Space-1: War While Waiting

Since C3:C is still a few weeks away for us ROWs (Rest-of-the-World-ers) I thought I'd start an SG of my own.
To compensate the elaborate variants we've been playing lately I suggest a simple Always War.

The roster:
1) mad-bax <---------- just played
2) TedJackson
3) Karasu
4) Greebley
5) Handy900 <---------- UP
6) Northern Pike <--------- on deck
7) Space


For those new to the concept: we declare war to each Civ the moment we meet them. This first contact is the only possibility to trade but the negotiations will always end with a war declaration.

Here are the specs:

Version: PTW v1.27
Level: Monarch
Landmass: Continents
Climate and Age: Random
Size: Standard
Opponents: Random
Civ: Rome

For me it's a first try, hence the Monarch level. Still hard enough I would think , veterans say you should add a level-and-a-half, so it'll be like demi-god, ie harder than emperor. This should be fun with fellow AW newbies, but veterans are welcome too. Also if only to lurk and comment.

My personal favorites for the Civ are: either the Ottoman or the Chinese for their great UU's, but maybe we should go for the Greek (good early defensive UU, free techs) or the Romans (good early offensive and defensive UU, cheap Barracks).
Going with one the latter two will mean an early GA, but surviving the first part of the game is probably the hardest part. (Is it? That is the great thing about starting something new, lots of things to be learned... )






The save


Da rulez:
Mad will start us up by playing 20 turns. After that it's 10 turns each. If we manage to survive we may need to make that 5 each at some point, but only when I've given permission...

Strict 24 hours for a "got it", after that 48 hours to play.
If you're not able to play, just say so and we'll work around it. We have a long roster so this should not be a problem. If you fail the "got it" the game moves to the next player.

We'll play "honourable" (RBCiv rules). It will be hard to break any deals anyway.
RCP not forbidden but not encouraged either.

Sign me up of course.

I don't mind which civ we use. I've never played the English actually. Fancy a challenge?

As SG23P is over bar the shouting, count me in Space.


Ted

Glad to have you, guys. I knew I could count on you.
I'll edit the first post.

About the English, we would have to have a Wonder induced GA then, not exactly what I had in mind... I have a soft spot for certain Englishmen though... , so I'll consider it.

lurker's comment:

The Man o' War can kill other ships to trip a GA...they just can't bombard to do it.

If you are new to AW, I would suggest a civ with two of the following 3 traits: militaristic, industrious and scientific or at least one of those traits AND a good UU like legion, hoplites, samurais.

Civs that have two good traits and a good UU like the Chinese, Persians and Ottos are ideal.

Thanks Belisar, the Ottos and Chinese were on my list, but the Persians is a good idea too, I haven't played them very often, which is a point in their favour too.

Is this an invitation only game Space? or can anyone join? It's just that I noticed there was no post in the registry.

Of course I can't resist, just as sure as I will get myself in trouble for lack of sleep, time and peace of mind...

But if you can bear my being totally schizofrenic, and with my absence from 15th Nov to 8th Dec (holidays... ), then I would gladly sign in.

Re: the civ, we have already played Otto and China with MB, so I'd avoid them. Why don't we pick a totally pointless Civ to make it more challenging? I mean, Space, you know that some of us tend to complain that their games end up being way too easy...


EDIT: Belisar, are you going to jump in? Or just lurking?

@Karasu: Hard to resist not to jump in when an AW game is announced but with LOTR11 starting soon and Meldor's plans for our NOW team (hopefully he has plans for the next challenge ... hint..hint..) I can not commit myself to another SG.

I whish you good luck by exploring this fun variant and I will lurk with great interest. We had an interesting variant in AM6 and maybe some time (C&C?) we could try our 5CC-AW variant on Monarch.

Originally posted by Belisar
I whish you good luck by exploring this fun variant and I will lurk with great interest. We had an interesting variant in AM6 and maybe some time (C&C?) we could try our 5CC-AW variant on Monarch.

Click to expand...

I'll be looking forward to that!

Originally posted by mad-bax
Is this an invitation only game Space? or can anyone join? It's just that I noticed there was no post in the registry.

Click to expand...

Anyone can join, Mad. Thanks for pointing that out, it wasn't clear. I just haven't posted in the registry yet.

I would like to try this as well.

I am by no means an AW expert, so an intro game is the right level for me.

Welcome Greebley, glad to have you with us.
I'll put you on the list.

Just some thoughts on our Civ choice.

I can't help but think that a Militaristic Civ will be our passport to success. With that in mind here's a list of the Militaristic Civs, their UUs & their secondary traits.

Militaristic Civs:
Rome - UU Legionary (Swordsman replacement, early Ancient Times) - secondary trait Commercial
Germans - UU Panzer (Tank replacement, late Industrial Age) - secondary trait Scientific
Chinese - UU Riders (Knight replacement, early Middle Ages) - secondary trait Industrious
Japanese - UU Samurai (Knight replacement, Middle Ages) - secondary trait Religious
Aztecs - UU Jaguar (Swordsman replacement, early Ancient Times) - secondary trait Religious
Zulu - UU Impi (Spear replacement, early Ancient Times) - secondary trait Expansionist
Mongols - UU Keshik (Knight replacement, early Middle Ages) - secondary trait Expansionist
Vikings - UU Berserkers (Longbow replacement, early Middle Ages) - secondary trait Expansionist
Celts - UU Gallic Swordsman (Sword replacement, Ancient Times) - secondary trait Religious

Religious won't be much help as we'll probably stay in Monarchy for the whole game.
Expansionist won't suit our game either as we'll want to limit our contacts at the start.

That seems to leave:
Rome with Commercial for reduced corruption but has an Ancient Times UU
Germany with Scientific for cheap Libs & Universities plus the free tech at Era change but has a late Industrial Age UU
Chinese with Industrious for faster roads & tile improvements with a perfectly timed UU but a lot of us are playing (or have just played) this Civ.

Thoughts & comments welcome.


Ted

I'm in if there is room.

If not I'll lurk.

I'm just leaving work and will post more details when I get home. I've got 4 AWM wins so I think I can save us learning lessons the hard way.

EDIT: Gosh I hope I get in. I really really want to play with Ted!! I've learned alot from his posts!

I think I will vote for Rome. I haven't played a full game with them, but they generally seem to do pretty well.

Or is the early GA too much of a killer?

Thoughts on AWM games.

I’ve won with the Celts, Chinese and Ottomans. IMHO the most important trait is industrious, although many would disagree. The Ottomans AWM victory was an easy one, but I got lucky in that game with consecutive leaders for the GL & FP. That was also my last AWM game so I had a lot of experience by then. The Ottomans UU is truly spectacular and the GA is well timed. On the downside, it is a drag building barracks at full cost. China is quite possibly the easiest AW civ. Militaristic + Industious + great UU + well time GA. The Celts have an excellent UU. It’s basically a medieval Infantry with a move of two in the ancient age. The retreat feature is great. The celt UU actually upgrades to MI, which is actually a downgrade sive the MI is 4.2.1 while the celt Gallic Swordsman is 4.2.2. The Celts downside is the despotic GA and Religious nature. The 1 turn move to Monarchy is nice, but not really useful. The cheap temples help a little in the domination win. If you really want a challenge, play as Babylon!

Tips on AWM
Go to Monarchy & stay there.
Early game survival is the key. You need a very favorable kill ratio. To do this you need walls ASAP in all cities on the front. You also must establish a kill zone and set your defenders in a way that induces the AI into the kill zone. They will come like moths to a light.
Go for a dense build. Three tile max from city to city. Develop your tiles quickly. You will want a lot of workers.
Build a lot of cats. In one AWM game I had almost 150 artillery by the end of the game. Many were upgraded cats. Bombardment will allow you to attack and win with elite units, and you know what that means, leaders.
Pre-build the Great Library, it is really hard to win without it.
Read the links below if you have never played an AW game. One link shows the many mistakes I made in my first game. By the end of the thread I’m winning an AW game (thanks to much instruction from betazed). Also read about pillaging. To win you must fight a war of attrition against the AI and destroy his economy via pillaging.

AWM questions

Offensive Pillaging

betazed's Always War Diety win

Sorry for the late response, but I'd certainly like to play.

I'd make the boring and obvious choice of the Chinese as our civ--the two best characteristics for AW, a good UU, a well-timed GA.

Originally posted by handy900

EDIT: Gosh I hope I get in. I really really want to play with Ted!! I've learned alot from his posts!

Click to expand...

Now, how could I refuse a plea like that, , you're in.

You're in too, NP, glad to have you.

This gives us a roster of seven, but Karasu will be away for three weeks, so it should not be a problem. We are complete now, so I will post 4 starts in about 10 hours. These four starts will each feature a different Civ. After some discussion we will vote to determine which one we'll play.