jack merchant
Internationalist
No worries - you've got 48+ hours now 
Are you agreed with the new roster ?
Are you agreed with the new roster ?
CG7 - Diety Attempt!
- Thread starter cgannon64
- Start date
Hehe I played GOTM19 too quickly as well. I played the entire game in one 12-hour sitting yesterday. I don't think I did too poorly though, but I surely could have done better if I had taken my time more and put more thought into my moves.
I've often been afraid of this when I rush a new palace with a leader. When I end up doing it though I realize it didn't hurt me at all, and after building up the new core I'm in much better shape than I was. I don't know, I'm kind of getting a 'feeling' for corruption levels. I don't believe our old core will be hurt much at all by moving our palace. With courthouses even our most southern city will probably still be at least 50% uncorrupt. The FP is not that far north. I doubt we'll notice a big improvement right after rushing the new palace, but when we've regrown the Arab cities and built/rushed marketplaces and banks we should notice a remarkable improvement. I'm not sure what railroads have to do with it.
I've often been afraid of this when I rush a new palace with a leader. When I end up doing it though I realize it didn't hurt me at all, and after building up the new core I'm in much better shape than I was. I don't know, I'm kind of getting a 'feeling' for corruption levels. I don't believe our old core will be hurt much at all by moving our palace. With courthouses even our most southern city will probably still be at least 50% uncorrupt. The FP is not that far north. I doubt we'll notice a big improvement right after rushing the new palace, but when we've regrown the Arab cities and built/rushed marketplaces and banks we should notice a remarkable improvement. I'm not sure what railroads have to do with it.
540 AD (0): Ahem. I'm assuming that we want to avoid the AIs declaring war on us for 
reasons, right? Then why do we have empty cities? Even a warrior in them would help, as empty cities = AI threats/sneak attacks. Beijing might be defended strategically on the logic that we'd see an attack coming, but Tientsin is a coastal city and empty. 
Native cities are okay except for the aforementioned lack of defense in some areas, and the newer acquisitions are fine, except Bukhara which needs to have its resistance end- if it doesn't end soon, the units are moving anyway to prevent losing them to a flip. We're currently at peace with the Koreans, who only have three pikes in Seoul (I investigated for 74 gold), and Sun Tzu's. We might want to think about taking that when our peace treaty runs out 18 turns from now, but I can't do it right now.
Looking at Ulsan I notice that someone has named a unit after me
and that an Arabian longbow lurks nearby.
(IT): Wang Kon tells our Rider to get out and I agree as we still have peace with him. We renew our alliance deal against the Arabs with Shaka and get him to throw in a WM. I do this only to draw Zulu attention away from Korea, as we want to take Sun Tzu's ourselves.
550 AD(1): The Zulus send a lot of knights, longbows, and Med Inf through our territory to attack Abu Bakr. Temple rushed in Ulsan to prevent a flip back to Korea.
(IT): Arabia and Zululand sign a peace treaty- I wonder what the Arabs had to give Shaka to get him to agree to break his word?
560 AD (2): The world, except for us and Wang Kon, knows Military Tradition, but the offer of our entire treasury will only make us come almost close to a deal. As I don't think Korea will be able to buy MT, I'm going to buy it in a turn once we can pay cash.
(IT): Cheju flips back to the Arabs.
A horde of knights converge on Seoul- if we want it, we'll probably have to take it back from Shaka, which could be dicey.
570 AD (3): Cheju flipping triggered war weariness, ranging from 18-20%. Canton revolts, but I stop the other cities from revolting using scroll-ahead. Hammurabi starts Shakespeare's Theater.
We retake Cheju, and take Damascus, which is resisting heavily.
580 AD (4): MT's price has dropped, and we buy it for 1224 gold from Brennus.
Also...
We take Najran probably a turn or two before Shaka could take it, getting ourselves Leo's.
(IT):
Getting it back from the Zulus is going to be difficult, as this means automatic vet cavalry/tanks for Shaka.
Our domestic advisor also thinks that we should build the Military Academy.
590 AD (5): Beijing builds the Heroic Epic; starts a Courthouse in preparation for a possible palace rush as our possibility of getting leaders is hopefully high now.
600 AD (6): We take Aden.
610 AD (7): We take Basra, and move into position to move on Mecca. Economics is widespread, but unless we get two leaders very soon, we won't get it with the Theater cascade going on.
(IT): The Arabs want peace for free.
620 AD (8): Cities close to the capital that don't have courthouses are swapped to them in case a leader pops up.
Mecca falls, and Medina loses its pikes. I'm trying to push ahead fast to prevent flips in large cities.
630 AD (9): Beijing starts the Military Academy; this can be vetoed easily if we decide on different priorities.
After taking Medina, an elite Rider defeats a longbow and out pops a leader:
The jack merchant's raiders, having acquired their star, return to Medina, and our new leader heads to Damascus.
640 AD (10): Physics is now known by everyone except Arabia, which only knows Democracy and Monarchy. We buy it from the Celts for 1281 gold, as it's not going to get any cheaper. Economics is also on the table, but should not be bought unless we get another leader to rush Smith's with.
Saltpeter has just hooked up to our network, and all Rider production has been switched to Cavalry. Our riders are healing up in cities at the moment, but should be able to move on Khurasan to eliminate flip risk for Basra and Mecca in the next turn. The leader is at Damascus, and is active in the save. Where are we going to put our new Palace? If we're going to stop with Arabia, Mecca is a good choice, but if we're going to continue on to Zululand, Najran would be preferable. Courthouses will finish down south, so our old core will still be reasonably productive.
I'd put our new Palace in Mecca, as I think we'll need tanks to take Zululand out if we go that route- with Sun Tzu's, the tech lead, and uberknights running around, dealing with Brennus or Hammurabi first is preferable. I'd like to hear votes on this, and Aggie can rush the palace in either city in the same turn with our leader.
Here's our troop evaluation at the end of this turn:
reasons, right? Then why do we have empty cities? Even a warrior in them would help, as empty cities = AI threats/sneak attacks. Beijing might be defended strategically on the logic that we'd see an attack coming, but Tientsin is a coastal city and empty. Native cities are okay except for the aforementioned lack of defense in some areas, and the newer acquisitions are fine, except Bukhara which needs to have its resistance end- if it doesn't end soon, the units are moving anyway to prevent losing them to a flip. We're currently at peace with the Koreans, who only have three pikes in Seoul (I investigated for 74 gold), and Sun Tzu's. We might want to think about taking that when our peace treaty runs out 18 turns from now, but I can't do it right now.
Looking at Ulsan I notice that someone has named a unit after me
and that an Arabian longbow lurks nearby. (IT): Wang Kon tells our Rider to get out and I agree as we still have peace with him. We renew our alliance deal against the Arabs with Shaka and get him to throw in a WM. I do this only to draw Zulu attention away from Korea, as we want to take Sun Tzu's ourselves.
550 AD(1): The Zulus send a lot of knights, longbows, and Med Inf through our territory to attack Abu Bakr. Temple rushed in Ulsan to prevent a flip back to Korea.
(IT): Arabia and Zululand sign a peace treaty- I wonder what the Arabs had to give Shaka to get him to agree to break his word?
560 AD (2): The world, except for us and Wang Kon, knows Military Tradition, but the offer of our entire treasury will only make us come almost close to a deal. As I don't think Korea will be able to buy MT, I'm going to buy it in a turn once we can pay cash.
(IT): Cheju flips back to the Arabs.
A horde of knights converge on Seoul- if we want it, we'll probably have to take it back from Shaka, which could be dicey.570 AD (3): Cheju flipping triggered war weariness, ranging from 18-20%. Canton revolts, but I stop the other cities from revolting using scroll-ahead. Hammurabi starts Shakespeare's Theater.
We retake Cheju, and take Damascus, which is resisting heavily.
580 AD (4): MT's price has dropped, and we buy it for 1224 gold from Brennus.
Also...
We take Najran probably a turn or two before Shaka could take it, getting ourselves Leo's.
(IT):
Getting it back from the Zulus is going to be difficult, as this means automatic vet cavalry/tanks for Shaka.
Our domestic advisor also thinks that we should build the Military Academy.
590 AD (5): Beijing builds the Heroic Epic; starts a Courthouse in preparation for a possible palace rush as our possibility of getting leaders is hopefully high now.
600 AD (6): We take Aden.
610 AD (7): We take Basra, and move into position to move on Mecca. Economics is widespread, but unless we get two leaders very soon, we won't get it with the Theater cascade going on.
(IT): The Arabs want peace for free.
620 AD (8): Cities close to the capital that don't have courthouses are swapped to them in case a leader pops up.
Mecca falls, and Medina loses its pikes. I'm trying to push ahead fast to prevent flips in large cities.
630 AD (9): Beijing starts the Military Academy; this can be vetoed easily if we decide on different priorities.
After taking Medina, an elite Rider defeats a longbow and out pops a leader:
The jack merchant's raiders, having acquired their star, return to Medina, and our new leader heads to Damascus.
640 AD (10): Physics is now known by everyone except Arabia, which only knows Democracy and Monarchy. We buy it from the Celts for 1281 gold, as it's not going to get any cheaper. Economics is also on the table, but should not be bought unless we get another leader to rush Smith's with.
Saltpeter has just hooked up to our network, and all Rider production has been switched to Cavalry. Our riders are healing up in cities at the moment, but should be able to move on Khurasan to eliminate flip risk for Basra and Mecca in the next turn. The leader is at Damascus, and is active in the save. Where are we going to put our new Palace? If we're going to stop with Arabia, Mecca is a good choice, but if we're going to continue on to Zululand, Najran would be preferable. Courthouses will finish down south, so our old core will still be reasonably productive.
I'd put our new Palace in Mecca, as I think we'll need tanks to take Zululand out if we go that route- with Sun Tzu's, the tech lead, and uberknights running around, dealing with Brennus or Hammurabi first is preferable. I'd like to hear votes on this, and Aggie can rush the palace in either city in the same turn with our leader.
Here's our troop evaluation at the end of this turn:
Aggie
Deity
I'd say: let's go for Babylon. They are scientific and will get a free tech entering the industrial age. We have to wait ten turns for the deal to expire. Time we can use to build up our new core. So that would make Mecca our new capital 
We should be able to get TeO before everyone else. We are the only industrious civ left, which will give us a HUGE advantage.
We should be able to get TeO before everyone else. We are the only industrious civ left, which will give us a HUGE advantage.
Wow, look at all that blue. Really great turn, Borealis. I didn't expect to cut through the Arabs so easily. Was a well-timed war on our part, even if we didn't really plan it that way. Riflemen are just around the corner and Arabia would have been a powerhouse if we had waited even 20 more turns.
Only one flip, that's better than I expected, of course the war isn't over.
I agree with rushing the Palace in Mecca. Do it right away because it will make flips much less likely.
I also agree about the Zulu. Their army outside Seoul is very scary. We should take out Babylon and the Celts first and then we can duke it out with the Zulu for world domination.
But I suggest after we finish off Arabia we sit peacefully for a while. We'll need to build up our second core. We'll also want to get our rail network in place, get hospitals and factories going. Libraries wouldn't be a bad idea either, after ToE we'll probably have a permanent tech lead.
Only one flip, that's better than I expected, of course the war isn't over.
I agree with rushing the Palace in Mecca. Do it right away because it will make flips much less likely.
I also agree about the Zulu. Their army outside Seoul is very scary. We should take out Babylon and the Celts first and then we can duke it out with the Zulu for world domination.
But I suggest after we finish off Arabia we sit peacefully for a while. We'll need to build up our second core. We'll also want to get our rail network in place, get hospitals and factories going. Libraries wouldn't be a bad idea either, after ToE we'll probably have a permanent tech lead.
Aggie
Deity
What about researching ourselves almost immediately? I believe that we can get magnetism in 8 turns once we get our new core in good shape.
jack merchant
Internationalist
Indeed a great job, Borealis !
I'd vote for Mecca as the palace location too - better core of cities.
I think the Zulu being concentrated around Seoul is actually an advantage - if we can plan it properly, we may be able to take down their entire offensive army in one fell swoop. We know where they are, so we should plan to hit them. There might not even be a counterattack after our first strike.
I apologize for leaving some cities empty (even though I made the exact same comment in my turn ! Figures...
). Somehow there always seemed to be a more pressing build need than one or two extra pikes.
P.S. I don't think the Cheju flip actually triggered WW - rather because we lost the gems with it, I think WW that was formerly hidden by the extra lux now came to the surface.
I'd vote for Mecca as the palace location too - better core of cities.
I think the Zulu being concentrated around Seoul is actually an advantage - if we can plan it properly, we may be able to take down their entire offensive army in one fell swoop. We know where they are, so we should plan to hit them. There might not even be a counterattack after our first strike.
I apologize for leaving some cities empty (even though I made the exact same comment in my turn ! Figures...
). Somehow there always seemed to be a more pressing build need than one or two extra pikes.P.S. I don't think the Cheju flip actually triggered WW - rather because we lost the gems with it, I think WW that was formerly hidden by the extra lux now came to the surface.
Aggie
Deity
Thanks for the input I'm playing now. Jack may be right about Seoul. But I think we need to settle down the next ten turns. I'm going to focus on:
- Taking out the Arabs
- Improving our new core
- Building libraries, temples and military
I'm playing now. Jack may be right about Seoul. But I think we need to settle down the next ten turns. I'm going to focus on:- Taking out the Arabs
- Improving our new core
- Building libraries, temples and military
Aggie
Deity
IHT: The leader goes to Mecca and rushes a palace.
Turn 1 (650 AD) Three elite riders are needed to conquer Kuhrasan. The last one generates another LEADER!!
Obviously I'm going to buy Economics now and rush Smith in Mecca. The Celts want 469 gold, wm and dyes. We make 345 gpt at this moment. Kufah is almost ours. The last defender is red-lined.
IHT: The Celts and Arabia sign peace.
Turn 2 (660 AD) Mecca:
our income jumps to 416 gpt. However, this is due to the ending of a deal with the Babylonians. We take Kufah, losing one elite rider. Muskat can't resist our rider army and this is the result:
Turn 3 (670 AD) Our income jumps to 466 gpt. I order a couple of settlers to fill the beautiful Arab land.
IT: The Zulu demand tribute. They back down. Also our lux deal with them ends. We don't need it, but the Zulu now turn furious.
Turn 4 (680 AD) Our income jumps to 495 gpt. A lot of cities are building libraries.
IT: Babylon is building Newton.
Turn 5 (690 AD) Income is 515 gpt now The Babylonians are the only one with ToG. They're building Newton in Namp'o, which appears to be a corrupt city 
IT: The Zulu decide to build their Newton in Umfolozi. Another weird choice.
Turn 6 (700 AD) We make 538 gpt. The Military Academy, built in Shangai (Beijing wasn't the powerhouse anymore after the palace nove) can be used as a pre-build for Newton. So we can wait until the Celts have the tech. Kaifeng founded.
Turn 7 (710 AD) 523 gpt.
Turn 8 (720 AD) 555 gpt. I safely steal ToG from the Babylonians fro 2092 gold. Two chinese cities founded before the Zulu can. They were bringing in settler in OUR territory. Shangai switched to Newton.
Turn 9 (730 AD) 534 gpt.
Turn 10 (740 AD) 535 gpt.
Apart from the first two turns, I stayed very peaceful. Our economy is better than ever and we are almost ready to do our own research. I would wait for the Industrial Age for that, because we can be sure that Babylon will beat us to magnetism
and the first industrial tech. By then we have the money to save-steal those two techs. I believe that we should build up our army a little more for the next strike. However, I'd prefer it when we would focus on economy/research until tanks.
740 AD save
Turn 1 (650 AD) Three elite riders are needed to conquer Kuhrasan. The last one generates another LEADER!!
Obviously I'm going to buy Economics now and rush Smith in Mecca. The Celts want 469 gold, wm and dyes. We make 345 gpt at this moment. Kufah is almost ours. The last defender is red-lined.
IHT: The Celts and Arabia sign peace.
Turn 2 (660 AD) Mecca:
our income jumps to 416 gpt. However, this is due to the ending of a deal with the Babylonians. We take Kufah, losing one elite rider. Muskat can't resist our rider army and this is the result:
Turn 3 (670 AD) Our income jumps to 466 gpt. I order a couple of settlers to fill the beautiful Arab land.
IT: The Zulu demand tribute.
They back down. Also our lux deal with them ends. We don't need it, but the Zulu now turn furious.Turn 4 (680 AD) Our income jumps to 495 gpt. A lot of cities are building libraries.
IT: Babylon is building Newton.
Turn 5 (690 AD) Income is 515 gpt now
The Babylonians are the only one with ToG. They're building Newton in Namp'o, which appears to be a corrupt city IT: The Zulu decide to build their Newton in Umfolozi. Another weird choice.
Turn 6 (700 AD) We make 538 gpt. The Military Academy, built in Shangai (Beijing wasn't the powerhouse anymore after the palace nove) can be used as a pre-build for Newton. So we can wait until the Celts have the tech. Kaifeng founded.
Turn 7 (710 AD) 523 gpt.
Turn 8 (720 AD) 555 gpt. I safely steal ToG from the Babylonians fro 2092 gold.
Two chinese cities founded before the Zulu can. They were bringing in settler in OUR territory. Shangai switched to Newton.Turn 9 (730 AD) 534 gpt.
Turn 10 (740 AD) 535 gpt.
Apart from the first two turns, I stayed very peaceful. Our economy is better than ever and we are almost ready to do our own research. I would wait for the Industrial Age for that, because we can be sure that Babylon will beat us to magnetism
and the first industrial tech. By then we have the money to save-steal those two techs. I believe that we should build up our army a little more for the next strike. However, I'd prefer it when we would focus on economy/research until tanks.
740 AD save
I find nothing wrong with leaving cities undefended. It's a good lure for the AI. I hope they do go for those undefended cities. As long as they can't reach them in one turn then there's no problem as far as I'm concerned. If the AI decides to declare war on us then it's very easy to get alliances against them since they're the aggressors. I use this strategy in all my games nowadays. I don't spend many shields building defensive units, so then I have a lot more offensive units to use.
Good turn Aggie. I agree with your decision on peace. The Zulus have a much much bigger military than us right now. I don't know why you think having all their military bunched up on our doorstep makes them easier Jack. As far as I'm concerned that's the biggest flaw with the AI war strategy is they usually spread their units out and attack cities with 1 or 2 units at a time instead of using SoD's. Having all their units bunched up on your doorstep makes them a lot more dangerous than if they were spread out across their empire in my opinion.
Whee it's back around to me again already. I got it but I'll be good and wait a day to play since cgannon is still out of commission.
Good turn Aggie. I agree with your decision on peace. The Zulus have a much much bigger military than us right now. I don't know why you think having all their military bunched up on our doorstep makes them easier Jack. As far as I'm concerned that's the biggest flaw with the AI war strategy is they usually spread their units out and attack cities with 1 or 2 units at a time instead of using SoD's. Having all their units bunched up on your doorstep makes them a lot more dangerous than if they were spread out across their empire in my opinion.
Whee it's back around to me again already. I got it but I'll be good and wait a day to play since cgannon is still out of commission.
jack merchant
Internationalist
Oh go on then, CG will be out at least until Wednesday
Re the offensive force nearby, the general idea is that if you can stack up enough forces to take their offensive (nearly) out in one turn at a time of your choosing, your casualties will be lower than when the opposition comes at you from all directions.
Also, the AI does come at you with SODs - they may not reach your cities with them, but as long as they still have a sizable army, they'll send SODs your way.
The problem with leaving cities undefended is that it does cause the AI to sneakattack - they may not be able to attack precisely the city that is empty, but they will attack at a time that is not of our choosing - and that is the main problem.
Re the offensive force nearby, the general idea is that if you can stack up enough forces to take their offensive (nearly) out in one turn at a time of your choosing, your casualties will be lower than when the opposition comes at you from all directions.
Also, the AI does come at you with SODs - they may not reach your cities with them, but as long as they still have a sizable army, they'll send SODs your way.
The problem with leaving cities undefended is that it does cause the AI to sneakattack - they may not be able to attack precisely the city that is empty, but they will attack at a time that is not of our choosing - and that is the main problem.
Well like I said, I think it helps you more than hurts you. Defensive units pre-infantry are very weak and still cost a lot of shields. IMO you're much better off building offensive units than defensive. And the AI just doesn't know how to handle undefended cities. It acts very predictably with regard to them. It makes it much easier to wage a war if you leave your interior cities undefended. It's almost exploitive.
And like I said if they sneak attack you then it just makes it really easy to sign alliances against them. If they're not your direct neighbor then that's enough to completely stop them from attacking you pretty much. If they are my direct neighbor I can usually hold them off plenty long enough and make them pay me for peace due to the free alliances. And to top it all off it slows down the tech pace because you can start a world war.
Ok we're so completely screwed and I'm going to try my best not to swear in this post. I didn't even finish my turn because I'm so pissed off and I don't know what to do. Here is what I wrote down...
Preturn: Ok I was a little wrong on the corruption. Our southernmost city is about 70% corrupt. Still an overall improvement though. I switch several of the cities in our new core building temples to build libraries instead. Im sure we were building the temples for cultural expansion, so we might as well build libraries that help in other ways too. I dont even count the 1 happy face temples give because its nothing compared to luxuries. I hurry the library in Pusan. We need a worker factory. I didnt want to waste shields by switching it to a worker, but Ill drop it back down to size 6 after the library. Mecca switched from library to marketplace. Marketplaces are still more important than libraries at this point, unless we need the cultural expansion. You used a pretty tight build with your filler cities. I would have just put a city one SW of where Baghdad had been. Hospitals are right around the corner anyway. I rush a few courthouses. Hey we might as well put this money to use.
750 AD (1): I change my mind. Jacks Gambit should be our worker factory. Pusan is too corrupt and still needs a courthouse. JG has 2 grassland cattles to use. Babylon learned Magnetism. I dont want to pay monopoly and I dont have enough cash to steal safely atm.
IT: Babylon completes Shakespeares Theatre.
760 AD (2): Xinjian harbor->university. Jacks Gambit library->worker. The Zulus and Celts are building Newtons University. I buy Magnetism from the Zulus for silks, dyes, WM, and 540 gold. Babylon got Nationalism as their free tech. We can research steam power in 9 turns at 100%, losing 190gpt. I leave research off.
770 AD (3): Mecca marketplace->library. Anyang library->cavalry. Chengdu cavalry->cavalry. JG worker->worker. I attempted to safely steal Nationalism but failed without drawing attention. Ya know, Ive yet to ever steal a technology successfully in all my games.
I dont even know if it was a good idea to try here. Clue me in. Espionage is definitely a weak point in my games.
IT: Argh the Zulus declare war on us and were totally not ready for it. They capture Wonsan, Inchon, Damascus, and 20+ workers. OMFG they have a lot of troops. The Zulus complete Newtons University.
780 AD (4): Ok this is bogus, a lot of our cities riot because the cities the Zulus took cut off our roads between cores and we had no harbor in our Palace core. We capture Wonsan. We capture Damascus. I sign an MA with Babylon against Zulu for 400 gold. I sign an MA with Celts against Zulu for gems and 40 gold. Damn I wish I hadnt tried to steal Nationalism last turn, it left me with no money to rush/upgrade units. Shanghai switched from Newtons to Palace. Lots of cities switched to cavalry. Our FP core cant build cavalry since they cut off the road to saltpeter so theyre set to riders.
IT: Man musketmen never win against cavalry. I swear my cavalry defend better than muskets do. Zulu capture Mansura and Bachs and our saltpeter, Zulu capture Fustat. Zulus capture Wonsan, were so out of troops it isnt funny.
790 AD (5): Were so completely f***ed. We have no military at all and all our cities just rioted again from war weariness. Were up to 35% war weariness already after just 2 turns. War weariness shouldnt even be allowed to set in until youre capable of talking to the enemy leader. How can they say give peace a chance when we cant even make peace if we wanted to. I turn lux up to 40%. Even at 40% I still have to hire some entertainers. We lose 2 cavalry attacking Mansura which is defended by a lone zulu cavalry grr.
IT: Hyangsan is captured by Zulus.
800 AD (6): OMFG civil disorders again because war weariness went up again.
Soon enough the people are going to overthrow our government because the war weariness is so high. This is what remains of our military...
Preturn: Ok I was a little wrong on the corruption. Our southernmost city is about 70% corrupt. Still an overall improvement though. I switch several of the cities in our new core building temples to build libraries instead. Im sure we were building the temples for cultural expansion, so we might as well build libraries that help in other ways too. I dont even count the 1 happy face temples give because its nothing compared to luxuries. I hurry the library in Pusan. We need a worker factory. I didnt want to waste shields by switching it to a worker, but Ill drop it back down to size 6 after the library. Mecca switched from library to marketplace. Marketplaces are still more important than libraries at this point, unless we need the cultural expansion. You used a pretty tight build with your filler cities. I would have just put a city one SW of where Baghdad had been. Hospitals are right around the corner anyway. I rush a few courthouses. Hey we might as well put this money to use.
750 AD (1): I change my mind. Jacks Gambit should be our worker factory. Pusan is too corrupt and still needs a courthouse. JG has 2 grassland cattles to use. Babylon learned Magnetism. I dont want to pay monopoly and I dont have enough cash to steal safely atm.
IT: Babylon completes Shakespeares Theatre.
760 AD (2): Xinjian harbor->university. Jacks Gambit library->worker. The Zulus and Celts are building Newtons University. I buy Magnetism from the Zulus for silks, dyes, WM, and 540 gold. Babylon got Nationalism as their free tech. We can research steam power in 9 turns at 100%, losing 190gpt. I leave research off.
770 AD (3): Mecca marketplace->library. Anyang library->cavalry. Chengdu cavalry->cavalry. JG worker->worker. I attempted to safely steal Nationalism but failed without drawing attention. Ya know, Ive yet to ever steal a technology successfully in all my games.
I dont even know if it was a good idea to try here. Clue me in. Espionage is definitely a weak point in my games.IT: Argh the Zulus declare war on us and were totally not ready for it. They capture Wonsan, Inchon, Damascus, and 20+ workers. OMFG they have a lot of troops. The Zulus complete Newtons University.
780 AD (4): Ok this is bogus, a lot of our cities riot because the cities the Zulus took cut off our roads between cores and we had no harbor in our Palace core. We capture Wonsan. We capture Damascus. I sign an MA with Babylon against Zulu for 400 gold. I sign an MA with Celts against Zulu for gems and 40 gold. Damn I wish I hadnt tried to steal Nationalism last turn, it left me with no money to rush/upgrade units. Shanghai switched from Newtons to Palace. Lots of cities switched to cavalry. Our FP core cant build cavalry since they cut off the road to saltpeter so theyre set to riders.
IT: Man musketmen never win against cavalry. I swear my cavalry defend better than muskets do. Zulu capture Mansura and Bachs and our saltpeter, Zulu capture Fustat. Zulus capture Wonsan, were so out of troops it isnt funny.
790 AD (5): Were so completely f***ed. We have no military at all and all our cities just rioted again from war weariness. Were up to 35% war weariness already after just 2 turns. War weariness shouldnt even be allowed to set in until youre capable of talking to the enemy leader. How can they say give peace a chance when we cant even make peace if we wanted to. I turn lux up to 40%. Even at 40% I still have to hire some entertainers. We lose 2 cavalry attacking Mansura which is defended by a lone zulu cavalry grr.
IT: Hyangsan is captured by Zulus.
800 AD (6): OMFG civil disorders again because war weariness went up again.
Soon enough the people are going to overthrow our government because the war weariness is so high. This is what remains of our military...
Aggie
Deity
This is what you get when you talk about the easiest deity game ever. We were a bit early on that Let's just see what we can do tho repair the damage. It looks bad.
Let's just see what we can do tho repair the damage. It looks bad.I've never experienced war weariness that bad that fast before. It doesn't even give you any warning, even though your people were content one turn, they immediately riot the next turn.
I could turn lux up to 100% and maybe they won't riot next turn and I can rush a few more riders. We can't build cavalry anymore because we have no saltpeter. But I think it's only a matter of a turn or two before the war weariness is so bad that the people go into anarchy on their own. So it might be best for us to just switch to monarchy right now. But I just don't know if we can hold out 4+ turns of anarchy.
I was hoping that after signing an MA with Babylon that the Zulus would go for them since they're closer. But all of Zulu's attack force was on our doorstep and they must see us as the easier target or something.
edit: Here's the save if you want to take a look.
I could turn lux up to 100% and maybe they won't riot next turn and I can rush a few more riders. We can't build cavalry anymore because we have no saltpeter. But I think it's only a matter of a turn or two before the war weariness is so bad that the people go into anarchy on their own. So it might be best for us to just switch to monarchy right now. But I just don't know if we can hold out 4+ turns of anarchy.
I was hoping that after signing an MA with Babylon that the Zulus would go for them since they're closer. But all of Zulu's attack force was on our doorstep and they must see us as the easier target or something.
edit: Here's the save if you want to take a look.
jack merchant
Internationalist
Ouch, this is bad luck ! Oh well, at least it keeps the game interesting
I took a look at the save and all I can say it doesn't look hopeless yet - most of the Zulu attack force appears to be spent. If we can reconnect north and south, we can get the luxuries back to most cities and we may be able to recapture Mansura and JS Bach's to keep the republic alive. I'd vote for keeping the republic even if we have to up luxes to 60%.
In hindsight, the placement of Bach was and so were the empty cities. Those combined also meant I was wrong about wanting the Zulu SOD all together. You live, you learn.
Do you want to finish the turn or shall I take it ?
I took a look at the save and all I can say it doesn't look hopeless yet - most of the Zulu attack force appears to be spent. If we can reconnect north and south, we can get the luxuries back to most cities and we may be able to recapture Mansura and JS Bach's to keep the republic alive. I'd vote for keeping the republic even if we have to up luxes to 60%.
In hindsight, the placement of Bach was
and so were the empty cities. Those combined also meant I was wrong about wanting the Zulu SOD all together. You live, you learn.Do you want to finish the turn or shall I take it ?
I will finish it, I just wanted some general advice and I needed to 'cool down'. I'm not sure how spent the Zulu attack force is, they could be all hiding in their cities still. But I do imagine that any newly produced units will go after the Babs rather than us. There were no empty cities when the Zulus attacked us. I only emptied cities afterward because we direly needed them at the front lines.
jack merchant
Internationalist
Oh ok, that wasn't it then. They just caught us with our pants down
Good luck ! I'm sure you can turn it around. I think we shouldn't be afraid of making peace if we can manage to recapture enough cities, even if it costs us our reputation.
Good luck ! I'm sure you can turn it around. I think we shouldn't be afraid of making peace if we can manage to recapture enough cities, even if it costs us our reputation.
Aggie
Deity
We have to make peace and indeed don't look at the rep. Once at peace we make enough gold to pay cash.
jack merchant
Internationalist
What do you mean, pay cash for techs ? I tell ya, we're going to grab ToE, make out like bandits and steal everything else we need ! 
Of course we may luck out sometimes, but we have the peacetime gpt to go that way.
If we can make peace, we may get lucky and see the others at war a little longer, once more slowing down the tech pace. We will need a breather to replace lost infrastructure and garrison our cities again.
One thing is for sure: I have never seen a Zulu AI get as strong as this !
Of course we may luck out sometimes, but we have the peacetime gpt to go that way.If we can make peace, we may get lucky and see the others at war a little longer, once more slowing down the tech pace. We will need a breather to replace lost infrastructure and garrison our cities again.
One thing is for sure: I have never seen a Zulu AI get as strong as this !
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