Stuck in Lodi again.

[planetfall]

Originally posted by Arrian
Planetfall,

Are you done with railroading? If so, try to sell your coal. You no longer need it.

good idea. Yes finished w/ RR.

See if you can sell the saltpeter. They have infantry... forget Cavalry.

That is why I only created 10. Guess they will have to be military police once get across the water

Your list of luxury import/export/availability is missing two luxuries. You mention wine, ivory, incense, gems, silk and spices. Where are the dyes and furs? Russia?

yes

I'd say wait until you can see oil. That's crucial, because of Panzers. Thank goodness you have rubber.

no kidding, and not just one. I was thinking of trying to get rubber from Russian jungles. ugh, glad did not have to go there

I think you should designate India as your target. Use Panzers. If you do not have oil... well, pick the weakest civ that does have oil, throw those 10 cav + artillery and a bunch of infantry at the city that controls it (bring a settler too), rush the harbor, switch to mobilization and churn out Panzers while holding on for dear life.

-Arrian

Agreed, refining is next, about 8 turns away. If I can't get India to declare, I will just
have to do it and hope there is no MPP with Russia and Greece doesn't have a ROP.

Definitely a much different game feel from warlord. Thanks again. Have a great weekend.

-PF

[Arrian]

You too. Let us know how things go.

-Arrian

[planetfall]

Twelve User Notes and 2 Questions

HI all.

Here is the review of the Stuck in Lodi game. It was
my first Regent level game, and found at least 12
new things to pay attention to. I have highlighted those
for posters looking for quick hints. If anything sounds
wrong let me know.

A lot of typing I hope you all enjoy it.


Review
======
Small Island Continent
Am- 10 cities

Medium Continent
Ger- 25 cities

Large Continent with a 1 tile isthmus connecting Right and Left.
Right Side: Russia- 33 cities
Left Side, west: India- 13 cities
Left Side, east: Greece 13 cities. 3 on Russian side, one to W, N and NE.

Year 1600-- all at peace
F11 {Germany}
GNP=2
Apr=3
Lit=4
Annual Income=4

Wonders: Sistine, Magellan, Smith, UnSuff, and Hoover.

Overview
======
Managed to pull out a win but a struggle.

Game Flow Updates & Notes to Self
===========================
Everyone is at peace so made MMP with Greece since Russia
is behaving herself and figure we can beat up on India. All of us
have "weak militaries" except Russia.

Year 1630-- MMP with Greece expires. Plan for 1630 was to either get
India to declare war or declare war on India. Instead in 1625 Russia declares
war on Greece and we are pulled into war also.

Only data on military strength was from power part of F8 screen:
Russia: 10.5 bars
Germany: 6.5 bars
Greece: 4.0 bars
India: 3.5 bars
Am: 2.5 bars


Note to Self #1
~~~~~~~~~~
look for strong military civ to declare war near end of MMP



Note to Self #2
~~~~~~~~~~
MMP might not be extended, plan better next time



Note to Self #3
~~~~~~~~~~~
Failing to plant spy 5-8 times will turn friendliest
of civs to declare war.

{After trying many many times to plant spies in Greece,
Greece declared war.}


Data once had spies in all civs: [1715]
Civ -- infantry -- jets -- bombers -- tanks
Russia -- 123 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2
Greece -- 32 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0
India -- 58 -- 0 -- 3 -- 0
Germany -- 54 -- 8 -- 3 -- 26
America -- 11 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0


Note to Self #4
~~~~~~~~~~
When in an unplanned war, quickly get as many
civs as possible to also declare war.


It was very cheap to pull India into war. If Russia got Greece, there would
be no stopping. I needed India to buy time. I was too far away, 3 turns by water,
and Greece was so weak, the war could be over by the time we found some
troops to help. America was just pulled in so the focus would be all on Russia,
turned out to be a good move. America was extremely weak and Russia could
not resist sending over some troops.

With India also involved, Russia could not go far into the Western half. Naturally
the three Grecian lone cites where ripe plums. Since the coalition was doing well to the South, I came in from the North East and secured some needed luxuries. I
luxury does not get multiplied much by a marketplace.

On the way over, I dropped a few ships south just to see if I could pick up any
lost Russian ships and see if America was doing anything in this war. Whew, what
a good move this turned out to be. Found an ironclad and transport. Barely got
them as I needed my DS for escort duty. The extra Magellan move allowed the
DS to get the ironclad and barely catch the transport on the next turn. Then
about 2 turns later, as I was still looking for American activity, I found 2 more
ironclad-transport pairs. That caught my attention. What's going on. Guess it
is time to look at the big map. Whoops, New York is Russian. Wow, when
did that happen? Could not let Russia get land so close, goodbye reinforcements.
Hello picket line. If any more Russian reinforcements are going to get thru,
they had better be prepared to fight. By cutting off the reinforcements,
we easily eliminated some land troops and allowed America to retake New York.


Note to Self #5
~~~~~~~~~~~
In wartime, at the end of each turn check the color of border cities.Look for
cities who have changed sides but have a small area of color on the map.

About now I am sitting back pretty smugly and thinking well maybe this
Regent level is not as bad as I thought. Russia only has 7 cities left, and
they have not requested peace once. Should have been a warning. Suddenly
some very very disturbing popups:
1. America has signed a peace treaty with Russia
Ok, that doesn't effect me. Ho, hum.
2. America has started the Manhattan Project
WHAT!?? Yikes. I do not like games with nukes. I would like nukes if
they were a small wonder, but Firaxis refuses to think about rescoping Manhattan
from a GW to a SW.
At first like I dummy I also started Manhattan, then I realized why bother?
I don't need the culture and dont have the techs for satellites. Therefore,
major switch of emphasis to the Amer city working on Manhattan.


Note to Self #6
~~~~~~~~~~~
Make sure preferences have turned off nukes.

With split forces Russia took a bit longer. Decided to close rather than
deal with a high tech hostile civ. With limited forces available for American
campaign it was slash and burn, no holding any cities. In the process discovered
some improvements have a sell option. Nice extra income. Interestingly
there is a link to the civopedia in case can't remember what improvements do.
Would be nice if this was also on the right side build list.


Note to Self #7
~~~~~~~~~~
Never abandon newly captured city without reviewing improvements. If want to
abandon, can sell and then abandon. If just abandon you lose the income.


I used to have bombers, and they discovered F15's. Nasty.


Note to Self #8
~~~~~~~~~~~
If America is a civ, forget bombing. F15's cream them.


Inquiry #1--
Any idea why a BS within 3 tiles of target and 4 jets flying air supremacy,
neither loses any jets or engages any F15's?

Boy does this game move fast. Only half way through America and
India starts Manhattan. This won't do, navy can't deal with F15's so off
to India they go. Indian big mistake they attacked Greece and started
Manhattan. After seeing Russias demise, Greece gladly accepted an
offer of ROP. Had to RR some connecting roads, but India was a piece
of cake.


Note to Self #9
~~~~~~~~~~
One way ROP is possible.


Unit line will stop civ with ROP but ROP will allow you to fly thru land to target civ.


Note to Self #10
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Foreign advisor does not always know what is saying.


Greece never failed me even though foreign advisor offered many warnings.


Note to Self #11
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When another civ is joining an alliance with you, their mood improves
if you let them have some cities.

At this point, ready to just let the game run out. But 1 turn before the
end of the ROP, Greece started Manhattan. Still no satellites. Give me
a break, I was fighting wars. No time to research. Anyway big mistake.
Using ROP before starting a war wreaks the game. Well, might be
needed at deity, but at this level, forget abusing it. End game in 2 turns.
Boring, but it was a long game and I have many things to remember.

Inquiry #2 --
Any idea why Germany would be paying maintenance on a Russian
worker?

One of 7 workers was a Russian. How, why? I thought foreign workers
were free of maintenance?


Note to Self #12
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forget Score. Forget productivity. GNP and power curve is everything.


Well that's it. No longer stuck in Lodi, {my brother is literally still stuck
living in Lodi, but that is another story} I did learn some good lessons.
Thank you all for your interest and support.

--PF

[SABRA]

Planetfall you should talk about your experience in the democrazy game .
You seem to have a firm grasp on the game .
Intresting to read your stuff - a lot is learned from it !