Immortal Incan Domination 2.08

I had fun with the last game so I though I would do it again. I'm playing the same settings (Fractal/Standard/Normal) but on the immortal level.

I'll be using the same strategy as the last game. A win here and I may try Deity.



Game settings



Looks like a good starting position.



Very niice. Looks like I'll be going for Monarchy via Oracle again. I want to get the corn hooked up ASAP as well as the cows. I'll be spitting out settlers very quickly.



Just like last game. Qin/Mao next door.



Buddhism again.



Hello Alex. Alex makes a fabulous friend and a terrifying enemy.



And Saladin. This start looks tough. Two protectives and one aggressive. I'll have to play much better than the last game to win this one.



I pull off the worker theft trick. I'll do this against any civ but the most aggressive ones.



Building my second settler. I've seen from other people's games that they wait to 750 BC to build their third city. Seems ludicrous to me.



Any thoughts on where I should stick this settler? I'll probably stick it where the lions are. That looks to be the only option as I can't stray to far from home base.

I'm not going south. I'll let Saladin settle in the jungle. I will only settle in jungle like that if I have no other choice.

Mao has some nice land. Two visible gold mines and lots of flood plains.

I'm looking forward to this YAY! I was trying the Inca domination strategy on Emperor just today, but couldn't get off to nearly as good a start as you did. Good luck with this game, and great placement of the second city. I hadn't even finished reading the post when I knew that that was the ideal place. I agree that the lions seem to be the best 3rd city site with some floodplains and grassland in range. Decent city early, will definately be eclipsed by other cities later. The only consideration is if there is seafood on that coast. Some more scouting in the northwest seems to be pertinant.

Yeah, I had a better start position in the last game. Gold in the second city and then I popped a gold in the capital. Doesn't get much better than that.

Very nice. Very much looking forward to following this

I'm wondering why you built that other settler? You're Incas so you have quechas. You have an enemy capital on your doorstep. And it doesn't seem like you have a great spot for a 3rd city (2nd is in great position imo)? You have chariots soon to support your quecha war movement. Seems to me like you might've been better off just going for Mao's capital? Probably would be bloody seeing as he's protective, but what do you think?

Anyways, it's in the past anyways. I usually avoid substantial overlap like the lions spot would give. What are your thoughts on that? Seems like you could settle SE or SW of your capital with only a bit of jungle. It could still give health problems as no fresh water it seems like...Meh, like I said there doesn't seem to be a great spot for a 3rd city

(and btw the reason I think most people wait to build their 3rd settler is not everyone has an uber unit like the quechas early on to protect against barb onslaught )

futurehermit said:

and btw the reason I think most people wait to build their 3rd settler is not everyone has an uber unit like the quechas early on to protect against barb onslaught

Click to expand...

That's not a good argument.
More cities = less barbs.

Good start I would have to say. Settling 2S1E of the lower cows will block Saladin from further expansion in your territory, netting in dye, rice and cows but a lot of unhealthiness. If there is a seafood near the lions then I can understand that that site is better. Lots of civs near you. Any thoughts on a quesha rush?

cabert said:

That's not a good argument.
More cities = less barbs.

Click to expand...

Not really, not that early in the game. If you build a total of 3 cities asap you risk a barb onslaught. larger empire = more likely the barbs will start encroaching on your borders...

If you have an early barb-buster like the quecha you can build out with no worries. But otherwise it is often safer to get your defences in place before building a 3rd city. If you go for archery then you don't have to worry, but if you are planning on hooking up a metal/horses then you risk your 3rd city getting mauled by barbs if you build it before hooking up that resource...happened to me many a time

(of course if you build enough warriors to fogbust it helps a lot, but this can also delay you a bit since warriors, despite being cheap, are not free )

futurehermit said:

Very nice. Very much looking forward to following this

I'm wondering why you built that other settler? You're Incas so you have quechas. You have an enemy capital on your doorstep. And it doesn't seem like you have a great spot for a 3rd city (2nd is in great position imo)? You have chariots soon to support your quecha war movement. Seems to me like you might've been better off just going for Mao's capital? Probably would be bloody seeing as he's protective, but what do you think?

Anyways, it's in the past anyways. I usually avoid substantial overlap like the lions spot would give. What are your thoughts on that? Seems like you could settle SE or SW of your capital with only a bit of jungle. It could still give health problems as no fresh water it seems like...Meh, like I said there doesn't seem to be a great spot for a 3rd city

(and btw the reason I think most people wait to build their 3rd settler is not everyone has an uber unit like the quechas early on to protect against barb onslaught )

Click to expand...

I'm not too fond of the Chinese capital. It looks like a great production city post calendar but a money pit right now.

Overlap doesn't bother me. The lion city can at least work a bunch of cottages and coastal tiles. If there is a fish there, I can also work a couple mines so it is a decent location.

Killroyan said:

Good start I would have to say. Settling 2S1E of the lower cows will block Saladin from further expansion in your territory, netting in dye, rice and cows but a lot of unhealthiness. If there is a seafood near the lions then I can understand that that site is better. Lots of civs near you. Any thoughts on a quesha rush?

Click to expand...

I'd prefer to let Saladin chop the jungle for me. I can't hook up the dye for another two thousand years anyway. As far as a quecha rush... Who do I rush? Saladin's cities are too far away and Mao's capital will be defended by a half dozen protective archers and isn't that great anyway.

I need the hammers for my wonders at this point.

cabert said:

That's not a good argument.
More cities = less barbs.

Click to expand...

I agree. Barbs usually don't attack until 1800 anyway which is plenty of time to build some defense.

a city is like 4 fogbusters.
If your cities leaves 2 or less squares between your cultural borders, you have the most efficient fogbusting possible.
And if you expand towards the AIs you totally suppress any possible barb spawning there.
+ if you settle near a pike, it's as if you had a super fogbuster

Of course, you still need defense!

Pete2006 said:

Mao's capital will be defended by a half dozen protective archers

Click to expand...

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the archers the AIs start with are simply regular ones = no free CG1 or drill.

Barbs can attack prior to 2000BC if you have 3 cities and they wander close enough. I've even had them enter my city around 2500BC before...

Basically, I agree with you, but I'm just saying that you need defenses and if you're planning on hooking up a resource for this purpose then you have to be careful with your 3rd city. Of course if you have quechas or archers the worry is seriously diminished, and in that case I will usually build my 3rd city early as well

cabert said:

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the archers the AIs start with are simply regular ones = no free CG1 or drill.

Click to expand...

Nope, they definitely start with free cg1 and drill, just like aggressive civs start with combat1 on their offensive guys

Could you post save-files too. I'm interested about your city management.

Still amazed by your last game. I hope you can do it this time too.

Check screenshot 7 for that. Forgot about that protective/drill thingie. Quesha rush is out of the question bummer. What wonders are you going to build Pete. Oracle is the first one apparantly.

Killroyan said:

Check screenshot 7 for that. Forgot about that protective/drill thingie. Quesha rush is out of the question bummer. What wonders are you going to build Pete. Oracle is the first one apparantly.

Click to expand...

Stonehenge, Oracle and Colossus are the ones I always try to build. I may try for the Great Library as well but I usually lose that race.

If you were to take metcast from oracle you should be able to nab the GL fairly easily in addition assuming your next tech path is towards literature...At least on emperor I can usually get the GL everytime unless an industrious civ with marble prioritizes it as well...

It seems that you need to do something to Mao to get peace. Then, you can try to get a city in near his territory with the floodplains. Then again, on Immortal they may already be taken. In order to see if a northwestern city would be profitable, you need to scout that area.

futurehermit said:

If you were to take metcast from oracle you should be able to nab the GL fairly easily in addition assuming your next tech path is towards literature...At least on emperor I can usually get the GL everytime unless an industrious civ with marble prioritizes it as well...

Click to expand...

I think I would have to choose either the Colossus or GL. I wouldn't be able to get both. Which is better? I would guess Colossus.

I pillaged the crap out of Beijing. 3 mines and 2 farms. I also killed 2-3 archers and lost 1 quecha.



Mao begged for peace and I granted his wishes.



First 1/2 of the Stonehenge/Oracle combo.



There were no seafood resources near the lion location but I built it anyway. It'll never produce any units but it'll support 4 cottages and can work some coastal tiles.

I paused outside of this barb city for several turns waiting for it to grow to size 2. It looks like it is in a good location and there is no reason to raze it.



Lost 1 quecha there. 1 city at the cost of one quecha. Good deal!



Pass.



Capital city screen. I put the cottage on the plains tile because I have an abundance of food.



Hello Red Peter. Red Peter is a decent friend to have. He'll trade fairly but he doesn't believe in charity. I'll try to keep him on my good side.



I'm going to take Monarchy again. The only other choice here in Metal Casting and since I have no gold/silver/gems, it is worth 0 happiness. I need my cities to grow now.



Civics switch.