Journey of the AWDG Vikings

[ZzarkLinux]

Re: the green city?
Yep, saw it at end of chapter 3. It turned out to be French in Chapter 5-ish..
(Why are they green anyway )
I don't learn the name of that city until, well, chapter 8 below


Re: Linux
I run Linux at home, but I'm not a fanatic.
Well, I am. I'm a CIVFANATIC !!!

I wish I could run this on Linux, then I could play at home. I run it on Windows now.

I only have Wine, since I'm too lazy to pay $15 for Cedega, and beside's I'm on an
older version of Linux still (think Ubuntu LTS 6.06 = Windows 98), so Cedega may not
work.

Sidenote:
I can almost get warcraft 3 TFTto run on Linux, but Wine can't detect CD. It's
funny, because Blizzard just released a no-cd update, which won't run. I'm hoping that
I can run patch 1.22, whenver it comes out...


Re: CivIII source code
!! I WISH !! I work with C++ all the time (see sig)
But I'd kinda have trouble figuring out how to compile the source code.
Example: Quake 3 Source Code is out there for free (I have somewhere), but I've no clue
how to actually compile the code to make the program.

Getting Chapter 8 written now. It'll be 2 parts, ~7 turns each.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

"Keeping things going" is always important in AW.
If you hit a brick wall (no expansion), well, it only goes downhill...

Just how am I doing, anyway ??

---------------------- Chapter 8 (part 1) ----------------------
Haven't seen this game much all week. I actually played Chapter 7 on like, Monday...

I carefully review everything.

Positives:
- Luxury slider at 0%, and no danger of riots. I have 2 luxuries.
- My cities are growing big & juicy. Bigger cities mean faster research & production

Negatives:
- Maya got the Great Library, and I don't know their location yet.
- I lack elite units. I don't think I got a single non-army promotion in last 2 chapters
I am militaristic, right

My turn:
I decide that I need to expand into China gap / main area more.
Linux is on a settler, good.

Army snips road that helps Chinese "dance".


Good. Here come my promotions, along with a settler pair.

Finally, I decide Chengdu will get a library.
It has lots of flood plains to grow large on rivers.
It only makes 2spt, but there are 3 forests to chop next to it...

IT:
China swords go to Source Code.
I will leave that city un-defended to lure my promotions into a "promotion zone"

French land a sword in Chengdu area. I guess all AI ships are going there...
I hope that regSword landed will attack my eSpear on a hill. Leaderfish me???

My turn:
Archer joins eSpear in east hill, to (hopefully) maximize potential leaderfish.

Lit due in 1.

I spend this turn positioning lots my cats / units next to un-defended Source Code.
Here kitty kitty kitty...

IT:
Excellent, they (5 Chinese swords) move right onto the grassland.
French sword doesn't attack my leaderfish eSpear, though...

Galleys do their swimming lessons ( is there a swimming smiley?? )

And this.

Spoiler :

Literature->Ceremonial Burial (in 4 at +32 gpt)
Time to beeline Monarchy.

My turn:

Firstly
vSword > French rWarrior near Chengdu (Sword Redlines)
vArcher > French rSword near Chengdu

Now the Killzone


Cats hit 2/4
e*Archer > rSword
vHorse > rSword. Promotion.
vHorse > rSword
rArcher > bombarded Sword
army > last bombarded Sword
That Chinese stack now happily dances in the great beyond

I change 6 granary builds to Libraries.

The Chengdu worker is unhappy, now that MP left. Scientist again.

IT:
Swords kinda go to Subversion. I'll need to reposition to block the "mountain walkway" ...
French spear lands at Iron area.

I build a sword & settler.

My turn:
China is impressed with our culture !! (thanks Heroic Epic)

3 cities finish libraries in next 6 turns or less.

Change Linux to a library, too.

Reposition as needed... I'm not in danger as long as I look at what's where.

Spoiler :

IT:
Swords dance into the Promotion Zone.
French spears near Chengdu are annoying. They're going after the chopping worker.

Spoiler :

My turn:
Cats hit 2/5
eHorse > 1Hp sword
vSword < rSword
vHorse < Sword
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
rArcher > Sword. Finally. Promotion.
Grr... trading unit-for-unit is the way to lose...

I look at my city screen, and see lots of cities at size 4+

Chengdu worker decides she can labor again. Scientist -> Iron mine.

IT:
Chinese Swords -> Source Code.

My Turn:
Cats hit 1/5
eHorse < 2hp sword
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
army > Sword.

Mine on Novell gems finishes..

Review income. Scientists -> Tax collectors, CB still in 1 turn. Rare use for tax-ies.

IT:
Chinese Swords -> Source Code.
I need to NOT lose units there...

CBurial -> Mysticism (4 turns at +21gpt)

My turn:
Cats hit 3/5

e*Archer < 2HP sword
!!!!!!!! I NEED MOR CATS !!!!!!!!
vSword > 2HP Sword. Redlines...
vSword > 2HP Sword. Promotion.
vHorse < rSpear. Horse chose not to retreat.
Did I mention I don't like horsies ??
vArcher > rSpear. Promotion.

Tax-ies -> Scientists again.

IT:
Russian galley turns around. Goes south.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

---------------------- Chapter 8 (part 2) ----------------------

My Turn:
vSword > spear. All clear at Chengdu..
So, that's the French city


Horse armies pillage 4 roads in China


Micromanage to swap 1 shield for one trade. Temporary to avoid waste.

Front is now basically cleared.

IT:
Russian galley turns around again, goin north.
China archer wanders.
Xorg->Library->Sword

My Turn:
Settler is sittin next to Source Code. It's not good to keep'em waiting...

army > spear in Xinjan
army > spear in Xinjan
army > spear in Xinjan

Spoiler :

Switch Xorg's sword to settler. Switch Sun's catapult to settler.

IT:
Chinese sword and archer are seen near Source Code.
GNU->Library->Spear (7spt)
Novell->Library->Settler
Unicode->Spear->Spear
Mayans start building Leonardo's Workshop.
Mayans start building Sistine Chapel.
Mayans start building Knights Templar.
Well, they do have GLIB, so trading must have happened.
I'm happy they waste shields on that stuff.

My Turn:
Cats redline archer.
eArcher > 1HP archer.

I prevent a riot at linux -> Scientist.
And now 2 Scientists -> 2 Tax-ies (scientists couldn't up the slider). Mysticism still 1.

IT:
Chinese -> want audience -> no
Swords appear at front.
French galleys -> Swimming lessons
Mayans start building Knight's Templar somewhere else.
Russia finishes Sun Tzu's Art of War.
Aztecs finish Knights Templar.

Spoiler :

Mysticism->Polytheism (6 turns at -5gpt with 327 in the bank from 4-turners)

My Turn:
Tax-ies -> Scientists

Cats go 2/5 to redline an sword. I have 7 cats total.
eSword > 1HP Sword

Found Mozilla -> Walls. Gain +4gpt in unit support + the 1 commerce

Spoiler :

Stop a riot at Novell -> Scientist.

Here's the party at my front line. Guess who's dancing the most now


IT:
China lands archer near Subversion.
Maya starts building Sistine Chapel
Maya starts building Leonardo's Workshop.
Good that they waste shields on this stuff (I hope Maya get Sistine's )

My Turn:
I see orange borders with Scouting army. I think it's Russia orange.

Spoiler :

Other army finds Tientsin in the West.
Army > spear in Tientsin

I plan to eventually take Beijing, and get that incense.

And I start irrigating non-critical grasslands...

IT:
Chinese archers advance.
GNU -> Border Pop
GNU -> Spear -> Spear
Novell -> Border Pop

My Turn:
4 cats redline rArcher on Mountain.
eArcher > 1HP Archer

I leave Mozilla un-guarded, to lure promotions.

Army > Spear at Tientsin
Army > rushed Spear at Tientsin

Spoiler :

I get a Chinese slave and a Carthegenian slave, as well as 11 gold.
I knew there have been lots of AI-AI wars, even if I haven't seen them...

Switch Unicode's spear to sword (5spt)

IT:
French galley -> Swimming lessons.
More promotions appear at Mozilla, but they're not close enough yet.
Linux -> Settler -> Cat
I get the "Our people want to build the Forbidden Palace" message.

Tientsin resistance ends. 1 laborer and 1 Scientist.

And I'm done.

We are strong compared to China and France (I think France has lost workers, too)
We are weak compared to Russia and Maya

Empire:

Spoiler :

Core:

Spoiler :

The Promotion Zone:

 

[Quintillus]

Good update. I'm surprised no other AI have arrived en masse. Maybe they're all in AI-AI wars. Certainly good for you that they haven't yet, though. At least if any of the Medieval AI have Iron.

So long as the AI don't overpower you, libraries are great. Might not prevent culture flip problems or scientific backwardness but sure will lessen the problems.

Why the decision to keep Tientsin? Quicker army healing, decent location, lack of settlers in area? Not that I disagree with the decision, it's just out-of-the-ordinary - Chengdu was the only other non-razed city and it had Iron in its radius.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on this. I have a feeling it'll only get more difficult for quite some time, at least unless the AI have had terrible luck with resources.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

When reading over Chapter 8, I begin to notice stuff.

- We may be on a "Pangea Island" after all, which could make things very difficult. (See pic)
- Enemy galleys have come "not too late", so if we are on an island, our galleys can probably reach them too.

Spoiler :

This would explain why no huge armies have come to me.

I think I may whip a curragh in Tientsin just to confirm if I am on an island. I'm not too worried if I am, as I have hope that Maya may be within reach.

If I am on an island:
1) Research to invention
2) Stop research.
3) Fish for Pike army (may need China alive).
4) Mass Berserk, Pike army, Galleys.
5) Sail / land other continent (no city needed)
6) March under army cover to GLIB.
7) Win

-------------------------------
FYI I'm not only playing this game. I feel kinda "too lucky" in beginning, so I'm practicing more.
Here are some other tales to give everyone an idea on the difficulty:

Other game 1
- 1st Contact at turn 40.
- 1st Contact sends zillions of units to my capitol area.
- Capitol is pillaged most of the game. It is the front line. I have 6 cities total.
- Expansion halts.
- 2nd Contact on other end of empire.
- I build Great Library
- 3rd & 4th contact.
- 2nd contact alone takes a city. Their regular warrior kicked the nuggets out of my elite spear behind walls...
- Game over, even though I had GLIB.

Other game 2:
- Bad start with desert and marsh.
- 1st contact at turn 62. I have 5 cities
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th contact within next 10 turns.
- I am overrun. I even got beat to the Great Library, cause Russia got Lit not-late-ish.

Other game 3 (older):
- I am on a pangea island with Mongols. We have no resources at all.
- GLIB FIDAL (built somewhere else)
- I research all the way to berserks. Stop research.
- My galleys don't get very far... They are pwned by masses of enemy galleys...
- I could island hop, but I still have no idea where GLib is...
- I'm way to far behind.
- Game over.

 

[Butterball]

Hi, I was told to post somewhere. Thanks for your time.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

---------------------- Chapter 9 ----------------------

My Turn:
Review my empire. Everything looks good.

Change Tientsing to a curragh. It will be chopped and ready in 5 turns.

Move units. Use army to explore.
And snag a free worker.

Spoiler :

Man I love China.
And I notice that Russia has a pikeman near the Chinese city. Poor China...

IT:
China sends promotions.
It appears Russia and China are at peace. Russians use Chinese roads.

My Turn:
vSword > rArcher
eSword > rArcher
Cats go 2/6 against rArcher on Mountain.
eArcher > 1HP archer.

Army pillages near Macao
Army > rArcher
Army spots a Russian city with it's border expanded.

Spoiler :

IT:
Chinese promotions move around.
Russian pikes come to my area.
Army scores a ZOC free-hit against passing pike.
Army spots a knight. Now horses really are useless.

My turn:
Settler and Sword are built.
I switch some cats to come and help with knights.
Army > rPike
Army > 2HP Pike

eArcher > rArcher
eSword > rArcher
vSword > rArcher on Mountain. Promotion.

Crank down research. This time no tax-ies needed, implying max beaker overflow = 2
Gaining +46gpt

IT:
Russian Knights advance, moving within range of Mozilla.
Army gets ZOC free hit against archer.
Tientsin riots. This proves useless later anyway.
Army spots Byzantine Dromon sail by. No contact made.
I will abandon Tientsin to avoid contact for longer.

My turn:
Build library and cat. Continue pumping cats.

Polytheism -> Monarchy (10 / -11gpt)

Abandon Tientsin

Horse army > knight, losing 4 HP. I'm suprised I've been so lucky...
The knights did not attack my horse army when it's on a hill.
Horse armies retreat, pillaging a road that will hopefully generate a good killzone

Spoiler :

vSword > across river 2HP archer. Redlines.
eSword > rArcher

The Chinese are ignoring undefended Mozilla...

IT:
Byzantines land where I could see them (I walked onto mountain...). Declare war.
China archer > 3HP sword w/ defensive bombard...
China archer > 3HP sword...

Russian Knight to land next to Mozilla next turn.

My Turn:
Reposition lots of units.
Build a settler and some units.


IT:
Archers wander towards Mozilla. Good. I only need 1 killzone please.
Russian knight lands next to Mozilla, which has 8 cats in it, plus a settler
It's, like, the ultimate bait.

Spoiler :

My Turn:
5 cats redline Russian vKnight
eSword > 1HP Knight across river.

Sending 1 horse army + 2 swords to raze Genoble.
Will replace with 2 cities down there.

Here's my military.

Spoiler :

Change IBM and Unicode to libraries.

IT:
Russian longbow appears.
No Knights.
Chinese archers aren't going into killzone

My Turn:
I want to settle SE of Beijing, but that's where all the archers are...
Army > archer on mountain
Army > archer on mountain
eArcher > 2HP archer on mountain

That frees me up for this.

Spoiler :

vSword > French rArcher that gets too close to Chengdu.
6 cats redline rArcher and vArcher on Mountain.
vSword > 1HP archer on Mountain. Promotion.
vSword > 1HP archer on Mountain.

Move spear out of Unicode to cover coastal worker from French galley.
Does the AI amphibious capture workers or not??

IT:
That French galley goes back and forth between GNU and Unicode ??
Longbow moves next to my eSword and cats.

Archers go for Mozilla area.

My Turn:
Move units.
Since I'm already over unit support with a good front, switch some builds.

Cats go 3/3 against vLongbow
eSword > 1HP longbow.

Cats all join on one spot near Mozilla again.

IT:
Byzantine Dromon is near our shores.
Russian Archer / Spear pair uses Chinese roads to position
themselves right next to my elites and cats.

Maybe I should cover Mozilla so knights don't jump on those roads.

My Turn:
vSword > rArcher
eArcher > rArcher
eSword > 1HP spear
rSword > 1HP archer. Promotion.

Horse army spots Russian Mace near Beijing. Yep, gotta cut Beijing's roads too.

I realize I did not cover my cat stack well, and a Knight could get to it from the fog.
Send slave to be bait just in case. Send a vArcher too.

IT:
Russian MDI > vArcher bait. I'm bleeding unit support anyway.
Russian Musket appears.
Nothing touches my cat stack Or the Chinese slave

A Byzantine promotion appears near Mozilla.
Byzantine Dromon pillages an irrigation that just finishes.
Why do AI bombard have like 85% success chance....

And I'm done.
I might not be on an island after all.
All I need now is a Pike army and Berserk...

We are weak to Maya, Russia, Byzantium.
We are strong to France, China.

Empire:


Front:

 

[ZzarkLinux]

---------------------- Chapter 10 ----------------------
My Turn:
My cities are building either libraries, cats, settlers, or walls.
Perfect.

I should prioritize grabbing incense at Chinese capitol.
It will help my cities grow to size 7 for Monarchy.
I originally thought of sparing China for leader-fish, but now other enemies can help me gain armies.

I believe Source Code will become my new eventual capitol.
But not before finishing Forbidden palace probably in GNU.

Army pillages roads north of Beijing. So no suprise knight encounters.
Hmm... I spot a carthage settler pair. Do I try to avoid contact??
Sure. I change my pillage plan.


Move cats around. Prepare for leaderfish in north.

vSword > French rArcher. Genoble will fall soon.

Release a sword in my core from landing patrol.
Change 3 cat builds to spears for MP duty. They will be regulars.

Monarchy in 3 at -14 (lots-a-unit-support) with 320 in bank

IT:
No Carthage contact.
Promotions advance on Mozilla. China recaptures one of their slaves.
But it's still within grabbing range anyway...
Build walls and spear. I wish I could get Xorg to 8spt now...

My Turn:

Northwest Front:
Cats go 3/4
eSword > 1HP warrior
eSword > 1HP archer
Army > vMace, but loses 6HP. So I don't think it can block an archer...

Spoiler :

Army recaptures worker.
Swords and cat move to reinforce "in-field" eSword. Maybe archer won't attack it.

Genoble Front:
One settler moves into place (I have space for 2 cities at Genoble's ruins)

Spoiler :

Army > Genoble spear. Note that archer defensive bombarded...
Since I'm paying 12gpt unit support, I try 3HP eSword attacking Genoble's spear.
3HP eSword > rSpear. Redlines but wins !!
Only an archer shows in the city...

Monarchy in 2 at -15gpt. Perhaps I should build more 0gpt walls...
Dang, every city that's not building walls already has walls...

Stop a riot at Gnome.

IT:
Second Dromon shows up. Dunno if it has units or not...
French land archer near Chengdu.
Lots of Russian units show up in north. I think this is their initial rush.
KDE finishes library -> prebuild harbor.
America builds Leonardos. Maya and Russia start Sistines.

My Turn:
Grenoble Front:
Army > rArcher

Spoiler :

Genoble gives me a slave.
And I found SELinux nearby:

Spoiler :

The unit support feels good
Army now rushes to get to NW front.

Chengdu Area:
vSword > rArcher

Northwest Front:
Hmmm... What to do here.
There are 3 russian knights nearby...


I will leave 2 slaves as bait for a knight.
All swords and all cats move into walled Mozilla (It has walls)
Army heals.
Cats 2/2 against archer.
MP Spears will arrive at Mozilla next turn.
And now I have this, which I think is pretty good:

Spoiler :

Prevent riot in Xorg
Monarchy due in 1 at +4 gpt with 292 in bank.

IT:
Both dromon bombardment succeeds. 3rd Dromon appears.
Archers scuttle, French trying to get my iron...
Only 2 attacks on Mozilla. Both cats fail.
eSword < vKnight. Knight redlines
eSword > vKnight. Sword redlines.

My turn:
Monarchy -> MapMaking due in 6 at +1 GPT

Army looks healthy. And only lost 1 sword.
Doing good, with nice targets near Mozilla.
Let's see what I can do.

Cats 2/2, so now redlined Knight & archer on same square.
I don't redline a spear. If he takes damage he will retreat.
I want him to play around in the kill zone for a bit
eSword > 1HP knight.
army > 1HP archer
Take a risk: 12HP horse army (3) > fortified vKnight (4)
Horse army retreats to Mozilla safety.
Next turn I will have 3 nice MDI next to Mozilla for fishing...

LET THE REVOLT BEGIN.
Draw 7 turns. Isn't that the max ??
Since MP police are useless in Anarchy, do micromanagement...
Looks like all of my size 6 cities will starve to size 5.
But irrigation and mined hills / mountains await...

IT:
Dromon bombard 1/3
Chinese spear blocks Russian units !!
vSword hills > rArcher
vSword in field > vKnight retreats
Units are now ignoring Mozilla. Going to Source Code ??
Not bad, now I can have fun with them (I don't see any knights beyond 1HP one)

My Turn:
3 starvations. Sun riots...
Prevent 2 more riots in smaller cities...

At Canonical
cats 1/3 against mountain archer
eArcher > 2HP mountain archer. Spots a Chinese horse...

At Mozilla
Lots of cats bombardment and movement.
3HP elite Sword > 1HP Spear.
eSword > 2HP MDI
vSword > 1HP Knight
vSword > 2HP MDI
3HP vSword > vMDI
army > 1HP MDI
army > Chinese rHorse

Things look much better now:

Spoiler :

Cat bombards vDromon
2nd army heals and will kill annoying French eSpear next turn.

IT:
Bombarded Dromon retreats. Another replaces it.
Russia wants audience. No.
My 2HP sword > 2HP archer. Promotion.
Maya start Copernicus, finish Sistines.
French eSpear moves to threaten workers.
Russia musket advances.

My turn:
Anarchy done in 5 turns:

Found IPv6

Spoiler :

And I'm done. Phew. That was a long 5.1 turns...
And I haven't gotten any leaders in how many elite victories ??

Empire:

Spoiler :

Military: (add 9 native workers + slaves)

Killzone:

Spoiler :

 

[Tribute]

------------- Reflections on Always-War -------------

I see very little use for horses in Always-War

1) The enemies COME TO YOU. Expect your cities to be SURROUNDED by enemy units.
Horses: The killzone is right at my front-door

2) Use catapults because they never need to be replaced, unlike combat units which die.
Horses: If you keep fighting "unit-to-unit", you will lose
because the AI has a big shield / unit advantage.

3) Use catapults to maximize victory.
Horses:
Attack: Retreat doesn't happen if the enemy unit has 1HP ... So retreat doesn't exist
Defense: Never let horses defend !!!

4) You need lots of armies (leaders -> armies)
Horses:
ATT: Horse armies lose more HP than sword armies when attacking.
DEF: Sword armies are never attacked... Literally, the AI won't fight at low odds.
DEF: Horse armies need protection just like everything else.
RETREAT: Never let your armies go to 1 hitpoint !!

5) If enemies are everywhere around you, then you're probably dead...
Horses:
Early game: if you are surrounded, then you're probably dead anyway...
Other times: Horses could defend your coastline... if they could kill pikes / knights

All of this is quite true. But horses are meant for killing 1 HP units and moving back into a city after the attack. This is useful to prevent the never ending cycle of healing units (where only 1 unit advances at a time, but there is always 1 full health one right behind). It also helps prevent pillaging, although I suppose you don't have that problem since you don't have many workers yet. However, I find it useful in my games. It's always good for coastal defense. Since mostly archers are dropped. But if swords are dropped, let the defenders take a hit with a horsemen moved into the garrison, so that either you can counterattack the next turn against damaged swords or if you're lucky, no swords will survive.

Other miscellaneous uses. Horses are good scouts (move forward to see and then move back). They can act as mobile MP wherever necessary when shifting defenders around in your towns. Additionally, they can, when attacking AI cities, charge forward to kill the last defender and retreat under the safety of your other units. Finally, they can deter spearmen groups from taking your workers if you cannot spare any catapults to shoot at them. (One move units can do this, but they might not be able to move to and reach as many workers as horses can).

That said, you still don't need to build too many of them, unless you want to mass knight upgrade.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

@Tribute
Yes horses do have a limited use. You make a good point.
To illustrate, you can see the 2HP exposed sword in this picture from Chapter 10.
He was attacked IT, but won. If he was a horse, there would be no danger of "exposure"

Spoiler :

But I still try to mass pure firepower (ie swords) before willingly making a horse.
Also note that horses can't kill / retreat if the enemy stack isn't on flatland,
and we all know know the AI is programmed to move to non-flatlands first...


---------------------- Chapter 11 ----------------------
Everything looks good except my leader situation.

My Turn (cont):
Cat bombards Dromon in east

Spoiler :

Cats 1/3 agains hills spear near Canonical.

Spoiler :

Horse army > eSpear. Loses 6HP, or 1/2 its life...
Risk: Horse army > 2HP hills spear. Drops to 2 life, but promotes.
Cover with nearby spears, etc... to block that oncoming musket.

Re-empty Mozilla to attract more attention.

Decide I will build a galley once I get the tech.
I want to find the Mayans.

IT:
No bombard from Dromons, cause they act funny. One retreats.
Spot Byzantine horse, threatens Mozilla.
Bait Mozilla attracts knights.
Musket moves on...

My Turn:
Canonical Area:
Armies heal.
Cats go 1/3 against vMusket.
My eSword from Chengdu iron area stumbles back.

Dromon Area:
Bombard last sighted dromon.

Mozilla Area:
Units move into Mozilla.
Hopefully AI will still come to it.

IT:
China settles a city West of Mozilla.
I need to start advancing again, but anarchy doesn't make it any easier...
This government is terrible. Not even good enough for a variant.
Last Dromon retreats.
Canonical musket retreats
Man my armies need to heal faster.
Lots of promotions in Mozilla area.

Spoiler :

My Turn:
A lot isn't in catapult range
I will kill only the units next to Mozilla that I can safely kill.
Theoretically, Russia won't attack Mozilla with only 1 attacker available.
So next turn, I can move my cats on the road, and bombard everything left alive.

cats redline 2 knights next to Mozilla, and yellow-line rSpear.
vSword < 1HP Knight.
vSword > 1HP Knight. Redlines.
army > 2HP Spear. No damage.
Other army will finally start healing from 2HP, and in a city.

Anti-Dromon cat starts moving to Mozilla area.
vSword arrives in Mozilla area.

And I notice something interesting.
Here is how I place citizens in IBM.

Spoiler :

And here is how the governor auto-places IBM

Spoiler :

Is there a glitch when in anarchy?

IT:
vSpear in walls > vKnight. Thx catapult.
Byzantine promotions arrive at Mozilla.
In fact, I don't think I can count how many promotions are near Mozilla.
This must be the rest of the Russian intial rush


Well, I have 4 swords +1 nearby, an army, a spear, and a ton of cats.
And I don't really want to think hard now, so I will create suspsense by ending here...

Remember how I mentioned that you can encounter those "stacks of death that just run me over"??
Let's hope this isn't one of them...

I'm not saying I will lose Mozilla. But there is an average chance that things may go bad.
(Of course, I can't complain, I've had great luck the whole game so far)
If any of my swords lose a battle, or my army loses lots of HP,
then I can't stop the "slow-mover initial rush" behind the knights.

I'll take a break and prepare to blog another AWDG game I'll almost surely win
In that game I have:
- Entrances to me consisting of 1-tile choke in West and a narrow pennisula in South.
- Early Swords. Iron was on freebie mountain next to my capitol.
- 2 late-ish contacts.
- 2 luxes at no contest.
- No armies.
- 20 turns to literature, with full palace prebuild due in 22.
- No other wonders under construction, so no threat of cascade.
- I popped Granary from hut, first build was a granary.

Compare that to this game where I have:
- Entrances consist of one wide penninsula.
- Late swords. I had to fight for iron.
- 1 early contact, and now 5 late ones (China, Maya, France, Russia, Byzantium)
- 2 early armies.
- I had to fight for both luxes, still fighting for a 3rd.
- No Great Library.
- No clue where the Great library is.
- I had to research Pottery, so plan was settler -> Granary.

 

[megistatos]

Really good story ZzarkLinux. Are you going to keep this one going? You're slowly expanding, though it seems the AI are pulling ahead in techs. I suppose you're going for a Millitary Victory.

It'd be nice to see some Beserks on the battle field.

Is it true that horses can't retreat when the defender is not on flatground? I noticed this but put it down to bad luck. Do forests count too?

I believe that he governor chooses the unimproved grass tile in anarchy because he wants to reduce waste- he knows that the two shields from the mined bg would be wasted so picks the other tile.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

believe that the governor chooses the unimproved grass tile in anarchy because he wants to reduce waste

I love that idea. But I don't even think the governor is that smart...
I've seen him pick a mined bonus grass over a mined grass, when the extra shield only gets corrupted...
It hurts micromanagement....

And to clarify "use horses for retreat purposes":
In AWDG, "retreat" can mean a retreat from battle, or:
1) Kill the unit
2) Horse moves into enemy square
3) Horse has extra movement point
4) Horse moves back into city.
So by "retreat", I mean steps 3 and 4. Unless the forest has a road, the horse cannot "retreat" (no movement left),
so he is "exposed" to counter-attack = bad.

The only time that horses cannot "combat-retreat" is if the enemy has 1HP.

Are you going to keep this one going?

Yep, if this is a loss, it would probably be in the next 2 / 3 turns (Imagine if I had berserk armies... )
Of course, concentration and "unit movement" planning makes 2 / 3 turns take a while

 

[ZzarkLinux]

Okay, let's see just what I can do.

---------------------- Chapter 12 ----------------------
My Turn:
2 turns of anarchy left...
The only benefit of extended Anarchy is that it reduces city-micromanagement...

I will use my cats to redline the Russian: eKnight, vKnight, vLongbow.
I'll kill knights / longbow with any un-damaged swords / army.
All other swords will heal.

NOTE: the "Byzantine stack" next to Mozilla is a spear escortng a warrior

Canonical Area:
eArcher, healing army, 3 cats wait for nearby spear / musket to get closer...

Dromon Area:
All clear.

Mozilla Area:
Let's see just what Catapults can do

Cats go 7/11, redlining knights, and exposing vLongbow.
eSword > vLongbow. Redlines.
4HP eSword > 1HP Knight. ?? WHERE ARE MY LEADERS ?? :MAD:

A vSword and eSword arrive in Mozilla.
Rest of swords heal.

Horse army > 1HP Knight.
He spots the rest of the Russian "initial-rush" slow mover stack:

Spoiler :

That's only the Russian units...
I have 6 swords, spear, 11 cats in Mozilla.
I don't place army in Mozilla as it would be top defender...

Only 2 knights could possibly attack Mozilla this IT.
Hopefully the eSword on top survives.

Press enter

IT:
Oh, such a beatiful sight
Byzantine warriors move next to Mozilla. They are across a river...
eSword river walls > Byz rHorse retreat. Thx to catapult, eSword took no damage.
!! A chinese stray archer blocks the Russians !!
This will force any of those 2 knights to attack across a river !!
eSword river walls > Rus vKnight retreat.
SOD = Stack of Doom
SOD #1 moves next to Mozilla.
Check this out


Oh, and Sun riots. Scientist -> Entertainer

My Turn:
LAST TURN OF ANARCHY.
I have 297 gold in kitty. I may need to rush-buy stuff for fast pain relief...

In my blindness I didn't see where the Russian Spear & Musket near Canonical went.
They disappeared. Perhaps 1 disappeared due to "Russian unit support", or lack of...
(Remember, units cost gold...)
But that could only explain why ONE unit disappeared.
(Remember, when you're runnning HUGE negative Gold per turn,
the game only disbands ONE unit or building per turn...
This is kinda like the "Negative GPT exploit").
Or maybe those units just moved into the fog...

Spoiler :

Russia is in Monarchy.

Okay, Canonical area will have to wait until after I see how Mozilla area performs...

Mozilla Area:
First I use 8 cats to take:
2 HP off vKnight
2 HP off rMusket
1 HP off 3 vMedieval Infantry

This exposes the rMDIs in the stack.
Horse Army > rMDI
Horse Army > rMDI
Horse Army is in the red.
I move red Horse Army into Mozilla (if I lose Mozilla I'm dead anyway...)

Cat bombards stack, taking 1HP off the last rMDI.
2HP Knight is exposed
eSword > 2HP Knight retreat. Sword drops to 2HP with cause of LB defensive bombard...

Cats 2/2, reducing 2 3/4 HP MDI by 1HP.

Cats have done great this round.

vSword > 3HP MDI
eSword > 1HP Musket

Other swords heal.
rSpear from Source Code departs to help Mozilla fight SOD #2 next turn.
Sun vSpear moves into Source Code.
-------Point of interest-------
2nd, Full Hit point, army arrives in Mozilla area.
It won't attack, because it won't have movement left to move away from SOD #1 afterwards
Then I notice something strange:

Spoiler :

I consider this a graphical glitch. The roads don't actually "cross a river".
Remember, that "crossing a river road" does not work until you discover engineering...
So I thought I wouldn't have enough movement to attack AND THEN retreat away...

Okay, my horse army is out of movement points.
My horse army could have attacked this turn, but I judged that it couldn't...
I judged this because the dang map says "road crosses river", and displayed bad info
Thus, since this game's map has lied to me...
### I re-load this turn, and do everything identical to Point of Interest above ###
### This is possible due to auto-saves and "Preserve Random Seed" ###

Normally, I would just say "meh", and move on.
But that "visual display error" could cost me the game...
Do you think I actually want to type this multi-paragraph explanation?

Okay, everything was repeated perfect. Good.
2nd, Full Hit point, army arrives in area. It CAN ATTACK, and then RETREAT AWAY from SOD

Army > 2HP MDI. Army loses 2HP.
Army moves away from SOD #1

Now all that matters are those Longbows in SOD #1...


Press enter.

IT:
Okay, a lot happens, let's see if I can remember it all.
Still a VERY BEAUTIFUL IT.
vSpear wall river > rByz warrior. Thx catapult. Spear not damaged
A Byzantine Pillage spear appears...
rWarrior mountain < China rArcher... Promotion for China...
Chinese archer continues to block Russia, and pillages a floodplain...
eSpear walls > vLongbow. No thx Catapult. Promotion.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. No thx Catapult.
vSword walls > rLongbow. Thx Catapult. Promotion.
vSword walls river > vKnight retreats. No thx Catapult.

Stuff moves to retreat to heal.
Other movements... and random galley-age.

!!! Massive SOD Warning at Mozilla !!!

Spoiler :

My Turn:
Finally I get this:

Spoiler :

??? Okay, does everyone understand why catapults are so important ???
If I didn't have huge stack of catapults:
a) Their units would attack -> kill me, instead of retreating to heal 1HP...
b) I wouldn't be able to touch them, because there have musket guards...
c) I would have lost more battles (defensive bombard)
d) In general, I'd be dead now (who says I'm not already ??)
With catapults, my 5 swords + army have fended off TONS of units..

Enough stress relief. Man this is stressful. If it wasn't addicting I'd quit it...

Do I perform massive Micromanagement now, to get my empire optimized for Monarchy?
First let me examine that Stack of Death.

...

...

Yes, this game is worth continuing, even if I now have to micromanage 16 towns.
This means, yes, I think I can save Mozilla. Reinforcements have arrived now and forever.

But I am out of time. It's Saturday night, after all...

For empire pictures, see Chapter 10. Only thing that's changed is the kill zone anyway...

Closing comments:

Does anyone realize that if I popped an army RIGHT NOW,
that the swords would merge, and become a super-savior defender?
An army in this turn could win me the game.

Does anyone realize that if the catapults do HORRIBLY,
that I'm dead meat, as I won't be able to kill anything at all...
If the catapults do bad this turn, it would cost me the game.

Does anyone realize how lucky I've been this whole game?
- Early armies
- Un-killable spears in every chapter (look for yourself)
- Total pwnage of 60% or less chance battles in every chapter (look for yourself)
- Great starting peninsula / location
- My only early contact had a really bad start
Yet it's all overshadowed by 3 things:
- missing the GreatLibrary
- I've had no leaders since Chapter 1, even with Heroic Epic.
- I just learned not to switch governments during an "initial rush"

 

[ZzarkLinux]

Okay, let's see just how micromanagement really works...

---------------------- Chapter 13 ----------------------

Oh my God !! You have no idea how it feels to lose despot penalty...
Irrigated grass produces 3 food !!!
My cities can actually grow with a specialist in them !!!
Mined hills / mountains are better than forests !!!
Roaded - tobacco next to river gives 3 gold !!!

My Turn:
Okay, here's the micro-management:
Luxury slider still at 0%
All cities with rivers should plan to grow to size 7+ sometime...
Linux -> 8SPT, -> rax -> swords. +3fpt
GNU -> 6SPT (I avoided 7SPT), -> swords. +4fpt. on a river.
IBM -> 7SPT, -> library. Mined hill finishes soon. On a river.
Xorg -> 8SPT, -> swords, +3fpt. Waiting for gold mine to finish.
Sun -> 4SPT, -> cats, +3 fpt.
Novell -> 5SPT, -> rax -> swords. +3 fpt. on a river.
Unicode -> 5SPT, -> library -> swords. +0 fpt.
Gnome -> 4SPT, -> rax -> swords, +4 fpt. on a river.
Chengdu -> 3SPT, -> library in 1 -> cats, +3 fpt. On a river.
KDE -> 3SPT, -> harbor prebuild (it has a lib already) -> cats.
Source Code -> 3SPT, -> cats, +4 fpt. On a river.
Subversion -> 4SPT, -> cats, +2 fpt.
Mozilla -> 1SPT, -> cats, +4 fpt. On a river.
Canonical -> 2SPT, -> walls -> cats, +5 fpt. On a river.
SELinux -> 1SPT, -> walls -> coastal improvements.
IPv6 -> 1SPT, -> walls -> coastal improvements. On a river.

Now my income is 297 gold @ -21 gold per turn. Mapmaking in 4.
Actually I can crank research down. Maps in 4 at -11 gold per turn !

Canonical Area:
cats go 2/3 against mountain vArcher.
eArcher > 2HP mountain archer. Cover with vSpear.

Mozilla area:
Rush barracks in Mozilla for 60 gold.
Will this barracks affect healing next turn ??
Does healing happen after buildings are built ??

Cats 6/9 to take 2HP off 2vKnights, and 2HP off rMusket.
veteran Medieval Infantry is showing on top.
eSword > vMDI
eSword < vMDI
army > vMDI
army > rMDI
army moves to Mozilla to heal.
2nd army heals.
Cats go 1/2, redline 1 of the knights.
4HP eSword > 2HP knight
vSword > 1HP Musket.
vLongbows is now showing...
3HP eSword < vLongbow. LB redlines
1HP knight shows on top.

1 cat and 1 rSpear reinforce Mozilla.
Another vSpear will arrive next turn if Byz don't block.

Rush walls at Canonincal for 16 gold.
Rush cat in Subversion for 56 gold.
Rush cat in Source Code for 68 gold.

Only 2 attackers can strike Mozilla this turn

My deficeit has dropped to -9 gpt, with 97 gold in the bank.

Press Enter.

IT:
Byz spear blocks / is on only road to Mozilla.
China appears to ignore Canonical now, since I gave it eSpear.
French want audience -> no.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. Thx catapult.
eSpear walls > rLongbow. Thx catapult.
Russian pillage spear for iron appears.

My Turn:
Chengdu Library -> cat
Sun cat -> cat
Mozilla rax -> cat
Source Code -> cat -> cat
Subversion -> cat -> cat
Canonical -> walls -> cat

Will this barracks affect healing next turn ??
Does healing happen after buildings are built ??

Yep One army jumps from 4HP to 14 HP



Canonical area:
cover spear moves to Canonical again.
eSpear moves to Chengdu again.
Chengdu spear moves to iron.

3 more cats can arrive at Mozilla next turn.
cats go 10/12, whipping major tail a the small SOD #3

2nd Horse army to heal to full HP next turn
eSword > 2HP MDI. Still no leaders...
vSword > vLongbow.
3HP 3Sword > vLongbow. Redlines.

Spoiler :

Dance Dance Revolution
Builds an army immediately.
It can't wait for pikes...
But I don't fill it, because I don't have extra swords now...
In fact, I now realize I only have 3 swords left in Mozilla...
Er... actually 4 swords, but I realize this after filling the army...
Oh well.

Sword heals.
army > 1HP Knight. No Damage
army > 1HP Knight. No Damage
army > 2HP spear. No Damage

Check this out:

Spoiler :

The new leader said "Let there be no units in that square."
And so it was...

vSpear arrives at Mozilla.

I don't start Pentagon yet.
Next turn I will have 2 full HP horse armies, 12 cats, and wounded sword army in Mozilla

I now realize that somehow I have won the battle of Mozilla. For now.

Mapmaking due in 3 at -11 GPT with 88 in the bank...

IT:
Dromons arrive.
People try to give me another leader.
eSpear walls river > rWarrior. No thx cat.
eSpear walls > rArcher. No thx cat.
vSpear walls river > vLongbow. No Thx cat. Promotion.
More Russian units pour in near Mozilla.
Russia pillage spear becomes annoying at Canonical.

My Turn:

Spoiler :

KDE border pop due to library. Now it just needs a harbor...

Mozilla area:
I have:
12 cats
09/15 HP sword army
13/13 HP Horse army
14/14 HP Horse army

cats go 4/12 against defending muskets.
Horse army > 2HP Musket. Only lost 1HP due to defensive bombard.
Horse army > vMDI
Horse army > rSpear
Horse army > eLongbow
Horse army > 1HP Musket
Horse army > vLongow
vSword > vLongbow. Promotion.

2/3 cats arrive at Mozilla.

More micromanagement.
City management.
Riot prevention.

IT:
Dromons bombard a spearman shiled covering a worker.
Dromons have rate of fire of 2 ????
Miss. Finally, some luck against enemy bombard...
Dromon blasts, and has chance to destroy tile improvement...
random Chinese archer-age
Sword army walls river > rArcher. Thx cat.
Sword army walls river > vKinght. Thx cat.
Russian pillage spear retreats, goes back towards my iron.


My Turn:
Looking good.
Fewer Russians exist now...
I only see 9 total units at Mozilla now.
Only 4 could attack me on the next IT...

GNU can now get 4 turn swords.

Canonical Area:
eSword from eastern "new city" area covers iron hill
Cats 1/3 against mountain archer.
eArcher does not attack at 4HP, will heal.

Mozilla Area:
This turn I will try to ensure that healthy armies don't end turn in Mozilla.
Don't want them becoming top defender...
AI will attack army if it's are in a city
AI will attack anything if it's in a city

cat arrives at Mozilla.
Cats go 6/14
Horse army > river rSpear
Horse army > 3HP MDI
Horse army still has 13 HP, moves to mountain.

Spoiler :

eSword > 1HP Musket
Horse army > 2HP MDI. Loses 5HP.
Sword army retreats to Source Code to heal.

MapMaking due in 1. Can't reduce slider. Scientists -> taxies

IT:
Dromons bombard and land horse / spear at Unicode.
eSpear river walls > rHorse. Thx cat
eSpear river walls > rWarrior. Thx cat
eSpear walls > archer
rSpear walls < vKnight.
eSpear walls > vKnight. Thx cat.
More knights show up.

My Turn:
MapMaking -> Philosophy due in 4 at +2 gpt
IBM Library -> Sword.
Chengdu border pop.
Novell rax -> Sword
Unicode Library -> sword.
Gnome barracks -> spear.

Well, things don't look too good again...
I only got walls spears to defend against hordes of Knights...

We'll see how it goes later. I may lose Mozilla next turn,
as the catapults can't hit those knights this turn...

I've got a feeling my huge luck streak this whole game is finally about to run out...

 

[ZzarkLinux]

---------------------- Chapter 14 ----------------------

Move Canonical cats & archer towards Mozilla area

vSword > landed rSpear
that landed vhorse still remains...
juggle Military Police to cover everything.

Cash rush sword in Xorg for 56 gold

Mozilla area:
Cats go 6/15
horse army > 3HP MDI
I don't attack the 3HP MDI with 3HP sword.
I will need defense...
other armies heal

IT:
Dromons bombard Unicode
IBM Warrior walls hills > vHorse retreats.
Lots of combat at Mozilla.
Another French galley shows up
eSpear > vKnight. No Thx cat
eSpear < vKnight.
horse army > vKnight. now in the red.
3HP eSword > 1HP knight that attacks (it senses blood...)
vKnight > eSpear

My Turn:
Produce 2 swords
Only surviving non-army unit in Mozilla is the one eSword. Both spears perished.
My other horse army and sword army are now full healed.
Looks like the sword army will have to defend Mozilla.
I noticed some units were already ignoring my Mozilla city on that last IT...


On second thought, sword army doesn't need to defend Mozilla this turn.
All the knights in sight are right next to the city...

Mozilla Area:
!! BRING OUT THE ROCK THROWERS !!
Cats 8/14 against the Russians next to Mozilla.
horse army > 1HP musket
horse army > 1HP knight
eSword > 1HP Knight
horse army > rArcher

Canonical Area:
eSword > rSpear. Redlines.

In between:
Cats 1/3 against vMusket
sword army > 3HP musket
eArcher arrives at Mozilla

IBM area:
3HP sword > 1HP horse
MP spears go back to their work of MP-ing

Prevent riot at Source Code
Change it to build a MP spear. I have enough cats now...

IT:
Knights come out of the fog and kill exposed 13HP horse army
I thought the knights weren't coming from that direction..........
Russians also have a caravel in Unicode area now...
Some more Knights arrive in Unicode area, of course, just outside cat range........

My Turn:

Empire:

Spoiler :

I am officially throwing in the towel.
I'm not too ashamed, though, as I knew this game had tons of good luck...
But it all boiled down to:
a) slow early expansion (even with all the luck)
b) no great library

This was my first time making it to 16 cities in Always-War Demigod. So I'm happy.

I'm kinda relieved. I can now write this one off and start preparing
my next AWDG game
It's at turn 80 now, so it will at least be as good as this game...
with much less luck involved...

So my conclusion from this game:
- My boot kept swinging, but the AI just kept taking it......
- My foot wasn't powerful enough without agricultural, GLib, and faster REX

And with my last breath, I could be heard saying:
"Hail to the King, baby!"

 

[Aabraxan]

. . . . I am officially throwing in the towel.
I'm not too ashamed, though, as I knew this game had tons of good luck...
But it all boiled down to:
a) slow early expansion (even with all the luck)
b) no great library

This was my first time making it to 16 cities in Always-War Demigod. So I'm happy.

Hey, I say if you can even get this far in AWDG! Sorry that it was a loss. I'll be watching for the next one.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

Now that I think of it, there was another big thing that killed me:

c) Lack of armies with defense 2 or greater...

My sword army JUST REACHED FULL HEALTH for the first time ever.
It happened on my last turn = too late.

- Sword armies can single-handedly march out and raze AI cities
They have DEF = 3, so they're never attacked

- Sword/Spear armies can cover a stack of cats, so they don't have to hide in-city.
My cats could not move out of Mozilla, and be in a position to destroy 2-move knights.
With my cats locked in Mozilla, they couldn't kill anything that didn't land next to the city

- Sword/Spear armies can block, giving you better control of a kill-zone / movement
Again, My horse armies had to camp in-city once knights showed up.

- Sword/Spear armies can escort settlers to new city sites.
I had a settler (near Source Code now), who sat around doing nothing for the last 4-5 chapters....

I couldn't do anything mentioned above once Knights showed up
Had sword armies been available, this would not be the case.

NOTE: Horse armies can march around freely if there are only attack 2 units...
archers (ATT = 2) won't attack a horse army if horse army has health >= 3 x ArcherHP.
May not be exact formula.

 

[SpiffyKeen7744]

This is a very interesting game. I'd love to see you conquer the world.

I don't know exactly how much experience you have at high level AW games, but I would imagine that you should try a better start first on a smaller map, and work your way up. Seeing swords that early would be it for me. If you are looking for an almost impossible challenge, then you took the correct route.

To make things easier, you could always try a smaller map, or a different landform. Also, since this is AW, you need to start on a river. You absolutely must have a good amount of early trade.

 

[SpiffyKeen7744]

By the way, are you playing a strict AW? That is, are you allowing trades when you first meet another civ and then declare, or is there no diplomacy at all?

If I were to play AWDG (for the first time), I would probably start with the following setup:

Traits that I would consider are agricultural, scientific, industrial, and militaritic. Choices are China, Sumeria, Azteca, Maya, Persia, Germany, and the Ottomans. In fact, I would probably not drop agricultural until after my first win. I would do a small map on continents. I would have to have river and a cow for my capitol. Sumeria would be my preference, except that my GA would start very early. Aztecs and Maya are better for controlling the GA. I would go with Maya, and I would research BW, WC, Math, and IW right away. Also, I would definately have more workers that you did in the Viking game. It might take away from early military, but improved tiles make all the difference. Also, I agree with your post game assessment that armies should be swords or spears, not horses. You must take full advantage of armies, protect attack troops and cats to crush cities, and pillage the crap out of your enemy's land that you cannot take right away.

If I could win with that setup, I would try again with larger map, more civs, other traits, and worse starting locations.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

Thanks for all your input

SpiffyKeen, you make great points. Lemme reply to some of 'em

To make things easier, you could always try a smaller map, or a different landform

Well, I went with Large map instead of a Huge one
Extra good point on the pangea. It's a tough monster.
Remember I chose 60% water to kinda counter-balance it, to have more open land.

experience ... at high level AW games

Well, I learned a lot from this game
I feel that the principles of AW are the same for any "level"
You just gotta concentrate and plan more.

Remember, I think I lost due to:
a) slow early expansion due to early China contact
b) failed to get great library
c) Lack of better armies (I lost control of kill zone cause of this)

I feel that if I can avoid a) and b) better, that I can beat AWDG with Vikings.
And that's just what my next game is showing so far

AW ... you need to start on a river

Totally agree.
My starting area was great, but the starting location was bad.
This fact, along with Chinese contact, slowed my early expansion.

I would consider are agricultural, scientific, industrial, and militaritic

Scientific isn't that good for AW, as most games depend on Great Library anyway.
Seafaring isn't bad, cause you're less likely to be surrounded on all sides.

are you playing a strict AW (ie allowing "diplomacy window")?

Not "officially".
But I have the personal goal of doing as much as I can without using the diplomacy window.

I would definately have more workers that you did in the Viking game

I think I did pretty good with workers in this game.
They were running out of things to do once my expansion halted...
They couldn't work in the killzone because I didn't have sword army to cover workers.
Here's a picture of my workers on the front from Chapter 7. They even prebuild a chop

Spoiler :

You mention workers for early game, which I agree.
In that case, I don't think you want to see my next game
I'm definitely short on workers, cause I'm keeping population high to get GLibrary

crush cities, and pillage the crap out of your enemy's land

Totally agree.
My absence of sword armies (any armies since chapter 1) cost me the game