Enders Game 1: The Training Game Competition - Team 1

[Speaker]

@ControlFreak:

The Good
* Troop shuffling to keep each area slightly better protected. I didn't really have time to do this following the war, so it was good that you did.
* Trading our saltpeter to England since they will get theirs hooked up soon anyways (see bad).
* Switching to Democracy is a gutsy move. We will get the jungle cleared that much faster, but will make warring more difficult. We will need Cathedrals in our big cities probably.

The Bad
* It's not like I can fault you for over micromanaging, but you make T-Hawk look reckless! If you want to speed up your solo turns so you can finish a game, don't worry about letting a marginal city sit at size 6 for two turns while the aqueduct finishes.
* You took a look at the horrible state of our defenses and still chose to put our strongest shield city on a wonder prebuild? We need pikemen in all of our border cities. The Moscow area can wait, but the only reason our military is "strong" compared to everyone else is because we have 82 workers! I'd rather have a bank and 11 pikemen or horsemen than Adam Smith's any day. Especially when we plan on upgrading horsemen to Cossacks and hitting our neighbors soon. Let the AI waste their production on wonders!
* Not having a couple workers near Stavanger to hook up our other Saltpeter. What happens if we all of a sudden need it? Gotta stay flexible at all times.
* Buying a worker for 113g? Thats a potential Cossack upgrade or half a library rush. Even rushing a worker with no shields in the box only costs 80 gold. Buying workers at this point is no longer feasible.

The Ugly
*The extent to which we are going to roll over the Ottomans, who have no gunpowder.

EDIT- Changed strange gaffe.

 

[ControlFreak]

Awesome comments. Again, you really made me think.

I love wonders when I think I can get them. If I'm going to survive on diety, I'll have to learn to go without.

Bought the worker because I've always just blindly bought them, thinking they help. But your right, the cost analysis just doesn't make it worth it now.

See you all soon.

 

[ControlFreak]

BTW,

Hope your celebration for your 21st was AWESOME (and safe. )

 

[SHard]

PreTurn: Switch Kiev's Palace to a Bank without loss of shields. Find no huge areas of fault with CFs MM (didn't look for tiny areas of fault). CF suggested rushing improvements in areas of flip risk, but try as I might, I cannot find any cultural improvements in need of rushing in any of our border towns. Looking at our current situation, I am thinking of taking out China with horsemen at some point - but we'll need to make sure we have enough. Anyway, press enter and hope I didn't miss anything.

560AD: Minsk Uni->Bank. Odessa Horse->Horse. We're now running a small defecit due to the ending of gpt deal. I decide to leave us running at -9gpt, rather than to spend an extra turn on chemistry (There are no other trades available of gpt - Celts will give ~60 gold for Gems, which is sooo not enough).

570AD: Kiev Bank->Pike. Krasnoyarsk Aqueduct->Market. Perhaps there should a 'Lock Tile Allocation' feature with the CQ expansion, because reassigning Moscow's workforce every turn is a pain. Hire a taxman in Rekjyvek to prevent rioting.

580AD: Novgorod Horse->Bank. St Pete's Bank->Pike. Sci back down to 70% - still bring Chemistry in next turn.

590AD: Kiev Pike->Pike. Odessa Horse->Bank. Start research on Metallurgy so that we will almost be ready for our Cossack rush by the end of my turn. Speaker rather confidently said that the Ottomans have no saltpeter, however on closer inspection, they do (Note: However they don't have Gunpowder - I still think we should go for the Ottomans). I decide we don't want Navigation or Music Theory (or Chivalry obviously) for Chemistry. English will give 59gold and 44gpt and Music Theory and Navigation for it - I decide to trade it for this. I then sell to Egypt for 73 gold and 41gpt. In Lieu of this extra gold I up science to 90% to get Metallurgy in 4 turns. I also move horsemen down towards our barracks cities near the Ottomans. Not enough horsemen to try and hit China pre-cossack IMO.

600AD: St. Pete's Horse->Horse. Sci -> 80%.

610AD: Riga Aqueduct->Market. Kiev Pike->Pike. Hire taxman in Sevastopol to prevent rioting.

620AD: St. Pete's Horse->Horse. Molde Courthouse->Market. Vladivostok Aqueduct->Market. Reneogciate Lux deal with Liz and she will now give 53gpt for the three lux she needs which is great for us, as it is all adding to our cossack fund. Sci-> 70%. Reykjavek needs second clown to maintain order. Should I have rushed the courthouse here? Or was it OK not to.

630AD: Kiev Pike->Pike. Hareid Granary->Market. Nice tech dilemma. Do we want Military Tradition right away? We have currently 18 horsemen, a few in production - I'm thinking we need more. Furthermore, we are going to need a heck of a lot of gold, even with Leo's. I therefore decide to go for Physics instead, fully expecting a huge slap on the wrist from Speaker. Sci -> 80% to get Physics in 4 (+86gpt still). Will sell Metallurgy to England next turn when a 40gpt deal with them runs out. No-one else has any cash for it. Hire a taxman in Stavanger.

640AD: St. Pete's Horse->Horse. Dnepropetrovskathingamjig Aqueduct->Market. Sell Metallurgy to England for Economics, 83 gold and 63 gpt.

IT: Greece cancels our 2 for 2 lux deal. Rather reluctantly I give them Economics to renew it. They can't do much with economics and we want those luxs.

650AD: Odense Library->Uni (possibly change to Aqueduct or Granary). Kiev Pike->Horse. Sevastopol gets a clown.

So that's that. Despite my best efforts, worker efficiency is probably down on ControlFreak's meticulous work. We probably still don't have enough horsemen for our cossack rush, but possibly almost enough gold. I hope my trading was ok. There may be the odd horseman on go-to orders - sorry if there are, I tried to take them all off but I may have missed 1 or 2. Even though my MM is nothing compared to ControlFreak's I still spent an hour and a half on this, mainly due to the droves of workers in our employment and trying to be efficient with them Good luck whoever goes next

The Save: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads4/EG1-Team1-650AD.zip

 

[ControlFreak]

Originally posted by SHard
Even though my MM is nothing compared to ControlFreak's I still spent an hour and a half on this

I spent 7hours on my turn.

Mrs ControlFreak was none to pleased with me staying up until 2AM.

 

[Speaker]

Yes, the Ottomans do have saltpeter (two of them right?). I knew that and wrote about their two sources in my report. No idea why I changed my mind in the face of overwhelming evidence in my comments on CFs turns.

 

[ControlFreak]

Originally posted by Speaker
Yes, the Ottomans do have saltpeter (two of them right?). I knew that and wrote about their two sources in my report. No idea why I changed my mind in the face of overwhelming evidence in my comments on CFs turns.

Too much partying on your 21st birthday.

 

[Speaker]

Yeah I suppose that excuse will do.

 

[Speaker]

I guess I'm up. RBP11 took longer than I expected, so no comments tonight. Look for them tomorrow.

 

[Speaker]

@SHard:

The Good
* Running a small defecit is no big deal. We can afford it. Saving a turn on science is always good.
* Good trades. We can basically control research now, since we are milking the AI out of all their gpt. This will also help keep their armies manageable.
* Reykjavek management. No need to rush much of anything in this corrupt area. Save the money for more important purchases.

The Bad
* Taking China out with Horsemen? Why? We'll have Cossacks soon enough and we'll cut through them like a hot knife through margarine.
* Physics? I would have gone for Military Tradition and then gone to Physics, all the while keeping our extra saltpeter unconnected. This lets us stay more flexible.

The Ugly
* The state of our border defenses. Yikes.

I will play tomorrow.

 

[SHard]

Thanks for the comments Speaker! You'll notice I didn't acutally try and take China out with horses . I agree on Physics, for some reason I thought we had saltpeter connected.

 

[Speaker]

We do have one saltpeter connected, but we are trading it.

 

[Speaker]

It- Stavanger is about to riot. I take out the veto stamp and make the following changes.

Stavanger Courthouse => Barracks.
Odessa Bank => Temple
Minsk Bank => Courthouse
Novgorod Bank => Courthouse
Krasnoyarsk Marketplace => Barracks
Sverdlovsk Marketplace => Barracks
Dnepropetrovsk Marketplace => Barracks

I rush the following buildings:
Novgorod Bank
Beijing Bank
Tblisi Bank
Smolensk Aqueduct
Sevastopol Marketplace
Yakutsk Courthouse

None of these moves are an indictment of SHard, but we are not really for money and won't be any longer. We can, however, use the barracks, to produce horsemen from all over. I want to get the bulk of our cities producing horsemen now.

660AD (1): I work on optimizing our cities to produce horsemen as fast as possible. Every shield is important. 10 shields is much better than 9. 15 shields is much better than 14. These are things to keep in mind. I drop science to give us some extra cash and get Physics next turn.

670AD (2): Start research on Military Tradition. England will pay 80gpt for Physics, so I pull the trigger. No one else has anything to pay for it. I rush a few horsemen with the extra cash.

680AD (3): I use several of our hundred workers to boost population to reach certain shield levels.

690AD (4): Same thing. I cancel our Gems deal with Alexander and our Dyes deal with Egypt and trade Physics to Egypt for Wines and 12gpt.

700AD (5): I drop science with Military Tradition due next turn.

710AD (6): Military Tradition comes in and I start on Theory of Gravity due in 4. I rush the barracks in Kubyshev and start to bring workers back home to railroad.

720AD (7): Uh, what happened on this turn? I'm not sure. I guess I messed up my report.

730AD (8): I upgrade 26 horsemen for 1300gold, with 9 more to follow next turn. I declare war on China honorably and launch our Golden Age.

Battle of Nanking
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1
Vet Cossack l. Reg Spear 1-3 and retreats
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-0
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1
Vet Coccask d. Reg Spear 3-1 and upgrades
We capture Nanking.

Battle of Tsingtao
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1 and upgrades
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-0
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1
We capture Tsingtao.

The assaulting Cossacks act as an occupation force and more Cossacks flood onto Chinese mountains to attack Hangchow next turn.

IT- Ottomans cancel Ivory deal and I don't renew in liu of an impending war.

740AD (9): Leader fishing with an Elite Cossack produces Stalin. Not sure what we will want to do with him, so I'll wait for now and send him toward the core. I drop science with Magnetism due next turn.

Battle of Hangchow
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1
Vet Cossack d. Reg Spear 3-1
We capture Hangchow

Byebye China. Nice knowing you.

I shuffle five Cossacks north to the Egyptian border, just for a little protection up there.

750AD (10): Finish Magnetism and start Theory of Gravity.

Conclusion- Stalin is in Sevastopol to be used as desired. Cossacks are massed on the Ottoman border. We'll likely need a bunch more before we move on the Ottomans because they have discovered gunpowder. Feel free to cash rush as desired. I have put the workers in groups of 4 strategically grouped to build a military railnet. We should first research Steam Power if it is not our free tech. I wish we could stop and have another "quiz," but with some people on vacation it won't really work. Let's see how perfectly you can time the factory prebuilds. Look out Ottomans!

PS- I apologize if any workers move as if on auto. I accidentally put a couple on some advanced auto function (maybe by pushing shift-f) and they kept moving before I could turn it off. Good luck grabbing them!

EG1 - Team1 - 750AD

 

[ControlFreak]

I think its just me an SHard for a while and I'm not sure about me. I won't play unit Monday at the earliest. Skip me if need be.

 

[Speaker]

Well SHard is going away for a week or so now, but Grimjack is coming back soon. We could go with a loose rotation until the holidays are over. Whoever (in the game) wants it can claim it, but don't play two turns in a row.

 

[SHard]

I am going away for the weekend tomorrow. I won't commit myself to anything now, but if I am able I could play tomorrow morning or Sunday Evening (unlikely to be in a fit state). Both of these options seem unlikely (pushed for time) but if I do I will make sure I post a 'got it' message.

Interesting rushes Speaker, another aspect of my game that has needed work.

680AD (3): I use several of our hundred workers to boost population to reach certain shield levels.

I'm surprised by this, given our need for workers. May it not have been easier to re-work the terrain around certain cities to allow us more shields?

 

[Sirp]

hmm....can us lurkers from the other game which has now finished have some more screenshots to look at, please?

-Sirp.

 

[Speaker]

@Sirp: Your wish is my command.

Here is the region around Moscow, our worker-factory capital.

And here is the region around Novgorod, our Forbidden Palace, with newly-captured Chinese land in the vicinity.

 

[Speaker]

And here are the lands of our enemies.

Ottoman Empire

England

Egypt

Celts

Greece

 

[Speaker]

And finally, a look at some statistics.