GR26 - AWE Archipelago vs 30 civs (No GL)

Downloaded the save. I'm up in Rod02 also. I'll get it (Rod02) done and then my turns here.
 
Northern Pike - Away until March; are you back now?

Yes, basically I'm back, although I'll be very busy this weekend and may have to ask for a swap if my round comes up then.
 
8. 10AD
I stop here so we can decide what we do with our MGL

I personally am not sure, whether to rush the HE, get a spear or horse army?
Anyway, with so many enemies and no iron this game might be doomed

We have more Spears (22) than Horses (8), so we could fill a Spear Army easier.

A Spear Army would give good protection to our Horses as we expand, and it could keep up with them in enemy territory. It would not be our main offensive unit; it would be the protecter of the offensive units.

A Horse Army, with 3 MPs, would move like Cavalry. This would let the Horse Army be very mobile on defense within our borders. It would not be a good attacking army due to low native defense value. It could move like the Cavs and attack like the Cavs (6 HP), but only defend like a Horse. So I would want to use where it could heal safely, which is mostly inside our own borders.

Heroic Epic is nice, but right now it seems like a luxury.

I favor building a Spear Army, gathering some Horses together and taking on Japan. If we build a Horse Army, it seems likely it would be used for mostly defensive battles inside our borders.

The MGL is still waiting to be used. I've not done anything yet.
 
I agree that we have to use the Leader for an army. But I'd rather form a horse army, because without swordsmen we desperately need a means of making good attacks on defense. Taking out the Japanese with the help of a spear army wouldn't do much to relieve the pressure on us, since they're so feeble.
 
Just to repeat what I said above, I won't be in a position to play or even post a got-it for the next two days. I'd be glad to pick the game up on Monday or so, if CB has posted by then.
 
Despotism
00% Tax
90% Science
10% Luxury

170 gold, -7 gpt

Writing in 8 turns.


00 Settlers
10 Workers
08s Slaves
08 Archer
22 Spear
08 Horse
05 Catapult
00 Army

Current Units: 54
Allowed Units: 64
Support Costs: 0 gpt

Compared to Iroquois we are Average.
Compared to Germany we are Strong.
Compared to Persia we are Weak.
Compared to Japan we are Strong.
Compared to Netherlands we are Weak.
Compared to Portugal we are Average.

01 Horse connected.
02 Furs connected.
01 Incense connected.

City Count
16 Persia, Ottomania (us)
15 Iroqouis
07 Germany
04 Japan
?? Netherlands, Portugal

~~~
Opt for Horse Army for more hitting power, until we get Swords.
Move Murad I to Bursa from Intense Incense (6 tiles) and form the Army of First Horses. Load with vHorse from Aydin and move towards Edrine. Wake Horses in Urfa and Uskudar and send towards Edrine.

[IBT 0010 AD]
We retreat a German Horse and pierce an Iroquois Archer (2 of 2).

Somewhere vSpear -> vSpear in 5.

Persia is building The Great Wall (Construction -> Metallurgy).

1 0030 AD

To the northeast, we have a smattering of German units but only one is inside our borders.
In the southwest it is quite different. Japan has four units in our territory; 3 Spears and a Settler, with a Horse on top of a volcano. Iroquois managed to sneak in a Spear between Tobacco Smoke and Iznik, with 3 Archers ready to pounce on Intense Incense and 3 Mounted Warriors SE of Mugla and one more on mountian, while just across the line are 2 more MWs, Archer/Spear combo, solo Archer and another Archer/Spear combo.

We load two more vHorses into First Horses and move to the southwest.

Begin mine north Edrine with one worker.
Build mine between Anakara and Ufra with two workers.
Spacebar the worker in the forest W of Uskudar (chop would be wasted on a 1 turn Horse in Uskudar; will start chop next turn).
Start mine 2SE of Edrine with one worker.
Exploring Japanese slave finds the ocean.
Start mine SW of Bursa with two workers.
Start a road S of Bursa with slave.
New Spear in Somewhere goes to Aydin, to give it a second defender.

eHorse from Denizli removes the redlined German Horse north of Antayla (3 of 3/ 1e of 1e) and then moves into Antayla.

The north is cleansed of German units.
In the southwest, Intense Incense and its three defenders face 3 Purple Archers. Mulga, also with three defenders, faces 3 MWs and a Purple Archer. The settler pair will probably move north and not attack.

172 gold, -7 gpt, Writing in 7.
[IBT]
Three MWs retreat at Mulga and the Purple Archer is no more (7 of 7).

Edrine vHorse -> vHorse in 4.
Aydin catapult -> catapult in 4.
Intense Incense barracks -> vSpear in 7.

2 0050 AD

Per MapStat, Portugal has 14 cities.

Two German Swords trespassed on the IBT, one at Antayla and Denizli.
Persian Horse 1E of Ufra threatens Urfa, 2 workers SE of Urfa, worker in the forest 1W of Uskudar and Uskudar (one Archer defending). Second Persian Horse is in the forest over the line northish of Denizli.
Both Japanese Spears are in the unclaimed coastlands SE of Tobacco Smoke and so is the Iroquois Spear. Three Archers threaten Intense Incense and at Mulga are three healthy MWs and an Archer.

Archer in Ufra promotes by eradicating the Persian Horse next door (8 of 8).
Catapult arrives in Intense Incense.
Archer jumps on Japanese Spear on flat ground near the coast (9 of 9).
First Horse eliminates the Iroquois Spear on the coast (10 of 10).
And then dispatches the remaining Japanese Spear, promoting a unit inside to Elite (11 of 11).
Leave eHorse in Antayla for now.

Begin mine 1N of Somewhere with one worker.
Move StackOfSixSlaves to the open grass between Intense Incense and Iznik.
Two workers SW of Urfa move onto forest, will chop to help build the walls in Urfa.
Worker begins forest chop 1W of Uskudar.
Slave moves NE along the coast.
New Horse in Edrine moves SW.

Both German units are still in place, one at Antayla was pinged.
In the southwest, the mountains are still full of Iroquois on the warpath.

165 gold, -8 gpt, Writing in 6.
[IBT]
Japan wants to talk. We're busy.

vSpear on the mountain next to Antayla defeats German Sword and Horse and promotes to Elite (13 of 13).
In Mulga, we retreat one MW and unmount two more, along with an Archer (17 of 17).

Istanbul granary -> vHorse in 4.
Bursa settler -> settler in 5 (grows in 5, also).
Uskudar vHorse -> vHorse in 4.
Antayla barracks -> vSpear in 7.
Mugla walls (yeah!) -> catapult in 20.

3 0070 AD

One German Sword is 1N of Denizli, with another German Sword and a Persian Horse and Archer nearby. All four units are Veteran. The pinged vSword ran away.
Mulga faces 4 Iroquois rAchers and defends with two Spears, one at 3/5 and the other 4/4.

Wake vSpear on the grass south of Tobacco Smoke and send towards Mulga.
First Horses 12/13, deals with one Purple Archer at Mulga (18 of 18).
vHorse from Intense Incense kills a cripple, but is redlined in the process (19 of 19).
vHorse in Uskudar goes to Urfa.

Slave finds a greenish border, but no units or cities are visible. No one new on F4.
Start/finish a road on the new mine between Urfa and Ankara.
Settler moves NE, heading for the hill 3NE of Denizli.
Move eHorse from Antalya to Denizli.
Begin forest chop for Urfa's walls with two workers.

Denizli faces a max of two attackers; German Sword and Persian Horse.
Intense Incense is not threatened.
Mugla faces a max of three Archers and one Spear, but the Archers may target our redlined vHorse instead of the city and its three defenders.

157 gold, -10 gpt, Writing in 5.
[IBT]
German Sword goes down swinging at Denizli (20 of 20).
Redlined vHorse dies (20 of 21).
Archer attacks Mugla and fails (21 of 22).

Iznik vHorse -> vHorse in 5.
Salonika catapult -> catapult in 5.

4 0090 AD

In the north, a lone German Sword is ready to die at Denizli, while another is getting ready to die a tile away. The pinged Sword fortifies and heals.
In the south, two Archer and an MW bother Mulga. In no man's land, 4 MWs heal and another Purple Archer/Spear combo head to Mugla.
Japan has two Horses inside our borders but they cannot attack this IBT, only move. The Japanese settler pair is on the west coast.

Move vSpear into Mulga. That makes 3 Spears and 1 Archer defending Mulga.

Move two vHorse to deal with the Settler pair next turn.
Ping the Purple Spear between Mulga and Intense Incense. First Horse pings it for good and the Archer with it (23 of 24).

Move the StackOfSixSlaves to the hill 1N of Mulga, to road.

147 gold, -10 gpt, Writing in 4.
[IBT]
Archer and MW go to the happy hunting grounds at Mulga (25 of 26).

Denizli catapult -> catapult in 7.

The Great Wall has been built in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Vikings have built Karasjok (Kara's Joke?) on the coast NE of Denizli.

5 0110 AD

We see that the Dutch have 23 cities.

Once again, a lone German Sword threatens Antayla. Near Denizli are two German Horses and a Sword (all outside our border) and one Sword inside our border. Another Persian Horse has shown up, but is outside our dotted line.
Around Mulga are the two Japanese Horses and a Purple Threesome of two Archers and one Spear.

Edrine is cranky, hire a geek.

We lose a vHorse to Japan's settler pair and promote the Spear in the process. Attack again and redline the Spear, but we fail (25 of 28).

Move First Horses (6/13) to cover slave stack as they begin to road.
Fortify newest Spear in Mulga.

Ping the German rSword at Denizli and finish off with eHorse (26 of 29/ 2e of 2e).

137 gold, -10 gpt, Writing in 3.
[IBT]
Lone, irritant German Sword goosesteps to his death at Antayla (27 of 30).
The two German Horses defeat a Spear and Archer in Urfa (27 of 32) but it has three defenders.

Edrine vHorse -> vHorse in 4.
Uskudar vHorse -> vHorse in 4.
Aydin catapult -> catapult in 4.
Tobacco Smoke barracks -> vSpear in 7.
Somewhere vSpear -> vSpear in 4.

6 0130 AD

Istanbul is cranky; hire a geek.

At Denizli is a German Sword and Persian Horse. At Urfa are two German Horses and one defender in Urfa.
In the south, the two Japanese Horses are ready to attack Intense Incense.
Iroquois appear to have given up on Murfa and focus on Bolu, which currently has only a vSpear in defense. It faces 4 MWs.

Three catapults all hit on the Japanese Horses. Archer takes down one; vSpear from Intense Incense unseats the other (29 of 35).
Wake vSpear in Tobacco Smoke and move to Bolu. A Spear from Iznik moves to Tobacco Smoke.
New vSpear in Somewhere moves into Urfa.
New vHorse in Uskudar moves into Ufra.
New vHorse in Edrine moves into Urfa.
Move eSpear on mountain into Denizli.

Iznik is now cranky; hire a geek.

127 gold, -11 gpt, Writing in 2.
[IBT]
One German Horse attacks Urfa, is redlined and runs away (30 of 36).
At Bolu, our two Spears win all four battles with the MWs (34 of 40). :woohoo:

Istanbul vHorse -> vHorse in 4.
Urfa walls -> barracks in 20.

7 0150 AD

Drop science to 10%, +57 gold, Writing in 1.

All the German units are wounded and outside our borders. A Persian Horse is adjacent to Uskudar while another Horse and Archer menace Denizli.
In the south, Mulga is now connected to the greater empire. Two Purple Archers and a Spear eye Bolu, defended with two wounded Spears (3/5 and 1/4).

Move First Horse (10/13) into Bolu (7 road tiles) and kill the Spear near Bolu (35 of 41).
Ping one Persian Horse and miss the Archer.
Lose one vHorse to the full health Horse closest to Uskudar. Now wounded, that Horse is vanquished by an eHorse (36 of 43/ 3e of 3e).
vHorse slays the pinged Persia Horse and becomes Elite (37 of 44).

One Persian Archer remains outside Denizli and its eight defenders.
Two Purple Archers menace Bolu, defended by three Spears and First Horse.

116 gold, +57 gpt, Writing in 1.
[IBT]
New tech about to be learned; good place to stop.

The save is attached.
 
I wasn't sure what to learn after Writing. so I ended after seven turns.

To the Northwest
Spoiler :

150_NWArea.jpg



Our exploring Japaneses slave has only found green borders and a lot of wet, green land. No Iron.

We have not seen any Green-tinted units up here, so no more foes right now.

Japan has a settler pair wandering around, I've got their possible locations marked. The red 'X' is where they were attacked in 110 AD, two turns back. I really wanted the slaves but lost two vHorses attacking them on a hill. They survived both attacks but won't find anyplace to settle for a long time.

To the Northeast
Spoiler :

150_NEArea.jpg



The Viking town of Karasjok popped up in 110 AD. No units have been visible and they do not show up in the Trade Advisor screen.

I had planned to build a new city on the Light Blue Dot, but the Vikings made me hesitate and go for the Light Green Dot. The settler is in Antalya; I was going to keep him there until the road to the new city site was built. The vSpear 1N of Antalya is protecting two Workers that will be making those roads. I wanted to use the vSpear that Antalya is building to help defend our new city.

To the Southwest
Spoiler :

150_SWArea.jpg



Things are looking better here. We survived the initial Iroquois onslaught and have not triggered their Golden Age. No attack by a Mounted Warrior was successful. They either died or ran away.

First Horse Army 6/13 is in Bolu, the city next to the volcano..

The stats

Despotism
80% Tax
10% Science
10% Luxury

116 gold, +57 gpt

Writing in 1 turns.


01 Settlers
10 Workers
08s Slaves
07 Archer
23 Spear
10 Horse
09 Catapult
01 Army

Current Units: 61
Allowed Units: 64
Support Costs: 0 gpt

Compared to Iroquois we are Average.
Compared to Germany we are Strong.
Compared to Persia we are Weak.
Compared to Japan we are Strong.
Compared to Netherlands we are Weak.
Compared to Portugal we are Average.

01 Horse connected.
02 Furs connected.
02 Incense connected.

City Count
23 Netherlands
16 Persia, Iroquois and Ottomania (us)
15 Portugal
08 Germany
04 Japan
 
Roster:
Greebley - On Deck
markh
ThERat
Commando Bob - Just Played
Northern Pike - Up

NP, just take the time you need to play, even if it stretches to next weekend. I am feeling out of it and don't think I would do a good job today and I think this game will require top performance to have a even a chance. Another empire North of us may be the killing blow unless we can find iron soon/
 
OK, I've got it and I'll play a slow, careful round.

None of the tech choices we can make now will be immediately helpful, but I think I'll select Polytheism to bring us closer to Monarchy, unless there's objection.

CB, thanks for the detailed briefing on the situation. :goodjob:
 
150 (0): I change my mind and decide to research Literature after Writing, since the point of Writing was presumably to advance us towards our cheap libraries.

I adjust our builds so that we're getting settlers out of Istanbul, where we have a granary, and working on HE in Edrine.

An Iroquois archer perishes attacking Bolu (1-0).

Writing --> Literature, due in ten turns at -11 gpt.


170 (1): A Zulu scout appears. The Zulus have thirteen cities; lead us technologically by Philosophy, CoL, and MM; and have iron but no luxuries we don't have. We declare war.

We bombard and rout three Persian units next to Denizli (4-0).


190 (2): We smite one Persian and two German units next to Denizli (7-0).

We dispose of a Persian spearman next to Ankara (8-0).

A forest chop next to Ankara reveals BG.

The English, whom we don't know, complete the Hanging Gardens.


210 (3): The Vikings sail a galley towards us, so we have to declare war--eight enemies now. They have fifteen cities, Philosophy, MM, iron, no horses, and the same two luxuries we have.

We expunge a Persian spearman adjacent to Ankara (9-0).

We capture/slay a Japanese settler/spear team next to Mugla, though not the one CB tried so hard to catch (10-0).

Our exploring slave is captured by the Germans.

Bolu walls --> barracks.


230 (4): Our horse army, hitherto inactive this round, extirpates two Mounted Warriors and an Ir archer around Bolu (13-0).

A forest chop near Tobacco Smoke reveals BG.


250 (5): We liquidate a German archer adjacent to Denizli (14-0).

Our horse army accounts for another MW near Bolu (15-0).

At Bolu we smash an attacking MW and gain a Great Leader, who forms a horse army (16-0).


260 (6): We found Bingol in a safe spot on our south coast. We were letting too many good tiles go to waste in this area.

We trample two Persian archers next to Antalya, and a German archer around Denizli (19-0).

We overwhelm an Ir settler/spear pair adjacent to Mugla (20-0).

A forest chop near Salonika reveals BG.


270 (7): We crush a Japanese horseman next to Bolu and a German horseman adjacent to Denizli (22-0).

Oh-oh, four Immortals appear three tiles north of Denizli in the east, and five Portuguese swordsmen are in the area too. We were close to founding a town in that region, but those plans will have to wait.


280 (8): Our First Horse Army overruns two Japanese units and an MW adjacent to Bolu (25-0).

We trample a Japanese archer adjacent to Mugla (26-0).

Our Second Horse Army crushes two German units beyond Denizli (28-0).

Denizli barracks (just when needed) --> spearman.


290 (9): We grind down a Portuguese stack of six, including three swordsmen, adjacent to Denizli (34-0). Fortunately the Immortals are caught in a typical AW traffic jam and are still three tiles away.

We unhorse an MW which attacks Bolu (35-0).

Literature --> Polytheism. We complete pre-built libraries in Istanbul and Bursa, with four more to come in the next few turns.


300 (10): We complete an important road link, so that now catapults stationed one tile S of Tobacco Smoke can make attacks in defense of both Mugla and Bolu.

We ride down a German archer next to Urfa (36-0).

Nineteen elite victories this round, two of them defensive, generated one Great Leader.
 
If we can free our horse army in Denizli of defensive responsibilities—easier said than done, I know—we should send it to look for iron in the hills NE of Heidelberg. That looks like the only remaining place we might find iron where it would be close enough to be any use.

We have nothing invested in the choice of Polytheism and can change it if the team prefers.

We still haven’t seen an MW victory, so the Iroquois may not be in their GA yet.

Our armies are healing in Bolu and Denizli.
 
Preturn: Looks good. Not sure if we are going to be able to handle a large rush of new units though from one of the new civs met. We don't seem to have a lot of spares.

IBT: Northern units toward Urfa, Bolu in the South. 4 Immortals in a stack spotted. Vikings settle a town to the east near the 2 fish.

310 AD: Catapults don't do great. I kill some def 1 units. Decide I am going to risk moving the Southern Horse Army to the North as I think I may need help more up there and may try to push forward if I can.

IBT: More immortals behind this stack.

320 AD: Lose a horse killing a 2HP immortal. Otherwise we are successful. Kill the 4 pack of immortals, 2 Sword and Warrior from Portugal. Kill a MW to the South (only doubled unit) and a Spear. Most are elite victories.

IBT: Less units move next to us this turn.

330 AD: We kill the units near us without loss. Slowly trying to build roads forward for new towns.

IBT: Iroquois are moving differently and may be targetting an internal town.

340 AD: We get a leader with an Elite victory. Go with the Army (wondered about FP, but we need the army - besides we want Pentagon).

350 AD: Found Riza. It is to the east.

360 AD: Another town up North. Our efforts outward near the action in the north is driven back by the next wave of Immortals and swords.

370 AD: Another Leader. Rush Pentagon.

IBT: Get Both HE and Pentagon.

380 AD: Destroy Viking coastal town Karasjok.

390 AD: Kill a Impi 4 pack.

400 AD: Destroy Guarda (Portuguese) in jungle to build city Jungle Bungle
We got a leader.

Note:
I did not use the leader yet. Options are Army and FP. I think an Army is better. We need to keep pushing forward. I think we want 2 Horse Army guarded by a Spear Army out taking cities.
One more leader and we can probably do that. 2nd Leader for next player and we definitely should, IMO.

Polytheism next turn.

Magla will have a 5 Pack of MW next to it. We have 8 Cats to injure them and have them retreat. We may need an Army down south pretty soon as backup. This is the second stack of 5.

GR26_AD400.jpg
 
great show!!! with many leaders, we might be able to hold on.
 
Fine work. :goodjob: I agree with using the present Leader for an army, and with the goal of putting together a three-army strike force. Edrine can hand-build the FP after it completes its library.
 
convert the MGL into an army

IBT : polytheism -> monarchy

1) 410AD : take down an Iroq spear that entered our territory near Iznik (1-0)
kill another Iroq spear at Bolu (2-0)
2 impis and 2 Persian spears vanish near Urfa (6-0)

IBT : no AI attacks, just movements. Some Immortals are on the way from the North

Bombay completes Statue of Zeus

2) 420AD : lose an archer attacking a red MW at Bolu (6-1)
5 impis die at Denizli (11-1)

IBT : the Dutch send 4 swords, 4 archers and 2 warriors towards Zonguldak

3) 430AD : kill a Portuguese archer and sword at Denizli (13-1)
smack a Viking archer near Riza (14-1)
need two archers to kill a German spear at Ankara (15-2)
take down a German archer and sword costing us a horseman (17-3)

IBT : just AI movements. Urfa and Zonguldak will get under pressure next 2 turns

4) 440AD : kill a Portuguese sword at Denizli (18-3)
a German sword, an Immortal and Persian spear are overrun at Urfa (21-3)
take down a MW at Bolu (22-3)
2 MWs vanish at Mugla (24-3)

IBT : a German horse appears out of the fog and takes two workers. We will have them back next turn

5) 450AD : kill 2 Immortals at Urfa (26-3)
take down 3 Dutch swords at Zonguldak (29-3)
dismount the German horse at Denizli and take back our workers (30-3)
lose a horse on a MW at Mugla (30-4)
two MWs die at Mugla (32-4)

IBT : lose an archer on defense and a Jap archer suicides attacking Bolu (33-5)
More Dutch and Portuguese units appear at Zonguldak
MWs keep streeming in from the South

6) 460AD : kill an Iroq spear at Bolu (34-5)
catch a Jap settler/spear combo in the SW (35-5)
a Persian archer and spear disappear at Ankara (37-5)
a Zulu archer vanishes at Denizli (38-5)
smack a Dutch archer at Zonguldak (39-5)

IBT : lose an archer to an MW (39-6)

we have 16 assorted units at Zonguldak

the Persians now concentrate on Jungle Bungle, they move their healed spears and Immortals towrds that town

7) 470AD : kill 3 Portuguese spears an archer and 2 swords at Zonguldak (45-6)
take down 3 MWs at Mugla (48-6)
smack an 2 Immortals and a spear near Jungle Bungle (51-6)
overrun a Persian spear at Urfa (52-6)

IBT : lose a horseman due to a misclick, but he takes a MW with him (53-7)

15 Zulu units appear near Denizli

8) 480AD : overrun a Portuguese archer at Zonguldak (54-7)
3 Dutch swords and a spear die at Zonguldak (58-7)
kill a MW at Bolu (59-7)
take down 2 MWs at Mugla (61-7)
smack a Portuguese spear at Urfa (62-7)
a German spear vanishes near Iznik (63-7)
lose a horse on a redlined Iroq spear (63-8)

IBT : a Jap archer and MW die attacking units in our SW (65-8)

9) 490AD : overrun a Portuguese sword at Zonguldak (66-8)
lose a horse on a Iroq spear (66-9)
kill a MW at Mugla (67-9)
smack a Persian spear at Urfa (68-9)
2 impis vanish near Urfa (70-9)

IBT : the Iroqs lose a MW on Bolu (71-9)

There quite a number of German units at Jungle Bungle now

10) 500AD : dismount a MW at Bolu (72-9)
take out 2 Zulu swords near Urfa (74-9)
3 German swords go down at Jungle Bungle (77-9)
kill 3 Dutch archers and 2 warriors at Antalya (82-9)

Unfortunately I could not expand as we have to take out cities for that. I needed everything for defense. 1S of Hannover is a stack of Zulu units. About 10 units. They were moving from East to West.
It seems the AI is most interested in Jungle Bungle. The area in our SW seems quite stable at the moment. There are not too many Iroq units left.
 

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Roster:
Greebley
markh - Just Played
ThERat - Up
Commando Bob - On Deck
Northern Pike
 
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