The Immortal Alphabetical Game #12 - Dido

[Nigel_Tufnel2]

st:

Spoiler :

I just assumed you had to either settle in the Red Sea or take out Panama City (which will likely blow the ally all CS in the Med goal).

 

[DanQuayle]

Spoiler :

If you capture Panama, you can go to the Red Sea from the Mediterranean with your ships.
For the Mare Nostrum achievement, you have the option of either capturing or allying (for 5 turns) the CS on the Mediterranean.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Spoiler :

I captured Panama and allied everyone else. Is that clear for the achivement?

 

[DanQuayle]

Spoiler :

Yes, you can do a mix of both options if you like

 

[stormtrooper412]

Spoiler :

Finished off France without passing the Embargo or crippling them. My armies are moving on to Germany now, they have a metric ton of cities and my eastern provinces are a bit undefended. Lots of achievements to be had. This is a really good map

also, what happens if I don't get Hannibal but his dad

 

[DanQuayle]

Well, the first achievement is not really meant to be attainable (unless you are really lucky)
Also, it's called The Father of Strategy, not the "Father of Strategy's Father".

 

[stormtrooper412]

Do I get points for being ahead of schedule?

Spoiler :

I'm standing at the gates of Berlin and I really can't be bothered to wait out 20 odd turns for Atomic era?

 

[DanQuayle]

Spoiler :

That's a problem that I thought could eventually happen (being close to finish too early).
In my longest test play run, I only played up to the Renaissance era.
Taking Berlin during the Atomic era is only 1 point (over a 55 total), so I guess you can be either patient or forgo the point. That's part of the reason why I only gave one extra point for the last bloc.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Spoiler :

Alright, I can wait a bit and stomp the rest of German cities then once I peace out with the lot, buy the remaining city states and win a DiploV :]

Or I can mobilize towards Moscow and pick up Istanbul on the way (I skipped that bit due to geographical complications )

 

[stormtrooper412]

Well I'm about to wrap it up so let's start explaining:

Spoiler :

My first priority was to settle Gibraltar before Spain get there. To make that happen, I made a Scout Monument in my 2nd capital before growing it to size 3 then made a Settler to claim that spot. In the meantime I went left hand Liberty to send the free Settler south of my cap to claim FoY, I prioritized Sailing and lux techs and delayed Writing as per achievements. Even without Libraries and a serious delay on the NC, I was still flying past the early techs due to Messenger of the Gods and the UA. I was actually fortunate to have gotten a Pantheon, as I didn't really figure it in, I just imagined it would be a slash fest.

Achievements since it's all done at this point, just need to finish the game itself:

General - 10 points

Spoiler :

The Father of Strategy - Generate the Great General Hannibal during the game (1pt) no luck

Phoenician Heritage - Settle only coastal cities during the entire game (2pt) yes

The Dido Special - Backstab one AI during the game (3pt) no
(I had it set up quite nicely when Ottomans invited me to attack (my then friend) Alex, but Ottomans backstabbed me instead)

Bloodthirst - Be at war with 3 civilizations at any point during the game (3pt) yes

Science Parity - Great Scientists must be either planted or bulbed within the next 3 turns following their birth (or no GS spawned at all) (5pt) yes

Bloc A - 3 points

Spoiler :

Research Sailing and meet your neighbor at the North of Carthage before entering the Classical era (1pt) yes

Notice something 'special' about the map (1pt) well, I noticed several things, it being a real Europe/North Africa map, with some of the Natural Wonders where they belong, like Sinai and Gibraltar, but a lot of city state locations and other NW (Cerro, FoY, Crater etc) were all over the place

Do not build or purchase a library during the first two eras (1pt) yes

Bloc B - 9 points

Spoiler :

Escort a Great General to Iberia (1pt) yes, had to get an early one from Honor

Train an army of at least 3 African Forest Elephants and one siege unit in Iberia (1pt) yes

Divert the Roman forces by sending them against Macedon (1pt) yes, it cost a lot but I got it back

Attack Rome from the North with said army (1pt) yes, Alps were easy to cross, I burned a Roman expo before getting to Rome itself

Suicide a siege unit on the Alps (1pt) yes

Capture Rome (1pt) without siege units (+1pt) before the end of the Classical era (+1pt) only capped Rome, I brought in the heavy hitters to make the siege quick

Eliminate Rome (2pt) it wasn't in the Classical era

Bloc C - 3 points

Spoiler :

Attack Mecca with an army of at least 3 Galleass* (1pt) yes

Capture Mecca (1pt) with a Quinquereme* (+1pt) during the Medieval era (+1pt) I captured Mecca on the SAME turn as I entered Renaissance. However, since I expected the path TO Mecca to be open without complications, cut me some slack

Bloc D - 1 point. I was too late to that party...

Bloc E - 2 points. Spain were piss weak all game, which made it laughable. I also had France attack them from the north, they sent settlers across the Mediterranean to settle the lands between Morocco and me and their settlers kept getting captured by barbs :] In the end, I also removed their Religion from their holy city.

Bloc F - 0 points, I skipped it entirely. I expected Ottomans to be easily accessible from the Bosphorus but their city was planted just one tile further inland making passage impossible. And since Istanbul was deeply inland (instead of where Byzantium is on this map by default) and my armies being on the different side of the world, I decided to skip it and only clear their coastal cities in the south.

Bloc G - 5 points

Spoiler :

Rid the Mediterranean sea of any Barbarian presence (1pt) it wasn't easy but with enough sentries, I stopped the camps from spawning and my patrol boats managed to wipe them easily

Have at least 8 coastal cities on the Mediterranean sea (1pt) if you count Panama and a pair of Roman cities that I captured in the Punic wars, I think I have 10

Capture or ally (for at least 5 turns) all CS coastal on the Mediterranean sea (1pt) all of them were allies long before and my alliances never stopped, one of them even gifted me Keshiks :]

Be the only civilization with coastal cities on the Mediterranean sea (2pt) Once I cleared out Ottoman cities from the east, the path was clear

Bloc H - 3 points

Spoiler :

Capture Paris (1pt) during the Modern era (+1pt) at this point, I had to bring out Cavalry (most of them upgraded Elephants) and Artillery (most of them upgraded Catapults) to smoke them

Make a peace deal with France where you suck nearly all its GPT (1pt) no peace, I wiped them out

Cripple France economically even more by passing Embargo France on the World Congress (1pt) I actually proposed this twice, first time they voted against it, by the second vote they were done and out

Accumulate a bank of at least 5000 Gold during the Modern era (1pt) I had a nice GPT all game long, so this wasn't a problem

Bloc I - 1 point. The stage was set, all I had to do was wait to hit Atomic era. I think the AI bugged out, as even though Germany was getting crushed left right and center, they never wanted to make a peace deal, instead they fought to the bitter end and had to be wiped out. They had 14 cities when I started...


This brings me to a total of 36 points, this is definitely one of the best maps I played in this game and I give a serious recommendation to everyone.

Additional comments

Spoiler :

It would require luck to eliminate Rome before the end of Classical era, which means they would have to not settle many cities. In my game they managed to settle 4, I took 3 of them, kept 2 (Rome and their holy city which spawned a prophet JUST as I capped Rome, unlucky) and burned one, left them with one city which I destroyed later on. Early game was Full Liberty into Full Honor into Commerce and Rationalism. Honor is a really good idea on this map. Greece were strong players, and I had a DoF going but just as I was about to attack them from the Aegean sea with Ottomans, they both denounce me and I lost 3 points there At that point, the military CS started giving me Keshiks which I used to clear the inland cities and eventually leave them with a pair of cities. My happiness was an issue so I opened Patronage for FP but Greece ended up building it for me so I captured it in Sparta, and had Germany take their last city. I used that later to liberate them and secure votes in the Congress while buying all city states and burning down cities on the fly.

Early game consisted mostly of grabbing locations, beeline Wheel to activate my UA and Pantheon, then Horseback riding and Mathematics for Elephants and Catapults to attack Rome quickly while they are off against Greece.

Mid game consisted of consolidating happiness and exploring further East while assembling a fleet. By then I have moved my main army back to assault Morocco. I took Panama so that I can access the Red Sea from the Mediterranean and attack Mecca. I was one turn too late in capturing. Meanwhile in Northwestern Africa, I rushed Physics and Chivalry and get Knights and Trebs up. Morocco did put up a slight fight but I took their cap and left them alone. They had Machu built which was the best thing about it Then I upgraded Trebs to Cannons and invaded Spain with it. Once I cleared them out, I sent Inquisitors to remove kebab Catholicism like I removed Buddhism from Rome beforehand. At this point my science started to roll and I pushed towards Schools first and then Cavalry and Artillery next. I cleared out most of the barbs at this point and focused more on city states. I passed World Religion but couldn't Embargo France for extra points.

Late game consisted of assembling a big enough force to attack Germany from the land and sea, my Frigates did really well in eliminating all coastal cities and ended with Range and Logistics. My Quins became Caravels and then Ironclads. I removed Germany but I was at war with ALL of the AIs at once save Greece. Russia were too far, and Morocco, Ottomans and Arabs were pushovers. Arabia settled many really crap cities all around Mecca, so I should have murdered Medina back when it was their only city remaining.

Conclusion I have all city states now, World Religion, World Ideology, FP, I have restored Greece, and sent Diplomats away since I am at peace with everyone now. Wait out 15-ish turns and get an easy Diplomatic Victory

 

[DanQuayle]

To answer some of your questions and make the achievements clearer

Bloc A

Spoiler :

"Something special about the map" is that the map is a real Europe/North Africa geographical map

Bloc B

Spoiler :

You can eliminate Rome whenever you like

Bloc F

Spoiler :

I left Istanbul where the map maker makes it spawn by default even if it is geographically wrong. I presumed that it was because otherwise it would be too close to Greece and could cause the AI some problems. So I left it that way.

 

[stormtrooper412]

edited my post to reflect your points

thanks

 

[stormtrooper412]

Spoiler :

01 - minimap with Satellites unlocked
02 - vote results
03 - Homeland West
04 - Homeland East
05 - Iberia
06 - Mainland Europe
07 - Apennines and Balkans
08 - Red Sea

 

[stormtrooper412]

I restarted to mop out the early game achievements I missed out on. It wasn't that hard but I won't be keeping that game up. It's a really good experience regardless

Spoiler :

captured Rome without siege units and then later capped Morocco and Mecca during the Medieval era

 

[Nigel_Tufnel2]

t192

Spoiler :

This was a very enjoyable game, but I decided to move on for Lizzie (I have barely played her). Dido's free Harbors are great, but nothing compared to England's UUs!

I went after as many Achis as I could knowing I was not following the path exactly. I even suicided a Catapault in the Alps and swam a GG to Spain, but then he just swam towards Morocco... When I quit I was slamming Greece hard (no points, LOL), but Mor was taking a while as he only had 2 coastal cities and I didn't have Canons for his cap in place yet. I also couldn't bring myself to smack Sul as so often he falls so far behind. I was going to take all of Rome's coastal cities. I think I ended up with 11 self-founded Med cities. Full Liberty, 4 Exploration, 4 in Order, openers for Honor, Piety, and Patronage. I was researching Archeology because I could. 7 wonders in Carthage.

While hunting ruins and clearing fog I had 2 Knights upgrade to Cavalry - I opted to keep clearing the fog, even though they could have made both fronts in decent time. It has been forever since I played a Med map - going back to the early 90s Earth/real maps have always been my favorite.

It looks like I ended with 15/47 points into Industrial - as I mentioned previously, I took out Spain early and mostly fought Alex.

 

[Alzanar]

This is a great and very enjoyable map, especially being huge fan of Hannibal in my childhood )

Thanks a lot for creating this scenario !!!


As advised here, went Liberty + Honor opener.
Culture from barbs and city-states was so insane, that I could afford to go one more into Honor (GG) and still close Liberty around t80.

Faith generation is also great with all those city-states around. And pantheon giving +2 science from city connection stacks so well with Carthage's free harbours ) Early money from city connections is huge, helped to buy and upgrade a few much needed units.

at t90 now, things looking very good:

Spoiler :

* 5 self-founded cities, 3 in Africa and 2 in Iberia (second next to Gibraltar), the dirt is fantastic, FoY hugely appeciated
* Madrid fell at the end of t6*, giving us Stonehenge and bidding farewell to Isa
* DoF with Morocco and Macedon
* Rome distracted by wars with Alex and Napolen was doomed being invaded from 2 directions:
- Iberian army of 3 elephants, starting warrior (upgraded to swordsman) and a couple of CBs razed Cumae
- African army of 5 CBs and a spear razed Antium

* Rome fell at t90, 2 turns before medieval, eliminating Caesar should be a matter of few turns now
* Carthage has Pyramids and in 2 turns Collosus will be finished
* libraries pre-built at most cities with 1 turn remaining; got GE from Libery finisher , so by t93-94 NC should be up (not sure if pre-building libraries was allowed though?)
* on the sea a basic fleet of 3 quinqueremas and couple caravans (to Alex) is up

Next step - meet SE neighbour, not sure whom to await, didn't want to spoil the achievement bloc C. Really looking forward to next week-end to finish it off !