CBob01 AWM Training Day Game

[CommandoBob]

I've been thinking about it all morning and what I can figure out is that there are pros and cons of both. The biggest benefit of going after the Aztecs forst is that once we take the capital, we get Sun Tzu's, which will give us raxes in any cities we take or establish on the continent. The downside of the Aztecs is that they are far away and the mountains will make it slow (although it would give our MIs something to do while the cossacks run about).

We are much better set up for a Roman invasion so the logistics would be easier and the invasion would proceed faster.

Good points.

Let me add two more things.

First and foremost, we don't have enough boats to do both. Since our forces are with our boats, let's attack the closest enemy first.

Second, since the Aztecs will be a tougher nut to crack than the Romans, we need to be sure and get all our artillery overseas to help weaken those muskets in the hill cities. Cossacks vs. fortified muskets in size 12 cities on hills; not pretty for Cossacks. We can slowly add cannons and workers and such to the mix of units that we ship across; things we probably won't need to deal with Rome but that will be needed to deal with the Dark Mean Green.

 

[Phaedo]

Ok. I'm going to take that Aztec city on the island and set up the 2 cities but not start the GA. I get instant notification of posts on my cell, so if anyone wants me to start the Ga, let me know. It will take me a while to organize the invasion so there is time.

For the record however, I don't think the Aztecs will be harder than the Romans. They may be slightly more advanced tech-wise, but my guess is that they are weaker militarily on the continent. Regardles, a good job for Sword armies will be to go inland an pillage any resources they find.

 

[Phaedo]

T6 1430AD
Turn up the slider to get banking in 4. A sword dies to an arab archer. Kill the archer with a MI (N island)
Upgrade our caravels and load them with all the cossacks, a coupler of settlers and a couple armies
Upgrade some pikes to muskets
The invasion DOES NOT begin next turn

Load the available armies, the 2 settlers extra MIs into Galleons. I'll load the muskets and the other army next turn and take the Aztec island Turn 8

IBT eSword beats off an Aztec LB
Eridu can't build a settler due to pop so change to a harbor
Murmur cossack>cossack
NHT musk>musk
JB cossack>cossack

T7 1435AD
It seems I was overly ambitious when I wrote the last log. I won't get to the island until next turn so the shuffle cities won't be ready until my turn 10. The Upside is that there will be troops in place to keep the transport going to the Romans.
Other than the boats, leaving, I rushed 3 Galleons to be ready next turn and moved a bunch of troops towards our staging area.

IBT IH court>cossack
GH musk> frigate
Anywhere aque>market

T8 1440AD
Constant moving.
Of particular noe are the 2 armies that are loaded on the galley in the North moving around the top of the continent (faster than moving empty armies)
Unload our super stack on the Aztec Island and keep moving the Galleons around

IBT Hidleburg settler>settler

T9 1445AD
Raze the Aztec city
Found Shuffle 1 and 2
Load available armies, 4 cannon, 2 MIs (to top up the armies) and 2 Muskets onto the waiting Galleons and move them offshore. They will land next turn and should be able to take the Roman town, top up the armies, protect the cannon, hold the town and be ready to pillage at the beginning of Norton's set.
Load 4 cassocks onto the Galleon to strat heading over. Norton can start the GA in 3 turns if he wants.

IBT We learn Banking, switch to ToG

T10 1450AD
Move the Boats as close as I can get them
Load the waiting ones
Worker turns and movement.

That's about it. We didn't get to the continent but will be able to next turn. A huge stack protected by 4 armies will be able to land and protect the stack. We should then be able to take Khurasan the following turn, load up some armies and cut the Romans off from counter-attacking.

Good luck Norton. The worker moves are a pain but necessary

The big pic of our invasion route

The close up

Notice the lack of roads. This is great for us. We can pillage the road by the marsh and block all access from the jungle with an army while we send the rest off to pillage and keep bringing in more forces. BTW, I'm pretty sure the sword armies will only be invulnerable to attack once they are loaded up to 4 units. The MIs should be Ok against cav as we have the Mil Acedemy

 

[CivActuary]

Oooh, I'm all tingly with excitement! DDay is upon us!

Who's up next, Norton or me?

 

[CommandoBob]

Roster:

• Phaedo - just played
• CivActuary - UP!
• Norton II - on deck
• Aabraxan - warming up
• CommandoBob

 

[CommandoBob]

Good work, Phaedo. Not a lot of glory but a whole lot of preparation.

You made things a whole bunch easier for the Roman invasion.

 

[CivActuary]

This is going to be a fun set, though it will likely take me a couple days to play it since I anticipate it being intense. I will look at the save after work tonight and post my goals for y'all to comment on. Provided I get home tonight that is (ice/sleet/freezing rain in the forecast, I packed a bag just in case - people can't drive around DC in the ice).

Good work Phaedo! The best invasions with the best chances of succeeding are those that are well planned and detailed. You've set up the logistics nicely.

 

[Phaedo]

Thanks. I hope it's set up the way you want it. It wil be a couple of turns before the Cav get there, but you should be able to tak ethe town and get the armies up to strength. In a solo game, my LB armies were untouched throughout the IA with MA and the Pentagon so even the Sword armies should be safe.

Good luck CivA. I'm not sure why, but I had it in my head that Norton was up next. Hopefully, the next few sets will be lots of fun for everyone.

 

[Aabraxan]

Ooh, this is getting exciting! Good luck to whoever has the next set. Nice work setting up the invasion, Phaedo.

 

[CivActuary]

@Phaedo - Is the save posted above? I don't see it.

 

[Phaedo]

Sorry about that, I thought I attached it

 

[CivActuary]

mmkay, here's where we stand:

Current Military Roster:
6 Settlers
119 Workers (8 native, 116 slaves)
2 Warriors
1 Archer
12 Spear
8 Sword
12 Horse
20 Pikemen
7 Musketmen
11 Cannon
2 Galleys
2 Caravals
9 Galleons
6 Armies
15 Cossacks
33 Medieval Infantry
23 Trebs

Current Production Queue:
1 Aquaduct
1 Army
10 Cossacks
1 Courthouse
1 Frigate
4 Galleons
13 Harbors
2 Libraries
6 Markets
2 Muskets
1 Privateer
12 Settlers
1 Warrior
21 Wealth
1 Worker

Comparison to remaining enemies:

Tech:
UP Physics on the Aztecs, Arabs, and Romans, also UP Banking on the Aztecs.
DOWN Republic and Chivalry to all 3, also DOWN Printing Press to the Aztecs.

Luxes:
UP Wine, Dyes, Spices, Silks, and Gems on all 3
DOWN Fur to the Aztecs, Ivory to the Arabs, and Fur, Ivory, and Incense to the Romans.

Resources:
UP Saltpeter on the Aztecs
UP Horses, Iron, and Saltpeter on the Arabs.

Arabs and Romans are in Republic, Aztecs are in Monarchy

We have 77 cities, Aztecs have 21, Arabs have 8, Romans have 13 (per CAII)

Wonder note: Rome has Leonardos Workshop, Aztecs have Knight's Templar


Long Term Goals :
Take over the world - 4 down, 3 to go.

Intermediate Goals:
-Take out the Romans
-Set up a continual supply line for new troops to reach the front
-Research to Steam and establish a rail network
-Continue to water the N for specialist farms

Immediate goals
-Land invasion force and repel any attacks.
-Take the Roman city of Khurasan - if it does not have a Rax or harbor after we take it we will need one, maybe even some walls. Should have thought of it earlier but bringing some obsolete units along and disbanding would save some $$ rushing.
- Load up armies to 4 units, send them pillaging.
- Defend the Beachhead
- Bring over Cossacks
- Start Golden Age.
- Get some Frigates built and over to protect our supply lines.
- Push the Aztecs and Arabs off Exile island
- Defend our lands from any enemy troop landings

Questions and Notes for discussion before I play:

-Research - full steam (literally) ahead, or somewhat less than max to have cash for rushing? It would be nice to try and get those rails sooner than later for several reasons, not the least of which is moving troops to the front.

-Should we a)raze Roman cities (after capturing Khurasan) and resettle, b)just raze, or c)take and hold?

-As mentioned above, Rome has Leo's, which would be nice to get for the cheaper upgrades.

-Looking at their resources, I think it actually is better that we are taking out Rome first - a)their military looks to be the best with Cavs - Aztecs have no saltpeter, and Arabs have no Horses (no Ansars!). and b) Rome has all 3 luxes we lack, which would be good to keep our pop happy.

-There is a bit of micromanaging to do, that Privateer build should be changed (I don't think we care about keeping our nationality hidden from those we attack!), and I noticed some towns not working optimal tiles (hopelessly corrupt towns working mountains or hills, etc)

-I do have one worry that I think I will need to rectify. After looking at the save I noticed that the North part of our continent, and to some extent the South as well, have been totally denuded of troops, especially offensive ones. I know we are in the midst of mounting the grand invasion, and I know the AI stinks at amphibious landings, but I still think we need to see to the safety of our home continent to an extent. For example, I spy an Aztec galley in the Munich area between our continent and Exile Island. I don't know if it has already landed anything or not (do you recall, Phaedo?), but if it landed 2 Knights on the IBT on that hill between North Hilton and North Munich, our Cossacks waiting over on the other side of the island could not get over in time, and we would lose those two towns for a time, more if they are razed. Since we don't have rails, I think we need a "reaction force" of 4-5 Cossacks in the North, Mid, and South of the home continent. Now, once we have rails we can cut this number down, as a reaction force can move anywhere on the continent instantaneously, but until then, I think we need to have a few more troops on the continent stationed where they can repel any AI landings.

 

[CommandoBob]

Questions and Notes for discussion before I play:

-Research - full steam (literally) ahead, or somewhat less than max to have cash for rushing? It would be nice to try and get those rails sooner than later for several reasons, not the least of which is moving troops to the front.

I favor getting to Steam Power quickly, then shutting down research for a turn or two, using the cash to rush where needed, and then maybe begin researching again if it looks like we need Artilllery (Replaceable Parts).

-Should we a)raze Roman cities (after capturing Khurasan) and resettle, b)just raze, or c)take and hold?

Raze and resettle (if needed), keeping any wonders we capture. Razing gives us slaves and eliminates the flip risk. In the wonder cities, we'll just have to leave troops outside the city and just starve it down.

-As mentioned above, Rome has Leo's, which would be nice to get for the cheaper upgrades.

Or at least to deny the AI to have cheap upgrades.

-Looking at their resources, I think it actually is better that we are taking out Rome first - a)their military looks to be the best with Cavs - Aztecs have no saltpeter, and Arabs have no Horses (no Ansars!). and b) Rome has all 3 luxes we lack, which would be good to keep our pop happy.

Oh, yeah, those three luxuires will be a big help in keeping our cities productive.

-There is a bit of micromanaging to do, that Privateer build should be changed (I don't think we care about keeping our nationality hidden from those we attack!), and I noticed some towns not working optimal tiles (hopelessly corrupt towns working mountains or hills, etc)

I haven't looked at the save, but since the city governor is defaulted to emphasize production, we can expect it to work a mined hill in a highly corrupt city that only nets one shield per turn. So try to get those miners to be farmers and then specialists.

-I do have one worry that I think I will need to rectify. After looking at the save I noticed that the North part of our continent, and to some extent the South as well, have been totally denuded of troops, especially offensive ones. I know we are in the midst of mounting the grand invasion, and I know the AI stinks at amphibious landings, but I still think we need to see to the safety of our home continent to an extent. For example, I spy an Aztec galley in the Munich area between our continent and Exile Island. I don't know if it has already landed anything or not (do you recall, Phaedo?), but if it landed 2 Knights on the IBT on that hill between North Hilton and North Munich, our Cossacks waiting over on the other side of the island could not get over in time, and we would lose those two towns for a time, more if they are razed. Since we don't have rails, I think we need a "reaction force" of 4-5 Cossacks in the North, Mid, and South of the home continent. Now, once we have rails we can cut this number down, as a reaction force can move anywhere on the continent instantaneously, but until then, I think we need to have a few more troops on the continent stationed where they can repel any AI landings.

I started that, moving old units northwards from Babylon. You have a good point and a good plan to fix it.

Steam Power
Once we can make rails, this needs to be a big priority for our workers/slaves. It will take 12 slaves to rail flat land in one turn, which needs to be our goal. If we have workers/slaves in Old Babylon, they need to head to the core as soon as they can, to begin to rail those cities together. With over 100 slaves, we can easily form 8 groups of slaves that can rail a flat tile in one turn. It is a long way from our core to Magnet Gork and we want that railed first. We'll need some slaves overseas to road our connecting cities, after we rail to Magnet Gork. Razing Roman cities will give us plenty of willing workers to make rails for us. We have way too many slaves to try to ship them all overseas, but those that stay can rail and irriagate the mainland.

 

[Phaedo]

I'm for rails too, but after that getting some cash would be fine.

I should have done a city tour after I first posted. Any corrupt towns that grew would have gone to shield tiles rather than farms.

The privateer build was actually becuse a) they are cheaper than frigates and b) I was thinking of the enslavement. I thought one could wipe out all the galleys running around up there and maybe get us some extra escorts for our galleons.

I didn't worry about those northern boats. They were running around up there my whole set and didn't drop anyone off. They hadn't been back to the home continent at all and I don't believe those Aztec islands have horses. Once you wipe out the last Aztec town on the Northern island, there will be only one possibility of a threat for that other big island. It might not be a bad idea to use the American force and the one on the island with the single Arab and Aztec town to go over and start clearing.

Personally, I'd just raze towns unless there is something we want in them. Once we get rails we will want to start building them in Roman lands and slaves serve that purpose nicely. We don't really need more specialist farms to worry about.

 

[CivActuary]

Not sure why I didn't remember this before, but I think we have to replace cities - AI respawn is on, so I don't think we should leave the territory empty.

@Phaedo - good points about the Privateer, I was focusing on the hidden nationality. I typically don't build many of the durn things, but it may be worth having one or two around since for escort duty it will still take the hits before a galleon too.

I have tons of free time tonight, should have the set done and posted.

 

[CivActuary]

Preflight:
MM a bunch of towns to either accelerate growth or get some specialists.
Afterwards up SCI to 50%, so we get ToG in 5 turns, we are still making 78gpt. And we are right in the zone too, changing one more geek to a taxman ups the time to 6 turns.

IBT
The 2 Arab galleys hangin out near Shuffle Island withdraw
Aztec galley I was concerned about near exile island looks like it is fog busting.
YarYar: vCossack --> vCossack (due in 9)
YakYak: vCossack --> vCossack (due in 6)
SavSam: vCossack --> vCossack (due in 13)

1455 AD Turn 281 (1) "Keep the sand out of your weapons, keep those actions clear, and I'll see you on the beach"

We start on Exile Island. Trebs bomb Anjar, 2 eMaces take and raze the city with no losses (2-0). Need a settler up here to fill in the area.

First wave hits the beach - 2 Mace armies, 2 Sword armies, 2 Muskets, 2 Maces, and 4 Cannon
Lots of worker actions - As they work I am trying to move them toward the line they will need to rail to Magnet Gork
Red Line 1 founded 2S of Bye Bye American Pie, this will be the transfer point to Shuffle Island

IBT
Roman workers flee the advancing Russian Hordes. Guess they don't like borsht.
NO Roman troops appear.
Arab galleys still heading away
Aztec LB appears on Exile Island
New York: Market --> Cossack (due in 13)
Halifax: Market --> Cossack (due in 13)

1460 AD Turn 282 (2) "Charge!"

2 defenders - 1 rMusket 1 rSpear - in Khurasan are bombed, 1st Mace Army takes the town losing only 1 hp (4-0).
1st Sword Army loads up a Mace and sets off in search of Roman resources to pillage.
3rd Sword Army loads up a Mace and fortifies to protect the Cannon before going and pillaging next turn.
eSword kills the Aztec LB on Exile Island (5-0)
Workers moving and irrigating

Now let's see how the Romans react...

IBT
Uhh Barely. Only 1 Roman LB is seen moving.
Tyrana: Aqueduct --> Frigate (due in 20)
JellyBank: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 6)
Lava Town: Lib --> Cossack (due in 13)

1465 AD Turn 283 (3) "We're in Business!"
The resistance is ended in Khurasan - Rush a worker for 36g, so the city will starve and produce a worker and be down to size 1 next turn.
3rd Sword Army takes off S to look for something to smash. Other 2 armies will wait for reinforcements and then start smashing cities.
2nd wave including 4 cossacks land

IBT
Roman LB moves by our army and loses a hp
Aztec LB attacks stack on Exile Island, redlines our eSword but dies. (6-0)
Nizhniy Novgorod: Settler --> Cannon (due in 20)
Iron Hill: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 6)
Konigsburg: Musket --> Settler (due in 30)
Khurasan: Slave Worker --> Harbor (due in 60)

1470 AD Turn 284 (4)
2 Aztec defenders in Huexotla redlined, city taken by 2 Maces (8-0)
2 Maces take out 2 Arab rSpears and raze Hustat (10-0)
Pillaging armies move - there is a lot of jungle in North Rome

Theory of Gravity due in net turn. Cross your fingers...

IBT
Rowdy Rostov: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 10)
Hot 'n Spicy: Market --> Cossack (due in 10)
West Moscow : Cossack --> Cossack (due in 9)
Somewhere City: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 9)
Whale City: Harbor --> Privateer (due in 25)
We add another level to our palace

1475 AD Turn 285 (5)

Well, we got Nationalism, of course. At least it wasn't Medicine. Set to Steam in 8.
Mostly just maneuvering troops, but of note - of the beachhead troops formed, we have now a Cossack Army. Move it next to a Roman city. We have enough to also make a second attack force. Gentlemen, the Golden Age begins next turn.

IBT
More Roman workers scurry away. Do they even have any offensive troops?
Murmur: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 8)
Hilton: Harbor --> Wealth.
We lose a source of Iron! We have like 5 more. Wonder where it went.

1480 AD Turn 286 (6)
Arabs have Iron now. Guess that's where it went.
Battleground : Rome
Our pillaging army sees Roman Horses and heads for them.
Cossack Army attacks Lugdunum and kills two muskets (12-0). And ...

Lugdunum Razed.
Task force B attacks and kills 2 muskets in Ravenna (14-0), raze it.

Go through all the cities again to make sure we are using our GA to its fullest effect.
Steam Power now in 5, we are making 69gpt

IBT
SSP: Rifle --> Cossack (due in 7)
Hattusha: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 8)
YakYak: Cossack --> Frigate (due in 3)
NHT: Rifle --> Cossack (due in 7)
Another Palace expansion

1485 AD Turn 287 (7)
Aztecs and Arabs have learned Navigation. Would be nice to get those pillaging armies down there to slow them down.
Roman horses pillaged.
1st Cossack Army takes out 1 musket in Lutetia and razes it (15-0)
Romans have no more Incense

IBT
Romans in Veii are under attack by someone! No wonder we haven't seen any offensive units. If they are at war with the Aztecs it would be the best possible situation.
Hattusas: Market --> Library (due in 5)
YarYar: Cossack --> University (due in 6)
Chicago: Settler --> Settler (due in 30)
JellyBank: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 5)

1490 AD Turn 288 (8)
Moving reinforcements in - no attacks. Steam now in 3, +65gpt. Start to get workers into groups of 12.

IBT
Tarsus: Market --> Library (4)
Iron Hill: Cossack --> Cossack (due in 5)
Gold Hill: Frigate --> Frigate (due in 8)
Shuffle2: Warrior --> Wealth
Ozzy's Victory: Settler --> Wealth
Arabs are building Copernicus

1495 AD Turn 289 (9)
2nd Cossack Army kills 2 muskets in Antium (17-0) and raze it.
Boy, Rails would mke this so much easier to get troops forward.

IBT
Aztec Caraval moving N from the other continent.
Quite a few Arab units in Roman territory
YakYak: Frigate --> Frigate (due in 3)


1500 AD Turn 290 (10)
Settler moves over vacated incense - settle next turn. Rush harbor so we can get immediate benefit from the lux.
Army ready to attack another city.

And that's it.

The Romans are weaker than I thought.

And the file
>>FILE<<.

 

[Phaedo]

Nice work CivA!

The Romans and the Arabs were fighting in my set, maybe the Aztecs are in on one of the sides.

I think they are all pretty weak. Once we get rails up on hte new continent, I think it's going to fold incredibly quickly.

 

[CommandoBob]

You make it look so easy, CivActuary. And now Norton II and Aabraxan get to enjoy our Golden Age.

The only 'bad' event was getting Nationalism as our free Industrial tech instead of Steam Power, but I think we sorta expected that to happen. If we wanted an easy game, we wouldn't be playing Russia. All of which will make victory all that much sweeter, since it has been a bit harder to achieve.

Roster:

• Phaedo
• CivActuary - just played
• Norton II - UP!
• Aabraxan- on deck
• CommandoBob - warming up

 

[CivActuary]

Thanks. Between all your expert setup and the fact the Romans put up little resistance, the invasion has gone smoothly.

Here's a pic of the Invasion:

1 city captured and 4 razed so far. Settlers are on the way, if not there (they are with the muskets there), to fill in the empty spots. The first is on the first spot of ruins with the insence. Once we get the insence, we may get some more WLTK days, so some cities' production may be able to be adjusted.

I barely razed anything in North Rome - they don't have many roads through that jungle, and we need the roads to move our artillery.

The convoys are working well - we can get 4 units to Shuffe Island each turn from the mainland, but without rails, the movement 1 units stop mid shuffle. The rails will help immmensly. Norton, we get Steam next turn, you get to have the fun of railing. I've tried to form groups of 12 slaves to rail one square per turn.

 

[Aabraxan]

Nice work, CA! You made it look easy.

As to the free tech, Steam would have been ideal, but Nationalism isn't bad. Rifles come with Nationalism.