GR2 - Sherman's War (C3C AW).

[Greebley]

Doh! I totally forgot the incense. Of course we have 2. How could I forget the incense? Its the reason we are at war with 5 people - our people are easily incensed

Understandable, on not pushing forward. I knew our window of opportunity was closing fast. We have already grabbed a decent junk of land - enough to support our war efforts I think.

Looking forward to your report

 

[handy900]

Pre turn 550 BC
Move jav from Bull Run to Augusta
I think I’ll move the settler near Savannah 1 tile W & build on the ruins so there is less overlap. That is 2 turns from Lancaster.

Turn 1 525 BC
Galley moves near the conscript fortified on the Iron way south.
Cat destroys Aztec Road N of Silk City
Found Paducah (silks) set the build to walls.
Move sword next to Calixtlahuaca into the forest. He can attack any unit on the grass that leaves this city while he waits for reinforcements. Be nice if that city grows to size 2 before we take it.
I’ll keep the dinky moving north. If he spots something I’ll let you know.
Move two jav towards Tlatelolco. I indent to pillage their horses. We need to lick the Aztecs ASAP so I don’t have to type these city names.
Worker stuff.

IBT
Regular archer leaves the Aztec city of Calixtlahuaca, which loosely translates “too hard to type"
American spear approaching Augusta

Turn 2 500 BC - C3C thinks it’s 510 BC
Found Lincoln – set to barracks as it is well behind our lines.
Vet sword loses to regular archer near Calitoohardtotype type” Can’t believe it, regular grass no defensive bonus!
Horse kills “lucky shot archer”

IBT
Tecumseh – sword – sword
Shiloh – sword – sword
Manassas – walls – barracks
I guess the Aztec boat is just exploring, he went right by the IRON.

Turn 3 475 BC – C3C says 490 BC
Dinky sees an orange colored border
Move on top of Aztec horses.
The settler is heading into Aztec territory next turn for a river site next turn.
Silk road & GL due next turn.

IBT
Two javs escorting the settler kick butt and kill 2 archers on defense & net us 2 slaves. Somewhat makes up for the sword we lost earlier.
Two Jaguar warriors approach Paducah (silks).
We get the Great Library
Set LSU to Library due in 5 turns. I pan to switch to temple when we learn CB so I can lower the luxury tax.
Set research slider to zero ( we have a scientist in Shiloh)

Turn 4 450 BC c3c thinks it’s 470 BC
Pillage Aztec horses.
Augusta looks well defended. I think I’ll explore & pillage with these two jav.
Lone American spear is in the forest near Augusta. I’m waiting for him to get out of forest before I attack.
Move 2 cats from Lancaster to Paducah. AI attacks will likely come near the silks.
Move settler & wounded victorious javs to cover of a sword.
Bomb & hurt a jag warrior.
Change Tecumseh to horseman
Sword attacks & kills regular jag near Paducah
Horse kills wounded jag then retreats back to cover.
4 workers chopping near Paducah
Dinky’s captain greets Osman and says “You remind me of a sow on my farm back home, you big, fat pig. Your hat looks like something my grandma would wear to play bridge! Oh, by the way, we declare war on you and our plans are to pillage all your lands, raze most of your cities, enslave your people and steal your secrets.”

IBT
We learn Ceremonial Burial & Mysticism & Map Making & Polytheism & Monarchy & Construction & – (FYI- the 1st mate of the Dinky stole these from the Ottoman library while his captain had Osman’s attention.
We revolt immediately to get to Monarchy
Archer approaches Paducah.

Turn 5 425 BC c3c says 450 BC
Bomb & kill archer near Paducah with elite sword.
Dinky spots more purple borders (probably Iroquois). Appears to be lots of swamps and jungle up north.
I decide to use our settler east of Lincoln. We have a good front line 7 I don’t want to get too extended since we now have Otto coming after us.
Position sword & jav to kill American spear next turn. Hope for another slave.

IBT
We learn Philosophy
Aztecs launch a surprise attack with one regular archer East of Sherman by the mountains.

Turn 6 400 BC 3c3 thinks it’s 430 BC ?? This is driving me crazy!
LSU & Sherman swap vet sword for warrior to deal with this invasion. Sword can kill him on flat ground next turn.
Just in case I upgraded a regular warrior to sword in LSU as a backup.
Four cats hit the American spear & take only 1 point. Elite jav kills spear and gets a slave.
Purple border up north was Iroquois.

IBT
Pillaging javs get attacked, redline, and win.
Aztec archer moves onto mountains towards a worker. I’ll empty Sherman & leave an open unprotected city as bait.

Turn 7 375 BC c3c says 410 BC
Other pillaging jav kills lone Iroquois warrior & gets a slave, and also uncovers the Aztecs capital city. I’m going to try & sneak them home since they are wounded.
Aztec

IBT
Revolt ends. Greebley anointed king in a very moving ceremony . The queen is hot!
Archer exits from Calitoohardtotype.
There is an American spear & Settler north of Augusta. I think they are headed for the fish.

Turn 8 350 BC c3c says 390 BC
Brave pillagers look like they will make it home unless horsemen from somewhere arrive soon.
Different shade of purple is seen by Dinky’s lookout.
Found Greebleyville in honor of the king. I couldn’t resist. Set to barracks.
Horse kills archer @ Cali… ”too hard to type”
Move sword & jav towards American spear N of Augusta
Archer takes the bait near Sherman and is killed. Vet sword promotes.
Switch LSU to temple

IBT
Resaca –> walls –> barracks
Paducah -> walls -> barracks
America is building the Hanging Gardens

Turn 9 325 BC c3c says 370 BC
Sword kills American spear & gets 2 slaves from the settler. I was too chicken to attack first with the jav because the spear was in forest, & the jav was wounded from the last American battle. Decided to use sword, 2 slaves was good enough.
Dinky’s captain meets the Inca chief Pachacuti and tells him “Nice hat you got there boy, since you are a turkey, a hat that looks like a turkey is most appropriate. Oh, by the way, we plan to steal all you wines and wipe you off the face of the earth after we steal all your secrets.”

IBT
Ottoman regular warrior and Settler move in North of Augusta headed towards the Fish. We need a road there so
Tecumseh –> horse -> horse

Turn 10 300 BC on my clock, 350 BC on c3c
> I moved the cats into the forest 1 tile NE of Augusta so you can bomb the settler + warrior pair next turn. Two American slaves are building a road where the cats are.
> I moved a sword from Lancaster to Shiloh that you can move to Augusta next turn.
> The two wounded pillaging jav are 1 tile away from safely near Lancaster.
> Lone scientist in Shiloh will get currency in 37 turns. Research slider is zero 7 lux is 30% earning us 19 GPT.
> Greebleyville has no garrison As units come from Calitoohardtotype you can kill with the horse. You may want to send the next horse from Tecumseh to this area.
> Good luck with the RNG!

Greebley, I think I played 10 turns – honest! Below is a screenshot of my “autosaves” so you will know I’m not making this up. I’ve also posted a pic of the “F8 victory conditions, so you can see there have been 110 turns so far in the game in the lower right corner. Since the turns are divisible by 10 I think this is where I should stop.

Here is the save. It is not zipped, but is named per Greebleys instructions as GR2_350BC.sav. It's a small file.
I think it is 300BC, C3C thinks it is 350 BC
The Save, it's either 350BC or 300BC.

 

[handy900]

Three Pics at the end of my turns.

 

[barbslinger]

I still don'y know when the times change. I saw a post one time but in the heat of battle you look for 50's. I'll straighten it out on my turns, no biggie. Looks like we are doing pretty well. Running out of city names already pre-AD. I'll see if I can find some more.

 

[Greebley]

Handy, you played correctly. We are in the 20 years between turns phase.

The turns go

1250 years (25 turns) of 50 years per turn to 2750 BC
1000 years (25 turns) of 40 years per turn to 1750 BC
1000 years (40 turns) of 25 years per turn to 750 BC.
1000 years (50 turns) of 20 years per turn to 250 AD
1000 years (100 turns) of 10 years per turn to 1250 AD.
500 years (100 turns) of 5 years per turn to 1750 AD
200 years (100 turns) of 2 years per turn to 1950 AD
100 years (100 turns) of 1 year per turn to 2050 AD.

If you add it up you will find it sums to 540.
So my turns were 750 - 550 and yours were 550 - 350.

I have a personal theory on why they go every 20 years from 750 to 250 AD. The reason is that there is no 0 AD. The calender goes from 1 BC to 1 AD. If they went every 25 years they would have hit 0 AD. Imagine the protests over the lack of realism if they put a turn at 0 AD. People already irate over the spearman vs tank issue would be driven over the edge and the Fraxis offices pillaged. By going from 10 BC to 10 AD they sneakily avoid this issue. Only the most devout complainer would complain that this is really only 19 years apart and it should really be 11 AD.

So there you have it. You correctly played from 550 to 350. Barbslinger, you are up to play 350 to 150 BC. It looks like you might get the first heavy war years. Good luck

 

[barbslinger]

Looked at a few things and then also started turn 1. I'll post tonight.

 

[Greebley]

I decided to make a reference chart (My reason for making this is more because I like making reference charts than any innate need for our game to have it, but hey, here it is):

Greebley     Handy900     Barbslinger  TMcC
BC
4000-3000    3000-2550    2550-2150    2150-1750
1750-1500    1500-1250    1250-1000    1000-750
750-550      550-350      350-150      150-50 AD

AD
50-250       250-350      350-450      450-550
550-650      650-750      750-850      850-950
950-1050     1050-1150    1150-1250    1250-1300
1300-1350    1350-1400    1400-1450    1450-1500

 

[T_McC]

Boy, this thing is turning around fast. I may be up again tomorrow!

Now for some sprawling comments.

@Greebley - The site you chose for Lancaster is where my first instinct was to settle. I tried a different dot-map because I couldn't figure out how to place the cities around the silks.

@Handy - good call to move the settler off the hill. We don't need to build cities with 1st ring overlap in our back lines.

My notes from the save (apparently too late, as Slinger has already started playing):

We are in Monarchy, and are allowed 3 MP's. LSU not having 3 MP is costing us 14 gpt. Any unit is cheaper to build than a temple, and is just as effective. Or, we could keep the shields, build a couple of MP for LSU elsewhere, and switch to the Hanging Gardens.

Don't wait of Cali... to grow. It is founded on a cattle tile, so it should be razed and replaced.

I would also suggest switching Lincoln to a Galley, as it is our western-most coastal city. Its good news/bad news about having 6 civs on the same continent. We'll be facing a lot of units, but from a little diplomatic espionage, the three civs that would talk to us only have about 7-8 cities each. We will eventually wear them down with our size. The other continent will likely have larger civs, but a slower tech pace. As long as we are the ones to find them we may have more advanced units on contact.

Also from espionage, Monty doesn't have Iron or Horses, Abe lacks Iron, and Hiawatha has both.

 

[handy900]

Thanks for the turn count & reference chart Greebley. That was bugging me. Didn't realize there were 20 year turns in there.

This game is turning around very fast!

 

[barbslinger]

350BC pre turn – Look at LSU and see that since growth is in 32 and there are a number of wonders still available I’ll take a shot at one. Temple of Artemis construction begins, due in 28. Preferably Sun Zu will be ours when Fuedal comes in. I would certainly like Leo’s too. MM’ed to give Bull run 10spt Mines are coming in soon for Shiloh and Lincoln so I don’t feel that bad abot stealing theirs. I hurries Lancaster and Augusta walls. Those babies are invaluable. Really want to either clear the forests near frontline towns or push the front further out. An army would help too. MM’ed Chattanooga to 5spt leaving Tecumseh at 10spt. Looks like governors are on. I killed them. Sherman runs his towns. Pulled shields from rushed wall towns to get extra food for this turn. MM’ed around core to get Chatt and Sherman to 5spt and Tecumseh and Bull Run @ 10spt. LSU is now at 17 clean shields and temple could be had in 2. I’m switching it back and starting a prebuild after. I dropped lux 10% and LSU, the one problem city is 4-1-4 now. 100g +30gpt.

IT – An Aztec archer pair come head towards Lancaster. An Iro archer warrior pair come in towards left side of Augusta. Gotta get rid of that forest defense for them. The Otto settler/warrior pair try to slide by on the right side of Augusta and our SOD in forest.
Bull Run – Settler > Sword in 4
Savannah – Walls > Sword in 15. Probably changing down the line. We’ll see.
Lancaster – Walls > Worker
Augusta – Walls > Barracks

330 BC – turn 1
Otto settler pair fight. Use 2 pult shots for one hit on warrior. 4-5 jav takes him losing 2hp. 2 slaves. I slide the other cats and sword into town to await archer. Workers will be clearing forest soon. Swapping out a 4hp warrior for a 3hp between Tecumseh and Resaca. Will upgrade the 4hp if/when the Aztec galley drops off something for me to dispose of. Shiloh sword stays in Shiloh. 3tile trip to either frontline city from there.
Dinky sees another Incan city, the capital, Cuxco. Settler, I don’t know whether intent was front line or fill out core, he heads to end of road S of Sherman. Just notced that we have mines blocking fresh water to southern cities. Will need a new mine and then drag water down.

IBT – No new enemy troops. They all slide right towards Augusta.
LSU – Temple – Artemis, hopefully SunZu
Sherman – Jav > Jav
Chatt – Settler > Barracks

310BC – turn 2
Cats in Augusta go 1 for 2 on warrior archer. I move remaining cats back into town and move 2-5 jav back towards town. An American settler pair are now working their way down. 4hp sword knocks out archer and goes elite losing 1 hp. Horse takes care of warrior unscratched.
Upgrade warrior to 4hp sword. Swap new jav in Sherman for 5hp sword on worker sentry duty. Need him up front for a leader. Worker is killing a mine W of Sherman to get irrigation down. Moved a spear in Lancaster on the mountain to get two there in case the archer pair has ideas of capturing the mountain.

IBT – Another archer pair is heading towards Augusta.
Tecumseh – Horse > Horse

290AD – turn 3
Unscratched horse gets one scratch killing settler pair spear and goes elite. Slaves back with the others, 7 now. Cats go 4/4, yeah to reduce 1st archer pair to 1/3’s. Will only take one out so as not to expose myself to second archer pair. 4-5 sword loses two hp but does the trick. Expect other one to run home crying.
Montgomery founded in far east mountains per dotmap, set to worker. Changed Sherman over to library because there are 2 chops going on nearby and its growing next turn. Dinky rounds a horn at Cuzco and spots a vineyard.

IBT – As anticipated, archer with the owie runs home. Other pair threaten horse. America send a single warrior next to jav watching slaves irrigate near Paducah. Fortunately they had just finished the job. Also a reg archer is coming down.

270BC – turn 4
Slide slaves out of the way to clear a forest. Found Missionary Ridge near the 3 hills S of Sherman, set to barracks.
Near Augusta – Cats go 4/4 again! They’ve been practicing. The kinda scratched horse I take a chance with and he gets first shot and a kill. Scared me though when the bombard came out, it missed. The horse coming up from Tecumseh finishes off the other one and goes elite. The slaves finish road and clear forest near Augusta. Gonna try to clear some more forest. MM’ed Shiloh to get sword this turn. Jesus, finally noticed Cali! Sent 5/5 horse over to attack spear. It retreated. Sorry.

IBT- The archer that went home crying must of heard me because that idiot turned around and is coming back for more. The American warrior, archer get within striking range of Paducah entourage.
Bull Run and Shiloh > Sword > Sword
Ottomans start HG and finish Zeus.

250BC – turn 5
Elite jav calls the 1/3 a crybaby again, in tears he crumples and is now a crying slave (renamed Crybaby). Cats in Paducah go 3/3, these guys are good. I think I’m changing some builds! Elite jav gets a slave from warrior. Elite sword, across river, takes out archer. Sending some boys down to take care of Cali. Its size 2 now.

IBT – Nothing from the enemies. Currency comes in from GL. Code of Laws next.

230BC – turn 6
Nothing but heading to Cali. Few forests and mines. Montgomery has the lone sci since there are 3 food from town.

IBT – We hit the Middle Ages. GL gives CL and set to feudal. No enemies.

210BC – turn 7
Nothing but positioning.

IBT – An Iro settler pair come south towards Augusta to become slaves. An archer steps out from Cali.
Bull Run – Cat > Aquaduct
Shiloh – Cat > Cat

190BC – turn 8
Moved workers over in Augusta to road and clear forest. Put 2 cats and a couple elites there too. I don’t think spear/settler pair will attack. 5/5 jav barely gets by the archer in Cali. Others step up.

IBT – Settler pair does in fact head for 2 empty tiles. It’s like bait for settler pairs. 3 archers, 2 USA and 1 aztec are heading to Paducah

170BC – turn 9
3 cats in town roll out on road and go 2/3 on settler pair. 5/5 horse does the deed. 2 more slaves.
Cali – 4/4 sword knocks off reg spear –2hp, 5/5 horse takes out reg spear losing 4 hp and we capture Cali. Set to granary for next leader to decide. It’s corrupt as all get out. Upgraded another warrior to 3/3 sword. Theres a galley gazing at the town I don’t like. Shiloh goes to Aquaduct because of max pop 6.

IBT – My 1st jag sighting steps up to be killed near Paducah along with American archer pair just out of range. Another settler pair, Otto warrior, near Augusta along with an Aztec archer.
Chatt – Barracks > spear

150BC – turn 10
Cats go 4/4 in Augusta and I take 5/5 horse to mop up archer with no scratches. 5/5 jav takes our Otto warrior and SHERMANS 1st DIVISION finally makes an appearance!!! He’s fortified with movement in Augusta.




The SAVE

 

[barbslinger]

Wasn't as agressive as I would have liked. I spent money here and there but we have around 350g now. I'm a little worried about the cascade wiping out SunZu, but hoping. The best thing though was now it's PILLAGE time! you might think about putting a sword in it, getting a kill while in town so Epic is available, and then when pikes come, which is soon, fill the rest of the army up.

 

[handy900]

The "settler pair" bait near Augusta is working well.
Turning into a worker farm. If we can delay culture in Augusta until we move our front further north we can get a few more slaves.

CATS We need more. I usually dedicate at least 1 city to building cats only. Should have done this on my turns. Oversight on my part. Greebleyville may be a good choice to build cats. At work now so can't see a save, another city may be better. I have total confidence in T_McC's ability to identify the optimum cat factory location. Since we are at war with 5 AI's now, we are going to need a lot of cats. We may need 2 cities dedicated to cats. AI attacks will get progressively more frequent as the game goes forward when all 5 AI switch production to military.

City Governors My bad. Mr. lazy man turned them on when we revolted. After revolt I went back & MM's cities to fire the clowns, but forgot to turn governors off.
Won't mess with them again.

 

[Greebley]

A good set of turns Barbslinger. Nice attention to details.

I don't think we want to wait for Pikes to fill the army. I think 3 swords would be best. Defense two works until Cavalry, so it should be fine to start the pillaging. I think swords are better in that we can pick off random defense 1 units if we wish.

Let the pillaging begin

 

[T_McC]

Got it. I'll play later today.

We're making some progress, but it certainly appears we are now in a defensive stance until knights.

Took a look at the save, and did some diplomatic espionage:

Aztecs (6 cities), no lux, no iron or horses, in the Medieval Age
America (7 cities), no lux, no iron, Ancient Age (by a lot!)
Iroquois (7 cities), gems, Ancient Age
Incas (6 cities), wines, Ancient Age
Ottomans (8 cities), ivory, no iron, +Feudalism

It appears the only extra Iron on the continent is in our back lines. While the Ottos have built the SoZ, only the Iroquois will be able to build Knights to oppose us (I think the Inca lack one of the resources, but I don't have it written down). Once Monotheism and Feudalism pop from the Library, it may be in our best interests to self-research Chivalry, as Horses --> Knights is a pricey upgrade.

I'm really not sure what to put in the Army. On the one hand, I'd like to get a victory quickly, so we can build the Epic. On the other hand, almost anything I can put in the Army could be upgraded with Feudalism. If we want this to be almost exclusively a pillaging force, 1 sword (victory now) + 2 pikes will do nicely. But I had a another sneaky thought. The Ottos built the SoZ, and ancient cavalry are pretty tough. Except when compared to a 2 MDI/1 pike army (or MDI/sword/pike). The army could pillage some, and kill every AC while it is still in Otto territory. Hmmm ... maybe a good idea for the second army. I'm hoping that we are at least to the 3rd army before we can load knights into them. [Edit: Just read Greebley's post, think that may be best. Go out and meet the neighbors, being oh-so-slovenly all the way. ]

If these clowns are fighting with each other, I couldn't tell you who is fighting whom, as all cities appear to belong to their rightful owners.

 

[barbslinger]

I almost agree with Greebley. I wasn't sure if ancient cavalry would ignor a defense 2. Since it does lets put our UU jav in it and go slave collecting. We need to uncover the resources our enemies posess. Any iron and saltpeter when available needs an Army based nearby. This army is a pillager per rules. Next leader could be used to move palace to LSU (more centered) or to create an Army to kill off Ottos offense which sounds tough.

 

[handy900]

Originally posted by Greebley
A good set of turns Barbslinger. Nice attention to details.

I don't think we want to wait for Pikes to fill the army. I think 3 swords would be best. Defense two works until Cavalry, so it should be fine to start the pillaging. I think swords are better in that we can pick off random defense 1 units if we wish.

I agree swords are good enough and will last a long time. In my last turns in the Space-1 Rome game we still had a spear ARMY pillaging that the AI cavalry did not attack. Lets put the wood to them and slow down their production.

With regards to a pillaging, do you all think we should:

1. Keep the ARMY in Aztec lands & focus on Aztec production to deplete their units so we can capture their lands.

2. Explore & Pillage -> By this I mean sending this army all the way north on a zig zag pattern to both explore & pillage. It will take a long time to get all the way up north, and there are sure to be more armies following this one that can focus on the Aztecs. An ARMY that can pillage the Ottoman horses (if they have any) thereby eliminating their UU would be really nice.

I'm an option 2 advocate. Explore & Pillage.

With respect to attacking with this first ARMY, we will have few places to heal in AI territory. Turns wasted while healing after attacks could be spent pillaging. I have had my pillaging armies attacked in the past by the AI when they were yellow-lined (from bombardment). Granted, this happened with cavalry and tank armies, never ancient armies.

I would lean heavily toward just pillaging with this army & not ever attacking. Except maybe 1 defense units as Greebley said. Just think of all those AI worker turns you flush with every tile you pillage.

These are just off the top of my head random thoughts between phone calls @ work. Rebuttals are encouraged and welcome.

 

[barbslinger]

We also need a quick win to qualify for epic. I think the AI will attack a sword army (offensive) If we put a sword and 2 spears we should be OK. Have a couple jags go for the tour too. When there are warriors we can try for enslave, otherwise pillage and explore finding resources.

 

[T_McC]

Well, not to spoil the surprise, but we have an all-javelin Army, and I have confirmed it can enslave when attacking.

 

[handy900]

One problem with sending jags along for enslave would be how to get the slaves back to our homeland. If we go with Option 2 I don't see this army ever returning to our lands once it leaves for the far north. It will just pillage in Incaville and Ottoland until it dies [or we take the continent ] If we keep extra jags near home instead, they can capture slaves on defense after cats bombard AI units.. Just my $.02, but I’d send the army out solo.

We do want a quick victory with the army to build the HE.

With regards to the issue of swords versus spears in the army, I don’t know for sure, but my hunch is the AI looks at the defensive rating of an army only, or perhaps just the fact it’s an army. Again, it’s a hunch from PTW experience, but I don’t think the AI factors the offensive capability of an army into a decision to attack or avoid an army. Feel free to enlighten me if I'm mistaken. Spears cost less, but swords do give us the option to kill the stray non retreat 1 hp defensive point AI unit on flat ground every now & then.

On another related topic, in my solo C3C game I’ve learned that military leaders can only be used to rush small wonders, not rush great wonders as in PTW. Scientific leaders can rush a Great Wonder.

I’m really enjoying this game. You all are great players with good ideas, make good points, and are helping to improve my solo game play. Thank you!

EDIT Jav defense of 2 is the same as a sword so it works just as well. Perhaps we can shuttle the slaves home on galleys No such thing as too many slaves when railroads come in.

 

[T_McC]

GR2 - Electric Boogaloo

150 BC (0)
Our lone scientist is in Montgomery, an undefended size 1 town on the coast. Cali... is built on a cow, swap from Granary to Settler in order to move it over one. Probably want to balance front-line defense between Paducah and Lancaster. They will soon have 4 cats to share. Savannah switched to Jav, as three will disappear into the army. Shiloh will grow itself unhappy with an aqueduct, so swapped to spear. Libraries are not useful to us yet, so Sherman swapped to Market. Run Leader out of Augusta, to try to collect troops for army. Tecumseh needs MP, swapped to Spear. LSU is building the ToA, but is really building Sun Tzu. In 11 turns we will have enough shields to complete the wonder, provided Feudalism comes in. Also, hope that the Ottomans complete HG, as they are currently the only ones who can cascade to Sun Tzu. LSU could also use MP. With a little work, I think LSU can reach 20 uncorrupted shields. Bull Run is building an Aqueduct prematurely, instead I want another MP. Swapped to Spear. I am building all these spears so we can lower the lux tax, and so when we complete aqueducts we won't have to run specialists. What Bull Run really needs is a temple, so it can claim the fish. But the spear is cheaper, and the city will grow to 6 before a temple completes anyway.

Goals for this turn: Don't think I'll see any offensive action, so I'll target a leader on defense. Three MP in LSU and Tecumseh, two in any city attempting to build an aqueduct. Replacing (at least) the three javs in the army. Have some fun taking the Army for a spin. Try to MM LSU to get Sun Tzu on my turn.

The lux tax is costing 8 gpt. We are 15 over our support limit. May see if a city can be founded on my turns, but I won't hold my breath. Try not to unnecessarily spend money (i.e., rushing the settler out of Cali.., tempting, but not useful).

Double and triple-check that the only stack that can be attacked is the sword/spear/jav stack in Aztec territory. Confirm Inca lack Iron, so no knights for them.

<Return>

130 BC (1)
Shiloh: Spear (sent to LSU)--> Spear. Tecumseh: Spear (sent to Montgomery, as an Aztec boat is hanging around) --> Spear. Two American archers approach Paducah. Aztec archer wandering down. Dinky keeps going. Cats go 4/4 on archers outside Paducah. Form Army with leader before attacking archers. Elite sword offs one archer. Elite Jav nails other archer.

IT - Ottoman boat unloads a spear in the SW. See an Inca warrior/settler pair. Munch. Two Aztec archers wander around.

110 BC (2)
Lancaster: Cat --> Cat. Augusta: Barracks --> Spear. Bull Run: Spear (sent to LSU) --> Spear. Savannah: Jav --> Spear. Resistance ends, scientist moved to Cali. Montgomery switched to walls. Stupid winding river screwed up my loading the army. Cat moves and gongs Ottoman spear. Attack spear (in forest) with elite horse. Win. Dinky keeps rolling. Chatanooga will be a good producer once it gets some worker attention.

IT - Temple of Artemis, Hanging Gardens, and Great Wall complete, all on our continent. The good news is that the Ottos did build the HG, and now have to cascade their ToA build onto Sun Tzu. (Iro built Great Wall). LSU switched to Palace. If Sun Tzu goes by the wayside, we'll just have to take the Masoleum there.

90 BC (3)
Paducah is the AI focus. See Aztec archer move that way, as well as two American archers. Aztec settler pair comes into view. Inca pair is trying to skirt out borders by going through the forest. Tecumseh: Spear --> Spear. Lux tax lowered to 10%. Now making 37 gpt. The settler pairs are tempting, but I'll let them enter our territory first., so I won't be exposed on a counter-attack.

IT - Refuse audience with Aztecs.

70 BC (4)
Sherman: Market --> Jav. Resaca: Spear --> Harbor. Chatanooga: Spear --> Spear. Incas begin MoM (during our turn?). There is a spear and 5 archers approaching Paducah. Inca warrior/settler pair approach Augusta. Two successful cat shots and an elite sword later, we get two more free workers. The Aztec pair will be in range next turn. Slight retreat from Paducah, to try to invite units across the river to be killed.

IT - Zip

50 BC (5)
Tecumseh: Spear --> Javelin. Lancaster: Cat --> Cat. Augusta: Spear --> Cat. Two successful cat shots on Aztec spear/settler pair, then attack with elite horse. Add two more slaves to the stack. Cats go 2/3 between Paducah and Lancaster, dropping a pair of Aztec archers to 2/3. Aztec spear in position to pillage silks near Paducah. Road to alternate source completes. Two American archers are knocked down to 2/3, and killed with elite units. Elite sword offs Aztec spear. Vet Jav enslaves Aztec archer, vet horse kills second of pair. Spot an Iro archer heading south. Dinky keeps rolling.

IT - Nothin'

30 BC (6)
Bull Run: Spear --> Aqueduct. Manassas: Spear --> Aqueduct (city only gets two spt, so will be more useful as economic town.) Missionary Ridge: Barracks --> Spearman. Down in that area, I figure the hills can go to Missionary Ridge. There is only one unit on our territory, and he's not next to a city, so I'll wait. The ARMY is healed and ready to rumble. Army attacks and enslaves the Iro archer.

Mid-round Tune-up: Our pre-build runs out in 17 turns, and Feudalism hasn't shown up. Research to 90%, Feudalism in 10 at -44 gpt. (We won't go broke.)

10 BC (7)
Shiloh: Spear --> Spear. Savannah: Spear --> Harbor. Two successful cat shots on Aztec archer, kill with elite sword. Hey, Monte sent a Jag! Go 1/3 dropping rocks on his head, and kill with elite horse. Aztec spear outside Augusta wants chicken, gets "Duck!" instead. Cats go 2/2. Elite sword finishes the job. Production in Lancaster swapped to cat. Move army into Aztec territory.

IT - Some troop movement.

10 AD (8)
Tecumseh: Jav --> Temple. Chatanooga: Spear --> Horse. Greebleyville: Barracks --> Courthouse (too corrupt to build troops). Two Aztec archer get in line for some pain. Both redlined, elite sword cuts down first, Jav enslaves second and promotes to elite. Army pillages two tiles, it appears as though Tenochtitlan is already disconnected. Now starting the process of migrating some of the slaves east into the core.

IT - Deny Iroquois audience.

30 AD (9)
Sherman: Jav --> Spear (3rd MP for size 7 and beyond). Augusta: Cat --> Spear. Paducah: Barracks --> Cat. Montgomery: Walls --> Harbor. Ottos complete MoM. Cats hit twice against American archer, Elite sword finishes. Gee, can you tell we aren't militaristic? Army pillages two more squares around Teno, then kills Jag.

IT - Nothing.

50 AD (10)
Shiloh: Spear --> Aqueduct. American settler pair comes into view. American spear threatens small stack of slaves. Didn't wear his hard hat, has two loads of rocks dropped on him. Finished with an elite sword.

We have 312 gold, and Feudalism is due in 6 at (cough) -51 gpt. We will complete Sun Tzu immediately upon discovery of Feudalism. I think we are heading for an infrastructure push, and hopefully I built enough defense to allow Greebley to slack off on the military builds. Kill ratio was 19 to 0, with 14 elite attacks producing 0 leaders. The Ottomans must be involved in two other wars, as I didn't hear a peep from them. At this point it is us against the Aztecs and Americans, and they are both sucking wind.

We have 25 spears, 11 swords, 6 horses, 12 cats, 7 loose javs and 3 javs in the army. Tenochtitlan is starving, and may be ripe for the picking by the close of Greebley's turn. We could use a couple more/larger cities for unit support costs.