Rat 33 - AWE 3BC - pangaea

[ThERat]

Pre-Turn
MM a little but not much

IT Persia comes with a very big stack and Japan attacks with a samurai but retreats

1. 1060AD
take zerk army to capture Pyongyang
the knight army and a knight defeat 3 units and Ulsan is our and Korea is gone
on top of that we now own gems
reduce lux to 10%, increase science a notch and astro is down to 2 turns

The Persian stack consists of 33 units

2. 1070AD
we will have to play cat and mouse a little here with the Persian units
bomb a samurai

defeat 3 Persian and 3 Japanese units at the front

IT astro is in, banking next in 4

3. 1080AD
England has lots of money, might want to go after them
defeat 2 samurai but we need more units to defend against the big stacks soon

IT it's getting tight with all the Persians around

4. 1090AD
take Norwich and 425gold

the battlefield is between Pyongsong and Hattusas
bombard units and take out 2 sams, 1 musket and 1 pike

5. 1100AD
lose a cav against a landed English cav at Antium, our backyard is really very lightly defended
situation is a bit hairy there

try and wear down the 2 Persian stacks (10/24 units each)\
defeat 5 immortals + 2 pikes and gain a MGL

IT oh my the English drop another cav and steal some workers with the wounded
Persia is stupid though and moves around our cities

6. 1110AD
defeat wounded cav but there are still 2 more hanging around outside of our reach
send a knight army south, upgrade pike to musket

defeat 3 Persian units, but nothing much we can do currently

IT expectantly a tough turn
Japanese take 2 knights but lose 1 immortal
we barely defeat an English can at Pyongson, then lose zerk and Liverpool
we get banking

7. 1120AD/B]
take back Liverpool with army for 346gold and clear remaining cav there now
danger banned for now

bomb units around Hattusas and take out 8 units
Persian have stacks of 7 and 11 left

IT Persians clearly want to bypass the front cities but their stacks get decimated along the way
England drops another cav at Liverpool
empty Norwich deposes us

8. 1130AD
take out the landed cav
clear 8 units at the front, only a stack of 11 Persians left
take back Norwich for 337 gold

IT Japanese lose a sam at Hattusas

9. 1140AD
things starts to look brighter as the enemy is thinned out
defeat yet another 6 units


10. 1150AD
defeat all remaining Persian units and move armies around
advance cav army towards Sapporo

a lot of infrastructure has been built and will finish soon including the MA
with the Persian stack defeated, we should be able to expand soon as well


Physics is done in 2 and we should head for the IA as soon as possible. Keep on nurturing the science farms, we have quite a bit to irrigate and might want to start building workers for the RR project

 

[ThERat]

The Roster
ThERat
TheOverseer - up
Mathias
Elephantinum
Greebley

 

[Greebley]

Good work on dealing with the Persians.

It looks like the exploring army hasn't found England yet. I would really like to cut off their ability to make Cavalry by pillaging horses or saltpeter.

Rails will help as always. I agree with the thought of building some workers.

 

[TheOverseer714]

I'm just getting going on my DW-01 turns-set, so I may need a couple days to finish there. If anyone wants a swap to keep the momentum going, I'm game for it. I'll try to move as fast as I can in the other game.

 

[DWetzel]

I'm just getting going on my DW-01 turns-set, so I may need a couple days to finish there. If anyone wants a swap to keep the momentum going, I'm game for it. I'll try to move as fast as I can in the other game.

Pfft. Shouldn't be a lot to do over there. (Seriously.)

 

[TheOverseer714]

Writing down what gets built is time consuming, as is moving tons of individual workers, but you're right, it is pretty much cruise control. We will see.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Sorry it took so long, but I have finished. Little progress, due to the RnG and losing an army The Japanese now have Cavalry I did capture 2 towns one twice, and set up a blockade which we can open and close at will. Here is my turn-log:

Spoiler :

Pre-Flight: CivAssist 2, Word running. Open the save, look things over.
Looks petty good. Rush a Worker in Norwich. With starvation it will have 1 citizen left. Ping the Japanese Galley near Ulsan.

Civilian units:
Workers 15
Slaves 43

Military units:
Warriors 1
Spearmen 4
Swordsmen 1
Pikemen 12
Muskets 9
Knights 16
Cavalry 11
Catapults 6 (captured)
Cannons 2
Trebuchets 17
Armies 6, 3 Knight, 2 Cavalry, 1 Berserk.
Berserks 3
Ancient Cavalries 4

Unit Support:
Total units: 101
Allowed: 98
Support cost: 3 gpt

Press enter=>

IBT: 2 Japanese Cavalry arrive, definitely a mixed blessing.
An English Cavalry arrives. Several English ships near our core.
Bergen Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Pyongsong Walls=>Temple.
Dariush Kabir Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Norwich Worker=>Temple.

Turn 1, 1160 AD: eCavalry redlines on 2 hp English rMusket.

IBT: Lots of Japanese troops pour in, including more Cavalry.
English, Japanese and Persian boats worry me.
Physics arrives, next is Magnetism in 7.
Rome Musket=>Cavalry.
Veii Library=>Musket.
Cumae Cavalry=>Barracks.
Ise Aqueduct=>Cavalry.

Turn 2, 1170 AD: Nearly lose a Cavalry army killing 2 rSamurai.
Other Cavalry army does much better, taking out 2 Muskets and a Longbow, Sapporo is ours. It also takes out a Persian Pike, all at the low low cost of 2 hp.
Current wave of enemies contained, but more on the way.

IBT: Oh that hurt…..3 Japanese cavalry attack Sapporo, killing our 4 Cavalry army easily. Apparently even 2 hp were enough to draw the attack, then the RnG took over. That was a mistake on my part, sorry team.
Antium Aqueduct=>Library.

Turn 3, 1180 AD: Kill some loose Cavalry and Longbows.

IBT: No attacks, lots of movement. English land 2 Cavalry near Liverpool.

Turn 4, 1190 AD: After the disaster, RnG decides to be nice, I clean up all loose units. As usual, the Berserk army takes major damage.

IBT: 1 Jap Cavalry moves in.
Copenhagen Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Cumae Barracks=>Cavalry.
Neapolis Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Toyama Aqueduct=>Library.

Turn 5, 1200 AD: Kill the Cavalry and Longbow guarding Sapporo, Sapporo is again ours.

IBT: Here comes 2 more Jap Cavalry, also an English Rifleman.
Trondheim Military Academy=>Army.

Turn 6, 1210 AD: Kill 1 Japanese Cavalry. Move Army out of Sapporo, hopefully the 2 elite Muskets an handle attacks until I can block the chokepoint off.

IBT: 1 eMusket holds off an English Cavalry, but 2 more on the way.
Japanese send a Cavalry and Longbow.
Bergen Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Mansura Aqueduct=>Library.

Turn 7, 1220 AD: Killing a Jap Cavalry generates a leader, Leif Eriksson.

IBT: Only 1 Enemy moves in, a Jap Cavalry. 2 English Galleys buzzing around.
Magnetism arrives, next is Theory of Gravity.

Turn 8, 1230 AD: Very quiet, bomb 1 Jap Cavalry, kill with army.

IBT: 2 more English Galleys and a Galleon show up. Better keep some Cavalry in the core area.
3 Jap Cavalry and a Longbow arrive at Sapporo.
Rome Cavalry=>Cavalry.
Sapporo Worker=>Worker.
Muscat Musket=>Musket.

Turn 9, 1240 AD: Kill all intruders, each army used loses some hp.
I block the chokepoint.

IBT: No units try my blockade. Maybe we could open and close it, confusing the AI.
Veii Musket=> Cavalry.
Dariush Kabir Cavalry=>Cavalry.

Turn 10, 1250 AD: Cavalry army kills 2 Spears and a Longbow, taking Shimonoseki.
I left 3 Cavalry in Copenhagen as core defenders; there are many English ships around and some landings are likely.

Civilian units:
Workers 15
Slaves 43

Military units:
Warriors 1
Spearmen 4
Swordsmen 1
Pikemen 12
Muskets 12
Knights 14
Cavalry 16
Catapults 6 (captured)
Cannons 2
Trebuchets 17
Armies 6, 3 Knight, 2 Cavalry, 1 Berserk.
Berserks 3
Ancient Cavalries 4

Unit Support:
Total units: 107
Allowed: 112
Support cost: 0 gpt

Sliders
70%/10%/20%

Research:
Theory of Gravity, 3 turns, -7 gpt. (1131 in the bank)

The save:

 

[Elephantium]

Armies in the open are safe if they have high enough defenses and enough HP remaining, but armies in towns are never safe - AIs will attack *any* strength army in order to take a city.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Yep. I used its last movement taking the city and then found that armies can be quite fragile when the AI actually attacks one. I think the next turnset should involve pillaging of Japans strategic resources, fighting cavalries is too much of a fair fight. I wonder if the Saltpeter near the border is their only source?

 

[ThERat]

Sometimes it is better to just wait a turn before taking the city so as to have more options.

I thought we should be able to make better progress with Cav armies, but it is still a tough fight.
maybe it was my mistake to pull back the pillager army.

The Roster
ThERat
TheOverseer
Mathias - up
Elephantinum
Greebley

 

[Mathias]

Got it.

 

[TheOverseer714]

The problem I found is holding a captured city with offensive units against cavalry. Usually at this point we are fighting Spears or Pikes, maybe Muskets. We are facing Rifles defending and Cavalry on the attack. I think we can still win, but it may be a war of attrition and selective pillaging. If we can wall off English troops while we reduce Japan to Longbows and Spears, we can chip them down. The other problem is culture, Japans culture will cause lots of flips and England will be worse. We may need to raze cities to destroy culture and wait for new towns to form, or make sure enemy units are only single move units. Looks like a quick victory is just not going to happen.

 

[Greebley]

Thats why we want to pillage the Salt or Horses - to stop the Cavalry. Also remember that judicious pillaging of roads can stop Cavalry from reaching. Use an army to block the one road you keep.

 

[Schalke 04]

Pre-Turn
[...]
take Norwich and 425gold
[...]
take back Liverpool with army for 346gold and clear remaining cav there now danger banned for now
[...]

lurkers comment:

tactical question/proposal:

Is it worth to keep the towns undefended which are

a) probable to flip to the English
b) probable to be reconquered by the English?

My idea is, that the English have lots of Gold. By guarding an army or other strong units next to those cities you should be able to cash heaps of gold from them.

However, my comfort level is emperor and I am not used to AW games. So I don't know if the cash opportunity is worth the tying of units to other means than to conquer your opponents.

BTW: what difficulty level are you playing? I couldn't find it in the starting post. Does AWE indicate AW Emperor?

 

[Greebley]

I have done what you said. It does slow down the advance to recapture towns so it isn't always worthwhile to do on purpose This is especially true after the AI gets Rifles where you would want an Army to take back the city. This ties up an army or two that could be taking out some new city.

In this particular variant, you don't want to raze cities because the special rules don't allow us to replace with our own city.

AWE is Always war Emperor as you guessed.

 

[TheOverseer714]

I guess that the strategy Schalke mentioned is a viable one and would actually only need some cavalry to do, but at the moment we need every unit just to survive. I think our blockade might help for long enough to allow pillaging Japans Horses, Iron and Saltpeter, but there's still going to be Rifles guarding the enemy cities. Tough sledding ahead.

 

[Elephantium]

Tough? Nah. We DO have stacks of cannon, don't we?

 

[Mathias]

I'm sorry, but I just don't feel up to this. I don't want to play haphazardly, so I'm just going to pass.

 

[Elephantium]

In that case, "Got it."

Edit: Funny - Mathias and I are 10 posts apart!

 

[Elephantium]

Pre-turn:

Change Neapolis to Zerk - we need a fourth for our Zerk army.
Fortify the unmoved Cavs - they'll provide a nice mobile response force to deal with any pesky invasions.

MM cities; reduce science to 60%, ToG still due in 3.

Spoiler :

IT:

Japan lands a Samurai on our N coast.
Sapporo: Workers
Manp'o: Court->Worker

Turn 1 (1255 AD):

Cav kills Samurai 1-0.
Army kills Musket at Brighton 2-0.

IT:

Arabia and Japan both drop two troops on our N shore.
Copenhagen: Cavs
Neapolis: Zerk->Cav

Turn 2 (1260 AD):

Kill two English cavs who tried to bypass our army barrier 4-0.
ACav dies vs. Ansar 4-1.
ACav kills Longbow 5-1.
Change Seoul to Cav and hurry the build.
Ditto at Pusan.

IT:

Lose an ACav to a Samurai in the North 5-2.
English cav suicides on our cav army 6-2.
ToG->Steam
Seoul: Cav->Court
Bergen: Cavs
Pusan: Cav->Court

Turn 3 (1265 AD):

Sci slider to 80%, Steam due in 15.
Cav kills Ansar 7-2.
Cav kills Samurai 8-2.
Cav kills Samurai 9-2.

IT:

Three cavs suicide vs. our Zerk army. 12-2.
Manp'o: Workers
Ise: Cavs

Turn 4 (1270 AD):

Move some troops around...
Change Muscat to Cav.

IT:

English cav suicides on our cav army 13-2.
Cumae: Cavs
Hyangsan: Court->Worker
Aden: Court->Cav
Mansura: Lib->Cav

Turn 5 (1275 AD):

Zerk army kills Jap cav 14-2.
Knight army kills three more Jap cavs 17-2.
Cav army kills two English rifles 19-2. Oops, we took the city without good garrison forces.
1st Knights of Odin kill an English Cav 20-2.

IT:

Japan captures Brighton.
Rome: Cavs
Yamama: Mkt->Cav

Turn 6 (1280 AD):

Mostly move troops around.

IT:

Persia and England both land single cavs near Neapolis.
Manp'o: Workers

Turn 7 (1285 AD):

Kill four Jap Cavs 24-2.
Kill the two landing Cavs near Neapolis 26-2.
Notice in CA II that England and Persia just got Steam Power.
Sci slider to 90%, Steam due in 6.

IT:

Cheju: Court->Worker
Hyangsan: Workers

Turn 8 (1290 AD):

Kill seven Persian cavs 31-2.

IT:

Persian cavs kill two of our units, a cav and an acav.
Japan loses two cavs attacking our eMusket by Brighton 33-4.
Veii: Cavs
Copenhagen: Cavs
Taejon: Harbor->Worker
Dariush Kabir: Cavs
Japanese complete Shakes.

Turn 9 (1295 AD):

Kill four Persian cavs and one Persian Crusader 38-4.

IT:

Bergen: Cavs
Neapolis: Cavs
Manp'o: Workers
Muscat: Cavs

Turn 10 (1300 AD):

Not much other than pillaging by our army deep in Japanese territory.

IMO, we need more forces, especially defenders in order to make progress beyond the choke point. Once we lay rails, we should be able to make a breakthrough and keep up the momentum.

We've been getting a lot of bombardments in Tyrana and Dariush Kabir. Despite that, the landings haven't been a problem.