Welcome to the 17th edition of the Lonely Hearts Club for BTS. In the Lonely Hearts Club we explore strategies to cope with one of the most dreaded situations in Civ IV ( possibly the main reason for reloads after the military collapse one :p ): starting in isolation....

For the 17th game in BTS the choosed leader was Caius Octavius ( aka Ceasar Augustus ) of the Romans:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x257/r_rolo1/LHC%20BTS%20XVII/Civ4ScreenShot0002.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x257/r_rolo1/LHC%20BTS%20XVII/Civ4ScreenShot0003.jpg
Yup, the Romans.... Everyone has already played with them ( I remember a poll in vanilla days where roughly 80% of the people said that they played the first game as Romans ( JC at the time ) so I bet that it will be rare the player that never tried the Romans ) but I bet most of people never tried to use them without considering their UU. Augustus in BtS is Imp/Ind ( I never played this version of Augustus ), a somewhat crazy combo that does not link as good: or you try to leverage Imp or you try to leverage Ind ( they don't have a good synergy IMHO ). Their UB is a nice booster to the GPP generation, asking for a somewhat more specialist based economy.... that links well with the Ind trait ( Obsolete style capital with a extra 25% in GPP ... drool: ).

His UU.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x257/r_rolo1/LHC%20BTS%20XVII/Civ4ScreenShot0004.jpg
Oh, well, why do I bother to introduce this UU? Like if there was one player of civ IV that does not know the preatorian ( awful name choice... ) and his well deserved fame as one of top UU in terms of military prowesses...

Well, pro formae wins... The preatorian is a boosted ( and more expensive ) swordsman that has a 33% bonus in the base strength ( 6 to 8 ... I wonder what would happen if any other UU had that diferential from their base strenght: Redcoats with 18/19 str, Cossacks with 20 ( ok, they already had 18 ;) ), navy seals with 32 or Panzers with 35 :eek: ... Rains of " OMG the ( insert name of UU ) is OP!" threads, I assume ). We all know the famous ( and quite effective ) " Preat rush" and even if you don't use them offensively they are more like a cheaper maceman than a boosted sword in terms of military effectiveness ( a CR3 preat can dislodge a unpromoted gren... I already done it a couple of times ). The problem with this guys in isolation is that they will not rush anyone ( as it happens with all early UU ) and most likely they will be outdated before the first contact :cry:

His UB.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x257/r_rolo1/LHC%20BTS%20XVII/Civ4ScreenShot0005.jpg
The forum is a market that has a 25% GPP generation bonus. it is good for both of the mainstream economies and you can fit them easily in most of the strategies you can think on ( well, it is a cash and GPP multiplier, that gives :) and merchant slots .... hard to get to a situation where you don't have a use for that )

The start (for reasons that I'll explain below, the warrior may not be exactly in that spot in your game ):
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x257/r_rolo1/LHC%20BTS%20XVII/Civ4ScreenShot0001.jpg
Well, marble in a Ind starting BFC... I wonder what it means? ;) ....besides that it has a lake ( remember: a lake with a lighthouse is better than a pre-Bio riverside farm ) and a corn resource. It also has shoreline in both east and west ( look closely... ). Not a stellar start , but I've seen far worse.

Again I made a functional scenario ( In that regard I must say a thing: free techs for both AI and humans are not kicking in, and that makes that AI in higher levels starts with warrior/scouts instead of archers ( with the correct numbers. Settlers/workers are working well ) . That is not a issue of my scenarios , but of the way the game is coded... the game atributes the free techs before choosing the leaders.... if the leaders are already chosen it simply moves on . And as the handicap file does not specify archers as free units , but simply "defensive units" ( if you give Rifling and Robotics to a AI, it will start with Mechs :lol: ) if the AI does not have archery they will get warriors/scouts ( depends on hunting ) instead. In isolation that is a minor issue ( you can't rush ;) ), so I took the decison of letting things to stay this way, because the correction would need to change the game code, a thing that is not exactly my objective with this games ) ).... All the speeds are working well ( no more games ending in 1900 ) The save is zipped... you only have to unzip this to the worldbuilder saves or for the PublicMaps folder ( either one will do ) and load it from the scenarios.
Any problem PM me...

Again a small request ( not mandatory :p ) :

We ask the participants to do, if possible, a write-up with the victory save and a description of your game ( strategies, techs researched, wars,...). All the info should be in spoiler tags ( to not disturb other people's games ). If you want ( we would like to :p ) post reports at this moments of the game:

Checkpoint 1 - when we have explored the island and are aware of what resources it has. Its not so important when this is, but this is a time to discuss city sites etc. Don't look into a checkpoint 1 spoiler until you have reached this point yourself.

Checkpoint 2 - first contact - when we have met all the other AIs. At this point we can discuss our strategy to get to this point and our plans for dealing with them.

Checkpoint 3 - when we are committed to a victory condition (or at least think we are).

Checkpoint 4 - Victory (or defeat).


The last words are to wish good luck to all :goodjob: . And let the games begin!



P.S We don't have any kind of problem with defeats and reruns. Just play and enjoy ;)

Yea. Industrious with Marble in first ring. Must... Build... WONDERS !!! :drool:

firstly it Gaius not Caius. and its caesar not ceasar. plus the praetorian had a 33% boost in strength not a 25%. so we would be looking at seals with strength of 32 not 30.

okay, got that off my chest. the start looks pretty incredible. anyone else want to settle on the marble?

It is Caius ( C and G are often intermutable in Latin ), you're right about the Caesar ( typo ) and you're right about the percentage ( I wrote this before my first coffee ;) )

correct thank you

wikipedia:

Gaius or Caius was a common Roman praenomen. It is abbreviated C.; the abbreviation goes back to before the Roman alphabet distinguished between C and G.

Quick question, whats the map size?

I ask this as my comp can not handle big maps

Map is standart... I don't use larger maps in here exactly because of that.

Alright, thats the perfect size for me.

Greetings!

Long time lurker here and I have been playing Civ since back when it was released even got original Civ for the super nintendo.

Been following with fervor the RPC and Strategy games. Enjoy them immensely.

First post here and I have to say I love this map and Leader Combo.

Spoiler includes info past first check point. No screen shots

Marble and Stone on the same Island and both in good spots with food nearby sea resources no less! I missed the first check point but to sum things up I am settling along the Eastern coast.

Settled the Capital in spot then put my next city on the south coastal position of the river due south to get the fish. Following that I settled due south of the Stone to get that and the clams.

I founded confucianism using the oracle sling and build the great wall without the stone right off the bat to avoid barbarians it paid off as i got the barb event 4 spearmen due north of my capital and all I had was one warrior at the time.

I managed to build oracle and stonehenge in the capital. TOA and GL in the second riverside city to my south and and completing the pyramids in my stone city while we speak at 60AD 3 turns left to complete.

I used my first GP to get The Kong Mial shrine.

So far so good I am about to go on a settling spree right after i build Chichen Itza in my capital.

I am playing on Monarch difficulty.

the start looks pretty incredible. anyone else want to settle on the marble?

Immediate thought yep settle on the marble. A second look to the North I assume there is a resource there so you would miss that. A lot depends on where the warrior is when I open the save so I'll decide from there.

Good luck all.

Marble in the BFC! Tasty. Besides that the capital looks a little on the weak side, but does have a lot of unforested tiles (:mischief: ). I'll start later in the week.

Ok, i chose Marathon, Emperor, and that may have been a mistake. Probably should have chosen Monarch.

Checkpoint 1

Pretty big island, marble and stone with an industrious leader!
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8399/civ4screenshot0017ez9.jpg

Unfortunately, we got screwed with happiness again. 1 calendar resouce, and whales. This blows. I really wanted to run an SE, but we may be forced into monarchy until astronomy.

The only way I could see us being able to stay in rep would be going religion crazy. which I don't think is a good idea. And staying with size 5 cities is also definitely not a good idea.

I also got the +2 health event! Sweetness.

Heh, I was about to post in your topic and say 'Do Rome, Rolo!' but you seem to have heeded my advice without me posting it.

Dunno if I'll play. ;)

Bah rolo, my apologies for not finishing the Mansa game (well, I lost the first time, I meant the replay). Its actually a good game, I should finish it, but I got caught up in other projects (as I am sure you are aware, LOL).

This one I PROMISE to do a good write up and play the full game. I love the Romans, and without the Praet being a factor, I like it even better, heh. I am in the "wont play em because its just too easy to use Praets like a crutch" camp.

Monarch it is though. BTW, if you create the "initial" game at Monarch, then WB it, the AIs will start with their proper bonus techs. However, players chosing Prince and below would end up having a tad harder time because the AI will start with their bonus techs, heh, even on Settler.

Notation from the starting screen shot, the coast on the western edge of the island, seems rather close, settling in place would allow a fort on the plains tile between the western coast and lake, enables a Panama Canal stratergy.

I'd settle in place for the extra commerace from the Quarry and hammers, your INDUSTRIOUS...why settle on the plains hill for 1 hammer? 150% of 3 is still 4 rounded down, same as %150 of 2 is only 3 hammers.

NO SEA FOOD IN CAPITAL... :mad: NO SEA FOOD :mad:

Going to take Monarch/Normal again.
Let me be the first to say that I have never played as Rome :p

settling on the marble is enticing...

Hmm, lets see, IND leader, funky looking island with a big patch of desert in the middle . . . ok, got me a PLAN!

Monarch, Epic, Checkpoint #1, through 40 AD
A simple plan really. Marble and Stone +IND means Wonderspam! Given the set up of this island, I noticed the best cities are going to be coastal, so I went all out.

Settled on the Marble, teched Ag, then Sailing, yup, thats right, Sailing, then BW. I noticed we had no seafood in the cap, but I wanted the GLH + Colossus combo this game. Here is my early dotmap:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Bleys_bucket/LHC%20photos/Civ4ScreenShot0138.jpg

Room for 10 cities easy, and 12 if I pack em in, which I am likely to do to maximize my coastal coverage. Even the Copper city WAY down in the Tundra will be fine with a crab, a whale, some river, etc.

Built a Worker, then a Workboat, then 3 warriors. I wanted to check out that little island fast, and I saw the boat would really help the 2nd city grow fast. Got one tech off the huts, AH, which was fine, I had little intention of teching it too quickly, since even the 3rd city would have Rice to farm before pigs were needed. After the 3 warriors, I popped out 2 quick settlers and another worker, and then started my Wonderspamming. I didnt want to crash my tech rate too quickly, so first city was just to the south by the Fish, 2nd was rice plus pigs to the SW. 4th city was the Stone, and other than the first city, I left room in between for fillers later. Since I didnt plan on building the GW, I used the "Cities make the best Fogbusters" system. Worked like a charm too, only 5 or 6 Barbs even showed up, and I got enough XP on one guy to open HE. BW showed me Copper, but it was WAY south, so I built Colossus without it.

2nd city built the Oracle as Rome was building GLH. Tech after BW was Wheel, Myst, Poly, Priest, Pottery. I kinda wish I had gone Myst-Med before the Wheel, because look how late Buddhism was founded in my game, 1925 BC!! Judaism was even founded before it!

So that was my plan, take MC with the Oracle, hopefully tech CoL for Confu myself, boosted by Colossus coin. Worked quite well, the AIs tech a tad slower in these since they all love Archery so much and tech it ASAP, it slows them down just a bit.

Currently, I am up to 5 cities, with lots of room for more. Here is the current look:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Bleys_bucket/LHC%20photos/Civ4ScreenShot0140.jpg

Managed to get the following Wonders in Rome.
GLH, Colossus, ToA, Pyramids (once stone was hooked up from City #4, its sick how quickly IND leaders make wonders when they have the resource). Here is how Rome looks currently:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Bleys_bucket/LHC%20photos/Civ4ScreenShot0141.jpg

2nd city built Oracle, and will be my HE city packed full of Watermills. Here is how it looks for now:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Bleys_bucket/LHC%20photos/Civ4ScreenShot0142.jpg

I will be settling that island next, the farthest eastern tile, maybe I can culture-bounce to an AI from there pre-Optics. My GP have been 2 Merchants. I managed to found Confu, so I will have religion. Heading to Lit right now, then on to Philo and Lib run. Standard stuff. I REALLY REALLY hope I get the Trieme event, man that event rocks with the GLH, gives all Harbors +2 commerce, that would just be HUGE synergy with my set-up. Planning the full 12 cities, with only 1 being non-coastal. Steamrolling this game so far, much different from the Mansa game. Lack of Happy has me a bit worried, I am working a lot of Mines hoping Gold, Silver or Gems will pop.

I had a game recently with an island like this, slightly bigger, and only VIcky as an AI sharing it, and I was playing Qin (random map and leader). I burned Vick out fast and got that Trieme event, and it was insane how my teching went through the roof. First time I got it with the GLH, was awesome!

Cool, I'm gonna try this out on Noble, Normal Speed, One City Challenge tomorrow.

Augustus is my favorite leader, and I often DON'T use the Praetorians when playing as him. :D

I'm a bit worried about the lack of forests, but ah well...plus, Marble means wonderspam!

Anyone have some tips about where to move the settler?

Monarch level, marathon speed

Explored the Island, its only 3060bc or so...
Popped one hut so far for BARBARIANS...Oh dear, I saw it would change into a woods so no biggie, got woods 2 allready.

My dot of capital :lol: 174129

I've differed allready in cities...but I reserve the right to change latter..lol..Lokie Lookie, will get a city, to the east it seems...work boat is just going to Lookie Lookie.

2 huts to pop, and bud-ism, was popped 3685 bc or so. I'm going to trya specialist economy..Moai statues, I have 3 sites, can I do it 3 times?? :lol:

Its either most sea tiles (18), most food (15 sea) or most sea Production (whales) Hmmmm174131

WILL move the capital to the inland site, have a duel wonder spam.

Synagery of wonders Iron works/Globe theatre (wonders, land military), Oxford/National epci (rome) with great libairy etc, Heroic epic (2nd sea ward military city)/Moai statues, Wall street/National parks (Hmm no trees.??)174132
P.S. Comment on Panama Canal link can be FORGOTTEN...:mischief:

Settling on marble does look like a plan. All those plains hills will make it easy to wonderspam. Emperor/normal again for me, wonder if I can win one as a change?

Just nitpickin', it's Praetorian, not preatorian?

GRRR !! I'LL NEVER LEARN!! (Checkpoint #2-A)
After Calendar I noticed we have at least 3 continents, so I decided to do this quick 1/2 update after meeting the Western AIs. This screenie should say it all, those who saw my huge mistake in the Mansa LHC last month are completely allowed to bust my balls for pulling the same move this game, LOL:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Bleys_bucket/LHC%20photos/Civ4ScreenShot0143.jpg

Yupper, you read it correctly. Met MM first, and wouldnt you know I swapped some techs with him. Just my luck, all 3 of his Continent mates have him as "worst enemy", LOL. Can you say Deja Vu?

I am not nearly as concerned this time though. I have Feud now, and am getting Barracks up and will jack 2 LBs in all cities. I havent even built a single Archer or Praet yet, just a Warrior and Chariot in all cities. No one is even close to Optics but me, much less Astronomy, so let the other 3 eat cake, I hate those nubs anyway, Alex, Gilga and GK are among my "Never make friends with" AI because of previous game experience. Alex and GK both stabbed me in the back multiple times, and Gilga cost me last months BOTM with a backstab (Churchhill, Prince, and I had a DYNAMITE start)

But so far, I am the tech leader, and the score leader. Not enough ESP to see my Power, but as I said, they are a LONG way from being able to hurt me. Just had to post though, LOL, someday I will learn my lesson.
I'd settle in place for the extra commerace from the Quarry and hammers, your INDUSTRIOUS...why settle on the plains hill for 1 hammer? 150% of 3 is still 4 rounded down, same as %150 of 2 is only 3 hammers.
I am starting to agree with this analysis. I did a 2nd dotmap from settling in place (didnt read this post til I had 4 cities, wish I had), and while the Cap doesnt get as many hills for production, it helps with city overlap. Still . . . its hard to resist those 3 hammers out of the gate. I KNOW I busted out much faster because of them. Tough call, I will be interested to see how those who chose not to settle on the marble fared.

the preatorian ( awful name choice... )
Slightly off-topic, but: the "Praetorians" where the elite Roman infantry of the time (I think the proper Latin name would be praetorianes, not 100% sure though), and I'm sure they were feared pretty much everywhere in the known world back then. So by any measure this is an excellent name for this overpowered UU ;-).

Slightly off-topic, but: the "Praetorians" where the elite Roman infantry of the time (I think the proper Latin name would be praetorianes, not 100% sure though), and I'm sure they were feared pretty much everywhere in the known world back then. So by any measure this is an excellent name for this overpowered UU ;-).
Not exactly... they were the commander in cheif bodyguard, pretty much like Napoleon Imperial Guard. They were the elite troops of the army, I agree , but i would had preferd the term Legionary

@Bleys

:run: :whipped: Don't you ever learn? :lol:

@ Bleys:

Most AI tend to hate Mansa and he'll whore techs with you whether he likes you or not, so trading first wasn't the smartest move ever...

@ IPEX:

Settling on a marble plains hill gets 3 hammers for your city square rather than 2. It's a very strong move in this situation where the capital's food poor (coastal with no seafood and a rice that will only give 4 food until CS).

Huh, I haven't been able to play CIV4 for a while, and I've decided to have a crack at this on Monarch, Epic.

Checkpoint 1
Took me ages to map out the island, because of Warriors getting eaten by Lions. Grrr, bad luck. However, I did get Mysticism from a goody hut, which was nice.

Settled in place and researched Agriculture, then Masonry, then BW. Founded 2nd city south of Rome to grab the fish, and am currently sending a settler down south to claim the stone. Built the Oracle and chose Metal Casting so I could build those cheap forges.

Next aim is to grab the Great Lighthouse to help with the trade routes. Doubt I'll be able to get Great Wall at this stage, but I may have a crack at the Pyramids.

I'm trying to learn emperor, forcibly. It's already resulted in 2 failed attempts, but I'm going to have to insist here...if I ever win it I'll post how :).

@Patagonia, i've gone the full food economy, so it works for me, short term loss for long term gain.

BUT.
I'm so stupid, I did the reverse of Bley's, and DIDN'T TRADE with Mansu, and I'm up against the BUDDIST LOVE FEST.
174223
met him could have traded 2 tech's, 5 turns later, I can trade NONE. Tech Education to trade, Mansu won't get it, Suddenly he has it and ASTRONOMY.
174226
Reason, Alex the MONSTER is his MASTER, Gil is pallie with him as is Ghengis.

Alex and Gil , have both revolted to Theoracry, and I wonder who they are coming after:confused:

Me, I have to self tech everything, I can't trade, Can't defend, Can't bribe even.

Map of my Island the north first174224

the southern part 174225

My capital 174228

Any suggestions would be appreciated, but not along the line of Cottages please...and yes..I missed on growing Rome...I know

2b or not 2b, for that you'll have to see
Don't wonder anylong faithful Lurkers and posters alike, it was.................(Drum Roll).....................

SURRY..........yeah..........not me:)

After 4 turns or war, Surry vassalized and Mansa was FREE......for 1 turn, then re-vassalized.:lol:

So after watching Alex's fleet sail on by me, BURPT BURAH....he Declares on ME...ME..ME....why oh why........(Because your pityfully WEAK)

After watching a well executed military campaign, he actually attacked via sailing around all my cities, and attacked LAST city, my New capital inland, I gave up....I was beaten WAY WAY WAY BEFORE THAT, once I met the others and I didn't trade to Mansa.

they were teching Democracy, Replace parts, etc, and I'm struggling with some rubbish. I just got Longbows and crossbows to defend, started to spam some, when declared upon, had to trade surry Education for Machinary and drama with some gold, next turn he's got Astronomy, nationalism and all the other tech's available.

Longbows, x-bows, spear's, maces V's Gren's, Knights, Trebs, Ele's is fun, as long as your giving it out and not on recieving end.

Chalk up another loss to my stupidity, and AI WARFARE at Marathon.

It just can't seem to be done by me....I'll try again at Normal speed.

I bet that changes the landscape HUGELY.......


Check point 3
Bah, never even met the 6th civ still in game...

@patagonia and others who replied to my "I never learn" post
Most AI tend to hate Mansa and he'll whore techs with you whether he likes you or not, so trading first wasn't the smartest move ever...

Yes, I know, that fact actually helped my decision. I met Mansa long before Optics, with border pop. Heck I dont think I even had Compass yet, and Lib wasnt even in sight. I can check my logs for the exact date, but I was not likely to meet the other AIs for some time, unless they happened to send a Galley through Mansa's ocean space.

Since I had a solid tech lead and points lead on him, and I knew he was likely one of the faster techers, I went ahead and befriended him. It hasnt been so bad at all. None of the other AIs were ahead of him in techs, and only Alex had a points lead when I met him, with Gilga and GK behind, but all 4 were very close. As I said in the other post, I am not worried. In fact, I have already played a lot more turns and STILL I am the only AI with Astronomy. I shoulda played this one at Emp, because I am running away with it at Monarch, since my natural style fits quite well to Agustus, a wonder-whore who likes LOTS of cities, heh.

Monarch, Normal
Checkpoint 1:
I ticked the Choose Religions option.
After a lot of thought, I settled in place rather than on the marble. Built a worker, teched agriculture.

Popped huts for for 42 gold, 51 gold, 29 gold

Ag -> Masonry -> BW -> Mysticism -> Wheel -> Meditation -> Priesthood

Worker -> Warrior x2 -> GW -> Settler -> Stonehenge

Buddhism was founded at turn 18 (3280 BC)

Islam was founded at turn 20 (3200 BC)

Got the Great wall at turn 43 (2280 BC)
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIIGW.jpg

First settler out at turn 50 (2000 BC)

I have the island explored (except around that little two tile thing E of the start) and looking for a suggestion on where to settle, this is a weak point of my game.

Map (With some possible thoughts):
South:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck10000.jpg
Center:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck10002.jpg
North:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck10001.jpg

schwartz:
Have a look at my dotmap. I think you can almost copy it, and I have 10 VERY strong cities now. I suggest you move the IW? city 1N+3E (or straight 3E to avoid overlap with Cap) to the coast to catch that seafood, that will allow you another city 1N+2W of the IW? city later, as a filler. For your southern region, you should DEFINITELY settle the tile 1W of the Copper, to get the Whales, you need that happiness, and it can support itself quite well. You could even save the forests down there for the NP city. That would also allow you to pack another city in down there, 1 NW of the "2nd GP farm?" city.

That allows yet another coastal city along your eastern coast, by the pigs. I have had good results with this type of set-up. Use the coast to surround that desert. Coastal tiles are reasonable food-neutral with a Lighthouse. Add Colossus and they are strong commerce tiles. I also settled a city in the middle, pretty late, on that desert-hill 2W of the West Coast pigs. I wanted to have access to every single river tile I could for max cottage output. I planned a full CE despite building the Mids, with the Colossus for keeping all tiles at a decent commerce output. Sure, water tiles will never be as strong as Towns, but thats fine. There is plenty of land for an extra city or two than you have mapped out. More cities = more everything in these LHCs, especially the ones with a smallish continent. Did you play the Gilga LHC? That one allowed a LOT of cities, with tons of space to avoid overlap entirely. This one is a much smaller area, so a few overlap tiles allows you to plant an extra city or two.

My dotmap is in Checkpoint 1, you should be able to get the general idea from it. I think it will be a "common" dotmap with most of the others as well, but I havent read any updates past Check #1.

immortal, normal.

checkpoint 1:I scout around for a few turns looking for the food but give up and settle on the marble. Seems like this one is crying for a wonderspam. I get them all so far..SH, Oracle-MC, Mids, both GL, even the parth (different city of course), Col. So things are looking pretty good so far.

R rolo --I run into no barb archers and city with warriors--did the AI have their normal complement of stuff they were also slow on the wonders (but they were fighting so that might be why)

Emperor - normal speed.

Pre-game thoughts
Looking at the starting position, this isn't a great capital location. Settling in place gives 8 water tiles and there's no seafood. In fact, with a lighthouse only the rice (4 food) and lake (3) will give us any sort of useful surplus early on, which isn't going to cut the mustard when it comes to working mines/marble. True, there are a couple of grasslands by the lake that can be farmed, but grassland farms are hardly a power tile. With that in mind, settling on the marble for a 3:hammers: city square seems like the best option, with a view to moving the capital elsewhere later on should a good site present itself.

In terms of traits, we're Imperialistic which may be useful early on in terms of settler production and later on if we go a-warring. Being isolated, Praets are unlikely to see much action here unless an ultra-early Astronomy is the goal so the UU is wasted. The industrious trait and UB though, we can work with.

Industrious + marble from the start makes Oracle + GLib almost obligatory since they're so cheap. It wouldn't be a bad idea to attempt to snag the ToA and MoM too (the MoM largely for AI denial), whilst the Parthenon has nice synergy with the Roman UB (+75% to GPP is practically philosophical). The main question with regard to early strategy is which tech to grab with the Oracle. Monarchy is good for happy, whilst CoL would give a religion and metal casting unlock cheap forges and the Colossus (handy with so many water tiles in the starting capital).

The final decision will come down to the availability of pre-calendar happy resources on the island, but if previous LHC are anything to go by, they could be in short supply. If that's the case, monarchy will probably be the tech to go for, since it frees up production from the Pyramids.

NB: all of this (apart from the Praet comment) would apply to a non-isolated start with the same start location.
1420AD - turn 202
Things started by settling Rome 1S on the marble plains hill and researching agriculture while building a worker (both taking 10 turns).

The tech path then went through bronze, wheel, pottery and mysticism while the island was explored (huts popped for 39 gold and two scouts). The best city locations looked to be down south, with double-crabs and wheat being one city and stone and clams another. However they'd both be killer for maintenance this early so I chose to found Antium 1W of the oasis instead. It's not a great city, but can grow quickly with the pigs (after a border pop) and can work 13 towns making it the best long-term Oxford site at this point. Getting an early start on cottage growth there would also help finance expansion further south.

Rome built the ToA and Oracle, grabbing monarchy as the free tech due to the dearth of happy. The Parthenon went in 3rd city Cumae (between horses and pigs) to avoid artist contamination, while Rome grabbed the GLib. I got calendar rather late, but took a punt on the MoM in Cumae anyway, missing it by 2 turns. Extended GA would have been a boost, but being industrious and having marble, it turned out to be a very efficient way of building gold to boost research.

I moved the capital to Antium in time to take advantage of bureaucracy there, also settling 2 great prophets (for hammers and gold) and a merchant in the city, whilst the first GS built an academy there. Antium will be Oxford/Wall St, freeing up Rome to get Moai Statues and the Ironworks.

Alex was the first AI to show up in 1160AD (turn 176) while I was busy filling up the rest of the island with cities). A cursory glance at his score (1245 to my 760), religion (he was Hindu but hadn't founded it - Hinduism was the dominant and AP religion with 34% of the world's population; Buddhism next on 8%) and techs available to research showed that if he had a worst enemy, they were likely to be insignificant. I therefore took the liberty of bumping him up to pleased on the cheap:

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/496/civ4screenshot0003bv2.jpg

50 gold on initial meeting is a good way to get an instant +4 to relations.

Next to appear was Gilgamesh, also a Hindu and friendly with Alex, so I repeated the gold trick. It doesn't last for long (due to being a small gift), but can be used to pick up more favourable trades in the meantime.

Unfortunately Mansa beat me to Liberalism by 2 turns, meaning I've got a bit of catching up to do in the tech department:

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/6451/civ4screenshot0002il6.jpg

I'm undecided as to how to proceed from here. Catching up in tech shouldn't be too hard if I beeline and backfill and the economy will improve once I've whipped 3 more universities and can get started on Oxford and some more courthouses. Space should be possible with 10 cities, although production will be limited which means a quick win is definitely out (plus I've been teching too slowly in this game as it is). The alternative would be to use some of the food rich cities I have to draft up a rifle army and pay someone a visit. The Alex/Mansa/Gilga/Khan continent would almost certainly be enough for domination, but unless I can get them fighting each other to thin out their numbers that'll be a real slog (with the AP especially). The main hope in that regard is Alex having founded Taoism. If he converts, I can probably get him into war against Gilgamesh and then pick someone to backstab.

Here's the Roman Empire:

The north:
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/5395/civ4screenshot0000hs8.jpg

The south:
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7475/civ4screenshot0001dl2.jpg

The capital (Antium) - note the reliance on HR:
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/3581/civ4screenshot0004xt4.jpg

Monarch Normal speed try No 2. :D

Damm Cheezy A'd Grin...

I'm about to tech Liberialism so be warned.. Met 1 civ as well

1st Rant....What a EASY GAME THIS IS............I STILL DON'T BELIEVE IT:eek:

I've just met Gilgamesh through a boarder pop, but he has Optics, and I'm 1 turn away, but he has banking..but I've got Phil/Edu on him.

Settle in place first, build worker (15)

Tech order was?? Umm Bronze working (15), Agri (rice), Masonary (Great wall in 2nd city), Sailing (Great Lighthouse), Founded Antium 2nd city, teched Myst, Poly (T of A), Priesthood (Oracle, take Metal casting), Writing , then Pottery (finish Oracle) Mathematics (hanging gardens in Artium). Asthetics/Lit (G Lib-Rome), confus (founded Antium, now capital), Calander (M of M built in 3rd city stone/clam), Currency then Iron working, Civ Ser, Med, Mono theisim (triple adopt Beau, Mono,Caste) Phil (found Tao *doh*, Nationalism (Taj in stone/clam) Education (build Uni's), Machine, compass, 1 turn from optics.

Phew...:blush: all over place...no order...mean while, GG's are founding here and there..so the Idiots are fighting. Theo went, and Hindu EVENTUALLY BUILT Apost Pal in wait for it 1460 ad..., Christianity founded 1070.

Gil's a hindu, so I assume Apost builder

I still haven't settled all of island as yet..but here's what I have 174245

Currently spamming settlers to found rest of coast, I"m going for a trade economy based game, take Astromomy from Lib, and tech to Demo for S of L. I'll send out Galley's to find all, open trade routes..and reap the cash.

I'm just cash positive at 80%, and I haven't even done it properly as yet.

I'm teching like a mad man, but will proberly come undone later, I allway's do..lol....

think I'll skip Bow's alltogether, and go for rifles/Cav. With Uni's/Obser's in most cities...wonder spamming like crazy, I've run away with this game...but....allway's a but....Astrom to Gil combined with my warrior def=my defeat, so..better keep him on side and fighting elsewhere...

ungy:
In that regard I must say a thing: free techs for both AI and humans are not kicking in, and that makes that AI in higher levels starts with warrior/scouts instead of archers ( with the correct numbers. Settlers/workers are working well ) . That is not a issue of my scenarios , but of the way the game is coded... the game atributes the free techs before choosing the leaders.... if the leaders are already chosen it simply moves on . And as the handicap file does not specify archers as free units , but simply "defensive units" ( if you give Rifling and Robotics to a AI, it will start with Mechs ) if the AI does not have archery they will get warriors/scouts ( depends on hunting ) instead. In isolation that is a minor issue ( you can't rush ), so I took the decison of letting things to stay this way, because the correction would need to change the game code, a thing that is not exactly my objective with this games ) )....
Read that.

Checkpoint 1 Emp - Normal



Well I scouted the island, yet again I notice the lack of happies ;). Plenty of room though. I might try for a cultural victory have to see what the other AI think when I meet them. :)

Built the GW early so barbs no problem. Second city will go on the stone, so with marble and stone wonders should come easy. :)

Techs went Agr, Mas, Wheel, Sailing, Myst and Poly. :eek: I founded Hindu in 1560BC guess there is no religious civs out there. Aim is to build as many wonders as possible. Hopefully I will get most of them. :D

I really think we should look at creating the LHC maps at Emperor level, currently I think Rolo uses Noble. Initial creation is what gives the bonuses, and they are given in the WB file. Since the majority of LHC players are playing at Monarch and above, it would be more realistic to the level of difficulty. Even the Barbs will have proper units, I think.

The WB file can still be edited for game speed, PlayableCiv, etc, and turned into a scenario, but the AIs will keep their proper techs as long as the "tech=" lines arent altered in the Team definitions. I have tested this myself. It looks like this:

BeginTeam
TeamID=1
Tech=TECH_THE_WHEEL
Tech=TECH_HUNTING
Tech=TECH_MINING
Tech=TECH_ARCHERY
ContactWithTeam=1
RevealMap=0
EndTeam

That is Mansas "team" WB info from a game created at Emperor, then saved as a Scenario. The AIs will also have the proper number of units if you choose Monarch or Diety, but they will be Archers, including Barbs, I *THINK*.

The only games that will suffer a bit are the Prince and below level players, but that will be negligible IMHO. The AIs will still start with Archery, something they dont get at Prince, and the Barbs will be Archers, again I *THINK* (didnt test that part, but I can). But it will hardly be noticeable since contact with the AIs doesnt come until mid-game anyway and the islands usually have very little in the way of Barbs, even with just skeleton fogbusting.

Love it when I don't have class, I can blaze through a game of civ :lol:
I took most of your advice Bleys, thanks a bunch.

Checkpoint 2, Monarch, Normal (haven't met all AIs and it's already 1500 AD, should tell you something about the tech pace..):
Well, I settled my island and teched the best I could, which was not very well (didn't even have alphabet when I made contact, not that I was really pursuing it..)

A :wallbash: moment: I settled Neapolis 1 turn before I got IW and then found out that I settled it ON an iron :(

Wonders built were GLH, Pyramids, Great Library, Angkor Wat (ran some priests at Rome, now scientists, GP points are nice too :p)
Missed Oracle by a turn, because I made one settler too many. By extension, I missed MC -> Colossus as well.

I got CoL first for a religion, founded Judaism in Antium.
Met the first AI, Gilgamesh, in 1190 AD, he didn't have alphabet either :rockon:

I didn't meet anyone for a while (only saw gilgamesh's borders across the water)
But then I got optics, met Mansa, Genghis, and Alexander.
Alex, Khan, and Gilgamesh were all confucian, Mansa was muslim and hated by all three, so I took a really late 1450 Liberalism -> Astronomy slingshot and opened borders with the confucian bloc.
I also found a little island with barbarians to the SW which I plan to rush to now that I have astro.

Couple turns later I traded one of my two irons to Genghis for:
Gold
Corn
Cow
Silk
Spices
10 GPT
:eek:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck20001.jpg

I stopped at that point, I haven't met all AIs, but enough to make some plans :lol:
Overview:
Map:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck20002.jpg
Tech:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck20003.jpg
Power (I chose the right friends :)):
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/LHCXVIICheck20004.jpg


Now I have 2 Settled GSpys in Rome along with S. Yard, which means my espionage level is high. I think getting some spies to the AIs and tech stealing may be help me in a big way (I get 70 EPs/turn at 0%)
My power graph is absurdly low.. but who cares!

Astro made my income soar (60 GPT from traderoutes, love that GLH!)

I'm going to send some old praets to the barb island and take that over, and settle my final city on the homeland before an AI does. I think I can get a tech lead and win domination, we'll see!

See what I mean about packing them in on smaller land masses? Sure, when you hit Biology and Medicine and such, you may run into some shared tile issues, but thats a LONG way off. Your map looks a LOT like mine, in fact, I bet MOST games will settle those exact tiles as well.

Any time I cannot comfortably drop 10ish cities in these LHCs, I try to squeeze in more if I can. 12-15 seems a reasonable number to compete with the AIs, unless one gets a massive continent to themselves and busts out 25 cities on it. I am really enjoying this game, its almost perfect for my style of play, Wonder Addiction, overseas expansion and AIs to conquer if I can with Transports and Marines!

Oh man. I've been wanting to play one of these, but I just spent all day yesterday playing an isolated position with marble (screenshot here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=271436)) where I zinged out a ton of wonders and I'm just not up for watching the same movie all over again. I guess I'll just read along and try to learn something.

Emperor, normal speed - 1957AD; end of the game

(FYI: There are maps of Rome in my earlier post)

When I left things off after Liberalism I was wondering whether to go the domination or space route and as usual the less time consuming option (ie space) won out. Despite being a bit behind in tech, I was able to research ones that Alex and Gilgamesh didn't have and trade my way up, largely cutting Mansa out of the loop.

The next AI to show his face was Genghis, who didn't like me much as I'd traded with Mansa (despite both being Hindu, Mansa had -12 with Khan for declaring on him), but he was quite backwards compared to the others so I wasn't too concerned. What was slightly more worrying was Alex's rocketing powergraph, especially as he was WHEOOH; although he was pleased, I wasn't sure I trusted him. Fortunately he declared on Sury, who I met shortly afterwards, along with Mao who was in a Confucian minority of 1.

With Gilga up to friendly after some trading and an accumulated favourite civic bonus (I stayed in HR for the entire game and have the stacks of warriors to prove it), I signed a DP to feel a bit safer from outside interference. A couple of random events, plus the spread of Hinduism enabling me to vote him in as AP resident bumped Alex up to friendly too, so I signed another DP with him once he'd taken Sury as a vassal. I held off acquiring democracy for as long as possible as there was a lot of infrastructure I wanted to whip in the southern cities and instead beelined assembly line, picking up railroad and combustion from Gilga in trades after a detour to biology and medicine for some much-needed health. Then I made a run on plastics for TGD (built in Mediolanum (my NE/NP city that ran a pile of engineers, popping a GE to help with the wonder)), followed by computers for the internet and robotics for the space elevator (both built in IW/Moai city Rome).

With a secure tech lead thanks to the internet, I was able to run SP and stick workshops and watermills down, providing ample production to get the ship built. None of the others had the required techs by the time the Roman ship arrived at Alpha Centauri in 1957, but that may have been partly due to all hell breaking loose the turn before I launched. I couldn't work out who had declared on who, but suddenly Gilga and I were at war with Alex and Khan (the message I got was Khan declaring on me, which doesn't really explain the 2 v 2). I used some of my tech lead to bribe Mansa and Mao in on my side and lost some seafood to pillaging Greek destroyers before Alex was willing to sign peace. Khan was a bit more belligerent, so I upgraded my stack of precautionary tanks to modern armour and sent 8 of them overseas to raze a couple of his cities out of spite.

The powergraph makes for entertaining viewing - guess when the world war started...

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2610/civ4screenshot0005cp9.jpg

Space Race try...


This proved a lot more challenging than I thought!

Epic speed, Prince difficulty. Pushing for Space Race win.

The starting position seems a gift from God. Marble+Stone+Ind= every wonder built. I managed, across three cities, to build a truckload of wonders. I went for Sailing immediately after Agriculture, built a worker then chopped out two settlers, who settled along the southern coast, snagging the stone, then both building a worker to build roads when i learned the wheel. Then it was BW/Masonry, and then beeline for Oracle to slingshot CoL.

I managed to build Oracle in three chops (lol) and Pyramids went up fast; unfortunately I made my first blunder here by stupidly building GLH in same city as Pyramids, feeling pressed for time i wanted to ensure both were up, and I contaminated my GP pool :S

Beelined for Literature to get GL, but i popped a frigging MERCHANT instead of an engineer. Nonetheless managed to get the GL out in a fourth city on the west coast, then I sent a settler to the island near the capital.

I then beelined Optics and then switched to beelining liberalism, managed to get Astronomy as the free tech and hit the oceans. Had the main island settled by now and was bumping into all the others (1200AD ish). I was comparable with most of the powers.

I pushed to settle the island some distance to the southeast, and then made it a colony, mostly to stop the computer snagging it and possibly beating me via domination.

Alexander had managed to take 1/2 of his island, and was very aggressive, so I started piling on defense. This worked fine till the 1700s, and i was beginning to tire of kowtowing to everyone to avoid a war. Still intending to push for Space Race, i nevertheless used my two production cities to spam out a huge army, which ensured no one thought seriously about attacking me.

Alexander created a colony, it rebelled, and he smashed it. Pretty funny.

I loaded my colony up with techs and a defense force in case Alexander grew restless, but he ignored it whole game.

By the 1900s, though, I realized, despite my strong defensive stance, Alexander was pulling ahead through his massive conquests, and I considered a strike on him to slow him down, but the logistics of massing and moving an army capable of even scratching him was too much and I retired in 1950.

I pretty much fail at the scenarios that require aggressive military, I am more of a culture win type, but this scenario i think is best for those of a strong slash and burn mindset.

Schwartz--thanks.

Immortal, normal. checkpoint 4
I continue on a wonderspam and as I'm getting the wonders I continue on the lib path settling all the GP. I meet gilgamesh with a border pop pretty late and trade with him--that speeds up optics a bit but not a huge swing.
I get lib-nat and the other continent beats me to astro so I pop a GA with an artist and draft a round of muskets (I've got the globe up in the only good food city). I've beefed up the capital food with 3 settled GM.
The AP is on the small continent, the big continent is buddhist. I run to rifles and do another round of drafting to shore up the defense. I claim 4 cities on the two small islands. Only excitement is I get attacked by Genghis and Sury same turn and lose one of my newfound cities temporarily. Peace comes quickly.
I've noticed in this type of game the AI will often attack your new island cities--that's OK as they are pretty marginal anyway. They will rarely go for the core.
I'm running about tech parity with the leaders at assembly line--then the AI does its usual detours and I beeline internet to backfill. When I launch the ship the nearest AI is missing about 5 techs.

I rarely get to play a wonderspam game so this was enjoyable

Played this on Emporer, fun game.

Got almost all wonders - just missed Zeus, the Theology wonders, Versailles, Kremlin, UN. Built the confucian shrine, settled almost all my other great people.

Second city went 1S of the Stone, third went on the coast N of the Oasis, 1S of the Iron, was my cottage city until later in the game, though I only built like 10 towns all game, mostly relied on specialists and trade routes.

Getting the city on the eastern island was great for trade routes early, put Moai there.

By the time I had optics and found the rest, I was way ahead of the world on techs. I had founded Confucianism and Taoism, the rest were split religiously. Sury picked up Confucianism and vassalized Mao soon after I met them. The Mongol and Mansa had many wars. Gilgamesh was the best techer of the bunch. Mansa shut down tech and went for cultural win.

Even though I had Destroyers already (and lots of them), both Sury and Alex thought they could send 15-ship Frigate/Galleon fleets at me. Both were sunk without reaching my shores. Sury even tried twice.

I didn't even have to invade Mansa to avoid cultural - he was dogpiled by everyone. I joined in though trying to pick up some votes for diplo win, Mansa built the UN so I was easily elected SG. But I fell just short and went to space in 1967. Did pick up Statue of Zeus from Mansa in the short war.

Fun game, the Emporer AIs spent too much time at war with each other and I just blew them away tech-wise.

Immortal, normal checkpoint 3

Tough game so far. I miss my cottages.

Wonderspam in capital. Stonehenge, Great Wall, Oracle, TofA, SofZ, Great Library, Hanging Gardens, Chicken Itza, Sankore.
City 2 build Parthenon, Pyramids, Sistine Chapel.

Won liberalism just, took Astronomy. Mansa was being dogpiled by everyone on his continent - which takes him out of the tech game. He is now Alex's vassal.

Since Liberalism I have falled behind. I settled the two islands which cost a lot - I've limped to State Property. Next tech Biology, after which I switch to caste system and stay there for the rest of the game. I'm going to try out an SE space race. But the AIs have around 5 techs on me. So a mix of espionage, lots of scientists, state property production and probably the Internet.

My backup is a culture win - Sistine and some of the wonders might do it. I'm also possibly on course for Diplomacy. I joined in the dogpile and the aggressive leaders are all pleased with me.

But I am losing ground in the tech race - just at the point in the game my cottages start to really accelerate. I'm hoping biology will do the same thing for my SE as the wonderspam isn't really producing enough science any more. Should have gone with Emperor I think.

This one looks interesting. I'll play Emperor/Epic again.

To the OP: Using Industrious to speed the Oracle to pop CoL for Courthouses creates synergy with the Imperialistic trait. Also, the Great Wall+Imperialism=lots of GGs if you get attacked. It would be interesting if someone captured a city on the other land with the sole purpose of getting the AI to throw stacks at it.

Yes..AD, and its get worse from there...
Now has Liberialism gone as yet?? NOOOOO!!!!!!!1 :eek:

OMFG I've only just met all 6 civs, 7 on normal map, and are they ever BEHIND in techs.

Now I've messed up what I'm doing, only just settled all of my island with a late settler spam/rush.

I've got PAPER on most, Education on 1 others Gil, he seems to be beelining rifling, but has Chemistry, but no Astronomy. Hmm

Mansa has Vassalized to Ghengis, no surprise there, but is nearly the dumbest of the lot.

Mao and Surry are both Islam, and fighting, the others are Hindu EXCEPT for Mansa, who's Buddist.

Now seriously, I could take Industrialisation with Liberialism, but I'm goint to settle for Rifling, I need some serious defence.

I've got espoinage on most of them, and the GG's have been popping up on a regular basis.

Seriously, Its MONARCH, NORMAL SPEED, no reloads.

I founded Confussionism, toaism, sitting on 1 turn from Liberialism, and I'll snap up economics as well, trade to all and sundry to get them out of Mercantilism into free trade.

I've build the 3 early G Merdchant wonders in Rome, which I've designated my wall street city. Science city is goint to the south with the 2 crabs and wheat in BFC SW OF the optics whales.

Capital has been moved inland to South of Rome and will be designated land based military city.

This just seems so easy at normal speed, compared to my efforts at marathone speeds, maybe I've just lucked out with the AI's all hating each other, pillaging and slowing each other down to such a HUGE EXTENT.


Saved game is attached..174393

Okay, just started.

Checkpoint one, 1120 BC:


http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee7/PeEll77/checkonegaiuslon.jpg

Marble and Stone hooked up. So far I've built, henge, ToA, GW and now working on oracle and pyramids. Might miss oracle, cutting it a bit close. One settled GP in Rome, hence the positive cash flow. Research went: Aggriculture-Mysticism-poly-masonry-writing, or something like that. Have two workers and 3 warriors, no huts popped yet. Was hoping I could get a scout out and do that, but yeah, the stone find kinda change my teching and yada yada. And now the barbs have occupied at least one of the three huts I've spotted. Me stupid. :crazyeye:
Island don't look too bad otherwise. Two happy, sugar to the north and whales to the south. Calendar-optics and then astro bulb maybe?

Monarch, Epic, Check 2B + 3:
My last spoiler I met the western AIs, and found I had blundered the diplomacy again. Eventually I found the other continent, with Mao and Sury, and both of them were VERY far behind the rest of the world. They had been warring some, but by the time I met them they were Friendly with each other, and of course Alex had been by as well, and they hated him, and I traded with him, so more -Worst Enemy crap. I swear there are some big problems with the diplomacy.

Anyway, I was in the drivers seat, but I still had to keep my hands on the wheel. I teched quickly to Astro and Rifling after taking Nat from Lib. None of the other AIs even had the one before Replacable Parts, or Astro. However, the western civs teched Mil Science, for Grenadier to combat my Rifles, so I delayed my attacks a bit.

Then Alex vassalized MM. That got me worried, Alex had a LOT of land, and now a vassal. It wasnt long before he DoWed on GK, and I was ready. I had 5 galleons full of cannons and rifles, and when Alex asked me to join the war, I accepted and quickly took 2 cities off GK.

It got weird from there. Mao DOWed on me, then Gilga did as well!! Then, Gilga marched a stack to one of the cities I had taken from GK and proceeded to suicide a HUGE stack on it, which generated me TWO GGs! (must have had some carry over from the GK war, I didnt even get one there, not enough battles).

Well, GK caved to Alex, giving him 2 vassals. Bummer. I needed something. I teched through Assembly Line and went back into Nat to draft Infantry. I also have 6 additional cities, 3 each on the other small landmasses, so they drafted an infantry each for defense as well. Alex still wasnt even to Replaceable Parts. So I moved a big army into one oa my GK cities, and DoWed on GK, which caused MM and Alex to declare on me. Thats where I am right now, planning to put GK out if I can, his culture is killing me.

Sorry for the lack of screenshots. I am swamped at home with visiting family, including my 6-month old grandson. They are only staying a couple more days though, so I will be able to give my final report with some screens.

I have already decided on Conquest for a VC. I am up to Combustion and still no one else has Rifles. I will give Alex peace once I get some more GK cities to ease the cultural pressure, then move to the Mao-Sury continent and take it out. Sury is REALLY behind, he didnt get many cities, which is surprising, he is usually much more aggressive when expanding. He will go first, then Mao. I may leave one of them in the game, but one is going to be gone completely soon enough. I am massing Infantry, Cannons and Cavalry on my mainland, and will have plenty of troops left after GKs war. Next stop, VICTORY! This game is really a blast, and despite my busy days, I cannot stop playing it. I love it when I get hooked on a game like this.

Monarch normal speed: for what its worth, I'd more or less decided from check point 2
I think I'll go for a space race victory, domination seems like too much hard work, shipping and conquring all those lands.

Mao and Surry, are Dumb as dumb, bearly have civil service and i've rifles, teching military tradition.

Think I'll just do a space race, go up media line's, build all wonders, grab all great people..pentagon, 3 gorges, space elevator etc.

I'm lazy, and I want to see how for ahead in tech I can get..lol

Might all come undone, Alex has astronomy and steel, so he's got cannons, but not rifling, been spamming city garrison 2 rifles for all cities, but he may have Greniders too...but if attack form sea -50% or if lands I'll attack first with rifles/Calvary.

Trouble is, I actually want to bribe them into war, but they are all friendly with each other, but ghengis, just went Buddist, and other 2 are Hindu, so here's hoping for some war.

Came down in a big crash of AI intertrading.
1 turn I'm ahead by couple of techs, then suddenly they all research 6 different things and trade with each other exclusively.

now I'm behind S Method, and I have to race to Combustion to keep parity with Alex. then I rush to assembly line, to keep pace with Gilgamesh.

Cux of game was lost out on SoL, Lost Pentagon, Lost Internet, I have Alex sailing about my coast with Carriers and jet fighters bombing everything, wanting a city he walked into as a peace settlement, because I forgot to put a garrison in it.

I've got no real hope, I've given it away, gilgamesh is happly teching away, and with Internet, He'll launch. Alex is being the usual idiot self, other continent is behind in tech's but he launches attacks on me.

Chalk up another loss due to bad diplomacy

Hmm well I won, and only really changed one circumastace..maybe 2
I reloaded at the point of getting factories up, and made on change from my game play there on, I bribed Alex into WAR with gil, this was one difference, and what a difference, the other I tech traded for flight/Mass media and built a navy of Battleships, destroyers, submarines.

174661

I was never attacked, It took PLASTICS to bribe Alex but it was well worth it, it must be a hangover from my marathon playing, that I won't bribe othere AI's or even tech trade with them.

Any how, I won in a space rece were my competitoers were eveloped into war, in hindsight, it must have been gill woho brived alex into attacking me.

and hey, a victories a victory..:goodjob:

Checkpoint 4: Monarch, Normal speed -
I met the eastern AIs, YellowAlienKhmerFreak and Mao (or was it Qin? I finished this two days ago so I don't remember..) and opened borders for the extra trade (They hadn't met the other continent yet, so no "worst enemy" modifiers). They were both Buddhist and loved each other. Everyone went Mercantilism soon after, so my income went down for a while. I captured and kept two barb cities on the SW island and settled 2 of my own on the N island before YellowAlienKhmerFreak beat me to the eastern part of the island. Genghis, meanwhile, vassaled Mansa. Alex declared on both of them and I joined against Alex and Khan's request. I quickly took my rifles/cannons and loaded up 8 galleons, took them to Alex's back lines and captured three of his core cities, including the capital, before taking a cease fire (he had nothing to give me at the time.) I declared again when I brought some new troops over. Once I did, I took 2 more cities and vassaled him. At that point, Genghis loved me and Sury was #2 in pop, so I beelined and built the UN (about 1850~) and brought up the diplo win immediately. I got Genghis and Alex to vote for me, but I didn't have enough positive diplo with Mao, Gilgamesh, or Mansa (actually, -16 with him :lol:)
I declared on Sury and took his two cities on North Island, which gave me enough votes in the next election (1900~) for the win.
I could never get Gilgamesh up to friendly for long enough to get the vote. I had him there but then got a random event for -1 which brought him back to pleased :(
Highlight of the game was popping a completely useless Great Artist on the final turn of the game at 1% odds.
Final score: 26871 (My worst diplo score ever :p)
Thanks for another fun game rolo.

Well, I lost, Checkpoint #4:

Sort of lost that is. I could easily have just went for a space victory. My citiers were AWESOME, and no AI had enough beef to take me down, not without a LARGE armada or transports, anyway. But I wanted Conquest, again, LOL.

I built a LOT of troops and had taken some of GKs cities. Alex seemed peaceful enough, so I moved many of them off that area and decided to try to take out Sury and Mao. Bad mistake. Sury went down bad enough, but Mao must have used some spies on me and gotten some techs, because when I went to take him on, he had Infantry and Artillery! UGH! Not only that, when I DoWed on him, Alex, who was already at war with him, made peace, like the next turn!! OUCH AGAIN! Now Mao had nothing but me to worry about. I was doing ok, losing a lot of troops but managing to make progress, when suddenly, Alex and his Vassals came for me. Alex and GK easily took out my cities on that continent, and Mansa landed on my island to the North. I only had basic garrisons up there, and had lost 2 of 4 cities when I finally gave up.

I have a save way back from when I first started the war with Mao. I am going to go back to it, and just see how a Space Race will end up. My problem is that I had no time this week, and so much else going on. I got impatient, made mistakes, and payed the price. I am annoyed at myself too, because I was really enjoying this game. I love the chess-type strat of intercontinental warfare, but I suck at it. I know, I know, I should take the path that looks like the most solid winning plan, but heck, its just a game and I like to use these LHCs to work on my weaknesses. Someday I will learn that leaving my lands open to invasion while invading other lands is a HUGE mistake. My main island would have been unconquerable, I had plenty of troops there, but my other lands were vulnerable. I had actually moved a lot of my navy over to the eastern island to cover it against Mao's pillaging Frigates. That opened the door for Mansa, and when Alex and GK just walked all over me , heh, I decided I wanted to play the Nobles Club game.

I took lots of screenies too, but I didnt bother uploading them. Too discouraged. When I go back, and re-play the game as I SHOULD have, a Space win, I will take more and do another "Checkpoint 4" post.

I do want to say this was one of my favorite LHCs ever, probably because I am a Wonder-Addict and Island-Rex addict, and this game allowed me to do both without much struggle. Even though I am pretty sure of a Space win, its not a given, Gilga and Alex are close to me in tech, and Alex is WAY ahead in power. He hit GKs old capitol with a stack like I have never seen before in one of these, the kinds of stacks you only see in Pangaea games, over 50 units of Artillery, Rifles, Cannons, Cavalry, etc. I had no chance. He would have been hard to hold off if he decides to invade my mainland, which is what I am expecting in the re-play. I have to get the game onto my better computer though, this little laptop I play on cannot handle the large-stacks of late game moves.

So onward to the Nobles Club, I guess, that game is a blast also, and will allow me to practice oversea wars as well. I learned a LOT of valuable lessons from my try in this game. Cant wait to apply them!