TheHumanHydra Loses His Head(s) [Spoilers]

[ipecac]

How many turns till Rifling? And Military Tradition for Cavalry stompfest after that?

[TheHumanHydra]

Per Commodore's request -




This is the northwest, where my primary defensive arrangements are focused. Highlighted is the current garrison of Perrier; Red Star has a Guerrilla I longbow and two maces and Trial By Fire a Guerrilla I longbow and two pikes. The glowing blue tile (the eponymous gems 1NW of Emerald) is where my collateral stack is concentrating, currently 12 cho-ko-nus in number with five more on the way. 2W of Hulk (between the bananas and the silk) is where my knight stack is concentrated, 34 in all plus a supermedic chariot, with a few more knights on the way. The Other Side has a garrison similar in size to Perrier's to defend against landings by Miguelito. The cities up here have most of their essential infrastructure up, with varying amounts of bells and whistles, though production mostly comes through whipping so tile productivity is not yet consistent.




The core and south, featuring Dawn of Planet (bureaucap), Dawn's Chancel (useless - honestly), Worm's Lair (Moai Statues, Parthenon, hybrid econ/production), Wormfang Shrine (Statue of Zeus, hybrid econ/production but more on the production side), Virgin Planet (National Epic, econ), Dawn's Reverie (Notre Dame, Heroic Epic), and Chiron Stigmata (just finishing the Forbidden Palace). Sanctuary Dome is currently garrisoned by two longbows, one pike and two spears.




The north (Chiron Stigmata is the city at the bottom of the screen. Childhood's End's garrison, which is continually being added to, is highlighted. My knights can reach here and attack in two turns instead of the one to attack in the west. I have to keep a number of cho-ko-nus out here as well since they can't traverse the map as fast. Childhood's end is a heavy production city, but once it grows onto its cottages (which should have been planted much earlier) it'll be an excellent commerce city as well. Kiwi looks like it could be a pump as well. Jungle ... I kind of wish I had razed, as it's just continually in revolt and culturally crushed anyway. Soon it'll flip, and then I'll have to see whether I want to raze it or let Miguelito have the toehold (thoughts?).

Builds summary:




You can see the five cities building universities so I can start on Oxford in the capital. Maybe they'll all do the same for banks afterward so I can build Wall Street too? A bit of a military focus elsewhere since Alhazard's cuirassiers (and my stretched-out empire) scare me; before/after that it's infrastructure and/or Wealth (when I was trying to get to Economics).

So yeah, that's the empire. As for your question, ipecac, a while yet still, though that's where I want to head next, and then likely to Military Tradition, yes. I'm holding the Golden Age because I'm thinking I might want to trigger it toward the end of that stretch, so I can pop into Nationhood at the end of it to start drafting if the situation is right to go on the offensive, which is not guaranteed. Now, I thought Alhazard was farther ahead in tech than he appears to be, only just researching Paper, so maybe it'll be possible, but I'm very leery about going up against opponents with a lot of collateral and decent tech (even if slightly outdated) after PBEM 46, and he's not that far behind, if at all, so we'll see.

Thoughts are always appreciated.

[ipecac]

Soon it'll flip, and then I'll have to see whether I want to raze it or let Miguelito have the toehold (thoughts?).

I don't see much downside to razing.

but I'm very leery about going up against opponents with a lot of collateral and decent tech (even if slightly outdated) after PBEM 46, and he's not that far behind, if at all, so we'll see.

Well, now that I think about it more it's probably better to just build enough for defensive purposes and claim the defender's advantage, because have to dogpile you to have any chance because otherwise in the long run you'll win because of so much more land.

[TheHumanHydra]

but I'm very leery about going up against opponents with a lot of collateral and decent tech (even if slightly outdated) after PBEM 46, and he's not that far behind, if at all, so we'll see.

Well, now that I think about it more it's probably better to just build enough for defensive purposes and claim the defender's advantage, because have to dogpile you to have any chance because otherwise in the long run you'll win because of so much more land.

Yeah, I think I tend to agree. Old Harry and I had chatted about the possibility of attacking Miguelito's home island with rifles, because that would be difficult for the other players to intervene against and would afford even more good land to keep snowballing with, but that would be down the line a bit ... and may actually be scuppered, as - retep, you were right - Miguelito now has grenadiers (and, it appears from the fancy new techs screen, Astronomy for galleons).

[retep]

Is been a while but I keep checking save. You are doing great but your opponents have a militaristic tech advantage over you, Miguelito grenadiers + galleons and Alhazard Cruis, that is kind of warrisome.

You will finish 4 universities this turn and you should/are going to triple-whip the 5, right? Then you can start in Oxford next turn (if you chop the forest near the capital that would be a 6 turn build I think).

So what is the plan? You could save gold until you finish Oxford then start the GA. Or what you have thought?

Also less longbowman and more knights?

[TheHumanHydra]

Hey retep, yep, I finished five universities, whipping the last, so I can start Oxford in the capital. Good thought on the chop - I realized I also need to cottage the last plains tile over there, so I already have workers on the way. Do you think I should save gold that long? I was thinking of teching Printing Press now at least, as it provides a valuable economic benefit. I could save gold after that till Oxford's complete. Other than that, I want to start running specialists again in Virgin Planet, and start building banks in some cities so I can build Wall Street in the capital, too (and they seem more hammer-efficient than building markets/grocers, even universities, in cities that don't have them, too). Some cities will continue pumping military, of course, since both Miguelito and Alhazard are arming - noted on the more knights, less longbowmen (I think I have about how many I wanted now, anyway). Thanks as always!

[TheHumanHydra]

Time for a random report. Oxford finished, I turned on tech and finished Gunpowder, while Alhazard finished Replaceable Parts. This should allow for a comparison of our 'raw' GNP, without modifiers from known tech bonuses or prerequisites (assuming he was running 100% research), am I right? Note I am producing more culture, and have a couple cities on wealth builds, but he is in a Golden Age.




This is where we're at on the tree (Philosophy is not yet researched):




The mouseover gives two turns for Replaceable Parts, and two for Rifling (I'm assuming this is where we want to go given Alhazard already has Military Tradition and is almost on Rifling). With wealth builds, I should be able to maintain three more turns of 100% research. Should I activate my Golden Age to make this go further?

This is where everyone else is at:




Note Miguelito has Military Science and Astronomy, and is churning out grenadiers. I'm trying to get a spy over to his island so I can spot incoming galleon-borne attacks.

Speaking of which, the power graph:




My military:




A couple other graphs:







Yep. Virgin Planet (NE) is working on another Great Person, Dawn's Reverie (HE) has been producing knights, most cities are still on banks or universities (some of the occupied cities have good commerce potential), and I've been producing a few spies to try and lift the fog a bit concerning my opponents' intentions. I have knights and/or longbowmen whippable in a number of cities. Right now I'm guessing Alhazard's game plan might be to use cavalry to launch an attack on me, to which Miguelito at least would pile on. Hopefully I can get rifles fast enough to counter this, and/or my defensive stack will be adequate and I don't make any mistakes that will allow it to be destroyed. Other than that, I'm mostly focused on building infrastructure for the long haul.

[Old Harry]

Looks like you have a good number of Chokos - right now they're probably the most useful unit you can produce if facing the prospect of a more advanced military attack. What can you build that will queue-upgrade to be a Rifle?

Re: launching the golden age - have your conquests done their growing or could you get a lot more pop in the next ten turns? If its the former I'd launch now - unless you have a civic revolt in mind for the near future?

[Commodore]

What can you build that will queue-upgrade to be a Rifle?

Longbows, muskets, and I think pikes?

[TheHumanHydra]

Thanks; I started on muskets in a number of cities to whip into rifles if desired. With this whipping in mind, it might be best to wait on the Golden Age (I also want to get some more universities up). I teched to 16 beakers short of Replaceable Parts this turn; maybe that'll let me one-turn Rifling after finishing RP next turn, using up (but hopefully not exceeding) my gold reserves. Alhazard is showing two turns to Rifling; that might be just his next turn if he accelerates his pace, of course.