Our Strategy....You Probably Haven't Heard of It

[Shoot the Moon]

If we get a GE, that gunpowder bulb may actually be the best option I think. Let's hope for a GS though and cross that bridge if we come to it.

[oledavy]

A long-term strategy note, but when reviewing the variant rules for this game this morning, I noticed that the Kremlin isn't banned. Given how powerful it will be with its effects tripled, I think it deserves to be a priority it our future plans.

[oledavy]

Hey, how do you guys feel about taking a chunk out of Sulla?

Given the open land and my strong military presence in the souteast, my idea is to pink-dot him, fire a GA bomb, then send in Indian and Roman supplied knights to kill something.

[oledavy]

Alright, so, I have three great artists coming off the line in the next ~25 turns. One on t142 and two somewhere around t160. We need to start thinking about where to use these.

EDIT: The third, out of Waterloo, does not need to be a Great Artist. That's just what I have him penciled in as at the moment. If we don't find a use for a third, we can change him to a more flexible GM or GS. I need to know by t140 though.

Locations #1 & #2



Shoot suggested Location #1 awhile back, smack dab in the middle of all that jungled grassland to my north. It's very rich land, and in fact, my next city is going up here. I have a couple dotmaps floating around of what to do with it. There is a little fogged portion to the north concealing a land bridge leading to Team #4.

The only problem with using it here is I feel it's a tad unecessary - that we'll get to settle all this land peacefully without the use of an artist bomb. Our only likely competition is Team #4, and I'm pretty sure they're so far behind on the expansion curve that we won't need to worry about them.

I pencilled in location #2 further east. We could GA bomb in the front city I'm planning on placing in the nexus between our Team and Teams #1 & #4. This city won't be founded for awhile though, so even if we did want to bomb it, it could wait for one of the GA's coming around t160.

Location #3



This front city is scheduled to be founded on t147, and will be my middle front city with Sulla. It could use a GA bomb, but I doubt it's terribly urgent that it receive one.

Location #4



I already explained in my thread how it looks like the south is a roughly mirrored, which would confirm my estimated halfway mark between me and Sulla's capitals. However, Sulla has not settled his Abraham Plains Mirror yet, so I had an idea.

I could get a settler to the marked grassland hill (picks up deer and some riverside grassland) to pink dot Sulla. I have a longbow and mace in the area at the moment, with two more 3xp longbows a couple turns away and five workers in the area to provide rapid roading and chopping support. I can found the city on t143, and bomb it on t145. This would deny Sulla at least one really nice cottage site and get French culture to within a dozen or so tiles of his capital.

Furthermore, we could collaborate this with a mounted strike at any cities exposed by his culture bomb. Obviously though, this part of the plan is pending on what my explorer discovers on his trek northward. But if Sulla has been REXing half as well as I think he has, I should run into purple borders next turn.

Other possible locations for bombs would be Kararorum B, the refounded Maurice Leavy, or a to be determined bomb against Luddite somewhere north of Shoot.

So, what do you guys think?

[oledavy]

Third post in the row, but what the hell

Random strategy thoughts, in no specific order:

- Shoot, you need to turn off research next turn. We can't research paper before my t136 GS, otherwise he will bulb education instead of philosophy. I get my academy up next turn (about a 30 beaker boost), so WK is funding me in order to run 100% science. You should run 100% gold for a turn, then WK switches over to funding you at 100% science on t137 when you get your academy up. We're probably best served by keeping Shoot at 100% research once his academy comes online, as I believe he can make more beakers than me.

- Philosophy will need 60 beakers into it after I fire the bulb, so I'll cover that on t137 while Shoot polishes off paper. Seeing both techs fall on the same turn should send ripples through Team #1's forum. After that, we research/bulb education, then get options: nationalism, gunpowder, economics, or even optics. I wouldn't mind being a naval tech up on Sulla so he can't annoy me anymore with his triremes. Hopefully, seeing us nab philosophy, paper and education prevents Team #1 from sandbagging liberalism.

- The attack on Hangzhou is on the backburner for right now, but I like the idea of coming back to it later with musketeers + knights. Shoot, what do you think of opening a full blown offensive against Luddite at some point down the road with my drafted musketeers and knights from you and WK?

- I really don't like the current border with Speaker. A fast-moving stack out of TurboFkingSkorp can threaten both Kararorum VI and Avon Barksdale. We need to establish a more defensible border with Team #1 in the northwest or we'll be in serious trouble come cuirassiers.

- Should we sink a turn of EP spending into Team #1? I would like to have their graphs to get an idea of their military strength.

- Lastly, we keep talking about using WK to fund both me and Shoot's research at 100% But given my expansion costs I doubt this will ever become a reality. The simple fact that it's two civilizations vs. one civ means both of us will probably never will able to run 100% research at the same time. Should I consider building gold buildings in my cities to crank my research rate up higher.

[WarriorKnight]

Hey, how do you guys feel about taking a chunk out of Sulla?

Given the open land and my strong military presence in the souteast, my idea is to pink-dot him, fire a GA bomb, then send in Indian and Roman supplied knights to kill something.

It's not that bad, but if knew where Sulla's cities are and you were closer to him I'd feel better about it. Compare your situation to ours, Speaker and sunrise are much closer to Shoot and I. Not to mention that the Hangzhou attack is higher priority, and I can't help build Knights for everything.

Alright, so, I have three great artists coming off the line in the next ~25 turns. One on t142 and two somewhere around t160. We need to start thinking about where to use these.

Your right that 1 is probably unnecessary if we're going to peacefully settle that land. I like 2, but I don't know if that spot will still be there in 25 turns. 3 is only useful for naval warnings which a boat sentry net could do. 4 is ok, but it claims a lot of useless tundra. Does it claim any resources that Spullarise otherwise wouldn't have?

Consider Speaker's bomb near Shoot I think we should bomb one of our artists around there somewhere to even the border there somewhat. Likewise bombing B would be a great way of advancing on sunrise's cap. I like those 2 the best.

After that, we research/bulb education, then get options: nationalism, gunpowder, economics, or even optics. I wouldn't mind being a naval tech up on Sulla so he can't annoy me anymore with his triremes. Hopefully, seeing us nab philosophy, paper and education prevents Team #1 from sandbagging liberalism.

Are you going to build musketeers as soon as we get gunpowder? If not we can probably avoid Gunpowder until after Nat. Econs is dependent on whether anyone else has claimed the merchant, but I have trouble finding a use for a merchant that makes is worth the cost of the tech. Optics is pretty cheap yet isn't that bad (caravels, whales, sight across water, leads to astro), maybe slide that in before Nat.

- The attack on Hangzhou is on the backburner for right now, but I like the idea of coming back to it later with musketeers + knights. Shoot, what do you think of opening a full blown offensive against Luddite at some point down the road with my drafted musketeers and knights from you and WK?

Depends on how well luddite reinforces Hangzhou between now and then, but given the current defenses I doubt we'll need a full blown offensive to take it. Adding a couple of musketeers would be plenty, and we'll surely build a couple of Knights between now and then.

- I really don't like the current border with Speaker. A fast-moving stack out of TurboFkingSkorp can threaten both Kararorum VI and Avon Barksdale. We need to establish a more defensible border with Team #1 in the northwest or we'll be in serious trouble come cuirassiers.

Well we just lost a city in that direction so of course we're a bit vulnerable currently. I'll work on getting some formation pikes out and Shoot can work on refounding the city and culture in the area.

- Should we sink a turn of EP spending into Team #1? I would like to have their graphs to get an idea of their military strength.

We've kept most of our EP's on Team 1 the whole game. Sadly, they've kept all of their EP's on us so they are ahead of us. Team 2 and 4 are having a field day on the two of us EP wise since Spullarise aren't willing to switch away from us. Sucks, but nothing we can do about it.

- Lastly, we keep talking about using WK to fund both me and Shoot's research at 100% But given my expansion costs I doubt this will ever become a reality. The simple fact that it's two civilizations vs. one civ means both of us will probably never will able to run 100% research at the same time. Should I consider building gold buildings in my cities to crank my research rate up higher.

I doubt it's worth you spending hammers in gold buildings just because we aren't currently near both civs running 100%. As long as your bpt is increasing, it doesn't matter that I can't keep you both at 100%. Once Shoot and I run out of expansion space and we get the shrine up, we should be a bit better.

[oledavy]

It's not that bad, but if knew where Sulla's cities are and you were closer to him I'd feel better about it. Compare your situation to ours, Speaker and sunrise are much closer to Shoot and I. Not to mention that the Hangzhou attack is higher priority, and I can't help build Knights for everything.

Right, I should have a better idea if there are any nearby Indian cities and if a bomb is worthwhile in the next couple turns.

Your right that 1 is probably unnecessary if we're going to peacefully settle that land. I like 2, but I don't know if that spot will still be there in 25 turns. 3 is only useful for naval warnings which a boat sentry net could do. 4 is ok, but it claims a lot of useless tundra. Does it claim any resources that Spullarise otherwise wouldn't have?

I like #2 the best out of them. I feel pretty sure I can settle the site before Sulla does. I don't think #4 denies Team Spullarise any resources, just a lot of juicy riverside grassland.

Consider Speaker's bomb near Shoot I think we should bomb one of our artists around there somewhere to even the border there somewhat. Likewise bombing B would be a great way of advancing on sunrise's cap. I like those 2 the best.

How much would a bomb at B push up the borders? I feel like we'll have problems dislodging the entrenched culture from his capital. Avon Barksdale strikes me as the best location of all these bomb sites, simply because we need to secure that location ASAP. The culture from TurboFkingSkorp hasn't had as much time to build up on the tiles.

Alternatively, it might be worth consideration to settle a GA in either of these locations. A slower start-up, but more worthwhile in the longterm for continuously pressuring and pushing out the border - especially if we get some sort of cultural modifier in the cities.

Are you going to build musketeers as soon as we get gunpowder? If not we can probably avoid Gunpowder until after Nat. Econs is dependent on whether anyone else has claimed the merchant, but I have trouble finding a use for a merchant that makes is worth the cost of the tech. Optics is pretty cheap yet isn't that bad (caravels, whales, sight across water, leads to astro), maybe slide that in before Nat.

I would rather draft them out than hard-build them. I should be close to having the globe up by that time, and with SPI, I can make quick switches into Nationalism + Theocracy for drafting. My immediate impulse for our tech path is to go: Optics -> Nationalism -> Gunpowder -> Constitution.

We've kept most of our EP's on Team 1 the whole game. Sadly, they've kept all of their EP's on us so they are ahead of us. Team 2 and 4 are having a field day on the two of us EP wise since Spullarise aren't willing to switch away from us. Sucks, but nothing we can do about it.

I meant turning off research for a turn to get Team #1's graphs. Idk if it would be worth it, but thought it merited mention.

[oledavy]

Bingo!



If the south is basically mirrored, which I will be able to confirm this turn, Sulla founded a plains hill city to pick up crabs, sheep and a lake tile that popped borders this turn, and it in the perfect position to bomb.

Here is the equivalent spot with all the relevant borders drawn over my territory:



If we bomb and combine it with an attack spearheaded by a half-dozen knights or so; we can raze the existing city, deny Sulla at least three more decent city spots (including a beautiful cottage location for a financial civ), and give him a hard to defend border in the south.

What do you guys think?

[WarriorKnight]

Alternatively, it might be worth consideration to settle a GA in either of these locations. A slower start-up, but more worthwhile in the longterm for continuously pressuring and pushing out the border - especially if we get some sort of cultural modifier in the cities.

Actually, if we do go this way, that'll be a good enough reason to convince me to build Hermitage in B.

I would rather draft them out than hard-build them. I should be close to having the globe up by that time, and with SPI, I can make quick switches into Nationalism + Theocracy for drafting. My immediate impulse for our tech path is to go: Optics -> Nationalism -> Gunpowder -> Constitution.

Sounds good enough to me. Not sure I agree on Const but that's far enough away we can decide later.

I meant turning off research for a turn to get Team #1's graphs. Idk if it would be worth it, but thought it merited mention.

Oh, well in that case it depends on how many EP's we need to see their graphs, and how desperately we need the tech we're researching. If it takes more than a turn we can forget it.

EDIT: Turns out we need roughly 100EP's, which I can get by running ~60% for 1 turn, which is doable. I wouldn't try this until after we get Edu though.

If we bomb and combine it with an attack spearheaded by a half-dozen knights or so; we can raze the existing city, deny Sulla at least three more decent city spots (including a beautiful cottage location for a financial civ), and give him a hard to defend border in the south.

That does look tempting. Keep in mind though that due to distances and since we're busy with our own stuff, you'd have to build most of the Knights yourself and there could be more units there then those Knights can handle (a pike would pretty stop the attack). Cover both of those and I'd be on board.

[Shoot the Moon]

Man that lurker thread has been active today. Something interesting must be happening or in the plans...