Turn 95, 670 BC

[Aeson]

To be edited by the leaders of the Scholia.

Status:

Check this and every turn to see if we lost some war unweariness due to the killing of troops within cultural borders and therefore must readjust the lux slider.

Urgent questions:

- The Pyramid Replacement Poll
- Do we send our galleys up the east coast or the west coast?

Military:
- Upgrade our three spears to pikes.

Economy:

-WDesert Settler builds city. (name suggestions?)

-Worker Sandstorm move 6.
-Worker 1 of Hurricane move 88.
-Worker Cyclone move 8 and mine.
-Workers(3) 1 of EotS add to EotS.
-Worker 2 of EotS add to EotS.
-Worker 11 of EotS move 3 and mine.

-Workers(2) 9 of Arashi move 2 to road.

-EotS max food with at least 10 shields production if going with a Med Inf, or at least 20 shields production if going for a WC (recommended).

- Rejuggle tiles in the south so Cyclone can crank out one-turn workers. Try to keep Typhoon at ten shields per turn.
- Check the military situation and possibly change builds in Arashi and/or Monsoon (e.g. walls aren't urgent if an extra WC would help make sure no Voxian units live to attack the city).

Diplomacy:

- ND will pay 200 gold when feudalism is offered.(alva):

Thread library:
- Standing orders for workers (Orders last revised April 5.)

[nbarclay]

We almost certainly want EotS to go for a WC this turn and start pikes next turn because getting enough pikes quickly enough is going to be our big problem cutting off Vox's iron.

[Theseus]

If EotS is to build a WC, than I'd rather see Tempest build a MedInf.

And Walls in Arashi are a waste... Vox won;t get that far, and if they do we will have ample time to get Walls up. Build a MedInf or Pikeman there instead.

I like the Galley concepts, but that is for later; immediate concerns are defending against the possible Immortal rush, and taking the attack to D-ville. Both of those are all about the Spinebreakers, and thus MedInf and Pikes.

We need coverage on the hill 1 of Monsoon... the reg Warrior?

And I STILL do not understand why we couldn;t have at least two Cats.

I say "Go West, young man" re the Galleys; the mountain and two jungle tiles at the road branch are begging for a visit.

[Shiber]

Please move 7 with the vet WC that we left on the coast 22 of the immortal that ran off to the mountains. This is to see where the immortal went, which could be either into the jungle (we won't see him then), or onto the open grassland.
If he moves into the open grassland, we can strike at him and possibly win. The chances are very close to 50:50, and we're risking a 20 shields unit, whereas Vox might lose a 30 shields unit. Plus, there's a chance that we'd retreat if we don't kill the immortal, so it's worth it.
If we don't see him, then I suggest that we move another tile 7, rather than return to the coast. In this case, the immortal must have moved 7, into the jungle. Vox won't be able to see our WC, and thinking that we've given up chasing, they might go 4 into the open next turn. That would give us a chance to check if they have on turn 96, by moving 8, and to strike at the immortal if we find it in the open rather than in the jungle.

What we'd achieve by this: chances to take out Vox's immortal at a lower risk to us than to Vox, at nearly 50% chances of success and with 58% of retreat if we don't succeed. The chances that this operation would end at a total failure are 23.184% (losing a battle to the immortal and not retreating, thus losing the vet WC), and even then we'd probably inflict some damage on the immortal, delaying its arrival to the main front by one turn.

[asleepathewheel]

I will be gone proably all day, at least for the next 14 hours, so this will may be (yeah right, 24 hour turns, we will play wednesday) the only time I can weigh in on this turn.

That said:

I think we should move the galley pair around the east coast. Vox still has that galley, and its almost had enough time to make a return trip to where moe met his fate. we can't let that hapopen, as all of our forces are in the west.

Hard to give other opinions until we've seen vox's move.

I think we are tremendously undervaluing Vox's skill and strenght, and as such I view Sun Tzu as a huge gamble. Frankly we need the 4 or whatever units that hurricane can pump out. Doom Doom Doom Dooooooom. I had to get that out of my system, thank you.

[DeepO]

7 units in 7 turns, asleep... that's the difference between the Lighthouse and Sun Tzu. That's substantial... we have to be sure if we want to lose that.

Further, I just realised: Now that we miss the pyramids, we should definately keep Cyclone on 1 turn workers for as long as possible, maybe even until all our cities are filled with pop. (can that be done without GA?)We gain most by a large population, and many of our cities aren't better then average food-wise. Plus, when rushpopping EotS, we will lose more of our workers, and I'm pretty sure we are going to want to have those mountains roaded, and that jungle removed asap.

DeepO

[nbarclay]

We have two vet swords and one regular sword in the Hurricane area, and plenty of pike production in the area to keep Vox from attacking from the mountains. We can also get WCs into the area quickly if Vox's attack force is more than two or three units. So as long as we keep a lookout for Voxian galleys, I think we're okay. Better than okay, in fact, if Vox splits its forces without having adequate coordination between them.

Regarding moving the WC 7-7, if our WC attacks and retreats, it's dead on Vox's counterattack. We could also find an immortal waiting for us at the end of our journey. That said, if we're prepared to position two or three additional WCs to deal with an immortal if one goes after our WC, the 7-7 move could still be a good one.

Arashi will only end up building walls if significant additional Voxian forces show up. Otherwise, I think a WC would be a better bet than a medieval infantry because it gives us more flexibility to start walls if a huge Voxian force shows up in another turn or two. We won't be ready to launch an offensive for quite some time unless and until we kill quite a few Voxians in an attempt by them to invade us.

[Shiber]

I agree Nathan. Can we get one of the vet WCs on the road to go 8-9 and provide backup?
I think that this could be a great way to kill an immortal before it can reach mountains.

[Aeson]

I think if we move 7 with that WC (this turn and next) we will see the second stack from Vox. The units in GoW's screenshot had to go somewhere. My guess is that they went to the E and then will move due S to use the road. That would put them on about the same ETA to get to the tile

Keeping the WC out on the coast is most valuable for us. A move 7 then 3 (or 6 if no unit is on the mountain) will keep us informed of if that galley is heading back to drop off troops near Hurricane. We will be able to take 2 of the 3 swords from Hurricane and rely on EotS and Hurricane spitting out enough troops fast enough to defend it.

We have 2 turns warning with that WC there, and that would give us 3 Pikes/Horses in Hurricane. More than enough to stop any 1 galley landing force. Each turn we get 2 more pikes there if necessary, and even if they get extraordinarily lucky a turn or two in a row, they eventually run out of HP's. The sword we leave behind is just to hold onto the Iron until we can get a Pike there.

[Theseus]

We need more MedInf... or is no one interested in attacking wounded units on mountain and jungle tiles?

[Aeson]

As long as they stay on Mountain and Jungle Tiles... let them attack us (4 vs 4 isn't as good odds as 6 vs 4). The longer we draw this out the bigger our advantage becomes. All we really have to do is force their stacks off the Mountains (which Pikes do the best) for our WC's.

As we start the offensive, Tempest should be at 20 shields per turn, making for the best Med Inf producer.

[Arrian]

When we start the offensive, I don't want our shields going to med inf. KNIGHTS!

-Arrian

[Aeson]

Hopefully it starts before we even get to Chivalry though.

I think our biggest concern for the offensive should be efficiency. Knights are good to have around (and we will have several through upgrades), but shield for shield they cost more than what they do to produce. We have to worry about gaining ground on Vox (at that point it shouldn't be too hard), and not losing ground on all the other civs.

I think our best offensive stack is going to be 4-5 Pikes, 4-5 Cats, Whatever Med Infantry we have, and a few Knights. A couple Settlers/Workers too. All the un-upgraded Horses and WC's along to take out the wounded, and garrison cities.

We shouldn't try to blitz Vox with fast movers. We probably take them out faster that way, but it's far more costly to us. Let them attack Pikes defended with Cats, and get countered by Knights/Med Inf/Horses/WC's as we slowly march N.

[Arrian]

I think our best offensive stack is going to be 4-5 Pikes, 4-5 Cats, Whatever Med Infantry we have, and a few Knights. A couple Settlers/Workers too. All the un-upgraded Horses and WC's along to take out the wounded, and garrison cities.

I'm thinking along the same lines. I wasn't advocating a "fastmover blitz" attack, like what I would do to the AI. I want to take things slow, steady & safe. Still, I prefer spending our production/upgrade cash on Knights, because they are simply much better units than med inf (mobility, retreat, upgrade to cav).

-Arrian

[zeit]

What about our plans to take Vox's Iron with a sneak-attack?
Do we have enough resources to do that, while making sure we're safe?