COM2 - n00bile deities

[Leha]

I thought about this.
I think buiding 15-20 arties and couple of inf armies will be enough to declare temporary war on aztecs, get all their cities on our continent plus on the northern island and if possible on the southern island - then peace. Along way we can pick motorized transportation and with tank armies nothing can stop us. We even can finish this baby AW stile.

You know what, I'd stop stealing for awhile and start researching MT.

 

[Nikodemus]

Actually, by what I saw during my turns, Inca was the tech leader. But Aztecs definitely have more of a power base.

I was looking at this too, and I think it's because all of the Inca land is good and fertile, while the Aztecs have a lot of tundra. And of course the Aztecs have been allied with us who can't help their research much.

Now on the question of what to do next, or should it be who to attack next? I've only played like 3 deity games ever including this, so I don't know how big of a chance it is to lose by diplo, spaceship or culture. But if we assume that's not something we have to be terrified about yet, I would stay away from the Aztecs for a while longer, since they seem to like us. We could even get enough tiles for domination without ever conquering them, if that was the VC we wanted to pursue. Personally I'm open to all of them, except maybe diplo.. that one always seemed a little cheap.

I'd make a peace with the Greeks (they have no oil so they can't build tanks or bombers as long as Aztecs don't trade it to them, an embargo might be nice) and try to kill the Incas. Incas also lack horses so all they have for now are 1-move units and a few bombers, although you'd expect them to get tanks pretty soon. Both their oil and rubber are near Macchu Picchu so it should be fairly easy to cripple them. We probably don't have enough troops for a proper invasion quite yet though.

So in conclusion, it all depends on how scary the Aztecs look to us.

 

[Whomp]

I agree with Niko's assessment. Better to cripple the Incans (tech leader) first and capture their oil and rubber. Once we've accomplished this then our deals will start winding down and can focus on the Aztecs.
I think our fastest victory will be domination (diplo is not really something I like to do either) and depending on how long it takes to get to domination we can still work towards a space launch.

Does anyone know what our turnaround time on steals is right now? I'm inclined to continue stealing from the Incans since we're at war with them already.

 

[Bede]

Turn time on steals is 3. Income is well over 1000 and a safe steal is <3000.

THe Greeks are good customers for our excess resources (much netter choice than Aztecs) so I think making peace with them and concentrating on the Inca is our way to go. I want to stay at war with Inca just because we then have nothing to fear from tech theft.

 

[Bede]

Rearranged some specialists for the income boost (using a specialist is the equivalent of 1gpt to the entertaiment budget, or an additional luxury, or the impact of a marketplace as tax collectors are the equivalent of 1 content citizen for they never riot, hence markets are not generally needed in tax or science farms), built some airfields in the plains and on the big island holdingm, then airlifted troops. AS the last act of the inter regnum tried a careful steal Mass Prod from the Inca but failed, though Gweeto escaped.

I see no reason not to continue the wars as I see no threats that we can't deal with and we can steal just as effectively when we are at war.

Income is over 1000gpt now so I'll get back to Wall Street benefit on the IT.

1455
Start building some flak as there are airplanes out there. Try to plant a spy in Azteca and fail.

Make a peace deal with the Greeks getting 178g+10gpt and a map.

1460

Inca land on west island and shift an army and some artillery over to deal with them, the artillery whacks them down to size, and the army and two grunts wipe them out, light casualties, no losses and a grunt in the army promotes.

Greeks land a single cavalryman at Juli on the tundra isle.

1465

Inca learn MotTrans.

1470
Shifting troops and bombers to cover Aztecs on home island and Incans to the west.

1475

Inca now have 8 tanks in the arsenal

1480
Continue our theiving ways and get Motorized Transport from Inca.

Greek cavalry die at Juli, shift some troops around, steal Mass Production from Inca and sell it to Korea for everything he owns including some workers, then use it to acquire some Gems from Alex.

Greeks make a landing at Troy in some force this time and we finish Battlefield Medicine.

1485
Renew the peace treaty with the Aztecs straight up but cancel the luxury deals.

Lose a destroyer to an Incan fleet.

1490
Steal Atomic Theory from Korea as no one was willing to give it up for MotTrans or all the money

Bomb the Incans in the strait between Sunny Beach and Dalandzagad. Sink a cruiser. Greeks fail to take Troy but make another landing.

1495
Sink the Incan fleet.

1500
Not much doing. Move a settler and the army to poach some ground from Korea on the island we share at Sunny Beach and get us a lick closer to Inca.

There are transports positioned on the home island, the west island and the Mongol island to guarantee troop movement anywhere needed. There are airfields as well for later reinforcement and an airfield farm on the English plains.

The circles are airfields and the arrows are the transport paths.

I have not yet planted a spy with Aztecs as I wanted some more muscle at home so that when we hit their towns we can be sure and take them, if the spy attempt lands us in the soup with them.

Electronics is out there for the theiving whenever you are ready.

We can do a steal every three or so and the treasury comes back to over a thousand right away.

Life is good at home and abroad but the sooner we deal with the Aztec cultural threat on the home island the better, I think. The Aztecs are at 59K culture and growing at >500cpt though an Aztec culture victory is only likely if they suddenly get peaceful as the other guys are about 2/3 of them. The UN is out for us (early rep hit should cost us the vote even if we build the glass box).

There is not much else left in the infrastructure box unless we want to build some culture (ours is pathetic, about 15% of Aztec) so mobilization is an option for us if the warring gets to be heavier. Right now we are a little short on 50spt towns (some coal plants might help there).

 

[Whomp]

I got it.

 

[Whomp]

I will finish tomorrow but I wanted to let you know the status.
The good news is we've landed at Machu Pichu and the Incans oil and rubber are gone. The bad news is they have mechs. I'm not sure we can take them out but I can pillage their lands for a bit. What do you all think?

 

[Bede]

Wreck away. Just don't get a wounded army, those mechs will attack!!!

If you can limit your pillaging to the coasts then jump back in the boats (do you have destroyer or cruiser coverage) that might be the best plan for force preservation.

Can you reach any incan towns with bombers?

 

[Whomp]

Yeah the army has already taken some damage (9/13). So maybe it's time to load back on the transports. They have no capability to attack us since they have 1 transport.

I can reach two of the cities but I lost one bomber so I stopped (they have 17 fighters). I did sink a battleship though.

 

[Whomp]

Pre-turn: Nothing to do but check the trade picture.
Check pending deals. The Aztecs deal is up so I get furs and silks for incense, spices and 80gpt. Same price per lux if I did it with one lux at 40 gpt. Maybe this will give us some WLTKD.
Now where are everyone's resources?
Incans rubber and oil at Machu Pichu. That will be the mission.
Aztecs-Rubber at Herakleia and Tepoxpan. Oil at Tarus and more at Tepoxpan.
Koreans-no oil or rubber.
Greeks-no oil or coal.
IT Greeks cav retreat and 4 more land at Juli. Incans/Koreans make peace.
1505 I figure it's time for a city named Pink Dot (near Sunny Beach). Seemed to work for some other people I know so what the heck.
Try to safely steal from the Incans and fail.

IT All 4 cavs get wasted at Juli. Koreans want out of our deal. Renew at the lower price of 51gpt for coal, incense, spices and ivory.
1510 and 1515Position for attack on Machu Pichu.

1520Try stealing in Cuzco is a failure again and our spy is caught. Replant another.

1530Drop off at Machu Pichu.

Our landing shows a battleship. We lose a bomber but we sink their battleship with our bombers and even the elite bomber takes damage but downs a fighter. I try another steal from the Incans. Fail again and lose our agent.

1535Replant our agent in Cuzco. They have 30 mechs, 11 tanks, 26 inf, 1 tow, 7 destroyers, battleship, sub, carrier(?), 2 bombers and 15 fighters. Bomb the tank on the Machu Pichu oil and our tank promotes taking the tank out and we cut off their oil supply.

IT Army bombed again.
1540 Make a second landing on the Incan hill west of Pink Dot. Pillage their rubber. The want to give peace a chance for 18gpt and 17g. Must've had a mass upgrade. Yep. I decide we may have peace here soon so I do an immediate steal and succeed. Figure that. Take electronics. We move to the Mod. Ages. Incans and Greeks have Rockets and computers. Aztecs have rockets. Corner some injured greek cavs for future tank fodder in case they stay on the island.

IT Incan transport heads north. Infantryman promotes beating a TOW. 1 bomber hits our army but the 2nd is downed by our flak.
1545 Pillage more around Machu Pichu. Load the army back into a transport. I can't remember if they can heal in a boat but I send it back to Pink Dot. The tanks move south to work on the hill.

IT lose 2 infantry to a tank but get another promotion taking a TOW. Aztecs make peace with the Greeks. Aztecs and Korea MA against the Incans.
1550See Aztecs took back that northern city the Incans had. Seem Koreans have ecology as their free tech. Carefully steal it. Yeah. Trade ecology to the Aztecs for rockets and 230g. Of course the Aztecs have a virtual monopoly on Aluminum and we have none. No other deals with Greeks.
Look around (for awhile) at the strategic resource picture again.
Here's the resource picture for what I could find...
Aztecs--Tarsus has aluminum and oil. More near Kaesong on the northern island. Underneath Tzinzutzen and on the coast of Tlatelolco. Their only rubber source I can see is south of us on the island at Chiconautla.

Here's the rubber source down south.

and the aluminum on the northern island.

Koreans--Aluminum near Inch'on and underneath Manp'o. They have no rubber or oil.
Greeks--No oil. Pillaged rubber at Wonsan(Korean border) and can't find any aluminum.
Incans--pillaged oil and rubber. No aluminum that I can find.
Summary
I left a lot of units ready to move and other fortified underneath. We may want to make peace with the Incans because we've located our true enemy. The Aztecs and/or Koreans. I kind of lean towards the Koreans and then the Aztecs later to grab their rubber. Since they're both small islands either will work but plant a spy in Aztecia first. I also have some trebuchets headed to the Mongol island that should be upgraded. We could really use more arty.

We can make peace with the Incans straight up for 22gpt or get computers for ecology and 105gpt. Then sell them rubber or oil for some cash. They are not a threat at this point from what I could see.

It seems we can control our destiny by taking the rubber down south and aluminum up north on the islands. Of course this all presumes we have our first native resource since iron with some uranium.

What's everyone think?

 

[Leha]

I will play this evening.

 

[Leha]

Ok, so will it be alright for my next 10 turns start gathering troops for invasion of those islands and signing peace with Inca?

 

[Nikodemus]

Well, in my opinion:

- We have way too few bombing units. We either need a lot more bombers or a lot more artillery. I prefer the regular artillery, since it can't be shot down.
- Some more transports wouldn't hurt either.
- I'm not sure how much sense it makes to switch target when we've just got the previous one in the ropes. The Incas have no resources and we have a substantial force at their island. If we were to pursue a war against the Aztecs now, it'd take at least another 10 turns to get within a striking distance. Meanwhile the Incas would hook their resources back up and rebuild. We could always go and get that aluminum from the Koreans, who should be easier targets, especially since one of their alus is on that little island.
- So I would suggest burning Vitcos, founding a beachhead at the hills to SE, then burning Huamanga to decrease the cultural pressure. Meanwhile or after that send a transport filled with tanks to Manp'o.

 

[pindicator]

Yes, definitely do not let the Inca off easy now. With how late enough it is in the game, if we get the opportunity to knock off an opponent, I think we need to take it.

 

[Leha]

OK, Incas then.

IT

Incas attack our troops near Machu Picchu, kill some of our infantries and flak.
I'm afraid we'll lose that force next turn, I need two moves to save them in the transport, so I'll better
cause max damage before we lose it.

1555 AD (1)

Raze Vitcos
Have to rise lux to 10%

IT

Aztecs start SETI
Our artilleries survive

1560 AD (2)

Fail to steal computers from Inca.

IT

Gem deal with Greece ends.
They want terrible amount of money for it.
I buy gems for 3 luxes and 933 gold
Incas capture korean aluminium.

1565 AD (3)

1570 AD (4)

Raze Huamanga

1575 AD (5)

Steal Computers from Inca

IT

Aztecs start UN
Our spy in Greece is captured

1580 AD (6)

New Allegheny is built

1585 AD (7)

New Cattaraugus is built
Rush airport in New Allegheny
Plant agent in the Greece

1590 AD (8)

Raze Huanuco Pampa
steal Space flight from Inca

IT

Korea and Greece sign peace

1595 AD (9)

Lux 20%

1600 AD (10)

Ollantaitambo razed

New Oil Springs built


Notes:

- We should build tank armies (1/ 6 turns) and declare on Aztecs as soon as we finish Inca (and it will be fast
now that we have airport on their continent

SAVE

 

[Nikodemus]

In case someone else was wondering, I assume the correct link to the save is here.

 

[Leha]

In case someone else was wondering, I assume the correct link to the save is here.

Thanks

I've fixed it.

 

[Whomp]

Great stuff Leha! Sorry for leaving you high and dry near Machu Pichu but I felt we had to eliminate their strategic resources. Good thing you all didn't listen to me about stopping!

I would agree with Niko that we really need more arty and transports for the Aztecs. I'd think the most critical is their rubber source and the UN city.

 

[Nikodemus]

I'm about half done, will finish my set of turns tomorrow. Meanwhile a little update:

- Aztecs have built the UN.
- Everyone but Incas have Uranium (Korea just doesn't know it yet.)
- We've conquered the Incan oil, rubber and both of their luxuries.
- Aztecs have Synth Fibers.
- If nothing surprising happens, we'll have Aluminum next turn (from Korea).

 

[Leha]

Sorry for leaving you high and dry near Machu Pichu but I felt we had to eliminate their strategic resources.

Not a problem, this division survived and you've done really right thing pillaging their oil, so they switched to TOWs very quickly