Deitymania #2: Lincoln

[Lain]

@Fippy: Nice rush . Does he have any metal left now? I would probably heal and move deeper into his land with at least 8 HA and maybe take Evora or actually Oporto. 2nd stack of HA could take Braga, maybe spear will move away to defend his mainland? Could take cease fire then (or take Alpha for peace?) and his land would be divided in two parts -> he will try to send archers through your land which can be easily killed.

Regarding my game... tech path thoughts, @BornInCantaloup

Spoiler :

I thought about ignoring Paper/Education/Lib and maybe beeline Steel, double bulb Chemistry. Not like I want Universities here. But can I get there with 5 cities (confident I can get a 6th somewhere though) and no single cottage?

I am hesitant to make a full commitment to construction straight away, since even if I take some cities I will probably be cut off from the tech race. I don't even have The Wheel yet, so... I want Aesthetics to trade for Wheel/Pottery/Iron Working/Monarchy/Alpha, maybe Math. Then possibly attack in the late BCs with Axes/Swords/Catapults... I could trade for Elephants from Cyrus. Joao will have Longbows for sure by then. With my losses, there is no way he will capitulate to me either. But I can get to 8-9 cities and happily tech to Steel then. If the aim is just to take 3-4 cities, Longbows can be grinded down I suppose.

Also, if I make a detour to all those techs, I could buy myself some help from Alex, he will happily declare on Joao and maybe divert his attention a bit. If I just go Maths-Construction straight away, so many options diplo-wise and economically disappear. Then, Alex will most likely be bribed on me.

That being said, I am a rather cautious and "solid" player. I prefer slow, strategic wars and don't like the more tactical solutions of Horse Archers or Cuirassiers. Though I already did both on Deity, but I only dare to do so in favorable circumstances.

Though I have a feeling Persia might declare on me soon (RNG) and if it happens within >10 turns, it will be gg then . Will post update today.

 

[Lain]

Quick teaser. Looks like there will be more than one update of this game after all

Spoiler :

 

[BornInCantaloup]

^

Spoiler :

Sure, shared war is a good reason to get involved.
If you bind your time and scout properly, then the tech you have may not matter as much as your unit count.
(Go for the weaker points + Catapults would be nice but maybe aren't even necessary.
Flatland city with low culture (like Guimares) could be busted with brute force.)

You should probably check the western tip of your island for some seafood. Would be great if you had another city up there.

 

[Lain]

To Turn 100:

Spoiler :

Starting with a quick assessment of the game. After 75 turns, I built two mines, one pasture and zero roads. Seems legit enough.



Two generals being born on the other landmass. Guess Korea is trying to survive. I wonder who might be evil enough to do something like thi... oh, I see. But they are actually not at war with each other. Wonder what is going on.



Atlanta is settled. Now I will finally have metal... after I learn how to build roads anyway. Great micro means the city has to build a workboat itself. But I will share some food from the capital.



Then stuff happens. Cyrus declares on Joao, who just founded the first religion on our landmass. Happy days. Now I just need to found Taoism myself and spread it to Cyrus. Diplo will be sorted out then.



Whipped the library and hoping for a GS, but a merchant would be fine aswell. Trade mission on the other landmass would be great. Temple of Artemis is there aswell, though I haven't found its builder yet.

What would I do with GS? Bulbing Maths is out of the question, would be a waste. I can tech it in 4 turns myself. I am thinking Academy in the capital, which will produce quite some commerce eventually with all the trade routes and 4x silk. Next one for Philo.



I will get one GS from here, too.



Boston will grow to size 2 and then build a settler. Have space for one more city which can work two grassland mines... not great, but an axe every 7 turns and with currency it will generate 13 commerce while costing 2 gold or so.



Joao spread his religion to me. Might be interesting for later. I just hope Cyrus doesn't get it via auto-spread or something.

I researched Aesthetics and put some beakers into Alpha, ready to trade. Now I will collect gold for a few turns, waiting for a library to be finished (New York). Probably self-tech Mathematics -> Construction then, since it doesn't look like anyone will trade it anytime soon. Cyrus is researching Construction himself.



Then there is a big decision to make. Cyrus wants me to stop trading with Joao. Well... I have enough trade routes without him. If I oblige, I basically commit to attacking Joao. I think about this for 10 minutes and then accept, burning bridges with Joao and causing Joao to hate Cyrus even more ("You negotiated a trade embargo against us!")



Actually... how can I have trade routes with Persia when he is at war with Portugese? I keep the trade routes after closing borders with Joao, too. Well, whatever. I won't complain.



I get a Great Merchant at 60% or so chance. Well, lets ship him. I'd rather have 1300 Gold than bulb Currency.



And then I meet the builder of the Artemis-Temple, perfect. He is getting pounded by Korea and Mongols. Everyone over there has his own religion. Ragnar seems to be contemplating what has gone wrong for him.



Ressource trade options. Elephants could be acquired from Persia.



Some micro since I want my next GP to be born in New York rather than in the capital (will be 100% GS that way, too).



Cyrus wants me to join the war. Not yet, my friend. But I can afford the -1 diplo hit since I obliged earlier.



Of course Joao is the first to get Alphabet and I can't get it now. Seems we might face Longbows by the time I attack. He lost a city to Persia though.



Genghis Khan reconsiders and decides to team up on Korea now. Well, Wang Kon will be gone soon. Meanwhile, I found the Temple of Artemis. I happily take the 1300 Gold.



After Construction I decide to tech The Wheel and Alphabet myself. Alex spares me 2 turns of research though.



I get Iron Working for Alpha while Korea is still alive. -1 Diplo from Mongols and Vikings. Oh well.



We can fix that by gifting Alpha. Also picked up Poly for Alpha from Cyrus.



City overview, starting with capital. Will get another GP here before fully commiting to the upcoming war.



But New York will get out a GS first. Whip the Granary after that and pump out units.



Boston already working on a Catapult. Granary would not make much sense here.



Philadelphia. Will take back the sheep soon and mostly slow build some units.



Atlanta, granary here makes sense.



Settling Chicago might have been a mistake since, being the 3rd city on the island, it increases maintenance costs considerably. But still a net gain and will keep my island from being ninja-settled. Aaand maybe someone will be kind enough to capture the Korean capital and give me the clam.



Seattle means I have 7 cities now.



Tech situation looks reasonable. Currency in next turn, then Drama and bulb Philo. Will look even better then.



2nd in GNP, who or what can even stop us now?



My eyes are set on Lisbon. I want Guimares too, maybe snipe some other ones aswell. That would mean at least 9 cities.

Further plans depend on how the war and diplo unfolds. Maybe sit back until cannons, pretty sure Persia won't go before that. Maybe take Greece.

Actually, why did I trade for Iron Working? I could have bulbed Engineering otherwise and go for some medieval fun. Why did nobody stop me

 

[Fippy]

@Fippy: Nice rush . Does he have any metal left now? I would probably heal and move deeper into his land with at least 8 HA and maybe take Evora or actually Oporto. 2nd stack of HA could take Braga, maybe spear will move away to defend his mainland? Could take cease fire then (or take Alpha for peace?) and his land would be divided in two parts -> he will try to send archers through your land which can be easily killed.

Ty, i hope no metals left
But i might not see one source, i think moving east already would be too dangerous.
When i plundered copper far east, he had an ~8 units stack that might go for Cyrus, but could also turn around.
Also my production is low until i get Joao cities out of revolt, New York stalls so only Washi left for reinforcements.
+ some HAs injured, and he had chariots roaming around that i did not kill, so i also need to protect Lisbon.
So much to do for currently 10 HAs

Agree with you Sampsa, Braga should be next and always looking for cease fires if they make sense until i have a stronger position.

On Lain's game

Spoiler :

yep true if you get an early DoW it's over with so few main continent cities + no copper there.
But Joao is not Ragnar
I also thought about Jumbos from Cyrus, i probably would do that in your game.
With currency you could pay for them, if not enuf resis for trade.
But i did not read your turn 100 spoiler yet, maybe you are already further

 

[BornInCantaloup]

Actually, you wouldn't have been able to.
Great people tech preference : http://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/great-people-tech-prefences.140952/

a) IW has higher priority than Engineering ;
b) Meditation unlocks the very high priority Philosophy ;
c) you'd have bulbed down the Sailing line first anyway.

Your game is looking good. GLH makes such a difference.
Welp, mine has been a trainwreck. Some key points :

Spoiler :

Joao builds the Stonehenge in Lisbon for some heavy cultural pressure.
Cannot settle NE of the southern cows because Joao gets a city 2 tiles away first.
Lose the sheep island spot to Wang ; secure the copper.
No AI-AI war on our landmass. Alex DoWs me and snipe my Dyes city. I can take that, he doesn't have OB with Joao and cannot reach any further.
Wang close to dead has 1 city remaining on his mainland.
New-York (plains hills fish city) is culture flipped by Joao 1 turn before it gets an archer for extra garrison... Now down to 3 cities...
Settler in western continent fails to find a suitable spot for a city...
Stack of 3 cats + 3 axes fails to take Wang's island city. Game over ; well, at least, I've had enough

Research :
Aesth->Drama->Music + Philo bulb got me a long way and even some tech edge.

1 AD save is attached, if you wanna feel good about your attempt(s) ^^

 

[Fippy]

Big update to turn 93 ~~

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

Not ready at all to defend against that, so road cutting for the rescue
Would he take cease fire?

Spoiler :

Nopes..before cutting the road, General meets with chariot for super healing.

Spoiler :

Breathing room, i like the tactics for HA rushes

Spoiler :

Next turn, he moves forward and i was able to gather this crowd

Spoiler :

Ready? Fight..result could have been better, his spears won and also his Axe (3 losses).

Spoiler :

When i feared my attack could slow down now, i saw only 2 Archers in Braga wuwu.
Lisbon out of Revolt, cold whipped Archer killed a surviving Spear just in time

Spoiler :

Luck did swing back into my favor, no more losses and here's where i am now:

Spoiler :

Need more cities from Bighat, he's in troubles ~~

Techs, could trade for something but not sure..nobody has HBR yet.

Spoiler :

Bit painful, no workers..lost my only one to sneaky Chariot.
No matter what happens next, this has already been so much fun & challenging.

Ouchie BiC
Really difficult map imo.

 

[BornInCantaloup]

@ Fippy :

Spoiler :

Where have all the workers gone ? You desperately need one.
Guimares should whip a worker rather than Barracks. Go, go, improve the gold by Lisbon.

I'd revolt into Buddhism either :
- right now : prevents Guimares from starving 1pop ;
- after the worker is built. Gets the worker 1 turn later. And by later, I mean earlier.

A second worker would be nice to have, too. Would allow to do some chopping
e.g. : chop in Braga means extra fast 2pop whip Library + border pop & unlocks fish.
Not sure the Library there is actually desirable over Barracks, since Joao still looks very strong.
Not sure you can get a 2nd worker short term but I'd say 2nd worker >>> extra barracks. (So Worker in Braga is a valid build, if the Library doesn't suit you.)

Barracks... Lisbon is a good city to have barracks in. 5xp. If you've got to pick places, it's better than Guimares & Braga.

You managed to maintain your troop count, props for that.
But all of Joao's close cities have city walls, now. Eek.
Probably need to regroup your force and manoeuver to snipe the least defended spots.
Have you given any war directions to Cyrus ? Maybe he can help fix some units or cut a reinforcement route ?
Sending him over to Evora or Oporto might help you clear up the south... Lagos is a city you could easily scout (and reach).

Your commerce situation looks a bit worrying but I suppose that's the way things must be with this opening.
Just... maybe you should have put more emphasis on acquiring Alphabet rather than Currency.
Alpha comes with its own benefits and it's a pre-req to Currency, which almost makes the investment trivial.
Well, this is for the past but... from now on :
If you're gonna trade Currency for Alpha, why not trade HBR for some lesser techs ? Sailing, Pottery, IW.
Just getting trade routes with Wang would be pretty neat, at this point. I'm not sure you have the scouting to get the trade routes, however.

It's up to you to tell what the right balance is.
Of course, focusing too much on the Empire's development runs the risk of ruining your war effort. You certainly will need some more units.
Still, I think you should be weary and try not to fall too far back behind.
With a sustained effort, the warring looks promising. Just careful not to fight mean stacks behind walls

Go, go, kill, kill !!

 

[Fippy]

Ty for your suggestions BiC

Barracks in Guimares were not started, was just what i put there after capturing.
Worker seems like a good idea, my only one was stolen by sneaky Chariot

Alpha would have been not so good i think, 3 AIs have it now and i can trade for Currency?
I might give HBR for sailing + other stuff thou, nice idea.

edit: Forgot doing much before uploading, i can trade for Furs and prevent some shrinking too.
For workers i was also hoping i can capture some when the situation relaxed a bit, difficult decision imo between building one or another unit.

 

[Lain]

Quick update (only 15 turns) to 1 AD:

Spoiler :

So Currency gave a nice boost and GS next turn will build an academy in my capital. This will be a long and nasty game, not sure Philo does me much good here. I might ignore religions for a while anyway. Spreading Taoism to Cyrus seems unrealistic with closed borders



My plan right now was something like: snipe 1-2 cities from Joao, make peace, happily tech to Steel, take out the continent. But just 10 turns later, this plan becomes totally obsolete, as you will see... I trade for HBR from my purple friend to keep the jumbo card in my pocket



Bit expensive, no? But I will take it in a few turns. I still don't understand how I can have trade routes with this guy!



I get a random copper pop in my capital. Instead of being grateful, I complain about not getting Iron instead. Useless RNG.



It's fair to say Mongolia is a bit behind... but having scouted their continent with my workboat a bit, he will easily get 12 cities I think...



Well, I sloooowly prepare some stack to take his capital, research went: Currency -> Drama -> Music for the Great Artist.



Then, suddenly, the trade route to Persia gets cut. Why now? I doooon't understand it. No jumbos.



Very useful trade I think, leading to nice tech situation. At this point, I feel good about the game. I can lazily take 1-2 cities from Portugese and tech to steel, maybe lib chemistry or something. 300 beakers is easily achievable with all the trade routes and growing capital to 15+ pop. One thing that bothers me though: I have so little land that I can't bribe people off each other ("We'd rather win the game, tyvm") .... so I have little control over diplo.





I am first to Music. Meanwhile, Washington generated another Great Merchant... no philo bulb for me, I guess. But Joao was first to it anyway. Well, another 1300 gold then I suppose. Otherwise I could bulb Code of Laws, big deal. There are opportunity costs and lalala, but 1300 gold is something like 4000-5000 beakers for me spread over 25-30 turns.



Suddenly, trade route with Persia appears again (???). I buy jumbos for premium price. Joao has crossbows, nasty bighat.



Aaaaaaaaaand then big bad worst thing happens. Joao was already on the verge of collapsing, I knew that, but I thought he might be able to buy peace with Philo or Machinery (I can't bribe Persia off ). Anyway, I didn't expect THIS



Joao lost his capital and Cyrus is becoming a monster. Well, this only means one thing. I will go full medieval on his face and try to catch him now, because steel will be way too late. Cyrus doesn't have Feudalism yet and I can see what he is researching. I will declare on Joao in a second to take at least 1-2 cities before he capitulates. Then I build up troops (enough jumbos) and declare on Cyrus, taking Lisbon and acquiring Iron.

I am almost to Machinery myself, Engineering is next (~8 turns). Trebs don't need Iron, luckily. Anyway, this will be an ugly war which will last 1000+ years for sure. Good thing is, the other continent seems busy aswell...

Tech situation:



My "army":

Attached 1 AD save

 

[Lain]

@BornInCantaloup

Great Lighthouse really might save my game, yes. That and Korea not settling the island as early as in your game maybe. Without it, I would have settled less cities, gone straight for construction and probably never recovered from the war. Unlucky with the declaration in your game aswell... if Persia went for me, it would have been over right there. Thanks for trying though ... will see how my game goes, I might just lose a bit later.

@Fippy

I like the tactics with Horse Archers . Very stressful, but fun and challenging for sure. Taking 4 cities in ~12 turns is a big achievement already. Joao is still strong I think, but it's a reasonable position. And after Currency, things should become easier. I think Joao's island is blocking your trade routes with Korea maybe? That would help a lot with economy.

I have only one worker on the continent aswell ... he has to improve 4x silk, poor guy.

 

[BornInCantaloup]

@Fippy :

Spoiler :

If you don't wanna start Workers in your 2 size 5 cities, then you could consider training 2x unpromoted HA in each of them.
Those might be the numbers you need to start working on infrastructure a bit.
Southern city has a granary already. I'd think it really wants its Library sometime soon. A timely 2nd GP will ensure you remain in the tech trading game.
How many HAs will you produce in these 2 cities ? Would Barracks really pay off ?

In any case, you need to solve the worker thingie, first. Just improving the gold would make it worth, imho. And then you've now unlocked forests to chop.
Barracks in Lisbon still seems very good.
Also the revolt into Budd. Offers you quite a favourable diplo situation (1 unknown AI, though) and a much welcome happy boost.

@ Alphabet :
I didn't mean to research the whole of it. Just part-research & trade HBR vs Alpha.
Investing 100 beakers into Alpha is made up by the discount on Currency. You'd need some more than that.
And you're right Alpha wouldn't have the bestest of values with 3 AIs knowing it. Not sure what the definitive answer is.

 

[Fippy]

Not much time currently, but i updated the current turn a bit and will explain some thoughts BiC

Spoiler :

Scouted with 1 on hill, and this looks ready to be taken

Spoiler :

I have 5 well promoted HAs, Archer with useless hill promo.
Lisbon barracks would be good, but i whipped HA and will again when i can while size 2.
All short term gains, keeping my army size okay. I think numbers will be more important cos i already have some experienced guys.

Trading for furs, Guimares looks like that:

Spoiler :

I could get a worker, or 2+ HAs now that i can prevent shrinking.
Leaning towards the horsies, and hoping i can find a city with Bighat workers soon.

I hope that makes sense
Overall i want to keep fighting with always around ~10 HAs available.
Budd switch would be great for all reasons you explained, but stops my prod for 1 turn.
Currently i feel not comfortable with delays on HAs.

With trading i think similar, keeping these guys backwards (HAs would be much more annoying than Chariots) can have benefits as well. Not out of question i will also attack Cyrus after Bighat, especially if i can get his Jumbos and Construction before. Forests could be used for those later, too.

 

[BornInCantaloup]

@Lain :

Spoiler :

This is going to be tough.
Persia is turning into a real monster. So many wonders built. Real stacks. Promoted units. Plenty of cities.
Portugal is a gonner. You should DoW them as soon as possible and try to capture at least 1 city from them. At this point, I think your objective should be to keep the number of cities that Persia captures to a minimum. Portugal will auto-yield when Persia hits Feudalism, if they're not already dead by then.
Ok, Axes are bad against X-bows but perhaps you should have built some more. Could have let you DoW already. Still, you're not that far : once you get 3-5 Elephants, you can start pushing. This is only a few turns ahead.
To put things into perspective : Persia-Portugal war was started 35 turns ago.
So, maybe you've been too slow to build up a military from the point you decided to get involved in that war ?

What distractions did you find ?
Settle 2 no-food cities. They pay off nicely with the GLH, commerce wise, but bring 0 extra production.
Not much else. But those are 200H, stunned growth and less pop to work with.
Your 7 cities are all very, very small. Danger. (Low pop = maybe Music wasn't the best choice, after all ? Returns from a Golden Age are proportional to your overall population...)

Engineering into DoW Persia ? I'd be very hesitant to do that.
They've got plenty of mounted units, against which your WEs would have a nice bonus. This is something.
But they really have a lot. And they're promoted. And they're gonna tech up (Maces + L-bows coming up). And they're gonna keep reinforcing. If you fight in their territory, war weariness is gonna be ugly. The risk is very real that they could clear your main stack, too.
I'd strongly consider befriending Persia instead and picking on a lesser target.
So : adopt religion and then maybe civic. Share war against Portugal, take as many Portuguese cities as you can.
Once Portugal is gone, there could be two different routes :
- invade Greece with your already built-up army, tech up to Lib and follow up with a war against Persia.
- invade Korea to get a foothold on the other continent, tech up to Lib, get Communism in a reasonable timeframe (State Property = no colonial maintenance) and clear the other AIs over there. With complete control over the next continent, you'd be able to out-tech + out-produce Persia.
(The tech up to Lib part is a while warring part, of course ; you already have a nice backbone for a stack.)


Great Merchants are assuredly the better GPs when one is not in a racing situation. No worries, there.
2 GMs are great.

You could do some more stuff with your trading. Both resource & tech trades could get you more. (Copper for health is a poor trade ; could sell more minor stuff, no harm in storing more gold.)

Could have explored your own continent a little bit more, too.

City management seems fine.
@ tile improvements for the future : should probably be driven by the overall lack of food.
Windmills everywhere. Chain irrigation on the mainland. Cottages on the island.
Those cottages (vs workshops) aren't great but at least they're food neutral.

The game is probably still in your hands but me fears an inadequate DoW could spell gg

 

[Fippy]

Turn 100 (375BC)

Spoiler :

After some fiddling around (he had units on his galley, and i had to re-capture Braga Oo really strange, he did not attack Washi before..)
Lagos was captured, and cease fire taken. Then i gathered for healing here, with eyes on Oporto on re-declare

Spoiler :

Weak guards, worker(s) captured, but plenty units roaming including 2 Spears.

Spoiler :

Next turn, Oporto was full of life

Spoiler :

Spear killed by veteran HA, general used for some upgrades, and..woops pic not saved
Took the city, no surprise with high promoted horsies against Axe + Archer + Chariots.

Got this screenie of current situation thou:

Spoiler :

3 HAs in Lagos, 2 on hills and what you can see in Oporto.
Should be okay, Sword must be killed too thou. Thinking about using some worker baits too.

Overall i stopped cos there's more to decide, like next tech & trades:

Spoiler :

and resi deals, could take 5 gold for clams or trade for Jumbos by adding some gold:

Spoiler :

Could also switch into Budd now, all HAs finished.
Alex + Cyrus are my new neighbors, and both in Budd.
I think overall the game could be rather easily switched into peace mode soon, Lisbon can be nice Bur. Cap too with Palace move.

But do we want that, or rather Jumbopult madness for fun..

 

[Fippy]

@Lain

Spoiler :

yup bad luck with Cyrus becoming so strong, as BiC wrote you can still do something thou.
Next turn when you can add the Washi Jumbo, can finish the stack 2sw of Guimares and try taking that.
Too bad you cannot add the Jumbo from Atlanta, would be great if galley was closer.
But i guess there's no time, and more units can join soon.

Hmm where should you direct Cyrus..probably Guimares too?
Maybe he suicides some HAs + Immortals?
Probably better than him also taking Lagos now.

 

[Lain]

@BornInCantaloup, @Fippy

Spoiler :

@BornInCantaloup: I could have attacked at least 10 turns earlier, that's for sure. I was hesitant to commit much earlier, though. In the past, even with successful construction rushes I was left in a dire position afterwards (tech-wise), so I wanted to make double sure I have enough techs to trade around, securing a good position for Lib aswell. After all, War Elephants don't become obsolete for a long time.

I didn't think the war between Cyrus and Joao would go anywhere. They were equal in city count in the beginning. I mean, Joao had like 12 units in his capital the turn before. And Cyrus just takes him out with ease. I've been surprised quite a few times this game. Not attacking earlier was definitely a mistake. I hope it doesn't cost the game.

I used the Golden Age to switch civics (HR, Organized Religion, Vassalage) and to convert to Confu. 3 turns of anarchy otherwise, I thought I couldn't afford that. I collected some GPP in my capital aswell. But it certainly felt like a bit of a waste, agreed.

My plan was to go the route you described. Befriend Persia, take 1-2 cities from Portugal before he capitulates and then maybe go for Greece.

Somehow, the game took a completely different direction though .

@Fippy Yup, I went for Guimares. Tried to divert Cyrus from going there too, but it failed. And then plans changed.

Your game looks very nice . I'm sure all tactical decisions have to be spot on to manage 2 vs 9 cities like that. Without great capital or good commerce. Very impressive. Jumbopult would be funnier for sure, but I think just getting to a winning position in any way is already a great achievement.

Going to write update now

 

[Lain]

Big update, Turn 115 -> 136. This is the story of 10 elephants who deserted Persia in search of better labour conditions and their journey to becoming Superjumbos, ready to haunt their homeland and free their fellows

Spoiler :

When I stopped, Cyrus just took Joao's capital and will instantly capitulate him once he hits Feudalism. With that in mind, I prepared to take at least one city from Joao.

Things just went from bad to worse for Joao with Alex declaring on him aswell (dogpile, no bribe).



This is it. Going for Guimares, just like Cyrus. Hope I can take it after he suicides some troops... Research goes Machinery -> Engineering. I never tech things like that myself, but this game screams for action. Greece won't be a pushover and I want to secure some land, my 5% or so is just not going to cut it.



Meanwhile, another 1300 Gold makes sure I can get to where I need to go. I am worried about Mongolia taking out both guys eventually. That continent is full of lunatics.



There are 9 units in Guimares ... I can't take it in one turn. Guess I have to hope that Cyrus suicides some troops and I mop up what's left. But I have a bad feeling about this.



And Cyrus surprises me again. American Empire is facing despair and darkness as Guimares goes up in flames. Sad jumbos watching from outside the walls. 12 vs 4 cities now. Joao is dead. Just as the game, if nothing is done.



Born out of desperation, I change plans and declare on Cyrus right there. I take Guimares from him. 0,4 Power Ratio. Not impossible, right?



Outside the city is a rather large persian stack which swings back. I let him retake Guimares, planning to catapult the life out of him after. Which I do.





Another stack of mine lays siege upon Lisbon, leaving one wounded immortal in there, because I saw a big stack in the vicinity.



I persuade Greece to redirect his attention to Cyrus aswell. 3v1 now. Will see how he likes that. There is no turning back now. I will make peace with Joao as soon as possible and commit to taking down Persia.







Cyrus reinforces Lisbon. I am not ready to take these guys, my troops retreat for now. However, I manage to kill some stray Archers, Horse Archers and Macemen. The stack you see here is in Lisbon.



I haven't given up on Joao yet. If he capitulates, it will be a disaster. So I weaken Guimares, leaving one persian defender there. Joao takes his city back next turn. Please don't capitulate. I hope he won't because he is afraid of Greece (and me of course )



Cyrus moved part of his Lisbon stack into Portugese lands, apparently he wants Guimares back. But he was too greedy. I am healing and waiting for my opportunity. I am waiting to see what his troops do.



Joao takes out some guys, Cyrus goes back to fortify in Lisbon. Now it's time to strike.









Cyrus is angry, but I am up to 0,6 ratio now. He converts to Christianity (which he founded), further isolating himself diplomatically.



Tech situation:



The city I captured:



The jumbos (and me) are scared, but the only way forward here is to move into the darkness of uncharted Persian territory. I will tech Guilds (-> Gunpowder -> Chem -> Steel) and unleash some Knights soon. Hoping to bulb part or whole of Chemistry.



Meanwhile, Mongolia is gathering momentum on his continent and Greece pulled out 3 new cities out from somewhere. He wouldn't be a much softer target than Cyrus I reckon. Glad he is my ally.

I played some more turns, but will actually end this update here .

Would anyone put their money on me here?

6 jumbos still alive at Turn 160. When I finally traded for a map, I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. Update tomorrow , just a small teaser~

 

[BornInCantaloup]

Nice bribes !
31 units in your stack should keep you pretty safe from counterattacks...

I could bet on you

 

[Fippy]

lol @Lain, Bighat cannot capitulate until Cyrus has Feuda
That saved you probably, really rare that AIs of his size do not have Feuda earlier.
This map delivers many goodies, i love them..good starts are so boring, this is much much better.
Yup i think you will win.