STR-05: Shaka the Virgin Conqueror

[Strauss]

Yes, I posted this a year ago as well. Yes, I am still an Always War virgin Yes, I am desperate.

Game Settings:
Game Version: Warlords 2.13
Difficulty level: Prince, this is hard enough for AW on Warlords
Map type: Fractal
Map size: Standard
Game speed: Epic
Civ: Zululand
Leader: Shaka (Aggressive, Expansive)
Victory conditions: All enabled, conquest or domination pursued.
Opponents: 6 random
Barbs: On

Variant: Always War

Roster:
1) Strauss
2) GreyFox
3) stuge
4) pigswill
5) ungy

I'm hoping for some AW-veterans, since I haven't played CIV for almost a year.....

24 hours for a 'got it', additional 48 hours to play.

I will roll the start once the roster has been filled.

 

[berserks01]

Why Warlords still? How about BtS instead?

 

[GreyFox]

Yay! Warlords!

IGNORE BERSERKS! STAY IN WARLORDS!

 

[Strauss]

Why Warlords still? How about BtS instead?

I don't have BtS. I assume we all have Warlords.

Is either of you signing up?

 

[GreyFox]

Heh, i didn't say sign up?

Sign me up, Strauss-y.

 

[Strauss]

Strauss-y.

I've always wanted a cool nickname like that.

 

[stuge]

I've taken a liking to AW lately. I dominate on Noble, lose horribly on monarch. (Gentlemen, draw your conclusions.)

So I'll sign up.

 

[pigswill]

Enlisting.

Edit: I played AW Prince (Shaka) in the LK series and we managed to win (though we didn't have barbs).

 

[Strauss]

You're both in. pigswill, I looked back at the original STR-05 thread and you signed up for that as well, but you were just too late for a spot in the roster

 

[stuge]

Any insights on the use of impis, pigs?

They strike me as a very versatile defensive unit. E.g. give them guerilla or woodsman depending on the terrain and stick them in front of the enemy. That way they should stop anything but anti-melee troops.

 

[pigswill]

Impis are useful exploration units earlyish in the game and obviously useful against mounted pillagers.

 

[ungy]

I'm new to AW but I play normally at emp/imm.

I'd be happy to join if you don't mind an AW newb.

I wonder about fractal though. I think better to play a map where all the AI get to you. I mean if you're on a continent with one AI it's a cakewalk, same if isolated. Even with 3 or 4 AI you can easily whack one or two at prince.

I would recommend either pangea (hardest), or maybe inland sea.

 

[Strauss]

Alright ungy, you're in.

I rolled the start and here it is:



You've got time to discuss some starting strategies, as I won't be playing until tomorrow. I won't take much part in the early discussions considering my extreme rustiness at CIV and my virginity in AW.

I'll start out by playing 40 turns, then everyone will play 20 each until it comes back to me and we shift to 15 turns for the duration of the game.

 

[ungy]

Well I think at AW we need to start with a warrior--I don't think we need to immediately go for archery--warriors will be fine for a while.

 

[pigswill]

Start with warrior, maybe a second before worker (depending on production vs tech-rate). Maybe start by moving scout NE to spices before deciding on city location. A riverside hill could add some extra protection. Techwise it would be good to get BW asap.

 

[GreyFox]

can you move the scout to spices in one turn (i.e. as in isn't there cross-river movement)? If not, alternatively move it to 1E or 1NE of rice should reveal roughly the same set of tiles.

Warrior first is a definite, maybe start another warrior and switch to worker after growth. Research wise: agriculture > BW seems to be the way to go.

--

 

[stuge]

I'd settle 1W, if nothing remarkable shows up in the east. Picking up a second hill would be good and the bend of a river is an excellent position to defend.

 

[pigswill]

I'm not sure about agriculture only because we're bound to encounter pillaging and a mined hill is much easier to defend than irrigated rice. Fortunately we have some flood plains for extra food.

Difficult to plan too far in advance until we've done some scouting around and locate our nearest neighbour(s).

 

[Strauss]

NOTE: I changed the map type to Pangaea for reasons mentioned by ungy.

NOTE 2: I just got BtS

Alright, here goes:

4000 BC (Turn 1): Settle in place, start training Warrior and start researching Mining to go for BW (Agriculture is a Zulu starting tech)

3820 BC (Turn 6): Our Scout pops a hut and the Zulu learn how to fish.



3730 BC (Turn 9): The Scout comes across German and Malinese troops to the west of our capital on the same turn and we are at war. Bismarck is quite close, only 9 tiles away from our cultural borders atm.




3610 BC (Turn 13): We meet Roosevelt's advance troops to the SE and we are at war.

3130 BC (Turn 29): BW comes in, and we have Copper to our north in an ideal location: very close by, out of reach of any other civs (I haven't scouted out the extreme north yet but I don't think there's enough room left there for another civ) and a nice location for a second city. We'll be building Impi's and Axemen by the dozen before 2000 BC

3010 BC: (Turn 33): We meet some English warriors to the SW and we are at war with Elizabeth.

2980 BC (Turn 34): We meet some Chinese troops to the SW of the English warriors and we are at war with Mao.

2800 BC: (Turn 40): My reign ends. An overview:



(sorry for the overlap from a previous screen)

I would suggest settling on the hill 1 SE of the Copper. The Copper will be available straight away and after expanding there will be no less than 3 Wines in the city's cultural borders, for lots of cash.

I researched Mining --> BW --> Archery --> The Wheel. I don't know if Archery was necessary with Copper so close by, but I selected it on autopilot and only woke up after there were 4 turns left so I finished it anyway. I also slightly screwed up micromanagement of Ulundi (we only have one city and I'm already failing at mm'ing) and didn't go back to prioritizing growth of the city after completing the Warriors and the Workers. I suggest waiting 5 more turns until it grows, then start on a Settler to get the Copper.

Roster:
1) Strauss --> just played
2) GreyFox --> UP!
3) stuge --> on deck
4) pigswill
5) ungy

 

[berserks01]

NOTE 2: I just got BtS

It was only a couple of days ago that he's without BtS .... and YET, Fox STILL hasn't got BtS