Game: Civ5 GOTM 34
Date submitted: 2012-05-12
Reference number: 26238
Your name: Halcyan2
Game status: Science Victory
Game date: 1818AD
Turns played: 279
Base score: 2484
Final score: 4516
[Game Summary]
LESSON #1: I have played the Iroquois before, but never experimented much with their UA. From what I was able to figure out:
In terms of movement, the forests function only as roads (even once you have the Railroad technology). In addition they do *not* get the bonus movement from Machinery, so you're stuck to 4 spaces for a typical 2 movement unit. I'm not completely sure about how they interact with rivers, but I believe (please confirm or discredit) that the UA allows you to effectively cross rivers (a la bridges) even before Engineering, though sometimes it felt like this was one way only (entering/leaving a river city connected to the forest differed). It also felt like they differ slightly in terms of movement when you enter a forest. If you start on a non-road and enter a tile with a road, you still pay the movement cost of the tile you enter. But with the Iroquois, you don't pay the movement cost - entering the forest essentially just costs the 0.5 movement points (someone please confirm).
In terms of trade routes, I was able to confirm that the forests do provide the necessary connection for the railroad connection bonus. I was having issues connecting trade routes for a city state quest though. At one point, the map showed a trade route (using the options) to Venice, yet the quest did not trigger as complete, so I wonder if the Iroquois UA has issues with "connect a city" quests.
Settled NE of start, on the hills/river.
Tech focus: Pottery/Calendar/Writing/Philosophy
SP focus: Liberty
Production focus: Scout,Scout, mix of Warrior/Monument/Archer, and then Stonehenge and GL (waited to Education to complete it).
I was pretty happy with my start. Ruins results included a map showing nothing too interesting to the west, but I got an upgrade for my warrior, an upgrade for my scout, and also Archery tech. My remaining scout then discovered France to the north of me.
Normally, I don't like early rush strategies (unless I'm doing Domination). This is especially true for Science/Diplomatic games where I need to sign lots of RA's. However:
1. France was very close, and connected to me by lots of forests
2. France already had a settler! This was really early (but probably due to their UA along with Liberty). And he was building in my direction with Orleans.
3. I got early ruins that gave me a military advantage (two advanced weapons and the Archery tech)
4. I had met no one else so I could potentially avoid the warmonger penalty (if a genocide occurs and no one is around to see it, did it really happen?
).
So I pulled back my troops (to head towards France *and* to avoid contact with other civs until I could kill France so I wouldn't get warmonger penalties). I built another Warrior, and then took out Orleans with: Archer + Spearman + Warrior + Scout (hey, everyone needs to do their fair share!).
I built my second city (Collective Rule) to the east, on the flat grasslands just NE of the gold resource, which is river/coast (personal preference since I don't like settling on top of resources). Around this time I met Elizabeth, coming from the east. The bad news, is that there would be a witness to the French massacre. But the good news, is I could borrow some gold from her to buy another Warrior. I also built a second Archer in the mean time.
Then took out France (it was a tough nut to crack) with 2 Archers + Spearman + 2 Warriors + Scout, though I needed to burn some promotions for instant healing. France never generated any defensive units, but those rampaging Barbarians were a big pain. For some reason they weren't interested in attacking Paris (maybe it was too early so they were scripted not to) but they messed with my plans a bit (since wounded units from attacking Paris would be vulnerable to them).
Now that France was gone, I had to figure out what to do with the single witness to my heinous deed:
1. I still hadn't met any other civs
2. Liz had gone with Tradition so she probably had only one city
3. I had a general idea of where she was from (east)
4. I had a sizable military force aching to conquer and pillage
So it shouldn't be all that surprising that I decided to try to cover up my crime with a second elimination.
With a bit of effort, I found London. I ended up taking the northern Stockholm route and didn't discover until much later that there was a second, southern route along Vienna. Northeast of Stockholm, I saw the borders of a second Siam city, but fortunately I avoided in making contact with Siam initially.
Unfortunately, I made contact with Genghis and Siam before declaring. But I was committed so I laid siege to London. Also met Germany before wiping out Elizabeth.
MISTAKE #1 (?): In hindsight, I wonder if I should have left England alone. It would have been another trading partner for RA's. But taking out London did net me two Gold resources to trade.
After this, I decided to play nice (though I could have easily taken out Siam and maybe Germany). I made due with my 5 cities (Onondaga and Oksinya under my control, Orleans, Paris and London all puppeted). Eventually met Japan and Russia. Everyone but Siam eventually forgave me for my youthful, war mongering excesses but Siam held a grudge against me for the rest of the game (until a self-fulfilling prophecy led to their demise).
In terms of the Ancient Era, Japan had a good location with high production, so he managed to build the Colossus early on. I then built Stonehenge and pre-built the Great Library (didn't finish it until later to get Education for free, but I kept track of enemy cities to make sure they weren't building it). Japan then went on to get the Pyramids and the Great Lighthouse.
SURPRISE #1: I was surprised to see Japan so intent on Wonder production. Normally I don't see that happen much. Even reading other player's game reports, it doesn't seem Japan had too high of a Wonder personality value (one player even mentioned that the Pyramids were still available to build at the end of the game). In addition to the Colossus, Pyramids, and Great Lighthouse, Japan also got the Great Wall. But it was all good because I claimed all 4 of them shortly before I won the game.
During the Classical Era, I started working on the Oracle. I completed Liberty and chose an GE to hurry the Hanging Gardens and then completed the Oracle. Seeing Japan's propensity towards wonders, I was worried he might get the HG first which is why I used my GE for it. Turns out my suspicions were partly right. He was building a wonder, but it turned out to be the Great Wall, which was fine since I never needed the wall.
MISTAKES #2-#4: This game was a series of Research Agreement mistakes. First, I failed basic arithmetic and messed up my calculations of what turn a RA would trigger. I also entered the Medieval and (later) Industrial Ages by accident. Normally, I like to do as much research as possible before going on to the next age (get all the beginning techs to the next era down to "1 turn."). Between miscalculations, and forgetting to change techs at "1 turn," I entered the wrong age twice, which was annoying due to increased RA costs. Later on, I also did a minor mistake when trying to optimize my median (getting Astronomy instead of Physics).
I accidentally entered the Medieval Age a little earlier than expected. I had Theology down to 1 turn, but finished Civil Service before I had gotten anything else properly prepared. Ah well, that just meant I could finish the GL immediately for Education. I built HS in my capital, getting a GE to hurry the PT. I then followed with Chichen Itza, Angkor Wat, Himeji Castle, and Notre Dame in my capital and with Machu Picchu in Osininka. Yay! Got all the Medieval wonders.
I tried to do as much pre-researching as possible before entering the Renaissance, but timed it so I entered it right before getting my next social policy in order to open up Rationalism. Built the Forbidden Palace in Osininka, and the Sistine Chapel, Taj Mahal, Kremlin, Big Ben, Louvre, and Brandenburg in Onondaga. Yay! Got all the Renaissance wonders.
During the Renaissance, Siam made the mistake of declaring war on me. I guess he was overconfident because he had a few elephants. Besides those, he only had Pikemen and normal Archers to back them up. At the time, my forces were Mohawk Warriors and a mix of Crossbowmen and Archers, but I had the tech and the funds to quickly upgrade them to all Crossbowmen and Longswordsmen. I made quick work of his impotent attack, and then took all his cities. I suppose I could have kept him alive with one city and hope he wasn't mad enough that I could still RA him, but I thought red looked ugly on the world map and better on the tip of my sword.
MISTAKE #5 (?): Initially I made a minor mistake in not finishing Oxford University before taking the Siamese cities (I had completed all the other National Wonders by then including Hermitage and Ironworks). My initial logic was that I'd rather save Oxford for a bigger tech, even with the increased production cost due to number of cities (even if puppeted). But after wiping out Siam, I wished I had built Oxford first. However, this mistake was ameliorated since a later mistake meant I needed one more tech for Science Victory (Nanotech) so the fact I still had Oxford left worked out.
The remaining 4 civs didn't seem to mind Siam's demise. In fact, Genghis and Bismarck seemed eager to do some genociding of their own. Genghis started to put the beat down on Rio de Janeiro, until I asked him to stop. He then did the same to Kuala Lampur, until I asked him to stop. And then he did it to that blue Maritime civ all the way to the West (Sydney, I think). Unfortunately, Sydney had declared permanent war so I couldn't get Genghis to back off and he promptly took over Sydney. During this time, I had also tried to distract Genghis by bribing him to attack Japan and Russia, which he gladly did, but he still liked to pick on city states. Also, Bismarck attacked Genoa but I got him to stop.
LESSON #2: In order to try to forestall Genghis' attacks, I kept clicking "Pledge to Protect" on nearby civs. I did learn that you have to do this *every* turn, which is annoying. I also wonder how effective it really was, since Genghis attacked Sydney even though I had pledged to protect it that turn. Anyone know how the Pledge to Protect mechanism works?
LESSON #3: I was getting really annoyed at Mongolia and Germany for their city state aggression. In a normal game, I'd just wipe the floor with them, but I needed them for Research Agreements. In order to give the minor civs a fighting chance, I donated some units to their cause. Normally, I only donate units to get rid of stuff I don't want, but this was the first time I strategically used the feature to help keep the minor civs alive when I didn't want to declare war on their aggressors. Donated Lancers, Cavalry, later an Artillery and Infantry (which were way above the tech level of their aggressors).
Due to RA mistakes, I entered the Industrial Era earlier than I would have liked. Ah well. Built the Statue of Liberty and upgraded my units to Infantry.
At this point, I decided that if I was going to go on the offensive, I might as well do it now. Genghis was really starting to annoy me with his city state attacks (plus I wanted to liberate Sydney). Plus, he was consistently out of gold so he couldn't RA and I didn't feel like footing the entire cost of the RA on my own.
MISTAKE #6: While positioning my troops to attack Mongolia, I was trying to hurry through turns. Somewhere along, Bismarck came to me with a proposal but I was just to hurry things along through clicking, I accidentally agreed to something, but I don't even knew what it was. I was *guessing* it was a declare war (hopefully on Mongolia) after 10 turns. I waited 10 turns and actually delayed my attack on Mongolia because I was worried that already being at war meant that you would failure to declare war on the same guy. Nothing happened. I then declared war on Mongolia, and a few turns later Bismarck asked if I was ready to attack Japan(!?). I told him I had been boozing when he had propositioned me and don't recall agreeing to anything, so he got slightly miffed by my failure to attack as promised. I wish there was a way to keep track of things that you agreed to. Also, I hope someone who has more experience with joint attacks can explain in detail how the mechanism works and common mistakes.
Steamrolled Mongolia easily with Infantry (versus their Keshiks/Pikemen) and liberated Sydney. After taking several of their cities (including Karakorum), Genghis sued for peace offering generous terms. He gave me all of his cities but one (including Moscow which he had taken from Catherine). My victory was a foregone conclusion but I agreed since it saved me time, so I could then work on Japan since I had envied those 4 wonders (gotta catch 'em all) for quite some time.
People have mentioned that the AI uses a lopsided mechanisms for calculating military strength, resulting in unreasonable peace treaty terms. In this case, that seems to be the culprit behind Mongolia offering every city. However, if the other player is interested in annexing or puppeting (I chose to puppet everything), it can be a sinister strategy since it saddles your opponent with an immense amount of happiness. Back when I was at 5 cities, I was consistently at 40-50 happiness. With all the Siamese and Mongol cities, I was in the -10 and worse range (which I hate because of the production penalty). I made due by buying some stadiums in my two cities, building Eiffel Tower, and allocating a lot of specialists (Democracy). Technically, I could have just annexed some cities and bought Courthouses and happiness buildings, but I liked the principle of having only 2 real cities. Got my happiness back into the tolerable (though still negative) range, but I still had occasional issues because even with the 1/4 population growth, my puppeted cities gradually grew. I obliterated every farm in sight, but it was those Maritime allies which caused the issue (that's what happens when you ally with every minor civ).
Germany started annihilating several Russian cities and one Japan city. By this time, I had entered the Modern Era. I built the Eiffel Tower (which helped bring happiness under control) and Cristo Redeemer in my capital, and Sydney Opera House in Oksinka, then upgraded all my units to Mechanized Infantry.
MISTAKE #7: At this point, I was content with leaving Mongolia in the game with one city (I even RA'ed with him). I withdrew my forces and sent them all south towards Japan. Later on, Mongolia grew hostile towards me (after the peace treaty ended). More importantly, he rescinded Open Borders, which became a problem since I took a big happiness hit (loss of connected cities for Democracy). I then had to send troops back up to kill him, but I lost several turns being merciful. Also, I wish the trade route overlay would show when you have multiple and alternative trade routes so that you know if going to war with someone will close off all of your needed routes.
With Mechanized Infantry, taking out Japan (with his Samurai) was a cinch, even with his Great Wall. Since I realized I was going to eliminate Mongolia, I figured I might as well get rid of Oda too. During this time I also burned my 6 Great Scientists for Flight, Combustion, Radar, Rocketry, Computers, and Robotics. I finished the Apollo Program, the Pentagon, Sydney Opera House (for the Scientific Revolution to get Satellites and Particle Physics).
MISTAKE #8: I miscounted and realized I still needed Nanotech as well. But fortunately I still had Oxford left to build, which I used to get this.
After killing Genghis and Oda, I chilled out for a turn or two. But since I was rapidly building spaceship parts in my two cities (bought Spaceship Factories and Hydro Plants to speed up production), I figured I might as well attack Catherine. Plus, she was no longer as nice (now Guarded) after witnessing my bothering of Genghis and Oda. Bought some Tanks for backup help and took all but one of her cities before my Science Victory. By this point, my two cities were running virtually all specialists to deal with unhappiness.
DOMINATION OPTION: Germany and Russia were the only civs left, and Russia had one 3-pop city left (which I could take in 2-3 turns). Germany was the only other civ with a capital left. I had my Mechanized Infantry and Tanks versus his Cannons, Knights and Landsknecht so taking Berlin would have been easy.
DIPLOMACY OPTION: I was 4-5 turns away from researching Globalization, and I had a gestating GE (for the U.N.) ready in 7 turns. I had all 16 minor civs under my thumb.
CULTURAL OPTION: I was 3 SP's away from being able to build the Utopia Project. (Completed Liberty, Patronage, Rationalism, Freedom, and had 2/5 in Tradition).
279 turns isn't great. If I really wanted to optimize my science victory I could have:
- Focused on just one victory path (instead of keeping options on all 4)
- Far less warmongering. Keeping more people alive for RA's and spending less resources on conquering. But I really had fun conquering everyone and it makes for a much different end-game map compared to everyone else who has posted!
- Been more active with RA's. When possible, I did loan other civs GP for RA's but only if they had GP/turn. I spent a fortune on allying with all the minor civs. Technically, I could have just given the other major civs GP to RA but I didn't like the principle of handouts. (Even more so since if you give the GP to RA, they still require a bonus 100 GP when signing the RA if you are an era ahead. Talk about being ungrateful!).
- Far less wonder building. I spent an awful lot of hammers building unneeded wonders. But I love wonders, so it's just a style preference. This is particularly true with the later wonders. If I had passed on Cristo Redeemer, Sydney Opera House, and the Pentagon in order to build Apollo early, I could have easily cut down on 10+ turns. The timing of Apollo is really key.
- Annexed cities (to deal with unhappiness or to help in building spaceship parts). But I sort of like the poetic symbolism of just having 2 real cities.
Social Policies: All of Liberty. Tradition for Aristocracy (love me some wonders). Patronage for Aesthetics and Philanthropy. Open up Rationalism. Scholasticism. Secularism. All of Freedom (I had 4 settled GE's and 4 settled GA's). Finished up Rationalism. Finished up Patronage. Legalism for free Broadcast Towers.
Wonder Count: Built all except for 4 which I conquered (Colossus, Pyramids, Great Lighthouse, Great Wall) and the U.N. (4 turns from researching, 7 turns from GE).
Fun game!