SGOTM3 Rome - Team microbe

[ForTheEmpire]

Since microbe is having his ciesta, I'll do the honors

Rotation:
barbslinger - UP
ForTheEmpire - ON DECK
microbe - chillin
gozpel - having fun with gozgram1 and 2
scoutsout - recovering from his headache sgs

 

[barbslinger]

Got it. Will play tomorrow, but starting tonight so I may even finish up late this evening or early morning. Sorry about the delay guys but the weekends have been filled up with other things lately. Taking dogs to the beach, Saturday night was a Bunco party. Prepping for fantasy football draft. Painting the bathroom, etc.

 

[barbslinger]

SGOTM Mic-1350AD

Preturn – Upgrade one knight to cav and survey the field. F3 shows us to be strong to almost all but Aztecs. That’s a good sign. Change Nicopolis and Aurel… to Moenia. Don’t like the looks of the reg Cossack staring down our hurt knight army in Brundisium. That would hurt. Rush a cav. Turn up the juice on science. The sooner we can get a pillaging force to the other continent, especially the Aztecs, the better.
IT – Lots of boys coming up to play. Especially on our east flank through the valley. I decide to try and get the leader home by swapping Selucia to a galley. I plan to raze the American town on the coast next turn if possible and then be able to get Claudius home.
4 cavs and a musket are built.
[1] 1355 – Take down a rifle sneaking around on the west flank to go pillage. In Brund there are now 3 cossacks heading in. the rest was all defensive moves.
IT – The 3 cossacks move on Cumae and we get 2 promos to elite going 2-1. The English send 2 cavs to take down the musket that was guarding the workers and were now guarding the 3 cannons I had there. Japan drops off 3 horses near our core. Should be able to recapture the cannons. Cumae-Musket> Temple so they can’t attack as easily after expansion. Other builds too.
[2] 1360 – My Buffalo plan falls apart as the legion army goes injured to a 2/3 pike. Our legion razes the town and kills 2 slaves but it is still dicey. The galley is rushed to get him out next turn if he survives. Actually with the town gone Cladius makes a naked scamper towards Selucia. The only unit close is a Cossack guarding a settler. Fingers crossed. The 3 horses are dealt with with 1 retreating but can not walk into a town. 2 cavs and a LB are killed near Selucia. Russia has an IC cruising the west coast.
[3] 1365 - Both the army and the legion die after taking one down with them each. Claudius will make it home and the horse in our core retreats to a hill as expected. NOT HERE sacrifices himself to take out a Cossack. The cats will try to make it home alone. Claudius forms an army of cavs that needs some healing. I hurry the temple in Brundisium for 40g. that expansion buffer should help too. An assault on 3 english cavs yields 3 english cavs and a decision to hit Dijon. This spawns Anthony. Dijon is left with a spear guarding. Brighton loses a LB that came into view and the march forward continues. Adjust some troops and goof attacking that Cossack guarding the settler. He was fortified and swept our cav out 4-0.
[4] 1370 – This time the Cossack makes a mistake and pillages us while covering the settler. I take advantage and kill him and the slaves. I destroy Dijon and kill 5 slaves. Brighton gets a bombing and is showing a reg an conscript rifle. Anthony makes another army. Lugdunum goes to harbor so we can get a caravel to Aztec lands. With astronomy in 2 I’m able to flip a couple scientists to tax.
[5] 1375 – 5 cannons don’t even dent Brighton defenses. Claudius army is formed up and has to heal because he was assembled from injured units. I keep forgetting this is PTW and the armies don’t heal on the IT in a rax town. Lugdunum built its harbor and I just rushed a galley in Pompeii.
IT – England drops off 2 cavs SE of Hispalis. I had 2 cavs patrolling once the boat came into the harbor. Astro is in and I’m going slower on Navigation.
[6] 1380 - Pop another leader that makes another army. Need some units now.

I need to pause here because I have a question for the team. We can go navigation to try and get a pillaging army or wait and get mag after physics. I had forgotten agin that a cav army in Aztec lands WON’T be able to pillage (I hate that part of this SGOTM) so we will need more than the caravel I have coming up. For that reason perhaps we should wait on MAG. However, Aztecs are doing well over there and really need some pillaging done. I have popped 3 armies and if I could ever get some cannon hits on Brighton I would be taking it down. We have 6 armies now. 1 on pillaging, 1 empty, 1 with only 2 cavs in it and 2 cav armies at half strength and a knight army ¾ strength.
On top of that, I’m really tired and will have to continue tomorrow.

the save if you want to have a look-see.

 

[scoutsout]

@Barbslinger: Excellent turns!

My $0.02: I say we focus on this landmass. Let's not worry about optional MA techs. With Magnetism and Galleons we can move 3-unit Armies overseas. If we somehow manage to consolidate this landmass, we would be in a much better position to take on the other continent later. If we don't consolidate this landmass, actions against Aztecs will be moot.

Edit: Just looked at the scores, and it looks like another variant team has bitten the dust... and it looks like my friend Mistfit is in the running for a second consecutive wooden spoon. It also looks like team Bugsy has found something, and they're digging in... much like we are. The score lines for teams Akots, Bugsy, and Handy are pretty close to ours.

 

[Mistfit]

Edit: Just looked at the scores, and it looks like another variant team has bitten the dust... and it looks like my friend Mistfit is in the running for a second consecutive wooden spoon. It also looks like team Bugsy has found something, and they're digging in... much like we are. The score lines for teams Akots, Bugsy, and Handy are pretty close to ours.

hey... I'm more then in the running I'm winning that race! I've even changed the tag line under my name. If GK ever comes back I will have some spoon competition but for now it's all mine.

Good game here guys! Keep it up and spank some AI butt for me.

 

[scoutsout]

@Mistfit: I was sorry to see your team's sudden downturn there. At the moment I'm pretty much treating this like a SG... looking at the comparative stuff just to remind myself that we're not the only team having a rough go of it. Though it's still pretty dicey, I think we've actually got a shot at turning this thing around.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Great job barbslinger . The team consisted of those who don't understand the rules and/or break them (I being foremost head idiot ) live on for another turnset. I wholeheartedly agree with scoutsout. Logistically, it makes no sense whatsoever to allocate resources to another continent when our home continent is still in much distpute. And yes, if we do decide to dish out some pain to the Aztecs, we would need a galleon to transport a 2 cav army + a cav to pllage in just one ship instead of more than one caravel.

I got it, and tell me if all this sounds good.
a) keep pushing towards our west
b) settle the west mountains
c) pillage
d) focus research on required MA techs (ToG and Mag)
e) stay alive
f) stay alive
g) oh yeah, did I mention stay alive already?

@mistfit
Sigh, this SGOTM will be notorious for taking out some really good players, grs, sesnofwthr, yourself, just to name a few. We will avenge all of your losses

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Rotation:
ForTheEmpire - UP with his rifle being sharpened er... polished
microbe - on leave, though sources say he has worked up a rather nice tan.
gozpel - probably ON DECK
scoutsout - waiting ravenously for his next chance at glory, so me thinks
barbslingler - gets a nice well deserved break.

 

[barbslinger]

Rotation:
ForTheEmpire - UP with his rifle being sharpened er... polished
microbe - on leave, though sources say he has worked up a rather nice tan.
gozpel - probably ON DECK
scoutsout - waiting ravenously for his next chance at glory, so me thinks
barbslingler - gets a nice well deserved break.

If you are that anxious FTE have at it. I was just quizzing the team as to which way to go in tech. Nav is in 11 and waiting for Mag will probably be around 23-24 turns. I was just thinking that getting an army to Aztecs and it looks like we have a 2 turn sea passage and a couple turns to his capital may help tremendously. Cutting his capital, lux and resources will hurt his research capabilities and right now it looks like a run-a-way AI. If we can get the others challenging him over there before we get our continent things will be a lot smoother. Now that our knights are nearly upgraded I would try to get a couple more libs built and keep research rolling as fighting permits. It will be critical to get rubber pillaged someday.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

OH CRAP! I didn't realize you didn't finish yet... No wonder the d/l page showed 1350AD still... Sigh... sorry to upstage you like that barbslinger, I have no problems patiently waiting. Besides, I have a bunch of errands to run that just came up so it all works out. Take you time with your last set of moves.

 

[barbslinger]

I'll finish up tonight. No problem FTE. I'm sure you saw the save there and made an assumption of completion. I would still like to hear from the others on the tech choice. I know from all the AW experience I have been through there is no greater power than the pillage and getting to Aztecs sooner would be better. I wanted to stop because I knew going for nav, my choice, would have begat some shouts of "optional tech! What are you doing?" I wish Greebley, T_McC or handy were lurking to give us some guidance. It's a really hard choice for me. I will go with the team though. This is a team and we will live or die by our decisions.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Thanks for your forgiveness. Now back to decisions decisions decisions. I already typed my opinions already in a previous post. Paraphrased, I said go for Mag, but logistically it wouldn't make too much sense to send over an entire army to the other continent due to us not having secured our own yet. However, if the Aztecs are becoming the juggernaut we all will fear, and if we can successfully cripple another civ (English) to the point they are a non-threat, when Mag comes around in 11-12 turns, then let's send over that army with the pillaging cav.

But now as I think about this even more, I'm starting to recall your observation of ironclads. Meaning the AIs are already up Steam and one tech closer to destroyers. Even if the defense of a galleon is 3, we will be risking an entire army in open waters. Sigh...

I'm not really helping out by giving my vote, but only laying out the facts. Not sending an army at all will severely kill us down the line by letting the Aztecs run unchecked. Sending one over and we will need to survive approximately 5-8 turns of Ironclad attacks before it can land.

One possible alternative is to wait for us to have steam power and our own set of ironclads. With proper escort, we can definitely send over that army, certainly with much less apprehension than before.

I never thought I would be saying this since it would have been bad luck to be so portentous, but since the AI is now in the IA and we don't look like we're near death, let's hope the AI will go communistic on us They already have nationalism, so let's all pray for that.

One question barbslinger, why navigation? IIRC, NAV only provides the ability to build Magellan's and explorers. It doesn't provide sea or ocean travel (that's Astro and Mag respectively), so aside from explorers, I don't see why we need Nav at all. I know the explorer's pillaging capailities, so maybe you were thinking of sending over explorers with the cav army?

 

[barbslinger]

Wow was I off base. Astro gets us there now. My bad. I'll check to see the caravel crossing can be made. It is only, IIRC, 3 ocean tiles and 3 sea tiles to cross to the west. Here comes physics. I think we will need 2 vet caravels and 2 reg caravels. I'll see if it is worth it. I'm still up to my eyeballs in enemy attacks. I have the pillaging forces poised over looking London now though.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Sorry for the double post, but the thought of us entering the IA now being almost reality instead of a fleeting dream is making me concoct some more thoughts. As you said barbslinger, we need to get some libraries up. We've been probably saying this all game, but we may need to seriously consider expanding our research prowess. Researching at 11th civ prices combined with libraries, I think we can roll in the techs in under 10 turns and still make considerable money. Of course, we place libraries in the cities that justify for one. Here is my research priority and order:

1) Physics - prereq
2) Mag - galleon, IA prereq
3) ToG - IA prereq
4) Nationalism - rifles AND mobilization
4a) Steam - ironclad AND coal

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Sorry for the cross post. I have a question though, and I bring this up because in another SG this occurred. Does renaming a veteran unit into the elite name e.g. "Veteran Caravel" -> "Elite Caravel" forces this new "elite" caravel to take the first round of defense, even though this "elite caravel" only has 4 hp max? Of course sending actual vet and reg caravels solves that problem, but I'm just curious.

If it is only 3 sea squares and 3 ocean squares, then we will need 2-4 turns to make that crossing depending on the setup. Just keep in mind that Astro allows our caravels to go safely over sea and caravels themselves have 4 movement.

 

[scoutsout]

@Slinger: I just thought of something: Go for Navigation! Explorers can be a pillaging terror!

 

[ForTheEmpire]

@Slinger: I just thought of something: Go for Navigation! Explorers can be a pillaging terror!

I see we're back to our old games again...

After some more thought, the potential of using 5-6 explorers under the protection of our Cav armies is too good to pass up. Pillaging with speed is too evil, so I change my vote to finish off Navigation. But please, let this be the last optional tech we research until we hit the IA.

 

[barbslinger]

Con’t - Kill both cavs.
IT – Rough break as another army bites it to 2 cavs along with another cav. We now have 5 cavs and 3 cossacks milling around Brundiseum and Cumae. Not looking good.
[7] 1385 – Use the 4/5 cav to kill one unit flawless. Send the 8/8 army over to pick him up. Only get one kill from him, out of movement. The knight army gets another cav and the English LB and cav are left near Cumae. In Brund the cannons go 1 for 2. One elite cav kills one Cossack. The odds are in our favor on defense so I fortify the others. A 65% cav vs a rifle on the Brund/Cumae road wins after cannon fire. So we have rifles pouring in to pillage. 2 cossacks, A german knight and Bab cav that can hit Brund, though I think they will go for juicier targets. I also finally got 2 cannon shots landed in Brighton and nearly lost the army to a ½ rifle. We begin the pillaging of London heading for the horses. Fingers crossed.
IT – Not terrible except losing the knight army. They had a lot of retreats though. Close call in Brund when 2 English cavs came from the fog to attack too. We lost the K army and the cav that took out the rifle. An English cav lands near Hispalis. Lugdunum is also being pillaged by an IC. Brundisium expanded borders so that should help with defense.
[8] 1390 – Lose a 3/5 cav trying to take a 2/4 unfortified cav. Kill a few others.
IT – No attacks but the rifles coming through the mountains look like lemmings.
[9] 1395 – No attacking due to odds. Have to flush the rifles down
IT – German LB and 2 Russian muskets land in our backyard. That will be tough to handle.
[10] Not much I can do but rely on some defense. Rush a couple units in the back. Bring home the 4/18 armies that were healing near Brighton to heal at home and get back to work. The drop offs have only 1 movement so if they don’t pillage it should be OK.
Right now it is a mess. I think I have enough D to hold out at Cumae. Brundisium is tricky. Our pillaging horse is 2 tiles away from English horses. Hold on to your shorts boys. I turned research down to 10% to be able to rush units which I have been doing. There is now an Aztec in our backyard too.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

Alright, this time I won't be premature as before

FTE - UP and analyzing the save tomorrow morning
microbe -
gozpel - ON DECK
scoutsout - warming up
barbslinger - recovering

We survive to live on for another set [dance] . After the English horses are disconnected and a good number of road tiles near it, where should the pillaging party head to? It should be to the AI that has been sending the most hurt towards us, and I'm guessing that would be Russia.

I'll probably have more questions in the morning. I won't play this till the afternoon or evening so we can work out some details in the meanwhile.

 

[microbe]

I'm back and glad we are still standing.