The first game was very fun, even though I eventually joined "The Black Parade"
Well, more like a long orange knight parade...

SYNOPSIS:::
Win an Always-War Demigod game with the Vikings. I decided this won't be "strict"
like the last game was, so now I can view the diplomacy screen for information.

HISTORY:::
The last game reached 16 cities before I waved the white flag.

The last game succeeded because:
a) The capitol gambled a granary
b) Only 1 early contact appeared, and they (China) had a poor start
c) I defeated the Chinese initial rush with vSpears and hills / walls
d) 2 early horse armies arrived after the rush

The last game ended at 16 cities because:
a) The GLib was missed (and turned into Heroic Epic)
b) 3rd army (a sword army) came 100+ turns after the 2nd army
c) Knights. Lots and Lots of knights. Outside of catapult range

MAP:::
Large Pangea, 60% water, other topology random
Scientific Leaders off / Barbarians off
Opponents were hand picked to avoid getting all the agricultural Native Americans
But don't worry, I still picked hard opponents with annoying unique units.

LOG STYLE:::
Logging is much easier since I stopped logging / screening during play and instead just
save-game every few turns. So when I need to log certain turns, I access several saves...

Turnset 001:
Well, this start looks kinda poor.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00000.jpg
I get ready to hit regenerate when I see that I'm standing on a cow.
Since I'm seafaring, I move north.

And here's what I have now:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00001.jpg

Good luck! (and my subscription post)

Turnset 002:
Bronze Working will take 28 turns.

Okay, so some turns go by and I build warriors and a settler...

You know, the seafaring trait doesn't seem so bad when looking at your capitol
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00002.jpg

And the land around me doesn't look bad:
- There are lots of hills to the north and west
- There are lots of bonus grassland
- Several good city sites are on hills

Here I am, about to settle GNU
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00003.jpg
After bronze, I was unsure to research masonry or iron working.

Weight for Masonry:
- I can start GLib prebuild sooner
- Researches faster
- I can substitute a walls (10shields) for a warrior, so I don't start paying out gold per
turn on warriors (what am I supposed to build with shields while waiting on settlers?)

Weight for Iron Working:
- I can see iron
- I can build swords sooner

Eventually, I decided to go for Masonry, because if I need swords now, then I'm doomed....

Neat game, will keep a watch on it! :evil:

(and the computer names for cities made me chucke :))

Subscribed. I'll be lurking...

Turnset 003:
I found GNU on the spot stated earlier. Between it and my capitol Linux there are four
bonus grasslands, so I guess it will be my GLib city. I also found GNU on the hill,
rather than on the river. Hills make all the difference in Always-War...
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00004.jpg

Concerning research, I go Bronze Working -> Masonry, for the reasons given in T002

Okay, so some turns go by and I build warriors and a settler.
I build warriors because they will scout now, and serve as military police later

Notice that scouting in AW is kinda bad, since you can meet enemies. But I figure right
now I have nothing to lose, so why not scout early rather than later?

And now those warriors have given me some good map information.

I don't think an AI civs are in the NORTH, since the terrain looks bad:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00005.jpg
The South is Tundra, but there could be AIs to the WEST, since that terrain looks good:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00006.jpg
Since I will go Iron Working after Masonry, let me do an iron check:
There are lots of hills and mountains, so Iron could be anywhere.

Eventually another settler comes out and I found Red Hat Linux. It goes on both a hills
and river, but it lacks great terrain to be a GLib city.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00007.jpg

Some reflections on early economy:
I do not see any luxuries. So I will need to raise my luxury slider high when I grow my
GLib city to a big population.

From my previous AW attempts, I feel that building a Barracks early is too big a crutch
on my economy (remember, early contacts = death anyway). So I won't build a barracks for
a while. However, if I spam warriors, I will go over unit support, and this too will hurt
my economy.

So when my cities have finished building warriors, they will build regular archers. At
least the rArchers can eventually help on defense with defensive bombard.

Turnset 004:
Research goes from Masony to Iron Working, as expected.

I have not started the GLib yet, and I will probably wait some turns before I do
(probably closer to the end of IW). It's a risk, but GNU can pump a few more rArchers
to buff my military before I start the GLib Prebuild.

I ready to found my 4th city, up in the north. I think this will be the last town that I
settle up there for a while, because the terrain only gets worse with mere flood plains,
mountains, and hills.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00008.jpg
And if you look at the above picture, you will see me doing 2 things that I mentioned at
the end of T003:
- There are 2 rArchers next to the settler. They cost less gpt support than 4 rWarriors
- Several cities are building walls. They cost no support either.

Some Reflection on Walls:
Walls are deathly important for Always War.
If all cities have walls except 1 core city, then the AI will usually stream their units
right into your territory towards that one city. This is always bad, because you want the
AI acting silly OUTSIDE of your territory, not INSIDE your territory.
The same concept applies if some cities are on hills, and others or not. You really
gotta watch the AI movement stream carefully...

Now I found my 4th city
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00009.jpg

So a few more turns go by, and I take the time to start workers. I still had only my
original 1 worker to manage my 4 cities, so he's kinda stretched thin...

And I'm building more units, who can scout. There are no luxuries in the southern tundra,
but there is very nice land in the west. So I will begin sending settlers WEST.

Hopefully more scouting can find luxuries somewhere...
But scouting may also find some AIs too...
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00010.jpg

Turnset 005:
GNU finally begins its GLib prebuild once it finishes that archer in the last screenshot
And my archers move WEST and start scouting. They will NOT mountain-hop, because I don't
want them seeing any stray AI units:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00011.jpg
Since I have been expanding well, Red Hat Linux yearns for something more to build. It
starts my first barracks.

Iron Working comes in, and so I begin Writing, due in ~22 turns.

I also have a curragh in the EAST, along the coast. He sees many-a-mountain, but no
iron can be seen nearby my capitol.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00012.jpg
So my rArchers survey the WEST and find beautiful terrain. And since Iron Working is
known, the area looks even nicer. Fedora Linux is a step in the right direction:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00013.jpg

Fedora Linux starts building a worker immediately. It only has 1 shield, and I already
have handfuls of warriors.

Still, I start getting a little nervous, since I only have 4 rArchers and 1 vSpear. So
I send 1 archer pair back home to guard the NORTH, near Ubuntu Linux. The other pair can
continue scouting.

My scouting finally pays off, and I see Silks in the far WEST tundra. The archer pair
fortifies to make way for my next settler, who is still a long way off.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00014.jpg
And so I close this turnset with the current world map
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00015.jpg

Not many luxes might mean only 1 or 2 distant civs, so you might get to grow in peace for awhile. Having iron is also a good sign for the success of this try.

Turnset 006:
At some point I go Writing -> Literature

I have 2 barracks up in Red Hat Linux and Linux. So they will produce vSpears. I have no
intention of building vArchers, since I have no opponents and Iron is within my grasp.
Right now my goal is 1 vSpear + 1rWarrior in each city

And I also have some workers. They are very busy.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00016.jpg
GNU is building a prebuild, so it will be tied up for a while. That leaves Linux and
Ubuntu Linux to build either barracks or settlers. Since I have room to expand safely
in the south, I guess it's more settlers!!

My scouts are moving along, and eventually 1 settler comes, and finds a nice hill
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00017.jpg

The prebuild is 2 turns ahead of Literature, so hopefully I can juggle tiles eventually.

And 3 turns after Bash Shell I have another new city. System Call not on a hill, but it's
close enough to the backlines to where I don't think I'll worry about it too much.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00018.jpg

Here is the West area. Even though it has more good terrain, I don't wanna expand that
far. Yet. I need to be within reach of my core cities until I have lots more military.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00019.jpg
Wow things go fast in AW when you have no opponents. Cherish every moment !!!

Now pretty much every city that isn't making a worker is producing a barracks.
The below screenshot shows 2 things
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00020.jpg

1)I have just founded my last REX city, System Call, and now I will switch to military
2)Those workers (all 3 of em) will start a road next turn. System Call will be hooked up
--to my empire in 3 turns, and I will have iron in 6 turns. Barracks -> sword prebuilds!!

So turns go by, and I finally manage to slow my prebuild to match my research.

Here is my closing (and still peaceful) empire, on turn 89.
I am 1 turn from Palace, and 1 turn from Literature, so I will switch to GLib on the IT.
There is still the threat of a cascade
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00021.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00022.jpg

Turnset 007:
On the IT I switch GNU to GLib. Only 10 turns to go for that wonder. Since GNU has
been MM'd for 10 shields per turn, it's been doing pretty good. I begin research on
Maths due in ~15 turns. Since I don't have any AI contacts yet, I may need to research
a few additional techs myself.

Okay, maybe I do have room for 1 more city. Red Hat Linux is gettting really crowded...
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00023.jpg

A few turns later, there is some news from the West. There are purple borders on the
other side of the mountain range. I have a feeling it's Korea, but I'm not entirely
sure. Whoever they are, they'll probably be my first enemy.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00024.jpg
Iron is online now, and my sword prebuilds have paid off a little. So I have some attack
power right now, albeit very little. I guess I'll stack troops at 3 key positions around
the empire:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00025.jpg
Lest we forget about the GLib, it rolls in next turn
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00026.jpg
3 turns later, you can see lots of "thar enemy's" borders. How big are they?
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00027.jpg
I get several more turns to mass swords at my designated spots, and then several
things happen all at once... Let's just say that after 110+ turns of peace, this AWDG
game will finally get a little interesting.

As a side note, I guess that seafaring really is the "Expansionist" trait for Always-War,
insofar that it's hit-or-miss. And in this game, so far, it's been a huge hit.

Very nice so far, I'm looking forward to see how this turns out. :)

I'll be subscribing for sure :D

Turnset 008:
Oh, I guess I notice a small discrepancy in my log.
After literature, I think I did a quick run on Pottery.
So it was Lit -> Pottery -> Maths. Pardon the discrepancy.

Moving along,
A hills city is nice, especially when it's close to an eventual frontline.
And walls will make it even more sweet
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00028.jpg

I remember that I went with Pottery before Maths. I think I remember that my capital
prebuilt its granary too. My capitol is now building 3 workers in succession, just so
it can drop to size 5 to get away from "City-empty-Granary" condition. Besides, my
capitol is still working some poor tiles.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00029.jpg
A few turns go by, and Mathematics comes in. Not through TGL of course, but through self
research. I continue to pump swords, but now my really-outlier towns can construct some
helpful units as well.
Mathematics -> The Wheel

And my military is looking better and better, along with the entire Western region.
- Sword stacks are growing
- Settler will arrive at silks in ~3 turns
- Road on silks in ~4 turns
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00030.jpg
Press enter -> build swords, workers, settlers -> repeat

I build the Silks city finally. The Silks road will finish in 2 turns
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00031.jpg

And on that very same turn, I find that I have my very
first enemy, thanks to that other TGL, The Great Lighthouse !
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00032.jpg
He's probably heading south to settle this spot. So I will block the magic spot with an
ever so simple spearman, and then we can see what he does.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00033.jpg
The Japanese only have 3 more cities than myself, and they are probably across the ocean.
I don't think they will be too much trouble for myself yet. But just to be safe, I pull
my rArcher stack back to my th capitol area, so that all my vSwords can go to the west.

Declare war on Japan.

And one more glance into the future. Neither Japan and the purple (supposed Koreans) civ
match this color in the north... I think these guys might be China.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00034.jpg
The war horns will start resonating very soon...

:goodluck:

Keep expanding, that is all i can say

Turnset 009:
I get a very good thing, which allows my luxuries to drop from 40% to 20%
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00035.jpg
And don't forget the constant city spam. This settler came out of Ubuntu Linux
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00036.jpg

The Japanese continue to sail southwest, and another Japanese galley appears.

Some more swords come. My spear blocks the coastal Silks spot from the Japanese.

Here is my empire in 250 BCE
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00037.jpg
I hit enter. The Wheel is due next turn.

Wow a lot happens this turn.
- One Japanese galley returns to capitol area. Another shows.
- A purple worker shows up near Graphics sword stack
- A RED warrior / settler pair shows up north of Linux
- I gain a lot of techs. All Ancient Age techs, and the 3 starter Mideval Age techs.
- And finally, a popup says the Romans are building Leonardo's Workshop

So here is my empire after the InterTurn:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00038.jpg
Here are the friendly faces that my advisor recommend back at the end of T006
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00039.jpg
The Koreans have 10 more cities than I do @ 22 cities !!! How did they get so big?
The Romans have 1 more city than I do !!!
The Japanese refuse to acknowledge our envoy !!!

Declare war on Rome and Korea.

Now what should I do with all those big sword stacks that I have?

The Koreans probably expanded all around you for some strange reason, resulting in a large city count. Your swordsmen should 0mGpWNT them.

Turnset 010:
So this is war, huh? So far it's not much different than peace.
Maybe my swords can change that.

My general strategy now is to wait a couple turns, and see what happens. I'm pretty sure
there won't be any enemy action, but I don't want to be "caught from behind" in any way.
I just met big Korea and little Rome, but I still have plans for action:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00040.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00041.jpg
I set a lone scientist to research Invention.

A few turns pass. I see no enemy aggresion. The only real threat I perceive is:
- The oddball Japanese landing
- A Korea push
But nothing has shown yet.

So the western stack will probably march out as planned. And its scout finds this:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00042.jpg

So that city will be a keeper, for now.

In the capitol area, a sword & archer await the warrior / settler combo.
The sword does very well, and I have my first 2 slaves.
Then the units go back to patrol duty.

I gain Theology and Invention through the GLib. I'll try to slip some Berserk in.

I await for a pike to arrive in the west, then all my swords move out. And they trample
a Korean rLongbow on their way out too. And since stack #2 in the middle of my empire is
getting a little bored, they move out now as well.

Meanwhile the japanese arrive to drop a warrior. I guess this is the area that most
AI landings will be targetting for a while.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00043.jpg
A rWarrior dispatches that invading warrior, and promotes.

The stack towards the middle of the empire stomps down a stray pillage spear and a
stray longbow. I guess nothing's stopping them from taking that nearby city, either.
That city is named Chinje.

And just when west stack of swords arrive at Suwon's gates, I notice some extra colors
which are floating about the empire. The game is finally interesting.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00044.jpg
Everything looks good. Notice that the Japanese city in tundra-land seems to be within
reach of a Berserk-filled-galley :mischief: I'd be "celebrating" that now, if Berserks
didn't cost 70 shields...

Turnset 011:
IT: A longbow comes out of Suwon and kills one of my swords.
They probably only have 2 spears + the longbow in that city...

My Turn:
My stray units around Chinje form one nice solid stack now. A pursuing archer will
become target practice in that area on the next turn.

At Suwon:
vSword > rSpear. 1 damage received.
vSword > rSpear. 1 damage received.
vSword > 2HP longbow. 0 damage received. Promotion.
We capture 1 worker and:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00045.jpg

Hmm. The area around it looks nice too. The worker will start roading back towards
my empire, with the eventual hope of hooking up those gems.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00046.jpg
And back in the center of my empire. The GLib has filled the culture gaps for me.
My workers are lumberjacking the area, to help my cities build & grow. If you haven't
noticed from the last screenshot in T010, I'm in the middle of a building project now,
and most of my cities are on Libs or Aqueducts.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00047.jpg
I have 2 strong-ish stacks that can easily react to any threat to my core. I'm not
scared of using this time to be a "builder".

After the IT, the Koreans present some wonderful oppurtunities to my central stack:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00048.jpg
Those 2 archer units don't last long.

And neither does my builder phase. The Vikings are restless and upset that they have
little need for libraries and aqueducts. The food-yield of tiles is too poor, and the
corruption too much.

!! We decend into anarchy for the next 8 turns !!

Nearly all of my cities will be fine. They can even use "riot <-> starve" cycles, which
halves the food decrease, without risking building destruction.

Well, all of my cities except Red Hat Linux. That place is going to be rioting for nearly
the entire anarchy period.

IT:
Lots of little people move around Chinje.

My Turn:
Here's how I look at the beginning of my first full turn of anarchy:
The West:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00049.jpg
The East:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00050.jpg

Turnset 012:
I notice this at the beginning of the turn
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00051.jpg
Korea is a major power indeed. Except with all the longbows I'm seeing they might not
have iron hooked up to many of their cities, if any.

I forget the exact combat order for this turn.
I gain 1 promotion, and stomp down 3 rSpears, a mountain rLongbow, a rLongbow, & rArcher
I get this screen for the effort:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00052.jpg

The area looks nice, and I notice yet another (3rd) luxury within my grasp. Furs.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00053.jpg
I also discover some extra slaves too.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00054.jpg
But to get those slaves, I need to declare war on the Aztecs next turn...

I have 5 swords and 4 MDI in the Chinje area. Perhaps I can hold the city, even though
it is largely disconnected from the rest of my empire.

IT:
A lot happens here too.
Ottomans send a spear / settler (workers) to meet me
I spot a Korean MDI running around.
A Japanese warrior approaches from the south.
Several cities alternate riots, to avoid starving this turn.
This is the only turn during my anarchy where Red Hat Linux will be riot-free...

Two turns pass by:
I have declared war on Ottomans and Aztecs.
I took the Aztec slaves from the spear.
I took the Ottoman slaves from the spear.
I also defeated an archer.
That wonderful rWarrior I have should be renamed to "Japanese bane", cause it stomps
the next Japanese warrior, but this time I don't promote :(

There is another settler pair within reach of Cheju, but most of my units there are
wounded, and there are 2 MDI approaching. It's weird, this is kinda like chess, where
you have the "infinite line of pawns", where if you take one of them, then next turn
they take one of you.

I think it's time to consolidate my offensive forces again. Especially since I'm still
in an anarchy. And here's the entire killzone
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00055.jpg

Can it be safely said that if you defeat Korea, you win?

Thank you all for your support.
Several good ideas have been metioned.

RE: Iron = good chance of win
Yes, I've found iron to be vital for this difficulty. I originally wanted to win an AWDG
game without iron. But let me say that after running 100+ starts without iron, you have
such little firepower without swords. When you're making units in BC, they NEED to be
swords, because you can't take & hold tiles with archers / spears alone. It's too costly.

RE: Keep expanding
Definately yes. Many other attempts failed because when I met enemies, they simply
"rushed me" and I just got pinned in. You need to develop fast firepower. Expansion and
swords are vital for AWDG.
Of course, I'm also trying to avoid "over-expanding".

RE: Determining when "I win"
I think this game will be won / lost when all the factors below are accounted for:
- Surviving Initial Rushes, especially knights
- Great Library
- Getting Armies
I've only achieved one of those above goals so far. Once all of those goals are met, then
I'll call the game into "clean-up" mode.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turnset 013:

IT:
2 Chops complete
Japanese galley appears
my 1HP sword < rMDI. Deals 1 damage.
Korean Longbows approach from the west. Good thing I left 3 vSwords at Suwon.
I spot a Korean Knight moving in the northern fog! They're coming...
Hanging Gardens, Sistines, and KT finish.
I learn education. I had already started researching gunpowder a number of turns earlier.

My Turn:
I found this city probably in the center of the front
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00056.jpg

Can't remember the exact battle sequence for this turn. But the results are:
I lose 1 sword
I take a Korean spear and korean MDI in the north.

But there's still a lot of units. If you look at the last pic in T012, you can see that
I've got too wide of a front-line. So I think it's time to pull my units back to safety
before I lose them all. I am still in anarchy, after all...

Here's my battle plan for the west, to deal with possible threats to Suwon.
This plan means I am prepared to keep Suwon, and eventually grab the gems.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00057.jpg
Here's my battle plan for the north, undoubtedly the "hot-zone" right now.
This plan means I'll probably abandon Chinje, but since that area is so disconnected
from my empire, it's not like I really had a chance to access the Furs (not yet anyway).
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00058.jpg

Try to fight them on your own terms, lure them into a kill zone and hope for a leader

http://www.slashgear.com/gallery/data_files/2/7/8/linux-desktop-i-want-to-believe.jpg

Go Zzark, Go! :D

Turnset 014

IT:
Japanese galleys move around

Roman spears are ... well, roamin' around the killzone. I guess they're pillagers.

An Ottoman warrior approaches the west.
Ottomans finish Sun Tzu's

mountain vSword > Korean rLongbow. Good. Promotion.
Chinje comes out of resistance. Too late as there are already 1 Knight, 1 Longbow, and
2 Korean MDI outside the culture borders.

An Aztec galley appears near the silks / iron landing spot

A Chinese galley appears

My cities alternate riots, except Red Hat Linux. Thankfully, it hasn't lost any
buildings yet due to rioting (it can't starve or else it will go below size 7).

My Turn:
Still in anarchy

Declare war on China. They have 4 more cities than myself.
Abandon Chinje. My units move south. I hope I can kill that knight as it follows.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00059.jpg
My regular Archer stack from ZZZZ BCE is in the killzone area.
Guess they finally have a use.

Rather than attack the "other rLongbow" near the western enemy city (and expose
a sword to the city), I retreat back to Suwon area and will counterattack.

IT:
Aztec galley sails away from landing zone
Chinese and Japanese galley, however, sail towards the landing zone.
They're all probably trying to just settle that tundra in my south.

Expected western korean rLongbow moves as predicted

Ottoman warrior moves within kill range.

Koreans chase as expected.

My Turn:
Not too bad so far, but like so many games it depends on the pRNG.

Here's my west front:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00060.jpg
Here's the northern consolidation area.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00061.jpg

Just as a Observation, I know you needed offensive units at the time, but maybe you could have built a barracks so that all those reg archers could be vet ?

you could have built a barracks so that all those reg archers could be vet ?
Well, it just didn't work out for me in the context of this game.

Here's how I saw my situation:
a) Archers were built so early = if I needed them as Vet, it'd be gameover anyway
b) Those archers were just space fillers between settlers / workers.
c) Since the archers were just spacefillers, would it have been worth it to delay a
....worker or a settler, and pay extra ~20 - 50 gpt in maintenance for just 4 extra HP
....on archers?

Specifically, I think those 4 rArchers came out of Linux (main settler city) and maybe
Red Hat Linux (GLib city = no rax needed).

I had those ideas running through my mind at the time, so I thought it would be better
if I delayed my rax at that time. I guess I think that delaying the RAX for workers and
settlers has "paid-off" in this game.

Turnset 015

My Turn:
I notice now that the Aztecs have founded a tundra-city next to the Japanese tundra-city

That Korean knight has now caught up to my consolidation group. I will kill it now by
attacking it, rather than let it attack me next turn. Of course, attacking it will leave
the unit exposed, but I'm gonna lose a unit anyway it seems :dunno:

vMDI > vKnight. Retreats. 1 damage
vMDI > 1HP Knight. 3 damage = I almost died. Thankfully it was a vet :)

My rArcher stack moves to retaliate against whatever stomps my mace.

And in the west at Suwon
eSword > rWarrior across river. 0 damage. No leader.

That other rLongbow will move onto flatland next turn.

I swear I don't know what people mean by "bad RNG".
All of my battles so far have had the "expected" outcome.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00062.jpg
IT:
Japanese galleys sail away.
One goes back to presumably Japan and the other goes into the southern tundra.

Korean rMDI > 3HP MDI. 0 damage. Longbow and another MDI follow
Rest of Koreans seem to move around Suwon. Perhaps heading for undefended Pulse Audio.

Cities riot

My Turn:
This is my last anarchy turn. Finally. I swear turns go by so slow when you're at war.

Now let's see what my rArchers are made of.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00063.jpg
My rArcher < rMDI. Longbow defBomb helped. 0 damage. Promotion for MDI. !! EXCELLENT !!
My rArcher > vMDI. 1 damage. Promotion to Veteran. !! EXCELLENT !!
My rArcher > rLongbow. 2 damage = almost dead. Exposed.
Last rArcher covers Exposed archer. Hopefully defBomb will hurt that other Korean MDI.

Everything else either heals or works.

I notice more spears on the front. Probably going for the horses near Bash Shell

IT:
Everything is expected.
Western units move closer, into kill range.
rMDI > my Archer. 1 damage. defBomb did not help.
A couple more cheapo units show up.

And I get this. Pretty good picture, I guess.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00064.jpg
Seems the rioters wanted to destroy SOMETHING before our anarchy ended...

My Turn:
Well now I guess I have a lot of micromanagement to do again, but it's not so bad.

I guess my short term goals are to:
- Trigger a Monarchy GA with Berserks
- Use GA to build units, Libs, and Aqueducts
- Fish for leaders
- Hook up Gems in west near Suwon.
- Maybe go and take the tundra cities. Maybe.

Worldmap at the end of this turn (The log will be next post).
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00065.jpg

Nice story, and lots of tension right now. Seemed like a rather inopportune time for Anarchy, but when is an opportune time for it? At least you've still got you main cities.

I like the change from a real-time log to a save-time log. The first story seemed almost painfully detailed - and while normally I like detail, it was a bit much. This one seems to hit the balance much better.

Once again the city names are interesting. Looks like it'll lead to some good Wikipedia-ing - I've expanded my *nix knowledge since the last story, but it's been in U rather than Li.

Turnset 016

My Turn:
Military looking good, but I'm not prepared for initial rushes yet.

Old Chinje front:
Consolidation finishes. Good.

Suwon front:
eSword > rSpear. 0 damage to me :) No leader :(
eSword > rLongbow. 0 damage to me :) No leader :(

Thanks RNG, I guess...

Monarchy Review Time:

SCIENCE: Much better
Despotism research = Gunpowder at 46 turns = 100% = huge deficit
Monarchy research = Gunpowder at ~22 turns = 70% = small luxuries

LUXURIES: Needs improvement
I have 20% luxuries = I need to get those Gems hooked up asap.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00066.jpg

CITY STATUS: Needs improvement
Current Size 7+ cities: 2
Towns->don't need aqueducts: 2
!! The rest need aqueducts !!!

So I change builds:
Military builds:
3 berserks 1 Pike Rest trebuchets
Infrastructure
2 aqueducts & 2 libraries

Picture of core (includes build changes)
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00067.jpg
IT:
Korean spear/archer moves next to SOD at Pulse Audio.
Another bigger group of 2LB and 1 MDI show up outside of Suwon !! That could be trouble.


My Turn:
Cities
Change Pike->Berserk to coincide with a chop
Change some cities food -> shields.
MCM workers. Move some towards west cause I need more roads.

Military
Seems like everyone's going to western Suwon and Pulse Audio now.

Middle area
eMDI > rSpear. With defBomb, MDI drops to 1HP then kills spear.
vSword > rArch. 2 damage returned. Spots Korean settler pair about to re-settle Chinje !!

East-Middle area
vMDI > rSpear. 1 damage returned. Promotion !!
Send sword back to upgrade to MDI.

West area
1MDI & 2 LB vs. 4 swords
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00068.jpg
IT:
Wow. More stuff happens.
rKnight < vSword. Retreats. Thanks defBomb Archer.
rMDI < vSword. 2 damage.
Another knight shows up.
Korea re-settles Chinje = Sohoko

Japanese settlers show up, and some galleys.

First Berserk shows up :devil:
I hope a Golden Age can save me from the Koreans knights

My Turn:
Change a library to Berserk.

At Suwon
eSword > rMDI across river. 2 damage.
eSword > rLB across river. 1 dmg thx to defBomb.
vSword > rLB across river. 3 dmg = redlines.
Send remaining sword towards Pulse Audio (knight / Chije area)

At middle.
Looking pretty worn down
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00069.jpg
Dunno if I should attack the knights or retreat. I guess attack. C'mon pRNG.
vSword > rKnight. Sword redlines then kills knight. Good.
2HP sword > 1 hp Knight. Sword redlines, kills knight, then sees 2 more knights.
!! Retreat !! Heal !!
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00070.jpg
Upgrade a western spear -> Pike for 30 gold.

In north-east, scout sees this from a mountain.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00071.jpg
IT:
Before the knights kill off my 2 swords at Sohoko, the spot
1 spear and 5+ MDI and 1 archer and 1 knight enter the city from other directions !!
:mad: I hate enemy SODs.

A MDI lands at my silks city.
In fact, here is the line of galleys waiting to land in the west.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00072.jpg
And here is the northwest
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00073.jpg
Things aren't looking so rosy now...
- No armies
- healthy-unit shortage
- Wide front
Maybe I expanded too far without thinking about the initial rushes...

Yes and you must stick to CxxC for coverage at this level. Later you can abandon to take advantage of a river, but at the front you usually get punished. The initial rush from AWDG can be very heavy.

Rivers can be a double edged sword before engineering as they also prevent you from getting units where you need them. Good luck.

Uh-oh. Looks like Pulse Audio is in trouble. At least you've got enough gold to wall-rush if it comes down to that.

What's below that Japanese Spearman by Suwon? Hopefully nothing strong...

Turnset 017
A total of 5 MDI + 2 archers + spears are in the Korean city.
In addition, an Ottoman knight was in the area as well.
There are several Japanese settler pairs, too.

Swords at Suwon will split. Some heal to kill settlerpair, others go to Pulse Audio.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00074.jpg
I'm going to play defensive now, and fish for armies so I can "break-out" and go raze

In the center at Pulse Audio, I will rush walls this turn.
Maybe I'll get lucky and defend the knight, even at bad odds (c'mon defBomb)..

Finally in the southwest at X Org (barely visible in above picture),
I need to remove that MDI. If he pillages, my silks are gone temporarily...

Up Lux in case of pillage...

IT: Hmmm...
X Org
MDI attacks and kills walls spear in X Org. 0 damage.
Korea a spear lands.
Other galleys sail away :)

Pulse Audio
Knight attacks a sword across a river nearby, and loses.

North
chinese ancient Cavalry are starting to appear. A horse takes out the scouting warrior.

All Around:
2 Japanese spear settlers walk through our territory


My Turn:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00075.jpg
There are many things to look at in the above picture
Suwon -> my eSword hopes to gain 2 slaves
X Org -> my berserk will hopefully start my GA against the MDI
Pulse Audio -> along with the knight is a 1-spear 2-archer 5-MDI stack.
Pulse Audio -> on my side are 2-archer 4-swords 2-MDI. However, most are injured
Mailing List -> Just behind the Roman spear is a pair of ancient Cavalry

!! So let's go !!
Suwon eSword > rSpear. 0 damage :)
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00076.jpg
X Org vBerserk > rMDI. 1 damage. Golden age on turn 136.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00077.jpg
Pulse Audio everything arrives. I even have a few scrap units to handle the aCav in north.
Send a pikeman from nearby Bash Shell to Pulse Audio, to be there for the all the action.
Upgrade some more spears -> pikes

Micromanage for golden age. :D Things don't look so bad now :D
My capitol finished its library, and is at 4-turn-berserk-builds.
Nearby GNU is at 4-turn-berserk-builds as well.
Change Red Hat Linux's library to a Berserk due next turn.
MM Fedora Linux to stop growth but gets a Berserk next turn.


IT:
Japan moves other settler through our core.
AIs are largely diverted to Suwon, since it's only defended by a 1HP sword.
Ottoman vKnight < 3HP fortified sword across a river :) 0 damage. Thx defBomb


My turn:
Okay, I see where everything is. Everything & her grandmother went towards Suwon.
I bet'cha I can predict where the Ancient Cavalry are, too.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00078.jpg

:eek: Suwon looks kind of doomed. Hope some pikes and Zerks can make it to the front in time to stop the Knights at Graphics or Pulse Audio - not that I'd be concerned if it weren't for the Koreans and Chinese also being nearby.

Turnset 018
Lower Science to gain a surplus.

Berserk from Red Hat Linux attacks Japan settler pair:
rBerserk > rSpear. 1 dmg. Promotion (with Militaristic its 50/50 promos on regular units).
Cover with pike.

Berserk at landing area kills landed spear
3HP berserk > rSpear. 0 dmg. Promotion to elite.

My 2 swords abandon western Suwon, retreating to Graphics / landing area
Organize rest of the area, including some upgrades.

And micromanage to work a mine that's due next turn :D


IT:
Average
Lose 3 units against the ottoman knights at Pulse Audio
Defeat 3 and retreat 1.

Lots of units show up in my north though,
namely 4 ancient cav, 4 horseman and 2 riders. All Chinese.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00079.jpg


My Turn:
Upgrade the spear in Mailing List

Move some more units into threatened cities of Mailing List and Pulse Audio

Looks like this IT will be a nail biter
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00080.jpg


IT:
eMDI > rHorse. Thanks walls and river.
I wonder if this is too late:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00081.jpg

Oh, and the Chinese do this with aide of their riders:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/ZzarkLinux/00082.jpg


My Turn:
Dang...
I guess I'm callin it quits now.
If I didn't lose Ubuntu Linux, I still may have lost Mailing List.
And several horses passed Mailing List by. I'm just too short on units.
But the main reason I'm waiving the white flag now is
My girlfriend just gave me her copy of Virtual Bart for my Sega Genesis :drool:
I still felt too lucky this game. ~120 turns of peace in an AWDG game.
But I guess that punished me in the initial rushes!

Maybe next game will be Vikings-continents.
Or perhaps Carthagenians-pangea.

The 4000 BCE save is attached if anyone wants a good DG viking pangea map.

Why not try AWE first?