RBP3 [SPOILERS] - Friendly Kittens (Ragnar of Maya)

[Maniac Marshall]

Well, Krill requested a pause with 34 seconds on the clock... I assume because England hasn't played =/

I dono if you're gone, or if we'll see you one more time before you leave, but having had a couple minutes to look at the micro plan I think I can just change to the chariot next turn and make no other changes including worker actions or tiles worked.

I could sorely use the sandbox before you leave if you haven't left yet. Plz email to me. Gotta run.

[RefSteel]

Okay. Chariot out of PR (as you described) is fine with me. I'll send you a copy of a mostly-accurate sandbox as soon as I can figure out what turn this is. The only things that will be different are (possibly) the number of turns on the hammer decay clock for a Holkan or two. I'll be able to check this thread for most of the afternoon, and occasionally even post things.

Our barb combat luck had to even out eventually, but it's always disappointing to lose a 95+% fight. Fortunately, the new chariot can take Sentry right out of the stable if desired. I'll have to look at my T122 sandbox to make sure, but I believe Kilrah would produce another Xbow on T123 and then start cranking out 5-xp Knights.

2 more Settlers by T130 (not counting Blue Dot's) also sounds right; note that one will be in production by T122.

Finally: Carthage sent us a proposed dotmap. It's interesting, in the sense of not what they described in chat (did they change their mind or send the wrong one?) I'm too rushed to have an opinion on it right now, but my form one later today.

[RefSteel]

More thoughts:

Withdrawing Gratha (the C1 chariot in the Inca/Mali theater with a promotion available) to help deal with barbs is also fine in theory. In practice, it depends on what that region looks like: If he's busting lots of would-be-barb-spawning tiles right now, it is likely better to risk being one unit short and having to whip something than to pull everything back into our territory and face MORE barbs. That said, Incan and Malinese cities may be close enough to render barbs irrelevant there, in which case pulling Gratha back would definitely be the right move. Note that a medic promotion for Gratha might help get other barb-killers back in action faster too.

I looked at the image Cathage sent, and if I'm reading it correctly, it basically means we get Smithsonian Park (orange), Red Dot (where the sign is), and Junk Dot (aptly named) 1-2 tiles south and/or west of the sign (our choice). They would get a site 1S of the corn that doesn't overlap with Smithsonian but has 2 tiles (both non-river, non-forest grassland) with red.

If I am reading that correctly, I think it's fine, but our next two cities after Blue should be Smithsonian/Orange (woulda happened anyway) and Red Dot, and culture is going to become a priority in our empire; we're going to want to reach 3rd ring everywhere pretty quickly. Our next city after Red in this case will be Anything Other Than Junk Dot, as will be all the rest of our cities until Junk is the very last thing we can peacefully plant (if then).

[RefSteel]

Okay, I'm online now, at least for a little while.

Comment on city names: I've just been coming up with stuff because I haven't seen any other suggestions. If you (anyone - lurker or Team Member) have a name you prefer, please offer it! In that context, my suggestion for Blue Dot: Ornata. I thought this particular type of wildcat would be quite appropriate for our border city with India, down there in the golden desert. Plus the picture's very cute.

[RefSteel]

Also, since folks might want to see Carthage's proposed dotmap:



I now also see a chat about the revised map.

(So they indeed changed their mind, and told us about that.)

(And they want compensation of some kind for us getting the better deal).

[Maniac Marshall]

Sorry I missed you. I was on my way back from seeing my son when you were on.

I kinda hate making another chariot, but, we're really thin on military. I was uncomfortable with how low before, but losing that chariot sends me towards panic mode. While I hate making another chariot, I'd hate it more if we got pillaged over 30 hammers.

Regarding Gratha. There are only 2 tiles down there that can spawn barbs now, because Aztec/our/Mali/JANK boarders prevent it everywhere else. The chariot does cover those 2 tiles. However, a barb spawned there is as likely to attack anyone else as it is us, so I'm kinda thinking we'd be as well to just chance it and deploy the chariot elsewhere. Maybe barb busting by Kilrah?

The area we're going to need a permanent sentry in is over east of kilrah. The land is unsettlable it's so bad, so barbs will be a problem there forever. Everywhere else we intend to settle should eventually have close enough boarders to eliminate barb spawn.

[RefSteel]

In that case, you're a lot more unhappy about building another chariot than I am. I think it's fine. I don't know where you got the idea that I don't like/want chariots, but it's the opposite of true. Delaying a mace for a chariot? Uh, where do I sign up?

I agree that 2 spawnable tiles aren't worth tying up Gratha in East-Central Nowhere. Send that chariot back to help out with the real barbs back home.

There's room for a semi-decent stone/spices city east of Kilrah. Probably better than Junk Dot. But yeah, no time soon. Fogbusting there is a good assignment for a mace or Xbow, I think. (Too many hills out there for the Sentry promotion to mean anything if I recall correctly.) On the other hand, once Kilrah starts churning units, we could preserve it unfogbusted as a training field or so.....

[Maniac Marshall]

Well, turn 112 finished. Swapped off to a chariot since we're going to build 2 more of them while we can as discussed. Tempted to make it a holkan and a chariot, but... assuming the naps hold up, we'll be fine with our 3. They'll be as obsolete as the maces come muskets anyhow, and muskets aren't that far off. I think we'll make one chariot sentry, which we could use, and the other shock.

I do still want those 2 maces. Probably 2-3 crossbows (more would be a waste) then we can just build pikes and Knights till those go obsolete.

Regarding Gratha, I decided to send the archer at HV over to relieve him. I think he could let us send a sentry chariot over to bust the fog E of kilrah...

And seriously, look at the map again, that area can NOT support a city until biology, and barely even then. In no world is it better than junk dot. Junk at least has 3 river grass and a cows and can do the irrigate everything like Savannah.

The area east of Kilrah has a grand total of TWO grasslands, and both are completely surrounded by non irrigatable tiles, so they can't even be farmed. Roughly 2/3 of the tiles over there are ZERO food tiles unless they get windmilled. Now, when we can irrigarte w/o a line of irrigation, and when we have 2 food windmils, it will JUST BARELY be able to support life at that point.

[Maniac Marshall]

Just a thought. If FS is going to be working an unimproved grass because of this deal, could we not just make a worker there before it grows? It's getting 12 f/h/turn making a worker. Thats 5 turns wiggle room on the cottage.

[Maniac Marshall]

Well, more bad news. We could play through T114 on the exisiting microplan we thought... but no... I realized AFTER I busywork cottaged on the floodplain that without the 3 move roads, Nala will not be able to move to the spices AND plantation next turn. I should have noticed it before I did it I guess, but I was just following the plan. I guess instead of studying tomorrow, I'm going to have to get the sandbox out and make an entirely new microplan now.