Tsg 139 after actions report

deckerk · Jul 19, 2016

Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1904AD
Turns played: 324
Base score: 1421
Final score: 2220

- Did you use your UU?
Not much. Trained a few up on the raging barbs. Got all four of my workers from barb rescues (mostly, India)

- How useful was your UA?
Terraces worked well, especially since I forgot to found my 4th city until quite late (west below the truffles) and could terrace all the hills near there for food.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Unbelievably bad first spy. Lost 4 techs before they caught anyone at it. Used the rest to boost CS relations, since by that time I was far far in tech lead.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Probably help: lots of resources, easy to get everywhere without astronomy. Having Pacal and Ghandi between me and Mongolia

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Wasted far far too much time building wonders. For example, every city had a wonder, not just the capital (since Marble in the first 2 expos). Built Eiffel Tower just to annoy everyone with tourism when I took Order (suddenly, they have dissidents and I don't

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
Not bad (in combo with Piety). I got the "buy science buildings with faith" which was quite nice, and I got tithe+pagodas. Swimming in money (e.g. "buy everyone a spaceship factory on the same turn") by the end of the game. Almost a backhanded Diplo win: I had 10 CS allies, even though I only went after 4 of them (two for Aluminum!!)

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?

I opened Tradition for the capital culture, then went Piety. I forgot to open Exploration at the first chance, which would have reached the the nice production boost earlier. I opened rationalism also and finished all but the bottom two in that.

I was thinking I would not get to the level three for Freedom to buy spaceship parts, so I went Order. That also cost me time; should have gone Freedom given the money and that I did reach L3 in order. Also made Order World Ideology (eventually forcing Ghengis to change from freedom to order...)

- What techs did you prioritize ?
Just the typical education/public schools/plastics/satellites. I guess I filled in the top row naval elements earlier than normal. All my cities were coastal. For the second time, I mis-judged when to start bulk bulbing GS and ended up with three too many (the one from the 3rd level Order space finisher, and the ones from Hubble!) Oh: and detour to Astronomy early for every city had an observatory (bought with cash!).

- How did you use piety and exploration ?
As I said, Piety esp. for buying science buildings with faith, and money (via tithe).
Not much use for exploration --- never did any archeology.

Groin_Apologist · Jul 20, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-07-20 16:48:41
Reference number: 34640
Your name: Groin_Apologist
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1968AD
Turns played: 388
Base score: 2523
Final score: 3276
Time played: 12:20:00

Diverman · Jul 22, 2016

First post and first attempt for a GotM, here we go ! (sorry for eventual mistakes, english is not my mother tongue)

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-07-23 01:22:27
Reference number: 34649
Your name: Diverman
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1872AD
Turns played: 306
Base score: 1336
Final score: 2190
Time played: 4:31:00

- Did you use your UU?
Not that much.

- How useful was your UA?
Very useful for scouting with my warrior and as gold is one of my biggest problem early game, it was nice to have free roads on hills.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Not really. Stole 1 tech from Assyria, did some coup and killed spies.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
I don't know if it would have changed anything on a different map. Never been at war.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Never played on a difficulty above Emperor. But I should, since I start to find the game too easy... Even with a Piety start.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
Insta-buy science buildings with faith was pretty helpful. Pagoda and Mosquees helped me to manage happiness and I purchased 3 GS.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?

Went full Piety, then Exploration (2), Rationalism (3), Freedom (2 free ones), finished Exploration, then Rationalism, and went to the third tenet of Freedom to buy the spaceship parts.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
Pottery->AH->Luxuries->Writing->Philosophy->Construction->Education->Astronomy (3 cities, all of them next to a mountain)->Industrialization->Plastics->Etc...

- How did you use piety and exploration ?
I rushed Piety for Jesuit Education (I wanted to get it before the AI, but none of them went Piety...) and faith-bought all science buildings.
Exploration gave me some happiness, gold and hammers..

I think I could have done better, but the SP contraints were very fun to play ! Thanks !

poxpower · Jul 25, 2016

((this was a replay)))
Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Your name: poxpower
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1820ad
Turns played: 280

So in this replay I tried the idea of settling near the Natural wonder. That city was really awesome with 4 fish + 1 pearl. I teched to optics and build lighthouse and it took off. You can see it ended up with 50 pop haha.
The starting location for the capital is otherwise very slow if you move on the coast and bad for science if you don't since you don't get observatory.

Culture was a huge problem this game, even with 6 pagodas. Didn't find the cultured CS until much later. Finishing rationalism was a big mistake costing me probably 15-20 turns. I didn't need it at all, I was generating 2000+ science and had tons of leftover great scientists. Should have just used faith for engineers. I tried Jesuit Education but it came way too late since I opened rationalism first. All it got me was 5 free instant research labs :/
Should have taken the thing where you can buy great writers instead...

- Did you use your UU?

I think I built 1. They are useless against raging barbs since they don't kill them fast enough and they move off tiles/workers to protect themselves.

- How useful was your UA?

Little faster combat/scouting/building. Terrace farms really nice also.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
newp
- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Great map for Inca but just 2 cultured city-states that I didn't find until ultra late was...really bad. That did not help at all

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
I wonder spammed the entire time. They did get chichen itza which was annoying.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?

I had... 7000 leftover faith lol. My culture was awful and I was trying to use Jesuite Education but it came so late all I could buy were research labs. I also used pilgrimage, should definitely have taken tithe or maybe some kind of culture boosting thing since money wasn't really a problem later on.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?

I went tradition with this game after a couple sadder and slower liberty attempts. I settled 3 cities NC then settled 3 more.

- What techs did you prioritize ?

I went for mining to get faster settlers then optics lol. That made my capital awesome really fast.

- How did you use piety and exploration ?

Didn't, they are ultra garbage. I finished both trees while getting maybe 5% back on my investment and having to build crap like sydney opera house and museums. Made me sad.

Spoiler :

TrailblazingScot · Jul 28, 2016

Game date: 1834AD
Turns played: 287
Base score: 2862
Final score: 5021
Time played: 6:10:00

Did you use your UU?
I did. It is basically an archer and archers are pretty awesome. The ability to retreat is particularly useful as you upgrade the UU. It wasn't at all important.

How useful was your UA?
Cheap roads and tonnes of food from hills - amazing

Did you use spying to your advantage?
Not really. I used two spies to stop the AI stealing technologies and that worked particularly well. The rest just messed around in city states, but with so much money it wasn't tricky keeping all the city states in my control.

Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Very lush land and it was easy to put many cities next to mountains and the coast.

How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
I knew I could compete for many of the early wonders.

Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
It was very important, particularly as my reformation belief allowed me to purchase any type of GP.

What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
Tradition opener, Honor opener, Liberty opener and worker, completed Tradition, Rationalism opener, Piety opener, Exploration opener, Freedom (3 policies), then completed Exploration and Piety and then some more into Freedom.

I played it my way...far from optimally, but true to my approach.

Settled in place and explored. At some point I did some AI bullying to ensure I got some more workers and to secure the excellent land in the north. Built my core cities and got lots of nice wonders.

I maintained good relations with most of the AI and allied with the City States. I was able to make many research agreements and this was enhanced by the Porcelain Tower.

Ghandi didn't particularly like me and wouldn't trade truffles. Clearly I had to invade. Pausing only to bribe the other Leaders against Ghandi I invaded. I took his two oldest cities by conquest and got three others in the peace treaty. I returned one of these to avoid too much unhappiness. Eventually I did the same to Pascal as I had some spare happiness.

After that I was able to launch

Thrallia · Jul 29, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-07-29 01:24:47
Reference number: 34667
Your name: Thrallia
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1934AD
Turns played: 354
Base score: 2154
Final score: 3077
Time played: 9:32:00
Submitted save: TSG 139.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Thrallia_C513901.Civ5Save

- Did you use your UU?
Slingers were extremely useful in early barb management. And the Terrace Farms are OP when you can get a bunch in a single city.

- How useful was your UA?
Helped me flank barbs faster, but otherwise not much.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Very much so, I was behind in tech all the way through the Atomic Era, so spying on those ahead of me, Korea and Assyria, was integral. I was only caught 3 times, too, so I didn't suffer many diplo penalties.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Helped, as I was able to get high yield sea trade routes up and running very early, spreading my religion everywhere. By the end of the game, I had the majority religion in 65 cities, while no one else had it in more than 18.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Well, I've never won a game on Emperor before, so I wasn't sure I could do it. I tried to be more deliberate with my choices, and worked on maxing out my trade routes ASAP so that my economy wouldn't hold me back.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
Very, it was integral to my efforts to play a minimal military game. Getting the first religion out and making the holy city Tiwanaku, near the citrus, led to early pressure(I picked up +15% growth at peace and gold for followers initially, then faster/stronger spread and +% production when I enhanced it), giving me shared religion bonuses with Mongolia, India and Babylon very early, even when the Mayans and Babylonians also founded religions. I used that to gain friendships across the board, and a triple defense pact with Babylon and India, to prevent the world's strongest military(and largest empire), the Mongols from attacking any of us. I also spread the religion to the city states between myself and Denmark, and to Korea. After that, it spread everywhere on it's own, like a plague. It overwhelmed all other holy cities, except for the Assyrians and Danes. As a result, I was able to get it passed as world religion, and was able to prevent being drawn into any ways once ideologies appeared, even though Assyria and I went Order and everyone else went Freedom. For the good of my defense pacts, I did have to turn on Assyria though, denouncing them when everyone else did, after I had paid them off to war against Korea to slow their tech down.

My defense pacts lasted until I built the Apollo Project, at which point many of my relations started going sour. Luckily, my economy was strong enough that I was making 350 gpt from the medieval period onward, so I'd been buying most buildings in all my cities, and was able to bribe the Mongols or Assyrians into being my proxy whenever someone denounced me. In the atomic age, India denounced me and I was forced to sic Genghis on them. I then declared war to snipe Delhi away, since it was in a very nice place for terraces and had all Gandhi's wonders. Right before I took off, Pacal started denouncing me again, so I sent Mongolia after him as well, and came in as a second wave once I was sure I couldn't be stopped by blundering into unrest or something.

I also used my reformation belief well. I bought 4 Great Scientists and 3 Great Engineers with it to bulb and rush my way through the SS parts.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
I opened Tradition for the extra culture, then opened Piety and Honor. Afterward, I put a couple of policies into Tradition, finished off Piety, and also started up Exploration. Quite by accident, I realized that 4 of my 6 cities were coastal, so Exploration did a good job of helping me out with happiness and production. I went Order, because I wanted the free policies, but also because the happiness bonuses were more immediate there, and I had a lot of happiness necessities, since all my cities were nearing 20 pop. I didn't expect almost everyone else to go freedom, but hey, at least I didn't die in a bloody mess from it.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
I tended to beeline either the techs with new science buildings or new economic buildings, everything else was researched/stolen along the way.

- How did you use piety and exploration ?
Exploration solved my happy problems(every coastal city had every coastal building), and every sea trade route was bringing in 25+ gpt, Piety solved my GE, peacetime, and economy.

One thing to note that I found surprising, was just how city spammy half the AIs were. Assyria, Mongolia and Denmark all founded 20+ cities.

Thrallia · Jul 29, 2016

I'm astonished at some of the times people post. I'm pretty sure that even if I played this exact save 50 times, I'd never approach the fastest times posted here. Now, one thing I would do better, is I didn't realize that Observatories had to have mountains TOUCHING the city, not just in the city radius, so I only got 3 of those built.

Knowtalent · Jul 29, 2016

Yeah that makes a huge difference in speed. I tried to give plenty of space for solid observitory cities. The neighborhood wasnt too crowded but if you lagged you ran a risk of losing city sites

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Vacuuman · Jul 31, 2016

Did you use your UU?
Yep, I usually go pottery first, but when I found a barb hut so close to my capital I changed things up. Researched archery first and sent some slingers out to xp farm. When I realized it was raging barbs this turned out to be a good decision. I did lose a GG when my former slinger (now a gatling gun) retreated.

- How useful was your UA?
I thought it was pretty handy. It made dealing with the barbs a bit easier, being able to hide behind hills before moving and attacking.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Not really. Everyone on the starting continent was really friendly with me except for Pacal. But I hamstrung him early with a worker steal so I couldn't get very many techs from him. Quickly became the tech leader and used my spies for coups on food and culture CS. Also that one lux CS that had cocoa (Genoa?).

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
I loved the mountains for observatories and the nice dirt for tradition cities. Scouting was a pain because of barbs all game long. I'd say it was annoying but it helped.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Emperor is my normal playing level and I'm quite comfortable there. I tried a couple things that I never do. Researched archery first, and built a worker right after my initial scout. I also knew I could afford to try for some wonders. I built ToA and Oracle quite early, nobody took MoM so I built it in 6 turns around turn 125 or so. and Pacal beat me by one turn to HG :mad:

. I also picked up Hagia Sophia and Alhambra (for culture) a bit later, all in the capital.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
Sure, I grabbed tears of the gods pantheon and jesuit education reformation, so plenty of quick science as a result. Also had cheap science-producing missionaries as an enhancement and got my religion to spread like a fire to Denmark, Korea, and the CS.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
Totally didn't see the requirements of exploration and piety until I was reading the opening action thread (I had already played 200 turns by this point, lol). I was playing a straightforward 4 city tradition + rationalism game with 2 or 3 policies sunk into piety. Realized (by reading other people's comments) I would need a lot more culture if I wanted to make that work, so I had to back off the full bore science and focus on finishing piety, then exploration. I probably missed out on what the game was intended to be like because I didn't make any important decisions to build my game around those requirements.

Got to freedom first but I didn't focus on getting to the third tier until after I had filled out the needed social policies.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
Archery -> Pottery -> Construction beeline -> Philosophy beeline -> religion and science techs.

- How did you use piety and exploration ?

Covered Piety pretty fully above, didn't really use exploration at all. Never had naval warfare and did most of the important naval scouting before I opened it.

All in all, a pretty fun game, but I should have looked closer at the rules and maybe I would have learned something instead of cruising.

Vacuuman · Jul 31, 2016

Thrallia said:
I'm astonished at some of the times people post. I'm pretty sure that even if I played this exact save 50 times, I'd never approach the fastest times posted here. Now, one thing I would do better, is I didn't realize that Observatories had to have mountains TOUCHING the city, not just in the city radius, so I only got 3 of those built.

Seriously though. I think I have one (1!) sub 300 turn win. Just checked and I have 2. People talk about sub 200 wins on deity like it's a thing. I'm not approaching that mark any time soon, and I've got 700 hours of play time.

glonnon · Jul 31, 2016

The key to Barbs is ignore them unless they can hurt you. The next step is learning when the can hurt you. In this case they can hurt you do as little as possible to limit the harm. My big mistake was I didn't read the instructions and built a second scout before i realized NO RUINS. Both my scouts died because i took too many chances

Bottom line resource directed to barbs unless honor path or German type UA is a complete waste

Ethalydon · Jul 31, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-07-31 14:54:01
Reference number: 34670
Your name: Ethalydon
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1955AD
Turns played: 375
Base score: 1425
Final score: 1900
Time played: 6:00:00

One might think that after 800 hours of civ 5, I should be something like "good" in it. I admit, I played this game bad and I just won closely but the times I see in this thread are just... "annoyingly awesome" 245 turns... really?! I could not ever have done that. Gz to you sub 300 guys.

TrailblazingScot · Jul 31, 2016

glonnon said:
The key to Barbs is ignore them unless they can hurt you. The next step is learning when the can hurt you. In this case they can hurt you do as little as possible to limit the harm. My big mistake was I didn't read the instructions and built a second scout before i realized NO RUINS. Both my scouts died because i took too many chances

Bottom line resource directed to barbs unless honor path or German type UA is a complete waste

I strongly disagree with this.

Killing barbarians brings promotions, gold, workers, the favor of city states and if (as I almost always do) you have the Honor opener, culture. I believe it is well worth it...at the very least it is entertaining and stops your lands being pillaged and workers captured.

It does take much...an archer or two and you should have some military. May as well keep them busy.

Beto_Java · Aug 1, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-08-01 10:15:23
Reference number: 34675
Your name: Beto_Java
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1960AD
Turns played: 380
Base score: 2107
Final score: 2772
Time played: 6:31:00
Submitted save: Final_Pachacuti_0380 AD-1960.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Beto_Java_C513901.Civ5Save

Kendon · Aug 1, 2016

Your name: Kendon
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1950AD
Turns played: 370
Base score: 2563
Final score: 3463
Time played: 17:52:00

In an all-science game the first decision by the World Congress should be Sciences Funding, particularly when the goal is a fast finish. Everyone would vote for it. If I'd been thinking I would have put this in the announcement thread.

I used Liberty to get the Worker and Settler but stopping with the Worker would have been smarter. I only settled one other city and conquered the rest since the AIs were settling fast around me. Having Spaceship Procurements two policies earlier would have moved my victory ahead by 30 turns.

I agree with kittenOFchaos that opening Honor makes the game more fun. On top of the culture and barbarian control it encourages a diverse military since promotions are capped at two. Use barbarians to train your units to attack your neighbours. I've started to make Archery my first tech.

I opened Patronage but didn't continue down to science from city-states like I usually do. Otherwise my policies were Piety and Exploration as required. Piety helped but Exploration was more like giving away a rook in a chess game.

I think Ethalydon had a respectable finish; certainly not the worst. I don't take a win on Emperor for granted. Even after playing for more than a thousand hours my goal is simply to make it into the top half of the GotM submissions. I keep playing because I know I'm getting better. I learn tricks. Concentration is rewarded, forgetfulness punished.

The first time all the AIs declared war on me at once I was hurt and dismayed. Now on the higher levels I expect it. More to the point, I'm ready for it, I put my units in a defensive position and suddenly everyone wants to be my friend.

Not only do I enjoy comparing my play on the identical game to other players, many of whom are much better than I'll ever be, but these games themselves are more complex than a random roll, thanks to the maps and conditions plotted by the staff. I usually try a test game but when I'm into the real thing it's always a surprise.

beetle · Aug 5, 2016

Knowtalent said:
Please state victory date and score (preferably in the post title)

Oops, overlooked that detail in the instructions until now!

Did you use your UU?

Yes, I always make a point to over build UU. The withdrawal before combat gave several second chances of life. I kept six alive until the end, but some died as well promoted bazookas.

How useful was your UA?

Good enough, I did not experience my usual early-game negative gold problem while building roads.

Did you use spying to your advantage?

Same as usual: First spy gets me to Renaissance, then CS duty. Subsequent spies steal a tech until Modern Era, when new spies sit in cap until they get a level.

Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?

Mountains and hills enough for the UI, so great! Continents Plus is my favorite script, and Raging Barbs my preferred setting. I liked it!

How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?

Interesting challenge to fill out Piety and Exploration. I focused on coastal cities.

Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?

Yes, I got Mosques everywhere for high FPT, then excellent use of Jesuit Education for my wide-ish (7 cities) empire.

What Social Policies did you choose and in what order?

In the announcement thread, people talked about Piety being weak, so they planned to mix with Tradition or Liberty. With the need to also get Exploration, I went straight Piety. I think that was the right call, as the AI can beat you JE. I picked up the Tradition opener late because Exploration had not unlocked, but the late border growth from Tradition works as well at T115 as it does at T015, so I would not do anything differently.

Which Ideology did you choose?

Well, I was 5th to Ideologies and would have been 3rd to Freedom or Order. So I opened Autocracy to build Prora. Order eventually passed as WI, so I switched right after closing out Rationalism for Satellites and bulbing Hubble. Timing was not perfect, but only lost one turn of culture. Never did more than three tenets in Order, but full Piety, Exploration, and Rationalism.

What techs did you prioritize?

JE meant I could tech Education before Machinery. Usual beeline after that to Electricity, then Rocketry.

How did you use piety and exploration?

Piety for JE was key. Early Exploration meant that I wanted only coastal cities, but I did put one in the middle to fill the gap. Late Exploration policies gave me the happy to ride out being the only civ in Autocracy.

Screen shot focused on my empire on the win turn attached. I also took notes as I went along this time. But when the action got really tense, I forgot to write!

Spoiler incomplete log of highlights :

Knowtalent · Aug 5, 2016

That is a great write up! Thanks!

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Mundanename · Aug 5, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Date submitted: 2016-08-05 23:59:13
Reference number: 34694
Your name: Mundanename
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 2008AD
Turns played: 428
Base score: 1324
Final score: 1557
Time played: 8:03:00

Hey everyone. I have been lurking around civ fanatics since the civ 3 days but this is my first time participating. This was also my first ever Emperor victory (in any civ..yes seriously)

I am a beyond casual player (I can't stand micro and always automate workers, explorers, citizens, etc) but I have fun and I figure my game can act as a nice example on the other end of the spectrum.

- Did you use your UU?
Nope

- How useful was your UA?
My automated workers build a fair number of the special farms and I liked the faster hill movement but honestly I did not really notice.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
I basically ignored spying until the modern era when I realized I might have a small hope of completing the game. I was able to steal 4 techs in the space race to come from behind and pull off a win after being the 4th civ to complete the apolo program.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
I really enjoyed my starting location but due to my sub par playing I was very crowded on my last 2 (of 4) cities. I doubt I could have survived the barbs on a more open map.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
I almost always play on Prince and often lose on King so I figured I had no shot here. I think the lack of other victory conditions is the only reason I was able to finish this game.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?
I made great use of my faith to gain some extra science every time I had a missionary. By mid game all other religions were gone so I had to constantly fight back against rather large religious pressure.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
I went straight piety, then exploration, then made a big mistake by trying to pick up order only to be forced to switch to freedom due to unhappiness.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
No grand strategy, I just went for crossbows and then the science buildings.

- How did you use piety and exploration ?
Piety helped me get a religion but I did not really see much benefit out of exploration. I did switch all of my trade routes over to the sea by the modern era but I only had two coastal cities and I am sure I far underutilized it.

I am still a bit shell shocked that I was able to complete the game. Assyria had all but one part built and I am sure they were only a turn or two away from winning. Looking at the performance of my cities it is clear that having automated workers was really sub optimal. I also never really specialize my cities and manage my great person generation. Lots to work on improving now that I see that it is possible =)

beetle · Aug 6, 2016

I enjoyed this map very much, but I think disabling VC really nerfs the AI. None of them opened Piety or Patronage, so I was able to pick up Wonders that I also never get.

jrwh · Aug 10, 2016

Game: Civ5 GOTM 139
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1822AD
Turns played: 281
Base score: 1707
Final score: 3048
Time played: I don't know how to find this :lol:

Well this was the first GotM I completed and pretty much the first single player game I've ever played to the end. I'm not gonna submit it because I replayed the last turn when I accidentally bulbed Nuclear Fusion instead of Nanotechnology for the last spaceship part. I doubt 281 would be good enough for a top 3 finish anyway.

- Did you use your UU?

I made 2 early to farm barbs (I opened Honor) and ended up losing one around turn 100.

- How useful was your UA?

It allowed me to do a bit of extra exploring and barb farming without having to build scouts. Not as great as a Poland or Korea but helpful nonetheless.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?

I was so far ahead in tech by the time I got spies I just stashed them in my cap to rank up and then spread them around to rig CS elections. I actually lost my first 4 spies to failed coups, all of which had 70%+ chance of success. Everyone was trying to steal from me though so the replacements leveled up quickly.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?

Having 4 observatories and numerous Cargo Ships was a boon to science. I think opening Honor was worth it. Check out the screenshot at the bottom of my opening actions post to see a hilariously placed barb camp which I was able to farm well past t200. I also farmed some culture with boats after I was confident my trade routes were safe.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?

I went for really greedy settlement locations because I didn't fear the AI at all, particularly with India as a neighbor.

I delayed my shrine until after monument, 2 archers, worker, and 3 settlers and still got all the pantheon/religious beliefs I wanted (Tears of the Gods, Tithe, Mosques, Pagodas). Probably the latest I have ever teched Pottery.

I felt 0 pressure to build any units for defense outside of the 2 archers and a handful of boats I was using to farm barbs. I did pay Gengis to DoW Gandhi around/after t200 when he was Guarded towards me and moved a bunch of troops towards my border.

After my t105 NC I built Oracle, HG, and ToA in succession in my cap. There's absolutely no way these wonders are available this late on higher difficulty.

It was really easy to get 1st place in World's Fair, International Games, and International Space Station. That's not something I'm usually able to do on Deity, and I really counted on those bonuses for free Social Policies, increased culture generation, and an extra GS to bulb at the end.

- Was Faith helpful to achieve victory?

It wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. I figured I'd be rolling in faith and spamming out GEs but I only ended up buying 2 or 3. I think I bought 2 mosques and 0 pagodas because I realized I'd need to start saving my faith for GE. What I failed to consider is that the faith cost increases on these buildings as I progress through the eras, so I missed my opportunity to get the snowball rolling early. Also had to buy a missionary after I enhanced because my religion wasn't spreading with all my growth.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?

Tradition Opener
Honor Opener
Finish Tradition
Piety Opener (from Oracle)
Rati Opener
Secularism
Organized Religion
Order (great people generation -> happiness -> science from factories + reduced build time -> more happiness -> production from mines and quarries -> engineer space parts + free GE And GS)
Finish Piety
Exploration

Finished up Exploration something like 5-10 turns before victory.

- What techs did you prioritize ?

Archery first to farm culture from barbs, followed by Animal Husbandry (hoping for horses on the plains/grassland tiles), Mining to chop for settlers and get luxes, Masonry for luxes, Trapping for luxes, super late Pottery, then generic science beelines. I took a detour for Sailing and Construction after Philosophy to get trade routes and terrace farms rolling. I went Astronomy straight after Education and built my Observatories immediately following Unis.

- How did you use piety and exploration?

I didn't, really. I delayed shrines and temples in my expands to benefit from the reduced build time from opening Piety, and otherwise I just filled them out for the sake of doing it.

Spoiler :

Overall I'm fairly pleased with this being the first time I've played a science victory. I could definitely have shaved some turns off; I did a few things poorly due to my inexperience in the endgame.

The biggest problem I think was my great person management. For starters, I bulbed 3 GS just before I finished International Space Station, and thus lost out on the 33% bonus. I chained together my Golden Ages pretty poorly and possibly could have dipped another point or two into Rati early on if I managed this better, which would have helped me bulb more GS towards the end.

I also stopped food trade routes in favor of production a bit too early I think. There was definitely room for more growth as I had 50+ happiness for awhile (until I got lazy and stopped renewing lux trades in favor of spamming next turn). Basically I switched food to production when I ran out of tiles to work in all my cities, but I could have teched to the end a little faster with higher pop.

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