AU 601: alexman's DAR

[Arrian]

Oh dear. That bad boy can be dispatched over to jshelr's lands and wreak havoc.

I've got a SP game going in which I have an AC army and a Med Inf army. Tough to say which I like better. The AC has maneuverability, but the MI army has that 6 attack. It's quite the nutcracker.

Things appear to be going well for you, alexman.

-Arrian

[alexman]

The plan is to fill the Army with Ancient Cavalry, kill a Celtic unit to enable the Heroic Epic, and then continue to farm for leaders while the Army travels west to Greece.

I thought of waiting to fill the Army with Medieval Infantry (army stats 6-3-2) instead of Ancient Cavalry (army stats 4-3-3), but since Greece is quite far away, we need the extra movement to get there as soon as possible. We also do not yet know Feudalism, so filling the Army with Medieval Infantry would mean delaying the Heroic Epic and the expedition to Greece.

If all go as planned, with more and more Elites accumulating and the Heroic Epic built, Rome will get her Medieval Infantry army as well.

[Arrian]

Yeah, in that position, the AC is clearly the way to go. Though it doesn't have quite as much punch, it is faster and has more hp (15 hp if 3 vets are used). Both of those factors serve to increase its pillaging abilities.

Basically, I figure jshelr's screwed. I don't see how he's going to be able to deal with an AC army.

-Arrian

[alexman]

130 BC

Our game has slowed WAY down these last two days, but here is the latest anyway.

In 130 BC we discovered Monotheism, and traded it around to the AI for Engineering, Feudalism, the Republic, all their gold, and even 18 gpt from Egypt. Needless to say, Caesar also used his temporary technological lead to make sure that the world is at war with Greece once again.

The AI is in no position to threaten Greece at this point, and Alexander will get a nice happiness boost out of the war declarations. However, keeping the AI at war will slow down the tech pace, which as you know is one of Rome's goals for the Medieval Age. Unless Greece builds some ships, the war will also hopefully keep them from meeting the Celts and Carthage, from discovering the location of Rome, and from trading (especially resources) with the AI.

Meanwhile, the Celtic war is still going strong. Where is Brennus getting all those troops? We are averaging about 2-3 elite victories per turn, so the next leader should not be far.

[alexman]

70 BC

Russ made peace with the flip-flop Persians again, who happily declared war on Rome instead.

That was a good move, I think in response to an e-mail I sent him telling him that "a small expeditionary force has left Rome for Greece" (meaning our little Army). So no ROP with Persia then, but the Army is taking the northern route to Greece anyway.

In the tech front, Greece does not seem to have obtained any Medieval technology other than their free Engineering (how lucky am I that all three scientific civs got the same free technology?). Germany just discovered Invention, and is currently the only civilization with it. I fear Gunpowder will not be far. To keep up in tech, we have to do some token research of our own, so Rome is running 20% science towards Theology.

[alexman]

90 AD

Caesar had asked permission from Cleopatra for Trajan and his Army to pass through Egypt on their way to Greece. Cleopatra happily agreed. They were, after all, allies against Greece, and she was even paying him 14 gold per turn for an alliance.

But just 40 years later, Cleopatra accepted a bribe from Alexander to switch sides and join Greece against Rome. That was a brave move by Cleopatra (bordering on stupidity, actually), considering that Trajan's Army was within striking distance of her core cities.

But Trajan was under strict orders from Caesar to not attack any Egyptian cities. Frustrated, he killed an Archer unit, did some pillaging, and continued on his way southwest to Greece.

[alexman]

90 AD

Meanwhile, back east, Brennus launched a major counterattack, killing one Legionary unit and one Ancient Cavalry unit, the most heavy losses inflicted by the Celtic army in the war thus far.

However, his attacking Archers and Gallic Swordsmen were left exposed to a Roman counter-counterattack. It was a brilliant tactical move by an Elite Legionary unit led by Hadrian that avenged the earlier loss of their comrades.

The Heroic Epic, completed in Rome 20 years ago, was beginning to pay off. Hadrian will form an Army to be filled with new high-tech units called 'Medieval Infantry', currently fielded only by foreign empires.

[alexman]

150 AD

A slight problem on the diplomacy front: we are now at war with everyone except our loyal Carthaginian allies (who are getting beaten up by the Persians). I bet Russ is throwing all his gold into bribes, because he still doesn’t have any medieval technology apart from his free Engineering.

The problem is not military, it is that I can no longer trade with the AI, so my plan to trade Theology for everyone’s gold and technologies can’t happen for a few turns. Hopefully the AI will not discover Theology themselves before they decide to talk to us. Of course the science slider is set to a minimum in the meantime, so we don’t discover it and thus make it cheaper for the AI.

On the other hand, since the AI doesn’t attack healthy Armies in the field, our voyage to Greece will not be delayed much. The state of war just means that Trajan’s Army pillages, captures workers, and rolls over any AI units on its way to Greece. The ability of Armies to blitz, pillage with no movement loss, and heal in enemy territory is definitely overpowered.

Mighty Rome does not fear any pathetic AI wars. Bring them all. After all, war is where Rome’s militaristic trait shines, compared to our scientific opponent.

[alexman]

190 AD

A slight emergengy: The Germanics managed to slip a Longbow into the outskirts of the Roman empire, and are threatening to sack Nicomedia.

The Elite Spearman fortified on a walled town on a hill has about 82% chance of victory, but still, Caesar is nervous.

[alexman]

190 AD

In other news... well, it's not really news any more, is it?

Germanicus is our fourth, for those keeping track at home. At this rate, we'll be able to afford to burn a leader to move the Palace to a better location. Rome has started building a Courthouse in preparation.

[alexman]

210 AD

Finally, time for some real action!

[vmxa1]

That could get ugly.

[alexman]

230 AD

Not so fast!

Instead of attacking the first target available, our Army decided to explore the Greek territory, pillaging and murdering Workers on the way. But as Pharsalos came into view, Trajan's morale suddenly sunk...

[alexman]

230 AD

With four Armies in the field (3 empty) and a leader available, Caesar is debating whether to assign Claudius to move the capital to Byzantum, or to have him found the Pentagon.

Given that the Roman barracks cities are currently building Horsemen to be upgraded to Knights as soon as Chivalry is obtained, wouldn't it be wonderful to fill the Armies with four Knights each? That would be three 6-5-3 units with 16 HP each, for those too lazy to do the math.

So be it. The pentagon it is for Claudius. The next leader will move the capital.

[Arrian]

You're getting MGLs left and right, so either choice works.

Do you get to see what is in your opponent's army, or just the top unit in it?

-Arrian