GR29 - AWM vs 30 civs, Pangea

[ThERat]

Ok guys, try Civ 5 as always war game. I have started with an AW game as Monte since every victory gives you 3 culture points.

And guess what, I am having a fun time, really. I guess Civ 5 AI is a little like Civ 3 and that is what makes AW fun, no matter whether you all say the AI is dumb. Coupled with 1upt, it is really tactical play. I took 3 city states with a combo of an archer, horse archer, and 2 melee units, one of which was a medic. Via smart placement of units I could slowly take the city down with the ranged units, though they also got their share of city bombardment.

Anyone, who looks for a nice challenge, try it out. And guess what, no exploits as city states are enemies too!

 

[Calis]

In Germany it is released today and I am still at work. So I hope Amazon.de sent it today and I can try it tonight

 

[vmxa]

Ok guys, try Civ 5 as always war game. I have started with an AW game as Monte since every victory gives you 3 culture points.

And guess what, I am having a fun time, really. I guess Civ 5 AI is a little like Civ 3 and that is what makes AW fun, no matter whether you all say the AI is dumb. Coupled with 1upt, it is really tactical play. I took 3 city states with a combo of an archer, horse archer, and 2 melee units, one of which was a medic. Via smart placement of units I could slowly take the city down with the ranged units, though they also got their share of city bombardment.

Anyone, who looks for a nice challenge, try it out. And guess what, no exploits as city states are enemies too!

Yeah, but what did you do with them? Raze and get grief. Annex and get grief. Puppet I have not tried.

 

[ThERat]

Keep them as puppets and slowly annex them then build courts. It is a different strategy from civ 3 of course.
But fun nevertheless.

 

[vmxa]

If you attack more than 3 city states, your are going to get big kick back from the AI. When they did I just went rogue.

 

[M60A3TTS]

vmxa, I'm interested in what your overall impression of the game is. Sounds like TheRat is sold and we have yet to hear from Greebley on the subject. To this point what I've seen isn't telling me I need to pony up for a new PC just yet.

 

[ThERat]

I am not entirely sold, but to me it plays better than Civ 4. As a warmonger, I hated the WW system of Civ 4, the huge stacks of enemy units you couldn't attack without huge losses. The overly complication of the game.

Civ 5 has a new concept and I like it so far. 1upt really changes the way you have to play. The happiness cap also limits expansion. And production is really limited. Makes decisions more important.

Of course, The AI is pretty dumb at the moment, but vanilla versions are usually buggy. I hope it will get better.

Maybe there is a trend of civ 4 fans don't like civ 5, while civ 3 fans like it. I would be glad if that's the case.

 

[TheOverseer714]

The new games seem to have too many bs hoops one must jump through to get a good experience. I have been burned by starcraft 2, paid too much and found out i need cable internet to register to even play the damn game.

 

[ThERat]

And I love that the lame religion aspect has been removed. The AI acts how you behave. You annex them, the rest gets wary, nothing wrong with that, isn't it?

Not like that, you are my religion, so we are friends and that crazy hardcoded cap on tech trade. Civ 5 is less hard numbers in terms of relations, more hidden and subtle, something I like.

 

[vmxa]

Yeah I hated the religon and all the policies they like, you better like. It still gets rough to have larger empires. I also have yet to be able to find all the resources one continent.

I am not crazy about the nerfing of the Great Generals, as that was as close as it got to armies. I like that they made it cost to have roads, but the price for rails is too high.

Still floundering around. Looks like hammers do not carry over from any builds. Not sure about the worker task, where in IV you could stop it and then come back.

 

[M60A3TTS]

Preturn- It’s so vast I don’t come to any conclusions other than NP would have left the game in good shape. Hit enter.

IBT- One Chinese rider attacks an infantry. No other combat and all cities hold.

1660AD- Upgrade 47 cannon to artillery
2 Roman muskets and a LB go at Nicomedia and 28 Cav Army owns the city.
3 Roman muskets crushed and Pamplona goes next.
2 Roman muskets killed and Aurelianorum falls
2 Roman muskets and a cav die at Artaxata. 48th Cav takes that one.
1 Roman rifle and 2 muskets later, 43rd Cav takes Madrid
2 Roman muskets and 42nd Cav takes Valencia
Roman rifle, musket and LB go. 42nd Cav Army takes Tarentum.
3 Roman muskets and a cav are vaporized at Zaragoza. An elite cav takes the city.
2 Roman muskets and a cav are crushed and 47th Cav takes Santiago.
1 Roman rifle and musket are wiped out at Vitoria as 35th Cav takes the city
1 Roman rifle and 2 muskets are eliminated and 31st Cav takes Seville
2 Chinese muskets are wiped out and Canton is taken.
4 Chinese muskets done in and Beijing is ours.
2 Chinese LBs die at the hands and we have another MGL.
3 Chinese muskets killed and Shantung falls. Had to load a couple elites into new army.
Lose a reg immortal to a 3hp Chinese archer.
We make that up quickly by killing a cav with an elite and draw another MGL, Darius.
3 Arab pikes meet their maker and 16th Knight Army conquers Damascus.
4 Chinese defenders are vanquished and Nanking falls to 14th Knight Army

IBT is not particularly kind as Ansars capture a lot of workers I couldn’t protect. Brundisium gets taken by a rider and Anyang flips with more artillery there. I expect there won’t be another IBT like that.

1665AD-
3 Chinese muskets out and 43rd Cav Army takes Shanghai
2 riders are taken out and 38th Cav retakes Brundisium
2 muskets and a pike are eliminated as 50th Cav Army takes Tientsin
3 muskets down and Tsingtao falls to 26th Cavalry Army
2 muskets and a pike meet their end and Chengdu falls to Olivers Army
53rd Cav Army retakes Anyang from a spear and is promptly burned to the ground.
46th Cav eliminates 2 muskets and Stavanger goes down as the Viking campaign kicks off.
51st Cav Army with assistance from 25th Cav slays 3 muskets and Reykjavik falls
3 muskets eliminated and 32nd Cav takes Bergen with help from 23rd Cav
3 more muskets and 28th Cav has Birka with assistance from 48th
3 muskets and Aarhus is controlled by 37th Cav with help from the 20th
3 defenders crushed and Stockholm is visited by 52nd Cav. 39th Cav on the assist.
3 muskets and 47th Cav has Copenhagen with help from 42nd Cav
Abandon Stockholm and found New Stockholm closer to Trondheim.
Trondheim has 4 muskets, but 3 cav armies overcome the resistance and take the city.
3 muskets are bagged as 21st Cav rolls into Oslo.

Time to shorten the line a bit. Sell off improvements and raze
Damascus
Seville
Madrid
Artaxata
Aurelianorum
Valencia
Santiago
Pamplona
Vitoria
Tientsin
Tsingtao
Bergen
Trondheim
Rome

Get MGL #3, Cyrus when killing a LB, and add #4 attacking against an Incan stack.

IBT- Egyptian cav defeats infantry in Lip Service and burns it. Pasadena to Hoover in 4.
Electronics> Nationalism for drafting in 4. Kolhapur flips to India with an infantry inside

1670AD
Pipsqueaks 2 Cav takes Hieraconpolis with help from 41st Cav. 3 muskets there
20th Cav with 28th and 48th assisting takes Pi-Ramses, killing 3 muskets
23rd Cav kills 3 muskets, eCav kills redlined cav and Abydos goes down. And we have MGL#5- Darius. I’m making armies faster than cavalry at this point.
10th Knight Army takes Heliopolis after 4 muskets are knocked. Assisted by 24th anfd 36 th Cav
2 muskets defeated and Asyut falls to 49th Cav.
3 muskets and a pike die at Thebes as 30th Cav Army marches in.
3 muskets go down at Memphis as 31st Cav rides into town.
3 muskets are eliminated as cav army takes Elephantine
The scene is repeated at Byblos and 35th Cav is greeted by the inhabitants.
We do it again with artillery and 43nd Cav at Giza.

IBT- Mongol swords snuck into empty Poison Moon.

1675AD
Infantry re-takes Poison Moon
3 muskets and a LB are redlined by artillery and killed by 25th Cav. Alexandria falls.
3 muskets and LB are redlined by artillery and 30th and 35th Cav combine to take Avaris.

Ok, so now I have cleared off the Vikings and Egyptians from their home territories and they’re still alive. Do you get the feeling we’re going to find a dozen or so civs living on the Island of the Damned with like pop 1 and 2 capitals???

It is now time to launch the surprise offensive on the Western front. Artillery redlines 3 Aztec rifles and 21st Cav takes Atzcapotzalco.

40th, 51st and 52nd Cav take out a rifle each and Ixtapaluca falls
9th Knight supported by 15th Kight and 46th Cav take an Aztec rifle down and Tlalmanalco falls.
47th Cav takes out 2 rifles and marches into Tlacopan, Olivers Army also took out two there.
32nd and 29th Cav combine to defeat 4 rifles and Teotihuacan is seized.
39th Cav removes 3 artillery-struck hoplites from Delphi and the city goes.
16th Knight takes out a hoplite, then 26th Cav kill 2 to secure Knossos
37th Cav gets two hoplites at Sparta and that city joins the fallen
Bag 2 more hoplites at Argos and 14th Knight is bed down there.
2 hoplites and an MI at Pharsalos liquidated and 33rd Cav makes itself comfortable in town.
28th Cav and 20th Cav slay 3 or 4 hoplites and Athens is ours
36th Cav takes two and Corinth is ours
50th Cav does it one more time at Thermopylae and finally we managed to kill somebody!

Spoiler :

Now at 322 cities, I think that leaves 190 to go. The armies are taking a beating as they have been slashing ahead. I think I’m going to dial it back a notch and take 10-per and conserve. Subject to change at any time of course.

IBT- 1-pop empty town taken by a Cossack. Rheims flips

1680AD
Rheims retaken
56th Cav Army takes Chalco after killing 4 Aztec rifles redlined by artillery. Assist by 37th Cav

39th and 57th Cav Army kills 3 Celtic muskets in Augustodurum and the city falls
12th Knight and 49th Cav remove 3 Celt muskets and Burdigala goes.
10th Knight and Pipsqueaks II do the same to Lugdunum
24th and 48th Cav dance in the streets of Vilcabamba after removing 2 muskets there
42nd and 43rd Cav kill 4 muskets and Entremont falls
9th Knight and 40th Cav take out 3 muskets and Richborough is conquered
41st, 42nd, 43rd Cav each take out a musket and Verulamium goes.
51st and 58th Cav do in 3 muskets and Alesia is occupied
21st, 33rd and 52nd Cav repeat in Camulodunum
Artillery redlines 2 Roman muskets and 13th Knight Army takes over the city.

IBT- 2 cities flip, Nicomedia and Delhi and the Babs land a settler. They have 8538 gold according to Civ Assist and no cities.
1685AD
36th, 37th, 39th Cav Army kill Aztec rifles. 16th Knight Army kills Aztec cav and Calixtlahuaca falls
Bombard 2 rifles and Tzintzuntzen falls to 47th Cav Army.
Kill 2 Celt muskets and 24th Cav with help from 43rd Cav take Hadrumentum
Kill 3 Aztec rifles and Olivers Army with help from 19th Cav Army take Texcoco.
The Aztecs are destroyed.

Spoiler :

26th Cav and 42nd Cav combine to remove 2 Incan muskets and a LB. Ollantaytambo goes down.
23rd, 28th and 57th Cav each kill an Incan musket and Huamanga is taken
12th Knight, 13th Cav and artillery combine to eliminate 3 muskets at Vitcos and it is taken.
42nd Cav takes out a single musket at Machu Pichu and it falls.
Kill Babylon settler and they are destroyed. Didn’t get all the gold though.

Spoiler :

10th Knight and 35th Cav remove 3 Incan muskets. 49th Cav takes down a pike and Cuzco falls
Pipsqueaks 2 takes out a musket after 58th Cav bags two and Tiwanaku is ours with Great Lighthouse.
Artillery pounds 3 muskets and 43rd Cav goes in for the kill at Corihuayrachina.
The Incans are destroyed

Spoiler :

When it rains, it pours. A 3hp elite cav brings in MGL#6.
Nicomedia bombarded and taken by Immortal army
41st and 42nd Cav Armies combine to reduce the 3 Celt defenders of Rusicade and we are in control.
Delhi retaken by Ole’44th Cav
34th and 48th Cav get 3 Celt muskets and Theveste is taken

IBT- Pisae flips

1690AD-
Pisae loses its 2 rifle defenders and 38th Cav takes the city
34 &42 Cav assist 36 Cav in taking Gergovia away from the 3 musket defenders
51 Cav helps 14 Knight do the same at Leptis Minor
Artillery reduces the muskets at Sabratha and 32nd Cav cleans the 3 muskets to take it.
Vet Cav takes out LB and seizes Utica after artillery and 41st Cav deal with 3 muskets
42nd Cav assists 28th Cav in repeating the feat at Hippo
Olivers Army supporting 43rd Cav do it again at Carthage
47th Cav supporting 18th Mixed same deal at Leptis Magna
50th Cav only has to eliminate 2 defenders at Eboracum to take the place
43rd Cav helps 31st Cav erase 2 defenders at Agedincum.
Artillery assists 20th Cav in removing 2 defenders and Cataractonium goes down
Into Mongol territory now as Cav kills archer and takes Ta-Tu with help from 46th Cav
5 spears and an archer are deleted. Cav takes Tabriz with help from 24th and unnamed cav army
12th Knight and 23rd Cav overrun defenders of Almarikh
29th Cav takes Karakorum with help from 25th 42nd and 58th Cav
10th Knight and 57th Cav team up to defeat spears at Dalandzadgad.
35th and 30th Cav armies fight in forested tundra to help get 49th Cav into Ulaanbaatar
Pipsqueaks 2 with Old 44th are proud owners of Oea with 3 defenders bagged.
15th Knight helps 37th Cav take Kazan from spear defenses

IBT- Nationalism>refining in 7

1695AD
Continuing on into the tundra of Mongolia
2 defenders killed and Hovd falls to 32nd Cav
Pike and spear shelled by artillery and 39th Cav has Darhan
36th Cav kills 2 spears at Cadiz and it is ours
Artillery falls on Mandalgovi. 3 vet cav stomp the spears and move into residence.
Artillery and 19th Cav Army make short work of 2 Celtic muskets. Ratae Coritanorum is ours
25th Cav bags 2 Celtic defenders and Cirta goes.
35th and 50th Cav make short work of 3 Mongol spears and an archer. Choybalsan is Persian
57th Cav Army kills 2 Celt defenders, vet cav kills archer or LB at Lapurdum. City is ours. They have no more cities visible on the map. What a surprise.
43rd Cav kills 2 Mongol defenders and Erdenet is the last city of the Western Campaign.
The Mongols are destroyed.

Spoiler :

IBT- Pretty quiet

1700AD
The enemies on the eastern front patiently waited for us to complete the clearing of Egyptian and Viking lands. They then stirred little trouble as our armies stormed off to the west to rid those lands of Greeks and Incans and Celts and Mongols. And even polishing off Babylon for our trouble.

Next the re-deployment takes place as 12 remaining injured armies take a breather in Pasadena. Most workers and nearly all the military head east.

The offensive in the east begins with artillery pounding the various units near the border region. An eCav wins a victory that gives us MGL #7.

20th and 21st Cav kill 3 rifles and Yakutsk falls
13th and 34th Cav assist 35th Cav in taking Bryansk
Artillery support allows 14th Mixed to take Orenburg
29th and 38th Cav combine to bring down Novgorod
51st Cav deals with rifles at Smolensk and takes the place
19th and 40th Army wrestle control of Yekaterinburg from the Russians
39th and 58th Cav drive into Krasnoyarsk, eliminating rifle defenders
2 rifles killed and 41st Cav has Tver
48th Cav with assistance from 2 armies marches into St Petersburg.
44th and 46th Cav take Rostov on the coast.
49th Cav takes 2 defenders of Khabarovsk
47th Cav and assistance from 2 cav armies nets Yaroslavl
42nd Cav kills the 2 defenders of Vladivostok
23rd Cav claims Moscow with support of 2 cav armies
24th and 26th Cav find the capital of China, Caughnawaga. 4 tiles from Moscow. Think Cathy was happy with that back in 570BC?
China is destroyed.
42nd Cav takes down 2 Roman rifles and Jaen taken
43rd Cav takes Iroquois muskets down and Goigouen falls
11th Knight takes Kazan with help from Pipsqueaks II. Russia is out of cities but still alive.
28th Cav gets two Roman muskets that were hit by artillery. Asturias taken and the Romans are history.

Spoiler :

8th Knight kills 2 artillery struck Iro muskets and Chondote falls
Vet Cav bags Gayagaahe with help from 12th Knight Army
Cyrus 2nd Immortal takes Ganogeh with help from 9th Knight
Oka falls to cav army after 2 Iro muskets redlined
30th Cav with help from Olivers Army takes down Iro muskets and Gewauga falls.
25th Cav with help from 56th Cav takes Oil Springs.
36th Cav takes Tonawanda from English pike.
So much for "dialing back"

Sell off some cities and build new ones along the front.

That is the end of the set.

There are workers who were railing to be covered if they are to be protected. There is available infantry by Ergili 2. Plenty of excess workers near Syracuse and 34 available artillery in Moods for Moderns. Settlers near Persepolis and a few unused, but bruised armies in Pasadena. Virtually everything in terms of our units was removed from the west.

On this pangea, it is still England, Iroquois, and Arabs with 26, 7, and 19 cities.
My sidestep to nationalism was a waste as the units are coming on line now.
Haven’t bothered to micromanage, we are well beyond the need for it.
Boats will almost certainly be needed as pangea or no, some folks are on another landmass or plural.

Egypt, Russia, France and Celts are alive without cities.
During this set we went from 269 cities to 402.
We now have 59 armies.

And I left next up with 35,588 gold. Hope it’s enough to tide you over ‘til next payday.

 

[Northern Pike]

Spectacular. There can't have been many rounds ever played in which 133 cities were taken.

 

[darski]

lurker's comment: Just wow!!! WTG

 

[ThERat]

does this mean I am up? errr aren't there people without Civ 5 who want to finish this???

 

[CommandoBob]

I follow after ThERat in the rotation and I haven't got Civ 5 yet. Not sure it will run on my box without upgrading the video card. But it will be a couple of days before I can play.

 

[ThERat]

I am sorry that I am too immersed with AW games for Civ 5 right now. It's quite a nice experience and tactical play very important. The AI plays a little similar to civ 3. Nothing like fighting huge mixed stacks of Civ 4 then getting drummed by WW.

I'd like to start a AW game (once my single game story has finished) with veterans from here. without those exploitable city states.

Any interest here?

 

[Northern Pike]

It appears that my present computer wouldn't be able to handle Civ 5, so I won't be an early adopter. But I hope you're able to put together a C5 AW game with stalwarts from this series, and I'll follow it with interest.

Of course, the Playstation 3 I bought in the same year as my computer can still play any game that comes out today, but I won't do that rant here....

 

[ThERat]

NP, I had to buy a new computer (i7, 4gb ram, graphics card etc). Now, Civ 3 is so fast it is a delight.

Do have a look at my game in the story forum to get an idea. Though Civ 5 seems in a pre beta stage, some concepts have great potential for AW fun, I find.

 

[Northern Pike]

I've seen your AW Aztec story now--an excellent and informative read. But it's discouraging to learn that Civ 5 has the same drastic and arbitrary penalties for expansion that IMO crippled Civ 4.

BTW can conquered cities flip in Civ 5? That in combination with the five-turn razing period would seem unbearable.

 

[vmxa]

None have flipped so far, but that does not mean they can't. Someone posted a thread asking for more draconian measures to restrict empires size. They say the unhappiness is not harsh enough?

I guess you could say that as it is not has bad as the pop unhappiness. I hates the concpet in IV where larger pop or empires caused trouble. Give me back the corruption instead, that I can ignore.