Nobles' Club XXXVIII: Ghengis Khan

[GGS]

@ ilikepies

You're threading the needle. That is the point of the "exercise". Well done.

 

[ilikepies]

@ ilikepies

You're threading the needle. That is the point of the "exercise". Well done.

Threading the needle?

Noble/Normal

700 AD

Spoiler :

Mehmed has 4 cities left. I need Feudalism to make him Capitulate (and then likely win a Domination soon after).

1000 AD

Spoiler :

Mehmed is dead. I accidentally held one of his cities though. I'm preparing for war with Monty and a conquest victory. I have plenty of Keshiks coming out and I'm still ahead in technology.

1260 AD- Conquest Victory!

Spoiler :

Montezuma capitulates... and.....


My first win on Noble and my first military win ever. Woohoo!

 

[Heliac]

Will attempt Prince @ Normal Speed...
I will start building an extra scout by working the plains hill first. Three turns later I'll start building a worker. The idea is to (hopefully) pop a few lucky huts, maybe even get a tech or two that way. Tech'ing A/H so I can see where (if) there are Horses nearby. With all these trees, I might go for an early chariot rush (I really hope there are horses!) .

 

[Gamma]

I finally had time to continue this, so here's up to 1200AD:

Spoiler :

After taking the aztec capital (also the Christian shrine city) I made peace with monty so I could get a tech out of it. Mehmed was also at war with him, but just gave up a few turns later rather than finishing Monty off.

I continued making cottages and courthouses as soon as I could. I think I got research up to 50% and getting positive gold. I was also slowly preparing for the next war against roosevelt, but before I attacked, he declared on me(at pleased, when his worst enemy was monty)


Fortunately my whole preparing stack was in Lalibela, where he sent most of his units.

Also a few turns later, Mehmed attacked Gandhi. I'm thinking I might help, and try to get Delhi, a double shrine city. Would this be a good idea while i'm already at war with roosevelt?

I'm building my stack which will first go after New York, which has several wonders. After that, I'm not sure what I'll do.

Here's my empire in 1200


kinda slow teching, and everyone is a few techs away from liberalism

 

[CivIVMonger]

Threading the needle?

Noble/Normal

700 AD

Spoiler :

Mehmed has 4 cities left. I need Feudalism to make him Capitulate (and then likely win a Domination soon after).

1000 AD

Spoiler :

Mehmed is dead. I accidentally held one of his cities though. I'm preparing for war with Monty and a conquest victory. I have plenty of Keshiks coming out and I'm still ahead in technology.

1260 AD- Conquest Victory!

Spoiler :

Montezuma capitulates... and.....


My first win on Noble and my first military win ever. Woohoo!

Nice graphic! What mod is this because I know for a fact that there is not as much cultural detail in the units as the standard game...

 

[ilikepies]

Nice graphic! What mod is this because I know for a fact that there is not as much cultural detail in the units as the standard game...

It's the BAT mod. It's great, redoes all the flags, terrain, buildings, and each faction's units, but unfortunately there's a bug that crashes the game towards the renaissance era, so I won't be playing it any more until it's fixed. I'll just have to play on regular ugly old BUG...

 

[CivIVMonger]

That's really cool. Is it compatible with 3.17?

 

[ilikepies]

That's really cool. Is it compatible with 3.17?

I think it's only for 3.19 (or whatever the latest one is). Like I said though, it crashes.

 

[CivIVMonger]

Yeah, my comp can barely run the normal game on lowest graphics smoothly throughout the game so I don't really care anymore now that I think about it...

 

[Amao]

Noble/Normal 325BC Conquest

Spoiler :

So, there will be Keshik rush. But before that, i need some cities and workers. So the tech was Mining -> BW -> AH -> HBR -> Archery -> Agri -> Mysticm. And now it's 1800BC, I got 4 cities up and Keshiks are on its way. Oh, I dowed on Zara already, for a worker steal. He's the first target anyway. And I kept the slider to 0% for a long time until i'm sure i won't be broke, then I got Pottery -> Writting -> Math. The last one was for fun only. Then it's Keshiks all out.

Intial tech plan.


Actual tech researched before warring



4 cities before HBR rushing

Fun game, Merry Xmas!

 

[duckstab]

1080AD, Noble/Epic, BUG 4.2

Spoiler :

10AD, Noble/Epic w/ BUG 4.2
Took down Ethiopia, keeping only Aksum more for the fact that it's the Buddhist Holy City than as a high-quality capital. I only paused to heal and build more Keshiks before going after Roosevelt.

I'm worried Gilgamesh in particular might start elbowing his way in so he's my next target. I'm less worried about Mehmed and Monty because they've been at war for ages. Probably after Gilgamesh I will join in the fun on Mehmed's side.

I got to Currency pretty quickly and will have CoL in a few turns.

After that - Construction? My flankers have been taking pretty heavy losses as they've been encountering better defenses and I wonder if I can at least hit Gilgamesh's border cities with some siege without slowing my Keshiks down too much.

Soon after I posted this, Monty and Mehmed made peace. It wasn't long before Monty went back into WHEOOHRN. I figured Gandhi was the most likely target but on the off chance he had me in his sights I decided to do unto him first.

I did research Construction and built a handful of Cats, but my army was mainly still Keshiks. I split them into 3 stacks and used my OB with Mehmed to invade through Ottoman lands. Monty folded like wet cardboard - I don't think the war lasted more than a dozen turns at the outside. I didn't even try to keep my siege and Keshiks together. Turned out I didn't need to.

I kept Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco - he'd built the Temple of Artemis in the latter and I figured the extra trade income would be useful. Everything else got razed. I pillaged most of the improvements in the western part of the former Aztec Empire. Mehmed immediately started throwing settlers in to the vacant lands. I had a settler of my own ready to go where he put Marsin, but he beat me by a couple turns so I turned south and settled along the coast instead.

After Construction, went for Calendar and Metal Casting. Traded Literature and CoL for Theology. Now researching Machinery.

Now, what to do next? Gandhi just vassalized himself to Mehmed. Gilgamesh just got Feudalism so my Keshiks will soon have Longbows to contend with. Mehmed's had Feudalism for some time now. I fear my Keshiks will no longer be able to run rampant without some supporting units (cats and maybe a few crossbows and spears). Economy is not that strong, but I'm treading water at least. Should I regroup and work towards Guilds? My veteran Keshiks will make pretty fearsome Knights someday.

Also, the AP is now in play, built by Gandhi, and Mehmed is the resident. It's my state religion (Hinduism), so at least I'm a full member.

View attachment Duckstab Khan AD-1080.CivBeyondSwordSave

 

[Amao]

@duckstab

Spoiler :

if you simply dedicated all your cites to workers and chopping for Keshiks, (of course, barricks and ger are nice, too) not even LBs can stop you. just overwhelm them with massive Keshiks. You have so many trees to chop...

 

[dalamb]

After happily finishing a fairly peaceful space race with Mehmed, I decided to brave a warlike game. Kinda early to report anything, but I had an early strategic question to ask.

Spoiler :

Teched mining > bw > working on AH. Worker > Barracks > Warrior > Warrior > Scout; the first scout popped some cash, another scout, and a warrior. The worker built camps on the two deer and is now chopping the forest on the silver hill (which will go into a 2nd worker). I met all the AIs but haven't found all their territories yet:


Here's my question: I'm far from ready for a real war yet, but this situation is tempting:

If I steal Monty's worker, what do I do next (besides escort him back home! )? Can I just ignore him and keep working towards Kheshiks? Build huge numbers of warriors for self-defence? Something in-between?

IIRC KatieKat took out Zara with a warrior rush; I was hoping to delay warfare until Kheshiks. Is taking Zara's city sufficiently important that I should grind out warriors to do it with (especially if I'm also at war with Monty)?

 

[Amao]

@dalamb

Spoiler :

don't do it. 1, the worker might not survive the road back home. 2, monty is a known warmonger, once he's in war, he'd build a LOT of units. just use a lot of keshik and rush and give him no time to build more units.

 

[dalamb]

@Amao:

Spoiler :

Thanks! I'm a coward at heart and have only stolen workers during an Earth 18 Europe warrior rush, which is a very special situation. I'd heard of other people swearing it's a nice move to cripple the opponent, but I see that kill-crazy Monty is the wrong target.

 

[Amao]

@dalamb

Spoiler :

i heard that, too. and i think it's a good move for your nearest neighbor who's your next victim, and it's better his/her first worker. Monty is just too far from you in this case. And none of the AI are good at forest heavy map like this anyway.

 

[dalamb]

4000 - 2975 BC

Almost ready to conquer...

Spoiler :

I forgot to record the details, but I think the tech path after mining > BW and finishing AH was Agriculture (for 3rd city near corn, and slight research bonus on Pottery) > Pottery (for granaries and thus more efficient whipping) > Writing (for Open Borders for better spying, and libraries to speed research and for border pops) > HBR > Archery > Math (better chopping) > Alphabet, which just finished. I think next is trading for some techs, hoping to get Sailing to allow trading on coasts with my last (northern) victims. I'll self research Currency > CoL, the latter in case I need to keep a few enemy cities. I expect just to keep Zara's because they're fairly close, but I might want Washington, too:

Though maybe not.

My current territory:


I chopped and whipped 11 Kheshiks so far: 5 Combat II, one Sentry, two Flanking II, and three unpromoted; I almost never remember the tactic of leaving a few units unpromoted in order to see what they run up against later -- in particular, which units die! I may want several more before attacking Zara, my nearest neighbour, but there's a convenient barbarian city on a hill to my north where some of the current units could get some experience -- and perhaps keep it; it looks like a decent production city once it expands to the full BFC.


I'm well ahead in power:


Everybody is mildly positive with me (little do they know!! ):


I will spend a while this turn figuring out a good set of trades, hoping to get sailing from somebody soon. I think I want to trade with Zara first because he's about to die.


Unfortunately I just lost my library in Turfan (Corn city), which I was counting on to expand its borders. I think waiting would take too long; once I mine the grassland hill 1S 1SE maybe I don't need better production (from, for example, the plains hill to the northwest.

 

[dalamb]

4000 - 2975 BC
2975 - 1050 BC

One down, five to go...

Spoiler :

Right after the last save I carefully thought through some trades, which is fairly new for me: I carefully tested what each leader wanted for the same trade. Zara wanted to give me less than Gilgamesh for masonry; Giggles was willing to toss in Mysticism, too. I waited a turn and Roosevelt was willing to trade my new Mysticism for his fishing. Next turn, Gilgamesh wanted Math for Sailing, but I noticed that he couldn't trade Meditation, so I waited on turn and:

Then just before I paused, I made use of the benefits of Currency (in addition to the extra trade route, which helped my financial situation):


I conquered barbarian Gepid first, but it hasn't yet developed much. Then I went on to attack Zara in 825 BC or maybe a turn later. When I looked at the attacking odds I got nervous:

• Combat II:
  
• Flanking II:
  

I'm a very timid warmonger; I figured I'd have to attack with the Flanking II, that he'd lose the combat, and that knowing my usual luck he'd fail to withdraw (I did carefully make sure he'd have a movement point left). To my surprise he won the combat; in fact I rarely lost a Flanking II Kheshik. I guess the RNG loved me, or else I don't understand what those odds mean. Gondar fell, and I kept it, since it looked decent and gave me copper:

Unfortunately I kept Aksum, too; despite being a capital, it wasn't really a good location. Aksum fell in 650, Yeha to the north in 500, and Addis Ababa in 440 BC, where I paused.

Of course Zara attacked back, and I discovered the benefit of having built a couple of chariots while I was waiting for HBR/Archery:


Current world status:

Spoiler show charts etc :

• I still can't see information on Gilgamesh and Roosevelt, and I think Roos is next on my list after Monty, so I've redirected my meager EP to those two exclusively; I'll have to run 100% for a bit if I don't know enough when it's time to attack one of them.
  
• I didn't adopt Judaism when it spread, so people aren't unhappy with me:
  
• I'll want literature eventually for the Heroic Epic, so I hope by then somebody will be willing to trade it to me; they're tight-fisted at the moment:
  

A couple of questions:

Spoiler :

1. In 485 BC:
   
   Should I have accepted Mehmed's invite? Since Monty is now at war he'll be building lots of units anyway, apparently, but I really wasn't ready to attack at that point -- I still needed to take Zara's last city, Addis Ababa, and rest up.
2. Any idea why Ghandi would refuse to talk? I closed borders with him at Gilgamesh' urging but there's no negative report; he ought to be positive:
   
3. I thought 12 Kheshiks would be enough to get started against Zara; how many did others following this Horse Archer Horde strategy use? I think my Kheshik usage must be off somehow; I wound up injuring all my Flanking II Kheshiks in the first attack, and had to wait to heal them before going on to the second city. That was with about 8 Combat II and 4 Flanking II, which I though would be enough for the first fight. Next time I plan to have lots more Kheshiks so I can just keep on truckin' without waiting for the stragglers.

 

[Jughead Spock]

Glad this one got bumped. I was working on XL (Mehmed), but was cruising too easy on a cultural/space race/diplomacy type victory. I need work on my warmongering, and Genghis is always up for that.

Beginning

Spoiler :

Move scout 1SE, pretty dull, so settled 1N. Glad I did, extra workable deer tile. And as much as it's nice settling on a hill, I like having that mine-by-a-river tile pending too. Building another scout first to get to pop 2 and work the tech tree a bit before starting a worker.

 

[dalamb]

@Jughead Spock:

Spoiler :

I used to avoid settling on plains hills, too, but others convinced me it was worth doing. I still feel uneasy about it, though. Do you plan to try the Horse Archer strategy TMIT described?

@ilikepies: A belated congratulations on your first Noble win!

Spoiler :

My plan for not crashing the economy is to burn everything -- we'll see how it works out. Though I am building a few cottages.