Also, he couldn't have connected that resource to his trade network with a plantation because then there would have been no port to connect it to the rest of his trade network. As the fort both connects the resource and acts as a port (city) for trade network purposes that was his only way to get that resource from the one tile island, unless he built a city on top of the resource instead.
Played: Pitboss 18 - Kublai Khan of Germany Somalia | Pitboss 11 - De Gaulle of Byzantium | Pitboss 8 - Churchill of Portugal | PB7 - Mao of Native America | PBEM29 Greens - Mao of Babylon
(October 15th, 2014, 02:23)Old Harry Wrote: Has he got catapults that can hit Tabriz? And have the Keshiks moved off to threaten another city? Overview shot please!
He has one catapult in range as far as I can tell, and he may have a small stack of troops, but I was only really worried about the keshiks because of their numbers. I don't think he has enough troops without them to push me out. I think he may have been moving them back to GJ's territory. You can't see them in the screenshot below, but they're just outside the right side of that screenshot.
(October 15th, 2014, 02:23)Old Harry Wrote: Yes, forts hook up resources - perhaps he's nearing Calendar but needs the happy as soon as he gets the tech, rather than waiting for the plantation to be built? You can do the same thing for Oil at Combustion... Can you interfere with his plans?
Ok, that's good to know. I never knew that's how it worked, but that explains now why the AI always builds forts on resources that aren't in a city's BFC. Knowledge is half the battle!
Unfortunately there's basically nothing I can do right now. At a later point after I finish my ground war I might be able to interfere with that little island, but right now it's in a section near his border with mackoti, and my navy is fairly small.
Mackoti got Liberalism this round. I suspect he probably nabbed Nationalism, so we may see the Taj being built by him within the next 10 rounds and drafting is going to suck when he decides to attack me. GJ and haram both generated Great Generals, so there must have been some battle between them I could see…possibly GJ making an attack on one of his ex-cities.
Domestically, we completed Paper, and I switched to Alphabet next (necessary for Printing Press). We’ll finish Alphabet in 1 turn and then should be able to go for PP. Haram is 1 turn from Engineering…not sure how he is doing it…last turn he was 6 turns from Engineering, and now he’s 1 turn? I know he hasn’t gotten another GP (unless he was saving one). He did the same thing with Guilds. Engineering at 100% science took me 3 turns and I think I have more science than he does on average. Could he be surging with scientist specialists? I wouldn’t think they would make such a difference, especially without representation.
Haram looks like he’s moving a stack of cats with a few supporting units towards Tabriz. Right now they’re 2 turns away from Tabriz (his knight could range, but by himself he’ll not be too useful – just smashing against my pike). Even if he had Engineering this round for the road movement bonus he still couldn’t hit the city yet.
My second stack cleared the river that was between it and Otrar so I can finally attack the city without the “across the river” penalty. He has enough units there that I can’t afford to waste any advantage, though I should be able to take it in no more than 2 rounds.
Lots of warfare going on. HAK lost a city to Seven. DZ lost two cities to Gawdzak as well as two warlord-modified units. Gawdzak got a GG as a result of those. Haram also generated another GG. Funnily enough, he appeared in the city we're laying siege to (Otrar). He has a galley adjacent to the city and the GG isn't showing up inside, so I assume he moved him out. Unfortunately the vagaries of the map mean there's no way for me to interfere. I only have 3 cities that can build water units in this section of ocean and two of them are very young. I have a galley and a trireme queued in the third, but I have a pikeman to finish first. Even if I whipped it wouldn't get down there fast enough at 2 moves per turn.
mackoti popped a GS and is currently pursuing Engineering. I have enough EPs to see haram's research, but it's not showing anything...I guess maybe because he discovered Engineering this turn and hasn't chosen his next target, it doesn't show anything. I'm curious to see what he shoots for next.
We finished Alphabet and I chose Banking as the next tech. We can have Banking in 2 turns, and PP would take 7, so I would rather start building a bank in the couple of cities that would really benefit and then go for PP. That way they'll all hit at about the same time and give me a nice economic shot in the arm.
2 more turns of unrest in Tabriz. haram's stack of cats hasn't moved...I suspect because he doesn't have enough units to actually capture the city he doesn't want to bring them within range of my knights.
We'll have Seven's research next turn, and Gawdzak's the turn after.
Domestic adviser. You can see we're building a lot of units, but also some critical infrastructure. Wharf's are surprisingly useful in coastal cities...that extra +1 commerce per water tile helps a lot.
In world news, Gawdzak got a GM. Haram captured a city of GJ’s, so indeed it looks like his Keshik stack is at work. I think he's willing to leave those cities to their own defense for the moment so he can engage more on GJ's side.
The war continues. Nothing new to report except reinforcements keep moving forward. With Alphabet, I realized I can finally see everyone else’s techs. In general, we’re on par or ahead. Mackoti is the exception…we have Engineering on him (and we’ll have Banking next turn), but he’s got a few that we don’t have, including Education, Liberalism, Music, and Printing Press. And amusingly enough everyone has Archery except for us. Seven is researching Compass (24 turns). Mackoti is researching Engineering (40 turns), and Haram is researching Banking (1364 turns). Still a ways from seeing Gawdzak’s research.
I actually took a screenshot of the chart, but I'll be damned if I can find it and I'm not going to log in again right now just for that. I'll include it next turn.
Not much happened the world this turn. Haram asked for peace, which I declined. Mackoti changed civics to Free Speech & Free Religion. We popped gems in a hill near Fox (our HE city). Not the most optimal location since we lost a hammer on it, but I’d rather have them than not.
We completed banking and started building a bank in Duiker (the Confucian holy city). The shrine there is now producing 50gpt(!!), with 30 commerce. At 0% science it’s producing 100gpt, so that’ll be a nice boost to our economy. I also started a bank in our capital Antelope. At 0% science it’s producing 136gpt, so a bank should help quite a bit there, as well. The rest can wait for now. I targeted Printing Press next, which we should have in 6 turns (2 to build money then 4 to research). My goal is to beeline Rifling, I think, which means PP, Gunpowder, Replaceable Parts, then Rifling.
Tabriz came out of revolt…first build I set to a wall because if anything that’s where a counter-attack is going to fall. I know it’s useless against gunpowder units, but there aren’t any of those yet, and it gives me a warm fuzzy. Otrar should be captured next turn if all goes well.
Since I forgot last turn, here’s the tech chart. Seven has Nationalism and built the Taj. Mackoti must have grabbed Printing Press with Liberalism.
The end of the previous turn haram launched an attack out of Otrar to take out some of my reinforcements. I lost two knights and a catapult in exchange for a spear. On the other hand, he weakened his defenses to do it (both of his maces and his pike were damaged) and left my treb undamaged which made taking the city easier. He was holding it with a pike, 2 maces and a longbow.
In other world news, someone got a GM.
So I launched my attack on Otrar. It had 14% cultural left, but I went for it.
CR Treb vs Longbow across river (26.2% odds): LOSS, Longbow 83/100, collateral damage
CR Treb vs damaged Longbow (52.8% odds): RETREAT (16/100), Longbow 29/100 collateral damage
CR Cat vs damaged Mace (11.9% odds): LOSS, Mace 72/100 collateral damage
C1/Shock Knight vs damaged Pike (81.8% odds): WIN (43/100)
C1/Shock Knight vs damaged Mace (90.8% odds): WIN (15/100)
F2 Knight vs damaged Mace (94.0% odds): WIN (81/100)
C1 Impi vs damaged Longbow (95.0% odds): WIN (52/100)
So I lost a cat and a treb, but captured the city with a Lighthouse, Forge and Granary! First build will be an Ikhanda. I moved my three damaged knights and an undamaged mace into the city for the moment and will let them heal.
Started moving the forces over to the final city on this invasion, Almarikh. It’s protected by two longbows, an archer, a mace, and a cat.
Also renamed the two captured cities. Tabriz -> Sitatunga (an antelope), and Otrar -> Topi.
In world news, Seven completed his destruction of HitAnyKey and got a great general in his last battle. Retep got a great engineer. We’re due for a great person in 2 turns in our capital. Haram razed a GJ city near our border…which opened up for us to plunk one down if we get a chance. I will start building a settler or two soon.
The war against haram continues. I hope to capture the lone remaining city on that peninsula in 2 turns. It’s on a hill, so I want to beat down some of the cultural defenses before attacking. Haram has a galley in the area that’s pillaging the fishing boats. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do anything about it for a few turns. I have a galley being built (and which will be completed next turn) to counter it, but it’s still several turns away. In any case, it’s an annoyance, but what can you do.
I’m trying to decide if I want to continue the war or not after I capture the third city. I’m tempted to go after Ning-hsia, which is a border city, because it’s lightly defended and it’s a fairly large city. I can attack it in two turns of knight moves from Sitatunga (ex-Tabriz). So if he doesn’t reinforce it in advance, I can probably get to it before he can put a substantial relief force there. So maybe I’ll give that a shot. I’ll have about 8 knights, and it’s currently defended by an archer and a spear.
What do the lurkers think? Continue the war, or offer peace after the next capture? I’m already experiencing war weariness unhappiness (just a small amount…+1 unhappy in my larger cities), but I have no idea how haram is doing, and I have the Statue of Zeus. Do you accrue war weariness when you lose units in your own territory? What about cities?
Another question...last turn haram was researching Banking with over 1500 turns left (obviously 0% science), but this turn he has 1 turn left. He had no great person, and it took me 2 turns of 100% to get Banking and I'm way outsciencing him (see GNP below). Any idea how he made that happen? It's baffling me.
Graphs
GNP: We're doing pretty well...on par with 3 of the 4 top people.
Production: Doing very good here...3rd place.
Crops: Our weakest area. Hopefully getting the fishies back up after I finish capturing haram's cities will help there. But even so, we're not that far back.
Power: We're doing really well here, just being Gawdzak and well ahead of both mackoti and haram.
Galley vs Galley isn't going to get you great odds...
How far is Ning-hsa from where Haram's main attack force is likely to be? If I was him I'd be trying to pick off easy stuff from GJ with a small force while keeping a Grimace-whacking force hidden hoping he can tempt you to overextend and allow him to take his cities back. Are spies any good in this mod? I'd want to rule out a counter attack before going further. Can you afford to lose eight knights?
Another possibility is to use GJs roads to check for stacks or even to help him kill Haram's units. If GJ's capital is in danger you could station a settler to grab the cows if it gets burnt/captured. Having enforced peace with Haram at that point might even be a bonus...
Haram won't have any WW against you as you've been fighting in his culture.
Presumably Haram's GNP is uninflated by religion/wonder culture, your GNP is less indicative of your research power... You should be able to use an F1 screen at 0% and 100% to figure out how much of your GNP is research power.
(October 22nd, 2014, 04:56)Old Harry Wrote: Galley vs Galley isn't going to get you great odds...
I know, but I had already started building it in order to ferry troops over to that one-square island so I could spank his fort and maybe his worker. I have a trireme in the queue next, but he probably won't want to risk his galley either, so I ought to be able to force him away at the least until I can bring more force to bear.
(October 22nd, 2014, 04:56)Old Harry Wrote: How far is Ning-hsa from where Haram's main attack force is likely to be? If I was him I'd be trying to pick off easy stuff from GJ with a small force while keeping a Grimace-whacking force hidden hoping he can tempt you to overextend and allow him to take his cities back. Are spies any good in this mod? I'd want to rule out a counter attack before going further. Can you afford to lose eight knights?
It's two turns of movement from his cat stack. However, his cat stack just has a knight and two wellies, which wouldn't be enough to take the city back by itself. Most of the other cities I can see have one or two defenders. I think he's using his Keshiks to rampage through GJ's territory (and he's lost some) while he builds maces/knights in his other cities. Luckily his production isn't amazing. It's clear from the graphs that I can easily out-produce him militarily. If I was willing to accept the war weariness and the economic delays, I could probably conquer him completely. 8 knights would be about half of what I will have available (but not in country) just in knights, so from the standpoint of military, yes, I could afford to lose them all and hurting Ning-hsia would still probably be worthwhile. Well, we'll see what it looks like after I capture the last city.
Spies can be used to wander through enemy territory, but I don't think you can actually perform any spy missions.
(October 22nd, 2014, 04:56)Old Harry Wrote: Another possibility is to use GJs roads to check for stacks or even to help him kill Haram's units. If GJ's capital is in danger you could station a settler to grab the cows if it gets burnt/captured. Having enforced peace with Haram at that point might even be a bonus...
One thing I did consider was opening up a second front through GJ's territory, so I may move some troops in that direction as well. At the very least, try to knock down those Keshiks with some knights. I'm 99% certain he's only been using Keshiks with maybe a few 1-movers to hold the cities on GJ.
(October 22nd, 2014, 04:56)Old Harry Wrote: Haram won't have any WW against you as you've been fighting in his culture.
I thought that's how it worked, but wasn't 100% sure.
(October 22nd, 2014, 04:56)Old Harry Wrote: Presumably Haram's GNP is uninflated by religion/wonder culture, your GNP is less indicative of your research power... You should be able to use an F1 screen at 0% and 100% to figure out how much of your GNP is research power.
I've been watching the demographics, and I'm fairly sure the only person doing more science than me at 100% is mackoti. haram has a surprising amount of unimproved land, whereas I'm cottaged up the yin-yang.
