The Llamazilla AAR!

Firstly, I'm sorry about the thread title. I couldn't think of anything better.

Secondly, WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH! We hope. This is the sequel to my first AAR, which I imaginatively titled "The Nickzilla AAR" you can find that here.

Unlike my first AAR though, this one has a hook. Well, it actually has a few.

HOOK #1 this is going to be played by two humans against AI, instead of the traditional one human. One of them is obviously me, Nickzilla. The other is this man. I belive his name to be Llama, but we shall call him "Hamlet"

HOOK #2 this is going to be our first time playing on Prince difficulty. For the longest time I've played Noble like a baby deer standing for the first time. However, I now feel confident enough to take the plunge into a higher difficulty. Hamlet is much the same, except he's played Prince before. Making him not much the same. hmm.

HOOK #3 we're randomizing almost everything. Civs, climate, sea level... we'd be crazy enough to do map size too (is that possible? I don't know!), but anything other than standard or smaller will make my PC clap out and die every two turns, so that stays on standard I'm afraid.

PREGAME

So with all this in mind, let us begin. Firstly, a quick screen of the lobby.



It... really doesn't show very much. You can't see it, but permanent alliances are on, and speed is Epic.

So which leader am I going to get?

pleasebechurchillpleasebechurchillpleasebechurchill

OMG!!! YESSSSS!!! JUSTICE FINALLY!!!


Nah, just kidding. I really got stuck with this loser:



-sigh-

Trying to make the best of a bad situation, I look up the American unique unit and unique building.

Unit:



Building:



Both very powerful, but both come too late in the game. It's unlikely that we'll be neck and neck in regards to tech with the AI at that stage of the game, so they probably won't come into play. If they do, they should give me a shot in the arm though.

Hamlet's leader will be familiar to anybody who read my first AAR:



AAH! IT'S YOU!!!

Boudica is a pure fighter. See my other AAR for what I think about the unique unit/building.

Given our traits, we should be doing a lot of fighting. Since we're both CHA, stonehenge will be too useful to miss out on. +1 and free culture in all cities? AND great prophet points? Sold to the man that seems to have a crush on Churchill.

But we have to play the map, not the leaders. So here's my start:



wow, another start with a freaky amount of food. This will be another specialist city I think, and since Mr Lincoln is philosophical, that seems like a good excuse to run a specialist economy. That'll be interesting since I've never ever tried one before, and it'll probably fall from the sky in flames. If you were wondering, that's a tribal village hiding in the forest just west of my settler. That's a nice bonus.

Hamlet's start:



hmm. If I got this start, I wouldn't be very happy about it. It has tons of forest, so some wonder chops will almost certainly come into play. Nearby stone means that we'd be fools not to get stonehenge. Aside from that, it's really neither here nor there. There's not very much food and only a few green hills. If it were me, I'd fill the whole lot with cottages and windmills, and then run bureaucracy for a monster commerce capital. Let's see what Hamlet does with it though.

Next will be our first round! Stay tuned!

Cool, subscribing to this!

I've always wanted to do a pair game, good luck!

ROUND 1.0 4000 BC - 1400 BC

4000 BC

Washington is founded. I pop a scout from the hut next door to me. That means plenty of scouting and therefore, plenty of tribal huts, as you'll see quite soon.

I start building a warrior for additional exploration. He'll finish at roughly the same time as the city will grow to size two.

Our research will be Mining and then Bronze Working. BW is probably the most popular early tech. Slavery, tree chopping and being able to see copper are all great early advantages to have. Plus we can already work almost all of our surrounding tiles thanks to our starting techs, so no need to bother with things like agriculture or fishing.

3950 BC

A fluke!



Hamlet got Animal Husbandry from a hut. We both have horses near to us (he has even has them in his city radius) so a chariot rush could be on the cards for any civs that dare to be spawned near to us.

3875 BC

Another fluke!



Now a chariot rush is DEFINITELY on.

3850 BC

wow.



This is a pretty advanced tech to get from a hut. Obviously the game is going easy on me because I've never played Prince before.

Writing is important because it allows libraries, which are the backbone of a specialist economy, IIRC. However, I won't be making those for a while yet, so the biggest benefit from the tech is open borders.

I also get 73 gold from a hut. It's no tech, but I'll take it!

3800 BC

We actually research a tech for a change. Mining is done, and Bronze Working is next. That's all.

...

ah hell, who am I kidding.



This is one advantage to being in a team. You pop a lot more from tribal huts. Archery isn't very important though, since we have no intention of getting horseback riding to make our chariot rush a horse archer rush.

3750 BC

Another hut! This time it's 66 gold.

3725 BC

I pop something boring from a hut for a change. It's a map. woo.


Okay, but too far away to be interesting for us.

3625 BC

We meet our first rival:



Look at his score compared to ours! Those techs we got are really showing at the moment.

3575 BC

This doesn't happen often:



Buddhism and Hinduism founded on the same turn! Very odd.

I also spot Thebes, aka, place we're going to chariot rush.



Sorry about your luck, Ramesses.

3425 BC

We finish Bronze Working. We take Masonry next, so Hamlet can quarry up that stone. We decide that he's going to chariot rush Ramesses, and I'll work on stonehenge.

I adopt slavery right away. But realize I have nobody to whip. Except myself for doing something dumb.

3400 BC

Hey look, it's Pacal! (again)



Looks like he founded Hinduism. He was the same in my first game too. He founded the religion, spread it to somebody better than him and then seemed to put his feet up and relax. I crushed him and the guy he spread the religion to, so I'm officially not worried by his presence.

3325 BC

NOOOOO!!!


*has a Vietnam style flashback*



I pay to have it replaced, since I intend to chop a wonder in the city.

3225 BC

Pacal offers open borders:



I accept, since I have a scout right next to his territory for exploring.

... or at least I thought I did. In true Nickzilla scout tradition, he randomly died to a lion the turn before.

3200 BC

Masonry is done. Sailing is next, so Hamlet can ship that stone over to me for stonehenge.

3125 BC

We meet another rival. Any guesses?



It's Zara! Zara is quite dangerous IMO. He is usually first in tech, but nothing special once you invade him. As long as we fight him outside of his era, we'll beat him easily. Assuming we go to war with him, which we probably will. He's also the founder of Buddhism.

3050 BC

I lose my second scout. All I have to explore with now is that warrior I made in Washington.

2975 BC

My lone warrior gets into a couple of fights, and I give him the Medic I promotion. I used a mediscout last time, but mediwarriors can be upgraded to fight and earn more promotions.

2875 BC

We finish Sailing. Pottery is next for cottages and granaries.

I gift my mediwarrior to Hamlet since he's going to be doing more fighting than me.

2850 BC

We meet our third rival. A mime pretending to be in a box:



Yes Asoka. You're in a box. Very funny.

In my last AAR, Asoka was a super pacifist. He turtled the whole game, and when I declared on him, he folded like a sheet of wet cardboard and became a super vassal. He expands fast, but dies fast too. Good for tech trading.

2800 BC

While showing me his best pirate impression, Zara asks for open borders:



Yarr! I agree! With sailing, and Zara's tendency to become enormous, he seems like a very profitable trading partner! Me...hearties...

2775 BC

We meet another rival:


Hamlet lets out a groan at meeting him. His traits should make him the REX master on paper, but we'll see. He's our last rival at least.

2725 BC

Joao also wants open borders. Sure! Why not!

2700 BC

Pottery is done. We take Iron Working next, so I can clear jungles near to me and both of us can get awesome metally units. Plus iron is a good source of hammers. It will be a factor in city placement.

2325 BC

After some chopping, whipping and all round building, I finally get stonehenge! This wonder will build a free monument in all of OUR cities, and not just mine. Wonders are far more prudent in team games IMO, since they effect the whole team.

2275 BC

We finish Iron Working. Iron is around, but none of it is in our cities. Ah well. We take Metal Casting next for forges.

2150 BC

Judaism is founded, but nobody owns up to it by converting. Bah.

1975 BC

We receive good news for anybody hoping to do a chariot rush:



Something stupid like termites ate Hamlet's pasture, which cut off production to any chariots he was producing at the time. Fun!

1925 BC

Regardless of our previous setback, we declare on Ramesses. Hamlet only has two chariots, but Memphis is lightly defended:



Chariots beat warriors so:



Notice how it labeled it as his production city BEFORE he took it. Hamlet is clearly a cool customer.

1875 BC

Hamlet steals a worker from Ramesses, giving further weight to my cool customer theory.

1725 BC

I notice that Thebes has iron nearby, but Ramesses now has no worker to mine it! That's lucky, because spearmen would stop Hamlet dead in his tracks.

1700 BC

Hamlet spots another Egyptian city. Heliopolis:



You can see that iron source near Thebes in this shot.

1625 BC

Just as I get my second city:


Hamlet gets his fourth:



As you can see from the chat at the top, it was a bit of a fluke, but I still feel a little bit behind.

1600 BC

Noticing an increased barbarian presence in the south, Hamlet belatedly starts the great wall.

1575 BC



Well, at least they let us down quickly.

1550 BC

Metal Casting is done. We take Mathematics next, for Calendar.

1500 BC

A not so subtle reminder that we failed to get the great wall:



Hamlet takes it back the very same turn, but a point of population die in the battle.

1400 BC

After death comes birth. The great prophet Kobo-Daishi is born in Washington:



In real life, Kobo-Daishi was a Japanese monk who founded the 'True Word' school of Buddhism. In my game, I give you my 'True Word' that I'm going to settle him in place.

End of mini round.

Lincoln? Congratulations, one of the best warmongering leaders in the game.

My chariot rush was much bumbled, I'm afraid. I was too worried about getting a second city for stone to get the henge than about building chariots. Oh well. Later expansion makes up for early mistakes, especially when you're 1 rival down.

ROUND 1.5 1375 BC - 415 AD

1375 BC

Hamlet gets the medicine event. What does this mean? I won't tell you.



Because he will. +2 health in all cities, though the 7 population Bibracte has its objections.

1325 BC

Stupid barbarians decide to annoy me by expanding into my land:



sigh. At least I wasn't planning on doing that spot next, so I can hopefully take it later.

1250 BC

I send a chariot over, and it's a little heavily defended for him to take. Looks like it'll have to be swords later. Swords built from New York that is, (it has iron right next to it) since the barbarian city cuts off the coastal trade route to Washington.

1175 BC

Bossy Zara demands that Hamlet converts to Buddhism. He does it since he needs a religion and we don't want the - to diplomatic modifiers.

1150 BC

Maths is done. Calendar is next, as we both have a few luxury resources to grab.

I notice at this point that there aren't as many resource types as there are in a temperate climate. This is interesting, since it makes something normally mundane like bananas rare. I doubt it'll lead to any wars or scheming on our behalf, but it changes things around a little.

1125 BC

Some good news. For us at least:



Hamlet captures Heliopolis and razes it, finishing off Egypt once and for all. This puts us in a very strong position. I feel good about our chances this game.

900 BC

Boston is founded:



This will be the commerce city. I would say wealth city, but at this point I couldn't decide if I wanted a specialist economy or a standard one. I decided in the end to go with the former, but the scars of my indecision still stand out.

775 BC

Zara finishes the oracle! Not good.

650 BC

Calendar is finished. We start on Alphabet so we can do some trading and assess the tech situation.

600 BC

Barbarians strike again:



This was a little city Hamlet had recently founded. The poor thing was only size one so it got razed right away.

425 BC

Zara makes a demand of me:



It's not so unreasonable, so I concede.

395 BC

We finish Alphabet, and as you can see, we're doing well:



I lay our success at the feet of the millions of techs we popped from huts earlier. Seeing even Zara wanting from us makes me wonder what he got from the oracle. Maybe Iron Working?

Either way, Currency is next for trade routes, markets and access to Code of Laws.

365 BC



If he trades tech with everybody like this, Zara is going to be behind us for a very long time.

350 BC

I neglected to mention this, but Hamlet started building Pyramids. Well, here's the result:



We only did it for representation, which we adopt immediately.

335 BC



Asoka can't even look me in the eye while offering me this deal. I don't blame him. It's terrible.

290 BC

Pacal decides to make demands, since it went so well for him in my last game:



The battlelines are mostly drawn. The only person who hasn't picked their allegiance is Asoka. I say no to Pacal, staying with the B team.



Hamlet bribes Zara to go to war with Pacal for Calendar and Metal Casting. We do get Polytheism back, but it's still quite a harsh trade. We're hoping the two highest AIs will fight each other to a standstill while me and Hamlet get ahead.

I also lose a swordsman trying to take that annoying Barbarian city near Washington.

245 BC

Asoka converts to Buddhism. Oh dear Pacal. Hamlet takes the chance to beg for Meditation from him.

215 BC



We finish Currency. Code of Laws is next.

200 BC

The Maya/Ethiopia war sadly comes to our doorstep:



At least he wasn't asking us to declare war. However, I'd prefer not to aggravate Pacal any further if I could avoid it. He is my neighbour after all.

At least Zara gave me Priesthood for being so nice to him.

Pacal founds Confucianism:



As you can see, I was somewhat upset by the news. We were only 7 turns off ourselves!

185 BC

As always, with minor disappointment comes birth(???):



This time in the form of St Paul.

St Paul was apparently one of the most notable early Christian missionaries. He was converted on the road to Damascus by a vision of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and he was temporarily blinded afterwards!

Meanwhile, I have a vision of sending him to sleep in Washington and using him to bulb Philosophy later. I was temporarily blinded afterwards as well, but that's probably for playing too much civ 4 in a poorly lit bedroom.

In other news, Hamlet switches to Monarchy for a few turns so Zara will be more willing to trade it with us. We also have 'the talk' and decide that we will try for a religious victory since the factions in this game are so black and white. This means St Paul will be bulbing Theology instead of Philosophy, so we can build the Apostolic Palace. We'll have to get Monotheism first tho.

110 BC

I get a quest:



I play with the idea of doing it, but the rewards aren't even nearly worth it. But having the great lighthouse in my possession is a good idea, so I decide to run with that in New York.

65 BC

Code of Laws is finished. We start on Monotheism so Paul can bulb Theology.

50 BC

Pacal and Zara make peace:



Not much happened. The differences in their scores narrowed a little, but that's all really. As you can see, I'm fighting with those barbarians near Washington again. This time the results are different:



I was going to put the city two tiles south, but this spot is okay too. I don't want to waste time building settlers that can set up elsewhere.

20 BC

Monotheism has finished. I adopt Organized Religion and Caste System.

I also bulb Theology, and Christianity is founded in the newly taken Shangian. Yay. The apostolic palace will be built in Tolosa once Hamlet is done spreading Buddhism around.

We start on Aesthetics.

Finally, we trade Monarchy with Zara for our Code of Laws.

100 AD

Joao is buying techs:



and as always, I'm selling them.

Speaking of making money:



I was surprised I got it since I started so late. This wonder is good in peaceful games thanks to the bonus you get to trade for sustained peace. Hopefully we won't break out in wars amongst ourselves.

130 AD

I found the dire city of Philadelphia. I don't screen it, but you'll get to punish me in the state of the world post to come in a while.

We discover Aesthetics. Literature is next, for the great library.

160 AD

"I'm going to close my eyes and leave the money on the table. If it's gone when I open them, you've accepted the deal"



What a horrible deal. The money will decompose before I take it. and I know metal doesn't really decompose. That's my point.

...the deal sucks.

Speaking of things that suck:



Not my work boat, the routes near Boston being washed out! It doesn't have too much of an effect, but a broken road takes turns to repair, and those are turns I don't want to waste.

205 AD

We finish Literature. Paper is next since Hamlet wants the university of sankore.

325 AD

Francis Bacon is born in Washington.

In real life, this was the guy who came up with the Scientific Method. He also died in a really embarrassing way. He caught pneumonia while stuffing snow up a dead chicken's butt and died from it. (he wasn't doing it for fun, he was seeing if the snow would preserve the meat for longer)

I order him to set up an academy in Washington since I know there's no snow around there. Or chickens.

385 AD

We finish researching paper:



Next up is construction for catapults. Why?

The apostolic palace has finished in Tolosa and we decide on our first course of action once we win residency: holy war against Pacal.

400 AD

The residency vote comes up. It's between us and Asoka.

415 AD



Well, this could be a problem...

END ROUND.

Hooking up stone for SH seems a costly diversion, even on Prince. Its cheap, why not just chop it out?

Also, why not let the AIs have teams as well? Seems a bit unfair.

ROUND 1 POSTGAME

After a cliffhanger of sorts, here's the round 1 postgame! Starting with the world as we know it:



I'll get those notices out the way for the next time. I was in a bit of a rush since Hamlet had to go.

Now for our cities, starting with Washington:


I'm still getting the hang of this specialist economy thing. I switched out of Slavery a bit too early, so I don't have nearly enough infrastructure. At least this city is making a lot of beakers so I'm not total dead weight.

New York:



Tragically, this is what passes for a production city in Nickzilla's USA. It wouldn't be so bad if it had more food, or fresh water for farms. I guess I'll chop what little forest I have to get a forge. That might help a little.

Boston:



I had no idea what I was doing with this city. It's supposed to be a wealth city, but I put a library there instead of a market for reasons unknown. I'll kick it into shape next round, don't worry.

Shangian:



This one I'm quite proud of. I was going to found it two tiles south originally, but that fish is actually quite important to me. This map does have limited resources, as I mentioned earlier.

It will be a standard issue science city when it's all grown up. Irrigation will be useful obviously.

Philadelphia:


*staggers out of bed holding his head*

ugh. What was I doing last night? Who is this city?

I obviously put it down to claim the gold mines, but it will only have enough food to work them when I get Biology. The stupid thing is that one of the mines was in Hamlet's borders so I could've mined it and roaded it myself and just asked him to give me it, since he'd have a surplus.

Actually, if I farm up the whole lot and put a windmill on that green hill, I might be able to get some use out of this city. Tune in next time to find out.

...that's all of my cities, so now onto Hamlets!

Bibracte:



It's sad that I'm running a specialist economy but can't make the great library because I'm too weak. Still, two free scientists is never anything to turn down, regardless of the economy you're running.

I said at the beginning of this game that I'd cottage everything if it were me in this position, but this city is quite good for production, and production strong capitals are very important.

The only thing Washington can produce well is settlers and workers, thanks to its many, many food sources.

Vienne:



I was drooling over this spot when I saw it earlier, but it isn't amazing as such. It will be good though. You can fit a few more riverside cottages in there, and there's a few hammer sources to work and forests to chop for the relevant infrastructure too.

Memphis:



hubba hubba. Waterwheels and the levee here will be awesome. Every tile is a riverside tile!

Thebes:



I don't know if he noticed, but Hamlet has farms on two wine tiles (1NE and 1E of the city). Ramesses probably put them there out of spite so Hamlet wouldn't notice them when he captured the city. Anyway, the wine would help him a lot so hopefully he'll winery them up once his workers get free.

Aside from that, this seems like another production city to me. Maybe we'll work something out where he focuses on production and I focus on hiding and making a few beakers.

Tolosa:



Hamlet is officially hammer mad. I can't blame him though, this city looks primed for production.

Camulodonum:



This quaint little city will be good for a few cottages. If he windmills that hill, he can work the horses as well as all the cottages on the green land. That's what I'd do anyway, let's see what he does with it.

Verlamion:



Same again really, windmill the remaining hills and put a few more riverside cottages down.

Durnovaria:



I'd use this as a moai city. There's something edible in the jungle two spaces west of the city, and that could fuel those hills while he's building them. Again, let's see what he makes out of it.

and finally, Isca:



hmm, there's not much to do with this city. You could get a little bit of production or commerce out of it, but I think it'd be one of those cities that only just pay their bills and not much else.

So. My impressions of the first round.

I didn't do very well at all. Even without his Egyptian territories, Hamlet would still be beating me hands down. I have two more spots to expand to, and I hope to grab the best Mayan territory when the holy war comes around. Hopefully that'll close the gap between the two of us a little.

Speaking of the holy war, that could be a problem if we don't win residency. I despise the Apostolic Palace because the way the AI votes never makes any sense. I've been hearing about hidden diplomacy modifiers recently, so maybe I'll look into those. Alternately, we could just stomp Pacal ourselves and vassalize him to get his votes and see if they will make a difference, but the other civs would still vote for each other and nobody else. Plus we'd have nobody to declare holy war on, unless we converted somebody using espionage... in fact, that sounds fun. We'll have to consider it.

Anyway, the next round will be presented by Hamlet and not I. The round might be played on Tuesday, but I can't say when the corresponding write up will be done.

I bid you farewell for now everybody, and thank you for reading as always.

JBossch said:

Hooking up stone for SH seems a costly diversion, even on Prince. Its cheap, why not just chop it out?

Also, why not let the AIs have teams as well? Seems a bit unfair.

Click to expand...

You're right. I put permanent alliances on to try and even the odds, but they come a little late in the game to make a difference.

Though with that said, if the game goes on to that stage and two big AIs hook up together, that'll make things very interesting.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I actually finished stonehenge before we got the stone coming my way. I'm not sure if Hamlet was going to settle his second city there if we didn't decide to go with stonehenge. If so, then it isn't much of a problem, aside from taking sailing too early obviously.

But yeah, it is cheap to chop.

Philadelphia isn't bad. Just farm those two riverside grasslands and it can work both mines.

Oh yeah. I didn't notice I was already working one. nerr.

I'm still going to farm it all. Each plains tile I farm will give one commerce and one hammer, so it might build into something worthwhile eventually.

Nickzilla said:

I'm not sure if Hamlet was going to settle his second city there if we didn't decide to go with stonehenge. If so, then it isn't much of a problem, aside from taking sailing too early obviously.

But yeah, it is cheap to chop.

Click to expand...

I was going to settle there, but I would have rushed first before settling. And as for the city I prelabeled, it just so happened that Ram decided to settle exactly on my spot. So thank you to him.