AU 101: Crowding & War

[Puma]

2750bc

The Iroquois settle their second city, Niagara Falls (NF), very close to the intended horsehill path. It’s a heart pounding moment. The end seems near. They must be much closer than England. Kyoto’s cultural borders must expand quickly to help prevent loss of the intended road’s territory; a temple is on its way. A temple must also be built in the second city. If the road tiles are lost, Niagara Falls must be taken over quickly.

[Puma]

2670bc

2670bc
Osaka is founded right on the horse to prevent a third Iroquois city from taking the horse tile by way of culture, and to prevent pillage. We can build chariots in Osaka. Right. I forgot about chariots because I never use them. There are grapes in the Iroquois’ territory. I also note that England and Iroquois have no horses linked to their capitals - for the moment.
Osaka is next to a river – good- but all available squares around it are terrible – it requires a temple for its borders to expand in order to access useful tiles.

[Puma]

2430bc

As for Kyoto, it will grow while the road is built to Osaka; the second wheat must be mined now before the worker continues the road. Warrior code technology is 14 turns away, the Iroquois and the English have it but they want the wheel. Still gripped by the surprise, I miss the thought of buying it for a cheap 39gold from the Iroquois. D’OH!

2430bc
2430bc Alpha warrior has inspected lands near England and it seems the English horse resource is quite a bit away.

[Puma]

2270bc

The Iroquois must be submitted first. First, they’re already next door; and second, if they’re allowed to grow and access some yet unseen source of horses, their dangerous mounted warriors will definitely be a nightmare. The English on the other hand tend to be pretty quiet and have no killer unit in the Ancient Age. Osaka must forget the vital temple and instead must build a warrior to inspect Iroquois lands due west.

2270bc
Osaka’s new warrior, “Beta”, starts scouting northwest, walking along an adjacent mountain range. The Iroquois have a third city to the west of Osaka. It’s Grand River (GR). Kyoto’s new veteran warrior trespasses the neighbouring Iroquois city’s territory by jumping onto a mountain tile. Niagara Falls is revealed.

[Puma]

2150bc and on

I seriously consider attacking NF with my veteran (I want that gold star); but if I lose to their fortified regular, they’ll pop rush an archer in NF and then bring their other units to kill my significantly smaller civilization. Let’s not get killed.
I apologize to Hiawatha and step out. I really don’t care if he is annoyed. He’ll be pretty furious when the Japanese war party gets moving.

2150bc
A veteran warrior is built in Kyoto. I send the veteran trespasser to help garrison Osaka for the coming conflict. Another veteran warrior is sent to protect the roadmaker.

2110bc
We developed a Warrior Code – “ok sounds good” - and forget to inquire into our next field of studies – our people start studying bronze working for 40 turns. Kyoto is now building archer at 3 turns a pop. It feels quite late for an archer rush now. 2 warriors garrison Osaka, 3 in Kyoto, 1 on the worker, Alpha scouts England, Beta is scouting due west along the mountain range that runs next to Osaka.

1910bc
Niagara Falls went down to size 1 – when did that happen? (2150bc) Apparently they made a worker to improve NF’s wine tiles. 2 more vet archers in Kyoto. The Iroquois have obtained alphabet, ceremonial burial, and the wheel , but they still show no horses and don’t have horse riding - yet.
A regular warrior produced in Osaka. Road warrior moved to Osaka. 2 vets and 2 regulars in Osaka. The English threaten war if I don’t give 25 gold pieces. No contest. I yield. Liz, your time will come.

[Puma]

1790bc

1790bc
Archer 3 is produced in Kyoto. Osaka’s warrior production switched to temple. Take 1 veteran warrior and the 3 vet archers from Kyoto, move towards NF. 1 regular and 1veteran warrior left in Kyoto. I must attack now before the Iroquois get city number 4 or it’s all toast. Beta reaches the west coast – it’s clearly us, the Iroquois and the English on this continent.

[Puma]

1790bc and on

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.
McCauley says the English are wealthier than us, followed by the rest of the world, with the Iroquois last.

1750bc
Suddenly a settler-warrior pair appears coming from NF, and another regular warrior is visible near NF, next to the Osaka mountain range, - just as I am about to declare war. The war party fortifies this turn..

1725bc
The lone Iroquois warrior has moved to the border of Osaka. The Iroquois warrior-settler pair walks off a hill onto flat ground. The Osaka-Kyoto road is finally completed. I declare war on the Iroquois, proceed to kill the warrior with an archer, capture 2 slaves, our native worker hides in Osaka, the 2 slaves proceed to Kyoto, 1 vet warrior is pulled from Osaka to join the 2 archer-1 warrior stack, and they all jump onto the hill next to NF. The town is guarded by a regular spearman now . The victorious archer is fortified for healing. The lone enemy warrior has moved to the border of Osaka. A regular warrior is pulled out of Osaka and placed on the mountain in-between the Iroquois warrior and Osaka.

[Puma]

1725bc and on

That leaves a regular and a veteran warrior in Osaka. The intention is to force the regular Iroquois warrior to attack the regular warrior from Osaka, and to hopefully promote it to veteran. If I let the Iroquios warrior freely jump onto the mountain next to Osaka, it will probably fortify. This would lure me to attack it. Being on a mountain, it would probably survive and cause a warrior’s loss for Osaka; and then it may be reinforced by another unseen unit, archer or spearman, thus causing severe problems for Osaka. It has happened too often and must be prevented.

1700bc
The lone warrior doesn’t bite. Instead it heads south to NF, where I proceed to lose 1 archer 1 warrior respectively. Their spear is now veteran, with 3 of 4 hp. This looks bad. I can’t risk a second warrior-induced promotion. It’s up to the second archer to complete the task. Archer wins, captures 2 workers, NF is autorazed. A newly-built archer heads to join the group.

Whereas at this point I would normally find myself with a third town and 2 slaves, joining a slave into town 3 to immediately pop rush a regular archer, now I have little to show for it.

Beta on the west coast enters Salamanca’s territory from the north, looking for a horse tile. I completely forget about Alpha - which is fortified near London. This always happens to units that I’ve fortified for some reason or other – especially pillaging ships. I wish there was a “fortify for this turn only” option.

The remaining vet warrior on the hill jumps onto NF’s old spot to protect the injured archer, the 2 new slaves proceed to Kyoto.

Osaka, with 10/30 shields filled, 11 turns to complete the temple, 2 citizens, with zero food growth, the choice is clear: rush the temple at the expense of 1 citizen to gain quicker access to food tiles outside. The regular warrior on Osaka’s mountain proceeds north to scout for an Iroquois counterattack– revealing a roughly north-south road linking Salamanca and NF’s old location – on flat ground to the west of Osaka – a good time to use war chariots – no more archers.

[Puma]

1675bc and on

1675bc
The Iroquois warrior near Osaka dies attacking our veteran, our first fortifed archer heals, and jumps onto the road, the new third archer goes onto Osaka’s mountain, we fortify the second archer and its warrior teammate in NF’s ashes.
Beta penetrates Salamanca’s western territory along the coastal mountains - revealing still no horses and only 1 citizen in Salamanca.
As for the English, York’s boundaries have expanded and I note they have built Nottingham by the horse tile to their west.
The first slave pair begins roading a game tile north of Kyoto.

At this point I should’ve re-evaluated Kyoto’s situation and instead moved the slaves onto the roaded grass due northeast of Kyoto, in preparation for the fifth citizen. But, I seriously wasn’t paying any attention because the razing of NF got me focused on taking Grand River further west and south of Salamanca – after all, part of AU101’s goal was to capture a city with each phase of fighters.

1650bc
The spearman appears to fortify in Salamanca (Is that due to the approaching warrior Beta? Or is that a second spear fortifiying the city?).
English build Hastings – 4 cities. Western Scout reveals more territory and we see a horse in Salamanca’s radius – but it’s not roaded!!! What happened there? This seems good. I think they have no workers.

[Puma]

1650bc

Salamanca

[Puma]

1625bc and on

1625bc
First war chariot produced. The Iroquois rebuild NF near some silk squares to the north of Salamanca, and Beta reveals what appears to be the north-western tip of the continent. The regular warrior by Osaka returns south to join the 2 archers on the mountains west of Osaka. Finally Hiawatha accepts our envoy, he’s willing to let go of bronze working, alphabet and pottery technologies, but he isn’t willing to let go of the yet unseen Grand River – here we go again. Kyoto’s 4 citizens are producing 20 shield chariots in 3 turns a pop, with a rate of 9shields/turn and 2food/turn – what a waste of 8 shields but I want that fifth citizen asap.

1600bc
A pop-up reports each nation’s happiness.
The 2 archers and regular warrior step west, off the mountain range; and land on the west side of the road that used to connect NF and Salamanca. This team will head south to join the southern team in order to take Grand River together.

[Puma]

1600bc and on

The second group heads northwest, along the coast, towards Grand River. Ideally, any aid coming to GR from Salamanca will meet the 2archer-1warrior stack located beside the road instead of reinforcing GR. In Kyoto, the second slave pair begins hacking a forest tile due west of Kyoto.
Again I forget to reassess Kyoto’s production. Somehow I remember that a native worker is hiding in Osaka. With 2 slave pairs “improving” Kyoto, a pathetic 1bread/turn growth and an upcoming cultural expansion in Osaka, along with possible Iroquois warriors to the north that might pillage any improvements of Osaka’s terrain – I decide to join the worker into Osaka.

1575bc
Iroquois request peace – I don’t accept. Grand River, full speed ahead. An archer attacks the northern team by way of Salamanca’s road. We earn an injured Archer elite.
Osaka’s border expands. I suspect Osaka will be my Forbidden Palace city, with the Palace ending up somewhere by Hastings later on. Meanwhile our forces approach GR to reveal that Grand_River.city_size = = 1 – not again! - Japan needed that city and now it’s going to get autorazed.
With 12 of 8 allowed units, we have 100 gold and –1 gold per turn. I’m hesitant. Should I press on, razing GR, and wasting more valuable time trying to take down the Iroquois and neglecting my expansion while England grows? Or should I stop now, collect 3 techs, and risk a mounted warrior avalance later from an enfuriated Iroquois allied to my next intended target, England? I choose the former case. Iroquois Mounted Warriors are fearsome. With us being 24 turns from Bronze working, it is my hope that the Iroquois will find another tech within the next 10 -20 turns as I press on to raze GR, and take Salamanca. The plan is to leave NF alone and sue for peace after the fourth tech, masonry, is obtained. At the moment, Beta is fortified in Salamanca’s territory, if he comes off the mountains to join the eastern forces at GR he’ll get smoked

1550bc
A second chariot is built and heads out to join the 2 warriors, 1 chariot and 3 archers now stacked together next to GR. I notice that the 2 movement chariot is at the top of the stack. I don’t like this as the chariot might get attacked from GR, and then it’ll become useless as my first choice attacker; but leave I it, deciding to make everyone attack GR during the next turn. I remember, when I started playing civ3 I would actually attack cities in nibbles, one or two attackers at a time. I lost often. Wait, isn’t that what I’m doing again?

[Puma]

1525bc

1525bc
Salamanca’s and GR’s spearmen fortify again.
My turn. A veteran archer takes down the first GR spearman, then a veteran archer gets killed by the second spear, the chariot takes on this 2 hp spear, chariot gets smoked too – ooh how I hate that RNG! The spearman is promoted. The only archer left, (the injured elite) takes the job and kills the spearman, razing GR. The two warriors quickly move onto the road, blocking any surprise attack on the injured archers, and the new chariot is about to join them.

[Puma]

1500bc

The general plan is still to hamstring the Iroquois, expand sufficiently, and then hit England.
1500bc
Salamanca’s borders expand again, and an Iroquois spear appears on the road coming from Salamanca – I will not waste another chariot on the spear while the 2 archers are healing, The chariot stacks with the 2 warriors on the road, just outside of Salamanca’s borders, intentionally 4 steps away from Salamanca, right in front of the spear.

[Puma]

1475bc and on

1475bc
The enemy spearman moves off the road, 2 regular Iroquois warriors appear north of Osaka.
A new second chariot is produced in Kyoto. Kyoto is now size 5. 1 happy, 3 content, 1 unhappy. Part of the reason I haven’t had the right mind to reassess Kyoto’s situation is that I haven’t had any rioting. Generally, I would’ve gotten a riot on the fourth citizen – due to an absence of luxuries. That case would’ve forced me to reload my save, move the slider and reassess the tile improvements, but this did not happen and I consequently have a fifth citizen working on a roaded grassland tile with no mine. The net result is 2bread/turn and 9shields/turn – forcing a 3 turn chariot production. Abnormally continuing to think like a Neanderthal, I leave the fifth citizen working on the roaded grass thinking that the 2bread/turn, 9shield/turn combo is better than the 1bread/turn,11shields/turn combo - because I want more citizens for future settlers.
Somehow, I subconsciously suspect that the war out west is coming to an end. This faint feeling is most likely fuelled by the knowledge that I generally don’t pull off games this loosely. I should’ve bought pottery a long time ago, I should’ve mined that grassland too, etc, etc etc. I was too focused on charliehorsing the Iroquois.
The second slave pair is still hacking the forest tile. Osaka’s and Kyoto’s chariot productions are switched back to archers, one to deal with the 2 regulars approaching Osaka, the other to kill the spearman which has now stepped past the chariot warrior stack and is probably coming to pillage our road. Leaving all else as is, I focus back on the warfront.

1450bc
The 2 foreign regulars hop right next to Osaka. I hope my 1vet1regular garrison will hold - fortified on the town, on a hill. The archer in Osaka needs 1 more turn and I don’t want to pop rush it. The second chariot joins the first one stacked with the two warriors, and the veteran archer heals fully and jumps on to the road where GR used to be

1425bc
A spearman fortifies in Salamanca. 1 regular warrior by Osaka attacks, dying and promoting my veteran warrior. The enemy spearman hops back on the road, leaving behind the 2 archers and the chariot-warrior stack. An Iroquois archer appears on the road from Salamanca, 3 steps away from Salamanca, right in the face of the chariot-warrior stack.
My turn starts with Osaka’s newly-built regular archer attacking the regular warrior still fortified to the north– the archer dies promoting the warrior to veteran - that RNG hates me lol. Now I only hope that the warrior will die attacking Osaka’s fortified warriors. Odds are if I attack that warrior it’ll win again leaving me only 1 warrior in Osaka – too risky.
Meanwhile, in Salamanca’s road, I use the healthy veteran archer to attack the approaching Iroquois archer – I win and get a promotion to elite with full health. Our archer ends up in Salamanca’s territory 3 steps away from Salamanca - d’oh! - I should’ve used a chariot. I must still be traumatized by the chariot loss to that spearman in Grand River. Not wanting to lose the elite archer to another archer, I load the 2 chariots and 2 warriors onto the archer’s tile – 3 steps away from Salamanca.