SGOTM 10 - Smurkz

Pre-Turn; 350 BC;
Make peace with Sumeria forr all their gold (8)
Trade Chemistry to Byzantines for Dyes, Astronomy and all their gold (25 + 39pt)
Trade Astronomy and Chemistry to Maya for all their gold (98 + 23pt)
Trade Chemistry to Netherlands for all their gold (7)
Move as many units into Sumer to try and quell the resistance to rush a settler.
Change Readingz to settler.

IBT Turn;
Barbarians complete Sistene Chapel in Chanca.
2 Pirate Ships and a Caravel turn up outside Smurkz End.


I'm stopping here to ask a couple of questions.
Have we had any Pirates come down here before?
What landing spots have the barbarians used in the past? (i remember it being mentioned somewhere)
What do you think of the settling points? (marked with red)

2 screenshots, 1 of the pirates, 1 of the settling locs.





EDIT: According to Mapstat, there is a higher chance Kish (3%-6.2%) will flip than Sumer (2%-5%).

Double EDIT: Probably because of the 6 garrisoned temp in Sumer. Which begs the question, why are we not abandoning and replacing Kish?

Just for information: After 3 weeks of free time, I am not available again until Wednesday. So I have to skip despite the large amount of spare time I've had. But anyhow I did a turnset in CIV. So - best wishes from me and see you Wednesday. Go, Get those superbarbs

azzaman333 said:

Have we had any Pirates come down here before?
What landing spots have the barbarians used in the past? (i remember it being mentioned somewhere)

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Ouch, that's not nice . Can you get some troops to the area in time? Otherwise, maybe cashrush some?

What do you think of the settling points? (marked with red)

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I like the rightmost one. On a river, lots of food and production, and once we get a library it will have no culture pressure.
I would move the other one 1 tile W or SW, to get on the coast. I think we do not need the wines.

EDIT: According to Mapstat, there is a higher chance Kish (3%-6.2%) will flip than Sumer (2%-5%).

Double EDIT: Probably because of the 6 garrisoned temp in Sumer. Which begs the question, why are we not abandoning and replacing Kish?

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You are right, we should perhaps raze-replace Kish as well, or suppress flips by stationing a garrison. How many troops would be needed to make it flipfree?

Potential Landing
This is the first time barb ships have come from the NW. Previously they landed troops on the East Coast


It looks like you have a knight due on the IBT and another heading that way from the capitol. With the Trebuchet due next turn you will hopefully have enough to kill the landing party. Question would be, do we rush an extra just in case.

Razing cities
I think we did talk about razing both Sumer and Kish. Sumer needs 99units to prevent flipping. Kish needs 44. I'm not sure we want to have a bunch of troops in Sumer incase it flips. Having settled for peace, we won't be able to retake it without killing our rep. We need a settler in place ASAP so that we can raze it. I agree that the first replacement should be the western dot if not on Sumer itself. Where Sumer sits now is out of reach from Ur's radius and it keeps the wine. There are plenty of hills so losing one doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. My vote is to refound Sumer where it stands.

Kish is a bigger problem to relocate. To get out of Agade's radius it would need to move S, off the coast or 2SE onto the wines. Neither is a good option. I dread losing the coast more than the extra food from the wines because we're going to need ports for our invasion fleets. It may be OK to have the one tile overlap that would be left when moving 1SE. The flip risk should be quelled with just a few units if there are no foreigners and only one tile of overlap. My vote is to refound Kish 1SE and garrison it to prevent flips.

Keep in mind that there were three settler pairs in Ur during the war. My guess is they are all heading NE, but if you raze Sumer without the settler to replace it, they may resettle it quickly.

I too think we should refound Sumer on the spot, that will bring in the most tiles in range for Smurkingz and Readingz. Resettling Kish as well is a good idea, and 1SE seems the best location.

Those barbies are a problem. The three ships can carry up to 5 units, do we have that many troops to counter with?

We are getting 2 knights in 2 turns, not including Smurkz Rockz, near the ships.

We seem to have limited options regarding the pirates. We've rushed a knight at Smurkz Rocks! so now we have some defense on the peninsula. The pirate ships will move before it is created, so we will be reacting to their moves, not preventing them.

What we don't want to lose are workers. We have seven workers and two slaves on the peninsula, from Rocks! to End. Some are very exposed. Can they be moved?

Nasty thought: what if the Reds capture a city? Not pillage, but capture?

azzaman333 said:

We are getting 2 knights in 2 turns, not including Smurkz Rockz, near the ships.

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That sounds like they will be too late. I guess you could rush MDI's from Smurkz End and Smurkzmouth? Together with the Treb and Knight that are finishing already, that might be enough...

If the Red ships have only foot units, we can rush the maces on the peninsula and defend our cities for a bit, allowing knights to come and beat down the invaders.

If the Red ships have Conquistadors, a 3/2/2 unit, well...I think we will lose one city, either End and Mouth, possibly both, this turn.

A human player would take both cities, knowing that it will take several turns for a counterattack. An AI, on the other hand, may just capture workers.

Regardless, we need to rush some military in End and Mouth, and hope those cities are not captured on the IBT.

EDIT:
In 310 AD the pirates dropped off foot units, an LB and Knight, so my fears of Conquistadors may be exaggarated.

I cant play the rest of my turns for another 2-3 hours, so i will play then.

I am not sure they will unload up on the peninsular. I have seen AI's wander down the coast many times, for no good reason.

*sigh*

I've lost my Conquests disk.

I've attached the save incase i cant find it within a reasonable time. Sorry

EDIT: I attached the save to the previous post, must've misclicked.

azzaman333 said:

I've lost my Conquests disk.

I've attached the save incase i cant find it within a reasonable time.

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Ouch! Thats no fun. I remember how upset I was when I installed C3C and then vanilla didn't work (when it did with PTW!). I can just imagine how frustrated you are.

It might be better to upload your save through the SGOTM submission page and then link to that save file than just attaching it to a post. That way the moderators have a record of the game status when your turn(s) ended, even if it was only a partial turn.

I just did that, so HERE it is.

Roster:

• Niklas
• McLMan
• CommandoBob
• zyxy
• ControlFreak - Just Played
• azzaman333 - UP! but on hold, looking for Conquests disc
• Marc Aurel - On Deck!

The biggest threat to an SG is inactivity. As Marc Aurel implied, it's been a long time since the game was forwarded. I'm not sure what the recommended waiting time is to find the disk. My preference would be to have Niklas pickup the game until azzaman finds his disk and/or Marc Aurel comes back Wednesday. Niklas, if you can't play, post the roster as you see fit.

I'm not intentionally punishing azzaman. Sorry about losing your CD, and I do wish there was a no-CD option for C3C, but we need to move a little or risk losing the team's interest.

Regarding the pirates and Caravell, I'm not sure that the AI knows to load units into the pirate ships. I would think the most that we would face is 2-3knights.

Good points, and sorry for not doing my job . I've "got it", and I'll find time to play tomorrow.

• Niklas - UP!
• McLMan
• CommandoBob
• zyxy
• ControlFreak - Just Played
• azzaman333 - On Deck! and looking for disks
• Marc Aurel

‘Land Ho!’ cried Niklas and pointed. ‘Two points off the starboard bow and three leagues downwind.’

‘Huh!’ asked Marc Aurel.

‘He means over-that-a-way,’ said zyxy helpfully. ‘And not too far, either.’

‘But not close enough,’ said the skinniest aboard the boat. ‘You there,’ pointing to Marc, McLMan, azzaman333 and CommandoBob, ‘grab oars and start to paddle. I want to be on dry land by noon.’

Slowly the men paddled and by noon the boat was beached on the coast and the seven people had climbed atop of a near by hill. By nightfall they had made crude shelters and started a fire.

As they huddled around the campfire all were silent. The wrath of the thin one was still in flames and no one wanted to be burned. Again.

‘We must know what happened,’ said Niklas. ‘We are your closest and most trusted friends. We cannot help you if you do not reveal what the events of that night.’

The person spoken to was still mad and reluctant to speak, but knew the time had come to speak.

‘I am Elizabeth of England,’ said the person and paused.

<OK,> thought azzaman333, <we have a name. Finally. So what?>

<Elizabeth. Elizabeth? That&#8217;s a strange name for a dude.> thought McLMan.

&#8216;I am a woman,&#8217; said Elizabeth.

&#8216;You are? I mean, yes, I see that you are,&#8217; said CommandoBob, jumping to his feet. &#8216;Well, I mean I take your word that you&#8217;re a woman &#8216;cause I don&#8217;t see any of the obvious outward physical manifestations that are normally associated with womanhood and I didn&#8217;t knooow uh ah oops I think I&#8217;ll go off and die now.&#8217;

&#8216;Please forgive him,&#8217; said Niklas quickly. &#8216;He has not been himself lately&#8230;&#8217;

&#8216;There is nothing to forgive,&#8217; replied Elizabeth with a hint of a smile in her voice. &#8216;He speaks the truth but intends no hurt. And while I do not lack the outward physical manifestations of womanhood, as he puts it, they do exist, even if they are less prominent on me than upon others of my sex. I assure you I am fully woman.&#8217;

<Well, that explains all the nasty, cutting remarks on the boat,> thought McLMan. <Just a woman being a woman.>

&#8216;Y-y-yes, I&#8217;m sure,&#8217; stuttered the relieved CommandoBob. &#8216;I did not mean to call that into question. But if I may be permitted, has someone else been less kind than I in describing thy womanhood?&#8217;

Quick as a flash Elizabeth was standing next to CommandoBob, &#8216;What do you mean by that?&#8217; she asked in angry, tense voice.

&#8216;I mean that if some lowly cur has caused thee pain by mocking thy petite breasts I would consider it an honor, a duty and a privilege to visit death and destruction upon such a person.&#8217;

&#8216;You would?&#8217; she replied in a small, shocked and yet pleased voice.

&#8216;And I!&#8217; exclaimed Marc Aurel, thinking <clever, little brown noser>.

&#8216;I also,&#8217; declared Niklas.

&#8216;Me, too!&#8217; &#8216;I&#8217;d love to help!&#8217; &#8216;Count me in.&#8217;

&#8216;Well, since you have all been so gallant, without even knowing transpired, I must tell you,&#8217; said Elizabeth. &#8216;Dr. Evil, of the Barbarian Nation, had indicated that he had seen my picture and wanted to meet me and marry me. I know that is a very strange tale, but my father had done the same thing, much to his regret. I did not know which picture he had and knew I would look less than any picture of me. Yet I went. I was blindfolded most of the way and know not whence way we went. When we arrived a great feast was prepared and I met Dr. Evil and his friend of sorts, a man-like creature with a soft, high voice called Michael Jackson. The repast was fine and I retired to my lodgings a great while later. As I was changing into my night clothes Dr. Evil came bursting into the room. He stopped with a shocked look on his face and pointed at me and asked &#8216;What are those?&#8217; And before I could reply he cried, &#8216;You&#8217;re a girl! Nooo! And I thought I liked you!&#8217; Now he became wroth and began calling for his minions to lay hands upon me and take me away posthaste, which they did. Blindfolded, they led me away, partially clothed and threw me into the sea. The next thing I know I am in thy boat and at thy mercy and that we came hither hence. And now you know the tale.&#8217;

<Sounds fishy to me,> thought Niklas, <but after pandering to that wimpy Gandhi for over half a year, I&#8217;m ready to crack some skulls.>

<English! She&#8217;s one of my people. Let&#8217;s help her out and beat the living snot out of this Dr. Evil guy,> thought zyxy.

<Now what have I done?> CommandoBob asked himself. <I royally stuck my foot in my mouth and in trying to remove it I have just pledged to fight to the death for Lizzie the Flat-Chested and her Bumps of Honor!>

Slowly CommandoBob looked at McLMan, azzaman333 and Marc Aurel and measured the strength and resolve in their eyes. He turned to zyxy and saw the rage in his cheeks. He eyed Niklas and saw him give his head a small nod. Lastly he turned to face Elizabeth and saw the anger and hurt in her eyes.

&#8216;My queen,&#8217; he said heavily, dropping to one knee, &#8216;we are Team Smurkz. We will avenge thee.&#8217;

Only bad news I'm afraid. I've really tried, but I couldn't play anything today (which incidentally is my first day at work after vacation...). I had brought the save with me on my laptop in order to play on the bus or during lunch, but I forgot the CD at home...

I will play tomorrow during the day (as long as I remember that disk...). sorry

With all the CD problems we're having it has caused me to double check. Yep, CIV in one, C3C in the other. I thought about taking them out and hiding them, but decided I'd forget where I put them with the way our luck is running.

Great story CB. I'm hoping the "gift of gab" that you guys have will wear off on me some.

I don't have anything new to add regarding the dirction of our game. I can only agree with the plans as laid out in the previous posts (the ones that don't mention discs).

This is getting ridiculous! I've brought the game with me, got the CD, but I can't load the save!! Keep getting "DataIO operation System Error: LEAD" messages. I've reinstalled the game, redownloaded the save, but to no avail.

What this means is that I can't play on my laptop, and I don't think I can find the time once I get home. This in turn means that the game is more or less up for grabs at this point. We must get the game going again. If azza has found his CD, go ahead and play. Otherwise, whoever feels he has the time to play, please do so (but post a got it first so we don't play in parallel).