OCC Space Race Emperor

I once played an OCC space race game at Monarch, and it's time for an emperor game. I won it at emperor at my first attempt but abstained the second game as I missed Copernicus. This is the third time and I'm still playing.

The key of this kind of games is the balance of the AI. If there is one runaway AI we'll be screwed. Another is to control the tech pace - not too fast (of course we need to keep up), and not too slow (otherwise it's likely a 20K win).

The map is standard 80% archipelago. I roll the start until I get start on a river as commerce is extremely important, and we want our trait to benefit us. I choose Netherlands this time as the civ. Seafaring is undoubtedly the best trait in this map, and good for commerce. Scientific is another good one but Byzantines is just too much played.

This is the start:

The strategy for the Ancient Ages is:
- Get Colossus (commerce), MoM (happiness), Great Lightouse (AI isolation) and possibly Great Library (gold). In the Monarch game I avoided Great Library as it has too much culture, but in emperor I think it's good to have.
- Do the Writing -> CoL -> Philosophy -> Republic slingshot. In an archipelago map this is highly doable.

As of tech trading, we'll do so carefully to keep balance among the AIs. Since we'll be the tech lead in ancient ages we can always wait if the tech for trade isn't crucial to have yet.

4000BC: We found our city on the spot and worker goes north revealing a wheat. We rename the city "The One". It starts a curragh.

Min research on Writing, of course.

3500BC: after second curragh we start granary. Culture expansion reveals another wheat which we cannot get. We meet Zulu who shares the same island with us and trade Alphabet for Warrior Code and 10g.

3100BC: We meet Portagual who has Ceremonial Burial and Bronze Working. We buy Bronze Working with Warrior Code+1gpt+95g. BW+5g gives us Ceremonial Burial from Zulu.

2950BC: We meet Iros on the same island with Portugal. We are up 2 techs.

2750BC: we start on Colossus.

2430BC: Iro gets Wheel, so we get it by Warrior Code + CB.

2270BC: We meet Spain and see another red border. She is up Iron Working but lacks Pottery and Wheel.

2230BC: Red is Babylon and tech is the same. Wheel gives us Iron Working plus 45g from Spain. We do have iron inside our border! Also there are horses to our east.

2030BC: We complete Colossus, start on temple.

1950BC: Portugal is researching IW so I sell for 98g.

1870BC: Spain and babylon get Masonry. We get it by Pottery.

1750BC: Writing -> CoL in 18 turns at 90%.

1725BC: We meet Hitties who has HBR but lacks a bunch of techs. We are not in a hurry to speed up the tech pace so no trade.

1625BC: Portugal demands Masonry, I say no and he backs off.

I establish embassy with Portugal and it has hroses but not iron, size-1, building a spearman, has dyes. It only knows Iros.

1450BC: CoL in 6 turns so I start pyramids as prebuild for MoM. Set to low shields high commerce with 10spt.

1300BC: Code of Laws in and Philosophy in 9 turns.

IBT Spain demands CoL and I say no, she also backs down. Come on, give me some war happiness!

1275BC: do some MM to get Philosophy still in 9 turns but with 12spt.

1250BC: We meet Persia in a lone island, who has HBR but lacks Alphabet. I do not trade.

1175BC: We get Horseback Riding+5g for CB from Hitties. Masonry to Iros for Mysticism.

1150BC: Babylon demands HBR and I show him the finger and we finally get war happiness.

1075BC: Zulu has Map Making. This is very good, since it lacks a lot of techs. We do not trade yet, but will soon to start Great Lighthouse.

IBT We get Philosophy and Republic.

Cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

1050BC: We switch to MoM due next turn, perfect timing. We'll revolt after that. I start min on Literature.

925BC: We become a Republic. Babylon gets Map Making too, but it's very far away so we are happy to stay at war. We get Map Making + 10g plus a worker from Zulu by Masonry + Iron Working. Start Great Lighthouse in 17 turns.

900BC: Hitties demand Mysticism and I say no, so we're at war. Lux to zero.

By the way this is "The One".



And this is the world map. You can see a long channel in the ocean which is my curragh surviving 7-8 turns on it. Gotta love Seafaring!



875BC: Zulu demands HBR, sure. This one we have to cave.

710BC: Babylon completes Pyramids.

590BC: We complete Great Lighthouse. Now AI is only building Oracle.

550BC: Iros demand HBR and I give to it.

510BC: Portugal declares on Iros.

IBT Persia demands CoL and no. So more war happiness.

I establish embassy with Zulu and Spain. Spain will complete Oracle in 4 turns and hopefully nobody gets another wonder tech so the cascade will end.

430BC: Spain gets Math too, so I get Mathematics+17g from Zulu by Mysticism.

410BC: Spain completes Oracle but starts Zeus. This ends all cascade. I could keep min on Lit for another 21 turns but it's good to have Great Library complete faster, so I raise sci to 100% to get it in 4 turns. I then start prebuild on courthouse.

390BC: Actually we can buy ivory from Spain and thus we could build Zeus. But it adds to the culture and we don't need so many units.

330BC: Literature in and we shut off research. Great Library is in 16 turns.

250BC: Iros and Portugal make peace.

30BC: Zulu/Portugal have Construction+Poly. I sell Philosophy to Zulu for 309g (full price). We'll get the techs via Great Library anyway.

IBT Great Library is completed. Spain completes Zeus.

10BC: I make peace with Persia by Philosophy and get 118g in return.

IBT We get Construction and Polytheism. One more to go for Middle Ages.

30AD: Zulu demands Lit and I give to it.

50AD: Portugal declares on Iros again.

230AD: Persia demands Construction, sorry no.

300AD: Portugal and Iros make peace again.

320AD: Zulu has Monarchy and it's in anarchy. Call me foolish, I've built 13 swordmen, so I declare. We need to raze some towns around us and get some free workers.

Here is our stack:



330AD: Really bad RNG. We lose 5 swordmen to kill two impi, and raze Hlobane. But it's a size-8 city..

IBT we lose a spear and a swordman.

340AD: lose two swordmen trying to kill.

IBT two swordmen are killed by 1hp. Bad RNG just keeps coming. We get Monarchy.

380AD: We enter Middle Ages. Babylon has Engineering and Persia has Feudalism, both at war with us.

390AD: we are down to 2 swordmen and Zulu agrees to talk, so I make peace asap and get 15g. Workers get to rework two pillaged tiles.

I had hoped to raze Ngome for the horses, but failed. Tugela must be on saltpeter too as Zulu is insulted to give it for peace while some other town is "probably".

I should have prepared better, but heck, we got some free workers and razed a big city. Those impi's are really annoying. By the way we probably have triggered Zulu's GA.

430AD: Spain demands Lit and I say no. She is too far away to worry about. But she backs off.

440AD: Zulu completes Great Wall. This would make future war more difficult.

450AD: Babylon completes ToA. Portugal completes Hanging Gardens.

IBT Iro demands Philosophy and I decline. Nothing happens.

540AD: We finally get Feudalism. Upgrade our swordmen to MDI and start building Swiss Mercenary.

640AD: some Zulu units enter our territory. We buy its horses for 3gpt.

650DA:



Zulu declares on us. Our SM defends off 8 attacks and we enter our GA.

680AD: At Tugela we kill two impi and one MDI and raze the town.

710AD: Babylon starts Leo's.

730AD: Zulu agrees to talk, and I make peace and take the newly founded Ulobane plus 15g+9gpt. Zulu has Monotheism.

This is our territory after AI pillaging. I underestimated Zulu and pretty much wasted our GA as we had no wonders to build.

780AD: Zulu starts Knights Templar.

790AD: We get Monotheism and Engineering. I start Sun Tzu's.

830AD: We get Invention.

850AD: Our GA ended. Almost completely wasted.

860AD: Iros declare on Portugal.

940AD: We get Chivalry.

970AD: We get Theology. Babylon completes Sun Tzu.

980AD: Leo is in 5 turns but I switch to Sistine, as I think it's more of a denail to the AI.

IBT Portugal and Iros make peace.

1010AD: Spain completes Leo. Babylon completes Knight Templar. Very good. All cascade would end before Coperninus. And Zulu gets nothing.

1040AD: We get Gunpowder. Sadly no saltpeter, but expected for an OCC. I disband our native worker.

1080AD: Zulu has Education.

1090AD: Babylon has Chemistry (but lacks Theology)!

1100AD: I buy horses from Zulu and start building knights.

1170AD: We get Education from GL. I start university. Max on Astronomy in 14 turns.

1240AD: University makes Astronomy 2 turns faster. I start prebuild on Colosseum. I make peace with Babylon, trade Education for Chemistry+33gpt+54g. It has Metallurgy.

1255AD: I sell Chemistry to Portugal for 99g+82gpt (full price).

IBT Zulu starts Copernicus. Oops, one turn earlier than us.

1265AD: Astronomy -> Printing Press in 9 turns.

1275AD: I renew horses deal with Zulu.

1285AD: Portugal declares on Persia.

1300AD: We get Printing Press and Babylon/Zulu have Banking/Metallurgy, so I get Metallurgy+67g+silks by Printing Press+Contact with Persia/Iroquiois from Babylon. Printing Press + a bunch of contacts + 659g get us Banking from Zulu. Contacts give us ivory+9gpt+10g from Spain. I make peace with Persia by Theology and get 32g.

With Copernicus in 6 turns I set research to Music Theory in 7 turns so we could use JS Bach as prebuild for Newton's University.

The world now know each other, and our great scientific journey has just started! Let's see how we survive among all the world powers by being the weakiest yet most advanced civ.

1325AD: Copernicus completed.

Have Portugal/Iros made any gains against each other??

It's now clear that Babylon and Zulu are the most powerful civ. Persia is also big but it has been in the dark for too long so it needs some catch up. Portugal and Iros are on the same island and Portugal is more advanced. Hitties are on their own island and too far behind in ancient ages. Oh by the way we are still at war with Hitties. It looks like we'll keep the war happiness until we finish the game.

This is what we want - power evenly distributed.

1335AD: We get Music Theory. Sell to Zulu for 51gpt+119g. To Babylon for 27gpt+66g.

We are currently 24spt with one turn into bank, so it would take 16 turns to complete Newton. I start Physics in 8 turns.

To avoid too much culture I sell temple.

IBT Babylon declares on Zulu. It's good that the most advanced two start fighting each other.

1340AD: Babylon gets Military Tradition.

1345AD: Zulu gets Physics.

1350AD: Persia demands Music Theory and I give to it.

1355AD: Big payment from Portugal ends this turn, so Metallurgy+2g to it for 61gpt.

1365AD: Iro demands Gunpowder and I give to it.

1370AD: Physics -> ToG in 8 turns.

1385AD: Zulu gets Military Tradition too. Physics+180g get us Military Tradition from Babylon, but we have no saltpeter.

1395AD: Democracy shows up. Good, we'll need Free Artistry.

1400AD: I get Democracy+30g from Persia by Metallurgy+Physics. Persia has caught up.

1410AD: We research Theory of Gravity and get Newton's University next turn.

The next wonder we need is Shakespear. I set research to Magnetism and then Free Artistry, and use JS Bach as prebuild for it.

1415AD: With Newton we can research Magnetism in 5 turns.

1435AD: We research Magnetism and enter Industrial Ages the first.

To answer the question of Iro/Portugal: they have been constantly declaring on each other throughout the game, but none seem to have gained anything from the other. They are both purple on the first world map and each have 4-5 cities.

Up to now the game has been going extremely well, despite a bit slower the tech pace. This is expected when you build Great Library and AIs are isolated from each other, but things will heat up soon. However, AI usually fall even behind in Industrial Ages as they tend to research the useless Nationalism branch (space race wise), plus the human player could always lead further by building ToE. I still have faith in emperor AI to speed up, however, so I do not worry too much and just keep doing our own job.

The real race will start in Modern Ages, which is the unique challenge in this game. AI could really outresearch us there when their population grows to the maxinum and land grows via conquests. Plus we actually need to get resources from them so we may even have to help them. So the game is still unknown.

There is saltpeter at Hittie land, so we might want to capture it. Hitties just entered Middle Ages.

Set to Steam in 10 turns. We still have 14 turns for Shakespear, so we can get Steam in 10 turns then FA in 5 turns.

1455AD: I sell ToG to Spain for ivory+68gpt+111g, to Portugal for dyes+24gpt+4g. AI seems to suddenly slowed down as for the past 10 turns nothing popped up.

IBT Babylon demands ToG and I say no. Since Zulu is at war with it we are safe.

1460AD: Renew peace with Zulu.

1465AD: Spain gets Economics. Zulu entered Industrial Ages too.

1490AD: Steam Power -> Free Artistry.

I cannot believe my eyes, but we do have coal! Unfortunately it's one tile off to be an ironworks city!



1505AD: Babylon completes JS Bach! This screws up our prebuild.

1510AD: We are one turn for Free Artistry but we have to switch to something else this turn. I make peace with Babylon and trade Magnetism for Economics+10g. He is the only civ that has this tech but isn't in Industrial Ages. Babylon draws Steam Power as free tech.

IBT We get Free Artistry and Shakespear wasting 10 shields. I then start researching Industralization. Also start building bank. Spain completes Smith's - phew, this is close, we almost lost all the shields if it built it one turn earlier.

Now again all cascade ended.

1515AD: I sell Free Artistry to Babylon for 85gpt+13g.

1525AD: Persia and Portugal make peace.

1530AD: Navigation shows up for 5 civs. I get Navigation+WM+furs from Persia by Magnetism. Persia gets Medicine as free tech.

1545AD: Spain declares on Babylon.

1550AD: Spain also gets Medicine.

1555AD: I sell our cathedral to slow down culture.

1560AD: Spain gets Nationalism.

1565AD: Industralization -> Electricity in 11 turns.

I sell Steam Power to Portugal for WM+38gpt+103g.

IBT Iros and Spain MA against Babylon.

1570AD: I sell Industralization to Persia for Medicine+WM+90g+72gpt.

I realize we lack some embassies so I create all of them:
Persia: size 7, 6 lux, all resources, 8spt building cathedral in 1 turn. Quite stupid. Poor garrison with 1 musketmen+2 spearmen.
Babylon: size 12, 4 lux, all resources, 25spt building frigate. 7 musketmen.
iroquios: size 12, with one clown, 2 lux, with only saltpeter. The following shows incredible stupidity of the AI:

1585AD: factory is completed. We have not much to build.

1600AD: Portugal and Spain MA vs Babylon. Spain seems to be losing. But the good thing is now we can buy saltpeter from Babylon. I sell Medicine to Babylon for saltpeter+wines+ivory+WM+9g+21gpt, and start producing cavs.

1610AD: Hitties join the dogpile against Babylon too. But it's suicide as it's close to Babs and really backward.

1615AD: I sell Industrialization to Babylon for WM+7g+103gpt.

1620AD: Portugal completes Magellan's.

1640AD: I get Nationalism from Portugal by Medicine+Industrialization+461g. Upgrade 8 SMs to rifles by 1200g.

IBT Zulu and Spain sign MPP.

1650AD: Scientific Method done and ToE in 6 turns. Replaceable Parts takes 10 turns, so we set to Corporation in 7 turns and delay ToE a bit.

1680AD: Hitties and Babylon make peace - this is good as we do not want Babylon to take it over.

1685AD: Portugal has a lot of gold, and we still have monopoly on Electricity, so I sell it for WM+264g+130gpt. With 100% science we are still making +213gpt, and our treasury has grown to over 18K.

IBT We get Corporation. ToE gives us Atomic Theory and Electronics.

We can build Hoover Dam in 16 turns. But we already maxed out in pop and will start changing irrigation to mines so it will be shorter. I debate with myself whether to build it or not, as it adds almost no benefit to us and adds 2cpt. This leads me to check when we'll get 20K. We are currently 9147 with 62cpt, so 20K culture win in 175 turns. Considering how expensive the modern age techs are, and the fact that it would be shortened after we get SETI and UN, I am really worried. I shouldn't have built Sistine which added 6cpt for us (and will double when close to 2000AD).

So definitely no Hoover. Also libraries and universities will double soon, so we need to sell them and rebuild.

Can we make it? We still have 6 Industrial techs (9 turns each) and 12 Modern techs (15 turns each) to go. This adds up to over 230 turns. We need AI to help. But I forgot one thing.

We start full on Refining as I hope AI would research RP for us.

I start converting irrigation to mines as we reached pop 20.

1700AD: Electricity to Babylon for wines+ivory+saltpeter+WM+2g+53gpt.

1705AD: We start Hydro Plant.

IBT Iro and Portugal sign MPP.

1710AD: I sell Nationalism to Iro for WM+50g+1gpt.

1715AD: Babylon payment expired and we could sell Scientific Method for over 100gpt, but I decide to let Babylon have the gold to speed up research, and especially since Scientific Method is such a low priority tech for the AI, I would rather not let AI have a chance to waste time on Atomic Theory. Please give me Replaceable Parts!

1730AD: Portugal has Facism. You just like that tech!

1735AD: Zulu and Babylon make peace.

1740AD: Refining -> Steel. We have no oil. More AI have Facism so I get Facism+furs+65g+13gpt from Persia by Corporation. I sell Corporation to Portugal for WM+77gpt+5g. I then sell or gift Facism to everyone, so they do not waste time on this tech.

1750AD: Persia completes Universal Suffrage.

1754AD: Steel->Combustion. Iro and Babylon sign peace.

1768AD: Babylon and Portugal make peace.

1782AD: sell library as it doubled culture and switch prebuild to it due next turn.

IBT Zulu/Portugal sign MPP. Iro and Spain sign MPP. Iro declares on Babylon. Portugal/Iro sign MPP. Combustion -> Flight. We'll have to research RP next if AI doesn't do so.

1786AD: Communism/Espionage show up among AI. I sell Refining to Persia for furs+Communism+Espionage+WM+80gpt+122g. Refining to Babylon for ivory+wines+13g. Persia has oil for sale.

AI are still busy fighting with all the MA and MPP going on. No one has done any good work for us. We've had to research all mandatory Industrial techs except Medicine which AI got by free.

While I am worrying about getting a culture win, this happens out of the blue:



Zulu sneak-attacked us again!

1788AD: It's cavs vs our riflemen. We do have a limited number of cavs (5), but they are irreplaceable as we lack saltpeter.

But on the bright side, this reminds me of one way to delay culture: mobolize! The other good news is that AI just gets RP, but not Zulu. So I get Replaceable Parts+horses+WM+140g+137gpt from Babylon by Steel. I then buy rubber from Babylon by 10gpt, and upgrade all our riflemen to infantry.

Now we are one-turn arti/infantry factory after mobolization. I start building arti.

I kill redlined cav in Zulu territory and Portugal declares on us due to the MPP!

IBT Iro demands Espionage and I give. Of course Zulu stands no chance against our infantry but our tile is pillaged.

I'll omit the details but it's just "our infantry barely holds but tiles are pillaged". And we lost most of our precious cavalry when trying to kill Zulu cavs!

1798AD: Portugal declares on Babylon.

1800AD: Zulu finally agrees to talk while we have been pillaged to death and really are on the edge.

I kill two more cavs and make peace by 60g, then remobolize.

IBT Flight -> Mass Production and Colossus is obsolete.

Yup, this is why Modern Ages are difficult. The loss of Colossus lowers our income by a factor of ~1/4, thus greatly slows down our research pace.

1810AD: AI know Scientific Method, so sell to Portugal for 600g+67gpt.

1812AD: Babylon destroyed Spain. This will speed up the tech pace a bit.

1814AD: Buy oil from Persia with 22gpt and start bombers. We remobolize also.

1828AD: I sell Combustion to Babylon for 116gpt+784g+horses+ivory+silks+sanitation+WM.

I sign peace with Hitties after thousands of years so we could demobolize and build commercial dock.

1830AD: Mass Production -> Motorized Transportation.

1832AD: sell Combustion to Portugal for 59gpt+110g.

1836AD: We declare on iros as we want to mobolize again.

1850AD: We get Motorized Transportation and enter Modern Ages! Computer is in 18 turns. Really expensive, huh?

1852AD: Portugal and Iro MA vs us. We lost some gpt.

1866AD: I make peace with Iros, giving Sci Meth and getting 91g+15gpt. We could then start prebuild for SETI.

IBT we also make peace with Portugal.

1872AD: Persia captures Hlobane from Zulu (who has no rubber thus only riflemen), but Zulu immediately captures it back.

1874AD: Persia demands Mass Production, and I decline so we are at war.

1878AD: I sell Babylon Mass Production for horses+WM+3310g+143gpt, to Portugal for 99gpt+219g.

1886AD: Computers -> Miniaturization in 22 turns, but hopefully will shorten to about 15 after SETI and Research Lab.

1890AD: SETI is completed and we start Research Lab. Miniaturization is now 15 turns.

1894AD: Babylon entered Modern Ages with Ecology.

By claiming all Spanish territory Babylon has become the number one power in the world, and it seems to be catching up very fast. We have advantage of less than one tech. The space race will be really brutal.

1896AD: Research Lab shortens another turn. I make peace with Persia by 80g, and buy Oil for 21gpt. I sell Atomic Theory to Zulu for furs+Ironclads+6gpt+370g+worker. I then upgrade 18 infantry.

I then declare on Hitties and remobolize.

1914AD: Babylon gets Rocketry. It only took 9 turns for it. We are on a really tight race.

1916AD: I safely steal Rocketry from Babylon. We still have almost 33K left.

1920AD: Miniaturization in. Portugal entered Modern Ages too. I sell Rocketry to Portugal for WM+115gpt+338g. It doesn't have aluminum. We buy it from Babylon for 19gpt. 100% on Space Flight in 15 turns.

1926AD: Babylon gets Computers. This is 6 turns! The reason of its fast research is that it is in Democracy. What if we get it into Facism? We have 10 turns of deal left so we need to do something after that.

But the troublemaker just wouldn't stop!

1936AD: Zulu declares on us! This is really stupid. Cavs against MIs. We lose two workers but get a leader, which is going to rush Apollo?



1938AD: Our tanks raze Hlobane. IBT Babylon declares on Persia. Electronics to Persia for furs+oil+WM+99gpt+247g. We get bombarded and our university is destroyed. Babs start Internet.

1940AD: We lose 4 tanks and a cavalry but raze Zunguin.

1944AD: Raze Ngome. Zulu still wouldn't talk.

1946AD: Zulu would talk. Sign peace for worker+56g.

1948AD: We renew deal with Babylon as I think we can just let it declare on us.

IBT Space Flight in and we switch Internet prebuild to Apollo.

1950AD: We need to rebuild University and Commercial Dock which are destroyed by bombers. Leader rushes university. I sell Motorized Transportation to Persia for WM+16gpt+370g and it gets Rocketry as free tech. I then safely steal Ecology from Babylon.

1952AD: Babylon gets Synthetic Fibers. This means Modern Armors.

1954AD: Babylon completes Internet. It will research even faster.

1955AD: We fail on stealing Babylon and it declares on us. Get rubber/aluminum from Persia.

I just noticed Babylon is in anarchy! [dance] Hope this will slow it down.

IBT Portugal and Babylon MA vs us.

1957AD: I MA with Zulu against Babylon with Computers. And Babylon is now in Facism.

I then mobolize again. We just need to constantly adjust culture and tech pace.

1959AD: Persia and Babylon make peace. Persia completes Hoover Dam.

1960AD: I sign Persia back in by 23gpt.

1963AD: Fission -> Nuclear Power. Suprisingly, we can still build UN during war time, so switch to it in 7 turns.

I sell Ecology to Persia for Oil+Furs+98gpt+540g.

1964AD: Now this is silly: Zulu declares on Persia.

1965AD: Bab gets Space Flight.

1968AD: Zulu signs in Iros against Babylon.

1969AD: I sell Ecology to Zulu for WM+75gpt+820g.

1970AD: We build UN.

1971AD: Babylon gets Satellites. Still not slow enough!

1973AD: Persia and Zulu sign peace. Babs have captured two Zulu cities on our homeland!

1975AD: Space Flight to Persia for Aluminum+rubber+WM+45gpt+805g.

IBT We build Intelligence Agency. It adds 1cpt but with mobolization we should be safe from culture win and we need to steal from Babylon while at war.

1976AD: We plant spy on Babylon. It has 89 MIs and 18 MAs.

1977AD: I sign peace with Hitties and remobolize.

Renew MA with Zulu against Babs and get 445g.

1978AD: fail to steal on Babylon but our agent is alive. Zulu captures one city back.

1979AD: Sink a Bab carrier and destroyer.

IBT Zulu and Bab make peace.

1980AD: Sign Zulu back in by 32gpt.

1983AD: Persia and Babylon make peace, for this turn!

I sign Persia back in by 540g.

1984AD: Bab starts Cure for Cancer and Longevity.

1988AD: Fail to steal on Babylon again.

IBT: Iro MA with Portugal against us. Zulu makes peace with Babylon but declares immediately due to MPP. We riot due to WW.

1989AD: I make peace with Portugal. I then sell Space Flight for WM+174gpt+760g. WW disappears - weird, we never fought Portugal.

1991AD: Persia has Fission, so buy Uranium with 18gpt. Start Nuclear Plant. Bab still hasn't got Fission.

IBT Laser->Superconductor.

1995AD: Forgot to remobolize after Nuclear Plant so do so. Sell Nuclear Power to Persia for rubber/aluminum/WM/159gpt/2520g.

1996AD: 10 bombers bomb us but our AA shot down half of them!

1997AD: And Babylon keeps wasting time on optional techs. It gets Recycling.

1998AD: we again failed on stealing Babylon!

2000AD: Zulu captures back all cities fallen to Babylon on our home land.

Things do not look so bad. Bab still hasn't gotten Fission and it keeps wasting time on optional techs. The only thing seems to be that we constantly fail to steal. But maybe it will eventually work out?

2004AD: But I then notice Babylon has 91609 culture! Oh my, please do not let me lose to 100K! I lost one of my similar games to it before! Bab gets Fission. Persia completes Mahattan.

2005AD: Bab has 92145 culture. So it's 536cpt. So it's culture win in 15 turns!

I finally steal Satellite from Bab. But we still have 2 turns for Superconductor and Robotics would take another 15 turns, so we are at best 2 turns short!

2006AD: So now we have a new emergency and we have to change strategy. I make peace with Babylon and exchange Laser for Synthetic Fibers. I hope it could research Robotics in 13 turns!

There is no much point in mobolization now so I let it be.

I also make peace with Iros.

2007AD: I sell Superconductor to Babylon for Recycling and Genetics and whatever gold it has, so it would focus on Robotics. We are still busy building the remaining parts. Even if Babylon gets the tech early, would it be enough for us to complete all the parts?

2008AD: Persia demands Satellite, sure!

2019AD: We have 3 turns for Rototics and Babylon has 99750 culture! Bab hasn't researched Robotics. We built 9 parts now waiting for the last one. Start prebuild on Mass Transit System.

2020AD: Bab has 100291 culture but not won yet. Maybe the game added culture after it checked it?

It now has Robotics! Would it work, who is going to win first? I buy Robotics with 1700g, and switch prebuild to the last part - SS Statis Chamber. But can you believe it, the prebuild isn't enough and it still requires 2 turns to complete!

Lost by one turn? WILL IT BE SO CRUEL TO ME?

2021AD: But we still haven't got defeat notification.

I am such an idiot - apparently Persia has more than half of Babylon's culture! But don't blame me, I lost one such game to AI 100K culture (guess to whom? Persia!) so I panic'ed too early.

2022AD:

This is an extremely fun game. It's not the first OCC space race game I've played, not even on emperor, but it shows just how various strategies ought to work to win it. As I mentioned before the major challenges come at late Industrial Ages and Modern Ages.

1. avoid our own 20K win - solved by mobolization
2. stop crazy AI research - dogpile and throw it into Facism
3. avoid AI culture win - speed up tech pace - although it turned out to be a false alarm in this game, our final strategy almost worked even if it was real.

The key is still AI balance so it requires some luck. In this game AIs are well-balanced. Well-balance doesn't mean all AIs have equal power, just that there are enough others to counter the strongest and no one is running away. We in fact also need weaker AI. For example, Hitties and Iros provide ways for us to mobolize as we could declare on them without worry at any time. However, the good thing is that those weaker civs are still alive until the end and not conquered by others. The only one eliminated is Spain, which made Babylon very dangerous at the end.

There are other variants of this kind of games. I played a few 2CC emperor space race games and thay were also great fun and you could really try different strategies.

I hope you enjoy reading the game.

Great game. I must have missed you building all the parts (except for the last one), because I was confused when i read "Will we lose in one turn?!?!?!"

Good story :tu

Short and sweet.