Nerds in Space

[mlinneak]

I'd be fine with stopping the war for now. It was a good idea to deny him of oil completely but perhaps not practical on a Archipelago map.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

We'll run away, build a house, and we'll play
In the yard with our black lab and our two persian cats
I'll make you eggs and you'll tell me I'm great
And you will love me for my Shatner impression (Heather Graham)
And you will love me for my shiny complexion (Heather Graham)
And you will love me for my Star Wars collection (Heather Graham)
You will love me

Heather Graham by Davinci's Notebook
Album: Brontosaurus

Okay, this will be a simple report as I need to get to bed. First up, I checked the tech situation. We're still at parity for space. We're up biology and Joao's only important tech is radio.



Next, I see what a dent we've made in Zara's power.



Ah. That'd be a net-net of none. Okay, well on to the game...


Nothing happens on the inherited turn except what would be the only thing to happen on any between turn: Blimps attack ships. That's it. Every single turn.

Turn 441 1851

Unload troops next to Addis Ababa (size 16, good land tiles)
We get Plato, great scientist (Plato the scientist?)
I take Debre Tabor with a single infantry attacking amphibiously at 34% odds. Nice. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the city was size 1.



Turn 442

Industrialism in (FORgot screenie, sorry) -> Fission, due in 11
Deal canceled crab + cow to Suryavanman for wine and 12GPT (forgot to renegotiate)
Because Industrialism obsoletes ivory, Baghdad can't continue building the war elephant it's been working on since 1236 BC. Take the gold and switch to theater.
Also draft an infantry in Baghdad because it was undefended
Absurd cannon -> bank
Sitting bull starts a golden age
Take Addis Adaba (four rifles) losing 3 cannons




Turn 443

Mecca infantry -> customs house
Take Qohaito, a stupid frickin size 14 one tile island with four CG (two were CG2) rifles, losing one infantry and three rifles



Qohaito begins a bank.

Turn 444

Medina infantry -> forge
Najran forum -> customs house

Turn 445

Rome destroyer -> factory
Kufah cannon -> bank
Mar Sarah lighthouse -> granary

Turn 446

Cumae harbor -> library

Turn 447

one of our oils turns sour



Yamama courthouse -> lighthouse
Hoth Base cannon -> university
Suryavarman's golden age begins

Take Yeha (another 4 rifles, 2 with CG) losing three cannons (one bad dice roll makes up for earlier 36% win)



Yeha's got a lot of good buildings, was size 14, and has a lot of land. I start it on a library

Turn 448

Ridikulus forum -> customs house
Qin builds the pentagon


* * *

As previously mention, I stopped here for discussion. I can play the remaining two turns or Whosit can. Either way, I wanted to provide context for discussion.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

some extra images I took:

Machine guns in one tile islands are impossible to take with gunpowder units lacking amphibious promotion




Tried to get Zara to give *something*. He rejected all three attempts







Here's teh path



The red circles are cities I took this set. Keep in mind the skewed map. There's a lot more distance to cover than it looks. For instance, here's a transport on pretend go-to from the most recent city I took.



THat's if we took the direct path that goes one tile away from his capital, where all that power graph probably lives.

 

[Whosit]

Well, Zara still doesn't have Combustion, so he won't have any modern warships. Transports can defend just fine against Galleons and Caravels.

Anyway, a good, if bloody, set. Actually, I guess you're not quite done yet, since you haven't posted the save. Heh.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

save's in post #382.

 

[Whosit]

save's in post #382.

OK, so I read it too fast.

It's not a big deal to me if you finish up the next two turns or not. Only question: If we take peace, can we really hold onto the cities that we've taken without being completely swallowed by Zara's culture? We might have to gift them back.

 

[arkenstone]

so i saw that you guys where sorta looking for peace i went onto the save and found out hi whigh he would go anf this was the result

this was how high he would go for peace. by the way he was at 660 gold and 11 per turn.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

Well, I'll finish my set then. I think I'll hold off on peace and start a caravan up to other oil. Group can decide what to do after.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

okay finished my set. quick additions to the previous report:

traded oil to Qin for wine and 7 GPT
traded coal to Joao for hit singles
traded coal to Boudica for 5 GPT

The Joao trade is poor, but we needed the happy. And all Joao wanted was coal. I don't care if Qin has oil or if Boudica has coal. We should cancel after peace and emancipation.

I put five infantry, two rifles, and a cannon on two transports in a convoy with two more destroyers. One is injured because I took out an ironclad and a frigate with it. They are 3 turns away. That's 4 before we can take out his city. Though maybe unload on top of oil? Can't remember if he's got a worker on the oil or if he's got a well.

I have three more destroyers hovering around Zara's capital taking out ironclads and frigates ever turn.

Zara has combustion, but I've seen no diesel navy...yet.


We have aluminum. One. The metal is sparse and Boudy got two. Qin and Joao each have one. That's as many as I could see.

 

[Whosit]

We have aluminum. One. The metal is sparse and Boudy got two. Qin and Joao each have one. That's as many as I could see.

Sounds good. Hopefully Joao's Aluminum is close enough to take. That would be nice. Boudica is kind of weak, right? We could probably take her resources, as well. Anyway, I'll play tomorrow.

 

[Whosit]

Inherited Turn 450, 1860 AD

Tons and tons of unhappiness. We don't have a GA in the works, do we? I'll just hard revolt to Emancipation as soon as we are able to. Maybe even next turn. Well, most of our cities are doing OK on the happy front, so perhaps it can wait a few turns. . . We'll see.

This is sluggish on my jalopy of a computer, so it might take me a few sessions to get through it.

Run through the cities quickly. Change a few specialists about, but otherwise I leave things alone.

-End Turn-

Turn 451, 1861 AD

Machiaveli lists the greatest cultures in the world (why culture?):

We're number 6. Zara, surprisingly, is beneath us, while Joao, Hatshepsut, and Suryavarman take the top slots.

Factory completes in Rome and it starts Starving. What to build next? Public Transportation, though a Jail would be very nice to have, as well.

Massawa: Library > Granary

Zara has a retiring naval captain who improves the drydock in Debre Berhan. Lucky us.

I see. We have a Great Scientist. But it would be a waste to pop him for a Golden Age. We're getting something from Mecca in 12 turns, so maybe we can wait . . . . Perhaps we can take him somewhere to build an Academy?

I use our Destroyers to blockade some of Zara's cities, although I don't think that they can cut off all routes. Our attack fleet will reach Zara's far-out cities next turn, and I WILL blockade them to make sure no Oil gets out.

-End Turn-

Turn 452, 1862 AD

OK, Kubar had just one Rifleman defending it. Even after stripping away its defenses, our best Infantry only gets 75% odds by attacking from the sea, so I land him with another for backup. They should take the city next turn, and the rest of the fleet can head for Tokonda, mainly because it can get Oil in its 3rd ring.

Zara does have an oil rig up by Kubar, so I'm blockading the port.

Fission in next turn. I'm not even sure what our tech path is. o_O

-End Turn-

Turn 453, 1863 AD

Our two destroyers in Zara's waters get taken out by Ethiopian Destroyers. I guess he got some Oil after all. Sorry, didn't realize that he had them. I'm surprised that we lost both, though.

I capture Kubar and keep it, only because it will control another source of Oil. Otherwise, it is totally worthless.

We could always gift it to Hatty if we decide we don't want it, I think.

Tokondo is better defended: 3 Riflemen and a Cavalry. It's also on hills. Might be tougher to crack, but I'll take it since it already has the oil in its culture (Zara still needs plastics to utlize it, though).

I also picked Refrigeration, but we can talk about that. It'll give us faster ships, and Supermarkets (+1 food, +1 health from cow, sheep, pig--we have all three). Seems somewhat reasonable.

I'll try to finish my set tomorrow.

 

[Whosit]

Brief update. I'll have the rest of my set tomorrow. Considering that 6 turns on my machine took 3 hours, I'm either going to have to play much shorter chunks, or only play on weekends or something. It's kind of "ridikulus."

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

Go ahead and play a short set. I'd rather you enjoyed the game than resented it.

 

[arkenstone]

only one suggestion whosit is this

send in thise 2 marines and suquash him into the ground

 

[Whosit]

send in thise 2 marines and suquash him into the ground

Already did that. Here's the report and as far as I got. Got through almost 10 turns, and ended the war. We may have to give up whatsit city, because it's completely surrounded by Zara's culture. Actually, you probably should have razed it, Rex, when it became clear that the 1-tile island was impregnable. Our other option, of course, is to build Marines for the next 10 turns and attack again.

On today's installment of "Whosit does stuff":

End of Turn 453, 1863 AD

I load up a Marine and Infantry from Mecca to take the one-tile island city of Tegulat. It's actually very nice, with 2 clams, a grassland hill and two grassland forests (on other islets, of course) available.

-End Turn-

Turn 454, 1864 AD

Much as I like his background music, I hate Joao because he is so demanding. Like this demand that we give him Industrialism. No way, pal.

Meanwhile Zara attacked our little stack with his Cavalry, but it was easily defeated by our Infantry. Well, it hurt a bit, but we killed it. Zara also bombed us with airships, as usual . . . .

Unfortunately, even after bombarding Tokonda, the best odds we can get are in the 75% range. I give it a shot. Oh, wait, we brought a Cannon along for a reason. Hee hee.

The cannon dies, but it did its work. The top defender was pretty badly hurt, almost dead, but it didn't do a ton of Collateral Damage, but enough to help: 89% odds.



Infantry vs. Rifleman (89%): We win.
CRIII Rifleman vs. Rifleman (96%): We win.
CRII Rifleman vs. nearly-dead Rifleman: We win.

I think everything but the top defender was not as well-promoted for defending. Tokanda is ours, but it's pretty sub-par: No food resources. We might give it away, or if possible, release these outlying cities as colonies?

With the proper promotions, our Marine can take Tegulat easily.



FLAWLESS VICTORY.

The city is ours. And we get a Great General, to boot. All the way back in Rome.

Zara still won't capitulate, so I might just take peace and all of his cash. I don't think that we have a prayer of holding onto Yeha without taking out Matara, but I recall . . . yeah, 1 Machine gun and 3 Riflemen defending it (and 3 airships). Well, we will have a couple of Marines in a few more turns (the one that just fought, plus another in production), so perhaps I can grab the city and ease up pressure there. The biggest threat, of course, is that Zara has some destroyers on the prowl, and we now lack escorts for the region. I'll fight on a little longer and see what I can do.

I may run some cash to upgrade another Frigate or two to a Destroyer (very costly) or probably just some of the Riflemen in Yeha into Infantry to help take Matara. After that city is taken, I'll call it quits whether Zara gives up or not.

I send a fast Transport on GoTo to Rome to pick up our Great People.

-End Turn-

Turn 455, 1865 AD

Medina: Forge > Jail (deal with War Weariness)
Hawulti: Library > Granary

Qin builds Versailles, and Sury gets a Great Scientist.

Not much else happens this turn.

-End Turn-

Turn 456, 1866 AD

Zara's Destroyers come out from hiding. (Finally looking back at the combat logs, Zara got some lucky rolls.)

Mecca: Marine > Battleship
Baghdad: Theatre > Jail
Yamama: Lighthouse > Harbor

I spend all of our cash to upgrade our Frigate in Addis Ababa to a Destroyer. I think we'll need it to cover our transports.

Marines are in transit. Here's hoping for the best.

-End Turn-

Turn 457, 1867 AD

Rome: Public Transportation > Jail

Joao builds the Eiffle Tower. Figures. Kubar is out of resistance, and I notice Zara had a Worker there I didn't spot before. I capture it.

Scouting indicates that Matara's defenses have been upgraded to Infantry. Might not be able to take it after all, but I'll still try.

-End Turn-

Turn 458, 1868 AD

Fustat: Library > Granary

Oh, hey, and Zara's other Destroy attacked our Destroyer/Transport group. And we won! It was a completely coin-flip battle. Heh heh.

Packed up the Scientist and General. Scientist will go to Mecca for an Academy (it's our second highest beaker town). General, dunno.

-End Turn-

Turn 459, 1869 AD

Zara continues to rip up our fishing boats, but I notice that one was destroyed by a Submarine. He's got Radio, so of course. We should be careful.

Now, can I take Matara??

Nope. Even after smacking down the defenses, it's still a 17% shot. I don't have nearly enough Marines for this, even with Infantry support from Yeha.

Unfortunately for us, Zara has spent most of his gold now. We only get 220 plus 12 gold per turns. Oh, and our units are trapped in Yeha now . . . .

Not sure where Zara got the sub from. Is he getting Oil from an ally?

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

Yeah, sorry. I only really realized how utterly impregnable the one city was AFTER I took the other.

Roster:

• Bindamel -- Up
• Ozbenno -- OOP
• mlinneak
• Rex
• Whosit -- Just played

 

[mlinneak]

On today's installment of "Whosit does stuff":

I loved this line. Absolutely loved it. I don't know why, but it struck me as entirely amusing and I laughed for a long long time.

Much as I like his background music, I hate Joao because he is so demanding. Like this demand that we give him Industrialism. No way, pal.

I like his music too I'm also fond of the Celts' music. Those two are my favorites of all the leaders in the game.

EDIT:

Oh! And I probably should have added - Nice set, great job!

 

[Whosit]

I like his music too I'm also fond of the Celts' music. Those two are my favorites of all the leaders in the game.

Interesting note: While I was playing the set, my comp kind of . . . froze a bit between turns while Boudica's trade screen was trying to load, so I got her music on loop for a while. I actually heard a lot more than I usually do, which was kind of nice. Though after the fifth loop, I turned my volume off.

My suggestions: Build a navy, including Battleships. Make sure any city building ships has a Drydock for both the extra XP and the +50% build speed. Battleships should be built out of cities with the most hammers, Destroyers elsewhere. Because the enemy (Joao) will have Submarines, we need at least one Destroyer with each stack to spot them, and we need naval dominance for certainty.

Otherwise, build Marines and Tanks. Those should get the job done. Gift back to Zara the town we can never hope to keep. Consider gifting (or releasing as vassals) the cities way out in nowhere that suck. Or keep them because they can each control an oil source.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

Wait, there's music behind the cleavage?

Bindy...? You're up, so...yeah.

 

[Bindamel]

Hmm, I'm up! I really need to check in more often. At this point are we in a position to make the space run, or is there more fighting to do?

I'll probably be able to play it tonight, so check in if you have an opinion!