RBC15b - Britain (Deity) - Napoleonic Europe Scenario

Welcome to RBC 15b – Napoleonic Europe – Britain – Deity

Here are the opening instructions:


Here is the science picture:


Please note, I’m going to throw out some opinions here and they are just that opinions. I encourage the team to open the game and go through the civilopedia. There is a lot of information to be digested.

Some interesting things regarding science:
1. Naval Tactics (which we know) allows the building of a Naval Academy small wonder. The Naval Academy produces a frigate every six turns.
2. Code civil gets workers to work twice as fast.
3. General Education allows the building of a public school. A public school makes one citizen happy in the city.
4. Sanitation eliminates disease from flood plains. Reduces the effect of the plague. You can build a hospital which hasn’t changed.
5. Nationalism allows the standard mobilization and drafting capabilities, but also enables the building of Musket Infantry (3.5.1), requires saltpeter, cost 70 shields.
6. Advanced Tactics allows us to build the Lifeguard (7.7.1), requires saltpeter, cost 130 shields, gets an extra hp.
7. Artillery Tactics allows the building of a Grand Battery (bombard 12, range 1, RoF 2, movement 1) requires iron & saltpeter, cost 50 shields.
8. Military Logistics requires three armies in the field, allows the building of the General Staff School (Pentagon).

I think we want to go the Nationalism=>Adv. Tactics=>Arty Tactics route as quickly as possible.

Here is our glorious homeland, lead by our Sovereign, George III:


We also have Gibraltar of course:


In our homeland we have salt, iron and horses, plus furs and gems. Gibraltar has none of those. There is wine and ivory available across the Strait in Africa.

We control three VP locations - London, Edinburgh, and Gibraltar.

Here is our military situation:


We are weak compared to France, and strong compared to the rest of the world.

Save: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/RBC15b_Start.zip (Let’s zip our saves to avoid corrupt files and due to the size)

Our roster is:
Bugs
Kiech
Sesn
LK

Since Lee is going to be away until the 8th, I’m thinking we might keep the lineup just the way it is.

Comments, criticism, observations and discussion are highly encouraged. I will plan on playing the opening 10 turns on Thursday (unless that changes )

Couple smaller comments:
No Flood Plains, no Plague. Just to avoid confusion.
Lots of Luxuries in Afica and Crete...any idea how to get them, with no Settlers allowed and no AI cities there?
Nationalism also allows Policemen, which are extremely useful in this Scenario.
You cannot build lousy Musket Infantry. Britain has Redcoats, 5.6.1 at 90sp instead, can be drafted.
Battlefield and MilAc are in (unchanged), but no Heroic Epic.
Public Schools are surprisingly good.
No ships have an 'active' Bombardment (only zero range)

Thanks Doc. The game gets more interesting by the moment. Sounds like more study is required.

Checking in.

I have some serious reading to do before I can contribute to discussion. Will try to get up to speed tongiht.

Since Lee is going to be away until the 8th, I’m thinking we might keep the lineup just the way it is.

Click to expand...

Late sunday, Aug 9th is the earliest I can play.


I may have net access on this vacation, but I lack the time to play.

Checking in. I haven't played this scenario yet...I think I will take a look. There has to be a way to get the luxuries.

I was looking at the save. We would need a lot of culture in Gilbraltar to get the boarders to expand enough to get even one of the luxes in Africa. With no settlers, we're stuck with getting our luxes the old fashioned way => capture them.

We also have spices outside Cardiff, Bugsy.

We're already at war with France. Is the idea to go right at them, or pick another target first?

If we go right at them, is there any reason we shouldn't go right for Caen, and then Paris?

How much threat of a naval invasion do we have to worry about? (I know the ai stinks at this anyhow...)

We seem to be a bit shy on offensive units, but they're all expensive builds too....Should probably try to build up our cannon forces to reduce losses.

Why can't I switch any of the builds to the naval academy?

We already have the Naval Academy in London, along with Smith's. There aren't any other wonders possible, as far as I can tell.
We can do some trading for lux and cash as we have monopoly power on Naval tactics. Try to keep the trades with our allies, just in case.
I was thinking of taking on the dutch first, but apparently they are our allies...
Anyone will sign military alliances with us for free. We should get Spain on board.
Sell off the courthouse in London.
The Man-o-War will start off our GA, which we should do pretty quickly.
We can build the FP right away, any idea as to where?
We apparently CAN revolt to Republic. Hmm...

Kiech said:

We apparently CAN revolt to Republic. Hmm...

Click to expand...

Most of the conquest are mostly about fighting. Do we really want war weary people?

Looking at the save, a couple of observations.

As Kiech pointed out we have a Naval Academy and Smith's. Both are appropriate to the scenario since Britian was a Naval powerhouse and an economic marvel in 1800.

I can get most of Europe in on a dogpile for a whole lot of cash, it seems like most of the economy of Europe. But is this a smart thing? It feels like an exploit and maybe an error in the set up, like maybe no one is researching anything at present. I would like to get everyone to weigh in on this one, and if any lurkers have any insight I would appreciate it.

We need an FP. I'm thinking I'll just pick the strongest shield producer.

If we decide to drain Europe's economy, I can boost research significantly and short rush units like crazy.

I don't like the idea of revolting to republic. It doesn't fit historically. We are subjects of King George.

I don't think the spices are hooked up. Sounds like the first worker assignment.

FYI, I opened a discussion over on the maintenance thread concerning the ability to get fabulous deals on MA's at the start. Romeo showed a way to win on the first turn by getting cities for MA's. So we will only have straight up MA's at the start. There may be further restrictions as this issue is explored.

I don't believe the spices or furs are hooked up.

As Romeo demonstrated in the RBC thread, MA's can be too powerful. I think the end result will be the ability to sign MA's, but not take any concessions.

I don't want anything to do with the WW in Republic.

WW is ugly; remember, you're in a locked war (=> Maximum WW!). And without MP, happiness will be really a problem.
France can live with it, they usually eliminate KoN and Dutch within a couple of turns, and then have 6 luxes, but Britain not.
The only Civ that should switch are the Ottomans - they are REL, and at peace.

I just threw the 'republic' thing out there as a possiblity. The turns of anarchy alone are enough to stop us from switching.

I have no idea why we can't trade with Gibraltar. I suspose its because the Portugeese don't really like us, and refuse to let our ships by. Heh.

All of our pirates should sit in a city, or under one of our flagged ships, to prevent our allies from trying to destory them.

We may want to keep a close eye on the Dutch town. As soon as it falls, we can have a few horses on standby to take it for ourselves, and have a nice beachhead.

There are no amphibious units in the game right? Am I missing anything?

I haven't seen any real decision on the MA exploit, or for that matter, any real discussion on it either.

Who is going to make the final call on this one? Can we just leave it to Bugsy to make a couple MA's with no concessions, and trust him to not go over board?

How many MA's do we really want? Prussia and Spain, for sure, possibly the Austrians. Really, anyone who borders our allies needs to be in the war with us.

1. Jan 1800 – Men o’War do not have bombard capability. Place a MoW in the channel. Dial up Russia, Prussia, Austria, Ottomans and Sweden. All six are signed to MAs against France and Denmark.
The Spanish will not fight. I don’t bother with the others since they are our locked allies.

I move our transports towards London, fortify all our muskets where they stand. Move a MoW and a privateer towards the Skag. Move our worker in Scotland south.

I start Leeds on the FP. Start building a combination of MoW, cavs, and cannon. 2,4 & 6 respectively.

I sell Naval Tactics.

Prussia: wines, 300G, 13GPT, WM
Spain: 300G, 4GPT, WM
Austria: 300G, WM
Russia: 200G, WM (passed on their worker, we don’t want to cripple them.)
Ottomans: 200G, Dyes, WM
Naples: Silks, 200G, 2gpt, WM
Sweden: 200G WM
Portugal: 200G, 7gpt, WM
Netherlands: 200G & WM

We have 2900G. I put science to max. Nationalism due in 10 with a -80 gpt budget. We have an incredibly happy populace. We have just one content citizen.

Some things to start considering. Do we make our first landing in Brittany or Normandy? Or is it better to go up to the Skag and work southward? Unlike Ike, I think Brittany may be the better choice.

IBT – Well I didn’t cover everything, Denmark and Spain sign an embargo against us.
Sweden wants a MPP and a ROP. Listen Gus. I’m already at war. I don’t need any entanglements.
Russia and the Ottomans sign a MPP.
Several French frigates sail. Can you say GA?

2. Mar 1800 – One of our MoW (6/6) attacks a French frigate (2/2) is redlined, enslaves the Frenchman and …


A privateer takes out a second frigate and our new prize sinks a third as its crew gains veteran status.
Realizing we need some workers in the worst way, I change Wick and Galway. The time to Nationalism drops from 9 to 6 turns. The FP will now be complete in 12 turns.

IBT – Galway: worker=>worker

3. May 1800 – Ferry our new worker across the Irish Sea to work on improving Leeds.
4. Jul 1800 – We spot a French fleet of two frigates south of Brest. A privateer is redlined but prevails. We also find a French fleet in the Med. Our privateer attacks but ends up in Davy Jones’ locker. A MoW is vectored in.

IBT – A French transport heads for our shores.
Wick, Galway: worker=>worker

5. Sep 1800 – Sink the transport with a MoW. London has grown and we now have 25 spt. Since a HCav is 130 shields, we need one more shield. Move the new worker from Ireland to Leeds. Science drops 10%.

IBT – Portsmouth: MoW=>MoW
Edinburgh: cannon=>cannon
Dublin: Mow=>HCav

6. Nov 1800 – These are pretty quiet turns. Move our ships around looking for Frenchmen to sink. We pretty much control the seas now, mirroring history. Because of that, I switch Cardiff and Belfast over from a MoW to a HCav. We’ll need the troops for the invasion. I short rush the Hcav builds in Belfast and Cardiff, cutting 4 turns off the builds.

IBT - London: HCav=>HCav
Glasgow: Cannon=>HCav
Cork: cannon=>cannon
NavAcad produces a frigate

7. Jan 1801 – Science drops another 10% with nationalism due next turn. The French are starting to hammer the Neapolitans. They have lost Milano. We need to get them some more help, since none of our other allies appear to be helping them. I dial up Spain and sign them to a MA for WM and 409G. It might be but a second front will split the French forces. Additionally, when we land that will be a third front.
MM London and get 27spt. MM Nottingham up to 19 spt.

IBT – William complains about our ships in his waters. Ottomans want to sell us their WM. No thanks. A French Frigate sails from Marseilles.
Nationalism comes in. Advanced Tactics at 70%, +11gpt, 21 turns.
Galway: worker=>worker
The Spanish Trade Embargo ends as Denmark declares war on Spain.

8. Mar 1801 – Our Mediterranean MoW captures the Frenchman as a prize, but is redlined. Sails for Gibraltar for repairs, leaving the prize on station.

Upgrading Muskets to Redcoats costs 120G apiece, but having a 6 defense unit in the invasion will be very helpful. Upgrade five muskets. With growth in Leeds, MM the FP build time down to 4 turns.

Austria has lost a city. I should have an invasion force together for Kiech.

IBT – The Dutch sink our privateer in the Skag.
The Austrians want to talk. Swap TMs? No thanks.
Nottingham: HCav=HCav
Wick: worker=>worker

9. May 1801 – Since we’re going to need more transportation, I change Dublin over to a transport. Start loading up our invasion force… we have room for 15 units. So far we have 5 Hcavs, 3 Cannon, 4 redcoats. We’ll have two more redcoats and a HCav come sailing time.

IBT – The French send a frigate and transport towards our shores.
Edinburgh: cannon=>cannon
Belfast: HCav=>HCav
Dublin: Transport=>MoW

10. Jul 1801 – We take the French Frigate and the transport as a prizes. At this rate we won’t need to build many more MoWs.

After Action: We have an invasion force nearly assembled in Portsmouth. The question is: Where shall we land? Brest is built on a hill, so with pop 8 it will be a tough nut to crack. There is a gold hill 1 SW of Caen, that maybe a great place to land our forces. I’ve kept a HCav in Scotland for defensive purposes. We need to keep producing workers. A little MM on those cities goes a long way. Tile swapping opportunities between Nottingham and London is also something to watch for.

Situation:


Save: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/RBC15b_-_Jul_1801.zip

Roster Check:

Bugs – Just Played
Kiech – Up
Sesn – On Deck
LK

As I mentioned previously, I favor going for Caen, then marching on Paris, unless I'm missing something.

Figure our stack is probably going to be hit with some imperial cavs (8.4.2) The hill will give us a bit of a defensive bonus. Plus Caen would be a very nice logistical location across from Portsmouth.