Revival of Silence is Golden - Rat 36 (?)

[Mumpulus]

Turn 100 - 550BC
Some MM to gain a gpt, some production and some growth.

I'm going to try if we can use the terrain to our advantage. For now, I think the Vikings will move towards our colony or big cities. We have a worker mining near Carthage, which may be hard to defend if that happens.

As ThERat noted, our backyard is lightly defended. I will upgrade the only warrior we have left, in Utica, if I see a landing coming.

I use a Merc to kill a healing English horse near Leptis Minor. [1-0]

IT
The French go straight for our colony, the Vikings go almost straight for Carthage (sticking to mountains).
An English spear lands between undefended Sabratha and Rusicade.

Turn 101 - 530BC
The MPs from Utica go to defend the two empty towns. We'll build some catapults there soon, so the spearman shouldn't be a lasting problem.

Cats go 4/5 against the French at Leptis Magna. Elite swordsman proceeds to kill a spearman, and:

We have our second army. I put one swordsman in it and kill the English horseman. I switch Theveste and Hippo to swordsmen to compensate for the two additional swordsmen I'll need to put into the army.

One Viking swordsman is in range to attack our worker/swordsman. I'd rather not defend, especially because there are two more Vikes right behind it. Our first army kills that swordsman, losing 2hp. [4-0]

IT
The English spearman moves to the hill between our two towns, and two English warriors land at the same spot as before. The Vikings split up, with a lot of wounded units retreating. Their first pikeman shows up. They also pillage our horses.

We learn Feudalism from the Sumerians and the Vikings. I profit by going through the big picture to fix towns. With all the enemy units in our lands, we would have had some starvation otherwise.

Leptis Magna: Catapult > Catapult
Rusicade: Catapult > Catapult

Turn 102 - 510BC
The Vikings have two swords near Carthage. Our swordsmen go red, but succeed in killing both, one with a promotion to elite.

Our 1st Army kills 2 French warriors and takes in position in the mountains north of Hippo. We've been inflicting some ZoC hits, and we'll get even more now.

There is a stack of four Viking swordsman outside Leptis Magna. Catapults go 4/6. I don't attack though.

Cover both wines against the English.

Cats in Rusicade go 1/2 against the English warriors. Move in a horseman to defend. Shuffle some additional units, because there's a French galley in sight too. [8-0]

IT
We kill two Viking swordsmen and lose a merc in Hippo. Their first MDI shows up. Our warrior in Rusicade defends against an English warrior and promotes to veteran status. The French sail closer but drop nothing. [10-1]

We get engineering.

Turn 103 - 490BC
Cats go 2/2 against the landed English spearman, and are in position to deal with a French swordsman who's headed for empty Utica next turn. Our elite swordsman out of Carthage attacks, and well, what can I say...

We're at the army unit, so he rushes the Heroic Epic. We can always use more leaders.

Our curragh spots a new border color, dark blue.

An elite merc kills an English horse, but we don't get a leader.

Cats go 3/6 in Leptis Magna, 2-man army kills a Viking and an English sword. [14-1]

IT
No attacks. The wheat at Leptis Magna is pillaged. The French galley finally drops its passenger: a regular swordsman. The Japanese ask us to leave. The English are blocked by the French.

Carthage: MDI > Settler
Utica: MDI > MDI
Rusicade: Heroic Epic > Trebuchet

Turn 104 - 470BC
Elite merc kills an English archer to get back on the road. vMDI out of Utica barely kills the French swordsman.

Cats go 1/2 against the landed swordsman, horseman retreats without making a scratch. I shuffle units to defend.

There are 6 swordsmen, 1 archer and 1 MDI next to Hippo. I try to ping the MDI, but miss. Cats out of Leptis Magna go 3/6 against the big stack. I put everything I have in Hippo, including an army. [16-1]

I upgrade the vWarrior in Utica. I switch Hippo to a merc.

IT
No attacks again. The English drop a vSpear at the usual spot.

Hippo: Merc > Merc

Turn 105 - 450BC
Landing cats go 2/2 against the vSpear, vMerc finishes him off.

Cat in Hippo misses again, Leptis Magna batch goes 3/6 again. 2-man army kills a Viking MDI and gets in position to obtain its third member. 3-man army kills Viking spear and sword. vSword kills Viking sword.

eMerc kills a French warrior. [21-1]

IT
Landing vMerc defends against the 2hp French sword that had retreated, and promotes. [22-1]

Sabratha: Treb > Treb

Turn 106 - 430BC
Landing cats go 2/2, vMDI kills the remaining English warrior. Treb pings an English galley.

Hippo cat pings a would-be pillager, eSword kills him. rSword kills rArcher, no promotion unfortunately. Leptis Magna cats go 3/7. [25-1]

I remove the iron guard, to try and avoid pillaging elsewhere.

I upgrade the Heroic Swordsman.

IT
The Vikings that were healing just outside our borders don't move back in. Maybe they're going for lightly defended Theveste.

The English want to talk. They even want to part with Newcastle, but not with Norwich, which is to our north. I go to the big picture through our domestic advisor, to check where Newcastle is. It is just outside our borders, and a galley could reach that town to reinforce it. So I rush a galley in Leptis Minor, and take the deal.

Carthage: Settler > MDI
Theveste: MDI > Worker
Leptis Minor: Galley > Trebuchet

Turn 107 - 410BC
Landing cats go 1/2, vMDI kills French warrior approaching Utica from the north.

Leptis Magna cats go 3/7 against French spear and sword, vHorse en eMerc kill them. [28-1]

IT
The French want to talk. They will part with Grenoble (which turns out to be an icy island town) and the 1g they have in their coffers. I accept.

The Vikings drop a pike at the usual spot, and move next to Hippo again. We get the FP message.

Utica: MDI > Worker

Turn 108 - 390BC
Landing cats go 1/2 on the Viking pike, eMerc kills him.

Leptis Magna cats go 2/2 on a Viking spearman, vMDI kills him.

Hippo cat hits. 2nd Army kills 2 swords at the loss of 6hp. vSword kills another and promotes. [33-1]

I upgrade a wounded rSword in Hippo.

Found Oea in our core, starts on barracks.

IT
No attacks. Another Viking landing at the usual spot.

Utica: Worker > Worker
Theveste: Worker > Worker

Turn 109 - 370BC
1st Army kills vMDI and moves next to Odense.

Hippo cats go 2/5 against a vMDI, healthy eSword dies on him, 4hp eSword finishes the job.

Leptis Magna cats go 2/2 against a stack of 5 vSwords.

Landing cats and treb go 2/3 against the landed spearman, vMDI barely finishes him off. [36-2]

Our curragh finally meets the Mayans, in a galley. No contact yet.

IT
vMerc defends against vMDI in Theveste, helped by defensive bombard. [37-2]

The French land a settler pair on Grenoble island. The Vikings land an MDI on the Carthage cows. Their stack at Leptis Magna moves.

We learn the republic.

Utica: Worker > MDI

Turn 110 - 350BC
1st Army pillages roads towards Odense while waiting for 2nd Army.

Theveste cat hits the landed MDI, vMDI kills him.

Leptis Magna cats go 6/7 on the swordsman stack on flat land. rMDI dies on 2hp vSword, promoting it. vMDI kills one. eMerc barely kills another. vMerc kills the last one. [41-3]

I switch Leptis Magna to a settler in 1. Because of the landing at Carthage, the MDI build was messed up, so I switch to a marketplace.

Things are very quiet at the moment, all things considered. I'd profit to take both armies towards Odense, attack with the one that has the MDI in it. The Vikings have moved 2 settler pairs into Odense last turn, so there are at least 6 defenders at the moment. Better wait until they move out.

Newcastle has a huge flip risk, might want to discuss how to handle that...

(Got to run; I'll fix up my report later.)

 

[Northern Pike]

A fantastic round. That really transforms our prospects.

It's good that we're about to complete a settler. We should found a twelfth city right away, either north of Leptis Magna or on the hill northwest of Sabratha, so that we'll be eligible to use our next two Leaders for an army and the Pentagon.

BTW I wouldn't let the worker build complete in Theveste--a strange place for it, when that town adds population so slowly. We can switch Sabratha to a worker at minor cost in shields, if we want another.

 

[Mumpulus]

Regarding the worker build: Theveste will start growing faster after a chop of the forest that's being roaded right now.

For town placement, I'd also suggest the hills 3NE of Utica (worker in place to start roading).

 

[Whomp]

Fantastic set! Not only with the armies, win ratio and peace terms but popping more workers and settlers in the process.

 

[ThERat]

Absolutely crucial round and as expected, Mumpulus got everything right. There are a few things I would like to do. Once we get the Vikings down and likely peace, I will revolt, as we need monarchy. We can't afford to stay in despotism I guess.

Once we have peace, I would also try and get some infrastructure up. And then we should turn the tide and start to go after the AI rather than the other way round.

 

[Northern Pike]

That sounds like the right plan. We should probably favour libraries over marketplaces in our infra builds in this variant, even if it isn't orthodox for deity. The GLib won't carry us for too much longer.

 

[ThERat]

Pre-Turn
Things look good, I do hope we can inflict some damage upon the Vikings before they draw in the others again

IT Vikings land 2 spears between Carthage and Theveste

1. 330BC
defeat both landed spears, bombard some other units
our mixed army defeats a spear on the way to Odense, the other army heals [3-0]

IT 2 boats leave Odense, hopefully the city is rather empty now

2. 310BC
upgrade a sword to a mace in our capital, bombard some units
then proceed to take out a r3d spear
use both armies and take out 2 pikes and 1 mace and we take the city [7-0]
We capture 5 slaves along that. Also, I note that the Vikings have no money at all

The Japanese simply block our curragh, I decide to dash for the blue border no matter what

IT The Vikings turn round and go for Odense (predictably) and land 3 pillager pikes next to it
However, there is nothing to be pillaged
we get invention

3. 290BC
as Carthage grew, increase lux to 10%
build Hadrumetum to fill some void space in the east
take out a red pike [8-0]

IT Vikings go for Odense now, 5 maces next door

4. 270BC
defeat 1 mace there, we should be safe with our armies and a rax inside
defeat another red sword [10-0]

IT exactly what I wanted, the Vikings self destruct 3 maces at Odense
however, they do not want peace, what is this [13-0]

5. 250BC
redline a pike/spear pair at Hippo, then take them both out
also remove 2 maces at Odense [17-0]

6. 230BC
things are rather quiet and I contemplate to revolt now
a removed swap reveals a BG, nice

7. 210BC
our income jumped a bit due to the market in our capital (around 50gpt)
defeat a mace at Odense and decide to move one army forward [18-0]

decide to revolt, 6 turns of anarchy now

IT Vikings suicide another mace at Odense and move more units in [19-0]

8. 190BC
remove a horse and mace there, now we have the access to the city and move in 3 artillery pieces
that promptly damage a pike/mace there
take out one mace, the city should be safe [22-0]

IT Maya finish Sun Tzu

9. 170BC
remove 2 swords at Odense with the recalled army, I use it also for zonal defense [24-0]

IT

I can get a city from them as well, but I realize that we can get a huge amount of gpt from them without a city in the deal

10. 150BC
as it is still anarchy (3 more turns). I do nothing much
For me it is clear, we need to take out Warwick soon before the iron is connected
With 2 armies and more stuff to support this should be possible.

We should wait for monarchy and then build some more units and go after the English. They have only horses right now it seems
Anyway, once we're out of anarchy, we should be making more than 100gpt

our empire with the English targets nearby

 

[ThERat]

Our Team:
ThERat -
whomp - up
Northern Pike
Greebley
Mumpulus

So far, we have played absolutely great, let's keep that up. We can't afford to slip. If we can make progress against the English, we will be in pretty good shape. As mentioned, we might need libraries as well. We seem to be strong enough to do self research. Especially with monotheism still not out yet, I think we might even get chemistry and then dash for Mil. Tradition fast

 

[Northern Pike]

More great stuff. I like the Numidian perched on a mountain to keep an eye on Warwick's iron.

We're strong relative to the English, so we should be able to attack them not long after our peace treaty with them expires in six turns. When we do, razing Warwick and Coventry will be quicker and safer than keeping them, so we should have settlers available to replace those towns.

 

[Greebley]

Excellent progress guys. I agree going for England in 6 turns.

I think I would like to honor peace treaties that we get something out of such a city.

 

[Whomp]

OK I'll be able to play this tomorrow evening. Mom's Day and all.

Raze and replace Warwick, Coventry and even Norwich. Units and libs.
My guess is once mono comes in cranking up research for a beeline to MT would make sense.

 

[Whomp]

Sorry about the lack of a good turnlog but my p.c. blew out at 10 AD.
Here's a short summary through 10AD...
Short rushed 3 libs, units and a few settlers after getting out of anarchy and becoming kings. We still have 778g at this point.
We learn mono, gunpowder, chem and chivalry. Very nice though we don't have any saltpeter. The English have two visible and French have one.



Razed Norwich, Warwick and Coventry without any losses while gaining 10 new slaves so far. The bad news is our research will be snails version for awhile. We can research metal in 35 turns so we'll need more infrastructure.

10 AD Establish Cadiz in 10 AD. Took out a ton of units.

IT We lose our first unit as a LB hits our merc in Cadiz. Vikings finish Leo's.

30 AD Cirta established on iron. Knock out 4 horses, 3 archers and a spear and we're about 18-1.

IT Injured LB attacks a mercs in Cadiz (19-1). Sumerians finish KT.

50 AD Establish Nora. Get more elite victories taking out some spears (21-1). We're clear of Englishmen. Move our Mace army towards Nottingham with trebs following.

A view of the situation. There's a French settler and a few Vikings up near Newcastle. I think I changed the build in Newcastle but I'm not 100% sure. I haven't turned on research yet since Theo hasn't been delivered yet. Maybe it's time?

Oh and I left our coasts a little bare so bringing some units back would make sense since the English are gassed and our armies could do most of the damage. The potential for berserkers scares the daylights out of me.

 

[Northern Pike]

Fine work.

I've got it.

Does anyone think that we should make peace with the English, assuming we aren't at war with anyone else when they offer it? I think we should keep hammering them now that we've broken their resistance, but it's true that the second peace offer would probably be a long time coming.

My inclination is not to turn research on yet, when as Whomp points out Theology still separates us from Education and the end of the GLib, and our self-research capacity is modest in any event (Metallurgy in 32 turns at 80%). But I'd be glad to hear from the team on this.

 

[a space oddity]

What a nice surprise to see this, I'm glad I wandered over when I saw NP posting.

lurkers += 1

 

[ThERat]

How many cities do the English have left? A second offering for peace would come much later. If we have them close to extinction, I wouldn't stop hammering them.
Remember, we need to secure some saltpeter and the English have two sources of it. Thus, we shouldn't stop so early I'd say.

I am quite surprised we got chemistry from the Glib and theology isn't even out yet. This has got to be something really unique. Thus, I agree ona min run towards metal As long as we do not have saltpeter, we don't really profit from Mil Trad anyway.

I am also surprised that our research capability is that bad.

 

[Mumpulus]

Tech evolution is very strange. I'd definitely start research now, at min or even higher. I would be very surprised if the AI goes for it before theo and education...

 

[Spoonwood]

Thus, I agree ona min run towards metal As long as we do not have saltpeter, we don't really profit from Mil Trad anyway.

I guess you don't think you can really get out enough armies even at 0% science, since you won't have much cash to rush them with? I haven't done it much, but I'd think 3 knight armies would work well enough to take out fortified rifles even... after all cavalry armies take out fortified infantries. Since it's a standard continents map, do you guys plan to research after Magnetism? I've gotten Military Tradition from the GL before, but it's weird... one time I got Chemistry from it, but didn't get Metallurgy or Military Tradition, even though those seem like favored techs over Education by the AIs.

 

[vmxa]

Lurker:

Knight armies will not work really well on rifles and often struggle with muskets. That is 4 man armies. 4 man cav armies with 16 or 17 HP die on infantry enough to make it a risky business.

 

[Whomp]

I think researching now might make sense since we're still running positive gpt at 80 per cent due to the Vikings deal. Also, something I forgot to mention is the free techs are coming from Sumeria and Maya. Our island may not be teching so fast. The English had a LB but I haven't seen any muskets. We could use more land so pressing on makes sense to me. We will have a more difficult time with musketeers and berserkers.
I don't recall seeing the mil.academy option but I would think we would have to build that and the FP with MGLs.

 

[ThERat]

The Mil Academy only becomes available with Mil Tradition.

It's a good thing that Maya and Sumer are on the other continent, those two agri Civs will hopefully beat the crap out of each other eventually.