RB PBEM #1 - Gandhi [spoilers]

[darrelljs]

Well you could always move the units to the spot, and tell sooooo you just want them there in case he changes his mind (or say you want to negotiate something in exchange for them. Then, close borders .

Darrell

[Square Leg]

What about the desert tile in the west that currently isn't under anyones culture - you could put some units there - if soooo closes borders and there is a culture pop from one of his cities (i can't see from the pic which ring it would take) - would they move to the same area?

[Ruff_Hi]

I've done a bit more study and found the tiles that get teleported into the Gold / Iron recess and those that don't.



The movement indicator on the above is generated by one of my spies in Sooooo territory. My settlers can move 6 tiles while my workers can move 9. If I want to try and sneak a settler / worker combination past Sooooo, I need to do one of the following:

2. Start both units in my DV city
   • turn 1 - move them both to Corinth
     
   • turn 2 - move them both to Sparta
     
   • turn 3 - move them both to the Northern 'Y' and close borders
3. Start both units on one of the contested farm tiles
   • turn 1 - move them both to Sparta
     
   • turn 2 - move them both to the Northern 'Y' and close borders

Obviously, I am trying to hide my units under Sooooo's city dwelling units. B has the advantage of only being in sooooo territory for 1 turn but it starts with them out in the open at his border. If I go with A and he closes borders on the first turn, then I get my units back. If he closes borders while they are in Sparta, they will be teleported to a little desert tile on his side of the mountain range and I will lose them.

Maybe I run them into Corinth and back out a couple of times to make him hunt for them .

[Ruff_Hi]

What about the desert tile in the west that currently isn't under anyones culture - you could put some units there - if soooo closes borders and there is a culture pop from one of his cities (i can't see from the pic which ring it would take) - would they move to the same area?

That is a good question. Sparta will pop borders in 61 turns - boring - but Sooooo has roaded the tile SE of Sparta and the only reason I can see for that is that he wants to put a city in that little alcove. He currently has 2 settlers in production, so 1 could go there (the other will probably go in DV in breach of our original agreement).

I ran some more tests and if that desert tile is Greek, then I can get units into my iron / gold location if they are on the tile 1 South of the '2' indicator in the pic above. I can reach that tile with a worker / settler combo that is hidden in Corinth.

[Ruff_Hi]

• FF - Cannon [2]
  
• LQ - Bank [1]
  
• DV - Conf Academy [2]
  
• BH - Cannon [1]
  
• BS - Courthouse [1]
  
• AC - Cannon [1]
  
• TN - Forge [2]
  
• KS - Courthouse [12]
  
• Scout (Dead Man Walking) - scouting Sooooo land
  
• Scout (Live Man Walking) - scouting Sooooo land
  
• Tech - Steam Power [11], +0g at 50% science, 28g in the bank
  
• Opponent Current Tech Research
  • sooooo - Scientific Method [6], 397g, +92g @ 0%
    
  • athlete - Rifling [6], 73g, negative
    
  • mostly harmless - Constitution [91], 44g, +35g
    

It looks like Sooooo is feeding coin to Athlete to help him finish Rifling. My Dreylin iron deal runs out in 2 turns so I will need to mm my cannon builds over the next few turns. If (when) I lose iron, I'll move onto rifles and cavalry.

[sunrise089]

Just want to say in the end I think the Spy Bomb @ Sooooo plan has worked out really well. With a good micro player like Sooooo it seems that you actually may be benefiting more than by stealing techs or settling, or whatever.

[Ruff_Hi]

thx Sunrise. I have stolen two techs from Sooooo with the second steal (Replaceable Parts) allowing DeTOG to get to Rifling 6 turns before TOG. It also allows me to easily track what Sooooo is up to (settler builds, road infrastructure, etc).

If I can work out how to break through Corinth, Sooooo will have to slave his civilization into the ground to hold me.

[Square Leg]

If I can work out how to break through Corinth, Sooooo will have to slave his civilization into the ground to hold me.

So what is the defense in Corinth?

What is the make up of you army at present (including spies)?

My thinking is to isolate corinth by having spies destroying roads - potentially have a spy revolt in corinth and hit it directly with 2 movers whilst moving the 1 movers up in preperation. Hopefully he won't have workers on hand to reconnect straight away and reinforce. next turn hit him with all yo have!

Possible? I'd do it before rifles if you can...

[Ruff_Hi]

Here are the current forces in Corinth (note the 3 spies are obviously mine) and in my 'holding pen'. I currently don't have very mean 2 movers (1 in total). Note that Sooooo has currently traded away his only source of Iron (to Athlete). He has another but it will not be available to him for approximately 5 to 8 turns. Dreylin is attempting to cut his iron supply (by closing borders). If that works, then it is only a matter of time for Athlete. If that doesn't work, then I think Sooooo might have made a strategic blunder.

Any battle plan suggestions would be welcome. I am developing a plan with Dreylin and will publish it once we have ironed out any wrinkles.

[Jabah]

1. you probably should have a spy on the road NE to cut it to delay the
reinforcment / counter strike

2. with that many cuirassiers, I don't know how you could manage to avoid having most of your cannons damaged/killed by flanking. You will need lots of rifles on the hill S (which also mean you need to keep control of the contested land) to avoid gicing him good odds, but with his stack getting cannons of his own, that might be difficult ...