[SPOILERS] Woof! Woof! Bad dog! No biscuit! Charadon of the Doviello

[Ellimist]

Okay, turn 2 played. The big news is that my scout reached the first tribal village and got Agriculture out of it. I would have discovered it in 8 turns otherwise, so it's nice but could have been better. Either way, I'm not complaining. Calendar is now due in 18 turns. Borders pop next turn in the capital, and the worker finishes in 6.
I am starting to reconsider a rush at this point. So far I keep seeing a lot of nice terrain, but no opponents yet. Would it really be better for me to go off and rush someone? It seems like the standard building up strategy would be more successful even if it completely wastes the advantages of my civ. If we weren't on quick game speed, maybe a rush would be more feasible.

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[Ellimist]

Turn 6 update:

[SIZE="7"]The Hunt[/SIZE]



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Unlike the first "map" I got from a hut, this one actually showed me something useful. Lucian heads south toward his prey.

T10 will ideally put both units on the forested hill NE of Innsmouth. There is a possibility that I will be blocked from that hill. If I am, they will go to the tile N of Innsmouth, which is still in fog but seems to be another forested hill.

Once both Lucian and my scout are adjacent to Innsmouth, I can activate my worldspell(if needed). If only one defender is in the city, I'll probably just suicide the scout and finish with Lucian. I'll have to see what the combat odds are.

Lucian plus two wolves and a scout should be able to capture the city unless there are 3 or more defenders. There is also a possibility(unlikely) that the city will be empty, as my capital currently is.

My only other unit, the Beastman, is currently north of my capital and heading southwest toward the Mirror. He is unable to reach the Lanun quickly enough to matter. If I use the worldspell, his wolf will be useful in scouting, however.

My capital has a barbarian fort with 7 archers to the NW and seems to have coast to the NE, E, SE, and S. I doubt I'm in the kind of danger Bob is in. Once the beastman reaches the Mirror I'll have a better idea who my other neighbors are.

So the scout reached the second(and final) hut in the south. I was hoping for another technology... but this was even better.

This is purely an opportunistic situation. I may have the opportunity for a very early capture of a second capital. As the image indicates, the city has already grown to size 2, so it definitely won't auto-raze.
I doubt that Bob/Nicolae have been building warriors nonstop since turn zero, and I still have a couple of turns to approach them before they'll be able to see my forces. What this means, I hope, is that they will have either zero, one, or two warriors inside the city when I reach it. Unfortunately, I won't know the size of the garrison until I declare war and move into their territory.

I haven't run a full sim, but my scout will rendezvous with Lucian and both of them will move in together. Between the two of them and the two wolves they can summon, I shouldn't require much luck to take down the Lanun defenders.

If I am able to capture the city, then I would say that my chances for winning this will go from "none" to "slim." I'll feel a little guilty about eliminating a skilled/friendly player like Bob this early, but the Doviello have to rush somebody and the stars are aligning against him.

[Ellimist]

I received Turn 7 while writing the previous post. Nothing unexpected happened.

The area of interest:
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My civ has still not made contact with the Lanun yet, so they are unaware of Lucian's position.

[Ellimist]

[SIZE="7"]Diplomacy[/SIZE]



Finally, I meet somebody. SareIn found me after I sent him the save, and we exchanged messages.

Diplo Emails:

[COLOR="Sandybrown"]Hey Ellimist,

We've met in game, so greetings from the Khazad. Looks like you got awesome hut pops to make up for your tech disadvantage neh? I think we're on opposite start locations, so I look forward to working closely with you in the future. This map seems to be quite cramped.
I've met both Vampires and Elves at this point. Ichabod (Vamps) is north of your scouting warrior, about 5 tiles.

-Sareln-[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Teal"]To SareIn, Alpha of the Khazad pack, Ellimist sends greetings

It's good to finally meet someone, you're the first I've managed to encounter. Thank you for the map intel, I look forward to a profitable dwarvish-canine relationship.
The map hasn't seemed especially cramped to me so far, perhaps the mapmaker put more space around my civ than others? It has been especially lush, however, with some nice twists thrown in(ICY floodplains!)
Please let me know if you have any ideas for mutual benefit. I'm not sure what I currently have to offer, but I'm open to possible missionary/mana/etc swaps.

May your halls be filled with singing and your pockets filled with gold. May your enemies be starving, lost out in the cold.

PS: I'm not sure what you mean regarding the huts. I suppose things could have been worse, but two gave me nothing tangible and the other finished a technology I was about to discover anyway.[/COLOR]

I decided to be a bit fanciful and RPish with my diplomacy. Hopefully it won't backfire by coming off as false, but this is my first PBEM game and it seems like fun to add a little flourish.

His message tells me some important things.
First, he has apparently already met everybody except the Lanun. This means that the map is probably more cramped than I had thought.
He also knows where my beastman is, and also the vampires at the same time. This suggests that his unit may be currently on the Mirror of Heaven, or else on a hill that can see both units. Or maybe he has two different units in the vicinity.
The hut reference implies that he is closely monitoring the demographics and scores. I haven't been, but SareIn apparently knew I got a tech out of a hut. This means that probably knows I haven't produced any troops yet, and he can see my beastman. He may be aware that my capital is empty, and I may have to rush the beastman home and/or produce another one.

I should probably try to expand mostly in a northern / western direction.
Depending on how things go down with the Lanun, I may be able to rush the Calabim if they are close enough. I'll have to assess my situation after the Lanun affair is concluded.
The Dwarves and Elves are most likely the farthest civs from me, and the only two I can really expect to cooperate with in the early game.

[uberfish]

I'll feel a little guilty about eliminating a skilled/friendly player like Bob this early, but the Doviello have to rush somebody and the stars are aligning against him.

You're Charadon, you shouldn't feel guilty about rushing people since it's the only thing he does well.

[Selrahc]

Yes. Rushing someone with Charadon is implicit in playing Charadon.

[Ellimist]

I know. There's just something about making initial contact with someone and then immediately attempting to murderize them.

[Ellimist]

Turn played and sent. My forces moved close enough to be seen by the Lanun this turn. I'm not sure what to say in an email to someone I've already decided to annihilate.

The worker completed and I started on a beastman. The worker will start farming the corn next turn.

[Mardoc]

I'm not sure what to say in an email to someone I've already decided to annihilate.

We are the Borg

All your base are belong to us

Conan, what is best in life?

Grrrr.....

There's got to be lots of possibilities here .

Edit:

Hi Sareln, good to meet you

.

[Ellimist]

To the Bobchillingworth of the Lanun, masters of the swishy seas, Ellimist sends greetings.

Your people seem to have settled dangerously close to the camps of the Doviello. Whether this was bravery or foolishness will have to be determined by the laws of nature. Clearly, the only answer for this is to challenge the master of Innsmouth for supremacy.

Don't be alarmed by the howls that disturb your citizens. Lucian will spare those residents of Innsmouth who deserve to be spared, while removing the weak from their midst. He invites any worthy challenger to stand in his way.