[Spoiler] Fintourist loses his multiplayer virginity

[Fintourist]

Turn 170

Fot the second time I opened the save to an unpleasent surprise:



Sareln again just destroyed one of my frigates with 32 % odds and stopped aggression. Is there a some damn mechanic that lets one pick one low-odds win per turn for free

Oh well, in related news Sareln retreated his invasion force of 3 Galleons & 3 Frigates and did not approach any of my cities. I'm kind of disappointed, I was hoping to get a shot at reducing the amount of navy in those waters. Now the stand-off continues and my troops are commited here.. I would rather raze a bunch of cities from Azza or Viqsi instead..

Btw, Azza is building a pretty aggressive looking canal near the map center, which made me paranoid and thus forced me to use the drafts of this turn in the area..

In more positive news, the former core area of Hydra finally became fully functional as I ended the turn:



I enjoy working those mature cottages!

Despite Frigate whips and continuous drafting my GA-powered economy is still looking strong:



But damn, I want to proceed soon with an attack against Azza or Viqsi. Turns are fun, but I guess I don't want to experience the turn lenght of the the modern era with 50 cities.

[Old Harry]

Will Sareln getting Steel be a problem for you?

[TheHumanHydra]

I'm not sure I'd call those cottages mature ... enjoy them, though.

[Fintourist]

Will Sareln getting Steel be a problem for you?

Shouldn't be! Sareln has so little pop and production that I doubt that he can produce a significant amount of cannons quickly. Moreover, the dominance of seas will be more important and if Sareln manages to get Steam Power (Ironclads) I have probably done something wrong..

I'm not sure I'd call those cottages mature ... enjoy them, though.

Well, there are some towns to work and that is already valuable! Thanks..

[Molach]

Will Sareln getting Steel be a problem for you?

Shouldn't be! Sareln has so little pop and production that I doubt that he can produce a significant amount of cannons quickly. Moreover, the dominance of seas will be more important

Just occured to me - How could you lose a Cannon-equipped frigate in a fight with a Sareln frigate..when he has no steel? Guess his treb-firing ship got veery lucky.

Enjoyable read still, eagerly awaiting how you will destroy the final threats to your win here. If Azza is left untouched, but standing alone among the ruins of the other civs, he should realize that he has no chance to win at all...the boring alternative to defeating him in war.

[Fintourist]

Thanks Molach for encouragement!

I have already planned the routes how I could execute the initial attacks towards Viqsi or Azza and they seem feasible. I just need to get my navy away from the Sareln border.. I will have Rifling in couple of turns, which will make defending easier, but I would love to start relocating my navy immediately. Oh well, I probably just have to suck it and wait at least a turn or two to see how things develop.

[Fintourist]

Turn 171

And grinding continues...

The most radical news of the turn were finding a new Frigate stack of Sareln:



There are 5 Frigates that have appeared out of nothing I'm happy that there aren't Galleons though.. This surprise means that Sareln must have built a fort that I haven't manage to spot.

Sareln has currently 12 Frigates and 5 Galleons in my waters. I have 17 Frigates (and couple of Galleons) in defensive positions and I finished 3 more at the end of my turn. This means that I should have the upper hand of these waters, but if Sareln manages to combine his navy into one large stack (currently they are in 3 separate places), I might have problems in destroying it. Oh well, as said Sareln's production resoursces are quite limited and my amount of Frigates will keep growing until I have removed the threat.

Unfortunately Sareln will have visibility on all those 17 Frigates, which makes it unlikely that he makes any kind of a stupid mistake.. In practise next turns might become an exhausting "cat & mouse" game, where I always have a chance of making some kind of mistake that costs me a bunch of Frigates. Sareln might also retreat, but who knows really what happens next

I know that I repeat myself, but I'll say it again. The most negative aspect of this dance is that Viqsi and Azza can both keep improving themselves in peace and I won't get to use my army+navy aggressively, which is what I would want to do! There are so many nice cities to be captured or razed that are currently just waiting for me to come and pick!

In domestical news.. I enjoyed the last turn of my Golden Age, teched RP and did the planned civic switches:



I hope I won't miss Slavery and OR too much! At least I get drafted rifles that get immediately the first promo and can work 2/4/0 workshops!

[SevenSpirits]

Will Sareln getting Steel be a problem for you?

Shouldn't be! Sareln has so little pop and production that I doubt that he can produce a significant amount of cannons quickly. Moreover, the dominance of seas will be more important

Just occured to me - How could you lose a Cannon-equipped frigate in a fight with a Sareln frigate..when he has no steel? Guess his treb-firing ship got veery lucky.

Dunno if you want a serious answer but cannons on ships existed before cannons that could be moved around easily on land.

[Fintourist]

Turn 172

New turn, same stuff. Sareln made actually a pretty nice move and advanced his group of 5 Frigates with the help of a fort. That is something that I did not consider so the best part of this turn is that I learned something new.. But the situation is still annoying..

Now I can't in practise stop those frigates from sailing into Lemongrass and eventually with the same trick Sareln will be able to consolidate his eastern forces into the same stack as well... Which forces me to keep building more ships...



I have now 15 Frigates on the tile E of Lemongrass, couple of Frigates in the NE and couple of Frigates coming from the South. Sareln has some moves that are more annoying than others, but he should not be able to do anything too devastating, yet. I guess I can't cover all the attack routes forever, but I hope I can mitigate my losses and secure at least all the important cities. Rifling will come in EOT175, which of course makes defending easier. If Sareln wants, this stand-off can last very long, he has enough places to hide his boats and I'll need some time before I can take Lemongrass...

Can I say it again... Sareln, delete your ships and I'll end this game in 10 turns!

Due to drafting and hammer focus my GNP is not so spectacular, but I'm still researching the fastest and have most beakers. The difference in current tech rate is just not that big anymore. By now I could have built a bunch of additional science & gold multipliers in my cities if I had skipped those military campaigns..

Well at least my MFG is almost 2 times bigger than Azza's (2nd) and I have this:



My slope is only going to steepen and I'm not going to stop unless someone forces me to it. And yeah, I will use my units before they are completely obsolete..

[Fintourist]

Turn 173

The revealings of the scouting moves:



3 additional Frigates.. And Sareln did exactly the move that I expected and started building a second fort in order to transfer his eastern stack into Lemongrass. I left 13 Frigates next to the city and did put small stacks to block the direct access to both of those forts. If Sareln hits those stacks all the wounded units will remain in my hitting range..

Currently Sareln has 15 Frigates in the area while I have 21 next to Lemongrass and couple more incoming.. Dancing continues...

In other news I decided to pick Literature (I should be able to finish Rifling eot 175 anyways). I have now had marble for couple of turns and finally a city with decent production so it's time to build Heroic Epic. Finally!

Ok Sareln, make a mistake.

Btw, once I get rifling. I'm going to launch some kind of small attack towards Viqsi or Azza even if this poking continues. Something must be done to wake them up, this naval maneuvering does not satisfy the little warmonger inside me..