Gma02: “First Come, First Severed” - Training Day Game

gmaharriet

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Welcome to Gma02: First Come, First Severed. This is an Emperor level Training Day Game for players who want to improve their skills in trading, micro-management and warmongering. I’ve been playing awhile, but I’m still weak on trading and warmongering. My MMing skills are weak for Emperor level, so I’m hoping this game will help both me and my team mates.

We will play as the Celts in a variant on the Non-Oscillating War, emphasizing our Unique Unit, the Gallic Swordsman. The basic framework is taken from Arathorn’s War Academy article, though I have edited out the parts that will not apply to this game.

Arathorn: “Comprehensive Guide to Variants” said:
Non-Oscillating War (NOW): . . . . [edited]. . . .As each is eliminated, the next must be declared on before the end of the turn. Other wars are allowed, and alliances are encouraged. Sandbagging or not finishing off a defeated foe simply to not go to war with the next one on the list is illegal.. . . . [edited]

We will change this variant as follows:
Iron is the key.

We may research technologies in any order we desire.

Once we research Iron Working, we must immediately begin preparing for war. We must immediately begin building Gallic Swords, if possible. Once we have amassed 5 Gallic Swords or, alternatively, discovered that we lack iron within our cultural borders with which to build them, we must prepare for war. Other builds are allowed during the phase of building our first strike force, but if we have iron, we must have at least one GS in production at all times until the first war starts.

In the event we have no iron, our priority becomes obtaining it by any means. If not readily available by settlement or colony, we prepare for war on the nearest civ who possesses it and target that civ for elimination. The nearest civ will be determined, measuring from the closest point between our cultural boundaries and those of any other met civs. Any and all other settlement options and builds take a backseat to iron. Once that iron is claimed, we must begin building Gallic Swords.

Once a civ is targeted for elimination, we may not have peace with them. They must be eliminated. At all times after the beginning of the first war, we must have at least one civ targeted for elimination. Other wars with “non-targeted” civs are allowed. Once one Target Civ is eliminated, the next closest civ becomes the new Target Civ and war must be declared by the end of the turn. Rinse and repeat until we win.

Timelines: 24 to grab, 144 after that to play. (7 days total) I expect it will move more quickly than that, but that guarantees weekend days in everyone’s turnsets.

Turnsets: The first player’s turnset will be 20 turns and 10 for each player’s set thereafter. If turns become longer in the later game we may go to smaller sets.

Other rules of Gma02:

Rule #1 of Gma02: We're all friends here. We will learn as much from our mistakes as from our successes. Criticism of your turnset or questioning your decisions is not a personal attack. Don't use it as one, don't take it as one.

Rule #2: Detailed logs. We can't spot mistakes unless we can see what's been done. Granted, we can't all be CommandoBob, but the whole team needs to be able to make sense of your turnset. (NOTE: CB, you've become famous for your logs. ;) )

Rule #3: There are no stupid questions. If you're in the middle of your turnset and either: (a) realize that you're in over your head; or (b) have hit a crossroads that needs a group decision, stop and ask. Discussion is greatly encouraged.

Rule #4: When in doubt on cheats, exploits or bugs, consult. If you can find someone online to ask, great. In the absence of that, I like to use GOTM rules as a guide. They are always accessible, even if no other team members are online. If they need modification or if we decide not to use one of those rules, I'll put it in the informational post once a decision has been reached. GOTM rules can be found here: http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/rules.php

Rule #5: Have fun. I hope everyone enjoys this one and learns lots.

And Bede’s rules - I don't expect any conflict between Bede's rules and the GOTM, but if there is one, please follow Bede's rules:

Rule #6: No false peace treaties. Pointy stick research is a long and honorable tradition but breaking a peace treaty secured with technology and installment payments before the treaty has run its course will not be allowed. Any treaty secured by gold per turn or resources on our side must be honored for the full twenty turns.

Rule #7: "The trading reputation is golden" say LKendter, and so it is. That means no deliberate act on the player's part that will cause the premature end of any deal involving gold per turn or resources from our side. Losing the "Trade Rep" has consequences that will affect the entire course of the game, and not for the better. Being unable, ever again, to buy tech for gold per turn or resources, or supplying resources for a lump sum payment, changes the dynamics of the game so much that what had been a game of building, diplomacy and warfare, becomes a game of war or rumors of war, unending. I can play that sort of game, at Deity, and win, but I don't like to; it takes way too many options off the table.

Unfortunately the game does not recognize the difference between random events and player actions when considering the impact of a broken trade route. So volcanic eruptions can destroy a road and break a deal, barbarian galleys appearing on a coastline can break a trade route, war not involving the two principals in a deal can break a trade route, and the demise of one of the parties to a deal can break a trade route. So when considering a resources or gold per turn deal for cold cash, World Maps, or technology, look around carefully and make sure those risks are minimal

Rule #8: RoP rape is not a permitted tactic, nor will the use of RoP's or scouts to deny a resource to an opponent by parking a unit on it before it can be roaded.

Rule #9: No worker automation, ever, and limit the use of go-to orders to situations that are detailed in the notes to the save. It is really annoying to press enter on the first turn of a set and have little figures scampering all over the landscape. It is even more annoying to chase them down and turn them off.

The Statistics:
Version: Civ III Conquests
Level: Emperor
Civ: Celts
Victory Condition: Conquest, but all victory conditions will be left on.
Opponents: random
Barbarians: roaming
Land mass: continent
Water: 60%
Map size: standard
Age: 5 Billion
Climate: wet
Temperature: temperate
Max Players: 6

Post #2 will be reserved for an informational post. Any important announcements or decisions will be posted there from time to time. I will also post the roster there, but please bear in mind that I will not update it after every turnset to show who's just played, who's up, who's on deck, etc. I will try to update it for long-term skips and the like.

Post #3
will contain the opening save.

Many thanks to Aabraxan, who did most of the written portion of the rules and to Bede for the additional ethical rules. I accept responsibility for any changes that don't make sense. :D
 
Current Roster:
Gmaharriet
Greygamer
Bede
Desertsnow
Aabraxan
Kickbooti - permanent lurker status
 
The screenie and the save:
 

Attachments

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Wow, you lured Bede into an C3C AW variant? :eek:

I must say it's a bit refreshing to see him on occasion coming back over from CIV to the dark side. :lol:

Lurking back in the shadows.
 
lurker's comment: I am trying to move up to emperor level so I'll be watching this one very carefully

If you are stuck for a player I'm happy to give it a try but expect lots of questions and the odd mistook :)
 
We'd be happy to have you, greygamer. :) Except for Bede, the rest of us have the same objective of moving up to Emperor, and "questions" are what this game will be all about. Vigorous discussion is greatly encouraged...it's how we all learn.

Please confirm if you want to play. :D
 
Thanks for the invite I guess we all sink or swim together :lol:
couple of questions
Any reason for the geographical settings, do these present more or less of a challenge?
I tend to leave them alone but more info would be appreciated.

Are we going to take the first world generated or pick the best start from a selection?
 
couple of questions
Any reason for the geographical settings, do these present more or less of a challenge?
I tend to leave them alone but more info would be appreciated.
Standard continents 60% water, wet and temperate tends to make a good game length and good chances of having a river. I don't care for dry starts.

Are we going to take the first world generated or pick the best start from a selection?

Well, it was the 2nd world generated. What I said above about dry (and desert) starts. :D I hope everyone likes it.

Edited: I'd said warm & temp, when I meant wet & temp. :blush:
 
:salute: TGOM reporting for duty ma'am! (That's pronounced mum, by the way.)

Sharpening the rusty sword and getting some new soles on the holey sandals ;)

A word to the weisenheimers amongst you - this will play a level or a level and a half above the stated level, so be prepared to bear down just little bit. Some concentration on the task at hand will pay off big time. As will creativity, but please run any ideas (heard faintly in the background, an old soldier muttering "I have an idea") past the team before committing to it.

That said - anybody who can turn in a creditable performance at Monarch can surely play this game.

So let's tell a good story, mix it up a little and have a ball.
 
Start looks good :D
River saves on an Aquaduct and gives good amounts of bonus commerce. I'd normally push my first 'scout' onto the hilltop(s) and then follow the river to find the next likely city site. I'd also plan on chopping that forest at some point to boost an early improvement and give fewer good defensive tiles next to my capital. looks like there may be a coast line to the west/south as well.

Is it worth moving the worker to the south to see if we can get a port this early on? Indeed how often do you delay putting a city down straight away?
 
It would be possible to move the worker to the hill for a view of our surroundings...two tiles from a hill, right? We'll certainly want to move our settler off that juicy bonus grass he's standing on...one direction or another.

As for chopping, it would certainly help build a granary for a possible settler factory, and leave one or two forests for the IBT shields the factory might need.

The hills will be nice for some shields later in the game when they're roaded and mined and, with a little luck, might have iron.
 
Karnak has peered into the crystal ball and discerned what looks like coast to the west (those blue bordered brownish things in the lefthand upper quadrant) So worker to the hill to check it out. Since we are farmers, not fisherfolk, if that is indeed the case, you can settle on the spot or move the settler one further east as moving the settler one west would be one of those nasty one field away from the coast spots, and one south would not leave enough room for a decently productive coast town. The river has some nice bends to it so we will have lots of opportunities to sing "Proud Mary".

Moving the settler more than one turn is like playing "follow the bread crumbs with Hansel & Gretel", ultimately not very satisfying. And being one turn behind is enough.
 
lurker's comment: This should be fun to watch! :D
 
Just a reminder to the players to be sure that "NoAIpatrol=0" is in your Conquests .ini file. Someone referred to it in another thread...I checked mine and it was missing. I can only guess that I downloaded someone's save who didn't have it and played a turn. For anyone who doesn't know what the entry in the file means, it controls barb behavior, which got nerfed in Conquests.

It might be well to discuss other Preferences settings. I use "Always Wait at End of Turn", "Always Produce Last Unit" (though I often still choose something else), I "Animate" all types of movement friendly and otherwise, do NOT automatically "Renegotiate Deals", Sound is On but Music is Off, ummmm, can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

If you play settings other than whatever we decide on, please reset before passing along the saves. Nothing is more frustrating than to make an attack on the first turn, only to find animations are off and have no idea what happened. Bede, I usually go with your suggestions on these, so please comment. :)
 
lurker's comment: If I can add a couple, Gram. In my last SG someone liked putting things on "Go to" and "automate" moves. This is big :nono: in a SG.
 
lurker's comment: Honored Lurker reporting for duty! :salute:
 
Just a reminder to the players to be sure that "NoAIpatrol=0" is in your Conquests .ini file. Someone referred to it in another thread...I checked mine and it was missing. I can only guess that I downloaded someone's save who didn't have it and played a turn. For anyone who doesn't know what the entry in the file means, it controls barb behavior, which got nerfed in Conquests.

It might be well to discuss other Preferences settings. I use "Always Wait at End of Turn", "Always Produce Last Unit" (though I often still choose something else), I "Animate" all types of movement friendly and otherwise, do NOT automatically "Renegotiate Deals", Sound is On but Music is Off, ummmm, can't think of anything else off the top of my head.
That all sounds fine I'll check my .ini file

lurker's comment: If I can add a couple, Gram. In my last SG someone liked putting things on "Go to" and "automate" moves. This is big :nono: in a SG.
I tend to use go to for moves that complete in the same turn, is that still okay?
 
I tend to use go to for moves that complete in the same turn, is that still okay?
lurker's comment: No that's fine. It's when the next player picks up the game and units/workers/Settlers are on a "go to" move and the next player has no idea where they're going. That's very frustrating.
 
lurker's comment: If I can add a couple, Gram. In my last SG someone liked putting things on "Go to" and "automate" moves. This is big :nono: in a SG.

Yeah, I was following your game and I noticed. I know how annoying that can be. Great game, BTW!!! :goodjob: I've never been able to figure out how you remember all the new stats in such a highly modded game, but it looked interesting.

Good to have you lurking, Whomp! :wavey:
 
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