ARIP Game #1 -Alexander-

[Jman47]

UPDATE 1 4000-2960 BC

Ok guys plenty of interesting developments here in this turnset. I decided to settle in place- started on a work boat, and chose agriculture as my first tech. I did some scouting- and the first goody hut i popped gave me a map- bleh.


plenty of jungle to the north, as well as another goody hut i went and popped, giving me a much better gift- a free tech.


meanwhile my work boat finished and i started on a worker. i sent the work boat out and used it on the fish tile- making it only 7 turns till i get my worker finished. in the meantime i had finished agriculture and mining, and convieniently bronze working would be done in 7 turns as well. i kept on scouting- killing a few animals and popping exp for my scout from another hut- giving him woodsman II and the ever popular name- woody! he ended up in a close battle with a lion and had to rest on a forested hilltop. meanwhile- my first neighbor came knocking.


I dont know much about gilgamesh- maybe someone can enlighten me? anyway he made contact with a warrior so he cant be too far off. meanwhile i finished bronze working- and my starting position became even better than before-


2 copper nearby! now thats just being plain spoiled. after switching to slavery and ending the anarchy, it is now 2960 BC. my hilltop scout happend to see gilgies borders pop a second time- and i was right about him being close. looks like we found phalanx target numero uno.


as of now i have my worker working one of the corn tiles and the copper will be next. im building a warrior for protection and felt now is a good time to stop for some advice. here is the overall display so far-


im thinking of putting city #2 1 tile east of the wine- in order to get that, the pigs, and the wheat in its BFC. i want to put city #3 1 tile NE of the stone to get that, pigs, and rice in its BFC. as always though- tell me what you think!

Edit- just read VOU's post. ill give you guys more time for advice before the next update.

 

[Nares]

Looks like tundra ESE, that means: silver, fur, whales, crabs and deer are likely to spawn nearby.

Indeed. It means that we're in the plains band just north of tundra, and that the map script upgraded the BFC from plains/tundra to grassland.

What that means is that there's plains to the west, and possibly wheat, sheep and cows as well.

EDIT: Just saw the trip corn. Plus that fish.

One thing I've noticed is that with a start like this, other capital sites are usually as good (and sometimes better). Just make sure you're making better use of it than the AI is.

My play on this start would be Agriculture, Mining, Bronzeworking; Worker and then...

Worker and then Work Boat.

Then Settler, if you find a good site nearby and keep the scout around long enough to help fogbust a path (they're quite good at this).

I was intrigued, so I rebuilt the BFC and tested it. Identical research, identical pop (at least with the builds I used), but Work Boat first was one unimproved corn short of Worker first, with both exactly 1 turn away from Bronze Working. Additionally, Worker first was one turn into a settler (due in 6) versus Work Boat first which just started a settler (due in 7 w/ corn improved). However, Work Boat first could complete a (unnecessary) Warrior.

So basically, it's the exchange of a tile improvement (and earlier access to that Copper) for a Warrior/Scout. Builds were Worker->Work Boat->Settler (max growth), and Work Boat -> Worker (at pop1) -> Warrior -> Settler.

That said, I would always go with Worker first if there are two agriculture tiles. Or Work Boat first if there are two fishing tiles and I start with fishing.

 

[DMOC]

A city to the 6 position of the wine (directly east) would take a while to grow because the food isn't in the first ring and you're Alexander, not the creative Pericles.

I'd settle to the 9 of the pigs. An instant 6F tile is really nice and with a rice, you have a nice whipping center.

 

[JFIGHTER]

About gilgamesh, he he is one of the best ai's because all his advantages come in at the early game and he knows how to use them. He is a pain to dislodge because of protective archers and high culture defense. He will rex minorly and his vultures are rocks. Better get going on the phalanx rush or he will hunker down and become a lot more of a pain to dislodge. Also He doesn't become weaker as the game goes on so he is usually a threat for victory.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

im thinking of putting city #2 1 tile east of the wine- in order to get that, the pigs, and the wheat in its BFC.

Looks awfully brown to me. pigs/wheat/city is 12 food now, which means you can work 4 brown mines - that's 18 hammers per turn, which would make for a good HE city if there's a second target on this continent. If you and Gil are isolated, I'm not sure how much I like it. (I'm not entirely sold on this pairing - I don't like what this city does to the fish. Fish/wheat and Pigs/Corn or Pigs/Rice might be stronger.

But that's a generic description of the location. For city #2... why not SE of the copper? Be right on his doorstep, keep his copper away from him, you've got a nice corn tile and some mines to work with. It probably even fits reasonably well into the dotmap with his capital.

Hint: Alt-I toggles the interface, allowing you to put more map in your screen shots (we already know what the controls look like).

 

[CarlH]

For city #2... why not SE of the copper? Be right on his doorstep, keep his copper away from him, you've got a nice corn tile and some mines to work with. It probably even fits reasonably well into the dotmap with his capital.

I agree.

Vultures could easily stuff up your rush attempt. So if you can deny gilgamesh his copper, your rush will be (a lot more) effective. Make sure you build a monument there early, becaused the cultural pressure from a creative capital can be very annoying.

 

[pawelo]

Pretty agree on the general opinion on Gilgamesh. He's one of my favourite picks for a warring game, and I hate landing next to AI playing him.

Deny him Copper and/or Phal rush him. Do something and fast is IMHO the best conclusion. I can't recall if Protective AI favors teching Archery on noble, but my bet would be 'Yes' so make more Phalanaxes than you'd do in a normal case (whip/chop at least 9-10 methinks).

Edit: A second worker would be a good option in this case.

Trying to box him is risky - being creative his border is stronger than yours and in my games a boxed Gilgamesh DoWs easily and very early.

 

[Nares]

im thinking of putting city #2 1 tile east of the wine- in order to get that, the pigs, and the wheat in its BFC. i want to put city #3 1 tile NE of the stone to get that, pigs, and rice in its BFC. as always though- tell me what you think!

Fish/Wine/Wheat (on the lone desert tile there) and Pigs/Rice/Stone (1NE of the Pigs).

Settling the Copper is definitely the priority, however. 1SE of the Copper would be my suggestion.

 

[vormuir]

Gilgamesh is bad news.

1) He's Protective, so once he gets Archers his cities will be pretty tough.

2) He's Creative, so his cities will quickly develop the 20% Culture bonus to defense. His capital will have 40% by the time you reach it.

3) Vultures are almost the only early UU that whips Phalanxes! A Vulture is an Axe with strength 6 instead of 5. Very bad.

So what should you do?

-- Deny him his copper. I can't emphasize this strongly enough. If he has Protective Archers *and* Vultures, he's going to be impossible.

-- Axe-rush him, and bring lots of axes. Prepare to take losses. That's normal with this sort of thing. If his capital has 40% Culture defense and, say, three Protective Archers? You'll need about ten Axes to have a good shot at taking it.

Other commenters can talk about chopping and whipping and how to build an early army really fast. Here's the key point: he has to die, and fast.

cheers,


Waldo

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

He's Creative, so his cities will quickly develop the 20% Culture bonus to defense. His capital will have 40% by the time you reach it.

Look again - it's turn 26 (or later), he's got 40% culture now.

On the shiny side, it means that's where his capital's borders are going to be for the next few turns - the cultural pressure at Neighborville isn't going to get worse immediately.

 

[pawelo]

More of my 2 cents...

There is no guarantee that the copper NW of Gilga capital is the only in his possession so there is no time to waste. I'd place the scout on the forest hill south of corn (next to Gilg border) and go asap for the city between the copper and the corn. Chopping three hills should bring you a quick complement to the forces you should be chop-whipping back in Athens.

For that you need badly a second worker - I'd chop it too, speed being essential (one for the capital and one for the new city) - once the setup is ready, you should have a 10-phx army ready quickly to take his 2-3 cities (depending on the pace he is expanding). I woudn't bother building barracks - your Aggr trait is good enough.

You should expect, by the time you'll rush, 2 prot archers in the first attacked city, and between 3 and 5 in Uruk. Prey that neither is on a hill nor that there is no river to cross, as each turn of slowdown may mean an additionnal archer
If you have a few spare turns - road your way to his border too.

First game in new series and already rushing Still, with anybody else around (except maybe JC), I'd rather concentrate on building up the first 4 cities.
Awaiting news from the front

 

[Shafi]

Is this dead? Been waiting to see what happens ...

 

[pawelo]

Looks well like dead.
Moving along...