[Spoilers] AW with highly promoted LB!! (Liz of North America)

[AutomatedTeller]

So, on the chance that I can't log in and play my turns while I'm away, Sareln has volunteered to help me out.

An overview:

1) My strategy is, basically, tech to maces/knights and then use the tech advantage to conquer the world. that's why i picked a financial/philo civ, because you can't steamroll by getting more cities, only with tech. Plus, financial allows you to support the pretty damn huge armies you'll need to conquer.

3) 3 cities: Tech city, GP farm, mil city. It's pretty obvious which is which

The map is filled with health resources - happy are less abundant, but still around. I have 4 and I can get 2 more (silver and spices, I think) I'm in HR, but will probably switch to rep soon.

4) Wonders: I've been wonderwhoring - I'm goign to build GLIb/NE in my GP farm - that, btw, will probably whip out at a barracks and build archers after that. I have marble, which is nice. Cap is 6 turns from pyramids, which will help a lot. I'd like to get MoM, but I doubt I'll be able to - I'm quite a way from calendar. I've debated building ToA, for the giggles, priest and merchant slot, plus it's cheap and gives an extra few beakers - I might if I get rep.

5) GP - I've gotten 3 great priests so far - building a shrine and settling 2 of them. The shrine was more for the culture and maybe it was weedy, I dunno.

Tech path:

About to finish Literature, then probably have to get construction/metal casting. I've stayed away from alphabet, because I am pretty sure I'm way ahead in tech, but I don't want the others to know how far ahead I am. TT and Zero have catapults and I think TT has metal casting (he built Oracle).


After that, I am unsure whether to get CoL or not - I'm thinking not, since I don't NEED it, though a couple of courts would help. I have plenty of slots for GP.

Music sits in their somewhere, i guess - the GA makes for a nice GA starter. I do need calendar. And Feudalism. I don't have a tech target, I guess, after cats and metal casting. Either machinery or Feudalism, I guess - those give archer upgrades and I make awesome archery units...

[AutomatedTeller]

ok - it's been awhile since I updated and I have no pics right now, but...

got literature and am about to get construction. I (Sareln, really - thanks )whipped Mid's in, so I'm in rep. 2 turns until the GLib completes.

I'm #1 in everything important - GNP->through soldiers. I'm about to try an attack on Karakorum with 6 HA, mainly to hopefully get unit to level IV for the HE. Cap is going to start building units, because my power rating is about to get hit, I think.

[AutomatedTeller]

I'll have pics a little later (don't have dropbox on this machine), but my attack on serdoa is almost ready. No idea if it will be an actual attack or just a feint, but...

I have 1 G II archers, 6 HA and a chariot that can hit this turn, with a spear for further support. I also have a 2nd archer that is distracting/blocking reinforcements.

Karakorum has a C III/GII archer, 2 Keshik (one a wounded GG) and an axe, so I have a 2-1 force advantage and neither of the keshik's get defenisve bonuses.

I got the GLib - now, my GP farm is producing more science than my finacial capital

[AutomatedTeller]

This is my invasion force for Karakorum:



My guess is that his reply will be to dry whip a spear - least-wise, that's what I would do. And if he does, I'm ok with that - I'll just hold off on the attack until a get a couple of catapults... which i will, in a few turns.

If he gets Keshik, it gets interesting - a no-promo Keshik should die to a CII HA, so that helps. But the problem will be getting 2 that keshik - the CGIII/GII archer is a tough customer and will require 2-3 HA to kill - the GG keshik is nearly as tough and the axe is no pushover. I'll have to see what my odds are and I may not attack - only way (I think) for me to lose this game is to kill my power and give TT and Zero an opening.


If I don't attack, that's no big deal - I'll just do some G II archer pillaging I may go Feudalism next, just to get some G II LB pillaging in.

oh - the plan. I just got construction, so I can cross rivers.

Assuming I attack, I'll road the grass land and hit the city with all 6 HA, a chariot and a GII archer. that's 8 attackers, which is a 2-1 advantage, which is really useful. We'll see what happens...

[AutomatedTeller]

In short:

I burned Karakorum and killed a 3rd Keshik, at the loss of 3 HA. I don't see how it could have gone better. it was a lucky attack, i think - I won a low odds attack (25% or so), but also lost a near 70% attack.

This is the log - he killed my archer in the interturn



The key was the first, 4.2% attack. I lost it, of course, but I did a lot of damage to his primary defender (45 hp), so it only took 2 HA to kill it, as opposed to 3 or 4.

He did not whip out a spear, which was a clear mistake. I thought he could see my workers/HA - maybe he couldn't, I dunno. Or maybe he didnt' realize I had construction and so could road and hit him right off.

In any case, the combats went like this:



I won 5 and lost 3 battles, which is the expected value from those combats. I think it would have been unlucky to not burn the city, but I probably should have lost 1 more unit and not killed the keshik.

the aftermath:


That's 3 HA in that stack. One advantage of burning the city was the I could retreat the chariot, because I never went on roads that were enemy owned. It took me a while to figure out why it had movement left

I got a GG, which I settled in ParishsFort. This could be a mistake, if Serdoa has enough units to kill all my units, cause then I wouldn't have a unit capable of Level IV for HE. I should have waited to settle the GG. Ah well - 8 XP archers out of the gate, 7 XP HA, double promo melee and seige aren't bad, though.

Got the Glib. I get a GS in the interturn. I am going to make an academy with it - nothing great to bulb, and more culture in the cap is always good.

I got MC, so forges in the cap and McHalesNavy - I think in Parishsfort, too, but maybe not.

tech path:

sailing->calendar (to get spices)->alphabet->music.

I think I want alphabet - I think it's good for me to see what other's are doing, since I am ahead (presumably)

btw - this combat justifies my "get culture" approach to this game. I could hit him like this because I had tiles in his fat cross. Zero can't do this to me, because I have all my tiles.

Also, lots of gold to get from plundering

[AutomatedTeller]

I found Serdoa's army - it was sitting in and near the ruins of one of Zero's cities.



That's a stack of 4 healthy Keshiks and 9 variously damaged ones.

If they come after me, I'll have a problem, so I'm immediately going to heavy unit production - and I'll go pillage his horses, too, so he can't build more - that will slow him down, at least.

My priority now is pikes.

I have a problem, in that I think I'm building a war elephant. I don't think anyone can reach me.

The problem is, I attacked last turn, and I don't know that I can recreate the results.

[NobleHelium]

You should just delete or swap off the War Elephant. If it was involved in combat directly or indirectly then that would require a reload.

[AutomatedTeller]

yeah, that's what I'll do.

There's no chance anyone will attack it - no one can reach my cities this turn. If I am building it, and it gets built, I'll mention it in the tech thread - that it got built and I deleted it - I know zero can see in, and the others may be tracking builds.

that said - I THINK it's a spear

[AutomatedTeller]

ok, no worries. I had changed it to a spear after all. *phew*

Serdoa seems to have retreated his forces - least wise, they aren't there anymore


Here's a question: why wouldn't Serdoa pillage all those cottages? I pillaged one of Serdoa's and got 33 gold out of it (hamlet/cottage), enough to pay for nearly a full turn of 100% research (or a warrior->spear upgrade)

Zero decided to join the wonder-whore fraternity with ToA - I think he built that because he had marble.



I think I'm done with wonders for awhile - get my HE and forges in and it's unit spamming time...

oh - in all the craziness, I captured a worker from Zero. He took one of mine eariler, so it's just payback

[AutomatedTeller]

My stats are a little odd - it says I've stolen 2 workers and lost 1... but I'm pretty sure it's the other way around.

Anyway - I sacrificed my sentry chariot for a couple of cottage pillages to raise some more cash - will 2 turn machinery, then engineering, then theo for another religion->temple in the cap->happy. After that, CoL->CS for maces.

At least, i assume one of Serdoa's Keshik's will make fast work of that chariot. Once HE is is in (next turn), I'll be able to 1 turn anything, including maces. between that and the capital, I'll have a pretty tough army.

I will admit, i wish I had a lot of spears that i could go and kill wounded keshik's with. Serdoa is a long ways from having replacements...