Awn of an Ynasty

[Aabraxan]

Yeah, she was accommodating like that.

 

[Aabraxan]

Chapter 6: Not enough action to merit a title.​

1000 AD:

India & the Netherlands sign an alliance vs. Persia. That's good for me, as Persia is really the tech powerhouse so far.
The Dutch begin the Sistine Chapel.

Theodora keeps sending her Dromons to bombard Eboracum, but has not yet sent enough to actually kill a unit. Every so often, they even stop close enough that I get to throw rocks at 'em.

1010 AD:
Portugal & India sign an alliance vs. Persia.

In 1020, I take another Byzantine town, but my sword army is badly wounded in attacking a pike. I know that the AI rarely attacks an army, but I've already lost one army in this game. I decide that the time has come to make peace with Theodora. That way, I can continue expanding into the now-vacant land to my south and organize my forces for another push after the PT runs out.

Spoiler :

Henry has finally gotten some gold in his hands, so I sell him Monarchy for 182 gold, emptying his pocketbook. Seems like a pittance for Monarchy, but there are no other buyers and I don't want him buying from someone else.

I spend some money building embassies. What I see in the Dutch capital is a little scary. Look at how well William improved all his tiles!

Spoiler :

By comparison, look at how much food the Persians are wasting at Persepolis!

Spoiler :

I decide to go ahead and purchase Chivalry. First I build embassies everywhere, then begin the haggling. This is what I end up with.

Spoiler :

I don't know that I'll have a whole lotta dough to upgrade horses to Riders, but I'll figure something out. On the upside, I HAVE RIDERS! Time to start planning my GA.

The decades immediately following making peace with Theo are relatively uneventful. Ghandi approached me for an alliance against Xerxes, but I declined, just because I've read that it's more advantageous to trade on my turn, rather than the AI's turn. So on my next turn, I go see Ghandi:

Spoiler :

Looks like everyone's ganging up on poor Xerxes. Here's the overall state of diplomacy.

Spoiler :

And in 1060 AD, the First Rider is finally trained:

(In all honesty, though, that was the same year that the second, third and fourth Riders are trained. I also go about upgrading some horses.)

I keep pushing south and by 1110 AD, I've expanded down into the jungle and hit what I think of as the corruption line. I've marked in the screenshow below with a red line. It's the point beyond which I can pretty well count on every city being 90% corrupt. As you can see in the screenshot below, I've had my forces spread out and I've been herding Byzantine forces to the south in front of my expansion. Now, with ~10 turns left in the PT & my armies fully healed, it's time to gather them back into stacks for another push into Byzantine territory. Unfortunately, I've still only got 2 luxes (furs & wines), but I've got workers on the way to hook up the dyes.

Spoiler :

And by the way, just so you have an idea of where the Byzantine core is, Constantinople is circled in yellow on the minimap. So I'll have to clear a few cities to the west, but most of the war will be directed to pushing due south.

In 1180, I'm notified that the Germans have begun Cope's, so that tells me that I'm several techs behind in the upper part of the tree. I've been feeling really cheap with respect to Theology, but I guess it's time to bite the bullet and buy it.

In 1200 AD, I've settled most of the jungle. I'm very, very grateful for industrious workers and lots of slaves, by 1200, I have 52 cities, 31 workers and 38 slaves. My troops are almost in position for a run down Theo's eastern coast and I've got a galley mapping out the coast to give me a better idea of what she's done with the landscaping.

But the war will have to wait for the next installment.

 

[gmaharriet]

Ah, Riders are always such a lovely sight for sore eyes!!! It's almost like getting cavalry wayyyy ahead of anyone else...at least for the time in which they show up.

 

[Aabraxan]

I really like Riders, but I probably don't get as much use out of them as I could, because I tend to beeline cavalry. Those 2 additional attack points go a long way.

 

[Aabraxan]

Chapter 7: Riders on the Storm​

By 1230 AD, I still haven't attacked, but, at long last, my PT with Theo has run out. Frankly, I feel like I'm "behind schedule" on this one. Ordinarily, I'd have much more of my continent under my control by now. I think that's due more to some poorly-played early turns than to the variant, though.

By 1250, my alliance vs. Persia has ended & Xerxes pays me 32 gold for peace (all he's got), in spite of the fact that I've never sent a single troop overseas. In spite of the newborn status of peace with the Persians, Ghandi approaches me in 1255, asking for another alliance against them. Immediately thereafter, I understand why Ghandi's so anxious for an alliance against Xerxes.

Interestingly, the moment before Ghandi appears, I was one turn out from Metallurgy. The moment he was destroyed, Metallurgy went to 2 turns.

Looking at the world map, the Persians are trying hard to become a runaway. Between that fact and the fact that I'm still trailing on the top half of the Middle Ages tech tree, I decide to trade Metallurgy to the Dutch. They'll give me Education and 7 gold. Hopefully, cannons will help the Dutch survive a little better, considering that the AI all use artillery equally poorly. Once that's done, I can see that I'm down Music and Astro to the Germans, Persians and the Dutch. Neither the Portugese nor the Byzantines have either. I'm not willing to mortgage my economy for either of those, at least not yet.

In 1265 AD, I finally get tired of making preparations:

Spoiler :

And in 1280, one of Theo's MDI attacks one of my valiant Riders, triggering my GA. I would have preferred to trigger it closer to Military Tradition (now ~3 turns out), just to better time the Military Academy, but I'll take what I can. I swap Beijing to a university, which should work for a MA prebuild.

In 1290, Theodora, Mistress of Masterful Tactics, sends a 1-HP MDI across a river and up a hill to attack a wounded 2-HP MDI of mine. Maybe the next one will work out better for her.

In 1300, I discover Military Tradition, upgrade a few Riders to Cavs and start the Military Academy. Then I trade MT to the Dutch for Banking, Astronomy, 50 gold and 12 gpt. Then I trade it to the Persians for Music Theory, 12 gold and 35 gpt. One more turn and I sell it to Bismarck for 5 gold and 20 gpt. At long last, I now have tech parity once again. I also have considerably more gold than anyone else.

Spoiler :

Unfortunately, battles don't go particularly well and by 1315, I'm running 40% on the lux slider. Given that I've only got 3 luxes, that's not a tremendous surprise. However, by that time, I'm approaching the Byzantine core and can't bring myself to make peace. Not just yet. I'm certain that I will be forced to before eradicating the Byzantines, but now that I have cavs, I'm in a position to put them on death watch for the next offensive.

When I finally discover Physics in 1320, I immediately sell it to Persia. It's not a great deal, but it's more than anyone else has, and enough to fuel my own research for a bit.

Spoiler :

Naturally, as soon as I've sold Physics to Persia, I sell it to anyone who can afford it.

Spoiler :

In 1325, my sixth MGL arrives just in time to create the First Cavalry Army

I also discover around this time that the Dutch and the Germans have decided to send settlers, now that a little land has opened up.

Spoiler :

Anyway, I'll close Chapter 7 here. Here's the obligatory shot of the empire.

Spoiler :

And, of course, the front lines:

Spoiler :

Comments?

 

[darski]

Nice moves at the trading table. I admit that I am envious of anyone who can broker multiple trades.

Is it worth it to get some turns of peace on your continent? I know, I know... the people have spoken -> loudly

What are you going to do about those nasty settler thingys?

 

[Aabraxan]

Nice moves at the trading table. I admit that I am envious of anyone who can broker multiple trades.

I'm hardly a master trader, but I was able to pull back up to tech parity. Now that I've begun receiving gpt, rather than paying it, the AI's research should slow down and I hope to remain a seller of tech from here out.

Is it worth it to get some turns of peace on your continent? I know, I know... the people have spoken -> loudly

Worth it or not, I won't have much choice. I'm going to have to make peace with Theo at least once more. I don't think I'll be able to push her off of the continent without some very, very serious WW with the way things have gone.

What are you going to do about those nasty settler thingys?

The same thing I do every time, darski. Make war.

 

[gmaharriet]

Your trading looks masterful to me, Aabra. I still tend to hoard my techs, rather than go for the gold to finance research. Game's looking great!!!

 

[Aabraxan]

Chapter 8:​

I've been thinking about this quite a bit and something has dawned on me. At Monarch, there are two key uses for defensive units: (1) Protecting artillery; and (2) securing a beachhead on the other continent. It seems to me that I could simplify this game tremendously by simply not invading the other continent. I could just fill up this one and see how fast I can launch the space shuttle. The question is whether I have the patience to do so.
In 1340, Xerxes starts Copernicus' Observatory. Also, I raze Iconium (Byzantine). Since I'm already running 50% on the lux slider, I decide that it's time for peace. Here's what I get out of Theo:

Spoiler :

On the IBT thereafter, the Byzantines begin Cope's, as well.

1350 AD is a big year for the Empire. Beijing completes the Military Academy. Now I can either build armies or use them as prebuilds for other stuff. In 1350, I also complete Magnetism. Now to get out to the trading table to see what's available.

On the scientific front, I'm just a few turns from ToG by 1360, and have a University going as a prebuild going at Beijing for Newton's. Where I'm hurting, and have been all game, is in the luxuries department. I make the following deal with Xerxes:

Spoiler :

That nets me 3 luxes, 2 more gpt and 70 gold (that you can't see in the picture). The only other civ that has luxes to spare is the Dutch. Unfortunately, once this trade is made, they won't even offer one lux for Magnetism. They will offer gold, though:

Spoiler :

This lets me push down the lux slider to 10%. If it weren't for 1 or 2 select cities, I could push it to 0%, but I want the shields they're producing, rather than specialists.

And at the end of 1365, I'm 2 turns from ToG. I've only settled a few more towns, because I've run out of land. I'm trying to get some marsh cleared, but even when that's done, there just won't be much left to grab before the next war. Anyway, I'm short on time, but I want to get some turns posted, so I'm going to stop here. Hopefully, I'll get in some more turns soon.

 

[TheOverseer714]

At Monarch level, you can invade another continents with offensive troops, just have them in armies. Or invade with tanks. Another tip: invade the weakest civ on the other continent to get a good foothold, then with airfields send tons of troops there. Pretty soon you will win. Since this is not AW, you can divide and conquer.

 

[Aabraxan]

True. I doubt I'll wait until tanks, but I'll just have to remember not to fully load my armies. I'm only 10 turns from the Pentagon, and I'll be limited by the space in galleons.

 

[CommandoBob]

Interesting concept and good read.



While you could win this game with the CSS Aabraxan, I think you would find it more satisfying to win by Conquest or Domination. Well, I would fnd it more satisfying, anyway.

You have proven that defensive units can be ignored in the Ancient and Middle Ages. Ignoring them runs some risks, as you point out, but it can be done.

What about the Industrial and Modern?

 

[Aabraxan]

Thanks, CBob.

Looking ahead, I think the real challenge will be skipping Infantry. I almost never build rifles, so I won't miss them. But Infantry are a huge step up in defensive units, especially when you normally jump from Muskets. Cavs are great offensive units, but they defend just like pikes . . . except, I guess, they get to run away now and again.

I am still considering trying to win this one by SS, but it kinda seems like it defeats the original purpose of this variant. I think I need to see: What about the Industrial and Modern?

 

[TheOverseer714]

If you go far enough, you get the super unit that is equally good at offense or defense, the mighty Modern Armor (24/16/3). At that point, you can pretty much whoop anything except when defending against another MA. I'm betting that you can win long before that.

 

[Aabraxan]

If the rest of this game takes the same pace as it has so far, I think we can expect to see at least a few Modern Armor. At Monarch level, I usually make it to tanks, and sometimes make it to MA. Then again, I usually own a continent by now, too. We'll just have to see how it goes.

 

[Aabraxan]

Chapter 9: Fortune smiles.​

1365 AD -- The Persians begin Smith's Trading Co.

In 1370, I move into the Industrial Age

And I get an SGL to boot! It's my first in several games.

Several civs have started Copernicus' Observatory, but I'm the only one who can start Newton's. As much as I hate to waste all the shields I've invested in the prebuild, I burn the SGL to grab Cope's at Beijing. I might still be able to grab Newton's. Even if I can't, the cascade will be fun to watch.

In 1375, Xerxes comes a-calling. He demands Wines.

Spoiler :

According to my military Advisor:

Spoiler :

Compared to Xerxes, I have an average military. That tells me that he really can't hurt me now. The AI is just too bad at naval invasions for him to be much of a threat. Besides, even if he tried to invade, he'd have to leave at least one defender per town at home. Nonetheless, I'm making ~100 gpt off of ol' Xerks, and I'd hate to lose that only 4 turns from Steam Power. I give in for now, but his time will come.

Also in 1375, my architects and builders, with a great deal of aid from Confuscius, complete:

That turns Beijing into a 100-bpt town. I don't ordinarily build Cope's or Newton's so this is a pleasant surprise. I swap the Pentagon at Canton for Newtons, with Newton's due in 9. Beijing starts on the Pentagon, due in 14.

And the cascase begins:

I'm going to stop there, not because it's a particularly good stopping place, but because I'm pressed for time.

 

[darski]

lurker's comment: Nice catch on the SGL. I got several of them in my first games - veddy, veddy useful they are.

 

[Aabraxan]

They're HUGE at the right times. Now that I've got Cope's, I've been hoarding Theory of Gravity, in the hopes of putting it in Beijing, as well.

 

[Rodent]

if you manage to get Newton's as well in Bejing, it will become a 200-bpt town ?

 

[Aabraxan]

I don't think so. I can't look at the game right now, but if Cope's boosted it to 100 bpt, then it's a base-50-bpt city and Newton's will add another 50, so I expect it to hit ~150 bpt. I played some turns last night and I'm ~10 turns from completing Newtons now that the Beijing area is railed.