Meta-level note: I think it will do good for the game if Commodore is subbed out of it and I hope MS will take his offer. Commodore is clearly not enjoying playing the game and he did a lot to ruin the fun for others: first with his toxic ramblings about non-existent turn-speed issues (the game moves way faster than I would expect it to be at that point) and later - with his meme-war against Plemo which I see as his best attempt to destroy his own civ and give the game a premature and disappointing ending. Frankly, it becomes difficult for me to take the game seriously when one of the two contenders strives to emulate Perpentach.
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Gavagai climbs the chaos ladder
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As I feared, Commodore was able to hold on to Kingmaker. By the skin of his teeth and quite a few lucky rolls - these three misclicked Redcoats would really make a difference. Also, there is this: I am not scared - this is not enough even to take Bangalore and it goes without saying that if this stack ever lands on my mainland, it will just immediately die. But the situation in the south is bad: I don't have units in the area that can deal with two Machine Guns in a cost-efficient way. After consideration, I offered Commodore peace for all the cities I captured from him. He has been spamming me every turn with this offer, so I assume he will be satisfied. The thing is, he whipped half of his cities the turn he got Combustion, so he is clearly in total war mode. I am a bit perplexed why this tundra island is so valuable for him, but whatever. It is definitely not that valuable for me and I rather tech Corporation and Assembly Line than try to match his Destroyer spam. Not sure this war was worthwhile. I saved Plemo, at least for a time (they made peace after Plemo took all his stuff back), and Commodore is now greatly weakened. He is behind Mig in production now and behind Pindicator in population. His precious island is reduced to rabble, even though he is getting it back. On the other hand, he managed to keep a very healthy GNP somehow, at full science he had more than me even while paying 120 gpt to Pindicator (repaying a loan). Technically he is ahead of me in tech with Communism and MilTrad on my Rifling and Drama. So he is not done for, especially given that Pindicator just decided to be his bitch in this game instead of any meaningful counter-balance (the dude canceled our open borders deal, from which I am pretty sure he was getting more income than me). I, on the other hand, did not lose that many resources but I lost time that could have been spent on solving the Piccadilly problem. So, it will be a tough game. I now actually think Mig has more chances to win than me. He is not that far behind and he is very safe diplomatically, while I will have to deal with Comm/Pindi permanent alliance, not to mention the ongoing BS with Piccadilly.
Commodore accepted peace. The main strategic outcome of this war is that Commodore reasserted his dominance over the Southern Ocean but at least I forced him to pay a hefty price for this. Still, I think the deal was worth it for Commodore. Earlier I alluded that I didn't think this island was that much valuable but after consideration, I think it actually is. So, it was right on Commodore's behalf to invest so heavily in holding it. Now he has a chain of naval bases and shipyards right at my shores, able to project force with ease.
Nothing for me to be proud of in this war. While Commodore played with brilliance, I made several tactical blunders. But more importantly, I don't think the war was winnable in the first place. Commodore was too close to Destroyers and I just don't have enough production in the area to match Kremlin and Slavery. So my tactical ineptitude could be for the best. If I could capture the island, it would be very difficult for me to give it back but I would most likely lose it anyway after a bloody and protracted struggle. Now, there is also this annoying bullshit. I expected my units to be teleported to my home territory but... Ok, lol. I asked Com for open borders to expedite their evacuation but I don't expect him to accept. The war is over and now it's time for diplomacy. I sent this to Com and to Mig: The way I see the game now is that I was able to slow down Commodore significantly but it put me in a clear lead and painted a target on my back. The most likely way for the game to develop is Commodore and Mig dogpiling me. I assume that this war is inevitable but the big question is when it will happen. Both Mig and Commodore have good reasons to delay. Mig is just not ready for a serious war. He wants to build a metal navy, industrialize, develop his cities. Commodore wants land and he has plenty of more or less of targets in the neighborhood. So, both of them still have ways to improve their position. I, on the other hand, want to get rid of Piccadilly and free up my troops. So, I think, we all can benefit from getting a breather - and that's what I am offering them. Their reaction will give away lots of information. If they refuse it would mean they don't want to postpone things and want to attack as soon as possible. So, I will have to plan accordingly. Mig is scouting my territorial waters. This surge of interest is very new - it happened around the time I declared on Commodore. It worries me greatly that he can see my cities are undefended - it played some role in my willingness to settle with Commodore. I am going to make putting strong garrisons there my top priority. (June 2nd, 2024, 18:16)Gavagai Wrote: Now, there is also this annoying bullshit. I expected my units to be teleported to my home territory but... "If I had a nickel for every time [you were humorously screwed by a peace teleport in this game], I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice. (June 2nd, 2024, 18:18)Gavagai Wrote: A question for lurkers. I want to capture Brest and Halifax and give them to Greenline so that his culture protects them from the immediate counter-attack. Is it kosher? I personally would find this to be exploitative if I was India here, but I am curious if other lurkers feel differently. It's definitely a borderline case, so I get the impulse. To me, good faith city deals are genuine rational deals between two parties where one is ceding material for peace. Instead this would functionally be a straight gift to a third party. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from killing all but one defender and allowing Greenline to recapture, then helping him defend the cities. However I'm guessing he would likely be unable to accomplish this (I think?), which sort of feeds into the feeling that it's a tad exploitative. Just my two cents, not a binding or consensus opinion.
What were you deals with Mig and Comm intended to communicate, specifically?
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
In case it helps with future teleport expectations (and I know it won't; inevitably, there will be some other edge case, but still...) here are the rules that messed things up here:
- Teleporting land units strongly prefer to remain on the same landmass they teleported from, though they'll happily teleport across an inlet or even a huge bay as long as there's land continuity somewhere. When I say strongly: A unit will teleport five tiles away across the same island rather than jumping two tiles to an island next door! (And eight tiles on the same island rather than three to another, and so on. When the nearest distance on the same landmass is exactly three times the shortest to a valid square on a different landmass, the southernmost spot is chosen, or westernmost if they're at the same latitude, relative to the map's coordinate system - so be careful with this assumption near the world wrap.) - Teleporting units don't care where your cities are on landmasses other than the one from which they "jumped." If you have no cities on their starting continent, they would jump twenty tiles to a random neutral one-tile island rather than twenty-one tiles to your nearest coastal city. (Ties are still broken the same way, of course.) (June 3rd, 2024, 20:11)Qgqqqqq Wrote: What were you deals with Mig and Comm intended to communicate, specifically? Non-aggression pacts until T240 and T250 respectively. And, btw, none of them responded, so I assume their coordinated attack is imminent, probably the moment Mig gets himself metal navy. I will have Infantry before that though, hope it will give them pause. (June 3rd, 2024, 21:44)RefSteel Wrote: In case it helps with future teleport expectations (and I know it won't; inevitably, there will be some other edge case, but still...) here are the rules that messed things up here: Thanks! In that particular case, I assumed Commodore had the entire island covered by his culture, was wrong apparently. |
