Carthage - Immortal - Colonisation Game

[adams643]

Hi all,

Making a photo journal to show a fun way that I like to play as Carthage - I haven't seen this type of game play on any recent threads (not sure though I didn't check that much). Basically I pick a map that allows for all civs to start on 1 continent, and then play as normal. This allows for much more interesting games as there is less room initially for all civs leading to more wars and city captures, and adds a very cool mid and late game dynamic in which all civs try to grab up all the new land once it is discovered.

I chose Carthage to play as, as their UA - all cities spawn with a lighthouse and their UU - a boat that gains experience from exploration - lend themselves to this type of gameplay and gives you very strong naval units. Other civs that are good for this challenge:

England - +1 movement to all naval units
Spain - Conquistadors ability to settle
Basically any maritime civ would work (except Polynesia as I find their UA ruins the type of game I want to play - they are fun to challenge as the AI as they get a good head start on everyone else).

I normally play on Emperor difficulty, however this type of game gives certain advantages to the player so have upped the difficulty by 1 to Immortal.

Haven't done a photo journal before, mainly doing it as I lack commitment to complete games. Feel free to give advice on actions I should take in game, and let me know if I am giving enough detail or too much.

Settings

Spoiler :

Only major change is the "Players Start In" Section.

Raging barbarians on as it makes the colonisation all the harder.

Mods
No game changing mods, only QoL - Infoaddict and Greatest Cities (This adds the Triumphal Arch Wonder but that doesn't change much).

T000

Spoiler :

Spawned in with a pretty amazing start - 2 gold and 1 whale, as well as potential for Petra. Normally I reroll my starts until I get a sea resource monopoly, but I'll go with this one as it's so good.

I settled and using Carthage's gold bonus for settling, rushed production on a monument.

See below my research route. given I am on a good production location and have a mining resource monopoly, I start with mining and will aim to get pyramids (normally I would leave this tech til much later but it works in this situation).

I will then fishing ASAP to get my UU, and from their go straight for sailing to get the Great Lighthouse. I understand that part of this wonder is wasted on Carthage as the free lighthouse is useless, but I would like to get the best navy possible, and the free movement and sight promotion is too good to pass up. Paired with my boats that get experience for exploring, this will create some really beefy units.

After sailing I will go for writing. I expect to fall behind in science initially due to delaying council and library.

T014

Spoiler :

I finished the monument and began working towards shrine, but will switch and invest in pyramid once unlocked next turn. Also through a ruin containing gold I purchased a worker to immediately start working on the Gold once I have mining unlocked

I find Morocco below me and Atilla somewhere to the East.

T020

Spoiler :

Pretty sure I'll get the pyramids, projected T034 to get it, which is usually quicker than the AI on immortal. Normally in this game I would rarely settle inland, however the spot in-between Carthage and Jakarta looks amazing, with the Grand Mesa too (+2 food, +4 culture, for some reason my yield icons are bugged).

A common issue using Communitas map type in which all players start in the same continent is that it is way too cramped, with capitals less than 10 tiles from each other, thankfully this doesn't seem to be the case, and there is a decent amount of room to settle. Using the Terra map type solves this issue (as it is modelled from Earth), however I prefer this map type.

T023

Spoiler :

Policy time! obviously Tradition is out, doesn't match the play style and even if it did it's not great. Usually progress is what I go with as I intend to be settling a lot of cities rather than conquering them. However, given my aggressive settle that I plan, and how crazy barbs are in this new update, I'm going to go with Authority in this run.

T033

Spoiler :

Got the pyramids as planned, and start moving towards settle spot.

Also all civs are now found, and it looks like this is going to be a war heavy game (Hiawatha, Atilla, Monty & the Mongols). Authority was probably the right choice...

I finish up the shrine, and will then work on a warrior, granary and another settler. I will also buy a warrior once I get the gold.

I'm thinking of crazy thoughts of forward settling Morocco too, south of my second city spot.

T036

Spoiler :

Surveying what is explored it seems all capitals are reasonably spaced from one another, bar these two. My money is on Monty...

Looking at the map the continent is split by a narrow sea, making two sub-continents. My immediate neighbours are The Huns, Indonesia and Morocco. On the other side there is The Iroquois, The Mongols, Greece, Poland, The Aztecs and America.

T037

Spoiler :

Get Utique settled, and with gold UA I rush monument and buy the Grand Mesa to work as soon as I have 2 pop. That culture bonus will help massively.

That's all for now, I have up to T100 played and will get to posting that ASAP, I'm limited to 10 files to attach (is there any way around this?)

Let me know what you think I've done wrong/right.

Thanks -A

 

[azum4roll]

I'm limited to 10 files to attach (is there any way around this?)

Upload the images to other image hosting sites, then link them here (Insert Image -> By URL).

 

[adams643]

Upload the images to other image hosting sites, then link them here (Insert Image -> By URL).

Ah, I'll probably just stick to how I'm doing it now then. Thanks.

 

[adams643]

Part 2
T047

Spoiler :

Not much changed in the last ten turns, couple bullet points:

• Morocco builds Stonehenge
• Atilla and Gajah are both Hostile towards me
• Hiawatha forward settles Greece

Of note with Hiawatha, it looks like he will be able to grab both Kilimanjaro AND Fountain of Youth. Pretty sure his UA gives bonus movement in forests, so if he plays this right, his army will be scary.

T052

Spoiler :

Found an unexplored island with a couple ruins. In these ruins I will get Bronze Working (good boost to my defence as I was delaying spearmen big time) and Archery (so I will get to Writing quicker). I know some people turn ruins off due to their RNG nature, but I love them.

Morocco looks poised to get a strong religion, with Stonehenge and Mt Sinai near Rabat

T59

Spoiler :

Finished my settler a couple turns ago and decide to double down on my first settle and forward settle Morocco. I figure the lands to the left of me will be unsettled for longer, hopefully this pays off.

Buy my first quinquereme.

Pantheon time! The choice for me is obvious - Spirit of the Desert. Pretty significant bonuses to all 3 of my cities.

T065

Spoiler :

Production of 4th settler underway. Also in 16 turns I will obtain another settler through Authority, giving me 5 cities. That will be enough for now as I don't want to run into happiness issues.

Hippo Regius settled. Carthage and Utique are both looking very very good in terms of yields.

T067

Spoiler :

First war! We have Casimir and Hiawatha teaming up on Alex (who managed to grab Fountain of Youth)

I predict there is going to be a lot more wars between the 4 Civs below..

Part 3 coming soon..

 

[gabrielsfarias]

Why not settle:

• another coastal city to grab the gold and what looks like lapis lazuli? You're missing your UA, unless it works on lakes.
• another city to the north of Utique to grab the two amber, or the gold to the right of Carthage? Indonesia or the Huns will settle there, it's difficult terrain to maneuver.

 

[adams643]

• another coastal city to grab the gold and what looks like lapis lazuli? You're missing your UA, unless it works on lakes.
• another city to the north of Utique to grab the two amber, or the gold to the right of Carthage? Indonesia or the Huns will settle there, it's difficult terrain to maneuver.

I get your first suggestion settled in the next 40 turns - and no UA dies not work for lakes. Not really considered your second point as the city wouldn't be great, but I suppose from the point of view of just not letting someone else get it, it's probably worth it.

 

[adams643]

Part 3

T078

Spoiler :

Through policies and production, get 2 more cities down to the West as Gabrielsfraias says, the North is pretty exposed for me, so after GL I will maybe try to resolve that.

Begin production on GL, I had started production on Petra, but swapped it over. AI rarely makes Petra, and even then, only myself and Morocco have eligible capitals, so it can wait.

Spend the next few turns barb hunting. I find the new barbarian mechanics really fun in the early game, but once borders start to filll out you start getting camps spawning in the same spots over and over again, which makes it boring.

T089

Spoiler :

Writing researched, here is my next route. rushing to currency giving me my UB, which gives my +2 trade routes. Will also grab Angkor Wat, but that usually gets taken by AI quickly.

T100

Spoiler :

Made it to T100! I grabbed the GL at T090, and am 4 turns from getting Petra. All in all a pretty great early game, very rarely goes this well for me.

Had a look at Info Addict, some pointers:

• Leading in production by a very small amount
• Mid table military
• Joint top for social policies, everyone is equal except for Alexander who is one behind.
• 3 techs behind lead (Hiawatha)

According to Greatest Cities, I am fifth. Thought I'd be higher.

I've got next 100 turns already played, so will get to posting when I can.

Thanks - A

 

[adams643]

Part 4

T118

Spoiler :

Hi all, turn 118 now, here's the state of the Empire. Utiqe has outgrown Carthage (and most capitals). will hopefully aim to get some wonders in there.

As the early game ends, I am going to aim to settle to the North, South, and to the Islands in the West.

As can be seen Gajah is sending a settler to claim some of my land. A quick tile purchase next turn will block him off. I'm not completely evil though, and I don't lock him in.

T120

Spoiler :

Religion time!

I grab Council of Elders, I love the science and production it brings in. As I'll be settling plenty of my own cities, this will give massive bonuses.

For my first follower, I usually grab orders as it helps with the military game. They were taken so I went with Churches. I never realised they gave 40% religious pressure instead of the standard 25%.

T121

Spoiler :

First city capture goes to Hiawatha, taking Argos from Greece. Sparta also looking vulnerable with that 7 defence.

T130

Spoiler :

Got Currency, now going straight for Harbours, Caravels and Explorers at Compass - with a pit stop through education. Once I get Compass, the mid-game will officially begin.

I start building Angkor Wat in Utique.

I also get two cities settled up North. There is still a small gap for a city that Atilla could take but hopefully he wont go for it (foreshadowing...).

T136

Spoiler :

I get my 7th City. Was planning on settling were Casablanca is, but this spot is also okay.

Myself, Monty and Hiawatha all on the same score.

T140

Spoiler :

Hiawatha grabs Sparta, and with it the Fountain of Youth. Athens currently has the Statue of Zues, which will make Hiawatha's scary army even scarier...

T141

Spoiler :

Hiawatha proposes war with Morocco. This suits my interests as with my dominant navy I should have no issue grabbing Rabat and Casablanca. I ask for 10 turns to prepare.

T148

Spoiler :

Ahmad turns wise to my sneak attack so war comes early. I have a melee ship with maxed out city attack promotions (125% and 75% attack strength) so this should be easy.

Over the next few turns I adapt my first statecraft policy.

T163

Spoiler :

15 turns later both cities are mine. I decide to annex both as they have good potential, will have to recover a bit on happiness.

Until next time -A

 

[gabrielsfarias]

Rabat seems pretty bad, not even enough tiles to work, and no luxuries (same to Saguntum). I hope Morocco doesn't attack you back, it would be hard to defend there. Even worse when Iroquois settle south of Casablanca.

 

[adams643]

Rabat seems pretty bad, not even enough tiles to work, and no luxuries (same to Saguntum). I hope Morocco doesn't attack you back, it would be hard to defend there. Even worse when Iroquois settle south of Casablanca.

Fair point, could have moved the wonder the Casablanca and puppet Rabat. If Iroquois settle south of Casablanca, my navy will be able to take pretty easily, so long as I don't let him get a decent land force there.