Role Play Challenge: All Good Things.......

[Loki Strikes]

writing - hbr I am thinking. Writing will help immensely, screw TGW, chariot rush boudica and convert to Keshiks on the next target.

And I'd settle and cottage up the corn-wine-floodplain location to the NW to help your research if you are gonna delay a bit, 2 city chariot rush also works though.

 

[UWHabs]

In a normal game, this seems like the perfect game to just Rex out. You have some good lands around you, you can really develop a strong economy. The copper city I'd go settle, not just for the copper, but it will be a strong production city. I'd debate where to build it - 1SW of the copper would be strong, but wouldn't leave much space in between. 1W of the Sheep might be a better city if you have some more hills in th fog, and would leave space for another city between there and your cap.

That being said, going and stomping Boudica might be a good plan as well. Although, with all those hill forests in your cap, I'd be tempted to try chopping out the great wall. It'd be nice if you had an industrious civ next door, to build it for you.

 

[futurehermit]

I vote for settling 1 SW of the copper and also settling all along the nearby rivers for the commerce. I would delay attacking Boudica in favour of developing economy and teching to Keshiks. Attack with Keshiks instead and have a much stronger econ.

 

[Phil725]

I would go with HBR next. You can always tech writing off while you're building keshiks. I have high standards for this keshik romp. Anything less than 6 civs destroyed before longbows pop up is unacceptable.

And I would settle 1SW of the copper as said before. Not because you should ever build an axe or spear, but because that's an excellent city. Don't get any ideas about attacking with any copper units.

 

[Loki Strikes]

Writing is critical for an economy, with writing and some expansion you can get to keshiks pretty fast, if you go straight HBR you won't be able to sustain any sort of an economy without trading HBR.

If you go chariots on Boudica or peaceful expansion it doesn't matter, writing is the tech that is needed.

I view HBR as the military alternative to aesthetics/alphabet, however I still research writing first.

 

[alfon]

I would tech HBR and then writing while you're building keshiks like Phil said. It will hurt your economy a little though...

 

[CHEESE!]

Agree. HBR>Writing.

 

[AlejDuke]

So right now you've got 58 turns to HBR ... why not tech writing (24 turns) and build libraries while teching HBR? thus shaving some turns and getting both techs sooner.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I agree, writing before HBR.

 

[Phil725]

Just to further comment on writing/HBR;

I'm assuming you're going to tech off these two and then put the slider at 0%. If that's the plan, the only thing that matters is how early you get HBR. If you go with writing first, not only are you getting HBR ~20 turns later (I'm skeptical on how much getting libraries built and running a few scis will help with HBR, I don't think it's as many turns as some people think,) but you also aren't making chariots to help from the get go. Then you would have to delay your attack to build some more chariots, or just skip on chariots (not a good idea, chariots are good as city garrisons as well as picking off weak defenders.)

The alternative is get HBR in 54 turns or whatever, tech writing afterwards, and then you can get libraries up while your keshiks are out conquering.

I think HBR first is clealy better. Both ways you end with an army and scientists as your only research. The only difference is that HBR first will get off the ground ~30 turns earlier.

 

[michmbk]

I like AH/Pottery/HBR with either mongolian civ. Sure it takes awhile, and you can double back for mining/bw/archery and writing while building your gers. I played this for about an hour or two, and my thoughts:

Spoiler :

This game is going to take about 20 hours on marathon. I keshik stomped everybody nearby...Boudica was dead in a heartbeat, and then I'd get DOWed while DOWing others, so needed keshiks roaming everywhere. Was wearing down every bordering civ though, and building a massive empire - love those keshiks. It was a little nuts though - I'd take a city, then lose a city. barbs were coming from all sides too

 

[AlejDuke]

But why would teching writing first prevent a buildup of chariots? if anything it allows more chariots than going the HBR first route!

 

[Phil725]

The key here is that it doesn't matter when you build libraries. You can build chariots while teching off HBR, once that's in, your done building chariots. Every city after that just goes ger, keshiks until your ready to go to war. If you go writing first, now you're building libraries while teching HBR. Then you have the choice to run scientists to speed up HBR, but this sacrifices production of chariots as well. Once HBR is done, it's pointless to build more chariots.

My whole point is that picking an imaginary date (lets say 100 turns later,) writing first will have 12 keshiks, 3 chariots, and libraries everywhere. HBR could have 15/16 keshiks, along with 10+ chariots. You don't have libraries, but you can build them later without sacrificing speed in a rush.

 

[madscientist]

All Good Things...: The Mustering of the Horde

Kublai watches the debate amongst his valued councilers. "Patience my friends, patience". Kublai stands up top make his announcement, the crowd becomes hushed. "Mongolia must be strong, but it also must be wise. The potential power of the agile Keshiks shalt be seen across the lands soon enough, but sit down and learn your letters, writing is of great importance, as is trade. Even Grandsire Khan did not conquer the world with mere Keshiks." (OK, OK he almost did evil

SO not only did we go after writing first, we also detoured to fishing and sailing. Hell folks, that copper is a decent distance away and a worker building a road takes forever. Best to let the Mongol sail along the river!

So we start an archer and settler in Karakorum, meanwhile Beshbalik

Popped the pigs from Boudica which helped us grow rather wuickly. The Celtic lady quickly got them back, but gave us enough time to create a very good military production city.

Our techpath went: writing/fishing/sailing/HorseBackRiding/start Iron Working.

We setteld Turfan as recommended

And start on a worker there.

To the NW of Beshbalik we planned to drop city #4, just outside the Barbarian city and cottage it up. Unfortunately

Brazen is this Celtic Woman! Kubali is intrigued by her boldness and strategic thinking. He must enter her lands very soon to find out what she's made off!

We then meet another AI

PERICLES. No, we hold no grudges from the Toku game, afetr all we attacked you first. However rules are rules and you must die. No hard feelings???

Soon we get the copper on-line, with instatnt access to Karakorum and Beshbalik due to the river trade rotue from sailing. That barb archer was insignificant and destroyed soon enough.

We than meet the last AI of the segment

MANSA! Good old Mansa, always good for a trade! Perhaps out of strick entertainment value I can bribe him to attack someone else and kill himself! I know, I know, the Khan is supposed to do all that, but in this case it would be pretty funny!

So losing out to the floodplains area, we settled close by along the Karakorum/Turfan river.

Come all, to see the grand city of Ning-Hsia! It will grow slower, but a second source of horse (how often do we see locust destroy a pastuer!) and it will cottage up just fine.

And without too mush loss of time

KESHIKS!

We managed to finish HBR just before the treasury ran dry!

We saved here, a look at the empire

Very nice and compact, utilizing alot of good lands! With the razing city rule we want to grow very compactly and efficiently!

So we have chariots and axes (perhaps I should have built a spear or 2), and decide it is time to pay the Celtic Queen a visit.

Notice she has horses, but no copper. Iron I am not sure of. She does have 6 cities which would be a nice boost to the Mongol treasury!

And our modest forces

More is definitely coming.

And let's view our four cities

Karakorum

Beshbalik

Turfan

And Ning-Hsia

So my plan goes as follows

1) Attack Boudica NOW and level at elast those 2 cities for the gold.
2) Reinforcements, combine the remnants of the 2 armies and start pillaging.
3) Whip GERs in Karakorum and Beshbalik, then Keshiks!
4) I think we want another settler sooner than later to claim the remainder of the floddplains river.

Regarding tech

Happiness is an issue, so after Iron Working do we

A) Go after Math/constructopn?

B) Alphabet and trade for stuff (will likely require HBR and alphabet).

C) Monarchy via the religious techs?

We are off to a good start here, let's hope we can remove the Celtic threat fast. Monty is getting closer to the north, so he likely is the nest target. IF he doesn't attack us first

 

[Matthew5117]

Agree with your plan.

However, was Sailing really necessary? You planted a city later than allowed trading on the rivers just with your culture borders. No need for Sailing.

No construction. Catapults will slow you down, just use Flanking Keshiks. Alphabet, well Monarch AIs is pretty slow at teching. However, they often research Monarchy. Wait for that, meanwhile either research CoL via the Currency route or the Priesthood route. Going the currency route takes longer, so you gotta make sure your economy will sustain that long. Going the Priesthood route, however, takes much shorter. On the other hand, you get more of the techs if you go the Currency route (+1 trade, markets, build wealth). Going the Priesthood route allows Monarchy. You decide.

 

[brades]

Madscientist,
Thank you for all your hard work writing up these RPCs, for almost 2 years I think (wow really that long?) I've been following your games. Even when I'm going through a civ lull, I usually at least see what you are playing. Sad to hear you are done, but I totally understand, thanks a lot for all the good reads and the procrastinating that they have allowed me to do!

 

[futurehermit]

Ning-Hsia is really a production city, is it not? Farms + mines?

The capital seems like the only good source of commerce meaning that HR is quite important either by trade or beelining after HBR. Then bureaucracy.

Agree on plan to do some damage to Boudica, especially to open up commerce cities along the river to the NW.

 

[Kev]

I agree that Ning-Hsia seems much better suited for a production city compared to a cottage city. Looks like 5 hills and horses for production and grassland that you can farm right away for food.

Once you plant a city on the floodplains, you'll have another great cottage city with that.

 

[DMOC]

Attack in this order:

Boudica
Montezuma
Hatshepsut

after that is whoever you choose.

Hm, Shaka still hasn't been met ... he's probably the AI who caused the most trouble.

 

[Volapyk]

Hmm why wasn't Ning-Hsia settled one title two the west? You would have lost the oasis, which would mean a bit slower growth to begin with, but instead of those 3 dessert titles you would have gotten 2 flat grassland and one plainhill, not to mention the extra forest for more chopping.