[spoiler] Q Returns to Quest Once More

[Qgqqqqq]

Look at that beautiful start (Brian shared maps):

Maybe I'm not in such a good spot after all! With my second city happy to have 3 floodplains, far away from having a 7f tile that can be shared away...

Wait, did something else happen this turn?

Oh. That chart is going to be harder to use, huh.




Popped his lightbringer, and one of the barbs - I debated staying at peace this turn, but decided the risk of something unexpected plus the honesty factor meant it was better to just declare war. There's no way he'd be fooled into thinking we were at peace.


He also founded Runes. That gives me some good denial material (assuming all goes according to plan). Doesn't really do anything material though, as I'm never leaving Leaves, and I'm not going to spread it. Just stops anyone else getting the extra gold.

I also took a 69% attack against a Lion with my scout. That means I should be able to capture some animals. I think I'll send it back around the border between me and Auro, half as a fog-bust and half to keep an eye on things. Brian must have shared maps with Auro at some stage, so I've got most of the map de-fogged.

[mackoti]

Oh my.
Looks like you will get many forests back..

[Qgqqqqq]

Yeah, they're actually growing back quite quick. I already have one Ancient forest (the tile the barb was on) and three normal forests.

Getting more and more nervous about my position. Mig cut the border forest (and deleted the worker), a very good move. I thought he was roading or I would have threatened it more. I *think* I can still take his second city, but it will be tight. He's also finished a settler, which could pose issues.

More importantly, my foodhammer position is miserable. Auro has crazy hammers, Bing is still lagging, and Brian has fantastic food. My GNP is good, which feels like a mistake. I think I'll stop working the Incense after Archery. Hopefully I also get some nice capture gold shortly. I think my general area might still be shitty enough that even post-Mig, Brian/Auro may still be in a better position than me.

Bing had walked his giants towards me. I'm poking them away, but offering resource exchange to signal my good intentions.

[Qgqqqqq]

Rip, I fucked this up. By letting him chop that forest, the kill stack was delayed by one turn. He wisely evacuated with everything, and now has enough to fight me off and, quite likely, take back his capital

I probably should have just burned it.

In 6ish turns, Arendal will be here to finish Mig off. But it might be too late - and it's certainly going to throw me so far behind I'll be eaten by Auro when he comes calling. Or possibly even Bing.

I think it was still the right call, though. I just wish I'd put a bit more behind it - popped the borders with the disciple and accelerated everything by 2t, roaded towards Mig's capital, kept producing so I'd have a Fawn at the frontline rn instead of just warriors, etc.

[Qgqqqqq]

A picture of the front:


I have four G1 warriors, with +65% from the city and the hill (me oh my did I f this up - I should have saved the priest to pop borders). Against this, he has six warriors pictured, and at least one more and a Thane hiding away. He also has a settler somewhere - I'm looping my scout around to threaten it.

I should have decent odds to hold the city? The real threat is (a) that he can output 10-11hpt, meaning 2 warriors every three turns, which can drown me, and (b) I have nothing in my second city atm, or protecting my workers.

Oh, did you notice anything odd in the log?



Brian lost his capital to the barbs! Presumably related to Samhain (I had to smack a lot of barbs with my Treeants, pretty fortunately timed)? I should go back and see where Mokka spawned. Which, btw, continues Bing's trend of not building any settlers...

[Qgqqqqq]

This of course means that everything is still to play for. With Mig crippled, Brian behind the curve (even if it's just for a few turns, losing your capital is big), Bing twiddling his thumbs, it leaves Auro and potentially us (depending on what happens in the next 5-8t) in the strongest position.

Gilden is 4t away, and then will take ~5t to reach the front. There's a strong chance Mig retakes his capital by then, but it's not inevitable. Auro also has at least one Sinister Fawn, though for now it's staying at home. Possibly because of Samhain. Tbh, his strongest move might be just to REX out the wazoo and let the rest of us bicker.

There's also the chance Bing is marching Giants to our border now. If so, they likely reach us before Gilden can get enough promotions to fend them off. (He could also kill us with his Worldspell. Still, Bing accepted Wheat for Wheat, and I think senses our peaceful attentions. We also spooked him a bit with the Treeants.



Demos and score look pretty nice. I think we're now in a comfortable second, assuming Brian recaptures his city in 3-5t. If Mig can't take back his capital I'd place us in contention for First, though dragged down by our piss-poor surroundings.

[Qgqqqqq]

Huh, presumably Brian is weighing whether or not to cast Sanctuary. His barb problem must be worse than I thought. Again, this strengthens all his neighbouts, especially Auro.

[Qgqqqqq]

So Brian decided to bow out, instead of casting Sanctuary. Fair enough, though it weakens my position. With Bing not expanding, that's a lot of land for Auro to (eventually) claim. I guess I'll also not suffer as much from the barb raids from that direction. Seems like the amount of Frostlings my Treeants killed did me a world of good.

I should mention, Mig gave me peace! I was a bit surprised, he must have been more scared at my follow-up. As-is, this just gives me 10t to consolidate and come back with Gilden. At 6str, he should be able to eventually capture Mig's last city (with some support). Here's some empire shots:

Hard to know how much military to build, but likely another worker after Gilden - unless I do one out of Norman. A settler is tempting but feels too risky. This city has been neglected since before the settler came out!


Ivory is next, with my happiness problems. One worker goes to Norman's mine, the others to Ivory.

Some tiles to reassign here!

Likely another Fawn after this? Or a warrior. This is a big production city, though it will get some more cottages. I'm so short on hammers!

Didn't plan around this being unhappy, stupidly. Really need to connect the silk. May change this to a worker, though that feels ambitious.


Demos now that Norman is out of revolt. You can see the MFG deficit though.

This whole game is in a weird state though. Effectively, there's two superpowers - me (with the time to integrate Norman), and Auro. Bing is still (!) on one city, Mig is crippled, and Brian is dead. We're currently somewhat far from one another, though that will change once Mig is dead.

[Qgqqqqq]

Mig (who lost his capital) has built his third city, as has Auro. Bing is still on one city. I offered Nature mana for his spare silk, which could save me some worker turns. Perhaps should have offered an actual useful one, like Life mana.

Gilden is finished and heading to the front. He'll then start working on cities 4 and 5

I've offered maps to Auro, and have my scout poking on our closest border. Still a little worried he could turn up on my Eastern border with a couple of Fawns. Hoping he'll prioritise REXing and be focused on barbs. I'm thinking I'll deprioritise the east in favour of the West, to better integrate Miguelito's empire and give me a chance at some of Brian's territory. It helps that there's a six tile gap between a food resource and floodplains in that direction!

I've offered maps with Auro. I suspect he's settled for the sheep to his west, though he could also have gone for the cow between him and Miguelito (though hopefully not!), or the corn to his North. But with him lacking culture, it seems like he might prioritise the inner ring first. Auro's catching up on food and remains ahead on hammers. His capital has 7 (!) ancient forests - I only have one I can work.

[Qgqqqqq]

Quite disappointed that with four players we're still struggling to hit one turn/day. Especially on days when I'm holding a turn for an hr or less.

Note: Peace expires t43.