Ambassadors, please check in

[notyoueither]

Well, Lego will not want to see an ND enlarged with all of the south. It will be in their interests to not hurt RP until they begin to realise just how far reaching that treaty may be. At the moment, they won't even know that there is a treaty, let alone its terms. We must guard that secret very closely.

Thinking of things we can say to other civs this next turn that may conceal the level of our commitment to RP...

GoW: RP has granted us Bilbao because it is lost to them. We appreciated them giving up that site to us. Santiago was a price we had to pay for Bilbao. We guess they are very annoyed with ND. [Should we plant suggestions that RP is hoping that a different situation in the East might make GoW reconsider their plans?]

The others? I'm not sure yet. Ideas?

What if we let on that RP sold the cities to us for undisclosed considerations? We are wondering if ND or GoW, or both of them are willing to respect our new borders? We are sure of GoW, due to our friendship and NAP. We are curious about ND.

[DeepO]

I think the first thing we need to decide is what will be ideal for us: GoW attacking us, or not? That should determine how strong we're going to be to GoW in our wording. We can provoke them for sure, but do we want to? Mentioning to them we don't have a RoP is tricky in itself, they might decide that it won't hurt if they bypassed us anyway.

ND can be rather cold, we want them to attack us (I don't see them not doing it anyway).

We shouldn't forget about Vox though. I would start to contact them again (the ending of Voxodus gives the perfect excuse), asking about how strong they still feel about been bullied off Bob. But, it would be very good if we before that time ask more info from RP, to know who their main allies were. If it was RP, that changes the situation considerably: they would probably go along as long as we don't show our real intentions. If they feel closer to GoW, we shouldn't tell too much. But let them feel we still consider them somewhat of our friends, even after they have gone. If we let them rot on Legos minor, we might regret it later

DeepO

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by DeepO
I think the first thing we need to decide is what will be ideal for us: GoW attacking us, or not? That should determine how strong we're going to be to GoW in our wording. We can provoke them for sure, but do we want to? Mentioning to them we don't have a RoP is tricky in itself, they might decide that it won't hurt if they bypassed us anyway.

IMHO, its best if they didn't attack us and pulled back, went through the jungles, or went to attack ND.

Originally posted by DeepO
We shouldn't forget about Vox though. I would start to contact them again (the ending of Voxodus gives the perfect excuse), asking about how strong they still feel about been bullied off Bob. But, it would be very good if we before that time ask more info from RP, to know who their main allies were. If it was RP, that changes the situation considerably: they would probably go along as long as we don't show our real intentions. If they feel closer to GoW, we shouldn't tell too much. But let them feel we still consider them somewhat of our friends, even after they have gone. If we let them rot on Legos minor, we might regret it later
DeepO

One thing to keep in mind is the accusation that RP abandoned Vox. who knows if that is true, but if it is, or if they feel used by RP, then things will be different. Good point about their bob adventures.

[DeepO]

okay, I'm contacting Vondrack to ask for a chat. I'll try to follow the plan outlined here:
- We're helping RP the best we can, i.e. military
- we're passive: we get a few cities, and see who will attack us
- we're still commited to research
- we'd want to know how Lego sees all of this, and if they will keep on supporting us-RP
- if possible, we'd like to know the feelings of Vox
- ask for more information, and give some as well (e.g. RP is in a sore military situation, and will most likely fall quickly)

DeepO

[DeepO]

chat is starting. for those interested: #blabla , pwd is #boemboem

DeepO

[Shiber]

Originally posted by notyoueither
To ND: Too bad, so sad. We tried to talk with you. We tried to get you to see that our concerns re Bob were legitimate. Our concerns were ignored. We are pledged to defend RP lands vs your aggression. We understand if that means war between us. Let us not hate, let us fight if we must, and then share a drink in Valhalla.

While I'd like to send them something the sort of this (good-mannered, very sportive, I like your style NYE ), it may be too revealing... I'd rather leave them in the dark for as long as possible. We don't have to tell them outright that we're committed to serious fighting, for a while they might think that we're just trying to pull some small-time tricks with switching of towns and so on.
We have to say something though. Any ideas?

[DeepO]

Shiber, mabe best to start working on a proposal for a PM, so we can work from there. I would keep the message of nye, although not that strongly, perhaps... ND didn't want us to keep what we could have easily gotten, others did not object. If that means war, too bad... we don't wish for it, but will fight one without hard feelings.

DeepO

[Shiber]

To ambassador Borc and the people of Neu Demogyptica,

Due to recent events, Gathering Storm has had to make some very difficult decisions lately.

We are sad to have come to this, but we are afraid that cooperation in the matter of your war against RP between our two fine nations does not seem possible.

We believe that our minimal claims for strategic land on Bob were legitimate, but since our concerns were ignored by your representatives, we have decided to switch sides in this conflict. We are informing you of this change ahead of the time that you will receive the save in the spirit of good manners and sportsmanship.

When you take a look at the save, you will notice that the city of Santiago has changed ownership, and its gates now sport Gathering Storm banners. We have promised some limited help to RP in their struggle for survival, and there is yet more to come.

We understand that these new steps may mean that a state of war between our two nations will become inevitable, and we are ready to face the consequences. But please, let us not allow any in-game wars to cloud our personal relations. Let us not hate, let us fight if we must, and share a drink in Valhalla, together.

Best regards,
Shiber, GS ambassador to ND.

[DeepO]

good, apart from "and there is yet more to come". That would be a full declaration of war... instead I would say something like "We hope you will respect our sovereinity(sp?)"

DeepO

[Harovan]

Well, we don't really want, that they leave us alone, now do we? This is THE chance to win this damn game, and we won't leave it out.

[Shiber]

I was rather hoping that they'd fear an amphibious attack on their own shores when they read and analyze this part, and divert some troops.

[DeepO]

what about asking to stay out of our cultural borders then? It's basically the same as asking not too attack us, but not too agressively.

There are two reasons why I ask for this:
- this message will go straight to GoW. certainly if it will be send first. And I wouldn't mind if GoW attacks us as well, but if we can stall them for another 2-3 turns, we would be in better shape
- both Vigo and Pamplona are ill defended for the moment. If ND does not take Santiago this turn, they will lose another turn of movement before attacking Pamplona, which can then be properly defended before they get there.

DeepO

[DeepO]

erhm, guys, we need to hurry a bit on sending messages to ND and GoW. ND already has the save for a few hours now... every message will be better then no message at all

DeepO

[Shiber]

When Poly went down shortly after Nathan sent the turn, I PM'd Arrian via MZO saying that I have to go out and asked him to PM the message to ND, along with an apology that it didn't arrive before the save did, as soon as Poly goes back up. And he has.

[DeepO]

ah ok. For me, poly only went down for 15 minutes or so, after that it wasn't easy but I could still get it.

How and who is going to handle the GoW contact?

DeepO