LK141 - The lazy Mayans

[Refar]

I got to be getting senile, as i was sure, i had posted a got it...

Anyway, played 5 turns, interrupted the turnset, to check back with the team...

Part I - Turns 330 - 335 / 1550AD - 1575AD

Turn 331: - A Town (@Lakamha) was Destroyed by enemy Infiltrators
- Attacking Addis Ababa. Taken without losses - we got quite lucky concidering the city was Castle on a Hill. (I send two Knights in at rather low odds, to deal with the Oromo/Longbow on top - Surviving Siege will be upgraded to Cannon. The Knights won...)

Turn 332: - Cathy asked for Gunpowder. Refused. I guess she will be back with a army...

- Got the Philosopher Event in Mutal... As LK pointed out, we have quite some +, do take the free Scientist. The one dude who is mad from AAARGH!!! is almost worth it on his own

- A portuguese Revolt in Oporto...
- Grab a Worker near Gondar.

Turn 333: - All Siege upgraded to Cannon (And first of them arrived at Gondar)
- Feels somewhat odd, but i send newly built units to Opporto and Lissbon rather than to the front...

Turn 334: - Bombard Gondar

Turn 335: - Attack Gondar. First Cannon dies at Oromo at 80-ish odds - some payback for beeing too lucky at A.Ababa i guess. The rest goes in at 99% and wins.

Now the Capital got moved to Adulis, yet Gondar is under slight pressure from Debre Berhan.

Zara would capitulate giving us Optics. DB is Islam Holy without Shrine (not many Islam Cities in the world anyway.)

I think we should stick to the plan and capitulate Zara now - the perssure on Gondar should not be as bad as in Opporto and Lissbon. Taking DB and Adulis would be no problem from military point of view, but would take perhaps 7 - 10 more turns, risking Zara to capitulate to someone else...

I will wait a bit for comments and finish the turnset then.
I plan to Capitulate Zara right now, unless the team objects.

 

[Sweetacshon]

Perhaps we should get another player, as the game may well finish in the OOP period. Speaking of which, I can't play the next TS til Thurs (after Refar finishes, of course), so if you want it LK, go for it.

We don't particularly want those cities, so I'm all for another vassal, as planned. The only point to think about is how it (the land) would affect any upcoming war with Cathy.

 

[LKendter]

Feels somewhat odd, but I send newly built units to Oporto and Lisbon rather than to the front...

I know the revolts are really annoying, but we don't want to do this very long. War is coming again with Cathy, and we need to build up that front.

I think we should stick to the plan and capitulate Zara now - the pressure on Gondar should not be as bad as in Oporto and Lisbon.

It looks like another pain city, but I do agree with capitulate now. We can make this a staging zone while we build up for Cathy. That should give it a bit of time to build culture.

 

[LKendter]

Perhaps we should get another player, as the game may well finish in the OOP period. Speaking of which, I can't play the next TS til Thurs (after Refar finishes, of course), so if you want it LK, go for it.

I just advertised for a replacement player. We will see if we have any luck.

With just 3 people swapping doesn't even work...

 

[yena]

Looks like you need a hand... count me in.

 

[LKendter]

Roster
LKendter
Refar (currently playing) Waiting on 5 more.
Sweetacshon (on deck)
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena Welcome aboard


Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[yena]

So, I've read through the report and checked the save, and accepting Zaras capitulation sounds good to me. It looks like we soon will have a final showdown with Catherine. Should be fun

 

[Refar]

Part II - Turns 335 - 340 / 1575AD to 1600AD

Turn 335: - Zara Capitulates. No way to get a better tech out of it

Turn 336: - Now i did not expected that to happen... Accepted. I guess he's afraid of Cathy... If he only knew, what happens in a couple of turns

- Another gift. I did not even know we had the quest. Certainly built no such thing. I guess we took the last one in Gondar. I take culture - a +4 building might help in Gondar (checked afterwards, it's indeed there - had to be) our culture pressed boarder cities.

Turn 337: - AP vote to give a city from Cathy back to Fred. Sure.
- Also "borrowed" one of our Iron to Fred. He offered Ivory as well - odd as we already have it...

Turn 338: - Cologne given back to Fred. No "You voted for us"
A overview of the current voting power... We could probably become resident and win AP-Diplo, if we woudl switch to Hindu to make us a Full Member.

Turn 139 & 140 - Finished Military Science on 140, nothing else.

Notes
- I would like to be in Mercantilism - our only trade comes fomr our Vassals, which we can keep in Merc. Did not revolted witout asking because those are 2 turns
- Sent a Knight to take a look trough Cathys land. Her main Stack is not to impressive. A couple (perhaps 6) more knights seen around her territory. We should not wait to long to attack her - she's still without Gunpowder...

- We could trade some tech to our vassals, perhaps... We have Mil Science and Steel on everyone. I tried around - Zara will give us Education for Mil Science, Fred would give Mil. Trad for Mil. Sci. and a pile of our gold... Not sure however, how clever trading Military techs to Fred would be - he's a voluntary Vassal, so he could break free at some point...

Research on Mil Science finisched on my last turn, so nothing invested in the new tech so far... Mil Tradition seem to make sense - unless we trade for it.

Check on Opporto and Lisbon from time to time... I put 2 newly build musketman there, which (along with the other troops already there) at some point should go to the front... The revolt chance is at ~4 % now...

 

[LKendter]

New Updates
Our recover finally is decent at 60% science. Still seems a big light for a financial civ, but it is the best we've had in a long time.

We need to spread religion to our recent cities from Zara. 2 lack Buddhism, and 3 lack Taoism.

Sparta can build the FP in just 11 turns.

It is probably around build turn. We have almost zero defensive units in Gondar, and 6 maces won't last that long against Cathy.


Roster
LKendter
Refar
Sweetacshon (currently playing)
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena (on deck)

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[LKendter]

New Updates



Roster
LKendter
Refar
Sweetacshon (currently playing) Overdue for a got it. Yena, please take this if nothing within 12 hours of this post.
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena (on deck)

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[yena]

No response from Sweetacshon, so I'm grabbing the save. Will play later today.

 

[LKendter]

The LK series is going on hiatus. I am not sure how long.
I am not having fun at this time. More then once recently had my hands shaking from stress overload, and no game is worth this.

LK141 has been very frustrating with all the delays.
LK142 is an embarrassment with the variant design failure.
LK143 is a major source of frustration, as I totally disagree with the hyper-expansion plan of the other players. I am likely wrong, but that is irrelevant. It is ruining the fun for me.

I will finish the current games, and then the hold starts.

 

[yena]

It's a bit hard to arrive in the middle of a game (don't even know where the cities are) but I finally found the time to play this set. We are at peace, and I have moved troops towards Catherine, built some grenadiers, researched towards rifling (MT, PP, RP, rifling done in 6-7 turns), spread religion and improved the economy.

Trading saved 7 turns towards rifling.

Catherine hates us and we should really keep Isabella happy, so I agree.

Its good that Isabella is friendly, especially since almost all of our troops are at the Russian border.

And finally a lucky break

Edit: forgot to mention that we got a GS who I'm keeping for a future GA, and that I think the plan is to get rifling, upgrade, and attack.

 

[LKendter]

New Updates

Roster
LKendter (currently playing)
Refar (on deck)
If you can play before Monday night, please take it and we will swap.

Sweetacshon (indefinite skip)
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[Sweetacshon]

Well, my skip was really just for last week, where I was ridiculously busy in RL. I'm at your disposal now, LK.

 

[LKendter]

New Updates

Roster
LKendter (on deck)
Refar
Sweetacshon (currently playing)
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena (swapped)

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[Sweetacshon]

355-361
Cruise to rifling, and other than a russian earthquake, incessant rumbling from our newer cities about returning to their old masters, and Cathy trying to sell us the useless DR, it's pretty quiet. I won't bore you with the other details. Next tech is steam, but at 0%, as it's upgrade time, and the fun is about to start.

363-365
A few turns of saving and troop upgrades. Izzy declares on Cathy, and we have enough upgraded, so science is turned back up to 60%, and there's no better opportunity - the whole world is now at war with poor Cathy Our cavalry rush forward to take Yeha. Stole 1 worker. Note that 1 knight has not been upgraded, since it is close to lvl 6.

366
Cathy's stack is just outside Vandal. We will have to wait and see where she wants to suicide it. Zara: well at least he's trying... it's the thought that counts.

368
Cathy waltzs past and heads toward Gondar. Izzy takes Yatusk - a wierd choice. We take Vandal. No losses.

369
I misread the number of trebs cathy has in the stack, and we hold Gondar with just a knight to spare. Phew. The attackers are mopped up with some cavalry brought back from the front, with the aid of Fred.

370
Yekaterinburg is bombarded, and there are just a couple of trebs left, which is actually a play, but hopefully it won't get stolen from us. Economics is 3 turns away (working under a vague plan to get infantry), but we could trade rifling around to speed it up. The GA was born last turn, so we can start a GAge if it is wanted.
The new territory:

Dom limts are close:

 

[LKendter]

New Updates


Roster
LKendter (currently playing) (skip Mar21 to Mar 23)
Refar (on deck)
Sweetacshon
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena (swapped)

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - open to discussion when the workers appear.

 

[LKendter]

1720 AD
For a game that had such a rough start, we are in good shape now.

I see no reason not to trade with our vassals.
I give rifles to Zara for astronomy, wm and $70.
I give rifles to Joao for constitution. Democracy isn't out yet, but we may was well get more trade value from rifles.

I don't understand the university in Chichen. This is our primary military center with 3 MI for triple promoted units. I also don't understand Globe Theater in a city with just 1 food bonus tile.
I put Gondar on all culture buildings. This is another city with potential revolts.

I see no reason to wait on a GA. I trip one. This let's me swap to mercantilism, nationalism, and representation.


1722 AD
Yekaterinburg has fallen.
The biggest problem is lack of defender for captured cities, so I begin drafting to get some.


1724 AD
I begin marching on Rostov.
(IT) Normally I would grab rails next, but we don't have enough workers to advantage. All of them are busy trying to improve production with lumber mills. I go for democracy next.
This late in the game it isn't a big deal, but I pay $31 for 3 pop on Yeha.


1728 AD
Izzy has a stack by Cathy that will take cities from Russia. I give Izzy replaceable parts to go away. I think we can win this if we get *all* of Cathy's cities.


1730 AD
Rostov is captured, and I am moving on St. Petersburg.
(IT) We get another scientist, but I don't know if the game will last long enough for him to trip a GA.


1736 AD
It costs a couple of cavalry, but St. Petersburg is the next to fall.
(IT) Our workers are starting to free up, so research begins on rails.
A random event gives us +3 with Izzy, not that we really need any help.


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

New Updates
Domination watch = 49.22% at 1720 AD.
Domination watch = 54.16% at 1740 AD.


The war with Cathy lasts until the game is over. With all of our vassals, this IMHO is the fastest path to victory.
Our troops are starting to arrive at weakly defended Moscow.


Roster
LKendter (skip Mar21 to Mar 23)
Refar (currently playing)
Sweetacshon (on deck)
Kodii (skip Mar 14 to Mar 29)
Yena (swapped)

Variant: The lazy Mayans
We may build exactly ONE worker. After that, we can only get workers via capture / settler kills.

Remember 15 peace (including phony wars) / 10 heavy war turns per round. STRICT 24 hours got it, total 48 hours to complete.

Win target: Domination, as the constant wars have ruled out space, diplomatic and cultural.

Planned wars - death to Cathy.

 

[Sweetacshon]

I don't understand the university in Chichen. This is our primary military center with 3 MI for triple promoted units. I also don't understand Globe Theater in a city with just 1 food bonus tile.

Good points. Chichen, I dunno, perhaps a misclick. I always play too fast when I don't feel the AI has any chance. GT... I was meaning to put it somewhere for drafting.... playing too fast again. Not to worry - bring it home, Refar.