A couple of the villagers looked at the strange metal beasts in puzzlement. It had been 4 days since the scruffy looking man wearing strange clothing struck a deal with the local chieftan, promising to provide food and liquor for these “tanks” in exchange for a quarter of the fledgling civ’s eventual conquests, to be paid in some undetermined time in the future. The chieftan had initially been skeptical of the unexpected offer, until the man (known only as “GP”) and his greasy associates demonstrated the beasts in action against a local group of barbs with devastating results. Upon leaving, GP gave a strict warning that he would be able to afford replacement beasts, and that if not properly fed and watered even a mere spear-thrower might prove a match for the metal behemoths. Of course, the backwards local folk could hardly understand how to maintain or operate these tanks, much less understand how to ride them effectively. One of the villagers, cautiously poked one of the slumbering giants with a stick to see if it would stir...
-----------------------------------------

Civ: Netherlands
Difficulty: Sid minus* (Human player gets research bonus and 5 starting tanks)
Map: Random Small Pangaea (70% land, roaming barbs)
Varient: Always war.
Special Rules: Tanks with less than 3hp may not attack. Tanks may not be put into armies.

Even starting with 5 tanks, this has the potential to be a challenging game. The Sid level opponents can build cities faster than 5 unsupported tanks can burn them, and the huge number of starting units will create a non-trivial early game challenge. Nonetheless, this is meant to be more of a “fun” game than a tough challenge, so players of all skill levels are invited to take a round of turns (it would probably be best for relatively experienced players to take the early rounds though).

Early
Explore with the starting tanks, and found on the starting tile (uh... probably should have moved to the coast, that's what I get for starting a game at night :crazyeye: ).
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_start.jpg
The first build is a unique wonder which gives us +50% research in every city (representing knowledge obtained from reverse engineering ;) ). This will make tech research about as difficult as Deity rather than Sid, and we will still end up in a tech hole if the game lasts that long.
With a bunch of 2-move exploring tanks, it is not long before we meet the first victim.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_firstcontact.jpg
And we obtain 2 iroquois slaves.

Middle
In 3600 BC, 18 Iroquois warriors come into view of our western tank stack. Over the next 3 turns, most of these warriors are destroyed, and our eastern tanks all promote to elite. One tank withdraws back toward our capital to defend against advancing Iroquois units.

In the west, a lone exploring tank meets the Germans and we trade Alphabet for 10g + Bronzeworking before declaring war. The tank is soon met by a non-trivial stack of 12 archers and spearmen.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_germany.jpg

Late (Until 3250 BC)
We capture Salmanca from 2 spearmen and recieve 5 slaves (the tank loses 3 hps to the last spear).
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_firstcity.jpg
More Iroquois warriors are destroyed as they attempt to retake their capital.

In the east, the spear/archer stack retreats back toward Germany for reasons unkown. After covering with a regular tank, the elite picks off a spearman from the stack, but loses 3 hp in the process.


Who's next :)

Got it (funny idea!).

1 - 3200BC: nothing special
2 - 3150BC: move the wounded tanks to towns; quell resistance in Salamanca; use the eastern tank's zone of control to hurt passing germans; we get spices and a granary in Amsterdam - settler started
3 - 3100BC: nothing special
4 - 3050BC: we meet the Aztechs and trade in the alphabet + 80 gold for masonry, warrior code and ceremonial burial; we start war with the Aztechs; T3 becomes a veteran; resistance in Salamnca ends, but it is unhappy beyond repair, so starvation will be the way to go
5 - 3000BC: brave T3 defeats two of the horrible spears without a dent and is now elite; Babylos finishes The Colossus
6 - 2950BC: some minor battles
7 - 2900BC: we get pushed back by the Aztechs; our first warrior is built
8 - 2850BC: we kill many Aztechs and some German units
9 - 2800BC: Amsterdam: settler - barracks
10 - 2750BC: German forces are defeated, but one spear and one archer; we are closing in on Texcoco

This game really plays diffent...biggest problem so far is the defensive bombardment of the archers - it does damage often. Use terrain and do not get overconfident - the tanks take damage faster than you guess (or at least as I guessed).

Aztech front:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_2750BC_aztech_front.jpg

German front - with proposed settling spot:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_2750BC_german_front.jpg

This seems like it should be fun ;) . Got it.

preturn: no changes.

2710: Some Germans and Iriqouis troops shelled into oblivion. Settler heads for the wines, which we should be able to get online much sooner than the silks, brings us a bit closer to connecting Salamanca to our empire, and is within more defensible distance of Amsterdam. Science knocked down a bit, still getting IW in 2 turns.

2670: T1 sacks Texcoco, producing a GL and will henceforth be known as the T1000. I decide to have Abel Tasman make a run for Amsterdam before turning into an army, where we should be able to fill him with swords eventually.

2630: We finish Iron Working, start on The Wheel at 50% (in 16 turns at +0gpt). We have a convenient iron source near the grapes, and placing a second city at grs's spot will put it within our borders, no temple necessary.

2590: Rotterdam founded -> curragh. We get a warrior from the nearby hut, who will be assuming MP duties. Note barbarians wandering near both Salamanca and Rotterdam. Set a Salamancan citizen to belly dancing until the warrior can complete and assume MP duties.

2550: Amsterdam builds barracks -> warrior.

2510: We capture Tlatelco -> warrior. We capture Leipzig -> warrior. Leipzig still has a functional barracks.

IT: Aztecs finish Pyramids.

2470: Amsterdam builds warrior -> settler. Abel arrives at Amsterdam and turns into an army, now all he needs are some swordsmen to lead. I fortify the army in Amsterdam, having no current use for it, but don't forget it's there ;).

2430: Salamanca builds warrior -> temple. Between the whip and that tree, it could come online as soon as 10 turns, but feel free to revise that decision :p. Kill off a barb settlement near Salamanca.

2390: It looks like the AI cities may already not be worth keeping, as 2 rounds of a fortified tank has not quelled either resister yet.

2350: Keep Slamanca happy with a scientist.

summary: Connected wine and discovered nearby ore. Harassed the AI a bit, razed and conquered a few cities, although I probably shouldn't have wasted any time trying to pacify the resisters, but oh well. Should be able to eliminate the Iriquois next turn, although their size 1 capital probably means they have a settler somewhere nearby. Need to connect the ore and get some swords in our army. I suggest we settle on grs's dot, bringing ore and silk within our borders.

Our empire (not pictured is the Iriquois capital with our tank sitting next to it, of which you can see the cultural border in the upper left.):

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3-2350bc.jpg

2390: It looks like the AI cities may already not be worth keeping, as 2 rounds of a fortified tank has not quelled either resister yet.


A tank does not quell resistance better than a warrior, but 2 units should be sufficiant for that job, then starve down the foreigners. We should not waste "free" cities that soon in the game.

A tank does not quell resistance better than a warrior, but 2 units should be sufficiant for that job, then starve down the foreigners. We should not waste "free" cities that soon in the game.
If I read this variant correctly you can't get new tanks. If that is true, then tanks shouldn't be in a resisting city to begin with. I think you would hate to lose a rare tank to a flip.

I'll take a whack at this. Got it.

If I read this variant correctly you can't get new tanks. If that is true, then tanks shouldn't be in a resisting city to begin with. I think you would hate to lose a rare tank to a flip.

It's so early that, even on Sid, no civ should have any culture but their capital. I strongly doubt you'll see any flips this early.

Nice idea, but Arathorn might be pissed off. :)

Wow, very interesting. I think I may have a crack at it down the line. If you guys survive! :lol: j/k

Zwi3 - Dukakis!

2350 BC (0)
Swap tiles so Settler comes timed with growth in Amsterdam, and swap Rotterdam onto Barracks from Curragh. We don't need to meet more people yet.

We're quite thin on troops. Might have to circle the Tanks back while we flesh out the core.

2310 BC (1)
German spear steps on a tile and the settler completes anyway. Queue up a Warrior.

Capture Niagara Falls, and that's all for the Iroquois.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Zwi3_Iro.JPG

Niagara Falls claims a third lux for us, although it will be a while before it's hooked up.

Salamanca is hopelessly corrupt, so I'm going to whip a Settler in 4 turns. :)

Have to slide a Tank into Tlatelolco otherwise we'll lose the city real soon.

2270 BC (2)
Not much, just shuffle a few tiles around.

2230 BC (3)
Babylon completes the Oracle. I have three Tanks bearing down on the Aztecs, and should get two Tanks working in tandem against the Germans soon.

2190 BC (4)
Found The Hague in a decent spot. Not ideal for AW, but usually you don't have Tanks to cover in the BC era.

Definitely found Berlin, sending Tanks. Germans lost on an Archer attacking a Tank. :crazyeye: Whack two Aztecs and set up to kill two or more on the next turn.

2150 BC (5)
We get the FP message, so we have something to use the next leader on.

Still positioning, I've had to use Tanks to defend cities.

2110 BC (6)
Win a couple battles vs. the Aztecs. The third Tank is just about in position to do some killing.

2070 BC (7)
Just positioning.

2030 BC (8)
Whip Settler at Salamanca. Soon the halves of our empire will be connected.

Kill 4 German Archers, an Aztec Settler pair and an Aztec Archer. Meet the Babylonians and declare war.

1990 BC (9)
Win two battles, find Tenochtitlan. I think we may need to mass the Tanks (at least 3 of them) to attack enemy capitals.

1950 BC (10)
We're sort of surrounding Tenochtitlan, but I'm afraid we just have to fight a holding action at Berlin. Too many units to push the Tanks forward. Still whack an Aztec settler pair, although extricating the slaves should be tricky. Bag a German Archer and an Aztec Archer.

We don't have the Iron hooked up yet, I was just trying to get all of our cities connected. Once the roads are built we can use our slaves to improve from the core out.

It certainly appears as though we don't have a neighbor N of Niagara Falls.

This is actually getting interesting. If we spread the Tanks out we can't make progress anywhere. If we mass the Tanks we have to play almost-honest Sid AW on the other front. I would propose a holding action to the E and N, and try to gut the Aztecs. I don't think there is anyone S or W of them.

Couple of pictures of the empire:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Zwi3_West.JPG

Settler is circled. I think he should found on the spot where he is standing. Blue dot is a nice complementary spot to link our empire. Plus it's on a Hill and across a river, so it is very defensible.

In the East:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Zwi3_East.JPG

Bit of AI troop volume there. :lol:

Got it for a nightcap.

Zwingli SID Tank Battle Royale

Preturn – 3 Aztec cities we can see that need the tank treatment and then on to the Germans. 1 worker and 12 slaves. We are going to need a worker factory to fix our island up before the other continent comes calling. I’m swapping salamana’s 29 turn settler to reg warriors for mp for our future towns. Next settler is going to floddplains to set up a worker factory and capital can stay on settlers.
IT – Niagra gets an MP. Babs are coming.
[1] 1910 – Healed T3 swaps places with 3hp T2 in Germany front. T3 is heading back towards Franfurt. Found Utrecht on the coast to connect up our ex Iro towns. Blast on archer near Teno and take the slaves nder one tank with me to blast a spear in Teno. Tank at Tlatwill wait until the kill is near.
[2] 1870 – Math comes in, set to Myst in 4 at +6gpt. This research assist is sweet! T1000 takes 2hp loss killing one spear. T5 takes 1 hp loss killing 2. God I would hate to lose a tank to a spear. T1000 needs a respite. Road is connected to our west and I’m irrigating the wines.
[3] 1830 - Wow! T2 goes down to 1hp defending Leipzig but makes it through to go 5/5 on the IT. Destroy Frankfurt. New settler decides he likes the spices AND floodplains. It will be off the coast but on a river. Kill 2 more Teno spears but both will rest at 3hp. Still a spear showing and a bombarding archer in there. Amsterdam to warrior. 4 archers and 3 warriors will attack Leipzig next turn.
[4] 1790 – Thank god the Bab warriors bugged out. The 4 archers took him down to 1hp again. But he heals completely on the IT. Germany has 4 towns and Aztecs 7.
[5] 1750 – ZoC at Teno, which is nice. No attacks. Amsterdam-Warrior>Settler. Kill one Jag near Tlat. Personally I think we should abandon it so the tank can get to work. Adjust slider on Myst discovery next turn. I’m thinking Babs may be at war with Germany. I’m perching T2 on a hill to check.
[6] 1725 – Barbs attack the Frankfurt killer. HA! ZOC in Teno again. Myst is in, set for writing in 5 at max 90%. Gronigen founded between Leipzig and Amsterdam. I realize when the tanks at Teno don’t heal that they won’t in the borders, so they slaves die and they move out. Tlat will have to hold with its 2 warriors until I can get back there.
[7] 1700 – Sure enough, they are at war. T2 does some Berlin pillaging. Others are heading to proper spots, IMO. I think we have to withdrawl from Aztecs because about 4 units I ZoC’ed are incoming to the home towns.
[8] 1675 – Pulling 3 Aztec tanks back to go hunting with one staying at Tlat. Waste of a good resoce, IMO. Raze and someday replace this dog I think. Amsterdam will grow and pop a settler next turn.
[9] 1650 – Silks are hooked up. Lux to 0% for now. Amsterdam-Settler>Spear, Utrecht-Worker>Worker, Salamanca- Warrior> Rax for court after CoL comes in. Settler heads for plains near hills and Flood plains. Kill a spear heading for Leipzig on the way back from re-con. Tlat 5/5 tank heads for new town Aztecs founded.
[10] The new town is undefended. Raze it and head towards Niagra, just in case. The other healed tanks can kill some strays that should go for Tlat on the IT. You can pillage the german wheat and then head back. Workers are roading east and the other 3 in the core can get the iron hooked up soon. It’s about time for some swords, courts and markets. Then sprint to monarchy. The other techs will come in quicker with markets in the core. Keep the settlers coming. Watch the MM on Amsterdam to get settler on growth.

The core taking shape. My ideas for next 2 towns. There's plenty of floodplains to go around.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3-1625.jpg

Next leader can also note to hook up our Iron, once they feel we have sufficient vet Warriors to upgrade. Then we can fill the empty army we have in our Capital.

Nice idea, but Arathorn might be pissed off. :)
Why so? (10 char limit)

Why so? (10 char limit) Yeah, I didn't understand that one either. We're not allowed to mod our own games for SG usage.

Got it. Can't resist the UU (tank).

For the clueless: Arathorn played a Sid Always War game which you can read in the "Stories and Tales" section.

preturn: this is my first sid game, I am shocked to see Babylon has already 12 cities this early.

(1)1600BC: T3 has to cover our settler as there is a barb horse approaching. T5 kills two Jaguar warriors. T4 kills spear and razes Tzintzutzen. T1000 moves into Tlatelolco. Start researching HBR in 4 turns.

IBT it looks like Babylon and Germany are at war? :lol: Aztecs starts Zeus.

(2)1575BC: T4 kills Jaguar, T5 and T1000 kill three archers.

IBT more Babylon/Germany fighting.

(3)1550BC: I decide to retreat T2 from Germany to focus on Aztecs. T4 kills archer. T5 kills archer. T1000 moves back to town.

(4)1525BC: T3 clears a camp and gets 25g. Worker Factory is founded.

IBT Jaguar loses to tank.

(5)1500BC: We meet Hitties. It is only up us Map Making and down Math, so we buy MM by Math+87g, and declare war.

T5 kills two archers.

Set research to Poly, then Monarchy.

IBT we connect iron.

(6)1475BC: kill the Hittie warrior and capture 2 slaves. Upgrade a warrior to sword.

(7)1450BC: 3 reg bowmen, 1 reg spear and 1 vet sword in signt. Capital grows to size 7 and we raise lux to 10.

IBT Bowman loses to tank. One 2hp jaguar loses to our fortified reg warrior but redlines it. Another vet jaguar comes out of fog and attacks another reg warrior, and loses!

(8)1425BC: T2 kills sword.

(9)1400BC: T3 kills bowman. Reg warrior loses to barb warrior! Whip wall in Tlatelolco as all 3 tanks are now next to Tenochtitlan.

T1000 kills two spearmen and loses two hp.

(10)1375BC: I have to use the sword army to kill a barb horse that threatens our city.

Our 3 tanks kill 6 spearmen and take Tenochtitlan.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Zwi3-1375BC.jpg

The city has Pyramids, so I really like to keep it. Aztecs don't have too much culture, but still it would be ugly if we lose tanks by a flip. Maybe we should abandon Tlatelolco and move the two warriors over. Or we just leave it empty and park a tank beside it to recapture whenevre needed, and let the other two tanks go razing more cities.

The Babylon front is becoming hot. I guess Germany and Babylon made peace.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Zwi3-1375BC-east.jpg

Got it again.

IBT: we lose a warrior to a jaguar; silks connected
1350BC: T3 kills a bow- and a swordsman; T2 kills a German settler/spear pair, gets promoted to T2000 and gives us a 2nd leader
IBT: bowman dies to spear in Groeningen (-2)
1325BC: T2000 kills a babylonian swordsman; T4 kills an Aztech archer, all others need to heal; swordsman kills babylonian spear outside of Amsterdam
IBT: babylonian sword dies to spear in Amsterdam; Aztech archer dies to warrior in Tlatelolco; Aztechs complete the Statue of Zeus in Teotihuacan; gems connected
1300BC: T4 kills an Aztech archer again; Willem Jansz hurries The Heroic Epic in Amsterdam; T2000 loses 2 HP killing a sword; lux to 0
IBT: we lose a spear to a sword in Groeningen; Heroic Epic completed
1275BC: T3 kills a babylonian sword; sci to 50% Poly in 1; warrior kills redlined babylonian sword; T1000 kills Aztech horse; sword army kills spear and moves towards Aztech front
IBT: we learn Poly-Monarchy next; Worker Factory worker-worker
1250BC: T1000 kills an Aztech archer and jaguar; T3 kills a babylon spear and we get another leader; T3000 kills another spear
IBT: Tlatelolco riots...
1225BC: T3000 kills 2 Aztech archers Dirk Hartog forms another army; T4 kills 2 spears in Tamuin
IBT: Aztech horse takes Tenochtitlan
1200BC: we take it back...but we can't hold it...it will either flip of be captured by a fast unit; we raze Tamuin and Chalco; disperse a barb camp and a lone barb
IBT: horse redlines T1000; Hittites land near Tlatelolco
1175BC: warrior kills archer near Tlatelolco; Tenochtithuacan abandoned
IBT: Germans start Temple of Artemis; Aztechs show AC
1150BC: movement
IBT: nothing special
1125BC: T2000 kills 2 spears in Carchemish; T5 kills another Aztech AC

In hindsight it seems to have been a mistake to stretch out our territory that far, but maybe it was just me.

babylon front

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_1225BC_babylon_front.jpg

aztech front

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_1225BC_aztech_front.jpg

I agree we are stretched too much.

I think we should focus on razing cities and eliminating civs. Not holding the towns. Only build cities in our core.

I felt the same way as I spoke in my log. Abandon Tlat and concentrate on razing cities. Once they are all razed it will be a simple matter using all the tanks to pick off any new towns that get settled. Then concentrate on expansion and tech. Those extra towns really speed the tech pace for us with the research assist. Hold the line in the north and head to Monty with the tanks. Now that we have swords we can hold in the north.

Good to see that the game didn't end up too hard or too easy.
Got it :)

Tanks Retreat

1125 (0)
Whip a catapult in Leipzig

IBT- The tank in Leipzip holds out against 3 sword attacks.

1100 (1)
The tanks destroys a few Aztec units. I whip a settler in Salmanca to found a new city nearer to the core (more defensible).

1075 (2) Advance on Calixtlahuaca and Tlamanalco. Pick off Babylonian units.

IBT-Over a dozen Babylonian attack units enter our territory along with German units. A defending spearman near Liepzig is lost in defense after destroying one attacker. We may not be able to hold all cities with or without 2 tanks and an army...

1050 (3) We destroy Calix.. Shuffle units to protect against an amphibious German invasion in our southern core. A couple more units are destroyed on the Eastern front.

IBT- We are really running thin on units, and the Babylonians move a massive number of troops into position to attack Gronetz. The amphibious spear/warrior pair destroys our covering vet warrior and disbands 3 workers.

1025 (4) Tlamalca is destroyed in the West, and the German pillagers are dealt with in the core. Both eastern tanks, the sword army, 1 spear and 2 swords are strung into Gronetz to defend. Unfortunately, they did not have the movement to attack at 16 rather than defend at 8. Liepzig is partially abandoned as the local spear and workers are withdrawn from the city, and will most likely fall.

IBT- We destroy about 9 attackers at Gronetz, but T2000 runs out of ammo and is destroyed by a swordsman :sad:. The other tank and the army are heavilly damaged. The lone warrior defending Leipzig defends valliently killing an attacking archer, but falls to the second.

1000 (5) Regroup the forces at Gronetz. Despite the losses, most of the Babylonian attackers have also been destroyed.

975 (6) T5 produces a leader attacking Teotihuacan, which could be used to replace the lost tank (with a sword army). The leader is far from safety, and will have to take a risky path to get towards the core cities.

950 (7) The tanks destroy an Aztec settler pair and capture Teotihuacan with the SOZ (city is renamed SOZ city). A large force of Aztec horsemen and archers approaches Niagra Falls, and the city must be abandoned (after selling the walls). Walls in Tlat_ also sold. There is no solid defense between the Aztec horse stack and our core cities.

IBT- Massive barbarian uprising (Hittites and Aztecs are Mideval)! The Aztecs are building Sun Szu. The Hittites land 2 chariots in the south, the Germans land a spear in the same location.

925 (8) SOZ produces a regular AC (no barracks in Teotihuacan). Tlat_ whips an archer. The sword army in the east destroys Liepzig and captures 2 catapults, the tank captures a second Babylonian catapult from a catapult/spear pair. The leader moves into the fog toward the core, but ends up next to a barb horseman :(

IBT- the leader is killed, but our gathered swordsmen retreat the Hittite Chariots in defense. The german archer pillages our silks, causing a capital riot. The Aztec horse stack shows up near Salmanca, and about 16 barbarian horsemen come into view.

900 (9) We cannot defend Workerfactory or Salmanca from the combination of threatening barbs and enemy troops, and both are abandoned (We now pay substantial unit costs). Tanks raze Tlaco_ again in the west.

875 (10) SOZ city comes out of resistance, but riots. The Tanks and Army regroup near SOZ city, and a third tank attacks an Aztec city. The tank is redlined and retreats from the second spearman, and is covered by an ancient cav.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_875bcMap.jpg
Notes: Whip the barracks in SOZ city next turn (whip spear and switch to barracks) so we can get vet cavs and minimize flip risk. The AC produced by SOZ may allow us to eventually defeat the Aztecs (location of Aztec horse stack marked "A"). Monarchy is due in 1 turn, but we may not have sufficient units to survive anarchy at the moment with the barb stacks adding to our woes (B). The eastern front (E) has stabilized due to the presence of 5 catapults, but Babylonian MDI are beginning to appear. Unfortunately, the loss of a tank will make defense difficult until we can eliminate one of the fronts, and we need some insipred leadership from the next player :)

I think it's right tactic to retreat. We should have done so earlier which might have saved our tank.

I think someone is calling me out.

Got it

Zwi3 - Snapping Turtles

850 BC (1)
Abandon Utrecht as being lost. Fall back to Rotterdam and hope to fight our way back out.

Redirect Aztec attack to new capital of Xochicalco.

825 BC (2)
Burn Xochicalco. Settler is built but can't send him into the teeth of the Babs yet. Constant traffic at Groningen, but nothing we can't handle.

800 BC (3)
Lose a Sword, pop a leader. We only have 6 cities, and need 6 more for form another Army. Leader will just sit idle in Amsterdam for now.

Silks are re-connected and lux tax dropped to 10%.

775 BC (4)
Frag a barb camp. Beating a general retreat from the SW back to our core. Need to draw the line closer to Amsterdam.

750 BC (5)
Philosophy comes in, set for Currency. At least it will give us something to do with our leader.

Tanks and Army leaving SoZ City to defend itself.

Settler in position to build another city.

730 BC (6)
Arnhem founded.

710 BC (7)
Lose Tlatelolco and 3 gold. Could have defended it with Tanks, but not worth keeping. Didn't abandon to try and cost the Aztecs a unit, and because I don't want a transferred whip penalty if it exists.

Sacrifice 4 slaves at SOZ city to speed Wall completion.

Berlin now houses the Great Library.

690 BC (8)
Kill a few things. I am trying to send a Sword army up to visit Babylon and pillage everything they've got. We have Walls, Cats, 4 defensive units and a Tank on that front.

670 BC (9)
Amsterdam produces a settler, heads S of Arnhem.

Frag another barb camp, we really need the money. One of the Sword armies is making a break for it! Objective is to cut the Babylonian Iron, then all of their lux.

650 BC (10)
Looks like SoZ city is quite popular. The Walls complete this turn, and there are 3 reg AC inside.

There is a Settler tucked under a Sword that took way too many HP damage in trying to kill a Conscript Warrior. Reinforcements can make it next turn.

Final Notes:
This is turning into an uphill battle, and I think we are going to be penalized for having wiped out the Iros. The Aztecs will get huge to our West and that front it too wide open for us to operate on. I think we can easily fight a stalemate in the East, especially if we can successfully pillage the Babs.

I don't think we should revolt to Monarchy and lose the Despotism unit support yet. We're still in expansion mode. We really only have 5 cities, although we can found 2 more on the next player's turn, and maybe even 3. If we can make it to our UU, we should be safe to slowly whittle down the AI.

We need to get to 12 cities before we can form another army. That is a long way off so I figured the best thing to do with the leader is to rush a Market in Amsterdam as soon as Currency comes in.

Picture follows.

Pink Circles are our Armies. Blue circle indicates location of Settler. If I were to continue playing, I was thinking of founding either where the Settler stands or where that Barb is (1 SE).

We have another Settler in production that I figured could go W of our core, maybe at the Blue dot.

Science can be turned up. We're going to frag another barb camp next turn.

This picture doesn't show that we may only hold SOZ city for one more turn.

Come on!

This is hard and fun!

I've got it.

Preturn: Amsterdam switched from a spear in 2 to a sword in 3. It looks like we have a little breathing room before we get attacked from the west again, so I'm going to concentrate on hopefully cleaning up our southeastern front, to keep us from having to defend everywhere at once 20 turns from now. The ideal would be to take the 3 Bab cities to our east/southeast and Nuremberg, which shrinks the area we need to defend, gives us some more cities/expansion room, and sets us up to stage an attack on Berlin and seize the Great Library.

IT: SoZ city defends valiantly and ends the turn with a lone 1hp AC. Barbarian attacks settler/sword, going down without inflicting a wound.

630 BC: I sell the walls at SoZ city and abandon it, as there are 5 horsemen and 2 archers poised to attack this turn. The surviving 3hp AC makes a break for it, but is stopped short by a defending archer and fortifies with 1hp remaining.

I opt to move the settler 1 SE as that should bring the two game inside our borders if we manage to capture the Bab city SE of it.

The T3000 takes out a Bab pike pillager on its way to Groningen. Elite sword redlines taking out the reg bowman near Arnhem. Both Groningen swords are killed trying to take out a wounded (gassed) Bab MDI/sword pair. NE sword army kills a German horse. Western tanks continue migration back towards the Hague. Western sword army sacks the barb camp.

IT: Bab MDI dies attacking Groningen spear. AC Custer is shot down by an Aztec bowman in the ruins of SoZ city.

610 BC: Rotterdam builds settler -> spearman (4). The Hague builds swordsman -> catapult (4). Maastricht founded -> barracks.

Tank moves into Groningen to kill some Babs next turn. All 4 catapults fail to damage the Bab longbowman.

590 BC: Amsterdam swordsman -> swordsman (3); it just grew to size 7 and is now at 10spt with +2fpt. Arnhem wall -> barracks (20). Lux set to 20% to appease Amsterdam's swelling populace.

Groningen tank sustains a wound killing 2 Bab MDI. Sword yellowlines taking out barb camp near Maastricht. The T1000 and T4000 move past Maastricht to scout/conquer the SE Bab cities, with a couple swordsman straggling ahead and behind.

IT: Bab longbowman suicides attacking Groningen tank.

570 BC: Currency finished, and I set science set to 0% as I figure the GL will moot out any efforts in that direction after we take Berlin in a dozen turns or so anyway; cash flow is now +19gpt, and should improve in 2 turns when I rush a marketplace in Amsterdam with our vagrant leader.

The T3000 kills a Bab longbowman & MDI at Groningen, sword army takes 4 (!) wounds killing a German archer. The straggling T5000 finally makes it into the Hague, and all 4 tanks are within our main cultural borders for probably the first time ever. The T5000 will be left to defend the western front and the T1000/T4000 will be used to take out the SE Babylonian settlements, with the T3000 and sword armies to defend Groningen while this goes down.

550 BC: Our second sword army arrives at Groningen and loses 5hp (!) taking out a redlined Bab MDI in the jungle. Rotterdam switched to sword in 2 rather than spear in 1. A Bab spear and Hittite warrior appear in our west and are killed by the swords/catapult stationed near Rotterdam. The T1000 moves next door to the Bab city in our SE, revealing it to be Zamua.

IT: Babylon finishes the Hanging Gardens in Nineveh. A Bab galley drops some troops off in Zamua.

530 BC: Amsterdam builds sword -> marketplace, and our vagrant leader rushes it. Haarlem founded 3NE from Arnhem -> granary. I figure we can make this into a settler factory using the flood plains and hills, but it will be some time before it comes online; for now it provides some much needed unit support.

We take out 2 Bab longbows/pike/MDI and German horse skirmishers, and a defending Bab spear in Carchemish, suffering no casualties but redlining a sword army.

IT: A Bab pikeman skirmisher appears on the western front.

510 BC: Amsterdam builds marketplace -> spear (2). Rotterdam builds sword -> sword (5). The Hague builds catapult -> spear (5).

Take out 2 Bab longbow skirmishers, capture Zamua from 2 spears and a long bow with the T1000 and a sword, and capture Carchemish with the T4. Both cities start producing walls for now; they are both probably going to be too corrupted to be much help beyond unit support for the forseeable future.

IT: A stack of 3 Bab MDI/3 pikes/1 longbow/2 settlers forms next to Groningen. A stack of 4 Aztec horses shows up in the west.

490 BC: Resistance in Zamua quelled. We gas 3 pikes and kill a MDI at Groningen; both armies and the T3000 are in the city to fend off the remaining 2 MDI and 1 longbow.

IT: The AI decides to try ignoring Groningen this time, and the stack moves onto the mountain, bleah. Also, 2 MDI move onto the road E of Groningen and 2 more MDI try to sneak around to the spices, while another pike/longbow/MDI stack appears. A vet Aztec AC shows up in the west, presumably the last of its kind in the world.

470 BC: Amsterdam builds spear -> sword (3).

We manage to gas 1 of the 2 MDI on the road after 4 'pult volleys; we promte a sword killing the unhurt one, and a sword is killed attacking the injured one. A final sword kills it off while promoting to elite. Meanwhile the T3000 kills the 2 unhurt MDI on the mountain (taking 1 hit), a sword army kills the pair of 2hp pikes (sustaining 4 hits), an elite sword relines killing the longbow, and we gain 4 more slaves. The other sword army moves out of Groningen to dispatch one of the MDI approaching our spices.

On the western front, things don't go as well. We gas the pike and a horse with the two pults, and then lose 2 swords without inflicting a wound on the 2hp pike, only succeeeding in promoting it to 3hp on the second try. The T5000 has to finish the job and kills a horse as well, losing 2hp in the process. This is not going well, our wine should be cut next turn if the AI isn't a bonehead.

IT: Umm, things get a lot more interesting as 3 Hittite galleys appear from out of nowhere and dump 2 warriors, 2 3-Man Chariots, and 2 spearman right next to Amsterdam. A Bab MDI finishes off our redlined elite sword on Mt Groningen. A German horse finishes off our 3hp elite sword on Groningen road and retreats. On the bright side, the Aztec AI is a bonehead, having it's wounded horse sit on its duff and heal rather than cut off our wine.

450 BC: Gah, The Hague goes into civil disorder, as I neglected to hire a specialist after moving out it's MP spear towards Rotterdam once I lost the 2 swords. I make a taxman.

A sword army moves into Amsterdam and kills a vet 3MC. A vet archer promotes the redlined MDI on Groningen mountain. A 4hp elite sword kills the now yellow MDI on Groningen Mountain. The other sword army moves next to the Hittite stack (it can't reach Amsterdam) and takes out a Bab MDI, losing 4 hits. The T3000 follows the sword army and kills a Hittite reg spear.

The T4 sacks Larsa, leaving our SE Babylon free for the moment.

In the west, the T5000 redlines taking out the AC and retreats to Rotterdam. The catapults retreat to Rotterdam and redline an approaching horse. The T1000 heads back from Zamua towards Rotterdam.

Summary The security of our homeland is pretty tenuous right now, but we may be able to pull though if the RNG doesn't continue to crap on us. More galleys landing units in the next few turns could spell serious trouble though. We need to stop losing vet/elite swordsman to 2-3 health MDI and pikes :p.

Corruption is becoming a major problem, we need to get out of despotism ASAP. We only have 2 cities now (besides our capital) with less than 50% corruption. Settling further colonies won't be very productive beyond unit support until we have a less corrupt government and/or the FP. As soon as it looks like we have a few turns of breathing room, I think we need to make the leap to Monarchy, crushing unit costs or no.

We also need the Great Library ASAP, so we can have pikes for defense instead of these crappy spears. We are spread extremely thin with the Babylonians throwing a constant stream of MDI/pikes at us, and the more sporadic raiding units from the Aztecs, Germans, and now the Hittites.

I have managed to clear up our SE, but I expect the Babs to land more units there in the near future, judging by the number of their galleys I have seen flying around. Some roads down there might allow us to move quickly enough to prevent recaptures of Zamua and Carchemish.

Overall, our position looks pretty rough to me right now. Good luck to the next player, you will need it ;).

Our war wracked empire:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3-450bc.jpg

erm...I surely misread you rushing a marketplace!?! with a leader...

A rushed marketplace isn't a bad move. We've got two armies and 7 cities. We'll surely get another leader before we get 5 more cities. I also believe the Heroic Epic has already been rushed.

[Whoops, miscounted. We had 7 cities when the Market was rushed, we have 9 now. Still believe we'll get another leader before 3 cities.]

You are right about armies and heroic epic, but we could use a fp. Though I must admit, it looked worse at the first sight - rush a market sounds even awkward :)

I don't think we have enough cities for an FP yet. This is a small map, so ... I think we need 10 cities for an FP? :confused:

Yeah, rushing a marketplace with a leader does kind of suck :p, but I couldn't see us doing anything else with him for at least 10 turns. If our swordsman can stop dying long enough to promote, we'll almost certainly get another leader within that time given the number of units the Babs send every turn.

We can't yet build the FP, although we must be close to the required number of cities (I hope anyway); that is certainly what the next leader needs to be used for.

For the next player, I neglected to pull a spear out of Groningen to head for Haarlem (which will be under threat by a German archer in 2 turns), so at least that should be done before hitting <enter> on my turn.

We have, just checked it.

Just a random thought.. we should probably crank out a curragh or two to patrol the seas around Amsterdam/Rotterdam. Having at least a 1 turn warning about incoming AI galleys would be extremely helpful.

Kickstart

It looks like this game has stalled due to an unexpected increase in difficulty, so I decided to play enough turns to get back on track (~30 turns). After finishing this month’s SGOTM, my skills should finally be back up to the challenge :).

Early
I pull the trigger on revolting to Monarchy and roll a nasty 7 turn anarchy. By gaining control of the mountains and forcing Babylon to pass over flat ground, we survive the anarchy without losses and emerge into Monarchy with reasonable income.

Middle
I set most cities to build catapults in order to shore up the defenses on the eastern front. After a few swordsmen complete, we send 2 tanks and an army to attack Sippar, but Babylon can replace the defenders too quickly and we retreat with redlined tanks. Our iron is pillaged by the Aztecs, but we regain control and the western front remain stable. We get two great leaders who rush the Forbidden Palace and a marketplace in Haarlem.

Late
After the tanks and army recover from Sippar, I decide on a direct attack on Berlin and the Great Library sending 2 tanks and an army. While the forces are en-route, we get another leader on the Eastern front and rush another marketplace. Finally, we reach Berlin and attack the defending pikemen.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_librarycapture.jpg
We get all techs up to Gunpowder and Education from the Library before abandoning Berlin and pulling back. On the way back, the troops raze Nuremburg leaving a large open area to our East. We also upgrade most swordsmen to MI, spearmen to Swiss Mercs, and catapults to Treb’s. We squander a few Mercs attacking redlined troops to try to start the GA, but give up on the idea. Finally, a couple Babylonian MI attack one of our Mercs and...
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/zwi3_goldenage.jpg
With our borders relatively secure (plenty of Trebs) and our production at high levels, I hand off the save to the next player. I did not attempt any expansion during my turns due to the large volume of incoming troops, but once the tanks and armies heal we should be ready to acquire some new cities (it will take at least 4 tanks/armies + MI support to safely destroy a Babylonian city). We should probably focus on Babylon who is quickly becoming the runaway civ, while keeping the western front static. After abandoning Berlin, I neglected to pillage the horse resource in neutral territory. This should be done as soon as possible to prevent Babylon from mass producing knights. We should be able to move the eastern front northward until we can claim the horse resource for our own uses.

Preturn: Zero science at AW? We need to research, IMHO. I switch to max research. We really could use more towns.
I switch a town or two to settlers.

Early: Work on building settlers for more towns and more Swiss Mercs. Lose a few MDI vs 1 hp pikes.

Mid: Destroy the german town to the South. Get a leader and build an army. I am going for horses so may not fill yet.
Get a second leader and Rush the Pentagon

Late: Get unlucky and lose a Tank :cry:
Finally find the Babylon iron.

Notes:
Make sure the Army pillages the Babylon Iron! The army has to pillage it before it moves. This will help a lot if that is their only iron.

We have some town to the S that are unguarded. Disband them if any unit moves near them. I kept them to try to lure the enemy away from our core towns. Oddly, it hasn't worked.

The Hittites and Aztecs are at war. You may see less Aztec troops soon.

There is an empty army waiting for knights right next to the capitol.

I really pushed hard to get knights. Our defensive position is a bit weak on the Babylon border. We may want to have a knight army head over there or have an army head home. The armies were out to find the iron. I would leave one out in the field to pillage however. Note that both our armies can have one more unit.

Keep pushing science for Cavalry. They will help a lot.

Here is a map of our current position. We have grown a lot and now need to consolidate our hold: