[SPOILERS!] Pericles of Babylon. Kyan, Twinkletoes, Whosit.

[Kyan]

More like that?

Yep, operation weedkiller is nice because we can make good use of the axes anyway. We want Genesis and Exodus to grow out asap and i'd much rather build useful axemen and spearman than soon-to-be useless warriors. It keeps us safe from emperor barbs. Obviously it depends who this neighbour is but i wouldn't actually mind if it was Rome. The best defence is an early offence. If we could stop them getting iron, it wouldn't matter that they were rome. Let's see what happens first though.

[Kyan]

That works for me! Teamwork eh? No doubt you'll say Whosit came up with it

thanks TWINKLETOES89, ha. You happy for me to send that then?

[Whosit]

That works for me! Teamwork eh? No doubt you'll say Whosit came up with it

That would be pretty amazing, considering that I haven't even taken part in the discussion so far.

For the Warrior scouting east, I'd like him to move 1 east, and 1 northeast to see how many flood plains are there. It kind of looks like there's a peak hiding in the shadows, so settling 1N of the Rice will get the pigs, flood plains, and the two hills currently visible.

I don't know what resources will lie there, but perhaps it's better that we didn't scout east first, because then we might not have Copper. Funny, huh?

By the way, Kyan, can we even build Spearmen right now? We need Hunting for that, you know.

As an alternative to plan "Weedkiller," or perhaps just a variant, we do chop out that mini-army, but rather use it to defend an aggressively placed city to the east. We'll probably want to stake a claim to our southeast, as well. Genesis may have to supply some of our troops after the initial batch because it will have a more central location.

But! If we can catch someone unawares, taking them down would be nice. Still, let's hope we're not next to Rome.

[Kyan]

Proper turn update incoming soon.

BUT- Contact! Plako has found Byzantium. they are the same distance to our east as Mali are to our west (as predicted might i add )

and they are currently scouting out our proposed site. We are their first contact and they have 1 city down already.

[Twinkletoes89]

[SIZE="2"]BIG NEWS[/SIZE]

We now know who another of our neighbours are - and it is Hannibal (Fin, Char) of Byzantium. We have recieved notification via email:

Greetings and well met,

It is our utmost pleasure to have established friendly contact between our great nations. Hopefully our initial meeting is to be a sign that will carry both of us to glory!

Our humble leaders are very curious to learn more about you, and wonder if you would be interested in a mutually beneficial exchange of information.

On behalf of the Spectre council,
-SleepingMoogle

Now they seem pretty attractive candidates for 'Operation Weedkiller' as they will be a huge worry if they reach Cataphracts! Charismatic is a worry if they win a few battles for easy promotions, but if our army hits hard and fast, it should hopefully be not a huge problem.

Now how to respond...

[Kyan]

Hey matey, i got screenshot and a whole load of info coming in a bit. just watching match of the day and i'll type it up. i was jotting down everything on paper haha.

[Whosit]

Now how to respond...

"Your head would look good on the end of a pole . . ."



I mean, "We come in peace. How are you? We're fine, thanks."



Now, are we planting the city first, then attacking, or the other way around? [strike]And give me some visual updates on things so I can help figure out how to manage this.[/strike] Edit: Kyan's on it, it seems. Building an army means not building infrastructure, so we need to get as much info on their strategic resources as possible.

[Kyan]

The situation:



Sleeping moogle caught me in-game and then him and bobchillingworth spoke to me on gmail. I was extremely nice to them and they most definitely want us as allies.

I let them know the map script as a gesture of good will and told them off mali's existence- who they would like us to guide them to so they can also meet. I tried my best to persuade them that there are other civs to them a lot nearer but they wanted that so i agreed (couldn't think of a good reason not to). Now you may think i was a little kind with the info but i learnt the following things:

1) They have horses, probably with their second city.
2) Their second city is founded in our direction but slightly south.
3) They are looking to found south next as they have also found floodplains (as we knew they would)
4) They are not experienced players. I gave them a lot of advice re: mechanics on emperor difficulty. All basic things but it looks nice.
5) they are due BW next turn.
6) We are the only people they have met
7) They would like to form a trading tech alliance with us. They also said that if we went such a route they would be willing to make some kind of guarantee that cataphracts won't head our way later.
8) They really wanted the permanent alliance feature active (it's not) and would like to form a similar'ish relationship with us
9) They will not settle at all in our direction without speaking to us regarding it first. I made no such promise in return tho it was kind of inferred. I was careful not to say anything strict like that though.
10) They thought it was an oasis script which wasnt a bad guess and were totally unfamiliar with team battleground (i had to explain how it was set-up) - meaning they are inexperienced in MP also.
11) I guessed their capital was 7 tiles east of their warrior and possibly 1-2 tiles north or south. Which they confirmed.
12) Like Mali, their start had 2 visible food resources from the get-go AND their warrior had been edited to start on the same square as their settler. this is the same as us but the terrain that their warrior would have seen, was still visible to them. Meaning they had significantly more knowledge of their starting location to us (effectively a free turn worth of scouting and also knowing where there food was. both of which were first ring, unlike ours.)

They are after a map trade but i wouldn't say yes for definite without asking my team-mates. i.e. you guys.

[Twinkletoes89]

Interesting........

Now this seems quite a development. Their 'desire' for a 'permanent alliance' sounds like they are very keen to play nice. I'm not sure what we want from them yet, but we need to tread carefully. We cannot start one way and then go the other.

If our scout can see how feasible that floodplain + rice + pigs site is, without treading on their toes. If it is available, then I can be convinced to play nice with them as they do want.

My worry is that to 'guarantee' that no cataphracts will end up on our doorstep, we would have to commit to a HUGE NAP which restricts us hugely before we know how profitable (or not) a relationship with them will be. I prefer a relationship like we have with Mali, close co-operation and mutual respect (I believe) where we are slowly helping each other more and more and yet we are not constrained indefinitely. We choose to keep co-operating because we want to, not because we tied our hands so early before we knew what we could gain.

This game will be won by those who master these relationships, who can work fluidly with those who are most mutually beneficial at the right times, and not those who make their bed and lie in it before they know how the die will be cast.

My thoughts probably sound a bit 'head in the clouds' but that is my mood right now :-)

[Kyan]

i chatted to them for quite awhile. My personal thoughts are that we could claim that site with their consent. It doesn't have copper and neither do they. They want their 3rd city south and have already put 1 city in our direction. They will also require a city for metal.

I am 95% sure i can 'win' that site diplomatically if that's the avenue you wish to explore- which i personally am leaning towards favouring.

They have horses already meaning they will soon have chariots. To attack we'd need a few spearmen meaning (as WHOSIT pointed out :neenernee ) we'd need hunting. I don't really want to divert our research if possible.