[SPOILERS] Dazed and Whosit walk the line: Darius of Egypt

[dazedroyalty]

Killing is always fun. :D In video games, that is.

[dazedroyalty]

A while back, I had noticed this:



Nicolae was camping in my vicinity and just watching. That's not cool man. He's got the full 25% bonus so he's been there 5 turns. Maybe he is afraid I'll retaliate but I think he's planning to settle up on me. And, lo and behold...



Well, Nicolae, I realize that is close to your capital but it doesn't mean I have to like it. So, i've got 2 Warchariots going to go poke around down there and see what he got. He'd be silly not to have a spear in the city. That said, if he did have a spear but nothing else, I might sim out what my chances of razing the city are with two chariots.




I'll move them SE-NE next turn to get visibility on the city center.

Current overview of the empire:



Sorry for the signs that are everywhere. The current big plan is to get the Pyramids. I have a settler W-SW of the Moai location. I'm bummed that I didn't have workers in place to speed up the commute though. I can have it connected via road the turn it's founded, but I can't make the settler move faster. I could have had a road on teh tile the settler is currently on but not on the tile to the NE. That kinda sucks, but oh well. Nothing much I can do. The city will chop out a galley while a settler from There you Go comes over to hop on it and settle the stone. Mids will be chopped out at the city location south of the Wheat.

Things Happen is going to grow into unhappiness but the whip anger is set to wear off but I desperately need a higher happy cap. Unfortunately, the Mids plan is gonna hinder that for a while. Mids themselves will raise some happiness but that's far off. I'll either need to go IW or Calendar for happiness after I finish Currency (4 turns).

Demos:



I like my GNP even tho it's inflated by Stonehenge. If Commodore is the Rival Best, then his is also inflated by the Oracle. I'm competitive in food numbers. My production is pretty terrible tho. I've done a good bit of whipping so I'm just hoping that is keeping me competitive in the expansion race.

[dazedroyalty]

Y'know, posting it makes me re think it. Are the Mids really my best play? So many riverside cottages available that I don't want to farm. Serdoa, you still lurking? Thoughts?

Also, if I don't take that Marble from Nicolae I'm pretty much forced to settle the mirror site to my NW or miss out on Marble forever. I'm not rushing for MoM or Great Lib necessarily. But I do have my eyes on National and Heroic epics and would not enjoy slow building them sans marble.

[Whosit]

Glad to see some of what's going on! I don't know how you're feeling about it, but our score isn't terrible, and neither are most of our demos (I agree that I'd like to see more production!). Obviously, it'd be looking prettier with a few more cities, but maybe, just maybe, we can liberate a few from NC at some point. Turns may have already passed, but any reason not to murder those two sentry warriors out of sheer principle?

Personally, I don't think the Mids are the best way to go, especially considering the set-back we had. I have no doubt that we could get them if we tried, but that time and effort might be better spent on other things. Cottage things up, train a few more settlers, and hopefully drop a hammer on NC when the time is right (I'm sorry, but I like the revenge policy). Though, WCs alone probably won't do it since all it'll take are a few spears to stop it.

[Serdoa]

Just as idea: City on the hill to the east of Queens Ballad with his warrior on it. Another one on the PH next to the marble. Get an Axe for that one together with both WCs that should be enough to defend if you keep his power tracked. Settle the stone (thats 2c trade-routes for all your cities, so definitely worth it if you don't have OB with someone already. Currency asap but thats what you research anyway.

[dazedroyalty]

I really don't like Nicolae hanging around on my border:







Especially that last warrior which can see into my new city. Serdoa, didn't get your suggestion for city placement until after I had already founded this one. Plus we haven't paid Nicolae back for our lost workers. Plus, when I moved two Chariots onto the hill near his marble plant, his borders popped that VERY turn moving me out of range. I had 2 War Chariots to 1 Spear and I was seriously considering taking the shot.

So, instead...



I cleared teh field of his units:



I didn't get a shot of it but the fully healthy War chariot 3N-1E of Power Ops is in sight of another one of his chariots. But I should get odds. All my other chariots will have one promo next turn!

I offered peace because I don't really want a war. But I wanted to send the message that he can't just push me around and linger on my borders. We'll see if he takes it personal or not.

[dazedroyalty]

If that doesn't get activity in the lurker thread, I don't know what will!

[NobleHelium]

[dazedroyalty]

I've never played portal. What is the significance of that picture?

[NobleHelium]

You can remove cameras from the walls by spawning a portal behind them.