HC-03: The Ottomanation

[Hackapell]

Hey there!
So, I wanted to start up an SG just to get the hang of it, but I am suffering without BtS, owing to the fact that I have a mac
But, seeing as GreyFox ended his oddessy to get his sword, I figured I would start up one last Warlords SG with Mehmed II before I get BtS.
For the life of me, though, I never gotten into a winning position with Mehmed(I typically start a new game once I know victory is at hand). Every time, I either get marginal land, evil neighbors, isolation, or the computer glitches on me.
So, I'm looking for 5 other SG semi-n00bs( and perhaps one expert) to dust off their warlords disks and join me in a battle for the Ottomanation, and to help me over the hump.
So-your leader:

Spoiler :

A solid leader, with trait combo of Exp/Org. Alone, these two traits always play a role for me, but together, they just won't cooperate.
Your UU:

Spoiler :

An interesting one, seeing as it can PWN anything before it, but nothing can upgrade into it. How to use it most effectively thought, seeing as calvary are just one tech away?
Your UB:

Spoiler :

Pretty simple purpose here, It lets you support 2 extra pop, which equates to more of everything.
Setting and start postion:

Spoiler :

Prince level, Fractal, epic, otherwise all setting are the standard.
Etiquette(thanks to Imenhotep):

Spoiler :

Alpha: The quality of your report outweighs the quality of your play. We’re here to have fun, and, of course, winning is fun, but losing in style is preferable to a boring win. Remember, your report should be a new reply to alert other players.

Bravo: Reports should be detailed, with plenty of screen shots and player commentary, explanations, musings, etc; an auto-log dump will not suffice. Shots of the F9 screens and overview shots of the empire are nice too, once in a while.

Charlie: Punctuality rocks! “24/48” means post a "got it" within 24 hours of when the last save was posted, and play within 48 hours of that ‘got it.’ Waiting 47 hours to ask for a skip is lame. Punk out three times in a row, and you’ll be dropped from the roster. Skips and swaps are fine, but try to let us know sooner, rather than later.

Delta: Major game decisions (war/peace declarations, religion swaps, city placement, etc) should be arrived at via group consensus.
1. If the team disagrees with you, either argue your case better, or do it their way. Do NOT just blow them off and do it your way because it's your turn.
2. However, if there’s no consensus and you’re up, do it your way and explain why. Conversely, if someone else is up, don't whine when they do it their way.
3. Similarly, overruling techs or city builds is rude and should be done via consensus, barring an emergency.
4. In extraordinary situations, sometimes an opportunity presents itself that the group didn't foresee. If the consequences of it are great, players should stop, and refer the question to the group.

Echo: Being a better player does not give you the right to belittle anyone else or their play. Other people are going to disagree with you on major decisions; get used to the idea, and play nice. If not, take your ball and go home.

Foxtrot: Thread spam is good. Trash talking, poking fun, gentle ribbing, virtual noogies, and generally horsing around are all encouraged, but don’t be rude.

Golf: Automate sparingly.
1. Workers should almost never be automated, except perhaps late-game or building a trade network. However, if you have to, set your game options to “disallow automated worker forest chopping” and “keep previous improvements.”
2. Use of the “Emphasis” buttons is fine, but let the group know and explain your reasoning (specialization is a major game decision). If you prevent growth in a city, let the group know and remind them to take it off. Do NOT let the governor select build orders.
3. Sending units on go-to routes that last beyond your set is acceptable only if they’re heading for a rally point or if you otherwise inform your teammates. Avoid fortifying Great People. If you do, let everyone know where and why.

India: Sign spamming is rude. Signs can be helpful reminders, but too many signs makes them easily ignored. Once a sign is no longer valid, delete it.

I would also request a few things: please atach your saves to your update as that makes it imo more acessable to others(like me), and just enjoy yourself! There are no specific variants(our next one will), so we're free to do what we please!

The Roster:
Hackapell
mice
slobberinbear
stuge
pigswill


Good Luck!

 

[mice]

Sign me up if you like. I'd like to do Warlords again.

 

[Hackapell]

good to see you again, mice. Welcome aboard.

 

[slobberinbear]

I'll join. Need to fire up Warlords again and get all the updates. Thanks for the invite, Hackapell.

 

[Hackapell]

You're on, slobberin.
maybe 1 or two more, and we can get started.

 

[slobberinbear]

I see no reason not to settle in place. We have a coastal/river location with two food sources and at least 3 floodplains tiles.

Since we start with Agriculture and the Wheel, I am going to advocate a non-standard opening tech: Pottery. Getting pottery right away means cottaging those floodplains early and access to Mehmed's cheap granaries.

I might suggest a tech path something like this:

Pottery: for reasons stated above
Mining
Bronze Working: for all the usual reasons
Animal Husbandry: pigs and (hopefully) horses
Hunting & Archery if no copper or horses
Writing

With a high food / commerce capital, we will have plenty of ways to go: whipping, GP farming ... all good for getting out workers, settlers, and research.

Build order ideas:

Worker: we can farm right away. The worker will have plenty to do.
Warrior: for more exploration
Warrior: for more exploration, garrison
Settler: to a good production site

 

[Hackapell]

Slobberinbear's idea seems good , but I'll wait for the group consensus before moving.

 

[stuge]

Will a semi-expert suffice? If so, I'd like to join.

If only for the record, I agree with what Slobby said above. (I may come up with stupid nicknames now and then. Please don't stone me. Pretty please.)

 

[pigswill]

Could I (pretend to be) the other half? Stuge likes nicknames coz its difficult to abbreviate his boardname into anything semi-offensive.

 

[slobberinbear]

Two more warm bodies! Let's go!

Sincerely, Snugglekins

 

[Hackapell]

Everyone's on!
I'll play tonight and post within the next 24 hours.

 

[Hackapell]

More housekeeping: First post is 40 turns, all others 15 turns peace/ 10 turns war. All posts in spoilers please.
And now, the report.

Spoiler :

T1- Istanbul founded.


thats...interesting.

T6-7-lose initial warrior to unlucky hut

T9- Hut pops for AH, excellent! horses are in the prospective third ring of capital. That makes up for the first hut.

T16-pottery in, start on mining. Worker 3 turns away.

T24-meet Qin and some nation known as china from the south.

T26- mining in, BW next.

T31-Buddhism FIADL

T40-Capital look

The worker is 3 turns from finishing that farm to accelerate the production of settler. BW in 6.

I'll have a map up soon, those will not need to be spoilered.

 

[pigswill]

Why the spoilers?

 

[Hackapell]

to prevent clutter really. You don't have to if you don't want to, but 4 posts with pics(approx.) and reports sounds like we'll be scrolling down the page forever.

 

[mice]

Great that we got AH. A real boost. Considering this I'd agree with slobberin that we should do early cottages.

My concern is that we have only one hill in the capital. we need to settle a killer production city . Chariots for fog busting and exploration.

 

[slobberinbear]

I think we need to get a granary in the capital pretty soon ... we still have some room to grow, and the granary will making whipping even better.

Interesting reading on the Janissaries in the Civilopedia ... they were slave warriors, apparently.

*EDIT* I was thinking we may want to beeline Mathmatics after BW is done ... Having Hammams will boost our happy cap by +2.

So a tech path like:

(Finish BW)
Writing
Mathematics
Masonry (needed for Hammams)
(Currency or Construction)

If we go this way, the only way to get culture in cities is with libraries.

 

[Hackapell]

Yea, I'm thinking we hug some trees for lumbermills, or chop one REALLY essential wonder and then cottage up.
Speaking of which, SE, CE, or Hybrid? I usually go hybrid with Mehmed, just bnecuase his larger cities can be used for just about anything.
EDIT: I usually build a granary in the capital after settling the second city, but I'll demurr to the team's wishes.

 

[slobberinbear]

Thinking ahead about Jannisaries ... mmm, 9 strength, +25% vs. archery, melee, mounted ... ahhhh yes.

If we take the Education route to Gunpowder, we can get there on a fairly direct beeline:

(Finish BW)
Writing
Mathematics
Masonry
Currency
Code of Laws
Civil Service
Paper
Education
Gunpowder

As long as we pick up Alphabet somewhere in there for trading purposes (and make sure we trade for Monarchy), I think this can be done. This also puts us in the driver's seat for Liberalism.

Just thinking out loud here, waiting for my turn ...

 

[Hackapell]

that seems rather linear, slobberin, cool.
The edu path to me though sugests an SE to ensure those techs are out an running, or that we pursue at least one GP farm, most likely Istanbul for it's massive excess food. Also, that beeline doesn't factor in the surrounding terrain, and since we lost our initial warrior, we're lacking in that department .
Perhaps the southern route though guilds? Althought to be frank I always get my Gunpowder from Education. Brains before brawn...
Mice, was your above post a "got it?"

and the roster:

Hackapell-Kicked us off
mice-UP NOW
Slobberinbear-on deck
Stuge-in the bullpen
Pigswill-in the bullpen

 

[slobberinbear]

You didn't post the save or the map, Hack.