[SPOILERS] Sandover(cre/spi) of Egypt

[Sandover]

Two more messages sent;

Dear Bob,

Great that we're agreed! I directed the units in question toward Xen yesterday. The Praetorians will be gifted next time I play but it will take the Crossbowman one turn longer. My attention is once again directed eastward - the rest of my army is being relocated accordingy and only a token force will remain at our border.

I'd like to power myself into a golden age soon. I'm generating a GP of my own but depending on what kind I get it may be more convenient to use the one you're about to spawn. Anyway, I'll keep you updated on the matter.

Speaking of updates I hope you will let me in on the action once the invasion is launched. Are the three of you moving in at the same time?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Dear Scooter,

I'm giving Bob three Praetorians and a Crossbowman to reinforce his forces. In return I will get a Great General, or the wasteland spot at our border that belongs to Bob if a GG is not generated by him during the campaign. This puts an end to our dispute, wish I'm sure TT will find... unfortunate. I'm not yet certain whether I will go to war with Germany but I'm definitly going to direct some pressure in that direction, and will keep you posted.

The War Chariots are due for arrival in a few turns. I forgot to check the exact tile distance but they're at the southern edge of Celtica, so I think the ETA is turn 104. I'll let you know next time I have the game if the date is incorrect.

Moogle is due to discover Code of Laws on turn 103. How are you spending your research points?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

[Sandover]

TT appears to be away playing cricket as per usual on saturdays. This normally means I get the save way too late to actually play it before going to bed, so turn 103 probably isn't due until tomorrow. A shame really, but there's nothing to do about it.

Any specific screens you'd like to see that isn't about world overview?

[Sandover]

Random Pictures



Have a look at the warrior in this old screen from turn 24. Full of excitement he leaves Sandoria and sets out to explore the world. At turn 25 he moves to the hill 1SE where his journey is almost put to an end when he barely survive a bear attack on the next interturn.

Thousands of years later;



A true hero of the nation is about to end his long mission. He discovered the central sea, made contact with Roman scouts, reported home about the mysterious Altar of Darrell, found the Khmer empire, explored the jungles and deserts at the southern edge of the world and was almost dubbed insane when he claimed to have found a forest growing under the water. He will be celebrated in Chillingworth by the Pharaoh himself, before adopting a quiet life as part of the garrison in Psamathe. Welcome home!

Here's an even older picture;



Yup, my starting Warrior is still alive and well doing his thing far away from home!



This guy discovered both the western and eastern edge of the world, established Egypt's position on the map, explored Germany, made contact with the Celts and Ethiopians and even found the eastern part of the Khmer Empire. Respect!

Remember how there's only a single land passage between Germany and Celtica?



Border tensions, anyone?

One of my Sentry units found a way to keep an eye on the Romans;



"I can see you!"

War is about to ensue in the south. I don't have the Ethiopian front clear of fog but here's where Bob will attack;



Hariwhatever is the only city Bob can hit and it's not all that hard to defend with a sufficient army in place to protect it. I have no clue what defenses Timmy has in the area though.

Don't think I ever posted the top 5 cities;



5 capitals. How surprising, right?

Egypt is preparing for war!



Poor, poor TT.

[Sandover]

Email Dump

Hello,


Thanks for the units! I'm shipping the praetorians to the front now, and will send the crossbow along with them assuming TT plays and we're able to get a turn in today.

I agree for both of us to concentrate our expansion/aggression eastward- and I appreciate your openess on the matter. I likewise will maintain a reduced presence in my northern towns. I leave the issue of possible military observes as an open one; should you at some point wish to institute a policy of mutual observation, I'm happy to oblige. If you do not feel there is substantial need, then that's fine with as well.


I was hoping to declare war this turn along with scooter, actually. I think Moogle will join in a couple turns later- It's not clear how much of a contribution he'll make, but the more the merrier


I think that's it for now, I'll let you know if something interesting / important comes up. Great person I *think* is coming in four more turns? Sugar should arrive in maybe 2 or 3, I got calendar a little more quickly than I expected, and have a crew of 3 workers building a plantation on a jungle sugar as of last turn.


-Bobchillingworth

Dear Bob,

It's a shame TT is away playing cricket for so long on saturdays. I'm simply not willing to stay up extra late just to keep the save rolling. Maybe we'd be better off without him...

Anyway, good luck with your campaign! I trust that my War Chariots will be of great use to you.

I don't really have anything useful to say atm but I just realised I haven't seen Adrian Shepard for a while. Is he still alive?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Dear Pharaoh,

To answer your question, I am unsure. There is likely a solution to be found but I cannot think of one at this time. All suggestions are welcome!

As I have stated before, I cannot financially afford a war of aggression with Moogle right now and you know that. What point is there in me waging a war in which I cannot keep my gains and one of your main rivals, scooter, gets a lot of free land on his borders to expand into? You have stated that no financial help will be forthcoming, which is your prerogative - but that makes war against Moogle much more unlikely.

I am no fool, and I realise that you benefit even more from a safe flank with bob than you would care to mention. That is free rein to hit me. I think that this was a greater motivation for your agreement with bob than your sudden desire to knock timmy down. If that is your plan, then do not hide it behind heavy handed words. I have offered great help to you at a hugely favourable price, despite you declaring war on me on a ridiculous premise.

Unless you suddenly show the same fervour for friendship that I have shown you - I suspect that you will not be able to find a solution to your question either.

Regards,

Chancellor Twinkletoes

Dear Chancellor,

My border with Rome was safer before I started to threaten Bob into making concessions. While I made a commitment to not interfere with his attack on Khmer he's made no similar commitment to me. At best I can afford to keep a light garrison until he's done dealing with Timmy, as that will keep him busy for a while.

I admit that your offer to help was hugely favourable. To show my appreciation I'm letting you keep the gold you received without requesting any Catapults.

I only seek friendship when I have something to gain from it. Nice guys finish last, you know. I intend to defend my position on the scoreboard and the best way to do it is to keep expanding. If you aren't willing to help me achieve that goal peacefully it's possible I might find greater benefit in making you my enemy.

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Sandover,


Sounds good about the War Chariots... I actually just finished Feudalism and hadn't decided for sure my next research goal. I may run 1 turn at 0% science to get a chance to decide better. I will probably go for Guilds next though... What are you researching?


scooter

Dear Scooter,

I'm doing a quick sidetrack to Construction before I finish Feudalism as I need to build my own Catapults if I want to keep my options open regarding Germany.

I actually meant to ask you where you spend your espionage points. Assumably on Timmy?

The ETA for the War Chariots is correct, by the way.

Care to update me on the other civs' technological status, if you're now done making the composition?

The newborn Great Merchant is mine, in case you're wondering. Might use him for a golden age. Haven't decided yet.

I'm building the Statue of Zeus at Sandoria. Bob is about to chop the Colossus at Lighthouse Point. Do you have any new wonder plans on your own?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

[Sandover]

Strategy Corner

On turn 115 I'm likely to go to war with Germany. That's the expiration date of the NAP specified by the Treaty of Nubian, and so far TT has shown unwilling to give me what I want peacefully. There's no backing off here as I can crush him with little effort if I want to. He'll have until I discover Guilds to concede territory to Egypt, as that's when I need to decide whether I'll focus on economy or military next.

Economy
- Launch a golden age.
- Adopt Organized Religion, build Grocers.
- Research Banking, build Banks and adopt Mercantilism.
- Research Economics, land the Great Merchant and adopt Free Market depending on trade route situation.

Military
- Launch a golden age.
- Research Engineering for faster movement while building Knights and Catapults.
- Swap to economic mode once a sufficient invasion force is built up.
- Conquer Germany.

That's the rough idea, anyhow. It may turn out, depending on how effective I am mobilizing while researching toward Guilds, that I can focus on building up my economy further while still being strong enough to take on TT. I get the feeling I'll end up doing some sort of mix, but we'll see. If Bob's next GP is an Engineer I'll consider grabbing it for a detour to Calendar where I can rush the MoM.

Things of note;

Drama and the Draft Camp
I still don't have a designated draft camp, but we're definitly reaching the point when it's time to set one up. Solution? Use a German city, They're pretty shit in terms of commerce anyway, but I'm pretty sure at least one of them will serve me will in that role. A draft camp is less demanding on quick compared to other game speeds.

The Forbidden Palace
Same deal here - I'll build it when I start to conquer stuff. No rush, as placing it in a suboptimal position isn't really worth it anyhow.

War in the South
There's two things I need to be wary off here. Bob's and Scooter's cooperation could lead to warmer relations, especially if Timmy goes down easily. I do not want an alliance forming between those two, and if it looks like Bob is growing strong I might have to "fix" that. I think I have the situation under control, however, as Scooter seems very unflexible when it comes to changing sides and because I don't expect Bob to attack me while still in debt to me. The other worrysome scenario is that Timmy kicks their butts and consolidates his position despite the war, though that should be very unlikely. If it does, though, I'll probably have to get myself involved at some point.

The Race for Liberalism
I'm not really arsed about getting it myself, but I shouldn't let someone grab something more expansive than Nationalism. Scooter is the most likely winner at this point, but seeing as he's getting himself into war I shouldn't have to put a lot of pressure on him. Need to keep an eye on the situation, that's all.

[Sandover]

Sandover,

Yes - I have aimed EP's at Timmy for now... I have no wonder plans, as I've had literally every city on military for quite some time now. Once this war is over (assuming it has a happy ending for me) - I'll be switching over to heavy domestic builds to try to get back on my feet.

I actually have not gotten around to charting everyone's techs, mostly because these two PBEM's have collided bigtime right now... I've spent lots of time on chat with Bob trying to coordinate the demolition of Khmer, and there is some excitement coming up soon in PBEM7 that I've spent a lot of time planning out as well... As well as diplo flying in both games... So I just compiled a tech list for Timmy real quick and that's it. Sometime this week I'll probably take care of that.

War has been declared by the way... Let the games begin.

scooter

So turn 103 saw the start of the invasion, just as Bob said.

[Sandover]

Turn 104 has arrived.

I will have an almost complete world map to study next turn so I won't do an update today.

[Sandover]

Turn 105



Never seen that wonder movie before. Yup, that's how often I build it!

The Statue is only really effectful as a defensive tool against someone that's running a successful war of conquest, and as such it kinda sucks bigtime in single player. In this game it should be a useful deterent, though seeing as I'm powerful enough to deter aggression anyhow that's not why I built it. Bob had his eyes on it so I built it mainly for denial purposes. It cost me roughly 140 hammers (100 wonder cost with Ivory and 40 for the extra Obelisks I had to build) which was an okish price to pay. The alternative would've been building 3,5 Crossbowmen, and I decided building the Statue was a better idea.

The extra Great Artist points comes in handy;



I get my fourth GP in three turns and I still haven't decided how to use my Merchant! It's on the way to Germany at most, and might be used for extra cash in Cha Cha Cha if the amount is worthwhile. If not, bulbing Banking looks like a decent option if I'm confident I won't have to build a lot more troops. Third choice is a golden age, which I don't want quite yet.

Bob generated a Scientist last turn which I passed on, as I didn't see much use in claiming him. I still hope I can get an Engineer out of Black Mesa East before all is said and done.

Speaking of Bob, I noticed he connected a second Sugar;



I'm throwing one of my spare Sheep into the mix to gain a little extra favour. With war on the horizon it won't hurt giving Bob more reasons to be my friend.

War? Time to for a civic change then!



Second change in five turns, and trust me, there's more to come. I'm only just getting some civics to play around with!

I'll probably go Mercantilism once I research Banking, as I'm only getting trade routes from Bob atm (German routes still suffer from lack of sustained peace bonus). What might stop me is peace in the south, so it's not a sure deal yet. I'm definitly going to swap back and fort between Organized Religion and Theocracy when it's convenient, and replace Vassalage periodically as well once I research Civil Service. Caste System will become attractive soon, when Guilds add an extra hammer to workshops, but on such a hammer heavy map I may not wind up using it a lot.

I sent one of my Sentry units to keep an eye on German troop positioning, which I'm allowed to do by the Treaty of Nubian.



7 Catapults inside Foxtrot and 3 more nearby. Say whatever you want about TT, but you can't deny that he's dedicated!

He also finished Walls in both Waltz and Quickstep recently. The Chancellor knows that the only thing causing the Egyptian army to make halt at the border is the Pharaoh's will to honour the peace treaty! 10 more turns is all Germany have left to prepare for what is to come. Will it be enough?

I have a bunch of overview shots ready (love my updated world map) but those will have to wait until later. Sorry!

[Sandover]

The World of Darrell

()

I decided to mess around with paint a little. Here's the index which I'll be using along the way;

Red Circle: Main Military Camp
Yellow Circle: Main Commerce Centre
Green Circle: Great Person Farm

Red Star: Heroic Epic
Green Star: National Epic

Black Star: Religious Shrine
White Star: World Wonder

I felt the most convenient thing to do was to start in the southwest corner and move counterclockwise from there. Hence, I bring you Bob's Universial Union (of Rome);



I spot three advantages for Bob.

a) Gold at the capital for sexy research boost in the very early game.
b) Copper and Horse connected by the same city.
c) The starting position is very easy to defend from barbarians.

And... that's pretty much it. His land is definitly worse than mine. What I can say is that my own dotmap would've been a lot different from his. As a non-Creative civ I'd have placed Black Mesa 1SE and dropped NLO way south to grab the Rice and those unused grasslands, for example. Seeing as he's Imperialistic I think he should've aimed to split the food resources a bit more and gone for a higher city count, rather than get distracted by wonder. The failed Oracle build obviously set him back, and I think he should've done somewhat better with what he has, though there's no way he could've kept up with me either way.

Out of 10 cities there's three that clearly stand out of the crowd. City 17 is tuned mostly for production (not much of a choice really) but does a good job of bringing in cash by virtue of the Gold and Hindu Shrine. It's not an awesome commerce city, but it's definitly on pair with the ones I have. This is where Bob built the Pyramids.

Black Mesa, his second city, has been rightfully set up as a military camp. It should eventually get the Heroic Epic, though I'm kinda certain Bob doesn't have the proper unit yet.

Black Mesa East is an example of a classic Great Library GP-farm. I don't know why he hasn't built the National Epic there yet (I looked for it but couldn't find it). Presumably the war lead to other build priorities.

Overall Bob is in dire need of development both in terms of city buildings and tile improvements. He's also in need of better land, which he clearly recognized by trying to take some off Timmy. Bar from his three core cities he doesn't have much going for him, even though Lighthouse Point is now able to show off the Colossus. He's not going to win the game but if he plays well from here on forward he can finish in top-3.

My rating so far;

Development; 3/5 (poor land but could've done better)
Diplomacy; 4/5 (should've secured his northern border earlier but is doing well otherwise)
Warfare; -

[Rowain]

Nice update . Looking forward to your statements about the other players