[SPOILERS] Magic Science and Nobody Else in Pitboss 66

[Magic Science]

The deed is done. The world had best prepare itself for Magic Science 2.0, DESTROYER OF HOPE. .
I am never signing a Peace Treaty again. Cease Fires forever!

[naufragar]

Any blood-soaked pictures for eager lurkers?

[Magic Science]

Any blood-soaked pictures for eager lurkers? 

Your wish is my command. But only very soon, not quite yet.


For now have this: though my position relative to the field is worse now than it was, uh, 11 turns ago, I no longer feel so melancholy about it all. I'm back to my usual (?) chipper self. . HOWEVER, I had one good idea during my melancholy mood that I will keep in mind.

Not only every momentous or round-number turn, but just about every single turn, I must ask myself: "Ignoring the issue of my lack of skill, can I win the game from this position without a miracle?" If the answer is yes, then play on normally. If the answer is no, then play on differently. Start focusing on survival instead of victory.
In Pitboss 40 I achieved this by performing an absurd beeline of Astronomy, but the outcome of that plan was kind of an accident. From now on that sort of thing should be on purpose. On Torusworld I think the plan will be to disproportionately fortify one-tile islands, maybe beeline Chemistry for Frigates? (Frigates don't require Paper ). Well, I can think more about the details later.

[Magic Science]

Turn 57 to Turn 68 – 1720 BC through 1280 BC
“The Greek Dark Age”
This 12-turn, 480-year period is called “the Greek Dark Age” for two reasons.


ONE: “Few primary sources from this benighted era survive to the present day.” Usually, I take my screenshots thoughtfully and deliberately. First take some quick and messy pictures of the tech advisor, the EP advisor, the enemy frontiers, etc. for my own internal use, then take some pretty lurker-facing pictures of whatever is interesting at the moment. But during the Greek Dark Age, I failed to uphold my usual standards. Few of the screenshots are any good for anything. I will just provide a bullet point list of events instead. Which brings us to:

TWO: Lots of things were just pretty bad, ya know? Dark stuff.
• So many Barbarians attacked me that I almost lost count of them. When I left off reporting there was a Bear and a Spearmen, since then there were also two Warriors in the north and two more Warriors in the south. Maybe more, I forget. None of them left me alone, none of them committed suicide, all of them threatened me and had to be attacked. And I dishonored RefSteel by forgetting about the CtH Settler-Barbarian thing and trying to bait the Spearman into attacking my Phalanx, with a Settler on the same tile. . I handled this wave of attacks badly.
        o Charriu II the Phalanx died making a 75% attack on the Spearman, and a Warrior had to clean up. .
        o City #5 should have been settled on Turn 62, but thanks to the Barbarians it was instead settled on Turn 66, at the same time as City #6.
        o Mjmd the Barbarian attacked and destroyed Bro the Warrior in the east. He only ever meant to threaten harm, not actually inflict it. . But seriously, I think Mjmd should not have taken the 75% attack with his Chariot against my Warrior. Too much risk for too little reward. The Chariot withdrew from combat and the Impi cleaned up, so I feel somewhat vindicated.
• On Turn 61, GeneralKilCavalry settled New York. This city is across the water, but it steals Hestia’s Fish and blocks me from settling a city on the hill like I wanted to. . Chokepoint lost.
• On Turn 65, Civeel settled Crushbone. This city is across the water, but like I said, it totally blocks me from settling for the 2 Crabs south of Poseidon. Chokepoint circumvented.
        o I made a mistake in my map analysis. Thin stretches of water tiles with land tiles on two sides cannot be accurately simplified to “impermeable barrier”. Rivals can steal Seafood and block cities from their side, and Galleys come early. Maybe my chokepoint plan was a bad idea from the start on Torusworld.
• Metal Casting will not be finished by Turn 71. The estimates were wrong. All I can promise now is it will be finished sometime before Turn 80, probably.
• I played badly, simple as that. Bad use of Worker-turns, bad movement of Settlers and escorts, bad tile assignments and build queues. I greatly overestimated by skill at domestic affairs when playing turn-by-turn without the aid of simulations. I’ll point out the signs of stupidity as they appear in future screenshots. Organic Chemistry I is to blame for everything.

But not everything was bad. I contacted Alhazard and GeneralKilCavalry, and they gave me Open Borders. I declined to settle aggressively against Plemadilly in the north, and I think that was correct. Hmm, that’s actually about it. Except for the blood-soaked main event, of course.


   
This Galley, Hera’s Dream, is a sign of stupidity. I built it too soon and there was nothing for it to do. There still isn’t. However, when RefSteel I the Axeman was done escorting Apollo’s settler to its final resting place, he boarded the Galley and went looking for Opportunity. What harm could it possibly do? Maybe Civeel thought of the water as an impermeable barrier and left me an opening. AND THEY DID, HAHAHAHA! .

   
Crushbone, la ciudad mala, es no mas! .


   
This is the more informative but less dramatic screenshot of the aftermath.

RefSteel I may survive. He has Combat I and 4.4/5 health, and there are no enemy units in sight. Civeel lacks Horse. He can reach Kelethin on the second half of Turn 70, but it will surely be defended by then. They have a good road network and a respectable military, and they might have Archery (3/7 contacts do) or some hammers in a military unit in Kelethin.

Now the war aim is to stop them from resettling Crushbone on the ruins or 1W. I must be allowed to settle the southernmost point on my side, but I still don’t want to do that for a while. A Phalanx will join RefSteel I soon. And maybe a Settler? I thought that was too aggressive, but maybe that is irrelevant now.

I was serious about no more Peace Treaties. They are too restrictive. For example, if I signed a Peace Treaty with Civeel after the scouting war, this attack would not have been possible. Peace Treaties are for suckers, you heard it here first.


   
This is the Archipelago, a nice and interesting place. What should I do about it? I count 3 one-tile islands and 2 novel luxuries.


   
This is for perspective. Cassandra is still scouting, and when GeneralKilCavalry stole Hestia’s Fish I was left with a spare Work Boat, now named “Andromeda” and dispatched to scout as well. The name fits, she had a good view from that seaside rock, alright?

Future reports will not take so long. For real this time. Really.

[Magic Science]

And naufragar, I think you have earned a unit by now. Probably a Phalanx, there aren't many options these days.

[Magic Science]

Kelethin's only defender is a Warrior, and there are no other military units in sight. Do you believe in dreams come true?

[Magic Science]

I think that If Civilization A achieves a Victory Condition on Turn X, then that should count as if every civilization other than Civilization A was eliminated on Turn X.

This means that if I have the power to choose between:
a) surviving by the skin of my teeth as Civilization A wins a Science Victory on Turn 241
AND
b) being eliminated from the game on Turn 242
I should choose Option B, because being eliminated on 242 is better than being eliminated on 241, obviously.

So even once victory is impossible for me, it is still in my best interest to try to prolong the game as long as possible, probably by harassing the leading player or players. If an enemy Victory Condition counts against me the same as a conventional elimination, then of course I should try to delay it just as I would try to delay a conventional elimination.
Concession is a Victory Condition.

[naufragar]

And naufragar, I think you have earned a unit by now. Probably a Phalanx, there aren't many options these days.

Phalanges are wonder weapons. I am content.

And fully agree on your VC analysis.

[Magic Science]

And fully agree on your VC analysis.

Excellent.

Maybe this matter can be further clarified and the difference between playing to win and playing to survive can be eliminated.
Something like: the goal you play for from the start is to survive as long as possible. Victory Conditions? Forget them. HOWEVER, if you achieve a Victory Condition, that counts as everyone else being eliminated and you surviving until Turn 500 by default. But that would break down for a Score Victory, so I guess a Victory Condition should count as surviving until Turn 501.

[Magic Science]

Turn 69 to Turn 74 – 1240 BC to 1040 BC
Part 1
The Second Greco-Spanish War is over now. It ended on the first half of Turn 74 with a Cease Fire. I have mixed feelings about this war. I will summarize.

   
RefSteel I was still alive when my half of the turn came around again, so he boarded Hera’s Dream again and they sailed to threaten Kelethin. Like I said much too long ago (6 days, really? ), “Kelethin’s only defender [was] a Warrior, and there [were] no other military units in sight”. Dare I hope for even greater fortune? Well, I guess there’s no harm hoping.

But of course an Axeman was trained in the city itself when the turn rolled, and Kelethin was saved. There must have been an Axeman in the queue with at least 5 production invested before I attacked. I wonder if Civeel could have saved Kelethin in any other way?

I was the last to play, so I saw it happen before logging out. Never let it be said that the second half of the turn is always better; it really takes the suspense out of the game sometimes.


   
Then RefSteel I and Hera’s Dream doubled back as newborn naufragar I the Phalanx land-lubbed his way south to join them. There moves and the subsequent ones were… I think “indecisive and casual” is the way to describe them. I should have either offered a Cease Fire and retreated everything, or committed to training and sending more units. Probably the first option, definitely not this weird third option.

1 Axeman and 1 Phalanx were never going to be enough to do more than momentarily delay Civeel, and since I do not want to settle for the Crabs anytime soon, momentarily delaying them is pointless. So, all that these further aggressive moves achieved was endangering some of my military as well as the region of civilians that they had originally been supposed to defend (Apollo and Artemis had 2 out-of-position Warriors between them for defense during these turns…). Foolish.


   
Then RefSteel I was threatened by 3 enemy Axemen for 3 turns! He was overextended. But his Combat I promotion meant that despite his wounds (inflicted by Barbarian Warriors earlier ) he had odds to trade 1:1 if attacked, so he was allowed to live.

I offered a Cease Fire on Turn 73, and RefSteel I was teleported back to my side of the water when New Crushbone was founded on Turn 74. I have no photographic evidence, but trust me that New Crushbone was not founded on the marked “CITY” tile where I wanted, but right on the ruins of Old Crushbone.

Once again, I am blocked from settling for the Crabs. Poseidon should have been placed 1 tile north, oh well.

What a strange little war. There was no combat between units. None. . I gained nothing at all, but Civeel was harmed substantially. They lost their 7th city on Turn 68. Was inflicting that harm worth losing all friendliness along this previously placid amphibian border? What are civac2 and Tarkeel like? Are they vengeful? I do not know.


   
There has also been war against Plemadilly during these turns.

I declared war on them for the first time back on Turn 66, but that was just so Cassandra could trespass in their waters. The only twitch of emotion in this war was the fear that a Roman Galley would jump out and destroy my beloved Work Boat. The enemy does know Sailing, but no Galley appeared during the first war.

A Galley only appeared on Turn 73 at the beginning of the second war, when Cassandra was about to trespass in Roman waters again. Fortunately, she was able to escape, but that Galley did stop her from revealing the city of Rom and the tiles around it and learning who Plemadilly’s other land neighbor is. Someone has Iron Working now, that stuff is important information, Cassandra should not have detoured north. Foolish. .

So she will go east WEST for a little while to learn more about Alhazard. He and Civeel have not contacted each other, but I still think he might be a land neighbor of theirs, and our diplomatic relationship is off to a good start thank to his profitable offer of Open Borders. Maybe he can be an ally. But I am getting distracted.


   
WAR! .

The Second Greco-Roman War is about that Scout of theirs, which is somehow still alive. All I want is for it to depart and stop spying on Demeter. It can live, but it must depart. JUST DEPART!

Plemadilly refuses to take my “hints” to this effect. “Hints”. I shadowed the Scout with my Warrior, I charged it with Charriu III the Phalanx, and now I actually declare war, and they move it farther south? What?

This move is so strange and oblivious that I seriously suspect a trap. Maybe they are trying to lure Charriu III out of the city so they can attack Demeter with Chariots from the fog when it is only defended by my wounded Axeman (wounded by yet another Barbarian, this time an Axeman). Cassandra saw a Chariot earlier. They could have combat Workers waiting 1E of the Horses.

…

But as I type this, I realize that is absurd. They would never waste worker-turns like that on such a tenuous plan. I am paranoid and silly. More likely is that Plemadilly just does not value their Scout very much. But their little Scout dance psyched me out so badly that I OFFERED THEM A PEACE TREATY, LIKE AN ABSOLUTE SUCKER. . That was just this turn. Will they accept?

Oh well. At least this misadventure adds to my Number of Wars Declared, the most important thing. So far, it is 5, which seems to be more than every other player in the game put together. Pull yourselves together, people. Why are you even playing? .