[SPOLERS] yuris125, Pitboss 71. The battle Warrior of Light is unlikely to win

[yuris125]

This was followed by an offer of white peace. Obviously that's still not acceptable, there's no reason for me to sit with a single city in the corner of the map and await death

Checked the tech thread and don't think we agreed any rules for city gifting. So offered back a peace with me getting both my cities back. Obviously SD won't accept, but it was just as obvious I wouldn't agree a deal which would not only break my deals with Thoth, but put me at war with him

[yuris125]

In foreign news, looks like Krill finally made a move on Bing (but you lurkers probably already know that, Krill's thread has been popping)




Also note Pindicator's power spike - shame I have no idea where he is and who he might be targetting (not that I would've been able to do anything about it even if I did)

[yuris125]

So since SD decided to start talking peace:

* Signing peace which leaves me on a single city is out of the question. I have nowhere to go out of this corner - as I said, it would be all about sitting there and pressing end turn until SD builds enough units to finish me off (or Thoth decides to put me out of my misery)
* A peace treaty in which I get Ishgard back would at least let me attempt to resettle Ala Mhigo, settle an iceball for iron, and try to miracle my way into not being completely irrelevant. The fact that I'm not that far away from war elephants makes me think it might not be impossible. Biggest reservation I have against this is the diplomatic situation; Thoth presumably wants to get something out of propping me up, and that "something" is most likely about making SD's attack against him incredibly difficult. If I sign peace, Thoth is very likely to cancel our deals, which would cause major happiness problems - as you saw from the latest Kugane screenshot, it has a lot of whip anger. So long story short - peace for Ishgard would be acceptable from strategic perspective, and something I would have to think about long and hard if SD were to offer it
* Me getting both cities back would be too good to pass up, even with the diplo drawbacks

Ultimately, I accept that I'm out of contention from this game, but can still think about is what needs to happen in order for me to still be able to set achievable goals and accomplish meaningful progress. And getting Ishgard back, in a peace treaty or through military action, is a necessary first step

In practice, SD is very unlikely to agree to a peace treaty with him giving a city back. If he moves some units away, I will start thinking about what I can do to recapture Ishgard

[yuris125]

Didn't expect this. I actually have a decision to make




Notably, there's no option to offer that SD declares war on Thoth. Guess he already did, and that's why he wants peace with me and moved away all his units?

Going to give it a think, but my inclination is not to take it. I can see that Ishgard is defended by a single archer, so I can attempt to retake it myself - especially if SD is already at war with Thoth. Maintaining diplo relationships with Thoth is important, and the least I can do in return for him supplying me with wine and copper

[yuris125]

I declined peace. Even leaving aside ephemeral matters like me being grateful to Thoth for his support over the years, there're practical reasons to stay at war:

* As you saw from previous screenshots, the deal with Thoth where he supplies me with wine is expired, he can cancel it at any time. Kugane is at happiness cap of 2 due to whip anger - were Thoth to cancel it, the city would be near-useless
* SD may have plans of his own for the Ala Mhigo spot, I need to be able to attack him if my plans include resettling it

A confirmation that SD did indeed declare on Thoth




Filthy Radicals had a very strong garrison last time I could get a look at it; if Thoth still has that garrison, I don't think he's in any danger of losing the city

In other news, interesting that Bing made peace with Krill without losing a city

[yuris125]

By the way, there's a small chance that SD's moves are an elaborate bait and I will die this turn. For it to happen, he needs to have a stack of keshiks on the tile 2N of Ishgard, as well as 4 workers. If he does, he can road that tile and the wheat tile, and take Kugane while I'm sending a detachment to retake Ishgard

This scenario does seem unlikely enough that I'm willing to take the risk. Just wanted to say that I'm aware of the possibility, in case I do die this turn

[Tarkeel]

BTW, you could have mitigated the risk by moving to the tile N instead.

[yuris125]

Yes, but that would've exposed spears to being attacked on flatland and without city's defensive bonuses. Their odds are not that great against C1/Shock keshiks

[yuris125]

SD only sent a single archer in an attempt to reinforce Ishgard




So just went ahead with the plan - worker finishes road, archer suicides, spear kills the one defender, and Ishgard is taken back




Somehow the granary is still standing

[yuris125]

As before, I'm staying at war - it is essential that I stay aligned with Thoth, at least for the time being. There's no reason to accept this, and SD knows my price for peace

Truth be told, don't think I can do anything offensive for the next 10 turns - have to rebuild tile improvements before I can look at re-expanding. But giving SD safety from my direction feels counter-productive

The attack on Thoth seems to be going as badly as I expected btw, SD had a noticeable power graph drop last turn