Woden's and Chevalier Mal Fet's [Insert Clever Name Here] Team Thread

[Woden]

Singaboy asked for a DoF. I said no. We'll have plenty of time as it is, I think. More time just favors Sullla's ridiculous science rate more.

Are you sure about this? It will only add 10 turns to our current DoF. Are you going to be ready with a mass of Frigates in 20 turns? 

IDK, that extra 10 turns might help. It will help me get a fleet on the west coast, where I am pretty vulnerable. It will let Rome/China focus on Germany and tie them into a stagnant war. If Rome feels they don't have a secure eastern front, he is going to push on our Khmer holdings since the China/Germany war will be mostly by seas because of the landmass there. I think we let them think we just want to build so they move their army to the China/Germany border and then hit them hard after the 30 turns are up. 

On the flip side, we won't be able to intervene if Germany crumbles but it is TheArchduke. As just because we don't have a DoF, it doesn't means we have to fight. IDK, what do you think?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

My worry is that extending to turn 155 will give them 20 turns to attack the Archduke unmolested. When I checked last turn, his gold balance was mostly gone. Emperor K has a bit of cash, but not a whole lot, and he has no army at all. Archduke has no navy in the southern ocean, it's all facing Singaboy, and even that might not be enough if he can't scrape together frigate money. Sullla, meanwhile, is mostly unopposed and can land his army along Germany's east coast. So, while I think Archduke could put a stout defense at the canal cities, I worry about his ability to hold for 20 turns. His power is lower than ours, while Singaboy and Sullla both exceed ours by quite a bit. We'd catch up with upgrades, of course.

The main thing is 20 turns would be long enough for them to punch into Archduke, cripple him, and then sign peace before turning on us. We'd be stronger on turn 155 than turn 145, sure - but so would they. I probably can't afford upgrades to my whole fleet in 20 turns, but I can definitely scrape together enough to upgrade 10 frigates or so on the northern sea. Two of those will become fleets/armadas, even 3 if I'm willing to burn Santa Cruz on it (I can use Sir Francis Drake as a backup there, transfer the medieval admiral to the less important southern ocean to cover things). I don't PLAN on attacking turn 145, but I want the option to. An extended DoF ties our hands too much.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 126

An exciting turn today, so all you lurkers who have been tuning out because all my updates these days consist of "I built this...I built that...", time to sit up and pay attention! Because...I built more things! 

Well, one thing. 

But I think we are slowly clawing our way back into this game. Everything depends on how the Germany/Roman/Chinese war goes, but that's no surprise - I said that the game would come down to that months ago. Only now we're hurtling towards the decisive confrontation. I dropped the ball there in the 80's and 90's, and it probably was fatal - but not yet! We're still kickin'! 

Let's get to the turn.

I finish Banking and I'm not sure where to go next:




Industrialization for Coal and later Ironclads makes sense. But for that, I need square rigging, and I daren't finish that while I still need so many quadriremes. I can build 2.5 quads for every frigate I build, and new cities can crank 'em out in just a few turns with Maritime Industries. I desperately want Merchant Republic, but the quads/maritime combo is the key to getting my expensive districts up quickly. So bottom line: Industrialization is out, for now. 

Steel? That might be viable. I need to make my way through the bottom of the tech tree, which I've been ignoring. Steel is the other big naval tech, enabling battleships and city defenses. Part of my motivation for not extending the DoF was wanting to hit hard with frigates before Sullla unlocks this key tech. Hopefully I can keep him on the back foot and sink most of the navy before it becomes a problem. In the meantime, I need about 3 builders to harvest the 11 crabs around my borders in order to save up the funding for battleships. So STeel makes sense, but it's a very long-term project. In the short term, let's pick up the missing prerequisites on that route. The other possibility is Military Science for Redcoats. Those would go a long way towards evening the odds on land, but I can't afford to be strong on both land and sea. That was a mistake I made earlier in the game. Gotta pick one. 

Anyway. I timed my swap off Square Rigging perfectly:




Thanks, Woden! In return, I can start sending you civic boosts soon - my culture has recovered and is second in the game behind Emperor by the end of this turn, and it will keep climbing as new districts come online across the empire. Now Exploration and Frigates are both down to 1 turn - I can swap into both at will. 

In the southern ocean, the battered pirate has fled out sight and a fresh foe appears. I take the Embolden promotion and will go after him next turn. 



Have to be real active in patrolling these waters. 

In other scouting news, my scout has followed a 1-tile wide path right into the Chinese core:


 

Look at all those wonders! Oooh, aaah. Well, speaking of wonders, I built my final targeted wonder of the game this turn. 




There, I promise you a one turn wonder, I GIVE you a one-turn wonder. The overflow from the stone harvest through the galley knocked out the majority of the cost.  I sent the rest straight into the wonder via the deer tile, using the overflow to finally add a monument here. That 60 production is quick to grab. Next step: Build a new quadrireme, then chop out the Commercial hub, then straight ships until the end. 

The new squadron is having a hard time leaving the bay of Actium, though:




Valetta has decided to exercise its army in some aquatic maneuvers, I guess? The traffic jam keeps my ships from leaving. Annoying. Hope that doesn't continue. 




The Roman and Chinese forces are embarked for Germany. Excuse me while I gush over the wake animation for a moment. -gush-

...okay. As I was saying, this move makes a lot of sense. Sullla telegraphed it to us with his diplomatic messages, assuming I interpreted those correctly, but everyone should see this coming. Rome/China's strategy is clear and, regrettably, really solid, too. They alternate DoFs with their neighbors, using their science/gold/domination lead to crush each enemy civ in turn while their opponents are unable to unite against them tahnks to the DoFs. Imagine if Archduke had gone full Montezuma, like he has in every even-numbered PBEM ever played here, while Sullla was knee-deep in Kongo. I mean, they still would have won over Kongo, Japper didn't have the tech or the numbers to stop Sullla, but Singaboy might have had his hands full. Instead, though, they had a DoF, so no attack. If they'd been prepared to attack Rome/China back on T115, I probably wouldn't have offered a DoF myself. As it was, my army was backwards, I had no money, Woden's units were injured and battered, and we were facing a faith-drafted army and large Roman numbers. 

I'll scout for Archduke and hope he sees the danger coming, maybe even gets in a pre-emptive strike of his own. It is worrisome that Emperor is doing nothing other than sending cash to Archduke. No faith-purchased horses to upgrade to Cossacks later, no ships of his own going by that magnificent fjord, hell, he's still got most of his troops on Woden's border! Get those units in place and ready to upgrade, man! You need to defend the beaches while Archduke holds the isthmuses! 

Ah, well. I feel better about Woden and I, at least. We're not as far behind as we were, maybe even slowly moving back into second place! 1/3 of the peace down. How much more will we be able to accomplish? 

Finally, a few more housekeeping items at home:


 

No surprises. Much as it pained me, I bought a tile with Aboukir to place both districts. Why did it have to be now? Because the city finishes a settler in 2 turns and will drop back down to size 6, that's why. With Aboukir's weak food, it'll take a while to hit size 7 again. I can't harvest that rice or the city will slowly starve. Aboukir is gotten about as big as it's ever going to. City will swap to a quad after the settler finishes and prepare to chop out a district. 6 culture in those 3 districts once I finish 'em! I can get two done pretty quickly with quad chops, the last will slow-build. :/ 

The west (now with more Lepanto):



The east:



Thanks for following along with me, guys. Hope to make things more entertaining to read soon.

[suboptimal]

Imagine if Archduke had gone full Montezuma, like he has in every even-numbered PBEM ever played here

Hmmm....he's not playing in PBEM 10 but he happens to be dedlurking Montezuma....guess the streak is still alive. 

[Ituralde]

Don't worry about the turn reports. I always enjoy reading them. There's war turns and then there's the mundane housekeeping stuff. One couldn't happen without the other and seeing how the cake is made is a big draw for me to lurking these games on RB. So no regrets, keep those reports coming!

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Don't worry about the turn reports. I always enjoy reading them. There's war turns and then there's the mundane housekeeping stuff. One couldn't happen without the other and seeing how the cake is made is a big draw for me to lurking these games on RB. So no regrets, keep those reports coming!

Well, good. 

Speaking of war turns, Woden and I have been talking and we've decided it's better to go for Geneva after all. 

The issue is Sullla's science rate. It's absolutely out of control. Now, like Woden said, I derive a bigger percentage of my science from the city state than Sullla does, so this hurts me more than it hurts him, probably. So why do it? 

The name of the game is to slow teching down. We're already at the next stage of military tech: Frigates, muskets, soon cavalry and field cannons. The longer this era lasts, the better for us. We're already competitive here, so our lower research rate means squat on the field of battle - for the moment. However, Sullla's crazy rates let him research towards the next gen much faster than we can - infantry, machine guns, and my nemesis, battleships. We want the era of frigates and muskets to last as long as possible, and that means Rome's science rate has to come down. In the long run, yes, it hurts because it means I also will take longer to get to Steel. But if it extends the time I have to try and gain an edge with the frigates I have now, then who gives a damn? The game will be decided before Battleships, one way or the other. 

This also means I think I need to start harvesting crab and copper now. More gold = more upgrades = more ships = more power. The payoff is pretty tilted in favor of harvesting everything now. We've gotta go all-in, as best we can, while we still have the chance.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Woden, writing this down before I forget - remember to remove your pin on top of Lepanto. We don't need it anymore and it obscures my view of the city.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 127

This will be my last turn report for a few days, as I'm leaving town to go to a funeral. I didn't expect to miss so much time when I signed up for this PBEM in November, but this spring has seen me called on to chaperone both my school's overnight field trips as well as two deaths in the family. There'll be more absences over the summer, if this thing continues that long. Woden will fill in while I'm gone.




Finally pick up Construction, and get to work on Military science. My research is all oriented at Steel for the moment, but we'll eventually have to interrupt that to pick up Square Rigging. I also notice that my research rate has plunged from the mid '60s down to the mid '40s as I lose my Geneva trade routes and 15% bonus. Sullla picks that up for a turn, giving him an extra 20 science until we kill the damn place. In the long run, though, this is a bandaid that needs to be ripped off. 

I keep milling my caravel around the Roman army/navy, trying to give Archduke as much warning as I can. I hope he's paying attention and gets the message. It might annoy Rome, but there's bugger all he can do about it until t145, when we're probably fighting each other anyway. After some tinkering - 7 moves is a LOT - I settle here as the most revealing spot:




The Archduke is ready, lining up his army on a broad front opposite Singaboy's mostly out-of-sight forces:




I worry that Germany is deploying too far forward. I think he has too many ships in the narrow confines of the lakes - apart from a few quads -> frigates, most should be on the open ocean to face Singaboy's anvy and raid China's coasts. I'd want to punch back as much as I can so Singaboy has to divert troops to coastal defense, or lose cities. As it is, I worry that ARchduke will suffer a devastating first strike at that close range. But he's a much better tactician than I, with a lot more experience in multiplayer war (I have yet to hurt another player's units in anger, ever), so he probably knows what he's doing...but it goes against my instincts. 

Emperor seems belatedly awake to the danger, as well:




Russia fields only a handful of units. What has he been building all this time? Where are his horsemen? I think Russia is the other side of the expansion coin - I think he overspent on settlers and the time invested in those has yet to pay itself back. I worried about falling victim to that, so I UNDER-expanded. Now those cities will have to pay for themselves with chops. My science, culture, city count, gold income, and domination score are all higher than Russia's last I checked - including, yes, culture. And Russia has half-cost Lavras with Choral Music! 

I finally hunt down the pirate, but more caravels appear to the north (not pictured):





I might need a second caravel if this keeps up, one ship can't keep a lid on things at this rate. There's another caravel hovering off the entrance to the Bay of Actium in the north, Woden, I sent my own caravel fleet to intercept him. See if you can't hunt that bastard down and send him to the bottom. 

Overview shots:





Jutland is almost done building its RND. After that, it will chop out a district and more pop using the wheat, the jungle or grassland hill if it's available, and the quad stored in the build queue. Builder is on the way from Leyte with 3 charges left to do all that and mine the bald hill. 

Actium is working on another quad. After that, it will chop out its commercial hub. Builder is not there yet, needs to be built. 

Leyte continues to work on its builder, after that it's a quad to be chopped into a campus. Long way to go here yet. 

Lepanto's slow growth hurts it. If I'd founded the city earlier I could have grabbed a fish tile before Valetta got to it. Alas! I failed. It needs a builder to chop things, but it'll swap to a quad after the RND. 

Aboukir is finishing its settler next turn, then it will start on a quad to use one final chop for one of its two districts. It'll be a jungle chop, so lame, but I use what I can. It'll slowbuild the rest with its thankfully high level of native production. 

The east:




After Trafalgar's university, it needs to start pumping builders and sending them to the western cities.

Salamis is working on a builder for Syracuse, it can follow up with more builders! 

Navarino is quickly building its Commercial Hub, more swiftly than the 37% cost RNDs at the new cities! After that it can work on traders or builders. There's a builder nearby that can either harvest the southern copper or move on to Savo and start working on that island. 

Savo is fast finishing its quadrireme. It needs to stop with 1 turn left and work on its RND. After the RND finishes, chop out a granary or lighthouse. 

Syracuse, same story, different order. Here I'm building the RND first, then will swap to the quad and charge up a chop. 

Research-rates are a mixed bag. Culturally, I am once again tops in the game after spending 20 turns or so in the middle of the pack. I'm grabbing Humanism, then, if you like, Woden, Enlightenment is boosted by me, so I can grab it and boost it for you if you still need the boost (I don't think you do, though, 2 generals and a great scientist, right?). Otherwise I'm heading for Triangular Trade at MErcantilism. 

Science took a hit, though, losing 16 points from its previous high. This is the highest I can rebuild it. I lost 9 beakers from trade routes alone, and the other 7 was my 15% Nan Madol bonus. I do get more production and culture, though, so it's not a total loss. Most of my trade route now run to Nubia's city with a Theater Square, Thoth I think? 

Woden, my intentions the next few turns:

1)Keep building at home as you see fit. There's a handful of builders with a few charges left, use your judgment on improvements vs. chops. 
2)Build queues - never finish a quad without a chop. Prioritize growth, then districts, then other things. 
3)Military units are mostly on multiturn orders, but I have a handful of scouts hunting pirates or monitoring enemy troop movements. Use your judgment on those, try to hunt down the pirate vessels and end threats to our trade and unupgraded units. 

I gave broad outlines for each city here, and there's the bigger planning post on the previous page. The details I leave to you. You know the plan. Thanks for covering for me and good luck on your turns.

[Woden]

CMF,
I already have the boost for Enlightenment, so go for Mercantilism. I can capture Geneva and sent it to you next turn. I was able to take out its walls and leave the city at 80/200 HP. Geneva should come with a Campus and Library. I didn't check to see if it was done with its university and I don't think the campus has an adjacency bonus, so the increase will be +2 plus 4.2:science?: from 6 population. You will also get the tundra city in 3, maybe 4 turns, with a granary and monument, so another 2.1. So you should get 8.3 back in the coming turns.

And I will try not to screw up you empire!

[Woden]

Nubia-Turn 126

I owe you 2 turns, since I didn't have the time last night to write things up but will say you didn't really miss much. Turn 127 was much more exciting. Anyways, start off with...

Probably should have built a few quads before I finished it but didn't really have the time. I should be able to get some Frigates out of Thoth before I need them to protect my eastern shore and China should be too busy with Germany to threaten my shores anyways.

 
Here is an overview of my core...

Builders being builty and units moving. In the north...

China is no longer blocking my advance, so should be able to settle on time, thanks to the additional movement for embarked units from Square Rigging. In the north...

In the southwest...

Barb scout appears and I one-shot kill it with a crossbow. I don't see the camp, so either left over from an already taken camp or one that is under the fog. May have to send a knight to check it out. That was about it for this turn. 

Did check science rates:
Rome/China: 149/91.5
Russia/Germany: 55/108.6
England/Nubia: 69.2/99.8

Rome is getting scary, may have to take some action.

Nubia-Turn 127

A little more action this turn. I start with a finished trader at Horus. I check the routes and find...

Nice little route to Alschwangen. A little gold, a little production, and a little science plus a road connecting Horus to the eastern cities. Trade route will last 38 turns, a little long but not bad for a decent route. Income is back to pre-pillaged route levels. 

Current science raet is 100.5. This is important becuase...

We need to slow Rome down. His science rate jumps from 149:science to 171.9 now that he is the Suzerain. My rate drops to 89 and the screen says CMF's rate is 56.8 but I don't think the lost trade routes are taken into consideration yet.  The nice thing here is...

Free 2-charge builder. I move units into position...

I was able to get a musket and 2 knights next to the city with enough movement to attack and have 2 crossbows within range to shoot at the city. The first knight takes out most of the walls with the 2nd knight finishing then off, then hit it with 2 crossbows followed by the musket. Not enough to take the city...

Left city with 80/200 HP. It will heal 20 HP on its turn and then I have plenty to take it next turn. This should bring Rome's science rate down to around 100-110 and bring Germany's down around 90-100 range. It will also bring China's down a little but don't know how many Campuses he has built. Should slow things down a little, at least until everybody finishes Enlightenment, then we will see who has the most universities. 

Back at my core...

Nu-Kandy finished repairing the aqueduct and started a horseman. It has the population to build a Harbor but I want to make sure that crab city gets a discounted harbor first. Not sure if I have level 3 discounts yet. Horus starts a catapult. A couple more builders finish next turn and I will switch off of Osiris's builder next turn to make sure the costs don't increase too much for the tundra city builder. Horus also has a builder at 1 turn that will complete after the city is traded to CMF.