May 13th, 2015, 02:58
(This post was last modified: May 13th, 2015, 02:58 by Donovan Zoi.)
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
OK quick update:
Salmon Falls: Just started on an Aqueduct, which will hopefully be chopped out next turn. After that, we will try for HG in 7-8 turns. In any case, we will either get the wonder or some gold for tech.
Sainte-Foy: Whipped a Galley last turn, which is now on the way with a Spear/Settler to island city. It will land next turn and settle the turn after, exposing more of the surrounding area.
We also will have the Gems mined next turn, which should help our gpt woes a bit.
Carillion: Growing for another Settler, perhaps its last the way land has been claimed recently.
Quebec: retep didn't do anything, and we connected the Crab this turn. retep also built another city this turn, but I don't know where. I am kinda kicking myself a bit now for not settling directly on the Ivory, which is really not that great of a tile to work. Ivory would have been a better port site as well. Oh well.
Duquesne: Elkad has a Spear on the mountain west of Rotterdam and the Hague now has one as well. There is a Galley two tiles out from our north pole site. Just in case, I landed a Chariot on the island/peninsula and have an Axe ready to disembark next turn. If Elkad tries to settle there, we should be able to counter any escort he should land.
Pretty sure this is just defensive posturing on his part, but I went ahead and switched Duquesne back to a Settler anyway. I should be able to 1-pop whip it in 2 turns.
More bad news here is that Elkad has started posting in his thread, which means he may be onto us. 
Goals for the upcoming turns
-Get the HG!
-Figure out if we have enough to take Elkad.
-Start making proper cities out of Carillion and Frontenac
-Currency shows 3 turns but is realistically 4-5. Research is at 90% to save gpt since 80% is 4 turns. Going back down to 0% does not help us at this point, but I think we can optimize to get it in 4 turns instead of 5.
-Slow down on unit building for awhile, as we are paying 16 gpt for units right now. Getting two more cities will lower this number a bit to offset the new maintenace costs at least.
Posts: 6,259
Threads: 17
Joined: Jul 2014
Could we get a galley or two with axes to take down the spear before our chariots come in to take the cities ? Attacking Elkad has to be higher on our priority list now that we have only one or two sites left to settle.
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
(May 13th, 2015, 03:30)AdrienIer Wrote: Could we get a galley or two with axes to take down the spear before our chariots come in to take the cities ? Attacking Elkad has to be higher on our priority list now that we have only one or two sites left to settle.
That's just too much to build that we don't have, sadly. I think we would be better off rushing with the 5 Chariots we have in the region (supported by only 1 axe and 1 FW now), though I am hesitant to do so now because Elkad can just move the Spear back into Rotterdam at the beginning of the turn to counter our stack. We would probably lose 3-4 of the Chariots just taking out the Spear, and would therefore not get a shot at the Hague.
Add to this that I am not sure I want to make any aggressive moves by Galley until they are supported by Triremes. I checked and found that we only need MC for these so that should be the next tech. Add to that an Axe would likely still lose an amphibious attack.
Lastly, we are actually pretty competitive on the city front even without capturing from others. Settling 2 more cities in the next 3 turns puts us in with the top tier at 10.
GermanJoey: 10
Commodore: 10
Borsche/Johns: 10
Gavagai: 9
retep: 9
DZ/Adrien: 8
Elkad: 8 (!)
Grimace: 7
HAK: I see 6, but there are possibly more.
Elkad has been building cities like crazy over the past few turns. This seems to be a smart move that has paid off as only he and Commodtay have Currency right now. By staying small, he was able to land that tech by avoiding the high maintenace and unit costs that are plaguing our budget. This also makes him extremely vulnerable, but I just don't know if we have enough units available to keep him on his toes for a prolonged period. We might just be able to take Rotterdam and offer peace, and he just might take it.
May 14th, 2015, 00:37
(This post was last modified: May 14th, 2015, 00:43 by Donovan Zoi.)
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
Turn 92 - 575 BC
Here is a look at our empire at 575 BC:
Yes, more units: Still building units, but that is because every new city appears to be vulnerable to capture. My goal is to broaden our reach as much as possible while still making our rivals understand that attacking us is not worth the trouble.
Culture: In the east, I am trying to stay competitive in the culture war against Joey. A Library in Frontenac will be very useful once we are able to add money from Dyes and Incense to our coffers, but its additional culture also gets us a chance at getting those two choppable Forests back. Oswego's Barracks build is essential to keeping our Pigs (only 52-47% now), especially since the Hague may not be ours for awhile. Plus will also be nice to have some cities that can enhance the buffed city attack of Swordsmen with a City Raider I promo when the time comes.
HG? Well....: In SF, we do get the Aqueduct next turn and hopefully land the Hanging Gardens afterward in 7-8 turns. I scanned the map of known cities and did not see anyone else with an Aqueduct so I feel pretty good about getting it.
Gavagai cities: You can see in the south that Gavagai has another city plant on the island, directly across from Kervorkian (or whatever...). He will definitely win any culture battle against Sainte Foy's south row, but we don't lose any important tiles.
Currency: I have optimized each city's tiles to hopefully get us Currency in 2 by going 80% (-50gpt) this turn and 60% (-29gpt) next turn. But of course there is a new city to be founded next turn which could put a damper on that. Decisions, decisions.
Especially because....
Look, retep and another of his damned Chariots! At least I anticipated the proper garrison for our 9th city (Chesapeake), but I won't feel too safe until I get an Archer or Axe there as well.
The tactical situation with retep is another reason why we may want to lay off on Elkad for a few turns, even though now is the perfect time to strike since he has no metals connected. I am committed to settling a couple more cities retep's way, as there are still 4 more viable sites: west (Wine) and north of Niagara Falls, a second North Pole city, and one (maybe two) on the far side of the island (unlikely). Realistically, I think we'll only get two of these, putting us at 12.
If there was any time to give a pep talk re: Elkad, this would be it. But I think we should claim as many settlements as possible from an IMP retep first.
Incidentally, we will get demographics on retep in 3 turns, which will let us know exactly what we are dealing with.
May 14th, 2015, 01:22
(This post was last modified: May 14th, 2015, 01:32 by Donovan Zoi.)
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
I think the time has come for us to consider building some Lighthouses. As I scanned the map for Aqueducts, I was surprised by how many beacons were already off the coastlines of most empires. I believe that Grimace was the only one who is not really incorporating them, besides ourselves. That said, I believe that adding Lighthouses to our growth plan is going to send our population through the roof! Our happiness cap is going to increase significantly over the next several turns, from the current cap of 7 (8 in our capital):
To 8 - with connected Ivory (2 turns)
To 10 - with Markets [Furs, Ivory] (as early as 5-7 turns)
To 12 - with Forges [Gold, Gems] 12-15 turns
To 14 - with Calendar [Dyes, Incense] 20-25 turns
Lighthouses will allow more versatility to our coastal cities, allowing us to optimize for both food and commerce during necessary growth spurts like the one we are about to undertake. We will have to make sure our affairs are in order military while we temporarily slow production, but we will come out of it with larger cities and faster research while also allowing for worry free pop whips of good buildings when needed.
Target cities of this initiative will be:
Salmon Falls (after HG > Market)
Sainte-Foy
Duquesne
Quebec (eventually, still need to get a Granary there first)
Chesapeake
Niagara Falls
In all cases, we work Cottages first, of course. To sweeten the deal, we can go for Colossus to really get things moving. Commodore already has MC (found a Forge there) so we would likely be racing him for that wonder.
With the help of the Lighthouse, I think we will see many of the above cities at Size 12 sooner than you think, while giving us a good bump in tech as well.
Posts: 6,259
Threads: 17
Joined: Jul 2014
I logged in to take a better look, settled the city and put the slider at 0% (unfortunately we can't get currency this turn, I tried). The rest of the turn is for you.
Thoughts :
-We can see two spears from Elkad (near Rotterdam and in The Hague) so we can't attack in the very near future. I recommend teching Construction and HBR next because a stack of catapults and WEs will destroy pretty much anything. Including Retep's chariots if we take that route.
-HG takes 14t if I don't change the tiles, 9 if I do. I suggest settling St Patrick because +5g is nice with our current GNP and +2h will take a turn off the wonder completion I think.
-Why are Commodore and Dtay using the espionage slider ? I don't think they've had two espionage events in a row, this is weird.
-Yes to lighthouses, although working coast is usually a bad thing. Actually with currency in 2t we'll be able to build wealth to sustain a better economy so it's not as important.
-There's also a city site N of NF near the sheep, I think it's worth settling. But the northern island city is better, deer seafood and furs is rather nice.
-The retep vs Elkad discussion can wait until we actually have a stack to attack them with. Problem is, attacking Retep will mean we'll have to convoy all our guys to the north and we'd be vulnerable on at least 3 points (Quebec Chesapeake and the main front in NF). Elkad would probably be easier.
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
OK, quick update.
SF: Optimized to grow to Size 8 next turn when slavery unrest expires. We will also have Ivory happiness too. After that, we can get HG in 6 turns by using all 5 mines (last one will complete next turn) and our newly settled GP. Good call on that by the way, we only lost 35g and 14h by not settling it when we could. Wish I would have listened earlier, as it could have made the difference in getting Currency this turn.
Duquesne: Whipped the Settler but am now wondering if I should have waited a turn to whip the overflow into the Market. I guess I can use it for a Lighthouse or another Settler. The Markets will come fast anyway in the cities that need them.
Re: Commodtay, I would bet they are using the slider to offset more than one rival devoting EP to them. They can certainly afford to do so, it seems.
May 14th, 2015, 09:20
(This post was last modified: May 14th, 2015, 09:21 by Donovan Zoi.)
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
I like the idea of going for Construction next in our situation. Especially to lose the river penalty, which will help with our advance on Rotterdam. Plus, then we don't have to be coy in our approach on Elkad. We can just go for it!
Posts: 6,259
Threads: 17
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2009
Turn 94 - 525 BC
Next turn is going to be a big one. Not only do we finally get Currency, we also have 5 cities that will grow with 2 more the turn following. And this is before we get the HG boost. I wanted to capture the Demographics screen so we can compare it to the one next turn.
You Just Knew This Was Going to Happen...
Of course with good news also comes some cause for concern. Checking the Power graph, you can see how Gavagai's stats are spiking now. It's possible he is just providing a happiness boost for his cities since he recently revolted to HR/OR, but I am building Walls just in Sainte-Foy just in case.
Keep in mind that Gavagai's UU, the Numidian Archer, will be in its prime now and he may want to test it out if he has HBR. I am hoping he is looking to Borsche for this endeavor, since he has more EP devoted to Borsche than us.
I Saved the Best For Last
Elkad had a busy turn this time out. I can't wait to read what tipped him off about our possible invasion enough to actually do some reporting, but I logged in to find that he had built the Great Wall (I told ya!  ) and what I'm pretty sure is just Walls in Rotterdam (I see no evidence of a GW graphic on the map so I can't be sure until I compare it with our own Walls graphic). I am not sure what units he is devoting there, but it gives me pause for the moment.
This turn of events is a shame because I can now declare with certainty that we will lose the Pigs in Oswego in a matter of turns. The reason? Check it out.
Yeah, I didn't see it either. If you look closely at the feet of the Axeman on the left, you will see that he is straddling an Academy! whose +4 culture is what has been eroding our control of the Pigs.
In 2 turns, Duquesne will expand to a third ring, and Oswego will have a Barracks in 3-4 turns. But it likely will not be enough to keep the Pigs. With that said, I think we need to go ahead and pillage both the pasture and the road so that Elkad gets neither benefit. Soon.
For our part, I can just prop Oswego up with another RG farm and re-dedicate the Sheep to it. But there's no question that it will hurt to lose such a good tile.
|
