FTS-01 The Accountant Wars

[Conroe]

Looks like a good set of turns, Nares!

Taoism FIDL.

Now that is a scary message! One of the AI has just researched Philosophy. This most likely means that we no longer have a monopoly on Code of Laws. If we don't get busy we are going to be in a world of hurt for sure.

There's a GP coming up in Mecca in two turns. There's a very very high chance it will be a Great Prophet, which means we can build the Confuscianism shrine.
...
hopefully pop a GS, though once we research Construction, the GS's next tech should be partial research of Engineering.

If we had Monarchy, the GP would offer us Divine Right. It could be handy to build Versailles, considering we are going for domination on this map. A GS should offer us both Philosopy and Alphabet before Engineering.

Here's the save.

I will be playing in the next couple of hours.

Foolonthehill, you're on deck.

 

[pigswill]

Worth getting cottage worked in Mecca (and more established) to stop falling too far behind in commerce. We can afford to lose a couple of warriors to reduce expenses. Maths/Construction is the way to go. I'd vote for Prophet on Kong Miao for the cash. Overall its likely to be a game where we won't have the luxury of many wonders.

 

[Nares]

Just testing to see how these images come out.

EDIT: Ok, cool, thumbnails. Now I don't need to bother resizing them.

Quick note that I picked up on while going back to take these screenshots from the save. Yekaterinburg (lol, now I know how to spell the damn thing) and St. Petersburg are both on hills. St. Pete has 60% cultural defense as well. Catapaults are basically a necessity for moving forward with the war. Macemen would be too expensive to throw away like that.

 

[Ozbenno]

I'd start the Russian assault once the next sword/axe double act joins the first. I also think that catapults would be more helpful than maces at the moment (easier research and cost).

 

[Conroe]

Situation Assessment: Well, Nares built us a navy and started building us an army. Not having any bronze may have really hurt us, though. St Petersburg has had enough time to get a 60% cultural defense built up, in addition to being on a hill. Moscow is still under the fog, but it presumably also has a 60% bonus, if not 80%, by now.



With only 1 sword and 1 axe on Cathy's island, we don't have enough forces in place to attack, yet. Two more swords are on a Galley. These four units should be enough to take out Yekaterinburg. I agree with Nares that the city should be razed.



Pillaging her iron will be a big priority, as well. To that end, I'm an going to build up our forces for an assault on Moscow (well, her iron city, which I presume to be Moscow). Since we have 4 Galleys, I'm going to set up a ship chain operation so that new troops can be transported down there in 2 turns.

Turn 0 - 175AD: I MM Mecca to shave a turn off of the Axeman build and to also start working our lone cottage.

Turn 2 - 225AD: Mecca trains an Axeman and starts another one.

Turn 3 - 250AD: Mahavira, a Great Prophet, is born in Mecca. The free tech is Monarchy. The Confucian Shrine would give us 3gpt. Tough decision. Hereditary Rule would allow more liberal use of the whip in Mecca. With 2 food resources, the city can regrow that pop in 2 turns (if it had a Granary). I tell you, I thought about this decision for a long time. Monarchy is the better way to go for a long term solution. Mecca would need to build a Granary and a Work Boat (for the pillaged fish) before it could start whipping troops. We need to expand right now! Thus, I need to be building troops right now rather than boats and buildings. The Confucian shrine is built.



Meanwhile, outside of Yekaterinburg, our first CRII Swordsman has 60% odds against an unpromoted Archer on a hill. He, of course, dies. I guess that Archer just got a promotion. The rest of the battle went our way. Unfortunately, Catherine's Archer (1.2/3) will probably be close to full health next turn after its promotion.

On a side note, Catherine's Scout has gotten an Explorer upgrade. She has evidently researched Compass.

Turn 4 - 275AD: Mathematics is learned and we start on Construction. Mecca trains an Axeman and starts on another one.

Meanwhile, back in Yekaterinburg, our CRII Swordsman (5.8/6) has 76% odds against Cathy's CGI Archer (2.4/3). But, a healthy Archer will be in Yek next turn. I attack and raze the city.



I drop off a healthy axe to gaurd our wounded boys.

Turn 5 - 300AD:

IBT: The Parthenon is built in a far away land.

Turn 6 - 325AD: Mecca trains an Axeman and starts on another one. Meanwhile, Medina completes a Barracks and begins Swordsman training. This should have been done sooner, but I forgot to MM the city after it grew to size 4.

Turn 8 - 375AD: Mecca trains an Axeman and starts another one.

Meanwhile, our Axemen are landed on the hill next to Catherine's iron mine. Moscow has a 60% cultural defense bonus, but the city was not built upon a hill.

In Rostov, a couple of Galley's are being loaded with troops. I think they might be bound for Arabia ...



IBT: Well, look who wants a peace treaty ...



I tell her that I will agree to peace if she gives up St. Petersburg. She isn't amused ...

Meanwhile, the Great Library is built in a far away land.

Turn 9 - 400AD: Just outside of Moscow, our Axeman, who gets a Cover promotion, has a 65% chance of taking out Catherine's Archer gaurding her iron mine. It was a bit of a fight, but we win. Our healthy Axeman is moved into position to gaurd him. Next turn, Catherine will be short one iron mine.

Turn 10 - 425AD: Mecca trains an Axeman and starts on a Swordsman. Medina trains a Swordsman and starts on another one.



Our turn counter is off somewhere. I'm guessing somebody somewhere didn't play all of their turns. Not hard to do when you are playing 15-20 turns at a time. I'm going to go ahead and play it up to 500AD just to get us back to even.


Turn 11 - 450AD: Our Yek army is healed and begins advancing on St Petersburg.

IBT: Chichen Itza has been built in a far away land.

Turn 12 - 475AD: Our best CRIII Swordsman has only 20% odds against the St Petersburg defenses. St Pete has only 2 Archers, a Spearman and a Chariot defending. We have 2 swords and 3 axes; normally, I would sacrifice a unit to go ahead and take the city. But, we are 5 turns from completing Construction and building Catapults. I think I'm going to gather the Galleys together and ferry our forces down to Moscow.

Turn 13 - 500AD: We pick up 110g from working on the Chichen Itza. Meanwhile, Mecca completes a Swordsman and starts on another one. It takes Mecca 3 turns to train a sword. Since Construction will be done in 4 turns, I MM the city to build the sword in 4 turns. This brings construction down to 3 turns. Mecca will grow in 2 turns and should be whipped. This will have the sword done in 3 ready to start constructing Catapults.

After our troops were loaded into the boats, Cathy feels safe enough to send her Workers back into the fields. I could unload and capture both of them right now. I decide I will only capture one for now. The Worker is in a Galley off the coast of Mecca ready to unload next turn.

The rest of our army is off-loaded in the forest outside of Moscow.



Notes: Don't forget to watch our southern flank! Cathy is loading troops into Galleys in Rostov. If they land on our shores, we have nothing but Warriors for defense!

I'm not sure if we are falling farther and farther behind in tech or if one AI is pulling ahead of the pack. We definitely need to secure Cathy's island and get our empire consolidated in a hurry.

The assault on Moscow will probably take 2 turns. Maybe more if we need to bring in reinforcements. The ship chain is now broken. But, there are 2 more swords on a Galley off the coast of Mecca. If you chain the last leg, they can be in Moscow in 3 turns. Make sure the chain is set back up for the cats.

Here is a look at Cathy's lands:





One more thing. When playing in an SG, please do not leave any units on "GoTo" orders without mentioning something in your turn report. I caught it in time with this game, but it can be very frustrating when your units start moving on their own.

 

[Conroe]

Roster Check:
Conroe - Just Played
Foolonthehill - UP
Ozbenno - On Deck
Asperge
pigswill
Nares


Remember: 10 turns each from now on!

 

[Ozbenno]

Nice work.

I think we need to establish which cities to keep and which to raze. I'm at work so can't load the save to check but...

Moscow looks like a keeper. I'd say raze both St Petes and Yaro and put another city in a better position but St Petes is the Jewish Holy City so probably better to keep and raze Yaro. Rostov may be a keeper as well but hard to see fully from thumbnail.

Bring on the cats and bring down Catherine!

 

[Conroe]

Moscow looks like a keeper. I'd say raze both St Petes and Yaro and put another city in a better position but St Petes is the Jewish Holy City so probably better to keep and raze Yaro.

The thing about razing a city and replanting with a Settler is that we have to take the time to build a Settler. I would rather use that time building infrastructure. You are right, though, it would have been nice if St Petersburg was coastal on an archipelago map. I would consider keeping all 4 of her cities, from a time perspective alone.

If you need a better picture, I will be happy to post one for you. There really isn't much to see in Rostov. The map is still black down there.



After Construction completes, I think we need to head towards Optics. It would be nice to get a couple of Caravels out and snag the circumnavigation bonus. Plus, we need to find the other civs ASAP to assess just how far behind we really are.

One more thing. Don't go too crazy pillaging Cathy's lands. Since we are going to keep (at least some of) those cities, it would be nice if they were as productive as possible from start. Obviously, we need to pillage any strategic resources, but be careful about pillaging food and commerce resource.

 

[Ozbenno]

I would cut her road network between the cities as well, so that she can't through last minute reinforcements into a city.

Will our finances cope with keeping all her cities?

 

[Conroe]

Attached is a full size (no cropping/resizing) screen shot of Cathy's Land. It should be a little clearer for you.

Will our finances cope with keeping all her cities?

At the moment no, because we have no infrastructure. We are going to need to build courthouses and such once the war is over. But right now, we're falling behind because we only have 2 cities.

We currently have 157 gold in the bank. We are spending it at -9gpt with 100% on the research slider. We will pick up more gold from taking her cities. Hopefully, that will finance our infrastructure builds after the war.

 

[FoolontheHill]

Got it! Will probably not get to play until tomorrow evening.

 

[FoolontheHill]

At the moment no, because we have no infrastructure. We are going to need to build courthouses and such once the war is over. But right now, we're falling behind because we only have 2 cities.

We currently have 157 gold in the bank. We are spending it at -9gpt with 100% on the research slider. We will pick up more gold from taking her cities. Hopefully, that will finance our infrastructure builds after the war.

Once we finish her off and get back to infrastructure, we should consider setting up a city to produce missionaries. With the temples we have and her 4 cities, that's an additional 4gpt per religion.

It looks like I will be finishing our first cats (at least one ), I favor CR suicide cats, but I will most likely leave them unpromoted as I doubt they will reach the battle on my turns. That will allow a little more flexibility if the situation changes.

After Construction completes, I think we need to head towards Optics. It would be nice to get a couple of Caravels out and snag the circumnavigation bonus. Plus, we need to find the other civs ASAP to assess just how far behind we really are.

I'm going to take a look at metal casting (forges would be great for building that infrastructure), but may stick with optics depending on time. I would suggest that we start moving toward macemen. Our advantages right now are a very productive capital and a headstart toward Macemen. We want to press that advantage while we have it.

 

[Ozbenno]

Once we finish Catherine we will have the Holy Cities for 4 religions. 3 more GPs and a tonne of missionaries, we will be swimming in cash.

 

[pigswill]

For optics we need metal casting, machinery and compass; for maces we need metal casting, machinery. So highly compatible research goals. My favourite cat promotion at present would be CR/accuracy so 4 cats strip defences in 1 turn.
If we're using the whip then whip granary, courthouse in russian cities. It might be worth considering moving the palace at some point.

 

[angeleyes]

The war with Catherine will not be over soon, so let's make first granary and workboat in Mecca. Costs: only 3 turns & 1 citizen. Profit: immediately.

 

[Conroe]

The war with Catherine will not be over soon,

I really hope you are wrong. We are really starting to fall behind as it is.

Once those 2 swords arrive in Moscow (3 turns), the city will fall. By the time our troops are healed, we will have our first Catapult. Those City Garrison Archers are the only ones that are giving us any problems. One shot with an Accuracy-promoted Catapult should lower the defenses of any city enough for our troops to complete the job. I'd rather see us building units. At least for the next 10 turns, and then we can reassess the situation ...

 

[angeleyes]

we get construction in 3, so lets use those three turns to make workboat and granary in stead of one lousy axeman, then we can start pomping out those fabulous catapuls.

just curious, if i didn't had build Medina, would anybody else have build it ?

I wouldn't use the whip if it means you can't work one of the hills (except for granary). but if it means giving up a forest-grass, then whip!

 

[Nares]

We really don't need the Granary in Mecca or Medina any time soon, unless you're trying to whip a Forge or some similarly expensive building. Neither should be doing anything except producing units.

As for whipping them, Medina should not be whipped at all. Even once it gets a Harbor or an Aqueduct, it should not be whipped ever. Not enough growth there, but a lot of hammers at its current pop.

Mecca should be whipped every 10 for one pop. I'm sure some will be uneasy with the idea, but it's almost impossible to avoid the pop-rush rounding bug in the current situation. When I say almost impossible, I mean to say that it's impossible to the point of being impractical to try to avoid it. That said, since we're only whipping for one pop at a time (and really only could whip for one pop at a time if trying to avoid the excess cost of whipping from 0/X production), there's really no need for a Granary, with or without the Fish (though the Fish certainly help).

I do agree with a Workboat being built sooner rather than later. We could afford to run a specialist in Mecca, but the current setup forces us to work some less than desirable tiles. The three hills provide enough production, and those Fish would free up a citizen or two for specialist duty. We need to work that Philosophical trait some more, and Mecca's the only place to do it at the moment.

For clarity's sake, if we were to build a Forge in Mecca (while under Bureaucracy), we could whip one pop Swordsmen from 0/40 production. Running Bureaucracy, we're three hammers short of being able to do that. Which is to say, if you apply so much as one hammer to a Swordsman, you will take advantage of the rounding error. In terms of Axemen, there should be no conceivable way we can avoid a one pop whip.

 

[angeleyes]

Mecca should be whipped every 10 for one pop.

Mecca can make 18 hammers/turn, with a whip you gain only 12 hammers but loose a citizen. This way you can make about 3 axes/10 turns, while without whipping you can make an axe every 2 turns.

The three hills provide enough production.

look at the save. Mecca doesn't work the 2 grass-hills, which means we lose every turn 9 hammers!. This means every 4 turns we throw an axe away for almost nothing because we want too whip ....

 

[pigswill]

At the moment we're still expanding Mecca so I see no value in whipping it coz it gets good production normally and we want to work as many cottages as possible in our bureaucratic capital.
Is it worth thinking about alphabet after construction, see if we can trade/extort some techs; I'm guessing Cat has calendar but we need to put the squeeze on her more.