SGOTM 15 - One Short Straw

[Mitchum]

I think Buffy automatically shows decay. I've seen it before but don't recall enabling anything.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

The decision has been made and the die has been cast... I moved our Super Medic 2SW and I did not complete the Chop into Kyoto, instead sticking with the plan to continue to Mine the GHRiv For that Worker 2 was already standing on. Only time will tell if these decisions will work in our favour or will come to haunt us.

We have 29 Gold and are bleeding 13 Gold per turn. That's a bit too much for my liking, so I switched Osaka to working 2 Hamlets, bringing us up to only -11 Gold per turn. So be it.

The Scout will appear next turn (which we won't disband) to hopefully help us survive if we fail to capture Satsuma immediately.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

T114 Initial Report
We receive some mixed news.

We lose our Spy. So long, buddy!

On the plus side, Hinduism spreads to DC, which will make it easier to grow and later whip the Forge.

NC also grew a Forest, on the GH Riv SE + S + S of NC (1N of the Banana)... that could be more incentive to settling a City on top of the Banana for a quicker Granary.

Someone built The Shwedagon Paya. Sweet! That gamble paid off. It was the same player who built The Statue of Zeus. EDIT: Both Wonders were built in the same City as each other.

Hatty moved her stack of doom to 1SE of Tokyo and pillaged a Farm there.

I'm not sure what her northern units did, since they seem to have stayed in place but the Swordsman doesn't appear to have a Fortification bonus when I hover over him. Very odd. At least she wasn't smart enough to destroy our Road that is 1E of Tokyo.

Spoiler :

Of course, Toku whipped another unit in Satsuma, a Swordsman:

Spoiler :

The tech situation has changed, with a couple of AIs picking up Aesthetics (Hatty and Hammy) and with Shaka getting Currency.

Spoiler :

No sign of additional units from either Hatty or Shaka, but our Scouting Axeman just got displaced by invasive Cultural Borders:

Spoiler :

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Our finances should have been: 29 - 11 = 18 Gold... but we have 46 Gold... so, the Scout Gambit was worth 46 - 18 = 28 Gold!

I don't remember how much we'll get for the Shwedagon Paya, but I think that it was 38 Gold or thereabouts, which we should receive next turn as our "consolation prize."

DC steals back its GRiv Cottage from Delhi, so Delhi switches to working the last-turn-minted Plains Cottage (remember that we get bonus Hammers here).

Zlat's Pikeman shows up as losing 2 Hammers in 5 turns, so I do have the right BUFFY setting enabled. The Crossbowman does not complain, but NC's Work Boat complains that we'll lose 1 Hammer in 5 turns.

I whip NC's Galley, getting rid of a GRiv Farm and an angry citizen. If we work the PRiv Cottage this turn and the last-turn-minted G Cottage for the following 2 turns, we'll grow in precisely 3 turns, exactly when our whipping anger will wear off.

The overflow Hammers from Marble City's Scout will be enough to complete a Catapult. Any thoughts on what unit to build there next turn?

I can't do LC's plan for Kyoto yet as we'll have to execute the Satsuma battle first, as per LC's suggested battle plan:

I say we knock down the city defenses first, using
0/2XP cat
3/2XP cat
3/2XP cat
then immediately attack with the CRI -promoted treb, followed by
2/5XP CRI cat
4/5XP CRI cat
1/2XP cat

That uses up all the cats. Then if we will be able to move any units back to Tokyo, I would consider saving the xbow for that, if the axes can mop up Satsuma, because that xbow will be an excellent defender for Tokyo. I'd also try to get a cheap 2XP for the pikeman if possible and if an archer is heavily damaged use the spear on him, so we can send as many axes back to Tokyo.

I switch DC to building an Archer, since we'll now have some Gold to carry us forward for a few turns.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Of course, here's the news that we have all been waiting for:

Spoiler :

TOKU HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!

We lost 2 Cats taking Satsuma. It appears that we had an extra Cat that LC's plan didn't account for... I attacked with it, giving us pretty much 99+% odds on our battles with our non-siege units, meaning that we won all 6 of those battles.

That leaves 1 Crossbowman and 2 Axemen to move into Tokyo (unless I mis-click).

 

[Dhoomstriker]

One thing that we did not think of when we told me to attack with the Pike and Spearman is that Hatty can now counter-attack Satsuma with her War Chariot. Let's hope that she isn't that smart.

Optionally, I could move a second Axeman into Satsuma, but I think that we'd much rather risk losing Satsuma and thereby splitting-up Hatty's stack slightly than have 1 less Axeman defender in Tokyo.

So, the 1 Crossbowman and 2 Axes will move to Tokyo unless someone says otherwise in the next few minutes.

EDIT: Err, nevermind... BOTH of her War Chariots could reach Satsuma... so, there's no point what-so-ever putting a 2nd Axeman into Satsuma. Therefore, I'll just move those 3 units into Tokyo now, as per the plan.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Here are a couple of pictures of the stacks of units that Hatty has, as well as our stacks:

Spoiler :

 

[Dhoomstriker]

I don't understand... can a War Chariot and a Swordsman help to "Bombard" a City Wall as it is being erected? Our City Wall seems to start with a 35% Defensive bonus...

No matter, if Hatty decides to Bombard, we'll have a stack of units that can move in... and if she doesn't Bombard, it's still a good amount of defensive power.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Apologies to LC, but we appear to have 5 citizens in Kyoto that are willing to work, instead of 4. So, I'm afraid that I am forced to work an extra GHRiv Mine. Of course, that means that all of your precise micromanagement calculations will probably have to be redone. Sorry about that!

Our one Unhappy person there comes from the whipping anger... although it's feasible that upon growing to Size 6, we could gain +2 Unhappy people... but we won't care if we're whipping right away, right?

Spoiler :

 

[Dhoomstriker]

In retrospect, I should probably have attacked the last unit in Satsuma with a Spearman. Oh well, we got lucky that our Spearman didn't die versus an Archer (our Spearman in our stack of doom has had his health red-lined).


Now that we have whipped City Walls in Tokyo, it seems like a good time (in terms of our Foodbox) to complete the Granary there. The Archer will take a long time to complete, so we might as well finish off that Granary:

Spoiler :

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I just gave that Pikeman (who just arrived from Kyoto this turn) a Combat I promo.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

PPP

Delhi: Queue-up another Treb (already done)
Zlat: Build the Treb to 1 turn from completion and then start on a Cat
GEL: We'll grow to Size 4 next turn... I'm not sure if it will be better to work a Farm or a GHRiv Mine... I guess that it will depend upon how many turns it will take for us to grow to Size 5 working various square types, which will be easier to figure out next turn; Keep building the Pike; switch to a Treb when we have 4 base Hammers for a turn; after the Pike, I'm not sure what else to build as a temporary unit... perhaps another Pike (Pikes are good for Hatty, while Crossbowmen are better for Hammy)
NC: PRiv Cottage for 1 turn, G Cottage for 2 turns, to grow in 3 turns at the same time that whipping Unhappiness will wear off; Delay building the Work Boat for as long as possible and start work on a Forge after the Galley has been completed
Marble City: We'll complete the Catapult and then will need another unit to start work on... a Crossbowman, I suppose
Osaka: T114: 2 Hamlets, T115: 2 Hamlets, T116: Switch a Hamlet to a Farm to grow 1 turn sooner
Kyoto: Switch the GHRiv Mine to the 2W GRiv Hamlet; otherwise, follow LC's plan as closely as possible unless told otherwise
Tokyo: Granary -> Archer while working the best square available to it (T114 = GRiv Farm)
DC: Archer -> Forge; Probably steal a Cottage from Delhi when it grows in 3 turns, forcing Delhi to temporarily work a GRiv Farm until one of these 2 Cities gets a new Cottage
Satsuma: Build an Archer, I guess... we now have Workers around there that could feasibly clear-cut the area... for example, we should try and Chop the PHRiv For next turn with all 3 of our Workers (assuming that Hatty doesn't capture Satsuma and kill our 2 Workers there), since that PHRiv For will become Hatty's on the following turn... although...
QUESTION: If you Chop a Forest into a City that is in Revolt, will you still get the Hammers for the Forest in BtS?
ANSWER: Yes. (I just tested it.)


Workers 0 and 1 (near Delhi): They can go and build Cottages for Delhi and/or DC
Worker 2: Continue to Mine the GHRiv For by Kyoto
Worker 3: Already Roaded the PHRiv For by Hatty
Worker 4: Keep Roading the Cow
Worker 5: Keep building a Cottage for GEL
Worker 6: I'm not sure, but we probably want him to stay near to the Forest at Kyoto, so I guess that he'll just build a partial Cottage adjacent to that Forest so that he can return to the Forest on the correct turn



For safety's sake, and since he can't perform any healing this turn in Tokyo, I plan to move our Super Medic to Kyoto.
We will move the Super Medic to Tokyo, and if it survives and if our Road network remains intact, we will move it to the PHRiv For on the following turn.


Next turn, our Galley will pick up our Axeman (who is already in NC) and the Galley will move W + SW then W to drop off the Axeman SW of there two turns from now.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Espionage Report:
119/119 EPs required to see Hatty's Demographics; we'll keep adding +4 EPs to her per turn
Elephantine: Sab Building = 414, Sab Production = 264
97/94 EPs requied to see Hammy's Demographics
Borsippa: Sab Building = 230, Sab Production = 145
Opis: Sab Building = N/A, Sab Production = 44
Toku is dead, so I can stop reporting his numbers


F8 VICTORY CONDITIONS:
11.89% of World Population under our control; Closest known rival = Shaka at 10.00%
9.30% of Land Area under our control; Closest known rival = Hatty at 6.00%

Top AI Cultural City (of the AIs that we know): Thebes (Hatty's) at 1508 Culture, followed by Memphis at 171 Culture, and Heliopolis at 68 Culture


F9 INFO SCREEN:
We're #1 in Manufactured Goods (Hammers), 4th in Crop Yield (Food), 2nd in Soliders, 2nd in Land Area, but only 6th in Population


I wonder if we'll get lucky and have the AI that built The Shwedagon Paya switch to Free Religion.

 

[magnusmarcus]

Good show Dhoom! and thanks for the screen shots!

 

[Mitchum]

Nice work, Dhoom.

We only lost two throw-away cats. After another pike/crossbow or two, I think we should crank out nothing but cats and trebs (from Delhi or an occasional 3-pop in GEL or another barracks city)... and possibly units to garrison newly-captured cities until they are out of risk.

It's a shame that our super medic is so far away from where he needs to be... Should we just hide him in Delhi the whole game so that we never have to worry about losing him...

By the time our stack is healed and we've dealt with Hatty's units around Tokyo, our stack should have picked up a lot of stragglers including several more trebs. How many units will we have in the Tokyo/Satsuma area in the next one/two turns? I'm most interested in the number of trebs. They will make our warring on Hatty much easier.

I'm leaving for China/HK/Taiwan tomorrow morning for a week. I'll try to follow along as best I can but don't wait for my approval on anything before moving the game forward... like you do now.

 

[Mitchum]

Great news in Kyoto. I think the MM will become much easier with an extra citizen. LC has been working with fewer and fewer citizens each turn for a while. With all of these productive citizens, I expect a plan to get the GLib finished next turn, LC!

Dhoom, thanks for not telling us "Told you so!" regarding our spy. I just did it for you.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

We only lost two throw-away cats. After another pike/crossbow or two, I think we should crank out nothing but cats and trebs (from Delhi or an occasional 3-pop in GEL or another barracks city)... and possibly units to garrison newly-captured cities until they are out of risk.

Well, we still need to anticipate losses in the field, especially with War Elephants soon to rear their feet our way. I do see what you are saying, but there is a point where you reach critical mass with your siege units and then having more "counter units" to defend stacks as well as captured Cities again becomes a more important factor.

I'll do my best to wave my magical wand and somehow balance it all.

It's a shame that our super medic is so far away from where he needs to be... Should we just hide him in Delhi the whole game so that we never have to worry about losing him...

Thanks to your clever comment about non-teleporting units while at war, our units in the east won't need the Super Medic to come to them, as they'll come to the Super Medic in Tokyo... it's just that the Super Medic doesn't need to be there until they arrive or until some of our other units get wounded. For now, he can get a break, as all heck is about to let loose in Sick Bay once our troops return to Tokyo.

By the time our stack is healed and we've dealt with Hatty's units around Tokyo, our stack should have picked up a lot of stragglers including several more trebs. How many units will we have in the Tokyo/Satsuma area in the next one/two turns? I'm most interested in the number of trebs. They will make our warring on Hatty much easier.

Well, there's a steady supply of roughly 1 Treb every 2 turns from Delhi, then we recently whipped one in GEL. That's probably about all that you can count on, although there will be a Cat from Marble City getting built next turn.

Great news in Kyoto. I think the MM will become much easier with an extra citizen. LC has been working with fewer and fewer citizens each turn for a while. With all of these productive citizens, I expect a plan to get the GLib finished next turn, LC!

Well, I'm tempted to push forward with the game but LC seems to enjoy re-working the micromanagement in Kyoto, so I might as well not spoil his fun... although I'm not really sure what other square we'd work there than a GHRiv Mine, so technically I could just push forward. I'll try and wait until tomorrow to play, though.

 

[LowtherCastle]

I don't konw Kyoto's food and production totals, so I can't change the MM. I'd put the Medic back in to TOkyo and then move it to Satsuma. No more girlie gaming.

 

[LowtherCastle]

The whole point of a Medic is that units can heal, fast, anywhere. Totally false savings thinking that you're going to retreat our units to Tokyo to save supply costs instead of advancing them to Memphis. Whatever.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Now our Medic is trapped, as I said it would be. PUtting it in Tokyo means lower odds most likely, because Hatty might cause collateral damage with 2 cats. So we wait till next turn. But we have walls so instead Hatty bombards with her two cats, 28(-4%) down to 27%. And we wait, and we wait and we wait.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Dhoom, playing one turn at a time gives no perspective whatsoever. When are we moving on Memphis?