[SPOILERS] Sandover(cre/spi) of Egypt

[Sandover]

Time for some taunting.

Amelia,

Let me introduce myself. I am Pharaoh Sandover, ruler of Egypt, awesome half-god, supreme commander of the most powerful military in the world, conqueror of Germany and servant of Darrell - the Creator of Worlds. I suppose congratulations are in order seeing as you're now in possession of the Roman throne - or maybe I better offer my condolences, since your predecessor left you a nation on the brink of defeat? Do you want to surrender now, or shall I invite myself for a cup of tea after my victory parade in City 17?

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Advisor,

Hohoho, I now have a Cuirassier. Where should I put it?

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

[darrelljs]

servant of Darrell - the Creator of Worlds

Who is most pleased with your mightiness .

Darrell

[Sandover]

And it's all in your honour, oh divine creator.

Looks like somone is playing along;

Sandover,


Well, i shall start with introductions as well. I am Caesar Amelia, ruler of Rome, and eventual ruler of the world. Do you want to be a slave, or be dead? Either way, i hope that you would not intrude for a short while as i begin demolitions of the gentle life my romans once had under the leadership of my weak predecessor, Bob. Rest assured that i shall invite you for a cup of tea after you entered my prison.


Caesar Amelia of Egypt.

Wonder if the signature is just an error or a crafty way of predicting the outcome of the war?

The save has been moving slowly today, but it's with TT atm, so hopefully he'll get it to me before it's too late (i.e. before I go to bed).

[Sandover]

Yes! I got the save. Nothing much to report about but I'll do a short update tomorrow morning nevertheless.

Teasers:

- Worthington, the cultural powerhouse
- Soothsayer Port, a well planed investment

[Sandover]

Turn 134 - Good Morning Everybody

Yes, I am running out of good titles. At least for the non-eventful turns.



First of all, note the circled Worker couple slacking south of Xen. It's pretty obvious why they are there, but I marked it out with an arrow for those of you who aren't particularily familiar with the use of combat engineers. Amelia has stationed them there in order to be able to insta-road the indicated plains tile, bringing in reinforcements in case of NLO being besieged. Why Bob didn't build a road between NLO and Xen 50 turns ago is something you'll need to ask him about, because I don't have a clue.

The yellow numbers indicate the percentage of Egyptian culture on those tiles. Worthington has been doing a good job fighting the cultural aspect of this war since the culture bomb was used, and those numbers are actually increasing steadily. Unless there are border pops about to happen in the Roman cities I will eventually be in control of those tiles, further strengthening the defensive advantage I have in this area. Oh, and I still have that second (actually first) Great Artist, so I'm able to mess around with culture should I need it. Thespis' current residence is located in Psamathe.



Here's my shipyard in all its glory. I don't know whether you remember it but I decided long before founding Soothsayer Port that it would serve as my main port, and I do think I made the right decision there. It could have been a decent commerce city, fielding 4 grassland cottages, 3 coastal tiles and some windmills, but I don't regret having it go all-in for production.

So far, it has mostly spent its time building Catapults. Tons and tons of Catapults. It also made a few Knights and at least 3 of the Settlers for my newer cites. Due to my late Civil Service it still hasn't reached its intended size, though that's only a matter of four more turns now. As you can see, it only received the most basic set of buildings (I needed the Grocer to lift the health cap) and shouldn't be constructing anything else before it's time for Drydocks.

I arranged the production queue so that it built a Musket (had to get rid of some overflow) before an Explorer (going on the Caravel) as soon as Compass came in, and next turn it will have enough overflow to build a 1-turn Caravel. The dual-promo Musket has replaced the xp-less Crossbowman (now heading for El-Waltz) as city garrison, as the time when I will be forced to properly defend my coastal cities is surely getting closer. I don't expect Soothsayer Port to build anything but Caravels for a foreseeable future, since I want to take control of the sea.

Will I find an island out there? I'm fairly pessimistic about it, honestly, but only a few more turns now until I find out.

One more picture:



Weird River is my secondary port, and will join Soothsayer Port in spamming Caravels as soon as the Moai Statues and a Lighthouse have been constructed. It won't help a lot at first, as I want to grow onto more coastal tiles for obvious reasons, but I hope to have it fully up to speed in time for Astronomy (whenever that will be).

Two notes:

- Amelia's Caravel was visible in Lighthouse Point this turn.
- Scooter just researched Economics, grabbing the free Great Merchant.

[Sandover]

I decided to send two messages.

Amelia,

Your optimism amuse me. Last time I saw the Roman army it was running back home so fast not even my Knights could keep up the pursuit! If those men are the ones you rely on to protect your nation you will undoubtedly become greatly disappointed. Trust me when I say Rome will fall as soon as I'm done dealing with those annoying Celts.

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Dear Scooter,

Will you try to interfere if I invade Moogle?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

I'm fully aware Scooter will interfere if I invade Celtica. In fact, he might even have a stack hiding in there getting ready to invade me. As I see it, there are two ways they can react to this:

1) "OMG he's invading the Celts".
Simply put, they take me as cocky enough to reveal my plans. Best possible outcome here would be if they launched a "counter strike" in the south "to keep me busy while my army is away". That's extremely optimistic and not something I expect to happen, but who knows?

2) "Bullshit, he's really going to attack Rome"
They conclude I'm merely laying down a smoke curtain for an impending assault south. Best outcome here is that they rearrange their troops into defensive position, possibly removing the immediate threat to Weird River and indirectly give me an opportunity to strike at NLO with full force. That's also not very likely.

So what's the point then? Well, you see, I'm not planning on doing either of those things. And having the enemy think I'm doing something I'm not, no matter what that might be, can only serve to my advantage, right?

[zakalwe]

And having the enemy think I'm doing something I'm not, no matter what that might be, can only serve to my advantage, right?

Unless they think you are running away with the game, that is.

[Sandover]

Heh, yeah. But I am running away with the game atm, so that's not really an issue here. Though I will look a lot less op when my golden age ends in a few turns. That's going to really hurt my economy.

[Sandover]

Sandover,


To be honest, there's not much I can do. I will likely send him a little bit of support partially because I think I would be next if SleepingMoogle falls... But you have my graphs, it's not like I have some massive army sitting around...


Basically I have a strong vested interest in making sure you don't kill anyone else (like trying to remain competitive in this game), so yeah, I might try interfere a bit...


I'm guessing you wouldn't have any interest in declaring peace with everyone and racing to peaceful victory conditions?


scooter

Dear Scooter,

First of all, I don't have your power graph. You've been nuking me with espionage lately, remember?

I fully understand it's in your interest that I do not grow stronger on the expense of others, so I figured as much. Moogle's power alone isn't very scary, though I did underestimate him and had my first invasion attempt completely wiped out. Guess I'll make sure to send at least two warriors next time.

I actually never wanted to fight this war in the first place. I tried to negotiate peace with Timmy, but the response I got was that he simply isn't interested. My declaration on Rome followed as a necessary consequence of that. Once Germany was defeated I reached out to Moogle, but he refused to even discuss terms for withdrawing his support to the others so that got him involved as well. I think it's safe to say they have their minds set on fighting this one out considering their military buildup (I'm pretty sure there's a large Khmer stack hiding somewhere within Roman territory) and the dedication they've shown so far. But to answer your question: I will definitly listen to what they have to say if they at some point change their minds and approach me for peace.

Oh, and I guess we'll meet head-to-head in Celtica then. Unless you rather split it in half?

Regards,

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Lots of bullshit in there, but hey, bluffing is perfectly legit in times of war. At least in my book.

I'm not sure why he'd want to seek out peace, seeing as he's in the best position to benefit from it. Maybe he's genuinly worried I'm going to annex Celtica? It's possible, his military might surely isn't much to show off.

Either way, I make it a point to have it sound like I don't have visibility on Roman cities. That's actually the most important aspect of that message, and I hope it's subtle enough he will believe that to be true even after it's clear I'm not invading Moogle.

There is the possibily he can see through all of this, but he's already aiding the others so I don't exactly have a lot to lose here.

[Sandover]

Not much to report, just a few tidbits.

- A trade mission in Cha Cha Cha is worth 467 gold atm. M'yeah, I rather use my Merchants for bulbs then (919 beakers). The annoying thing is that Constitution is first on their list, which is a tech I have no direct need for. I'll probably bulb it for the sake of securing the Statue of Liberty down the line, but there's definitly no rush.

- Both Amelia and Moogle are getting aggressive with their Sentries. I reposition some troops in order to counter that.

- Amelia actually sent the Explorer to NLO. I can see why if they are able to pillage (can't remember if they are), but if not, I'm really at a loss here.

- I see some Khmer Knights moving east toward Celtica for the first time ever. Funny that.

- Border pop at Dance Party added coastal peaks to my territory. With help of the added visibility from Optics I spot coastal tiles through tile bleeding out in the sea! I've seen a lot of coastal oddities on this map, but that should mean there's an island just off the coast. My exploration party will check that out soon.