So, who are the new "runaways" in G&K?

Siam, France, Songhai, Persia, Russia and the Iroquois are always runaways still. As for new civs, Austria and the Huns have a habit of getting huge. Byzantium and Carthage never get past 3 or 4 cities before being obliterated.

I've found Arabia and Rome to be runaways in my games. I've also seen the Ottomans go on quite the conquering spree (Although that was bc they invaded a boxed-in Arabia who settled new cities during the middle of a WAR).

Austria has been weird for me... they went 1-city twice, 2 cities once and then went runaway conquering another time. I also didn't see them marry a CS in 4 games I've played against them. I also somehow was their nearest neighbor in each game and never got attacked, no matter how ridiculous their attacks on others got.

I haven't seen Austria or the Huns runaway yet. Austria has a strong UA for it, but I've only seen the AI get stomped (by France and the Mongols in respective games). I haven't seen the Huns even conquer a damn thing or get bigger than 2 cities. I don't think the AI can use the Ram appropriately.

Hiawatha has been a runaway in my G&K games, as well as Germany. I've also seen the Ottomans, Arabia, and India do well too.

Everyone seems able to run away if they get the right conditions.

I've seen one game with a runaway Denmark, but it's rare for a war civ to run away, but that doesn't mean they wont do it, if the map is just right for them.

Washington STILL runs away every time I see him, because he REXes like mad and IIRC he has a really high "DoW on your nearest neighbors" value, which he can always pull off because he has the industrial/technological base for it. And then of course once he's done, there's someone else who's too close to him so it's back to step 2, rinse repeat. He's never actually been in a position where he made me wonder whether or nto I'd win, but granted, I've only seen him twice post-G&K.

The one experience everyone but me seems to have is Rome running away. I've always seen one of two scenarios: they don't expand, then declare war on someone who will easily obliterate them, or they get huge, overexpand, get aggressive, and then completely fail to follow through and collapse. (Appropriate, I suppose.) They usually sit in the bottom half of the scoreboard, and then fall further and further behind as the game progresses.

Siam and Russia have been the runaways in my recent games... Attila is very hit or miss, I've seen him in 2nd place and I've seen him in last place.

Usually the AI that has a corner start with enough room to expand and only one neighbour.

I've had Austria use their City-State buying. She even bought one CS out from under me (I guess she bought ally status then bought the CS). Only one game out of 2-3 with her in it have I seen her do it, and it was latish game. I feel like the AI often plows it's $$ back into buying units/buildings early on and maybe doesn't prioritize using Austria's UA enough, at least until late in the game.

Iroquois, America, and Germany always seem to ReX out and are typically aggressive.

Miravlix said:

Everyone seems able to run away if they get the right conditions.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think it has a lot more to do with the right setup and the outcome of early conflicts than it does a civilization's attributes.

In all the G&K games I've played so far, Attila always get his ass kicked early and ends up being the poor beggar with two or three cities.

All Civs can runaway given the right conditions. But the most consistent strong performers are Korea Siam & Greece. There's definately more that I'm forgetting but these 3 civs, when I see them in mygames, usually mean trouble.

Siam and Greece also have the ability to stay competitive for the entire game solely from their CS bonuses. so just because they are middling when you meet them doesn't mean they can;t just ahead or even win Diplo as a middling civ if you don't pay attention to that VC with them around.

Korea, well, they are scary techers. Sejong screwed up my culture game on Netherlands recently. It was a beautiful game too. I made some mistakes, but he just steamrolled everyone around him and teched like a monster. I failed to rope in the strong warmongers buffering him and myself against them for the crucial segment when he started pulling ahead. And those two civs had been at war for most of the game too.

As an aside, once you see an AI build hubble and they have 2/6 or 3/6 SS parts complete, it's very likely you are going to lose to a SS win. Hubble is an insane wonder for spaceship because it is a slingshot and not just a flat science bonus, with the benefits of SS part building speed and a free factory, it is almost too good.

It's weird based on the UA, but it seems like every time Ethiopia is in a game against me they end up being one of the late-game powers.

Germany's greatest failing is that he always seems to DoW me right around the shift from Medieval to Industrial, and it never works out well for him.

Funny... I've played as Korea once and against them twice... I fully exploited their UA to outtech everyone by 2 1/2 eras, but the AI Korea I've seen never built more than 2 cities and got outteched by Bismarck and Napoleon both times (Plus me, but that was a given).

William and the dutch were runaways in my latest prince standard small islands game. He had twice as many cities as me, and I was a wide empire. He was 1st in everything in demographics and I'm no slouch mind you. He had 15 city state allies that I couldnt touch as I was always 120+ influence behind him and he held 5 of 10 capitals. I managed to pull out a utopia victory on turn 479 with a 15 city empire somehow abnd barely beat him, although he had nuked me 5 times, and had an invasion force beached and ready to take my capital within 5 turns. was way too close.

on prince, mind you, prince.

I was Carthage, and shared the continent with my neighbors Ethiopia and Austria, as well as India, Egypt and Spain. It was a very weird game. Austria kind of piddled about for the first few centuries, but Spain, Egypt and India hardly expanded at all. I think Egypt got only 2 cities in. Eventually Egypt and India got partitioned by Spain, Ethiopia and Austria, and Austria eventually started expanding like mad, marrying city states, until they were the largest empire behind Songhai. Spain gobbled up Egypt and grew massive as well, while I destroyed Ethiopia.

Austria eventually declared war on Ethiopia too and took two or three of their cities. So then it was just me, Spain and Austria, while Persia wiped out the Netherlands and the Inca on the other continent. Denmark had unfortunate placement, and never got past 3-4 cities. Eventually the Songhai eats up Persia, leaving the Inca and Denmark with two cities, before finishing them off. Then it was me, Austria, Spain and the Songhai, with Austria being the largest. They pretty much married every city state that hadn't been conquered. Eventually Austria destroys smaller Spain, and I invade Austria. Then I nuked the Songhai to oblivion and conquered the other continent.

It was weird how Austria and the Songhai got so big, and in the next game, the Songhai barely got 5 cities before being devoured by Babylon. Oh well.

Well in my second last game there I decided to face all the new civs including spain. I was Byzantium I looked around my continent a bit Found the following civs in this order Maya,Netherlands,Ethiopia on my continent after like 5000 years being cooped up with them I thought I would go find friendlier people ( Netherlands were actually really friendly Maya and ethiopia weren't). So I sail across the oceans find a continent uninhabited build to cities on what looks like a penninsula. Soon after I find the huns they were very friendly so I some up some good positive diplo like spreading religion and so on. I move a bit more a I find Spain they weren't friendly but friendlier than maya and ethiopia. I find some hun territory that had the city of vienna I was not happy my new friend conquered the whole of Austria so I slowly Purchase units in my new colony in nicomedia and trebizond meanwhile I kept exploring I find Spain is Huge about the size of my empire in the later game. But anyway I was walking outside the border of spain when I find a ruined city so I was like wow amazing ai do raze I figured it was attila at the time. Two more turns of exploring an Austrian pikeman comes out from behind the mountain. I was overjoyed Austria saved a unit all this time she's living with pikeman. So I decide I produce a grand army to liberate vienna. Right at that moment Isabella comes hopping along saying in her sing-song voice shall we declare war on attila I pressed in ten turns we shall declare war I built up an army met swedan in the meantime went exploring the coasts and oceans. when ten turns was up i wasn't ready but i declared war kept building up armys spain conquers vienna I tried giving everyting I had to her she would not me have the city so I made peace with attila and straightaway denouced and declared war on spain. Struggling to get to vienna due to a wack load of jungle I had barely liberated vienna went to the trading menu with austria gave her only city and capitol for free back made peace with spain asap due a exetremely large army which could've conquered the whole continent I gave vienna the rifleman that saved her I say rifleman cause that was the last unit left. I focus my attention back to the continent I started on and I finally get sick of the maya and declare war on them and quickly killing anyone who opposed me captureing palenque and chichen itza. Cutting there empire in two all ther cities were along two tiles in from the coast so in a line. So a I settle down for a good 250 years out of the life of me I could not find carthage finally I find the city but ethiopia has it! In those 250 years of peace there was a lot of bloodshed bewteen my best friend the netherlands and my enemy ethiopia ethipia tryed conquering netherlands so many times. I declared war on ethiopia when they declared war on the dutch again liberated carthage and utrect from ethiopia and the cities to there rightful owners and also reliberating vienna which was conquered by spain again this wiping out everything that was austrian units and vienna alike. (Then I got sick of the maya again and conquered all the enemy cities to the east which was about 5 cities I forgot this was in the in 250 years of peace). And I had some ally's after all that time withs the netherlands austria swedan celts carthage and ton load of city-states and got a diplo victory. Spain and I each had a 1/3 of the world's land mass.So warmongers of the new civs Huns Spain( P.S I had spain and inca as dlc) and ethiopia. As for other civs as warmongers the first that come to mind are Songhai Russia Denmark and sometimes not all the time but sometimes are japan and mongolia and arabia. P.S all this was on warlord difficulty

Spain is hit and miss. If they get a wonder, they became runaway quite quickly. France is always big in my games, Napoleon loves expanding quickly.

Ethiopia, given its own continent, is a monster to deal with.

I've had a run away Atilla once, it didn't last as he hit up against another civ, but he sure build towns like crazy.

Ethiopia is a huge hit or miss for me. Granted I've only played 2 or 3 GaK games so far... and Ethiopia was big in one of them.

America, Russia, Siam, and Germany have been big in all of mine. Austria has always been small, but next to Germany in two of them so far, so maybe the warring has something to do with it. Had an India that conquered an entire continent (2-continent map) though. Always made me feel weird when I saw Gandhi still looking all peaceful in the diplomacy screen. "Oh I won't hurt you. I've only conquered the other half of the people in this game. Peace and Love my friend."

I don't see why the Ethiopian AI would ever be programmed to even consider becoming a runaway... unless puppets don't count towards the city count for the sake of the UA or something.