[SPOILERS] Four Score & Seven Dynasties Ago: Pindicator plays Lincoln of China

[pindicator]

Turn 138

The exciting part of the turn is that I've taken over the top beaker count in the game. Of course, because i've done it with bulbing and Building Wealth it's hardly sustainable, but that gives me all the more incentive to attack. Code of Laws came in last turn, and that set the stage for my 3rd great person bulb of the game:



I couldn't quite get Civil Service in 1 turn at my current rate, so i upped the slider another 10% and put Hammer Bros on Wealth for one turn. Next turn we take off all the Wealth builds and revolt to HR & The Big B.

I also farmed over one of the villages at Birdo. I almost farmed ove both, but -- well, i couldn't bring myself to do it. They are villages, after all. The one i did go over was the one i had highlighted before: the northern village that will open up irrigation to more tiles around Hammer Bros.

What I'm hoping for is that Civil Service helps end the very flat trend that's been my crop yield



It may be easier to see if i showed you my total number citizens, but basically i've been at low 70s in population for over 10 turns. That will probably continue a little longer: we are going to be whipping up an army, after all.

Oh man, i get to plan more logistics soon, don't i?

We had a few tech pickups among civs i have contact with. Rome grabbed Code of Laws the same turn i did. I am cery confused by Rome's play this game -- my only guess is that they have little food and no iron. Actually, even though they have a healthy number of cities (7 if i recall correctly) they are last among crop yield, even with less than civs with fewer cities. SleepingMoogle also picked up Currency this turn. That is a more curious decision; I don't doubt Currency doesn't do as much for Moogle's civ than mine, but i picked it up almost 40 turns ago. Moogle also has yet to research sailing, which means he is still 2 techs away from hooking up the calendar resources in his lands.

Demos:



I'm #2 in soldiers. Guess who #1 and #3 are.

[pindicator]

Turn 139

Civil Service is in, so we revolt to HR & Bureau this turn. Wasn't planning on reporting much of anything, but then this popped up:



Finally an event!


Can anybody direct me to a good reference for quest rewards? I found one that was good for 3.13 but I don't know if it's been changed. If that's accurate, then building all these stables will either get me a certain number of HAs, give sentry to all my mounted units (current or all mounted i build from here on out???), or make it so all my stables also give +1 food.

I may have to go for this, but i want to know for certain what it gives first.

Edit: Just found a reference that says promotions given to all units by an event means ALL units built and ALL units that will be built. Free sentry on all my mounted units for the game??? Horseback Riding just jumped up in priority. For 60 hammers I can probably build them in every city within a few turns of finishing HBR. Just need to keep forests around in the cities that don't have enough pop for a 2-pop whip. Then again, +1 food in every city is pretty tempting as well...

[Injera]

I'm seeing the following in the xml:

One option- sentry units.

Code:

            <UnitCombatPromotions>
                <UnitCombatPromotion>
                    <UnitCombat>UNITCOMBAT_MOUNTED</UnitCombat>
                    <UnitPromotion>PROMOTION_SENTRY</UnitPromotion>
                </UnitCombatPromotion>
            </UnitCombatPromotions>

Another option, +1 food stables

Code:

            <BuildingExtraYields>
                <BuildingExtraYield>
                    <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_STABLE</BuildingClass>
                    <YieldType>YIELD_FOOD</YieldType>
                    <iExtraYield>1</iExtraYield>
                </BuildingExtraYield>
            </BuildingExtraYields>

There's a third option as well, but I can't figure out what it does. Spoilered the relevant xml.

Code:

<EventInfo>
            <Type>EVENT_HORSE_WHISPERING_DONE_1</Type>
            <Description>TXT_KEY_EVENT_HORSE_WHISPERING_DONE_1</Description>
            <LocalInfoText/>
            <WorldNewsTexts/>
            <OtherPlayerPopup/>
            <QuestFailText/>
            <bQuest>0</bQuest>
            <bGlobal>1</bGlobal>
            <bTeam>0</bTeam>
            <bPickCity>0</bPickCity>
            <bPickOtherPlayerCity>0</bPickOtherPlayerCity>
            <bDeclareWar>0</bDeclareWar>
            <iGold>0</iGold>
            <bGoldToPlayer>0</bGoldToPlayer>
            <iRandomGold>0</iRandomGold>
            <iCulture>0</iCulture>
            <iEspionagePoints>0</iEspionagePoints>
            <bGoldenAge>0</bGoldenAge>
            <iFreeUnitSupport>0</iFreeUnitSupport>
            <iInflationMod>0</iInflationMod>
            <iSpaceProductionMod>0</iSpaceProductionMod>
            <Tech>NONE</Tech>
            <TechFlavors/>
            <iTechPercent>0</iTechPercent>
            <iTechCostPercent>0</iTechCostPercent>
            <iTechMinTurnsLeft>0</iTechMinTurnsLeft>
            <PrereqTech>NONE</PrereqTech>
            <UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
            <iNumFreeUnits>0</iNumFreeUnits>
            <bDisbandUnit>0</bDisbandUnit>
            <iUnitExperience>0</iUnitExperience>
            <iUnitImmobileTurns>0</iUnitImmobileTurns>
            <UnitPromotion/>
            <UnitName/>
            <UnitCombatPromotions/>
            <UnitClassPromotions/>
            <BuildingClass>NONE</BuildingClass>
            <iBuildingChange>0</iBuildingChange>
            <BuildingExtraYields/>
            <BuildingExtraCommerces/>
            <BuildingExtraHappies/>
            <BuildingExtraHealths/>
            <iHappy>0</iHappy>
            <iHealth>0</iHealth>
            <iHurryAnger>0</iHurryAnger>
            <iHappyTurns>0</iHappyTurns>
            <iRevoltTurns>0</iRevoltTurns>
            <iMinPillage>0</iMinPillage>
            <iMaxPillage>0</iMaxPillage>
            <iFood>0</iFood>
            <iFoodPercent>0</iFoodPercent>
            <FreeSpecialistCounts/>
            <FeatureType>NONE</FeatureType>
            <iFeatureChange>0</iFeatureChange>
            <ImprovementType>NONE</ImprovementType>
            <iImprovementChange>0</iImprovementChange>
            <BonusType>NONE</BonusType>
            <iBonusChange>0</iBonusChange>
            <RouteType>NONE</RouteType>
            <iRouteChange>0</iRouteChange>
            <BonusRevealed>NONE</BonusRevealed>
            <BonusGift>NONE</BonusGift>
            <PlotExtraYields/>
            <iConvertOwnCities>0</iConvertOwnCities>
            <iConvertOtherCities>0</iConvertOtherCities>
            <iMaxNumReligions>-1</iMaxNumReligions>
            <iOurAttitudeModifier>0</iOurAttitudeModifier>
            <iAttitudeModifier>0</iAttitudeModifier>
            <iTheirEnemyAttitudeModifier>0</iTheirEnemyAttitudeModifier>
            <iPopulationChange>0</iPopulationChange>
            <AdditionalEvents/>
            <EventTimes/>
            <ClearEvents>
                <EventChance>
                    <Event>EVENT_HORSE_WHISPERING_1</Event>
                    <iEventChance>100</iEventChance>
                </EventChance>
            </ClearEvents>
            <PythonCallback>applyHorseWhisperingDone1</PythonCallback>
            <PythonExpireCheck/>
            <PythonCanDo/>
            <PythonHelp>getHelpHorseWhisperingDone1</PythonHelp>
            <Button>,Art/Interface/Buttons/Process/Blank.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/Beyond_the_Sword_Atlas.dds,8,5</Button>
            <iAIValue>1000</iAIValue>
        </EventInfo>

Edit: for future reference you can look these up in your BTS folder\Assets\XML\Events\Civ4EventInfos.xml

[pindicator]

Turn 142

So the world keeps turning and the turns keep coming.



I've founded my 12th city, Blooper (upper left of the image), right in time to chop a work boat with Fishing and also in time for Plako to get sight on the whole process. Maybe I should have been sneaky and waited for him to move the trireme before planting the city, so he wouldn't get sight on it, but it's not that important IMO. Speaking of Plako's trireme, I'm very disappointed that he did not rename it. If I had any kind of naval technology I would certainly sink his boat for his lack of respect in treading my waters

Also speaking of plako, here is the technology rundown with plako added to the list:



He also has not had a great situation; his tech is about the same as SleepingMoogle's, a little more than half my total beakers. By total beakers, the rankings (of people I've made contact with) go like this:

• pindicator - 11,063 (#1 woohoo!)
  
• Team FFH - 10,114
  
• sunrise - 8,114
  
• Team Rome - 7,062 (these guys had top GNP recently)
  
• Lewwyn - 6,234
  
• SleepingMoogle - 5,838
  
• plako - 5,802
  
• yuris125 - 5,252
  
• slowcheetah - 4,270 (just got Currency this turn)

Maybe I shouldn't go for war; maybe I should continue to Build Wealth and focus on the economy instead. But dammit this is an AW game and I have a unique unit I want to use. Also, I'm not convinced that I will be able to keep up with other civs (like Lord Parkin and sunrise and even Rome) unless I get some prime commerce land added. Also, keep in mind that about 4,000 of my total beakers have come off of great person bulbs.

Oh yes, the war preparations are underway. I've decided to whip Birdo down to a stub in order to get an army together quickly. We're farming all those grassland tiles now that we can get irrigation to them, so the city will grow quickly back, and then we'll mine over those windmills and plant that city around size 6-8 with breakeven food and have it pump units. Spies, workers, catapults -- that sort of thing. Thwomp will get a few whips to build up an initial force but it is a decent enough city that I want to let it grow onto it's improved tiles and then whip off the excess. It will be 12hpt working the horse, grass mine, and plains hill marble -- any fpt beyond what's needed to get there can be converted into hpt via the whip. Angry Sun will also be whipped, but mostly to increase its garrison - i need a good number of pikes there in case Moogle counter-attacks with HorseArchers. All other units will be built out of the capital, Hammer Bros, and Bob-Omb: cities that can reach near 30hpt on their own. Angry Sun also has some other hammer priorities, but more on that later.

Currently I'm sitting on 10 CKNs, 1 mace, 1 pike, a treb, and a cat. I'd like a few more pikes & maces at a minimum before attacking. I'm also making a spy or two; originally I was going to use a 2nd force to pillage Moogle's horses but then I realized I could accomplish the same thing with a spy. Plus, spies should give me better visibility than sentry units, although they'll both be necessary. In a perfect world I'd be looking at attacking in 5 - 6 turns.

Except there's a fly in my ointment, so to speak:



Moogle's power keeps shooting upward. He's #1 in soldier points and both his MFG and his power are escalating. Obviously he's looking to start a war, but against whom? Retaliation on me for raiding his cottages? Or is he going to pick on Slowcheetah to his east? The smart play is slowcheetah: he has good land and only 4-5 cities. And if Moogle moves east that will be the perfect time for me to strike. But I can't count out Moogle going against me, even if it would only drag us both down. So I plan to continue to build up; as soon as I see signs of fighting elsewhere -- either power dips in cheetah or moogle, or a city exchanging hands -- that will be time to strike. Also, a stack of Horse Archers beside one of my cities would be a good indicator to push out. But I can't wait too long either.

My problem is I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. To my NW is sunrise with his #3 soldier point ranking and war chariots. To my NE is SleepingMoogle with his #1 soldier point ranking and horse archers / catapults. This isn't going to be another quick strike like I was able to pull against yuris125 in pbem26. This may well be a slog. Unless I can catch his army out of position.

What can I expect from a SleepingMoogle army? He does not have many Classical Era military techs: only Horseback Riding and Construction. But HAs and Catapults can make deadly defenders in large enough quantities. (He better not be making War Elephants since those are banned!) I will want spies to scout out ahead of my troops for any potential catapult stacks, and I will want enough pikes to make a HA attack be too costly.

Despite having the top MFG in the game, I still have a number of conflicting priorities on where to put those hammers. For instance:

• Building an Army to attack SleepingMoogle (need at least 3 maces, 1 cat, 4 pikes, 1 spy) - 460 hammers, minimum
  
• Building 11 Stables for the Horse Whisperer Quest - 660 hammers
  
• Notre Dame wonder - 550 hammers, but only ~200 hammers if built at the capital (Stone, Forge, and Bureau give +175% production)
  
• Statue of Zeus wonder - 300 hammers, but only ~175 hammers if built at the capital (Forge and Bureau, sadly I have no ivory)

Prioritizing those, I would put military first, SoZ second, and the Horse Whisperer quest third. Notre Dame is 4th only because I dont' think anybody else has Engineering so I feel relatively safe in delaying it a little but if that felt threatened I might put it ahead of the quest as well. I think this means that I will not be chasing the Horse Whisperer Quest. Sad, but necessary. If it's available when I no longer have such a strong need to put hammers into units & wonders then I will visit the idea of 2-pop whipping every city to get the quest done. But I also need to tech HBR before I can do the quest. Right now I am teching Literature, which should take me 3 or 4 turns. That will get me Heroic Epic in Hammer Bros and National Epic in Piranha Plant: both should be very quick builds. Then my next stop is Sailing for Moai in Cheep-Cheep. After that we can look at HBR for the Horse Whisperer quest, if it is still available. Possibly I can try to fit it in before Moai and Sailing, but I've delayed Literature long enough.

I make break-even somewhere between 30% and 40% with no Wealth builds, and when I run max gold my GNP is a little below Demo Average -- so I'm at a better spot economically than I expected to be. I should be able to absorb a few of Moogle's cities if I am able to take them from him. Sadly, this may come down to me not invading right when I got CKNs. If his power doesn't level off or if he doesn't attack someone soon, I'm going to be hurting: all this time I invest hammers in military is time I'm not investing in economy. And what's worse than investing hammers in military? Having that military just sit around doing nothing.

And finally, I need another settler from somewhere. In order to get Buzzy Beetle irrigation I need another city down by the eastern iron as well as a border pop from Angry Sun. Angry Sun is currently doing 2cpt (doubled monument) and has 20 turns to a border pop. I'd like to get that done sooner than 20 turns, so I am looking at whipping a library next in Angry Sun, as soon as it finishes building its forge - about 4 turns out. Then I just need to find a city that can whip up a settler, and more workers. Maybe Cheep-Cheep or Blooper can fill that role.

So to recap, here's my plan for the next 5-10 turns:

• keep building the invasion force: ideally 20 - 25 unit stack with a few spies to scout ahead. To Do: Need to Break Down which cities are contributing how much to reach this target.
  
• Tech path goes Literature -> Sailing -> HBR, although I may switch HBR & Sailing
  
• Capital starts on SoZ after it's next military unit (mace) finishes.
  
• Heroic Epic in Hammer Bros as soon as Lit finishes. Should be a 5 turn build and should repay for itself within 5-6 turns of building it, so that's pretty much a no-brainer to get down ASAP.
  
• National Epic in Piranha Plant as soon as Lit finishes. Hammers are already waiting due to forest chops during Wealth Builds.
  
• Whip library at Angry Sun, then continue building / whipping defenders (mainly pikemen).
  
• Increase worker count and get a settler in the east to bring irrigation to Buzzy Beetle
  
• Workers focus on spreading irrigation to help grow cities.
  

Demos:

[Bigger]

rush a spy into English lands, that'll tell you what he's planning to do w/ his military w/o having to wait for a slowcheetah city to fall!

I'm curious too, he hasn't updated his thread in months, even global lurkers like me don't know what he's doing, hehe. Or slowcheetah either, for that matter.

[pindicator]

Turn 143

Well, the spy going into Moogle's lands was a given. Next turn he'll enter Moogle's borders south of his horse tile. No way am I going to risk relations with Sunrise by having a spy be detected in his borders.

We will finish Literature this turn, just barely -- and I mean that we'll have just 1 beaker to spare. Then next turn we'll 1-turn National Epic and by t145 we'll join LP in the 600 point club.

Moogle picked up Code of Laws and Sunrise grabbed Alphabet. Sunrise is going for Aesthetics next (yay passive EP) so I wonder if we'll be seeing some kind of bulb out of him after that. I don't know what to expect out of Moogle so I'm excited to get this spy in his territory.

[regoarrarr]

Wouldn't the horse whisperer quest give you an army?

Also, when does that expire? And are you bulbing anything that goes into that Era? That's what I always forget - I end up finishing some tech that just happens to put me into the next era and obsolete quests

[pindicator]

It does give me an army of HAs equal to the standard number of opponents for the map size. Which I think is 10 on a Huge map. So I can invest 660 hammers worth of Stables and get 500 hammers worth of Horse Archers. Which is tempting, but I'm almost certain that we're talking 0xp Horse Archers as well. I'd rather build 13 Horse Archers that have experience, even if it means someone else gets the bonus.

I don't have to worry about it expiring for a little bit. That happens when I research a Renaissance era tech. So I need to get it finished before teching Nationalism / Printing Press / Education. If I go for it, that will be easy enough to do, because if I go for it the scenario will be something like:

Turn X: HBR is researched. Switch 11 cities over to Stables
Turn X+1: 2-pop whip Stables in every city that doesn't naturally finish at end of turn.
Turn X+2: quest finished.

Considering how unlikely a quick strike against Moogle appears to be, I am considering doing exactly this by teching HBR next. I do want Sailing though, so I'm a little unsure. But +1 food with Stables is a very good long-term reward and will help some food issues in certain high-hammer cities

[luddite]

Heh yeah I always thought it was a ripoff that after building all those stables, that quest still gives you 0XP horse archers.

[pindicator]

Turn 144

Literature is in! Lots of big projects get started this turn. First off, Piranha Plant finally gets to do something besides turning rocks into gold:



Don't know what I'll have it build next. Maybe a forge. Maybe I'll save the overflow for a stables.

And the capital starts the next project. I don't know if I'll get this; I really should have tried for it a lot earlier. But I'll be able to build it in 9 turns, so there's a chance



Note that I'm going sailing next and not HBR. I realized my next Great Person is due in 2 turns with National Epic finishing, so I want Sailing out of the way in case it is a Great Merchant. Then I can pop Paper, although I don't really see the tangible benefit to popping Paper right away, unless I build Sankore. Sailing also lets me build a lighthouse in Blooper and Moai in Cheep-Cheep.

My spy got into Moogle territory this turn, and I like very much what I saw




I logged back in later to grab some screenshots and noticed that he had moved all those HAs out of the city and moved a new HA into it. Where did they go? I hope it isn't inside Proxy Pylon; but next turn I'll have my spy move 1E where he'll have sight inside that city.

Lurker quiz! How do I capture Void Rays and move my defenders into the city without Moogle getting a chance to react? Oh yes, it is very possible.

And here's that event I was clamoring about in the diplo thread:



Pretty nice actually; this lets me whip Birdo earlier than planned. I think i want more pikes, so win-win.