[Spoilers] Hashoosh, Gaz and the crew - The CANZAC Alliance sail the high seas

[Gazglum]

I guess that's what I get for looking for a replacement just as Pitboss 18 starts!

I was very happy with this turn. I feel like Yuri missed a trick by not advancing on me last turn, perhaps he just didn't have the manpower. The key issue - his galley in the east didn't come south. I think it may have ferried someone to the New World instead.

In any case, that precious extra turn has seen my advantages increase considerably. HIs power spike was sharp enough that I do think he was planning an attack, but if I were him I might be reconsidering it now. See power graph:



In the last 3 turns I've moved from 5th to 3rd in soldiers. Yuri could certianly still outproduce me and win a war, but he has to be wondering if its worth the damage he'll take, when he could just be grabbing the New World sites instead. I'm hoping his power will level off now. If it does, I'll stop building troops too. Perhaps next turn I will offer a cow for cow style trade.

Troop-wise I now have 9 vultures, 2 spearmen, 2 catapults and a chariot. Q had urged me to build more spearmen, and maybe I've made an error. But now that Yuri has construction, I'm expecting he would come with a mixed force of axes/cavalry/catapults. Spearmen couldn't attack that, because axemen would counter it. And if I'm on the defense, one catapult makes a spearman so weak that he's unlikely to take out an elephant let alone axemen. I think vultures just give me a lot more all-round fleixbility and are much stronger for the hammers. Some more cavalry would be nice, but I'm gambling that I can ignore them to make a push for civil service.

I also finished my canal this turn, and will have a trireme blocking the straits in another 2 or 3 turns. If I can get to that point, then I am going to feel pretty secure in the east.



In other news I took the second barbarian city in the south, putting me on 9 cities and in the EQUAL LEAD with Dhalpir and Ilios! Obviously my cities are a couple of dirt huts while Ilios' are shining bastions of marble and gold, but still. The psychological effect of being ahead of Yuri in city count makes me feel much better, and I have another one founding in a few turns.

Hey Yuri!

[Gazglum]

Thoughts:

1. Yuri will have alphabet next turn. I could try to defuse tensions by offering open borders. We both stand to gain more by peace right now I think. Will I get more trade gold for a Yuri city than I will for my own island cities?

2. I should switch to caste as soon as I think I can do so safely. If I ever can do it safely. That will let me pop borders in all my new cities, and produce a Great Scientist in (I think) 6 turns from The Nautilus without having to build the library.

3. Hinduism has spread to Dhalpir. If he starts sharing that himself, I should probably build the shrine. It might even be worth it to get the shrine up before an academy.

4. Interest in this game is dropping among the others. WhoSit is slowing the save and others have stopped updating. Hopefully they'll decide to relieve their boredom by declaring war on each other.

[Gazglum]

Cold wars suck.

Yuri keeps building soldiers, I keep matching him, but he won't declare. The trouble is, my population is a lot lower than Yuri so this is starting to eat into my economy with unit upkeep costs. I realised this turn I am already losing 9 gpt for my units. My economy is starting to nosedive, so I can't afford to keep that up. I could tech HBR and start building elephants to get more bang for my buck, but they cost almost twice as much as vultures for not much more strength.

I'm hoping Yuri will tire of this buildup too. He can take a border city, but unless he charges 10+ cavalry straight at my capital from the fog, he can't get more than that. My trireme makes it difficult for him to make it down the east. I've offered him open borders and cow for cow. Of course he could just take that then declare anyway, but that's kind of dickish. And scouting his lands would be useful. I assume he has spies in my territory, because he teched alphabet, but I have no secrets to be ashamed of.



My 10th city, The African Queen, cost me 10gpt in global maintenance, and gained me 14 gpt in trade routes, so it was worth building. One more New World city would probably be worth it too. But I can't afford to expand on my continent anymore, and the little cities there are dragging down the economy. But I need to keep expanding a bit, to grab as much of my share of the New World peacefully before Dhalpir does. Dhalpir also has 10 cities, so hopefully he has similar issues.

In the top of that shot you can see Vandal, where Yuri and I have a MExican standoff. There are two archers in it, and we each have an axeman waiting to pounce. He'll probably bring up a second axeman and take it, I think I'm too overstretched to offer much of a counter to that.

Where to from here? I think I have to forget about Yuri. If he attacks, he attacks, but I'm in danger of losing my own game through economic failure. I need a round of ziggurats, and to keep growing onto cottages in the south. If Yuri doesn't hurt me, I'll be in a much better position in 10 turns.

I'm saving money for now. If Yuri sends peaceful signals, I'm going to make a run for Civil Service. If not, I might take HBR. My biggest strategic danger is that Yuri takes machinery, because crossbows would chew me up. But he seems to be teching at the top of the tree for now, and I would have enough warning to start countering them.

Ilios is also teching the top of the tree, and I expect him to launch the Music golden age in a few turns.

GOOD NEWS

I will have the Colossus in 2 turns, I expect to win it. Colossus + great lighthouse = powerful midgame economy. Even if I don't get it, the fail gold will help me grab Civil Service in a few turns.

I have moved into 4th place for food, and don't expect to see 5th again. I'm still last in population, but should catch that up fairly soon as well.

[Gazglum]

Zzzzzz....

Since I have to go to work now, it'll be three days without a turn today. I'm not going to get many more turns before I leave at this pace.

[Gazglum]

Yuri won't be my friend! No open borders, and no cow for cow.

Well, two can play the zero-sum no friend game. I'm considering declaring war and taking out his seafood. If we're in a cold war anyway, it might be worth it to do some damage along the way rather than wait for him to come to me.

[Gazglum]

I'm at work, can't open the save, but nobody else is posting a I GOTZ THE COLOSSUS message so I am optimistic. Feel free to check the save Q, and ruin my day with some bad news.

[Gazglum]

Turn 83: The March of Glum

The Flying Dutchman has completed the naval double, as is fitting for my empire:



Somewhat to my surprise, things are looking kind of positive now. I can see a path where playing for third or even second becomes possible. But it would be a long slog, and rely on some good luck. Right now I still have the worst economy in the game, even with the Lighthouse and Colossus. And my beautiful island trade routes are less good than the international routes that Yuri has opened with WhoSit and Dhalpir. I keep hoping that Ilios will have teched alphabet, but nothing so far.

In the East, I am taking a gamble that will sink my economy further. I have found a superb New World site, one north of Dhalpir's archer in this picture:



Marble, crab, cow, fish, silk, sheep. Plus another canal, that would give my ships the ability to threaten DHalpir if needed. I have a settler 3 turns away, with vulture protection and an archer and missionary hurrying behind.

In the long term, this could cement control over the continent. But in the short term it will damage my economy, and if Dhalpir gets angry (it is closer to him than me, if only slightly), he could probably take it off me. But given my situtation I like the risky play, and it would be fun. If I do lose it, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Note that I Have found another hut! I think the only techs I can still pop are iron working and HBR, but both would be very welcome.

My second gamble is against Yuri. I declared war.



Offense is better than defense. Yuri has made his intentions pretty clear, and if we're just waiting around for a fight I'd rather it be on my terms. I have very limited aims - but just pillaging his fish at Milton Keynes is worth it to me. Plus it gives me visibility on his border at last. His city only has 2 catapults, a war elephant, an archer and a newly born great prophet in. No danger there. I know he has many more troops somewhere, but if he's split them like this then they can't be too dangerous. Next turn I will see if I can scout them in the fog near Cambridge.

I'm happy blockading him a bit and taking down his economy. I'd also be very happy with a white peace, because then I could safely switch to Caste System and pump out my own great person.

Yuri has seemed a lot more passive in the last 10 turns, and I know he is playing a bunch of other games st the same time. I suspect he may have lost a bit of interest. If so, I feel good about my long term chances against him, except I'm going away so it will rely so much on my successor!

So, I have 10 cities, the Great Lighthouse and the Colossus. If I can just keep growing, I'll at least have caught up to Dhalpir's tier in another 20 turns. I need more workers though.

Internationally, Yuri has a Gret Prophet (golden age coming up?) and Whosit an engineer (Mausoleum?). Yuri STILL doesn't have currency.

[NobleHelium]

You can only pop the first two columns' worth of techs in Krill's mod.

[Gazglum]

Yuri killed my trireme with his own at 32%. Poo. Still was the right decision to take out his fish and risk the reprisal. I'm moving a replacement up, though now he'll be + strength and more dangerous.

WhoSit used his engineer to get the MAusoleum. Starting to wonder if I really am doing better than him...

And thanks Noble! I got 24 gold, which is better than a spit in the eye from a rabid camel.

[Qgqqqqq]

I would definitely rather found the site on the hill, and try to get walls and defence up in there ASAP. As you say, it's a very powerful location, and we don't want to lose it. If he looks to be gunning for the area then I would avoid founding any cities on "his" coastline - 1N of the crab and 1S of the cow would both discourage aggression and prevent him from gaining access to a canel there.