COTM 07 Second (and Final) spoiler.

This is the Final Spoiler for COTM 07: Austria.

For this spoiler, you must have contact with all civilizations (or their remains), and have reached the modern age.

Alternatively, you still qualify if you have completed (and submitted) your games.

How did you progress your game from the middle-ages through to the end? Had you secured the home continent? Or were you living in an uneasy peace? Were you planning on world domination, or looking for a more peaceful solution? What strategies did you use towards your goal - what were your research and expansion plans?

I guess I'll have to play mine out and get it over with. I don't expect to make it out of the middle ages, as modern armor roles over Austria.

open

30ad Enter Middle ages by pointy stick research, courtesy of the Germans.

50ad ibt: Hamburg flipped to Germans - lost a single healing elite

70ad ibt: learned Monarchy, revolted with a 4 turn anarchy

about 250ad Spain Dow on us

310ad french Dow on us

340ad we issue DoW on Germany

350ad Second Leader appears

380ad Spain gives us 28g for peace, We capture Munich. Germany is History.

400ibt 3rd great leader appears

420ad My game crashed when I tried to access my advisors to see if I could trade anything at the beginning of the turn
I reloaded the autosave - lost 3 swordmen fighting one vet spear

490ad France has been eliminated.

540ad Russians DoW on us - I'm fighting multi-front wars at this point, but noone wants to talk peace

580 ibt:4th Great Leader appears

610ad ibt: Spain rop rapes us and dow on us

620 MA with rome vs Spain (will cut off Spain's supply line as they are coming through Roman Territory)

640ibt Inca demands 27g, give it to him. Spain razes Bischofshofen

680ad I have retaken the towns Spain had captured

750ad Captured Moscow with SunTzu's

760ad Captured Yakutsk and liberated 233g and 7 slaves
ibt: Moscow flipped, but has an army healing outside the city

770ad Captured Moscow and liberated 232g, killed a wounded longbow with an elite sword and my 5th GL appears

it's now 980ad and I apparently lost my notes from my last play session. I had a pretty good trading round, too.

Summary of the Lost Years:

Well I'm at war with Rome only now (instead of 4 of the 5 civs I knew). Lets see, I think I got 2 techs from peace with Russia. I paid a lot to get peace with Spain when they started sending conquistadors my way. I paid a little for peace with Inca. The Ottomans have been my good allies for many, many years.

I know the whole world and have a WM. I just bought Military Tradition. I'm down ToG, and Magnetism (and I think at least nationalism as I have seen some Ottoman rifles). I am a couple turns from building my first Hussars.

1040 used 1st Hussar, won and entered GA

1050ibt: Rome destroyed, Russia wants to renew PT, no.

1090 the ottomans rop raped us and DoW on us. they captured Neapolis

1100 Signed MA with Spain vs Ottomans

1110 6th GL appears

1160 Sign peace treaty with Russia. Get Magnetism and 56g

1220 Finally got the Ottomans's 3 horses colonies razed
ibt: one of their keshik's instead of staying in a weakened town, went and recaptured Antalya - It was weakly defended
And america DoW on us without any provocation

1320 captured Bursa with Leo's (next to last Otto city)

1325 ibt: Uskudar flipped back to Ottomans

1330 Recaptured Uskudar. Ottos wouldn't give any techs for peace, even with troops on the doorstep of their last city. So, I captured Iznick and liberated 1785g. Ottomans are history

1335 Spain is moving her troops into our territory without reason and without rop. I demand removal of her troops. Spain DoW on us

1340 got my 7th Great Leader

ibt: Inca demanded coal. Said no because I'm paying them 150 gpt for a tech (15 turns to go) and didn't think they would DoW on us, but they did

1345 MA with Aztecs and Maya vs Inca

1375 Got my 8th Great leader when I captred Madrid - sent back towards the core to make the Military academy (I haven't been able to invest the shields to hand build it)

1385 got my 9th Great Leader (I've never build heroic epic, either) I was going to rush the Pentagon, but accidentally built another army instead.
ibt: Santiago flipped

1390: Recaptured Santiago, Captured Vitoria and eliminated Spain

1430 America DoW on us and captured Santiago - worse they captured and disbanded 12 workers that were my railroading crews

1425 Recaptured Santiago with a single Hussar. Then used a single 3hussar army to clean up the rest of the American troops on our continent.

Made peace with Iroquois and then signed MA with Iroquois vs America.
ibt: Russia signed MA with America and dow on us

1445 we built ToE

1460 Russia is gone

1535 We built Hoovers

1565 we Dow on Inca

1575 Now I'm mad. One 3/4 Incan rifle killed 10 of my Hussars and I failed to take the town.

1615 Captured next to last Incan city

1620 Make peace with Inca,taking all their gold. DoW on Aztecs. (Americans have MMP with them) Redeclare war on Inca (I am only 60 tiles away from domination at this point, so I don't care about my rep.)

MA with Maya vs both Aztecs and Inca. MA with Iroquois vs America
ibt: Vilcas flipped back to Inca

1625 captured 2 more Aztec cities

1630 recaptured vilcas, Settle Maribor and Ljubljana. Captured the last 2 Aztec cities. Checked mapstat after capturing the Aztec cities and unless a lot of Incan cities flip, I'm over the limit

I had to reload my 1630 save after as I accidentally hit the wrong button when asked if I wanted to play more turns.

It took me almost 20 hours to play this game. It's also the longest solo game I've ever played. Also, I never had another Great Leader after hand building the Heroic epic .

Open

Recap of Ancient Times

The Middle Ages were entered in 70BC after trading for Construction in a peace deal with the now-OCC Germans. German soil had seen a lot of action, with troops invading from everyone on the continent, but I had been the only one to capture any cities.

And so the game moved on....

In 70AD, I completed Monarchy and revolted immediately, drawing an acceptable 5 turns of Anarchy. I'm already getting behind in tech (a Russian LB popping out of the fog confirms this!), but in 150BC a solution presents itself as Paris, emminently accessible without having to trudge through acres of French territory, completes the Great Library. I concentrated on building up my military, after becoming a Monarcy in 170AD.

I then started a series of wars. First up, Russia, capturing 3 cities before the Ottomans sneak attack me in the south and capture one of my cities. I hastily arranged peace, subsequently lost two of the three cities to flips, and didn't effectively deal with Russia for nearly a thousand years after that.

For about 150 years, I was at peace after driving back the Ottomans. Then the Romans finish off Germany (killing a gpt deal and my rep in the process ), and soon after declare on me. I sign in France (that little spat goes on way beyond the 20 turns the signed up for!).

The Romans regret their DoW, losing 4 cities including their capital. Meanwhile, I'm spouting leaders like crazy - I got 16 (that I've logged/remember) in this game, though I lost 4 or 5 armies, some of them full-health in attacks they really ought to have won.

After Roman peace, for which I get Gunpowder as part of the deal, I notice that the French don't have any Saltpeter! So it was that in 930AD, I declared on France, captured Paris two turns later, had it hold the inter-turn, and was catapulted into the Industrial Era, including Steam Power, in 960AD.

The age of the Hussar was beginning.

Across the sea, I have contacted the 5 meso-American civs. Iroquois and America are about level. The Inca have swallowed up the Maya, and are in the process of busting Aztec butt. They'd have the Pyramids, if it weren't for Rome(?!) having captured Tenochtitlan, where they were built. More on that lot later.

In 1210AD, I re-declare on France, and my Golden Age starts, wiping the French off the map in 1260AD. The turn after, I give a boot order to a Russian stack and the declare, signing in the Ottos soon afterwards. Pretty soon, due to a combination of MPPs and alliances, I'm also at war with Aztecs, Inca, America, Rome, Iroquois, and Spain - oh, everyone, then!

1380AD sees me completing my first Wonder, the Theroy of Evolution. I take Atomic Theory and Electronics, trading on them, and immediately start my Hoover Dam build.

The Romans become history in 1480AD, two turns before the Russians bite it. Just me, Ossie and Izzie, and I still don't like sharing.

With agressive placement of cities, I manage to snag all the Oil on my continent. The Ottomans don't have Saltpeter, either - and aren't buying any in, because I've seen no Sipahi, thank goodness!

I declare on the Ottomans in 1525, finishing them off in 1570. A turn earlier, I'd entered the Modern Era. I was going for Space - nobody really liked me, but I had a UN pre-build going to prevent the AI snagging that.

In 1595, my attempt at spying on Spain winds up in a war. The Inca have also declared on me, but I'm just mopping up their stacks as they land, and bombing their boats.

The United Nations is completed in 1650, and I don't take a vote, thank you.

Spain are destroyed in 1700, and I finally have the place to myself. Settlers come in to fill the gaps before American or Incan cities start popping up.

In 1740, I snatch the Internet. With the key Industrial and Modern Wonders built, I concentrate on pushing my research as fast as possible - but the Inca are so far ahead in tech, I'm wondering if it's a losing battle. A spying attempt only results in a declaration of war, and a loss of Luxes. I bat them off, still wondering what their spaceship progress is.

I get the final tech I need, Synthetic Fibres, in a trade with America in 1802. My ICBM pre-build isn't quite enough for completion that turn, so next will have to do.

I finally launched in 1804, and didn't note how many parts the Inca or America had (the Iroquois got swatted at some point by the Mighty Yellow Machine).

Firaxis score: 4762
Jason score: 5464
Time played: 34:50:37

Well, my first solo Emperor win, and it was one long hard slog. The Chinese game should be a breeze, non?

Neil.

After reaching the middle ages I continued my war against Rome. Next came Spain and then the Ottoman empire. These wars were fought mainly with medeval infantry and longbowmen.
Additionally I built some horsemen and later knights for the planned invasion of the other continent



To reach my goal of an early 100k victory, the temple of Artemis is crucial. It was built in Vienna in 190 BC and to reach the other continent safely, the great lighthouse was a necessity. It was built in Salzburg in 110 BC



Research goal was to get to Military tradition as soon as possible to build Hussars, get a GA and invade the other continent. We learned MT in 470 AD.



The invasion of the other continent started right away with Hussars. In the meantime our slow troops (longbowmen and MI) were directed towards Russia.



In 850 AD the war was basically over. The Iroquoise had 2 cities left. I later took the one on the island and left them alone for the rest of the game.
The Remaining troops helped to rush libraries in all my cities (I had slightly more than 200) and later cathedrals and collosseums.

This picture shows the development of Austria's culture. At the end it was alomost 1200 per turn.



This was one of the most enjoyable games for me. Thanks Ainwood

Very well played, your blitzkrieg start certainly helped out!

Neil.

@Ronald: I like your very informative spoilers. I will most probably score 100 K in late modern age at date much worse than yours (1800+). I understand that I failed in two ways

• I did not manage to build ToA and unfortunately it was built on the other continent
• I had the tech and power lead, but lacked naval tech early enough to reach another continent. My play then became undecisive between either going for one continent challenge cultural buildup and conquest and then buildup. I tried the mix of the two and it unfortunately ended up as stalled conquest and slowed buildup.

I built an embassy in America, and I saw all those boats from The Statue of Zeus. I guess they were to big to sail down the river. It kinda reminded me of the boat my uncle built in grandma's basement.

Current situation in 710BC is that I have fought one French war pruning the frogeaters down to 2 cities. I am moving my forces up to German territory. So far I have been going for swordsmen but I will soon switch to horsemen. The middle ages will be very hostile and also last longer than I would want ...

Research
I finish Republic in 330BC. I start revolt and pull 6 turns. I grant access to MA to Ottomans and Germany (Russia was already in MA). I get monotheism and monarchy from Ottomans but Russia who has monopoly will not trade Feudalism for monotheism, monarchy and republic. Not even if I propose an additional 600g. Well, well. I better start on Engineering then.

I made contact with the other continent in 430BC.

Discover Engineering 10AD. Trade with Spain to get Feudalism. Start research on Chivalry. Chivalry discovered in 300AD. We build Knights Templar in 350 and trigger Golden Age.

We discover Theology in 370AD and trade for Invention (and 26gpt) with Spain. We discover Education around 420AD and Astronomy in 470AD. I trade with Spanish for Gunpowder.

German War (750BC - 550BC)
Germans cannot resist. Only problem is that several cities are size one and I raze them instead of capturing. This war generates my first Leader. I rush the Forbidden Palace in 570BC on old German territory. I guess Paris would have been the ideal choice but I am in a hurry to get that extra boost. By the way I see that Paris built the Pyramids. I think the French have soon served their purpose on this earth...

Roman War (500BC - 30BC)
I soon take Vei but make a trip around Rome. When making an embassy I noticed Rome was building Artemis. That would be such nice bonus that it makes it worthwhile to save Rome for the time being. I take Rome in 290BC after I get the message they built the Great Wall. I was really looking forward to Temple of Artemis but Aztec built that. But GW is not bad either considering all this warmongering. This war gave us our second leader in 210BC. He made a swordsman army to speed up the conquests. Unfortunately this army dies pretty early. Roman cities are small and are often autorazed on capture. We give Rome peace in 30BC and leave her with 2 cities for the time being.

Second French War (430BC - 310BC)
In 390BC I own the Pyramids! I took their two main cities. When I make peace there is a city somewhere but dont know where. I get two workers for peace.

Ottoman War (200BC - 230AD)
I have some rounds of bad RNG that really slows down progress. The war gives me my third leader in 30AD. I create another army, and fill it with swordsmen to finish off the ottomans. I give them final peace in 230AD when they are extinct.

Russian War (300AD - 400AD)
We tell the rusky to get off our ground and they declare on us. We get our fourth leader in this war. To be used for a knight army. Russians provide me with my fifth leader in 320AD. I give them peace for 26gpt (I dont know where they get all this) and let them keep their last city for a some turns.

Spanish War (490AD - 570AD)
I ROP rape them and take 5 cities the first turn. I loose more units in annoying flips than I do against their cities. Lights go out in 570AD.

Iroquois War (600AD - 750AD)
They do not provide too much resistance. I am beginning to see that getting domination is rather a question of population and not of landmass.

American War (810AD - 870AD)
We get two leaders from this war, creating of course new armies.

Aztec War (830AD - 870AD)
In a desperate attempt to increase population I throw myself at any city in sight. In what I thought was the last turn I loose 2 cities to flips and I need to get back to the drawing board and loose 2 turns. But finally make peace with Aztec and Americans in 870AD for a domination win in 880AD.

Progress:


Firaxis score: 8734
Jason score: 10626

Predator

Ancient Age

Entering the MA in 450BC we were at war with Russia and also had a phony war with Ottomans.
The scientific civs did get 2 times mono and 2 times engineering.
So I could trade for both and stopped research. Feudalism would be around quickly anyways.
In 430BC the Aztecs completed the ToA before I even knew them. So the second score boosting wonder is on the other continent also after the Incan Pyramids.
Maya got the statue of Zeus in the cascade and I thought I would have to find them some strong enemies.
Well they were drawn into war with Inca and Aztecs, before I knew that the SoZ will not help them much.
In 410BC the austrian republic was formed.
The same year Germany built the Great Library, Russia the Great Wall and France the Hanging Gardens.
So the war with Russia with a few archers, swords and horses didn't make sense anymore.
I started to prepare for Germany
290BC I made peace with Russia for a few coins (26gpt)
210BC I traded for feudalism
130BC declared on Germany
This lasted till 50AD and Germany was left with 2 cities behind Rome.
I had researched Chivalry in the meantime then stopped research until TGL in Berlin would get obsolete.
130AD I declared on Rome. But my goal was really to get into Spain, who had the Lighthouse.
Rome was no problem, but there were no roads in this region. So the progress towards Spain stalled while workers were building roads.
In the meantime I had a little fun with Russia again.
I also took out the last german cities.
440AD I could finally start on spain. It was already clear that I wouldn't gain much from the Lighthouse.
I was already on full research towards MT and astronomy would probably be available by then.
550AD we got MT and consequently started GA in 560AD
The final blow on Spain was delivered 580AD
I always had warred a little with Russia so Cathy was playing OCC by that time.
The next big enemy was Ottomans.
I had allied them in the final stages against Spain, but now the hussars turned on them.
They hadn't much defense against hussars including 3 hussar armies, so they were out in 660AD.
It sure helped that I controlled all the saltpeter on the continent.
Russia was also eliminated somewhere in this timeframe.
So now a quick war on France.
740AD the home continent was all austrian.
I had already researched navigation by that time and sneaked in two cities in former Aztec land.
Due to my constant spawning of wars the Aztecs were eliminated shortly before by Iroquois and Maya.
I could have just filled in the other free spaces there to get domination, but decided to give the hussars a little workout and go for conquest.
Well, I probably thought of conquest a little earlier, because all 4 hussar armies had only 2 members and by that were transportable by caravel.
So I started on Incans, then Maya, Iroquois and finally America.
Iroquois were the only who even had muskets, the others defended with pikes and spears.
Finally Conquest in 940AD.

Randy said:

I built an embassy in America, and I saw all those boats from The Statue of Zeus. I guess they were to big to sail down the river. It kinda reminded me of the boat my uncle built in grandma's basement.

Click to expand...

Now that is a brilliant screenshot

OPEN class.

I finished off the Romans (they attacked and killed my two horse armies) and Ottomans with horseman.

It took me forever to upgrade my hordes of horseman to hussars, at 150g a pop. I turned off research and luxuries and still only managed to upgrade two a turn. I should have experimented with tax specialists.

But once done, I soon made short work of the Spanish. But by the time I got to the Russians (who I had been at peace with since, the start), they had rifleman (but I had five Hussar armies). So I finally got the continent to myself, having generated 6 MGL's.

Just finished the game - More detailed write-up may follow later.
When I finally conquered the home continent around 1150AD, I was dissapointed that Aztecs, Iroquois and Americans were already at the end of the MA. I don't have too much experience with warfare on different continents, so I kinda dreaded having to attack overseas. However, after building enough galleons, I landed about 40 hussars on Incan land, and took 6 cities in one turn. After that the mayans followed, and together with Americans and Iroquois, the Aztecs were cut down a size, until I had enough territory for a domination win.
Domination : 1440 AD
Jason : 8150
I'm quite happy with that.
Thanks for the game, Ainwood & Staff.

@Ambiorix,
I just finished the game last night in 1090AD. My problem was I forgot to start building a navy. When it was time for the other continent I wad 4 galleons to move 60+ hussars. I think I finished the home continent around 900 AD. I'll have to go back and check my notes and autosave files. I seam to have way to much navy or not any at all. I guess I know where I need to work on my game.

@Amniorix - I finished my game 20 years later than you with a slightly smaller Jason score than yours.
But I was much worse with my science. As a result I was moving my hussars on galleys (not galleons or caravels!) across the see (fortunatly I captured Great Lighthouse from Spain, otherwise it wouldn't be even possible).
I stoped reseach at education first because of ToA and then because I wanted to see what will happen after I would capture GL from Iroquis.
When I did so, I jumped from reseraching education to researching replacement parts
This was fun.

Predator, NoAIPatrol=0, SG rules

I decided to play this entirely for fun, using Husars as much as possible, but with no clear focus on a victory condition.

Was the first to Literature, and since all Ancient Wonders were already built, I could trade it around; and since the Glib was safe, I turned off research here. Thus, I didn’t eneter the Middle Ages before one turn after the Glib completed (in 310AD). But at that time I was already beating the French (strongest Civ on my landmass, and Paris looked like a great city for the FP; it already had the MoM). Got a MDI Army in this war, and since I used combined arms, my casualties were quite low. Captured Paris in 360AD.
In 470AD Rome was the first Civ to be eliminated (by Russia).
In 510AD I get a CTD when hitting F4.
In 520AD Iros contact my, and offer contact with some other Civs; can only afford one, so I choose Incans. They had several Wonders, thus they should be the most advanced. Works well, get PP, Gunpowder, Chivalry, Theology, Education.
However, despite having now contact with all remaining Civs, I have only access to 8 in F4 . Reload, same. Restart, same. Reboot, finally the ‘Show more Civs’ button shows up. Odd bug, never seen that.
France is eliminated by Russia in 530AD.
And in 580AD we’re finally a Republic.
Germans wish to die, and “sneak”-attack me in 640 (well, sneaking in with Longbows isn’t very effective..). 870AD they’re gone. No MGLs, too bad.
Reach the IA in 1050AD.
Handbuilt FP in Paris as late as 1130AD.
America is destroyed by Iros in 1220AD.
1250: 5CC Incans drop two Longbows next to an island city ? They declare. Nice time for a GA. Build up infra and lots of Hussars (I intentionally didn’t go to war until I really had a lot of those).
1340: Spain sneak attacks. This time it is really a sneak attack, I hate Conquistadors…ToE completed.
1355 Hoover done.
1385 The Iros sneak attack me – seriously, out of all Civs only Russia was a real friend. Everyone else either attacked, or would have declared when asked to leave. With the exception of the Ottomans, whch I had to get quite mad until they finally declared in 1465AD (I didn’t want to break any deals with them).
This started the Age of Hussars; I had 10 Armies in the end . Ottos had two nice Wonders (USuf and Bach’s), I razed most of their other cities. The war lasted until 1585, but only because Osman simply didn’t want to part with his free tech (Ecology), despite being down to a size 1 tundra town with 2 regular Infantry - and I needed some time to replant a Spy. Killed him after stealing successfully.

Now, I had a problem: I had no clue how to win this. Ok, I’d needed about 10% more land, but Domination that late was pointless. UN was out, since the remaining 2 Civs (Spain was eliminated by Ottomans and Aztecs until 1560AD) hated me without any reason (never attacked any of their cities, and my Rep was clean). So I went for Space, trying something complete new to me – working on my score until the launch

In 1635, I get tired of the insane costs for the 3 Luxes Monty supplied me; and as expected, planting a Spy in Fascist Aztecia lead to a declaration. Secured me Ivory and Furs, but I wanted to stay safely below 66% land. I had the Internet, so all cities on my landmass would at least expand twice before the end of the game. So I watched the Iros eliminating the Aztecs (had a MA), and since I wanted to have time to switch to military in case of a war with the last Civ, I plopped down a lot of barbwire, after having improved the landscape where possible already:



Iros didn’t pick up the race; they were not much backwards, but for any reason never build a single SS part.
Ended with a lousy Firaxis 5435/ Jason 6130, but at least I managed to improve my base score from ~2900 after the Ottoman war to 4101. That’s quite good for me …
Time played: 39h 21’



Anyway, I had a lot of fun with Austria and that map; and to the staff!

Oh, and Tiwanaku had both the SoZ and the KT, and was coastal. There is some justice in this game.

Very interesting reads so far. I'll try to get a formal writeup posted later. I find it very interesting how things played out on the other island.

In Ronald, RRau & MiniMe's games, the other island was fairly well balanced, in DocT's game the Iroquois ruled the land, while in my game at the end the Aztecs owned the entire other island.

(For those who can't wait: Diplomatic with final vote Charles 2 Montezuma 1. For a standard size map, to have only three survivors at the end was quite amazing)

denyd said:

For a standard size map, to have only three survivors at the end was quite amazing)

Click to expand...

Same here - though of course it was the Inca and Iroquois who survived the other continent, just to be different (again!)

Neil.

denyd said:

In Ronald, RRau & MiniMe's games, the other island was fairly well balanced, in DocT's game the Iroquois ruled the land, while in my game at the end the Aztecs owned the entire other island.

Click to expand...

In my game it was on purpose. I kept switching allies for my fake wars around to keep one AI from becoming too powerful.

Not enough time to do a full spoiler like I normally do, but here is a very brief recap.

AI Patrol on

Settler
I moved my settler W NW N before founding Vienna in 3850BC.

Government
I revolted in 190BC and drew a 4 turn anarchy period.

QSC
8 cities, 15 pop

Went for DOM Victory
Attacked RUS first, then FRA both down to 1 city each by 300AD made peace
Then started on OTTO & GER at same time
Generated my first GL in 510AD
OTTO down to 1 city by 550AD made peace
Eliminated GER in 550AD
Eliminated RUS in 600AD
Started on ROM in 570AD
Eliminated FRA about 610AD
Eliminated ROM 670AD - start on SPN
Eliminated OTTO & SPN in 750AD - have control of entire continent and the ToA

Interesting development
As I was setting up to ROP the IRQ they attacked my stack of troops. I also watched the AZT raze the Great Library before I could capture it. My continent was the tech leader for most of the game but we lost the lead as I took it over. In the end every one except for the MAYAN were ahead of me in techs.

I eliminated IRQ in 910AD and start rushing settlers to fill in the open land. Attack AMR next - capture 5 AMR cities and achieve a DOM victory in 1000AD.

BTW, I ended my game without triggering my Golden Age.