RBP5 - Defiant Nationalists of Japan

[Charis]

Wow! That was just about as bad as things could possibly have gotten! Tis the nature of the variant, not anything bad on Arathorn's part. Sluggish bowmen and arrogant Mao. Why on earth does the AI get so bent out of shape when asked to leave anyway?? I hope it's not as simple (and as stupid) as

if (my_power > your_power) and (you_boot_me) then DeclareWar()

Things were just looking too good, weren't they? If Mao was a little calmer, they probably would be. Alas, this is going to be a snowball that may just bring us more pain than we've ever seen. As we lose cities and become more tribute-bait, we could end up at war with everyone (especially since no alliances). We can't pay for peace either, so there's no backing down, we'll need to actively counterattack. Then even if we bring them to peace, if say CHINA takes a detour and walks all over our land, we'll get booted back into war.

Just wanted to amplify the gravity of the situation
Of course it's far from over. Right???

Arathorn
Architect << UP
cpp1 << on deck
Charis
Jaxom

Boy Architect, do you have your work cut out for you! Good luck!!
Charis

 

[cpp1]

The Japanese world in 650BC. From Arathorn's notes, I'd say we're in deep dodo here. A couple of comments:

I wonder if our big treasury had something to do with the tribute request from the Chinese. Usually its nice to have a lot of gold stored up, but in this game I'm beginning to wonder.

Normally when being attacked on Deity you'd either hold out for 6-7 turns and sue for peace, or sign up allies to distract them. Here neither is possible because we can't pay anything for peace and we can't sign up allies (by our variant rules).

I think our best hope is that other civs realize that China is exposing its other end to them and they jump into the mix.

 

[Architect]

I got it. I'm up in two games now so give me a few to get them both done. Hopefully tonight.

 

[Architect]

650BC(0) - Not much to change. I spend 32 gold to get a horseman from Kyoto next turn.

IT: Babs raze Shurappak to the ground. They must die now. We get currency from the GL.

630BC(1) - Shuffling troops around.

610BC(2) - We attack some units and manage to kill a bowman and an archer without losing anything but two horsemen goto 1 hp. I rush 2 swordsman this turn and we are down to 8 gold with 3 swordsman due next turn. China has 3 swordsman poised to enter our lands and babs have 4 troops - 2 bowman, 1 swordsman, and 1 spearman. I veto barracks in kagoshima for a spearman.

590BC(3) - We lose 3 swordsman attacking a single swordsman in the jungle. The chinese will talk to us but want something for peace so we press on.

IT: We lose a spearman and swordsman to the chinese.

570BC(4) - There are now 9 offensive units attacking from china and 10 from babylon. I attack with a swordsman into plains and lose to a bowman. I attack with an archer against a bowman in the plains and lose. I finally win one but damage our swordsman down to 1hp. 2 horseman lose against a bowman in the open field.

IT: Our war happiness disappears and kyoto goes into disorder.

550BC(5) - There is nothing to do at this point. My men have executed me for poor leadership.

With no way to make peace without concessions we will never get ahead of the game. Plus, my RNG luck isn't helping.

550BC

 

[barron of ideas]

Perhaps this defiant nationalism works better when you are on an island?

 

[cpp1]

Got it

I am guessing that Architect is handing it off after 5 turns. I'll play either 5 or 15 turns, depending on how things go, to even things up (assuming we last that long).

I haven't looked at the situation yet, but from the report and the screenshot, this looks like the worst situation I have ever seen in an SG game. We're in intensive care with the ventilator pumping away in this game.

 

[Charis]

cpp hopped in there quick. I saw the report and didn't want to subject anyone else to that torture, so I was going to do the captain with his ship thing. I should have posted here first but didn't think it would take more than a few minutes

You got da got, do what you can if anything, but Architect's assessment is correct, don't worry about the results.

Charis

 

[Sirian]

I am reminded of playing Epic 12. Hey, you win some, and... :arrow:



The barron may be right. This could be too many hogtying vectors for a pangaea. Fewer neighbors might give you a better shot at avoiding early annihilation. This concept might be hard enough to manage on Emperor, even, on a Pangaea.


- Sirian

 

[cpp1]

I kind of enjoy playing these type of situations where every move has to be carefully thought out,
and even then cities can be lost on a bad streak of luck.

I've looked at the situation and it's really bad. We have 2 warriors, 3 archers, 6 spear,
and 3 sword (total 14). And its not like the're all in one stack ready to fight together, they're
all scattered among our 7 cities. There are 11 bab troops and 14 Chinese troops attacking and
those are just the ones I can see.

I call all the generals together for a briefing.

All right men, I want to lay out our strategy. There are 3 operations we are going to undertake.

"First is Operation Gold. We are going to lay our hands on every gold piece in the known world,
except for the Babs and the Chinese, who won't donate anything. We need this gold to train troops.
Our diplomats our going to handle this end of things."

"Next is Operation Pillage." The generals wake up, this is something they can understand. Pillage
enemy fields and mines to weaken them. However some look puzzled, knowing we don't even have the
troops to defend our home cities. One asks, "Sire, which troops are going out to pillage, and
where do they pillage", thinking these troops will be lucky just to get to where they can pillage.
"It doesn't matter, just pick a troop that's not busy at the moment. As to where, after carefully
studying the map, I think the tile due N of Kyoto will do nicely."

A gasp echoes around the room. "But sire, that is pillaging our own tile." Yes it is, we are
going put 3 workers and a troop of something on the tile and pillage and re-road it every turn.
Some generals mutter about goverment work programs in the middle of a crisis, and maybe they
should just execute the current leader on the spot and get it over with.

After some time the room calms down and Operation River Bank is introduced. "Where ever the
enemy can attack across the river, we will put troops on our side of the river and fortify there.
There is to be no attacking of enemy troops unless we have a clear advantage, let them impale
themselves on our spears and swords." The generals smiled since this is the one Operation that
makes sense to them.

The President was last heard discussing Operation Wall with his aids, an initiative to get every
frontline city with either walls, or up to size 7 or higher.

 

[JMB]

Good Luck cpp1!

JMB

PS - could you explain why you want to pillage the tile to the N of Kyoto to me? (for luring enemy troops?)

 

[Arathorn]

Good luck, cpp1. I hope you can hold on for a while. Charis, I know you're the captain, but we're all on this ship. If it gets to you and you get through your turns, pass it on. I'll keep firing shots, too, as long as I can draw breath. NO SURRENDER! I say we play it out the bitterest end.

Arathorn

P.S. Pillaging to cut off iron so we can build a warrior/turn? ???

 

[cpp1]

You got it Arathorn. Its kind of a gimmick, but by pillaging and re-roading each turn, we can build a warrior a turn in Kyoto and a warrior every 2 turns in Edo. They then require 40g to upgrade to swords, which is why we need every penny. That's more efficient than normal rushing.

This situation reminds me of the story of the king and a convicted thief on death row. The king, being very fond of his horse, says to the thief, "If you can make my horse talk in one year, I'll set you free, otherwise I'll execute you". The thief says "I accept your offer." Later, when asked whether he thought he could make the horse talk, he said "Of course not, but in a year many things can happen. I could die, the king could die, the horse could die, or the horse might even learn to talk."

It looks hopeless, but we will never surrender, and who knows, what might happen. I probably will post tomorrow morning because I want to move carefully.

 

[Skyfish]

The Lurkers are 100% behind you guys !

Sirian is reminded of Epic 12 , I am reminded of RBE2 and the many times that game was threatened and looked hopeless...

HOLD ON STRONG !
:slay:

 

[cpp1]

Summary:

This is probably the hairiest 5 turns I have ever played. After my
preturn, the Babs made a determined attack on Osaka and killed 2 spear.
We had only 1 sword left there, and he had only 1hp. If Osaka goes,
we lose our iron, our link to Satsuma (with the Great library), and
the game. So I would say this game was hanging by 1hp.

They also killed 1 archer and 1 sword in an across-the-river attack,
without losing anything. Altogether, thats 4 of 14 troops (28%) killed
on the first between turns action. That's not 28% of an attacking stack
or a cities defenders, that's 28% of our entire military gone in 2 AI
attacks in the first between turns action.

Lux is at 40% due to WW. I think it might be prudent to change into
Monarchy (I don't think Despotism will support Kyoto and Edo) when
you get a chance (hehe).

I have just made peace with the Babs (470BC). I regard this as a temporary
cease fire to build up our strength before we destroy them. They razed
one of our cities (Shurr???) so we have no choice. They should start
moving out of our territory (I hope!).

Militarily, we're at the edge of disaster. "Thin" doesn't begin to
describe our defences. The only reason we're still here is because
we have iron to upgrade, the GL for tech, and are scraping together
every cent we can beg, borrow, or steal for upgrades.

The Chinese are still coming hot and heavy for Edo. The sword down there
can be upgraded next turn. Be careful on attacks, we just don't have
many units to lose.

Operation Pillage turned out to be a bust. Early I had NO troops to pillage
with. Later the timing didn't work out and after Feudalism came along it
was too expensive. Better to have Kyoto and Edo build real troops and save
the money for upgrades of existing troops.

I would urge any leaders to found cities on hills where ever possible. The
combo of hills and walls is powerful.

Preturn 550BC:

I look at the diplo situation.

Russia: even tech, 2g, wants iron (no way), at war with America
America: -mono, 6g, can only pay 6g and WM for mono, at war with Russia.
Korea: even tech, 13g, wants horses (yeah!), can pay WM + 13g + 7gpt
Mongols: -Curr, -Constr, -Republic, 1g, can only pay 1g + WM
Egypt: -mono, 16g, will pay 16g + WM for mono
Bab: refuse to talk
China: even tech, 85g, doubtful on peace

I make the following dubious trades, most I wouldn't normally do but
we need every cent.

Mono to America for 6g + WM
WM to Russia for 2g + WM
Horses to Korea for WM + 7gpt + 13g
(not needed for samurai and we have an extra)
WM to Mongols for WM + 1g
WM to Egypt for WM + 5g
Mono to Egypt for 11g

That's it, everyone is cleaned out of gold except Babs and China.
We end up with 74g and 24gpt after boosting lux to 20% for Kyoto.

Settler in Tokyo moves out while the moving is good, going to Edo.
(Tokyo could fall next turn).

Switch from spear in 6 at Tokyo to walls in 1.
Switch from sword in 6 at Osaka to walls in 1.
Switch from barrack in 4 at Satsuma to walls in 1.

Move 1hp vet sword and 4hp elite archer into Osaka from iron Mt for healing + defense.

Move elite spear from Osaka onto iron Mt. If that iron is
taken we are dead.

Move 2 spear from Kyoto to Osaka. Have to hold the city for iron
and for the link to Satsuma where the Great Library is.

Move warrior from Kagoshima to Kyoto for upgrade next turn.
Move warrior from Pisces to Kagoshima for upgrade later.

Galley peeks into Nanking and Nagoya. Reg spear guarding both.
At least there's no vet swords in there coming my way.

Edo and Pisces are left unguarded this turn.

(I)

We lose 2 spear in Osaka. We also lose 1 sword and 1 archer
south of Kyoto in an across the river attack. Did not win a single
battle. Bad RNG luck.

China building Sun Tzu.
Tokyo, Osaka, and Satsuma build walls.
Pisces build sword.

530BC:

We're down to 10 troops now. 1 warrior, 1 archer, 4 spear, 4 sword.
Can you believe fighting the world superpower and another civ on Deity
with only 10 troops?

Now there is a 1hp vet sword guarding Osaka, alone, facing 4 swords and 3 bowman.

Upgrade a warrior in Kyoto.
Sword at Pisces moves toward Kyoto.
Warrior at Kagoshima moves into Kyoto.
Operation Pillage is on hold, no extra troop to pillage with!
Vet sword from Kyoto kills China sword south of Kyoto. The only battle won so far.
Settler moves next to Edo, will merge into Edo next turn.
Vet spear moves from iron Mt to Osaka, leaving just elite spear to guard Mt.
Elite spear moves from Satsuma to Osaka, leaving nothing at Satsuma.
Move elite archer from Tokyo towards Kyoto.

Sell WM around for 5g

I send 2 workers off to Pisces to start mining iron in case we lose iron Mt.
Galley peeks in again, still no vet swords at Nagoya or Nanking.

(I)

Kill 3 Babs at Osaka and it holds.
Kill 1 Chinese at Tokyo, but next one captures Tokyo.
We master feudalism.
Babs start Sun Tzu.
Bab spear pillages our horses near Osaka.

510BC:

Sell WM around for 1g
"Close to a deal" for peace with Babs
China is insulted by peace deal.

I merge settler into Edo, now size 7.
Upgrade 2 spear in Osaka to pikes.
Upgrade sword in Kyoto to MDI.

(I)

America and Russia signed a peace treaty.
China and Babs moved around but no attacks.
Edo builds pike.
Kyoto builds MDI.

490BC:

MM Kyoto and Edo so Kyoto is at 15spt and Edo at 10spt.
This gets a pike in 2 turns at Kyoto and 3 turns at Edo.

I send a pike and MDI from Osaka to Satsuma. Satsuma is currently
undefended and there's a spear and sword right next to it. My pike
and MDI wave at the Babs as they pass by on the road.

The spear on iron MT comes in for an upgrade, the pike at Osaka takes
up iron Mt duties. The northern army consists of 3 pikes and 1 MDI
and is responsible for irom Mt, Osaka, and Satsuma.

If I can get 12g more, I can upgrade the spear and a sword this turn.
Pass around the WM for 4g.
Sell Feudalism to Egypt for 15g + WM
I upgrade the spear at Osaka to a pike and an elite sword in Kyoto to MDI.

A reg MDI from Kyoto attacks the Bab spear that pillaged the horses and
barely wins with 1hp left.

(I)
No attacks by Babs or China.
Russia, Egypt, and Korea are building Sun Tzu.

470BC:

Our vet MDI from Satsuma attacked a Bab spear + sword stack and won with
no losses, promoting to elite.

I decide to move the workers from the forest so they won't be captured
by the archer across the river. They should move back ASAP and complete
a road there so troops can make it from Kyoto to Edo in one turn.

I check the rules on peace. The Babs have razed Shurr??? a city Arathorn
got, so can we make peace with them. I decide its OK, as long as we regard
it as a temporary cease fire, to build up strength to destroy the Babs.

I make peace with the Babs and we exchange WMs as part of the deal. I sell
his WM to America for 1g, that's all anyone will pay. Every cent counts.

Comments:

I sent workers to hook up the iron at Pisces as a backup source. There's
another worker at Satsuma doing general improvement.

There is a stack of workers near Edo trying to road a forest that will let
troops get from Kyoto to Edo in 1 turn. They were chased off last turn, but
try to get them back ASAP to complete that road.

The Chinese messed up my MM of Edo so it only produced 8 shields last turn.
I've got it back to 10spt but you never know where the Chinese are going next.
The MDI just outside of Kyoto is a reinforment for Edo. It can't make it all
the way to Edo in 1 turn, so I just moved it far enough, in case it have to go
back to Kyoto for some reason.

Our galley is doing nothing in particular. It's cruising along our southern coast
in case China tries an amphibious invasion.

Save File

 

[Charis]

Well, while we might be on the very doorstep of death itself, that went MUCH better than expected. We still have iron and the Great Library -- **really** good job cpp!!

I'm glad the pillaging failed. Iron is our key. We need to inflict enough pain for China to give free peace, *period*. If we lose two warriors to one archer, he'll want more for peace, not less.

I'll do what I can here, but it's still dire. We're gonna be defiant as long as we draw breath!! The religious people of Japan are now praying for Chivalry and *Samurai*

'got it'
Charis

PS the 'going down with the ship' comment was based on how it looked from the screenshot and earlier comments. When I saw we had Feudalism, could yet build walls, and that there was a small chance Samurai could appear soon, I realized there might be an outside, very outside, chance here.

 

[Charis]

Charismeiji, back from exile, feels a personal pain at what he has done
to his people, and vows to bring victory against the dogs of China.
The thing that is MOST sad in his sight is the loss of Tokyo. They will
be avenged. On the plus side, Kyoto and Edo are full sized cities and well
defended. (Er... scratch that, Kyoto has a single warrior) Can he kill enough
units to bring pain to China?!

[0] 470 BC - At Osaka, work the mountains instead of horse for quicker pike.
Hmm, the units around Edo now are not their best. Let's cause some pain.
Elite archer vs sword... We redline, but....



HIROHITO!!!! Come to save us!!!
(btw, LOL, this is payback for me 'missing' Tojo earlier this game )

And right now we have just enough cities to make an army. Ack! A Samurai army
would win the day, but we won't have 3 spare Samurai for who knows how long.
Pike goes out to cover the archer. Pike from Osaka runs to Kyoto, Pike from
Satsuma runs to Osaka, where we will run back and trade with MDI next turn


(IBT) Their archer does not attack, but pillages. The other swords move SE towards
Edo.

[1] 450 BC - The Babs stepped up to the hill next to Tokyo, they're not going to
attack the Chinese there, are they?? World maps sold around.

Tough call on the leader. SunTzu would be extremely sweet, but if the city falls or
we lose the game, senseless. An army would be nice, albeit of limited value with the
units we could throw in there. Let's see what's coming at us- two archers and a
warrior immediately, then 3 archers and 2 swords, then 3 sword, archer, warr.
At or coming to Edo we have 1 sword, 1 MDI, 1 pike, 1 archer. One or two more pikes
could come from Kyoto. This round we need to attack the 1-def units before they
are covered. That precludes making an army just yet.

Two MDI's attack the weak defenders and win. Then sword vs the last archer, we
win and promote. Archer retreats to city, and two pikes cover the sword in forest.

That's all for now. China is now at 'doubt' level, not insulted! That's still not
'close', in fact over 200g worth away.

(IBT) They make no attacks, not wanting to tangle with two pikes in the forest.

[2] 430 BC - Ok, next to Edo are two swords, three archers. One step back are
(gulp) 7 swords, 2 archers, 1 warr. We need to inflict PAIN!

MDI lays down the smack on a Chinese sword, promoting to elite.
Sadly, we don't have enough fresh offensive units to do more. We heal up, bracing
for the upcoming onslaught. With one shield short of a pike due to the AI movement,
we swap Edo to MDI and mm to make it due next turn.

(IBT) Three chinese units attack. I'm sitting here chanting "Hold! Hold! HOLD!!"
Our pike wins, promoting to elite. Second pike wins, then newly promoted one...
wins vs an archer! YES!! (China still won't come to peace)

[3] 410 BC - The problem is... even more units move up, and our defenders are all hurt.
Next door, 7 Swords, 3 arch, 1 warr next to our city, and a step back,
here come the MDI. Just one though, with an archer and warr. Charismeiji ponders...
We could attack with four, getting a little more hurt, fortify against the ten
attackers, or make an army of MDI (which can only attack once per round).
Charismeiji decides that to dish out the most pain, with few units, he can't fill one.

We build army but not to fill it, to allow a chance for another leader. SunTzu would
just look idiotic if we lose the game/city now, and SO close to Samurai, I will wait
until a Samurai, or true desperation, to fill it. MDI beats sword, promotes.
Elite MDI and archer both beat swords. Tough call...
China is still talking tough (9gpt away from free)

(IBT) In the field we win 1, lose 2. Held off *5* at Edo, lost two.
Korea demands tribute. HA!!!! We spit in his face. He declares war. We're very, very
glad he's on another continent. (This is probably due to our 'pulled goalie' defense.

[4] 390 BC - Our Cleaning Squad, now an MDI, beats down their single injured MDI.
On offense, we lose our archer, but wipe out a stack of three swords.
China hangs tight, but now just 7gpt from free peace.

China has Chivalry!!? If someone else gets it quickly, that means Samurai.
If *NOT* we'll face riders and it's ALL OVER.

(IBT) We trade an MDI in the field. Then his galley attacks our and we win.

WE MASTER CHIVALRY!!!!!



Now I seldom show a picture just for a new tech, but I yelled a cheer out loud
on seeing this arrive!

[5] 370 BC - I am REALLY sorry to have upgraded Cleaning squad now. No money to rush
a Samurai. Hey, there's only FOUR Chineese units near us now. We outnumber and outgun
them! Darn flat broke AI can't pay for this new tech either. Hosemen upgrade to
Samurai, I wish we had one or two around.

We lose to an unfortified warrior and promote him?? Ouch! Then we kill that warr and
one other, with MDI. Next we try a new kind of pressure on China. We move up
next to their city! Nagoya now has a pike and sword upon it.

(IBT) Ouch, we lose two.

[6] 350BC - Counterattacking their hurt guys, we win two, and have more units next to
Nagoya. One more archer killed. Two promotions to elite this round.

(IBT) Two archers attack us, losing both, and we promote on one.

[7] 330 BC - We are withing *20g* of peace with China! Elite sword wins. Elite MDI
goes against Nagoya and...

The city is once again OURS! [dance]

China will give all their treasury (60g) for peace. But not Tokyo!

This a matter for our NEXT leader to decide. Peace now, build up a Samurai
army (literally), or keep going and retake Tokyo before peace?? Both options
have strong advantages, look over the map carefully. We may not even have enough
to keep Nagoya. If it were to fall again... (shudder) it would take a LOT to
make China accept peace again, plus Riders can't be far away. My vote would be peace
(cease fire), with an aim toward shoring up defenses, Samurai army, then new limited
war when China presses or otherwise, to retake Tokyo.

Keep in mind we have *3* empty cities, and war with Korea. Theres a Chinese
galley that might swim past Edo next turn. Our galley is healing this round.
The empty army sleeps in Edo, awaiting a Samurai! (Others may have chose differently
on making the army, and since I didn't get another leader I can't refute it, but
that was a REALLY tough call under the worse battle conditions. We'll just have to
go out and take SunTzu someday )

Osaka's iron needs a pike ASAP. I truly couldn't spare one for that this round.
Osaka is working odd tiles this turn to get the pike out now. Edo wishes it could
work forests, but the commerce loss would make it unhappy. The Babylon troops have
been ignored, frankly. They sat a turn or two, then started to make genuine efforts
to leave our territory. It looks like they are heading west in large numbers, perhaps
for a war against China. If they show no guff, I would leave them alone, (I don't
want to be the suicidal assinine defiant nationalists ) especially if they end
up fighting China. Have no doubt though, their razing of Japanese city WILL mean
they must all die! We need to get our undefended cities covered asap too, or face
yet another tribute demand.

The decision on whether to drop out of Republic will depend on the peace decision.

I'm passing off now, with victory over China accomplished.
We're still in REALLY deep peril! Imagine a Babylon tribute demand now.

Save File RBP5 330BC

Good luck!!
Charismeiji (back from Exile baby!!!!)

 

[JaxomCA]

3 cheers for da man! I knew Charismeiji was the perfect man for this hairy situation! I think Jaxomeiji is up, consider this my got it. If I am mistaken, then ignore the got it.

 

[cpp1]

Great turn Charis! Way to go!

We're still alive and kicking, if only barely. So far I've been at war the entire time for my 2 turns. It'll be interesting to see how many turns of peace we actually get in this game.

I remember from LOTR2 that we had empty armies hanging around also, because we couldn't afford to lose the attacks by putting units in armies. It'll probably be a while before we can fill an army with samurai.

I was also exhausted after playing last night and this morning. There is a lot of tension and constant critical decisions that have to be made. When Feudalism was discovered, that gave me a critical edge in combat, as long as I had the money for upgrades.

Peace with China seems desirable for several reasons. One is we can remove war weariness and possibly lower our lux tax. Also, it'd be nice to not be at war with China in case Babylon decides to re-declare war. I think an empty Osaka must be pretty tempting to Babylon.

I'm surprised Korea declared war. We had an ongoing deal with them where we gave horses and they gave 7 gpt, which it looks like they broke.

 

[Charis]

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I like peace now. Having just ONE front, to put all our units at, has helped us immensely (after peace with Babs). Trying to defend Nagoya AND move on Tokyo would split troops we don't have.

As you noted, Feudalism was what has kept us alive here. Which means the Great Library has hands down been the best thing to happen to us (oh mighty Tojo!) We REALLY have to make sure Satsuma doesn't fall. Out of desperation, yes, I pulled its goalie, but that needs to be reversed asap.

Empty cities are like a "DEMAND TRIBUTE FROM ME!!!" sign hanging up in the window. In retrospect, I wonder if our gained city of Shuruppuk (which comes empty) was what set China off to think he should demand tribute. I have almost no doubt it's the empty cities that goaded Korea.

Also, it's been several turns since the Korean conflict started. If one of the upcoming turn they land a boat next to Pisces or another city, we'll not only have no way to stop them, but what we'll have to do to inflict enough pain will be brutal! If we can defend them, and smack down the 2 to 4 units that land, that pain enough will work for peace!

Charis

PS To those wondering if (or convinced) I was off my rocker, the reason behind this game was that I *DID* play 'no guff' (idential to this game unti nationalism arrives, where we pick up extra rules.) On Emperor diff, middle of a pangaea as FRANCE, surrounded by all military civs. I *destroyed* them, and won by domination. It was an extremely fun game, and I thought that on deity, in a corner, with a FAR better civ, it was playable. I still think it is. We got lulled a bit into thinking we were doing better than we were, pressing against the Babs. My huge focus in the emp game was to start with a very few number of cities, but have them all with barracks and plenty of defenders. I settled no cities really past my core 5. I made the cap and ring of 4 strong, got some guff, got into war, and gained territory not by settling but by capturing. (Not allowed here) I wish I remember now if I was Draconian about foreigners in my land, or loose. To be honest, it was probably loose. If they move a single unit through the outskirts, I kept on eye on him. If he sent a settler pair through, or a larger force, I did however tell him to get lost.

 

[Sullla]

Glorious! Simply Glorious! We lurkers watching this game with interest bow down before the superior strength of the Meiji Emperors! :worshp:

With both this game and RBE6 looking up, we just may get through this crop of succession games without a loss. Even the insane Koreans game is still alive and kicking - but of course there's also plenty of time still to go in all these games. At the very least, the competition to see which succession game will be the first one to lose is once again up for grabs!