TSG173 AAR

[Knowtalent]

Welcome to the TSG173 After Action Report thread. In this thread you can post the results of your game. Please state victory date and score (preferably in the post title), as recorded in the Hall of Fame, and the most important: your path to glory!
STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed and submitted your game.
Please attach your final, first play through, .Civ5Save file, saved AFTER the victory ceremony if you were not conquered (using the "Lemme play one more turn" feature.) In your post.
- How useful was your UA?
- Did you use spying to your advantage?
- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
- What techs did you prioritize ?

 

[zxcvbob]

Can we get an Opening Actions thread too? I'm on turn 200-something and wanna talk about it It's a fun one; I hope it doesn't turn tedious at the end. Thanks.

 

[leif erikson]

You may use this thread.

 

[zxcvbob]

Well, it's about turn 320 now. I settled 3 cities; on the coastal hill right next to starting location, then on a hill to the south by the furs, and finally (after I had a samurai to build fishing boats) on the west coast by all those fish. I opened both Honor and Tradition (eventually filled both.) I played peacefully for a good while, mainly for lack of gold in the early game. I actually built a few wonders, because I couldn't afford to pay maintenance on anything else at the time. Hanging Gardens, the Mausoleum, and Colossus. I used my great general from Honor to expand Osaka's borders to crowd Mosan Kahni.

My first war was with the Shoshone, even tho' the Maya were an easier target. I wanted to make sure I captured Mosan Kahni before Pocatello researched Military Science. (turns out, there was no hurry) I captured his capital and coastal city, but left him Te-Moak (I was hoping he'd get a settler out and settle a new city so I could take Te-Moak too w/o wiping him out.) I lost 2 or 3 trebuchets in that war; even tho' they had the Cover promotion he was able to kill them easily in 2 shots. Not sure why his city bombardment was so strong, the city strength was not all that high (upper 30's to 40) and he did not have Oligarchy nor Goddess of Protection, just the walled city plus a crossbow.

I was about to declare war on Pacal, when Attila DoW'd me. So I had to pull most of my troops back south. Attila must've had 50 triremes. He was never a threat, but he plundered all my trade routes. I destroyed his navy with a few crossbows and galleasses and killed all the units he managed to get to my continent. He wanted peace and I said "no way" and kept killing his units for the gold and XP. Finally he offered all his luxuries, iron, horses, and GPT for peace and I accepted. Then marched back to Tikal and then Palenque. Those fell easily. I did not capture Chichen Itza because I was not yet ready for the whole world to hate me. (since they all hate me anyway now, I should go back and grab that one)

Next was supposed to be the Byzantines and then Mongolia. But I changed my mind when I saw all the frigates she had and no way I could avoid them. Instead I explored the seas with caravels to bust the fog, and eventually decided to take Venice next because he had 3 wonders that I wanted (Great Lighthouse, Stonehenge, and Forbidden Palace), and because he backstabbed me after I set him up to host the world congress.

And that's all I've conquered so far. I have a huge war-chest of gold now, and I've seized control of the world congress. I'm also the tech leader; just researched Radar, now going back for Plastics. The AI's managed to embargo me while Enrico was still hosting the WC but I'm okay with that; it keeps them (especially Brazil) from getting the tourism modifier. I'm using my trade routes internally and with city states and I have enough votes to prevent them from embargoing the CS's.

Theodora and Pocatello have been at war for about 100 turns now. I wish she would capture his last city so I could liberate it and then kill her (I know that's the wrong order, but it works better logistically) But she seems to just be toying with him. At least it's keeping them both busy. It's about time to start a world war, and this time eliminate enemies instead of leaving them alive, to remove their votes. Also Mongolia captured a lot of CS's that I can liberate to strengthen my hold on the WC. I can liberate Rome (captured by the Huns) at some point so I can gift away unwanted cities.

* * *
Edit: turn 375. I went back and finished-off Venice and the Maya to remove them from the WC. Theodora captured Te-Moak, and I declared war and liberated it. Now I can gift unwanted cities to Pocatello. Resurrecting the Shoshone didn't seem to reduce the AI's hatred for me for being a warmonger; that might mostly be an ideology thing because I'm the only one left with Autocracy. (Attila switched to Order right after I build Prora) The Byzantine cites are over 100 strength and are well protected by terrain. My bombers and artillery do very little damage, then they heal most of that back, but I just got rocket artillery so they should fall pretty fast now -- especially after I take the easternmost city, creating a canal so my battleships (and a sub to take out her battleships) can reach Constantinople. I can use paratroopers to capture the cities; jump them in 2 at a time and she can't kill both in one turn.

I think I screwed up tho', fighting the AI's one at a time. I should be fighting them 2 or 3 at a time in order to finish this before time runs out. I need to add a carrier full of zeros to my Pacific fleet (to intercept his bombers because he has a lot of them) then I can I start with Attila while I finish with Theodora move on to Genghis. Then my combined forces can converge on Maria Theresa.

 

[zxcvbob]

Turn 375. I went back and finished-off Venice and the Maya to remove them from the WC. Theodora captured Te-Moak, and I declared war and liberated it. Now I can gift unwanted cities to Pocatello. Resurrecting the Shoshone didn't seem to reduce the AI's hatred for me for being a warmonger; that might mostly be an ideology thing because I'm the only one left with Autocracy. (Attila switched to Order right after I build Prora) The Byzantine cites are over 100 strength and are well protected by terrain. My bombers and artillery do very little damage, then they heal most of that back, but I just got rocket artillery so they should fall pretty fast now -- especially after I take the easternmost city, creating a canal so my battleships (and a sub to take out her battleships) can reach Constantinople. I can use paratroopers to capture the cities; jump them in 2 at a time and she can't kill both in one turn.

I think I screwed up tho', fighting the AI's one at a time. I should be fighting them 2 or 3 at a time in order to finish this before time runs out. I need to add a carrier full of zeros to my Pacific fleet (to intercept his bombers because he has a lot of them) then I can I start with Attila while I finish with Theodora move on to Genghis. Then my combined forces can converge on Maria Theresa.

Turn 415, I have captured Rome, Attila's Court, and Karakorum (I fought Attila and Genghis at the same time) and I've made peace with them. Only two more to go... I'm beginning to remember why I seldom play domination games on a large map I'll need to be careful not to get an accidental diplomatic victory; the next election is in 20 turns, and with Pocatello voting for me I have enough votes. Vienna is next, I'll need to take a couple of other cities first but I have a pretty clear path to it. Then I'll probably use multiple nukes followed by X-coms to take Rio in 2 turns (I don't have any paratroopers with Blitz yet) I have not researched Stealth nor Nanotechnology yet, but I have Advanced Ballistics and I'm getting close to Nanotech. Austria and Brazil have been at war for a while so they both should be pretty weak (but their cities are not)

 

[zxcvbob]

Domination victory on turn 435. (that's probably a pitiful time) I was still researching Stealth, but I didn't need it. Austria fell a lot faster than Byzantines, Mongols, or Huns, then I took a couple of turns to get set up to declare war on Brazil. (and from the positioning of his navy, I think Pedro was about to launch a sneak attack on me, at Venice) I hit Rio with 3 nuclear missiles then jumped in four X-Coms. That was more than I needed; they captured the city on the next turn without any air support.

- How useful was your UA?
- Did you use spying to your advantage?
- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
- What techs did you prioritize ?

- UA was helpful; especially for my bombers, dealing full damage even when they were barely able to fly.
- Counterspy in Kyoto the whole game, then spies in city states to boost influence. I don't think I did any coups. In the mid-game, I had a diplomat in the Mongolian capital because I was getting some ideology unhappiness. And at the end I used spies as spotters for air strikes.
- Since it was a continents plus map, I knew the CS's would be offshore. Meaning no early trade routes, no worker stealing, and no tribute. But later, maybe that's why I had so much gold; lots of cargo ships that rarely got plundered.
- Emperor is the difficulty I usually play, so I'm not sure how if affected my decisions.
- Social policies were a mixture of Tradition and Honor (I filled both), Rationalism, a bunch of Autocracy tenets, and a couple of policies in Exploration. I don't know that I've ever had this much gold before without using Commerce.
- Education, Steel, Optics, Flight (to build Prora), Radar, Plastics, Satellites. I don't remember what I used Oxford for, and my Rationalism finisher was Advanced Ballistics.

 

[letsgobucs]

turn 297 victory.

wow this is a interesting map I usually play diety so it's a nice change to be able to adjust the plan without falling drastically behind. Early Gold was a huge problem.
Opened honor and grabbed GLib->NC. teched construction, but couldn't put together the gold to upgrade my 4 archers and rush Paco around turn 70. So had to adjust my plan sent the archers to farm barb camps. Built GLight then 2 settlers for coast spots West and South West around turn 100(very late). For the next 100 turns focused on growth-> Education->Steel ->Astronomy->

turn 206ish Dynamite 2 bulbs + oxford
turn 225ish Paco falls 6-8 arties 6 cavs in primary army
turn 245ish Ghengis falls
turn 255ish Theordora falls
turn 260ish Pacal falls with second army (3 arties 3 cavs) declare war on Rome with rush bought/built navy of (10 frigates 10 privateers roughly)
turn 270ish Augustus falls
turn 280ish (combustion 3 scientist bulbs) and Attila falls 3 oil online work boat enroute to put another 4 online for secondary army
turn 289ish Venice falls to destoryer rush (upgraded privateers)
turn 292 Pedro falls to second army now (4 landships 3 arties)
turn 297 Maria Theresa falls bought 6GWB on a city on her board Attilas' Court Oil online.


UA was useful especially when farming barbs. I actually used the Samurai to build all my work boats which was probably a mistake because I grabbed fish boat pantheon from a ruin, but since my Exp were so late I had to squeeze every hammer I could to get them caught up, so I was late to getting the 9 culture from sea resources.

I stole one or two techs from Paco since I was focused on the bottom of the tree it helped me a little. After that put them in my capital and in city states.

Map makes the start slower than I'm used to. early wars are almost impossible. I moved to the coastal hill to start. Which put the gold tiles in the 3rd ring. settling in place may work better. I'd be curious if anyone did settle in place and could attack early. Raging barbs with honor can get a little silly. Had two barb camps on City state borders that I farmed for lifetime friend status. Also, I got a little lucky with barbs not hitting my cargo ships and it's amazing how fast you can grow your cities with them. exps founded on turn 100ish were 26/24 pop at the end. capital was pop 33.

on a higher difficulty I would have probably gone liberty. and not chased any early wonders. This map on a higher difficulty might be impossible. Slow start + potential for Rome/Attila run away.

Full Honor-> 3 in Exploration (+3 production and building happiness) 4 in commerce (eventually finished) Autocracy (8 policies) Clausewitz's legacy all the happiness ones.

Philosophy(GL) ->construction->Edu->Steel->Dynamite->Industrialization->Navigation->Refrigeration->combustion->flight

 

[Rogerio_AA]

Game status: Domination Victory
Game information: 1940 AD
Turns: 360
Final Assessed: 5518

- How useful was your UA?
The main advantage of Japan of get gulture from fishing boats makes possible to take the first social policies quickly.
The fact that the damaged units fight with full force was very useful in the middle to the ending game. : D

Did you use espionage to your advantage?
Yes, for stealing some techs and spy the goals of the enemies.

- Did the map type help or win and how?
The size of the map makes the fight sites too very distant from home ...

- How does the level of difficulty affect your game decisions?
The other Civs do not expand quickly, makes it easier to win the top three Civs.

- Which Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which ideology did you choose?
Starting open Tradition, after Liberty, after Piety, Exploration and Honor, at the end of the game, choose Autocracy.

- What technologies did you prioritize?
No techs was prioritized, just getting the techs that was opened.

Moderator Action: This is a forum in English. Please provide a translation. Thank you. leif

Sorry, usually I pass the text by Google Translator for check some errors, and in this case, I pasted the wrong version.

 

[raider980]

Domination Victory. Turn 395. Score 4681.

First move was east to settle on the hill river. But I still didn't see any lux so I moved one more tile east which was another hill river. Saw a lux so settled there. Turned out to be a good move because that made enough room for a city to the west by the 3 fish. Settled another city east and then a late city up by the silver to the NE because for some reason Pacal hadn't gone there.

Beginning of the game was super slow. Lots of gold and happiness issues. I dropped behind quickly. I had hoped to take Pacal out with CB but had to wait until XB.

Once I got XB though I rolled through Pacal and attacked Mongols cities that he had built up the east coast. I couldn't have him getting that close. But since the capital was way far south I stopped there. I took some of Shoeshone cities with my XB but Moson Khani was surrounded by too many hills and mountains. So I stopped warring and started empire building. Also, decided to beeline Artillery.

Once I got Artillery I took Moson Kahni easily. This was a tremendous boost to my game because it was the best city in the game. It had a bunch of good wonders. And then took Theodora's capital. After that my science and gold took off. So I decided to attack Brazil next. I was going to let him live because we were friends earlier but when I took Order he started getting mad. Easily took 3 of his cities with frigates and artillery/rocket artillery and was about to take a 4th that had lots of oil. But my happiness was at 1 so I made peace. The very next turn Order was passed as the World Ideology and my happiness soared to 25, darn if I would have just waited one more turn to make peace!

I went on to take out Austria, The Huns and lastly, Mongolia. I'm not sure how I got so far ahead after floundering early. Toward the end I was fighting riflemen with tanks and GW Infantry with modern armor. And I ended up with 33 cities or so and still had 30 something happiness. That's the most cities I've ever had. It was a fun game!

This is the first time I've ever played Japan and they were awesome. The UA is super helpful. Especially with mounted and armor units, bombers and destroyers, they are always injured.

 

[beetle]

Took me until T396 for my Dom VC, but I had a great time! Thanks for the game!

UA was terrific early game for fighting against barbarians. I was fearless attacking the last one at near-zero health. Any other civ would have had me withdrawing to heal.

The extra GG from the Samurai was also invaluable. I used Citadel bombs on three caps.

Late game, after Autocracy, I opened and filled out Honor. That was lots of fun.

Other aspect of the civ (Samurai building fishing boats, culture from Atolls, resource-free fighters) never came into play.

Game status: Domination Victory
Game date: 1976AD
Turns played: 396
Base score: 4000
Final score: 5063
Time played: 31:55:00

 

[zxcvbob]

I may play this one again; see if I can shave 100 turns off my time

 

[leif erikson]

Good Luck!!