[SPOILERS] Chevalier Mal Fet and Marcopolothefraud lead a Soviet Down Under

[marcopolothefraud]

Shouldn't a +3 campus get you 3 era score?

I think your best bet is to research a tech/civic in the Classical Era, clear a Barbarian Encampment, or meet another civilization. All three would take a minor miracle.

Failing that, I can give you the Blueprint, and that would trigger "Aggressive City Planted", because it's 5 tiles near another civilizations city. (In this case, its 5 tiles from Illmatic). I believe that once I give it to you, I can't get it back for the rest of the game...so I'll probably never recover from this kind of loss. But a Classical Golden Age is too important to risk.

[marcopolothefraud]

Turn 58

Nothing happened. Ljubljana lost 1 empire score, which indicates that he's built a settler. Roland's China and Woden's Norway both completed a tech this turn, bringing them up to 10 techs each and leading the game. I hope they don't get Shipbuilding soon.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Nothing that drastic will be necessary. I just need to meet 1 civ for 1 era point, so if you manage to meet Japan near Ago Bay, that would do it. Or I could declare on Norway and meet Phoenicia that way, guaranteed.

The only danger in it is if Norway and Phoenicia decide to launch an invasion in response, which is more likely than I'd like. However, I think we'd still be okay. First, Australia has very few coastal improvements to pillage - just the pasture. I have only the campus. Both can easily be garrisoned and immune to longships. Second, with Work Ethic I can have a new galley out every 3 turns right now, dropping to 2 every 3 turns with Maritime Industries. That makes longship/bireme conquest effectively impossible. I can keep building until I match their numbers, forcing a mutually destructive conflict - or peace. Furthermore, my navy can defend The College Dropout easily, and Ilmatic has only one tile to be attacked from - you could even line the hills with archers and make that impossible. So we are safe from conquest. Thirdly, it would only be ten turns until I can offer peace, which will be not enough time for them to gather a raiding force and sail it to our shores. They have their own plans and operations.

In return for running the risk, we get Defensive Tactics boosted, I get a golden age for Monumentality, and possibly Australia gets +100% production. Again, since we'd be declaring war to get the era points and the inspiration, not processing the Australia bonus, I feel it'd be kosher.

This is a last resort, of course, but I strongly think in 3 turns if I can't get my last era point any other way, meeting Phoenicia via war dec is greater reward than risk.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 58




I unlock Foreign Trade, which enables a policy swap, a trader, and, most importantly, Maritime Industries. We will swap that in at the end of turn and upgrade our shipyards, which will enable 2 galleys out next turn. Both can sail straight for Hong Kong, and I'll take advantage to get two more out. 5 ought to suffice for now, as I estimate Norway at 4 longships at the moment. 

Here's my decent little Campus:




This will become the heart of Russian science generation later, along with the KS campus on the other side of the mountain. Later at size 7 IA can get in on the action and I should have a solid base. 

After some thought, I decide the best use of my gold is invested in a trader, rather than sitting in my coffers not doing anything. I'll earn it back in about 20 turns, less once you factor in city conversions (+3), the turtles, and the silver. I also carefully estimated tile purchases and don't anticipate any soon. 




This will further speed things up at Imperator Aleksandr. 

Overview. If we can't find Japan or England by the end of next turn, I think I have no choice but to declare on Woden. Hopefully he works out what's going on. I do think it's the best move for all that we gain.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 59

I simultaneously complete 2 galleys and inspire Shipbuilding. This does nothing to help me secure a Golden Age, so we are still looking at having to declare on Woden to get the last point:




He finished another longboat on his turn, bringing his total to an estimated 5, which I'm nervous to fight against. However, he is almost broke, so he's running up against his ability to support more ships until he can slot Conscription, and we have a good bit of distance on him. I will likely need to build ships to defend both me and Marco, though, so the best return is probably to use these ships to conquer city-states assuming I can get peace on turn 70. 

Unless Kaiser turns up here next turn, I don't see any other option:




Oh, well. It's a risk, but the returns in settlement, culture, and production from all the knock-on consequences make it a risk worth taking, I think. If anyone has any bright ideas, now is the time, because tomorrow is my last turn to execute this. 

Shipbuilding is hiding behind Bronze Working:




That is my likely path after the era change. I will hold off on finishing Celestial Nav, then I need to get the eureka for the Wheel. Not sure about district discounts - as of next turn I will have:

* 3 districts researched (GP, lavra, campus)
* 4 districts completed (3 lavras, 1 campus)
* 1 district placed (campus, KS)

So if I finish the campus, I ought to be able to place a discounted GP for IA, right? That should be easy to knock out in 1-2 turns. Then my harbors will be discounted, too, since I'll have 6 districts finished to 4 researched? Not sure if I can go discount -> finish harbor -> Place second discounted harbor, but I'm curious to try. Can anyone explain the discount mechanism to me?

I start my trade route and boost IA's growth more:




Now it'll race to size 3 in just 3 turns, and then at size 4 I can place the plaza. Need to finish the Campus at KS rapidly, so that's probably next after this second galley (3 turns). 

In the north, the exploring galley finds signs of life, but nothing on settler vision yet:




City-state up here, doubt a player would be so close. That'll be good for PP, so I push on and then return to help with the Hong Kong attack in ~10 turns. 

Overview of Russia and Australia. The barb camp is indeed erupting, but I think I can retreat and tag team on the slinger to lure it away and kill it without exposing myself to the spear:

[marcopolothefraud]

Phew, thank God Iron Working is the leaf tech and Shipbuilding is the important one. That means we can research Shipbuilding as quickly as possible and put some Quadriremes to the water. Personally, I'd like at least three - one for Illmatic, one for College Dropout, and one for MBDTF - though in practice I'd be comfortable with a lot more than that. Unfortunately, my gold income has already dwindled down to 3/turn, so I won't be able to support many ships without some sort of extra gold generation.

I think you should declare war on Woden, CMF. He'd be extraordinarily puzzled - both Woden and Ljubljana have over 200 military strength, which indicates somewhere between 4-6 ships each - but we can just sign peace in 10 turns, which will be turn 70. Unfortunately, with a war going on, we probably won't be able to explore as much as we would like, but that's alright.

No turn report from me, because nothing happened this turn. Illmatic's Settler is due in 2 turns, after which it'll probably make a Galley.

[marcopolothefraud]

Turn 60

At the very eastern edge of the continent, my warrior stumbles upon two turtles and a lovely 2/2 forested hill. I would love to settle a city here, but it'll most assuredly get burned down.



CMF found a city-state (Nazca, a religious one, right?) and inspired Political Philosophy. I'm still going to go for Recorded History first, but then I'll go straight for Political Philosophy and probably get Autocracy. It'll take at least 20 turns, though.



Finally, Illmatic's settler is due next turn, and College Dropout will grow to size 3 in 3 turns. Illmatic will build an Archer - this is because I have the Agoge card but not the +100% production to ships card, and I think an Archer will be more useful than a Galley if we're going to be at war with the Vikings.



I don't have a picture, but I'd like to comment on the Great Scientist race. Kaiser's Japan, CMF's Russia, and Suboptimal's Indonesia all have one campus each, but I have two. Aryabhata's up for grabs, and while he's useful, I'd much rather get Hypatia. Should I get Aryabhata and hope that CMF can grab Hypatia, or should I pass on Aryabhata and go for Hypatia myself?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 60




Neato, the signs of life to the north were Naza, and they sent a galley to meet me. Their quest is to clear the barb camp the slinger originates from, which won't happen for a while. More importantly, Nazca is now Next On the Chopping Block after Hong Kong. It will be an excellent base for my fleet and and I can use it to settle the surrounding islands via monumentality. I want to seize overseas territory and then cling to it with my fingers - until Frigates come out it's very difficult for fleets to capture defended cities. 

However, with no other era score forthcoming I reluctantly pull the trigger on Woden. 




It works, but at what cost? Hopefully two things happen:

1)Marco gets the Defensive Tactics inspiration. 20 turns is an unacceptably long time to reach PP. Compared to Woden and Ljubljana, we're very far behind on culture - about even with sub and roland, although as they get religious buildings up they should leave us behind there, too. Anyway, I'll finish Theology to slot in my double faith/production card, then do my best to reach PP as rapidly as possible. 

2)Woden doesn't swear eternal war for this grave insult and is either baffled but finds it mostly harmless or actually works out what I'm trying to do here. He's smart, he knows I'm smart (does he, though? Are you, though?), so he should manage. He and Phoenicia field 6 biremes and 5 longships, per my estimates, with an additional 3 warriors and a slinger thrown in. Against that, we presently field 3 galleys with 2 more on the slips, 4 warriors (2 of them gravely damaged), and 1 slinger. Those are long odds, BUT no land forces will be in play yet, it's a long sail, they've got other projects, and I can build approximately 1 galley every turn, which can guard the narrow approaches to 3 of our cities while the Australian Army can defend Ilmatic. So we should be safe even if they go on a high seas crusade against us. 

Overview:




Imperator Aleksandr is indeed growing too quickly to convert at the moment, so I'm building a shrine and recruiting a missionary next out of Borodino. KS will finish this galley and attempt to finish the campus (about a 6 turn build) to discount the government plaza, which I can begin in about 8 turns.

[marcopolothefraud]

Turn 61

Australia enters a Normal Age, and I pick Free Inquiry.



This southeastern cape has some seriously beautiful tiles, but we both know that it would be foolhardy to settle it.



No Defensive Tactics, sadly. I'm going to go Recorded History -> Foreign Trade -> Defensive Tactics -> Political Philosophy. Given population growth, and (probably) a monument in College Dropout, I expect to get Political Philosophy by turn 80.



Finally, a look at the Great People screen. Notice how competitive the Great Scientist is.

[marcopolothefraud]

How common in rap is it for artists to directly call each other out in their albums? I'm not sure I know of any other artistic genre with that level of entanglement between works from different people. 

Oh, dear. I can promise you that it happens all the time. 

2001: "Ether" - Nas' Response to the Blueprint

Ultimately, here's what I want you to know: Hip-hop is broad. Hip-hop is controversial. And hip-hop is very, very personal - there's a reason rappers rarely cover other people's songs, and why accusations of "ghostwriting" (not writing your own lyrics) are so damaging. Rappers are expected to share their personal lives through their music.

Focus on that last sentence: rappers are expected to share their personal lives through their music. That includes all of their personal conflicts and controversies.

Three months after "Takeover" and The Blueprint, Nas returned with his own album Stillmatic. At its centerpiece was the song "Ether", which was a direct response to Jay-Z.

"How could Nas be garbage? Semi-autos at your cartilage, burner at the side of your dome, come out of my throne! I got this locked since '91, I am the truest. Name a rapper that I ain't influenced! Gave y'all chapters, but now I keep my eyes on the Judas with Hawaiian Sophie fame, kept my name in his music."

- "Ether", Nas

Instead of Jehovah, Nas insists on calling Jay-Z "Judas", and he references the infamous Hawaiian Sophie video, one of Jay-Z's first songs. It sounds...embarrassing, to say the least.

"Y'all n***as deal with emotions like bitches! What's sad is I love you, ‘cause you're my brother. You traded your soul for riches, my child. I've watched you grow up to be famous, and now I smile like a proud dad watchin' his only son that made it. You seem to be only concerned with dissin' women. Were you abused as a child? Scared to smile? They called you ugly? Well, life is harsh, hug me, don't reject me, or make records to disrespect me, blatant or indirectly."

- "Ether", Nas

"Ether" was very well received at the time, with most people saying it was better than "Takeover". They took Nas' stance and believed that Jay-Z was a newcomer who could never make an Illmatic. And yet...Stillmatic was good, but inconsistent. It had duds like "My Country" and "Every Ghetto". It wasn't even close to The Blueprint.

Twenty years later, the common consensus is that Nas won the battle, but Jay-Z won the war. "Ether" and "Takeover" both became instant classics in the respective artists' discographies, and gave both artists a second wave in their careers. But after this point, Nas virtually disappears from the narrative of hip-hop. He kept making good albums - in 2002, 2012, and recently in 2020 - but none of them would even come close to Illmatic. His albums started to fade from popularity, and now he's regarded as an elder statesman of hip-hop. It's hard to imagine he'll have a hit song ever again.

As for Jay-Z? Without going into much detail, he most certainly stays in the narrative of hip-hop. Contrary to what his fans thought, Jay-Z didn't go "too commercial" - he finally delivered an album with the same quality of Reasonable Doubt, his very first album back in 1996. He finally earned his crown as the best rapper of his generation.
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I admire the Blueprint a lot for its influence on Jay-Z's career. But I only think it's Hov's third best album, behind Reasonable Doubt and The Black Album. (Maybe even fourth, considering how good Vol 1... and Vol 2... both are.)

My favorite songs on this album are "Takeover", "Izzo (HOVA)", "Heart of the City", and "Renegade". My least favorite songs are "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)"...they just sound so slimy and dated.

Next time, we examine Kanye West, Jay-Z's most famous disciple.