My strategy for a current multiplayer game

[Andydog]

Hi folks,

I have a few questions about a multiplayer game I'm playing at the moment with one other human player and 3 remaining AI's.

First a bit of background. It is 1750, I am Egypt, he is Persia. We are playing on a standard map 80% water, continents - he has the largest one, I have a smaller one (screenshot below). The other remaining AI's (which neither of us are really interested in) are pitifully weak and are Greece, Aztecs, and England, spread out on smaller islands. I have Magellan's Voyage, The Art of War, Universal Suffrage, the Chapel, Bach's Cathedral, Adam Smiths, (also Heroic Epic, Military Academy and Battlefield Medicine) but he has all the science great wonders and is ahead by about 6 techs I would say. He also has the Workshop and the Hoover Dam, but I have coal plants in nearly all my big producers anyway. He has more land so will be a bigger producer, but will have slightly more corruption. I have a bigger population, are earning more gold, and my happiness is going through the roof.

I think he will stay on the tech path to launch the spaceship, and thus my loose plan is this:

I will head for mass production (to create a massive navy), flight (to create bombers), then motor transport (to create tanks), and then straight to synthetic fibres so I can upgrade the tanks immediately to mod armours; by then I estimate I will have a 100 or so to upgrade. I will immediately load them onto transports, escorted by lots of battleships, subs, and carriers laden with bombers and jets. I'll divert his attention by sending a small fleet to bomb close to his FP (located in the central northern region of his continent), landing 20 or so mod armours and mech infantries to draw his forces. I will then send a bigger fleet of mod armours, bombers, marines, mech infantries and cruise missiles to sneak up on his capital (located in the southern central region of his continent) from below. I'll bomb one of his southern central sea cities, then pound it with cruise missiles (since they're cheap and devastating), and then take it with the marines. I'll then unload 80 or so mod armours and head north for his capital, which I could get to in about 2 turns I estimate. If I succeed in taking this, I'll raise it to wipe out all his wonders and the spaceship (which I imagine he will be near to completion by then). My capital is pumping an army out every 5 turns, so I'll build as many as possible and load them with mech infantries to defend the mod armours that I'll land near his FP and the ones on their way to waste his capital.

Here are my questions:

1. He will no doubt have bombers to defend. Will jet fighters on air superiority in a carrier fight them off?
2. Can I launch cruise missiles from a transport at sea to pound his southern sea city?
3. How many mod armours does it take to waste a mech infantry in a metropolis that will probably have civil defence? (I hope to have about 10 or so cruise missiles left over to soften them up)
4. I hope to get him before he gets nukes, but there is every chance he will go for that first and build a few tactiles. Can he use these against my navy on its way to his southern sea city? If so, will this result in me loosing half my stacked navy?
5. If I get the sea city and he nukes it, will all his citizens be unhappy as a result?
6. Is there a maximum number of armies I can have on the field at one time?
7. And finally, a question for the illustrious Ming , he frequents these boards every now and again. Are you able to delete this thread once a few opinions have been voiced? (I'm timing this post for when he's at work. Hopefully by the end of today I'll have had a few responses).

If anyone else has any other hints, I'd love to hear them.

Cheers!

[Andydog]

And here is the screenshot.
[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\toshiba user\Desktop\screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

[dexters]

and your screenshot is showing a big red X. and... and...

[Andydog]

huh?
Is the screenshot visible or not?

[Jaybe]

(The screenshot is not visible because the link is pointing to your C: drive)

1. He will no doubt have bombers to defend. Will jet fighters on air superiority in a carrier fight them off?

Yes. Same rules as on land (1/2 their range = 3 radius)

2. Can I launch cruise missiles from a transport at sea to pound his southern sea city?

No. Cruise Missiles are just like artillery (except for being expended and targeting only units in a city), and you cannot fire artillery from transports.

3. How many mod armours does it take to waste a mech infantry in a metropolis that will probably have civil defence? (I hope to have about 10 or so cruise missiles left over to soften them up)

Too many, or good luck, though 10 CMs should be fine against one or 2. Also use other bombardment, and (preferably) MA Armies! And don't forget to take out his radar towers.

That's warfare for you; you just have to bring in as much as you can and hope ...

4. I hope to get him before he gets nukes, but there is every chance he will go for that first and build a few tactiles. Can he use these against my navy on its way to his southern sea city? If so, will this result in me loosing half my stacked navy?

Yes he can. I have never seen an AI use it against naval units, but that doesn't seem to apply in your case.

6. Is there a maximum number of armies I can have on the field at one time?

For each army, you must have 4 cities.

[Andydog]

Thanks very much Jaybe!

I read the FAQ about posting images and it said to attach them. I tried attaching the image but got an error message that said "The image that you have attached is too big. Please make it no bigger than 800 x 0."

800 x 0 ???

[Andydog]

Lets try reducing it then.

[Donegeal]

Sorry to say this, but I think your friend will have nukes by the time you attack. Actually, I think he will have nukes long before you attack. I could see him using only a few cities to build the spaceship (like his FP cities) and his capitol cites to build a massive modern army (complete with Armies of MA and MI) to attack cities that have been "softened up" with nukes.

My sugestion is to build some Battleships to fortify around your continent to act as a "radar" to see incomming navies so you can at least attempt to defend your coast. Also, because of unhappiness, watch for him to switch governments to Communism or even Monarchy before he attacks.