[SPOILERS]The 3 Muscateers playing Ragnar of Rome!

[Catwalk]

t58 report - now snipping screenshots!

This will be a wordless report as I'm short on time, and I'm also wondering how much sense you can make of this without explanations Don't hesitate to ask if you're too confused.
EDIT: I added whip anger to the city screenshots, and there are pictures of BB before and after double whipping the Praetorian.

Cities

Lands

Waterbat
[spoiler]
Jungle N of Xenon
[spoiler]
Desert between us and Xenon
[spoiler]
Arch's lands
[spoiler]
Border proposal to Xenon
[spoiler]

Military advisor
[spoiler]
Overview
[spoiler]
Demos & Graphs
[spoiler]

[Catwalk]

Diplo sent to Waterbat:

Greetings Waterbat of India

We wish to make you the following proposal

1) You receive 1 praetorian (C1 + 3XP) and 1 Shock axe to be delivered no later than t63
2) I receive 1 FW on t62, 1 on t70 and 1 on t79
3) Border proposal C: I settle the two locations where I currently have settlers (marble site and tundra hill by deer and crabs)
4) NAP until t79 (inclusive)
When you log on, my power will show up as 124000.

Respectfully,
Catwalk of Rome

I've trained another 2 praetorians this turn, bringing me up to a total of 5. Together with my two axes, that brings me to a power rating of 124000. Waterbat is currently around 70000 or so, his army seems to consist of around 3 axes + 1 spearman. Getting those fast workers would do a lot for my south eastern expansion, I'm willing to throw in another Praetorian if he insists.

Diplo sent to Xenon:

Greetings Xenon of the Ottoman Empire

We wish to make you the following proposal:
1) NAP for up to 20t, at your discretion.
2) Borders for the duration of the NAP to be defined as each of us settling on top of an iron hill (you choose which iron to settle). No other cities in the area, other than one by the gold and stone.

Respectfully,
Catwalk of Rome

The area can be seen in the screenshots above. I decided against suggesting filler cities, as each filler city would be of minimal value and take tiles away from the other player's city. This proposal is of less importance now that I know how to get alternative island access, just want to secure my borders with an Aggressive rival.

If these two agreements go through, I will have my hands free to go after Azza. Praetorians are a very nice counter to War Chariots, and Azza may need to be kept in check. The tundra area between us is also excellent for 1-movers, war chariots won't be able to outmaneuver me easily. The jungle area between us and Superjm is not very interesting at all, so I will consider that fairly safe for the time being. My border agreement with Azza expires on t71, that would be very nice timing for an offensive.

[Catwalk]

t59 report (make sure to read the diplo above as well)

Waterbat

Getting interesting! Lots going on here:
1) Waterbat retreated his FWs to the furs tile, not liking my 30% odds of grabbing both
2) I advanced my axeman, putting it at risk and getting lots of useful info
3) He still has 1 axeman on the hill, 1 axeman + 1 spearman S of Candace approaching
4) Candace is currently empty
5) Sheep have just been improved by another FW
6) I have advanced both of my settlers without an escort, knowing they'd be safe for this turn at least
7) I have 3 workers nearby, sent one to start chopping a granary or WB and had the other two make an extra road in preparation for roading for the Praetorian moving SE next turn to the S site

Also, see the diplo above. I meant to make a show of strength this turn, convincing Waterbat that he has no chance of grabbing another city over here. If he refuses I will be ready to apply a lot of pressure, and I will attempt to settle W of the silver and 2S of the sheep (grabbing deer + 2x crab). That would also apply double cultural pressure on the sheep tile. That is definitely a worse outcome for Waterbat, and I think I have the might to enforce it. If he decides to attack my axeman I strongly assume he will lose at least 1 axeman (50% bonus for me) and maybe 2 if I'm lucky. But with the backup spearman I'm pretty sure to lose it if he really wants it dead. Praetorians are en route to both expansion sites, and more Praetorians are underway to apply extra pressure.

Cities

I just realized that Mathematics gives access to Hanging Gardens Somehow I'd convinced myself that I needed construction. I'm strongly considering going for it here, although failgold would suck a bit since there is an added Aqueduct requirement that is basically useless to me. I have vision on a number of cities, so if I don't see any aqueducts up next turn I think I'll go for it. The GE points would supplement my GM points nicely, I don't care that much whether I land a GM, GE or GS.

I had a lot of overflow here from the last Praetorian, and I decided to spend it on another Praetorian. Either a settler or a worker next, probably a worker as BB has too few tiles to work once AA grows big.

Did before and after pictures again. I decided to whip a Praetorian here too, sucks that I won't be able to save the 15 overflow hammers for MoM. I probably should have whipped and switched to a scout, letting me see next turn if I will be needing the Praetorian or not. I reasoned that producing another 2 Praetorians would help scare Waterbat into peace on somewhat generous terms, and if he refuses I will want it there pronto. If I lose MoM by 1t over this, I will be sad

Power

Those are some sexy Praetorians, hope that graph does the trick! If not, things are about to get a lot more interesting...

[Catwalk]

t60 report

Waterbat rejected my proposal and countered it with me settling on the tundra hill 3S of the marble site. I rejected that one as well.

Red = backup site
Black = preferred site
Blue = spearman and wounded axeman

He lucked into defeating my axeman at 10% odds And to make matters worse, his axeman survived with 2.6/5 health. I absolutely hate non-deterministic combat. I fully expected my axeman to die, but I also expected it to take 1 or 2 units with it. He now has too many troops to handle until my Praetorians arrive, so I had to retreat my settler temporarily. Depending on developments the next 2t, I might settle the PH lake site S of EE instead. Over the next 5t, one Praetorian will arrive at the battlefield each turn + 1 from EE if I choose to use 21 overflow on another Praetorian. If he doesn't reinforce Candace by then, I might try to push through and raze Candace.

While I might hand the victory to Azza in doing so, I'm going to pursue Waterbat fiercely as long as I have a shot at getting the upper hand. I will hook up horses in 5-6t, allowing me to snipe at his undefended axemen and forcing him to keep building spearmen.

On the wonder front, I'm going to make a bid for HG, started an Aqueduct in AA this turn. It's not the sexiest wonder and it's somewhat expensive since Stone won't double the Aqueduct. The effect is also not that amazing, so I think I have decent chances of getting it. With a little luck it might even speed up the 4th ring by a turn or two. I think I have good chances of getting MoM as well. Superjm is possibly the main competitor here, noone else has settled in the direction of marble yet to my knowledge. I'm thinking about going for Metal Casting after Calendar in order to make a bid for Colossus. That would mean delaying Monarchy and Currency.

With another 2 workers arriving and MoM choppers being freed up before too long, I'm getting ready for another settler push. I want to settle the silver site (red), the gems site (blue) and the cows/lake site (black) next.

[Catwalk]

t61 report

This is the situation on the Waterbat border. I have marked my army of 6 units with black circles, any stack without text has a single unit. Two Praetorians are near, the remaining 4 are staggered by one turn each. I will complete another Praetorian from EE next turn, and one from CC the turn after. I intend to either go after Candace or settle on the grassland N of where my settler is now. If you're wondering why I sent my settler down there then, I can only plead indecisiveness and being in a hurry. A grassland city would be able to steal silver from Candace fairly easily, but this would be less important if I actually manage to capture Candace. I'm optimistic about my chances of capturing Candace, and I'm pursuing it. A worker has been dispatched to hook up the horses, allowing for chariots to roll out before too long. This war hasn't been terribly well thought out, but one of my goals for this game is to get some real experience with warfare so I'm going to dive into it. I don't think I'll have to throw away my game in the process either, my economy is still going strong and I can continue my expansion while churning out Praetorians.

[Catwalk]

t62 report

Military situation first:

Waterbat retreated his garrison on the silver mine, most likely to protect Candace. There is a slight chance that he's planning on making a strike at Frosty Frog, using his workers to build a road next turn and arriving next to it the following turn. If he does so, I will both be able to reinforce it with up to two units and I will be able to make a single strike at one of them before they can escape. As the screenshot shows, the axe is only 3.8/5 so they're not much of a threat. I kept my axeman out of view, hoping to lure him in. If he doesn't go for it, it will go SE in order to go on top of the silver mine the following turn. My Praetorians are very close to getting odds on the axeman currently guarding Candace (64.5% this turn without any fortification bonus, the one standing there doesn't even have C1), and he won't have full Fortification bonuses by the time my troops assemble. I think I can take down anything less than 3 axemen + 1 spearman, and I might be able to block off further reinforcements with my initial 2 Praetorians.

I also founded Great Dane this turn, and got screwed out of 3 commerce Turns out that you get trade routes instantly if a connection exists when settling, if you connect later in the turn you don't get them. Grrrrr! I thought about putting it on the grassland 1N instead, allowing me to pressure the silver tile culturally and letting my troops advance 1t faster because of the road connection. Ultimately I decided against it because the tundra site is better long-term and because I feel confident of my chances to capture Candace. I have no idea if this confidence is warranted, but we will find out soon.

I'm under a bit more pressure here, but given that I've whipped out a decent Praetorian army I'm not unhappy with these numbers. I'm not sure who has same power as me, has to be either Azza or Xenon. I've been prodding both about declaring on Waterbat, no success so far. I have NAPs with both, so I'm still not too concerned.

Waterbat's crop surge is from 3 new cities last 2 turns. That reveals that he's not overly concerned about my Praetorians, I'm hopeful about that. I'm pretty sure he's settled Marble this turn, suggesting that I'm in a fierce race for MoM. If he has a head start I don't see any way for me to grab it, assuming one of those cities was settled on forests in order to chop it out. Only 6 forests are required for him to insta-build MoM, with 5 forests he needs 20 base hammers. I'm hoping he's going for the 5 forest approach, although even then I doubt I can make it. Rats.

Notice Superjm climbing here. Is he spending commerce on espionage or is he building courthouses? I should know in a few more turns, I think it's a weak move either way.

[Catwalk]

Forgot to mention, DD will pop borders next turn at EOT. That means I will have trade routes the turn after, I believe. I have 10 domestic trade routes currently, so that will add a sweet 10 cpt to my coffers for free. I don't think either of them have a defogged route with me yet, although Xenon should be close. Unfortunately I won't be able to get routes with Superjm along the Xenon coast, since that coast is also ocean blocked. He settled between the stone and the clams, so he won't be able to cross the ocean tiles with culture as easily.

[Catwalk]

t62 report

Calendar finished, will see if I can get it fast enough in CC. One other player has Calendar, I'm guessing Waterbat. Crossing fingers, but I'll probably miss out on it. Borders spread at EOT and extra foreign trade routes are online.

I moved 2 Shock Praetorians on the silver, he has 3 axemen (one shock with 3.8/5, one C1 and one blank) and 1 spearmen on the furs nearby. The C1 axeman has 5.5 vs 8.8 if it attacks, the other two have 5.25 and 5. If he attacks, I think he will be unable to defend Candace unless he gets lucky or has lots of extra troops incoming.

[Catwalk]

Soo... I've fallen majorly behind on reporting. My campaign against Waterbat has been horribly executed, and I just signed a 10t peace treaty this turn. I accidentally allowed him to raze my marble city, mistakenly thinking that I'd have advance warning on boats and be able to reinforce it. That said, I did force him to commit a lot of resources to military and made him go off path to Construction. The marble city will be rebuilt next turn, and I'm still pretty well set for REXing. I completed MoM last turn (double whipped it to save a turn, just to be sure) and will be completing Hanging Gardens in 3t. The mysterious island N of my capital has been uncovered, it contains a visible dye resource and more unknown lands to the north. I will whip a galley in the capital after completing HG, then start building a forge (MC completing in a few turns, I want to make a play for Colossus).

I feel pretty secure on all fronts, so this is a farmer's gambit game now. I'm going to ensure a lot more NAPs all around, I think I can remain competitive if I go all out expanding. And I already have a decent army for defense, may as well use it for something sensible now that I've proven once again how useless I am as a general I'm trying to maintain my grudge against Waterbat, but given how pathetic my campaign was I think I might put it to rest and acknowledge that I got bested this time around. My chances of winning the game through conventional means should still be alright.

[Catwalk]

I'm whipping a galley for the island N of my capital, it looks like it's one big island that both me and Superjm have access to. I hope I will be able to beat him to it, although an even share is fine if it is mirrored like the rest of the map so far.