Raliuven SG2 Demi-God Aztecs

Okay, here it is. Sorry for the delay everyone!

Turn 125 Continued

Move horse into Tamuin to cover city from settler/spear pair. I’ve had a bad experience where an escort spear took an unprotected city in a game. Best not to tempt the Mayans.

Move all 3 settlers westward.

IBT – Spain lands a settlers in the west. :(
Mayan settler in our north finally leaves and heads towards Egypt.
Greek are building Sistines. Double :(

Turn 126
Malinalco: Galley>Library
SoZ builds AC – put this one in our Western defensive stack.

IBT – Egypt builds a city right on the western cow. :confused:
Spanish settler is somewhere up there.
Mayan spear/settler is heading west too.

Turn 127
Teo: Worker>Settler
Tlax: Horse>Courthouse [next player can veto; could use library or just push another horse]
Cempoala riots – Darn. Not sure how I missed that. Take a citizen off and make him a scientist for now.
Swap Tenoch to a settler due in 1t to prevent growth to 7. We need a few more settlers.


IBT – Mayans are building Leos.
Mayans build KT. Guessing they got a SGL from Invention?

Turn 128
Tenoch Setter>Horse
Found Ixtapaluca by plain + sugar. Start Worker.
See Spanish settler/archer pair

IBT – Greece asks us to leave. Okay.

Turn 129
We gain Theo but we are behind the curve.
Tlac Horse>Horse
Tamuin: Barracks>Horse [? – maybe a courthouse? I had not expected this city to be so corrupt?]

We’ve got Theo and we are up on France, Egypt & Iro, but they have nothing to trade us as of yet. Everyone else already has it.


Notes:
I’m going to leave it here for the next player to decide on the next tech approach/step. I put it on Education but we can’t do better than 50 turn research. Unit support is hurting right now.

Current Count:
Worker: 17
Settler: 3
Warrior: 2
Horse: 7
Galley: 1
Jags: 3
AC: 5
Curragh: 2

I’ve got a settler headed to the plains by the Mayans to claim that land. Another settler is SW of Ixtapaluca. I had intended to settle either in place or SW1, though that will put us in conflict with Egypt. Egypt does have at least 5 swords (3/3) and an archer hunting around.
The last settler is headed west – I thought it could be diverted down to our gem landmass.
Another settler is building in Teo.
We have quite a few library builds right now and a FP build due in 6t that we need to do something with.

I'm a little disappointed with this turn set. I don't feel that I've moved the game forward much. But I think out expansion phase is almost over. After these three settlers in place, I think we've got the two places on our eastern coast. We could try to slip a few cities between the Egyptian boarders, but that's a bit risky, culturally and militarily. But there are actually a few nice hills + rivers in that direction.

Roster:

Raliuven (just played)
creamcheese (Playing)
Elephantium (on deck)
CKS
 

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I think our next gains will come in war. We should settle the spots we can, build up a few more horsemen + spearmen, and then strike hard for one of the Egyptian cities. Maybe burn the one on the cow. Settle our replacement city ASAP, then make a quick peace.

After that, I think we can do some oscillating warfare -- anyone other than Greece is a good target for a quick one-city war.

To take on Greece, we'll need a horde of Trebs and LBs (and expect casualties to be high vs. Knights) -- or we'll have to wait on Muskets and Cannons. I don't think we can afford to wait until MT; the AIs will likely pull too far ahead.
 
Hope all is well in your world, creamcheese. Sometimes I wish I was playing via a desktop. By laptop has become increasingly unstable lately. :(

So the current line up is:

Roster:

Raliuven (just played)
creamcheese (requessted a skip)
Elephantium (Playing)
CKS (on deck)
 
Planning -

Top priority: Get a road to the Gems.

War with Egypt: Raze Busiris (it's on a cow). Take Buto and Edfu.
War with Maya: Take or raze Cuello. It's a decent location, but

Tlax: Consider changing the build to Lib or Horse

Spam settlers to fill in more cities
Grow some cities to size 7 for greater unit support (Tenoch, Texcoco, Tlatelolco, Tlaxcala)

I think we'll just have to complete the FP in Tlatelolco. It's kinda close to the main palace, but the lowered corruption will still be useful.

I'm inclined to declare on Egypt right away. Capturing Buto and Edfu will help with our unit support right away, and they're both decent city locations.

What do you guys think? Is there anything else I should keep in mind?
 
Just remember that Egypt does have some units in force in our area - they are currently hunting barbs. I counted at least 5 swords and an archer - all regulars. So they'll make a rather immeidate appearance/threat.
 
Just remember that Egypt does have some units in force in our area - they are currently hunting barbs. I counted at least 5 swords and an archer - all regulars. So they'll make a rather immeidate appearance/threat.

:trouble:, say the half a dozen a-cavs and Horsemen along our western border :)
 
:trouble:, say the half a dozen a-cavs and Horsemen along our western border :)

Oh, no doubt! :lol:

I just wanted to make sure you saw that they were hanging around given the AI's usually sloppy movement of units. These are already in-stack and close to the warfront. I'm sure they'll try to make a nusiance of themselves. :p

I usually count a little leeway in the AI's appearance with first responders at the DOW. I just didn't want you to be caught off guard.
 
Oh, no doubt! :lol:

I just wanted to make sure you saw that they were hanging around given the AI's usually sloppy movement of units. These are already in-stack and close to the warfront. I'm sure they'll try to make a nusiance of themselves. :p

I usually count a little leeway in the AI's appearance with first responders at the DOW. I just didn't want you to be caught off guard.

It turned out to not be a problem! The war is already over ... for now ...

Spoiler :

Pre-turn: Sci slider to 0; hire a scientist in Cempoala.

MM cities for faster growth

IBT:

Iroquois declares war on the Maya!

Barb galley sinks vs. Spanish galley in our southern waters.
Texcoco: Lib > Horse
Xochi: Court > Settler
Cempoala: Workers

Turn 1 (50 AD):

Build the town of Huexotla near Ixtapaluca. Building Worker

IBT:

Maya complains about our explorers. We apologize.

Tenoch: Horsemen
Chalco: Workers

Turn 2 (70 AD):

Moving troops into position...

IBT:

Teoti: Settlers
Calix: Horses

Turn 3 (90 AD):

Build Tepexpan in the plains near Chalco. Building Catapult.
Sci slider to 30%; Education in 34 turns.

Ooh, we can buy Iron and Dyes from Egypt now. Something to keep in mind after the war.

IBT:

France and Maya sign MA vs. Iroquois.

Teayo: Worker > cat
Tlalmanalco: Cat > Lib

Turn 4 (110 AD):

Research time is down to 31 turns.

I'll declare on Egypt next turn; the troops are in position.

IBT:

Tenoch: Horses
Tlatelolco: FP > Lib
Tlacopan: Settler > Horseman

Turn 5 (130 AD):

Declare on Egypt.

Battle of Buto:
Ancient Cavalry kills Spear
Elite Ancient Cavalry kills second Spear and captures the city!



Education due in 25 -- 19 with the slider up to 40%

Ooh, the Iroquois lack Theology, and they have Engineering. They're happy with a straight-up trade (and they don't have any gold to throw in, anyway)

Mayans and Greeks have Invention. Hopefully we can trade Education for it once it comes in.

IBT:

Lose a Jaguar in the SW to a barb horse.
Texcoco: Horses
Atzcapotzalco: Lib > Treb

Turn 6 (150 AD):

Battle of Busiris:
Lose an eHorse vs. the defending Spear.
The second horse does the job:


Build Tepetlaoxtoc near the Gems. Making Worker.
Lose two Horsemen and a Jaguar at Edfu.

IBT:

Mayans build a city W of the ruins of Busiris.
We spot some Egyptian units skirting around the outskirts of the new Mayan city. They'll threaten us in maybe 5 turns.

Turn 7 (170 AD):

Move troops towards Edfu and re-MM cities.

IBT:

Tenoch: Horse > Mkt
Teoti: Settler > Lib
Calix: Horses
Xochi: Settler > Lib
Malinalco: Lib > Settler

Turn 8 (190 AD):

Near Huexotla...
Horseman kills Egyptian Archer

Battle of Edfu:
eAncient Cavalry kills vSpear
AC kills rSpear
AC kills Archer



Sci slider to 50%; Ed in 10, -28gpt (we'll have to drop the slider again in ~3 turns)

IBT:

Lose a scouting Horseman to an Egyptian Sword
Ixtapaluca: Worker > Treb

Turn 9 (210 AD):

Build Chiconautla 2N of Teoti. Building Lib.

eACav kills Egyptian Sword from the IBT

IBT:

Texcoco: Horses
Japanese and Spanish are building Leo's

Turn 10 (230 AD):

Build the city of Zitlaltepec on the peninsula past Xochi. Building Harbor.

Sign peace with Egypt, gaining 26 gold in the bargain.


We can buy Dyes from Egypt for Theology + Ivory. I think it's worth it, but I'll leave it open for the next player.

Our Incense deal with France expires in two turns. When that expires, I'd like for us to let the deal drop, declare on Maya, take the city of Cuello with the stack of Horsemen 2S of the city, and then set that deal up again. With that in mind, we should also wait on buying Dyes until we have Cuello.

We're doing fine for luxury spending right now; as outlying towns grow, we'll start to run into problems, but having four luxuries (ivory, incense, gems, dyes) will fix that.

I was thinking that we should give the cow tile by Teoti to Malinalco; I thought we could put that city on Settler duty while Teoti builds some infrastructure.



 
I should add that my thoughts surrounding Cuello are because I think our trade route to France goes *through* Cuello's coastal tiles -- I'd hate to declare on Maya and lose the lux trade with France!
 
:woohoo:

Nice :hammer:. Hopefully Egypt will find something else to do with all those swords. ;)
 
I've pushed enter, and now I need some input. During the IBT, Greece, Spain, and Maya all learned education.

I bought education from Spain for 26 gpt, which is not that much more expensive than researching it ourselves. Japan has the Great Library, so I'll be trading education to them immediately, and we can get at least 11 gpt back from them. I traded education to the Iroquois for invention plus 7 g, learning that gunpowder is known by 4 civs. (Japan won't make a reasonable deal on invention.)

We can now trade education to Japan for chivalry plus 11 gpt or we can trade education plus 19 gpt for gunpowder. There is no visible iron anywhere near us, though Egypt currently has iron to trade. If we trade for the gunpowder and can get 4 luxes, we can probably research astronomy in 22 turns. If we do the chivalry trade we can knock 5 turns off. (The growth of our empire will reduce the needed time somewhat.) Egypt knows chivalry but not theology or invention, while the Iroquois know chivalry and not gunpowder. My inclination is to do the gunpowder trade, but I don't want to commit to 20 turns of 30 gpt less (about 3/4 of our current available gpt) without some consensus.
 
I'd make the Gunpowder trade and research Chemistry rather than Astro -- beeline for cavs!

What will Egypt pay for Theology and Invention? Maybe we could recover some of the gpt needed for the Gunpowder trade.
 
I agree with the Gunpowder trade. We can get chiv from egypt on the back end by coughing up theo or invention, or the Iroquois, etc. etc.

What is our research time to Chemistry? If we can pull it in faster than Astro that might be the way to go. However, if Education just came up that means we have a clear path to Astro and we are at least contemporary with the research leaders, who may be diverging towards PP or Banking. If we don't know how long gunpowder has been around, we may be behind the curve on Chem and that is the only place to go after gunpowder (IIRC). With gunpowder already in the hands of 4 civs, it has probably been around for a little while. Not necessarily insurmountable, of course, just a point for discussion.

Weighing in favor of Chem is the need to get to Cavs before the AI can spam knights and become a pain in Monty's backside. I still think we might be better served running the top of the tech tree and trading for the bottom, but our lack of iron makes me less sure. AC will only get us so far in a knight fight.
 
My reasoning for going Chem is to beeline for cavs. Once we have those, we can attack Greece with confidence. If we continue researching the top of the tree (which, TBF, has worked out okay so far), we may end up facing Greek Rifles with our brand-new cavs :eek:
 
I guess it also depends on how highly we value Cops. If we head towards Astro with a prebuild, we might be able to snatch it up pretty quick. Of course we could always trade for Astro when it becomes available; the AI are usually pretty good about researching it. I don't know how much leverage Chem would give us in a trade vs Astro. Now is the time I really wish I had a better grasp of the beakers involved. I need to go study my beaker tables.

I'm okay with either path.
 
I haven't looked at the time to chemistry, because that isn't easy to see until we have gunpowder. My times to astronomy weren't really advocating astronomy, but merely informational. My feeling is that if no-one else has either astronomy or chemistry, we should probably go for chemistry, as I'm thinking that astronomy will be easier to trade for, but I really don't know. (My favorite VC is 20K, so I'm always headed for free artistry instead.) I usually find the AI researching astronomy and navigation as soon as they can, but I haven't really paid attention to the matter.
 
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