100 BC and 75 BC

Now i log and and notice Bodeans scout made his way back towards my capital. Must have got a real shock to see my chariots.

Also noticed he whipped in his city Ellie Mae. I might not be a genius but i'm thinking Bodean (after trying to work out how i got chariots) realised his axes were in big trouble and whipped a spear.

So i brought forward my plan and positioned my troops for an attack next turn
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1...z0100b1mu3.jpg

Then i logged back in later and waited for the new turn to tick over.

The only bad bit was the archers would defend against the chariots.

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9749/byz0075b1je5.jpg

The archers had a half decent chance of winning since my odds where 66.2%. The first archer put up a decent fight and nearly took half the strength off the chariot, the second one didn't even scratch the paintwork.

Job done[charge] i pulled back out of range of the axes. His only option is to retreat or lose them too.

50 BC

The turn passed and Bodean hadn't made a move, which was too bad for him.

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/3935/byz0050b1xj7.jpg

I took out the scout for good measure. Sticking one of my chariots on the hill i can see he hadn't whipped a spear so all the better. Unfortunately both axes took a bit of beating so i'm in no position to rush the city, which is ok, the main thing was getting that stack out of the way which i did with no losses. Catapults are not too far away so i can wait a bit.

50 AD

Bodean may be a noob but he is persistant and unlike some i've come across does seem to be learning

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6...z0050a1eg1.jpg

Axemen and archers got wiped so in come spearmen and swordsmen. I am guessing he shipped them in the last couple of turns so he is not short of units which probably means for me to expect a long conflict.

I'll have another axe in a few turns then i'll build some cats to deal with the stack when it eventually moves towards me. Hopefully i'll get time to sneak a settler build in so i can try start my third city.

150 AD

I built a galley in Sklizavo. I could see Bodeans worker there all alone so i thought i'd take a chance so i loaded up a chariot and sailed across. Would have been in good shape to pinch the worker had the swordman not been in range, but at least i've had a decent look at what i'm up against

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/7...z0150a1oi4.jpg

Further south Bodeans brought a few more units into play. I'll have some cats soon so that should help tearing through that stack

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/445/byz0150a2nb5.jpg

250 AD

The war with Bodean is over. He offered a peace deal and i accepted. It will run for 50 turns to turn 175. As much as i would have liked to get something out of it i was losing time in getting some of the last bits of decent land under my control. My suspisions about the barb city being destroyed by Graham where confirmed. He didn't settle on the same spot so i can still squeeze in a city but getting the corn will be difficult.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/7972/byz0250a1be8.jpg

As you can see from the demographics i've fallen behind a bit from earlier
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/8159/byz0250a2os4.jpg

The main plan for now is getting some more cities down quickly, catching up a bit to the rest and being in better shape to take on Bodean or someone else next time around

[whatsthis

Ok, so you're in quite a tough situation. What's your plan with Bodean: prepare for a second war, or stay at peace?

By the way, I think I would've asked for a restart in your position. [rolleyes]

I didn't how bad it was until i had explored quite a bit and the captial is a rather handy spot. On the plus side since i'm not in a postion to win a can try some different things.

Basically as things stand
- i have an indefinate peace with mauer, we are acting in a sort of partnership. Help out where we can, not step on each others toes, although the latter is easy since we have 12 odd tiles of just ice seperating us.

- i made a peace deal until turn 175 with Bodean, however mauer has been talking with Bodean about taking akots on (he is somewhere north of them). If that is the case then i promised i would extend the deal further so Bodeans free to throw everthing at akots. He is pretty powerful from what they tell me and i guess you would have a fair idea of that too;).

- i am trying to secure a deal with grahamiam for at least the short term, that way it would give me/you/us some time to settle some more cities founded and get some infrastructure built like forge, market ect. without having to worry about squeezing in unit builds.

If i can't get a deal with Graham then some units will have to be built because his power chart is on the rise. Hopefully he is more worried about nitro then little old me:D

I'll post another update or two before i start my internet switch and i will be able to check in during the time a couple times a week when i'm visiting friends and family.

520 AD

Since the last screenshot my nation has doubled in size to a massive 4 cities[beer1]. And with that my expansion is just about wrapped up for the game, unless i'm really desperate, then there is a snow covered hell in the south east with fish and fur.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5...z0520a1sa9.jpg

The only other real option for advance is Bodean but that plan is on ice for the moment(ha, i didn't mean that pun).
A new development i have signed a peace deal with Grahamiam. It is however short, only to 1000AD but at least it gives me a chance to get my new cities up and running, also hopefully i build on this agreement for long term peace. I also got him to agree to open borders however we can not have any units crossing into each others territories. A little paranoid in my opinion but i'm not in a position to argue.


Further afield it seems Ian has been struck with wonder lust. He is upto 6 now.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/443/byz0520a2fm8.jpg

And the demographics, with only 10 players left they are near the bottom as expected. But if i can get a good peaceful run to develop my cities a bit then i could be pushing a top 5 spot in most areas.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6...z0520a3sj0.jpg

900 AD

A fair bit of time has passed since i was away. Another big thank you to Matrix for playing on my behalf.

A bit more exploring was done and now i have a good view of Bodeans domain, if there is one person i have a chance to take on and win it him

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2...z0900a1nx4.jpg

However that pretty much hinges on Grahamiam. Our current deal expires in 1000AD and if he decides that he doesn't want me around then there isn't a lot i can do about it, he could easily grind me down

As for the demograhics i've slipped a little further down the rankings as the other have built more cities although i'm second in land area[confused]. Pity most of that is ice. If i can avoid a war with Graham once i get CS i should be able to move up some spots

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1...z0900a2wh9.jpg

1000 AD

I get to live a little longer:D. Grahamiam has renewed our peace treaty. There is a few little extra bits in it like completely open borders. I'm also going to send some missionaries his way to.

While this means my game is going to be on the quieter side on the face of it, Mauer and myself have been formulating a bit of a plan to make things a little more interesting. I wont give it away just yet but to parphrase Mauer, it will be fun to see just how much two tundra loser civs can influence the game.

Anyway back to the game itself, one of Simon's caravels went sailing past in the last few turns. We don't have a trade route but i can see he has quite a few techs on me. This turn i found this upon opening the game.

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4...z1000a1iv0.jpg

An interesting quest although i'm a bit torn about going for it 10 swords is a big investment. While an extra iron resource would be great if it was in the capital there is no way of making sure its there. The bonus for Heriditary Rule (which i'm in) is not laid out so i don't know if it would be useful or not. If anyone knows i'd love to know:D

The nation is plodding along. Thankfully i'll have CS soon so i can get bureaucracy which will be very handly in my situation.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7...z1000a2xj9.jpg