Let's begin a game with Alexander...

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk162/silverbullet_sz/Alex/AlexStart.jpg


I am not sure what to do with this start. I think I will settle on top of the ivory.

Hmm...looks very interesting. I might give this one a shot after I move.

What are the chances that the tile 2s1e of your settler has a strategic resource? It looks like blank plains tile

Probably very high as the rest of the start is forest/floodplains/resources.

I won't have time for this one, unfortunately. :(

If it doesn't have a resource settling on the elephants is very tempting... You can check out that title with the scout though...

Doing Khan first, then this. I'd been neglecting the higher difficulty games because I was struggling, but now I'm ready for more beatings.

Hopefully AI beatings but we'll see.

well, i dislike aggressive and actively hate philosophical, so i will give this one a go. i hope to run a cottage economy to a cultural victory... :lol:

That's fast, i probably begin playing tomorrow. Have to think about moving the scout but settling on the ivory looks like a viable option. Very good start btw.

I think I'll give this a try, even if I'm normally not an Immortal-level player. But getting beat up can be educational too. I'd probably settle 1NE or 1E depending on what the scout find...

well, i dislike aggressive and actively hate philosophical, so i will give this one a go. i hope to run a cottage economy to a cultural victory... :lol:

With philosophical that should be relatively easy.

With philosophical that should be relatively easy.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

NB i dont actually want to run into a cultural win as i find them to be the most tiresome victory types in the game.

It's only somewhat of a joke - every civ needs a GP farm. You run philosophical with CE and you get your great scientists sooner. Earlier academy, more bulbing through what's often the weak part of the game for CE. Then you get cheaper universities, which means an easier time getting oxford in your bureaucracy capitol -----> I find philosophical quite versatile.

Had some spare time today, so I got this one off to a quick start :)

4000 BC - 1360 BC (Horses and Bronze info.)
Settled in place (decided to gamble on the empty plains tile, which failed (forest has spread there))

Tech path was ag, wheel, pottery, AH, mining, BW, writing, mysticism, and part of IW

I tried settling towards Charlie aggressively, as our capital seals him off from the north completely, so I have a lot of land to work with here. Got a city in the southern part of the narrow isthmus between Charles and us, and another to grab pigs/2*gold and also floodplain + marble if I can win the cultural war there.
I'm going to try to pop an early GS or two in the capital so I can expand further out (towards the horses in the NW, which are pretty far away.. Bronze is stuck in the tundra all the way on the tip, so I'm hoping for Iron) without crashing the tech pace completely.
Advice? Tips? Corrections? I'm still not comfortable at immortal, I only have one win, mostly thanks to Dirk and Rusten :D

Here's the map
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/jsschwa/Civ4ScreenShot0019-1.jpg

@ schwartz

I've settled Sparta in the same spot as you, but stuck my 3rd city NE of Athens to get fish/corn and some hills before founding my 4th where you've got Corinth.

My early tech was a mess though; shouldn't play when I'm too tired. For some reason I skipped agriculture early on, then delayed writing much longer than I should have done and have ended up in a bit of a hole as a result. You look to have picked up much more useful knowledge than I had by that stage.

Hopefully, Charlemagne will found a religion in your game, enabling you to get him to friendly pretty quickly to avoid a backstab; the alternative would be to beeline construction/HBR and take him out with cats/jumbos/swords (assuming iron). Early war is by no means essential here though, since you've got a ton of land to back-fill.

Spoiler up to +/- 300BC:

My game has turned into a semi-isolated tangle and I've never been too hot on those. I've made contact with Huayna who's across the sea, but not in a way I can get trade routes from/explore through. I'm stuck with a friendly Charlemagne (we're both Confucian which he founded), but Buddhist Huayna's his worst enemy and I'm Huayna's worst enemy (due to not having monarchy for HR and refusing to cough up aesthetics).

I've popped 3 GS so far, but since I've only got Charlemagne to trade with and he's miles ahead of me, I'm not too sure what to do with them (the first has made an academy in Athens, but the 2nd and 3rd are sleeping). Bulbing seems far from optimal with only one trading partner, especially since I don't have alphabet or maths yet and they're relatively cheap anyway.

Is it better to stockpile for later, or should I consider settling them all in my cottaged academy capital for long-term benefit?

Just when I thought I would take a break from civ, another IU. Tough to resist.

Can anybody explain to a computer idiot how to get these saves to open in BUG mod? I tried but it always restarts the game without the mod loaded.

On the start: I am hesitant to move east as it loses some forested plains hills.

EDIT: Figured how to install BUG as a custom asset instead of as a mod so I can load the saves in it. Thanks Rolo!

@patagonia:
Charlemagne founded Judaism 2 turns before I stopped, hopefully it spreads to me soon, i'll definitely be taking the close borders diplo hit ;)

I got inspired about the posts about cultural victory, so i'll go for that, i kinda overexpanded though so won't be any great date... Here is 825 BC. Don't think i'll get more cities, cept maybe one to claim the stone, i really want iw so i can get up the pigs for the double gold city, also allow me to start chopping the jungle from the dye city. Doubtfull that i'll ever get the marble but one can hope as both pantheon and tsc is nice. Blcoked charlie so i prolly have alot of land to backsettle but not sure if it will do anything to improve my finishtime...

This game is positively hillarious.


Charlemagne: +8 religion buddy bonus!!!
You can backstab, cheat and abuse him over, over and over again and he will stay at pleased! The guy is CAUTIOUS with me in WAR!

Talk about taking candy from a baby... I've got his capital and prague. Jumbo's and Caterpults took care of bussiness. I sort of proud cause this is the first time in my Civ history I engage in catapult rush on a full size empire, it's on Immortal and I succeed. Yarr. Not sure if it's an acheivement, though. Probably not. Got the capital around 1260 AD.

Will write up something of a report when it's not 2 AM and when I'm not supposed to be up at 6 in the morning.

@everybody up to ~1000BC


So I got a city down by the gold and I met HC across the water. Problem is, one of the patches made it so you can't sail through oceans even in territory where you have open borders. Is there some way to get into HC's territory and scout the other continent before caravels that I am not thinking of?

@ JBossch

The only way I can think of is to culture bomb to gain control of the ocean tile for yourself. That'll give you intercontinental trade routes instead of HC and allow you to explore further.

I am surprised there aren't more posts on this thread. I thought Alex was a popular leader.
I haven't had time to play it yet, but I am looking forward to it.

I've been distracted...still have my APG game too ----> been putting off immortal due to civ struggles though it seems I've sorted some of my problems out so I'll give it a whirl soon.

sort of a spoiler if you havent played at all:

I got bogged down in an elephant war and a horrible tech-rate. It might still be winnable since I had largely cut Charlie down to size. I just didn't really consider it post-worthy.
I would really like to see how some of the experts handle this one though.

Surprised too. I haven't had time yet due to a music festival this weekend but I'll get started on it soon-ish.

Giving this a go. I'm a Monarch player, so this should be interesting. Alex is very strong, though, in the early game. Love the Phalanx.

Rambling log through 25 B.C.:

I normally settle on the first turn, but the discussion intrigued me so I scouted for a turn first -- glad I did. I ended up moving the settler on the hut for some gold, and on turn 2 the scout uncovered the pig tile, allowing me to settle 1E of the original location to get the ivory, pigs, cow, and the mystery plains tile. Since we start with hunting, i'm techhing AH first and building a worker.

Charlie is to our south through the jungle isthmus. Our first victim? He's founded Buddhism and sent two scouts by our land ... suggesting he is on a peninsula and blocked off.

No copper or horses nearby. Switching to Archery. Stone is on the map for possible Great Wall, but don't think I can get there in time.

Settling the fish/elephant site to the west / southwest, as it's the only area I can work immediately ... after archery I'm going for the wheel and pottery to get some cottages going ... will also need mysticism soon.

Charlie is to the south / southwest ... i'm going to try to beat him to the gold site if possible ... fingers crossed. Settler making a mad dash south, using warriors and archers to fogbust along the way. Made it!

Charlie cuts off gold city Corinth from Athens with city in the middle for corn/dye ... will have to connect by sea and get iron asap.

Settled the clam/fp site to the west and the original corn/dye spot to block Charlie. It will be a good city after I raze his abomination ... :devil:

Economy in the crapper, praying for cottages and scientists to take off...

We meet Huayna, who is on an island to the SE.

Teching IW. First scientist in Athens, settled there.

Gold hooked up! Athens happy cap is 7 (4 + palace + elephants + gold). Working 4 FP, elephants, and 2 scientists there.

Athens has iron, thank jeebus. One more reason I'm glad I moved where I did ... the iron would have been outside the BFC had I settled in place ...

Iron hooked up. Second GS in Athens, built an Academy. Production city Sparta starting on military buildup. Going for construction to go against Protective Charlie ... I may need HBR for elephants here if Charlie gets to Feudalism soon

JBossch: put your response in a spoiler please, and specify the year.
Thanks

I am surprised there aren't more posts on this thread. I thought Alex was a popular leader.
I haven't had time to play it yet, but I am looking forward to it.I picked this one up, but my game's not been going well so far.

I'm looking forward to seeing how other people approach things though.

i hate all philosophical leaders with the following exceptions: elizabeth, lincoln. that is all...

i hate all philosophical leaders with the following exceptions: elizabeth, lincoln. that is all...

Have you ever used Freddy? Very, very effective leader and great synergy with his civ. Lincoln's synergy can be debated but at the same time it probably helps him because he can provide strength for early and mid game so you can hit the ground running late....

Go alex btw.


Anyway my advice on this game. Attack Charl early and often. Make him weak before he can horde any landknechts. Plus Axemen uniques are very effective with aggressive.

Also I'd try for the oracle and grab either metal casting or more likely code of laws for caste system (flood plains/caste system/philo trait combo: effective). This way you can maintain teching with GP farming while use your other cities to produce troops and war without too much stagnation of economy.

nah, its a personal thing. i only like lincoln and lizzy cause they have great second traits.

Up until 225 AD.
Settled 1SE as there were no resources to the west/north and we started on floods. Got pigs in my BFC so that turned out great although 1E would've been even better; I'd get iron later on.

- Research went AH -> mining -> BW -> archery.
- Got my first setter out on turn 40--I scouted that gold cluster (and Charlemagne) and wanted to make sure I'd get there first. Settled Sparta 1E of the marble turn 46 / 2160 BC.

I continued settling towards Charles in order to get as many cities as possible. At this point I thought he would be my only contact so I wanted to keep him small thus I settled Corinth in-between Athens and Sparta in the blue circle turn 63 / 1480 BC.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2118/ga10002xz4.jpg

However, shortly after I noticed this:

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4969/ga10003pr3.jpg

It wouldn't surprise me if it was there before I settled Corinth as well--I don't know. At any rate I urgently whipped a settler in Athens to be able to get trade routes to HC. Having a 2nd AI around is pretty big too in terms of tech trading--especially as Charlemagne failed to found any religion; I'd never get him to friendly. Fortunately Charlemagne valued other city spots more so I managed to settle there (1E of horses) anyway. I successfully get trade routes to HC after the first border pop (and vice versa).

Standard continuation. I chop the GL 125 BC and follow up with the NE in Athens. I've cottaged the city so far, but it will probably run some specialists anyway--especially with Oxford's Uni.

After researching currency I decided to go for music. Given that I'm not spiritual that GArtist could prove very useful for multiple civic changes, I can postpone CS for now. I successfully get to music first in 100 AD.

Next up is a second wave of expansion to the NW. There are some good spots there but I didn't rush into settling them as there is no opposition. Athens/Argos will make some settlers while Sparta will start getting workers after growing. I can't relate to this map being hard as some of you thought; there's lots of room to expand and plenty of commerce resources. Charlemagne isn't that aggressive either and you can just convert to his religion when he founds one. In my game he recently founded Christianity--I might trigger my GA soon to swap into a religious civic, a religion and HR/CS. I'd save 3 turns of anarchy with that. As long as I befriend Charlemagne the continuation shouldn't be difficult.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3253/kakekake0000eh6.jpg

@Rusten:

I settled in nearly the same places as you and about the same times, except that I did not get a city south of the gold spot. I beat charlemagne to the spot for corinth by one turn and his settler just went straight there. I was stuck with charlie and HC until 1200AD.
I think getting that city was game-breaking.

@ Rusten:

Good work aggressively settling towards Charlie. I think beating him to that marble was huge; I got to the gold/pigs, but his culture already covered that tile.

I think the problem I ran into was only meeting Charlie and HC and the two of them being worst enemies, making trading difficult (Charlie teching much faster than me didn't help much either; I think I need to work on my early beaker output).

Until +/- 1870 AD

I played this one until approx 1870 AD, i agree with Rusten that in itself this is a very easy map with all the room to settle. I had invested a huge amount of energy in the Deity Pangae challenge a game that resulted in an incredibly tedious modern war so i played this one quick and rather sloppy.

I imposed a limit that i'd only build cottages if i couldn't build a a pre CS farm and that i wouldn't chop TGL. Not to happy with that seeing this start which screams cottages on FP's, oh well. First i moved the settler onto the Phants, this turns out to be a terrible spot so i move it back. One turn lost. Explore the map and settle my most southern city 1E of marble also catching 2 gold.

I only have trade routes with Charles, moreover Charles takes forever to research currency so i finally researched it myself around 400 AD, research is a meagre 60 bpt at this point but at least i have scientists enough already to bulb all the way to lib once i get to CS. Reach lib around 960 AD, take Nationalism and start on Taj Mahal, i have settled most of the island by now and my game's beginning to look ok. Get constitution and also Oxford around 1150 AD, research is ok now. I reckoned it was too late for a cuirassier rush on Charles, he's the world leader in power and he has lots of cities, not sure but i think he would get something like Rifling or MS stopping the rush. Not all the land is developed so i choose to build up slowly.

Since i've warred extensively in the aforementioned game i'd like to make it easy for myself so i build up an enormous stack with some 25 rifles and 40+ cannons. Declare on Charles who has rifles and cavs by now around 1550 AD,1730 AD Charlie is no more, for maximum result i should have declared sooner. I thougt i was winning easily at that time but i see that Justininan will declare on someone and that can only be me since he's pleased with everyone else. I have traded for railroad by now which helps transporting my army from south to north. 1770 AD Justinin and Louis declare on me, i've no trouble defending but all the seafood gets pillaged and i miss trade routes with Justin and Louis slowing recovery from the earlier war.

Sure enough i get peace with Justin some 12 turns later, Louis follows soon afterwards. I finally get to build up the empire but we're in the 1800's now. Justin researches very fast atm , he beats me to comps and also beats me to Internet by 3 turns. This is not terribly important since we're both way ahead at this point. Means i have to research rocketry myself though. I get the empire more or less on line and research approaches 3K now. Spionage shows me that i research every tech twice as fast as Justin so i should still be ok.

In hindsight i'm a bit sorry that i didn't put more effort into this one, it's a fun map to play for a very good result. The self imposed restriction of only farms hurt in the capital, i really had enough food there anyway, same for some other cities. I think playing this way i should have stayed with slavery (had enough GPP anyway) and farm everything instead of going caste and workshops which almost forced me to go with chemistry early as well.

Missing the traderoutes and the ability to tech trade with others is a pity but i don't feel it's gamebreaking. It's just things like lack of MM, bad timing (researching currency and optics too late for instance) that holded me back somewhat in this game.

@Rusten, good move on the trade routes, i saw HC too late. Question on the routes, why do you get trade routes with HC while you can't reach him by boat? I always thought that the ablility to reach someone by boat was the criterium for getting the routes, well i guess i have to read an article on trade routes too (after the culture article).


@Rusten, which musical festival did you goto? I love music and often go to concerts and festivals myself.

@Above spoilers.
I settled in nearly the same places as you and about the same times, except that I did not get a city south of the gold spot. I beat charlemagne to the spot for corinth by one turn and his settler just went straight there. I was stuck with charlie and HC until 1200AD.
I think getting that city was game-breaking.
That city made things easier for me, but I wouldn't say it's game-breaking. There's a lot of available commerce, land and food on this map so the trade routes aren't necessary to pull off a good game. The more important thing is finding AIs to trade techs with.
I think the problem I ran into was only meeting Charlie and HC and the two of them being worst enemies...
That makes things a little more complicated indeed, but if Charlemagne had a religion I'd just ally with him and forget about HC as he's overseas. Then again if your tech is too slow to get any trading done it might be better to remain neutral.
@Rusten, good move on the trade routes, i saw HC too late. Question on the routes, why do you get trade routes with HC while you can't reach him by boat? I always thought that the ablility to reach someone by boat was the criterium for getting the routes, well i guess i have to read an article on trade routes too (after the culture article).
I can reach him by boat actually.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/7743/kakekak0000de4.jpg

@Rusten, which musical festival did you goto? I love music and often go to concerts and festivals myself.
Slottsfjellfestival(.no)

@Rusten,


Ah, i assumed you couldn't reach him since there wasn't too much coastline explored. Indeed you have to build the city there yourself since you can't reach the tile where your arrow starts if it's not your own culture (i tried that in my game).

Until 1928 AD


First a screenshot of the stack i sent to Charles 1600 AD.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s256/dirk1302/war-withcharles.jpg

Got all the techs 1900 AD, i'm a bit worried since my production is seemingly very low and even in GA some of the parts are costing > 20 turns. readjustung city tiles and running GE's instead of GS's partly solve this problem, i convert tiles in the neighbourhood of problem cities to workshops. Launch 1916 AD with a one engine ship
As i arrive 1928 AD Justin is just finishing fusion, the last tech he needs. Could have managed the race a bit sooner if i had researched rocketry earlier, hoped to get it from the internet which i missed.

Been a while since I played civ, thought I'd give it a go since I got some spare time atm.

4000BC-1300AD


Tech path: Wheel -> Pottery -> AH -> Archery -> Mining -> BW -> Mysticism -> IW -> Writing -> Masonry -> Sailing -> Maths -> Calendar -> Construction -> Currency -> etc ..

Build order: Scout -> Worker -> Warrior -> Worker -> 2xArcher -> Settler -> Worker -> etc ..


4000BC - Found Athens on ivory.

3760BC - Met Charle.

1760BC - Sparta founded near Charle's capital, grabbing corn/marble/floods. Commerce city.

1520BC - Met HC.

1240BC - Switch to slavery.

1200BC - Corinth founded, grabbing pigs/2xgold. Commerce city.

900BC - Capital, giving some nice early science thanks to floods & scientists.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5821/civ4screenshot0044jv1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


875BC - Thebes founded, grabbing 5xdye/corn/iron. Commerce city.

750BC - First GS from Athens, constructed academy.

325BC - Second GS from Athens, settled in place.

300BC - Argos founded north of Athens, grabbing fish/corn. Will take over the GPP from Athens once it is more developed. Also Charle founded Christianity and spread it to me. But since HC doesn't have a religion still, I don't convert yet.

200BC - HC adopts Christianity and so do I.

25AD - Calendar to HC for Poly/Med/180gold.

150AD - HC adopts Buddhism.

175AD - I switch to Caste & Bureaucracy.

300AD - Third GS from Athens, bulb phil. Also founded Knossos, grabbing northern pig/iron. Prod city.

325AD - Tech overview after researching paper.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5937/civ4screenshot0077ua8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


350AD - Bribe.

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4572/civ4screenshot0079fe3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


425AD - Col to HC for monarchy/30gold.

540AD - Mycenae founded, grabbing western fish/ivory. Prod city.

600AD - Phil/paper to HC for MC/Compass/Monotheism/130gold.

640AD - Charle wants me to stop trading with HC, I disagree.

660AD - Charle steals compass.

740AD - Receive between 118-236gold.

760AD - Liberalism but I delay it to pick astronomy. I don't have much to trade so I will have to research the pre-req's myself.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/8800/civ4screenshot0101do2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


880AD - Fourth & fifth GS. I had one hanging around (forgot) so I have two. I partial bulb PP and keep the other for later.

940AD - Gems in Thebes.

960AD - Finally finish Liberalism and picked astronomy.

1030AD - Met Hammurabi. (conf)

1040AD - HC signs peace with Charle.

1060AD - Met Justinian (Buddhist)

1070AD - Met Mehmed (Hindu). Justinian and Mehmed are at war with Hammurabi.

1080AD - Still have a GS doing nothing, partial bulb Sci method.

1100AD - Justin asks to dow Hammurabi and I agree, he can't reach me anyways.

1120AD - Pharsalos founded 1S of stone. Prod city. (will need biology to get good but I need the stone for oxford soon.)

1160AD - Met Louis. (Buddhist) Diplo doesn't look too good but no one but me has astronomy yet so I'm safe for a while.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2148/civ4screenshot0138ke5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1160AD - I gift paper to Mehmed. He's lagging behind and gets him up to pleased. Education/100gold to Charle for Gunpowder/literature. Education to Justin for engineering/drama.

1180AD - Another GS. Bulb another part of Sci method.

1200AD - Reached economic first, I keep the GM for corps later. Tech overview.

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1087/civ4screenshot0148ca2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1230AD - Finished Taj Mahal in Athens.

1250AD - Settled Ephesus at the westerns clam+floods. Commerce city. Also switch to Rep/FM/FR.

1300AD - Last turn of GA, just finished corporations and it seems like a good time to call it a day.

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/4534/civ4screenshot0177sa1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/281/civ4screenshot0178xs2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8846/civ4screenshot0179kq5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9192/civ4screenshot0185za0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9423/civ4screenshot0184ta0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7597/civ4screenshot0183bs0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1390/civ4screenshot0181fe0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8316/civ4screenshot0182fu3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Techs look good atm, I don't think the AI will catch up anytime soon.. though diplo can be tricky. I don't want to get dowed by the Buddhist block (mainly Louis being a threat). I could use vassalage+hereditary for diplo bonus but that would hurt my econ.

I'm tempted to get physics though democracy/riffling might be a better option. I still didn't get copper so I think I'll skip SoL.




@Rusten:

Nice move putting Thebes there to reach HC. I didn't think of that.


@Dirk: Good job on your win.


Edit: Sorry forgot to put till what turn I played above spoiler.. fixed.

^Thx, i didn't feel like i played a great game though, just about ok at best.

You've got good research here 1300 AD, are you planning to attack someone or just quietly tech space. I agree with your comment about Rusten's move, very farsighted that was. Just goes to show how important proper exploration is.

@Dirk

As soon as I saw how much room there was on the continent, I planned for a peaceful win. Hence I went for all the post-lib economic techs first. War from my position would've been good too, the AI was pretty far behind so a riffle vs longbow war was plausible.



Short round: 1300AD-1560AD



Decided not to go after Physics just yet. A GS will pop soon, I want to get democracy and start another GA to change to US/Emancipation and use the GA to get to physics.

1310AD - Capture Zapotec, I should have moved it but I cba. Desert>peaks.

1340AD - Capture Ligurian. I should have moved it too so I could put one more filler city but I'm getting lazy/cocky. :mischief:

1360AD - GS pop, start a GA & switch civics.

1380AD - Mehmed dows Justin & Hamm. Not smart.

1410AD - Hamm asks to stop trading with Mehmed, I reject. Mehmed asks to dow Hamm, I reject. :rolleyes: Also get to physics and get a free GS, partial bulb biology.

1440AD - Mehmed loses a city to Justin. I give Justin Lib/Gunpowder for peace with Mehmed. The last thing I need is Justin getting another vassal.

1500AD - Louis demands some gold, which I give.

1520AD - Sushi founded in Argos, I'm not sure if this was a good choice but I'll see what the future brings. I replaced the farms with workshops to spread sushi and get WS to set up a GM farm later on.

1530AD - Charle asks to stop trading with HC, I reject. Also SoL built in Athens.

1535AD - GS from Argos, I keep it for a GA later.

1545AD - Justin asks to stop trading with Mehmed, reject once again.

1560AD - Short round. GF came home so I decided to call it quits.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9007/civ4screenshot0258xs7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1703/civ4screenshot0260ep4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Getting assembly for factories and then go after riffling and get some defense. I don't think I will get attacked soon but better safe then sorry. I'll probably put some scouting boats along the coasts so I can see an attack coming. After that I'll go after the Electricity/Radio wonders -> internet -> space.

1560AD-1770AD


1575AD - Assembly line. Charle steals Astro, his ep is pretty high.

1590AD - A scary turn. Both Charle and HC brought their sod to my border. Both say: we have enough on our hands. Charle's sod is right next to Sparta and thinking my defense consists of some archers ... I don't think he's sightseeing. :backstab:
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3673/civ4screenshot0295ed9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


But this isn't the first game where a pleased AI wants to backstab me and there's an easy solution...

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4545/civ4screenshot0299tm5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Charle accepts and there's 10 Turns of peace. I can't do the same with HC though since he's annoyed. But HC's sod is rather small.

I trade physics to Charle for riffling/80gold/map and switch to nationhood.


1595AD - Big surprise, HC dows me. :rolleyes: I draft 3x infantry and keep drafting 3 times the next +- 10 turns or so.

1600AD - Ran 0% science to upgrade a mace stack to infantry.

Bribe:
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/2859/civ4screenshot0314er1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1605AD - Charle keeps running his sod trough my lands, I fear he's still planning to dow me once the 10 turn treaty is gone.

1610AD - Cleaned up HC's sod. (infantry vs cuirassiers) :mischief: GG pops and settle in Pharsalos. Louis has enough on his hands .. I do the same as with Charle, just to be sure. By the time those 2 treaties are over, I will have a good infantry/cannon sod.

1615AD - Louis, Justin and Hammurabi dow Charle, yay. I starve Argos for a quick GP so I can start another GA and switch back to Bureaucracy. I don't think I will need any more drafting for a while.

1620AD - Apparently the AP decided to close borders with me. No more open borders except with Charle. My economy is taking a dive. Nationhood instead of Bur, no oversea trade routes, drafting and to make it worse I lost all open border diplo. ;[

1620AD - Sign peace treaty and let HC pay 120gold.

1630AD - GM pops, I start a GA and switch civics. No more drafting.

1640AD - charle steals steel. :mischief:

1665AD - GM pops, settle in Argos which is future WS/merchant city. Also reopen borders with Hammu.

1670AD - Pentagon in Athens. Mehmed and HC dow Charle thanks to AP.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/8633/civ4screenshot0376jh5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1675AD - Louis asks to dow Charle, refused.

1685AD - Louis and Charle at peace. Reopen border with Justin.

1690AD - Broadway in Athens.

1715AD - I don't like my diplo that much and since I have a tech advantage I hand out some techs.

Steel to HC, +1 diplo
Biology to Hamm, +4 diplo
Biology to Justin, +4 diplo
Biology to Louis, +4 diplo

1720AD - HC demands 80 gold, agree.

1730AD - Justin asks to stop trading with Charle, refused. GA pops, I'll keep it for corps.

1740AD - Cristo in Athens.

1750AD - Justin asks to dow Charle, refused. Rock 'n Roll in Pharsalos.

1765AD - Eiffel Tower in Athens.

1770AD - Louis asks to dow Charle, refused. Mehmed asks to dow Charle, refused. zzz

Last turn of this session, the game is going slow on my comp and kinda bothering me.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/757/civ4screenshot0421sn4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8536/civ4screenshot0422ym8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/1198/civ4screenshot0426hu4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/959/civ4screenshot0427wn3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/290/civ4screenshot0430dh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/3041/civ4screenshot0431xp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/9729/civ4screenshot0414jj4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/6299/civ4screenshot0429nv2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Once Hollywood is made, I think I will switch to Rep/FS instead of US/Bur. I have Cristo so switching back and forth between prod-science is easy.

For the rest I think it should be easy win -> Internet -> Labs -> Space. Unless Louis decides to backstab me soon or something.

1770AD-End.



1780AD - Switch to Rep/FS and go from 1399:science: 34:gold: to 1626:science: 46:gold:.

1785AD - Charle asks to dow HC, refused.

1800AD - Hollywood in Athens.

1804AD - GE born, kinda lame .. wish I didn't make/spread jewelers inc now. Anyways I settle him in Athens.

1812AD - Computers and switch to US/Bur to build internet.

1814AD - GM, settled in Argos. HC vassals to Louis, Louis dows Charle.

1824AD - Charle steals electricity.

1826AD - Internet in Athens.

1828AD - Tech overview.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/81/civ4screenshot0475ik9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1834AD - Gorges Dam in Pharsalos.

1838AD - Louis and HC sign peace with Charle.

1840AD - Capital before I put workshops.

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1065/civ4screenshot0485of5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1846AD - GA, settle in Argos.

1850AD - GE, partial rush space elevator.

1856AD - Space elevator in Pharsalos. Switch to caste/Bur.

1860AD - Bribe Louis to war with Charle for Medicine. Capital with workshops.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1757/civ4screenshot0508oa1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


1868AD - Charle sabotages a casing.

1880AD - Defy resolution for emancipation.

1888AD - Charle sabotages Cockpit and random buildings/improvements.

1890AD - GE, settled in Athens.

1898AD - Launched, 12 turns till arrival. I cancel all resource deals for the hell of it. (I know it will lower my score but I don't really care about that.)

1911AD - Victory.

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/9003/civ4screenshot0533el8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/1813/civ4screenshot0534lr6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6651/civ4screenshot0535el5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5972/civ4screenshot0538gx2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The game was a bit too easy. After education the AI never came near tech parity ever again. So the last half of the game was rather boring to play. :(

@ Burn:

it looked simple from the start. with an easy to pacify neighbour and plenty of good land to expand into, it was going to be a dull space race. i stopped playing after i scouted the map. warless games dont interest me anymore.

congrats on the win, you played it well


on a side note, has anyone else stopped playing if they are going to win by space? i just find it too time consuming and dull, especially with the bts additions.

I can't get these right :p. I always stop playing the way I normally due out of fear of a new difficulty or something, and then fall ultra behind in tech without any clear benefit from doing so. In this case, I settled hyper-aggressively to block but then wasn't able to make any new cities for ages because of it (running into things like writing - 30 turns isn't a good sign).

This map should be ultra easy...frustrating :p. I guess I don't like playing from behind much either but since some of you guys consistently stay ahead in tech on this difficulty I'm not giving up on it yet ;).

If I run into something where I lose/fail without KNOWING why I blew it, I'll post here, but for now just know that I'm following along with you all and that I've tallied an "idiot loss" on this one :/.

@Burn

nat. park removes access to coal? so unless you had the +4 hammer/coal plant event...

@Tycoonist, i considered stopping here but then noticed that i'd be declared on so i played on, got declared on by 2 ais which slowed me enough to play it out afterwards. IIrc i didn't play out 2 imu games, one with Louis as i was totally winning but getting domination there would've cost me another night. Recently in the Ghenghis game, the position with Great lighthouse was just to dominating there, i knew precisely what'd happen if i played that out.

@TMIT, Currency is very very important ;).

I find it hard to see how writing could ever cost 30 turns, if you settled that aggressively then you'll also have the 2 gold with the marble settled and that helps a lot. I always make sure to have writing before i take on a gambit like axe rushing or insane rexing. You can always recover in that case with assigned scientists. But a save of position where writing takes 30 turns should help.

Btw i read up on your emperor game in the NC thread (have played to 1 AD too there), if you had played this map as you did there you wouldn't have much trouble, that was a good effort.

@ Burn:

it looked simple from the start. with an easy to pacify neighbour and plenty of good land to expand into, it was going to be a dull space race. i stopped playing after i scouted the map. warless games dont interest me anymore.

congrats on the win, you played it well


on a side note, has anyone else stopped playing if they are going to win by space? i just find it too time consuming and dull, especially with the bts additions.


Well, I was hoping for some cross continental competition. Justinian and Louis had quite a lot of land (/vassal). And you don't need to go space here, you could've gone for domination/culture/conquest/diplo.



I can't get these right :p. I always stop playing the way I normally due out of fear of a new difficulty or something, and then fall ultra behind in tech without any clear benefit from doing so. In this case, I settled hyper-aggressively to block but then wasn't able to make any new cities for ages because of it (running into things like writing - 30 turns isn't a good sign).

This map should be ultra easy...frustrating :p. I guess I don't like playing from behind much either but since some of you guys consistently stay ahead in tech on this difficulty I'm not giving up on it yet ;).

If I run into something where I lose/fail without KNOWING why I blew it, I'll post here, but for now just know that I'm following along with you all and that I've tallied an "idiot loss" on this one :/.

If you post a save, I wouldn't mind to take a look at it.


@Burn

nat. park removes access to coal? so unless you had the +4 hammer/coal plant event...

At first I was thinking "Yea, I know that, what point is he trying to make here?" After wondering about that for a while I looked at the screenshot, saw what I was building and laughed. :p

People at work wondering what was so funny. :mischief:

Finally I have some time to play this game. I know everyone already finished it, but I hope you still have patience to provide some feedback.
I will try to detail as much as possible so I can get the best feedback.


Settling decision:
Moved the scout to the SE and didn't see any seafood so I decided to move the settler and settle on top of the ivory. I am not losing any food resources and gaining an extra floodplain.
I was very unhappy to see pigs outside of Athens BFC.

I decided on agricultuer as the first tech. Mining would be nice too, but before I have some food, I wouldn't be able to work the mines and grow. AH will give me access to a great tile, but I will have to idle the settler after that.

3800 BC - Scouting to the jungle in the south and I meet charlie

3640 BC - agriculture->AH, budhism FIDL

3520 BC - athens: worker->warrior.

Scoutnign reveals great land near charlie. I am considering rushing him - I want all this gold/dye/marble/food, but he is a bit far - I have to check my closer lands first.

Another reasonable option is to build a blocking city on the jungle hill south of the corn, to get corn, pigs and 2 dyes.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk162/silverbullet_sz/Alex/Civ4ScreenShot0013.jpg


3320 BC - Scout finds out that Aachen is on hill plains. That is not good for a rush of a protective civ.

Turn 18 (3280BC) Hindu FIDL

Turn 20: AH is done, research mining, warrior is done, send him scouting while building another one.

Turn 27 - mining is done and I decide to go for archery, for better fog busters. It seems that no one except charlie is here, and he is difficult to rush with axes, so no BW yet.

Turn 29 - Athens starts a settler at size 4 (9 turns)

Turn 34: Archery-> Wheel

Turn 37: Athens Settler->Worker

Turn 41: Turns out that imperialistic charlie settled differently than I thought.
This gives me an oppurtunity for a more ambitious land grab, to get the double gold hills (marked 1). 2 is an alternative spot for better blocking.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk162/silverbullet_sz/Alex/Civ4ScreenShot0016.jpg

Another question - I found stone to the north.
Assuming Charlie and I are the only ones on this continent, and I can safely block the north, is it worth it to go for pyramids? My expansion will be slower, but I think I can afford it with a blocking city, and being philosophical I will want to run many specialists anyway.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk162/silverbullet_sz/Alex/Civ4ScreenShot0018.jpg


There is a danger that this game might turn into an isolated start, so the extra research/hapiness from the pyramids would be appreciated.

This is our current glorious capital
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk162/silverbullet_sz/Alex/Civ4ScreenShot0017.jpg


Looking forward for your advice before I play further. Thanks.
The first one to reply will get the technology of archery for free :)
Please don't include spoilers beyond what's revealed in my game in your reply.

@ Silverbullet:

You could afford to be more aggressive in blocking Charlie from the north. There's marble and gold S of your proposed blocking city and with a cottage or two on the floodplains in the capital, you can afford both.

@ Silverbullet:

You could afford to be more aggressive in blocking Charlie from the north. There's marble and gold S of your proposed blocking city and with a cottage or two on the floodplains in the capital, you can afford both.

Patagonia:

I just noticed that I had posted the wrong screenshot for my alternative blocking city. I fixed it in my original post.
The spot marked 1 is a super great commerce city in my opinion. It has great commerce tiles and the food to work them.
The spot marked 2 is better for blocking, but worse city overall. May be worth it if I go to aggressive blocking, although I am a bit afraid of being to aggressive. I don't think Charlie is very peaceful usually.

@ sliverbullet:

Charlie's a religious nut. If he manages to found one and spread it to you, he should be easy to get on the right side of.

@ sliverbullet:

Charlie's a religious nut. If he manages to found one and spread it to you, he should be easy to get on the right side of.

That's a good point. Hindu and bud hist religions are not picked by him unfortunately. Maybe he'll get Judaism. Confucianism is to long for me to wait. If I block him to much he will declare before that.

Also, I think that point 2 is a worse city overall compared to point 1.
If I settle there, mysticism should be a priority to get culture for a better block, and I would also need another quick filler city (probably between the corn and 2 dyes). This means pyramids will not get built.
I am still not sure what is best - smalller land with pyramids, or better land with no pyramids.
On one hand, if I get the pyramids, 2 library scientists will produce similarly to 2 gold mines, but on the other hand, If I get all this gold for myself I deny good land from my future enemy Charlie, which may turn out more important overall.

My inclination is to go for aggressive blocking and forget about pyramids for now. Opinions?



patagonia: Thanks for your quick feedback. As you are the first poster who gave feedback, I would like to offer you the technology of Archery as a gift :)

I actually got archery from a hut already in this game... Not that it have much of relevance also:
Waiting to confu should be fine if he gets it... The AI's seldom attack THAT early...

Oyzar:

I think there is a part of AI code that makes them attack if they are completely blocked, but I think you are right, I have some time before Charlie runs out of land to settle completely.
I think I will go for spot 1 and forget about pyramids for now unless somebody will give me a convincing reason to do otherwise.

@silverbullet

Charlie isn't that aggressive, take as much land as you can and afterwards make friends with him, he'll probably not attack unless he hates you. If he does anyway that's just bad luck, you can see that coming though so you'll still have a chance to win the game in that case.

I'd like to play the next but i don't want to rush you.

charlie's not so aggressive; more like backstabber/dogpiler, but not that aggressive(not that he's ghandi, or anything like that either... :p )

Hmm I really messed this up from start.

I tried to 'play authentic', but I was allway's going to move 1 east...yeah..I scouted north first..to play fair, but wasted time on blocking..

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/IPEX-731BA5DD06/CIV%204%20PHOTO%20SHOTS/Immortal%20students/Greece/Alexander/theblockadeattempt0000.jpg

I let Charlie get a settler inbehind me....Hmm it was allready out. and inspite of my reading the forums, I ignored the dual gold...makes it even I suppose.

Trouble is I've crashed my economy, forgot to turn of inhibit growth in capital after a 3 pop whip, and many other issues.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/IPEX-731BA5DD06/CIV%204%20PHOTO%20SHOTS/Immortal%20students/Greece/Alexander/Immortaltry0000.jpg

Is a map of lands found so far, adopted buddism, so charlie should be all pallie.

Really its just a request for some ideas of what to do first up...I'd really like to try obsoletes stragetum...

save is attached.

@silverbullet

I'd like to play the next but i don't want to rush you.

That's fine Dirk, I think I will play this one slowly and carefully, posting 40~80 very detailed turns at a time and waiting for feedback.
I don't want to delay everyone else so I will post the new IU thread today.