[PB28 SPOILERS ] Fenn Presents: A Comedy of Errors

[Fenn]

Turn 78


I think this is why Jowy wanted map trades...it was so he could be sure this new spot was away from my borders. Probably should not have traded mine with his so soon. It's a good spot for him too, claiming three good food tiles and threatening to block me off from further eastern expansion. I've got Plague restarting on its Settler, with foodhammers maximized it'll take 4t to complete. Maybe I should whip that, even though I doubt Jowy has a second Settler incoming.



Anyway, here's our newest city Grippe (the barb moved back into the fog, so all's well there). Also has lots of food; that plains Wheat is a nice bonus, though sadly it will go unirrigated forever.



Here is where I am considering settling next, to secure a foothold in the east.

Pros:
-Three food resources including riverside Wheat
-Picks up 7 coast and lake tiles, including the immortal forested lake; great place for a Lighthouse and Moai
-Denies this spot from Jowy, but isn't particularly close to his core
-Sits on a hill for extra defence

Cons:
-Contests the hilled Deer and a riverside grassland with Jowy' newest city
-Isn't close to my core either; it's both difficult to reinforce and a risky spot for Moai
-Jowy may therefore want to claim it for himself, and he's got Agg Vultures to do it with
-Even if he doesn't attack immediately, this spot will probably worsen relations with Jowy

If I want this spot, I'd basically have to dedicate several Archers to it and maybe build cultural buildings to keep control over that Deer hill. But what a spot it is!

[Fenn]

bad_ideas.txt

[Krill]

Forest lake tile. Nice.

[Fenn]

Turn 80
Adrien offered world maps this turn. I'd offered it a few turns ago, but this is alright too. Their lands:





So, they have all of the same resources as I do, apart from the Horses which I'm sure they won't gift to me. Resource trades are therefore unnecessary and impossible. Instead I did this:



Not that I plan to do much for them right now, I do want to prop this team up until I at least have Machinery; it would be very bad if Jowy got the lands of two civs so quickly.



That Barb spear is still giving me grief My D1 Archer should chew him up nicely though. Jowy had had a Vulture hanging around near this border, but he's since moved it back out of sight.

[Cheater Hater]

Everything seems fine--why not gift Adrien the copper if we wanted to show true friendship (even though I doubt he would lose it, we certainly don't need 3 sources, even if we may lose one for a bit)?

[Fenn]

Gifting him the copper would be a bit direct; this way casts it as an alliance against Jowy rather than any commentary on Adrien's reduced position.

[Fenn]

The Settler's out, but I'm still wondering whether to go for the aggressive plant or the backline Horses/seafood spot. Jowy (and Adrien)'s power just keeps going up and up while his GNP keeps going down, so I should be able to get a tech advantage short-term if I play well. With his power being so much higher than mine I may want to avoid facing attack until I have a strong tech advantage. Further, hooking up horses gives me access to Chariots, who cost-effectively counter Vultures (Strength: 8 (effective) vs 6, Hammers: 30 vs 35).

Then again, he's still in a hot war with Adrien which may limit how many troops he could devote to me; he may be inclined to overlook a slightly aggressive city plant by me if it means avoiding a two-front war and dragging his economy even further down. And I did send Adrien the Copper/Copper trade (which he sent back last turn). But doubly again I don't know if Jowy is the type to declare over small slights when he's got a great unique unit kicking around.

I might just found in the northeast despite the dangers though, Chariots aren't that big of an upgrade over Pro Archers and I don't plan to fight any offensive wars until I can have Cho-Ko-Nus.

[Cheater Hater]

The Settler's out, but I'm still wondering whether to go for the aggressive plant or the backline Horses/seafood spot. Jowy (and Adrien)'s power just keeps going up and up while his GNP keeps going down, so I should be able to get a tech advantage short-term if I play well. With his power being so much higher than mine I may want to avoid facing attack until I have a strong tech advantage. Further, hooking up horses gives me access to Chariots, who cost-effectively counter Vultures (Strength: 8 (effective) vs 6, Hammers: 30 vs 35).

Then again, he's still in a hot war with Adrien which may limit how many troops he could devote to me; he may be inclined to overlook a slightly aggressive city plant by me if it means avoiding a two-front war and dragging his economy even further down. And I did send Adrien the Copper/Copper trade (which he sent back last turn). But doubly again I don't know if Jowy is the type to declare over small slights when he's got a great unique unit kicking around.

I might just found in the northeast despite the dangers though, Chariots aren't that big of an upgrade over Pro Archers and I don't plan to fight any offensive wars until I can have Cho-Ko-Nus.

Yeah, the slightly aggressive spot seems fine--there's no reason for him to go after us, especially if we prioritize the horses. Then again, it is Jowy--do you not know his history? I can't remember which games they were (PB2 comes to mind along with PB18, but I know I'm missing a lot--lurkers, help me out!), but he has the tendency to be crazy-aggressive for little rational reason--I think he's mellowed out a bit in his more recent games, but this game shows he still has that crazy side (even though it looks at least partially justified from our perspective).

[Fenn]

That's some timing he's got there. I exited the game without accepting or closing the 'deal', but either way I think I'm going to have to openly pick sides here.

I still think it's to my advantage to back Adrien/Mardoc over Jowy; he's much better positioned to take and keep cities than I am; if we both attack and partition Mardoc I'll be on the losing end of that bargain. Plus it could be a trap to draw my troops away from my borders with Sumeria, even if it's meant in good faith in all likelihood. But maybe I should accept the offer anyway to give him peace of mind, declare on Mardoc as asked, then declare war on Jowy too.

This issue adds another dimension to the Settler question; if I turn him around and move to the backline spot now, I could probably get Horses hooked up in ten turns, in time to attack Jowy with Chariots.

[Cheater Hater]

No way you declare on either side right now--this attempt to bully is concerning though. Is there anything that needs to be built other than military right now?