Thank you Hendrikszoon for the excellent post! It's very informative!
How many games did you play before this GOTM?

Other than your two free scientists for the Great Library, did you use a lot of specialists prior to 1 AD?

Beside the two free Scientists I had only a Priest in Neapolis for some turns. I used this Priest to care that the Great Prophet was born before the second Great Scientist.

How many games did you play before this GOTM?

I finished only one game (Romans, Standard Map, Continents, Noble) before this GotM. I used this game to test my strategy and to examine the scoring behavior at the last turn. E.g. to find out, if I get the Population bonus also from Hanging Gardens finished in the last turn or if it is necessary to finish the Wonder the turn before (last turn is o.k.).

Before this game I played a lot on a Duel map on Chieftain level to understand how the game mechanics works.

This game is my first civ4 game.

My impression is very good. I particularly like combat. It gives enormous amount of tactical possibilities. But the course of my game is comically frustrating. For a long time I was not able to figure out what tech I need to to cross the ocean. I interpreted cyvlopedia’s “+1 sight across water” as a better visibility for naval units. It was also not clear whether a caravel can go to the ocean (there is something about exploring rival territory). Anyway at some point I decided that Optics might be what I need.
Ok, I built a caravel only to discover that I cannot load units on it (my fault, there is a statement about this in civlopedia). So now I know that I need to learn astronomy.

Another curious thing: In the pre-game discussion (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=3462571&postcount=306) I wrote that since I have no idea how religion works and how to use it, I am not going to use it.
The problem is that I qualified for this spoiler in 1420AD and I still have no idea what religion is :confused:. I own my continent and none of the cities on it have religion. All are pagan.

Talking about paganism, there is a politically correct statement in the manual that to avoid offending people believes, all religions are equal in the game.
What about pagan people? They might get offended by this game.

I finished only one game (Romans, Standard Map, Continents, Noble) before this GotM. I used this game to test my strategy and to examine the scoring behavior at the last turn. E.g. to find out, if I get the Population bonus also from Hanging Gardens finished in the last turn or if it is necessary to finish the Wonder the turn before (last turn is o.k.).

Good point, but it seems to me only for low difficulty level...

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the Civ GOTM scene, although I did play a Civ3 GOTM once.

I've just got to the point in my Civ4 GOTM where it was safe to look in this thread. I have to say I am really impressed by the quality of people's write ups :goodjob:

I have made brief notes on how my progress has gone but compared to having screen shots and datelines that other's reports have all I've got is my tech order and why I did things.

Someone previously posted about a log that gets created. Is this done by default and how do I access it? I may then try write a better report!

Thanks,

Boppy :)

Well, here’s my game summary. I saw the results today and decided to write a little something. Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I didn’t take any notes. Anything you read below is (poorly) reconstructed from memory.

Game Strategy: Fast Domination

The Opening

I settled W, W, SW on the plains hill for the +1 production. I love building my capital on a plains hill as those first crucial units get built just a few turns faster. A couple turns may not seem like much, but if they allow my warrior to explore a few more tiles or find one extra goodie hut, the long-term effects become magnified. I popped a scout when Rome was built and sent him and my warrior out exploring. In my opinion, there’s no need to garrison the capital in the early game. I never station a unit there until barbs appear or until the city requires happiness. As I recall, my first production orders were worker, worker, warrior, settler (with chopping). Again, the warrior was sent out to get as much information as possible on my surroundings. I’ve found in Civ IV, information is king and you can never get too much of it.

With a sizable portion of the homeland revealed, I began city planning. I think my second city (Antium) was to the east where it could use two food bonuses and a gems tile. The site for the 3rd city (Cumae) was a no-brainer for me – I plopped down on the stone tile on the western coast. This spot: 1) allowed for instantaneous stone hookup once Masonry was learned; 2) it was the only tile that could reach the fish bonus; and 3) it had forests up the wazoo. Thus, city #3 was to become my wonder-chop city. Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the Oracle (free Civil Service) were all chopped by the forests in and around Cumae. City #4 (Neapolis) was built down south near some sheep. Surprisingly good production there…who knew?

Like many others players, my Roman civilization was Confucian. I built the Kong Miao shortly after adopting the religion and began mass producing missionaries. I did discover Christianity several centuries later, but never produced any Christian missionaries since it wasn’t worth the production at that point.

Early research was fairly typical. Goodie huts helped the cause and I remember researching Currency pretty early for the extra trade route. Calendar was also researched early for obvious reasons. Iron Working was not a priority….this is Noble, no need to rush war, it will come in time. I did finally research it to unlock the jungled sugar tiles off to the east. I think I ran at around 90% science for most of the early game, pretty much breezing through techs via cottage spamming in four science cities (Rome, Antium, a grassland city near the 2 sugars, and a former barbarian city NW of where I settled Rome).

The Middle Game

Since my whole game centered on early domination, I didn’t beeline to Astronomy for several reasons. First and foremost, I had to build an army that could cross the water and kick some *whistle sound*. The majority of said army would consist of promoted praetorians and catapults. Therefore, Theology had to be researched for the +2 experience and Machinery had to be delayed so I could amass sufficient praetorians (macemen are nice, but not +40 hammers nice). With barracks and State Religion, my praetorians had City Raider II right out of the box. Overpowered unit, you say? I wholeheartedly agree, but I’m not complaining. Lastly, I researched Music to ensure Homer was born in the Roman civilization.

Once the praetorian division of the army was built, I declared war on Alexander in 620 AD. Athens was captured in 780 and the Greeks were no more. Sometime during the war, I discovered Optics and built my first caravel. It set sail from the west coast and, several turns later, bumped into another civilization….