SGOTM 9 - Smurkz

[Niklas]

I can afford the double post now that I'm soon leaving for a while.

In general I think the plan looks good. I would not shut off research though, I think Recycling (recycle center), Genetics (CfC), Miniaturization (platforms) and Robotics (mf plants) could all be useful to us, in that order of preference. I could also imagine uses for helicopters, and Shakespeare's doesn't expire iirc.

I would disband Mehrangahr by rushing a settler at 0 fpt. Rebuild and replace wall and barracks, then follow up with airport, civil defense and SAM.

I don't think you should get too far ahead of India with SS parts. My impression is that if the AI thinks you're going to win the space race, they won't even try to catch up but will pour all energy into taking you down by force instead.

 

[CommandoBob]

Does every team have a gimp? I hope so. I'd hate to be alone with that honor!

Now, don't feel too bad. After all, you did not mess things up so bad that we had to resort to posting our plans for each turn! I've got that honor. (Of course, it has helped to increase our post count a little bit. )

Mehrangarh fortress: has 2 culture points. Do we need to abandon-resettle? Or can we just sell the temple and wait for India to build some temples as well? In any case, army will move here (loaded with MI), and horses will be pillaged.

If we lose the two culture points, then abandon-resettle. If not, just sell the temple.

EDIT: cross post with Niklas. Uh, do what he said.

 

[WarDance]

I don't think you should get too far ahead of India with SS parts. My impression is that if the AI thinks you're going to win the space race, they won't even try to catch up but will pour all energy into taking you down by force instead.

I'm puzzled by this. I know the save has a couple towns building spaceship parts but they are placeholders/ prebuilds. We aren't really going to build spaceship parts, are we? Is it a bad idea to use the SS parts as prebuilds?

Also, Niklas will you have forum access on your trip? Is it work or pleasure?

Execute any parts of the long term plan as possible. In particular, Oy needs to be gifted now, and blockades of our other southern cities need to be removed. The gifting has to speed up a bit, or Celts and Indians will sign peace before we're ready.

Opening the door to Albasmurkze and Hoover Dam was just too much for me to bear. I opened up the towns around it to squeeze just a few more turns with Hydro plants to get those solars going instead. But once Mehrangahr is rebuilt I guess it can all just ... go.

Do we need to pillage the horses? I was under the impression it would remain in Mehr's radius.

 

[CommandoBob]

I need to ask for a skip, or at least a swap, before zyxy finishs his turnset.

zyxy will play this weekend and then I would get the game late Sunday or Monday. However, this week I would not be able to play any turns until Thursday. I am an election judge and Tuesday is a Primary Election Day in Texas. The polls are open 7am to 7pm, but my hours will be more like 6am to 8.30pm. Wednesday is work and church which means I get home after 9pm. So both of these days are 'unplayable'. Thursday would be the first playable day and I would be lucky to finish two turns. It could easily be Saturday evening before I could get my turns completed and posted and that is just too long.

I would rather skip or swap than slow the game down that much.

 

[Niklas]

I'm puzzled by this. I know the save has a couple towns building spaceship parts but they are placeholders/ prebuilds. We aren't really going to build spaceship parts, are we? Is it a bad idea to use the SS parts as prebuilds?

zyxy said in his strategy post that he would build a few SS parts to try to tease India into following. This is what I was referring to. I didn't even consider prebuilds, but now that you mention it, hmm...

I would think that using prebuilds is ok under the same premises, i.e. that we are not too far ahead. If we had 9 parts built and were using the 10th as a prebuild, I think India would react in force. But if we have no parts built and use a bunch of them as prebuilds, that is unlikely to trigger any response. But this is really all conjecture, I may be completely wrong on all accounts.

Also, Niklas will you have forum access on your trip? Is it work or pleasure?

It is very much pleasure, and no I won't have access. I guess I could find somewhere to check in from if I really tried, but I'm not going to.

Do we need to pillage the horses? I was under the impression it would remain in Mehr's radius.

Correct, so we don't need to pillage those.

@zyxy: I don't see why we would need to abandon our fort in order to get India the rubber. We just need to go in there and connect it ourselves, or?

 

[zyxy]

Ok, so there are the following changes sofar:

- keep research going. I don't mind much either way, but if you want more techs, fine.
- resettle Mehrangahr. It seems it could be done next turn. No need to abandon it, but we do need a few workers down there eventually to connect rubber. Probably either training some in Mehr or dropping them off by ship will do best.
- don't disconnect horses.
- do not build SS parts.

Niklas, have fun in Malaysia!

 

[ControlFreak]

I agree with the modified plan. If we want Spain/Ottoman's to reside somewhere else, gift them their new prison home before attacking the celts and then destroy their exisiting capitol. Spain and Ottoman's can both currently act as Proxies if you don't attack the Celts right away.

Roster:

• WarDance - Just Played
• zyxy - UP!
• Niklas - skip until March 21st
• CommandoBob - swap until March 9th[/B]
• ControlFreak - On Deck!
• Methos - ghosting

 

[zyxy]

Turn 0, 1480AD: switch Missi to Academy, Zentral to Epic. Rush Factory in Entre. Spend some time with MM (I'll do this only once). Move our troops back to the chokes. Gift Oy and 2000 gold to Celts.

IT: Celts want an MPP and lose Oy .

Turn 1, 1485AD: The moneygift didn't work well: the Celts used the money to buy a tech from the Ottomans, and India got nothing it seems. pirate sinks carth galleon. Oysters on the Rocks founded. sci 20%. Albu is threatened and so is gifted.

IT: India takes Albu. We learn Sanitation and go for Integrated defense. Pollution is becoming a serious problem.

Turn 2, 1490AD: sci 100%, tech in 5. Rush Solar in Entre and hurry the settler in Mehrangahr, forgot to do it last turn. Founded Honningsvaag and Mandal. Gift Smurkzfood to Celts. Brennus is getting suspicious:


IT: Entre starts IronWorks. India takes 'food.



Turn 3, 1495AD:


Sink a Celt galleon, but lose 2 pirates against an Ottoman galleon, which still floats. Gift Olive to Celts.

Turn 4, 1500AD: Gift Ol' Smurkz. Check spy cost, but all Indian cities are below 200 gold.

IT: The spanish want a chat and desire an alliance vs Carthage. Not today, sorry. In reply, Spain and America embargo us - oh, that's right, we're at war with America . Ol' Smurkz falls to India.

Turn 5, 1505AD: lose another pirate but the Ottoman galleon finally dies. Gift 'capulco to Celts.

Newsflash: Fort Mehrangarh is now completely surrounded by Indian lands. Accusations that Smurkz' troops are only there for the Oil are vehemently denied by secretary of defense zyxy of the Smurkz Republic, in absence of president Niklas who is on a state visit to Malaysia. "We've sent our 'Army for Freedom and Democracy' there to, eh, well, spread Freedom and Democracy of course", according to zyxy. "We're only there to help the Indians, and we will leave as soon as our mission is accomplished. Fort Mehrangarh is not a permant Smurkz base, and the Smurkz Republic has no interest in keeping it. In fact, we have evidence that there is no Oil there at all. Our 'Oil? What Oil?' research team has carefully examined all the facts and concluded that we have no Oil there". The secretary of defense denied to comment on the rumor that the Hallismurkzton Corporation is present in Fort Mehrangarh and is actually drilling for Oil in the area.


IT: India signs peace with Ottomans and takes 'capulco.


Turn 6, 1510AD: sci 20%. America will talk now. Do we want peace?

IT: Integrated defense -> Recycling.

Turn 7, 1515AD: Gift Cape Smurkz to Celts. sci 70%, tech in 4.

IT: India takes Cape Smurkz.

Turn 8, 1520AD: Odda founded.

IT: India signs peace with America. For the second time:


Turn 9, 1525AD: zzz

IT: Spain and Carthage sign peace. The world is going back to peace. Ottomans and India embargo us.


Turn 10, 1530AD: sci 60%. Gift Kalmurkz to Celts. sci has to go up to 70% again . I'll play one more turn to wrap it up nicely.

IT: Recycling -> Miniaturization. We lose an infantry due to jungle disease. First time this happens to me.

Turn 10, 1530AD:

Newsflash: Celts accused of developing Weapons of Mass Distraction! Smurkz' Intelligence Agency has discovered that our ally the Celts have secretly been working on a weapon aimed at distracting the masses. The Smurkz-Celtic alliance and right of passage is dissolved, the Smurkz administration informs Brennus of his new status of 'scum', and Smurkz troops roll into Gergovia in search of the infamous weapons.

No MPP's were triggered btw, they must have finished. Sink an Indian Galleon near Oe-Hah.

notes:

• We're still 100 tiles or so from Domination. Camulodunum will get a culture expansion soon that will add another 10-15 tiles.
• India has reached the size we want it to have, and has started attacking Fort Mehrangarh. We could use a limited number of Modern Armor on Smurkz. India has no Elephants, but in case she gets some we have a few weak units near Smurkz Canal.
• Apparently India hasn't started the Apollo program, but perhaps she will do so now that her towns stop resisting?
• We can sell tech to Ottomans to recover the 2000 gold if we want.
• The bombers are meant for disbanding.
• No research money has been invested in the current project.
• We're still at war with America. Not that anything happens.

The save

 

[ControlFreak]

Sound's like a wonderful round zyxy!

Newsflash: Fort Mehrangarh is now completely surrounded by Indian lands. Accusations that Smurkz' troops are only there for the Oil are vehemently denied by secretary of defense zyxy of the Smurkz Republic, in absence of president Niklas who is on a state visit to Malaysia. "We've sent our 'Army for Freedom and Democracy' there to, eh, well, spread Freedom and Democracy of course", according to zyxy. "We're only there to help the Indians, and we will leave as soon as our mission is accomplished. Fort Mehrangarh is not a permant Smurkz base, and the Smurkz Republic has no interest in keeping it. In fact, we have evidence that there is no Oil there at all. Our 'Oil? What Oil?' research team has carefully examined all the facts and concluded that we have no Oil there". The secretary of defense denied to comment on the rumor that the Hallismurkzton Corporation is present in Fort Mehrangarh and is actually drilling for Oil in the area.

Sink an Indian Galleon near Oe-Hah.

Why? I know it probably doesn't cause WW, but if they had a settler travelling to the other continent. Didn't we want them to be able to connect to resources without having to use a trader?

Other than that, great job getting all of our immediate projects completed. You've left me with nothing left to do. I will look at the save tomorrow and post my intentions. Feel free to put together a wishlist while you wait. I should be able to play Tuesday and Wednesday, finishing up Thursday for CB to FINALLY take his long awaited turns.

Roster: Down to 3 at the moment.

• zyxy - Just Played
• ControlFreak - UP!
• CommandoBob - On Deck!
• WarDance
• Niklas - skip until March 21st
• Methos - ghosting

 

[Niklas]

Great job zyxy!
And those newsflashes, boy that was too much.

And no, I haven't left yet, flying out tuesday morning.

 

[WarDance]

Well done!

How many defenders were in Gergovia? If there was only one and the town was taken the MPP would immediately be dissolved I guess. But if there were more than one defender then the attack should have triggered MPP"s if there were any in place. Curious. You're probably right about any having run out.

EDIT: We should probably make peace with America. No point in staying at war, I think. What is India attacking MEhrangahr with? Guerillas?

 

[zyxy]

Well done!

Thanks everyone!

How many defenders were in Gergovia? If there was only one and the town was taken the MPP would immediately be dissolved I guess. But if there were more than one defender then the attack should have triggered MPP"s if there were any in place. Curious. You're probably right about any having run out.

Two defenders. I forgot to check for MPP's.

EDIT: We should probably make peace with America. No point in staying at war, I think. What is India attacking MEhrangahr with? Guerillas?

I agree we can just as well make peace. But we can also just as well stay at war. It doesn't matter much either way.
India attacks with guerillas, and some archers/MDI. In fact, our spy will tell us what troops they have .

Why? I know it probably doesn't cause WW, but if they had a settler travelling to the other continent. Didn't we want them to be able to connect to resources without having to use a trader?

I was thinking it most likely carried troops, because it was heading straight west (but I should have checked F3 for the possibility of settlers). It's a good point though: do we want to let India settle, say, a part of Ostrich?



Newsflash: There's growing criticism coming from the public and the media concerning the decision by the Smurkz' administration to invade Celtica, as up to this day no Weapons of Mass Distraction have been found. However, researchers going through Brennus' backyard annex dump did uncover a large pile of empty aluminum cans, containing traces of an unknown substance, presumably a softdrink. The administration is now claiming that this is the danger it was alluding to. As an official government spokesman said yesterday: "I shudder to think of the consequences if Brennus had been allowed to market this drink and contimate our precious bodily fluids."

 

[WarDance]

I was looking at the save and wondering if we should check on Delhi... to safely throw a shoe into whatever they are building costs 3488 gold.

Other random things I'm noticing: City for Sages size 20 and 247beakers per turn! That is awesome.

Entremont 105 gross shields per turn! And that is with 1 specialist and only producing shields on 9 of it's 11 tiles.

Strategic Missle Defense due in 3. CF will be happy about that.


diplomacy situation:

Carthage: No MPP's. ROP with India, Otto, Amer

Ottomans: MPP with Spain. ROP with Spain, Amer, Carthage

India: at war with Spain and... us of course. ROP with Carthage.

America: at war with us. ROP with Carthage, Spain and Otto

Spain: at war with India. MPP with Otto. ROP with Otto and America.

 

[ControlFreak]

I was hoping to get some direction. In lieu of that...

Things after My Turnset

• Try to trigger Indian GA. Try to get them to build Apollo. (They have the wonders they need [Bachs, Magellans]. They just need to build something related to a wonder like the FP.)
• If India builds Apollo and all the SS parts requiring Aluminum except Exterior Casing, reconnect their rubber.
• If India builds Exterior Casing, remove Carthage's Aluminum supply, Gift America the Uranium cities and hope they trade.

Things on My Turnset

• Settle for peace with Americans (they pay 5gpt).
• Optimize Tad Core. I plan to abandon X4 IA, Alpharetta and Cosa Nostra. This will help reduce the crowding as well as the added maintenance costs. Mining is still desperately needed South of Chicago.
• Build some culture on the Tad Coast to get more tiles available for the citizens.
• After all Tad Coastal cities have access to their 21 tiles, settle Ostrich continent, territory limit permitting.
• Keep out of Indian Territory. Keep Indian's out of our territory. (There's a Guerrilla on the dyes south of Canal.)
• Reposition boats to surround remaining AI towns. Destroyers will be renamed "Containment {Civ}". Privateers will continue the "Wolfpack {Civ}" naming. I think all AI cities can be surrounded with Destroyers/Carriers and a minimum of three privateers with the exception of India.
• Keep the fighter squadron's doing recon.
• Finish SDI.
• Build armies (why is Missi set to MI?) and start prebuild/build for Pentagon. We could use the extra defensive points in Smurkz. I'm just not sure I if I can fly an unloaded army to Mehrangarh. Otherwise, is it worth putting one MA in so I can use the 3 move points and reduce WW walking them to Mehrangarh? The remaining MI will be flown there and loaded in onsite.
• Do NOT build Internet. I see no need and don't want uncontrolled border expansion due to the free culture.
• Research as fast as possible while maintaining 3 digit positive income. Miniaturization, then Genetics for Cure for Cancer (1 Content Face in every city)
• Build Mass Transit in large Metros, Recycling Center in factory towns.
• Maintain our treasury at or above 20K.
• Keep Indians off the Oil and Rubber.

I've started my inital scrub. I've made lots of changes in build and MM, such as:

• Killed some adjacent hospital builds in favor of one hospital, full grown metro and the adjacent limited to size 12. There's not enough tiles to support two big Metros.
• Started some culture (library) builds on Tad to get the tiles workable for the very cramped coastal towns.
• Switch to settlers the three towns I'm abandoning on Tad to make room for more efficient cites.
• MM the cities with >20 to be at or above their best 5s multiple. Then repicked the unit builds based on least wasted shields. 40s build MA, 50s build Bombers, 55s build MI, 60s build MA. I have use for all three so I set to the most efficent so we get more of them in the same turnset.
• MM Entremont up above 100s NET because I can. It could actually make 106s but the other 6s are wasted on most builds. (For that matter, most of the shields are wasted on items over 100s. We should have built the Military Academy her.)
• Started dismantling all the fortified units on Ostrich. With our coverage of the AI towns, there is no way they would get a boat as far as Ostrich without us knowing about it. My only problem would be if zyxy let a boat through. From his posting, I doubt it: multiple privateer attacks were noted.

 

[WarDance]

CF will you investigate Dehli, too? It looks like they're working on something big there.

 

[zyxy]

The plan looks good to me.

I second WD's request for a spy mission in Delhi. Somehow I missed this - I must have checked the cost to investigate cities rather than the cost to sabotage them .

 

[CommandoBob]

Things on My Turnset
....

"He's making a list,
Checking it twice.
Gonna find out who's MMed right,
Con-trol-Freak is playing his turns!"

(to the tune of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town')

But seriously, I am constantly amazed by the tasks that ControlFreak lists in his to-do list. I find myself focusing on what-do-I-need-to-do. ControlFreak focuses on what-needs-to-be-done. Big difference.

 

[ControlFreak]

Sorry, I started MM and then let my One More Turn Syndrome proceed before checking the forum.

I stopped at Turn 2 and investigated Dehli (it only cost 134g?). Guess What!?!?!?!?!?!

Look's like they've been at it a few turns. Leave it to them to build Apollo in an 8spt city when their other cities must be making >40.

Well, at least we've started. It will be 30+ turns before we can see any spaceship parts starting.

I think I misspoke when I said load the army with MI. It would have been much better to load it with MA. We are incurring a lot of WW because India is throwing all their units at Mehrangarh. A defensive unit being attacked causes it's owner WW. There is no way to avoid war weariness at this point, so I am just going to try to manage the happiness. India is in Communism so they shouldn't be affected by WW, just very corrupt. It's good that we limited their empire size.

 

[zyxy]

Only 33 turns! And if Ghandi manages to clean up that mountain, perhaps even less . I guess Ghandi enjoys our company too much (it is amazing how the AI manages to do these things the wrong way).

Well, have fun. I guess we're just sitting out the ride, there's nothing to do for us for 30 turns or so.

 

[Niklas]

Gah, is there no way we could make him build it in some other town?? Sabotage? Well, I guess it's good that they are building it at all...

Last post from me, see you guys in two weeks!