GotM 169 Spoiler

Inkerman

Engineer
Civ2 GOTM Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
447
Location
London
I think of GotM as very like a book discussion group, except we never physically meet, and our topic is just Civ2 games rather than books. Each month we "read" a game, saying how we got on with it, and we come together to discuss it.

In a book group the person who suggested the particular book initiates the discussion, and so I will start the spoiler for GotM 169. If some of my pre-game comments turn out to be "wide of the mark" as we say here, I am sure we will all enjoy the discussion correcting me!

It is nearly two years on from the previous Barbarian Wrath game (GotM 148) so it was time for another go. The last time I had used a small map, hoping that a smaller shorter game would be appealing (it wasn't). Ali complained he saw no hordes, and Peaster played a terrific EC game making good use of movement and hut popping.

So I made changes in these areas. I used a larger map, I cleared huts, and I fixed the start more - although not quite as much as intended due to posting the wrong version of the save file, sorry. I also picked up on an idea Ali referenced in the future games thread, of having more barbs around generally. (And there is another game in the offing, based on the idea of having a continent full of barbarians between you and the AI players.)

Although the noted feature, echoed in the title, is the barbarian wrath setting, I expect the game is not about that at all. Rather, it is about starting in the middle of a continent with terrain not so well suited to ICS, on a medium large map, at deity level, with no huts.

It's not a situation we have seen so often recently, but looking back through the archives it is a topic GotM has visited several times in the past. It was before my joining, but I see several games from 5-10 years ago that have many similarities. Amongst others there is #106 (grigor, Ali, Magic were there), with a north pole start, and #70 as the Aborigines on a world map, with an impressive five pages of spoiler (Ali, Peaster, Magic present.) It seems these games can be frustrating at times, and can take a lot of real time, but a lot of the comments say how much they were enjoyed. Often players seem very pleased and even - unusual for such veterans, surprised - with the outcomes they were able to achieve.

In this game, with the known map, players can do quite a bit of analysis and decide how best to cope with the start position. There is not much grass, but the river, the specials and the Chicago site are big assets.

Now for the pre-game comments:

1. Players will consider not founding Chicago/Wounded Knee where the settler starts, but will then do so. The third city will be at (60,20).

2. Most (all?) will become a Monarchy in -2450.

3. Sending exploring units in the direction of the three other cities in North America will pay off.

4. A key variation will be how a player manages growth in number of cities in the early game.

5. Luck will play a part, even with no huts. There will be significant variation in chance events, but the AI will chase wonders in similar ways at similar times in the early game.

6. Everyone will build HG. Anyone considering space rather than conquest will also choose Colossus. I suspect both will be available if wanted, after going straight to Monarchy. But it might have been interesting if the right file had been posted, which would have made Monarchy two techs later, and players might then have had to choose between HG and Colossus!

7. EL will be easier than EC, but we will not find out.

I am playing and will do a log in a few days. My game will not be competitive because I have played the early game a lot in testing. True there is a little information not initially revealed which also bars me, but I expect all such to come early to players who watch the Top-5 and nearest city information.

Incidentally: I tried to work out how to increase the likelihood of players experiencing at least one horde reasonably early, but found no way to do it. So far all I know is it just seems to happen sometimes. You may have got an early horde, as I sometimes did in testing, but you probably didn't. Surely it is optimal to pay no regard to the possibility. If you did get a big horde reasonably early on, and it proved somewhat awkward, then bad luck for the aspect of a comparison game. I hope you enjoy the unusual situation!
 
Hello guys, I felt like playing Civ2 again and tried out this GOTM on my new 64bit machine: so no 2.42 for me.
Spoiler :
I didn't get a single big horde anywhere, but still got the +50 and the 200g ransoms playing on MGE. Dunno if it doesn't work on MGE despite loading properly.
Forgot the 1AD save, so won't be submitting this time, but I will give my early impressions nevertheless.
Spoiler :
Currently on the end turn of 1855 AD... currently researching Electronics. Yeah I played that bad.


Spoiler :
I originally wanted to go for Monarchy early, and researched the good techs, but oddly enough the needed techs weren't available for research very often, which delayed my stab for Monarchy and Monotheism for very long. Maybe I wasn't used to the modified four-tech cycle, or my game bugged out. Probably traded too many techs to the neighbouring civs, other than the ones I needed. The French stayed friendly throughout the game, trading frequently despite the hostile behaviour of the AI in MGE (well until they sneaked me and forced me to switch from Demo to Fundy) I was also stuck with the Japs as key civ, and couldn't gift them until MPE, which made it worse.

I didn't look at the map editor before starting the game, and didn't have a plan to deal with the situation. I ended up settling at the Chicago site at 4000 BC, which was a huge mistake. Not enough shield production due to bad earlygame specials and lots of corruption meant I had to build two settlers in my capital for expansion instead of my usual one, which resulted in losing out on both HG and Pyramids, only getting GL (netted me a half-dozen free techs, a testament to how behind I was). Missing HG and the late Mikes also forced me to build quite a few early Temples in my cities as the riot factor went out of control when I was conquering the English colonies, which further delayed my research. (Wasn't even settling anymore: the English kept razing the fresh cities.)

The Barbarian cities weren't that big of an annoyance, although the settlers defending them were unusually tough, as even horsemen couldn't take them down when they killed Archers and Legions with ease. Maybe it got Veteran status, or maybe I needed chariots instead of horsemen. The big issue was that in hindsight, trading with the Russians becomes a big priority since they were the only offshore civ that could be reached with Triremes. (Lighthouse missed, French built Colossus) but the barb cities were kind of in the way. Didn't think of that strat ingame, so I wonder what you guys did instead to deal with it or if you went LH/did something else.
 
Hello guys, I felt like playing Civ2 again...
Forgot the 1AD save, so won't be submitting this time, but I will give my early impressions nevertheless.

Welcome back! As far as I can recall, you were one of the regular players by the time I joined here.
And I would say that not having the 1 AD save is no reason for not-submitting, the rules are a little more generous, it is ok if you have a save that was even slightly close to 1 AD.
 
welp, too late, my only save is 1865 AD and I'm kinda bored of that game so... :p I actually started just finished GOTM 168 and my luck is much better on that one. Like, holy hell I got lucky very early on.

Also, won't be back for very long: college OP. Just now it's my last two weeks.
 
Hi all.The map is nice,but democratic barbarians.....:),bad thing...
I missed more wonders,HG,Colossus,Sun Tzu,etc,building army to keep the cities,if a horde like in photos appears.From my experience in my random map games,when a horde appears,they spread in more directions,but I did not know in this map,they have more cities.
I'm in 1880,fundi,I will try maybe a victory by conquest before 1960.
 
Spoiler :
Yeah, the democratic barbarians were annoying, especially when they take one of your cities and you can't take it back without razing it.

Although dips were still useful in my game: the English and French colonies were far away from their respective capitals, allowing me to bribe relatively cheap cities. They were also moving their capitals really often, which ironically enough were the English's downfall: they moved their capital to a city in France just as a dip was approching London... and the Hanging Gardens. Salvaged my game: I was finally able to make modest celebrations happen and take 1st place in the power graph.
 
How nice to have Jokemaster call by. I joined about the same time as the Major and Jokemaster was quite active. I think I remember some strong ICS games, and as I recall some helpful technical support comments. Best of luck with your continuing College work.

In answer to one of Jokemaster's points I think the game does work as intended on MGE as well as Classic. It is quite possible that there are some differences between the two as regards when and whether hordes appear. But my guess is that randomness, and how the game progresses, make more difference. It would not be untypical were some measure of game progress (power table, number of cities etc) to influence horde appearance.

To my own game.

My initial objectives are Monarchy and then Trade, to support getting a wonder. At this stage I think if I can choose only one it will be Colossus, taking a long-term view. I will research HBR first, as that was in the version of the save file that didn't get posted (please see game thread.)

I also plan to contact the AI as soon as possible. I hinted this in the pre-game remarks in the game thread. From the map, New York is easiest to get to; from the description Aztecs the most desirable. If and when we do meet we will give what they ask for peace, and take chances on swapping techs. At least that's the plan as I start.

In 1850BC we see signs of a barb horde to the east of Chicago. In a sense it's nice that I've got one of the games in which such an early horde happens. It's far enough away for it not to cause much trouble.

In 1450BC a single barb horse appears from out of the black east of Little Bighorn. Please see picture (recreated after the event from the 1500BC save, with the benefit of hindsight.) Posed as a problem like this it is easy to see what should be done?

1500BC Stats.
Cities:6, Pop:10, Techs:9, Gold:29. Monarchy. Strong and Spotless.
1 settler, 8 warriors, 1 phalanx, 1 horse.

Gold:44. Unit build options: settler/warrior/phalanx/horse/dip/van.
Little Bighorn: 2 warriors (Lit and Ced), full of food (30 sheaves), 43 shields to van.
Cedar Creek: no garrison, nearly full of food (18 sheaves), 33 shields to van.
Slim Buttes: 1 warrior (Sli), part full food (18 sheaves), 4 shields to van.

The settler is homed to Cedar Creek, and is not the first unit, so it can move.
The phalanx is a turn's march south of Slim Buttes.
The horse has duties near Chicago, against the horde.
 

Attachments

  • pic1450BC.jpg
    pic1450BC.jpg
    29.8 KB · Views: 285
Meanwhile the early log.

4000- Found Chicago. LBH worker on furs. Warrior goes for a wander west.
Start on HBR.
3800- LBH worker on pheasant.
3750- disc HBR -> Alp. Warrior, having gone south, goes east, running from barb warrior.
3700- LBH builds warrior. Warriors move. LBH worker back to furs.
3550- London in top-5 cities.
3500- Warriors in Chicago.

3450- LBH and Chicago size 2.
3400- As NON warriors reach Chicago send the local ones towards New York.
3350- disc Alp -> CoL.
3100- LBH Settlers. Chicago IRB.
3050- Found Cedar Creek (60,20). Seminole, Crow in Top-5.
3000- Chicago RB.

2950- Chicago horse - send to Aztecs.
2900- 3 of top-5 cities are Barb, as Cherokee added.
2850- disc CoL -> CB. Cedar Creek warriors, they move.
We are 2nd largest.
2700- Chicago size 3, warriors just complete in time.
Exploring warrior meets Icy English(4) at New York.
Give HBR, get peace. Swap CoL to get CB.
They also have BW, MM, WC.
Swap Alp to get BW.
Unexpectedly good, suspect somebody else (the French) is doing well.
Don't want to be greedy but now need warrior sent home.
Start on Mon.
2600- Yes, English send warrior home to Chicago.

2350- Cedar Creek settlers. Shield used for support.
2300- Found Slim Buttes (62,24).
2150- disc Mon -> Cur.
2100- Horse reaches Tenochtitlan.
Give Aztecs(3) Mon, peace, swap CoL for Cur.
They have Mas and Wri too. Revolution.
2050- Become Monarchy.
Hostile Russian(0) warrior appears by settler - they declare war.
French capital moved to Lyons.
Navajo in Top-5 list.
Start on Writing.
2000- Emissary Aztecs(5) - swap HBR to get Wri.

Stats.
Cities:4, Pop:7, Techs:8, Gold:22. Monarchy. Strong and Spotless.
1 settler, 6 warriors, 1 horse.
Have met Russians, Aztecs and English.

(from 2000BC)

Settler (on river) beats off Russians.
Horse sent home by Aztecs.
Start on Trade.
1950- We are Moderate.
1900-
1850-
Signs of a barb horde to east of Chicago - should not be a worry as it is away from our cities.
1800-
1750- Found Three Forks (62,28).
1700- We are Strong.
Contact English(5), they want Wri.
Contact Aztecs(3), they need no gifts.
English start Colossus.
Barb horse north of LBH.
1650- Found Stony Lake (67,31).
Barb horse passes to east.
New York attacked by elements of horde.
French start Pyramids.
1600-
1550- disc Tra -> Lit. This discovery needed more than expected.
Now max tax, as need vans for wonders.
Paris is French, even if no longer capital.
French abandon Pyramids.
1500- Some vestiges of large horde visible - and we need deal with a chariot four spaces from Chicago.
 
1500BC stats repeated for convenience
Cities:6, Pop:10, Techs:9, Gold:29. Monarchy. Strong and Spotless.
1 settler, 8 warriors, 1 phalanx, 1 horse.

Barb horse appears east of LBH in (62,18).
1450- We are Mighty.
In retrospect, a "turn" where the game turned for the worse (see previous post.)
Our single horse kills the chariot from the horde in swamp near Chicago, so far OK.
But in the north we could have done more than we did - finishing the van in Cedar Creek in case its defence was needed, and moving a warrior out of LBH to help (requiring an idle worker to avoid disorder.)
1400- Warrior dies attacking barb horse in woods.
Emissary English(4) - swap Tra and Wri to get Iron and MM.
Cedar Creek destroyed by barbs - loss of city and about 40 points of nearly finished van.
1350-
Barb horse dies attacking a phalanx.
1300-
Chinese start Pyramids.
1250-
French start Pyramids.
1200- We are Strong. French Martinique in Top-5.
1150-
1100-
French capital moved to Marseilles.
1050- We are Mighty.
We send horse to meet wounded French(6) warrior.
They want us to break with English, we say no, give Wri, we say no, they declare war.
Horse kills French warrior.
Maybe we should have been friendly but we know they must be the Supreme one.
1000-
Aztecs start Pyramids.

1000BC Stats.
Cities:5, Pop:14, Gold:15. Monarchy. Mighty and Spotless.
7 warriors, 2 phalanx, 1 horse, 3 vans.
No wonders yet.
 
The BC years seem long ago now as I do the final turns to a spaceship ending. I was always playing to that ending; I felt obliged to having composed the thing. I won't bother with further log, but I will note that from 1000BC - 500AD I was frequently changing between Mighty, Strong, Moderate and even Inadequate. By 500AD Chicago had grown, and I settled into a long period of being Mighty. The French took Copernicus before I could (in 150BC), so I expect others will do better if they go this route. I confess there was a cheer when I eventually got Supreme off the French, but it was not until 1794!

There were many barbarian hordes, with the English being most affected. There were eight up to the 1794 date. At one point we saw the message "89 units destroyed" as the Royal Navy defeated a horde base in Ireland. But the game wasn't really about them.
 
So, this game was/is really a ... hmm ... cannot even find the right word in german after having had such a great game in #168 and now this... I had the best turn ever in my civ2-career with discovery of railroad AND corporation simultaneously and now I had the worst turn...due to outside interference though, it was not me who messed it up.
Now for the pre-game comments:

1. Players will consider not founding Chicago/Wounded Knee where the settler starts, but will then do so. The third city will be at (60,20).
Yes
2. Most (all?) will become a Monarchy in -2450.
No. I kind of messed it up, not working the gold because there was not food surplus and the shield was wasted. Too late realizing the food surplus was unnecessary and the shield would not be wasted after monarchy...
5. Luck will play a part, even with no huts. There will be significant variation in chance events, but the AI will chase wonders in similar ways at similar times in the early game.
In that case I was lucky. I was not suffering from barb activity any more than in other games.
6. Everyone will build HG.
No. AI beat me to it and that was a huge setback in my game. New founded cities needed an entertainer right from the start.


-4000 Chicago founded, warrior goes exploring
-3950 Research Burial
-3750 Burial->Alph
-3250 Alph->Laws
-3000 Cedar Creek founded
-2750 Laws->Monarchy
-2650 Barb horse kills a warrior
-2450 Barely missed monarchy :(
-2400 Mon->Writing
-2300 Revolution
-2250 Become Monarchy
-2150 Slim Buttes, Three Forks founded

Stats at 2000BC:
pop.: 90k; Cities: 5; techs: 4; gold: 41; Gov.: Mon; wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 0 settler, 4 warrior
Goals: Expand; trade & Marco; some exploring

-1900 Writing->Bronze; Stony Lake founded
-1800 Killdeer founded
(English horse approaches Three Forks, we gift writing since they are icy, peace, no tech trade offer, no alliance)
(French warrior approaches, give tech, peace, no tech exchange, no alliance)
-1550 Bear Paw founded, get Bronze from England (other choices HBR, Mapmak., Masonry)
-1450 Curr->Mapmaking;
-1350 Hail French, get mapmak & pottery from them (other choices Masonry, Math)
-1300 Research Trade; Dip runs into Barb Cheyenne
(Barb do not attack our dip)
-1000 Trade->Literacy; reduce science and raise taxes for HG and Marco

Stats at 1000BC:
pop.: 270k; Cities: 8; techs: 10; gold: 34; Gov.: Mon; wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 3 settler, 13 warrior, 2 dip
Goals: Marco & HG

The very bad turn happened later.
 
I feel like my game is going nowhere. Can I blame Ali for becoming rusty on deity? ;) We haven't had deity for quite some time...
This thread is rather quiet, I hope there are more people playing than just me.

Here are my next 1000 years:

-975 Big Mound founded
(-950 London builds Pyramids, French switch to HG)
-875 Wood Lake founded
-850 Dead Buffalo founded
-825 French about to finish HG... &$§/§E$!!!!!
(Paris builds HG)
-800 Point of Rocks founded
(Aztecs begin Colossus)
-700 Marco Polo completed; hail French to get Myst., no tech exchange, obviously we have nothing to offer
Get Lit.& maps from England;
maps from Russia;
construction, maps, 100g from Aztecs;
HBR, Wheel, maps from Japan, demand tribute, war;
Raging Brook founded
-675 Get myst. from France; sign peace with Japan
-650 research Philo
-625 Sign peace with China, demand tribute, war; demand Aztec tribute, get none
-600 Demand english tribute, none
-550 Philo->Mono->Republic; Get republic from Aztecs, no tribute
(Barbs discover Burial?!)
-525 Research Mono; peace & maps from China

Stats at 500BC:
pop.: 440k; Cities: 13; techs: 18; gold: 25; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Marco Polo; TR: 0D/0F
units: 3 settler, 13 warrior, 2 dip
Goals: Michelangelo & further expansion

-475 1st delivery, undemanded hides to New York for 60 (spend most of it to rush a hore in Killdeer); gift some techs to england, still a long way until mono
-450 kill barb archer; Running Bear founded
-400 Discover that there is only 1 barb settler inside Crow...send a horse there but don't think the situation will remain
-375 Send 4 vans into Chicago for Colossus, 2 of them were salt, and now the salt demand is blocked, too bad, a van is stading by to be delivered
-325 100g tribute from Aztecs, use it to build the 1st temple
(Barb horse kills warrior in Three Forks, heavily wounded)
-300 Warrior dies attacking barb horse outside Thee Forks, this is not looking good...
(Barbs raze Three Forks)
-275 Kill barb horse outside Crow, still only a settler in the city
-250 Silver Moon, Wildcat Valley founded
(Russian sneak attack on Killdeer)
-225 Kill settler in Crow, get 200g and the city is empty. Horse is badly wounded though. Fail to kill russian horse, Russians refuse to talk
(Russians raze Killdeer and take construction but no gold. All was spent. And now guess which city was supporting the horse outside Barb Crow!)
-200 Crow is still empty! Those g**§$(!("/ Russians!
-175 Great River founded
(Russian horse dies in attack on LBH)
-150 Seven Brothers founded; dip runs into japanese horse, they offer alliance, we agree but then refuse to declare war on China
(Sneak attack from japan horse, dip dies)
-100 Mono->Medicine;
-75 sign peace with Japan
-50 Michelangelo. Finally we can grow some more
-25 Sign peace with Russia
+1 New York is out of hides demand, deliver anyway for 88

Stats at 1AD:
pop.: 440k; Cities: 16; techs: 19; gold: 121; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Marco Polo; TR: 0D/2F
units: 4 settler, 21 warrior, 7 phalanx, 2 vans
Goals: Expansion, Sun Tzu, Fundy via SOL, then raise money to bribe french+english cities in america, conquest
 
Those g**§$(!("/ Russians!
Ah, how many of us have not sworn at the Russians at some point in a game?

In 1AD I had fewer cities but more wonders. I have just become a republic, disbanded several warriors, and will get Chicago, currently size 5, to grow to size 8 in the next few turns.

1AD Stats.
Cities:8, Pop:19 (.39M), Techs:18, Gold:34. Republic. Inadequate and Spotless.
4 settlers, 3 warriors, 3 phalanx, 2 horse, 1 ele, 1 van.
HG, Colossus, MPE.
French have Oracle, Copernicus.
English have LH.
Aztecs have GW.
Chinese have Pyramids.

My comment was
It is not going anywhere near as well as it might. Too much fighting especially with the English, and not enough growth or trade. And the loss of Copernicus to the powerful French will mean we will have company with tech development, and everything will take longer.
 
So, this game turns out to be a little annoying. I was just reminded why I usually prefer peaceful spaceship games... With "barbarian wrath" being hanging above like Damokles' Sword, I built a defender in every city, but there was not more barb activity than in others until a giant stack (~100 units) showed up in the Rockys later in the game when the 3 cities in danger could easily be prepared for barb units ante portas (city walls, barracks for quick recovery, defenders who fight off musceteer attacks, offense units to kill cannons before they attack).
Something more annoying than barbarian wrath was/is the AI in my game: Some of them switched to demo, disabling bribing; others stupidly sneak attacked me (such as the Russians already mentioned); and, maybe most of all, they built their cities on forest, swamp, whatever they could get a bonus for and prevent them from being overrun. I have never seen the AI acting this way before.

60 Snake Canyon founded
80 First Wind founded
120 Yellowtree founded
160 Medicine->Warrior Code; Get WC and Engineering from China
(Barbs discover Alphabet for the third time)
180 Research Feudalism; Demand Aztec tribute, get seafaring
220 Chief's Crag founded; finally get french map
240 Morning Rock founded
280 Neapel founded
300 Issus, Cunaxa founded
(Barbs destroy Morning Rock)
360 Cremona founded
440 Feud.->Theo; Cannae, Capua founded; domestic hides for 76
(Aztecs Copernicus, China GW)
460 Turin founded
480 Shakespeare in Chicago; Gift some techs Russia, maps, 200g tribute
500 Sun Tzu completed; Chicago copper to New York 200; Genua founded; 350g tribute from Japan

Stats at 500AD:
pop.: 1.17M; Cities: 28; techs: 24; gold: 617; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Marco Polo, Colossus, Sun Tzu, Michelangelo, Shakespeare; TR: 0D/2F
units: 6 settler, 24 warrior, 15 phalanx, 2 pike, 2 crusaders, 1 boat, 2 dip, 3 vans
Goals: Expansion, Fundy via SOL, conquest

540 Kreta founded
560 What is that? Tried to kill a barb warrior on fortress @ 61,5, but now we are sharing the tile??? I can click the warrior and released him from fortification
580 Theo(Not sure, what would be available next)->Banking; Verona, Salamis founded; still cannot attack that warrior; get Banking from Aztecs
600 Research Invention; Lissabon founded
620 Hamburg founded; 250g from Russia; switch to Republic in 700?
640 Prag founded
660 Get Invention from France (nice surprise, even though they are working on Leonardo), demand tribute, get Navigation
680 Ouch, Navigation made Demo unavailable... Research Masonry; Capture Barbarian Crow; Salzburg founded; Revolution
(Aztecs discover Demo)
700 Bach Cathedral; establish Republic; delivery 270; Bergen founded; get Demo from Aztecs, switch to Demo, get Masonry from France, IW from England
720 Research physics; dip runs into Barb city of Cherokee and we can bribe them? I vaguely remember having heard they changed to despotism... We do not bribe, keeping the game as it is planned. We can build a wonder in 2 turns, should it be Leonardo or SoL?
740 Rush a crusader to conquer Cherokee, move crusader+pikeman towards
780 Physics->Magnetism; Leonardo built (Aztecs + French switch to SoL); Venedig, Mailand founded; delivery 72; get university from Aztecs
800 Ghent founded
(French switch to Demo...so much for my plan to bribe them down)
820 Pisa founded; delivery 132
840 Dublin, Toronto, Melbourne founded; Crusader+pikeman on hill next to Cheyenne
860 Kill 2 defenders in Cheyenne (1 left); kill settler in Cherokee (200g), city taken; Sydney founded
(England discovers gunpowder)
880 Mag->Bridgebuild; Kill settler in Cheyenne 200g, City razed; Detroit, Broken Arm founded; we are finally surpreme! Get BB from China
900 Research Chemistry (for explosives); Winnipeg founded
920 Copper delivered for 300g; Slim Butt, Calgary founded; subvert Coventry 2*213(23g+Gunpowder)
(London builds Magellan)
940 Chem->Explosives; Oak Ridge founded; deliv. 171; 8 vans put into SoL
(Aztecs about to build Liberty, that was close)
960 Lady Liberty built (We will still stay in demo at least until explosives, maybe railroad); Barb city Arapaho destroyed
(France sanitation - they won't share because of economics/Adam Smith)
1000 Explos.->Steam Eng.; Saskatoon founded; deliv. 156; May we go for Fundy next turn? May we? Mais oui! Revolution

Stats at 1000AD:
pop.: 3.19M; Cities: 54; techs: 32; gold: 487; Gov.: ANARCHY; wonders: Marco Polo, Colossus, Sun Tzu, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Leonardo Bach, Liberty; TR: 6D/1F
units: 11 engineer, 51 musc, 4 crusaders, 1 boat, 7 dip, 3 vans
Goals: conquest (with bribing) as long as our crusaders work against AI, maybe back to Demo and science when they have pikemen/musceteers
 
This GOTM no time to write in a notepad all,busy with Heroes 3 online...
Is 1904 AD,fundi,just french 10 cities,supreme and excelent,Besancon isolated for small trades with hides,beads,etc and techs stolen,I'm in the french island trying to avoid spies actions destroying french cathedrals,temples,etc to keep them busy and monitoring all french cities productions.Can't avoid a spy action in ex-english cities Manchester and Cunaxa English,that's it...I have tanks,fighters,research is advanced flight,but maybe I will force attacks with tanks against city wall to not wasting time,just in 2 cities alpine troops garrisons,I hope no more tanks lost...
Few turns to finish the game,I will think if is profitable to play more turns extra for Manhattan Project,Cure,expansion and making a 'nice' map,roads,farms,etc.
 
So, the end is in sight. My Fundy-government turned into a power-fundamentalism, easily getting 1-turn-advances by trade and 10% science. Could have put those 10% into taxes as well and hire a scientist, but no city could spare a scientist and I had more than enough gold since the last 3 AI-civs (China, Aztecs, French) were in democracy and therefore unbribeable.
So far there have been 3 giant stacks of barb uprising:
1st in the northern Rocky Mountains that was eventually easily fought off (mentioned before)
2nd in the southern Rockys, still going on, probably not a big threat, I know what to do
3rd in France when I was already about to conquer them. Somehow I would like to eliminate them before finishing the game. They emerge at a coastal tile, so a battleship could take care of them, but it is also mountain...
 
This was a long but enjoyable game. I had limited time, in short intervals, so I often had to play a few turns and wait until the next day to continue, especially at the end. With the modified world map and naming cities after my best guess of their real world locations, remembering the game was made easier.

Initial assessment: Early Conquest will be difficult. Far-flung AI, and restarts on. I will play a large Civ game - either Early landing or Blue Star.
Chicago will be SSC – make feeder cities around it for early game wonders
Unlikely to beat the AI to Colossus, Pyramids, and HG. I will be lucky to get one.
True Happiness needs to wait for Michelangelo.
Tech path is obscure. I guess Fast Monarchy, but Trade and early Republic might be better. I just don’t play those as well?
I will research HB first in the spirit of the scenario.
How about trying to conquer Barb cities?
How about get French, Aztecs, or English? They supposedly have tech.
LBH is in a stupid area – making it good will take many settler turns.
The northern Illinois area needs irrigation.
Trade with Chicago should be lucrative.
Very important to establish an early presence on both coasts for future trade
West coast is empty – Seattle should be enough.

OK, here goes.


4000 Build Chicago. Warrior goes out to explore a little. Set for max science. Adjust game on my screen.
3950 Research HB as in the spirit of the game.
3850* find a wheat square for 2nd city.
3750 HB => Alph (2/33)
3700 PRB warriors in LBH for future horse.
3650* RB warriors in Chicago. Beakers for Alph now 30.

3500 LBH settler back home. Switch Chicago worker to gold. Alph (22/30 – work gold 1 turn for extra bounce.)
3450* (28/30) back to fish.
3400 Alph => CB. Horse produced. Moves west towards coast. CB (2/48. Must work gold)
3300 Uh-oh – Cheyenne founded with horse exposed outside. Looks like curtains.
3250* Hey, no attack! I haven’t seen any barbs except warriors and horse, so what if we attack? Fortune favors the brave they say…
Wow!!! Horse kills ‘settler’, gets 200g, and becomes a vet! Decision time: buy settlers now or keep researching a few turns? Or maybe save $ and see if I can’t build a fast library in Chicago. PRB for sure.
I’m buying the settler in LBH because science doesn’t change. (20/48)
3200 LBH builds Settlers. Cheyenne empty but size 1, so sidestep it and see if it grows. OK, rb settlers in Chicago.
3150 Great Falls founded at 60/20, working river for science. And hoping for future road bonus as a station city. Chicago settler makes it to the river.
3100 horse moves to mountain, finds Russians who demand 50g. WAR. Dubuque founded on diagonal axis from Chicago. 7b/turn; CB 35/48
3050* Russians immolate on vet horse on mountain. Hey, CB! Not expected. AI activity mud have changed the beaker requirement. Res CoL (2/60). Cheyenne still size 1.
3000 Cheyenne finally size 2. We capture Cheyenne. There is an irrigated roaded fur square – yummy. Lets head north to the illuminated square.

Status at 3000BC: 5 cities, 3 techs res CoL (9/60) 2 warrior 1 horse.

2950 Horse finds river. Prb 1st line in LBH
2900 prb 2nd line in pbh.
2850* Crow spotted. Lets try the same tactic, this time with a vet horse. Horse in Great Falls
2800 This time the horse barely survives. Another 200g! Crow captured. It looks like a production factory with peat if I can defend it. Now I really do have to save 145g for a library.
2750 Wow, Crow has Furs and Pheasant too! Thanks Inkerman!
2700 CoL =>Wri (4/66)! Chicago may need a warrior at size 2
2650* working gold in Chicago again as it gets to size 2.
2450* Des Moines founded.
2400 Wri => Mon (0/84). Chicago builds Library, Horse finds an irrigated square.
2350 Arapaho found. Science now 14/turn. Monarchy 14/84. For 2050 I only need 60 more, so I can free up some the river worker in Great falls for growth.
2300 Hmm, Arapaho had a legion not a settler, and so no gold. Maybe I will leave it.
2100 French start Pyramids. I probably won’t get that one.
2050* Monarchy => BW (0/104) Gov: Monarchy


Status at 2000BC: 7C, Monarchy. Res BW (25/104) beakers– 24/turn
 
Status at 2000BC: 7C, Monarchy. Res BW (25/104) beakers:24/turn
Goals: get to Trade ASAP. Keep workers on arrow bonuses. Send a Dip and a Horse to French and English. With their capitals far, bribery should be cheap. Send a Horse to revealed squares in the south.

1950 Navajo found. Great Falls builds settler
1900 Navajo settler killed, 200g..
1850* Navajo captured. Settlers in LBH, Crow, Cheyenne,.
1800 BW => Curr. (xx/12x). Dip in Chicago for French Settler in Dubuque. Bemidji founded.
1700 settler in Navajo. Minneapolis
1600 Curr => Trade (3/150)
1550 Tacoma (11) founded at mouth of "Snake" on coast.
1500 Apache settler killed. RB settler in Navajo. Otherwise conserve $ for trade vans
1450* find English: WAR. Apache (12)
1350 French: WAR.
1300 Trade => Lit (30/154) Mason City (13)

Status at 1300: 13C, 9 techs res Lit. 4 Settlers, 18 Warrior, 3 horse 1 dip. 30 beakers/turn.
 
This is still my slow area. Any suggestions for speedier game advancement would be appreciated. I got into a little bit of a Wonder Race and couldn't keep ICS growth in the 600bc area.

Turn science down to 15 beakers/turn. We will get exchanges from French and English once they cool down. We have two 4-city van builder clusters in home area. Prime goal is MC, but bribing a French city is useful too. I probably will need GW for dealing with Barbs and AI.
1300 rushbuy for vans. Change workers for happiness. English: get Map Making, Masonry, and Pottery plus exchange maps.
1250* more rb. Horse sets off for Aztecs.
1200 Aztecs begin Pyr. English and French: both WAR
1150 more prb
1100 Russians begin HG
1000 English: WAR. French: give MM for peace.

Status at 1000BC: 13C, 5 Sett
23 Warriors, 1 Phalanx, 3 horse, 1 dip,
2 vans 8 in prod
12 Techs res Literacy (210 beakers for advance). 31g, 12 science per turn at 30% science
Dip is near Montreal waiting for funds and War.

950 Los Angeles founded. French: get Construction, map
925* Aztec: Myst, Math, maps, 300g. Chicago builds Gardens. French: WAR – how convenient – bribe Montreal for 134g. and get a settler too.
875 Ottawa
850 Horse withdraws from Aztecs. English: 200g buy temple in Chicago
825* Lit=> poly. I need science now.

775 Paris builds Pyramids. AI is working on Wall and Colossus. I’d better hurry! French: WAR. Rush van in Chicago for delivery to Moscow.
750 Duluth
725* Chicago builds Colossus. Aztecs change to Copernicus. Hmm – I need to build Cope’s fast. Trade with Aztecs for Astro
700 Milwaukee. The Core area around Chicago is almost done.
650 Poly => Phil Engl 25g. Azt 50g. Fr WAR. Houston founded. Lots of unhappiness in the core. Japanese take LA. At least it solves some unhappiness…

625* Azt, Engl 25g each
600 Azt 25g. Engl WC
575 deliver vans for Copes.
550 Copernicus in Chicago Azt, Engl 25g
525* Azt decline contact. Engl: WAR. Fr: WAR
500 Azt develop Seaf.. English: cease fire for 50g.

Status 500BC: 20C, 4 Sett, 7 vans (9 in prod)
HG, Colossus, Copernicus,
33 Warriors,4 Phalanx,4 Horse, 1 Trireme (3 in prod)
19 techs res Phil (546 beakers)
Taxes 70

475 French land and destroy Houston. Should have put a phalanx in.
450 Engl: WAR. Azt: Seafaring.
425*Chinese nearly complete Wall. Japanese: give CB for peace.. Azt WAR. Fr: Peace.
400 Bemidji builds Wall. Chinese change to LH. They will get it. Phil, Mono => Rep. Crow Hides to Moscow (d, 120). Cherokee settler killed 200g.
375 Major barbs near English. Chinese build LH. Cherokee is still fortified – vet horse withdraws to mountain

325* MPE Aztecs: 50g for peace. Russians: peace, get Wheel, maps..
300 Chicago Wine to Kiev (d, 433)
275 Rep => Engineering

250 With MC in 2 turns, time for a Revolution.
225* gov Monarchy: Azt 50g,Eng IW, 25g. bribe LA back. gov: Republic
Vans delivered for MC Kill horse in Cherokee.

Status at 225BC: 21 Cities, 6 Settlers,
12 Warriors, 7 Phalanx, 4 Horse, 3 boats, 5 vans.
25 Techs res Engineering
HG, MPE, Wall, Cope’s, Colossus.
 
"this is still my slow area" "5 wonders and the most cities at 1AD"

Btw: how do you manage a republic before Mikes? Did you have temples everywhere?
 
Top Bottom