Catch the Runaway AI

Catch the Runaway AI

Here is an article I have written about an AI that was getting pretty large - and I thought it would be an interesting challenge to see if I could save the game. Enjoy! Please feel free to post your comments after reading the article.

It is based on a game like this posted on this website in the summer of 2004. It was a Conquests game, emperor level, playing as the Persians. I believe the save is version 1.22, which is the patch level I am playing. It is a Pangaea map and appears to be standard size. A civfanatics member posted the game after the runaway AI had ROP raped the Persians and taken four cities. Before and after saves of 1140 and 1150 AD were provided. Iroquois are the runaway AI, and the others are Germany, Mayans, England, France and Babylon.

In 1150 AD Persia is at war with France and Iroquois. France has only the capital remaining. Germany is also at war with Iroquois. Mayans are not at war with anyone. The others are insignificant.

Unfortunately I cannot locate the thread where this was posted. I must have downloaded without posting and now cannot find the original thread. The files I downloaded are dated 8/27/04. The only other clue I have is that there was an elite archer renamed to “Tom Anderson”. Any help finding that thread would be appreciated!

I decided to take this game on as a challenge. I believe the deck is clearly stacked in favor of the AI Iroquois. The Iroquois have half the power bar, and the tech and culture lead. Stopping them will be a challenging endeavor. I will be starting in 1150 AD, after the Iroquois have attacked.

There a probably a good percentage of you who will disagree on whether this AI is a runaway. I created a thread to determine public opinion about this game. At publication the votes are mixed, a little more than half say yes or probably and the rest say no. (The original .SAV for 1140 and the .SAV for 1150 can be downloaded from the thread mentioned above.)

Phase 1: Assessment

This situation is trouble. The Iroquois are strong and their sights are set on Persia. As the leader of Persia I have to stop this. The best way I know to get out of this problem is to gang up on the Iroquois. So I start looking for allies. Babylon, England and France have been reduced to one city empires and will not be a factor. Russia is already dead. The Mayans have less than 10 cities, and are right on the Iroquois border. In fact they are somewhat of a buffer between Persia and Iroquois. Not great but they will have to do. The Germans are already at war with the Iroquois. Germany also has about 10 cities and do not share any borders with the Iroquois. Problem is, the former Persian leader has physically blocked the Germans from entering Persian territory. All three of us combined are smaller than the Iroquois, but it will have to do.

On the diplomacy/trading side, most of the AI are annoyed or furious. Persia has a few lux and resource to trade, if we can find a buyer. Persia is “moderately advanced”, but has no techs to trade to Maya or Germany. If France, England and Babylon were not so far behind I am sure we would be “backward”. We have saltpeter and multiple iron resources, though the saltpeter is in the western portion of the empire and is cut off from the eastern portion. At least Maya and the Germans are not on the other side of the Iroquois empire, so trading routes cannot be easily cut.

From a military standpoint Persia is in a bad strategic position. The forbidden palace is in Moscow and it is not well defended. Sidon and Yakutsk are south of the capital and will be expensive to retain, considering Persia’s limited resources. Most of the good remaining offensive units are at the southwest corner of the empire on an offensive to take out France. Bactra, a former Persian city, is on a hill and has been recently taken by Iroquois. There are four Iroquois cities that divide the Persian empire in two. All these border cities make it difficult to consolidate defenses. Persia has the following units in inventory: 9 worker, 5 archer, 6 spearmen, 2 horsemen, 2 pikeman, 4 musketman, 4 knight, 20 immortal and 10 crusaders. There is one captured catapult and a handful of captured workers.

The Iroquois have 7 cavalry, 16 longbows, and 10 musketman in plain view.

Persia is currently in republic. Emperor level and limited luxuries will make this govt susceptible to war weariness.

Persia has 810 gold and is adding 111 gpt to the coffers with science at 10%.

Pic: Paradise Lost



Pic: Ugly Division

Plan:

Immediate plan is to limit damage from this Iroquois attack and try to build a more defensible position. I would like to have Germany continue their attack on Iroquois. Although there are no guarantees, Bismarck has proven himself quite the warmonger and I suspect he will continue his warmongering ways. I also want to give the Iroquois more targets.

Phase 2: Damage Control

Made peace with France and signed MA with them vs. Iroquois.
Sign MA with Maya vs. Iroquois paying 36gpt and 18 gold.
Sign MA with Babylon vs. Iroquois giving theology.
Signed ROP with Germans and moved the immortals that have been blockading them out of Persian territory
Turn on governor to manage citizen moods, emphasize food and production in all cities.
Change production in Persepolis. Gave up heroic epic and switched to university. This frees up the city to build more military units. Also change Pasargadae to build Persia’s first trebuchet.

All of the diversions are working, as Persia is able to move her main forces east and retake Sidon, Yaroslavl, Bactra and Yakutsk by 1300 AD.

In 1405 the last Mayan city falls to Iroquois. We made peace with Iroquois at a cost of 160 gold. Persia is back over the power level of 1150AD but the Iroquois are still gaining more power.

Persia builds the city of Sardis on the south coast and opens a small passage reconnecting both ends of the empire. This is better but leaves a lot of points of defense in the middle of the empire.

The Germans were able to take all the other Iroquois cities in the middle of the Persian empire.

Apparently Bismarck saw a weak target as he declared war on Persia in 1405. Persia lost 3 cities – Nuremburg on the western border, Sardis in the middle on the south coast and Zohak in the middle on the north coast. This is a huge setback. I need them fighting the Iroquois not us.

To ensure the Iroquois did not attack us I signed MA with them against Germany.

By 1420 AD Gordium and Antioch were lost to the Germans as well. They razed Antioch. We also later lost Warwick to them as well.

Pic: Height of German Occupation

This was a chance for Persia to eliminate the divide of the nation. It failed. Gordium, Nuremburg were recovered by Persia, though the others were not. The Iroquois took them all, leaving them with Zohak, Warwick, York and Sardis, leaving Persia with a huge divide in the center of our territory.

In 1475 the Germans paid 26 gold and 1 gpt for peace. However, they were still at war with the Iroquois and were destroyed by them in 1555.

In between all these wars I have been trying to build up infrastructure and catching up in tech. It is not easy, and with Iroquois to the east, to the west and in the center of the empire, there is a lot of danger.

By 1695 Persia is starting to look a little better, though we still have a lot of jungle to chop down and improvements to make on the west end of the empire. We have been trading gems to the Iroquois for wines. Somehow this is appeasing them. Persia did give world map and 30 gold to Iroquois extortion shortly after the Germans were destroyed. Right now Hiawatha has 53% of the world area and 62% of the population, and many size 13-19 cities. We have 36%, 35% and none, respectively.

Persia now has replaceable parts and can start building the precious artillery needed to fend off Iroquois advances. We currently have 26 infantry, 7 cavalry, 2 artillery, 7 cannon, 14 immortals, 5 crusader, 19 musketman, 1 army, 34 worker, and 3 lesser units.

Pic: Power Bar – Better?



Pic: Runaway 6 – Divided and Alone

Surprisingly the Iroquois are still in monarchy. I have decided that Persia needs to get to communism as soon as possible. The corruption at the west end of the empire is killing productivity and Persia’s chance to get back in the game.

In 1745 the party ends when the Iroquois declare war on us again.
In 1758 we have 6 cavalry, 47 infantry, 11 artillery, 1 army, 10 immortal, 3 crusader, 1 archer, 1 pikeman, 1 longbowman, 1 galleon and 32 workers, plus a few slave units. In plain view I can see Iroquois units: 22 infantry, 7 tanks, 3 cavalry, 4 guerillas, 3 destroyers and a caravel. Who knows how many are not visible.

They kept up the war for 14 turns before finally acknowledging our envoy. We paid 18 gpt and 90 gold for communism and peace in 1778. We lost only one city (Herat) at the east end of the empire. Not too bad considering the Iroquois had tanks. While Persia was able to hold on I did not feel any ground was gained during this war.

In 1786 we took France’s last city to avoid another front against the Iroquois. Any extra city is beneficial as communism greatly helps the productivity.

In 1804 Hiawatha decided he needed more land – so he declared war again. It was ugly – the tanks rolled and Persia lost six cities in the first turn.

At this time I realized one of the serious problems with my current position: the landscape. I have been defending Bactra, which is a city on a hill, but the problem is the surrounding mountains allow the Iroquois to plant their invading units on a hill before they attack. I abandoned Bactra and one other city to create some kill zones in Persian territory.

This attack was very disheartening. There were so many units I did not know how to get around it. I put the game down for a while.

A couple months later (my civ time was greatly spent on five PBEM games) I picked up the game again.

Pic: Believe Yet?



Pic: Grim

I played it further but the Iroquois kept nibbling and taking cities. They sealed their victory in 1812 when they took enough cities to score a domination victory. This means zerksees took a domination loss! It took 25+ hours. I will not stand for that.

Obviously my first plan did not work. I think I should have gone to communism earlier. It was too late when I made the decision. I also needed some way to get to nationalism sooner so I could mobilize. Another mistake was not building enough offensive units, and not building enough artillery. Something has to be done to discourage Germany from declaring war on us.

At this point I had no choice but to try again.

Phase 3: Plan B

Since my first attempt did not work I had to come up with a better plan. I feel that the game was not spoiled too much when restarting from 1150AD. The only valuable spoiling information is the location of rubber, which was still in Persian control at the end of the first attempt.

I was disappointed with the Mayan military response, so I think I will leave them out of the war. I would like the Mayans to produce some techs for me, and keep the Iroquois from grabbing more territory, so they are not a good military ally right now.

It will also be important to take the Iroquois cities that divide the Persian empire. It is clear that there will be many wars with the Iroquois and those cities will make life difficult. Having them will also ensure open connection between Germany and the Persian capital for trading. Better diplomacy and better military can help get this done.

The next main objective will be to get to communism ASAP. This will be needed in order to fight the corruption and war weariness from Republic. From my PTW experience I love republic, but it is not a good gov’t for this situation IMO. With luck Persia can trade for some techs to get there. Persia needs metallurgy, physics, theory of gravity and magnetism to get to the next age, then nationalism and communism.

Phase 4: Plan B Adjustments

1150 AD

As I did in the first attempt – I turned on the governor to manage citizen moods, emphasize food and production for all cities. I also interrupted some workers and called them back to the cities for safety.

All those units in France need to be used against the Iroquois – but they are so far away. Right now there is no time to finish off France, so I make peace with them and sign ROP. This allows my units to move freely. Put them all in Orleans and gift it to the Maya. Poof – the units are back in the capital!

We are also going to selectively give up some cities to keep them from the Iroquois. This turn Sidon is in danger so we give it to Mayans.

Also sign ROP with Mayans

In order to get techs we need gold.
Trade navigation to England for world map and 92 gold (all their gold).
Trade chivalry to France for world map and 60 gold (all their gold).

Let the Germans come in but do not sign ROP with them. They have marsh, jungle and hills to get through to reach the Iroquois cities in the middle of the Persian empire.

Phase 5: Put the new plan in action

1160-1180 AD

Persia did her best to fend off the Iroquois assault, and prepare for the assault on Iroquois cities in the center of Persian territory. In 1180 AD Persia gave Moscow and Yakutsk to the Maya. They were in trouble from Iroquois.

1190-1240 AD

In 1190 Persia was able to take York back from the Iroquois. Immediately after that I gave ROP to Germany to “open the floodgates” against the Iroquois.

The rest of the time I was busy surviving and positioning to take the other two cities. I was disappointed with the German offensive as their knight stack landed right next to an Iroquois longbow stack and was basically obliterated. In retrospect this was probably a good thing since Germany lacked the horsepower (or was that knight power?) to take the other two Iroquois cities, and this shortcoming might keep them off my back as well since their military was now much weaker.

Somewhere along the line here I switched one citizen to a scientist so I could get a tech on the 50 turn research and keep the gold. I chose one of the corrupt cities on the western coast.

1250-1265 AD

Took Gordium and Antioch in a final blitzing offensive. There were many Iroquois musketman and rifleman in Persian territory so we made peace with Iroquois paying 160 gold.

We also traded horses to the Mayans for 12 gpt.

This action leaves Yaroslavl as the last Iroquois city in the middle of the Persian empire. It will be there for a while.

Now we are going to block the Iroquois from getting through (there is a spot just east of Yaroslavl where the road passage can be blocked by about 4 tiles). I would like Germany to take out Yaroslavl. Germany is sending a slow steady stream of knights and appears to be threatening to take it.

I need more workers. There is a lot of jungle and marsh to be cleared out and we have less than one worker per city.

Right how our military is weak compared to the Iroquois, average vs. Maya, and strong vs. Germany. On the demographics screen we are 4th in population, 2nd in GNP, 4th in mfg goods with 52 megaton, 2nd in land, 2nd in annual income, and 3rd in productivity.

In 1255 I notice the Iroquois are in anarchy. To my surprise they emerge later in democracy.

Traded incense to Germany for 4 gpt.

1265-1290 AD

We have been building infrastructure like courthouses and banks.

Persia has 44 units: 5 crusader, 4 knight, 9 immortal, 6 musketman, 4 longbow, 2 spear, 1 pikeman, 1 trebuchet. Free units: 1 trebuchet and some workers (maybe 5-10?)

Traded away our last saltpeter to Germany for 17 gpt

Persia is now making an extra 145 gpt.

Apparently I forgot to turn on the governor to emphasize food and production in all cities, so I turned it on. This turned off my scientist and research stopped for a couple turns. So scientist was reactivated in 1290. He is working on physics. Maybe he should be named Einstein!? As of now neither Germany nor Maya have physics. Maybe I can trade it for another tech.

1350-1365 AD

Three Babylonian units appear in my territory – two medieval infantry and a pikeman. At first I pay them no mind. I have ROP with them. I think little of it – they must be headed to German territory. Then they are standing right next to my capital. I am concerned so I put a few units in there. Well Hammurabi found open cities too tempting and declared war. They took Tyre (just east of my capital) and pillaged a tile by my capital. I took out all the units the next turn and recovered my city.

Also during this time the Germans lost the first of their core cities to the Iroquois.

Pic: A Different Look – Is It Better?



Pic: Blockading Iroquois Ground Movement

1395 AD

We completed physics but so have Maya and Germans. Nice going Einstein! Decide to throw some money at science. We will complete theory of gravity in 7 turns at 90% science. This will cost us 267 gold per turn – losing 63 gold per turn.
Made peace with Babylon collecting 75 gold and world map.
Gave in to Iroquois extortion – paying world map and 100 gold. Ooooh I hate that!

1415 AD

Completed new forbidden palace in London

1425-30 AD

Iroquois in anarchy, Germany in republic, Maya in democracy
Complete Theory of Gravity and trade it to Germany for metallurgy. Mysteriously the Maya have it too so I cannot trade with them.

Demographics: Population 6100000, GNP 502 million, mfg. goods 125 megaton, land 39400, annual income 7 per, and productivity 589.

1445 AD

Magnetism will be completed in 4 turns. Maya do not have it yet.

1450 AD

Maya no longer willing to trade saltpeter for horses, so I sell them horses for 25 gpt. I had saltpeter but I was selling it to the Germans.

1465 AD

Completed magnetism and enter the industrial age. Our free tech is nationalism. We can now mobilize if needed and draft riflemen.

We sold magnetism to Bismarck for 480 gold. We were then able to trade away our nationalism for steam power and 167 gold. We also collected 338 gold from France for invention, and collected economics and democracy from Maya for nationalism.

1470 AD

We are researching communism and it will be done in 9 turns. I put as much gold into this as possible. Better hurry up as I am now seeing Iroquois have infantry. The chart still looks bad for us as the Iroquois are very strong.

By 1485 the score is: Iroquois 1862, Persia 1237, Maya 741, Germany 724, Babylon 372, France 340, England 337 and Russia (now dead) has 160.

1510 AD

Notice the Iroquois are now fascist. Their war with Germany continues.
I trade steam power to Maya collecting 35 gpt and 50 gold.

Phase 6: Let communism ring

1515 AD

We now have communism technology, and our civilization is descending into anarchy!

1525 AD

Iroquois want MPP and ROP. Boss, the plane! The plane! We decline.

1540-60 AD

After a short 5 turn anarchy the Persian communism government is formed. At this point I decide to mobilize. We want to save Germany and the best way to do this is go after Iroquois. I prefer to keep from fighting a two-front war with Iroquois.

We have 9 cavalry, 2 elite knight, 22 riflemen, 12 crusaders, 21 immortals, 24 workers, 3 longbow and 5 cannon.

In 1555 I accidentally opened the passage I had been blocking to prevent Iroquois from coming into my territory. Immediately Hiawatha sent 20 infantry and 20 cavalry into my territory wanting to go west to attack Germany! Uh oh better build some more units.

By 1560 we have added 11 immortals, 4 cannon and 1 cavalry.

Phase 7: Losing an Ally

1590-1650 AD

Bismarck’s empire has been shrinking. He has a few cities left. I have been helping any way I can but he is losing ground. His horses have been pillaged so he demands horses from Persia. I decline and he declares war on us! After overcoming my shock from his stupidity, I decide I am going to try to take some of his cities. Germany is of no longer of any use to me as an ally. Bismarck is in suicide mode, so he needs to be taken out.

In 1610 I sent 10 cavalry against 3 riflemen in Munich, and got crushed. He did not lose a unit. The city later fell to the Iroquois.

By 1650 I had regrouped my troops and put an assault on Berlin. This was tricky because I had to cross Iroquois territory to get there. But, it worked and Bismarck was eliminated. Mobilization is over.

At this point communism is looking good. I think France’s last city will benefit me more if I own it. The low corruption of communism means it will help me. Too bad I have 17 turns left on my ROP with France.

Pic: New Territory for Persia

Phase 8: Preparations for the Inevitable

1655-1700 AD

Sign MPP with Maya in 1655 AD.

Complete electricity in 1670 AD, start replaceable parts. I hope nothing happens before it is completed.

Unit counts in 1675 AD: 36 riflemen, 36 cavalry, 36 cannon, 32 immortal, 12 crusaders, 2 elite knight, 26 worker, 3 longbow – total of 183 units. I feel that critical mass is building – I just need to upgrade those cannon to artillery and riflemen to infantry.

The Iroquois are in anarchy again.

1705 AD

Six turns to replaceable parts.
We have 27 workers and a handful of slave workers to support 25 cities. In C3C I think I need more workers. There is still a bunch of uncleared jungle in the western part of the empire.

1735-1740 AD

Completed replaceable parts. Did I mention this was important? Upgrade 31 riflemen to infantry for 930 gold. The cannon upgrades are a lot more expensive so I can’t do them right now.

Fortunately the Maya have the corporation. Acquire the corporation and 13 gold in exchange for electricity.

The ROP with France has ended. 24 Persian cavalry are standing on the border. Investigated the city and found 14 units in there. As soon as the agreement is over I attack. France’s inferior units fall and the one-turn war is over. Sorry Joan – blame it on communism. Persia now controls the statue of Zeus.

Phase 9: The Inevitable

1754-1756

In 1754 I decide to mobilize again for the assault on Iroquois. The Iroquois border on Yaroslavl expanded due to culture. Yaroslavl is near the narrow section of the Persian empire, and I have to move the units that were blocking Iroquois from coming across my land into their western cities. Oops I failed to keep up the blockade after the expansion, so in my 1756 turn there are now 20 Iroquois infantry standing next to the city. Apparently they have ROP with Maya. I investigated Yaroslavl and found only 3 infantry in the city at the moment. Investigating Heidelburg I find 2 riflemen and one guerilla. Frankfurt has three infantry. These two cities are on the Persian western border and will benefit the empire.

Obviously I do not want an Iroquois city near the middle of Persian territory, and even less so one with 23 infantry in it. The former German cities are weakly defended for such a monster AI, so I decide it is time to attack.

Persian military: 36 cavalry, 2 elite knight, 41 infantry, 7 artillery, 31 cannon, 32 immortal and 12 crusaders.

We declared war on Iroquois and took Heidelburg and Yaroslavl. I hope to hold them. The Iroquois have 20 infantry on the border of Yaroslavl, so we beef up defenses to stop them.

Sadly the Iroquois already have bombers and tanks. To me this is bad news. About 8 bombers are hitting us each turn from the west.

Fortunately Maya do not have MPP with Iroquois and they honor their MPP with Persia and declare war on the Iroquois. I had forgotten to check ahead of time.

1758 AD

The Persian offensive continues and we successfully take Frankfurt. All of the original war objectives have already been met. Now I am thinking I can clear the western flank, securing all the former German cities currently held by the Iroquois.

That stack of 20 Iroquois infantry is still hanging around in Persian territory near Yaroslavl. This is going to take time to eradicate. Iroquois are splitting some units out of the stack to pillage. I will hit these first with arty. We still have quite a few cannons so any time the stack gets adjacent to a city all the cannons are put to work against the stack.

Pic: Persian Offensive (see the 20 Iro infantry in the red circle)

1760-1772 AD

Continue the offensive and successfully take Konigsberg, Hamburg, Munich and Leipzig, leaving the Iroquois with no cities on the west. Acquiring Hamburg netted Leo’s Workshop. This is excellent and I put it to work immediately updating cannon for half the cost! Finally in 1772 all the straggler Iroquois units in the west are destroyed and I can focus on the eastern front. During this offensive I almost lost a 9-high arty stack to lethal bombardment. I had only 3-4 units defending and all but one got killed by lethal bombardment! It was an immortal and it succumbed easily to Iroquois tank. Fortunately there was only one tank and I recaptured the artillery the next turn.
Ultimately the seven Iroquois bombers were destroyed when I took Konigsberg and Hamburg. After destroying those bombers the Iroquois bombing offensive stopped completely.

1774-1780 AD

You may be wondering about the Maya. They were dragged into the war due to the MPP they signed with us. Smoke-Jaguar was probably none-too-pleased when forced into this situation. I was tired of his “now lets go watch a baseball game” comment at the end of each trade anyway. He did not fair as well against the Iroquois as he lost Sidon, Lagartero, and Moscow in 1772 and Tikal in 1774. Recall that Sidon and Moscow were Persian cities that I had given to the Maya shortly after I took over. I guess I should be insulted that they failed to keep them

Persia took all these cities from the Iroquois and retook Bactra in 1774 and 1776.

Pic: Liberating Mayan cities from the Iroquois

In 1778 our inventory is 48 artillery, 60 infantry, 24 cavalry, 1 army, 24 immortal, 2 elite knight, 3 riflemen, 3 longbow, 2 crusaders, and 26 workers. This is 193 units, with communism allowing 234.

In 1780 Persia takes Copan from the Iroquois. It is their first core city loss. All remaining Iroquois units have been cleared from Persian territory. The tide has turned!

1782-1784 AD

No cities are taken. Begin building and positioning settlers so that I can easily move my artillery in range of Iroquois cities. Better start building more settlers as I will need them to take more Iroquois cities.

1786 AD

Captured Grand River. Persia now owns 47% of land area and 52% of population. The Iroquois are down to 31% and 38% respectively. Persia has well over half the power bar, and her prestige has returned. Iroquois are ready to give 800 gold for peace, but no techs yet.

Persian communism allows 258 units, though we only have 212. We have 4 armies (all from great leaders), 36 cavalry, 52 artillery, 63 infantry, 23 immortal, 2 crusader, 3 longbow, 26 workers, and 3 settlers. My military advisor says our military is still weak compared to them!? Apparently they look a lot better on paper.

1788-1794 AD

Took Oil Springs, Tyendenaga, Salamanca (the capital!), and Niagara Falls. One city fell per turn. Not much they can do against our Persian arty stack.

We also let our MPP with the Maya expire.

1798 AD

Took St. Regis and Tonawanda. I have consistently been beating their TOW infantry, tanks, infantry with arty, cavalry armies and cavalry. I have to say that C3C armies are waaayyy better than PTW armies. The extra range and quicker healing is awesome!

This game is now in mop up mode. So many important cities have been taken there is no way he can beat Persia now. They have a tech lead but can’t get to anything significant in the time they have left.

1800 AD

The Iroquois score is 2466 and Persia has 1657. My military advisor finally says our military is average compared to them.

1802 AD

Finally the military advisor says our military is strong compared to them. It is only strong if left in the right place, though. I left a couple cities too weakly defended and the Iroquois took them. I was able to retake them and add Allegheny the Persian empire.

1804-1806 AD

Put assault on Awkesasne. It was a size 12 city on a hill with TOW infantry inside. Bombed all the units down to one hit point and went. I did lose a healthy cavalry army to a red lined TOW infantry during the assault but the city fell. Also took Centralia and Mauch Chunk. Now the Iroquois have lost the main part of their empire and are limited to about 1/3 of their prior space. They are stuck on the eastern portion of the continent and can be easily defended from two cities.

Still they will not give tech for peace. However I want to get out of mobilization so I settle for peace collecting 663 gold and world map. All the wars have generated eight great leaders which were turned into armies – most filled with cavalry.

1808-1816 AD

Immediately I put cities to work on culture buildings. Many of them are quite productive and put out libraries or temples in just a turn or two.

post 18

Pic: Iroquois Paradise Lost



Pic: Power Bar – Now That’s More Like It

No further wars were needed. All of the culture expansion from those cities netted a domination victory in 1816AD! The game took 30 hours, 45 minutes and 41 seconds. Persia had a final score of 2953, followed by the Iroquois at 2444, the Maya at 944, and everyone else lower.

History will remember me as Xerxes “the Great”.

Post Mortem

I played back the game save at the end and learned the following events:

2490BC - Babylon GA starts
1100 BC - England GA starts
950 BC - Maya GA starts
380 AD - Persian GA starts
420 AD - Iroquois GA starts, as does their conquest of Babylon
490 AD - Persia starts conquest of England, Germany also starts war with England.
530 AD – Germany GA starts
700 AD – Germany and Persia go to war
720 AD – Russians wiped out by Iroquois
1030 AD – Persian conquest of France starts

Overall I thought the game was played reasonably well up to the point I picked it up. About the only problem I see was letting the Iroquois get so big. It may have been smarter to attack them rather than go after France. I am guessing at the time England was attacked that it would have been hard to tell if any AI was going to run away with it.

I am sure the masters of the game would not have needed two tries to to fix this up. I enjoyed success the second time, getting a chance to rewrite history.

BTW - I know I have a couple screenshots I need to redo but I am done with this right now. I'll fix them as soon as I can.

Awesome. I really love these stories you do. Keep up the good work.