Edit bit by Ainwood: No real need for another thread - this one will suffice.

Civ4 GOTM Spoiler 1: The first tentative steps.

OK - we're not really sure about cut-off periods for spoiler threads, because unlike Civ3, in Civ4 you can beeline through the ages and miss-out quite a lot of techs etc on the way. As such, we'll try game-play cut-offs. This is open for further discussion, and will probably evolve as the months go by.

Firstly - a point about why we structure the spoilers at all: Splitting the spoilers into phases (say early & late game) allows people who want to play at a leisurely pace throughout the month and write-up their spoilers to do so as-they-play. They can post them, and contribute to the apoiler threads without worry that their late game will be ruined by them receiving information about possible future events (other civs, locations of resources etc). As I have said previously, its not just about cheating - people wanting to cheat may seek-out foreknowledge of the map; however there may be those that just want to participate in the spoilers without having their game spoiled for them.

To qualify for this spoiler, you must:
Have full-view of the starting continent.
Have played the game to the point where you have met at least one civ from another continent.


To avoid spoiling the game for others, please do not discuss anything past the point where you first me an off-continent civ. This includes who these other civs are, relative strengths or technological advancement, maps showing anything off-continent (including the minimaps).

Thanks.

/Edit bit by Ainwood



-----------------------------------------------------
Ahhh, where to start I wonder? First of all, this game marks a HUGE change-for the better IMO-in the Civ4 franchise, and I look forward to further games of the month throughout the new year.
Now, I don't know if this was done manually or as a random map, but if the former, then I must tip my hat to the map maker, as it is a BEAUTIFUL start-point for my burgeoning Roman State.
At present, I have neither the time-nor the saved games-here right now to wax lyrical about my turn-by-turn exploits, but will be sure to do so as soon as I get home tonight (with accompanying screenies). Also, assuming that Ainwood is prepared to say that it is OK for me to continue in this endeavour?

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Also, assuming that Ainwood is prepared to say that it is OK for me to continue in this endeavour? Well, you're a bit early.... We prefer to wait about 5-7 days so that people have started the game, rather than just read this to find-out what's happening. Secondly, need some definition on what can and cannot be discussed (eg contacts, areas explored, resources uncovered etc).

Suggest we define these before people get too carried away?

I wish I'd kept better track during the game... I can't remember what I was thinking during much of it. Is there a way to review a replay in more detail? Little things like where I explored and what resources I found first are impossible to figure out from the standard replay. Maybe next time I should take notes or something...

I think that first spoiler in this case should need to have met everyone on the starting continent. Other criteria im not sure about though.

Yes I agree with azzaman33...
-> I think that first spoiler in this case should need to have met everyone on the starting continent. Other criteria im not sure about though.

More generaly I think we can not discuss about everythin concerning civ in the starting continent!

But there is a big difference with previous civ: technology.
I think we should put either :
- a date deadline: when you have passed it, you can not discuss about thing of this era
- one or some technologies

LeSphinx

Thanks for the input, people.

I'll close this now, and we'll re-open it in a day or two. :)

:bump: Spoiler now opened. Please read the guidelines in the first post. :)

Wow, finally...

I didn't go straight to war when I figured out the Greek was the only neighbour. I wanted them built some cities for me and also get my soldiers trained.

However, the war was going as well as planned. It lasted to about 700AD due to a battle seiging a hilled city. My army was heavied damaged and I have to waited for a long time to rebuilt it and big cities suffered the war awareness.

I left Greek down to one city to get 2 techs and waited another 10 turns to eliminate them. Now, I'm alone and optics is still a little far away...

(I'll get my details story when I'm home.)

Excellent, I meet ALL the criteria then-expect to see something from me in the next 8-10 hours!
All I will say for now is that, up until the end of the classical age, I have NOT been in a single war ;)! Possibly because of the fact that there is only a single civ on this continent, and we have plenty of resources and land to go around (what a difference the absence of ICS makes!) It might also help that both of our societies are Jewish ;)! Going great so far, though, as I have founded both Christianity AND Judaism, and have successfully built both of their shrines ('I'm in the money, I'm in the money....' ;)!) In spite of this, our scores and tech advancement have remained almost neck and neck throughout! Anyway, more info later :)!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Ok, my first actions went like this, with reasoning. My first GOTM ever, and I'm at best a mediocre player, and any and all tips are welcome.

Anyway, I decided to go for an early war with Praetorians and get whomever unlucky enough to end up on my continent. Techwise that meant Agriculture, BW, IW, and screw religion. Hopefully some neighbour would have a holy city I could seize.

I settled 1E of the hill, and went warrior until size 2, then a worker, then a warrior and a halfbuilt barracks before I went for the settler at size 5. This was a bit late, I intended to go for the settler at size 4, but forgot it until Rome was already halfway to 5. Lesson learnt, I'm looking for an easy mod just to add "<city> grew to size X" to the log. I hope that's not a GOTM violation.

I founded Antium at 2200BC 5 squares straight W of Rome, along the river. I had by now found the iron in the desert to the right, and I founded Cumae along the coast 5 squares E of Rome so I wouldn't have to wait for Rome to get to 500 culture and allow me to mine the resource.

At 1040BC I had my first 2 Paretorians built and sitting pretty outside the Greeks northern city and declared war. I conquered Sparta at 975BC, lost it again temporarily but with Rome churning out a new Praetorian every second or third turn and Greeks defending mostly with Archers I had the Greek down to Athens only and also Corinth under my control at 175BC. I took a 10-turn peace break (War weariness and getting my praets healed and positioned ready for final push) before I eliminated the greeks at 225AD.

Now alone the praets could concentrate on barb duty and I could expand to cover the whole continent, and start researching for optics and astronomy.

I build Rome one space away from the initial starting point, I forget why. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

For a fleeting handful of turns I thought I was alone on the contenent, since I explored north first. Then I encountered Alexander. Crap, an aggressive neighbor. That made me research Horseback Riding and send settlers to the horses as quickly as I could. I'd need a standing army.

I was utterly paranoid about losing Rome, and made certain not to neglect my military in the face of barbarian assaults. I got Archery quickly, and didn't send any settlers out without at least one military unit as an escort. I spread east-west quickly, cutting off the north end of the contenent. Denying Alexander Right of Passage, I knew I could colonize it at my leisure. There was something of a land grab going on in the SW corner, and I wanted to concentrate on getting as much territory down there as I could. I succeed spendidly, with Alexander wasting time razing the only barbarian city there, I moved in with settlers and grabbed most of the land. Alexander managed to get one city, but it was surrounded on all sides by mine. It culture flipped quickly.

All across the world people I can't see are developing religions. Always one step ahead of me. My contenent was totally relgion free, so with no other options, I made a beeline for Islam. It's not so much that I want my own religion, I just want A religion, so my people will be happier. I manage to grab Islam, and switch to a beeline for Optics. With the mystery civs developing all the religions, and also building wonders, I can tell that they - or one of them at least - are ahead of me in techs. I need to make contact with them as soon as possible.

I have a standing army of 10 Horse Archers and 3 Catepults and am contemplating an attack on Alexander. It will be a while before my fledgling city to the SW expands to allow me access to copper. Before I can solidify my plans, Alexander attacks ME. With all of my beelining, I still don't even have ironworking... but he's in for a surprise. My cities seem lightly defended, but my horse archers swoop in and kill all the invaders. My army is, however, left in tatters. I manage to get one of Alexander's cities before declaring peace.

Optics is halfway researched when the Mao makes contact with me. His caravel has arrived on my northern shore. Crap.

edit: I went for horse archers first instead of Praetorians because I wanted a quick-response team to deal with invaders. It paid off, too. I tried to send a couple in to pillage Alexander's copper, but they kept getting jumped by spearmen and I gave up on that.

Ahhh, I guess that is where you and I differ Stormreaver. I like to be a peaceful builder, so I was DEFINITELY going the religion route-and just try and make everybody LOVE me :mischief:. Unfortunately, it appears I may have been the victim of my own success, as Christianity and Judaism are currently 'struggling for dominance' within the Greek Nation-wheras I am happy to remain a Jewish state. So I will have to pump out lots of Rabbis to go out and spread the faith a bit harder in Greece-especially in Athens!

So, I will give a quick, dry rundown of my early game. The presence of Corn definitely drove my decision to get agriculture right off the bat. Then I ruthlessly pursued a 'direct' path to theology-
Mysticism---->Masonry---->Polytheism---->Priesthood---->Monotheism---->Theology.
To be fair, though, I did stop along the way to pick up bronze working, animal husbandry (in spite of no herd animals in my general vicinity) and, later on, iron working-but ultimately I was determined to get my hands on Judaism and Christianity and 'spread the Good Word'. Early building of Stonehenge and the Oracle in Rome ensured that I was popping out Great Prophets on a pretty regular basis-which I used to build the Jewish and Christian shrines-whilst the Oracle also ensured that I got Monarchy much earlier than normal. In spite of having all that silk nearby, I really did delay getting calendar as long as possible, so I could retain the benefits of the obelisks and Stonehenge.
Met Alexander very early in the piece, and some judicious trades in tech and resources ensured that we remained friends for MANY centuries to come. Almost all the tribal villages I came across gave me Scouts-possibly because I am an expansive civ (I have noticed that expansive civs seem more likely to pop workers, settlers and scouts) except the first one-which gave me gold tribute :)! Imagine my annoyance, though, when I discovered that the one source of both iron AND copper that was close to me lay outside of the borders of my two cities-so I had to send settlers to found two new cities almost for the sole purpose of claiming those resources!
So, after ushering in a VERY early Middle Ages (400BC) I have an empire of 4 cities, each one with a burgeoning population and culture-little did I realise at this point, however, that the latter would cause relations with Greece to turn HORRIBLY SOUR (but thats for the NEXT spoiler) :)!

EDIT: BTW, what would a spoiler be without Screenshots eh? Anyway, here are some of what I consider to be KEY screenshots for my game:

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome4000BC.JPG

What better place to start than at the beginning-what a BEAUTIFUL starting point, eh guys?

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome3800BC.JPG

First priority-have to farm that corn-so agriculture is a MUST!!!

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome3600BC.JPG

I have agriculture, now all I need is WORKERS!!

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome3300BC.JPG

Ahhh, the joys of landmark terrain.

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome3000BC.JPG

The Ancient Roman Empire-circa 3000BC.

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome2000BC.JPG

Ahhh, the Eternal City-birthplace of the Jewish faith.

http://www.marcushicks.net/blog/wp-content/files/Rome275AD.JPG

The State of Play-Rome at the dawn of the Middle Ages.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Don't recall the exact timeline, but I too decided to go for an early war to make use of those lovely Praetorians. It went slower than I planned (due mainly to my impatience) but this worked out because Alex kept founding more cities in good spots so I was saved the bother of building Settlers. I didn't go for an early religion, but made a hard push for Theology after building my war-making capacity through the appropriate techs. I didn't find barba much more than a minor nuisance, although this was probably in part due to the fact that I had lots of troops left over from the Greek war and I stationed them around the continent to hold off the fog. Decided to go for a space/diplomacy victory once the continent was secured.

I left the greeks alone.

The first thing i did was settle right where they plopped me. The reason is the hill. The hills are so much harder to take in civ4. (this and the iron city were on hills and this came into play later when my 3 praetorians and warriors had to fend off the greeks intial thrust right towards those two cities)

I didnt have the idea of forest rushing in my head at this game. Im just realizing its power so i did none of that. I had very late workers also.

I took some risk in the sense that i knew these two things about novice:
1) barbarians arnt a threat to much. warriors and very late archers
2) the AI is slow to attack if you dont give them an excuse.

First tech was choosen to get buddism and i got it. Buddism spread very early to my greek neighbors and that and the fact that i didnt cramp them helped pacify them.

I got to city pop 3 then pumped out settlers.

The first 2 went diagonal to the SW. First was on the middle part of the river to the sw. The reason was food source and river commerce squares. The second was down by the bronze. The reason was the bronze.

The third settler went to the iron to the east and that was my eastern most city for the entire game. The reason was the food source and iron.

The next city was on the shore to the sw. I wanted to close out some darkness down there and there was a nice costal square. The reason i was developing like this was I was hemming off the northern part of the continent. Essentially staking out half of it in a way that didnt pressure the greeks but really didnt give them an opportunity to pressure me.

BTW i was never certain where the greeks were for a long time. I just knew they werent in the SW and the SW + NORTH was plenty of city turf for little old me. The desert formed a natural sucky city barrier.


I eventually settled the jungle north of me with a couple cities. One was settler one was a barbarian city that i took with my first praetorian. Then I placed another city on the shore and called it a day.

The greeks developed towards me but were never that close. Down in the SW was where our border tension was. He had a city just southeast of where the copper was along the shore and i had a city just a bit north of it to get the wine.

I never really pressured the greeks because I was confident I could win on novice with a good chunk of land. That continent was huge for 2 civs. So I just carved out an empire and let the greeks be.

I had a commanding tech lead and eventually got a great artist. I went down to that city closest to him in the SW and did the +4000. That converted his city on the southern shore and forever crimped him in.

The greeks made their move sending a stack at me. I guess since everyone else is talking about their war with the greeks ill include it.

He sent 6 horse archers towards rome+ swordsmen right behind. I had 3 praetorians in the area + some warriors. The 3 praetorians were trying to hold rome and my iron city to its west. + 2 praetorians in nearby cities. (Lightly defended). The 3 praetorians held out and the warriors distracted the horse archers. The 2 other praetorians arrived and that was the end of his initiative.

Then instead of blowing my light sized army against his defenders. I just pillaged away. I almost pillaged every single square of his country. He had no effective answer to attack the praetorians with. The pillaging coins resulted in a 100% research rate for the entire time. And since i had only the medicore army that wasnt dieing to much the war wasnt that taxing.

After i pillaged every single square of his empire I sued for peace and every tech he had. (horsemanship archery and one more i forget). My idea was i didnt have to take him out i had plenty of space. And more valuable then taking one or two of his cities was crippling his ability to keep up so bad he would never be a threat.

Interesting to note that after I pillaged literally every square of his empire and sued for peace he didnt have a grudge -diplo. I thought that was amusing.

BTW SUGGESTION: Is it possible to list the spoiler thread break down at the very start of the game. Like decide before hand what the spoiler thread breaks will be. Then post that before we play. That way we can all make a mental note at that point. Or is that to much work or just plain hard to predict?

I normally settle where I start, but the pre-game discussion tempted me into settling 1 square east, which I regret since the coast turned out to be so close, making later city placements harder.

I popped an early scout which popped a second scout a couple of huts later. And so the continent was scoured for the most huts I've ever got, but alas almost all maps and gold. (ISTR one tech, but I'm not sure)

After finding Greece, I bee-lined for the resource-revealing techs (copper, horses, and iron). Forest chopping helped me produce my first two settlers which went in a rough line SW to the copper and clams by the coast. The plan was to cut the continent so I'd get much more than half of it, and then go deal with the Greeks when I'd filled up my turf. A barb city nicely founded itself within easy reach of my axemen to the north of my 4th city, so that saved me a settler.

But my plan failed! By the time I'd settled the north fully, I was past the age of praetorians. And since I'd been buttering up Alex with tributes and donating spare happiness and health resources to stave off a war before I was ready for it, he was actually starting to become a bit of a pal despite his pesky Buddhism. I've probably been too slow a-warring to think of a conquest or domination (and I've never played for one yet), so maybe I'll just leave him be. Of course he may turn out to have some vital resource that I'll regret not bludgeoning him for, but oh well :) At least most of the deserts are culturally mine, so I'm hoping I'll have oil.

I missed Judaism by a couple of turns, annoying because I normally get that one easily. But I got Christianity and Islam, so all is not lost. But not having temples for a while (and neglecting Stonehenge and the Oracle) meant no religious GP points and hence no shrine income for later into the game than usual. Boy did that hurt the budget more than I expected.

I also took a while to realise that just a city having your state religion can give 1 culture per turn (not sure what the other reqs are), so I wasted time building to expand the borders of my later northern jungle cities when a missionary could have done it and given some of them access to better working tiles sooner.

And I've decided I really like the line of sight into foreign cities with your religion if you have the holy city - there are a friendly bunch of Christians lurking in most of Alex's cities keeping an eye on his military for me so I can be confident he's not getting too uppity :)

Lesson learnt, I'm looking for an easy mod just to add "<city> grew to size X" to the log. I hope that's not a GOTM violation.

Try this (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=141164). It plays a sound when a city grows and lists it in the log. Plus it makes a text log of a lot of the important things that happen in a game. Very nifty.

Aeson, thanks for suggesting autolog but there are two problems:
1. I took the city growth notification out of the new version (1.1) because I took all of the event log stuff out and it turned into entirely a text log program.
2. I'm not sure it would work with GOTM anyway, given the restriction on modifications. I tried very hard to prevent giving any spoilers with that mod, but it would be incredibly easy to do so, so I think it makes sense to prevent the use of mods that modify CvEventManager.py (maybe more, that's just the Python file I'm most familiar with).

The good news is that I plan to release another mod with a series of notifications, of which the city growth will absolutely be one. Until that time, might I suggest using my reminder mod (link in sig) to give yourself a reminder of when a city grows.

I began this GOTM with a fast diplomatic victory in mind. In a test game with the Romans I was able to get diplomatic victory in 1715AD and I’m hoping to do even better this time around.

My goals for this game in general order:
1. Research all the required worker techs first based on the starting area.
2. Research Iron Working and sweep over the entire initial continent with praetorians and use that as my empire for the rest of the game.
3. Bypass the early religions but make sure to pick up one of the later ones: Confucianism or Christianity preferably.
4. Research Optics as early as possible to make contacts with the other AI’s and gauge how to best secure my diplomatic victory.
5. Research straight to Mass Media for the UN, only picking up techs that will allow me to research Mass Media at the earliest possible date.
6. Spread my religion to the other AI’s overseas to improve my relations with them so they will vote for me.

Based on the starting position I determined that Rome would be my major science city throughout the game. My options for settling were to settle on the spot, move east 1 tile, or move northeast 1 tile. Northeast would net me the most commerce due to all the grasslands but would be extremely limited on production with no hill tiles to use (unless they were revealed in the fog which seemed unlikely since it was jungle to the north). East one would net the most production but would lose out on grassland tiles for commerce. I found settling on the spot would give me just enough production to build all the infrastructure I needed but still have a lot of commerce. So that’s what I did.

I started with researching Bronze Working since there were all the silk tiles that I could chop without having to worry about losing the health bonus or the lost production. I would need them chopped to put plantations on them later anyway so I might as well chop them for settler production. I decided not to make my worker until size 2, though. In hindsight I think that was a poor decision. By waiting until size 2 I only pick up one more hammer/food towards production of the worker (from the 3 food/hammers you have at size 1). So it only shaved off a few turns. I did gain 1 extra commerce per turn as well, though, by working the grass forest/silks. In the meantime while Rome grew to size 2 I had it build another warrior for exploration purposes.

I sent my first warrior exploring to the west until he hit the coast and then he swung north. I purposefully avoided the two tribal villages near Rome to let my second warrior pick them up. My first warrior did encounter a couple more tribal villages in his travels, though. The first one netted me 105 gold, which is by far the most I’ve ever gotten from a tribal village. My second one, though, netted me a free scout, the turn before my second warrior was about to pop the village near Rome. I cancelled that order and sent my scout on a tribal village popping mission. That scout ended up discovering Iron Working with the first village it popped, in 3360BC. I later popped a scout, maps, another scout and 43 gold.

It took me a long while to meet Greece since I explored west and north first. I was starting to think I was on my own continent until a Greek scout showed up next to Rome in 3320BC. When I figured out Alexander was my only neighbor I decided to let him build a bunch of cities before conquering him. That way I wouldn’t have to neglect early infrastructure and I wouldn’t have to waste as much time colonizing the continent if I let Alexander do it for me. I knew I would have no trouble whatsoever wiping him out with my overpowered praetorians.

Here is Rome’s initial build order:

3600BC – Warrior, start Worker
3120BC – Worker, start Barracks
2840BC – Rome is size 3, switch to Settler
2520BC – Settler, start Warrior
2280BC – Warrior, start Worker
2120BC – Worker, start Settler
1880BC – Settler, starts Library
1000BC – Library, starts Settler
750BC – Settler

My first settler was sent to the SW along the river that runs through Rome. I founded Antium there to be my military production center. Antium built a barracks (1520BC) then a granary (1160BC) and then praetorians non-stop. I put the granary in there because the iron was not connected yet. But early granaries with expansionist leaders are great, IMO. My second settler was sent to the east to settle directly on top of the desert iron tile. Not only to hook it up faster but a desert tile isn’t that useful anyway, even if it has iron on it. I turned this city into an early production factory (although not as good as Antium) but it was also my coastal city that would build my caravels when I get them. The third settler was sent to the west coast by the dyes to be another commerce city.

Here’s a shot of Rome in 1000BC after building its library:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/shillen_c4gotm1_1000BC_Rome.JPG

Here is a rundown of my tech progress early on:

3480BC – Bronze Working (to chop forests, particularly silk forests)
3360BC – Iron Working (from the hut)
3200BC – Agriculture (to hook up corn)
2880BC – The Wheel (roads of course)
2680BC – Pottery (cottages around Rome for more commerce, granaries also)
2520BC – Mysticism (needed for religious techs, obelisks for expansion)
2320BC – Meditation (heading for the Oracle)
2200BC – Priesthood (Oracle, leads to Code of Laws as well)
2000BC – Writing (libraries)

My goal with the religious techs was to build the Oracle and snag either Code of Laws of Theology for a religion. But when I got to the point where I was ready to build the Oracle in Rome it would have taken me as many turns to build it as it would to research the tech and I had very few forests left that could be chopped. So I ended up just researching Code of Laws straight up. I learned it in 1320BC, discovering Confucianism in Antium. It was good that it wound up in my high production city. In 1280BC it spread to Rome without needing a missionary.

Here is a shot of my empire in 675BC after the founding of my fourth city:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/shillen_c4gotm1_675BC.JPG

So there ends phase 1. Phase 2 is war with Greece.

I continue building praetorians in Antium but since it’s my only good production city and Rome is building infrastructure my military builds up very slowly. I do get some nice city raider 2 promotions on my praetorians from killing barbarians that keep streaming towards Antium, though. Cumae contributes some to troop production but not much. Meanwhile Alexander is expanding at a rapid pace. He also built the Oracle in 550BC. In 450BC Confucianism spread to one of his cities and he immediately converted. That was a good and bad thing. It meant the possibility of additional war weariness when I fought him but it also meant I wouldn’t have to spread the religion there myself after I capture those cities. By 175BC Alexander had 6 cities to my 4.

My continued tech progress:

850BC – Metal Casting (forges for production +1 happiness with gems)
775BC – Sailing (needed for Calendar)
625BC – Mathematics (opens up new techs, aqueducts)
425BC – Calendar (hook up silks, sugar, dyes)
400BC – Masonry (needed for Construction)
200BC – Construction (catapults)

In 75BC Confucianism spreads in Athens itself and I find he only has 2 archers and a phalanx in the city, leading me to believe that researching Construction for catapults was a waste of time.

Antium’s production capability in 200BC:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/shillen_c4gotm1_200BC_Antium.JPG

I was not used to my cities growing so large so early in the game so I didn’t have enough workers to keep up with terrain improvements.

In 375BC Alexander actually sent 2 axemen up straight into my territory, swung them around north of my cities, and then went back down the west coast near my lightly defended cities. I had no idea what he was doing. At first I thought there was a barbarian town up north but it turned out there wasn’t. I know he had already scouted out the land up there early in the game with his scout, but I guess he wanted an updated map. It was very frustrating for me though since I was ready to go to war with him and I ended up having to send 3 praetorians up north to deal with his axes when I did so.

I finally declare war in 25AD with 12 praetorians, 3 warriors and 2 catapults as my entire military (including city defense). Alexander kills one of my praetorians in the jungle with one of his axemen on the first turn. On the next turn I kill both of his axes without casualties, breathing a sigh of relief. Meanwhile on the same turn Alex finishes walls in Sparta that I was just about to attack, which is already on a hill. I end up just bombarding on the first turn and wait until 75AD to attack the city. In 75AD I capture both Sparta in the east and Pharsalos in the west. In 250AD I capture Delphi. In 275AD I capture Athens after bombarding it down, no casualties. In 400AD I capture Corinth and in 425AD I capture Thermopylae and the Greek civilization is destroyed.

Here is a picture of my attack:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/shillen_c4gotm1_425AD_War.JPG

The yellow dots are where my units started. The razed city is where my units had to double back because Alex founded a city right after I declared war. Sparta was my healing grounds with a medic in it and I used those healed troops to go after Thermopylae.

That ends phase 2. Phase 3 is to finish settling my island and meet the world.

In 375AD I received a Great Prophet due to my hired priest in Rome. I use him to rush the Confucian shrine for extra income. After the war is over I start building courthouses all over to improve my economy. I also build several more settlers from ex-Greek cities to fill in the gaps on my continent. Antium switches to missionaries non-stop to get religion in all my cities.

My continued tech progress:

125AD – Machinery (watermills, leads to Optics)
275AD – Compass (harbors, leads to Optics)
475AD – Optics (caravels baby)
500AD – Animal Husbandry!? (hey I didn’t need it before, I had even forgotten it reveals horses now)
520AD – Hunting!? (same story)
680AD – Civil Service (bureaucracy, irrigation spread)

As soon as I learned Optics I started building caravels in both Cumae and Athens. I met my first other leader in 680AD and that’s where this spoiler ends.

And here’s my continent at 660AD.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/shillen_c4gotm1_660AD.JPG

First game of the month here! Well it's all a bit hazy since I finished this game a few days ago and have already moved on to another, but here's my attempt to remember the ancient ages...

Well my first thought is that since I start on Noble w/Rome, I am intially looking at a possible domination victory so war is definately in the cards.

I settle 1E, can't recall why now but it seemed a good idea at the time. For one thing, it gave me more access to hills which means lots of production.

Prehistoric Rome:
First, I built a worker since they could immediately mine the gems and sent my warrior off exploring. Since I was planning for war, I grabbed bronze working first to find a source of copper, but was disappointed to see that I had no copper nearby...Since the corn was right there, I went for agriculture next. After ag, I went for iron working to find my beloved iron. While researching, I started building a settler who could settle where the first iron was found. At some point here, I came into contact with one of Alex's scouts. Of course, this meant early war was now a certainty since Alex is known for backstabbing. I had to eliminate him quickly.


2360 BC
Upon seeing the iron appear in the desert to the east of Rome, I sent the settler to found Antium 1E of the Iron even though the terrain was not too great. Immediately start barracks in both my cities so my Prats could begin to be pumped out.

1640 BC
Basically been building some barracks and then prats. I notice a barb city is founded in the jungles to the northwest of Rome around 1760 BC. I have another settler in Rome and I send him west to settle along the river and be a 3rd prat factory. He founds Cumae in 1640. My tech path after Iron working has been:
Sailing (to connect Antium and iron w/o building roads)
The Wheel (obvious)
Pottery (cottages)
Writing (need for CoL)
Mysticism (need for CoL)

1240 BC
I sent a couple of prats up to the barb city and they easily capture it. I research Priesthood and Meditation on my way to CoL. 5 prats begin the journey to Alexander's lands in no particular marching order.

900 BC
Confucianism is founded in Antium and quickly spreads to Rome!
I have scouted 3 Greek cities, Thermopylae to the north of Athens by the coast and Sparta NW of Athens. I also notice an Axeman, which means they have copper! I decide that cutting off their copper is a priority since Axes are the only thing that can do much damage to my Prats. Rushing by the weakly defended Greek outposts, I quickly find the source of copper west of Athens and send 3 prats to pounce on it. A turn later I send 2 other prats to destroy the freshly built Iron mine to the east of Athens. Now the Greeks can only build archers!

550 BC
Now that the Greeks are resourceless, I allow a couple Prats from the second wave to capture and raze Sparta. A few years later (475 BC) I capture Thermopylae.
I also build the Oracle, grab Philosophy and found Taoism in that barbarian city in the jungle in 475 BC.

250 BC
Lying in wait and building up forces, I finally capture the prize Athens and in 150 BC, I easily capture Corinth which was founded to the east during the war. The Greeks have been destroyed.
Now I convert to Confucianism since I have no more enemies to dispatch on this large continent.

I send the Prats not needed for defense of the newly captured cities to the SW part of the continent to eliminate any barbarian threat. They find and capture a couple of barbarian cities in 25 BC and 150 AD.

Conclusion
At this point, the continent is still largely empty of civilization but I am working on building some new cities. My empire is largely Confucian although some of the cities on the far western part of the continent are Taoist and I feel like I am ahead in the tech race judging from the messages I am getting about wonders being built in far away lands. At this point, I am building infrastructure like roads to connect all of my cities in case of a military threat and also attempting to clear the barbarians, who still pop up from time to time, from the continent. I also have built Chichen Itza and the Hanging Gardens and both shrines for my religions. I have my eye set on optics, then astronomy and being the first to circumnavigate so I can get my +1 movement bonus. A domination victory is looking less likely unless there is a large continent very nearby, as I'm not one for long distance amphibious assaults. Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about my position at this point. Oh, I guess I should mention that I did meet one other civ (it seems to me from the rules, that I can't say who, but I'm sure most can guess who it was) when their caravel entered my waters.

Civ IV GOTM1 - 4000-2000 BC - Roland Ehnström

GAME GOAL: EARLY DOMINATION

------------------------------
The short story

Cities: Rome founded in 4000 BC on the spot where the Settler started, as I didn't see any reason to move anywhere else. Antium founded in 2440 BC west of Rome, to use the Wheat. Cumae founded in 2080 BC east of Rome, to secure the Iron.

Research: First Agriculture to be able to work the Corn. Then Bronze Working to be able to chop forests to speed production of Settlers and Workers. Next The Wheel for roads. Then we got Hunting from a Tribal Village, while researching Iron Working to reveal any possible source of iron (obviousely very important considering our Unique Unit). Then Pottery to be able to build the cheap Granaries (Ceasar is Expansive, remember).

Barbarians: Plenty of Lions... Lost one Warrior to a Lion and another to a Warrior I popped from a Tribal Village.

Tribal Villages: Gained the knowledge of Hunting, a Scout and plenty of Gold. Woke up one Warrior. Pretty lucky overall I guess.

------------------------------
The long story

4000 BC - Warrior moves SW to the top of the hill, to see as far as possible. He sees Wheat and a Tribal Village. Looks like a great location for our second city. Settler founds Rome on the spot, on top of the hill. We do not worry about getting the Wheat into the "fat cross" of Rome, as the Corn will already give Rome a good enough food surplus after building a farm there, and the Wheat will surely be used by the second city anyway. Building Rome reveals another Tribal Village to the east. Rome starts working the corn-tile and training a Warrior. We start researching Agriculture at 100% rate (9 turns).

3960 BC - Warrior to Tribal Village. We get 83 Gold.

3920 BC--> Our Warrior is exporing southward, seeing hilly deserts and then Wines.

3840 BC - A Forest has grown near Rome!

3800 BC - Rome's borders expand, revealing Sugar, Gems and a coastline in the northeast.

3760 BC - Warrior spots, pine trees in the south, so we are definately south of the equator.

3720 BC - We meet a Greek Scout and tell Alexander that there should be peace in our time.

3640 BC - We discover Agriculture and start researching Bronze Working (13 turns). Warrior gets 33 Gold from Tribal Village. He also sees what is probably the south coast of the continent.

3600 BC - First Blood: Our Warrior defeats a Lion!

3560 BC - Hinduism has been founded in a distant land...

3520 BC - We complete a Warrior in Rome and start training another one, because we want Rome to reach size 3 before building Workers and Settlers.

3360 BC - Buddhism has been founded in a distant land...

3320 BC - Alexander converts to Buddhism - so it was Greece who founded it! Wonder if it will spill into our lands... Rome completes Warrior, starts Worker. Our Warrior in the south moves west and then north up the west coast of the continent. Our second warrior has moved east and is now following the coast south. Our third Warrior is heading north to check out that coast.

3160 BC - We discover Bronze Working and start researching The Wheel. Only source of Copper seen is way down in the SW... We get 48 Gold from a Tribal Village. Dyes spotted further north...

3080 BC - We aquire the knowledge of Hunting from a Tribal Village!

3000 BC - We find the Greek borders. One of our Warriors wake a Barbarian Warrior in a Tribal Village...

2960 BC - Our Warrior to the Barbarian Warrior. :(

2920 BC - We discover The Wheel and start researching Iron Working. Rome completes our first Worker, which moves SE to the Corn and starts building a Farm. Rome starts producing Settler.

2760 BC - We kill the Barbarian Warrior. :)

2680 BC - Worker starts chopping a forest to speed up production of Settler.

2560 BC - Worker starts Mining the Gems.

2520 BC - Settler completed, moves W. Rome starts training another Settler.

2440 BC - Antium founded in grasslands next to the river, directly W of the Wheat. Antium starts producing Warrior.

2360 BC - Worker starts chopping another forest.

2240 BC - We discover Iron Working (and thus reach the Classic Age) and start researching Pottery. There is a source of Iron east of Rome! We are provided with a Scout from a Tribal Village! He starts exploring the southmost part of the continent.

2160 BC - Rome completes Settler, starts Worker.

2120 BC - We discover Pottery and start researching Writing, for Libraries and to get to Alphabet so that we can possibly trade techs with the Greeks, and also to be able to get Open Borders with the Greeks so that we can see if anyone else is hiding to the east of them (unlikely). Antium completes a Warrior and starts another one. Worker starts building a Farm on the Wheat.

2080 BC - Cumae founded on the hilltop west of the Iron.

2040 BC - We lose a Warrior to a Lion. :(

***2000 BC***
Game Score: 238
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Hunting, Mining, Pottery, Bronze Working, Iron Working (4 turns to Writing).
Gold: 162 (-1 GPT at 100% science)
Cities: 3 (6 pop)
Buildings: None (1 Granary in production)
Units: 1 Worker, 2 Warriors, 1 Scout (1 Worker and 1 Warrior in production)

http://www.ehnstrom.se/roland/gotm/GOTM1_RE_2000BC.jpg

-- Roland

OK, technically I don't qualify to post but I'm going to do it anyway.

I start by moving my settler 2SE to the Hills/Plain and the Warrior to the hill 1SW. AHA, a hut!

Second turn, I build Rome, start a worker, choose Bronze Working as first tech, and move to Warrior to the hut. The hut is four spaces from Rome. As it happens, the fracking hut is hostile. Two warriors which kill my one warrior and both survive. I switch Rome to a warrior, praying that the barbs will go the other way. I didn't think it was possible to get warrior barbs that early, even from a hut, but I'm still learning about this game.

Rome gets sacked two turns from building my first unit.

So ends my GOTM report.

Note: I have decided not to submit my game. I just have a feeling that someone will do better. :lol:

Try this (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=141164). It plays a sound when a city grows and lists it in the log. Plus it makes a text log of a lot of the important things that happen in a game. Very nifty.

Nice, I ended up not installing the entire mod, but just stealing a single line from it to add the City Growth log entry. However, this meant I could not load the GOTM savefile. Moot point for GOTM1 since I'm already finished with it, but is this something that can be allowed in the future?

Civ IV GOTM1 - 2000-1000 BC - Roland Ehnström

GAME GOAL: EARLY DOMINATION

------------------------------

The short story

Cities: Neapolis founded in 1360 BC, down south in a nice spot by a river, stealing some good land from the Greeks. Pisae founded in 1280 BC, taking control of the Wines.

Research: Writing for Libraries, then Alphabet to be able to trade techs with the Greeks (which failed).

------------------------------

The long story

1880 BC - Judaism has been founded in a distant land... We discover Writing and start Alphabet.

1360 BC - Neapolis founded south of the central desert, next to the Corn along the river, cutting off the Greek expansion.

1320 BC - We sign Open Borders with the Greeks.

1280 BC - We discover Alphabet, but Alexander doesn't want to trade any of his techs yet. :( We are now researching Matemathics, mainly to get to Calendar to be able to use our Silk, Sugar and Dyes. We also have long-term goals to get Catapults (Construction) and to found Confucianism (Currency --> Code of Laws). Pisae founded by the Wines south of Antium.

1080 BC - Having explored the Greek territory, it is confirmed that we are alone with the Greeks on this continent.

1000 BC - We train our very first Praetorian in Rome.

***1000 BC***
Game Score: 343
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Hunting, Mining, Pottery, Bronze Working, Iron Working, Writing, Alphabet (2 turns to Mathematics).
Gold: 87 (-8 GPT at 100% science)
Cities: 5 (12 pop)
Buildings: 2 Granaries (4 Libraries in production)
Units: 1 Settler, 2 Workers, 1 Praetorian, 3 Warriors, 1 Scout (1 Worker in production)

http://www.ehnstrom.se/roland/gotm/GOTM1_RE_1000BC.jpg

-- Roland

Civ IV GOTM1 - 1000-25 AD - Roland Ehnström

GAME GOAL: EARLY DOMINATION

------------------------------

The short story

Cities: Ravenna founded in 975 BC, on the east coast trying to steal the Clams from the Greeks. Arretium founded in 625 BC, way down south to get some Sheep and block the Greek expansion. Arpinum founded in 525 BC, on the west coast getting Crab, Copper AND Stone inside it's "fat cross".

Research: Matemathics and Sailing, opening the route to Calendar to be able to use the Dyes, Silk and Sugar. Then Currency to get to Code of Laws to found Confucianism.

------------------------------

The long story

975 BC - We discover Mathematics and start researching Sailing (for Calendar). Ravenna founded on the east coast, close to the Clams (trying to steal them from the Greeks).

850 BC - Sailing discovered, Calendar started.

625 BC - Arretium founded down south by some Sheep, further restricting the Greek expansion.

525 BC - Arpinum founded on the west coast, close to Crabs, Copper and Stone resources.

475 BC - Calendar discovered, Currency started (20 turns at 50% science rate...).

325 BC - Buddhism has spread into Neapolis.

200 BC - The Greeks have built a city north of our land, in exacty the spot I was planning for my ninth city! I guess this can be considered a good thing after all...

125 BC - We discover Currency and start Code of Laws (to found Confucianism).

100 BC - Alexander demands that we give him Silk! We decide to be nice, hoping that he is less restrictive on his techs. But no, he still won't trade.

25 AD - We discover Code of Laws and found Confucianism in Antium! Since Alexander won't trade his techs we have to start researching Mysticism ourselves.

***25 AD***
Game Score: 784
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Hunting, Mining, Pottery, Bronze Working, Iron Working, Writing, Alphabet, Mathematics, Sailing, Calendar, Currency, Code of Laws (1 turn to Mysticism)
Gold: 21 (-4 GPT at 80% science)
Cities: 8 (38 pop)
Buildings: 8 Libraries, 7 Granaries, 4 Barracks, 2 Lighthouses (2 Barracks, 1 Market, 1 Lighthouse and 1 Courthouse in production)
Units: 6 Workers, 7 Praetorian, 3 Warriors, 1 Spearman, 1 Scout (1 Settler and 1 Galley in production)
Founded Confusianism

http://www.ehnstrom.se/roland/gotm/GOTM1_RE_25AD.jpg

-- Roland

2. I'm not sure it would work with GOTM anyway, given the restriction on modifications. I tried very hard to prevent giving any spoilers with that mod, but it would be incredibly easy to do so, so I think it makes sense to prevent the use of mods that modify CvEventManager.py (maybe more, that's just the Python file I'm most familiar with).
What we'll probably do in future is have some "Approved GOTM Mods". If we can't get some flexibility built-in to the game about some mods, then what we'll probably do is generate (say) two saves - one for clean installs, and one for players with the approved mods loaded. :)

Two words: no iron. :eek:

I developed southwest west rather than east, and Alex snatched the iron.

(I started the game hoping to try out the cultural path, so I was looking for pretty city sites, not iron. I didn't even know what it was until 1600 BC.)

I built Stonehenge in 1080 BC in Rome, while settling choice sites down the western side of the continent.

This is Rome around 100BC, just after we'd discovered Code of Laws and founded Confucianism in Antium. Alexander is Buddhist, and has just recently spread it to Cumae. We Romans are very accepting of other religions. (I would later become a Buddhist nation at Alexander's request. It makes him happy, and matters so little, really.)

105743

You can tell that these were early times; our splendid roads hadn't yet reached south. They soon would (of course), and just in time...

Alexander attacked me once, in Classical times, and I fended him off with horses, spears, axes, and tactics. The central desert was loyal to Rome, so I could counter his every move. Pisae, to the south, is well situated to turn back incursions, and of course Rome itself is unassailable. The Greek iron town of Corinth regards us with awe; Alexander has had to suppress revolts there.

From that war until the middle ages, the Romans spread Buddhism and Confucianism throughout the land, built theatres, libraries, temples, and coliseums, and began work on glorious cathedrals. Rome, Antium, and Pisae are among the world's greatest cities. Rome has a Great Library; Pisae is a city of epic; Zoroaster's Confucian Academy in Antium flourishes. Pesky Alexander built a couple of ports on the rocks of the southwest, but those fisherman yearn for Rome.

We slowly settled the north, and up in Ravenna, Islam appeared. With help, it quickly spread across the land and into Greece, and we build temples to please its adherents. So we have three religions spreading into our six cities. Some of Alexander's people call themselves Christians, but that hasn't shown up among the Romans. Perhaps in time.

Neapolis to the southwest, Cumae west of Rome, and Ravenna to the north produce our soldiers. Rome is renowned for its learning, and Antium for its faith; Pisae in the south bursts with epic creativity.

We are neither strong nor weak, but we are the most learned of people. We keep Alexander content by humoring his religious obsessions, although he grows jealous of our glory.

We looked to the water only for fish. It was not until around 1100 or so, when we'd just been working out how to put maps on paper (a harmless hobby, but useless, I think; everyone knows where Rome is), that a vessel from a land beyond the sea rode the wind to our shore.

Civ IV GOTM1 - 25-1020 AD - Roland Ehnström

GAME GOAL: EARLY DOMINATION

------------------------------

The short story

Cities: Circei founded in 125 AD, in the jungle north of Rome, mainly to reach the Dyes.

Research: First Mysticism, Meditation and Priesthood to get to Monarchy to be able to build a Winery and for Hereditary Rule. Then Animal Husbandry to reveal any source of Horses (not a priority for me in this game since we have Praetorians) and to be able to use the Sheep. Then Metal Casting for Forge, followed by Construction for Catapults and Feudalism for Vassalage. Then Compass, Machinery and Optics to be able to start researching Astronomy, which is needed for Galleons to get to other continents.

War: I built an army of 14 Praetorians and 4 Catapults, and declared war on the Greeks in 720 AD. The war ended 300 years later (15 turns) with the Greek civilization destroyed. We decided to raze four Greek cities and keep five. At the end of the war our military might amounted to 31 Praetorians and 10 Catapults, plus a few assorted units.

------------------------------

The long story

50 AD - Discovered Mysticism, start researching Meditation.

75 AD - First Galley built, explores north along the east coast. We discover Meditation, start Masonry.

100 AD - We discover Masonry, start Priesthood.

125 AD - We discover Priesthood, start Monarchy (mainly to be able to build Winery). Circei founded north of Rome. Cumae starts building The Great Lighthouse (17 turns).

225 AD - We discover Monarchy, start Animal Husbandry (finally).

250 AD - We discover Animal Husbandry, start Metal Casting (Short term: To be able to build Forge; Long term: To get to Astronomy to get to other continents). There is a Horse resource west of Antium.

300 AD - The Greeks have build a second city north of Rome, stealing our Dyes!

425 AD - Bummer - The Great Lighthouse has been built in a far away land! Cumae had 2 turns left... :mad: Also, Christianity has been founded overseas. We have discovered Metal Casting and started researching Construction (for Catapults and bridges).

500 AD - We discover Construction and start Feudalism (for Vassalage).

600 AD - We discover Feudalism and start Compass (on route to Astronomy). We adopt Heredetary Rule, Vassalage and Serfdom.

680 AD - We discover Compass and start Machinery.

720 AD - WAR!!! We declare on Alexander. In the northern jungles, we lose one Praetorian while destroying Knossos. In the central desert, we lose another Praetorian while destroying Pharsalos. We also capture two workers.

740 AD - We convert to Confusianism. Our people rejoice, since we have made sure that all our cities are Confucian. Meanwhile, five Praetorians and four Catapults are heading for Sparta...

780 AD - A Greek Horse Archer somehow manages to kill one of our Praetorians!

820 AD - We capture and keep Sparta. It cost us one Catapult and one Praetorian.

860 AD - We lose another Praetorian to a Horse Archer! Good thing we have now pillaged the Greek Horse resource... Our scientists discover Machinery and start Optics.

880 AD - We capture Thermopylae on the east coast without losing a single unit.

940 AD - Our scientists discover Optics and start Astronomy (13 turns at 90% science rate).

960 AD - In the north, we capture Libyan. In the south, we raze Delphi. Zero Roman casualties. :)

980 AD - We capture Corinth, losing two Praetorians and a Catapult.

1020 AD - We destroy Argos and capture Athens - THE GREEK CIVILIZATION IS DESTROYED!

In 1020 AD the Roman continent looks like this, while we are 6 turns away from Astronomy (Galleons) and have just completed our first couple of Caravels, ready to explore what ever is out there on the other side of the vast oceans...

http://www.ehnstrom.se/roland/gotm/GOTM1_RE_1020AD.jpg

-- Roland

I'd played the Romans on Noble difficulty before and had found out what superb rushers Pratorians are so I decided to go for a military/science approach and just take whatever religion came along. The real life Romans just adopted other peoples' religions any way :) .

I won't bore people with my full turn log. as I'm not that great a player, but here's an abbreviated version.

4000 BC - Settle Rome 1 E of starting position. Start a worker to chop my first couple of settlers and send the warrior exploring. Set research to Bronze Working.

3640 BC - Alex' scout appears out of the shroud south of Rome and we pledge ourselves to years of friendship and peace.

3480 BC - Bronze Working comes in.

3400 BC - Worker completes and Rome is set to produce a settler, the worker goes chopping.

2920 BC - Rome completes the first settler and starts the second.

2840 BC - Antium founded 4 W of Rome

2560 BC Rome produces second settler, worker stops chopping.

2280 BC - Cumae founded east of Rome near the copper and stone.

1760 BC Iron working comes in and as there is no iron in immediate view we set off looking for some (Note the iron in the plot we initially started on, didn't show up immediately in my game). Going by past GOTMs, Athens is probably sitting on the only source :)

1240 BC I find some iron just outside our borders. I need a city to claim it.

1000 BC Alex offers open borders, we accept and I send units into Greece to scout the position.

925 BC - Neapolis founded next to the iron.

600 BC - The iron is linked up to the trade network - bopping time :). I start building Praetorians.

400 BC - Pisae founded in the jungle NW of Rome to claim the horses there

100 BC - Pisae which is still only defended by the escorting warrior is captured by a lone Barbarian warrior, so I send a couple of Praetorians to get it back.

1 AD - Recapture Pisae and get a promotion for the attacking Praetorian.

300 AD - Great Scientist in Rome, set to super specialist.

350 AD - I now have 10 Praetorians and 2 cats sitting on a hill outside Neapolis. It's time for the legions to march. My scouts start withdrawing from Greek teritory and the Pratorians move towards the border.

450 AD - Declare war on Alex

475 AD We capture Thermopylae with no losses. My horse archers also destroy Knossos, a level 1 city defended by only 1 archer

520 AD - The main army reaches Sparta and the cats start bomabrding it.

580 AD - We capture Sparta. A solo Greek swordsman is approaching Thermopylae, which is defended by one recovering Praetorian. I cross my fingers against a bad dice roll

600 AD - That will teach me to be superstitious - the swordsman defeats the defending Pratorian and recaptures Thermopulae. I send a couple of Pratorians to get it back and the main army marches on Athens.

800 AD We capture Athens with no losses, but the army are all badly beaten up, so I make peace with Alex in return for 90 gold. It's only a matter of time anyway - he's lost 4 cities including his capital and has just given me all his money. He's a dead man walking.

I spend the next few turns building up a second force in the wast of the continent to capture the Greek cities there and in an amusing aside Alex attempts to capture a Barb town, but loses 4 units dong so, and my observing horse archer moves in and kills the remaing Barb defender for one more city for the mighty Roman empire. It's just not Alex's day.

1080 AD - I redeclare war on Alex and attack Corinth with the now recovered force and attack Delphi in the west with the newly recruited force in that area.

1100 AD I capture Delphi

1150 AD I take Corinth in the east and the former barbarian town of Khazak in the south-centre of the continent

1170 AD - Alex again retakes Thermopylae with a lone swordsman, this time it was defended by an archer and a warrior. I get it back 2 turns later.

1220 AD - We take Pharsalos and Alex is down to one city.

1250 AD - Argos falls and Alex is away for his tea. I now have the starting continent to myself, but still no religion. I decide it's time to search the oceans for new friends to play with and start billding a caravel.

1330 AD - My first caravel is finished and told to 'Go west, young man'

1390 AD - My caravel meets a new civilization...

Hey all,

Can somebody please give me an easy how-to explanation of taking screen shots and posting them in a thread. I've trolled a few different threads now and seen about 16 different ways of doing it, but which one is the easiest....?

Cheers in advance.

First GOTM here, It was a fun and confidence-building setup.

I am glad I was not the only one with religion problems. I went for Hinduism and lost the race, which has not happened to me in single player yet so I was wondering if it was just bad luck. I pressed on for Judaism and got it though.

I settled on the start square and did the standard explore/dodge barbarian thing. Built city #2 four squares east to grab the corn/sugar. Cities 3-4 were to the southwest. I figured out pretty quickly that the Greeks and I were alone on the island.


I quickly encountered Alexander and spied a worker that was too close to the border. 1920 B.C. I /declared and stole said worker with a roving warrior, gambling that the greeks would be too slow to mount an offensive. I never again would see peace with the Greeks. Things proceeded quietly after that for a while as I lucked out on iron being close by and built an army of praetorians and founded a couple more cities. My Praet's infiltrated Greek lands while waiting for catapults to arrive at the well defended cities. I cut off Alex's iron and copper around year 0 and that was pretty much the end of his chances. After that it was mop up time and Alex was toast at 1050 A.D. - a bit slower than I had hoped, but I inherited 6 very productive cities out of it.

I worked up to around 12 cities total before the end of this spoiler time frame.
The rest of the time was spent trying to stay afloat financially. I went for currency and code of laws quickly because my tech slider was falling too far during the Greek war.

Mistakes: I had a few fat-finger unit movements that cost me time. The religion race may have been a mistake given my quick war. I also could have allowed Alex to found me a few more cities to save the settler production later. Managing great people production and specialists is a weak spot for me- I did not get a great prophet to build my Temple of Solomon which hurt my financial situation. I also think if I had hooked up horses and researched horseback riding I could have avoided the need for catapults and polished off Alex much earlier, but I relied heavily on Praet's. I still have a lot to learn about city micro too.

I honestly don't remember when I contacted the other civ's, it may have been before Alex was gone and if so I apologize. I really need to learn to save more often. I only have like 3 saves to refer back to and my first was long after this spoiler time frame.

I wish I had taken better notes on the early game -- I think next GOTM, I'll start writing my report as I'm playing the game!

My initial plan was to get some cities up fairly quickly, because there isn't so much need for very early defense on noble. I want to peacefully, but semi-swiftly expand and settle the continent, and once that's done, I'll take over Alex's cities. I expect to play for a diplomatic victory.

I founded rome one square east of the start, because I liked the terrain better, and I was happy with a second city placement to the southwest. (I eventually change my mind and found Antium 5 squares west of Rome, so it could get the gems and the wheat)

When I found the iron in the eastern desert, I founded Cumae one tile west of the iron! This allowed Cumae to be reasonably productive throughout the game, and it didn't really bother Rome until very late.

Conveniently, the barbs founded a city to the south of Antium exactly where I wanted one!

I had four forests grow near Rome during the early game! During this game, I also had both gems (700 AD) and copper (1510 AD) appear near Antium. Out of curiousity, did anyone else get them?

I got a lot of maps out of goodie huts, which helped with the scouting. (Though, it meant I didn't find Alex until 2160 AD, since I didn't scout in that direction. He found me in 3560! :( )

Oh, my initial warrior scout got into a scrape with a panther, but survived... with 0.0 health! :crazyeye:


Anyways, Praetorian production started in 1520. I didn't start war with Alex until the entire continent was settled (and I was making settlers at a fair pace) -- I didn't write down when war started, but I made peace with Alex in 920 AD because I made a slight mistake which resulted in him threatening to pillage one of my cities. I finally finish off Alex in 1180 AD.


My initial turns at Rome went like this:

Worker first -- IMHO nothing else makes sense, because we have good resources to hook up quickly. I want to grow fast and makes lots of money!

Since I plan on getting lots of production (and do not fear noble barbarians!), I make a barracks after the worker, then a warrior. In this time, my worker farms the corn, mines the gems, chops the northwest silk and the hill, and mines the plains hill.

After all this, I start my first settler while rome has 4 population. It's followed by a scout and another settler. (I want to get iron hooked up!) The plains silk gets chopped for the second settler.

In Antium (founded 5 squares west of Rome), I make an obelisk first. I put my citizen on the plains forest to get it done quickly! I want my borders to expand so I can use that wheat. After the obelisk, it made a barracks.

My third city was an iron city -- I founded it one square west of the iron! This was a much better location than anywhere else, and Rome didn't feel cramped until the very end of the game. Cumae made an obelisk first, and then a granary.

Happily, barbarians founded a city south of Antium, exactly where I wanted a city! Yay!


Rome had -so- many hills! I tend not to build that many grassland farms, but I made quite a few this game for several cities, so that I could work all of my hills!



My tech choices were: (I might have the reasons wrong, though):
4000: Agriculture (I want corn!)
3680: Bronze working (I want to chop, and find my copper!)
3120: Iron working. (I want to find my iron!)
2560: Hunting. (I want to make a scout)
2480: Mysticism. (I want an obelisk as Antium's first build)
2320: Archery. (I figure I should have a few archers on defense)
2160: Wheel. (Need to hook up the iron!)
1840: Sailing. (Most convenient, and fastest, way to connect Cumae to Rome)
1640: Metal casing.
1600: Ack, I didn't want metal casing, I wanted writing!

I stopped taking as many notes at this point -- I founded Confucianism in Antium in 275 AD. After a couple things, I went quickly to Optics and then Astronomy so I could meet and trade with others! I met <name not provided> in 1060 AD!

OK, technically I don't qualify to post but I'm going to do it anyway.

I start by moving my settler 2SE to the Hills/Plain and the Warrior to the hill 1SW. AHA, a hut!

Second turn, I build Rome, start a worker, choose Bronze Working as first tech, and move to Warrior to the hut. The hut is four spaces from Rome. As it happens, the fracking hut is hostile. Two warriors which kill my one warrior and both survive. I switch Rome to a warrior, praying that the barbs will go the other way. I didn't think it was possible to get warrior barbs that early, even from a hut, but I'm still learning about this game.

Rome gets sacked two turns from building my first unit.

So ends my GOTM report.

Note: I have decided not to submit my game. I just have a feeling that someone will do better. :lol:
That's really unlucky. I didn't realize that I could pop out barb either. I was misled by the initial comment and thought there was no animal and barb at all. My warrior was destroyed somewhere near the Greek's land, though, which effectively ceased my exploration for a while.

This screenshot is later but it doesnt have any stuff that isnt know in this spoiler. Looks like most people had similiar ideas about city placement.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105768&stc=1&d=1133325775

First builds and techs:
My builds began with 2 warriors and a worker.
My techs were: Mysticism, wheel and bronze working.
Cities:
2360 Antium
1360 Cumae
925 Neapolis
I didn't build any more cities until after the Greek war
I did capture 6 greek cities and one barbarian (Phoenicia)
By 0 AD I had 11 cities
By the time I contacted another continent I had 20 total.

I decided to favor a balanced tech approach until I knew what was up on my continent so I could adapt to a situation that called for aggression if need be. It figures that our only AI neighbor would be the Greeks. I decided to eliminate them asap. I started my war in 450BC and by 125 AD they were down to one city. I made peace, collected a couple of techs and waited. I attacked again in 425 AD and they were gone. The greek cities fell like so:
400 BC Sparta
325 Delphi
250 Corinth
200 Pharsalus
50 AD Athens
425 AD Thermopylae

Once I had my continent, I concentrated on advancements (to get caravels) and wonders.

My various great people showed up in 1080, 1515, 1640, and 2 in 1700
My first caravel sailed in 1450
Met my first "other civ" in 1515
Navigated the world first in 1575, by sending ships in both directions
I stayed religionless until I founded Islam in 1585

Great Wonders:
Great Library 1150 AD
Chichen Itza 1300 AD
Hanging Gardens 1370 AD
Hagia Sophia 1525 AD

4000BC - Upon opening the game save I wanted to go for a Conquest or Domination victory. The chop strategy is very effective for these goals so I went down that path and would play it by ear as I learned more about our situation. My warrior moved to the SW hill, and I came across my first real decision of the game, so much of this could have changed depending on this sole decision. With the Wheat uncovered in the south, I made a tough decision and settled one tile E to take advantage of fast reasearch gems, the wheat would be a second or third city site but it could have made Rome one hell of a huge city in the later game by settling on the silks SW of the starting point. And of course that goodie hut was just a bonus :) If I'd known the coat line was just barely out of sight, this decision would have been much easier as my second city would definately have gone on the coastline with access to the gems and Rome would have taken gone SW to get both food resources for a FAST growth. After settling Rome at the edges of the fog, I was pretty sure was costline and a sugar as well as another goodie hut that would be grabbed in Rome's first border expansion, I decided my warrior would explore the other direction as border expansion would also reveal bits of the coastline for me and the only benfit would be to spot water resources and I figured I'd have a little time before needing to know. Going with the chop strat I set Rome to produce a worker and began researching Bronze Working. there was plenty of time for that detail of exploration I figured. Although I was a little dissapointed I was so close to the water perhaps I should have explored with my settler a little more.

3960 - Warrior grabs hut for a map:
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With the new map info and seeing the wine, I decided to follow the river further south and see if any particular spot down there would be best for a Roman city. It wasn't a priority at the moment as Monarchy is a long ways off.

3880 - Forest grows near Rome on top of the original starting spot, 7 forests for the chop strat!

3800 - Rome expands grabbing the goodie hut for another map:
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3620 - Warrior finds the end of the Silky Merlot River and decides to cut across to the next river and follow it back up north to go hopefully trace out the coastline.

3680 - I meet Alexander with a goodie hut nearby that gave me 72G also revealing a lion and the southern coastline?!

3560 - Hinduism is founded first?! The Lion beats up on my warrior but my warrior wins the battle. Warrior moves to the cover of forests to heal up and fortifies, 5 turns to heal.

3480 - Bronze Working finished no copper anywhere in sight even with 2 maps! Start Agriculture > Animal Husbandry, could very well dictate second city site knowing Alex isn't "close by" as in warrior slow moving close, chariots may be needed for reinforcements depending on his defense. With a worker due in two turns I may as well give him some else to do once he hooks up the gems and chops a forest or two.

3400 - Worker pops and start mining gems > Warrior queued.

3360 - Wolves attack my healing warrior giving him a promotion, woodsmen I taken as he's my scout, could help speed things up.

3320 - Based on Alex's scouts location when he found me, I have a feeling he's somewhere to the south east and with the coastline I figure I'll follow coast until I find his borders then follow coastline back up north towards Rome. I might just be in time to steal his first worker to set him back and advance my own position that much better.

3280 - Gems mined and I kick into uber research mode, with a whopping 14 beakers! :P Cutting down reasearch on Aggriculture to 2 down from 4!

3240 - Worker moves to chop forest on the hill as Aggriculture is still one turn away and rome has 6 turns to grow to size 2, so passing up improving the corn is no biggie just yet.

3200 - Aggriculture is done start researching Husbandry. Sheeps are way down to the south so unless I find horsies nearby this path is a complete waste...yet I love horsies and there's no copper anyhow, so what the heck.

3080 - Another forest grows near Rome! 8 Forests, I can chop and still keep some health!

3040 - Warrior pops growth in 1 turn, start barracks but will micro next turn and start settler. Also I finally found Alex's borders down south, as I figured.

3000 - Rome grows to size 2 and I switch to settler.

2960 - OH SWEET! Alex sends his worker down to improve the deer! Now is as good a time as any to declare war I love free workers at this stage of the game! Upon moving to capture his worker I see the bastid has copper! This may have been a really bad move...Although he's only got 2 warriors up in defense for now, so I don't think he's gotten archery yet.

2920 - Buddhism finally found somewhere out there in the wilds. Animal Husbandry completed, and no horsies to be found anywhere either! So much for conquest/Domination. With the worker under his wings, I'm gonna gamble on Alex not attacking my warrior and sneak behind his capital to keep scouting the coastline and get my new worker back up north safely. Could be risky though with Alex being Aggresive his warriors are promoted srength 1 and should be able to easily beat my warrior toe to toe...But I have faith the AI won't attack with such a lite defense in his capital, kinda sad the AI is already this predictable. With Husbandry complete and me just having declared war on Alex, I think Archery is a safe bet to research right about now. He'll be wanting retribution soon I'd imagine.

3760 - Hunting finishes. Goodie hut spottednorth of Athens, how did Alex miss that one?! With a worker in tow, will be just my luck it's got nasty barbs!

2720 - Argh, lions take the forest in my northern trek with my worker that I wanted to use for defense! Well animals get no defense bonus and with a 2vs1.3 chance I figure it's better than ignoring it and losing both warrior and worker when he attacks next turn. Fortunately I win the battle, without even being hurt! The new forest that grew on hill just got chopped cutting settler down to 4 turns from 6, I can't get in a second chop in time, so worker will mine hill while waiting.

3680 - Phew no barbs, instead 32G from hut.

2640 - Alex spits in my face as I approach him for a cease fire, I got what I wanted and scouted his entire capital no need to prolong this war. I've set him back enough already :evilgrin:

2600 - Complete Archery, I like this fast research pace from the gems! Start The Wheel.

2560 - Finally Alex is willing to talk peace. Round 1 is over with me convincingly ahead! Not having scouted out my closest shoreline, I don't want to waste turns finding the ideal spot, so I group up my warrior in defense and settler to go claim the wheat in the south. There's an ideal spot on the river that will match up the cities fat crosses with no lost tiles and no overlap. Rome begins an archer, undefended as it is, OOOH!

2460 - Chop still due in 3 turns, will Micro over to barracks, don't want to waste half a chop on a fast building archer with no immediate need for one.

2440 - Antium founded and starts a barracks. All things considered this looks like a pretty crappy location for a city, all it really has is the wheat and 3 hills...(little did I know this would be my most productive city down the road, but that was my thought at that time when looking at the surrounding tiles, I obviously need some work on eye balling prospective city sites, because I can't picture them down the road and assess terrain very well).

2400 - Chop goes to the barracks, Rome switches back to archer. My new worker is almost back and things look safe, so I send Rome's worker to improve Antium. As Rome is improved well enough to support it's current population. Antium only really has 2 safe chops, and I decide to improve Wheat first to get it growing faster. With The Wheel finished I start on pottery.

2240 - Pottery completes start Iron Working with the Jungle to the north, I'll have some work to do. And it's doubtful I'll get Judaism with my current techs. Alex's, errr MY worker is finally home! Original warrior will now scout North/Eastern Coastline and beyond. So far it's only me and Alex with quite a lot of land to settle, I don't think it would be wise to take him out just yet, he has to do his fair share of the work in settling this land! I wanted to win by conquest but with no copper and no horses and just Alex so far, I don't think that's going to be an option. There's still quite a lot of black edges to the west but no other civs have come a knocking as I would have expected at this stage of the game.

2000 - Known World pic
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To be continued....I have 6 pics to attach and it'll only let me do 5 max per post, so splitting up this already terribly long post.

2160 - Worker roading from hill to deforested silks, with the intention of farming the silks, with the 2 commerce from the silks this is a good tile to use as food source with an already boosted research rate.

2080 - Rome starts scout, need to clear the map faster! Archer fortifies protecting Rome.

2000 - Rome borders expand, scout comepltes and sent westward. Rome starts granary.

1960 - Saint Augustine reports. Rome is the largest nation in the world with Alex coming in #7 even with Athens at size 4...

1880 - Barbarian Warrior spotted to the north, my warrior is on a forested hill so I figure foritfy and wait. Scout finds a goodie hut and what may be the western coast visible on the edges of the fog...I guess that'd be why no other civs have come a knocking, this landmass suddenly got a lot smaller, but it's still big enough to let Alex survive a while to help with the colonization efforts.

1840 - Barb warrior attacks and loses giving my Warrior another promotion, woodsmen 2 for quick movement, this will help my scouting efforst enormously. Scout pops the hut for some xp, I saved his original promotion for the barracks and figure I'll use it now to promote him to Woodsmen 2 as well, in case he encounters any badly intentioned barbs.

1800 - Judaism founded out there in the big bad world. Iron Working completes, and I have Iron nearby, and so does Alex ;( It'll be a tough war when the gloves get thrown down, but I'm thinking Alex is going to have to do his fair share of colonizing MY land...He also has marble down near him, maybe he'll grab some wonders for me too :P OMG! Just one tile more exploration to the west and I'd have chariots running Alex over! OMG More horsies to the North! Funny I thought I had none and I find 2 of them on the same turn just out of reach...Rome starts settler to be chopped, he's going to head down south to claim the wines, there's no hurry to claim the Iron and get it online, there's too much land to settle on my own.

1760 - Stone found on the far western shore south of Antium.

1720 - Warrior pops another goodie hut up in the north for a map, uncovering the little bit of land he had remaining to scout out rendering himself obsolete...Doh! I just realized I forgot to MM my research! AI chose Metal Casing which isn't a bad choice but not what I want to go for just yet, with 78 beakers into Metal Casing I switch to beeline for Code of Laws in the hopes of grabbing Confuscianism. Needs Mysticism (3 turns) > Meditation (5 turns) > Priesthood 4 turns) > Writing (6 turns) I have a good amount of beakers per turn however so while it's a long ways to go I think I have a shot at it and it will also give me a shot at chopping both Stonehenge and the Oracle to grab Metal Casing for free, which was the plan before I forgot to change it.

1680 - Copper found just south of the stone! 3rd city site now decided on, to grab both the stone and the copper, will give me my first coastal city as well and maybe have a shot at the Lighthouse if I can get it going fast enough.

1560 - Barracks completes in Antium, oh wow Antium already size 4! Jeeze I wasn't paying attention, it's growing too fast, only 5 happiness and 6 health, gonna hafta slow down it's growth some. I finally finish scouting MY island, with Alex an unwelcome tenant, I'll be evicting him, but his rent is welcome at the moment. I'll need to shoot for Optics that's a lot of other civs out there, if they're all on the same landmass, I fear despite the early jump on research and being on Noble I could find myself quite a ways behind...definately throwing my original conquest plans prior to the AD's out the window.

1520 - Damn AI chose to research Writing first ;( I wanted to go Mysticism so Stonehenge would be lined up for chops! Well I'll let Writing finish and have Rome build an Archer instead. With Barbs starting to show up I need to improve my lacking defenses.

1440 - Antium growing too fast...

1320 - Cumae founded claiming copper, with stone and crabs on the first border expansion. Starts a granary. At -4gpt will keep 100% research for now having 95G in dah bank.

1280 - Alex found Sparta claiming a silk just south of the desert to Rome's south. Antium size 6 already and needs happiness! I don't have any way to strategically stunt Antium's growth AND benefit from it yet, it needs a border expansion, switch to Library from granary with 3 turns left on the granary.

GRRRR, game crashed...haven't saved in a quite a while but fortunately the game autosaved at the start of my turn I found out after rebooting and checking for autosaves.

1240 - I realized I forgot to switch to Library after I reloaded ;( Switch to a settler now to halt growth and claim the wines. Wanted to go for Library, but still too far away even with a chop now before growing to size 6 and being unhappy...

1200 - Doh! Sparta has horses too! Alex has a really nice start position as well...seeing he also has horses, I'm thinking I need to take Sparta soon so he doesn't get all uppity on me. It's outside of his current borders but on Sparta's first expansion he'll have them...

1160 - Scout caught on an open plains next to a barb warrior...will likely get killed next turn.

1120 - Yes, scout dies. I get a chop in on Stonehenge! One more turn and it's mine! fingers crossed.

1080 - YES I win the Stonehenge race with a such a late start on it I wasn't sure I'd get it. Rome lines up the Oracle. Code of Laws in 14 turns, with 71G in dah bank, I'll have 15G left after it's research, still on -4gpt. If I win the Oracle looking at my choices (Metal Casing 78/630, Monarchy 0/420 or Alphabet 0/420 being best choices) I figure I'll still go for Casing even though I'll waste 78 perfectly good beakers.

950 - Thermopylae was founded, not sure when but he did...damn Alex claimed MY clams! That's it, I'm building an Army of Axemen, I'll take Sparta and Thermopylae and then backfill? But out there in the big bad world across the Oceans they'll get to research faster than me if I take him out and cripple him this badly, I need him to keep me in the research game...then again this IS Noble...

900 - Neapolis founded claiming the Wines. Argh, Antium unhappy...I moved Archer out with settler adding extra unhappiness ;( Little mistakes like these add up, fortunately this IS noble :) Have to drop to 90% research as founding of Neapolis brings me up to -7gpt. Code of Laws goes to 7 turns from 6, not too bad...fingers crossed.

850 - YES I WIN Oracle, Metal Casing for FREE! Hmmm, Alex left a worker vulnerable again :Evil grin: might be time to declare again, I covet his cities that he so toughtfully built for me...and my copper is online for some Axemen. I'm gearing for War!

825 - Antium finally expands! Gives me some extra tiles to lower food output and increase production. Starts Axemen.

800 - With Alex's worker aboput to complete his project, I declare to steal his worker and position my warriors strategically to give me a view of any potential retaliation on Alex's part. He only has 1 Archer defending Sparta while Thermopylae has 2! Ooops, 2 barbs spotted to the north of Rome as well, well at least it's free promo's for my Axemen but it'll slow them from getting to the front lines some. Hopefully Alex doesn't get too much time to raise the defense.
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775 - Doh! Alex has 2 Axemen my warrior falls back to avoid getting killed. I might have just made a big mistake, but the AI is pretty dumb, and I've got my own Axemen too, just means some more casualties than I expected.

700 - YES I founded Confucianism! But, bah, Holy City was founded in Neapolis, at least it'll get 5 Culture per turn though and quickly start pressing on Alex's borders. I was hoping it would be found in Rome though the gold income down the line would be most beneficial there. Free Missionary sent north to Rome.

500 - 2 Warriors and 2 Axemen succumb to Sparta's defenses but couldn't hold off the remaining Axemen now raising the Roman flag in Sparta. I'm still not sure what Alex is doing with his 2 Axemen though...he must have sent them to Thermopylae for defense. I won't have the resources to win that fight. But they need to heal and regroup with reinforcements arriving from Rome and Antium besides Thermopylae is still size 1, and I don't want to raze it, I want to take it.
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450 - Not 1 but 2 Forests grow near Antium! Confucianism spreads to Cumae.

400 - Thermopylae grows to size 2 and is ripe for the taking.

350 - Herodotus reports I'm still the Largest Civ with Alex still in the last spot. So far so good. Shwiiing Great Prophet in Rome sent down to Neapolis, this will help my current per turn deficit a little, only 3 cities but that will change soon enough. Pillage Alex's copper mine to stop his production of Axemen and Phalanx's, Athens is frighteningly well defended. Thermopylae has 2 Axemen and an Archer it'll take too long to complete more Axemen to take it this isn't quite the time to finish him. I'll stay at War for now to continue pillaging his lands and keep main army outside Thermopylae to pin his Axemen in place.
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325 - Confucianism spreads to Antium.

300 - Kong Miao completed in Neapolis.

275 - Axemen kills a Phalanx defending his deer? I wonder why that Phalanx was defending a deer and not his copper...

250 - Rome starts Pyramids (35 turns but I can hook up the stone now to help speed that up some).

125 - Monotheism finished, Civics lined up Caste System and Organized Religion. Pyramids completes somewhere far away giving me 53G to help replenish the coffers of Rome, but I guess I can't add Representation for the bonus ;( Spartan borders expand claiming the horses and sheep nearby.

100 - OMG Sweet, Somehow Alex had founded Corinth, I hadn't seen it until just now and it's only defended by 2 Archers. And a MUCH softer target than Thermopylae. With 4 Axe's I should be able to take it with my 4 Axemen, probably with 50% losses, but that's acceptable. My Axemen army moves to wrest control of Corinth from the Pagan Greeks. My Iron is almost online to secure the front lines and splitting Thermopylae from Athens will weaken an already hurting Alex. I think that will be my final goal of this current War - taking Corinth. Then I can go for infrastructure and fill in the gaps with settlers during our temporary peace. I want to wipe him off the map before making overseas contacts so I won't risk getting any "You declared War on my friend" penalties when I finish him off.

1AD - Hmmm, I just realized I'm paying for Organized Religion and Have NO State Religion...I never select a State Religion until I have Organized religion as the Anarchy is pointless, but now I do, taking the Anarchy so I can benefit from my Civic's selection.

50AD - Cumae completes Colossus. Need to try for the Lighthouse, but man I'll be starting on it late, and I still don't have Sailing yet! Corinth falls with 2 remaining Axemen once again raising the Roman Flag!
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With a Culture focus in Corinth I'll most likely be able to "steal" my Iron inside Alex's culture borders to leave him with just copper making the final destruction of the Greeks that much easier, however he'll still have Phalanx's which are pretty tough, although Praetorians should eat them alive...which I'll finally use to finish the task when the time is right. The physical War is pretty much done as far as I'm concerned but I'll wait 4 turns to finish Alphabet in the hopes Alex has some Technology to give me in return for peace.

100AD - Doh, borders of a Barb city are spotted North of Rome, so much focus on Greek lands I wonder when that happened...

150AD - 5.3 vs 3.2 Odds and my 11/17 Axemen loses...that hurts...Well with the advent of Alphabet I approach Alexander to discuss my terms. He has Sailing which a perfect match for my current needs! Which he gladly hands over with the expectation that I call off my dogs of war. Time to start bribing him and maybe help me grow a little to see if he can help me fill in some of these gaps but I won't mind if he doesn't, he's done his fair share already having settled most of my southern lands. I give him a free wine to doubly insure he doesn't attack with his own axemen, glad they never played a role in this war...any human player would have traded Axe for Axe however, shame the AI isn't all that much better. I guess overall the odds were against him though and he did save Thermopylae by his actions. I figure he'll also likely get some religion spread soon and I'll see him convert giving me some extra diplomatic cushioning now that i have Sailing and can convert cities connected by harbors.

175AD - Cumae completes courthouse > Settler in 6 six turns to block Alex into his current holdings, I'm sorely in need of workers with this large expansion to my territory. Beelining to Music in the hopes of getting the Free Great Artist so I can either culture bomb Corinth or settle him in to boost the cultural expansion of Corinth. The plan is too far away, but I do want the Great Library so I'll start down that path and review it later. Sparta turns a citizen into an Artist specialist and start growing my cultural borders. Sadly while I thought Sparta was connected by River it's not; so a pair of workers are sent that way first building road to future city site and then connect Sparta to my empire. Neapolis completes barracks and queues up 2 Archers for city defense.

225AD - Forest grows near Neapolis!

250AD - Hmm...Alex sending his 2 Axemen north towards Rome ;( What's he playing at...one of my Axemen heads north to tail his forces keeping an eye on this cagey Greek!

275 - Chitzen complete in 3 turns! What the hell I think Alex is attacking! He's 3 tiles from my Iron...and I only have a single Archer defending Rome! But I'll have an Axemen up by the time he gets here if that's his plan. Antium expands bringing the horses into it's cultural borders.

300AD - Alex is mining his Iron getting it online in 5 turns.

350 - Chitzen Itza completes! I'm a wonder hoe this game picking up a bunch of them! Math finished up begin Literature.

375 - Cumae starts work on Great Lighthouse after popping out settler.

400 - Pisae founded claiming 2 deer and pretty much ending any further expansion hopes Alexander may have had.

425 - YES I won the Parthenon race! Alex cancels peace treaty, no attack yet but he's very close...it seems imminent now.

450 - Christianity founded far away. Archer moving on Rome from Barb city.

475 - Another Archer from Barb city.

500 - Literature completes, running 90% research I'm at -8gpt, with Music due in 15 it'll cost me 120 of my current 168G...I think it'll be worth it! With Great Prophets in Rome at +9 I might be able to snag Taoism for another Holy City...we'll see though.

520 - Damn with 6 turns left on Lighthouse, I lose it ;( Hanging Gardens started in Antium.

540 - Excellent barb worker spotted up north! I think I'll let the Barb AI work on improving it's little city, my deficit is already pretty hefty and they can work on clearing those jungles for me. Muhahaha, I can be soo evil, but I guess nice at the same time that I'm allowing them to temporarily peacefully co-exist.

560 - Ooops, I guess my Praetorian must have scared the barb worker, moving him away to the east so Barbs can't "see" my Praetorian.

580 - Forest grows near Pisae! I'm having some good luck with forest growth this game! Taoism discovered far away, well I guess that rules that out. Well I got my Confucianism though so it's all good.

660 - Thermopylae picked up Confucianism last turn and Alex converts.

680 - Hanging Gardens completed in Antium, woot!

720 - Homer born in Rome from Music and he's sent to Corinth show the Greeks what real culture is! Start on Optics, which is something I should have done a looong time ago but only getting around to now...Confucianism spreads to Athens.

820 - Most powerful Nation, Rome only places 3rd! Alexander unsurprisingly dead last...Homer creates an Amzaing work of Art and expands my Cultural borders in Corinth to wrest control of my second source of Iron. I'll follow it up with settling the next Artist to ensure Athens current culture doesn't go on to overpower Corinths. Besides maybe I'll go for a cultural victory, Rome, Antium and Corinth are all good canditates to do it. But at this late stage it's not gonna be easy to attain.

860 - Great Library completes in Rome! Confucianism spreads to Pisae.

980 - Ravenna founded West of Antium.

1090 - Islam founded in Corinth! Great location for my second Religion!

1110 - My Free missionary of Islam fails at teaching the proud Confucianists of Rome about the interesting secrets of Islam.

Well my turn logs end here, and I forget all the exact details following as I continued playing on from work and neglected to maintain a turn log from this point on. But I know shortly after this Optics was discovered and Cumae started a Caravel which headed Westwards while 2-3 turns later Corinth finished a Caravel as well which headed east in the hopes the two ships could meet half way allowing me to be the first to circumnaivgate the Globe, will I be successful in this endeavor? That would be getting ahead of myself and the scope of this spoiler, suffice it to say I forget which Caravel encountered my first Civilization overseas but one of them did.

Hey, did anyone else get Alexander coming to them wanting Monotheism for 120 Gold?? If yes, why do you think he was prepared to pay so much? After all, its not as though he rushed to switch to Organised Religion or anything. Unless he wanted it to get to Monarchy a bit earlier?!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Hey, did anyone else get Alexander coming to them wanting Monotheism for 120 Gold?? If yes, why do you think he was prepared to pay so much? After all, its not as though he rushed to switch to Organised Religion or anything. Unless he wanted it to get to Monarchy a bit earlier?Alex never got religion and died before I got it in my game.

Hey, did anyone else get Alexander coming to them wanting Monotheism for 120 Gold?? If yes, why do you think he was prepared to pay so much? After all, its not as though he rushed to switch to Organised Religion or anything. Unless he wanted it to get to Monarchy a bit earlier?!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Only thing I remember Alex coming to me for was Peace! Oh and once he came to me for Iron, it was quite amusing seeing him threaten me to give him Iron after Corinth's cultural borders took it from him, it was even better because I'd pillaged it, and he rebuilt it for me 4 turns before it got culture bombed ;) He did manage to build one swordsmen though.

Initial Plan and Victory condition goal
My initial plan is to use the Rome’s traits to grow a large civilization and attempt to gain a domination victory using Praetorians as early as possible technology wise. My practice games indicated that I should be able to win around the time that gunpowder units became available. My Praetorians would get promoted to Macemen and Grenadiers as required.

To fuel a quick expansion, I planned to chop forests without remorse. I won't even make a settler until I have 3 workers chopping. :mischief:

Assessment of starting area
I settled Rome one tile to the east of the starting location. This got me next to the gems and still allowed me to still found Rome in 4000bc. The initial starting area was not as food rich, or as heavily forested as I would have liked. This slowed me down and forced my expansion and city placement in less then prime locations. The initial area was very gold rich especially the gems grassland. I had planned on not making any worker improvements until I had chopped all the forests, but the bonus of +5 gold per turn for 4 worker turns was too good to pass up, so my first worker moved onto the Gems and mined before I started chopping.

Starting moves and builds
The immediate surroundings contained around ten forests. I wanted to convert those forests to hammers as quickly as possible. To this end, building workers was key. Each additional worker meant 7.5 hammers/turn. (30 hammers, 4 turns to harvest, 1 move, 3 chop). I planned on not building a settler until I had three active workers and scouts to protect them. While this delayed my second city, it gave me the critical mass to chop a settler in 4 turns.

Build order was as follows: Worker (no chops), Worker (one chop), Scout, Worker, Scout, Settler, Granary. This just about used up the initial ten forests around Rome. I did no special switching between workers/settlers and units in order to get food to grow. In fact, my goal was to complete a granary before Rome grew to size 2. It finished the same turn as I grew, and like CivIII, I did not get to use the granary and lost out on 12 or so food.

Research and goodie huts
My goal was to get Bronze working at the same time as my first worker so I could start chopping. Then I wanted Hunting for scouts, Wheel for roads and later to get Pottery and Mysticism because I planned to build Stonehedge in one of my first few built cities. The cultural expansion from Obelisks in every town really helps while chopping forests and avoiding animals. Because my early cities would spend so much time building workers/settlers and not growing, I wanted to get Granaries as soon as possible and minimize the cost to grow in food.

I popped a good number of huts, six total and received 2 maps, 100? gold, 1 experience (on warrior) and 1 tech (Sailing)

Research order was Bronze working, Hunting (for scout), Sailing (hut), Wheel (need for pottery), Mysticism (need for Stonehedge), Pottery (Granaries), Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Archary, Masonary, Iron working, Writing (1360bc, last tech before 1000bc)

1000BC stats
Game Score ~ 500 (518 on 950bc)

7 cities
14 population
2 granaries
1 barracks
1 lighthouse
Stonehedge

5 workers
3 archers
2 scouts
2 warriors

Here is a picture of my starting area at 950bc (missed my 1000bc save!).
105792

StanNP :cool:

I'm going for a military victory, not sure if it will be conquest, fast domination, or high score yet.

It takes 2 research centers to get Astronomy at a decent date, so my first priority was getting Rome and Cumae set up for science. I did the Feudalism slingshot with my third city. Later cities built Praetorians, Catapults, and Galleys.

3920BC: Build Rome W,W,SW on the plains hill, for +1 hammer in city tile.
3680BC: Pop The Wheel from a hut!
3640BC: Agriculture
3480BC: Worker
3400BC: Warrior
3280BC: Warrior
3120BC: Bronze Working
3080BC: Warrior
2800BC: Settler
2640BC: Mysticism
2560BC: Worker
2520BC: Warrior
2480BC: Pottery
2400BC: Meditation
2320BC: Granary
2200BC: Priesthood
2040BC: Settler
2000BC: Writing, Stonehenge in Antium
1440BC: Monarchy, Library in Rome
1240BC: Iron Working
1160BC: Masonry
1000BC: Oracle in Antium, free Feudalism

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/davemcw_gotm01_bc1000.jpg

900BC: Mathematics
675BC: Great Prophet born in Antium, join him to Rome
650BC: Currency
600BC: Animal Husbandry
450BC: Code of Laws, found Confucianism in Antium
300BC: Construction
250BC: Hunting
125BC: Metal Casting
100BC: Sailing
0AD: Calendar
25AD: Declare war on Greece
175AD: Machinery
300AD: Compass
425AD: Optics
500AD: Cease-fire with Greece, they have 1 useless city left
500AD: Great Merchant born in Cumae, put him on the first Caravel
760AD: Astronomy

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/davemcw_gotm01_ad560.jpg

I have tried a couple of Rome games before the GOTM and figured out the following:

Pre-Game plan

1. You have significant advantage against beasts and barbs on noble level. When your warrior is against a strength 2 lion, it's 2:1.3 advantage ratio when the lion is on a plain and you are attacking. So, if you are on a hill and/or in forest against one beast, you are going to win. Just let them bite you. Or if they are on the plain undefended, attack and kill them.

2. Your Praetorians is invincible once it's has level 2 and 3 city raider ability in attacking cities before Longbow comes out. And you could easily conquer your continent with Praetorian armies if there is no more than 2 opponets sharing it with you. The only weakness might be against enemy swordman/axeman out in the open. There won't be a lot of them considering it's only noble level.

3. Archer and horse archer are useless because you don't need to defend your city. You should be on the offisive. And as stated in 1, warriors are simply good enough to kick barb's ass at early stage. As for horse archer, well, too weak to attack city and not good enough to fight axeman/swordman, when spearman comes, run!

4. Your continent is not big enough for domination. You need to at least sail over to another big land and kill 1-2 civs there. You want to use either use catapult/praetorian/knight combined armies or the superior cavalry to do the job. Naval domination is required not to mention that.


5. Great people is a nice feature, so have a couple of cities popping out them are fun.

6. Religion is required, but not top priority at the beginning. And it's not hard to grab Confusium at this level.

So, in my pre-game plan, iron is the top priority. However, after review the starting map, I decided to go for Agriculture because I want to farm the corn first to build up more pop. So the initial tech search are Agriculture -> Bronze -> Iron.


Ancient Rome - before 0900BC

4000BC - build Rome at 1E due to more hilly access and found one more hill there. y! Starting out with Agriculture because I want to farm first to build up more pop; also building first worker.
I also left the rome undefened and sent out the warrior thinking that I won't met any barb, which was actually wrong. Also, I know that the animals never enter your borther.

3440BC - Greek scout appeared from southwest and then going north. It meant Greek in somewhere in the south. Several turns later, the scount went back from north which suggested there wasn't much places to the north.

2560BC - My first warrior got ambushed by barbs pop out of a hut located 6N2e of Creak capital.

The exploration to the south east was halted for a little while. But I've got 2 more warriors looking around. Rome is still undefended. And I was 3 turn away for the first settler.

2400BC - Built Antium 3S4W of Rome for the wheat in N and river and hills.

After I discovered Iron, I went to Wheel and then Pottory for cheap Granary. Then I switched over for Mysticism for stoneheng rushing and then Polytheism, Preisthood for Oracle. Yes, Hinduism was dicovered by distant civ, but that's not what i was looking for anyway, Confusim, that's what i wanted.

A snapshot at 1400BC showed that I've got Stonehenge (2 turns ago) so the map is centered. We are in the southwest of the world, looks like a small continent. I'm a little concerned about the bigger continent out there. They might be trading techs a lot while I'm stuck in getting better relationship with Alex. I went for Writing after Preisthood coz that's the last tech required for Code of Laws.

The 3rd city was settled right on the iron in 1880BC. Yes, I didn't wasted the potential to mine it, but it's on the desert, i got 2 more food out of it. And I don't have to mine and build road to get access to it. I didn't remember which city created the settler, though.

0925BC - One turn before I finished Oracle and also one turn before Rome grew to 8, I turned on avoid growth because I only have Gem to make up to 7 people happy in Rome. Antium was building settler one of the reason is its pop was 6 the max number can be happy there. Happiness kept be a problem until out of the scope of this spoiler.

I enabled Open Border with Alex and completed my exploration for the continent after I got writing.. I then went to Monarchy to enable the Winery that is south of Antium to add one more happiness. BTW: I researched Masonry for no good reasons. Maybe looking for Pyramids? I didn't build it anyway. And to get writing, I was forced to research Animal Husbandary.

0900BC - Oracle was built. Chose Code of Laws, founded Confucianism in Antium. Sent the Missionary to Rome. Converted to Confucianism. I want to grow!


(To be continued...)

675BC: Great Prophet born in Antium, join him to Rome
<snip>
450BC: Code of Laws, found Confucianism in Antium
What was your reasoning for adding the prophet to Rome rather than saving him for the Confucian shrine?

Well, Ainwood, if he was anything like me, he probably flipped a coin to decide ;) :p. True story. I got a Great Prophet, and had a choice to either join him to Rome for a production and economic bonus, or use him to get very close to obtaining Divine Right (and, therefore, found Islam). This was a HUGE choice for me, because either choice was fairly valid so-in desperation-I decided to flip a coin. It came up tails which, in this case, meant I used him to rush towards divine right!! Thats what I love so much about this game-fewer anal micromanagement actions needed, but a lot of high-level strategic choices!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Well, that sucked. Just typed up a long report and lost it when my browser tab decided to disappear.

Long story short...not typing all that again so I'll summarize.

This is my first GOTM and also the first game I've decided to manually manage my workers (something I decided I needed to learn by following the RB1 - Cuban Isolationists thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133492)).

The game is coming along quite nicely except I'm behind on techs, but not by much.

Most notable point in my game so far:
Alexander of the Greeks decides he wants my iron resource and attacks. This is something that I did not expect and was in no way prepared for (you could say I pulled a Sulla... j/k :) ). At one point I thought I might lose a city (my iron resource city) but walls and a lone city garrison archer saved the day. When Alex couldn't take the city he pillaged the iron resource. Wow, this is a great move on the part of the AI because now I couldn't build Praetorians. Not only that, but I tried to replace the mine and road but Alex would have none of it. I wouldn't get my iron resource back during this entire war. I did manage to fend off his first wave thanks to another tip gleamed from the RB1 - Cuban Isolationists thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133492). That tip being to keep unpromoted units around to be able to promote them appropriately to the situation when the need arises. I would go as far as to say that this tip alone saved my ass in this game..in more ways than one. It enabled me to fend off Alexanders first wave and I truly believe that it got me the eventual peace treaty. Alex also tried to go around with a galley and plant down a city on the northern tip of continent. He did get it planted but I promoted a couple of units I had up there to city raider units and razed it before it could become a problem. When Alex sent in his second wave I thought I was in for some serious hurt. I didn't have the offensive units to counter his forces, nor did I have enough defensive units to place on my resources. I was in no danger of losing my cities due to him having no seige and me having plenty of city garrison longbowmen. However he had enough horse archers to seriously damage my infrastructure, but....here is the weird, save my ass part. He calls me up and offers peace. He did ask for some gold, but not anywhere near what I could have given him. I had already tried to get peace from him a few turns earlier and he would have none of it. If he hadn't offered right then, I feel I could possibly have been in a world of trouble as far as winning possibilities go. So, the moral of the story? It pays off to read what others have done, especially those that are more experienced than you. ;)

Now I've made friends with the Greeks, have built up my military and if he comes at me again he'll be in for a surprise. Of course, he is eventually going to pay for his mistake anyway...heh. I'm going to be implementing the "You have chosen unwisely(tm)" diplomatic solution.

-teck

3290BC: Build Rome W,W,SW on the plains hill, for +1 hammer in city tile.


I've built Rome to the same place :)

But I got nothing from huts but money, and the barbarians killed my warriors.. :(

After agriculture I went for alphabet, but Alexander didn't want to trade ANYTHING in the whole game so far.. :(

I've built many wonders (almost everything except the great lighthouse and the colossus
I'm just starting to build up my military (I haven't built any preatorian and they are already obsolete :) )

After agriculture I went for alphabet, but Alexander didn't want to trade ANYTHING in the whole game so far.. :(

As you can see on page 2 I also went for Alphabet early. Definately my biggest mistake in the game so far, as it took ages to research and I have had absolutely ZERO use of it. :mad:

Comparing my tech-pace to Shillen's (page 1), there are two main differences:

1) He popped Iron Working from a hut ( :eek: ), while I popped Hunting ( :rolleyes: ).

2) I went for Alphabet after Writing while he didn't.

The effect is that he got to Optics in 475 AD, while I didn't have those Caravels until 940 AD. :(

-- Roland

This GOTM is my first noble level game (I never played civ4 below emperor yet :) ) I suppose He didn't want to trade because I was more advanced than him...
Anyway I will kill him very soon... :)

to bad there isnt an easy option for disabling techs for huts. seems like it would be attractive for gotm given it such a huge wildcard.

When you are on a continent with only one AI they will not trade with you. The AI will not trade a tech which it thinks it has a monopoly on. Your relationship with them makes no difference. That makes Alphabet pretty much useless when you are locked on a continent with only one other civ. The same applies to an archipelego game in which you know 6 civs, but none of them know each other. It is very frustrating, and something I was hoping would change with the patch.