Rik tries 2 out of 3 - Deity Large map, 32 civs

Settings: large map - 32 civs - all victory conditions enabled.
I am playing as the Sumerians.
Map type: Pangaea

Since the previous attempt - link went horribly wrong due to flips; I decided to turn flipping off. This is to counterbalance the fact that the number of civs have dramatically been increased.

The settings:





The start looks ok-ish against 31 AI on a large map. The Marshes will give me a few more cities than I am entitled to because the AI will not clear the marches to make room for cities.



After a couple of turns I have touching borders already + an English warrior. Can you say "cramped" ?



I finished a granary and start pumping out settlers. Land grab is so essential to get a shot at some land. I've already met the Americans and the Egyptians. The northern border are Maya.



More AI and more settlers.



I buy Iron working of England while I still have 17 turns to go. I pay 95 gold + 9 gpt. I then use Iron Working + 21 gold to buy The Wheel + Ceremonial Burial from the Scandinavians.
The next turn I Sell Iron Working + Ceremonial burial to The Hittites for ALphabet + Warrior code + 10 gold.

Luckily I have a 2nd luxury and horse.



Portugal finishes the Colossus in Lisbon in 2350 BC. And I manage to secure a 2nd horse. This is valuable as I can use that resource for tech trading.



Lisbon also builds the Oracle in 1750 BC. And Athens the Pyramids in 1700 BC. Zimbabwe the Statue of Zeus in 1500 BC. I am still in settler - worker - enkidu - barracks mode. But I am reaching the limits of the lands.
In 1425 BC Istanbul completes The Temple of Artemis.

Trade time in 1375 BC. I buy Iroquois (my southern neighbour) Writing + masonry for 12 gpt + 292 gold. I've set my research to either 10% or a 1 scientist.

1350 BC: Madrid completes The Great Lighthouse. 1100 BC London Mausolleum of Mausollos.

I build an embassy with my northern neighbour, the Maya.



No, Chicken Pizza did not build the Great Wall, Berlin did in 925 BC. Time to look at -some of- my lands.



Another trade-round in 875 BC.
Iron (my only iron) + 19 gpt to the Maya for Code of Laws + 9 gold.
Code of Laws to Scandinavia for Philosophy + Mysticism + 4 gold.
Code of Laws + 5 gpt + 67 gold to the Iroquois for Horseback riding + Mathmatics.

I haven't scouted at all and I'm going to have to do that soon. But as soon as I enter the AI lands they'll demand me away. To counter that I sign an embassy with the English so I can sign Right of Passage. The even pay me for that. It's 730 BC.

More embassies; with the Iroquois and the Americans.





I buy American Literature for 12 gpt + 16 gold in 570 BC.
In 550 BC I sign RoP with the Maya and start scouting northward. Here a picture of my lands.



Hanging Gardens were build by the Incans in 550 BC.

Due to the scouting I get to make some deals.
I strike a good deal with the Portuguese in 530 BC. My Code of Laws + Literature for Map Making + 2 workers + 48 gold.
The next turn I can get a Persian worker for Mysticism. And another Persian worker for Mathematics.
I buy Chinese Poytheism for Literature + 11 gpt + 23 gold.

The Great Library is build in 470 BC in Cuzco.

I build an embassy with the Chinese for a RoP and later on with the Zulu
and the Greeks.

When Carthage is met I buy their Construction for Code of Laws + Literature + Philosophy.

Time for a picture of the world:



I'm waiting for The Republic to become purchasable as I want to revolt. But for some reason no civ wants me to sell it cheaply enough. So after some time I assign 1 scientist to it.
Sun Tzu is build in Zimbabwe in 310 BC.

In 210 BC I use my horses resource + 24 gpt+ 43 gold to buy Hittite Currency. Since I am scientific I get a free tech upon entering the Middle Ages; Engineering.
I buy Celtic Furs + wines + Monarchy for Engineering + 1 gpt + 11 gold.

An embassy with the Byzantines is build in order to cross their lands. Same with the Germans. But I am slipping further and further behind. It's 70 BC:



Leonardo's ... And I still have 28 turns to go on The Republic.
Embassy with Spain, Rop with Spain, Zulu.

The Greeks finally sell me The Republic in 10 AD for Iron + 52 gpt + 6 gold + RoP. I use The Republic to get Spanish Monotheism (+ 24 gold). I then sell Monotheism + The Republic to the Iroquois for Iron + Feudalism + 9 gold.

I revolt and draw:



7 turns ??? And look at my financial situation; I'll be bankrupt in 3 or 4 turns. I hire more taxmen than I want, but I cannot afford to go bankrupt. Population will regrow soon enough.

But this is someting up, with which I will not put: ...
(this is a Churchill quote)



But I manage and in 150 AD:



Around the same time the Luxuries import from the Celts end. I sell them Monotheism for Furs + Wines + 24 gold.

230 AD: The Japanese are destroyed. I haven't even met them.
250 AD: I buy ZUlu Ivory for 17 gpt. Not bad, as I am making 75 gpt and adjusting the slider costs me 22 gpt per 10%. The Mayans finish Knights Templar.

I get Chivalry doing this:



It is risky because the Germans might sign alliances against me, but I need to take some risks. I am fairly confident they will not reach my lands so I will be save from their forces. And they have already lost some cities to the Dutch, so they are kinda weak and poor.

The Hittite build Leonardo's in Hattusas in 280 AD.

I get to use my Chivalry in 290 AD. The Celts pay Invention + 4 gpt + 22 gold for it. But I am still far far behind the tech leader - Babylon.



My strategy is to keep collecting money and check every turn for trade possibilities and when I see one I'll jump in. Preferably not from the tech-leaders, but from the followers. With a little luck I can get into a next age at the same time as they can so I can use my free tech to get back all investments and some more techs. On the military side I am building knight to conquer the Egyptian city Pi-Ramesses sooner or later. Perhaps single out a weakish neighbour for some more land. But in General I'll keep going "with the flow".

Pretty good so far.

I buy Zulu gunpowder for a staggering 112 gpt. I use it to buy Greek Theology + 73 of their gold. There is Saltpeter just outside my border. When I capture Pi-Ramesses I'll get it.



And so a war has begun. Egypt is declared upon. For Theology the Iroquois are bought in. My knights learn that Pi-Ramesses is heavily piked and despite most knights have retreated, there are still undamaged pikes in Pi-Ramesses. The attack is a kinda failure.

In the Meantime, the Maya Build Sistines. And the Americans pay Education for Gunpowder. And the Iroquois send in their Mounted Warriors at Pi-Ramesses. It would really suck if the Iro's take the city. But they don't. Not yet. I still have to use 1 turn to withdraw my units and 1 more turn to heal them. I hope Pi-Ramesses won't fall to the Iro's.

It doesn't. And see the Celts. At first I was afraid they would attack me, so I did upgrade some enkidu's to pikes, but not many. I buy 2 luxes from the Celts so they are reluctant to declare. They are probably on their way to go after weakened Egypt.



NOT ???



Oh damn. The loss of the 2 luxuries hurts a little. The Celtic invasion force; 1 Gallic sword + 1 horse is not a threat.

But these guys are !!!



If I let them go they will become a run-away civ and difficult to fight. And they are racing towards a huge gap in techs between me and them. But they are not my first concern, right now.

I've lost furs due to the Celtic war declaration. Luckily, the Dutch have furs. It costs me Currency, but I gladly pay.

In the IBT I see a Stack of Gallic Swords; more than I want to see. Scandinavia is next to Celtica so I sign a Military alliance with them against the Celts for Theology. It nets me 10 gpt + 41 gold.

And then: succes !!!



But the Celts keep coming in big numbers; so I decide to sign in the Maya against them. The Celts have to pass Maya lands, which means they'll move slowly and get attacked on their way to me.

Hittites demand 20 gold. Of course I am not happy with that, but with simultaneous war with Egypt, Celtica and Germany I am at my limit for enemies (actually - already over the limit) so I pay.

The Iroquois sign peace with Egypt in 430 AD. Not good. The Babylonians start Newton's in 440 AD. Not good. The Celts capture Maya Lagartero in 440 AD. Not good. Or perhaps: a little good as it is right on my border and I might be able to take the city. I now have muskets and they can defend well. So I move in my knight-stack.



I've send some curraghs out. 1 northwards, 1 southwards. They gradually meet more and more civs. When I meet the Ottomans I sell them Theology for Ivory.
Greece backs out of the Alliance against Germany, so I can make peace with Germany without penalties. It's 470 AD. 1 enemy less. Surprisingly, Germany is instantly polite, so I use this opportunity to buy his wines for Education.

Suddenly an Egyptian knight attacks from England. They must have had a RoP. My pike survives, leaving the elite Egyptian knight red-lined. I attack with a veteran Enkidu and I win. This is good as that means:



That was the sole reason I hadn't made peace with Egypt yet. Since I now have my Golden Age I immediately sign peace with Egypt. Only Celtica to worry about now.

And of course: I worry about trading. I spot an opportunity in 480 AD.
I buy Inca Banking for 128 gpt.
I use banking + 5 gpt to buy Maya Astronomy.
I use banking + Astronomy to buy Hittite Chemistry + Music Theory.
I use banking + 31 gpt to buy Zulu Metallurgy.

I am happy.

And I get even more happier with the capture of Lagartero.



The good part was that any loose Celtic unit got attacked by Maya forces and in return any loose Maya unit got attacked by Celtic forces - giving me the opportunity to focus my attack.

510 AD: More trades; Iroquois Printing Press for my Astronomy.
530 AD: My world map + 92 gpt for Inca Economics
Economics + Roman and Russian contact (thanks curragh) + 56 gpt + 110 gold for English Physics.
Physics for Zulu Navigation + world map.

I now have a clear picture of my pangaea. You have as well:



But there's more. After getting Astronomy (and a curragh being thrown out of Maya lands upgraded to Caravel) I explore the oceans and I meet the Aztecs in 560 AD. For Literature they give me their world map + contact with the French.
The same turn the Babylonians complete Newton's. Just what I not needed; the tech-leader (and because of that, the financial leader with over 10000 gold) getting another science-enhancing wonder.

Since there are no easy Celtic cities to capture anymore I wait till the Military Alliance against them ends in 580 AD and I sign peace. I get 74 gold as well as 19 gpt and their World Map. And now it's time to think about further strategy. It's either cavs and fight -or research to make use of my free tech. I haven't decided yet.

Interesting position

Very good! Don't you love it when the AI improves your land for you?

Must... subscribe... to this awesome story!

You wont be able to conquer the world with cavs due to Babylons cracking tech pace. Looks like another game with Modern Warfare

azzaman333 said:

You wont be able to conquer the world with cavs due to Babylons cracking tech pace. Looks like another game with Modern Warfare

Click to expand...

That would mean nukes eh?

This is awesomely intense!! Can't wait for the next installment!

It's a great story!

The first order of business is to get money and information. I sell my World Map for Spain's + 67 gold + 24 gpt. WOW, Spain really wanted my map.

I buy Gems from France for Monarchy, and India's Spices also for Monarchy. The lesson learned is to value obsolete techs; they can give you a lot.

Kind of good news: the important Wonder JS Bach's is build in London in 600 AD. In the cascade Smith's falls to Chicken Pizza, also close. This creates a good possibility in the (near) future.

610 AD: The important turn.

I smelled an opportunity to get even with the Babs because there were techs that I lacked divided over several AI's. xfer1's so to say. So I struck.

I bought Inca Magnetism for 134 gpt + Saltpeter + more
I sold Magnetism + Incense to Maya for Theory of Gravity + more
** This plunged me into the Industrial ages - thus giving me a free tech. I obtained Nationalism. Only the Babylonians had IA techs. I still needed Military Tradition, so I sold nationalism to the Inca for Military Tradition + 154 gpt + Saltpeter + more. (It's starting to get big)
I sell Hittites Economics for some GPT and most importantly, their extra Saltpeter. This was the only reason why I sold my only Saltpeter in the turn I got Military Tradition while I had a stack of knights to be upgraded.

** Next turn **

I am an idiot. I completely forgot a lesson on how to grab the initiative in Civ3. Fortunately I think of it the turn after (620 AD) and I go for it. If you don't know how to do it: here's a small lesson:

1 - Gift Byzantines into the Industrial ages; They get Medicine as a free tech

2 - Gift Persia (who even lack Polytheism) a complete age into the Industrial ages; they get Nationalism - bugger; that's my tech. And I gifted you all this...

3 - Gift Korea (early Middle Ages) into the IA - they get Steam Power. That's exactly what I wanted, now I can do a xfer1.

4 - Buy Korean Steam for Nationalism + Music Theory.

I have coal:



I immediately start railroading.

Of course; Medicine is also obtained:



But the real big deal, and the turning point in Babylon's tech-escape, is the sale of my Steam to Babylon. They pay 5365 (of their 15716) gold for it. This shows that they were just collecting cash, not using it.
I also sell Medicine to the Babs and get 4475 gold for it.

Now what to do with 9840 gold? I upgrade all Enkidu's, pikes and muskets to riflemen and all knights and horsemen to cavalry. I also cashrush many improvements. And I buy luxuries.

In 650 AD: I sell obsolete tech banking to the Ottoman's for Ivory + more.
Nav to Germany for luxes in 670 A. I keep the "sell obsolete techs for luxuries" policy up all game.
And I sell obsolete techs to rich civs as well. It nets me a good amount of money.

In 680 AD:



Not to worry; I've used my GA well; I've started on industrialization and I will go to Electricity - Scientific Method.

Cuzco builds Magellan's in 680 AD. In 690 AD I obtain the useless Democracy from the Zulu for Nationalism.

And then; while I am busy building banks + some units:



I am so weakly defended that I fear that this is game over. And the English even broke a treaty for it:



City 1:



City 2:



They came through all my neighbours lands. And eventually they run out of fuel. I am mad, but not mad enough to strike at them blindly. I need to make sure my non-English borders are secure so I:



I did try to get the Babs - (the strongest nation at that time) on my side, but the cost for that (after I erected the embassy was too big) into the aliance, but failed. Paying nearly 10000 gold is not worth it.



Fortunatley the 2 cities are taken back quickly in the following turn. And I get more allies; America is signed in in 700 AD. But as usual and in RL - America is not needed, and unwanted.

Nottingham is mine in 710 AD.


I sell Medicine to the Zulu for MA against England + more. The main reason is that I don't want to be dogpiled, so in order to prevent that; I dogpile my enemy.
740 AD: Industrialization comes in. At the same time a big attack on London fails.

But there is succes in 750 AD. Enjoy:



I pushed too hard. London is captured by the Maya.



But Coventry is mine !!! !!!!!! oneoneone!!!!!!


More Peace ...

And something Important ....

Becaue I captured Notingham I got enough cities for a Forbidden Palace. It gets finished in 810 AD.



Peace ...

And from now on the pace is slow. I build up, trade techs where possible and gradually get to be the top dog. The Americans get destroyed by a coalition.

Something VERY important happens in 960 AD. Babylon finsihes Unicersal Suffrages, while my prebuild for Darwin is still busy building; and I do not have Darwin yet .... 1 more turn.



This is what I do: I make sure Scientific Method is learned the next turn:



Of course I select Atomic Theory + Electronics as the next 2 thechs. And -against my nature- I "big picture" ahead to do 2 things. Research to 0% + switch 1 build order:



To accomplish:



But that's not all.



I start on Replacable parts. It'll take 12 turns. When I start; this is my army:

Ok position, want more!!!

Top Dog!!

Espionage is learned from the Maya for Electricity. And I also kinda like this deal:



What do I have to say to this, you ask ?? What about: "RICH" ??

I keep renewing luxury deals for obsolete techs every 20 turns. I am on 100% research. And I use my money wisely.





Selling Rep Parts + Espionage to Korea nets me Fascism + 60 gpt + more. Rep Parts also nets me The Corp from the Inca.

1100 AD: and then the world explodes.



Also Babylon declares on the Inca. This is the first of a dozen declarations, MA - signings, embargoes and peace-declarations every turn

I finish the Intelligence Agency in 1100 AD as well. For now I'll stay out of the war until a better moment in time. I want to wait to see if I have oil and if I don't what nation does have oil and will feel my power.



I do



So I just go for the nation that split my empire into "core" and "Coventry" - the Maya. I've been busy building fortresses - barricades on my northern border to stop any fast-unit attack on my lands as all units loose all their movement points when stepping into a barricade outside their lands. They are visible north of Lagartero in this screenshot.



And north of Nottingham as well. Byt the way: OOPS !!



It's quick at first.







These cities were all taken in 1070 AD.

The next turn is used to heal my troops. And the battle continues in 1190 AD. And it's going well.



And more production !!



The last Mayan city on my NorthWest border is taken care of.



And finally, after 6010 years; in 1210 AD:



I turn him into an army. And the next attacking unit:





Just for the historical value; Rome allies against me with the Ottomans and declares on me. Phony war it will be.
Here you see my armies at work.



And on defense I get my 3rd leader.



This is to proof I am not in full war mode yet.



With the capture of Palenque the Maya's only have 2 cities left. But it is time to stop the war; war weariness is over 50 % and my border is now nice and straight.



So I offer peace.

Ottomans get peace as well.



Why? Because I have peace on my mind. I now control my part of the world from coast to coast. Bu building a lint of fortresses - barricades and fill them with Infantry I can split the world in 3 parts. The NorhtWest, the NorthEast (Huge) and My empire + the south. So I'll be quiet busy with that.

Research is still going strong.



And so is Production.





I manage to sign (straight) peace with the Romans in 1275 AD. This is fortunate as they haven't signed anyone into war with me.

Back to: Production is good.



And Research is good. By the way, the next tech is Mass Production, not flight.



Did I mention that production was good ??



In 1315 AD I have enough spare Infantry to close of my northeast. Notice the Egyptains south of the border already retreating.



And so is my NorthWest border.



My workers are still improving my lands but when they get more time they'll build barricades on the border tiles as well. I haven't decided yet if those defensive structures have to be complete before my next attack or not. But I do know my long term plans.

Next objective: to conquer my south. !!

After that: Conquer the NorthWest.

Hope you get those objectives done! Good job on this!!!

Go for it, dude! This one so far is yours!