[Spoilers] The games they are a changin' - Ichabod Civ 6 PBEM 3 as England

[pindicator]

I see we're running again and up to t80. How goes the warring?

[Ichabod]

Hey, Pindicator. Sorry to leave you in the dark for so long. First I was a bit depressed with the game and what I perceived as my fundamental mistake (going for Suboptimal before finishing Kaiser) and now I have some things going on in my life that take time.

But I can still report a bit.

Bacchus declared war on me and killed my scout. He likely realizes that we are enemies until the end of the game. I worry if Gandhi's ability will make me suffer heavy war weariness. That would be stupid, but alas.

Bacchus added the Church Property belief with his free Apostle. That will give him a lot of gold, which I lack. It's a problem, but I'm unsure what to do about it. Well, I'm building Commercial Hubs everywhere.

Suboptimal managed to get swords into his cities, so I called off the attack on him. I decided finishing Kaiser was the main priority, so I got some horses down to his last city. I also went for Shipbuilding as the next tech, to allow embarkation and sieging Osaka. That's without Eurekas, but it worked alright considering it'll help the GSci get better Eurekas, the ones I need.

Kaiser had 2 swords, but he sacrificed one of them and a lot of health from the other to protect his Iron, which he couldn't do in the end. With his Iron pillaged, he couldn't heal them. Menawhile, his city walls seemed to never be built.



Considering the situation, I attacked. If he finished the walls in the interturn, I could be in trouble, but otherwise, I'd take the city. I also feared the DotF spread, that would likely come at any given time.



Everything worked out and it's GG, Kaiser. We finally liberated some of our cities from that annoying penalty.

The next objectives are as follows:

*We need builders. Thankfully, we are going to be in Feudalism soon.
*We have a settler on the way to settle close to Jerusalem.
*We need to be secure against Suboptimal and Bacchus. I also want to try and kill Jerusalem, as the city is pretty weak still, even though it has walls.
*Investing in Holy Sites and religion can work, because we are free to get the new Pantheon that gives culture. We have one HS already, that will soon finish a shrine, and another finishes in 6 turns or so. Capturing the northern City States will add two more, which I think is a good idea.
*I'm planning a change into Classical Republic, for the amenities. The problem is that I can't get rid of Conscription and the GG points cards for now, because I need the gold and I can't lose the GG to Suboptimal (I'll see if I can do a project, now that the Camp city is out of occupation), so I can't run Classical Republic still. I can probably do it in the Feudalism change, we'll see.

Hopefully some of the War Weariness penalty will go away, but I won't hold my breath. I really dislike how the game makes players hostage of the others to get anything out of wars (other that full annexation wars). It's a SP design based on the stupidity of the AI, which really can't get much worse as a design goal.

[pindicator]

It was always going to be difficult once suboptimal inserted himslf into the Kaiser conflict. I'm just glad we've eliminated one of the rabbits and can focus in one direction.

Although if Bacchus has now declared, how much of a threat is he militarily to try to push against Osaka or Ballad? I know we have that mountain range down by Osaka and Preslav provides some shelter, but eventually we probably are going to want to plant a city in that desert to be able to better defend our southern cities against Bacchus.

Seems like we're ready to just about go into a more peaceful buildup, if we can extract ourselves from the current wars. Or are you planning on pushing farther against suboptimal?

[Ichabod]

I wanted to peace out with Suboptimal, but I doubt he'll agree. It's giving us an advantage, while he gets none. Perhaps things will change if Rowain decides to declare war. We'll see.

I don't think Bacchus wants to come after us. His army is not huge and he used it to capture Hattusa, the city state near him (which was something like size 10!). I think he just declared to kill our scout for free and perhaps give us WW. He became the suzerain of Zanzibar one turn before us, which was really annoying, since it cancelled our quest (well, to be fair, I don't think we would have fulfilled that quest any time soon). After we tied there with 3 envoys, he got a fourth one, and now we are still at war in Zanzibar. Pretty annoying. I wonder if I get the CS bonuses while at war? Anyway, he's getting a whole lot of luxuries from the suzerainity.

To protect against Bacchus, I think we should go crossbows. We have some heavily promoted archers, that will be very powerful inside cities and on defensive positions.

I'll have a bit more time this weekend to make more concrete plans and give a better overview of the in game situation.

[Ichabod]

I have a lot going on in my mind lately, so I haven't been able to properly think about the game and report. But I think things are looking up. 

The main thing that happened after conquering Kaiser was that I made peace with Suboptimal, giving him silks in the deal. It was looking increasingly likely that Rowain would declare war on him, so I figured it was a good time to propose it. That took both his cities from occupation, and now I'm up to 9 fully capable cities, with another settler en route (I was thinking on placing him on a heavily jungled and pretty productive spot near Jerusalem, but maybe I can go even further with it, past La Venta, on a spot with a lot of new luxuries - I have to consider it). No unhappiness anywhere, since I got rid of all the war weariness. So, my civilization is finally being productive.




Next step on the recovery plan is builders. I researched Defensive Tactics, but the timing wasn't right to adopt Ilkum, as I had a lot of things to finish before builders (districts close to ready - Holy Site in Watchtower and Commercial Hub in Hard Rain -, a horseman to defend against barbs in the Capital, shrine in Rolling Stone), so I went for Recorded History, instead of straight Feudalism. Next turn, Recorded History will also finish and I'll adopt Ilkum.

Military wise, I'll conquer Jerusalem when my army heals. In the area, I have 4 horses, a sword, ram, HC and promoted archers (I just discovered that you stop accumulating XP when you haven't taken the next promo yet, so I lost a lot of XP on my archers), way more than I need against the weak AI. That will add another Holy Site (making it 3) and Shrine (2) to my Empire, which fits well with the plan to get Choral Music. After that, the 10 turns peace with Suboptimal will be close to the end, so I can likely take any leftovers from Rowain.



The decision of going Granary instead of Monument here, based on a stupid idea of getting the "Grow a City to Size 10" Inspiration was perhaps my biggest mistake in the game. I lost a ton of culture and a lot of production (from the better tiles I could have been working). I'm still kicking myself over it.

In a break of luck, Rowain is also competing with Bacchus for the Suzerainity of Zanzibar. Both have 4 envoys, which means the city doesn't have a Suzerain and it made peace with me. That's great, as I get the gold bonus and Bacchus loses the Luxury bonuses. I don't think I can compete for the Suzerainity in the long run, so I'll probably raze/conquer the city in the future, to deny my opponents of the bonus.



Barb troubles from the South. I have a archer and spear pair converging there from a camp cleared south of Geneva. I also have some units protecting the East. There's a high chance that my Campus will be pillaged, which can make me lose the GSci, but I'm not that worried. The GSci would only give me some Eurekas, and I can leave without them.

I'm 3 turns from the first GG, but I'm considering buying it with faith, as I don't have much better uses for it (Suboptimal is also close, and I'm afraid that he'll buy it with faith, which, admittedly, is unlukely). It'll help the Jerusalem conquest and the future Suboptimal/Rowain conquest. I'm closing on Machinery, so the promoted archers will soon become Xbows that get the GG bonus.

Religion wise, I'm still far away from the 120 GPro, but it'll get better. I'm currently making 1 GPro Point per turn, but next turn it'll be 3, and if I conquer Jerusalem, 5. I'll probably go for a Shrine in Watchtower as well, since it synnergizes with Choral Music. I can also go for La Venta right after Jerusalem, which also has a Holy Site and shrine, I think.

Anyway, things are definetely looking up. Since a lot of my cities just got out of occupation and I'm lacking on builders, my demos still don't show that big of a lead, but that'll likely change quickly, if my neighbours don't act. I just need to keep a proper military and keep conquering land through City States and settlers, here and there. I should try to get some value out of my Unique District as well, but the map didn't favour that at all, with no decent coastal spots that fit my strategy. Amenities are still a bit of a problem, but adopting Classical Republic will definetely help (I'll likely do that once I reach Feudalism, as I still want to run both Conscription and Strategos right now, I really want the 60 GPP GG), I also have Marble still to get online and I definetely want to think about the Colosseum (if I can be the first to the first GEng). On the other hand, I could just tech ahead and try to conquer Suboptimal and Rowain, which will likely make things impossible for Bacchus to overcome (especially once I have my own religion).

As a final note, I pillaged a missionary from Bacchus. I think he was just exploring with it, but it felt really nice. 

[Ichabod]

Last turn, Suboptimal nabbed the 60 GPP GG from me, when I was 59/60, I think. I could have bought the GG with faith, but decided not to, because I thought Suboptimal wouldn't have the needed faith for it (I was thinking he would need more than 400 faith). Well, I think he bought it with faith, I'm not sure, perhaps coupled with a project? Anyway, it was a nice play for him, but not that catasthrophic for me. The next GG is actually a 240 GPP one (why? No player is in renaissance yet, at least I don't think), wich I think is Reinaissance + Industrial. That means I should likely just forget about Medieval combat and focus on Cavalry and beyond, which I thought was a good idea already (cavalry is actually not that distant, and I have enough horsemen to upgrade).

The GG greatly boosts Suboptimal's fighting ability in the short term, though. The GG is classical + medieval, which means he'll get boosted Mamluks, if he can get the tech. What will he do with such power is an interesting question. He may try for revenge against me, but I'm not that worried. I have the turns of peace to tech ahead (I have XBows already) and I have 9 cities to his 2. He may get to Mamluks in time to give me some trouble, but I can probably field Cavalry by the time he has Mamluks + XBows. I'll have my promoted troops and walls on the frontier city. And he'll just lack the needed production to give me lasting damage. That's what I hope at least.

He can also choose to go after Rowain, perhaps. But that leaves his other flank wide open for a counter attack from me, so it seems a bit unlikely.

If I'm going for a plan with Cavalry, I need gold for upgrades. I need gold in general, actually. My gold situation will improve with builder charges (chopping Commercial Hubs + plantations) and trade routes (chopping will allow for the 4 TRs I need for the Eureka, as well). Keeping peace with Zanzibar would be very, very good to maintain a good gold influx, but unfortunately, I think Bacchus will keep Suzerainity with them until the end of the game (I'd have to luck into a quest to actually make up the deficit, but every time they declare war on me, the quest is gone), so I don't think investing more envoys there will be worth it.

Ah, I'll get 25 builder charges in total, after Feudalism, perhaps 30, if I go for another builder at the Capital. That'll be nice to make my core way more developed. I'll even get some cool farm triangles going. That said, I need to think about the best uses of all these charges.

[pindicator]

Hey Ichabod, sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. I just got through a rough weekend battling depression myself. I think the plan you've laid out before is good, especially since you're thinking about where everyone else will be with this plan. I probably should try to look over a save file to see if I can find any more details.

[hzhp800]

Now that you've spearheaded an interesting Succession Game. Is there any chance we might coax you into providing some updates or screenshots for this game? It's fine either way, of course, but I just wanted to let you know that lurkers are still very interested in this game and so further reporting would not go to waste.  

Anyway, I hope you're at least having fun again.

[Ichabod]

I'll update once I play the new turn. The gist of it is that I'm on the wrong end of a 3 player split and that Bacchus has been running circles around me on the strategic level, while I keep an advantage from my strong early game position.

[Ichabod]

Update.

This game is stalemated for me and I will probably lose in a two way attack by Rowain and Bacchus. Past turns I pretty much just made my position better by taking City States, settling cheaper settlers, and building more districts than the rest of the pack. WW is so idiotic in this game that I got -4 amenities by not losing any units, just taking damage. Of course, that's against Gandhi and the "fuck MP" ability of double WW.

I lost two cities that I had captured from Suboptimal. One of them was perhaps doomed from the get go, the one near Rowain, but the other was a really bad strategic mistake (attacking Jerusalem at a bad timing, not having walls near ready there).



My lost land. Rowain razed and resettled and that little city of Erie might end up giving me the Crusade bonus if I ever end up attackinh him.

New additions:



Simple twist of Fate is a great city and my holy city for Bardism (Choral Music, Crusade, Tithe and Wats). It has a Campus and a HS and will finish Pyramids next turn, if everything goes well. By the way, Tithe was a mistake. I should have got that +50% for CS bonuses belief, since I could easily spread my religion to the 2 scientific city states, giving me +4 bonus on every campus.   Oh no, but wait, +6 gpt is better...

Ballad of a Thin Man is just a city to get Whales. My luxury resource were terrible this game. Not a single one in a decent place (other than the silk in the Capital), always on third ring or worst.



Jokerman is former Preslav. Great city, has Campus and RNDY, going strong on a Commercial Hub. I have a settler going to settle that marsh tile to the west. It gets a new luxury and it has a lot of forest to chop. I'm valueing chops way more than anything else in this late game plants.



Yerevan had to go as well. Bacchus started messing around with Envoys here, probably due to the Suzerain bonus. I couldn't afford having units on my flank and I didn't want to invest envoys there. So, I easily captured it with 2 GG powered Cavs. Still no Holy Site...



The Jewel of the crown. It has the Hanging Gardens, mostly for housing. Still an aqueduct left to be build, I can perhaps get it to syze 13+ for even more districts. Currently it has Campus, CH, IZ and TS. Still have forests to chop on the tiles further away.



Bacchus tried a backdoor religious victory, I think. But I had units on my backside to defend against Yerevan and a scout at most of my cities due to the +1 amenity policy. It's very hard to do it when I have a solid religious structure and I don't sign misguided DoF.



This is my next goal for now. Suzerainity of Zanzibar will give me 4 amenities!! Also, more gold to my numerous CHs. This city bonus kept me afloat for a difficult time and it's interesting to notice that I was at a point warring both Bacchus and Rowain, who had more envoys than me, but I wasn't at war with Zanzibar, because they were tied on envoys and no one was suzerain.

I finished an University near a mountain and thought that was the Inspiration for Colonialism, but that is the Eureka for Astronomy, which is the Inspiration for Colonialism. Oops, that took some turns. But I also have 2 merchant republic envoys coming to spend there.

That's basically what's happening. I'll pump some more cavalry and knights with the correct cards and try to figure out how to produce boats. i think the best way is to get some quadrirremes and wait until teching Square Rigging.

Anyway, that's the gist of things. I'm not very confident. I don't think I can take out both Rowain and Bacchus and they are forever allied... Annoying, but what can you do?