Turn 54 - 1675 BC

[FortyJ]

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The site includes my Summary and Points of Interest for the turn.

 

[Cheetah]

There is still the danger of getting our warrior trapped on the peninsula, so we must use both our warriors to explore that land_(keeping one of them at the entry to prevent Elucidia from trapping our units on that side.

But that would totaly open the way for Elucidia to send more units through the chokepoint they control. If this realy is a peninsula, could we not just block of the chokepoint untill we have more units up there? Noone else would be able to explore the new land, we wouldn't be trapped, and we would still push Elucidia a little on their chokepoint.

 

[FortyJ]

Cheetah... while we could blockade the chokepoint, there are already Elucidian units (at least 1) on our side of it, so doing so won't prevent them from exploring our lands.

We do not know what this new isthmus will bring. Prudence would dictate that we at least explore it. After all, it could be the route to our newest neighbor, or a way around the isthmus guarded by Elucidia. Of course, it could be nothing important, but we should at least explore it to make sure.

Elucidia won't likely spare any other units for our side of the isthmus and they likely won't move that guardian either (as that would allow Apolyton to pass through as well). My reasoning for this is that previous conversations indicated that they were having trouble with their neighbors wandering too close to their lands. If this is the case, then they are going to want all available units to keep the peace back home.

Besides, if we play it right, we may just negotiate our way into getting Elucidia to allow us passage. Especially if that new straight has something good to offer (assuming they haven't mapped it out yet, which is quite possible).

 

[Cheetah]

No they havent mapped it out yet. Their warrior has not been close to that chokepoint.

I'm afraid I wasn't clear enough about which chokepoints I was talking about in my last post. In short I suggest that we keep a warrior near the chokepoint into Elucidia's lands, and that we block this new chokepoint with our other warrior. Elucidia would not get into this new penninsula and we would know what was going on at the chokepoint into Elucidia's lands.

 

[Cheetah]

Btw:
We have increased in rank from 5 to 4 in poopulation (up 6000 people), and from 7 to 6 in productivity (no change, meaning someone dropped down)

And this is even though Shen Ling is down to 3 population points

 

[FortyJ]

Just to be clear...

The original chokepoint (let's call it Chokepoint "E") is where the Elucidian warrior is currently fortified and blocking both us and Apolyton from crossing. The newly discovered chokepoint (although we're still not sure if that's what it is...) is where our warrior is currently stationed.

It is entirely possible that Elucidia has already mapped that area completely, as they have already had a warrior on this side of Chokepoint "E" for quite some time. If you recall, we first encountered them near those silks just south of our warriors. I cannot say with certainty how much they have already mapped on this side of Chokepoint "E", only that they have already spent some time exploring it before this current situation has evolved.

I understand and sympathize with your concerns for securing the northern and eastern landbridges. However, both are easier said than done at the current moment considering our limited resources. Furthermore, if it does turn out that we are destined to eradicate the insidious Gamecatcher Alliance from this contest, then we will likely not wish to have a handful of warriors playing two-hand touch with the Elucidians up north.

 

[amirsan]

Looks like GC has us in check. Our military is average between us and they already have a warrior nearby and a attack force in BoP. They can get us pretty badly if the attack and we are disadvantaged here. I suggest to stop thinking about the GL for right now and build some more warriors to upgrade to swordsmen.

 

[Octavian X]

I would heartily recommend that we keep the warrior on the peninsula right where he is. Then, we use #2 to explore up the peninsula (or ismuthus, whatever the case may be)

 

[FortyJ]

Valid points, but I doubt that building any more warriors right now is fiscally prudent due to our current lack of military support as it is.

Fortunately, we should get a slight reprieve from the burden of fiscal deficits once Shen Ling grows next turn, and again in 2 more turns. Also, once we settle our 3rd city, we should be in a position up the science rate to hopefully discover the secrets of Mathematics in a reasonable time frame, as it will not only generate some additional commerce, but will relieve some of the burden of our military budget too.

Recruiting warriors at this time would only serve to increase our deficit, which will only serve to cause our funds needed for upgrades to fly out of our treasury even more rapidly than they currently are. I'm afraid that we must run the gauntlet so to speak for the moment.

If GCA sends troops our way, or suddenly launches an attack on one of our units, then we can drop the science rate and the pretense of attempting to research, and go all out military. Once at size 5, Shen Ling will again be able to produce a vet warrior every turn if needed.

In the meantime, I suggest that we go ahead and build a city on the gold hill immediately, unless we see a GCA settler coming out of Balance of Power. I realize that GCA may end up getting the iron source, but we can always fortify our warrior on the iron if needed and establish a city next to the northern iron if we must. We desperately need the commerce at this juncture.

Also, if GCA is planning on coming our way, then the establishment of a 3rd city may give them some pause....

 

[Hygro]

you KNOW we need commerce when we are temproarly boosting it by working on Zhi Gang's gold hills.

 

[Goonie]

Uh oh says Goonie! Gee wilikers Batman, GC knows about our second Iron source! Golly Gee!

 

[amirsan]

FortyJ*** Yeah, i know that it will go beyond our military support but building granarys do he same. Lets just settle on the golden hill and handle the extra warriors for protection and upgrading. I thik it will do us very well in the future.