[SPOILERS] Sandover(cre/spi) of Egypt

[Sandover]

Turn 136 - Voyage into the Unknown

Sandover,


Those same retreating man are now mere slaves of my noblemen, not fit for battles. More veteran soldiers have emerged to show those rookies the true meaning of war.


Caesar Amelia of Rome.

Amelia,

Maybe we can finally have ourselves a real battle then? Feel free to send your men across the border whenever you feel like it.

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Not much going on on the diplo front, as you can see.

Moogle calls an AP-vote to stop the war against him. I only have Buddhism in New Sandoria, one of my less awesome military producers, but I still don't feel like taking the happiness penalty from defying so I vote "no". That's mostly a symbolic gesture as Moogle has enough votes to pass pretty much whatever resulotion he want.



The big news of the turn was that MS Linda has been sent to explore the sea. Amelia has propably also realised there's at least one island out there since she's researching Astronomy. Naturally I cannot let that pass unchecked, but I want the benefits of Printing Press sooner rather than later so I won't follow that path just yet. I am, however, inclined to think that winning the settling race is more important than challenging Scooter's claiming Liberalism. It will definitly be more fun to say the least.

This the current teching priority, which is likely to change at any time:

1) Printing Press for boosted villages/towns.
2) Astronomy to stay ahead in the naval race.
3) The Statue of Liberty (the name of the tech slips my mind) since I'm extremely likely to spend two Merchants on Constitution no matter what I do.
4) Rifling for Rifles and Cavalry.
5) Education to force Scooter into Liberalism.

[T-hawk]

I'm extremely likely to spend two Merchants on Constitution no matter what I do.

It's usually better to spend Merchants on trade missions instead, which pay out considerably more gold than bulb beakers, plus you can apply the gold towards any tech rather than the lightbulb list. Or do you not have a feasible partner to cash in the trade mission?

[Jabah]

There is a page-break in between, but the reason was here.

It's usually better to spend Merchants on trade missions instead, which pay out considerably more gold than bulb beakers, plus you can apply the gold towards any tech rather than the lightbulb list. Or do you not have a feasible partner to cash in the trade mission?

- 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.

[Sandover]

Or do you not have a feasible partner to cash in the trade mission?

There's only a single city on the map where I can send them without having them killed before they get there, and that situation isn't likely to change anytime soon.

[Sandover]

Turn 137 - Peace in the East

I just got back from a church meeting in Bibracte, where we decided to end the war between the Egyptian and Celtic empires. Me and Timmy was opposed to the idea but that didn't matter much since Pope Brennus control more than 80% of the current votes. In fact, his personal advisor was standing on the side with a smug smile on his face during the entire voting process.

Joke's on them though, since the Celtic stack in Samba has actually grown stronger than the Egyptian 1st Army guarding that border.

Scooter is starting to become a problem. He's only two cities short compared to me, and has better land and therefore better teching. In Ethiopia there's cottages everywhere. In Egypt we consider lake tiles and riverside windmills mana from heaven.

Yes, I do have a massive production advantage. But that's offset by my, ahem, diplomatic endevours. Similarily, being ahead in score doesn't matter much when most of that extra is land score from controlling shitty tundra, plains and ice I don't even use. I'm getting the feeling this game is going to end with an Ethiopian space victory unless I can break out of this stalemate.

Here's the tech tree:



I marked the techs Scooter has that I don't (green). Based on this I think you're capable of figuring out what the yellow circle means on your own.

I have all techs in the earlier part of the tree. Scooter doesn't, but it's not a whole lot of beakers he's missing back there. He researched Replaceable Parts in what seemed like no time at all and is therefore only one tech away from having Rifles. I'm going to fall behind real fast if this continues, as his economy is more capable of growth than mine.

In other news, MS Linda has spotted Roman S.S Discovery:



You can see MS Pauline coming in from behind, so it's already 2:1 in naval power. I'm definitly looking to pick a fight here, though I'd like to get the Explorer offloaded first.

Also, I killed three more Roman Workers this turn. What's the deal with Roman leaders and their Workers?

Diplo messages:

Sandover,


Ah, but remember, sun tzu's art of war. Real soldiers win first then go to war. I plan to win first before steamrolling your pathetic cities to rubble.


Amelia.

Amelia,

Maybe you should focus less on pretending you can win this war and more on protecting your workers?

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Scooter,

Welcome to the party. I was wondering when those units would finally get here - I've been tracking them for ages!

I trust you're going to take charge of things on the other side of the fence now, aye? The incompetence of your friends is starting to bore me so it would surely make for a nice change of pace.

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

Come on guys, do something already!

[Sandover]

Sandover,


It's amusing to see you taunting, since I'm not the one who has managed to get almost the entire world in a war against him . You'd have the game locked up by now it wasn't for that!


I guess it's not too surprising that I'd try to prop up one of the many civs you are at war with, right? I think you are the one in a tight position, you've got a huge military costing huge maintenance and you don't know what to do with it, since there are no easy targets left. You also know full well you apparently don't have near the research capacity of your biggest rival... You're in a bit of trouble, right?


I'm not sweating... but I think you are


scooter

Finally a response that isn't just empty words. Good job Scooter.

Scooter,

The world is at war against me? Geesh, the world really need to get its act together then because the lackluster tactical abilities I've seen so far had me thinking it was just more of those free-kill barbarians. I actually thought there was some bug going on with the AI programing since I've had so many easy worker steals lately. Funny that.

I don't know what to do with my military? Heh. Moogle was generous enough to give me 10 turns of enforced peace so I know exactly what to do now when I can finally use my backup stack without risk. Do spread the word if you want, it's too late to stop it from happening anyway. Oh, and I guess I ought to give you thanks. I'm not entirely sure Moogle would've bought that whole invasion bluff without your help.

Good luck!

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

I decide to try another bluff. I figure the more I fail to deliver on my cockyness the more they are going to take me for a phony, which hopefully leads to them underestimating my real ability to fight this war. The best thing to do right now is probably to make myself look like something I'm not because what I am isn't getting me anywhere at this point. I'm actually starting to think that Scooter's pulling ahead in tech is a good thing, since that will make me look worse in comparison.

[Sandover]

An update is coming sometime during the day. First though, I decided to once again seek my enemies out for peace. It's obvious that my bluffing isn't luring them into making any troop movements, and honestly, this stalemate is only getting sillier by the minute.

Amelia & Timmy,

I don't see the point of this. Why exactly are you fighting this war against me? What is it that you hope to achieve, that you haven't already?

If you wanted to prevent me from running away with the game then kudos to you - Scooter is now kicking my butt in the tech race. Since he's only two cities short compared to me and has way better land (think grass cottages vs. lakes and windmills) he's bound to win a space victory sooner rather than later unless something is done about it. That I have 300 or so score points more than him due to (crappy) land and a bunch of wonders is something you can discard, right?

If you're after territorial gains then please stop being silly. You cannot launch a successful campaign against Egypt. My land may not be good for commerce, but it's awesome for production - and I have a lot of it. There's no point for you to try to win a war of mobilization. I know what I'm doing and have several stacks ready to waste your army as soon as it steps foot on my side of the border. The fact that I have complete visibility on Roman territory and can see your every move only adds insult to injury.

If you want to protect Celtica then you're being stupid. I want peace with Celtica, and never intended to push further east. Only reason I went to war on that front was because Advisor Moogle made it evident he doesn't share my peaceful desire. I really hope you're not forcing your nations to remain at war only because he somehow envision himself being able to challenge mighty Egypt?

If you fight on behalf of the defeated Chancellor then just forget about it. There was a point when I was willing to spare Germany but you didn't listen to me then and now it's too late. Deal with it.

If you want to restore the balance of (military) power then war isn't the way to go, since the combined might of the world isn't enough to bring me down. Sure, you hurt my economy a little due to unit support. But all of my army is at home, unlike yours, and I have the logistics on my side here. I can still tech very sufficiently, so you won't ever have more modern units than I do. Lets figure something else out, shall we?

My main point is that I think you should stop fighting Scooter's war for him, because no matter what your real goal is he's the only one who's actually in a position to benefit from all this. For the three of us, this stalemate isn't going to lead anywhere good. Let me know what it is that you want and maybe we can figure something out.

Pharaoh Sandover of Egypt

[Sandover]

Turns 138 & 139 - The Discovery of Teemo Island

Remember how I sniped three Workers before the recent mini-break? That move left a Knight on White Hill (the hill north of White Forest, figured it needed a name with all the action going on there). Amelia killed that Knight with a lone Pikeman. It's too bad I didn't anticipate that move, because then I could have killed it for some xp toward my next Great General.



Oh wait, I did anticipate it! And I get to kill yet another Worker.

Needless to say, the Pike dies to my Mace (flawless kill) and I delete the Worker. That's eight Workers lost for Rome during this war. My Pike and Musket join him on the hill, with the goal of forcing a Catapults assault to dislodge them (at this point I'm one xp short of a GG).

Amelia throws three Catapults at the hill - all die. She also lose an Axe retaking the hill, leaving a badly injured Spear occupying it - which I don't care about.

I lost 1 Knight, 1 Musket, 1 Mace and 1 Pike during this mission, killing 3 Catapults, 2 Workers, 1 Sentry Chariot and 1 Axe. None of my units had much (if anything) in terms of promotions, and I did get that GG needed for quad-promo units out of Satet once I build West Point, so I'm happy with the result. I could also have a stab at a Woodsman medic (remember that Axe from my German campaign?) but with three medics already employed I have no real need for it.

The negative aspect of my harrassing is that Amelia also got a GG. It was born in Black Mesa, and I couldn't find it anywhere this turn, so I'm pretty sure it was used for a military instructor in that city.



The mission of exploration into the deeper waters has turned out to be an outstanding success! Rome is likely to finish Astronomy two turns ahead of me, but even if there's a Galleon slaved I should win this settling race since by then I'll have 6 or so Caravels ready to sink it.

MS Linda is currently in pursuit of SS Discovery while MS Pauline is moving in south of the island to cut off that escape route.



Amelia is moving in the Explorer far in the west. I figure it's an attempt to gain visibility on Combine Minor, though it could also be a move made just in fear of an invasion from that direction. Either way I zone it out with a couple of units and consider that done with.

I have the city screens of the four Roman border cities now. Wanna see them?






A few noteworthy points:

- If you stop giving your Workers away you might actually be able to work improved tiles.
- NLO has a border pop coming, which is likely to retake the hill 1NE of the city. Might be for the better, as then I could launch a surprise attack on the city using my Great Artist. Maybe.
- Base production of Lighthouse Point is 19. Soothsayer Port is at 26, and will soon be aided in naval production by still-growing Weird River.

Also, Timmy now has an Artist of his own. Need to watch out for that.

[Sandover]

Forgot to say that I got a third(!) Great Merchant out of Sandoria upon ending turn. Two of them will be used on Constitution, and the remaining one will finish off most of Replaceable Parts that I'm likely to research after Astronomy. Then it's onto either Rifling, Education or Diplomacy.

[Rowain]

Can't you use him in Celtic land? Thought you made peace with him.