SGOTM 17 - The Shawshank Redemption

[Mitchum]

I have not seen the missionary once, so I'm not sure where it is.

Yes, I was planning on moving the archer and Worker 4 1NE as you suggested. The only bad thing about it is that I'll lose eyes on the Djenne archer. I could just move the worker 1NE and if there are no barbs units, just keep the archer where he is...

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Just to be 100% clear, those are 2 Skirms inside of Djenne and not 1 Skirm + a Confucian Missionary, right?

 

[Mitchum]

Just to be 100% clear, those are 2 Skirms inside of Djenne and not 1 Skirm + a Confucian Missionary, right?

Right.

 

[Mitchum]

IBT:

The third skirmisher goes back into Djenne.

Mansa adopts OR.

I do think I'll keep the archer where he is so that he can keep an eye on Djenne and to see if there are any workers near Timbuktu.

Still no sign of the missionary.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

The only bad thing about it is that I'll lose eyes on the Djenne archer. I could just move the worker 1NE and if there are no barbs units, just keep the archer where he is...

Well, preferably, even if we were to win a battle, we would rather not fight the Skirm that left Djenne, as our Archer being wounded would make it a lot tougher to keep Worker-stealing effectively.

If the Djenne Skirm moves 1W G Jungle Road (2W of Djenne), then I would plan to move both Worker 4 and our Archer 1NE GH Jungle (1E of the G Silk For). That way, we'll have a lower chance of luring the Djenne Skirm our way. If the Djenne Skirm does come toward us, we'll see it in time to be able to react to it (such as considering a Cease Fire).

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Okay, since the Djenne Skirm went back into Djenne, then, sure, you can leave the Archer in place as long there are no units to threaten our Worker 4 when our Worker 4 moves 1NE GH J (1E of G Silk For).

 

[Mitchum]

T40 - 625 BC

Library whipped. Citizens on Pig and cottage.
W1 moves 1SW and doesn't see any barbs. He builds a partial road.
W3 moves 1E to the GFor.
W4 moves 1NE. The coast is clear... although he spots a nasty looking guy in a green robe carying some beads and chanting at Djenne-3N.
The archer that was protecting W4 stays where he was. He can see the 3 skirmishers in Djenne. No skirmishers can be seen near Timbuktu.
W5 and the warrior move 1SE (1S of the peak).. the coast is clear.
Mansa will still accept peace (0.8 - it went down from 0.9 after the whip).
EPP with Mansa = 156/144 - Mansa continues spending 8 EPP/turn on us instead of 4.
Game saved.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Okay, all of that sounds fine. In fact, with our Warrior heading southward, I half wonder if we'll end up chasing the Confucian Missionary back toward Djenne (which would be ideal... we want Confucianism to spread to Mansa's capital, but if it were to auto-spread we'd be happier [Mansa would have +1 Missionary] or if it were to spread later we'd be happier [we'd see less Culture from Mansa's capital messing up our Worker Trap]).


Presumably, Prague will be building an Archer after the Library since we're still at war.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Remember that next turn, Worker 5 should be able to move 2 squares (SW G Road, SE GH Jungle that is 1E of the G Silk For).

Let's hope that Mansa sends us his Worker soon.


Note that in one test run, I actually captured a Worker on the GH Rice square... but for that to work, you'll actually have to move the Archer 1NE to the GH Jungle square (1E of the G Silk For) on the turn that our Worker there builds a partial Road, so that the Archer would be free to have movement points available on the turn that the Road gets completed... but that approach won't work if the Warrior has moved to Pillage the Road... thus... only move the Warrior to Pillage the Road if you don't see a Worker on the GH Rice square.

 

[Mitchum]

T41 - 600 BC

Worker 1 sees a panther 1SW. Rather than complete the road, he moves to the cottage and builds a partial road.

Worker 3 builds a partial road on the GFor. The Panther can't reach him this turn, but it could if it moves 1E. I'll check that spot next turn with Worker 1.

Archer stays on hill so that he can see into Djenne and see any workers/skirmishers near Timbuktu.

Worker 5 and warrior continue to head south. Worker 5 is able to safely join Worker 4 on the jungle hill. The warrior moves to road segment for pillaging next turn.

The missionary moves 2S to Djenne-N.

Achen whips the settler and works the pig and banana mine.

Prague OF goes into an archer

The first ivory camp is finally done, so Ivory City is finally working an improved tile.

Power ratio with Mansa is still 0.8 . Mansa will still accept peace.

EPP is now 162/148. Mansa spent 6 EPP on us last turn.

Djenne is 2 pops. Timbuktu is 5 pops.

Save game.

 

[Mitchum]

There was no worker on the rice hill, so the warrior moved to the road to pillage it next turn.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Timbuktu is 5 pops.

Well, I guess that Mansa isn't building another Worker or a Settler there yet, although sometimes the AIs are smart enough to grow, put some Hammers into one of those build items, and then whip said build item.


I would not be surprised at all to see the Confucian Missionary move SW G, SW G Jungle Road (2W of Djenne) next turn, and from there use our Roads to get to Timbuktu.

Prague OF goes into an archer

With 3 Skirms in Djenne, we should take the slightly-longer, more cautious route northward, first going 1W G Jungle out of Prague and then moving 1NW G Jungle (1SW of the G Copper).

 

[Mitchum]

T42 - 575 BC

Prague finishes an archer and starts another archer.

Aachen finishes its settler and will complete a galley next turn.

Worker 2 starts to build a road on the ivory camp.

Worker 1 goes 1 SW, sees no panther, and finishes the road there.

Worker 2 3 completes the road at cows-SE.

Archer 5 from Prague goes 1NW to help in case needed in the worker stealing plan.

3 skirmishers and 1 worker in Djenne (now 1 pop). No sign of the green-robed freak.

No units seen near Timbuktu.

Warrior pillages the road.

Workers build roads and move as per the worker trap plan (a bit behind due to slower moving Worker 5 southward).

Back to 0.9 . Mansa will still take peace.

EPP is now 170/152. +8 EPP this turn.

Timbuktu is still 5 pops.

Save game.

 

[Mitchum]

Too late on the Prague archer. He moved 1 NW right out of Prague. We're still ouside of the range of any of Mansa's skirmishers in Djenne. If he sends one out toward us, we can retreat back to Prague... At least this archer is preventing him from using his new worker to hook up the copper!

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Okay, it sounds like going 1NW with our Prague Archer could end up being the best play, especially if by doing so Mansa decides to hook up his northern Rice when he might have otherwise chosen to hook up his Copper.

If Mansa's Worker Roads toward the Rice AND if a Skirm doesn't end up guarding the Worker, we could have a Worker stealing opportunity coming up. As you said, maybe it will be a good thing to lure one of the Skirms southward... we might even be able to play cat-and-mouse where we lure the Skirm southward, retreat into Prague, hope that the Skirm goes northward, and then rinse and repeat, just to keep the Skirm away from Mansa's Worker.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Obviously, if no Skirm chases the Archer that left Prague, then we might as well keep sending the Prague Archer north-westward and then northward.

 

[Mitchum]

T43 - 550 BC

One skirmisher leaves Djenne by going 1W. I don't want to move archer 5 1NW else he may tempt Mansa's archer to attack us.

Mansa's worker leaves Djenne and starts to build a cottage on Djenne-N. I may try Thachy's "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" trick, but I'll wait until next turn since our warrior is out of position after pillaging the road last turn and I don't want to send the archer since he's protecting two workers.

Settler boards galley which heads to rice NW.

The panther shows himself again but this time 1S of the banana (Prague-S+S+SE). Worker 1 runs back to the safty of our cultural borders and finishes the road on the cottage at Prague-SE.

Aachen finishes the galley and starts on a library.

Prague works pig plus 2 scientists.

Djenne size 1 and Timbuktu size 5 (no change).

Peace still available with Mansa (0.9 ).

EPP is 178/166. +8 EPP last turn again. We may never see his research at this rate...

Waiting for input on what to do with archer 5 at Prague-NW.

Spoiler :

Note: No sign of the missionary.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

So, I guess that we'll just leave Archer 5 in place for 1 turn?

I suppose that if your Wolf in Sheep's Clothing gambit fails, the Worker may switch tasks... I suppose that this result could be good as long as our Archer 5 continues to threaten the Copper and southern Rice squares, so that Mansa's Worker doesn't waste his time trying to improve one of them... or... the Worker might get tricked into walking onto one of those two squares... and then our Archer 5 would be the Wolf... is that what you had in mind?

The panther shows himself again but this time 1S of the banana (Prague-S+S+SE).

So, what happened with Worker 3? Did he finish the Road on the G For last turn? Or, will we have to head eastward and partially Road the Grassland without finishing the Road on the G For to avoid the Panther?

 

[Mitchum]

Worker 3 finished the G For road last turn. I updated post #1013. I accidentally called Worker 3 as Worker 2 instead. Worker 3 built a partial road at Aachen-W+SW this turn and cancelled his action so that he can board the galley next turn.

Yes, I was thinking that archer 5 would stay in place. I wasn't thinking that archer 5 would be the wolf but possibly the warrior. I guess it all depends on what that third archer outside Djenne does. Since he seems to be a wandering/attack archer, he'd likely kill the warrior after he captured the worker. So, I plan to move the warrior 1SE to the jungle rice tile to see if the worker responds... Unless our worker trap up north snares something...

 

[Mitchum]

Hmmm...

At the end of the turn, I lost sight of Mansa's skirmisher. The only tile that he could have gone to 1W (Djenne-2W). What's interesting is that a second worker appeared on the tile where the skirmisher used to be (Djenne-W). How did it get there?

Djenne is now 1 pop, but if he popped it last turn, it would still be in his capital this turn, right? It must have slipped in from the west along the road by the rice. The worker is facing east, which implies that he came from the west too.

So, this means that Mansa's skirmisher can use roads and attack our archer and 2 workers at rice-NE (silk-S).

What to do?

Spoiler :