HOF III March '12 Gauntlet

[Tone]

Let's see if we can give Naok some competition this time:

Level: Demigod
Mapsize: Tiny
Victory Condition: 20K

As usual you have two months to play if you wish to participate. Please submit your games by May 15th 2012.

Good luck to all competitors.

[Calis]

His name is Naok...

[Tone]

Apologies for the typo.

[Naok]

Thanks Calis ..... and no worry Tone

[Naok]

I got a first win : 1390AD .... but I am not sure there will be any kind of competition this month again.

The start position is quite ok (one cow and ivory) but I haven´t any hill or mountain which is a pity after republic.


Ancient times
I was squeezed between the Byzantine and the Russian, finding space for only 5 cities and another one a little later in the middle of the Russian empire to claim Iron for myself.


Research
Anyway it is all about getting a SGL for CB. Then I went for the republic slingshot. But wait for CoL I got a second SGL ... and then another one for Philo or Rep (dont remember). Wowo, I am quite lucky but meanwhile I had several turns without prebuilt possibility. After this I went Literature, Currency and traded for the rest.

Building order in capital
Warrior, settler, Pyramids (SGL), temple, SoZ (with Oracle prebuilt), Oracle (SGL), Barrack (I had no prebuilt possibility here ... a pity), Library (with MoM prebuilt ... here I changed my mind because of the third SGL that I wanted to use asap for the GL ; meanwhile I lost the MoM), GL (SGL), Marketplace (again, no prebuilt possibility).

War
I started my first war against the Byzantine at the end of this age with archers and ancient cavalries and I didn´t planed it so good.


Middle Ages
Research
I was upset not to be able to trade for the first techs in MA (and it is not the first time I have this problem). I hadn´t enough money. If any player is going to read this and could give advices, I would be grateful. Should I stop research before MA to make a lot of money ?
Well, then classical : all the way towards Shakespeare's Theater as fast as possible. meanwhile trading for the bottom techs. I got 2 SGL : one for Theo and so the last one, I dont remember (on the way to Shake´s).

At the beginning of this age, at 925BC, I had trouble with my war against the Byzantine and I still had to wait 7 turns for Theo ; so I decided to go for Knights Templar (with Hanging Garden prebuilt). After this, cathedral and Colosseum, and then a screenshot with the 4th SGL for Theo where you can see war expansion and here I changed the Sistine built losing few shields for the HG then used the SGL for Sistine.


It is in the first-middle of the MA, that I finally got a MGL.

Industrial Ages
I was able to trade for Medicine but not for Steam Power (again same question that above : how should I improve it ?). Here I was lucky to get Nationalism as freebie that I traded for Steam Power. Then I researched almost everything myself (starting with Industrialization for factory and coal plant cash-rushed), except Replaceable Parts, Sanitation and Espionage.

In capital, I then cash-rushed factory and coal plants, then ToE, Universal Suffrage, Hoover Dam and finally small wonders.

A last screenshot at 780AD where you can see my empire, I gained a city by flip (early in the game and losted one late in the game). I was wondering if it could be a good idea to have more cities in the same empire size (especially in the east).



The rundown:

Palace-4000 BC
Pyramids-3250BC (SGL 1)
Little Temple-2630BC
Statue of Zeus-1725BC
Oracle-1700BC (SGL 2)
Little Library-1375BC
Great Library-1350BC (SGL 3)
Knights Templar-925BC
Little Cathedral-825BC
Colosseum-710BC
Hanging Gardens-350BC
Sistine Chapel-330BC (SGL 4)
Little University-270BC
Heroic Epic-70BC
Cope's-290AD
Shake's-300AD (SGL 5)
Newton's-440AD
Bach's-640AD
Smith's-730AD
Theory of Evolution-800AD
Universal Suffrage-890AD
Hoover Dam-980AD
Military Academy-1030AD
Battlefield Medicine-1090AD
Intelligence Agency-1140AD
Seti-1275AD
Research Lab-1280AD
Internet-1325AD

PS : sorry for the cutted screenshot, I don´t know what happened.

[Spoonwood]

Congrats Naok!

[Naok]

Thanks Spoonwood. I am sur I cam do better ...
Do you have time to answer some of the questions I asked ? Or to share your experience in such games ?

[Spoonwood]

I wouldn't slow down research to cash-rush, but it's definitely a thought and might work out better sometimes. Not sure what else you could have done better, though there might exist something or a few things.

[Naok]

Originally Posted by Spoonwood

Not sure what else you could have done better, though there might exist something or a few things.

If you have time to tell me what those few things could be, I would be grateful.

I am searching for a new game. I already stopped few games (even with a SGL for CB) by the end of the AT because it didn´t look good (read no Rep freebie, no other SGL, ...)

One thing I want to improve ii my MGL poping-strategy. I need to go for more war and to be better prepare. This is a point where I would like to share experience. I very often have the feeling I don´t have enough military units and catapults when I go for war. How much do you have when you go for war ?

[Spoonwood]

It's not a matter of not having the time. It's a matter of not knowing what you could have done better.

[Tone]

Congratulations to Naok on another Gold with his 1390AD victory.

Gauntlet closed

[Naok]

Eventually I don´t think I deserve a medal because I didn´t won anything against nobody .... so there was no victory