[BTS] Saved Game - What to do here?

[LincolnOfRome]

To be on the safe side, upgrade the warrior to another axe this turn with gold. And after the barbs are dealt with, definitely place the axes more proactively (i.e. further out) and you won't be surprised like that

I don't have exact odds. At one time I had a combat calculator. Three archers probably have less than a five percent chance of beating an axe and a warrior fortified in a city on a hill. I'm willing to take the risk rather than delaying alphabet by four turns

I guess the issue is that you don't have spawn busting really. Also, having those guys out gives you more time to react to approaching barb units. This is why instead of scouting it's important to fortify your first warriors out there in (relatively) safe spots.

The barb archers came from the west. There is no place for barbarians to spawn there anymore. I can send my axeman up into the tundra once this is over.

Near Seda it's the GW that is screwing you. Next time take note when your neighbor builds it, now all barbs head towards you from that direction. I'd just promote the axe to combat and fortify. 3 archers should have almost no chance especially if you can get an extra warrior there. Btw, you should've whipped granary immediately when available, it's a pretty big mistake not to.

I'll whip a granary right away. The granary will be operational when it grows from one to two.

EDIT --
The archers are just wandering around and not attacking. I don't know where they will wander to next. Alphabet is done. A settler in Cobre was 3-pop whipped. I chopped and whipped another settler in Trigo. So two new cities can be founded. The Pyramids will be done next turn. One axe man is spawn-busting out east. Three axe men are available to take down the three archers. The save is attached.

I welcome suggestions for new city locations or tech trades.

 

[sampsa]

Wp so far.

Possible city spots:

Spoiler :

The one in the NE is a barb city. Which cities you go for depends a bit on your grand strategy. What you've done so far doesn't point towards elepult, but of course it will still work. I mean you could just settle all and win lib.

Not sure if I'd do any trades for now. Sailing is not very useful for you, neither is poly, IW would require you to give up alpha monopoly.

Build green cottages for capital! They are much more important than mines.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

What you've done so far doesn't point towards elepult, but of course it will still work. I mean you could just settle all and win l

Thanks for your help. I can see a big advantage to taking advantage of mechanics whenever possible. Maybe aim for earliest possible conquistadors? How would I accomplish that?

Not sure if I'd do any trades for now. Sailing is not very useful for you, neither is poly, IW would require you to give up alpha monopoly.

Build green cottages for capital! They are much more important than mines.

Churchill is very close to alphabet. Should I cottage the hills?

I was thinking of trying a more challenging map and practice what I'm learning. This is my first start completely by chance.

Spoiler :

 

[sampsa]

Thanks for your help. I can see a big advantage to taking advantage of mechanics whenever possible. Maybe aim for earliest possible conquistadors? How would I accomplish that?

Well, in a nutshell: Expand to say 8 cities, focus on growing as big as possible, win music. Bulb philo, start golden age with music artist, generate several GS/GM during the golden age. Bulb towards lib, take nat/MT, get gunpowder, build/upgrade conqs, win.

Churchill is very close to alphabet. Should I cottage the hills?

Sounds like you will need to give alpha away rather soon in that case. First cottage green grass (starting from river tiles), then 1 river tiles. It makes no huge difference whether you have cottages or mines on green river hills.

edit: it might be a good idea to learn the cuirassier strategy, because it will serve you well in the future. It's requires much more attention to detail compared to say elepult, which is pretty much just: get the techs as fast as you can, build units as fast as you can, attack as fast as you can.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

I think I'll build the crab/ivory city and the gem city. This will give me two luxuries. I have a technology to research coming up. Math and CoL both lead to CS. CoL lets me run caste. Aesthetics/Lit and Math are on the path to Music. Currency is best for my economy. I have a type of government to choose next turn when the Pyramids are complete. Monarchy may allow me to grow largest. Representation gives me some growth without the cost of garrisons. What is best for early conquistadors?

 

[lymond]

I think I'll build the crab/ivory city and the gem city. This will give me two luxuries. I have a technology to research coming up. Math and CoL both lead to CS. CoL lets me run caste. Aesthetics/Lit and Math are on the path to Music. Currency is best for my economy. I have a type of government to choose next turn when the Pyramids are complete. Monarchy may allow me to grow largest. Representation gives me some growth without the cost of garrisons. What is best for early conquistadors?

If you have food, Rep is always best. Monarchy good if you can grow a few cities large to work cottages. However, Rep usually has the better early payoff

 

[LincolnOfRome]

If you have food, Rep is always best. Monarchy good if you can grow a few cities large to work cottages. However, Rep usually has the better early payoff

Thanks. I seem to have a good amount food and three happiness should help my largest cities grow.

Math should be a good tech to research.. It is necessary for both CS and Music.

 

[sampsa]

You build Mids for rep, plus you can get some value from police state later. It makes no sense to get Mids and run HR.

 

[sampsa]

If you want to see how a really good player does the cuir(/conq) thing, you should check this playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ak1kHTkXU4EurHm3l1aPEA-AO_NRDOf You don't need to watch the full 5h even to gain a lot of insight. Most of the important stuff is in parts 2 and 3.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

If you want to see how a really good player does the cuir(/conq) thing, you should check this playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ak1kHTkXU4EurHm3l1aPEA-AO_NRDOf You don't need to watch the full 5h even to gain a lot of insight. Most of the important stuff is in parts 2 and 3.

OK. I'll watch this.

 

[lymond]

Way to keep it up, Linc! You'll break through soon...

 

[LincolnOfRome]

I watched the videos. He only researched the technologies that were necessary to his chosen path.

 

[sampsa]

I watched the videos. He only researched the technologies that were necessary to his chosen path.

Yes. That is extremely important on deity. Strategic focus.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

I did notice him using a lot of specialists. I know the same thing can be done with cottages and there is the 100% bonus during golden ages. Would you suggest a very early music? A merchant can bulb CS, a scientist can bulb Philosophy and Education.

 

[sampsa]

I did notice him using a lot of specialists.

Yes. Mostly due to Mids, lots of -resources and no rivers.

Would you suggest a very early music?

I would suggest winning music.

A merchant can bulb CS, a scientist can bulb Philosophy and Education.

I wouldn't bulb with GM:s, only with GS:s, because latter give 50% more . Philo, 2*edu and lib (make sure not to have machinery!) are typical GS-bulbs. Thus you need one before golden age and generate three during it, rest can be GM:s for trade mission (best payback for ). Of course, SPI gives you a ton of more freedom.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

The archers wandered all the way down to Tigro where they were killed by 3 axemen. The economy is slowing after building some cities.

 

[LincolnOfRome]

Thanks everyone for your help, especially Sampsa. The micro at the beginning was a huge help. I've never had a size 17 capital at 1AD. I decided to play on and finish the game. I followed the technological progression from the video that Sampsa shared in the post above. I ended up winning Liberalism in 620 and took Military Tradition. I had a prebuilt stack of horsemen and knights. I used two great merchants to upgrade this stack as soon as I got the tech. Most capitulated after the first city was taken. I made vassals of every civilization in the Pangaea and won a domination victory in 1150.

I'll have to try the things I've learned on Deity level.

 

[sampsa]

I ended up winning Liberalism in 620 and took Military Tradition. I had a prebuilt stack of horsemen and knights. I used two great merchants to upgrade this stack as soon as I got the tech. Most capitulated after the first city was taken. I made vassals of every civilization in the Pangaea and won a domination victory in 1150.

Those are very good dates!

Now that you know you can win a crushing victory like that, you probably understand better why deity players value early game safety very high and don't often quickly try to scout outside of the core area. There were distractions like the Charley war, chasing the scout and stuff so early game spawn busting was something we didn't look at properly. Anyway, that can be learned quite quickly from Lain's videos. I made the final push to start beating deity regularly with the help of those videos.

I'll have to try the things I've learned on Deity level.

Good luck! Expect to get slaughtered by barbarians a few times.

 

[lymond]

LoR is getting dangerous!