RBP10 - Spanish Explorers - Team C Interest Thread

[jumbo2002]

(0) 510BC - Everything looks good to me. I leave the northern horsemen unmoved for now due to the English galley. I consider swapping Seville to a Settler, but decide against it; military for this upcoming war is more important than a particular settler when we don't know what's actually in the north. If fertile lands are up there, I'll make a move to settle.

(I) The English galley heads north. Interesting...

(1) 490BC - Santiago horse->horse (for now; it may warrant swap to a temple later). Odd; the taxman in Madrid turned into a clown. Fixed back into a taxman. Must've hit something by accident last turn? :confused

Iron is hooked up. I swap Madrid to a sword. Our galley sails a little SE..and there's an English border! Interesting...we can explore next turn without suiciding. I will attempt to avoid contact with the English navy, to avoid losing our galley.

(I) Crazy news. A Roman MDI leaves Lugdunum. Either they have just picked up Iron, or someone is now trading it to them. The English Galley moves back towards our territory. Has it sailed around the entire northern island?

(2) 470BC - Madrid Sword->Sword. I wake our horse, which moves into Roman border to investigate Lugdunum. Yes, this MDI was the Legionary. Our horse moves back into our territory. I move one of our "on station" horses southwards, in case the Romans are trying something now. Our galley sailing southwards discovers Brighton (size 1, showing a regular spear), which appears to be a 3-tile island.

(I) The galley moves lazily along our coast.

(3) 450BC - Hmm...The Roman MDI has fortified in the open. (BTW, that Roman spear is just marching around our troops.) Actually, Brighton is a 2-tile island. If, some unknown age hence, we actually get the opportunity to cause Elizabeth pain, Brighton is a nice, strategic target. (Not a bad city, either, for an Island; 2 whales and a fish.) Scandinavia is further to the south.

(I) An English galley sails out of the fog and sinks our galley. Crap. The Roman MDI de-fortifies and moves onto the road to Pamplona; the Roman spear moves back into their territory.

(4) 430BC - Seville Horse->Horse. I'd like to build a temple to get the SW forest into play, but military remains the priority. Next leader can veto, however. I could've moved workers to chop the Spices forest, but otherwise Santiago would be growing into the desert rather than into a potentially irrigated plains.

(I) The Roman spear moves into a Lugdunum, and the Roman MDI has refortified.

(5) 410BC - Madrid Sword->Horse. Barcelona Horse->Horse. Toledo Galley->Horse (can be changed). White Dot is Syracuse, at the northern tip of a 3-tile Island. Syracuse is on a Tundra tile, to the north of the two hills. Santiago would riot, so I hire a taxman. I play with the lux slider a nd try MM a little, but the taxman is better for now. BTW, we are losing 3gpt to unit costs.

(I) Caesar comes calling, asking us to move our galley away from Syracuse. We comply.

(6) 390BC - The Roman MDI has moved onto the mountain. Please Mr. MDI, move back onto the grass, where our sword can hopefully take you out quickly...

I remember that we actually want a Settler to raze and replace Lugdunum (and Byzantium, too?) so I swap Santiago to a Settler, due next turn.

(I) A new English Galley sails toward our shores.

(7) 370BC - Santiago Settler->Horse. Our deal with Rome has expired, we are free to attack honorably if we wish. I will wait one turn: to block an English landing that could be an annoyance to our plans; to reposition our troops better to try to get both cities on one turn, and to hope that the Roman MDI moves from the mountain onto grassland.

I check Roman defenses...hmm...this could be bad: while Byzantium still has a spear, Lugdunum now has a pike.

I take a break to consult with the team...and the decision is to reorganize troops for a full assault on Lugdunum.

Move Settler in the direction of Lugdunum. Swap Madrid from a Horse to a Sword; taking on a Roman counterattack could require a little more offense.

(I) The English Galley moves away. Excellent! The Roman MDI has moved onto the grassland; it's covering a worker, BTW.

(8) 350BC - Madrid Sword->Sword.

Declare war on Rome!

Vet Sword vs. Vet MDI, loses promotes MDI to elite.
Vet Sword vs. eli MDI, wins.
Vet Horse vs. reg Pike, retreats.
Vet Horse vs. reg pike, loses, promoting pike to vet.
Vet Horse vs. reg pike, wins.
Vet Horse vs. vet pike, loses.
Vet Horse vs. vet pike, wins...razing the city!

(I) No response from Rome.

(9) 330BC - Move horses to Pamplona; one turn of rest before an attack on Byzantium. Spear from Pamplona moves out to meet up with Settler.

(I) English Galley still sails around our coast.

(10 310BC - Barcelona Horse->Sword. This horse will move onto the hill east of Barcelona to block a possible hill landing. Horses rest for one turn in Byzantium. I could make a dash for Byzantium with 3 horses this turn, but instead I'll pass it off to the next leader, who will have 6 horses ready to go for hitting Byzantium.

Either Madrid (1 turn) or Seville (2 turns) can be swapped to a Settler for replacing Byzantium.

Our settler/spear are one turn away from the forest ESE of the ruins of Lugdunum.

The Save

 

[Quokka]

Good Job on killing Lugdunum. Byzantium next.

Are we going to put the replacement city on the Forest or the Hill?

I've got it but it'll be a few hours before I will play it. If Despot wants to grab a turn, it's been a while, that's fine too. I don't have any kids to sacrifice to the RNG and whenever I look at the dog I get in serious trouble.

I'll check back before I play.

 

[jumbo2002]

I think the forest should be fine; we may want to station a warrior on the hill to prevent a landing outside the new city. There is a Roman border that stretches to our coast, but I think once we have expanded borders we will be safe from Roman culture.

(Needing to be safe from Roman culture? There's a first for everything...)

 

[Quokka]

Inherited Turn
Damn we have ships floating all around us. But Rome with no Iron is a beautiful site. I wonder you the silly bugger that sold it to him was?
All I change is the tiles around Valencia to get a Settler in 5 instead of 9. This reduces growth to 0 but its not a big contributor so I can live with it. I also use the Fish by Murcia to get an extra gpt.

I The English galley moves north of Barcelona and the Viking galley west towards Byzantium.
The Vikings start SunTzu

290 Madrid Sword=>Harbour. We need one of our own for future trading and we are already over the unit allowance. Move the Sword to the east coast to repel the Engeleesh pig-dogs.
I move the troops into position by Byzantium but I’m not going to attack just yet. I want the Settler ready to fill the spot asap and the Viking galley is giving me the jitters.
As for where the Lugdunum replacement Settler goes, I can see 2 other borders that are already in the 21 if we settle on the Forest. This does not bode well for our chances of keeping the city ours. If we settle on the hill we would only have 1 tile of overlap with the Roman city of Pompeii, so I’m going to settle on the Hill

I The English land a single Reg Warrior by Murcia
The Vikings land a Reg Horse by Byzantium. I wonder what they are up to?

270 Seville Horse=>Temple. It needs it to grow and we need the culture.
Found Vitoria =>Temple. This shoots our income up from 1 to 6. We’re gonna be rich.
Change Santiago from Horse to Galley. I always liked the beaches at Brighton.
Sword[4/4] attacks English Warrior[3/3] and wins taking 1 damage.
The body smells of Elderberries
I delay attacking Byzantium again to see what the Viking Horse does.

I Viking Horse attacks Byzantium! But loses to the Spear doing 1 damage. Luckily the spear doesn’t promote. Another Viking galley appears next to Byzantium.
Rome starts Leonardo’s. We are a loooooooooong way behind in tech.
A Roman galley is visible between Pompeii and Vitoria.

250 Toledo Horse=>Spear.
Holy Cow, deals expire left and right and I have 15gpt to play with.
England wants a huge amount for peace.
Maths, CoL and Polytheism are all pretty expensive and apart from CoL don’t offer any immediate benefits. CoL is the most expensive but we get it in 7 turns. I’m going to run up some cash in case Rome comes to the table with some cheap techs.
Change Barcelona to Forbidden Palace. We need it to make the south productive

Battle of Byzantium
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[3/3] and retreats doing 0 damage
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[3/3] and wins taking 2 damage
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[3/3] and retreats doing 1 damage
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[2/3] and wins taking 1 damage
Byzantium and 1 worker captured. Byzantium razed for another worker.
The Iberian Island will soon be homogenized completely.
Rome refuses our envoy.

I Rome starts Sun Tzu’s. Damn Rome has some big cities. The AI should be shot for criminal waste of land though. To think what we could have accomplished with the start Rome had.
The Viking galley looks like it’s heading around towards Syracuse

230
Rome will come to the table now and we can get Mathematics for 55g, Polytheism for 7gpt + 2g or both for 13gpt + 48g. From China just Polytheism is 11gpt + 50g. I’m tempted to take the double deal but…… there is a Roman galley that can land in precisely 1 spot this turn, right next to some unprotected Workers but ringed by Horses and Swords. I am thinking I might let them land then next turn make the deal, tell them to get out and when they declare war get free techs. This is what I’m going to do. This’ll teach Caesar to build culture!

I Rome drops off a Spear and Archer in the right spot.
An English galley is spotted south of Vitoria
China starts Sun Tzu’s

210 Valencia Settler=>Harbour. Pre-build for Courthouse
Santiago Galley=>Temple
Pamplona Temple=>Harbour. Pre-build for Courthouse
Peace with Rome.
We get Mathematics + Polytheism for 14gpt + 48g.
Seems them having troops on our lawn upped the price.

I England starts Sun Tzu’s
The English galley moves towards Pamplona

190 I open a spot for the English in the ring, don’t want them to miss out.
Tell Romans to get lost. No war option.

I England lands 2 Reg Warriors west of Pamplona, didn’t they see the welcome mat?

170 Seville Temple=>Spear
Tell Romans to get lost or Declare War. They Declare and we are +16gpt again.

Evicting Rome
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[4/4] and retreats doing 2 damage
Horse[4/4] attacks Spear[2/4] and wins taking 3 damage
Horse[4/4] attacks Archer[4/4] and wins taking 1 damage. Promotes to Elite, our first.

Expelling England
Horse[4/4] attacks Warrior[3/3] and wins undamaged
Horse[4/4] attacks Warrior[3/3] and wins taking 3 damage.
England still wants an arm and a leg(4gpt + 21g) for Peace. Have another Cucumber sandwich Liz

China is no longer Polite, they are annoyed.
Vikings are Gracious. Not so Gracious that we can afford Currency or Construction though.
A WM from either would be nearly 10gpt, which is just too much, but a TM from China is only 2gpt + 6g which is tempting, in fact just tempting enough so I go ahead and buy it.
Well, well, well we have been making some wrong assumptions, very wrong. It’s not the Vikings on Rome’s southern borders but the Chinese, and they should also be shot for criminal land wastage. China has only 8 cities but more land area than us. A screenie to follow will give the full story but the main character is Jungle. The Vikings are to the south of China and north of England.
The Chinese and Vikings have very similar colours.

I 3 English galleys appear off the coast of Pamplona.

150 This is going to be a big turn.
Found Gibraltar=>Temple. Gibraltar as a Spanish city, it’s a nice snub to the English, and makes Spain whole again. The minimap looks so much better.
Toledo Spear=>Spear
Madrid Harbour=>Sword
The ‘New War’ with Rome has helped our happiness. Barcelona fires its Scientist and works another Forest. Madrid fires it Tax Collector and sends him fishing. Valencia hires a Scientist.
England’s price is coming down, 3gpt + 29g. After I have killed whatever they land I think it might be time to end that war. We could start seeing Knights otherwise. They have Iron and Horses and have been in the Middle Ages for a while. The stupid Foreign advisor says they have the uber unit the Worker, but he is saying that for the Romans too.

Our deal with the Vikings expired and coupled with founding Gibraltar and a few extra working citizens we now have an income of 30gpt. Madrid’s Harbour also opened up a trade route to China. Unfortunately the Vikings are still not open for business. Our Spice monopoly is about to pay off.
That’s another reason to make Peace with the English, then we can flog them some Spices.
Trade China: Spices + WM + 10gpt + 13g for Currency
That leaves 20gpt in the kitty. Construction is only just out of reach, with a Marketplace or 2 we should be looking good.

I 2 English galleys land 3 Reg Warriors. The other one just moved towards Gibraltar.
A Roman galley is offshore by Barcelona.

130
Sword[4/4] attacks Warrior[3/3] and wins taking 1 damage
Sword[4/4] attacks Warrior[3/3] and wins taking 1 damage
Horse[5/5] attacks Warrior[3/3] and wins taking 1 damage

I The 3rd English galley must have been empty, as it just moved onto Brighton.
The Roman galley returned to Rome without dropping any sacrifices off.

110 Code of Laws discovered. Researching Republic in 40 at +21gpt
Changed Madrid from Sword to Marketplace.
Changed Murcia from Harbour to Marketplace. It grows in 5 and we can whip it in 5.

Peace with England is down to 1gpt + 42g. As long as no more galleys show up we may as well wait and let it get cheaper, and waste English time and resources. They already have a Harbour so we can sell them Spices when we do make peace.
The Vikings also now have a Harbour and we can buy Construction off them for a Spice + gold deal, but that up to the next leader. Their TM would be worth a look at.

Notes
One galley is in Gibraltar and the other in Pamplona. I was planning more explorations with them but the steady stream of Galleys around there made me shepherd them instead. Maybe a landing by Brighton is called for. Byztanium only had 2 Reg Spears defending and that was size 4 with a Harbour and belonging to the Superpower in the game, so we may be able to take it and get something from Lizzie for peace.
Our army is a little spread out but mostly concentrated in the SE. The English and Romans have both been landing their troops on the tile marked with the Red Carpet, except once when the English landed at Orange Dot in the Pamplona name.

Save

 

[Quokka]

Here's a look at the mess that is China circa 170BC



They'll be doing fine in the future but what a horrible waste of land. The only thing they did right was deny Rome it native Iron.

and here's the Magnificent Spanish Empire, a lovely Robin Egg Blue all over.



complete with Red Carpet for visiting sacrifices.

 

[falsfire]

Way to go, Quokka. A monopoly on one lux is always sweet icing on the Deity cake.

I guess I'm up again since Despot still hasn't checked in. I've seen him post in another thread, so I'm going to give a little bit of time for him to claim the game. If it's not claimed by my mid-afternoon tomorrow, I'll take it and see if we can put some more hurtin on England and/or Rome.

 

[Quokka]

It was late when I posted so I forgot to mention that I think we should take Syracuse. I don't know how else we are going to force the Romans to the talk tables otherwise. It is also only going to be harder to take later but we can defend the island completely with 3 units. I doubt we could take anything in Rome's core and we definitely wouldn't be able to hold it, although Lutetia and its Ivory are a tempting target.
I also think we should do the same for Brighton and once taken we can use 2 units to keep it safe until Marines.

Most of the build orders are changeable also. I had some places on Harbours as pre-build for Courthouses, but then I got Currency
and left it for the next leader to decide. The FP in 13 turns makes courthouses less desperate and Marketplaces a better option.

 

[Despot]

Very nice turn, Quokka.

In fact, too nice...let me see if I can botch things up.

Yes, Despot is back in action. This is a got it and I will try to have it back by the morning my time.

Syracuse and Brighton look like nice targets. Lutetia, I don't think is going to happen...it is too far away, but the lux would definitely be nice. Will see what I can do.

 

[Despot]

(0) 110 BC-
Well things have definitely heated up since I was last in charge. The previous leaders have done a good job of not only keeping us alive, but also securing our island. We are still at war with both the English and the Romans. My first objective will be to make a landing at Brighton and take it with our mighty swords and horsemen. Then try to make peace with them. Afterwards we can focus our attention on the Romans.


(1) 90 BC-
Seville Spear->Market
Santiago Temple->Galley

(2) 70 BC-
Toledo Spear->Galley

Trade Spices to Vikes for 2 gpt, TM and 50 GP.

(3) 50 BC-
4/4 Horse vs. 3/3 Eng Sword we win without a scratch.

IBT/B]-
3/3 Galley vs. 4/4 Eng Galley we win without a scratch and promote.

(4) 30 BC-
Nothing much.

(5) 10 BC-
Pamplona Pult->Harbor

We declare peace with the English and get Contruction for 14 gpt and 13 GP.
We are now in the Middle Ages.

(6) 10 AD-
Santiago Galley->Market

IBT-
Vikes demand TM and 23 GP. I cave in.

(7) 30 AD-

Battle for Brighton:
4/4 Sword vs. 3/3 Spear we win going to 3/4.
4/4 Horse vs. 3/3 spear we win going to 2/4.
Brighton is now Spanish.

We got peace with England and Construction for 12 gpt and 29 GP.
Have to raise lux to 20% to keep our warlike people happy.
Trade Spices to England for Ivory, 18 GP, and TM. Now set lux at 10%.

(8) 50 AD-
Toledo Galley->Market

Battle for Syracuse:
4/4 Sword vs. 3/3 Spear we win without a scratch.
4/4 Sword vs. 3/3 Spear win win going 2/4.
Syracuse is ours.

Rome wants peace, but the only discount we can get is Monarchy and it will cost us almost our whole economy.

(9) 70 AD-
Nothing much.

(10) 90 AD-
Nothing much.

Well Syracuse and Brighton are now ours. Not sure how we want to progress now. Things still look very bad as far as tech goes. We are down Republic, Monarchy, Mono, Feud, and Engineering to everyone we know. We are down Invention to Rome since they are building Leo's...who know how much we are lacking. I have Madrid building galleys so that we can hopefully find the other civs!! I think that will be the only way we could get back into this game as far as tech goes. Rome will now give us a price break on either Monarchy or Feud, but they will still leave us extremely poor. I will leave it up to our next Leader...our swords have been fine so far, but we really need to turn this around and finding the other civs I think will be our only salvation.

The Save

 

[falsfire]

Originally posted by Despot
(5) 10 BC-
Pamplona Pult->Harbor
We declare peace with the English and get Contruction for 14 gpt and 13 GP.
We are now in the Middle Ages.
(7) 30 AD-
Battle for Brighton:
4/4 Sword vs. 3/3 Spear we win going to 3/4.
4/4 Horse vs. 3/3 spear we win going to 2/4.
Brighton is now Spanish.

We got peace with England and Construction for 12 gpt and 29 GP.
Have to raise lux to 20% to keep our warlike people happy.
Trade Spices to England for Ivory, 18 GP, and TM. Now set lux at 10%.

I'm a little confused...did we make peace with England twice? Pls explain. I took a quick look at the game, and it seems that ppl don't want to do gpt deals with us (China wanted straight-up gold for a lux deal). Did we reneg on the peace with England? Also, it appears we bought Construction twice...can you please clarify before I play my turn tomorrow?

Thx!

 

[Quokka]

I am confused.

In 10BC you wrote

We declare peace with the English and get Contruction for 14 gpt and 13 GP.
We are in the Middle Ages.

Then in 30AD you wrote

Battle for Brighton
4/4 Sword vs. 3/3 Spear we win going to 3/4
4/4 Horse vs. 3/3 Spear we win going to 2/4
Brighton is now SPanish.

We got peace with England and Construction for 12 gpt and 29 GP.
Have to raise lux to 20% to keep our warlike people happy.
Trade Spices to England for Ivory, 18 GP, and TM. Now set lux at 10%.

Which is is, and please tell me we didn't break a deal for tech?

Other than that, very good turn. I am very happy to see we got the Viking TM, that should show us pretty mush most of the known world and make a full WM much cheaper to buy. I'd like to get one soon, to help see where we should launch any suicide galleys from. We are in a much better position now than before jumbo started the cleansing, we even have overseas interests.

 

[Despot]

No, I didn't declare peace with England twice. I was going to declare peace with England at 10 BC...I had landed my troops outside of Brighton and they were offering peace with Construction at that price so I was going to take it. I must of put it in my notes and never have taken it out. The peace happened after I took Brighton in 30 AD. Not sure why China would not want gpt deals...I didn't go back on any deals.

Sorry about the mix up there. It's been a really long week. I'm normally more careful than that, but oh well.

 

[falsfire]

that's ok, we've all done things like that

i went to play my rbciv28 yesterday and discovered that i had deleted my notes on it. i've played at least 200 turns, and i deleted the notes off my desktop, as i've started using my 2nd computer to record notes "as i play". unfortunately, i'd never copied my notes to the 2nd computer yet. oh, pooey, eh?

i have the game (this game, rbp10c to avoid any confusion ) and have already opened the save to look at it. I will be playing & posting tonight. will see if i can lay a bit of smackdown on rome and get republic off him cheaply.

@Despot: The Roman galley near "red carpet landing zone", has it already unloaded its troops for the meat grinder? do you recall?

thx!

 

[falsfire]

RBP 10C thru 270AD

90 AD [0] - I drop lux tax to 0%, change one citizen in Barcelona to a scientist (FP still due in 3), and change Valencia's ONLY CITIZEN back into a labourer. This increases our income from 19gpt to 25gpt. I adjust some tiles between Santiago, Madrid, & Murcia to get Murcia's harbour done next turn. I change Brighton to a Temple, to get the fish & whales online sooner. It also needs a harbour. I will whip the temple in seven turns. Syracuse, ditto, except I will whip the temple in eight turns. China has the cheapest price on a WM, I buy it from Mao for 40g +WM. Then I get 9g back by selling it to Liz & Ragnar.

IT: Rome sails two more galley towards us, let's see if we can nab a unit or two and get a better discount on Republic from him.

110 AD [1] - Murcia market->harbour. Our galley WAY west of Syracuse sinks. Man, how did you even get the thing that far to begin with?

IT: Rome shows up offering a straight-up peace deal. We can afford Republic off him if we sell the farm and two of our limbs. (21gpt +184g). I think I will wait for him to land units.

130 AD [2] - Madrid Galley->pult. It also grows, and needs a taxman to stay happy. Zaragoza harbour->market. Iroquois complete Sun Tzu in Salamanca. Catapult scores one hit on one galley. Rome's price on peace + Republic goes down 2g. Let's see what he lands. (For sure the hurt galley will go home, the AI *always* sends injured galleys back to port to heal).

IT: Uninjured Roman galley moves further west t'wards Pamplona. Injured one goes home. English galley still sailing round and round Brighton.

150 AD [3] - FP completes in Barcelona. Income skyrockets up by 6gpt. Marketplace ordered up.

IT: Roman galley continues to sail west?

170 AD [4] - Madrid pult->horsie. Move some units to shadow the Roman galley.

IT: Roman galley moves up to the shoreline near Gibraltar & Valencia. A healed Roman galley departs Pompeii towards us.

190 AD [5] - Gibraltar Temple->Harbour. Hit next turn anxious to see what the Romans unload. If they do.

IT: They unloaded an MDI and a Pike, both vets, north of Valencia. If I cannot dislodge them, then I have to make peace this turn. Valencia is defended by a reg warrior only.

210 AD [6] - Pult fires on the pike, takes off 1hp.

4/4 sword vs. 3/4 pike: we lose 1hp, promote to elite, and kill the pike.
4/4 sword vs. 4/4 MDI: we lose 2hp, promote, and kill the MDI.
I decide to be gutsy, try and lay the hurt on Caesar a bit more by attacking his 4/4 galley with our 4/4 galley SW of Vittoria:
4/4 galley vs. 4/4 galley: I knock 3hp off it, then our galley dies.

I dialup Caesar and see what Republic + peace will cost now: 21gpt +179g. Okay, so I didn't get us much of a discount on that. But I take it for now, we need the new governmental form.

Peace +21gpt +179g to Rome for Peace + Republic. Rome has Furs and can use our Spices, no deal possible on any tech now, will wait til next turn when we are a Republic of Spain.

WOW...did making peace EVER affect our happiness. I count three of our large cities that would riot now without lux tax. I may need to purchase those Roman furs, or some fine Chinese Dyes/Incense. I'm going to spend two more turns as a Despot so I can rush the temples at Syracuse and Brighton. Lux goes to 10%, and we still need to run entertainers instead of taxman/scientist in Madrid/Barcelona. Income plummets to +3gpt due to the lux tax (and paying Rome 21gpt on Republic). BtW, Caesar would give us 6gpt for Spices. I'm holding off to see what tech we can afford for Spices + something else when we become a Republic.

IT: Roman galleys withdraw. England still patrolling the waters around Brighton. Buzz off, Liz.

230 AD [7] - Madrid horsie->galley (to replace the one we lost to the Roman navy). Seville Market->harbour. We quell one resistor in Syracuse. Oh...forgot it had resistors. I move the other swordsman into Syracuse to help (hopefully) quell the last resistor so we can rush the temple next turn. Temple in Brighton. Note: one galley is sailing along the northern pole (let's call this the Northern Passage). It seems to consider those safe waters since its right next to the icecap. Hopefully we can make it far enough west to spot and sail to the other AI landmass. Keep it right along the icecap until we see land we can safely reach in one turn to the south.

The AI's still won't offer us fair deals involving lux or gpt. We must've unintentionally renegged on a deal somewhere.

250 AD [8] - Brighton temple->harbour. Resistance in Syracuse crushed. Temple . "YOU SAY YOU WANNA REVOLUTION?" Set tax collectors/entertainers across the realm. Santiago would starve if I kept it happy, so I let it riot. Still, we're 180g -26gpt (OUCH!)

IT: New government! And there was much rejoicing...yay. Our northern passage galley finally sinks. Pooey. It musta spent at least six turns in dangerous waters.

260 AD [9] - Kay, dudez. We got serious happiness problems. We need another lux import, if it'd be less than the 16gpt required to raise lux taxes (we were at +42gpt with 10% lux tax). Why is China annoyed at us now? Only Ragnar has any patience for us. Buy Dyes off China for 3gpt, WM, 2g, and Spices. Yeah, our rep is poop right now it seems. But this allows me to knock lux down to 10%, and only Barcelona, size 9 w/o a marketplace yet, is in need of a specialist (clown needed & hired til the market's done in 5, but will grow in 3). But but will have a forest chop completed in two. Syracuse's rushed temple finishes, and it grows BACK to size two already, and it will get a spearman of it's very own in 20 turns. (I'm using coastal squares for the +2 food right now). China goes back to cautious with the active lux deal.

Okay, now our income is 44gpt. Let's see if I can swing a deal. Rome's prices are outrageous compared to Mao, even if I throw in the Spices. So I sell Caesar spices straight up for 6gpt & 6g.

Next, Monotheism from China for 34gpt +144g. No opportunities for two-fers yet, dudes, as we can only see the first-tier Middle Ages techs, which all the AIs have.

Now I see only Rome & England have Theology. Of course we can't afford it from either of our two recent enemies. We're now at 19g +16gpt.

270 AD [10] - Not much. Income rises to 23gpt, due to Santiago stopping its riots, and Gibraltar's borders popping out. Madrid swapped from galley (due next turn) to Cathedral, next leader can veto back to galley if they want. The two workers next to Toledo are meant to mine the iron mountain. China is now polite. He also picked up Theology last turn. Ragnar still lacks it.

We might want to think about building some darn embassies, now that we're in the middle ages. It would only cost us 50g+50g+55g+60g, or 215g. Also, see if we can't pickup Theology in the next short while and maybe twofer it to Scandinavia. They might still be at war with Rome or China. Our 12gpt to England on Construction+peace runs out in seven turns, and in two turns, our 2gpt spices to Scandinavia expires. Maybe we can get more than 2. It isn't worth it to sell to him that cheap. We could wait til we get Theology (maybe in 7 turns when our 12gpt to England runs out) and include Theo+spices to get a tech off Ragnar.

Also, see if we can't get a damn galley out to meet the rest of the world. Contacts would be worth a firstborn at this stage of the game, we could really make a haul off of 'em. Even if we hoard them and broker techs back and forth between the New World and the Old World. There's still three AIs out there somewhere. (Persians, Iroquois, Zulu).

Keep your socks up, team, we're not doing too badly. The Histograph doesn't actually look that bad on us at this point. We're actually roughly tied with China on power, and only close behind England/Scandinavia.

In seven turns our straight-up spices for ivory runs out with England. Careful if she wants to renew. We need it to keep our cities happy. China has Incense, and Rome has Furs available as possible replacements. Careful, though. That wouldn't net us as many happy faces as 10% lux tax.

The save

 

[jumbo2002]

Got it and will play tonight. Any other advice or opinions from the team is always helpful.

I'm interested to see what the WM looks like now.

Just from this report, I'm leaning toward swapping Madrid back to a galley. We've got to score on a "suicide path" sooner or later, right?

Quick clarification question: whenever I have been the first to discover a "New World" I've always traded as much as I could that first turn; judging by the way this game is going, it might be better to hold off on dealing contacts. However, if I trade maps between the Old World and New World, does that lead to the Old World gaining the contacts in the newly revealed maps?

EDIT: Correction...RL intervention may keep me from playing tonight. I will be able to play by tomorrow night, though.

 

[Quokka]

I don't think they automatically make the contacts, but they will know where to go. I'd hold off on selling contacts, we may be able to swing some 2fers. The AI does 'know'everything about the map once it knows the map but not before, ie once it gets a map it'll know where the resources will show up in 2000 years but it has to know the map first.

Don't we have some spare spices at the moment? I'd keep one spare instead of a cheap deal to the Vikings, someone we meet might be rich.

The map looks good now, it'd look better with some more Spanish blue, but we have recovered very well from the Roman Pollution.

What is our next objective? We have united the Home Island, now I think we should start sketching some future plans. Its easier to work towards a set objective than to just plod along.
I'll spit some out when I get the save after jumbo2002.

 

[jumbo2002]

(0) 270AD - I open up the save, and am pleased with the progress the Republic of Spain has made. The southern coast of the Home Island is fortified against agression, and the colony at Brighton shall be our Watchtower.

I agree that soon we will need to have a long-term goal as to what strategy we want to pursue; however, that may depend significantly on what kind of contact and profit we can earn from discovering a New World. I am intrigued by the future of the Roman/Viking War...if Rome overextends themselves (they have already taken Aarhus) that may open up an opportunity for us to expand further off the Home Island.

Turning to more immediate matters, we have zero galleys. Ouch. I had considered swapping Madrid off its Cathedral for a galley, but will instead leave it on the Cathedral unless our happiness issues solve themselves.

Our spice deal with the Vikings expire in 2 turns, and a peace and lux deal expire in 7 turns. I'm not sure how much trading I'll be able to do on my turn...unless an opportunity arises, we'll wait until turn 7 (as the team suggested) before trying to buy into Theo and deal it to Scandinavia.

Until then, I'll keep the research off as falsfire had; we'll be buying our techs anyway. I'll be building up cash, with the occasional embassy build.

So, that's my thinking for the current turn; we'll see how it plays out!

(I) Some AI Galleys sail around aimlessly.

(1) 280AD - Nothing much; move some workers around. Found an Embassy in Trondheim; it is making 12spt, 60/40 tax/sci, and they have dyes, spices, and ivory. Defending by 3 pikes and a 'pult, building another pike. 16 cult/pt. The Vikes are at peace with everyone now...Aarhus begins to looks very tempting.

(I) We add steps and a west wing to our palace!

(2) 290AD - Madrid gets a clown (until it finishes its Cathedral.) Barcelona needs another (for just 2 more turns). Upping lux instead is not profitable.

(I) Scandinavia comes to renew the Spices deal. I decline, hoping to wait until we can leverage it for more later on.

(3) 300AD - Nothing.

(4) 310AD - Barcelona Marketplace->Cathedral. Fire one clown. Santiago Marketplace->Galley. Pamplona Harbor->Galley. The Vikes have Theo. It was only a matter of time. Spices+all our gold and gpt is only close to a deal with the Vikes for Theo, but we could buy into Feudalism if we want. I will wait until we recover our cash from England, and see if we can buy into Theo then, in order to reveal possible future opportunities with either PP or Education.

(5) 320AD - Madrid Cathedral->Galley. Fire the clown in Madrid. Toledo Market->Aqueduct (vetoable, if another infra build sounds better). MM some tiles among Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, and Murcia...resulting in reducing Madrid's Galley from 3 turns to 2, reducing Seville's Harbor from 9 turns to 8, increasing Murcia's Harbor from 2 turns to 3, and cutting Barcelona's Cathedral from 7 turns to 6 (although a forest chop will speed that up by another turn), in exchange for slightly slower growth.

Found an Embassy with Rome. Just started building a University, 24 spt. 20%/80% tax/sci, 32 cult/pt. Defended by 9 pikes and a pult. They have 5 luxes.

(I) Brighton riots Hire a taxman.

(6) 330AD - ...

(7) 340AD -Madrid Galley->Galley. (I want contacts!)

(I) Elizabeth comes to renew peace. I gratefully accept.

(8) 350AD - Santiago Galley->Aqueduct. Murcia Harbor->Aqueduct. Pamplona Galley-Market. (All of these builds are, naturally, vetoable.)

We now have 177g and 49gpt, so we have some cash to play with. Let's see how we can do..

Spices+WM+40gpt+45g to Vikes for Theo.

All by Scandinavia have Education. Swap Brighton's taxman to a scientist and put 40-turn research on Printing Press. If this is , it'll only be two turns in by the next player's turn.

(I) Renegotiating our Spices/Ivory deal with England requires us to kick in 3g+3gpt. Romans begin Cop's.

(9) 360AD - Madrid Galley->Library. (Placeholder for whatever the next leader wants.)

And the Vikes have Education now, too.

(I) Lose a suicide galley.

(10) 370AD - Barcelona Cathedral->Harbor. (Another placeholder.) Fire Barcelona's clown.

We have 6 turns left on peace+cash to Caesar, and 9 turns on a Spices deal to Rome. One option is to wait for that deal to run out, and honorably sneak attack Rome at Aarhus. This will allow us to score some concessions (most likely minor) from Rome, but more importantly get us a foothold onto the other continent. If we decide to pursue this course of action, I think we should scrap the suicide galley plan (since Rome at least has Astronomy, the AIs are on their way towards contacting a New World) and reform an invasion navy. From there, we could try to play catchup and build infrastructure (trading where possible) until we can use Artillery to start from Aarhus and plow through either China or Scandinavia. If we decide to attack either of those two, we'd probably want to wait until Industrial anyway, to avoid fighting them against their UUs. Using alliances to play the Eastern nations against each other would be an option.

Any other ideas for a strategy?

The Save

 

[jumbo2002]

Does an Aarhus invasion strategy make sense?

 

[falsfire]

well...we'd have to gamble a bit and rush some major culture buildings in aarhaus, plus put a big stack o' units in there to avoid a flip. there would be SEVERE cultural pressure on it. if/when we do head over to stick it to 'em, be prepared to send over another galley or two with warriors, so when the resistance ends we can disband the warriors to cheapen the rushing of cultural buildings. We'll need 424 gold to rush a temple and a cathedral in two turns if we have two warriors (to disband for two shields towards each bldg before the rush). Then on the turn AFTER the cathedral is finished our borders there will expand with a total culture of 12, and 5cpt. This would require 18 more turns to pop borders again, which should guarantee full control of our 21 tiles. So...we SHOULD probably add another cultural building to the queue. What's the next most effective choice...a library at 3cpt would cost another 312g to rush if we disbanded another warrior, and this would net us at 15 culture points the turn our borders pop (the turn the library gets built), with +8cpt. The remaining 85cp would then take nine turns. We could speed it up even more with a university rush, but I *really* doubt we'll have that much gold lying about. We'll definately want to starve it down, with 7 or eight Viking citizens, that close to Trondheim, the city would most surely flip away.

 

[jumbo2002]

That's true...hmm...and even a raze and replace won't work, since that cultural territory would likely be filled in by Viking borders...we'd have to declare against Scandinavia to build another city.

Any other ideas? Is attempting an Eastern expansion a futile effort to begin with?