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Lately in threads I've mentioned "in a game I've played," a lot... truth to tell it's been the same game 99% of the time. My buddy and I started playing a PBEM game a while ago and it's going down to the wire. Hell there were turns that the #1 and #2 positions flipped depending on who had just ended their turn. Now that he's vassalized the Mali he's taken a 300 point lead (4800-4500 pts) and of the remaining empires all are vassals of either him or me. There's a small stretch of ocean between our 2 capitals (I've got a strong island in between), and he's shifted his military north towards me. Nukes have been built by both parties. Most of my army is on another continent but I've a sizable and growing force on my mainland; also my military is superior per unit as I have both the Pentagon and the PRO trait. I also have Sid's Sushi, Mining Inc, and Civ Jewelers. OTOH he beat me to the Gorges Dam by 1 turn (
) and has Standard Ethanol, as well as the FIN trait. He's about 1 1/2 techs ahead of me and pulling away (and the ONLY reason I closed the gap was I got the Al Gore Wonder) and has 40 cities to my 30. Generally in the games we play we've had an unwritten rule about not attacking each other. This time we've had a long cold war for years, with spies, trade manipulation, privateers, explorers/planes in each other's territory, and religious missions as diplomacy(not to mention extreme spending on ESP points... we're both over 18,000). But now it's looking to turn hot and it's gonna be a bloodbath.
While generally I am the better player he's told me he learned a lot from this game, and he recently beat the AI in an overwhelming domination victory on Monarch, where before he could barely scrape a victory out at Prince level. Most likely there'll be some fighting while we have a Spaceship race. Domination/diplomatic victory is out, unless one side gets really lucky in the war. However, I think I can sneak a cultural victory in since my capital is already Legendary and 2 more cities will reach Legendary in under 40 turns. I doubt he's paying attention to that (due to his inexperience) but if he does see it I've got to worry about my capital as it's the most vulnerable. OTOH he has his cap on water as well as his holy shrine city (which accounts for 1/2 his income I think). Right now I'm positioning subs off his coasts to pillage all his water resources in 1-2 turns if things get hot, and building lots of transports and air power.
So how long is a while ago? June 1st, and unlike every other MP game we've played there's no clear winner even at this late date. I'm really, REALLY enjoying this game.
to Civ4. 
) and has Standard Ethanol, as well as the FIN trait. He's about 1 1/2 techs ahead of me and pulling away (and the ONLY reason I closed the gap was I got the Al Gore Wonder) and has 40 cities to my 30. Generally in the games we play we've had an unwritten rule about not attacking each other. This time we've had a long cold war for years, with spies, trade manipulation, privateers, explorers/planes in each other's territory, and religious missions as diplomacy(not to mention extreme spending on ESP points... we're both over 18,000). But now it's looking to turn hot and it's gonna be a bloodbath.While generally I am the better player he's told me he learned a lot from this game, and he recently beat the AI in an overwhelming domination victory on Monarch, where before he could barely scrape a victory out at Prince level. Most likely there'll be some fighting while we have a Spaceship race. Domination/diplomatic victory is out, unless one side gets really lucky in the war. However, I think I can sneak a cultural victory in since my capital is already Legendary and 2 more cities will reach Legendary in under 40 turns. I doubt he's paying attention to that (due to his inexperience) but if he does see it I've got to worry about my capital as it's the most vulnerable. OTOH he has his cap on water as well as his holy shrine city (which accounts for 1/2 his income I think). Right now I'm positioning subs off his coasts to pillage all his water resources in 1-2 turns if things get hot, and building lots of transports and air power.
So how long is a while ago? June 1st, and unlike every other MP game we've played there's no clear winner even at this late date. I'm really, REALLY enjoying this game.
to Civ4.