Gr7 - AWM vs 30 civs on a giant map

[ThERat]

just to let you guys know, am playing and finished turn 6, will try and finish tonight and then post tomorrow morning

we have monotheism now and next is chivalry. oh, and did I mention that the captured towns give us trouble?

 

[Greebley]

Go ahead and replace any towns. I was mostly grabbing the lands and keeping back the Sumerians. The kept towns do not have to be the long term plan.

 

[ThERat]

save

Pre-Turn
load Civassist to check on research, this is too big a game to try and employ scienctists and find out it won't work
if we could get a few more scientists, we should be able to get research down to 6
check cities and a few are over-irrigatedm bring Centralia to 10spt from wasteful 9spt, MM can take ages
move out some units to cover the settler and discover there is a sword within reach
kill it with MW

press enter

IT lose 3 units to Sumer, think several EW step up at those captured towns
I really think we have stretched ourselves too much with capturing Sumer cities, won't do this during my turns

1. 1110AD
found Akwesasne
attack Der, kill 3 units inside, lose 1 MW, then 3 MW retreat against devilish 2hp EW, finally raze town and the culture pressure
is less, get 4 slaves and Sumer has no more iron

kill some units, but try to send the sword amry to the front before risking those MW armies

IT it's beautiful to see how the AI is blocking each other causing traffic jam, our exposed MW can't be attacked, due to Egypt running
into Sumers path , no attacks
we get several libraries, but that does not shorten our research

2. 1120AD
found Greebleywaga, that's city #70
attack and raze Mayan city of Kabah
playing it carefuly in the north, next turn swod army is in position to help cover the MW armies

IT that's what I feared, Marad is Sumer's target and if we station units in there, we might lose them to a flip
lose MW that razed Kabah, we get several more libraries

3. 1130AD
settle Markeigon
go on the offense and kill several Sumer units that are moving from Chalcedon towads Marad
kill 4 units at Marad
due to this postpone attack on Kish for 1 turn, kill some units in the south

IT Sumer now shifts attention to Ugade, but can't reach it

4.1140AD
kill a few units in the south with MW armies, sword army approaches Portugese town, they have money, razing should yield some
attack and raze Kish for 6 slaves

IT Romans capture a bunch of cats that I left unattended when the sword army was moved, Egypt units target the north
and Sumer has quite a lot of units next to Agade now (10 to be exact)
more libaries finish

5. 1150AD
get the cats back first, raze the Portugese town, but they lost all their money beforehand
there are 8 knights around, better be well prepared on defense
manage to kill all 10 units at Agade , raze Kisurra in the north at the coast, we get 5 slaves for the effort
braze for the Egypt rush towards Kuara

IT Egypt storms at our towns, lose MDI in the process, Portugese drop 2 knight
we get montheism, next is chivalry, we need knight armies, can get it in 5 turns

6. 1160AD
found Gayalee, MW armies help to kill 5 Portugese knights at the choke, get rid of the 2 landed knights as well
adavnce one sword army in the south to spy a little

IT Egypt changes their mind and they go after Marad

7.1170AD
manage to raze Mayan town in the south, bring back home 13 slaves and prepare for assaults, no leader luck still
many settlers are running towards Sumer/Egypt to settle soon

IT Egypt decides for Kuara again

8. 1180AD
defeat 6 units by Kuara, there are more to come in the fog
defeat some units in the south and still lack leader luck

IT Egypt at Kuara, Sumer now brings in horses
the choke is full of knights and MDI's but we created a nice killing zone there

9. 1190AD
kill 6 units at Kuara, kill a bunch of Sumer units at Agade, attack Sumer, kill 3 units, but not take it since else amries would be exposed
wait a turn, found Salamarko to fill a gap in the plains (good scientist farm)
defeat a lot of units at the choke

IT Egypt keep on pouring units at Kuara, Sumer is a little gassed but defeats 2 of our units
Dutch have swiss mercs and try to overrun our choke

10. 1050AD
manage to raze Sumer this time round, we get 4 slaves and 2 cats
kill the remaining stray unit Sumer has there
found Sumer plains to fill the gap
the situation at Kuara is not good, wound armies badly and there are some swords there, we might lose town in the IT

READ THIS
in the south finally get a MGL after so many elite victories, another army
and because luck comes double, we get another leader, both armies are kept empty, next player can decide
we could fill them with knight, since we get chivalry next turn
both armies are at the choke
and you would not believe it, clearing a dropped MDI in the hinterland, we get MGL no3, form army in Gayalee in the north

LK, you got 3 empty armies to fill as you wish

we have 9 settlers on their way, 2 in the south just in case, the rest in the north
1 settler is in place already to settle next turn

 

[ThERat]

The battle of Kuara, scary

the whole northern front

leader farm, the choke

we currently have 74 towns, Sumer is down to 9
we will get chivalry in the IT and have 350g in the kitty

 

[LKendter]

Signed up:
Greebley
ThERat
LKendter (currently playing)
Matt_G (on deck)
Markh
Sir Bugsy

 

[Greebley]

Hmm... I wonder where the egyptians all came from - I saw practically non - they must have been at war before is my only guess - maybe with Sumeria?

Definitely feel free to let go of captured enemy cities - either by abandoning them or having them recaptured which is not a bad thing (unless we have a lot of money). That makes them smaller and easier to keep (assuming you can capture them back again quickly.

The armies in the north's goal was mostly to do damage to Sumeria so that we can take our lands faster and were ranging ahead of our normal forces.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

There isn't any cultural pressure on those cities. I would replace them only when we are able to settle. Lee already knows this, so I might as well shut up.

Nice job on the Sumerians Rat. If we can consolidate the northern front so that it is just the narrows north of Agade, we'll be in very good shape.

The shape of this continent is going to be interesting to see.

How many cities does Sumeria have left?

 

[LKendter]

How many cities does Sumeria have left?

There are still 9 to go.

 

[ThERat]

I would replace them only when we are able to settle.

I do not agree due to 2 reasons:

1st: there is still a flip risk and it is tough to place units into a flip risk city. During my turns I essentially had to place a lot of units next to the towns and wait for Sumer to approach. That was not nice but possible since Sumer had no fast units. Recently they have come with horses which could capture those empty towns

2nd: the city placements will be far and apart and that does not suit us for our city placements. We have currently 7 settlers in the north (or heading there). once we really hit the city limit, we can raze and replace. We could then also raze towns in the south without AI's replacing them. In fact, I am hoping for the limit to hit soon (we got 74 towns already). Once we can raze and replace, we will really start to hurt the AI.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

In fact, I am hoping for the limit to hit soon (we got 74 towns already). Once we can raze and replace, we will really start to hurt the AI.

This will be the key. Once the AI are incapable of building more cities, we will have turned the corner.

 

[LKendter]

This will be the key. Once the AI are incapable of building more cities, we will have turned the corner.

Actually, I don't ever want to hit the limit. I would rather have the AIs wasted population for settlers, then switching to all buildings.

 

[Matt_G]

Actually, I don't ever want to hit the limit. I would rather have the AIs wasted population for settlers, then switching to all buildings.

It's a double edged sword for sure. I don't know which one to wish for...

 

[Greebley]

I do not agree due to 2 reasons:

1st: there is still a flip risk and it is tough to place units into a flip risk city. During my turns I essentially had to place a lot of units next to the towns and wait for Sumer to approach. That was not nice but possible since Sumer had no fast units. Recently they have come with horses which could capture those empty towns

2nd: the city placements will be far and apart and that does not suit us for our city placements. We have currently 7 settlers in the north (or heading there). once we really hit the city limit, we can raze and replace. We could then also raze towns in the south without AI's replacing them. In fact, I am hoping for the limit to hit soon (we got 74 towns already). Once we can raze and replace, we will really start to hurt the AI.

The AI taking the town back is not necessarily a bad thing. The biggest problem is that it restricts mobility so you need a unit nearby to take it back. The plus side is that it shrinks the town making it less likely to flip. You can also abandon the city if you don't want to stick around (which loses the workers you would have gotten by a raze - this isn't many though with small towns).

I just worry that open land will cause us to meet a lot more civs as they all rush to settle this open land. Initial rushes by 3-4 civs at once could really tax our southern choke.

 

[LKendter]

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/GR7-1275AD.zip


1200 AD
Well I can really tell it is a large game now. The load time is just as bad as my world map.

My first thought is how in the world can I use nine settlers. Do we really want to build settlers in all the specialist cities? I will cancel all settlers in specialist cities. I really hate losing scientist every time we build a settler.

My other challenge is what in the world to fill 3 armies with. I wonder if it is getting to the point that rushing buildings might pay? The army near Sumeria becomes a MW army. The area near Kuara can use help.
I really don't know what to do with the ones by the choke point.

The number of galleys along the east coast could get interesting. I notice the blue borders are now for 2 different cities. There is no question that contact with Germany is coming soon.

I don't plan a detail unit death count. The game has gotten to massive for that.
(IT) Chivalry has been researched. I am going with the standard AW push toward Cavalry since no alternate plans were discussed.


1210 AD
I kill the 1 unit landing by Trebizond. I lost an MW army with 7 HP trying to kill an EW. I hate the RnG most of the time. I killed 2 Sumerian settlers.

Gandasetaigon is formed.


1220 AD
I kill 2 more Sumerian settlers. They are determined to waste their population to give us more free labor. The AI shows how it gets stuck on a spot, as I again kill a 1 unit landing from the Dutch by Trebizond.

All Desert and New Leeville are formed.
(IT) I am not impressed with the choke point fortification line. Again I watch pikes die.


1240 AD
Trebizond is the AI obsession point. I kill 2 Sumerian units that landed there.

Horse Mountain is formed.

The two remaining armies are now filled. One is filled with MDI, and the other with Knights. If I were Sumeria I would be getting very nervous. They will be arriving shortly...
(IT) I just noticed 3 Portuguese knights turn around. Could they be at war with another civ?


1250 AD
Now it is a knight by Trebizond I have to kill.

Newly formed Caesaraugusta is auto-razed for $7.

I have no idea how to fill it, but we have another army.

While moving the armies forward against Sumeria, I notice the land has a nice narrow strip to defend. I would really like to get our cities up to that line. The city you seen in the picture below is now razed. We gained 2 workers and a catapult.

1255 AD
Once again I have to kill a landing at Trebizond. The Dutch in particular seems obsessed by it.

It looks like Egypt has changed targets to Horse Mountain.

Furball is formed.

Aké and Xcalumkin are razed. I hope that puts a little bit of hurt on the Maya.
(IT) Portugal is definitely fighting another civ. I watched more units heading away from us.


1260 AD
Rivers Bend is formed.

Moving the troops forward a bit at the choke just resulted in contact with England.
At least they are behind us in tech.
I suspect the choke is going to get hot again. At least we killed the English settler.
(IT) I lost an MW army.
It was only down a hit point of two.
Between this, the contact with England, and an overload of Portuguese knights sighted I will have to pull back toward Choke Triangle.

I have started research on Gunpowder to continue the push toward cavalry.


1265 AD
Well you could technically argue the landing was at Goigouen, but I still will call it yet another landing to kill at Trebizond.

Now this has to hurt. Add 7 more workers to the labor pool.

1270 AD
This turn it is 2 units to kill by Trebizond.

I kill an Egyptian settler.


1275 AD
Mt. Greebley is formed.

I killed settlers from Maya, Sumeria and Netherlands. They just won't give it up.




==========================

Summary:
At 50% science we make 329 beakers. All of the scientists we have add another 228 beakers. This is why I am so fixated on specialist farms, and why I hate building setters from them. They are already making a huge impact on science speed, and we still have a ton of cities that haven't reached size 6. I think scientist will be over half of our science with 30 turns.



Signed up:
Greebley
ThERat
LKendter
Matt_G (currently playing)
Markh (on deck)
Sir Bugsy

 

[LKendter]

The below is the northern front. With Sumeria down to just 7 cities this one is getting easier. Of course, there are still 18 Egyptian cities behind it.

If we can form the red, white and blue dot line life will get a lot easier. Egypt and Sumeria will be blocked to a very narrow front. This will let us concentrate on taking them out. As well as we have been doing, my biggest worry is we are expanding to slow. We need more dead civs to make our life easier.

 

[ThERat]

I really hate losing scientist every time we build a settler

well, still we need to settle and producing a settler every 30 turns in those corrupt cities doesn't hurt that much esp when food production is really high. Else, where do we get the settlers from?
You settled 7 towns during your turns and I suspect with Sumer almost gone we have more land to settle, so we we more towns. By the way, churning out a settler from a pop 6 science city will drop science by 6 beakers (assuming the food box is full, it will recover to pop 5 in one turn). so, that results in loss of a few beakers. Any new town will give us additional unit support and soon enough even more scientists, so I guess it isn't all that bad. Unless we could build settlers in all those pop 8-10 towns, but they are producing science beakers as well...

My other challenge is what in the world to fill 3 armies with

reason why I formed armies, was that without RR there is no way a MGL can reach a useful target city for rushes within 1 or 2 turns. and that just means wasted opportunities for more leaders. As luck had it, forming armies on the spot resulted in 3
And, ultimately, I hope we can replace all those fragile MW armies with knight armies and of course Cav armies.

Anyway, how many cities does England have? did you check?

 

[LKendter]

The below is the southern front. This is holding, but my wasting an army being too aggressive didn't help it. I don't know when the English rush is going to show up. I didn't see a single Roman unit, and the fact the Rome owns New Berlin gives a possible explanation. The MDI army by Ganogeh is heading to this front to replace the army I lost.

The pike army is covering a badly injured MW army. I want to get the pike army back south to pillage some. Both sword armies are covering captured workers. Matt can decide if he wants to waste a few more Mayan cities. A lot of that may be determined based on when the English show up, and if Roman comes back into the picture.

 

[ThERat]

looking at the southern front, how about expanding our borders by settling on the jungle tile next to the 2 bananas, I think we can slowly creep forward with all the coverage we have there

 

[LKendter]

well, still we need to settle and producing a settler every 30 turns in those corrupt cities doesn't hurt that much esp when food production is really high. Else, where do we get the settlers from?

Well I have found in SG the scientists take much longer to replace then you would think. After the city grows to size 5 it usually is *not* MM. This usually delays it getting back to size 6. The cities are often checked only at the beginning of the turn. The reality IMO is you lose at least 10 turns of 3 scientists for 90 beakers. That is an awful lot of lost science for 1 settler. If you have 7+ cities in regrowth mode, then we lost more science then our whole empire generates in a turn. The loss of science can be very large.

As for getting enough settlers I have another 5 under construction with 3 due shortly.

Anyway, how many cities does England have? did you check?

I didn't think of checking. We will be able to check soon enough.

looking at the southern front, how about expanding our borders by settling on the jungle tile next to the 2 bananas, I think we can slowly creep forward with all the coverage we have there

I was actually debating the same thing. During my turns I was trying to upgrade the fortresses to barricades to make the line stronger before extending it. IMO we will be ready to make this move shortly once a settler arrives at that area.

 

[ThERat]

The cities are often checked only at the beginning of the turn. The reality IMO is you lose at least 10 turns of 3 scientists for 90 beakers.

I actually checked every city every turn since I know the governor is doing a terrible job. Esecially the totally corrupt towns need to be checked every turn (when they grow). I am aware it takes a hell of a time with 80+ cities, but you can quickly scroll through cities and check those that have 1 spt and then look at the allocation of citizens. I rather people take 5 turns in this game and do this menial job than rush through 10 turns.