MT V - Last Stand at the Alamo

[Velociryx]

MT = Mini Tourney, and you're right in that the title has something to do with music, but are lookin' in the wrong neighborhood....LOL (how's that for a hint?)

-=Vel=-

[FrustratedPoet]

it's not from a commercial is it Vel?

[Velociryx]

Not as far as I know....coulda been used in a commercial once tho, but I don't think so.

-=Vel=-

[CJM]

Isn't "Babylon and On" an album by Squeeze? Or wait...

C--

[Velociryx]

Give the man a prize...LOL...played the $hit outta that album in college....don't know why the title floated back to me when I was makin' this scenario....seemed strangely appropriate though, given that the Babylonians are rather squeezed in the middle of that game....

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Here's a particularly nasty challenge for you! The folks over at the testing thread have helped me whip this one into what I hope will be a challenge of surpassing difficulty and fun! One minor problem with the save file, and I hope you will forgive that.

The date is still set at 4000BC. I tried using Gramphos' save game editing tool to adjust it to 1950, but get an error each time I attempt it, so if anybody can figure a way to coax the date, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, the challenge is ready. The goal is as it was outlined at the start of this thread.

You're fighting a war you (hopefully) simply cannot win.

No peace treaties are allowed to be negotiated. The only way out of the bind you're in is to launch the ship to Alpha Centauri before the opposition does.

Good luck, and Godspeed!

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Last minute instructions and such!

1) There's a leader in one of your cities, currently fortified. Use him on turn one as you see fit!

2) All troops (cept for front line RA's) on your "tier one" fortifications have been ordered to fortify. These may be awakened and rearranged to taste.

3) Roughly half of the troops at the wire (tier two forts) have been ordered to fortify, and these too, may be awakened and arranged to taste.

4) All ground troops in Washington have been ordered to fortify, and these, like the forces at the front, may be arranged to taste.

5) All your f-15's have been placed on air superiority missions, and put on quite a splendid show when you end your turn!

Enjoy!
-=Vel=-

[DeepO]

Vel, you might want to edit the first post in this thread, to link to the post in which the save is... other then that: good luck everyone!

DeepO

[Velociryx]

Good luck Deep-O, and all who take up the challenge! I think we've put our heads together on this one to make it a real nail-biter of a game!

Oh...and a gold star award goes out to the player who can keep all the "named" ships alive. This should be especially difficult, since all your starting ships are named, and will mean taking enormous care with your starting ships, waiting till you've built some DD's or Subs as scouts and sacrificial lambs.

-=Vel=-

[DeepO]

I award a bronze star to those who keep the USS Deep-O alive

DeepO

[Sinapus]

Yes, that first turn of interceptions is neat.

Odd thing that happened: an enemy bomber shot down one of my F-15 interceptors!

(Next turn a stealth bomber got shot down. The game hates me.)

[DeepO]

Sinapus, be very careful with your stealths! The enemy territory is extremely well protected, and those stealths could be very important later on!

DeepO

[Velociryx]

Yep....I've only played out the first turn so far, but the same thing happened to me....lost two f-15's, one to a Russian bomber, and one to a German jet fighter. Still, things are going farily well thus far!

I would say more 'bout the first turn's festivities, but I don't wanna give anything away! It's gonna make one heckuvan AAR tho!

-=Vel=-

[DeepO]

Vel, could you enlighten me on the meaning of AAR? I haven't heard that one yet...

DeepO

[Velociryx]

D'oh! Sorry.....that's After Action Report....

-=Vel=-

[DeepO]

Mhhh... it should be ACR.... After Carnage Report

DeepO

[Velociryx]

Too right!

-=Vel=-

[Theseus]

I stayed away from the testing thread, waiting for the masterpiece... UNFRIGGINGBELIEVABLE opening battle!!!

I have to admit, I played the opening turn out twice... once exactly as delivered, and then my own way. I don;t know if it was OK, but I changed just about everything that I could before triggering the first turn:

* Rushed Magellan... I have a feeling that extra move could be very important, and with so many existing ships the payoff seems good.

* Selected Space Flight for research, and set to 40%... I might adjust that downward, as I have a feeling I'm gonna need the cashola, and maybe some help on WW.

* Changed almost every build order to better match production. All northern cities building F-15s. No spaceship builds for the moment. Built a Settler and a Worker.

* Completely emptied Washington for the first move... weird to see an unprotected nuke just sitting there.

* I didn't think the forward forts were tenable, so with the exception of the two with RA stuck in place, I pillaged them and pulled back (note: used the Scouts for part of the pillage). I left 1 vet MI with each of the stuck RA as part of a fighting retreat. The most NW one was a beaut... killed off maybe 4-5 MA while at 1 hp.

* I put one MA on the gems north of Boston (afraid of Vel getting dastardly and having a couple of Trannies of MIs and MAs ready to land there). It seemingly distracted what would have otherwise been a punishing load of CMs on my bottleneck defenses. Hey, no one said lethal bombard was on!!

* No nukes, no nukes... at least not yet, not yet, although I was tempted to smack Bissy-marcky upside the head... there are all those nasty Armies yet to come though.

DEAR GOD what a battle!! But no breakthroughs... the line held.

("the line held"... I can't believe I feel so much about a game)

The best part is that the remaining German attackers are on the plains... HA!!

And what a world...

My most immediate goals are to:

* Get 5 4XMI Armies on the chokepoint tiles.

* Go vertical on any Russian or German aircraft, and come back down with guns blazing. I will own the skies.

* Find the naval threats... and buh-bye. That includes ownership of the inland sea.

Gawddamn, this baby's got my blood boiling!

[Brinoch]

Oh, it's fun all right. It gets better and better, too. I won't spoil your surprise.

I'm getting close to winning. It's been an exhausting, nail-biting game. I've got two space ship parts left to build, with one under way (6 turns to go) and a leader (my only leader of the game!!!) sitting in Washington waiting for the discovery of the laser. Unfortunately, war weariness has nearly ground me to a halt. Those pesky citizens toppled the Democracy in 3500 BC, and let me tell you, those five turns of anarchy nearly killed me. I don't think I could have come back from any more. Yikes. Now as a Republic, the weariness is slowly building up. Part of that is from my GA ending.

Research has been slow -- I discovered space flight, stole superconductor, and put everything but 20% luxuries into science to get satellites. Now, I've got to build my treasury back up to afford any research.

I've used all four nukes at this point. They did good... er ... you know what I mean.

My military is, frankly, the best in the world. I'm still at around 45 MI and 20-25 MA. The AI's are sitting on piled of MI, but virtually no MA's -- Germany has 5, Russia has 20 (but hasn't bothered to attack me in a while... they're busy with Japan), Japan has 8 and China has 0 -- that's right, zero. At some point, Japan triggered a GA while fighting Russia; and, Germany built some Panzers -- they did not win a battle, though. Whew. No one has a navy anymore, except me. They all have some number of ships, but nothing threatening.

I think I killed everything out there that was original, and I caught a break too; Russia and Japan went to war. Alas, however, the computer will continue building. The darn Chinese send 5-6 Aegis cruisers my way every turn. That western ocean is truly "iron-bottom sound." I've had fun, though. When I was bored (if you call it that), I invaded Russia and razed St. Petersburg. I was hoping she' d have some cash for me... oh well. I'm thinking about hitting Leipzig for some entertainment, too. I'm seriously contemplating a true counter-offensive to the north. G and R have plenty of MI, but no real counterforce ability save marines. Japan and I, while still fighting each other, could probably roll up Russia.

I did take the uranium for a time. Russia took the city from Japan. I didn't bother to fight for it. I built a city on the spot and rushed a harbor. Started fuel cells and some Aegis cruisers for fun... lost the city two or three turns later. I got what I came for.

I lost most of my named ships over time. I've got a lot to learn about naval combat, I guess. But, Deep-O, your sub is still around. That's about it, though. I lost my own cruiser to a fluky battle. A Chinese Aegis was up around New York, so I bombed it to one hp and sent a ship out to kill him and return to the city -- the USS Brinoch with 5 hp. The Brinoch died. A Destroyer took at that pesky Chinese ship later that turn. Jerk.

Now for a nap and I'll finish later in the morning/early afternoon.

[DeepO]

Theseus, you can do whatever you want in the opening turn, it is perfectly all right to shift forces or build orders. That's why some units are fortified, and some are standing down: you can't move the standed down ones. The idea of the 2 RAs that you can't move is the same thing: it gives you some incentive to stay at those tiles, but if you feel you can do without them, let them be captured

Oh, and is lethal bombardment on? Damn, I didn't know that (haven't got the chance to play the last version yet). that will certainly make a difference!

DeepO

[Velociryx]

Couldn't get on till just now, but these are the kinds of responses I was hopin' for when designing this one! Good, memorable battles that'll be talked about for a while, and that sense of impending doom (or at least extreme danger) at every turn....excellent! (though from Brin's report, perhaps I need to do a bit of tweaking to make them even more threatening (was supposed to be an unwinnable war! D'oh! LOL)...ahhh but the fun's the thing, and if it's fun as it is, then I'm thinking it should stand pat.

(I *do* wish I could make it so that the AI didn't/couldn't declare war on each other, but alas...it's not an option in the editor).

Still, *outstanding* to see that everybody seems to be enjoying it so far!

-=Vel=-

[Brinoch]

Don't worry Vel, it was very tough to get to this level of "safety". Using my nukes well really helped a ton. I used them only on land against very large stacks/armies. Two on each front at various times. The last one killed the last German army and more than 20 MA, some MI and a token Marine. It was a significant portion of Bismarck's strength that was vaporized in one blow. Similar results were brought in by the first three.

I also had a lot of fun with force shifting on my fronts. As the Germans or Russians would build up, I'd shift virtually all my forces to that front and ping the lead attackers with my RA when in range. This peeled off some of the troops and often led to a wholesale retreat. Since I had only the armies I built or inherited (two for quite some time, and finally three much later), I'd shift them from front to front -- which meant the ROP allies of Germany and Russia, in their quest to face a lesser battle, would move armies and units back and forth around the inner sea. Since my Navy held the inner sea, I could plink their units with impunity and destroy roads and improvements. This lasted for some time -- long enough that there were virtually no roads anywhere along that mini-ocean.

I was sweating the arrival of the Japanese armies -- they eventually did come, but only two and it was comprised of regular units. My RA nettled them to the red and my trusty elite MA delivered the coup de grace. Right after that Japan and Russia went to war. I guess the Japanese blamed the Russians for inadequate logistical support.

The naval flotillas were also very stressful. Luckily, the AI wanted to hit my unprotected underbelly, which gave me time to regularly heal and regroup. If they had just come for the quickest coast, or used larger fleet stacks... ouch. For a long time it seemed every turn might lead to an amphibious assault on a weak or unprotected city. I just plain got lucky they didn't penetrate my protective naval screens.

I'll finish up tonight. I'm about 10-11 turns from launching.

[Theseus]

Turn 2:

I got brutalized in the inland sea... bums me out, as I didn;t have the force to take out the enemy transports. I've resorted to putting units on all vulnerable hills / mountains, and figure I can deal with a grassland landing.

The Chinese are showing up to the west, but it's manageable.

Still waiting for the enemy Armies.

I placed a 4XMI Army on the middle forward fort facing Germany, and have destroyed all enemy roads within 3 tiles.

So, for the moment, I've gotten the chokepoints controlled.

I put 2 elite MI on the mountains closest to America and SW of Hamburg... I figure Germany will go insane trying to nail them, and the sacrifice will buy me lots of time, in both absorbing GOD KNOWS how many fighter attacks, as well as a bunch of attacking MA.

The inland sea bugs me though; I tried building a town immediately south of SF, where the MI was parked, to create a canal... no can do!!?? I even pillaged everything just in case that was the problem... what gives? If unable to build new towns, I am bummed, as I had planned to build a small port city NE of St. Louis for naval repair.

I mobilized... confirmation, btw, that that and the GA are cumulative. So, production is outstanding, albeit with too few cities.

Not sure what to do with my treasury yet... not necessary for production, believe I can live without troop positions... considering a) uncovering spies (what's up with St. Louis and sabotage?) and b) stealing techs.

BTW, why is most of the Game un-roaded? I always do so. Also, great trick with the Iron, assuming abandonment of the forward fort NE of New York.

Am I correct that at some point I will have to capture / raze New Kyoto for the uranium?
_____________________

Awesome job, people.

Aside from the battles, the difficulty in strategy / tactics selection, upcoming WW, I feel like there's a 'trick' here. It's like Charlie Chan, The Thin Man, Agatha Christie, as well as Dorsai and Falkenberg.

This is not an 'unwinnable' situation, as Vel hath protesteth... I feel I can contain the attacks (having not seen the horror, the horror), and am already thinking about attacking, but I also see something else... ROADS!!

On top of that, I am obsessed with the idea of generating 7 GLs in the next 2-4 turns... 5 for the chokepoints (I'd like to leave the Army I have forward towards Germany in place), and 2 for the BIG SS builds.

[Velociryx]

Sounds like you're off to a pretty strong start then, Brother Theseus! I'm finding gaining firm control of the inland sea a bit of a tricky proposition as well....'bout got it contained now, 'cept for two German Battleships that keep returning to port. My usual "lure and savage" trick with the navy worked fairly well against all but those last two BB's and they're just not having any of it. Gonna have to up the ante, I think, in an effort to get them out (and I actually flirted with using a tactical on Leipzig to end them, but decided against it).

******

Some spoilers below!!!!
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I built my canal to free the ships from the inland sea (Panama) on the southernmost of the russian second tier fort positions. That might be the harbor you're looking for, tho on the other side of the continent....least they can get out tho....

So far, Panama has only a Barracks for Infrastructure, but I suspect that's about all they need. GL's have been coming my way on a regular basis, given my focus on MA. In three turns, I've got five armies...the Unbreakables, one rush-built, and three GL armies, so the choke points are looking really solid on both fronts.

I'm trying to take very careful notes so I can put a great deal of detail into my AAR when it's done, but the gist of my strategy has been to crank out wads of MA and Destroyers. All three cities with outlets on the inland sea were switched to DD production on the first turn, 2-3 cities on each coast. The rest (save for a first turn settler, Magellen, and Ironworks build) were set to MA (only two less defense than MI, but wampum greater attack gives me lots of flexibility when the baddies come close). The only thing I'm weak on at present is RA, and that'll be the next thing I build in number.

I used one of my nukes ("This Bud's for YOU!"), letting it fly on the Russian front on turn three, taking out two MA armies and a WAD of MI. Very effective nuke. There were only three survivors in the blast radius, and my growing collection of MA made short work of them, so...with war weariness mounting, this looks to be an outstanding time to switch to republic. I've got the Japanese/Chinese/Russian navy contained (had a HUGE turkey shoot....saw the big navy coming a turn in advance thanks to vigilant spotting with subs and positioned all my fleet elements to hit them hard....lost a lot of tonnage myself, but the combined effect of a concentrated bombing campaign (which even the f-15's participated in), followed by my "generic" (newly built) DD's, and ending with my named ships, sank far, far more enemy ships than I lost. Same story but smaller scale on the east coast. Germany keeps making (fairly well placed) probes down the coast, but so far, the combination of Sub/DD screen, backed up by my heavy hitters has been dealing out a lot more punishment than we're taking. Given a sufficient amount of time, I think we'll be in firm control of the sea lanes.

No landings so far on my shores, and I've still got three of my nukes.

My I have *just enough* bombers/RA at present that I can wreck an army, polishing it off with veteran MA....we'll see if that holds for the duration. So far, I've not even started building the ship tho....figuring I'd begin when the Ironworks was completed (next turn), and after I make the government switch.

Looks like I'll be able to tough the anarchy period out pretty easily though, and if things get hairy, I've still got nukes to buy me some breathing room....

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Answers to questions:

All of the AI's only got minimal terraforming, but lots of workers. This was an attempt to give the Americans a short term production advantage. It will erode over the course of the game as the AI's workers get some serious terraforming done. In the meantime though, it also serves to slow down the AI's armies, which have been spaced throughout their empire so that they arrive in waves (assuming the AI follows my logic in terms of their placement and the shortest path to the front).

And yep....in the earlier iterations, the US had a Uranium source inside their borders, but the notion was fronted to make that particular resource only available at some nearby enemy city to prompt an offensive action on top of everything else that's going on....

-=Vel=-

[Brinoch]

Originally posted by Theseus
Turn 2:

The inland sea bugs me though; I tried building a town immediately south of SF, where the MI was parked, to create a canal... no can do!!?? I even pillaged everything just in case that was the problem... what gives? If unable to build new towns, I am bummed, as I had planned to build a small port city NE of St. Louis for naval repair.

You can build new towns. That spot is just within the inner borders of San Francisco, I believe. I built a new city on the island with New Kyoto (it didn't last long... just long enough).

I mobilized... confirmation, btw, that that and the GA are cumulative. So, production is outstanding, albeit with too few cities.

This is what I should have done. Mobilize. I couldn't remember if I could build spaceship parts during mobilization, though, and I didn't want to risk it.

On top of that, I am obsessed with the idea of generating 7 GLs in the next 2-4 turns... 5 for the chokepoints (I'd like to leave the Army I have forward towards Germany in place), and 2 for the BIG SS builds.

I had something like that during a test game. 3 leaders in the same turn (turn 2 or 3). All turned into armies. Plus the original army and the quickly built one in Washington. That was nice. My latest game I generated one -- too late for anything other than the Party Lounge shortly.

[Brinoch]

Victory is mine! (finally... )

After slogging through 47 turns of full-fledged war, the American spaceship was launched in 1870 BC. (At least I think it's 47 turns... I could be wrong. 1870 is the right year, though.) What year does that make, if we use Vel's preferred starting date of 1950? Ummm... 1997.

Since this was my first MT, I didn't keep detailed notes; in fact, the thought didn't occur to me until it was mentioned earlier in the thread... I will go over some random thoughts, though.

First though, the final scores:

1. America -- 22,689
2. China -- 6,438
3. Japan -- 5,825
4. Germany -- 5,493
5. Russia -- 5,240

Basically, since the end of my nukes (and the last Russian or German army), I've been sitting on money/research to get to the end. I never had enough cash to do much of anything, and with the war weariness as bad as it was, your production is quite reduced.

Here's basically why I won: good use of nukes, my navy, and the Russo-Japanese war.

Here's how I almost lost: only four nukes, 5 turns of anarchy, and the end of the Russo-Japanese war.

As long as you are at war with the AI, he keeps building ships and units. By the end, I was severely outclassed on land, air and sea. When their war with Japan was over, Russia turned on me quickly. They hit me with all their stealth bombers a turn, attacking key rail junctions and luxuries. They tried to separate the two halves of my country at San Francisco, the rail link to the diamonds, and the link to the western front forts.

Russia did succeed in disconnecting both my diamonds for a turn. Not nice. Every city went into anarchy for a turn. Naughty Russia.

Germany and Russia also had fun dropping lots and lots of paratroopers in my country. Once I defeated his MA, Germany only attacked with Marines, never MI or newly built MA. At the end of the game I think they have one or two MA, total. This made it very easy to repel him. Which was good, because every country built as many Aegis cruisers as they could buy. So, I had renewed fleet action just as I was closing in on discovering the laser. The only place I couldn't protect was the Eastern front. His ships were plinking me a lot and every unit was weak on this front.

Most of my named ships sank, but a few survived. The DeepO died on the last turn, I'm sad to report.

I'll post more thoughts when I'm more coherent.

[Theseus]

This thing is so intense, I can only play one turn at a sitting.

Compare and contrast with what's gonna be AU 102:

No units, period, other than settlers, workers, and scouts!!

[MJW]

This might seem dumb but were do you get the file in order to play this thing?

[DeepO]

MJW, check out page two of this thread... Vel has posted it there.

DeepO