Classic 33: Final Spoiler (Modern age / end game submitted)

This is the final spoiler for Classic GOTM 33: Greece.

For those of you trying to fill-in a bit more of your weekend before COTM 3 gets underway, why not spend that time writing up your final spoiler for Classic 33: Greece?

Qualification for this spoiler is reaching the modern age, or having completed and submitted the game.

Please don't post any maps showing industrial-age or later resources.

Continued from here.

750AD-1500AD

A rather peaceful period of build-out and research. We traded ourselves into the Industrial Ages and learned the secrets of Steam Power as a reward. This kick-started our massive research project that first produced Industrialization and Universal Suffrage (followed by switch to Democracy), then Scientific Method and Theory of Evolution. ToE gave us Electronics, and we built our third and last Great Wonder, the Hoover Dam. The next screenshot is the the minimap from this period, specifically 1330AD (I wanted to post the full map but coal and rubber were already visible, so...).

We had a minor second war with the Chinese to make room for a new city near the Forbidden Palace and to aquire spices. The war went smoothly thanks to the by then numerous Greek cavalry. Later the silly Arabs landed four cavalry units near an undefended city and declared war when we asked them to leave. At that point we already had a complete railroad system, a bunch of cavalry and a handful of infantry units so the safety of Greece has not been in any danger. On the other hand we managed to engage almost everyone in our rightful crusade against the Arabs, with the notable exception of Korea and (I think) Egypt who had an MPP with Arabia. The end result was an all-out 500+ year war between everyone and their mother, in which we didn't participate at all (except for the fact that we were officially at war with the Arabs).

At the end of this period, Greece emerged as a sky-high leader in research (Motorized Transportation to top it off, while others were stuck around the Corporation/Replacable Parts level), with a fully developed set of 10+ core cities capable of producing a tank every 2-3 turns and generating a pile of gold (700+ gpt besides keeping research at reasonable levels), and with the annoying jungle to the South of Athens almost completely gone thanks to the workers whose performance was boosted by democracy and Replaceable Parts.

We made peace with the Arabs, and started to build tanks...

1500AD-1605AD

The Greek Tank Juggernaut rolled over the continental remains of China, all of Korea and Egypt, and almost all of Arabia. Somewhere along the way, we also killed off what little the Chinese left over from India (the French and Spanish were taken care of by the Ottomans and Arabia centuries ago).

China wouldn't make peace so a transport was built and a few tanks were sent over to the island with the last Chinese city on it. In the process the Romans also declared war on us, and they wouldn't acknowledge our envoy even after many years. They had their last city on a one-tile island (Sicily? ), perhaps this made them so cocky, but eventually we researched Amphibious Warfare just to make a point and the aforementioned transport delivered an offer to the Romans that they couldn't refuse.

Finally, right before the last leg of our offensive (aimed at the Ottomans) would have started, a Domination Victory was triggered. The last screenshot shows the minimap at this point.

PTW 1.27f open

Goal: avoid conquest loss

We pick up at the end of the MA at war with France and when India had moved 2 cavs next to a town defended by one 3hp hoplite....

840 ad India has moved 2 cavs into our territory. We trade our way into IA - hoping for nationalism to get some stronger units for what we believe is the upcoming war.

Unfortunately, Steam Power is our free tech & it's already known, and so is nationalism.. Will research nationalism though because we need stronger defenders than Hoplites if India attacks -

840ad ibt Indians dow on us, first attack 3hp hoplite defends against 3hp cav and starts our GA, but falls next time and Brempalonia captured (with the ga, we went from 2gpt to 137gpt), and our trade deal for horses is up






850 trade Mao MT for horses, sign MA against India with Caesar for MT, can't trade for nationalism, no one has saltpeter to spare. Send our knights to Kohlapur to capture the town and get us some saltpeter and deprive India of their only source.

860 capture Kohlapur with saltpeter , recaptured Brempalonicia

880 Capture Madras

890 capture Hyderabad, capture Dijon (French)

900 capture Delhi and Sistine Chapel, capture Indus

910 autoraze Dacca

920 capture calcutta (underdefended after capture), caputure Bengal

ibt lost calcutta , Dehli flipped (stack of 10cavs gathering outside city ), Dijon flipped

930 retook calcutta, retook Dehli - they have a source of saltpeter somewhere, took Bombay with Great Lighthouse,

940 capture Bangalore, Capture Punjab

950 India only has 1 city left - will let Rome take it so we don't break a deal and shoot ourselves in the foot in regards to tech trading.

960 several rioting cities due to WW, we make peace with France (had almost forgot we were at war with her after Dijon flipped back to her )

990 ibt Rome finally takes last Indian city

1130 ad traded my way to scientific theory. Switch Universal sufferage prebuild to ToE in 11 (had investigated all US builds and would have won, so unless someone gets a GL from the wars they are currently fighting, we should get it)

1200ibt Egypt destroyed by Spanish

1220ad ToE in 1, traded techs around, now even with tech leaders and set to jump ahead
ibt complete Toe - take Atomic Theory and electronics and start 40 turn gambit on Radio

1270 - I now have enough $ to revolt to democracy and cover for an 8 turn revolution if I should be so unlucky, Korea knows AT so trade AT to France for worker, Sanitation, Steel, 609g,2gpt - no one knows electronics yet and I have 14 turns to go on Hoovers - will take the risk and revolt (got 4 turn anarchy)

1270 in the ibt I get a popup French are building Hoover ??? how did they do this - no one knew electronics - I thought I was safe to revolt !!!

1290ad Greek Democracy is born

1320ad - france built Hoover's with leader in a different city, change Athens to Intelligence agency with loss of 86s (I wonder if I would have got it if I remained in Republic - I can't recall how the years are spaced, but that 4 turn anarchy may have cost us it.) (During replay at the end, they had gotten a GL the turn before)

1335 Inch'on flips to us from Rome

1365 trade way into Modern Ages (free tech Rocketry)

At around this point, I begin to think I have a chance of actually winning and not just avoiding a conquest loss. I decide to try for a diplomatic victory and start prebuild for UN in Athens

1415 UN due in 11 in Athens - due in 28 in Korea (Hyangsan)

1430 Korea is moving troops into Roman Territory ?after Uranium - they don't have it and we don't have it - Rome and China are 2 nearest sources.

1435 Korea and Greece are only ones building UN and the only ones that know Fission

1445 still only Greece and Korea know Fission we have UN due in 5, Korea has it due in 24

1455 ibt Arabs start building UN (30 turns unless they have a leader from the war they are in)

1465 We have UN due in 1 give gifts all around everyone is polite or Gracious

ibt completed UN, and Rhodes flipped to koreans

Hold a vote and we win

Firaxis score 4808








A big thank you to Ision's article on making the leap from monarch to emperor

[PTW] 1.27f - Open

Previous post

I decided to finish the game to see if I could pull out something other than a conquest loss.

I managed to hold on to my capital until I could buy peace with China in 1170AD.


I researched Nationalism and was working on Electricity. I had to break my MPP with Spain to survive so nobody would sell me tech. (I wish I had thought of it sooner.) I inserted 4 cities around my capital. When Rome was disenfranchised, I paid a huge gpt price to get a ROP with China. I built two cities around the chokepoint. but not on it! I had a settler to start a third. At that point China decided to crush me like a bug. Tanks, Mech Inf, and Modern Armor rolled over me in a single rush. Somewhere there probably was a Chinese tank commander saying "What was that bump?"


So a conquest loss after all. My Jason's score was in the mid-300s. All-in-all I would call this a learning experience. A few things I have read about and thought I understood, I finally think I get. I have learned more with this game than any of the others I have played. It makse me appreciate the victorys others have posted for this game all the more. My short list:

What I learned in GOTM33:

• you don't have to build MPs - use the lux slider to keep them happy (that means from the first unhappy citizen on, not once you have a big empire or WW)
• you should irrigate grapes (seriously, I thought you wouldn't get a food bonus for them with despot)
• too much peace can be a bad thing - start a war to channel the AI elsewhere
• don't ROP with all your neighbors - you might miss a good war
• don't use MPP to get allies no matter how desperate you are
• if you are going to do something to save yourself that will hurt your rep or waste your golden age - do it sooner rather than latter, delay is worse
• beware of AI's baring gifts to Greeks

GOTM 33 Open Class

Since most of my game has prett ymuch the same flavor to it, I decided to just wrap it all up into one report than a few smaller ones.

Ancient Age

I had to preety much hang on for dear life as the tech pace was insane. I had to use my trading skills to their best to just try to keep up. Barbarians were a major problem, as the loss of some escorted settlers really hampered my expansion. i had to expand mostly south due to encroachment from China and India.

I learned the Republic in 250 BC and revolted with two turns of anarchy. Shortly therafter, I traded with Korea for Consctruction and entered the Middle Ages.

Middle Ages

I got Feudalism as my free tech. I have little to no notes on this age, except for the fact that I traded my way through all of it. I didn't research a single tech. Doing this I managed to enter the Inustrial Age in 490 AD.

Industrial Age and Endgame

I got Medicine as my free tech. I managed to trade it around for over 1000g and 100gpt. I tried then to be the first to Steam Power, but China ended up getting it the same turn as I did. After that research was pretty scarce for the rest of the game.

In 790 I finaly completed a hand built Forbidden Palace. This helped my finally get my southern cities to pull their weight.

In 930 AD, my tech situation was beginning to look a bit grim, so I decided to take drastic measures and start stealing some techs. Here are my steals:

940-Corporation from Arabs
1000-Steel from Arabs, which I trade for Rep. Parts and Sci. Method
1140-Atomic Theory from China. That one made me sweat, because if they caught me and declared, I would be history. I traded it for Refining.
1180-Electronics from France, which I traded for Combustion.

In the midst of all this, I managed to ferry some Hoplites over to Spain. I declared war, and one of them managed to survive, triggering a GA in 1110 AD.

In 1280, I buy Motorized Transportation from China, and go Modern. In a stroke of luck, I draw Fission as my free tech. I switched a prebuild I had going over to the UN immediately, and completed it in 1335, upon which I held the vote, which I won hands down.

All in all, this was a fun game. I never at any point felt in control of this game. I felt like I was being dragged along for the ride the whole time. I'm used to that feeling on deity, it's been a while since I felt it in and emperor level game. Great game, I look forward to the next one.

1.29 open

Ancient Age

Middle Ages


1200 ad
I entered the IA, was given nationalism and started researching steam power which would take 8 turns. The MAs were primarily spent gearing up for my domination and securing resources. Still, the IA caught me somewhat unprepared. I hadn't anticipated the devastation that trapping the Chinese in the west would do to that half of the continent and I hadn't been building settlers to replace all the cities over there. Still the next 100+ years would tell the tale of Alexander's rapid expansion and domination over his sniveling rivals.

The world and the bulk of my army at 1200 ad (787 tiles to limit):


16 muskets
2 knights
53 cavalry

1300 ad
It took me about 20 turns to wipe out China, the biggest reason was that it was taking forever to get my troops positioned. My workers were now furiously railing to shorten the time needed to move my military and get settlers to the front. I spent the next 50 years getting the rails laid down and claiming the open land in the west. Due to having to wait for some poorly timed deals with the French and the Ottomans to expire I still had a few turns till domination though.

1350 ad (207 tiles to limit):


1385 ad
Once all deals had expired I declared war on the Spanish, Koreans, Ottomans and French. In the matter of a couple of turns I easily triggered my domination by 1385 ad with a Firaxis score of 6516; Jason: Apparently I failed to write it down and I didn't get an e-mail confirmation this month.

1385 ad (68 tiles over limit):


All in all a solid game for me considering. Things I should have done differently:

1. Hand-building my FP in the south severely hampered my game. With the corruption, it was a slow build. A much earlier palace jump would have served me better.

2. I slowed the tech pace down too early in the middle ages. While I wanted my cavs to be able to roll over muskets, I took far too long to get military tradition and I entered the IA very late considering that I reached the middle ages in 900 bc. In retrospect, I would have liked to see just how fast I could have pushed the tech pace. Sometime in the future I'll probably replay this game to find out.

3. Some poorly timed trade deals also delayed me quite a bit when added up. I spent more than a few turns waiting for deals to expire before declaring.

Middle Ages
As we enter the IA in 1030AD, we picked up medicine as our free tech, and had little trading opportunity with it. The only useful thing we could do with it, as a severely trailing, techwise, nation was trade it to Korea for optional MA techs, including chivalry. Because we had no saltpeter, the chivalry tech at least meant that we could start upgrading some horsemen to knights, and have some mobile counterattack force.

China continued to be a big threat. They were making the tech pace and were a behemoth militarily, right on our doorstep. I assume that the weak Greeks would be an inviting target to the Chinese, so immediately sign up ROP and MPP with them, to encourage them to look for foes elsewhere. This also gives me substantial protection from other civs. This is good, because we elect to start stealing technology, as a cheaper and faster means to catch up.

China goes on the warpath
Almost before the ink is dry on our MPP with China, they decide to attack India. This of course drags us into the war as well. The Indians have rifles and cavalry versus Greece's hoplites, MI, and handful of knights. It is not pretty. We lose Tegea, a first ring to our forbidden place city, but we otherwise are able to repel the invaders. China has very deep pockets, and uses them to buy in much of the rest of the world against India. China also has infantry! The Chinese juggernaut runs through the Indian cities, and quickly relieves any pressure on us. The Koreans join in and grab Tegea, and Indus right on our border in the south, but the rest falls to the Chinese. By 1300AD, India is destroyed.

Success for our cultural war
In an amazing turn for the books, Dacca, a previously Indian owned city, that was subjected to significant cultural pressure under Indian ownership, was conquered by the Chinese during the last great war. Now the Chinese had much more culture than the Indians, but shortly thereafter, the city finally flips to the Greeks. Also, Tegea, our only loss to the Indians, had been conquered by the Koreans, but it flips back to us.

Race for Theory of Evolution
Meanwhile we manage to steal steam and industrialisation, so that we can start a ToE prebuild boostered by a factory. But then our stealing luck starts running short. It takes four attempts to get Electricity, and we still need one more tech when the Arabs complete ToE. Our last decent chance to really catch up and get into the game vanishes.

Tech Stealing
As the price to buy, even from behind, kept increasing, the attractiveness of the steal increased. About every three turns we could do a steal immediately, and so backed by the support of MPPs with China, and then Korea, we repeatedly stole from the far side of the continent. Success, however, was varied. At times we would pick up a couple of techs in a row, and I would start thinking that we may actually catch up, then we would have a streak of four or more staright failures. Having the Intelligence Agency, and planted spys didn't really help either. It seems that the real benefit is just enabling you to steal during wartime (and other spy options). Very occassionally, I was able to supplement the stealing activity with a trade. Finally, towards the end of the age, after a particularly bad run on the stealing luck, I turned around and brought both motorised transport and radio to complete the age.

Korean War
The Ottomans finally get sick of our stealing their state secrets and declare war in the 1400s. In 1500AD, the Ottos drag Korea into the war against us. This triggers our ongoing MPP with China. We have replaceable parts at this time, so are able to hold off the Koreans, while the Chinese juggernaut rips through them.

1505AD - A landmark year. The Chinese complete the UN, and they build it in Shanghai which is right on our border! We start planning a tank rush on this city (we are still three techs from tanks at this point). It is at this point that our tech stealing seems to go off the rails, and really slows down. Shortly the Chinese are showing mech infantry. Then when we finally have tanks in numbers, we see Chinese modern armour lurking on the border. This causes another rethink, as our frail borders would not last long against such foes.

1635AD - We finish buying the last two IA techs to enter the modern ages, and pick up fission as our free tech. It is not tradeable, of course. We start a min run on ecology. We now think that we desperately need mechs to defend against China, and modern armour to successfully assault China.

1660AD - We go back to stealing in the MA and get computers off the Arabs. This gets us uranium, a lux and an MPP with the Ottos. But then,

1680AD - Fail in steal, arabs declare war.
1695AD - Fail again
1705AD - Fail again, but agent survives.
1715AD - Fail again, agent dies. Arabia now commie.
1720AD - Change to a research policy! Start building unis and research labs everywhere, since they are cheap.

Modern Armour, the Great Equaliser
In 1792AD we finally finish self reserch of ecology and synthetic fibres. We upgrade 40 tanks to modern armour. The Chinese are at war on the other side of the world, so it is time ot strike. Our plan is simply to grab the Un in Shanghai, and hold it until a vote is cast. There are only us, the chinese, the arabs, the french and the Ottomans left in the game. We need to win a majority of the vote, when cast, so we MPP and ROP both Ottos and France for tech. France is still cautious, so we also MA with her to get her polite. Then we MA with the Arabs to get them into the war on China. However, the Arabs remain furious with us.

Pre-war map


In our first turn of war against the great behemouth, we conquer Shanghai (UN), Apolyton, Syracuse (both once ours, but flipped to China's culture), and Pune. The strategy is simple, knock out the radar towers that we can reach, and that can influence the local battle, then take the city. Modern Armour and Mech infantry is finally enough, because the remaining techs do not offer a substnatial military advantage over these weapons, and that becomes evident as the campaign continues.

Progress is slow, especially when we all but exhaust our initial 40 modern armour, but we start taking additional Chinese cities, and keeping them (or razing them).

In 1804AD - Shanghai flips back with five mech infantry defenders. The flip was not unexpected, as the city is near Beijing, and had about 18 Chinese citizens when captured. It is also easily retaken. Just how long does it take to get a vote, anyway?

In 1808AD - The Chinese buy the French out of the war, and their attitude to us changes back to cautious, then we finally get a vote! Did the Chinese know the vote was forthcoming? The outcome is 2-1 to us with two abstentions (arabs and French), so it is inconclusive! From here on in we gift 100 gold to both the French and the Arabs every 10 turns, and lock then into MPPs, just to get both at least polite to us. We will not have another inconclusive vote!

In 1820AD we finally get our very first leader of the game! He is turned into battlefield medicine.

In 1830AD we finally get our second vote. At this point I am tempted to say no and go for a most unlikely domination win. Every tuirn we are making sure progress against the Chinese, and it seems to me that the tide has finally turned into our favour. I am quite sure that the domination win would be possible (long and drawn out, but possible). However, I suspect that the diplomatic win is worth more Jason points at this time, so we stick to the plan.

Final territory in 1830AD

And the Vote

Proof positive it is never over, until it is over.

A tough map compounded with some early mistakes of mine made this game a real nail biter right to the finish.

Nice post and way to pull out the victory Sandman2003. I had a white knuckled grip on my mouse just reading it.

Thanks Demiurge. There were times when I was thinking a nice simple 1300AD domination win would have been more satisfying, but then a come from way behind win has a lot going for it too!

Civ3 1.29f Open

...I learned nationalism as my free technology. I started maximum profitable research (60%) on medicine. This would temporarily go to minimum research (was going to upgrade units) and later turned to 90% research. In 670, I sold nationalism to Arabs for military tradition, gems, silks, their world map, and all of their gold and gold per turn. I sold it to France for navigation, democracy, their world map, and all of their gold and gold per turn. In 710, I decided China was too strong to attack, so I disbanded some units, stopped all military builds, and decided to peacefully finish.

In 720, I established an embassy in Beijing. In 800, I learned medicine. I sold it to China for steam power and a lot of gold. I sold medicine to Ottomans for incense, horses, their world map, and all of their gold and gold per turn. I sold medicine to Korea for their world map and all of their gold and gold per turn. I also got free artistry from one of them, but my log says I bought it from both of them. I realized China was technologically ahead of everyone, a situation that would continue throughout the game. I would wait for them to sell a technology to other civilizations, and buy it from them. I started 100% research on sanitation (and was gaining 137 gold per turn).

In 840, I bought industrialization from India for ivory, medicine, my world map, and some gold. In 880, I sold medicine to Arabs for gems, silks, their world map, and all their gold per turn. Then, noticing the Ottoman city of Salamanca in Arabia, I checked the military advisor screen, and noticed Arabs had lost workers to China, Ottomans, and Rome (I already knew they were at war with China). I accidentally built an embassy in the Ottoman capital of Sogut. I purposely built an embassy in the Arabian capital of Mecca. The arabs were at war with China, France, Ottomans, Egypt, and Spain.

In 900, I learned sanitation. I bought electricity from China for ivory, sanitation, my world map, and a lot of gold and gold per turn. I sold industrialization to the Ottomans. I sold industrialization and sanitation to Korea, obtaining communism. I started maximum research on espionage. In 960, China declared war on India. Also in this year, I bought espionage from India for furs and some gold. I sold espionage to China for gold and gold per turn. I turned off research. In 970, China completed the Theory of Evolution, adding to their position as technological leaders. In 990, I sold espionage to Ottomans for incense, horses, and their world map. In 1000, I bought scientific method from Korea for wines, my world map, and some gold. I sold scientific method to France for the corporation, their world map, and some gold. I started minimum research on atomic theory.

In 1040, I decided to try to keep everyone technologically current. I sold one technology for everything they would give. I gave away every other technology I knew to everyone. In 1050, India and China signed peace. My strategy worked, since Rome (who previously was backwards) learned replaceable parts. In 1110, I bought replaceable parts from India for ivory, my world map, and some gold. I would sell every technology to everyone. I got gold per turn from Ottomans and Spain this time. In 1140, I bought steel from Korea for ivory and some gold. I bought refining from India for steel, my world map, and some gold. I sold steel to Rome for coal, their world map, and a lot of gold and gold per turn. I got nothing significant from anyone else. I took advantage of the coal by building railroads for 20 turns (and finishing some later). In 1285, China learned atomic theory and other civilizations started learning combustion. Since I was 9 turns from atomic theory, I decided to finish it myself and sell it around.

In 1330, I learned atomic theory. I sold it to Spain for combustion, their world map, and some gold. I turned off research and waited for technologies to be sold. In 1380, I bought mass production from India for 1723 gold. I sold mass production to Spain and Arabs for a low price.

In 1385, China started the United Nations. I realized the only way to beat them would be with a great leader. I started building some militia, intending to attack Spain, who only had one city. In 1400, Knossos wanted to depose to China, but China did not take it. I built embassies and signed ROPs with India, Rome, and China. I sent workers to irrigate land near Beijing. I then realized Rome prevented access to Spain. Since France built Besancon northwest of China, I decided to take my chances there. In 1405, I sent three militia to France. They attacked cavalry. Two militia died, and the other militia did not promote. A cavalry killed my militia the next turn. My continued attacks were unsuccessful, so I realized a space victory was the only achievable victory (I should have realized this sooner).

I started Sparta on an intelligence agency prebuild for the Apollo program. In 1480, I bought flight from Rome. I bought electronics from Egypt for flight and some gold. I bought motorized transportation from Ottomans. I bought radio from China. Getting rocketry as my free tech, I decided buying space flight was too expensive. I took a gamble and tried to steal space flight. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but I was not detected. The second was successful, so I got space flight for 6564 gold. I sold rocketry to everyone. Then I accidentally went to the next turn. Sparta built the intelligence agency, and started a palace prebuild (I did not have aluminum). I started maximum research on ecology.

In 1515, I bought aluminum from China for ivory, 20 gold per turn, and 36 gold. In 1545, Sparta built the Apollo Program, and Sparta, Pharsalos, and Athens started building parts. In 1580, I learned ecology and sold space flight to everyone. In 1675, I learned synthetic fibers. I foolishly did not sell it to China in between turns. In 1685, Egypt learned computers. I sold ecology to them to practically nothing, then bought computers for synthetic fibers and some gold. I sold computers to China for aluminum, coal, their world map, and gold. I started maximum research on miniaturization. I learned miniaturization in 1760 and traded it to China for nuclear power.

Starting the race for space, I started prebuilding using tactical nukes. In 1762, India and Rome learned satellites. I sold nuclear power and miniaturization to both, getting satellites and gold. I was curious about China's spaceship progress, so I planted a spy in Beijing. They had completed 9 parts, and had not started the last. I kept watching it to know when they learned robotics. In 1764, China declared war on India and learned recycling. In 1766, I sold stuff to everyone again. In 1772, China destroyed India. Egypt learned superconductors, so I bought it for nuclear power, miniaturization, and some gold. I sold superconductors to Rome and bought aluminum from China. In 1774, I realized that chopping forests near Athens prevented the city from building spaceship parts. So I built a factory and started an ICBM prebuild. In 1776, I bought the laser from China. In 1778, China learned robotics. I sold technologies to everyone, then bought robotics from China for 600 gold per turn and 14900 gold. I still had 3599 gold for espionage. I investigated Xinjian and saw that it would complete stasis chamber in 4 turns. I started building all spaceship parts and would have to wait 3 turns for Knossos to build stasis chamber. I joined workers to Knossos so it would use all available land, but it did not speed up the production. In 1784, I launched the spaceship to Alpha Centauri. My Firaxis score was 2224 (lower than China's). My Jason score was 3696.

This game was not one of my better games. The problem was having too small of an empire. I did not expand quickly enough, and my only war was in desperation. The moral is that early war is still important in a diplomatic victory, and a warmonger like me should not try to win a game by building.

Open PTW 1.21f

5CC Diplomatic

Ancient Age

Middle Ages

Industrial Age
I entered the Industrial Age in 730ad and my banking strategy was in full swing. Getting Nationalism monopoly as my free tech was like hitting the jackpot. The Arabs were willing to pay 351gpt for the tech and I was able to buy every bit of gold available for quite some time. By buying gold from the top researchers and gifting techs to the others I was able to start reaching and keeping Gracious status with nearly every nation. Continuous luxury deals with China and India begun in the MA also helped in keeping the two world powers happy.

Can Anyone Spare Some Coal?
In 860ad I stole Steam Power from Korea. As I suspected - no coal. Argh! It would take me most of the era before I would be able to get someone to trade coal to me. Everytime a 2nd source would be connected it would be traded away before I got a chance to make an offer. I even sent some workers to Rome to connect it for them and make an offer during my turn. However, when I got there they had just moved 1 worker to clear that jungle tile. I was finally able to trade for that source about 10 turns later but I was getting seriously annoyed in the delay in getting railroads up.

Arabia War
Once my Nationalism trade ran out my income dropped to -66gpt. Checking the bank ledgers I see that I'm paying Arabia 122gpt for a total of 1225g. A quick steal of Industrialization would cost 1263g so I give it a shot. Caught! Arabia declares war but my income jumped to 56gpt. The Ottomans signed on with the Arabs in the war but they both might as well have been on another continent for the threat they posed. Arabia landed a mini stack of doom (2 cavs, 2 rifles, 2 longbows - not bad for an AI landing party) near Delphi but they were willing to talk peace the same turn and I took no harm from the war.

I played nicely for awhile, making a few trades to keep up on tech. In 1140ad a golden opportunity showed up. Arabia got an Atomic Theory monopoly. This was one of the few times I had seen a civ get a tech and not trade it around with the leaders the same turn. It was just too good to pass up so I made a safe steal for 2862g. AT netted me Refining, Replaceable Parts, 153gpt and nearly 1000g. And hey, I have rubber! Woooh! I don't really need it for anything I'd want to build but it could come in handy in a trade.

In a fine example of AI stupidity the Ottomans beat me to Theory of Evolution by 9 turns and take Refining and Combustion - 2 techs known by 3-4 civs. If they had bothered taking the Electronics monopoly I could have switched my ToE build to Hoover Dam. Instead I had to build a very expensive factory.

2nd Arabia War
In 1200ad I was owing the Arabs 2582g so I decided to try a quick tech steal for 1503g. Success! I take Electronics and since they also have Mass Production I try again on the same turn for the same price and this time I'm caught. Another war with Arabia. This time I get India, China, Korea and Rome to ally with me - starting a cycle of wars involving the Arabs that would last the rest of the game and cost them a few cities. I almost feel kinda bad about that.

Modern Age
In 1330ad all the techs required to reach the Modern Age were researched, so I decided to open the bank and buy my way there in the hopes of trading my free tech to get the money back. 10,960g buys me Combustion, Radio, Flight, Mass Production and Motorized Transportation. I gain Computers as my free tech and discover that the Koreans had gotten that one too and had traded it to China. I was still able to get 4290g, 197gpt, gems and Amphibious War in the following deals but it could have been so much better if Korea had gotten, say, Fission for their free tech.

My Destiny Awaits
Once into the Modern Age, war started breaking out everywhere. I managed to stay out of it. Everyone loved me and I refused to sign any MPPs with anyone. The Swiss..er... Greeks need to stay neutral. I'd like to note here just how peaceful this game has been. Other than the few wars I started because of my thieving ways there have been no wars beyond a few skirmishes and nearly every civ has had the same borders for thousands of years. I was disturbed to see this new violent trend and, as the friend of everyone, I took it upon myself to take my place as a world leader for peace.

The United Nations
In 1350 I bought Fission from China for 9336g, 75gpt and switched my Battlefield Medicine prebuild in Corinth to the UN. China, the Ottomans and Korea also start UN builds but China was closest and was 6 turns behind. In 1395ad everyone but Rome and Arabia were gracious. Those two were polite. Invitations to the grand opening of the United Nations Center of Corinth (sponsered by the Greek Global Banking Corp), along with gifts of gold and tech to all (you can't be too generous on these occasions) were sent out. The first meeting of the UN saw Mao challenging me for the UN Secretary-General position. The voting results:



Greece wins 6-4!!! Alexander declares all wars to end and everyone lives happily ever after. The game that started out with the goal of killing everyone off ended in world peace. All thanks to Ainwood's positioning of resources.

I'd have to say that being the world's bank was hugely important in staying alive in this game. For much of the game I was carrying a balance of 5000-10000g and staying near the lead in tech and I recieved few demands from the other civs and the only ones I payed were the couple I got from China and India. I got into a few wars but civs were reluctant to ally against me and each war amounted to nothing although any of the civs could have crushed my tiny army if they had really tried. In the end, everyone loved me. And isn't that all that really matters?

The Greek Empire 1400ad:

A 5CC on emperor, on this map. Insane! And a very good date as well. How are you going to top that? A 1CC on deity?

Edit/add: Due to the fact that I've been focusing on improving my domination skills, I failed to realize until too late that this game was particularly geared toward a fast diplo or space win. Of those who recognized it, I'm interested to see the results to see just how fast some players achieved those goals. to Ainwood for setting up a game where the tech-based victories will undoubtably challenge many of the domination games for victory date.

Im going to write just one summary about my game.
Was a very long game for me, with a late Domination victory achieved by modern armors and nuclear rockets

Ancient Age

I was constantly way behind everyone, couldnt trade for crap and everyone was annoyed or worse with me all the time. I hated it!
Then China declared war on me with a huge army, but a well built city wall + hoplites defended Sparta and Corinth very well so eventually they gave up. I even managed to destroy Nanking and pillage it to the ground!
Barbarian hordes werent a problem for me because both India and Korea colonized the southern territories and my settlements fastbuilt a city wall all the time.
I think city walls were the key to survive the ancient age.

Middle Age

A lot of hostilities on the other side of the world but we could maintain peace. China warmongered a lot, but for some reason they never attacked me again. Mao was rather trading luxuries with me
In the middle age I noticed that monstrous China is remaining in Monarchy so I decided I can out-tech them. By the end of the middle age, China and Greece annihillated India. I managed to take a lot of Indian cities, including Delhi, which fastbuilt a Forbidden Palace immediately.
Forbidden Palace was the key and probably my best decision in the whole game

Industrial Age

Traded around and slowly took the tech lead.
With building Theory of Evolution, I secured Electronic and built the Hoover Dam, boosted my productivity for preparation for a tough war.
I was careful that no AI could go near Motorized Transport.
I had to war Rome and conquer that small island (Byzantium in my game) for the oil resource to be able to build tanks.
With some 50 tanks, 25 artilleries and 30 cavalries I finally declared on China and dragged the Ottomans and Arabs into the war on my side.
The result was lethal, China was pushed back to Korea's 5 city. I quickly made peace and declared on the Ottomans with the Arabs while entered the Modern Ages.

Modern Age

The northern and eastern part of the Ottoman empire quickly fell before my tanks because they had no mech infantry yet. Also, the mighty city of Uskudar experienced the lethalness of nuclear weapons! I founded a few new settlements for larger territory.
Invented modern armor and upgraded every tanks.
For ancient age grudges, I killed the remaining Chinese!
Then suddenly the stupid Arabs demanded Rocketry, I refused and they declared war. I got the Ottomans to my side with giving them Ecology.
The arabs initially destroyed 2 of my towns, but they forgot that they are facing around 90 modern armors, 80 mech infantries, several tactical nukes and ICBM-s and 3 carriers full of bombers.
In some 15 turns Arabia was pushed back to the small island and a Domination Victory was achieved in 1904.

Summary

Was a fun game! City walls and the well built Forbidden Palace saved my ass when China was unstoppable. I never used so many nuclear weapons before this game, I think I used like 5 tactical nukes and 3 ICBM's in the war vs. the Arabs and 1 vs. the Ottomans.

Anyway, just like in the Euro 2004, Greece was victorious!

1.27, going for space.

Link to Ancient Age spoiler
Link to Middle Age spoiler

Industrial Age Expansion

At the start of the Industrial Age in 370AD I was still having a problem getting research up to the maximum rate. I'd done nearly all I could with existing cities except waiting for them to grow larger and finishing improving their land. It was time to gain a bit more speed by expanding my holdings. I didn't have saltpeter available for Cavalry so I started building Knights.

In 500AD I had 24 Knights, declared war on China, and began my invasion. I immediately took sources of saltpeter and dyes, and began upgrading my Knights to Cavalry.

Losses were high but I kept pushing forward and eventually eliminated China in 640AD. I immediately declared war on India and launched an attack.

In 760AD I took over the last Indian city and she was out of the game. I now owned all of the land east of Rome except for one city where France had gained a foothold:



Rome was still in the Middle Ages and didn't even have saltpeter. So even though my forces at this date were just 17 Cavalry (losses had been high) I declared war on Rome and invaded. In 810AD I took the Pyramids which would give a nice boost to my growth rate. In 820AD I gave Rome peace in exchange for two 1-tile islands, leaving her with just one city.

Geographically Korea would be a logical choice as my next target. But I wanted to keep her strong for the moment, and on good terms so that I could trade for her free Modern Times tech. So I took an MPP with Korea and decided to head northwest into Egypt.

But in 830AD Arabia launched an attack on me and thus became my next target instead of Egypt. Arabia had an MPP with France. So I took an MPP with France and waited a turn - Arabia continued her attack and France took my side.

My war on Arabia proceeded slowly as I started encountering infantry. I pushed forward with combined stacks of cavalry, artillery, and infantry. In 980AD I took Smith's Trading from her which gave me a nice economic boost.

In 1030AD I gave Arabia peace for two towns, leaving her just one city. By this time everyone else in the world had joined a dogpile on her and I didn't expect she'd last long. She didn't. In 1050AD Egypt eliminated Arabia from the game.

I had poor leader luck in this game. By the end of the Industrial Age I'd had just two. I used the first to create an army and then built Heroic Epic. But that didn't seem to improve my odds. I only had two more leaders after that, one in the Industrial Age and one in Modern Times. Both were too late to be of much use.

Industrial Age Research

My free tech on entering the Industrial Age in 370AD was Medicine. I traded Korea Magnetism for a lot of gpt and she got Steam Power as her free tech. I traded back the gpt I'd just received plus ivory and Medicine to get Steam Power. I then boosted four other Civs (Ottomans, Egypt, Arabia, France) into the Industrial Age. I kept China, India, and Rome backward because they'd be my first three war targets.

I was happy to see that I had coal available though it wasn't connected yet. My workers would hurry to connect it and to then create a railroad network.

I learned Electricity in 8 turns, Industrialization in 6, The Corporation in 5, Scientific Method in 5, Steel in 6, and Refining in 6 at 730AD. Not great. I did tried hard to increase my research capacity but just couldn't get anywhere near the magic four turn rate. I think the constrained growth at the start of the game was the biggest factor in this.

My rivals had learned Nationalism in 600AD. By that time I'd given them Electricity to guide their subsequent research. Korea was first to learn Replaceable Parts, in 750AD. I traded for Replaceable Parts and it looked like that would be the last required tech my rivals would research for me in this game. Their research pace wasn't great either and I expected to get to all remaining required techs sooner by learning them myself.

I learned Atomic Theory in 7 turns, Electronics in 5, Combustion in 5, Mass Production in 4, Motorized Transportation in 4, Flight in 4, and Radio in 4, entering Modern Times in 1060AD.

Along the way I'd traded for Communism which helped a bit by enabling builds of Police Stations.

Modern Times Expansion

In 1060AD France declared war on me. This war didn't amount to much since France was on the far side of Egypt from my forces. I did take the one city France had established in the eastern lands. In 1130AD I made peace with France, putting an end to her annoying coastal bombardment.

Aside from the war with France I stayed peaceful from 1060AD to 1250AD. Initially my efforts were focused on rushing courthouses and police stations to increase research by every little bit possible. The Cavalry I still had from the Middle Ages wouldn't be much use in a war at this time.

By 1250AD settling and border expansion brought me to about 58% of the world's land. I finally had some spare production and by this date had 15 Modern Armor and 27 Mechanized Infantry. So although it wouldn't make much difference I decided to increase my holdings to just under the domination limit. I declared war on Rome and attacked. This triggered her MPP with Korea so that I was at war with her too. I eliminated Rome and captured four Korean cities in 1250AD. In 1255AD I took four more cities, eliminating Korea.

In 1260AD the Ottomans declared war and with a surprise attack took four of my cities. I immediately retaliated of course and it was no contest.

By 1280AD I was near the domination threshold and stopped expanding. I gave the Ottomans peace in 1285AD and that was the end of warfare in my game.

My world at 1285AD:



Modern Times Research

I got Rocketry as my free Modern Times tech. I gifted Korea to Modern Times and she got Computers. I traded Rocketry+3000g for Computers - I'd been saving gold for a while to be sure I could trade at this time.

I had two important builds preparing for this stage. The first one, Theory of Evolution, completed in 1060AD as I entered Modern Times. I took Miniaturization and Space Flight as my free techs. I then flipped a Palace prebuild to The Internet and that completed in 1070AD, giving me Research Labs everywhere.

With the boost from Research Labs, combined with a lot of squeezing (scientists, rushed improvements, SETI) I was barely able to maintain a four turn research rate throughout Modern Times. I learned Ecology, Fission, Synthetic Fibers, Satellites, Superconductor, Nuclear Power, The Laser, and Robotics.

Along the way I'd built all the spaceship parts but one. Upon learning Robotics I flipped a prebuild to the statis chamber and immediately launched, resulting in a 1315AD space victory.

I didn't even notice this. I've just started the COTM, and have forgotten much of the end of my game.

After emerging from a war with China in decent shape, and having used my Golden Age to build Universities everywhere, I was finally going to do some research faster than 40 turns. I of course went straight for the Scientific Method after getting Steam Power (same tech as Korea for the second time in a row), and with much of the world beating up on each other, there wasn't much other research going on. Even before building ToE, I was tech leader, and selling techs to everyone to amass a huge treasury. For the rest of the game, I was able to research at 100% and still get 200-300 gpt minimum, often times it was in the 600-700 range. I decided to go for Diplomatic victory, just because it is quicker than Space Race. Unfortunately, with my small empire, this often still meant 5-6 turns instead of 4. Radio took 8. Oh well.

Modern age gave me Ecology, the tech I wanted least. Korea, of course, got Ecology as well, and now my Palace prebuild in Knossos, the FP city built on the cows, which was due in three or four, had to be completely irrigated to slow down the build. I couldn't tell if the palace was all 1000-shields either, so I built four or five settlers in cities that had been producing wealth (didn't really want any military at all). With the settlers, I decided to see how far into Chinese territory I could get. I also began rushing Universities, Commercial Docks, and anything else anywhere that didn't have things that would help research, to bring fission down from 10 to 8 turns. I had everything timed perfectly, and I thought everything was set up perfectly. Arabia was still Furious for some reason, as well as China and Egypt (I had gotten an MA with them against China and then broken it as soon as China would accept peace). France, Korea, and the Ottomans were Gracious and India was Polite (Rome and Spain were gone). That meant to me that I would win 5-3 over China. But I was still planning to sign an MPP with India the turn before just to clinch it. For some reason, I thought that the vote waited a turn after building, which would be the time to sign an MPP. I didn't want to somehow get a war going. Well, the vote happened immediately, and India abstained, even though they had been to war with China and were polite to me. So my 1455 Diplo victory was gone. So I decided to try again. 1510 was still a decent time, and winning on Emperor was more than enough for me. I did, however, start working towards space victory just in case.

Just to make sure I had everyone happy at the right time, I signed MPP with China to keep them from attacking me, and just before the vote I signed MPP with India. Korea thought, for some reason, that India was the perfect target the same turn I signed MPP, and now I am back to war with Korea. A lone Korean cavalry attacked and died at the hands of a guerilla somwhere, and now China was in on the fun. Korea lasted about 7 or 8 turns after this, and I managed to capture a city and settle four cities in the place where China had razed two (I'll show a couple screenshots once I get my sister off that computer- if China was a human, they would have declared war for all the territory I stole through settling). So now it was 1565, and I didn't really want diplo at this point. I had tactical nuke prebuilds for all the spaceship parts using Uranium Egypt had given me for the secret of Computers. I was still getting huge amounts of gpt, though I was getting tired of playing at this point so I probably could have gotten a few hundred more if I hadn't accepted deals straight up after asking what a country would offer. I had almost every improvement that contributed to science in every city. Space race in the 1700 range seemed like a good possibility, and I figured that would give a better score than diplo. So what did I do when the "hold vote" box came up? I accidently hit enter, and I finally won the vote now that four votes would do it. Firaxis was in the 4000 range, Jason was just under 6000.

Demiurge said:

A 5CC on emperor, on this map. Insane! And a very good date as well. How are you going to top that? A 1CC on deity?

Click to expand...

LOL Well, I'm still looking for a conquest 5CC but I don't see it happening next month. With a week long camping trip and the start of school I don't think I'll have the time. A 1CC on diety is an intriguing thought though. I just may have time for a diety 1CC conquest attempt. I can't imagine it would be a long game!

Well so much for the idea of a medal this month.

I'm at 1500 AD and have 2 SS parts done and working on 3 more, so I decide to check out this spoiler since I've qualified (in the modern age). My reading is going well with a couple of losses and a bunch of UN wins and I'm thinking hey, my 1600 AD launch might be good enough when

SirPleib: Along the way I'd built all the spaceship parts but one. Upon learning Robotics I flipped a prebuild to the statis chamber and immediately launched, resulting in a 1315AD space victory.

Click to expand...

in 1315 AD my little empire had just finished flight and was 2 of 7 on radio, only about an age behind. Korea didn't live long enough in my game to serve as a bonus tech supplier, though it doesn't matter now.

I'm sure that leaving India strong and not coming anywhere near the domination limit is going to cost me a lot when the final scores are totalled. So my head for south gambit has be sucessful, just not anywhere near what a top player can do. It would be interesting to see how SirPleib would have done if he'd headed south like I did.

Towards the end of the game, I had fun seeing how much territory, and more importantly, how many resources, I could peacefully steal from China.

PTW Open

I just entered Middle Ages in COTM03...a good time to leave it and think about where to go with the game. As well as write up the final GOTM33...here goes...

Entered Industrial Age in 470AD. Decided to go for Diplo as I hadn't submitted a Diplo win before. Actually my first Diplo win was a GOTM32 replay where I tried the "Sir Pleb variant"...Always War-Diplo. More on that later...

Research. At the start of IA I had 3 turns remaining on the Golden Age, which I had used to put Universities/Marketplaces throughout both cores. I got Medicine as the free tech and started Steam, nominally at 5, but I turned it into 6 by paring research to the minimum for 5 and then losing a turn when the Golden Age ended and the gold reduced. If that weren't enough, I ignored Korea, figuring they would get Nationalism if I gifted them into IA, and missed out on trading for a required tech. I guess I'm still in "Vanilla Mode".

I had a full 2-ring southern core (albeit with jungle still hanging around) and about 1/2 a core in the north (China was too strong to go after until later in the game).

After Steam, Electricity in 7 and RP in 7. I haven't yet figured out working the AI to research for you and did all IA research myself. 13 Techs in IA at 5.2 turns per.

I couldn't be sure of waiting for ToE for entering the Modern Age and so built it and took Atomic Theory and Electronics. I'm beginning to get a better idea of what the AI is capable of doing for research in IA. Basically it seems the AI gets fairly slow about this time.

Wars.

590AD-India, who has the score building Pyramids, declares war out of the blue. Make my day!
610AD-20 Knights in my army
680AD-26 Knights
730AD-Rome sends a bunch of MedInf and the like at Ravenna which I had gotten for peace in the Ancient Age, I think. I only have a Spear defending so I gift the town to Egypt so I don't get the citizens in an uproar.
740AD-Destroyed the Solid Indians
780AD-32 Knights
830AD-Capture Rome...I now control the continental choke point.
840AD-I declare on Korea
880AD-Destroyed the Solid Koreans.
Army is 18 Cav, 9 Knights
920AD-Peace to Rome, leaving them with one island towm.
930AD-23 Cav, 9 Knights, 18 Infantry, 12 Arty

I finally feel up to taking on China and declare. The front was broad with China (northern core plus the formerly Indian towns). So I had to be sure of enough defense for the counter attack. Actually drafted 6 Infantry to fill in some holes...something I almost never do. (one of these Conscripts killed 2 Knights and redlined 2 others...and promoted) The initial assault was designed to leave China without iron and Saltpeter. I take 3 cities the first turn. And get the planned pillaging in as well. Lost 8 Cav and 3 Knights, however. Need more artillery!

940AD-China shows up with Infantry...they just got RP!
950AD-2 turns into China and WW shows up...GAH!!
980AD-China MPPs with Egypt who declares. I ally with France against Egypt.
990AD-Tiensin flips...it has Saltpeter. I'm an inch away from dumping the game. Another smelly flip, but I stay the course.
1000AD-10 Cav, 21 Infantry, 43 Arty
1080AD-8 Cav, 19 Infantry, 13 Tank, 50 Arty
1100AD-Destroyed the Strong Egyptians.
1110AD-Destroyed the Strong Chinese. They were tough...Arty and Cav against Infantry for most of the war.



The End Game. In 1140AD I rushed 16 Tanks and a bunch of Combat Settlers fixing to take on the Ottoman. And France as they were MPPed. Next turn I would have 41 Tanks, 50 Arty, 20 or so Infantry and the remaining cavs. I then realized that I was taking a chance with the Diplo win as Modern Age was due in 2 turns and I just don't have enough experience with AI Attitude to fiddle around like this. So for the rest of the game I sat there with a killer army and did no conquesting, just being Mr. Nice-Nice to my little buddies.

Ever the pessimist, I had a pre-build for the UN timed for a Fission research of 8 turns. You know what happened...when I hit Modern Ages in 1160AD my free tech was...ta-da...Fission!!. UGH!! I suppose I should have had a pre-build for that situation as well. So I got to sit there with my 40+ Tanks doing nothing and just waiting for the UN to build for what seemed like FOREVER!

The turn before the UN completed I lavished my new best friends with 100g each. Declared war on Arabia, the biggest other civ around. Allied everyone against Arabia for techs. Threw in a free tech for all. ROPed and MPPed with everyone. And won the vote with Rome, the piddling little one town civ at that point, abstaining. Diplo win in 1240AD.

I was curious that Rome would not go better than Annoyed. Last month in trying the Always War-Diplo game I had Germany down to one town and had been pillaging it and bombarding it with a Battleship right up to the final turn. All the gifts, techs, alliances, MPPs etc. turned Germany from a Furious adversary into a Gracious partner instantly. The other civs in this game, some of whom I had been at war with at one time or another, all fell into line. Little Rome wouldn't budge, however. I guess I need to dive in the AI Attitude article again and figure out what happened.

Summary. I botched seemingly one thing after another in this game. In the Ancient Age, I struggled with Barbs, losing time developing as well as a settler, warriors and 2 workers. In the Middle Ages I lost a bunch of gold to the Barb uprising and didn't get the FP built until 170AD, delaying the southern core setup. In the Industrial Age I didn't use the AI to research even one tech. And I believe I bungled the late game Wonders, ToE and UN, wasting turns all along the way.

One strategic move saved the game for me and it happened in the Ancient Age. I built a granary in the second city, Sparta. I operated Athens as a 5-turn settler factory and Sparta as a 6-turn settler factory sharing Athens' Game tile. An equivalent 2.7-turn factory. I was therefore able to flood the south with settlers before the AI could get in there and had a 2+-ring core pumping out more beakers than the original Athens area. Two cores will cover a lot of mistakes.

I am continually amazed at the seemingly endless stream of challenges thrown at us by the GOTM Staff. Every game has something new to consider and react to. Too much fun...Thanks, folks!

PTW Open

I play only with despotizm. Building - only units and library. Wonders - if I have free leader.
930AD - Domination (If play ones more - I think around 780-800AD)


Tech - only 5 first tech. All from GB. Before Education I offer city with GB. After 70-80 turn I capture this city and take many techs from GB....