Turn 94 - 550 BC

[UnOrthOdOx]

UnO

I leave in a few hours for my farm, due to flood damage I have no comms there for the few days I will be there

I will be back on monday

this matter will put this game on hold until my return

there is much to be said for your "I have never once lied" statement

you have played the game as you see fit, that I have understood from the very beginning

so too when you were openly asked if there was any pre-existing deal etc, your no was taken to mean no...

In real life I too run a business, as does Plato, we have clearly a different version of what was meant and agreed to

please if you have the save, I ask that you hold it until I return

it is really not the correct time when I only have a few hours before departure, and am overdue to sleep etc to start getting this organised

i am sure in the scheme of things, all will be sorted, and as we are talking the diplomacy of a 3 way war, then holding the game for a few days can cause no harm for all involved

I thank you for your patience

Paddy
Khan of the Horde

[polarnomad]

Beyond the drama, we need builds for AB, FS and Foxtrot.

[UnOrthOdOx]

troops.



AB should have some shields stored toward a chariot.

I'ld strongly consider a couple archers in FS and foxtrot. Particularly if they're 1 turn variety.

[Kloreep]

Yeah, let's use AB's stored Chariot hammers before they degrade.

My thoughts on the other two from Turn 93:

FS and Foxtrot complete their builds, Axe & Chariot respectively, soon. What to build?

I'm thinking another Chariot would be good in Foxtrot. It's going to overflow its build by 1 hammer, just enough to reduce the cost of the next Chariot to 24 hammers, which is just low enough for Foxtrot to build it in just 3 turns. More than anything I think we need to get some numbers back up in our homland right now.

In Fort Sierra, I was thinking an Archer actually wouldn't be a bad thing to produce. It would be cheap, finishing in 2 turns, and we could station it on the hill 2 of Port Lima to discourage a revenge attack by Sarantium. We could also use a Spearman to defend against Sarantine Chariots, though; all Spearmen are currently assigned to contracted stacks. :/ Heck, we'll only have 1 axeman around the homeland as well.

I believe Chariots and Archers are interchangeable with regards to build cost, so we could certainly go with archers in both cities.

Also, I believe PN suggested moving the Chariot we have to the hill 2 of Lima (assuming the Horde contract goes ahead). I think this is a very good idea. If Sarantium gets pissed, they could send their archer on a suicide mission to that hill, and with the bonus Archers get on hills, it would be dicey to disentrench with just a Chariot. If, on the other hand, we get our chariot there first, any archer attacking will have only its 3 strength to rely on, vs. the Chariot's 4

[Kloreep]

Save is here. And a message from Sarantium with it. Looks like they're sticking to the war. Good news for us. If the Horde backs out on their deal now, though, I think they're pretty much screwing themselves over.

550bc save.

Message to Team Merc.

Your units are in sight. On time and in place. Thank you. Can you please move the stack 3 next turn, to the copper to cover our chariot. You will need to declare war on the Horde for your coverage to be effective.

Math in 5, maybe 6. Somewhere around there.

Regards ...Beta of Sarantium

Still no response from the Horde. What do we do if no confirmation arrives?

Do we know if Paddy is even back from dealing with RL flooding or whatever it was that called him away? Could be the Horde just doesn't have the people they want to make a final decision. (Edit: Looks like he last posted on the 12th, so I think we can assume he isn't yet back in regular contact with his teammates. Hrrmm.)

And am I correct that the stack needs to move 3-3 out of Foxtrot this turn to be delivered in time with the contract?

[Kloreep]

I just opened the save. Sarantium does indeed have a lone chariot (Princess Uma's Charioteers) on the Horde's copper tile. The rest of the stack that we saw end of last turn is vanished; isn't on any tile we can see with our stack.

Only other thing of note is that Sarantium's Archer has moved 1, putting it 3-3 of Foxtrot, right where we'd want to move our stack (assuming the Horde contract goes ahead). However, I don't think we actually need to declare on Sarantium this turn, so I'm not sure there are any bounce issues here. Things get tricky if Horde wants us to kill the archer though? - see the Dual Contract Problem thread

[UnOrthOdOx]

Did the Horde send payment?

If not, do we wish to continue their contract?

As for the 'problem', that is Sarantium's problem, not ours. Frankly.

And we can't declare war this turn due to our open borders deal. (final turn of it)

We would move and rename. The archer would then have to make a decision. If it stayed, we'ld be bounced next turn, but possibly not if we cancell the open borders then stack moved into the border to declare war. If it moves, we follow Horde orders and find a way to defend if needed.

[snoopy369]

If you need to or wish to hold the turn for a few days due to Paddy being gone, that is acceptable (just mention something vague in the thread).

[UnOrthOdOx]

Paddy just replied to my PM that we do, in fact, still have a deal, I cannot get into the game to play due to my son's bday party, though, so I'll go post something.

[Kloreep]

Haha, your son's bday is today as well eh? Guess I should have been more clear I wouldn't be around much today. Ah well. With the Horde situation, playing today looked unlikely.

I should be able to play the turn tomorrow, assuming we have our stuff straightened out by then. I think we need to send Sarantium a similar e-mail as to what we sent the Horde, though, since Hired units showing up on their doorstep.

I do think we should continue with the Horde contract. Our DoW is an unplanned hitch; they were expecting to be able to send later. I certainly hate going forward without any payment in hand, but if we pull out, we're judging the Horde before we even give them a chance to pull back on Plato's hardline stance and act in good faith. That's not something I want to have done as the Merc team.

Sarantium does still seem to be committed. Hopefully that will stay the case and they won't engage in negotiations with the Horde. So long as Sarantium stays hostile past the end of our contract with the Horde, woe be unto them if they stiff us.

[Kloreep]

I think we have the domestic stuff pretty much wrapped up... I just want to reiterate that if we go ahead with the Horde deal, I think we definitely want to place our domestic chariot on the hill by Lima that the Sarantine archer in Anhinga would be able to access. And we have our orders from Sarantium. (Again though, going ahead with the Horde contract would mean we need an e-mail to Sarantium explaining the situation. We don't want to bump their chariot out into Horde wilderness if that isn't what they want.)

However, the big question for this turn is if we go ahead. I think I've expressed my view that it's important for our future reputation to take the Horde on trust for now and await future payment after the two contracts are over. Assuming the Horde survives, I think there's a good chance they wolud pay up just to make sure not to make enemies of us. But what do the rest of you think?

[polarnomad]

I think trusting the Horde to pay will go a long way to soothing relations. I am for continuing in good faith.

[UnOrthOdOx]

Yes, go ahead with the deal. I don't think we have a choice.

Move and rename, and we'll have to send a note to Sarantium.

[Kloreep]

Playing the turn now.

[Kloreep]

-AB finishes Granary, starts Chariot
-FS finishes Axeman, starts Archer
-Foxtrot finishes Chariot, starts Archer

-Rush mines
-Stack inside Foxtrot all given (Hired-Hrd) prefix. Unnamed Axeman given name "Barker" Unnamed Chariot given name "Wheels of War" Other unnamed Chariot given name "Fleetwheel" Unnamed Spearman given name "Census Pole"
-Entire stack inside Foxtrot moved out 3-3 onto tile with Sarantine archer. War not declared.
-New axe in FS moved 2-2
-Chariot by FS moved 9-6-3, renamed "Merc Cart" and given Combat I promotion (this chariot is all that stands between Lima and destruction if Sarantium abandons Anhinga, so I figured we'd better make sure it'll win if the archer attacks)
-Worker by AB moved 2-3-2
-Chariot covering Bolt skips turn
-Sarantium's Stack of Four moves onto copper - Yes, war declared on Horde
-Workboat moved 1, uncovers Port Tiberium, moved 4

BTW, our unit supply is now up to -5 gpt, so we're at +15 gpt.

Phew... the die is cast. Going to send out messages now (with screenshots attached.)