Gavagai comes back to his roots

[Gavagai]

And BY THE WAY. I guess, some kind of special prize should go to Cairo who did absolutely nothing throughout the entire game. I guess, I would really like to finish above him on the scoreboard, I am really close. Doubt that happens though, he's gonna discover Replaceable Parts in 2 turns and I am not going to see much of score increases unless Rusten's defenses fold...

[Gavagai]

Btw, speaking of Cairo. He is so passive that I kind of assumed that he is out of the running. But if I were him I definitely would not concede. He will have Rifles soon and he has multiple neighbors (me and BGN) who would be able to do shit against them. I can rely on my navy to an extent, but BGN is a toast and his land is pretty good. That's quite a refreshing thought: the game might continue even if Rusten defeats me and Commodore.

[Gavagai]

Misclicked and gifted Naufragar a chariot in his territory. Unit gifting is against the rules. Probably the best way to handle it is to PM Naufragar a request to delete the chariot - I did a lot of combat on that turn. I was going to do that anyway.
On turn: a report will follow soon.

[Gavagai]

I succeeded where Commodore failed. Cartwright!? has formidable defenses but it will fall after I bring my catapults in a couple turns. The good thing for me is that now I can stop bothering with land army and focus on maintaining naval parity on my fronts. My big problem with this war was the fact that I have resources to fight only on one particular theater and any attempt to make a play somewhere else could be met by Rusten's counter-attack against this area:



This is my main production hub and I cannot afford losing it. This is why my hand was forced: I could not do anything until the southern area is cleared. Now I have more options and I am pretty confident that I can obtain peace at any point by threatening to raze one of these cities:



And this is my main vulnerability:



Imiris is my Moai/HE city, its strategic value is immense. If Rusten assembles a fleet large enough to overwhelm my defenses here and raze it, I will be knocked out of the war. I am moving frigates from everywhere in this direction. He can reach it with a Galleon on this turn already but units I have inside should be enough to defend (you can see them on the screen, all are without promos, freshly upgraded from military police units I had there).

The overall strategy of the war is to by Commodore a few turns to get his bearings and stabilize, then peace out. So far it is not working - Rusten is pretty much ignoring me and keeps taking Commodore's cities. This underscores the stupidity of Commodore's earlier strategy - you can see how easily Rusten has written off the cities which Commodore tried so hard to take. But hopefully, the situation changes after I can threaten his more valuable assets.
BGN has joined in this turn and Cairo sent me copper for copper deal. But we should not have out hopes high:




Add here Police State (NOT factored in Rusten's current mfg) and the ability to draft - and you can see how crashing Rusten's current advantage is. He has better unit production capability than the whole other world combined. The only hope is represented by this graph:



Yes, we are hurting him.

And this:



Where these ships are going? If Commodore attacks Naufragar, I am quitting the war immediately. Speaking of Commodore, I have problems with happiness due to the fact that I relied on Rusten in this regard and asked Commodore to trade me for Spices the Silver which he is currently supplying BGN for free. And how do you think he responded? He silently rejected, did not even make a counter-offer. A shitty ally he is but I am not surprised.

[Gavagai]

I do not like Commodore's attitude, he spends less than 15 minutes on his turns, it's nothing. It would be such a shame if he gives up, Rusten's position is not that great. He is still behind Commodore in land and population and he makes around 100 gpt at zero science while in golden age. The only thing he has going for him is his massive military advantage but all Commodore needs to cancel it out is to research Nationalism and draft his excess pop. He even has around 2000 gold in the bank to do it.

[Gavagai]

I took the last city which Rusten had on my continent and offered him peace.
A difficult decision but I do not quite understand how to proceed with this war. My next step should be attacking this area:



I really do not want to do that. If I take any of these cities, Rusten will never accept it and will redeclare on me at the first opportunity. Razing cities... I value my potential to do it much more than actually doing that. This area is very important for Rusten and while it exists at my doorstep he will be reluctant to commit to any military action against me. So, I do not want to make any plays here right now and I think that we have already hurt him enough.




Commodore is still losing cities but from these pictures, I'd say he is winning and maybe does not need my help. And helping him costs me a lot. I have a very low happy cap and already am hurting from war weariness in my best cities. I was dependent on Rusten for my luxuries quite a lot. And I really, really want to tech up.

[Gavagai]

Also, Naufragar declared on Rusten this turn, so it's not that Rusten's position is improving much.

[darrelljs]

Commodore wants to concede to Rusten and has requested we ask the other player to see if they want to continue or also concede. Thoughts?

Darrell

[Gavagai]

Commodore wants to concede to Rusten and has requested we ask the other player to see if they want to continue or also concede.  Thoughts?

Darrell

LOL, seriously!? He is the first in food and land and, I think, has a much better economy, around 3000 gold in the bank and still wants to concede? Because he lost a handful of cities? Just... wow. But if he is unwilling to play on, then there is not much life in this game, I think. If a guy who has the first place does not want to win, the game cannot be anything but a farce.
If Commodore concedes, I concede too but I am very disappointed with how this ended.

[darrelljs]

One or more players has not conceded, so the game will continue.

Darrell