Spoiler for Single-player PBEM - ROME

[General_W]

Got this reply from AutoTeller:

We can do that.

My scout went north, btw. You will run into my borders in not a long time.


My thoughts were that the jungle would make a natural border, though that
obviously depends on how much room you have to expand. Right now, I'm
planning on a city that will extend a bit into the jungle to my north
(several tiles east of Explorodus), and I'm thinking about a city on the
hill that Explorodus is standing on, or maybe 1 north, but that's as far as
north as I'm planning.

Would that conflict with where you are looking to expand?

Would you be interested in a way to share techs and, perhaps, pull off an
oracle slingshot? I don't know what that will look like - it would
probably mean you would have to forgo IW for awhile, which you wouldn't want
to do - but after BW/AH type techs, I could beeline priesthood while you
beeline alphabet and I could build Oracle, you trade me writing and we get
CoL out of it.

We'd have to work out a way to make the investment equitable, cause
writing/alphabet is a bigger burden than mysticism/meditation/priesthood.
But I make wonders fast and if you have marble you can trade me, I make it
even faster

Here's my scout:




My Capital grew:


which gives me the #1 city in the world ... for now!

 

[General_W]

Lot going on this turn!

My scout, Explorodus, caught sight of Ronnie1! (Khmer)


I sent him this [strangely familiar looking] letter:

Hail Ronnie1 of Khmer!

Well met – all of Rome salutes you.
Our scout "Explorodus" has climbed a hill in the jungles caught sight
of your fair Blue lands. We are thrilled to meet your people.

-------

Let me be transparent with you – I've got more skills at diplomacy
than I do at Civ (I'm currently getting pounded in another BtS pbem
game)… and some might even question the extent of my diplomacy skills

With Memphus lurking out there with his Quechua, I'm very nervous that
I won't live long enough to see my first Praetorian be produced. I
really need an ally badly.
I also confess I'm relieved to have met you before Memphus. Hopefully
that means he's not my closest neighbor.

Since we both have later coming UUs – I think we have a good
opportunity to help each other ensure we both live long enough to get
to play with them.

Any chance you're interested in cooperating and maybe even developing
a more alliance-type relationship as we see the game progress?

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

General_W, Rome.

The more friends the better, I figgure!
At least until I can figure out who's best to kill!


My Warrior, "Primus Fecundus" has found another hut!
Too bad it's not my scout! Oh well... I'll pop it next turn.



My capital, Imperium_W, is still the largest city in the world at 2 pop. The other person pulling in 5 food must be building a Worker or Workboat?
I continue working that 2 hammer forest grassland hill tile to speed production of my second warrior. Due next turn and plan to send him south. When Primus Fecundus hits the West coast, I'll turn him south for MP duty in my capital.

I plan to build a worker next.

on the other diplomacy front:
Got this from AutoTeller (China)

Hey - just so you know, I seem to be on a peninsula - I'd go north or east.

replied with this:

Thanks for the heads up!
Explorodus has already headed away North - in respect for your land's privacy.

I've marked the hill you described on my imperial maps, and intend to respect that location as belonging to the glorious Chinese Empire.

I'm not quite ready to commit to an Oracle Slingshot plan. I'm not opposed, mind you - but if I turn out to be near Memphus, I'm going to need to put more effort into military techs and may not have the luxury of going after religious techs.

Let's stay in contact though so we can continue to cooperate and build trust.
Would you like to try a formal non-aggression pact sort of thing? Maybe with some kind of timeline or else notification-of-intent to cancel clause?

Rome Salutes You,
General_W

Comments from the gallery?

 

[dutchfire]

Comments from the gallery?

I think you're well capable of handling your own diplo

 

[Theoden]

I have to agree with dutchfire on that one. Judging from your diplo work thus far, you're following the same diplo strategy that you/Epsilon used in the previous MTDG, which is no doubt a very solid strategy for games with 4+ players.

 

[General_W]

Overdue for an update here.

I got lucky on that hut pop, and turned out Animal Husbandry!


Not the most useful tech for me right now - but I'm not complaining!
It shows me that there are no horse resources handy. Being a glass-half-full kind of guy, I take that as good news, because I believe it makes it more likely I'll have the strategic resources I really need closer by.


I forgot to take shots last turn (14) - and it'll be a bit before I get to play the current turn (15).
But here's what I could see of the world North of Imperium_W:




And my 2nd Warrior is uncovering some good land to my south...


Makes me wonder if it might be worthwhile to actually settle on that Hill south of Imperium_W?
Normally I wouldn't do that - but on a small map that's already gotten bloody - having my cities close together might be a good advantage.

And a city on a hill there would not only act as a water canal - it would have that nice hill defense to protect my capital from attacks from the south.

Guess I need to see a little more of what's down there before I make the decision.
Any early thoughts?

 

[azzaman333]

Food is not a problem, with Corn and Clams, so I'd be trying to maximise hammer tiles for the city, to give it a little flexibility. So, if it were me, I'd settle on the grassland 1S of the hill. Plus, that way it'll have instant access to the corn and clams, rather than needing to whip a monument.

 

[dutchfire]

Yeah, I'd agree with settling 1S

 

[General_W]

Here's an updated shot of the South:



I could even settle on that plains tile, and still have a canal city. It would no longer serve as a blocker to my capital, but could be a good location for a Maoi Statues city?

Generally I prefer to settle on Plains over Grassland... is that a mistake?

Also - I'm still the only civ with a size 2 capital. This kind of surprises me on turn 15! What are the others doing? - still, I think it's good news for me.

 

[Viva_Chingon]

Grassland = 2 tiles overlap with capitol, 12 water tiles for moai.
Plains = 1 peak w/0 overlap, 12 tiles for moai.

Both would have instant access to resources...that's corn under your warrior, right?

I would go for the block / 2 tile overlap (grassland settle) and build a lighthouse after moai.

 

[Krill]

Question is do you move the warrior south to complete the picture about the plains city site, or do you just wander off to the west?

 

[General_W]

Thanks Viva! Glad to have you reading along here.

Here's an update on the South:
Turn 16:


Turn 17:


Killed the lion flawlessly, and got +5xp from the hut.
So my warrior will be getting 2 upgrades next turn!
Opinions on what to get?

Does the presence of Fish & Pigs alter anyone's thoughts on where I should settle?
Looks like I'll have 2 good city cites down here! Maybe I can have a little secret area to myself if it doesn't connect anywhere?


Up north, I popped a hunt and got another Scout.
Now I'm playing hide from the Lion on the forested hill.

 

[Theoden]

You should definately go for woodsman 1+2 for the warrior - makes exploration safer and much faster.

Regarding city sites, I'd probably settle on the grassland, because while the two options might be roughly equal on the economic potential, I think the strategic advantage of completely blocking off with your city is very useful in multiplayer. However, if the exploration of the warrior reveals that it's a dead end and that no threats would come from that direction I'd settle on the plains tile.

And the fish+pigs is definately nice - depending on what's in the fog, it should give you one or two good citi sites.

 

[General_W]

Code Red! Code Red! Time to panic!

I took the Woodsman II promotion - and moved two tiles to uncover the border of Memphus. Worst case scenario realized... he's my closest neighbor by far



If he had sent his explorers the other direction, I'd have been out first instead of Viva! Yikes... I was awfully close to death.

Now what do I do? Judging from his score, I think he's probably just recently gotten Bronze working... which means trying to make a mad run for his capital and hope it's undefended isn't probably going to work, his capital is now size two, which means he can whip out a Quecha.
But I could sweep in and try to find a worker or something?

Or I could try to talk nice to him in diplomacy and fall back to that forest hill and sit there with my Woodsman II unit fortified there as a serious impediment to coming after me.

My 1st Warrior (Primus Fecundus) will be back in my capital on Guard duty in 2 turns, so I'm not in any immediate danger.

Thoughts?

 

[azzaman333]

Copper will be your best defense, so unless there's nearby unclaimed Copper to the north, I'd settle the grassland tile NW of the clams as your 2nd city.

 

[dutchfire]

Well, good thing you can block that isthmus easily.

 

[General_W]

ok - some good news.
I discovered Bronze working on the inter-turn, and I have some VERY handy:



Whew! I feel much safer now.


I also got 3 letters from Memphus.
Here's the second two that have all the juicy stuff:

Hey Josh ~

This is game is shaping up perfectly! I was hoping to meet you after
Viva. You would be the 2nd best player from the lot from what I have
been able to figure out from forum posts.

As Such I am very interested in peace. I would be willing to accept any
time of agreement you came up with. For example Peace until 500AD then
up for renegotiation, or peace until education is discovered, etc. It
would be entirely up to you.

The way I see it is worst case scenario the two of us would be able to
AT & Ronnie if they were to form a mass alliance.

Judging by the time it took your warrior to get to my capital, I have to
assume that you were smart on a multiplier game and were the only one
who built a warrior first. (so this is your second warrior, your first
probably ran a circle route and is getting back to your capital so no
fear of quechas, I wouldn't risk it for a 22% battle). also He has 2
promos so you must have popped a hut as well with him congrats!
That does however make me a little vulnerable as you can see the area is
quite forested. I do have a worker in there on some flood plains.

As I trust you, to come up with some form of peace treaty, I will not
move him to evade a potential attack, instead I will let that be a sign
of my good faith. (if the forces of evil were to tempt you, the
Quecha's in my capital though might not be so be happy and would be
forced to retaliate.)

So I look forward to hearing from you to how we can work together.

Ah yes early plans for me. I know of this shiny bronze type metal which
my people have figured out how to form. Also there is rumor of a
religion out and about, but we are unsure if we should convert.

Sincerely,

Matthew Wheatley

Hey Josh ~

To my West is the coast line, and to the north is jungle.

So no doubt I am in the SW part of the map. I am sure there isn’t too much land below me.

While it might not seem like your best move for your promoted warrior, if he goes north for 4 turns he will come into this vast jungle expanse, followed by a desert, and then finally the ruins of an ancient civilization.

If he goes South around my capital he will find some pigs, fish, but ultimately a dead end as the culture of my wonderful civilization will cut him off.

That said if he misses his chance north now, by the time he goes south and returns our cultural influence will have expanded again thus cutting of his northern route.

The choice is yours

Here's my warrior's current position:


So - there's a TON to digest there.
It seems to me like he's hinting around that he's already founded a religion. I'll check the religion screen next turn. I didn't see any notices, but I didn't look that carefully last turn.
It also sounds like he has bronze working, but maybe not in his current cultural range.

In any case - it may be a ticket straight to second place, but I'm kind of inclined to do a peace deal with Memphus. Due to his position relative to me and the others, there's no way they can help me with a war. Perhaps once we get alphabet, I could arrange a tech alliance against Memphus to try to slow him down... but in the short term, I'm just not nearly as good of a player as Memphus, and am likely to get squashed if I go to early war against him.

I think my best plan might be to settle that grassland tile NW of the clams as the consensus here advocates, defend it with a few axeman - and go with the "trust but verify" approach for Memphus.

That'll free me to focus on expanding North. It sounds like I probably have better land available for expansion than he does.

Final note - it seems like some subterfuge that he was complaining about his start. I can see his farmed corn, and he says he has a floodplain (if he's working it, does that mean he's already got pottery? As a financial civ, he's going to be very dangerous with floodplains! ) + Bronzeworking, and now maybe a religion (makes sense, since he also started with Mysticism).

Or does the crowd here think it's a mistake to be peaceful? Should I have my worker hook up that copper next turn and try to beat the best player right out of the gate?

I think I'll respond with a peaceful letter here soon... unless someone really make a compelling argument.

 

[Viva_Chingon]

I, of course, would love to see Memphus crushed. But that might be selfish!

If I am correctly interpreting your diplomatic communication it appears as though Memphus is on the far side of the map with you and AT close to each other some distance away from Memphus. Have you found Ronnie yet?

If this is the case he might have a lot of land to expand into...as he mentioned, there is a destroyed civ to the north of his position. This, to me, seems to be the biggest problem for you...as well as AT and Ronnie. If he is allowed to expand there will be no stopping him later.

Lead him on -- create an alliance at home and, collectively, send your forces to destroy the Inca!

Memphus did point you in the direction of the destroyed site -- which, when found, would allow you to read my spoiler. I would scout that way anyway -- before his culture cuts you off, as he suggested. Also, it would give you an idea of the land into which he could expand!

 

[General_W]

I'll try to get screenshots with the next save - but here's the scoop:

I found Viva's former capital.
You had stone!!
So I took a look at your thread - that really stinks about the warrior auto-moving If you had fortified in the capital, you'd probably still be with us!

In any case, the murderous Quecha that killed Viva just showed up to the North of my borders. My warrior Primus Fecundus is safely fortified in my capital - but no matter, Memphus appears content to pass me by anyway.

We're on the verge of working out a deal. Here's the last e-mail I sent him:

Sorry for my delay in responding!

No worries about your workers safety. I appreciate your honesty and
openness- I'll be swinging my warrior around north, as you've
suggested.

lol - it's kinda eerie how you predicted my exact moves with my 2
warriors. But I guess if you play enough multiplayer games on a small
map you learn not to leave your capital undefended pretty quickly.

I'd certainly like a peace treaty with the great Incan peoples! I
think we can both prosper better togeather rather than fighting
eachother.
I'm going to give some more thought to the specifics of a peace treaty
and then write to you then!

All of Rome salutes you,
General_W

My Woodsman II warrior - "Mighty Arborus" climbed a hill and caught sight of Memphus' capital. He does, indeed, have the Buddhist holy city.

I'm 18 turns from Iron Working... but I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't put that on pause in favor of trying for Hinduism? There are NO early happy resources in sight, and an early religion might really help me.

With Memphus playing peaceful and copper right next to my capital, maybe I can afford the diversion?

Thoughts on finishing IW vs. going Myst->Poly ?

 

[azzaman333]

If you don't mind the EP bonus to Memphus, you could hope for Buddhism spreading to your cities. (I forget if the bonus applies to state religion or owning the holy city.)

Holy Cities are nice, but Praets are nicer. Especially if you don't see any copper for Memphus.

 

[General_W]

hmm - maybe I'll approach Memphus about spreading Buddhism to my lands. It'll give him an extra gpt, but only after he gets a Great Prophet. Which I'm sure will be high on his to-do list.

One of us will need writing for that though, right?

And I gotta tell you, I'm kinda freaked out about going to War with Memphus early. Praetorians are awesome... but axemen will still chew them up hammer for hammer.

I guess that's a worry for later though, I'll keep scouting Memphus' borders, and see where the Iron shows up in 18 turns...