DocT01c - Middle Ages Modified - Arpad's Arrival

[Vizurok]

@Doc: Thank you, I have forgotten my post about the city names!
If you want I could give more historical names to the cities but it is not very important now. The modifications are good: when Ive played it on Emperor I made it easier with Knights as UU, but this is the reality! I think you could switch to Monarchy now...

@Everyone: Good luck for the game!

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Well, I did not declare on the Bulgars...

Backward and poor Magyars, anno domini 969

Wow, we must have the world’s largest army of Warriors...24! Upgrading them all would cost 1440gp, and or income is 7gpt. Ok, we did need cheap MPs ASAP, but after that, some vet Archers or Spears may have been better...
Switch research to Norse Traditions, minimum reseearch won’t make HBR any cheaper.

Enter.
IBT: Belgorod (Archer) -> Archer
Plovdiv’s borders expand

Turn 1: 972AD
Zzzz...
IBT: Bulgars demand 20gp...I refuse, they declare. Bulgar Sword dies to Spear next to Jasz..., next Sword kills Spear.
Buda (Sword) -> Sword
Poles start HRE

Turn 2: 975AD
Kill Bulgar Sword. Kill Settler escort next to Belgorod. Most roads there will get pillaged on the interturn . At least, we have War Happiness. Whip a few units.
Debrecen (Sword) -> Sword, Belgorod (Archer) -> Sword

Turn 3: 978AD
Kill Spear approaching Workers next to Jasz. Warrior kills Archer out of Plovdiv, elite. Approach Plovdiv with 2 Swords, a Spear and a Rider (for the defensive Bombard). Aproach Pitesti (Spear, 2 Swords, Rider), and will pillage their Iron next turn with a Warrior. Kill Sword and Archer near Pecs, kill Spear and Sword near Belgorod.
IBT:
Bulgar Sword moves out of Pitesti and kills Sword of ours.
Szeged (Sword) -> Sword, Kassa (Archer) -> Sword, Miscolc (Sword) -> Sword, Balatonboglar (Worker) -> Temple (needs to pull in the Wheat)

Turn 4: 981AD
Plovdiv:
3/3 Sword vs 3/3 Spear: W, -2/-3, Vet
4/4 Sword vs 3/3 Spear: W, -0/-3; keep the town for now, but will be moved ASAP.

Kill the intruding Bulgar Sword. Pillage Bulgar Iron. Vet Sword kills Vet Spear, loses 3HP.
Kill 2 Spears next to Belgorod. So far, the RNG was on my side – but now I have no more healthy units...
IBT:
Bulgar Sword appears out of the fog and kills our Sword that killed the Bulgar Sword , despite a Rider underneath. On the Flip side, at Belgorod 4/4 Archers attacks Sword, and promotes it to Elite. And a Spear! attacks a 2/4 Archer – another Elite.
Buda (Sword) -> Sword (is at 15spt finally, btw)

Turn 5: 984AD
Kill a stray Archer, healing turn otherwise
IBT:
Bulgars make odd moves, an incredible number of German Settler combos heads towards Siberia.

Turn 6: 987AD
Loose a 4/4 Sword against a Bulgar 2/4 Sword, kill it finally with our Elite Warrior. Can afford to upgrade a Warrior in Szeged. Reinforcing takes forever...
We can buy Lost Roman Secrets for 2gp and 1gpt from Byzantium – and the Rus are Byzantine flavor and don’t have that! Make the deal, and get HBR and 9gp from Alexander’s Nephew . Who said HBR is expensive ?
Immediatedly switch everything to Riders. I’ll start our GA ASAP, we must strike now, even if that means we won’t be able to build Smithies during GA.
Oops, notice we can build Horseman, too – seems like I forgot to disable them for us .
Btw, we’re pretty good on VPs, only Turks and Rus have more (and most likely the unmet Abbassids).
IBT:
Our Elite Warrior is dead.
Buda (Rider) -> Rider, Mohacs (Barracks) -> Rider

Turn 7: 990AD
Kill some intruding Bulgas. Kill Archer next to Pitesti, and...

Rider promotes to Vet.
IBT:
Szeged (MR) -> MR, Miscolc (MR) -> MR

Turn 8: 993AD
Kill a Sword next to Balatonboglar with an Elite Sword, no Leader.
IBT:
Warrior defeats Bulgar Sword near Pecs, Elite. Spear looses to Sword near Jasz. Warrior in same stack (protecting some roading Workers) defeats Sword, Elite – maybe we should stop building Spears? Next Sword kills Warrior.
Buda (MR) -> MR, Belgorod (MR) -> Temple, Jasz (Barracks) -> Spear

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

(continued)

Turn 9: 996AD
Pitesti:
4/4 MR vs 4/4 Spear, W -3/-4, Barracks
3/3 MR vs 4/4 Spear, W -0/-4, Vet
3/4 Sword vs 3/3 Spear, W -0/-3, reg Sword shows up

3/4 Sword vs 4/4 Sword outside Pitesti, W -1/-4
3/4 MR vs 3/4 Sword, W -2/-3
Bulgars will talk, and would give CB (not that I have any interest in peace)
IBT:
Sword defeats Archer near Pecs, Sword defeats Sword near Pitesti (Elite), Sword defeats Sword near Jasz...
Debrecen (MR) -> Temple, Kassa (MR) -> Temple

Turn 10: 999AD
Pitesti:
4/4 MR vs 3/3 Sword, W -3/-3, Elite
2/4 Sword vs unfortified 3/3 Spear, W -0/-3, Worker shows up!
4/5 Sword vs 3/3 Tsar, and

No Leader, but 2 Slaves and 5/5 Resistors.
Wow, Bulgars still have 12 cities, and even worse, Iron and Horses! Sofia is doubtful, though, but they’d already give a small town.
And we lead the charts with 1955 against Turks (1540). Byzantium has 23 cities !
The RNG was helpful, very few losses on offense, but everything but Warriors failed miserably to defend for most of the time .

I wouldn’t continue this war for too long; take that city S of the Wheat near Pitesti, wait until the Resistance ends, and get Sofia; of course, a Leader would be great. Then, build some infra (Buda needs a Colosseum, several cities Temples and Granaries), and throw everything against Germany before they get too big. They have no Horses, but lots of culture...if Miscolc flips, we have a serious problem. And keeping the Bulgars around would be nice for trading –they’ll pay an arm and a leg for Byzantine Techs.
And slay all those annyoing Settler combos from minor nations like Celts and Castile!
Plovdiv must be relocated (it’s on a Wheat), I suggest 1 tile SW.


The still backwards, but a bit more powerful Magyars!

Over to DeceasedHorse or Romeothemonk. whoever grabs it first.

 

[romeothemonk]

Ive got to play in the Burgundian Game. After that I will upgrade to 1.22 and grab it. If DH is ready he can grab it.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

I can take it. Our riders will crush our foes beneath their hooves.

By the way, when do we plan to revolt to Monarchy? (after the GA obviously, but any specific plans.

 

[romeothemonk]

I am ready to rumble now.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

As a new millennia dawns, the heirs of Atilla strike to claim their birthright. To the south, the Bulgar hordes have been driven back in disarray, but remain a dangerous foe. The 'civilized' nations of the west are the rising powers, feeding off the carcass and memories of the Roman Empire. They dare to violate our lands in defiance of all law, knowing that we are not mighty enough to challenge them.


Yet.

In ashes of what was once the empire of the Huns, a force that brought both Roman empires to their knees and smashed all in their path, from the Goths to the Alans. Those warriors are gone now, but their spirits remain. The undead monstrosity that is Deceased Atilla has returned to the lands of men, and the Magyars will be forged into the new scrouge of God!

Preturn: Attilla, Warlord of the Huns, does not lightly allow others to violate his territorial boundries. War is declared upon the weak and decadent Celts, a company of their spearmen slain and their women and children enslaved to work our lands. They begin to dig us a mine on the bonus grass south of Kassa. The peoples of Pliesti are ordered to begin construction of a barracks.

IBT: The Bulgar hordes return, grim figures dressed in lime green. They take shelter in the hills and mountains, seeking shelter from our bloodthirsty riders.

Turn 1: Two companies of riders sweep south from our lines south of Szeged, loosing arrow after arrow against the Bulgar Swordsmen. One Rider, persishes, but the other succeeds, promoting to elite. A city is revealed: the size 8 Virdin, defended by a vet spear and across a river. Wake an Elite sword in Balatonbagolor. (Atilla is not fond of this naming sceme). Three vet swords are sent towards Vidin to support the riders.

IBT: A Bulgar sword drives off our Elite Rider near Vidin. The Bulgar shock troops continue on their path towards Pecs. One resistor is suppressed in Pitesti.

Turn 2: Two swords, an archer, and a rider move into the hills of Sophia, hoping to take control of the high ground. A rider fords the river near Vidin, and rushes off to pillage the Bulgar Iron next turn.

IBT: 4 Bulgar swords converge on our would-be pillager. He kills one, retreats into the mountains from the others. The danes extort 21 gold; I pay.

Turn 3: Sofia attack group moves unuppossed; Sophia has a regular spear on top. Our redlined rider flees into deeper into the moutains. Buda stars Colloseum. Kick the Castillians out; unfortunatly they do not declare. Kill 3 Spears in Vidin, no casualties (one rider retreated) but they have one damaged sword holding on. Many troops can attack next turn, including multiple elites.

IBT: Bulgar Swords are unable to dislodge our fortified troops in the mountains. Another sword promotes to Elite. Bulgar Swords corner the pillager and kill him.

Turn 4: Found Pest in a rather suboptimal postition so the german settler pair cannot steal the land (Original name was something like Szhadfjal;skdjf;alsdjkf so I just called it Pest). Atilla orders our troops to take Vidin, and take it they do, slaying 3 swords and a rushed spear. Take a couple casulties. Sofia is next. Anyway, the next two attacks succeed and Sofia falls. Let's see what ol' Ateas will give us for peace. They will give us a choice of a few cities, including one of their core cities, Ruse. They will give us a couple of cities currently unrevealed, both presumably small and relatively worthless. The will give us Castle Building, but from what I understand, this will move us to the next age and make it impossible for us to continue making our UU. I'm going to take a break now and ask for advice: Just take a couple of cities, or maybe just Ruse (it will probably just flip back since its right next to the Bulgars capital)? Take castle building? Keep pressing the Bulgars? Get ready for our assault on Germany? Two Bulgar iron reserves are in easy striking distance.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

I'd say: Do you have Elites left that could strike in 1 or 2 turns? If not, get Ruse. We have enough Reg Warriors to garrison it with something that won't hurt if it flips. No remote cities, and especially not CB.
We need about 20 -30 more Riders, and should flood Germany. We will get CB for peace renegotiations from Bulgars, ore trade it from Rurik for a Byzantine Tech.

I'm still unsure when to revolt - either right after our GA, when Norse Traditions is some turns away (so we don't loose any research time), or much later, when MDIs are near?

 

[DeceasedHorse]

Turn 4(continued): Hmm, no easy victims for our elites; the only visible Bulgar units are hiking through the mountains, where the defender will probably win, even when it is sword on sword. Time for peace. Peace treaty in exchange for Ruse. Poor Ateas hasn't a cent that he can give us in the peace deal, ah well. Warriors sent south to garrision our newest prize. A few front-line troops will be left down there to take out Frankfurt when we move on the Germans.

Turn 5: Buda grows and has to hire a specialist, at least until the Colloseum finishes. Troops heal, most resistance ends in the former Bulgarian cities. Plodiv whips a settler so it can be moved next turn.

IBT: Sophia riots (it isn't connected to the road network)

Turn 6: Odd. Plovdiv does not give me the option to abandon the city when contructing the settler. Am I crazy? Did I just totally imagine this option? Anyway, I declare war on Cordova and capture two settler pairs.

IBT: The Celtic 'counter attack" emerges in the form of a couple of warriors coming out of the fog near the Russian steppes. The Bugundians start work on the Domesday book....

Turn 7: Whip the temple in Vidin at the cost of three (bulgarian...) citizens. It will soon have an irrigated wheat, once some of the bulgar improvents are re-arranged, and is also on a river so I expect it to recover quickly.

IBT: Nothing signifigant

Turn 8: Malcolm will kick in a couple of gold and a worker in exchange for peace, so I accept.

IBT: Miscolc grew and I missed it, so it riots. Cordovan obliviously move another settler pair into our borders.

Turn 9: Miscolc hires a taxman. Next ruler might consider switching it over to a colloseum build. Buda will be able to help out with troop production again next turn. Slay the Cordovan settler pair.

Turn 10: Buda finishes its colloseum and now pulls in 20 spt, for all the good that does us. Continue massing troops along the border with germany. With the number of Elites we have, a leader is a strong possibility.
The Scourge of God

 

[romeothemonk]

I will be able to play on Saturday evening.
If someone wants to jump in before then go to town.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Well played, DH!

Plovdiv does not give me the option to abandon the city when contructing the settler. Am I crazy? Did I just totally imagine this option?

You need to have zero food surplus, could that be the reason?

@romeothemonk:
Saturday is fine; did you already check if you've installed everything? If not, please do so NOW (if the .sav loads, everything is fine)!

Wonder if Corrado will join us again...

 

[romeothemonk]

Got it and it works nicely.
A quick look around the save gave me a few ideas. I will steal the Castilian workers, and then launch into Germany full force. I will try to take 3-4 cities and call a peace treaty, then revolt to monarchy.
Sound good?

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Any chance we can steal Western Tech before we/they declare? Don't think we can use our gp for anything else useful...
And we could really use a few Monasteries and Manors; that of course means we'd have to get CB from someone else - Castile?

IMHO we should revolt in about 20 turns from now, but only if we have at least 30 or so Riders - we won't have access to anything better than Swords until MDI or the 3rd era...

 

[romeothemonk]

Ok, I will amend the revolt, and just launch into our foes at full tilt. Mounted charge on the way.

 

[Bede]

Good hunting, Romeo!

 

[DeceasedHorse]

Corrado's been MIA for awhile now.

 

[romeothemonk]

The first 3-4 turns really hurt but the last 6-7 really set us up better than ever. So the glass is either half full or half empty or 50% over designed, take your pick.
Preturn: Change some game preferences. Turn off worker stop for enemy and friendly units. Declare on Castille, take 2 slaves but no MGL.
IBT: stuff moves.
Turn 1: Pitest to aqueduct. All other city build are relatively immaterial. War on Germans. capture slaves. Capture Nuremburg, which was on the other side of our territory. Upgrade some warriors. Move in on the hills for a kill shot on his nicer cites.
IBT: Abbassids, swedes and English all offer CB. Someone has MM. Lost 5 riders!! Germany had a SOD (10+ offensive)in the city nearest our border!!
Turn 2: Leader fish like mad while trying to regroup into Miskolic. Win all 7 battles no losses but still have a few exposed troops.
IBT: Lothair extorts TM and 27 gold. Germans start KNIGHTS TEMPLAR!!! Germans complete HRE in Wurzburg. Looks bad as they are now Golden aging. Burgundians start Domesday. Lost an Archer a sword and 2 slaves.
turn 3: Kill 2 archers and 3 spears no losses but Germans move 40+ units our way.
IBT: Lose 4 swords, kill 7 swords and 2 archers. Our retreat is almost complete.
Turn 4: kill 2 spear, 2 archer 1 sword no losses. Peace from cordoba and get 57 gold. Hock around the WM to MM civs and get contacts and a net of about 3 gold. Upgrade our remaining warriors at Miskolic.
IBT: kill 1 sword but lose an exposed rider. Retreat is now complete. Germans haul out a ton of crusaders 10+.
turn 5: lose 1 elite sword, kill 1 sword, 6 spears and Saint Stephen finally appears. He immeadiatly forms a rider army. This was the like the 17th elite combat win on my turn.
IBT: kill 1 archer no losses, Germans now progressing through Pole territory.
Turn 6: lose elite rider to spear in open! then lose elite sword to same guy. Bust out my whooping stick and kill him and his 2 buddies.
IBT: Germans advance more troops and start Domesday.
Turn 7: Kill 7 spears, lost 1 sword, 1 rider.
IBT: GA ends. Germans are desperately trying to pillage our ponies.
Turn 8: kill 3 crusaders 2 spears and an archer no loss.
IBT: Bulgars and Byz fighting. Osman extorts 50 gold and TM. Germans start Bayeux.
Turn 9: lose a reg sword.
IBT: Theo takes a TM and 41 gold. Sofia flips on us. Turks, Swedes, Burgundians, and Abbassids all start Bayeux.
Turn 10: peace with Castille. Franks have 14 units on our border. This would push us over the edge. I sign farnks against Germans. Get their TM and ally for WM, 13 gpt, 540 gold. Kill 1 crusader, 5 spears, and 4 swords.

The good: We have around 20 riders in miskolic, and maybe 12 of them are elite. Germans are marching into kill zones. We have an army! We lead the VP race.
The Bad: Germany killed almost all the force I started my turn with. We have almost no swords. I have only taken Nuremburg from the Germans.
The Ugly: Other people are headed into the 3rd age. We got nothing. Norse Tradition comes in in 10 turns. Probably revolt and get CB around this time.

The Save, lead us to glory

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Oopsie - sounds like we picked the Germans at the best time...imagine how strong the would have grown undisturbed, and with us fighting Poles or Byzantium!

Good move to sign the Franks.

And good thing Germany builds Wonders in 3 cities, maybe we can capture one of those? But Crusaders are a problem...

Btw, nice to see the HRE in my hometown .

Over to Bede.

 

[Bede]

Will pick up tonight.

Post commentary, instructions, ideas, will heed.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

The big question is when to revolt. I'd guess we can repell the Germans, but won't make any advances until France starts hurting them. The most important move is definitely to pillage the (supposed to be!) only German Iron and Wines near Salzburg ASAP. With Archers as best units left, we should have a chance, and continue the War. And try to sign Poland as well, even if that may cost us a Lux...
@romeo: No critizicing, but wouldn't that have been the best initial moves for the war - drag Poland in, and pillage?
This of course means delaying the revolution even further, but with the MA with France, I see no way around that now.
Regensburg, Augsburg and Wurzburg are building wonders, that leaves Salzburg on units.

Btw, Sofia didn't flip on us, but from us :mad. .

Definitely the most critical turns of this game.

Have fun, Bede!