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So, we're about to fulfill simultaneous contracts against the Horde and Sarantium. It should be our finest hour as money-grubbing Mercs. 
But it also seems to have a lot of potential for backfiring on us. I figured it would be worth discussing the possibilities of where things on our continent go from here. (What is our continent's name, anyway? I suppose that until the end of the forum blackout, there was never really a need to differentiate our part of the world from the rest...)
So, here are two big problems I can see occuring. Both would have one root cause: our blatant playing both sides causing the Horde and Sarantium to wake up and realize that we are not, and never will be, on their side; and that, if they can actually trust each other, they'd actually find a better guarantee of an ally in each other than in us.
Now, this isn't likely. Due to events in the C3CDG, there's bad blood between a lot of ex-Babylon players now on Sarantium and a lot of ex-Horde players now on the C4DG Horde. It's not at all surprising they've ended up at war (even though their settlements are almost comically far about from each other for the time being - it would make more sense to me for us and Sarantium to be at war). And if we were any other team, I imagine Sarantium and the Horde would simply be at each other's throats by default, with the team in our position sitting pretty deciding the victor based on who they choose to ally with. Indeed, this is pretty much what's happened so far. But we're about to show them that we are not going to do the "smart" thing for a civ aimed at "winning": we aren't going to choose sides. And that creates a whole different ballgame. One in which, if we are left undisturbed to serve both sides, neither Horde nor Sarantium can feel all that secure. Yes, there is the upside for both of them in that both can feel secure we won't be committing ourselves to the other side, either, and that might be what keeps this situation from degenerating for us. But we should at least consider what happens if it does not.
A Challenge to the Merc Way of Life
Sarantium and the Horde are probably going to express outrage when they realize we're running simultaneous contracts. Thing is, neither will be in a situation to do much about it: if they attack non-hired targets or do anything to piss us off, we can break off our deal with them and lose them military forces that are fairly vital to them. So they can't do anything proactive.
What I think they could do, if they got together and compared notes, is to simultaneously call off their contracts with us. Boycott us, basically. This wouldn't actually do much to us in game, we could just withdraw; but it could hurt us when this came out on the public forum.
Challenges to Merc Survival
This is the worst case scenario where they really unite, and decide that there can be room for both of them if they take us out. This is bad. Really bad. I'm worried about this situation, but I'm not really certain what we can do to prevent this, except trying not to anger anyone unnecessarily.
If this does happen, there are plenty of things we can do defensively to dig in, but to actually get ourselves out of this situation I think we'd have to violate our own precepts - after all, the reason this would happen is our inability to commit to anyone's side. :/ So if this happens, I foresee a long Merc defense without much opportunity for actual Mercing.
But it also seems to have a lot of potential for backfiring on us. I figured it would be worth discussing the possibilities of where things on our continent go from here. (What is our continent's name, anyway? I suppose that until the end of the forum blackout, there was never really a need to differentiate our part of the world from the rest...)So, here are two big problems I can see occuring. Both would have one root cause: our blatant playing both sides causing the Horde and Sarantium to wake up and realize that we are not, and never will be, on their side; and that, if they can actually trust each other, they'd actually find a better guarantee of an ally in each other than in us.
Now, this isn't likely. Due to events in the C3CDG, there's bad blood between a lot of ex-Babylon players now on Sarantium and a lot of ex-Horde players now on the C4DG Horde. It's not at all surprising they've ended up at war (even though their settlements are almost comically far about from each other for the time being - it would make more sense to me for us and Sarantium to be at war). And if we were any other team, I imagine Sarantium and the Horde would simply be at each other's throats by default, with the team in our position sitting pretty deciding the victor based on who they choose to ally with. Indeed, this is pretty much what's happened so far. But we're about to show them that we are not going to do the "smart" thing for a civ aimed at "winning": we aren't going to choose sides. And that creates a whole different ballgame. One in which, if we are left undisturbed to serve both sides, neither Horde nor Sarantium can feel all that secure. Yes, there is the upside for both of them in that both can feel secure we won't be committing ourselves to the other side, either, and that might be what keeps this situation from degenerating for us. But we should at least consider what happens if it does not.
A Challenge to the Merc Way of Life
Sarantium and the Horde are probably going to express outrage when they realize we're running simultaneous contracts. Thing is, neither will be in a situation to do much about it: if they attack non-hired targets or do anything to piss us off, we can break off our deal with them and lose them military forces that are fairly vital to them. So they can't do anything proactive.
What I think they could do, if they got together and compared notes, is to simultaneously call off their contracts with us. Boycott us, basically. This wouldn't actually do much to us in game, we could just withdraw; but it could hurt us when this came out on the public forum.
Challenges to Merc Survival
This is the worst case scenario where they really unite, and decide that there can be room for both of them if they take us out. This is bad. Really bad. I'm worried about this situation, but I'm not really certain what we can do to prevent this, except trying not to anger anyone unnecessarily.
If this does happen, there are plenty of things we can do defensively to dig in, but to actually get ourselves out of this situation I think we'd have to violate our own precepts - after all, the reason this would happen is our inability to commit to anyone's side. :/ So if this happens, I foresee a long Merc defense without much opportunity for actual Mercing.
) 
Why are we waiting for the Horde to give us HBR? What prevents them from giving it to us now?
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