blid epic 5

[blid]

Capital city is already settled, something I don't have to think about. But I need to decide on research.
We are surrounded by water, so fishing would be a nice thing. euh wait ....
We don't have a coastal city so fishing is crap, I like this better. Barb danger is non existing for the moment, once city expands, all fog will disappear. No need to hurry for defense stuff. I can see 2 paths : try for religion, as we are spiritual or just go agriculture and worker. Religion may be good for the happy and for the money so I went that way. And start a warrior

After a few turns I meet an english explorer and see some indian lands. Crowdy, crowdy.

The first target is met and Hinduism is ours




I don't convert as I want to see how things are going to turn out first.
For a second I dreamt about oracle and how getting COL for free will be nice but thinking on it, this is emperor, AI expansion pace is just incredible. I can easily be boxed in my tiny peninsula. So, I guess after agriculture, I need to go for BW and help speed a settler or two

After 2 turns of agri, I decide that even this will be too slow. 18 turns for worker then build a farm and all, no. Chopping is the rule. There are too many trees that need to get chopped here and this first settler I need quickly. So I decide to put some hammers into henge and go the mining/BW road.

After that I see England land which are close. Ooooh, my plan for fast settler becomes mandatory. What was I thinking going for an early religion arghh. I hope it will pay later on. After mining, try to time out the worker 1 turn before BW, so he'd be waiting in forest

Finally I meet the third AI, the nuts Alex. Fortunatley (or not), he is rather away.

Bronzeworking comes and with it the sad news that there is no copper around. The second city will go then for a blocking position since there is no strategic resource to grab




Actually, I did not use the blue circle and settled 1W of it. Don't need no water in the BFC. BTW, what was all this chat about huts and do overs ? not a single goody hut met anywhere

After agriculture and AH, which revealed horses in enemy territory, I went for archery. I don't wanna take chances with my warriors. Then, wheel->pottery to start the cottage spam. No tech trading means I need to live on my own, and great persons slingshots will not be that useful

I lost stonehenge by 10 or so turns and got the money to speed the research. Also start a new settler already. Where will he be ? Barbs already settled the east southern part

When pottery came, I went for IW. Our jags don't need iron but it will be good to have some to bring axes along the way. And here goes the third city, I settled there 2 turns before Ironworking, so it is a bit lucky. OTOH, this was one of the couple spots still available at this time




As you see, it is already fairly crowded. Only Gandhi has a state religion, buddhism, and he got judaism too.

Now I can make jags and have 2 sources of Iron. Time to get an army and start the slaughter. Ah, I haven't talked about strategy but do we have any choice ? I don't want to witness armageddon day (steam power), so I may forget about peaceful victories

First, some training exercice. This would prove to be a very nice city site, in spite of it being coastal






Flash news (235 BC) : Alex built the pyramids. He is also the founder of confucianism. He may turn out a nasty fellow in the end. But there is nothing I can do about it for the moment

I dial Liz. She don't have currency yet, so I can't get anything from her. Just blow the horn already
I have two force invasions to take 2 cities quickly. First Canterbury, rather lightly defended





And then Notthingham, a bit better defended but still doable






In fact, it was easier than I thought as those 2 chariots left the city and went probably to pillage somewhere in the north. Maybe they will return now that I took the city. I have a spear nearby to help just in case

I didn't get to enjoy my won battles much. I was careless reseaching at 100% then I saw this :




I am going to witness a strike for the first time, ever. I start by micro managing to get -10 instead of -16. I disbanded some units and whipped the new cities to reduce the upkeep. No AI has currency yet, so I can't beg for a loan. A few disbanded units later, I declare peace with Liz.

[blid]

This peace won't last forever though, there is definitely something I need to have from her : the phants in York. My plan is to get construction and start warring against Gandhi with phants but for that I need those ivory tiles from Liz. Without phants, I will have to wait for maces and I fear it will be too late by then. Also, happiness is an issue here, so the happy faces from ivory will be welcome

And exactly ten turns after, with a small +2 income at 0% and 2 scientists in capital doing all the research I declare again. I have a -4 with Gandhi for you declared on our friend. If he declares on me, I am done for.

Look at York defenses




I bring another jag south of York to lure an HA or 2 out. The jag south is attacked with an HA from London and wins. An HA from York comes by and finishes my jag. This is as good a chance as any, since York HA will get promoted next turn. I attack taking chances and I kill nearly all units. Spear got medic I after that and 3 turns later, I launch final blow and take the city




When York is out of resistance, my economy sank again. I have -14 at 0%. York rapine will get me up for a few turns and Strike will restart soon. To recover a bit, I make this deal with Alex




I hate this, but there's no other solution. Alex is still cautious even though he had free corn from me for centuries now. I won't demand money from him but if he was pleased, I could have asked gently
I also open borders with Gandi which netted me 2 gold for trade routes. I closed borders with Gandhi during the war with Liz, as he was wandering with a settler and there were some wholes where he could have settled very annoying cities. Gandhi knows calendar as I see plantations everywhere. He also has monarchy as he's giving me wine for a health resource.

I did not stop the war after taking York, and went for London. My stack did well and only one archer remained after the first attack and I had still 3 units to take down city next turn. But Liz brought a HA in London and whipped another (or was it just the city starving). This pissed me off and I made a mistake sending my spears towards London and leaving Notthingham exposed. While I was healing and waiting for my spears, Liz got another archer in London and sent her HA threatening Notthingham defended by a lone archer

I can't whip a spear and city is in real danger. So I decided to sign peace again reluctantly. This time, I won't declare right after the 10 turns. I need seriously to work on my economy and tech a bit. Planned path : COL->currency->construction.

Flash news (680 AD) : Alex got the great library. With pyramids and GL he will definitely be outteching me like hell. Gandhi switched to vassalge so he knows feudalism already ...

I had a scientist waiting to discover philo for me and 3 turns before I get COL, taoism is found in Bangalore. I remeber that last turn Gandhi got a great scientist :gripe:
What should I do with the scientist now ?
Get philo still ? Philo is no pre-req for any of the techs I need. I don't want a state religion to piss off relations with Alex so I have no use for pacifism
Get alphabet ? I can build research and some of my cities will soon turn out of stuff to build anyway. But alphabet is only 15 turns of research
In the end, I finished settling an academy in capital. With the 2 scientists hired, there is a use for an academy event at 0% research

A few courthouses and matured cottages later, combined with currency and I have a nice +37 gpt at 0%. I can afford 30% science now. I changed my mind about construction, I need happiness first. Here I (re)discover that you need sailing for calendar. Hmmm. HR, I was meaning HR is the solution for you happiness problems. And to think I haven't cottaged those dyes and spices until now ...

Look at this tech trades screen. Even Liz is far ahead and I am glad I took her phants




Alex went mad about wonders. He is generating great people like hell. No wonder he is so far ahead. Civil service already. Can I start the war with Gandhi before he gets maces ?

After monarchy, go for construction (slider green at 40%) and then metal casting (slider green at 50%). I recovered more quickly than I thought. All those cottages are awesome

Liz wants to open borders. Okay, some temprary money won't hurt. If I say no, she may go nuts and start preparing for war. I am the one who should be preparing for war lady. Let's see how she is doing. She adopted bureaucracy 2 turns before I do. After civil service, I go for machinery. I realize my army won't be ready before I have maces anyway. Phants are oredered everywhere to be followed by cats

Flash news (1334 AD) : Alex declares war on Gnadhi and asks me immediately to join. Sorry, but I have enough on my hands right now. Let them kill each other a little bit. I find that Alex behaved himself for too long already.


Will I declare on Liz or directly on Gandhi depends on situation when my army is ready. I delayed buildilng units to finish up my markets. Now I lack cats to have an efficient war with Liz
I trust Alex to be a warmonger who won't abandon easaily. He is also advanced so Gandhi won't have any unfair advantage here

[blid]

After machinery is disocvered, I cut research. I have a +121 gold income. I manage to get a shrine on the same turn. Though I find it very expensive, promoted units will do well once turned into maces. There is few hindu cities for the shrine income but I hope this will change soon

I decided to go for Liz, as I won't suffer from any cultural pressures. Also a forbidden palace in London will fit very well. When ready for war, I upgraded a jag and a couple axes to maces and archers to crossbows

Checking power graph, I see I am barely ahead of Liz. I try a demand and she gives. Just a measly 170 gold but the satisfaction is better. Next turn, the war is started.

First priority, cut the iron, while cats are bombarding the city. The war chariot was built only for this prupose.




I discover something annoying. Liz got guilds and attacked me with a knight who killed one phant. Another light expedition is trying to pillage the horses down south. Hope they will succeed. And to cheer me up, Gandhi made peace with Alexander. Not a single city was lost. I imagine a lot of units died there, but war has not lasted as long as I have expected/hoped.

Finally I get Warwick, with some losses. The horses south are pillaged but Liz has a couple knights wandering. One of them killed my medic spear but england days are now counted




Capture London, and now I have dyes and banana without knowing calendar. Hope they won't get pillaged when in war with Gandhi




Flash news (1526 AD) : Gandhi got liberlaism. Hope he burns his free tech on astro. That is one useless tech on this map.

I took another english city, Coventry with the horses.




And in 1538 AD, the english civilization is destroyed. I razed the last city since I don't want to struggle between indian and greek culture




That is rather slow, I guess but I wanna see if some got the english before the calendar resources were improved


When I checked Alex last time, he won't attack Gnahdi because he has enough on his hands. I supposed he was going to attack Liz or Gandhi again. Sure he was not thinking about attacking me. We have +9 in relations, huh. But this is Alex, the least trustwhorty of all. Anyway, I hate attacking Gandhi on my own, but if nothing changes I will have to do it. And a few turns later, Alex declares on Gandhi again. Nice timing my friend, nice timing

Here is the demographics situation at the moment :




I am first in crop, so the population will catch up soon. But look at those GNP values. Gandhi is simply flying. And having a global look of my empire, it strikes me that the capital is kinda of excentric, don't you think. Maybe I can try to move the palace. But I must keep in mind what I will loose with the +50% bonus. The only city competing with capital is Talteloco, but it is too close to make a big difference.




Both Gandhi and Alex have muskets now. Must attack Gandhi without delay. I had a warrior check on war front between those two. There is nothing special, Gandhi is defending in his cities, Alex is going on pillage free mission.

[blid]

And now, the indian war :




The first city, Madras, quite close to me falls easily. Guarded by 4 units only




This is my stack trying to take the second city.




He faced an attack of 4 cats. Fortunately, there is a medic amongst the units there. Haven't seen much of muskets, and I would have preferred them. Gandhi is building crossbows, WTH is going on. If he protects his cities with pikes and crossbows, I will have a hard time against him. Also, I am worried that he would get chemistry. Youpi, Gandhi signed peace with Alex again

I managed to take Calcutta but it fails back next turn. I thought for a moment and should have done it to hold on and take the city on the next turn to be be sure of keeping it. The problem is not the city being took back as only a cat was holding it then but I think this had a cost of 1 war wariness point :mad:

Flash news (1613 AD) : Alex adopts economics. He is not that far ahead in techs, does he ?

That is the stack I plan to use to take Delhi (a cat already suicided against city)




After another cat suicide, I launch a level 4 mace who fails at 85% chance. Hmmm, so RNG is telling me 80 is not good enough. I suicide another cat, what about >90 odds ?. City falls but Gandhi manages to taki it back next turn. He had knights hiding in Bangalore. Delhi back to 80% culture and there is 3 knights and 1 longbow inside I took back Delhi with some losses and fotify in it to heal.

I check for Alex "declare war on Gandhi" option and when it is available again I ask him gently to declare. Of course he does, we are friendly now

I want Alex to suicide some units against Gandhi. I am not sure if I can make the 70% trigger with indian lands, so I may need to declare on Alex and take a city or 2. In the perspective of war against Alex, I went right for gunpowder after education came in. Chemistry will follow. Gandhi will help finance it

Now, look at that city garrison II unit going to hide in new capital Lahore.




Gandhi ignored chemistry and went all the way to rifles. There are three rifles in Lahore but they are unpromoted. This one must die before he make it to the city. I send flanking II phant against him but he dies. Then a mace finishes the job.

Lahore is protected by 3 rifles and some bullshit units. I take it down without huge losses. suicide cats and maces can do the job against rookie rifles (draftees ???)




Flash news(1643 AD) : I finally can whip the forbidden palace in London. The impact is huge, between 30 and 40 gold. You also can see, how war wariness is striking unmercifully.




war wariness is a killer and I had no other solution as to whip, whip and whip. I don't know drama so I can't play with the slider. In fact, I didn't even bothered to research alphabet

When Delhi is out of resistance, I whip a courthouse immediately. Population is down from 13 to 8 and still starve in the city. After taking yet another indian city (the second to last), I sign peace with Gandhi.




I want to take the money and to have a look at the seas. Without calendar, I don't have a clue how this world is. Hmmmm, waterless comes to mind. Now who cares about boats in such a world. Checking the victory conditions, I see I am very close to domination. I hoped to finish Gandhi before the game ends, but I fear I would not have the chance




And I won't. 5 turns before the peace treaty ends, domination is triggered in 1679 AD.




No armageddon, no trains, no coal burning. The world shall live free under the covenant of the sea.










Alex went mad about wonders, that made me worry in the beginning but he didn't manage to do anything with it. He had limited lands and didn't went cottage mad like Gandhi so in the end he couldn't get anything from the wars he launched against the indian. Lacking iron didn't help him either. I think he proposed marble/iron trade more than 10 times all game and I sent him home politely




During the first recovery period, I hadn't got neither monarchy nor the calendar resources from Liz yet. And the happy cap was harsh so I abused temples. My cities had 2 to 3 religions each and temples were ordered where necessary. I did a lot of micromanaging during this period which was a bit tedious at times but in the end, the result was satisfying




That was indeed an intense game and a good introduction to no tech trading variant. Now I'm up to use my "recover from eocnomy in ruins" experience on stagnation adventure

[Sullla]

Blid, thank you for turning in such an excellent report. This was probably my favorite game to read out of all of them. Your first war was a little later than mine, and thus Elizabeth was a bit more built up when you attacked. The following bankruptcy led to a number of great screenshots too! The recovery clearly took a while, but you made the most of the opportunities you had. I wouldn't have wanted to face rifles with catapults! Yikes! And yet nevertheless, it was still a victory in the end. Congratulations.

One thing perhaps to keep in mind: you had researched all the way up to Gunpowder on the tech tree, but still didn't have Drama to enable the culture slider. If you know you're going to be dealing with massive war weariness down the road, that might be a good (cheap) tech to get ahead of time! Thanks for the report.

[blid]

Thanks for your kind words Sulla. During the indian war, I searched for the culture slider taking it for granted then realized I can't I had to look for my