SSE/EE For Deity Masters (Walkthrough)

SSE/EE For Deity Masters

I'm still surprised at the lack of enthusiasm in regards to the EE. In any case, I decided to give the SSE/EE another go, but stepping it up to deity. I have to confess, that I can't win more than half my games on this level, and perhaps may never be able to. But there are things I still have to learn, those pesky things that simply are NOT documented well, or not at all (and often documented WRONG!). I could have even made this game easier had I understood some things a bit better but nevertheless, we managed alright.

Actually, the first time I played this map, I was VERY close to the space race, but just lost in second place. I can't say I was happy, things turned out bad for me on the map. I ended up on a continent that didn't even have ANY aluminum on it! That actually was one of the game-breakers for me. As well, my continent was smaller than the other one, which obviously can have many reprecussions, even if you conquer your own. And of course, it turned out that I was alone on mine with Justinian, which meant not only could I NOT trade techs second hand after stealing any, but Justinian simply was not going to trade techs to me until I met up with others from the other side of the world (breaking the monopoly). And then there was--

Oh never mind. The point is, instead of just moving on to a better generated map, I wanted to shadow that game, as I still believe there were some good things to be done, as long as one ADAPTS. In the end, it worked out well despite the limitations.

In the meantime, I have included a sneak-peak shot here, for what is to come later.





P.S. Actually, I'm not sure I'd consider myself as a Deity Master as I still do a lot of boo-boos in them, but I guess if you can make blunders and still recover, then you can't be too far off....

Wow, really can't wait for this one.

Looking forward to it, I liked your other EE game.
So this is a second try on this map? I can never get into those myself, I always get hung up on the mistakes I made the first time and end up making new (worse) ones trying to correct them.

That's a huge stack of spies. Should be an interesting read.

SSE/EE for Deity Masters! (SSE/EE)



Leader:: Ghandi (Decent choice)
Speed:: Normal (Hard)
Difficulty:: Deity (Hardest)
Map:: Continents (Very hard)


Notes: No turning off of barbarians or other cheap-exploit tactics as seen in other games. In essence, this is as hard as it gets. But if you can win here, you know you can win just about anywhere...

Disclaimer:
This strategy emphasizes heavily on the fundamentals of SE. If you haven’t elevated your game to that level yet, then good luck to you.




Some Past Walkthroughs indexed here::

Beyond the Sword

• Something Different (SSE/EE Immortal) (Ghandi)
• Food Economy Test (HC)
• Without the Mids (Ghandi)
• SSE/WE with a Pack of Wolves (Ramesses)
• The Great Lighthouse (Ramesses)
• Competing vs Darius I (Ramesses)
• The Insane Walkthrough (Ramesses)
• The Insane Walkthrough (Ghandi)
• The Insane Walkthrough (HC)

WarLords

• The Insane Walkthrough (Ramesses)
• The Unreal Walkthrough (Ramesses)
• The Unreal Walkthrough (Part II Ghandi)
• The Impossible Walkthrough (Ramesses)
• The Impossible Walkthrough (Part II Ghandi)

The Ancient Era!

I'm not to sure what to say of this spot. Seems I have a gold-hill, but I'm never a fanatic over those, especially since this one has 0 food, it will be like running a specialist, but not getting the GP's.

I also am not a fan of the oasis. It is a tile that can NOT be improved. Nor can I just move my settler onto it and plant a city down that way. Grrrr. But for now, there is a corn and once CS comes in, it will get another bread piece added to it.

First things first, I plan to make a worker, then chop-make a second worker, then use both to double-chip TGW for our EE system.

3560 BC
Justinian runs into us. Hmm... one of those religious fanatics, isn't he? Also, seems he founded Bud.
-ni

2680 BC
Inside shot of our capital. TGW ready for completion. And about time, because even though I double-chopped, barbs on deity are ready to burst through the culture gates about now.

As you can see, I still am at pop-1 only (due to the gold) but I'm doing this for now to speed up my teching, I believe deity Ai's start with at least 4 bonus techs, so I really need to try to close the gap FAST!

2240 BC
City #2 is ready for founding. I will try and back-fill the little gap between these two cities later (if I can stop Justinian from getting there first).

Note: In the edge of the left side, you can JUST see the culture border from him. I'm not sure if that is game-design or a bug that way, but I always keep a look out for them.

1680
Our first great person pops. And what do you think that may be?
Hmmm!

Time to lightbulb him for fishing-tech.

Ooops, seems we can't lightbulb great spys.... alright, lets absorb him then.

* Ohh, and in other news, I am ready to found city #3. As soon as I can get these two smaller cities to pop 1 border, I will effectively be able to shut out Justin from grabbing anything near me, and I can slow down to expand at my own pace. BTW, TGW sure helps in not having to spend TOO much protection from deity barbs. These random "horde uprising" events are infamouse and deadly here. Luckily, Justin now has to put up with all of them.

Note: I have a chariot next to that settler, due to horses in my fat cross. I like horses in rapid expansion games, because they are strong enough for barbs, and can keep up with settlers, while able to also scout ahead while waiting for those settlers.

1200 BC
Finally, Buddhism spreads to us. Obviously we convert IMMEDIATELY.
-ni

800 BC
At this point, I must have finished researching Aesthetics, because suddenly I advance into the Classical Era!

And look, Justin is 1 turn away from alphabet. Unfortunately we won't be able to trade much, as from his perspective, he has a tech monopoly on everything because I don't know anyone else yet. Grrr!



EoL

Should be an interesting game, I'm especially interested in how you cope with an 'isolated' start.

Well, virtually isolated, as you've said, Justinian WON'T trade a 'Monopoly tech'.

But then again, you can allway's steal, but who do you blame for that???

obsolete said:

I'm still surprised at the lack of enthusiasm in regards to the EE.

Click to expand...

Well, most players, even on the Strategy & Tips board, aren't playing above Monarch. This decreases the utility of The Internet, tech trading, and espionage because they all rely on AI success. Also, there are no leaders with traits or uniques that affect so it is never sensible to try and leverage espionage.

Financial and philosophical both affect espionage through more great spies and more commerce that can be turned into EP through the slider. They have the same effects on espionage as they would on science.




Anyway, since it's an EE game, being isolated with 1 other civ isn't that bad, even if he won't trade you can still steal from him. Though since he's a zealot, it's pretty easy to get to friendly with him if you're the same religion. And friendly civs will trade monopoly techs.

^^AFAIK only mansa trades monopoly techs ( and if he is in a good mood ). Friendly civs overlook WFYABTA......

This is a hassh start for a EE.... justinian is not as good as a techer and the impossibility of brokering should had gave obsolete some headaches

r_rolo1 said:

^^AFAIK only mansa trades monopoly techs ( and if he is in a good mood ). Friendly civs overlook WFYABTA......

Click to expand...

All civs will trade all techs if they're friendly (unless they're using it for wonders). It doesn't just affect WFYABTA.

Lord Chambers said:

Also, there are no leaders with traits or uniques that affect so it is never sensible to try and leverage espionage.

Click to expand...

Well, there's the Rathaus and some other buildings... but I get your point for sure. No UUs generating spy points above normal.

The Classical Era!

600 BC
Geeze, I knew it. The ONLY thing Justin is willing to trade, is silly fishing. And he wants my expensive Aesthetics for it! What a rip-off.

No Way Ho-Say!

* And, we are just about done completing the S.Paya. Now you may think that is a bit odd, especially since it is not in my capital. Well I have my reasons. This is my main out-post, and AI culture on deity is a tremendous force to contend with. So I am doing everything I can, to at least keep enough culture so I can hold onto that second gold hill right next to the border. The S. Paya gives at least 8 culture per turn, so it really is a big culture producer for its time. And after so many years, that number will double. Furthermore, I have chop-rushed other culture buildings, from obelisks to libraries. I want to keep this stronghold area strong. And the Gold discount for the Paya was just what the doctor ordered.

The only thing that sucks about this of course, is that I will now get great-prophet pollution which dips into my spy econ a bit, but some sacrifices should be made.

Note: Researching drama, 5 turns left. It may seem strange going after this, but I also want to get theaters up, because like I said, deity culture pressure is rediculously tuff to combat.
Also, I'm still doing active research. My immortal EE game went beelining almost to alphabet and then I put everything into spy points, but I don't believe that system works too well on deity. I want to run active research for a while longer, and just stockpile the EE points for now.

Oh, and second note: We just switched to slavery, and will whip the Paya now. Yes, yes, I know it's inefficient, and that we will have it in 2 turns anyhow, but I don't want to even take a 1 turn risk.

300 BC
Traded resources to Justin for money and wine. It helps also with relations. BTW, we stalled giving him GOLD until now, because we didn't want to risk him using it to build the Paya should he get the techs to unlock it..
-ni

175 BC
We are 1 turn away from CoL, and we pop another Great Spy. Time to turn him into a super-specialist as well.
-ni

150 BC
Traded Aesthetics finally to Justinian. The sad part, is that even at this stage, he will ONLY trade fishing to us. ARG!!! We really got trade-brokering screwed with techs on this map, but what choice do we have at the moment? I could hold onto it a bit longer, but then what? At least if I give it now, I can get SOMETHING out of the deal, and maybe help Justin grow a bit up the tech tree so he can get a lead that I can mooch off from later.

At least I know he can't rob the Paya from me anymore. I just hope he doesn't use it to build the Parthenon too close to me.

-ni

25 BC
City #4 is ready to be constructed. I am grabbing this spot up north, and will probably go for 8 cities total instead of my normal six. I want to unlock the FB and put it into my out-post city to combat Justinian's culture/politics. Also, I often find I need 7 cities anyway for those random builder events.

50 AD
The Parthenon was build in a far away land. Hopefully it wasn't in a Justinian city near me. That wonder also creates a lot of culture.

I don't mind if he built it elsewhere though, because more GP's for HIM is good for me, as I will hitch-hike off from him.

-ni


100

Whoops! Slave revolt in my capital. Why? Because I am an IDIOT! I forgot to swap back out of slave, cause I was doing it so many times already.

Our first mistake already...
-ni

125
City number 5 is going up. Right in our back-fill lands, but it's not that we even have to back-fill it right now. Our culture is so strong, we have the terrain covered so it's no big deal at the moment. But nevertheless, I want to get all my planned cities up to production soon and founded.

Oh, and looks like we are already on turn #120! With only 500 Max in total, that gives me an odd feeling as I still feel like we are near the beginning.

275
Oh look, Justin is actually willing to trade sailing to us.
Ammazing!!

Alright, we give Drama for Sailing and 165g.

A rip off again, but we have no choice but to get ripped off because everyone else is still on the other continent.

Ohh, I'm also a bit unsure of that trade, as it will also let Justin build a bit more culture production as well.
-ni


350
We mange to research Philosophy ourself, which now propels us into the Medieval Era.



Note: Justinian is 6 turns away from learning guilds.

EoL