Post who you want to be Domestic minister.

Can i nominate myself?

Also, it would be useful if you could put a job description for each minister in the nominations thread for those who dont quite understand demogames yet (like me)

Of course you can. I really cannot put up the decriptions until we have decided upon a constitution.

Well then i'll nominate myself, even though i dont know what i'll be doing exactly

Well then i'll nominate myself, even though i dont know what i'll be doing exactly

under the current proposal:

The Domestic Minister shall be Responsible for settlement, sliders, research, wonders, and government changes, and all duties and powers affecting the economy not specified to other leaders. This position Shall be elected every term.

If I were to run (I might), would it be ok that I'm going to be gone July 28 - Aug. 1 and Aug. 6 - Aug. 13. Maybe I should just wait until next term?

Yes, it would be best to wait for the next term.

I second azzaman333 as the domestic ;)

Start your nominations for the second term.

I nominate Chamnix as the Domestic minister, because he ha been vitall important with the settling issue.

I would like to nominate myself for this possition :).

I will support any citizen who will build a coastal city as our third city and will build a carragh as its first unit and later units ... please inform be of your intentions in this respect

I nominate anyone who will be up for some serious expansion along the river, with a view to commerce farming later in the game.

I nominate Chamnix as the Domestic minister, because he ha been vitall important with the settling issue.

I accept the nomination (of course I must accept unless the constitution is amended, right? :mischief: ) I will be happy to serve in whatever role the team sees fit for me.

As far as my views, I think it is fairly well known I am in favor of tight city spacing. I agree with fe3333au that we need a coastal city building a curragh very soon. I can't promise it will be exclusively curraghs - I am a big believer that any time a citizen is working an unimproved tile that it should build a worker, so I think curragh, worker, curragh is probably called for. Future curraghs will depend on what the first couple uncover - I believe in the near future Athens will also be producing a curragh while it grows to size 3 to set up the warrior/settler factory.

Despite the risk of losing Rambuchan's vote, I have to say that commerce is only my third priority behind food and shields. Settling on the river is good because it makes aqueducts unnecessary and the commerce bonus is better than no commerce bonus, but I am more likely to plan city placement based on the locations of food bonuses and bonus grasslands with commerce as a consideration but not the primary motivation.

I can smell the salty brine ... I second Chamnix with a hearty yo ho ho ... but not hoe :D

Chamnix,

It appears our theories of Civ domination are very similar! You're obviously way more than qualified for this job.
I double second your nomination!

MIA forever!

Edit: Reaccepted my nomination, withdrew my declination.

well since charmix is the only person running (is that right? did CivGeneral drop out?) then i guess i will vote for him but i, like Rambuchan, am strongly for cities along the river since the tobacco is along the river
if charimix builds our 2nd city along the river then him for you if not well...

Guys - please don't drop out just because you think you may not win! It's the dialogue before the elections that is most interesting, and, where's the sport if there's no one to run against?

Also, if we as voters withhold our preferences until the day of the election, candidates will be less apt to drop out prematurely. You never know.

Guys - please don't drop out just because you think you may not win!
Hmm, perhaps I should reconsider. Ill reaccept my nomination. I guess I can start by placing in a platform of my office and state that I plan to settle a city near a body of water, perferably near a coast or a river. Ill ensure that the third city would be built on a coastal tile.

Term two nominations have started. So nominate who you think will be a good Domestic minister.

:bump:

I nominate
Chamnix.

Is that legal. I though you were allowed no more then 1 term in a row.

EDIT - looks like I was thinking of an old clause

I gratefully accept the nomination for a second term as Domestic Minister. Running through the duties of the Domestic Ministry, my platform is:

1. Settlement – “Build more cities!” The next 20 turns should see placement of 4-5 new towns. I continue to be an advocate of tighter (CxxC) city placement. Although we have had more detailed discussions elsewhere my primary reasons are shared tiles (I still wince every time Athens doesn’t work the wheat for a turn, and we don’t have another town that can use it), ease of troop movement for defense, and tighter placement = more towns = more unit support.

Although my overall goal is closer to CxxC, and I will continue to lay out overall build plans for the greater MIA empire as we uncover more terrain, each city’s placement will be debated and can certainly be changed as people provide reasons why other locales are better.

2. Sliders – The goal for the next 20 turns will continue to be just enough luxury spending and maximum science spending. As we build units, I will work with the Defense Minister to try to ensure that units are garrisoned in the towns that will benefit most from MP.

3. Research – Over the next 20 turns, the Foreign Ministry will have significant input into the research path chosen as we coordinate projects with KISS. In my opinion, our top short-term priorities are Republic (involves Writing, Code of Laws and Philosophy first), then Map Making and Literature. More detailed analysis will be done as we get closer, but I think by getting Map Making, building one harbor, and trading excess luxuries with KISS to lower luxury spending, we may be improving our research more efficiently than by building libraries. Regardless which of Map Making or Literature comes first, the other is certainly close behind.

4. Wonders – I do not think we will attempt to build a wonder by hand in the next 20 turns. If we get an SGL, then I will hold a vote regarding which wonder to rush as that is a decision far too great to be made by one person. Personally, I would push for the Pyramids with the Statue of Zeus as a close second choice.

5. Government Changes – I doubt we will get Republic in the next 20 turns without a deal with the Donuts, but if we do, I will most likely advocate an immediate switch.

Finally, I will continue to work closely with the President on worker moves and what tiles citizens should work in order to keep our economy chugging along at maximum efficiency.

I'll nominate myself for this position.

The most important thing for this position is that we expand and do that fast. So far we have not expanded as fast as we could have done. Cities should be our priority right now. We have been slack so far. Athens must be on a strict settler factory with the possibility of us building hoplites instead of warriors as escourts. I also believe that we need to build two cities that get us both Iron and horses that are close by. These two cities are an absolute must. I also believe that the Iron city must go on unit production. Getting two cities onto unit production is a must for this term and those cities need to have barracks in them.

The rest of what Chmanix says it a good strategy.

Chamnix: I'd like you to clarify his platform on this – Will your advocated tight city spacing be focused around our core – or out in one direction?
What do you see our build priorities as? Specifically, ratio of military units to workers and to settlers and to buildings?

Classical Hero: After locking up Iron and Horses - where do you see our settlement headed direction wise (north? East? In a ring around the core?)
What kind of settlement strategy do you favor? Tight? Loose?
How do you propose we accelerate our production of cities? (not looking for a spreadsheet - just want to know how you are planning to get 2 barracks, units, and more settlers?)

Thank you gentlemen!

There may be some modifications based on what appears under the fog to Athens’ north and northeast, but I have attached a map of where I would like the next towns to be built.

The green dot is the spot our current settler is heading. The other 4 colored dots are what I envision settling over the next 20 turns (Athens should produce 4 settlers, and I doubt any other towns will be able to produce 1 during the next term). The black dots (hopefully distinguishable from fog) are to demonstrate a rough overall plan but exact location and order of settling will really be determined by the Domestic Minister for the term after this one.

I believe I would settle in the following order: blue, yellow, red (by then we should have enough warriors to pop the hut), white. Although I would like a town by the iron (red dot), that is primarily because it has bonus grasslands and is near the capital so it can be very productive. Even after settling there, I would not hook up the iron for a while because once we hook up iron, we lose the ability to build warriors. At this point, I would prefer 3 warriors to 1 swordsmen. Warriors are every bit as effective as exploring and at serving as military police as swords are at 1/3 the price. They are not great against barbarians, but they are adequate as long as we use terrain to our advantage. I am also not in a hurry to settle by the horses yet – nobody will beat us to the horses, and I would emphasize productive towns around our core first.

As far as builds go, I’m still not convinced that is the responsibility of the Domestic Minister and not the President, but since you asked I will offer my opinion on what would be built if it is my decision…

Athens will be on a strict warrior/settler diet. I agree with classical_hero that cities must be our priority, and I think that means Athens will not be able to build hoplites because that would delay settlers. In fact, I don’t think I would recommend any towns build hoplites next term. We apparently have no imminent threat so our military is for exploring, MP, and barbs. We should be able to win 80%+ of battles against barbarians even with warriors when we defend simply by fortifying even if we are on grassland. When we must attack to clear a barb camp, a warrior is as effective as a hoplite and cheaper.

For other towns, The Black Hole will produce workers for most of the next term. Toward the end of the term, it will be able to start barracks or, more likely, a granary (to make a second settler factory or worker factory) depending on our situation at the time. Heron, blue dot, red dot, and yellow dot all have great potential as military factories, but I don’t think we need that many cities working on military just yet. I think barracks could be started in red dot and yellow dot. Heron and blue dot are less good for military because probably (well past the end of this term), we will want them to have harbors and libraries and work coastal tiles for mega-income (and less production).

Any town not capable of producing 2 shields per turn, or whenever a town is working an unimproved tile, it will spit out a worker. I would like to squeeze another curragh (or maybe 2) out of Heron or blue dot fairly soon as well to ensure that we have all contacts and a complete world coastline map ASAP. I’m not sure exactly where that leaves us in terms of ratios because I am not really thinking in those terms, but hypothetically I think it is reasonable to say we could end up with about 8 towns, 10 workers, 12 warriors and 4 curraghs at the end of the next term. Probably no buildings would be completed (except the granary in Athens), but a granary would be started in The Black Hole and barracks started in red dot and yellow dot.

If we are going to have Athens build a granary, then we should be going for as many shileds as possible, so I believe that rather than working the irrigated wheat, we should be working on one of the forests for more shields and with this case then Athens will then need to just be producing settlers. Since that is the case, then I will get Heron to become a military power. For that city we will need to get building on a barracks and making sure that we worke the buns grassland and having them mined. This city will then be able to mass produce hoplites for the escourting the settlers from Athens.

Now for my city placement. Here is my image.

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/9653/cityplacement35yu.th.jpg (http://img360.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cityplacement35yu.jpg)

The order that I would put the cities in are in this order.
As I have said before, the Iron city is a must for us. So the black dot would be my first city that we settle on. I will say that if there is a stragegic resource that we do not have right now, then it should be of great importance for us to get them ASAP. So that said the next dot we should be getting is the white dot. After that the order of the dots are not tha important. But the most important thing is that we start to expand outwards. I am not too strict with the city placement because each city will have different needs.

On behalf of CivGeneral -

Nominations for term 4 Domestic Minister are now open!

I'd like to nominate Chamnix for Domestic Minister again.

If the constitution allowed it, my last act as president would be to make Chamnix "Domestic Minister for life"!

(But of course I'll keep an open mind and wait to see who's running and what they have to say.)

I'll whole heartedly support both your motions ;)

I love a good close election, and I hope to see one here. I'd like to see Meleager in this race, so get your platform ready!

I had been postponing running for an office until after UNI, but now that my last test will be tomorrow (finally [party] ), I would be honoured to accept the nomination (though I must admit Chamnix has done a very good job and that I have learnt a lot from him). Expect a more formal report latter but my plans would include creating an “appropriate” ;) form of worship building for each city (ok, that’s just a lame joke) and using CIVAssist2 once I get it to work on my computer. Personally, I consider expansion on our own continent to be imperative, but if an opportunity to “invade” :mischief: the other land arrises (and it does not detract form expansion on this continent) you will be sure that I shall recommend taking it.

I have to decline the kind nominations for Domestic Minister - I have chosen to run for President instead.

So far we have one accepted nomination ... Meleager

Expect a more formal report latter ...

Don't let the lack of competition (so far...) discourage you from posting a full platform. I am interested (and I'm sure others are too) in your views on city placement (locations and order).

Also, the Defense Ministry debate has gotten me thinking about the conversion to Republic. The Domestic Minister is in charge of government changes. I was curious how we will manage in Republic so I ran some numbers and concluded that even if we had Republic right now, I don't think we could afford to change. If we were in Republic right now, and we wanted to maintain our current science spending, we could keep about 4 military units other than workers which is clearly inadequate (income increases by about 20 gpt, entertainment spending increases by about 5 gpt leaving 15 gpt for units - we already have 3 workers above our Republic support limit so we get 4 other units). Even if we turned science off, we could only maintain 16 military units which is really not very many with no science when you start thinking about galleys and settlers in transit, etc.

Obviously, a lot will change before we get Republic (more towns, another luxury or two, but more workers as well). The questions for the candidate(s?) are, what will it take for you to recommend a change in government? And how high will research be (especially after Republic) along what path?

I'm not sure who controls the budget exactly. The Domestic Minister controls the sliders which could force some disbanding of military troops. Or does the Defense Minister pick how many troops he wants and force the Domestic Minister to adjust the sliders to prevent bankruptcy? It is probably not an issue since this team seems to be able to reach a consensus on almost everything, but if Defense and Domestic just can't agree, who wins?

I would also like to see a more complete agenda from you mel!

but as to this...
but if Defense and Domestic just can't agree, who wins? - I believe this is where you would come in President elect Chamnix!

The President gets to arbitrate between disputing ministers - but like you said - our team seems to be very good about coming to a consensus position.

I am interested (and I'm sure others are too) in your views on city placement (locations and order).

Actually one of the reasons that I haven't really talked about this is that I am quite content on the plan outlined in the grand stratergy thread. We will ofcourse have to make things more specific as we go along.

Obviously, a lot will change before we get Republic (more towns, another luxury or two, but more workers as well). The questions for the candidate(s?) are, what will it take for you to recommend a change in government?

Due to the increased cost of military upkeep and several turns of anarchy I think it would be a good idea to delay republic whilst we get more towns happening. This will be an interesting balance, we don't want to delay the change too long, nor do we want it to interfere with our expansion. I cant give a specific date at this time (scince things will change), however, I would like a good portion of land before we make the change. At the very least, I will not be reccomending a change untill we have enough cities to support our military for free.

And how high will research be (especially after Republic) along what path?

Our path will depend in part on what tech we get at the begining, however, considering our relitively peacefull plan I would lean towards the techs at the top of the screen:
http://www.civfanatics.com/images/civ3/tech%20tree/c3c_middleages.jpg
So I would recomend, Theology, Printing Press, Education, Music Theory, Democracy, Free Artistry... These techs are the ones which the other natinos will probobly avoid, giving us trading opportunities, they also support our secondary victory condition of a cultural win.

As for the tech slider, republic will give us the opportunity to rush with gold, so I imagine that it may be wise to lower the science slider to take advantage of this. Yet again this will be a balance between tech rate and building / unit rushes and is probobly better to decide as we approach that point.

... It is probably not an issue since this team seems to be able to reach a consensus on almost everything, but if Defense and Domestic just can't agree, who wins?
I do :evil:

Well I suppose if it got real bad (which i doubt) then we can always call a vote (or let the dictator *cough* :mischief: president decide)

Another thing not mentioned yet is that I would like to get some more settler factories, this is imperitive if we are to keep up with kiss and I plan to make this a priority, if we look at the map posted in the grand stratergy meeting:
http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/7382/proposedsettlementstrategy5kk.jpg
Virtuoso and Black Hole are both places I think are capable of this once they grow and get graneries (Virtuoso -> wheet + mined grassland + mined tobaco? + (forest + mined hill? after expansion)) (Black Hole -> irrigated flood planes + forests (probobly wait till after piramids)) (these plans are still in their infancy), I think we can tripple our settler production this way.

Forbiden Palace, I think we are all in agreement to get this fast. Again if we look at the map above I belive white dot 3 will allow use to take advantage of the extra shields from the bonus grassland and the hills, as well as the gold from the river. I wouldn't advocate a palace jump at least not during expansion.

Well I think thats all for the time being. Now that UNI is over [party] (my last test was real easy BTW) I shall be able to investigate these ideas (specifically the settler factories) in more depth.

If you have any questions / comments please ask.

Your thoughts about founding a city on the other continent ... hiddenaway from foreign eyes ... by the time it is discovered it is self sufficient and well garasoned and defended ...

Your thoughts about founding a city on the other continent ... hiddenaway from foreign eyes ... by the time it is discovered it is self sufficient and well garasoned and defended ...

If an opportunity arrises I am very open to the idea. As long as it does not detract from the expansion on this continent, I would very much lean toward it (expeccially if we can secure some rescources). However, my main priority would be this continent, expansion to the other lands would be like iceing on the cake.

Another thing to point out is that it would be impossible to hide it away from foreign eyes scince you can see changes to the terrain, cities, and boarders in fog-of-war. Hence, you can be assured that the foreigners would know immediately if we tried this plan.

Whatever happens, this will probobly become more of an issue towards the end of my term.

OT ... What about if these guys have not discovered that part of Continent yet?

I'm thinking too much war to put resources into exploration ... therefore safe in the black ... or if they can see ... they would be too busy ...

Also imagine all the goody huts that have not been discovered :D

EDIT ... New things learnt everyday ... the phenonomen was shown with the KISS city NE corner being shown :salute: thanks Mel :p

Meleager is the only canidate running and wins uncontested.

[party] Well thank you for all your non-existant votes... Soon my reign shall begin.

Good luck to all people going for the other positions.

Congrats Meleager!

I would have voted for you!

:beer:

Great to know there'll be a fellow RNGer in this office! Congrats. You've got a tough act to follow :)

You had 50% chance I would have voted and then another 50% that I would have voted for you ... may your reign be prosperous for MIA !!!!

I nominate
Azzaman and Ybbor

I nominate General_W and Chamnix

I nominate...Ybbor

I humbly decline your nomination, as I do not have the ability to open the save, severely hindering my abilities to inhabit this office. However, I encourage everyone to vote for myself as Team Captain.

I have to decline my nomination here as I will be running for President. I would like to see peter grimes as Domestic Minister. I realize he cannot open the save either, but I believe he is capable of doing an excellent job here regardless.

I accept!

Quick constitutional review:
3) The Domestic Minister shall be responsible for settlement, sliders,
research, wonders, and government changes, and all duties and powers
affecting the economy not specified to other leaders.
If elected, I intended to not interfere with our most able President Chamnix in his total discretion of the micro-management of citizens.
He's obviously the master at this – and I'll be happier knowing that he's taking care of maximizing our productivity.

Mostly, I will focus my term on setting build queues and finalizing the last stages of our settlement strategy.
My priorities are 1) getting a culture wall finished along our jungle border with KISS, and 2) getting a city founded in a location that isn't too provocative on the BattleIsland.

As for building things – Settlers and workers will continue to be a priority through this term – although, at least, Meleagerville will remain focused on producing a veteran army for us.

Please post any other questions about my intentions if elected!

Research? :D

If KISS goes sideways on us, then I'd advocate a turtle position. No trading with KISS, and research Republic ourselves. Hopefully this won't happen. (Maybe we should even consider getting Monarchy instead and going right for KISS's jugular. Again - hopefully this won't happen.)

Assuming all goes well – I'd like to keep stockpiling Gold till we can trade our way into the Middle Ages. (when we jump to republic, we're likely to face deficits if we want to research at a reasonable pace. We'll need to gold stockpile to support this.)

As I've expressed before – I'd prefer to see us research the military techs and trade with KISS for the techs on the way to Education… but this will depend on what our free Middle Ages tech is. If we get Monotheism, then we'll make a beeline to Education.
But it's more likely we'll get Feudalism or Engineering – thus sending us down the military path.

I'd advocate advancing as fast as we can without running an unreasonable deficit.

While this isn't my decision as domestic minister, I'd like to see the team consider "trimming" our military force once we're in Republic and even consider getting a couple core town up to "city" size to allow us more support points = more research ability.

As per a back-room deal with 'General'_W, I have been 'convinced' that running for Domestic Minister will be 'unhealthy' for me and my loved ones.


Therefore I readily and hastily cede the nomination, and wish General_W the best of luck in all his future business dealings... I wish him and his family no ill will, as I presume he will leave me and mine to our business.... I hope...

You boyz play nice ya hear !!! ... If ya don't I'll be gettin' out the stick !!!

Nominated
>
Azzaman
Ybbor
General_W
Chamnix
>
>

We have possible vote, pending candidate acceptance :p

General_W is Domestic Minister for Term 5 :clap:

Congratulations, General_W! For the next couple turns, feel free to provide Domestic orders as well as Defense orders (until our term 5 Defense Minister takes office). I have kind of been acting as the de facto Domestic Minister just by being the turn-player, but you now have more of a mandate on Domestic matters than I do even if your term hasn't officially started yet.

Thanks Cham!

I don't know if I have a "mandate" though!

More like, we have 6 active players and 5 elected positions = 1 competitive race.

But I prefer to think of it as I intimidated the competition and was elected overwhelmingly :goodjob:


EDIT: I will start working on a more polished version of a map for our settlement strategy right away. We need to re-visit that as a team, and it'll help me get in the saddle anyway.

Intimidated is not really how I'd describe it....

It is safe to say that every one left that alley-way happier than when they went in, and glad to be walking away rather than crawling or limping. That's all I am permitted to say.

We are about to enter Term 6 :bump:

nominate!

I nominate General_W for another term. He's done a wonderful job, and I expect he will continue to do so.

I second the nomination ... and want to hear more of his suggestion to grant the Foreign Ministries a Black Purse :mischief:

Also what are the build priorities and research regime ??!!

I will nominate myself.

I believe that one thing we must try and for our bigger cities is to make them have a marketplace in them so that they can grow larger and thus we can get better unit support and better science and better commerce, and thus we will eliminate any need for any happiness buildings that will cost us money and will not be needed if we build marketplaces.

For our research, i would suggest that we go down the military path so that will mean that we eventually will hed to Military Tactics and the most effective weapon in the game, Calvary.

I nominate General_W for another term. He's done a wonderful job, and I expect he will continue to do so.
Thank you very much!
Now that I have the MIA business community solidly behind me…

I accept the nomination.

Unfortunately – with the loss of the SeaHawks today in the SuperBowl – I’m a not in the mood to write an awe inspiring platform!
:lol:

I’ll post more details tomorrow, but in a nutshell, you can expect more of the same from me… but I’d like to add a bit more of a budget. I don’t anticipate the budget to add much in the way of strategy… but I think it could add some very fun “flavor” and color to our internal role-playing.

Details tomorrow!
:salute:

P.S. I just wanted to get this acceptance posted so I can start collecting campaign contributions! ;)

Question to the (two so far) eminently qualified candidates ... two words ... Settlement Strategy ??!

Gentlemen ... do you see our empire expanding (non-militarily) in your term ... if so in what direction ?

For my reason to ask, look to the Looking Glass (damn I still got it boom boom :lol:) to see evidence that ALL teams are producing much more than wrokers !!!

The Committee of Economists and Business People to elect General_W are proud to present:

Domestic Minister Campaign Commercial: Term 06
(The camera slowly pans in on General_W standing by his lovely wife and two [fake] children. They are standing in front of a fireplace in a cozy living room. A bronze monument to the Ligurian Reapers is prominently displayed on the mantel, and a large portrait of General_W at the Presidential Cave hangs on the wall.)
My fellow Greeks… Allow me to re-introduce myself.

My name is General_W, and these last few years, I've had the privilege of serving as your Domestic Minister. In the past, I've served as Defense Minister and as President.

Recent years have been ones of hardship and struggle for our dear Empire – but also a time of triumph of optimism.

Under my leadership, the Domestic Ministry has overseen the formation of our new glorious Republic – and our empire is now enjoying 79% approval ratings. I have also led the Domestic ministry in forging an even closer working relationship with the President and with the Defense and Foreign ministries. With their aid, the Domestic Ministry has presided over MIA's dramatic rise to #1 in productivity, #1 in GDP, #1 in Land area, #1 in Manufactured goods, #1 in Life expectancy, and now has a commanding leadership position in scientific research.

But now is no time to rest on our laurels. The specter of war hangs on the horizon like a dark cloud, and now our government must work even more closely together to ensure that MIA breaks through the storm clouds to the glorious dawn of our future.

My countrymen – I have the experience and the dedication that these trying times require. I will be a steady hand on the wheel of the MIA ship-of-state, and together we'll sail safely through the worst storms the world can throw at us.
I would appreciate your vote on election day.
:salute:
(end commercial: Fade-up patriotic music. Display slogan… "A steady hand at the wheel: General_W for Domestic Minister" paid for by the committee to elect General_W Domestic Minister Term 6)



Domestic Minister Campaign Platform for Term 6:
We're too far out to offer a great deal of specifics, but let me offer some comments on my guiding philosophies…

City Production:
Our obvious and pressing need is for Military units. The production of these units need to be balanced with support costs, but this number will be in constant flux depending on the war. Suffice to say, whatever the Defense Minister needs, he'll get. All cities with a barracks will focus on unit production at least until our borders are secure. If things go really well, or start to get peaceful, I will look for opportunities to sneak some settlers or workers or else libraries and marketplaces into our build ques. However, this peaceful builds will remain secondary until we're reasonably safe from KISS.

I'm a big believer in Cash-rushing, and this tactic will be used (after consulting the president, of course) when available to help us get units to the front in the fastest manner possible. This doesn’t apply to term 6, but as an example – with the new movement schedule from Defense Minister Grimes, I will be strongly advocating some cash-rushing to get the maximum number of units to our front lines by turn 104.

If we are fortunate enough to acquire a Scientific Great Leader, My priorities would be to get Sun Tzu's Art of War or else Leo's Workshop. I'd conduct a poll, and look to do more analysis on the current situation. If the war is going well – probably go for Leo's (for all those future upgrades of our Hoplites) if the war is close or going badly – I'm more likely to want Sun Tzu (for the ability to make veteran units everywhere and save on barracks costs.) If we've already won the war or secured peace, which seems unlikely to happen in term 6, then we'd have even more options, and much more analysis would be required.


Economy & Research:
By the time Term 6 starts, we should be busily researching Chivalry. Hopefully a trade for Engineering with TNT will come about shortly after this, and from there, the foreign ministry will have a large say in where we go… due to what we can arrange to trade.

As far as balancing the Tax rate – the better the war goes, the more we can plow into research. The more difficult the fight, the more we need in gold reserves for strategic rushing. I'd prefer to not see the Science rate go below a 20% minimum from now on, but that will depend on how the war goes. I believe a target of around +25-30 gold per turn is a good benchmark for the start of the war. More can go into science from there if things go well.

Thirdly, I'd like to introduce a very simple "budget" for us to manage our gold income. The budget wouldn't include the science and luxury rates (or corruption or upkeep) as these decisions will be made at a much higher level. The budget would solely deal with what we do with our Net gain (ie, the +25 gold per turn) and current stockpile.
I don't envision this budget being strictly enforced – when strategic concerns necessitate, we can simply "borrow" from one budget item to pay for the pressing need.
Now that I've told you what the budget is NOT, here is it what it is:
A fun way to add some more role-playing elements to our internal team workings and simultaneously, help us plan for future events.
By allocating a "budget" we can start talking, in a meaningful way, about how we're going to spend our surplus cash in the future. Rather than dealing with each need as it comes up, we can start to look down the road and budget for where we might go. If things don't go as planned – no problem, we can always "adjust" the budget. But we will have had good quality discussion that improves our decision making – and we will have had some fun budget battles along the way!

Here's a very rough proposal for what this simple kind of budget could look like, based on our turn 96 info:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c232/GeneralW/MIABudget96.jpg

Please remember – this is just a proposal. The numbers are fully debatable… in fact, that will be most of the fun!


Settlement Strategy:
We'll be getting our first new settler in a while next turn – so now is a great time to re-visit our Settlement policy.

I still think my last proposal is a good starting place:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5361/96settlementplanmodified9ed.th.jpg (http://img236.imageshack.us/my.php?image=96settlementplanmodified9ed.jpg)
Please Note: This team has always kicked these plans around and modified and adjusted them, and I expect the same to happen again. My intention here is to show my thinking on the topic and get the conversation started. I'll re-post this for specific discussion in the Domestic Ministry.
Any broad, strategic, election related questions… feel free to ask here!

Our evolving situation requires some re-ordering of the timing.

Specifically, I think we need to settle closer to the core first – to get our town count (and unit support) up – and we don't need extra cities we have to defend on our border right now. With that in mind, I'd propose settling in this order:

1) Sugar River
2) Giddy-up Coast
3) Cozy Ivory Coast
4) River T
5) Sugar Coast

Then depending on where we're at with KISS…
6) Peace/War City
7) Banana Republic

Where are we getting these settlers? To start with, they'll come from EMP City – which we can run as a 4-turn settler factory (first settler due on turn 97).

For the time being, I don't think we can afford to have Athens produce settlers. We need the population, and we need the units. If things are going well with KISS, we may be able to squeeze a settler out of Athens in the future – but my guiding strategy is to use the majority of our productive cities with barracks to rapidly bulk our defenses. Leaving only EMP city for Settler duty for the time being.

That's more than enough from me for right now!

I hope that's clear, and I look forward to a good campaign, and answering lots of questions.

Long Live MIA!

:salute:

This massive post didn't inspire any questions?

No Comments?

No rebuttal from my worthy opponent?

No Campaign Contributions?!?

:confused:

:rolleyes:

Fine, Fine! I hereby declare that I will contribute to General_W's campaign 1000 MIA iron rings (my just declared official MIA currency) from my personal account, and my business (MIA National Bank) will contribute 10,000 MIA iron rings.

Oh, and by the way, I love the little budget spreadsheet!

:clap: Black Purse ... Black Purse ... Black Purse :bounce:

:clap: Black Purse ... Black Purse ... Black Purse :bounce:
Never, ever.

I hereby declare that I will withdraw because My interest is not as strong as it once was for this team to be in a ministerial position, i'll just be a citizen and post things where I see fit.

Ah ha! My Gestapo forces take down another competitor :evil:

Er – I mean, my brilliant articulation of the issues has inspired a former opponent to now become a supporter. :D

It appears we won't have a very exciting election this term!
Hope you still stay active Classical Hero!

I will be active but not enough to be a minister thoug, because it takes alot of effort and I cannot put that much effort into this right now.

Good to hear that you will still be aboard :salute:

I nominate gpno1fan :D

I nominate gpno1fan

Hmm. If General_W decides not to run, I will accept the nomination, but at this time I have no desire to challenge GW.

Ok, so I haven't exactly been nominated for this position again – but maybe I'm considered defacto running by virtue of my incumbency?

At any rate – now that Chamnix is running for President again… I'll announce my candidacy for another term as Domestic Minister. [party]
It's no secret that I love this job, and we're just entering what may be the most exciting economic time for MIA for this whole game.

However, Gbno1fan has proven himself to be a dedicated and active member of this team. If he'd like a crack at my chair – I'll be happy to see him run and wouldn't mind losing to a fellow Economics geek. I'm sure he'd do a wonderful job. So don't be shy my friend!

I can't promise a clean campaign (just ask Peter Grimes ;) ) but I can promise to invite you over for roast puppy and a good round of drinks and conversation no matter who wins. (And if I do happen to emerge victorious, you'll always have an important place in any cabinet of mine)

So what do you say?

:salute:

Thanks, but I will pass this time around. I see myself running in the future, but since a new quarter just started the other day (in which I have 30 hours at work, 20 credit hours, and that 8 hour/week commute), I think I'd better sit back a little bit and make sure I have time for the commitments I already have.

I officially decline the nomination.

Term 7

nominate!

I nominate Gen_W and his black purse :lol:

Oh hey - I accept this nomination by the way!

Thanks Fe!

My platform is "more of the same." - not very catchy, but I hope everyone (or most everyone) is happy with the job I'm doing.
I DO love this job - and whether in, or out, of office - I plan to keep giving all I can to MIA.

:salute:

I think you're doing a great job, especially on the Reporting end of things. It's very helpful for me to be able to go to a single place to find all the production info, timing, etc. that I might want to know about.

That said, it's been a real disappointment that CivAssistII has been down right now. But I'm patient. We've been doing really well lately, and I'm sure that this Office has had much to do with that.

Unless a Dark Horse appears in the next few turns, you'll have my vote.... even if you do eat puppies ;)

Yeah, I'm with peter grimes - if nobody else runs, then I'll vote for you, General_W!! :mischief::p

Unless a Dark Horse appears in the next few turns, you'll have my vote

Who is this Dark Horse guy?!?

And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. - Revelation 6:5-6

Wow - sounds like I may not want to mess with him... let's hope he dosn't run...



if nobody else runs, then I'll vote for you, General_W!!
Er... Thanks!
I figgured, this strategy of running un-opposed has worked so well for you, I might as well try it :mischief:

Term 9.

Nominate!

General W.

Second the nomination :salute:

do we have an accept or decline?

oh hey - sorry! :blush:

Wasn't trying to be mysterious!

I totally accept! :salute:
I love my job.

Though, it may get less interesting when we mobilize...

:bump: Term 10 nominations begin.

Chamnix ... or are you having a well deserved rest from all ministries?

I nominate lost civantares.

Thank you very much for the nomination, but with school restarting I'm afraid I must decline. :(

So was that a decline Chamnix?

Since I'm running for President now - this office has no incumbent.
I know that you find contested elections… 'distasteful' .. :lol: ;)

Well, since there don’t seem to be a lot of people who want this office, I am pleased to announce my (hopefully) triumphant return to elected politics (I accept the nomination).

Everything is always subject to what the team’s goals are at the time, and I will adjust based on other’s opinions, but here is what I would do as Domestic Minister given free rein based on our current situation:

Settlement – Stick with General_W’s settlement plan which should be completed early next term (rush settlers once the marsh has been cleared for them). I really doubt it will be practical to settle on Battle Isle during the next term.

Sliders – Luxuries will be kept at 0% unless war weariness strikes. The luxury slider will be increased if necessary as opposed to hiring specialists in our core. We will do our best to maintain 4-turn research if our economy permits. Science will be completed as quickly as possible throughout most of the next term (possibly the entire term, see below) – if 4-turn research isn’t possible, then we will do 5-turn research.

Research – I believe we will be researching Scientific Method when the next term starts. We will complete that, then research Corporation and Steel. I believe the Theory of Evolution should be completed then and will be used to learn Refining and Combustion (but see the wonder section also). We will research Flight next. After that, Replaceable Parts will be the next project, but I’m not sure if it will be done fast or slow depending on how healthy our treasury is and how much gold we need to rush bombers.

Wonders – Copernicus’ will already be completed before the next term begins. The Theory of Evolution has already been started and should complete around turn 190 (side note – if the Dnuts have not researched Electricity/Medicine, then we might delay the Theory of Evolution’s completion until turn 194 and choose Combustion and Flight after self-researching Refining; we’ll see how things look at that point). I would not recommend building Sun Tzu’s, Universal Suffrage, or Hoover Dam unless things change.

Government Changes – I don’t anticipate any government changes during the next term. Even if we get war weariness, adjusting the slider is likely to be better than changing.

General Builds – Towns that can use them effectively will get factories and coal plants. Once these are completed, very little new infrastructure will be ordered. Coastal towns that have everything they need will start building boats – mainly frigates to bombard coastline (and protect our coastline); I don’t see a lot of need for transport ships soon. I am willing to build regular frigates (as opposed to veterans) because we will stack them with veterans and use them primarily to bombard – they should not see a lot of combat. Inland towns that have everything they need will build a handful of extra cavalry (or cannons if no barracks). We can’t get complacent – just because we are still strong doesn’t mean our opponents aren’t gaining on us. We will start bomber prebuilds when appropriate. Upon the discovery of Flight, nearly 100% of our towns will be building bombers – if we can time things well, we will try to complete many bombers the turn after completing Flight. If for some reason, Dnuts get Flight sooner than expected, some of those planes will turn into fighters instead.

I will be looking to mobilize as soon as we have completed factories/coal plants/TofE.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Complaints?

<cough> Black Purse accumulating at the same level <cough> :mischief:

Looks like a good platform! Honestly, I'll be more comfortable in the President's chair with you in the Domestic Office… just like old times, eh?

I understand the rationale for abandoning Hoover and Sun Tzu – especially with the new rapid push to Flight – However, I'd like to hear your rationale on skipping Universal Suffrage. With not much to do in the Core (building a few cavalry is fine, but with our economy straining to do 4 turn research as it is… we don't want to bulk our military too far) then why not get a wonder that will give our Republic some wonderful insulation from War Weariness?

Well, my gut reaction is that Universal Suffrage really doesn't help that much. I will try to quantify it to justify my feelings (you guys always keep me honest :)).

I'm going to assume we will maintain 6 luxuries connected at all times - since we have multiple sources of each, it shouldn't be difficult. My understanding is that Universal Suffrage reduces war weariness by 1 citizen per town.

As an example, look at Athens - it is size 12. Right now, we have 1 person born content. A marketplace and 6 luxuries provide 12 happiness points, so we get to our current status of 6 happy, 1 content, 5 unhappy.

@25% war weariness, we get 3 more unhappiness points so we will have 5 happy, 0 content, and 7 unhappy. We need 10% luxuries (that should easily provide 2 more happiness points).

With Universal Suffrage, we would have 5 happy, 1 content, and 6 unhappy. We still need 10% luxuries to go without specialists.

50% war weariness - we get 6 more unhappiness points, so without US, we have 3 happy, 1 content, 8 unhappy. We need to spend 5 gpt keeping people happy. In a town like Athens, that is probably still 10% luxuries. With US, we still need to spend 4 gpt keeping people happy, so we would still be running 10% luxuries.

There are certainly times when Universal Suffrage would make the difference between rioting and not rioting (or WLTKD/not WLTKD) in a town, but because the luxury slider only moves in 10% increments, I think it is generally better to handle war weariness putting the slider up as necessary and hiring a single specialist in towns that the luxury slider doesn't quite help enough.

I think overall 800 shields is too much to spend on something that helps so little. If I look through our towns and realize we will have way too many cavalry without building US, then I may change my mind, but I'd like to find something better if possible. (Side note - JS Bachs is a clearly better wonder than US since it reduces unhappiness by twice as many people whether or not you are at war and for only 600 shields. Too bad we can't afford the time to research Music Theory).

Hmm… I thought Universal Suffrage helped more than that. But you're probably correct – and if so – then yeah, it probably doesn't make sense.

Speaking of researching non-critical technology… what is your opinion on getting espionage if the Dnuts do in-fact get it?
Is it worth getting off track to fight back in the spy game?

I'm not certain about Universal Suffrage - I'm relying entirely on Oystein's article (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=61628).

I don't think it will be worth going to Espionage next term even if Dnuts do. The only espionage mission I think we would use within the next 20 turns would be expose spy. All that would do is force the Nuts to spend money (and turns) attempting to replant. I think we would waste more money and time researching espionage than we are likely to cost them.

Chamnix, being unopposed, is the Domestic Minister for term 10.

(I wanted to make another poll :( ;))

The 2 most beautiful words in the English language... D - Fault. Thanks to everyone who did not run against me!

Congrats old chap ... but you do realise that you lose the presidential carriage ;)

It's the 11th and (probably) final term!!

Nominate the one you want to run the Domestic Department as we come down the home stretch!

:salute:

I nominate General_W.

I nominate myself for the Position of Domestic Minister.

I accept.
Thanks gbno1fan.

My platform - Bombers!
And support President Elect Chamnix (assuming he wins) in giving him all the support via CivAssist that I can offer to make the final MMing in the last turns go as smoothly as possible.

:salute: