G-Major 11

[Thrallia]

I don't think you get the Pacifism bonus if you are in NSR, KMadCandy...so you didn't lose that

 

[KMadCandy]

I don't think you get the Pacifism bonus if you are in NSR, KMadCandy...so you didn't lose that

i went hindu back when it was safe silly! the religious fanatics were having a war, so i finally declared a religion. they were distracted, so i took advantage.

i lost pac, i lost caste, i lost the game.

 

[Thrallia]

ah...well at least you didn't lose 2 of your 3 planned legendary cities while trying to appease a former friend that shared half your borders!


Spoiler tags in case anyone doesn't want to read a long rambling story about my loss lol

Spoiler :

I was next to Peter, and he was Buddhist like me...he demanded Liberalism from me, I complied, and he promptly went FR.

Obviously, this was a big downer...because the most militant of the players in the game was on my borders, and I had 4 of his cities under heavy cultural pressure.

So when Washington declared war on him, I refused to go to war with him when Washington asked(duh!). However, when Peter asked...I was at +4 with him and with Washington. However, I mistook Washington for Roosevelt on the map, and figured he wouldn't be able to reach me unless he completely took out Peter on the way...which, if it happened, would be a big downer for me game anyway. So I agreed. Peter was happy with me again, even though I took Smolensk from him the next turn via flipping.

At this point, I've gotten the only two religions that have spread to me placed in all my cities, and I've got all the temples built, Hermitage built, and I've got 1 cathedral building left in each of my legendary cities, then I can go full culture. I've also already got 3 GAs saved up, while I have a single GP farm and 2-3 artists in every single city for a bunch of mini GP farms. At this point, I haven't even used my slider yet and Paris and Orleans have both passed 8k culture, while Rheims is nearing 6k. I figure I'm in good shape, the AI are teching fairly slowly, as I'm about to go all culture and still have 3 techs up on one of the AI.

Unfortunately...my last randomly exploring warrior bites the dust...in Elizabeth land...on the OPPOSITE border from where I thought Washington was. It turns out, I thought Washington was where Roosevelt was. Washington is 1 AI away from me on the opposite side of Peter, and that AI, being Elizabeth, and being the worst enemy of 4 different AI, is one I have no relations with. Unfortunately, bad news happens in 3s. I find out that not only did I confused Washington and Roosevelt, but he has a stack of 7 Cavalry, 4 Trebs, 5 Grens, and 2 Rifles coming toward Rheims. I quickly cash rush a couple cats, pull my defenses out of Paris, Marseilles, Orleans, Avignon, and Lyon. I upgrade as many of my warriors to Grens as I can, and I switch to nationalism to draft some muskets. After two turns of drafting, I find myself with a decent defense in Rheims, but a defense only...there's no way I'll be able to kill any of his units on the offensive...I'll have to wait until he attacks to get rid of them....then the worst happens...Orleans falls victim to a sneak attack by a single American cavalry that was hiding in Korean territory. Orleans had no defenses because I'd pulled them out to deal with the obvious threat...I had no idea that the AI would go around my territory, sneak through someone else's territory, and attack on a different front!

So I lose Orleans...I lose my 3 saved GAs, because I'd sent them there to get away from the frontlines....and the next turn, I lose Rheims when Washington suicides all his trebs then takes out every single defender I have at the loss of a single Cavalry...against my pikeman, that I had upgraded a warrior to ACCIDENTLY. Oh...he razed them both too. After that, Washington was willing to talk peace with me...for my entire treasury and 95 gpt. I agreed and quit the game.

Time to try again

 

[Misotu]

You'd think that with running a Hall of Fame I'd know how to play this game better, but I can't even pull off the CS Slingshot on this one...

I don't pull it off either in most of my games ... sometimes when the map is favourable but you don't have marble and the AI does it's pretty tough. You have to get maths & code of laws before the Oracle ... and no matter which route you take, ignoring Alpha and going for the required techs or teching to Alpha, the game is just not working that way I've tried both. On other games, I walk it. Same strategy. Just different conditions. So don't be dispirited

 

[Mutineer]

Well, seems I never win cultural victory befor I decided to give it a try.

Decided to try to achineve it on archipelago map, with trade strategy.
As a leader I choise Washington, do not remember why.

AI did not cooperate and somehow manage to build Great Ligthhouse in 1200bc, a bit early for monarch. Well was cornestone of my intended strat, never mind. I was on island with only space for 3 cities and hatty blocking everyhting else. Declare and kill Hatty with axes. build all together 10 cities.
Buld piramids.

finish execly 1700AD.

Observations, seems warter map is not to well sutable, as my capital that had a lot of land were producing about 1000 culture, when other intended legendary were producing only 600-700 at the end.

Difference was compencated with * and wanders and artists.
I got them in line with 4 turn of each other at the end. probably on land map cottagess would work better then warter ties.

Ohh well, my first cultural win anyway

 

[KMadCandy]

grats mutineer! nice round number for your ending date, and interesting that it's your very first cultural win.

"I got them in line with 4 turn of each other at the end." isn't that fun? some people think "oh cultural victory, just set it up and then press enter until you win, must be boring." but it's not, you get to try to work out things like that and it's so cool when it all comes together!

i can't help but wonder ... is it your first monarch win too? *tease* *giggle* likely your first in a very long time anyway . i did lose my game that you helped me get rid of washington's NE in, but i still very much appreciate your help with that issue, i was soooooooo frustrated. i owe you bigtime!

since i do handpick my opponents , i'm still trying to find a mix of opponents i like as far as getting along with, teching fast enough to help me, but not teching so fast that the UN gets built in 1589, and all have SAM infantry by then . i went overboard on the "good techers to help me thru trading" last time apparently, and was probably too free in my own trades with them .

 

[superslug]

I don't pull it off either in most of my games ... sometimes when the map is favourable but you don't have marble and the AI does it's pretty tough.

I've been trying in Warlords using Asoka, Saladin and Liz, but I think I might just go back to Vanilla for Ghandi.

 

[The-Hawk]

OK, whenever I think I'm getting good at this game, I do something stupid...

I had a pretty good game going, had learned from my mistakes in the first game. Thought I was well ahead of that pace, only had three religions, but was on 100% culture much sooner.

Then, time starts dragging... I'm quickly going through the 1400's, then through the 1500's. My two cottage cities are simply not producing much culture. I take a closer look, find out I had forgotten to switch to free speech. No +2 gold per town, no +100% culture.

There goes an afternoon down the tubes... yeesh, what a noob.

 

[KMadCandy]

I've been trying in Warlords using Asoka, Saladin and Liz, but I think I might just go back to Vanilla for Ghandi.

am i the only one who like warlords gandhi better than vanilla gandhi for this? i just figure philo is there all the time, industrious i'm only benefitting from when i'm building wonders. altho i admit, when i miss a wonder i regret that i don't have it. i suppose somebody's done the math on whether parthenon and pacifism can make up for it, and if philosophical ends up pretty much a waste late game when the GPs become so expensive.

i prefer gandhi over saladin for the starting techs and most of all his awesome peerless UU. his UB is pretty useless for cultural games tho , at least my peaceful kind.

the-hawk ... i was doing the free/free civics changes, and decided while doing it that i wanted to check something in a city. so i exited the civics screen--at least, i tried to. i hit bottom right corner, which exits every OTHER screen, but starts your revolution on that screen, and i'd only hit free speech. so then i got to have anarchy again 5 years later to go into free religion. i was upset with myself until i remembered each change costs you one turn. so it was just annoying rather than costly. but still ... noob here too obviously.

 

[jesusin]

I have finished my second game. 1577AD again, but with a very different strategy. All for research! 1 food 2 gold start.

At 500BC I had pulled the CS slingshot and I had built the Parthenon. I had founded hindu, confu and tao. I was about to get my free artist from Music. Should I be happy? Not really. Only 3 cities, 0 temples, 0 monasteries, no place for more cities, no 3 good legendary cities. My second city is useless, founded just to get marble.

At 275AD I went 100% culture, having Liberalism, Nationalism and Drama. No way to get to Print, though, nobody knows what MC is yet. Great date, good research. 6 cities, my second one will do as Legendary, will be bombed all the way since it has no hammers. My GPfarm will have to be Legendary too. Build the Hermitage there. I feel something bad when I go 100% culture having no Cathedrals, adding only 200-50-100cpt.

At 1000AD I had gotten Taj Maj too, 4 cathedrals built.

At the end I had 8 cathedrals, never rush-buyed or pop-rushed anything, CasteSystem from beggining to end. 17 GPs, 2 sci (Acad and Educ), 1 prophet (thrown to the river), 14 artists (2 settled, rest bombed). Bombed 0-9-3.

Analysis:
187 turns researching, 145 turns adding culture. Good city sites scarcity and hammers scarcity. Parhenon was not great, its 20cpt are ok, but the effect on GPfarm is only 12% linear increase, while GP cost isn't linear, so it only gave 1 more GA. Oracle maybe isn't so bad, it ended up spitting a prophet, but that's only 6 turns lost. Only 6 cities meant I swimmed in money.

Next game: I will go back to (short periods of) slavery, I really missed it.

 

[Denniz]

I got in the act on this one with a 1766AD finish using Liz. I made a lot of mistakes, not to mention this was my first complete game in ages. Oh well, I don't know if I have the patience for another.

 

[AnitaGaribaldi]

I'm about to start a new game. I left Mapfinder running overnight and now I can't decided which start to play.

One is a three gems start. Two gems over grassland, another over grassland hill. Lots of grassland, one plains, another grassland hill. No jungle to clean up, 4 forest. I can't see any other resource, but there are still 9 tiles from the fat-cross I can't see. Every tile I can see, has a river.

Another is a stone start. I will have in the fat-cross: stone, gold, whine, corn and ivory. I have one floodplains, four plains hills (one with gold, another with whine). I can see only 4 grasslands (one with corn). There are more 4 plains (one with stone, another with ivory).

I have a two gold start with a lot of food (corn and sheep), three floodplains, 6 grasslands (one with corn, another with sheep).

I have a three gold start. I have cow, but no other food resource. Two floodplains There is marble nearby (outside the fat-cross).

 

[playshogi]

I had forgotten to switch to free speech.

I made the same mistake, although I caught it eventually. Can't say for sure how many turns it cost me, but I won in 1742. I chose Inca because my first game I get hemmed in so fast. This time I had plenty of room, so my Quechuas were useless for warmongering. However, I popped Pottery, Mining, BW and Metal Casting so maybe they weren't so useless, after all.

 

[The-Hawk]

However, I popped Pottery, Mining, BW and Metal Casting so maybe they weren't so useless, after all.

Sweet!

I hardly ever play Warlords, couldn't figure out why so many people were playing Inca. Hadn't realized Huayna's traits had changed . Once I saw he was Fin/Ind and thought about those traits with Quechua, I decided to try Inca as well. I haven't had too much experience with Quechua rushing, but I got through the beginning OK.

Ended up with a 1478 AD finish. I made plenty of mistakes, pretty sure I can beat this. Let's see, need to shave off 16 turns to tie AAA's outstanding effort....

 

[Gosha190]

Sweet!
I ...couldn't figure out why so many people were playing Inca.

I played Inca. I played for my pleasure more than for high result. But I am third stil. At monarch difficulty Inca is a very good choice for Quechua rush and I simply like to play industrial leaders.

 

[Misotu]

OK, whenever I think I'm getting good at this game, I do something stupid...

Sounds very similar to my excellent game where I forgot to switch to bureaucracy, having pulled off a really early slingshot <grin>

 

[KMadCandy]

i asked the HoF staff to verify that the direct2drive version of civ4 does get accepted by the checking software. it's the same stuff, but they have their own patch since it doesn't do the disk check. the start file worked, but when i did a quick completed game, i forgot that last night i played without the HoF mod checking the latest round in my SG. yeah that was brilliant . i realized before i read their email asking 'did you patch and use the mod?', but felt bad for causing them extra work!

+2 You guys go out of your way to help me when we mess up

now if only we could get the mod to read our minds and let us know when we meant to change civics and forgot . i never click yes on the box when it asks you after you learn the tech, since i sometimes want to change more than one.

edit: let me make this more gauntlet related. current game civics issues, churchill does not like hatty, she's jewish, he's hindu. he's my neighbor so he wins all disputes. i can't trade with her but i want to, she has pigs and health is good. i just gifted him education and philosophy, and then liberalism which was my monopoly, and as soon as his 5 turn limit is over from his last change, i'm hoping that i can convince him to go to free religion. that would let me get some pigs, and might let me go hindu myself for pacifism for the first time, since everyone else is firmly at pleased or friendly. it's at least worth a shot, since i'm spiritual so no anarchy if i get demands or wimp out.

 

[WastinTime]

Without Warlords, I'm feeling like my hands are tied. G-minor 18 is all about Vassals. And this gauntlet seems to benefit from the Temple of Artimis and most annoyingly...I find out that the most over-used leader, Capac, was actually improved in Warlords. Instead of balancing this "early rush" leader they gave him Industrious so he can compete even stronger in this type of gauntlet. His original Agressive trait was really a drop in the bucket when you have +100&#37; against archers, what's the big deal about 110%.

The most addictive thing about Civ IV is not the game itself, but the HOF and its competitions, so maybe I'll be able to break my addiction again. Some day they'll package Beyond the Sword and Warlords in a box set. That might get me upgraded.

 

[Misotu]

You're probably right. Although you have a much better chance of the CS slingshot in Vanilla, since you don't have to have Maths. It's not saying much, but my best finish date to date was my first (and only, so far) attempt on Vanilla with Saladin ...

 

[Harbourboy]

It feels like this gauntlet has been going on forever.