Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
All Leaders Challenge Game #23:
America/Lincoln
America/Lincoln
Pre-Game Thread
Starting Position (this post, below)
Round 1: 4000 BC to 2950 BC (42 turns)
Round 2: 2950 BC to 1675 BC (51 turns)
Round 3: 1675 BC to 275 BC (62 turns)
Round 4: 275 BC to 190 AD (31 turns)
Round 5: 190 AD to 990 AD (58 turns)
Round 6: 990 AD to 1525 AD (81 turns)
Round 7: 1525 AD to 1720 AD (45 turns)
Round 8: 1720 AD to 1772 AD (26 turns)
Round 9: 1772 AD to 1903 AD (97 turns)
Post Mortem
The idea of the All Leaders Challenge is that I'm going to play a game with each of the Civ IV leaders. With the help of all the posters who participate, I will attempt to make the most of the leader's unique characteristics: traits, starting techs, unit, and building. Aside from the leader, the other game settings are (mostly) kept constant for the sake of comparison. I will post the saved game files, screenshots, and status reports here as the game progresses. Everyone then has a chance to chime in with their strategy ideas, or voice their frustration (or glee) when I make a mistake.
Everyone is invited to offer opinions and advice, and to make your own attempt at playing the same game. But if you do play a "shadow game", I kindly request that you refrain from posting spoilers--i.e. any facts or even hints about the map, opponents, and so on--before I'm there myself. I'm trying to play the game as authentically as possible.
In this ALC game, I'll be playing as Abraham Lincoln, leader of the United States of America. I'm playing the game using the Beyond the Sword expansion pack, its latest patch (3.17), and Solver's unofficial patch as well. I also have Bhruic's unofficial patch that restores the "Glance" screen in the Diplomacy Advisor, which I had installed previously and which the 3.17 patch did not, thankfully, remove. The difficulty level is, for the first time, Immortal, the map is Archipelago (more details below), and the speed is Epic.
As you can see, I chose Archipelago, but with low sea levels and snaky continents turned on. This should result in some large, interestingly-shaped land masses with some natural choke points, among other things. We should still have the option of doing some sort of late-game intercontinental invasion to leverage the Navy SEALs.
In addition, I added two civilizations to bring the total number (including myself) up to nine. Some of you were recommending this in the pre-game thread, and I kind of like the idea. Will it make things harder or easier? Probably a bit of both. More civs often means more trading partners, but if it's the wrong civ right next door, it could be more dangerous. I almost always add one or two additional civs to the map in my off-line games, and it definitely makes the game more fun.
And finally, I've increased the difficulty level. I'm now in that usual dilemma of civvers everywhere: my current difficulty level (Emperor) has become too easy, while the next one up (Immortal) is kicking my sorry, pasty white rump on the few times I've attempted it. But I have the hive mind to help me out, as well as Lincoln's excellent trait combination, so I've made the jump.
(As several of you have recommended, future ALCs may jump back and forth between Immortal and Emperor, depending on the leader. The series is all about leveraging each leader's characteristics, and many of you who play at Immortal or Deity have warned me that the ability to do that becomes limited. We'll see how things turn out this time and will probably decide on the difficulty level to be used in each pre-game thread.)
Now here's the starting position:
Not too shabby, though not overpowering, either. Three clams within reach to take advantage of America starting with the Fishing technology. No grains visible to leverage the other starting tech, Agriculture, yet, though I could always farm the flood plains. There's a goody hut right next door along with a lake for the fresh water bonus, and pigs in the distance for a future (?) city.
The logical move for the Warrior (always a popular topic around here ) appears to be 1 NW, onto the forested plains hill to reveal several tiles west of the Settler. Which will help with the next decision...
Where should the capital go? The only options, in my mind, seem to be either settling in place or moving 1W. Moving would grab more land tiles--which is nearly always a good idea--including several riverside tiles, which will help Washington become the cottaged capital providing commerce to the specialist economy. However, that's a forested tile, and I'm not sure if sacrificing a turn at Immortal level is a good idea. I'd be giving up one clam tile, as well as the extra hammer from the plains hill I'm starting on. Also, settling in place would make this site a better GP farm than a Bureaucracy-enhanced cottaged capital, so I might look at moving the capital later if I manage to find a better commerce-generating site--with a river and flood plains nearby, that's a definite possibility.
So, long term, I think 1W is better; short term, however, which might make all the difference at Immortal level, settling in place makes sense. But as usual, I'll heed your advice (and, of course, move the Warrior) before making any further decisions.
Schedule-wise, I plan to post the results of the Warrior move tomorrow night, and the first round on Wednesday. I'll try to keep things moving at a steady clip so the game doesn't drag on forever like they did with Saladin.