"Interesting Deity Start" Series

[Shark Diver]

@ Consentient

Spoiler :

I've got a save at t21, right after I stepped on a faith hut and then had to go to work. If I recall, I marched North and stole his settler with a spearman 4 turns later. I may just try this map again from that point, with full knowledge, just to see if the Unstoppable Greek Machine can be derailed. I'm talking about abandoning all other thoughts but the single-minded destruction of Greece. Picture me as Xerxes in 300……only no Spartans allowed. Better yet, picture me as the ECB

 

[consentient]

HAHA. Spawning Great People like Herman van Rompuy

 

[Fluphen Azine]

I was watching some of Ped's America game and I noticed that he does work the University in the capital and plants the first GS. He also pops another GS. Im not sure how many total he popped but I seen him growing his Capital up to 19 when he ran into some happy trouble.

I have been growing up to about 12 and putting the artist guild in one of my expos. So I am not sure when you are supposed to stop growth and stagnate? I also am not sure about how many GS's you should pop till you switch to Merchants? I have tried a few games going Merchants only and it worked fine but I can see the use of 2 GS's before the switch.

How are some of you playing out this strategy with your population and Great People? What do you find working better in most of your games?

 

[Shark Diver]

We aren't ready for another IDS game, as I haven't even finished the last (I've been a bit busy with the DCS Xmas present. My Dutch game is a slow slog, but looking winnable).

That said, this Spain start simple was too much fun not to share. Happy Holidays to all, hope you enjoy this map as much as I did. No hints, and I'll give a detailed write-up later, but there are some fun surprises here:

View attachment Isabella_0000 BC-4000.Civ5Save

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Turns 0-89

Spoiler :

I needed a break from #14 DCL since the attacks just keep comming lol! Anyway I thought this might be a pretty easy game since it is Spain and they are pretty OP if you can get close to a NW.

I was thinking this game might be too easy after finding Mt. Kailash in the first couple of turns. So to make it a bit harder I decided to try some more Full Honor First most likely going with the Comm/Auto Strategy again. Getting 20fpt is pretty strong for Holy Warriors so that is what I chose along with Tithe. I think I may have got a little archer happy and tanked my economy for a few turns.

Berlin took some time to take but I used a GG to get the marble and another to get up against the Capital to kill his stationed units. I lost 1 Comp that was being greedy behind enemy lines.

Getting 500 gold on turn 3 or so made me want to rapid expand and since I only had the Germans to worry about that is what I did. Ofcourse using the 500 gold to rush buy a settler first.

My B.O. was 3x Scout, 2x Settler, Archer which was kinda dumb since I am using Holy Warriors, Monument, Gran, Water Mill, Library, and I decided to try for Statue of Zeus since it is still up.

SPs: Full Honor left side first.
Religion: +4 Faith NW, Tithe, Holy Warriors

 

[Shark Diver]

Turns 0-89

Spoiler :

I needed a break from #14 DCL since the attacks just keep comming lol! Anyway I thought this might be a pretty easy game since it is Spain and they are pretty OP if you can get close to a NW.

I was thinking this game might be too easy after finding Mt. Kailash in the first couple of turns. So to make it a bit harder I decided to try some more Full Honor First most likely going with the Comm/Auto Strategy again. Getting 20fpt is pretty strong for Holy Warriors so that is what I chose along with Tithe. I think I may have got a little archer happy and tanked my economy for a few turns.

Berlin took some time to take but I used a GG to get the marble and another to get up against the Capital to kill his stationed units. I lost 1 Comp that was being greedy behind enemy lines.

Getting 500 gold on turn 3 or so made me want to rapid expand and since I only had the Germans to worry about that is what I did. Ofcourse using the 500 gold to rush buy a settler first.

My B.O. was 3x Scout, 2x Settler, Archer which was kinda dumb since I am using Holy Warriors, Monument, Gran, Water Mill, Library, and I decided to try for Statue of Zeus since it is still up.

SPs: Full Honor left side first.
Religion: +4 Faith NW, Tithe, Holy Warriors

Spoiler :

My strategy was similar, as I decided early on that Bismarck's colors just didn't look right on this continent. I'm guessing you haven't discovered the little surprise yet, else you would have mentioned it.

May I kindly suggest you do just a bit more scouting? (Ahem, look East).

 

[Fluphen Azine]

I lost my file for this game when I had to reformat my hard drive. Even though I have knowledge of this map I will play it over from turn 0 and try to recreate what I have done prior to the loss of the file! I have not been able to play any Civ for the last couple of days since I am building a site for Deity Play that hopefully will enhance our game/experience. I do not even have Civ V on my hard drive as of now so I will need to reinstall after I get this site up and running!

 

[Fluphen Azine]

IDS # 7 Rome

Deity
Fractal Map
Stand/Stand
Raging Barbs
Ruins On/Quick Combat/Quick Movement
All Map Packs Disabled


Below is a screenshot of the start!

Spoiler :

A sreenshot of the settings and Civs in the game if you wish to peek!

Spoiler :

I was enjoying the Spain map but since I lost all info I did not want to restart the game with map knowledge.
Also the Spain Map was posted before tracking began.

It is a known fact that Raging Barbs makes Deity easier but
every once in awhile I like to put them on for variety and fun.

After updating all player pages on the statistics site I wanted to play another game for some fun.
Also since I am recording all games/stats now this will help boost win/loss, statistics, rank... etc.
I am still revising awards/medals/patches. I also decided on Rome so that it will not conflict with the DCL
since Rome has already been played. This could give players some redemption if they lost or resigned the Rome DCL as I did.

Remember stats and win/loss is being tracked. I had a good example of stats that are being tracked in the
ICL 13 Egypt game so check on my post to see how I wrote it up if you are interested in having your stats posted.
Basically I am tracking things like...

Tech Order, Capital Build Order, All Turn Times for Wonders built or captured, Benchmark Techs like Education, Scientific Theory, Plastics, Satellites... etc.

Also What turn time you founded your Pantheon and Religion along with what options you chose.

All of your Social Policies. All Eras Reached and Turn Times.

What Turn the WC was founded and all resolutions. Any write up that you would like to add.

It is a bit daunting to write all this down while playing but it is your choice. The more info you provide the more detailed I can make your statistic pages! I cleaned up the site a bit as well moving the Barracks and University Comment Pages to the Footer Menu and you can find the IDS 7 Rome Images at the bottom as well under Maps Footer Menu. I also renamed the player pages to Deity and Immortal depending on what Level you have played.

 

[budweiser]

Ouch, I just noticed Raging Barbs and I started with Pottery. I've only played a handful of turns so I guess I will do Archery next.

Spoiler :

Sometimes on Deity you can pull a double steal and it looks like I have a chance here against Halle. It seems cheap.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Ouch, I just noticed Raging Barbs and I started with Pottery. I've only played a handful of turns so I guess I will do Archery next.

LOL Budweiser... I listed that they were on but after your comment I made it a little more clear to see.

Of course I did not scout the map out at all before posting since it would ruin my own personal game
but after turn 1 in my game just now I am thinking WOW!! This start might be a little too easy !

I have realized when playing the game with pen and paper that it is easier to track and post every 50 turns instead of my usual 100 or more.

Turns 0-230

Spoiler :

Introduction: I thought it was going to be an OP start but since Ethiopia is to the North and USA is directly South it is very cramped. This happens on Fractal Maps I noticed more than Pangea Maps or at least it seems that way to me. A perfect set up for early warmongering but since I kinda fouled up the DCL 14 Map wiping out 2 Civs early I decided to play nice. As usual it seems to be the poor choice when I compare the two styles for me. I am feeling very claustrophobic now and am starting to think about changing my peaceful plan to all out War!

Ruins: Upgrade to Spear, Map, Free Archery.

Tech Path: Mining, Archery (free), AH, Pottery, Sailing, Wheel, Masonry, Writing, Calendar, Philo, Drama, Math, Currency, BW, Beeline to Civil, Beeline To Engineering, Theo, Beeline to Machinery, Delay Machinery 3 Turns, Optics 1 turn, IW 2 turns, Finish Machinery, Finish IW, Metal Casting, Education (stolen), Physics, Chivalry, Banking (stolen), Architecture, Beeline to ST, Delay ST and tech Steal, Optics, Gunpowder, & Chemistry, Industrial (stolen), ST, Metallurgy, Fertilizer, Steam Power, Rifles (stolen), Electricity (stolen), Rep Parts, Radio, Flight (stolen), Compass, Plastics, Atomic Theory (stolen), Bee to Satellites, Archeology/Navigation/Refrigeration (all stolen), Bee to Nano, Bee to Particle Physics.

Capital Build Order: 3x Scout, Settler, Monument, 2x Caravan, Granary (rush bought turn 46), Library, NC (70), Oracle (failed 71), Water Mill, Market, SoZ (failed 4 turns away), Barracks, Caravan, 3x Comp Bow, Mint, EIC, University, 2x Trebuchet, Rush Bought Horseman, Caravan, Legion, Workshop, WF, Rush Buy 2x Legions, PT (187), IW, Public School,Cannon Oxford (Dynamite), 2x Artillery, Artist Guilds, Circus, GWI, Calv, Factory, Rush Buy Lab, NE, Writers Guild, Hydro Plant, Caravan, Manhattan Project, Lancer, Paratrooper, Apollo, Rush Buy Nuc Plant, Garden, Cockpit, Booster, Booster, Rush Buy Hospital, Caravan, Stable, Last Shuttle Part.

Expo B.O. - Antium: Granary, Rush Bought Worker, Library, Monument, Water Mill, HG (failed), 2 turns Writers Guild, Market, Mint, Barracks, 3x Comp Bow, Writers Guild, Legion, University, Legion, Workshop, Legion, Trebuchet, Circus, 2x Cannon, Public School, Worker, Bank, Artillery, Col, Calv, Sold Antium to Greece.

Eras Reached: Classical 60, Medieval 87, Renaissance 137, Industrial 174, Modern 229, Atomic 268, Info 297.

Benchmarks: Education 122, Industry 174, Plastics 263, Satellites 297.

Social Policies: Opened Honor, Tradition ---> Oligarchy, Legalism, Landed Elite, Monarchy... Back into Honor for the free General, Opened Rationalism, Finished Tradition with Aristocracy, Back to Rationalism---> Secularism, Humanism, Last to Ideology and chose Autocracy since Ethiopia is in it and so is Greece. Poland went Freedom and Hawaii and USA went Order. Finished Rationalism with RA agreements last.

Autocracy --> Industrial Espionage, Opened Commerce, Wagon Trains, Back into Autocracy with Univ Health care.

Wonders: EIC 126, IW ???, PT 187, Captured 5 Wonders in Washington D.C. ---> Itza, Notre Dame, ToA, GW & Pyramids (220), Captured Him Castle inside of New York as well on (229), Captured Boston with Red Fort & SoZ (271), Captured Palenque with Borobudur, HS, Kremlin, MoH, Oracle, Parthenon, Sistine Chapel, Stonehenge (330), Buit Big Ben inside Palenque Turn 347.

World Congress Founded Turn 124. I purposed WF and Ethiopia wants to Embargo all trade with CS's! WF Passed but Embargo Failed. Next up was Poland wanted Marble banned and Ethiopia wanted his Religion to be World Religion and I was ok with that but neither passed. Next up was a Ban on Sugar by Alex and Arts Funding for Ethiopia. Arts Funding passed, the ban did not. Next is a Ban on Ivory by Alex and Cult Heritage Sites for Ethiopia. I have voted twice for Ethiopia to be host since they have control over the CS's and he is a good neighbor! I have more info on this but nobody is reading this... if you are you can call me out on it lol!


Write Up: I met Almaty and USA about the same time.I insta-dowed Almaty but could not get one worker before peace. I did manage to pillage the mine. I was planning on stealing some workers from USA or Ethiopia but USA sent me a caravan on turn 11 so I thought better of it. Ethiopia was coveting my lands so I didn't want to risk a DOW since I have no troops. I sent them my first caravan and got the DOF next turn. Two DOF's on turn 13 and turn 45 now. I have not had much extra culture from barbs but at least I have had about 30 cpt so far.

I just realized that England must of been wiped out before I could meet them. I am not sure who has control of London but my guess is Greece!!

USA messed me up just recently by planting Philadelphia... stealing two of my Gold Resources. This was my own fault not watching better since I knew he and Ethiopia have gone Liberty and should be expecting this. Another reason I am ready to get on with War instead of Peace!

USA is building some nice Wonders and built the SoZ. I missed him getting into Honor after completing Tradition. Pacal is a monster as usual building Oracle on Turn 71 and just every wonder very early. All wonders are going off very early! GL was late on turn 39 but Petra went off on turn 54!!

My new plan is to start building units late and I got Almaty on my side for reinforcements! I want to try to get USA to war with Ethiopia but I might have to settle for Pacal. I would like to keep Ethiopia as my DOF since they will be giving me their Religion and I would love to kill USA onto Pacal for all those Wonders!

So basically I made sure to ally up with all 3 CS's next to me. They had a lot of units and I did not want USA to get one of them before I started the war. I waited for the DOF to expire and wish I could of started the war ten turns earlier but I figured it was better not to back stab in this situation. Philadelphia fell on turn 141 and I am in a bit of a stalemate with trying to take Washington D.C. for the time being. It will be very nice to get that capital with so many Wonders. Before the war I decided to try something I haven't done before since I need some extra gold. I worked the Market slot in the capital to pop a GM for my first GP and I used it for a trade mission with Zanzibar to get 500 gold and 30 influence. I know the GS is stronger but I think this is viable and I needed the influence and gold more.

The war continued and I got trapped a bit behind enemy lines thinking all of Americas Troops were dead. I should of known better and the USA started amassing more cannons and rifles and it was time to retreat. Once again I have issues with the Great Wall/Red Fort Combo. I knew I should of built more Trebuchets like I had planned. I was looking at the turn 197 picture before I decided to make peace and it seemed like the best play. The Yanks only wanted Philadelphia back so I bit the bullet and took the peace deal. I knew I was going to lose all 4 citadels but I will get back with some Artillery I hope since I plan to use Oxford for that now. USA might get Bombers up around the same time but I am hoping now that we have peace I can get him into some wars. I think they have 10 Wonders in Washington D.C.

I could of avoided this with war from the beginning but I was hoping to play a peaceful game for the first half. Either way I have a very dynamic game going and am enjoying it very much. It does not bother me that it is a major struggle and I am losing the battle as of now. I prefer games like this where I have to really work for it. USA was first to Ideology on turn 159 going with Order. 10-15 turns later Alex got into Autocracy as usual.

12 Turns later I had 4 Artillery, 2 Gats, 1 Knight, and a Carolean. However, I was able to capture Philadelphia back but Razed it 1 turn instead of Puppet from a mis click. Next up was Washington D.C. and I could of held it but I let USA take it back to wipe out population. I secured it on Turn 220. I did the same with New York and I seem to be able to hold it for now on Turn 229. USA took out Palenque and I am hoping to get Boston before they turn back on me. It looks like USA just got up Bombers now.

 

[Shark Diver]

Rome? Redemption? Yeah, I'll be playing this one. That DCL Rome game still give me nightmares.

I peaked at the opening screenshot and was pleased to see some desert. Shall I do my Petra thing? I'm not sure I'll be able to open Honor for the Raging Barb bonus AND open Tradition for border expansion AND complete Liberty……but will give it a shot.

 

[Shark Diver]

I'm reserving the right to post the next IDS. It's an incredibly fun Netherlands map, but I wanted to hold off until everyone had exhausted their attempts at the DCL Netherlands game (which I still need to finish).

 

[budweiser]

Ready for war.

Spoiler :

Ready for peace.

Spoiler :

Resign

Spoiler :

What I thought would happen was I would go kill Halle the same way I did America. But just on the turn I was ready to attack him I get a double DoW from Washington & Polynesia. So I had to send some men back over to cover it. Meanwhile I attack Halle with my Legions and start running into X-Bows and Knights and my army just got whittled away with no gain.

But, it was fun just for the Legion attack that I made. I don't have enough experience work them. I left so many turns on th etable that could have been roads or border forts.

Thanks!

 

[Fluphen Azine]

@ Budweiser

Spoiler :

Thanks for playing and posting Budweiser!! I like the rush you put on the USA! I think this is a tough spot for players who like to play peaceful. Flat land with not a lot of room to expand forces the player to get out there and start Warmongering! You may not care but at least this put you on the board on the stats site. I updated your pages the best I could with the info you provided.

I played my game too peaceful and it took me over 200 turns to start to get a small advantage. As usual my game will go over 300 turns but I enjoy games where I am behind most of the game instead of being 20% ahead in tech!

Turns 231-260

Spoiler :

The Yanks started to really pump out units and I was having trouble holding them back. I think this is the most I have ever exploited trade in this game. I had Greece at war with USA and when I seen they were going to take back Washington and other cities I sold them to Greece a few times and let USA take it back and I would take the city getting massive gpt deals. I know it is not respected but I find it pretty funny and the game is gong south on me so I need to do whatever is necessary to continue on. I got to the point where I had to even sell my only Expo lol! I am hoping to get Rocket Artillery soon so I can take Boston. I should of taken it first long ago and worked my way back instead of taking New York first. Either way win or lose I am having a lot of fun this game but I am a bit sick like that!

 

[Shark Diver]

F.A………..your premise for this map was redemption for those of us who didn't fare well in the DCL Rome game………You, sir, are an evil man.

I played this for a bit, and will post details shortly, but this was not the easy Roman set-up that I'd have wanted for redemption. I'll reiterate………I hate playing as a Roman!!!!

But I do love the challenge.

Spoiler :

Full details to follow soon, but I stile a worker from America early, and that slave-owning SOB Washington never gave me peace. I asked him for peace every single freakin turn and he just kept insulting me. I stole one worker and I'm his enemy for life?

Yeah, this map is cramped……….details soon…….If I survive to t100 I'll have no idea what VC to go for.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

@ Shark Diver

Spoiler :

I really did not have redemption in mind. I sort of thought it could be a redemption map because my win rate is high in general so I did not figure I could lose two in a row as Rome or any Civ. I just wanted to play another Deity Game on this site and have another game to post up stats! I had no idea this game would cause me and others so much trouble. I made the mistake of trying to play peaceful on this map in the early game and you really need to just wipe out these two Civs right from the get go!

You must notice by now almost all the IDS maps that I have posted have not been on the easy side but more on the tricky or warmonger side. The funny thing is that I have never scouted out any of my maps/games. However each game I have posted I have been very happy that they have been more on the difficult side for me or I just have not played them well. I think I am going to lose this one as well but I do not want to win every single game. If I start to play a style where I can never lose I would enjoy it but I would get a little bored.

I notice that if I handpick the Civs and put Greece, Poland and Ethiopia in the game it seems to cause trouble and make the game more difficult which is why you see them in my posts in general. Also using Fractal maps seems to help the difficulty level as well. A Strong Warmonger/CS Powerhouse, A Faith/Defensive Monster and a Social Policy Beast! I also forgot that USA can become very strong if you do not deal with him early. Minutemen come into the game very early and if you do not take him out before that you can run into some trouble if you plan to War it up. Pacal is in there to beat the human to most early Wonders but it seems that all the Civs were building Wonders very fast in general in my play through.

This game could of been good to try and forward settle on an AI but even if you do you still have another Civ right in your face. In my game they both went Liberty causing even more trouble trying to settle Land which is why this game really just needs straight out early War IMO.

** I realized I said this game will give players some redemption if they lost the last Roman DCL but I now changed it to this could give the player some redemption! Once again I find the GW/Red Fort combo a difficult problem if you do not prepare for it! I seem to have this knack for attacking the Civ who builds both of these!!**

 

[consentient]

GW is broken IMO.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

GW is broken IMO.

I think it is easy enough to break through if you prepare for it but I find it really interesting when you have to fight through the GW and Red Fort with unprepared tactics/units as I do.

** I have been playing around with changing Player Statistic Pages and I started with Shark Divers first because of how I had his Wonders listed. I wanted to learn how to get spreadsheets inside of web pages but it takes a few steps that I still need to learn. However... I did find a way of how to convert a Spreadsheet into an Image file like JPEG and I stuck it in that way. I think it looks a lot cleaner and you can always click on the wonder list now and get a larger image to view. I was told that I can change the background of the image when you click on it to make it more pleasant to the eye so I will work on that soon.**

 

[budweiser]

Re: GW

Spoiler :

I went right through the GW in this one.

 

[Shark Diver]

Well I'm not giving up on this map yet, and I'm not complaining at the rather difficult early starting conditions……OK…..I guess I was complaining, but I do like the challenge. Simply put, I've learned a bit since the DCL Rome game and am now more comfortable with a total war game.

Regarding Fractal maps…..I like them a lot most of the time. They make sure that you have to have at least a modicum of a naval strategy.

Spoiler :

Forward settling on the AI? Hehehe…..I have 4 cities surrounding America's 2…..and this will make 3 straight games I've taken on the GW civ first (in this game America also has Zeuss). Best thing about dealing with that civ early is they did you the favor of building those 2 Wonders early while you were building the units to liberate them.