SGOTM8 - Xteam

[bluebox]

The sign up thread for SGOTM09 is up. I was wondering if we want to sign up as individuals or as a team?

@Alan - Any chance for a cameo this time round?

Looks like an interesting scenario. Gyathaar sure can dream up some good ones!!

If Alan won't be joining us, then software version is also up for discussion.

I'd give it a try with you, guys and girl, if you don't mind!?

With C3C there seems to be more competition b/c of more teams, but if Alan doesn't join in, we can go there!

 

[WillowBrook]

Wow - that's quite the varient!!! Sounds very intriguing. I'm happy to play again with the X-Team, and it would be great if Alan could return to us. If, however, he can't, then I'm open to playing any of the versions. (I wonder if the Xteam can avoid researching flight in this varient as well? )

 

[AlanH]

I'd love to be able to join you again, and I'm really flattered to be invited back. But I really can't see how I could.

However, those of you who are aware of the changing situation in Mac support for Civ3 (and Civ4) will know that software versions should not be a problem for me in future, whatever you may choose to play.

 

[Mistfit]

Avatars by Mistfit

or lack there of

Personally I think the upcomming SGOTM is absolutely nuts! I'm not that great of a thinker... I do lose games pretty well and I think that is a prerequisite for the next game.... but I have kind of become acustom to sitting on the sidelines watching you guys strugle thru them... Good luck on the remainder of this and the next one as well!

 

[leif erikson]

Well, we have missed you both.

Unfortunately, I don't have very good news for our game. In this turn set, I had no luck in getting onto the Rome/Japan continent. We are still at war with everyone and Rome and the Vikings won;t even talk. japan is obstinant in giving any cities away.

<< The Save>>

The turn log:

Turn 270 – 1400 AD Pre-flight.
We have spies currently with all of our opponents and 3,764 Gold in the treasury, adding another 1396 per turn. Nice.
Willow recommend we gift cities to the Vikings and then take them back in the hope of claiming little Orebro.
Move some Cavs around as I prepare to gift cities to the Vikings.
Dial up the Vikings and gift them Coventry, Hastings, New Pittsburgh, New Houston, Sapporo, Nicomedia, Shimonoseki and Dover. Then declare war on the Vikings.
Dover is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Nicomedia is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Shimonoseki is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Sapporo is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Coventry is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Hastings is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
New Pittsburg is captured without loss, a Reg Cav promotes to Vet, and it is set to Wealth.
New Houston is captured without loss and set to Wealth.
Springfield, which had flipped during Willow’s turn set, is captured without loss and set to Library.
Reposition Cavs to block all roads out of Newcastle.
Make an attempt at peace with Japan, but he isn’t giving anything away today, although Hakodate is doubtful while the others are insulted.
The Romans refuse our envoy.
Domination limit is 1491 and we currently have 1148 tiles towards that limit.
Hire a clown in Norwich to prevent a riot. Change production to worker and rush it for 80 Gold and then change back to Harbor and rush it for another 280 Gold.
Wake Reg. Rifle in Norwich and take the Viking worker just north, worker roads.
Press enter!

IBT
I failed to notice the stack of Viking Swords and a Warrior near Oslo and they kill a Cav and capture a stack of workers! The workers are disbanded!
Tsingtao Bank => Wealth.
Norwich Harbor => Worker (pre-build for Cav. Fire the clown.
Qitaimjorg Cav => Worker (pre-build)

Turn 271 – 1405 AD
At Bjoergvin, a Reg. Cav attacks a Reg. Spear and defeats him, losing 1 HP.
Near Oslo we kill a Viking Warrior and a redlined Sword.
Now for some Espionage and Diplomacy?
Dial up Japan and he is still stubborn!
Rome and The Vikings aren’t talking.
Initiate Propaganda against Lugdunum for 1140 Gold, it fails.
Initiate Propaganda against Byzantium for 2202 Gold, it fails.
Hire a Taxman in Brighton to prevent a riot.

IBT
Shanghai Bank => Wealth.
Las Vegas Harbor => Wealth.
We quell some resistance.
A Roman frigate moves out of Lugdunum and towards Byzantium.

Turn 272 – 1410 AD
Boring worker turns…
A Reg Cav attacks a Reg Viking Spear at Bjoergvin and we capture it, losing 1 HP. There is one resister and it has no improvements. Start a Worker.
Japan won’t give anything.
The Romans and Vikings refuse to negotiate.
Initiate Propaganda against Byzantium for 2185 Gold and it fails.
Not enough Gold to try Lugdunum, so we wait a turn.

IBT
The Romans bombard Byzantium with a Frigate, hope it reduces the population?
Nanking Library => Wealth.
Brundisium flips to the Romans!

Turn 273 – 1415 AD
At Brundisium
A Vet. Cavalry attacks a Reg. Roman Rifle and kills him, losing 2 HP and capturing the city. There are no resisters and we start city on Wealth.
Back to Diplomacy.
Japan isn’t giving us anything easily, not even Democracy.
The Romans and Vikings aren’t talking yet.
Initiate Propaganda against Lugdunum and it fails.

IBT
Japan requests an audience. They offer a peace deal, peace for peace. Try all their cities and the closest is Hakodate, but no way!
The Rifle in Lugdunum defeats 2 units, must have been attacked by Japan, but it did not promote?
Byzantium is bombarded by a Roman Frigate.
Uppsala Settler => Wealth.
New Chicago Settler => Wealth (this is where we could build the Iron Works, btw)

Turn 274 – 1420 AD
Found the town of New Palo Alto and start Wealth.
Try at Diplomacy.
Dial up Japan, same dull story.
The Vikings and Rome refuse our envoys.
Time for some Propaganda.
Edo is down to 1 pop, so we try that first for 286 Gold and it fails.
Try it on Lugdunum for 1128 and it fails.
Try it on Orebro for 352 Gold and it fails.

IBT
Lugdunum defends against attacks redlining their Rifle there.
Byzantium is bombarded by Frigates.
Thermopylae Aqueduct => Wealth.
Seattle University => Wealth.


Turn 275 – 1425 AD
Found the town of New Spokane and start Wealth.
Check Diplomacy.
Same old stuff, Japan is stubborn and the others refuse to talk.
Propaganda.
Against Rome, Edo for 284 Gold and it fails.
Against Vikings, Orebro for 349 Gold and it fails.
Out of Gold for now.
Bjoergvin is about to riot so I rush a worker for 28 Gold and a Harbor for 280 Gold. The I leave it to riot because hiring another Taxman will result in pop loss.

IBT
Japan and Vikings have signed a peace treaty.
Rome bombards Byzantium.
New Boston Temple => Bank.
Bjoergevin riots but produces a Harbor => Worker.
New Houston flips to Rome and we lose one Reg. Cav.

Turn 276 – 1430 AD
Join a worker to Los Angeles turns out to be a big mistake because it is all MM and balanced. Start a Harbor in San Diego and MM the whole area. Join another worker to LA, OK.
Join a Worker to Thermopylae.
Time for Diplomacy?
No change.
Propaganda.
Try Edo for 282 Gold, fails.
Try Orebro for 347 Gold, fails.
Hire a Taxman in New Kansas City.

IBT
Romans bombard Byzantium to size 4.
Japanese land a Vet Samurai near Stockholm.
Bjoergevin ends riot.

Turn 277 – 1435 AD
Wake a Vet Cav and attack a Japanese Vet Samurai and Samurai dies flawlessly.
Attack of New Houston.
4/4 Cav attacks 3/3 Roman Rifle and dies, redlining the Rifle.
5/5 Cav attacks redlined Rifle and kills him, losing 2 HP and capturing the city and 1 Gold. There are 2 resisters. Set production to Wealth.
Diplomacy check.
The situation remains unchanged.
Propaganda.
Try Orebro for 344 Gold and fail.
Try Edo for 280 Gold and fail.
Try Lugdunum for 1096 Gold and fail.

IBT
Byzantium bombarded by Roma.
Japan lands Samurai near Stockholm and near Matsuyama.
Brighton Settler => Settler.

Turn 278 – 1440 AD
Wake Vet Cav near Shimonoseki, move to Matsuyama and attack a Vet Samurai, killing him and losing 1 HP.
Wake a Vet Cav near Linkoping and attack a Vet Samurai near Stockholm, dying and taking 1 HP from the Samurai.
Wake a Vet Cav near New Las Vegas and move to attack the same Samurai, dying and Samurai redlines, but promotes.
Wake an Elite Cav near New San Diego, move and attack the 2/5 Samurai, killing him flawlessly.
Found the town of Washington 2 and set to Wealth.
Change production in New Las Vegas to Library and rush it for 208 Gold.
Hire a clown in LA to prevent riot.
Diplomacy.
No Change.
Propaganda.
Start with Orebro for 341 Gold and fail.
Go to Roman city of Edo for 278 Gold and fail.
To Japan and try Izumo for 2084 Gold and fail.
Change build in Norrkoping to Cavalry to replace units lost to Japanese Samurai.

IBT
Romans bombard Byzantium with no visible effect.
Japanese land a Vet Rifle near Matsuyama.
Oslo Settler => Settler.
Pharsalos Harbor => Bank
New Las Vegas Library => Temple.

Turn 279 – 1445 AD
Wake a Vet Cav near Nicomedia and move to attack a Japanese Vet Rifle, dying, Rifle 2/4.
Wake a Vet Cav in Nicomedia and move to attack the same 2/4 Rifle, dying and redlining the Riflew, until he promotes. What is going on here anyway?
Wake an Elite Cav and move to attack the 2/5 Rifle, dying and redlining the Rifle.
Wake a 3/4 Cav and attack the 1/5 Rifle and he dies as well.
Wake a 5/5 Cav and attack 1/5 Rifle and, finally, kill him, 4/5.

Rush a Settler in Seleucia for 12 Gold so it frees it up to rush some Cavalry!!

Hire a Taxman in Jonkoping to prevent rioting.
Hire a Taxman in Vasteros to prevent rioting.

Diplomacy.
Unchanged. (very frustrating)

Propaganda.
Try to subvert Orebro for 339 Gold and fail.
Try Edo for 278 Gold and fail.
Not enough Gold to try Japan.

IBT
Another Samurai dropped of near Stockholm.
Byzantium bombarded by 3 Roman Frigates, no visible effect.
Seleucia Settler => Worker.

Turn 280 – 1450 AD
Join a Worker to Olympia.
Found the town of New York 2 near Orebro, start a Library.
Found the town of Boston 2 and start Wealth.
Rush a Temple in Viroconium for 136 gold.
Join a Worker to Thermopylae.
Join a Worker to Pharsalos.
Rush a Cavalry on Norrkoping for 312 Gold.
In Seleucia, rush a Worker for 80 Gold and a Cav for 280 more.
Hire a Taxman in New Miami.

Checking Diplomacy.
Nothing has changed.

Propaganda.
Try Orebro for 336 Gold and fail.
Try Edo for 546 Gold and fail.

After Action Report.
Not very much good to report. Can’t seem to break onto the Rome/Japan continent.

I lost a fair number of Cavs on the Seleucia Island, so you may need to rush 3 or so there. Also a few in the former Viking territory way down south.

We are at war with everyone and Japan will talk but isn’t giving anything up. Rome and the Vikings will not talk yet. It is very frustrating. Prolly need some of that pain medication.

All attempts at propaganda failed. :thumbdown Some War Weariness is starting to creep back into our cities, so keep an eye out.

Good luck.

Firaxis score 3631.

 

[leif erikson]

That was a tough turnset, sorry. :thumbdown

Roster:
Capt. - UP
Gator - On Deck
Nemesis - skipped
Bluebox
Leif - just played and changed with Willow
Willow

I did not use the leader and saved him in case we want to restart research (although I don't know what good it'll do at this point) and get TOE.

Don't know what to say excpet keep using propaganda on the smaller cities. I stopped trying for Lugdunum as the Romans wouldn't negotiate a peace if I got it and would prolly take it right back. I pushed hard on Edo as we could make peace with Japan and they would shield us as we made our preparations.

Orebro is still in play and I tried to get their attention, but, as good Vikings, they remained loyal and ignored me!!

Good luck Capt!! I hope your RNG is kinder than mine!!

 

[WillowBrook]

Great try, Leif! I think you did all you could!

I did note the Viking swords in my write-up, but I apologize for not pointing them out more explicitly.

 

[leif erikson]

I did note the Viking swords in my write-up, but I apologize for not pointing them out more explicitly.

It is not your fault. I missed them. Besides, they really didn't do any damage anyway.

I was too focused on Espionage, hoping for a lucky break.
EDIT - I should know better by now!!

I didn't think it would be this tough to get onto that continent. Guess we should have researched our way to victory?

 

[DJMGator13]

Good try leif, at this point I don't think we can finish without getting helicopters, so we may want to turn it back on just so we can finish the variant. If we stay with our current tactic we may not finish in time.

As for SGOTM9 I'm in. Sounds like a very interesting variant. The no peace makes it a little more difficult than just trying to steer one civ to victory. As long as Team Peanut, Tao, Durtz & Ivan continue with van/PTW I think we should stay with them and continue our little rivalry.

 

[Capt Buttkick]

If noone objects too strongly, I'll play a very fast turnset at max research, trying to get to helis asap.
We're not gonna win this neway, so might as well make it cut as little as possible into our RL.

I still think we could have won this without helis, and that that was they way to go to significantly beat the others at this variant.
I guess this sgotm wasn't the time for our all-out tactics, too many islands

 

[WillowBrook]

I personally would like to see this game won without helicopters. At this point we'd be way behind everyone to finish with that method; I don't see that there's be much point of finishing if we do it the way everyone else has but several centuries later. These are my current feelings; I might change me mind. And if the team votes otherwise, I'll go along.

 

[leif erikson]

@Willow - I agree with trying to finish without Heli's. The problem is that it all depends upon the RNG at this point, and we know our history there.

If you call up the military advisor, with spies planted, you can see their armies. Both Japan and Rome don't have much for military at the moment. Their cities aren't changing hands because they have no offensive capability. If we can get a city on the island, it shouldn't take much to finish. But getting there is, as you may be able to tell, very frustrating.

I don't think we can afford to research and push the propaganda option. There are 5 techs to flight and 14 to Advanced Flight. At 4 turn research, that means 20 turns to Flight and 56 to Advanced Flight; and I'm not sure we can do 4 turn. Givne that, imho, the turn sets will go fastest by using propaganda and diplomacy to try and gain cities. Flight does us no good without a city on the Rome/Japan continent anyway.

The question is: In 56 times 2 or 3 chances, will the RNG relent for one measaly city?

 

[leif erikson]

Ahh, I love double posts.

Let's see, for SGOTM09, it looks like Willow, Bluebox Gator and I say yes.
@ - Capt.? Care to dance with Ghandi?

If this is OK, I'll post in the signup thread as a team entry and we'll ask for one to replace Nemesis?

 

[Capt Buttkick]

I see your point, leif.

Imhso we might as well give up if we haven't got a city on their mainland by that time anyway.

So, I'll switch back to propaganda and try to wrestle a city off the RNG that way.

 

[Capt Buttkick]

Ahh, I love double posts.

Let's see, for SGOTM09, it looks like Willow, Bluebox Gator and I say yes.
@ - Capt.? Care to dance with Ghandi?

I'll give it a try, thanks
Let's

 

[WillowBrook]

I should note that my availability to play may be spotty over the next 2-1/2 months, but I'll be sure to give the team a heads-up for the few times I'll disappear altogether.

@ Capt - be careful which cities you target for propaganda. if neighboring civs won't talk with us, we might lose a successful attempt on the IBT. But note that we do get a reg rifle when we force the flip.

 

[leif erikson]

Thank you all. I have signed us up as a team for SGOTM 09 HERE.

I hope your RNG is nicer than mine Capt! Good luck.

Tough game when you're in competition more with the RNG than you are with AI rivals!

 

[WillowBrook]

Thanks for signing us up, Leif!

 

[leif erikson]

Thanks for signing us up, Leif!

You're Welcome!!

 

[WillowBrook]

You're Welcome!!

Have to increase the spam-count somehow!