhile, at least, it discourages any adventures out east to have a good solid punch or two waiting for any would-be conquerors or reconquerors. Look! Pretty Romans! To be completely honest Master Hand isn't worth any more effort, but I can't really make peace at this point and I do want to get a solid front going. Thoth and I seem to be just sitting around at detente, sucking up war weariness, whilst yells of “no you first” resound cross the whipped and huddled Mali.


I have no complaints about my war gains, none at all. Minervia is only slightly better than its assorted sister cities for fecundity and food, but I've chosen it for my National Epic. Honestly, this is just criminally good land to be able to hold as easily as I do; it's a major advantage to have icy island “caps” on either end of this rear land.


Oh, speaking of the ice islands! This six-forest spot just got upgraded. The ice hill copper isn't an amazing tile, but makes a freaking huge difference...the city here can easily reach 8hpt now, which ups to 16hpt making a wonder with OR and a forge (forge also much easier to slowbuild with the copper mine). Now I can serious contemplate chopping a wonder here; 360 instant hammers goes a long long way. I'm not sure what I'll be building, quite yet...


Tundra fillers are all good and fun, but I need more cottages. And I'm in trouble. Take Cyrenica and Scythia, here. Both are decent-sized cities with great food and equalish infrastructure. In any sane civilization, Cyren is the commerce center and Scyth is the support...but in Colossus-addicted PB19 Rome? It's the tundra fishery that makes more cash. So, I'm going to just plain and simple double-down...all bare tiles get workshops and farms, and once The Reckoning comes (Astronomy gets researched), Representation specialists will sprout from the tuna-scented halls of Scyth. It's not ideal, but it's what I've got.


Out west, I'm more or less sorted now; this is going to be workshop heaven. I'm not going to be bothering heavily with maxing out infra everywhere; expect to see plenty of wealth building around here soon. I'm embarrassed about the unhappy you see, by the way, but whips fixed it last turn. I have...frankly no idea who will be building Notre Dame, but we need it.


Gemina's build got permanently consigned to the dustbin of failgold with Literature's advent. Heroic Epic, 4t. Sucker's going to bang out of lot of knights and muskets after this.


I'm less than thrilled with my happy situation in general, but as seen elsewhere and here, Hindu temples are at least slightly assisting for now. I'm five turns from landing the Apostolic Palace, I'm spiritual...put two and two together, and make beautiful music. Cities like Hispana here also serve as reminders I don't really need all *that much* more happy...size fourteen has this place about maxed for its hammers, and then the slow ascension to size seventeen and specialist beaker funtime isn't all that pressing. War weariness going away alone ought to get me there once the whip unhappy fades.


All of this matters nary a whit, in the end. You also spot it? The Black Sword (Rifling-2t).

[Commodore]

Civstats says Gaspar made his move. He's eating Ox!
Gaspar right now:

It's kind of disturbing.

[spacetyrantxenu]

Civstats says Gaspar made his move. He's eating Ox!

It's kind of disturbing.

I have to ask...what search led you to find that gif? That's got to be the strangest thing I've seen in a while.

[retep]

what the f...

[Commodore]

Comment threads can be scary places. I saw that and I was all

[retep]

Well that isn't the most disturbing thing I've seen today so far.

How much gold have TBS? He could very well goig for cavalry, some drafts while finish MT maybe.

[pindicator]

Um... Thank you for that?

[Commodore]

Turn 153: Commodore Watches and Waits
So Gaspar's great initial attack was...landing on a tundra isthmus and taking the decent but otherwise unimpressive Shmuel Cohen. Slogging into Creative culture sucks.


Here's the Big Huge Shot of Maya. Later this turn Gaspar took Ovaltine Jenkins, so that little northeastern pocket is actually pretty securely Ottomen. Gaspar will probably be a reasonable and sensible strategist and try to first lop off Oil Can/Slicks/Paddy. It's a reasonable little sector, isolated from the rest.


Indeed, my scouting spear witnessed this at first. Ox clearly had been worried most about me. Ox played after this, before:

After! I am thinking I just want to raze Die Harder and Gurton Buster and settle two new nearer cities on hills. But first, patience.


I wish I could free some troops from out from the Eastern Front. Heck, I wish Gaspar could free up some troopers extra, last thing we want is for Gaspar to bog down and TBS to take most of Ox's cities. But sure, 10-4 ole buddy, I'm just a crazy berserker who might go off at any time... Ah well. Maybe if TBS declares on Ox then Thoth will hit TBS? It's not like the Zulu are doing anything over here. Geopolitics! Eventually, there are four of us here and I shuck my war weariness. So there's that.


At least I have chicken Drama. Awesome Moai City / Happiness Hole Flavia Felix will be getting my first theater, but more will follow where their culture output is appreciated as well.

I will actually have the theaters and hammers for Globe somewhere. I have no clue *where*, though...

[Krill]

Commodore, I'm amazed that pic hasn't been deleted yet, nor you permabanned.