AU 101: Crowding & War

[Puma]

1400bc

Now that I’ve done that I think it’s time to finally take Salamanca.

1400bc
The injured enemy warrior walks out of Osaka’s borders. Kyoto’s archer is completed and moves out to meet the approaching spear that bypassed our forces near Salamanca.
I start moving the Salamanca stack forward. The elite GR-razing-archer heals and I move it towards Salamanca; it is 1 tile behind the stack – another weak move. I wake Beta, and start moving it from the mountains towards Salamanca.

[Puma]

1375bc

1375bc
Osaka’s former visitor fortifies outside the border to heal. A spearman fortifies in Salamanca (again? What the heck is going on?) A Salamancan archer comes out to attack the stack, bringing a chariot down to 1hp before dying. Stack is now effectively {1 chariot, 1vet warrior, 1reg warrior, 1elite archer}.
I move the stack north, next to Salamanca, revealing a vet Iroquois warrior. I pull the injured chariot out of Salamanca’s territory, on the road, just in case the stack gets slaughtered. Beta steps onto a mountain next to Salamanca. The lagging elite archer is now 23 with respect to Salamanca - still one step behind. I decide not to attack the warrior – hoping it will head east. Yeah, right.

[Puma]

1375bc and on

Their road-skipping spearman is now on a mountain south of Osaka, next to our Osaka-Kyoto road. I could attack it with my new archer, but decide to move the archer into Osaka for the moment. I am not willing to attack the spear while it’s on the mountain, and I don’t want to park the archer next to the spear - only to watch it die under the spear’s attack (due to the archer’s measly 1 def stat). That RNG is not good to me.

1350bc
Their warrior by Salamanca does not head east, of course, but attacks the stack and dies while it brings my chariot to 2 hp – rendering it useless. The spear near Osaka finally moves off the mountain onto a roaded forest tile, and 2 more warriors appear on the mountain range northwest of Osaka.
I attack the Osaka spear with my Osaka archer, archer dies, spear has 1 hp left; I follow with Osaka's elite warrior and kill it - no problem. One regular warrior left in Osaka.
In Salamanca I attack with the elite archer – which dies – I follow with 2 warriors from the stack – which die, and quickly follow with warrior Beta - which also dies and promotes one of 2 spearmen in Salamanca- a very pathetic sequence of attacks. I try using the 2hp chariot but it retreats injured without making a dent on the 4hp elite spear. I uselessly move the remaining lagging elite archer onto the 1 hp chariot tile. So much for that. I cannot take down Salamanca's 2 spears with the elite archer and a 1hp chariot during the next turn. There goes the last chance of taking over a city with each phase of attacks (Is there any consolation in having razed two with a triple combo?)

[Puma]

1350bc, making peace

If I let the next turn carry out, I’ll lose my elite archer and the chariot in Salamanca. Shocks!! I must sign peace now.
With 16 turns left to complete bronze working research, Japan takes alphabet, bronze working, pottery and 18gold. We could take Niagara Falls instead; but its distance would make it undefendable in a future war and unproductive in any case, and our nation badly needs those techs. I let us get screwed majorly. I know we need more settlers so I start a settler in Osaka right away. I take a look at the English and am suddenly shocked to find Canterbury to the east of Osaka – OMG! I forgot about the English! Now they have 5 cities!

[Puma]

1350bc, I think this is done

I check the diplomacy screen again, and notice with dismay that the English have writing and iron working; and the Iroquois have iron working too.
I only have 2 towns to the English 5, my military is 4 warriors, 1 elite archer and 2 chariots – this is very sad and my military advisor agrees. The only goods left are 128 gold and a 6gold/turn supply.

This is very disappointing. Dufus-style playing. I know I played below level. I usually would have 3 cities and a sizable army by now. Possibly, it was the thrill of finally playing an AU game that didn’t let me focus – a thoughtless drive to simply overwhelm the Iroquois. It was bad. I should’ve bought warrior code from the start and sent out a super early archer party. I should’ve used the 2 turn archer production in Kyoto. My troubles possibly began when I decided to attack NF at size 1. Who knows? The fleeting thought of reloading the 4000bc save passes my mind, but I don’t like replaying maps that I have already seen. I won’t restart. I save the game and leave it at that. I think that’s all she wrote for Apolyton University 101 and me. Maybe some day again I’ll try another AU. Maybe I need more practice.

So, I head downstairs to eat dinner. The rest of the family is watching “Who wants to be a multimillionaire”

[vmxa1]

Re: 4000bc

Originally posted by Puma
The first instinct is to settle right away. But, I dislike settling one square away from the water. Noting the hill to my left, I decide to move the worker onto it for a better view of the surrounding terrain – if it’s bad I’ll move the settler to the coast tile due northwest.

Why not move the worker to the dye. You can see the coastal tile
and avoid the need to move the settler at all, unless you want a coastal start?

[vmxa1]

Re: 3000bc, 2900bc

Originally posted by Puma
3000bc
Tacitus says we’re behind the Romans, Egyptians, French, Persians, Iroquois, Greeks, and English in technology – no big news.

2900bc
The English found York, my settler is completed, a warrior scorts it towards horsehills, the worker wastes some time getting back to the second wheat in order to continue roading towards horsehills

This is where you could have saved soem worker turn, if you moved to the dye first and then headed towards the game and then wheat.

[vmxa1]

Re: 1790bc and on

Originally posted by Puma
Finally I notice that our nation is studying Bronze Working – d’oh! I forgot to set our research again - forget it and leave it as it is.
I want to capture NF, but I don’t know when it became size 1. I am hoping that by pure dumb luck it becomes size 2 on my attacking turn because I don’t want to get an autoraze.

As long as it has expanded culturally it won't autoraze.

[vmxa1]

Re: 1350bc, I think this is done

Originally posted by Puma
I think that’s all she wrote for Apolyton University 101 and me. Maybe some day again I’ll try another AU. Maybe I need more practice.

So, I head downstairs to eat dinner. The rest of the family is watching “Who wants to be a multimillionaire”

You looked like you were having fun. You can still win from here.
I missed what level the game was played at, but just rededicate yourself.

[Puma]

Returning to the game

Thanks.

Vmxa1, I don’t disagree with your comment on the starting move. But, I wanted to take advantage of the hill’s defense bonus and position by the ocean. I remembered that barbarians were set to raging, and I didn’t want to lose the first city to a barb. As well, I was curious to see the surrounding terrain right away – and the hills afforded me that advantage.
On the second point, I tend not to road on the first turns. One reason, I always play with raging barbs, and sometimes the worker gets destroyed - leaving the city without some improved tiles for a long time. Third point, I wasn’t aware of the border expansion mechanics. I’ll comment on that later in the report. The game is at Emperor level.

I was having fun. This game can hypnotize. Eventually, I decide that my disappointment stems from losing out on the AU101 goal of taking at least a city with each military phase. What’s the point of playing AU101 anymore? If I pick up again, by the time I assemble another good force, the enemy will have pikemen defending each city - thereby rendering any warrior/chariot/archer combo ineffective. But I now have a beef with the English and the Iroquois. Oh what the heck. I can still go for the wonders; and if I end up losing pathetically, well, no one has to know.

[Puma]

1350bc ... where was I?

Thanks for the comments. I want some criticism. That's why I decided to make this a very detailed AAR.

1350bc

Reload.
Ok where were we? At peace with the Iroquois.

I hadn’t noticed; but the woodcutters in Kyoto finished their work – delivering 10 shields to Kyoto, revealing a crop tile (1shield,2food), and permitting a settler’s completion next turn. The second slave pair also completed roading the second game tile. All this resulted in 10shields/turn, 2bread/turn in Kyoto.
With possession of pottery, I switch the settler production into a granary, I must use Kyoto’s high production now - to produce the granary before I start pumping out settlers and depleting its sizable population.

When playing a civ that starts with pottery and or warrior code, I have the following approach:
I build a 5 vet archer force, while the population increases and a few tiles are improved. When the attack archers are about to leave, I start roading, and produce a granary (taking advantage of the high shields/turn count). As the archer team captures the nearest cities #2 and (maybe) #3 from 2 different neighbours, the granary is built. Those captures are generally followed by a 2 settler build in the capital - which generally gives me 4 or 5 cities, and 2 weak neighbours.

But this has certainly been a different game and the first city’s granary is long overdue. Had the granary been in place earlier, the 2 wheat and 2 game tiles would have also allowed us to compete in the rapid expansion while producing a reasonable set of spearmen. Instead we’re short on cities, and military. What a waste given the excellent starting location. Osaka begins working on a settler, we need more cities.

Check the diplomacy screen: Buy iron working from Liz at 110gold and 2gold/turn. Switch to domestic screen: Begin researching writing in 40 turns.
Check science screen: Once I get masonry, I’ll need math to enable currency and construction – which I plan to obtain via extortion. Once I get writing, I will also have the option of extorting philosophy, code of laws, literature and map making. I don’t pay attention to the available mysticism->polytheism->monarchy branch. The goal is to get to Republic after code of laws and philosophy, swiftly occupy the entire island, and then proceed to find the other civilizations. I do not plan on using Monarchy because it will give me a smaller commerce base for research than Republic does, and I do not want to be many techs behind the other civs - whenever I meet. To even try researching the monarchy branch would be a waste of time. I decide to stick it with writing (in 40 turns), which I cannot afford to buy, but it must be obtained because it enables extorsion of the largest set of techs. I might buy masonry. In any case, currency and construction tend to be researched after the writing branch (excluding literacy which sometimes get researched at the beginning of the middle ages), so they’re of no importance at the moment. Okay, the brain is moving. The science advisor recommends I research Horseback Riding, but I never listen to that guy; and knowing that the second civ to research a tech gets it at half price I want to prevent the Iroquois from getting horseback riding soon.

There is also a very cool silver lining in the dark clouds behind. Having severely weakened the Iroquois, Hiawatha’s mounted warriors will not be coming around for ages, and whenever they appear, it will be in small numbers; by which time I should have plenty of swordmen. There’s also hope that they will start a war with England. Additionally, England’s present expansion and large treasury means that it should be researching technology at a reasonable rate; and even better, its 5 towns will not autoraze when they get captured.
I also note that all of England’s towns have only size 1. I don’t think they’ll keep expanding towards the old Iroquois territory. So that gives me some time to get more cities.
I send a pair of slaves to improve Osaka.
Let’s keep playing …

[Puma]

1325bc

1325bc
Hiawatha kicks my units off his territory
Elite warrior to police Osaka, elite archer to Osaka, fortify second injured chariot near Salamanca to heal.

We see iron east of Osaka. We must prevent the English from controlling that tile by building a town in that area, a colony may disappear if the English build a town in the desert to the east of Osaka. A good spot for a town is chosen, next to the lake. A temple there will enable access to the iron. For the first time ever, I think I’ll have to rush a settler (in Osaka). I scan English territory for more iron, and see iron next to London. Alpha is still fortified nearby. I move Alpha to the iron, to temporarily prevent a colony or road on the iron resource. Tied in tech with the Iroquois, I have 4gold, and +4gold/turn. The English have all the money, 261gold.

[Puma]

1300bc

1300bc
I can finally rush the settler in Osaka, where the bread surplus is at +3/turn and the bread counter has 18/20 breads, but I notice a few things before carrying out the rush.
First, I again see that a 10/30 completed item can be rushed at 1 citizen’s expense under despotism. I didn’t know that. I always have fun and simply wait until the option is available – without making intricate plans. Secondly, the advisor’s reminder that I’ll lose 1 citizen jumps out. I notice Osaka still has not grown to size 4, and I believe there must be 4 citizens in Osaka in order to make a settler, lose 1 citizen, and keep the city running with last citizen. So I hold on the settler rush.

[Puma]

something else I didn't know

But here is the detailed truth, which I had not realized due to my inexperience with the mechanics of gaining citizens and rushing settlers.
In retrospect, I suspect that food and production gains are evaluated at the end of a turn, when forests are taken down and their 10 shield bonus is also included in the production evaluation; while on the other hand, citizen gains (due to the filling of the bread counter) and the emergence of completed products (due to the filling of the production counter) are executed at the beginning of the next turn. I always suspected this but never bothered to investigate/confirm it.
With my game choice, I held off on the rush
(1300bc, citizens=3, breadCounter=18/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=10/30) ended the turn
(1300bc, citizens=3, breadCounter=18+3/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=10+2/30=12/30),
waited until the following turn, filled the breadCounter and gained 1 citizen, where 4 citizens give Osaka +2/turn bread
(1275bc, citizens= 3+1=4, breadCounter=reset=0/20, breadgain=+2/turn, settlerProduction=12/30)
to rush the settler at the loss of 1 citizen - where 3 citizens give Osaka +3/turn bread
(1275bc, citizens=4-1=3, breadcounter=0/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=30/30),
ending the turn
(1275bc, citizens=3, breadcounter=0+3/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=30/30), and executing the settler’s production at the beginning of the next turn,
where 1 citizen gives +4/turn bread
(1250bc, citizens=3-2=1, breadcounter=3/20, breadgain=+4/turn settlerProduction=0/30).
Bam! A settler in 1250bc

On the other hand, while reconstructing some plays for the AAR
In 1300bc
(1300bc, citizens=3, breadCounter=18/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=10/30)
I rushed the settler, losing 1 citizen, where 2 citizens give Osaka +4/turn in bread
(1300bc, citizens=3-1, breadCounter=18/20, breadgain=+2turn, settlerProduction=30/30)
ending the turn
(1300bc, citizens=2, breadCounter=18+4/20, breadgain=+4/turn, settlerProduction=30/30)
***
beginning the next turn with the gain of citizen due to the filling of the breadCounter,
(1275bc, citizens=2+1=3, breadCounter=reset=0/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=30/30)
immediately followed by the execution of the settler’s production
(1275bc, citizens=3-2=1, breadCounter=0/20, breadgain=+3/turn, settlerProduction=0/30)
***
Bam Bam!! A settler in 1275bc - one turn earlier.
That would have been the best choice. My game choice cost me a turn, by which time the target square could’ve disappeared due to the expansion of the English borders at Canterbury.

[Puma]

1275bc

1275bc
Chariot on Salamanca’s road heals, pillages the road to the wines, and fortifies there. This may lead the Iroquois to settle elsewhere. I rush the settler in Osaka. Treasury: 11gold, +2gold/turn. Writing in 37 turns. Slave pair lands on Osaka’s wheat.
1250bc and on
Settler produced in Osaka, heads towards target tile for town #3. Slaves irrigate Osaka’s wheat to bring population count up quickly. Second chariot heals, and proceeds north - with intent to trespass English territory in order to expose more English tiles. Elite archer arrives in Osaka. A slave pair completes mine on crop tile in Kyoto, starts roading the same tile. Now there are 5 tiles with 2shields+2food in Kyoto. Osaka’s elite archer is fortified. Alpha fortifies on the iron mountain east of London