Planning for the Great Lighthouse (or not)

[donsig]

Of course we don't know about the other two teams.

Yes, and they are the two teams we don't want to beat us to the torch! Since we've decided not to risk our galleys until the lighthouse is built then we will not meet BABE or GONG unless they find us. Is it worth trying to find out from SABER which team they've met and whether that team has map making? I can't see how it would be helpful but it seems better than just waiting around to see who builds the torch. The suspense is killing me!

 

[tomasjj]

Hmm... we don't want them(gong and babe) to meet us now do we?
I know we talked about blocking crossings.
Do we want to do that now until the Torch is done, or is this not necessary?

 

[Paul#42]

Blocking the crossings would just increase the chance to meet one of them because they would find our galleys earlier.

We want our galleys ready to claim islands the turn we get the torch.
So the settler from The Igloo and a warrior should embark soon to head north and the next settler from The Chamber should head for the south.

 

[donsig]

I agree with Paul#42. Let's get settlers in place to colonize those islands!

Also, trying to block the passages right now would mean sending our galleys into unsafe waters. Once we have the Great Lighthouse we can decide if we want to block the crossings.

But a larger question has been raised by tomasjj - do we want to meet BABE and GONG soon or do we want to delay those meetings? I don't think we ever discussed that in light of us having the torch. Defense was a major reason for trying to build the Great Lighthouse. If we do get it do we want to remain as isolationist as possible? BABE and GONG shouldn't have any techs we'd want to trade for. Is there good reason to map their coasts? Any other reasons to contact them?

 

[zyxy]

The northern island is ours as long as nobody gets the GLight and SABER doesn't get Maps. So no hurry there.

I agree on having a settler ready for the southern one.

If we meet BABE and GONG, then
- our research cost lowers for any tech they have
- their research cost lowers for any tech we have
- we can trade (except resources or workers)
- we can estimate their game position
- we can establish a (hopefully positive) relationship.

All in all, I think meeting them is beneficial, especially for the last point.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

If we can get out of the AA intact, Gong is not that useful a trading partner. babe, being commercial, will still be.

 

[General_W]

Well – we're getting closer to the Torch here… IF we get it, should we post our announcement with a image like GONG did? It's possible I could make a short video to put on YouTube to announce it.

What would The Council prefer?

Or is it bad karma to discuss this before we've actually got it?

(Note: if we want a video, it'll take me some time to get it ready)

EDIT: if you haven't seen my videos before - here's the first one I did for the first Civ3 MTDG... ... I've made even more elaborate ones for the Civ4 MTDG, here's the most recent one.

EDIT2: I also made progressively more elaborate newspapers for the first Civ3 MTDG… the thread is here:

 

[Paul#42]

This is great stuff!

I like both mediums, right now I prefer newspaper, it's far more realistic for AT / MA eras.

And I have trouble viewing the videos, at home connection is to slow, at work the site is banned...

 

[peter grimes]

As much as I enjoy your videos, I think that timeliness is more important than flair. It would be best to have a press release ready to go

And, No, it's not bad karma.

 

[General_W]

NOOOOOOOooooooooooo

just looked at the save... BABE beat us to the Great Lighthouse!!
2 turns away!!!

We better switch to the Statue of Zeus and ready our defenses.

 

[Paul#42]

Okay, I guess we all favor SoZ now. Colossus would be the backup imo. If all fails, The Great Wall

HG would have been nice also but I don't see where to get Monarchy that quickly... Oracle and MoM are waste.

What if a cascade takes away SoZ?

Just saw SoZ is 300 shields. That lowers the chance for a cascade.

Should we switch The Chamber to a worker so we could enter the build sequence to switch Palace to SoZ (or Colossus) without losing another turn?

 

[sirdanilot]

Yes, switch Lighthouse to the statue of zeus. Unfortunately we can't invade anyone with our ACs. They will be rendered useless, so they are going to build up our unit costs. That's why I propose disbanding a part of our ancient cavalry army to speed up our overall production, and maybe use them in war when we get astronomy...

 

[Paul#42]

Ahem - we desperately need those AC to protect our island from BABEs. We'd rather disband some warriors if our upkeep costs start to kill us... But that's not before we know who's the chosen target of the BABE invasion and we have a decent army of ACs...

I do not see us fighting any wars on different continents than our own...

 

[sirdanilot]

Well, okay... It's basically a gamble. If we keep those ACs, we'll have lower commerce but we won't have to fear a Babe invasion. If we disband them to boost production, we'll have an advantage over the others but if babe invades us...

We should probably head for Gunpowder as soon as possible, so they loose their mounted warrior advantage.

 

[General_W]

Hopefully just having the SoZ will help deter a BABE invasion - but still, since we're in last place in score and won't have access to our UU... we may still be the most appealing target anyway. Therefore I agree with Paul#42... we desperately need those ACs!

Should we switch The Chamber to a worker so we could enter the build sequence to switch Palace to SoZ (or Colossus) without losing another turn?

In the first MTDG this kind of move was against the rules.
I can't recall off the top of my head if it was covered this time? But we should probably check.

 

[Aigburth]

In the first MTDG this kind of move was against the rules. I can't recall off the top of my head if it was covered this time? But we should probably check.

From the ruleset: -

2.8 - Build Sequence
Teams cannot break into the build sequence to change anything, including actions such as hurrying production of a building/unit, changing prebuilds to the desired build, changing city laborers around to prevent a riot, and changing any build to another build (say, from a factory to a rifleman due to nearby enemy units). Instead of taking these actions during the build sequence before your turn, please make these changes during your turn. If a team is wondering whether something would be considered breaking into the build sequence, please contact the administrators.

Something of concern from the ruleset is that city trading for the purpose of unit teleportation is banned but there is no mention of trading cities for other purposes, say BABE and GONG were allied, could they trade the lighthouse city with each other allowing them both to benefit from the lighthouse?

 

[donsig]

I think that sort of city trading would be against the rules but I'm not sure. Perhaps it would be good to privately ask the game admins this question.

I agree we will need the ancient cavalry as a deterrent to a BABE invasion. Hopefully there will come a time when we can disband them but that may be a ways off. I'm not so sure we'd never be in a position to use ancient cavalry offensively. If we're not the primary invasion target then a nice batch of AC could concieveable be used to conquer some of the minor islands. We're along way from that sort of thing but it's not an impossibility.

Gunpowder would be good but pikes might suffice for now. Let's hope one of us (FREE or us gets feudalism - and the other gets monotheism). [pray]

 

[zyxy]

I agree with switching to SoZ. If that fails, then we can keep prebuilding for ST or Leo's maybe... Colossus is not very appealing to me, it's such a nice wonder to conquer .

Same with SoZ btw. Coastal towns are hard to defend... But at least AC's can help defending it.

You only get one AC per 4 turns, so I think disbanding them is really not an issue for a long time to come.

 

[Paul#42]

2.8 - Build Sequence
Teams cannot break into the build sequence to change anything, including actions such as hurrying production of a building/unit, changing prebuilds to the desired build, changing city laborers around to prevent a riot, and changing any build to another build (say, from a factory to a rifleman due to nearby enemy units). Instead of taking these actions during the build sequence before your turn, please make these changes during your turn. If a team is wondering whether something would be considered breaking into the build sequence, please contact the administrators.

Okay, that differs from Gotm rules, we have to switch to SoZ next turn, obviously for everybody and need another turn to switch to the Colossus (or whatever).

Something of concern from the ruleset is that city trading for the purpose of unit teleportation is banned but there is no mention of trading cities for other purposes, say BABE and GONG were allied, could they trade the lighthouse city with each other allowing them both to benefit from the lighthouse?

Even if it was not banned, I consider such a trick quite a shame. wonder sharing is obviously not in the sense of the game...
I would laugh at them even if their units turn our beautiful country into a graveyard!
Would be fun to see their galleys sinking on sea tiles in the interturn because they gave the GLH away

I agree with switching to SoZ. If that fails, then we can keep prebuilding for ST or Leo's maybe... Colossus is not very appealing to me, it's such a nice wonder to conquer .

Only if you get a MGL and rush your FP there...
The Great Lighthouse is a nice wonder to conquer...

You only get one AC per 4 turns, so I think disbanding them is really not an issue for a long time to come.

Every five turns if that rule was not changed.