Uncharted Territory: Aabraxan Plays Nice.
- Thread starter Aabraxan
- Start date
Chapter 3: I've had better turnsets.
Now that I have entered the Middle Ages, a couple of things need to happen: (1) a revolt to Republic; and (2) some tree-planting. Looking at CA2, I see that Korea has 272 gold and I don't have any techs to sell them. I have to rectify that.
In 370 BC, Aabraxa completes the Hanging Gardens.
I'm going to peel another worker off of Aabraxa and revolt.
The Sumerians begin Sun's in 370 BC.
The Revolution begins in 330 BC, and I draw a 6-turn anarchy. I didn't want to revolt in the middle of a wonder, but I'm not sure how well this is going to work out for me.
In 270 BC, the Germans declared war on the Russians.
In 250 BC, the Russians demand Chivalry. The Germans and Sumerians are between myself and them, so they're not a threat. Despite being weaker militarily, I decline.
In 230, the Greeks demand Chivalry. I decline. Alex leaves, no DOW.
In 210 BC, we emerge from the dark ages as a Republic! and the Golden Age ends.
Yeah, that sucked. I wasted the last 6 turns of my Golden Age. Crap.
In 190 BC, the Sumerians complete The Great Lighthouse. The Koreans begin the Statue of Zeus.
In 170 BC, the Germans tell me to remove my workers, so I make an ROP with them. Apparently, Otto doesn't recognize that shiny stuff on the mountain, so I'm going to road it for him.
In 170 BC, the Russians complete The Great Wall.
Here's a shot of Aabraxa at 170 BC:
In 130 BC, the Persians, whom I have not yet found, complete the Statue of Zeus.
I get Otto's iron hooked up, then realize he has 0 extra . . . . . Crap. Well, at least it will help him against the Russians.
In 90 BC, I learn Theology. Swap Knights Templar at Aabraxa for The Sistine Chapel, due in 22. By 70 BC, Aabraxa is producing 43 culture per turn, and CA2 says that a 20K victory can be achieved by 1973 AD.
In 10 BC, the Russians begin the Knights Templar. A couple of other Wonders have been started, but I forgot to log them. It's early and I'm still on my first cup of coffee.
In 30 AD, I found Sinop on top of some wines to the north. Once I get that roaded, I'll have two native luxes, and I already have one worker in place to start.
In 30 AD, I also finally get the Forbidden Palace popup.
In 50 AD, the Koreans start Sun's.
In 70 AD, I finally make contact with the Persians! I trade them Literature for a big ol' pile of gold, which I then use to cash-rush several improvements.
In 110 AD, I change my mind about Sistine's. I have horses, but no iron. I need something better than horses if I'm going to fight the Germans. I may not need to fight them, but my Spidey-sense is tingling and I think they're going to DOW me soom. I swap Sistine for the Knights, due in 1, no loss of shields. Nobody else has Theology, so I might still be able to grab The Sistine Chapel.
I get Knights Templar.
In 150 AD, the Babs begin Sun's. I decide to squeeze a rax (for the crusaders) and a cathedral into the build order for Aabraxa.
Hmmm, here's an interesting question. Three civs have Invention. I do not. I'll get Education on the IBT. Will I get invention? I don't know. I can't remember ever having been in the situation where Educ is one turn out, with a GLib-eligible tech out there.
I hit enter aaaaaand survey says: NO! I do not get the tech!
That seems like a good stopping place. I've swapped Aabraxa back to Sistine. I'll pick up the cathedral, but I feel like someone's going to grab Theology soon. I don't want to lose Sistine in a cascade.
It feels very, very strange. The only times I've ever researched Free Artistry have been culture games, and those have been few and far between for me. Ordinarily, I ignore the top half, and often ignore Chivalry, until I have cavs.
I honestly can't remember going down to Invention-Gunpowder-etc. before Theology-Education-etc. even in military games. The AIs generally go for the lower half of the tree first than the upper half. Religious tribes perhaps constitute the exception. I admit researching all the way to Shake's seems strange though.
Yeah, I recently delayed Education by a turn so I could learn Engineering, because of this. The GA isn't always the easiest thing to handle in this sort of game. I recently had a game as England where I didn't get one until I built Smith's. In another game as Carthage I had a despotic golden age, where my 20k site didn't get one extra shield from the GA.
Aabraxan said:
Yeah, I recently delayed Education by a turn so I could learn Engineering, because of this. The GA isn't always the easiest thing to handle in this sort of game. I recently had a game as England where I didn't get one until I built Smith's. In another game as Carthage I had a despotic golden age, where my 20k site didn't get one extra shield from the GA.
Chapter 4: The Middle Ages
Onward and upward!
In 190 AD, the Sumerians complete the Art of War.
In 310, the Greeks and Russians begin Leonardo's.
In 230, I decide to make another round at the bargaining table. I really don't like the idea of selling off Theology before Sistine is complete, but Alex puts too much cash on the table, so I sell.
[/IMG]In 280 AD, the Greeks begin the Sistine Chapel. It's 16 turns out for me. A peek at the F7 screen tells me that they're building it at Mycenae. Let's investigate, shall we?
[/IMG]The Germans are also sending a few units through my territory, apparently on their way to nowhere. I'm beginning to think that they're tired of being good neighbors.
The Sumerians begin Leonardo's in 310 AD.
In 320:
The Babs come around, demanding contact with the Greeks. No. They leave.
The Germans come a-calling, demanding contact with Persia. No. They leave.
The Forbidden Palace is completed at Spoon Woods.
In 360, I sell Printing Press to Alexander for 59 gold + 16 gpt. Less gold than it's worth in beakers, but I'm working on slowing down the AI tech pace for a while.
In 380 AD, the Russians finally show up on the Ottoman-German border. The good news is that they only show up with a couple of units. The bad news is that those units are knights. I go make peace. It costs me a lump sum of 80 gold. Drat. Now I have to go find some more war happiness.
380 AD -- The Sumerians start the Sistine Chapel.
In 390, the Babylonians begin Leonardo's.
In 410, I finally get iron hooked up and the Russians finish Leonardo's. I also notice that German settler pairs are trying to take the tundra north of my territory, and they're cutting through my lands to do it. Not that I'm all that fond of tundra. I am, however, very fond of not having the wsame enemy on both sides, so I revoke my RoP with them. I'm trying to play nice, honest. I have to admit, though. I hate having another civ's units in my territory.
430 -- Greeks start Sistine.
I also give Otto the boot in 430, but he doesn't declare.
440 AD:
[/IMG]That puts Aabraxa at 60 culture per turn. I'm going to squeeze in a cathedral and a univerisity, then start on Shakes. At current rates, I'll hit 20K in 1868.
Unfortunately, in 470, the Germans succeed in landing a settler pair in the tundra north of my territory. I consider poaching the pair for the slaves, but decide not to. Have I mentioned that playing peacefully bites?
In 480 AD, I sell Education to Alex:
[/IMG]This deal allows me to go back to deficit research and shave one turn off Free Artistry.
In 500 AD, Free Artistry comes in (No SGL). I decide to go ahead and build a university before Shake's.
By around 530 AD, I've decided that I need more space. I'm boxed in. I've played nice all this time, but it's really time to clear out just a little room. I've made it well into the Middle Ages, but it's time to DOW Otto.
[/IMG]Then an oddity happens. My knights kill off all of the defenders at Konigsberg, but don't move in to take the city.
[/IMG]Then I learn why. There's a German King unit hiding under that worker! (Sorry, but I was unable to grab a screenshot.) I keep Konigsberg, rename it Koenigsberg, and start building workers out of it. As an aside, I've realized that I should have started a war a long time ago. If I'd generated an MGL early on, I could have had the Heroic Epic ages ago. Perhaps I'll have to do Uncharted II, or maybe Almost Uncharted. What say you? Almost Uncharted? As the Mayans? Perhaps the Aztecs?
My troops are not doing particularly well, and, soon enough, I have to crank lux spending up to 40%. Shifting from AW to this is tough. Anyway, Astro comes in in 3 turns, and then, maybe, I'll be able to trade for more luxes.
Fortunately, in 580 AD, Xerxes comes around, demanding contact with the Russians. I decline and he DOWs. I can use the War Happiness. Immediately thereafter, the rampaging Persian forces destroy the Koreans.
In 590 AD, I draw my first MGL. One knight army, coming up!
After Astro comes in, I set my sights for Music Theory, an oft-ignored tech in my games.
In 610, the Sumerians start Cope's. The Greeks start it in 630.
Ub 690 AD, the Sumerians start JS Bach's. Drat. The Greeks start it in 700 AD. Double Drat.
Aabraxa completes Shakes in 710. I begin the process of adding in workers and maximizing shields. I guess it's time to finish that harbor, too.
In 720 AD, I lose the First Knight Army to a spear at Berlin. Another. Drat.
Things truck on pretty uneventfully for a while. I lose too many units trying to take Berlin. Apparently, the Germans raise some pretty damn tough spearmen. Anyway, in 790 AD, the Greeks start on Smith's Trading Company.
In 810, Sumeria finishes Cope's. Well, drat. I had started tat one after Shake's. Swap Aabraxa to the Heroic Epic, due in 2. I had intended to use an MGL on that, but I need to get it built sooner rather than later.
In 830 AD, I finally capture Berlin, and decide that it's time to make peace with Otto. He'll pay me 2 slaves and 2 gold (all he's got). On the IBT, the Heroic Epic comes in, pushing Aabraxa to 83 culture per turn. I set it for JS Bach's, due in 19. Others have started it, and I hate to miss this one in culture.
In 870 AD, I get my first population pollution around Aabraxa (size 20). I'd forgotten what it's like to have metros this early. I almost didn't see the pollution there, as I didn't expect it.
In 900 AD, I trade ToG for Metallurgy, and Magnetism comes in on the IBT. I do more Big Picture trading, but I have to make peace with Xerxes to make it very effective. I lose the WH, but I'm able to pick up 2 luxes in the process, so that's OK. Xerxes draws Nationalism as his freebie, and it's a monoply. Naturally, he declines to trade it for Music Theory, Economics & Medicine & Steam & 300 gpt . . . . In fact, he would be insulted by that.
I pick up Sanitation as my freebie.
And in one very rare occurrence in my games, I get a flip.
[/IMG]Then I discover that I have no coal. The Sumerians have some, though, and it turns out that they're willing to sell.
[/IMG]I'm heading for ToE, and here are my thoughts on it. It sucks, culture wise. I want the techs from building it, but 600 shields for 3 culture per turn isn't a great return. I may start a prebuild somewhere else for that one.
I clear the map just a few turns later and find coal nearby, even if it's not "exactly" inside my territory, yet.
[/IMG]In 960 AD, Aabraxa completes Newton's.
[/IMG]That puts Aabraxa at 91 culture per turn (which, quite frankly, is more than my entire empire usually makes); 20K date = 1754 AD. Set Aabraxa for JS Bach's.
You would be better off to bee to Industrialization, rush or prebuild a factory, rush a coal plant.
Look's like you are going for RP, do you really need it that bad? Suffrage is 800 shields for 4 cpt which isn't a bad deal IMO once you get a factory and coal plant set up. You should probably build it as fast if not faster then you did older wonders that cost about half that. Then you can go for ToE, probably research get RP in the meantime if you have no SGL, and enjoy getting a headstart on Hoover's, and get all the industrial age wonders with virtually no competition.
What I am getting at is research Industrialization ASAP.
Look's like you are going for RP, do you really need it that bad? Suffrage is 800 shields for 4 cpt which isn't a bad deal IMO once you get a factory and coal plant set up. You should probably build it as fast if not faster then you did older wonders that cost about half that. Then you can go for ToE, probably research get RP in the meantime if you have no SGL, and enjoy getting a headstart on Hoover's, and get all the industrial age wonders with virtually no competition.
What I am getting at is research Industrialization ASAP.
I'd swap to Industrialization even if you've spent beakers on Electricity. Doubling your shield output does help.
With the size 20 city, I often like to keep a stack of workers fortified in my 20k site ready to go out and clean pollution. Usually I try to have enough such that I can clean any pollution which happens in one turn. I don't recall how many workers you need to clean each type of tile... it would probably serve my interest someday to figure it out exactly and write that all down. Having that many workers and workers elsewhere in my empire can sometimes lead to a headache in unit support, but around that time the AIs usually have enough gpt that I feel I can handle it. Also, having workers fortified in the 20k site makes it easier to start rails as soon as I can build them. Just a thought.
With the size 20 city, I often like to keep a stack of workers fortified in my 20k site ready to go out and clean pollution. Usually I try to have enough such that I can clean any pollution which happens in one turn. I don't recall how many workers you need to clean each type of tile... it would probably serve my interest someday to figure it out exactly and write that all down. Having that many workers and workers elsewhere in my empire can sometimes lead to a headache in unit support, but around that time the AIs usually have enough gpt that I feel I can handle it. Also, having workers fortified in the 20k site makes it easier to start rails as soon as I can build them. Just a thought.
IIRC, I have about 2K in beakers invested in Electricity, and it's about half done. That seems like an awful lot of beakers to dump, so I'll probably go ahead and finish Elec, then head for Ind. As for workers, natch, I didn't have enough near Aabraxa to keep the flow of necessary improvements going, so that's been a pain in the butt.
I think that it takes 8 industrious workers to clean up pollution on a flat tile IIRC. Double for forests and hills and triple for Mountains. I think slaves don't get the Industrious bonus, so it would take 3 of them to do the job of one native industrious worker, as opposed to 2 regular. RP will definitely help in that respect.
CELTICEMPIRE
Zulu Conqueror
War Happiness?, not war weariness.
They should call it something different. "Rally round the flag" or "patriotism surge" would be a better descriptor. It runs out pretty quick, as far as I recall. Usually within 10 turns those idiot democracy citizens are kvetching about bringing our boys home. Pfff, liberal wimps.
Chapter 5:
980 AD -- Sumeria has Military Tradition. I'm not so fond of them having it when I do not.
I've started laying rails and reworking tiles around Aabraxa. I've already chopped all of the forests from which I can claim shields around Aabraxa. It seems to me, and I'm asking the 20k players to correct me if I'm wrong, that the only forest tiles that should be re-chopped and mined will be the BGs. Roaded (non-BG) forest = 2 shields. Rail it and it's still 2 shields. Mined BG = 2 shields. Add a rail, and it's 3. The downside to forests is cleanup time. I'm unaccustomed to using CA2 to see which tiles are BGs, if I couldn't tell from the game screen. I guess that equation changes at RP, when CEs become available. At that point, water everything so as to hire maximum CEs?
In 1000 AD, Electricity comes in. As suggested, heading for Industrialization now. Due in 8.
Sadly, in 1050 AD, I lose Bach's to the Greeks.
It was only 7 turns out for me.
I switch Aabraxa to Smith's. The culture isn't great, but it's the best I've got.And then, just 10 short years later . . . I lose Smith's. DAGNABBIT!
I'm running 10% lux, but even running 0% won't cause Aabraxa to riot. Not unless I DOW a bunch of civs and cut my lux supplies. I swap Aabraxa to the Military Academy. Industrialization is 1 turn out.Either I'll get the MA built in one turn, or I'll switch Aabraxa to: (a) a factory; or (b) Universal Suffrage on the next IBT. I'm not entirely clear in what order all that IBT stuff happens, so we'll just have to wait and see.
On the IBT after 1070, Industrialization comes in. I head for the big picture, then the Domestic Advisor, and switch Aabraxa to US. I guess research is calculated before production, then. US is due in 10, Sci Meth in 5. I anticipate swapping to ToE to see if I can grab an SGL in the process.
By 1090 the Russian contingent at Frankfurt is getting twitchy. I think they're going to DOW me. We've got 12 turns left of my iron for their silks, so I hope I'm wrong.
In 1110, my coal deal with Sumeria ends. I haven't gotten my now-native (formerly Babylonian) source tied into my big road network, and Sumeria doesn't want to sell me their extra. Hmmm. They've caught up to me in tech (and they start US), and I din't have the gold to outright purchase it. And I still have 19 turns left on saltpeter with them. Drat.
In 1120, Sci Meth comes in, I switch to ToE, which also comes in. I grab Atomic Theory and Electronics. No SGLs.
In 1150, as I'm ~4 turns out from RP, I shut off research for 1 turn. That will put enough gold in my treasury to cash-rush the factory at Aabraxa, which is also 4 turns out.
By the way, because I'm not really planning any overseas invasions, I've built a small fleet of privateers. They're not much good in most of my games, but they sure are fun!
In 1160 AD, the factory at Aabraxa is finished.
Next up: Universal Suffrage. It looks like Gil is working on it, too.
Hmmm, size 15, 21 turns out, growth in 3, and 12 extra food per turn. Aabraxa is in better shape, but a cascade could turn ugly quickly. No other Great Wonders are under construction.
In 1180, Gil approaches me, looking for an MPP and an RoP. I pass. In the process, though, I discover that Nationalism is now available at a reasonable price.
Once RP and civil engineers come in, I go about the business of reworking Aabraxa's tiles again. By my calculations, one railed & forested tile = 2 shields, but 1 irrigated, railed grassland = 2 CEs = 4 shields toward wonders.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK. Been away for a while. Now, where was I?
Let's see:
At war with Babylon
At peace with everyone else.
Golden Age long passed.
Aabraxa making 96 culture per turn.
Universal Suffrage 7 turns out.
9731 culture gathered.
Espionage 4 turns out.
1250 AD:
Swap Aabraxa from US to Hoover (Yes, I know that it's a poor trade culturally, but I hope the shields will help me build other wonders faster.)
Greeks start US.
Capture Zariqum.
Otto wants an MPP and ROP. No, thank you. I'd consider the RoP (perhaps against my better judgment), but an MPP is out of the question.
Alex wants thhe same thing, but he wants me to pay 5 gpt for the privilege. HA!
Sell The Corporation to Sumerai for 55 gold and 31 gpt.
I've been monkeying around with some privateers. While they're mostly useless in military games, they're still fun. Does losing them contribute to WW?
1260 AD:
The Russian forces at Frankfurt are getting fidgety. I expect them to DOW me soon.
Espionage comes in, no SGL.
Our people want to build the Intelligence Agency and Battlefield Medicine.
1275 AD:
Lost supplies of Saltpeter, Incense and Dyes. Time to go to the trading table.
Trade Industrialization to Persia for Incence, Dyes, 30 gold and 8 gpt.
Trade Atomic Theory to Sumeria for Saltpeter, Fascism, 60 gold and 38 gpt.
Set Aabraxa for Universal Suffrage, even though I may have lost too much time to build it. It's due in 11. Looks like it's also being built in Athens (20 turns out @ 25 spt), and Ur (6 turns out at 27 spt). That's what I feared.
Final tally on Chapter 5: Aabraxa is making 98 culture per turn, projected victory 1740 AD.
Overall, I gotta say: This is NOT my kind of game. I now remember why I don't play culture games very much.
Aabraxan said:
Chop them all. Railroaded mined tiles give you more food and take less time to clean up. Pretty sure you don't get the factory/power plant bonuses from civil engineers, so I wouldn't take citizens off of tiles to hire them for my core city in the 20k game. I know I haven't done so. A civil engineer or two sometimes can help once you city hits size 21 or 22, but not because of watering.
Universal Suffrage gives you better culture than Hoover's Dam. I guess you forgot about the coal plant. Do you have 5 stock exchanges?
OK. Will chop!
I wouldn't expect CE shields to run through the factory/power plants. I know that US gives better culture than Hoover's, but Hoover's benefits to all my cities. (I haven't moved off-continent yet.) No, I don't have 5 stock exchanges. I don't have any. Maybe I need to build a couple? Or 5?
Thanks for the pointers, Spoonwood.
Edited to ask: When privateers get sunk, does that contribute to WW?
I wouldn't expect CE shields to run through the factory/power plants. I know that US gives better culture than Hoover's, but Hoover's benefits to all my cities. (I haven't moved off-continent yet.) No, I don't have 5 stock exchanges. I don't have any. Maybe I need to build a couple? Or 5?
Thanks for the pointers, Spoonwood.
Edited to ask: When privateers get sunk, does that contribute to WW?
CELTICEMPIRE
Zulu Conqueror
good update.
Similar threads
