ND1: Wonderless Terra

[hiob]

i'll do my best....tomorrow

 

[hiob]

sorry for slowing you down again, but i cant play before tuesday....feel free to skip/swap me

 

[ndthsmdy]

Roster [closed]:
1) Farae (MIA)
2) vovan (on deck, maybe)
3) ndthsmdy
4) hiob (skipped/swapped)
5) Jeff1787 (UP)

 

[Jeff1787]

Before turn
Karakorum finishes: Rifleman
Beshbalik finishes: Rifleman
Turfan finishes: Jewish Missionary
Ning-hsia finishes: Rifleman
Old Sarai finishes: Ironclad
Delhi finishes: Rifleman
Susa finishes: Courthouse
Pasargadae grows: 13
Pasargadae's borders expand
Ironclad defeats (10.08/12): French Frigate

Turn 291 (1842 AD)
Karakorum begins: Rifleman
Beshbalik begins: Rifleman
Turfan begins: Jewish Missionary
Ning-hsia begins: Rifleman
Old Sarai begins: Rifleman
Delhi begins: Rifleman
Susa begins: Buddhist Temple
Rifleman defeats (9.80/14): French Musketeer
Karakorum finishes: Rifleman
Cuzco finishes: Hindu Missionary
Calcutta finishes: Rifleman
Bangalore finishes: Granary
Madrid grows: 11
Persepolis grows: 16
Worker loses to: French Catapult (5.00/5)
Rifleman loses to: French Grenadier (5.52/12)

Turn 292 (1844 AD)
Karakorum begins: Rifleman
Cuzco begins: Hindu Missionary
Calcutta begins: Rifleman
Bangalore begins: Rifleman
Cannon defeats (9.60/12): French Grenadier
Rifleman defeats (12.46/14): French Catapult
Tech learned: Military Tradition
Karakorum finishes: Rifleman
Turfan finishes: Jewish Missionary
Machu Picchu finishes: Grenadier
New Sarai finishes: Forge
Bombay grows: 15
Bombay finishes: Bank
Madras finishes: Rifleman
Delhi finishes: Rifleman
Seville grows: 16
Seville finishes: Rifleman
Cordoba finishes: Courthouse
Pasargadae finishes: Rifleman
Rome grows: 9
Lyons's borders expand
Worker loses to: French Catapult (5.00/5)

Turn 293 (1846 AD)
Research begun: Combustion
Karakorum begins: Rifleman
Turfan begins: Jewish Missionary
Machu Picchu begins: Rifleman
New Sarai begins: Rifleman
Bombay begins: Grocer
Madras begins: Rifleman
Delhi begins: Rifleman
Seville begins: Rifleman
Pasargadae begins: Rifleman
Lyons begins: Theatre
Neapolis begins: Theatre
Rifleman defeats (12.46/14): French Catapult
Beshbalik finishes: Rifleman
Ning-hsia finishes: Rifleman
Cuzco finishes: Hindu Missionary
Madras's borders expand
Arbela finishes: Library
Susa finishes: Buddhist Temple
Tarsus finishes: Granary
Rostov's borders expand
Rome's borders expand
Golden Age ends
Rifleman defeats (12.46/14): French Catapult
Rifleman defeats (5.88/14): French Musketeer

Turn 294 (1848 AD)
Beshbalik begins: Rifleman
Ning-hsia begins: Rifleman
Cuzco begins: Hindu Missionary
Arbela begins: Grocer
Susa begins: Theatre
Tarsus begins: Theatre
Ironclad defeats (10.68/12): French Caravel
Karakorum finishes: Rifleman
Old Sarai finishes: Rifleman
Delhi finishes: Rifleman
Bangalore grows: 8
Susa finishes: Theatre
Pasargadae grows: 14
Cumae grows: 2
Worker loses to: French Musketeer (9.00/9)

Turn 295 (1850 AD)
Karakorum begins: Cavalry
Old Sarai begins: Cavalry
Delhi begins: Cavalry
Susa begins: Cavalry
Rifleman promoted: Pinch
Ironclad promoted: Drill II
Rifleman defeats (5.04/14): French Musketeer
Hinduism has spread: Cumae
Cannon loses to: French Grenadier (1.44/12)
Cannon defeats (7.68/12): French Longbowman
Cannon defeats (9.36/12): French Rifleman
Cannon defeats (9.24/12): French Longbowman
Cannon defeats (4.68/12): French Longbowman
Cannon defeats (9.96/12): French Longbowman
Rifleman defeats (14.00/14): French Grenadier
Cannon defeats (9.72/12): French Catapult
Rifleman defeats (13.58/14): French Catapult
Confucianism has spread: Paris
Taoism has spread: Paris
Captured Paris (Napoleon)
Cannon defeats (9.24/12): French Grenadier
Cannon defeats (9.96/12): French Longbowman
Cannon defeats (9.84/12): French Longbowman
Cannon defeats (12.00/12): French Longbowman
Confucianism has spread: Orleans
Taoism has spread: Orleans
Captured Orleans (Napoleon)
Rifleman loses to: French Grenadier (5.88/12)
Rifleman defeats (14.00/14): French Grenadier
Karakorum finishes: Cavalry
Calcutta's borders expand
Persepolis finishes: Bank
Neapolis's borders expand

Turn 296 (1852 AD)
Karakorum begins: Cavalry
Persepolis begins: Cavalry
Rifleman defeats (6.86/14): French Grenadier
Cuzco finishes: Hindu Missionary
Machu Picchu's borders expand
Madras finishes: Rifleman
Bangalore finishes: Rifleman
Barcelona grows: 14
Madrid finishes: Grenadier
Tarsus's borders expand
Persepolis grows: 17
Rostov's borders expand
Pisae grows: 7
Antium grows: 6
Cumae finishes: Theatre

Turn 297 (1854 AD)
Cuzco begins: Hindu Missionary
Madras begins: Cavalry
Bangalore begins: Cavalry
Madrid begins: Cavalry
Cumae begins: Library
Tech learned: Combustion
Turfan finishes: Jewish Missionary
Delhi finishes: Cavalry
Barcelona finishes: Bank
Pisae's borders expand
Rome finishes: Courthouse
Antium finishes: Courthouse

Turn 298 (1856 AD)
Research begun: Biology
Turfan begins: Jewish Missionary
Delhi begins: Cavalry
Barcelona begins: Cavalry
Rome begins: Library
Antium begins: Library
Hinduism has spread: Lyons
Karakorum finishes: Cavalry
Seville finishes: Rifleman
Pasargadae grows: 15
Pasargadae finishes: Rifleman
Rheims grows: 6
Lyons finishes: Theatre
Neapolis finishes: Theatre

Turn 299 (1858 AD)
Karakorum begins: Cavalry
Seville begins: Cavalry
Pasargadae begins: Cavalry
Lyons begins: Library
Neapolis begins: Lighthouse
Hinduism has spread: Seville
Judaism has spread: Pasargadae
Old Sarai finishes: Cavalry
Cuzco finishes: Hindu Missionary
Machu Picchu finishes: Rifleman
Bombay finishes: Grocer
Susa finishes: Cavalry
Persepolis finishes: Cavalry

Turn 300 (1860 AD)
Old Sarai begins: Cavalry
Cuzco begins: Hindu Missionary
Machu Picchu begins: Cavalry
Bombay begins: Cavalry
Susa begins: Cavalry
Persepolis begins: Cavalry

I lost some units, but captured Paris and Orleans. The bad thing is, the French are not defeated. They have at least two cities (Marseilles and capitol). I don't know exactly where the French cities are located... I sent a caravel toward the new world to see if we can find them.

I have a bunch of troops amassed near Russia as shown by the red circles. There are three galleys with troops that can go toward the red arrow. Also, two ironclads are in the area to bombard.

We have several unhappy cities. We are researching biology in 3 turns and have 1288 gold with 31 per turn. We are at 70% research and 10% culture.

Here is the save:

 

[Jeff1787]

Roster [closed]:
1) Farae (MIA)
2) vovan - UP
3) ndthsmdy - on deck
4) hiob
5) Jeff1787 - just finished

 

[ndthsmdy]

Bummer about the French getting away. Maybe they'll trade us Marsailles for peace (hey, I can dream )

Good turns otherwise. It may be that the Incas likelihood of making a push to settle the new world (if they haven't already) is beginning to outweigh their usefulness to us.

 

[ndthsmdy]

Now that we're starting to get close to the end of this game, I've been thinking about starting a new SG. I'm thinking about picking someone like Caesar or Tokugawa (someone whose traits beg warmongering) with the variant being that we have to win by culture. Probably on Prince, because I am now winning comfortably at that level.

I wanted to give you guys a heads up, because I've enjoyed playing with you all and would be glad to have you back again. I'm also amenable to suggestions (i.e., if you have your own idea for an awesome SG that you'd like to play, I'd be willing to play that instead).

I wouldn't start until after this one ends (I'm in another SG atm, and I don't think I could swing 3 at once), but I figure it's not too early to throw it out there

 

[vovan]

Got the save. Will play today most likely, as tomorrow looks to be pretty busy.

Vovan

 

[vovan]

So, this is sort of a long turn. I think it took me something like 3+ hours just to play it, where up till now it has taken about 2 hours to do the playing and the reporting, so here is the turn summary: killed off Russians, Inca, started war against Arabs, took two cities, made more mistakes than you can shake a stick at, like burning several cavalry on the last turn against odds so overwhelming, they didn't even scratch the defender. WTH was I thinking.

(0) 1860AD - As I survey the state of our nation, the first order of business, it seems, is to handle the French. To that end, I contact Napoleon to see what he would be willing to give for peace. Sadly, he won't give me Marseilles. However, he is willing to give up Astronomy and the World map so that we stop hunting him. That's a good enough deal for me. With the updated world map, however, I discover, that it is not only the French that have made a flight to the new world. Indeed, the Arabs have at least one city there also. This bothers me, so I contact Saladin and demand he give me his world map. He compiles (it's good to be strong ), and I find, that he is limited to only one city at the moment, and there is no sight of the Russians in the new world. (The city trading list for the Russians shows that they, indeed, only have three cities in the old world.) Here's the situation in the new world as of 1860AD:

It looks to me like some of the cities are still starving, so I update some of the governor orders accordingly.

As has become the tradition, I contact Huayna. He won't give us any techs any more. Won't trade, nor give 'em up for free! Well, I'll say! If I had any troops in position I'd attack immediately! As it is, I upgrade some of our galleys to transports in preparation for some massive naval transportation of troops to the new world (with a stopover on O-town island). I also upgrade the ironclad near O-town to a Destroyer, for better bombarding action.

Next up is Peter. He has *not* fled to the new world yet, and we must destroy him before he has a chance to do so. So, I contact, get all his 10 gold, and declare war. I kill two of his catapults on the border, and a rifleman guarding his horses. Fortunately, Peter does not yet have military tradition. Either way, his only source of horses is now gone. Not that with his three cities he could create any serious threat to our advance, but we could stand to lose more units than necessary.

(1) 1862AD - Lord McCauley has completed the list of the most powerful civilizations in the world.

Ummm... Surprised?

As soon as I get control again, I realize that I forgot to move the attack stack from Rostov towards Novgorod! Well, at least the other two stacks are moving for Moscow and Yaroslavl' - the two coastal cities - so that's the most important bit. I guess we'll get Novgorod one turn later than humanly possible. Incidentally, the city is protected with one rifleman, three longbows, 1 pike, and 1 catapult.

Also, some of the galleys that Jeff had going towards the east coast of the continent carrying troops. I divert them back, converging on O-town. At the moment, I have 10 attack units scheduled to arrive for the city, plus some destroyers in a few turns. The city is protected with 2 rifles, 1 longbow, 1 Quechua. We should be able to take it no problem.

(2) 1864AD - Wow, we have a lot of workers. Any way, nothing much exciting going... Between turns, we were attacked by their catapults. One of them died, one withdrew. During the turn, killed off one of their stray longbows. And keep moving the troops for their cities. Ironclads are in bombarding position at Yaroslavl'. Land troops are at the gates of Novgorod and Moscow.

(3) 1866AD - After our cannons are done with Moscow, the battered defenders are not much more than target practice for our riflemen. We take the city at the loss of a cannon or two.

The rest of the troops march for Yaroslavl', and the remaining cannons make for Novgorod, because it turns out there were no siege weapons in Rostov, and I am not exactly in the mood for going up against 60% cultural defense bonus.

 

[vovan]

(4) 1868AD - We get Biology. I go for Physics next, as that is the best tech in the Military front (and Huayna already has Economics, so we can't get a free GP off of that). And speaking of Huayna. As our troops in boats approach his city, I figure it is about time to declare war on him. I contact him, but he won't give me any techs or any money! Wow. If there ever was a reason to declare war on a puny nation like him, this here is perfect. So, I move my destroyer to O-town and see that... Destroyer can't bombard! Err... Umm... Huh? Oh, right, we have open borders, and I forgot to actually declare war, I was so mad at Huayna. Any way, war is declared, bombardment commences, and a transport moves into position for a naval invasion of the last city of the Inca.

(5) 1870AD - We bomb Yaroslavl' into the ground and take it over at the loss of one Rifleman.

We almost ran out of firepower here, because I was making yet more mistakes. I started bombarding the city with cannons instead of ironclads (cannons can be used to also attack, ironclads cannot). Also, I only then realized that many of the cannons here were taken straight from the siege of Moscow and were badly injured... And so were some rifles... So you see, I had to do most combat with badly wounded cannons. Well, it all worked out in the end. But man, I am making too many mistakes here! Any way, on with the show.

Next I attacked Novgorod, the last Russian city. It falls at the loss of one Rifleman (because made yet anther mistake and attacked before using all the cannons I had ), and with it, the Russian 'empire'. Now, it's just us, Huayna with O-town, Napoleon with two cities in the new world, and Saladin, with one city in the new world, and a whole bunch right in our grasp.

(6) 1872AD - Let us have a moment of silence for our ol' buddy Huayna Capac...

He was a good practice for our swords in the times of old. He was a good slave nation in the centuries since, providing us with free maps, bargain deal techs, and monetary support. Lately, however, he has grown insolent, and for that we had to put him down like a rabid dog. O-town is ours, and with that comes to an end a third war in the past 6 turns. The only enemy in the old world now is Saladin.

 

[vovan]

And speaking of Saladin... Mate, it is with much regret that I must inform you that your pleased attitude towards us, and your willingness to spare all your money and share the world map with us will not help you. The whole world must be united under the rule of a single leader, and that leader, unfortunately, isn't you.

Here is the situation with Saladin:

I haven't been sitting idly, y'see, while finishing off the Russians. I was massing troops in Tarsus and Arbela for a three-headed attack on Arabia. Damascus is very poorly protected, and I hope to take it within a few turns. To that end, I dispatched cavalry from Tarsus. with rifle reinforcements trailing. From Arbela and Susa, significant amounts of troops converge on Baghdad, which is well protected. Finally, from Moscow and Novgorod, troops from the Russian front converge on Medina. You see, their cultural borders have not had a chance to expand yet, to fill the void up to Moscow. That's why I wanted to attack now - because I can start the siege of Medina the next turn, since the cultural borders are still only one tile thick. I believe next turn they will expand and reinforcements will have to spend more significant amounts of time trekking towards the enemy cities.

Well, my troops are at the gates of Baghdad and Medina, and will arrive to Damascus next turn. That's about all I can do now. Time to hit the turn button and see what Saladin got in terms of spare troops. (BTW, the good news is, as you can see, he has no railroads in place.

(7) 1874AD - Oh look, Mongolian empire now holds Fifty Million Souls!

Well, right, and it also lost a whole bunch of souls between turns. OK, so they battered one of the two stacks at Medina pretty bad. We killed off five of their catapults here and a rifleman. In addition to collateral damage, they took out two of our riflemen and two cavalry. Thank god I brought two stacks!

Oh and there is an Arabian stack of 2 rifles, 3 crossbows, 3 catapults, 1 pike, 1 camel archer - all headed for Tarsus, which is only ATM defended by two rifles. Maybe I should put more forces in there, you think? We shall see.

First, I decide to do the obvious thing and take Baghdad, to see how that will affect the cultural borders. I'll say: it's not easy taking a city with 60% cultural bonus behind walls without siege weapons (yup, all cannons are out east, none of the fancy things here). However, I our boys do a marvelous job (and get pretty lucky, too) and we take the city at the loss of only two cavalry.

After Baghdad falls, I move a bunch of reinforcements, bombard Medina's defenses to nothing, move a bunch of workers, and kill off a bunch of marauding camel archers that entered our territory last turn. I pretty much do everything, until there is nothing else to do but decide what to do with Saladin's stack of doom. Shall I divert my attack on Damascus to deal with that threat, or do I try to take Damascus, and hope the stack of doom will turn away from Tarsus? After much deliberation, I decide that we will be able to take some cities down south any way, so why bother with Damascus? I decide to play it safe and return my attack forces back into Tarsus for defense.

Well, one reason I really wanted to take Damascus fast was because it would open the way to Najran, their only port city. But then, they already got away to the new world, and my destroyers are about to arrive to Najran to deter any further attempts of emigration, so whatever... Destroyers arrive to Najran none too soon. We notice a galleon in it's port, complete with settler and escort on board. Bombardment of the city commences. They won't get away again.

(8) 1876AD - Well, Saladin, I do believe we have somewhat superior forces here. I take Medina, and, to add insult to injury, do it with nothing more than my cannons (and I lose only two, which I would have done any way to weaken down the defenders):

(9) 1878AD - Meh... The workers are driving me insane. We just have so friggin' many of them. I automate, with leave old improvements. Also, a great prophet is born in Delhi. By variant rules, we can't use him to construct any holy buildings (not to mention, I think we already have them all). And he won't give us any tech, as there are no religious techs left. So... We can either use him as a super-priest, or wait for another GP to pop up. I think it probably doesn't matter at this point in the game, so I save him up for a golden age. Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Mopping up Saladin's stray troops, moving troops towards Mecca and St. Petersburg.

(10) 1880AD - Troops are in position at Mecca and some at St. Petersburg. Also, I waste like three or four cavalry on a stupid attack. Meh.

Any way, Mecca should be ours within a few turns, and also St. Petersburg. After that, you only have Damascus and Najran in the old world. These are also pretty well defended, but with troops assembling around them from the western front at Mecca and the southern front at St. Petersburg, you should have no problems taking them.

After that, it's off to the new world. To that end, I have started building up a little bit of a fleet at our original starting location. Ning and the Sarais all have some transports and some destroyers. Check 'em out, load 'em with troops and you are ready to kick some more ass overseas.

Also, you should get Physics first turn.

Also, don't forget about the great prophet.

Also, don't forget to unautomate workers if you like pain.

Also, I altered a lot of governor's orders, so you might want to look into it.

That's about it I think.

 

[vovan]

Roster [closed]:
1) Farae (MIA)
2) vovan - just finished
3) ndthsmdy - UP
4) hiob - on deck (?)
5) Jeff1787

Enjoy!

Vovan

 

[ndthsmdy]

Got it.....

 

[ndthsmdy]

I've played 5, but now I need to go get started on my New Year's Eve revelry

The old world will definitely be done in 5, and the new world may be done as early as 7-8. If that best case scenario works out, I'll probably just keep it to spare us a transition for what will amount to strictly mopup duty. If it looks like it will take more than that though, I'll hand it off to hiob or Jeff to finish it off.

 

[Jeff1787]

Good job guys!! and Happy New year......

 

[ndthsmdy]

(0) 1880 AD: Well, we can only go so fast in Arabia, and reinforcements aren't going to make that much of a difference, so I don't see any reason not to start sending units to the new world. A Destroyer-Transport pair is dispatched from Ning for Lyons.

(1) 1882 AD:

And you thought we wouldn't get another GP soon Unfortunately, since we already did a GP Golden Age, we actually need three this time. The next one is due in about 12 turns in K and will likely be a Merchant, so I hang onto the two we have just in case.

Artillery started. We have 4 Uraniums, including at Delhi (what *doesn't* that city have?).

I never thought I'd say this again after our Cannon-fueled Roman conquest, but we really need more Cannons. We have plenty of Cavs and Rifles up by Mecca and St. Pete, but few collateral causers.

(2) 1884 AD: Mass Cannons ordered, attempting to rail as much as possible to speed up the process. I think I'm also going to raze the rest of Arabia, so we can keep building rails up to their borders. St. Pete gets attacked next turn.

(3) 1886 AD: A second Transport is dispatched from Ning. The first one arrives next turn, so I dial up the little Napoleon man and tell him we're at war again.

St. Pete is razed with the loss of a Cannon and Rifle. Mecca has been whittled down to 16% defense.

(4) 1888 AD: Okay, seriously, why have those three Cats in Mecca if you're not going to Cat us?

Well, too late now. Mecca is razed with the loss of a Rifle. The Mecca force starts toward Damascus, the St. Pete force toward Najran.

We land near Lyons. It is protected by 2 Rifles. Hmm. We'll need some good rolls to take it with our Cav, Rifle, and 2 Cannons.

(5) 1890 AD: Up culture 20%, gold 10%. Science isn't that big a deal right now. Still get Artillery in 6.

At the gates of Damascus, we have a City Raider 2, Shock, and Combat 2 Rifle. He gets 34% odds attacking Damascus without any help from Cannons (which just arrived this turn). I decide to send him in, renaming him "Big Bob" for the occasion. Go for the glory, Big Bob!

He barely touched him. Oh well.

I bombard Lyons. Damascus falls next turn. Najran falls in 2.

(6) 1892 AD: We lose 2 Cannons, 1 Rifle, and 1 Cav at Damascus, but still take the city. Burn baby burn. Najran is the only old world city left.

I also went for it at Lyons--one Cannon withdraws, the other dies, but they don't even touch the City Garrison II Rifle on top. I'll wait.

The second expeditionary force arrives at Marsailles, defended by a Rifle and a Longbow. 2 more Transports are sent out from Ning, and 1 from Paris, to take the Arabs' last city.

(7) 1894 AD:

Oh Napoleon. You and your fierce Galleons will be the death of us.

Let's pause here to examine the last non-Mongolian city on the continent. It is a frigid wasteland, much like the rest of the continent before we civilized it. The fulfillment of our Manifest Destiny is at hand.

No losses, a Rifle takes out the last defender...

Welcome to Mongolia.

 

[ndthsmdy]

(8) 1896 AD: Just one more turn till we land reinforcements at Lyons and Marsailles.

We also just landed at Saladin's last city, which is stellarly defended with a single Longbow.

All units on the homeland are fortified. I've also been turning cities with builds that came in to Wealth and Research, which has cut a turn off Artillery.

(9) 1898 AD: Landing at Lyons and Marsailles, attack next turn.

And let's give a hand to the third-longest civ, Arabia. Heck of an effort, boys.

(10) 1900 AD: Artillery>Rocketry. Who cares.

LYONS: That City Garrison II Rifle is now a City Garrison III. The first Cannon I send in doesn't scratch him AGAIN, and I think about upgrading our remaining Cannons to Artillery and trying again next turn. I decide to send one more in though, and we finally make a dent in him.

After that, it's easy.

MARSAILLES: Napoleon has refused to talk to me this whole time, so I'm going to be pissed if this isn't his last city. Anyway, no losses, a Cav deals the final blow.

Yep, it was.

Fortify everything, save it, hit Enter. We win by Conquest in 1902 AD [insert disappeared screenshot here]

 

[ndthsmdy]

Time Spent: 32 hours, 49 mins
Score: 21,733
Leader: AUGUSTUS

I learned a couple interesting things from watching the playback:

1) We were the first to found our second city, and it was perfectly placed to block the Incas. We were also quick with our third which was perfectly placed to block the Indians. We really pulled the outside-in settlement off beautifully.

2) We definitely could have gone to war with the Incas earlier. But they didn't build their shrine until a few turns before we declared, so maybe that worked out for the best

3) Napoleon settled Lyons in 1800 AD, while we were kicking around the Persians. So we couldn't have stopped him from getting off the continent no matter what we did.

I also learned that we only built 6 cities the whole game. Now that's some strict warmongering

Once again I had a great time playing with you guys and I'd be glad to have you back for my next one. This game could have been a lot harder if we had razed shrine cities, but we did a good job taking control and ripping through everyone. I had a blast.

Here's the save from 1900 (just download it, open it, press Enter, and you can enter this game in your HOF).

 

[vovan]

Good stuff! We almost made it before the turn of the century.

I had lots of fun playing this game, too, guys. It was great, and I would definitely be up for another one.

Vovan