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Master Zen
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of naughty
Jan 2003
time: 23:35
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btw: this is the latest draft of AltSp2:
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The Cornerstones Of Our Strategy In The ISDG – Part II
The Middle Game
1. Grand Objective
The successful conclusion of the war against GCA, coupled with our dominant position on this continent has made ultimate victory in this game an achievable goal even though we currently lag as the third empire, considerably less powerful than either CGN or GWT but with the potential to catch up. Our objective during the middle game is to emerge in a position to be at least the equal – but preferably the superior - of the current game leaders: CGN and GWT. This will enable us to determine the way in which our ultimate objective, victory, can be obtained. The middle game runs roughly until the early-middle industrial age upon which the advent of railroads and powerful defenders makes offensive combat, especially inter-continental invasions, extremely difficult to execute successfully. Thus, any military changes to the current status quo must necessarily be done during this timeframe in order to enable a reasonable opportunity for success. In conclusion, due to the uncertainty pertaining towards the method of our ultimate victory, it is of vital importance that we be ready to achieve it by any means necessarily and the only way to achieve this is by having economic supremacy.
2. Power through Economic Supremacy
The most likely of victories in this game will be either by a UN vote or a successful spaceship launch (this one being by far the most likely). A spaceship victory will rest completely in our ability to pre-build the components and launch before anyone else. Even a UN vote might come with a string attached: CGN’s vote in exchange for massive military aid and a significant defeat of GWT. A total defeat of CGN in its war would also eliminate any possibilites of a UN victory. Either way, our chances of victory rest on a strong economic base. This will be accomplished through various stages during the middle game:
The REXing Phase
Our empire currently finds itself in a REXing Phase in order to fill up as much free space as possible in our side of the continent and give us a higher city count than CGN and possibly GWT. This aspect also takes into account the relocation of our cores, with a Forbidden Palace being built in our old core and the capital “jumped” to the city of Apolyton Prime in the highly-productive south. Once we have settled the grand part of our unused land, and our two cores are up and running, we are ready to begin the next stage of our growth.
The Infrastructure and Growth Phase
Our core cities should be built up considerably with improvements which can benefit our science and economy, mainly aqueducts, universities and banks. Despite our close city spacing, these cities can achieve good enough size and productivity. Our southern cities, in particular, benefit greatly from fresh water and good grassland/hills combinations. Priority after the REXing phase will be to build Aqueducts in major cities lacking fresh water access. Our major cities should have built universities and banks by the time of Industrialization in which building factories will be of utmost importance.
Science
With CGN and GWT likely racing towards the Military Tradition beeline, Apolyton and CFC should concentrate on the far more productive top path of the medieval age tech tree. Further consideration must be taken for the possibility of undertaking offensive action overseas. For this reason, our immediate objectives should be Astronomy and Navigation, which enable us to communicate and travel directly to the other continent. Secondary priorities would be Banking and Economics which would enable us to build Banks as well as Adam Smith’s Trading Co., the only late-era wonder which is of considerable use to us. Care should be taken in determining the speed of our technological advance. Researching at full speed will not be necessarily optimal after Astronomy due to the necessity for gold, and we must also beware of trading uneccessarily which only serves to cheapen the cost to our enemies. Our general technological objective, nevertheless, is to be considerably ahead of any potential enemy from the other continent by the time of the industrial era.
Wonders
Our wonder production is based on the twin consideration of getting our Golden Age started as well as snatching those which are vitally important for the future. The first priority in wonders is Leonardo's Workshop which not only gives our military a heavy potential boost but also would prevent GWT from using it. Should we lose this wonder, the pre-build can be switched for Adam Smith's Trading Co. which we are sure to get. For our GA, we will be required to build Magellan's Expedition which can also give our Navy extra flexibility. Finally, an especially serious attempt should be made to get two industrial wonders: Theory of Evolution and the Hoover Dam, which could in effect seal our economic dominance in this era.
Production Priorities
Current priorities are a mix of improvements and settlers, this will change once our REXing phase is over upon which improvements, notably Aqueducts, Library/Universities and Marketplaces/Banks will be focus of our empire’s production. Happiness improvements should only be built in those cities slated for particularly large size. Military units should only be built when they do not interfere with infrastructure builds and mostly limited to mobile units like Knights or Cavalry and with our productive costal cities building naval units on a regular basis to meet our requirements which are outlined later.
Golden Age
Apolyton's golden age should be triggered sometime during the middle game, most likely by a Wonder build. Our Golden Age should be carefully spent to speed up our economic development to the point which we can surge ahead of any other nation. Given that economic supremacy is our ultimate objective for this period, the Golden Age will be our great opportunity to acheive this.
3. Continental Security
The only military threat originating in our homeland is a surprise attack by CFC. While it is unlikely that such an attack, at any point in the game, will result in the destruction of our empire, it can decisively interrupt our economic potential in favor of military construction, and thus hampering our efforts to obtain parity with the other two great nations on the other side of the continent. Because of this, war with CFC should be avoided at all costs, and all efforts maintained to keep them locked in the current alliance with us. This alliance must necessarily benefit us due to the technological and diplomatic cooperation that our two empires are undertaking. As long as this alliance is in place, there is no need nor should there be any planning or production towards an invasion of CFC. We also must take in account that a war with CFC even though the odds of losing are remote, can disturb our building so much that the possibilities of obtaining economic parity with GWT or CGN will be erased or be too late to enable us to win.
4. Inter-Continental Security
The most serious threat to our overall security is a surprise inter-continental invasion by GWT in the case of an overwhelming defeat of CGN in their war. To defend against this threat our armed forces must be oriented towards the dual goal of assuring that GWT's invasion is destroyed as well as possibly intervening in the other continent should the necessity arise. Our strategy for defeating a GWT is based on two equally important elements: Early Warning and Concentration of Forces
Early Warning
Naval units can perform picket duty after the advent of Magnetism to alert in case of an offshore invasion. A target of 12 ships for picket duty may give enough advance warning of an invasion if stationed near the enemy's ports.
Concentration of Forces
With sufficient early warning, our forces can consolidate and attempt do destroy any GWT landing. The key to this is to have a sufficient number of mobile troops capable of converging on the enemy's invasion point and destroying it once it lands. A target of at least 30 mobile units should be built and stationed at the ready to wreck maximum damage on the enemy's troops. Our forces, in peacetime, should be concentrated in two main rapid reaction groups in our two cores, this also serves to deploy in the less likely case of an invasion of CFC.
Apolyton Expeditionary Force
Our army must have the dual purpose of defending our nation from attack but also to be able to serve as a basis for a powerful invasion force to intervene in the other continent. Plans will be drawn up for an emergency invasion of GWT should they destroy CGN in their war, this invasion to take place with assistance from CFC. The objective of this invasion is to inflict the largest amount of damage possible to GWT so that their chances of victory is no longer guaranteed. The possibility of sending a lesser force to establish a foothold should also be considered.
5. Conditions on Offshore Deployment
Two very important conditions must exist before we commit to an offshore adventure in defense of any of the other two powers. The first is that there must exist a threat perceived as sufficiently grave that we may lose the game if we decide not to intervene. This can be a decisive military victory by either GWT or CGN although the threat from GWT is far greater due to their diplomatic frictions with us, as well as their use of GCA as an assistant minor power. The second condition, and no less important, is that the threat from CFC must be considered as sufficiently minor so that we can transport a sizeable force without fear of our homeland defenses being initially overwhelmed by a surprise CFC invasion. However, should the current status quo on the other continent prevail, it is likely that an intercontinental invasion will be unnecessary.
5. Getting the World to make us win
The diplomatic situation in the world greatly favors us. As long as a stalemate remains on the other continent, and as long as CGN and GWT devote a great part of their production on military spending, we have a clear coast for an uninterrupted span of peaceful building given the alliance with CFC which affords us a sense of security in the continent. Our diplomatic objective, therefore, must be to maintain the current balance of power among the other nations which we expand our own power base peacefully. Our greatest threat is a major shift in power in the other continent, giving one of the two giants an unequal advantage over the other. As said earlier, the greatest threat is GWT due to their use of GCA as a minor partner, thus we should be highly receptive to openly assisting CGN, first by gold loans, and possibly by full military assistance.
6. Timing
Current priority should be to obtain Astronomy and Navigation as soon as possible. This will enable us to intervene in the other continent as soon as possible. After that, it will be a race towards the Industrial age but we must be sure to have built up a credible mobile attack force in the meantime. By the end of the middle game, Apolyton should have consolidated it’s position at least as an economic equal to CGN or GWT, although emerging as the dominant power among the three is not inconceivable if we follow our traditional mantra until the very end: Efficiency.
AltSp2 WAR EMERGENCY CLAUSE
Our plans for economic supremacy can be threatened considerably in the event of a sudden and total GWT victory in their war against CGN. Such an event is likely to require Apolyton to devote it's full economic potential (including its Golden Age) for military aims. The main objective in this case will be to conduct a massive invasion of GWT with CFC assistance with the explicit purpose of destroying at least one of GWT's economic cores and thus level the playing field for the rest of the game. Apolyton shall switch to War Emergency if, and only if, GWT obtains an undisputable victory over CGN during the period around or before our Palace Jump. This clause shall only be invoked by an official team decision.
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31-03-2004 12:47
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