PHAW 1.5: Rise of the Queen Mother Reprise (WL)

Played 15 turns. Without further ado, the report:

Northern Theater - Shaka, Bismark, etc.

Great progress in this theater. We're not done yet, but the end is in view.

First, I needed to bring up some more seige units before I assaulted kwaDukuza, Shaka's last city. Entrenched longbows make for tough opponents, and the northern army did not have Grenadiers yet. By the time we'd gotten ready, Shaka had whipped a couple more longbows for his last stand.



In the end, it didn't save him. BUT, it cost us several siege and about three more units besides. Three opponents down.

The next city on the list is Harappan, one of Ragnar's. And I made an unwelcome discovery.



The muskets didn't save the city, but it bodes ill for our army in the southwest.

At the end of the set, we were outside Frankfurt, which won't hold out long. Hopefully, that will be the end of Bismark, too.



Finally, we got a glimpse of another (the last?) of Hannibal's cities, too.



And the sneaky English planted a new city in the cleared area south of our armies.



I recommend that we send a handful of Grenadiers north/northwest from Antium with a few new siege. They take Newcastle while Barca & company takes Frankfurt, and they meet up for Kerkouane. Then they can push west into Churchilll's territory.

Western Outpost - York

Speaking of Churchill...he sent a couple of small stacks at York. Not enough to truly threaten the city, but it forced us to keep a Knight and some garrison troops nearby to put down the attacks.



I wiped out this stack, but there is still an English Longbow hanging around, and a Knight that pops in and out of the fog.

Southwest Theater - Ragnar

Rangar...is going to be a problem. He has gunpowder. He's Aggressive. And he's whipped up some truly impressive city garrisons. I took a small stack in from the east to meet up with the large stack from York, and here's what we found:



Note, the defenses are at zero, and a Combat I, Pinch Grenadier still has lousy odds on the attack (and no, the city-raider maces and the 'phants weren't any better). Plus he has FOURTEEN units in the city. We're going to need a lot of collateral damage to take this down.

Fortunately, there is at least one softer target around - Uppsala. Here's the situation at the end of the set:



There is also a city in the fog northwest of Nidaros, I'm pretty sure. I have some more Grennies and siege coming west-southwest from Antium, set to enter Ragnar's territory northeast of Uppsala.

Homeland

Another steady stream of barb units came gallumphing out of the fog - several maces, an archer or two, and (oddly) two Warriors. Mostly at Gold Horse, Jumbo, and Masihero. Just for grins, I had some Workers put a fort on a jungle hill south of Masihero, and start clearing the brush around, too. I parked our guardian mace in the fort.



Ought to eliminate any threat from that direction.

Since there's a large barb city down there, I sent the Grennie from Gold Horse over to take a look. Ought to be takeable, but we have better uses for our units, IMHO.



We also had one - exactly one - Viking Knight take a shot at Antium. He took out a Grenadier outside the city, and I wasted him next turn. Other than that, and the few units at York, the AIs didn't trouble our cities.

Techs & Overview

Did I mention that we wanted some good collateral damage? Maybe this will help...



I timed it so that we got two Cannons on the inherited turn (completed treb builds, which auto-upgraded). I chose Banking next, but no beakers invested yet - feel free to switch.

Other useful overview shots:









Spoiler turn log :
Logging by Ruff's Cobbled Mod Pack v2.0.4 (Warlords v2.08) - New Log Entries
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Turn 335/660 (1595 AD) [05-May-2007 13:35:31]
Masihero finishes: Catapult
Antium grows: 5
Gold Horse grows: 4
Gold Horse finishes: Grenadier

IBT:
A Farm was destroyed near Gold Horse
A Farm near Gold Horse was destroyed by Barbarian Maceman

Turn 336/660 (1598 AD) [05-May-2007 13:43:04]
Masihero begins: Catapult (3 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at Gold Horse, 1st Grenadier of Gold Horse (Grenadier) defeats (8.16/12): Barbarian Maceman (Prob Victory: 88.7%)
While attacking in Russian territory at York, Gaius Marius (Grenadier) defeats (7.68/12): Viking Knight (Prob Victory: 87.5%)
Jumbo finishes: Catapult
Athens grows: 14
Athens finishes: Grenadier
A Village was built near Athens

IBT:
While defending in Russian territory near York, Musketman defeats (5.40/9): Viking Knight (Prob Victory: 36.5%)
While defending in Russian territory near Ruffsville, 2nd Maceman of Masihero (Maceman) defeats (7.12/8): Barbarian Axeman (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 337/660 (1601 AD) [05-May-2007 13:47:26]
Jumbo begins: Catapult (4 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at Jumbo, Archer I of Jumbo (Crossbowman) defeats (4.08/6): Barbarian Axeman (Prob Victory: 93.7%)
1st Grenadier of Gold Horse (Grenadier) promoted: Combat I
Grenadier promoted: Combat I
Grenadier promoted: Combat II
While attacking in Russian territory near Antium, Grenadier loses to: Viking Knight (3.70/10) (Prob Victory: 73.0%)
While attacking in Russian territory at Antium, Longbowman defeats (4.62/6): Viking Knight (Prob Victory: 87.8%)
Gaius Marius (Grenadier) promoted: Combat II
Ruffsville finishes: Courthouse

IBT:

Turn 338/660 (1604 AD) [05-May-2007 13:52:57]
Ruffsville begins: Grocer (25 turns)
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison I
While attacking in Viking territory near York, 3rd Swordsman of Moscow (Maceman) defeats (4.16/8): Viking Axeman (Prob Victory: 89.4%)
While attacking in Viking territory near York, 1st Maceman of Jumbo (Maceman) defeats (1.60/8): Viking Longbowman (Prob Victory: 86.6%)
While attacking in Viking territory near York, War Elephant defeats (6.88/8): Viking Catapult (Prob Victory: 99.3%)
While attacking in Viking territory near York, General Beastovsky (War Elephant) defeats (8.00/8): Viking Trebuchet (Prob Victory: 99.4%)
Archer I of Jumbo (Crossbowman) promoted: City Garrison II
Moscow finishes: Trebuchet
Masihero finishes: Catapult
York grows: 3

IBT:
While defending in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Maceman defeats (5.36/8): German Catapult (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 339/660 (1607 AD) [05-May-2007 13:59:22]
Moscow begins: Trebuchet (4 turns)
Masihero begins: Grenadier (8 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at Gold Horse, 1st Grenadier of Gold Horse (Grenadier) defeats (4.32/12): Barbarian Maceman (Prob Victory: 95.4%)
Knight promoted: Combat I
Maceman promoted: City Raider I
Maceman promoted: City Raider II
Catapult promoted: Barrage I
Catapult promoted: Barrage II
Moscow finishes: Trebuchet
Novgorod grows: 14
Jumbo grows: 10
Gold Horse finishes: Courthouse

IBT:

Turn 340/660 (1610 AD) [05-May-2007 14:03:44]
Moscow begins: Grenadier (5 turns)
Gold Horse begins: Barracks (19 turns)
Jumbo finishes: Catapult
Antium grows: 6
Antium finishes: Catapult

IBT:

Turn 341/660 (1613 AD) [05-May-2007 14:11:44]
Jumbo begins: Catapult (4 turns)
Antium begins: Catapult (9 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at Antium, 2nd Catapult of Jumbo (Catapult) defeats (5.00/5): Barbarian Warrior (Prob Victory: 99.9%)
2nd Catapult of Jumbo (Catapult) promoted: City Raider I
While attacking in Russian territory near Masihero, 1st Grenadier of Athens (Grenadier) defeats (7.68/12): Barbarian Archer (Prob Victory: 100.0%)
A Village was destroyed by Russian Knight
Moscow finishes: Grenadier
Novgorod finishes: Grenadier
A Hamlet was built near Gold Horse

IBT:
While defending in Zulu territory near Harappan, 3rd Catapult of Masihero (Catapult) defeats (3.00/5): German Catapult (Prob Victory: 50.0%)
While defending in Zulu territory near Harappan, 3rd Catapult of Masihero (Catapult) loses to: German Catapult (5.00/5) (Prob Victory: 3.6%)
A Mine was destroyed near York
A Mine near York was destroyed by English Longbowman

Turn 342/660 (1616 AD) [05-May-2007 14:17:22]
Moscow begins: Grenadier (5 turns)
Novgorod begins: Trebuchet (6 turns)
Catapult promoted: Barrage I
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Catapult loses to: Zulu Longbowman (5.28/6) (Prob Victory: 0.0%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Catapult loses to: Zulu Longbowman (6.00/6) (Prob Victory: 0.0%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Catapult loses to: Zulu Longbowman (5.28/6) (Prob Victory: 0.0%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Trebuchet loses to: Zulu Longbowman (3.48/6) (Prob Victory: 5.2%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Maceman loses to: Zulu Longbowman (1.68/6) (Prob Victory: 33.2%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Knight defeats (2.00/10): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 70.4%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Knight defeats (4.30/10): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 84.2%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, 4th War Elephant of Moscow (War Elephant) loses to: Zulu Longbowman (0.72/6) (Prob Victory: 80.8%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Knight defeats (8.10/10): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 84.5%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, War Elephant defeats (6.32/8): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 63.7%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, 1st Maceman of Masihero (Maceman) loses to: Zulu Longbowman (1.98/6) (Prob Victory: 64.8%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Maceman loses to: Zulu Longbowman (2.64/6) (Prob Victory: 70.2%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Maceman defeats (6.48/8): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 82.9%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Pikeman I of Masihero (Pikeman) defeats (0.96/6): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 84.1%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Pikeman defeats (1.68/6): Zulu Catapult (Prob Victory: 73.0%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Hamilcar Barca (Knight) defeats (6.40/10): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 99.8%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Maceman defeats (6.56/8): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 99.5%)
While attacking in Zulu territory at kwaDukuza, Chariot defeats (4.00/4): Zulu Longbowman (Prob Victory: 99.8%)
Judaism has spread: kwaDukuza
Captured kwaDukuza (Shaka)
Zulu Empire has been eliminated
Razed kwaDukuza
kwaDukuza lost
1st Grenadier of Athens (Grenadier) promoted: Combat I
Yaroslavl' grows: 10

IBT:

Turn 343/660 (1619 AD) [05-May-2007 14:54:23]
While attacking in Russian territory at Gold Horse, 1st Grenadier of Gold Horse (Grenadier) defeats (4.08/12): Barbarian Longbowman (Prob Victory: 89.1%)
While attacking in Russian territory at York, Knight defeats (1.00/10): English Longbowman (Prob Victory: 71.9%)
Knight promoted: Combat III
Knight promoted: Combat II
While attacking in the wild near Harappan, Maceman defeats (6.80/8): German Catapult (Prob Victory: 96.7%)
Maceman promoted: City Raider I
Pikeman I of Masihero (Pikeman) promoted: Combat III
Jumbo finishes: Catapult

IBT:
While defending in Russian territory at York, Longbowman defeats (6.00/6): English Catapult (Prob Victory: 99.6%)
While defending in Russian territory at York, Longbowman defeats (2.76/6): English Trebuchet (Prob Victory: 78.1%)
While defending in Russian territory near Masihero, 1st Grenadier of Athens (Grenadier) defeats (9.00/12): Barbarian Horse Archer (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 344/660 (1622 AD) [05-May-2007 14:59:24]
Jumbo begins: Longbowman (5 turns)
1st Grenadier of Gold Horse (Grenadier) promoted: Combat II
Knight promoted: Medic I
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison II
Maceman promoted: Combat III
Yaroslavl' finishes: Catapult

IBT:
While defending in the wild near Antium, Worker loses to: Barbarian Warrior (2.00/2) (Prob Victory: 0.0%)

Turn 345/660 (1625 AD) [05-May-2007 15:06:07]
Yaroslavl' begins: Confucian Missionary (10 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at York, Longbowman defeats (6.00/6): English Trebuchet (Prob Victory: 100.0%)
A Fort was built
While attacking in the wild near Newcastle, Chariot defeats (4.00/4): English Worker (Prob Victory: 100.0%)
Moscow finishes: Grenadier
Masihero finishes: Grenadier
Athens grows: 15
Antium grows: 7

IBT:

Turn 346/660 (1628 AD) [05-May-2007 15:13:07]
Moscow begins: Trebuchet (4 turns)
Masihero begins: Trebuchet (6 turns)
A Plantation was built near York
A Windmill near Harappan was destroyed by Russian Knight
2nd Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) promoted: Barrage I
2nd Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) promoted: Barrage II
While attacking in Viking territory at Nidaros, War Elephant defeats (5.12/8): Viking Trebuchet (Prob Victory: 99.9%)
Novgorod finishes: Trebuchet
A Village was built near Novgorod
A Hamlet was built near Antium

IBT:
A Cottage was destroyed near Antium
A Cottage near Antium was destroyed by Barbarian Warrior

Turn 347/660 (1631 AD) [05-May-2007 15:16:33]
Novgorod begins: Catapult (3 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory at Antium, 1st Grenadier of Moscow (Grenadier) defeats (10.92/12): Barbarian Warrior (Prob Victory: 100.0%)
A Farm was built near Gold Horse
A Windmill near Kerkouane was destroyed by Russian Chariot
War Elephant promoted: Combat IV
A Town was built near Masihero
York grows: 4

IBT:
While defending in Viking territory at Harappan, Pikeman loses to: Viking Berserker (3.20/8) (Prob Victory: 3.6%)

Turn 348/660 (1634 AD) [05-May-2007 15:21:39]
Grenadier promoted: Combat I
Grenadier promoted: Pinch
A Plantation near Nidaros was destroyed by Russian Grenadier
A Windmill near Nidaros was destroyed by Russian Catapult
Novgorod finishes: Catapult
Jumbo finishes: Longbowman
Antium finishes: Catapult
Gold Horse grows: 5

IBT:
While defending in the wild near Newcastle, Chariot loses to: English Knight (10.00/10) (Prob Victory: 0.1%)
Civics Change: Ragnar(Vikings) from 'Bureaucracy' to 'Vassalage'
Civics Change: Ragnar(Vikings) from 'Theocracy' to 'Organized Religion'

Turn 349/660 (1637 AD) [05-May-2007 15:35:28]
Novgorod begins: Grenadier (7 turns)
Jumbo begins: Trebuchet (7 turns)
Antium begins: Barracks (11 turns)
4th Catapult of Masihero (Catapult) promoted: City Raider I
3rd Catapult of Jumbo (Catapult) promoted: City Raider I
1st Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) promoted: City Raider I
4th Catapult of Masihero (Catapult) promoted: City Raider II
1st Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) promoted: City Raider II
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, 2nd Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) loses to: Viking Musketman (4.68/9) (Prob Victory: 8.9%)
Knight promoted: Pinch
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, Knight defeats (6.40/10): Viking Longbowman (Prob Victory: 84.6%)
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, 1st Trebuchet of Moscow (Trebuchet) defeats (1.72/4): Viking Longbowman (Prob Victory: 69.1%)
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, Knight defeats (6.40/10): Viking Musketman (Prob Victory: 86.9%)
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, Knight defeats (6.40/10): Viking Musketman (Prob Victory: 96.2%)
While attacking in Viking territory at Harappan, Maceman defeats (1.20/8): Viking Longbowman (Prob Victory: 87.9%)
Buddhism has spread: Harappan
Captured Harappan (Ragnar)
Razed Harappan
Harappan lost
A Plantation was built near York
1st Longbowman of Jumbo (Longbowman) promoted: City Garrison I
Tech learned: Steel
Moscow finishes: Cannon
A Village was built near Moscow
Masihero finishes: Cannon
A Village was built near Athens
A Village was built near Athens
A Village was built near Ruffsville
A Village was built near Ruffsville

IBT:
While defending in the wild near Newcastle, 1st Grenadier of Novgorod (Grenadier) loses to: English Knight (2.40/10) (Prob Victory: 32.9%)

Turn 350/660 (1640 AD) [05-May-2007 15:59:51]
Research begun: Banking (5 Turns)
Moscow begins: Cannon (4 turns)
Masihero begins: Cannon (6 turns)
While attacking in Russian territory near Antium, 1st Grenadier of Athens (Grenadier) defeats (10.20/12): English Knight (Prob Victory: 100.0%)


And...the SAVE.
 
Holy crap, there were 14 CG promotions in Nidaros. You guys are going to lose 23 units before you take that city. On the bright side, your troop upkeep will go way down :).
 
Yeah, Nidaros is going to be a cast-iron b-tch to take. Shame, 'cuz it's a holy city with a shrine, so it would be a good keeper - and I was hoping we could use it as a base to take the rest of Ragnar's land. But it will probably be the LAST one we take.

So, Blake's AI doesn't necessarily make the hardest opponent for an AW game - it doesn't throw stack after stack at the human like the base AI does - but it sure does know how to make defenders.
 
I got it and will play either tonight or tommorrow. I need a concensus here though. If i head down the path to Riflemen...its like 62 turns. If i head to Cossacks...our UU...its about 42 turns. But, the Rifling path helps our economy and production much more. My vote is for the Rifling path.
 
I got it and will play either tonight or tommorrow. I need a concensus here though. If i head down the path to Riflemen...its like 62 turns. If i head to Cossacks...our UU...its about 42 turns. But, the Rifling path helps our economy and production much more. My vote is for the Rifling path.

According to the F6 screen, it's 61 turns to Rifles at our current rate:

Banking: 5
Paper: 4
Printing Press: 14
Replaceable Parts: 16
Rifling: 22

Mil. Trad is 44:

Drama: 2
Music: 3
Philosophy: 5
Nationalism: 16
Mil. Trad: 18

However, none of the techs before MT do much for us, whereas Banking, PP, and RP will help us immensely, and may well allow us to bump the slider (and thus shorten the time). I'd go for Rifling in a heartbeat. Post-nerf Cossacks aren't worth the opportunity cost.
 
This set was mostly about getting more commerce via courthouses, markets, grocers and switching some tiles. It was also about running at 0% research my entire round..lol. We needed upgrades on the front lines.

Preturn 1640AD
Nidaros

We have units here that need upgrading, I send 2 Macemen, a cat, and both trebs 3 tiles back to get upgraded. Our Super grenny does have 86% odds, so I continue attacking with him allmost every turn till reinforcements arrive...he doesnt let me down.

Antium is unhappy from the whip, so I hire an engy and slow growth. It also doesnt have our religion, Ill remedy that. Antium doesnt have a courthouse, I start one.

Ruffsville...whip Grocer for 2 pop
Jumbo has no courthouse, I start one
Masihero has no courthouse, I start one
GoldHorse isnt working the gold mine...huh?..fixed

We have a grenny and 2 cats heading south. Im sending the cats back to get upgraded.


I press Enter:
SONOFA...I lose 6 workers at York. I didnt notice that they had no cover.
Athens finishes a Xbow and starts a settler
Ruffsville....Grocer--->Missionary

1646...Northern Army needs healing before attacking
1652..Hanny sends an expansion crew.....FREE worker

Got the Cannons upgraded and they are heading back to Nidaros
1655...We pop a great Engineer. Since Im running 0%, its 16 turns to Banking. I want Mercantilism so i burn the Engy for Banking and revolt right away and choose Paper as the next tech.

Our Northern Army has healed and I raze Bismarcks last city at the cost of 1 knight.


1658...Yaroslav whips a market for 3 pop

1661...Reinforcements have arrived at Nidaros

Novgorod starts a courthouse
Yaroslav starts a missionary

1664...Moscow finishes knight, starts a Bank

1667...Our Northern Army moves south to Newcastle


We finally take Nidaros at the cost of only 1 cannon and a maceman who was attacked while heading back for upgrades....not too shabby.


I looked at the above screen for a good 10 minutes before deciding to raze it. I know its a holy city, so my reasoning for razing it are pretty strong. I would need 3-4 units to protect it....I cant do that and still keep the army moving. Ragnars culture would be killing the city till i took his northern city. I felt like keeping the army moving was more important.
Courthouse at Antium is whipped for 2 pop
Aquaduct at Athens is whipped for 2 pop

1670...Newcastle is razed

Im putting a windmill in Moscow as were not working the mines anyway. We could stand to put some farms in the capitol to be able to work the mines.

Notice the blue circle in the screenshot....yup, our only source of wines and we dont have a winery on it. After, i fixed that, our only source of sheep isnt pastured. I fixed that. Call me Mr. Fixit
Masihero....courthouse--->Market
Athens...aquaduct--->rax

1673...Our Northern Army badly needs upgraded, I send them to Antium to do just that.


Zophoville is founded


1676...Here my first view of Birka and of course Im on the wrong side of the river. Back down the hill we go. The men threaten to cut my nads off if I do that again.


1679...York...Courthouse--->Market
Ruffsville...Missionary--->Bank
Athens...rax--->Grenny

Birka is razed


1685...I ran at 0% research all round and used every bit of cash on upgrades. I also increased our GPT by 40. Paper is due in 2 turns at 0% research and +200GPT. Next person can change that or do a few more upgrades. Heres a pic of our southern army heading south to finish off ragnar.


A pic of our northern army upgraded and ready to head out next turn or upgrade the pike to a grenny.


York is the only city without a missionary and its being built in Yaroslav. We are close to another GG, so we should decide what to do with him. Next person has 2 really nice armies to help finish this puppy. Theres a knight down south and 1 north who can start pillaging. Im pretty happy with the set. I lost maybe 4 units and upgraded a buttload.

The save
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/97311/Queen_Mother_AD-1685.CivWarlordsSave
 
nice playing guys, and thanks to the Dawg for both cracking the :whipped: and fixing up the empire.

i have to check in with ROTQM and see if i've been stuck at the end of the roster or merely swapped, but I can probably play this today/tonight.

it may or may not be finished up on my set, depending on what's up with the enemies cities
 
Turn 366/660 (1685 AD) [07-May-2007 10:47:24]


Turn 367/660 (1688 AD) [07-May-2007 10:48:26]

Turn 368/660 (1691 AD) [07-May-2007 10:52:54]
paper in; going for PP

Turn 369/660 (1694 AD) [07-May-2007 10:57:35]

Turn 370/660 (1697 AD) [07-May-2007 11:00:37]
I tried to take out a settler stack that Churchill sent out w/a maceman and a sword, and lost with both a grenadier and a knight! :mad: :mad: HOwever, I took it out on Leptis.

Captured Leptis (Hannibal)
Razed Leptis

i'm also farming Moscow a bit, too; we'll need a couple more farms to work everything but, this'll do.

Turn 371/660 (1700 AD) [07-May-2007 11:05:31]
I also was able to send in the troops of Uppsala after breaking down the defenses. I sent in 2 canons first, but they lost. I then sent in 2 more canons, and they won. A fifth canon lost again, but after that the Grennies went in, and that was that.
Captured Uppsala (Ragnar)
Razed Uppsala

Zhuge Liang (Great General) born in Athens I think we should merge him w/someone, but who?? I left him at York for Frankcor to cipher it out. I also :whipped: the courthouse @ York

Turn 372/660 (1703 AD) [07-May-2007 11:11:35]

Turn 373/660 (1706 AD) [07-May-2007 11:14:17]
I then moved our Northern army up to Kerkouane and bombarded the defenses. Two battles later:

Captured Kerkouane (Hannibal)
Razed Kerkouane

Turn 374/660 (1709 AD) [07-May-2007 11:17:48]
Ragnar sent a tiny 2 treb, beserker stack to York, but I made short work of them. I also bombarded Bjorgvin down, razed it,

and that was all she wrote for Ragnar.

I set a waypoint for Moscow out by Antium; slowly I will set all the cities to that.

Turn 375/660 (1712 AD) [07-May-2007 11:22:31]

IBT:

Turn 376/660 (1715 AD) [07-May-2007 11:24:24]

IBT:

Turn 377/660 (1718 AD) [07-May-2007 11:26:36]
Our units came to Hadrumetum, which I thought was the last Carthaginian city. It wasn't, but we razed it nonetheless.

Hoever, look at this $hit!
While attacking in Carthaginian territory at Hadrumetum, Grenadier loses to: Carthaginian Musketman (0.81/9) (Prob Victory: 96.0%)
losing a 91% fight is bad enough, but 94??

IBT:

Turn 378/660 (1721 AD) [07-May-2007 11:33:43]
Prinng Press, too, is done and we're on to Replaceable Parts

IBT:

Turn 379/660 (1724 AD) [07-May-2007 11:42:35]

IBT:

Turn 380/660 (1727 AD) [07-May-2007 11:46:01]
I came upon Hastings, too, completely by accident. I clicked on the spot (which was an empty tile at the time), and my knight ended up attacking!! That's something that needs to be fixed; the unit should probably stop if it discovers an enemy unit or city on its movement path.

I bombarded THAT city as well, and sent in the clowns, those laffy, daffy clowns . . .
Captured Hastings (Churchill)
Razed Hastings

Okay, our Northern and Southern army are both in English territory, while I have a couple-three units at Hannibal's last city. Our two stacks should probably converge on the English city that can not be seen, but that borders say should be there (North of the S Army, South of the N Army; you'll see what I mean by that, Frank.)

Churchill has at least one island city to our east, and possibly some to the west. Also, Augustus has an island city somewhere as I've yet to find his last city. We have one galley out near Athens and another one being built there.

For all intents and purposes, Frankie Five-Angels, this is your game to win ~
 

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Good set Pholk. I kinda thought that we may never research Rifling before this game was over anyway. I would just turn research off until everything is upgraded and farm over some more towns in the capitol so it can work every mine. It has a Mil Academy, so it can produce 2 turn cannons when it works the mines. I would start making galleys to prepare for the eventual assault on any island cities. I doubt we can research Astro before the end, so galleys will have to do. No way this puppy is getting around to me.

I would really like for you guys to start another SG or I will,after this one. Something like a OCC, Bismarck (for the health cap) or Stalin, Prince or Monarch, Raging Barbs, Highlands (barbs are crazy on Highlands), Balanced resources, Epic, and Time and Diplomatic are turned off....we must win by Dom or Conquest. We roll a start until we have stone in the BFC for the Wall. Whaddya think?
 
Good set Pholk. I kinda thought that we may never research Rifling before this game was over anyway. I would just turn research off until everything is upgraded and farm over some more towns in the capitol so it can work every mine. It has a Mil Academy, so it can produce 2 turn cannons when it works the mines. I would start making galleys to prepare for the eventual assault on any island cities. I doubt we can research Astro before the end, so galleys will have to do. No way this puppy is getting around to me.
thanks ~ i agree. every city should be either all units, or research or wealth. Even now, Moscow is kicking out 2 Grenadiers every 5 turns or so. The only thing is that if Frank will need more units for the sea assault, remember to take off a couple waypoints for the cities (I think I got every unit-producing city a waypoint out by Antium).

I would really like for you guys to start another SG or I will,after this one. Something like a OCC, Bismarck (for the health cap) or Stalin, Prince or Monarch, Raging Barbs, Highlands (barbs are crazy on Highlands), Balanced resources, Epic, and Time and Diplomatic are turned off....we must win by Dom or Conquest. We roll a start until we have stone in the BFC for the Wall. Whaddya think?
I would love to play another, but am trying to keep down my SG count for now. I only wanted 1 at a time, and already Rex roped me into ROTQM4, so . . . but I'll happily lurk. Highlands, RAging Barbs would be INSANE. I, too, think this will be over by the end of frank's set, and so started up PH07 already ~ if you'd caught me earlier . . . ;) :)


Is it just me or is this longbow praying as pholk dispatches him?
I think he's saying: "Ahh, my EYES! I can not see for his greatness blinds me!! Aieee!! :run:
 
Great work team! I gotta confess that there were times when I thought there was no way for us to win this game. It turned out to be a really fun slog in the mud.

How about merging that new general to a galley and give it umpteen Combat promotions? That way we shouldn't have to escort it with Triremes unless Churchill has Frigates.

edit: Oz, ignore the next paragraph

Oz, I'm up in another SG tonight so it's unlikely I can play before tomorrow night. Go ahead and deliver the coup de gras' if you want. I'll be just as happy to read about it. If not, I'll play and report tomorrow night.
 
OOPS -- Oz, I take it back. I just realized I misread the roster in my other SG. I've got the save and I'm playing now. (and crossing my fingers hoping you saw this post before starting to play)
 
The game is not over yet, folks.

Inherited turn (1730 AD): I took a look around the map looking for our forces and at the locations of the remaining civilizations. Churchill has Oxford off our eastern coast near Athens and it's defended by a lone Longbowman and 25% cultural defense. Unfortunately, we have no cannons and very few military in the area. What we do have seems like just enough to hold off barbarians coming out of the jungle. I upgraded an Axeman to Grenadier at Gold Horse and notched down research a bit so we would have enough funds to upgrade a second one next turn, hoping that would be sufficient to take out Oxford.

In the west, Churchill has the legendary City That Cannot Be Seen and probably one other further west of that one, judging by the cultural borders that are visible. I changed production at York and at Antium to Galleys just in case we need them to attack another island city off the west coast. It's doubtful that this map can be circumnavigated by galleys because I don't recall ever seeing any enemy AI galleys approach us from the east.

I also saw that we're fog busting in the former Viking lands in the southwest but there was still a lot of fog there. So I woke up some of our sleeping workers and sent some to there and some up north to help us keep track of both barbarians or any settler parties attempting to escape the inevitable. I thought it most important to do that for coastal files to spot any galleys sneaking past our army. I don't want this game to turn into a session of Wack-A-Mole. I noted that there were many many improved tiles that could be pillaged so I scouted around for any mobile units that could go out and collect some plunder but didn't find any that were available for the task.

And finally, I must confess, I did no round of micromanaging for our cities. Micromanaging is not going to win this game or even speed up the win at this late stage. I promised to check out cities as they completed builds but I probably forgot to be consistent with that.

IBT: A barbarian Mace killed an unescorted cannon in the north west tundra.

Turn 1 (1732 AD): Moscow trained a Grenadier, started a Cannon.

Another confession: I was probably too aggressive and anxious and attacked Thapsus, Hannibal's last (I hoped) city. We had a Grenadier and 2 Knights facing a Longbowman and Pikeman. The Grenadier lost at 87% odds. Fortunately the second knight killed the Pikeman after the first one died. That left us with a badly wounded knight to kill a very badly wounded longboman. I moved up another nearby knight to help out next turn. At Size 1, it was unlikely that Thapsus would train another new unit IBT.

Surprisingly, the City That Cannot Be Seen was finally seen. The citizens there were pretty discouraged, partly due to their humiliation at finally being seen and partly because they were defended by a Longbowman and an Axeman. In their disgust, they renamed the city Nottingham, I suspect a reference to their shame for finally being seen wearing green tights and green vests. Their 85% cultural defense was going to need addressing though.

Turn 2 (1734 AD): Masihero trained a Grenadier, started another(7). Athens completed its Galley, went back to work on a Grenadier. The Galley embarked with 2 Grenadiers to take Oxford.

At Nottingham, our slew of Cannon reduced the cultural defense to 0% and the tight-wearing defenders were eliminated. The city was razed. That allowed us our first look at London, perched on the western tip of their peninsula.


I was relieved to see there were only 2 CGIII Longbowmen on that hill city.

We also spotted some Roman culture.


And Hannibal's body was found in the ruins of Thapsus by our avenging Knight. I will never be required to type Carthaginian again in this SG.

IBT: So let's just say that using Workers to fog bust in highly roaded areas is a really bad idea:


And it's also wrong to leave a badly wounded Musketman unescorted when there's even the least possibility that the English could conjure a Knight out of thin air. Pillaging the horse pasture northeast of London (visible in the screen above) suddenly became a priority.

Turn 3 (1736 AD): Moscow trained a Cannon, started a Knight(2), intended to replace workers as a fog buster. Novgorod trained Knight, started another(5).

Turn 4 (1738 AD): Gold Horse trained a Grenadier, started another(11).

IBT: Jumbo popped an Iron deposit right under one of its hilltop mines.

Turn 5 (1740 AD): Moscow trained a Knight, started a Grenadier(2). Ruffsville constructed a Bank, started a Grenadier(13).

Two Grenadiers got dropped off at Oxford. There was a solitary Longbowman guarding it. I was not going to underestimate a CGIII Longbow again, especially one fortified on a hill. I decided to wait for reinforcements.

Outside of London, I joined the General to our most experienced Grenadier (16/17) available.

Turn 6 (1742 AD): We discovered Replaceable Parts, I selected Rifling(11).

Jumbo trained a Grenadier, started a Cannon(5).

I got caught short by one unit at London. We bombarded the defense to 0% and attacked with everything we had, losing 2 cannon. London was left with a single wounded Axeman(2/5) to garrison it.

IBT: An English Galley was spotted south of Gold Horse. That probably explains why Oxford only had 1 Longbowman. I’ll bet the other one is escorting a Settler on that galley.

Turn 7 (1744 AD): Moscow trained a Grenadier, started another(3). Athens trained a Grenadier, started another(9).

Our newest General, Zhuge Liang, delivered the final blow to London’s garrison:


If you look close, you can see more Roman culture north west of London. Two English Caravels avoided the fate of much of England’s navy that was sleeping at the docks. I kept London. At Size 16, it’ll whip up a couple of Galleys pretty quick. With those Caravels around, there’s no way we could bring a Galley around the coast to ferry troops to the island. I just wish I had made that decision prior to pillaging all the farms outside the city.

Turn 8 (1746 AD): Novgorod trained a Knight, started a Bank(10). I think we have enough army to end this. We simply need a means to get them to the enemy. Antium completed a Galley, went back to work on a Grenadier. I started sneaking the Galley along the southern coast but I fear that it won’t survive for very long.

Turn 9 (1748 AD): Masihero trained a Grenadier, started a Grocer(8). Zophoville constructed a Library, started a Forge(25).

Turn 10 (1750 AD): Here is what we had at Oxford.


I took the 25% odds to mean I would lose 3 out of 4 attacks. I had 4 units ready so I let loose the dogs of war. The first Grenadier died, the second one surprised me by winning. We razed the city.

This game is 20 or more turns away from victory. London has 9 turns of resitance remaining and with those Caravels hanging around, there’s no chance of us getting a Galley from back east to the city. I sent a small stack from London led by General Liang, east to deal with what I am certain will be one or more AI cities popping up along our southern border. That English Galley didn’t move after the turn in which he was spotted. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a settler on board. Or maybe they can be used to take out the barbarian cities. Yeah, a 2nd one has appeared south of Jumbo. There are some Grenadiers at Athens with nothing to do unless our exploring Galley discovers more cities in our eastern islands. They can probably take the Barbarian city west of Gold Horse.

We need a few more fog busters along the northern tundra. Our guards there are experiencing at least 1 barbarian attack between each turn. Sooner or later, one of them is going to get lucky.

Here's The Save: Queen_Mother_AD-1750.CivWarlordsSave Have fun!
 
First thing I did was change research from Rifling to Compass. We will have no need of rifles but caravels may be useful (doubtful as well).

This takes 4 turns.

As we really don't need anything troop-wise and research-wise, I switch all cities to research, try and get the continent fog-busted and research any tech that takes 1 turn :lol:

I'm able to whip a caravel and 2 galleys out of York before London comes out of revolt.

We get a look at Warwick.



2 cannons finishes this city off and Churchill with it.



Is this the last city?



No.



How about this one?



That does it!



And we are victorious





Well as Civ fanatics still deems Warlords Replay files an illegal upload, I can't link the replay file :mad:
 
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