BloodBath PBEM

[greekguy]

This is the spoiler for the BloodBath PBEM, which I started at CFC on August 5, 2005. The game is called BloodBath, because the only way to win is through Conquest or Domination victory, the only civs allowed to choose from were MIL civs, and the game is Always War. as soon as you contact someone, you must declare on them. here are the settings:

Regent difficulty level
Civilization 3 Conquests 1.22
4 billion year old 60% water Pangea
Standard size (made up my mind)
Normal Climate
Temperate Temperature
Restless Barbs (in line with the millitary theme)
Domination and Conquest as only victory conditions available

and here are the brave souls who dare challenge me:

greekguy: Vikings
Gnarfflinger: Rome- eliminated in 2670 BC by classical_hero
GreyBeard: Zulu
classical_hero: China
Star_Fox: Germany
Salte: Japan

We are currently on turn 87.

i'll post updates in the coming posts. please feel free to offer advice, give suggestions, or yell at me for doing something stupid. your posts will greatly valued by me, so please post! :)

[greekguy]

here's the update for turn 87:

didn't do much. moved around some workers, and moved a pair of archers closer to Japan. i got one archer going through the mountains, while one is trudging through jungle. my boat is also sailing the coast. i had one earlier in the game, and sailed on the bottom part of the pangea, but a Zulu ship sunk it centuries ago, so i sent my 2nd ship north. here's a screenshot of my empire:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8713/bloodbathempirebk9.jpg

i feel like i'm expanding at a decent rate, with 2 settlers heading to new city sites right now. i was aiming to get Iron Working for free, through Philo, but apparantly someone got Philosiphy before me, as i didn't get a freebie. once i finish IW, i'm going for wheel and masonry, then beelining to Monarchy. i hope to take out Japan before 500 AD, as there my closest opponenet and i don't want Salte to cut down his jungle and make his empire worth something. :D here's a pic of the Japanese empire:

http://img309.imageshack.us/img309/1820/japaneseenemydl0.jpg

my strongest enemies, however, are GreyBeard and classical_hero, who command the Zulus and Chinese, respectively. China took out Rome many turns ago, giving them a big edge in this game, since they now have more land to work with. classical and GreyBeard have had a few minor clashes throughout the game so far and have very close borders. here a pic of the China-Zulu coast:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7333/zuluchinacoastmh9.jpg

also, one more important thing i should say. i was lucky enough to start off in an isolated corner of the pangea, with my closest enemy beyond a large mountain range. i have plenty of time to expand, and will hopefuly take out Salte in the late AA/early MA. after that, i plan on developing my land and going after everyone else in the late MA/early IA. i'll see how things go. :)

[BCLG100]

gg you really need a much closer build imo, especially for games like this- closer build means less units needed to defend and greater units you can build for an attack.

[greekguy]

yeah, well, there really weren't any good city sites near my capital, since there were a bunch of bonus grasslands to the west of Purple Blood City. also, Valhalla was founded after popping a settler from a goody hut, so that's why it's so far away from the rest of my cities.

[RegentMan]

Well, let's try this without the grid; see how well I do.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/TitanicWhiz18/PBEM/bloodbathempirebk9.jpg

Remember, this isn't single player. You're not going to be here in the modern age with size twenty-five cities. Three tiles apart is ideal, as units can instantly reinforce a besieged city by following a road.

[Pastorius]

Toit is the way when warfare is the key element.


"I'm Dutch, isn't that weird?"

[greekguy]

hmm, thanks for the suggested dotmap RM, i'll use some of those city sites. but i think you should notice that Reykjavik, Olso, Copenhagen, and Stockholm are all 3 tiles away from each other, so it is a semi-tight build. also, my nearest enemy would have to march through jungle and mountains to reach me, so he's not reaching my core anytime soon. once i get IW and hook up Iron, i'll try for a sword/archer rush against Salte.

[BCLG100]

your thinkin like an AI there, human players are a lot craftier, you need an especially tight build on the coast incase someone lands a bunch of units without you knowing it.

admitedly it wont happen for awhile but you should still have a tight build all over.

[greekguy]

quote:Originally posted by BCLG100

your thinkin like an AI there, human players are a lot craftier, you need an especially tight build on the coast incase someone lands a bunch of units without you knowing it.

admitedly it wont happen for awhile but you should still have a tight build all over.


not only will they not reach me for awhile, but they'll have to find me first. i'm in the most isolated part of the map, i inhabit a small corner of the large pangea, and not a single ship has pasted close to my borders yet. also, remember taht everyone is at war with everyone else, and everyone else is closer to each other than they are to me. they can't send their whole military to attack me across the pangea, as their next door neighbor would just kill them off.

[greekguy]

hey guys. here's the update for Turn 91:

I've lost a few archers in battles with Japan recently and have shifted some builds around. I'm going to get Iron Working next turn, so here's hoping I get some Iron in or near my empire. [viking] I also built a new city this turn, and although it goes against RM's dotmap, i feel this city is in a good place, since it will use cows now and wheat after its first cultural expansion. Here's a shot of the new city and the minimap:
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8152/newbbcityhu2.jpg

[RegentMan]

Yup, wheat, fish, cows, hills, and fresh water. Great city! [goodjob]

[greekguy]

Here's the update for Turn 93:

A couple of interesting things have happened over the past few turns. I discovered Iron Working and have found 2 sources of Iron near my borders. I also founded another city, adding to my ever expanding empire. Here's a picture of my empire right now:

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5756/bloodbathempirexo5.jpg

Here's a pic of my new city Bonus Fish. It's a nice coastal city with several BGs, a fish and many coastal tiles.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/530/bonusfishrm1.jpg

Lastly, here's a side-by-side comparison of the two iron deposits. I'd like your opinion about which deposit to control by settling a city there. I'm leaning towards the one in the my northern mountains, as it is closer to Japan, and will deny them another source of Iron. Also, please note I'll site both sites eventually, this is just asking which Iron to hook up first.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2671/bloodbathironov6.jpg

[RegentMan]

If you can protect it, then the deposit closer to the Japanese. Plus, it'll serve as a nice base.

[BCLG100]

the second one means you can build units to use to defend the other site.

unless japan doesnt have another source of iron of course :)

[greekguy]

BCLG, i'm not sure what you're saying there. which site do you think i should build at first, closer to the Japanese, or by the Iron on the coast?

also, know it's hard to see, but the Japanese have a source of iron hooked up already. they've got Iron 1 tile NE of Kagoshima.

[BCLG100]

oh right i meant that if japan didnt have a source settle the one closer to them. however, since they do you should settle the one on the coast first as it should be easier to defend/hook up

[Whomp]

There's an advantage in a pbem planting a city on a iron hill by planting on top of it. It will be easier to defend your iron and in effect autoroad the hill. The mountain would need to be roaded which is less desirable for worker tasks. I'd settle the hill first then make plans on the mountain.

[greekguy]

Here's the update for Turn 99:

I've founded 2 new cities since the last update, Weapons of War as my Iron city, and Jericho as another coastal city with good terrain. I'm also closing in on circumnavigating the pangea, and boy is it big! I also have a scouting archer who is nearing German borders. I'll see what trouble he can stir up.[evil] There's also a zulu ship scouting my coast down south. I've decided to dispatch a galley to take care of him, and I expect our 2 ships to meet next turn in a fierce naval battle.

Here's a pic of the 2 new cities:

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4176/bbnewcitiesyl1.jpg

And here's a screenie of the Zulu and Viking ships, getting ready to fight to the death:

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4483/upcomingnavalhd4.jpg

[BCLG100]

i think temples are very very useless in pbems for c3c, if i was you id switch that to something else and then just build a few more cities around it (they dont have to use the resource but give you bonus cities etc)

[greekguy]

hmmm, i guess you have a point there, but if i build a bunch of cities just to bring land in my borders and don't give them any tiles to work, they'll affect my OCN. maybe 2 or 3 cities like that won't hurt, but 6 or more could do some real damage to my productivity.

[BCLG100]

Aye fill up all the good sites first and then just build a load of cities on crappy sites.

[greekguy]

Here's the update for Turn 105:

No new cities have been built, but some interesting developments have occured since the last update. The upcoming naval battle never happened, as GreyBeard and I were unwilling to be attacked and made sure our ships were out of range every turn. Since i didn't sink his ship, i think he sailed away. Also, I lost my scouting archer, which was erasing the black from my map. He was killed by a Chinese horseman while scouting German lands. my empire is looking good, however, i've still yet to get iron. my workers are working on hooking up Weapons of War so all my cities can produce swords. my laborers are 2 turns away from completing the final road. lastly, an exploring Chinese warrior has found his way to my little corner. i'm going to try to kill him, before he reaches my core and finds out how well developed i am. here's a pic of the situation:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9203/chinesewarriorzi5.jpg

suggestions and comments are welcome, so post away!

[greekguy]

Turn 109 Update:

The Chinese Warrior and the Zulu Curragh are still not dead, though they will be soon. I haven't built any new cities, but a settler will found a new one in 2 turns or so. I've also finally hooked up Iron, and have built 2 swordsmen, with more on the way. I'm hoping to gather a "strike" team, and raze a new Japanese jungle settlement I saw pop up on the map this turn.

[greekguy]

well, for anyone out there who's interested, i'm starting this spoiler up again.

here's the update for Turn 135:
Expansion, is continuing, with another settler just built. The war between Japan and myself is stalemated, with him not making a major offensives and all my attacks at his border being repulsed. It looks like I need some better units, as the sword/spear combo isn't working. Hopefully, things will look better in the future. Here's a pic of my empire and the surrounding area:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9228/bloodbath135su4.jpg

If anyone has any advice, ideas, or suggestions, please go ahead and post 'em.

[Beorn]

quote:If anyone has any advice

More food !!!
A lot of your towns have high growth delays. The faster you get them to size 6 (and later to size 10+, terrain depending) the better, even if it costs a few shields in the very immediate future. You'll find that by having an extra citizen, you can often grab an odd shield or gold that is worth your effort on the long run.

You are a monarchy so you can irrigate grasslands if need be. Your big bad neighbor is spending a lot of food (in bad town growth and in worker needed) working down that jungle. Take advantage by spending your food in more settlers, workers and citizens around grassy, forest and flood plain tiles rather than going on fool errands in the mountains or jungle like he is doing.