[SPOILERS] This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land. But Mostly Mine.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T263



Such boats.



Many entrapment.



So power.



/dies

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T264

"In the battle between you and the world, bet on the world."

My attempt at a surreptitious railroad connection. I don't need the workers anymore. I have one moving further west that could just be sightseeing. But plako probably sees right through me. And I don't care.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T265

I got my 91% great artist.

Is Joey signaling anything here, or is it just about the happiness resource? I'll be moving my commando units into plako's territory soon with the hope that I can make a move against TBS. With the golden age available, and my tech needs basically done, I can start up military production once again, making me less vulnerable to Joey. Just in case.



Ecology 2t? Nah. One turn, with several research builds swapped to wealth. Five guy golden age, engage! I fully acknowledge that this is all but certain to be too little, too late, but it feels good to have made this long term goal happen.



Still creeping along, port to port. I'll continue moving my stack eastward once I round the bend at the end of plako's continent. Advanced Flight may come next for modern jets (which do not appear to have the -50% malus vs. water units, someone please confirm if this is just missing text or actually the case). My goal is to make TBS choose what to do with his navy. He can either chase me giving Aztec a possible opening or he can ignore me and see what I'm able to do. He has one city that is not garrisoned, but it's gated behind a very limited rail network that is blocked by a stack of mounted units. But it appears to be my best option short of going through Joey's territory and sending my commandos directly at TBS' culture #3 city. Rapprochement with Joey may have begun, but it likely does not include me sending units through his territory.



I forgot that the SS part at Genetics (out of game now, can't remember it) doesn't have a resource doubler, so it is my most expensive remaining part and longest build. I stretched the SS Engine by a turn to get some overflow. The modern armor has been cleared out of the queue. The last part, SS whatever at Ecology, will be built at Caledorn's former capital, which I have paved over with workshops (poor Academy!) and will be my new capital next turn. Depending on what the overflow looks like I may swap into Bureaucracy to shave a turn off the build and then hope that my other nefarious plot will work and I can steal a win.

This plot? Not telling just yet, but it requires a little help that I think I can get.

It all looks good but I'm still expecting to be standing in shit at the end.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T266

Starting the last major build. We'll make it to the stars, we just won't make it there first.



The other, slightly less expensive, last major part. Turns out it is not necessary to swap into Bureaucracy. Good enough.



I've repositioned many bombers, for what it is worth. TBS has far too many units for me to chew through for this to make any difference. My victory date is either 2nd or 3rd, depending on when TBS' GAs pop.



I was running through cities making changes and wanted to show this city. It is a marvelously productive filler and I have several others that are very similar. Obviously the golden age is inflating things, but not all that much here, just 8 base hammers. This would still be 65g/turn from wealth builds even without the GA. I haven't loved the dotmap in former Q-land, but I've made the most of it, including little helpers like this.



An even more efficient example. This one completely lacks food resources. Forty base hammers without the GA is 84g/turn through wealth. Or, a new modern armor every three turns, if the game was going in that direction (it's not).



End of game distraction that serves very little purpose. TBS has too many units. I have far too few hitters.



TBS' navy holed up in port, just like me and OH/Fin. I don't have much strategic direction. TBS has too many units for me to kill, and even if I can make it up to a city, I don't have enuogh hitters to crack the 30 unit stack inside the city. This operation has called for pressure on more than one front, and WLP and Joey aren't doing anything to help, nor plako for that matter, so that's that. Not that I judge them for inaction, they aren't winning so why bother? But it isn't happening otherwise.



Krill's infantry and great artists are just hanging out. Barf.



The only viable military target, but too many units. If I had maybe five extra turns I could use the GA to swarm out something approaching enough units and then send them over but time isn't on my side. I could produce a decisive amount of units before the end, but the travel time will probably be decisive against me. And, Joey can always throw a wrench when I make my move. Or Krill, because why not?



Starving the city, not a good sign for the remaining longevity of this game. I expect there are GAs sitting on ships somewhere nearby. He's showing some GAs to give a false sense of his capabilities to us. I'd be surprised if he doesn't have more guys stashed away.



My other "winning" play is to send commando modern armors through Krill's land to dtay and hope that dtay's sense of righteous vengeance will allow him to capture a coastal city and then march the commandos to the capital and (inexplicably, because what the fuck harm would this actually cause a ship flying through the void of space millions of miles away??) burn the spaceship mid-flight. I had previously thought that I'd use espionage to uncover some dtay cities and then airlift my small swarm of commandos in, but alas, I'm an idiot and the mechanics don't allow for airlift into opponents' cities. I should have known that. So, instead, I'm at the mercy of Krill allowing me to transport these units across his territory toward dtay. That will go well, right? Riiight... The alternative would have been to walk them across plako-land directly into dtay's territory, but OH would see that immediately and that would ruin the whole point of the operation, which is not all that well conceived as things stand. Hail Marys are, of their nature, prone to spectacular failure. Eh.



As a sign of good faith, and because I don't need OH/Fin sprouting up fancy modern tanks just now, aluminum to Krill. The upside to this is that Krill can't build anything (that I can think of) with the Aluminum. Maybe he throws hammers into wealth/research to try to get tanks? But he isn't stupid and knows the end of the game is nigh, so he'll just hold the aluminum and that's that.



So, before my thinking evolved (that being TBS has too many units to kill), Advanced flight for helos and enhanced movement off TBS' efficiently bottle-necked and guarded railroad network. He has more tanks than SAM infantry (omg those are the cheapest unit upgrade ever, due to the base strength reduction from infantry, and are so annoying) so the gunships could do something, and I have swarms of Cossacks that are highly promoted that I could send over to fight. But there really isn't much point. Also, I'm getting sick of these awesome demos that are going to produce a bronze medal. The taste of rising bile...



The good news is I can stop playing turns soon. This game must have been horribly painful for those guys who have been out of the running for the last nine months (or longer).

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T267

Let the games begin!



A game-altering event!



Bombed some stuff, got some planes shot down by SAM Infantry, ignored the empty port city because I don't have enough units gathered to keep it and push in.



Battered to little purpose.



A great prophet would be...divine.

(Yes, if that is funny to you then you need to be dragged into the street and shot. The simple fact that I think it may be funny to anyone means I'm delirious with fatigue and that this game has gone on too long.)



What do you mean demos aren't a victory condition?

[Commodore]

[...] march the commandos to the capital and (inexplicably, because what the fuck harm would this actually cause a ship flying through the void of space millions of miles away??) burn the spaceship mid-flight

I kind of figure the engines are just to slow it down; it's relying on beamed propulsion for its outward flight, thus, affectable here.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

[...] march the commandos to the capital and (inexplicably, because what the fuck harm would this actually cause a ship flying through the void of space millions of miles away??) burn the spaceship mid-flight

I kind of figure the engines are just to slow it down; it's relying on beamed propulsion for its outward flight, thus, affectable here.

I dunno. Maybe if my scientists had all fired themselves and dedicated the rest of their existence to painting, music, and other cultural pursuits this would make sense. But any technology that can be disrupted by the equivalent of birdshit on the windshield that will dash the aspirations, hopes, and works of an entire civilization ain't worth a lukewarm bucket of piss.



Beam, meet bird (from space?)

[Ruff_Hi]

forget the logic (or otherwise) of destroying a city killing a space ship ... was that a ball or a strike?

[spacetyrantxenu]

Seems about as certain a strike as I've ever seen.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

The first Republican presidential debate, hosted by Fox News, is tonight. Be prepared. Just don't die.