The "Barren 'Burbs" Succession Game

[Old n Slow]

Re: Successor Notes

Originally posted by -Jrabbit

NOTE: 1836 is an OEDO year,
so Revolution should be engaged BEFORE hitting Enter.

Have fun...............

In looking through the stuff (before I hit enter) I noticed that we have the Statue -- thus wouldn't every year be "an oedo year"?

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

Originally posted by sirsnuggles
I believe that his ship chains were disrupted so he attempted to complete a journey without an escort.

Ship chains only work if they possess escorts to protect them in hostile waters. Hence, they are still expensive propositions.

Agreed... and once disrupted, one has to either stop trading until the chain is reconstituted (more Transports purchased) or take some chances.

A Cruiser or Destroyer (or 2) might not have prevented the initial disruption, but it certainly could be used to hunt down the AI pirates (thus lessening the chances of further disruption)

[-Jrabbit]

After my initial delivery to India, 2 transports were sunk by Indian vessels (one ironclad, one frigate). That destroyed continuity.

As I put the chain back together, I had lots of freights, but delayed delivery of some so I could get a tech per turn. The loss of 7 freights was caused by letting that transport get too close to its final destination.

In retrospect, what I should have done is to download all freights, along with a defensive unit or 2, into an unused Indian fortress. At the very least, it would have reduced (if not eliminated) the losses.

The beginning of the session was very difficult for me. Over 30 cities, dispersed more-or-less randomly across a very wide map area. Since I tend to micromanage production, it proved very difficult. Constantly reminding myself where-the-heck-THIS-city-is in order to maximize production/etc, plus remembering the reason for various production decisions, proved to be a bit of a challenge.

Never did figure out the Zulu chain, La Fayette. Guess I just wasn't perceiving things well. With such a wide-spread empire, determining where such things start and end is not as obvious as in a normal game. (Well, for me, at least... )

While I don't deny it could have been better, I'm pretty pleased with my turns. Methinks La Fayette had some specific thoughts and plans for utilizing our Commie regime (probably vet-spy-with-plenty-GP-related) that were not continued. Me, I thought we should engage in a growth spurt first.

For this, and for the blatant loss of freights, I can only say...
mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
...and beg for mercy from the wardens of The Institute.

[-Jrabbit]

Re: Re: Successor Notes

Originally posted by Old n Slow
In looking through the stuff (before I hit enter) I noticed that we have the Statue -- thus wouldn't every year be "an oedo year"?

[HomerMode]
DOH!!
[/HomerMode]

[Old n Slow]

I've started & am about halfway done. I haven't made up my mind if the researched tech of hard fundy is worth it (although I'm there now) -- am saving a few coins per rush buy by using the 20 shield fanatic unit along the way -- but was it worth the 2K beakers? We'll see.

No major surprises (yet).

[-Jrabbit]

Study historical succession Gits texts for how best benefit from a celebrating fundy civ.

In essence: Trade bigtime for your techs, get rich along the way, buy all desirable white goods, then destroy the opposition. (Well, it's actually far more intricate and diabolical than that, but that's the basics as I see them.)

[duke o' york]

When celebrating fundy, then I don't bother with science on the sliders, instead employing an Einstein and using the massive amounts of cash to rush all the caravans that boost my tech rate. If you have a ship chain set up then as long as your production can keep up you'll be able to plough loads of caravans into the target city each turn and make a fortune! And a - whatever a large number of beakers is called!
The only trouble is that you can't RR between your cities.

[-Jrabbit]

Thank you, duke o'york.

[La Fayette]

Originally posted by La Fayette
The 'military' shipchain to Zululand is complete (a lot of 'dragoons soon to be cavalry' under building)
The 'trading' shipchain to India (eastwards from NoWhales) is almost complete.
My successor should be able to crush the Zulus, I suppose.

Jrabbit,
These are the last 5 lines of the post I sent here after playing my turns.

IMO it is a good idea to read what the previous player has written, when playing a succession game, even if you have no intention at all to play in accordance with what he (or she) had written.

[-Jrabbit]

Let it go, dude...

I read it. In fact, I always print the sxn rules and previous player's log before playing.

Obviously, you had a specific vision and I didn't share it. That's what happens in succession games, and certainly you're aware of it.

Send me to The Institute if you will, but let's keep the criticism robust and constructive.

[La Fayette]

Re: Let it go, dude...

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Send me to The Institute if you will, but let's keep the criticism robust and constructive.

I am not a native speaker.
That is the reason why it can happen that I don't find the right words to give the right diplomatic touch to some of my posts.
If this happened, I feel sorry and I apologize.

I play succession games for fun and don't care at all sending anyone to The Institute (especially not you, since I have a feeling that you managed to listen to 'robust constructive criticism' enough to very much improve your gameplay since you started playing those sxn games).

Here is the background of what I tried to explain:

In the early game there is only one solution when you wish to minimize the risks related to transportation of commodities by sea: build LH.

Later on, there are 3 main solutions:
1) Be at peace with anyone and keep them friendly with (tech) gifts (e.g. early landing games)
2) Rule the seas (ideally take all enemy coastal cities)
3) Build shipchains

My opinion is that, if you don't rule the seas, escorting your merchant vessels is very costly and quite unsecure, while sailing your camels/freights only when your shipchain is complete gives them 100% chances to land safely ( of course you may be compelled to rebuild a number of transports, which brings you back to #2 'rule the seas' or #1 'keep them friendly', but at least you never lose goods transported).

Of course this is open to discussion, but I thought it was robust and constructive when I wrote it.

[-Jrabbit]

Your analysis is correct, La Fayette. Once the chain was broken, I would have done better to wait until the chain was fully rebuilt before delivering goods.

However, with "partial shipments" coming from different parts of our wide-spread empire, I found myself trying to do both things -- rebuilding the chain and consolidating freights -- en passant (which may or may not be a good use of a term I know from playing bridge). The American term would be "on the fly."

In the process of extending the final links in the shipchain, each freight consolidation would happen closer and closer to the Indian continent. finally, I found myself with two laden transports that were quite near the Indian continent. I elected not to deliver one (due to a full beaker box) and paid the price.

My reference to an "escort" was probably too literal, as there was no intent to physically escort single boats across the vast ocean space.

What I meant was the (fairly common, I think) practice of providing a protective boat (typically an ironclad, in this case destroyer) for those parts of a shipchain (usually only the far end) that are dangerously close to another civ. More of a "guard" or "sentry" than an "escort."

As I stated, given the situation I was in, I believe the best solution would have been to land and fortify all freight units in an open Indian fortress along with one or two defensive units. In fact, I had one cavalry available at the time, and there was an accessible, empty Indian fortress to use.

Once again, mea maxima culpa.
And I find your English to be quite good.

Edit: to fix rampant italics.

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit

My reference to an "escort" was probably too literal, as there was no intent to physically escort single boats across the vast ocean space.

What I meant was the (fairly common, I think) practice of providing a protective boat (typically an ironclad, in this case destroyer) for those parts of a shipchain (usually only the far end) that are dangerously close to another civ. More of a "guard" or "sentry" than an "escort."

That's my interpretation, too. A nice sturdy Cruiser that can brush off AI Frigates.

[Old n Slow]

First the zipped save:

Some good things happened and some mistakes were made...

[Old n Slow]

And the Log

Pre move look: Things seem good -- somewhat quiet -- but we don’t know about half of the ai’s. reread the rabbit advice -- makes sense enough to me -- revolt.

(Indians dev. Elec.; rifle dies but it takes three knights to do him in; French change to Monarchy.; Chinese start the UN. Cherbourg, Carlisle and 20 other cities all blow up (even with luxuries at 70%!)

1836 (1) -- Become fundy. Set the slider to 6.3.1, see how things shake out. slow Stepford’s work on a destroyer (hoping for the Cruiser soon.) move trucks.

(Zulu’s get commy from the Chinese. Rhodes completes the UN, Chinese abandon.)

1838 (2) -- Nail a barb leader near Boardwalk. Spice (FF) (d) to Calcutta = 966; (hold placed on five other trucks near India.) Hut = 100. (Indus in an uproar)

(Discover Steel; Opt for MT over AW, Comb, GW, Ref, Theo, TG.)

1840 (3) -- Rhodes gold (d) to Delhi = 1152; Glouster wine (d) to Delhi = 1200.

(Discover Machine Tools; opt for Comb over AW, GE, TG.)

1842 (4) -- Cambridge coal (d) to Delhi = 470; three none demanded trucks to Delhi average 200 each (190-220). Change slider to 8.0.2. Launch our first cruiser.

(Indians discover Comb, Russians discover Pot (NOW we know why they are advancing soooo slowly ) Indian destroyer slays an empty transport. Zulu discovers Econ. Pop = 11M

1844 (5) -- Steal Comb from Indus. Mall-o dye (d) to Bombay = 588, Blandville gems (d) (somewhere) = 312. Buy Fr settlers for 304 & 264; Buy Bayonne (-194, +6) and Rouen (-348, +22).

(Sci choice is Mini over AW, GE, GW, Ref, Theo; Discover Mini, opt for Theo over AW, Auto, GW, Ref, TG. (Want to postpone Auto due to Leo’s and potential future Settlers becoming Engineers.)

1846 (6) -- Hut = AT: Lost Northern; hut = 50g. Start Rhodes & nearby cities to add war materiel into their production mixes.

Roadless: 37 cities, 60 techs
Russians: 16C, 22T
Zulus: 15C, 45T
French: 14C, 34T
Spanish: 19C, 20T
Chinese: 19C; 45T
Indians: 16C, 44T

Indians seem to have the larger cities & thus the best customer market; Russians & Spanish are at war.

(Lost a Cav to a Fr Cat (exploring too eagerly). Chinese discover Conscrip.)

1848 (7) -- buy a Fr. settler for 508g Hut opened by spy = 5 barb knights -- spy later dies. Take Indus.

(Indians develop conscription. Transport with a (so far not demanded) dye truck is sunk off shore by a Fr Frigate.)

1850 (8) -- Hut = Musket; Portsmouth gems (d) to Yangchow = 174. Hmmm not so hot -- toggle to 5.5.0 -- let’s see some celebratin’ for future trade gains…

1851 (9) -- Rhodes builds a factory. Two huts yield 100g each. Buy a Settler for 588g. Take Besancon (+16g). Glouster cloth (d) to Kai = 52g (even with celebrating). Cav slays an Indian dragoon paired with a cannon. Move alpine, see Ind spy. See alpine smack spy. See spy die.

(Sulu acquire conscription from Chinese. Fr frigate smacks our curiser, dies & makes our boat a vet.)

1852 (10) -- (Avignon costs 1300; Chartres = 860 -- almost tempting, but -- hey wait; Genoble right next door is defended by four archers & has a PALACE! Hmm let’s hold on a couple of buys…) Take Poitiers (+16). Talk to Sapin (0 Rifles) and agree to peace -- we’ll see them later. Glouster copper (d) to Yang = 216, & cloth = 68..

(Fr frigate dies vs our cruiser; but a knight of theirs slays one of our spies. Spain develops Trade.) Rhodes completes the Hoover Dam & starts on a Bank.

1853 (11) -- Crank up the Lux -- we’ll have some trucks hitting markets soon. A rifle smacks a Fr dip; our cruiser empties out Chartres, & we walk in for 33g. Bribe a Fr Settler for 464g. Take Grenoble, get 21g -- now buy Avignon (-280; +27g, 4 infra & 4 units).

(Indians dev Tactics, Zulu dev. Med, Pop = 13M.)

1854 (10/12) -- (Doh! only now with the typing of the notes do I see the miscount -- I owe somebody two turns. Perhaps the group will let me atone in another way -- I have two ideas for future Succession games -- I’ll offer the first after Labor Day.) Cul-de-sac Cloth (n) to Delhi = 364; FF Oil (n) to Calcutta = 382 AND changes the demand so that Rhodes spice is now demanded & yields 1056g. Hmm now see Amiens -- only 8 more French cities to find. Drop off a Silk (d) from the Institute to the newly discovered Strasborg for 60g. since we are displeased with the poor payoff, we buy the town for 168g (+11). truck near Spain pops a hut & five barb knights appear (and yes they later slay the poor truck)

(Fr develop Eng. Fr Knight kills an Eng of ours (ARGH!) near Plainsville. Chinese dev. Med.) discover Theo, opt for TG over AW, Auto, GE.

1855 (11/13) -- BB spice (d) to Calc = 1266, leic dye(n) to Calc = 372; two more n deliveries = 466 & 450.

1856 (12/14) -- discover TG, opt for AW over AT, Fl, GE, GW, Ref. (Punjab is in unrest -- hmmm, maybe we can help it along & see if we can topple a certain democracy & so begins spy wars, north. Deliver three (n) trucks to Delhi for 356, 470, 492g Hut = AT, Quebec (near Fr.) buy Amiens (-397, +31). Land a cav who smacks an Ind cannon.

(Ind cannon follows up & slays our cav. Ind destroyer slays an empty transport. Ind Cav slays a rifle outside of Dacca.

1857 (13/15) -- Cruiser nails a FR galleon with passenger. Buy Toulouse (-179, +19) Still looking for remainder of France -- send a loaded Transport out of French west (with nearly cruiser for company headed south & east for suspected opportunities. Second transport (with a spy or two) are detailed south for search and annoy responsibilities. Hut = At = Montreal (near Quebec) Beachside (d) to Delhi = 636, two other (n) = 472 & 476. Pop = 14M.

(Ind dev AW, Russ dev Write; Zulus (3 rifles) want to talk -- hmmm Peace? Nah; hey how about some tribute (no -- they are now enraged)? Whoops the CF is surprisingly over. They sneak attack Tugela (how can they sneak when I’m not THAT surprised.?) some how their six dragoons empty out our two rifles, cav & two spies. We are not happy..) We discover AW & opt for GW over AT, Auto, Ref.

1858 (14/16) -- Found Bermuda in JRabbits “sweet spot” -- spent the last many turns developing the countryside beforehand. Cruiser sinks a Fr frigate, galleon + passenger. (Sell Tugela Aqueduct) Lei gold (d) to Delhi = 1122; Beachside Copper (d) to Madras = 1276 (It will be a shame to sacrifice these nice customer payoffs in the near future.) Hut = 5 barb knights.

(One of our Alpines near Dacca survives two cav attacks, another is bribed away from us. Zulus walk into Tugela and take 70g & Tactics.) Discover GW & opt for GE over AT, Auto, Fl.

1859 (15/17) -- Rhodes builds JSB. Demanded gems from Inc & FF to Kol yield 966 & 988. Two Artys die, but the third knocks out the defending alpine in Calcutta. Cavs destroy the two boats in side. We take Calcutta (and +121) -- the Indian Government escapes to Bang. Partisans spring up (too bad they’re not for sale.) huts = 200g & 50g. Buy two FR Settlers for 236 each, then buy Lyons.

Notes -- In the thick of things (only now as I am writing this up do I notice that I forgot to buy offshore stuff.) -- we may also have some truck opportunities around.

(1) I left a bunch of cash for the next player -- please buy a few offshore rigs to make me feel better.

(2) There are a half dozen French cities -- (at least four were revealed this turn on a rock --French East) for sale; buy some settlers (a third of ours speak with a heavy French accent) & then buy some cities -- it may not be too bad of an idea to leave one or two cities as ‘settler farms’…

(3) There are units moving over land to Mall-o-Rama & Blandville for adventures in Zulu lands. There is a laden transport or two south of French West -- they should probably also be re-directed to Zulu wars as I think that the rest of France can be bought up for a song.

(4) Speaking of Zulu lands, there were three to four dragoons that took Tugela -- there is a spy & Alpine waiting to purchase them for us.

(5) Delhi had two fortified rifles and an Alpine under construction as of last turn (I almost went that way, but I wanted to decrease the shipping threat & I felt that one Alpine & two boats were the weaker defense; not to mention taking out their capital). Madras had five units -- three defenders, a cannon & a wimp.

(6) Speaking of Madras, there is a food Truck (don’t ask & I won’t tell) hanging around near there -- we may want to build Isaac there to go with Copes (maybe in a few turns, I hope?)

(7) I’ve been sabotaging the bejabbers out of Punjab, hoping to keep it in disarray enough for India to revolt (and thus allow us the purchase of units and cities) -- their cathedral is gone as well as most of their other infrastructure.

(8) It is taking about 2200+ beakers per advance -- so a couple of nice truck payoffs should do the tick in the Indian market place -- haven’t found anything elsewhere even close to that level of value.

(9) There may be a gap of a couple of hundred beakers for the next advance -- since there is now a shortage of trucks en route, a re-toggle of less lux & and a couple of bumps up for science may make the difference of an advance next turn vs the turn following (not that we’re in a great hurry for GE.)

(10) A couple of our cities (Boring Bastard for one) currently support many units -- these should be re-homed should a change in government be desired. A bunch of Artys are on the way to Lei -- and the boat chain to India is about 90% there -- the trip seems to take about three turns for some reason.

(11) In the far west, we have a cruiser out on patrol and a few former barb knights are now ours (maybe that fool truck did something worth while after all) on a rock that contains a settlement of ours and some Spanish…

Just in time for some Friday night gaming...