[PB69 SPOILERS] Magic Science and Nobody Else in Pitboss 69

[Magic Science]

Actually do you have 5 cities that don't have Judaism?

Yes.

I have 8 cities.

2 have Judaism: Bie (city 2, Holy City) and Ban (city 4).

6 do not have Judaism: Mei (city 1, capital), Bei (city 3), Bolan (city 5), Bolan-Mei (city 6), Bolan-Bie (city 7), Bolan-Bei (city 8). 
City 7 and city 8 were settled recently on the same turn, Turn 88.

Though now that you mention it, I guess it is possible that I received 2 free Judaism spreads EOT89, and did not notice it in the event log because of the reward pop-up. But that is unlikely, and can be checked.

[Krill]

You deserve the big just for the horrifically difficult communication problem caused by the city names.

[Magic Science]

You deserve the big just for the horrifically difficult communication problem caused by the city names.

Hey, it seemed like a cool idea at the time. . And I know them all by heart, what's your problem?

But you are correct. (Bolan)-Bie vs. (Bolan)-Bei is unpleasant for everyone who is not me. I will work out a new spelling for one or both sets when I log in again.

[Charriu]

I will inform Ramk about the fix to this problem. You can continue play if you don't need to wait for the religion spread.

[Magic Science]

I will inform Ramk about the fix to this problem. You can continue play if you don't need to wait for the religion spread.

Thank you.

So, you are sure this is a bug and not a mechanics error of mine?

I need to wait for Ginger* + Miguelito to play anyway. In the meantime, I will post the Turn 82 through Turn 88 reports.

[Charriu]

It's definitely a bug. The game checks and safes the religion you are running at the beginning of the quest. I changed it so that it uses the religion you are running at the end of the quest.

[Magic Science]

ONE: Gin-guelito settled the city of Hannibal in the very nearby back-up region, just as I feared they would. Fortunately, they settled 1 tile south of the superior spot that would block me from my favored location, for some reason. That was close! I think their Settler started Turn 81 on the jungle Ivory, so it could not settle the superior spot this turn, but they could have waited one more turn in case I failed to conquer Navajo and gave them enough time to reach the better spot. Why not?

I've read this a few times now, but I fail to see which spot you're talking about that would be invalidated.

If they had settled Hannibal 1 tile farther north, then it would have had a Sheep in the 1st-ring instead of no food in the 1st-ring, so that would be the superior site.
If they had settled Hannibal 1 tile farther north, then it would have blocked me from settling Bolan-Mei where I wanted to, where I did.
That is what I meant.


Turn 82 to Turn 84 – 825 BC to 775 BC
   
Big Picture: With the settling of Bolan and Bolan-Mei, there are no more unclaimed places for me to contest. There are some unclaimed places for me to settle, but none of them are contested. The era of conventional Settler races is over for me this game.

POSSIBLE EXCEPTION: Pictured above. The central Plain area, with the river and the Horse. This area is unclaimed and contested, but it is strange.

A city there desperately needs food to work all those Plains tiles. My Bolan willnot give up its Sheep; it’s its only food. Gin-guelito’s Cathy Ames cannot give up its Wheat or its Sheep; no legal city includes either tile in its BFC. That leaves Naufragar’s Anhk-Morpork’s Wheat (2nd-ring) and Sheep (3rd-ring) as the only food available for the region. So, despite appearances, Naufragar is the only one really in the contest here, unless I settled a city 1st-ring vs. that 3rd-ring Sheep to steal it with Jewish culture, but that would be outrageously militarily and diplomatically expensive for such a weak city. Better to let Naufragar have it whenever he can be bothered.
Also, I will concede the Sheep only 2SW of Ban (to Naufragar) and the Sheep 4W of Ban’s Pig (to Commodore) for the same reason: too much expense for not enough value.
PSEUDO-EDIT: Also also, BING_ac has an Axeman wandering around nearby. Why?


   
POSSIBLE EXCEPTION: Pictured above. The mysterious area very near NE of Bolan-Mei. DISPROVEN THIS VERY TURN.
Superdeath’s culture expanded into view in the black fog just before Flanking I Jr. moved out to explore. Doubly disproven! This area is not unclaimed after all. I suspected this all along, but I would have learned it for certain 15 turns ago if not for Navajo.

…

I had an Axeman on the Cow, ready to move out and protect Flanking I Jr. in case a Barbarian Spearman or Axeman was lurking on the other side of the forest. Obviously, there are no Barbarians nearby after all, but I still moved him out. Superdeath has less than half my power, there are 2 undefended Workers right there on the border, and the Warrior makes me think a Settler might be coming soon. I am not in a hurry to fight, and Superdeath might not be the best target eventually anyway, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up without at least posing an inconvenient threat.


   
Contact with Pindicator! This is not a surprise. I saw his culture over the water in the black fog more than 20 turns ago now, during the Cambodian Dark Age, but never quite mentioned it in a report before.

Pindicator knows Commodore, BING_ac, and me, but no one else that I can see. My guess is that he knows Gavagai too. My guess is that he borders Commodore and Gavagai by land, and then is surrounded by a lot of water, which has a passage to me by sea. BING_ac met Pindicator by coincidence in the early days of far-roaming Scouts.

(BTW, Gavagai settled his fourth city only on Turn 80, and then Commodore auto-razed it on Turn 83. Gavagai must be the one with a Crop Yield of 35 (for a while I foolishly figured it was Superdeath, even though I have his graphs, ). Commodore must be choking him, and Pindicator could be helping. Probably all three of them are feeling various strong emotions about all this).

I generously offered Pindicator a free Crab. This is so he understands that I mean no harm by briefly declaring war on him to enter his culture next turn. (Using Work Boats as explorers between training and improving never gets old). Yes, I could peacefully propose Open Borders, but that would be a lopsided deal. Pindicator has at most 3/6 foreign trade routes, and those would be from Gavagai, so he probably has 0. Meanwhile, I have no need for any filthy foreign trade routes. I am not about to give Pindicator 6 commerce per turn for nothing in return!

[Magic Science]

Turn 85 – 750 BC
   
DIPLOMACY! .

Pindicator proposed Open Borders for Open Borders with Crab for Crab.
Pindicator proposed a free Crab gift like I offered him.

Superdeath DECLARED WAR!
Superdeath proposed a white binding Peace Treaty.
Superdeath proposed a white binding Peace Treaty, again.
Superdeath proposed a binding Peace Treaty, and that I declare war on BING_ac. What?

I turned everything down to look around.


   
So, Superdeath pre-emptively declared war and offered binding Peace, and one of his Workers is still there and still undefended. I take this as a sign of weakness! My best guess is that the city beyond is badly defended, so my casual threat left Superdeath with no choice but to sacrifice a Worker to finish the chop to produce another unit, and he was unable to afford to send one of his precious few units to protect the Worker.
Excellent! I will use this opportunity to steal a Worker. My ideal time for fighting is later, after growth with Windmills and Serfdom, and Superdeath may not be my ideal target in the end, but I should be ready and willing to seize opportunities to benefit myself when they arise in the meantime.
So, my Axeman captured Superdeath’s Worker. That makes 8.


   
Why, Superdeath? Why, ?
Why would you show weakness when in fact you were strong enough? Now you lost a Worker and I lost an Axeman, and it was for no reason. My best guess is that his Spearman is new from the chop, and there are no more units nearby, and Flanking I Jr. scared him with only Vultures.
Anyway, yeah, my Axeman is doomed. I promoted him to Shock (AGG ), which means he should win against the first Vulture. Then, I debated maybe NOT deleting the Worker, but decided to just do it. Acts of mercy are never properly understood and appreciated in these games, so there is no point.
Also, note that Gin-guelito’s Chariot is there to see this, and so is BING_ac’s Axeman. That makes two Carthaginian Axemen wandering far from home. Why?

PSEUDO-EDIT: After I finished my turn and logged out, it occurred to me that since Superdeath’s Worker is dead, therefore beyond recapturing, and my Axeman wants nothing more than to go home, then Superdeath has no reason to kill him. There is no point in sacrificing a Vulture to kill a unit that means no more harm, right? I decided to log back in and offer a binding Peace Treaty to try to signal this to him to increase the small chance of survival.


   
I reluctantly echoed Pindicator’s proposal of Open Borders for Open Borders, Crab for Crab.
I think this is a lopsided deal.
Pindicator gets 6 commerce per turn, I get 0. This stings. I wish there had been an opportunity to declare war for 1 turn to wreck the sustained peace bonus.
Pindicator gets to start exploring in 1 turn (his Scout has already disembarked), I get to start exploring in 8 turns.
Pindicator gets to meet Naufragar, Gin-guelito, and Superdeath, I get to meet only Gavagai.

…

However, I also get to be friendly with that troublesome Galley.
And I do get to explore through Pindicator’s territory. This is vital. I must learn more about the overall political geography of the game to make the best decisions about participation in coalition warfare later, and Pindicator’s territory may be my only route. It is certainly my best route.

• Commodore: murdered his Scout in cold blood, has a whole thing about “small injuries”.
  
• Naufragar: murdered his Scout in cold blood, not much new stuff to see through his territory, likely target later.
  
• Gin-guelito: murdered his Chariot in a border skirmish, not much new stuff to see through their territory, likely target later.
  
• Superdeath: captured and deleted his Worker THIS VERY TURN, is Superdeath.
  

…

Alright, it’s a deal.

…

P.S. I should mention now, it has been my plan for a long time now to complete the War Chariots quest and choose the reward of 5 free Judaism spreads. Now I have an exact date for it: Turn 90. That is when I will claim my reward and take my place as The Holiest Man of Pitboss 69. 
.

[Tarkeel]

ONE: Gin-guelito settled the city of Hannibal in the very nearby back-up region, just as I feared they would. Fortunately, they settled 1 tile south of the superior spot that would block me from my favored location, for some reason. That was close! I think their Settler started Turn 81 on the jungle Ivory, so it could not settle the superior spot this turn, but they could have waited one more turn in case I failed to conquer Navajo and gave them enough time to reach the better spot. Why not?

I've read this a few times now, but I fail to see which spot you're talking about that would be invalidated.

If they had settled Hannibal 1 tile farther north, then it would have had a Sheep in the 1st-ring instead of no food in the 1st-ring, so that would be the superior site.
If they had settled Hannibal 1 tile farther north, then it would have blocked me from settling Bolan-Mei where I wanted to, where I did.
That is what I meant.

For some reason, I thought you'd kept Navajo. Sorry for the confusion

[Amicalola]

Congrats on the quest. That reward looks really powerful for your leader!