Norvin_Green
Emperor
3.19 is doing fine! (Sorry, too much coffee this morning 
)
)
Sengir01 - Spying with a vengeance
- Thread starter Sengir
- Start date
Whosit
Entropic Knight
I'm OK, in theory, so long as the other SGs I'm in can update.
Also, I've been working on my set, so I should have a report late today.
Edit: Had a thought: Is Mercantilism something we'd want to adopt? It would let us run a free spy in every city at the expense of foreign trade routes. Might be worth it? Or at least fit our theme? Either way, I'll make sure to end my set with a turn of Golden Age left.
Also, I've been working on my set, so I should have a report late today.
Edit: Had a thought: Is Mercantilism something we'd want to adopt? It would let us run a free spy in every city at the expense of foreign trade routes. Might be worth it? Or at least fit our theme? Either way, I'll make sure to end my set with a turn of Golden Age left.
Whosit
Entropic Knight
Saladin is offering himself as a Vassal. If anyone's around, thoughts? I say no, though then there's the risk that Alex might pick him up? We don't really need Vassals for this game, do we?
edit: A bit late, but I already took the offer. Will have the report done tonight because my computer is going so slowly.
edit: A bit late, but I already took the offer. Will have the report done tonight because my computer is going so slowly.
Norvin_Green
Emperor
Not sure Alex would as they are not friendly or at war, right?
Whosit
Entropic Knight
And lo', the Righteous shall fall while those who master the Shadows shall own the world.
Will this dire prediction come to pass? We shall see.
Inherited Turn 315, 1475 AD
First thing first, put all suggested changes into play.
Among other things, I add two specialists to Berlin, muddying the GP pool. Oh well. Unfortunately, the city will starve one size by the time the next Great Person comes. It should grow back eventually, though.
Whip the Market in Akkad, as well.
Now, for a general run-through.
Cologne: No real complaints here. I'd personally like to see an extra farm so that the city could support all of its mines, but that's not what we've designed the place for.
Stuttgart: I'm tempted to move the plains-hill mine onto a lake tile and grow the place to the health cap. A little extra cash for EP, but probably not worth it now. I'll think about it.
Cuman: Working on market, but I'm gonna put some culture into it, too.
Dur-Kurigalzu: Whip theatre.
OK, looks pretty good to me. On with the set.
-End Turn-
Turn 316, 1480 AD
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns). Angkor Wat or Uni of Sankore are tempting, though.
Stuttgart: Trebuchet < Crossbowman (3 turns)
Bjorgvin: Buddhist Temple < Buddhist Monastery (9 turns)
Akkad: Market < Grocer (93 turns)
Dur-Kurigalzu: Theatre < Jewish Monastery (19 turns)
Babylon's borders expand, ETA on the Taj drops to 9 turns. I set it to growth again.
We have a lot of spies and I don't know where they are all going. I suppose when I end my set, I'll make a note at the end of the report. So many units!
Close in on Shushan; Hammy should be done in a couple of turns.
-End Turn-
Turn 317, 1485 AD
Haithabu: Castle < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
I receive the unfortunate news that 004 has been caught in Baghdad. Anyway, I will be making a few more spies to replace losses this set. We still have a few spies, though.
Building cottages and such things.
-End Turn-
Turn 318, 1490 AD
Gilgamesh, clearly becoming intimidated by German military successes, comes demanding Paper in an attempt to assert his dominance. I say "bug off." He goes home crying.
Hamburg: Knight < University of Sankore (11 turns). Sorry, couldn't resist. Thought about A.W., but we probably won't run very many priests once we get more Spy buildings. My justification is: More cash directly to coffers means more income can be spent on EP.
Stuttgart: Crossbowman < Spy (2 turns)
Sippar: Forge < Market (34 turns)
We spark a revolt in the last Babylonian city. Let the carnage begin! We take the city with little resistance, our Knights charge gallantly up the hillside, through a hail of arrows, and overrun Hammurabi's defenders. While there are some casualties, we lose no divisions (as in: No unit losses).
Now my least favorite part of warfare: Reorganizing the troops once the enemy is defeated. Basically, I'll be sending everything that doesn't need to act as a garrison south, in preparation for Gandhi's defeat. I'll also be producing spies in favor of of siege. We don't need no siege!
Ah, auto-move, my friend.
Just noticed that I seem to have misplaced the spies to take out the Arab Notre Dame, so I double time them over. I might consider building a Galley out of Frankfurt to ferry spies across the big lake.
-End Turn-
Turn 319, 1495 AD
Ohh, someone destroyed Market progress in Sippar! I'd be more upset if I hadn't just started it last turn, ha ha! But one of our spies was caught near Sparta. Gah. Greek lands have been bad to me.
Frankfurt: Hindu Missionary < Harbor (8 turns)
Ligurian: Jewish Missionary < Jewish Missionary (5 turns)
Dortmund learns the Jewish ways. Eshnunna, wherever that is, also gains Judaism.
Anyways, I think all of our double-Os are dead, so I'll start a new naming system. We have Mr. Monday. He'll head to Korea in anticipation of Printing Press.
Spot a Greek Stack heading for India.
Bjorgvin' progress on the Monastery has slowed down 'cuz it lost more tiles. Will whip it when the Hindu Missionary arrives and I can put the overflow into another Monastery.
Exploratory spy finds that Calcutta has been captured.
We picked up 5 workers from Hammy. What to do with them? Put down a farm near Dur-K. to speed growth for whipping out culture buildings.
Just remembered that UoS is beakers, not gold. Umm, oh well. Heh heh. I still want to build it even though a better use of Hamburg's hammers would be war prep vs. Gandhi.
. . . OK, I switch to a Knight. But I want to build the Spiral Minaret.
-End Turn-
Turn 320, 1500 AD
Essen's water supply was poisoned by unknown infiltrators. Grr.
Munich: Spy < Jewish Missionary (5 turns)
Dortmund: Crossbowman < Longbowman (6 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Knight (5 turns)
Gandhi captured Pusan from Wang and Judaism spreads to Corinth. All good for us, probably.
Lots of worker stuff happening. Micro Berlin so that it still gets a GP before Science City, but it won't shrink. Search for a few obsolete, unneccessary garrison units to disband for cash. Also note to build replacements for things like warrior/archer garrisons.
-End Turn-
Turn 321, 1505 AD
Haithabu: Hindu Monastery < Jewish Monastery (4 turns)
Dur-Kurigalzu: Jewish Monastery < Jewish Temple (39 turns)
Alex got a Great Prophet.
Whip Grocer in Akkad.
Spies wander around, filling in some map bits.
-End Turn-
Turn 322, 1510 AD
Gilgamesh founds a town somewhere, so I guess there's still open land? Or maybe he put it in the ice, heh.
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Essen: Aqueduct < Bank (17 turns)
Akkad: Grocer < Bank
We get our Great Spy! Alex gets a Golden Age (must have burned his Great Person) and Islam is founded in one of Gilgy's towns that we can't see, I bet. Urg, forgot that we need Theology to steal Divine Right. I'm gonna see what we can trade. Nationalism is an option, but we might want to hold that? We can get a lot of money, though, and the Taj is in no danger.
Well, call it a bad idea, but I'll trade Nationalism to Alex for a couple reasons. 1: Techs and cash. 2: Maybe it'll bump him up from cautions 'cuz it's a really good deal for him.
OK, still cautious, but we got 520 gold and Theology and Optics (whooo). It's not like we're going to have tech trouble, but we just didn't have any spies in place to snatch Theology.
NOW I steal Divine Right. Hmm, ruling by decree of God? That's a great idea. We should make a run at Versailles, I think. We have a pretty big empire right now.
Anyway, in less controversial news, we get our Scotland Yard in Munich at last.
Hinduism is spread to Bjorgvin. Whip the Monastery now. Unfortunately, it passed the overflow peak, I think.
OK, back from my break. Let's see. I think I will trade Nationalism to everyone who has some cash since I already traded it to Alex. I can get a total of 810 gold for trading it to everyone. I might incur a few Worst Enemy penalties, but I think it's worth it and, frankly (and perhaps unfortunately) no one can stop us anymore . . . .
Wang goes from Annoyed to Cautious.
Gilgamesh is steady at Pleased, but we got his map, too.
Don't trade with Saladin after all because he already has Nationalism. So I don't get his 200 gold. Oh well. All in all, we now have 1519 gold in the bank, losing 25 gold per turn. I think we can handle that for awhile.
Alex looks like he has Pataliputra under siege, but since the city has a 94% cultural defense and Alex has all of 3 catapults it's going to take awhile.
Need to get culture in Jelling to keep it from being overwhelmed. The Indian town next door is starting the Hermitage, by the way. Tsk tsk.
I hire a couple of artists in Haithabu to try and increase the minimal chance of getting a non-scientist. Probably too little, too late.
-End Turn-
Turn 323, 1515 AD
Munich is poisoned. I think I need to build some spies for defense.
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Spy (2 turns)
Birka: Maceman < Longbowman (6 turns)
Bjorgvin: Buddhist Monastery < Hindu Monastery (9 turns)
Alex captures Pusan. I notice that someone poisoned Bagdhad. Goody, at least we're not the only targets.
I name a spy that I think did something right Ms. Tuesday (isn't it odd that spies are the only units whose sex changes with the graphical upgrade in the Industrial age?). Send to Cuman for defense.
Spies still waiting in Mecca for the full bonus to sabatoge the Notre Dame under construction there. 6 turns left, so it's down to the wire . . . . Odds of success aren't great, either.
I think Babylon should be a Production site. Maybe we can even build Versailles way out there.
-End Turn-
Turn 324, 1520 AD
We don't want Open Borders with Gandhi.
Hamburg: Knight < Knight
Ligurian: Jewish Missionary < Spy
Gandhi adopts Mercanitlism and Gilgamesh gets a Great Artist.
Units and Spies gathering in Haithabu in preparation for war against the Indians. Spies will be deployed to critical Indian targets a few turns in advance of the assault.
Er, accidentally ordered a spy in Mecca to try and sabotage and he fails. Will wait one more turn for the next one . . . . Hope it works.
-End Turn-
Turn 325, 1525 AD
The Taj is ours!
Berlin: The Taj Mahal < The Spiral Minaret (8 turns)
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Munich: Jewish Missionary < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
Frankfurt: Harbor < Caravel (4 turns)
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (4 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Spy (2 turns)
Nidaros: Grocer < Jewish Monastery (3 turns)
Babylon: Market < Theatre (3 turns)
One of our spies was caught in Korea, however. We'll need to send more to get Printing Press, though Wang's research appears to have slowed and it's due in 10 turns, now.
83% chance of sabatoging Saladin's Notre Dame. . .
The dark of night shroud's the streets of Mecca yet the marble walls of the nearly complete great cathedral sparkle in the light of the moon and stars. A shadowed figure skirts across the construction site. A few gold coins there, a few whispered words there has ensured that the soldiers guarding the construction site are . . . occupied this evening. Those same coins and words also ensured that an abundant supply of dry tinder and tar would be nearby, along with a small supply of the city's malcontents and criminals. Less than an hour later, the great capital of Arabia is lit up like day as fires rage through the priest district. It took until the sun's rise to contain the blaze but by then the nearly completed Notre Dame was little more than smoking ruins. The wooden scaffolding burned easily and the incomplete walls crumbled as they lost support and the heat weakened their integrity. The architects were in anguish! A few ruffians were rounded up and a few heads sent rolling, but the lead instigator was never found--the arsonists claimed that the figure melted away into the night.
Success! We now have a Ms. Wednesday. It will take Saladin 19 turns to start over. Mwahahahahahaa! The Notre Dame (and happiness) is ours!
Meanwhile, the German Princes decide to abandon our centralized system of government in favor of fostering a national identity and refocusing the state religion from preaching peace to stirring up zealots.
Our income goes up a bit and our EP shoots up even further. I think we're netting about 36 extra EP per rube. I turn the slider up a notch so that we're losing 17 gpt, but gain about 120 EP per turn.
Unfortunately, our Jewish Missionaries now have nowhere to go in our society. However, Monty is in Organized Religion and Alex is in Free Religion, so we can spread the word (and profit) elswhere. Maybe not to Alex, as it would help him, but we'll see.
We do need Hinduism in our norther cities, however.
Also, we lose turns on our own Notre Dame and Spiral Minaret, but we should still be fine.
-End Turn-
Turn 325, 1525 AD
We stumbled upon a spy near Bjorgvin, but he took his own life before we could learn who sent him.
Saladin comes to us, clearly uneasy. "Great Whosit," he says, "Arabia has been beset by thieves and saboteurs of the worst kind! Please protect us!"
Whosit was without his advisers this day, and pondered the situation deeply. Accepting Saladin as a vassal would have benefits and unfortunate consequences. The other nations of the world would probably be upset, but we would have an ally in a great strategic location in case Alex ever sets his eyes on us. Also, we can set his research direction, a potential plus. Eventually, I decide to accept.
Saladin is Friendly, Wang Kon is Annoyed. I ask Saladin if we could spare Military Tradition for his bestest buddy. Unfortunately, no, so I ask for his money, instead. He won't even give us 130 lousy gold. Some vassal you're turning out to be.
Haithabu: Jewish Monastery < Hindu Mandir (14 turns). We can probably build a few of these by now, anyway.
I order Saladin to stop researching Guilds and start on Constitution. It'll take him 18 turns.
Give some spies some orders and call it a day.
The artists in Haithabu now give us a 6% chance for an artist. Let's see.
-End Turn-
Turn 327, 1535 AD
Our counterintelligence agents thwart a Greek spy! That'll teach those dastardly Greeks!
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (1 turn)
Ligurian: Spy < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Hindu Monastery (3 turns)
Cuman: Market < Forge (12 turns). It will seriously need culture after this.
Birka: Longbowman < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
We get a Great Scientist, of course.
I do a couple things I forgot about last turn. Rice to Alex for 15 gpt.
Renegotiate Dye deal with Monty to get 3 more gpt.
Gandhi has 9 gpt available . . . but we're not dealing with him, sadly.
Anyway, we now have a slightly positive income at 70% EP.
Not sure what to do with Mikhail Lomonosov right now, so I send him to Berlin. Double bulbing Education won't do us much good. Alex is working on it, though, so perhaps we can get it from him and bulb something more useful.
I swap a hamlet in Cologne to a mine to shave a turn off of Notre Dame so it'll finish same turn as Spiral Minaret (turn before GA ends). I want 'em both in my set.
It occurs to me that I've accumulated enough soldiers to start warring against Gandhi. I release the hounds! Er, spies.
-End Turn-
Turn 328, 1540 AD
We catch an Arabian spy. Despite being our Vassal, it seems that Saladin is up to no good!
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Nidaros: Jewish Monastery < Spy (3 turns)
Babylon: Theatre < Barracks (4 turns)
Opis: Culture < Theatre (9 turns)
For kicks, I demand all of Gandhi's gold.
Then I kick myself. Auuuugh. Somehow I managed to forget that such things enact that 10-turn peace. Oh well. I guess that means I can make more knights and spies in the meantime . . . ?
Turn 329, 1545 AD
Saladin wants to trade maps. No way, you loser.
Munich: Hindu Monastery < Bank (15 turns)
Frankfurt: Caravel < The Hagia Sophia (15 turns). It doesn't really need anything else now, maybe monasteries, but if we get it, cool, if not, some cash.
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (4 turns)
Bjorgvin: Hindu Monastery < Spy (5 turns)
Alex will probably take the town he's had under siege. Urgh, if I hadn't been so greedy for money, we could have snatched it out from under him.
Anyway, improvements around Dusseldorf are coming along nicely. A chop will finish the granary, so hopefully it'll grow faster from now on.
-End Turn-
Turn 330, 1550 AD
Hamburg: Knight < Maceman (1 turn)
Stuttgart: Hindu Monastery < Longbowman (2 turns)
Birka: Spy < Spy (3 turns)
Jelling: Market < Hindu Monastery (8 turns)
Dusseldorf: Granary < Forge (45 turns)
Essen: Slave revolt. Pay to put it down.
Alex captures Pataliputra, ends the war, and takes on Gandhi as a Vassal. Urggh!
In response, and hopefully not to the chagrin of the team, I take Monty as a Vassal (BUG alerted me that he would accept it). His attitude jumps to Friendly (I guess it's automatic?) while our maintenance jumps and we're losing some money.
On the plus side, when we go to war with Gandhi/Alex/Wang, Alex will have a couple other bozos to worry about besides us.
Ask Monty to convert to Hinduism, and he does. Should we consider gifting him some tech to help him fight on equaler terms with Alex? Was this all a big mistake?
Well, my terrible decisions aside, the spies are just waiting 'till the peace with Gandhi . . . oh, it's not there anymore. I guess because of the whole Vassal thing. Well, Dusseldorf and Bjorgvin need more defense because those are Greek Borders now, well, and our Borders with Korea need more defense, too. All those workers are vulnerable!
-End Turn-
Turn 331, 1555 AD
Gandhi wants us to cancel deals with the Greeks. Looks like he's not happy with his new master, but we don't want to further antagonize Alex at this point . . . .
Hamburg: Maceman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Ligurian: Hindu Monastery < Pikeman (4 turns)
Nidaros: Spy < Barracks (3 turns)
Babylon: Barracks < Pikeman (4 turns)
Gilgamesh completes the Hagia Sophia. Oh well. Let's hope that Alex isn't quite ready to fight us.
-End Turn-
Turn 332, 1560 AD
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Longbowman (2 turns)
Saladin razes some icey barbarian town.
Mr. Monday returns from Korea with knowledge of the Printing Press. We immediately put it to use and we find that our income gets a nice boost. We're gaining cash again and our EP rate has gone up. Due to the ongoing Golden Age, our EPpt has peaked over 1000!
The demographics screen says that our current income is double that of anyone elses. Our Espionage spending is leaps and bounds above the rest.
Alex is the closest to Education, but I think we should wait until he is 7 turns away before we send spies in. I've always had bad luck with spies in Greek territory. Send a couple to the steal town and we should be fine. Wang is working on Replacable Parts, by the way, and Saladin is 9 turns away from Constitution. I shift points onto Saladin because I drained a lot disrupting Notre Dame.
-End Turn-
Turn 333, 1565 AD
Saladin offers cows for our copper. As much as we Germans love our cows, I decline. He could use that copper for the Statue of Liberty, or something.
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (3 turns)
Uppsala: Market < Grocer (14 turns)
Birka: Spy < Pikeman (3 turns)
Oh, Alex is now in WHEOOH mode, so he's probably coming for us.
-End Turn-
Turn 334, 1570 AD
Berlin finishes the Spiral Minaret and our income receives a nice boost. It now starts on a Hindu Monastery (2 turns).
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Cologne: Notre Dame < Bank (11 turns)
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Longbowman (2 turns)
NIdaros: Barracks < Pikeman (3 turns)
Bjorgvin: Spy < Barracks (7 turns)
OK, ending here with 1 turn of Golden Age left. I personally think that we should switch to Mercantilism for free Spy specialists everywhere. Now that we have two vassals, making the switch won't lose us too much in terms of trade. We can still get trade routes with our Vassals. Alex will be at war with us soon. We're really only losing trade with Gilgamesh.
Anyway, here are some notes about what's going on:
Spies are waiting in India for war to start. I sent some spies to Greek towns to our northeast, former Indian towns, that we might want to revolt and attack that way, too. At least one spy is on his way to Korea, or at least in that direction, to wait for Replaceable parts. A few spies are still waiting around for Alex to finish education, though I just noticed that he must have dropped his Sci slider, because Gilgamesh will finish a little earlier.
We can send a spy to Bagdhad to start waiting for Constitution. That let's us build Jails! So more spy specialists in Frankfurt and anywhere else that can support specialists.
We should keep building Hindu buildings when able, because they now grant us extra gold. We may want to consider building the A.P. so that we also get some extra hammers from them. Dusseldorf is coming along slowly, I'm afraid. We may want to replace a workshop or two with a farm, though, I may not have calculated the food requirements quite right. Babylon is doing well, though. It can probably start working on Versailles sooner or later, though we probably want to use it to shore up our northern defenses, first. Let it grow a couple times to work those plains hill mines and its production should rocket up. It could still use some improving, maybe another farm or workshop. I'd leave the forests there and build lumbermills when we get replaceable parts.
All units still have move left. I would use some of our worker groups to lay down more roads, especially in our core. The road system is pretty good, but we can improve it and there's not a lot else to do.
Also: Swap Cologne's mine back to cottage. I forgot about that.
Umm, here's the official roster, but we can move Sengir after me, I think.
Whosit (finished set)
nocho (???)
sturick
Meiz
Sengir (up?)
Norvin Green
Will this dire prediction come to pass? We shall see.
Inherited Turn 315, 1475 AD
First thing first, put all suggested changes into play.
Among other things, I add two specialists to Berlin, muddying the GP pool. Oh well. Unfortunately, the city will starve one size by the time the next Great Person comes. It should grow back eventually, though.
Whip the Market in Akkad, as well.
Now, for a general run-through.
Cologne: No real complaints here. I'd personally like to see an extra farm so that the city could support all of its mines, but that's not what we've designed the place for.
Stuttgart: I'm tempted to move the plains-hill mine onto a lake tile and grow the place to the health cap. A little extra cash for EP, but probably not worth it now. I'll think about it.
Cuman: Working on market, but I'm gonna put some culture into it, too.
Dur-Kurigalzu: Whip theatre.
OK, looks pretty good to me. On with the set.
-End Turn-
Turn 316, 1480 AD
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns). Angkor Wat or Uni of Sankore are tempting, though.
Stuttgart: Trebuchet < Crossbowman (3 turns)
Bjorgvin: Buddhist Temple < Buddhist Monastery (9 turns)
Akkad: Market < Grocer (93 turns)
Dur-Kurigalzu: Theatre < Jewish Monastery (19 turns)
Babylon's borders expand, ETA on the Taj drops to 9 turns. I set it to growth again.
We have a lot of spies and I don't know where they are all going. I suppose when I end my set, I'll make a note at the end of the report. So many units!
Close in on Shushan; Hammy should be done in a couple of turns.
-End Turn-
Turn 317, 1485 AD
Haithabu: Castle < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
I receive the unfortunate news that 004 has been caught in Baghdad. Anyway, I will be making a few more spies to replace losses this set. We still have a few spies, though.
Building cottages and such things.
-End Turn-
Turn 318, 1490 AD
Gilgamesh, clearly becoming intimidated by German military successes, comes demanding Paper in an attempt to assert his dominance. I say "bug off." He goes home crying.
Hamburg: Knight < University of Sankore (11 turns). Sorry, couldn't resist. Thought about A.W., but we probably won't run very many priests once we get more Spy buildings. My justification is: More cash directly to coffers means more income can be spent on EP.
Stuttgart: Crossbowman < Spy (2 turns)
Sippar: Forge < Market (34 turns)
We spark a revolt in the last Babylonian city. Let the carnage begin! We take the city with little resistance, our Knights charge gallantly up the hillside, through a hail of arrows, and overrun Hammurabi's defenders. While there are some casualties, we lose no divisions (as in: No unit losses).
Now my least favorite part of warfare: Reorganizing the troops once the enemy is defeated. Basically, I'll be sending everything that doesn't need to act as a garrison south, in preparation for Gandhi's defeat. I'll also be producing spies in favor of of siege. We don't need no siege!
Ah, auto-move, my friend.
Just noticed that I seem to have misplaced the spies to take out the Arab Notre Dame, so I double time them over. I might consider building a Galley out of Frankfurt to ferry spies across the big lake.
-End Turn-
Turn 319, 1495 AD
Ohh, someone destroyed Market progress in Sippar! I'd be more upset if I hadn't just started it last turn, ha ha! But one of our spies was caught near Sparta. Gah. Greek lands have been bad to me.
Frankfurt: Hindu Missionary < Harbor (8 turns)
Ligurian: Jewish Missionary < Jewish Missionary (5 turns)
Dortmund learns the Jewish ways. Eshnunna, wherever that is, also gains Judaism.
Anyways, I think all of our double-Os are dead, so I'll start a new naming system. We have Mr. Monday. He'll head to Korea in anticipation of Printing Press.
Spot a Greek Stack heading for India.
Bjorgvin' progress on the Monastery has slowed down 'cuz it lost more tiles. Will whip it when the Hindu Missionary arrives and I can put the overflow into another Monastery.
Exploratory spy finds that Calcutta has been captured.
We picked up 5 workers from Hammy. What to do with them? Put down a farm near Dur-K. to speed growth for whipping out culture buildings.
Just remembered that UoS is beakers, not gold. Umm, oh well. Heh heh. I still want to build it even though a better use of Hamburg's hammers would be war prep vs. Gandhi.
. . . OK, I switch to a Knight. But I want to build the Spiral Minaret.
-End Turn-
Turn 320, 1500 AD
Essen's water supply was poisoned by unknown infiltrators. Grr.
Munich: Spy < Jewish Missionary (5 turns)
Dortmund: Crossbowman < Longbowman (6 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Knight (5 turns)
Gandhi captured Pusan from Wang and Judaism spreads to Corinth. All good for us, probably.
Lots of worker stuff happening. Micro Berlin so that it still gets a GP before Science City, but it won't shrink. Search for a few obsolete, unneccessary garrison units to disband for cash. Also note to build replacements for things like warrior/archer garrisons.
-End Turn-
Turn 321, 1505 AD
Haithabu: Hindu Monastery < Jewish Monastery (4 turns)
Dur-Kurigalzu: Jewish Monastery < Jewish Temple (39 turns)
Alex got a Great Prophet.
Whip Grocer in Akkad.
Spies wander around, filling in some map bits.
-End Turn-
Turn 322, 1510 AD
Gilgamesh founds a town somewhere, so I guess there's still open land? Or maybe he put it in the ice, heh.
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Essen: Aqueduct < Bank (17 turns)
Akkad: Grocer < Bank
We get our Great Spy! Alex gets a Golden Age (must have burned his Great Person) and Islam is founded in one of Gilgy's towns that we can't see, I bet. Urg, forgot that we need Theology to steal Divine Right. I'm gonna see what we can trade. Nationalism is an option, but we might want to hold that? We can get a lot of money, though, and the Taj is in no danger.
Well, call it a bad idea, but I'll trade Nationalism to Alex for a couple reasons. 1: Techs and cash. 2: Maybe it'll bump him up from cautions 'cuz it's a really good deal for him.
OK, still cautious, but we got 520 gold and Theology and Optics (whooo). It's not like we're going to have tech trouble, but we just didn't have any spies in place to snatch Theology.
NOW I steal Divine Right. Hmm, ruling by decree of God? That's a great idea. We should make a run at Versailles, I think. We have a pretty big empire right now.
Anyway, in less controversial news, we get our Scotland Yard in Munich at last.
Hinduism is spread to Bjorgvin. Whip the Monastery now. Unfortunately, it passed the overflow peak, I think.
OK, back from my break. Let's see. I think I will trade Nationalism to everyone who has some cash since I already traded it to Alex. I can get a total of 810 gold for trading it to everyone. I might incur a few Worst Enemy penalties, but I think it's worth it and, frankly (and perhaps unfortunately) no one can stop us anymore . . . .
Wang goes from Annoyed to Cautious.
Gilgamesh is steady at Pleased, but we got his map, too.
Don't trade with Saladin after all because he already has Nationalism. So I don't get his 200 gold. Oh well. All in all, we now have 1519 gold in the bank, losing 25 gold per turn. I think we can handle that for awhile.
Alex looks like he has Pataliputra under siege, but since the city has a 94% cultural defense and Alex has all of 3 catapults it's going to take awhile.
Need to get culture in Jelling to keep it from being overwhelmed. The Indian town next door is starting the Hermitage, by the way. Tsk tsk.
I hire a couple of artists in Haithabu to try and increase the minimal chance of getting a non-scientist. Probably too little, too late.
-End Turn-
Turn 323, 1515 AD
Munich is poisoned. I think I need to build some spies for defense.
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Spy (2 turns)
Birka: Maceman < Longbowman (6 turns)
Bjorgvin: Buddhist Monastery < Hindu Monastery (9 turns)
Alex captures Pusan. I notice that someone poisoned Bagdhad. Goody, at least we're not the only targets.
I name a spy that I think did something right Ms. Tuesday (isn't it odd that spies are the only units whose sex changes with the graphical upgrade in the Industrial age?). Send to Cuman for defense.
Spies still waiting in Mecca for the full bonus to sabatoge the Notre Dame under construction there. 6 turns left, so it's down to the wire . . . . Odds of success aren't great, either.
I think Babylon should be a Production site. Maybe we can even build Versailles way out there.
-End Turn-
Turn 324, 1520 AD
We don't want Open Borders with Gandhi.
Hamburg: Knight < Knight
Ligurian: Jewish Missionary < Spy
Gandhi adopts Mercanitlism and Gilgamesh gets a Great Artist.
Units and Spies gathering in Haithabu in preparation for war against the Indians. Spies will be deployed to critical Indian targets a few turns in advance of the assault.
Er, accidentally ordered a spy in Mecca to try and sabotage and he fails. Will wait one more turn for the next one . . . . Hope it works.
-End Turn-
Turn 325, 1525 AD
The Taj is ours!
Berlin: The Taj Mahal < The Spiral Minaret (8 turns)
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Munich: Jewish Missionary < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
Frankfurt: Harbor < Caravel (4 turns)
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (4 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Spy (2 turns)
Nidaros: Grocer < Jewish Monastery (3 turns)
Babylon: Market < Theatre (3 turns)
One of our spies was caught in Korea, however. We'll need to send more to get Printing Press, though Wang's research appears to have slowed and it's due in 10 turns, now.
83% chance of sabatoging Saladin's Notre Dame. . .
The dark of night shroud's the streets of Mecca yet the marble walls of the nearly complete great cathedral sparkle in the light of the moon and stars. A shadowed figure skirts across the construction site. A few gold coins there, a few whispered words there has ensured that the soldiers guarding the construction site are . . . occupied this evening. Those same coins and words also ensured that an abundant supply of dry tinder and tar would be nearby, along with a small supply of the city's malcontents and criminals. Less than an hour later, the great capital of Arabia is lit up like day as fires rage through the priest district. It took until the sun's rise to contain the blaze but by then the nearly completed Notre Dame was little more than smoking ruins. The wooden scaffolding burned easily and the incomplete walls crumbled as they lost support and the heat weakened their integrity. The architects were in anguish! A few ruffians were rounded up and a few heads sent rolling, but the lead instigator was never found--the arsonists claimed that the figure melted away into the night.
Success! We now have a Ms. Wednesday. It will take Saladin 19 turns to start over. Mwahahahahahaa! The Notre Dame (and happiness) is ours!
Meanwhile, the German Princes decide to abandon our centralized system of government in favor of fostering a national identity and refocusing the state religion from preaching peace to stirring up zealots.
Our income goes up a bit and our EP shoots up even further. I think we're netting about 36 extra EP per rube. I turn the slider up a notch so that we're losing 17 gpt, but gain about 120 EP per turn.
Unfortunately, our Jewish Missionaries now have nowhere to go in our society. However, Monty is in Organized Religion and Alex is in Free Religion, so we can spread the word (and profit) elswhere. Maybe not to Alex, as it would help him, but we'll see.
We do need Hinduism in our norther cities, however.
Also, we lose turns on our own Notre Dame and Spiral Minaret, but we should still be fine.
-End Turn-
Turn 325, 1525 AD
We stumbled upon a spy near Bjorgvin, but he took his own life before we could learn who sent him.
Saladin comes to us, clearly uneasy. "Great Whosit," he says, "Arabia has been beset by thieves and saboteurs of the worst kind! Please protect us!"
Whosit was without his advisers this day, and pondered the situation deeply. Accepting Saladin as a vassal would have benefits and unfortunate consequences. The other nations of the world would probably be upset, but we would have an ally in a great strategic location in case Alex ever sets his eyes on us. Also, we can set his research direction, a potential plus. Eventually, I decide to accept.
Saladin is Friendly, Wang Kon is Annoyed. I ask Saladin if we could spare Military Tradition for his bestest buddy. Unfortunately, no, so I ask for his money, instead. He won't even give us 130 lousy gold. Some vassal you're turning out to be.
Haithabu: Jewish Monastery < Hindu Mandir (14 turns). We can probably build a few of these by now, anyway.
I order Saladin to stop researching Guilds and start on Constitution. It'll take him 18 turns.
Give some spies some orders and call it a day.
The artists in Haithabu now give us a 6% chance for an artist. Let's see.
-End Turn-
Turn 327, 1535 AD
Our counterintelligence agents thwart a Greek spy! That'll teach those dastardly Greeks!
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (1 turn)
Ligurian: Spy < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
Stuttgart: Spy < Hindu Monastery (3 turns)
Cuman: Market < Forge (12 turns). It will seriously need culture after this.
Birka: Longbowman < Hindu Monastery (4 turns)
We get a Great Scientist, of course.
I do a couple things I forgot about last turn. Rice to Alex for 15 gpt.
Renegotiate Dye deal with Monty to get 3 more gpt.
Gandhi has 9 gpt available . . . but we're not dealing with him, sadly.
Anyway, we now have a slightly positive income at 70% EP.
Not sure what to do with Mikhail Lomonosov right now, so I send him to Berlin. Double bulbing Education won't do us much good. Alex is working on it, though, so perhaps we can get it from him and bulb something more useful.
I swap a hamlet in Cologne to a mine to shave a turn off of Notre Dame so it'll finish same turn as Spiral Minaret (turn before GA ends). I want 'em both in my set.
It occurs to me that I've accumulated enough soldiers to start warring against Gandhi. I release the hounds! Er, spies.
-End Turn-
Turn 328, 1540 AD
We catch an Arabian spy. Despite being our Vassal, it seems that Saladin is up to no good!
Hamburg: Knight < Knight (2 turns)
Nidaros: Jewish Monastery < Spy (3 turns)
Babylon: Theatre < Barracks (4 turns)
Opis: Culture < Theatre (9 turns)
For kicks, I demand all of Gandhi's gold.
Then I kick myself. Auuuugh. Somehow I managed to forget that such things enact that 10-turn peace. Oh well. I guess that means I can make more knights and spies in the meantime . . . ?
Turn 329, 1545 AD
Saladin wants to trade maps. No way, you loser.
Munich: Hindu Monastery < Bank (15 turns)
Frankfurt: Caravel < The Hagia Sophia (15 turns). It doesn't really need anything else now, maybe monasteries, but if we get it, cool, if not, some cash.
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (4 turns)
Bjorgvin: Hindu Monastery < Spy (5 turns)
Alex will probably take the town he's had under siege. Urgh, if I hadn't been so greedy for money, we could have snatched it out from under him.
Anyway, improvements around Dusseldorf are coming along nicely. A chop will finish the granary, so hopefully it'll grow faster from now on.
-End Turn-
Turn 330, 1550 AD
Hamburg: Knight < Maceman (1 turn)
Stuttgart: Hindu Monastery < Longbowman (2 turns)
Birka: Spy < Spy (3 turns)
Jelling: Market < Hindu Monastery (8 turns)
Dusseldorf: Granary < Forge (45 turns)
Essen: Slave revolt. Pay to put it down.
Alex captures Pataliputra, ends the war, and takes on Gandhi as a Vassal. Urggh!
In response, and hopefully not to the chagrin of the team, I take Monty as a Vassal (BUG alerted me that he would accept it). His attitude jumps to Friendly (I guess it's automatic?) while our maintenance jumps and we're losing some money.
On the plus side, when we go to war with Gandhi/Alex/Wang, Alex will have a couple other bozos to worry about besides us.
Ask Monty to convert to Hinduism, and he does. Should we consider gifting him some tech to help him fight on equaler terms with Alex? Was this all a big mistake?
Well, my terrible decisions aside, the spies are just waiting 'till the peace with Gandhi . . . oh, it's not there anymore. I guess because of the whole Vassal thing. Well, Dusseldorf and Bjorgvin need more defense because those are Greek Borders now, well, and our Borders with Korea need more defense, too. All those workers are vulnerable!
-End Turn-
Turn 331, 1555 AD
Gandhi wants us to cancel deals with the Greeks. Looks like he's not happy with his new master, but we don't want to further antagonize Alex at this point . . . .
Hamburg: Maceman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Ligurian: Hindu Monastery < Pikeman (4 turns)
Nidaros: Spy < Barracks (3 turns)
Babylon: Barracks < Pikeman (4 turns)
Gilgamesh completes the Hagia Sophia. Oh well. Let's hope that Alex isn't quite ready to fight us.
-End Turn-
Turn 332, 1560 AD
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Longbowman (2 turns)
Saladin razes some icey barbarian town.
Mr. Monday returns from Korea with knowledge of the Printing Press. We immediately put it to use and we find that our income gets a nice boost. We're gaining cash again and our EP rate has gone up. Due to the ongoing Golden Age, our EPpt has peaked over 1000!
The demographics screen says that our current income is double that of anyone elses. Our Espionage spending is leaps and bounds above the rest.
Spoiler :
Alex is the closest to Education, but I think we should wait until he is 7 turns away before we send spies in. I've always had bad luck with spies in Greek territory. Send a couple to the steal town and we should be fine. Wang is working on Replacable Parts, by the way, and Saladin is 9 turns away from Constitution. I shift points onto Saladin because I drained a lot disrupting Notre Dame.
-End Turn-
Turn 333, 1565 AD
Saladin offers cows for our copper. As much as we Germans love our cows, I decline. He could use that copper for the Statue of Liberty, or something.
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Dortmund: Longbowman < Longbowman (3 turns)
Uppsala: Market < Grocer (14 turns)
Birka: Spy < Pikeman (3 turns)
Oh, Alex is now in WHEOOH mode, so he's probably coming for us.
-End Turn-
Turn 334, 1570 AD
Berlin finishes the Spiral Minaret and our income receives a nice boost. It now starts on a Hindu Monastery (2 turns).
Hamburg: Pikeman < Pikeman (1 turn)
Cologne: Notre Dame < Bank (11 turns)
Stuttgart: Longbowman < Longbowman (2 turns)
NIdaros: Barracks < Pikeman (3 turns)
Bjorgvin: Spy < Barracks (7 turns)
OK, ending here with 1 turn of Golden Age left. I personally think that we should switch to Mercantilism for free Spy specialists everywhere. Now that we have two vassals, making the switch won't lose us too much in terms of trade. We can still get trade routes with our Vassals. Alex will be at war with us soon. We're really only losing trade with Gilgamesh.
Anyway, here are some notes about what's going on:
Spies are waiting in India for war to start. I sent some spies to Greek towns to our northeast, former Indian towns, that we might want to revolt and attack that way, too. At least one spy is on his way to Korea, or at least in that direction, to wait for Replaceable parts. A few spies are still waiting around for Alex to finish education, though I just noticed that he must have dropped his Sci slider, because Gilgamesh will finish a little earlier.
We can send a spy to Bagdhad to start waiting for Constitution. That let's us build Jails! So more spy specialists in Frankfurt and anywhere else that can support specialists.
We should keep building Hindu buildings when able, because they now grant us extra gold. We may want to consider building the A.P. so that we also get some extra hammers from them. Dusseldorf is coming along slowly, I'm afraid. We may want to replace a workshop or two with a farm, though, I may not have calculated the food requirements quite right. Babylon is doing well, though. It can probably start working on Versailles sooner or later, though we probably want to use it to shore up our northern defenses, first. Let it grow a couple times to work those plains hill mines and its production should rocket up. It could still use some improving, maybe another farm or workshop. I'd leave the forests there and build lumbermills when we get replaceable parts.
All units still have move left. I would use some of our worker groups to lay down more roads, especially in our core. The road system is pretty good, but we can improve it and there's not a lot else to do.
Also: Swap Cologne's mine back to cottage. I forgot about that.
Umm, here's the official roster, but we can move Sengir after me, I think.
Whosit (finished set)
nocho (???)
sturick
Meiz
Sengir (up?)
Norvin Green
Well done Whosit! Everything is looking good!
I tend to agree with taking the two vassals...they will provide a fine distraction to Alex when we finally go to war with him.
I do think it would be better to attack his cities when that happens though.
Gandhi is a wuss and won't challenge us.
I say we take Alex's new acquisitions of Bulgar, Calcutta and Pataliputra to start.
We need to pump lots more units though if we want to crush his stack.
I think avoiding building siege is a big mistake...we will need it to topple Alex's SoD.
So whomever plays next should mass produce units.
Hopefully, with a little luck Alex will decide to attack Gilgamesh and we can join the war efforts on Alex while his stack is in Gilgas territory.
Grabbing Gilgamesh as a vassal is very important now. If Alex gets him we could be in for some trouble. So check back early and often to see if that option becomes available.
I tend to agree with taking the two vassals...they will provide a fine distraction to Alex when we finally go to war with him.
I do think it would be better to attack his cities when that happens though.
Gandhi is a wuss and won't challenge us.
I say we take Alex's new acquisitions of Bulgar, Calcutta and Pataliputra to start.
We need to pump lots more units though if we want to crush his stack.
I think avoiding building siege is a big mistake...we will need it to topple Alex's SoD.
So whomever plays next should mass produce units.
Hopefully, with a little luck Alex will decide to attack Gilgamesh and we can join the war efforts on Alex while his stack is in Gilgas territory.
Grabbing Gilgamesh as a vassal is very important now. If Alex gets him we could be in for some trouble. So check back early and often to see if that option becomes available.
I won't complain about the vassals, I guess we're heading for conquest or domination so we can use those vassals to our benefit.
If Sengir is around he can take it, otherwise I could get it later this week.
I did the dual install last week (surprisingly easy...) so I could upgrade to 3.19 if you wish.
If Sengir is around he can take it, otherwise I could get it later this week.
I did the dual install last week (surprisingly easy...) so I could upgrade to 3.19 if you wish.
So do we upgrade to 3.19? If I recompiled the opinions correctly it depends on Whosit...
Sengir - proposed it
Norvin - 3.19 fine
Meiz - All good for 3.19
sturick - dittoes that
Whosit - OK, in theory, so long as the other SGs I'm in can update
nocho - proud he managed the dual install
Sengir - proposed it
Norvin - 3.19 fine
Meiz - All good for 3.19
sturick - dittoes that
Whosit - OK, in theory, so long as the other SGs I'm in can update
nocho - proud he managed the dual install
In the Random thread Whosit said that his other games should be good to go.
So I don't believe there are any roadblocks to you playing in 3.19 Sengir.
My only real suggestion for your set is to build lots and lots of military and spies.
Alex is going to be a tough nut to crack!
So I don't believe there are any roadblocks to you playing in 3.19 Sengir.
My only real suggestion for your set is to build lots and lots of military and spies.
Alex is going to be a tough nut to crack!
Whosit
Entropic Knight
Yeah, I'm fine. I've already upgraded (no going back, heh). I gave you all the benefit of the doubt that you'd be able to figure things out. Also, it looks like I was dead asleep when you were having this discussion.
Though this seems like a good excuse to say: I've played one game so far on 3.19 and I think I noticed some different things. First, and this isn't really bad, it seems like the AI is much smarter about using spies. In the past, y'know, they'd take out a farm, or a mine, or something silly. In my most recent games, they were taking out Cathedrals and Factories. Secondly, Global Warming really killed me. I've played some SP to the late years before, but in this one game I had more Global Warming events than in every other game I've played combined, so I'm not sure if it was odd luck or if 3.19 has really kicked up the effects of G.W. I tried looking it up on the forums, but all I found was that you can't really do much about it in-game aside from modifying the code. Which is a shame.
I was also playing a culture-flip game, but was having a lot of trouble. I'm not sure if that was due to my incompetence or the upgrade, but I figure that when I have 70% of my culture in a rival civ's city tile, it should at least have riots now and again (never rioted, in two cities).
Though this seems like a good excuse to say: I've played one game so far on 3.19 and I think I noticed some different things. First, and this isn't really bad, it seems like the AI is much smarter about using spies. In the past, y'know, they'd take out a farm, or a mine, or something silly. In my most recent games, they were taking out Cathedrals and Factories. Secondly, Global Warming really killed me. I've played some SP to the late years before, but in this one game I had more Global Warming events than in every other game I've played combined, so I'm not sure if it was odd luck or if 3.19 has really kicked up the effects of G.W. I tried looking it up on the forums, but all I found was that you can't really do much about it in-game aside from modifying the code. Which is a shame.
I was also playing a culture-flip game, but was having a lot of trouble. I'm not sure if that was due to my incompetence or the upgrade, but I figure that when I have 70% of my culture in a rival civ's city tile, it should at least have riots now and again (never rioted, in two cities).
I might remember this wrong, but if we'd been at war with Gandhi when Alex capitulated him, wouldn't we be automatically in war with the Greeks as well? If so, great
there! I'd definitely adopt Merchantilism. Other than that, less wonders and more troops!
No, I think if you're both at war with a 3rd party and that 3rd party vassalizes to the other one, you get peace forced upon you. If, however, they'd been at peace and they'd vassal voluntarily ("protect us from harm"), we would have been at war.I might remember this wrong, but if we'd been at war with Gandhi when Alex capitulated him, wouldn't we be automatically in war with the Greeks as well? If so, great
Agree!I'd definitely adopt Merchantilism. Other than that, less wonders and more troops!
No, I think if you're both at war with a 3rd party and that 3rd party vassalizes to the other one, you get peace forced upon you. If, however, they'd been at peace and they'd vassal voluntarily ("protect us from harm"), we would have been at war.
Thanks for clearing that. Reminds me again why I play my offline games without vassals...
I started to play this (three times), but I don't have the time to play it continuously and spreading it out over three days wasn't succesfull (only got two turns done). So I think it would be better for nocho to pick it up.
Furthermore, the reason that I don't have time to play is that I'm preparing to move house, starting about a week (planning was that we moved the end of august, but apparently somebody didn't get that notice.) I will be lurking and should be able to comment, but I don't think I'll have time to play, especially not an endgame set.
Furthermore, the reason that I don't have time to play is that I'm preparing to move house, starting about a week (planning was that we moved the end of august, but apparently somebody didn't get that notice.) I will be lurking and should be able to comment, but I don't think I'll have time to play, especially not an endgame set.
Ok, I'll try and squeeze a set in tomorrow afternoon, this evening and the weekend I'll be away from the comp that can handle large maps.
Patch to 3.19, adopt mercantilism, build up military in anticipation of Alex and follow Whosit's recommendations at the end of his set, that must be about it in short.
Good luck moving, Sengir, whenever you have time and feel like it, claim a set!
Patch to 3.19, adopt mercantilism, build up military in anticipation of Alex and follow Whosit's recommendations at the end of his set, that must be about it in short.
Good luck moving, Sengir, whenever you have time and feel like it, claim a set!
