Silly Rules succession game

[rjmatsleepers]

End of term report

Our war chest is up from 608 to 1192. Net revenue has gone up from 224 to 413. Beakers are down from 57 to 0. We have 3 extra marines, 3 extra cavalry and 4 extra spies. We have only 1 freight compared with the 4 I started with and we lost 1 galleon.

We have gained 3 additional technologies - fundamentalism, guerilla warfare and mass production and 3 extra cities (regained Ritter, Doofus and Third Rock), but there are probably more AI cities than at the start of my turns.

We no longer have a ship chain.

The 1915 save

I have chosen Fundamentalism - the next player (JRabbit?) can use the "coupon" to chose something else, but why would you? I have moved the sliders and workers from where they were during the anarchy, but I have not moved any units.

Opportunities and problems

We are about 2,000 beakers away from our next discovery, but we're not researching anything. We don't have to choose until we start to produce beakers. I've no idea what we will be offered, let alone what will be the next alphabetically.

There is a sleeping engineer in Bob Hope. I had in mind starting a new city in the island to the south - assuming noone is there already.

We have spies that could steal techs from Zulus (mobile warfare) or French (flight), although I'd be inclined to pick up the technologies when we capture their cities. We should be able to bribe Zunguin fairly soon if we want to.

The French have not been very active recently. They have a fighter in Avignon which does not seem to be doing anything. They may be ready for a cease fire, but I'm not sure we have anything to gain from it.

We can probably provoke a war with the Zulus anytime we talk to them.

Nothing is happening in the war with the Sioux. The cease fire with the Spanish and English seem to be fairly robust.

RJM at Sleeper's



LOG

1906

Change Palace in Bob Hope to City Walls and switch to palace in Beeblebrox. Revolt. With no cities able to produce demanded goods for Spain or Russia, start to move ship chain east. Give Automobile to Spanish for ceasefire. Give sanitation to English for ceasefire. All ceasefires hold! Civil disorder in Sticky.

1907

I use the "coupon" to choose monarchy and try to get our main cities celebrating. It costs some production and hunger, but there are celebrations in Silly walks, Beeblebrox, Fright Wig, Leiden, Bozo and Monty Python. French revolt to Communism and ask for 600 gold. I decline. They lose 7 units in attacks on Verdun and Old Chuckles. We have no losses. All other cease fires hold.

1908

Keeping the celebrations going continues to cost production and hunger, but we have a net income of 252 which will be useful. I kill three cannons hanging around Verdun and Old Chuckles and despatch French destroyer that sailed too close to Sticky Moose. French naval vessel attempts to storm Bull Winkle and fails. All cease fires hold.

1909

Gold (d) Fright Wig-Avignon (336) Spice (nd) Wabbit-Avignon (76) Spice (nd) Bozo-Avignon (98)

1910

Zulus land between MP and Bozo. Revolt

1911

Chose Communism. Net revenue 250, but no celebration. Approach the Zulus. They demand 1,000. I refuse. We are at war. Destroy 2 units outside Bull Winkle and marine outside Bozo. Bribe Riter for 955 get 150 plus mass production. Spy captured. Bribe third rock for 563 get 88 plus guerilla warfare. Spy escaped. Bribe Doofus for 297 get 58 and fundamentalism. Spy escaped. Agree to declare war on the Sioux in exchange for cease fire with Zulus. Start city walls in all newly captured cities.

1912

Prepare to bribe unknown Zulu city south east of 3rd rock.

1913

Brave marine in Jerry Lewis survives french naval attack and becomes vet.

1914

Gold (nd) Bozo-Avignon (70) Oil (nd) Wabbit-Avignon) (74). Try to bribe Zunguin but too expensive. Revolt

1915

Choose fundamentalism

[-Jrabbit]

Great job, it appears, RJM@. I'm especially pleased to see the French have abandoned Democracy for the joys of Communicsm.

Have downloaded and will email to the iMac for full inspection and silly continuation.

Having Fundy will be a boon. Not sure what to make of the abondonment of science and trade. I see the why of your decisions, but have never gone that route myself, especially when behind in the tech race. (Come to think of it, that's not something I'm at all accustomed to. Maybe that's the problem...)

Planning to steal techs and cities. Going back to my previous turns, the thinking was that the French and Sioux might provide enough production base to make us competitive with the evil Zulus.

We shall see...

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

IMHO trade should not be abandoned.

By all means, turn science to 0% + 1 einstein. Get the celebrations going in Fundy. Then go back to trading... the bonuses should be pretty good. And a Freight delivery doesn't need to pay for itself fully - so long as it's 100 gold (+ 100 beakers, of course) that offsets the cost. To say nothing of the potential (increase to) ongoing trade. (Remember High Priestess Jezebel and the Space Mice?? )

Did we build any Factories/Superhighways (I thought I has started some)? Those should make trading much more practical - the factories will make incremental rushing cheaper and faster, and the SH will increase the trade payoffs, of course.

I'm all in favour of smiting the French/Sioux while we're in Fundy. But if we want to buy any of their cities, we'll need trade payoffs to do so.

[Straybow]

Prepare to bribe unknown Zulu city south east of 3rd rock.

Errr, north east, right? There's also an unknown French city SW of Chuckles, and it's in the sweet spot!

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by Straybow

Prepare to bribe unknown Zulu city south east of 3rd rock.

Errr, north east, right? There's also an unknown French city SW of Chuckles, and it's in the sweet spot!

Er... well ... no ... er ... actually I did mean south east. The city I was thinking of turned out to be Zunguin (or some such name) and was too expensive to bribe. The plot you have marked south of Bob Hope was my intended target for the settler. If there's a city there, it's probably a better bribe target.

I'd worked out from the barb activity that there was something happening west of Old Chuckles, but I didn't know what. It's further from the French capital than Avignon, but still expensive to bribe. I leave that one to JRabbit.

As for trade and science ... my feeling was that we can win with spies and armour (which will become available with the next Zulu city we take). Therefore we don't need scientific research from our own efforts or from trade. Money from trade would be good, but I didn't (and don't) think that there's much point in rushing freight in cities that already have 3 trade routes if it costs more to rush than we get for delivery. I don't know how good the bonuses are under a celebrating fundamentalist regime.

My decision to dismantle the ship chain was wholly tactical. I didn't expect to complete many freights in my set of turns, and I wanted the galleons and transport so that I could bribe Ritter and Doofus. The theory was that if we weren't rushing the freight, we may as well use only one or two vessels to deliver them.

It may not be a very good theory, but it was at least a theory.

I await the jury's verdict on whether a period at the Institute is required.

RJM at Sleeper's

[La Fayette]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers
I await the jury's verdict on whether a period at the Institute is required.
RJM at Sleeper's

I don't agree with your choice, but I am not in favour of sending you to The Institute.

The reason why is that you chose a strategy and made it become reality, and that pleases me mightily .

IMO what we need now is the capacity to strike hard. Robotics is far away, but you wrote that we may be able to get Mobile Warfare very soon.
I would give that a very high priority because that will allow us to make use of the 'killer combo #1' in modern warfare: armours + vet spies.

(a reminder to those not familiar with efficient use of vet spies on the battlefield: vet spies destroy walls and sabotage dangerous enemy units, nothing else)

[-Jrabbit]

Looked things over last night; finished off the 1915 turn but still formulating a plan. Our power is Moderate and reputation Despicable. We are at war with the Frendch and Sioux, cease fires in place with all others. Everyone but us seems to have plenty of money. Peace? We don't seem to know the meaning of the word...

Our archipelago cities are threatened by Zulu and Spanish ships and troops. With our minimal naval presence, the best we can hope for is to maintain them. The Zulus can overwhelm us if they wish. To this end, all archipelago cities will get city walls and coastal fortresses.

Moved the sliders to 20-0-80 to start We The Reverend celebrations in 9 cities.

(a reminder to those not familiar with efficient use of vet spies on the battlefield: vet spies destroy walls and sabotage dangerous enemy units, nothing else)

Is this why two of my spies weren't offered a choice of techs to steal? Regardless, we stole Flight from the French, Mobile Warfare and Machine Tools from the Zulus. Barracks are gone but shall be rebuilt, to be followed by rushed Armor. The Zulus "condemned American terrorism" and moved more troops adjacent to Jerry Lewis, but for now, the cease fire holds. An air force has been started.

Reclaiming trade will be difficult, but perhaps it can be set up again by end of turn. Still need to look at the tech tree before anointing an Einstein. (Maybe we qualify to research Advanced Flight now?? )

I sent a spy toward the uncharted French city west of Old Chuckles by galleon, but they revolted again and I expect a return to Democracy. Spy reports indicate that both French cities we "inspected" were defended by 4 riflemen and have both city walls and coastal defense. Our agents' near-future duties are clear.

Rushed several civic improvements -- Walls in 3rd Rock; Coastal Forts in Ritter, Bob Hope, and Jerry Lewis; a temple in Doofus; and a Factory in Fright Wig. No superhighways in sight (probably should have converted the Fright Wig build).

I note that all but 3 Sioux cities (mostly uncharted) seem to be on different continents than their capital. A multi-spy mission to "persuade" their remote villages to change loyalties seems a worthy idea, but I suspect that our resources (now down to 579 GP) will be concentrated on rushed infrastructure and fighting units for now.

Oh, and FYI, a random click while inspecting the map revealed a city (English?) at 123,69.

As you might guess, one turn was pretty time-consuming. But with Armor, Artillery, and Fighters now online, I'm hoping to do some seriously silly damage -- and with luck, can play tonight...

[-Jrabbit]

Zipped Silly Save...

No time to post a log now, so here's the gist of things...

It's 1922. Our archipelago cities now have infrastructure and are holding -- for now.
We are at war with the Zulus, so that may not last long.

We have established a foothold on the French continent. Took 3 cities (Dijon, Avignon, Chartres) and are poised to make a serious run at Marseilles, and perhaps their whole civ -- especially since they don't have tanks yet.

We maintain an uneasy ceasefire with the Spanish -- who have a huge armada.

Met some very weak English chaps, who interpreted my request for tribute as an act of war...

Caught up in techs. In fact we are now Most Advanced (and Most Despicable ).

Nearly completed the ship chain. Delivered enough goods to get us...

...a shiny new white tech -- Advanced Flight!!

Prognosis -- WE CAN WIN THIS THING!!

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Old n Slow
Old n Slow -- Trucks drive west
STYOM -- Research techs in order
atawa -- Must change government every four years (oedo year)
Straybow -- Sacrifice a builder (settler or engineer) with each happiness improvement (Temple, Col, Cath), and a builder per camel for each happiness wonder
rjmatsleepers -- Always have a palace under construction.
Jrabbit -- MUST ignore (and document) one of the other rules (for one turn) during the player set of turns.
La Fayette -- units with move=1 move vert/horizontally, units with move = 2 or 3 on the diagonal
BobSmurf42 -- Cycle through the governments when changing
atomant -- Build units with a defensive attitude until Leadership (no Horse, Cat, Char, Ele, Knight, and Cruc, (Cannons delayed))

8 turns, please.

La Fayette, je pense que c'est vous!

BTW, we are in Revolution. FYI, the next gov't in rotation is Fundy.

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

That sounds like a good set of turns.

BTW, was it a hassle having the tanks all move diagonally, or are the French & Sioux heavily railroaded (without the AI's penchant for RR'ing every tile, conquest would be more difficult)?

[-Jrabbit]

The diagonal thing is kind of a drag -- impossible in some cases. That's why I took Chartres with Cruisers. It's also why I emphasized naval and air forces overall. Transports were also needed to aid in quick troop movement. An unroaded grass/plains tile costs 2 movement points to move through. Really can take the steam out of spy/armor movements. Alpines and partisans turn out to be movement kings in this regard (as long as they're on the right track to start with).

The French are pretty well RR'd, but not fully. The Sioux are not yet in shooting range. I moved most of our home island engineers up to the French continent to help with RRs and insta-forts.

But why am I responding to this when I should be grabbing lunch and writing up the log???

[-Jrabbit]

Silly Rabbit Log

OK, I'll try not to belabor stuff already posted.

1915
Predecessor viewed opponent moves, decided on gov't, then stopped. So I'll count this as a turn played, since I used the movement portion to get several things done...

Spies do some recon, then steal Flight from the French and both Mobile Warfare and Machine Tools from the Zulu Nation. Zulus condemn American action as "terrorism" We expect an attack.

Six obsolete barracks forcibly sold for 240 GP. Reverend Rabbit pledges to rebuild.

Faders moved to 20-0-80 for WLTRevD, x9. We also spend about half of our 1192 GP on infrastructure.

1916
--After celebrations are announced, we drop faders to 40-0-60.
--With Armor, Fighters, and Artillery all available, we set out to build a fighting force.
--Decide no science unless it's Advanced Flight. We need Radio for that. The French have Radio.
--French go Democracy, learn automobile, get Espionage from Sioux, make peace with them. Spies reveal they have all cities walled and barracked. They have a few Fighters.
--French city of Dijon identified and targeted, SW of Old Chuckles. Sounds like a lovely destination!! Spy finds two defenders. Exps to reveal some barbs, a French cavalry, and an English catapult! Cavalry bribed...
--Zulu, Spanish navies move threateningly around the archipelago, but guns remain muzzled. But Zulu marines and cannon land at Jerry Lewis.
--Barracks in Old chuckles, Sticky Moose, silly Walks.
--Various coastal fortresses and city walls completed. Only 103 GP left...

1917
--French skirmish between Verdun and Avignon. Settler, cavalry killed. Shiny new Fighter makes Vet, christened "Air Force One."
--Spies inverstigate available Franco targets. Marseilles has walls, 5 rifles, and is building a battleship. Lyons (21!) has 4 rifles, 2 alpines, and walls. Chartres has 4 rifles and a Fighter. Chartres city walls hold, so 2nd Spy pulls down coastal fortress and our Cruisers move in...
--Barracks in Monty Python. Rjmatsleepers Construction awarded Palace construction contract in Bullwinkle.
--We sell 7 libraries for +560 GP and start spending it.
--Western shipchain re-forming slowly. Freights incremented on home continent and in Leiden.
--Currently set at 50-0-50 (net of +385GP/turn), the ppl of Bullwinkle no longer the Rev...


1918
--True to the teachings of Master OEDO, Atawa's Law commands that the cheap (fanatic) incrementals stop here, as we must REVOLT by end of year.
--Coastal Forts in 3rd Rock, Gilligan. Barracks in Monty Python, Bozo. City walls in Ritter.
--French destryer dies vs coastal fortres at Doofus, making Alpine vet. More French naval deaths are caused by our Cruiser and Submarine. Cruiser is now a Vet.
--Dijon captured, creating 3 partisans in the hills. Plunder includes 95 GP, Radio and some very tasty mustard. Morale soars!!
--French want to chat. They're now a Republic, sporting 4 missiles in their profile. they demand 800 of our 821 GP. we decline, war continues.
--Spies check on Avignon defenses (building battleship!), destroy city walls. Our troops perform the "La Fayette Maneuver" along diagonal lines as required by some silly tradition.
--VIVE LA REVOLUTION!

1919
--In his latest epic history, St. Augustine declares our Silly Siv to be the most advanced in all the world.
--Zulus develop Flight, land 2 more marines at Jerry Lewis. City walls at JL completed... so we parley. Zulus demand, we deny, they declare WAR.
--French get Machine Tools, Spanish get Radio.
--Now that we have the prerequisites, we get back into the Science game. STYOM dictates we take the first available -- Advanced Flight!
--Russians develop marines, go Republic. spanish learn Atomic Theory.
--Barracks completed at Verdun. Rushbuild Armor next.
--Ignoring the venerable traditions of The Bob Smurf Imperative, we opt to go Communist. Comrade Rabbit moves the fadersto 70-20-10, netting 226 GP/turn.
--Spies report strengthening defenses in target cities. The time is --not--quite--right-- for the next attack on the French, so it's movement and increments for now...

1920
--Russians learn communism, Zulus flight, French machine tools, Spanish get radio. Sliders to 80-10-10.
--Occupation troops are transported into position, so our two vet Cruisers attack Chartres, taking out 4 rifles and a fighter. Still size 11 after being emptied, we enter and plunder 228 GP, the art of Genetic engineering, and several more cases of tasty Dijon mustard.
--French parley, demand Mobile Warfare. We fart in their general direction. They offer a cease fire, and with about 8 partisans poised against our lone alpine troop and near-dead cruiser, we accept.
--Zulus send 4 marines and a cannon against walled, fortified vet force defending Jerry Lewis (1-each Marine, Fanatic, Engineer). At the end, each side has only one marine left, each with a sliver of red. Doofus Fighter sacks final Zulu troop and sinks transport carrying 6 more units.

1921
--Influx of French refugees jumps population to 6.33 MM.
--Zulus and Spanish exchange techs of mass destruction.
--Zulu cruiser dies at Sticky Moose.
--More barracks built, in Dijon and Bob Hope.
--Scary Spanish Battleships spotted -- one amid fleet outside Ritter, 2 at end of nascent shipchain near Spanish-Russian homelands.
--Pathetic Russian ambassador chats, shows NO rifles while demanding Mobile Warfare. We gift them a bunch of techs -- metallurgy, communism, atuomobile, radio, magnetism, and machine tools. They become grudgingly worshipful and trade maps, but cut off talks before a formal peace accord is signed.
--Trade to Odessa -- Spice, 74 GP and Gold 248 GP.
--We spy on Avignon, then chat with French. Demand tribute, but they refuse to declare war and leave the bargaining table. In the face of such uncivilized rudeness, we mercilessly attack and capture Avignon, leaving no room for their snooty Partisans. This yields 115 GP, Theory of Gravity, and ownership of the southern half of the French continent.
--French decide to negotiate, demand 750 GP. We taunt them again. "Our words are backed by the finest of your Dijon mustard!" we declare. They opt for WAR!
--Marseilles (20) is next. Six rifles, a transport, and an engineer; building a battleship.

1922
--3rd Rock alpine becomes vet as Zulu cruiser is smashed against coastal fortress.
--French go Commie. Why not? They've tried everything else...
--Spanish want to talk. They are Fundy, with 5890 in gold, 17 cities, and 5 rifles. They invite us to join their war on the English, but we decline. "How about giving us Electronics?" they ask. Nervously eyeing their huge armada (including the buisness end of our almost-a-ship-chain), we say yes. "We cordially appreciate this period of understanding between our peoples," they respond. We end the discussion before it gets worse...
--We discover ADVANCED FLIGHT!!! Then opt for Atomic Theory over Recycling.
--Sell sewer system of once-mighty avignon (now size 6).
--Power plant completed in fright Wig.
--Misc. outlying French troops destroyed by cavalry, armor, and fighters as they move into fortressed position outside Marseilles. Spies report increase in city defenses, including Fighter.
--English cannon outside Dijon parleys, asks for help in fighting the evil Spanish. They request tribute. "Uh, no," we reply. They declare WAR, cannon dies.
--Beads to Odessa net 83 GP.
--Atawa's Law invoked. REVOLUTION declared. We urge our successor to obey the BobSmurf Imperative and choose Fundy next. Heck, the incremental rushbuy savings from the Fanatics alone make it worthwhile...

SUCCESSOR NOTES
French have cruisers and battleships heading west. They will show up in a flanking maneuver at Beeblebrox or Doofus, in the fullness of time.

There are 2 Zulu boats hanging out south of bob Hope, which is underdefended by a lone rifle and injured submarine.

The shipchain needs a little work, but is nearly functional. Trading with Russians, who have only 3 cities. Dye is heavily demanded and easily built...

Back in Fundy, we need to rebuild homeland defenses with some fanatics.

Transport in Monty Python is a tropp ferry to the French mainland. Much ceaper than airports!

You have 4 spies in and around Chartres. the city also houses 2 recovering vet Cruisers...

The Engineers on Doofus Jerry Lewis Island are intended to grow those cities once basic roads and irrigation are complete. (Maybe a forest or two would be nice, of there's time...)

The Spanish armada is increasingly restles -- and big. There are at least 6, maybe 7 boats outside Ritter. I suggest a policy of avoidance and appeasement for now...

Oh, and yes...
We are the only civ with bombers. You know what to do...

[-Jrabbit]

One last question -- Why do we have so many double-irrigated squares, but not a single Supermarket??

Confess, fool!

[La Fayette]

we shall win

1922: LH comes to power and would very much enjoy taking a few French cities... wait and see . Meanwhile 'they' will do the Research for us = we set Research to zero.

1923: We switch to Fundy (atawa's rule). Zulus bribe Third Rock and get Advanced Flight from us

1924: French cruiser kills our dragoon in Dijon. 1 Spanish + 1 Zulu destroyer sink while attacking our coastal fortress in Ritter. A strong Zulu fleet (at least 3 battleships + 4 cruisers + destroyers + ironclads) appears offshore Bullwinkle and lands about 6 modern land units. Zulu will talk: we say yes. They ask for Genetic Engineering: we say yes = cease fire .

1925: Dye (112g) + Hides (136g) delivered in Odessa.
The land and the sea around StickyMoose and Bullwinkle are covered with green units , but the cease fire holds.

1926: We break atawa's rule and stay FUNDY.
Our wicked spies destroy the walls and our valiant armours take MARSEILLE ( + 290g + HooverDam + Miliaturization ).

1927: Cease fire holds.
English frigate sinks our (empty) transport.

1928: Gems delivered to Liverpool = 180g

1929: 5 spies captured (non vet = quite a difference between commie and fundy) but the walls finally tumble down and we take LYON (+ 340g + EiffelTower )

1930: 5 more spies captured, but we take ORLEANS (+ 380g)

Notes to my successor:

1) You are free to revolt if you feel like it (atawa's rule)
2) We are even in techs with the more advanced AIs = IMO they will be happy to go on researching for us = I would advise research set to zero.
3) The killer combo 'spies + armours' works like a charm, but it is highly advisable to build many spies (because they are non vet and many of them get caught)
4) Our units inside StickyMoose and Bullwinkle are behind walls and coastal fortresses = they should be able to hold one turn if the Zulus sneak attack. That is why I have emphasized rushbuilding of armours and spies on our main island = those fat French cities make us stronger and stronger as soon as they turn light blue

[-Jrabbit]

Wow. Late-game turnsets completed on consecutive days!!

Excellent turns, La Fayette. It seems we have the same plan re government -- first use the exception to stay fundy, next use the exception to go commie. Repeat as necessary to stay out of representative and backwards govts.

And it looks like we're about to make some French toast...

I wonder if it might not be time to give up the archipelago cities and consolidate our assets.
Once the CF goes -- as it will -- Bullwinkle and Sticky Moose are toast. Heck, if they're surrounded, they could starve to death.
It might be wiser to send a rescue mission to empty the cities and sell off the assets.

Oh, and did I see that correctly? @ war with Spanish now, too?

Anyway, nice job.

And assuming BobSmurf42 and atomant are still MIA, that means it's time for OldnSlow.