[Spoilers] Whosit is playing for second

[Whosit]

Turn 129

Going to have to skip the images because I'm a little pressed for time.

-Archduke offered me Open Borders and threw in 5 niter. I took it.

-Sent Krill white peace offer. Noticed China and Khmer are ALLIED. This has me extremely concerned.... I expect Krill to reject. Krill has a new tech, almost certainly Square Rigging. This means I may face Frigates, and Krill is 1 tech from Industrialization.

I really hope my gambit to focus on military tech and take down Korea bears fruit, because Krill is going to have a HUGE head start on factories.

-Japan put down a new city on the coast and has another settler out on their western border. That might explain the big military presence. I had hoped to get another city down east of Chartreux at some point, but looks like Japan may get there first. I had been thinking that my loyalty pressure would be too strong but I could be mistaken. My mistaken if I should have been pushing more settlers.

-Offered Korea 100 gold for 20 niter. I expect a rejection but whoooo knows.

-Captured a builder from Zanzibar with 2 charges left. It can get to Chartreux in time to chop a woods into Ancient Walls (will probably finish it), then mine.

-Great Engineer used on Petra. Finishes next turn.

-Bombay and Persian begin their Builders. Each is queued to train 2. If I manage things right, I can get 4 builders out during one round of Serfdom. That should be enough to get some key improvements down. Like that farm triangle by Persian I've wanted for 50 turns.

-I should get the next great merchant in a couple of turns. Will use in Burmese (+2 gold for foreign trade routes, and extra trade route +1 free trader is pretty good).

-Bengal hit size 13, so pre-placed the Industrial Zone.

I was expecting to see other players set up alliances, if or no other reason than to boost Diplomatic Corps or whatever that civic is. With Khmer's selection of Crusades and building the Grand Master's Chapel, I REALLY thought that meant Archduke was gearing up for a war of conquest. If he's allied with China, that might mean that I'm the target of conquest. I was kind of hoping that I could forge friendly relations with Khmer with China as a common adversary, but alas. Khmer ARE building up their military, though, so.... yeah.

I'd like to make friends with Japan, but that seems unlikely since they'd have no other neighbor to fight.

[Whosit]

Turn 130

Offer of peace rejected. Trade to Korea rejected. Khmer about to absorb Preslav. Korea has managed to stabilize MLH at the last moment.

Petra complete. Sphynx is going to become a pretty decent city I think.

Tempted to pillage Zanzibar's market and comm hub, but decide that is a distraction right now. Unit upgrades start next turn. Probably 4 turns until I can launch attack. Spy in place, begins listening post. I can see that a Treb will take down half a Korean wall. So Walls of Tourdon fall 2nd turn of war. Can probably take city turn 3. Finish Terracotta for promos and heals, and try to blitz Korea's capital from there. Though I expect walls to be up and Korea's army to be redeployed. Victor may be stuck where he is lest, Korea lost control of their wayward city.

Wondering where Japanese Settler is going.

[Whosit]

Turn 131

I think that Archduke is the most likely winner of this game at this point. More on that later.




Got my fresh new envoys and I think I'm going to bump Krill out of Zanzibar for a couple turns, but noooope. He's been one step ahead of me all this time.




Return of Krill.

I know there's more in the fog. A lot more.




Based on gold and niter spent, and seeing that Krill completed 2 civics in a row (I've been reading up on some of his other Civ 6 games and learned he is very particular about that). So he spent just one turn running both policy cards to halve gold an resource costs. I'm pretty sure he has 4 Frigates.

Burmese should be relatively safe... for a time. My units on land are probably in greater danger, but hopefully I can get some shots off with them.

Walls can probably hold for a few turns. My real goals is to sink the Caravels, because Frigates can't actually take the city. In theory, if I could one-shot the frigates. In truth, I'm very worried that I do not have nearly enough firepower here to save the city. Krill won't make the mistake of coming back a second time without enough firepower.




New policies.

Upgraded Treb and Xbow at Burmese. They can hit a little harder now, but it's unlikely enough to hold off a large number of frigates who can concentrate fire and kill any unit not in the city in 1 turn. 

Also, I can't produce more ranged units effectively. I have no policy to discount Industrial units.

Basically, need to start mourning Burmese now.




Archers half price are still expensive to upgrade.




Since I have the extra envoys, I send them to Hong Kong. Not only does it boost my city projects that I am actually running, I get vision.




Audacity!  I knew that settler was moving this way, but I didn't think he'd be able to settle so close and maintain loyalty! I guess Chartreux is far enough away that it's not exerting enough force? Ah, well. All the better that I planned that Encampment location, I guess.

Anyway, I think Archduke's Khmer are starting to hit that part of the game where they really take off. I also think that I'm going to be the first casualty of the game, despite the odds. Well, maybe I can gobble up Korea first. idk

Now, I don't think I'm out of the game at the moment. The only saving grace of my war with Krill is that he doesn't have the land army to invade me. I could tell from his city defense stats that his best land unit is still a man-at-arms. Losing Burmese will HURT, to be sure. But his navy can't hit any of my other cities. So worst case scenario, I lose Burmese but gain Korea. And then I have land access to China.

Of course, Korea won't be a easy sweep. I'm pretty sure that last turn greenline upgraded an Archer to Xbow and Warrior to Man-at-Arms. Definitely no Gunpowder units yet. Tourdion should fall quickly, but not fast enough that I won't have to slog through Korea's army on the way to the capital. I'll just have to hope greenline won't be able to quickly switch to Limes and Bastions again.

Also he's STILL not in Monarchy. Is he really planning to stay in Oligarchy forever?  

IDK. I'm kind of winging it at this point. Turn to turn has been too chaotic to plan in great detail far ahead. Maybe I should have left more forces around Burmese. Maybe I should have actually rushed for Medieval walls even if it delayed my attack. Who knows. I have stronger ranged offense now, but the walls are only going to hold for about 3 turns, so I'm not expecting to sink anything.

I'm just going to have to make Korean Invasion 2.0 work.

[Whosit]

Congress vote turn, but I did get to look around and see a preview of what the next turn has for me.




I underestimated the power of the Frigates, even accounting for the +8 boost they have. I thought they get a -17 vs cities, but I must have been mistaken. City will fall next turn, I guess. Upshot is I'll have some units to harass Korea with from the north.

And I get the dubious distinction of being the first player to lose a city. :/




My votes, but I expect a trade embargo on me. And maybe even a ban on buildings in commercial hubs!

Welp. I'd say it's time to burn down the world but I was planning on that, anyway. Farewell, Burmese, you were a pretty good city.

[Whosit]

Thinking about the coming loss of Burmese and I will be dropped to 8 cities. Made me realize I've really been taking the wrong approach, perhaps, with focusing more on keeping my cities as happy as possible since that has stifled expansion, and I do have a lot of potential land to expand into, but I'm letting Japan take it.

So when Mercantilism finishes, I'll slot in Feudal Contract and pump as many Man-at-Arms as I can out of Bombay, Bengal, Chartreux, and Aegean as I can. I will also slot in Colonization and see if some of my smaller cities can get some Settlers out.

And since I expect (maybe I'll be wrong) that I'm going to get embargoed, any other city that can will run Commercial Hub projects to get the next Great Merchant which will buff my domestic trade routes. I'd also take Hic Sunt Dracones instead of Reform the Coinage and try to settle east where new cities would get the bonuses.

It's probably too late to change course so dramatically, but even losing one of my core cities, I'm still strong compared to my land neighbors (for now). Big loss will be great merchant and great engineer points when those districts are lost, and the city is making me 17 science and 40 gold, so that's going to be a pretty devastating loss.

I'm also going to burn Zanzibar. If I can't have it, Krill as sure won't. It has a crossbowman harassing my lone musketman, so maybe I need to deal with it first before I go after Korea? I was hoping to keep it around for the gold bonuses to my markets but that's clearly not happening. Going after Zanzibar would slow me down with attacking Korea, but then I could surround Tourdion. So idk. I'm shooting from the hip here.

My Settlers are currently 290 production. Aegean and Persian are going to have to do Settlers because Bambino, Minskin, and Sphynx don't have the production for it, even with the +50% card. Still not going to be fast builds. That leaves Bengal and Chartreux to build units (4 and 6 turn man at arms even with the boost), and Bombay will run Commercial Projects I guess.

[Whosit]

Was planning to wait for next turn to finalize decisions, but due to my goof, that won't be until later and I just want to record my thoughts so that I don't forget later. I was already slipping out of the Contender bracket, and losing Burmese will put me solidly into "has been" territory. Y'know, where I've typically ended up in games here. Well, no. I think "has been" is a higher tier than usual because I usually never make it far enough to even be a contender in the first place.  

Anyway, once again:


"Whosit dramatically altering course at the last moment in a Civ game (again)."

Short term:

*Evacuate Burmese. Can't save it. Don't want to lose any units. They will redeploy to garrison Bengal.

*Divert troops from east-south border to conquer Zanzibar. Will get some gold from pillaging, and will CAPTURE. The Commercial Hub sucks, but I realized the city will still have value in that it can just run Comm Hub projects forever, which is beneficial. Will forever deny Krill the bonus luxuries and gold for his lighthouses and shipyards.

*Redeploy other troops to attack JAPAN.

Med Term:

*Follow similar outline above but Bengal works on infrastructure: Finish Dam, Industrial Zone, Market, Workshop, etc. New units shouldn't be needed. Existing defenses and units should be able to repel ground invasions. Bengal will run Bread and Circuses for a couple of turns to push Korea's city into revolt (it's been stabilized again at 2 loyalty points, somehow).

*After mercantilism completes, tech Divine Right until 1 turn. Better start keeping these civics on backup like Krill does.

*Diplomatic service next. Need more spies.

*Invade Japan. Reasoning: While I still have reasons I want to conquer Korea, I realized I will not be able to AFFORD to do so. Given that Korea is making just 20 gpt, they lack commercial infrastructure to make conquering them worthwhile. Their seowons will become 0 science campuses for me. Japan, meanwhile, has a TON of Harbors and Lighthouses, and can pay for itself.

*I don't think that I can interrupt my spy's work, but will redeploy to Japan at earliest opportunity to set up a listening post. I'll need that +3 combat bonus when I move into Japan's core.

Long Term:

*Regardless of outcome of votes (whether or not I am hit with a trade embargo), select Hic Sunt Dracones for my Ren Golden Age. I'm too much of an international pariah to rely on international trade routes (sadly means my gold income will drop significantly). Attacking Japan will cancel all those routes, and I can't trade to Korea for fear of being pillaged by Chinese ground troops. Also means the 1 route I sent to Khmer will be lost to Chinese naval pillaging, but alas.

Anyway, point being, it means new cities might potentially start with 4 pop. I think I am also the only civ that can make use of this, due to my capital's location near the only continental divide, and having room to the east. Normally, for my SP games, I don't tend to settle new cities this late, but I clearly need to make strategy changes, and the boost to starting pop, and the free Builder from Ancestral Hall, will be extremely beneficial to making the most of these newly settled cities.

*Best case scenario, I digest Japan.

Chev is clearly a skill player. He's made fantastic use of his Heroic Age to claw his way back from obscurity. Honestly, I expect that this invasion is going to be VERY rough for me. But because of the way he's been settling, his troops are spread thin. I can see that when I took back suzerainship of Hong Kong. I don't expect to keep it long. Fighting Hong Kong too will be a pain but fortunately City State AI is bad.

I'll have (ancient) walls in Aegean and Chartreux, which should let me get away with skeleton defenses. My main advantage is that my army is larger, more advanced, and concentrated Japan's doorstep. He has no walls in place and looks like he's not planning to build any, though I should expect he has a civic change in his back pocket and can throw them up quickly.

Going to war with Japan will end all of my trade routes, losing me most of my gold income again (losing Burmese is -40, losing the Intl Trade Routes will probably cost me 60 or something, so I may only be making like 50 gpt....). That's gonna suck real bad.

I'm just going to have to hope that my blitz is strong enough to make serious gains, and that the handful of units I can produce out of Chartreux will do the job.

Additional Note: Magnus has been sitting in Persian doing nothing for a long while. I wanted to get that farm triangle up, but I think my best move will be to send the first Builder out of there to Chartreux to boost production, and wait for Colonization to be slotted in to chop the woods into a Settler (100% boost with Magnus and Colonization) then harvest the marsh to quickly regrow the city and start the next Settler.

[Whosit]

Turn 132






Ironically, Korea seems to the one other civ that wasn't trying to screw me over in some fashion. Khmer is really trying to punch me down. I will have to double check next turn, because my info on China and Khmer is a turn delayed, but currently it does not appear that China's income was impacted.

I sent Korea an offer of friendship. I expect it to be shot down. But worth a try.




Either this is not updated until Krill's next turn, or all of his trade routes were domestic because he could rely on the huge amounts of free gold his cities generate.


 

 





I'd have definitely settled more aggressively sooner if I realized my loyalty pressure was this weak. Free Worker with Serfdom, and CMF is putting up walls in his cities. As seems to be the case for me in this game, the best time for me to launch an invasion was 10 turns ago. I chopped out my own walls in Chartreux and am working on a Treb next (never gonna get that Theatre Square up lol).




Did not bother actually firing, as it would just be free XP for Krill's ships. I simply did not prepare for this number of ships.




Thankfully, I actually can cancel spy missions. 5 turns to Japan, plenty of time.




I had missed that Khmer got another city down. Not sure where. Frozen north? IDK. Preslav falls this turn, as will Burmese, so my city count is going to be dire.

Lessons learned. More cities = better, even if citizens are not Happy/Ecstatic.




Chops.




My musket should survive. I would like to get a kill for the boost to Square Rigging, but I'll withdraw the unit if it's too damaged next turn. It will take me 2-3 turns to get my siege units into position, because I hadn't been prepping to attack Zanzibar.

By the time my units capture the cities and heal up, Chartreux should finish its next trebuchet and then can complete Terracotta Army. At this point, I'm just trying to delay it until the next era. I lost my chance to catch Japan without walls, so.... whatever lol.




Archduke has a foreign tourist. For whatever that matters.


 

I do enjoy the graphics of the game. Looks like little models.

Not a whole lot to add that I haven't rambled about already. Juggled some queues around and trying to prep for the next stage of the game. Decided I will burn an expensive pop out of Bombay for a Settler, after it hits size 13 and can put down another district. I need a lot more cities, and I need more Niter. One spot in far north with Niter I need to grab, and there's another spot to the east along that thin strip of land with another Niter resource I need to grab before Japan gets it. This resource is going to be important for another age, and I cannot rely on my single source.

I didn't get embargoed, but I think I will still plan to grab HSD because anyone else might just declare war on me to cut off trade routes anyway. Cities starting at size 4 are going to be more valuable to try and play catch-up. I'm going to need to adjust my plans accounting for a below-average gold income, and spend more carefully.

I really hope I can pull off this war against Japan because I'm kind of counting on capturing Japan's Harbors to boost my income.

[Whosit]

Ah. Krill was able to keep and hold Burmese. That pisses me off. I don't have quite enough loyalty pressure to stop it.

I can't take the city back with the forces I have, though I did pillage the workshop. I'll pillage the industrial zone unless Krill's Frigate is able to drop my musketman below 60 health.

I have no idea if I should expect a ground invasion, or if this is just a power play by Krill.

My musketman in Zanzibarland survived, barely. So, my muskets can take about 4 shots from crossbows and hang on. Good to know.

In a surprise move, Archduke gifted me 10 Niter. I upgraded a 0 promo m-a-a near Aegean. I guess Archduke wants me to stay in the fight long enough to weaken Krill? I guess? Krill has another city 1 pop away from 10, so he's about to get another huge boost. Yongle is busted, man. That's why I was hoping to start next to him to rush him. lol

We'll see which of my units Zanzibar attacks. Walls plus xbow in the city. Hopefully not the treb. Treb can attack next turn, Bombard will be in position the turn after. Once walls are down, should not be hard to take. That will deny Krill some gold and 12 amenities.

May run bread and circuses in Bengal after all to see if that is enough to push loyalty in Burmese. Sphynx grows in a couple of turns. Burmese shouldn't grow unless I concede it.

However, I should probably expect a ground invasion. Krill didn't offer peace to try and get me to concede the city. So either he's content to keep it as a nub city or...???

Anyway, it's obnoxious. I'll have to keep a close eye on it.

[Whosit]

Insult to injury, greenline finished his dam first, meaning I wasted 8 or so turns with nothing to show for it.

Also, trebs can only take 2 shots from xbows before being redlined, so now I have to hope that my bombard doesn't take too much damage from Zanzibar.

Because my dam was negated (without any fail production like for a wonder), Bengal put a turn into B&C, which rendered Mo Li Hua an independent city, which actually sucks for me now because Krill will get it. You're welcome, I guess.

My traveling great writer (Homer) did get vision on Korea's iceball of Ly Giang Gau, so I can send traders there with minimal risk of being pillaged by Krill. So that's something.

And sadly, I confirmed that Krill did not lose any gold from the embargo. I guess all of his trade routes were domestic. Makes sense, in retrospect. With so much free gold from his size 10+ cities, he doesn't need to rely on foreign routes for money anyway. When this game ends, I do want to take another shot at a MP Civ 6 game to see if I learned anything. I'm definitely going to try and pick a civ that gets some kind of boost to domestic trade routes.

I think I'm going to take a break from reporting for a week or two. Looks like one thing about my nature as a player hasn't changed, which is a tendency to fall into despair when things start going poorly. I'm hoping that if I reduce the obligation I feel towards the game for a little bit, I can get some of my mojo back. We'll see.

Will update if anything major happens, but it's probably going to be like, 2 real world weeks before I am even ready to try and attack Japan anyway.

[Whosit]

Quick update in case any of you have been in suspense:

Zanzibar has fallen, though it cost me 1 bombard. I had to sacrifice it in order to bring the walls down. The upshot is that 1) I plundered about 500 gold from the Market/Comm Hub, and 2) Zanzibar will provide me a second source of niter and a +4 campus location. They are 3rd ring, though, so I will need to wait until I can get the 20% discount on tile purchases.

3 settlers in production. 2 Headed east, 1 north for more Niter. CMF is expanding heavily to the south, and has already cut off one of the city locations I want to settle. He does have 1 or 2 units in the area, so I am moving a few units of my own down there. This could work out, since any of his units I can destroy in the field are units he can't defend at home with. I imagine my window of opportunity for an invasion is still slim, but I'll see what I can pull off. 3-4 of my units can probably destroy his newest settlements if they are undefended.

Archduke is running a ton of IZ jobs, and he took the GE that builds walls. I kind of wanted that one to help shore up some of my defenses, but guess I'll have to get walls up the old fashioned way. One of my field cannons will have to stay at Zanzibar (now Abyssinian) as garrison. Looks like I'll probably get the next GE that provides more production for wonders, so that's something. I think I can find a use for that.

The free city is flipping to China in 7 turns, but it appears I can see the loyalty comparison between China and Rome. Bengal finishes it's IZ next turn, so I may try running B&C for a couple of turns to see if that might swing things my way. I'd really, really like to prevent Krill from getting that city, but I have no way to solve this problem militarily. My biggest fear is that Krill lands an army and threatens my mainland. I'm not willing to bring my whole army back home, but I know that Krill spent a ton on more unit upgrades so he might have a ground army. Sphynx will be hard to defend, and I don't really have a plan lol.

Upgrades were 3 turns ago, so if the attack is coming I expect it to be soon. Krill knows I had a lot of troops at Zanzibar. My only real plan is to swap into Limes to try and get Medieval walls up in Sphynx and Bengal to give them a little more fighting power. I also have a total of 3 field cannons I can defend with, though 2 are out of position (and wounded) suppressing barbs right now. Crossing fingers that most of Krill's power lies in his navy.

Also, I have no idea where Archduke has been getting so much gold from.

I consider my current position stable, but precarious.