rbd23 - c

Patching: I'm ok with not patching. The only other game I'm in is RBD19, where there's a 10 day turn limit & where I'm behind several other players, so it's no big deal for me wrt impact on other SGs.
 
Too tired for a full report tonight. I'll put one up tomorrow.

Short story: Peace with Zulus. Trying to maneveur for war with Aztecs. No techs from GL.

Picture:

rbd23c-450ad.jpg


Save file:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads/rbd23c-japan-450ad.zip

I hope those are both right.

Arathorn

(I'd like to see this game move ASAP so I can get one more turn in Friday/Saturday before I patch...)
 
Looks good so far. Will wait for the report to provide more than a little bit of commentary.

Our core cities that have decent lands & can grow to 12 need to go on an infrastructure push soon -- aqueducts, marketplaces, and maybe cathedrals. The reason I say marketplaces rather than cathedrals first being we soon will have control over multiple lux sites, enough to make the markets worth more in both lux and cash. Cathedrals are cheaper and give culture, and would be useful too, but at minimum we want aqueducts and markets.

Don't forget to irrigate and bring down water from the lake north of Leipzig to the cities further south, and the same goes for the river around Zimbabwe (even more so). We want to be able to use hills and such without stunting our growth.
 
(0) 350 - Wake up a couple troops to kill Zulus -- mainly GL fishing but also advancing on their cities.
Buy market in Kyoto, barracks in Zimbabwe, and horsemen in Osaka. Change Edo to catapult and give up one turn of growth to finish in one turn (work mined iron).
Check on peace, decide to wait.

Watch Umtata get attacked -- seeing one half of the battle. Three battles leaves one one hp impi defending it. SCORE! Apparently, it was the Aztecs fighting them.... Wait a minute! I thought charliehoke said they declared peace....apparently, the PERSIANS made peace with Shaka. So our alliance is still in force -- good to know.

(1) 360 - Umtata must have finished an impi between turns -- took two units to capture. Fortunately, we had a rested horsie in Zimb to follow up.

Aztecs start Hanging Gardens. Still not a good enough peace offer.

(2) 370 - Izumo founded. Purchase granary in Konigsburg and start barracks. Sell currency to Russia for 107 gold and Contruction for WM and 30 gold.

(3) 380 - Attack Isand uphill. Four battles gives three victories and the city! WOOHOO! (They had one impi and two archers in the city.) No GL, though. Boo. We're getting pretty stretched.

Shaka, what'll you give me for peace? Two cities? Alright... Just let me talk to Monty first.
Sorry, Monty, we want to end the anti-Zulu alliance. Yeah, I know that ticks you off a bit. It's gotta be done, though. We'll leave the RoP in place for now....
Shaka, let's have those two cities. Huh? You'd never accept that deal now? Cancelling the alliance changes your peace terms? "Well, #@$*()&@)(*#&$ it all to #@(&*(& anyway. And #$)@(*& on your mother, too." I take Swazi and two workers and make peace anyway. We can't really defend Isand and our new forces are gonna be a bit, too.
Swazi has been whipped to death and can only make a specialist. I go for Feudalism at 40 turns, figuring the one gold/turn trade-off is worth it (wasting a worker who could be doing lands is rarely worth it....this guy was either gonna be a taxman or a scientist.)

Tokyo finishes its courthouse and begins barracks.

(4) 390 - Order Zulus out of our lands. Hmmm....on second thought, they were probably going to fight the Aztecs, why not let them? OK, so I won't order them out again. It did give Swazi a bit of breathing room, though.

Buy granary in Kagoshima and spear in Swazi.
Xerx renews our incense deal. He gives incense and 39 gold and we give silk and dyes.
Isand goes into disorder. Musta missed that on my turnly perusal. The worker is made into a taxman.

(5) 400 - Random troop movement. Sell Monarchy to Cathy for 60 gold. Watch A/Z fight.

(6) 410 - Useful troop movement, preparing for invasion of Aztecs once their troops are off the mountain and we can kill the lot of them. Hoping that A and Z weaken each other a bit.

(7) 420 - Same. Kago finishes walls and starts barracks.

(8) 430 - Buy marketplace in Sats to prevent need for entertainer there. Persia completes Lighthouse, which is so unnecessary this game.

(9) 440 - Nagasaki founded on Swazi island. Mainly serves to discourage others from landing there. Starts a warrior for defense.

(10) 450 - Still not the right time to cancel Aztec RoP and attack. Muttering, I save and quit.

Advice?
Keep watching for a good time to cancel RoP with Aztecs and attack.
Scare up a few more defensive units to follow behind our horses.
Change my :smoke: workers on lake near Konigsburg to irrigate and not mine.
If it works, settle up north on the island(s) there.
Build another boat or two to prepare for naval invasions once A/Z are dead.

Arathorn
 
Sounds like your're pushing for a war with Aztecs, while I'm looking to beef up our core cities. Are those objectives mutually exclusive? Just how strong are we relative to the Aztecs? Do we have enough defensive troops in our Z-land cities to keep the other civs honest?

We should be expecting to see Samurai relatively soon, pretty much as soon as we can research Chivalry after we get Feudalism from the GL, and we will definately want cities capable of building them by then. We don't want to have to completely stop military builds to upgrade our cities when it happens.

What are we spending our cash on? Hopefully it's to improve infrastructure in core cities and in the area surrounding our FP city... is that going to be Zimbabwe?

Lovro's up next, and Grey Fox is on deck. I think we want to speed up play for a bit, so PLEASE post if you can't play within 24 hrs tops. Also, let us know if you're planning to patch before we finish -- if so you may need to drop out of the game!

Patching before RBD23c completed?:
Arathorn - yes
Lovro - ?
Grey Fox - ?
Zed - no
Charliehoke - ?
 
As an observer - I would like to point out that you should probably NOT patch. There are gameplay differences in the patch, resulting in differences in the various games.

To maintain the similar game base, none of the games should patch.
 
War with Aztecs? Absolutely. I think Z lands can hold their own for a while. Every city has a spear, which is usually a deterrent. Shaka probably won't attack for a while, being busy with Aztecs and really VERY weak.

I expect to ally with Xerxes or we're in trouble.

Aztecs have no iron, and horsies/swords vs. spears/archers is usually nice, let alone once we get samurai.

The faster we start the war, the earlier we win it -- probably. (You'll note I wanted to start about 3 turns before my set ended and didn't -- cause it was never the right time.)

I think we can take them -- but it'll be slow until we get a bit better offense. We're up to about 6 horsies and a sword over there, though, which is a start.

Money was spent on both infrastructure and units -- some of the "infrastructure" was military infra though. I spent more on the former than the latter, though. I'm starting to save up gold for samurai upgrades when the time comes.

How many units do we need to crank later? Is one every 7 turns from 7 cities enough? Quite possibly. But why not pikes (30 shields) to follow up behind the samurai, with just a couple cities doing sams? 10 samurai will probably be enough to take the Aztecs if they don't need to do garrison duty....

As for patching, I probably will, but I might be "arm-twisted" into uninstalling 1.21 long enough to play this game.... Dunno. Let's see how other things pan out, OK? Don't assume I'm out unless I say so for sure.

Definitely agree on the faster turn-around times. PLEASE!!

Arathorn
 
One thing that could potentially help speed up your play time would be to post the turn order after each person plays 10 turns. For example:

Arathorn
Lovro <<< UP NOW
Grey Fox <<< on deck
Zed
Charliehoke

I hope I'm not intruding, but it seems at times the order may be unclear to the next person playing. This also lets the person on deck know to be paying attention so they can pick up the game shortly after the previous person finishes. Your game seems to be going well - good luck! :goodjob:
 
I got it. I'll probably play tommorow morning.
 
I am also very much of the opinion that we should press the attack upon the Aztecs as soon as possible!
 
A small number of cities doing sams would probably suffice, but right now we don't have ANY cities capable of doing sams in 7 turns. Kyoto should be able to when it reaches 12 if we mine a nearby mountain, but that's it. Furthermore, many of our cities still don't have 6 good tiles, let alone a dozen, and most of them will need to use coast for a good chunk of their food, thereby further limiting production. Despite my worker push last time, we still need more if we're going to get some cities up to 12 in a reasonable timeframe.

Hence, why I think we need to start concerning ourselves with growing at least a couple more of our cities, particularily those that stand a reasonable chance of getting some good production out of it. I worry about corruption at Berlin but it's easiest since it has good land; Leipzig would be a bit harder because of all the jungle, and Tokyo is too food-limited and coast-dependent. Satsuma is also a reasonable candidate since it has hills nearby and water available if we irrigate over from Zimbabwe.

My vote would be to pick at least 2 core cities to grow to 12 for production so we can eventually pump out some Sams at a reasonable clip -- would Berlin and Satsuma work? We can build military and workers in other cities for now until our chosen cities are happily growing and ready to switch to military. Then we can swap another couple cities over to infrastructure (maybe Leipzig will have some jungle cleared by then) and repeat. Our Zululand colonies should also concentrate on infra so we can get a reasonable boost out of building an FP there, but they aren't contributing in a valuable way to our military right now anyway so we won't lose any mil strength because of that.

Following that plan, we still ought to have sufficient military support for a war against the Aztecs, while preparing for Middle Ages units in the near future.
 
Well, another questionable 10 turns. Many troops lost, but our luck should soon turn around.

(0) 450 AD: Micromanaged Kyoto to get a Library in 2 turns with no shield waste.

(1) 460 AD: Aqueduct ordered in Tokyo. Leipzig will build one horseman and then the aqueduct. Worker finished in Satsuma, horseman ordered, to be followed by aqueduct. Do we attack the Aztecs or not? We can immediately crush 4 of their archers, probably losing a horseman the turn after. Oh well, what the hell. Attacks commence :hammer: , and we defeat the 4 archers as anticipated, *and* our horseman defends from an Aztec attack! :goodjob: No promotions or GL yet, though.

(2) 470 AD: Zulu swordsman kills off one Aztec archer and forces an attacking Aztec horseman to retreat. Persia will join us in the battle at the price of spices and 3 gpt. I agree and they are now gracious towards us. We are earning 81 gpt :hammer: Leipzig switched to worker, aqueduct next. Our catapults cannot reach Aztecia because of the jungles.

(3) 480 AD: Feudalism pops out of the Great Library :hammer: Getting chivalry in 10 turns at +14 gpt. I didn't put science into overdrive since some of our cities capable of producing samurai are building aqueducts right now (Berlin, Leipzig, Tokyo). Also, we'll need every extra penny to upgrade our (more than) 9 horsemen to Samurai as soon as we get Chivalry. The Russians still haven't met anyone, but they have a galley exploring near Aztecia. Our galley is following. Delaying attack on Texcoco due to worn out horsemen. We lose a veteran horsie attacking a worn out archer on grass near Tula :eek:

(4) 490 AD: Lost a spearman near Kagoshima :( Production switched from spearman to pikeman.

(5) 500 AD: The Persians are building Sun Tzu's. Russians are going to make contact with Aztecia. I sell them contact for the few gold they have.

(6) 510 AD: Spearman in Kagoshima upgraded to pikeman. I should have done this sooner. As anticipated, Russian galley heads towards Aztecia, and gets all comm (probably in exchange for their maps).

(7) 520 AD: A few (too many) horsemen lost attacking Aztec cities :( Chivalry in 4 turns.

(8) 530 AD: Autorazed Texcoco.

(9) 540 AD: Veterans of the Battle of Texcoco arrive in Kagoshima to heal and to be trained to become Samurai.

(10) 550 AD: Elite swordie lost :(


We are getting chivalry next turn.

We have 10 horsemen, to be upgraded to Samurai ASAP. I pulled back our other galley to help with the troop transport. The one near Kagoshima (horseman/catapult) should dock there, while the one near Kyoto (horseman/horseman) should head to Satsuma. We have 688 gold, currently with +38 gpt at 30% science. We might want to delay the horseman in Kyoto and then switch it to building Samurai after Chivalry is researched to save the 80 gold (we could definitely use it). Zulu units are heading towards Tula, a city we could use since it would provide us with gems (there are more to the north in Aztecia). There are wines north of Kagoshima, that should take care of any potential war weariness for the time being.

I just realized I did something extremely stupid, I didn't even think of selling contact with the Russians *to* Persia or Zululand. We'd get an extra ~30 gold + Persian WM. Oh, well :smoke:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads/rbd23-c-550ad.zip
 
Ok, will check out the situation & get back with some comments. Report sounds pretty good though...

Grey Fox, you're up next! We're trying to play through quickly, so please post some results within 24 hrs, or we'll have to skip. You're in europe, right? If you post results this evening your time, I might be able to play after you. (I have company over this evening, so we'll see if I get a chance -- if not, then tomorrow daytime.)
 
Hi guys!

I think we are doing very well, even though we keep labeling our turns as "questionable" :D

In any case, after upgrading those 9 horsemen to Samurai, we should be able to completely wipe out both the Aztecs and the Zulu's in the next few turns. In the meantime, I think we should just concentrate and building as many samurai as we can, hopefully getting the forbidden palace in Zimbabwe from a leader as well.

I see us winning conquest or domination really soon, just using Samurai. I think all efforts should be made with that goal in mind, so we can A) Win the competition!! and B) Install the patch!!

Good luck Grey fox! :cool:
 
Alright, here goes....

I have NO InterNet access from home at this point -- none at all. ISP problems and the like. Anyway, that makes me out until Monday. No comments on anything posted later than when I leave work today. Nothing.

That said, if I'm "up" before Monday and somebody else can play before Monday afternoon (all "my" time), I would ask that they do so and I get put into their place at that point (e.g. if GF, Zed, and charlie all play by Sunday and Lovro can play Monday morning and post, he do so and then I play after him). I think that makes sense.

I will hold off on patching until I get one more turn in here -- hopefully Monday night. At that point, I'll evaluate waiting with the patch for another turn, or doing dual installs or something like that. But I'm in for one more turn, almost assuredly. (I'm hoping it will be my last set of turns, as a win will occur after that.)

I would vote for hard 36 hour turn-around time. From when the last player posted, 36 hours to get it done or you're skipped. (Of course, I would like to see prior arrangements such as mine above be honored.)

=======================
Game suggestions:

Once chivalry is done, turn science off again. Leave it off -- completely -- probably forever. Maybe do the one scientist in a whipped city thing.

Change all production to military interest only (barracks, walls -- doubtful value except in beachhead cities, harbors all count).

Hope for a GL for FP on A/Z island.

Get our fleet up to about 4 ships so we can move faster when it's time to invade Russia -- and to get the darn island A cities.

Send a few (2) settlers over to A/Z island to fill in gaps and hopefully become defensive unit production factories.

Finish off A as fast as possible with samurai forces.

Ally with Russia against A, else A will ally against us.

Workers road first and do else later (road to Tblisi soon)

Arathorn
 
Sorry, no time for much of a write-up now...

The settler should found where he is. Concentrated on infrastructure in core areas and military elsewhere. We are now in our Golden Age. All our horsies have been upgraded and we have made major progress in the war against the Aztecs. We are building our Forbidden Palace in Izumo -- Zimbabwe is tragic and would never have been able to finish it, but Izumo is in a nice hilly region, suitable for high production (once we get some hills mined & roaded.) Spent our cash on upgrades & critical infrastructure, mostly in the Izumo region.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads/rbd23-c-650ad.zip

EDIT: ok, a bit more time for a writeup... We have basically 4 classes of cities:

1) Major centers: These cities have built aqueducts and marketplaces or are working on them, and are good to grow to size 12. NOTE: We do not need libraries or cathedrals here -- all we need are courthouses, aqueducts, and marketplaces to make a major center. Kyoto, Leipzig, Satsuma. Leipzig and Satsuma are good candidates for worker gangs to improve terrain.

2) Support towns: These are useful either from a production and/or cash standpoint but are limited by corruption/production/food so are not good to grow to 12. Rather they produce workers/settlers and military units. Everything else on Japan (including Tokyo & Berlin), as well as Kagoshima. For the most part, these cities have already got enough improved tiles around them, but in some cases there may be a few tiles left that could stand to be improved.

One could argue that Tokyo, Berlin, and Kagoshima could be building up and becoming major centers. (In fact, Tokyo and Berlin were on that path at the start of my turn.) However, each is at least 1/3 corrupt even with a courthouse, and we are trying to win quickly by conquest rather than build up for a long game; we needed them to build troops more than we needed some moderately corrupt major centers. NOW, at the end of my turn, is a good time to revisit that decision -- we still have 10 or so turns left on our Golden Age, and that's always a good time to build up expensive infrastructure items; plus we have enough troops now to finish off the Aztecs and mop up the Zulu afterwards, with Kyoto and Satsuma (and soon Leipzig) ready to keep up with the reinforcements. It may be worth it to use cash to rush infrastructure in these 3 towns to convert them to major centers quickly -- we're pulling in quite a bit of that as well as increased production during our GA, and reinvesting it in infrastructure to keep that healthy cash flow going even after our GA ends could be a good plan.

3) Developing towns: Cities building infrastructure in the eventual hope they will develop into Major centers or useful support towns. Izumo, Nagoya, Teotihuacan, new town to be founded by settler next turn. All these cities need worker gangs improving terrain around them -- especially Izumo, getting our FP out ASAP should be our TOP priority IMO. We should also strongly consider spending cash here to insta-build these cities, especially once our FP comes online.

4) Tragic villages: Everything else. Mostly we don't care what happens here, though in some cases things like barracks and temples may be needed. An FP in Izumo will eventually turn several of these into developing towns. We don't need worker gangs here unless they are about to become developing cities. Of particular note: some newly conquered Aztec cities still need down to size 1.

Currently we have worker gangs near Izumo, Kyoto, Leipzig, and Kagoshima. Worker gangs are better than isolated workers because you can get good tiles into use much quicker. The gang at Kyoto could probably move over to A-Z land via galley (might take a while) as there's not much left to do in Old Japan -- there's no possibility of irrigating it, so our cities have to use coast tiles for food, and improving land tiles we can't use doesn't make sense.

Research and diplomacy -- I mostly ignored it. We got Invention via the Great Library, and started gunpowder at 1-scientist rate. I didn't get Russia in on the wars since I wanted to use our gold for upgrades & infrastructure instead. :) We could sell an ROP for a tidy sum now, but be wary about signing one with anyone we might consider attacking anytime soon. (Persia should be safe, not sure about Russia.)

War weariness is a negligible factor right now as we have 6 luxuries within our borders. :) There are a couple wonders available but I can't see any reason we'd want to build any -- all our upgrades are pretty much done, and barracks are cheap to buy and easy to build.
 
Some maps...

rbd23-c-650ad.jpg




rbd23-c-650ad2.jpg



EDIT: Please note I've added additional comments to my previous post...
 
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