Big kid punches little kid “Stop” says little kid
Big kid punches other little kid “Stop” says other little kid
Big kid punches first little kid again and takes his lunch money “Stop” says little kids
Bunch of little kids band together “If you punch again we’re going to punch you back” (raises fists in intimidating stance)
Big kid grumbles and talks about running over all the little kids with his car…
——
NATO isn’t stupid. As a whole, they don’t want to invade Russia. They are there to deter future territorial land grabs and they want to maintain the status quo as it’s good for trade. Quality of life is pretty good or getting better on this side of the fence.
I get it, a whole bunch of kids around your house can be intimidating. They have access to the neighborhood road (Polish corridor). Your little brother started thinking they were cool.
The way this could have and should have gone about is more trade, more connectivity, more upward mobility. But your ruling class got all weird about that, can’t be having western ideals infect the population, they were losing power. And so Russia went the xenophobic path and now we are here.
All the rhetoric. All the hype. All the saber rattling. It’s a form of control, to keep the Russian population in support of this war. To keep them scared so that Putin and his ilk stay in power. It’s a very myopic way of seeing the world.
They’ve rattled so hard that walking away isn’t an option anymore. Too much treasure and blood lost. It would shake Russia to its core. The Russian Vietnam as it were, right on your doorstep.
I don’t know what the end game is here. NATO is not going to capitulate. Russian leadership are backing themselves into a corner.
New for Sid Meier AI Incarnate’s Civilization 24: Play as infamous 7-time (and counting) President Donald Trump!
Personality: Aggression Score: Varies per round +30 diplomacy points to players following the government: autocracy, monarchy, fascism, corporate kleptocracy +30 points to players following the government: theocracy and the same religion -30 diplomacy to players with settlements within 6 tiles of him -30 to players following the government: Philosophy, Freedom, Digital Democracy +30 points to war mongers and players who have killed other players -20 points if the player total score is less than 40% his score +20 for gifts of gold per turn that are at least 10% of his current gold per turn +10 points for military parades -100 points for denouncements but +120 points if player attempts to declare friendship after denouncement ends
Theme: Make America Great Again! +10 Religion points per city -10 Happiness to cities with population > 5 -8 Science +4 Food to all cities with <5 population that are not within 6 tiles of another player’s borders +1 Gold per city but -3 Gold to cities that are within 6 tiles of another player’s borders
Apostles automatically gain the “fervent believer” trait +4 religion points -1 science points +1 climate damage +5 health for each opponent unit defeated within 1 tile Can convert into a militia or engineer unit for 10 turns
Unique Wonder: Southern White House +75 gold for each player spy or diplomat that occupies this wonder; player’s spy/diplomat gains two levels of insight and spies operate at +5 in the city that contains this wonder Must be built near a lake and ocean tile
Unique Building: Golf Course +1 Happiness but only for 1 of every 10 city population (min = 1) +1 Culture points +3 Religion points +1 climate damage Must be built on: marsh, rainforest, beach, archaeological site, natural wonder or national park
Unique Building: Frac Well (Replaces Windmill) +4 Production +5 Gold +10 climate damage +3 Energy -3 Appeal Can only be built by engineers Can be built on opponents territory, when constructed in this manner -4 happiness to the player where this building resides
Unique Victory Condition: Art of the Steal Can only be won if 3 players or more exist All players are under the following governments: corporate kleptocracy, fascism, anarchy
Unable to win the following victory conditions: