IT:
Our special unit, the Conquistador, requires Horseback(1 turn), Guilds(5 turns), and because of no horses, Asto (11 turns). This means that it will be a minimum of 17turns(less tech trades if possible) till we get our UU. I decide that we don't need them for Louis. Not that it wouldn't help, but now is the time to kill Louis methinks. If I wait till UU it will 20 or 30 turns before we have enough to matter. After Printing Press is finished, I will go that route, because our UU is strength + 50% to melee, which spells
for JC's Praets. We'll get our UU just in time after the frenchies are gone.
Ooh! Notice we can get macemen because Civil Service is 3 TURNS!!! I decide to go that route and change research. My thoughts for tech (can be changed) are, CS, PP, Astro, then trade for horses and riding, then trade or research guilds for health and UU.
I decide to try something...leave OR on until the first unit is ready to pop - then switch civics and see if they are promoted. This will allow Barc to finish the Heroic Epic and pump units like mad.
Seville can wait on the aquaduct, has +5 health headroom as it is, so I start the Xbows - its all about the Xbows!! They are 6 +50% melee which is what louis has most of... Doh! 6 turns for one is rough though.
Toledo gets switch to a cat, Rheims to a Barracks (has good production and low commerce and was building market), I also switch Salamanca to a work boat, because the fish is already in the radius - hopefully this is an ok move. I decide to switch Paris to an Xbow, because the national epic has 15 turns, and we can build it anytime.
Our fastest unit build is 3 turns so I shall wait to do the civic switch.
Just so you know, I'm making all these changes because of the upcoming war, not because I thought they were bad or anything. We're all doing pretty good I think (and I'm hoping I didn't speak to soon!).
Turn 1 (1380AD):
Our galley (not the archer one), by west isle was finished off by the barb galley.
Hurrian: Bud Missionary -> Cat
JC complete Notre Dame, so we'll get the cash from that.
I notice that the french are NOW hooking up iron - I can declare but I won't be able to take it that fast. Not to mention, there are no archers in Paris right now to defend.
I switch to Xbow in Cordoba.
I also start moving units around to position for a fight...
Turn 2 (1390AD):
147 gold from losing Notre Dame, I'll keep science where it is because we won't suffer maintenance as bad when it hits. I also may need to upgrade some units.
Ok, I take a chance here. Here is the scenario - 2 archers in Chartres with 20% bonus def and that settler/archer/axe stack far in the north now. I can grab a worker, stop the iron, and I feel defended enough so I declare WAR
We'll have reinforcements in force in a turn or two, so I feel confident.
I switch civics here as well and our gpt goes up because of the chaeper civics!!
This should be an easy war...
Turn 3 (1400AD):
Qin Shi Huang wants Poly for 110 Gold, seems pretty good for a backwards tech so I accept.
Civil Service in -> PP started (3 turns)
Barc: Heroic Epic Built! -> Longbow (1 TURN!!!)
Hurrian: Cat -> Mace
Toledo: Cat -> Mace
Here is what Louis throws at me:
I'd rather face them here than in the 40% city!!! Oh, and I've got two elephants and an axe positioned to fix the "incursion"
Murcia founded on West Isle, but JC did get a city on the extreme western point...
BTW, the trick worked! Our units got 8xp, 4 from barracks 4 from civics, even though they weren't changed until one turn before build!!
Attacking Bactres (french iron) with 74% chance w/ elephant:
WIN!
93% with cover-promote sword and...
Win! I decide to raze - hope that was ok. We can put a better city there if we want to.
Meet Saladin on other continent in south, I tell him we're peaceful (if he only knew!)
Turn 4 (1410AD):
(Ok, there should be a screenie here but I must have forgot to actually take the pic! It shows a NEW French Iron City TM on our northeast coast, with all desert tiles except the copper...)
Dang they are persistent. I mean, that city has copper and then all desert except the sea. But thats ok, we'll destroy that too! By the time they build a worker, the rest of their empire will be in peril!
Rheims: Barracks -> Mace
Good news and bad news. The good news is that we are #1 in tech. The bad news is that JC is #2!
Some land I found east of our island (we'll east and west its a globe, but closer east. Looks like some good land. I'm not interested in settling for our own good, but to keep it from the AIs. I will dispatch some units there.
I destroy the stack of three that came from the south. 3 Wins, 0 losses!
Ok this is odd. Notre Dame has been built in Rome (confirmed on top5 cities page) and yet I can keep building it in Cordoba. This has happened to me before, is it a bug? While I'd like to see if it would allow completion, that could potential waste a lot of hammers. I change production to a settler (we'll need it somewhere along the line), and leaev ND in the queue.
Turn 5 (1420AD):
Paris: Forge -> Barracks - I don't intend to use Paris until the JC war, but speaking of Paris.
It really puts out the culture! Turns out we *may* get a JC city without bloodshed. (In hindsight, it won't flip, JC must've put a library in or something)
Madrid: Xbow -> Xbow - but then it will prolly go back to nat epic
The rest continued on next post...
on my part. My thinking was that he was already bordlerline with us (-2 I think) and so another -2 (usually -1 but I've seen -2) would put us at risk for war. Of course, that might not be the end of the world either. As far as not trading for it, it seemed everyone was asking too much for a 1-turn tech, especially because it wouldn't do us any good until we have Astro and Guilds for our UU.
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