King of the World #16: Julius Caesar

Round 0: A World Ripe for Conquest (4000 B.C.)
Round 1: Prelude (4000-2250 B.C.)
Round 2: Conquest (2250-1375 B.C.)
Round 3: Consolidation (1375-470 B.C.)
Round 4: Hellenization (470-155 B.C.)
Round 5: Capitulation (155 B.C.-325 A.D.)
Round 6: Globalization (325-655 A.D.)
Round 7: Domination (655-1130 A.D.)

Hello, and welcome back! The King of the World series seeks to better understand Civilization 4's leaders by playing them on the Earth map, with all its trials and tribulations. This sacrifices the exploration phase of the game for a more controlled environment in which strategies can be formulated and tested without the chaos of, say, random resource placement. In this 16th installment, we'll be dipping our toe in the Deity pool with Mr. Big himself, Julius Caesar:



The Romans are a sturdy but civilized lot, coming into play with Mining and Fishing, which will both come in handy on the rocky Apennine coast. I find it a bit odd that The Wheel isn't included, given Rome's penchant for roads, but them's the breaks, I guess.

Julius Caesar, crafty old soldier that he is, comes into play with the Organized and Imperialistic traits. Organized is awfully handy, helping to mitigate the costs of a far-flung empire, but Imperialistic's primary benefit (cheaper Settlers) might not be terribly helpful in the crowded confines of Europe. I'd imagine that the Great General bonus might get a workout, though.

Our Unique Building is the Forum, a Market that gives a significant (25%) boost to Great People points. This kind of shoves us in the direction of a Specialist Economy, which is probably best for a warlike game on a high level like Deity, anyway. And, considering Europe's resource-rich environment, we won't really have space for Cottages, anyway, so I guess that decision is made.

Our Unique Unit is, of course, everyone's favorite beatstick, the Praetorian. This little monster (essentially, a Maceman that becomes available with Ironworking) hardly needs any introduction, and will be our primary tool in making up for the Deity AI's prominent advantages. Yes, this is our last chance to Praet rush without it being unbearably cheesy

So, what changes did I make to the map this time? Refreshingly few. All I really did was shuffle the Inca off to the Pacific coast, and opened up South America on both ends:



I figure that, with the free Settler (yeah, the Deity AIs don't get Archery, but they do get two Warriors, two Settlers, and a Worker), Isabella's going to beat us to the Marseille area, so she'll have coastal access. So she'll get no special treatment from me.

So, where do we start?



Right in the thick of things. As you can see, we have Iron close at hand, which is always a good thing, but we'll have to research The Wheel on our own if we want to use it. We also have plenty of targets... er, neighbors... to introduce ourselves to. So, what should the early plan be? Settle on the Iron for super-early Praetorians? Should we make a hard beeline (BW-IW), or maybe dally for some other techs? Does Work Boat-Barracks sound reasonable, or maybe something like Work Boat-Worker or even Worker first? I look forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Here's the save:

If you settle in place can't you get access to the iron without the wheel as both are on the Tigris river????

Otherwise, comeon Neal, you know what we all want! Build a few workboats, research BW and IW and get cracking. I suggest you put a poll up to get everyone's view on who to kill first. I vote France!

Given the marble on the forested hill, you could even go wb>wb>worker. I'm not too sure you can get a second city out with Louis, Alex, Izzy and Fred so close though as I've never tried this on Deity. If that's the case, you could even *gasp* move Rome to allow a second decent city in Italy (besides the fish one at the end).

Should be quite interesting when IW comes in though

Good luck and it's great to have you back!

See if France builds the pyramids before you attack them, there are plenty of other targets available.

kossin said:

If that's the case, you could even *gasp* move Rome to allow a second decent city in Italy (besides the fish one at the end).

Click to expand...

Perhaps settle on the stone to the NW, a second city to the south of the eastern pigs (picking up the iron) and leave the itialian peninsulla for third to the west of the southern wine?

Nice. Doubt you can get a second city out, with all the AIs starting with 2 settlers. That is, except Naples, which really isn't that bad of a city (2 sheep+fish, not a bad Moai city).

As for who to conquer, I'd go for Izzy first. After she gets her religion, that city will be nice (even if you need to get a prophet of your own to shrine it). Let Louis build some wonders. 99% of the time he builds stonehenge, which is a nice bonus to capture.

As said already: settle in place, the river gets you iron without roads. Get 2 work boats, 1 worker (capture the rest), and a barracks while teching BW->IW. Spam praetorians, possibly try to take out Spain first while Louis builds wonders for you; but ideally you can take out both of them before they get iron hooked up.

I'm calling it now. The true Roman Empire will be built before 0 AD. Build Prats rush everyone and then curl up for a cultural victory. May be boring but it has been awhile since I have heard off or seen a cultural victory.

Just an idea, but you could just steam roll the entire world.

The only problem I forsee is the unavoidable religious battle between Isabell and the Middle East. Choose your religion wisely.

I would settle 1 NW (Yummy 3-hammer center tile). I'd also go worker and bronze working first, then chop out a wb. I'd consider then going wheel, allowing the worker to road where you want the praets to go and also road the hill, while pre-chopping the other forests to be able to quickly go into praets once you have IW discovered. You could slow build a barracks while doing this (to summarize, city goes: worker->work boat (chopped)-> barracks (slow build or perhaps whipped). After chopping the wb, the worker essentially prepares for when IW comes online).

Settle in place and go break some heads. AIs can't handle Praetorians.

Shoot the Moon said:

I would settle 1 NW (Yummy 3-hammer center tile).

Click to expand...

It's a grassland hill so only 2 city tile.

Thinking back, I think you can safely move 2N2W to settle. (Louis/Izzy can't beat you to the spot as they also need to move the second settler and settle in 3 turns.) You settle 3 turns later but gain an extra city (on the iron) to pump Praetorians.

8 turns to close Italy is the only worry you should have. Only Frederick could sneak a settler behind you but I find it unlikely as Deity AIs will usually settle the city earlier than that.

if you settle in place, go BW IW...

and a build order as follows

work boat/work boat/worker/barracks

your first praetorian will pop on turn 25 and you go after greece with it and those that follow.

you have to do a lot of tile micromanagement turn by turn though to maximize growth/production.

not that I've ever done it or anything ::whistle::

just noticed the speed is epic...obviously not turn 25

Um.... re: Settling in place, won't we need Sailing to claim the Iron via the river? Or is that waived, since it's in the Fat Cross?

Oh, and re: our second city, I think our that will probably be Barcelona. Followed By Madrid. Or Sparta/Athens. Or, well, you get the idea.

Re: Joe Hollywood- Well, we're playing on Epic, so I think a Turn 25 Praet might be a little... optimistic (edit-Beat me to it). And I think the Deity extra Settlers might muck up strategies a little bit. Like if Isabella founds Barcelona in the Marseilles area, and proceeds to found Buddhism there, I think we might be in danger of losing Rome tiles like, say, those Fish.

I've never played deity before but...

Settle in place.

Workboat, worker, workboat, barracks, prat, prat, prat, etc...

Build mines on those 3 forested hills, whilst chopping hammers toward the second workboat and barracks.

You don't need a road to get the iron (right?)

you don't need the road...

however boat/boat/worker yields you more hammers/food/commerce than boat/worker/boat by the time you hit your first prae

I say go for Isabella first, give France a chance to pump out a wonder or two before you take Paris. I'm glad you're playing this one, I almost voted for it on the previous poll

spain will drop a city there, and it may get a religeon...

reason I suggest greece first is you get two great production cities for spain/germany

and yeah let france build you the pyramids, then crush his 3 archers with your 10 remaining praes.

you also want to hit greece ( the aggressive civ ) before he gets copper...

germany is pretty passive, and france/spain only have iron.

In most mp games and earth at lower levels I do a paris/england beeline, but I think here your best bet is greece for the extra praes and not having to deal with combat1/melee bonus phalanx...phalanxes...phalanxi...pointy stick guys

Neal said:

Um.... re: Settling in place, won't we need Sailing to claim the Iron via the river? Or is that waived, since it's in the Fat Cross?

Oh, and re: our second city, I think our that will probably be Barcelona. Followed By Madrid. Or Sparta/Athens. Or, well, you get the idea.

Re: Joe Hollywood- Well, we're playing on Epic, so I think a Turn 25 Praet might be a little... optimistic (edit-Beat me to it). And I think the Deity extra Settlers might muck up strategies a little bit. Like if Isabella founds Barcelona (Marseilles?) in the Marseilles area, and proceeds to found Buddhism there, I think we might be in danger of losing Rome tiles like, say, those Fish.

Click to expand...

Welcome back!

Regarding your question about sailing and navigating rivers: That applies if the river is outside your territory. (If I understand correctly) Since the river is inside your territory, it is part of your trade network and you get the iron.

Regarding Work Boat - Work Boat - Worker - Barracks: Agreed

Regarding Bronze Working - Iron Working: Agreed - although I have never tried it on Deity and do not know how long it takes. Probably after that you are researching..... sailing so that you can network all those cities you conquer?

Regarding building Settlers: In the near term, you do not need them - you will have Praetorians.

Also, I think you will manage to pop one hut - I think you can let that wait until about turn 100 when you get the border pop. I do not know what the chances are like when you pop with a warrior.

Second City? Good chance it will be Barcelona if Izzy founds a religion there - good location. Also had you moved Izzy to the coast you would have had room to found a city or two around Portugal.

Go kick some butt! And have fun!