Game: Civ5 GOTM 35
Date submitted: 2012-05-12
Reference number: 26237
Your name: Halcyan2
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1882AD
Turns played: 311
Base score: 827
Final score: 1333
This was my first GOTM game (after this I went back and did GOTM 34, which still had a few days left before the game closed).
I've also never played played OCC before, so that was a new experience for me.
General questions:
1. What's the best way to take a screenshot of your game? I tried Alt + Printscreen and pasted into Paint but I just ended up with a black screen.
2. Are the personality stats for the AI fixed for every game or will they vary for different players? Reading the reports of other players and saying how the AI's behaved completely differently (in regards to warring, expansion, wonder building) makes me rather intrigued about it.
3. After you win the game, do you just save it immediately and then submit it? Or are you supposed to literally click "end turn" and then save it? I was a bit confused about the "turn after you win" detail - if you do need to click "end turn" one more time before saving, why is that needed?
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[Game Summary]
Settled SE of the start, on the hills/river next to the stone.
MISTAKE #1: Well, this was more of a "calculated risk" that didn't pay off. I wanted to try something new, so I went for a "Chariot Archer" scouting for Ruins in hopes of an early Mandekalu Cavalry that could crush my opponents early. Unfortunately it didn't pay off. I beelined the Wheel but by the time I had my first Chariot Archer, and started exploring, all the Ruins on the continent were gone (I had 4 Chariot Archers at this point). I then went for Optics hoping to find some Ruins on random islands nearby, but there were none available.
MISTAKE #2: In addition to poor luck with the map due to no ruins on nearby isles, scouting early also made me realize that 3 civs were on a different continent that required Astronomy. This also torpedoed my hopes of an early Mandekalu naval invasion on the 3 unknown civs. It also meant that I had to keep my 4 neighbors alive longer than expected so that I could RA into Astronomy. In hindsight, I kept them alive much longer than I should have which delayed the game significantly (especially since it gave Monty the time to grow too large).
Since I focused on my failed Chariot Archer rush (I didn't even bother attacking anyone once I learned I needed to shoot for Astronomy), my Ancient Era game wasn't so good. A distant civ (later learned to be Rome) got most of the early wonders including Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and the Colossus. Japan and the Ottomans competed for the Great Lighthouse. I was very pleased that I still managed to get the Great Library, despite getting Writing fairly late.
In the Classical Era, I signed RA's with all 4 of my neighbors. I got the Oracle. After a few turns working on the Hanging Gardens, it was built faraway (Rome). Another faraway civ (Aztecs) got the Great Wall - that seemed a minor footnote at the time but later turned out to be a major turning point since I believe it really helped the Aztecs dominate the second continent.
In the Medieval Era, I was near the top in terms of tech. I managed to get all of the Wonders (except Machu Picchu for obvious reasons, since there are no mountains near the start). First did HS, with an GE to hurry the PT. Built Chichen Itza while waiting for Chivalry to develop, and then I built Angkor Wat, Himeji Castle, and Notre Dame.
Shortly before and after Chivalry, Ottoman (and then Japan) started to make moves against me, moving troops nearby. I wasn't worried about them militarily since I could hold them off in the pass with all my Chariot Archers, but I was more concerned about losing the RA's. In each case, I denounced them, which dissuaded them so the RA's could bear fruit.
Once I had my 4 Chariot Archers upgraded into Mandelaku Cavalry (I bought another 2 more) I went to town on my continent. Quickly smashed Suleiman and then Washington. When I had Wu down to one side, Rome and then Monty had sent Caravels to establish contact. Mopped up China and then Japan. It was now time to find and explore the second continent by sending my army of 5/6 Mandelaku Cavalry.
SURPRISE #1: When I discovered the other continent I was surprised to see the Aztec domination. Normally when I play, Monty doesn't do too well. He focuses on military early on, doesn't expand too much, *never* builds any wonders, and is fairly behind on tech (but loves his Jaguar Warriors). So I was quite surprised to see that he was the runaway civ on the second continent and had in fact built *two* wonders (Great Wall and Machu Picchu). He was also embroiled in war against both Rome and Genghis along with all the minor civs (who were allied with Rome). After seeing them fight, I realized that the Great Wall was a big factor contributing to Monty's success. He was able to wage war and take cities, but Rome and Mongolia had trouble taking any Aztec cities due to the movement penalties.
I considered attacking Monty, but decided against it. He had Cannons already and combined with the Great Wall, it would be an uphill struggle to attack at this point especially since he soon got Cavalry as well. If I had cleaned up my continent earlier, I could have attacked before Monty became so strong. I also considered attacking Rome and Genghis, and I could probably have taken them out. But since Monty was the major threat and Rome/Mongols were actually keeping the Aztecs somewhat in check, I decided against it. So at this point my best option was to wait until I had Tanks (yes, requiring me to go through two full eras). So I holed up, allied with all the remaining CS's and RA'ed away.
The Renaissance Era started out with me behind in tech. I believe I used a GS or two to get some key techs for wonder building. I hard built the Forbidden Palace, followed by the Sistine Chapel and the Kremlin. Monty (or Rome) beat me to the Taj Mahal just as I had discovered Printing Press. I got Big Ben and was going for Archaeology when I realized that Monty already had Military Science (Cavalry). Nonetheless, I proceeded with the Louvre and was pleasantly surprised when I still managed to build Brandenburg, especially considering the Wonder flavor traits (Gate has 25 Offense while normally Monty has a 9 for Offense) and how long Monty had to go for it.
Due to RA's, I shot ahead in tech. Monty was at war with everyone (surprise, surprise). Rome and Mongolia eventually signed RA's as well, so Rome gradually inched ahead of Monty in tech.
LESSON #1: Unfortunately, Monty took out Tyre before I could even encounter them. Normally I like to liberate minor civs but this was bad for me due to OCC. I later learned (after I had won the game), that OCC doesn't give you the option to liberate - you are forced to raze down conquered minor civ cities. Monty also came close to taking out Warsaw while it was Rome's ally, so I saved the Poles but allying with them and asking Monty to stop.
In the Industrial Era, I built the Statue of Liberty, got Tanks with Combustion and got ready for war. My Mandelaku Cavalry had good promotions (March, Mobility, a few with Blitz) due to my earlier war campaign so they were ready to do some serious damage. Right before I attacked, Rome actually attacked Monty as well with a bunch of Artillery and Riflemen(?). I hit Tenochtitlan straight off to eliminate that offensive Wall. Took out half of Monty's cities till I declared peace with him so I could take out Rome. While Rome and Monty continued to war, I declared on Rome and took out his capital and half his cities. I then took out 2 of Mongolia's 4 cities for the win. In the meantime I built the Eiffel Tower and was a couple of turns away from building Cristo Redeemer.
LESSON #2: Normally when I go Domination I'm a genocidal maniac and like to completely wipe out the civilizations (genocidal warmonger penalty be damned!). On the second continent, I did, however, save quite a bit of time by settling for peace with the Aztecs and Rome after taking out their capitals and half their cities. In longer term games, that can still be a mistake (since they might attack you later on) but it was a useful lesson here.
Social Policies: Started with Honor, then Tradition for Aristocracy (I love Wonders!). Then completed both Honor and Tradition. Later, I opened Patronage, and then Rationalism. Completed the left halves of both trees.
311 turns was a bit longer than I had hoped, but I chalk it up to the failed Chariot Archer strategy and waiting too long to dominate my continent (which led to waiting too long to attack the other continent). Also, I probably could have shaved off a bunch of times if I hadn't gone all Wonder crazy, but I always love building Wonders!