[PB65] Pinch-Hitting Pindicator

[Hitru]

I was also slightly worried that we may end up dogpiled if we stay at war with Corn. Next time we have longbows so his stack of ancient units is not really threathening anymore. In grand scheme of things paying 250 gold for having free pass to kill Bing is worth it IMO.

I agree with putting few longbows on that hill.

[pindicator]

129

Bing is back and he has decided to abandon Cuzco.




In some ways this makes sense: he cannot hope to stand up against my catapults. But in other ways, I don't see that he has enough time to get to HBR or Construction himself, which are the only two techs that could possibly save him.

Cuzco came with Temple of Artemis and a Granary. Potentially a spot for a great person and half of golden age #2, but this is down-the-road thinking. (Speaking of which: when do we want to aim for that GA? With Mercantilism & Banking, aiming to revolt into Vassalage & Merc?)

I snooped around a little and I think Superdeath is set up to snipe Vilcos next turn:




Since I doubt Bing has noticed the worker with a canceled action on his border, I decided to move all my 2-movers up as close to Vilcos as possible to let him see them. I'm hoping that this will cause him to whip a spear in Vilcos and then we don't have to deal with the SD poach. But if this happens then more power to superdeath. Our main concern is chasing down Bing's stack.




He fled to the northwest east, towards Machu Pichu and another source of copper. I suppose he popped that one at Cuzco. But regardless, taking Machu Picchu next will also cut off Mjmd from poaching anything more than the city in the far east.

[pindicator]

130

More time spent at the bargaining table than in the fields this turn. Superdeath decided to make it known what he wanted:




I had made a mistake last turn and moved my units up close enough for Superdeath to see them with his worker on the hill. Hitru and I had spoken about this situation a bit after my turn yesterday and we had both seemed pretty resigned to superdeath poaching both this city and Huamanga. If we can get everything north of the mountains and only limit Mjmd to taking the one city of Bing's on his border then we still have half a dozen cities to claim. Probably won't get all 6 of them - SucksatCiv surely will poach the one on his border - but even getting Bing's core will be worth letting them nibble at the edges.

With that in mind, I offered Superdeath the following:




Hopefully he gets the message here: that he gets the cities on his border (wine & pig & rice), but i get everything to the north of that. I think it's pretty clear considering it follows the same methodology of what he sent me.

He also sent me a second message which I wasn't as clear on:




I think he wants me to attack Cornflakes in 5 turns!? But I am in enforced peace, which he surely can see, and still have 8 turns. I did my best to respond letting him know I am still locked into 8 turns of peace.

The other parts of the demand I'm not sure clear on. Is he saying I have to stop trading with everyone else and only he and I are to go against the world? Oh superdeath, I'm more likely to eat you next than anyone else; you might need to improve your offer.

Mjmd declared on Bing this last turn. Expecting that city to fall next turn, so I need to capture Machu Picchu ASAP.

Feeling the crunch of time, I split my forces and will try to poach cities to the west with my mounted units.




We haven't shown demos in a few turns, so:




Superdeath is building a workshop on our border so he's the 3rd person to Metal Casting.

[pindicator]

131

Hopefully he gets the message here:  that he gets the cities on his border (wine & pig & rice), but i get everything to the north of that.  I think it's pretty clear

Dear reader, he did not get the message.




So I pulled my stuff back. He completes the road, has his 4 chariots in range. Furthermore: Bing pulled out one of the axes to bop the chariot I was trying to race north. (It was intentional on my end; I figured if he pulls the axe out to hit it then that's one less axe behind the city walls to deal with.) HOWEVER, Superdeath decides not to attack!?

Perhaps it's a matter of timing?




So this time we'll make sure he knows he needs to take the city now. Or we will take it. Or burn it, something like that.

Oh wait, all that wasn't even the most interesting thing to happen this turn:




Bing made a few mistakes, but here he needed to keep the Quechua inside Tiwanaku. It is top defender against my chariot, and then I probably lose a couple units in taking the city. Instead he moved the warrior out and my chariot could take on one of his axes. I lost a horse archer in a 75% shot against the last axe, but then cleaned up easily.

But that also was not the most interesting event of the turn:




Machu Picchu was emptied, and when I moved an axe north to where I suspected the units were found all of his one-movers. And there they were: all the axes and quechua that Bing had.

My first thought was that Bing was tilting against Mjmd piling on, that the two of them had just gotten enough bad blood between them that he was just throwing the game against Mjmd. My second thought was that he was going to try to use the culture against me, using the mobility of being able to move in culture to use the timing of my catapults being stuck in his culture and doing some damage attacking and retaking Corihuayrachina. Perhaps he could play whack-a-mole with me and survive a few turns? But then why aren't the chariots there? So the third option, and my current theory is that he is moving his stack to defend against Mjmd because Mjmd does not yet have catapults and he feels he can make the most difference with his units there. I feel like that is the most likely idea, but I have some units coming up from my core that can help defend just in case.

So here is where we stand now:




I felt like I had to move up my catapults in case Bing turns his stack around and retreats his units back into Macchu. Ideally we take the city without any issue next turn and then the slow movers will take up residence somewhere around Cuzco and Tiwanaku. Hopefully they will not be needed in the east because they will just take too much time to get out there ... and I'm feeling more and more confident that Cornflakes is going to be coming back with knights in 10 turns.

Feudalism fell this last turn. A Great Engineer was born. If those are both Cornflakes' then he is one tech away.

Vitcos is going to be burned by me next turn if Superdeath doesn't take it himself. I would take and keep it but I worry about being over-extended, and this way I can at least let Superdeath resettle. But I can't let Bing hold on to that spot - apart from hostile units the culture inhibits movement.

There are two more cities to the west, and I am goign to try and get at least 1. But this will mean I am going to have very extended supply lines here.

[pindicator]

132

Cornflakes built University of Sankore, which makes me think he used the Great Engineer on that. If he did that in lieu of bulbing Machinery I have to think that is a win. I suppose it is also possible Mjmd was the person who got Feudalism and Cornflakes is going to push the economic line of things too long, but I have to imagine one of my neighbors is going to have access to knights within 10 turns.

I found out why Superdeath hasn't taken Bing's cities. 6 axes were in Vilcos when I started the turn, and a message from Superdeath with 6g and a Copper, so I have a little more understanding for him not taking those cities. Also, it's going to be enough to prevent me from taking those cities. Also, Bing did the old rope-a-dope on my army after all.




I think he still meant to go for Mjmd but Mjmd burned his city first, and then left with just one option. I think I am okay, but we need to take his cities to open up the cultural movement for our troops now.




These attacks got us our first Great General. He's sitting in Sushi Go right now; I'm not sure what I want to do with him. Medic GG?

I then used 3 units (2 axes + 1 ele) to pillage the road (and hamlet) south of Machu. This will prevent him from being able to shuttle his army back - or also prevent Mjmd from sneaking forward with anything. Moved up 2 workers so that I can rebuild the road and move those units back out wherever they need to go next turn.

In addition, sadly I felt I needed to dry-whip an archer at Corihuayrachina. Maybe it wasn't strictly necessary but he has 13 hitters here (7 axes, 3 chariots, 3 quechua), and the archer gives me 7 defenders - though 3 of those defenders are mounted units. I also moved the catapult stack south and will be able to hit him no matter where he goes (unless he actually takes the city back next turn).


Next issue: I am currently losing money at 0%




Yes, I am very much second-guessing giving Cornflakes 25gpt right now.

We do have enough gold to make it to Code of Laws, and so my tech is headed that way. I am probably going to do a lot of pillaging of neutral territory over the next few turns. I am also rethinking capturing Ollantaytambo and may instead burn it. Yes, i very much want the Spices there, but the distance is so far and my army is stretched so thin in the east right now. Let me show you what I mean:




Just to give an idea on the distances here, it is 13 tiles from Ollantaytambo to Gloomhaven. About 19 tiles from Ollan to my capital. That would make this twice as far away as Clank! in the east.

So assuming I clean up Bing's stack next turn, I can then move my main stack against Vilcos next. Then we probably need to keep these units out here in Bing's territory to hold the land. And this is what has me thinking about burning Ollantaytambo instead of keeping it: if I burn that city then I can set up my stack in Cuzco and be reasonably positioned to cover everything. However, if I capture Ollan then I will need to move the main stack further west to keep SaC and Superdeath from poaching my gains and will likely need a new defensive plan for the cities around Cori and Machu Picchu. Perhaps I need to take it anyway...

Money-wise we have just enough funds to get to Code of Laws. 6 more turns on the debt to Cornflakes, so that's another 150g. I might have to build wealth in some cities to get through this stretch. Definitely need to build some Courthouses as soon as those can come in. Definitely need to do some strategic pillaging of tiles, especially the non-cottages as I have a bunch of workers looking for things to do.

Oh, and I still need to build unit for the inevitable Cornflakes attack.

Just like we planned, right?

[pindicator]

Thinking about it more, I have to take Ollantaytambo and not burn it. There is nothing to the west of there, a good 6 tiles to the west of the city is devoid of any bonus resource. And Ollan is too good a spot to leave for someone else to settle. We just need to figure out how to pay for it after.

I'm also considering building that shrine for Judaism after all. After Ollan we'll be at 17 cities and there is at least one more that is Jewish - say its 20 cities. Would 25gpt be worth a great person? I'm leaning towards yes. If I build a temple in the capital then it's probably about 15-18 turns away from the next great person. Or I could just run a pair of merchants again; that would be just 10 turns

[Zed-F]

You've taken almost all of Bing's cities for very few losses, so it seems like overall things have gone quite well for your campaign so far. A little challenge holding what you've taken is good for the soul, right?

[pindicator]

Yeah, I think we're getting close to our goals here. I'll take Ollan and then it's time to play economy and figure out my defenses

A little less worried about Ollan now that I realize that SaC is the closest neighbor. I think 4-6 Longbows and walls will be enough, at least until someone eventually conquers SaC.

Already having my first economy decision: I had enough gold to get MC or CoL first. Normally I like getting forges down first, but in this case I went CoL because my maintenance costs are just insane. (Eldritch Horror is over 10gpt, as an example.) Going to need to limp to MC after - or more realistically run another pair of merchants.

[pindicator]

Also: as cities come out of revolt I'll be renaming them. So I need a bunch of board games and haven't given this any thought

[Tarkeel]

Also: as cities come out of revolt I'll be renaming them.  So I need a bunch of board games and haven't given this any thought

Some recomendations (which I hope to use in PB67):
Root
Valley of (the) Kings
Augustus
Vinhos
Escape Plan
Flamme Rouge
Roll Player
Tsuro