Zalson plays one turn at a time [COMPLETE]

[Zalson]

T168
Whip a couple granaries in new cities.

T169

Baghdad finishes a missionary (for Alexandria). Goes to wealth.

Basra starts another horse archer.

Thebes switches back to the National Epic.

Elephantine finishes its Theatre. Starts a Jewish monastery (need the culture).

Several whips around the empire to complete builds in my smaller cities.


Start a settler in Mecca; that’ll go to this NW spot.

Start research on Compass next turn with optics the turn after.

T170

Qin gets the SoZ as expected.

Commerce cities go after science buildings. Other than that, i really only have two production only cities.


I realize that Khursan should be a production city as it has absolutely no commerce potential. So that cottage should be replaced with a farm.

Heliopolis starts a workboat for my new city up north (the settler is on its way!)

List of which cities are what:

Hybrids
Mecca
Medina
Baghdad (need to replace the farms with watermills in state property and will add 1 workshop - need guilds!)
Kufah (only because I made a mistake with adding a cottage…)
Thebes
Memphis (replace mines with windmills)
Alexandria
Yamama (Moai)

Memphis (for some strange reason)


Commerce
Damascus
Najran
Heliopolis
Elephantine
Pi-Ramesses
Anjar
Fustat
Aden
Mansura
Site 2 in the northwest
Site 1 in the northeast
x in the northeast (2x gold city)
x in the far north (iron city)
Site 3 in the mid-east

EASTERN SITES


MID … east sites


Production
Basra
Kufah
Khurasan
Muscat
Site 2 in the northeast (copper city)
Site 2 in the mid-east

Kufah, for some reason. I think illustrating my poor choices when it comes to building that cottage. That'll become a farm since it can't be a watermill. However, that'll allow me to workshop the two tiles on either side of the irrigation! (GUILDS!)

[Zalson]

T171
Compass comes in. Start Optics.

Since my core has mostly infrastructure built, I think that means that I should grow those cities while building wealth. I mean, I do have 7 more cities to found but — 2T to grow in Damascus (or a 7T settler): I can do settlers a lot faster in other places.

For instance, a 4T settler out of Kufah. The two remaining untouched tiles will be workshopped (and that cottage will become a farm).

This one will go to site three in the middle of my lands. I think.



T172

Optics comes in. Start on Alpha just to get rid of it — and also so I can see what techs Qin has and what techs my other rivals have.

Start a caravel on the west coast next turn (I can get 10 overflow next turn into the Caravel) and will start another next turn after the workboat out of Heliopolis.

Not a lot to report.

Once I can get rid of Alpha, the next step will be Guilds. I don’t think i can use that to clean up Qin (protective longbows) but the cash bonus will be nice. Thinking along those lines, Education is probably more valuable. I’ll grab Theology not he way to paper and then crank Education to further increase my science rate. Then I can sandbag Liberalism (and can use the bonus going into Nationalism.

To clarify: research will be:

Alpha > Theology > Paper > Education > Philo > Nationalism

By then, I can, ideally, be in all day golden age.

[Zalson]

173

Bukhara gets founded this turn. While I don’t have the missionary in place, I do have the sheep improved — so that’s a micro win.


Also, can Qin telegraph a little bit?

(he also switched to Vassalage this turn).


So, in this case, everything shall switch to a unit build (in the near vicinity) and let’s switch research to Engineering. Due in 150 but I might have it a little faster than that.

174
Qin chooses poorly.


Here’s what he’s got:
2 protective longbows
1 sword
8 cats
5 axes
6 chariots

Pillagers
1 longbow
1 sword
1 axe

Stagglers
1 cat
1 chariot


What I’ve got in and around Pi-Ramesses
8 cats
3 horse archers
3 maces
6 axes
3 chariots
1 spear

with

2 maces, a spear and a crossbow incoming

First blood: a horse archer takes out an archer.

T175
Najran finishes the palace. Commerce output increases by 9 gpt.

I get a great prophet from Thebes. I’m thinking I hold him for a golden age.

And Qin’s stack heads north.


So let’s shred Qin’s stack, shall we?

First catapult (bar 1 dies) at 20%
Second withdraws at 40%
Third withdraws at 61%
Fourth withdraws at 39% (on the sword)
Fifth withdraws at 63%
last one dies at 63% (at it attacked a catapult)

So let’s flank those catapults, shall we?
Horse archer 1 wins at 91% odds… yeah so were pretty good to go here.

I lose one CR2 axeman because of stack attacking (at 82% odds) but other than that: Qin is left with very little in the way of an attacking force.



Okay, 1 more turn.

T176
COOL STORY BRO: Qin is blocking my work boat from getting to Bukhara. Got a caravel coming out of Heliopolis for this guy. Picture didn’t take, apparently.

COWARD!


And with this, I leave you. Not a big power dip but quite nice.

[Mardoc]

That's a promising start to a war. What's your plan? Just keep killing things that intrude, or take some of his land?

How far are you from Guilds? Knights generally seem the best way to get through longbows. Well, that or catapults, of course .

[Zalson]

My current goal is to wait for a tech advantage (knights) and then go stomp Qin. I’ve currently chosen engineering simply because the 3-road movement will help me get to the front faster — and play better defense that way.

As it is, guilds is probably 5 or 6 turns away at max science. Going to switch all my core builds to wealth to see if that can get me there faster.

177
There’s a lull in the fighting. The battered Chinese armies limp home, taunted by the jeers of the Arabians, lead by their general Cao Cao. The only things lost in the battle? Artillery shells.

In the middle of war, Qin gets a great merchant in Shanghai.

I really hope he doesn’t settle it. (he settled it in Beijing which I do plan on taking)



Also in the middle of the war: Fez is founded. This’ll be a production city.



Only 4 sites to go in Egypt and Arabia!

The field of battle in the south. I’ve retreated back into Pi-Ramesses to heal. Next turn, I’ll hit Qin’s mini stack.



T178
Qin attacks two *exposed* units in the interturn: a mace and a spear on a hill. The longbow nearly smoked my maceman but everyone else did okay. He then ran everyone away.



In another cunning wartime move, Qin build the parthenon in Hangzhou. You know, on the border.

Finally able to kill that workboat blocking workboat passage up north.



Shiraz founded in the icy north. This city will build culture into a lighthouse and will then whip out some basic infrastructure for forever.

[Molach]

Good reports.

Instead of building wealth and get to knight 1-2 turns early, you could build catapults instead. Unless you already have more than you know what to do with already...

[Zalson]

Good reports.

Instead of building wealth and get to knight 1-2 turns early, you could build catapults instead. Unless you already have more than you know what to do with already...

Or trebuchets! I know they don't have a lot of utility against MP (higher cost for a lower value unit) but they'd be useful as city crackers. Right?

[Zalson]

179
Engineering comes in, just in time (see below) Start Feudalism, due in 2 (that’ll change as I convert things over to wealth builds as necessary).

Qin’s incursion into my lands is easily dealt with by macemen.



Qin also goes after some workers in the south east of Egypt. This is a decent tactical move: most of my spears are in the west.


However, I was able to clean it up pretty easily. I lost one highly promoted maceman because I didn't use a catapult first.

I also 2x whipped Baghdad which was probably a mistake.

I think Egypt is going to bear the brunt of the war effort. The cities down there are pretty small with good food surpluses. It’s their land they’ll have to defend, too.

A note on writing style: re-reading what I've written, I am horrified. It's all written in a jumble of past and present tense; I'll try to make it a little more palatably past tense for you, the readers.

[Zalson]

T180
Qin prepares to waste another stack attack an “exposed” city.



2x whips in a couple of small pop cities that are building units but other than that: a quiet turn. Most of these are quiet on the home front. Qin killing my foreign trade routes really is a doozy.

What I wouldn’t give to be the Aztecs right now…



Let’s see what India has, shall we?



T181
Let’s just say I’d really like to defend here:



Oh: it’s Ragnar. Not India.



Ragnar has no religion! Ragnar has very few cities. I am going to pour EP into him for a few turns. Just because I can. Also, to get his demographics.

I also have swapped to a jewish missionary plus a caravel to transport it to cultivate him as an ally.

In micronews:



So disappointing.

T182
Flawless Victory (well, not exactly — but no units lost).

In other news, I finally managed to spread Judaism to Pi-Ramesses.



This ain’t gonna be good. For Qin.



In other news, Qin did get Cho-Ko-Nus last turn (completed Machinery). Which should make him a bit more than a speed bump.

T183
Forest Management
At this point, i see the best use of my forests as getting my new cities up to speed (chopping into the granary, chopping into the forge). Then, for the most part, I’m planning on leaving them to chop into any remaining wonders (SoL for example). This seems like a decent plan but I’m not sure how advantageous it will be. I suppose I will find out.

I am realizing why, even with so many developed cities in my core, it is important to have tons of workers around. You can convert things from one useful early item (for instance, the farms at my start) into cottages or watermills.

All this is here just because there was not really anything to take a picture of this turn. T184 I turn back on research and will get knights in 3 turns.

That does remind me to go through and turn off every horse archer build next turn though. If I start everyone on Chariots just before I get guilds, does that mean I'll get knights from the chariots and knights from the horse archers (provided they complete?)

[novice]

If I start everyone on Chariots just before I get guilds, does that mean I'll get knights from the chariots and knights from the horse archers (provided they complete?)

The two queued items would coalesce into one knight build, and you would lose the hammers invested into one of them.