Spoiler 3 qualifications:

Reading Requirements:

Game completed and submitted.


This spoiler thread is a free-for-all. Feel free to discuss anything that happened in your game.

I would also like feedback on the way that the spoiler scope & dates were published when the game was released. Do you want this to continue going forward?

Well, let's :bump: it up, so people see the thread in all the stickies :).

It's for sure a good thing to have the spoiler's at a known date (and especially know how many there will be ;) ).
I would go even a step further and open them for posting right away, so everybody can post when he reaches the requirement (there are some pretty fast players out there).

I would go even a step further and open them for posting right away, so everybody can post when he reaches the requirement (there are some pretty fast players out there).As a long term absentee just returning to the games, I'd be happy with the spoilers up and running from the start. I've played a few other games since then and the older I get the less reliable my memory gets. This is also my excuse for the lack of detail in the following. The other is that 100K tends to be a bit boring once you approach the domination limit.

I was fairly close to the domination limit when I entered the IA in 930AD and by 980AD I'd KO'd the Celts and decided that I could afford to gain no more territory without exceeding the limit once the gaps had been filled in.. I went for Communism followed by rails. I had a couple of stints in communism but I could not last too long before returning to Republic as the cash just drained away. However all those pop-rushed buildings made my culture soar.

My first stint in communism started in 1060AD when I was just about to get to 10K culture. After that my culture per turn grew steadily

20K 1260AD
40K 1405AD
60K 1505AD
80K 1595AD
100K 1675AD

In the last couple of hundred years I was at war with the Arabs and Iroquois. They declared on me and I was in no hurry to end the struggle as the war fever helped combat whip unhappiness. I couldn't fight an offensive war though as I played the last few hundred years about 9 tiles short of the domination limit.

Final minimap:http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/Final_minimap.JPG

I'm still not sure how to play 100K games. Is it best to head for communism and rails and then flog your population to death or perhaps stay in despotism and steadily flog them? (or indeed another option that I haven't considered.)

Entry class: Open
Game status: Cultural 100K Victory for India
Game date: 1675 AD
Firaxis score: 4874
Jason score: 9155
Time played: 28:17:52

I'm still not sure how to play 100K games. Is it best to head for communism and rails and then flog your population to death or perhaps stay in despotism and steadily flog them? (or indeed another option that I haven't considered.)

For Vanilla/PtW I recommend to stay in republic. Get rails and nationalism as fast as possible.
Draft rifles/infantry in size 7 cities to disband in small villages.

Generally: build more cities. Your settling looks pretty loose on your final minimap.

Yes. I used disbanding draftees as well as pop rushing (although not as much as I should have) but how do you utilise the population in towns without fresh water? Build workers, transfer over to cities and then draft? (Is that allowed?)

I could have squeezed more cities in if I had razed and replaced rather than keeping the conquered cities. There's not too much space outside my core though, but on reflection I should have squeezed more in around the first ring.

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

I can see that there are spaces there though.

Yes. I used disbanding draftees as well as pop rushing (although not as much as I should have) but how do you utilise the population in towns without fresh water? Build workers, transfer over to cities and then draft? (Is that allowed?)

Typically you can use all the food in fresh water cities and draft them every 2-4 turns at size 7 (don't let any city grow bigger). Just forget about the small villages and set them to wealth and no growth after they have the culture buildings.
Build a few aqueducts, if there is a region with excess food.
If you really want to optimise, you should avoid having cities in low food regions. Rather leave tundra and mountains to the AI.

Ancient Age Conquest in 250 AD. Firaxis: 8261. Jason: 12060.

Once again i sought a different strategy from what looked like the mainstream. I ventured with the settler west to find a good spot for a ring of cities. I went for Monarchy trying to take advantage of the unit support and stopped research past it, using all the money to rush things. This turned out to be very powerful. Got the Golden Age with wonders (Pyramids + Great Lighthouse).

For some time i dreamt about beating Obormot's fastest conquest ever. Unfortunately, the 3rd leader to rush the Great Lighthouse never showed up, so i had to build the wonder by hands. This delayed both the golden age and the conquest of the other continent. But i'm quite happy with the result anyway. Now let's see if someone can do better than this.

Full spoiler tomorrow.

I eventually dispatched the Aztecs and Egyptians completely. The western continent looked fairly balanced, w/ the Arabs holding a slight territorial advantage over the Celts and Iroquois. When the Arabs and Celts declared war on the Iroquois, I too took advantage of their vulnerability. W/ a RoP w/ the Celts, I landed nearly24 tanks w/ another dozen artillery w/ a few infantry for defense.

Over the next several turns I captured all the Iroquois cities. I quickly mobilized for a fast conquest of Spain's last 3 cities in the far north. Once they were destroyed, I moved on the Celts, w/ Arabian support.

I reached the domination limit in 1880 AD.

http://home.comcast.net/~dojoboy/mini_map_1880.jpg

Firaxis score: 2861

Well... the GOTM staff was kind enough to provide a map with no scientifc civs... which would have been a perfect opportunity for someone playing the hacked-up Vanilla game to go for a spaceshot... since the playing field would be level with the PTW players. :thumbsup:

Instead I decided to milk this one :dubious: for a Firaxis score of 6035 and a Jason score of 8560.

Well... the GOTM staff was kind enough to provide a map with no scientifc civs... which would have been a perfect opportunity for someone playing the hacked-up Vanilla game to go for a spaceshot... since the playing field would be level with the PTW players. :thumbsup:

Instead I decided to milk this one :dubious: for a Firaxis score of 6035 and a Jason score of 8560.

I did. Launch date 1490AD, 4571 Firaxis, 8845 Jason. :)

I decided to play the 5CCC for this GOTM. I moved my settler far away from the coast to start, as I wanted to have better spacing for my cities. I settled 2 NW of the cow so that I could put another city on the coast and on the river. I built a couple of Warriors, met my neighbors, built a Granary thanks to all the BGs near the cow, built a settler, and sent it East. Kyoto ended up being in a perfect spot, so my next build was Archers. Japan was gone by 1200 BC.

http://www.nd.edu/~mcrocker/access/gotm/gotm56/before.jpg

The Aztecs and Egyptians also had cities almost exactly where I wanted them, but in the end I decided to settle
my own cities one square away. I upgraded my Warriors and started building only Swordsmen for the wars against my other opponents. So, with left-over Archers and new Swordsmen I captured space for my final two cities.

http://www.nd.edu/~mcrocker/access/gotm/gotm56/after.jpg

Egypt was the second to be exterminated. Azteca went the same way just before the birth of Christ. Along the way, I hand built the Great Lighthouse (590 BC), and started Galleys in Bombay once it had completed a Library and Marketplace and Harbor. This allowed me contact with the other continent just after the birth of Christ. I immediately declared on the Spanish and Celts. Then I allied the Arabs against the Spanish and the Iroquois against the Celts, to keep the AI busy, and because I was planning on landing my extra troops at the Spanish/Celtic border. The Lighthouse allowed me to cross the ocean without risk.

http://www.nd.edu/~mcrocker/access/gotm/gotm56/barbar.jpg

Barbarians were a problem, so I stationed troops in the south to reduce the number of barbarian fronts. I also left troops in the NW to block off that front. I kept troops near Bangalore to deal with the only remaining threat in the NE jungle and desert. My builds followed this order: Library, Marketplace, Horseman. I researched to Chivarly and changed all cities to War Elephants. The rest was just conquest. My Golden Age started in 430 AD, the Spanish were eliminated in 480 AD. Thanks to a city on an island, the Celts lasted until 570 AD, at which point the Arabs were almost gone. I had to go after the Arabs, as I did not want them getting their UU. Arabs went "bye-bye" in 600 AD, and I ROP raped the Iroquois in 610 AD, and achieved Conquest Victory in 660 AD. My Golden Age had only just run out. My only Great Leader can very late and I used it to rush the worthless Leo's Workshop. It ended up that no AI tribe ever managed to research a Middle Age tech, although I did trade Monotheism for alliances. I never faced any Pikemen.

http://www.nd.edu/~mcrocker/access/gotm/gotm56/end3.jpg

The other continent was quite a mess, and I though about planting forest over there so that the city ruins could be dug up thousands of years later. Oh, well. Some future archaeologist will have fun in that world.

First spoiler (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4199094&postcount=18)

560 AD brought the next mar, vs Egypt. It took 1 turn to capture 2 cities
570 AD Heliopolis and Alexandria captured.
590 AD Pi-Ramesses captured
600 AD Memphis captured
610 AD Giza captured.
640 AD Peace signed, recieved Byblos from the Egyptian as payment.
At the end of the Egyptian War, i had 27% of the worlds land, without filling in the gaps. It began my long wait for the other continent to learn Chivalry, since i wanted to save gold for upgrades.
730 AD New Delhi built.
740 AD New Bombay built.
In 800 AD, 2 AI's had learnt Chivalry, I had upgraded a lot of horses, and there were 2 large stacks of units next next to Aztec cities..

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9484/gotm800ad8wg.jpg

810 AD, Teotihuacan captured, Texcoco captured, Indian GA starts.
820 AD Tenochtitlan captured, Tlacopan catured
830 AD, Tlatelolco captured, Tlaxcala captured
840 AD, Calixtlahuaca captued, New Madras founded
860 AD, Xochicalco captured, New Bangalore founded
870 AD, New Calcutta founded
890 AD, Tzintzuntzen razed, War with Egypt, El-Armarna Razed
900 AD, Abydos captured, New Lahore founded.

This was the point where the starting continent was entirely mine. Unfortunately, the Egyptians and Aztecs had 3 (2 and 1) cities off the main land. As i had no navy (literally) at this point, i signed peace. Of course, something decided to screw with my plan, which was...

950 AD, New Karachi founded. Texcoco culture flips to the Aztecs... :mad:
Instant war.
970 AD, Texcoco re-captured. Peace signed asap after that. Of course, that trashed my reputation, but it only hurt the attitudes.
990 AD, Bombay builds Copernicus's Observatory.
1010 AD, GA ends.

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2062/gotm1000ad4ve.jpg

1270 AD, Smith's Trading Company built in Hyderabad. This was 1 turn before my galleons landed at Hiawatha. At this point i had 47% of the worlds land.
1280 AD, War with Hiawatha, Allegheny and Grand River captured
1285 AD, Cattaraugus and Niagra Falls captured.
1290 AD, Salamanca, Tonawanda and Oil Springs captured. The end of the Iroquois. 52% land.
1305 AD, New Kolhapur settled.
1310 AD, New Kolhapur captured by the Arabians... :mad: Declare war on Aztecs.
1315 AD, New Kolhapur recaptured, Atzcapotzalco captured.
1320 AD, Malinalco captured, Aztecs dead.
1335 AD, Asyut captured, Egypt dead. 59% land.
1340 AD, Newtons Uni in Bombay.
1355 AD, Medina captured.
1360 AD, Mohacs captured from Arabia.
1365 AD, Barcelona captured from Arabia
1375 AD, Mecca captured. Useless wonder built :mischief: (must resist temptation :lol:)
1380 AD, 64.64% land.
1385 AD, Damascus captured, Barcelona lost to Arabia. 65.4% land.
1390 AD, New Jaipur founded, Barcelona Recaptured, Baghdad captured. 67.6% lan.
1395 AD, Domination Win for India.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9044/gotmendtop5rh.jpg

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/9299/gotmendbot5ic.jpg

Entry class: Open
Game status: Domination Victory for India
Game date: 1395 AD
Firaxis score: 4314
Jason score: 8359
Time played: 08:15:43

Ancient Age Conquest in 250 AD. Firaxis: 8261. Jason: 12060.

Once again i sought a different strategy from what looked like the mainstream. I ventured with the settler west to find a good spot for a ring of cities. I went for Monarchy trying to take advantage of the unit support and stopped research past it, using all the money to rush things. This turned out to be very powerful. Got the Golden Age with wonders (Pyramids + Great Lighthouse).

For some time i dreamt about beating Obormot's fastest conquest ever. Unfortunately, the 3rd leader to rush the Great Lighthouse never showed up, so i had to build the wonder by hands. This delayed both the golden age and the conquest of the other continent. But i'm quite happy with the result anyway. Now let's see if someone can do better than this.

Full spoiler tomorrow.

tR1cKy, I do not know what Obermot's record is but what you did was just outstanding. I am looking forward to reading the full spoiler. Congratulations.

Predator Conquest Challenge

I didn't win pre-300 AD because my strategy was flawed, waiting for Dumbos and hoping to get research help from a thumb-twiddling AI. :mad:

I didn't win in 340 AD because of a single bad tactical decision. :wallbash:

I didn't win in 350 AD because of ridiculous RNG. :cringe:

I did conquer the world in 360 AD, Jason 11227. I'm rather surprised at the relatively high score since I didn't even own my own continent until well into the AD's, and I never bothered about filling up land. Not that I'm complaining :).
If I get some time left over I might write a more detailed spoiler, but this will do for now.

@tR1cKy: :goodjob:

Niklas & Htadus: thanks! :D

Actually, some luck is involved. The initial trip to the western inner land made possible to build the capital near the BG+moo+river tile...

Obormot's record is conquest in 110AD with the Aztecs in game 46. This conquest by mine is 7 turns slower. My full spoiler is in the 2nd spoiler thread.

I would also like feedback on the way that the spoiler scope & dates were published when the game was released. Do you want this to continue going forward?
Yes, I think it was a Good Thing (tm). It means that we know what to expect, when to expect it, and when we can start bugging you about them. ;)

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

IA Culture builds:

1645ad Universal Sufferage
1745ad Theory of Evolution
1790ad Hoover Dam
1802ad Wall Street
1818ad Intelligence Agency
1834ad Millitary Acadamy
1854ad Battifield Medicine
1856ad Research lab

My lack of GL's continued. Eventually a second GL is created and used to build an army to release several small wonders. A third GL is gained deep in Arabian territory with no chance to escape, so a painful disbanding takes place.

Eventually, 20k is reached in 1866ad. I think I have had enough culture for a while, and will now play Cotm for the first time with a thirst for blood!

PTW open
20k victory 1866ad
2770Firaxis points
5026 Jason points.

I did. Launch date 1490AD, 4571 Firaxis, 8845 Jason. :)

I just finished off a 1350AD diplo win. But it looks like Tao could have beaten this date. I think I was about 11 turns behind you heading into the IA and I had saved my GA fot the TOE push and prebuild, but you smoked me during that time period. I'd love to see a few of your saves from say the early, mid and late IA, once the game clocks out.

One major thing that hurt my game was a lack of a great leader. I controlled the starting continent and had positioned cities for a nice 2nd core, but never got the GL. So I had to handbuild the FP a few cities away from where I really wanted it to be built.

Edit: Added the word behind

I just finished off a 1350AD diplo win. But it looks like Tao could have beaten this date. I entered Modern Times 1290AD but had saved ToE to give computers and miniaturization the same turn (and an Internet pre-build was also ready).

I entered Modern Times 1290AD but had saved ToE to give computers and miniaturization the same turn (and an Internet pre-build was also ready).

Interesting, I only dropped 1 more turn to you during that Age, but I used TOE, so I really dropped about 9-11 more turns behind you. When did you get your FP built?

When did you get your FP built?Bombay started working on it 775bc (the same year The Republic of India was established) and completed it 530bc.

Bombay started working on it 775bc (the same year The Republic of India was established) and completed it 530bc.

I didn't complete mine until 950AD, I either need to start building it earlier or do the palace jump thing to get that earlier 2nd core.

Thanks for the info.

I didn't complete mine until 950AD, I either need to start building it earlier or do the palace jump thing to get that earlier 2nd core..Bombay was just at rcp4 from Delhi: thus I did not really have a second core. But I owned my continent, had all the Great Wonders, and could focus on infrastructure.

IMHO the rule is always: better a Forbidden Palace early, than in an optimal position.

TaxPayer's Predator 20k Showdown http://forums.civfanatics.com/images/avatars/ptw_Mao_sm.gif


The Ancient and Medieval Ages
The Aztecs grabbed my 20k site with their free predator settler, so I had to take it from them. I was strangely late in getting around to this war, and of course the town autorazed when I finally took it. So Teotihuacan was refounded in 1830bc, and only then was my 20k run underway. Having enjoyed that little war, I picked on the Japanese next, killing them off in 710bc. War with Egypt broke out in the early medieval, but I was also waiting for them to finish the Lighthouse, which I could use to kick off a medieval golden age. They failed, with the Lighthouse going to the other continent, so I had to research Chivalry and use elephants to finish off my local civs. Meanwhile, Teotihuacan was plodding through all the decent wonders, with Copernicus an early priority to keep research moving along.

The Industrial Era
I enter the new era in 770ad, and with my capital in the northern islands, I can research Steam at 4 turns. The troops I used to swing this palace jump are bound for Arabia, to begin the conquest of the new world. I dow on Abu in 780ad, and bring Bella into the war too, in part becasue they are selling horses to the Arabs, who haven't bothered hooking up their own source :rolleyes:. Back in Teotihuacan, I finish Newton and cash-rush a factory and coal plant, spending over 1200g. Ouch. The next wonder on the list is Bach. The Quois have completed Sun Tzu, and everyone is now working on Leonardo, but I don't mind them getting those wonders. There's plenty enough for everyone...

End of Arabia
In 890ad, I am ready to kill off the Arabs, and as is my custom when in a strong tech lead, I sell the other civs my techs for gpt that they can't really afford. I am selling Banking, Metallurgy and Democracy to the Iroquois and Celts, and they come up with about 400gpt. The Spanish aren't included in this round of tech tricking becasue my armies are going to march on them right away. The icing on the 890ad cake is the leader I get for my last combat against the Arabs. He forms an elephant army, and I work the Epic into my 20k plan.

End of Spain
Bella gets her dow in 900ad, and my army gets its first win. I head towards Madrid with an eye on stopping it from building Leonardo. I think the other AI wonder builds may be beatable, so I might be able to squeeze Leo into my 20k town yet. It doesn't come to pass: I get to Madrid 1 turn too late. So I take the town anyway, and get on with mopping up the rest of the Spanish. I am ready to pull the tech trick again in 1010ad. I bring Watha into the industrial age, getting myself another couple of hundred gpt. Brennus gets nothing, as he is next on my hit list.

End of Gaul
I wait until the End-of-Arbia deals end before attacking the Celts; the war begins in 1110ad, and lasts until 1180ad. I am using cavalry now, as the Quois researched it for me. With the destruction of the Celts, only the Quois and I are left. What am I to do with my armies? Leader fishing of course! Again, I wait until their huge gpt deals end before attacking, but this time I am not taking towns; I am right up against the dom limit. Indeed, I am running a milk operation in the northern part of the continent, with only the grassiest land settled, and towns rushing hospitals and markets.

The Modern Age
I give Watha peace in 1340ad, having done little more than wipe out his field army. The next turn, my research on Radio ends and I enter the Modern era. In 1360ad, Watha even proves some small value, and researches Nationalism for me. I figure he won't be good for much else though, so when my 20 turn peace is over, I get back to war. This time I am going to trash the Quois empire. I am still fishing for leaders of course, using elite tanks; becasue there is plenty of empty land in the north of the continent, a barb camp will pop up somewhere every turn. A tank can blitz the two barbs for a 'free' promotion to elite. Very handy.

The Last Of The Iroquois
By 1530ad I have worked my way down to Salamanca, which I capture, mainly for the satisfaction of owning Sun Tzu. The only surviving AI town is Allegheny, so I give Watha peace. He then impresses me again, by researching Communism. It's no use of course, but at least he's trying :). The rest of the game is just shuffling culture builds around, trying to eke out an extra turn here or there; I even jump the palace back into Teotihuacan, which leaves me just short of 4 turn research on Integrated Defense. It wasn't worth it anyway - I would have had to jump back much earlier to get enough culture to buy myself an extra turn. Poor maths :confused:.
I win in 1715ad.

Culture in Teotihuacan (F5 Style)

1830bc... founded
1600bc... temple............. 1022c
0750bc... Oracle............. 1744c
0550bc... Forbidden Palace.... 812c
0530bc... library............ 1209c
0510bc... colosseum........... 800c
0170bc... Great Library...... 2094c
0150bc... cathedral.......... 1038c
0090ad... Gardens............ 1240c
0110ad... university......... 1228c
0350ad... Copernicus......... 1024c
0490ad... Shakespeare........ 1712c
0660ad... Michelangelo........ 978c
0820ad... Newton.............. 816c
0940ad... Bach................ 744c
0970ad... Epic................ 484c
1020ad... Suffrage............ 464c
1080ad... Darwin.............. 330c
1110ad... Wall Street......... 214c
1170ad... Smith............... 303c
1220ad... MASH................. 96c
1230ad... Hoover.............. 190c
1260ad... Academy.............. 91c
1295ad... Pentagon............. 84c
1365ad... UN.................. 280c
1410ad... Internet............ 244c
1410ad... Laboratory.......... 122c
1415ad... SETI................ 180c
1465ad... Longevity........... 150c
1470ad... The Cure............ 147c
1480ad... The Bomb............. 94c
1490ad... Apollo............... 90c
1510ad... CIA.................. 41c
1515ad... Palace............... 40c
1610ad... Star Wars............ 21c
1715ad... Victory!... Total: 20126c (155cpt)


http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/GOTM56_20kRace_final_culture.JPG

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads12/GOTM56_20kRace_final_cpt.JPG