Peaster vs. SlowThinker Fast PBEM duel

[SlowThinker]

Originally posted by Peaster
You should post warning signs around your forests.

So if you would be so kind and look if any of your warriors is near Slany or near Kutna Hora. There are also American forests there. I mean especially a bearded warrior in a green jerkin and another one in a dirty brown sweatshirt and a big wart on his left cheek.
And another American forest is here, my ranger is just ramming down a sign (the Zulu vagabond nearby should notice him if he is not blind):

[SlowThinker]

60 AD
Remember your Archers must ask for a license at American Mining Department before they can mine the gold!
A group of tourists landed on the international airport of Umtata. Where is a taxi station?
A dangerous gunsel broke away from the state jail of Benesov in a stolen ship. He was spotted he was heading direction Mpondo. An international warrant was released. Zulus are asked to catch him and hand him over to the American justice.

[Peaster]

The Zulus built an Embassy in Cheb in 61AD, even as the American tourists arrive near Umtata (and Mpondo and ...?).

Email by SlowThinker

Aargh ... I forgot I must report embassies ... 43 AD I established an embassy in Mpondo from a square SE from Mpondo ... then I disbanded the trireme that brought the dip... I see this is a big problem that confused you .... you had a big disavantage

Well, it's understandable. We do have a lot of new rules to remember. Maybe this balances out my good luck with huts in the early game.

Welcome to Umtata... but we have no airport and no taxis. Just Archers

[SlowThinker]

I think it is mainly a fault of the referee, he should notice it immediately, it is in my log.

Spectators: if you want laugh at us, you can start a thread "not for P. and ST"...
(I think it must be fun now, for example if I imagine P. left two warriors on the gold and I will be afraid to attack them with my 6 Catapults in Stribro)

[SlowThinker]

61 AD

Welcome to Umtata... but we have no airport and no taxis. Just Archers

Archers and no taxis?? Then we will wait on the airport until you invent taxis. Aa ... eeeeeh .... sliiiip! The stones were slippy on the mountain and we fell down in some jungle ...
There is some fence and gate here ... there are some nice gardens after the fence. From the hills we noticed the garden and the city nearby is depopulated, but now we see a man who is approaching the gate. Is he a gatekeeper? Will he sell us a ticket? We would like to visit the gardens, they appear wonderfull. Shall we knock the door.

Did we warn our Zulu friends the criminel from Benesov stole a small portable nuclear weapon? We hope you go well in Mpondo ...

[Peaster]

Hey StoppedThinker !! Let's GO !!!

[SlowThinker]

I am on a a duel-holiday...

[Peaster]

Hmmm....

This is supposed to be a FAST pbem between gentlemen. You better get off your holiday pretty soon, or you will hear from my Zulu lawyers!

[Peaster]

The Duel's Obituary

The Duel is Dead: R.I.P.

This duel was fun most of the way, and I'd like to play another one. But this format needs a few more rules. There must be some limit on the time a player can take - or it may be impossible to actually win a game. Currently, a player can just disappear.

The balance of this game was probably thrown off by my luck with huts, and maybe by ST's embassy error (not sure yet - I was hoping to play a few more turns to find out). Such unpredictable events could be smoothed out if the duel had a referee - basically just some responsible spectator willing to direct the game on rare occasions.

I think there is little hope of continuing this duel, and I want to analyze it before it's forgotten. But I will not look at ST's thread or saves until Friday. I waited this long based on ST's email from a few days ago:

"Duel - I understand your narkeness, and I am very sorry. Seriously. But I have some important event tomorrow and I will be able to play on Tuesday only.

ST"

[SlowThinker]

62 AD
Indeed! A real man with a bow on the hills west from Hlobane.
The man at the gate of the gardens is moving away ... we are searching a ticket office, but nothing is nearby... therefore Bob knocks on the gate ... a terrible bang ... Bob is a big man ... the gate falls! ... and we see one third of Hlobane collapses!! We are very sorry.
It looks a touristic activity intensifies ... many people in the traditional green Zulu costumes near Benesov and Kutna hora ... other tourists want to visit Slany. You are welcomed ... but first you have to visit our custom and passport office. Aaah ... no weapons are allowed in our country!

(trireme 9,17 attacks trireme 9,15 and dies
Chariot 9,21 attacks warrior 10,22 and kills it
catapult 13,25 attacks Hlobane and kills a phalanx)

[SlowThinker]

Re: The Duel's Obituary

Originally posted by Peaster
The Duel is Dead: R.I.P.
I think there is little hope of continuing this duel, and I want to analyze it before it's forgotten. But I will not look at ST's thread or saves until Friday. I waited this long based on ST's email from a few days ago:
"Duel - I understand your narkeness, and I am very sorry. Seriously. But I have some important event tomorrow and I will be able to play on Tuesday only.
ST"

I meant "your" Tuesday, and I think it is still your Tuesday, isn't it?

I supposed the speed of a duel would alternate to be fast - moderate - slow - with an interruption, depending on abilities of both players.
Anyway I understand you may prefer an unbroken flow of game ...

I can stop now, or continue up to 65 AD...
Personally I would prefer to continue up to the end, but I can't assure any steady speed of my play.

Originally posted by Peaster
The balance of this game was probably thrown off by my luck with huts

I think a luck is a part of Civ2.
But also without a luck with huts and battles the game result depends on another kind of luck - Civ2 is a game like stone-scissors-paper. For example ideally you should set your economy/army ratio a bit higher than your opponent. Then you should win economically. But if you set the economy too high you will be destroyed probably.

[Peaster]

It is Tuesday in Florida, but it is approx 4AM in Praha! Fine - I will play to 65AD if you can play with a 72 hr rule until then - is that OK with you?

At that point I expect to know how much effect the embassy error has had on the game. And I want to discuss some rules (see above). If all goes well at that point we will continue, but I might still stop play. Also OK?

If you agree to these things, I will play 63AD asap.

[SlowThinker]

The save was posted at 1:30 am.
To be frank I started the game at 10 pm and supposed I would post the save sooner. But I spent a lot of time when thinking about a continuation.

...I think you can stop playing anytime...

I want to say I feel responsible for your narkeness: I should tell you I can't assure my play next 14 turns and not to pretend I could play soon.

Hereafter I can say I will be able to play with a 72h limit up to 65 AD (...at least very very likely).

But I can't play with such a limit for the rest of the game (if any). I am unable to estimate my playing abilities in a long-time run. What I like on a PBEM duel is we can play 20 turns during a weekend and then take a 14-day holiday, because next weekend we can move the game up again.
But I agree players should estimate and report their playing abilities better than I did.
And I understand you may prefer a continuous schedule.

I will be able (...very likely) to play approx. 2 turns per day until Friday then a bit faster during the weekend (if I won't write reports for spectators).
Next week there is a 45% chance I could play in a similar fashion, a 15% chance I will not be able to play at all, a 10% chance I will be able to play faster than approx. 2 turns per day, and a 30% chance I will be able to play slower than 2 turns per day.

[SlowThinker]

64 AD
Bob and his two friends are lost near Hlobane.
A delegate of the travel agency is coming to Hlobane to find them.

[Peaster]

To me, taking a few breaks is OK as long as the game keeps moving at a good pace on the average (which our has done). I just don't want our game to get bogged down in the 60AD-65AD period, because I am in doubt about whether to continue, and I want to resolve that question asap.

If we play past 65AD, maybe we can agree on some simple rule that allows flexibility + pace. For example, maybe each player must maintain a one-turn-per-day average, taken over the previous 20 turns. A player could earn a 2 week break by playing many turns quickly. Also, we can simply "stop the clock" when a player is sick, or goes on a trip, etc. I haven't thought about the details of tracking playing time, but I imagine we would not have to be very careful about it.