[PB81] Dreylin vacations in the Isles

[Qgqqqqq]

I would say you can. Teleport tricks is more about deliberately positioning your own units to gain extra movement - the natural teleportation after war isn't part of it.

[Dreylin]

Thanks Q. I was thinking about it more and recalled it has definitely been done to me by Gav in PB78, so I was planning to default to assuming it would be acceptable.

[Dreylin]

T74 - War

Gira/Magic took the issue out of my hands by preemptively closing borders, so I went ahead and declared - they know it's coming, so no point pretending to have any illusions.



I have 2 Praets & an Axe outside L'Escala verses an Axe and Archer. If nothing is added then I might roll the dice rather than wait the turn for the next 2 Praets to arrive. LnH will whip the following Praet next turn bringing total to 6 on this front, plus the Chariot from GB.

On the Eastern front, things are a bit more strung out, with 2 Praets & Axe on the hill W of the Iron and another 2 behind on the Marble. 5th on  the Copper will be joined by a 6th via chop/whip from Skye and Eire's Chariot. I'm somewhat regretting the Granary build at Shetland, as that could be whipping a Praetorian this turn too.

I expect to make progress in the West while getting bogged down in the East, but we'll see how things shake out. The Scout in the SE is keeping an advanced eye on Lleida across the lake, while the Chariot had been scouting out West and got bumped adjacent to an incoming Barb Archer. Their Chariot is C1 so gets odds on mine, but not overwhelming by any means and would also pull it away from L'Escala if he pursues.

And now we wait ... that's easy, right?

Oh, and here's the Power graph:



I don't think I've generated a spike like this before, so hopefully I'm not about to waste it....

[Dreylin]

T75 - L'Escala

The city still held the Axe and Archer, but had been whipped so next turn there would be another unit there. Odds are 60-70% to take it with the 2Praet+Axe I have outside; that only goes up a bit next turn when the next pair of Praets arrive, so I decide to go for it. Axe defeats Praetorian as expected, but I get enough damage in that the Axe can clean up if the second Praetorian wins the 66% on the Archer...



Nice!

I decided to keep the city since it's not too far off my dotmap and I can blame Gira when everyone criticises it for being unable to build a Levee. There's a vulnerability to a Chariot counter-attack, but as you can see Gira used the Chariot nearby to take out my Chariot so that one at least is now out of range.

I'm going to push fairly aggressively on this front, the prize is Gira's Copper since for the flatland cities at least they are more effective than his PRO Archers.

[Dreylin]

T76 -

No counter-attack at L'Escala. Axe promotes C1 and Praetorian promotes CR1; both will heal for 1t and then advance to the Deer next turn along with 4 healthy Praetorians and a Chariot.

Lleida did not add a unit on the interturn, but was whipped this turn. Also one of the Axes moved 1N of the city; not sure what's up with that, but I wonder if it's looking for options to ambush a Praetorian in the open on the Wheat? I now have a Chariot entering the area that should put paid to that option. Over here I promoted one of the Warriors to a Spear and the other is lurking between Shetland and Skye to offer coverage.

Meanwhile GB & Eire are facing whip anger and starting to look beyond the war to the islands - getting a city over and connecting the Silver will help out with happiness and aid my finances. GB started a Worker last turn and will then grow to size 6 on another unit (WB?) and then 3-pop whip a Settler. Eire is finishing a Chariot and growing to size5, then will 2-pop whip a Galley.

[superdeath]

They may have taken me off the green island, but thanks for letting me live thru you. Little sad these arent AGG praets, but ill take the destruction in any form.

[Dreylin]

They may have taken me off the green island, but thanks for letting me live thru you. Little sad these arent AGG praets, but ill take the destruction in any form.

I'm also increasingly sad that these aren't AGG Praets, but then my intention to play a buildery game was undermined by the close quarters map.

Anyway, it looks like this rampage is coming to an end.

[Dreylin]

T78 - stalemate

Gira has done some nice work and accumulated more units than I expected in Lleida:



There's no way I can crack this without Catapults, so as anticipated this front is locking down troops for the other to make progress. Maybe. Things do look a bit better at Tarragona with only 2 Axes in the city, but that Worker finished a chop so it will be 3 next turn plus whatever else can be brought up. I go ahead and use the Chariot to capture the Worker, revealing another Worker covered by a Spear in the next forest.



I delete the Worker. If he uses the Spear to kill the Chariot, that's still a positive hammer exchange and the Spear can't reinforce the city for 2turns. Still 3 Axes means it's unlikely I can take the city in one turn and then the other Worker finishes that chop and I'm losing on the second round. I'll take another look at the numbers next turn (and maybe send in the first Praet to see if I get lucky), but it looks like I'll be retreating.

So I send Gira a Peace offer in exchange for Tarragona. I doubt he'll take it, and I really don't want the city - squashed as it will be by Barcelona - but I think it's worth the chance that he's interested so I don't think it hurts and maybe lays the groundwork for a white peace offer next turn.

And then on the interturn I get a PM from Xist to advise me that he has declared on me. I've been somewhat expecting it so have been keeping an eye on his borders for signs of movement, and not spotted any. You can see in the screenshot that Skye finished a Praet end of turn, and that I have chops prepped in Shetland and GB. I also have the 80g needed to upgrade a Warrior at either Skye or Eire. So whatever's coming, I think I should be able to put up a decent defense while withdrawing the troops from Giraflorens.

[Dreylin]

T79 - Bugger.



That's more than I'd expected, and is not going to be straightforward to deal with. Time to sound the retreat from Giraflorens; Chariot pillages the Road from the Gold tile (fortunately I'd already thought to pillage the Mine!) and then everything* moves back onto the Wheat where it can't be attacked. Actually, Xist had moved up a Scout in the forest E of my stack, so used a Praet to eliminate it. It will take a turn longer to return to active duty, but I think denying him info will make more of a difference than 1 additional unit.

In the West Gira did send the Spear to take out the Chariot (flawlessly), but the city is still not a 1-turn prospect and risky even over multiple turns. Everything moves back into the Deer forest and will concentrate on holding L'Escala. I offer Gira a white peace, which I hope but do not entirely expect them to accept.

So in the East it's time to build Axes, I guess:



(worked out where they came from)

Chop into GB, Dry whip at Eire and upgrade the Warrior. Shetland switches builds from Praet to Axe and finishes the Chop, while Skye will whip next turn. The fresh Worker from GB has moved to Road the direct route to Eire to give me more options; there are no 2-movers with Xist's stack so it'll be safe to finish next turn. The Worker that has just completed the chop S of GB will probably now add a Road to give me similar flexibility over here.

I think the plan has to be to retreat from Eire to give me time to accumulate a sufficient defensive force and buy time for the Southern force to get back into the zone and hopefully take a stand before he can take GB. I expect that he'll raze Eire rather trying to hold it, which would make me sad, but I don't see a way to prevent that at this point as any force I push into the city would be little more than a speedbump.

Ugh, this is increasing my hatred of Sumeria and also for the tight quarters on this map. I suppose I should have rolled up a Small Pangaea and assessed the space before the game since Tarkeel did say that was his plan, but I prefer to bask in the comforting thought that Tarkeel just likes to see me being rushed and there was nothing I could have done to stop it...

We're all losing to TBS' Pyramids/Colossus anyway though so I guess it doesn't matter too much.

[Dreylin]

Late change. It finally occurred to me (in the shower) that I'm only guaranteed 2 more turns with access to Horses and so I should probably put out a couple more Chariots for counter-attack flexibility. So I went back in and switched Skye to a Chariot that will be whipped next turn. I left Shetland on an Axe since it produces next turn and so has more time to get into position. I might also dry-whip a Chariot from Lewis 'n Harris next turn after it grows instead of the Praetorian.