Domination 1762AD
Well, which is it:
a) I'm a whole lot better player now than when this Challenge series started
b) I got a funky map that by freak of fate finally gave me an easy game
c) I read other peoples logs and copied what they did right
or the answer I think is right...
d) All of the above.
I think having a tech path that gave me what I needed WHEN I needed it was a key parameter. Maces right when the enemy is mounting serious stacks of melee. Currency right when the economy is in the red. Math just as the Pyramids needed chopping. etc.
I followed the tech path of the leader(s) and marked at what points they got what wonders, and marked at what points they founded cities. I followed this with only minor modifications to suit the situation along the way. The only deviation is that I never got Stonehenge until I captured Thebes, but this was not important. I got GWall (Raging Barbs), Pyramids, ToA (by GE), Oracle (CS-Sling) and U of Sankore (by GE). I was planning to take out first opponent with Axes, but decided without Cats that would be a lot of losses, so I choked Izzy instead, pillaging her metal. (I did not have iron until I capture Madrid much later, and only have copper because I settle StP 8-10 tiles away.
I was suprised that although I bordered 2 AI, they didn't really send stuff my way until I was able to get Machinery (basically beelined after CS), and then it was easy to handle. I was suprised that I could run Caste System (rather than slavery) up until that point (after CoL). My slider was on 0% science the whole way, but I still led the board in tech... but the board only had 3 AI (Izzy, Mao, and Ramses). I was suprised no contact from any others until Mao is dead. It was the funky map... Peri and Wang were in a corner that was inaccessible without galleys, and I never saw them... and when I did I figured planting settlers and killing the barb nation (and building wealth) would get the win faster than an amphibious invasion because by now they are in tech parity (knights, trebs, maces, pikes, LB's). On my side of the map (roughly 80% of the land area I think), I never faced even a longbow until I was more than half way done with the barb cities.
Too easy, after all that frustation I had with this one earlier. Stacks that survive >95% are so much simpler to work with... you can build wealth as needed instead of just units and more units. I was centered in the AI on my side, though Asoka was cut off by barbs and didn't find him until late (and noted big barb city named Bombay)
He only had 3 cities when I got to him, and one was brand new.
I took it to Izzy first, then on to Mao. Mao is down to 3 little cities when Ramses settles on my southern borders with a settler he squeezed past a barb city. I then opened a second front and actually finished Egypt (3 whole cities) before I was able to mop up Mao. Wang and I start making rude gestures across the gulf, but that is all. Asoka falls, and I find mountain barrier preventing access to Greece and Korea.
Peri would have eventually won a culture victory if I let this drag on until 1950 or so, but I had other plans. Killing barb cities is like shooting ducks in a pond when you own the GW. Judicious micromanagement inside cities enabled me to keep settling without crashing the economy... I had planned for a golden age at the end if it became a crisis... but since it never did my last GE went unused.
Lots of GG's: first three were settled in three of my settled own cities, so that all units start with 2 promos. Fourth was made a super-medic, and then I settled the rest. Never built the Heroic Epic since I was too busy building wealth in my production cities, and already had enough units anyhow. I was in slavery in the end to whip courthouses (chop aided whips). I had built the Confu shrine so I spread the religion a bit once the endgame strategy was decided upon.
Nice to see that I have the fastest Domination victory posted.
Even nicer is that this entry is not in last place (yet). Now on to Deity and the completion of this challenge series!
Not what I expected from earlier tries. Thank goodness Wang never got the idea to put his 60+ maces/trebs/pikes/knights on a galley.
Great Wall is really a good idea if you're playing Raging Barbs.
