TSG55 After Action Report thread

Welcome to the TSG55 After Action Report thread. In this thread you can post the results of your game. Please state victory date and score (preferably in the post title), as recorded in the Hall of Fame, and the most important: your path to glory!

STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed and submitted your game.

Please use the Civ5 game submission page to submit your final, first play through, .Civ5Save file, saved AFTER the victory ceremony if you were not conquered (using the "Lemme play one more turn" feature.).

- How many cities did you build and how many did you decide to acquire?
- How did you use religion or spying to your advantage?
- How did diplomacy go with your neighbors?
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?

Players are encouraged to provide feedback on the game. Some players like to replay the game, and although we will not record the results from a replay, you can still post your new experiences (please state if the game is a replay).

Would be interested to hear any thoughts on game setup.

I conquered the world on t172 but I did not build any military units, just 2 scouts. Every unit was bought with faith.

EDIT:
- How did you use religion or spying to your advantage?
I settled on 2 Natural Wonders without fear of attack from lowly AI. I used One with Nature for tons of faith and bought all my units this way. One with Nature - Cermonial Burial - Holy Warriors - Divine Inspiration - Holy Order

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
This allowed me to settle my cities very far apart so I could claim the natural wonders. Low AI allows 2 armies to work at once, at least 2.

Nice one, budweiser. I guess i would have done the same, if that idea crossed my mind

I was lucky to find Cerro and Kailash (?) quickly. However i only got paid in full for Cerro. Bought the settler with cash (t25) and settled him on a hill near Haile. I went 2 city liberty GL (t.38) - NC (t.50) and then spammed archers/cats/horses, while beelining Astronomy. (bulbed with GS from liberty)

While waiting for Astro, conquered my continent. I think i overkilled with army, actually. Instead i should have focused on reaching Astro earlier, by growing cities more and, possibly, by settling more cities.

Astro was finished around t.110 and 2 armies sailed west. One departed from Nortern part of the continent, the other - from southern. I was lucky to bump into both Maria's and Darius's capitals when i reached the new world.

Nice and easy game.

- What VC did you decide upon and when did you decide to go for it?

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Strange question, Hammer Rabbi

How did you use religion or spying to your advantage?

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Didn't use them.

How did diplomacy go with your neighbors?

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It is not easy to share borders with Spain. They provided me with all the cash they made..

How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?

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I knew that all i need is composite bows and astronomy, so i adjusted accordingly.

Thanks for the game.

Ow, yeah, almost forgot: t.133

It didnt occur to me until later that half the battle was discovering astronomy.

Moriarte said:

Strange question, Hammer Rabbi

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Good find. that's a legacy question from the deity Christmas game. The OA and AA threads are just cut/pastes from previous ones. I'll take it out.

Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-16
Reference number: 28326
Your name: Monthar
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1110AD
Turns played: 171
Base score: 1267
Final score: 3726
Time played: 3:28:00
Submitted save: TSG55_Domination_Victory.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Monthar_C505501.Civ5Save

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I still need to work on breaking my bad habit of building buildings and wonders and just focus on military if I ever want to get faster finish times.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't find any natural wonders first. That's the main problem with Spain. If you don't find the NW's first the gold from the UA isn't enough, but if you do find them first it's too much.

Monthar, if you go scout first your chances are excellent of finding one first. This was a continents map so on average you will be able to settle one of them. A second scout after monument or even second build is the superior. You have to 'make' your own luck.


Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted:2013-02-16
Reference number:28327
Your name:budweiser
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date:1120AD
Turns played:172
Base score:1200
Final score:3529
Time played:3:08:00

each WW is like a gold ruins if you dont find them first. and the bonus for working them is pretty sweet (except old faithful, haha). it's almost like a consolation on lower diffs for not finding them first. i dont mind it but I want to find one in the first 10-15 turns every time. it lets me plan on whether to settle it or not. since most WWs are already within 1-2 tiles of a CS it's still a challenge to find one you can settle.

Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-16
Reference number: 28328
Your name: tomoliop
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1410AD
Turns played: 201
Base score: 1452
Final score: 3630
Time played: 3:35:00
Submitted save: Isabella_0201 AD-1410.Civ5Save
Renamed file: tomoliop_C505501.Civ5Save

Lots of mistakes, early lost one or two unescorted settlers and workers... Took me lot of time to get NC. Settled near Kailash, puppeted almost everything. Also went with the Holy Warriors. Didn't find any natural wonders first... Actively used conquistadors settling ability to help me get those caps. Was hoping for sub 200, but I see where there is room for improvement so it's fine.

budweiser said:

Monthar, if you go scout first your chances are excellent of finding one first. This was a continents map so on average you will be able to settle one of them. A second scout after monument or even second build is the superior. You have to 'make' your own luck.

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I built 2 scouts before anything else and still didn't find any of them first.

T 171 also.
I was severely delayed by my scattered forces searching while crossing the seas, too many went right instead of left. Persia took a long time and Austria built the Great Wall, but a well placed Conquistador + great general fort put me right on the edge of their capital. I might even submit this one.

I conquered my own continent just as astronomy popped and sent my huge army and navy over-seas. Shaved a few turns at the end by using a conquistador to drop a city close to the Persian capital so I could gold buy two cannons ( my main army in the north was too slow slogging its way south )

Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-16
Reference number: 28334
Your name: Pizzaspy
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1350AD
Turns played: 195
Base score: 1459
Final score: 3741
Time played: 3:59:00

Your name: Cold Coffee
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1320AD
Turns played: 192
Base score: 1346
Final score: 3542

Fun map, not used to domination but was fun being the bully this time around. A few mistakes I made

1) Forgot that mining was needed to chop down trees...that cost me a few turns with an idle worker.
2) Had problems managing the priorities of what technologies to pursue. I knew at one point that I would need to get astronomy but I had also been trying to get further into some other areas to support upgrading my army.
3) I accidentally gave a city back to Sweden instead of razing it. This caused my army to be bumped back south away from Austria, that also cost me a few turns.
4) City management was not too stressful but I could have done a much better job.
5) Did anyone by chance build a city by the large lake on the start continent thinking it was the ocean? ....<--- this guy

Can't think of any others, was a fun game in one sitting. I was happy just to get sub 200 on this one.

Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-17
Reference number: 28336
Your name: Browd
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1050AD
Turns played: 165
Base score: 1040
Final score: 3151
Time played: 3:54:00
Submitted save: Isabella_0165 AD-1050.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Browd_C505501.Civ5Save

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Settled in place, was first to find the two Natural Wonders (later found GBR and never found the last wonder). Founded 4 cities -- two by the Natural Wonders to work faith (Kailash) and gold+faith (Cerro) (obviously pantheon was One With Nature) and one in the jungle between Madrid and Addis Ababa to shorten the trade route. Never had much in the way of expectations for the 3 cities, but they served their purposes. Took Church Property, Holy Warriors (helpful for saving lots of gold for upgrades), pagodas and itinerant preachers. Didn't buy a single missionary and third Great Prophet came when I wasn't paying attention.

Went GL=>NC with 3 cities (wanted Astronomy as quickly as possible, although I did detour to Construction and Bronze Working along the way). Got Astronomy on about turn 125, as I was finishing off Rammy (killed Ethiopia, Byz and India first). Started conquering later than I intended, so each of them had a second city that I decided did not deserve to exist, but conquering and razing those extra cities was a waste of time--should have made peace after taking their capitals and moved on. I did annex Stockholm toward the end to rush buy a cannon and a couple of Tercios to help with Vienna (she built the Great Wall -- grrrr).

Took the Liberty opener, then the Honor opener (since the AI was supine, barbs were plentiful), finished Liberty (settler policy was last--settled city 4), and then finished Honor (right side first). Settled a Liberty GS and a natural GS, and bulbed a final GS about 8 turns before the finish to rush Gunpowder (wanted to at least try a Tercio or two).

When Astronomy was researched, I sent a scout to ride the waves in each direction while I waited for Machinery. Once I upgraded to X-bows, two armies set sail. Since the scouts hadn't reported anything useful yet, I sent roughly half in each direction. Found Darius and Gus at about the same time, so each army took one and then combined forces to deal with Austria. Could have taken Austria with just my northern army, but the GW and what I thought were muskets gave me pause (turned out the muskets were just spearmen--2:00 in the morning is not the best time for keen eyesight). So, maybe a few turns lost there, but a fun game all in all.

Gambled that it might be a pangea so I didn't prioritize science in the very early game (hoping that CB would be sufficient and that troop spamming would be winning), which cost me a bit as it delayed astro. Ah well, still an OK time, but I think it may be better to go NC first and then build armies. Also, I hadn't realized how powerful bullying is previously - wow, you can really get a _ton_ of gold (and an achievement ) on lower difficulties by bullying the city states while buying an army .

Settled in place. Started off with 2 scouts and managed to find a natural wonder relatively early on. Took mining early so my bought worker would have something to do (eventually, I had chopped pretty much everything close to the capital). Was a bit lucky in being first also to the second wonder on the continent. Got two nice technologies from huts (archery and calendar). Culture-wise, I started off with honor (GG, 50% exp, and 15% for nearby friendlies).

After meeting 5 AIs, I was hopeful that my initial gamble would pay off and that it would be a pangea, but after a bit more scouting I realized it likely wouldn't be that easy. Re-prioritized techs to first get triremes to scout the water in case it was one of the weird pseudo-pangeas where everyone is reachable by shallow water and then go for philosophy. Meanwhile, my first army (2 warriors and 5-6 archers or so) took out everyone on the continent, which I had for myself from about turn 80. Befriended the cultural city states to push me into commerce for an admiral to find the remaining 3 targets before astro. Rest of the game was just a science push for astro, plus building a second army. First army sailed eastward from Siam's old capital and took out Austria and Sweden while the second army sailed from the capital to take out Persia.

Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-17
Reference number: 28347
Your name: marekb
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1310AD
Turns played: 191
Base score: 1507
Final score: 3965
Time played: 5:27:00
Submitted save: TSG55_End.Civ5Save
Renamed file: marekb_C505501.Civ5Save

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Build 2 scouts, bought third one. Build GL at t41, grabbed Philosophy and NC at 53 (or so). Founded second city between Ethiopia and Byzatnine, near desert (for Petra). Upgrade Archer to CB and capture Addis Ababa at t67 and Constantinopole 11 turns later. Then I waited too long (to get crossbows) to go for Gandhi and Ramkhamhaeng. Finally I concurred my continent at t167. I sail to capture Vienna, Persepolis and Stokcholm. My army was large enough so I divided it into two group (and let cities produce some more WW). One went for Austria second for Persia. After capturing Austrian coastal city, I sent navy to capture Susa (t184) finishing with Austria in meantime (t183). I have to annex Susa since forget about canons in southern group and taking Persepolis with crossbows would take little longer. Sweden has hardly any troops so I captured Stockholm in 2 turns.

Game: Civ5 GOTM 55
Date submitted: 2013-02-17
Reference number: 28348
Your name: Wargizmo
Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 540AD
Turns played: 137
Base score: 778
Final score: 2881
Time played: 2:52:00
Submitted save: Isabella_0137 AD-0540.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Wargizmo_C505501.Civ5Save

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Opened with 2 city liberty with free settler first, settled my first city near the faith wonder, unfortunately I scouted it late so didn't get 500 gold Went early great library and straight into NC (rush bought library in 2nd city). After scouting a bit it looked like continents so I planned to tech education and beeline navigation while taking over my continent.

When I had composite bows I took over the capitals of Ethiopia then Byzantium then India then Siam; I only used only one land army and had finished clearing my continent about turn 100, astronomy arrived a few turns later so I sent my army of composite bows blindly into the ocean to the east to find another land.

While this was happening I built the oracle so I could finish liberty quicker and then the great lighthouse. Planted great scientist from liberty, and went straight into commerce for the navy bonuses; rush bought universities in my two cities, was going to use oxford to bulb navigation but my second great scientist arrived in good timing so I used that instead.

I had built 3 galleasses, which I converted to frigates (I had forgotten to tech iron so this delayed me by a couple of turns, fortunately capetown had 6 iron). I sent my frigates, a couple of caravels and great admiral from commerce around the map but it took me ages to find anyone. Unfortunately all the capitals were inland so investing in navy wasn't such a great idea.

My army in the meantime landed at Austria and after a fairly difficult battle with some casualties I managed to have just enough to take out Vienna. I annexed Vienna and rush bought some crossbows, which I had teched after navigation, my army moved south and took out Sweden easily.

Meanwhile I had found Persia and my frigates took out a coastal Persian city, I annexed this and then rush bought a crossbow and a couple of conquistadors, my frigates helped take out some of the Persian army near the capital and I already had a few scouting units around. I was just able to take out the capital with the handful of units I had without needing to wait for my main army from Sweden to get down.

My fastest domination win yet, but it was on Warlord so meh.

Edit: forgot to mention, for religion I took +1 food from camps, tithe, % production bonus, +2 production w/ specialist and itinerant preacher. Only the capital had it by the end of the game so it was a bit of a waste of time, the +1 food from camps was probably the most useful thing, although the production helped quite a bit also.

Started with two scouts to try and find Natural Wonders.

Went GL -> 3 cities -> NC

Liberty. One with Nature / Tithe / Holy Warriors / Pagodas / Itinerant Preachers.

Also built Stonehenge (in second city) and Hanging Gardens (capital) while teching up.

Took out Ethiopia and Byzantium quickly with composite bows (eliminating both). Then India (Peace Treaty leaving him one city) and Siam (eliminated) though this took a bit longer than I had hoped. Discovered Astronomy just as I was moping up Siam so my troops were a bit out of place to find the new continent.

Should have done what gkreitz did and used Oracle to finish Liberty earlier (to get that Great Scientist). Probably would have been better to build that earlier instead of HG.

Eventually found Austria, Persia, and Sweden. The troops who had taken out Siam went east, while another army from my capital went west. I actually sent two settlers with my forces but those turned out to be a waste - didn't need them at all.

Finished researching Machinery just as I was landing, so I had my armies take secondary Austrian and Persian cities so they could upgrade to Xbows (and then Trebuchets) before taking the capitals. Austria had GW, but that only slowed me a couple of turns. Vienna was taken quickly and I then declared peace with Maria Theresa, but Persia actually had a good number of units so it took a bit longer (annoying 3 movement Immortals!). With peace on the Austrian front, my northern army headed for Stockholm and made quick work of it, taking the city one turn after I finally took Persepolis.

Halcyan2, you didn't state what turn you finished on.

He never does

I would guess 130.

I forgot this game would be limited by astro and I got sidetracked into producing units and conquering instead of getting my NC up. I think in 70s. Then I figured fastest way would be to bulb education and research astro. Got it on turn 101. Eastern army was waiting in the water cooling their heels for centuries after taking Byz.



Western was a bit late taking India and only few units were in the water, in the end it didn't make much diff. I sent a conquistador and horses with both armies in case I needed to capture a city and upgrade first but eventually just went for caps. Vienna first, few turns later Persia with eastern army plus a cap and conquistador from the west. Then Vienna Army took Stockholm. I think it was over in under ten turns once I landed.



I think an earlier focus on NC and better relations with my neighbours would help with a faster Astro. I would have enough cash for 3rd uni then. Also not making so many units would help on money front too. I did not get Construction until after Education, when 3 of my neighbours were down, and i could have taken all of them without it. Not sure if a bigger cap thanks to Tradition would offset liberty GS, i think not.