Term IV - Chief Ambassador to the Barbarians

[Chamnix]

Message with the save:

The Council voted not to retire so the save is attached.

Although they also apparently voted not to give us 20 gold .

 

[dutchfire]

[18:56:04] Koekenbakken: hi
[19:22:29] Koekenbakken: how are things?
[19:22:43] Josh: Pretty good - and you?
[19:22:54] Koekenbakken: fine too, missed all the fun yesterday
though
[19:23:10] Josh: oh man - can you believe all that crazyness?!?
[19:24:06] Koekenbakken: especially since our coast isn't entirly
defended
[19:24:56] Josh: I'm actually amazed at BABE's argument. so absurd
[19:25:27] Koekenbakken: I don't even HAVE C3C and I saw this blockade
coming for months
[19:25:49] Josh: it took a lot of effort for me to avoid flamming
them. Yeah... talk about lack of imagination!
[19:26:02] Josh: it's just ridiculous
[19:26:23] Josh: BABE's argument is essentiall "anything that makes it
so we can't win = unfun"
[19:26:37] Josh: bah
[19:27:31] Koekenbakken: they didn't really think they could just win
this game/war without opposition, did they?
[19:27:52] Josh: makes you wonder WHAT they thought.
[20:38:34] Koekenbakken: by the way, I'll soon be leaving as
ambassador
[20:38:48] Josh: oh? That's sad! why?
[20:39:45] Koekenbakken: real life time, but I expect (hope) to get
back when I'll have more time again (when school starts
again )
[20:40:05] Josh: ok. well, I'll miss our chats
[20:40:37] Josh: I've actually got to go soon - but since it looks
like you've thwarted BABE's invasion, what's the plan on
the DAB?
[20:41:26] Koekenbakken: well, we're not sure we've thwarted it yet,
we haven't covered all of our tiles, so there's a chance
they'll find some empty tiles and land
[20:41:58] Josh: After all the whining... that'd be hilarious.
[20:42:04] Josh: not that we hope they land
[20:42:26] Josh: ok - so, should we send the 20 gold again with the
save?
[20:42:48] Josh: we're happy to - but we might like some assurance
we'll get it back... esp if they come for us.
[20:43:13] Josh: or half back, or something reasonable maybe?
[20:43:58] Koekenbakken: I believe we agreed to giving half of it back
if they didn't land, and if they land on your island, we'll
give you 20 gpt
[20:44:30] Josh: ok - sounds good.
[20:44:44] Josh: I'll make sure our turnplayer send the gold with the
save when it gets moving again
[20:45:31] Koekenbakken: by the way our new ambassador will be
greekguy, I think you know him from the first MTDG?
[20:45:46] Josh: oh yeah - we got along great on MIA.
[20:45:54] Josh: he was a refugee from TNT
[20:47:17] Koekenbakken: well, I'm going to watch some football
(soccer), see you later
[20:47:25] Josh: ok - have a good one

They should have sent it to us, the turnplayer probably forgot/missed it. I'll ask the General when I see him again.

 

[dutchfire]

Do we have an update on where the babe galleys are?

btw. the Council didn't send gold last turn, did they?

 

[Chamnix]

They did not send gold last turn.

The boats are still in our area - 2 near Lucious Jackson, 2 near the Go-Go's. The ones that were by our southern tip have moved northwest, the ones on our eastern coast moved southwest.

 

[Chamnix]

The turn came in. I was going to play right away again, but there’s a-happenin’s afoot. I don’t think it changes anything, but I will wait until morning in case anyone thinks we need to adjust…

We have contact with GONG!

I don’t see any of their boats in view, so I’m guessing that Babe gave/sold them our contact. GONG established an embassy in our capital. Some pictures…

Babe’s boat situation:



Graceland:



Military (they are in Feudalism!):



Victory Status:



Power Curve:



Culture Curve:



Obviously they are in the Middle Ages, so there are no techs we are up.

A review of the resource situation:

Babe – No wines, no gems, yes horses, yes iron.
Council – No wines, yes gems, yes horses, yes iron.
GONG – No wines, no gems, no horses, yes iron.

We have also gone back to weak compared to Babe’s military.

EDIT - 1 other note - the Council also has contact with GONG.

 

[Calis]

I am back from my fishing holiday and found some interesting read here with BABEs plans on resigning.

Commenting on it is obsolete, but it's going to be interesting how they continue now. Are they going to leave our island, will they look for another victim?

 

[Chamnix]

So far their boats are still circling us probing for a weakness...

 

[Chamnix]

We will have enough cash to buy our way out of the Ancient Age next turn. I am anxious to see what the MA tech situation is, but I'm not sure we want our sponsors to know we are flush with cash while they are still sending us gold. What do you think?

 

[dutchfire]

Chat with the General (yesterday):

[18:45:32] Josh: we were hoping for an update on where BABE's ships
were moving?
[18:45:38] Josh: we're getting paranoid
[18:46:34] Koekenbakken: I'll check if Chamnix made a screenshot last
turn or something like that
[18:46:40] Josh: ok - thanks.
[18:47:02] Koekenbakken: by the way, I believe your turnplayer forgot
to send gold last turn
[18:47:09] Josh: really?
[18:47:13] Josh: I posted...
[18:47:23] Josh: confirm that for me, and I'll aks them to send
double.
[18:55:52] Josh: from the looks of our turnplayer log, it looks like
it got missed
[18:55:56] Josh: I'll post about it
[18:56:04] Josh: any lunch on BABE's ship movement?
[18:56:10] Josh: any *luck
[18:56:23] Josh: lol - that was quite the typo
[18:56:45] Koekenbakken: not yet, Chamnix is online though, so he'll
probably see it pretty soon
[18:57:46] Josh: ok - the team will appreciate the info
[19:04:31] Koekenbakken: "They did not send gold last turn.

The boats are still in our area - 2 near Lucious Jackson, 2
near the Go-Go's. The ones that were by our southern tip
have moved northwest, the ones on our eastern coast moved
southwest."
[19:05:26] Josh: yikes. sounds like they're headed for us.
[19:06:13] Koekenbakken: if they continue their path towards you,
we'll let you know asap
[19:07:13] Josh: thanks. we'd certainly appreciate regular updates
while we ready our defenses.
[19:12:53] Koekenbakken: Babe is going to be pissed if you manage to
blockade your entire coast too
[19:13:39] Josh: bah. let them stew. If they try, they'll be breaking
our treaty
[19:13:59] Josh: somehow, I think they don't care about that anymore.

By the way, any reason why Gong is in Feudalism (are they religous?). The only reason I have heard to be in Feudalism is a 100k victory. Could they be gunning for that, if so, what are we going to do about it?

 

[greekguy]

I have an idea (guess) on that:

when I saw that GONG was in Feudalism I checked out the screen of their capital a few posts up. If you'll notice they've got lots of irrigated land, but the city is only size 2. Since in Feud, smaller cities give you massive unit support, its possible their planning on building up an army and going after another civ.

oh, and GONG is the Celts, who are religious, so switching governments is no problem for them.

 

[Chamnix]

The Council is this paranoid when they have a peace treaty with Babe?! No wonder Babe was so upset and continued to look at us as a target even while we were clearly stronger than the Council ... Babe didn't allow themselves a second choice. I wonder if they have a peace deal with FREE also...

Boat update for the General for turn 119:

2 boats continue heading NW along our southern coast.
The 2 boats on our eastern shore have gone back NE to close to where they were 2 turns ago.
There are only 3 boats visible to our NW - the others may be headed back toward the Bangles.

I would say GONG appears to be going for 100K. Based on their culture curve, they have obviously been a lot of culture recently.

Short-term, there is nothing we can do about it. Longer-term, I can't believe they can reach 100K and double everyone else's culture on just their landmass especially with the quick start the Council got culturally. For now, we just watch them destroy their ecomony and plan on reaching marines/planes before they can win via 100K.

 

[dutchfire]

Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
hi
Josh zegt:
hey - how goes it?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
pretty well, and how're you doing?
Josh zegt:
doing good. staying busy
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
you've met GONG too, right?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
I wonder why they're in Feudalism
Josh zegt:
well - we're speculating that maybe they're whipping defenders? Perhaps things have gone into the toilet with BABE and them?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
we've been speculating too, and we think there's a chance they're going for 100K
Josh zegt:
that's a risky strategy! I'm pretty sure it has to be 100k min, and at least 2x your next closest rival?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
yeah, it was only a thought, but it is possible
Josh zegt:
we'll have to keep a sharp eye on it for sure... here, let me check something...
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
according to Chamnix, it is possible, and the culture graph shows a recent increase in culture
Josh zegt:
that's what I'm going to check in our reporting...
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
(btw, a Babe update. "2 boats continue heading NW along our southern coast.
The 2 boats on our eastern shore have gone back NE to close to where they were 2 turns ago.
There are only 3 boats visible to our NW - the others may be headed back toward the Bangles.
")
Josh zegt:
ok - great. thanks.
Josh zegt:
yeah - we're showing BABE recently taking the lead in world-wide culture
Josh zegt:
er
Josh zegt:
GONG
Josh zegt:
it's a good idea... but I'll just be amazed if they can get that far before getting attacked.
Josh zegt:
100K in multiplayer is generally regarded as suicide, afaik.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
they might pull a "saber" and block their entire coast until marines
Josh zegt:
I can't imagine they could achieve 100K before marines?
Josh zegt:
does Chamnix think that's possible?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
not before marines
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
anyway, we'll see about that later
Josh zegt:
yeah - something to keep an eye on for sure... nice thing about 100k is that we'll have lots and lots of warning.
Josh zegt:
I trust the 40gold came through this last time? Our first Councilor asked me to convey his personal appologies for missing it last time.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
I think it did, I didn't hear Chamnix say it didn't
Josh zegt:
ok. good. hopefully there won't be further hickups.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
by the way, we're interested in buying our way into the middle ages soon, we've seen enough of the ancients
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
could we start buying them soon?
Josh zegt:
absolutly. We just need to make sure we're all on the same page for when the threat of the invasion is over (and our gold paymets stop and we get the 1/2 refund) - and assuming that all goes smoothly, I know we're still happy to sell when you're ready.
Josh zegt:
*assuming BABE is still unable to land
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
hmm, how to decide when the threat is over?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
I think I'll let greekguy, our new ambassador handle that His term starts next turn (120)
Josh zegt:
lol
Josh zegt:
pass the buck!
Josh zegt:
well, understandably, a few councilors are a bit tense about how much we're going to send when the threat seems pretty much over. (easy to say when the galleys aren't off our coast)
Josh zegt:
we 100% want to uphold our obligations... we just don't want to get soaked. You understand.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
totally
Josh zegt:
Anyway - we trust you. (or most of us anyway )
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
lol
Josh zegt:
but it is something we'll need to nail down soon.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
do you know how to contact greekguy? (he likes to use AIM or something if I recall correctly)
Josh zegt:
maybe an idea you could suggest to the team is ... if BABE never does manage to attack, you'll refund half of what we've send (60=30 gold) and then maybe say you'll send 100% back from now on, if they don't land... then I think everyone would feel better about a more indefinite sending of funds.
Josh zegt:
or maybe, 100% of everything over 100 gold that we send?
Josh zegt:
just some ideas off the top of my head.
Josh zegt:
I used to have his contact info... let me look
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
just to get the facts clear, how many payments have we had in total?
Josh zegt:
I seem to remember 3... maybe it's been more?
Josh zegt:
let me look
Josh zegt:
yeah, just 3 payments, I'm pretty sure
Josh zegt:
117, and two on 119
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
okay (our diplomacy thread is somewhat spammed with posts about Babe's resignation, so the overview is kinda gone)
Josh zegt:
lol - no prob. We opened a specific thread internally for that.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
so we'll repay 50% of 60 gold=30 gold
Josh zegt:
so far that's what we're expecting
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
and if/when Babe shows up at your doorstep, we'll give you 20 gpt with a 50% refund if they don't attack?
Josh zegt:
Right... but based on further study of the map, it would seem that most of their boats are actually moving away from us?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
at the moment, they seem to be indeed
Josh zegt:
(and for what it's worth... any deal on the gold we manage to work out will of course be reciprocated 100% - the DAB treaty was intended to be fully reversible... ie, same for both parties)
Josh zegt:
we just have some members becoming concerned about the potential for abuse here that wasn't really forseen. I don't want to blow it out of proportion... just raise some ideas for addressing it.
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
can we start on buying some techs soon too?
Josh zegt:
yeah - I don't see any problem with that.
Josh zegt:
which ones do you want, and when?
Koekenbakken 11/12 zegt:
I believe we still have some cash lying around, could we start buying them, say next turn? (I'm not sure how many techs we want already)
Josh zegt:
yeah- as long as you let us know in time.

What do we want next turn?

 

[Marsden]

Wouldn't the 100k limit actually be 80k, Being a small map?

Is there a way to not downplay the potential danger, but not try to demand more cash, when cash is basically all we have right now. Maybe forgo further payments as credit towards the payment for the tech we wish to buy?

 

[Chamnix]

Well-handled dutchfire! Obviously they were getting a little suspicious about our income stream.

I think we should more or less come clean about our situation. We can tell them that we feel reasonably safe since Babe boats appear to be leaving, and the Council should not send any more cash for now. We will refund the 30 gold as soon as all Babe boats are out of sight, or the payments will restart if the danger level heightens again.

I don't think it is worth risking a long-term relationship with them for a couple handfuls of gold.

As far as next turn, I would say we can't afford anything new yet because we want to keep some cash in reserve, but we will pay them the 100 gold we owe them for Mysticism. After that, maybe buy a tech per turn or so.

@Marsden - I don't think this really is a small map. The corruption level seems standard, and the number of tiles seems standard. Only the tech costs seem appropriate for a small map. I'm trying to find something in CAII, but it doesn't seem to mention the culture limit (other than the fact that we are projected to reach it in 9971 AD ).

Oh, duh - the victory status screen is posted in this thread - it says we need 100K .