New "Ancient Empires" PBEM created

[germanos]

Originally posted by Stefan Härtel
The Great King of Persia, having heard of turmoils not too far of his borders is very concerned. Scouts are ordered to go further west than ever before to contact the rumoured Hittites and get an idea of what things are like.

The Persian King is greatly mistaken: the ruins of Tarsus lay practically on the other side of the world for Persia, and any scouts send there will be old men once they reach their destination. The same goes for the battles that rage in the Assyrian desert, and Hittite troops will be pushed back faster than Persian forces could possibly advance.

Assyria cannot allow for Persian troops to travel through Assyrian lands in their quest for contact with our enemy. Persia should be carefull in the execution of its plans to travel west, as they may venture in the Assyrian heartland. We remind Persia of agreements reached long ago in the Zagros mountains.

[germanos]

Assyrian envoy returns to Memphis.

[Stefan Härtel]

Persian troops are staying north of Lake Urmia. That was non-Assyrian the last time we talked.

[germanos]

North of Lake Urmia is

But you talked of moving west

Have you met the Barbs that **** in the woods allready?
May I advice you (for the health of your soldiers) to leave the buggers alone? I lost quite a few good troops on them, so my guess is they will be as tough as the infamous townsmen of the Tigris-tributuary.

[Kull]

Peace Agreement Near

Pharoah is pleased to announce that the Terms of his Proposed Settlement are agreeable to his brothers in both Hattusas and Nineveh. A Final Agreement to include Borders, Spheres of Influence, and the Rights of Scouts may take a bit longer to hammer out, but based on this initial agreement, both sides are requested to cease hostilities immediately.

Pharoah would like to caution all his brothers that the issue of "land claims" - especially in areas as yet unsettled - appears likely to spark future conflict. Pharoah proposes as a general rule that all nations recognize the two distinct concepts of the "Core Nation" (a ring of 8 - 12 hexes extending outward from the capital city) and "Spheres of Influence" (an adjacent zone into which the core nation is likely to expand at some point in the future.) All activities within the Core Nation are under the complete control of the owning civilization, and incursions here may rightly be considered a matter of the highest national security. A civilization that fails to respect another's "Core Nation" will receive scant sympathy if they find themselves on the wrong end of a sword - and are likely to find the whole world allied against them.

Inside the Sphere of Influence, however, issues are far more flexible. In many instances, two or more civilizations will claim the same area. In these cases, Pharoah proposes that negotiation always be the first option, and that the result of this does not have to be a win-lose proposition. He fully expects there will be occasions where cities from two or more civilizations occupy the same area - coastlines in particular.

As an example of these concepts, should any nation decide to establish a city in the Nile Delta, they can expect Pharoah to add it to his empire - sooner or later. Should they instead found a city inside Canaan, Pharoah would not be pleased, but outright warfare would not be his first option.

My brothers are also encouraged to work with one another in support of the "Right of Scouts" - a pathway of clearly defined hexes that passes through an empire or an escort agreement - that others may use to reach the civilizations which lie at the ends of the earth or to explore the vast deserts of the southeast and the southwest. All travel through a Core Nation is totally at the discretion of the owning civ, but pathways through a Sphere of Influence should never be forbidden.

Given the reality that our empires are expanding rapidly, and bumping into one another at many places, Pharoah would offer one final proposal - that we agree to use mapgifs to clarify our discussions!! Pharoah agrees that the concept of waiting until we have discovered Mapmaking sounds nice, but frankly he believes that this prohibition should ONLY involve exchanges that permanently reveal territory AS PART OF THE MAP EXCHANGE FEATURE, and not the use of mapgifs to eliminate confusion and enhance diplomacy.

For Phase II of the Peace Talks, Pharoah now makes the following proposal to the Assyrian and Hittite emissaries:

1) Submit to him mapgifs that define your respective claims over the Sphere of Influence in question, and Pharoah will use these to help broker an agreement between you. If you agree, he will also serve as binding arbitrator. Should both parties prefer that another nation take on this role, Pharoah will happily step aside.

2) Think about the location of a reasonable "Right of Scouts" pathway or escort agreement that will allow Assyria to pass westward toward Greece and Hatti to travel east and south to the Great Desert.

3) The Assyrian emissary will present a timetable for when the Gold and Slaves from Tarsus shall be returned to his Brother in Hattusas.

[germanos]

Assyrian envoy dispatched

In reply to Kull's post:

I tend to fully agree with you, and to a large extend Assyria has dealt with the world around him in a remarkably similar way as you describe.

I also agree on your proposal regarding the (restricted) use of maps.

Whether or not the Core Nation will be defined as a radius around the capitol or not is disputable. Furthermore, as our Empires will grow, dense centres might develop at far away places from the Capitol, and I wouldn't regard a cluster of three cities merely as a Sphere of influence.

My guess would also be that Minos will not be happy if non of his colonies can be viewed as Core-land .

But all this surely does not dismisses your notion, and it will prove to be a very workable concept. :b

[disclaimer] This is not a ticket for a free ride in Assyria or its spheres of influence [/disclaimer]

[La Fayette]

Re: Assyrian envoy dispatched

Originally posted by germanos
My guess would also be that Minos will not be happy if non of his colonies can be viewed as Core-land .

Minos lives a hard life sailing in bad weather and fishing what is left by the Gods.
You can bet that Minos is specially unhappy when wicked rules and bad habits (such as swapping maps between people who haven't the slightest idea what a map can be, or the new proposal of pathways that Minos would call 'spying superhighways') make it easy for them to travel at full speed on their light chariots and talk with one another and agree upon this and that.

[Steve Clark]

I regret to say that I will resign from playing the Greeks. Good luck to all.

Thanks Paul. Sorry to be leaving this wonderful scenario.

[germanos]

Sorry to see you go Steve

Is there any possibility you would reconsider?

[La Fayette]

Well, that was really a very short spell of neighbourhood!
Good bye, Steve. I hope to meet you again elsewhere.

[Stefan Härtel]

The Persians are so great...

FIRST CONTACT WITH HITTITES

ECBATANA/HATTUSAS (PAP) Persian troops moving westwards have encountered slightly exhausted Hittite troops at the banks of the Murat river.
The Persians, who, in respect of Assyria, remained north of the river, are delighted to have encountered the Hittites after long last.
An envoy was sent to Hattusas to propose negotiations. The Great King is positive that this will be the start of a good friendship.

In other news:

Have you met the Barbs that **** in the woods allready?
May I advice you (for the health of your soldiers) to leave the buggers alone? I lost quite a few good troops on
them, so my guess is they will be as tough as the infamous townsmen of the Tigris-tributuary.

In fact, I have, at 125,25 and 129,37. I left them alone for now, but as weapons technology advances, I do not exclude that I will attack them later on. Maybe we should negotiate about who reserves the right to attack which troops.

Goodbye Steve hope you reconsider.

[SlowThinker]

Steve, I hope I and my rules isn't the reason you are quitting...

Anyway I think you can do one more turn since we won't get a replacement so fast. Between turns you could reconsider your decision...

[germanos]

Re: The Persians are so great...

Originally posted by Stefan Härtel


In fact, I have, at 125,25 and 129,37. I left them alone for now, but as weapons technology advances, I do not exclude that I will attack them later on. Maybe we should negotiate about who reserves the right to attack which troops.

Its the Northern one that's the killer.

As for rights: first come, first serve?

[tanelorn]

The Hittite King, Mursilis, being a man of justice declares his aprooval of the latest events. Envoys have been dispatched to Memphis and Ecbatana (summer capital?). May the day come when Ninevi and Hatussas can talk with no ill feeling. I heard Madharu has a younger brother Send him over.

Mursilis experiences severe dental problems (in real life). Rumor has it it's his molars. Show some patience for a while...

Agamemnon, friend, please reconsider! Mycenae will be empty without you "for neither ship, nor tower is anything, without people dwelling inside" (free transfer from the back of my head, Oedipus Tyrant)

[Steve Clark]

Yes, I can do the turn soon (tonight). One of the reasons for leaving is that I have a 10-day vacation coming up later this week. Stay tuned...