[PB74] Tarkeel and civacs Game of the Year

[Tarkeel]

Turn 157 (940 AD)
We had a lucky event!


Would have been even better 20 turns ago when they were getting used, but I'm not complaining. Meanwhile Pindicator re-sent the corn-for-corn (we have literally no seafood), and his knights aren't visible so I think he understood our meaning. He might have something else planned though:


The hill NE of Powell has the chariot that got kicked out of our lands, covered by a longbow and two workers that are likely roading next turn. That road gives pindi the option to stage in the fog and land on the hill 2S of Comben, from where he can reach the city. While he could land SE of Comben right now, that's dangerous due to Amica's forces. A sentry chariot on the pigs where our scout is could easily check if the hill 2S is safe to land on.

We got some maps from Gavagai and Mig, and have spotted some of the astro-land Commodore is settling:




Seems to have more strategic than resource value, which I approve of. He can truly dominate this sea when metal ships become available.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 159 (980 AD)
Gavagai was first to Liberalism, and as far as I can tell, took Nationalism. Look out for a fast Taj incoming, but he probably could have stalled for a bigger payout. Pindi put his knights on the hill we pointed out, and razed Comben as expected. He also managed to capture Philips, although Amica has the forces to take that back. We just finished a settler in Agricola that was due to resettle Rococo, but we might try to sneak in a city N or 2N of Comben instead.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 161 (1010 AD)
Pindi has been feeling out how we feel about a war with Commodore, and we're really not feeling it. Fighting plemo's advanced navy was bad enough, and Commodore can strike cities from ocean as well as units. Instead we try to signal that we'll stay out of it and not backstab him if he goes for it; personally I think he's better off fighting GKC once Amica is consumed. Speaking of which, pindi has a very fearsome army now, so he might go in for the kill:


Also pictured is our new city of Camel Up, settled right in the maw of the two local super-powers. We did try to leave pindi enough room to re-settle his conquest, but this area would have been hard for him to claim. As for plemo, we're resending his latest offer of white peace: with knights on the scene we're even less likely than before to make gains.

Engineering came in for us at long last so we're no longer the lowest movers, and next target is Meditation into Priesthood and Monarchy. Economy is recovering better than expected and we're up to +120gpt at 0% science. Still far away from the leaders though.



Camel Up is a weird little racing/betting game, in which you both race your camels around the pyramid while placing bets on where the camels finish. It's not my personal favorite, but a quick and quirky little thing.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 163 (1030 AD)
SD was about as elated over our peace as expected; He demanded every single resource and war/stop trade available from us. Plemo offered open borders, and while it would be very helpful to have a scout over on SD's side of the war we don't want to hurt SD's morale more. We tried very hard to find some way to express in AI-diplo that we'd come to aid him if plemo attacks again, but we're not going to support offensive maneuvers. That's probably not possible to express, and since we didn't want to support an invasion we remain silent.


Just another "are you kidding me moment" from the fog, what could possibly go wrong with goody huts on astro-land?

[Tarkeel]

Turn 165 (1050 AD)
We're on a quest!


Rewards are:

1.1 Copper resource is revealed
2.All Swordsman units gain the Shock promotion
3.IF you have a state religion gain 1 engineer specialist in the triggering city

We already have 5 forges built and a 6th whipped this turn and could easily whip the last three this turn. The rewards are however not very worthwhile; the free engineer is nice but requires a turn of anarchy which it definitely isn't worth. That just leaves "because it's a cool thing" and denial to someone else, and whipping Augustus in particular is a steep cost. there's also the issue that other players are likely to finish the quest by default next turn.

[klops]

nice... but how many swordmen do you have? like 1-2 or closer to zero?

[Tarkeel]

Yeah, we haven't build any swords, and are extremely unlikely to do so, so this was unfortunately not worth completing.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 166 (1060 AD)
According to the event log, Gav finish Taj, and Amica and Pindi squared off, but nobody finished the forge quest. Forbidden Island can actually step in to do the third whip this turn, which is much more reasonable than Agricola, so we decide to roll the dice for some useless copper. Speaking of Amica and Pindi:


Since Amica's catapults are alive, I'm guessing Pindi attacked into the stack outside the city, and is looking to eat the counter. I think he will prevail, but we're very interested in how much of his army survives, and if we're next on the menu.


We actually got another event this turn, yielding 72 gold. Not much, but it will help on our slow way to knights, currently estimated 15 turns away.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 167 (1070 AD)
Not only did we claim the forge quest, the reward actually gave us something:


It's easy to miss, but Hanabi is actually located on a plain in that sea of green, so the copper gives the city an extra hammer. Useful. We also managed to sneak in a border city that can work the gems:


We're hoping the placement is acceptable to Pindi, because we're letting the builder inside run loose:


We're probably doing another round of units after those castles though.


Splendor (Steam) is one of those cute little filler games that's not quite what it looks like at first glance. I've only tried the digital version myself though.

[Tarkeel]

I've been thinking about our situation lately, and I believe that we're likely to be left alone for a bit. We're technologically disadvantaged enough that we pose no real threat to any of our neighbors. We've also shown a willingness in both this and previous games to be good neighbors that don't take the first opportunity for a backstab. We have also shown ourselves to be a rather prickly meal.

Commodore seems happy settling astro-islands for now and actually has less paper-power than us (but better units), and a much better economy. Pindicator is mopping up Amica, and depending on how much of his army is left might swing at either of his land neighbors, or across the strait into GKC. While plemo is moving towards Galleons that can threaten 75% of our empire, he'll be hard pressed to hold anything he takes.

There is a real risk that if any one of them attacks we get piled on with knights by all three neighbors, but more likely one of them comes with grenadiers down the line. Our only real hope is to be able to get out the Chemistry bulb before that, which isn't very likely.