Viking Invasion Defense Discussion

[GenMarshall]

The Vikings are on the coast near the city of Udal. My proposal is to send our archers, charriots, and Horsemen to push back the invaders. We must for the first part prevent the Vikings from advancing any further. When the diplomats are in the invasion zone, they should bribe the viking units thus taking a bite out of te viking's invasion force (One of the things I miss in Civ III BTW ). I shall post a poll once enough suggestions have been posted .
On the note of Diplomats, once they reach the war zone they must be accompanied by a military unit.

 

[ainwood]

I'd like to see the triremes bribed en-route. A trireme-based diplomat in The Udal has an effective striking range of 3, and we've got lots of cash available. The double benefit is that the vikings then have to build the ships again before they can go anywhere.

I would also suggest staging troops on the coast to manipulate where the troops land. There's too much forest & jungle up around the Udal, which helps their defense. If we can block-up the coast, the AI might even be so stoopid as to land on that little offshore-island, where we can bribe away without fear

 

[Zwelgje]

The terrain near The Udal is in benefit of defending troops so attacking is pointless. The attacking power of a phalanx is not worrying me at all so leave the phalanx where it is maybe we can bribe later on if we want to.
High attack units should be bribed right away, you can't take them out with an own attacking unit and I don't want a lucky shot to cause us losing any units.

We need the Roskilde settler to found ASAP on the grassland with shield precisely in the middle between Roskilde and The Udal. The Roskilde phalanx should move to that location too (NOW!) and the legion now near Roskilde needs to move into Roskilde for defense. One NONE or otherwise supported unit should move up to Roskilde to escort the settler we are going to buy and which should settle 3 squares NW of Roskilde.

Suggested timeline:
- Move phalanx out of Roskilde and towards new city (banana city), move legion into Roskilde.
- Upon founding of banana city rehome all Roskilde units there.
- Move one unit towards Roskilde to escort new settler.
- Rush settler in Roskilde and let it move 3 squares NW, let it clear that square from forrest and settle.
- Rush settler in Roskilde, disbanding the city and found new town one square SE (?) on the 4-special spot.

Take care that Roskilde doesn't grow: hire Elvis to stop production of food if necessary.

 

[GaryNemo]

Good points, all. Like the Duke, I fear the Vikings will note we have merely a Diplomat in The Udal. Worse, it has already moved this turn, and Can Not Bribe a boatload of Vikings. Only a solitary unit can be bribed.

Dellham and Reneaux are supporting many units. There is a Reneaux Horse N of Fort Anarchy - it would be nice to rehome it in FA but we cannot spare the time. Also, FA finishes its Caravan in 1 turn. Then it can build a Legion or something... Neuma is similar, or could be changed to a Legion in 1 turn.

Roskilde is on plan, Settler in 5, Food 6/30.

 

[MonkE]

I already posted this in Next Turn thread:
"If all goes well, we'll soon get the dip across the pond, bribe a city, make peace, and demand withdrawal of troops. We should be better prepared for war before the demand - they may declare war again."

The only reason those Vikings are still there is because the phalanx is on rough terrain, giving the archer only 50-50 odds (if it's not a veteran!). The legion was not in position to attack when it had the advantage. Now that the phx is fortified, its defense factor is 4. Even with legion or elephant, now it's just 50-50 odds at best. That's why I suggested maneuvering for demanding withdrawal.

Of course, we could still throw troops at it and hope for the best. Or we could bribe it, but a phalanx seems a waste of gold.

 

[Zwelgje]

Originally posted by GaryNemo
Roskilde is on plan, Settler in 5, Food 6/30.

6/30 sounds good but when the settler is being build it's already something like 6/20 and we shouldn't reach 20/20 and that's not too many turns away...

 

[MonkE]

Banana/Fruit City had been planned for the forest square where the wounded archer is. Then it's got three specials: fruit, peat, whale. Is there a reason to prefer the GLS next to the fruit?

The Roskilde settler is building roads because a)roads are good and b)keeping the settler around reduces the food surplus so Ros doesn't grow again. If both settlers are kept around for a while, then Ros will have 0 surplus and can't grow.

If the next settler should clear terrain before building, then we can't rush the disbanding settler or we'll lose the settler before the city is built (unless we delay by rehoming in Fruit City).

Also, how about building on the (irrigated to GL) jungle square 5 squares NW of Roskilde? Well, that may take too long. Perhaps mine it into forest? I like that spot.

 

[Zwelgje]

Originally posted by MonkE
Banana/Fruit City had been planned for the forest square where the wounded archer is. Then it's got three specials: fruit, peat, whale. Is there a reason to prefer the GLS next to the fruit?

OK, that position is better indeed because of the whale. Peat is for Roskilde, we're disbanding and replacing it so it will be a 4special city, right?

 

[MonkE]

Oh yes, I forgot. The forest location was picked for the fruit and whale.