3 grams - Prodigal Son's

[M60A3TTS]

Here's the way to go

 

[Bede]

And I think Byzantines are red too....

Anyway, go straight east from our coast then turn north towards Caesearea. Japanese town is named Shimoneski, I think.

x-posted directions with M60's map.

 

[grahamiam]

thanks for the directions, guys

Roster 24hrs got it, 72hrs play it
bede
admiral k
denyd (skip between 11/24 & 28)
RowAndLive (skip till 11/21) <- on deck
M60 <- UP
grahamiam

let's swap M60 and R&L since he is just getting back and is definitely up in SGOTM4.

 

[M60A3TTS]

The save at 350BC

Preflight: We have 2 settlers available and two build locations, so Salamanca doesn’t need to be reduced in size anymore. Change settler to rax. We also need to get the iron hooked up.

IBT- Theodora hits us up for the balance of our treasury which is 3g. Cheapest cave I’ve ever done. Byz now building Sun’s. Drake is attacked by BG, loses 1hp, but wins.

Turn 1 (530BC) Move settlers along. Drake moves ahead.

IBT- A curragh is lost to BG.

Turn 2 (510BC) Reduce sci to keep math in @ 2. +11gpt.

IBT- zzzz

Turn 3 (490BC) Little Big Horn founded. Crank happiness up a tad to keep the treasury in line.

IBT- Celts building Sistine’s. Math in, adjust the sliders for Poly in 7.

Turn 4 (470BC) Ganogeh founded.

IBT- Celts building Suns, Aztecs building Sistines.
Turn 5 (450BC) Cattaraugus gets a scientist to keep them happy, Poly now in 5.

Turn 5 (450BC) Not much

IBT- Hudson attacked by BG, loses a hp, now 2/4. another BG in sight.

Turn 6 (430BC) Iron roaded, so now we have swords available.

IBT- Hudson is lost to BG.

Turn 7 (410BC) Drake still on the move to Japan.

IBT- Drake sees a Byz dromon headed south. Poly in, Monarchy in 17. I’ll see what I can do to improve that

Turn 8 (390BC) Worker actions. Lux up a notch to keep Tonawanda happy.

IBT- See another dromon pass south.

Turn 9 (370BC)

IBT- Sala MW>MW. Spain building Sun’s.

Turn 10 (350BC) Drake has reached Japanese territorial waters and see two workers on a hill of our Fatherland. Make contact with Tokugawa who is annoyed. They are up CoL, MM, currency, monarchy, construct. Adjust the sliders so we have monarchy in 10, -1gpt with 18 in the bank. If we get squeezed for cash by the AI again, we’ll probably lose a rax somewhere if we don’t at least get cash flow neutral. Still plenty of units available to build, 47 of 64 allowed.

Post turn: Sala up to 17spt, so turning out a MW every other turn. Currently at pop 8, it will need to be pop 10 to do 30spt during our GA in Monarchy. That way it’s a MW/sword per turn. Any thoughts on the FP? Do we want to wait for an MGL to build that? Of course the non-Midas trait is no longer in effect.

 

[grahamiam]

Roster 24hrs got it, 72hrs play it
bede
admiral k
denyd (skip between 11/24 & 28)
RowAndLive (skip till 11/21) <- UP
M60
grahamiam <- on deck

let's get the maximum number of MW's we can and pop France as soon as we come out of anarchy. let's not worry about the northern Aztec town right now. try to get river towns up to at least 7 in population (Viagra Falls, not sure about others) so we get better troop support and spt.
imho, 1st MGL goes for a MW army. we will need leaders and army's to get back in this. I wouldn't worry about limiting it to 2 units as the main goal is reduce france to helplessness (1 town) and extorting tech's for intervals of peace. by the time we get astronomy, the MW army will be useless, so just load it up to make the most of it vs France.

 

[RowAndLive]

Grahamiam,

I'll play this first, then SG4, and then R&L01.

 

[M60A3TTS]

It might be a good idea to mix in some cheaper slow movers. They can provide garrison troops for captured towns and help break down resistance. The defense value of MWs make them pretty vulnerable, and we don't want to lose a lot of them to counterattacks.

 

[RowAndLive]

350 – 0
set prefs & grid.
Change Mystic archer > MW

IBT: Japan demands & we agree.
VFalls sword > MW. Celts begin Templars.

330 – 1
Zzzzz

IBT: Sala MW > MW. Aztecs begin Templars.

310 – 2

IBT: Byz begin Templars, Aztecs begin Leo’s

290 – 3

IBT: Sala MW > MW, VFalls MW > MW, Celts & Byz begin Leo’s.

270 – 4
Drake finds 1-tile island N or Ganogeh.

IBT: Aztec JW/settler pair coming S from Tula.

250 - 5

IBT: Aztec pair enters our terr. Sala & Alleghany riot > clowns. Cattaraugus temple > spear in 5.

230 – 6
Chop at Caughnawaga.

IBT: Sala MW > MW, VFalls MW > MW. Japan begins Templars. Low treasury warning 10g -3gpt, Monarchy in 2.

210 – 7

IBT: Dromons using us like a cheap… never mind. Tonawanda MW > MW, Alleghany MW > MW. Treasury now 7g -2gpt, Monarchy in 1.

190 – 8

IBT: Monarchy > MM. Decide to wait 1 turn so can finish rax in Tyendenaga.
Sala MW > MW, Tyendenaga rax > spear.

170 – 9
Enter into anarchy.

IBT: Sala riots, & cycle through to prevent riots everywhere else. Lose 3 pop to starvation.

150 – 10
workin.

 

[grahamiam]

got it. play and post Tuesday night.

 

[grahamiam]

Preflight check: change as many clowns as possible to taxman. Now making +8gpt (non-midas is dropped now that we met Japan (fatherland)). 6 turns of anarchy to go.

IBT:

T1: 130BC Moving troops towards France

T2: 110BC ditto.

IBT: Japan is building Sistine’s

T3: 90BC Check out the French towns that will be attacked and note that they only have spears defending.

IBT: Chop gets an MW completed in Oil Springs; Spanish building KT and Sistine’s

T4: 70BC

T5: 50BC

IBT: We become a monarchy. Unfortunately, French learn Fued as they start building Sun’s. I hope they don’t have iron connected.

T6: 30BC Interesting. We have barracks in towns that need expansion, and we don’t have any settlers to replace French towns. Oh well, here we go.
Declare on France.
Attack @ Rouen: MW kills spear (3/4), promotes, and we enter GA; MW kills spear (1/4) and promotes and we take the town + 1g. I raze the town and we get 2 slaves. Capture 2 more on the outskits.
Switch Cattaraugus and Oil Springs to settlers.

IBT: no counters; Centralia library -> temple (harbor prebuild)

Bump up research slider to get MM in 4T vs 11T (+6gpt)

T7: 10BC Seems like the French enjoy getting a town razed as Rheims has a wltkd going.
Attack on Rheims: MW kills spear (2/4); MW kills spear and we take the town. I install a govenor

IBT: Lose an MW to a countering Horseman
Sala: MW -> MW; Viagra Falls granary -> MW; Quell 2 resistors in Rheims and it riots.
Aztecs are building KT

T8: 10AD Near Rheims; MW kills warrior; elite MW kills horseman
Upgrade a warrior in Cattaraugus
Move stack of MW’s out into France and find the French horse supply.

IBT: Spain demands 6g and gets it
Cattaraugus: Settler -> sword; Oil Springs settler -> MW; MC barracks -> granery

T9: 30AD At Orleans: MW retreats from spear (3/3); MW kills spear (2/4); MW retreats from spear; MW dies to spear (3/3); MW kills spear and attack group is gassed
Near Rheims: 4/5 elite MW kills horse (3/5)

IBT: we successfully defend against 3 horses and an archer, which at least promotes the spear covering the wounded stack to elite

Research MM -> CoL (4T)
Sala MW -> MW; VF MW -> MW; Allegeny MW -> MW; Tyendenega sword -> MW; Ganogeh spear -> temple

Aztecs are building Copernicus

T10: 50AD MW’s retreat to heal. I fortify they outside of Rheims and across the river to lessen the chance of attack.
Settler is in place for a new town. Another is coming up to raze/replace another French town. We have a couple of elite MW’s now, so hopefully we get that much needed army soon. I wouldn’t mind a sword army either, as that could keep up with the MW’s and would have better defense.
France does not want to start talking yet. Hopefully, we can research Currency, CoL, and Construction and then get her to give up MA tech’s
Aztec settler pair trying to sneak into a gap to the NE.

Roster 24hrs got it, 72hrs play it
bede <- UP
admiral k <- on deck
denyd (skip between 11/24 & 28)
RowAndLive
M60
grahamiam

note: I will be out of town and away from a computer on Thursday and Friday of this week. Won't be back till Saturday night.

 

[Bede]

Maybe I can put Joanie across my saddle and ride off into the sunset...

Got it.

Really bad joke:

Know why the Nez Perce Indians rode Appaloosas to war?

So they'd be good and mad when they got there.

(Appaloosas, the spotted horses that Sid mounts the Iro on, are well known to be stupid and stubborn, unlike mules which are smart and stubborn, let me tell about the guy I once knew who kept Appaloosa mules, but that's another story)

 

[M60A3TTS]

I'd fire the two clowns in Rheims to make them taxmen and that will buck up the cash by a few gold, even though we're starving them. Also think about merging a worker in Oil Springs and Salamanca asap. That would push shield production in those two places to 10 and 30, cranking out the MWs faster.

 

[grahamiam]

Rheims will riot if the resistors are quelled and there are taxman, and rioting cities are more likely to flip. i usually wait till the resistors are gone before taxstarving, which i wholly support.
good idea on joining the workers
very poor joke, bede

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

Please skip me until 11/26. I'll be traveling 11/24 and fat, bloated and sleepy on 11/25. I'm glad Bede explained the joke for us slower people, I was getting out Gray's to find out what an Appaloosa was.

We have any lux besides gems? Aztecs after Joanie and Bede gallop off?

 

[RowAndLive]

Sorry that I forgot to mention the Aztec settler pair. I was blocking him via bait-and-switch of the opening in the block for most of my turns.

Also sorry on the lack of settlers. I was playing while very tired, and so just followed pre-directives. Nice job on starting the war. Go, Bede, go!

 

[M60A3TTS]

Looks like we could also do with a road built on the tile south or southeast of Rheims so we're not slowed by that river to the southwest.

 

[Bede]

Went and went hard. Joan is gassed and is sending archers and spears against us, has no iron and no horses anymore to build MDI, pikes or knights. Builds in core were strictly military except for a settler out of Viagra Falls which should grow back to net 15spt by the time the GA ends.

War proceeded like this:

50AD-150AD
In 70AD built Gayagaahe on the coast and Gewauga north of Rheims in front of Orleans. Concentrated the MW in Rheims and then Gewauga and in 170AD razed Orleans, in 190AD captured Marseilles and in 250AD razed Lyons.

Our zone of control in the north is now completely outside French cultural borders, and there is a handy mountain right in the middle of the front to gather force for a push on Paris and then north.

The backline towns concntrated on culture and commerce. We learned CoL and Currency (self-researched) and can now build courthouses and some harbors up there to take advantage of the coastal area available to us.

There are workers cutting forest between Viagra Falls and Devil's Tower to get water to the northern plains so maybe we can get some population growth up there. There are other workers concentrating on the road net north to cut travel time to our new holdings.

Our brave dinghy has almost made his way home. Despite the infusion of GA cash we are still poor and at one point I lost a worker because Theo wanted 25g and the budget was in steep deficit to get the last AA knowledge before opening serious peace negotiations with J. d'Arc. She will talk but has not much to offer.

Big Daddy T is still annoyed with his wayward sons.

The French Front

Irrigation Path North:

Will cost a few shields in the short run but will be a big booster to growth up there. Might want to shoft the build in Viagra Falls to a Market to take full advantage of forest chops

 

[grahamiam]

very nicely done Bede! Let's remember, we don't want to kill joan but peace after we get to the MA will be best. with the hurt we've put on her, we should be able to get all her entry level MA tech's. if there's a lux around up there, we'll need to get a native settler to take it. we can leave her with a few cities so we can rinse and repeat later.

if the admiral or denyd are in tonight, they can play it. just post your got it. otherwise, R&L can take it tomorrow.

Roster 24hrs got it, 72hrs play it
bede
admiral k <- UP
denyd (skip between 11/24 & 28) or UP
RowAndLive <- on deck
M60
grahamiam

note: I will be out of town and away from a computer on Thursday and Friday of this week. Won't be back till Saturday night.

 

[M60A3TTS]

I'm wondering if we shouldn't try and squeeze in a couple more markets in the core while we've got the GA going and now have currency. Sala for example can do one in 3 if we cut it over. We have enough MWs at the moment to keep driving through Paris and beyond.

 

[grahamiam]

I'm wondering if we shouldn't try and squeeze in a couple more markets in the core while we've got the GA going and now have currency. Sala for example can do one in 3 if we cut it over. We have enough MWs at the moment to keep driving through Paris and beyond.

i agree with this. i also have a couple of other thoughts and i'd thought i'd list them so we can discuss and keep some continuity while the T-day holiday takes over our stomachs and brains

1. build markets, especially in the size 6+ cities. if we go any longer without them, we will not have a chance.
2. if we get a leader, build an army but do not fill it. we will get Fued from Joan for peace so we can fill it with MDI's
2a. Do not put more than 1 MDI in the army
3. build some galleys for the next civ. we need to pick the next civ we are going to attack now and get ready for them. aztecs?
4. we are going to be behind all civ's for a while, which means very dirty warfare involving Treb's/cats and pikes/MDI's/MW's. i'm pretty sure we can count on the next civ's having pikes/muskets and knights so we will have to take advantage of our army cover. it will be slow and nasty but that's what we'll have to do and we have to start getting ready very soon. imho, we do not want a pike army as a 3 unit MDI army will have the attack rating of 6 which will help greatly.
5. we need an embassy with Japan. for the next war, it would be good to MA her against that foe. the hope is that world war breaks out and research slows down, with the Aztec's allying civ's against us and Japan, and Japan getting other's onboard.

any other thoughts? basically, for me, this game must get nasty for us to have a chance and we have to start creating havoc.

i do believe we are going to have a break in this game till at least Friday if no one picks it up tonight so i will be easy on the 24/72 for now. if M60 get's itchy, he can pick it up Friday if AK, denyd, and R&L are still no-shows.