[SPOILER] Pacal II of China -Vets- Whosit

[Ilios]

Whosit, I just read your rant three posts up, you da man!

[Whosit]

Well, well, 'nother picture/post dump. Didn't quite stay on the wagon here. First, pictures for previous posts. Well, a few.





I suppose the only consolation here was that I didn't spot a giant army coming for me. Hmm... maybe it would have been better if I could have seen it. I'm sure it's out there, somewhere. Someone has a Deathstack with my name on it.

Turn 85:

Olympus was founded, and a chop put into a Monument right away. Every forest adjacent to the city is going to be chopped. I'll soon build... well, mostly cottages, but I suppose that I need a couple of farms for food, too. No food bonus resources here.



I'm also running into the danger of having a very large front. My two southernmost cities are on opposite sides of the Continent. I need to think of a way to mitigate this, but short of settling another city south-center, I'm not sure. I still need to get a city south of Rapture, on that hill and north of the river, as a new southern defensive point, but Cyneheards northernmost city is going to be problematic.

Anyway, with Currency in, I started building Markets in all of my cities that were getting decent commerce. Just a few. I can't really afford to whip Paradise because it does not have enough food to grow back quickly. I'm... I need to get Calendar slotted in soon, but there's a lot of other things to do. I've got spices scattered here and there that would make for minor food sources if they have Plantations



And to the east, I finally begin to chop down these trees. Hope my Workers don't get destroyed.



T86:

So here's what pissed me off.



Temple of Artemis build in a distant land?? Temple of Artemis?!? If there was one Wonder I would not have expected to race for, it was this one! Now I'll have to grab Mediation/Priesthood to build Monasteries/Temples for added culture here, and then Drama for my special Theatre. Just didn't want to bother doing that.

Oh, and that G. Artist is surely from Music, which just goes to show how far behind I am. Ughhhh.

Did get some money...



But with my costs, it's barely enough for three turns of 100% research. Better than nothing, I guess, but not by a lot.

T87:

I've teched Metal Casting. Since my 3 of my cities are still building Markets (I think I'll whip the one in Elysium when I can do it for 3 pop), only Forge I started is in Valhalla, but since all it has is hammers, worth it. Kinda wish it had something to build besides units, 'cuz my costs are getting crazy. Maybe I'll build a couple more Sentry Chariots and see what's going on, but even with all the siege and such I've build, I do not think that I have the power to take down any of Ky's cities. He had a crap ton of units before. I think if I got 20 catapults I could do it, but I don't know. And that could bankrupt me. Need more cottages... need more commerce.



While I do want to survive as long as possible, unless I do something daring (and successful!) I will only be living as a shadow does. I've got to figure out a way to hit one of my neighbors hard. Kylearan is the closest to me in points. I know Cyneheard has Longbowmen, and can block off approaches to his cities with Woodsman II units. He's in Vassalage, so all his units will have more experience....

Kylearan is certainly the more appealing target! But not by much.

[pocketbeetle]

BloodyUpdateMorePromptly! ()

[Whosit]

BloodyUpdateMorePromptly! ()

Hey... I have a lot going on.

Anyway, latest update is that I am stupid. Lost three workers in my south to a frickin' War Chariot all because I always forget about using Workers to give fast units an extra tile of movement. Cyneheard seems to be preparing a scouting push, perhaps? Headed by a Maceman, and with 3 catapults in the stack. Or maybe it's just a show of force, insult to injury. In any case, Machinery finishes at the end of turn, so I can build Cho-ko-nos, but I don't think that's going to matter. I've been pretty thoroughly outmaneuvered, I think.

I'm behind in tech, I'm certain that I've got the smallest land area. I do have Iron hooked up.... Not sure what I should do now. Maybe build up my forces a bit and, if Cyneheard doesn't actually attack... but I know that I have very little chance of making a successful offensive.

Anyway, I'll see if I can get to putting some pictures and stuff up. I'm sorry to say that I have little energy or interest beyond playing the turns at this point.

Oh, Forges are finishing here and there, and I did get the MoM. Got it a turn early for the cost of 4 pop. Would not have normally done that, except that I really, really didn't want to somehow lose it at the last moment. Got it mainly for the culture. Doubt I'll pop many more Great People. Only have had one scientist so far. Not my A game here.

[Whosit]

My turn's finally up, but can't grab it at the moment. I'm really trying to figure out what to do here. I seem to be behind in all important areas. I'm last in score. My enemies seem to have stronger units than me, and probably more. In MP, I have rarely, if ever, succeeded on the offensive. Yet staying on the defense means a slow death for me. I don't want to go down in a blaze of glory, because that just means that I'm still going down. Sadly, I don't see how I am going to defeat a bunch of MP experts while in a weaker position.

I have to assume they have Knights already. I think I mentioned that I'm going to try to beeline them. Just need Feudalism and Guilds, but that's a dozen turns away. Maybe crank out Catapults and Cho-ko-nos for the time being, and then get a few knights (or should I upgrade HAs?). Of course, Cyneheard has the jungles to defend him. And the XP from Theocracy. And he'll have much better mobility on the defense. Just not sure how to approach this.

Would I be better off just holding my south and hitting Ky? As far as I can tell, we're on tech parity, but he could be hiding better units somewhere. I might as well . But I have to do something. I cannot allow the Confederacy to stagnate like this! But I'll probably bankrupt myself building up the army I need. Bluh.

Well, sorry for the emo, mopey update, but I suppose it's better than the radio silence. Just been busy busy busy. That's not going to change any time soon. Oh, gotta settle some filler cities, and replace those workers? Damn. I really hope I learn my lesson this time.

I just need to stop coasting, come up with a solid plan, even if it's a bad one. I've had no plan for quite some time. That just won't cut it at this level of play. Probably too late for me--come-backs are possible, but rare, I think. I 'unno. All I can promise is that I'll make someone bleed before I take my dirt nap.

[Whosit]

Turn got to me. Little to say, though Feudalism came in at the end of turn. About 4-5 turns to Guilds. I have the Iron connected, so I may just go ahead and save up some cash to upgrade what Horse Archers I have while I build some additional Knights. I have no idea what I will do with said Knights, of course. I'm not nearly skilled enough to use Knights alone to win a war. Kylearan may be the best target since there's more open flat land. The jungle/forest between me and Cyneheard and all his Woodsman II units makes it harder for me to attack. Plus, he has longbowmen.

Long time overdue, and they're kinda sucky, but a couple of pictures. This is what Cyneheard has had near my border for a little while now:



It's only the Maceman that makes me worry. I know he must have more, of course. I wonder how much larger a force he has in the fog. This picture is actually a few turns out of date: He has since split the force in half. Trying to bait me? Preparing some kind of attack? I don't know. I'm shifting forces south, but still not sure how to approach this.

Cultural overview:



Probably zoomed too far out to make sense of anything, especially with all my signs all over the place. Eh.

Still haven't had a chance to sit down and come up with a coherent plan. I think it'll just be... Knights... maybe whip some? I don't have enough trees left to get many out. My cities are also all tiny compared to most everyone else's. Geez. I've said it before, I'll say it again: I probably have to do something to avoid total stagnation, unless it's too late already. How many Knights could I conceivably get out once Guilds hits? Not sure.

Even if I had a dozen Knights on turn 105 (impossible), how would they fare against any of my neighbors? Spearmen are still pretty dangerous. I'd have to hope that Kylearan doesn't have Longbowmen (I'll have to scout, I guess). Bah. I don't think I can win on Knights alone. I'd have to send in my catapults and all my ancient-era crap, too, and hope that's enough.

Probably won't be. This corner of the world hasn't seen much action. Wonder what's going on elsewhere. Guess I'll know someday.

[Rowain]

1) Thanks for your update
2)

3) If you are too weak to fight alone perhaps looking if/waiting till one of your neighbours has problems on the other border and being prepared to utilize such a chance is a possible way for you?

Anyway Good Luck

[Whosit]

3) If you are too weak to fight alone perhaps looking if/waiting till one of your neighbours has problems on the other border and being prepared to utilize such a chance is a possible way for you?

I've actually considered that, except there is one major flaw that I see: My breadth of knowledge is rather limited. I have no idea what's going on anywhere I can't see. If our demographics screen wasn't broken, and I had the time/patience for it, I might be able to track who's losing soldiers, but that'd still be iffy.

So unless you Lurkers have a non-spoilerish idea for how I can determine if one of my neighbors is getting wailed on, I'll just have to shoot in the dark.

[Bobchillingworth]

Check the event log for great general notifications?

[Whosit]

Kylearan moved a Guerilla II Longbowman and a Spearman, I think, onto one of the hills near Valhalla. Goddammit. That'll be hard to dislodge. Noticed he's in Vassalage. Oh, and closer to Guilders than I am. Revolted to Judaism because I may as well revolt to HR when I revolt to Vassalage myself. Need the extra promo. Should have done the religious revolt ages ago. Now, it's such a kick to the shin. Shutting myself down for two turns, and my costs are gonna increase by 8.



Not dead yet, at least.