hecubus
General Specific
...about to get messed up, royally?
This has been an interesting BTS game so far, and it's about to get real hairy. I'd appreciate any input or advice y'all can offer.
Basic info:
Noble, Large, Epic, Lakes
Playing Sitting Bull
Using HOF 3.03.001 mod
Opponents:
Hatshepsut
Isabella
Catherine
Joao II
Suleiman
Frederick
Lincoln (Deceased)
Boudica (Deceased)
The story so far...
I missed Stonehenge, so there's one strike. Boudica to the west fell to a Dog Soldier rush, and the overflow from that marched north to capture Washington and New York. Lincoln was pushed back to Boston, where my Dog Soldiers were shredded by a hill full of archers. I made peace knowing he was crippled, and focused on trying to get my now 5-city empire working.
My research slider was around 20%, but the newly acquired Pyramids in Washington let me run Representation. My tech moved along nicely as excess food fueled specialists instead of the whip, but production was a serious problem. Basically, my cities limped along and slowly ground out a passable defense and a few necessary buildings as I pushed toward Feudalism.
When I hit Feudalism, I made the switch - Police State, Vassalage, Slavery, Theocracy. I whipped out scads of hugely promoted longbows and crossbows, as well as a handful of catapults. I garrisoned all my cities well, planning to promote them all when I hit rifling. First I captured four barbarian cities around the northern and southern reaches of my section of the globe, two and two. Then the crossbows and cats quickly razed Philadelphia and captured Boston, which I gifted to Hatty. At that point I was stretched to the very limit financially, and had actually switched back to Representation/Caste System/Organized Religion right before attacking Lincoln.
Speaking of religion (wasn't that an awesome segue?), this is where the rest of the world comes in. Hatty is Confucian, like me, and she's my best bud in this game. Catherine, Joao and Frederick are Buddhist, and Suleiman and Isabella are Hindu.
<Civ4ScreenShot0004.JPG>
<Civ4ScreenShot0005.JPG>
Catherine has declared war on Hatty twice. The first time I aborted it after a couple turns with an Apostolic Palace vote, the second time Hatty did the same as she'd won control in the meantime. Not before inviting me to join the fray, of course, and how was I to resist? I first sent my conquering crossbows and cats toward Vladivostok, which was Cathy's launching pad into Egypt. As they approached, the AP vote came up and peace was made between Hatty and Cathy, but I was still at war. Her stack flooded back into Vladivostok and made quick work of my approaching forces - I'd promoted most of them to Drill IV, but she sent first-strike-immune Horse Archers against me. It was a massacre. Custer stood up from his grave and cheered. The declaration of peace does at least afford me the ability to form up an attacking stack in Memphis, where Cathy can't get to it.
<Civ4ScreenShot0003.JPG>
Now, here's where my problems come in. The obvious inefficiency of my crossbows against horse archers is one thing, but I've got Pikemen and they're on the way. What I'm really worried about is Suleiman. He's been assembling an intimidating force in Bursa, where the culture has been steadily encroaching on Mound City. I'm keeping it and Bibracte well-defended, but it's limiting what I can assemble to deal with Catherine. She is NOT receptive to peace.
<Civ4ScreenShot0002.JPG>
Joao is also annoyed and a threat, and I never count out Frederick. There is tech parity militarily, I don't have knights (hoping to steal Guilds), but I can deal with them. The problem is mounted units get around one of the main advantages of my forces. I don't have advantage through tech and I have numbers for one opponent but not two. I've made myself pretty unpopular and the dogpile may be imminent.
The fact that Catherine is not a direct neighbor also makes her less appealing as a target. Suleiman or Joao, on the other hand, I would LOVE to take out. I have no doubt Hatty will back me up if I ask, but how effective she'll be is anyone's guess.
Speaking of anyone's guess, what are your thoughts?
This has been an interesting BTS game so far, and it's about to get real hairy. I'd appreciate any input or advice y'all can offer.
Basic info:
Noble, Large, Epic, Lakes
Playing Sitting Bull
Using HOF 3.03.001 mod
Opponents:
Hatshepsut
Isabella
Catherine
Joao II
Suleiman
Frederick
Lincoln (Deceased)
Boudica (Deceased)
The story so far...
I missed Stonehenge, so there's one strike. Boudica to the west fell to a Dog Soldier rush, and the overflow from that marched north to capture Washington and New York. Lincoln was pushed back to Boston, where my Dog Soldiers were shredded by a hill full of archers. I made peace knowing he was crippled, and focused on trying to get my now 5-city empire working.
My research slider was around 20%, but the newly acquired Pyramids in Washington let me run Representation. My tech moved along nicely as excess food fueled specialists instead of the whip, but production was a serious problem. Basically, my cities limped along and slowly ground out a passable defense and a few necessary buildings as I pushed toward Feudalism.
When I hit Feudalism, I made the switch - Police State, Vassalage, Slavery, Theocracy. I whipped out scads of hugely promoted longbows and crossbows, as well as a handful of catapults. I garrisoned all my cities well, planning to promote them all when I hit rifling. First I captured four barbarian cities around the northern and southern reaches of my section of the globe, two and two. Then the crossbows and cats quickly razed Philadelphia and captured Boston, which I gifted to Hatty. At that point I was stretched to the very limit financially, and had actually switched back to Representation/Caste System/Organized Religion right before attacking Lincoln.
Speaking of religion (wasn't that an awesome segue?), this is where the rest of the world comes in. Hatty is Confucian, like me, and she's my best bud in this game. Catherine, Joao and Frederick are Buddhist, and Suleiman and Isabella are Hindu.
<Civ4ScreenShot0004.JPG>
<Civ4ScreenShot0005.JPG>
Catherine has declared war on Hatty twice. The first time I aborted it after a couple turns with an Apostolic Palace vote, the second time Hatty did the same as she'd won control in the meantime. Not before inviting me to join the fray, of course, and how was I to resist? I first sent my conquering crossbows and cats toward Vladivostok, which was Cathy's launching pad into Egypt. As they approached, the AP vote came up and peace was made between Hatty and Cathy, but I was still at war. Her stack flooded back into Vladivostok and made quick work of my approaching forces - I'd promoted most of them to Drill IV, but she sent first-strike-immune Horse Archers against me. It was a massacre. Custer stood up from his grave and cheered. The declaration of peace does at least afford me the ability to form up an attacking stack in Memphis, where Cathy can't get to it.
<Civ4ScreenShot0003.JPG>
Now, here's where my problems come in. The obvious inefficiency of my crossbows against horse archers is one thing, but I've got Pikemen and they're on the way. What I'm really worried about is Suleiman. He's been assembling an intimidating force in Bursa, where the culture has been steadily encroaching on Mound City. I'm keeping it and Bibracte well-defended, but it's limiting what I can assemble to deal with Catherine. She is NOT receptive to peace.
<Civ4ScreenShot0002.JPG>
Joao is also annoyed and a threat, and I never count out Frederick. There is tech parity militarily, I don't have knights (hoping to steal Guilds), but I can deal with them. The problem is mounted units get around one of the main advantages of my forces. I don't have advantage through tech and I have numbers for one opponent but not two. I've made myself pretty unpopular and the dogpile may be imminent.
The fact that Catherine is not a direct neighbor also makes her less appealing as a target. Suleiman or Joao, on the other hand, I would LOVE to take out. I have no doubt Hatty will back me up if I ask, but how effective she'll be is anyone's guess.
Speaking of anyone's guess, what are your thoughts?
