AU601: Dominae's DAR

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Dominae


Thanks!

...but I want criticism!!

Have not found any reason to so far. Before you post the site as C that is the one I would have taken as well. So what can I say, I have to agee with all your moves so far.

[Dominae]

Originally posted by crilloan
Is it understood htat it is better to build citys close to each other or do you build closer because it is a MP game?^

I place my cities independently of whether I'm in a SP or MP game. Loose city placement really comes into its own in the Industrial era. In this game, perhaps even more than in SP games, that's far too late to have a significant impact on the game as a whole.

Do you allways build the granary before the first settler or does that depends on the map?

I'll build Settler before Granary in these situations:

1. The starting location is extremely Food-intensive.
2. The location for my second city is highly Food-intensive.

In this game, my second city would only be sharing is a Cattle tile with the capital, which is not not what I consider "highly" Food-intensive (it would require a Cattle of its own for that).

The reasoning behind this is that if your second city grows quickly all by itself, you can afford to have it cost more Food-wise in a Granary-less capital. But if your second city is going to grow relatively slowly, you save on Food by building that first Settler with the help of a Granary.

another question, people refers to directions with 1-3 of vei etc, from were do you start directions?

Using the numpad, "home" is the '5' key.

BTW, I like the storylines (gives context)

Thanks!

[vmxa1]

Stories and expalnations are what we read your threads to get, ignore the naysayers and keep the story.

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by Dominae


And it's not even that tight yet! I plan on putting another couple of cities around Rome (two tiles North and South).

Nice, but these should be Built a little later about your 6th and 7th cities perhaps

Rome 22 (due South) to grab all those coastal tiles. I was also planning on Rome 88, although I may not need it. These will be Commerce cows, as Rome will be hoarding all the land tiles for its productive self.

I would go with 2-2 or 8-8 but not both, and they would not be an immediate priority.

I've also got plans for Veii 44 (on the Ivory), and Antium 63 (on the Silks).

Right,I would make these my next two priorities If I was playing. I would want to get the Ivory fast so I could start on SOZ ASAP.

With close neighbors, especially on Demigod and Deity, you're actually better off spacing cities a little further apart with Settlers 4-8. This way you grab enough land before the AI boxes you in. After that you backfill for your camp towns. As you'll see in my next DARs, I flinged a few Settlers way out, skipping closer sites that I was confident I would get later on anyway.

Good, so long as you can still defend them if you are attacked, and beware of the barbs.

Hm, I like writing the story bits (I'm not claiming they're all that great, mind you!). They're italicized, so you can just skip over them at your convenience.

It was just a passing thought. I wasn't saying to dump the story-line, just hoping you could streamline it a little more, but its not bad.

Thanks!

Thanks to you, and all of the other players willing to go head to head against Apolytons best!

[Dominae]

Originally posted by Mad Bomber
Nice, but these should be Built a little later about your 6th and 7th cities perhaps

Actually, it's probably going to be something more like 13-14.

I would go with 2-2 or 8-8 but not both, and they would not be an immediate priority.

Both are important because they cover all the coastal tiles in that area. If I were to move my capital they would be less critical, but a Palace-jump may not be necessary in this game.

Right, I would make these my next two priorities If I was playing. I would want to get the Ivory fast so I could start on SOZ ASAP.

Well, it's not like you need Ivory to start building the Statue of Zeus. Nonetheless, I hooked it up fast to avoid paying Luxury slider costs.

Good, so long as you can still defend them if you are attacked, and beware of the barbs.

Yes, Barbs are a nuisance in this game. Militaristic is therefore not such a bad trait as it seems here!

[Mad Bomber]

Sounds like you got all the bases covered Dom.

Now back to the story...(I hope )

[Dominae]

Your comments were (and will be!) much appreciated, Mad Bomber.

[Dominae]

Turns 41-45

War Room. Midnight.

Domina sat in her chair, restlessly, and listened to her military advisors each repeat variations on the same theme for the upteenth time.

"What we need", explained Sueseth, "is a mixed grouping of various regiments, call it an 'army', that would be stronger than the sum of its parts. Such would be an unstoppable force with which to prove the glory of Rome."

"Nay, nay," countered Iranar, "we must remain balanced and focused. We need precisely this many fast riders and this many shock infantry per hostile town, and this many able defenders per loyal settlement. Come to think of it, double the number of defenders, just to be cautious. This is the only true path to ultimate power for Rome."

The third, anachronistic advisor bellowed: "Lady, give me more soldiers that they may sheathe their swords in the bleeding hearts of our enemies!!"

Domina had heard enough. Covering a yawn with one hand, she dismissed the trio with the other. What did she need of military advisors? Her empire was flourishing quite well without violence. Manalex and Clay Bark, her steadfast economic advisors, were working together much better than she had expected. So much so that she did not feel the need to oversee their work anymore.

Everything was running along smoothly. She sat back and smiled at herself. Perhaps it was time for a little nap...

NO! She would not let herself turn into that lazy husband of hers. She must think up some other way to demonstrate the glory of Rome to the world.

Demonstrate, or...persuade? A deliciously wicked idea began to form: she would craft "arguments" for others to come to adopt her points of view. They would need to be persuasive, in order for foreigners to accept them and leave their old beliefs behind. But once they would, she would have them. Without violence.

Yes, she would call it..."Love of Knowledge". How wonderfully subversive even a name could be!

---

2110BC: Contact Egyptians
1990BC: Contact Babylonians

The same Warrior that contacted the Carthaginians and Germans also openend up channels with the Egyptians and Babylonians as well! Unfortunately, I had to send him across foreign borders to do this, risking their annoyance, but I felt it was small price to pay for getting all contacts ASAP.

In the screenshot below you see my second Warrior, which discovered the chokepoints that the Persians crossed to encroach upon the Carthaginians. Thankfully they left them unattended for me to pass by freely, and even turned a blind eye when I pillaged a road or two on the way!

By now I had guessed the shape of the continent (doughnut-like), mainly because I knew that those who set up maps like to make them "interesting", Sir Ralph being no exception. (Note that I'm not accusing him of editing the map in any way.)

The civs that I had contact with at this time knew the expected techs: The Wheel, Bronze Working (probably Iron Working), Mysticism, etc. Although I had a nice treasury going from Barbs camps at this point, I decided to hold off trading until Writing. I would need that Gold to rush for Philosophy (I was losing ~3gpt at the highest Science setting I could manage).

Antium produces Settler

The reason I produced a Settler in Antium (the Flood Plains town) instead of Workers as I had planned is that did not want to waste the Shields from a nearby Forest Chop. This chop was necessary to hook up the Silks ASAP. Although I would be lacking in tile improvements due to my building so many towns without Worker support, I felt this was a good idea because it also fit into my "land grab then backfill" strategy. I was hoping to block the Carthaginians from expanding any further North.

Veii builds Granary

Since I was building so many Settlers, I would need every Worker I had for tile improvements. This meant I could not afford any to join to Veii (the city sharing the Cattle tile with Rome) to speed up construction of the Statue of Zeus or Forbidden Palace. So I prioritized a Granary there to get it growing "the hard way" instead. The nice thing about this is that, if I abandoned the Wonder plan, I would have another pump town to fuel my REX.

Warriors repel Barbs and receive promotions

Veii actually built a Warrior before the Granary because the Barb situation I felt could get ugly: Rome's Vet. Warrior every six turns might not be enough to protect my interests.

I got nice some nice results versus the Barbs with the Warriors I did have: on two occasions I defeated a stack of Barbs on defense, and got promoted all the way to Elite. This was fun, but I would have rather have sent out a few more Warriors to explore. As it was, they were all too busy back home.

Writing ushers in first round of heavy trading

In 1950BC, I learn that the Germans discovered Writing, just three/four turns before I would have. However, I notice that they did not trade it around! I get at a fantastically reduced price (due to the Beakers I've accumulated on it myself already), make some deals with the other civs, and jump back on the train to Philosophy:

Purchase Writing from Germans for 34 Gold
Trade Writing to Persians for Bronze Working, The Wheel and 7 Gold
Trade Writing to Egyptians for Iron Working and 25 Gold
Trade Writing and 7 Gold to Babylonians for Mysticism
Research Philosophy
Luxuries 20%, Science 80%

There was a slight chance that Krill had discovered Writing first and had trade it to Germany, so I did not take any chances and continued the race at top speed. However, with two Luxuries, almost no Luxury slider costs, plenty of Rivers, and plenty of Gold in the bank to with which to research at a loss, I was quite confident that Krill was not going to get that free tech.

[Mad Bomber]

Re: Turns 41-45

Originally posted by Dominae
[I]War Room. Midnight.


....
The third, anachronistic advisor bellowed: "Lady, give me more soldiers that they may sheathe their swords in the bleeding hearts of our enemies!!"
.....

Great Quote from the Civ II days!

Veii actually built a Warrior before the Granary because the Barb situation I felt could get ugly: Rome's Vet. Warrior every six turns might not be enough to protect my interests.

I would consider building a few archers in addition to those warriors, at least until you get some Iron hooked up.

[Harovan]

Re: Turns 41-45

Originally posted by Dominae
By now I had guessed the shape of the continent (doughnut-like), mainly because I knew that those who set up maps like to make them "interesting", Sir Ralph being no exception. (Note that I'm not accusing him of editing the map in any way.)

The map is edited to a very small amount, because Alexman asked to leave it as close to the original game as possible. I did not change the topological map shape.

[Dominae]

Re: Re: Turns 41-45

Originally posted by Mad Bomber
Great Quote from the Civ II days!

That got me thinking: is it "bleeding hearts", or "beating hearts"? Either fits, I suppose...

I would consider building a few archers in addition to those warriors, at least until you get some Iron hooked up.

The problem is that Rome cannot build a 20-Shield unit and a 30-Shield Settler in 6 turns with the tiles available.

Other cities could build a few Archers once they gear into military mode, but I feel safe enough that I prefer to go with Horsemen instead. Furthermore, Demigod's tech pace means the window for Archers is all but over.

[Dominae]

Re: Re: Turns 41-45

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
The map is edited to a very small amount, because Alexman asked to leave it as close to the original game as possible. I did not change the topological map shape.

That's what I thought. What I meant is that you could not resist such in interestingly-shaped map when the map generator spewed it out. I quite like it myself.

[Mad Bomber]

Re: Re: Re: Turns 41-45

Originally posted by Dominae


That got me thinking: is it "beating hearts", or "beating hearts"? Either fits, I suppose...

I believe that the term is 'beating' as opposed to 'bleeding', but its mainly an exercise in semantics. Still, I'm patiently waiting for the best quote by the Military advisor.

The problem is that Rome cannot build a 20-Shield unit and a 30-Shield Settler in 6 turns with the tiles available.

Other cities could build a few Archers once they gear into military mode, but I feel safe enough that I prefer to go with Horsemen instead. Furthermore, Demigod's tech pace means the window for Archers is all but over.

I wasn't really expecting Rome to build them, just to have some built to take care of the barbs and back up the legions. Of course; Horsies are a better choice.