Start 4 looks barely acceptable from terrain aspect but we really have no way to tell yet. The start that you played from has entirely too much jungle. I guess this will just be a usual disagreement between me and mumps about how picky we should be on picking starts.
Mump4 - AWD Standard Pangaea
- Thread starter Mumpulus
- Start date
Mumpulus
King
I'm not going to disagree with you this time Own. I would take on the challenge of a mediocre to bad start on DG, but now I'd like to kick off with a good start. Requirements IMO are:
My comments on glenmetz's opening play
I found a start last night, but haven't played to IW yet. I'll post that start and opening play tonight.
- +5fpt during despotism in capital or first ring town
- rivers
- iron nearby
- preferably a lux nearby
My comments on glenmetz's opening play
- We should go min research on IW
- Hiring specialists early on is mostly a
- I think we should get out some settlers before starting a granary (which will be the case automatically if we don't go for pottery)
I found a start last night, but haven't played to IW yet. I'll post that start and opening play tonight.
glenmetz
Prince
If I get a chance tonight I"ll run 20 turns on Save 4 unless someone else wants to take a look at it.
Mumpulus
King
This is the start I found.
It doesn't look much at first, but moving the worker to the BG shows a cow, and moving the settler shows even more:
A lot of hills for iron, early defense and late production, not too many BGs, but those forests will surely give more of those, lots of rivers, so I thought I would give this one a go.
1) 3950BC
Found Berlin, start warrior while working the cow. We're not going to use that BG for a while, so move worker to cow as well. Start min run to IW.
2) 3900BC
I start mining the cow to get some units out faster, will irrigate the wheat.
3-5) 3850BC-3750BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Warrior > Warrior
6) 3700BC
Warrior moves NW.
7) 3650BC
Nothing
8) 3600BC
Berlin has grown; lux up and science down.
IT
Berlin: Warrior > Spearman
9) 3550BC
Lux down again. Ponder a bit on MM. Working forest, then BG, then wheat for 3 turns should work out nicely...
10-13) 3500BC-3350BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Spearman > Settler
14) 3300BC
Silks sighted:
15) 3250BC
Wheat irrigation done, start road
16) 3200BC
Work a forest for one turn to gain a shield
17) 3150BC
Ouch: our exploring warrior meets a colleague:
The Dutch have 3 towns in total, 20g and are up Alpha, Pottery and CB.
IT
A Hittite scout emerges from the north.
18) 3100BC
The Hittites have 3 towns in total, 0g and are up the same techs as the Dutch.
19) 3050BC
I decide to pop a hut on a hill and get 3 angry barbarians for my trouble.
IT
Our warrior defeats one barb and promotes. [1-0]
Berlin: Settler > Spearman
20) 3000BC
Settler moves towards hills in between wheats.
IT
21) 2950BC
Nothing
22) 2900BC
Found Leipzig, start Spearman
23) 2850BC
Given the early pressure, I start mining the second grassland wheat.
24) 2800BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Spearman > Spearman
25) 2750BC
Nothing
26) 2710BC
The second barb warrior is following ours, so I stop on a mountain to let it attack
IT
Our warrior slays the barb, a Dutch warrior defeats another. The first Dutch and Hittite warriors are arriving. The Hittites are both conscripts. [2-0]
27) 2670BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch seem to be targeting our worker
28) 2630BC
Here's the situation:
Leipzig has a warrior and spear, Berlin a single spear
IT
Defeat 1 Hittite warrior, rSpear promotes; the Dutch continue north and increase their numbers. [3-0, 1p]
Berlin: Spearman > Spearman
29) 2590BC
Cover our cow and other bases; move our worker to the Berlin BG.
30) 2550BC
Our worker has to flee; we could loose the game next IT.
IT
2 Dutch warriors die at Leipzig, promoting our spear to elite. We're still very much alive. [5-0, 2p]
31) 2510BC
Switch Berlin to archer to deal with a possible pillager warrior next turn.
IT
Another Dutch warrior dies at Leipzig. [6-0, 2p, 1e]
Berlin: Archer > Settler
Leipzig: Spearman > Barracks
32) 2470BC
Nothing
IT
4 Dutch warriors die on our eSpear. [10-0, 2p, 5e]
33) 2430BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch keep bypassing Berlin, even though it's equally defended.
34) 2390BC
The silks will be overextending right now with the rivers in the way, so I move the worker to road towards a closer settling spot first.
IT
Regular Hittite warriors arrive
Berlin: Settler > Worker
35) 2350BC
A bit of a juggling act to keep our settler covered; an important IT coming up again
IT
Another Dutchman dies at Leipzig. [11-0, 2p, 5e]
36) 2310BC
Six units are poised to attack Leipzig, we have 2 rSpears and 1 rWarrior inside
IT
2 Dutch and 2 Hittites die, one on an eSpear. [14-0, 4p, 6e]
Berlin: Worker > Settler
37) 2270BC
Found Hamburg, start Barracks
IT
4 Hittite warriors die on our eSpear [18-0, 4p, 10e]
38) 2230BC
Nothing
IT
Leipzig: Barracks > Archer
39) 2190BC
Nothing
IT
2 Hittites nearly kill our eSpear and rSpear in Leipzig, but don't cause any harm in the end. The Dutch found Arnhem near our silks. [20-0, 4p, 11e]
40) 2150BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch attack Hamburg this time. 2 warriors try to dislodge our eSpear:
The final Dutchman also attacks, which improves our position considerably. [23-0, 5p, 13e, 1l]
41) 2110BC
Move our leader to Berlin, shuffle some non-elite spears to "the front", i.e. Leipzig
IT
An rSpear defeats a Hittite rWarrior, but we loose our first unit too: the second rSpear dies against a second rWarrior.
[24-1, 5p, 13e, 1l]
42) 2070BC
Switch Leipzig to Spearman to replace our loss.
IT
Berlin: Settler > Spearman
43) 2030BC
Now where do I put this settler? I'm not going to cross rivers yet, and we lack some roads to go northwest, so I decide on a spot near the mountains to the southwest of Berlin, that's also on the river.
IT
Leipzig: Spearman > Archer
44) 1990BC
Nothing
IT
Looks like we have a powerfull neighbor:
45) 1950BC
Found Konigsberg, start barracks; worker starts chop for that; leader forms army.
IT
Hittites mess up MM for the first time
46) 1910BC
Move troops to intercept the Hittites
IT
A Hittite rWarrior defeats our vSpear in Leipzig (on hills across river), and causes a riot. [24-2, 5p, 13e, 1l]
Hamburg: Barracks > Spearman
The Colossus is finished in St. Petersburg.
47) 1870BC
Nothing
IT
Hittite warrior dies on rSpear in Leipzig and promotes it. [25-2, 6p, 13e, 1l]
48) 1830BC
Leipzig has grown to size 5. Hire a scientist for 1 turn for lack of good tiles to work.
IT
A single Dutch archer approaches
Berlin: Spearman > Settler
49) 1790BC
Move archer to intercept Dutch archer
IT
Dutch archer changes path. Hittites want to talk
Leipzig: Archer > Worker
50) 1750BC
Move archers into position to join the army and still intercept the Dutch guy.
IT
Two more Dutch archers appear. A Hittite warrior dies in Leipzig. [26-2, 6p, 13e, 1l]
Iron Working is in, start on Masonry in 10 turns at 70% (all that our lux tax will allow for now)
51) 1725BC
We have iron near Konigsberg. I don't move units so we can discuss what to do with our army.
> Save <
It doesn't look much at first, but moving the worker to the BG shows a cow, and moving the settler shows even more:
A lot of hills for iron, early defense and late production, not too many BGs, but those forests will surely give more of those, lots of rivers, so I thought I would give this one a go.
1) 3950BC
Found Berlin, start warrior while working the cow. We're not going to use that BG for a while, so move worker to cow as well. Start min run to IW.
2) 3900BC
I start mining the cow to get some units out faster, will irrigate the wheat.
3-5) 3850BC-3750BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Warrior > Warrior
6) 3700BC
Warrior moves NW.
7) 3650BC
Nothing
8) 3600BC
Berlin has grown; lux up and science down.
IT
Berlin: Warrior > Spearman
9) 3550BC
Lux down again. Ponder a bit on MM. Working forest, then BG, then wheat for 3 turns should work out nicely...
10-13) 3500BC-3350BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Spearman > Settler
14) 3300BC
Silks sighted:
15) 3250BC
Wheat irrigation done, start road
16) 3200BC
Work a forest for one turn to gain a shield
17) 3150BC
Ouch: our exploring warrior meets a colleague:
The Dutch have 3 towns in total, 20g and are up Alpha, Pottery and CB.
IT
A Hittite scout emerges from the north.
18) 3100BC
The Hittites have 3 towns in total, 0g and are up the same techs as the Dutch.
19) 3050BC
I decide to pop a hut on a hill and get 3 angry barbarians for my trouble.
IT
Our warrior defeats one barb and promotes. [1-0]
Berlin: Settler > Spearman
20) 3000BC
Settler moves towards hills in between wheats.
IT
21) 2950BC
Nothing
22) 2900BC
Found Leipzig, start Spearman
23) 2850BC
Given the early pressure, I start mining the second grassland wheat.
24) 2800BC
Nothing
IT
Berlin: Spearman > Spearman
25) 2750BC
Nothing
26) 2710BC
The second barb warrior is following ours, so I stop on a mountain to let it attack
IT
Our warrior slays the barb, a Dutch warrior defeats another. The first Dutch and Hittite warriors are arriving. The Hittites are both conscripts. [2-0]
27) 2670BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch seem to be targeting our worker
28) 2630BC
Here's the situation:
Leipzig has a warrior and spear, Berlin a single spear
IT
Defeat 1 Hittite warrior, rSpear promotes; the Dutch continue north and increase their numbers. [3-0, 1p]
Berlin: Spearman > Spearman
29) 2590BC
Cover our cow and other bases; move our worker to the Berlin BG.
30) 2550BC
Our worker has to flee; we could loose the game next IT.
IT
2 Dutch warriors die at Leipzig, promoting our spear to elite. We're still very much alive. [5-0, 2p]
31) 2510BC
Switch Berlin to archer to deal with a possible pillager warrior next turn.
IT
Another Dutch warrior dies at Leipzig. [6-0, 2p, 1e]
Berlin: Archer > Settler
Leipzig: Spearman > Barracks
32) 2470BC
Nothing
IT
4 Dutch warriors die on our eSpear. [10-0, 2p, 5e]
33) 2430BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch keep bypassing Berlin, even though it's equally defended.
34) 2390BC
The silks will be overextending right now with the rivers in the way, so I move the worker to road towards a closer settling spot first.
IT
Regular Hittite warriors arrive
Berlin: Settler > Worker
35) 2350BC
A bit of a juggling act to keep our settler covered; an important IT coming up again
IT
Another Dutchman dies at Leipzig. [11-0, 2p, 5e]
36) 2310BC
Six units are poised to attack Leipzig, we have 2 rSpears and 1 rWarrior inside
IT
2 Dutch and 2 Hittites die, one on an eSpear. [14-0, 4p, 6e]
Berlin: Worker > Settler
37) 2270BC
Found Hamburg, start Barracks
IT
4 Hittite warriors die on our eSpear [18-0, 4p, 10e]
38) 2230BC
Nothing
IT
Leipzig: Barracks > Archer
39) 2190BC
Nothing
IT
2 Hittites nearly kill our eSpear and rSpear in Leipzig, but don't cause any harm in the end. The Dutch found Arnhem near our silks. [20-0, 4p, 11e]
40) 2150BC
Nothing
IT
The Dutch attack Hamburg this time. 2 warriors try to dislodge our eSpear:
The final Dutchman also attacks, which improves our position considerably. [23-0, 5p, 13e, 1l]
41) 2110BC
Move our leader to Berlin, shuffle some non-elite spears to "the front", i.e. Leipzig
IT
An rSpear defeats a Hittite rWarrior, but we loose our first unit too: the second rSpear dies against a second rWarrior.
[24-1, 5p, 13e, 1l]42) 2070BC
Switch Leipzig to Spearman to replace our loss.
IT
Berlin: Settler > Spearman
43) 2030BC
Now where do I put this settler? I'm not going to cross rivers yet, and we lack some roads to go northwest, so I decide on a spot near the mountains to the southwest of Berlin, that's also on the river.
IT
Leipzig: Spearman > Archer
44) 1990BC
Nothing
IT
Looks like we have a powerfull neighbor:
45) 1950BC
Found Konigsberg, start barracks; worker starts chop for that; leader forms army.
IT
Hittites mess up MM for the first time
46) 1910BC
Move troops to intercept the Hittites
IT
A Hittite rWarrior defeats our vSpear in Leipzig (on hills across river), and causes a riot. [24-2, 5p, 13e, 1l]
Hamburg: Barracks > Spearman
The Colossus is finished in St. Petersburg.
47) 1870BC
Nothing
IT
Hittite warrior dies on rSpear in Leipzig and promotes it. [25-2, 6p, 13e, 1l]
48) 1830BC
Leipzig has grown to size 5. Hire a scientist for 1 turn for lack of good tiles to work.
IT
A single Dutch archer approaches
Berlin: Spearman > Settler
49) 1790BC
Move archer to intercept Dutch archer
IT
Dutch archer changes path. Hittites want to talk
Leipzig: Archer > Worker
50) 1750BC
Move archers into position to join the army and still intercept the Dutch guy.
IT
Two more Dutch archers appear. A Hittite warrior dies in Leipzig. [26-2, 6p, 13e, 1l]
Iron Working is in, start on Masonry in 10 turns at 70% (all that our lux tax will allow for now)
51) 1725BC
We have iron near Konigsberg. I don't move units so we can discuss what to do with our army.
> Save <
Mumpulus
King
We haven't met the orange civ to the north (Ottomans probably).
I'm not too excited about early production capacity (those hills are labor-intensive). I think we can wait for swords (about 13 turns with a colony) to fill the army, but would be ok with using the archers now to get to the Dutch sooner (but we have insufficient cover for an archer army right now anyway, so it's probably not worth the rush). We should expand towards the Dutch now, because of the BGs SW of Arnhem and because of the silks.
I'd settle on hills as much as possible, that's what will keep us alive until we can develop more. The tile directly west of Arnhem is a good spot. Another spot 2S of that. 2N of the silks spot, in between the gold hills, is another good location. We must have no qualms whatsoever on settling this close. This game will be hard enough without having to worry about aesthetics.
I'd categorize this as a decent start, but given that we've handled the initial rushes without much trouble and have a very early army, I'd certainly like to give this one a try.
I'm not too excited about early production capacity (those hills are labor-intensive). I think we can wait for swords (about 13 turns with a colony) to fill the army, but would be ok with using the archers now to get to the Dutch sooner (but we have insufficient cover for an archer army right now anyway, so it's probably not worth the rush). We should expand towards the Dutch now, because of the BGs SW of Arnhem and because of the silks.
I'd settle on hills as much as possible, that's what will keep us alive until we can develop more. The tile directly west of Arnhem is a good spot. Another spot 2S of that. 2N of the silks spot, in between the gold hills, is another good location. We must have no qualms whatsoever on settling this close. This game will be hard enough without having to worry about aesthetics.
I'd categorize this as a decent start, but given that we've handled the initial rushes without much trouble and have a very early army, I'd certainly like to give this one a try.
I'd be in favor of hooking up iron ASAP, which would mean letting that worker finish the road, then road the mountain then colonize the iron. I'm also in favor of waiting for swords to load the army.
I'm really feeling the terrain of this start, but we do seem to be somewhat surrounded. This will probably be difficult, but let's give it our best shot and see what happens.
Btw, any ideas on how to handle the dutch archer threatening our roaded, irrigated plains?
From the roster from a while ago, I'm up, but I want to wait for some answers and discussion before going.
I'm really feeling the terrain of this start, but we do seem to be somewhat surrounded. This will probably be difficult, but let's give it our best shot and see what happens.
Btw, any ideas on how to handle the dutch archer threatening our roaded, irrigated plains?
From the roster from a while ago, I'm up, but I want to wait for some answers and discussion before going.
Elephantium
Trampling the AI
Nice start! I'm also in favor of a sword army; archer armies are obsolete way too quickly. Once we've met the Ottomans (or whoever...), I'd say the hills 2N of Leipzig and Hamburg are both worthy city sites.
To handle the Dutch archer threatening our improved plains tile, move the rSpear from Berlin to Hamburg, and move the eSpear from Hamburg onto the threatened tile, then fortify. Berlin won't be threatened for another turn or two, and we'll be able to shift units again - or kill the invaders - before that causes a problem.
To handle the Dutch archer threatening our improved plains tile, move the rSpear from Berlin to Hamburg, and move the eSpear from Hamburg onto the threatened tile, then fortify. Berlin won't be threatened for another turn or two, and we'll be able to shift units again - or kill the invaders - before that causes a problem.
glenmetz
Prince
Early leader, lots of food bonuses, Iron and Silks nearby, I say go with it.
Also agree on the sword Army. We need an army that can work on its own.
Mumpulus
King
I agree on all counts 
Summary with further comments:
My dotmap proposal:
Go Own
Summary with further comments:
- Hook up iron via colony to get there faster.
- Wait for swords to fill army.
- Elephantium's settling spots are very good, but since they're on the "wrong" side of the river for defense bonus purposes, I'd do those after the Arnhem region.
- Elephantium's suggestion for the archer is also good. If the Dutch stick to their pattern though, they'll keep to hills while advancing on a town (Berlin probably).
- Research masonry, then towards lit.
- IMO the prebuild should go to the BG-rich town we can found 5 SE of Berlin. Konigsberg isn't strong enough, Berlin should go for settlers, and the other towns will be on the front for some time.
My dotmap proposal:
Go Own
Pre-turn- I thought I had caught a Mumpulus MM mistake but I was mistaken. Darn, almost. Nads, I attack the reg warrior on the hill with a vet archer and it dies. I then attack it with a reg, who kills
it and promotes to vet. I then move the army to Berlin and move the *elite spear to the threatened plains tile.
IBT- some archers move
1. Leipzig worker > spear. Lux is lowered and SCI is raised and Masonry is in 8
IBT- more archers move
2. Berlin settler > barracks. He moves out of harms way along with the army, but won't go anywhere to settler until we have enough spears for defense. Warrior from Konigsberg comes to help defend Berlin. Lux is lowered and SCi is raised and again Masonry is 7. Key IBT
coming up.
IBT- Archer from the Netherlands kills himself on the reg spearman in Berlin, who promotes
3. Hamburg spear > archer.
IBT- Some archers approach.
4. Konigsberg rax > spear. Some MM. Lux goes up and SCI down to keep Konigsberg from rioting. Move a spear from Hamburg to Berlin as there are four Dutch archers on our doorstep. Big IBT coming up again.
IBT- Aargh, crappy IBT. First a spear kills an archer and loses two hp, then an archer kills the spear from Hamburg unscathed, then the spear gets redlined, then our warrior gets killed by an archer.
5. Lux goes up again. Leipzig grows.
IBT- Archer kills himself.
6. Leipzig spear > spear. Shuffle units some.
IBT- Some movement unit stretches us out. Some Hittite dudes appear in the north.
7. Rax > spear. Dammit, there still is no available spear to escort the settler.
IBT- nothing much
8. Change Hamburg to archer, but that is vetoable. The archer has moved along a road once.
I think I might have played this round too cautiously. It's up to the next player how to handle the Hamburg situation. Do we want to give it support or not? I didn't yet, because we can always move a spear to help it out but we can't unmove one. Also, we should probably think about sending that settler out sometime.
it and promotes to vet. I then move the army to Berlin and move the *elite spear to the threatened plains tile.
IBT- some archers move
1. Leipzig worker > spear. Lux is lowered and SCI is raised and Masonry is in 8
IBT- more archers move
2. Berlin settler > barracks. He moves out of harms way along with the army, but won't go anywhere to settler until we have enough spears for defense. Warrior from Konigsberg comes to help defend Berlin. Lux is lowered and SCi is raised and again Masonry is 7. Key IBT
coming up.
IBT- Archer from the Netherlands kills himself on the reg spearman in Berlin, who promotes
3. Hamburg spear > archer.
IBT- Some archers approach.
4. Konigsberg rax > spear. Some MM. Lux goes up and SCI down to keep Konigsberg from rioting. Move a spear from Hamburg to Berlin as there are four Dutch archers on our doorstep. Big IBT coming up again.
IBT- Aargh, crappy IBT. First a spear kills an archer and loses two hp, then an archer kills the spear from Hamburg unscathed, then the spear gets redlined, then our warrior gets killed by an archer.
5. Lux goes up again. Leipzig grows.
IBT- Archer kills himself.
6. Leipzig spear > spear. Shuffle units some.
IBT- Some movement unit stretches us out. Some Hittite dudes appear in the north.
7. Rax > spear. Dammit, there still is no available spear to escort the settler.
IBT- nothing much
8. Change Hamburg to archer, but that is vetoable. The archer has moved along a road once.
I think I might have played this round too cautiously. It's up to the next player how to handle the Hamburg situation. Do we want to give it support or not? I didn't yet, because we can always move a spear to help it out but we can't unmove one. Also, we should probably think about sending that settler out sometime.
Mumpulus
King
The settler can go to my spot 3 unescorted (we'll have to gamble a bit).
We should build a few warriors to upgrade. I'd switch Hamburg to a spear. Pillagers should be blocked at first, until we get swords.
I wouldn't have risked attacking a unit on a hill; just wait for them to attack or get onto flat land.
Lux can go down a notch.
Some walls would also be nice
Roster
Mumpulus
Own - just played
Elephantium - up
Greebley - on deck
glenmetz
We should build a few warriors to upgrade. I'd switch Hamburg to a spear. Pillagers should be blocked at first, until we get swords.
I wouldn't have risked attacking a unit on a hill; just wait for them to attack or get onto flat land.
Lux can go down a notch.
Some walls would also be nice
Roster
Mumpulus
Own - just played
Elephantium - up
Greebley - on deck
glenmetz
Yeah, I was thinking that, and I probably would have done that in an SP game, but I just didn't have the balls to do it.
Yeah, I agree here.
It's easy to say that now, but at the time what I saw was a vet archer with no MP or tile protecting duties with a still big advantage over a reg warrior. I didn't want the warrior to block us from working a tile for a turn, and I didn't want the archer occupied when the Dutch approached.
Whoops
Good call, let's definately build some walls. I was trying to before but we didn't have masonry, and my brain didn't make the connection between our research and walls. They're only 10 shields, so let's build one in Berlin right now and one in Hamburg after the spear/archer.
Elephantium
Trampling the AI
Got it. Wish me luck
Elephantium
Trampling the AI
Despotism 0.7.3
369 gold, -4gpt
Alpha in 10
Cities:
Berlin (2), growth 4, Spear 3
Leipzig (5), growth 2, Archer 2
Hamburg (2), growth 1, Archer 1
Konigsberg (2), growth 5, Spear 15
Military:
1 Settler
3 Worker
1 Warrior
1 Archer
5 Spearmen
1 Army
Total: 12
Support: 16
Costs: 0gpt
Tactical:
Hittites have three Warriors (C, R, V) stationed outside Hamburg. I'll need to reinforce the city.
Netherlands has an Archer threatening the irrigated plains square and a Horseman threatening Berlin. I'll need to leave two units in Berlin in case he wins an attack on the IT.
Looks good - well, not good, I feel like we're stretched a little thin - but we'll see how it goes.
IT:
Two Hittite Warriors suicide vs. the spears in Hamburg. The conscript doesn't move.
Two Hittite Archers (1r, 1v) appear out of the fog to the N of Hamburg.
The Dutch move archers and a spear towards Berlin. Another Horseman appears out of the fog from the direction of Arnhem.
Berlin gets a culture expansion.
Hamburg: Archer->Archer (growth stalled).
Ottomans complete the Oracle.
Turn 1 (1475 BC):
The culture expansion revealed a Dutch Horseman W of Konigsberg, N of that mountain range. So much for sending that Settler unescorted.
I reinforce Berlin, bringing the forces up to two eSpears and two vArchers. That should do the trick.
MM Leipzig by hiring a geek. Growth and Archer are still due in 1.
Lux slider to 10%.
Sci slider stays at 70% (90 would get Alpha in 6 instead of in 7, but Konigsberg would riot)
IT:
Ouch. Dutch Archer kills our fortified spear on the irrigated plains tile (0-1).
Two horses attack Berlin. One retreats, the other dies (1-1).
Dutch horse moves into position to threaten our Worker next to Berlin.
Leipzig: Archer->Archer
Hamburg starves due to the evil Dutch attack.
Turn 2 (1450 BC):
Kill the western horse with an archer (2-1).
Leipzig grew to size 6. Lux slider to 40%, trade tiles around to promote growth in Hamburg and keep Leipzig at 5spt.
Move troops. We're stretched really thin; we could lose Berlin or Hamburg or both on this IT.
IT:
Berlin:
Dutch Horse dies vs. eSpear (3-1)
Dutch Archer kills the eSpear (3-2)
Dutch Archer kills the remaining Archer. We lose Berlin and 45 gold! (3-3).
Hamburg:
cWarrior dies vs. eSpear (4-3).
vArcher kills eSpear (4-4).
Leipzig starves.
Turn 3 (1425 BC):
Well, I may have just lost this game. Berlin is occupied by at least one Archer and one redlined Horseman.
Second-guessing myself, maybe we could have kept Berlin if I'd left both Archers inside and not moved one of the eSpears to Hamburg - but then we would have lost Hamburg for sure, based on the Hittite attacks.
Or maybe if I'd filled the Army with Archers and immediately gone on the offensive...
Either way, I don't think I can salvage this. Sorry, guys.
369 gold, -4gpt
Alpha in 10
Cities:
Berlin (2), growth 4, Spear 3
Leipzig (5), growth 2, Archer 2
Hamburg (2), growth 1, Archer 1
Konigsberg (2), growth 5, Spear 15
Military:
1 Settler
3 Worker
1 Warrior
1 Archer
5 Spearmen
1 Army
Total: 12
Support: 16
Costs: 0gpt
Tactical:
Hittites have three Warriors (C, R, V) stationed outside Hamburg. I'll need to reinforce the city.
Netherlands has an Archer threatening the irrigated plains square and a Horseman threatening Berlin. I'll need to leave two units in Berlin in case he wins an attack on the IT.
Looks good - well, not good, I feel like we're stretched a little thin - but we'll see how it goes.
IT:
Two Hittite Warriors suicide vs. the spears in Hamburg. The conscript doesn't move.
Two Hittite Archers (1r, 1v) appear out of the fog to the N of Hamburg.
The Dutch move archers and a spear towards Berlin. Another Horseman appears out of the fog from the direction of Arnhem.
Berlin gets a culture expansion.
Hamburg: Archer->Archer (growth stalled).
Ottomans complete the Oracle.
Turn 1 (1475 BC):
The culture expansion revealed a Dutch Horseman W of Konigsberg, N of that mountain range. So much for sending that Settler unescorted.
I reinforce Berlin, bringing the forces up to two eSpears and two vArchers. That should do the trick.
MM Leipzig by hiring a geek. Growth and Archer are still due in 1.
Lux slider to 10%.
Sci slider stays at 70% (90 would get Alpha in 6 instead of in 7, but Konigsberg would riot)
IT:
Ouch. Dutch Archer kills our fortified spear on the irrigated plains tile (0-1).
Two horses attack Berlin. One retreats, the other dies (1-1).
Dutch horse moves into position to threaten our Worker next to Berlin.
Leipzig: Archer->Archer
Hamburg starves due to the evil Dutch attack.
Turn 2 (1450 BC):
Kill the western horse with an archer (2-1).
Leipzig grew to size 6. Lux slider to 40%, trade tiles around to promote growth in Hamburg and keep Leipzig at 5spt.
Move troops. We're stretched really thin; we could lose Berlin or Hamburg or both on this IT.
IT:
Berlin:
Dutch Horse dies vs. eSpear (3-1)
Dutch Archer kills the eSpear (3-2)
Dutch Archer kills the remaining Archer. We lose Berlin and 45 gold! (3-3).
Hamburg:
cWarrior dies vs. eSpear (4-3).
vArcher kills eSpear (4-4).
Leipzig starves.
Turn 3 (1425 BC):
Well, I may have just lost this game. Berlin is occupied by at least one Archer and one redlined Horseman.
Second-guessing myself, maybe we could have kept Berlin if I'd left both Archers inside and not moved one of the eSpears to Hamburg - but then we would have lost Hamburg for sure, based on the Hittite attacks.
Or maybe if I'd filled the Army with Archers and immediately gone on the offensive...
Either way, I don't think I can salvage this. Sorry, guys.
I think that this game is definately over. Shame. Two early contacts isn't unmanagable on deity, and our terrain was great. I think our play just wasn't good enough.
I leave tomorrow for Ohio for Christmas, so I can't play in the next attempt anytime soon. I'll be back around the 29th or so, so if you put me at the end of the roster I might not need a skip.
I think we have got to pick a new civ. Agricultural is just required at this level, and an early UU is also required. The Mayans, Sumerians, Celts, and Iroquois are good choices.
I leave tomorrow for Ohio for Christmas, so I can't play in the next attempt anytime soon. I'll be back around the 29th or so, so if you put me at the end of the roster I might not need a skip.
I think we have got to pick a new civ. Agricultural is just required at this level, and an early UU is also required. The Mayans, Sumerians, Celts, and Iroquois are good choices.
Elephantium
Trampling the AI
One thing I noticed was that our capitol is always very small in terms of population. I think you need to keep up the population with more shields to build units - in the 5-7 range. The 1 Archer, 1 Warrior, 5 Spearmen doesn't sound sufficient - especially with 4 cities to defend on turn 60.
We probably shouldn't have built the 5th settler (I can see going to 4 when one has the leader).
We probably shouldn't have built the 5th settler (I can see going to 4 when one has the leader).
Elephantium
Trampling the AI
Good point, Greebley. I also noticed that the economy was set up around supporting the size 5 Leipzig while everything else was merely size 2. That can't be optimal.
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