Space-1: War While Waiting

[a space oddity]

SP1 - turnlog 1100AD

Goals:
Fill the emptied lands.
Deal with Ottoman.

Pre-turn:
I call up Ottoman. He feels scientifically equal. But it certainly doesn't look that way. He's up Printing Press, Music Theory, Astronomy and Metallurgy. His TM costs our WM and 65g. I could also offer Furs and Gems, but that would be totally dastardly sincce we have no intention of keeping that deal.

Will you look at that, both our suicide runs where so close.
The Ottoman share their borders with Greece, no sign of Egypt.
We declare war.

As per the discussion I turn down science for a couple of turns. With Neapolis on a scientist and the slider at (10.0.0) we make +141gpt.

Press enter.

IT:
Bab Knight kills a 4/4 Pike.
Next Knight attacks redlines and retreats.
Archer dies attacking our Settler stack.
Rome - AI 1-1.
Spanish start Bach's.

1110AD - turn 1
Found Tarentum, starts walls.
Found Nicomedia, starts walls.

Near Grand River:
5/5 Knight vs 4/4 Conquistador: our Knight dies!

near Nicomedia:
4/4 MDI vs 2/3 Bab Knight: dies upgrading the Knight to 2/4. What did I do to disturb the RNG gods?
Our 4/4 Longbow kills a 1/4 Bab Knight, 2/4 left.

This makes the tally Rome - AI 2-3 this round.

IT:
Bab Knight dies attacking our Knight.
A Vik Berserker attacks our Army in city. It dies.
Another Beserker disconnects the Iron.
Spain wants to talk, oh oh. They would give Mettalurgy for peace...
Conq dies attacking our Knight.
The second one kills our Knight.
Veii Knight -> Knight
Cumae Knight -> Knight
Caesarea Walls -> Catapult

1120AD - turn 2
Near Tarentum:
5/5 MDI vs 3/4 Berserk: YES The tranquilizer of Berserks sprouts a Leader, Titus.
5/5 Knight vs 2/4 Berserk: wins 4/5 left.
5/5 Knight vs 2/4 Berserk: wins 3/5 left.

Near Nicomedia:
4/4 MDI vs 1/4 Conq: wins unscratched.

Ah, we now have contact with Greece and Egypt too. That's too early, we don't have enough money to buy either Metallurgy or Astronomy. We can buy Egypts WM for ours + 81 gold. Greece's map is cheaper, so if I buy Egypt's we could get an extra 7g from greece (all he has).

Pay WM + 81g for Egyptian WM (they only have Astronomy over us).
And declare war.

Sell WM to Greece for WM + 4g (he has Astronomy and Metallurgy which we could easily buy on a gpt basis, oh well).
And declare war.

So, we are at war with the whole world now, and finally know where Spain is.

I up the slider to (4.6.0) for Metallurgy in 5 turns at +7gpt.

IT
Bab Knight kills MDI.
Spain once again has a decent stack, how come the seem to be playing smarter than the others?
Vik lands a pike next to Jerusalem.
Neapolis Musket -> Knight
Byzantium Market -> Library
Lutetia Market -> Library
Greeks start Magellan.

1130AD - turn 3
Found Seleucia, starts walls.

Near Ceasarea:
5/5 Legionair vs 3/3 Spanish MDI: wins 2/5 left.
Near Niagara Falls:
4/4 Legionair vs 2/3 Spanish MDI: wins 3/4 left.
Near Allegheny:
4/4 Knight vs 3/3 Bab Musket: wins 1/4 left, 2 workers captured (settler).

IT
Ravenna Knight -> Knight
Syracuse Settler -> Catapult
Egypt starts Bach's.

1140AD - turn 4
Used Titus for a new Knight Army, left one spot open for someone with a creative idea.
Near Niagara Falls:
3/4 Legionair vs 3/3 Iroq Archer: dies .
Near Ceasarea:
5/5 Knight vs 3/3 Spanish Archer: wins unscratched.
Near Nicomedia:
5/5 Knight vs 2/3 Spanish Spear: readlines but wins, capturing 2 workers (settler).

Our Cats do good damage to the attacking Spanish troops.

IT
Spain lands a Spear.
Handyaugusta Temple -> Worker

1150AD - turn 5
Near Nicomedia:
5/5 Knight vs 1/4 Iroq Archer: wins unscratched.
Near Seleucia:
4/4 Knight vs 2/3 Bab Musket: Knight retreats without doing damage.
14/14 Knight Army vs 2/3 Bab Musket: wins 10/14 left.
12/12 Knight Army vs 1/4 Spanish MDI: wins upgrading 1 Knight, 12/13 left.
Near Byzantium:
4/4 Knight vs 3/3 Spanish Spear: wins and upgrades to 2/5.

 

[a space oddity]

Notes for the next player:

- There is a Vike Pike S of Jerusalem, it is after our workers, there are troops to deal with him if nescessary. There is a 3/3 Vik Berserker in the FOW west of Molde.

- There is an Army poised to disconnect the Iroq Iron. There are a number of Bab Knights there to aware of.

- Once we have St. Regis we have a nice front of cities each 2 tiles apart.

- Metallurgy is due in 2 turns, we don't have too much money but we should be able to upgrade some 'pults.

- There is a settler in Palmyra, it can go North to fill up gaps.

And finally: the save

 

[TedJackson]

Looking good


Ted

 

[a space oddity]

Thanx Ted.

Mad-bax: you're UP (Thought you had time now that CoS is nearly done? Think again. BTW congrats! )

 

[Greebley]

Good work on securing the world map.

I scouted out resources on the map (poor spain has nothing, though it must be getting it in trade. I am glad we didn't get spain's start despite the ease of defending ones homeland).

Babylon has 2 iron and 2 saltpeter. One saltpeter is N of their capitol, the other is hidden under the city of Ashur.

Invading the other continent could get interesting. We will have several turns at sea with our troops and might have to build more offensive ships than I do in most games. Keeping some cannons in coastal cities along a ship to kill red-lined boats might help with clearing the seas too. We will probably run into shore bombardment before too much longer. The civs on the other continent are all strong and probably have a good number of boats.

Oil Springs looks like a good target when we can get to it. We could get the last lux on our continent (+3 happiness for cities with market places).

 

[a space oddity]

I noticed that about Oil Springs... I will be good to add that lux to our collection.

 

[mad-bax]

Space, I'm sorry but I need a skip as I am staying with friends over the weekend. My wife sprung the surprise on me last night and I didn't realise I would be back up in this game in under a week.

Sorry

 

[a space oddity]

No problem MB. This game *is* moving fast, also due to the 5 turn rule. Would like me to slot you in after Greebley?

Ted, are you able to take it?

 

[TedJackson]

Not until I've re-installed Civ


Ted

 

[a space oddity]

That sounds real bad, Ted. Something to do with C3C? I've ordered a copy, should have it early next week.

 

[handy900]

Well done Space. Very well done!

Let’s start discussing a bait city for the AI's on the other continent to invade. This way they will all drop their invasion forces off near the same spot. We can concentrate our forces nearby, making it much easier to kill them.

If we can spare a unit to fortify on all our coastal hills & mountains, the AI will have to come ashore on flat ground.

Greebley, you are correct about the need for offensive ships. We'll want a few escorts to cover the initial invasion force as well as reinforcement convoys. Once we establish a beachhead (hills are a high priority for city #1), AI ships usually cluster around our beachhead & bombard.
Killing the AI navy is much easier after artillery comes in since you can fire up to 2 tiles offshore, redline a ship then kill it and return safely to harbor. You can kill red-lined battleships with ironclads using this method. It is a pleasure to sink all those shields. Until then we can fire cannon at ships. If you hit an AI ship, they almost always go home to heal, buying you some time for tile repair. Finding the ships won’t be a problem, they will all come to us. Too bad we can’t get leaders from naval battles. We are going to have a lot of elite destroyers & ironclads.

editWe need a cash hoard before we invade the other continent because we will want to rush walls & barracks in our beachhead city ASAP.

One we get a little fleet we are sure can make the crossing; we need to send an ARMY
(preferably with a few explorers) over to pillage the other civs.

 

[Northern Pike]

Good work, Space. I left you with a delicate situation to defend and the losses in your first turn are on me.

It's too bad we couldn't afford to buy any techs from our new enemies. If we do this again, we should make it a hard and fast rule to keep a hoard of at least 500 gold for use only when we make a new contact. Live and learn.

If we anchor the western end of our line on St. Regis, rather than on a hill town founded two tiles SE of St. R., we'll of course save a settler. But St. Regis is not on a hill, despite appearances.

 

[a space oddity]

Not all due to the situatio though NP, it was also some of the not-so-nice outcomes that come with die rolling.

In this case it's hard to know when to have the money ready, because they found us. But we could have gone looking and should've had money ready in case we find someone. Like you say live and learn. And this is turning out to be one enjoyable lesson.

Ah, I assumed it was on a hill. Personally I think the 2-tile distance is of paramount importance, especially for frontal cities.

 

[Northern Pike]

NEXT PLAYER, whoever you may be in the current confusion , don't press Enter until you've made some adjustments around Nicomedia. We have two stacks in that area (workers and catapults guarded only by a pikeman, workers guarded only by a knight) in considerable danger from the nearby Babylonian knights. The workers with no escort at all might be picked off by a Conquistador, too, although whether we can prudently spare the units to guard against this possibility as well is unclear.

 

[Greebley]

Well I would be the one up next if Ted and Madbax can't play. I can play if the group wants me to, though I am more inclined to giving Ted some time to work out his install issues.

Good luck on fixing your problem, Ted.

 

[TedJackson]

I'm back

So this is a got it


Ted

 

[TedJackson]

SP1-1150AD

Pre-flight checks... OK

Tech & Resource Status
Vikings - down Chemistry - no Iron, no Horses ?
Iroquois - down Education & Gunpowder - no Iron, no Horses
Spain - up Printing, Music, Banking, Astronomy & Metallurgy - no Horses
Babylon - up Printing, Music, Banking, Astronomy & Metallurgy - has Iron & Horses
Egypt - not talking
Ottoman - not talking
Greece - not talking

Pre-turn
Rome - fire clown, hire taxman
Neapolis - fire Scientist
Babylon's proximity and acces to both Iron & Horses leads me to:
Nicomedia - hurry Walls
Tarentum - hurry Walls
Selucia - hurry Walls

Press Button
Knight kills attacking Knight
Pike dies to attacking Knight
Nicomedia Walls - Lib
Tarentum Walls - Lib
Antium Knight - Worker (zero growth)
Sleucia Walls - Lib
Babylon starts Copernicus'

1 - 1160AD
Bombard anything within range
Elite Knight kills 1/3 Knight
Elite Knight kills Pike but is red-lined
Elite Knight kills MDI
Vet Legion forces Knight retreat (Handyaugusta) - too dangerous to let the Knight stay
Knight Army kills 2 Pike to raze Oslo (down to 3hp)
Army pillages Furs (Stockholm)
Army pillages Iron (S Cattaraugus)
Knight Army kills MDI on mountain
Knight (Antium) to Rome
Settler (Palmyra) heads SW
Swap Musket for Pike (Niagara) & upgrade Pike for 60gp
Research 20% (1 turn @ +125gpt, 71gp)

IBT
Spain lands lone Longbow W Byzantium
Berserker heads back to Molde
Discover Metallurgy - Mil Trad
Rome Uni - Musket (60sh @12spt)
Grand River riots ??? - set to starve & hire 6 taxmen

2 - 1170AD
Elite Knight kills Longbow
Spear Army (SE Stockholm) W
Knight Army moves to Tarentum to heal
Spear Army to NE St Regis
Legion returns to Handyaugusta
3 Cats arrive Jerusalem
Settler heads SW
Elite Knight kills 2/3 Pike
Research 60% (10 turns @ +15gpt, 137gp)

Spanish units come into Catapult range at Nicomedia & Seleucia
Bab Knights head for Handyaugusta
2 Berserkers appear 2NE Jerusalem
Niagara Musket - Knight (70sh @7spt)
Veii Knight - Musket (60sh @ 12spt)
Antium Worker - Court
Pompeii Uni - Knight (70sh @ 11spt)
Handyaugusta Worker - Cannon (40sh @ 3spt)

3 - 1180AD
Bombard everthing within range
Elite Knight kills 1/3 MDI
Knight Army kills 3/4 MDI & 2/3 MDI
Musket kills 1/3 MDI
Vet Knight kills 1/3 MDI
Spear Army (NE St Regis) pillages hill
Spear Army (SW Stockholm) pillages hill
Elite Knight kills 3/4 Pike
Settler arrives at Nicomedia
Mil Trad now due in 7 @ +9gpt

IBT
Knight dies to attacking Knight (Handyaugusta)
Neapolis Knight - Uni
Brundisium Aqueduct - Cannon (40sh @ 9spt)
Palmyra Knight - Cannon (40sh @ 9spt)
Greece starts Bach's

4 - 1190AD
Cats bombard
Vet Knight kills 4/5 Knight
Army (St Regis) S
Army (Stockholm) mis-moved S
Knight Army (Seleucia) S
Knight Army (E Seleucia) S
Upgrade Pike (Handyaugusta)
Pamlyra switches to Market (happiness needed)

IBT
Vet Musket dies to Vet Knight (Handyaugusta)
Cumae Knight - Harbour

5 - 1200AD
Cats bombard
Army (SE St Regis) pillage
Knight Army (S Seleucia) kills MDI & Archer
Knight Army (2SE Seleucia) S and attacks Oil Springs killing 3/3 Spear
Vet Knight retreats from 3/3 Spear (Oil Springs)
Elite Knight kills 3/3 Spear (Oil Springs)
Can't finish off the last 2/3 Spear in Oil Springs - I leave him for the next Player
Elite Knight kills Berserker
Elite Knight kills Berserker
Vet Knight kills 1/4 Knight & promotes

Notes
I was tempted to switch all Temple builds to Libraries - better culture generators & they'll help our tech pace - but I leave the final decision to the next player.

Oil Springs - I couldn't quite get the job done but I'm sure the next player will have no trouble.

Which brings me to our Medium Term Plan. I think we take Oil Springs (Dyes), raze Mauch Chunk and settle on the hills E & SW of the ruins. This will allow us to concentrate our defense against Babylon & Spain while we pillage the heart of Babylon.

We're only 5 turns away from Cav so if we generate any leaders I think we should create empty Armies and fill them with Cav as they come online.

Our Spear Army in Viking lands has a Knight in tow and the Knight presently protecting the Cats on the road between Byzantium and Jerusalem could also join the party next turn. This would increase the effectiveness of our Viking Pillagers enormously.

Handyaugusta continues to be high on the AI's target list and could do with some Musket re-inforcements. I was a bit unlucky with the RNG defending here and lost 2 units that should have survived easily.

Now that Brundidum F.P. has it's Aqueduct it should grow into a powerhouse as the remaining hills and mountains are mined.

Seleucia is less well defended than I would like but once Oil Springs has fallen then the bulk of the defense in Grand River can take up the slack.

The save is > here <


Ted

 

[a space oddity]

Well done, Ted.

Greebley: you're UP.

 

[Greebley]

Ok, I got it. I have read Ted's notes and will start play

 

[Greebley]

Preturn: Do a town survey. I think I like Ted's library idea for less corrupt towns.
Allegheny swithed to Library.
Brundisium switched to Libary
Cesarea switched to settler. This town is close to grand river, so is probably better if it is smaller
Lutetia switched to aquaduct. I think the ability to grow past size 6 will be a bigger gain than the library. and it seems to have plenty of free squares to work.
Neapolis switched to Knight. We have too few good towns on military and its university is many turns away.
Do some MM to a few towns to reduce knight build times.

Lowered science to 50 (still getting MT in 5).

IBT: A lot of boat movement. Including Greek and Egyptian off our coasts. More Babylon knights approach.
Ravenna: Knight->Musket
Viroconium: University->Cannon

1210 AD: Bombard a Babylonian knight.
Elite Knight attacks Bab knight and wins
Knight army attacks oil springs twice and takes it. Need to connect the dyes with the rest of our towns to get the lux.
Knight attacks spanish spear and wins
Moving some Cat's south to help bombard near Handyagusta.

IBT: Babylonia beat us to cavalry. The first one appears.
Rome: Musket->Settler
Hispalis: Courthouse->Aquaduct

1220 AD: Knight kills Berserker and becomes elite
Elite knight attacks spear in Molde and wins
Vet knight attacks spear in Molde and wins.
Molde captured.

IBT:Cavalry attacks musket and loses. More cav show up
Veii: Musket->Musket
Pisae: Courthouse->Library

1230 AD:
Musket bombarded and killed by a knight
Knight attacks another musket and retreats
Knight kills the musket (settler converts to 2 workers).
Knight vs knight loses
Knight army vs knight wins
Knight vs red-lined knight wins

IBT: Knight attacks injured knight and wins. I thought I had all squares within 2 visible (so that knight couldn't be attacked), but I missed one.

Neapolis: Knight->Knight
Pompeii: Knight->Knight
Byzantium: Library->Musket

1240 AD:
Knight army vs cavalry wins
Knight army vs cavalry wins
Knight army vs redlined knight wins
Knight vs archer wins

IBT: Viking berserker from boat attacks musket in Molded and wins. The town falls.
Mil Trad researched.
Rome: Settler->Cavalry
Cumae: Harbor->Cavalry

1250 AD:
Knight attacks spanish pike and wins.
Veteran knight kills a pike in Stockholm
Elite knight kills spear in Stockholm and the town is taken.

An Ottoman town on OUR continent? Knight army destroys it.

I spend our cash upgrading Knights and some catapults.

------------------
Notes:
Brundisium is MM'ed for food at the moment. We may want to change this

I put science at 10% which I think we should raise again once we upgrade our catapults to cannon (and maybe some more muskets in our core?) I set to astronomy, but banking was also a thought.

Magellaen's Voyage is being researched by several civs.

I tried to leave most units awake.

I attacked two viking towns and took out oil springs, but otherwise didn't advance much.

I wonder if the first use we put our cav to is clearing out the vikings. It is annoying have to worry and have troops for them. They sent almost nothing at me. It should be pretty easy I would think.

We don't quite have the last lux yet. The roading project needs to finish.

The Save