After the successful attempt at AWDG Standard Pangaea and some failed attempts at AWD Standard Pangaea in the Mump SG series, I kept on looking for that excellent start that could be a winner. I played at least three starts until cavalry (for the AI that is), but every time there was something missing. Either some important resource, or a manageable geography, whatever...

I finally got a start that looked very promising in every respect. Due to time constraints, I didn't care to play it as an SG, because I would only hold up the team. I started playing the start as a solo game instead, so I could stick to my own tempo.

But I do want to share the story on my attempt. I always enjoy reading AW stories or SGs, and I'm guessing there are more people who share the same interest. This will be more turn-log oriented than a true story though.

These are the settings and the look of the lands after I moved the settler:

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9519/mump6settings1gb3.jpg

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1628/mump6settings2ow0.jpg

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5193/mump6startwy7.jpg

Berlin is founded in 3950BC, in the midst of some very interesting lands.

To the south there are at least 5 jungle tiles, and to the north at least 4 desert tiles. Not exactly fantastic, but even then there is a potential of +10fpt at size 3, and plenty of shields as well. The worker has started irrigating the nearest flood plain wheat, and I decide to go all out on food in Berlin.

The first build is a worker, the second will be a settler. I'm hoping other towns will be able to provide military in time for Berlin to stay on workers and settlers exclusively.

Research goes on Iron Working at minimum.

Working the forest for one turn and then the FP gives me growth in 5 (the fastest possible), but also my second worker in 3650BC (turn 7).

The next point to decide is the site for my second city. Obviously, the site northwest of the river mouth would be ideal. However, when I move the first worker, this is what I see:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2144/mump6siteee5.jpg

Of course I don't want to settle on top of that bonus grassland. On the other hand, I want as much food as possible for the second town to grow quickly. Placing the second town northeast of that BG will put it out of range of the cow. The flood plains wheat will come into play instead, but I don't want to slow down growth in Berlin. Then I spot the oasis to the east. That'll serve for shields too, so the second town will go just southwest of there. Worker 2 will start preparations.

When Berlin grows to size 2, I keep working the forest at +4fpt. The cow will come in next turn to compensate for growth.

This is the look of our lands after Berlin's first cultural expansion:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9092/mump6expansionzl5.jpg

Our workers continue their hard labor finishing mine and road, just too late to be able to go for 3 turn growth and still finish the settler in 3. Oh well...

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7077/mump6size3vw0.jpg

The settler completes and the next one is immediately queued. Leipzig is founded the next turn, in 3100BC (turn 18). Furthermore, the lands and especially the land form are beginning to look very appealing.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9286/mump6leipzigei7.jpg

In 2710BC (turn 26), Hamburg is founded northwest of Berlin. We still have no military at all, but that is about to change. Seems the food gambit is going to pay off.

By 2430BC (turn 33), our fourth settler is built in Berlin, and our second spear completed in Hamburg. This is the world as we know it:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9402/mump64thsettlerlg7.jpg

I'll be checking this one out. Signed up and ready to read. Great start!

Looks pretty good, Maybe I will start a new game soon

As you can see in the last picture, we don't know very much about our surroundings yet. That's what you get for building no military for 1500 years. I'm going to continue on the assumption that we're on a choke area of a peninsula that extends north, given the sea tiles on either side of the visible land, and our position on the minimap.

I move the settler north, hoping I'll be able to spot a good location in the next few turns. I also move the spearman in Hamburg towards the mountain north of there to take a look:

http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/6698/mump6furstd7.jpg

I ponder the possibilities for about five minutes. The location of the rivers makes for a bad CxxC combination with our existing towns. The furs being coastal makes me want to found on top of them. In that case I lost a turn moving the settler. So in the end I let the current settler go for the eastern river, and the next one will go for the furs. Berlin is switched to another settler.

Konigsberg is founded in 2310BC, and will also work on military. Leipzig is at 7spt already. Unfortunately, disease strikes it next turn :(. And then again a few turns later; even :(er. Down from size 5 to size 2 again.

I found Frankfurt on the furs in 1990BC (turn 44).

In 1830BC, we discover silks just to our south, 4 tiles from Leipzig. :)

In 1725BC, on turn 51, we finally get this:

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/1949/mump6ironfb4.jpg

There is another iron source in the north, and our exploring spear spots enemy borders.

Our exploring units have confirmed my suspicions on the land form. This is the known world at the end of this chapter:

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/2513/mump61725bcoverviewwt0.jpg

Iron is highlighted in red, luxes (furs and silks) in yellow, and our first enemy in blue.

We have quite a lot of land to settle. Even though there's an easy crossing in the north, which will allow landings, I'm going to concentrate on the south first. I'll also peel off settlers from other towns as long as we haven't met an enemy.

Another important task is to start a GLib prebuild. As you can see, I've been building some regular units. That's because I didn't want to pay upkeep for a barracks in the GLib town of my choice: Hamburg.

Onwards and upwards we go...

Turn 51 - 1725BC
Switch research to pottery for a quick granary in Berlin. The prebuild will not be slowed by this. Pottery is due in 4 turns at 90%.

Turn 55 - 1625BC
Discover pottery, start on masonry due in 6 turns at 90%. Found München on top of the iron hill, and start a walls prebuild. We have spotted more yellowish borders, but haven't met them.

Turn 57 - 1575BC
Berlin grows to size 4, and I whip the remaining 40 shields of the granary.

Turn 58 - 1550BC
We meet the Arabs:

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4402/mump6arabiags0.jpg

They are not the civilization whose borders we can see.

Turn 61 - 1475BC
Masonry is in, start on alphabet in 8 turns at 90%. Iron is connected, and some builds are switched to swordsmen. The Arabs start SoZ, and the unmet Russians finish the Pyramids in Moscow.

Turn 62 - 1450BC
The French finish the Oracle in Paris, the Arabs start ToA and restart SoZ.

Turn 63 - 1425BC
Our first swordsman is built. The Mongols complete the Colossus in Kazan.

Turn 66 - 1350BC
The Arabs finish the Statue of Zeus. That spells trouble.

Turn 68 - 1300BC
Alphabet is in, start on writing due in 12 turns at 70% (we need 30% lux). The prebuild will run for 34 turns.

Turn 69 - 1275BC
Heidelburg is founded on the silks, start on walls first. Lux can go down to 20%, but no change on writing.

Turn 73 - 1175BC
Build a settler out of Leipzig and lux can go down to 10%.

Turn 74 - 1150BC
Found Nürnberg. The French finish the Great Wall in Lyons.

Turn 75 - 1125BC
I stop here for now at this nice round number. In the next set we'll see if I can get the Great Library; writing has dropped and is due in 2 turns now. And I hope to settle a lot of these red dots:

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3299/mump61125bcoverviewvv5.jpg

We haven't seen the Arabs' initial rush yet. Leipzig has been at 10spt for some time now. I made a mistake by not having the BG by Berlin mined, so I've built two 5-turn settlers. The mine will finish next IT, and the 4-turn settler factory will start operating.

Some more pictures; our military situation:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2588/mump61125bcmilitarymk4.jpg

And the demographics screen:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5970/mump61125bcdemona9.jpg

I'll be watching this with interest. I find pangea deity to be quite a challenge by itself. Throw in Always War and it sounds fearsome even with a nice corner spot. Best of luck!

Ill be watching this... nice start & I hope u kill Arabia :D :evil: Good luck!

Bonne chance, mon ami! :goodjob:

As I look back at the last chapter, and the picture, I see that I am low on workers. The speed of my expansion will be dictated not only by the speed at which I can build settlers, but also by the speed at which I can get those settlers to their destination. Furthermore, there's a lot of jungle to clear. What I need is a worker factory. I should be able to work that out in Heidelburg, but it will take some time.

But the most important question in this chapter will be: will I get the Great Library?

Turn 76 - 1100BC
We meet the French, whose warrior appears from the south, at Heidelburg:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1241/mump6francece5.jpg

Science can go down to 30%.

Turn 77 - 1075BC
Writing is in, Literature is due in 12 turns at 90%. Köln is founded, and starts a worker. The Arabs start the Hanging Gardens.

Turn 78 - 1050BC
The lone Arab warrior finally advances, and so does the French; probably the new and undefended town that attracts them. The French start ToA.

Turn 80 - 1000BC
The French warrior has moved to flat land, and is killed by our swordsman, who promotes to elite.

Turn 81 - 975BC
The Arab warrior has also moved to flat land and dies. We may have an excellent kill zone here.

The Hittites complete the Temple of Artemis in Hattusas, the Mongols complete the Mausoleum of Mausollos in Karakorum, the Arabs complete the Hanging Gardens in Mecca, and then this:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8381/mump6gldangerwg8.jpg

Turn 84 - 900BC
Found Hannover; we can build the Forbidden Palace now. More Arab warriors in sight now. The French also start the Great Library.

Turn 85 - 875BC
Literature is in, I start on the Wheel in 4 turns at 60%. I'll keep on researching as long as the GLib isn't certain. We have 11 turns to go. The first Arab ACav appears.

Turn 86 - 850BC
Found Bremen. Kill a warrior and promote again; we have 2 elites now. On the IT, the ACav attacks our spearman wall in the forest and dies without making a scratch :).

Turn 88 - 800BC
Kill 4 Arab warriors in the zone, no promotions. Found Stuttgart to complete our core. I have to cover a tile at München to avoid starvation, which implies contacting the Mongols:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3277/mump6mongolszt1.jpg

The Egyptians complete The Great Lighthouse in Heliopolis.

Turn 90 - 750BC
The Wheel comes in and I start on HBR due in 4 turns at 80%. The Mongols start the Great Library too, the French restart it. We have 7 turns to go...

A picture of our horses and of the death trap:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2584/mump6horsesoz4.jpg

As you can see, the Mongol town closest to München has expanded culture. I'd like to take it out sooner rather than later, but it's on a hill, so I want an army and/or catapults first.

Turn 91 - 730BC
Another ACav dies on our forest spearman, and promotes it to elite.

Turn 92 - 710BC
I have to register the first loss: a brave vSword dies on a Frech rWarrior in the Heidelburg flood plains. I immediately lose another vSword on an Arab rWarrior. We do gain an elite. The first Arab archer is sighted.

Turn 93 - 690BC
The Mongols start Sun Tzu's. A French horse appears.

Turn 94 - 670BC
Horseback riding is in, and I shut down research. Three turns to go on the Great Library. Bonn is founded.

On the IT, 2 Mongol swords show up.

Turn 96 - 630BC
Kill a bunch of units. Lose 2 swords on defense to the Mongol swords in the Heidelburg jungle. But all that kinda gets lost in the excitement:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1914/mump6glibru5.jpg

That's it for this chapter. Another overview picture below. As you can see, I'm running out of "easy dots". The next chapter should see some military build-up and hopefully a great leader.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/439/mump6610bcoverviewet6.jpg

Another snapshot of our growing military force:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5478/mump6610bcmilitarybs7.jpg

My next goals will be to adjust my empire to take full advantage of the new knowledge we're about to acquire, to complete the land-grab in the north, and to build up and deploy our military in preparation of our first attempt at making a dent in the enemy.

I'm hoping for a quick army to make some room in the south. Getting worker stacks together and protecting them will also be a chore.

Turn 97 - 610BC
The kill zone is a bit crowded, and the fast attackers get in the way a bit. So I have to retreat our workers, and there are some attacks in the IT: our spearman in Heidelburg defeats an ACav, a sword dies defending against a Mongol sword. The second (healthy) Mongol sword retreats.

We get Ceremonial Burial, Mysticism, Mathematics, Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making, Polytheism, Currency, the Republic, Monarchy, Construction, Feudalism, Engineering, and a palace extension. Monotheism was our free tech.

Looks like our neighbours are quite formidable:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5285/mump6bedeth3.jpg

Turn 98 - 590BC
I upgrade three spears, which should suffice for now to take on the occasional unit that slips through. I'll be building some horses to upgrade.

Turn 99 - 570BC
I upgrade a sword for faster healing. We'll be in a tough spot until we get some trebs. There are 5 Mongols swords in the area now. To make matters worse, we go 1-1 in Heidelburg on defense.

Turn 100 - 550BC
I upgrade one more spearman. The Mongols at Heidelburg will attack across the river, against a pike behind walls. Our elite spear defending the München grassland holds off an ACav but goes down to 2hp. Then the Mongols attack: the first sword kills the second spear, a healthy veteran. The 2hp spear then goes down to 1hp, but still defends against two swords and an archer, and lives to see another turn :D. No leader though. No attacks at Heidelburg.

Turn 101 - 530BC
I lose a healthy eSword on a 3hp warrior on flat land :mad:.

Up north, this landed on the IT:
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/3646/mump6aztecslandsa9.jpg

They are the Aztecs, and they're behind:
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/5961/mump6aztecsrm1.jpg

I found Salzburg right in front of them.

On the IT, our pikeman in Heidelburg is promoted. The Aztecs move inland.

Turn 102 - 510BC
Found Dortmund. I attack the Aztecs but my sword dies. Scramble to cover towns. Our forces in Heidelburg defend against 3 attackers. Mongol MDIs are underway now though.

Turn 103 - 490BC
I can attack out of Heidelburg now, and the area is pretty much secure.

Turn 104 - 470BC
The Aztec settler pair dies, and we have an elite horse now. Hamburg has grown to size 9, and I put a lone scientist on Invention. An ACav and MDI kill 2 pikes on the München grassland. Seems like this is not worth the effort.

Turn 105 - 450BC
I move the remaining elite spear back into München and I rush a pike there to use up the pop unit I'd lose on the IT (because of starvation when the grassland is occupied).

A picture of the front, with my dots and the enemy dots that will have to go. I haven't counted elite victories, but I'm due a leader any time now; then I can go on the offensive.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2378/mump6450bcfrontwb8.jpg

great job so far...nice to grab the GLib. I hope you get lucky with a leader, else you are in trouble. Especiaslly on deity, you need to expand, always...

Maybe you should let the aztecs build that city & wait for it to get to size 2 then capture it& keep it if the city is in the plans.

Good luck :goodjob:

Thank you all for your interest and encouragements.

There seems to be a lot of jungle, so in a way it will be hard to expand (there's more jungle in the fog, as you can see in the last screenshot, above the "er" in "border"). I really want fast roading capability before I move that far out, which means a stack of 9 workers. I'm not close to that yet. I did rush a granary in Heidelburg a few turns ago, failed to mention that in my log. So more workers are underway. On the other hand I have switched a lot of worker builds in the north to trebs.

If I get an army soon, I can take out Darhan and I'll settle the northern dot first. In that case the 3 workers I have nearby now will suffice. If I don't get a leader, I'll settle the central dot first. That will require 1 FP road and 1 jungle road, also doable. That dot will become my Forbidden Palace location. Anything beyond that will require more workers.

I hope the jungle will also prove useful at times. So far, it hasn't: I had hoped the swords would not attack spears in the jungle, but they did.

Maybe you should let the aztecs build that cityToo late, the settler was already captured. I preferred the free workers. Besides, that settler pair would probably not have settled there because it was too crowded in the AI's mind. They would have tried to travel all across my territory instead.

In other words, this is a note to self: cover the Leipzig wheat FP before going into the next IT (French horse can block it).

The Mongols start Leo's, so they have invention. No real use continuing the research then.

Turn 106 - 430BC
Found Brandenburg, start worker. We get invention from the Mongols and Arabs.

Turn 107 - 410BC
We lose 2 units on defense. Theology comes in.

Turn 108 - 390BC
The Mongols start Knights Templar, so chivalry is on its way :).

Turn 109 - 370BC
With that said, there couldn't be a better time for this:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8362/mump6mglnv2.jpg

Chivalry does come in during the very next IT.

Turn 110 - 350BC
I upgrade 3 horses in München to fill the army next turn, and 3 more just because I can. I move a lot of units forward to establish a new base of defense in the middle of the München woods. Our worker crew of three is roading forward, and everything should be timed nicely to destroy Darhan, get to roads finished and found a new town all at about the same moment.

The Hittites finish Sun Tzu's in Hattusha.

Turn 111 - 330BC
Our knight army moves out, and sees more lush lands for us to occupy:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4215/mump6spicesti3.jpg

It also spots the opposition we'll face the coming turns: 5 MDIs, 4 LBs, 1 swordsman, 6 horsemen, 2 archers, 2 pikes, 2 spearmen, and 3 warriors.

Turn 112 - 310BC
Found Essen to fill out our peninsula to the north. I lose an MDI and a knight trying to dislodge a stack of Mongol MDIs in the jungle. I'll have to reestablish some better defense there fast.

Only on the IT, the majority of the Mongols turns around, even though there is no full blockage. 2 LBs and an MDI die on a pike, promoting it to elite.

Turn 113 - 290BC
The knight army kills 2 spears and:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4695/mump6darhanoq1.jpg

Turn 114 - 270BC
Education is known by both Mongols and Arabs, so I switch 4 towns to libraries.

We kill 3 units on defense and lose 2.

Turn 115 - 250BC
An Egyptian galley has appeared near Stuttgart:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/5449/mump6egyptiansit0.jpg

I lose two vMDIs on a horse and an archer :eek:. Luckily, on the IT our settler defenders are able to hold on, but only barely.

Turn 117 - 210BC
Found Düsseldorf, start walls. We are extremely light on units: 7 knights and 1 MDI just aren't going to cut it. We lose another unit on defense. And it gets even worse:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2418/mump6templarfq3.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7969/mump6leospi0.jpg

Turn 118 - 190BC
I make a slight mistake while reinforcing our forward stack in the jungle, leaving an opening for several horses to reach Heidelburg. They attack the weaker forces there. But instead of killing our knight and swordsman defenders, they give us this:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/6649/mump6secondmglpm3.jpg

Turn 119 - 170BC
The fresh army goes to cover the worker in the jungle. The Russians complete the Sistine Chapel in Rostov.

Turn 120 - 150BC
Move a lot of units towards Heibelburg in anticipation of the large stacks arriving there.

A picture of the front:

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/9752/mump6150bcfrontai3.jpg

An overview of our extremely meager military forces:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6686/mump6150bcmilitarysq2.jpg

Despite the two leaders, things aren't looking very good. I am desperately short on units. The stacks that are arriving right now have weak attackers in them, so I'll play defense for a while, trying to build up forces again.

So far, I haven't had to stall my expansion for lack of military, but that will change in the turns ahead. I hope that won't cost me the game. Libraries have been built in most core towns, so I can get back to units. I'll probably halt Berlin's settler output for a while, while I build a university and probably a marketplace too. But I'll need two or three more settlers first to grab my FP spot and those spices.

Switching to monarchy will be the next challenge. I had hoped I could do that shortly after getting the Great Library, but I just didn't have enough units to get through the anarchy. As you can see from the last picture above, I'm well below unit support. There are a few towns that can grow to size 7 relatively fast. So the economic side isn't an issue, it's just that I can't afford to halt production for an indeterminate number of turns right now.

All in all, I'm not too optimistic right now. I've had some very bad luck with combat outcomes recently; that will definitely have to change, or this game will be over fast. If I can hold on for the next 20 turns or so, I may be back in business. Fingers crossed.

Well, it's been a long time since I last played this game, but as soon as I open it up, I remember what a tight spot I'm in. I consider the possibilities with the army at Düsseldorf: I can move to attack a town next turn, or I can use it for defense. In general one needs to expand all the time in AW to have a fighting chance, so my preference goes toward attacking Almarikh. However, I really have very few units available, either to attack or to defend. There will be little use in razing Almarikh if we're going to lose our own towns. I have 3 pikes in the vicinity, which isn't nearly enough. I do have some spearmen, but I'll need to upgrade those first, and then get them into position. The offensive will have to wait just a bit.

Turn 120 - 150BC
I rush the barracks in Heidelburg. I use the army to kill the 4hp eMDI on our FP hill.

IT
With the shift in our defenses, and the army gone near Düsseldorf, the Mongol troops decide to turn around.

Turn 121 - 130BC
Upgrade a few spears and move around units. Roading crews are moving forward, as is our FP settler. Just 1 attack this turn.

IT
Lots of units move towards Düsseldorf, mostly Mongol.

Turn 122 - 110BC
There are 7 French rHorses next to Düsseldorf, and 1 vKeshik. We have a pike and spear inside. We do have 2 extra pikes nearby, and a few MDIs that can attack, as well as 5 trebs. With the armies nearby, I have the flexibility I wanted. MDIs and a knight kill 2 horses and retreat 2. Armies kill 4 Mongol attackers in the future-FP-town forest.

IT
The Mongols start splitting their forces! They are still a bit away from us, so for now this is a good thing. I'll be able to pick and choose more battles. Our forces are also slowly growing, so an advance should be possible in the future. The Egyptians land an LB near Frankfurt.

Turn 123 - 90BC
Found Verbotene Stadt, start walls. There are a lot of Mongol troops around, but now our own situation isn't too bad either:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1977/mump6mongolmassesao4.jpg

We have 3MDIs, 2 swordsmen and a wounded knight... And a couple of armies. :)

Trebs go 4/6, and I start by killing that spear furthest up north. Armies and a sword thin out the stack in the forest until one 3/4hp LB remains.

IT
The wounded LB attacks our roading crew on the IT, but dies on our vPike. Things are definitely looking up now.

Turn 124 - 70BC
Things are much more quiet now. I don't think I attacked this turn, just shifting units.

IT
We lose a pike in Düsseldorf. The problem is that Keshiks can move in across the mountains. I'll see if I can block them. The western Mongol stack moves past Heidelburg. The Mongols start Copernicus'. And their first crusader shows up.

Turn 125 - 50BC
Gain 2 elite MDIs cleaning up units around Düsseldorf. I don't have nearly enough artillery near Heidelburg though, so I still can't move an army out.

Turn 126 - 30BC
I redline and kill the crusader, and take position on one more mountain at Düsseldorf. I also decimate the stacks on the flat land near Heidelburg. As soon as the roading crews are ready, I'll be able to finally move on Almarikh. I'm using the opportunity to take Berlin off settler duty and produce our first university. There are no attacks during the following IT, but there are a lot of units around again.

Turn 127 - 10BC
18 healthy French horses can reach Verbotene Stadt on the IT. I kill some of them, and hope for the best. There's still an army in there, so they should move past it.

IT
It turns out they do. The French aren't really a factor, and I'd actually rather have them attack for a higher efficiency. Unfortunately, the Mongols get in the way of such a plan. They no longer attack Düsseldorf, but are amassing a lot of strong units there now. Flexibility just went down again. I'll have to keep the armies tied up on defensive duty.

Turn 128 - 10AD
I need some leaders now. Knight count is up to 11, and I have 4 MDIs, and more units are being built of course. I move the army from Heidelburg into Düsseldorf. I expect to see some Mongol dancing again. The army in Verbotene Stadt is injured slightly, but there are only 8 horses left, and they're all injured too.

IT
The Mongols land a spearman near Frankfurt, and move towards München in force. That puts them on better land for me to attack, and because of the forests between München and the other frontline towns, it also means I can reduce defense there. But Düsseldorf and Verbotene Stadt still require armies in place.

Turn 129 - 30AD
At the start of the turn, this is the stack I have to deal with:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7213/mump6mongoldusseldorfbauh8.jpg

Luckily, there aren't many other units around, and we have plenty of trebs available. In the end, two 3/4 Keshiks remain, and the 3 LBs. We incur no losses, but our units and armies are still severely injured.

IT
We kill 2 units on defense, and are lucky that there aren't more attacks. It's strange sometimes how the AI decides to attack against the odds in isolated cases, but then doesn't press on.

Turn 130 - 50AD
This turn, I'm just killing units that can strike next IT. Other troops aren't used, not for lack of targets, but because some healing is required. The last turns saw some attacks with injured units. I've been lucky it hasn't turned out too bad (yet).

That concludes a long overdue session. A view of the current status at the front:

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2023/mump650adfrontws7.jpg

And the military stats:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9465/mump650admilitarycu8.jpg

As you can see, the situation still isn't very good, but it's slowly improving. The horsemen are elites that I want to promote before upgrading. Besides, I don't have the funds to upgrade right now. One of them is in the north to handle landings, but I'll try to replace him with a knight when the situation allows. Or rather, I'll try to add a knight or two, because landings are bound to become stronger.

The single settler on hand is waiting in Düsseldorf. I'm hoping to free up an army very soon now to expand again. I've also taken a look at Mongol city names, and I notice that Almarikh is their fourth town. That would put our front very close to their core. If that is true, it may be an especially good idea to start in their direction as soon as possible.

There are five cities building knights right now, yielding an average output of 0.57 knights per turn. I may take Berlin off settler duty if Heidelburg can produce enough. In that case, I expect to obtain 0.76 knights per turn. I'm producing only 0.1 pikes per turn in two cities. For now, I do have enough defenders though. Eight cities are producing 0.4 trebuchets per turn, which is sufficient for now, and that number should increase drastically very soon. When the FP comes in, I expect to have better numbers on troops as well.

I see I forgot to put a research update in the pictures: Gunpowder will come in in 4 turns at +4gpt and with 17g in the kitty. I'm beelining to cavalry of course.

Ah, now this is a good read and well illustrated to boot.

Keep up the good work.

Those stacks look pretty mighty! :eek:

Mump, what part of Belgium are you from?

The stacks in 50 AD (last picture) aren't as mighty as the stacks I saw earlier. I think the military situation is under control for now. Also, I haven't seen a single Egyptian or Arab unit for ages, and only a few Aztecs. The Mongols and French are the only real adversaries right now, and the French still have no iron. I haven't checked the tech situation in a while, but no-one seems to have gunpowder. As long as the French don't get musketeers, I should be able to play defense against them while going for the Mongols. We still haven't met the Hittites and the Russians.

I played five more turns yesterday. I'll try to post the continuation of this story tonight. I wonder if I should give you, my dear audience, a little teaser...
There will be no "(part IV)" in next chapter's title. Maybe not the kind of teaser you expected, but it does say something. Whether that something is good or bad will remain a mystery until tonight at least. :)And finally, some irrelevant information for the curious among you: I'm from Flanders, the northern, Dutch speaking part of Belgium.

Turn 130 - 50AD
I fix some MM, thereby already increasing treb production.

IT
15 French horsemen move into our territory, all on forests. One non-essential road gets pillaged by the Mongols. Retreat one Keshik at Verbotene Stadt.

Turn 131 - 70AD
We kill a bunch of horses and all Mongol units near München. We have a wounded army again though.

IT
We do very well at Düsseldorf, where pikes retreat a Keshik and defend against an LB and a crusader. The Egyptians start Bach's.

Turn 132 - 90AD
While killing one of the many French horses, I finally get lucky again:

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1559/mump6mgl3dm3.jpg

Hengest forms an army, which is filled immediately to kill 2 more horses and still be in position to attack Almarikh next turn. Another army moves onto Almarikh now, killing another unit along the way.

We're suddenly above unit support, not bad :). Furthermore, there are only 2 healthy strong attackers (Mongol LBs), and 5 French horses in range.

IT
A stack of weak Aztec units approaches, and ... the French attack the Aztecs!

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4571/mump6pentamessagebg2.jpg

Our first university finishes in Berlin, and Verbotene Stadt finishes its walls.

Turn 133 - 110AD
One army kills 3 pikes in Almarikh, a second army kills another. There are units healing there though, so the city holds. This will be a tough nut to crack.

I am able to shift some trebs forward to the Düsseldorf Mountain nearest to Almarikh, and kill 2 Keshiks with the third army.

Because of that, the tactical situation improves a lot, and I take a chance. I use a 2hp eKnight to kill a redlined LB, and:

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4201/mump6pentagonmglpr4.jpg

He rushes the Pentagon in Düsseldorf.

I have 6 trebs to spare, that move next to Almarikh to aid in next turn's attack.

IT
A knight defends against an unexpected attack by a wounded LB and promotes. Gunpowder is in, Chemistry is due in 23 turns.

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/4929/mump6pentagonci4.jpg

Turn 134 - 130AD
Trebuchets do well at Almarikh, but there are just too many defenders inside to take it this turn. I let all the armies heal. The additional units I put in place last turn just kill of units that are returning to Almarikh.

I then turn my attention to clearing more of those French horses, and my luck really has turned:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/5271/mump6fpmgllp6.jpg

Rommel rushes the Forbidden Palace in Verbotene Stadt.

The promised land:

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9562/mump6promisedlandkh0.jpg

IT
We retreat a Keshik at Düsseldorf.

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9532/mump6fphl2.jpg

Turn 135 - 150AD
First I clear this turn's batch of French horses. The influx of those will slow a bit since I saw a nice even exchange between the French and the Aztecs during the IT. With all our armies, we are a bit short on units again.

Bombardment reveals 3 pikes in Almarikh, and there must be at least a couple of healing units still there. Since I have two armies there, I decide to press on this time.

The battle for Almarikh

The first army, that still has only three units in it, is at 11/13 hitpoints and attacks a fortified 3hp veteran pike. A defensive treb shot hits, but the pike does no further damage, so the army is still at 10 hitpoints. An unfortified 3hp veteran pike is next. A defensive LB shot does no damage, but the pike itself defends better this time, and takes off 3 more hitpoints. The army is at 7/13 hitpoints now, with one movement point left. A fortified 2hp regular pike is defending now. I take a chance and go again. Both a defensive LB shot hit, and the pike does well. The army ends up with only 4 hitpoints left, but the third pike is gone.

The second army has only 7 hitpoints to start with, and there are 6 Keshiks and a crusader visible nearby, that could attack in the coming turns. So I think I'll have to call off the attack. I do decide to "take another look" by attacking with a 3hp *MDI. That attack shows yet another LB with a defensive volley, but another pikeman does bite the dust. The next unit showing is a 2hp regular LB. A 4hp elite sword takes care of that one, and there is no more defensive shot. That means there are at most 2 LBs left in there.

The army should be able to handle that. The first LB takes off 1 hitpoint of our army, the second one does no damage, and:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1298/mump6almarikhyg0.jpg

I found Karlsruhe on the hills near the Almarikh ruins. It's in a very good defensive spot, with jungle or mountains on all adjacent tiles except one, and a river nearby. The 6hp army will do defense for the first turn.

I finish by using the third army until it goes down to 4hp, but it does kill 3 Keshiks.

Here's another picture of the situation at the front. It should be pretty self-explanatory.
I've provided details for every stack, the stats for loose units can be read from the hitpoint bars.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7581/mump6150adfrontrj7.jpg

As you can see, the red dots and exploration area aren't in the same place as my planned attack.
That could be a problem. I'll have to think that over before continuing.

Our military again:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2756/mump6150admilitaryke3.jpg

And an annotated snapshot of the economy, with the strongest producers:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/922/mump6150adcitieszg7.jpg

Not all towns are in their standard configuration, due to a chop finishing soon. I put the "standard" figures in as well. "(CH)" means I'm building a courthouse there, which should help of course. Berlin will finish a settler next IT, but I'm getting close to putting it on military, and peeling off settlers elsewhere. As soon as happiness in Heidelburg becomes manageable (I poprushed a lot there), I'll shift main settler production to there. Stuttgart will finish its barracks on the IT, and will also start producing knights. It can do 5spt at the current size, and will grow soon into even more shields.

I've played 15 turns since I posted that things weren't looking good, and I gave myself 20 turns to fix that. Our military is still very light considering. Any big landing up north would be problematic, and we lack MPs in a few places. But the situation is markedly better now. I've taken down the first enemy town, and was able to replace it immediately. A third luxury resource is within my grasp. Towns are growing steadily. The FP has been built, and production is up due to that. So things are looking better indeed.

I'll try to squeeze in some more infrastructure if possible. As soon as the spices are under control and the combat situation allows, I'll revolt to monarchy. I'm hoping the front can be controlled with one army, which would allow the other two to make a dent in the Mongol core. That'll have to wait a few turns though, because I haven't even filled all the armies yet.

hmm... deity ill be following this story til the end! ive seen an Iroquois sid archipelago once,that was really good, so i expect this is gonna be fun =D

Subscribed!

Some bit of luck with the leaders!! If you get another leader will the military academy be on the cards?

Subscribed!

Some bit of luck with the leaders!! If you get another leader will the military academy be on the cards?
u only need 1 army and military tradition to build military academy

I did get lucky with all those leaders for a moment there, but then again, it had been a long time since I got my first. I haven't counted the number of elite victories, but I've had a lot of those of course.

Like CivRulesAll said, I don't have MT yet, so no academy yet. The next leader will become an army for sure. The one after that will probably rush the Heroic Epic (which I still haven't built), unless I've succeeded in taking out several more enemy towns. If that's the case, I'll take a town off troops and hand-build the HE, and the leader will become another army for higher conquering speed. I don't think the situation will feel sufficiently comfortable to do that though.

I didn't expect to get back to this game so soon, but I just had to continue with the next turns, given that some serious attacks on the enemy are finally coming. You know the feeling. ;)

But it will be hard for a little while. Like I sketched in the comments with the last overview picture, I'd like to settle the next towns to the south, which is in the path of French, but away from the much stronger Mongols. On the other hand, as far as military strategy goes, the reasons for going after the Mongols are compelling: they are stronger, and we are probably very close to their core, where there are some nice prizes to be had (Knights Templar, Leonardo's Workshop).

The dichotomy is unfortunate, but I decide I'll have to live with it. There's no use in expanding very slowly in the jungle and playing defense only. The time has come to attack.

Turn 136 - 170AD
We have contact with the Hittites, probably via PP-contact, because I can't see any units:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7042/mump6hittitesdf5.jpg

With all the trebs near Düsseldorf, I succeed in pinging most units. I only kill one though, and let the other troops heal.

IT
French and Mongol boats approaching in the south.

Turn 137 - 190AD
There's an archer and a horse in the Verbotene Stadt forest. The archer is killed by an elite knight. I don't have many units to spare, so I take a 4hp elite swordsman from Karlsruhe mountain. It gets hit by a ZoC shot from one of the Keshiks outside Düsseldorf. A redlined horse still shouldn't be a problem, so I attack anyway, and I'm glad I did:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7595/mump6mgl4mr3.jpg

Barbarossa forms our fourth army. I have to use another army to kill those Keshiks near Düsseldorf, because our trebs perform poorly. They would have threatened our roading crew.

I load a third army with a fourth knight, and move it out, killing an Aztec swordsman along the way. This is what it reveals:

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3510/mump6foundtatuqc0.jpg

I already pillaged the road where the army is, and I'll pillage the other marked roads as well, during this turn and the next. It is very strange to see so little of the lands improved there.

IT
An Arab caravel approaches from the north. We may see some landings soon. The Mongol and French galleys from the south continue northbound.

Turn 138 - 210AD
Our lands are almost clear of enemy units. I leave the French and Aztecs alone because they will go after each other. I move a second army towards Ta-Tu and kill a pike there.

IT
:eek: The Aztecs attack the French as expected, but the French attack us. They lose all the units in their stack of about 5 or 6, on the 3-unit army in Karlsruhe. The Mongols land a lone LB at Frankfurt, no problem there.

Turn 139 - 230AD
Kill another pike in Ta-Tu, but it takes a lot out of the army. Since it came from the other side, I have to waste all the movement of the second army there to cover it. All roads to Ta-Tu have been cut though.

I move a new settler towards its spot. It's just the French there, so I can cover with pikes and a knight. Roading crews are small, but larger ones are forming. There are some roads already in place too. Verbotene Stadt's borders have expanded, so one roaded hill is under our control now.

Here's the situation on the western side of the front:
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3854/mump6230adwestap1.jpg

Here's the situation on the eastern side of the front:
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3069/mump6230adeastus4.jpg

I noticed I haven't posted a picture of the northern lands in a while. Here's an overview at the end of turn 139:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4485/mump6230adoverviewrk1.jpg

:goodjob: , careful with the AI landings, although you have some defense there

I have more than enough landing defense, for the current landing area. I'm just afraid of what will happen when I cover one too many of the precious tiles around my big producers, and the landings shift to the north all of a sudden. I stand to lose some towns then. I have 1 knight by Bremen, and that's it. Actually, I'd like some units in the northern towns just to serve as MPs. I'm just way short on troops. You can see in that last picture that I'm building regular pikes in Köln and Hannover, to take up some MP duty. But there's nothing I can do right now. I just have to hold on a few more turns and produce more units, all the while hoping there aren't any landings in the north.

I have been contemplating what to do next, and the priority should be to become a monarchy. During the last five turns, research time on chemistry has gone from 20 turns to 20 turns. Not good. I'm hoping monarchy will allow faster research. I'll need the spices hooked up, so that will be the next step.

IT
The French unload an archer and two horsemen by Berlin. They are still at war with the Aztecs luckily; I see some attacks again.

Turn 140 - 250AD
I start by killing off the French landing party without much problems. At the front, trebs perform ok, so there aren't many units I have to kill really. The Aztec stacks are in the jungle, so I'll just whittle those down before decimating them. I can attack two French horses on flat land, and the second kill gives me:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2817/mump6comfortableknightsq8.jpg

I don't have nearly enough knights to fill another army, so Richtofen will rush the Heroic Epic next turn, in Verbotene Stadt (our citizens will finish building a barracks there next IT).

IT
We are attacked by a few Aztecs at Karlsruhe, but they do little damage.

Turn 141 - 260AD
I have so few units, I'd rather not attack too much. However, I want to move my current settler forward, so I have to kill some Mongol LB that advanced to Verbotene Stadt. The only unit that can reach it is an elite horseman, and well, you can guess what happens when he wins:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/9179/mump6reachinghorseag3.jpg

The leader creates an army that will sit empty for a while.

The units in Düsseldorf retreat some Keshiks, that are then finished off by the army in Karlsruhe. I move units and settler forward to the empty hills. I also move the western army forward, with another settler underneath.

IT
Only exchanges between French and Aztecs, mostly in favor of the French (who are really blessed with good RNG).

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8057/mump6heiy6.jpg

Turn 142 - 270AD
Augsburg is founded in the middle of more jungle, cutting off some French supply lines.

IT
The Arabs and the French each land a unit by Berlin. The French start Bach's. A pikeman covering a roading crew near Heidelburg defends against a Mongol LB.

Turn 143 - 280AD
Here's another tactical nightmare, especially with my inferior numbers. I'm afraid to take the army out of Karlsruhe, because the Aztecs might do some damage.

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/4144/mump6280adproblemzi3.jpg

I go ahead with the plan outlined in the picture (sorry about the poor quality of the blue texts). We lose an eMDI on the crusader, and a vKnight on the landed French spearman. A regular spearman has to finish him off (he was on a jungle tile too).

To make things right again: knight army kills vPike, rPike and vSpear; second knight army kills redlined Keshik, and:

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5734/mump6tatufu3.jpg

Capture 3 trebs and 5 slaves. The money our troops plundered allows me to turn up research again.

IT
We fend off three attacks, but also lose one battle. We gain an elite Pike.

Turn 144 - 290AD
Our 3-knight army kills 2 spearmen in Lisht. An LB remains and if I attack I won't be able to defend our own settler, so I hold off.

Turn 145 - 300AD
Spices are hooked up.

Our army kills 3 more units in Lisht, and:

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/9816/mump6lishtsb2.jpg

I found Freiburg in its stead, and start walls of course. I'll probably revolt next turn, after our next knight is produced. I'll have 5 knights not in armies then, and I can upgrade a *Horseman too. That should get me through the anarchy. :lol:

IT
How rude, they didn't even come to say hello:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1196/mump6russiansxq0.jpg

Turn 146 - 310AD

Now that we know everyone, let's see what our military advisors can teach us about the inter-AI diplomatic relationships. The following picture is based on the records on unit captures on the F3 screen. Some workers may have changed hands peacefully, so this isn't conclusive, but these wars have probably been going on:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5686/mump6diplomatskw3.jpg

The Aztec-French war has been confirmed, and is still raging. All this is probably the reason why I'm still alive.

I pull the trigger:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/8310/mump6anarchyom1.jpg

IT
We hold on to our army in Freiburg by 1 hitpoint! The Russians start Bach's.

Turn 147 - 320AD
At the end of this turn, there is only a single enemy unit within our territory. It's been ages since our lands were this safe. Still, that one unit could do some damage. Trebuchets are on their way to help out starting next turn.

IT
The damned French longbow kills our pike in Freiburg. :(

Turn 148 - 330AD
Our fallen comrade is avenged by an elite knight. We get a university in Leipzig:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6424/mump6mgl5go0.jpg

IT
This time we defeat an LB at Augsburg.

Turn 149 - 340AD
Augsburg is garrisoned with an army now. The empty army that we still had is getting filled now. We have 3 free knights left, two of them in our core to handle landings.

IT
The first musketeer shows up.

Turn 150 - 350AD
Somehow, this game is getting easier. I can actually move an army forward towards the Mongols again. 3 turns of anarchy to go.

IT
It would appear the landing spot has shifted, because lots of boats are now sailing around towards the München area.

Turn 151 - 360AD
Oh, look what I've found:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7485/mump6foundkarakorummw7.jpg

IT
An Aztec swordsman lands by empty Leipzig.

Turn 152 - 370AD
Just killing units and pillaging around Karakorum.

IT
http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/9366/mump6monarchylz4.jpg

Turn 153 - 380AD
The first thing I ordain as a monarch is to rush walls in Augsburg.

There are currently 10 units in my territory, some wounded. I'm using three armies for defense right now, but I should be able to reduce that to two when I get some more roads up. That'll give me three armies to play with at Karakorum.

Some more great news: if one goes three tiles east from Karakorum, you see the ocean. I'm seeing an 8-tile front line right now. Aztecs are coming from the north, all other civs except the French are coming by boat. So I may be able to isolate a big chunk of land all for myself.

is it possible we could get a map?

Hey Mumpulus :wavey:

I'm probably retired from civ at least for a long time, but I just had to say that this game here is out the control. Good luck! I'll be watching (as you may have noticed, I do lurk the SG forum from time to time).

is it possible we could get a map?

I duly apologize for the lack of a map. I really wanted to post one, but I decided instead to go with the verbal description in the last paragraph in the post above.

Allow me to explain.

I wanted to play just a couple of turns yesterday, to round up the turns that I had played the day before and also a few I played a week ago, and get right up to the turn where I would revolt. I then put my report together, and that was supposed to be that. I finished around 9pm. I had played only two turns, as planned. I hadn't planned on playing any more turns beyond that.

But then I suddenly succumbed to this strange and complex disease called "One More Turn (TM) syndrome": I got this irresistible urge to get these anarchy turns out of the way. I just had to find out if those turns would mean the end of this game. And I thought, hey, there's not as much need for micromanagement during anarchy, so these turns will be fast. And after all, it was only 9:00pm, what else was I going to do? Anyway, you know how these things go, right?

But then everything just went horribly wrong. First off, I got contact with the Russians. Now, I had already seen on the F3 screen that there were other wars going on. I had resolved, some time ago, to make that picture showing the AI wars as soon as all contacts were in. So I just had to make that picture. That makes it 9:30pm.

I don't remember exactly what I did after that, but I see from the timestamp on my picture files that it took me another half hour to create the revolution picture. I probably spent some time looking over things to determine if there were other tidbits of information worth dispensing to my audience. And I must also have pondered for a few more minutes whether or not I really felt ready to go into anarchy.

Then came the micromanagement for anarchy, where I had to shuffle quite a few tiles to keep cities from starving. By the way, I didn't mention this before, but Nürnberg lost some population (one pop unit to be exact) due to the reduced productivity. Add another 20 minutes before the Anarchistic Knight shows up. Also, clearing all those enemy units with so few of our own units available requires some planning, especially with troop depletion being more of an issue during a period of seven turns without replacements.

During the next few turns, 340AD to 360AD, I started using the armies to attack more. That takes more planning, because you don't want to end up with an army out of place. You can also see that during those turns, enemy target count decreased ("this game is getting easier"). One consequence of that was some unused trebuchets. Well now, in my log I don't describe this in detail, but that requires even more planning. Firing a trebuchet is done quickly: find the strongest defender covering attackers that can attack, point, press 'B' and click. But moving a trebuchet is an entirely different beast: you have to estimate how the enemy will move, then based on that estimate determine where the dangerous attacker stacks will be and whether or not they'll be sufficiently well defended to warrant the use of artillery. Actually, in this case I looked two turns ahead, to decide if I could send out an army (which I did in the end).

With all that, it is 11:08pm by the time I have found Karakorum and made a picture to share my joy.

Let's say it took 15 minutes per turn on average to play those quick anarchy turns. Plus some overhead to create the pictures and log. At 11:30pm I finish actual play. So now I'm angry with myself because in reality I knew up front that anarchy turns don't play fast if I'm the one playing them. No turns play fast in AW. But anyway, I've played those turns so I might as well post about them too, right? Surely, some folks on CFC must be curious if I got through the anarchy in one piece, right?

Putting the log together and uploading the pictures to a fairly unresponsive imageshack site takes another thirty to forty minutes. Actually debating with myself if I'm going to make a screenshot of the Mongol lands takes a few minutes as well.

In the end, it's 0:20am, and I decide against posting a map. I just put in the quick note, and decide to make a picture before I start the next sitting.

Ah, don't you all love that nice feeling you get when you've played civ for too long, even when you swore not to fall into that trap again?

Anyway, before I forget: you'll find a map, with directions, in my very next post.

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8475/mump6380adplanoc0.jpg

The current state of the German military. Numbers between parentheses show the number of elites per unit type. I'm paying 45gpt upkeep right now. Four towns will become cities soon (8pgt). I'll also try to settle some of those red dots soon.

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/1444/mump6380admilitaryas6.jpg

An assessment of our strength by our military advisor:

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4492/mump6380adenemieswf3.jpg

Berlin, our Kingdom's capital city, was founded in 3950BC. It is only in recent times that it began to fully develop into a true city. Before that, it had been the main center of efforts towards our nation's territorial expansion.

Berlin will finish a marketplace in 2 turns, a barracks after that in 2 more turns, then 5 turn knights. It already has a granary, library and university.

At +14spt, it will have +4fpt, with no problems to do +8fpt every fourth turn for growth in 4 turns. With the granary there, I'll often peel off a settler.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1337/mump6380adberlinld2.jpg

Leipzig is our second city, founded in 3100BC. It has always been the most versatile city, both strong in production and commerce, while also providing settlers and workers at times.

Leipzig is just getting started on a fresh Knight. Leipzig really does 12spt after corruption, except on this first turn of the cycle for extra growth. You can see a free mined plains tile that will be used for that. For this turn only, I keep it free for München to pick up upon growth next IT. Leipzig does 6 turn knights for now. Once it reaches size 8, it will be able to do 5 turn knights.

Leipzig has a barracks, library and university.

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/809/mump6380adleipzigwm1.jpg

Founded in 2710BC, Hamburg is the largest city in the Kingdom in terms of population. The population was grown this large to construct the Great Library, to which it is home. Hamburg has a regular library as well, and barracks.

At 14spt after corruption, it has been our best knight producer for a long time. Right now, it is running at 13spt only and there is a slight food deficit. This is to allow Berlin to grow faster. I'll invest some gold to get the extra shields required to still finish the current knight within the regular 5 turn schedule. Once Berlin has grown, Hamburg will get the floodplains with wheat back.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/2620/mump6380adhamburgim1.jpg

Konigsberg was the fourth city we founded, in 2310BC. It will become a true city in two turns, when it grows to size 7. It is building 10 turn knights now, going towards 9 turns after growth. This city is slightly hampered right now because of the lack of improved tiles, both in its own radius, and because other towns (Köln and Nürnberg) are using some tiles for lack of better alternatives. We have six workers in the vicinity, working hard to remedy that.

Konigsberg has a library and barracks.

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/4540/mump6380adkonigsbergmw5.jpg

Frankfurt was founded in 1990BC to become a shield powerhouse. With furs underneath, the center city tile produces an extra shield. There's an additional bonus grassland currently used by Bremen, to the north. Frankfurt is building 6 turn knights for now. I'll try to schedule the construction of an aqueduct as soon as possible. Once the aqueduct is completed, a grassland tile will be irrigated to bring the northern mountain into play.

Frankfurt has a courthouse, library and barracks.

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/2712/mump6380adfrankfurtpg3.jpg

Central Cities

The central cities lie between Berlin to the west and Verbotene Stadt to the east.

München - founded 1625BC
Heidelburg - founded 1275BC
Nürnberg - founded 1150BC
Stuttgart - founded 800BC

Except Stuttgart, they were founded very early for very specific reasons: to acquire iron, to acquire silks and to serve as a gateway to the north.

München has always been a very small town. Its growth was hampered early on, not only by incessant incursions by enemy troops, but also by conscious choice to emphasize production. München is our most important pikeman producer. It is well behind our lines now, so it should start to see some improvement soon, when our workers are done around Konigsberg.

Heidelburg is our fastest growing city. It will reach size 7 next turn. It has a granary and will produce the many settlers we'll need in the near future. There are still 6 jungle tiles surrounding Heidelburg. Our second worker crew is focusing on clearing some of that jungle soon.

Nürnberg has a nice mix of surrounding lands, with excellent commerce and production. It is unfortunate that it lost some population during the anarchy. It will grow back to size 7 in 6 turns. There is a mountain being mined, which should allow some decent production. Knight production is on a 10 turn cycle for now, but it should be possible to get that down to 8 turns without a courthouse.

North-Central

Three towns just to the north of our core are about 50% corrupt, but are still becoming very good producers because of the ample bonus grasslands available.

Köln - founded 1075BC
Hannover - founded 900BC
Bremen - founded 850BC

Köln and Hannover will require an aqueduct at some point in the near future. They are both finishing barracks now, to aid in knight production. They are currently at 5spt, but that will improve a bit to 6 or 7spt, so together they should be able to help a lot.

Bremen is constructing a courthouse. It is size 5 only and growing slowly. It is on a river however, so I'll probably increase its rate of growth or possibly merge a worker.

The Northern Coast

Bonn - founded 670BC
Salzburg - founded 530BC
Dortmund - founded 510BC
Brandenburg - founded 430BC
Essen - founded 310BC

These towns, all along the northern coast, are producing only 1 to 2spt. They're our trebuchet producers. Via Bremen, it will be possible to easily bring irrigation to three of them, and turn them into science farms.

Verbotene Stadt Ring

Four relatively new towns are placed in a perfect CxxC pattern around our Forbidden Palace town, Verbotene Stadt.

Düsseldorf - founded 210BC
Verbotene Stadt - founded 90BC
Karlsruhe - founded 150AD
Augsburg - founded 270AD
Freiburg - founded 300AD

These five towns have one thing in common: jungle, lots of jungle. It will take a while to clear all that, and to get these towns off the front, but once that's done, they'll form a powerful new source of both commerce and production. Three of these towns are on a river too.

Back in 50 AD, I made a summary of military production output. Let me do that again, about 25 turns later. Numbers between parentheses indicate previous values.

There are 8 cities (5) building knights, yielding an average output of 1.11 knights per turn (0.57). There are 3 cities (2) building pikes, yielding an average output of 0.49 pikes per turn (0.10). There are 5 cities (8) building trebuchets, yielding an average output of 0.27 trebuchets per turn (0.40).

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/1046/mump6380adpoweruh1.jpg

We need more power!

IT
The Arabs land a spear by Berlin. Luckily, the Egyptians contact us after that, so I can fix tile assignment. The French pillage a road near Karlsruhe.

Turn 154 - 390AD
The Mongols experience a sudden deterioration in their trading capabilities. :D

My leader luck continues. The "Reaching Horseman" that gave us Hengest in 260AD was upgraded to a knight, and now yields another leader:

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/8318/mump6reachingknightbq9.jpg

We're still at the army limit, so he rushes a marketplace in Leipzig. A big round of tile reassignments results from that.

IT
The French land a horseman and a longbowman in the forest between Frankfurt and Bremen, a new landing spot.

Turn 155 - 400AD
The Russians will talk now, which allows me to get an overview on the tech situation:

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/300/mump6400adtechsuo3.jpg

As you can see, chemistry is more widely known now, which allows me to lower research to 20% and hire some tax collectors instead of scientists for a long awaited cash injection.

I move out two more armies towards Karakorum. I spot a French settler pair approaching, I'll keep an eye on it and try to take slaves.

IT
Enemy troop movement is really well under German control now. I should have no problems to defend with the two armies that stayed home. I'm also pinging galleys in the north, and the ones I damaged turn around as expected. The French settler pair turns around too.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9665/mump6chemistryzu6.jpg

The Mongols and Egyptians are the only ones with metallurgy.

Turn 156 - 410AD
The actual ETA on metallurgy is 24 turns right now. That is at 40% science and at -7gpt, with 39 gold in the treasury. In a few turns, I'm hoping to get another cash injection, but not from our own economy this time. The Mongols have a lot of money lying around, just waiting for us to pick up.

The first pikeman in Karakorum dies.

IT
The Hittites start Smith's Trading Company. The Mongols have a whopping 7000 gold now.

Turn 157 - 420AD
First thing's first, let's try to take some of that Mongol gold.

The first battle of Karakorum
14/18 knight army kills 4/4 pikeman, 8/18 hitpoints left
15/17 knight army kills 4/4 pikeman, 13/17 hitpoints left
13/17 knight army kills 4/4 pikeman, 11/17 hitpoints left
11/17 knight army kills 3/3 pikeman, 9/17 hitpoints left
8/18 knight army kills 3/3 pikeman, 8/18 hitpoints left
8/18 knight army kills 3/3 pikeman, 7/18 hitpoints left
19/19 knight army kills 4/4 unfortified spearman, 16/19 hitpoints left

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/81/mump6karakorumto8.jpg

Karakorum still has its barracks, and the Mausoleum of Mausollos and Knights Templar of course. It also has 8 resistors (out of 8 citizens). I put it on wealth, because I don't expect to be able to hold on to it long enough to build a worker.

Metallurgy is due in 13 turns all of a sudden. :mischief:

After this successful attack, I continue to clear out enemy units in our territory, and I am able to move a roading crew of 9 workers forward.

IT
An ePike in the jungle is attacked by an Aztec MDI, but wins. I don't think I have seen an AI attack at these odds before. We immediately get our first crusader.

Turn 158 - 430AD
A most uneventful turn. Just kill a few units, move the army out of Karakorum.

IT
The Mongols attack the Aztecs! And we lose a pike covering a treb stack. Disease strikes Karlsruhe. The French finish Bach's Cathedral in Paris. The Mongols have gone industrial.

Turn 159 - 440AD
We get our trebs back, killing a Keshik in the process. I use them to bomb out a road to increase our security.

IT
We are defeating units on defense now, and the Mongols are still mostly targeting the Aztecs. Excellent.

Heidelburg produces our first settler in a long time.

Turn 160 - 450AD
I have to waste some army hitpoints to kill 4 Aztecs that would capture Karakorum. I'd rather take the Mongol money, thank you.

IT
The Mongols recapture Karakorum. They steal 3 gold. Let's see if we can get that gold back with interest.

Turn 161 - 460AD
Find the differences:

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8914/mump6karakorumsecondts5.jpg

That last IT was a good investment, with a return of 12900%.

We are up to 29 knights, so I start another round of infrastructure builds: three universities and an aqueduct.

IT
The others fight. :)

Turn 162 - 470AD
Münster is founded on red dot 1.1, and starts on another settler. The French settler pair has reappeared, and promptly dies. One army starts pillaging around Baruun-Urt. The northern front is absolutely quiet, there isn't a single unit threatening or even approaching our towns. The south is more busy, but well under control with the many trebuchets we have there.

IT
Well, well, an Ancient Cavalry (Arab) shows up near Karakorum. The Hittites learn metallurgy, and the Aztecs are also catching up with astronomy. We get our second crusader.

Turn 163 - 480AD
Metallurgy has dropped to 5 turns.

An army kills the ACav, and I empty Karakorum again. It is at size 6 now, so this may be the last time.

IT
The financial loss in Karakorum amounts to 4 gold this time. That brings the Mongols to 8790g in total.

We lose a vPike and an eMDI in the Augsburg jungle. It's about time I stop playing, I'm getting sloppy.

Turn 164 - 490AD
One Keshik and one spearman later, and we hold the prize again:

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/975/mump6karakorumthirdtz9.jpg

That was fun, but now it's time to move on. I'll not give up Karakorum willingly again.

I'm starting to lose units again; those musketeers in the jungle are formidable, even when redlined.

IT
Our palace gets a new lawn. The Egyptians start Shakespeare's Theater. France acquired metallurgy.

Turn 165 - 500AD
Metallurgy has dropped to 2 turns at 70%.

Armies pillage and explore. Trebuchets bomb. Nothing new really.

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5195/mump6500adoverviewdr0.jpg

Excellent work fracturing the Mongol empire! That will make regional dominance much easier to attain.

Taking a little break between playing turns has proved to be a good thing more than once in this game. Even though it's been only a couple of days since I played the last turns, I'm beginning to see some things that I missed before. I'll have to rethink my short term game plan a bit before I continue.

Some noteworthy remarks:

The Mongols are about to get rifles. As soon as they went industrial I thought of this, and I wanted to speed up my actions against them. However, I'm about to get cavalry, so rifles won't really be an issue. They aren't going to be fielding cavalry, because they clearly lack saltpeter. And I'll have advance warning if they're going for it, because I can see what is probably their only saltpeter source. The Mongols are a good target to get some money, and I should certainly raze the cities that put Karakorum under cultural pressure. But especially with their new war against the Aztecs, they really shouldn't be the main target.
Like us, the French are about to learn Military Tradition. They are fielding musketeers and they have had horsemen in the past, hence they will be able to produce cavalry. They should be the main target for now.
I've been pillaging around Mongol cities to keep them from reinforcing, but also to keep them from building pikemen. With Karakorum safe now from out-of-the-fog Keshik attacks, I'll stop doing that, and just pillage their visible iron source. If that source is their only one, I should be able to still get some quick city razings before they can train too many riflemen. My pillaging efforts should shift towards the French. I was thinking of going for Hovd next, but instead the army I have between Hovd and Dalandzadgad will go looking for the French saltpeter immediately.
We still haven't seen much from the other civs. I'm assuming they're still in a lot of wars among each other. But when those wars end, we might be seeing a lot of new units all of a sudden, and stronger, faster units than we've seen so far too. I'll put every effort into regrouping our forces to be ready when that time comes.

So then, the new game plan:

Two armies will stay in the Karakorum area; I'll try to take out Choybalsan and Baruun-Urt to alleviate cultural pressure, but I'm not going to overextend our troops here.
One army will start pillaging the French.
Two armies will support our settling actions according to the plan I posted earlier, and take out the occasional enemy city.
Preserve our defensive forces and deploy them well. Don't get sloppy again.

You should really try to do something about the -65 gold per turn.

You should really try to do something about the -65 gold per turn.

If I can capture one Mongol city every five turns on average, I will be at about 0gpt net. In other words, the Mongols are funding my research right now :D. At this point, there's little else I can do with additional gold. I do occasionally short-rush stuff when MM gets messed up by enemy units or when two or more cities just can't agree on what tiles to use, but I don't need that much gold for that.

I'll also be founding more towns, to lower unit support costs (at 54gpt now).

I fix some of my own micromanagement before going into the next turn; another benefit of getting some rest in time.

IT
Every single enemy unit seems to be drawn to Karakorum. All in vain, because:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/5272/mump6karakorumdeposedjz7.jpg

Turn 166 - 510AD
Our crusader and and army attack, and we take Karakorum for the fourth time:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5953/mump6karakorumfourthyg5.jpg

Kill a total of 13 units this turn (2 spearmen, 3 musketeers, 8 longbowmen); lose none.

IT

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6029/mump6metallurgyhq8.jpg

The Mongols and the Egyptians have MT already.

Turn 167 - 520AD
Berlin is at 18spt for 4 turn knights now. Research goes back up to 80% at -87gpt now (still running 20% lux), which makes MT due in 12 turns. Seems like I'll need some more of that Mongol gold. We'll also be finishing some universities in the upcoming turns.

Kill a total of 8 units this turn (1 spearman, 7 longbowmen), lose none.

IT
We get our third crusader and our third palace expansion.

The Egyptians start Newton's University, so they're probably also in the industrial age.

Turn 168 - 530AD
Wiesbaden is founded on red dot 1.2, close to Karakorum. All our towns are on the road network now. We have three more settlers ready to found within three turns at most. Our roading crews have done well to prepare all necessary roads. It'll be a bit tricky to defend them all though.

Our French army (you can see the path it followed, look for tiles without improvements) strikes goldsaltpeter:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7043/mump6frenchsaltpetergv7.jpg

Kill a total of 4 units this turn (4 longbowmen), lose none.

Without your leader luck, you couldnt have defeated the mongols, right?

Without your leader luck, you couldnt have defeated the mongols, right?

Hmm, that's an interesting question/statement.

First off, this is Always War Deity, so merely the fact that I'm still alive implies that I've had a lot of luck.

But I don't think that I've been exceptionally lucky with leaders. If I'm counting correctly, I've had 10 so far. It's unfortunate that I didn't count (elite) victories/defeats. The actual fighting has been going on for 88 turns now; the very first combat was on turn 80, and I got my first elite right then. My estimate would be that I've killed somewhere between 5 and 10 units per turn on average, and that about 1/3 to 1/2 of those kills have been by elites. That makes somewhere between 150 and 440 elite victories. I believe that puts me on the low end of the leader generation statistics.

It took 21 turns of fighting to get my first leader. I think that's a rather high number of turns without leader. I remember that I had been expecting a leader much sooner than that, and that the lack of an army was becoming problematic. Getting your first leader sooner is a much more decisive factor than getting more leaders but getting them later.

The second leader came 9 turns after the first. That was actually the first real break I got, because it allowed me to push forward by settling. I don't think I could have founded Verbotene Stadt and later towns without that second army. I was really thin on troops during that time.

The third leader came 14 turns after the second. At that point, the most tense period of fighting in this game so far was just behind me, with a lot of victories, many of them undoubtedly elite victories. Again I had been expecting a leader for a long time. I named the unit that spawned the leader "Break-out Medieval Infantry", because I knew the third army would allow me to finally make real forward progress. I got three leaders in the first half of the fighting turns so far.

It's only after that moment that maybe I got more lucky than average. Leaders four and five came the first and second turn after leader three. Those leaders weren't turned into armies, so they didn't contribute as much in the progress made against the Mongols. My last two leaders became a university and marketplace in Leipzig, so they also didn't do much for our military.

I have five armies now. I used only three armies to take Karakorum, and I could have done it with two armies as well (it would have taken a few more turns, that's all). I think three armies would have sufficed in any case to be where I am now. Having five now has allowed me to make even more headway. The French will be without saltpeter next turn, and I am able to do some fast catching up on territorial expansion because I can keep my settlers and workers safe.

I think that even if I'd gotten only five leaders instead of ten, the Mongols would be in the same trouble they are now. But I would be in more trouble myself, against the French. Had they been able to field cavalry, that would have been a problem.

But to reiterate, I don't think I've been lucky on the leader front. In fact, you can expect to see many more leaders in the future. Then how have I been lucky? I've been extremely lucky on the geography front, and on the AI-wars front. The Egyptians, Russians, Arabs and Hittites have sent virtually nothing to us. The Aztecs have done very little. In fact, what they're doing now is giving the Mongols the final blow.

This game has had its ups and downs. Around turn 120, it felt as if the game could be lost any turn. Around turn 150, it started feeling much easier, and right now I'm thinking the game is in the bag. However, our military is still very light in the homeland, so a strong landing could set me back a lot. The AI wars could also end all of a sudden, and then I could be in even more trouble. So it could be that at turn 180 I feel like throwing in the towel again. Or I could just take out the Mongols and French easily, and then discover that in the mean time the other civs have come to terms and are forming an impregnable block that has jumped ahead in tech. You never know what will happen. That's what makes these games fun, right?

If I can capture Karakorum every five turns on average, I will be at about 0gpt net.

Fixed your typo. ;)

:lol: I've been thinking that I should have turned off cultural conversions. But since I didn't, there was nothing I could do but to relinquish/recapture it a few times. It was just a nice "side-effect" to get so much gold every time. The AI shouldn't be so stupid to capture a city they can't hold, and then let money lie around. Again, it's not my fault, it's Civ's.

But now I really want to try and hold on to it, to make sure I don't miss any of those nice crusaders. I'm all set to take Tosontsengel next turn, and Choybalsan soon after.

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/432/mump6530adeo6.jpg

IT
Karakorum always has a flip risk, so it is empty again. The enemy is drawn to it once more.

Well, I've never seen this happening before: a trebuchet dies from disease in the jungle :dubious:. This of course happens after the unit support cost is taken from our treasury, which is reportedly running low. I'll let my domestic advisor have a little chat with my military advisor. He can help.

Turn 169 - 540AD
Our domestic advisor returns. She tells me she's had a good conversation with our military advisor, who's reassured her. This is what our military advisor said:

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/5406/mump6tosontsengelss6.jpg

That army started at full health and had to kill a veteran and a regular pikeman. It'll be out of circulation for a few turns.

The army in French territory incurs no losses at all to perform its critical mission. After pillaging the saltpeter, it moves further into French territory to explore some more.

The Mongols are without iron, and their current capital has two armies at its doorstep.

Kill a total of 7 units this turn (4 longbowmen, 3 pikemen), 3 with elites, no losses.

IT
An elite pikeman is killed by an Ancient Cavalry.

Turn 170 - 550AD
Saarbrücken is founded on some hills northeast from Hovd. Aachen is founded next to the Mongol iron source, on red dot 3.1.

Our first army at Choybalsan kills 3 pikemen without too much trouble, but the second army goes down from 15 to 3 hitpoints (after an internal promotion) to kill the next regular pikeman. A longbowman stands to hold the city for another turn.

Kill a total of 12 units this turn (1 musketeer, 5 pikemen, 6 longbowmen), 1 with an elite, no losses.

A view of our two new towns, with two more settlers and destinations marked in red:

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/9885/mump6550adyq6.jpg

The French stack northeast of Tabriz consists of a musketeer, a spearman and 4 longbowmen. I have 6 trebuchets near Aachen to take on the musketeer, and a few knights to attack the archers. I can also move an army in if need be. I moved another pike into Münster after I took the picture, just in case.

IT
I lose a knight because I forgot that Keshiks can move across hills fast.

Then some good news:
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1324/mump6tabrizisfrenchfh2.jpg

And some bad news:
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5619/mump6egyptiancavalrysu1.jpg

The Russians complete Smith's Trading Company in Moscow.

So it appears that we're seeing the end of the medieval era, and the dawn of a new age: cavalry is on the way, and civilizations that have remained dormant so far, are starting to stir. Did I say this game is in the bag? It didn't even take until turn 180 before I had to rephrase that: this game ain't in the bag yet.

Turn 170 - 550AD
Saarbrücken is founded on some hills northeast from Hovd. Aachen is founded next to the Mongol iron source, on red dot 3.1.

I don't understand the reference to red dot 3.1. Can you explain that, please?

real cool game

waiting for updates !!


btw first post xD

I don't understand the reference to red dot 3.1. Can you explain that, please?

Hmm, now that I look at it, I agree that it's ... uhm ... a bit far fetched to reference implicit data in a picture I posted on page 2, in post 37 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6829931&postcount=37). There, I put forward some steps that I've followed somewhat closely since then. Steps 1 and 3 involved founding two towns each, for which I drew red dots, that I numbered 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, and 3.2 in my head. Red dot 3.2 will be founded next turn, the others have been founded already (and I mentioned my imaginary numbering for all three of them). What I termed "some hills northeast from Hovd", was also a red dot by the way. See, I'm following a plan here. :)

I should adhere to a more narrative style, and not force my readers to jump back and forth in the thread just to be able to follow. Especially when the numbers I put in my pictures are blurred the way they are in that particular picture.

waiting for updates !!

btw first post

Hi, AkK47, welcome to CFC. I'm flattered to have a first time poster in my thread. I'll definitely take another look at this game right after I finish writing this. Not sure I'll be able to play much though, because I have some more evaluating and planning to do first. I think I won't take any chances, and make sure defenses are up in the north before I turn my attention to the French. That Egyptian cavalry will surely bring some friends. I'll get back to you and other lurkers and let you know how I plan to defend the German kingdom against these new aggressors.

During my last session I played only two turns, and neglected to have MapStat open. A quick update on changes in techs: the Hittites and the French also have Military Tradition now. I contact the Hittites, and find out they have no horses. Now that I'm at it, I also contact the Russians: they have no horses and no iron. The Arabs have no saltpeter.

That makes all the difference in the world. Defense in the north won't have to be so strong after all, with only one other civilization able to build cavalry. We'll learn Military Tradition in 6 turns.

I'm still faced with three problems right now.

Problem 1 - Defending Karakorum and establishing the northern front line

Saltpeter will come online in three turns. I'll train a few muskets to take up guard in Karakorum. I'll also try to quell resistance as soon as possible, and then rush some culture to have more advance warning of incoming enemies. Until then, I'll shift an army forward. That army can also take back Karakorum if it should flip again.

Problem 2 - Neutralizing that Egyptian cavalry

That cavalry can reach Karakorum or Wiesbaden, or two of our worker pairs, or the new town I'm about to found, or the army that will raze Choybalsan (which will be vulnerable if it loses too much health). Action radius of the cavalry highlighted in the picture below.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/1161/mump6560adproblem2dz7.jpg

Problem 3 - Neutralizing the French stacks

I have 6 trebuchets, 3 elite knights, and 1 slightly wounded veteran knight to deal with this:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2305/mump6560adproblem3tp4.jpg

If I keep the nearly healthy army in the new town I'll found, I can deal with the French over two turns. But I'll probably need that army for the resolution of problem 2. A real conundrum. I also have those workers on the silks to think of. They've been "pre-chopping", and will put 10 shields into the box of the new town immediately.

Turn 171 - 560AD
Mainz is founded as planned.

The army near Choybalsan loses only a single hitpoint taking out the veteran spearman, and the next unit is the longbowman that held the city last turn. He once against fights valiantly, taking three more hitpoints off the army, but the outcome was inevitable:

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/9016/mump6choybalsancc0.jpg

Hovd becomes their new capital, I'll have to take care of that soon now.

I move the army by the saltpeter forward, and spot incoming Aztec and Arab troops. On to problem number 3 then: the army in Mainz goes down to 6 hitpoints just to take out one musketeer. This problem remains unsolved, as does number 2: the cavalry will probably attack, although there are some empty towns nearby.

Killed 3 units this turn (1 spearman, 1 longbowman and 1 musketeer), no losses, no elite victories.

IT
Ok, I'm starting to feel embarrassed here: the Aztecs and Arabs fight each other. Don't these guys know they're supposed to fight me? The Egyptian cavalry goes down to one hitpoint but still kills a crusader in Karakorum, and then moves to a safe distance. Our troops manage to quell one resisting citizen. One French longbowman kills a veteran pikeman, another retreats an elite knight. The rest of the French stack moves onto flat land.

The Hittites finish Shakespeare's Theater in Alaca Huyuk. The French finish Copernicus' Observatory in Paris. The Arabs finish Magellan's Voyage in Aden.

Turn 172 - 570AD
Potsdam is founded right on top of our saltpeter source. The last jungle in our core has been cleared, and reveals another bonus grassland.

I let most of the armies rest, using just one to kill a French longbowman threatening Aachen. I lose a veteran knight there, but manage to kill the musketeers. There are 10 French units within striking distance.

In total, I killed 5 units this turn (1 spearman, 2 longbowmen and 2 musketeers), 1 loss, 3 elite victories.

IT
I lose 2 slaves to the Egyptian cavalry. I overlooked that, but the good thing is I'll be able to kill the cavalry now. Saarbrücken is bypassed by a veteran longbowman; it has an elite pikeman inside, and is built on hills.

We get our fourth crusader, and quell another resistor (one more to go). The Mongols finish Newton's University in Erdenet.

Turn 173 - 580AD
The second elite attack this turn, the 9th since I started counting, is a crusader out of Karakorum, killing the redlined Egyptian cavalry:

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3314/mump6cavaliercrusaderkc6.jpg

Barbarossa becomes an army, that will wait three more turns to be filled with cavalry. I leave Mainz empty, which should lure the remaining French troops onto flat land. Two armies will be able to attack four times at Baruun-Urt next turn.

Killed 8 units this turn, 4 with elites, no losses.

Awesome, truly awesome! :)

IT
The resistance in Karakorum had ended.

Turn 174 - 590AD
A single knight army kills 2 pikemen and a longbowman, and:

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/985/mump6baruunurtee0.jpg

We capture two slaves and three trebuchets.

The ship marked with the yellow team disc you can see peeking out from under the dialog is an Egyptian frigate. We've got some shore bombardment coming.

The second army I had set for Baruun-Urt attacks Kazan instead, and kills 2 pikemen. Leonardo's Workshop is located there, so I'm thinking the capture of Kazan will be well timed with our learning Military Tradition.

The German military registered 12 kills this turn, 3 by elite troops. We lost 1 knight on a longbowman.

Science goes back to 40%, Military tradition still due in 2 turns.

IT
The Mongols are still fighting the French, but the French seem to mostly focus on us.

Turn 175 - 600AD
One army attacks Tabriz, but the French had a musketeer there, and that takes a lot out of the army. It can continue for one more attack to kill a spearman, but has to rest after that. A knight takes out a longbowman, but there are still healing units left. A second army will heal a bit. I also let the army by Kazan heal, because I'll probably won't hold it for more than one turn, so I'd rather take it next turn.

The French pillager army has returned and is next to Hovd now. In two turns we'll have a fresh cavalry army next to it as well.

We killed 7 units this turn, 1 with an elite.

IT
The Aztecs land a pikeman at Leipzig.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/9454/mump6militarytraditionpq2.jpg

Turn 176 - 610AD
I can't take on that pikeman just yet, I'm hoping it doesn't pillage but goes for empty München instead.

Our army kills 2 pikemen and 1 spearman in Kazan, but a fourth spearman takes up defense. Seems like I wont be upgrading cheap this turn. I upgrade 5 knights for now; 30g isn't that much and I want to send out the new army as soon as possible.

We do have plenty of units to kill a spearman and 2 longbowmen in Tabriz:

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1151/mump6tabrizws2.jpg

The French must have gotten a lot of money when they took Tabriz from the Mongols, but it seems they have spent it all on women and wine.

The knight army at Hovd can only kill a single veteran pikeman before it has to rest. The next unit showing is a regular pikeman.

I counted 8 kills this turn, 3 by elites, no losses.

Astronomy is due in 5 turns at 80%, still at a deficit of 88gpt. Science farms are growing though, and we'll get a lot more in the near future.

IT
The Aztec pikeman moves to München mountain.

Turn 177 - 620AD
Our first cavalry win is against that pikeman.

The French are kind enough to expose a lone longbowman:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5898/mump6academicknightxh2.jpg

That was the 10th elite victory since the last leader. We are still a city short for our next army, so Richtofen will rush the Military Academy.

This turn saw only 3 kills in all. Targets are getting scarce.

Magdeburg is founded northeast of Karakorum, next to the ruins of Baruun-Urt. I rush the library in Karakorum.

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/9500/mump620adoverviewnp1.jpg

An summary of what's going on right now:

We have three settlers in the Augsburg-Freiburg region; as soon as Hovd has fallen, I'll move the knight army northwest to take the smaller Mongol town there, and then I can settle aggressively in the direction of Amiens.
The cavalry army will help out at Hovd first, then go straight for Cherbourg, where the French saltpeter is.
There are two armies at Kazan; they'll take and hold that city while I upgrade units, but after that I'll probably raze it. I may allow the Mongols to retake it for some extra money.
Berlin is building 4-turn cavalry, Hamburg will be able to run a 6-turn cycle soon. A lot of the other cities are on infrastructure builds still, but that'll end soon.
The French have incense and gems; I hope to find and grab those soon.
I'll keep three knight armies in the north, and the other two knight armies and the cavalry army in the south. The next army will also go after the French. I should be able to cut through them fast, hopefully before they get rifles.
I'm running out of Mongol cities to take to fund research, but science farms are finally forming, so that should compensate.

That was the 10th elite victory since the last leader. We are still a city short for our next army, so Richtofen will rush the Military Academy.

I'm assuming this happened right before you founded Magdeburg? (I counted 28 cities total, but might've counted one twice).

Where did you put the MA?

Magdeburg included, I have 30 cities. And I have 6 armies. And I still can't count. I can create another army. You guys pay attention well.

The leader had sufficient movement only to get to Aachen, but not to do anything there. I rushed the 3 remaining shields on the worker build there, and was planning on rushing the Military Academy next turn. I'm not going to build armies anyway, so it doesn't matter where I put it.

But another army is more important, so the Military Adamy will have to wait a little while longer. When the time comes, I'll still put it in any town that can be reached by the leader I'll have then and doesn't have too many shields in the box. Those will be the only criteria.

Where did you put the MA?
Oh, ok.
EDIT: Just read the post before this one more carefully.

I upgrade two more knights since I'll have an additional army next turn. I have only elite knights or knights in armies now. I also spend some cash on short-rushes. I get Hamburg on the anticipated 6-turn cavalry cycle right now by shifting around some tiles.

IT
The French and Mongols exchange some units, we don't get attacked. We do get another crusader and a library in Karakorum. Karakorum starves for the last time and is size 1 now. It will now become a fully integrated part of our society.

Turn 178 - 630AD
There are 5 French longbowmen next to Hovd, so I think it is now or never if I'm to get some of the 9331 gold the Mongols have. The French are getting richer too though, with 1197 gold right now.

The cavalry army kills 2 pikemen and a spearman, at the loss of 6 hitpoints in all. The knight army kills another spearman, and:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/839/mump6hovdug5.jpg

I'm very disappointed at the amount of gold we get, and I start wondering how I'm going to keep up research if my funding dries up. Even with Leonardo's Workshop, I'm not going to be able to afford any upgrades. And anyhow, I've upgraded mostly everything that needed upgrading, so after our army kills 3 spearmen, I decide to raze:

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/964/mump6kazanpa8.jpg

We can see Aztec borders to the north now.

I wonder again why I'm getting so little money, so I take another look at MapStat. It turns out it's the Egyptians who have all the money now, I just misread before. :sad:

The 7 kills this turns were all inflicted by armies, so no elite victories. No losses either. Next turn should see some regular combat again.

IT
The French move just a few units towards us. If this continues, I won't be able to leader fish. Then I won't get more armies. Then I won't be able to move fast enough to kill the French before they get rifles. Then again, musketeers are already pretty strong, so it doesn't make much difference.

Turn 179 - 640AD
It had to happen some time:

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1815/mump6mongolriflexv9.jpg

Will this be a problem? Let's take another look:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5158/mump6mongolriflewitharmxg8.jpg

I lose an elite knight on a 2hp musketeer. Another elite knight kills him. The one other battle was also an elite killing a longbowman.

We've found wines ...

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2586/mump6winessn7.jpg

... and incense ...

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6816/mump6incensepo0.jpg

Science can go down a notch to 70%, Astronomy is due in 2 turns at -75gpt. We're still running 20% luxury tax.

IT
I lose an elite swordsman as expected, no worries.

Turn 180 - 650AD
Bielefeld is founded close to the ruins of Hovd.

The veteran musketeer in Marseilles completely takes the wind out of one of the knight armies, which goes down to 1 hitpoint before finally winning. The second army has less trouble killing 2 more musketeers, only to reveal ...

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/38/mump6frenchcavalryaq1.jpg

There are two yellowlined musketeers that I wasn't going to attack this turn, but seeing the French cavalry gave this game some more sense of urgency, so two elite knights attack anyway. The second yields another leader:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/7853/mump6urgentknightnt5.jpg

Hengest immediately rushes the Military Academy in Wiesbaden (for real this time).

We had 5 victories this turn, 2 of them elite. No losses, although we came way too close with that one army at Marseilles.

You'd better put some defense in Wiesbaden. If you don't, i don't think you can build another MA if that one is captured or razed; and it must have been a tough decision razing leo's.

It won't be long before Wiesbaden is shielded by other towns, and until then I'll make sure I always have a view of the tiles just north of Wiesbaden, to avoid any enemy unit making an unexpected attack. I have two armies in the area, as well as plenty of other troops and trebuchets to deal with anything the AI can throw at me.

Razing Leo's wasn't so tough a decision: the only units I'm going to be upgrading are knights, which costs 30g per upgrade. The 15g I would have saved with Leo's isn't going to make a difference now.

IT
The French drop 2 units north of Freiburg. We lose an MDI to that "cavalerie marseillaise".

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4025/mump6astronomygw5.jpg

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/2214/mump6milacademybw2.jpg

Turn 181 - 660AD
Cavalry army kills 2 rifles in Ereen:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3904/mump6ereenhh6.jpg

We found Mönchengladbach and Kiel in that area.

The French saltpeter is pillaged again, and this time we will stay close to it.

In the north, our knight army kills 2 rifles in Tsetserleg:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/64/mump6tsetserleglj0.jpg

Killed 10 units this turn, 2 with elites, no losses.

Banking is due in 5 turns at 70% and -69gpt. We have 292g in the bank, even though we don't know what that is yet.

IT
We lose a crusader and a trebuchet to a combined French and Mongol attack. I had hoped the units threatening ours would have taken each other out. I hope the French and the Mongols haven't made peace.

Turn 182 - 670AD
The French have riflemen now.

They will be no match however for our cavalry armies. One of them kills 2 rifles in Amiens:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3929/mump6amiensxf6.jpg

Killed 6 units this turn, 2 with elites, no losses.

IT
The Arabs and the French are at war. We get some very unfortunate landings in the Kiel area. I scroll ahead to rush a spearman in Mönchengladbach.

Turn 183 - 680AD
I'll have to retreat some workers here, and hope the regular spearman I just rushed will hold:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/972/mump6badlandingfw2.jpg

Cavalry army kills 2 rifles in Cherbourg:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/8374/mump6cherbourgtq0.jpg

We capture 2 trebuchets and 9 slaves.

Killed 5 units this turn, 1 with an elite, no losses.

IT
The Arabs and the Egyptians are at war with the Aztecs. We lose a crusader to the French cavalry that was threatening Kiel. Our spearman in Mönchengladbach defends flawlessly against the musketeer.

Turn 184 - 690AD
Duisburg is founded very close to Dalandzadgad. I have to turn down research, and lose a turn on banking.

A cavalry army kills one rifleman in Brest.

Kill 8 units this turn, 2 with elites, no losses.

An overview at the end of 690AD:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3658/mump6690adoverviewin2.jpg

4 cavs in 1 army=low defence Modern Armor :evil:

Where are you getting all the German names from?

Where are you getting all the German names from?

I often go to various places in Germany (it borders Belgium, so it isn't too far). One gets to know these names by driving around a lot.

Nice progress Mumpulus! :goodjob:

I am trying to get a feel for the lay-out of the French cities. I've numbered cities in the map below according to their founding order. I can't make much of it though. It seems they've founded in a pretty random pattern, even filling up spaces later on. I've also listed the number of troops we can see right now. That particular mix should get me some more easy leaders for sure.

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/3973/mump6francein690adtf0.jpg

The story continues...

IT
The Arabs soften up defenses and then the wealthy Egyptians take Ulaanbaatar, formerly Mongol and Aztec. We lose a slave stack to a French cavalry.

Turn 185 - 700AD
I think the easy stretch I had before is over, and this game has become a challenge once more. Have a look:

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4600/mump6700adtacticaltk6.jpg

I want to do several things this turn, but I'll have to deal with the French in order to do it:
I want to move the settler near Kiel; however, the cavalry that's hiding in the fog will have to die first
The southern cavalry army is covering a stack of 9 slaves, which I want to hold on to, to start clearing all that jungle. I'm also hoping I can recuperate the slaves that were already captured by the French. Furthermore, there's a settler pair nearby. I don't want the French to settle, certainly not near that saltpeter source, and I never say no to more slaves.
There are 4 longbowmen outside Duisburg, they'll have to die because I have no defense there, and no roads to bring in reinforcements.
There are a lot of units trying to get past Bielefeld.
I have 4 cavalry and the three armies to deal with all that.

I also have an elite MDI and some trebuchets in Bielefeld. So the first thing I do is bombard the two longbowmen there, and kill one of them (just barely).

I then turn my attention to Duisburg. The two cavalry stationed there are at 3/4 and 2/5 hitpoints, so they won't be able to contribute much. I can't afford to lose units now. So a veteran cavalry out of Duisburg takes on the first LB, and an elite out of Kiel goes for the second, giving us:

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/6659/mump6corneredcavalryti6.jpg

I have one more veteran cavalry in Kiel, and then also the one visible in the screenshot above, near Karlsruhe. Horsa creates our seventh army in Bielefeld, and is joined by the Karlsruhe and Kiel cavalry units. That army then goes on to kill the third longbowman at Duisburg. The final longbowman is killed by the 3/4 cavalry out of Duisburg itself, at the expense of 1 hitpoint. After this victory, that cavalry unit also joins the 7th army.

The knight army in Kiel kills a musketeer, a spearman and a longbowman.

I think long and hard, and decide to go for Brest with the more weakened army. It kills 2 riflemen and a redlined longbowman, and razes the French town:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2037/mump6brestrq3.jpg

I finally decide to have the second cavalry army go for the rifleman and the hidden cavalry. I'm hoping the French settler pair will make another move before settling. We also recuperate the slaves that were lost during the IT.

The situation in the south at the end of this turn:

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/3387/mump6700adaftermathsoutul8.jpg

I then turn my attention to the north. A Mongol longbowman is killed by an elite knight near Mainz. The French cavalry you can see in the last leader picture is killed by the knight army.

Below is another picture. For lack of satellite technology, this is a "knight-army composite": the southern army moved to the hills to see the Egyptian cavalry, and to the plains to spot the Mongol longbowmen. There is only one army really there.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6057/mump6700adnorthya0.jpg

The yellowlined cavalry barely kills the nearest longbowman. The knight army kills the rifleman and the second longbowman. Due to the reconnaissance mission, it doesn't have sufficient movement to kill the last visible Mongol longbowman.

The northern army pillages the road it's on, and then moves west to avoid attacking across the river.

I killed 17 units this turn, 3 with elites, and incurred no losses. The new leader appeared on the 9th elite victory since the last leader.

You sure are having leader luck. I got 3 leaders once,and it was the max! You got what,15,20?

I've had 14 leaders so far, or 15 if you count the one I just got during turn 186. :D

Since I started counting, 35 elite victories gave me 5 leaders. That's 1/7 on average, where 1/12 would be "normal". So I've been pretty lucky since I started counting, that's true. But overall, I still don't think I've been exceptionally, incredibly, or overly lucky.

I don't know if you've ever played an Always War game, but you always get lots of leaders in that kind of game, because of the sheer number of battles that are fought. There are several examples of games where players got multiple leaders during a single turn. Take a look at this (turn 6) (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5538899&postcount=410) for example.

IT
Our pair of elite pikemen near Potsdam retreats 2 Egyptian cavalry. A crusader kills a French cavalry and promotes to elite. The French and the Mongols each land a longbowman next to empty Freiburg.

Turn 186 - 710AD
Koblenz is founded on the edge of the French marshlands.

Armies and an elite knight kill 4 Egyptian cavalry up north. The next target is a Mongol conscript rifleman. The second trebuchet shot hits, and an elite knight attacks:

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8442/mump6saarbruckenknightwu4.jpg

Rommel will have to wait a while until one more town is founded.

12 units were killed this turn, 2 with elites, no losses.

IT
I've overlooked something again, and once more lose a stack of slaves. This time the Hittites land a musketman near Freiburg.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8730/mump6bankingyz7.jpg

Turn 187 - 720AD
We get the slaves back, plus two more from the settler that moved again.

Killed 10 units, we still have our leader so elite victories didn't count. I attacked mostly with veterans and armies anyway.

Physics is due in 10 turns at 40% science, which is all we can afford with 63 gold in our treasury and running at +8gpt. Setting 50% science would result in -37gpt.

IT
We defeat 3 French longbows on defense in Bielefeld. The Russians and the French fight. We get another crusader.

Turn 188 - 730AD
The two knight armies in French territory have been converging over the past few turns, and finally attack. Two rifles die, and:

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1282/mump6dalandzadgadnp3.jpg

Kill 7 units in total, no losses. I still have a leader stored.

I've taken another look at the power graph, and the Egyptians have been on the rise. They're the ones with all the money now: 12597 gold. They're communist now, but we still have a stronger military. We're average to the Hittites and the French, and strong to everyone else.

We have 22 knights (20 in armies, 2 elites) and 22 cavalry (12 in armies, 2 elites, 8 veterans). The German kingdom is producing 1.17 cavalry per turn, and more cities will finish their infrastructure soon, so that will increase slightly to a projected output of 1.45 cavalry per turn. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to build banks, but I probably will. I'll go for the wines and incense first though, to see what our economy looks like then (still running 20% lux tax).

Communist Egyptians? Now I've seen it all! :lol:

(great story, keep it up)

IT
The Arabs are approaching in larger numbers now, with 3 cavalry, a longbowman and a settler pair. Could it really be that some wars have ended?

Turn 189 - 740AD
The French stacks are almost gone (2 redlined longbowmen remain, completely surrounded by our troops). A knight army still loses way too many hitpoints taking down a yellowlined musketeer.

Total kill count for this turn was 21, again with no losses. The French front is pretty much empty now, which will allow the armies to heal and to move forward in a few turns. The north is also safe for now, but things will certainly heat up in the turns ahead. There are three cavalry still visible, of Arab and Egyptian nationality.

IT
Just a few enemy troops advancing. It will be good to get a new army up north, because we are a bit thin there.

Turn 190 - 750AD
Kill 8 units only, then run out of targets. There are 6 French units, mostly riflemen, approaching in a very scattered pattern. In the north, there are 4 units left.

IT
The Hittites join the incoming bogies in the north. There's also an increase in ship traffic towards the München area.

Turn 191 - 760AD
One French rifleman is all I get to kill, for a promotion to elite. I move some cavalry towards the Karakorum area because next turn I'll be able to create an army. Three cavalry armies will be fully healed next turn, and will start to really wreck havoc with the French.

I also move a worker into place to create a colony on the wines. Settler production isn't going very fast, and I don't have the money to rush them. I should really have shut down research for a few turns to remedy that, but I didn't think of it in time. During the next 10 turns I should be able to found quite a few new towns though.

I feel like a huge cavalry stack could appear any time now. I've been very lucky so far with the wars going on between all AIs, but that just couldn't last forever.

IT
Our redlined knight army in the north defends against an Egyptian cavalry. A lone Arab longbowman lands next to München. No matter how many times I've seen this before, in my own games and in others', I'm always amazed at how the AI sails an entire armada all the way around your lands and then manages to land a single unit. :lol:

The French found Bordeaux not far from the Brest ruins. They still don't have their saltpeter back.

Turn 192 - 770AD
Mannheim is founded, our wine colony established, and an army created (to celebrate).

Let's see, what's next?

...

...

...

Ok, so it's been a few turns since I posted a picture, so I'm going to put one just below. Now, y'all must promise not to throw any abuse my way, because I really can't help this. This is just one of those things that happen. It's not like I'm Sirian and I have this cheat code inside the Civ3 program that makes sure that I get lucky.

So there was this Ansar Warrior that got too close to Karakorum, I can't help that. And with all the incoming units further up north, I had most of my own strong units up there, so I can't help that either. All my trebuchets are out of range as well, so I can't take any chances here, right? I just have to use the strongest unit to my disposal, which just happens to be one of the two elite knights I have left.

An elite knight has an 88% chance to win against a veteran Ansar Warrior. So it's not at all unlikely it actually wins the fight, now is it? And the game doesn't really care that you haven't had a single elite win since you converted the last leader into an army, or even any win at all. And the game certainly doesn't know that the guy playing this game has been trying to explain on the CivFanatics forums that he hasn't been exceptionally lucky with leaders. So, it all makes sense then, that the very first elite win results in...

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/6582/mump6incredibleknightqp6.jpg

Cavalry armies come into action after that:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7443/mump6bordeauxks5.jpg

and

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3808/mump6grenoblexp8.jpg

Our military is now strong compared to all.

Killed 12 units, no losses, ... 1 elite victory.

IT
No attacks, we do inflict some ZoC hits. And we get another crusader.

Turn 193 - 780AD
Osnabrück is founded near Karakorum.

Barbarossa rushes a courthouse in Augsburg, near Verbotene Stadt. There's a lot of jungle to clear and a lot of growing to do, but it'll become a good city eventually. And I want to fish for more leaders of course. ;)

Our cavalry army kills 2 rifles in Besançon:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5108/mump6besanconak8.jpg

Another cavalry army starts working on size 7 Avignon, in the west, killing a rifleman.

I can even spare a knight army to explore a little, and find:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9849/mump6foundparistp0.jpg

In the north I'm able to kill all units that are within range without problems. I can even kill the first rifleman in the Mongol capital city of Mandalgovi. That area also feels much more secure now.

IT
A roading crew of three workers is taken by a French rifleman. They found Rennes near the saltpeter. The Mongols must have sold something to the Egyptians, because they have most of the money again.

Turn 194 - 790AD
We found Erfurt to push the front further north.

Our cavalry army does poorly, and has to retreat after killing another rifleman in Mandalgovi. We will get our hands on that money though.

It's been a very long time since I last lost a unit, and now I do so because I stupidly mismanage the order of attacks, allowing an Egyptian cavalry to make a ZoC hit, which costs a cavalry the one extra hitpoint that could have made the difference against another cavalry.

Vengeance is exacted swiftly:

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1521/mump6ulaanbaatarhm2.jpg

I've highlighted a Hittite stack; they're showing up in larger numbers now. I lose another cavalry on the redlined rifleman you can see in the last picture. Another cavalry barely succeeds in killing him.

To the south then, 3 riflemen in two cities die to our cavalry armies:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7492/mump6rennesmw2.jpg

and

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9861/mump6avignonew2.jpg

Killed 13 units this turn, 2 with elites, lost 2 cavalry.

IT
Nothing worth mentioning happens.

Turn 195 - 800AD
The French are without gems. Their cities are shrinking every turn.

Kill only 4 units this turn, 2 with elites, no losses. I couldn't damage the Hittite stack, so they may attack us and do a lot of damage. Or they could move past us and be damaged next turn. Six armies are healing this turn.

We're up to 30 cavalry, and have one more elite knight to promote.

France is in fascism, and Egypt is in anarchy, so probably going that way too. The Mongols are communist.

I've put together a little map with some additional information:


http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/8504/mump6800adoverviewqb0.jpg

1 child and a lifespan of 26 years. Logan's Run, anyone? The rest is pretty good, considering the bonuses a Deity AI has. Doing very well, Mumpulus:hatsoff:

Good lord! You are like, invincible! Have you even lost a town yet!?

Good lord! You are like, invincible! Have you even lost a town yet!?

Sure I have! I've even lost a few already. Don't you remember the Karakorum shuffle? :mischief: But I haven't lost any towns when I didn't want to, except Karakorum once by culture flip, but that wasn't unexpected either.

Losing a town in an AW game is generally a very bad sign. You can afford to lose one now and then, when you're well established and you're able to react fast and take it back quickly. But in any other case, it usually means you're being overrun. It's mostly game over when a situation like that occurs.

That's especially true in this game, where I've been outnumbered 10 to 1 (or more) at several points in time. When you're playing defense against those numbers, you have to play very tactically. You pick battles you're almost certain to win, and block the AI where you can't win. You have to constantly keep an eye on possible movements, both by your own troops and by the AI's. Cultural influence from towns plays an important role in that, because you can use roads that lie within your territory, but the enemy cannot. If, within that scheme, a town suddenly and unexpectedly falls, the tactical plan generally falls into pieces as well, opening the gates to your entire empire.

All that just to emphasize that it's important not to lose towns, and that why I made sure I didn't.

Lose, not loose, Mump.

(sorry :blush:)

If saying loose instead of lose is the only thing wrong with his english, he is doing very well. Actually, I've noticed a few europeans on here that do that, so maybe it's something that comes from how english translates into french, german, or dutch. It doesn't bother me at all compared to some of the barely comprehensible threads written by some on here, though generally civ fans are quite literate.

If saying loose instead of lose is the only thing wrong with his english, he is doing very well. Actually, I've noticed a few europeans on here that do that, so maybe it's something that comes from how english translates into french, german, or dutch. It doesn't bother me at all compared to some of the barely comprehensible threads written by some on here, though generally civ fans are quite literate.
Well, I just noticed he was constantly using it in his last post, so I thought he was getting it wrong.

I correct people sometimes because I like it when someone corrects me when I'm speaking in a foreign language.

(sorry :blush:)

If saying loose instead of lose is the only thing wrong with his english, he is doing very well. Actually, I've noticed a few europeans on here that do that, so maybe it's something that comes from how english translates into french, german, or dutch. It doesn't bother me at all compared to some of the barely comprehensible threads written by some on here, though generally civ fans are quite literate.Well, I just noticed he was constantly using it in his last post, so I thought he was getting it wrong.

I correct people sometimes because I like it when someone corrects me when I'm speaking in a foreign language.

(sorry :blush:)

Don't fight over a small typo, still it is nice if someone corrects your mistakes/typos. I am not speaking nor writing native/good English either, but Most people understand what I try to say. Mumpulus here writes a lot of better.

And Mumpulus, How long it takes for you to complete a turn? 20 minutes, longer if calculating/MMing? What are main things you should care about in AW? I know kill-to-death ratio. Did you plan the forb. palace before? (sorry for annoying, but I'd like to know.)

BTW. AWSOME work here.

Lose, not loose, Mump.

(sorry :blush:)

Ansar, I'm so :mad: at you now! [pissed]

I mean, why on earth do you ... wait so long to notice and/or mention that. You know, I had to go through the entire thread to fix the many "looses" that were in here? Heck, I'll have to go through all my posts just to make sure there are no more of them. (Ok, I'm not going to do that.)

No, seriously now: like you I appreciate if mistakes like this are pointed out to me. It wasn't a simple typo, I just had this one completely wrong. I don't know why, because I actually knew this, yet I made the mistake consistently. You may have noticed I try hard to get my spelling and grammar correct, and in general to present this story in the best way I can. So I really appreciate you pointing that out, thanks.

Now, if you and Overseer and NWolf could edit your posts into some general praise or something, no-one will ever know. :mischief:

How long it takes for you to complete a turn? 20 minutes, longer if calculating/MMing?

I don't know exactly, because I don't keep track of time, but I think it is even a bit longer. It depends on a lot of factors of course. I type my report and make pictures as I go along. If I have to edit a picture, that takes some time too. Making the report and the pictures actually helps me to focus on the game itself, sometimes drawing my attention to something I wouldn't otherwise have noticed. When that happens I tend to go over the entire situation again to make sure I'm not overlooking anything. If it's been a while since I last played, I actually reread my own report to regain my bearings. Sometimes it feels like I'm playing a succession game with a team of one.

I also get carried away with providing more background information. For example when I did the overview of all cities, that took an entire afternoon. The big maps also take some time to put together of course.

The actual playing time varies with the situations I'm faced with. When there are a lot of enemy units, you have to plan ahead a bit. Such turns can easily take an hour. When I get rails, turns will take even longer because I really try to squeeze everything out. I use wounded units or units that have attacked already as MP then, which results in constant shuffling, and the need to go over the entire battlefield to determine how I'm going to use my units. I find this really fun to do, so I tend to take it to extremes.

Concerning micromanagement: I go over every town every turn, because it makes such a huge difference. All available funds go towards research, so every coin and every shield counts. Settling CxxC gives a lot of flexibility in tile assignment, but as long as cities are growing, or as long as infrastructure is being built that changes production/happiness, or as long as tiles are improved, you have to keep an eye on things. There are a few core cities that are stable now, but whenever an enemy unit lands, the very precise micromanagement is thrown off, and you have to compensate by some temporary changes.

What are main things you should care about in AW? I know kill-to-death ratio.

The main thing I think is balance. Sure, there are some specific elements that any experienced AW player will put forward (high kill ratio, CxxC settling, build roads, always expand, GLib is important or indispensable, careful not to wreck economy when switching to monarchy, etc.), but I don't think any of those is sacred at all times. Exceptional situations require exceptional measures. The thing with AW is you can't make peace, so there's no way to take a break and regroup if things start to go downhill. That's why I think balance is the key word: there's only a very narrow zone of comfort where you can move during an AW, and you have to be constantly vigilant to stay within that zone. If you stray too far, things can turn bad very fast. I think the main appeal of AW games for me is this balancing act.

Did you plan the forb. palace before?

The forbidden palace doesn't have the same effect as the first palace, and it's generally more important to get it up early, rather than wait to get it in a better location. But I still like to get a second, smaller core up around the FP. It must have been around turn 75 that I decided to put the FP where I did. It is an excellent location with both commerce and production, and equally good sites around.

I do appreciate these questions; let's me know I'm not writing this for nothing. So don't hesitate to ask. I also always welcome any constructive criticism.

Very entertaining to read :goodjob::D

Try GOTM. This month pangae, Celts, Deity

Thanks for replies, I'm reading and it is interesting for me, looking what you do, how you do, is good way to learn, for me. I bet many other, better players, than me, also read to learn.
Thanks for replies again.

IT
The Mongols found a town not far from where Dalandzadgad used to be. The Russians land 1 and the French land 3 units at Freiburg, all defense 1. With all our cavalry in transit from the core to the front, that won't be a problem. We see the first shore bombardment, by the Hittites, at Hamburg. I'm glad the game lasted this long without. I'll pull back the trebuchets I have there now blocking landings. The occasional tile blockage from a landing isn't as bad now as a pillaged tile.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/2664/mump6physicsmh4.jpg

Turn 196 - 810AD
Our knight army kills the single regular rifleman in the new Mongol settlement, and we can now research Magnetism in 5 turns instead of 10:

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/7527/mump6altayvb5.jpg

The Mongols had 11779 gold at the start of this turn.

In the north, Regensburg is founded to further shield Karakorum and to establish a better front. Combat there doesn't go so well, because a veteran cavalry dies on a Hittite MDI (healthy veteran on a hill, but still). Our unit count there is increasing steadily, so this doesn't become a real problem.

On the French side, a cavalry army kills 2 riflemen in Marseilles, but a longbowman holds the town.

Killed 13 units this turn, 2 with elites. Lost 1 unit.

IT
A healing crusader on a hill defends against a Hittite MDI. The Hittites also land a single unit next to Freiburg. Arab and Egyptian cavalry show up in larger numbers now.

Turn 197 - 820AD
The situation is the north is a bit tricky:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8288/mump6820adnorthgy6.jpg

As you can see, the Egyptians nor the Hittites can reach our towns, even with their vanguard. They can't reach our pikeman stack (southeast of the wines) either, provided the crusader stack (southwest of the wines) holds. I can give up those two positions for one turn, and wait to attack the cavalry until next turn. I'll have to handle the Hittite stack I've highlighted either way, to keep them from attacking our pikeman position if we hold it, or to avoid them taking that position with too strong a force.

I'd like to keep one army in place beyond the mountains. They're pinging units as they pass by, as you can see with the two Arab cavalry on the mountain (they're at 3 and 2 hitpoints, just from ZoC hits). The Hittites on the wines are a veteran musketman and an elite MDI. I can take those with the healthy knight army, and still move onto crusader hill to hold that. There's another army healing beyond the mountains that can take care of pinging next IT. That way, I can move the cavalry army forward again, and converge next turn with the then healed knight army and attack Mandalgovi.

Execution of that plan goes well, and only a longbowman remains for the Hittites, because I can't hold the mountain after I take the last unit. I upgrade a pikeman in Karakorum to help with that soon. We have an elite pikeman fortified on hills with trebuchet support to defend should the longbowman attack.

Another picture after the fighting is done:

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6175/mump6820adnorthafterjf8.jpg

I have 2 cavalry next to Osnabrück, and more in the wine colony area. I do lack artillery to support the Erfurt-Osnabück line. Once Mandalgovi has fallen, I can found a new town and lay down some roads to share the trebuchets with the wine area.

On to the southern front then: a cavalry army kills 2 riflemen in Bayonne, but there's another one. The army at Marseilles has to heal, and a knight army I had planned on moving in to help has to be diverted to kill a longbowman threatening one of our settlers. French troops have converged at Duisburg now, but the numbers are easily manageable, and in the end only a yellowlined rifleman remains. I could use a veteran cavalry to attack, but the rifleman is on a forest and I don't think he'll attack our elite pikeman anyway.

I killed 15 units this turn, 6 with elites, and incurred no losses.

Science can go down a notch, to 80% at -87gpt.

How long it takes for you to complete a turn? 20 minutes, longer if calculating/MMing?

I've timed myself during these last two turns, not very precisely, but it should give an idea of exactly how slow I am. :)

I spent 8 minutes micromanaging before going into the first IT. I always take things a bit slower the first IT after a break, to remember what was going on, and because I've learned from experience that my own micromanagement isn't always optimal on the last turn I play, late at night.

I spent 8 minutes on the first IT, that is watching the AI move, writing a short log entry, and polishing the tech picture.

I spent 35 minutes on the moves in turn 196, which included dotmapping the north and thinking of German places I've been to name the new town.

I spent 9 minutes micromanaging before going into the second IT.

I spent 5 minutes on the second IT.

I spent 14 minutes making the first tactical picture in turn 197, then spent 9 more minutes after that drawing up and writing down the final plan for turn 197.

Execution of turn 197 then took 18 minutes. That included thinking about how to redeploy the cavalry units in the Freiburg area (who were there to clear the landing during turn 196), based on troop movements from the French and the cavalry in the north. I'm also micromanaging worker actions in the ring around Verbotene Stadt, to get that area improved as efficiently as possible. There are 22 native workers and 38 slaves in that area.

I spent 6 minutes on micromanaging before saving and calling it a night.

I spent 50 minutes finalizing the report, and making another picture (the aftermath in the north).

I spent 5 minutes writing this post.

That's pretty fast, if you ask me. I take that long in an Emperor level SG, in the early MA.

Just played 8 turns in 6 hours :)

IT
The usual landings occur near Freiburg/Mönchengladbach, including a veteran rifle on jungle this time. The Arabs found a town near our wines. Another crusader emerges in Karakorum.

Turn 198 - 830AD
I have no artillery to weaken the French rifleman that landed. An elite cavalry is the best I can do, and it retreats after taking off 2 hitpoints. A 4hp elite cavalry starts by taking off another hitpoint, but then loses 4 rounds in a row and dies. Another 4hp elite cavalry redlines before finally finishing the job.

Our settlers found two new towns: Ludwigshafen and Oberhausen.

The French rifleman at Duisburg didn't attack, but kindly moved onto flat land for us to attack with an elite cavalry:

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/6246/mump6killercavalryir9.jpg

That was the 17th elite victory since the last leader.

One of our cavalry armies kills 2 riflemen, and:

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/7973/mump6bayonnezb4.jpg

The first action in the north is our army killing three riflemen:

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/3382/mump6mandalgoviys3.jpg

We lose a cavalry on one of the Egyptian cavalry, who moved to a hill, but have no problems clearing everything out. Our knight army kills a pikeman and a spearman and razes Fez. I move one army even further north and spot Hittite cavalry.

Killed 17 units this turn, 6 with elites, lost 2.

With all that money, I decide to rush a few settlers, and I also short-rush towards a few courthouses near Verbotene Stadt.

IT
A single landing this turn by an Egyptian cavalry.

Turn 199 - 840AD
Cavalry armies charge, razing two French towns:

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/9959/mump6marseillesgh6.jpg

and

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4655/mump6toulousehx5.jpg

Paris is disconnected from the rest of the world.

While dispatching a Hittite longbowman, I get yet another leader:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/2126/mump6northerncavalryhp9.jpg

That was the 6th elite victory since the last leader. I move the new leader towards Verbotene Stadt to rush our first bank next turn, then right after that almost lose a knight army on a cavalry. Another knight army also redlines while killing a second rifleman in Batshireet.

Killed 16 units this turn, 2 with elites, no losses.

A view of the north:

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7656/mump6840adnorthpe8.jpg

IT
We win 2 battles on defense, with a promotion for our musketman defending the wine colony, but our army at Batshireet is killed by Hittite cavalry. The Hittites also land a longbowman near Kiel.

Turn 200 - 850AD
Trier is founded in old French lands.

Otherwise a very uneventful turn, with only 5 units killed, 3 with elites, no losses.

IT
The Aztecs land 2 swordsmen near Freiburg. The money has gone back to Egypt.

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6906/mump6magnetismdh5.jpg

Turn 201 - 860AD
Found Reutlingen and Ulm.

To compensate for the earlier army loss:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1492/mump6compensationcavalrat4.jpg

We have 11 armies now, 4 with knights and 7 with cavalry.

Make that 10 armies, because I lose a cavalry army while attacking Rheims. A second army finishes the job:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6205/mump6rheimspy6.jpg

Killed 17 units this turn, 4 with elites, lost 6 units.

IT
We kill a French longbowman on defense, with a promotion to elite for our pikeman. No landings this time.

My subjects honor me with a palace expansion.

Turn 202 - 870AD
Kill 2 units in Erdenet, the last Mongol town to our south, but it takes a lot out of the armies.

Found Heilbronn in the north.

Kill 7 units in total, 2 with elites, no losses.

IT
Our elite musketman on Wine Mountain redlines an elite cavalry, but ultimately dies. We get another crusader. A French rifleman lands at Kiel. The Aztecs finally learn chemistry.

Turn 203 - 880AD
Found Ingolstadt and Pforzheim. A cavalry army kills 2 riflemen in Erdenet, and we capture the city:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6367/mump6erdenetze2.jpg

Kill 9 units, 4 with elites, no losses.

IT
The Egyptians do some shore bombardment ... on the French. A French rifleman retreats an elite cavalry. The Hittites don't attack our troops on the mountains with veterans.

Turn 204 - 890AD
The Egyptians are settling close to the front, which allows us to fund our deficit research again:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5313/mump6butoei7.jpg

When I move the army further, it gathers some very useful geographical information:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6902/mump6890adnorthsn4.jpg

The last two Mongol cities are visible.

Killed 11 units, 5 with elites, no losses.

IT
One landing only, an Aztec MDI. No combat. We build our first privateer in Bremen; let's see if I can make a whole fleet out of that one.

Turn 205 - 900AD
Our privateer sinks a Mongol galleon, but doesn't enslave. Our cavalry army kills a longbowman, and the Mongols are down to one city:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3442/mump6batshireetli6.jpg

Found Kaiserslautern near the wines.

Killed 7 units, 1 with an elite, no losses.

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6504/mump6900admilitaryht6.jpg

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6125/mump6900adsouthkw8.jpg

Wow!!!! Nice progress, Mumpulus!

Yes, I did a good push there. I expect to speed up the conquests even more once I get rails. I can already reveal that I played the IT last night because I was so curious what free tech I'd draw, but unfortunately it wasn't Steam Power. ETA on that tech is 12 turns at 100% science, although I may get that down a bit with some heavy micromanagement.

Once Paris falls, I'll never have happiness issues again, with the added gems luxury resource, and Bach's Cathedral. On the other hand, with the Mongols and the French out of the game, the other AIs might focus their attention more on me. Still, I don't think I can lose this game now. It'll be a while before the UN can be built, and I'm sure I'll have panzers by then to deal with that just in case. Who knows, I may finish this game without a golden age.

This will be quite the accomplishment :goodjob: - maybe the hardest variant possible without the agricultural trait, the industrious trait and a golden age (at least before the game is in the barrel), and although the geography of your start was pretty good, your starting terrain, in terms of f/s/g, was kinda bad I thought.

What a feat this may be. Have fun pushing the mop :D !

This will be quite the accomplishment :goodjob:

Thanks Own. :)

I still feel this game was too easy to qualify as a really great accomplishment. With all the AIs fighting each other, I didn't see nearly as much action as in the other attempts I made before this. The difference is huge. Right now, with cavalry and soon railroads, there's even less of a challenge. I'm silently hoping all AIs will make peace and give me a run for my money.

your starting terrain, in terms of f/s/g, was kinda bad I thought.

I didn't think so. I have plenty of rivers. There were only a few bad tiles for the first cities (jungle and desert), and there was no need at all to use those while the towns were small. By the time they had grown, the tiles had been improved. I haven't felt pressed for good tiles one minute during this game.

Of course, it still feels nice to win a game like this. I think I might as well confess now that this will be my second win on deity only, the first being your Defiant 5BC succession game. Of course, the attempts we made then marked the first time I even tried deity. I have played plenty of AWE standard and large pangaea, so I guess the "adds 2 difficulty levels" sounds about right. And I have about 5 years experience reading every single high level succession game, that also counts for something. :D

I think I might as well confess now that this will be my second win on deity only, the first being your Defiant 5BC succession game.

Although I have six deity wins, 2 sid wins and a sid game I'm playing right now that's deep in the barrel, I could never come close to winning a game like this (and I've tried a LOT). Your (and other players' like Greebley, Rat, NP and others) skill and patience at AW never fail to amaze me.

I may rejoin the SG community again, who knows. It's tough with a GF, high school, and extracurricular activities :( .

I would have no problem placing Mumpulus in the category of elite player. There is a level of attention, micro-management and game-knowledge that some can achieve, and I think this game proves Mump has reached that level. Excellent work!:thumbsup:

I still feel this game was too easy to qualify as a really great accomplishment. With all the AIs fighting each other, I didn't see nearly as much action as in the other attempts I made before this.
Well, I think I can safely say that many of us Mere Mortals with exactly zero Deity wins consider a game played this well at All-War Deity on Pangea to be a very, very big deal. I don't want to call it "victory" just yet, because I don't want to jinx you, but it's looking good. :hatsoff:

So who's left to knock off?

IT
We learn magnetism...

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/5170/mump6industrialty0.jpg

We draw nationalism as our free tech :(

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/7755/mump6erdenetdeposedhm8.jpg

I get another palace expansion.

Turn 206 - 910AD
I establish an incense colony, and turn research to 100%. After extensive micromanagement, in which I halt almost all growth in the outlying towns to employ a total of 44 scientists, Steam Power is due in 9 turns at -98gpt, with 490 in our treasury. We have a few enemy towns in sight for extra funding.

Kill two riflemen and retake Erdenet. Another army kills 3 riflemen, and we raze again:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1197/mump6poitiersow3.jpg

Found Würzburg between Pforzheim and Erdenet.

Killed 11 units, 1 with an elite, no losses.

IT
An Arab cavalry out of Choyr attacks and kills our fortified elite crusader on a mountain, just barely. The French are drawn to our unprotected incense colony, which just happens to be surrounded by flat land, as opposed to our most recent towns, which have hills and mountains all around. :groucho:

Turn 207 - 920AD
Start by killing a single rifleman in a freshly founded Egyptian town:

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/2820/mump6edfutr4.jpg

Our research rate has just become sustainable. :)

To my surprise, there are only 2 units in Rouen. Maybe the others were drawn or something. ;)

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/6499/mump6rouenvi3.jpg

Found Darmstadt between Mainz and Erdenet.

I decide to make some use out of nationalism, and draft two riflemen in Stuttgart, then immediately disband them and spend 240 gold to rush a university.

Killed only 6 units this turn, 1 with an elite, no losses.

IT
The Hittites land a cavalry at the usual landing spot near Kiel. We go 1-1 against Arab cavalry, while defending the wine colony mountain range. I think I'm going to build some riflemen.

Turn 208 - 930AD
Our cavalry army kills 2 riflemen, and an elite cavalry has the honor of finishing off a longbowman:

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/9069/mump6ulaangomwd6.jpg

And so it goes, that after 4930 years of bitter struggle and heroic battle, our first foe becomes permanently extinct:

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3428/mump6mongolsdeadpk6.jpg

Unfortunately, steam power will take an additional turn to research now. Then again, some serious scientist rehiring brings that back on course again.

Killed 11 units this turn, 5 with elites, 1 loss (vCav on vCav).

So who's left to knock off?

Answer: the French, the Aztecs, the Hittites, the Russians, the Egyptians, and the Arabs.

have you even seen the hittittes, russians or arabs? or aztecs, other than ship landings?

It took a while for them to wake up, but yes, I'm seeing units from all of them now.

The Russians have only landed a few units. I think the Aztecs are engaged elsewhere, because they're not doing much anymore outside the occasional landing. So I haven't seen much of them.

But the Hittites and Arabs, along with the Egyptians, have cavalry and are starting to show up in larger numbers now, mostly via land in the north. You can actually see all of them in various pictures above. They all have their usual color: the Egyptians are yellow, the Arabs are purple, and the Hittites are blue-green.

IT
I finally have a veteran musketman on one of those mountains near our wine colony, and he immediately sees action, killing an Arab cavalry and retreating a Hittite cavalry. The Arabs land 2 cavalry at Kiel (from the same ship no less). Things are definitely heating up in the north, with more cavalry approaching.

We build our very first bank in Konigsberg. It'll not do us much good during the run to steam power, but it most certainly will later on.

Our people celebrate once more, and give me another palace expansion. There's practically no more cavalry visible.

Turn 209 - 940AD
The southern front has gotten very wide, and it shows. The French have divided their forces a bit and I'm in a little trouble. Luckily, I can put some units on the mountains at Ingolstadt to have look if there are any enemy units hiding in the fog. They confirm all is clear, so I can move out a settler without protection. The arrows in the picture below show tiles revealed by positioning the trebuchets. I had already moved the settler when I took the screenshot. He'll be safe next IT, and maybe even cause the French to move back and forth again.

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/4294/mump6treboutlookvw1.jpg

In the east, our armies are well positioned to reveal everything within a three tile radius, to confirm that side is reasonably safe as well. I don't think the French have any fast movers left. I can see two sources of horses, one where Rouen used to be and one where Poitiers used to be, and they're both disconnected and no longer within French territory. In the picture below, I've again marked the tiles that are revealed by our units (armies this time), to make sure the position of the yellowlined rifle will be safe if I can't retreat my attacker after killing him. I could use the knight at Pforzheim for example (at 71% odds, I might do that do leaderfish). I'll leave the northern rifleman for next turn.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/6315/mump6armyoutlookgv6.jpg

In the north I have 5 cavalry to kill with little artillery support (I didn't get roads up in time), so that will be tricky. It's good to have a few armies handy.

If you look at the picture below, I've marked the path followed by the Arab and Hittite cavalry. I plan to move the eastern cavalry army and pillage some roads to slow those down. I'll move that army almost straight east after that to keep an eye on what's approaching. The western cavalry army will go for the Egyptian town first, then for the Arabs.

The Egyptian and Arab pairs in the east are settler pairs. The Egyptians have a lot of money, so I'll allow them to settle as long as it doesn't mean losing our wines. I'll try to kill the Arabs before they settle to get additional slaves.

At the bottom of the picture, you can see our settler which will make the link between Ulaangom and the rest of the kingdom. I have to get some more roading crews up there. I like to pillage a lot right in front of our lines to reduce enemy movement. For example, I've marked a hill south of our eastern cavalry army that I pillaged a few turns ago, so that no cavalry from that direction can reach beyond the river in one turn. But then of course I have to rebuild all those roads once I expand. When we get rails, I'll be able to respond much more easily to any threat, and I won't have to pillage as much.

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/5446/mump6northoutlookat9.jpg

Execution time. In France, the eastern army kills 1 rifleman, the central army kills another, and:

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1820/mump6dijonic0.jpg

That second army goes on to kill a rifleman in Strasbourg, which is 4 tiles southeast of Dijon. It's good I took a picture of the Dijon area before, because I couldn't remember where I could safely move the units captured there.

I want to speed things up a bit, and for that I need the knight army defending the incense colony. I take a chance and attack the healthy rifleman I marked before (with "!!") in the second picture above. That pays off, as our veteran cavalry survives with 2 hitpoints. He takes up resistance suppression duty in Erdenet after that, which is a nice bonus. I'd like to bring that town online quickly.

The elite knight at Pforzheim dies unfortunately, trying to kill the yellowlined rifleman at the incense colony. A cavalry easily finishes the job.

The knight army leaves his post at the incense colony, and kills another rifleman in Strasbourg. There's another rifleman there though. Now that's precisely why I wanted to use the incense army: now I have another knight army nearby that had been exploring and pillaging. It can just reach Strasbourg to kill the final rifleman:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/4269/mump6strasbourgbz0.jpg

If the French weren't feeling the pressure yet, they certainly will now. On the western side of this front, two cavalry armies are moving past Paris to move on Orleans, Tours and Chartres first (we can't see the latter two yet, but we will soon). I'll leave Paris for last because I want to keep it.

So much for the south. On the northern front they have riflemen too, but they are no match for our cavalry army:

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/761/mump6cempoalape4.jpg

While clearing out the cannon fodder in the north, I get a leader again:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/481/mump6steamrollingcavalrqf1.jpg

That was the third elite victory this turn (the first 2 were to clear the Hittite landing), and the 25th elite victory since the previous leader. You see, these things even out in the long run. :) I must admit it is a well timed promotion, because I wanted a fourth army to manage things in this area.

I spot the Arabic city of Muscat. That is their 13th city. It's worth noting that Anjar (9th) is Egyptian, and Baghdad (4th), Kufah (6th) and Fustat (10th) are Hittite. So the Arab core may have shifted a bit, and we could be pretty close to them already. Arabia doesn't have nationalism yet, so I may be able to cut through them fast. Especially with that new army I'll be making next turn.

There are two Hittite cavalry in the way for the eastern cavalry army to pillage the intended tile. Those cavalry will be able to reach our 3/4hp musketman and have decent odds, so I decide to take them out with the army.

I killed 17 units this turn, 3 with elites, 1 loss (with a 19% chance of that happening).

IT
Our musketman defeats an Arab cavalry, then our elite crusader retreats one but succumbs to another. In the south, a veteran cavalry I posted on a mountain defeats 2 riflemen and promotes. No landings.

Resistance in Erdenet ends.

Turn 210 - 950AD
Found Rostock.

Our cavalry armies have reached Orléans, and 3 riflemen die:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/24/mump6orleanskk2.jpg

Killed 7 units this turn, none with elites, no losses.

IT
Finally, finally, finally ... this game is starting to show it's deity. We have 11 cavalry, 2 riflemen and 2 musketmen coming in from the north, Arabs and Hittites. The Egyptians have been quiet for a few turns now. The Arabs found Shiraz. Too bad, I had hoped they would have move one tile further to come within range of the wines. They also have nationalism now.... No landings this turn.

We train our first veteran rifleman, and of course this has to be celebrated with another palace expansion.

Turn 211 - 960AD
Found Leverkusen.

Our armies keep moving at full speed:

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/3603/mump6chartresgy6.jpg

and

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2460/mump6lyonsdz2.jpg

A French galley has ventured too close to our shores, but our privateer fails to enslave again. It does promote to elite.

In the north I lose 2 cavalry on Hittite cavalry, so moving out the armies will have to wait a bit longer. I do get the opportunity to autoraze Shiraz, but it doesn't give any financial gain.

Killed 15 units this turn, 3 with elites, 2 losses.

IT
Our wine mountain musketman retreats an Arab cavalry. Other cavalry from the Hittites and Egyptians moves in less than ideal ways. No landings.

The Hittites acquire steam power, and I can get steam power down to 2 turns by hiring some more scientists.

Turn 212 - 970AD
One cavalry army kills a single rifleman in Tours, but can't kill the second because its movement has run out (had to cross some forest).

The situation in the north becomes more difficult every turn, but I always like a challenge. I am relieved however that I can start laying down some railroads in two turns. Otherwise the northern front could fold very soon.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/804/mump6970adnorthqe0.jpg

I have only 3 cavalry, all elite, that can attack and they do well. The armies do the rest of the work. They also perform exemplary, allowing me to use one cavalry army to kill two musketmen in Choyr:

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/7251/mump6choyrzw7.jpg

Killed 13 units this turn, 3 with elites, no losses.

Time for a little dotmap. As you can see, I'm not going to ICS the south, I'll use a normal CxxC-like settling pattern.

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/634/mump6southdotmapfk1.jpg

IT
We lose the musketman, a healing crusader and a worker on wine mountain. The Hittites bomb out a road with a frigate. No landings. The Egyptians found a town not far from us. We get our very last crusader in Karakorum.

Turn 213 - 980AD
A veteran crusader fails to take out a redlined rifleman, which is odd even if he is on a mountain. I use the armies to clear every single unit except one Arab musketman that I can take with an elite unit next turn. The cavalry army that razed Choyr continues on to Muscat and kills a musketman and a pikeman. The towns holds with a spearman still inside.

With only Paris left after this, I decide to keep Tours:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/2613/mump6toursvt1.jpg

Offenbach is founded in the north, and Erlangen in the south.

Killed 14 units this turn, 2 with elites, lost 1.

IT
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/9946/mump6steampowerdk3.jpg

With all the lands visible right now, I still can only see 2 coal sources, with one already hooked up. That's all we'll need.

Turn 214 - 990AD
I have to kill 7 units, but the inevitable happens:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7168/mump6pariszr7.jpg

And so it's two down, and five to go.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9203/mump6frenchdeadcr3.jpg

Excellent, I love seeing the French be themselves in the game, getting pwned by Germany.

Outstanding, Mumpulus!

Better keep 1 army down south until you get it settled, the AI knows every resource, and settler pairs will appear like magic to fill it up. WTG with France! Now you can focus on the north.

Thanks to all lurkers for cheering me on.

Better keep 1 army down south until you get it settled, the AI knows every resource, and settler pairs will appear like magic to fill it up.

Will they now? More slaves for me. :mischief:

I have been keeping a few cavalry on patrol around the western horses, and have already killed a settler pair in that area (although that settler was going for the saltpeter). I think I'll leave that area open until I have no other room to settle. The same with the eastern horses. That should net me some more slaves. If Egypt lands a settler, I'll even let them establish those new towns.

I see now that I made a mistake in my dotmap, because it doesn't keep Paris. With Bach's there, abandoning it is not an option. I've updated the dotmap to this:

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/6174/mump6southdotmapupdatedqm6.jpg

Since I have rails now, there's not as much need to keep armies close. I'll draw up a railing plan and will see how soon I can free up the armies. I want to kill the weaker settler defenders with elites to also get some more leaders while I'm at it.

This is my first post but I've been lurking for a long time. I really enjoy following this game and your SGs and have learned A LOT allowing me to start beating diety on a regular basis now so thanks for the lessons. I am just wondering if you plan on switching to communism eventually and if not why not?

Hi Mulok, thanks for posting.

I don't think I've ever used communism in any of the games I've played so far. I know the mechanics, I've just never felt the need to switch so far. Then again, I really haven't played that many games before (I didn't learn by doing as much as from reading stories and SGs, like you).

One thing I think I would dislike about it is the poprushing. I like to do the occasional short-rush, and poprushing is way to coarse for that, to my taste. (With my fixation on MM, you can imagine that just won't do.)

Some issues I see for this game (or any AW game in general) is that I would need to build a lot of courthouses, which would take a while since I'm not going to take a whole bunch of towns off troops. From what I've read in SGs, building courthouses is done up front, with a lot of rushing involved in corrupt cities. I don't have the money to do that, since everything is being dumped in heavy deficit research. Once I've switched, I would also need more libraries and universities to compensate for lost scientists (all corrupt cities are scientist farms now, but in communism most towns have to become producers to really benefit from the switch). Those are more infrastructure builds that would take precedence on military, which I also cannot afford.

Another thing is that this game now truly feels like it is in the bag. There's little use in spending 7 or 8 turns in anarchy now; I'd probably lose more on troop production during that period than I can make up for after. And I would have to research communism first, which also takes some more turns. At this stage, a lot can be accomplished in 10 turns, especially if I would get some more armies. I think this is the main reason why you don't see much switching to communism in AW games: by the time you can research it, the game is mostly over.

I can't think of much more to say on this. I must admit that the most important reason for not switching is that I don't know first hand what the effects of the switch will be.

If any other lurkers with more experience in this matter would care to chime in, that would be very much appreciated.

Communism is as Mump said, not worth the research or anarchy or the infrastructure builds in this game. If it were going to run several hundred more turns, that might be a different story(pun intended;)) The unit support in communism is spectacular but the economy isn't, and neither is research. That is a government of necessity for me in the few instances I use it. You can still do specialist farms, but it is less effective for some reason. Overall, Monarchy is still best for AW.

If you haven't really tried using communism before maybe you should make a separate save and just see how different it turns out. Whenever I go for a military victory I always get communism ASAP and last game I played made sure I got it before rails even. I was using 0% research and cash rushed courthouses, which you cant do since you have to self research, but after the transfer from Monarchy I was literally earning 1000gpt and 1000spt more and even with just libraries and no universities I could research techs in 5-6 turns at a profit. But also like you said the game is usually decided one way or another in these types of games this late.

I also I would like to point out that "Desperate Spearman" made me lol in your SG.

Turn 214 - 990AD - continued
Kassel is founded in the south.

Our slightly wounded cavalry army has more than enough power to kill 2 conscript riflemen, a regular spearman and a veteran longbowman and razes another Arabic town:

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/2596/mump6muscatnr7.jpg

The first three railroad segments are built. Many more will follow in the coming turns to establish a military rail net.

Killed 13 units this turn, 1 with an elite, no losses.

Leipzig is switched to a prebuild for the Theory of Evolution. No-one has medicine or electricity at this point, so I should be able to get that. I fire almost all scientists and go for maximum growth again. That takes research time on Medicine up from 7 turns to 9, but I'll be able to rehire more scientists soon, when our cities grow.

At this juncture, you must learn the truth about the real power behind the military and economic might of the Germans. It turns out it isn't Chancellor Bismarck who really holds the reins of power within the glorious German Kingdom. Instead, a powerful figure that looms in the shadows is directing every move and influencing every decision made by Bismarck. This secret ruler is called Mumpulus, and he has been steadily guiding the German people towards victory. Now that he is certain that victory can no longer escape the German civilization, he grows curious of exactly how fast or how easily total victory can be achieved.

From now on, the most important aspect determining the speed of conquest will be our nation's production capacity, and to a slightly lesser degree its capacity for fast research. Mumpulus is so powerful that he already has knowledge of technologies that are still to be uncovered by his subjects, and he knows the benefits associated with them. His intention is to research Replaceable Parts for sure, and then to continue towards Motorized Transportation to unlock a new military unit that will make the remainder of our enemies crumble. In order to drastically augment our production capacity, a detour will be made to Atomic Theory and Electronics, so that we may build the Hoover Dam. That detour will be facilitated by the construction of another great wonder: the Theory of Evolution.

But Mumpulus' confidence as to whether this is the best course of action is swaying. One of his many secret advisors has suggested that the German people should change their governemental structure, and adopt communism. It holds the promise of a very high unit support, but Mumpulus doesn't care much for that because many new towns are about to be established anyway to alleviate the negligible unit support problem we have now. There are other promises however that do interest him: a staggering production and research capacity.

Mumpulus is far from convinced that communism is the way to go. If none of his advisors had brought it up, he wouldn't even have considered it. But now his curiosity has taken the better of him, and he wants to find out. Now, there is no other way to really know but to try both possible paths and then compare the outcome. Mere mortals would have no way of doing this, but it turns out Mumpulus has more special powers.

It is at this point that another significant universe will come into existence within the Civilization multiverse. This alternate reality will begin in this year of our Lord 990. The difference between the known universe and the parallel universe will lie in this choice only: to go for the monarchy/ToE/RP/MT combo or to go for the communism/espionage/RP/MT combo. Mumpulus will use his power to shift back and forth between dimensions to make sure that every other decision be as similar as possible between the two realities. Keeping the dissimilarities at a minimum is a way to ensure that as little information as possible about the future in either timeline would seep through and influence decisions in the other timeline. But it is inevitable that both timelines will eventually diverge in more ways than just a governement choice. Mumpulus is confident however that he has sufficiently proved, to any onlookers there may be, that this victory was at hand regardless of the small amount of additional information the German people might be getting now, through the conscious creation of a new universe.

So then, research is not set to medicine, but towards communism instead. The number of turns required to research this other technology is exactly the same: nine. The ToE prebuild is switched to a cavalry due to finish on the IT. University builds are switched to military. Bonn and Dortmund are building settlers at more than 1spt, and are switched to courthouses. More settler builds will be switched to courthouses, but I'll wait with that until I have some money to short-rush them. Any excess money that isn't required to get to communism in the shortest amount of time will be spent on rushing those courthouses. But at this time there is no excess money, our research rate isn't even sustainable without additional funds. Of course, those additional funds will arrive soon, as we take enemy towns. Since railing is the most important worker action right now, there won't be any changes in tile improvements in preparation of our new governement. We will only make changes to that after the governement switch.

I also take a look at building the Secret Police HQ, but that requires researching Industrialization and Espionage. I was told by my advisor to go straight for communism, so that's what I'll do. I'll take care of this new small wonder once I've taken that first bridge.

I will put common events and meta-information in the usual black font, events unique to the monarchy universe in blue, and events unique to the communism universe in red.

IT
Hittite shore bombardment is getting worse. I'm building some frigates to ping them in case they're too far from shore to bombard them with artillery. The Hittites also land 2 cavalry at Kiel.

Turn 215 - 1000AD
Our cavalry army has some trouble killing a single rifleman, but this Egyptian town still goes down:

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/6052/mump6pithomsa7.jpg

I move a knight army onto a mountain and get pinged by an Arab cavalry.

Found Lübeck on the west coast.

I start disbanding regular spearmen and pikemen.

If you haven't really tried using communism before maybe you should make a separate save and just see how different it turns out.
So I'm going to try and do this. This implies that play will progress a bit slower. I plan to divide every turn in several different stages (military moves, worker moves, micromanagement, etc.), and play each stage back to back in the two versions. I'll have to come up with an easy and quick way to track what I do, to optimize my playing speed and still keep the two versions as closely together as possible.

As you can see, there's already a different combat outcome between the two universes. That may be due to slightly different play, since I did the monarchy turn for 1000AD two days ago, and the communism turn for 1000AD just now. That kind of discrepancy should diminish when I play the two versions back to back and interleaved.

On the other hand, different combat outcomes are inevitable. That change has already occurred and it cannot be reversed. However, I will do everything I can not to let the two story lines diverge too much much due to that. I'd rather slow down progress deliberately in one universe if by some fortuitous event there's a setback in the other, than to have both diverge further because of such things. The same goes for new armies: I probably won't use them until I get one in the other version as well. On the other hand, if by changed production in one version my progress can speed up, I won't hold back as much for that.

When I started thinking about doing this today, I wasn't very taken by the idea at first. It seemed quite a daunting task to play everything twice. But now that I've played one double turn, I'm getting more excited about it. I estimate that within 20 turns, it will be clear what the impact of the different governments is. I'll decide then if the two versions will live beyond that.

I've used communism once, in a 100K game.

To get the most out of it, you need Espionage, as well, so you can build SPHQ, and to get the absolute most out of it, you want metros.

I certainly wouldn't use it in a game where I'm not religious.

I spat out my water when I read what you are doing and this should prove an excellent experiment and easily put on display the pros and cons of both approaches. I do not know how large your empire is but I think it is only slightly smaller than mine was when I switched. I had conquered 3.5 other civs at the time but did not bother with the meticulous efficiency that you display in MM and city placement.

As a side note I was going for a conquest victory and my vast calvary army was about to go obsolete so I skipped Industrilization/Espionage because I wanted to end the game asap and knew that I wouldn't need the increased production for tanks. In the future you should yield many many leaders with your panzers to quickly rush SPHQ and I think during your GA you will see by far the biggest benefit of being in communism.

What I am looking forward to is the possibility of your GA and being mobilized for 1 turn tanks, but that might be a bit much since you can't unmobilize.

For empire size, I think I'll end up with 80 to 85 settlements if I fill out all the land I can see now. I think I'm seeing a narrow choke again further up north, so it may well be that I stop my expansion right there, and no longer replace razed cities.

I'll switch to communism as soon as I get it, but after that will go for espionage and the SPHQ as well. You're absolutely right that I'll be able to use a leader to rush it for sure.

Concerning metros, I don't think that's feasible in an AW game, with its tight city placement. That's probably another reason why communism isn't used much in AW games. Sure I could get a lot of small metros (size 13-15), but I think AutomatedTeller means large metros (size 21) to maximize the raw amount of shields and commerce. That's not doable with the limited number of available tiles per city, so I'm not going to bother with making the detour to sanitation.

I don't expect this game to last to panzers, or at least not long beyond that. But I do want to see the additional effect of a GA, so if that estimate turns out to be correct, I'll just go back after I finish the actual game and keep one enemy city in play to test that. Again, this is something that doesn't apply to a "normal" AW game though, because there in general the GA has long passed by the time you get to communism.

Mobilization then is another aspect of the game I've never explored. I'll see about that when I get to that point. I'm a builder at heart (;)) so I might not like it very much I think.

monarchy in blue, communism in red. See parallel universe explanation.]

IT
The Hittites attack the Arabs! Just some bombardment on us, no landings.

Turn 216 - 1010AD
We establish a gems colony.

Kill four units with two armies, and raze another Arab town:

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/4468/mump6yamamahs5.jpg

In this picture you can also see we've found another narrow choke point.

IT
The Arabs land two settler pairs near the southwestern horses. One of their cavalry dies on our cavalry on a mountain. Some bombardment and one cavalry landing from the Hittites. A larger group of Egyptian cavalry is approaching. We build our first frigate.

Turn 217 - 1020AD
Four elite cavalry kill the landed units and an Arab musket that ventured too close in the north. The last attack gets me this:

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2845/mump6royalistcavalryym1.jpg

That was the 13th elite victory since the last leader.

I explore a bit with our new frigate and set a trap for a Hittite frigate that has been bombarding Stuttgart.

Jena is founded between Leverkusen and Pforzheim. Halle is founded between Lübeck and Paris.

:old:

I'm not senile, but I do forget things. :D

Mumpulus, at the top of your turn logs, could you remind us each time what your colorized text means? Nothing fancy or wordy; just a note to say that blue is communism, red is common and black is monarchy. Or is it blue is common, red is monarchy and green is communism?

monarchy in blue, communism in red. See parallel universe explanation.]

IT
One landing at Kiel by the Aztecs, some bombardment by the Egyptians and the Hittites, and lots of Egyptian cavalry approaching in the north.

Turn 218 - 1030AD
Our elite privateer sinks a Hittite frigate, but doesn't enslave.

Worms is founded near the incense, Speyer near the French saltpeter.

Way up north, our cavalry army kills 2 riflemen and a longbowman, and razes:
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/3684/mump6emaruz4.jpg

Killed 7 units this turn, 1 with an elite, no losses.

IT
Some bombardment only.

I hadn't noticed before, but there's this small wonder we can build in Oberhausen:
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5462/mump6ironworkspopupom6.jpg

I'll certainly build that at some point.

Turn 219 - 1040AD
It takes 4/3 armies, but we still kill all riflemen and longbowmen in Najran, and raze it:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/1200/mump6najranmonsw3.jpg
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/6369/mump6najrancomql0.jpg

Killed 9 units this turn, 3/4 with elites, no losses.

IT
No landings, all shore bombardment fails. The Egyptian cavalry moves into range.

Turn 220 - 1050AD
Our elite/veteran privateer sinks an Aztecs caravel, but no enslavement again.

We kill 6/4 Egyptian cavalry, and one of the attacks gives us this:

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9554/mump6commiecrusadercb4.jpg
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7544/mump6copycatcavalryqn0.jpg

That was the 7th/20th elite victory since the last leader. One new army enters the playing field.

Found Pirmasens and Bamberg.

Killed 7/5 units this turn, all with elites, no losses.

Three turns to go on medicine. Two turns to go on communism.

If you're trying to see which is better, I'm going to put my money on monarchy. Cities that were previously too corrupted to be productive will still have the problem of being undeveloped, and their eventual development and productive capacity will have little significance to a game in the mop-pushing stage already. Also, losing the ability to cash rush settlers will be costly in communism, and a 8 turns of anarchy or so would be painful.

Of course, you're going to win either way; I simply predict an earlier win date with the monarchy universe.

I also think that monarchy will be better, because of the flexibility of cash-rushing. Then again, cash rushing settlers and other stuff will not apply for two reasons: I'm not planning to settle much beyond the Najran choke, and I'll have no money to spare because I'll continue research towards RP, and then MT after that.

My plan right now is to put down 4 towns in the Najran area, put a knight army in each of them, and keep some empty towns just behind them. The enemy will pass in between the towns suffering ZoC hits, then my artillery and hordes of cavalry will do the rest.

That should allow me to free up all cavalry armies and start razing non-stop. Right now, too many armies are tied up covering roading crews and directing the enemy cavalry to the spot where I want them to go.

Development of towns that are corrupt in monarchy should go very fast. The military rail net should be complete in two turns, and many new towns have already been taken care of in terms of improvements. The only thing left to do is to rail the core. That will go a bit slower during anarchy, but still, by the time I get out of anarchy, most towns will have reached size 12 and our worker crews should be able to make adjustments to tile improvements very quickly then. I'll provide you all with a worker count next time I play some turns, to give you an idea of how fast all that should play out.

And finally, I'm not sure if we'll get to see which universe has the fastest finish, because play is very, very slow now, and I don't think I'll continue both universes for long after the switch. It's just too tedious, doing all that micromanagement twice per turn. I just want to have a look at the effect on production, and that's it.

I Personally like communism, but I am not advanced player, communism only dominates in end game period and it slows down ancient/medieval ages by 80 shields and few gpt. Monarch player can win more land in medieval and ancient age.

Only way(IMO) to go from perfect monarchy to communism is skip few turns and build courthouse in many cities as possible(cash rush). few courthouse do wonders with empire, but turns lost to change might be hard to redo.

Oh and here is BasketCase's story/turnlog from 'My First Diety Game' about how he switched onto communism, You might find this interesting for your thoughts, he did.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=116937&page=5

Oh, here are his final thoughts:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=116937&page=9

Why on earth would you build Iron Works at some point in that town? It is very very hard to justify communism for a non religious nation. The range of empires that can use it is so narrow.

If it is not large enough, if fails, if it is too large it fails. So unless one is not going to continue to grow, you cannot afford to research optional techs and take long anarchy.

Why on earth would you build Iron Works at some point in that town? It is very very hard to justify communism for a non religious nation. The range of empires that can use it is so narrow.

There are two questions/statements in the above. The first is about the Iron Works. While Oberhausen is a 1spt town right now, in monarchy, I expect is to be reasonably productive under communism. If I get a leader and I don't really need another army, I might as well rush it, just to see the result. It's not as if I'll need that extra production at this point in the game. This would just be in the same vein as switching to communism in the first place.

Concerning the switch to communism in itself, I fully agree: I would never have considered switching, if my curiosity hadn't been aroused by this lurker comment:
If you haven't really tried using communism before maybe you should make a separate save and just see how different it turns out.

I decided to go ahead with this for two reasons:

I've never ever used communism myself, and I would like to see how it works. From what I've read about it in SGs, I'm thinking that my empire size will be about right for it. That's just a hunch though, I haven't looked at any numbers (OCN etc.) yet.
I'm playing a monarchy version and a communism version, to actually compare both when everything else in the game will be in the same state (almost) exactly. I'm not sure if a detailed comparison like this has ever been done on these forums before? Regardless, I hope some people might find it useful to get some more insight into this.

If it is not large enough, if fails, if it is too large it fails. So unless one is not going to continue to grow, you cannot afford to research optional techs and take long anarchy.

Those are clear drawbacks, and an important part of why I wouldn't have done it myself, but Mulok stated that these drawbacks are offset very rapidly by the gains from communism. I'm just going to see if that true. :)

I can't image it is right in very many scenarios. How do you gain back 8 turns of no production? Not to mention the pain of having to go around fix all the unhappiness. Often resulting in loss of pop.

The reason I raised my eyebrow on the Iron Works is you said something like you would surely do it. So it will cost a bunch and gain little, except pollution.

True you could do it with a leader, but they are better for armies or even a market in a farm town or an aqua. The big thing is it pollutes a lot an is in a place that will be corrupt. Again you could reduce it with Communism, but that is a very high price to pay for so little net return.

Once you get to cav armies the game will go so fast a gov switch would make no sense. I usually see player talk up communism in huge maps on medium or low levels, but those games are not much of a test.

They tend to last way way too long and should have been won already. They seem to have large AI civs to content with as they build every structure know to man.

monarchy in blue, communism in red. See parallel universe explanation.]

I finally got a chance to play a little again, so here goes. I played two turns in the monarchy universe only. I may edit the communism turns into this post later, or post it separately, depending on what I feel like continuing next time I have some time to play.

Turn 221 - 1060AD
It's been more than a month since I last played this game. How did this work again? Ah, yes:

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4882/mump6ahyesjx0.jpg

Roading crews were put in place last turn, which allows me to clean up all approaching units, and move armies forward:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6589/mump6teayoek4.jpg

Killed 13 units this turn, 6 with elites, no losses. The very first attack yielded a leader; that was the 5th elite victory since the last leader I got.

After heavy micromanagement, I get Medicine down to 1 turn.

IT
No attacks on us outside some shore bombardment; the AIs are still fighting among each other.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/1632/mump6medicinekz9.jpg

Turn 222 - 1070AD
Found Flaschenhals, Ostflaschenhals and Südflaschenhals in the choke area.

Two cavalry armies remove some cultural pressure there:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9836/mump6damascusmt5.jpg

Two more cavalry armies kill 3 riflemen and a cavalry in Tamuin:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9695/mump6tamuinro2.jpg

All we can see now are Arab borders.

While cleaning up loose units in the Tamuin area, I lose an elite crusader.

Killed 11 units this turn, 3 with elites, 1 loss.

Micromanage for growth and production again, and Electricity is due in 11 turns at 100% science, and -82gpt.

Below is an overview of the northern wastelands, with the new front in the choke area. I'll not settle past this choke, except maybe to control some resource. Remaining settling spots are marked. The rail net towards the core is almost complete. I'll start improving the core next turn, while extending the rail net on the front towards enemy towns I can attack. With all the razing I'm about to start, I should get plenty of slaves too.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1180/mump6northernwastelandio3.jpg

monarchy in blue, communism in red. See parallel universe explanation. What follows is in monarchy only.]

IT
The Egyptians found a new town within reach. Other than that, only some shore bombardment at Flaschenhals.

Turn 223 - 1080AD
The new Egyptian town burns, but not before we collect more research funds.

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/576/mump6busirisak6.jpg

I lose a veteran cavalry on a 3hp pikeman, but still take two more Arabic cities:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6594/mump6khurasanta3.jpg

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/339/mump6mansurare9.jpg

Killed 16 units this turn, 8 with elites, lost 1.

IT
I had mismoved a trebuchet last turn. The riflemen covering it go 1-1 against Egyptian cavalry, with a promotion to elite. The Russians land a settler pair in the south.

Turn 224 - 1090AD
Nordflaschenhals is founded to complete our blockade. Even if by some freak occurrence two of the towns there fall, we'll now have a backup line. Baden Baden is founded in the south.

The Arab capital falls to our armies:
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/7265/mump6meccakb0.jpg

At Basra, I was able to put some artillery into place last turn, and so I can attack with cavalry.

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4232/mump6basrazu9.jpg

Our armies move forward and spot a yellowlined rifleman in Baghdad. There's no problem to eliminate the defenses:

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/5320/mump6baghdadgt6.jpg

I don't have many units to spare, and lose a veteran cavalry on a 2hp rifleman to boot. I do gain another leader near the ivory found where Mecca used to be, with the 20th elite victory since the last leader:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/3545/mump6tuskercavalrynm5.jpg

With plenty of armies available, the next Arabic city falls quickly:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6792/mump6medinaeq0.jpg

I scout with an army, and I can just reach Aden. It takes some creative railroading, and I have to redline an army, but I succeed in taking another Arabic city:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4140/mump6adentw8.jpg

... which turns out to be their last:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4026/mump6arabsdeadlx7.jpg

I decide to keep Aden for its wonder.

I killed 31 units this turn, 7 with elites, 1 loss.

IT
I lose a trebuchet stack and an elite cavalry to the Hittites. It could have been worse though, with how our troops were overextended following that last turn.

Turn 225 - 1100AD
I get those trebuchets back.

I want to remove cultural pressure on Aden, so I use some wounded armies and knight armies to take down Malinalco. Other than that, this will be a healing turn.

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/227/mump6malinalcotf0.jpg

Found Landau near Paris.

IT
I lose 2 worker stacks to a Hittite cavalry.

Turn 226 - 1110AD
I can recuperate one worker stack, the other one must have been killed.

We also get some payback from the Hittites:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/448/mump6fustatkm1.jpg

Our cavalry armies move forward again, and find the Egyptian core:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/892/mump6gizawj0.jpg

I use some of that money to rush some settlers.

Found Coburg in the south.

Killed 16 units this turn, 6 with elites, no losses.

IT
A cavalry that captured some workers in the jungle defeats 2 Egyptian cavalry and promotes.

Turn 227 - 1120AD
Found Schweinfurt, Bayreuth, Fürth, Ansbach, Schwabach, Aschaffenburg, and Dormagen, and move 5 more settlers into position in the south. Establish a dyes colony and an ivory colony in the north. The German people control at least one source of each luxury resource now.

The next Egyptian town falls:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/4607/mump6anjarqk0.jpg

I lose a cavalry army on a regular rifleman in Kufah, but the city still falls:

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/5641/mump6kufahbh7.jpg

Killed 17 units this turn, 5 with elites, 5 units lost (army filled with 4 cavalry).

IT
A cavalry in the jungle defends against a Hittite MDI.

I get three palace expansions :)

Turn 228 - 1130AD
Found Edelstein, Düren, Recklinghausen, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, and Solingen. The south is completely settled now:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/777/mump6southgermany1130adci4.jpg

The steamroller is picking up speed:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1576/mump6chalcody8.jpg

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6360/mump6elephantinevw3.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1977/mump6steamrollercavalrypp6.jpg
(That was the 18th elite victory since the last leader.)

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/3665/mump6tulayw4.jpg

Killed 21 units this turn, 7 with elites, no losses.

Not trying to jynx you, but once you get a full railroad going from your core to the battle front, this game is over.

Anyone else thinking that?

I have a full military rail net right now, from core to front, and to all areas of the landmass so that I can respond to any threat immediately (with, if necessary, some additional railing that can be done in a single turn). After the discovery of Steam Power, it only took a few turns to construct the most essential part of the rail net (from the Verbotene Stadt area towards the front at the time (wines area)).

I think this game was over some time ago. I'd say the point where I no longer had any fear of suffering a military loss was around 750AD, when I had razed the French cities that controlled their saltpeter source and cleared their last big stacks. Even before that, cutting their saltpeter road was essential in keeping the French manageable. At the same time, the northern front narrowed, so even if all AIs had made peace right then, I would have been able to hold on, even without railroads. If the French had been able to research Military Tradition sooner, or if they had been able to protect their saltpeter source better, I would probably have had a lot more trouble defeating them.

Right now, the AI isn't throwing much at me at all, not even the civs that seem to be at peace with everyone else. I'm almost through the jungle on the eastern half of the pangaea, so there's not much to slow me down. Depending on how much armies get depleted in attacks and have to be taken out of action to heal, I estimate this game will be over in 10 to 15 turns (44 cities left to raze).

I don't have much time to spend on civ these days, so it could be a while before I finish this game. I've been playing the monarchy universe only these last few sets, but I will definitely continue the communism universe after I finish the monarchy version, and present my thoughts on that.

Reading this log it seems so easy to defeat Diety. I'm sure the reality is very different, at least the first time.

:goodjob:

This was very inspirational. Kudos to you for winning deity on this hard variant.

I think it your win on AW Diety is even more impressive than the various Sid AW threads because you played on a Pangaea and took a rather average start rather than restarting thousands of times until you got 2 cattle on grassland. I've defintely learned a lot from you writings on tactics, kill zones, and micro-management.

I vote that you will do better in Monarchy than Communism in this game, but only by a little. If there were more AI remaining and you were not in such a steamroller position I would say that Communism would quickly make up for 5-8 turns of anarchy over the next 20-30 turns.

At last a little time to play some more. I have decided to use some combat settlers to speed things up a bit.

IT
Three roading crews are lost.

Turn 229 - 1140AD

The second fight of this turn(set) and the sixth elite victory since the last leader gives me:

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5680/backtobusinesshu4.jpg

One combat settler and two armies later:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6426/mump6kadeshtn6.jpg

See that longbowman near Combat 1? I use the last ancient attacker I have, and I'll finally be able to upgrade this guy:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9440/mump6lasthorsemanfy8.jpg

Another combat settler and four armies allows us to do this:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5214/mump6hieraconpolisqu9.jpg

19 units killed this turn, 8 with elites, no losses.

IT
An Egyptian cavalry kills a 7hp cavalry army and retakes Hierancopolis. I also lose a crusader to an Egyptian cavalry.

We get another two palace expansions.

Turn 230 - 1150AD

A single army suffices to retake Hierancopolis:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9877/mump6hieraconpolis2xn0.jpg

One combat settler and two armies:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8080/mump6abydoswy5.jpg

Just two armies required for the next city in line:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2124/mump6memphisdb0.jpg

Another two armies get us to the coast:

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/3609/mump6elamarnava2.jpg

And yet another army to round off the first part of this turn:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9629/mump6avarisfw8.jpg

You can see Thebes in one of the screenshots, and Heliopolis is between there and Avaris. I have a healthy army next to another Egyptian town. Those three should fall next turn. The Egyptians will only have 2 cities left after that. They should be gone in two turns.

Passau and Rosenheim are founded behind the Flaschenhals line.

Turn 230 - 1150AD - continued

I kill some more units and try to cover vulnerable spots. There are plenty of ways through though, so I'm mostly counting on the AIs being gassed.

German forces killed 23 units this turn, 4 kill were by elites, and we incurred no losses.

I found two additional towns in the north: Bottrop and Wuppertal.

IT
We suffer some shore bombardment, but see no actual combat. The people give me another palace expansion.

Turn 231 - 1160AD
An army kills 2 cavalry and takes some more gold in Pi-Ramesses:

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/889/mump6piramessescz8.jpg

Two armies suffice to take out the garrison of 4 riflemen in the Egyptian capital:

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/5989/mump6thebesyt0.jpg

Two armies take out 3 riflemen and a cavalry in Heliopolis:

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3500/mump6heliopolisev4.jpg

I take a little break to clear out some units, and get a leader again (7th elite victory since last leader):

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9350/mump6sunnycavalryzu3.jpg

I use the fresh army and a veteran cavalry to take out two musketmen, and take:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/324/mump6krasnoyarskzv1.jpg

You can see our first explorer at the top of the picture above, scouting the location of the last two Egyptian settlements.

I abandon Heliopolis and found Combat 4 one tile in. One army then suffices to take Byblos:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9707/mump6byblosau4.jpg

I quickly grab all the yellow workers you can see above. Then I settle Combat 5 a bit closer to Alexandria, and so it goes:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3549/mump6alexandriahy1.jpg

... and ...

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9199/mump6egyptgonevg9.jpg

I rush an army in Wiesbaden. With 7719 gold still in the kitty, I'll be repeating that investment for a few turns to come.

With the Egyptians gone, I'll suddenly be facing a lot of Russians (they were obviously at war with Egypt until now; you can see a wounded rifleman in the picture below, and I didn't do that). As far as the conquest goes, I'll concentrate a bit on the Hittites first probably.

Here's an overview of the current front, with the approximate location of the remaining foes:

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/2060/mump61160adpx8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Stay tuned ;)

Turn 231 - 1160AD - continued

We kill some of the Russian units within reach, and ping a few more.

Total kill count this turn: 32. Elite victories: 6. Losses: 0.

We found more towns in the north, behind the choke area: Neuss, Hagen, Witten. Some more settlers are in place to found next turn.

IT
We lose 2 pikemen that captured Egyptian workers last turn, and a frigate. We kill a rifleman and sink two frigates, with ours promoting to elite.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7756/mump6electricitysc2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Turn 232 - 1170AD

Alaca Huyuk is size 21 and on a hill. Still, the five defending riflemen are no match for our fully healed cavalry armies, and we burn the glorious city to the ground:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6829/mump6alacahuyukrk0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Another two armies take Harran:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5194/mump6harranvs8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

From there we can reach Tyrana:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/1976/mump6tyranawq2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

There is a stronger defense in Atzcapotzalco than expected, and it takes two armies before we can burn it down:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/6900/mump6atzcapotzalcots6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Finally, we also take some of the cultural pressure off Krasnoyarsk:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1726/mump6yekaterinburgwa2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Killed 33 units this turn, 8 with elites, no losses.

Found Bochum, Emden, Wilhelmshaven, and Bremerhaven.

IT

A rifleman defends against an attacking Hittite rifleman in Kadesh and promotes to elite. A worker stack I forget to cover is lost there.

Turn 233 - 1180AD

I start by sinking a fleet of three Hittite ships off the shore of our core area. It does cost us a 4hp privateer.

The Hittite riflemen also turn out to be well trained. Each of them take a lot out of the armies attacking Tarsus, so it takes three armies to capture it:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3136/mump6tarsusek6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We are now within striking range of two more Hittite cities. A single army suffices to take out three riflemen in Adana:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4328/mump6adanaie8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

With a lot of armies still resting from the Egyptian campaign, we don't have sufficient forces to press on with the Hittites. I can take a small Russian town:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8065/mump6khabarovskyc6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Killed only 20 units this turn, 4 with elites, 1 ship lost.

Flensburg is founded in the north.

IT

Two cities are attacked by the Russians and Hittites; we defeat 3 units and lose none. Tyrana deposes us, with a rifleman and an elite cavalry inside.

Turn 234 - 1190AD

Two elite cavalry retake Tyrana, with 20 gold as a bonus.

I stop building armies because I have plenty of them already, I'm due another leader any time now, and I don't have sufficient numbers of cavalry to fill all these armies.

We have 12 healthy armies at our disposal this turn. Let's wreak some havoc. First, we take this nice prize:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/6918/mump6hattushaxd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A round of barracks sales ensues. After that it's right back to business, and onto the Hittite capital:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3638/mump6hattusasxb9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

From there, our explorer locates two more cities:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/9625/mump6hubishnayd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

and

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9759/mump6ugaritgz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

From there, there's a natural path south that an army can follow. We find and take Aleppo:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3496/mump6aleppotl7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I then locate all Hittite workers I can capture, because the next city assault should be the last:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6978/mump6ankuwaur9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I expect two notifications from my military advisor, but get only one: the Hittites are not dead. I look all over the map, but the settler is not to be found. It must be on a ship. Great.

Anyway, the Russians are next:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3766/mump6orenburgdb1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Because the Hittites didn't go poof, I have to make some unanticipated kills, and I lose an elite rifleman on a redlined rifleman on flat land.

Total kill count for this turn: 43. Elite victories: 8. Losses: 1.

The Hittites are all but gone. If they have the kindness to reveal their settler soon, the game should be finished in about 5 turns.

I've cut the Aztecs' saltpeter and have two knight armies at work already. There are some small mountain ranges in their lands, which might slow me down just a bit. I can see 6 of their 9 remaining cities.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2229/mump61190adaztecsgi3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Russians seem to have compact lands. I can see 5 of their remaining 8 cities, and I estimate they too will be handled in 3 turns at most.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3562/mump61190adrussiansbu5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Ready for the final stretch. Play is pretty straightforward now, as it has been for a while: rail a bit, move in armies, capture, rail some more. Armies are resting in Berlin mostly, although in the later turns below, I also used them to quell resistance (since every city has barracks now).

Turn 235 - 1200AD

Two cities fall in fast succession:

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/6909/mump6yaroslavlof7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

and

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/1593/mump6stpetersburggh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Moscow is a very tough nut to crack, with 7 riflemen and 1 longbowman inside, but it still falls, with great rewards:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1120/mump6moscowbn5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Moscow is also home to the Pyramids.

There is still some culture getting in the way from Yakutsk, so even though I don't have enough healthy armies, I press on there:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7203/mump6yakutskrc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I lose a 4hp named elite MDI, a 3hp elite cavalry, and two healthy veteran cavalry on redlined riflemen.

On the Aztec front, a knight army takes care of a pikeman and a longbowman and takes:

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6664/mump6calixtlahuacacu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Killed 37 units this turn, 9 with elites, lost 4.

IT

The Aztecs finally enter the industrial age. We lose an elite pikeman to a Russian longbowman. After that horrid last turn (worst turn since 860AD) and IT, we obviously get another palace expansion. :crazyeye:

Turn 236 - 1210AD

I had put a lot of artillery in place last turn, so Smolensk falls easily:

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/1479/mump6smolenskuh2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Two armies suffice to take Rostov, and I'll get a nice boost for all those cathedrals I've been building. ;)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4245/mump6rostovbd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The small settlement of Vladivostok way south falls easily as well:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8549/mump6vladivostokjj1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The last Russian city hasn't been garrisoned fully yet, so 2 armies suffice to capture it:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9141/mump6novgorodhr5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Again, I don't get notification of the utter destruction of the Russians. More settlers to track down. I do have a galleon of theirs in sight, so I'm hoping that'll be it.

While clearing an Aztec landing, I find this at last:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1341/mump6hittitefleetho4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I bombard those ships from the shore, and as you can see, I have 2 frigates close by, so they'll soon be history.

On to the Aztec cities, we capture three:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7656/mump6texcocohf2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6250/mump6xochicalcotc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7355/mump6tlatelolcolo2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Killed 33 units this turn, 6 with elites, lost none.

IT

Hurray! A privateer gets attacked by a Russian frigate and enslaves it (I've been "privateer-farming" for a long time without any success). Our cavalry near Teotihuacan is attacked by a longbowman and wins.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6669/mump6scientificmethodvw2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Turn 237 - 1220AD

We sink two of the Hittite ships, but unfortunately they didn't move, so they are out of range of a third ship of ours. The Russian galleon has stayed away from shore, so I can't sink him either.

I compensate by crushing the Aztecs:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6043/mump6tenochtitlanss6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/120/mump6teotihuacanld7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1024/mump6tzintzuntzensp7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I also find more Hittite ships:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2751/mump6morehittiteshipsso1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The last two Aztec cities fall:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8519/mump6tlacopansp5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1812/mump6tlaxcalakw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

No unpleasant surprises this time:

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5809/mump6aztecsdeadpm9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Killed 19 units this turn, 3 with elites, lost 2 cavalry.

I found our last town: Siegburg.

Turn 238 - 1230AD

I sink a Hittite galleon without effect.

I sink a Russian galleon, and:

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8076/mump6russiansdeadre2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

IT

The delay caused by having to chase the last Hittites and Russian has one advantage: I was able to finish this wonder

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3484/mump6toevn2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That gets me

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6387/mump6goldenageoy3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It doesn't matter what techs I pick, but then again, it didn't matter that I built the ToE either, so I pick the logical ones:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/353/mump6rpar1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1377/mump6industld4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Turn 239 - 1240AD

I sink another Hittite galleon, and at last:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2686/mump6hittitesdeadjq6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Turn 240 - 1250AD

I win:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4039/mump6winfp6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4949/mump6pwnedce2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Congrats, that was one great read

Around 3850BC, all great civilizations of this world have settled their first city.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/438/mump6hist3850bcpn6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

By the time we have founded our second city, very early, by 3050BC, each of our enemies already has three cities in place.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7928/mump6hist3050bcvx2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1525BC, we have just founded München to control our first source of iron. We have 6 cities, while the other civilizations have 9 to 12 cities.

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4025/mump6hist1525bcws4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

By 750BC, we can see how the seeds are sown for conflict on the eastern half of the landmass. The Aztecs have founded three cities in between other civilizations. The Arabs are the first to cross over to the other side of the choke area. On our side, the Mongols have become firmly established, while the French are catching up.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/941/mump6hist750bchr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 350BC, there are even more settlements that can be called "out of place". If you look closely, you can see the Egyptian town of Lisht directly south of Germany. The Aztecs and the Hittites both have a settlement on the west side too.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/613/mump6hist350bcps8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We move into the ADs, and take out the first Mongol town to make some room for ourselves. The entire German peninsula is now settled. The Mongols have captured Lisht, and the pressure on our borders is rising.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8782/mump6hist110adhr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Luckily for us, the AIs are fighting among themselves. While looking at the replay, there is evidence of fighting pretty early on. In the 340AD picture below, you can see that the both the Hittites and the Egyptians have taken an Arab city. The northernmost Egyptian city that still existed in 350BC was razed.

The AI wars allow us to push out, and raze Ta-Tu.

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3887/mump6hist340adrc1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 530AD, the table has been turned completely on the Mongols. In the north they have lost a city to the Aztecs, while we have captured their ancient capital.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2769/mump6hist530adcg5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 570AD, the French have also declared war on the Mongols. We have continued our expansion and are filling up the gaps.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1696/mump6hist570admv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A mere 130 years later, the world has changed completely. The Egyptians have become very strong, and have taken most of the outlying settlements of the Aztecs. The Hittites have also profited, taking both Aztec and Arab cities. Meanwhile, the Germans continue to pound the Mongols, to reduce cultural pressure as quickly as possible.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1347/mump6hist700adma3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Germans start looking at the French, because they want to keep them from building cavalry. By 860AD, the French empire is only half as big as it used to be at its high point.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4841/mump6hist860adpg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

80 years later, the Mongols are defeated. Their lands are quickly settled by the Germans, who also continue to push back the French. The nations on the eastern half of the pangaea seem to have reached a stalemate.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4203/mump6hist940adev4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In the year 1000AD, the French have been eradicated, and the western half of the pangaea is completely under German control.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/31/mump6hist1000adrw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

By 1080AD, the choke area has been settled by Germany, to ensure that no land-based offensive can get through. But that really doesn't matter, because the German offensive precludes any counter-attack.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/822/mump6hist1080advc7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In only 20 years, the entire Arab civilization is wiped out.

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6936/mump6hist1100adev0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It takes 60 more years to cut Egypt in half, and to establish a strong foothold towards the Hittite empire. Only the Russians have not met with the true power of the German military.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1328/mump6hist1160adof3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

During the 70 years that follow, more conquering is done by the Germans than in the 200 years that came before. In the end, only German cities remain.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9260/mump6hist1170addi0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8163/mump6hist1190adza7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9830/mump6hist1200adik0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3525/mump6hist1220adkv7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/696/mump6hist1230addi1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Many thanks to all who have been reading and cheering me on.

This was not only my first story here, but also the first time I beat AWD (obviously) and the first time I beat Deity in a solo game (maybe not so obvious). It was nice to see that a lot of people were reading along.

Now what about that communism track?

Since I made the split between monarchy and communism, it took me 36 turns to finish. Since the turn I could have discovered communism, 18 turns. I'm pretty sure I'll get 8 turns of anarchy in that alternate universe. I spent the last 4 turns in this version chasing ships, not sure that would happen in the other realm. That gives me 6 clean turns of communist rule to play with. Because my empire is totally geared towards monarchy, I'm sure that production will be lower during the first few turns of that period. Furthermore, I can't cash rush four armies like I did in the monarchy version. So the conclusion is that in this case, monarchy was definitely the way to go.

Therefore, I won't replay these last 40 or so turns entirely. Instead, I'll make peace with everyone in the communism universe, get through the anarchy, and then see where production and research is at. I'll make a comparison with the situation in monarchy (I still have saves for every turn), and present my findings to you. I hope that isn't too disappointing after the whole "power of Mumpulus" thing I set up. ;)

Great read and a great game.

To succeed such settings, a map with a choke is needed, I think. Nevertheless, great execution :goodjob:

To succeed such settings, a map with a choke is needed, I think.

I fully agree. The single most helpful aspect in this game was the geography. When I saw the coast upon founding my third town real early (on turn 18), I knew I stood a chance. If I hadn't found that, I would probably not have played on with that start. Add to that the additional choke in the middle of the landmass and the AI wars, and this game really played comparatively easy. I'll definitely try another AWD with a less favorable world. (And of course an AWS after that...)

My next solo game (and story) will be something else though: it will be AW again, but I'll try to take away everything that worked in my favor this game:
- I'll select a large pangaea so there are more opponents to fight
- I'll reduce AI aggression to the minimal value, in hopes of seeing less AI-AI wars (that should work, right?)
- I'll select a civ without early spears and archers
- I'll look for a start in the middle of the map, so that I'm immediately surrounded
- The above settings will imply that I'm not going to try for the GLib

I've already been testing that concept, and I may even have found my start already. But I'll first wrap up this game with the communism investigation.

Thanks again to everyone for your kind remarks, and I hope to find you all again reading my next game.

Congratulations, Mumpulus! Well played and a great read! :goodjob:

Great Game! I really enjoyed this impressive win! Great reading.

Awesome victory. You are one of the true civ III champs, I can't even beat emperor =/

great story, very inspiring to me, think im going to have to dig out my civ 3 disks out!

monarchy in blue, communism in red. See parallel universe explanation.]

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/4804/mump6communistku9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I've played just a few more turns (2 for research, 5 in anarchy) starting from my last save I did on the communism path. I've quickly drawn some conclusions which I'll list below.

First off, let's compare commerce and production for the two, in the same year of course, right after the switch to communism:

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/5574/mump6f11com1120adzg9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3463/mump6f11mon1120advc2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

As you can see, GNP is about equal, but production is significantly better. I must mention that in the communism version, I have made peace, and dedicated a lot more worker actions to the core. I played on to 1150AD, and with each turn, production shot up drastically as rails were added in the core. Still, much of the Mfg. Goods increase is due to the switch to communism.

Let's take a look at the F1 screen, three turns later, in 1150AD:

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/7052/mump6f1com1150addp7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8504/mump6f1mon1150aduu3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

This view illustrates a couple of things:

Income is just over 10% higher in monarchy. That is due partly to the higher number of towns I had in the monarchy universe, which in turn is due to my being able to cash rush more settlers.
The difference in loss to corruption is even more significant though, and it pulls communism ahead by 10% for research (both are at 100% in the screenshots), compensating completely for the lower income, and then some.

That's the good news for communism. Now the bad:

Maintenance is lower in communism. You might think that's a good thing, but I find it's actually a sign of fewer "investments" in infrastructure. In the monarchy universe, those investments help faster conquest (they're mostly barracks, and some marketplaces (for happiness to get WLTKD)). Even if this game has lasted longer, I think those investments would have gone a long way before the intrinsically higher production of communism could catch up.
Unit support is not a factor, which in my mind plays against communism, as it takes away a reason to go for it.
The monarch has more money in the treasury. That's due to the Egyptian campaign, of course. The reason I bring it up is that all that money has practically no value in the communism universe, because you can't use it for anything other than deficit research. Unit upgrades don't occur anymore at this point.

My main conclusions are:

In AW, you switch to monarchy as early as possible, and then gear your worker actions to that completely. When you switch to communism, all of a sudden the entire paradigm changes. You have to undo irrigation, you have to grow small science farms into larger production cities, and you have to improve more tiles (that often don't even have roads) around those smaller settlements. That requires a lot of worker actions. Earlier (in this post (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6954817&postcount=133)), I severely overestimated the number of workers I would have available to perform tile improvements. In fact, about half of the workers were always busy railing toward the front, and in some turns, even more were required to serve the military. In the monarchy universe, the core was only fully railed during the very last turns (when there was no-one left to fight). There's no way you can perform the required worker actions in communism without hampering conquest speed.
I was very disappointed with the corruption in some core cities after the switch. The capital still has no corruption, and the Forbidden Palace city has very low corruption too, but other than that, you lose a lot of production in your core. Those cities are mostly configured to an exact number of shields (typically 20 or 16 for cavalry builds), and that suddenly goes out the window. This is related to the previous point, and actually reinforces it. Not only do you need time to get non-core cities up to speed, you lose production until you deal with you core cities in communism too. One example is the 1-turn worker factory I could set up in Heidelburg in monarchy at size 6 (right in between Berlin and Verbotene Stadt):

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4715/mump6oneturnerap8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In communism, even a police station doesn't get me 10 uncorrupted shields. (I tested the impact of removing a police station in a big producer, and it really does very little for waste.) The SPHQ does help there, but it took 14 more turns of research and building to get there. The SPHQ doesn't work miracles though (you gain 1 or 2 shields per city, that's it).
Communism may be excellent for production in non-AW games, but nothing can beat the rushing and especially short-rushing which is made possible by the cash-infusion you invariably get when you start steamrolling in an AW game. In the last turns in the monarchy universe, I cash-rushed three or four armies, and had money to spare to short-rush cavalry in several core cities every two or three turns. You do need metros, factories and the SPHQ to rival that in communism.
By the time you get communism, builds are so expensive that there's no practical way to use the pop-rushing. You really need those courthouses in place up front. I disbanded quite some units in the communism universe to speed things up, but I could only do that because I made peace.

It may be an interesting experiment to play a game where communism replaces monarchy in the tech tree. Maybe with proper worker actions from the start, it may be a good AW option, but even then, I think the drawbacks remain important.

I'm starting a new story: Surrounded by Insanity