Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
Round 6 (to 1620 AD), Part 3: Hi-ho, hi-ho, a-building we will go...
Once diplomatic relations with Vicky returned to a peacetime footing, it was time to go back to building... up for the next round, of course.
First off, I won another tech race:
I did a quick little civics change to take advantage of it.
Yes, I skipped Mercantilism, since it became available after Astronomy and all those lovely intercontinental trade routes.
And the Great Merchant appeared in the capital:
After all my preaching about the advantages of settling a GM previously in this thread, I decided to send this fellow off to see the world. I know Ayn Rand isn't Greek, but she was right when she said, "There is a certain Buddhistic calm that comes from having money in the bank."
Meanwhile, Islam was founded in Egypt, and Hatty declined to share Divine Right with me. Her buddy Cyrus, however, wasn't as particular:
I often bypass DR completely, especially if I'm not chasing religions and another civ beats me to it. However, its Wonders can be handy, so I decided to pursue them both.
Speaking of Wonders, I finished another one in Thermopylae thanks to chopping everything in sight:
That should help with the war weariness that will no doubt appear when we attack Vicky again.
And my GM, Hanno, made it all the way to the Egyptian capital:
Okay, so the coffers are ridiculously full now thanks to him and the hybrid economy that's really more of a specialist one right now. This is FUN.
Meanwhile, guess which tech path I was following?
Poor Vicky ain't gonna know what hit her! With Chemistry in hand for Grenadiers, I immediately started after Nationalism and Military Tradition for Cavalry. I also started using another trick in anticipation of my approaching change to Vassalage and Theocracy, the "war civics". I started building units to within one turn of completion in several cities, especially Sparta:
Once I change civics, I'll let them all complete with the higher XP levels.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Parthenon and Notre Dame, I got another Great Artist:
Maybe I'll use him to culture bomb London after I take it; or perhaps I'll save him for the other continent? Too bad I'm not playing for a cultural win!
And I held off on the civics change to ensure I completed one more wonder:
Between that and the banks I've been building in my best commerce cities, I'm raking it in. I've upgraded almost all my existing Macemen to Grenadiers, but I'll need gold to upgrade the next few Macemen I'll produce with City Raider promotions, as well as upgrading my Knights to Cavalry.
With the wonder complete, it was time for the civics change:
Farewell, Pacifism; you served us well.
And that is where I left off. Here's a look at the map:
So, here are some things to discuss (you may have more, of course):
War with England: Which cities to keep, which ones to raze? I myself think London is a definite keeper, while Nottingham, with its typical-AI-one-tile-from-the-coast location has just got to go. Liverpool is a non-starter as well. I'm thinking of hanging on to Dover, since I lack a city in that central jungle area, but is it in the best location? I'll probably keep York for access to the furs, but Newcastle and Oxford, I dunno... And what about Warwick and Canterbury?
Before I go counting chickens, I may take a traditional one-big-stack-o-doom approach to smashing most of England. Vicky still has a LOT of units in her core cities, including several catapults. I'm thinking of hitting Liverpool and Dover with a smaller stack out of Mecca while the big main one attacks Warwick, where the stacks will unite.
We should also start giving some thought to the desired victory conditions. I'm thinking Killroyan has the right idea: a domination win, which will probably require several Galleons going after either Monty or Cyrus. Monty may have more units, but he's further behind technologically and may make the easier target.
Regarding research, I think I'm being a bit too frugal. I should probably jack up the science slider and claim several key military techs such as Military Tradition, Steel, and Rifling ASAP. I know I've been saving a lot of gold for upgrades, but I just don't think I'm going to need THAT much. The other option is to do another civics change in a little while to Universal Suffrage for some rush-buying. Maybe I should have done that this time, but as I mentioned, I'm still researching several key military techs and I know it's my specialists and the Representation bonus that are keeping me ahead.
Thoughts?
Here's the saved game file:
Once diplomatic relations with Vicky returned to a peacetime footing, it was time to go back to building... up for the next round, of course.
First off, I won another tech race:
I did a quick little civics change to take advantage of it.
Yes, I skipped Mercantilism, since it became available after Astronomy and all those lovely intercontinental trade routes.
And the Great Merchant appeared in the capital:
After all my preaching about the advantages of settling a GM previously in this thread, I decided to send this fellow off to see the world. I know Ayn Rand isn't Greek, but she was right when she said, "There is a certain Buddhistic calm that comes from having money in the bank."
Meanwhile, Islam was founded in Egypt, and Hatty declined to share Divine Right with me. Her buddy Cyrus, however, wasn't as particular:
I often bypass DR completely, especially if I'm not chasing religions and another civ beats me to it. However, its Wonders can be handy, so I decided to pursue them both.
Speaking of Wonders, I finished another one in Thermopylae thanks to chopping everything in sight:
That should help with the war weariness that will no doubt appear when we attack Vicky again.
And my GM, Hanno, made it all the way to the Egyptian capital:
Okay, so the coffers are ridiculously full now thanks to him and the hybrid economy that's really more of a specialist one right now. This is FUN.
Meanwhile, guess which tech path I was following?
Poor Vicky ain't gonna know what hit her! With Chemistry in hand for Grenadiers, I immediately started after Nationalism and Military Tradition for Cavalry. I also started using another trick in anticipation of my approaching change to Vassalage and Theocracy, the "war civics". I started building units to within one turn of completion in several cities, especially Sparta:
Once I change civics, I'll let them all complete with the higher XP levels.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Parthenon and Notre Dame, I got another Great Artist:
Maybe I'll use him to culture bomb London after I take it; or perhaps I'll save him for the other continent? Too bad I'm not playing for a cultural win!
And I held off on the civics change to ensure I completed one more wonder:
Between that and the banks I've been building in my best commerce cities, I'm raking it in. I've upgraded almost all my existing Macemen to Grenadiers, but I'll need gold to upgrade the next few Macemen I'll produce with City Raider promotions, as well as upgrading my Knights to Cavalry.
With the wonder complete, it was time for the civics change:
Farewell, Pacifism; you served us well.
And that is where I left off. Here's a look at the map:
So, here are some things to discuss (you may have more, of course):
War with England: Which cities to keep, which ones to raze? I myself think London is a definite keeper, while Nottingham, with its typical-AI-one-tile-from-the-coast location has just got to go. Liverpool is a non-starter as well. I'm thinking of hanging on to Dover, since I lack a city in that central jungle area, but is it in the best location? I'll probably keep York for access to the furs, but Newcastle and Oxford, I dunno... And what about Warwick and Canterbury?
Before I go counting chickens, I may take a traditional one-big-stack-o-doom approach to smashing most of England. Vicky still has a LOT of units in her core cities, including several catapults. I'm thinking of hitting Liverpool and Dover with a smaller stack out of Mecca while the big main one attacks Warwick, where the stacks will unite.
We should also start giving some thought to the desired victory conditions. I'm thinking Killroyan has the right idea: a domination win, which will probably require several Galleons going after either Monty or Cyrus. Monty may have more units, but he's further behind technologically and may make the easier target.
Regarding research, I think I'm being a bit too frugal. I should probably jack up the science slider and claim several key military techs such as Military Tradition, Steel, and Rifling ASAP. I know I've been saving a lot of gold for upgrades, but I just don't think I'm going to need THAT much. The other option is to do another civics change in a little while to Universal Suffrage for some rush-buying. Maybe I should have done that this time, but as I mentioned, I'm still researching several key military techs and I know it's my specialists and the Representation bonus that are keeping me ahead.
Thoughts?
Here's the saved game file:
.
Now your economy is robust enough to easily fund rapid expansion and a big military. 
)
That takes the record for most stored up military potential (8 units with 1 turn to complete). The pikemen, macemen and muskets you are building will be more than adequate garrison troops against Vicky and the technological midgets on the other continent, so there's no urgent need to upgrade them. 
but I'd argue for going the long way 'round to conquest. It's one of the victories you don't have under your belt. You might have an opportunity to learn new tactics and have a different discussion. I forced myself to go for it in my last completed game. I made some interesting tactical mistakes and discovered a few new ideas. 
), and haven't questioned that idea since.
