Spoiler 2 qualifications:

Reading Requirements:

Full world map & all contacts.
Entered the industrial ages. or
Completed the game before reaching industrial age.


Posting Restrictions:
No discussions of modern-age.
No pictures or discussion of industrial-age (or later) resources.


For those of you that finish the game in the middle-ages, you may discuss any events in your game here, or alternatively, in the final spoiler. For those whose game continued-on to the industrial (or even modern) age, then please do not discuss the final part of your game until the third spoiler thread.

Predator Conquest Challenge
The second half of my game was quite uneventful. Not much to report!

I made my way accross the Ocean in 250BC. I had plenty of galleys so got my main force accross quite fast and quickly took down the Spanish. I then rop raped the Arabs, Celts and Iro's in that order getting a conquest win 350AD for 11,400 Jasons.

The whole thing was done with Swords / med infs (and a few horses). Never used elephants.

The only real significant event was the discovery of a bug. I hand built the great wall to kick off my golden age. From that point on any time a barb pillaged one of my towns it crashed my game. Seems like a problem with the way my game was modded. This meant I had to abandon quite a few towns. I hope my game doesn't look too suspicious!

[civ3mac][ptw] Open

Ancient Age Spoiler #1 We entered the Middle Ages in 410 BC with a small group of 9 Republican towns, built at RCP radii 4 and 6. Our army consisted of 4 horses, 3 archers and 5 warriors.

First war

Between 250 BC and 190 BC we filled the rest of the eastern island with Indian towns, and in 170 BC we added Punjab on the edge of the tundra, as a precursor to the annexation of Japan,

War was declared on Japan in 130 BC and our mighty army of seven horsemen took Kyoto. The other three Japanese towns on the south coast were autorazed. Ten turns later we made peace, in 90 AD, as Japan's remaining OCC on the north western tip of the continent represented no threat in any respect and could be dealt with later. We built six more towns along the south coast to replace the razed towns and to fill the gaps left by Japan, to deprive the Aztecs of expansion room.

To Chivalry

A period of development followed, building libraries, markets etc. while running research flat out on Monotheism (70 BC), Feudalism (130 AD) and Chivalry (270 AD).

The Aztec had built the Great Library in 270 BC, so I traded Monotheism, to Aztec first for some cash, and then to Egypt for some lux. They would get it soon enough anyway, as I intended to give them Education as soon as possible to kill the Libray.

During this time several intrepid sailors ventured into the eastern ocean hoping to find a fabled lost world, and were never heard from again. Finally, in 360 AD a galley made a westerly crossing in the north and we contacted the Celts, trading maps and trinkets for the rest of the contacts and a full world land map, and cleaning out all the small piggy banks on both sides of the water. I held back on contacts between the continents, mainly as insurance, but also because they had nothing of value to trade. On subsequent archeological investigation it was learnt that two vessels came within one tile of reaching land, and if one of them had continued east for one more turn instead of turning north in 110 BC he would have reached the other continent, 30 turns earlier than our eventual contact :eek:

We researched Astronomy as a necessary prerequisite to reaching the other continent safely.

Golden Age of the Elephants

Next up for demolition was Egypt, who had built the Great Wall, very conveniently, in the appropriately named Elephantine right on our north west frontier. The clue was in the name. We waited until we had researched Chivalry, built some war elephants, and the Great Wall town was the first to fall when we declared on Egypt, in 490 AD, with Heliopolis falling the same year. The Indian Golden Age kicked in, and we were off and running. Cleo's few chariots of fire never achieved a victory, so there never was an Egyptian Golden Age. Eight turns later we had relegated Egypt to one town next door to Japan on the north west arm of the continent, and two little crofter cottages in the northern isles.

Our war elephants' attention was then directed to Azteca, and seven turns between 600 AD and 660 AD saw them evicted from our continent. They now shared the northern isles with Egypt and Spain. In 690 AD the home continent was all-Indian, with Japan's last outpost on the northern tip captured. We had a couple of flips to Egypt and Azteca, so our galleys took the fight to the northern isles, where Egypt and Aztecs fought their last stand between 720 AD and 770 AD. These battles produced our first Great Leader, Chandragupta, who built Sun Tzu in 740 AD.

The Spanish were the next logical target. Having apparently been Arabia's plaything for most of history, they only had 3 towns, one conveniently next to the late lamented Monty's final resting place. But they had built the Great Lighthouse, and they owned some real estate on the north east coast of the second continent that would provide a useful beachhead for the next phase of India's world conquest. So Isobella shook off her mortal coil in 840 AD, giving India the Great Lighthouse and producing a second Great Leader. He built Magellan's voyage in a captured Spanish town for two reasons:

1. To generate some culture to push back the Arab borders. We already had a hand-built Leonardo's Workshop completing next turn, so that wasn't an option.
2. In the mistaken belief that the Lighthouse plus Magellan would add together to give our galleys and caravels 5 movement points. Ho hum!

Here come the Cavalry

During the twenty years of Golden Age to 690 AD we had researched to Gunpwoder and Astronomy, gifted Education to neutralise the Aztec Great Library, then captured it, hand built the Forbidden Palace in Bombay, developed our core with libraries and markets, and built a respectable army of Elephants. In 770 AD we were building Cavalry ad selectively upgrading elephants, but mass elephant upgrades were delayed until our Leos hand build completed in 850 AD. Probably unnecessary, given the small savings :hmm:

In 860 AD we declared on Arabia, and our cavalry destroyed him in 930 AD. The Celts went in 990 AD, and the Iroquois died in 1030 AD, delayed by my lack of planning for their appalling road systems. The Iroquois enjoyed a four turn Golden Age when a Mounted Warrior got lucky and killed a wounded stray.

Lessons

Lots! As well as the mistakes I've noted above, in restrospect, the whole thing should have been done with heffalumps and galleys. I should have taken Egypt out earlier using horses, and I should have triggered my Golden Age as soon as I could upgrade my horses to elephants, instead of waiting 20 turns to build an elephant army. Truth to tell, I was a little surprised to find that horses upgraded to elephants. For some reason I didn't check the 'pedia :blush: Finding the gold required for upgrades would have been challenging, but I'd soon have recouped it in the resulting GA. I also missed the southern galley route which I could have used to fight a second front.

So I missed my own 1000 AD target by four turns, and I'm sure my date and score won't trouble the experts. Wardancer's 350 AD is just a distant dream :rolleyes:

Predator PtW
Ancient Age (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=4201589&#post4201589)

Entered MA in 710BC. Japan is already history. We are currently at peace with the whole world and had just traded for all maps.

First we change the thing about peace. DoW Aztecs for a real war and Iroquois and Arabs to get the other continent a little occupied by some alliances.

Our suicide galleys have found a nice passage for Lighthouse driven galleys. Now we just need a leader to build it.
So science is planned as feudalism - monotheism - chivalry - stop!

Finished the aztecs in 430BC. No leader in this war.
In 310BC the last egypt town is razed by the first war elephant. Golden Age but still no leader.
I anyways stopped research and started suicide ship chaining into Iroquois land.
Lousy RNG - lost 5 of my first 6 waypoint galleys the first turn they were on ocean :cry: . Well, we just rush-build more :crazyeye: .

In 70BC the battle at Allegheny generated a leader, which built the Lighthouse in Niagary Falls. Now we are all set - 8 galleys can now safely transport 4 units per turn.

The next leader in 30BC builds the palace in Salamanca.
We later still get leaders for Sun Tsu's and the Great Wall (for denial).
The rest is just shipping-moving-fighting.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/klarius_g56_m.gif

Conquest victory in 300AD.

Software Version: PtW 1.27f for Windows
Entry class: Open
Game status: Conquest Victory for India
Game date: 780 AD
Firaxis score: 6240
Jason score: 10304

this's the first time for me to achieve a Jason score above 10000. i'm quite happy with it. :)
i had to say that i was extremely lucky in this game:
1) my 1st galley found the other continent without sinking on its route (though there is only world map to trade around and about 200 gold profit).
2) my first elite victory got me a great leader which hurried forbidden palace in the land of Aztec quite early on. and this allowed me a good tech pace. however my 40 turn researching towards republic was definitely a big mistake.

real war against the world started when i got the elephant. and conquered the Iraquois city with the great light house at the beginning of the war and this made everything following much easier... researched upto navigation for safe ocean crossing, which is actually not necessarily considering the number of galleys i had...

Jason 10444, Conquest win in 910 AD.

Stopped researching after having MT & Navigation.

Started near the cow and grabbed horses from Japan with 1st Settler.
Build 7 or 8 cities before going to war first. Attacked Japan, then Egypt, then Aztecs with Horses while going for Republic.
Upgraded some to Elephants and conquered Celts. Then upgraded to Cavs and getting the others in less than 20 turns (Spain build GLighthouse and had 3 cities on an island).
Got a leader rather late (when capturing Celts and build FP in Entremont), I should have handbuilded a FP before.

Me having a higher score than ionimplant might be a result of having build Temples in my early cities and even in later ones.

BTW. I noticed that all of the civs in this game were religious, and none of them were scientific. I assume this was deliberate. So, no trades for CB, no free techs, and no opportunities to kick them into anarchy at the start of a war.

Predator PtW
Ancient Age (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=4201589&#post4201589)

Conquest victory in 300AD.

Shucks :)

...

My goal for this game was a domination victory before 1000AD and (for a change) I actually took notes.

Settlements
In 3950 Delhi was founded NW of the starting position, followed by
2850 W-W-NW Bombay
2190 W-NW Madras
1830 NW-NW-NW-N Bangalore
1400 between Iron and Horses Calcutta
1325 S-S-S Lahore
1250 SW-SW-SW-SW Karachi
1075 N-N-N-N Kolhapur

Then I managed to colonize the nearby island
0950 E-E-SE Jaipur
0775 SE-SE-SE-SE-SE-SE Hyderabad
0650 NW-NW-NW-NW-NW-N Bengal
0530 S-S-S-SW-SW Chittagong
0510 E-E-NE-NE-NE Punjab

Contacts
3150 Egypt
2900 Japan
2630 Aztecs

Finally in 350 BC I crossed the ocean (after losing several suicide galleys, I think I was really quite unlucky in the seafaring business) and met the rest of the folks.

Science
The AI was not so much of help in this game, in the Middle Ages, I had to self research most of the techs.
3150 Pottery + 50 <-> Alphabet
2630 BW + 7 <-> Alphabet
2510 Writing self researched
2350 Wheel + Masonry + WC <-> Writing
2190 Mysticism <-> Writing
1725 CoL self researched
1550 Philo self researched
1525 IW <-> Philo
1300 Horseback Riding + World Map <-> CoL
1300 MM <-> HR + CoL + 10
0850 Republic self researched
0700 Math self researched
0530 Poly <-> Republic
0470 Currency self researched
0350 Literature <-> Poly
0350 Construction <-> Republic

Then I went on to research Mil Trad. (for Cavalry) and Navigation (to cross the ocean, it didn't come to my mind to build the Great Lighthouse).

War
My first war was against Japan, they had warriors and archers and were disposed of quickly by my Horses. Next were the Aztecs. I took most of their territory but got stalled at some point with horses. So I waited around 5 turns for my nice elephants and then took them out easily. This also triggered my golden age and my army was steadily growing. I was mainly cash rushing temples and building elephants (and later cavalry) from the middle ages on.

I ROP-raped the egyptians (as they did not have any contact with the other continent) and took them out easily. At this point I had to make a little break (for Navi and Mil Trad) and built enough caravels and cavalry for my sea invasion.

The invasion of the Iroquois land was easy and fairly quick. I triggered their golden age but they were not to enjoy it for long. I figured that conquering the celts land would be enough for a domination victory and attacked immediately. The arabs sent some suspicious looking troops into my territory so I gave them some luxuries to keep them quiet. However, those stupid jerks sneak attacked me anyway. This was my only major setback.

While taking out the celts I had to ship over more troops and rush muskets to get rid of the arabs. Science was set to 0% after getting Navigation so I could cash rush temples everywhere. Around 900 AD I took out the Celts and could concentrate on the Arabs. Domination was triggered in 970 AD. Besides getting the victory before 1000 AD I also got my first Jason over 10000 :cool: .

Software Version: PtW 1.27f for Windows
Entry class: Open
Game status: Domination Victory for India
Game date: 970 AD
Firaxis score: 5770
Jason score: 10006

I must be the only one not going to a war based win. While I have been somewhat the aggressor (no more Aztecs, Egypt or Japan), I'm now focusing on culture aiming a 100K win (a long way to go however).

[civ3mac] [ptw] Open

http://home.comcast.net/~dojoboy/mm_gotm56_1335ad.jpg

I entered the IA while preparing for a war v. Arabia to secure my starting landmass. Indian units were positioned to do the upmost damage as qyuickly as possible. The Arabians had a large portion of their army scattered along their cities on the northwest coast of the eastern half of the continent.

The Egyptians had been removed from the continent, surviving among the islands to the north.

But, the Arabian war took place in the IA, so I want go there right now. India enjoyed a tech lead throughout the MA, which allowed me to build a good portion of elephants/cavalry, overpowering my rivals..

Soon the wars began.

There Can Be Only One
In 110, Multan is founded. We give an Aztec settler pair the ultimatum next turn, they scram. Pune is founded in 170, but Rawalpindi flips. Now I'm mad, and 2 turns later I declare war, sending 5 swords and an archer toward Teotihuacan while Khulna is founded.
They had only 1 spear defending and the town is taken in 230. Tiruchchirappali and Lucknow are founded, and by 270 we take Rawalpindi back. We get a leader in 320 and use him to rush the FP in Thebes. By this time we've learned feud and started mono. Tenochtitlan was nice enough to build the Gardens for us in 340. Delhi switches to Lighthouse, which completes the following turn. This would be very important for us. The poor Aztecs keep sending their puny archers to be slaughtered by my maces. Sometime in the early 5th century we learn mono.

Follow the Light(house)
A suicide run in 460 pays off next turn by finding the Iroquois. Surprisingly they are behind us. We preach knowledge of the One True God in exchange for the secrets of the Republic and contact with the Celts and Arabs, 31 gold, and most important, a map of the New World. We see that this New World is divided and weak. We also preach to the Celts, in exchange for 71 and contact w/the Spanish. The Spanish pay us 44 gold for knowledge of the True Faith. The backward Arabs are not ready for this knowledge, they don't even have a kingdom yet! We uncover a safe route to the New World and open embassies to Spain and Iroquois. We'll see ya after we trash the Aztecs!

Enlightenment thru War
6 maces and a sword fight 6 spears in Tenochtitlan. We leave 1 left and renew the assault, taking the city w/the Gardens in 490. 2 turns later, I learn chivalry, starting invention. In 520 I switch to Republic. We take 2 more Aztec towns and an elephant kicks off the Golden Age in 550. During much of the GA, I'm doing 4-turn research. Engineering is learned in 570, invention in 610, guns in 650.
We have saltpeter outside Multan and Kanpur not connected. Celts begin the Sistine. They refuse to trade us theo for engineering or chiv. In 700 the Aztecs are out, also learning chem at this time. Metallurgy is learned in 750, and the GA comes to an end next turn.

D-Day
4 galleys full of troops commence the invasion in 770. 2 turns later Mauch Chunk is taken, establishing our beachhead. Next turn, Niagara Falls is taken and Cattaraugus razed, while 2 towns are built in the homeland to fill in gaps. Military Tradition is established in 820, and we trade invention to the Celts for theo+104+15gpt, starting ed. Ed is learned 5 turns later as Salamanca burns. Allegheny in the sw corner is taken in 930 and Agra is founded. 2 more towns in India are founded, as 3 more Iroquois towns are razed just after the turn of the millenium. In 1040 I sell off my rax, since Sun Tzu and Bach will finish next turn. I also destroy Tonawanda, wiping out the Iroquois.

Kill 'em All and Let GOD Sort 'em Out
Entremont builds the Sistine Chapel in 1060, thus ensuring that the Celts would be the next target. I also learn physics at this time. I also bribe Spain with chem for 37+10gpt. By the time we stab them, there won't be anyone else. I cut the Celts' iron and horse. Spain foolishly sends a settler crew in my area in 1100, we'll deal w/them later. In 1120 research is turned off, having picked up magnets. The new world resources are now connected and I start upgrading the galleys and caravels to galleons. Entremont is taken in 1160, giving us the Pyramids, Great Wall and Sistine. Other Celtic towns are razed except for Lugdunum. Madrid builds Leonardo in 1180. I sign RoP with Spain so I can finish off the Arabs and Celts...and stab foolish Spain. :evil:

Rape, Pillage, and Burn
Arabs are out by 1220 as we found several more towns. I am carefully watching the domination limit. By 1240 the Celts are out and we fall on Spain, razing 2 towns and taking 3. Spain had an island city off their continent that was the source for their saltpeter, it is taken in 1265. Though Madrid has Leonardo, it burns in 1270, as I don't want a flip. The final assault takes place in 1285 and the conquest is finished in 1290 after getting a second leader.

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5743/gotm56okill7pu.png (http://imageshack.us)

4695 Firaxis, 9059 Jason--my best score ever. :dance: I ended the game 35 tiles from the domination limit.

ptw predator going for 20K

cathedral 260 AD
sistine chapel 370 AD
bach's cathedral 730 AD
shakespeare's theatre 990 AD
universal suffrage 1500 AD

I suppose I can't post end date and other culture builds here since they move into modern age?

Despite quite a lot of war (for me) I only got one leader which I used to rush the Sistine Chapel.

I must be the only one not going to a war based win.Not at all. I'm going for a tech (UN/Space) victory. Middle Ages 510bc till 590ad.

I must be the only one not going to a war based win. While I have been somewhat the aggressor (no more Aztecs, Egypt or Japan), I'm now focusing on culture aiming a 100K win (a long way to go however).
Oh no, you're not alone. I went for 100K as well.

I entered the MA very late in 230AD after a couple of 40 turn research projects. I edited my map in spoiler 1 as I had a pretty full map due to conatct with all civs in the AA. This is the unedited version.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/start_of_MA_unedited.JPG
I was at war with the Aztecs and as I had to go through the last Japanese city to get to the last Aztec one, I declared on them as well and knocked them out in 320AD. (Klarius had finished by then!)

I then built some jumbos and used them against the weakened Egyptians, making the continent mine in 510AD.

I then spent time settling the continent and preparing to invade part of the other main land mass.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/710-attack_Celts.JPG
In 710AD I declared on the Celts. I reduced them to one town, switched my attention to the Spanish and took a few towns from them and by 930AD I had just entered the IA. Not bad considering the late entry into the MA and the pathetic AI.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/start_of_IA.JPG

I was fairly close to the domination limit, but I took out the Celts as my final act of aggression before settling down to filling up the space I had and trying out some commie rushing of culture. More to follow.

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif

Predator Conquest Challenge
a.k.a.
Peaceful Gandhi? NOT! :D

-----

Early game

Settler moves NW-W-W and founds Delhi in 3850BC. Worker follows and irrigates immediately the moo. The initial build order is: warrior -> settler -> warrior -> warrior -> worker. Research is set to Writing at minimum. Cities are built at RCP 3 around the capital. Warriors go exploring and find quite early Aztecs (they built a city next to our capital!), Japan and Egypt. A trade round with those pukes gives us Masonry, Bronze, Wheel and War Code.

In the early game Delhi is set to produce workers and settlers, while the other cities build a barracks and prepare to toss units. We only develop the ring, except for a city in the far south founded to secure silks. Slaves are bought whenever possible, thanks to the money spared with the research at minimum.

Once Writing is complete we trade it for Iron Working, Pottery and Mysticism. Surprise! A city at RCP 3 SW can be build to both secure the iron and prepare the way for the capture of Kyoto. The training of archers stop immediately and we start producing veteran warriors to be upgraded later. Next research is Mathematics that is traded for Horse Riding. The path is now Polytheism -> Monarchy, then science spending will be completely stopped. Apart from Map Making, that is quite likely to be researched by the AS, nothing else is necessary. A horde of brutes with swords is all we need to take over the world :evil:


Bloodlust

War with Japan starts in 1300 BC. Next turn Kyoto is captured. Our swords are having an easy time, the Japanese didn't train any spearman. Another city is captured, then we head for Osaka but the city drops to size 1. We reduce it to the last defender, then sign peace extorting another city, Map Making, a world map and some quids. Too bad in the interturn the Aztecs destroy Osaka with a jag and start their golden age. Well, we'll destroy them anyway.

We start to produce galleys. War with Aztecs is declared in 1100 BC and the city of Teotihuacan (their settlement near our capital) is captured next turn. Troops move for Tenochtitlan, while a bunch of workers connect the city and a 2nd stack of swords head for the egyptian core. War with Egypt is declared and Thebes is captured in 1000 BC. Our 1st leader finally emerges and it rushes the Pyramids in Thebes in the very same turns. The city is small and the free troops are enough to hold it safe from a cultural flip.

With this last capture, our QSC stats looks promising. 12 cities, 5 of which captured or extorted.


House cleaning

At this point, Japan is playing OCC, Egypt has lost its only strong city and Azteca is about to suffer the same fate. Tenochtitlan falls in 975 BC. Next turn another Egyptian city falls and peace is signed with the Aztecs, extorting a small village. In the Egyptian front, we capture 2 more cities then extorting the 3rd with peace dealings, reducing Egypt to play OCC.

In 825 BC, Monarchy is established. Going for Republic was slower and the unit support cost would have killed us.

In 800 BC, the Japanese OCC is captured. The remaining villages are all unconnected and reaching them with swords takes a few turns. The continent is completely owned in 670 BC.

Here's the city log until this point:

3850BC: Delhi;
3150BC: Bombay;
2310BC: Madras;
1910BC: Bangalore;
1750BC: Calcutta;
1300BC: Kyoto (captured);
1275BC: Satsuma (captured);
1275BC: Lahore;
1200BC: Edo (extorted);
1150BC: Karachi;
1075BC: Teotihuacan (captured);
1000BC: Thebes (captured);

_975BC: Tenochtitlan (captured);
_950BC: Heliopolis (captured);
_950BC: Tlaxcala (extorted);
_925BC: Memphis (captured);
_825BC: New Delhi;
_825BC: Alexandria (extorted);
_800BC: Tokyo (captured);
_800BC: Jaipur;
_730BC: Hydebarad;
_690BC: Tlatelolco (captured);
_670BC: Pi-Ramesses (captured);


Power up

The last Aztec battle earned our 2nd and last leader of the whole game. It is sent to New Delhi where it rushes the Forbidden Palace. The city is located on the western part, on a river, where it can develop a nice 2nd core of RCP 3 cities. Should a sea route be found westward, the 2nd core will build galleys while the 1st will train swords. The task will be inverted if the safe sea route will be found eastward.

At this point, the core city of Bombay is building the Great Lightouse. The strategy at this point is to pile up units and vessels, wait for the GL to finish and (hopefully) send troops oversea via a safe sea route.

Suicide galleys are still exploring the most probable sea routes, but they all sunk before spotting anything. Finally, in 450 BC, the galley who explored the northern island survives a suicide trip and manages to meet the Arabs. Contacts are boughts, maps are acquired, embassies are built. The safe route is located. Productive cities build nothing but swords and galleys, until the Great Lighthouse is completed.


Invasion oversea

In 210 BC, the Great Lightouse is built and our golden age starts. 15 galleys with 28 swords and 2 spears are sent to the Iroquois land. War is declared with Celts, then everyone is signed up against them. Right of passage treaties are made with all the soon-to-be enemies.

In 110 BC, the Iroquois are raped. Salamanca falls and the Oracle is seized. Next turn their core is assimilated, but there's the city of Medina, captured from the Arabs, far in the north. So our troops there cannot be disengaged immediately. Reinforcement are sent for the Celt area and start making their way to Entremont, where the Great Wall is located. Cities are captured, with some losses, then Entremont falls in 30 AD. Next turn the Iroquois are gone and we can finally move the stationing troops to the north.

A 2nd ship chain is being formed from the NW peninsula to the Spanish lands. Once again, troops cannot be disengaged immediately because of an isolated Celt village in the far north. But the training of new troops continues uninterrupted and a good number of galleys is available to bring them quickly oversea.

In 130AD, Toledo completes the Hanging Gardens and the rape is made. The whole Spain is taken over in only 2 turns.

Galleys are being rushed in two captured cities on the west coast of the New World. Troops are sent on the western part of Arabia via sea, since the land is still unconnected to the core. Central Arabia is reached via land, with workers roading furiously the necessary tiles. In the later turns horsemen are trained instead of swords, to move faster into the unconnected part. The galleys used to bring troops into Spain are reused to ship extra swords through the northern coast and reach the last Celtic village and the far city of Basra in the NW tundra.

The final attack starts in 190 AD. Next turn the last Celtic bastion falls and in 230 AD the whole Arabia is taken over, for a conquest victory scored in 250 AD, still in the ancient ages. Firaxis score: 8261. Jason score: 12060. My best conquest date so far, and my highest Jason score ever.

Very impressive Tricky.

I consider myself suitably pwned. There is always next month however.... :)

Well, thanks! :D

I moved the settler led by the desire to find a good spot for a RCP3 constellation. Imagine my joy when i spotted the cow+BG+river tile hehehe.

Monarchy seemed the best choice from the start, the massive unit support costa that i would have paid under Republic was more than enough to offset the money bonus.

I was lucky with the Great Lighthouse, since a spanish city built the Colossus somewhere around 900BC, and a cascade to the wonder wasn't so improbable. My hope was to rush it with a leader, that it never showed up, so i tried to complete by hands... and succeeded in it. From that point, everything was easy.

The weakness of the AS was a surprise. The only serious defensive stack was found in Entremont, but i had some 15 swords to capture the city so it wasn't a real problem.

You did indeed get a little lucky with the cow but that wasn't the difference between our games. My strat was actually virtually the same as yours (Sword rush, monarchy, great lighthouse) but you just executed it much more slickly than I did.

I was far too slow to both Monarchy, my second core and my golden age and I think that is where the main difference was (although I was a little unlucky on the latter as none of the religious wonders were built on my continent).

That said, its a far step up from my first GOTM about this time last year when I managed a 1985 domination victory on the Warlord level (Babylon)!

TaxPayer's Predator 20k Showdown http://forums.civfanatics.com/images/avatars/ptw_Mao_sm.gif
Ionimplant not playing 20k... is it just Taxpayer and me? Well then, time to make amends for my poor showing in the Egyptian game... :hammer:

The Ancient Age
I founded Delhi 1NW, and planned to put my 20k town west of the moo. No sooner had I done my research on the area, than Teotihuacan got built there. I was sure that was the location for me though, so I started preparing to fight for it. My preparations actually took about 1000 years longer than they should have done, and when I took Teotihuacan it autorazed; I didn't manage to refound it until 1830bc. Not a very auspicious start for a 20k game.
As well as the war with the Aztecs, I also attacked Japan in 1225bc. Fighting archers with swords is like shooting fish in a barrel. My units ambled inexorably through Japan, taking the last town in 710bc. My research on Currency finished soon after, bringing me into the medieval era in 590bc. Teotihucan was at 114 culture, making 8cpt; just the temple and Oracle.

Making a Plan
After completion of the Oracle, I started planning my culture path in detail; Teo would need the FP to get the most out of its base shields, the next important wonder would be the Great Library, and I would have cultural buildings to rush, and the cash to do it with. After some spreadsheeting, I choose to do the FP first, as this will take time off the Glib anyway, and I trust the AI not to get Literature early. The FP completes in 530bc, and is followed by a 1-turn library in 510bc, the same turn I discover Literature. Next up is a 1-turn colosseum, and then the big build begins; Great Library, at 24spt. Research is set to Monotheism to get moving along the top of the medieval tech tree as fast as possible.

Egypt Lends a Hand
The next wonder in my plan is actually the Gardens, but there's no need to research Monarchy, as it is Egypt's prefered government. Sure enough, Cleo comes up with the goods in 290bc. Now if Monty gets it too, the Glib will bring it to me, but the Aztecs never really recovered after our early war, so I don't bother waiting for him. I give Cleo Monotheism for Monarchy in 150bc, and then dow Egypt. This is also the turn the Glib completes. I follow it with a 1-turn cathedral, and start the Gardens.

The Wonders of Ancient Egypt
Egypt has The Wall in Thebes, so I make it a priority target; the city is taken in 110bc. Much of the rest of their empire follows soon after, including a Gardens build in Byblos. Egypt has also got the Lighthouse going in Elephantine, so I leave that town well alone; it is my only chance at a commercial wonder this side of Adam Smith, so if it goes to the other continent, I will need to build elephants to get a medieval golden age. I actually consider sending in worker gangs under military escort to improve their land for them, but I don't really have enough units available, and I am not sure how good the AI will be at reassigning citizens to the tiles once I move off them. So I just decide to trust Cleo to do her best with this one.

The Western Hemisphere
I suspect that the fastest route to the other continent will be west, but of course I don't have any productive towns on that side of the home continent, so my suicide galleys sail east from the Indian core island. I reach the Quois in 30ad, after surviving two turns at sea. Trading world maps, I work my way through all the contacts, and don't let them speak to my pet civs. The western hemisphere guys are a little way behind in tech, hovering around the ancient/medieval changeover. They are also all working on Lighthouse, which isn't good for Egypt's chances, but I can't tell who will win the race without giving Egypt peace, which I don't want to do.

Losing the Gamble
My Gardens build finishes in 110ad, and I rush a university for 760g. The next build is Michelangelo, which will either be helped along by a golden age, or will trigger it. I wait anxiously for what seems like forever, and still there is no sign of that Lighthouse; surely I could have built it myself by now... Then eventually someone finishes it, and that someone is not Cleo; it goes to the Quois. So I'll have to research Chivalry - if I try and get the AI to do it for me, they will also get the opportunity to make big wonder builds with Sun Tzu, which will endanger my chances of getting the other 600 shield wonders.

Keeping Up the Research
My major goal at this stage is to get to the industrial age as fast as possible. The boost in productivity that the first couple of industrial techs bring is massively important to getting a good haul of medieval wonders. So I prioritise Copernicus over Michelangelo; it finishes in 360ad. I have just researched Astronomy in 7 turns, Printing in 4, and Democracy in 6 turns. With the acquisition of Copernicus, the rest of the age can be done at 4 turns per tech. Next up is Shakespeare. I am letting Michelangelo slip back, but I still don't expect the AI to beat to me to it. Crucially, they don't have any wonder builds in progress, so there is no cascade danger yet.

Claiming the Continent
With the loss of theLighthouse, there is no reason to keep the Egyptians around; I take their last town, on the larger northern island, in 390ad. Unfortunately, the Quois got there exactly one turn ahead of me, using their Lighthouse, so the western continent civs know Cleo and Monty by now. It's a good thing I kept my reputation intact. The advantage of the new civs meeting the old is that I can use the tech trick as I kill Cleo. Selling Republic and Monotheism earns me pocket money of 57gpt.
With Egypt gone, I turn to the Aztecs for my next war. Chivalry comes through in 450ad, I upgrade some horses during the interturn, and then dow on Monty, capturing Tenochtitlan the same turn, and starting my golden age. The Aztecs are really no competition, and I finish them off in 490ad. Again I sell techs; Feudalism, Engineering and Chivalry bring in another 100gpt. Still no sign of a leader though.

Cruising to the Industrial
The rest of the medieval is less eventful. Shakespeare is done in 500ad, and I finally start Michelangelo. The AI have all started Sun Tzu builds by now, but I am certainly not going to challenge them for that one; they would just cascade to Michelangelo, and I would lose the better wonder. After Michelangelo, I go for Newton, with the AI starting Leonardo builds. I am prepared to pass that one up too if I have to - I still have Bach to think about. My medieval research comes to an end with the discovery of Metallurgy in 770ad, and I have reached the industrial era.

Culture in Teotihuacan (F5 Style)
1830bc... founded
1600bc... temple
0750bc... Oracle
0550bc... Forbidden Palace
0530bc... library
0510bc... colosseum
0170bc... Great Library
0150bc... cathedral
0090ad... Gardens
0110ad... university
0350ad... Copernicus
0490ad... Shakespeare
0660ad... Michelangelo

3509 culture, making 61cpt. 20k is due in 1844ad.


http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/GOTM56_20kRace_medieval_culture.JPG

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/GOTM56_20kRace_medieval_cpt.JPG

Thanks to whoever came up with the challenge. Learned so much about my playing style. Had two simple goals. Conquest before 1000AD and get over 10K in Jason. Almost did it.

The ancient age went by fast. Got rid of Japan fast and in 100BC we got construction as a peace settlement from Aztecs to enter Middle age. Aztecs and Egypt has one city each.From that point on struggled going across the ocean.

Lessons Learned

In this kind of map I should have built Great Lighthouse. Never even thought about it and the Spanish ended up building it.
Minimal research was not the way to go. After learning IW in 2390BC, I dropped research down to 50% and when Spain Built GLH well into AD, I started beelining toward Magnetism.
I was aiming too low. Should have aimed to finish the game in BC, that way I would have been more agressive. Around 2##AD I had about 8 galleys filled with MI's but waited untill I got caravels only to find they too moved just 3 tiles.
I CAN stay focused on a single win condition without changing my mind.:D :cool: :D

This definately was a great learning experience. Thanks for the challenge.

Game date: 960 AD
Firaxis score: 5708
Jason score: 9932

PTW Open. 20k continued.

AA Culture builds

3950bc Palace
3350bc Temple
1300BC Oracle
470bc Great Library
370bc Library
30bc Colossus
210ad Great Lighthouse

MA Culture Builds

620ad Sistines Chapel
640ad Cathedral
670ad Colusseum
1010ad JS Bachs Cathedral
1130ad University
1140ad Copernicus' Observatory
1310ad Shakespear's Theater
1410ad Smiths trading
1545ad Magellan's Voyage

I had to wage war against the Iroquios, the Celts and the Arabs to land an invasion force (3muskets and 12 Cavs) to destroy or pillage wonder building cities. In every case I had to break treaties which is not my normal style, but I got most of the wonders in this age. I also continued protracted wars on my home continent against the Aztecs and the Egyptions fishing for leaders. I only managed to get one leader which was used to rush Copernicus's Observatory (this stopped a wonder cascade, as there were no other builds available to the AI at the time).

In general I am pleased with the 20k progress but very disappointed with only getting 1 GL, despite leader fishing for most of the game.

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif
Predator Conquest Challenge

First try also for me.
Completely different game to my usual style: No granaries, no libs, just rax and units.

I wanted to conquer the world with swords, when I realized I would have to ship them over the ocean... :blush:
Iroquois built the lighthouse.
I started suicide-chaining some swords over there and researched towards astronomy at the same time.
I took lighthouse town and started chaining units over. One turn the town flipped and I lost ~10 galleys on sea tiles, half of them loaded [pissed]
Building it would have been smarter.
Somebody could have pointed out the relevance of the great lighthouse in the pre game discussion :mad:


Good points
Ignited wars on the other continent, so kept tech and power lead
50 horses ready when chivalry was researched

major mistakes
not building lighthouse - Iroquois did. TGL was THE key to this game. :wallbash:
researching to Theology before chivalry (what was I heading for??)
keeping some towns I had better razed (with 4 cpt most of the game :blush: )
Waiting to long before invading the other continent
Did not jump the palace
Did not care too much for RCP (bad habit from Conquests)
Late GA with war elephants - it lasted till the end of the game :blush:

Bad luck
Not a single MGL though I was fishing for them (~80 elite victories) - this starts haunting me in Gotm, Cotm and SGotm... :cry:

On the bright side
There is a lot of room for improvement... :rolleyes:
And it was fun.

Entry class: Predator
Game status: Conquest Victory for India
Game date: 720 AD
Firaxis score: 6435
Jason score: 10453

I took lighthouse town and started chaining units over. One turn the town flipped and I lost ~10 galleys on sea tiles, half of them loaded
Something like that happened to me once. Bummer. But I wasn't ship chaining at the time. One of the neat things about chaining, if it's done properly, is that your units should never be at sea at the end of turn. This makes for safe transit across enemy-infested seas, safe suicide chaining, and protects against your flippin' Lighthouse experience.

Something like that happened to me once. Bummer. But I wasn't ship chaining at the time. One of the neat things about chaining, if it's done properly, is that your units should never be at sea at the end of turn. This makes for safe transit across enemy-infested seas, safe suicide chaining, and protects against your flippin' Lighthouse experience.

lesson learned... :mischief:

In a perfect chain I would have had 3*n ships involved - that flip caught me off guard... - although I had no units in lighthouse town but a sword next to it.

Even if ot was not for those 6-8 swords or horses - sinking 80% of my fleet definitely gave me some extra-turns... :mad:

Yeeees! Chaining is no defence for the ships, just the units :(

PtW 1.27f
http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif

My vacation came just in time and I decided to play this GOTM. I had to hurry up though as it was 14th already. I ended with 9 hour game in one sitting (ok, I took few breaks such as dinner).

I moved west along the river to get more space for ring 3 as I decided to take the PCC. Enemies were very near and I had to do some juggling to save my ring3 from being occupied. I concentrated on the core instead of early Swordman rush as in Monarch opponents are weak and can be assimilated later. Another thing was that I hoped they would help me with research and wars would hurt that. I researched following techs as fast as I could: Pottery, Writing, Polytheism, Monarchy. Stopped research then. I was prepared to research Construction and build Great Wall to trigger Golden Age.

Map was Continents so I dedicated one town for The Great Lighthouse, as I was not planning to research Navigation, but use chip chaining instead. AI was very slow with wonders and I finished TGL in 710BCE without anyone else building it. Oracle and Pyramids were built in the foreign continent so I was prepared to conquer either town and trigger GA with Great Wall. Strangely enough, AI was building wonders really slow so I had time to switch my Great Wall pre-build to Colossus, which finished in 370BCE starting GA.

I started wars with Japan and Aztecs in 950BCE. I planned to give every war target Monarchy before declaring to prevent pop rushing, but of course I forgot that and had to destroy towns. Before the war I used RoP and started roading to Aztec capital as I would send ships near it to the other continent. My first suicide galley reached Iroquois in 1175BCE from east.

I did not care much about Egyptians and only send few troops that way. I concentrated on the other continent war instead, which started in 410BCE. Quite late, but I wanted to ship enough troops to be able to attack everyone in the other continent about the same time. I started declaring Celts and allying everyone against them, then moved troops to positions and RoP raped everyone else. Conquest Victory in 70CE. 11810 Jason.

I got no Great Leaders, which usually is crucial for a good game. I had no second core. Despite that I ended with lots of troops as this pic shows:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/gotm56_ad70_forces_fixed.jpg

If you play Conquest VC, the ideal situation is where you kill all you opponents in the same turn. Do not waste time concentrating on one enemy at a time, plan ahead and send troops to faraway places ASAP. You still have time to kill near ones at the same time as new troops would not have time to enter frontline anyway.

Very impressive!

If you play Conquest VC, the ideal situation is where you kill all you opponents in the same turn. Do not waste time concentrating on one enemy at a time, plan ahead and send troops to faraway places ASAP. You still have time to kill near ones at the same time as new troops would not have time to enter frontline anyway.
Thank you! Why didn't I think of that?

Thanks for the spoiler Drazek, I've been wanting to read about one of your games for quite some time now. It was a very educational, and humbling, experience. You are truly the master of the Conquest VC. :worship:

:wow: Drazek pwned us all - great game man!