Turn 93, 710 BC

[Aeson]

Congratulations on our victory! Any ideas for the naming of our unit (if he should survive)?

I think the Elite status should be preserved. This is depending on the screenshots from GoW, but if we move both Vets onto the Elite, we keep the chance of attacking with first a Vet, and then the Elite. The Vet defending has almost as good a chance to retreat, and better chance to actually cause damage to the Immortal.

Vox's main stack is probably in Dissidentville at this point. That gives 3 turns before we'd want to attack out of Arashi, 4 if they plan on keepign to the Mountains and don't want to plow through Vet spears fortified 9 of Arashi.

Also, if we move Monsoon's spear 66 onto the Mountain there, it may draw their stack towards Monsoon, and at the very least will block Vox's Spear from moving to that tile to set up camp for their main stack.

If the Warrior gets on the road 2, he can be upgraded in 2-3 turns to a Med Inf. We should have the cash in time now to upgrade just about all our units. This would block the Spear from cutting off our road access to Monsoon next turn too.

[Shiber]

Another reason to get Feudalism ASAP (in 2 turns): it would serve as a pleasant surprise to GoW, and we want them to feel happy about this agreement, and that they're getting more than they asked for, for the sake of future deals.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by nbarclay
I can't write a story in time for this turn, but I could for next one if we want to wait another turn to do the switch.

I need to get to work now. I'll be back to finish playing around 8:00 P.M. Apolyton time. Please discuss the issues I've raised between now and then so we'll be ready to wrap things up as quickly as is practical.

Nathan

Lets not post something about the pyramids until we've built them, I would hate to see the embarassment and fallout otherwise

[Aeson]

We are certain that Vox can't land more than 1 unit near Hurricane for 3 turns. If they are sending a Galley, we will be in a position to see it after next turn (if we move both Vet WC's to protect our Elite).

I'd favor moving 2 Vet Swords and the last remaining Warrior to Sandstorm this turn. If we see a Galley heading S, the Warrior can move back and be upgraded (Ctrl-Shift-U on the other Warrior outside a Barracks city).

Arashi is going to be our best bet to break this invasion. In 3 turns Hurricane will be able to pump out a WC every single turn (we can get the mine done in 3 more turns for 30 per turn shields), and EotS a Pike every turn, so should be safe enough from Galley landings at that point.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Aeson
Congratulations on our victory! Any ideas for the naming of our unit (if he should survive)?

I think the Elite status should be preserved. This is depending on the screenshots from GoW, but if we move both Vets onto the Elite, we keep the chance of attacking with first a Vet, and then the Elite. The Vet defending has almost as good a chance to retreat, and better chance to actually cause damage to the Immortal.

Vox's main stack is probably in Dissidentville at this point. That gives 3 turns before we'd want to attack out of Arashi, 4 if they plan on keepign to the Mountains and don't want to plow through Vet spears fortified 9 of Arashi.

Also, if we move Monsoon's spear 66 onto the Mountain there, it may draw their stack towards Monsoon, and at the very least will block Vox's Spear from moving to that tile to set up camp for their main stack.

If the Warrior gets on the road 2, he can be upgraded in 2-3 turns to a Med Inf. We should have the cash in time now to upgrade just about all our units. This would block the Spear from cutting off our road access to Monsoon next turn too.

I agree with the above. The elite should be saved for later.

How wounded is the chariot? It might have enough juice to finish off the wounded immortal the next turn.

[Shiber]

The chariot has two HP remaining.

[Arrian]

I concur with getting feudalism for pikemen & med inf.

I remain unsure about covering the elite WC with vet WCs. I could go either way on that one.

Arashi is clearly the key to our defense. All we need is a pikeman up on the mountain "9" from Arashi to force any invaders down onto flat land. I'd like a road on that mountain as soon as we can manage it.

What did Vox do with the spearman they had up in the Spinebreaker mountains near the iron? Did it advance, retreat, or stay put?

-Arrian

[DeepO]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
Lets not post something about the pyramids until we've built them, I would hate to see the embarassment and fallout otherwise

Well.. there is no risk if we wait until the last turn. After that, no civ is able to switch wonders, and build it in the same turn (well, they would be if they would finish a tech they are researching, but it's highly unlikely they would risk that just to avoid detection)

DeepO

[DeepO]

Originally posted by Shiber
The chariot has two HP remaining.

Correction 3 HP remaining. He turned elite after he had slain that immortal.

DeepO

[Aeson]

I'd like a road on that mountain as soon as we can manage it.

Road should be done in 3 turns. That's before Vox's stack could get there.

What did Vox do with the spearman they had up in the Spinebreaker mountains near the iron?

It moved 2. There is another Spear (regular) 8 from it.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by DeepO

Correction 3 HP remaining. He turned elite after he had slain that immortal.

DeepO

Not bad. If we move to protect it, and that chariot takes a hit or two off the immortal (was it regular or vet, the remaining immortal?) and then retreats, then we might risk taking out the other immortal. I probably would if it was an SP game.
OTOH, if they see two Wc's there, they might pull the immortal back (if they can) to a mountain and hunker down. If we got a leader, then........wowzers. and I imagine that every immortal is nearly priceless for them.

I am slightly concerned about the mountains near Hurricane, there is an opening there between the warrior and the worker where they could land a pair of immortals. Granted, they probably don't know the geography (I have no clue what they can see at this point).



So earliest eta on the vox army (assuming it is in D'ville) is 4 turns to attack monsoon. 4 to attack Arashi (leaving them on g'land) 5 turns to attack Arashi via mountain pass.

Say we're facing 20 immortals. Can we hold Arashi? Would walls benefit Arashi? Monsoon, is written off if they strike.

I doubt that Vox would divide up task forces, as the road through d'ville is so much shorter due to the road than to come down to where they are parked now in the east.

[Aeson]

If it's 20 Immortals, we probably lose Arashi. The exception would be if they go for Monsoon first, which would buy us enough time to get enough Pikes/Swords in Arashi that they would likely lose a full assault.

I think we can hold Tempest though. Our problem is they can just bypass our cities until they find one they like as long as they stay on the Spinebreaker. Their problem is that every turn they don't hit us, we gain strength in comparison to them. Also, the further they move into our territory, the less able they are to heal up. So we should fight for every inch to delay them as much as possible.

Maybe we should switch Monsoon to a Catapult (and have Hurricane produce Cats until it gets to 30 shields per turn). Cats will allow us to slowly take down their stack if they choose to bypass cities, and make the cities harder to take. At this point they are probably worth more than WC's to us, as WC's won't help a whole lot unless Vox moves onto the flats.

The problem with cats is that we stand to lose a few. I wouldn't mind trading Immortals in their stacks for Cats though... especially as they can't take Cats on many of our Mountains, and so it restricts their stack's movement if they want to keep them. It would take about 3 Immortals (figuring mostly vets) for every Pike defended with a Cat on Mountains and Hills (in a city walls situation). So the Cats can actually be bait to get them to attack when we have the advantage.

Vet Immortal vs Vet Spear fortified on a Mountain:

23.8%

Reg Immortal vs Vest Spear fortified on a Mountain:

14.3%

Vet Immortal vs Vet Spear and Cat fortified on Mountain:

14.3%-23.8% (depending on if the Cat hits or not)

Reg Immortal vs Vet Spear and Cat fortified on Mountain:

6.7%-14.3%

----------------------

With those kind of odds, just about every Pike they kill will be upgraded to elite between Immortal attacks. That makes it really costly for Vox.

Cats will give us better shots at Leaders, a lower attrition rate, and keep Vox from being able to viable bypass cities, as their troops will be losing hps as they stay in our territory.

[Arrian]

I would like to have a few catapults, yes.

With a pikeman fortified on a mountain, with a cat or two, we can fire at passing stacks of Immortals and then kill with WCs.

I would only build cats in cities without barracks, though, for efficiency's sake. Cities with barracks are capable of building veteran units, which I think take priority (at least right now, while we're weak).

-Arrian

[DeepO]

We can have 4 pikes ready at the tile 9 from Arashi, wouldn't that be enough to force 20 immortals of the mountain? The problem is, though, that if they move to the other side of the river, we would get disadvantaged (better defense) when attacking them from Arashi. They would to, of course, but if I was Vox with 20 immortals, I would first of all try to advance to Arashi (it's bigger, plus has a better access route), not Monsoon. Then, when faced with 4 pikes, I would go over the river. Next turn, I would take all I have, and either advance on SandStorm, or go for Arashi anyway. Keeping wondering around in enemy territory is not something you want to do with 4 attack units picking away at you.

BTW, Don't foret one thing: Vox has more cash then it can use. One very good way of investing it would be in investigating cities they can see, so a trap in Arashi might not work exactly as planned if they see what is coming. Better to leave some units out of our cities, out of sight, but in reach for as long as possible.

DeepO

[Aeson]

I think we want to keep most of our WC's E of the Spinebreaker in case they do try to go for Sandstorm. If they move onto the flats we can hit and run, hopefully convincing them to move back onto the Mountains. Reinforcements from Hurricane and EotS would be readily available at that point too.

Cats can still hit them if they move across the river too.