Once again, the combat in This Game has been shifted towards the end. I may like (and/or want) to do things differently. But this appears to be the strategy that works best for me.
At a rough rundown (and by memory, so who knows the accuracy), going from left to right, we have:
- T0-100
- Animals only, but I did not venture forth, so no combat.
- T100-200
- Barbarians appear. But once again, not venturing forth and having The Great Wall, I avoided all conflict.
- T2-300
- I will assume one-off Barbarian encounters.
- +/-T380
- Charlemagne Attacks and is rebuffed.
- T380-T560
- +/-T560
- I join the Dogpile on Isabella and get her to Capitulate.
- Isabella renounces my protection shortly thereafter and Peace Vassals to Charlemagne.
- To the best of my knowledge, her forces never again see combat.
- It matters not that she had plenty of opportunity as Charlemagne's Vassal.
- T620-60
- Lincoln Capitulates to me.
- Both are non-entities for the rest of the game.
- T575-90
- Please notice the heavier Great General Line at T675.
- I earned two Great Generals that turn as Bismark smashed his stack against Fortified Rifles.
- T725-45
- Caesar is systematically pounded.
- The red line indicates Charlemagne's successful Counter Attack.
- Caesar and Charlemagne had a Defensive Pact.
- I would have never Declared against both willingly.
- The final light green line represents Charlemagne's containment.
- T745
- I Declare An Implicit Victory.
The first graph comes from the Final Game in this series (GAME-11), while this one comes from the 4th.
In GAME-04, my offensive started earlier and was more continual. But it failed on account of overextension. I have not devised a strategy that reliably enables a Military Conquest prior to Cannons.
Anyway, the above represents a Conquest of my Home Continent at the cost of a Total Stagnation of My Economy.
It can be advantageous for a Human Player to Build a Beachhead City on a Far Continent. But what is prudent for The Human is hardly ever a smart thing for The AI to do, given its other limitations.
I sent a Fleet worth of Units to Attack The Roman Homeland. These Units are what stayed behind, capturing This City immediately. And then, following along to Rome in the Second Wave.
It really was a mistake for Rome to ever Settle these lands. One of the things I would want from a True Diplomacy Screen would be Negotiating Borders, with no Penalty for Close Borders if agreement is reached.
The Oracle
At these higher levels (currently, Monarch), I value The Oracle more and more. The Hammer conversion to Beakers can be quite astounding.
Slow To War
I'm finding little reason for an early expansion. Once I have as many Core Cities as I think I will need (1-6, let us say), there is little reason for additional growth prior to Cannons, when Combat becomes easy and My Economy can support The Maintenance Costs.
Healing
Units have 100 Hit Points.
{Note: The Game talks about percents, but the percents are percents of one-hundred and work in an additive rather than fractional manner, so it's clearer just talking about Hit Points.}
Units Heal as follows:
- 5HP/T in Enemy Territory
- 10HP/T in Neutral or Friendly Territory
- 15HP/T in My Territory
- 20HP/T in Any City
Thus, in a City I control, it would take at most 5 Turns to Heal any Unit no matter how badly damaged.
Further, there are various Promotions which add to this number, of which I only care about two:
The benefits of these two Promotions Stack (+25HP/Turn), so it makes sense to Promote a few Units up the Woodsman Line early; and then, add Medic I to them later on.
Add in the fact that hovering over the Heal Button prior to pressing shows the Turns required to Heal and that's about all there is to know... or that I know.
Super Medics (in my humble opinion) are not worth the Great General. But then, I'm playing on Marathon Speed; and as such, having My Stack rest for a few Turns after Capturing a City is no big deal. The clock simply ticks slower in Marathon Games.
Espionage
I will posit that it is easier to learn while playing
Open Games rather than
Closed Games. That if one can see how The AI Plays (move-by-move), one will come to understand how The AI Plays that much faster.
I got Three Great Spies this last game. I Settled two and used the last to Build Scotland Yard. I had extensive Visibility on My Opponents. And it was quite informative.
I believe I will start the next game with some sort of Espionage Boost, so as to repeat this experience.
Speaking of which...
The Next Game
I am now done with the K-Mod. I will be un-installing it just as soon as I edit this page and am convinced I don't need to load any of the Saved Games.
The next Mod will either be Thomas' War or Legends of Revolution, with the later edging slightly ahead in the polls.
As stated, being able to see The AI in action greatly increased my enjoyment of The Game. So, I am trying to figure out how to ensure I have visibility. A slew of Great Spies would do the trick: some to explore (revealing cities) and others to crank out the Espionage Points for City Visibility.
And as long as I am giving myself a Half Dozen Great Spies (or however many it takes), I might as well give myself one each of all the other Great People. Now, I might not do that. But I am thinking about it.
I'm, also, thinking about Cooking The Map, giving myself Stone, Marble, and a few other goodies.
So, perhaps, I will be playing on Deity... or whatever the highest setting is.
Oh, did I not mention? I think starting with a Highly Promoted Machine Gunner would ensure my survival for the first 500 Turns, as well.
So, we are talking about a Customized Game.
And finally, I've never really used the City Managers. So, maybe I should give that a go and explore some of The Game's Automation Features.
