AG12 - Space Race (Sid)

Before I start my turns, we have an interesting opportunity. Ottoman will pay *28* gpt for our spices (should be a secure route b/c of Navigation unless a bunch of wars break out) or Incense + 17 gpt.

Do we take it?

On one hand, it's much-needed GPT that will allow us to research faster (maybe even 4-turn research in MA?).

OTOH, We're helping out the biggest civ and we really want to avoid a Runaway AI (TM).

What do you guys think?
 
When we finish the road to Korea we will have two routes towards the other civs (the other is through the Geman harbor). I indeed think that the Ottomans are the runaway civ of choice. I'm in doubt if we should help them. Won't we be able to deal with others once we are connected with Korea?
 
The only other civ with Gpt to trade to us is Scandinavia (who has 20 gpt ATM). We'll be connected to them via the Korean Harbor in 2 turns.

Edit: Guess I'll wait the 2 turns.
 
Actually, if no one objects in the next 10 minutes, I'm going to trade with the Ottomans.

We are barely keeping our cities happy in Despotism. With the loss of MP in Republic, we'll be hurting for Happiness. The Ottoman incense could really help.
 
I did wait the 2 turns. We have a trade route through the Koreans now.
 
Turn 0 - Tiwanaku is Aztec, doesn't look good for the Incans
I swap Ergili from a temple to a settler, wasting 6 shields (2 turns of production).

IBT - Well that was unfortunate. A privateer comes out of nowhere to destroy our Curragh near ottoman lands (most likely Ottoman, and at least it wasn't the one near the Aztecs).
Look at those germans go...

Gordium:Library->Courthouse
Sidon:Temple->Courthouse.
Ergili:Settler->Temple
Ack! Should have checked the cities before I ended my preturn. Zohak riots :smoke:.

Turn 1 - WM trading gets us 5 gold. Apparently Germany doesn't have Navigation yet.

I up our science to 70% to shave a turn off Republic research (we should barely have enough money by next turn).

IBT - Our road to the Koreans completes

Turn 2 - Our settler is blocked by the german units, but should be able to move next turn. Unfortunately, there's a huge pile of injured German units on Stuttgart's ruins. Let's hope they move soon.
Our WM will leave us 1 gold short of researching republic this turn, so I trade our WM first, then I build a road that turn to get more gold. We have 9 gold and are losing 9 gpt to get republic next turn (the rest of our research goals will gain us cash, so we can afford to do deficit research now).
Our Curragh shows that the Babylonians do indeed have a land route to the Aztecs.

I MM some to cut the bleeding to -7 gpt.
Spices + 6 gold to the Ottomans gets us Incense and 18 Gpt :D.

I will revolt next turn.

IBT - Republic comes in, set to Math in 4 (50% science) at 21 gpt to get Currency and Construction faster. Map Making is of high priority as well (need galleys for the invasion and harbors would be helpful).

Revolt.

Persepolis riots and will have to alternate between rioting and starvation. I MM all other cities to prevent riots. Arbela and antioch will also have to alternate to prevent the loss of a building or a pop. I set Arbela and Antioch to riot this turn. Next turn they will be happy but starving. Oops, a citizen of Gordium got hidden by the terrain, causing me to MM it wrong, and it riots as well.

Turn 3 - Ouch, we drew a harsh 7 turn anarchy. Antioch and Persepolis won't starve but Antioch will (maybe even twice).
Math will come in 12 with our scientists with 18 gpt.
??? I am confused. Apparently, there already was a settler in Gordium and the pop loss in Ergili was unnecessary.

Hmm..our curragh actually didn't confirm anything. It looked like there was a land connection in the blackness, but there's actually a 1 tile separation. There's still a possibility of a land connection though.

I found another way to squeeze some more money from our cities. Cities that will not riot, but are stuck at 0 growth can be set to 1 turn of rioting and more science and then switched back to no growth.

I do this to Sidon and Zohak this turn (actually, I will leave Zohak rioting until the road connecting it to the rest of the empire finishes, since it has no buildings and isn't growing). Next turn, I'll start the process in Gordium.

Mathematics is now in 9.

IBT - Great, another Privateer destroys a curragh. At least it's not the all-important Curragh exploring Aztec lands.
The German horde takes Hareid.
Sidon riots (on purpose)
Ghulaman riots (not on purpose, apparently it grew). It gets a scientist.
Zohak riots (on purpose) and is set to riot until it is connected to the rest of the empire.

Turn 4 - The Babylonians are industrial and pulled Nationalism (saw rifles). Not sure of the Ottoman's free tech, but they probably have it by now.

Bah, no dice. The Babylonians and Korean island is separate from the Aztec/Incan one.

Also, the Aztecs have Musketmen. I'm not sure if this Gambit will work. We'll need an overwhelming force, and the AI is notoriously incompetent at naval invasions. Not to mention the distance.

Since the happiness status of a city is calculated before food, I set all the cities set to riot with as many scientists as possible without being happy.

IBT - The vikings drop off 2 musketmen and 2 MDIs by Hareid.
Persepolis riots, set to starvation.
Arbela riots, set to starvation.
Antioch riots, set to starvation.

Turn 5 - Jinjan founded on the ruins of Stuttgart, set to a Library.
Sidon set to riot.

Crap, I forgot to Hawk WM last 2 turns (no worker improvements have been done since then, so it has no effect, luckily).

Hmm..Ollantaytambo falls to the Aztecs. The Incans still lack iron but will die soon. IIRC, once your rep. is ruined it can't get 'fixed' nor worsened, so we may want to consider selling them iron for a couple techs (using Peace re-negotiation) before they kick the bucket.

IBT - Sidon riots, set to no growth. WTH? the governor has gone crazy. When I click on the center square, rather than just assign one entertainer instead of one scientist, all the citizens sans 1 become taxmen!

Turn 6 - Persepolis, Arbela, and Antioch set to riot next turn.
Hamadan now requires a scientist and is at 0 growth.

IBT - Persepolis riots, set to starvation.
Arbela riots, set to starvation.
Antioch riots, set to starvation.

Turn 7 - Sidon set to riot. Sardis grew, so it is set to the riot diet as well.

Still no sign of Tenochtitlan.

IBT - A privateer comes out of the fog to destroy a Korean caravel. Nice to know we're not the only ones targetted by them.
Sardis riots, set to no growth.
Sidon riots, set to no growth.
Zohak can grow now that the jungle road is completed.

Turn 8 - Persepolis, Antioch, and Arbela set to riot.
Actually, we can get math next turn if I keep the scientist in Zohak and hire another in Pasargadae (it will lose 2 food but it is stuck at size 6 with no aqueduct and a full granary).

IBT - Math comes in. Research set to Currency in 10.
Persepolis riots, set to starve.
Arbela riots, set to starve (will go down to size 6).
Antioch riots, set to starve.

Turn 9 - Zohak, Ghulaman and Pasargadae send one scientist each to working in the fields. Sidon and Sardis set back to normal

Currency now comes in 18 turns and we have 128 gold.
Hawk our WM to get a few more gold as some worker improvements finished.
Our Curraghs find Teotihuacan, which should be the second Aztec city, so we are nearing Tenochtitlan.

We come out of Anarchy next turn, so I run a risk and set Arbela to riot again to prevent starvation.

IBT - The Gambit works, Arbela doesn't starve and keeps all its buildings. We are now a Republic.

Turn 10 - We have to run 20% lux tax, but, with the exception of Gordium and Antioch, none of our cities need entertainers or scientists. We can get currency in 6 at +2 gpt.

Ragnar has also joined the Industrial club, so Osman isn't running away with the game just yet.

Hawking our WM gets us ~10 gold.

Our curraghs have just about found Tenochtitlan, but it will take 1 or 2 more turns before it is revealed.

I kept all of our cities on wealth for now, but the next player can switch to Immortals if he wants.

I would switch them to courthouses as prebuilds for Marketplaces (that's what Sidon and Sardis' courthouses really are).

As to the Iron deal with the Inca, they don't seem to be that far advanced, so we may be able to trade with them if the Aztecs don't kill them completely. I checked how much iron is worth to them, and they will give us Myst. + The Wheel, OR Map Making (we give like 10 gold) OR construction/Currency with us giving a lot of gold. They only have 3 Cities right now and will probably lose 2 pretty soon. Actually, I can see the borders of Andhuala, their 3rd city, on mainland Germany, so they will almost definitely survive. That is, unless the Germans are bribed by the Aztecs to declare war.

We have an extra settler in Gordium, but I'm not sure what to do with him. Another city is out of the question, so it should be joined into a city. Not sure which city would be the best candidate, though.
 
Looking good (your turns...). Indeed, it is sad to see that the Aztecs will own their own sub-continent soon :( But it appears that there's a landbridge between Babylon and the Aztecs lands at least!

The problem with the Inca trade is that they might lack a road to other tribes in their last city. We COULD gift them a city and then do deals, but that is truly desperate. But would it work?

ROSTER:
Greebley----up
betazed-----on deck
Mark1031
Aggie
Yom
 
I didn't notice a landbridge. As to Incan city, it's right next to the Germans and a Viking colony, so it should be connected. Maybe we should wait until that's their last city before doing any deals, though. If we do a deal now and Cuzco gets captured, there may not be a harbor in their other cities yet (we shouldn't need a harbor to trade to Andhuala though).
 
I think that this is an isthmus between the Aztecs subcontinent and that of the Babylonians. But we should reveal more of the map to be sure.
 

Attachments

  • AG12350ADlandbridge.JPG
    AG12350ADlandbridge.JPG
    109.8 KB · Views: 275
I see.

Thanks for proving me wrong.The gambit may yet succeed. The question is: When do we strike?

P.S. I would move the E. Curragh south before exploring the isthmus as that could be the location of the Aztec capital.
 
Doh! So that's why they all fortified.
 
Yom said:
WTH? the governor has gone crazy. When I click on the center square, rather than just assign one entertainer instead of one scientist, all the citizens sans 1 become taxmen!
Actually, that's quite common when autoassigning under Anarchy, especially in cities that would starve.
 
Greebley, you know that you're up?

I agree with Yom that capturing the Great Library will be tough, but let's stick with that unless we see other options (I don't see them yet though).

EDIT: Some other thoughts:
-We can renegotiate peace to make gpt deals. This will probably mean that we have to pay up to 5 gpt extra, but that's worth it imho.
-Germany is very weak, according to the histograph. They have obsolete units, lack horses and there may come a time for war... I believe that we judge their power pretty well. I bet that 70% of the military is in our lands.
-I don't know if it is going to help us, but we have a free tech in the MA as scientific civ... 3 tribes are backward and can't trade maps yet.
-No tribe started Universal Suffrage yet and we are almost in the MA.
-Yom already said that we should prebuild using courthouses to get markets. We should do the same with harbors. Once we have markets we should be able to catch up pretty quickly.
-I don't mind risking another possible rep hit. Let's sell horses and lux to the Inca for tech and a route to the MA.
 
Early: I purchase Aztecs and Babylon territory maps. They are not connected after all.
Since we are getting currency in 6 I switch cities to market prebuilds right away.
I open the door for German troops and they bring a swath of pikes through the gap. That would imply that they have more troop on their side than on ours and are now bringing in defenders for their city.

Mid: We get currency. I set most cities to Market places.
The Aztecs make Peace with the Incans The Incans are down to a single city on another island. The Aztecs own their continent

Late: Smiths is completed. I renegotiate peace with the incans. I buy the 4 techs we can buy for 60 gpt and change. We really needed construction and Map making will also help. Looking at the aztec situation, I would really want chivalry for our attack vs the Aztecs. I build aquaducts in the two towns that need them. Shakespeares is completed.

Notes:
We need horseback and Polytheism to reach the middle ages.

3 markets have been built.

I am guessing the units we see in our lands are half or less of the total German forces. This is based on the fact they brought more into our lands and not less when I opened the gap.

I didn't declare war on the Aztecs. I didn't think we had the funds to do so.

I have no desire for a useless war with Germany. They have too many units. We should concentrate on building up our infra, and building knights and boats when we get chivalry.

I feel we need knights to attack the aztecs. The reason is because there is a mountain 2 squares away from the Capitol. This means we can defend at strength 6 with knights before attacking instead of strength 2.2 for immortals. I would dedicate our resources toward getting knights. As long as we do our attack before tanks I think we have a chance.
 
Here is the Aztec situation:
I think would rather attack with knights than with Immortals, even if it means waiting, provided we don't have to wait too long. What do the rest of you think? I am just very worried what will happen to our immortals out on the plains.
 
Knights would be nice, but Immortals are much cheaper. We might be able to build an overwhelming force to minimize casualties in the field. Besides, IIRC, aren't we lacking in the horse department? If so, buying Horses would cost a fortune (especially since we'd have to renegotiate peace). I think a better solution would be to research Feudalism (or get it as our free tech, hopefully, since it's the most expensive) and bring a 1 pike for every 3 Immortals. Both to defend a little better in the plains and hold Tenochtilan a little easier.
 
Back
Top Bottom