TR04 - Losers vs 5CC deity

[Bede]

Steal chances are not affected by failed attempts, the dice roll from the beginning every time. Spy placement is affected, however and the flag expires after three turns.

 

[dmanakho]

I think Mach is correct. I saw an article somewhere around here...
If stealing fails you have to wait 3 to 4 turns before you should try to do it again.

 

[Minute Man]

OK, I decided to look this up. Here's what the War Academy article on espionage says:

If a spy plant fails you will get a flag saying so. You cant plant a spy when flagged. There is a chance of 1/3 for the flag to disappear each turn. Failing other spy mission, does not trigger the flag. You can plant a spy the same turn your spy has been exposed by a failed mission.

So it looks like we can in fact try another steal attempt if the first one fails.

 

[Mach]

Yep, it looks like the only restriction is on planting spies -- if the first plant doesn't work, the second won't either. But you can try two steals if the spy escapes detection, or you can steal-plant-steal if need be.

 

[dmanakho]

Just remember that if you fail to steal you will be at war and expect mushrooms to pop all over our cities.

 

[Minute Man]

Pre-flight: Everything looks pretty good. Doesn't seem like there's going to be much to do besides build ICBMs and wait for an opportunity to steal techs. We have enough money to try multiple safe steals (or even more careful/immediate steals), so I don't think there's any point in revolting to Communism. We'll just have to trust our luck.

Incidentally, Spain has a couple of ICBMs, and the Iroquois have a few, as well as some tactical nukes. So espionage is definitely not without risk.

On the first IT, our spy in Madrid is captured. I think I'll wait until there's a tech to steal to try re-planting it - no sense risking a war (especially in the nuclear age) until necessary.

In 1896, Spain and the Iroquois both learn The Laser. I decide to try a safe steal from Hiawatha, as we have plenty of money, and succeed. So I order up a Party Lounge, and a turn later our astronauts are partying like it's, um, 1899. One more part to go....

A gems deal we apparently had with the Incas ended, as the Iroquois (with whom they are at war) capture their gem deposits. All of our cities are still happy, so I don't think it's worth lining Hiawatha's pockets right now (besides, the Incas might capture it back).

In 1902, the Incas and Iros sign peace, which is probably good, because the Incas have been losing territory past. The Iroquois build their own Party Lounge, and Salamanca builds Longevity. Apparently Hiawatha's planning to be partying for a long time.

In 1906, the Iroquois demand our territory map and 100 gold. That's not even pocket change, so I pay him off.

In 1908, the Spanish (of course) develop Robotics. I may live to regret not trying to replant the spy a few turns back.

After studying the article on espionage, I decide to try a steal via the embassy. A safe steal has a 52% chance of succeeding, vs. a 50% chance of successfully planting a spy. And if we try to plant a spy, fail, and end up at war, we're in trouble, since we won't be able to plant the spy again for a few turns, and we can't do anything through the embassy when we're at war. Trying the embassy first leaves planting a spy as plan B.

OK, deep breath. Here we go...

Safe steal...

...and we succeed!

So I change our prebuild in Constantinople to the Stasis Chamber, press Enter, and:

History will always remember us as Theodora the Lion-Hearted. Apparently the game wasn't paying attention to just who was at the helm for these final turns.

Here's the final save. Just press Enter. Note that I did not take the suggestion of some of the bloodthirstier members of our team and turn the world into a radioactive wasteland just because we were leaving it, but if you feel that this was an oversight, feel free to correct it.

End-of-game screenshots coming in next post.

 

[Minute Man]

Here's the victory status screen:

The score graph. I'm a little impressed that we made it as high as third, given that we were a 5CC.

The power graph. Boy, the Iroquois are scary. Fortunately for us, it's not the size of your power bar, it's how you use it.

Finally, the culture graph. It actually turned out to be a good thing that Spain was around, or we'd have lost by culture before we got to launch the ship.

 

[dmanakho]

Wow! We finally made it... This was the longest SG i ever played

Congratulations team!!!!!

Well... may be one day there will be TR05 to play

I will see you all around!!!! It was a pleasure to play with all of you fellows civ-fanatics.

 

[Bede]

Nice, nice finish.

We took on a real challenge here. Losers no more I think.

 

[eldar]

Woo-hoo That was quite a run of successful steals we had going though!

 

[Tubby Rower]

Great job guys!!!! I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to post a loss in my Loser series....

Thanks for the game and for keeping it going during my hiatus

Now on the the wooden spoon competition...

 

[Tubby Rower]

BTW, I'm thinking about TR05....I'm trying to come up with a nice variant.... I'll PM everyone once I get everything worked out.