RB Pitboss #1 SPOILER - Mali

[dsplaisted]

Great overview of your cities!

You leave a lot of forests - any aversion to chopping? Or for the health? I noticed that in Sulla you are working an Ovory for 2/1/1 where you could have another grassland river cottage running for 2/0/x or even farming it for 3/0/1 would be better...

I try to save forest chops for when they'll be really useful to me, and I also like to save some to build lumber mills on, depending on the city.

I don't think I'm averse to forest chopping though... this map had a ton of forests and I chopped a bunch of them in my capital to accelerate my early growth curve, and a bunch more in Isengard to build The Great Lighthouse ASAP.

[dsplaisted]

The past 3 turns have been spent preparing for my attack on Elkad. The first wave of my attack should unload on turn 157, and will include 5 cannons, 3 Knights, and 2 Elephants. The next wave will come on turn 158 and will have 4 Maces, 3 catapults, a Horse Archer, an Axe, and a Spear I think. I may draft a musket in Naya to replace one of those units.

Here's the turnlogs:

T151/820 - Theatre finished in Zendikar, continue Harbor. Theatre finished in Wolf 359, start Globe Theatre. Trebuchet finished in Strong Badia, continue Stable. Trebuchet finished in Isengard, start Knight, and adjust production to finish in 3 turns. University finished in CBP, start Confucian Missionary. Harbor finished in Jund, start Lighthouse. Triple-whip Knight in Root Canal. Request 96 gold from Sunrise.

T152/840 - Trebuchet finishes in Sullla, continue work on Knight. Knight finished in Root Canal, continue Mace. Double-whip Trebuchet in Albuquerque. Change production in Oh Deer! from research back to Library. Switch Wolf 359 to Longbow to be double-whipped into Globe Theatre.

T153/860 - Trebuchet finishes in Albuquerque, start another one. Wolf 359 celebrates we love the Monarch day. Quicker route to Naya has finished. Mace finished in Root Canal, start Trebuchet. Double-whip Longbow in Wolf 359. Stable finished in Strong Badia, start Knight.

[dsplaisted]

I got my Great Scientist on turn 155 and started a golden age. I revolted to Nationhood/Free Market. I probably should have stayed in Bureaucracy for now and switched to Nationhood near the end of my Golden age.

Steel finished on turn 155, and I set research to 0% while waiting for regoarrarr to finish Replaceable Parts. He got that on turn 157, and I switched research back to 100% and started Rifling. Rifling should finish in 6 turns, corresponding nicely with the end of my golden age.

I could have unloaded the first wave of units on turn 157, but to coordinate with shadyforce's attack, I'm waiting until turn 158. That also means that another galley which has been making it's way west along the southern edge of the map will arrive in time to drop 2 units off on turn 159. So on turn 158 I'll unload 10 units: 5 Cannons, 3 Catapults, and 2 Knights. On turn 159 I'll unload 12 units: 4 Macemen, 2 Elephants, 2 Muskets, 1 Knight, 1 Horse Archer, 1 Axeman, and 1 Spear. Shadyforce is going to attempt to sabotage the road NW of Carthage with spies, which will cut off reinforcements to Carthage if successful.

I currently have 5 Universities built, and need a total of 8 to build Oxford University. Albuquerque is building a University which should finish around turn 160. Bant is also building a University and I should be able to whip it on turn 160. Zendikar is currently building a Library, and is due to finish it on turn 160. I will whip the Library on turn 159, spread Confucianism to get the Organized Religion production bonus, and on turn 160 I will finish 4 forest chops which should finish a University in Zendikar in one turn. So I should be able to start Oxford University in ChironBetaPrime on turn 161.

Here is the turnlog:

T154/880 - Longbow finished in Wolf 359, overflow goes into Globe Theatre. Knight finished in Isengard, resume Mace. Knight finished in Sullla, start Trebuchet. Naya is at 42/80 for Trebuchet, switch to barracks and adjust tiles so it will finish in 1 turn. Work boat arrives at and improves LeaveItToBeaver's fish. Get Economics from Regoarrarr, Nationalism from Kodii. Esper grows to size 8, Hire two scientists there. Fire a scientist in Sullla since I'll still get the Great Scientist next turn.
T155/900 - Finish Steel, send it around to the alliance. Request gold from Kodii for Cannon upgrades. Great Scientist born in Sullla, shadyforce also gets one. Barracks finishes in Naya, double-whip Cannon. Mace finishes in Isengard, start Cannon. Start golden age with Great Scientist (shady did the same). Revolt to Nationhood/Free Market. I stay in Organized Religion for now, as I want bonuses building the Globe Theatre and Universities. I probably should have stayed in Bureaucracy till the end of the golden age. Upgrade 4 Trebuchets to Cannons. I blockade Elkad with one of my Galleys, which is a mistake as it means I will only be able to unload 8 units in my second group.
T156/920 - Naya finishes Cannon, starts Work Boat. Esper finishes Confucian Missionary, which heads towards Albuquerque, and starts Barracks. Zendikar finishes Harbor, starts Library. Jund finishes Lighthouse, starts Barracks. Load 5 Cannons, 3 Catapults, and 2 Knights onto Galleys. Chop forest hill with 3 workers by Strong Badia to finish Knight this turn. Draft Esper and Naya. Finish forest chop for Naya.
T157/940 - Get Replaceable Parts from Regoarrarr, start research on Rifling, due in 6 turns. Cannon finished in Albuquerque, continue on University. Work boat finished in Naya, start Harbor. Cannon finished in Sullla, start another. Cannon finished in Isengard, start another. Knight finished in Strong Badia, start Cannon. Forest chop finishes near Albuquerque. Load musket into galley 2W of Naya.

[dsplaisted]

T158/960 - Confucian Missionary finishes in ChironBetaPrime, start Confucian Monastery. Cannon finishes in Root Canal, start another. Elkad switches to Caste System/Bureaucracy. Spread Confucianism in Albuquerque, University will now finish in 1 turn. Start chops for Zendikar's University. Fire artist in Oh Deer, Library will now finish in 5 turns. Draft Naya and load Musket into Galley. Unload first wave (5 Cannons, 3 Catapults, 2 Knights).

[SIZE="5"]The battle of Carthage (turn 159)[/SIZE]
Elkad wipes out the stack I dropped next to Carthage. This is how the battle went:
Cannon kills catapult - 2.3%
Cannon kills musket - 26.8%
Cannon dies to musket - 26.8%
Cannon kills musket - 26.8%
Cannon kills musket - 26.8%
Knight kills musket - 21.9%
Knight kills musket - 26.2%
Cannon dies to musket - 69.6%
Knight dies to musket - 75%
Cannon kills musket - 72%
Knight dies to musket - 76.6%
Cannon dies to musket - 96.1%
Catapult kills Longbow - 78.3%
Catapult dies to Longbow - 78.3%
Catapult dies to Musket - 97.1%
Catapult dies to Longbow - 100%
Cannon dies to Longbow - 100%
Cannon dies to Longbow - 100%
Total: On Elkad's side, 6 Muskets, 1 Catapult, 1 Longbow killed

Fortunately shady's stack fares better and is able to advance on Kerkouane and take the city on turn 160.

Other actions for turn 159: University finished in Albuquerque, start Cannon. Harbor finished in Naya, start Cannon. Granary finished in LeaveItToBeaver, start Lighthouse. Switch Jund to Barracks. Spread Confucianism in Zendikar, whip Library.

[dsplaisted]

The next turns were spent building up another army to attack Elkad with. With a bunch of drafting, I was able to get a stack of 7 Rifles and 5 Cannons (the maximum I could hold in my galleys) ready to unload on turn 166. Unfortunately, Elkad got Rifling on turn 165, which allowed him to upgrade some units (especially his great generals) to Rifles/Cavalry.

I finished the Globe Theatre in Wolf 359 and have been drafting it every turn. I also started building settlers again. I had kind of thought that I ran out of room to expand since I had settled all the food resources and there didn't seem to be any other great city sites. But I realized there are several more city sites that can be decent either by sharing food with other cities or just by building farms for them. Now that I can draft Rifles I want as many size 6 cities as possible!

T160/1000 - Library finished in Zendikar. Start University. Finish 3 chops, but the fourth doesn't finish because chops on tundra take 1 more turn. I even delayed that chop by a turn by building 1 turn of road on that tile so it would come in at the right time! Cannon finished in Sullla. Cannon finished in Isengard, start Cannon. Barracks finished in Jund, start Musket. shady captures Kerkouane! Build research in a bunch of cities (most notably Sullla and Albuquerque) so that Rifling will finish in 2 turns instead of 3. Work on plan for next wave of attack (Rifles/Cannons)
T161/1010 - Granary finished in Timbuktu, start Lighthouse. Add great general to Horse Archer for super-medic. Fourth forest chop finished in Zendikar, University due in 1 turn. Whip University in Bant (3 pop). First Lumbermill finished near Sullla. Exploit finally cancels Open Borders with me, and it turns out now I only have 4 internal trade routes. Two Cannons advance into Munro's territory, supported by Macemen.
t162/1020 - Rifling finishes, send to allies. Set research to Military Tradition, scale back to 0%. Taoism spread in Timbuktu. Stop building research in Sullla and Albuquerque, build Cannons instead. University finished in Zendikar, start Barracks. University finished in Bant, start Barracks. Cannons finished in Isengard and Strong Badia, start more. Stop building Research in CBP, start Oxford University. Get Sugar from Shadyforce. Two chops go into Oxford University at CBP. Revolt to Theocracy. Draft Rifles in Sullla, Albuquerque, Isengard, Wolf 359, and ChironBetaPrime.
T163/1030 - Golden age ends (shadyforce's does too). Exploit starts a Golden Age. Library finished in Oh Deer!, build Culture (Deer tile is still at 49/50 culture). Finish chop outside of CBP. Whip Rifle in Jund. Steel Corn tile from Root Canal for Bant so it will grow this turn and can be drafted next turn. Draft Esper, Wolf 359, Root Canal, Strong Badia. Munro wipes out a mini-stack of 4 Maces and a Catapult I had parked outside his city.
T164/1040 - Albuquerque celebrates "We love the Monarch day." Rifle finished in Jund, continue work on Library. Cannon finished in Root Canal, start another one. Finish a chop for CBP. Upgrade 3 muskets to Rifles for assault on Carthage. Draft Wolf 359 (now at happiness limit, Globe Theatre will finish this turn). Draft Bant, Root Canal, Isengard.
T165/1050 - Globe Theatre finishes in Wolf 359, start Stable. Cannon finished in Isengard, start Cannon. Cannon finished in Sullla, start Settler. Cannon finished in Naya, start Cannon. Elkad has Rifling, upgrades some Cuirs to Cavalry. Finish two chops outside CBP to finish Oxford this turn. Draft Naya, Wolf 359, Root Canal. Load first wave into galleys, second wave moves to forest 1N2W of Naya.
T166/1060 - Oxford University finished in CBP, continue Confucian Monastery. Cannon finished in Albuquerque, start Settler. Elkad wipes out most of shady's stack, but his army is quite damaged too. Unload 7 Riflemen and 5 Cannons on the hill south of Utica. Galleys then move and pick up 8 units (4 Maces, 1 Knight, 1 Great General Horse Archer, and 2 Elephants) to drop off next turn. Switch Timbuktu to Taoist Monastery so I will be able to build Taoist missionaries on the off chance I go for a cultural victory. Draft Bant, give corn back to Root Canal. Draft Wolf 359.

[dsplaisted]

[SIZE="6"]The Battle of Utica[/SIZE]

Shady and I had decided to attack Utica instead of Carthage first, since it had less cultural defense, wasn't on a hill, and our stacks would have defense bonuses. After Elkad got Rifling, this seemed like an even better decision.

Elkad was able to wipe out most of shady's stack on t166.

Ok things went much worse than expected. RNG wasn't kind to me. Most of my stack is dead except for a few redlined units. Most of his mounted units are injured and on the tile 1SW of my stack, along with 2 workers who can road that tile next turn.

Here is the image shady sent of the situation afterwards:


On turn 168, my stack was ready to attack. Elkad had attacked it with a few Cavalry to flank the Cannons. Here is what the situation looked like:


I attacked and killed 7 of his units. Here is what the results were:


The next turn, he wiped out all of my stack as well as the reinforcements of 2 Rifles and 2 Cannons I had dropped of 1 east of Utica. Fortunately I had retreated my Medic III into the boat.

Elkad's army was quite weakened, and shadyforce was able to kill some more units:

Quick update. After he attacked the survivors of your stack, I attacked the city to try and kill some weakened units. I ended up killing 2 Rifles, a Musket and a Cavalry. In his retaliatory strike, things didn't go well for him: He lost 2 Cats, a Rifle and 3 more Cavalry. I lost some units as well but not as much and I've retreated to the forest to try and survive/heal.

It looks like he's drafted 2 more Rifles. He must be on 100% culture slider at this stage!

Doesn't look like Utica will fall but he's drafted his Civ to the ground to save himself so I guess the runner up goal of getting rid of his ability to research has been satisfied. So what now? Have we any assault left in us or prepare for a Machine Gun led assault in the near future?

At this point all three of our armies were more or less decimated. I didn't have the forces to continue the attack, but hopefully we seriously damaged his civ's economy like shadyforce suspects.

Here's the turnlog for turns 167-169:

T167/1070 - Esper Celebrates We love the Monarch day. Barracks finished in Zendikar, start Cannon. Barracks finished in Esper, start spy. Draft in Esper, Wolf 359. Deer tile by Oh Deer! finally flips to my culture! Unload second wave (1 Knight, 2 Elephants, 4 Maces, Medic 3 Horse Archer) on hill south of Utica. Bombard defenses in Utica down to 10% (gunpowder) / 26% (non-gunpowder).
T168/1080 - Esper Celebrates We love the Monarch day. Elkad attacks stack with Lysander (GG), and dies. Attacks with Vercingetorix and retreats, flanking 4 Cannons. Settler finished in Sullla, start another. Cannon finished in Isengard, start another. Library finished in Jund, start Rifleman. Settler from Sullla heads south to spot 3N of Esper. Double-whip Lighthouse in Timbuktu. Double-whip Harbor in LeaveItToBeaver. Attack Utica. 4 Cannons die, 1 Retreats. 3 Rifles die attacking, 2 others badly wounded, 2 win with high health. 2 maces and a War Elephant die, a Knight and 2 Maces attack successfully. Overall 7 of Elkad's units were killed. Retreat Medic III onto boat, unload reinforcements of 2 Rifles and 2 Cannons 1E of Utica. Draft Wolf 359. Draft Naya and load Rifle into boat.
T169/1090 - Elkad wipes out all my units, losing 6 of his in the process. Some cities now have war weariness unhappiness. Harbor finished in LeaveItToBeaver, continue Lighthouse. Lighthouse finished in Timbuktu, continue Taoist Monastery. Stable finished in Wolf 359, start spy. Found city of Winterfell 3N of Esper, start Granary, steal fish from Esper. Draft Wolf 359.

[dsplaisted]

This is Winterfell, founded on turn 169.

Esper is at it's happy cap from drafting, so it doesn't need the fish tile. So Winterfell is using the fish tile to grow to size 6 as quickly as possible, and will then be drafted.

[dsplaisted]

Here are the cities of Lothering and Denerim.

Lothering was founded on turn 171, and Denerim was founded on turn 174. Lothering gets me my own source of iron. It has no food resources, but I am building a chain of farms towards it, and I'll have Biology soon so it should be able to grow at a decent rate. Denerim is stealing the Pigs resource from Albuquerque, since Albuquerque is at its happy cap due to drafting.

[Kylearan]

Hi,

Winterfell, Lothering, Denerim - thanks for sharing what you're reading and playing at the moment.

-Kylearan

[dsplaisted]

Well, it's actually been a year since I read A Song of Ice and Fire, now I'm just hoping A Dance With Dragons will be released sometime...