[Spoilers] Commodore as someone of something, or, an entertaining failure

[Commodore]

[SIZE="5"][COLOR="Red"]Grand Strategy
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

So, despite how it might sound, I'm not just waddling around squawking "Pyramids are teh winnar!" We need a consistent, flexible strategy to win this one, as we are up against one of the scariest players on these forums, and Kyan.

In general, as close-in as we all are, I'm not going to be surprised if we get consistent skirmishes any turn now, but an all-in push is not happening soon. For us, the golden time is around civil service/machinery/theocracy. Meet Mr. Sam Urai.



Sam here is associated with our never-before-seen civilization Japan. He and his buddies start with Drill 1, a couple first strikes, and a hunger for iron.

Of course, Commo-San, we use fine steel blades, not the clumsy and inelegant copper maces of other civilizations' medieval warriors.

Right, thanks Sam. Anyway, while the Japanese UU isn't much to write home about, but it does come at the best time for us to attack our neighbor(s), both of whom have very strong Renaissance-era unique units that will cause us problems.

Commo-San! I will hear no more of this defeatism! We will meet the vile Spainish and Ethiopians on the field of battle and best them with honor.

That's the plan, Sam. Kyan will probably be the top target, but Ceil needs to be at least pressured as well. To make samurai we need Machinery and Civil Service, both awesome techs for their own sake as well. Additionally, samurai need iron as well, so IW must be woven in. The current plan is to Oracle Metal Casing, which is all that is needed for Machinery. Civil Service is a much longer chain, but the juicy Code of Laws tech will be vital anyway due to Caste System, which will be our main method of researching as Spiritual.

You mentioned something about Theology as well, honored Commo-San?

Thanks, yeah. Theology is a priority tech for us, first of all for Theocracy, which we'll be in for our military build phases for the +2xp, which along with the +3xp from barracks allows two promotions off the bat, even allowing Formation on Drill-promoted samurai. On the builder front, the AP is pretty amazing for Ramesses, the priest economy being supercharged by cheap Spi temples.

All well and good, but how will you get to this point? Our people are now not even able to cultivate rice, a great shame for the Japanese people.

Well, obviously we need to get the worker techs first, which really will have to include Agriculture soon too. The Oracle plan has been talked about to death. Once we hit Metal Casing, we'll whip in a cheap Ind forge in the capital the nest turn...with silver, forge, capital, and eventually religion the happy cap will be quite high (higher with the cheap Spi temple that goes in next). Then, an engineer will be run with the Oracle for 5 GPP/turn. So, fourteen turns after the Oracle, we have a ~59% odds GE or 41% odds GP. If it's a GE and we've yet to find nearby stone, we'll rush the Pyramids, otherwise he'll bulb Machinery. If it's a Great Prophet, he'll bulb Theology. Then rinse, repeat, with Colossus points in the mix making a Civil Service bulber if the odd GM hits. Once that's done we're going to head strait up the tree towards Nationalism.

Nationalism? Commo-San, surely the Taj Mahal isn't that important is it?

Well, it's a wonderful wonder to get and deny everyone else, but the real kicker is Nationhood and the draft.

We are noble warriors who train for years! You cannot just draft a man and make him samurai.

Exactly right, Sam, but with barracks and theocracy, draftees begin with 2xp, just enough for one promotion. Which normally isn't all that exciting, but if the unit also starts with Drill 1...

Ah, wise Commo-San, now I see the point.

Yep. Now of course after this we'll be barreling strait on to rifles, because Kyan has the same power but more with his Combat 1, Drill 2 oromos. Still, right now, that's the plan. Any questions from the gallery?

[Commodore]

Turn report, looks pretty good around here. At the end of turn, bronze working came in, and now the spot where the warrior is sitting looks like a really nice city. Holy production, Batman! Settler there in ~8-9 turns, you think?



We also now have eyes on Kyan. His copper is on the plains tile south of the rice. I wouldn't be shocked if his dotmap plopped a city 1SW of where our warrior is sitting, assuming food in the fog.



Most excellent! He should strive to settle in such a manner as to be easily incorporated into our own empire's Dot Map!

[Mardoc]

Most excellent! He should strive to settle in such a manner as to be easily incorporated into our own empire's Dot Map!

I approve of Sam!

[Commodore]

I approve of Sam!

Most honored Mardoc-Sama, you may rest most assuredly with the knowledge that Sam Urai approves of you.*

[SIZE="1"]*Edt: I suspect because you are commenting.[/SIZE]

[Commodore]

So, I figure fortune is favoring the bold, so I risked a glace into Kyan's capital. Come on, Warcraft names? That's lame. Unless he's sunk one turn into a road on the rice paddy, Ursa Warrior ought to be safe. Stupid C1 aggressive warriors.



Here's the world as we know it. I almost want to push into Spain a little harder with Ursa Warrior 2, but I'm probably going to decline combat if Ceil pops up. He knows the warrior is coming thanks to the never to be sufficiently damned peak in his borders.



I whipped the worker for massive[SIZE="1"](ish)[/SIZE] overflow, next to head south and chop out the next worker. Then, unless Kyan or Ceil feel particularly frisky, it's right on to a settler. Got to figure out when the best time will be to mine the silver.



We're pretty obviously the first to bronze working, according to Mr. Power. Hey, at least it should prove dissuasive towards our neighbors if they feel like pushing at us.



Yes! Then soon, they shall be feeling the pushing of my brothers in return.

[pindicator]

Great strategy post and I'm glad we have another lurker on board with Sam!

This may be a bit out there, but I just wanted to throw an idea out and see what you think. I promise to get there in as round-about a way as possible:

Great Engineer Bulb Preference

Machinery
Assembly Line
Industrialism
Combustion
Metal Casting
Mining
Iron Working
Engineering
Replaceable Parts
Steam Power
Steel
Robotics
Railroad
Feudalism
Fascism
The Wheel
Plastics
Masonry
Construction
Guilds
Bronze Working
Corporation
Electricity
Animal Husbandry
Gunpowder
Priesthood
Monarchy
Code of Laws
Constitution
Agriculture
Economics
Chemistry
Fission
Genetics
Fusion
Optics
[COLOR="Red"]Civil Service
Nationalism[/COLOR]
Communism
Ecology
Pottery
Calendar
Currency
Banking
Scientific Method
Physics
Writing (BTS)
Medicine
Refrigeration
Superconductors (BTS)
Computers
Divine Right
Fishing
Mathematics
Flight
Fiber Optics
Hunting
Horseback Riding
Rifling
Future Tech

Let's shorten that list down to the relevant techs (ones that aren't ages ahead in the future), and I'll cross out the ones we'll have teched by the time the first Great Person comes out:

Machinery
[strike]Metal Casting[/strike]
[strike]Mining[/strike]
Iron Working
Engineering
Feudalism
[strike]The Wheel[/strike]
Masonry
Construction
Guilds
[strike]Bronze Working[/strike]
[strike]Animal Husbandry[/strike]
Gunpowder
Priesthood
Monarchy
Code of Laws
[strike]Agriculture[/strike]
Optics
[COLOR="Red"]Civil Service
Nationalism[/COLOR]

A Great Engineer will bulb Civil Service if you have Code of Laws, don't have Mathematics (or have it and tech through Engineering), and don't have Priesthood or Monotheism. So this isn't completely compatible with a Theology bulb.

So I propose on teching to Civil Service through Alphabet, and avoiding Priesthood until you get your first great person. If it's a prophet, then tech priesthood and take Theology.

Wait, you need priesthood for Oracle don't you?

Now I realized that I missed Priesthood on the bulbing list too. So to bulb Civil Service with a GE you need to skip the religious techs entirely, and that isn't going to go well with a potential Prophet bulb at all. Well, I guess we can take away from this that if you get a Great Engineer in this game, and you've researched down the bottom end of the tech tree through Gunpowder but haven't yet teched Civil Service, and you've ignored Mathematics, then you can bulb Civil Service. See, I'm helping!

[Commodore]

It's alright, Pin, the lure of bulbs is hard to resist. Nifty bulb paths are well and good, but the real way we're going to be getting up the tech tree fast is Representation scientists. One library running two of them will net 15bpt, and once CoL is in we can run Caste periods too. There's a reason in 26 that we managed to get even within a stone's throw of you guys in tech, and that was the stupidly broken Pyramids. I'm going to endeavor to get them this time without gutting the empire in a 50-year hot war.

[pindicator]

It's alright, Pin, the lure of bulbs is hard to resist. Nifty bulb paths are well and good, but the real way we're going to be getting up the tech tree fast is Representation scientists. One library running two of them will net 15bpt, and once CoL is in we can run Caste periods too. There's a reason in 26 that we managed to get even within a stone's throw of you guys in tech, and that was the stupidly broken Pyramids. I'm going to endeavor to get them this time without gutting the empire in a 50-year hot war.

Oh I'm starting to think that "cute play" > "smart play" is kind of my calling card now. Also, I need to endeavor to remember how stupidly broken that wonder is.

[Commodore]

Well, this is interesting. Looks like we can confirm that Dazed is on the other side of Kyan, which is a relief. Also, unless Dazed is a real lucky duck and I've majorly misread the demos, Kyan lost his scout to Dazed's warrior, now combat 1.



I spent a little time considering the tactics. Withdraw wouldn't be profitable, after all, if Dazed is cheerfully playing choke-a-bro here then he's decided that he wants to hurt Kyan, we're pretty distant from him. I had the choice then of moving north towards the hill, out of range of a Kyan attack, or moving closer in to the rice, counting on Dazed to kill anything that kills me.

There is no choice in this matter! Attack! Banzai!



Okay then! Ceil is a no-show up north, so I took a glance out across the water, looks like there is symetry here. The Malformed Starfish world hypothesis seems more and more plausible, although the arms reaching around and meeting on the other side of the world is also possible.



Here's the demos, looks a little sad as Ceil and I assume GE grew to size 3. I am, tragically, one hammer short of three-turning the next worker. Need to get that deer/them mines online.



Let's see how Kyan responds next, eh?

[pindicator]

What's the plan for next turn? If city attacks aren't an option, pillaging the camp would be a win this early in the game.