Role Play Challenge: Wang Kon the non-Isolated Isolationist

madscientist

RPC Supergenius
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Welsome to my next RPC game. These games are meant to be fun and education. In this game we plan to play a hemispheres game where Wang Kon plays as an isolationist who needs to win via a space race. Just to show everyone that you do not need anyone.

Rules are fairly simple

1) Wang Kon considers all other civilization inferior to Korea. Therefore he can NEVER trade with any other civilization. This includes open borders, resources, or techs! He cannot give in to tribute, gifts, nor join a war.

2) Wang Kon must win via space. Therefore he must tech sufficiently.

3) He has any option he sees fit to deal with war. However, he SHOULD get an empire satisfactory to win the game, but no more unless for self preservation. Another words, wang does not plan to exterminate his rivals fast on the continent and out tech the other hemisphere via empire size. He may rush someone, but unless we have leaders like Shaka/Khan/Monty we should just ignore them. Wnag reserves the right to make all military decision, these are more of a guideline.

Settings:

Marathon speed, monarhc difficulty.
2 hemispheres map, everything random
standard sized map

Our superior leader



The settings



The random generator gave us an arid map.

And the start



Not much of a GP farm or a cottage capital. 1 cow, 2 seafood, and jumbos.

OK, how do we start?

EDIT: I reposted the initial screenshot to show the resources and I was initially wrong, there are 2 seafoods so a GP farm is possible.

PS: I am going to try and slow down this RPC, lately I feel as I have been moving much too fast with each segment since I got the faster computer at home.
 
Gp farm is possible but IMO it's better as a Moai Statues site (10 sea tiles, a plains hill, plains cow) with solid production.
I'd also think about building the Colossus here as a financial civ, you get 3 commerce ocean tiles and 4 on the coast.
 
I guess that being isolated you might want to recreate the Cuban Isolationists' Succession Game... but maybe to a little lesser extent. :mischief:
 
Maybe except a bit disappointing for today's standards finish date, but that's lame to blame for.
 
Glad you liked my idea!

Good luck with Wang Kon, he is one of my favorite leaders.

Now, get teching so Korea can be truly isolated, on another planet in fact! :goodjob:

Anyway, I agree with schwartz. Try for Colossus, and put Moai Statues in Seoul. Seoul could be a good production or military city.
 
No trading will be interesting. Intercontinental war may be necessary to secure resources.

As far as your starting location, this seems to be a great wonder-spamming production capital. The fish, cows, and clams should give enough surplus food to run all of the mines and the elephants, with some left over for growth and/or cottages. You may have more luck getting Great People from wonders than with a GP farm, with this start.

It seems to me that without trade, you are going to have REX and maintain a massive empire to compensate for lost trade opportunites.

Techs ... hmm ... how about Fishing > Hunting > AH > Archery > BW > Wheel > Pottery

Knowing you, you may want to get Archery before AH. Either way. Your first builds will be workboats and warriors anyway, so you have some time to get the worker techs done.

Good luck!
 
Nice starting site IMO. Massive production possibilities with Maoi Statues. Looks like there might be another resource in the BFC as well.

What about aiming for a full-fledged coastal economy with Colossus and the Great Lighthouse and only settling coastal locations initially?
 
I prefer setting on the ivory if we want to make the capital a production city. You still get a 2:food: 2:hammers: 1 :commerce: city tile, but you jump up to 4-5 plains hills, rather than just having 2 hills and the ivory. This does not risk losing any resources either.

However, settling in place does let you have the 2:commerce: bonus from the ivory, and quicker access to that land off to the Northwest (assuming you don't have a land route)
 
seems fun, im looking forward to it
i dl the map also :D

edit: hmm why cant i load the map? runtime media library error or something
 
Hmm, I just remembered my non-isolated isolationist games.

Expect A LOT of "can we have open borders" pop ups, to the point where you wish to pull out all of your hair.

Should you try for Buddhism, maybe? or Hinduism?
 
Wang Kon, the non-Isolated Isolationist: Part I

Wang decides to begin settling this magnificent land for the Korean empire.

First things is we move our warrior



We see another livestock resource to the east, so we sent the explorer more north to see what else is up there.

I decided to take MoN's advice and settle ontop of the jumbos. I see absolutely no advantage to moving. We gain more land and the hill we moved fromgibes us a riverside 4 hammer hill. That's right, I am thinking through this RPC alot slower than the War-Monger Gandhi one.



well we gained a wine hill and two plains at the cost of three coasts. This actually turned out to work out very nicely as you will see later on.

We started by building 2 warriors and two workboats.

Techpath went fishing/hunting/archery (yes SlobberingBear, we are protective after all)/wheel/AH/mining/BW and start pottery

We popped two huts, the first gave us a map



Yes, very nice ice. Cold desolate isolation, just like wang likes. There is stone and seafodd here so even though there is ALOT of desert this city may help. Especially stone for a protective leader, whipping walls for gold overflow!

The second hut popped 3 warriors which killed our starting warrior.

We meet our first AI.



Well, I do NOT forsee a peaceful coexistence here.. He came from the east, so that stone city site would help block him off.

The nest leader



The Hindu founder. Nothing in the rules against adopted someone elses religion for diplomacy.

The last leader we met



The more socialable of the agressive AIs. He appears to be directly south of us.

we got a nice random event



So all archers start off with combat I, CG I, Drill I. Perhaps we can bait Ragnar into attacking.

And a view of the land.



Some nice floodplainds however Ragnar will likely scoop them up. More reason to start plodding.

To the south is a little different.



OK, while finishing up the settler we finish AH and...



Horses in the BFC! Thankyou MoN for that advice.

We settle in a decent area considering it's an arid map. Rice cows and dye.



As we were fortunate with the horses, we were unfortunate with the copper as there is one resource so far




We saved here, a look at the capital as we build another settler.



And a large vire of the map showing some sites for potential cities.



The questions are which are the priority??? Two AIs to block off, both agressive.

So I have alot of questions and decisions here

1) Where does city #3 go? Do we try and claim the copper? Settler directly east of sity #2 to try and seal off Hammarabi? Claim the stone to seal Ragner off to the north?

2) Techpath: I say Pottery/writing to start on our economy. Perhaps IW, and definitely beeline construction for the UB.

3) Military?? DO we think about rushing either Ragnar or Hammarabi???? Ragnar is the more dangerous longterm. Also we need chariots/HAs to hit Hammarabi due to the UU. I prefer not to take both out, one should be enough.

OK, any suggestions for our solitary leader?
 
If you can eliminate Ragnar, you should be able to have nearly all of the northern part of the continent. Now, it's not the best land, but it should be enough.

Also, on another note, you should go cottage crazy this time as well. :D

Or, you could rex 1, 2 and 5 and block off Hammurabi. Then you can take out Ragnar later and still have the northern part.
 
City 1 is nice, but I doubt you can get there before Hammurabi. If so, grab it. Otherwise, city 3's stone/sheep/seafood is hard to beat, and it blocks Ragnar.

I would move city 4 to the west a hair to make room for a city to its east, to get the cows and the two gold tiles. Ragnar will probably beat you to the FP and the gold near them, but you can get the southern two if you hurry. Two gold tiles for a financial leader is huge. I would try to get that spot soon, even if you miss city spot 2 because of it.

As far as war goes, the question here is WHEN do you want to war. Now, with Axes or Chariots? Or perhaps in the late classical age, when you have your Hwachas and War Elephants? My vote is REX now, war a little later with more powerful units. Use that Financial trait to tech up to Construction and HBR and take hornhead out with the deadly Hwachaphant combo.
 
Militarily I would get rid of Ragnar first. He's the earliest offensive threat thus far with his berserkers, and he's just a pain in the butt anyway. I'd also leave Hammi alone for the time being. I've found him to be a decent trading partner when you're on his good side, although I might be mistaken as I play on noble >.<. And Hammi is a pain to rush with his bowmen lol.
 
Give locations 1 and 2 priorities, with 5 a very high-end option.
Then go build some axes or chariots and rush Ragnar.
 
Militarily I would get rid of Ragnar first. He's the earliest offensive threat thus far with his berserkers, and he's just a pain in the butt anyway. I'd also leave Hammi alone for the time being. I've found him to be a decent trading partner when you're on his good side, although I might be mistaken as I play on noble >.<. And Hammi is a pain to rush with his bowmen lol.

Unfortunately, RPC rules forbid tech trades.

IMO rule 3 is open to interpretation and very dangerous at that. I'm staying out of this one in terms of shadowing, but if I were to play it I'd have a hard time determining what's sufficient land to tech to space WITHOUT trades - certainly more than what you can win space with if tech trading is allowed. To this effect, One might find they need the better part of the continent, or 1/2 of it, or 1/3, or 2/3. What's enough? It may wind up depending on leaders we've not met yet, with the decision to pull the trigger (er...sword?) coming much before that...with waiting potentially being fatal due to the RPC rules and falling behind.
 
Ragnar must DIE...

You Just KNOW he's going to interupt your SPLENDID ISOLATION, all that meditation and contemplation in GLORIOUS ISOLATION, and then BAMM!!! Some drunken annoying beer swilling, wine slurping, Rum Rampaging VIKING DRUNKEN SCUM, is going to come down and interupt your peace and Solitude.

Becides, he'll just spend the gold on more ALCOHOL products and buy more sharp implements to injure themselves or others.

Its a boon to the world you'd be doing.

As such, settle city No 2, move 4 to claim the gold/floodplains/block ragnar, and then elimiante him.
 
Yes, I think Ragnar needs to go! THe big questions are whether we can trust Hammarabi to leave us be and whether Ragnar's land in enough. Those are ALOT of cottaged floodplains there, and I am planning of man producing academies with GSs considering teh RPC trade limitations.
 
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