Hey everyone. It seems that I may be able to survive / win one of my AWDG games :)
So why not blog about my Always War Demigod Adventures ??

Map: 60% water Pangea. Large map.
Topology & barbs: Random
Opponents: Max. Hand-selected to avoid getting every Native American.

Note:
My time to play is limited to weeknights after work and occasional weekends :(

Note:
Some pictures were hand made; I didn't take screenies of early game.
Labeled NOT DRAWN TO SCALE

---------------------- Chapter 1 ----------------------

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic1.jpg

This start doesn't look good: No food bonus, and I'm not agricultural.

But AWDG is always about gambling... so I decide to move and settle Linux to see what's up.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic2.jpg

Moving inland. I notice:
- I have a cow in the BFC, but I can't work it immediately.
- I have a river to irrigate, but it is far away.
- I'm not on the coast, so I lose 3? commerce in the capitol.
- I'm not near a river, so even less commerce.
- Bronze working, which usually takes 30-35 turns at start, is now 46 !!

When my settler is on the way to found a second city, I meet China :(
So my second city GNU goes on a hill.

I worry Chinese pillaging by the warriors / archers.

Phew, no danger after all :crazyeye:

NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic3.jpg

When China tires of attacking Linux, the fog reveals they now attack GNU.
GNU is over the hills-through the woods-across a river...

How did the Chinese get over there so fast ?

NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic4.jpg

I only have 2 cities. I need to gamble again.
Bronze->Pottery

...

Pottery finishes, so does Linux's granary.

The Chinese are in the east near GNU, so I expand west to found Xorg.

Guess what the Chinese target now?? That's right, my new city Xorg.

This time, China sends !! swords !! :eek:

NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic5.jpg

I have a lot of archers which are doing well.
But I've lost enough games to know that archers alone can't win AWDG.
Pottery->Wheel

I expand west again, settling IBM in the west on a hill.

The chinese planted a city fairly close. It needs to disappear.
Thankfully, GNU has been massing archers.

NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic7.jpg

I finish The Wheel, and for the first time in ANY of my AWDG games, I have a native strategic resource !!
Wheel->Horseback Riding


Lots more to come in a short bit.

I hate to double post, but the story continues.


---------------------- Chapter 1 (cont)----------------
NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic7.jpg

I move out (IIRC) 5 archers along the mountain line, plus a spear-archer combo.

All the swords divert from Xorg to kill my attack force,
but not without first giving me :) Great Leader Helfdane :)
Save leader for a horse army.

Another risk to push my front forward, away from my core.
Elite spear guarding IBM joins settler to found Sun in the north on a hill.

The Chinese city falls, giving me IIRC 3 gold, and I notice a very nice Chinese road in the north.

That "Industrious" trait would sure be nice for my Vikings,
as "Seafaring" has only helped 1 of my 5 cities...

This picture is 90% real (see note) :eek:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic8.jpg

Make that 6 cities. I found Novell in the quiet east to grab the Gems.

Now that the Chinese City has fallen, all the swords head to Shiny New Scarely Guarded city of Sun.

Horseback Riding -> Masonry

I desparately need my 10 shield walls. I only have time to fill the army with 2 horses, as Sun needs all the TLC it can get. Those Chinese roads means that extra swords stream in from the fog at any second.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic9.jpg

Sun has 1 archer, 1 3HP elite spear, and 1 Vet spear neaby... I count 5 swords and a warrior next to Sun.
This may be gameover.

I lose my vet spear and archer in Sun, and my elite spear is at 3 HP (he redlined in battle...), but Sun stands !! And I am rewarded with another :) Great Leader Inaawer :)

I move a regular archer from the south to go sit next to one of the stacks, hoping to bait one sword away.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pic10.jpg

The bait archer did not sacrifice himself in vain !! He falls gracefully, further sparing Sun

My reinforcment spear from IBM arrives at Sun, and now my horse army is full and in the zone.

Whole empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/wholeEmp.jpg

Left side:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/leftEmp.jpg


Sooooo... What do I do from here??

That warrior due in 1 at Sun is a prebuild for my City Walls that I get next turn.

Masonry -> Mathematics -> Iron -> ??

My full army consists of the horse army + 4 archers... So I need to buff my military again.

My 2 primary cities are about to produce settlers... I need to settle them, but I don't want to expand my front line too much...

Also, which is better for 60 shields?? 2 horsemen or 3 archers ???

In the long term, my armies should also prepare to find the Great Library, whereever it will be built (it hasn't started yet)

I am not so fond of dropping Sun at that time, rather ot be so close to China at this stage. I gree you cannot afford two settler from the best towns righ now, units are need to hurt Mao.

I prefer horses for the retreat, help keep that kill ratio up. Also they can move out of harms way after an attack.

You seem to be building your cities awfully far apart for an AW game. I would plant a city on the coast between your capital and IBM. I might plant a city N-NE of xorg, which would put it very close to xorg, but will allow you to use the river as a defense, regardless of which direction the Chinese attack from.

I know my city spacing has been kinda weird.
But remember its like that because I wanted to settle on hills (everything but Xorg and Linux is on a hill).

I might plant a city N-NE of xorg, which would put it very close to xorg, but will allow you to use the river as a defense, regardless of which direction the Chinese attack from.

This is a tough call, and I'm mixed. I am unsure because the AI pathing may be predictable:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/133568/strategy.JPG

I don't know if GNU should pop its settler or not.
I only have 6 towns right now, and Linux's settler only be 7 (next army needs 8).
But I need more troops !!

Should Linux's settler go to the coastal forest in the core, or to the spot above? I'm leaning towards the coastal forest.

I will probably play chapter 2 tonight, but the posting may take a day to organize.

I took enough early risks, and they all paid off.
Things are very easy compared to previous times !!

---------------------- Chapter 2 ----------------------

I think it's obvious to take out that pillage spear that's right next to my army.
But first I review my whole empire.

Scientist in IBM is can work again. Even though there's only 1 MPolice, and lux is just 10%

Change GNU from settler to horse.
I mis-spoke in my previous log, I only have 3 archers total :yuck:

Thinking ahead, while I'd like a spear army, I plan on my leader becoming a 2nd horse army.

Now I kill off the pillage spear.

IT: I get a good Always-War popup.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/tech.jpg

And it gets even better by clicking the "What's the big picture button", and changing my
warrior prebuild to walls on the IT

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/scrollAhead.jpg

Masonry -> Mathematics (14)

No attacks now. The swords wait for more swords. But that's okay. Army > sword.

A settler pops from Linux, Maths goes up to 16 :(

Unicode is founded.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unicode.jpg

My turns go by REALLY REALLY fast, since I have such few units. And 1 contact.
I hope I'm not on a pangea island (it's happened to me in AWDG before ...)

And now the last sword at Sun impales himself.
I don't see any Chinese units for the rest of this chapter :yup:

You know, I don't use CivAssist or any third party stuff.
I always check for riots via F1 screen. It's fast, not hard, and I've had 0 riots all game :thumbsup:

PICTURE LOST DUE TO ROLLBACK

I use my horse army to safely pillage roads near Shanghai.
Move->Move->Pillage->Retreat keeps me safe from any danger.

I only have 4 workers (and a slave) !! :scared:
GNU horse->worker. Linux settler(Unicode)->settler(going to found Gnome)->worker

Maths has come down to 8. Gems road will finish in 2.

And I'm done.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/atLast.jpg

From defense to offense... just what the doctor ordered.

---------------------- Chapter 3 ----------------------

What does this mean ??
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/buildMoreCities.jpg

It means that I had a slow start (only 3+ food in capitol after border expand),
and because I placed a granary in my capitol after founding GNU (2nd city).

Why doesn't she ever say "Build more workers!" ??

I do understand what this means.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/gems1.jpg

Linux always needed more money.

I drop my luxury to 0%, but I hope it doesn't stay like this, because I want my towns to grow big!

Army kills spear in Shanghai, then kills sword on the way back. Now army needs healing.

IT another Chinese sword appears
China has been sending < 1 unit per turn... :sleep:
I wonder why so few units. This is Always-War-Demigod, right ??

Why is China so dang weak ??

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/armyCompare1.jpg

Are we really alone ??

This turn I use an elite spear + archer combo to fend off a sword on flatland.

Speaking of it, the AI will only attack when it has ~33% or better chance of winning a battle.
(cities are an exception).
But I don't think AI takes into account defensive bombard.
Is it possible to push "in the field" defense odds to less than 33% for the AI?
If so, archers aren't extremely bad...

IT China sends an archer ????

With the founding of Gnome comes a second army. 1 horse-power so far.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/gnome1.jpg

Army advances, kills spear in Shanghai unscathed, and retreats to safety again.
It's kinda like this: :woohoo:

China sends a pillage spear. Cover my gems and horses with random units.

IT Sword appears. Spear retreats :D

elite archer > regular sword.
Note that my only elite that hasn't won a leader is a spear sitting in Sun.

GNU, Linux, and Sun have all trimmed workers. Sun looking for another.

IT another sword enters our deadzone.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/victorious1.jpg

I now have 2 full horse armies in the area.

Again, I discover a new tech (Maths), click on "what's the big picture", and change
a barracks pre-build on the same IT. I now have Maths and a catapult.

Mathematics->Iron Working (~10)

I'm thinking of following IW with a trip to Monarchy...
That's a long way, considering I don't have Ceremonial Burial...

Workers work. My horse armies take this time to advance and explore.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/chinaMain1.jpg

Then I see something new that has nothing to do with my armies (yet)

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/borders1.jpg

So we're not isolated on a pangea island !! That makes it much easier to reach the
Great Library when the time comes. Speaking of it, I don't see it on the F7 screen.
Does a wonder build pop-up show if you don't have the tech for that wonder?

I'm thinking of placing one more city in the north, near Sun, to grab the silks.
Or maybe I can prebuild a temple to grab the silks, to avoid expanding that front line...

I now need to ready myself to greet another military challenge.
The mysterious green people await, as does the secret location of China's Iron source.

My empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/final1.jpg

You seem to be doing a good job so far. A couple of tips I'd recommend:

1. You don't need a lot of catapults; they won't keep up with your horses.
2. Don't go near the light green border. I don't think it's aztecs, probably Greece or Persia. It's better not to go to war, until you have China almost taken care of.
3. I doubt you are on a pangea island, but if you are, keep China an OCC so that when you get the GLIB, you have that 2nd civ to net the tech from. If China is dead, and you and Aztecs are alone, you won't get any techs from it. Also, maybe think about building the GLIB??

Good luck!

Does a wonder build pop-up show if you don't have the tech for that wonder?

Yes, it will. Literature usually comes late in the Ancient Age for the AI, though, so they probably aren't building it yet.

I second killerkid's recommendation to avoid the Aztecs/Greeks/Persians if possible until China is quite weak. They could only distract you from fighting China, making it more difficult.

Great Library is a sticky tar pit. If you get it and leave China, China will be weak and while you'll get free tech you'll be behind the other continent (assuming there are only three on your landmass). If you get it and kill China, and don't research education, you'll get a big boost when someone else discovers you (or you find someone else), but will be an undetermined amount behind by waiting at education until that point (thus losing development in universities/banks as well). If you don't get it, it's standard research. Or, you don't get it, stop research at Education, research to Cavalry, save tons of gold thereafter, and then capture it, and get to somewhere mid-Industrial the turn you capture it. Then its massive Musket-->Infantry and Cannon-->Artillery upgrades. But then there's the issue of how do you get to it without a way to cross the ocean? I highly doubt the Great Lighthouse will be possible, unless the Aztecs/Greeks/Persians have conveniently built it.

@Quintillus- I don't think that plan of capturing GLIB before getting Education and jumping to Mid Industrial will work. Since Education will be the first tech you get, the GLIB will go obsolete as soon as you get it, so no more techs.

However, I haven't tried this, so maybe it does work. Once I get back to my home computer w/Civ 3 on it, I will try this.

I don't think that plan of capturing GLIB before getting Education and jumping to Mid Industrial will work.

It has been done in many other succession games. It is a reliable strategy :D
I think the technical coding is like:
...
if (beginning of turn AND great library is not obsolete)
{
Scan all civs for technology
Give owner any tech that two civs have
}
...

So when the Great Library "activates", the owner gets all available techs from other civs, since the game only checks for obsolete wonders once per turn.

A common dirty tactic is to build the GLib yourself, then gift the city to a nearby civ. Then just turn off science! Do whatever you want and the GLIB is just sitting next to your capitol waiting for you :drool: Just don't research EDU.
Of course, I can't use this tactic because gifting requires peace :hammer:

My big question is:
"Do I have time to build the GLib myself, or is it too late?"

I can prebuild with Heroic Epic, so it would be a win-win whether or not I succeed.
But do I need units more than a 200+ shield investment?

That's a tough question.

Will things finally get interesting ??

---------------------- Chapter 4 ----------------------

I steal the worker from Chinese territory, and snip some roads at their capitol.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/workerSteal2.jpg

I change my settler build in Linux to Heroic Epic / GLib prebuild.
Iron due in 7. I decide to not switch research.
To bad my capitol can only grow to size 6.

IT:

550BCE
Send full-health horse army to take a swipe at Beijing. It loses 7 HP killing a spear.
This is why you only send full-health horse armies :cringe:

Other army cuts some roads.

We are Strong compared to China.

I now notice a Chinese city in the west fog near IBM.
Are they trying to surrond me :confused:
Why do they settle so far from their capitol?

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/surround2.jpg

IT: Swords bloodlust towards wounded armies. They'll never reach the armies...

I MM my capitol, and it can (eventually) get 10 SPT, once I mine.
But my shields are not what I'm worried about. It's my research that's holding me back...
Keep on trucking with Iron Working, though.

IT: The swords go east. All targets in that direction are miles away...
Maybe they're targeting walled-Novell, even though my MP spear gets there next turned.
Maybe they're targeting Gnome, but that place finishes it's walls next turn.
:shake:

I finish walls in Gnome. Spear arrives at Novell.

No threat of a cascade on the GLib. All other ancient wonders are build, and I see
no other wonders in-progress.

I need to slow the prebuild shields. Cow goes to Xorg.

IT: Now the swords head back to Sun. More drama.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/drama2.jpg

:sleep:

1st Horse army loses 6HP killing a sword.
2nd Horse army loses 5HP killing a sword.
This is why you only send full-health horse armies :cringe:

Xorg makes me a settler. I'm going to send it into the tundra south of Linux.
I don't want all the AIs to say "LOOKIE, A FREE SPOT", and then I meet every AI civ.

IT: I'm getting edgy about the GLib. About 60 shields invested into Heroic Epic.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/importanceHorses2.jpg

Vet Horse dies against 2hp sword (I need more catapults !!)

Beijing's pop has dropped...

Iron Working -> Writing

IT: :sleep:

Oh BTW here's my terrain.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/terrain2.jpg

Complete a horse and walls build.

70+ shields invested in GLib / Heroic Epic.

Reg Archer > reg archer. Promotion.

I want to end this chapter, but I'm getting really nervous about GLib.
Nobody has started it.

IT: :sleep:

My research can't keep up with my GLib prebuild..
Forced to slow shields further even though I don't wanna.

IT:A Mayan galley appears. Headed towards my tundra area...

Settler is on the spot and founds KDE

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/noAdvance2.jpg

:wallbash:

And the Mayans have begun TGL in Chichen Itza. Remember they get 30% discount.
I've got ~95 shields into heroic epic at 9spt and Writing in 9...

Remember when I said that AWDG needs some gambles.
Well, that's what I get for not dropping IW research when I had the chance.

I've just been pwned by my own self.
This just might have cost me the win.

At least I'll have Heroic Epic !

You don't need a lot of catapults; they won't keep up with your horses.

While I understand your point, remember that horses don't exist when Knights are around.
And I wonder what's on that Mayan Galley besides a settler...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/end2.jpg

While I understand your point, remember that horses don't exist when Knights are around.

Do you mean enemy knights? Your knights are still 2 MP...:confused:

remember that horses don't exist when Knights are around
I was simply recalling that once the AI gets Knights, my horses are simply wasted shields.
But catapults, like diamonds, are forever :D

I have been fearing a fast tech rate, since I've always believed that the AI
researches Literature when they are IN the Middle Ages (though this is unverified)

---------------------- Chapter 5 ----------------------

Bombard Mayan galley.

I use the queue and set IBM to pump a settler after the spear.
The settler will move to grab the silks.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/citySite3.jpg

I spot Chinese iron at Chengdu, the city in the east. Will attempt to advance.

Horse retreats from attacking Chengdu.
Elite spear covers. Send another horse, too.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/ironSite3.jpg

IT: A sword scrambles and an archer appears at Chengdu
Mayan galley knows that KDE was settled, and sails away :)

Vet Horse > archer. Stays.
Red-line horse pillages where archer was.
Elite spear covers.

I notice Maya has taken at least 4 American slaves.

Workers work. I need to road towards icy KDE soon.

IT: 3 swords move to reinforce Chengdu area.
They won't stop me from cutting that iron !!

Chengdu is now disconnected from the rest of China.

Send healthy horse army to Chengdu area.
While I'm at it, I send my 2 cats, a vet archer, and vet horse that way, too.

Unit support at 7gpt.

Switch GNU to pump a settler as well.

IT:
Fresh sword pops out of Chengdu and retreats a horse.
Maya start Sun Tzu's ! I'm not abysmally behind in tech after all... yet

I spot a lone Chinese settler !!
He is also anxious to join our empire, and prepares to road the silks !!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/freebie3.jpg

That retreated horse may not be salvagable... but we'll see.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/chess3.jpg

Assault on Chengdu scheduled to begin in 2 turns.
At size 4 with iron, it's a keeper.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/itBefore3.jpg

Make that size 3. Did Chendu whip something (like a sword) ??

The Chinese only have 2 more culture than I !!
(1 from my first move w/o settling, 1 cause palace doubled 1 turn earlier)

MM cow away from Linux to Xorg, since another mine for Linux will finish on IT.
Heroic Epic build won't be slowed, and this avoids food waste at full Linux.

IT: Yes, China whipped something, and two swords (not the expected 1) come out of Chengdu.
No those swords don't attack my horse / spear on the iron...
I think 5 swords total are chasing my redlined run-away horse :run:

While those swords chase "lone-ranger", I bring in the armies.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/itDuring.jpg

Redline horse has found Hangchow. No wonder why the AI is weak.
It settles in the worst mountain-filled terrain...

"Redline" also waves goodbye as it sees the bombarded Mayan galley sail north :wavey:

Now the redline snips a key road and further "explores" China...

I decide not to pillage the Chinese iron hill.
It will be mine next turn...

I'm not sure if that is the only iron,
but I do see a Chinese archer scuttling around in the north...

I have 2 armies, 2 cats, 1 archer, 1 horse stack next to Chengdu
The elite spear / horse is also nearby, but may be slain on IT...
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/133568/itDuring.JPG

IT: Sword uses road to finally kill redline.
I still can't believe they'd send their whole army
across their own terrirory just to kill a redlined horse...

One sword moves to reinforce Chengdu.
Good. I want to kill swords by attacking them anyway.

China lands an archer near Unicode.

Cats go 1 for 2, revealing a second spear.

Vet Horse < Reg spear, dealing no damage.
Retaliate with 1 horse army killing spear and sword.
Vet archer > bombarded spear.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityTake3.jpg

I get a slave as well as that iron.
I'll have iron hooked up in about 6 turns,
so I guess I should slowly prebuild swords...

And now cash flow is in the positive again :)

Elite archer > Chinese archer at Chinese main area.

I'm done, yet I only played like 5 turns.
Here's my empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/final3.jpg

Now, that you have iron (or just have to hook it up), will you stop building horses or start on swords?

I don't know which is better in AW, speed or attack value?

------------- Reflections on Always-War -------------

I see very little use for horses in Always-War

1) The enemies COME TO YOU. Expect your cities to be SURROUNDED by enemy units.
Horses: The killzone is right at my front-door :thumbsdown:

2) Use catapults because they never need to be replaced, unlike combat units which die.
Horses: If you keep fighting "unit-to-unit", you will lose
because the AI has a big shield / unit advantage. :thumbsdown:

3) Use catapults to maximize victory.
Horses:
Attack: Retreat doesn't happen if the enemy unit has 1HP ... So retreat doesn't exist
Defense: Never let horses defend !!! :thumbsdown:

4) You need lots of armies (leaders -> armies)
Horses:
ATT: Horse armies lose more HP than sword armies when attacking.
DEF: Sword armies are never attacked... Literally, the AI won't fight at low odds.
DEF: Horse armies need protection :lol: just like everything else.
RETREAT: Never let your armies go to 1 hitpoint !!

5) If enemies are everywhere around you, then you're probably dead...
Horses:
Early game: if you are surrounded, then you're probably dead anyway...
Other times: Horses could defend your coastline... if they could kill pikes / knights :thumbsdown:

I keep getting the feeling I'm on a pangea island, all alone with the Chinese.
Yes, there are the green people, but what if they came from overseas :confused:
If I am alone, it may be impossible to get the GLib, because galleys are just too costly

---------------------- Chapter 6 ----------------------

GNU gets scientist, settler still due in 1.

IT:
Coastal invader archer fortifies......
Some Chinese advance on Chengdu (iron city), others seem to head in direction of Sun.

And we are at war with France, who send a green galley along our shore.

My turn:
Horse army kills 2 swords wandering towards Sun area
Other army heals in Chengdu.

GNU pops a settler. IBM gets one next turn.
If I stop "filling in the gaps" then other AIs will visit me to fill those gaps.
And more contacts are almost always bad. So proposed city sites in the Northwest include:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/proposed6.jpg
The only reason contacts are good in Always-War are:
1) Reduced research cost for each civ you know that has a given tech
Example: Code of Laws is known by everyone else, so it's cheaper to research
2) It gets the AIs into "war-mode"

Shift MP spear towards GNU & the French galley in that area.

IT:
Coastal archer suicides at Unicode.

Units around Chengdu area are ignoring Chengdu. They're not even going for the iron...
For some reason the AI targets the Sun / Gnome area with high priority.

And Chengdu riots !!! My first riot in the game :lol:

My turn:
Catapults redline sword near Chengdu.
A 3/4 hitpoint horse redlines but kills the sword.
(No retreat, cause the sword was at 1HP)

Settlers from IBM and GNU are now headed to NW region.

I stop to ponder where to send my armies next.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/zone6.jpg
I don't want to raze towns: more land attracts more enemies. China's already weak...
I decide to scout with one army, and use the other for zone defense around Chengdu / Sun.

Writing in 1 at +21 gpt

IT:
France sails along towards KDE.

Maya finishes GLib in their capitol.

My turn:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/tech6.jpg
Writing->Literature (due in 10).
I decide to go for lit before monarchy, because I want the extra research
for the long run. It's still a tough call.

Horse army explores farther.

And I see this:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/newContact6.jpg

The American settler pair tells me that
:dance: THE GLIB IS ON MY CONTINENT :dance:
because my Military advisor screen tells me that Maya has taken several American slaves.

IT:
I see French settler pair marching down from the north.

I meet a Russian Galley in the west.

And the Americans moved on without making contact :smug:
Remember, you only get contact if an enemy unit is in your vision at the start of your turn.
So no American contact. Just Russia, China, Maya, and France :hammer:

And there is a Chinese settler pair near Sun again.

My turn:

I move one settler into position (just off screen to the left).
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/final6a.jpg

Iron hook-up next turn.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/final6b.jpg

Analysis:
So everyone's sending settlers towards the NW gap between me and Chinese.
I guess that's where my armies are headed.

I haven't seen the "initial rush" from Maya yet. Maybe they've been warring a lot.
I just met Russia. They only built 1 ancient wonder; perhaps they're weak.

I need to build up catapults / swords, to prepare for the hordes that will come.
I gotta cram in Library prebuilds, to. Maybe 1 in my capitol, 1 in GNU, 1 in IBM.
And Heroic Epic will finish in about 6 :)
So I will prepare to leader fish while filling in my peninsula.
Then I send "all the kings horses" and "all the king's armies" and take the Great Library

A lot of things look good, despite me having 4 contacts.
Let's get this ball rollin' :yeah:

---------------------- Chapter 7 ----------------------

My turn:
I move my scouting army east, away from the American pair area.
I don't need to fight any more people at this time.

vArcher > bombarded archer

Both settlers are in place to fill gaps near China.

Xorg / Novell / Gnome start prebuilding Libraries.
Novell and Gnome are on rivers.
Xorg will stay large, and is near my capitol.

GNU will do sword -> Library Prebuild.

Literature due in 7.

I start mining my first mountain. It is the gems near Novell.
I use 2 workers, mine due in 9.

IT:
Road on Silks finishes.
Chinese boat moves to the Russian galley party.

My turn:
Change 4 builds to swords.

Right now I'm at -5 gpt :commerce:

Found Source Code -> walls
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/sourceCode7.jpg

Found Subversion -> walls (will be chopped in 3, I prebuild a chop lol)
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/subversion7.jpg

Hopefully filling the gaps with these two cities will make AI settler / contacts go away.

The silks now falls in my border, so I lower lux to 0%

Income has jumped to +11 gpt :commerce:

I now have a new front line with lots of workers around it !!

I MicroManage Linux to get an extra trade, Heroic Epic still due in 3.

I now up science, and get Lit a turn earlier at +5 gpt.

My army grabs a settler pair that was trying to get Source Code's spot.
Army takes no damage, but spots some Chinese swords in the area.

Move my cats from Chengdu to Source Code (thanks for the road, China).
The cats will garuntee victories, and hopefully promotions / leaders.

My coastline looks a little pressured, no?
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/coastline7.jpg

IT:
One Russian galley goes away.
The French galley kinda goes back and forth.
And I see a sword and archer closer to Source Code. They all going east :shifty:
(I wish they'd advance so I can kill them).

My Turn:
Since no units are really advancing, I take acher / spear / horse in Chengdu
and send them to pillage a Chinese road.

I have my first sword. He's a regular, though.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/firstSword7.jpg

Horse army spots two swords and archer wandering around Source Code area... going east...

And my workers work the front.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/workers7.jpg

IT:
Chinese archer comes out of Hangchow on said road. He's not going to Chengdu, though... ?
China lands an archer on my coastline, too.
Now all the units near Source Code go west :shifty:
I build some swords.

My Turn:
vHorse kills landed rArcher. vHorse almost dies :eek: (it chose not to retreat)
vHorse kills rArcher near Chengdu. vHorse almost dies :eek: (it couldn't retreat, archer at 1HP)
Did I mention I don't like horses ??

Chinese still practice their ancient dances on the front, wandering to and fro.
I now see 5 swords in Source Code / Subversion area. I also see a freebie iron.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/swords7.jpg

IT:
Galleys give swimming lessons.
Russia start's Leonardo's Workshop !!!
Walls are chopped at Subversion
I build some swords.
And this Epic build:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/epic7.jpg

My Turn:
Army > archer that actually comes near Source Code.
Army takes no damage

I pillage Hangchow area in NE.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pillagers7.jpg

GNU starts library.

Now that I have silks, I see that Chengdu's 1 citizen can work now, instead of being unhappy.
Citizen works mined iron. This gets Chengdu's walls done 1 turn sooner.

Not much to look at on the "fighting side" I guess...
Here's my army:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/armies7.jpg

IT:
Spot a new French galley coming in from NorthEast.
Now the units near Source Code go east :shifty:

My turn:
Chendgdu finishes walls. Where Chinese units wander now ???

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire7.jpg

NE Front:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/NEFront7.jpg

NW Front:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/NWFront7.jpg

:lol: at the shifty Chinese units. And prebuilding chopping. Good idea certainly, just something I'd never heard of before that sounds somewhat funny.

Interpreted "Found Source Code" as found the CivIII source code - that would've made you a hero here!

Just wondering, your username and empire seem to have a slight Linux tilt, do you play CivIII on Linux? I've heard it can be done (Cedega I think) but haven't looked into it enough to know how well it works, especially on newer Linux distributions. Not that I'm planning to switch to Linux, just out of intellectual curiosity.

Have you noticed the green city? (where all the orange gallys are going)

South of Chengu

Re: the green city?
Yep, saw it at end of chapter 3. It turned out to be French in Chapter 5-ish..
(Why are they green anyway :confused:)
I don't learn the name of that city until, well, chapter 8 below :)


Re: Linux
I run Linux at home, but I'm not a fanatic.
Well, I am. I'm a CIVFANATIC !!! :yup:

I wish I could run this on Linux, then I could play at home. I run it on Windows now.

I only have Wine, since I'm too lazy to pay $15 for Cedega, and beside's I'm on an
older version of Linux still (think Ubuntu LTS 6.06 = Windows 98), so Cedega may not
work.

Sidenote:
I can almost get warcraft 3 TFTto run on Linux, but Wine can't detect CD. It's
funny, because Blizzard just released a no-cd update, which won't run. I'm hoping that
I can run patch 1.22, whenver it comes out...


Re: CivIII source code
!! I WISH !! I work with C++ all the time (see sig)
But I'd kinda have trouble figuring out how to compile the source code.
Example: Quake 3 Source Code is out there for free (I have somewhere), but I've no clue
how to actually compile the code to make the program.

Getting Chapter 8 written now. It'll be 2 parts, ~7 turns each.

"Keeping things going" is always important in AW.
If you hit a brick wall (no expansion), well, it only goes downhill...

Just how am I doing, anyway ??

---------------------- Chapter 8 (part 1) ----------------------
Haven't seen this game much all week. I actually played Chapter 7 on like, Monday...

I carefully review everything.

Positives:
- Luxury slider at 0%, and no danger of riots. I have 2 luxuries.
- My cities are growing big & juicy. Bigger cities mean faster research & production

Negatives:
- Maya got the Great Library, and I don't know their location yet.
- I lack elite units. I don't think I got a single non-army promotion in last 2 chapters
I am militaristic, right :confused:

My turn:
I decide that I need to expand into China gap / main area more.
Linux is on a settler, good.

Army snips road that helps Chinese "dance".
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unitsStart8.jpg

Good. Here come my promotions, along with a settler pair.

Finally, I decide Chengdu will get a library.
It has lots of flood plains to grow large on rivers.
It only makes 2spt, but there are 3 forests to chop next to it...

IT:
China swords go to Source Code.
I will leave that city un-defended to lure my promotions into a "promotion zone" ;)

French land a sword in Chengdu area. I guess all AI ships are going there...
I hope that regSword landed will attack my eSpear on a hill. Leaderfish me???

My turn:
Archer joins eSpear in east hill, to (hopefully) maximize potential leaderfish.

Lit due in 1.

I spend this turn positioning lots my cats / units next to un-defended Source Code.
Here kitty kitty kitty...

IT:
Excellent, they (5 Chinese swords) move right onto the grassland.
French sword doesn't attack my leaderfish eSpear, though...

Galleys do their swimming lessons ( is there a swimming smiley?? )

And this.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/techFirst8.jpg

Literature->Ceremonial Burial (in 4 at +32 gpt)
Time to beeline Monarchy.

My turn:

Firstly
vSword > French rWarrior near Chengdu (Sword Redlines)
vArcher > French rSword near Chengdu

Now the Killzone
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/zone8.jpg

Cats hit 2/4
e*Archer > rSword
vHorse > rSword. Promotion.
vHorse > rSword
rArcher > bombarded Sword
army > last bombarded Sword
That Chinese stack now happily dances in the great beyond

I change 6 granary builds to Libraries.

The Chengdu worker is unhappy, now that MP left. Scientist again.

IT:
Swords kinda go to Subversion. I'll need to reposition to block the "mountain walkway" ...
French spear lands at Iron area.

I build a sword & settler.

My turn:
China is impressed with our culture !! (thanks Heroic Epic)

3 cities finish libraries in next 6 turns or less.

Change Linux to a library, too.

Reposition as needed... I'm not in danger as long as I look at what's where.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unitsMid8.jpg

IT:
Swords dance into the Promotion Zone.
French spears near Chengdu are annoying. They're going after the chopping worker.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unitsLater8.jpg

My turn:
Cats hit 2/5
eHorse > 1Hp sword
vSword < rSword
vHorse < Sword :mad:
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
rArcher > Sword. Finally. Promotion.
Grr... trading unit-for-unit is the way to lose...

I look at my city screen, and see lots of cities at size 4+ :)

Chengdu worker decides she can labor again. Scientist -> Iron mine.

IT:
Chinese Swords -> Source Code.

My Turn:
Cats hit 1/5
eHorse < 2hp sword :mad:
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
army > Sword.

Mine on Novell gems finishes..

Review income. Scientists -> Tax collectors, CB still in 1 turn. Rare use for tax-ies.

IT:
Chinese Swords -> Source Code.
I need to NOT lose units there...

CBurial -> Mysticism (4 turns at +21gpt)

My turn:
Cats hit 3/5

e*Archer < 2HP sword :mad:
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
vSword > 2HP Sword. Redlines...
vSword > 2HP Sword. Promotion.
vHorse < rSpear. Horse chose not to retreat.
Did I mention I don't like horsies ??
vArcher > rSpear. Promotion.

Tax-ies -> Scientists again.

IT:
Russian galley turns around. Goes south.

---------------------- Chapter 8 (part 2) ----------------------

My Turn:
vSword > spear. All clear at Chengdu..
So, that's the French city
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/grenoble8.jpg

Horse armies pillage 4 roads in China
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pillage8.jpg

Micromanage to swap 1 shield for one trade. Temporary to avoid waste.

Front is now basically cleared.

IT:
Russian galley turns around again, goin north.
China archer wanders.
Xorg->Library->Sword

My Turn:
Settler is sittin next to Source Code. It's not good to keep'em waiting...

army > spear in Xinjan
army > spear in Xinjan
army > spear in Xinjan
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityTake8.jpg

Switch Xorg's sword to settler. Switch Sun's catapult to settler.

IT:
Chinese sword and archer are seen near Source Code.
GNU->Library->Spear (7spt)
Novell->Library->Settler
Unicode->Spear->Spear
Mayans start building Leonardo's Workshop.
Mayans start building Sistine Chapel.
Mayans start building Knights Templar.
Well, they do have GLIB, so trading must have happened.
I'm happy they waste shields on that stuff.

My Turn:
Cats redline archer.
eArcher > 1HP archer.

I prevent a riot at linux -> Scientist.
And now 2 Scientists -> 2 Tax-ies (scientists couldn't up the slider). Mysticism still 1.

IT:
Chinese -> want audience -> no
Swords appear at front.
French galleys -> Swimming lessons
Mayans start building Knight's Templar somewhere else.
Russia finishes Sun Tzu's Art of War.
Aztecs finish Knights Templar.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/techSecond8.jpg

Mysticism->Polytheism (6 turns at -5gpt with 327 in the bank from 4-turners)

My Turn:
Tax-ies -> Scientists

Cats go 2/5 to redline an sword. I have 7 cats total.
eSword > 1HP Sword

Found Mozilla -> Walls. Gain +4gpt in unit support + the 1 commerce
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/Mozilla8.jpg

Stop a riot at Novell -> Scientist.

Here's the party at my front line. Guess who's dancing the most now :blush:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unitsAtFront8.jpg

IT:
China lands archer near Subversion.
Maya starts building Sistine Chapel
Maya starts building Leonardo's Workshop.
Good that they waste shields on this stuff (I hope Maya get Sistine's :))

My Turn:
I see orange borders with Scouting army. I think it's Russia orange.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/Russia8.jpg

Other army finds Tientsin in the West.
Army > spear in Tientsin

I plan to eventually take Beijing, and get that incense.

And I start irrigating non-critical grasslands...

IT:
Chinese archers advance.
GNU -> Border Pop
GNU -> Spear -> Spear
Novell -> Border Pop

My Turn:
4 cats redline rArcher on Mountain.
eArcher > 1HP Archer

I leave Mozilla un-guarded, to lure promotions.

Army > Spear at Tientsin
Army > rushed Spear at Tientsin
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityTakeSecond8.jpg
I get a Chinese slave and :confused: a Carthegenian slave, as well as 11 gold.
I knew there have been lots of AI-AI wars, even if I haven't seen them...

Switch Unicode's spear to sword (5spt)

IT:
French galley -> Swimming lessons.
More promotions appear at Mozilla, but they're not close enough yet.
Linux -> Settler -> Cat
I get the "Our people want to build the Forbidden Palace" message.

Tientsin resistance ends. 1 laborer and 1 Scientist.

And I'm done.

We are strong compared to China and France (I think France has lost workers, too)
We are weak compared to Russia and Maya

Empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire8.jpg

Core:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/core8.jpg

The Promotion Zone:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/front8.jpg

Good update. I'm surprised no other AI have arrived en masse. Maybe they're all in AI-AI wars. Certainly good for you that they haven't yet, though. At least if any of the Medieval AI have Iron.

So long as the AI don't overpower you, libraries are great. Might not prevent culture flip problems or scientific backwardness but sure will lessen the problems.

Why the decision to keep Tientsin? Quicker army healing, decent location, lack of settlers in area? Not that I disagree with the decision, it's just out-of-the-ordinary - Chengdu was the only other non-razed city and it had Iron in its radius.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on this. I have a feeling it'll only get more difficult for quite some time, at least unless the AI have had terrible luck with resources.

When reading over Chapter 8, I begin to notice stuff.

- We may be on a "Pangea Island" after all, which could make things very difficult. (See pic)
- Enemy galleys have come "not too late", so if we are on an island, our galleys can probably reach them too.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire8.jpg

This would explain why no huge armies have come to me.

I think I may whip a curragh in Tientsin just to confirm if I am on an island. I'm not too worried if I am, as I have hope that Maya may be within reach.

If I am on an island:
1) Research to invention
2) Stop research.
3) Fish for Pike army (may need China alive).
4) Mass Berserk, Pike army, Galleys.
5) Sail / land other continent (no city needed)
6) March under army cover to GLIB.
7) Win

-------------------------------
FYI I'm not only playing this game. I feel kinda "too lucky" in beginning, so I'm practicing more.
Here are some other tales to give everyone an idea on the difficulty:

Other game 1
- 1st Contact at turn 40.
- 1st Contact sends zillions of units to my capitol area.
- Capitol is pillaged most of the game. It is the front line. I have 6 cities total.
- Expansion halts.
- 2nd Contact on other end of empire.
- I build Great Library
- 3rd & 4th contact.
- 2nd contact alone takes a city. Their regular warrior kicked the nuggets out of my elite spear behind walls...
- Game over, even though I had GLIB.

Other game 2:
- Bad start with desert and marsh.
- 1st contact at turn 62. I have 5 cities
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th contact within next 10 turns.
- I am overrun. I even got beat to the Great Library, cause Russia got Lit not-late-ish.

Other game 3 (older):
- I am on a pangea island with Mongols. We have no resources at all.
- GLIB FIDAL :) (built somewhere else)
- I research all the way to berserks. Stop research.
- My galleys don't get very far... They are pwned by masses of enemy galleys...
- I could island hop, but I still have no idea where GLib is...
- I'm way to far behind.
- Game over.

Hi, I was told to post somewhere. Thanks for your time.

---------------------- Chapter 9 ----------------------

My Turn:
Review my empire. Everything looks good.

Change Tientsing to a curragh. It will be chopped and ready in 5 turns.

Move units. Use army to explore.
And snag a free worker.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/armyWorker9.jpg

Man I love China.
And I notice that Russia has a pikeman near the Chinese city. Poor China...

IT:
China sends promotions.
It appears Russia and China are at peace. Russians use Chinese roads.

My Turn:
vSword > rArcher
eSword > rArcher
Cats go 2/6 against rArcher on Mountain.
eArcher > 1HP archer.

Army pillages near Macao
Army > rArcher
Army spots a Russian city with it's border expanded.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/armyRussia9.jpg

IT:
Chinese promotions move around.
Russian pikes come to my area.
Army scores a ZOC free-hit against passing pike.
Army spots a knight. Now horses really are useless.

My turn:
Settler and Sword are built.
I switch some cats to come and help with knights.
Army > rPike
Army > 2HP Pike

eArcher > rArcher
eSword > rArcher
vSword > rArcher on Mountain. Promotion.

Crank down research. This time no tax-ies needed, implying max beaker overflow = 2
Gaining +46gpt

IT:
Russian Knights advance, moving within range of Mozilla.
Army gets ZOC free hit against archer.
Tientsin riots. This proves useless later anyway.
Army spots Byzantine Dromon sail by. No contact made.
I will abandon Tientsin to avoid contact for longer.

My turn:
Build library and cat. Continue pumping cats.

Polytheism -> Monarchy (10 / -11gpt)

Abandon Tientsin

Horse army > knight, losing 4 HP. I'm suprised I've been so lucky...
The knights did not attack my horse army when it's on a hill.
Horse armies retreat, pillaging a road that will hopefully generate a good killzone
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/armyPillage9.jpg

vSword > across river 2HP archer. Redlines.
eSword > rArcher

The Chinese are ignoring undefended Mozilla...

IT:
Byzantines land where I could see them (I walked onto mountain...). Declare war.
China archer > 3HP sword w/ defensive bombard...
China archer > 3HP sword...

Russian Knight to land next to Mozilla next turn.

My Turn:
Reposition lots of units.
Build a settler and some units.


IT:
Archers wander towards Mozilla. Good. I only need 1 killzone please.
Russian knight lands next to Mozilla, which has 8 cats in it, plus a settler :D
It's, like, the ultimate bait.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/killZone9.jpg

My Turn:
5 cats redline Russian vKnight
eSword > 1HP Knight across river.

Sending 1 horse army + 2 swords to raze Genoble.
Will replace with 2 cities down there.

Here's my military.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/myArmy9.jpg

Change IBM and Unicode to libraries.

IT:
Russian longbow appears.
No Knights.
Chinese archers aren't going into killzone :mad:

My Turn:
I want to settle SE of Beijing, but that's where all the archers are...
Army > archer on mountain
Army > archer on mountain
eArcher > 2HP archer on mountain

That frees me up for this.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/canonical9.jpg

vSword > French rArcher that gets too close to Chengdu.
6 cats redline rArcher and vArcher on Mountain.
vSword > 1HP archer on Mountain. Promotion.
vSword > 1HP archer on Mountain.

Move spear out of Unicode to cover coastal worker from French galley.
Does the AI amphibious capture workers or not??

IT:
That French galley goes back and forth between GNU and Unicode ??
Longbow moves next to my eSword and cats.

Archers go for Mozilla area.

My Turn:
Move units.
Since I'm already over unit support with a good front, switch some builds.

Cats go 3/3 against vLongbow
eSword > 1HP longbow.

Cats all join on one spot near Mozilla again.

IT:
Byzantine Dromon is near our shores.
Russian Archer / Spear pair uses Chinese roads to position
themselves right next to my elites and cats.

Maybe I should cover Mozilla so knights don't jump on those roads.

My Turn:
vSword > rArcher
eArcher > rArcher
eSword > 1HP spear
rSword > 1HP archer. Promotion.

Horse army spots Russian Mace near Beijing. Yep, gotta cut Beijing's roads too.

I realize I did not cover my cat stack well, and a Knight could get to it from the fog.
Send slave to be bait just in case. Send a vArcher too.

IT:
Russian MDI > vArcher bait. I'm bleeding unit support anyway.
Russian Musket appears.
Nothing touches my cat stack :) Or the Chinese slave

A Byzantine promotion appears near Mozilla.
Byzantine Dromon pillages an irrigation that just finishes.
Why do AI bombard have like 85% success chance.... :confused:

And I'm done.
I might not be on an island after all.
All I need now is a Pike army and Berserk...

We are weak to Maya, Russia, Byzantium.
We are strong to France, China.

Empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire9.jpg

Front:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/front9.jpg

---------------------- Chapter 10 ----------------------
My Turn:
My cities are building either libraries, cats, settlers, or walls.
Perfect.

I should prioritize grabbing incense at Chinese capitol.
It will help my cities grow to size 7 for Monarchy.
I originally thought of sparing China for leader-fish, but now other enemies can help me gain armies.

I believe Source Code will become my new eventual capitol.
But not before finishing Forbidden palace probably in GNU.

Army pillages roads north of Beijing. So no suprise knight encounters.
Hmm... I spot a carthage settler pair. Do I try to avoid contact??
Sure. I change my pillage plan.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/carthage10.jpg

Move cats around. Prepare for leaderfish in north.

vSword > French rArcher. Genoble will fall soon.

Release a sword in my core from landing patrol.
Change 3 cat builds to spears for MP duty. They will be regulars.

Monarchy in 3 at -14 (lots-a-unit-support) with 320 in bank

IT:
No Carthage contact.
Promotions advance on Mozilla. China recaptures one of their slaves.
But it's still within grabbing range anyway...
Build walls and spear. I wish I could get Xorg to 8spt now...

My Turn:

Northwest Front:
Cats go 3/4
eSword > 1HP warrior
eSword > 1HP archer
Army > vMace, but loses 6HP. So I don't think it can block an archer...
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/tryBlock10.jpg
Army recaptures worker.
Swords and cat move to reinforce "in-field" eSword. Maybe archer won't attack it.

Genoble Front:
One settler moves into place (I have space for 2 cities at Genoble's ruins)
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/settler10.jpg
Army > Genoble spear. Note that archer defensive bombarded...
Since I'm paying 12gpt unit support, I try 3HP eSword attacking Genoble's spear.
3HP eSword > rSpear. Redlines but wins !!
Only an archer shows in the city...

Monarchy in 2 at -15gpt. Perhaps I should build more 0gpt walls...
Dang, every city that's not building walls already has walls...

Stop a riot at Gnome.

IT:
Second Dromon shows up. Dunno if it has units or not...
French land archer near Chengdu.
Lots of Russian units show up in north. I think this is their initial rush.
KDE finishes library -> prebuild harbor.
America builds Leonardos. Maya and Russia start Sistines.

My Turn:
Grenoble Front:
Army > rArcher
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityTake10.jpg
Genoble gives me a slave.
And I found SELinux nearby:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/seLinux10.jpg
The unit support feels good :)
Army now rushes to get to NW front.

Chengdu Area:
vSword > rArcher

Northwest Front:
Hmmm... What to do here.
There are 3 russian knights nearby...
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/situation10.jpg

I will leave 2 slaves as bait for a knight.
All swords and all cats move into walled Mozilla (It has walls)
Army heals.
Cats 2/2 against archer.
MP Spears will arrive at Mozilla next turn.
And now I have this, which I think is pretty good:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/bait10.jpg

Prevent riot in Xorg
Monarchy due in 1 at +4 gpt with 292 in bank.

IT:
Both dromon bombardment succeeds. 3rd Dromon appears.
Archers scuttle, French trying to get my iron...
Only 2 attacks on Mozilla. Both cats fail.
eSword < vKnight. Knight redlines
eSword > vKnight. Sword redlines.

My turn:
Monarchy -> MapMaking due in 6 at +1 GPT

Army looks healthy. And only lost 1 sword.
Doing good, with nice targets near Mozilla.
Let's see what I can do.

Cats 2/2, so now redlined Knight & archer on same square.
I don't redline a spear. If he takes damage he will retreat.
I want him to play around in the kill zone for a bit :)
eSword > 1HP knight.
army > 1HP archer
Take a risk: 12HP horse army (3) > fortified vKnight (4)
Horse army retreats to Mozilla safety.
Next turn I will have 3 nice MDI next to Mozilla for fishing...

LET THE REVOLT BEGIN.
Draw 7 turns. Isn't that the max ??
Since MP police are useless in Anarchy, do micromanagement...
Looks like all of my size 6 cities will starve to size 5.
But irrigation and mined hills / mountains await...

IT:
Dromon bombard 1/3
Chinese spear blocks Russian units !!
vSword hills > rArcher
vSword in field > vKnight retreats
Units are now ignoring Mozilla. Going to Source Code ??
Not bad, now I can have fun with them (I don't see any knights beyond 1HP one)

My Turn:
3 starvations. Sun riots...
Prevent 2 more riots in smaller cities...

At Canonical
cats 1/3 against mountain archer
eArcher > 2HP mountain archer. Spots a Chinese horse...

At Mozilla
Lots of cats bombardment and movement.
3HP elite Sword > 1HP Spear.
eSword > 2HP MDI
vSword > 1HP Knight
vSword > 2HP MDI
3HP vSword > vMDI
army > 1HP MDI
army > Chinese rHorse

Things look much better now:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/better10.jpg

Cat bombards vDromon
2nd army heals and will kill annoying French eSpear next turn.

IT:
Bombarded Dromon retreats. Another replaces it.
Russia wants audience. No.
My 2HP sword > 2HP archer. Promotion.
Maya start Copernicus, finish Sistines.
French eSpear moves to threaten workers.
Russia musket advances.

My turn:
Anarchy done in 5 turns:

Found IPv6
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/ipv610.jpg

And I'm done. Phew. That was a long 5.1 turns...
And I haven't gotten any leaders in how many elite victories ??

Empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire10.jpg
Military: (add 9 native workers + slaves)
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/military10.jpg
Killzone:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/zone10.jpg

------------- Reflections on Always-War -------------

I see very little use for horses in Always-War

1) The enemies COME TO YOU. Expect your cities to be SURROUNDED by enemy units.
Horses: The killzone is right at my front-door :thumbsdown:

2) Use catapults because they never need to be replaced, unlike combat units which die.
Horses: If you keep fighting "unit-to-unit", you will lose
because the AI has a big shield / unit advantage. :thumbsdown:

3) Use catapults to maximize victory.
Horses:
Attack: Retreat doesn't happen if the enemy unit has 1HP ... So retreat doesn't exist
Defense: Never let horses defend !!! :thumbsdown:

4) You need lots of armies (leaders -> armies)
Horses:
ATT: Horse armies lose more HP than sword armies when attacking.
DEF: Sword armies are never attacked... Literally, the AI won't fight at low odds.
DEF: Horse armies need protection :lol: just like everything else.
RETREAT: Never let your armies go to 1 hitpoint !!

5) If enemies are everywhere around you, then you're probably dead...
Horses:
Early game: if you are surrounded, then you're probably dead anyway...
Other times: Horses could defend your coastline... if they could kill pikes / knights :thumbsdown:

All of this is quite true. But horses are meant for killing 1 HP units and moving back into a city after the attack. This is useful to prevent the never ending cycle of healing units (where only 1 unit advances at a time, but there is always 1 full health one right behind). It also helps prevent pillaging, although I suppose you don't have that problem since you don't have many workers yet. However, I find it useful in my games. It's always good for coastal defense. Since mostly archers are dropped. But if swords are dropped, let the defenders take a hit with a horsemen moved into the garrison, so that either you can counterattack the next turn against damaged swords or if you're lucky, no swords will survive.

Other miscellaneous uses. Horses are good scouts (move forward to see and then move back). They can act as mobile MP wherever necessary when shifting defenders around in your towns. Additionally, they can, when attacking AI cities, charge forward to kill the last defender and retreat under the safety of your other units. Finally, they can deter spearmen groups from taking your workers if you cannot spare any catapults to shoot at them. (One move units can do this, but they might not be able to move to and reach as many workers as horses can).

That said, you still don't need to build too many of them, unless you want to mass knight upgrade. :)

@Tribute
Yes horses do have a limited use. You make a good point.
To illustrate, you can see the 2HP exposed sword in this picture from Chapter 10.
He was attacked IT, but won. If he was a horse, there would be no danger of "exposure"
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/better10.jpg

But I still try to mass pure firepower (ie swords) before willingly making a horse.
Also note that horses can't kill / retreat if the enemy stack isn't on flatland,
and we all know know the AI is programmed to move to non-flatlands first...


---------------------- Chapter 11 ----------------------
Everything looks good except my leader situation.

My Turn (cont):
Cat bombards Dromon in east
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/dromon11.jpg

Cats 1/3 agains hills spear near Canonical.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/catsCanonical11.jpg

Horse army > eSpear. Loses 6HP, or 1/2 its life...
Risk: Horse army > 2HP hills spear. Drops to 2 life, but promotes.
Cover with nearby spears, etc... to block that oncoming musket.

Re-empty Mozilla to attract more attention.

Decide I will build a galley once I get the tech.
I want to find the Mayans.

IT:
No bombard from Dromons, cause they act funny. One retreats.
Spot Byzantine horse, threatens Mozilla.
Bait Mozilla attracts knights.
Musket moves on...

My Turn:
Canonical Area:
Armies heal.
Cats go 1/3 against vMusket.
My eSword from Chengdu iron area stumbles back.

Dromon Area:
Bombard last sighted dromon.

Mozilla Area:
Units move into Mozilla.
Hopefully AI will still come to it.

IT:
China settles a city West of Mozilla.
I need to start advancing again, but anarchy doesn't make it any easier...
This government is terrible. Not even good enough for a variant.
Last Dromon retreats.
Canonical musket retreats
Man my armies need to heal faster.
Lots of promotions in Mozilla area.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/tightFront11.jpg

My Turn:
A lot isn't in catapult range
I will kill only the units next to Mozilla that I can safely kill.
Theoretically, Russia won't attack Mozilla with only 1 attacker available.
So next turn, I can move my cats on the road, and bombard everything left alive.

cats redline 2 knights next to Mozilla, and yellow-line rSpear.
vSword < 1HP Knight.
vSword > 1HP Knight. Redlines.
army > 2HP Spear. No damage.
Other army will finally start healing from 2HP, and in a city.

Anti-Dromon cat starts moving to Mozilla area.
vSword arrives in Mozilla area.

And I notice something interesting.
Here is how I place citizens in IBM.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityOne11.jpg

And here is how the governor auto-places IBM
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/cityTwo11.jpg

Is there a glitch when in anarchy?

IT:
vSpear in walls > vKnight. Thx catapult.
Byzantine promotions arrive at Mozilla.
In fact, I don't think I can count how many promotions are near Mozilla.
This must be the rest of the Russian intial rush :eek:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/gulp11.jpg

Well, I have 4 swords +1 nearby, an army, a spear, and a ton of cats.
And I don't really want to think hard now, so I will create suspsense by ending here...

Remember how I mentioned that you can encounter those "stacks of death that just run me over"??
Let's hope this isn't one of them...

I'm not saying I will lose Mozilla. But there is an average chance that things may go bad.
(Of course, I can't complain, I've had great luck the whole game so far)
If any of my swords lose a battle, or my army loses lots of HP,
then I can't stop the "slow-mover initial rush" behind the knights.

I'll take a break and prepare to blog another AWDG game I'll almost surely win :D
In that game I have:
- Entrances to me consisting of 1-tile choke in West and a narrow pennisula in South.
- Early Swords. Iron was on freebie mountain next to my capitol.
- 2 late-ish contacts.
- 2 luxes at no contest.
- No armies.
- 20 turns to literature, with full palace prebuild due in 22.
- No other wonders under construction, so no threat of cascade.
- I popped Granary from hut, first build was a granary.

Compare that to this game where I have:
- Entrances consist of one wide penninsula.
- Late swords. I had to fight for iron.
- 1 early contact, and now 5 late ones (China, Maya, France, Russia, Byzantium)
- 2 early armies.
- I had to fight for both luxes, still fighting for a 3rd.
- No Great Library.
- No clue where the Great library is.
- I had to research Pottery, so plan was settler -> Granary.

Really good story ZzarkLinux. Are you going to keep this one going? You're slowly expanding, though it seems the AI are pulling ahead in techs. I suppose you're going for a Millitary Victory.

It'd be nice to see some Beserks on the battle field.

Is it true that horses can't retreat when the defender is not on flatground? I noticed this but put it down to bad luck. Do forests count too?

I believe that he governor chooses the unimproved grass tile in anarchy because he wants to reduce waste- he knows that the two shields from the mined bg would be wasted so picks the other tile.

believe that the governor chooses the unimproved grass tile in anarchy because he wants to reduce waste
:lol: I love that idea. But I don't even think the governor is that smart...
I've seen him pick a mined bonus grass over a mined grass, when the extra shield only gets corrupted...
It hurts micromanagement....

And to clarify "use horses for retreat purposes":
In AWDG, "retreat" can mean a retreat from battle, or:
1) Kill the unit
2) Horse moves into enemy square
3) Horse has extra movement point
4) Horse moves back into city.
So by "retreat", I mean steps 3 and 4. Unless the forest has a road, the horse cannot "retreat" (no movement left),
so he is "exposed" to counter-attack = bad.

The only time that horses cannot "combat-retreat" is if the enemy has 1HP.

Are you going to keep this one going?
Yep, if this is a loss, it would probably be in the next 2 / 3 turns (Imagine if I had berserk armies... :drool:)
Of course, concentration and "unit movement" planning makes 2 / 3 turns take a while :lol:

Okay, let's see just what I can do.

---------------------- Chapter 12 ----------------------
My Turn:
2 turns of anarchy left...
The only benefit of extended Anarchy is that it reduces city-micromanagement...

I will use my cats to redline the Russian: eKnight, vKnight, vLongbow.
I'll kill knights / longbow with any un-damaged swords / army.
All other swords will heal.

NOTE: the "Byzantine stack" next to Mozilla is a spear escortng a warrior :lol:

Canonical Area:
eArcher, healing army, 3 cats wait for nearby spear / musket to get closer...

Dromon Area:
All clear.

Mozilla Area:
Let's see just what Catapults can do :D

Cats go 7/11, redlining knights, and exposing vLongbow.
eSword > vLongbow. Redlines.
4HP eSword > 1HP Knight. ?? WHERE ARE MY LEADERS ?? :MAD:

A vSword and eSword arrive in Mozilla.
Rest of swords heal.

Horse army > 1HP Knight.
He spots the rest of the Russian "initial-rush" slow mover stack:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/moreUnits12.jpg

That's only the Russian units...
I have 6 swords, spear, 11 cats in Mozilla.
I don't place army in Mozilla as it would be top defender...

Only 2 knights could possibly attack Mozilla this IT.
Hopefully the eSword on top survives.

Press enter

IT:
:dance: Oh, such a beatiful sight :dance:
Byzantine warriors move next to Mozilla. They are across a river...
eSword river walls > Byz rHorse retreat. Thx to catapult, eSword took no damage.
!! A chinese stray archer blocks the Russians !!
This will force any of those 2 knights to attack across a river !!
eSword river walls > Rus vKnight retreat.
SOD = Stack of Doom
SOD #1 moves next to Mozilla.
Check this out :)
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/assaultOne12.jpg

Oh, and Sun riots. Scientist -> Entertainer

My Turn:
LAST TURN OF ANARCHY.
I have 297 gold in kitty. I may need to rush-buy stuff for fast pain relief...

In my blindness I didn't see where the Russian Spear & Musket near Canonical went.
They disappeared. Perhaps 1 disappeared due to "Russian unit support", or lack of...
(Remember, units cost gold...)
But that could only explain why ONE unit disappeared.
(Remember, when you're runnning HUGE negative Gold per turn,
the game only disbands ONE unit or building per turn...
This is kinda like the "Negative GPT exploit").
Or maybe those units just moved into the fog...
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/missing12.jpg

Russia is in Monarchy.

Okay, Canonical area will have to wait until after I see how Mozilla area performs...

Mozilla Area:
First I use 8 cats to take:
2 HP off vKnight
2 HP off rMusket
1 HP off 3 vMedieval Infantry

This exposes the rMDIs in the stack.
Horse Army > rMDI
Horse Army > rMDI
Horse Army is in the red.
I move red Horse Army into Mozilla (if I lose Mozilla I'm dead anyway...)

Cat bombards stack, taking 1HP off the last rMDI.
2HP Knight is exposed :D
eSword > 2HP Knight retreat. Sword drops to 2HP with cause of LB defensive bombard...

Cats 2/2, reducing 2 3/4 HP MDI by 1HP.

Cats have done great this round.

vSword > 3HP MDI
eSword > 1HP Musket

Other swords heal.
rSpear from Source Code departs to help Mozilla fight SOD #2 next turn.
Sun vSpear moves into Source Code.
-------Point of interest-------
2nd, Full Hit point, army arrives in Mozilla area.
It won't attack, because it won't have movement left to move away from SOD #1 afterwards
Then I notice something strange:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/redo12.jpg

I consider this a graphical glitch. The roads don't actually "cross a river".
Remember, that "crossing a river road" does not work until you discover engineering...
So I thought I wouldn't have enough movement to attack AND THEN retreat away...

Okay, my horse army is out of movement points.
My horse army could have attacked this turn, but I judged that it couldn't...
I judged this because the dang map says "road crosses river", and displayed bad info
Thus, since this game's map has lied to me...
### I re-load this turn, and do everything identical to Point of Interest above ###
### This is possible due to auto-saves and "Preserve Random Seed" ###

Normally, I would just say "meh", and move on.
But that "visual display error" could cost me the game...
Do you think I actually want to type this multi-paragraph explanation? :P

Okay, everything was repeated perfect. Good.
2nd, Full Hit point, army arrives in area. It CAN ATTACK, and then RETREAT AWAY from SOD

Army > 2HP MDI. Army loses 2HP.
Army moves away from SOD #1

Now all that matters are those Longbows in SOD #1...


Press enter.

IT:
Okay, a lot happens, let's see if I can remember it all.
Still a VERY BEAUTIFUL IT.
vSpear wall river > rByz warrior. Thx catapult. Spear not damaged
A Byzantine Pillage spear appears...
rWarrior mountain < China rArcher... Promotion for China...
Chinese archer continues to block Russia, and pillages a floodplain...
eSpear walls > vLongbow. No thx Catapult. Promotion.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. No thx Catapult.
vSword walls > rLongbow. Thx Catapult. Promotion.
vSword walls river > vKnight retreats. No thx Catapult.

Stuff moves to retreat to heal.
Other movements... and random galley-age.

!!! Massive SOD Warning at Mozilla !!!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/assaultTwo12.jpg


My Turn:
Finally I get this:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/monarchy12.jpg

??? Okay, does everyone understand why catapults are so important ???
If I didn't have huge stack of catapults:
a) Their units would attack -> kill me, instead of retreating to heal 1HP...
b) I wouldn't be able to touch them, because there have musket guards...
c) I would have lost more battles (defensive bombard)
d) In general, I'd be dead now (who says I'm not already ??)
With catapults, my 5 swords + army have fended off TONS of units..

Enough stress relief. Man this is stressful. If it wasn't addicting I'd quit it...

Do I perform massive Micromanagement now, to get my empire optimized for Monarchy?
First let me examine that Stack of Death.

...

...

Yes, this game is worth continuing, even if I now have to micromanage 16 towns.
This means, yes, I think I can save Mozilla. Reinforcements have arrived now and forever.

But I am out of time. It's Saturday night, after all...

For empire pictures, see Chapter 10. Only thing that's changed is the kill zone anyway...

Closing comments:

Does anyone realize that if I popped an army RIGHT NOW,
that the swords would merge, and become a super-savior defender?
An army in this turn could win me the game.

Does anyone realize that if the catapults do HORRIBLY,
that I'm dead meat, as I won't be able to kill anything at all...
If the catapults do bad this turn, it would cost me the game.

Does anyone realize how lucky I've been this whole game?
- Early armies
- Un-killable spears in every chapter (look for yourself)
- Total pwnage of 60% or less chance battles in every chapter (look for yourself)
- Great starting peninsula / location
- My only early contact had a really bad start
Yet it's all overshadowed by 3 things:
- missing the GreatLibrary
- I've had no leaders since Chapter 1, even with Heroic Epic.
- I just learned not to switch governments during an "initial rush"

Okay, let's see just how micromanagement really works...

---------------------- Chapter 13 ----------------------

Oh my God !! You have no idea how it feels to lose despot penalty...
Irrigated grass produces 3 food !!!
My cities can actually grow with a specialist in them !!!
Mined hills / mountains are better than forests !!!
Roaded - tobacco next to river gives 3 gold !!!

My Turn:
Okay, here's the micro-management:
Luxury slider still at 0%
All cities with rivers should plan to grow to size 7+ sometime...
Linux -> 8SPT, -> rax -> swords. +3fpt
GNU -> 6SPT (I avoided 7SPT), -> swords. +4fpt. on a river.
IBM -> 7SPT, -> library. Mined hill finishes soon. On a river.
Xorg -> 8SPT, -> swords, +3fpt. Waiting for gold mine to finish.
Sun -> 4SPT, -> cats, +3 fpt.
Novell -> 5SPT, -> rax -> swords. +3 fpt. on a river.
Unicode -> 5SPT, -> library -> swords. +0 fpt.
Gnome -> 4SPT, -> rax -> swords, +4 fpt. on a river.
Chengdu -> 3SPT, -> library in 1 -> cats, +3 fpt. On a river.
KDE -> 3SPT, -> harbor prebuild (it has a lib already) -> cats.
Source Code -> 3SPT, -> cats, +4 fpt. On a river.
Subversion -> 4SPT, -> cats, +2 fpt.
Mozilla -> 1SPT, -> cats, +4 fpt. On a river.
Canonical -> 2SPT, -> walls -> cats, +5 fpt. On a river.
SELinux -> 1SPT, -> walls -> coastal improvements.
IPv6 -> 1SPT, -> walls -> coastal improvements. On a river.

Now my income is 297 gold @ -21 gold per turn. Mapmaking in 4.
Actually I can crank research down. Maps in 4 at -11 gold per turn !

Canonical Area:
cats go 2/3 against mountain vArcher.
eArcher > 2HP mountain archer. Cover with vSpear.

Mozilla area:
Rush barracks in Mozilla for 60 gold.
Will this barracks affect healing next turn ??
Does healing happen after buildings are built ??

Cats 6/9 to take 2HP off 2vKnights, and 2HP off rMusket.
veteran Medieval Infantry is showing on top.
eSword > vMDI
eSword < vMDI
army > vMDI
army > rMDI
army moves to Mozilla to heal.
2nd army heals.
Cats go 1/2, redline 1 of the knights.
4HP eSword > 2HP knight
vSword > 1HP Musket.
vLongbows is now showing...
3HP eSword < vLongbow. LB redlines
1HP knight shows on top.

1 cat and 1 rSpear reinforce Mozilla.
Another vSpear will arrive next turn if Byz don't block.

Rush walls at Canonincal for 16 gold.
Rush cat in Subversion for 56 gold.
Rush cat in Source Code for 68 gold.

Only 2 attackers can strike Mozilla this turn :)

My deficeit has dropped to -9 gpt, with 97 gold in the bank.

Press Enter.

IT:
Byz spear blocks / is on only road to Mozilla.
China appears to ignore Canonical now, since I gave it eSpear.
French want audience -> no.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. Thx catapult.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. Thx catapult.
Russian pillage spear for iron appears.

My Turn:
Chengdu Library -> cat
Sun cat -> cat
Mozilla rax -> cat
Source Code -> cat -> cat
Subversion -> cat -> cat
Canonical -> walls -> cat

Will this barracks affect healing next turn ??
Does healing happen after buildings are built ??
Yep :dance: One army jumps from 4HP to 14 HP :dance:

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/assaultOne13.jpg

Canonical area:
cover spear moves to Canonical again.
eSpear moves to Chengdu again.
Chengdu spear moves to iron.

3 more cats can arrive at Mozilla next turn.
cats go 10/12, whipping major tail a the small SOD #3
:whipped:
2nd Horse army to heal to full HP next turn :D
eSword > 2HP MDI. Still no leaders...
vSword > vLongbow.
3HP 3Sword > vLongbow. Redlines.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/leader13.jpg
Dance Dance Revolution
Builds an army immediately.
It can't wait for pikes...
But I don't fill it, because I don't have extra swords now...
In fact, I now realize I only have 3 swords left in Mozilla...
Er... actually 4 swords, but I realize this after filling the army...
Oh well.

Sword heals.
army > 1HP Knight. No Damage
army > 1HP Knight. No Damage
army > 2HP spear. No Damage

Check this out:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/joke13.jpg
The new leader said "Let there be no units in that square."
And so it was...

vSpear arrives at Mozilla.

I don't start Pentagon yet.
Next turn I will have 2 full HP horse armies, 12 cats, and wounded sword army in Mozilla

I now realize that somehow I have won the battle of Mozilla. For now.

Mapmaking due in 3 at -11 GPT with 88 in the bank...

IT:
Dromons arrive.
People try to give me another leader.
eSpear walls river > rWarrior. No thx cat.
eSpear walls > rArcher. No thx cat.
vSpear walls river > vLongbow. No Thx cat. Promotion.
More Russian units pour in near Mozilla.
Russia pillage spear becomes annoying at Canonical.

My Turn:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/pentagon13.jpg

KDE border pop due to library. Now it just needs a harbor...

Mozilla area:
I have:
12 cats
09/15 HP sword army
13/13 HP Horse army
14/14 HP Horse army

cats go 4/12 against defending muskets.
Horse army > 2HP Musket. Only lost 1HP due to defensive bombard.
Horse army > vMDI
Horse army > rSpear
Horse army > eLongbow
Horse army > 1HP Musket
Horse army > vLongow
vSword > vLongbow. Promotion.

2/3 cats arrive at Mozilla.

More micromanagement.
City management.
Riot prevention.

IT:
Dromons bombard a spearman shiled covering a worker.
Dromons have rate of fire of 2 ????
Miss. Finally, some luck against enemy bombard...
Dromon blasts, and has chance to destroy tile improvement...
random Chinese archer-age
Sword army walls river > rArcher. Thx cat.
Sword army walls river > vKinght. Thx cat.
Russian pillage spear retreats, goes back towards my iron.


My Turn:
Looking good.
Fewer Russians exist now...
I only see 9 total units at Mozilla now.
Only 4 could attack me on the next IT...

GNU can now get 4 turn swords.

Canonical Area:
eSword from eastern "new city" area covers iron hill
Cats 1/3 against mountain archer.
eArcher does not attack at 4HP, will heal.

Mozilla Area:
This turn I will try to ensure that healthy armies don't end turn in Mozilla.
Don't want them becoming top defender...
AI will attack army if it's are in a city
AI will attack anything if it's in a city

cat arrives at Mozilla.
Cats go 6/14
Horse army > river rSpear
Horse army > 3HP MDI
Horse army still has 13 HP, moves to mountain.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/mountain13.jpg
eSword > 1HP Musket
Horse army > 2HP MDI. Loses 5HP.
Sword army retreats to Source Code to heal.

MapMaking due in 1. Can't reduce slider. Scientists -> taxies

IT:
Dromons bombard and land horse / spear at Unicode.
eSpear river walls > rHorse. Thx cat
eSpear river walls > rWarrior. Thx cat
eSpear walls > archer
rSpear walls < vKnight.
eSpear walls > vKnight. Thx cat.
More knights show up.

My Turn:
MapMaking -> Philosophy due in 4 at +2 gpt
IBM Library -> Sword.
Chengdu border pop.
Novell rax -> Sword
Unicode Library -> sword.
Gnome barracks -> spear.

Well, things don't look too good again...
I only got walls spears to defend against hordes of Knights...

We'll see how it goes later. I may lose Mozilla next turn,
as the catapults can't hit those knights this turn...

I've got a feeling my huge luck streak this whole game is finally about to run out...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/final13.jpg

---------------------- Chapter 14 ----------------------

Move Canonical cats & archer towards Mozilla area

vSword > landed rSpear
that landed vhorse still remains...
juggle Military Police to cover everything.

Cash rush sword in Xorg for 56 gold

Mozilla area:
Cats go 6/15
horse army > 3HP MDI
I don't attack the 3HP MDI with 3HP sword.
I will need defense...
other armies heal

IT:
Dromons bombard Unicode
IBM Warrior walls hills > vHorse retreats.
Lots of combat at Mozilla.
Another French galley shows up
eSpear > vKnight. No Thx cat
eSpear < vKnight.
horse army > vKnight. now in the red.
3HP eSword > 1HP knight that attacks (it senses blood...)
vKnight > eSpear

My Turn:
Produce 2 swords
Only surviving non-army unit in Mozilla is the one eSword. Both spears perished.
My other horse army and sword army are now full healed.
Looks like the sword army will have to defend Mozilla.
I noticed some units were already ignoring my Mozilla city on that last IT...
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/unitsNearby14.jpg

On second thought, sword army doesn't need to defend Mozilla this turn.
All the knights in sight are right next to the city...

Mozilla Area:
!! BRING OUT THE ROCK THROWERS !!
Cats 8/14 against the Russians next to Mozilla.
horse army > 1HP musket
horse army > 1HP knight
eSword > 1HP Knight
horse army > rArcher

Canonical Area:
eSword > rSpear. Redlines.

In between:
Cats 1/3 against vMusket
sword army > 3HP musket
eArcher arrives at Mozilla

IBM area:
3HP sword > 1HP horse
MP spears go back to their work of MP-ing

Prevent riot at Source Code
Change it to build a MP spear. I have enough cats now...

IT:
Knights come out of the fog and kill exposed 13HP horse army :eek:
I thought the knights weren't coming from that direction..........
Russians also have a caravel in Unicode area now...
Some more Knights arrive in Unicode area, of course, just outside cat range........

My Turn:

Empire:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire14.jpg

I am officially throwing in the towel.
I'm not too ashamed, though, as I knew this game had tons of good luck...
But it all boiled down to:
a) slow early expansion (even with all the luck)
b) no great library

This was my first time making it to 16 cities in Always-War Demigod. So I'm happy.

I'm kinda relieved. I can now write this one off and start preparing
my next AWDG game :D
It's at turn 80 now, so it will at least be as good as this game...
with much less luck involved...

So my conclusion from this game:
- My boot kept swinging, but the AI just kept taking it......
- My foot wasn't powerful enough without agricultural, GLib, and faster REX

And with my last breath, I could be heard saying:
"Hail to the King, baby!"

. . . . I am officially throwing in the towel.
I'm not too ashamed, though, as I knew this game had tons of good luck...
But it all boiled down to:
a) slow early expansion (even with all the luck)
b) no great library

This was my first time making it to 16 cities in Always-War Demigod. So I'm happy.

Hey, I say :hatsoff: if you can even get this far in AWDG! Sorry that it was a loss. I'll be watching for the next one.

Now that I think of it, there was another big thing that killed me:

c) Lack of armies with defense 2 or greater...

My sword army JUST REACHED FULL HEALTH for the first time ever.
It happened on my last turn = too late.

- Sword armies can single-handedly march out and raze AI cities
They have DEF = 3, so they're never attacked

- Sword/Spear armies can cover a stack of cats, so they don't have to hide in-city.
My cats could not move out of Mozilla, and be in a position to destroy 2-move knights.
With my cats locked in Mozilla, they couldn't kill anything that didn't land next to the city

- Sword/Spear armies can block, giving you better control of a kill-zone / movement
Again, My horse armies had to camp in-city once knights showed up.

- Sword/Spear armies can escort settlers to new city sites.
I had a settler (near Source Code now), who sat around doing nothing for the last 4-5 chapters....

I couldn't do anything mentioned above once Knights showed up
Had sword armies been available, this would not be the case.

NOTE: Horse armies can march around freely if there are only attack 2 units...
archers (ATT = 2) won't attack a horse army if horse army has health >= 3 x ArcherHP.
May not be exact formula.

This is a very interesting game. I'd love to see you conquer the world.

I don't know exactly how much experience you have at high level AW games, but I would imagine that you should try a better start first on a smaller map, and work your way up. Seeing swords that early would be it for me. If you are looking for an almost impossible challenge, then you took the correct route.

To make things easier, you could always try a smaller map, or a different landform. Also, since this is AW, you need to start on a river. You absolutely must have a good amount of early trade.

By the way, are you playing a strict AW? That is, are you allowing trades when you first meet another civ and then declare, or is there no diplomacy at all?

If I were to play AWDG (for the first time), I would probably start with the following setup:

Traits that I would consider are agricultural, scientific, industrial, and militaritic. Choices are China, Sumeria, Azteca, Maya, Persia, Germany, and the Ottomans. In fact, I would probably not drop agricultural until after my first win. I would do a small map on continents. I would have to have river and a cow for my capitol. Sumeria would be my preference, except that my GA would start very early. Aztecs and Maya are better for controlling the GA. I would go with Maya, and I would research BW, WC, Math, and IW right away. Also, I would definately have more workers that you did in the Viking game. It might take away from early military, but improved tiles make all the difference. Also, I agree with your post game assessment that armies should be swords or spears, not horses. You must take full advantage of armies, protect attack troops and cats to crush cities, and pillage the crap out of your enemy's land that you cannot take right away.

If I could win with that setup, I would try again with larger map, more civs, other traits, and worse starting locations.

Thanks for all your input :D

SpiffyKeen, you make great points. Lemme reply to some of 'em

To make things easier, you could always try a smaller map, or a different landform
Well, I went with Large map instead of a Huge one :lol:
Extra good point on the pangea. It's a tough monster.
Remember I chose 60% water to kinda counter-balance it, to have more open land.

experience ... at high level AW games
Well, I learned a lot from this game :goodjob:
I feel that the principles of AW are the same for any "level"
You just gotta concentrate and plan more.

Remember, I think I lost due to:
a) slow early expansion due to early China contact
b) failed to get great library
c) Lack of better armies (I lost control of kill zone cause of this)

I feel that if I can avoid a) and b) better, that I can beat AWDG with Vikings.
And that's just what my next game is showing so far :mischief:

AW ... you need to start on a river
Totally agree.
My starting area was great, but the starting location was bad.
This fact, along with Chinese contact, slowed my early expansion.

I would consider are agricultural, scientific, industrial, and militaritic
Scientific isn't that good for AW, as most games depend on Great Library anyway.
Seafaring isn't bad, cause you're less likely to be surrounded on all sides.

are you playing a strict AW (ie allowing "diplomacy window")?
Not "officially".
But I have the personal goal of doing as much as I can without using the diplomacy window.

I would definately have more workers that you did in the Viking game
I think I did pretty good with workers in this game.
They were running out of things to do once my expansion halted...
They couldn't work in the killzone because I didn't have sword army to cover workers.
Here's a picture of my workers on the front from Chapter 7. They even prebuild a chop :D
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/workers7.jpg
You mention workers for early game, which I agree.
In that case, I don't think you want to see my next game
:( I'm definitely short on workers, cause I'm keeping population high to get GLibrary

crush cities, and pillage the crap out of your enemy's land
Totally agree.
My absence of sword armies (any armies since chapter 1) cost me the game

Yeah, sorry about that mistake pertaining to workers. I saw the following picture, and thought that you had a worker problem.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii292/ZzarkLinux/empire10.jpg

I was reacting to the empty space around Linux and all the irrigation by Gnome and Novell. My comment should have been along the lines of using your space better, but I don't know exactly why the utilization looks bad...

However, I really don't know much about AW at that level. The highest I ever played was AWE for one of the SGOTMs. My team did really poorly. I am still unsure how good it is to forget exploring to avoid contact. You are always going to contact your neighbor, so I'd rather explore the land and risk the extra turns at war. My guess is that expansion was the real problem. With an extra settler on DG, you have to get a factory of some kind going to get ahead. Even your city placement looks pretty good. I guess, you probably needed a golden age to get you going as well. The other thing: at this level, you have to utilize the stupid AI movement as much as possible. That is a big one.

I don't know exactly why the [worker] utilization looks bad
I agree with you, it does look pretty poor.
If I can clarify it, then it looks bad because:
- Capitol has 3BG and 1 cow (under Xorg City Name). Not a great capitol.
- I have several workers on the west coast. IBM and Unicode have been working unimproved tiles for a while...
- The only other place that I can think to send workers is Sun, which is near IBM and Unicode...
- Combine this with the fact that most of my workers are near Canonical / Mozilla in the north.

Yes, I should have sent more workers "back home" once the front was deadlocked.
Thanks for pointing out an area where I should improve :D

I'd rather explore the land and risk the extra turns at war
Yes, all my AWDG games have been about early risks.
Especially without an Agricultural civ, I must take several early risks.
Hint: Next game goes so far as to risk "Always-War" and "No-Military" combined :crazyeye:
Hint: And I still might not win it :lol:
I've had to regenerate LOTS of starts just to find these "semi-playable" ones. AWDG is tough !!

I wouldn't normally double post for this but I think it's needed:

IIRC, Demigod AI doesn't get an extra settler !!!

SpiffyKeen this has nothing to do with you :pat:
I've just been hearing several people mention this lately, so I want to squelch the rumor :goodjob:
And if I'm wrong, I'll probably move down to AWEmperor asap :hammer2:

EDIT: I test this below...

According to this, there is a bonus settler on demigod.:eek:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37490

Post 17 has the demigod information btw.

Look forward to hearing the next story!

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showth...threadid=37490

:eek:

I soo want to test to confirm this... but now I'm stuck at work installing software on peoples' machines

I'll test this asap, hopefully tonight !! (lol it's like 9:45pm and I'm still stuck at work...)
I thought that when Firaxis created "a difficulty between Deity and Emperor", that they made it "70% bonus" with "no extra settler"...

:eek:

EDIT:
I just checked the World Editor.
There's a number that goes from 0 to 1 between Emperor and Demigod, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean workers...

Very nice effort even if it did look pretty hopeless in the end. I'm not sure how that one really could've been won, by the time you got pikes Russia was liable to have Cossacks.

I probably would've tried to attack that Chinese city southwest of Subversion at some point if only for having more cities...but that was dependent on having enough troops to do so, which probably wasn't the case with Anarchy for so long.

As to why the governor of IBM worked the unimproved tile...I can only guess that the governor doesn't take shields into the equation during Anarchy. The governor did choose the improved tile while you were back in Monarchy, right? I'm a bit worried about the governor if the unimproved tile was still chosen in Monarchy.