AU209 DAR5: Theory of Evolution

[Dominae]

Please comment on your game in the interval between DAR4 and the completion of the Theory of Evolution.

[PeaSoup]

660AD
Captured Oea (size 10), had numerous losses of MI, damn cities built on hills

690AD
Captured Leptis Manga (sie 12) & the hanging gardens, I think I lost about 13 MI, WW is starting to set in

750AD
Captured Rusaddir (size 2), no losses
Japan is running around with cavalry now, Carthage does not have saltpeter hooked up. They are doomed!

760AD
Japan captures Carthage & Sun Tzu's
Got my first leader, will probably use him to rush a FP

770AD
England:
Got Banking for saltpeter, silks and 4gpt

780AD
Captured Saldae (size 2), no losses
Japan is now between me and the rest of Carthage cities, WW is getting higher. I'm going to regroup and mop up in 20 turns when Japan cleans house

France:
Got Astronomy for Banking and 7 gold

Signed peace with Carthage:
got Chivalry, Chemistry, 6 gold in exchange for Banking

790AD
Ottomans land a lone longbowman next to Moscow, I snicker and told him to get lost. WAR! Well, I'm shaking in my boots since the Ottomans have 3 cities. This is my chance to take the horse island and use it as a staging ground to take the rest of Carthage's cities

Babylons have moved into the industrial age, they are 500 points up on Japan...

820AD
France has 1 city left, and Babylons or Germans are bound to capture it in the next turn or so. Since I'm pretty far behind in tech, I decided to buy some techs from them on a gpt basis:

Got Navigation and Metallurgy for 120gpt, the next turn France was eliminated and to my suprise, other civs were still willing to make gpt deals with me. *cough* cheat *cough*

I then traded Navigation to Carthage for 2 workers

850AD
Captured Kafa (size 11), the horse island city. Ottomans are down to 2 cities now

870AD
Stole Physics from Japan for 960 gold

890AD
Traded Physics to Carthage for 4 workers

930AD
Captured Kafa (size 4), Ottomans are down to 1 city now

980AD
Germany demanded territory map and 18 gold, I give him, do not want to fight him at this moment

Got Magnetism from England for saltpeter, silks and 660 gold

990AD
Captured Izmit, Carthage's last city. That'll teach ya to demand stuff from me!

1000AD
Got Ivory from Germany for 18gpt

1030AD
Because of Ottomans' sneak attack, I'm currently enjoying a happiness bonus. Just got my 2nd great leader, will create an army with him so I can build the HE

[PeaSoup]

1050AD
Stole Theory of Gravity from Japan for 1008 gold, got Nationalism for free

Got Economics, Military Tradition, Printing Press from Japan for Nationalism and 7gpt

1130AD
Stole Steam Power from England

1140AD
Babylon lands 3 cavalry on Russian soil, a sneak attack is sure to follow. So I signed a MPP with Japan, Germany and England, and also got Industrialization from Babylons for 175gpt

Got Medicine from England for Industrialization
Got Democracy from Japan for Medicine and 7gpt

I then told Hammurabi to take a hike, and sure enough, he declares war!

1150AD
Sure enough, all 3 civs declare war against Babylon. I then sign embargos against Babylong with all 3

1160AD
Got my 3rd leader from Ottomans, will use this one to rush a wonder

1170AD
Ottomans declared war on Japan. I didn't want the last Ottoman city to fall into Japanese hands, so I eliminated them

Got Free Artistry from England for saltpeter and silks

1230AD
Used leader to rush Universal Sufferage, yay.. my first wonder

Stole Sanitation from Germans

Sold Sanitation to England for 950 gold

1265AD
Stole Corporation from England

1340AD
Stole Electricty from Japan

1345AD
Stole Refining from Japan

1360AD
Researched Communism, started researching Scientific Method (eta 11 turns), started palace pre-build, TOE should be completed the same turn it is researched. Using Military Academy as prebuild for Hoover

1410AD
Researched Scientific Method, completed TOE wonder on the same turn. Used wonder bonus to get Atomic Theory and Electronics, Hoover is 11 turns away

Germany:
Got Dyes, Espionage, 40gpt and 100 gold for Scientific Method

England
Got Replaceable Parts for Scientific Method and Espionage

[Tall Stranger]

OK, I've been putting this off long enough. Here begins the next segment of the ongoing campaign.

When I finished the previous segment, I had fought a successful war with the Ottomans, cutting off their supply of saltpeter and sparing me the threat of Sipahi. I felt pretty pleased with myself.

I followed that smart play with a few oversights and some pretty questionable decisions.

1090 Completed research on Physics and traded it around, getting Navigation, Democracy and a whole mess of gold and gpt.

1190 Traded Theory of Gravity around, getting Free Artistry, Magnetism, and still more gold. Unfortunately, I also accidentally received military tradition. My plan was never to obtain this tech, so that at least I could build knights for a while. Picked it up from the English (I think), after thinking I had removed it from their list of offers. Since I needed to have the ability to build musketmen, my supply of knights was cut off.

1250 Babylonians and Ottomans declare war on England, which is in very sorry shape, despite having built huge numbers of wonders. Around this time, the Japanese are getting a bit uppity, sending forces into my territory, which I keep having to force out. This leads me to conclude an MPP with the Ottomans sometime around 1260. FIRST REALLY BIG MISTAKE, as you'll see.

1275 SECOND BIG MISTAKE: I declare war on Japan and seize Sabratha. Normally, I do a much better job preparing for war. This time, I went into it almost haphazardly. My strategic goal for the war was to seize some of the Japanese towns in the vicinity of Carthage, so that I could make better use of the FP being in Carthage. I didn't do such a great job with that. Within a turn, the Japanese had attacked me, pulling the Ottomans into the war.

A couple turns later, I seize the only other city of the war: Shimonoseki, which is on the southwestern tip of the continent. What I failed to think through was just how much I'd neglected my military. It simply did not have the offensive power (since it was largely knights and Med Inf) nor the sheer numbers to handle the musketmen I was facing.

By 1320 or so, the war had become pointless, so I made peace (and got a bit of gold and gpt, so not all was lost). This is where my initial big mistake kicked in: you guessed it, I got dragged into another war with Japan b/c of the stupid MPP.

The Ottomans had been doing quite well. They had seized the southern city of Izumo, and were flowing troops into the city reasonably well by boat, since I would not permit them to cross my territory. (I just don't trust them.) Unfortunately, the Japanese counterattacked, and the MPP kicked in, forcing a war in 1330. Not only was I unprepared for it, but it did violence to my rep. No more gpt offers from me.

I quickly ended the war with Japan in 1365 and did not renew my MPP with the Ottomans. They had some tasty bits of territory that I was increasingly finding just too cute to resist!!

As a side note, the Ottoman-Japanese war continues to this day. (It is currently 1565 and these guys haven't had a ground forces clash in probably 100 years, but still bombard each other regularly. More on that later.)

I've included two screenshots, to indicate where my two conquests from Japan are. You'll note other, more recent additions to the big, happy Russian family. Their story will be told another time. (This is my vain effort to build suspense for a somewhat dry story! ) It also gives me a chance to see if I can sucessfully attach a file to the forum.

Next time: Go north, young man!

[Tall Stranger]

Let's try this again, shall we?

[Tall Stranger]

And one more.

[Mountain Sage]

DAR 5: from the contacts to ToE

1415 AD: another Otto-Japs war. We got 1 month of celebration. Catherine was tired of the ‘give me or else’ of these two…
The overall score is Otto, Babs, Japs, France, Russia, others.
We got Nationalism, Steam Power in 12 turns, ToE pre-build running for a verrry long time. Steam power, Medicine, Nationalism and Communism already discovered.
1460 AD: FP ! Another month of celebration.
1595 AD: Japs at war with the Ottos and Babs, they’ll never learn…
1660 AD: Japs at war with Germany and Otto, Babs with Germany, Otto and France, English with Otto. Interesting. Scientific Method in 1 turn…. The wait!!!!
Oh, the Japs are losing fast: another Dodo syndrome.
1680 AD: Theory of Evolution. Now the game begins…

MS notes: this time the game really kicked in. Except for my very weak military this part was quite successful. My cities were building improvement faster that technology permitted and gold was slowly coming in: 2’100 gold so far. Not much, but I was gambling on my 2 free techs. I would need about 10’000 golds to be able to run at maximum research in the Modern Times and afford a -200/300 gold per turn.
As long as other civs were at war, I would be quite safe, or so I hoped….

Screenshot 1660 AD: the end of the Japs and my Maginot line.

[Thrar]

830AD: Osaka takes 6 more turns for JSBach, Moscow has it in 3. Everyone's at peace at the moment, and i'm the only one in a Monarchy. I feel like a warmonger...

850AD: JSBach in 1 turn. First time something went wrong really badly here, the English just finished it. Which means i have to switch to Smith's or lose my shields, which means that thanks to some tweaks on the wonders i won't be able to build any further wonders. Great. GREAT!
Ok, new plans...Sistine's in Istanbul and SunTzu in Kyoto, those are the ones i want. So i think maybe i'll try to finish Carthage first, then go for Japan, and when i have infantry, i'll attack the Ottomans. Hoover's won't be built on my continent with that strategy, i guess i'll have to live with that. Or maybe the Ottomans survive longer than i think now.

860AD: Smith's finished, Economics+300g to Ottomans for Democracy, Economics to Japan for Navigation, Democracy to Germany for Ivory, Banking to France for Dyes, the others didn't have anything, not even money.

930AD: declared war on Japan.

950AD: conquered Satsuma, size 12, and killed a bunch of Samurai. Japan should have its GA now, but i'm still #1 in mfg. goods. Got another leader.

990AD: hmm, sweet...Japan drew the Ottomans in the war. Made peace with Japan for 20 gold, now i can focus on the Ottomans. No Military Tradition yet, but who knows how long it will take them. I wonder if i could get up to their saltpeter before that...but i doubt it. As a side effect, England is now at war with France - Japan made an alliance against me with France, so i called in the English for a luxury. Only against France though, my rep is still clean.

1000AD: got Chemistry from Japan for saltpeter and 800g (they must have traded theirs away, and i just took their second one . And it will tie them closer to me for the next 20 turns, so they don't declare war.

1070AD: still no progress for either side in the Russian-Ottoman war. Got my 5th (i think) leader. If i get another one i'll rush the Pentagon, since now i have 3 armies (2 of them empty). His first attack seems to be stopped, time for the counter soon. Last turn i bought Metallurgy for 65gpt and traded it for Physics. Babylon and Japan (at least) have ToG though. Once someone gets industrial i'll buy my way up to parity and see if i can trade my freebie.

1080AD: Magnetism from Japan, ToG from Babylon for about 70gpt each. Unfortunately the Ottomans are industrial as well now and Babylon must have traded with them, my Steam Power is worthless. Anyway, it's time for railroads. Thanks to my huge debts of 200gpt for the next 20 turns, no chance at researching anything myself. Steam Power to Japan for 250g, 54gpt, Magnetism to England for Dyes and a little gold.

1090AD: Kafa, the only Ottoman city near me, is mine now. Peace with them gives me 59g and 17gpt. Since i dont know what else i can do with my army, i think i'll finish Carthage for a change.

1160AD: ready for war with Carthage. Declared, attacked and didn't lose a singe knight against the 4 NM in their isolated capital Leptis Minor.

1170AD: Rusicade, a small village in the south, is now liberated.

1190AD: captured Nora. ROP with everyone, just to be safe. I have the largest territory, so it's for free.

1200AD: Hadrumetum. I think i found a little AI glitch: Japan has saltpeter on its own, when i took their second source a while ago, they must have traded away that one. A bit later, i gave them one of mine, and it appears as if by the time their trade ran out, they renewed it, since they now had 2 (theirs and mine). Now our deal ran out, and i could renew it, even though they have saltpeter in their borders, and it is connected, too.

1210AD: Took Cadiz, and thus eliminated Carthage.

1265AD: researched Industrialization, Satsuma flipped back to Japan.

1325AD: Babylon researched Electricity before i did, still i could trade it around a bit and got Corporation, Nationalism and Communism.

1375AD: Replacable Parts. Babylon was faster, of course. Traded a bit with England and Germany, got Medicine, Scientific Method and Espionage.

1390AD: Germany built ToE. I've started to build up on infantry, when i have 80 or so, i'll attack Japan and go for the kill this time. Everyone but me is Democracy, Germany is 3 tech ahead (after ToE).

[Tall Stranger]

Part one of this segment ended at 1365, with the peaceful conclusion of a war I never should have gotten myself into. Anyway, I had begun planning for a war with the Ottomans (which was one of the reasons I ended by war with Japan in 1325.) This time, I thought through things a bit better and prepared diplomaticaly for war.

In 1385, I signed an MPP with the Germans, who are already at war with the Babs and Japanese, and who already have an MPP with the Ottomans (who are also at war with Bab and Japan). I now know that I need to get the Ottomans to fire the first shot.

I began swarming infantry and artillery to the border, ordering the Ottomans out of my territory (Every single turn since the beginning of their war with Japan they sent troops across the border. Every turn, I have to force them to leave. That gets real tiresome after a couple hundred years.)

My strategic goal for the war was pretty limited: seize the two key cities of Izmit and Iznik (see capture below).

1395: After ordering the Ottoman troops out again, I declared war. Notice that I left a single Longbowman exposed, knowing that they'd attack it and thereby trigger my MPP with the Germans.

1405: I seize Izmit (It's rather amazing what about 10 artillery and about a dozen infantry can do.) While succesful, the Ottoman counterattack was massive. I'd guess they sent 25-30 infantry across the border, seemingly headed for the lightly defended city of Sinop. As a result, the arty which had benefitted me so much in the initial attack was redirected to defensive purposes for the next several turns.

Sustained artillery production lessened the shortage of artillery, and allowed me to resume the offensive. In 1445, I seized Iznik and with it Leo's and Magellan's. I knew it had Leo's (which is one of the reasons I wanted to seize the city), but had forgotten/ failed to check on other wonders there. The presence of Magellan's meant that I now had both a scientific and an expansionist wonder. Since I still planned to build both ToE and Hoover's, Iznik would eventually have to be disbanded.

Having accomplished my primary objectives, I sued for peace, obtaining 240 gold and 31 gpt.

Yet peace is boring, and my eye drifted southward once again to the Japanese lands, especially since they did not have the rubber required to build infantry!

[Tall Stranger]

Beginning around 1420 or so, the Japanese had become increasingly frisky, moving troops (mainly a couple of riflemen) across our border towards the Ottomans (who they were STILL at war with). Rather than face a two-front war, which I really didn't feel like dealing with, I ignored their advances until the war with Osman was over. The turn after I made peace with the Ottomans (1450), I demanded that Japan withdraw, and they declared war. Fortunately, I've got enough of the northern reaches of my territory railroaded to ensure that I could move forces rapidly south.

Overall goal of my war: Break Japan's power, rendering it a rump state. Critically, receive in a settlement with Japan the city of Yokohama, which is on the annoying 1-square island Dominae created. This will make it easier for me to skip Amphibious Warfare, as I usually do.

This war, as in the case of the earlier war with Osman, was fought using infantry and large numbers of artillery. My guess is that, at this time, I've got 20+ artillery pieces, which is far more than I usually build.

1465 Hippo falls to my forces, but Japan seizes Shimonseki, which I had foolishly left poorly defended.

1470 Generate my fourth GL attacking a cav unit. I decide to save it for a while, beginning a Palace pre-build in Carthage before switching to ToE. My thought is to get both ToE and Hoover's, one via the pre-build and one via the GL.

While I normally don't save GLs that long, for this game there's no real reason to waste it on anything else. Leaders in this game are less valuable, since the number of Wonders (esp. the good ones) you can build are limited.

1485 Nagoya falls. I note that it has Newton's University, which means I'll need to abandon this city before building ToE. Not a big deal, since its effects expired long ago.

1520 I regain control of Shimonoseki.

1535 Tokyo falls. At this point, I begin to see if Japan will agree to giving me Yokohama. They laugh in my face, angering Catherine and forcing me to seize still more of the Japanese homeland.

Around this time, I investigate my rivals cities, and see that I'm far ahead of them in the race for ToE. I decide that I'll hold the GL for a while longer, use the pre-build for Hoover's, research Atomic Theory on my own, and use ToE for Electronics and Radio.

1555 Edo falls, but Japan still won't give me Yoko.

1565 Finally, after at least 500 years of war, Japan and Osman sign a peace treaty. At least the annoying Ottoman crossings of my border have stopped. I complete Atomic Theory, so I turn research to zero for a few turns, since ToE is coming soon. I could use the cash anyway.

1570 I'm one turn from using the GL to trigger ToE, which means it's goodbye time for Nagoya and Iznik. As I said, Nagoya is no big deal, but the pain of losing Leo's is horrible. At least everything useful has been upgraded, but I'll sorely wish I could hold on to it. I build a replacement city on the same spot as Iznik, but decide to hold off on Nag until after the war.

1575 Build ToE in (Moscow? St. Pete's? Can't remember off-hand, and too lazy to check.) Obtain Electronics and Radio. Trade Atomic Theory to Germany for Communism, Espionage, 84 gold and 20gpt. Trade it to Bablyon for Corporation and 476 gold. Trade it to Ottomans for about 200 gold and 22 gpt (can't quite tell, my handwriting stinks!) Hoover will be done in one turn, wasting a handful of shields (20 or so, I think).

Overall: I feel pretty confident about this game. I'm not worried about the Ottomans any more, as my econ power will allow me to overwhelm them militarily. Ditto Japan. Only the Germans and Babs remain on the other continent, and they seem to have reached a stalemate, allowing me to play one off the other once my continent is completely under my control.

[Theseus]

I got my *ss whupped... this will be another re-try at some point down the road.

[vmxa1]

Go get Tall Stranger