Bugs2.0 - The Gauntlet Revisited

[scoutsout]

You guys are a scream!

Seriously - IIRC, I captured some workers at Adrianople...and one at Constantinople. I think I made the ones at Adrianople go N to the mountain and start a railroad... you might want to wake 'em up and send 'em to the gems tile at Constantinople. It's jungle, and will need some worker turns.

I think Gems are the only lux we lack. WW was starting to be felt, I hired a tax collector in Carthage.

...besides, Mrs. Scout needs some new earrings or something to make up for all the Civving I've been up to.

 

[denyd]

FIRST THE SAVE

Turn 0 – 950 AD – All looks pretty good – As per Scouts request wake the three workers and send them to the gems – We are 2 units below our limit, I’ll probably start disbanding old warriors & archers once we reach the limit – Set those two new cities to starve the populace – Distribute the defense a little more to the north – send the elite units to the ships (better to die fighting than get disbanding and maybe we can get a leader)

IBT: Trade Silks + 20g + WM to Korea for Communism (saving 4 research turns) – Chengdu Sipahi->market – Chinan harbor->library

Turn 1 – 960 AD – Start research on Electricity (60% due in 15) – Assault on Nicera: Vet Sipahi loses to Vet Rifle (1/4) – Elite Sipahi (1/5) kills Reg Rifle – Elite Sipahi (3/5) kills Vet Rifle and captures Nicaea starts library – Everybody else rests or loads up to travel to the last 2 Byzantine cities – Theodora not willing to part with city for peace, so be it

IBT: Portuguese fleet heading north – Hippo worker->worker – Antayla aqueduct->market

Turn 2 – 970 AD – Boats away – lots of healing and railroading – MM Istanbul to 20spt

IBT: Another Portuguese fleet heading south – Mugla Sipahi->Heroic Epic – Tsingtao Sipahi->University – Palace Expansion gets some neat statues out front

Turn 4 – 980 AD – The Army boards a ship bound for Chalcedon – lots of rail building (I miss the PTW Industrial trait)

IBT: Renew MPP with Henry – Trade Iron to Henry for WM + 98g + 57gpt – Do not renew MPP with Korea – Racing the Portuguese to Clalcedon

Turn 5 - 990 AD – Lots of railing – 4 move galleons against 6 move galleons and I try to block their path

IBT: Lose Incense deal with Portuguese – Trade Spices & Wine to Korea for Furs + WM + 17g – Istanbul Sipahi->Military Academy – Utica library-market – Leptis Magna rifle->market – Xinjan court-aqueduct – Rusadir library->harbor – Salonika Sipahi->market – Bolu Sipahi->rifle –

Turn 6 – 1000 AD – Land troops on Chalcedon ahead of Portuguese fleet (3 Frigates & 2 Galleys) – more railing – For the last time Theodora denies peace for Chalcedon – Trade Silks to Portugal for WM + 4gpt + 27g

IBT: Apologize to Wan Kong for our Galleon in his waters – Bursa Sipahi->market – Aydin frigate->market

Turn 7 – 1010 AD – HMS Sir Bugsy (frigate) sets sail – Assault on Chalcedon: Trebuchet goes 1 for 2 and cannon misses – Sipahi Army (4/14) kills 1 Elite Rifle & 1 Vet Rifle – Vet Sipahi (2/4) kills Conscript Rifle – Vet Sipahi (3/4) kills Vet Longbow taking Chalcedon and sinking a pair of Byzantine ships starts a library – Theodora still not willing to give up much (WM + 13g is it) – Everyone wants over 100gpt + 400g for Medicine

IBT: Lots of Portuguese ships out there – Sabratha worker->worker – Korea starts Universal Suffrage

Turn 8 – 1020 AD – Gems connected – Bursa now over 20spt – Moving troops to prepare for assault on Pusan – Land troops by Trebizond (Byzantine capital and final city) – Theodora still not giving up Democracy or Fascism – Both Industrialization & Medicine available but the price is too high – will be able to trade electricity for both in 6 turns

IBT: Four Portuguese Cavalry attack Trebizond and leave redlined (either killed something or retreated) – 2 Byzantine LB block by path to Trebizond – Edrine Sipahi->library – Izmit Sipahi->market

Turn 9 – 1030 AD – Elite Sipahi (5/5) kills LB – Elite Sipahi (5/5) kills LB – Move 4 Sipahi next to Trebizond and hope it’s still there next turn

Note: Is there a bug – both Portugal & Korea have ironclads, yet they don’t appear on the trade screen and we are eligible to research the tech

IBT: Portugal pillages and pulls wounded troops out – Korean cavalry kill 1 rifle, but the second attacking cavalry dies – Theveste library->worker – Heraclea library->rifle

Turn 10 – 1040 AD – Boats heading home to reload with troops – Assault on Trebizond: A wounded Reg rifle on top – Elite Sipahi (2/5) kills Reg Rifle – Elite (4/5) Sipahi kills Conscript Rifle – Elite Sipahi (4/5) kill Conscript Rifle – Elite Sipahi (5/.5) kills Vet Longbow and Trebizond is ours and the Queen of the Dromons is gone, start a library – Electricity in 4 – Wines can be traded to Henry for about 10gpt – Once electricity is available we should be able to get industrialization, medicine & incense for it in trade – those markets will become very powerful with all 8 luxuries – We need 201 tiles for domination and that’s exactly how many unclaimed tiles are available, so we could win this with a lot of rushed libraries if we do it now (something to consider)

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Scout
Denyd - Just Theodora
Yom – Up
DJM Gator - On Deck
Bugs

So do we want to win this by domination or conquest? I think I remember some thoughts towards a conquest win.

 

[scoutsout]

Nice job hammering Theodora there, denyd.

Do you guys want to follow through with going commie, or keep making Sips and press our luck a bit?

 

[Sir Bugsy]

I really like communism in although with Sips, galleons, and ironclads, we could probably wrap this up.

 

[DJMGator13]

As long as the WW stays in the 30-40% range it can be handled with the slider. Once it hits 66% we need to either wrap up the war which is generating the WW points or we need to make peace.

I'm learning alot more about WW in the current GOTM33. I'll probably include it in my spoiler3 when I reach that far.

EDIT: cross posted with Bugs - I'm for changing to Comm just so some of our team can see it in action, but I think we can probably win the game as Republic.

 

[scoutsout]

Well... I certainly don't object to letting this game develop into a modern era slugfest, if that's what the team wants to do... but as quickly as we hammered Theodora, I started wondering if a Sipahi blitz against Korea wouldn't bring us to endgame. I think when we get some libraries in our towns in the north we'll claim a few more percentage points in land area.... those and border expansions in our Byzantine holdings should push us comfortably above the 50% mark.

Edit: Cross-posted with Gator. If you guys want to play commie I'm all for it. It's a heckuva lot of fun.

 

[denyd]

With the war against Theodora over WW = 0%

We need marketplaces in our larger cities to get them happy. The only reason I couldn't set the lux slider to zero was a couple of size 10+ cities with no markets. Once those are in place we'll be able to research to 100%.

I agree with Korea as the next target. While we're transporting Sipahi from the homeland, let's get those libraries built and see how much land we need. I imagine it'll be under 100 tiles once the expansion is done. That's only 7 or 8 Korean cities and that shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 turns of Sipahi attacks if we plan it right.

 

[Yom]

Please skip me. I won't be able to get this tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

That would put Gator up.

 

[DJMGator13]

OK, I'll play later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[DJMGator13]

Double Post (although 13.5 hours later)

I did not get to play tonight, been helping my brother in CT get rid of several viruses, 5 items that Spybot found & 43 items that Ad-Aware found. So 6+ hours later I think we have it straight now. But while we were waiting for the scans to run I was looking at the save file and doing some math (or should I say cooking the books).

We need 281 tiles for DOM limit. First question, do ocean tiles count towards DOM? I do not think they count. Based on that I estimate that we can pick up 140 tiles through non-violent cultural expansion. Of that number 88 tiles would come from cities that do not have but are currently building a library; 45 tiles are from cities without libraries but that are building a non-culture improvement (ie harbor or courthouse); and 6 tiles from two cities which have libraries and are about to expand. If ocean tiles count than we are closer to 180-190 tiles gained through cultural expansion.

We currently only have a few hundred gold and with research set at 70% we are generating less than 5gpt. Second question, should we turn down research to 0% and use a scientist so we can pull in about 230gpt and start rushing the libraries? We know KOR & PORT already have Medicine but we are unsure about their progress towards Sci Method. Since we can not prebuild, it is unlikely we will complete the ToE before acheiving a DOM victory, which is why I think sci should go to 0%. I'm also tempted to dump the shields in the nonculturally expanding cities and start them all on libraries.

Third question, should I start the war with KOR now or wait for the libraries to complete and gain most of the 140 (or 180) tiles the easy way?

I'll probably play around noon est, so post your thoughts.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

We trust your judgment. If you want to turn down research and rush libraries, go for it. You may want to consider rushing the incomplete builds rather than scrapping them. Your call.

 

[DJMGator13]

Preturn - 1040AD
adjust lux to 10% & change a few specialists
Since neither KOR or PORT currently have Infantry I decide to go with the library builds mainly to minimize the number of cities we need to capture / Adjust Sci to 30% ELEC in 8 turns at 197gpt - this should allow us to rush 1 library a turn

rush library in Sardica for 76gold
rush library in Constantinople for 124gold
rush harbor in Cirta for 116gold

IBT - KOR & PORT force leave our territory and their ships appear to be heading back to their own cities

Turn1 - 1050AD
Constantinople library => marketplace
Iznik Sip => Sip
Chengdu marketplace => Sip
Sardica library => marketplace
Cirta harbor => library
TRADE: wines to PORT for Wmap, 40gold & 17gpt (they wanted too much for the incense)
rush harbor in Hadrumetum for 92 gold
rush library in Trebizond for 156gold (had only 1 shield in box)

IBT - na

Turn2 - 1060AD
Bursa marketplace => rifle
Uskudr sip => sip
Hadrumetum harbor => library
Trebizond library => rifle
Bolu rifle => sip
Urfa library => marketplace
rush library in Adrianople for 108gold

IBT - na

Turn3 - 1070AD
Adrianople library => rifle
Hippo worker => worker
Heraclea & Theveste culture expand - pick up 20 tiles towards limit - more than I expected apparently ocean tiles count towards DOM limit but even with ocean tiles I was expecting 16 new tiles
rush library in Hadrumetum for 156gold
rush library in Cirta for 152gold
261 tiles needed

IBT - na

Turn4 - 1080AD
Edrine library => sip
Hadrumetum library => rifle
Cadiz library => marketplace
Cirta library => marketplace
Nora riots – it grew and rioted on same turn - hire tax man
Salonika marketplace => Sip
rush library in Nicaea for 112gold
rush library in Hangchow for 32gold
rush library in Tatung for 44 gold
rush library in Tientsin for 36 gold
232 tiles needed

IBT - deal for Ivory runs out - renew it for spices, coal, Wmap, 24gold & 7gpt / KOR offers MPP & ROP but I only trade them Tmaps

Turn5 - 1090AD
Tsingtao university => sip
Nicaea library => rifle
Hangchow library => rifle
Tientsin library => marketplace
Tatung library => marketplace
rush library in Naissus for 60gold
rush library in Chinan for 108gold
218 tiles needed

IBT - PORT learned ironclad

Turn6 - 1100AD
Leptis Magna marketplace => library
Thevest worker => marketplace
Bursa rifle => sip
Naissus library => rifle
Shantung library => marketplace
Chinan library => rifle
Denizili marketplace => barracks
204 tiles needed

IBT -

Turn 7 - 1110AD
rush library in Chalcedon for 120gold
rush courthouse in Anyang for 184gold
rush courthouse in Carthage for 152gold
173 tiles needed

IBT - na

Turn 8 - 1120AD
learn ELEC set to Replaceable Parts
Carthage courthouse => library
Sabratha worker => marketplace
Chalcedon library => marketplace
Anyang courthouse => library
rush library in Varna for 68gold
rush courthouse in Macao for 176gold
160 tiles needed

Can trade Elec to PORT for Incense, Medicine, Industrialization, Wmap, 70 gold & 14gpt
Can trade Elec to KOR for Fascism, Industrialization, Wmap & 110 gold
Do not make either trade because that will put them closer to Replaceable Parts & the game should be ending before we can use any of those techs

IBT - PORT tries to extort ELEC - I say no - no DOW issued

Turn 9 - 1130AD
Varna library => rifle
Izmit marketplace => sip
Chengdu sip => sip
Nora library => marketplace
Macao courthouse => library
Bolu sip => sip
rush library in Anyang for 156gold
149 tiles needed

IBT -

Turn 10 - 1140AD
Leptis Magna library => sip
Mugla Heroic Epic => sip
Rusicade library => marketplace
Aydin marketplace => sip
Anyang library => rifle
rush library in Caesarea
rush library in Macao for 156gold
149 tiles needed

Notes to next player
1) Still 74 tiles unclaimed, there are still a number of cities w/o any culture - but we will need to go to war to win
2) I have moved more troops to Constantinople & have reinforced Trebizond
3) We can trade ELEC but I did not want to put KOR or PORT closer to infantry
4) KOR & PORT have a MPP with each other

The 1140AD save

 

[Sir Bugsy]

That would put it on me. I've got the game, although I probably take the entire 48 to play it. Sounds like it is time for war. Suggestions and campaign strategies are welcome.

 

[scoutsout]

Sign a MPP with Korea, stick a worker out on the border, let Henry clip it.... and give us an ally on Henry's eastern flank!

 

[DJMGator13]

I wasn't sure how the MPP would work. In a recent game when I declared war on a civ A, who had a MPP with Civ B, Civ B proceed to immediately declare on me before I even attacked any troops. So I wasn't sure if we can issue the DOW in our game without drawing the wrath of both KOR & PORT.

Our troops are not in position to battle PORT.

 

[denyd]

I'm thinking we're better off with Portugal as an ally instead of an enemy, if for no other reason, not having to deal with their fleet when moving units to the battlefront.

After the war starts you should probably make the trade with Portugal for Industrialization in case we get a GL (with Heroic Epic the odds will improve), we could rush Universal Suffrage, so we should start it in one of those corrupt cities on near the future battlefront right after the trade.

We should also have a Military Academy soon and I think the nastiest unit on the map until tanks is a Sipahi Army. A pair of those and without infantry Korea will fall like Scoutsout after a 6-pack of Coors light

 

[DJMGator13]

A pair of those and without infantry Korea will fall like Scoutsout after a 6-pack of Coors light

WWWWOOOOOWWWW That fast.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Pre-flight – Excellent, we have an MPP with Portugal and Korea doesn’t. First I ask Wang to move his troops. He does. So I declare war. We’re 149 tiles from domination.

IBT – Korea attacks our galleon and brings Portugal into the war. Two cavs attack Caesarea, but it holds. A rifle dies at Trebizond. A small amphibious force lands in former Byzantinium.

1. 1150 AD – Remove all invading Koreans. Move a SOD of Sips onto the mountain south of Pusan.

IBT – We lose another Sip at Trebizond to an attacking cav. We get a new source of iron.

2. 1160 AD – We take Pusan and destroy a Hwacha and a frigate. No loss, although the Hwacha took a hp off our Sip.
Move next to Pyongyang. Attack Paegam but the city stands.

IBT – The Portuguese take Paegam. We get the Iron Works message. Chengdu is the city. Won’t be worth switching the build with the shield loss. I’ll rush it. Our troops in Trebizond get hammered by Korean Frigates.

3. 1170 AD – Pyongyang – We assault the city first with our army and then Sips from the mountain.

We lose one Sip, but the city falls. Use the leader for a Sip Army
Move our stack and new Army towards Seoul.
Spend some cash rushing a few libraries.
100 tiles from domination.

Here is the situation at the end of 1170 AD –

To be continued…