The BAD AAR

Welcome to the Blitz AND Dirty After Action Report!

For balance testing purposes of the mod Rise of Mankind – A New Dawn, starting from the same savegame, different people play with their playstiles and then compare results every 60 turns (give or take).
The thread where it's explained and you can get the savegame.

Since this is on Blitz speed, I've decided to play it and then write an AAR about it, imagining it will be, well, faster than Quick!

However, I have never played on such a fast speed (the fastest, in fact), actually I can't remember the last time I played on anything faster than Epic (and even then, my “normal” speed is Marathon).
So this'll be interesting!

For those who also read An Illustrated History of the Noyyau, this will be but a brief intermission, don't worry.

Without further ado, here's the active options:


and the starting situation:


Quite a resource-poor start!
Moscow is settled 1N, to get that Deer immediately, otherwise, with Realistic Culture Spread, I'd have to wait a looong time for the borders to expand there. Plus, I get a desert floodplain to irrigate as soon as I'll discover Agriculture. There's plenty of hills for production (which makes me happy), but very little food. Let's hope some of these hills have some useful resource that I can't see yet...


So off we go! I research the early needed techs, and get decent results from huts while exploring my surroundings.


Oh hey, who's this? Hi there!
Apparently Start As Minors is not active, I was so used to not having to talk to anybody until writing this came a bit as a surprise.


I discover a few techs on my own, revolt to Slavery (later on I'll also change to Despotism and Charity), and meet another not-so-neighbour. Where do these guys live? There's nothing around me! (And I like it that way.)
I also found my second city amid a trifecta of resources (I would've loved these around my capital...), though you can barely see it in the background. Forgot to screeshot that, sorry.


Let's have a moment of silence for my poor scout.


Bronze Working! The Age of Deforestation is upon us! And those trees, somehow, helped build a stone wonder! Oh well.


Apparently I'm the first to discover both Archery (from a hut! ) and Trade, since I get a free Archer and Caravan. How come I'm blitzing (pun intended) through the techs so fast? Ok that this IS Blitz, but still... Let me check the game settings: this is Noble!

A few more techs, and a free Great General! Settling him in Moscow is a bit of a gamble, I'm still unsure if it will be my best city production wise, what with so little food, but that's a lot of hills, and later on those mountains will also give a ton of !


What is... your quest? To build large numbers of Forges!


Thank you, random villagers, for gifting me precious metals of which you shouldn't even know the existance!


While Saint Petersburg was a no-brainer (you'll see it later, promise!), where to put my third city was quite a dilemma. In the end I chose this place to get that Silver (of which I have TWO sorta near Moscow, however I'll only get them much later, since they're on mountains) and later on the Obsidian on the desert hill.


Mmm, tasty wonders! The Graveyards give +1 , +1 and +1 , that's fantastic for a new ancient city! And for free now!
Yeah, this is definitely Noble, I never get these. Meanwhile, off screen, a few religions have been founded.


A hostile tribal village! But our heroic Javelineer makes short work of these barbarians, he has been trained in the ways of the forest by some ninja tribals (this guy popped TWO huts that gave him experience).


Aaaaand there's my religion! I went for Hellenism mostly for the Pankration promotion that the hellenist monastery gives for free (a decent bonus against archery and melee, a small one against gunpowder, an upgrade discount, and best of all gunpowder units get it as well!). For promotions, Taoism is better (a straight +20% strenght bonus, also to siege but not gunpowder, and you need a Great General for that, as I haven't changed the xml since this is for balance testing), but it's much further down the tech tree, while Confucianism gives an immediate +1 per city, useful, but it's also quite later.
Finally, Hellenism is the only religion spread by a young lady instead of bearded old men!


Turn 60! Our first stopping poing to have a look at the rising world power of Russia.
The three cities so far, with local resources and possible future expansion sites.


The tech tree up to this point, and what's queued (which will probably change, I don't have horses nearby so the horse techs will be left for later). I want Calendar for the Golden Age boosting wonders and all those calendar resources (you might have noticed there's a bunch of cotton not too far), Monarchy and Aristocracy for the civics and the Roads, and Iron Working for Iron (obviously, let's hope I have some near me).


Definitely Noble, what with so few wonders and I have the best of them! And somehow I'm already at the top for production, commerce AND territory!


A detailed look at our three cities. Moscow is a powerhouse, though Petersburg is not too far behind. I need to make a few more workers though, and start making more money, expansion will soon make a big deficit.

subbed

Yum, a tasty sub in my bed.

(See what I did there )

Good luck subjecting your neighbors to your mighty rule.

That's one massive build queue.

Blitz-Noble, or “How things happen way too quickly”.

While my ninjavelineer keeps wandering around the continent, he meets emissaries of this guy, who has a nice background music, but apart from that isn't much useful. Yet.


As with almost all Great People, I settle this guy in my capital (though occasionally a Scientist or Artist might go somewhere else, it's situational).


Technologies just blur past my eyes.


Rostov, city of Cotton!


Slaves need to learn their place, and yet... I'm a merciful ruler.


Mmm, money! This isn't the solution to my deficit, though.


It isn't immediately evident from the screenshot, but two barbarian warriors amphibiously attacked my javelineer on the Gold from a galley! They didn't have any luck, though.


Another tasty wonder!


Annoying slaves, making me lose turns like that.


Teching proceeds apace.


That's interesting! Though I have no way to take advantage of that.


Curse the gods, they really hate me.


This is a fantastic spot: three resources, on a hill, and completely blocking the Zulu from going anywhere! I guess they won't be too happy about that.


New tech, new wonder, and... wait, what? When did the barbarians get Axemen??


Lowered research a bit, but expansion must continue!


Thanks for the money, pal! Guess you didn't see Yaroslavl' yet!


What, again? I had already “redressed some of their grievances”! They got more? Who do they think they are? Free citizens?


Mmm, money! Also not the solution to the deficit, but getting closer.


That's a good trade! Or is it? Seems like he knows something I don't.


“You should hammer your Iron while it is glowing hot.” I should first HAVE some Iron, which I don't.


Diplomacy! And I was so used to just killing people in the early part of the game.

Ah-ha! Now there's my solu...wait, what?
I did not remember that the Hellenist shrine did not give money! Argh! That's one of the things I usually tinker with.
So, my plan spectacularly failed. Now to find a new moneymaker...


Meanwhile, I grab a few more wonders which I usually don't get to see. I'm gonna run out of space to build them pretty soon...


Inching closer to the Mongols.


Time to revolt! A Golden Age might have been better, but the next Great Person would take too long.


Even in anarchy, I get new techs!


I wonder what the Mongols did to get all that hate from the Mayans.


Amphibious settling! And a tech manages to sneak in somehow.


Siam is so distant that I have no problems in trading with him, it won't give him any advantage over me while I'm still vulnerable. And he's teching at almost my pace, which is fast!


I'm so silly and distracted that I actually forgot to convert to my own religion up until now!


In these screenshots there's a hint that I solved the money problem! (For a little while, anyway)


Look at this wonder, look at it! It's a pity the Mongols killed off the Mayans, I would've gotten 100 more!


I also built these guys, since a free population point is always nice.


I wonder where you guys live? Probably beyond the Siamese, in the deep South.


And a Forest grows... around a cottage? Who am I to say no to a free there?


Let's have a moment of silence for my other scout as well. It isn't a very safe profession.


Philosophy is now a much more interesting tech than it was before. But you'll see why only in the next update.

What a waste of an Engineer. But I wasted too many turns in anarchy already, and I want my Golden Age!


I'm in a Golden Age, but I still have to wait a couple of turns between civic changes, so the fruits of this tech will come in the next update.


And the Turn 120 overview of the Kingdom.

This story is going like a blitz.

Ballroom blitz.

The Third Update, in which we finally fight against someone!
You win one Internet Point if you guess the opponent before reading!

Pretty things!


Well now, that's mighty nice of you, converting to my own religion!


Power to the people!


Now this is why philosophy is awesome!


Hello, pretty lady! This tech trade is so full of potential innuendo, I'd better just shut up.


Techs, wonders, the usual.


What's this now? Sorry mate, I've no idea where you even are, what gives you the idea I could help you if something happened?
He's the first to ask, but not the last, and I refused every single vassal request. Nothing to gain, yet.


Tech, city, tech, wonder, prophet, tech...


The Mayas sure revolt a lot, but they don't get anything done.


New quest!


Lady, would you look me in the eyes, for once?


Bunch o' techs. Plus an event and a city, for flavor.

Wonder wonder quest priest trade. I should make a song out of this.


Medieval times! But if you ask the people in Krasnoyarsk, they haven't noticed any difference.


Genghis isn't looking too happy, I guess having constant revolts might ruin your disposition somewhat.


Time to see if you guessed who we're going to fight!


Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, we keep settling non stop. Shaolin monks keep a watchful eye on every settlement.


Feudalism! We're the best! Engineering!


My half-assed plan was to go attack Babylon or the Mongols (in the West), but just as I started sending the first troops that way, the Zulu attacked! So everybody now is going North. Here you can see the first use of the tactic of the “ablative catapult”, followed by “kill them all”.


The usual tech-trade-wonder stuff.


Back to the Zulu. Didn't expect them to counterattack.


A tech, and another quest! I can't remember getting so many quests in the slower games. Anyway, this bloody mountain will probably be a one-tile island in the middle of the ocean, or lost in the desert or tundra.


Silly Zulus, leaving their catapults for me to take.


No thanks, I've got a date with my girlfriend. Maybe another time?


Finally, a proper siege!

A tech with two nifty wonders, and a quest finally completed! I chose the engineer because free hammers are always a good thing. The other options were a new Copper (but I already have a couple, having built a fort near every resource in a too horrid spot for a city), or giving every unit of the Sword line the Shock promotion (not that useful).


Since I got two of them, I can spare some Ivory for Hammurabi. He did convert to Hellenism, so he's ok in my books.


And we get our first conquest! Two more to go.


Pffft, “dangerous numbers”.
The Great Priest you see there is going to build the Tao shrine in just-conquered Nobamba.


Gotta hand it to the Mayas, they're persistent, if woefully underequipped.


Finally, I get to see the Shaolin monks in action! No one ever dared attack them. And they can only defend, so they're good for garrisons but not much else, unfortunately.


New tech, and a nifty wonder! The Greek Fire gives collateral damage and the ability to bombard defenses even to units that normally don't have that, like ships or archery.


That Shrine being built.


Seriously Shaka? You found a religion in a city which I'm about to conquer? And how did you manage to found so many religions anyway, with only three cities??


Duchy, now there's a civ descriptor I hadn't seen yet.


Tech, wonder, wonder


Dear Gods, why did you choose that mountain in the middle of nowhere? Signed, your faithful believers on the other side of the world.


Can't stop settling or teching, can we? And I have to open borders with Hammurabi, since his last border pop blocked my road to the western colonies.


Approaching Ulundi, I discover why I heard the war trumpets but no one taunted me: Shaka became a vassal of the Siamese guy! Not that it's going to help him in any way.


Aaaaand a second quest is completed. Golden Age FTW.


Go forth, my minions, and bring tales of our power to the savages!

Let's put that Golden Age to good use.


Tech, wonder, tech, city... you know how it goes, right?


What's this now? The Maya got a city somehow, made peace and became vassals to the Mongols, but since the revolt problems are still there, we get a new rebel!


I didn't screenshot every single bombarding, but it took me 5 turns (and a couple of bombard promoted new catapults shipped by galley from Moscow) to bring down Ulundi's defenses, which I had to do since it has the Labyrinth of Knossos wonder, which makes the city invulnerable until you bombard the defenses down to 5% or less.


Oh, how I like golden ages! New civic? Switch without worries!


And that's the end of the Zulu, right at the end of the 60-turn stretch!


Artesian Wells will serve me well, not only for puns, but also with much needed extra food.


I actually waited one turn more to conquer Ulundi, so that I could finally get one unit to level 6 and build the Heroic Epic.


Time to build a few more shrines.


And a quick overview. It's actually turn 181, I got distracted.

Chapter the Fourth, wherein I stop taking screenshots of technologies, there's just too many of them.

Land ho!


Done with the horses quest. No need for extra military at the moment (and they would be without any exp anyway), and the +1 for each stable isn't really necessary either.


Thus begins the Great Annexation: getting rid of these tiresome rebels, while the rest of the army is on the way from the Zulu peninsula.


Oh look, I built another wonder! It's sort of fitting, as I'm discovering new continents and civilizations (though the real Marco Polo traveled by land).


Caravels and Explorers are simply made for each other.


I built the Apostolic Palace mostly for the +2 for each Hellenistic building. And to avoid being annoyed by votes I'll just defy almost every time.


The Holy Expedition soon after leaving Moscow, on their way to claim the Holy Mountain for the glory of the gods and the Republic.


New landmass, new contact!


I'm a polite conqueror, so before declaring war I usually cancel all the diplomatic deals with my soon to be enemy. Normally I don't conquer nations I'm amicable with, but the Mongolians really needed a firm guiding hand. I mean, constant revolt problems with only 3 cities?


The Babylonians have been at war with the Mongolians for ages, but mostly they fought in the desert south of Smolensk, whenever they fought at all. I think that most of the Babylonian losses were due to the desert (that's a 15% damage every turn!) rather than active combat.
Now that I'm arriving, they finally decide to do something?


Sorry mate.


This is a fantastic wonder.


Bloody Babylonians!


That's half the army that conquered the Zulus, just arrived via galleys.


Let's make peace with this guy whose name I cannot pronounce, that I was at war with because the last act of Zulu defiance was to vassalize themselves to him. Fat lot of good it did them.


Someone's got a tech I haven't! Surprising.


Enjoy exploring while you can, guys. As soon as I get the ability to trade maps, you'll be obsolete. Sorry.


Guess what'll happen next turn.


Karakorum wasn't in the best spot for my needs. And it didn't have anything of real value, so it gets moved.


I'm sure all of you guessed correctly.


Those were 80%+ odds. Curse you, RNG. Anyway, city razed because it's too close to Smolensk.


What a horrible place. I think no one will disturb these guys for a long time.


Oh I can't believe this, new rebels? At the last Mongolian city at that!

Wooops! What am I gonna do with so many religions? Nothing really, for now.


Guess what? The world is round!


On the way to the Holy Mountain, the Knights have some fun.


That's it for the Mongols. Poor guys, they've been quite inept at governing, maybe they should've stayed nomadic.


Let's get rid of you too, can't have random units wandering in my territory.


Bringing the fight to the Babylonians. They have quite large stacks, though a bit outdated. And damaged by the desert crossing.


Meanwhile, expansion continues in the South.


The Holy Expedition razes the barbarian settlement and moves on.


I don't think I've ever had this much extra happiness.


Turfan gets resettled in a more convenient location.


The Galley Invaders do their thing again. Silly Babylonians, leaving their capital barely defended. Not the city spot I would've wanted, but there's a wonder in Babylon, so I'm keeping it.


Stuff happens definitely way too fast at Blitz.


I'm actually running out of buildings to build in the older cities, so relatively unnecessary wonders get built anyway.


What the hell, RNG. Ok that they're crossing a river, but it was still 85%! Argh.


This is quite useful.


The only Babylonian conquest of the war. Seriously, where are your priorities? You just lost your capital!


Sometimes I do use spies instead of siege, but rarely. The main advantage of siege is that it stays there, while spies end up back in the capital.


And that's the end of the Babylonians.


I still have more Holy Shrines to build.


Well that's... unusual.


Trading around.

Congratulations! You graduated to a full civ just when I was about to exterminate you! Too bad I'll kill you anyway.


It took a long time to skirt around Carthaginian borders, since Dido is not of a friendly disposition towards me. And good thing “Realistic Culture Spread” is on, or this mountain would have been lost to a border pop long ago.


This island is now declared clear for colonization.


And the final quest has been completed!


Well now, that's flattering. And for a change, I'll accept! I've just invented ocean-capable cargo ships, so I can get there if needed in a reasonable timeframe (the land route is way too long). And since it appears that the world is quite a large place, domination through vassalization sounds like a more practical alternative to direct conquest.


Colonization teams were ready and waiting.


I'm building wonders in quasi-random cities now, since I've run out of space in the cities where they would be most effective.


The first true offshore colony! Complete with hostile natives.


Wait, who are you? Oh, I see. Why did Siam ever want to conquer you? Why did you even exist in such a horrible place? Questions for the philosophers to ponder.


Colonization complete!


The second oceanic colony.


Meanwhile, Iroquois and Chinese seem to have a dispute. And Siam eliminates the rebels.
Also, see the army in the Fluyts? They're clearing the place for another colony.


Look at that, I had forgotten to build the Forbidden Summer Palace all this time!


Guess what I'm about to do.


This is a new wonder and I don't know what it does exactly. Exciting!
By the way, I've actually been there, Ireland is a nice place.


It was obvious, wasn't it?
Those losses were quite annoying, and the RNG has been properly cursed, but with the absurd amount of production Moscow has, I can replace units at a moment's notice.


The colony I exterminated the French for. Not exactly sure why I thought this was a good place, probably to not have half the island empty.


Wonder!


What is it with the RNG placing cities just one tile away from where I want them?


I wonder why Siam did not expand here, and went to conquer the barbarian-spawned Ethiopians instead.

Why would the Siamese have any claim on this city? Do they just love random horrible locations?


Time to change civics. This is also when I start building bunches of missionaries to spread all those religions I have (not pictured).


The Spiral Minaret is a really good wonder. And there's another Shrine. Still got a couple to make.


Finally a more modern economic system. Don't worry, I'll change to it the next turn.


It's actually a bit late “historically”, I've already had the practically complete world map for a while now.


Liberalism already? Definitely too fast for me.
In the background, another horrendous place. Perfect Moongoose is a more realistic mapscript, in that a lot of places are simply horsehockeyholes and should be avoided.


Money! And another free tech! As if I wasn't advanced already.


I'm not going to say anything, except I had already razed a city in that exact spot with the Holy Expedition. Fine, this time I'll keep it, I have idle workers itching for some landscaping.


I am the law!


Finally, all those missionaries and conversions are paying off.


Whoops, hadn't noticed the Hittites were at war with Egypt. How? Why? Neither has ocean-capable ships.
And I had just spread Hellenism there! (Though they did not convert yet).


Time for our usual overview. Globe view for a change!

You're overloading my computer with pictures
But good job so far, you're definitely going to win.