This is a Spoiler thread - Dreylin, PB28

[Dreylin]

Sent a pm to Xenu to pinpoint Whosit's problem and solution, and indicating I was mostly against a reload.

FWIW, I would probably be less anti-reload if it wasn't me on the receiving end and I hadn't already learned this lesson the hard way myself.

[Dreylin]

Joey, thanks for the additional insights; balancing around Wealth builds is complex as you say, and is not something that I've managed successfully yet - although PBEM63 was over in most respects before that really became an issue. I know I've got lots of room for improvement, but I find detailed explanatory posts much easier to gain value from than general thread lurking.

[spacetyrantxenu]

Dreylin, can you point me to where this happened before? Trying to understand context/precedent. Thanks.

[Dreylin]

Post 43 I send him a "Ho Ho Ho" message and completely miss the fact that it includes a Cease Fire offer at that point I had a Warrior of his cornered and intended to kill it before signing anything. I guess we both got caught by the diplo-taunt.

Looking back, I guess I didn't report on my mistake (embarrassment?) but had resolved to live with it and learn from it. However it is something that I should have spotted.

Did Whosit send the diplo before declaring War? If that's the case then I'd see him having a good argument for a reload as he wouldn't necessarily have been able to see the consequences and they are not completely logical.

Not that I wouldn't personally prefer that he had to stick with how things have rolled - after all there are plenty of examples in other games where people not familiar with mechanics, etc. get caught out and move on.

[Dreylin]

Thanks Xenu & other lurkers for resolving.

[Dreylin]

t94 (mk2) -

So here's Whosit's stack in more detail:


My sims tell me that the way to deal with this stack is to apply the "Big Pile 'o Axemen" defense (patent pending). Past the 2 Shock Axes (and the Archer if on Hill or in City), the odds are pretty poor for him.

Here are the current defenders:


Axes have 25% and 20% fortification bonus, so I decide to leave them to defend. The Axes should kill a single attacker each and if the RNG is favourable wound a second unit below the need to heal threshold. The Spear is basically chaff against this stack so will pull out (oh how I wish it had been a 3rd Axe). Odds are slightly better for the Shock Axes than the Jags, however I imagine he'll preserve them as stack defenders even though they can't keep up with the Jags in forest.

I um and ah about promoting the Warrior, but a) the odds don't seem good enough, and b) 80g is a huge chunk of change at this point. So he will do his duty next turn:


Not bringing any Workers along here is IMO a pretty big mistake, as it means his stack cannot get to the tile the Warrior is on this turn, which further means that after the city falls I can pillage that road (and delete) to delay any push towards the South. I have 3 Workers on that Forest Hill 1S of the Warrior in order to limit the potential to flank.

This is a sledgehammer attack; no finesse that I can see - e.g. no sign of Workers facilitating a direct attack against Arkose - nevertheless the potential paths mean that I can't afford to found Oolite this time around (I actually moved the Settler back 1SE into borders, which saved me 1g) nor can I complete HG this turn as previously - chop goes into an Axe instead. (I need to do a more detailed look when I have more time, but previous city review showed no-one with a completed aqueduct, so I can afford to wait ... although at this point the failgold would be just as welcome)

I doubt that he's set his sights so low, but I'll make the offer anyway:


I'm also going to see if I can keep Grimace neutral:


I don't think he has much of a standing army, but I only have an Axe in each of my border cities at present, with the rest of the units heading to the Western Front. However with the distance they need to cover to get there, really any new units will stay over here ... and that's all I'll be building for a while.

With Borsche's foreign routes, there's really no need for me to grab Alphabet next, so Currency is the plan unless I feel that a military tech is needed (although digging back out of that hole afterwards would really suck).

[Dreylin]

t95 -

Nothing back from Whosit. I don't understand why he hasn't at some point made a completely unreasonable demand; at least keep the possibilities and lines of communication open. I wonder if maybe my diplo offers have given him the impression that I'm desperate? Either that or he's got his game plan and he's sticking to it no matter what.

Grimace hasn't played since my last turn, so no response expected from him.

Greywacke fell much as expected; Axes traded for 2 Jaguars. Here's the situation at end of turn:


City visibility here will prove very useful for watching what the stack does next. I have 10 Axes in the area now so I'm sprinkling in some Archers and Chariots - especially in the East, which will have to stand alone against Grimace if/when he comes.

Settler is heading South to the MegaCity site.

[Dreylin]

t96 -

Urgh, second stacklet shows up:


So now I'm trying to balance keeping enough force in the North to keep Arkose secure, while making sure he can't break through in the South. I can't chop the Spices without sacrificing a number of Workers or tying up too many Axes, so I'm going to chop the hill behind and hope that's enough. Axes whipping in everywhere else, and another odd Chariot for cleanup and poaching solo Axes (too bad my existing one wasn't in range yet this turn.

I /think/ I can hold the line, but a lot will depend on how he advances - AKA how many additional turn he gives me to whip extra Axes. Next turn I should be on par with units, the turn after I will have more, so as long as he doesn't sneak past me by then, I should be OK (RNGsus don't fail me now!)

[Dreylin]

t97 -

Apologies Whosit, I underestimated you. There's the finesse:


And now I'm well behind in unit numbers, so I'm throwing up Walls. Plan now is to turtle and snipe anything that tries to get past (will probably fail at both).

At least Arkose will get another turn:


And yes, researching HBR since I can't reach Construction in a meaningful timeframe. Funny thing about Horse Archers is that in a mixed stack of Axes & Jags with the same relevant promotions, they will always target the Axes. If I had more time, that could make the difference to clear the way for my Axes to hit the Jags directly. As it is now though, they'll likely be too late to matter.

I almost finished HG this turn just because I could ... I'm going to be sad about not being able to finish it.

[Dreylin]

t98 -

No attack!?


That Chariot was thrown against the Forest defenders 1S of Arkose. Everything that could be was moved to be able to hit Breccia next turn.

So Arkose is only under threat by the Chariot hordes, but can hit back at them if I clear the SW hill first. I hit that with Axes from Arkose and then throw just about everything I can at the Chariot stack - leaving it with 3 healthy and one wounded Chariot and a redlined Axe. Arkose is left with a single fortified Spear, healthy Axe and an injured Axe. It should be able to hold verses the 4 remaining Chariots.

That got me a Great General, which spawned in Serpentinite. Moved it 1S of Arkose, combined with Archer spreading to 4units and entered Breccia. I messed a few unit moves up and as a result I have 7 units defending behind the fresh Walls. He has 15 units that can hit the city:


It's going to be touch and go I think and depend a lot on how the RNG treats me....

I also decided not to plant the new city on the South coast, but instead take it to the linking island and set up a colony. Insurance against Whosit breaking through and taking the mainland; I get to play on....