[SPOILERS]The 3 Muscateers playing Ragnar of Rome!

[Catwalk]

Decided to have a quick jog through Waterbat territory with my fast worker:

The city garrison in Perry consists of 3 axemen, 1 catapult and 1 warrior. The cursor shows his army SE of my fast worker. Nothing really surprising here, but confirms that he has a heavily melee oriented army. I will definitely be wanting to field crossbows and longbows against him.

[Catwalk]

t98 Relations update

Azza
- NAP t99
- OB t99
- the western border site is mine until t99
He proposed a t105 NAP (with OB extended as well), I countered with an extension without extended OB or t115 NAP. He declined both. Expecting an invasion from him, but probably not until t105.


Xenon
- NAP t110
- binding OB
- the iron site is his for the duration of the NAP
- he's getting 3gpt for keeping borders closed with Azza
He's keeping two warriors hanging out between me and Azza, no idea why. He's still badly behind, and has a big army. Haven't had a look at it, I assume it's axemen (he's AGG). He's had HBR for a little while, he might be building horse archers. If I could bribe him to join in against Waterbat, that'd be beyond awesome. Even a declaration of war without any attacks might be intimidating.


Waterbat
- NAP t105
- offering him 3gpt for each turn he has closed borders with Azza and OB with me, he is currently taking that
- OB not binding
- no border agreement, but no contested sites between us (unless I want to build a galley and sneak a settler over to the jungle area)
Fairly confident he's planning an invasion and trying to keep me in the dark about it. Spotted his stack this turn, will keep an eye on where it's moving. I have a warrior on his eastern borders that can keep a close eye on his military buildup until OB is cancelled.


Superjm
- NAP t110
- no border agreement (still one island site available and the entire jungle area between us)
- OB not binding

Still a bit nervous about him joining a catpile against me with Azza and Waterbat. He's seemed eager to extend NAPs so far, and he won't be able to do anything until t110. I'm willing to offer him small concessions for continued peace, I hope he'll go for that.

Proposal sent this turn:

Greetings Superjm of the Mushroom Kingdom

We wish to make you the following proposal:


- NAP until t118
- you close borders with Azza
- we sign a border agreement for the jungle between us
- I gift you 5 gpt as long as we have a NAP, you have OB with me and closed borders with Azza and Waterbat

Respectfully,
Catwalk of Rome

Sareln
- NAP 20t rolling
- border agreement secures me more than half of the jungle arm between us
- OB not binding
Sareln seems to be putting in a lot of effort, but he's pretty badly behind.

[Catwalk]

t99 semi-report

Finished Chichen Itza at EOT. I know I could have used all those hammers for units instead, but I'm still happy to have it. I'm not seeing very many catapults in Azza's lands, so my defense is going to delay him a bit if he invades. Waterbat has a decent amount of catapults and a good amount of troops, I will start whipping crossbows against him now.

On that note, 1t-ed Machinery at EOT and Azza just finished it at as well as expected. He also has Paper, looks like he bulbed it. This could be part of a push for Liberalism, he's gotten great scientists earlier. I will probably opt out of the Liberalism race myself, getting the monk wonder trio would be worth more IMO. Superjm now has Guilds, wondering if he's pushing for Economics for the GM or getting ready for war. He's doing okay economy-wise, and I'm guessing he'll be content to remain isolationistic. If Waterbat and Azza go after me, it's in his best interests to stay out of it and let us bloody each other.

EDIT: Azza researched Machinery last turn and Paper this turn.

This is the last turn of our NAP, Azza can declare war next turn. I will send him a proposal for a NAP extension without OB, if he declines I might declare on him myself and start pillaging his seafood. Declaring will likely teleport 2 war chariots to the JJ border, I will need to watch out for that.

I got a nice power jump at EOT, I hope it will discourage aggression against me:
8000 from Chichen Itza
6000 from a longbow
6000 from two triremes
3000 from barracks
2000 from a forge
= 25k points

I also got 10k points from GW a few turns ago, further inflating my power. If my rivals aren't analyzing my power closely, this might dupe them into thinking my military is bigger than it is. Right now I'm almost par with #1 (seems to be Waterbat now) and hope to exceed it in a few turns.

[Catwalk]

t100 report - with pictures!

Azza has few visible troops here. As shown, F holds 3 axemen + 1 archer + 1 trireme. It had a galley last turn, something to watch out for. I've put two triremes on his fish, politely asking if he would like a NAP extension (and adding 4 gpt for him) before sinking his fishing boats. Last turn he had 3 war chariots SW of F, he's probably massing more troops out of sight. I'm not too concerned about this front, I think I have naval security for now and I just need to hold the fish tile in order to fully deny him naval access. Note that he has a fort S of F, allowing him to put boats in the lake if he feels like it. I'm chopping the fur forest W of JJ, hoping to deny him forest coverage for an invasion force. I will need to chop the forest N of it too, not sure if I'll get around to that in time. I have 4 Praetorians + 2 longbowmen + 1 catapult in JJ + 1 catapult underway.

This is where I'm in trouble. Waterbat is fielding a large number of troops, and my forces have to be split over two cities. My only advantage is that I have 5 turns to prepare. If he keeps whipping during those 5 turns, his economy will be reaching painful levels. He does have an impressive happy cap of 9 (luxuries) + 3 (forge) + 2 (market) + 3 (representation), so Nationhood would be a major threat. I don't think he has gone that route, though. If he has, I could well be in trouble as he seems to have a Great Engineer lying around. Worst case scenario is that he snatches Taj Mahal and I generate another Great Engineer. That would mean no free civic swap for me = no drafting = not enough troops. Or biting the bullet and spending one turn in anarchy, don't think I can afford that. I know he has Music, maybe he wants Sistine Chapel in order to really culture bomb me. I'm planning on teching Engineering (possibly bulbing it if I get another Great Engineer) in order to be able to reinforce both front cities from a hidden position in between them. There is no way I can put sufficient troops in both cities to defend against the Waterbat menace. With a little luck, I'll be able to trick him into sending insufficient forces or possibly split them. Due to the nature of collateral and bombardment, splitting his forces would definitely be in my best interests. I imagine that he'll put his invasion force on his fur tile on t105 in order to not tip me off as to which city he's invading.

I decided to rush both Great Person production and Taj Mahal a little bit, in order to trigger a Golden Age for free switching into Nationhood and Theocracy a turn earlier. I have one Great Engineer already and a 45% risk of landing another one, which means I wouldn't be able to use them for a Golden Age and I will have to wait another turn for Taj Mahal. As slowcheetah pointed out, this isn't much of a bureacapital, so I won't lose all that much on switching to Nationhood. I will get immediate savings of 28 gpt, almost offsetting the loss of 20 commerce and 11 hammers. A [strike]single[/strike] mighty warrior defends AA, I want to fight my battles elsewhere.

Lots of pop to whip or draft away here, and barracks are in place. Christianity is also here (+ a monastery), so definitely a good military base. Also lots of commerce tiles to whip away.

Chichen Itza just finished. Same here, barracks + Christianity makes it a good military base. I wish I'd produced a missionary here first, though.

I've used DD for ships, just produced two triremes. If Azza persists, I might produce a galley in order to make him fear a 3-mover naval invasion and divide his forces. I decided to start a forum here because I have excellent commerce and need the happiness, I hope I won't regret that. My NAP with Xenon lasts another 10t, if he piles on as well I'll be in major trouble.

EE is in a good position to reinforce my front cities and has a forge + barracks. It has several high yield tiles and a number of commerce tiles to whip away. I imagine I'll be drafting a lot here, as it currently has 8 spare happiness.

GD is the strongest of my two border cities. It currently has a food surplus of 10 and I've been able to put up a forge. I don't have enough happiness surplus to draft much, but I'll probably get one macemen and whip a number of longbows and crossbows. Again, lots of commerce tiles to whip away.

HH is an awesome Moai city, very happy with that decision. It has taken almost no time to stand it up due to the multiple food resources, so it's currently utilizing all available water tiles. It is defended by a warrior, relying on my southern trireme to keep me safe from a naval invasion. In case Azza tries to walk an invasion force past JJ I think I'll be able to provide enough reinforcements in time. It has a barracks, a forge, a food surplus of 11 and a happiness surplus of 5 so I'll be drafting and whipping lots here. This city needs Christianity the most, so if I find the time to make one in CC it'll go here.

The other of my front cities. No forge, so it can't support drafting very easily. Also no barracks, planning on whipping longbows and crossbows here. The spy specialist was auto assigned at EOT.

JJ took a while to get going, but it's looking pretty sweet now. It has all it needs except for a forge, and a whole bunch of coast tiles to whip or draft away. Given how much military I'll be housing here I'll be able to draft very easily.

KK is decent, but it's been a lot less amazing than I anticipated. It was squeezed a bit by MM and EE, not really getting to have a food resource to itself very often. Still, it's a solid size 7 city that can help draft macemen against the waterbat menace. There is an Azza war chariot and a waterbat War Chariot down in the desert, I'll need to watch out for both of them. I don't think they stand good odds against a fortified Praetorian even if they attack together, but it'd be nice to snipe Azza's war chariot before my NAP with waterbat expires.

My island cities are about to start booming, and they're safe from waterbat (no cultural access). Only threat here is Superjm, and I have peace with him for another 15t. If the mainland gets whipped to pieces I'll have some nice cities waiting for me here with which I can revive my economy. And if I get killed off completely from the mainland, I'll plot my revenge from Elba

MM has also taken a long time to develop due to a single shared food resource and my choice to work the gems tile most of the time. I've finally built a library here, and was planning on hooking up the bananas. However, Azza's war chariot was teleported down here which posed a major threat to both the worker and MM. I had just transferred its Praetorian garrison E, meaning that Azza actually had a chance to raze MM this turn if he'd declared. Maybe he didn't have vision on it, and didn't want to risk losing his war chariot. Either way, I'm very thankful I didn't start this war out with a disaster.

PP is one of my recent additions, and it'll be able to grow rapidly since it has 3 FP farms to grow on + 1 shared with DD. I hope Xenon will want continued peace, if not I'll need to grow it up to size 5 rapidly and draft macemen.

Finally settled those horses I imagined this city would be settled some 40t ago or so, and if not for the island it probably would have been. It's not a bad city, but it takes a while to get going. If it gets enough time to develop it'll be an awesome coastal city with decent production. It has a fish waiting for it in the second ring, ideally I'd use a missionary to get to it. I'll probably have to use its production for units for now, then a workboat later when I get the border pop. Would have been sweet to have Music, would let me use a single turn's production to get to the fish.

Latest addition to my empire, at risk of the aforementioned war chariots. No further threats to it will be incoming if my trireme (being built in KK) manages to maintain naval control.

Demos and graphs. I'm finally tied for #1 in power, and I haven't started mobilizing full speed yet. I'm in trouble here, but I think I'll be able to display a very nice power spike in a few turns. My economy is still really decent, and the Golden Age(s) will help it along nicely.

I'm pondering building Castles after teching Engineering, 67 hammers with a stone doubler is really cheap for another 50% defense and halved bombardment.

[slowcheetah]

Castles could be an option just because they're incredibly annoying. I used to not invade in single player if somebody had the shitty things (and I didn't have at least cannons).

[Catwalk]

What I'm wondering is when a castle becomes more cost efficient than another longbow or crossbow. I'm guessing I'll want a minimum of 3 units in each city, with another 4 standing ready to reinforce either one. If he can only see 3 units and no castle, he may well move in with insufficient forces. I then complete the castle and move in units, causing him to waste precious time. Will modified unit strength affect how much collateral damage I suffer?

EDIT: Just looked it up, all defense modifiers are ignored. Sucks So if he's willing to plow through +125% defenses he can still suicide his catapults for pretty good damage on my defense units. Still, I will have +125% defense on damaged units afterwards. I could use a single catapult first to blunt his attack, forcing him to wait another turn which would let me bring in additional reinforcements.

[Catwalk]

I got a scare this turn, as Azza popped F's borders which gives him naval access to Porny Porcupine and Dingy Dingo. I will now need to defend 3 coast tiles as opposed to just 1 previously, not too thrilled with that but it's doable for now. I will put one turn of production into an extra defensive unit for each city so I can whip if need be, DD will also be able to draft.

xenu pointed out in chat that Waterbat might not be 100% committed to war. It sounds a lot like he signed a deal with Azza that he'd declare on me t105, but nothing commits him to actually fighting me. I'll keep mobilizing at top speed, hoping to discourage him with my buildup. Also, I just realized that I'll be able to get to Gunpowder pretty fast. Drafting musketmen is a nice step up over macemen, at least if I'm drafting them and don't need to pay extra. I'm commited to Nationhood after Taj Mahal, and my GE(s) can be used to bulb both Guilds and Gunpowder.

[Catwalk]

t101 semi-report

Got my Great Person at end of turn, he flipped scientist. This means I can string another Golden Age to the end of the one I'll hopefully launch next turn with Taj Mahal.

Azza ran into my territory with his war chariot, allowing me to swipe it with my spearman for 2 XP and 6 GG points! I believe attacking gives twice as many XP and GG points, so I definitely want to try to get some kills there and there on my culture. I'm now up to 17/30 GG points, will only take another 5 XP on own culture to get the first Great General. What should I use him for? Conventional wisdom seems to be getting a Medic III unit or settle him as a military instructor. Problem is, I don't really have a dedicated production plant anywhere. I might use HH for it, if I choose to put workshops on all that grassland. CC would also be an option with workshops, allows it to put the extra plains tiles to good use.

I decided against bulbing Engineering, so it finished on its own at EOT and I still have my engineer as well as the new scientist. I'm still in trouble here, but I'm soldiering on and whipping lots to appease the gods of mobilization. Drafting will be a godsend, and will hopefully be enough to discourage Waterbat. Should I bother beelining Gunpowder? I will want to develop military dominance soon, as I'll likely be facing a lot of resistance from now on if I keep my lead.

Wishful wonder plans:
Spiral Minaret (highly likely, very interested)
- 2 gold per religious building
- costs 368 hammers, stone doubles
- gives prophet points
- requires Divine Right (Theology + Monarchy), noone else has Theology
University of Sankore (unlikely, very interested)
- 2 beakers per religious building
- costs 368 hammers, stone doubles
- gives scientist points
- requires Paper, Azza has it
Sistine Chapel (highly unlikely, somewhat interested)
- 2 culture per specialist and 5 per religious building
- costs 402 hammers, marble doubles
- gives artist points
- requires Music, Azza and waterbat have it (I need both Music and one of Literature or Drama)
Notre Dama (somewhat likely, somewhat interested)
- gives 2 happiness in all cities on the continent
- costs 368 hammers, marble doubles
- gives artist points
- requires Engineering, me and Superjm have it

As long as I get one of those (probably Spiral Minaret), I'm happy. I doubt I'll start on either while war is raging, though.

[Sian]

Medic III is only really usefull in stack-vs-stack wars ... that is usually versus AI's ... IMO settling him in your hammerpump churning out high xp military is better by a landslide

[Merovech]

Attacking is not worth extra GG points; only fighting in your land, having the great wall, and/or being imperialistic increase GG points (all 100%, additive bonuses).