As noted previously, we're small, very small, and our first war will be one essentially
to the death. Konigsberg will be the target. We have a little time, but with far less
cities, time is not on our side. Before size 7 for Konigsberg, in any case. The current
plan seems to be to prepare for an archer rush there (as we, gasp, lack iron). Iron
Working, to even see where it is, is 17 turns off.
Only one item by Gothmog puzzles me -
> Persepolis to racks, but it already has one. Then I consider an archer, the city can only
> generate 6/8 spt at its current size. Once it grows a bit it should be able to get to 10
> spt with a couple more mines.
Swapping the two 2f0s to forest makes 10spt and no growth (not a bad thing given our
high expenses on luxuries). The problem is that tile config loses another smiley face.
Plus there's one turn in with only 6 spt, so I don't shift to 10spt yet. I'll reconfig
to 8spt to let the archer finish in 2, as we grow in 2. Either archer or perhaps a
settler after that - we could use another city for troop support. In fact, Perseopolis
can hit 10spt with the hill I mined even at size 6.
[0] -1250: I also like Pasa finishing its archer this round, so another small mm.
[1] -1225: In fact, I like that 5spt at Pasagardae which still lets it grow slowly so
much, I keep it at that level, and order up a spear.
[2] -1200: Perse to settler.
[3] -1175: I give Susa one of Pasa's nice tiles to get 2spt, to get that rax quicker.
[4] -1125: The settler heads to the plains, not the forest, south of Susa. Once it's
founded the forest will be 'in border' for Pasa, or will make for a chop, so I
don't want to waste it.
[6] -1075: Arbela is founded, starts a worker - we'll need to make good use of all our
litle land. And with it's very low shields, we can't afford a 4th rax just yet.
[7] -1050: with no effort needed for foreign affairs, I'm all over the tiles, swapping
each round. A micro's dream (or nightmare).
[9] -1025: German's territory near capital expands, and our warrior scout is now firmly
in German land. He'll try to make it back home, and on first step, sees a sword.
Susa, who just got down to precisely 20 shields left on the rax, whips it now.
[10] -1000: That about does it. We now have one more city than what we started with,
allowing support of 16 units. We already have 15, with one due next turn, and
about one more each 2-3 turns after that. Just this turn I slowed down research.
I'm maximizing shields more than growth or income. If you want Iron Working earlier,
go heavy commerce tiles for a few rounds. Perseopolis is set at no growth because
it's size 7, barely happy at 30% lux, and 10spt. Arbela is due for growth and worker
both in 5, so shouldn't be changed unless you veto the worker. Pasagarde is at 5spt
and moderate growth, Susa is set at 3spt and temporarily LOWER food than it could
work, due to it being borderline happy for a while with the whip memory. The two
workers are away from the capital, having built some mines, working on roads, one
would do well to mine the hill, and the other might road the forest for extra
income.
There are *five* archers in striking distance of Konigsberg, and two spears
in range to cover them! I would wait for about +3a/+2s more due to the strong
sword-based counterattack expected. We'll want enough not just to take the city
but to own the mountains past them, or even better, enough to press on through
to Berlin?? Plus, with Iron Working 7-11 turns away, we'll know our REAL
objective soon enough. Try to bring the warrior home to free up a spear, or else
send it to the one neutral tile behind enemy lines as a diversion. (If we get
kicked out of his territory this round, chances are that's where he'll land)
What if German "pulls a naked Viking India?" If they sneak attack us, we'll do the
best we can, but since I have the path to our city fully sealed off, I doubt they
will do this. If they demand tribute... I would pay. Our success TOTALLY depends on
getting a surprise round 1 attack on Konigsberg. To pull their entire army over
here at a time of their choosing instead of ours may just be lethal.
Hey, ya know what... they have a sword, right? They have very few roads on hills
or mountains. I would bet 50% chance that the iron is at or under Konigsberg,
and 25% chance it's outside Leipzig, 25% at Hamburg. Why would they not only
settle Konigsberg but road the mountain? With Hamburg close, that gives us about
a 75% chance of being able to take iron in the first couple of rounds of a war.
(Maybe we can have on 'office pool', and raffle a trip to Berlin for the winner?)
We'll absolutely need to use archers to take the iron, but we well want to have
about 4-6 vet warriors if we can spare it on hand -- if we time the war to start
just as we discover Iron Working, we might be able to upgrade those in phase two
of the war - the phase where we face their onslaught on fight for our lives to
get THEM to initiate the peace talks!
Save game 1000BC
Good luck, (JMB, then T-Hawk)
Charis
Got it, though I seem to be in feast mode at the moment.
. Another office pool question would be: where is Germany's *other* Iron.
), and glad we didn't throw away the element of surprise for 1 gold - smart move!
Take the 
