[Spoiler] Kaiser has a plan

[Kaiser]

Ichabod is investing his edge into Wonders, this neatly did hide it for some turns but the ones not having realized it yet might see it soon. This city was probably also the place he intended to build the Horseman from he asked about last turn.



Not a religious one but a commercial CS here. A managable quest given that my next settlement should bring me the sailing boost and wants to connect the Whales quickly. I assume the relgious CS is then either to CMFs S or E




Again we were surpassed and have to take 2 screenshots ...

Ichabod: 3 pop/building, ToA, 6 Era Score (4 for world wonder)
Woden: 1 pop/building
Suboptimal: 2 pop/building
CMF: 1 pop/building



Here is Woden's Settler about to settle his 7th city. I really wonder by now if Woden and me should start to work together against Ichabod, but this is a difficult question as Woden is in an excellent position himself, it is just that he is (very likely) bordering Ichabod with his 2 monster production sites.
What do you think Ioan76, should we declare on Ichabod to deny him the from Vilnius and the from Bologna?



Wanting to show some first signs of cooperation, I sent this completly misleading offer to Woden. By writing this post I realize that I accidentally asked for 5 /t while I actually wanted to point out that Ichabod is only missing 4 Horses for building Horsemen.
I will have to think about how to better communicate with Woden about the Ichabod threat, worst case would be Ichabod using his production edge to conquer Woden's many cities.

[Kaiser]

I am late posting a couple turns



There is a new barb here, this is potentially 50 but also a potential thread for our Jungle Campus city



CMF, actually Williams, came around with this request. That is a no as I am interested in keeping you as backwards as possible and a 30 turn enforced peace does open a too large window.
- He could be gobbled up by somebody else (Suboptimal seems to be in the E)
- He could settle annoyingly and get away with it
- he could catch up without us being able to intervene



Ichabod: 2 pop/building, tech#11
Woden: 3 pop / building
Suboptimal: 1 era score
CMF: civic#11, tech#10, 1 era score



This time I am hopefully being clearer, he will probably accept the 2 horses for 1 but I wanted to make my point from last turn clear



3 turns for the Settler from EM, we still need to shuffle GM a bit




I am willing to share some more intel with CMF if he accepts my delegation, so I keep my possibilities open but we can both focus on development for the moment

[Kaiser]

Engineering ready, later this turn I will forget placing the aqueducts.



Woden wants a DoF as well. I believe Ichabod will attack him, so this is very understandable, however he likely has the best Settler and neighbors me. This is a no until I have settled all disputed spots safely, then I am willing to DoF him and likely will turn on CMF then with a secured front.
We have at least 4 spots to settle and the S looks promising as well. We might even get another city in the N to seal that area completely



Yes, we met Suboptimal and were the first to meet all. I was hoping for this historic moment boost, but where did we meet ...




We did not really, but he suzerained Genova. Here is a potential source for 2 era score when declaring and taking his Suzerainship away. This would bring bad karma and loose us 2 from the incoming trade route though.




His special district is actually shown as a harbor, Phoenicia has a weird text instead



Wow, this has to have been a project, else the GA points would be crazy



Ichabod: -
Woden: -
Suboptimal: civic#8, tech#10, 5 era score, 1 GA
CMF: -

[Kaiser]

Iron Working in, this turn I want to remember the aqueducts



Our two Governors are established, I bought a Builder for in GM



This will likely be a dance to make sure that we get the barb camp and Woden will not be able to snipe it from usm maybe the Spear attacks instead of occupying it again  



There is our 1st GS, not to overwhelming but it will bring us an Eureka and we might even consider pushing for the 2nd if it is Hypathia



It is not, but I prefer Aryabhata. I will not go for a science project but build the library instead to get the additinal 4 and 2 GS points.



Euclid will bring us the Mathematics Eureka, which we would get anyway in 8 turns with the completion of the HS.
Apprenticeship, Stirrups and Military Engineering are all possible, I actually already plan for Apprenticeship and Stirrups and consider finishing the aqueduct in EM after the Watermill and Granary to grow that city to 10+ population
So we wait and Scout with Euclid for the moment and then hope to get the Buttress Eureka with a 1 in 3 chance



City #7 and a Swordman, it seems this mountain range will give a nice border to Woden and me, as long as does not settle further E in the N



Ichabod: -
Woden: 11 pop/building, tech#14, 3 era score = 6 city, 3 for a splendid district and 2 somehwere?
Suboptimal: civic#9, tech#11
CMF: 1 era score

[Kaiser]

Here is the Ichabod - Woden frontier, I hope for some friction there, I need to keep an eye out on Woden trying to conquer Vilnius.



Ichabod: 7 pop/building (6 for new city), tech#13, 2 era score
Woden: tech#15, 2 era score
Suboptimal: 2 era score
CMF: tech#11, 3 era score

I feel I am dallying to much and am throwing our good position, currently my parents in law are still there but I will invest some time next week into some more long term plans and situation analysis.



I also missed this, I believe he has finished a Theatre district and theatre, but I need to recheck the wording on his Carnival district



CS conquering imminent or is this for a quest refresh?

[Kaiser]

Construction done thanks to the Watermill



Another scientific CS here, probably the one Ichabod met so early



And here some potential for conflict with Woden, I already cleared a Spear and damaged most of the units here heavily, I will be really pissed if he snipes the encampment from me as I want the 50 and the 2 era score. For him it is worth 5 era score though.
We just recently exchanged Delegations to show that we are open to work together, but it might be I am reading his intentions wrong, am I?



Ichabod: civic#11, 4 pop/building (HS?), 1 era score
Woden: 3 pop/building, tech#16
Suboptimal: 10 pop/building, conquered CS Armagh, spend 75
CMF: civic#12, tech#13, 1 pop, 2 era



Ichabod finished another high yield HS, so has a 3rd high production city running.



Woden is going for his 8th city with LaVenta



And Suboptimal completed city#5 by conquering Aramagh

[Kaiser]

Hattusa it is. Building a Swordman is a doable quest and Woden is its Suzerain.

Ichabod: civic#12, tech#14, 3 pop/building, 3 era score
Woden: civic#10. tech#17, 1 pop/building, 3 era score
Suboptimal: pop/building +6 => new city?, tech#12
CMF: really seems to be in a hole



He did take the camp and did not even offer anything, I was quite pissed and about to declare war by cooler heads (my wife) prevailed. She is right that I would just kill his Warrior and would antagonize him as I believe he would really dislike the trade of a Warrior for 50 and 3 era score.
He has the highest military score but only a tiny border with me, declaring war would mean we would need to get some more MYC's out and we would loose the quest for Hattusa.

He would loose 2 and 2 and likely his warrior.

Let's see if he is willing to work together, as I will probably have to gear up anyways if he refuses. My current gut feeling is that Ichabod has the strongest position in this game, so I feel that Woden and me should work together to keep him in check as best as possible. The more HS Ichabod finishes the better his position will be due to the very significant edge he gets. I realized this early enough to deny him the pantheon and I am kicking my ass for not doing so.

Woden's problem (and mine in a sense) is that I am to far away to act effectively against Ichabod, from the map setup Ichabod and me are natural allies. That means he only has to worry about a safe border with me (or Ichabod) and can then attack in the other direction. But he has to worry that the other one might run away while he fights a war.

[Kaiser]

Busy week, I barely came to work on the PBEM 19 map, here are some missing reports



This is acceptable for loosing out on the 50 , I am glad to see that we can work together





Our Scientiest will Scout the NE while we wait for some Eurekas and we will leave the Archer for Woden and Bologna to clear



Woden has gained another city



Overview shot of the ongoing cold war/stalemate with CMF



Ichabod is about to conquer his first CS as well. If will barely miss it, I might come in and raze it for him but I doubt he will give me that opportunity



Ichabod: 2 pop/building, spent 58 , probably 60 for an Archer Upgrade, spent 113 probably a Builder
Woden: 12 pop/building -> La Venta, tech#17, got 82 from plundering
Suboptimal: 2 pop/building, tech#13, 1 era score, spent 55 Archer and I miscounted?
CMF: -

[Kaiser]

He did not leave me an opening, as expected



Claire Finn is city #7 and immediately connects a coffee for us



Woden is working on a religion as nobody else is going for it. We will follow suit as soon as our HS will be finished.



Canada is gaining some



I start playing around with the idea of a Courser/Knight based attack in CMF. I probably would go on Kings or the Blues first to cripple him and isloate Bruins. We should maybe even be able to turn it if we can conquer Kings.


Ichabod: 11 pop/building => Hattusa. spent 99 and 61
Woden: -
Suboptimal: civic#10, 1 pop/building, 1era score
CMF: 2 era score, spent 35

[Kaiser]

Feudalism in



Some more era score, we should be fine reaching another golden age



My first farming triangle done, EM is now supposed to grow to 10 pop



We found the ToA and Rio, it will be good to understand the layout of the land here as well as potentiall threaten to plunder one of his amazing HS if the opportunity arises



Woden and Ichabod have both overtaken me, I am currently keeping close but I need to do something to not fall behind.

Ichabod: 5 pop/building, 7 era score, spent 150 and 142
Woden: 1 pop/building, tech#19, 1 era score
Suboptimal: 3 pop/building =district?, 5 era score (splendid + something)
CMF: 2 pop/building, 1 era score, encampment and Settler?