Posts: 15,442
Threads: 115
Joined: Apr 2007
I also sent this off to Lewwyn earlier today (it didn't make it into my original diplo update)
scooter Wrote:Lewwyn,
I need to update you on what all's going on with Sandover. I don't much like NAPs, but I came to a "creative NAP" with him that basically entails that neither one of us will ever invade each other with ancient era units until myself or him reaches Machinery or Feudalism. This means that War Chariots won't be rushing into my land... I had built a second chariot for myself to put some pressure on him, however now that Sandover can't hurt me with it, I will send that Chariot to help with Serdoa. The second chariot will likely be about 2 1/2 turns behind the first one, but I can give you a more exact date if you want (I'll have to count the tiles). It might be inconsequential, and it might be hugely important. We'll see.
No problem on the chariot info - I'll be headed straight for the copper. The borders should not be popped when I get there... If Serdoa gets out a copper unit, it'll be an axe, so I might very well be able to kill it with my chariot given my bonus and all. What would be wonderful is if I showed up and found a size 1 copper city defended by a freshly whipped axe so I could raze the city and kill his axe in one shot! Probably wishful thinking, but fingers are crossed.
Do you think you'll be able to raze his SW city on time? I'm also assuming that since you were planning to move in on T42, that means you will be upgrading to axes on this turn (T41) right? Archers will make this difficult, so hopefully he goes for copper units first (espec since he gets agg bonus on those and not on archers) and hasn't bothered with archers yet. Hopefully. If you reduce him to one city you can basically kill him at your leisure.
My third city went on a hill for the pigs/cow/sugar site SE of my horses - if you remember the screenshot I sent you. My fourth city just was planted this morning (T41) for copper west of my capital. I'll take a brief pause to get up my worker/granary count, and then continue expanding. I will not go further south of my 3rd city - there's other spots to fill to my west, north, and northeast.
Anything else you need from me?
scooter
Doing my best to try to cultivate him as a long-term ally, though I wouldn't be crushed if he struggles some with Serdoa.
Posts: 2,585
Threads: 43
Joined: Apr 2008
scooter Wrote:Doing my best to try to cultivate him as a long-term ally, though I wouldn't be crushed if he struggles some with Serdoa.
How are these two mutually exclusive?
Posts: 15,442
Threads: 115
Joined: Apr 2007
dazedroyalty Wrote:How are these two mutually exclusive?
Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. I want him to beat Serdoa, and I want to help, and I have every intention of disconnecting Serdoa's copper ASAP. I just won't shed many tears if it (specifically taking down Serdoa's capital) slows him down a tad and puts him a little bit behind me. Still though, I only promised him one chariot and I'm sending two (the first one was rushed out quicker than I would've liked in order to accomodate him), so I'm very seriously trying to help him.
It's not that I want him to fail - I want Serdoa dead and a solid ally! I just don't want it to be too easy and have him get way out in front and out of control. I'm not going to screw him to make that happen though - I think Serdoa will do a more than capable job of defending himself, and I think Lewwyn is slightly underestimating him.
Posts: 2,585
Threads: 43
Joined: Apr 2008
I don't know if you saw my earlier post but I don't think you want Serdoa dead. I think you want Serdoa decisively crippled and Lewwyn as a solid ally. If Serdoa is dead, it benefits Lewwyn much more.
Posts: 15,442
Threads: 115
Joined: Apr 2007
dazedroyalty Wrote:I don't know if you saw my earlier post but I don't think you want Serdoa dead. I think you want Serdoa decisively crippled and Lewwyn as a solid ally. If Serdoa is dead, it benefits Lewwyn much more.
I see what you mean. By "I want Serdoa dead" I more mean I want him disabled. If he's dead in 15 turns, then Lewwyn conquered him far too easily and will be in great shape. If he's crippled in the next 15T but he spams archers and survives and Lewwyn has to come back later with a huge stack of catapults... Much better. In other words, I want Serdoa to play the "Dazedroyalty role" and Lewwyn to play the "scooter role" from PBEM7 if you follow that analogy. Sure I took your capital, but I was never able to fully move on until I came back later with a big stack and you were a thorn in my side for quite some time. Serdoa will be in a stronger position than you were in that scenario, so I imagine he will slow Lewwyn down quite a bit. I just don't want to under-commit and make Lewwyn think he is just an ally of convenience. I want to know that if I take on Sandover in the Cataphract era that I'll get help from Lewwyn...
My one challenge will be to convince Lewwyn to be generous to me concerning land division since he'll have to consider that I should get some of "Serdoa's land" too. If I can settle cities clear over to the floodplains, I'll be happy.
Agree/disagree?
Posts: 2,585
Threads: 43
Joined: Apr 2008
Some more overview shots would be helpful before making comments on land distribution.
I'm not sure the PBEM7 analogy works perfectly but I see what you're saying.
Posts: 15,442
Threads: 115
Joined: Apr 2007
Yeah it's not perfect. I get the feeling you don't completely like how I'm handling it. What would you do?
Posts: 2,585
Threads: 43
Joined: Apr 2008
No, sorry! That's not what i mean. I think you're handling it fine. I'm only thinking about the meta-strategy, not the specific handling of the events. Your discussion of Serdoa being dead seemed to miss the point but then you clarified that and we're on the same page.
In regards to PBEM7, I just think the comparison is slightly off because when you and Serdoa attacked me, there was more of a mutual direct gain involved whereas in this scenario the direct gains are mostly Lewwyn's while ours is indirect. The comparison helped me understand your perspective and I only meant to point out that it is a slightly flawed comparison.
Posts: 13,563
Threads: 49
Joined: Oct 2009
scooter, if you want discussions with your dedlurker to go more smoothly, choose examples where you didn't kill him. 
I have to run.
Posts: 15,442
Threads: 115
Joined: Apr 2007
Gotcha, that makes sense. Please do let me know if you think I'm doing something ridiculous, as it will definitely happen from time to time  ... And yes novice, I realized the irony there.
Alright I finally figured out how to respond to Serdoa. No telling if it'll actually work, but here it is:
scooter Wrote:Serdoa,
Ouch. Good luck with that... I have no doubt that you will give him all kinds of trouble. He seems to be running a bit of a farmer's gambit, so I imagine he'll have a hard time with you.
I have a policy of no NAPs in this game, so I'm going to keep that. I think you know me well enough to know that I strongly dislike them, so I'm going further in this game and just choosing not to sign them, especially since this is a group of players that I think will all prove hesitant to sign NAPs. If both Gaspar and Sandover eagerly sign a NAP with you, then I'll reconsider, but I'd be happy to see no NAPs in this game. However if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.
Good luck!
scooter
Also, a brief Sandover exchange. This first one came last night at the tail end of our emails yesterday in reference to the whip at Constantinople.
Sandover Wrote:Scooter,
Meh. Monument I guess. Oh well, enjoy being ahead while it last.
Then the next morning the war declaration emails all came in, so I sent him this:
scooter Wrote:Well I guess I'll have a long time to enjoy it then considering I intend to keep it that way.
Do you have any inside info on the Serdoa/Lewwyn war? All I really know is what Serdoa sent to the rest of us by email. Sounds like Lewwyn might be in a bit of trouble..?
scooter
Resulting in:
Sandover Wrote:Scooter,
I managed to catch Lewwyn online after I saw the war declaration this morning. I exchanged a few short emails with him and it basically comes down to:
1) Lewwyn expanding aggressively towards Serdoa.
2) Serdoa calling him out on it and sending a small invasion force.
3) Lewwyn being confident about the situation.
scooter Wrote:Sandover,
Interesting. If what Serdoa said in the email is true about having copper soon - then this war may likely degenerate into a stalemate awfully quickly, in which case I expect both of them to lag behind a bit. Will be interesting to watch that unfold. Did you accept Serdoa's NAP plea? I'm turned him down, as I didn't see any real reason to promise him a secure front (plus I don't like NAPs that much as you know), although I was still a little conflicted over it.
scooter
Mildly interesting. I also sent off a reply to Gaspar which I had procrastinated on:
scooter Wrote:Gaspar,
Fair enough on your points. I think we just see things differently on some things, but that's ok, I can live with that and agree to disagree. It's like you said, it's early and not all that significant yet. No sense in burning bridges over insignificant issues early in the game.
Funny you mentioned someone relieving Serdoa of his obligations, because apparently Serdoa is instead going to try to give this game some fireworks. T40 = first war, which is actually a little later than I would've guessed with this crazy cast of characters.
Anything in particular you'd like to know or discuss?
scooter
So that about wraps that diplo update up. Not the most exciting one, but that's what things look like at the moment.
|
