14-05-2003 03:25									#31
	Got spare money?

Phase III

The War!

Okay, assuming all diplomacy fails, this is the plan...

CDG will be coming from the south with Immortals. This we know. Therefore, the idea is to deal with their SOD (Stack of Doom) first and foremost, then take out their iron/capital.

If their Warrior (Morris) remains on the iron, I would like to see Apolyton produce an Archer to deal with him. Another unit, a Warrior (not-panag probably) will accompany him and see to it that Morris is struck down should our Archer fail.

Meanwhile, Mingapulco and Incensity will be working on their vital Barracks. Depending on when the war comes, we will either then produce NMs (if war comes further into the future) or vet Warriors for upgrade. Apolyton and Bananatopia can be altered as necessary with the onset of war, most likely to produce more Warriors/NMs. For our upgrade efforts to yield anything, we will have to go to 100% tax and build up enough money to upgrade a sizable force.

As time goes on, the CDG Immortal stack will eventually appear in sight of our Warrior screen. For this reason, it is pivotal that our Warrior screen remain in place and intact at any cost for the sake of our own defense and survival. As their stack approaches, the screen will withdraw towards Mingapulco as fast as possible for upgrading.

Meanwhile, in our cities we will upgrade as many Swordsmen as possible after our iron is connected (if it hasn't been already). Hagbart will be upgraded, along with any other vets, and then regulars. More Warriors will be upgraded/built to build our own powerful stack of offensive units. As the CDG stack gets closer, we will merge all of our NMs and Swordsmen into one stack in Mingapulco.

If the CDG approaches one of our cities, then we will launch an offensive with all of our Swordsmen in an attempt to destroy as many Immortals as possible. If we have great success against the stack, then we may use NMs to finish it off or further cripple their approaching army. If our attacks are less than 100% successful, then we will have our NMs fortified in the city waiting for them to come at them, where we should have an advantage over them due to our defense of 3 and being fortified in a town. We can then finish their stack off the next turn, or the turn after. As long as the number of NMs we have does not dwindle too low, then we can take care of them rather easily, especially if they approach a city with a Barracks (units heal in one turn). If they wander around our cities without actually getting adjacent to one of them, then we can wait for them to move onto flat land where we can reach them from our road network, and hit them when we have enough units.

If they do not approach our cities (i.e. they stay in the jungle), then we will have to build up our forces more before going out to hunt their stack down. We have superior industrial potential, so the longer they wait, the larger our army will grow relative to theirs. When we have enough units (~1.5 times as many), then we will go out and face them, making sure to have enough NMs to hold their Immortals at bay. We will approach their stack, and either chase it back to their own cities, or destroy it in the jungle. If they run back to their cities, then we will have to build up even MORE, and slug it out in Elucidia... not a pretty prospect, but luckily I don't think it's likely that they'll march out to the jungle only to return to their cities.

We will then build lots o' units, and slug it out city-for-city, but that's a bit in the future. The primary goal will then be to strip them of their iron first (so we have nothing to fear from counter-attacks), then their capital (their only real production center). After that, they will be crippled without hope, and we can deal with them however we wish at that point.

That's the plan in a nutshell. I'll have other versions of it ready in case they do something really unexpected, but I feel that is the most likely outcome of a war.

	14-05-2003 07:59									#32
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Two things:

I'm a little concerned that no mention of WALLS has been made, particularly since our Numidians would reap more benefit from that than the typical spear. They're hardly expensive, and since recent testing published over at CFC suggests that walls DO in fact benefit cities of 7+, I would think we could spare the 3-4 turns to throw a wall up (or rush it) in the city approached by their SOD.

I also really believe that there would be a benfit to sending two galleys with 4 Numidian Mercenaries south to the hill in "Goatland" if we received large amounts of warning of an impending attack, or when we prepared our own Chivalric Assault much later. That force would almost certainly draw some unpleasant attention, and even given Trip's 1.5x units figure he used for his own assault plans, we would pull many more immortals than the Mercs themselves would cost us in shields. Fortified on a hill, we'd probably even cost them a few more than that. That's a small investment (since we should have a boat or two as soon as we can anyway for about a dozen reasons) with a potentially very significant return. If nothing else, it would potentially tie up the garrisons of both the eastern towns from dropping everything and rushing to Elucidia -a worthwhile reason even on its own. Such a viewpoint might also warn us if GCA was planning on coming to CDG's aid....

* Fried-Psitalon Fried is a big believer in naval disruption attacks, having seen them work against human players countless times in the past.

	14-05-2003 10:43									#33
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

I like Trip's plan with Walls added in as F-P suggests. Although I didn't hear about the study at CFC which syas that Walls have an effect on defense even in a 7+ size city, I wouldn't be surprised that Firaxis screwed the pooch on that one!

The only thing I'd change is the Warrior we send along with the Archer to kill Morris; I'd send an Elite along, just for the chance at the GL. IIRC, Hagbert is an Elite Warrior.

	14-05-2003 10:48									#34
	Full PM-box? Change here!

quote: Originally posted by BigFree I like Trip's plan with Walls added in as F-P suggests. Although I didn't hear about the study at CFC which syas that Walls have an effect on defense even in a 7+ size city, I wouldn't be surprised that Firaxis screwed the pooch on that one!

Yes, the walls was just one thing I had unpurposefully omitted. Walls will be built/rushed as they approach.

And yes, the bonus applies to cities size 7+ as of a recent PTW patch. Kudos to Firaxis, walls are now worth something.

quote: The only thing I'd change is the Warrior we send along with the Archer to kill Morris; I'd send an Elite along, just for the chance at the GL. IIRC, Hagbert is an Elite Warrior.

Depends on if they have other units in the area, etc.

	14-05-2003 12:47									#35
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Does that bonus apply to 1.14 or 1.21 or both?

	17-05-2003 08:17									#36
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

quote: Originally posted by BigFree Does that bonus apply to 1.14 or 1.21 or both?

Both versions. It might have been eliminated in 1.28f, but that's still 2 patches away, and so it will probably never reach the shores of Europe.