[SPOILERS] Donovan Zoi Arrives Too Late to Save the Family in RoboTRon 2.0.8.5

[Donovan Zoi]

Thanks guys. After taking the day to think about it, I am going to re-roll. England is a solid late game civ with some FIN synergy, but I don't think we will be playing long enough to enjoy its benefits.

I'll be helping someone move to Minnesota today (7 hours both ways) so will be afk but checking my phone occasionally.

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey all, sorry for the delay in posting my opening moves.  As you all know by now, I am playing as Hannibal of the Ottomans.

But first...

3 Gunpowder rolls to start with, ouch!  I wasn't happy with the Ethiopia's Stele as an early UB, and ultimately feel that the Janissary is a stronger Musket unit than Oromos if I am to be stuck with a late bloomer.  England's goodies came too late to be considered, but I was thiiis close to keeping it.  The +2 from the Hamman synergizes with CHM nicely for either growing super tall --or-- granting quite a bit of whip forgiveness.

Hannibal gives me a good chance of staying alive to use those Jans by providing a nice mix of commerce and conquest.  Also, I am the only one to have either FIN or CHM, which I found surprising.  Even more so, AGG and IMP were completely shunned this time out (along with IND, no shocker there really).  So will this be a kinder, gentler RB game?  Not if I can help it!  

More on the opening picks later...


Turn 0

Here is my start.  You'll see that it's not an ideal plant for someone starting off with FIN.  Coastline in 3 directions is completely wasted! That is, unless I am presented with island opportunities a few tiles out.  Still, SIP is pretty unavoidable, since it will provide me a 10 turn worker to open, size 3 by T20 and first Settler on T27-28, and that is too good a start to risk.




Yep, Pong.  Widely considered to the the first arcade game, yet still has that certain "a caveman named this" vibe.  This city contains such decent base hammers that I may be able to put off BW mildly for the first time since, I don't know, ever.  

Turn 2

I had sent my scout to the northern plains hill to unveil a barren shore, so  he's now headed back down to look for the second city site.  Before the fog was lifted this turn, I had figured the Spice tile would be ideal to share the wet Corn with Pong for early growth. I still may go that route but I'd like to see more of its surroundings.  The only other Corn-share option is to settle a landlocked site, which is definitely not happening.




You can already see a small bit of land in the NE so navigating by water is going to present some opportunities as well as some major fun.  I am already enjoying the hell out of this map, especially after rolling a Big/Small in Standard to check out the general feel of what I may encounter.  It will be interesting to see if I wind up with any neighbors on this landmass, and what lies between us if there are.

For tech, I decided to start with Hunting not only to Pasture the Cows but to allow for a quick jump to Archery or AH if I see something unfriendly develop.  I may go with AH as Tech #2 anyway just to see if nearby Horses will yield me some early Chariots.  I was thinking Fishing at first but have too many decent tiles available to my capital on land -- best to get two Settlers out before T40 if possible and toggle to using my FIN coasts later as my cities grow and the techs get more expensive.

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey all, I was hoping this would not be the way I initiated reporting.  Anyway, I tried to attack one of Gav's approaching Galley's but thought seeing combat results were enough and that I would get the "Are you sure? message.  Instead my Trireme ended up sharing the tile with Gav's boat

I made things worse by declaring while on the same space thinking war would be initiated.  Instead I was pushed off of the tile farther away from my mainland.

Now Gav gets a shot to boat my land, though I have protected that one possible tile with an Archer. He can also dump units on another side of the shore out of harms way, since I will still have a shot at the Galley next turn if he persists closer.  He also gets a chance to escape.Yet, this could have all been avoided had I just clicked to Declare War first.

I know when it comes to combat, things get touchy. But obviously no combat results have been generated, so hopefully an exception can be made here.  At this time Gav has no cities founded on my side of the ocean, so this was just a chance for me to rid myself of an immediate nuisance.  If this would not be allowed, just let me know so I can take other defensive action in the turn before I end it.  I can actually buy an Axeman upgrade in the threatened city and kill the Galley next turn.

Thanks for looking and sorry for the hassle.  Screenshots in a few...

[Old Harry]

Hey Donovan, I'm afraid that sounds a lot like Whosit in PB2 - not knowing the mechanics rather than misclicking - so unless someone else is around to explain why I'm wrong (or your screenshots clarify something I've misunderstood) I don't think you get a reload.

I hope you give the evil invading forces the kicking they deserve even without it!

[Donovan Zoi]

Combat results showing

Combat fail - sharing tiles. Moved Archer to Plains tile. No Axeman upgrade yet.

War fail - pushed away

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey Donovan, I'm afraid that sounds a lot like Whosit in PB2 - not knowing the mechanics rather than misclicking - so unless someone else is around to explain why I'm wrong (or your screenshots clarify something I've misunderstood) I don't think you get a reload.

I hope you give the evil invading forces the kicking they deserve even without it!

Hey Harry, thanks for letting me know some background.  I am prepared to accept those results if that's how it comes down.

[Donovan Zoi]

OK my reload request was denied as expected, so we move on.  Thanks to Harry and Krill for your input.  

Here's what to expect at the beginning of the next turn.  I am going on the assumption that this Galley is traveling with 2 units inside:

Gavagai pushes forward

Gavagai can move 2S and either try to take on the Archer to the east (with bad odds) or dump units on to the west, where I have a city 3-4 tiles south defended by 2 Axemen.  This could be trouble if Gav has filled this boat with Chariots -- or worse -- Horchers.  Though I don't see that latter as feasible since this boat has been on the sea for quite some time and his Dutch already have Hereditary Rule via Monarchy.  So it's unlikely he has HBR already as well.

I've taken precautions by queuing up Spearmen in both cities that are threatened, and with enough hammers to whip next turn if needed.


Gavagai bugs out

I just maintain an escort away from my borders for his retreating ship.


Gavagai attacks my Galley

Doubtful, but a chance I'll have to take.  And if so, that's fine because it means no ground war. I did want my Galley nearby as backup to keep Gav from sheltering the units one more turn for an approach on Pong. This is pretty unlikely with my Trireme there, but there is always the RNG to consider.


Um Donovan, we have other questions.  

Ok the war report is all fine and good, but I am sure the lot of you are likely curious about how I got to where I am now, with the same number of wonders as cities (Five!).  I'll try to get you an quick update on my recent history in the coming days, as things are looking pretty promising despite this current predicament.

[Zed-F]

What happened / is happening with the Gavagi war?
A screenshot of your empire would be nice!

[Donovan Zoi]

Hey Zed, sorry for leaving you hanging here. RL kicking my ass, but enjoying both games immensely. And I do have about 500 screenies to select from should I ever decide to tell this crazy story.

Sooooo....

I'm a bit nervous about opening the save, due to the activity in Gav's thread and the lurker thread today. I am about to see if Gav was playing dead to me in the far west while he snuck in and landed on the shores of my mega-capital Pong with Galleons.

--If so, and he landed 3 boats worth or more, I am pretty much screwed and will lose whatever small advantage I bet the rest of my game on. I sure did forgo conventional progress to buff both of my traits with the appropriate wonders.
--If not, and I'm still safe, I'll be correcting that glaring error right away. I am thiiiiis close to pumping out 4-promo land units (just need a cheap Colosseum) in Pong and can build Nav II Triremes (heh) as of last turn. Easy come, easy go......?

Hopefully it's just some talk about my adventures abroad to the east, where I've traded a somewhat uneventful standoff against a team a twins (is xenu still active?) for a chance to make a team of former rivals squirm a bit. I guess it's time I find out, though I won't be playing the save until later.

[Zed-F]

Everybody just wants blood. Doesn’t have to be yours...