Monarch Student^ I - Elizabeth

[Meatbuster]

Welcome to Monarch Student Prime I.

So given the virtual go-signal, and by limited demand, let's test the waters for a new Monarch forum game. Feel free to play on different difficulty levels, however. We will start off with a powerful leader and civ to ease players into a new season of High School Monarchy: Elizabeth of England.

Atomic Betty features one of the best trait combos in the game. Problem is, Financial and Philosophical aren't exactly the best of friends. I'm certain that only the rare super-city (such as a wonders-and-cottages capital) can take advantage of both traits at the same time. Still, both GP farms and cottage spam cities get to benefit, nothing to sneeze at.

England starts with Fishing and Mining. Mining gets us straight to Bronze Working. While Fishing... well it's not so useful for today's start.




England's Unique Unit is the Redcoat. Gone are the glory days of sheer Redcoat and Cossack dominance, but they are still very difficult to stop during their time.




England's Unique Building is the Stock Exchange. You can't really say no to a Bank that produces 15% more wealth. Problem is, Banking isn't a high-prority tech for players going to Liberalism. However, those on the warpath and taking the south end of tech tree can easily take a detour to Banking after Guilds and enjoy its benefits immediately.




Map Settings...
Map: Standard Fractal
Oppnents: 6
Sealevel: Medium
Climate: Cold

Spoiler for map commentary and hints:

I think I'll be joining the ranks of evil map makers soon. No, I don't like depriving anyone of valuable strategic resources, but you'll see why. Oh, and if you think that's a good start below, I invite you to go ahead scout Monty's crib. (I didn't edit it at all, that's the start the map generator gave him!)

Also the Fractal map this time seemed to be VERY generous with resources. I actually had to remove a lot of the resources on the entire map. But still, the amount of resources is mind-boggling. I played through it, and I feel this is an easy but fun map.

Oh by the way, this popped up in one of my trials for this map:

I wonder what's going to happen next...

[Meatbuster]

The historical journey of the English begins here:


The Worldbuilder save is below. It is good for Monarch or Emperor starts. Nobles and Princes may need to remove archery from the computer players. Immortals and Deities may need to give the computer some more free techs.

Unzip the file and place it in your Documents/BTS/Saves/WorldBuilder folder. Start the game by choosing Single Player -> Custom Scenario, where you may adjust the speed and difficulty to your liking.

As it is my first time making a public WB save, please feel free to point out any errors before any disasters happen.

Recommended Checkpoints:
*1000BC or 1AD
*500AD
*1000AD or Liberalism
*Victory!

Please remember to put the journals of your adventures inside spoiler tags.

[Churchdown Yank]

Hey hey hey. Here we go!

Atomic Betty! I like that. Haven't heard that one before - but she is in my opinion probably the overall strongest leader when you consider traits, techs, UU and UB. Atomic indeed. I'm going Monarch because although I did ok on Emperor in NC32, I didn't win - even with a good start. Plus it's Monarch Student, so maybe more people will want to play on that level anyway. I'm really a Monarch level player.

Now... move 1SE!!! for the silver? Move 1 N for the extra production in capital?? Or (having read the "map spoiler") panic and settle in place?!

Will report back at 1000BC...

edit: Yeah - I meant 1 SE. I got really excited and made several misspellings and then wet myself.

[shyuhe]

Assuming warrior 1SW reveals no new resources, settling 1SE seems pretty obvious. You get ample production, silver, and enough food.

[Kadazzle]

I'm playing this on Immortal / Epic speed, just to get some practice.

1000 BC

Spoiler:

I decided to settle SE for the Silver, and I moved my warrior SE as well, to see what's beyond the Silver. Tech Path is going to go Agriculture (For Corn + the 2 Rice revealed) -> Bronze Working (Chop lots of settlers) -> The Wheel -> Pottery. After that, I might go Mytiscism -> Writing -> Meditation -> Aest -> Drama -> (Philo on 2nd GP), or I could go up the CoL / Civil Service line, who knows.

I got 60 gold and a map from my first two huts, the map revealed everything north of me. Looks like I have a fair bit' o land that I can block off, so settling southward (and most likely towards greener land) will be best.



I found Isabella, Monty (Buddhist Founder) and Mehmed (Hindu Founder), and a couple turns after that I got the Herbalist event, which I chose option #3 (I got -1 population, 2 unhappiness). My capital went Warrior (Size 2/3, forget) -> Worker -> Warrior x3 (NOTE*** I built 2 in 2 turns by whipping away the unhappiness from the herbalist event, so I now have 3 warriors fogbusting all the northern tiles, and one exploring south).

Turn 50 - 80 was mainly exploration and improving the capital. I met Hammurabi! I also made the decision after I whipped my warriors to go and start on another worker, to chop out settlers quick-time. After the worker I went warrior (3 pop) -> warrior (4 pop) -> Settler.

Once I finished my settler I made open borders with Monty for diplo bonus + possibility of him spreading his religion. I also founded York and met Kublai and Catherine on the same turn, while Hammy founded Judaism. I decided to go Library -> Settler in my capital next, so that I can get a big enough tech lead that once I crash my economy from expanding, that I'll be able to tech trade and still stay alive and good. I believe that I'll go either Library (whip) -> Worker -> workboat in York, and it will be my GPP farm until I can get a better site.



After the Library I whipped a chariot than began on a settler. Monty spread Buddhism to me and Kublai (YUS!) so I'm going to wait for one of them to request me to switch before I do. Mehmed declared on Hammy already, so this game looks fairly easy to pull out a peaceful win.

The tech path I decided in the end was Agri -> BW -> The Wheel -> Pottery -> Mysticism -> Meditation -> Writing -> AH (Found Horses by York) -> Aest (Binary).

At 1000 BC I am nearly finished Aesthetics, and I nearly have placed my third city (blocker site). Both Izzy and Monty are at Cautious, but soon to be pleased once the religious bonus kicks in in 10 more turns. I will be going for a cultural victory this game, or I might beeline Rifling and take over the world. Who knows.

[michmbk]

Here's another vote for warrior 1SW, likely settling 1SE. FIN and PHI can work great together in an empire under HR. Lots of happy police keep your cottage cities growing and your GP farm running a bunch of specialists.

I love Liz, so maybe I'll take a break from getting my you-know-what handed to me on deity and shadow this at monarch this weekend.

[Kadazzle]

1 AD

Spoiler:

Nothing too major happened this turnset. I finished Aesthetics, traded it to Monty for Alpha, then traded Alpha / Writing around for Sailing, Poly, Priesthood, IW, Hunting, Archery, Masonry, Monotheism and Monarchy. The AI are REALLY slow at teching on this map.

I founded Hastings in the Fish / Silver site, and everything is going good. I'm leading in tech, and just finished Monasteries / Granaries in York and London, so the BPT are building up.



The path this round was Aest (Traded for Math) -> Drama -> Literature -> Music (Got the GA). I then decided to go CoL and plan to go to Civil Service.

I dec'd Mehmed for diplo reasons, and I got my first GP and settled in the capital for an academy. The second GP will be used to bulb Philo, and if I'm the first to found it I'll try and shoot for a Great Prophet, to get a good Wall Street City.

**NOTE - Switched civics in golden age from GA.

Currently the diplo situation is good with everyone except for Hammy and Mehmed at Pleased / Friendly. Nothing to worry about though, as Hammy and Mehmed have no friends at all.

I'm about to settle my next 3 cities, and I'll get my 2nd GS 1 turn before my GA ends, meaning that I can switch back into Slavery and hop into Pacifism as well. Game plan after that is to abuse Monarchy to get huge cities, and then either dominate through power or go culture / space race.

[Meatbuster]

@Kadazzle

Spoiler:

You seem to be in a very good position now. Looks like you are on track to win via culture, assuming Hammy and Meh's stacks don't get to you.

Perhaps because it's Cold weather, there are a lot of plains except in grasslands under jungle areas, so AI may be having difficulty making their cottage spam cities.

[hou jing]

Will I be able to play this save with the 3.17 patch, or will I need an additional one? I'd like to give this a shot to see how far from I am from being a capable Monarch-level player.

Thanks

[Meatbuster]

I think Worldbuilder saves don't care about versions, except when No Espoinage option is used. (I think.) Feel free to give it a try.

[Jasonc]

Hi, I've just discovered this forum and it looks pretty interesting. I play on Monarch all the time, but cannot seem to find a strategy that will consistently win. I think I'll try out the game, but am unclear on the overall idea. Is there someplace where I can learn more about the student concept. For instance, does everyone play and learn from each other? Is there a time limit like on the GOTM (I rarely have time to finish a game per month)?

[Fidardorist]

Originally Posted by Jasonc

Is there someplace where I can learn more about the student concept. For instance, does everyone play and learn from each other? Is there a time limit like on the GOTM (I rarely have time to finish a game per month)?

It's a revival of a level up from Prince thread run most recently by Ai Shazuka. Here is the index: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showth...60#post7976360

The idea is just to play, discuss and post in spoiler tags at the years suggested.

[Inso]

Nice to see this back - will play and report tomorrow hopefully.

[Fidardorist]

FYI for forum newbs: this is a world builder save. In order to access it, use the instructions provided by Bleys over at NC:

"The WB-save is attached (zipped, they are bigger than standard saves). To play, simply download and unzip it into your BTS/Saves/WorldBuilder folder. Start the game, and load your favorite MOD (if you use one, if not, I suggest checking out the BUG MOD [or maybe now Buffy is the standard]), select "Play Scenario", and look for "NC VII - Sitting Bull".This allows you to play with your favorite MOD at the Level and Speed of your choice."

Tapping on it opened it for me but I lost the interface. Is that typical?

Enjoy, and please post to help us revive the Monarch Student!

[KaytieKat]

Hi

Monarch, Marathon, 110 AD

Spoiler:

I guess it the massochist in me. After having a REALLY nice game in the last NC Lousis series I figured I would give this game a try b4 I start feeling TOO good about my playing ability hehe.

I moved down so I could get the silver in my capitols bfc and then teched ag while I scouted around.

Goodyhuts got me two scouts, two techs masonry and wheel, and bout 220 gold. I also managed to scout out the landmass and found this lil curiosity:



VERY sophisticated babries for 2380BC hehe :P

The way the map looked I decided to settle south as hard as I could to block off land then backfill the north later. I also chopped GW so I wouldnt have to worry bout barbies from the north being a headache since that area was gonna be empty for awhile.

My empire looks like this:



Not sure if this is good or bad or anywhere in between but I still have PLENTY of room up north so as long as I can avoid being dead I SHOULD have nice lil empire going at some point.

Tech sitch:



Way behind a few civs but I guess it not as bas a it might have been. Least Im not bringing up the bottom

Demos:



Waaay behind on power but I am working on that now. Right now biggest priorty is get my military up, settle out the north and develope my land. NOOOO idea of plan for victory at this point I am just HOPING I wont get killed hehe. ANyways thats it for now. Wish me luck

Kaytie

[Meatbuster]

@Kaytie:

Spoiler:

Hmm... didn't think the Stone Age Theater I added would be so effective.

Oh well, thanks for discovering it, now my reputation as a map maker is... uh, never mind.

You seem to be in a good position with lots of cities. Hopefully you can keep Monty or Izzy at bay long enough to rebuild and fix your economy.

Originally Posted by Fidardorist

FYI for forum newbs: this is a world builder save. In order to access it, use the instructions provided by Bleys over at NC:

Hmm... I guess I'll add instructions to install and play the saves then. Thanks!

[Teelman]

Hey Fidardorist,

I plan on playing this one but I have to work all weekend so I may not get to play till Monday but I have the thread bookmarked and look to learning with everyone!

[KaytieKat]

Hi

Monarch, Marathon, 1588 AD

Spoiler:

Hehe yep NOWHERE near as good as the nc louis game :P.

I finished backfilling my land. I satyed away from a religion until AP was built then I spammed christian missionaries all over. Diplo wise it workd out VERY nice. Monty and Izzy been DoWing on each othe rback and forth and Cathy been warring with Meh and Hammy so that left everybody off my back for the most part.

Unfortunately I am now waaaaaaay behind so I need to move quick. With that in mind I made as nice a stack as I could while teching out riflinf then:



It time to go after Monty. I TRIED to be sneaky and attack thru Izzy's lands. Monty been in wheooh mode again and I think he is gonna take another crack at Izzy so I was TRYING to hit the city that had his big SoD but the dillhole moved it further south grrr. Hopefully I can still take him out though.

Meanwhile here is my empire and rest of world at this point:



And the ABYSMAL tech sitch:



I didnt even TRY for lib andonly reason I am NOT further behind is cuz I whored out rep parts and rifling to all my friends for techs and gold. It helped do mass upgrade a lil quicker but it also pretty much gave Cathy Cossacks which I might end up regretting. Especially if she ends up capping Izzy before I can take her out for myself. But I figured first things first and Monty is at top of list at the moment.

Demos:



Behind cathy in just about everything Seems like I am gonna have to deal with her at some point.

Still no idea how I am gonna get a win. No way I can get culture. Spaceship and UN loooong way off still and if Cathy ends up building UN I am in BIG trbl. MAYBE dom win if I can take out Monty and Izzy and then maybe go after Kublai but not sure if that will be enuff and cathy is WAAAY too powerful to mess with at this point.

But one step at a time. Right now I am just gonna worry bout killing off monty and then see where I am at if I can get that done. So wish me luck

Kaytie

[Fidardorist]

Originally Posted by shyuhe

Assuming warrior 1SW reveals no new resources, settling 1SE seems pretty obvious. You get ample production, silver, and enough food.

Well if you agree with the above, then this is what you get:

Spoiler:

This would be my first Monarch win...

So what is it going to be, warrior or worker? Then, for techs, ag or mining? I'm inclining toward ag. Some concern over food with all those plains, but looks like we will squeek through til bio with about 10 cottagable plots while maintaining moderate growth and part-timing the plentiful mines we have available. Begs the question whether to farm the floodplains at the start. I think yes. Later, not sure how much, convert it to cottage.

What is the big picture tech path here? Wonders? Mids or HR for happy? We may be okay with resources for happy and or healthy, I guess that remains to be seen. How about religion? Do we want to snap up the Oracle on the way to Monarchy/HR or should we be prioritizing libraries to leverage financial on the way to Aesthetics and the covetable Parthenon? To put it more briefly: tech path top or bottom?

Another binary - growth: vertical or horizontal?

My default would be to milk the silver/financial cottages while trying to get a specialist farm up ASAP and begin warring while coming into our UU way up on tech and then milk their long life (25% bonus vs gunpowder) to establish supremacy around then, with a bunch of steroidal banks & maybe a nicked shrine to ensure a bright economic future as we pick off rivals. Simply put, win the tech race until gunpowder and then blast/grow my way to mili/tech total dominance. That would probably be a walk in the park on Prince for yours truely, but don't know on Monarch. Or should war come much earlier? With what units?


Finally, is the evidentally suggested more pure SE economy the right way? <---not my forte. Should go back to the Future Hermit SE Monarch walk through.

Okay, tons of big picture questions and a couple first turn ones. So?

[Churchdown Yank]

Originally Posted by Fidardorist

What is the big picture tech path here? Wonders? Mids or HR for happy? We may be okay with resources for happy and or healthy, I guess that remains to be seen. How about religion? Do we want to snap up the Oracle on the way to Monarchy/HR or should we be prioritizing libraries to leverage financial on the way to Aesthetics and the covetable Parthenon? To put it more briefly: tech path top or bottom?

Another binary - growth: vertical or horizontal?

My default would be to milk the silver/financial cottages while trying to get a specialist farm up ASAP and begin warring while coming into our UU way up on tech and then milk their long life (25% bonus vs gunpowder) to establish supremacy around then, with a bunch of steroidal banks & maybe a nicked shrine to ensure a bright economic future as we pick off rivals. Simply put, win the tech race until gunpowder and then blast/grow my way to mili/tech total dominance. That would probably be a walk in the park on Prince for yours truely, but don't know on Monarch. Or should war come much earlier? With what units?

@Fidardorist & KaytieKat (includes first round spoilers! )

These are the questions aren't they? And this is where I could use a little help and comparing with other players! Here's my thoughts on Monarch/Epic...

Spoiler:

We're on a decent peninsula. Room for 8 decent cities at least, maybe 10 or 12 including later ones (I haven't dot mapped em though...)

Settling SE is the way to go. Usually I'd pop some warriors and let London grow, but I'm thinking tech AGR and WHL while building a worker. Then Pot and BW for cottaging and chopping and we're away!

Isabella and Monty to the south. No easy access to copper or iron (or horses either for that matter). Plenty of other goodies like gold/calendar resources though - IF you REX quickly to the south and block off Monty and Izzy. I'm taking an approach very similar to Kaytie. Rex south from West to East. I'm not inclined to go for either GW or Oracle. The Colossus appeals though for that extra +1 on the water tiles. So my tech looks something like Agr/Whl/Pot/BW/IW for jungle clearing/Writing for open borders with Monty/Izzy to share religion and get monastaries for the science and culture. Probably neglect military as Kaytie has done and make nice with Monty and Izzy for round 1. Then Math/Calendar/MC

Lots of settlers and workers. Granaries/Libraries. Monastaries in border cities. Then forges/Colossus when copper hooked up. Aest/Lit and the GL.

In short this map screams massive rex/no early war to me. Get things up and running and when more room is needed in round 2 bend Monty over.

What do you guys think?