AM6- 5CC Always War (Dare to try??)

OK, I got it (playing this evening).

@DisruptiveIdiot: You are welcome to join, but I think a military emperor win is required for this game, we really don't want to turn anybody away, but some warfare skills are necessary. :)
 
Ok, if Karasu and cgannon agree, you can take the save after my turns (maybe tomorrow). As Amirsan said, just familiarize yourself with the rest of the thread to get an idea of our plans. :)
 
No problem with me.

So the roster becomes:

Belisar
Disruptive
Karasu
Cgannon

Right?

Of course, with Amirsan bound back before Civ deprivation starts taking its toll on his nerves... ;)
 
Preturn: build colony on the dyes, lux to 0% :) 6 luxes on a 5CC, not bad.
MM Antium/Rome to get one more food in Antium and still 10 spt.

250: WLTKD in Cumae. Razed Murzia, one legion is redlined.
A Bab bowman is blocking the road to Seville

260: Kill the Bab bowman. Our leader is far from home, will
take some time to bring him home.
A Bab settler/spear shows up in the region of former Babylon.
I don't know why the AI is building spears when they could build bowmen.
Nothing is more important than good reconnaissance. One of the horses from the reinforcement
stack spots a Scand. stack with 3 archers, while the rest of the stack crosses the river.
Set science to 20% and still get Monarchy next turn, saving us a few gold.
Send a second worker stack to Antium, there are still important tiles that
lack improvements.
Kill the Bab spear, giving us two more slaves.

IT: The Scand. archer stack moves to the open ground, good.

270: We get Monarchy, lets revolt immediately.
Kill the archer stack, two promotions.
Two Scand. swordsmen hide behind the river.

IT: The Babs land a bowman on our horse-resource.

280: I have a legion available who takes care of him.
The two Scand. swords have fortified behind the river.
I move a legion stack on the forest on our side of the river.
I build an Outpost (4 tiles line of sight),
consuming one Bab-slave at the mountain near former Babylon.
It will be a tactical advantage to observe this key-area.
The other slaves start a road on the mountain to facilitate troop-movements.
We have 10 Roman and 12 slave workers. I would not disband our our workers,
since their are a lot of hills/mountains unmined, especially near Antium,
so we will need them.

IT: Two Bab bowmen move on mountains in the jungle north.
1 sword attacks our legions on forest across the river
and is slaughtered, the other crosses the river, nice.
The AI is so dumb that sometimes it is just funny.
The Spanish finish the Colossus is Seville, a city with minimal
production. They must have built it since 3000BC!

290: Kill the second sword, but lost a horse, first casualty until now.
Spot 3 more Scand. archer, one near Seville, 2 W of 'Babylon-mountain' (our Outpost)
and a sword.
Our stack crosses the river.

IT: Scand. veteran sword spotted in the Babylon region,
at least one of their cities must have barracks.

300: We are in Monarchy, and we are making ~80gpt, despite all our unit support
and 3 of our cities are not even at size 12.
MM Veii to get it over 15 spt.
I go for Monotheism with a scientist in Rome, all other cities need to work their tiles and
as long as the mountains are not mined we can't get 30spt.
The AI is hopefully researching Feudalism and when we have both have Mono (maybe we get it with
the GL too) and Feudalism we will turn on max-science, raze to Chivalry in ~6 turns and
upgrade all those horsemen we will stockpile in the meantime.
Then its knight-party-time.

Move our leader towards our cities. Kill the archer near Seville.
This is a funny city. Not a single improvement visible. The AI's unwillingness
of using workers during war-times is hurting them badly.
Kill the Scand. sword in the Babylon area and one of the two Bab bowmen in the
jungle south of Ur.

IT: One more Bab bowman shows up west of Ur. The 2 Scand. archer cross the river
and a Spanish archer shows up near Seville.

310: Kill both the two Scand. and the one Spanish archer, one legion promotes.
Divide our conquer-stack to approach Seville and Salamanca.
I rush the HG in Veii, allowing us to sell the temples and save additional money.
Raze Salamanca, one horse promotes.

320: Approach Seville, send reinforcements to our northern Outpost.
Kill the remaining Bab bowman in the jungle and our legion survives
because of her 5 HP.

330: Raze Seville after killing all 3 defenders, losing a horse.
The Spanish are no longer :)

340: A lot of troop movements to regroup our forces. A galley in Cumae is due next turn.
The two stacks in the Seville-region can be combined and are intended
to be "Expedition force Nr. 2" (CG will love it ;) )
I spot a Bab iron source and move one of the horses on the tile, it
should be pillaged next turn, then the horse should retreat.


On city management:
I have switched production towards horsemen, only Rome is producing
legions. Cumae is building a scout galley.
Neapolis should build a courthouse after the aqueduct, we may get it to 10spt, don't forget
to MM it for max-food after the aqueduct is built.
The mountains near Rome are a priority, we can get Rome to 30 spt, meaning a horse every turn.
Also don't forget to mine the mountains near Veii and irrigate at least one additional normal
grassland-tile at Antium for growth.

Strategic notes:
Try to hold our two Outposts (the one where Babylon was located and the one
that is being constructed on the jungle-mountain. The two elite legions (Karasu"s "Rambos")
could be stacked on the mountain east for additional scouting and leader-fishing.
The two additional pink circles in the pic are possible scouting-positions for one or two legions,
warning us from Scand. forces.
Expedition force 2 could follow the red arrows. This is a pillaging mission, denying the iron
of the Scands.
One last point: I don't know how strong the Bab-economy is, but I doubt that we get a lot of
techs from the GL, so we may have to start researching after Mono to get our knights.

Our army:
am9.jpg


They were a bit weak ;)
am10.jpg


Strategic situation:
am11.jpg



The save:

Save
 
Absolutely brilliant progress! :goodjob:

I especially appreciated the Outpots (being used to 1.29f I hadn't even considered it). Very good move.

And the HG -I had missed that. Another +5 gpt. It would be nice to get Sun Tzu too, at this point (greedy me... ;) ).


How many AI civs are there? If we get lucky with our Galley and get contacts, we could get a tech or two from the GL...
Let's build a few more Galleys.

Pillaging mission: it will take a while to complete it -one good side is we'll get to face the Scandinavian forces a little at a time, I guess.
Questions:
- Are you considering razing the towns on the way? (I wouldn't mind doing that... ;) )

- Going directly for Trondheim would appear a bit rushed to me at this point, as we would commit our entire army in it. But if we destroy it, the Scandinavians are gone. What kind of force can take it withoug draining our army too much? Should we build a few Catapults?
 
I hope there are only 4 AI civs. In the pre-game discussion I suggested
"one less opponent" for this game, but Amirsan can probably confirm this.

Don't build too many galleys, you know - troop support.
As for razing towns: I think it would take too many casualties to attack a lot
of Scand. cities with a stack that can't be reinforced.
I would vote for a pillaging mission, accomplishable with a limited stack.
Keep in mind that we want to upgrade the bulk of our horsemen as soon as we get
Chivalry, so I wouldn't send our army against Trondheim, far off from the road
network. Talking about that, we need a stack of workers for our future campaign
against the Scands.
Guessing our casualties at Trondheim is not an easy task,
may have something between three and six defenders. This is one more reason to
take out their entire empire with knights, which will be easier and quicker.
Catapults are essential in AW games on Monarch or Emperor where you face a lot of enemy units. In our variant, where the production capability of the AI and our own
troop support is limited, I would suggest we focus on knights. Another point against catapults: They are slow and we would have to build roads in the jungle to use them on the offense.


Roster:

Disruptive: UP (if he wants to play and CG agrees)
cgannon: Next, "can't wait to get it again" ;)
Karasu: expectant ;)
Belisar: observing closely ;)

On skip until further notice:
Amirsan
Bacon
 
Hhmm. 4 AI civs -4 were already on our continent...

If we have a mfifth one on an island, it will be way back in tech. So, if (or should I say "when"!) we manage to crunch the Vikings, the game should be technically over...


I clearly agree on "not too many Galleys", just a few for a sailing trip -you know, summertime, holidays, the seaside and all that ;)

On the pillaging mission. Right: the key point is that the stack is too far for it to be reinforced.
And #1 priority is clearly denying them the Iron sources. If we just pillage the related improvements and fortify two-three units on each, we deplete the stack.

So: we will need another massive stack to come (with workers, true, it's too early to disband them) and clear the field. But I wouldn't wait for Knights for that.

I am releaved to see that you too think that Catapults are not needed -I didn't like the idea of dragging them around...

After some thinking, this looks like a nice low-risk approach.

Now, if only cgannon came and gave his vote... :D (and yes, I did mess up the roster -it was just confusion, I swear I wasn't cheating! ;) )
 
I think our best strategy is to Pillage as we said and then finish the Viks off when Knights come around. After that, just play defensivly untill the Modern Age when we could hit it off with a Space Victory.

Karasu took all my words so thats all I have to say. You dont know how bad I want to play this one :(. I'm going to Florida in about 2 more days but will have access to a computer there and maybe able to play Civ in early mornings and late nights, even after taht I'll be getting my laptop from there so my civ break will be over in no time. ;)

Ok, great turn Belisar and good luck Disruptive. :)
 
Originally posted by amirsan
You dont know how bad I want to play this one ...
my civ break will be over in no time. ;)

Folks, we better watch out.
As soon as Amirsan gets hold of a computer, he's going to finish seven SG and two GOTMs at the same time! :lol:



About the victory -I thought we would go for Conquest, but Space Race on 5CC is surely an elegant way to finish... But, of course, let's kill the Viks first!
 
Here's a little plan I cooked up :
shrinkem.jpg


Pillage trondheim's flood plains to starve em down to size. The big question marks are areas where there could be improved tiles and there probably ARE tiles to pillage there. The rest of the campaign isolates the southern part of scandinavia from iron and silk.
 
:lol: Good. *Itching to make less stupid mistakes*

I just hope I inherit a huge offensive in mid-swing so I don't have to deal with that boring preperations. ;)
 
Inherited turn : Checking around nothing wrong as far as I can see. We have a lot of GPT! We could get monotheism in 11 turns and still run a surplus but that GPT's going towards upgrades right? Anyway I'm not sure if I should change it so I don't.

IT : Nothing

Turn 1 : Rome : Legionary -> Legionary Neapolis : Aqueduct -> Courthouse Veii : Horsemen -> Horsemen
MM Neapolis to grow next turn (was at --) Move redlined legionary away from a bab warrior threatening him. Begin advancement towards Scandinavia, I also disconnect babylon's iron and move the horse to the mountain for defense. I also decide getting chivalry is more important than upgrade money; there's 1k in the coffers!

IT : Learned the hard way that horsemen are can't defend for their lives >_<

Turn 2 : Galley -> Legionary, horsemen are fast but they won't serve well until we upgrade em; 2/5 cities are still building them for upgrade though. The advancement continues and the improvements Belisar suggested are under way. Antium will have one more irrigated grassland and rome will get it's mined mountains. We have 12 GPT and mono due in 11. If I wasn't supposed to increase research it's all my fault (I read the thread and there was no indication that I shouldn't unless I missed it.)

IT : Enemy units move around; WLTKD in Antium.

Turn 3 : Ninevah is captured; we lose one horse and another is redlined; 1 worker captured and the city is razed. The captured worker will stay put until the archer on the hill stops threatening the horses and him.

IT : The bold archer is raped when he tries to attack the horseys of death!

Turn 4 : Kill a spear that's trying to get into our territory. Most of the improvements in the mother land are nearly complete.

IT : One of our horses redlines but escapes the wrath of a Scandinavian horseman.

Turn 5 : Mono due in 8 turns we're getting 8 GPT. Bad RNG luck I lost 1 horse and another is gonna get killed during IT. My fault entirely.

IT : Gah! We almost lose an elite legionary to a vet sword but he pulls out. Scandinavians get a swordsman behind our lines! We need galleys!

Turn 6 : Copenhagen is razed and we capture to workers ^_^ So far my planned offensive is going OK.

IT : Some bad RNG luck and the sword pillages horses before I can get anything to kill em.

Turn 7 : The swordsmen who slaughtered our cute horseys were raped ironically by a company of horsemen :p Good rng luck as we kill some offenders.

IT : Only enemy units shifting around.

Turn 8 : Horseman tries to kill a spear, is redlined, doesn't scratch the spear and retreats. A nearby legionary kills em without getting scratched however. I kept most of our horseys at home because they're getting slaughtered and the legionaries haven't lost on battle yet! Keep em at home and upgrade them when chivalry comes around. Mono in 5 we're running 7 GPT. WOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!! [party] [party] one of our elite horsemen gets a leader near trondheim! Rename them horseys of doom :evil:

Maximusweget.jpg


IT : Oh crap... horseys of doom are killed :cry: and we lose another horseman.

Turn 9 : Mono in 4 6 GPT I try to MM rome to 30 SPT but I can only manage 29 with one waste. However I can mine a cow and it will provide the extra shield. I change to a courthouse because we need that one shield. It's due in 3. We get an elite legionary when it kills a stupid Bab archer. One of our elite horseys avenges the Horseys of doom.

IT : Nothing...

Turn 10 : The units are in position to pillage around Trondheim; please do so. Maximus is being accompanied by a horseman just in case; get him to Rome so we can get a knight army later on!

Hehehehe.jpg
 
Got it, will play later tonight. I'll post a battle plan once I open up the save. From the looks of the map without looking at our forces (need the save for that), looks like the goal is to pillage Trondhiem and starve it to below size 6? Starving it below size 6 may or may not happen, depending on how many troops I estimate it to have. After that, I'll try to push north and take Stavenger and the northern cities before pushing west. Don't think I'll get that far in 10 turns without Knights, though. :)

BTW, our troops around Trondheim look a little depleted, how many Horses do we have ready to upgrade?
 
Actually the main goal is to cut off iron from the rest of Scandinavia. Isolating Trondheim is a secondary goal that can be accomplished on the way.

Hmmm now that I think about it Scandinavia's toast! We should send some troops south to take Oslo Aarhus and Odense and a northern detachment to take Stavenger, bergen, reyja-whatever and Birka. Than trondheim will fall. Bold plan but it's doable.
 
Ah, I didn't notice that Iron. I suppose we can keep some Legions near Trondheim to starve it down - it will take a while, but we have time to burn. While doing this, we'll dispatch some forces to the West to take Bergen so the Vikings have no more iron. Your bold idea of a Northern and Southern force seems doable - there's only 3 cities in the North and 4 in the South. It all depends on how many Knights we will have, however.

And yes, the Vikings are toast. Trondheim is their last big city, and it has very little improvements - and soon it will be size 5, and then ours. :mwaha:

After Scandanavia falls we can pull our troops back, destroying Babylon on the way, and then start building Galleys en masse to be suicide galleys and to carry our Knight army. :D
 
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