[SPOILER] Dark Savant's thread: Competition for limited resources remains a constant

[Elkad]

I do have circumnavigation now, far too late to actually make any difference though.

I got the circumnav message, got to move my WB 3 squares instead of two a single time, and then was eliminated on the following turn.

[Dark Savant]

I do have circumnavigation now, far too late to actually make any difference though.

I got the circumnav message, got to move my WB 3 squares instead of two a single time, and then was eliminated on the following turn.

I think I'll have circumnavigation for double-digit turns; I got it several turns ago.

This depends on how long I can last against someone with vastly superior tech and production.  It'll take some time for Rusten to get enough units into position to actually take me out.

Turn 194 (AD 1340)

As mentioned, Rusten just captured everything north of Porto-Novo.  No real way I could have stopped that once he broke through in force.  Everything he captured is whipped down to the bone, so all the cities are small, but that also means they'll come out of resistance faster (ah well).

Oh, and AT landed more rifles at my capital.



Sigh, it's already time to abandon the capital just so I can do my last stand in as much style as I can muster.  (It's too far away for the defenders of Porto-Novo to reach; I'd rather cover against attacks by Rusten.)


I'll have about 65 units defending Porto-Novo.  It's not got terrain to help that out, but it does have 4 Great Wonders.    Does that count for style?

You can also see an airship on OH's keeping an eye on things.

[Dark Savant]

AT just captured (not razed) the two remaining coastal cities of any value.  Not much I could have done ... not unless I focused on that and not Rusten, whom I'd prefer to focus on.

Of course, now is apparently the time the world got set on fire.   OH just declared war on Rusten and razed a city.

Commodore also declared war on Rusten.  With what army, I'm not sure.  I know Commodore's forces are rather light on this continent (it wasn't long ago that I know he didn't even have one defender per city).  I've seen zero catapults or cannons, but he did just start to show up with rifles and cavalry.  But Rusten also has to be stretched thin against anyone other than me currently.

[JR4]

Wow, the two big guns are at war. The game may very well be decided within the next 30 turns. Rusten can`t afford to lose several core cities to a determined naval assault. If it`s just a single city raze, Rusten is probably still fine. Infantry are pretty good when others are just starting to amass Rifles...

Every turn you can delay the inevitable (elimination) is a good turn. Keep on fighting.

[Dark Savant]

Yeah, my free time shot back up just as I thought I was about to be eliminated. 

But I now think I'll make it to turn 200, at least.

Turn 196 (AD 1360)

Commodore has more army than Rusten locally, as he just took from Rusten the three closest cities I had to him.

I did spot some of his navy, though.



That is a lot of privateers.  That's even enough to deal with the handful of ironclads I've seen puttering around.

I moved much of my stack to try to pin down Rusten.



That's enough of a stack (in Dar es Salaam) that I can't take it on (there are several more infantry on the tile to its SW), but I still do have enough force to stop Rusten from moving much of this against Commodore (which would take a while to reach him, anyway).

I'm going to lose the small size-1 cities I'd replanted in the south to AT, but they're not really worth trying to defend.  That'll leave me with just one city.  It does feel awkward having retreated to one city for a final stand now that I suddenly look like I'm going to last longer. 

I have no idea how sustainable this assault by OH is.  He hasn't had Rifling for more than a handful of turns, though he should also have ALL THE AIRSHIPS that Rusten can't do much about.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 197 (AD 1370)

Rusten had two more cities razed by OH, and two more cities captured by Commodore.  Oh, and Gavagai just declared war on pindicator.  I have no idea why, but pindicator was looking strong for someone who isn't OH or Rusten.

I'll have to gauge whether to try to throw my existing stack of ~30 catapults, ~15 knights, and ~15 other at Rusten if an opportunity arises, or just try to hold on.  Simply holding Porto-Novo denies Rusten a significant number of tiles, which probably helps more at this point than a last-gasp suicidal charge.  And if I keep that force in reserve, AT won't be able to eliminate me without a lot more units.

However, it does make a certain kind of sense to draw AT's units to this landmass so they can conflict with Rusten.      Pinning down Rusten's units is probably what will end up happening, since I can do that and still cover against a serious assault by AT.  AT, incidentally, took forever to actually research Construction, and I think he also still doesn't have Horseback Riding; he's certainly never had a significant knight force.

I actually considered researching Drama instead of piddling away at Replaceable Parts, just to build culture and expand Porto-Novo's borders to the +80% culture level.  Hardly anyone else has it researched, so it's mostly not deflated.  Eh.  Piddle away at Replaceable Parts it is, then.

[JR4]

Wow, Rusten is in some trouble here, losing cities right, left and center. Perhaps he should have made sure that he`d get a fair border with Commodore first of all.
Finharry have surely improved their chances of winning by razing Rusten`s cities.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 198 (AD 1380)

Rusten and I are going to continue to just stalemate against each other for a while here, aren't we.  I could retake the western coastal cities, but he can always counter-attack that readily, and I'd need to actually build workers to pull that off reasonably.  Eh.

Rusten is now counter-attacking Commodore.  OH has some airships in the area which I presume are now helping to bombard infantry.

AT captured one of the southern cities, attacking straight off a galleon loaded with rifles.  I killed the first two rifles on defense and the third was badly injured, so I just retook the city.  Total cost one longbow to kill three rifles, that level of loss against not-Rusten is fine.

Also, GeneralKilCavalry for some reason offered to declare war on AT for nothing other than Fish-for-Fish?  Wait what?

Well ... I accept, might as well throw another wrench into this game while I still can. 

[JR4]

And suddenly the game is over. You managed to survive until the bitter end, well done. And it`s always good to know that you were able to slow down the players who attacked you.

[Dark Savant]

And suddenly the game is over. You managed to survive until the bitter end, well done. And it`s always good to know that you were able to slow down the players who attacked you.

Yeah, that actually took me by surprise ... up to only a few turns ago from my knowledge, I'd be asking "who am I conceding to?"

It was only just now becoming evident that Rusten might not be able to stop OH.  As far as I knew, OH started attacking infantry without even having rifles, which at the beginning looked like it might have been a last-ditch effort to stop Rusten.