[spoilers] Commodore in the slightly less than sudden death playoffs.

[Commodore]

Very unhealthy city, going to take about two hundred worker-turns to get fully up, but just working two sugar and a dye make it pay for itself beautifully.

[Commodore]

Also, there are parrots in the new city spot.

Misclicked the first time, second time I bulbed Machinery...

...which means crossbows start sprouting all over, just hooked iron in time.


Calendar landed a while back, I'm building a MoM on the border because I want the culture and the long golden ages. Doesn't matter if Cornflakes takes it, because I'm dead anyway then.


All this is very good long-term, but in the short-term, yes, that WAS Cornflakes saving gold ON GUILDS. I'm going to hopefully land a third Great Engineer to be able to bulb Engineering, and the next city is getting that stone quarried ASAP. Castles and pikes are needed in about five turns, but if everything goes right I should be able to manage it in ten. Getting secure on the borders nets me more land than anyone else, but Cornflakes is playing this wise, going tall like he is limits exposure and he's poised to be able to KO either me or Yuri at knights. He's the bear. I just don't want to be the slowest hiker.
   

[pindicator]

Yay for Edvard Grieg, but you mixed up the vowels

[Commodore]

Yay for Edvard Grieg, but you mixed up the vowels

Argh, and I had even double checked. The fingers want "ei".

Scooter settled up to 11 cities and then landed this:
   
Nice play. He's definitely the top contender neck-and-neck with Cornflakes.

[Commodore]

Yuri comes in with an offer, Scooter alarmed him with an impressive Hanging Gardens.

Don't get me wrong, Scooter's alarming, but Cornflakes is 8 turns from knights.

I'm securing my long-term fairly decently, but this is a very vulnerable period. I need pikes and castles NOW.

My power is a lie, but it is nice to see nobody else is making a big build-up either.


I'm really unhappy with my best commerce city being on the borderland like this, but I guess we're in "lose 1, lose 'em all" mindset.

[Commodore]

I am really failing this spelling test.
   
Also, the barbarians have SWORDS NOW.

[Commodore]

Been a little slow over the holidays, but Yuri took out a Cornflakes city, and I'm looking for my own chances...

Nasty stack for an end-run chance, so I'm whipping some pikes to be behind castles.

[Commodore]

Cornflakes moved his horse archers awkwardly.

He's very threatened by Yuri over here, but phalanx do a lot of work protecting from this.


Okay, let's try and go for the throat. Failed this snipe, no biggie.

...but here's the main hammer blow. I really want to take and hold this city.

If I can, I can slide north and snipe the little one in the north too. Love Engineering. Arabian border control is wonderful.

[T-hawk]

You can't take and hold it, everything gets auto razed in 3 city elim, according to everyone else around here.

[Commodore]

You can't take and hold it, everything gets auto razed in 3 city elim, according to everyone else around here.

Good enough, this is a little bit too tough to take and hold anyway.

That doesn't mean I can't burn it, though...

...I've been playing too long with cannons and artillery, the lower collateral cap on catapults threw me, glad I simmed. Had enough hitters in the end though, and whew lad that's a nasty stack of horse archers. 


I took the best moves I had available, linking that road with workers and then pillaging, taking crossbow to kill the workers, all designed in the hope that he tries to slaughter my army instead of making an end-run. A lot of the danger is if there are bonus workers in one particular tile.

South is safe from workers, at least. This crossbow is just designed to lock backups down.


If Cornflakes does try for an end-run, he better hope he can threaten next turn. Because...the enemy's gate is down.

I love that border right there. THIS was my reason for the Arabia pick: