[Spoilers] Old Harry's Game

[Commodore]

More Waldo, that's all I ask for.

Also, completely seriously, I'd love to hear your thoughts on your economy vs. THH's, some analysis of the game's state and how you got here after killing one of RB's best, and how you plan to invade him better. Just because the extermination of all that dreck is simple doesn't mean there aren't other very interesting things going on.

[Old Harry]

Well going back to the demos screen from before Hydra declared and moved his stack in:


My GNP at 0% is 20% higher than Hydra's (presumably at 0%)
My MFG is 50% more than his - partly due to caste workshops and police state unit builds, but also due to well developed land and higher population.
My Crop Yield is 412 to his 383 - so not much between us.
My Land Area is 197000 while his is 229000, we both have 17 cities but I can only see 12 of his as a lot of them are pretty new. I should try to do something before these cities really start to contribute to him.

On tech I think I'm up compass, optics, astro, mil sci, sci meth, communism (9 000 beakers) while he's up Constitution, economics, steam power, assembly line and corporation (11 670 beakers)). I think that Communism is probably the most important tech there (infantry notwithstanding) as the maintenance on this map is pretty hard, and I'm seven turns from finishing the Kremlin.

Next I'll probably use my spare scientist to part-bulb physics for another scientist and the visibility airships allow. After that I'm a bit lost - I could go economics-corporation for wall st in Barnet and extra trade routes everywhere or I could go artilliery if I wanted to attack someone in 15 turns time. Steam power-railroad would be useful for internal communication and machine guns if I thought I was in danger of being attacked again soon.

But you want to hear about how I kill Hydra and end the game don't you? I just don't think I can - If I kill his stack and heal up my 20ish remaining cavalry whilst whipping more where can I send them? That fort would be an excellent site to fork Machu Picchu and Corihuayrachina, perhaps a couple of GII rifles could come along for cover. Not much element of surprise here though.


I'm guessing one of Hydra's cities went here so it would be possible to fork it with Tiwanaku. Again no way to disguise the attack.


Or we go the long way through Azza to catch these border cities unawares. It's a three turn journey and I wonder if the rest of Hydra's new cities have gone here too? This is the more promising angle of attack, but doesn't win me any land unless I can plough all the way back to my territory...


I don't really like any of those options, not if Hydra is drafting infantry, so what I'd be more likely to do is kill the stack and then attack Azza. If I get 10 turns peace from Hydra I have a galleon which can take two amphibious grenadiers and a rifle to take de_inferno and de_cpl_mill in one turn (perhaps even burning the MOM city), then while he struggles to get his army back from Dhalphir's territory to stop me I can take out his core. Giving me a load of well developed land to expand into while I out-tech Hydra.


Although if I kill a bunch of Hydra units in my land he gets war weariness, meaning his drafting might have to stop, and if I stay at war with him it can passively cripple him rather than my having to actively cripple him. As I think I said before I don't really know what I'm doing at this point in the game, so don't expect me to make the right choice here...

[Fintourist]

How long are your turns? Are you feeling exhausted or having fun?

[Old Harry]

Having fun! We've only been going again for this week, but turns were taking half an hour before the war declaration (and most of what I've done about that I could have skipped without changing much). I'm not putting nearly as much thought into this game as the demogame or PB13.

In fact I think today was my first two-day turn in this whole game (excluding forgetting to forward the save a few times when we were starting up). Did someone (Sareln?) write a tool to track a game's PYFT rating?

[Krill]

I used to keep a google spreadsheet with the amount of times people were last to end turn in PB3.

No one liked me for it but then no one could stop me either.

[Fintourist]

Having fun! We've only been going again for this week, but turns were taking half an hour before the war declaration (and most of what I've done about that I could have skipped without changing much). I'm not putting nearly as much thought into this game as the demogame or PB13.

Good to hear!

In fact I think today was my first two-day turn in this whole game (excluding forgetting to forward the save a few times when we were starting up). Did someone (Sareln?) write a tool to track a game's PYFT rating?

I think I saw something like that when I read Sareln's PBEM45 thread!

[Old Harry]

Turn 176

In the end I upgraded about ten spears and pikes to rifles and contrary to previous plans upgraded two catapults to cannons because they had 5xp each. With barrage II they probably justify the cost. Slightly revised battle numbers are
- 41 Rifles
- 23 Cavalry
- 20 Grenadiers
- 11 Catapults
- 34 Cannon
I've left two rifles in Forest Green, which will get odds on a combat I infantry, but likely lose to a CII infantry, a cav will also complete, but that won't fare so well. My best scenario is that Hydra uses a couple of cannon to bombard so he gets odds and moves the rest of the stack on. Or that he ignores Forest Green totally. Either is fine by me.


Forest Green's last action was to produce a 6XP galleon which has got Navigation and will visit Aquanauts next turn and Cuzco the turn after, just to keep THH on his toes.


Who won your spreadsheet Krill? If I wasn't about to take about a week off I'd go dust Sareln's PYFT device off...

[Old Harry]

Turn 177

The turn limps back around - perhaps we'll get two or three more turns in before the game dies? Anyway Hydra burns Forest Green with one lucky roll (presumably it was a withdrawing cavalry so would have withdrawn if it didn't win) and everything else going with the odds. He didn't move the rest of the stack on though, giving me an extra turn to get another three rifles, some more cavalry and 500 extra gold for upgrades.


OMFG! I think I'm going to make Hydra very unhappy... My amphibious grenadiers get over 90% on the spear and archer and the rifle 100% against the Quetcha.


A lot of infrastructure in here - not sure the Colosseum is much use but I guess the financial stuff is due to the torroidal maintenance costs.


Burnt. I feel terrible. I guess that odd culture will get sorted out when I end turn?


I put sentry on a galley to keep an eye on any stacks coming from this direction, but because Machu Picchu is on a hill I can see that a commando cav could take out the single Quetcha sitting in here. I'll need to generate a great general for that. I wonder how? I know Hydra doesn't have Mil Sci yet, so I don't have to worry about this, but I should keep an eye on the tech screen.


Over here it looks like Hydra is going for Darlington with the ironclad covering the galley. I've put an extra couple of units in so that he can't take the city this turn. I think it'll take three frigates to kill the ironclad, which is a lot of hammers (if the third survives it'll be 120 vs 67, otherwise 180 vs 67) but I think that it's necessary.

[Fintourist]

Boating is at the same time a cruel and a fun way to cripple/destroy your enemies.. It always made me feel somehow a bit ashamed in 45g. Totally in vain of course, you gotta do what you gotta do etc, but you know what I mean..

[Old Harry]

Well we both know you're a bad person. I guess I am too. The fact I only bulbed Astronomy last turn makes it seem even meaner.

(Hydra has research visibility on me, so he should have noticed I'm now researching Physics. I should probably have been saving money on Steam Power to keep it secret, but I thought that was a bit sneaky. And we know I only do stuff that is really sneaky. )