SG Lurkers, ready?

[Luv_Muffin]

Just FYI: we are actually a Theocracy right now.
I switched that civic so that we get the increase in XP for our troops.
Now that you mention it, we are currently a free speech civic too, but recommend switching back to vassalage before the our military units are again ready to be built (for even more XP bonuses).

Just thought you'd like to know, Blackluck. But this reminds me to switch back to free religion when no military units are ready for a promotion!
That 10% bonus to research will be handy.

 

[Blackluck]

Just FYI: we are actually a Theocracy right now.
I switched that civic so that we get the increase in XP for our troops.
Now that you mention it, we are currently a free speech civic too, but recommend switching back to vassalage before the our military units are again ready to be built (for even more XP bonuses).

Just thought you'd like to know, Blackluck. But this reminds me to switch back to free religion when no military units are ready for a promotion!
That 10% bonus to research will be handy.

Doh, that's right!

An Osaka - gambit may still be worth a shot, I just wanted to share my concerns. It would certainly cripple Toku for the rest of the game and allow an almost impentrable western front.

 

[Percinho]

I leave you all alone for one week of goodwill to all men and you end up at war?!?

Great defending though!

Will have a lokk at the save and catch up as to how The Lurker Empire stands. Looks pretty healthy from first glance though. Great work all!

 

[Blackluck]

Welcome back, Percinho!

Wow, our SG is now 18 pages?

Let's look at the turn order here:

Blackluck
Liquidated
Luv_Muffin -- Mission Accomplished
Scowler --
Percinho --
Sir Toma -- on hold*
Greggo -- MIA*

Scowler said he'd be back today; L_M had me as going next, but I couldn't play last night, and can't go tonight, either.

So, either Liq and I can swap, or we await Scowler/Percinho.
(Up to the later two as to what the prefer)

 

[Luv_Muffin]

Aaargh! This is like some kind of online torture thing you are all doing to me now.
I'm quite curious about how this all works out, and all this politeness and consideration towards each other is refreshing... but I wanna see some action!

This wait is going to drive me to eat bran or something, I tell you.
Nobody wants that. Heh heh.

How was your holiday Percinho? Good to see you made it back! I think either you or Scowler are up now.
Er, what BlackLuck said.

 

[Luv_Muffin]

42 hours after I posted, and we're still waiting on a confirmation?

If after tonight we still have no movement, the first player to post the next turn gets it.

The war against Toku must continue!

(I have more smiley's, and am not afraid to use them)

 

[Liquidated]

I just went =p

 

[Scowler]

Just dropping by to see what's happening
I don't think I'll have a chance to play today (work/family/friends)

A couple of quick comments, based on Luv's notes.
I don't think a frontal assault on any of the cities is necessarily practical at this stage, unless we have a great advantage in numbers (am I right in thinking that taking cities is more difficult with the new patch?).
Perhaps better to use smaller groups to pillage?
Obviously, if possible disconnect and blockade Toku's horses/iron/copper (are they reachable?) - surely easier to take and hold than a city.
Also, don't neglect garrisons on our northern and western borders, just in case another opportunistic civ decides to take advantage while our attention is elsewhere (mentioning no names...)
I'm slightly concerned about our lack of a navy - how long will it be before Toku tries to land a raiding party behind our lines or tries for our whales, etc? Not much we to do to prevent this at the moment...

What is the diplomatic situation elsewhere, i.e. who is friends with whom?

 

[Percinho]

I have the all-clear to continue, so I'll pick up and play unless someone shouts otherwise.

It'll be turned around and put back up today.

 

[Blackluck]

Sorry L_M, I just didnt' have the time the past couple days to commit.

Looks like Percinho has it, though! G'luck!

Scowler, are you able to go this after Percinho? If not then I'll definitately be able to go tomorrow night.

Scowler, diplomatically, most Civ's are pleased with us (when we were under Free Religion, that is.) Saladin is moody; once his interloping city flips, that will help relations (although, I wouldn't mind if he did attack so we can take the darn thing.) I haven't seen relations since the switch to Theocracy, however.

Yep, no Navy can be a problem. Gao has been feverishly working on cultural projects, while Shaggy is too small to produce anything quickly. Timbuktu's been doing Wonders, but is now free. I've a feeling we'e going to be beaten to most Wonders by the rampaging Inca (rampaging, tech wise )

 

[Luv_Muffin]

Shaggy is at a peculiar stage.
If you switch to hammers, things get built rapidly but growth slows to OMG growth speed. I've been working on a granery to help matters, but once we get a few more pop working to work the ocean for food and coin, we can afford to work all the hammer tiles and crank out whatever we want.

I pretty much had to commit our reserves to slap Toku around and prevent harm. Some of the units I sent east are due to be replaced soon, but with better quality. All our catapults (all two of them) were sent east too, and I built another. Three cat's should give a player options. I would have built more, but needed to replace grenadiers (3 due soon). I didn't touch the navy but I think that once Gao builds the monestary it can switch to military support for a while. Maybe Gao can be in charge of building ships if Timbuktu, Angle and Djenne keep cranking out the army? Kumbi or PigPen can build a force to thicken up our western/northern borders. I wanted Walata to get that University though, that city is growning and the beakers are going to be valuable to us, culture will be nice too in a city like Walata.

Once our new troops are finished, and added to the survivors of our first battle at Naggy, I think numbers and quality of our troops will allow at least one city capture to take place. If we put a unit on one of Toku's windmills east of Naggy we should be able to see what other units he has at that city. If he has indeed thrown what he had at us, then I say grab him by the nose and lead him around for the rest of this war. He had the momentum, now it's our turn!

Good luck Percinho! Now that I've fought Toku, he's a slick little weasel so keep your eyes open! Besancon and Anjar have had their borders pushed back, so revolt should be happening sometime soon...
Until then, I hope we only have war on our eastern front. Would not be good news if Saladin stabbed us in the back right now.

 

[Luv_Muffin]

I almost forgot (actually I did, but here's the fix) to welcome Scowler back!

Toku declared at a very bad time (for him).
He tried to pick on a cute and delicate little old me.
He doesn't know you two ogres are about to be unleashed on him

I'm really starting to like our chances right about now.
Go get 'em you two!
(I think he called you both names as well, if that will get you more upset with him)

Welcome back guys.

 

[Percinho]

WHAT?!? Hea really said that?!? Why I oughta....

 

[Scowler]

Right, that's just asking for it!!

 

[Liquidated]

actually he said "yo momma posts sumo smilies" scowler...

I fear for toku's safety after that sort of talk

Cheers!
-Liq

 

[Percinho]

Prefilght check reveals that all is pretty healthy Chez Lurker. Kagoshima seems pretty well defended, but I’d like to have a look at Kushans to see how that stands. Not much to really do, so let’s set the turns rolling and see what happens!

[1] – Angle trains Grenadier, tell them to train cavalry. Likewise with Pigpen, as I’d like some offence on the west coast as well. Do a little housekeeping with workers etc. All quiet from Toku.

[2] – sign Open Borders with Saladin. Wasn’t sure of where we stood with him, but saw we had traded with him, so took his goodwill, as he wasn’t completely happy with us. Monty cancelled his though. Stroppy bugger. Gren –> Cavalry in Tim and Djenny. Decide to mass forces to attack Kushans.

[3] – Mass on Kushan’s outskirts. I can lmost see the whites of their eye. They have longbowman, a grenadier and a Samurai. Could be a toughie, but I’ve decided to chance it.

[4] – Nappy politely asked us to take up representation and was slightly offended when I refused, but I think he’ll learn to accept our differences. Toku didn’t attack at all…… Bombard Kushans down to 42%. Will still be against the odds if we attack, so have held off for at least another turn.

[5] – Napoleon converts to Buddhism. Analysis….. Not good. I don’t think it’ll be terminal, but he’s joined the Buddhist block that’s slowly increasing. The only other hindu nation is….. The Japanese! :-/ Destroy a rogue Grenadier that had knocked off a longbowman protecting our worker. Luckily we had another unit on the tile that was in transit, so no workers were lost!

[6] – Monty is really getting narked with us. He’s cancelled a whale/fish deal. Still, he’s a way away from us. A couple more skirmishes, won by us. Ready to attack next turn.

[7] – Monty ahs adopted Theocracy and Vassalage. He’d have to come through someone to get to us, but I’m concerned. He’s furous with Hats, and annoyed with Cyrus and us. I’m getting cold feet about attacking Kushans. Toku has started to come at us with bits and pieces, but enough to be annoying, and I’m worried that Monty will use open borders with Nappy and Saladin to attack us. Decide not to attack for the moment, may send a few units rampaging and pillaging though.

[8] – I ask Nappy what he wants for Rifling. He asks for Chemistry and Military tradition. I laugh in his general direction. Kill a few general units sitting around. Time to go-a- pillaging.

[9] – Monty demands Chemistry. I can really see the way this is going. I refuse and he does nothing. Yet. Toku has knights coming for us. Decide to try to send a cavalry in towards his Iron. Use the upgraded civilopedia for the first time. It’s finally starting to rock as it should. His iron and horses are near to each other. I suggest we head for them.

[10] – Nowt much. There’s a couple of cavalry heading for Toku’s territory with pillaging inn mind.

Post turn review: Toku mounted an insurgency in his own lands! How dare he! He’s coming heavy with the knights so if we can cut off the resources, we can grind him down a little.

I think I made a good decision to not try to take and hold Kushans. Think I also made a bad decision to go near it in the first place without a bigger army and more catapaults.

I don’t trust Monty in the slightest. He’s on a war footing but hasn’t declared his hand yet. Were it just the two of us then we could hold him off no probs, but I really don’t want a war on two fronts.

Well, bit of an anti-climax of a turn, but there’s work to be done in due course. The military was restocked and our military is third, but there was precious little building going on.

Over to the next person to see what happens here……. Enjoy!

 

[Scowler]

I was afraid something like that might happen with Monty.
I'll download the save now, but I won't start playing before tommorrow morning (UK time) at the earliest, so Luv can number-crunch and analyse the situation first. Are there any variant rules (eg. honorable) I should remember? Might be worth considering bribing another civ to declare on Monty first just to keep him occupied (hopefully literally)? - assuming anyone (Cyrus?) is willing. That's why I wanted to know the diplo situation: to see who will stand with us and who might oppose if Monty goes psycho.

 

[Luv_Muffin]

I'd like to over analyze.... but... I have no screenies to look at!

-toot
Maybe Percinho forgot to take some during all that excitement and was coping with pressure from all of YOU (Not me, cause I'm Luvable) to post his turn quickly. No need to scroll up the screen at all (Stop what you're doing with that mouse, buster), just take my word for it.
I told him to take his time, but no.... you all made him go too fast!
Tsk tsk tsk.

Now I have to wait for the next player to finish up like everyone else.

Hurry up and get it done Scowler, ASAP!
Just do it, you don't need no sleep or nothin. C'mon, the cool kids would do it.


I wonder if Monty gets mad at us when we are a Theocracy, because in free religion he seemed quite reasonable. Hmmm. I think getting other civs to attack Monty is fine, but nobody is wild about that idea when I played.
As for Nappy, big deal he went budhist. I got him to convert to Hindu in my turn and he likely had a conflict of interest with the other two Hindu friends of his at war with each other. Smart move for him, but I think if we get more of his cities converted to hinduism he would be more inclined to remain hindu. Or else he just converts for the highest bidder.
*Remember to keep switching civics, theocracy/vassalage when troops due to be built next turn, free speech/free religion when units will not be produced.

I think Percinho plays a smart man's game. I am more brave than I am smart. Our styles are different, but I think Scowler will like the situation Percinho left him in (unless that wild card monty decides to crash the party) Too bad we don't have cannons, would make getting their defenses down that much quicker.

I think Toku's longbowmen/samurai are just going to give our units promotions. No way is a samurai going to be able to stop a cavalry charge, and a grenadier vs. longbowman is a win for us. But I live on the edge, kind of a bad boy that way.

Heh heh. Holding back for the knockout blow makes it's own sense, and instead of beating Toku with a sledgehammer, we can bleed him dry too with pillaging. Just as long as he screams a lot when he is on his knees, it's all good for me.

I wonder what kind of military monty has. It's time to finally use the 1.52 military advisor and check out monty's numbers. What do we need to build to defend and counter attack? I'd like to mass our northern troops around Djenne (we just can't afford to lose that city). Maybe throw a pair of grenadiers on the two forest tiles north of pigpen too. But our main concern (I think) is to win the war we are currently fighting, and not be sidetracked by a war we may or may not have to fight.

Of course, if Monty attacks and we aren't prepared...
This game can drive you nuts...

*The message you just read is the ramblings of an old goat. In no way are these opinions informed, accurate or should be taken as "good" advice by any player.

 

[Luv_Muffin]

I was wondering... can you see how many of Toku's troops are in Osaka with your pillaging units? Since you are out there anyway, take a peek and see what he has as a second line of defense.

* Hit list:
Tokyo, Kyoto, Kushans, Osaka. (game over at that point for Toku)
I think with these four cities targeted, we can ignore other cities and blast our way into Toku's heartland. Kagoshima could be taken if the opportunity presents itself, but not a high priority. (if we're there, take it though. Might as well knock out 1/2 his navy if we are in the neighborhood) Don't let that large amount of troops in Kagoshima scare you either, in my turn, most of those units were either ships or primitive units. I was only worried about the two grenadiers, after they are gone it's a cake walk.

I think we are getting a fair number of cavalry. Unless Toku has been doing some crazy upgrading, our best units should be able to roll over his defenses.
(*worst case, use catapults to weaken his units, then attack*) I think it is critical that we attack him, quickly and brutally. Giving him time to breathe will increase our casualties, give him more time to upgrade all his primitive troops to modern, and build a second army to hit back at us with. A few more cat's would be nice (with a healing promotion), to keep our boys moving with less time waiting for healing.

If Monty wants a fight, I hope to have our eastern enemy already on the ropes. In this situation, I think brutal remorseless agression is the way to go. We can't dawdle with another civ giving us the evil eye.

And if that isn't enough to change your mind, well... I didn't want to bring this up but...

I stuck up for you guys!

 

[Percinho]

L_M: Actually, the reason it was a bit, shal we say, texty, was because due to pressure this end. I'm thinking of getting rid of the other half as she's stopping me from devoting enough time to civiv!!!

And remember not to mistake my civiv-conservatism as cunning play!