SGOTM4 - Team Bede

Got it.

Will carry on carrying on.
 
I know we have a reduced work force now, but to maximize score, I think we should irrigate every grassland, except those around Utica. It will let the cities grow beyond size 20 and the specialist should be entertainers to get more happy population. Besides, we are mostly building wealth so production is not very important except in Utica.

The specialist in Zak#1 should be an entertainer for the same reason.

I would still make workers in Leptis Minor until we have enough to clear one tile of pollution in 1t.
 
I shouldn't have pumped quite as many workers into the cities as I did, but I wanted to maximize commerce to reduce research time. It did cut one turn off of The Corporation. We do need to get workers back when we can so that we can keep up with pollution. During my turns I irrigated a couple of tiles. If we concentrate first on irrigating in Leptis Minor then we can build back more workers as time goes by. It already has a good amount of surplus food and each irrigation pushes this up by 2 I think. I think most of the workers built will be slaves again for a while. We should be able to build another worker as soon as the Stock Exchange is finished (2 turns) and then everytime L.Minor is scheduled to grow. Once we have enought slaves then L.Minor can keep building the workers to pump into the other cities, with Utica being first since the wonders will help keep everyone happy longer.

I think the only cities that can grow fast are L.Minor and Hippo, but LMOZ1 and Theveste should be able to grow a bit above 20 as well.

Specialist in ZAK#1? He will need to go back to work once the polution is cleared.
 
Some random thoughts... :)

The coal plant in Utica should be sold when Hoover is complete.

The caravels can be disbanded.

After espionage we should research replaceable parts to get double speed workers. We will also be able to see if we have any rubber in our territory. After RP we should get refining so we can see the oil resources. If we have none, then wait until we have the techs required to build oil units (tanks, destroyers etc.), then trade the civs with oil up to refining so we can trade for it.

We can upgrade our 20 muskets to rifles for 400g. The stronger our units the less likely we are to be attacked.

We can operate Leptis Minor as a 1 turn worker pump by irrigating 10 grass tiles. By irrigating 3 grass it will grow in 2 turns (turn 1 - wealth, turn 2 - worker).

Utica needs to be size 20 as soon as it gets a hospital. Copernicus' and Newton's will boost the science output of 20 tiles worked considerably. We are producing so much gold from trades that we can support native workers. I suggest joining the 8 Roman slaves to Utica and pumping native workers from the other cities to deal with pollution.
 
Gentlemen, we all think so much alike, it is scary. (m-b will probably bust up this team next round :mischief: )

Here's the log:

If we are serious about accelerating the worldwide research pace we need to put additional income or luxuries in the hands of the other nations, depending on the state of their people.

There is a silks deal with the Celts expiring so do a little fact finding before renegotiating. The Celt capitol is mostly happy, 10 of 12, is generating 74gpt but spending only 40% on research. So buy silks from him for 25gpt (way over market but we can afford it), but don't offer luxuries, as they are not needed, and hope he turns the cash to good use.

India has a very happy population in Delhi so doesn't need any luxuries from us. Gahndi too is only contributing 40% to science, probably as a result of the sums he is paying us for past deals. Renegotiate the furs deal sending India 25gpt also.

The Greeks are hurting for spare cash as they are only spending 30% on research and Athens only generates 40gpt. Not going to see much in the way of research from them, probably the result of their war with Germany.

Germany is also at 30% science and their capitol is showing signs of war weariness. Ship them spices for their World Map (all they have to spend). Their real problem is that they only have four cities...

The Ottomans appear the strongest with their capitol earning 111gpt and a mostly happy population and a science budget of 60%.

Persia is doing "Okay", mostly happy in the capitol and a 40% science budget and 65gpt.

Babylon is aso in the OK category, though they could use some luxuries and a government change, so I ship them some spice for 8g, and wool for another 8.

Wrote TimB: Utica should probably build a hospital, a stock exchange, Wall Street, the Intelligence Agency, and Battlefield Medicine.

Will make it so.

Hoover Dam comes in right on schedule and Utica starts its hospital due in 3. (Forgot to sell the coal plant, next player please fix on T0)

1555
Babylon comes along demanding The Corporation and gets it.

1560
Cash rush the hospital in Utica.

1565
Disband Obsolete* units in Utica and cash rush Stock Exchange

1570
Merge Roman slaves into Utica.

1575
Learn Espionage and start single scientist run on Replaceable Parts. Turn up the happy meter. I want to buy the next few techs from the other guys. THere is nothing critical to our victory.

1580
Replace Roman slaves with native workers (more efficient at clearing pollution)

1585
Clearing pollution

1590
Renew incense deal with Greece for 25gpt.

Wall Street comes in, start Intelligence Agency in Utica (same cpt value as BatMed but 100 shields cheaper)

1595
Clearing Pollution

1600
Upgrade all muskets to rifles.

We have the cash and income to use our embassies effectively to measure the progress of the other nations in developing technology so I would be inclined to use it. Investigate each capitol at the start of any trading rounds then try to take whatever steps necessary to keep 'em happy and researching rather than fighting wars woth each other or us. The scary thing right now is that three of the six (Ottomans, Celts and Babylon) have read the Commnist Manifesto. The good thing is that no one is in anarchy as of 1600.

I concur that starting irrigation projects to bump the population is an added component to our score. We could irrigate the Leptii to ~30spt (infantry in three) and keep barracks there, then irrigate the other two (Theveste and Hippo) to max population growth, sell the barracks (if any) and if needed short rush artillery out of them.

The Save

Firaxis score: 782
Jason score: 1035

Win Date 1780 ~45 turns to go.
 
Got it. I will play now. :)

I will increase science as I want RP for the double speed workers, then I will slow it down again.

I will probably trade for Communism at some point as a police station will be useful in Hippo and Leptis Minor. One corrupted commerce can be turned into several gold/science due to banks/universities etc. I don't know if a police station will make a difference in the other 3 cities.

I don't think getting to the modern age is all that important. We will only be a few turns from victory by then. Additional culture at that point will probably make no difference to our finishing date.

Since we are now just coasting to the end, I will do the irrigation needed to boost our pop. This is all the more reason to get RP and get quicker workers.
 
Looking at the save, I see we are 7 techs from ModA and if we turn up research to 70% (maximum to still have only happy people), it will take us at least 7t per tech. It seems unlikely that the other civs will help us research fast enough to get there in time to build a ModA wonder. Even if we do, it will be in the last few turns and at 120cpt, it is unlikely it will get us victory 1t earlier.

Therefore, I think we should keep concentrate on milking (irrigate and keep lux high enough to keep everyone happy). I still agree with Bede's method of accelerating the research of other civs, but I think it is too little too late. Trying to get a ModA wonder is still worth a shot, but won't make much of a difference.
 
1600(0)- Sell coal plant in Utica.
Science to 70%, Rep Parts in 7
I use the Indian slave to build a second ivory colony.

IBT- Pollution in Leptis Minor
Celt MDIs move out of Richborough
Well there was no need to boost science, 4 civs have RP.

1605(1)- Trade with Ottomans, Atomic Theory + ivory for RP, Communism + 121gpt.
Trade with India, AtomTh for horses (just in case) +55gpt.
I gift AtomTh to the Celts to stop them making a stupid attack. I don't want alliances against us now.

Building Police Stations in Hippo, LMOZ1 and Leptis Minor. The other two cities don't need it as they have the Palace and FP.

We have 2 rubber sources. One NW of LMOZ1, the other SE of Theveste.
Only the Germans have no rubber in their territory.

Refining at 0% with 1 scientist.
Clear pollution.
Upgrade rifles to infantry, cannons to artillery and the two vet MDIs to guerillas. I wanted an up to date military to hopefully prevent an attack.

IBT- Celt MDIs retreat. :)

1610(2)- I will wait for Police Stations before irrigating.

1615(3)- zzz

IBT- Germany and Greece sign a peace treaty.

1620(4)- zzz

IBT- Leptis Minor, Police Station > Worker
Utica, Intelligence Agency > Battlefield Medicine in 7
LMOZ1, Police Station > Wealth

1625(5)- zzz

IBT- Leptis Minor, Worker > Wealth
Hippo, Police Station > Wealth

1630(6)- Irrigation project underway.

IBT- Babylon declared war on the Greeks. :ar15:
Pollution in Leptis Minor

1635(7)- Clear pollution and irrigate.

1640(8)- I have irrigated LMOZ1 for 41sh/turn, Leptis Minor for 41 sh/turn and Hippo for 31sh/turn (after waste).

1645(9)- zzz

IBT- Greeks want MPP and ROP. :nono:

1650(10)- zzz

Score: 810, Jason: 1073

Notes:

Utica has 15582 culture @ 122cpt. BatMed in 2 turns.

Refining in 31 with 1 scientist (0% science rate.)

The AI is not researching fast enough to get us into the modern age. We won't get there before the 20K win, so we may as well leave it as it is. I think the fact we will get a 20K win before the modern age means we have a fast finish date, not that we researched too slowly.

We can trade 1 coal, 1 rubber, 2 spices, 1 wool and 1 ivory.

I have brought the second caravel from Hippo to Utica.

I had to put the luxuries up to 40% due to a content 20th citizen in Hippo. When it grows to size 21, an entertainer will allow the lux rate to be dropped back down to 30%.

We have 9 workers. This number is deliberate as 9 can clear pollution from a mountain instantly (3 for flat terrain, 6 for hills).

Our military is up to date, apart from 2 caravels, 1 elite NuMerc and 1 MDI. How long is it since we built that NuMerc? ;)

If we want to put research back on, we should head for Mass Production to get commercial docks.

20K is still scheduled for 1780AD, 35 turns to go. The only cultural building left to double in value is Leo's in 1730AD from 2cpt to 4cpt (16 turns from now).

Here is the save:
1650AD SAVE

Roster:
fbouthil - up next
TimBentley - on deck
MOTH
Bede - will be finishing the game
Zakharov - no more turns to play.
 
Bede said:
We could irrigate the Leptii to ~30spt (infantry in three) and keep barracks there, then irrigate the other two (Theveste and Hippo) to max population growth, sell the barracks (if any) and if needed short rush artillery out of them.
We have no barracks. We sold them all when we built Sun Tzu's. :D

I have described how I irrigated the cities in the turn log. However I don't believe we will need to build any more units in the remaining 35 turns, so we could just irrigate every possible tile. This includes Utica once the Battlefield Medicine is finished as it will have nothing else to build (maybe a granary if we are growing it for score).
 
I noticed that Sidon of Persia and the two Celtic cities are intruding on Leptis Minor's boundaries. We could remove those three cities. We could investigate the cities to see if they have decent defenses. I see no other way to increase our score or improve our victory date.
 
Zakharov said:
We have no barracks. We sold them all when we built Sun Tzu's. :D
Oops, forgot about that.

This game reprresents a first for me as it is the first and only time I have ever built every single MA wonder. I did a 20K OCC in an RBCiv C3C Epic where I built all the really valuable wonders (Sistine's, Bach, KT, Shakespeare's and one of the scientific ones, but never all the monuments.
 
I will play tomorrow.

The plan:
  • I do not see anything else cultural that Utica can build, so I will build a granary and a coastal fortress (free maintenance) and then wealth.
  • Declare war on Celt. I would not normally investigate those cities because of the artillery we have, but since we are almost burried under our own gold...
  • Give spices to babylon and germany to convince them not to join the war. Every other civs have deals with us.
  • Increase lux because the silk deal with the Celts will be cancelled just before the war. I will negociate peace as soon as possible.
  • Irrigate grassland when there is no pollution (Hippo & Utica first because Leptis Minor will grow every 2t for some time).

Of course, if you are against the Celtic war, write something now or withhold your comments forever.

Since amphibious war is unknown, I can block the coast with artillery, right?
 
On the Celtic War:

Short, sharp and decisive are the keywords. The cultural expansion will help in the final score so..

" If it were done when 'tis done then twere well
It were done quickly"
Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7
 
fbouthil said:
Since amphibious war is unknown, I can block the coast with artillery, right?
As the Vikings were killed off, yes you can block the coast with artillery. (I hate those beserks. You think you're safe on your island with minimal city defences, and along comes a galleon filled with beserks). :mad: We should win this game before amphibious warfare is discovered.

Regarding the Celtic war, we seem to have abandoned hope of reaching the modern age, so I have no problem with any wars. The only reason to avoid wars was to get the AI to do some research but that no longer applies. A quick strike against the Celtic and Persian cities on our island might make the final few turns more interesting. Just don't let Utica come close to being attacked!

If we intend to grow all the cities to a maximum size, then how about using Leptis Minor as a worker pump, then adding the workers to the other cities. With all the flat tiles irrigated it can produce 78 food per turn. For a 30 food surplus and one turn growth, it can be at size 24 and then produce a worker every turn. It would also be more efficient to build 15 workers, then join them all back to Leptis Minor 15 turns later to make it size 39, rather than letting it grow to size 39 normally. I'm not sure how this would affect the score though.

EDIT: I have calculated the maximum size each city can reach without going into starvation:
LMOZ1: 25
Hippo: 31
Theveste: 20
Leptis Minor: 39
Utica: 34
 
Extract from the Book of the 10 worst trade deals in history. said:
King Hammurabi! It is so nice of you to accept my dinner invitation!
Uppsalan, my assistant: Please tell to the pig fbouthil the traitor that I am here against my better judgement because a certain assistant of mine who thinks we should try to improve our diplomatic relations.
General fbouthil, my sovereign, the great King Hammurabi tells you he is more than happy to share a meal in the company of such an generous person like you.
Hum. Well, honourable King Hammurabi, would you like to try some Carthagians delicacies. They are called pizza pockets! They contain some tomato sauce with salt, pepper, basil, oregano and a touch of thyme.
You! Miserable bastard! You have guts to call me here and give me your pizza pockets! It is going to take more than a little pepper and thyme for me to forget all you have done..
My sovereign, try to stay calm! You should try this, it is actually quite good!
Hammurabi seems to calm himself a little when he tastes the little snacks. He seems to actually enjoy it.
Well, what were you saying? Just how much of pepper and thyme do you think it would take you to forget why you have a grudge against our people? What if I send you a regular shipment?
The Carthaginian people are very generous. Thank you.

1650AD (preturn)
Give spice to both Babylon and Germany.
Investigate Verulamium: 1 pikemen
Investigate Richborough: 1 riflemen, 1 musket, 3 mace, 2 settlers, 2 boats (a galleon and a frigate, I think)
Cancel the silk deal with Celts and DoW.
Somehow, everyone is still happy so I do not increase lux.
Bombard Richborough: The riflemen is down to 1hp and the other units to 2hp, except for 1 mace which is intact. The population has dropped from 6 to 3. Kill those units with 5 cavs, no losses. We get 4 slaves, that will do some of the blocking for now so I can keep full garrison in our cities and abandon the city.
IBT
A frigate appears near Verulamium.​
1655AD (1)
Bombard Verulamium and destroy it without losses.
Bombard the frigate down to 1hp, in hope it will make it flee instead of bombarding coastal units.​
IBT
Another frigate appears in the same region.
Utica: Battlefield Medicine->granary​
1660AD (2)
I do not bombard the frigate, in hope it will still be around when my 2 ironclads arrive next turn.​
IBT
Greece and India sign a MPP.
Ottomans and India sign a MPP.
The frigate bombard the coast and move away.​
1665AD (3)
Find the frigate. Bombard it with one ironclad and destroy it with the other; no damage.
Join 2 workers to Utica and start producing workers every turn in Leptis Minor. The new workers will join other cities.​
IBT
Utica: granary->coastal fortress
India declares war on Babylon. That's why Ghandi was making all those alliances!​
1670AD (4) - :sleep:

IBT
Celts want peace. Agreed. Also trade silk + 53g for ivory and wool. I could get a few extra gpt, but we do not need it and it will be an incentive to stay at peace with us.
Ottomans wants coal. Because of the MPP, I agree.
Ottomans and India learns refining.
Utica: Coastal fortress->ironclad​
1675AD (5)
lux to 30%.
Trade Electronics to Ottomans for refining, 256g , WM.
Set research to steel.
We have oil near Hippo. India, Celts and Greece also have some.
Investigate Sidon: 1 musket, 1 knight, 2 settlers.
Investigate Bactra: 1 musket, 1 settler.
Cancel wool deal with Persia and DoW.
Destroy Sidon and Bactra after bombardment and capture nearby worker, we now have 7 new slaves.​
1680AD (6) to 1695AD (9)
Build RRoads under the blocking units.​
1700AD (10)
Make peace with Persia and give wool so that every civs have some reason to stay at peace with us.​

Battlefield Medicine was not enough to take one turn off our 20K date which is still in 1780AD (25t).

The Save

Hum. I realize now that I should have let the next player make peace, but it won't change anything now.

Roster:
TimBentley - up next
MOTH - on deck
Bede - will be finishing the game
Zakharov - out
fbouthil - out

Well, the only risk from now is that MOTH talked about trying to get the wooden spoons and could do something unexpected toward that end, but I do not think so. ;)
 
Here's my shortest turn log ever:

1700(0)-Since steel research will not finish before victory, fire the scientist.
Sell the factory in Utica for less pollution.

1705(1)-We stop getting horses from India

1710(2)-Sell ivory to Ottomans for 10gpt

1730(6)-Babylon and Greece signed peace

1750(10)-Persia and Babylon signed MPP
Persia declared war on Greece
We stopped giving spices to Babylon and Germany

Notes: LMOZ1 and Theveste are at their maximum sustainable population
Utica and Hippo don't have much more to go
I'm not sure when the best time to stop worker production in Leptis Minor is
Many workers are fortified outside of Leptis Minor

Here is the save.

Roster:
MOTH - up
Bede - ready to win
Zakharov - done
fbouthil - done
TimBentley - done
 
fbouthil said:
Ottomans wants coal. Because of the MPP, I agree.
I know it doesn't matter now, but why did you concede this demand? An MPP only kicks in if you attack them in their territory. Fighting in home territory or on neutral ground does not activate an MPP alliance.

I didn't realise this myself until a few weeks ago, as I would usually go and attack them if they declare war on me. I was at war with one other nation, sinking their transport ships with destroyers in neutral waters. The first time I chased one into their territory and sunk it, I got the message saying another civ had declared war due to a MPP. :ar15:
 
@Zakharov: I did not know that subtility. I knew that if you and the civ you are at war with both have MPP with the same civ, the one attacking would get a DoW. Obviously, that was not the whole truth. Anyway, at that point, with no other civ on our small continent, I would have given in to almost anything.
 
Just a reminder to MOTH and Bede, each turn is now 2 years. Therefore MOTH will play up to 1770 and Bede will be submitting the final save in 1780 or 1782 (whenever the 'lemme play a couple more turns' message appears).

Doesn't it feel good to know we are close to the finish? I wonder what SGOTM5 will have in store. :) We've just got to wait for all these slow teams now. :mischief:
 
Back
Top Bottom