SGOTM 12 - One Short Straw

[Mitchum]

Looking at the troops I think T+1 capture of York is unlikely but possible. You would want to move more units down to 1S of the Mountain this turn (T+0) to move into York for defense if you do take it T+1

Yes, that is why I was wondering about the culture thing... If it opens up along the coast it will be a lot easier to secure it.

 

[bcool]

Another idea probably not important.

Build a fort in area south of Rheims so galleys can hide and sprint past Churchill's triremes

reminders
spy to St Nick (in next 3 turns)

 

[mdy]

Go ahead, Mitchum.

 

[Mitchum]

Build a fort in area south of Rheims so galleys can hide and sprint past Churchill's triremes

Forts take 7 turns to build. I could do it, but it would take some time to get workers in the area and by the time the galleys get down to York/London (at 3 tiles/turn), the war will be over...

spy to St Nick (in next 3 turns)

Got it. The successful spy from the RP steal is in Moscow and can be there any time. I won't fortify her in the city until we have Mao somewhere else. I'd hate for her to get caught...

 

[babybluepants]

@Mitchum,

Clarifications: are you splitting off to Canterbury? What's our GA timing?

Reminder: worker(s) to Hastings if/when possible.

 

[bcool]

warning:
When you take St. Nick back from Mao watch out for his caravels near the other Churchill front.

 

[Mitchum]

Stealing Steam Power

Here are the factors at the current time in Steam:

40% - state religion
50% - culture
18% - distance
71% - epp differential

So, we can have a spy in Steam on T0, 10% stationary on T+1, 20% stationary on T+2, etc.

Steam's base cost is 4992 and we are generating 197 passive epp/turn.

So:

4992 * 1.5 * .6 (SR) * 1 (no TR) * .5 (culture) * .71 (epp differential) = 1,595

For stationary spy bonus:

T+1 (10%) - 1,435
T+2 (20%) - 1,276
T+3 (30%) - 1,116
T+4 (40%) - 957
T+5 (50%) - 797

@ 197 epp/turn, we should be able to easily steal Steam Power by T+5. As expected the limiting factor is going to be capturing London.

Or, we could use the epp slider a bit, stop our initial assualt after we capture York (ensures that we have time to reinforce it and heal before going for London), and steal Steam Power on T+2 or T+3. Then we could go full bore toward Railroads and Mining Inc.

Which one gets us to RR first? It's hard to calculate since we should be in a GA soon and our research rate is going to go up quite a bit.

 

[LowtherCastle]

My idea for the warring was that we capture 1) York + Oxford, then on about T+6 or T+7 we capture the other four cities, thus minimzing the time spent in heavy WW. We have two medics, both conveniently with the stacks that have two captures to make.

 

[Mitchum]

warning:
When you take St. Nick back from Mao watch out for his caravels near the other Churchill front.

Yes, thanks for the reminder!! I may try to get them out of the Indian Ocean before we declare.

 

[babybluepants]

Which one gets us to RR first? It's hard to calculate since we should be in a GA soon and our research rate is going to go up quite a bit.

The sooner we steal Steam Power, the sooner we put beakers in RR - seems pretty straightforward. Putting ca. 150-200bpt into Democracy for a few turns isn't the end of the world, though...

 

[Mitchum]

Clarifications: are you splitting off to Canterbury?

Yes, that is the third prong.

What's our GA timing?

I thought we wanted to fire it off on T+3 when we get our next great person from Pigs. Or, we could wait until T+7 so that we can execute LC's executive spreading plan, which has us whiping as late as then. Or we fire off the GA on T+3 but stay in slavery for the first few turns...

Reminder: worker(s) to Hastings if/when possible.

Got it. I have several workers in the Nanjing/Hammer City area that can head down there when the coast is clear. That should happen before it comes out of revolt and the borders hav expanded to capture the corn without any issues. Of course, I will have pre-scrubbed the tile before that.

 

[bcool]

I like LC's idea of timing the captures to reduce WW.

I think using a 40% stationary spy bonus on the Steam capture is a nice compromise. (would only need ~170 more espionage by putting 10-20% into espionage slider the turn before)

 

[LowtherCastle]

Stealing Steam Power

So, we can have a spy in Steam on T0, 10% stationary on T+1, 20% stationary on T+2, etc.

This is how it works, if I'm not mistaken:
T+0 Move spy to Steam
T+1 Station spy
T+2 10% stationary bonus
T+3 20%
T+4 30%
T+5 40%
T+6 50%

So capturing London on T+6 is just right. We need something like 3400g to research RR in 6t at 100%, so starting RR sooner only helps us in terms of the beakers we're putiting into Astro or Democracy now. Spending cash on EPs defeats the purpose.

 

[bcool]

Maybe GA T+6 when we ceasefire with Churchill?

nice with whipping plan and desire to grow a bit before the GA.

 

[Mitchum]

The sooner we steal Steam Power, the sooner we put beakers in RR - seems pretty straightforward. Putting ca. 150-200bpt into Democracy for a few turns isn't the end of the world, though...

Looking at the save closer, it would take most of our gold to have enough epp by T+2 or T+3 (which could impact Sushi spread). Then we'd have to run a lower science slider on RR.

It may just be faster to keep the epp at 0% while we collect cash. Steal SP on T+6 (or as soon as London is capture). And then run the science slider at 100% with GA-enhanced commerce.

EDIT: x-post w/LC. I think we're on the same page. Leave EPP slider on zero. Capture 4 cities on T+6. Let's do it!!

 

[bcool]

Are we going to whip the jail in Beijing that could with 5 spies almost get us the passive espionage we need for a 40% stationary spy steal. (of course we have to capture London first ... )

 

[LowtherCastle]

The reason to put 0% beakers into Astro was that it's the tech Gandhi is most likely to research, speculatively speaking. So the more beakers we put into it, the cheaper it is in trade value. Furthermore, Astro is a required tech for us.

We not planning to research Democracy (or Mil Sci), so why put beakers into it? It's not a required tech for us. We can steal it if someone else researches it. And the price for stealing techs is not lowered if you have put beakers into it, so any beakers into Democracy are wasted. Edit: If Roosy goes with Emancipation, we can just knock him out of it every 5t with a spy to the end of the game.

We could also put beakers into Rifling, since it's also a required tech on our tech path. People seem to think Roosy is researching that next, so again, no reason to put beakers into it.

Hence, Astro.

 

[Mitchum]

Are we going to whip the jail in Beijing that could with 5 spies almost get us the passive espionage we need for a 40% stationary spy steal. (of course we have to capture London first ... )

Capturing London in 4 turns would be tough, but I can whip the jail this turn and run 5 spies, which is a good idea but will stunt Beijing until we can get Sushi there. Maybe this isn't a big deal though.

I'm going to start now while you guys debate the GA timing. I'll keep checking back with the thread on my other laptop.

 

[Mitchum]

The reason to put 0% beakers into Astro was that it's the tech Gandhi is most likely to research, speculatively speaking. So the more beakers we put into it, the cheaper it is in trade value. Furthermore, Astro is a required tech for us.

We not planning to research Democracy (or Mil Sci), so why put beakers into it? It's not a required tech for us. We can steal it if someone else researches it. And the price for stealing techs is not lowered if you have put beakers into it, so any beakers into Democracy are wasted.

We could also put beakers into Rifling, since it's also a required tech on our tech path. People seem to think Roosy is researching that next, so again, no reason to put beakers into it.

Hence, Astro.

This sounds reasonable. Both Gandhi and Roosevelt should have Astronomy before we need it.

 

[bcool]

LC have you looked at the numbers on the statue of liberty. I have to look up my analysis from SGOTM 10? but the cost of teching Democracy and Building the Statue of Liberty pays for itself very well.

Not sure what the calculations would be if Gandhi techs it for us but delays Statue of Liberty 20 turns would show.