mb2-a space oddity

[LKendter]

1. Victory condition Space Race
2. No research allowed of any description (Slider at 0 at all times and no scientists - ever)

How do you guys propose to do the above with taking out all the other civs?

 

[a space oddity]

@LKendter: I agree we've got to stop doing that somewhere soon. Luckily Egypt and Greece are still there, they can be our pet scientists.

edit: It's just that we need a GL for to build our Palace in the Indian Jungle, at the current rate it'll be finished in 975 turns...

 

[mad-bax]

Lee: Yes we do need lots of the other Civs around to complete the goal. I think at the moment we are just concentrating on securing the starting landmass and generating a leader for a well located Palace. Then we will switch to a building game I guess.

But your point is well taken

 

[mad-bax]

I am going to skip myself this round as RL (read work) is going to get in the way this week. Sorry guys.

Ted: You're UP

 

[TedJackson]

I picked this up earlier but forgot to post a got it

After 3 hours play I'm just about to start turn 6! So I'll post the first 5 turns then go and get some lunch

Pre-flight checks... OK

Tech status
Babylon up Printing Press (39gp)
Persia up Printing Press - down Chivalry, Gunpowder (0)
Aztec up Printing Press (47)
Greece up Printing Press (30)
Vikings up Printing Press - down Gunpowder (11)
Egypt up Printing Press, Astronomy (33)
Korea up Printing Press - down Gunpowder (8)
Iroquois up Printing Press - down Gunpowder (9)
Mongols up Printing Press - down Gunpowder (8)
India down Theology, Chivalry, Invention (0)
Babylon has Gunpowder it seems but no saltpetre

Objectives
Pillage Babylon, attacking targets of opportunity.
Produce a Great Leader for our Palace build
Complete road network on our home continent.
Strengthen our presence in Greece

Pre-turn
I attempt a theft of Astronomy from Egypt - Success
Mecca switches to Copernicus' - just to deny Egypt really

Press button...

IBT
Iroquois & Mongols sign Peace Treaty
Ederine Temple - Worker
Fustat Ansar - Musket
Bukhara Ansar - Temple

1 - 860AD
Loose MDI heads for Bursa
upgrade 6 Horse in Medina for 360gp
Vet Ansar attacks reg Bow - victory
Ansar & MDI pillage near Akkad
Ansar pillage near Ashur & Ur
Basra Switches to Musket
Egypt has monopoly on Navigation
We attempt a sting - success

IBT
Buy Korean WM for 25gp
Baghdad Ansar - Musket
Najran Ansar - Caravel
Khurasan Ansar - Ansar
Anjar Settler - Ansar
Aden Ansar - Caravel
Konya Worker - Temple
Pithom Musket - Market
Balkh Harbour - Caravel
Egypt start Magellan's

2 - 870AD
Buto switches to and hurries Temple for 96gp
2 Babylonian Galleys approaching Dacca & Indus so:
Dacca hurries Harbour for 240gp
Indus hurries Temple for 80gp
Pillaging - Ashur & Akkad isolated, Ur is now short of food
upgrade a couple of Horsemen for 120gp (Bab galley in the area)
Hawk WM for loose change

IBT
Babylon sues for peace - fat chance!
Aleppo Ansar - Worker
Merw Ansar - Worker
Buto Temple - Lib (culture)
Dacca Harbour - Temple
Indus Temple - Worker
Sippar Worker - Temple
Babylon starts Bach's (Music Theory) in Ashur - can we afford to let them build it for us?
Babylon lands a lone MDI NW of Kish - ROTFLMAO

3 - 880AD
Vet Ansar attacks vet MDI (NW Kish) - retreat, MDI (2/4)
Vet Ansar attacks vet MDI (2/4) (NW Kish) - victory (2/4)
Pillaging continues - Ur isolated and starving.

IBT
Egypt wants to renew Wines deal - I tell her to take a hike
Greece wants to renew Wines deal - I tell him to sod off too
Our silk deal with Iroquois expires - I up the ante and winkle WM, TM, Printing Press and 7gp out of him
Basra Musket - Musket
Fustat Musket - Musket
Yamama Harbour - Caravel
Bukhara Temple - Market
Kish Worker - Temple
Persia starts Bach's

4 - 890AD
Vet Ansar attacks reg Knight (3/4) - victory
Ashur falls for the loss of 1 Ansar - we get an elite Ansar into the bargain
We take Akkad for 1 MDI
Buy slave from Persia for 95gp

IBT
We lose vet Ansar to vet Knight (bait)
Baghdad Musket - Musket
Ashur riots (3 resisters quelled)
Najran Caravel - Musket
Kufah Court - Worker (zero growth)
Uskudar Worker - Worker
Aden Caravel - Musket
Muscat Ansar - Musket
Mansura Cathedral - Ansar
Aleppo Worker - Temple
Merw Worker - Aqueduct
Resistance in Kish ended
Punjab Settler - Temple
Aztecs start Bach's
Athens (Greece) completes Sistine Chapel
Vikings switch to Leonardo's
Memphis (Egypt) completes Leonardo's
Damn we need to buy Music Theory to avoid wasting all those shields

5 - 900AD
Sell Gems & Wines to Persia for WM, TM, Music Theory + 24gp + 1gpt
Mecca switches to Magellan's (11 turns)
Medina switches to Bach's (4 turns)
Damascus switches to Copernicus' (8 turns)
With Leonardo's gone I embark on an upgrade programme
Upgrade Pike in Basra
Upgrade 3 Pikes in Medina
Upgrade 2 Pikes in Najran
Upgrade 2 Horse in Lahore
Upgrade Horse in Bangalore
Upgrade Horse in Bombay
Upgrade Horse in Delhi
Upgrade Horse in Calcutta
Upgrade 2 Horse in Jalpur
Upgrade Horse in Kohlapur
Upgrade Horse in Hyderabad
Upgrade Horse in Punjab
Upgrade Horse in Bursa
Upgrade 2 Horse in New Delhi
Upgrade 2 Horse in Suhar
Upgrade Horse in Taif
Upgrade Horse in Kufah
Upgrade 2 Spear in Bayt Ras
Vet Ansar attacks vet Knight - victory (2/4)
Hawk WM for loose change
Ur is still pop 12

IBT
Delhi Worker - Court
Kufah Worker - Ansar
Akkad riots (3 resisters quelled)
Khursan Ansar - Ansar
Anjar Ansar - Ansar
Jalpur Worker - Harbour
Ibizia Worker - Temple
Persia starts Bach's
Persia starts Copernicus'
Aztecs start Bach's
Aztecs start Copernicus'
Babylon starts Bach's
Babylon starts Copernicus'
Iroquois starts Copernicus'
Salamanca (Iroquois) completes Copernicus'
Mongols start Bach's
Greeks start Bach's
Egypt starts Bach's
Egypt starts Magellan's

As you can see the wonder cascades were horrible. We have 3 wonder builds going and only 2 wonders available now. I'm not sure how that will pan out.

More later...


regards

Ted

 

[mad-bax]

fSounds great so far Ted:
Not having a tech lead will make building lots of wonders difficult. We probably need to pick and choose them carefully and try to time pre-builds well. I know this is difficult when we are just waiting for the techs to turn up.

Nice steals too. We're going to get found out soon though. That'll be fun.

 

[TedJackson]

Here's the final 5 turns

6 - 910AD
Start moving Ansars up from the South
Upgrade 5 Galleys in Basra
continue starvation of Ur

IBT
Spices deal expires - we give Astronomy & Music Theory for WM, TM, Spices + 7gp (might shift the balance of power for a while)
Damascus swithed to Colosseum
Bursa Worker - Lib (culture)
Fustat Musket - Ansar
Yamama Caravel - Ansar
Kolhapur Temple - Court
Mosul Market - Ansar
Bayt Ras Temple - Lib (culture)
New Delhi Worker - Court
Larsa riots (resistance ended)
Resistance in Akkad ended
Persia start Magellan's
Tenochtitlan (Aztec) completes Bach's
Aztecs cascade to Magellan's
Texcoco (Aztec) completes Magellan's
Wow - did we get stiffed there
Babylon lands 2 vet Warriors NW of Akkad

7 - 920AD
Pillaging continues...
Siege of Ur continues...
Vet Ansar kills vet Knight
Vet Ansar loses to vet Warrior promoted (2/5)
Vet Ansar kills vet Warrior
Vet MDI kills Elite Warrior (2/5)
Troops moving up from South...
Akkad starving down
Buy slave from Persia for 95gp
Buy slave from Korea for 87gp
Hawk WM for loose change

IBT
Mecca switches to Colosseum
Medina switches to Colosseum
Bombay Temple - Court
Damascus Colosseum - Ansar
Edrine Worker - Worker
Baghdad Ansar - Ansar
Basra Musket - Ansar

8 - 930AD
Ur drops to pop 11
We take Ur (Colossus) for the loss of 1 Ansar
Pillaging continues...
Tabuk founded - Temple
Egypt has monopoly on Banking
Attempt sting (2256gp) - success
Medina switches to Bank and hurries for 160gp
Mecca switches to Bank and hurries for 160gp

IBT
we lose an Ansar to Knight
Mecca Bank - Ansar
Istanbul Worker - Court
Medina Bank - Ansar
Ur riots (quelled 6 resisters)
Bangalore Temple - Lib (culture)
Najran Musket - Ansar
Khurasan Ansar - Bank
Aden Musket - Bank
Mansura Ansar - Bank
Aleppo Temple - Worker (zero growth)
Shiraz Worker - Court
Pune Temple - Court

9 - 940AD
Pillaging continues... (furs are cut)
Ashur hurries Temple for 106gp
Akkad hurries Temple for 104gp
Troops move up from South...

IBT
Lose a pike and an Ansar
Resistance ends in Ur
Madras Worker - Court
Ashur Temple - Worker
Kyfah Ansar - Bank
Akkad Temple - Harbour
Anjar Temple - Bank
Lahore Temple - Court
Fustat Ansar - Bank
Muscat Musket - Bank

10 - 950AD
Vet Ansar attacks Elite Knight - loses but red-lines Knight
Vet Ansar attacks Elite Knight (1/5) - victory
Hurry Market in Bukhara for 152gp

Babylon 12

We aren't starving Babylon yet and there is at least 1 Knight in the garrison. Hence I've deployed our troops around Babylon for hit & run tactics. I think this will be the best way to tackle the problem.

Notes
I stole 3 techs from Egypt. I suggest that the next player carries on with this tactic. The worst that can happen is that Egypt declares war and we calm her down 6 or so turns later with a cash bribe. We'll still be up on the deal
We got royally screwed by the cascades. There wasn't much I could do about it but it still hurts.

The save is > here <


regards

Ted

 

[TedJackson]

Previous post too big

The sea route from Basra to Ur is exactly 4 tiles and from Najran to where the Caravel is in the picture is also 4 tiles. This makes ferrying troops fairly straighforward.

There is also a 4 tile route between Yamama & Mecca for the stragglers from the South still making their way up. That way you can load in Yamama, ferry to Mecca & unload, move to Najran, load and ferry to Babylon in one or two moves.


regards

Ted

edited because the images aren't showing up - changed to links

 

[a space oddity]

Don't feel too bad about those lost Wonders, Ted. We can affort even a blow like that. Maybe we should have been more careful in our planning of them.
We need to keep informed about those AI. Will spy planting hurt our reputation of have an impact on the attitudes? Does anyone know?

 

[TedJackson]

Originally posted by a space oddity
Don't feel too bad about those lost Wonders, Ted. We can affort even a blow like that. Maybe we should have been more careful in our planning of them.

I couldn't do much about it, all the workers were too far away and we'd traded luxuries to the AI. The irritating part was we were only 2 turns short on Sistine and 4 on Bach's


regards

Ted

 

[a space oddity]

Ai, that hurts . We'll get our own back at them. Did you manage to promote some troops to elite level? I can't look at the save right now. There was one down south I believe. We really should try to drag this war, like you did . Our only aim at this point is a GL.

 

[mad-bax]

Hooray: You're UP.

Unless you're willing to spend a lot of gold predicting how wonder cascades will go is difficult. There was nothing to be done about it.

Right now we need a leader for the Palace.

Tight lines Hooray.
( I bet no-one is a fisherman here)

 

[Hooray]

Got it. I probably won't be able to play it until tomorrow. I'm back at college now, so I have considerably less free time.

How should I handle the war? Are we just leader-fishing, or should I also be trying to wipe out Babylon?

 

[a space oddity]

Babylon wiped out without a leader would be a total waste, IMO. But after we're through there's not much left of them anyway. So *if* a leader appears we could choose whether or not let them live.

 

[mad-bax]

What Space said.

 

[TedJackson]

@Space
We only got one promotion to elite in over a dozen victories so we should be due a few soon.

@mad-bax
I agree. All water under the bridge.

@Hooray
We really need a leader. I was using a single Ansar as bait each turn and I've left one for you 2NE of Nineveh with a counterattack force ESE. Remember the Ansar has 3 movement points best utilised as move, attack, retreat (sorry if I'm teaching Granny to suck eggs).


regards

Ted

 

[Hooray]

Sorry, you guys will have to wait. I won't have this finished tonight.

The war has been very low-intensity so far. I've just been mostly trying to starve Babylon down. I did manage to get another Elite Ansar Warrior, which has essentially doubled our chances of a leader.

 

[mad-bax]

Hooray: Don't rush, and don't feel under pressure to finish. Trust me I know the feeling. As long as everyone knows that you have it and are playing everyone is happy.

Edit: I've just noticed I'm a 'king now. A 'king what though? That's what I want to know.

 

[Brewster]

Why mad-bax, you must be the king of the Arabian Empire.

This looks very good so far. Unfortunately, we have yet to get that GL for the palace and have had very few units promote to elite. I'm counting on our luck to change in the next few turns.

Great work stealing those techs from Egypt TJ. I've tried to steal in previous games with no success at all.

 

[TedJackson]

Originally posted by Brewster
Great work stealing those techs from Egypt TJ. I've tried to steal in previous games with no success at all.

It's never been that successful for me before. I tried it because I really didn't want to give Egypt any more help in stretching their tech lead.

Kinda makes up for the bad luck with promotions and Great Leaders


regards

Ted