AU 601: Theseus' Greek (duh) DAR 1

[vmxa1]

Hate to say I told you so, but ...

Back to the Monarch tech and being Sci, I don't see any problem with it. You will still get a free tech. I would think it would be hard to play this game in Republic.

[Theseus]

Why do I have the feeling Nathan is CREAMING me, and I don't know it?

On the one hand, I held the tech lead with my free one entering medieval, Engineering, for a long time (and actually, Nathan was the tech LOSER ). And I've been building out my neck of the woods OK, but I've had Barbs and AI settler teams running around in abundance.

On the OTHER hand... he's had twice my pop??!! And his score is through the roof, #1 now??!!

[Theseus]

A Maginot Line? For good, or for bad?

[Tassadar500]

What happened to it before?

[Theseus]

I left my west coast, all of the jungles and marshes, unoccupied and un-monitored, so I had Barbs a'popping, and the AI civs sent way more units than I liked in to chase them... and I did not have the military strength to refuse their intrusions.

That phase of the game is thankfully almost done with.

Now I can appropriately defend my (non-cultural) borders, when and where I choose... almost, but not quite, giving Nathan a few key places to make trouble.

FUN. This is very intense, for me at least.

10BC is going to be a big watershed moment for us, and I will post an extensive DAR for that.

[Theseus]

Well, 10BC done came and gone... I was not in a position to either go after Nathan directly, nor to effect any meaningful AI alliances.

Unfortunately, that has left us in a continued builder race, where I have no doubt that Nathan is superior. I am also guessing that he is not faced with the same jungle/marsh mess that I have been faced with... but, actually, even if he had been, his builder skills would still present a significant advantage over time.

His improvement in score has been amazing:

[Theseus]

I have decided that I need to shake things up a bit... put them on MY terms... and that means WAR!!

Ahhh, but how to do this? With the special rules that we have (limited AI city captures, especially after human-induced attacks), simply go right after Nathan would prolly not make sense. I also still have not met the Celts, who I assume to be to the NE, and prolly the strongest AI contender to go right after Nathan.

Also, I very much want to capture two Bab cities at the NW and W ends of my empire... I need to have the Babs declare on me somehow.

I decide to enlist Persia against Carthage!!

[Civ3, Top Gun-style]
Arrian: What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!
Theseus: I'm bringing him in closer, Arrian.
Arrian: You're gonna do WHAT?
[/Civ3, Top Gun-style]

I want to strengthen Persia so that they can directly confront Rome... they are stronger than Carthage already, and I want to cut off the buffer zone represented by such a weak AI, one who will be worthless to me as an ally, and will almost certainly instead be a partner (incl. ROP) to Rome.

Further, I demand 5gpt from the Babs ten times, turning ole' Hammy furious... I am, of course, hoping that Carthage or some other AI civ enlists the Babs in a MA against me.

Let's see some fireworks, shall we!!

[Theseus]

Some further thoughts on why this makes sense:

First, of course, if we just stay on a build path, I'll get my @ss kicked.

More subtly, however, has been the respective "shape" of each of my and Nathan's games, how they compare, and how I need to set the world stage to my advantage:

* My focus has been to get the outlines of my empire right, which I have done to my satisfaction, mostly. I've got a strong Maginot Line to the NE, with the exception of that one Bab city. The Bab city to the NW is not much of a concern, except to cover my back... it was a low priority site due to marshes. Also, I have built sufficient defensive military to handle anything the AI will throw at me, including walls for frontier cities, a fortress on the southern gems, and a good road network. I have sufficient offensive military at key points for defensive purposes, and am building two offensive task forces for the NE and S fronts. Lastly, I have built libraries and markets in most of my core cities. What I do NOT have is granaries, except in Athens, which was prolly a mistake, but a purposeful sacrifice for all of the above (and also, I'm using just about every none-jungle/marsh tile as it is).

* My guesses re Nathan's game: Maaaad REXing. Many granaries. Depending on sheer pop power for research and commerce, with great tile improvement. Light military, proportionate to pop. Geographically extended empire, to the point where he's prolly building courthouses. No or few temples, as given his land coverage he prolly has 4 lux to my 3. Building libraries lately for culture. Markets, of course, in his best cities.

Also, and this is important, as neither of us has been aggressive to date, the AI "war trigger" has not been pulled... in other words, this is one of those games where the AI civs have not reacted to war-strewn environment by engaging in an arms race, which invevitably imbalanced, results in an ever-escalating tide of violence. This has thus far inured to Nathan's benefit, as I'm guessing he took more of a chance with a sparse military than I did. It has also allowed the AI civs to keep pace with us... even though Nathan has run up his score, the AI civs have done pretty well in tech and productivity.

So, what do I need to do?

I need to distract the AI civs from research and productivity... put their shields and gold into things military. I need THAT to threaten Nathan, forcing him to do the same. I need wars to be breaking out willy-nilly, thus threatening mighty Rome across her lengthy border.

If I can accomplish this, I benefit STRONGLY from my already-in-place military defense (which I'm paying for now anyway), and my superior infrastructure kicks in (whereas now, just about everyone else is benefiting from pop-strength). And, again, taking those two Bab cities will only strengthen my position.

So... WAR, AND MORE WAR

[Theseus]

I think I may have caught Nathan a bit flat-footed... here's his email message when returning the save:

"It looks like Xerxes may have decided it was time to try out some of his new toys on you. I'm tempted to see if I can get anyone else to join in the fun, but I think I'll be nice for the time being."

[Theseus]

Now he's threatening MAs against me... just what I want.

MWAHAHAHA!!

BTW, I ma participating in the war against Carthage, albeit just by pillaging:

[Tassadar500]

Don't you me NM's? Anyway, is that their only source of iron?

[Theseus]

Not sure I understand your first question...

Yes, I believe that is their only iron.

[Tassadar500]

Originally posted by Theseus
Now he's threatening MAs against me... just what I want.

MA's?

[Theseus]

Military alliances.

[Tassadar500]

Ah. I thought you were talking about the NM as the defenders.