Emperor training grounds--I need training!

eldar said:
Query about FP placement:
I know that the FP is dramatically less useful in C3C than in PTW, but it does offer a second centre for distance corruption... so I'd have thought it better towards the south, where we're expanding, than in the north, where we have fishing villages that with Courthouses and proximity to Delhi, they won't be too corrupt. Unless, of course, we might move our capital at some point in the future.

The whole FP thing baffled me until I took a lesson from DocT: Put it in the next most productive city that has growth potential even if it is close to the capitol.
 
Bede, sorry, not completely correct...I concur more with eldar here:
"Put the FP in a high production/commerce place regardless of 1st or 3rd ring - as long as it's somewhat in the main expansion direction."

Here, that's too much in the opposite direction for me.
Still, the FP city it self matters more than 5gpt saved from corruption (since the city itself will bring more if well-placed).
Seriously, when you hope for a leader anyway, I would move Barcelona 1 S if you're going for a late game victory.
If you're planning to win before the ToA expires, your choice is correct, no question.
 
Not the first time I missed the last part of the sentence.....Thanks for the correction Doc.

I just felt Guntar (?) was too close to the Mongol border and the commerce possibilities from the river network at Calcutta seduced me.
 
Bede said:
Not the first time I missed the last part of the sentence.....Thanks for the correction Doc.

I just felt Guntar (?) was too close to the Mongol border and the commerce possibilities from the river network at Calcutta seduced me.
I PMd DocT for a clarification...but I guess he logged off before he saw my PM. I haven't played this yet (just made a long post in S&T) do we want to reconsider the FP placement? Or is it a done deal?
 
We have about half the shields invested in the FP right now....I still think Calcutta works as well as the alternatives, especially when we consider the commercial possibilities.

And, yes, it is in the wrong direction, but one thing that might work is moving the Palace to the powerhouse Mongol city to the south.
 
Bede said:
And, yes, it is in the wrong direction, but one thing that might work is moving the Palace to the powerhouse Mongol city to the south.
I'm generally not wild about palace-jumping...particularly in a well developed game... but we can look at it... or I could swap Calcutta to Heroic Epic or something (haven't we got an army that has whacked something?) and use the next MGL for a better-placed FP...
 
I suppose you could swap it to KT, as I think the Epic is built already.
 
Bede said:
I suppose you could swap it to KT, as I think the Epic is built already.
I officially feel bad, b/c I think I'm the one who suggested Calcutta in a PM... I'll have a look at it.
 
You did, but then I looked the situtation over and decided the best choice was Calcutta, not to say I didn't agonise over it, as it took several iterations through the "Where can I get the most commerce/highest productivity" hypersonic calculator.
 
Pre-flight Check: I'm looking forward to this turnset. I'll be following a battle plan drawn up by Brother Bede, which is a fun little role-reversal. The plan looks like a tricky little envelopment scheme; he clearly has not forgiven me for "Arnhem". Though this doesn't look quite as brilliant as Hannibal at Cannae, it looks workable.

Scanning through our cities show that the Heroic Epic is complete in our Capitol. A scan of the map indicates that the Mongols have a source of iron between Bukhara and Ta-Tu, and it appears to be connected. Horses appear to be connected to Qaragandy. We need to rename some of these towns.

We can build a library in Calcutta in 3 turns... the FP queue isn't that far gone. Swap to Library, and start looking for other potential FP sites...

Spend 116g cash-rushing the courthouse in Almora.

IBT - Delhi trains a War Elephant, starts another. Almora Court>Market Palace Expansion, Vikings start Leo's.

Looking at Bede's notes... I see the logic in abandoning Canturbury (wanted that one razed and replaced) but I do not see the logic in abandoning Tiruppur. It can work 3 grassland tiles that cannot be worked by any other city, which will be enough to make it grow with a little irrigation.

Turn 1 (610) mostly worker turns...looking at places where I want to stick some War Elephants.

IBT - Harappa Harbor>Market
Kootanad Settler>Court

Turn 2 (620) ...fine tuning our troop positioning... upgrade 5 Cats to trebuchets at Hastings.

IBT - Calcutta finishes its library, starts training War Elephants. We lose our supply of silks and a suicide galley.

Turn 3 (630) Dial up Ragnar and buy silks for 57g+20gpt.

IBT - Train another elephant.

Turn 4 (640) ...almost 'go time'...

IBT - Manali Court>Barracks
Panchkula Harbor>Market

Turn 5 (650) Dial up Temujin and declare war. :devil:

Turn 6 (660) moving troops into Mongol lands

Turn 7 (670) still moving troops against Temujin.

Turn 8 (680) War Elephant pops a Mongol Horseman outside Barcelona, and Our Civilization Enters a Golden Age!

Rush the Market in Almora.

IBT - Mongols advance a bunch of troops in the west, this could get dicey.

We build some stuff and train some troops. Almora finishes its market, and starts the Forbidden Palace. Due in 19 turns. :D

Turn 9 (690) Kazan and Ulaanbaatar fall. Abandon Canturbury. Found Viperborough.

IBT - the Mongols request an audience. Already? Tell him to stuff it, and the first Keshik attacks our MDI in Ulaanbaatar.
Kazan Riots, and a heavy tax is levied on Kazan.

Turn 10 (700) Ulaanbaatar is renamed to Bedevillear

In the process of duking it out with the stupid Mongols, I get a leader in an...awkward position.

etg1_Awkward_leader.jpg


Next better player: Based on the troop movements I observed, the bulk of the Mongol forces appear to be near Ta-Tu. I lost a horseman and a laggard Trebuchet near there. I've been working a few War Elephants down that way. The force doesn't look formidable, but is worthy of respect.

This is going to be touchy, because Temujin has Keshiks on line, and we've got some cities within striking distance of a couple of his cities. Try to push one war elephant into each city near the mongol border as a reserve force. Our forces in the east are not sufficient to maintain an offensive, which will effectively neutralize our War Elephant Army until we can get some more forces down there. As you push the reserve elephants into our southeastern towns, take War elephants out of those eastern towns and build a stack of 4 or 5 War Elephants to augment that force. Just try to "hold what we've got" in the east until the Mongol forces around Ta-Tu are reduced. Ta-Tu should be the next tactical priority. Try to reinforce the stack in the east in the second half of your turns.

You will be fighting with divided forces. Don't get over-agressive; fight patiently and deliberately, and you'll be fine. Maintain a reserve! If Temujin gets many more Keshiks we will need War Elephants in our border towns to skirmish with them.

We've got a MGL, but getting him home will be a trick. Keep him under the sword army for the moment. We could swap the FP build to just about anything, and simply use the MGL to rush the FP wherever we want.

You might want to wait for some input on the whole FP/MGL thing... but here's > > The Save < <.
 
Thought: is it worth trying to get Ragnar in on the war vs. Temujin?

1. Will distract Temujin's forces in the South, and his Horses are next door to Scandinavian territory.
2. Ragnar will blow his GA on the Mongols, not us.

Neil. :cool:
 
Scout: Yep, didn't check pms yesterday.

So my FP suggestions (based purely on my liking, not any formulas/tools):

1) If you're going to win this very soon, Calcutta.
2) If you're going to win with Cavs, Guntar/Almora/Bombay (so-so cities, good distance)
3) If you're going to win after Factories etc, abandon Barcelona, and refound it 1 South, to get away from that Volcano. If I see correctly, that city will have Wheat, Horses, Iron, Tobacco, several Hills, and a River. An insane city spot, ifyouask me.Andsince you have already a MGL at hand, and this is a continents map, so you most likely won't win before IA...I'd do that.

1 q: Is that another volcano S-SE from Barcelona (2 S is, but I can't see that particual tile in the screenies)? If yes, Almora.
 
Advance warning of a short absence:
I'll be away from Civ (but not 'net access) from the 24th to the 28th inclusive. So I'll be able to keep up, but not play.

plarq is up next, if he can play & post before tomorrow I should be able to pick up and play my turns tomorrow evening. If not, skip me.

Neil. :cool:
 
@DocT: Thanks for the input. I don't think we will be winning this game "very soon". Since we split our military forces, I think we will be looking at 3-5 turns of reinforcing our stacks before going on the offensive again - and that just to take a couple of Mongol cities. Even after the Mongols are dealt with there will be the matter of the Vikings, finding another landmass, etc.

I believe that is an inactive volcano S-SE from Barcelona. I queued up the FP in Almora. If we build it brick-by-brick it will complete just at the end of our GA, which pleased me immensely after spending some gold to rush a market and court there... Of course, we now have a MGL that could be used to rush the FP or build another Elephant Army... I think a 3rd Army would help us own this continent pretty quickly. Of course, with an MGL we could put the FP in a spot that's even better than Almora, if such a site exists...

@eldar: With the coming holiday I think we ought to consider relaxing the pace just a bit. On top of that, I think the next turnset or two needs to be played carefully, and we need to give everyone a chance for input. Our military is strong enough to tempt us into foolishness...

Since this is a "training" game, I think it would be a Good Idea for each of us to download the save, have a look at it, and offer comments. I offer these for points of discussion:
  • How would you pursue the campaigns against the Mongols? Would you place a higher priority on the east or the west?
  • What would you do with the MGL? Rush the FP or build an army and finish the FP brick-by-brick?
  • If you rush the FP with the MGL, where would you put it?
  • With all of the Golden Age cash rolling in, do you up research or keep it low and cash-rush a bunch of stuff?
DocT mentions something else that we need to discuss: What type of win do we want to pursue?
  • Do we want to go for an "early" domination/conquest type of win?
  • Or do we want to let this game 'mature' a bit and get some training in on industrial era stuff? (Possibly flirting with communism...)
 
My random thoughts:
FP issue:From my puny experience,I suggest FP for an immediate benefits,Calcutta is high in commerce but average in production, and those fishing villages don't benefit from a second core.Bombay and other eastern candidate will revive Barcelona and the Spainish province,but they're still very corrupted.Other places are not suitable,disbanding Barcelona?Great Wall is good defender and a tourist attraction after Indian Conquests.So I vote on Bombay region.
Mongolian War issue:As scoutsout said,"Our military is strong enough to tempt us into foolishness..."This is training SG,but I'm afraid it's becoming normal SG,and I need to gather pieces to my total Civ experience.Thought of reservation army,it's not common to see spread-out front.Though we're strong against Mongols,DG and Deity wars will be much tougher,considering DocT's Sweden SG.War front must be tightened during difficult time.
Tech issue:We're down Gunpowder to every known civ,while Incans and Byzantines are unknownly advanced given they build half of the AA wonders. Pathetic Vikings and beaten Mongols are not likely to gain Leo's,KT or Sistine.
We may need more suicidal galleys or wait until Astronomy.
And I pause the game and wait for more input from players and lurkers.
 
I wouldn't put down the Vikings yet, not 'til we see their TM. At a guess, though, they've got good, fertile, grasslands much like we do, and Iron, and Horses, oh and Berserks - effective on land, deadly from the sea (and the AI WILL use the Amphibious Assault capability, given the chance :blush:). If they have Saltpeter too, they won't be a pushover. Muskets in Cities are a different prospect to Pikes and Spears in Towns.

Almora, where Scout started the FP build, seems like a good choice. It has huge potential for growth, and shields, and commerce, what with the floodplains on one side of the river, and mined plains the other. I'd stick with it.

We badly need contact with the other continent.

We won't miss the GW after we get Metallurgy, so perhaps razing Barca then and replacing anew and build the FP then... but that won't be for a while, and we can hand-build in Almora before.

I'd hand-build the FP because a fresh Elephant Army will help no end in taking out the Mongols, also lets us build Pentagon but I'd hold off building it straight away as we'll want to be able to transport our armies in Galleons.

Neil. :cool:
 
-Seems like it's going well. I don't see an advantage to favoring one side over another.
-Build an army, unless we were going to build it where it would take very long to complete.
-IMO research would be better, although both are good. We may even get ahead in tech.
-Maybe we should conquer our continent fairly early, improve cities, then land on the other continent and get Domination or raze everything and get conquest.
 
With the MGL: another army as Almora is making good progress on the FP all by its lonesome and having the FP kick in just at the end of the GA is a most useful time for it unless we choose to use the MGL for an FP in a new city built as Doc suggests.

GA's are always a good time to crank up the research budget, but there really isn't anything we need to finish our local wars. Cash rushing appropriate buildings in the empire and building funds for when we meet the other continent is a better use of gpt right now.

Took another look at the map and DocT is correct. With a new city placed as he suggests and with the FP (built using the MGL rather than an army) it would be a powerhouse in the south and would do good things for the towns between there and Bombay.

As I'm the bimbo who set up the Dumbo's into this "split=force", I shall refrain from further comment on tactical issues.....
 
IHT:Plarq the Rider takes the crown.Looking at his empire,order lux lowered to 20%,hire some taxmen in corrupt cities.Buy a rax in Seville for 104g.
IBT:Mongol LB retreat our Elephant near Bedeville,formed a toy SoD W to Ta-Tu with 4LB+1MDI.Seville rax->worker,Bangalore Aquaduct->Pike,Herappa Market->MDI,Calcutta Elephant->Elephant
Turn 1:710AD,Kill MDI in northern Almarikh,Kazan stops protesting occupation,let the lambs starve.Retreat wounded troops.Move two army SoD towards cities.
IBT:Mongol LB killed a MDI,hurt another,I killed Mongol LB on defense,Santiago de Compestella riots,sorry.
Turn 2:720AD,Change Hasting to Pike,for defense(It has barracks).Sword Army and Elite* Horse killed three LBs,Elephant army pillage against Capital of Mongols,kill Vet Pike,lose 3hp,no LB or Treb show in Karakorum.Retreat troops to Hasting.
IBT:Elite* Horse died to an LB,Jaipur Harbor->Galley.Mongol SoD retreat,Ta-tu MDIs and LBs enforce Almarikh,Karakorum Settler pair escape to south.
Turn 3:730AD,siege on Almarikh and Karakorum,each show reg pike and reg spear.
IBT:Oh my!I didn't notice and I lose 5 Trebs and MDI on hill near Bedeville!Mongols kill a MDI,lose two LBs.Bunch of Units are completed in home.Mongols complete Leo's in Karakorum!Yeah.
Turn 4:740AD,Leader Poros arrived in Hasting.NOTES:Romans captured Constantinpole!HA!So Mars is hot in the unknown continent.
Near Almarikh:Elephant promotes and enters Almarikh.Another two Elephants smash two LBs.
Near Karakorum:Four Cats hit nothing.Elephant Army lose 7hp and captured two wonders.Mongols move capital to the horse city.
ToA is a fearful weapon.Kazan border slowed their reinforcement,And Bedeville expansion keep our Trebs from Mongol territory.
IBT:LB kills my bait reg spear.Enemy moving toward Karakorum.
Turn 5:750AD,MDI clear Karakorum suburban,Sword army retake trebuchets.Formed 2nd Elephant army and approach Ta-Tu.Kazan Gem online(Kazan->Karakorum->Birmingham harbor)

Summary:MDI,Elephant and 4 catapults in Karakorum region.4/16 Elephant army rest in Kazan.New Elephant army approach Ta-Tu,workers roading to Almarikh for Spices.We got MoM and Leo's.
 
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