RBE6 - The Naked Vikings

[JMB]

0 - Decide to change Stockholm to a settler (I'll probably whip in 9 turns...) Other than that, everything looks good.

1 - Have to increase the lux tax to 70% (-10 gpt) to keep Copenhagen happy. Both it and Trondheim will complete their settlers next turn. India really doesn't want to leave our territory...

(I) - Somehow (probably a settler on a galley), India got a settler in our territory and they have settled Punjab just to the north of our Iron deposit!! (where the northern purple dot was). I think we could be in deep trouble...

2- We are now down to 30% lux. Copenhagen changed to barracks. Change Bergen to a temple (it is one of the main reasons we have to run 30%; even at 30% we still have to hire a taxmam...).

3 - Not much.

4 - I use one of our swordsmen to check out Punjab. Fortunately, it is only defended by a single warrior.

5 - Grrr... Jaipur's borders expand yet again, and we have to vacate our choke preventing other Indian units from fortifying Punjab.

6 - Not much.

7 - Not much. I decide not to whip the settler as 1) there is nowhere to use him and 2) he will be complete shortly after my reign.

(I) - the Indians want to trade their TM for ours and 10 gold. I decline as we need our money for other things... The Carthagians begin the Hanging Gardens.

8 - Not much.

9 - Not much.

10 - Not much.

Right now, we can't afford any techs or resources (we could perhaps afford a Carthagian luxury...). A settler is due out of Stockholm within the next couple of turns. Stockholm's production can be changed, but since our peace treaty with India will end in 10 turns and we'll want to raze Punjab, I think we should keep the settler.

I produced several warriors for MP duty (we couldn't build swordsmen anyway...) and am currently producing archers out of Trondheim and the city to the east of there (Something should be done to this city to increase it's shield output. Right now it is producing 8 spt (9, with one wasted). It would be nice to increase it to 11. With that in mind, I am clearing one of the game tiles to increase our growth rate.)

The swordsmen, and spearman around Punjab are for our assault there in 10 turns (if the next leader feels that the swordsmen would be of more use around Bergen, move them and use the archers being produced to take their places). The units around Bergen are heading towards the choke.

All in all, I think we are in pretty dire straights...

Here's the file: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads3/RBE6Naked350BC.zip

JMB

 

[JMB]

Here's what our civ looks like...

JMB

 

[Reagan]

Right now, we can't afford any techs or resources (we could perhaps afford a Carthagian luxury...).

If I read T-hawk's report correctly, the trade route with Carthage runs through Indian territory. If we are going to be at war with India sometime soon, we should avoid being in a deal where we give goods to Carthage (e.g., some of our Wines) that will get broken when war is declared. The last thing we want is to have our reputation sullied.

 

[JMB]

Reagan,

Right now, we already are exporting some of our wines to Carthage... I can't remember how many turns we have left on this deal, but I am guessing that it will probably end on the same turn our peact treaty with India ends.

reagan <<< on deck
Sullla
T-Hawk
JMB
JaxomCA <<< UP NOW

Jaxom, good luck with your turn.

JMB

 

[JaxomCA]

Preturn: We have a huge happiness problem. Copenhagen is changed from barracks to temple. Trondheim is changed from archer to warrior to build its 2 MP. Reykjavik workers are stopped to build a road instead. There is no point in pushing the growth there until we can build an aqueduct, which will not happen this millenia. We do however need the commerce badly. A swordsman is moved in India to blockade Punjab.

1. 330 BC Gandhi doesn't whine at our swordsman presence, poor sucker.
   
2. 310 BC Trondheim has done 2 MP and begins a temple.
   
3. 290 BC ...
   
4. 270 BC Mathematics is acquired from the Ottoman for 8 gpt and 66 golds. Reykjavik is switch to catapult production. Trondheim also will get a couple out before doing its temple. Gandhi finally wakes up and boot me out of India. He has no units in range of crossing the choke, so I will just return to block it. Stockholm completes its settler and begins a temple.
   
5. 250 BC Ah! Carthage drops a pair of horseman near Punjab. Gandhi asks me to leave again, ok Gandhi, I am gone Everybody has construction except the Ottoman but we can't buy in. Copenhagen completes its temple and begins a catapult.
   
6. 230 BC Carthage kills one of the defenders but loose his second horseman. On counter strike, the remaining horse kills an attacker. The choke is still blocked. Why is Hannibal annoyed at us all of the sudden? I reload and see that we had a luxury deals with them. The bad news is the trade route is now broken, so our reputation is toasted. Whoever made that deal, that was weed. Don't make luxury deals until we have a secure trade route. At this time, only India would be a safe trading partner. I give 1 gpt to Temujin for 3 golds, that is our current gpt value. I hope this deal will restore our reputation.
   
7. 210 BC Hannibal came asking for a tribute, I told him it wasn't my fault but he declared war anyway. The good news is, we can reduce luxury to 10% because of war happiness.
   
8. 190 BC ...
9. 170 BC Carthage lands a numidian and a swordsman right between Stavenger and Punjab, where will he attack? I move some swordsman on Iron Hill in case Carthage wins Punjab.
   
10. 150 BC Carthage captures Punjab with a 1 HP numidian. Our elite swords jumps on him and...
    
    
    
    
    
    Another swordsman promote to elite by dispatching the remaining swordsman. Punjab is razed and a settler is moved into position to replace the city. The leader is sent back to Copenhagen.

There are no wonders to build now but nobody has Literature. If we can get that single tech, we will get all techs Alternatively, we could start a prebuild in Copenhagen or Reykjavik and switch our min research to Literature. Unless someone gets Literature soon, we would have a very good chance to get the GL by hand building it. Currently, only Carthage is working on a wonder, the Hanging Gardens. But I think it is best to keep on building military units and take over India as soon as possible. There are 4 vet warriors in Bergen and we have enough cash to upgrade 2.

Here is the save at the end of 150 BC.

 

[T-hawk]

The wines-to-Carthage deal was my doing; it looked safe, and we did get two techs for it. I figured we were safely at peace with India for 20 turns; it never crossed my mind that CARTHAGE might declare on India!

Even so, the game was allowing use of Indian harbors for a possible trade route between us and Carthage while we were at war with India. But it won't allow use of Indian harbors while CARTHAGE is at war with India. Very confusing...?

Don't worry much about Literature. We can buy it once it gets around to a couple civs; we've got plenty of time before anyone else will complete the Library. And it will show up long before 40 turns from now (everybody has had Writing for at least 20 turns presently) so changing our own minimum research won't help.

Definitely don't try to hand-build any wonder. We've still got a Deity AI nearly twice our size sharing our continent with us; we need all the swords we can get (and catapults if at all possible...)

 

[Sullla]

Healfdene! :worshp: :worshp:

I was cheering out loud when I saw that picture, prompting odd looks from my suitemates, heh. NO ONE is working on the Great Library (hey, no one has Literature!), and only Hannibal is working on the Hanging Gardens. That means we should see no cascade whatsoever, and the GL is all but locked down for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the AI civs for once again poorly prioritizing which techs to research.

We've got 5 cats right now and a couple more on the way. At the moment, I'd say we're about 3-4 turns away from another war with India, we need to move some units into position and allow our elite swords to heal back up to full hit points. When we sign peace with Hannibal, ignore techs and go for GOLD. We will get all techs free with the Library. Gold can go to upgrading more warriors and saving it up to buy Literature when it appears (since we can't get it on gpt credit). If Hannibal won't give us gold or doesn't have any, get us a world map so we can see what the world looks like! It's past time for that.

With India, all we want to do at this point is to raze and replace Karachi/Jaipur. If we can do more then great, but that should be the goal. There are horses under Jaipur, which we will want to control. Take the cats along too - properly guarded! - to defend against the inevitable Indian counterattack. This is looking better and better all the time, guys. reagan, it's in your hands now.

Oh, and one more thing: Healfdene! woot!

 

[JMB]

Great turn! I am glad things turned out like they did... (wrt Carthage declaring war on India)

JMB

 

[JaxomCA]

T-hawk, in one game I had a trade broken with a civ who had a harbor. The problem was, they had only one harbor and the city was destroyed by their enemy. Since then, I wait at least until the civ has 2 harbors far from each other before trading luxuries. It is tempting to trade them early on, but they are not worth that many gpt in the early game so this gets us a tech just a little faster. A stained gpt reputation will delay many techs for a very long time. However, it is true that hard cash will still work and is cheaper in the long run. We only have to save our cash until we can buy in, but I am more of a spender than a saver

Sulla, if we are going to save the leader for the Great Library, then it is probably best to keep the new elite in a safe place. No point in sending him into battle if we already have a leader.

 

[Reagan]

Ragnar the Despot, founder of the Viking civilization and shunner of clothing, had a medical problem that even the doctors of modern times have struggled to understand. You see, he had multiple personalities. No, he didn’t “hear voices.” He actually had several personalities residing within (and controlling) him. He had recently been controlled by his animalistic side – two personalities with either the name of or interest in great creatures. One, T-Hawk, had guided the Vikings through a very trying time – the First Indian War. Another, with the heart of a dragon, had led the Vikes to a grand victory over Carthaginian troops and had trained a great leader, who was capable of aiding the noble cause of the Viking people. Ragnar had also given himself over to the secretive personality who preferred to be known only by the initials JMB, who had presided over a period of peaceful building. The remaining two personalities were named for a man Ragnar’s soothsayers said would be one of history’s great leaders and another named for an important figure in the history of a civilization that would be known as “Rome.”

Ragnar knew his civilization was still experiencing trying times, so he listened to all of his personalities at once before continuing with his leadership. Some of them urged preparation for the construction of something, anything, that would make the world marvel. Others argued in favor of continued concentration on the defense of Scandinavia and the prosecution of a campaign against the treacherous Indian people. It was the latter group that made the strongest case. And so, as he felt the personality named reagan come to the forefront, Ragnar turned his attention back to the preparation for the hammering of India.

Ragnar immediately ordered all scientific work towards the pursuit of some religious hoo-ha called Polytheism ended, with the cost savings contributed towards the war effort. He also ordered a portion of his people’s treasury spent to purchase swords so a veteran warrior could be better equipped for the coming battle.

With those plans in place, Ragnar ordered his Viking people to push forward to whatever fate awaited them. They soon founded a new city at the site of the city of sacrifice – Oslo. Following the advice of the sage named Datsekkar, who assured Ragnar that such a thing would cause the gods to smile upon the Viking people, Ragnar named the new city “Christiania.” Despite the pleasant feeling the reclamation of a portion of his homeland gave him, Ragnar also felt his anger towards the evil Indians rekindling as he visited the site of the former city of Oslo. After bowing his head in remembrance of those brave souls, Ragnar looked to the eastern horizon and swore revenge. What Ragnar saw on the horizon only fueled his fury. Like unwanted ants at a picnic, Indian units were streaming towards (and into!!!) Viking territory. Ragnar sent an emissary to the despicable Indian leader and demanded that the trespassers leave at once. Gandhi, being a warmonger at heart, refused and declared war on the Vikings. Because he had anticipated this eventuality, Ragnar already had troops in place. They initially inflicted a great deal of pain on the Indians by killing two veteran swords and one spear at the cost of one sword and with the promotion of two elite swords within the ranks of the Viking military. Unfortunately, the Indian counter-attack killed two mighty Viking spearmen. The Indians also landed troops near Stockholm, but Ragnar expedited the training of a swordsman in the city by applying a little leather incentive , which proved quite useful. After thumping the lone Carthaginian archer who dared land on Viking soil, Ragnar was able to gain an audience with the Cannibal. For 11 gpt, Carthage would declare a cease-fire with the Vikings. Oh, they would also give 5 gp towards peace. Peace couldn’t have come at a better time for the Vikings, because ships with brown sails were closing in on the Viking homeland and interior defenses were weakened by a multi-front war.

Did I fail to mention that, as a kind gesture, Carthage would also provide the secrets of Literature? Well, they did. Ragnar immediately ordered the hurried construction of a grand building -- the Great Barracks of Copenhagen. Ummmm . . . silly scribe. What that really should say is the Great Library of Copenhagen. That Wonder completed only two turns after the completion of the Hanging Gardens of Hippo. The Viking people were so pleased with that event that they spontaneously erupted into a frenzy of added production and commerce! Construction of the Great Library brought great knowledge to Scandinavia. [dance] Technology poured in and Ragnar made the most of it. He traded Polytheism and Literature to the Mongols for their world map and all of their gold (61gp).

The battle with India raged on, with about equal losses on both sides. Ragnar’s people valiantly fought off a significant landing force near Iron Hill. They could do nothing but hold their ground near Bergen, however. Ragnar knew a war of attrition was not going to benefit the Viking people. Although the stream of Indian forces was beginning to slow to a trickle, Ragnar knew the floodgates could open again quickly. When he saw the arrival of a great stack of Indian troops and compared them to his wounded, vulnerable units, Ragnar knew it was time to make peace with India. Because of the valiant fighting of his men, Ragnar was able to extort all of India’s gold (4gp), India’s world map, and the city of Dacca. He later gave India Monotheism for Furs and four workers, which saved 10gpt in luxury taxes.

As peace settled over Scandinavia, the presence of the one called Sullla began to overtake Ragnar, temporarily displacing reagan from the helm.

 

[Reagan]

Talk about a harrowing set of turns! It was all I could do to hold our ground. Fortunately, we put enough hurt on Gandhi through defense and counter-attacks to make him talk peace. The inter-turn before peace was reached saw no fewer than eight fresh swords and four spears arrive in Karachi. We never would have stood up to that. It appears Carthage and India are at war, and were during much of my turn, which is likely the only thing that saved us. I had to whip Copenhagen and Stockholm to deal with the landings of India and Carthage, respectively. We’re slightly less than halfway through with their unhappiness.

We’re really pinned-down, kids. Thankfully the (I presume unintended) arrival of our GA should give us a chance to churn out some units (pikes and MDI, anyone?) and infrastructure from our productive cities. I missed the fact that the Trondheim hill needs to be roaded at some point. All of the build orders are very open to veto. I just thought the GA would be a good chance to crank out courthouses in the outlands, but more cats certainly wouldn’t hurt. Sorry I couldn’t do anything to gain ground on India. They appear to be using Jaipur as a combat port for their war against Carthage. In a few more turns, they will have shipped-out several of their swords, which should help if/when we get to launch an offensive against them.

Here’s the .zip, with a map of our lands to follow:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads3/RBE6Naked50AD.zip

 

[Reagan]

 

[T-hawk]

Great progress! Looking much better than it was on my turn. Nine cities and tech parity sure beats five cities and ten techs behind.

Why haven't we revolted? Losing Golden Age income to anarchy is undesirable, but a Despotism even in GA doesn't outproduce a normal Republic. (Did we get Republic from the GL?) Note that getting out of despotism will GREATLY boost Trondheim's food supply - that city won't even need irrigation.

Clear Reykjavik's game forests once the much-needed aqueduct is done. Stockholm also needs an aqueduct more than it needs a courthouse: with its vast quantities of food (especially out of despotism), increasing its population will boost its income and shields more effectively than a courthouse.

The newer cities need quite a bit of worker labor to irrigate the plains and get them up to speed. See if Copenhagen can build a few workers while it's still at the size-6 mark.

(You did excellently, reagan - I'm just commenting on future possibilities )

 

[Reagan]

Thanks for the comments, T-hawk. I was/am really conflicted about the timing of a government change for us. I really hate to lose 33% of a GA to anarchy, even under Despotism. We do have both Monarchy and Republic from the GL. I was planning for us to revolt to Republic just as our GA is expiring. One drawback to this is that the anarchy period could well overlap the end of our peace treaties with Carthage and India. The AI smells blood when someone is in anarchy and might decide to tag-team us again. On the other hand, that timing might coincide with the point where we are ready to do battle again and we should get some positive WW from a declaration by one or both of those vile dogs.

As you can tell, I'm not dead set on either choice. What's everyone else think?

 

[JaxomCA]

I would change to a republic on the very first turn of the next round. The sooner we are a republic, the faster we make real money. If we do switch to Republic, then I would build marketplace before aqueduct. The extra cash from the marketplace will let us rush the aqueduct and we get both more quickly. However, with our current low luxury count, it may not be a good idea to build aqueducts just yet, what is the point of having more population if you spend most of their revenue in luxury taxes? Until we have secured the Indian furs and establish safe trade with luxury exporting nations, then we could build aqueducts.

That is just my opinion, but I strongly believe that the more cash you make, the easier it is to win. As long as you have 3-4 cities that can build your top troops in 2 turns, you can pay for anything else when you have a strong economy. It is very tempting to push Trondheim to size 12 soon, but it will grow fast enough once we are in a republic, so we shouldn't rush it until we can make that population happy. Actually, all of our core will reach size 12 very quickly once we have some luxury to support them.

 

[Sullla]

I somewhat disagree with Jaxom on that last point; more population will not bring in more commerce due to having to increase the luxury rate, true, but it will increase something else: shields! We do want higher population ASAP, and if we have to go to 50% luxuries to support it until we can get our markets and cathedrals built, I say so be it. The best thing possible for us would be a bunch of size 12 cities all running 10-15 shields/turn. We would then have even production power with India, and we'll need that kind of edge to keep pace with the G-man.

World map doesn't look that good for us, on the other hand. We really do need to put the hurting on India if we want to have a reasonably safe endgame. Once we get Republic and our cities over size 6 though, I think we will see an explosion of production out of our core cities. GREAT turn reagan, and if you weren't able to push into India, then it simply wasn't meant to be.

Will play sometime today.

 

[Reagan]

Sullla is right about the population issue. We should not hold back growth for fear of having to pay luxury taxes. At the very, very worst, some population can be converted to tax collectors. I'd much rather have either 50-60% lux and full cities than 10-20% lux and cities stuck at size 6. If we can get our forces built up again, we might catch G-man with his pants down (i.e., a lot of forces overseas) next time.

By the way, 80% of the fighting during my turn took place cross-border between our troops stationed outside of Bergen and India's troops stationed on the grassland by Karachi. India can send troops from Delhi to that grassland in two turns. What happened on my turn is that India massed its troops on that spot and moved one sword into our territory NW of Bergen. I knew then what was coming and pressured Gandhi into declaring war so we could fire the first shots. Next time around, it would be HUGE if we could declare war honorably and then get a big ol' SoD onto that grassland tile on the first turn. That would shift the initiative to our side and allow us to take some cities, rather than making it an attrition war.

 

[Sullla]

(0) 50AD Looking around the world... So much has changed and yet so much is still the same. We are in an impossibly better position than when I last handed off to T-Hawk, but victory is still a long, long way away. Now that we can see the other civs, I though I'd comment a bit on them. India is about average in power, and will remain our primary foe for the foreeable future. Eliminate them and we will be in good shape (ha, easier said then done). Carthage has its own island, a big one, and could potentially run away with this game. Long-term, they are by far our biggest threat. England/Zulus/Ottomans have their own very large island split evenly between the three, not much to say about them as they can't really affect us too much. Mongolia SUCKS bigtime - and island with no freshwater only large enough for four cities. OUCH! Temujin will be a backwards nonentity FOREVER. And out there somewhere in the fog, contacted by no one, is the Celts. I have no idea what their situation is like. I exchange some maps to pick up one or two gold, we are even with or ahead of everyone else in tech (duh, thanks to Library).

Agree with T-Hawk on getting to Republic ASAP. The anarchy turns will be good because they will help the whipping memory wear off, hehe. Revolt right away, drawing 5 turns of anarchy. About par for the course. Trondheim is in negative food unfortunately, but every other city can last through the anarchy without issue. Thank goodness for the granary in our capital. Our income has gone to -16g/turn, but we've got plenty to ride out the next five turns. No use changing build queues until we come out of anarchy, so I just go to the next turn. I also move three cats off of our front line back to safety; they would be too easily captured there. Upgrade one vet warrior to MDI, so we have a "strongest unit" for the AI to fear and because that's clearly the only use for a vet warrior. Finally go to next turn.

(1) 70AD A good eight swords and three spears move from out of our sight line and deeper into India. Wow - now I know why reagan agreed to sign peace! Trade Engineering to India for a worker and some change gold. Osman has a tasty deal for us: he'll take Feudalism (at 5th civ price) for 30g and 7gpt. We'll agree to that! Getting Osman's world map allows us to pick up another few gold from the other civs. It all counts, after all. Trondheim set to go into disorder this round; it has to go into disorder on one of the five turns or it will starve. Might as well be this one.

(2) 90AD Trondheim goes into disorder! Reset back to its starving happy form. Bergen grows to size 6, gets a taxman. Income now down to only -8gpt. Gandhi agrees to give us his WM+5g for ours. Pick up a few more gold so that we come out about even on income this turn.

(3) 110AD Osman comes demanding Engineering. Now he's on the other side of the world and can't really hurt us... but he could sign another civ against us in a military alliance, and that would be BAD. So we agree to give him the tech, which I believe is at 4th civ price. *sigh* It's actually better he demand tech than gold from us at this point. Nothing else going on.

(4) 130AD Now Shaka comes demanding Engineering. This is really frustrating, but I'm going to have to give it to him for the same reasons listed above. I guess when you're in Anarchy, the AI civs see the weakness and jump all over it. Between turns, India moves about five swords in Karachi and sends two more + a spear north towards Jaipur. I would assume they are going to be loaded onto transports to fight the Carthaginians. Also between turns, a Carthaginian galley attacks and sinks an Indian one, redlining itself in the process. The best possible outcome for us! One of our gpt deals must have worn off because we are only losing 3gpt now. Last turn of anarchy (I really am ready for it to end).

(5) 150AD Between turns, 8 Indian units (spears and swords) move back towards the east again. What is going on? Answer: the AI dilemma known as "puppet strings", where the Carthaginians keep landing on the east coast of India, causing their units to move back and forth like puppets jerked on strings. The AI only targets the most immediate threat at all times, so it can be paralyzed in times of war. I would like to go after India while they are thus paralyzed, but we badly need 20 turns of infrastructure first.

Viking Republic formed! Production and income skyrocket; we are now at +51gpt and our productivity has jumped to #4 (from #6) on the F11 screen. That's with us almost dead last in land too! Build orders shifted around a bit, most cities are on aqueducts right now. I say we need to use this opportunity to build acqueducts, markets, and cathedrals in most cities. Once we have some of those buildings up, it will be time to go to war with India again. We can now found embassies (of which we have none?) so I get one with India and Carthage. Delhi has all ancient age improvements, is running 12 shields/turn, 80/20 on gold research, and is defended by four spears and a cat. They have only one iron and one horses, so cutting off either would deprive India. Carthage has all ancient city improvements too, is running 14 shields/turn (with 2 entertainers, ha!) and is working on Sun Tzu (20 turns). Hannibal is running 30/60/10 on gold/science/luxury. Looks like he's dealing with war weariness issues. He also has Pyramids, Great Wall, and 8 Numidians in Carthage. Wow - we're staying well away from that at the moment! That eats up most of our income for now, so no upgrading of units this turn. If we fight India, we will want an alliance with Hannibal (who will likely give us nice stuff).

(6) 170AD This turn, 13 units run back into Karachi. Make up your mind, Gandhi! Carthaginians now have both Theology and Invention up on us, and start work on Leo's.

(7) 190AD Gandhi loads up a lot of his army on galleys and heads to the west, presumably for the Carthaginian colonies. Pike produced at Bergen, which at 11 shields/turn is a good place to pump them for now, and believe me, we need more pikes. Most cities are defended by warriors.

(8) 210AD Temujin demands Mathematics. Sorry, but we aren't afraid of you. He backs down. Gandhi appears to be moving his units randomly, and I have no idea what he is doing. Copenhagen and Reykjavik complete acqueducts; the former starts on a barracks (which we will need) and the latter at 15 shields/turn goes to produce a pike for itself. I am doing my best to beef up our sadly lacking defenses. I swing around world maps and make a few more gold. Whoa, didn't realize this! I check F4 and India is at war with not just the Carthaginians, but the Ottomans and Mongols as well. Interesting, and good for us.

(9) 230AD Trondheim produces aqueduct, goes to work on a pike for itself at 16 shields/turn. I move some tiles around so that Copenhagen gets its barracks this turn instead of next with tons of waste. I upgrade a number of our swords to MDI since we now have the money to do so. Our military is beefing up, heh.

(10) 250AD Nuts; the Indians and Carthaginians make peace this turn. An otherwise quiet last turn ends my round.

Notes to next leader (T-Hawk): I've got most of our cities on infrastructure; we should use the rest of our golden age to get some very needed city improvements built. Trondheim is building a pike for itself and then should probably build a market or cathedral; your call. Actually it needs a temple first, but you get the idea on the tradeoff between happiness or more income. Bergen is set to granary right now but it has no shields invested yet; it's running at 14 shields/turn but there's not much you can do to change that. Copenhagen is set to granary also, but that can also be changed if desired (no shields invested). If you do go with a granary there, make sure to delay growth one turn so the granary completes before growth to size 8. Christiana is on temple right now, and it needs the culture to prevent a flip to India (that would be a disaster). We should probably move more units into it on garrison duty. Reykjavik has just finished a pike and is also set to granary, can be changed since there are no shields in the box. Stockholm is still working on its acqueduct, could possibly be used as a worker factory if desired. Aarhus is still on a barracks, definitely subject to change if needed. Stavenger is working on a temple; also is highly subject to veto. Our overseas colonies suck and are not worth mentioning.

The idea with the builds right now is to emphasize growth, so we can get up to a higher size and produce more shields. Everything looks rosy right now, but will plummet when our golden age ends. I would personally favor going with temples/cathedrals over markets, since they will allow us to lower the luxury rate (now at 20%) and make more income while also increasing our pitifully low culture. Your call though on whether to go with markets. Oh, and somewhere along this point we want to go after and attack India again, preferably before they get the income to upgrade their spears to pikes (which G-man has not done yet). We have 10 MDI at this point plus a number of elite swords leftover. I would recommend getting pikes in our cities first before we attack Gandhi though, since he could land next to a warrior-defended city at this point.

A lot of choices can be made on this next turn. Sorry to put you up both here and in RBD19 T-Hawk; could be a busy night! Don't feel rushed to play this though, as we need clear decision-making and inspired leadership, just like on the last turn. The Naked Vikings are looking a lot better at this point; go get 'em!

RBE6 250AD

 

[Sullla]

Agree with reagan on the issue of getting into their territory if we fight a war. If we take catapults and a large enough stack, we could easily raze Karachi on the second turn of war and be in position to replace it with one of our own cities. Now we are in infrastructure mode at the moment and a fighting is a little ways off, but the principle is good.

 

[T-hawk]

Got it. I'll play RBD19 first, and get to this one later, so any more comments are welcome.

In any Indian war, I'd LOVE to push as far as capturing Bombay. That city has furs and India's iron supply. Also, look closely at the positions - it's far enough from Delhi that it won't have cultural pressure once a temple is rushed, so we can easily hold on to it.

BTW, what year does our golden age end? Although I guess I can check: 20 turns after the Library was built.

Edit: Ok, no more comments, playing now. Also, I have 4 turns of Golden Age.