SGOTM6 - Team Bede

[Minute Man]

Progress report: I've played five turns, and nothing terribly exciting has happened. The city of Carthage has now mostly been returned to a pristine wilderness, and the march on Hippo is about to start. And I've founded a bunch of towns and whipped a bunch of temples. Should be able to play the rest tomorrow night.

Oh, and there's a rumor going around other threads that a certain venerable leader of ours just had a birthday yesterday, and I can't very well let it pass without mentioning it in this thread. So a big (if slightly belated) to Bede.

 

[Bede]

Spoiler posted.

 

[mad-bax]

I missed your birthday too Bede. Sorry.

Hope you had a great day.

 

[Minute Man]

Not too much of interest happened on my turns. The city of Carthage has been pillaged and is rapidly shrinking, and the forces from the east met up with troops from the west at Hippo, which fell easily in 1290. The troops are currently repositioning to attack Utica. Total casualties on my turns: 0.

The Iroquois have been taking it on the chin - by the end of my turns, they were reduced to an island OCC. This broke a great big trade we had with them; we lost wool, but got a bunch of gpt and luxes we were sending them back.

The Mongols and Carthaginians have been spending most of their energy fighting each other. A massive Mongolian naval landing (one Keshik) captured Malaca (the Carthaginian city to the south of Japan). But mostly they've been milling about and attacking each other's troops. On my last turn, I founded a city on the Mongolian border that brought what I think is the only Mongolian source of horses into our territory.

Most of the stronger nations have Steam Power and Nationalism, but nobody will deal with us, so I couldn't buy anything. I'm not sure what we're going to do about the tech situation.

Our culture increased from 535 to 593 per turn, and our city count went from 136 to 154. We've got settlers piling up on the Carthaginian border because there isn't anywhere else left to send them. Once the military advances a little bit more, it should be safe to go settle some of the gaps.

Important note: On my very last turn, Babylon started moving some troops into our territory. I'm not sure what they're up to, but I smell a sneak attack in the making. I guess Hammurabi just doesn't like me, for some reason. Anyway, I'm leaving the decision on what to do about this to the next player. Most of the defenders along the Babylonian border are unmoved, so feel free to rearrange them as you see fit.

Roster check:

Pied Piper
eldar
Bede
Minute Man - just played
Mab - up!
Tubby Rower - on deck

And The Save.

 

[Tubby Rower]

Hmmm. Good job MM. That bit about the techs and Hammi coming in scares me.

Nationalism means we will start seeing riflemen. We have 27 cav and 13 knights. Is there any issue with upgrading those knights? or do we not have the money?

 

[Tubby Rower]

Sorry for the double post but I was wondering if we shouldn't knock Hammi back a bit. According to Mad-Bax. Hammi, Joan, & the now defunct Japan were custom made to be the strongest in this game. I think that if we don't do something about our strongest neighbor it might be harder to deal with later. M-B said it was done that way to "make the end game more interesting". Here is a suggestion. I haven't thought it all of the way out yet but it's an idea.

Make peace with Carthage & Ugly. Go directly after Hammi and beat him back. We might want to see if we can get Joan in on it too to use up some her forces.

Here's a screenie (since we hadn't seen one in a while) from crpViewer (since I don't have Civ at work):

 

[Bede]

Have to vote against a Babylonian adventure, at least at this point. There is too much opportunity for land in Carthage and the "belt buckle" in Mongolia and before we take on Babylon seriously we need railroads and the belt buckled.

Prepare for war on the Babylon front, by all means. Keep the towns defended ( a circulating army works well for this). The important question is how many troops and what kind is he shifting around our borders. If it is more than a couple of stray rifles then brace for a sneak attack. Just make sure we can bribe Joan, America and the Viking into the battle with us.

 

[Tubby Rower]

Like I said I hadn't thought it out yet. That's why I put it out there in case it was a good idea. Looking at the map, it'd be nice to get some Celtic cities in that belt buckle

 

[Bede]

Actually it is more than a couple of rifles, more like a half dozen cavalry, so Hammi is on the way in with blood in his eye. He is vectoring in from the NE (old India) and also from the center of the Japan line. There are at least two towns immediately at risk and he can strike at least two fields across the border.

There is no way to prevent the attack that I can think of. Try to renegotiate peace and buy a tech from him with all our gpt, if possible, if we can't get a tech, take his money as a loan. So when he declares we get the money or the tech and get the gpt back.

Cover as much of the border as you can, then boot his troops and when he declares,and he will, kill as many of his attackers as possible and hope that is enough to hold the border.

More later...

 

[Tubby Rower]

I realize that not everyone looks through the SG's so do you want to explain the Military Alliance thing that you & dman explained to us in TR03? Or does it not apply in this case?

 

[Tubby Rower]

Wait I was just looking @ MapStat and it said that we were at war with the Iroquois but we are not at war with the Mongols??? Is that correct? How did that happen and why are we still at war with them?

 

[Bede]

Will post more later on the diplomatic issues here.

As for the Iro and Mongols: I allied with the Mongols against Carthage and when the Iro got booted to the their bolthole our trade route busted. Since the deal with them hinged on a renegotiated peace treaty we are automatically at war with them. Just another one of the problems of the busted alliance with Hammi....

 

[Tubby Rower]

So is our per turn rep now trashed?

 

[mabellino]

I think our per turn rep was trashed ages ago!

I'll be playing later today, suppose it'll be a baptism of fire against the Babs. Any cities that we MUST protect? (and don't say all of them!)

How many armies do we have? And what's the betting that all the coal is smack bang in the middle of Babylon! Or, having finally hooked up our coal, all our iron mysteriously disappears

 

[Bede]

They can only reach the border towns of old Japan. Watch for them coming from the northeast by old India and from the center.

The diplomatic issues are complex. If you think you can hold them off then don't make any alliances and just take the pain. If you do make alliances do not ally with the Mongol.

Just remember to hit them first if they are in our territory and get what you can from them before you do...

 

[mabellino]

playing last few turns now... sorry for the delay

 

[Bede]

, Mab, are you there?

 

[Bede]

Thirty-six hours and no word from Leeds. :shakehead:

Tubby Rower - can you play this one tonight, 3/24? From MM's save if Mab hasn't posted?
Pied Piper - TR is heading out of town and might not be able to play tonight. Can you?
eldar
Bede
Minute Man
Mab - can you post today, 3/24, before Tubby picks it up? If not claim a skip, please.

 

[Tubby Rower]

Yes. I'll play tonight with MM's save if mab doesn't post. I'll have to pack tonight since we're leaving tomorrow, but don't worry my priorities are in order....civ then pack. After all how long does it take to throw some underwear in a suitcase?

Any suggestions, on what's going on? I'll go back and re-read up to MM's post, but I don't want to screw this up.

AFAIK, Hammi is screwing us in old India and I have to weather the storm. Continue march on the Mongol horde and convert Carthage to a history lesson.

 

[Bede]

Thanks. TR.

Going to be a challenge dealing with Hammi. Be flexible.

And have some fun.