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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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Pre-Game Thoughts:
1) I surfed the net for MP strategies and duel strategies. CFC has a short write-up on duels, stressing expansion and monarchy. Apolyton (Civ III) has a nice article explaining the 4 main MP strategies [Dagger, Sledgehammer, Choker, Castle], and I expect it applies to Civ II, too.
2) This is a scenario, with direct tech choices. So, I will probably skip HBR and go straight for monarchy. I may be vulnerable for a long time, but there are no barbs, and ST has to find me very quickly to take advantage. Also, I'll try to get some units from huts.
3) ST wanted each civ to have two separate starting positions. From just a little play-testing of a similar game, I found that the position without the capitol is plagued by corruption and waste. Each such city is worth less than 70 per cent of normal, at least until monarchy. So, I intend to spend almost all my early resources on growth in the capitol area, and use the other zone mainly as an explorer base.
4) I decided to use the size 1 city trick. We started with 100g so I could rush-buy a settler on the 2nd turn. I had to disband my NON-warrior (which cuts into exploring), but I think the early start is worth it.
I got one start in a river area near silk and another up north with wheat (though I soon found a whale, too). I decided to build the capitol in the river area, and RB there, because of its trade arrows.
5) I am not sure about the urgency to explore in this game. We can't use huts within 8 squares of either start, and there is no AI to contact. I will probably have to delay exploration a little because of idea 4), but will try to catch up quickly.
OK - If anybody is interested in this game, please let me know and I can post screenshots and/or a log.
BTW - I am assuming you've looked at the 2 related threads in this forum already... You can offer ideas, criticisms and condolences, but please don't say anything about ST's position or strategy.
Last edited by Peaster on 12-05-2005 at 07:33
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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Play began on Sunday May 8. I was wearing my CBGB T shirt. ST graciously allowed me the choice of civ, and I chose the Zulus (green), thinking they might get better terrain than the Americans (cyan). There were a few glitches getting started, so we only played a few turns that day. I am writing this on May 12, after playing the 16th turn. We agreed to keep playing logs, so I may as well do it here (more to come soon) -
1: Zimbabwe (1) on the river.
2: Rush first row for 16g. Disband the NON-warrior in Zim. Rush a Settler for 81g. I can now guess there's a whale up north.
I will research Alphabet and probably head straight for monarchy. I usually set the slider for science, but this time I decided to go more for taxes in the very early game to promote growth. This may actually be an idea of ST from some half-forgotten thread.
3: Ulundi (2) near the whale. But it is so far from the cap, it only gets 2/3 shields and 1/3 arrows.
4: Bapedi (3) founded 3 river squares from Zim, so it can share the silk special, etc. The top 5 city screen is now 3/4 green, but ST will fix that soon.
5: Finished row 1 towards a settler in Zim for 8g (I am throwing money at the capitol zone). Bapedi will make 1 or 2 warriors for militia/exploration.
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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6: The Top 5 list now shows 5 unoccupied size 1 cities - ST has just built Cheb. I guess this is his distant city. Or, maybe he is moving the distant settler closer to his capitol to reduce corruption. It doesn't seem like a good idea, but ...?
7: Alpha -> Code of Laws. I raised the science bar more often now, unless I really needed some quick gold.
The Demo screen has changed a lot. I guess ST has built his 3rd city, but it doesn't appear on the top 5 list. This is confusing and I am not sure.
8: Made a warrior in Ulundi, the distant city. Now, I should have switched to barracks. After Code of Laws (approx 12ad) it can switch to courthouse [which costs only 10s in this game] and saves 2 arrows per turn. But I still didn't realize how bad corruption/waste would be at size 2 [also, I may have just forgotten about this idea].
9: Apparently ST has a food surplus of 7/t and Mfg of 7s/t !? He is ahead on most key Demo stats. He must have found some good specials. I will make my fourth city first, though.
10: I wanted to send my Ulundi warrior out to explore, and keep my NON as a militia, but the unexpected shape of the land forced me to reverse their roles (or lose 4-5 turns).
Bapedi is using the silk tile to speed up a warrior, to allow the current one to continue its exploring (rather than return to Zim). I will use an Elvis in Zim for one turn, to make this work. I figure that getting the Zim settler out a turn early is worth about 15g, so I am raising 37 gold for a rush buy.
I think ST has one tech now, since I am second at Ann.Inc. Also, his GNP seems to be 4... pretty high.
The distant city after 10 turns. The NON heads south.
 Attachment: turn10a.jpg
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Carolus Rex
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Sweden
Jan 1970
time: 06:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Peaster
10: I wanted to send my Ulundi warrior out to explore, and keep my NON as a militia, but the unexpected shape of the land forced me to reverse their roles (or lose 4-5 turns).
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Yes, ideally I prefer the same order of roles. Exploring with the supported unit because it enables me to check in the city window if it's closer to enemy cities than to my own (but maybe that's not allowed here?), and if it stumbles upon an enemy unit that kills it the (potential) support shield is also eliminated.
Thanks for the screenshots. This promises to be an interesting game!
Carolus
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Carolus Rex
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Sweden
Jan 1970
time: 06:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Peaster
I will not actually use the silk special until the cities reach size 2.
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A la DaveV's "food over trade until size 2" - strategy?
Carolus
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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11: I see a hut...
12: C.L -> C.B, which will cost 24b.
I popped a hut at 46,16 too near Ulundi and disbanded the settler (our rules). This is better than leaving the hut for ST, of course. There should be more huts to the south.
Zim grows, and hires an Elvis for one turn.
13: Ulundi becomes size 2, with a whale, fish and forest nearby, but it is almost worthless because of the waste + corr.
I finally decide that rushing a settler from Zim costs too much, so I'll just let the forests do their thing.
14: Hut = Archer, support from Bapedi. It goes north for more huts and "nearest city" info. Bingo! The nearest city to (20,16) is Cheb. I'm guessing it's near (11,9). Now, the Archer will try to harass ST there.
15: I expect monarchy (tech) about 22AD, and then 24AD is the next oedo year. From testing and reading, I am also expecting contact/war to start around 24AD. I will need HBR very soon thereafter, or more units from huts.
16: I am one turn from CB, and must decide whether to pop a hut. I read there is only a 20 per cent chance of a tech, which seems pretty small, so I go ahead. Unnngh! Bronze Working. The cost of CB goes up 12b's and my plans for quick monarchy [and HBR] are hurting.
Zim makes a settler and has support problems for a few turns.
17: I am not sure if my 4th city needs a warrior escort. The exposed river system makes me nervous, so I decide to rush a warrior from Zim, for 19g.
It replaces the warrior in Bapedi, which follows the new Settler. If ST can get a horse on my river, I am in trouble. But maybe the spare warrior can somehow get in the way.
I can't make much sense of the Demo screen. I figure ST has a GNP of 10. Mine is only 5, even with taxes at 60. Is he using luxuries or is this some trick of the AI?
AFAIK, the game is fairly equal. I am probably making cities a little faster, but ST's must be in better locations. I am guessing he has had a little more success with huts, gaining maybe 1-2 units and some gold. My gold stays near 0.
18: Hlobane (4) workers on gold, trying for monarchy asap. I'm getting 9b/t, but probably won't finish CB + monarchy by 24AD.
I have 3/5 top cities before my turn but 2/5 after it - How's that?
19: ST has made a settler in Kl, and my Demos look OK again. Finally, I am number one in Land. My Archer is about 3-4 squares from Cheb (probably) and my NE warrior sees a hut.
20: CB -> Mo'y, which will cost 45b. I have 5b in the box, left over from CB. So, I need 10b per turn for 4 turns. The only way to get an extra beaker is by moving both of Bapedi's workers to ocean. But then, instead of getting a settler next turn, it will take 4 turns. I am not sure 4 extra turns of monarchy is worth it.
Hut = nomad!! It is far from the capitol, but there is a gold special nearby, and it gets a 20AD move, which reveals a plains tile suitable for building in 22AD. Even with gold (normally +6 arrows) it will probably only produce +1b/t. But I need 1-2 beakers desperately, and may be able to rush a courthouse in 23AD, to get another +1 beaker before 24AD. At least, I hope it works that way.
My Archer is now within 3 squares of where I imagine Cheb to be. ST emails me that he has found the Archer and wants to sleep before moving [it is about 1AM in Praha]. Of course, I have no idea what kind of defenses he may have ready. But my cities have almost none, so I'm guessing this Archer is a big problem for him.
The Archer moves in from the south. I expect that Cheb is near the northwest corner of this screenshot from 20AD.
Attachment: turn20b.jpg
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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21: An American warrior appears just north of my Archer on a mountain - ST moved it there by sheer luck, I suppose. I am not too sure of Civ2's visibility rules (this is not much of an issue in SP). Over the next 2-3 turns, my poor knowledge of other Civ2 mechanics hurts me a bit.
North is the direction I wanted to go, to preserve the option of attacking Cheb or heading east for huts. I choose to go west towards the city (I hope).
A tough decision about Bapedi. I can delay the settler one more turn, to get +1b for monarchy. But I decide to trust my 20AD plan, which seems good enough for the 45b I need. 
22: Isand (5) (from the nomad) I am eager for monarchy, to relieve problems with waste, support, specials, etc. This city is intended to push me to the 45b mark.
23: OH THE PAIN!! I had everything lined up to get monarchy in 24AD. I am making 10b but need 11b. Isand can rush a courthouse (only 10s in this game) to halve corruption and get the extra 1b (I thought). But after play testing this, I find that the improvement does not take effect until 25AD. I guess you readers knew that.
So, I decided to use the Bapedi settler to found a city in an unplanned location, but near some spice, as an alternative way to get that last beaker. Did so, Trade advisor says +12b. Attitude advisor shows no problems. All is good (I thought). 
Intombe (6)
But after my turn, while checking the demostats, I realized that 2 of my cities are rioting. My updated Attitude advisor now shows the problems. This has happened to me before, so I should have known better. (Peaster kicks self) 
I will miss monarchy by two beakers.
ST has blocked my Archer again, with a different warrior on a mountain to the west. The top 5 screen shows Cheb is empty with an Elvis, so it is pretty clear where this unit came from. It appears Cheb is on a peninsula surrounded by whales. The entrance is a mountainous bottleneck, perfect for defense. Probably, the best I
can do is contain this area. For now, my Archer goes south to reveal some tiles, but it will probably return north to force ST to keep using the Elvis, and to contain him.
24:   OH THE JOY!! Monarchy! I guess the riots don't affect production until 25AD either. I made it, with 0 beakers left over for the next tech (HBR, for belated defense). I set taxes at 70, since I have only 10g and need some quick RB dough for defense.
More Joy ! A warrior is at 29,25 - nearest city Hradec. It pops a hut = nomad. It heads south to view a special (buffalo) and may settle there, or maybe head back west for safety.
My Demo Stats are beautiful now. I am slightly behind in pop (80 to 90), but I have 6 cities to ST's 3, and now lead in the major stats. Of course it is still 24AD for ST, who may get a new govt himself this turn. Also, I have fallen to 2nd at Literacy, which probably means ST has learned Writing. I expect he will soon be making diplomats to bribe units and steal tech. I wonder if he is also aiming for Republic + celebration.
Screenshot after 24AD. The Archer moved south and back north. The warrior is probably the first one - there is another to the west, probably sitting in Cheb.
Attachment: turn24.jpg
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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25: Wondering about how to pursue science while faced with dips. And how to deal with unhappiness, but still keep up in the arms race. I hope ST can't afford lots of dips and bribes this early.
26: ST has a size 3 city, so I suspect he is aiming for Republic-growth rather than ICS-growth.
Mpondo (7) on a buffalo, from the nomad.
27: A dip appears from Cheb earlier than expected. It may bribe my Archer next turn, for approx 80-90g, but I prefer that to throwing the unit away on a mountain-fortified warrior. Suddenly, I'm wondering how to defend my capitol area. Strange that one dip is such a threat.
I spot an Amer-warrior near Mpondo, so I must RB a warrior there to claim the adjacent mountain. I'm down to 3g. It feels like my position is falling apart, but maybe I can still form a perimeter in the West, with stacks, and then out-grow ST. I think time is on my side - a) with my better stats, I should grow faster; b) I think I am chasing more huts than ST, c) I'm getting about 30 arrows/t, and expect HBR + Writing in about 5 turns, and/or more gold.
Hut 9 squares from Ulundi = weeds.
28: HBR -> Writing. I have no clear tech plans yet, but want dips, to create some threats. Probably, I will go for trade or chivalry soon, but maybe poly or maps first, depending on how the war goes.
I have a warrior exploring to the south, which has found an ocean "27" extending from SE of Hlobane to Mpondo. Bad news for collecting huts there, but it may ease my defense.
ST bribed my Archer. I hope it cost him a lot.
29: I need to plan a defensive line north of Intombe, and hope ST doesn't have units in place to flank me. I can stack a w+ph on the mt before the dip arrives. I have to RB another w in Intombe anyway, since it is growing. This costs 16g out of my 35g. I am short on shields in these cities, but maybe I can transfer w's from Zim/Bap soon. I plan to get Writing in 32ad, and a dip from Bapedi in 33ad (or a horse, if it's needed first). Some relief soon via huts would be nice - eg gold or a good tech.
I have no clear defense for my scattered Eastern cities, but hope that my w's will block any direct advances until I can make more units. I will still go after huts. The good thing about having those cities scattered out is that ST can't get to them ALL very quickly.
The top 5 screen shows ST has an empty size 2 city with an Elvis and a happy citizen. I am no expert on happiness, but I guess this means ST has monarchy. Also, I saw a lot of units up north, so he'd be having major support problems otherwise. I'm guessing he
has about 5-6 techs, 6 cities and 9 citizens [I have 6 techs, 7 cities, 10 citizens + a settler near Ulundi, heading for a whale].
No idea about his stock of gold for bribing more of my units, but I hope I can win a bribing war in the West, since my capitol is there.
30: We have a standoff in the West, but if ST brings his dip in, he can walk past my little sentry stack, and I have no good defense. I don't think he can take any cities with just the Archer and a dip, but he can probably seize a mountain, or scout my entire capitol area before I can fight back.
Two pairs of warriors have made contact near Mpondo, but I think I've got the passes covered with one of my warriors. The other heads north for a hut, while Mpondo (on buffalo) races to make a horse (or maybe a dip).
31: Zim makes a settler, and the hut (17,41) = a nomad (1 turn before an Am-warrior got there!). The Ulundi settler is in place near a whale. I MUST be winning the growth war.
With 10 cities soon [in the equivalent of about 2400BC] I am pretty happy, but not sure my citizens will be for long. I need military techs to defend my gains, but need HG pretty soon to deal with the growth.
I am number one in most key demo-stats (AppRat, Pop, Mfg, Land, Productivity). I am behind in Mil.S, Lit and usually Fam Size.
But ST has made a stack just north of my stack. The Archer is visible. If the other unit(s) is his dip, I can't stop him from walking into the middle of my homeland. He probably doesn't know that I am short on attacking units, so I hope he will decline to enter. If he does, I will try to occupy the mts, at least. I expect Writing + a dip soon, and I can rush a horse, but those are really not enough to drive him out. I may need barracks + ellies.
 Attachment: pe_a31.hot
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StuporMan
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Lexington, KY
May 2005
time: 00:32
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As a casual observer, newbie to these forums, and unfamiliar with the game format, codes of conduct, and what is generally accepted as good manners in this type of game, I would personally accept the good luck for what it is, good luck. 
As far as I can tell the only requirement on huts was that you would disband any unit that was popped within 8 squares of your starting locations. Since this was not the case, go ahead and thank the hut gods for your fortune and move on. One way to look at it is this, if instead of getting tribes or nomads you had drawn barbarians or dead techs you would not have replayed the turn. Since you accept bad outcomes, you should also accept the good ones. The fact that these "good" outcomes also resulted in unhappyness problems should also make you feel better about accepting them as the benefit also comes with a drawback.
Just my $0.02,
Stuporman
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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32: Writing -> Warrior Code: One the very few strategy guides I found for duels/MP suggests the tech path, WC/Feud/Chivalry, to allow pikemen, knights and Sun Tzu. I decided to trust it, though in a SP game I would choose maps, poly or currency instead. The only American-made units I have seen so far are warriors and a dip, so I have no idea which techs ST has. I will make a dip in Bapedi in 2-3 turns, but have no clear plan for it.
Hut = Ngome (8) at 32,20 (see my previous post) It doesn't seem like a great site, but then my warrior finds a pheasant nearby!
Swazi (9) a child of Ulundi, near a whale. This city was planned, at least. The new cities set off 3 riots, but I was able to move militia in for 2 of them, and only needed an Elvis in Bapedi. I am suddenly short on warriors for defense and crowd control. But the Demo-Stats are great now... from 32AD to the present (35AD), we Zulus are usually first in every category except Military Service or maybe Family Size.
I start to play more conservatively now, thinking about setting up perimeters, staking claim to 60 per cent of the map, having some gold in reserve, etc. Given enough time, I may even be able to attack.
33: I have sent a lonely warrior south from Isand to 50,30. It's exploring what I think are the northwestern edges of ST's capitol area. In fact, its nearest city is now Kladno (ST's 3rd, I think, probably a child of Hradec).
34: My nomad in the south pops a hut and gets Mysticism (not great news, but OK). I was afraid of getting barbarians, but am starting to wonder if "villages only" reduces the chances of that (?).
Barracks started in Bapedi.
We have had stacked units facing off between Intombe and Cheb for a few turns. OK with me, since mine are warriors and his visible unit is an archer. I have also trapped one of ST's warriors on a peninsula to the south. This is no big advantage, except that I control the situation until ST decides to bring in help.
I am more worried about my scattered cities in the East, such as Swazi, Ngome, Isand and Mpondo. I am planning to place at least a warrior in each one, but have been tempted to explore a bit more, and Swazi is still quite empty. And not too far from ST's homeland.
Mpondo is in danger. ST has moved another unit onto 32,30 but only the warrior is visible. This is a problem for me only if the new unit is a super-unit or a dip, which could bribe my warrior for about 10g, and then probably capture Mpondo mountain.
I have a horse in Mpondo (it's preventing a riot, but an Elvis instead would be OK). A new warrior will be ready in 2 turns. How do I defend Mpondo ? Retreat and make a stack on the mountain ? Take my chances that there is no dip ? Rush a better unit in Mpondo ? I don't know the right answer, but will tell you what I did next time.
Attachment: turn33.jpg
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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35: I played this turn before my previous post, but did just as Grigor suggested. My horse and warrior made a stack on the mt. I expected ST to move his stack to the hill square, and I would probably have attacked it with about 50-50 odds. Instead, he moved only 1 warrior there, which makes my attack unattractive.
This revealed his second unit to be a mere warrior. I suppose he will fortify the first and then bring the second one in. So, I gave up some ground needlessly, but at least the city is safe a while longer.
My lonely southern warrior is now at 52,32 and is closest to Slany, after just two turns being closest to Kladno. I have an idea where these two lie, but I really need more data to be sure.
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BTW - I could not find civ2 visibility rules anywhere, but some quick playtesting (after 35AD) suggests:
1) When units are stacked, the last one to join is on top and visible to the opponent. It may or may not be visible to you because that depends on the order of play.
2) Diplomats are an exception. They are never visible in a stack AFAIK. I did no testing with vans, settlers, etc.
3A) Units within 1 square of your own units are visible. But visible enemy units remain visible (even if you have left the area) until they move.
3B) IIRC you can sometimes see units much farther away (even without advanced units, like planes) but I don't know a rule about this.
4) Units in the suburbs of a city are visible in the city screen, but not necessarily on the playing screen.
Does anyone know if these rules are correct?
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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36: Tugela (10) on a peninsula to the southwest (built by the nomad stolen from under ST's nose). It riots immediately, so I give it an Elvis and RB a warrior next turn. I also RB a warrior for a Swazi riot. The lonely warrior finds a hut in ST's homeland - I thought it would be gone by now.
37: W.C. -> Currency. I've had second thoughts about WC/Feud/Chivalry, and decided I need some happiness in my Kingdom ASAP, so I change to Curr/Trade/Pots for HG. There is a good chance ST has managed his tech better than me and will get there first. In that case, I will switch to Lit/Phil/Poly/Mono for Mike's. So, WC was an error. But I suspected ST was on the warpath just a few turns ago. If I can get HG in peace, my position still looks quite good.
Lonely Warrior pops the hut and OH MY GOD! An American warrior is right behind it - AGAIN. Is ST guarding huts for some reason? The hut gives a nomad - AGAIN. I don't WANT any more nomads. I want good tech or gold. Even another Archer would be OK.
38: Umtata (11), and I move a warrior in by road from Hlobane to keep the peace. Ngome and Isand rioted when they grew, so they get Elvis's. I must RB warriors in Zim + Hlo (+ Intombe IIRC) since they will grow next turn. All this rioting is quite a headache, but my stats are better than 5 turns ago, so I guess growth is still basically a good thing.
39: Intombe is my first size 3 city in the game. I have to RB more warrior-militia for Swazi and Isand, and I am back down to 29g. We have 3 standoffs (near Intombe, Mpondo and Tugela) but ST seems to be following Lonely Warrior in the Southeast. I attempted to circle a lake and come back towards his cities, but ran into another lake. My nomad went further east to pop another hut, but ran into the main ocean (1). These guys may be in a little trouble.
40: When I opened the save this time, I was confused for a moment because there was no pop-up message about new riots!
ST did not follow the Lonely Guys this time, who found a whale. I suspect the other nearby huts are underwater, and there are no other specials in the near north, so they will build a city here next turn (which will probably bring the riots back). The site may be hard to defend, because it is closer to ST's homeland than any of my cities. But almost half of my cities started out this way. I guess I can afford to lose one if I can make ST pay enough for it.
BTW - I consider myself the defender in this position because I am ahead in growth, and have no need to attack any time soon. But if I could find a way to threaten ST with a few units I would do it.
I am starting production on 4 units in the homeland. These will be switched to vans when I get currency + trade in about 6 turns. Science is maxed out at 70 per cent, and all possible workers are on trade specials, for about 30b/t. I WANT HG!!!
Here's the minimap after 40AD. ST's homeland is in the bottom half of the white box. My Lonely Guys are east of that part of the box. Their city will help form a semi-circle of Zulu cities around the Americans.
Attachment: mini40ad.jpg
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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Dear Audience - The next few turns are fairly uneventful. I am aiming for HG in about 50AD and do not plan any other major operations until at least 55AD.
41: Curr -> Trade (121b). Lonsim (12) built in the S.E. Riots there, and in Zim and Hlo (these slow down my van plans a little). The Lonely W goes south for a hut that's not there. It must come back to Lonsim in 2 more turns to replace an Elvis and use the whale.
Ulundi makes a settler, which will build roads until I get HG.
42: Just improving my perimeter, beakers, etc. Starting to think about post-HG plans; another growth spurt in the East, maybe boats, dips and barracks for some raids. Maybe back to Feud/Chiv for STWA/Knights.
43: Have saved up 73g, mainly for rushing vans. I may have to use Bapedi for a van [tho it has a new barracks], since Umtata is so slow.
I could not see how to use my dip near Intombe, so it has gone south, where I have trapped ST's w. I retreat my own w, to let his come out a little, and get bribed a turn faster. If he has a faster dip, my plan may fail, but this gives my w a better chance to get away in that case. ST's w should probably stay where it is, except that he doesn't know about my dip.
The big difference between this duel and SP is - you know the opponent has a plan, and will act intelligently, but you generally don't know what he is up to, and you don't know what he knows. ST could have 10 elephants 2 squares from my cities right now, or he could be tied up with unhappiness and support problems (like me). He may be expecting me to attack first... with dread, or with glee...? He has seen my horseman and my phalanx, so he knows most of my tech. This may have discouraged him from attacking, so far, even though I really have only 2 horses, 1 phalanx, and warriors for defense.
If I get HG, maybe I'll go for map-making soon afterwards, to help my dips make an embassy, or to allow a surprise invasion.
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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Tx, Stray. I can take credit for about 7 cities, but I got 5 from huts. I should mention that I am using ST's Civ2Admin program to find huts. This is a lot of work the way I do it. I have drawn a map, by hand, of the known world. It has all the specials, huts, and paths of my warriors on it. I update it after every turn.
44: We have some new warrior contact north of Ngome. Both are travelling alone, easy prey for dips, but I have no plans for a dip up there. So, I am not sure whether to block him or try to pass by [towards Cheb]. For now, I will jockey for a terrain advantage and hope he has no dip nearby.
45: Trade -> Pottery.
I fine-tune my plans for HG, and expect it in Hlobane in 51AD. I need 144-14 = 130b in 4 turns to get pottery on time. With science maxed at 70, I am making 34b/t now (enough for 136b). Also, to get the 4 vans on time, I need 87g within 2 turns, and at this rate I will have 88g [compare this with my little drama over monarchy]. Losing a turn is probably no big deal here, but I'd hate to be beaten to HG, especially after starting pottery.
46: 1 coin fell thru the cracks somewhere, but Umtata can switch a tile to ocean to compensate. I decide not to bribe ST's warrior in the south until my vans are paid for. It did venture out one turn, but retreated again. Maybe he saw my dip, using a ZOC trick.
My warriors are not getting any new "nearest city" info.
Apparently, the Americans are not expanding into some areas I'd expected (eg, south of Swazi).
Attachment: pe_a46.hot
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Peaster
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Florida
Jul 2003
time: 00:32
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47: I have the 37g (exactly) I wanted to spend on rushing 3 vans, but then realized that if I spend ALL my gold, my barracks will be sold before my 48AD turn. [The barracks explains the missing coin in my 46AD post. Doh!] Finally, I found a way to postpone one rush until 48AD. It will cost 6g more that way, but it is better than disbanding a unit or delaying HG. I raise taxes to 40 to pay for that.
48: I rush the Hlobane van for 31g and have 2g left. Now science is back to 70 to get Pots on time.
Mpondo grows and has a food shortage, so I must fire Elvis and accept a riot for 1 turn.
I finally get some "nearest city" info from my scouts: (27,7) is near Jachymov, and (37,29) is near Benesov. Somehow I get the feeling ST never really identified with being the Americans in this contest.
49: Pots -> Maps (made it ! - with 6 extra beakers): It was a tough choice between Maps, Lit, Poly and Feud. But I am eager to have a boat to get near Cheb with dips (embassy/tech theft) or phalanges (there is a great mountain near Cheb). I'd prefer to surprise him with a real attack, but I won't have proper units for some time. Unless 1-2 vet archers might do it?
Mpondo riots, but it makes a dip. The dip replaces a warrior in the stack, which returns for militia duty. I think the dip is invisible to ST (if my visibility rules above are correct).
My 4 vans converge on Hlobane with perfect timing, and will make HG next turn (if ST does not). This will release lots of warriors for sentry duty, infiltration and exploration. I can also return to ICS growth, and will try to double in size within about 12 turns. I do not yet have clear plans for another wonder or my tech path, but growth makes everything easier.
My poor dip is patiently waiting for the 23g it needs to bribe the pinned warrior in the south. I will raise taxes for a few turns, for this and for some rushes.
Contacts between warriors are now pretty routine, though our borders are not really well-defined yet. There has been NO combat, and we not even at war, but with the release of my horsemen (by HG) and maybe a vet archer from Bapedi, I expect some fighting soon. And if ST has no surprises, I expect the borders will eventually be favorable to the Zulus.
I expect ST has something cooking: Republic + Celebration ? Trade routes with an American island ? Pyramids + Mike's ? A massive sneak attack on Mpondo or Intombe?
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12-05-2005 07:06
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