Suboptimal IV: Indonesian Insanity

[suboptimal]

From a meta perspective I have to wonder which start compensates for the other. Pella's at 13 now and unless he chops or harvests the deer he'd be at 16 with another pop. Come to think of it I didn't bother to examine the animations to see which tiles he's currently working.

I don't think choking with warriors gets us anything other than mayhem. The Macedonian chops are going to be for the Encampment and perhaps a unit at Pella. He's got one chop at each based on my count (he's got two mines at Methone). If he chops a unit at Pella it'll be at the Encampment. If he's chops out a unit at Pella and declares war I think that warrior by Pella needs to go to the farm to hide from the archer and then head for the coast. I don't think the forest would offer sufficient cover vs. 2 archer attacks and a warrior attack to prevent the loss of the unit.

I think we press the attack at Alexandria - it's still a city and the cost of replacement is significant. From there we can turn east for Methone. The swords from Carthage could be adjacent to Methone 3 turns after Alexandria is razed -- just need to make sure the western-most sword delivers the killing blow to the city. That puts us at Methone at either Turn 58 (if all goes well) or Turn 60 (if I need to go around the Carthaginian builder).

[suboptimal]

Turn 50

I am just a player
And my story here is told
I have posted all my foibles
For a forum full of lurkers
Such are PBEMs
All my mistakes
Still, people scroll though and read my words
And shake their heads in jest
Mmm mmm mmm, mmm mmm mmm mmm




Open the save, we’re not at war and the dyes city founds. Culture to 14.3, faith to 9.4 per turn. Looking around, everyone just completed their 4th civic (and I literally mean everyone got it this turn). We’re 6 turns from Political Philosophy.

Iron Working is complete, restart Pottery (1 turn). Working around the island I find a small spit of land west of Stockholm. I’ll defog the island now and then check that out to see if it’s a small island or if the map maker put in island bridges between the main continents. The game does inform me that I’ve found a new continent, though. Island warrior moves NW one, just to keep an eye on the western approach while it heals. Builder at sound moves to genius cows to embark next turn, destination The Boxer for a forest chop. As seen in the screenshot above I’ve already relocated Magnus.

Galley heading north finds a city-state, well, sort of:




I’ll need flat terrain along the coast in order to spot it (or a unit that wanders out to the coast).

Southeastern warrior moves up the coast. At Carthage the builder is in the way still. I wonder if the AI has settled on “quarry stone” when it doesn’t yet have Masonry available...I upgrade both units to swordsmen, earning two era points because we’re the first with a swordsman in the world. The other warrior continues its march towards Methone and is now just E of Carthage’s iron. The unit can be at Methone’s border (cattle SW of Methone’s sugar) in two turns. However I might take a slightly slower route (through the sugar) so that the units can all form up together (and hold off on really sounding the alarm)




No war dec, no chops. Strategic view indicates that everything is the same build-wise. At Pella I move the warrior east, out of Macedonian territory. That should get Woden to stand down slightly. At Methone I rotate the warriors clockwise around the city, back to the coastal jungle and the grassland E of the proto-Encampment (whose graphics have yet to change).

[suboptimal]

Turn 51

The first question on my mind is what is the builder in Carthage doing? I’ve had good luck with city-states so far this game but it may be time to return to the average. Eh, at least it’s not Geneva...mischief:

Open the save and get the “Era Ends in 10 Turns” warning, right on schedule. A quick glance at the scoring indicates that Woden has picked up 4 era points, moving him out of the Dark Age. His city defense scores are now 36 and 31 – he’s got a Hypaspist in Alexandria – there’s the era points. I also rechecked the EoT50 save to see if any resources are missing between that and Turn 51 but come up empty. Maybe it was a scout that happened across an empty barbarian camp...Pella also has a new warrior in its Encampment and appears to be building another unit. That means that Woden’s 5 techs are Animal Husbandry, Archery, Mining, Bronze Working and Iron Working.

I have no idea what, or where, he would have gotten the gold. All of his military units, as far as I could tell, were accounted for, so no barbarian camps. The upgrade from Warrior -> Hypaspist is 100. He started Turn 50 with 25 in hand at +3 per turn and on Turn 51 had 28 in hand at +1 per turn, so his income reflects the maintenance costs and his gold on hand reflects his SoT50 income. That means he had exactly 100 come from...where???

The good news is that we outstrip him in science, the bad news is that in 16 turns our milpower will start to shrink. Going to prioritize Wheel over Masonry and start getting some chariots out…Religion and DotF are now a priority as well. On the other hand, we're now in a race with Pindicator for a religion - he's 1 point behind us. Revelation is definitely getting slotted when we get a government and I wouldn't be above spending a few to ensure we get first dibs (barring Stonehenge).

Over on the western coast of the landmass the galley continues to move up the coast. I don’t meet the city-state but have determined its location and can see it’s blue borders in the fog. That’s giving Woden 2 of his 9.3 per turn. With the failure of the plan I send my warrior by Pella northwest to see if there’s a city-state lurking up in the fog. I do see the start of tundra but I’ll explore up here anyway. At Methone I continue rotating the warriors to the southwest of the city’s territory. The Cathaginian warrior starts going around the builder.

At Sound the builder embarks to make the journey to Boxer. Galley at Stockholm continues moving up the coast, finds nothing but hills and cliffs, though the previously found point seems to be on a bay lined with jungles. There might be a good spot in the remaining fog (screenshot perhaps next turn).

Cornflakes, given the Hetaroi in Alexandria I am going to move the swords to Methone and continue with the planned attack there. If we can attack the city before walls go up I’d consider razing it rather than trying to keep it – loyalty and Pella’s production would make it difficult to keep and its loss would be a big impact. If we can’t kill it maybe we can take out a few units and get some pillaging in. The first sword could be on the hill W of the slinger in three turns. With four units on the attack we might be able to take out the Encampment if the archer gets distracted by the swordsman. He’ll get one chop, probably into the Encampment, then perhaps start walls. His gold income is currently 1 per turn and he’s got 28 in his pocket.

[suboptimal]

Turn 52

Musings

In thinking about the situation overnight I don’t know that even declaring a pillaging war is a good idea. I think the best bet here is to get my two units back to home territory, explore/harass with the levied units and work on building up defenses for an eventual Macedonian raid. My milpower will be dropping by 60 on Turn 67 and another 40 on Turn 76 and I’d like to have some more units built up by then. The good news is that Woden still hasn’t found my lands and it’s a long way to travel. With those two factors in mind, plus where he is on the tech tree, I think I’ll have enough time to mount a reasonable defense. To that end, there are a few priorities I’ve got to juggle:

• Teching for Masonry, Steel and Stirrups (and perhaps Engineering if there’s time)
• Building chariots & slingers
• Getting a religion
• Building cultural infrastructure, both to expand my current lead and to make up for the eventual loss of Nan Madol.

I’ll be building another 2-3 slingers after the current settler and Holy Site builds are completed, then start on a combination of ships and chariots. After that I’ll complete Archery and head for Stirrups. In the meantime I’ll try to complete as many techs on the route to Engineering.

For religion I’ll gain a few turns over pindicator by running Revelation. There’s also our faith generation and I may just use some if I feel like he’s keeping too close to me. Cultural infrastructure is “easy” - build monuments. Of course, I need to find the for them. I’m also thinking that a city needs to go up in my original City #2 location: that’s got the best production of the current sites and is close enough to the core to defend. Whether or not that will happen with the built settler coming out of Sound or the first faith-purchased one remains to be seen. I think getting it up first might be the better option.

As for what to do with the levied units, all told they cost me 280 (5 levied warriors + one sword upgrade). It was a good idea to try, but there just wasn’t enough time. Instead I’ll defog the land, find any remaining city states (and perhaps pillage them if they’re “not useful”) and explore what I can of the coastal seas before the levies expire. I’ll send all the levied units north, recall my embarked warrior and bring my own swordsman back to Boxer via Carthage.

I’m also left with a decision about what governments to go into. I think, for the time being, Autocracy is the way to go. I can run Conscription along with one of the discount cards, Revelation for the GPP and an economic card (Colonization until the settler is done, at least).

The Turn

I open the save and have met...Scotland.




Where, exactly? Over here:




That explains the 100. Archduke might have seen what was going on via CQUI and propped up Woden if he came calling for a loan. So, what are his numbers? 13.7, 6, 166 milpower and 3.1 per turn. For faith generation he is fourth, behind Alhazard and Pindicator. He’s up to 16 Era Points now, so no Dark Age for him, either. He’ll find Nan Madol in a couple of turns (and then blow a gasket, probably). On the deal screen…




That gold income is scary...he must have met one or two mercantile city-states to be getting that type of income. What to do? Nothing, right now. I’ll get the quadrireme out and have it welcome Archduke to the west coast of my continent. The galley by Stockholm will finish defogging the island and then head west while the other galley continues northwards.

Speaking of defoggging the island, the northwest corner is more or less defogged:




Builder and galley on the west coast continue their respective plans for movement. The scientific city-state is hilled in and not visible from the sea. I’ll send the Carthaginian sword up that way – there’s a barbarian camp it can kill on the way up. When I do move up I see that it is presently empty. My sword turns back west for the walk to Boxer. The east coast warrior likewise turns SE and will disembark before the Scottish galley gets down here. Nan Madol is up to 5(!) warriors in the field.

In Macedonia, Woden is now giving active chase to my units – he’s brought the archer out of Methone and the warriors at Pella are also giving chase. At Pella I continue to move northwest away from the city, looking for any coastal/tundra city-state that may be up here. At Methone I shift eastwards, planning on moving out on the peninsula and embarking once the Scottish galley has moved further south. I am acutely aware of the fact that as the “statistical leader” of this game that if Woden declares war then Archduke will make an attempt to further interfere in what’s going on here, if he can.

Hit save turn and hear the cash register again. ???

[Cornflakes]

I think the best use of your swords will be to defend Nan Madol. Culture is vital for us, and capturing Nan Madol is a clear target for Woden to aim for.

Maybe send one of the NM levy warriors into Methone territory? It would be great if you could needle him into declaring war for the DT inspiration.

I’m skeptical of the value of building slingers. The initial strength is terrible, the upgrade efficiency is poor, and the production could go into Monuments or Heavy Chariots instead.

[suboptimal]

I think Woden may be gearing up to attack regardless of whether I go into his territory or not. I can send one in to provoke, though, to see if he'll give us the inspiration. Two swords (one not yet upgraded) and five AI warriors may or may not hold onto Nan Madol. It'll take him a bit to get an army up and running. I'll bring my sword SE towards Nan Madol and keep my other warrior in the area, ready to upgrade if need be. The sword is going to go north for the barb camp and city state, then turn NE. Perhaps if Woden chases my warrior by Pella I can meet up with the sword and kill some off.

For ranged units are you suggesting to get Archery and go straight into building archers?

[Cornflakes]

I’m suggesting limit your ranged unit production period. (Crossbows require expensive otherwise-useless tech, upgrade cost is the same as a Knight and beyond 2 or so Crossbows I’d rather have another Knight). The base cost of an archer is about 20 more than a slinger IIRC, which compared to later Professional Army upgrades is a poor exchange rate. I’d probably build a 2nd slinger for upgrade though just because your gold is good and production is hard to come by. But then any more military I’d build as Heavy Chariots.

Tech I’d hit Masonry + Wheel, then maybe Celestial Navigation before straight Knights beeline (you have Weiting already, right?). Probably should slip in Irrigation as well for Sugar plantation amenities + gold.

[suboptimal]

OK, I see what you're saying there w/r/t ranged units. Feels a little odd not to plan on not having any, but what the heck...I'm willing to give that a shot.

Writing just completed EoT52. I'll be starting Wheel next. That'll put sound in position to start on discounted chariots once the quad is out.

[suboptimal]

Turn 53

Open the save and we’re at war. Defensive tactics boost is in. He’s killed one of the warriors at Methone and completed the Encampment. His milpower is also up to 186. Archduke’s galley is in the fog north of Nan Madol and a barb camp has spawned up there as well.He’s also giving chase at Pella. Over at the northern barbarian camp the spearman has shown up, slightly injured. Writing is in, start Wheel, that’ll be done in three turns. Time for unit moves.

Southeastern warrior disembarks and will head for Nan Madol. My own sword at Carthage starts southeast, also for Nan Madol. Carthaginian warrior moves east one tile, spots slinger and fortifies. I’ll see if he advances or not. I move the remaining warrior by Methone onto the jungle hill. I’ll move up to the northern coast of the peninsula and then embark from there. My Carthaginian sword moves next to the camp and then I realize it’s on a hill, so I kill the scout. At Pella I move west, staying on the hills where the Macedonian warrior cannot move and attack.

The galley on the northwestern coast continues moving and reveals the city state to be Hattusa. Woden has one envoy in there from his first meet bonus. I take the opportunity to check the other city-states for envoys, he’s only got the one in Carthage. Hattusa would like me to recruit a Great Merchant. Yeah, right. I will need to get an envoy here at some point, though.

Over on the island I bring the galley back to the southwest – going to hit the new continent and go see if I can meet the remaining opponents. Builder moves up towards Boxer and it will disembark the turn after next. Need to time things so that I can finish once civic, chop, then finish the other. The timing will work out well as I’ll be able to slot Maneuver right before Sound’s settler completes. I thinking that settler will go for the inland spot so that builder actions can get mines and farms in quickly. The Boxer will be culturally expanding in two turns and will be taking the jungle bananas first. That’ll help get things going there.

[suboptimal]

Turn 54

Still trying to pick myself up a bit from the almost-but-not-quite plan with Macedonia. The main objective over the next 22 turns will be to build up a “native” army so that as the levies wear off I’m not truly exposed as a paper tiger. Gotta try to keep the levies alive for the time being and find what I can of the world before then. After that, it’s build military and get some intrinsic culture going – Nan Madol is currently 10 out of my 14.9. Archduke’s found it this turn and no doubt has put it on his kill list.

Up at Methone Woden now has two archers on the battlefield – one in the encampment and one between the cattle and rice. That one is a goner as it can only retreat so far and both the slinger and archer will get to it next turn. I move west into the woods and hope for the best (quick death). The warrior on the peninsula is likewise pinned in. I move SE to the open grassland and should be able to embark next turn. It’s at least out of range of the archer. Up at Pella it appears that Woden is not giving chase, so that’s a plus. I cross the river to defog the area up here. There doesn’t appear to be enough room to have another city-state. I think the warrior embarking on the east coast may head east to see if there’s something interesting there. The Carthaginian sword takes the barbarian camp, earning back some of the upgrade I spent. East coast warrior moves away from the coast. Nan Madol is now up to 6 (!) warriors and counting.

The embarked builder has now reached the coast by The Boxer and will disembark next turn. The chop will go into the quadrireme after I switch to Maritime Industries. The chop will get me 45 x 1.5 x 2.0 = 135, which will complete the quad and put 33 into a 122 cost Campus.

Eastern galley heads over to the land west of Stockholm, right now it appears to be a three-tile island. I’ll get to the other side next turn and see what’s there (or if it’s a spit of land on a larger land mass). Warrior on the island stands pat to continue healing.

Political Philsophy and Wheel will complete in two turns, then it’s on to Masonry and Military Tradition.