hey all.
me and some of my buddies have taken to playing quasi-competitive games more often recently. basically, we play the game as if the other players were a super-advanced AI. we make deals and break deals as the game rolls on, and try to keep the "out of game" knowledge from impacting the game (although that's definately hard).
anyway, a small group of us broke off yo play a small pangea map with 4 players. i chose the Iroquois, as i've been trying to ween myself of industrialist, and i've been giving an expansionist a fair shot.
if you're curious, i was 2/12 with huts. 1 a local map, another wrrior code, 10 empty huts.
anyway, expansionsit let me find everybody really fast, and techwhore. most of them disliked that, but the game went on, mostly peacefully, with a few "border clashes" that ended quite quickly.
I got the wheel, no horses. closest horses in the middle of Persia. interesting. screw my UU.
I was the first to Iron working, i had iron. linked it up. saw the French had iron, but not iron working. began stockpiling vet swords.
declared war on the french. took Orleans (the iron city) on turn two of the war.
took paris on turn 4.
took 2 crappy tundra cities within turn 7.
he then stockpiled 6 vet spears in Lyons, on a hill, with walls.
i went around and sacked the rest of his cities (2).
propaganda campaign. started marching swordsmen around his city and taunting him.
he renamed his city "invinvcible city" and ept stockpiling. i told him i would outproduce him and tear him asunder. i start quietly building infastructure.
he gets bored, and charges Orleans, the iron city, which is on a hill, with walls, with 14 veteran swordsmen, and 3 elite swords, with his ramaining 7 spearmen and 2 warriors.
i did the odds before the battle, for a lark. he had a 0.7% chance of killing an elite with each spearmen.
he doesn't scratch me.
i move in and liberate "invincible city" and resore it's French name. the populus is rioting. Will is defeated.
before he died, will was pleading for help from anyone in the game, nearby or not.
Carthage, on the other side of the continent says he has no idea where he, or I, am, and cannot help.
France gave him the city of Tours as a locating device, and as a incentive to send troops to aid.
France died before Carthage got there.
Carthage has a "serpent" of troops moving through Persian terriroty, Persia tells me in secret talks. they garrison Tours with around 30 troops, mixed with num mercs, swordsmen, and horsemen.
The continent is horse shoe shaped. i have superior knowledge of maps (although carthage doesn't know that). i send a boat over and build a city (Anti-Tours) on his side of the continent, and he willingly trades Tours for Anti-Tours, his serpent crawling home on it's belly.
biggest bluff i ever pulled
now, the game stands here. still in the ancient era (i'm close to currency), world in a cold war-esque peace. I am seen as a warmonger for picking on the second weakest nation with no provocation. hell, they were pink. my eyes were offended.
this is only Persia's second game, and we've all been helping him with tips and stuff, and i tend to be more leinent when trading with him. He's mostly a peaceful builder (from civ2), with a decently sized defensive army. he is researching the republic, and will probably be well suited for it (although i'll have to remind him about unhappiness in deity)
so, Persia has become a DMZ between me, the Iroquois, and Carthage. everyone knows eventually there is going to be war between us, i'm just waiting for some knights or mideval inf to attack those num mercs with. I still don't have horses, although Persia has an extra one.
So, this is where i am. I have two options, as I see it.
1. Attack Persia Blitzkreig Style and hope to hold a lot of it. The only problem with this is that Carthage would udoubtedly come in to help Persia. I doubt he would come in and attempt to gab land before Persia died, not his style.
2. Ally with Persia against Carthage. Those Immortals could actually slam those num mercs good. I'd also get horses for cheap, and my Mounted Warriors ain't too shabby against them either. I could also sign a RoP, and get quicker access to Carthage. Persia, acting like a buffer, would take most of the hits. I could donate defensive units to hang around in the mountain chains (he's got a "protective bubble" of them).
#2 seems the only intelligent way. any feedback / other ideas?
Persia, the DMZ:
