AU502 DAR4: Steam Power

[Aqualung71]

AU502 – DAR4 Steam Power, part 1

Demigod level, AU Mod

It’s make or break time now. We can identify and acknowledge several strategic mistakes thus far, and while we have scrambled to catch up by making the most of trading our excess strategic and luxury resources, we are still substantially behind in techs and fielding an offensive military that is technologically slightly inferior to its defending foe (after defensive bonuses). That said, we need to be single-minded and disciplined in our pursuit of the Iroquois territories, and then quickly turn our fierce gaze towards Sumeria and her Wonders. Oh, and let’s have some fun in there somewhere too, but Brennus’ scribe should take care of that!

To the play:

510AD: Several civs start work on JS Bach, meaning our MT strategy has failed already. “The sound of clashing swords and my enemy’s agonizing death-screams is all the music my ears need to hear”, snaps Brennus as he watches the blood-sacrifice of the Wig-Wam prisoners from the hard-fought battle of Allegheny, and the distribution of their womenfolk to his lusty warriors. Whispering to his adjutant he adds “Just make sure Queen Boadicea doesn’t find out about this or I’ll be less of a man tomorrow”…..and he meant it literally! Ouch!

520AD: ”It’s all or nothing men”, Brennus tells his lieutenants. Leaving a small contingent in the exposed southern Dye town of Foxtrot, 16 MI with a few supporting Trebuchets move south into Iroquois lands, within striking distance of Niagara Falls.

530AD: Hiawatha’s MI launch a pre-emptive strike, killing 2 Celtic MI and wounding 3 others. Our lack of nearby Pikemen is another military planning blunder that is costing us in lives. Brennus launches a devastating attack, taking Niagara Falls with minimal losses and renaming it Bat Out of Hell. Brennus’ cunning linguists predict that “The Battle of Bat Out of Hell” is unlikely to appear in any mainstream history texts. Despite its serious and instructive nature, students will fall out of their chairs laughing. “Oh well”, says Brennus reflecting on his first glorious battle victory, “Heaven Can Wait. I may be All Revved Up with No Place to Go, but Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”.

“Heck, who’s scripting this rubbish?” complains Brennus. ”Get me a new scribe!”

540AD: Brennus is very glad to have finally met the enchanting Theodora some years back. She promises to show him some of her more personal Inventions, in return for “Education-ing” her in his secret ways….woo-hoo! Oh s**t, here comes Queenie again!

Hiawatha agrees to see our envoy, but it is merely a tactical feint by crafty Brennus to see what techs he might give up in exchange for peace (incredibly, none!). Oh, our herald was later horribly tortured and then scalped by the Iroquois, but his brave martyrdom will be recognized by a footnote in Brennus’ biography, currently being compiled by Heroditus’ descendants. "Oh, and give the poor man’s family 3 loaves of bread, will you please?", Brennus generously commands.

Our advisors tell us that our military is strong compared to Hiawatha’s. This gives Brennus the confidence he needs to continue the war. Poor man suffers from a lack of self-esteem, so let’s go kick some more Wig-Wam a**e.

550AD: Cheeky Gilgamesh demands 23g and our territory map. Oh well, he can have the money….for now.

620AD: War continues, but painfully slowly, having consciously sacrificed the speedy GS for the more powerful MI, which are still only barely adequate against Hiawatha's new Musketmen. Brennus is training more men for his regiments. MT finally researched, and traded to Theodora for Chivalry – we are now close to the age of Knights and just need to secure a trade route for our island Horses. Then we traded MT, Spices and 11gpt to Germany for Gunpower. But wait, we have no Saltpeter. Ah, Hiawatha is hoarding some. Even more reason to annihilate his puny civilization!

Tonawanda captured and renamed Rubber Soul. Meanwhile, back in Bat Out of Hell, sporadic Iroquois raids lead to the emergence of the first Celtic war hero, who advises Brennus on the merits of Armies. The victorious Elite is honoured, dubbed a Knight of the Order of African Swallows, and somewhat dubiously renamed “Brave Sir Robin”.

640AD: Traded Iron and 34gpt to Sumeria for Banking and Chemistry. Traded Banking and 16gpt to Germany for Astronomy. Brennus’ new Army inflicts its first bloody defeat on a wounded Iroquois Knight, and Brennus celebrates by commencing the erection of the Heroic Epic monument in his capital.

670AD: Cattaraugus taken with our MI Army, but only just, and promptly renamed Cosmo’s Factory. Meanwhile, Brennus is in trouble at home again – Boadicea has Heard it Through the Grapevine about his rather close friendship with Theodora and now he’s in for it! “Oh dear, I hope she doesn’t raze London again” he bleats.

Brennus sends out the order for reinforcements from the homeland. Military units are thin on the ground in the occupied territories and some recuperation is needed.

The capture of Cattaraugus opened up the sea trade lanes and the first shipment of Horses has been received. Somehow they avoided the knacker’s yard and are now being used to train Celtic Knights. Brave Sir Robin will not be an instructor, since his knowledge of Horseback Riding extends only as far as making daft clopping noises with empty coconut shells.

700AD: Golden Age ends, amid much weeping and very loud blowing-of-noses. “Stop it!......silly person”, orders Brennus, as he retreats to the safety of his suspiciously clean cheese shop.

Brennus suddenly realizes the folly of his free-trading spirit, as his Monarchy is plunged into deficit spending, with no scientific research! Suddenly those new-fangled Bank-thingies are looking very interesting, and Brennus starts ordering his many workers back into Celtic cities to generate more commerce for the growing empire.

710AD: Brennus orders a halt to roadworks on the second western-isle Horse resource, fearing extortion from the powerful Gilgamesh.

Screenie: The world as we know it at 710AD. Military forces holed up in Cosmo's Factory awaiting reinforcements, further dragging out the Iroquois war:

[Aqualung71]

AU502 – DAR4 Steam Power, part 2

Demigod level, AU Mod

730AD: Alert! Aztec forces land adjacent to our Horse resource near Ziggy Stardust – 2 Elite Knights. Our defending Pikeman is fortified in a Hill-Fortress, so they will have to get through his 6.75 defense rating to prevail if they are foolish enough to try. On the other hand, they did land in German territory, so we shall wait to see a clearer sign of their intentions.

740AD: The Aztecs attack the German town of Stuttgart and the 2 Elite Knights die at the hands of the defending Spearmen. These Germans are tough!

Horror! The captured Iroquois town of Rubber Soul flips, costing us 2 units, including a healing Elite. We have no nearby strength, so recapture will have to wait while our MI Army is engaged in the siege of St. Regis to the South. Luckily, the Trebuchets and a covering Pike were moved out of the town beforehand (contributing to the flip). Worse still, we lost Spices in the process, and our Iron/Incense town south was cut-off, as was our Horse sea-trade route. Luckily, we didn’t break any trade agreements. Luxury slider painfully moved from zero to 20%. Wow, that was the most expensive flip I’ve ever experienced!

Celtic Trebuchets make little impact on the defending Musketmen at St. Regis, so the Army camps for 10 years awaiting reinforcements!

750AD: MI Army withdrawn from St. Regis surrounds, to deal with the rebel town.

760AD: Rubber Soul recaptured, restoring the 2 luxury resources and 2 strategic resources.

790AD: Continued skirmishes with the Iroquois while the siege of St Regis recommences.

Physics purchased from Germany in return for Iron, 9gpt and 50g. While perhaps too late to be of any effect, this may nevertheless help redress the balance in their war with Sumeria. Banking and Chemistry given to the lovely Theodora in return for Navigation. Perhaps a little generous, but Brennus remains smitten! We are at least 5 techs behind the Aztecs and the French, possibly as many as 8.

800AD: Aztecs land on our SW Horse isle. Their intention is now clear. War will surely follow. Meanwhile, St. Regis finally falls and is renamed Captain Fantastic (but the Dirt Brown Cowboy doesn’t rate a mention).

810AD: Aztecs declare war as predicted. The strongest nation on earth has sent a single MI halfway around the world, who then proceeds to kill a Pikeman. Big deal!

Traded Incense to the French for 100g + 18gpt. Traded Physics to the beautiful Theodora for Printing Press and a look at the world for the first time. Brennus is amazed at how big it is! Theodora says she’s seen bigger

820AD: More trouble – the French declare war after being a polite luxury trader for many years. Brennus considers changing his deodorant (although Theodora hasn’t complained about his current one, “Scent a la Squaw”).

840AD: Captain Fantastic flips, taking with it 3 garrisoned units and our entire artillery compliment of 6 Trebuchets! Our nearby MI immediately recaptures the town, but the damage is done. The war will continue without bombardment.

850AD: The world is turning into a nasty place. We are at war with Iroquois, Aztecs and France, while Sumeria and that ugly two-faced b***h Theodora have entered embargoes against us. Our only trading partner is crusty old Bismarck, and he has nothing left to offer us for future trades. Our profitable Iron trade with Sumeria has ended and they’ve sourced it elsewhere.

The nasty world revealed by our trade advisor:

[Aqualung71]

AU502 – DAR4 Steam Power, part 3

Demigod level, AU Mod


The Aztecs seem to have declared war in order to acquire our Horse resources, since that's where they concentrated their "force". At least, that's what I'd like to believe!

[Aqualung71]

AU502 – DAR4 Steam Power, part 4

Demigod level, AU Mod

860AD: Aztec Pikeman lands on a hill and nearly accounts for our counterattacking MI Army! Aztec and French Frigates play havoc with our island possessions, destroying a Barracks and redlining our defenders. So far we have been saved by the choke-point terrain surrounding both towns, leaving them nowhere to land. Brennus thanks his god there are no in this world.

890AD: Aztecs finally agree to peace. Brennus opts for insurance and pays 13gpt rather than the 220g they demanded.

900AD: Our SoD comprising 8 Knights and 4 MI approaches the eastern Iroquois Saltpeter town of Centralia.

910AD: France agrees to peace for 5gpt. We have withstood the combined naval and military might of the 2 strongest nations on earth. Nevertheless, we have fallen a long way behind in tech and our dreams of invading Sumeria are quickly receding.

Centralia taken, and renamed Highway 61 Revisited. We now have Saltpeter! Spices traded to Germany for 13g + 4gpt.

920AD: Aztecs demand 55g and our map, and of course the wussy Brennus agrees, though I tried to stop him, honest!

940AD: Iroquois town of Kahnawake taken, and renamed Workers Playtime. City of Grand River taken and renamed 461 Ocean Boulevard.

980: Now I’m really annoyed! Germany is about to be annihilated. Aztec Cavalry sit outside their lightly defended capital. I try to do one more gpt trade for tech before my old friend dies, and Bismarck announces that he won’t trade because I’ve broken deals in the past. Except that I haven’t! Must be something to do with interruption of his trade lines because of war, but my city is right next to his capital. Brennus’ mood continues to darken.

Oil Springs taken and renamed Exile on Main Street.

990AD: Mauch Chunk taken and renamed Outlandos D’Amour.

1000AD: The start of the new millennium sees the departure of the Germans from the earth. Brennus goes for a coffee break while 12 Aztec Frigates bomb the crap outta Bismarck’s last red-lined Pikeman , then finish him off with Cavalry, annoyingly establishing a town on our continent. (Brennus later remembers the “shift” key and time starts to move more quickly again).

Joan demands 62 gold and wimpy Brennus agrees. How many times has he bowed down to extortion now?

1010AD: Finally the Iroquois are removed from our continent as their capital Salamanca falls to our advancing legions. We agree to peace, though Hiawatha will only give us Metallurgy and Magnetism after 500 years of being beaten up.

Brennus turns his eyes northward and sees that Gilgamesh is producing Riflemen. The high priest is called for advice and tells Brennus that an AI civ having Riflemen in 1010AD is a bad omen. Even Brennus could work that out himself – high priest summarily impaled (courtest of Brennus’ continental cousin Vlad) and mounted on London Bridge as a warning to others not to…..errr…..open their mouths when Brennus has spent 500 years trying to win a war?

So yes, the inglorious details - 500 years of war. One MGL in 620AD and not one since, despite many victorious battles with Heroic Epic aided Elites! What is this – RNG revenge? Grumble, grumble.

Brennus magnanimously decides that correcting Gilgamesh’s faults (ie, that he is smarter, richer and more advanced than us) is no longer a high priority and will have to wait for a few hundred years. Besides, he’s heard rumours of a new government called Democracy and he is very keen to learn its secrets – particularly those that curb the corruption of his tiresome Lords and provide extra commerce to the royal treasury. Brennus takes one final, wistful gaze through his castle window towards Ur and Sumer, and then retires to his chambers and the pleasures of Theodora’s smile. Apparently trade embargoes do not extend to the bedroom.

1030AD: Clearly the evening did not go well. Theodora impetuously declares war, dropping off some sacrificial Horsemen and MI for slaughter. Their heads join that of the former high priest. Avalon founded.

1080AD: Aztecs declare on the French. Now that IS interesting! Shift key used extensively as French/Aztec Frigate battles rage within our waters.

1090AD: Military Tradition researched and MA started in Disraeli Gears. Democracy begun – Hiawatha wouldn’t swap it (or Economics) for MT, so this is the first time I can recall for a long time researching it myself.

Wow, Montezuma-whatchamacallit is gracious! But still won’t do a gpt deal!

1100AD: All Things Must Pass founded, to fill up some gaps caused by loose AI spacing.

Meanwhile, Theodora’s Horsemen continue to attack the Aztec fortified Infantry. Bless her, poor confused soul. Everyone’s building Universal Suffrage. Brennus castigates himself (no, not castrates) yet again for falling so far behind in research.

1150AD: Democracy researched. Aztecs building ToE. Egads!!! Meanwhile, the Byzantine war goes nowhere. Theodora wastes some units then agrees to peace. She throws in Theory of Gravity for 56gpt. Oh well, at least it pushed us into the Industrial age.

Brennus is tired of being King. He suggests to his Nobles that they may wish to share power, as long as he retains the title and the Crown Jewels. After a short revolution, the Democratic Celtic Republic (clearly with distinct Communist leanings) emerges in 1170AD.

Ha ha, good one wig-wearer! Hiawatha wants MT in exchange for his world map! Feeling generous, we give him our newly acquired secrets of Gravity plus MT for Economics.

Brennus forgets how well he has MM’d his cities, leaving many with exactly 12 pop and zero food surplus…..but promptly remembers when about 5 cities starve during anarchy!

Steam Power in 9, says the advisor. “Finish building those Universities or there’ll be hell to pay” responds Brennus. “And while you’re here, why isn’t my Forbidden Palace or Military Academy finished yet?” Later that same evening, London Bridge received another adornment.

1250AD: At last, Steam Power is researched. And the Military Academy is completed concurrently in Disraeli Gears. Brennus instructs his scientists to suddenly learn how to be industrial, and with the FP to be completed in Bat Out of Hell next turn, the Celtic civilization has finally begun to make some strides forward. Let’s hope we can quickly recover the ground lost during the Ancient Age and the protracted Iroquois war and reach tech parity by the end of the Industrial Age.

After Play Comments: This DAR spanned a considerable period for us, from 510AD to 1250AD. This was largely because we got bogged down in a lengthy war with the Iroquois, determined to remove them from “our” continent instead of perhaps trimming them a little then concentrating on denting Sumerian power in the north. By stubbornly pursuing the Iroquois until we had taken all their land, we lost the opportunity to pursue Sumeria until we were able to secure better attacking units. The war also slowed us down scientifically, and we fell way behind in the tech race. The Aztecs emerged as a KAI, with France not too far behind them. Annoying attacks by Aztecs, France and Byzantium and a series of trade embargoes against us did not help matters either. We have been paying less attention to diplomacy than we probably should have, concentrating more on pumping out units for the war and researching as quickly as possible, thus with no cash for attitude improvements.

Objectives for next DAR – RR everything in sight, factories/plants everywhere, pop-add most remaining workers, build infantry armies and then go pay Gilgamesh a little visit!

The world at 1260AD, with all traces of purple removed from the Celtic continent and almost from the world:

[nbarclay]

Thriller, how did your culture compare with that of the Iroquois when all those flips occurred?

[Aqualung71]

My culture was about equal to the Iroquois at that point, but both cities were only about 7-8 tiles from the Iroquois capital, wihch obviously was a big factor since my capital was so far away.

Also, the first city that flipped was in disorder at the time with pop of 4 and only 2 units garrisoned - I had forgotten to turn the governor on when I captured it and so the next turn when a resister was quelled it jumped into disorder, so no real surprise when it flipped I guess. The second city wasn't in disorder, but I think I probably only had 1 unit inside and it was 4-5 pop (plus 6 Treb's, which don't count as garrison so really shouldn't have been left inside). I was a bit thin on the ground at that point, awaiting reinforcements, so not enough spare units to garrison the newly captured cities.

Culture graph attached. I had delayed the building of a lot of cultural iprovements in my cities as I was pumping out units to try to get rid of the Iroquois. Only when I got Industrialisation did I really finish off all the Universities. Can't do everything at once I guess!

How did you fare with culture?

[jshelr]

"Also, the first city that flipped was in disorder at the time with pop of 4 and only 2 units garrisoned - I had forgotten to turn the governor on when I captured it."

Here is what I do, but I'm totally paranoid about flipping:

1. capture city.
2. load with "junk" units -- old spears, or GWs, or I was using the ancient cavs for this
3. get resistance ended asap
4. put all citizens on tax collection -- you can make a tidy profit
5. ethnic cleanse them down to 1 pop
6. build your temple and move on

Worked in this game -- no flips. Sometimes it is way too draconian, but I usually have a pathetic culture.

[nbarclay]

I built (often using pop rushes) a lot of temples, so I was a lot more competitive in early culture than I usually am on demigod (even though I usually play from better starting positions when I play on that level). I got a late start on libraries from focusing on troops, but with a dozen trebuchets in my main stack to hold down losses, I was able to go back to building city improvements fairly early in my golden age. Sumeria's good terrain and cheap libraries gave them a cultural advantage, especially with me focusing on troops over libraries right up until the moment I attacked them. But I was able to achieve and maintian cultural superiority, albeit not by a huge margin, against the Germans and Iroquois.

[Aqualung71]

Yeh, a temple is usually my first build in any city after my first 4 or 5. I don't take advantage of pop-rushing as much as I probably should, being paranoid about happiness. Plus my invasions are usually later (something Iseriously need to work on, as this game has shown), so pop-rushing isn't usually an option for me with captured cities as I'm pretty much always in a government form by then that doesn't allow it.

jshelr, yes I hear you and that's a pretty good methodology. I was just being lazy!

[nbarclay]

About the only time I make much use of pop rushing is with temples when I'm playing religious civs. The timing of accumulating ten shields while a city grows to size 2 and then doing a pop rush for the remaining twenty sheilds is usually almost perfect for cities in outlying areas where corruption is a serious problem. Further, the happiness boost from a pop-rushed temple offsets the unhappiness from the pop rush on the very next turn, and the happiness from the temple is permanent while the unhappiness from the pop rush is only temporary. Also, corrupt outlying cities are the places where the luxury slider does the least good, which further adds to the attractiveness of rushing temples in such places. Put those factors together and there is a special synergy that does not exist with other types of pop rushes.

When I'm not playing a religious civ, I don't tend to build much in the way of early temples. I'm too busy with granaries, settlers, workers, and a few troops here and there for military police (preferably with barracks to build veterans if cities can afford the time). Courthouses are usually a higher priority than temples in outlying areas; they have a bigger impact on wealth and production than being able to work an extra tile does, and they can even help happiness in connection with the luxury slider in some cases. (I'm thinking courthouses used to have no effect on benefits from the luxury slider, but in C3C they seem to.) With courthouses only costing twenty shields more than temples for nonreligious civs, about the only time I'll prioritize temples over them in outlying areas is as part of a cultural campaign, and even then, building a courthouse first to get extra shields to build cultural improvements faster later on is an attractive option. As a result, when I play non-religious civs, I tend to have a serious cultural deficit in the early game, a deficit that starts to close only after I finish REXing and start building city improvements in my core.

Nathan

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by jshelr

Here is what I do, but I'm totally paranoid about flipping:

1. capture city.
2. load with "junk" units -- old spears, or GWs, or I was using the ancient cavs for this
3. get resistance ended asap
4. put all citizens on tax collection -- you can make a tidy profit
5. ethnic cleanse them down to 1 pop
6. build your temple and move on

I rarely have large numbers of obsolete troops lying around that I can use for anti-flip duty. My usual approah is to push my attack as quickly as I can, leaving only relatively small garrisons, and if a city flips, it flips.

I do frequently use the technique of starving cities down, but there are three main criteria for whether or not I regard it as worhwhile. First, how does my culture compare with my enemy's? Second, how much longer will the war last? And third, will my enemy still be alive when the war is over? If I'm just a few turns away from killing off a civ, starving down captured cities when I don't need to in order to avoid riots is a waste of laborers I can use myself in a few turns without fear of flipping. On the other hand, if a war against a culturally superior opponent is going to drag on for a long time, and especially if I don't plan to eliminate the civ entirely even when the war is over, starving cities down looks a lot more attractive.

I might also note that I tend to leave larger garrisons when I'm using a government that can benefit from military police than when I'm using one that can't. Risking the loss of units in culture flips is more worthwhile when the units serve an additional purpose besides just reducing the risk of flips.

Nathan

[jshelr]

nbarclay is right on all counts. i don't have lots of old units laying around either. but you can keep enough to move from city to city, generating quick ends to resistance. Ancient cavs are dead end and perfect for this job.

[Madine]

AU mod, Monarch.

The Iroquois have been pushed off the continent. The war with them was tougher than I thought it would be, mainly because they had cavalry.

I switched to democracy. I feel like I have the lead now, although I am behind a couple techs. I am confident I will be able to catch up though. The Sumerians do have a definite culture advantage.

[Chemical Ollie]

Industrial Era 1500-1750 AD was a long series of space clicking. I automated all workers and fortified all units to minimise micro management.

Had a minor war with the Aztecs, who landed some medieval units on one of my outpost islands and sneak attacked. The island was not well defended, with only one musketman per city, so they took two cities, but I shipped over three cavallery units that took it all back the next turn. The war was so short that I could stay in democracy.

Researched at 4-5 turns per tech. I skipped the crap tech like nationalism and sanitation, which I later was able to get in trades. Built all industrial wonders except longevity, and went into the modern age at least 5 techs ahead of the French.

[Rhothaerill]

Rhoth's AU502 DAR 4a

Demigod level - AU mod

I left off last DAR with preparing for an invasion of Sumeria now that I had driven the Iroquois off the continent.

410ad - The Sumerians complete Bach's Cathedral. Woo hoo. Now I get to capture it since they are my next target.

420ad - After several turns of the Sumerians sending gobs of workers into my territory heading for Tyendanaga and the saltpeter source, they finally declare war on me. My forces were now in position and I also assured myself of capturing a bunch of slave workers...10 in all.

On this turn alone I destroyed 15 Sumerian units with the loss of only one knight and one gallic swordsman. The funny thing was, their pikes were going down easily, but their medieval infantry units were giving my knights fits.

On the diplomatic front, I gave the Germans spices and incense to attach the Sumerians from the north and on the islands, and gave the Iroquous education to attack them on their island.

And I just loved what he had to say, "...our alliance is so strong." As he declares war on me.


to be continued...