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THE OTHER TEAMS: AN ASSESSMENT
Legoland
They are a team explicitly created to play as a builder civ. While I believe that ALL teams will have a penchant for war under various circumstances, their's is the weakest - and by far. They will want to build more defensive military prowess than offensive military prowess and will take a military strategy of building an insurmountable defense along with their improvements+wonders as while the rest of the teams run around spreading out their forces and losing units in attempts to conquest others.
In the long-run, this strategy could win out if the builders are not a very early target of another team that FORCES THEM to build less improvements than they would like.
In terms of their view of us, we are THE ONLY TEAM not have explicitly threatened them with destruction in their thread or other threads on the public boards. We have also had more than one of us post on their boards to express sympathy (even empathy) for their gamestyle and the survival of their team. If they ever get cornered or even threatened, we should hope they remember that (which, given that they KNOW they can't trust anyone else, they very well might).
Glory of War
The explicitly created to fight wars because wars are fun. While they will certainly be discussing strategy and doing so from rationally self-interested perspective, it remains the case that they still have an irrational attachment to war as a choice for how to advance themselves. This CAN be exploited in a number of ways.
They HAVE NOT stated a specific target, which is wise of them. They have simply stated that they will conquer EVERYONE. This gives everyone clarity in that, in the long-run, they cannot be trusted. But it also means that no-one will specifically feel that THEY are the next target.
In terms of us, then, the warmongers' attachment to war but non-attachment to a target can be exploited if we have mutual interest with the warmongers or even if our interests can be served at the same time as offering a war for the warmongers to fight (and offers them an incentive for the war not to be against us).
Gathering Storm
While more enigmatic than Legoland or the Glory of War, the Gathering Storm could be fairly described as "Glory of War - Light".
They have a specific vendetta against Team Lux Invicta that could potentially be exploited, but I'd rather that we sided with Lux Invicta than Gathering Storm (if possible). Gathering Storm is more dangerous than Glory of War precisely because they're a lighter variation on the same theme. While Glory of War is irrationally fixated on war as a means to victory, it seems clear that Gathering Storm is more open-minded. Furthermore, because Gathering Storm has established a specific target, they have the benefit of other teams (including us...) loosening their guard a bit against them.
Aside from the fact that we should NEVER loosen our guard against this team, they are particularly dangerous and with their upcoming civ choices and strategic work, could prove far more effective than Glory of War at Glory of War's own game. This is mostly because where all of the other teams seem united in shunning Glory of War, only Team Lux Invicta has reason to shun Gathering Storm...
We should not fall for this. They need to not only be watched by contained... a "Policy of Containment" would be ideal against them
Lux Invicta
I would honestly say that this group is more enigmatic than even our own team. While they have stated that they will achieve victory in the end and are quite proud of themselves, they HAVE NOT, as yet, shown any clear external signs of leaning toward any specific method (building, wars, etc.) as their means toward supremacy and victory. While Trip is the team leader (for now), the team was explicitly formed with a variety of play styles on it. This makes them much like ourselves in that they are likely keeping all options open and will follow the option which the balance of opinion within their team supports case-by-case and which seems to be in their interests at the time.
This, in my opinion makes Lux Invicta the most dangerous long-term opponent. However, it also makes Lux Invicta the easiest of the other teams for us to approach eye-to-eye. If there is a way to convince Lux Invicta that our interests are inter-twined with theirs and to pursue complementary courses of action with regards to thwarting threats by Gathering Storm and the Glory of War (in particular), that could be AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE PARTNERSHIP.
Another issue is that the apparent vendetta against this team by Gathering Storm (AKA "Trash Trip's Ass") could be exploited to bring Team Lux Invcita into cooperating with us (to buffer themselves against the threat of Gathering Storm). With both Gathering Storm and the Glory of War looking for a target, an alliance of Lux Invicta, Role-Play Team, and Legoland could prove valuable... all (out of self-interest) don't want to see one of the others fall to one of the two war-monger teams... as such an event would only make the warmongers more powerful.
That said, they are (I believe) the most dangerous opponent and we must be sure to sue the builders (if possible) as our hedge against them. We must also attempt to watch them closely for signs of betraying us should any arrangement with them actually work out.
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As such...
META-TEAM GOALS
1. Keep Gathering Storm and Glory of War Isolated From Each Other
I can't possibly over-emphasize how important this goal is to the geopolitical makeup of the game. An alliance or even a casual partnership between Gathering Storm and the Glory of War would be a disaster and could end up swallowing an entire team (any of the other three of us) pretty quickly without help from the others. If that unforunate event takes place, we would have to use every means at our disposal to drive a wedge between these two victors and hope they follow the old rule that "now alliance survives victory"
Ideally, however, we will be able to drive a wedge between them early on. I don't care if its subterfuge (lying to them - "hey, those guys are out to get you") or anything else it takes. This is priority #1. An alliance between Glory of War and Lux Invicta would be bad, but ultimately Lux Invicta knows that they can't trust Glory of War and will try to dump them - this is easier to drive a wedge in between. The true danger is an alliance between Gathering Storm and Glory of War.
I think the key item of weakness in their potential relationship that can be exploited and MUST be exploited early is the following:
Gathering Storm currently has the luxury of Glory of War being "the big bad guys" that everyone is really worried about. Gathering Storm probably is chuckling to themselves that THEY are the real threat and they could ride along on a sentiment to take out Glory of War and then stab someone in the back.
This is precisely what we can exploit, but it will have to be done early. We must convince the Gathering Storm team that we think we can work with THEM, but that we agree with everyone else that the Glory of War team is likely irreconcilable. While they're cackling to themselves about how this keeps them from being the isolated team (and there IS a risk in that!), it will also hopefully keep them from going to Glory of War to create an alliance.
We can always sign a Secret Defensive Alliance with Team Lux Invicta that says that if Gathering Storm attacks either of us, the other will attack Gathering Storm (and the other way around if Lux Invicta turns out to be more warlike than I suspect). In this manner, we can keep Gathering Storm and Glory of War apart and exploit the animosity between Gathering Storm and Lux Invicta to keep ourselves from being mortally stabbed in the back.
2. A Long-Term Partnership with Legoland
They're the only ones who can really be trusted in the long run (especially if we prove ourselves trustworthy to them) and the meet the minimum requirement of being "able to live with the other teams". If such a partnership builds, they have a powerful incentive to keep us around and strong as an augmentation to their own protection. We have reason to keep them around as long as there are warmonger threats to us over the horizon we'd rather not see gobble them up.
As with all alliances, however, they never survive victory. If, by some fantastic luck and planning, the only dominant human civs left are the builders and ourselves, then let the scheming against the builders begin
Otherwise, we should remain united with them in attempting to create a STABLE joint hegemony that seeks to prevent any warmongering power from becoming dominant or threatening to either of us.
3. Partnership with Lux Invicta over Gathering Storm
Assuming that Lux Invicta survives, in the long run an alliance with both Lux Invicta and Gathering Storm in it is likely untennable. Ultimately, it would be in our interests to keep them opposed to one another (keep in mind that it's always POSSIBLE that Lux Invicta and Gathering Storm will ally TOGETHER just for the effect, with the idea of taking each other on once they're the only 2 powerful civs left), but to make sure that one of them doesn't take the other one over and become too powerful.
Ultimately, however, we want to establish either sole hegemony, or (more likely) joint hegemony in partnership with Legoland. If one of Gathering Storm or Lux Invicta has to go, I wholly recommend Gathering Storm, as Lux Invicta I believe has the right mix of members and strategies to more able to fit in with a stable and peaceful long-term framework where we either have sole or joint hegemony.
Legoland
They are a team explicitly created to play as a builder civ. While I believe that ALL teams will have a penchant for war under various circumstances, their's is the weakest - and by far. They will want to build more defensive military prowess than offensive military prowess and will take a military strategy of building an insurmountable defense along with their improvements+wonders as while the rest of the teams run around spreading out their forces and losing units in attempts to conquest others.
In the long-run, this strategy could win out if the builders are not a very early target of another team that FORCES THEM to build less improvements than they would like.
In terms of their view of us, we are THE ONLY TEAM not have explicitly threatened them with destruction in their thread or other threads on the public boards. We have also had more than one of us post on their boards to express sympathy (even empathy) for their gamestyle and the survival of their team. If they ever get cornered or even threatened, we should hope they remember that (which, given that they KNOW they can't trust anyone else, they very well might).
Glory of War
The explicitly created to fight wars because wars are fun. While they will certainly be discussing strategy and doing so from rationally self-interested perspective, it remains the case that they still have an irrational attachment to war as a choice for how to advance themselves. This CAN be exploited in a number of ways.
They HAVE NOT stated a specific target, which is wise of them. They have simply stated that they will conquer EVERYONE. This gives everyone clarity in that, in the long-run, they cannot be trusted. But it also means that no-one will specifically feel that THEY are the next target.
In terms of us, then, the warmongers' attachment to war but non-attachment to a target can be exploited if we have mutual interest with the warmongers or even if our interests can be served at the same time as offering a war for the warmongers to fight (and offers them an incentive for the war not to be against us).
Gathering Storm
While more enigmatic than Legoland or the Glory of War, the Gathering Storm could be fairly described as "Glory of War - Light".
They have a specific vendetta against Team Lux Invicta that could potentially be exploited, but I'd rather that we sided with Lux Invicta than Gathering Storm (if possible). Gathering Storm is more dangerous than Glory of War precisely because they're a lighter variation on the same theme. While Glory of War is irrationally fixated on war as a means to victory, it seems clear that Gathering Storm is more open-minded. Furthermore, because Gathering Storm has established a specific target, they have the benefit of other teams (including us...) loosening their guard a bit against them.Aside from the fact that we should NEVER loosen our guard against this team, they are particularly dangerous and with their upcoming civ choices and strategic work, could prove far more effective than Glory of War at Glory of War's own game. This is mostly because where all of the other teams seem united in shunning Glory of War, only Team Lux Invicta has reason to shun Gathering Storm...
We should not fall for this. They need to not only be watched by contained... a "Policy of Containment" would be ideal against them
Lux Invicta
I would honestly say that this group is more enigmatic than even our own team. While they have stated that they will achieve victory in the end and are quite proud of themselves, they HAVE NOT, as yet, shown any clear external signs of leaning toward any specific method (building, wars, etc.) as their means toward supremacy and victory. While Trip is the team leader (for now), the team was explicitly formed with a variety of play styles on it. This makes them much like ourselves in that they are likely keeping all options open and will follow the option which the balance of opinion within their team supports case-by-case and which seems to be in their interests at the time.
This, in my opinion makes Lux Invicta the most dangerous long-term opponent. However, it also makes Lux Invicta the easiest of the other teams for us to approach eye-to-eye. If there is a way to convince Lux Invicta that our interests are inter-twined with theirs and to pursue complementary courses of action with regards to thwarting threats by Gathering Storm and the Glory of War (in particular), that could be AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE PARTNERSHIP.
Another issue is that the apparent vendetta against this team by Gathering Storm (AKA "Trash Trip's Ass") could be exploited to bring Team Lux Invcita into cooperating with us (to buffer themselves against the threat of Gathering Storm). With both Gathering Storm and the Glory of War looking for a target, an alliance of Lux Invicta, Role-Play Team, and Legoland could prove valuable... all (out of self-interest) don't want to see one of the others fall to one of the two war-monger teams... as such an event would only make the warmongers more powerful.
That said, they are (I believe) the most dangerous opponent and we must be sure to sue the builders (if possible) as our hedge against them. We must also attempt to watch them closely for signs of betraying us should any arrangement with them actually work out.
------------------------------------
As such...
META-TEAM GOALS
1. Keep Gathering Storm and Glory of War Isolated From Each Other
I can't possibly over-emphasize how important this goal is to the geopolitical makeup of the game. An alliance or even a casual partnership between Gathering Storm and the Glory of War would be a disaster and could end up swallowing an entire team (any of the other three of us) pretty quickly without help from the others. If that unforunate event takes place, we would have to use every means at our disposal to drive a wedge between these two victors and hope they follow the old rule that "now alliance survives victory"
Ideally, however, we will be able to drive a wedge between them early on. I don't care if its subterfuge (lying to them - "hey, those guys are out to get you") or anything else it takes. This is priority #1. An alliance between Glory of War and Lux Invicta would be bad, but ultimately Lux Invicta knows that they can't trust Glory of War and will try to dump them - this is easier to drive a wedge in between. The true danger is an alliance between Gathering Storm and Glory of War.
I think the key item of weakness in their potential relationship that can be exploited and MUST be exploited early is the following:
Gathering Storm currently has the luxury of Glory of War being "the big bad guys" that everyone is really worried about. Gathering Storm probably is chuckling to themselves that THEY are the real threat and they could ride along on a sentiment to take out Glory of War and then stab someone in the back.
This is precisely what we can exploit, but it will have to be done early. We must convince the Gathering Storm team that we think we can work with THEM, but that we agree with everyone else that the Glory of War team is likely irreconcilable. While they're cackling to themselves about how this keeps them from being the isolated team (and there IS a risk in that!), it will also hopefully keep them from going to Glory of War to create an alliance.
We can always sign a Secret Defensive Alliance with Team Lux Invicta that says that if Gathering Storm attacks either of us, the other will attack Gathering Storm (and the other way around if Lux Invicta turns out to be more warlike than I suspect). In this manner, we can keep Gathering Storm and Glory of War apart and exploit the animosity between Gathering Storm and Lux Invicta to keep ourselves from being mortally stabbed in the back.
2. A Long-Term Partnership with Legoland
They're the only ones who can really be trusted in the long run (especially if we prove ourselves trustworthy to them) and the meet the minimum requirement of being "able to live with the other teams". If such a partnership builds, they have a powerful incentive to keep us around and strong as an augmentation to their own protection. We have reason to keep them around as long as there are warmonger threats to us over the horizon we'd rather not see gobble them up.
As with all alliances, however, they never survive victory. If, by some fantastic luck and planning, the only dominant human civs left are the builders and ourselves, then let the scheming against the builders begin
Otherwise, we should remain united with them in attempting to create a STABLE joint hegemony that seeks to prevent any warmongering power from becoming dominant or threatening to either of us.3. Partnership with Lux Invicta over Gathering Storm
Assuming that Lux Invicta survives, in the long run an alliance with both Lux Invicta and Gathering Storm in it is likely untennable. Ultimately, it would be in our interests to keep them opposed to one another (keep in mind that it's always POSSIBLE that Lux Invicta and Gathering Storm will ally TOGETHER just for the effect, with the idea of taking each other on once they're the only 2 powerful civs left), but to make sure that one of them doesn't take the other one over and become too powerful.
Ultimately, however, we want to establish either sole hegemony, or (more likely) joint hegemony in partnership with Legoland. If one of Gathering Storm or Lux Invicta has to go, I wholly recommend Gathering Storm, as Lux Invicta I believe has the right mix of members and strategies to more able to fit in with a stable and peaceful long-term framework where we either have sole or joint hegemony.
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