cMM2 - STRANDED (easy level, tough map)

[danz]

Oh sh*t just noticed we're building units in cities without
barracks. That's a big mistake. Switch to barracks where necessary.

That was my fault, I started knights everywhere as soon as they became available. I was expecting the Hittites to declare on us as soon as we met, and we found out how powerful they are. The last thing I wanted to do was fight Hittite knights and muskets with Enkidu warriors. A regular knight still makes me feel much better than a vet Enkidu

We can now get magnetism for 200g, 9gpt, WM and Music Theory

The only reason to research MT was because noone else had done it, so it looked like a good trading chip.

Hmm seems like someone has played a few turns too many or few inn the past. 1250 AD seems a more probable breakpoint than 1270 so I'm gonna stop here. Here's what I think we should do:
- Buy magnetism from the Greek and pray for Nationalism as our free tech.
- Build some more knights and when we have a fair few of them make a deal for saltpeter with the Carthaginians if still possible and mass upgrade.
- Don't build anymore units without barracks.
And then........?

Amen! Even if we don't get Nationalism, I'd like to declare on the Hittites and get them to attack our Fortress town. Maybe build some walls there right after the temple? And some barracks for healing? Some trebuchets wouldn't hurt, either. We can skip barrcaks in two or three towns and have them focus on arillery units. We'll need them.

 

[sabo]

it's sometimes easy to take a city instead of settling, but you need lots of bombers and artillery, bomb the roads back, settle your SoD next to the city and rain artillery on the next turn, but judging by whats been going on we are no where near having bombers yet

 

[danz]

Is this game still alive?

 

[carlosMM]

oops,



danz, I hope it is! I had some major computer trouble (again - that kinda stuff seems to hunt me) and totally forgot about this.

everyone - still interested?

 

[Keiji]

I was wondering if anyone would notice this game again. I'm still interested if we continue. I was last up though, so someone else should take it first.

 

[danz]

jkp, carlos, and sabo are all ahead of me...

Keiji, if noone pipes up I think it's going to be you and me for the duration

 

[steviejay]

I'm here, sorry, rough month

 

[carlosMM]

seems we all had a bad time, but sabo especially.

keiji, please take it

 

[danz]

good luck catching up to RL, civ can wait...

ok, i'll go after keiji

 

[Keiji]

Your sure you don't want to take it first Danz. Like I said I was up last. Oh well, I'll play tomorrow then if no one has taken it by then.

 

[Keiji]

I wish I had better news, but the hittites declared war on us, and we're not exactly winning. I would just like to say, that I hate that mursilis guy.

Pre-flight check:
Alright, according my previous thoughts I should buy Magnetism from Greece.
I do so for Music Theory, 1gpt, 200g and World Map. We get steam power as
our free tech, not what we wanted, but useful nonetheless. Unfortunately we
have no own coal resource. Furthermore I buy saltpeter from Carthage for
Music Theory. Knights are switched to cavalry.

1255 AD (1) - ZZZ
1260 AD (2) - Erech, courthouse -> cannon
1265 AD (3)
Sumer, barracks -> cavalry
Rush the temple in Fortress Foothold.
1270 AD (4)
Ur, cavalry -> galleon
Umma, cavalry -> cavalry
Fortress Foothold (FF), temple -> walls
Hmm, a single hittite cavalry has landed N of FF.
Mursilis assures us of his good intentions, yeah right.
1275 AD (5)
As expected, the hittites declare war on us.
Isin, courthouse -> galleon
The Hittites complete Shakespeare's theater.
I kill the invading cavalry at the cost of a knight.
Rush the walls at FF.
1280 AD (6)
Banana gets invaded by multiple cavalry, that
city is lost to us . Agade, courthouse -> cannon.
1285 AD (7)
As expected Banana gets trampled.
Ur, frigate -> frigate
Erech, cannon -> cannon
Hurry the barracks at FF
1290 AD (8) - Lagash, cavalry -> cavalry
1295 AD (9)
A caravel full of units gets sunk.
Bad-tibira, cavalry -> cavalry
We lose our supply of incense and horses, it seems
we can't get them back, GRRRR!
Hurry a harbor in FF
1300 AD (10) - Ur, frigate -> frigate

 

[danz]

Yeah, Mursilis is on a rampage. I'll try to hold on. I can't get any of our knights or cavs killed because we don't have horses to replace them with. A serious offensive is out of the question. Hopefully we can get horses again.

If not, this could get interesting...

 

[sabo]

Who's turn is it? I thought this game died, I guess not.. That's good!!!

 

[Keiji]

It just got resurrected from the dead a few days ago. I believe Danz already said he would take it after me, so I assume he did. Let's not wait for a week for anyone to respond again though.

 

[sabo]

It just got resurrected from the dead a few days ago. I believe Danz already said he would take it after me, so I assume he did. Let's not wait for a week for anyone to respond again though.

Yeah and I just buried my Dad, things kinda went haywire with this game giong on.

 

[danz]

Condolences, Sabo.

Feel free to take the game if you're up to it. I didn't get around to playing this weekend.

 

[danz]

1300. Sell Banking to Carthage for Horses + Incense + some change. Establish an embassy in Greece, hoping to steal Natioalism when we have the money. Start some frigates, it's esier to sink Hittite invaders before they land then trying to dislodge them from one of our hills.

1305. Sell Physics to Portuga for 11gpt + 25g.

IT. Hittites land 1 cav.

1310. Kill cav.

IT. Carthage and India go to war. Hittites land 4 cavalry, but thankfuly on flat ground.

1315. With help from our cannon, our frigates sink 2 Hittite frigates. Our cavs kill 3 of theirs and a swordsman kills the last, becoming Elite in the process. If he can get us an army, that would be just awesome.

IT. Carthage pays 2gpt for extension of ROP.

1320. Sink 1 frigate that was covering a retreating galleon. I love it when the AI uses its whole navy to cover transports. So much easier to deal with than an enemy navy on the offensive.

1325. Just a bunch of MM. Every turn requires some shuffling of tiles between cities to minimize time of production.

IT. Sink one attacking pirate.

1330. More of the same. Sending one boatfull of cavs + cannon over to the Fortress. When they arrive, we can remove the Enkidu blocking the only landing zone next to the city, and then kill Hittite invaders with our cavs. I would not press the attack until we have more troops.

IT. Sink another pirate. Thermopylae completes JS Bach's Cathedral.

1335. Finally, we have the money for a careful steal from Greece, and we get Nationalism! Builds immediately switch to rifleman. We need some decent defenders, and pronto!

1340. Sink 1 frigate. They sail up to our shore, we bombard with whatever is handy, and then kill them off. Preserving ground forces.

1345. Sell Fre Artistry to Carthage for 6gpt + 17g.

Notes:

Our deal for Saltpeter with Carthage ends next turn! They need Phyics, so we can trade tech for resources again.

There is a Hittite convoy approaching from the NE, our frigates are trying to converge on them before they can land, but our cannon and riflemen are also going in tat direction, just in case.

We have enough on the island to kill off one boatfull of invaders per turn, max. Any more than that and we are in big trouble. I recommend delaying shipment of any new recruits until we double the size of our army.

Also, if you can redline a cav, try and take it out with an Enkidu, we really could use our Golden Age. There's no way we'll ever see it otherwise. Enkidu vs cav is bad odds, but Enkidu versus infantry or tank is just plain silly.

 

[carlosMM]

wow, great dealing with a bad situation!

Guess I should take it now? I am utterly confused

 

[danz]

Actually, it wasn't so bad. All I had to do was control my impulses and play a conservative hand. I waited till there was enough money for a careful steal, and I cranked out some frigates so we have some control over our own territorial waters.

The only thing that saved our Fortress town was Carthage. If the Hittites declare on them and wipe out the choke city, we're in trouble unless we have half a dozen rifles in town by then.

I wouldn't try to do much more than build rifles, frigates, and cannon for another 10 or 20 turns. After that, we can think about taking the Hittite city on the fortress island. This will take 2-3 boatfulls of troops.

If we went to the Hittite mainland right now we would get devastated. They can throw 10 cavs at every unit we manage to land. I really don't know what to do from here except hope we can steal our way to a tactical nuke and hope the Hittites build the UN on the coast. That's a lot of hope

p.s. Take it, Carlos, I'm sure Keiji could use a break!

 

[carlosMM]

well, I'll give sabo a chance to grab it if he feels like it. otehrwise I take it tomorrow.