Handy 23 Random AWE

[M60A3TTS]

I would swap a few builds to settlers. We still have a good amount of open ground to cover, and we have a lot more units in queue that we'll soon have to pay for. Once we get the gems connected, we can drop the lux tax, but these new units are going to drain the treasury quickly without more towns.

 

[Greebley]

We have 4-5 settlers enroute, but I think you are correct on needing more. I was pushing the military to fill the armies and get them up and running.

I think we are going to be needing 2 defensive armies. The brorders were getting very active. Fortunately, with 7 armies, that is still plenty that can do damage to our enemies.

 

[handy900]

I played 5 and will finish and post tomorrow. Switched a bunch of 1 spt towns to settlers. Got a leader and decided to would work to fill armies and build infrastructure. Switched a few cities that could not grow to markets. F11 looks great and when we get to Cavalry we should be in a very good position militarily and economically to take the AI down pretty fast.

Borders are active but I expect they will be clear (manageable) by the end of my turns and we can keep some armies back for defense and send some forward.

 

[Obormot]

I would need a swap. I won't be able to play untill friday.

 

[ThERat]

handy, what are we allowed to check by the way. I put mapstat only for happy control and never used it for other info. Are we allowed to check power rating? or victory conditions? space race?
or once we can build spies, are we allowed to use them to lurk?

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Those are two very nice chokes. We should be able to control them.

 

[Northern Pike]

No using F10 or any other way to find out civs before meeting them.
No initial trade - declare war immediately.
No looking at techs, cities, resources, etc in deals unless we have a spy planted with that civ.

Referring to Rat's question, these are the limits we agreed to on our information about other civs. So Handy's use of F11 was technically fine, since we didn't say "Learn nothing ever except by reconnaissance and spying", though perhaps we should have for a purer implementation of the idea.

 

[handy900]

I have only used the mapstat happy tab also. I was not really thinking when I hit F11, it's just a habit. The "no information" was Greebley's idea, so he should have the lasy word on whether F11 is not acceptable (probably should not have done it since it reveals where we stand economically).

I saw an Indian Musket, so that was just battlefield intel.

I think the game will be over before we get to spies, but we would have to get Greebley's interpretation of his thoughts on the variant. I would think spies are okay since there is a cost to get them, and F4 info. is "free".

Those are two very nice chokes. We should be able to control them.

We pretty much have the West under control, and the east is getting better. We need roads in the east to erase movement penalty and a city on a hill over there. I have not rushed any settler yet. Future players can decide whether to rush settlers or upgrade knights.

 

[Greebley]

I would say that if we try again (and I would like to - we can't always get super starts with an AW civ) then we should make F11 illegal as well.

I feel spies are the valid way to get information - once we have them with a civ we can look at the details of that civ (including the diplo screen - otherwise stealing techs is too hard if you have to guess who has a useful tech). The optional techs are a big expense so it is a non-trivial decision on whether to pursue - it makes this option more viable if it is more useful. (and thus a more interesting decision).

For this game, F11 isn't illegal, but I think the spirit is better kept if we don't use it on a regular basis.

 

[handy900]

Turn 1 660
Lots of Sumerians and Aztecs. This may be a set of turns where it is defend and kill a bunch so we can advance later.

Turn 2 670
Kill a few.
India has muskets.
Pop a leader & form an army.
Diamonds are on line and we can turn the luxury tax down. We have gunpowder in 1 more turn on the way to cavalry.
I slowed down some growth by hiring specialists and switched a few large cities to markets. They can grow again after the markets are done.

Turn 3 680
Fat Lady begins to warm up as we have salt near Emirate.
AI changes direction to move toward De Beers and the diamond mines.
Abandon New Calcutta since we need the healed army there for protection on our eastern front.
Not sure what the Elephant at Augustorum will do. He may attack a city or move toward an empty bait city.

Turn 4 690
Two Jumbos take Bufinium which was corrupt, but only 2 turns from finishing a settler.
We counter attack and kill one but are unable to take it back this turn. Army support is on the way.

India appears to have a large supply of Jumbos coming down the eastern side of the inland sea.

Turn 5 700
Killing a lot of AI and pillaging.
Economy looks great.

Turn 6 710
Take Bufinium back.

Turn 7 720
We are holding our own on defense, so I switched several knight builds over to markets so the cities can grow. We are not really strong enough for a big offensive, and playing a little defense should allow for us to squeeze some markets in here. When the markets are done our cities will be large and powerful.

Turn 8 730
India finishes Sistine in Madras.

Turn 9 740
Chemistry – Metallurgy

Turn 10
Consider spending some cash on settlers but decide to defer the decision to the next player. The AI traffic is not too thick so it would be a good time to fill in some land.
New Lahore and the Other Indian city may be better razed than kept. They are not in a good CxxC location. I captured them, but abandon if need be.

Watch the galleys sailing down our eastern shore. They probably have troops in them. One knight is on the way over there, but we need more knights on the shore to shadow these ships as a rapid reaction coastal defense.

 

[handy900]

We almost control the chokes. Cities and roads will help a good bit. A few Jumbos may have snuck past in the east and be in the fog. Not a major deal since all eastern cities are corrupt and the army can take them back.

WEST

MID

EAST

 

[handy900]

Obormot can't play until Friday, so Bugs feel free to grab it. Obormot can jump back in after you.

Roster
1. Obormot [skip until friday]
2. Sir Bugsy - Up
3. M60A3TTS
4. Northern Pike
5. ThERat
6. Greebley
7. Handy just played
No using F10 or any other way to find out civs before meeting them.
No initial trade - declare war immediately.
No looking at techs, cities, resources, etc in deals unless we have a spy planted with that civ.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

OK, I have it. I am busy fending off an American invasion in Handy22, so don't expect and immediate posting here. Good thing we didn't play a higher level in that game.

 

[handy900]

OK, I have it...

Bugs - Check your cities for barracks, the FP city does not have one.

I suppose we could win this a couple of ways.

1. Turn off research after cavalry and hire taxmen. Capture ToE while we rush cavalry & settlers.

2. Research full steam to ... steam just in case. See if we can win the game before we get the tech.

Either way the game is pretty much done. India is 1/2 pillaged so they won't build cav even if they get the techs.

 

[Greebley]

Bugsy,
Maybe we should give you a swap and let M60A3TTS play. I know you haven't had time to finish Handy22 yet.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

I just completed the Handy22 turns. I should have this up in the next 24 hours.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Pre-flight – Bugsacum – What a great name for a sailor! Switch the FP City to a barracks.

760 – Attack New Delhi with our army…

Pick off a dozen or so invaders. Pillage up in India.

To be continued...

 

[Sir Bugsy]

IBT – Retreat several elephants. An Indian force is landed in the south. Watch a few Aztecs get incinerated by a volcano.

770 – Killing strays. Pick off a settle pair. Start picking off Indians around Oporto.

780 – Here’s the west coast situation:

790 – At Ixtapulco

Finish off the Indians around Oporto.

800 – Found Curia. Moving forward on all fronts.

IBT – Metallugy=>Mil Tradition (due in 7)

810 – Here is the central front:

To be continued….

 

[Sir Bugsy]

820 – Found Pompeii. Attack New Madras and put that one in the “Razed” column.

Science up.

830 – Found Hispalis. Attack Pampalona.

We’ll keep that one.

Attack Tepexpan

We’ll keep that one too.

840 – Attack Valencia and Kuara, but there are defenders remaining in both.

850 – Raze Valencia.

After Action: Here is the northwestern front:

We may want to raze Pampalona. On the river would probably be better. We can either hold this front or continue inching forward. I’d inch forward.

Here is the central front:

Yellow dots are suggestions.

And the East:

An area for expansion.

Save: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/Handy23,_850_AD.SAV

 

[ThERat]

pounding the rest. I agree with not stopping at those chokes. We want a fast victory here I think. I guess after steam we can stop research and simply overwhelm the enemy with our Cav's.

I wonder how far are we away from domination once we settle 'our' half of the choke.