Cheater Hater, Ruler of the Modbreakers

[Cheater Hater]

T113 Report:




Not much new here--I'm continuing to work on the military plan I posted in the last report. There are a couple minor changes from the plan though--Shandalar had to 1-pop whip the Cat (which wasn't that big a change, since I'll be able to 2-pop whip the next Cat earlier) and Zendikar is building a War Elephant instead of a Horse Archer (since I couldn't 2-pop whip it otherwise). I really hope this is worth it--though I am surprised at the sheer amount of power I have on the staging tile already (3 cats, 3 axes, and an Impi), with multiple units either heading towards the tile (3 Cats milling in the middle of the four cities), guarding the cities (I think the two axes in Kamigawa will join the forces on the turn before I declare), or yet to be built (my first HA and WE only complete this turn!). Still, we'll see how my power continues to compare to Whosit's continued build:




Well, that's a good sign--I jumped 15k, while Rival Best has barely moved at all. This will be the big test if Whosit is Rival Best--we'll see how much his graph moves this upcoming turn. I also should be getting Pindicator's graph soon, so that should give me more data.

Whosit's also making interesting moves--he hasn't moved the axe/spear in the north, but he has moved a worker to road there. I'm assuming he's either going to settle the rice city soon, or he's trying to move his troops onto the forest so he can counter-invade me to the north when I declare. I feel like I should still be fine with 4 Archers behind city walls, along with all the other units I can produce in/move out of Zen/Theros/Ravnica--and any units Whosit uses for a counter-invasion are units I won't have to face in the south

Now to non-power demos! You can see my GNP has tanked, but that's mainly due to researching at 0%--if I went to 100% on a tech more people know (IW/Calendar) I go all the way up to 19th




At least Whosit's stats are tanking as well


Two interesting things here. First, someone already has the Great Library--is it bad that I haven't gotten any wonders so far? Is Industrious worth it if I only get bonuses on Forges, National Wonders, and the Hanging Gardens fail gold? Second, FinHarry's capital has popped into the top city list...because they've already popped a Golden Age!
I mean, we're in that area of when Great People start to show up (Lorwyn's even working a merchant for a turn--that I'll whip away next turn, but the point still stands), but that will just continue their snowball. Other quick hits include pindicator founding the city we saw last turn (I didn't get scouting pictures, but it's nothing special), and WilliamLP getting a bunch of new cities (I think he's capturing them, but I haven't been paying that much attention).

[Cheater Hater]

T114 Report:
My first report since PBEM58 has ended--this should be interesting




More whips! More, MORE, MORE!
Technically they're not all whips (Kamigawa was a chop), but the point still stands: I have a ton of military completing next turn. Here's a more detailed look at the military breakdown, thanks to some fancy paint skills:


In addition to the stacks I've highlighted, we have the two cats and the horse archer as singletons. That's a lot of military--as such, I'm wondering if I can actually declare on T116, a turn earlier than I was planning. If I do declare on T116, here's what I'll be able to move onto the forest 1NE of the sheep:
5 Cats
5 Axes
2 WE
2 HA
2 Chariots
1 Impi
(1 Axe/1 Impi/1 Chariot/2 Archers could join, but I think I want them to stay for defense in Rath/Kamigawa)
In addition, 2 Cats and a WE would follow one turn behind. I think that would be the end of the first wave of eastern troops--at least until I capture/raze Plano (and if 20 troops can't take a city not on a hill, I have bigger problems than more reinforcements ) and assess how many troops Whosit has in his eastern cities.

Since I'm not going to be sending more troops to the east immediately, that means a bunch of the troops are staying in the west, ready to defend (and possibly counter-attack) any movements Whosit makes in the west, including the War Elephants coming out of Zendikar and Theros this turn, Lorwyn's Horse Archer, the Catapult 1SE of Theros, and the units I'll soon whip in Ravnica and Shandalar. I'm not sure what I'll build next in support of the western invasion--I obviously need many more Catapults to break through the multiple Archers we knew were there at the very least, and that will be the focus in Ravnica/Theros/Zendikar. Lorwyn is focusing on Horse Archers since it's farthest from either front, and Kamigawa/Rath will probably start with some more Catapults next turn, and they'll adjust to whatever the eastern front needs.

The other question is what my end goal is. Here's how I envision a realistic best-case scenario going (though my combats are very rough estimates):
T116: Declare, move onto the forest 1NE of the sheep, kill the chariot with the Impi in Theros
T117: Move the stack onto the plains hill, see Walls, 3 Archers (CD1), 3 Axes (2 C2 Shock, 1 C1), 2 Spears (C2) backup moves onto the forest 1NE of the sheep
T118: Bombard 5 times, backup moves onto the stone hill, Whosit moves in 1 Archer (CD1) and 1 Axe (C2 Shock)
T119: Bombard 3 times, suicide 4 Cats, attack and take the city, losing 1 WE, 2 Axes, 1 HA, 1 Chariot, keep city with 1 Axe/1 WE/1 Impi/1 Chariot guarding it, 1 Archer/2 Cats/1 Impi move onto the stone hill
T120: Stack moves 1NE, gets attacked by 3 Cats, various units, loses half of it.
T121: Offer peace for Angle Bay, Whosit accepts.

Again, I have no clue how combat on this scale actually goes, that's just an estimation. Before moving to other stuff, I have a couple questions:

1. Has Whosit been able to see the main staging stack (the one with 8 units, 1SE of Kamigawa) all this time? I know on land you get an extra sight over water, but I don't know if culture over water gets the same benefit.
   
2. Is there a pressing reason why I should try to angle for the second half of the turn split? Our natural play tendencies have me in the first half of the time split, but everything I've seen says the second half is just better, especially if you're taking your opponent by surprise (since they can't whip/change builds).
   

Anyway, on to non-military things, starting with scouting!


My scout finally gets to escape its exile next turn! I actually have an interesting choice with the Galley in a couple turns--T116 I'll drop off the scout in pindicator's territory, but then I can either send the Galley to the west to duplicate the scout's efforts, or I can send it into Whosit's territory to scout and disconnect some seafood. Obviously that plan has a lot more risk since we know Whosit has built at least one Galley to found South Plano--but that's on the opposite coast. I think I can risk one Galley to inflict some damage on Whosit, and possibly scare him into fearing a coastal assault--and if I would have thought of that, it would have been awesome




Well, that's a pair of good signs--Whosit's power graph has barely moved this turn, making him almost certainly the top power--and Rival Best has barely moved again! The graphs are another reason why I want to declare on T116--next turn I'll gain 40k power (4 WE+1 HA+3 pop), and that will show up on T116's graph--I assume that would clue Whosit in, even without a declaration. Unfortunately my GNP/Production have tanked due to all the whips (and running 0% science), but hopefully I won't need to whip (military) as much after this war, and I can focus on getting Libraries in Ravnica, Zendikar, and Lorwyn, among others.

There's not much else to talk about demo-wise--I'll show the graphs next turn since I'll have pindicator's graphs, but you know my numbers are garbage. The one thing I want to touch on is something I missed last turn: FinHarry switched into Caste System and Bureaucracy when they triggered the golden age
So, who are the lurkers picking to win--dtay, BGN, FinHarry, or someone else?
(and yes I know you won't answer that )

[Cheater Hater]

T115 Report Part 1: Foreign
Wow, this was a very, very busy turn--I'm splitting the report into three parts so I don't get overwhelmed (and because I have the luxury too, considering we've officially moved to 2-day turns (hopefully novice figures something out ). Let's start with some diplo I got at the start of the turn:


Apparently someone got Open Borders--or more accurately, someone with Open Borders found me! Let's see my plako archives:

3. plako
plako is a good player; he stays in the background and then suddenly appears on top of the scoreboard in a lot of games. Watch out.

Plako: Louis/France (Cre/Ind)
And we end with a boring vanilla combo--Cre/Ind is yet another unspectacular combo, but France is good, between Muskets becoming more desirable and the upgraded (and cheaper for Louis!) Salon.

Well, that's another pretty good prediction--plako's yet another person off the top of my scoreboard. No clue where contact happened--the military advisor doesn't show any of plako's units. At least the open borders is beneficial, since I got a 4 commerce trade route in Ravnica from it. Anyway, let's get to scouting:




I finally picked up my scout! It feels like my scout's been trapped for around 70 turns
More importantly I'm near the edges of FinHarry's territory--and I found Cyneheard?

Cyneheard: Mehmed/Egypt (Exp/Org)
Exp/Org is fine, if unspectactular. Egypt doesn't seem that good though--the Obelisk only seems good with a Philosophical leader (maybe Industrious if you can guarantee Stonehenge), and the War Chariot weakened with the weakening of chariots.

We had a long drought between meeting new people, and then I meet two more on the same turn! Let's check on Cyneheard's cities and resources:


So he has Calendar, but relatively few cities (comparable with me). Next, let's see who each person has met so far:




Cyneheard's nothing spectacular--he knows all the people in the west, as expected. The much bigger surprise comes from plako--he only knows people from my continent! I have absolutely no idea where he could be--he could be the mythical civ in the fog between Whosit and Krill/novice, or he could be a boring civ to the east of Krill/novice. For that matter, I'm wondering how close I am to circumnavigating--I have no idea how many civs could fit in the area between the western edge of FinHarry and the western edge of Krill/novice I discovered.

The only other important foreign news is that FinHarry founded three new cities last turn--that brings them up to 19 cities total. In the near future I'll put out both a domestic report (featuring some unplanned troop movement!) and some demo analysis (featuring pindicator's graphs)--no promises on when those come out; the domestic report might come out tonight, but I've got some more Paint magic to put together the military picture.

[Ceiliazul]

I love custom Painted armies!

[Cheater Hater]

T115 Report Part 2: Domestic:




After last turn's explosion of power, there's a lot less whipping--the only whip was the War Elephant in Ravnica. Next turn will add more whips in Theros and Shandalar. Lorwyn actually gets to naturally 2-turn a HA, and I'm not sure I'll have it whip its next military unit. I also get to skip a whip in Kamigawa, since I'll be putting a chop into it. After that, I'll be able to whip Zendikar and Rath again--notice the Galley that will probably send an Elephant (the one being built in Theros I think) and something else (maybe a Cat, maybe the axe in Kamigawa).

However, you'll notice that South Plano's borders expanded last turn--that means that my former staging spot certainly isn't safe, and thus I had to move as many troops as possible 1N. Let's see how my military situation looks after those emergency movements:


You can see that I unfortunately couldn't hide all my troops from Whosit--if he's looking for it, he'll see the two Cats and an Axe, but that's not anywhere close to the bulk of my forces. Importantly, he still doesn't know that I have HR units--he actually knows I have Construction since he logged in once before I could move my new builds, but he hasn't seen any HAs or WEs. This is one of the few advantages from being at the start of the turn order--he would have seen all my units if he was first, but I had the chance to move them. Let's do an updated check of what's going to show up in Whosit's territory next turn:
2 WE
2 HA
5 Cats
5 Axes
2 Chariots
1 Impi
And the backup on the following turn:
1 WE
3 Cats
1 Impi
There wasn't much of a change--I apparently missed a Cat on the follow-up, and I'm deciding to guard that stack with an Impi (the one in Kamigawa, since after Thero's Impi kills the scouting Chariot, it can move to guard Kamigawa. Now it's time to see when the turn actually rolls--with the turn rolling at weird times, what happens if Whosit moves before me next turn? Do I declare anyway and take the second half of the turn split, or do I have to wait? This is the first war I've declared in a Pitboss, so bear with me

One more report left, and it should be relatively short--just demos, though pindcator's numbers are new

[Cheater Hater]

T115 Report Part 3: Demos


Well, my soldier ranking continues to skyrocket--I'm surprised there's still 4 people above me. I'll gain another 10-11k next turn, which will put me only ~10k behind the Rival Best--and then I'll be completing ~20k worth of power the following turn. Hopefully Whosit/Rival Best doesn't move that much, and I'll be able to continue pumping out power.

On a related note, something I forgot to mention/ask about is what I'll end up doing when I declare. In a lot of my wars in PBEM58 I tried to get peace as soon as possible, my reasoning being that I could use the troops later for defense, instead of burning them actually taking the cities, then either losing buildings in the cities or having to keep troops back to defend them. I'm not sure that's the best case here, simply because I have so many troops, and they're starting to eat into my funds significantly. I mean, if I was going to offer peace right when I declare, it certainly wouldn't come cheap--it would be Angle Bay+Plano+South Plano+some gold at the very least, and I probably should ask for something else--if I knew which city was the gems city I'd ask for that, he'd never accept Prairie Village since that's his copper, maybe Chill Lakes as just a little thing? I think I should see what forces I'm facing at Plano, at the very least.


Holy crap, what happened to Krill/Novice's power? Are they trying to defend against the Whosit attack they assume is coming? Maybe I'll have an ally in this war? Or maybe if I wait a turn or two Whosit will declare on Krill/novice? Regardless of what's going on over here, I think I have to declare next turn regardless.




You'll notice I didn't mention my GNP/Production in the demos--this is why
The one thing that surprises me is that Whosit's still below me in production, even though I haven't seen him do the extreme amounts of whipping like I have. Whosit will be an interesting retrospective when this is over--I'm assuming he's been trapped between me and novice/plako/someone else in the east.

[Ceiliazul]

Holy crap, what happened to Krill/Novice's power? Are they trying to defend against the Whosit attack they assume is coming?

Event Log. Know it, Love it.

[Cheater Hater]

Holy crap, what happened to Krill/Novice's power? Are they trying to defend against the Whosit attack they assume is coming?

Event Log. Know it, Love it.

Oh right, they completed a quest--I think it was the Horse Feathers one. I didn't pay attention to that, though I probably should have--I think it's that they had to build Stables, and they got some horse units (HA's probably), but I'm not sure on that--is there an easy-to-use event/quest database?

[Ceiliazul]

I usually google the phrase that appears in the log (minus any civ identifying info.)

[Cheater Hater]

T116 Report:
T116...was anything important supposed to happen this turn? No matter, let's start with scouting!


That's a lot of units to scout with
Enough joking, I obviously declared this turn--we'll see how Whosit deals with it in two days. I did kill the scouting chariot, but nothing else has happened at this point. I could have moved the Impi on the hill to scout Plano, but I don't want to lose units at this point, especially the ones that defend mounted units.




Not much new here--Shandalar and Theros got whipped, Lorwyn and Kamigawa are finishing units as well. Next turn I'll whip Rath for certain, I'll probably whip Zendikar, and Ravnica is an option--those latter two whips will be dependent on what I see in Plano, and if any troops show up from Angle Bay (or even Prairie Village). Now to non-violent scouting:




Not much here--my Impi's almost scouted all of FinHarry, and my scout's shown up in pindicator's territory. Now to demos:


My GNP's still garbage, my soldiers haven't improved much, and Rival Best's gone up about 10k power. I'll be gaining 26k next turn, which would push me to top power assuming no more changes.


Whosit still hasn't moved much at least (as demos predicted), and Krill/novice's power boost is still insane. I wonder how much I'll have to burn to start taking Whosit's cities?




Not much here--the most important thing is it appears that Whosit's turned research back on.


Lots of stuff in the event log--Angkor Wat's been built somewhere (unknown), and another quest has been completed! Let's check both quests:
Horse Whispering:
It's build X stables as expected, and they got a bunch of Horse Archers.
Classic Literature:
Build X libraries, then they could either get a random Ancient tech or have Libraries provide 2 beakers.

Do these quest just show up for one person, or do they show up for everyone? If the latter, is there any way to know about them triggering other than looking at the quests tab every turn?


The new thing here is that plako was the one who built the Great Lighthouse.