October 18th, 2019, 22:10
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World Congress Special Session
Pindicator asked for aid due to his eruption. Kind of annoying but a little funny too. Who in their right mind is going to send aid to him. Of coarse, I had to vote yes. I could give him like 10  to win the emergency for 2 diplo points but even if I don't win, I could get 100 diplo favor for 2nd. Kind of a stupid mechanic for MP. It woudl have been better if everybody could vote on a normal turn. At least it wouldn't waste a round of play.
October 19th, 2019, 06:19
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Emergencies(and some world congress features) are a ridiculous SP feature. Thankfully it did not matter that much in PBEM 8.
October 19th, 2019, 12:56
Posts: 2,967
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Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 172
Start turn off with...
Also finish a 2nd shipyard for the boost to Steam Power. I think by getting some of these boost, I might be able to catch up to Pindicator in techs. Now, just need to build 2 banks and upgrade to an ironclad and I should be fairly good in tech. Won't get the boost to flight, as I am not going to get an Industrial wonder complete by then but should be able to get a few more key boosts that the others might not.
Look around and see I have 4 coals available. Suboptimal has one that I can see and can't see pindicator's. There is also one by Auckland. I have 2 in the north...
And both fit perfectly with my next city plants. One is located next to Thunderstorm and one by Derecho...
Just need a builder to hook them up. I would say I got lucky here but I have such a large empire, I am bound to have multiple copies of all strategic resources.
As you can see in the screenshots, pin's aid request passed. I will send him like 10 in a few turns after I do some more upgrading but that will be all. Not sure if sub has the same plan but we will see.
I also notice pin has spent a bunch of gold. Last turn, he had 989 in the bank and he is making 166 gpt (from this turn). Now, he only has 3 in the bank, so he spent ~1152 last turn. Most likely upgrades, since while looking at his gold income I noticed he has a friendship with sub. Need to follow that closely for an alliance in the coming turns. Most likely a military alliance.
I have complete vertical vision in the Pacific Ocean just off their coast. After next turn, my boats will be in position to move to the coast and see what is going on and move back to sea. Will keep an eye out over there. I also chopped a forest in to an Encampment at Tornado and will chop 2 more jungle to complete it. I can do a policy swap in 2 turns to get out of Veterancy and increase my income. My military power is the highest in the game but a large portion of my army is outdated and needs upgrading. It actually has me a little worried if they both push on me with large forces of better units before I can get my units upgraded. Not worried that they can take my cities but worried about pillaging. I might need to change up my current settling plan and forgo the northern city so I can get out a builder and a few missionaries. The builder would go make a withdrawal at my savings account at Sun Dogs (crabs) if I were to get Magnus down there. Could get about 1,000 from the 3 carbs in my boundaries. I can buy another settler next turn but it might be better to move Magnus and just buy the next settler without Magnus. Luckily, the card the discounts both gold and resources is available at Urbanization, so I could keep it in if I feel threatened and the 2 discount on units is close. The civic is available once Scorched Earth is complete and the boost is 3 corps...pretty easy to get. IDK...I will give a good look next turn and see if I can come up with a defensive plan in case they can land on my shores. The area by Tornado is pretty well defended, my weakness is my large eastern shore and most of the cities there are fairly new. I have my navy but if they sail in multiple direction, might not be able to stop them all. Interesting times are ahead.
October 19th, 2019, 22:27
Posts: 2,967
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Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 173
Open the save and check pin's military power and it remains unchanged but do notice that sub has less gold. I double check his gold for a few turns ago and it looks like he spent roughly 800 and his MP did go up about 50 this turn. Interesting. Maybe I am wrong about pin's intentions but stumbled across sub, up to no good. Especially with...
I open the save to being able to see one and moved closer to the shore and spotted another one. Pretty smart, keeping them apart and not bring them over in one big group. I move my Frigates back and lose vision on one of them. He probably assumes I couldn't see either of them but I did use Leif Erikson to get the extra vision. I think I will follow the leaders for a few turns, at least until I can finish Scorched Earth and get 2 more envoys. Then I can grab suzerain of Antananaviro back and declare on suboptimal, kicking his Amani out of the city state. That way, he will need 4 envoys to regain control. Not sure how he is getting so many envoys but seems to have an endless supply.
In other news, Derecho finished a crossbow and continued with its bank. I switched the build at Bomb Cyclone from a spy to a commercial project. Need envoys more than a spy and the next merchant provides 2. Switched civic research to Urbanization to finish next turn since my last chop at Tornado will be next turn and I can start earning more gold with conscription back in play. Started to shift units to the east coast. I think sub will probably head to north Antananaviro, in the desert. Probably the safest place to land and assemble an attack.
October 20th, 2019, 13:41
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Turn 174
Start off with...
And...
Chop the last jungle to finish the Encampment at Tornado, then it was time for a policy swap...
Don't need Veterancy and Grande Armee any more, pout in Conscription and Force Modernization for gold and upgrades. Civic-wise, I put in Exploration in to get Press Gangs in case I need more ships. Tech-wise, Ballistics goes in to finish next turn and then I can do some upgrades.
Out in the Pacific Ocean...
Suboptimal is trying to sneak units by my ships but he keep one unit next to one of my Frigates to look like he is keeping an eye on me. My best guess is the unit is different and he was able to move the forward one up and replace it with another one. Ships get vision on his units then move away so he doesn't know I am tracking him. I will let a few units by but I do start moving my northern boats south.
In other news, I move Magnus to Sun Dogs and buy a Builder at Thundersnow. Should have plenty of upgrade gold in 5 turns, when Magnus Establishes. Next turn, I upgrade 2 crossbows to field cannons and a knight to a Cuirassier and will keep the same policies. I figured I would get Exploration out of the way since I need to dump culture into something. Probably not the most efficient but whatever. I have plenty of culture and it will also make my gold harvests larger.
October 20th, 2019, 18:48
(This post was last modified: October 20th, 2019, 23:22 by Woden.)
Posts: 2,967
Threads: 13
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 175
Start off with...
And...
No need for a policy swap but do upgrade 2 field cannons and a Cuirassier, giving the inspiration to Scorched Earth. I put Scorched Earth into civic research to finish next turn so I can regain control of Antananaviro then declare war on suboptimal to kick his Amani out of the city state.
My horses arrive by pindicator's tunnel and see those same 2 units hanging around...
Maybe these guys are forward lookout for a settler, IDK, but need to keep an eye on them. Don't see anymore units and didn't see anything on his coast. Out in the Pacific Ocean...
My boats spy his General in the middle of all his spread out units, marked with a sword in the screenshot. He is only a few turns of movement from my coast but he is going to get a nasty surprise. This couldn't have worked out better. His units far from home and spaced out and won't be able to attack my boats (embarked units can't attack, I think). My extra movement will allow my Frigates to catch up to the leaders or chase down any that retreat. Now, sub just needs to not declare war on me on his turn, then the fun will begin.
[snip]-see next turn
October 20th, 2019, 23:22
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Threads: 13
Joined: Apr 2017
Figured I would make this turn a separate post, so people know I have updated the turn.
Turn 176
Big turn, start off with finally finishing...
Which means I can switch up policies...
After all this time, I finally take out Scripture. My faith generation is high enough that I can forgo it right now. Still should be able to buy another settler and a few builders. I just realized when looking at this policy swap that the builder I bought a few turns ago only has 5 charges, instead of the boosted 7. Lost out on a few charges. Oh well.
After the policy swap, I placed 2 envoys in Antananaviro and regain suzerain. Now I can do this...
This kicks suboptimal's Amani out and he will need 4 envoys to regain control. Out in the Pacific...
I was able to reach 2 of sub's embarked units and stripped off half of their health. I also upgrade another Frigate at Alberta Clipper that can join in the fun next turn. Each Frigate will have 7 movement next turn and should be able to chase down his units. If he is smart, he will turn anything west of here.
I settle 2 new cities in the north...
Both will get a Pairidaeza to start, which will help grab the coal. I will save the stone to harvest Medieval Walls. Just off shore, you can see a quadririme that will head to Fog next turn to get upgraded for another Frigate. Not going to have enough natural gold, so I think I will harvest a crab without Magnus at Sun Dogs. I will lose out on about 120 but I think the extra Frigate will be more useful chasing down sub's units. Plus, I can then upgrade my last knight and have a few better units if he lands something in the north.
Finally, here is what suboptimal is talking about in the tech thread...
He went and attacked Yerevan. Pretty odd since this is against the rules (no one was suzerain) and no one has attacked a city state yet in this game, so I figured we agreed on the rule. Might be an oversight on his part or could be his way of sabotaging the game to end it early. I think he has probably checked out of this game after his failed attack on suboptimal. He really hasn't been posting in his thread, while being very active in PB46. I don't know, I guess we will see if he responded in the tech thread.
October 22nd, 2019, 13:53
Posts: 2,967
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Turn 177
Open the save to find out I am not suzerain of Antananaviro anymore...
How many fricking envoys does he have. Luckily he only tied me but he did put Amani back in and I think since she was just kicked out, she doesn't need the full time to re-establish. My Amani will probably get kicked out. Alright, enough is enough. I think Antananaaviro needs to go. The only problem is they have a city strength of 78 and Renaissance walls, so no siege tower and my bombards aren't going to do much against them. I am going to need flight and a observation balloon to slowly work on the walls and that is at least 10 turns away. IDK, I will have 5 envoys in about 4 turns, as soon as the Era changes. Do I contiune to fight over them? I need a few extra envoys to shift the city state fight to Bolonga. Let him burn them there. We will see. Need some time to think about this. I really would like to get some envoys in the Industrial City States to help with wonder production.
Anyways, also notice this...
Looks like my second guess at what pin was doing was correct. He is expanding towards me. Not sure if I should worry about this as it might be a play to tech to the next level of military, upgrade and attack. Luckily, Infantry requires oil, so not a good beeline. Tanks might be what he is thinking. I will need to do a second look at the tech tree to gauge how much time I might have and if I need to change course on my tech plan.
Now for the fun. In the Pacific Ocean, I use my Caravel and Admiral to find sub's units. I was able to shoot at a full strength Cuirassier with the recently upgraded Frigate out of Alberta Clipper in the east and kill on of his injured ones in the west. Here is how it looked at the end of the turn with updated pins...
It's like shooting fish in a barrel. The Caravel and western Frigate are chasing down his injured units and I have 2 Frigates chase down the western units. I also upgraded a Frigate at Fog that can sail south to help out. One unknown right now is if sub sailed any units farther north. That is a possibility. I will have to see how it looks next turn to determine if I want to sail the Frigate at Fog out to sea to see if there is anything up there. I think the plan right now will be to injure as many of his units as I can, so they are easier to kill if they make landfall. My best guess is he is looking to make landfall between Antananaviro and the desert, probably thinking it might be the safest area but I have a surprise for him.
October 23rd, 2019, 03:16
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Since you wonder about it: Just look at greeks/Gorgos abilities then you will know why he has that many envoys/where they come from.
October 23rd, 2019, 23:27
Posts: 2,967
Threads: 13
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 178
Took a couple of days for the turn to get back to me as pindicator holds it for 2 nights. That always sucks when a war has started. Also, he took Yerevan, which kind of sucks for me as I think I only will generate enough faith for 1 builder after the settler I buy this turn. Oh well, I think I have got good use out of Monumentality.
Anyways, let's see how it looks on the war front...
Sub was able to land one of his units and have one just off shore. There also should be another injured one somewhere in the south. Thanks to my +2 movement, all my Frigates over here can reach his embarked unit. I start by moving the one on the eastern side of the screenshot to just south of the unit to see if I can see his injured units but no dice. The Frigate takes a shot, cutting his health in half. Next, the Frigate at Fog swings south and kills the embarked unit. The Admiral sails south to find the injured one and finds him just off the coast of Antananaviro. My southern Frigate sails up and sends it to the bottom of the sea. Now I just have the one that has landed. I move 2 crossbows up to remove a little health, then attack it with my Cuirassier and Musket. Let it with a sliver of health. Finally, I have a horseman swing down out of Fog and kill the thing.
Before, I go over to the eastern side of the sea, I grab a new General and see that suboptimal has no GG points. Look and see he grabbed one on his turn...must have run a project. Thanks, the new GG gives a Bombard with a promotion and it gives me an idea. After Steam Power, I will go straight for flight. Once I can get an observation balloon, I will use the GG and my other 2 bombards to form an Army and start blasting Antananarivo. I am tired of fight over them and think it is better if they are gone. This way, I can start fighting over Bologna and some of the other city states. Also, notice that sub's Amani is already established and kicked my Amani out...
I did kill Antananarivo's Cuirassier and nabbed a builder. Got to like that extra movement. Out east...
I sailed my Caravel to the spot of the pin to see if I can see the last injured unit but no dice. I continue northeast to see if I can get vision so I can kill it with my Frigate and spot him just off shore. My Frigate sails up and sends another unit to ocean floor. That should be all that I spotted crossing my ocean. Next turn I will send a few boats north to see if there are any up there and start doing a sweep across the ocean to find if any are hiding, then I will start bombing Xorshift. My Frigate did spot a Bombard next to the city, so I will have to pick off a few units first. He does have a few chops around the city, so I might see a boat by the time I am over there.
In other news, La Nina's project is down to 1 turn, so I swap the city to walls while the one at Bomb Cyclone gets down to 1 turn then I will finish all 3 to grab the Merchant. I buy my last settler at El Nino at the price of a population but the city should grow back fairly fast. It has a lot of food. A few cities finished some walls and started on new walls. I noticed I have 3 cities displeased with me...no war wariness, just lack of luxuries. I send a trade to pindicator...tea for furs. Not sure if he will accept but hopefully.
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