RBC10 - Cultured Communist Comrades

[Grimjack]

RBC10 Cultured Communists, Second manifesto of Grimjack

Order of the politbureau . Expansion at all costs. High time to build culture if we havn't done already.
550BC We have a poaching american settler heading our way, and I suspect he is after our oil. ( With the amount of tundra we have in our planned borders, we have to have oil somewhere. )
I wouldn't want him to disrupt our dotmaps though, so I will see if I can run interference without waking up the barbs.

Even though Samarra lacks aqueduct I swap it to Forbidden Palace. It will get the palace built before reaching size 6, since it lacks a granary.
I was seriously considering Tver, but military need to come from somewhere.

IBT: Our warrior sent out to report about the barbarian movements in the tundra fail to report in, and is presumed missing in action.

530BC: I send the settler towards the eastern dots, hoping to avoid any barbarian horsemen lurking in the mists.
Krasnoyarsk is founded and set towards producing a library.
Our southernmost scout stumbles upon a stack of barbarian horsemen.

IBT: St Petersburg is missed, and riots at size 3. I give it a scientist, and move on. Tver produces a granary, and starts a spearman.

510BC I have nothing with which to impede the american settler/spear pair.

IBT: MOscow: Settler->Barracks ( For getting military out between settlers. ) Vladivostok worker->Library ( For something to sink forest shields into. )
American settler/spear pair heads up into the north where the barbarian horsemen lives. I have no observers here, so I will wait a little while to see if they can soak up the horsemen.

490BC Move settler towards the small lake, being ready to pounce should that spot be available.
With two points of population missing from MOscow, I can nix lux taxes. ( For one turn, until Novgorod grows. )
Or not, as I notice Yekaterinberg has been whipped recently, so luxes back to 10%. Hmm, not good enough for Yekatinenberg. They apparently grew this turn. 20% lux would cost us 2 turns on feudalism, so I give Yekatinenberg a scientist instead.
WOrker in Vladivostok will stay put for now, as I do not want to draw the attention of the barbarians. I would much rather they struck at the American settler/spear pair.

IBT: The american settler/spear goes northwards closer to the barbs.

470BC Fiddle with lux taxes. Ragnar has discovered Monarchy. As he is at war with Germany, he cannot use it to break monopoly on Monotheism.

IBT: A horseman destroys our southern scout.

450BC Movement, fiddling with Tver and Novgorod to make sharing more optimal.

IBT: A green galley lands a settler/spear pair on top of the iron outside St Petersburg.
Novgorod Settler->Settler, Tver Spear->Worker,
Japanese start SunTzu.

430BC Found Khabarovsk by the lake. Discover that the green people are the Japanese. They are up Republic,Monarchy and Feudalism on our Literature and Engineering. They want Literatuer,Engineering and some 400 gold for breaking their monopoly on Feudalism.
I do not see the rush, as I cannot get anything back from selling to Germany ( Except Monotheism of course. )
I will wait and see if Japan/Germany will trade with each other to break their respective monopolies. It would possibly have been nice to start Cathedrals, but at this stage I do not think it is in such a hurry.

IBT: Japan settles aggressively on the iron. Hopefully we will convert their city to our beliefs soonish.

410BC No sign of a new american city, starting to look like the barbs did their work. That also means there still are a horde of unwashed barbarians on our settling grounds.
Gems are roaded up, and I will make a new check to see if I can nix lux taxes. Seems like germany and Japan do not like each other very much, as they didn't trade at all.

IBT: With an empty city on our borders, here comes a horseman. Our spear will reach it in time to defend. Lets hope that will deter the horseman. Tver completes a worker, and starts a spear. Vikings start Temple of Artemis.

390BC. Still no trade opportunities. Meanwhile our own research is chugging along.

IBT: Our spear repels the horseman. As soon as I get a warrior I will have to go explore, to see if it is safe to send settlers into this area.

370BC Found Bryansk in our eastern portions.

IBT: Nothing

350BC Doublewhip a temple in St Petersburg ( By way of Barracks. )
Germany and Japan have traded, and it is time to see what we can get for our monopoly on Engineering. ( And our 15 turns invested into Feudalism. )
Get Feudalism, Monotheism and 206 gold from Japan for Engineering. All the rest of the AIs are poor, so no more trades.
I put research on Invention, as no AI has started research on this. It is possible Germany has research Theology for a while, but I suspect Republic, so any of the three techs would be good for research.
Feel free to try the other techs. My guess is that Japan will go after Chivalry, as that is their UU tech.

The settler is heading for the corner forest to seal off the americans more effectively. The warriors are up scouting to see if it is safe to send settlers up into the tundra.
Both Tver and Moscow will soon be ready for another settler/worker. Both are perhaps needed a touch more desperately than military.

Grimjack


Save is here

 

[T-hawk]

Good turn and good trading. I'd probably suggest researching Theology, as it goes towards Education of course - and Printing Press if we want to try to be the first one to trade contacts, although that isn't too necessary if we're already in the tech lead.

T-hawk
Bede <-- UP NOW
Justus II <-- On Deck
Kylearan
6thGenTexan
Grimjack

Bede gets to revolt us into Feudalism; please do that.

 

[Grimjack]

Good or bad idea to finish the settler from Novgorod before going medieval ? ( Revolting into Feudalism. )

Grimjack

 

[Justus II]

At least the settler can walk during Anarchy Normally I also look for whipping opportunities before a revolt, but I don't see any, and we are going into another pop-rush gov't anyway. Makes some sense, but vs. three turns without the despot penalty for all other cities, probably not worth it. If we had several that would come due within 3, it might be. (Just my 2 cents, it's Bede's call).

 

[Bede]

Got it

Will finish settler and name the first Tsar

 

[T-hawk]

Not worth delaying a new government 3 turns just to get 3 turns of movement for one settler. Plus Novgorod can grow to size 5 during the anarchy and maybe take less turns of building for the settler anyway.

I don't see anything worth whipping right now either. Only the southern two Y-cities are in any position to spend population for shields; and whipping a granary is kinda counterproductive.

 

[T-hawk]

Doh, hit new post when I meant to edit. Anyways, here's what I meant to say:

Remember that scientists continue to work during anarchy; feel free to hire plenty of them.

 

[Bede]

The Interregnum of Rasputin (once known as Bede)

Put the scientists back to work. Lengthens time to Theology by 1 turn but speeds library in Smolensk

Only thing I can say good about this tundra territory is that it's a good place for Feudalism All villages and no cities and certainly no metropolises and now that we have Engineering we can plant some trees on the permafrost I see a few game tiles that would look well with a frosty forest planted on them

We can get at least 90g from Ragnar and Abe for Literature

Seems like everybody in the world is building the Temple of Artemis Only the Germans have started the Great Library in pop6 Leipzig with one unroaded forest and no mines As it only cost 66g to takea look at Leipzig spend the coin and discover only 6spt no acqueduct and a realm in anarchy Looks like Grimjacks research guess was right

Decide to open an embassy with Abe as he is our next biggest neighbor after Germany
Washington is pop1, producing 3spt, 4fpt and 4gpt There are 4 spears in the garrison, and one settler getting ready to trek NW His treasury is 60/40/0 and the city will grow in four turns He's got access to 3 vineyards, an indigo farm, and mulberry trees for silk There are horses and iron to support his military He's built a temple, walls and acqueduct, a colusseum and the Great Wall but no barracks and is building another spearman His other cities are pop1-4 and appear undeveloped on the map I've got

T1 330BC
Domestic Affairs

Moscow finishes its barracks and starts a spearman
St Pete finishes its cultural building and starts another worker
Tver gets its MP and starts a Temple Move a citizen to the forest tile as it speeds the temple and only takes one turn off the growth

Foreign Affairs

The Japanese start the Great Library in Osaka
Germany is still in anarchy
Abe's treasury is growing 3gpt and Ragnar's isn't growing at all
Ragnar has a worker on sale so I make him an offer He wants 120g for him As he originally valued the worker at Literature I'll buy the worker and then try to bankrupt him for Literature We'll be up a forester and he'll be broke It works and we're ahead one slave and the Vikings are busted
Abe apparently doesn't know the Vikings yet so I'm not concerned about Ragnar rebuilding his Treasury by selling him Lit
Warriors head toward the pesky barbarian camp

T2 310BC
Domestic Affairs
Novgorod equips a settler, starts another one and goes on a high carb diet The settler starts his trek to the northlands as the warriors close in on the barbarian camp

Foreign Affairs
Abe's treasury growth is shrinking
Ragnar's treasury is growing by 8
We now have a trade route with Germany but he wants way too much for his trade goods and we don't need them yet Once a couple of cities grow we could use the dyes

T3 290BC

America wipes out the barbs in the NW and founds Cincinnati

Found Murmansk in NE on coast start library

Foreign Affairs
Bismarcks treasury has doubled and he will now offer Dyes and 190g for Engineering
Abe has spent his treasury for Literature from Germany
We no longer have a monopoly on Engineering as the Japs know the tech and the Germans
Sell Bismarck Engineering for 190g and Dyes Buying the Dyes gives us room to grow without raising the lux tax and should prevent starvation deaths during the anarchy

Down with despots!!

Tver gets restive and gets a researcher and a maintenance diet so I can take the second feedlot for Novgorod

The Tsar should come to power just before Rasputin is executed.

T4 270BC

Domestic Affairs
Vladivostok riots and gets a scientist The citizens of Smolensk are starting to build barricades in the streets so they get a scientist and the same in Krasoyarsk

Only the villages are unhappy, the towns are quite pleased The villages lack roads to Moscow so the serfs' clothes are drab and scratchy

Foreign Affairs
Cincinnati is defended by a spear so I shall resist the temptation to wipe it off the map as we are otherwise militarily weak

T5 250BC
Foreign Affairs
Abe starts the Great Library

T6 230BC
Domestic Affairs
Found Archangel in the...tundra! NE of Krasnoyarsk

T7 210BC
Peaceful anarchy

T8 190BC
Catherine comes of age and assumes power in Moscow and everybody goes back to work

T9 170BC
Moscow grows and riots to protest impending execution of Rasputin
A lone barbarian survivor approaches Khahbarovsk

T10 150BC
The lonely barbarian decides life is no longer worth living and suicides on a spearman
Domestic Affairs
Moscow trains an MP and starts a Cathedral

Rasputin submits his final report:
Foreign Affairs
Germany and Japan have parity with us in technology
Ragnar has now entered the MA but has no first tier techs but and no money
Abe spent his treasury to buy Code of Laws and is in the MA but has no techs
Germany and the Vikings are still at war and Otto had burned some Scandanavian cities near Bonn
Japan is unknown to Scandanavia and America but the way he keeps sailing galleys around that won't last long
America has finally met the Vikings as he founded Memphis near the German-Scandinavia landbridge
There are three tribes still in the fog somewhere, one being the Turks

Domestics Affairs
All cities are reasonably content and productive
We need workers to build roads and plant trees and military for MP duty and defense
The treasury is in good shape and our research is progressing nicely towards Theology which should be a monopoly for us
Russia is behind the Japanese (1588 to 1049) in the culture race but ahead of everbody else

There's a spot on a hill on the SE coast east of Samarra between Yakutsk and Bryansk that might make a good town, another in the hills NE of Bryansk and at least one spot inland

Thus writes Rasputin in his final report He leaves no Last Will and Testament other than the admonition to "Honor God, Build Cathedrals in His honor."

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/RBC10_150BC.zip

 

[Justus II]

I see the report, but I can't open the save. I downloaded the file and unzipped it, but when I try to load it, I get to 38% and get an IO error. Tried on two different computers, same thing, so the save must have gotten corrupted? If you can, please try to rezip and repost, and I should be able to get it tonight.

 

[Bede]

Try this one

Sorry for the errors

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/RBC10_150_BC1.zip

 

[Kylearan]

We're feudalistic, yippie! First time for me.

Bede, could you try to use punctuation marks in your report? I find it difficult to read whole paragraphs without any, especially because I'm not a native English speaker.

-Kylearan

 

[Grimjack]

Have the Japanese cleared the seas from pirates yet ?

If they have, it would be valuable to have an exploring galley or two that can make contact. I assume Japan knows the other nations, and it might be much cheaper to get the jcontacts ourselves rather than buy them from Japan once Printing Press comes available.

Poprushing one in St Petersburg would be ideal, as I suspect Japan is rather close to this village.

Grimjack

 

[Justus II]

OK, now I got it, I was able to open the save. Thanks Bede. Sorry I didn't get to it until too late tonight, I will play tomorrow evening.

 

[Justus II]

Tsar Justus II ascends the throne as Russia's first Feudal ruler, and surveys the condition of his fiefdom. We are up to 15 cities, but we don't have enough troops to patrol them all, much less defend them, and nearly half have no roads! We have only 8 workers, and 3 slaves. We are a Scientific people, and we have libraries in most larger towns, but not in our newer villages. Reading back through Rasputin's final words, Tsar Justus II finds these requests:

We need workers to build roads and plant trees and military for MP duty and defense

Can We Do It? Yes We Can! Of course, some of these jobs might take some other tools

I start by spending time reviewing the map and our cities, and develop a plan. Rather than try to build a little of everything, I want to set up specialized cities for workers, settlers, and MPs. Reviewing the cities, we only have 2 barracks, Moscow and Tver. Moscow can be MMed to 10spt, with 0 growth, which isn't bad since we don't have the lux for it to grow above 6 right now anyway. So it will crank out a warrior/turn until everyone has an MP, then some more for eventual upgrades. Tver and Novograd share the two cows, and so they can alternate workers and settlers. I still want a dedicated worker farm, and Yekaterinburg will fit the bill nicely. With an irrigated plain, and by finishing the granary, it can get to +5fpt/+5spt and pump out a worker/2 turns. Most of the remaining cities are prioritized as to when to whip libraries, if they don't already have them. Yakukst switches to a temple, the granary won't complete until it is size 5, and it doesn't have an aquaduct, may as well get the culture started first. Smolensk is ready for a whipped library immediately.

I also want to connect our resources. We have horses near Orenburg, and Iron near Vladivostok, but they are not connected. Vlad could be tough, it is a long peninsula with American Cincinnati in the way. I come up with one creative option. Seeing that Germany has extra iron, but lacks horses, I could hook up our horses, then trade them to Germany for Iron, so we can at least get our warriors and spears upgraded. By the time the deal expires, we could have figured out how to get our own iron.


IBT: Moscow-Warrior>war, Smolensk-Library>worker. Japan starts Knight's Templar (Chivalry) and Vikings start Sun Tzu (they got Feudalism).

130BC (1) Quick diplo check shows no other new techs, just those two. Can't do much about it either. I now whip the temple in Yakutsk. Samarra just grew, I can MM to get the FP in 12 at 0 growth, it wouldn't grow before the FP is done anyway. Workers move toward proposed city sites to build roads. I start a new plan, for connecting the Iron. I will use a forest chop and the whip to get Harbors in Vlad and on our continent, and presto! instant Iron. Workers move to the forests.
IBT: Germany and Scandinavia sign a peace deal. Moscow-war>war, Tver-Settler>worker, Yakutsk-Temple>harbor, Khab-War>Library. Vikings start Great Library. Workers move to connect new cities, horses.

110BC (2) Moscow-war>war, Novg-Settler-settler, settler heads to hills E of Samarra, on the coast.
IBT: St. Pete is hit with disease

90BC (3) More MMing, lots of worker moves.
IBT:Moscow War>War, Tver-Work>Worker.

70BC (4) More MMing, working, etc. I also give Krasnoyarsk one dose of the whip as a short-rush, while waiting for the forest chop to complete the harbor on this side.
IBT: Scandanavia demands Monotheism, they are far enough away that they don't scare me (yet, now Beserks scare me ) so I refuse, and they declare. Moscow-War>war.

50BC (5) Novosibiarsk is founded in the desert 3SW of Samarra, starts a library. We discussed this site several rounds ago, we need to settle in more densely, and after the FP it should be effectively a core city. Orenburg is due for the Whip on their library.
IBT: A forest chop goes awry, Archangel gets a boost toward the library, but Krasno doesn't get the shields for the harbor. Well, the Iron road will take a few more turns anyway, so I chop another forest adjacent. (I thought since Krasno was working that tile, it would fall that way, it was about equal distance). Moscow War-War, Tver-Work>work, Orenburg-Library>harbor. Edo (Japan) finishes Temple of Artemis. Vikes start Sun Tzu (again) and G. Library.

30BC (6) Not much new.
IBT: Moscow-War>war (suprised?). St. Pete-work>Spear (which could be rushed). Germans start Sun Tzu and Americans the Library.

10BC (7) Magadan founded on hill SE of Samarra.
IBT: Moscow-War-War, Novo-Settler>Settler, Tver-Worker>Spear (so it can grow again), Yekaterinburg-Granary>worker.

10AD (8) Settler heads north. Yek should be a 2-turn worker factory, but now only 4spt, the new towns must have bumped Yekat up in the corruption rankings. I send a couple workers to mine the 2nd hill, which should get it back on track (or when the FP completes), for now it will take 3 turns for the worker, and will hit pop 7 temporarily.
IBT: Horses are connected! Good thing we are connecting our own iron, Germany won't part with Iron cheap, certainly not just for horses. Now might be a good time to build some horses that can be upgraded once we get the iron and chivalry. Oh yeah, Moscow-war>war.

30AD (9) Double-whip the harbor in Vlad, forest chop means Krasno will finish next turn also! But both are still waiting on roads to complete. Bad news, Japan has beaten us to Theology. We have been running deficit research at max the whole time, but I think Japan could be the monster in this game. They now have both Chivalry and Theo at monopoly. Even with all our research, our 'discounted' price is 770g.
IBT: Moscow-War-War, Yekat-Worker>temple, Vlad-Harbor>Library, Smolensk-Worker>Temple, Krasno-Harbor>library.

50AD (10) Just worker moves, move spears to the coastal cities just in case. An American settler/horse combo has moved into our tundra in the north, I assume they are going for the peninsula, but our road-building workers and an occasional MP move are forcing them to go the scenic route, while our settler is heading strait north, we should be able to get there first (wherever 'there' is, somewhere on the tundra coast). Most military is fortified in cities, all worker actions are done.

The Russian Fiefdom, 50AD[b/]

*Don't forget about St. Petersburg in Germany's NW corner.

Notes:
*We have 4 turns left on Theology. We can Buy It Now for 590g, to start another research project sooner, or research it ourselves at a cost of (61x4)=244. I dropped the slider to 80%, still 4 turns.
*Vikings have yet to send a unit, but also won't talk. They should talk soon, though. They were last in tech, so I don't know that we can get much for peace, unless the monopolies break before then.
* America has a worker available, (+Monarchy and 26g) for one of our entry techs (Mono/Feudal/Engineering). Everyone else has Feudal, so it's probably worth it to pick up the worker, but that's up to the next Tsar.
* FP is done in three, I MM'd and started slow growth, but once the FP completes, I would build a barracks so Moscow can get off military and start growing again.
* Yekat isn't quite right yet, but the FP will probably cure it, if not when the hill is mined there should be a spare spt there. My thought was to set it up as a worker-2turn factory, both for infrastructure and to merge into some slow-growth cities (like Samarra once they get a duct).
* Harbors are both done, but the road to Krasno completes next turn, and the road on the iron completes in 3.

Well, We Did It, everyone has at least 1 MP, most have 2, and once the Iron is connected, we can upgrade over a dozen vet warriors to swords. Worker count is now up to 14 also, and we have a settler headed north.

BTW, Grimjack, you had a great idea:

Have the Japanese cleared the seas from pirates yet ? If they have, it would be valuable to have an exploring galley or two that can make contact. I assume Japan knows the other nations, and it might be much cheaper to get the jcontacts ourselves rather than buy them from Japan once Printing Press comes available.
Poprushing one in St Petersburg would be ideal, as I suspect Japan is rather close to this village.

I couldn't agree more, I just wish I had remembered that before I started playing! I printed Bede's notes when I tried to get the save the first time, and when I re-posted my got it, I missed this post. Sorry Still a good idea for the next player, who is:

T-hawk
Bede
Justus II
Kylearan <-- UP NOW
6thGenTexan <-- On Deck
Grimjack


Save us from the Vikings!

 

[Bede]

The ghost of Rasputin says Tsar Justus

 

[T-hawk]

Good progress. Specialized cities are a must, yes. I don't think I would've stopped Moscow at size 6, but that may have been a good plan anyway.

Don't waste money on Theology of course. Not only does it cost more to buy, there's opportunity cost as well. Because we have libraries, we get more From Cities income when researching than when cashing.

As for the forest chop, here is an image illustrating how that works:



When you chop a forest, the game checks all the surrounding tiles in the order indicated by the numbers for a city eligible to receive the 10 shields. It will bypass a city that is ineligible (because it is building a wonder or belongs to a different civ). By following this diagram, you can tell where the shields are going to go; if the bonus is going to go to the wrong city, temporarily swap that city to a Palace.

As for Japan, they may be the big dog, but we'll have time to deal with them. We (at least I hope Kylearan did ) turned off space and diplomatic victories, so unless Japan conquers us or somehow manages double our culture , they won't be beating us.

 

[Justus II]

@T-Hawk: Thanks. That picture explains a lot, although certainly far from intuitive! Krasno would have been in position 19, and Archangel in position 9, so it wasn't even close! So what tiles are being worked has no effect.

Regarding Moscow, maybe it's a carryover from RBC5, keeping towns below 7 is better for unit support, although we are certainly far from hitting it. It should easily grow again now, we can irrigate some grassland if needed.
EDIT: Happiness was also a problem, but I think we can compensate better now, give it 3MP if needed.


I agree on Theology too, just wanted to point out the options.

My biggest concern with Japan is not them getting double our culture, but that we have to achieve double theirs, just makes it more challenging! Of course, I could be wrong, but we really need to explore and find out who else is over there and what's going on. We might also get some 2-fer opportunities. Which is why I should have built some galleys . . .

 

[Grimjack]

Thanks for the picture T-Hawk.
Grimjack

 

[T-hawk]

The forest chop is intuitive once you understand how it works. Go around the first ring clockwise from the top. Then go around the second ring clockwise from the top. The picture does help to illustrate it; maybe I should post it to the strategy articles forum?

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that same algorithm (clockwise from the top in each ring) is used for some other situations as well. One such situation is when units get ejected from rival territory; the game steps through tiles in this same way to find an open tile to put them in.

 

[Kylearan]

A 'thanks!' to T-Hawk from me, too: I already knew that working a tile doesn't help getting a forest chop, but had no idea how the game determined it otherwise. But I don't want to know how you tested *that* ...

It looks like we're making good progress: FP, worker farm, MPs, road net... &nbsp; And I also like the galley idea a lot, not only to make new contacts, but also to see just how big Japan (or any other monster-civ) is.

There's a problem regarding the roster, though: From Thursday to Tuesday it's carnival season here. The world has gone completely mad - silly costumes and strange music everywhere! And between dancing and being drunk I have work to finish, so please either skip me this round, or perhaps I could play after Tex and/or Grimjack? I think I'll be able to play again on Tuesday.

-Kylearan