King of the World #14: Earth18

Round 0: Descent Into Madness (4000 B.C.)
Round 1: Hatshepsut (4000-3000 B.C.)
Round 2: Cyrus (3000-2000 B.C.)
Round 3: Alexander (2000-1000 B.C.)
Round 4: Asoka (1000-200 B.C.)
Round 5: Qin Shi Huang (200 B.C.-400 A.D.)
Round 6: Julius Caesar (400-950 A.D.)
Round 7: Saladin (950-1300 A.D.)
Round 8: Genghis Khan (1300-1500 A.D.)
Round 9: Mansa Musa (1500-1700 A.D.)
Round 10: Montezuma (1700 A.D.-1780 A.D.)
Round 11: Huayna Capac (1780-1850 A.D.)
Round 12: Elizabeth (1850-1890 A.D.)
Round 13: Tokugawa (1890-1930 A.D.)
Round 14: Frederick (1930-1950 A.D.)

Round Order (40-turn rounds):Howdy! The King of the World series is played exclusively on Earth maps, sacrificing the exploration phase of the game for more realistic scenarios. This game is going to be a bit different. Rather than playing as one specific leader from beginning to end, we're going to be bouncing from Civilization to Civilization in quick, 40-turn "vignettes," starting with Hatshepsut and ending with Roosevelt. Well, assuming nobody's won by the time we get to Roosevelt.

Due to technical constraints, this game will be played as a multiplayer game with, well, only one human player. Switching sides in a single player game causes all sorts of wacky glitches, and I don't recommend it. So anyone following along will have to note that the saves will need to go in your multiplayer games folder. There will be no password, and you'll get to choose your leader upon loading. So if you want to continue on with Egypt after my first round, go right ahead! If you want to go back to Greece in the 20th century, be my guest! This is a highly experimental game, so there's no real right or wrong answers to be found here.

So, we'll be starting out as Hatshepsut of Egypt, she of the War Chariots and Priest-giving Obelisks:



We only have 40 turns, so this will mostly be goody-hut-hunting and opening moves. We start out with The Wheel and Agriculture, and find ourselves in one of the best opening spots on the map:



So where should we settle? I'm a little partial to 2N and 2NW, myself, so as to balance out the Health shock of that many Floodplains, though 2NW makes the Horses a second-city affair. Where should we go Research-wise? Hit Pottery and lay down Cottages? Go Mining- or Mysticism-Masonry to get the Stone and Marble hooked up? Take Animal Husbandry and give Hattie a force of War Chariots before moving on? And what should our builds be? Worker first is kind of a no-brainer. But what then? Warrior to grow population? Worker-Worker? Worker-Settler?

One thing I'm fairly sure on is what to do with that Warrior. There are huts in Palestine and Turkey, and another pair in Ethiopia. I'm fairly sure I can nab the four of them before we hit the time limit.

So I know that this game is "weird," and it's probably going to turn some of you off, but it's only a one-time thing, and it should be a lot of fun! Here's the opening save:

I like 2NW, start worker, and research AH and Pottery. Then settle on Incense, 1E of the Saharan Oasis, and 1W of teh Jumbos. That's 4 Nile cities, but wait you cannot get that far! Still playing as you wouldfor Hatty, that's what I would be planning to do.

This should be tons of fun! I might have to try this when I get home!

This is going to be good, after looking through quite a few of the other KOTW games I'm hooked. Interesting idea, should be fun to see how this play's out.

1NW is the best to settle at. You have horses, wheat, marble, stone, and a juicy oasis. It doesn't really matter what you research. Well... maybe try to research AH.

Personally I'd settle in place, though for overall strategy... 2N1W will have a city that'll serve as the Suez Canal for any civ with Open Borders, as opposed to forts which only work if they are within you own cultural borders (or vassals of yours?).

Settling 2N or 2NW is going to be interesting when it comes 'round to Alex's turn, Athens will be mighty squeezed out by Hattie's culture.

I'd say 2N. Should be a fun series to follow!

Neal, is there a list of which leaders you will play as???

Hatshepsut (1450 A.D.)
Cyrus (529 B.C.)
Qin Shi Huang (210 B.C.)
Asoka (232 B.C.)
Alexander (323 B.C.)
Julius Caesar (44 B.C.)
Saladin (1193 A.D.)
Genghis Khan (1227 A.D.)
Mansa Musa (1337 A.D.)
Isabella (1504 A.D.)
Montezuma (1520 A.D.)
Huayna Capac (1527 A.D.)
Elizabeth (1603 A.D.)
Tokugawa (1616 A.D.)
Louis XIV (1715 A.D.)
Frederick (1786 A.D.)
Catherine (1796 A.D.)
Roosevelt (1945 A.D.)

Click to expand...

Should be added to the first post.

Ack! I knew I was forgetting something! Rubbaduck's order is my first, wrong version. The correct roster has been added to the first post.

Should be interesting to watch.

In a normal game, often the strategy is to to warrior rush, but I guess that would be slightly uncool to do.

Maybe try something interesting and go for the pottery opening? Cottages and an early granary are nothing to sneeze at with heavy FP openings.

I think you will cripple the AI when you pass your start off in 40 turns if you place your cities with the intention of using the whip for production. Aim for fewer sites with better straightforward production potential and just think about what direction you want to nudge Hatty before your soul is ripped from her body: Leave her with a stack of chariots? A settler ready to go? A half-built wonder?

I think I would push her in the REX direction: Settle in place and go worker-warrior-settler. That's probably your 40 turns right there. At least you keep her from sinking herself with early wonderspam and give her a fighting chance.

what will you do if someone on your yet-to-play part of the list get wiped?

I like the N,NE Suez Canal idea. Might lead to some interesting naval stuff with later Open Border civs. From a pure playing-as-Hatshepsut angle, NW,NW looks optimal.

If someone gets killed you just continue to the next guy. If you go all the way to the top without a winner, you just return to Hatty and see how she is doing.

Strange idea...

Just checking, but what speed will you be playing on? There was some discussion in the Throne Room, and the first post doesn't say.

Oh, and for the sake of having to play Spain, please move their settler to the coast!!!

you're gonna have fun being roosevelt in the 1900's as a vassal of monty with like 3 cities

Usually a lurker here, read all the KOTW and ALC series, also some of the madscientist rpc's, and man, this will be mad o.o

I like 2N or 1NW, but, as you only have 40 turns, 1NW may be better, settle on the first turn.

Try to make a totally radical departure from what the AI would normally do, to see how different world history can turn out to be. (Er - I mean Earth18 history!)

Why not start off with a settler, or say move to the Red Sea next to the cows and research fishing. Something to make it so when you leave her after 40 turns Hattie doesn't just revert back to pretty much what she would usually be.

Make a strategic decision *SO* good that it will last for 6000 years and win her the game!!! (Until of course you then make an *EVEN BETTER* strategic desicion for Cyrus - lol!)

Obligatory subscription post. You only have a limited number of turns. IMO, no point in wasting one to move to what may seem a slightly better position. Settling in place is a strong enough capital, and one that the AI uses reasonably well for when you change leaders.