Anhk-Morpork Correspondence thread

[Beta]

If we pull this off - there will be no question as to what the final 2 on 1 will look like. But I am getting way ahead of myself here. Lets get AM on side and rolling first.

[conmcb25]

You really think he is speaking the truth right now?????

[Beta]

We will find out soon enough. If there is another back stab, we see if BOH wants a piece of AM, and if not - we may as well then clear out.

[conmcb25]

OK give it a whirl, in the meantime if they dont attack we need to get our settler pump claiming the desert just in case we have saltpeter over there.

Some mukets will make some nice defensive units for us till the end of this age.

[Golden Bear]

I can't see how AM cannot work with us.

I can't see how AM won't screw us.

I can't see how to reconcile these two beliefs!!

Man, I want to turn the pages forward to the back of the Chronicles to see what happens.

I wonder if I can patch these things together into a short story that is readable by anybody not in this game? Y'know, send it to a magazine or something stupid? Ah, I just thinkin' out of my level here. Still it IS fun to write the stuff.

The Battle of Zariqum and the Dirge of Desolotinous Roe are coming up soon... I've been planning them.

Too bad that con took himself to Kurra instead of waiting around for the Battle. I'll bet that GB, Shogun and Ardos make it however.

[Beta]

Ormuzd's response. Not promising. Not sure he gets it.

RE: EoD Coalition - follow-up
Honestly I have never liked long wars. And IMO we have achieved our main goal in the war against Babylon. But the situation with AM joining a colaition against is still the same - we will be those who will be destroyed first. we know one part (probably the smaller one) of the Horde's troops because I guess the bigger stack was sent to the East, to beat DR. All those units are free now and may return this way.

We are discussing peace with Krill since some time and we both agree this war continued too long. But we have not reached a conclusion so far.

I have no problems to meet in a chat with both you and LN but I can't see a time which would be acceptable for all of us.

cc Krill

[conmcb25]

Yes he does get it when he is looking at it from his narrow viewpoint.

Who is closer to BOH, and who will take the brunt of an attack? Because I guarentee you when the Horde figures out we have a 3 way coalition they will do what they can to cripple the strongest partner.

A-M's win it strategy right now is probably keep the Horde happy and let them finish LB and then us, in the meantime they build up and get ready for the all out with the Horde.

Now of course if you weren't so stubborn about a cooperative victory maybe they would not be looking at this way

But if you want effective coalitions you better start considering what the end state would be

And Im being serious as a heart attack here.

[Beta]

So, I will try again. Sent to orm and Krill, with copy to Lord Nuclear.

Orm.

There is a very good possibility they will attack you first. In fact. Lord Nuclear and I were discussing that very possibility and thinking that would be the best option - BOH attacking you. I say that seriously - not as a joke - as I am looking at this from a larger perspective, and not simply what is best for each civ. The idea being that you have fairly good defensive terrain, and the largest army of the three. You could absorb, if not in fact hold off the initial BOH attack. Or at least get them into the mountains and off of roads.

Lord Nuclear would not declare war right away - it would be Babylon and AM declaring war. And the sooner the better before massive Keshik upgrades.

Hopefully this will draw sufficient trops away from Horde territory, and Lord Nuclear would then proceed to attack from the south. Babylon's role will be to support your defense, but we would need to cross your territory to help. When Lord Nuclear's attack does go in, I suspect that will lead to a withdrawl of Horde troops, that we could follow-up to infict maximum damage.

This seems like the most viable plans given our relative strengths and the geography involved. Again, it will require the three civs to trust each other.

The other option is for Lord Nuclear and Babylon to declare war - but to be honest, this is very much a second-rate plan. Lost Boys currently have a large number of BOH horse on their western border (ie between Babylon and Lost Boy territory) and they have a large BOH force on their eastern border - the BOH army that was assaulting DR. Lord Nuclear is not in the best situation to defend at the present moment. We need to get that BOH army on the move - to buy us the time to get ready. We all need to shift forces and or upgrade troops.

Other options - you sit by while BOH attacks LB and us. As I have said, we will likely not fight as it would be hopeless. We will simply exit the game, and then BOH will kill you next.

Another option is that we contact BOH and try and reach a deal with them, one that would see Babylon and Lost Boys ally against you. But it does not make good strategic sense to ally with the stronger team - they are the team we are trying to break.

So, although I appreciate your concern over being the first attacked, this comes down to a matter of trust - trust that both Babylon and Lost Boys will not let you be crushed by BOH, We will be ready and willing to fight along with you. I know Lord Nuclear feels the same way. It also comes down to the larger strategic picture - and whether you want to be left in the world with BOH, or left in a world with Lost Boys and Babylon, and a 20 or 30 turn peace to let us grow and develop a new dynamic.

I know BOH is talking about another option - which is 50 turns of peace to let the remaining four civs grow before the next war. I'm sure you can figure out who has the most to gain by that, and it is neither you nor us.

Please give the Coalition and War on BOH serious thought.

Lord Nuclear and I are both available to chat, with you and/or Krill.

Regards...Beta.

[Golden Bear]

Are we really considering jumping out of the game if attacked without AM support? I don't like lying in messages even if only to Ruby.

[Beta]

I am considering it. We can do little to help LB without iron or horses, so I suspect it will be a cake walk for BOH. I am not sure what we do. Dig in and fight. I suppose we could - just to say we did not exit the game. But that only strengthens AM's position, and if they do not ally with us, they are such idiots they deserve to lose the game, so I would hate to simply weaken BOH for AM's gain.

But we should discuss. i thought there was agreement on this earlier.

[Golden Bear]

Should I update Ruby with this?

It might shake them up a little bit.

[Shogun Gunner]

I totally agree with your reasoning on this Beta.

I'm not opposed to exiting the game. If we cannot get an alliance against either BoH or AM, then yes, exit in some manner.

[Beta]

We shall soon see, one way or the other.

[Beta]

Originally posted by Golden Bear
Should I update Ruby with this?

It might shake them up a little bit.

No - I wouldn't.

[conmcb25]

Look if A-M doesn't wake up, and I doubt they will. (My guess is we wont get far in peace and an alliance unless A-M gets a lot out of us)

Then we hunker down continue the war with A-M while BoH takes on LB.

Then we make sure we deal the hardest blow possible against A-M and it will probably be a one shot deal.

We exit shortly thereafter, leaving those idiots nothing.

Shortly after wards BoH finishes them off and we can send them a "I told you so" message.

Next game when Krill is on a team target for early extinction.

What the heck else can we do other than go the DR route?

And you aren't going to hurt BoH enough to make a difference in the end. So we make our choices and take down the one we can take down. If we cant win, then screw it up for the other team that refused to see the light.