[SPOILERS] Sandover(cre/spi) of Egypt

[Sandover]

Large exam tomorrow, so no update today.

[Sandover]

Poor Detective Work, Yes?

Turn didn't get around to me in time yesterday, but we're back on track today.



Having located Twinkle's capital I realise there's no way his original spot was where I indicated (though he did use the first turn to move his settler). What does this tell me? The most useful info is probably that the starts weren't syncronized, which to me is a good thing as I hate having everything mirrored. I'm a play the cards you're dealt kind of guy. Oh, and what else? That I fail as a Detective? Sure, but you already knew that.

Cha Cha Cha has a Granary and the Oracle (both in the yellow circle), and I believe the building marked with green is a Library? Or hm, no, I figure it's the palace. Either way I'm guessing we got pretty much the same techs with the difference that I have Maths while he got a bunch of religious techs (and whatever he oracled). I checked his civics and it's all default bar from Slavery, so my guess is still that he oracled Metal Casting for cheap Forges. I'm not expecting Twinkle to challenge my Hanging Gardens attempt. Scooter and Moogle should definitly be out, so only have to worry about Bob and potentially Timmy. But I'm pretty sure only Bob has the potential to grab it ahead of me.

Note that I've found a Warrior named Roy Keane... Yeah, I will probably have to kill this guy sooner rather than later. Though I think they both are (him and Giggs) Irish? So maybe I shouldn't despair over Twinkle's theme just yet.

I do have a War Chariot some 16-17 tiles away from his capital, and the defenses I've seen so far aren't exactly scary. I did just use it to kill a barb, however, so it is in need of some healing (allthough due for a promotion). I figure I could have it ready to strike against Cha Cha Cha in 15 turns or so. Will I go for it? Maybe. That's too far ahead from now to say something definite. I'll keep the option in mind.



Lots of colours to explain, but bare(spelling?) with me.

I've scouted southwest of Psamathe and got a general idea for what I want to do with the area. White will be my next city, but the location isn't set in stone yet as there's eight unexplored tiles in it's current BFC. I might move it 1N if what I see further south isn't appealing, but the Settler is heading there no matter. At most the location doesn't seem to have much in the way of production, but a good amount of food and flood plains together with grassland will make this my prime commerce city in time.

Blue is going to be a semi-filler, making use of some nice grassland though suffering a lack for food. The important thing to achieve in this area is that white form a shield for blue, much like I want black to shield off future purple further east. My goal is to have only two frontal cities with whomever will be my southern neighbour. The red stars represents my future range of sight (by virtue of the peaks), which means I can spot a potential fork move against Psamathe or my Heroic Epic site with a single sentry unit at the yellow star location (so long as the terrain permits). All of this is obviously made up in the dark as I do not know the actual distance to my southern neighbour yet, but the general plan remains the same nevertheless.

I'm not sure whether I addressed it already, but if you look at the black dot you can see that the only approach by land has to be made from the flood plain south of the city. Only weakness is that it won't be founded on a hill (which is an option), but founding one tile off the coast is a no-go in this case.

White is much weaker defensively, but looking at tile bleeding I get the feeling none of the immediate tiles south contain a hill. That's important to me as I don't want a potential attacker to have a good staging tile next to the city. +25% defense can be a bitch against a strong opponent. I'm actually less worried about the opportunity for an instant mounted attack from the diagonal, but I will review once the fog is cleared.

One last screen.



I've reached the tropical area of the map, but there's still no signs of another civ down here.

[Sandover]

The City of Darrell



We've reached turn 46 and the cold war with Twinkle continues. No no, not an in-game cold war. The post count war. I'm closing in.

The main event of this turn is that Darrell was founded next to World's End Lake, on that spot I've had my eyes on since turn 2 or so. There's another barb lurking near the city that has my slightly worried, as that wounded War Chariot is all I have to count on for defense. I'm pretty sure the odds are 95-99% in my favour, but I'm not taking things for granted.

I rearranged the tiles at Sandoria, swapping the plain Sheep(4f,1h,1c) for a forested grassland hill(1f,2h,0c) for one, as I need that extra hammer to complete a one-turn War Chariot. Next turn Masonry comes, at which point I'll build an Aqueduct for one turn and then 3-pop slave it the next turn. After that I'm 201 hammers away from completing the Hanging Gardens. Base production at Sandoria is 19 at size 6. The new worker will aid construction with forest chops, but it's still going to take me quite a while to get it done. Wish me luck!



I've decided to move white dot one tile north now that I've defogged the area. The tiles marked with white stars are the ones that will no longer be part of the site's BFC, and as you can see that's not much to feel sorry about. Instead I'll grab two more grassland tiles by placing it where the arrow indicates, and make it immune to 1-turn mounted strikes on the diagonal as a bonus. I'm also getting rid of the red star as a staging tile for an assault on the city, but there's still the hill where my Warrior is standing to worry about.

Note that the Settler out of Psamathe is delayed by one turn as a barb showed up. I moved up the queued War Chariot so that I have a unit to deal with him. I don't want to have any tile improvements destroyed.

I'm first in soldier count at this point with a slim margin, with two more War Chariots coming next turn. Someone is challenging my reign in the food department, but I'm still ahead of everybody in terms of production. Looking at the score I'm pretty much on the same level as Moogle and Scooter, but that's with them having one wonder each so growth-wise I'm probably ahead of both. The difference between me and Twinkle is the Oracle. He's still at two cities, and I just saw him defend against a barbarian using Roy Keane, so he may not even have a strategic resource yet?



The distance between me and Twinkle (measured by the position of our capitals) is 26 tiles, so there's 25 tiles worth of land to split between us. The blue star is placed 13 tiles directly east of Sandoria, and the blue line marks the 'fair' border. The orange dot looks like a nice defensive position (protected by the lake and peak), but I will probably make it my goal to claim the Spice. It's likely Twinkle is going to want a defensively strong border city of his own at the indicated location 1E of the Spice, though, so I may not be allowed to have it without fighting for it. Obviously more defogging is needed, but my War Chariot is going to heal for 3 turns so it will take a while still.

[Sandover]

I haven't heard back from Twinkle, but I'm thinking I'll try to dial him up next turn when my scouting unit enter his capital. I don't think it will do much good as he's been unwilling to share information thus far (contradicting himself by signing the open border agreement), but I figure it's worth a shot.

[novice]

Giggs is Welsh, but we'll bear with you.

[Sandover]

Thank you!

[Sandover]

I'm feeling lazy today, so I settle for posting demographics.



I kick some serious butt at most, being ahead in food, production, soliders and population. GNP? You just had to ask, didn't you? Well, my first cottage is done next turn and there's more to come after that one so nothing to worry about. My economy will grow strong in time, trust me.

[Sandover]

Got this from Bob:

Hey,


Looks like we finally met in-game. I'm not particularly interested in going through any of the "getting to know you" diplo nonsense where we gradually exchange increasingly sensitive information; I'm happy to share or discuss whatever you want about the game now, as long as you'll reciprocate in kind.


Although I'm playing as Rome, I'm not committed to praet-rushing anybody, and I'm happy to spend my time making the most of my traits instead of investing in my UU, if you'll do the same with those war-chariots. I'd even be happy to sell you some praets in the future, assuming we can work out an equitable arrangement.


Hit me up on g-chat if you ever want to talk about the game.



Until we talk next,


-Bobchillingworth

So I figure I now have contact with my southern neighbour? I haven't responded yet as I'm waiting to get back the game first, but here's some comments:

- I like that he's upfront. Roleplay is fun, but no harm in being straight-to-the-point.
- Good to know he isn't trying any Praetorian nonsense, even if I was pretty sure he wouldn't use them anyway. Not going to promise anything about my War Chariots though, as I might use them against him if he piss me off or overexpand.
- I don't see why I would want to buy Praetorians. Only use for them would be for a pre-Macemen war, or to deter an potentially aggressive opponent, but with so much land to expand into I don't see myself getting into any conflict soon.

Also, note to self: remember to notify Twinkle. I eventually decided not to send him something few days ago, in case you're wondering.

[Sandover]

I've lost my momentum with the updates due to the problems as of late, but I'll try to catch again eventually.

Response to Bob. Don't think it requires a lot of explanation.

Hey again,

Sorry to keep you waiting but I wasn't anticipating any problems with the save.

We appear to be neighbours. What's your toughts on that? Also, what's your wonder strategy at this point? I figure some coordination won't hurt, even for someone with the clear advantage of being Industrious. Oh, and did you found Hinduism? My most skilled astronomer said you did, but he later winded up being reassigned to work the mines of Sandoria due to incompetence, so I don't know what to believe anymore.

I'm not worried about a Praetorian rush, but I guess that's nice to know anyway. Not sure why I'd ever want to buy one, but I'll keep it in mind. Might find a use for them pre Macemen, I suppose.

Regards,

Sandover

[Sandover]

Good thing I just realised I was about to forget about Twinkle.

Dear Chancellor,

I'm hereby letting you know that Egyptian scouts have come into contact with a foreign tribe calling themselves Romans. I received a message from their leader and have initiated diplomatic contact with them. My first impression is that they are upfront and confrontative, but also peaceful.

I'd like to ask you if you're planning any more projects similar to the Oracle? Surely you can agree that it would be a shame if either of us built similar wonders of the world, considering the effort it takes to construct even a single one of them.

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

The wonder information is important to me since I'm building the Hanging Gardens atm, but also because I have the ability to use it as a bargain tool now that I have contact with both IND civs.