Superslug Monarch #1 2B

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Originally posted by SirPleb
So it seems that Longevity will slightly reduce score (in steady state), as EMan says

Your fleshing out the math has saved me some trouble and proven quite convincing.

I'm now persuaded that keeping Longevity for the duration is a bad idea. I may still build it to max out my population in new cities and then sack it. Researching up to that would take time, but so does building aqueducts, marketplaces and hospitals...

Of course that judgement call can wait until I'm done with the tactical phase, which is taking far longer than I'd wished.

 

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1290-5ad: Since it's looking less and less likely that I'll wanting Longevity as much, if at all, I've decided that constant reflips of cities is no longer worth the trouble. I hunted down the last German and Babylonian towns and razed them.

 

[EMan]

MILK RUN:

I think you hit the nail on the head!

Unless you are flush with cash, there is a big down-side to researching extra techs/GW's......when you could be BUYING settlers, workers, aqueducts, marketplaces, hospitals (and mass transits at some point).

There could even be an argument for going no further than Sanitation and Replaceable Parts, so that you can use the money to maximize the happiness of your people............Pollution.....ahhh, deal with it.....can you tell I'm writing this from Mexico?! (Ohhhh, I forgot for a moment that Houston has the worst air in the U.S.!)

With the City Governor switched ON for the 12+ cities and using Shift-P on the workers to clean up the pollution each turn......Mass Transit could be considered a luxury item and WAIT to research & buy when your coffers swell!.....just a thought!

 

[superslug]

Sanitation and RParts are probably good stopping points on the tech tree for my current game, but I'll go for Scientific Method as well. It'll give me ToE, which would give me access to Hoover!

The extra cash to rush things would be nice...assuming I switch to Democracy...

...and you're right, Mass Transit is a 'luxury'...

(Oh, and if you think the air in Houston is bad, just remember the air pollution here in Western North Carolina is not as bad, but very annoying. When you're on top of a ridge, you can't ignore it, but the air in the valleys is as pure as.....well as pure as whatever's pure.)

 

[superslug]

1295ad: In order to maintain mobilization, I declared war against the Byzantines. My confidence against them is higher now that I finally upgraded all my Horsemen to Cavalry.

Based on how often my cities are producing raw Cavalry I've decided to stick with that rather than reverting to Horsemen production. The Cavalry produced will be veterans since Sun Tzu's Art of War will be under my domain shortly. This also frees up cash to resume research. I'll have Electricity in 2 turns...

Most of my boats are upgraded to Galleons, the majority of which have assumed positions for future use once the main continent is secure. One has three Cavalry escorting a Settler to a remote tundra island where I will eventually lock up Genghis for eternity.

 

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Information on the screenshot: I've already declared war on the Byzantines. However, unlike my 1 and 2 turn sweeps of the Babylonians and Germans, I'm not going in guns blazing just yet.

The one tile wide isthmus makes a very nice defensive positions, so I constructed a fortress and piled some drafted Rifles in it. I've obviously left two towns ahead of that line, undefended, but that't the bait. Since the Byzantines have extensive rails and Cavalry, I'm banking on them sacking one or two of those towns as soon as I click enter.

That would trigger my MPP with their other neighbor, Greece. Not only would the Byzantines be then easier to take over, but Greece would be easier when their time comes.

I don't know if they'll hit the Riflemen, but if they do, there's over 450 Cavalry right behind them ready to come in!

Updates as the evening progresses...

 

[superslug]

The Byzantines took the bait: Greece declared war on them and I didn't even lose a single rifleman.



My top priority is acquisition of Sun Tzu's Art of War. My secondary priority will be heading along the north-eastern coastline to try and connect with my strand of cities there before I lose too many of them. Third priority will be advancing down the western coast towards their Iron and Saltpeter, and also towards the handful of Cavalry I sent to cap Babylon.

(I really should've sent some Explorers in to disconnect those resources first.)

 

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Woe are the painful decisions a warlord must make:

 

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The city had no wonders I wanted, so I torched it to the ground.

The problem facing me now is that Adrianople is more than 2 movement points deep, meaning the Cavalry can't hit it this turn. Unless I pull a nice little trick.....

 

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Usually I can get around problems like this by rushing a Settler down the railroad and dropping a city in the farthest possible tile outside their border. Crossing the border with a Settler does nothing, as it would waste the Settler's movement point for the turn. So I tried:

Sadly, my Cavalry were still out of range.

 

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The next part of the trick then is to bring in more units. In this case, a Settler to the next tile and a pile of workers to the just created city:

 

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Now, if the new Settler goes any further, he burns his movement point but he can't settle there because he's right beside a city. So I abandoned HiMom and immediately rebuild the road and railroad (disappearance of these varies upon version/patch):

 

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Now, since the second Settler came in on rails when the territory was mine, he still has his movement point left! And, since he's now in enemy territory, he can build a city!

Now, Adrianople is within striking distance this turn!

 

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And the results:

With a precise sequence of orderly unit movements and actions, a very important city does not have to wait another turn.

 

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So, when one city fails to push the border back far enough, there's still options.

Looking further at the surrounding cities, you can see that this same trick could work further. If there were already roads to the west or southeast of HiMom2, then Heraclea and Sardica would be within striking distance this same turn. Likewise, if Adrianople had been razed/abandoned, additional trick access would be available to Nicaea and Caesarea.

But, Adrianople has Sun Tzu's Art of War and that is one city I will keep my hands on!

 

[superslug]

If not immediately obvious by the rare change to my signature, I decided to repost the above material as an article in the strategy forum...

 

[superslug]

1305ad: This proved to be a very good turn. Not only did I hold Sun Tzu, I got my hands on Smith's and Newton (although I do admit Smith's is much more important in the long run).

The west coast resource sweep has gotten a little held up on a lot of mountains, but I was able to reconnect with my Cavalry in the south. I'm also within just two tiles of connecting my strand of coastal cities.

I've smashed four Byzantine capitols and split their empire right down the middle and seen Greek Cavalry softening things up.




And I think with that I call it a 'day'...

 

[superslug]

Okay, so it's been brought to my attention that the sequence of photos I posted is an idea already called 'settler creep' posted by Moonsinger around 2 years ago in her Artillery strategy thread.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll eventually have the urge to write (a real) article for the strategy forum. Before I do, I obviously need to print out every article (and accompanying thread) at work, bind them and curl up with the book until I've read every page. I thought I had, but I must have not read enough.

But for now, I play my game!

When I saved last night (this morning? ) it was waiting for the end of turn of 1305ad. Before clicking, I decided to switch all continental cities to Cavalry. This is largely due to having Sun Tzu's and partly because I've got a Settler surplus.

For my 30+ island cities that aren't affected by Sun Tzu, I sold the harbor connecting them. This made the cities a little less happy, but now they're producing Horsemen.

 

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1315ad: Byzantines eliminated entirely.

On hindsight, I should have left their last town so I could stay mobilized. I'm not all prepared to tackle Greece just yet. I'm within five turns of Replaceable Parts, so I'm going to research it at full blast. In the meantime, I'm going to rail Greece and let my poor Cavalry heal.