[PB74 spoilers] Plemo in epic contest

[Plemo]

Commodore comes sailing past with a galley. I'm about to sink it for him. At the latest when the third galley is in range, I'll do it. According to the espionage percentages, Pind has had Ziggurats for a while and Commodore has only recently had courts. Last round it was still 100%/99% like the other players.



Otherwise I get isolated quite early.



Nidaros is now in the top 5.



After Picca rejected marble for 9gpt, I increased my offer to 15gpt, which means I only need 9 turns for the mausoleum and I give the saved hammers completely in gold to Picca.

[Plemo]

Hageel delight me with a pre-Christmas declaration of war. Very good timing and also somewhat surprising in terms of strength. Especially as I'm also a power leader.



A few (also dry) whips shrink my food value significantly.



But some units will be ready next turn.



Since SD wasn't logged in yet either (despite already 45h), I hardly withdrew any units at the border and even whipped some more. It's also interesting that Amica declared war on me after only staying on the border where Hageel have now invaded.

I have emptied Aarhus. But according to Pbspy, I didn't lose it. I can't imagine a retreat. He would probably prefer to have everything in front of Oslo next turn. I can add 3 axes and 1 chariot next turn. At least 3 more axes the turn after that, so the city should be safe.



I wasn't so sure about Lödöse. Vodka gave them ~22% for a successful attack.



Accordingly, I'm happy about Pbspy, even though I could have whipped much more efficiently with better planning. In any case, I clearly lost momentum.

[Plemo]

We are at peace again with Hageel.

I have also built Notre Dame many times. It is particularly strong when there are many cities on a land mass.

After Pind has crossed my land with a scout and a workboat, he declares war on me, so I only have open borders with GT and Scooter again.



It's probably about depriving the lighthouse builder of his trade income. In this particular case, however, their calculation doesn't really work out.

1. the big lighthouse only gives one more trade route and I have enough (3) island cities for it.
2. apparently we are mostly on the same landmass, so only trade routes to foreign island cities count.

So for my island cities I only need 9 foreign cities on the same landmass that I already have. So only further overseas trade routes are of interest to me, as they are to everyone else. All players with fewer than two islands lose more than I gain. Of course, if all players close their borders to me, I lose more in total than each individual player. But this also applies if I didn't have the lighthouse.

Overall, my savings rate looks pretty good in a global comparison. Commodore's save rate is definitely higher. Even Pind should save less. In GNP I am in third place with 0% research.



There was discussion on the Civforum about the next research target: knights or berserkers.

Pretty much everyone was in favor of berserkers. It's mainly because of the variety, you don't get the opportunity that often. And the map is suitable for using its advantage. It's also a bit faster than Knights.

Despite the lower strength, you should be able to finish off a knight stack well with elephants (using a few catapults). Only when both elephant and knight have two promotions does the knight have over 50%. Of course, vassalage makes it easier for the knight to get two promotions.

[Plemo]

As requested before the turn of the year, there is another outlook on the further research plan.


Important key parameters:

- Peace was concluded in turn 107;
- Great Personality hatches in turn 113;
- I hope to have MoM in turn 112;
- Aesthetics will only be researched if I can get gold from Amica or SD;
- Start of the golden age and planned change of government to caste system (borders should be positively shifted and further Great Personalities prepared) and possibly hereditary law (if no aesthetics) in turn 113;
- Form of government change in turn 119 to slavery, bureaucracy and hereditary law (if not already done);
- Final change of forms of government in turn 124 to hereditary law - bureaucracy - slavery - decentralization - freedom of religion.

During the golden age, berserkers (as axes) should be built in advance and individual catapults should be completed. Also some triremes, of course. If I don't research Aesthetics, I could still put horseback riding for elephants in between.

If there is a new round today, I can show an overview of the planned border shifts and individual cities.

[Plemo]

One more round of trembling.


After the wonder is before the wonder.

[Plemo]

I got the mausoleum. Also interesting how Commodore's account balance is developing.





There were probably already 390 hammers in the mausoleum, which he is now using for research in the golden age. The GNP of the leader in the demo looks accordingly.

In the end, I decided to go for horse riding first so that I could build elephants.

[Plemo]

At the moment, my time is pretty limited due to both personal and professional matters, so I'm happy if I can make a train without extra time. In addition, my relationship with Superdeath has cooled down quite a bit. I had declared war on him 6-7 turns ago to get forced peace and safely accept caste in the GA, which he has refused to give me so far. Nevertheless, I accepted caste for a shorter than planned time. Maybe I should have left it alone, since SD is now invading me.

I discovered the visible army two turns ago. If it had moved to Björgvin-8 even one turn earlier, I would have definitely lost Björgvin. Now I might be able to hold it, even if it will be very expensive. It was a mistake that I only have 2 workers in place. In addition to the visible units, I have about 5 more units. I'm currently considering whether I should attack now or wait and how the units should be positioned after an attack or without an attack.

It's also interesting that he has completely emptied the city of Daemon and my chariot is right next to it.



Lindholm, on the other hand, cannot be saved. I was surprised by the strength of the stack here. He probably has all his units except for the city guards. I could possibly demolish Ghost for that (berserker and chariot on board). However, I wonder if I don't still need the units.



Looking at the graphs, I guess I didn't end up with neighbor luck. Picca is farming Greenline (4-5 cities) and Commodore is also making progress (several cities of Bing probably conquered with knights), while I can't get active with the highest power. If I survive SD's attack reasonably well, Picca should conquer most of his cities afterwards.



Looking at the geography, if I were SD (assuming you have ambitions to win), I would have tried to arm with me during the state of war, then in a forced peace, catch Picca's stack favorably, conquer Greenline's territories, and possibly demolish border cities.

The key word is probably ambition to win. Here it seems to me that the sole aim is to take the point leader out of the victory race.



It's also interesting that SD is spending all of his economic output on espionage against me. He probably had city visibility for a short time. After I researched machines for berserkers, I countered for a turn.

[Qgqqqqq]

Not meaning to prod, but if you're the power leader, could he ever afford to have his army fighting on the other side? That also seems like quite a stretched border based on your pictures if he took Greenlines territory.

[Plemo]

Of course, SD is in a very awkward position with Picca and me as his neighbors. However, I've shown him several times that I'm interested in a long-term nap and would rather attack Tarkeel. In my previous games, I've always honored such loose agreements.

[Plemo]

The battles go as expected, maybe 1-2 units better than in the sandbox.




This is what SD's stack looks like in the end. All my generals are born on the island.



Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the demo before. In any case, SD should no longer be second in the military



This turn I traded Mig cards for 100 gold, which means I now know Commodore's starting land. I'm already a little envious. Rivers and enough food :hahm:



Next round I'm curious to see if and where Tarkeel wants to start. Unfortunately I forgot the picture again.