LL1 - the Great Armada

I am organizing this SG to get see the different strategies used by the players. I will remain out of it (as I am too deep into it) albeit I can start it.
It is based on the Great Armada scenario (v2.0a) which means to play you must successfully download and install the scenario (two files, altogether ~32 MB). The version is bug-free and can be found here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=104091) .
Be careful, rules and gfx are heavily modified.


Level : monarch seems fair and balanced.


World size = custom (scenario)
Map : western Europe
Barbs = none
Civ = Spain
Opponents = England, Dutch, France, Maghrib
Allies : Irish, French leaguers
Neutral : Holy Roman Empire
AI aggression = Normal
Duration : 120 turns max.

Roster full.


Order of play :

1- Bede
2- killercane
3- cizzlewalk

I am currently overcommited, but I will lurk, and maybe as some of my games end, I can pop in on this one.

I'll take it on, Senor Loulong.

@ Bede Good ! Nice to have you on board. I advise you to download, install and try the sceanrio ASAP to see how it works and especially whether it works !

@ Romeothemonk : Hi Romeo, did not know you were into SGs.
Too bad you cannot join now but I am sure you can find a place later on if need be.
Anyway as it is a scenario it should not last too long (120 turns only).

All looks really good, and everything I have tried out works.

Will play out the 5 tomorow. (About half way through turn 1). Little to report other than inconclusive battles with the Dutch and am attempting to return some treasure and get control of the Med. Since they were willing to pay for the privilege I did sign in Germany and the League against the Dutch.

Query: the diplo screen shows locked alliances but I was allowed to negotiate alliances against the Dutch, so is it England that is the locked alliance target?

We still need at least 2, preferably 3 people for this SG !

Come on sign in !

AGH! My comp is in the shop right now but I want to try this out REAL bad! I should be able to play by Friday/Saturday. If you want you can put me at the end of the roster, will that do?

I am sure that would do, especially as the first few turns take a while anyway.

Glad you joined.

Now we just need at least 1 player for position 2 !!!

Hello ! Anyone wants to play the Great Armada for real ?

Someone PM LK, he'll have some free time now that the LK series is on hold

Hey Lou I reconsidered, COTM 16 is going faster than I thought. I can take the second turnset to keep the ball rolling. Bede has done all the hard work anyway .

Will finish the turnset tomorrow night.

So far so good, finally got the towns sorted out and set most of them to building Militia to free up the garrisons. Both War Weariness and the economy are big problems right now, but I hired a bunchof scientists everyhere and am researching the Compass tech for the upgraded International Market.

More inconclusive battles with the Dutch.

It looks like the African colonies are in trouble though with lots of Bedu horsemen attacking in the east.

cizzlewalk said:

Someone PM LK, he'll have some free time now that the LK series is on hold

Click to expand...

Sure ! But... can you ? As I don't know the person you are talking about ! ;-)

A fourth person could be nice.

killercane said:

Hey Lou I reconsidered, COTM 16 is going faster than I thought. I can take the second turnset to keep the ball rolling. Bede has done all the hard work anyway .

Click to expand...

Glad you changed your mind ! I add you in second position.

Bede said:

Will finish the turnset tomorrow night.

So far so good, finally got the towns sorted out and set most of them to building Militia to free up the garrisons. Both War Weariness and the economy are big problems right now, but I hired a bunchof scientists everyhere and am researching the Compass tech for the upgraded International Market.

More inconclusive battles with the Dutch.

It looks like the African colonies are in trouble though with lots of Bedu horsemen attacking in the east.

Click to expand...

Yep, the first turns take a while as Spain is a kind of giant.
And indeed using specialists is a good way to fight WW and crippled economy. The scenario is indeed military but you must really take care of your cities so that they remain productive. So it is not just pumping out units.

I don't want to influence you guys too much as I want to learn things about the scenario so as to improve them if necessary but maybe I can give you a few hints.

Militias are OK but Spain is unlikely to face a major attack on its soil in Iberia and they cannot move. Pikemen are more expensive to build but are stronger and can move. I don't really know hwat you mean by garrisons ?

International Harbor level 2 (or Improved which is more romantic) is quite useful and adds to your treasury while preventing the Dutch from getting it (which is good since they can rush-buy troops).

Bede said:

All looks really good, and everything I have tried out works.

Will play out the 5 tomorow. (About half way through turn 1). Little to report other than inconclusive battles with the Dutch and am attempting to return some treasure and get control of the Med. Since they were willing to pay for the privilege I did sign in Germany and the League against the Dutch.

Query: the diplo screen shows locked alliances but I was allowed to negotiate alliances against the Dutch, so is it England that is the locked alliance target?

Click to expand...

Oops forgot about your question.
Albeit you are in locked alliances the option to sign military alliance vs a country you are already both at war is still in. Weird (I noticed that first in WWII Pacific) but linked to the Civ3 engine. You can also sign trade embargoes. Useless (it just makes the civ you are at war with even more angry), so just ignore them. On the other hand signing ROP is a good idea as it cannot be set in the editor before the actual playing.

LouLong said:

Militias are OK but Spain is unlikely to face a major attack on its soil in Iberia and they cannot move. Pikemen are more expensive to build but are stronger and can move. I don't really know hwat you mean by garrisons ?

Click to expand...

It appears that towns bigger than 3 or so need MP's in place to help with happiness issues. Building militia (cheap) allows the moveable troops to head for the borders and keeps lux tax under control as there is money in the treasury but no free cash flow.

LouLong said:

International Harbor level 2 (or Improved which is more romantic) is quite useful and adds to your treasury while preventing the Dutch from getting it (which is good since they can rush-buy troops).

Click to expand...

That was my thinking and the alternative research path was not very attractive. The commercial techs tend to be ignored by the AI so I think it makes good trade bait.

The Scots have signed a peace deal with England so life in the Low Countries may get a little hairy unless you can drag them back in. The Irish have cleaned the English out of their east coast but are now fighting the French inthe south at Cork. As we are also at war with France that could get to be another hot spot.

The only thing built during this set was military, mostly militia for town MP at home and some muskets, pikes and a couple of Men at Arms to support the Dutch campaign and the campaign against the French. The best deal in military is the pike, muskets have the same A/D stats but lack one hit point. The one thing they have going for them is defensive bombard.

Look out for the Arab dhows in the Med. They carry horsemen and sometimes Pirates. The horsemen are nasty but can be dealt with, the Pirates have amphib landing capability though.

The galleass fleet is covering the Straits of Gibraltar and holding back the dhows in the east. The war galleons have been covering the treasure ships both from the north and the west, and are part of the fleet at Santandar getting ready for the move up the French coast.

War Weariness is a big problem which is why so many miliita were built. Once they were in place the moveable troops could head out and do what needed to be done.

The wines at Bordeaux will be a huge boost to the Spanish economy.

We need to take and hold Rotterdam for the Silk Market resource which is why there was no prebuild in Antwerp or anywhere else for the Improved International Harbor. And we needed the military help from Antwerp.

All is in order I think. Be careful when you move garrisons around. Did I already say War Weariness is a big problem?

The economy is a mess and depends on treasure delivery to stay in the black.

With the end of the Arab threat on the Atlantic coast I think the Treasure shipping from America should go easily. Coming from the north (once we control the silks market at Rotterdam again) is a whole 'nother problem. I lost half the covering fleet to the English Sea Dogs (which do not carry the red colors but are light blue). Right now their activities seem limited to the Bay of Biscay and north but I think that will change.

killer - up and at 'em
cizzle - hanging in there

Acknowledged and will take it up tomorrow King Bede.

I will be able to download the mod in its entirety tomorrow night. I will personally play through the turns posted by Bede and get use to the mod as best as I can.

It's a honor to play a scenario alongside Him, Bebe, and have that scenario be one of Loulong's! (Great work w/ the Three Kingdoms, btw).

Pre turn

Diplomacy

Signed up the Irish vs. French, Muslims, and Netherlands. They give us Postal Services and 1 gold for the honor.

Do the same with the League. They give us 25 gold.

Change 2 entertainers in Amsterdam to taxmen.

War

Bombard and kill horseman on the Muslim front.

Everything looks pretty good.

Turn 1

4 bombards hit on Leiden, still a pike showing. Cover with Tercio. Leiden cannot be reinforced by the Dutch quickly so it was chosen over Rotterdam.

Ally Germany vs. France and England. They pay us 100 gold. Thanks. Germany had wanted all of our gold to sign up against the Muslims, could not have taken that deal.

Kill 2 Dutch units and a Muslim horse in our territory.

Land a good number of troops ready to march on France's capital.

IT- France signs up Scotland against us.

Turn 2

Move units in French territory.

Bombard and kill 2 Dutch units.in territory.

Put another taxman in Amsterdam to starve it.

Moved the treasure carrying musket the wrong way, woops. He'll be a turn delayed to the capital.

IT- Muslims sign up Germany against us, no more mercenaries.

T3
Magnetic compass comes in; set to regimental organization after some debate. A new government would be nice as well. Decide at the end of turn to turn it back to religious monarchy in 10 turns at -131 per turn (for faster workers). We have 527 in the bank. I hope the treasures are +1000 gold, but couldnt find out their amount in the civilopedia.

A bit of MM for the unhappies.

Q: Bordeaux or the capital in Frenchland? Decide on sending troops to Bordeaux for wines. Could also have split forces but I dont know what we will encounter in either city.

Continue on the ship chain from the Americas with the newly produced treasure. We have no more troops over there to pick up any treasure and will need one ship chained back.

Kill 2 muslim horses and a pirate. They are coming hard from the south.

Move a Tercio and some pikemen towards the south from the mainland. We will need help in muslim territory.

IT- Not much. Muslim ship movement in the Mediterranean. Privateer movement in Dutch territory.

T4- Capture Leiden, lose one yellow Tercio to a redlined musket. Grrr. Capture a bombard.

Return treasure to capital for 400 gold. Treasury is at 747 and -114 gpt. Sell the corrupt bank in Amsterdam for 80 gold. We'll survive here I think for the time being.

IT- Several muslim landings. Lose a pike to a muslim horse.

T5- Capture Bordeaux, lots of units there. 3 muskets did not see battle out of 14 attackers. Lost a reg musket and a rider, so it seems 9 defenders were there.

Probe the defenses at Rotterdam and Bergerac

Kill 3 Muslim horses in the south. Lose one pike.

Dont forget to shipchain units into France in the north.

There might be room to optimize the specialists a bit better to not waste science/get maximum gpt. We are wasting about 1% of the beakers. It seems we should be shaving off a turn on science but it shows 8 remaining on rel mon so maybe playing with scientists can do that.

The new treasure will be at the capital in 4 turns. We need to ship a unit back to America to pick up the next treasure.

The league has wines available for postal services and 200 g +WM. You might be able to talk them down more. It will be a few turns before we can get a harbor in Bordeaux so this deal might make good sense.

We need the silks at Rotterdam and a silk market to build Int'l harbor level two in the East. I didnt realize this or would have gone for Rotterdam first.