Osman the Monarch

Wooooooooohoooo!
Beat the Vikings!
:spam:
We want Viking to hurt clamoring at our door for mercy!
 
1020 AD – Egyptians complete Copernicus. Damn!

1040 AD – I was stupid and allowed the Byzantines to settle next to my only source of spices. I guess that seals it. As soon as I’m within 1-2 turns of Military Tradition, I’m going after them with a vengeance. I’ll build up for a dozen of turns or so, and prepare for a mass upgrade.

In the interim, I’ve traded Education to Mursilis in return for Spices.

Tada! While looking around I see a Spanish Galley. I trade Isabella my world map for hers, and now I can see the other continent.

gdekwm1040ad.JPG


It looks as though I may be the largest Civ. The Spanish are at least 3 techs ahead, so we’ll see how quickly I can catch up. I have a feeling that they are closer to 6 ahead.

1090 AD – It looks like the Spanish traded around contact with me. Trading ensues.

Horses and Furs to Egypt for Printing Press 200 gold and 3 gold per turn and contact with the Chinese.
I’m going to wait a turn to trade with the Spanish.
Chinese don’t have anything worthwhile.
Gems & 335 gold to the Byzantines (who made contact with the other continent at some point) for Music Theory.
World Map to Inca for contacts with the Romans.

Quick check shows I’m rated strong militarily against everyone. Looks like it’s time to war monger.

1110 AD – Looks as though Spain and the Inca are going at it. I’ve just discovered Metalurgy, so I trade that to the Inca for Banking, 3 gold and their TM. Now that I have Metallurgy, no more AC… we’ll see how long the 13 I have left last.

1160 AD – Preparing for War

Ivory to Isabella for 525 gold. I’m going to need cash in order to upgrade my Knights.

gdek1160adwarnorth.JPG


In the top left of the above pic is Brusa. I need to take it in my first strike, so I can secure saltpetre. Everything else feeds from this attack. I’ve got 5 AC set up there to try and take it. It has a pike and a spear as defense. I’m going to have to bolster my attack force. Army Group 1 will head south to Trebizond while Army Group 2 will head northwest to Sardica. Once Sardica is secured, AG2 will join AG1 on it’s trek south.

I’ve got 5 knights ready to be upgraded, and I’m setting up production so that I should have 4-6 more produced within 1-2 turns of the start of the war.

gdek1160adwarsouth.JPG


The secondary goal is in the bottom left of the pic above; Prilep. That will allow me to re-secure my source of spices. Iconium is to the bottom, which will ensure I secure another source of horses. Finally, Dyracchium will clear the Byzantines from the southern reaches of the continent. Any forces remaining will join the main push.

I’ve got my AC and Crusaders down here, along with some MI.

Plan should be a go for 1200 AD at the latest.

1200 AD – Slight change of plan. I’m no longer confident of my ability to make a successful first strike. I’m going to use settler creep to snatch that one saltpetre and upgrade my forces prior to first strike. It’ll likely put off the attack 5 turns or so.
 
Good story man :)

Few quick question, whats your opinion on artillery? do you have any?? I can't remember reading anywhere about them, and they could allow you to move immiediately against the Byzantines(spelling??) rather than wait for saltpetre.

Whats the Byzantine culture like compared to yours? I remember you saying they got TGL so it'll probably be more but you might be able to simply rush a culture improvement in Instabul to grab the saltpetre.

Good luck :goobjob:
 
Nice update. I wonder, though, why you didnt secure the spices and horses earlier? I usually jump at every resource. For instance, my neighboring Sumerians (current game), due to ym agressive expansion, had no iron, saltpeter, or horses before I destroyed them.

:goodjob: with the story.
 
nice update man. In my past ottoman game i upgarded 30 horsmen to siphai, since i had leo's they only cots about 105 gp. I find the 100 shield siphai too expensive, better to upgrade 30 sheild horsemen don't you agree?
 
Wow, awsome story, and what makes it even better (for me, atleast) is that I'm trying to make that exact same jump :D

So, good luck! :goodjob:
 
Quick answers =)

@StevieJay - Thanks for the kind words. It was your Spanish stories in part that inspired me to do this. =)

As to arty, I love it. Basically, I've been a little lazy, and I initially thought that I was going to have to make a run deep into Hittite territory to secure the saltpetre. I figured a couple dozen knights working alone would make quicker work of it than trailing around with fire support.

Byzantine culture is pretty good... not at home right now, so I don't recall 100% what it's at. Anyway, Istanbul was to far away physically to absorb the saltpetre, and was 200 or so turns away from it's next culture growth. So, even if I dropped in every culture building I could build at the time, there wasn't really any way that I could extend Istanbul's culture far enough to take in that saltpetre. I did come up with another plan, which is in the last update above.

@rbis4rbb - laziness is pretty much the answer. I had a colony on the spices, and thought that I had enough troops near it to discourage settling, but the Byzantines kept creeping in. I wasn't too concerned about the horses, as I have 2 other sources, as do the Byzantines, so denying them that source wasn't going to really do much. But it all boils down to my fingers in too many pies, and I dropped the ball. =)

@El loco - I would say that I play the Ottomans about 75% of the time, so I don't usually notice that Siphai are that expensive. By the time I'm actually buidling them, I'm in a golden age triggered by an upgraded Siphai, so the production bonus balances out. However, I agree that upgrading is a good way to go. I had a half dozen knights sitting around waiting to be upgraded for my attack.

@Flintlock - Thanks for the kind words! I haven't found the jump to Monarch too trying as of yet. Of course, I've still got to finish securing my continent, then go stomp on the other. =)
 
dude you shoudn´t play with one civ 75% of the time. It makes the game monotonos and ur missing all the exictment of playing with various civs. By using many civs, the game becomes much more fun. Anyway, really enjoy ur story, keep it up.
 
I get what you're saying El Loco. I only play Civ about 3-4 times a year, as I'm really busy otherwise, so I haven't really suffered only playing the Ottomans. If I ever end up in a situation where I have more time to play, I'll try out other Civs.

gdek
 
1240 AD – Ready to use settler creep to get the saltpetre. We’ll do a quick upgrade, then strike within 2 turns.

1250 AD – A little bit of trading going on. Economics to the Egyptians for Physics and 32 gpt.
Econ, 26 gpt and 500 gold to the Spanish for Theory of Gravity. Asked the Byzantines to get out of my territory, and unfortunately they did so. It may be time to get aggressive and go after them.

1255 AD – Attack! At the risk of ruining my rep, I declared war on the Byzantines. I could not get them to declare on me, and I think getting my golden age going is important.

Brusa fell fairly easily. I overwhelmed them with a large number of AC, with very few losses. Reinforced with the pike’s I had ready for that purpose. The remaining AC and some swords attached the 3 swords and 1 archer that were sitting to the west of the iron deposit. I’ve had to leave a number of Byzantines outside Brusa for now (1 musket, 2 pikes, and 1 spear). They can’t really attack, so they should be fine for now.

Dyrrachium had 2 muskets and 1 spearman. It was a tougher nut to crack; and we lost 2 AC in the process. However they did fall. There’s 1 musket and 3 pikes sitting near it, but I just don’t have the troops to take them out

Prilep and Iconium should fall next turn. That’s it for the southern campaign.

Trebizond was a tough nut as well, but the force of a knight army (that ended up redlined) plus 2 siphai were able to clear the four musketmen in city. The first Siphai victory triggered the golden age.

Now to plan for the counter attack.

1260 AD – Counter attack was non-existant. Prilep and Iconium both fell easily, as did Sardica.

Now I’m a little concerned. I’ve got 10 Siphai and another 6 in production. Looking at the Byzantine cities, I’m not sure how far I can push into their territory. With the Hittites to the north, I’m not so sure I want to extend myself too far. Granted I’m in a Golden Age, so production is increased, hopefully I’ll be able to push that right through to Steam Power. We’ll see how the next couple of attacks go. I’ve got no arty support, but hopefully the two armies will make up for it.

1270 AD – Still making forward progress. Smyrna has fallen, and we’re going to head towards Chalcedon next. We need to take at least that and Nicea before we can think about declaring peace. We’ve got a strong force over Theodora, and they just went into Anarchy. So long as we can hold our gains, which I think we should be able to do, then we can keep pushing them backwards.
 
@Gdek: Regarding your sig - Didn't Mr. T say "Stay in milk, don't do school, get at least eight hours of drugs, drink sleep." or something like that(I know it was get 8 hours of drugs, and I'm pretty sure about the don't do school)?
 
Had the opportunity to play some last night... interesting developments to say the least.

Can anyone point me to an article or explain exactly how mobilization works, and the associated pros and cons? :mischief:

Hope to update tonight when I get home.

Gdek
 
Mobilization: lasts until peace is declared.

Cannot make anything other than units and military base buildings (civil defense, walls, barracks, etc.).

Cities building ground based units with an attack and defense number (no workers/settlers) generate one extra shield for each square being worked by the cities population. Example: Size 10 city with everyone working has base shield production of 20 shields goes into war mobilization. Production in that city jumps to 30 shields - provided the unit being built is a ground unit (rifleman, infantry, cavalry, tank, etc...) Does not apply to boats, planes, barracks, settlers, or wonders - small or large.

Also, when you go into war mobilization, any building you are making that is not allowed to be built in mobilization is immediately stopped and changed over to something else applicable (unit or allowed building if not built as of yet).

Serious unit making, especially in larger cities; however you are hamstringed from making culture buildings, temples, markeplaces, aquaducts, etc... so unless you are in a rapid war of genocide with your assailant or are trying to achieve a productivity parity and need a wad of units in the field, mobilization makes it difficult to hold onto cities if trying to crush a culture giant.

I've used it some times and other times haven't. Generally I'll let it run some 15-20 turns to ramp up my military and give my smashing power that extra needed hit of gluttoned units. On emperor when the AI is getting units at a discount, it's sometimes the only way to even the playing field when going toe to toe with their forces.

Keep writing and let us know how the mobilization works.

V
 
thats nice to know. A little tip, don't mobilize unless u absolutely must. I think mobilization halves ur culture per turn.
 
1275 AD – This turn spent reorganizing troops. Lost a few Siphai to a marauding Byzantine knight. The first Knight army attacked Nicaea, killing one musketeer.

gdek1270ad.JPG


The goal will be to take the four circled cities. This will take the source of horses away from the Byzantines. If we take Varna as well, then they’ll lose a source of iron as well. We’ll see how those four cities go, then determine if we can take Varna as well.

1280 AD – Lots going on this turn. Osman’s scientists discover Magnetism, and I draw Steam Power as my free tech. Unfortunately, there are only two sources of coal on this continent. One deep to the north in Babylonian territory. The second is towards the middle of the continent in Hittite territory. I guess as soon as I take the four or five cities from Theodora, we’ll be going after Mursilis next.

Nicea falls to the First Knight Army. Another attack group moves into range of Chalcedon.

1290 AD – Chalcedon and Heraclea have both fallen. However, the Byzantines now seem to have Cavalry. I’ll need to get rid of their horse supplies as soon as possible. I’ve taken out nearly all of their forces in Adrianople. We’ll see how the counter attack goes.

1300 AD – Varna has fallen. Of course, so have the Inca, to the Chinese. That’s going to thin things out a little on the other continent. Traded Steam Power to the Egyptians for Democracy. Fortunately, as a result they have spare coal. I trade them iron for coal.

The long term plan is to prop up some other Civs on the other continent in order to keep the Spanish from running away, which seems to be what they are doing.

1305 AD – Making excellent progress. Constantinople has fallen, the next to last major city that the Byzantines hold. I should be able to sweep through the rest of the Byzantine cities in the next 5-10 turns. I’ll then stay at peace for the next 8-10 turns after that, until my trade deal with the Egyptians expires for Coal. Then I’ll go after the Hittites.

Well, what do we have here?

gdek1305ad.JPG


Really? Hmmm…. This could turn out more interesting than anticipated.

1310 AD – Well what a crappy start this turn got off to. Chalcedon and Nicea both flipped, taking a bunch of AC with them. I recaptured Chalcedon fairly easily but I’m not sure I have enough forces to take Nicea in the next couple turns.

On the plus side we captured Caesarea and Amorium, so the decline of the Byzantines continues. I’ve got almost no defenders around right now, which always makes me a little nervous. I’m ripe for a Hittite double cross.

Speaking of which…

gdek1310ad.JPG


That’s 18 Babylonian knights immediately to the north of the former Viking core… Somehow I doubt any good is going to come of this.

On the plus side I got a MGL on the assault on Amorium, which brings the total to 3, which is about 1 more than I usually get. =)

1315 AD – Formed another army, this time a Siphai one. That should help to repel the Babylonians for their inevitable strike. I’ve rushed walls in Alesund and upgraded the defenders to Muskets. I’m hoping that will be enough to convince him to bugger off, though I’m not going to hold my breath.

1320 AD –

gdek1315ad.JPG


Guess not.

The Babylonians took Alesund, though I redlined at least 5 of the 18. Redlined another two with a pike who was escorting some workers.

They have 4 knights in striking distance of Stavanger. They have 4 more one turn away. Stavanger is building barracks this turn, and walls the next. It currently has 1 Siphai, 2 pikes, 1 musket and 1 MI. Hopefully that’ll be enough to hold this turn (assuming they don’t just turn tail and run, ha!)

I’ve got 1 Siphai and 1 Sword that are 1 turn away, and I should be able to upgrade survivors as necessary. I’ve not been able to get my rail line up yet, so it’ll be slow going from one end to the other. I think that the 18 knights may be the bulk of their force however.

1325 AD – Lost a Pike and a Musket, but other than that survived. Upgraded the survivors so now I have 2 muskets and an MI. Also had 2 Siphai arrive. With the three Siphai I took out a like number of knights. I also captured Naissus, the second to last Byzantine city. The only other city left will require a quick jaunt through Hittite territory.

1330 AD – Killed off a couple more knights, and lost two Musketeers. I think I’ll be able to hold Stavanger. If I do, I have several more Siphai on the way.

Of course, now the Hittites have a small SOD headed towards one of my cities.

Here’s the new plan.

gdek1330adnewplan.JPG


I need the coal in red above. It’s next to a Hittite city. So…. If I can get the Babylonians to take the city from the Hittites, then I can take it off of them. =) At least that’s how I’d like it to go. And it should keep the Hittites off my backside.

And sure enough, for Physics, the Hittites will go for it. So let’s see how this shakes out. I also got a RoP out of the deal, which means the last Byzantine city will fall that much sooner.

1335 AD – Well, I hate the Hittites. After cutting a deal with them, they declare war on me. Time to make peace with Babylon, and wipe Musilis from the face of the planet. I lost Harran, which I had taken from them many years ago. Looks like I’m going to be bogged down in a war for quite a while.

1340 AD – Well, managed to lose Nicea as well. Worst fears have come true. While trying to eliminate the Byzantines, I spread myself too thin. Theodora also managed to get a city on the other continent as well, so all the cities I took from her could still flip.

1345 AD – As much as I hate to do it, I trade Electricity, which I just discovered, to the Spanish for Nationalism, 75 gold and 31 gpt. At least Riflemen should help me to hold things a little better. The best the Babylonians can manage is knights, though the Hittites do have Cav.

gdek1345adwm.JPG


So, I’ve suffered a couple of setbacks. Fortunately, I’ve got a good economy, so I should be able to push the Hittites back. I think I broke the back of the Babylonian attack driving off their knights. I’m going to contemplate going to Mobilization to see if I can squeeze out some defenders. That’s really what I’m lacking more than anything.
 
Sounds like you have quite a bit of work to do :p
I don't mean to sound discouraging, but all of my Monarch games start going downhill around the end of the middle ages :cry: :( I just hope you do better than I do
 
What I need right now is a good push against the Hittites. If I can make peace with the Babylonians, and focus along one (albeit long) front, I should make out okay. I've got most cities producing riflemen to reinforce cities along the front.

I've also pulled defenders from all my core cities and they're moving towards the front too. I don't recall ever purposefully leaving a city undefended before, but I don't have a whole lot of choice. I'm too spread out over to great an area right now, without a workable rail system.

I'm building an east/west line as quickly as I can to try and speed getting troops to the front.

I'm building Smith's right now, and once that's done I'm contemplating turning on Mobilization for a couple of turns. Looking over what Vanadorn (thanks!) told me, if I time it right, I'll make peace with the Babylonians in 10-12 turns, after 5-7 turns of Mobilization. That should give me enough of a production boost to push back the Hittites, grab the source of coal, and consolidate my holdings.

Does anyone know if the Military Academy or the Pentagon qualify as buildings you are allowed to build under Mobilization?

Gdek
 
Back
Top Bottom