The Emperors Council: Hannibal

[ed. note: Okay, maybe a start would drum up interest (if not, i'll let the thread die a quiet, peaceful death ]

Hear ye, Hear ye, a Message from the newly crowned Emperor.

He humbly begs for the all the Advisors of the Grand Imperial States of Fanatica to assemble for a newly commisioned Emperor's Council to Advise the young novice of the whys and ways of the world.

He calls on all Noble and Able Generals, all Wise and Learned Scholars, all Fair and Just Governors, and all the Advisors of the States to attend him in this endeavor!

Click to expand...

Leader: Hannibal of Carthage
Difficulty: Emperor
Map: Pangea, Natural Shoreline
Size: Standard
Speed: Epic
Opponents: Standard (the rest of the Warlords new civs + 1 random)



Carthage:
* Starting Techs:
Fishing
Mining

* Numidian Cavalry (replaces Horse Archer): Str5, mvt2, 50h; starts with Flanking I,
+50% vs. melee units

* Cothon: (replaces Harbor); req: Compass, 100h; +50% trade route yield; +1 health
from clam, crab, fish, +1 trade route,

Hannibal
Charismatic
* +1 happy per city
* -25% needed for unit promotions
* +1 happy from Monuments, Broadcast Tower

Monuments: 30h, req: Mysticism; +1 culture; obsolete w/Calendar

Broadcast Tower: 175h, req: Mass Media; +50% culture, +1 Happy per 10%
culture rate, can turn 2 citizens to artists, +1 happy from hit musicals,
singles, & movies

Financial:
* +1 commerce on plots with 2 commerce



I think that's a VERY nice start. (Carthage on a Lake? ) The warrior's already moved NW to that spot, and I think i'm going to settle right where I am.

Okay, my opening plan is for the first 30 or so is going to be Bronze Working for all the reasons there are (Bronze, Axes, Slavery, Chops ~ they really should bust up that tech a bit ~ and especially b/c this is my first Emperor game, and I think I should found my 2nd city @ Bronze). However, i don't want to use the tired ol' axe-rush. I want them for defense mostly. I DO want to use my Numidian Cavalry in a war, so I'm going to keep that as a long-term goal.

I think I'm going to build a warrior and then a worker, while having the citizen work the lake and use that extra commerce, not for a Hydra, but for quicker teching for now. After BW, I'm going to head for Agriculture to farm that rice. It'd be real nice if the worker finished just a turn before Agr hits.

Advice anyone? Does this plan seem sound??

[ed. note: In my head, the way this would work now is that anyone who has an opinion on strategy just post it out there, and please explain the why's behind it so I and others might further understand it. And DON'T BE AFRAID TO ARGUE (just not too much) }

For the Empire!

edit: for Editing's sake!

I would build a worker first so you can chop some settlers. The starting spot isn't all that great. The tech order that seems to fit best is farming->bronze working->masonry->wheel->pottery.

I'm looking forward to reading, I'm probably not going to get Warlords for a while, so it'll be neat to play through the eyes of another.

lost_civantares said:

I'm probably not going to get Warlords for a while, so it'll be neat to play through the eyes of another.

Click to expand...

this is PRECISELY the main reason for me doing this. So others can see the Expansion and judge it for themselves (or as much as they can from reading the reports).

You go girl. No warlords for me because my wife still owns both my nads and my wallet. But I'll read, comment, and laugh at you all the same.

Edit: wait, why is this in Stategies and Tips?

I take it this is a solo game played with advice from those of us who doesn't have Warlords?

Settle on the spot??? Don't be silly, you lose the forest for silk which is going to take you ages to build a planatation on it? Move east and settle on the hill, closer to the rice. With that you should go for Argiculture. Worker first is ok, only if it is not faster than argiculture (although even if worker is faster, it can mine so its still ok).

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Moving east gives you at least two worthless desert tiles. If the only reason you're doing it is for the hills defense bonus (you don't get an extra hammer out of a grassland hill) and to move closer to the rice, its really not worth it. Your borders are going to expand before you get agriculture.

I would settle in place, go bronze working (since you start with mining anyway) and chop out a second worker and a settler. By then your warrior should have found a place for him to go. With all that commerce, you might shoot for jewdism afterwards, but I would probably go with worker techs first and try to burn a GP or the oracle for a religion. Without mysticism though, I'd avoid buddhism/pollytheism.

Not the best start in the world, not the worst either. I'm looking forward to seeing what warlords has to offer!

Opps didn't look carefully to see the desert tiles ... Janus right, then moving east is wrong move.

I wouldn't have chopped the worker and settler ... but I was never a big fan of the chop anyway (even before 1.61) ... which probably explains why I still find Settler the most comfortable level to play in

Hmm ... didn't notice this game was in the tips and strategy forum ... was searching for it in the Stories and Tale Section .... ...

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Okay, first things first. Welcome to my advisors (all 5 of you)

As we discussed, i settled right on the spot


I went Worker First (tm) but am not really sure what it was about this start in particular that made everyone want to do that. Was it just b/c we started w/a warrior already or what?? Please explain.

started working the lake and building a worker. Yeesh! Worker in 30t!! ah well, let's DO IT!!

Meanwhile, our warrior continued west along the lake and soon spied a local village. We're showered with gifts!

3940:

He continues on his merry way.

Then, in 3880 bc, this guy showed up.


His arrival presaged a visit from a new Baldy.

Psst...Shaka...that's a VERY bad toupee ~ We, of course, declare peace and go our separate ways.

Our intrepid warrior has followed the lake south to scout our immediate area first, and in 3790 bc, discovers roving packs of four-legged creatures.

We shall name them Lions

In 3760 bc, the culture of Carthage is so great, that more land is ours. In other words, our borders pop. This also pops that hut down south for 21g.

Further west, our warrior pops a hut of his own (the one pictured with the newly-named Lions):


Two turns later, our warrior finds out that those big, sharp teeth the "lions" have really hurt. However, he escapes certain doom (1.3/2.0hp).


Then, in 3610, an apple falls from the bodhi tree and inspires Siddhartha.


[to be continued]

Several turns later, 3580 bc, Mehmed II the second shows up.

The "at your convenience" part gave me a chuckle; I now prepare to grow as tired of that joke as all the others there are in the Leader quotes

Unfortunately,
in 3550 bc
there's a
tra-ge-dy

Our warrior has finally met his maker


So, with the death of my exploring warrior, we're defenseless and lacking in information about our surroundings. Nice. At least I got 3 huts which i think is not too bad at Emperor, right?

3490 bc, Hindusim FIDL, and then, 2 turns later:


After this I head to Agriculture, except that the people are revolting . . . and they want a new government, too

We get to slavery, and have 9 or 10 turns until Agr comes in. Then, I hit Enter....a lot.

The most exciting thing is this in 3280:

Forest Growth !
I will chop it after the farm is done, and mine that hill as well.

If I time it right, we'll be at Pop2 and building the next worker by the time the chop finishes ~ or should i try and put the shields into a settler, while building warriors to Pop3 and get a 2nd city up ASAP??

In 3190, with 5 turns to go on the worker, and 3 on Agr, I MM Carthage to work the Silk instead of the lake. The Worker is now due in 3, and Agr, in 4. ~ good one, Pholk.
- Thanks, man.
~ Hey no problem, you deserve it! I'm just trying to stay supportive and --

*ahem*

3070 (turn 31) and Agriculture has just come in. I've started the Empire's Wise Men on Animal Husbandry, the worker on a farm, and Carthage is building a Warrior. It'll be ready in 21turns! But we'll have growth sooner, and a mine very quickly on that grass hill.

Carthage:


City Screen:


Overview :


Finally, here's the save so far. Play along at home if you like, but please NO SPOILERS

Bad Break on the lions, but you can recover. But the one thing I think will be crucial will be Cottage spam. You are financial, you must exploit that for a tech lead, then you will have units more likely to get multiple cheap promotions...

Got archery yet? Bob (beware of barbarians).

I would probably not have went worker first. I tend to consider how valuable the improvements he can make are, and unless I'm mistaken, you're looking at +1 food for no-water Rice and mines until you get AH.

Worker first is a must for fresh Wheat or Corn.

I'd have started with a warrior, and researched Archery early on for a land grab...

I would do the following:

- Build worker
- Research BW
- Make sure worker is ready the same time as BW
- Wait
- BW and the Worker (or Worker is one turn earlier) are ready
- Revolt to slavery
- If the warrior was killed or far away from the bronze, build new warrior, and every time the chop comes in, change to settler
- Otherwise just chop settler
- Research Mysticism

In this start there is enough forest (eight) to chop Stonehenge too. Chopping Stonehenge while playing Hannibal gives two advantages:

- Early culture for non-creative civs
- The Monument gives one extra happy face, which are hard to come by in the early game. This allows bigger cities and/or more whipping

So after the (warrior and the) Setller is/are chopped:

- Start building Stonehenge and chopping for it.
- I didn't see copper so maybe settling for a good bonusfood / production / cottage site is a good idea

Will be watching this. Love this as I won't be getting the exp pack for some time (still learning the normal game). Looks like a good start and a great second spot with the pigs and rice.

what's up with the 9.00 and 1.00 in the city screen? Is rounding changed in Warlords?

Uhh, Pholk? What is the "OH YEAH!"- happiness bonus in the city screen? Some kind of a Warlords thingy?

Hehe, I think the "OH, YEAH!" is the Charismatic leader's bonus. That or... I don't want to know.

I agree with building Stonehenge, especially because of the +1 happiness for the monuments. (I assume it still gives you free monuments in every city, right?)

Yes, "OH YEAH!" is the Char leader's bonus (i have not been 'messing around' with Hannibal )

The only thing that makes me hesitate on the Stonehenge is that, after Calendar is gone, do we still get the +1 happy for the Monuments?? More so, do we still get the Monument bonus even after Calendar pops if we build them separately. If i cared, then i'd Worldbuilder to test it out, but, let's wing it

I'll probably build some warriors for now to see what's out there, and then chop out a quick settler (perhaps a worker first). Also, the chops give the resources on the NEXT TURN so i'll need to be careful about swapping out the 'domestic' builds.

Once Husbandry is in, I'll *probably* swap to Mysticism. Will be playing and posting in about 6+ hrs.