6otM 2022 Krampus AAR

[Eyswein]

Welcome to the 6otM 2022 Krampus After Actions 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 victory save to your post.

- What was your plan for achieving the VC? What are the major steps you planned to take? What events, if any, changed the plan in execution and to what new plan? Any interesting decision points?
- What were your initial 5-10 builds in the capital or other early cities?
- Early order for technology/civics? What did you prioritize for technology/civics?
- How did the leader bonus and civ unique ability impact your plan/play, if at all?
- How many cities did you settle and/or capture? Where did you settle your first few cities?
- What were key production/purchase focuses? Military units / Civilian units / Districts & city development / Wonders / Civ Unique Unit & Infrastructure? Most critical or interesting?
- Pantheon chosen and why? Religious beliefs chosen, and why?
- What governments did you select? What key policy cards did you use? Why?
- Which Governors were most important; when and why?
- Was diplomacy/trading useful? How? Relations with other civs?
- When did you have Dark/Heroic ages?
- How did the game modes affect or impact your play?
- Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?
- Did you enjoy your game?

 

[Chrumo]

I retired after 30 or so turns

If there were no Dramatic Ages I might have given it a go, but with this setup and Dramatic Ages, the game would just be insufferably frustrating and I can see that I wouldn't have much fun.
Thanks for the game! Definitely Krampus wins with me in this one

 

[Eyswein]

I retired after 30 or so turns

If there were no Dramatic Ages I might have given it a go, but with this setup and Dramatic Ages, the game would just be insufferably frustrating and I can see that I wouldn't have much fun.
Thanks for the game! Definitely Krampus wins with me in this one

I think the keys to a dramatic deity game start are the following:
1) Ensure you get a Classic Heroic Age, or
2) Take the Classic Dark Age, but don't settle a second city until this age starts (can have 1-2 settlers built and ready to place on the first turn in classic)

After start generally tall over wide style.

 

[Lord Yanaek]

Played for a little more than 100 turns then gave up. I wanted to give it a try because while i know i'm not the best Civ6 player and Deity is always a challenge for me without added Krampus tricks, the start location was really nice so at least there was opportunities to develop something good. I got into a classic dark age and lost a city but culture-flipped it almost immediately, abused isolationism to grow a large city at the entrance to the desert so when i got Mathematics i could get Petra. Got some pretty insane Hansa (+18 production with Craftsmen policy slotted in the bonus military slot).
Overall i think i wasn't doing too bad (by my standards for a deity game at least) then i got involved into a CS emergency and could have a closer look at the AI starting locations. That's when i noticed they do have strategic resources when we have none and they don't have any floodable tiles even thought the starting areas are otherwise completely symmetrical. That just felt cheap and completely removed any interest i had to keep playing the game.

Sorry i don't want to sound negative or ungrateful, you've been keeping that series alive for years and a map like that obviously takes more time to create than a regular random map but i don't see any point playing a game that feels frustrating more than anything else so thanks for the map but i'll pass on that one. Hopefully Santa will bring something fun.

 

[Eyswein]

Played for a little more than 100 turns then gave up. I wanted to give it a try because while i know i'm not the best Civ6 player and Deity is always a challenge for me without added Krampus tricks, the start location was really nice so at least there was opportunities to develop something good. I got into a classic dark age and lost a city but culture-flipped it almost immediately, abused isolationism to grow a large city at the entrance to the desert so when i got Mathematics i could get Petra. Got some pretty insane Hansa (+18 production with Craftsmen policy slotted in the bonus military slot).
Overall i think i wasn't doing too bad (by my standards for a deity game at least) then i got involved into a CS emergency and could have a closer look at the AI starting locations. That's when i noticed they do have strategic resources when we have none and they don't have any floodable tiles even thought the starting areas are otherwise completely symmetrical. That just felt cheap and completely removed any interest i had to keep playing the game.

Sorry i don't want to sound negative or ungrateful, you've been keeping that series alive for years and a map like that obviously takes more time to create than a regular random map but i don't see any point playing a game that feels frustrating more than anything else so thanks for the map but i'll pass on that one. Hopefully Santa will bring something fun.

Definitely welcome all input so I make better versions! Hate to see the frustration. For the difference in starting locations, after making them I asked, "what would Krampus do?" Strategic resources became bonus resources and flat land become flood land. In practice, forces you to trade for all strategic resources which will slow down the fast players and can be surprising inexpensive if they aren't using them. The 15 Dec and 1 Jan games will be more Christmas like.

 

[Eyswein]

For anyone that had a really tough start, but still wanted to try this one from a little later in the game. This is one of my test runs (lots of test branches vice straight single playthrough) at the end of the Classic Age (T87).

Spoiler Useful info and recommendations :

Some potentially useful info:
-I killed some barbs north of Ulm so future zombies will spawn inside the wire. Hence the walls. (My original goal was for folks to be able to keep barbarians outside the mountains to stop 'internal' zombie spawns, but I think I only did that in a couple test runs.)
-Currently in 6th place for science with leader 9 techs ahead. Spies will be your friend! Good to NOT make alliances with the tech leaders so you can steal boosts from them.
-Taking Ritual and getting to Banking for Gilded Vaults will be very helpful for culture. (Though probably don't need Ritual yet since banking is far away.) Getting to 8 policy government will provide boost for Computers for Flood Barriers.
-Coal plants in every city without coal are still awesome for production output (avoids climate change until you can get flood barriers). Recommend one oil power plant with no oil also. May want to wait for nuclear power plants for the power.
-Resource trading! Try to find cheap deals (but recommend don't buy coal/oil to avoid global warming).

 

[Murph2002]

New to the GOTM and the Forums. Been playing about a year. Have a few Deity victories under my belt.

Gave it a go. Thought I was doing ok, four cities, adept in the Hermetic Order... Volcano fertilized the tiles just outside the mountain range... city ready to build a +6 science campus... 110 turns in

BAM! Zombies take Berlin.

Fun effort. Will see how long I can survive this one, but doubt I'll see it through to the end...

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to CivFanatics and Game of the Month!

Damn Zombies! Best of luck.

 

[GaidinX]

SV - Turn 298 - Score of 891

WOW - one of the ugliest games I've ever played - combo of all the highest stress modes - managed dark age Classic (held 2nd/3rd/4th city settles until after crossing into it) and the rest Golden. Held back on lots of milestones to maximize era score - got a very few key wonders - Mausoleum, Colosseum, Forbidden City, Chichen Itza, Petra, University of Sankore, and Taj Mahal. Had to settle on Forbidden in attempt to get Ruhr, just couldn't tech fast enough.

Keys were internal trading with CH builds early, Campus in city 1/2 for start, eventually all, Hanza maximized for bonus with CH and Aqueduct + govt. plaza. I took Owls sorta late and picked up Harbors for more internal trade routes. Had HS only for getting faith for heroes as AI scooped all the religion very quickly. Made sure to pick up Encampments in any city I could put a future Spaceport - didn't pin enough and one city didn't have a flat spot, but the entertainment district plus Colosseum was worth it for maximizing amenities - was ecstatic for large periods in the later eras. that city was designated for builder production in lead up to space.

Had 4 heroes - Himiko, Hercules, Maui, and Sun Wu Kong. Use Maui twice to dump extra luxuries in the desert city tiles which worked well with Petra. Getting the 215 and 315 production engineers for wonders helped a lot with timings. Herc built harbors and a campus to speed up city growth.

Never put CO2 in the air except one short railroad line I would trade for a single coal each turn for build - was needed era score. AI dumped it in though and I was still 2 turns from Exo when the comet mode started. All cities were just running Campus Projects at that point. First comet took out my capitol's spaceport, Forbidden City, a luxury, and Chichen Itza. 3rd comet wiped my desert city that had a spaceport and Petra. 5th comet took out my last Spaceport city on turn 282.... I could have used Herc to make another but did save scum as I had put too much effort in at that point and the odds seemed rather stacked as no AI had even been affected and I was 3/4 cities gone or crippled. I only went back a turn and it didn't take my last Spaceport city - I settled a new desert city and got a 2nd Spaceport with Herc. a long 12 turns from Exo I finally got the projects - lost my builder city a few turns later along with Govt Plaza so no more builder boosts - a couple narrow misses on the others. Was able to trade for Aluminum and Uranium so new desert city ran a nuclear power plant and could relay on low power.

It was very close on flooding - 2/4 of my IZ were flooded as 2m flooding had happened and was 2 turns from permanent 1m submerge when I got Computers and barriers - had to fix Govt Plaza, HS, luxuries, wonders were saved - had held envoys - took Suz of Valetta and got them up same turn... was so stressful - ran Campus projects for likely last 80 turns in most cities.

Was a non-war run and got spies early and leveled them up by stealing tech boosts to help speed up things - Govt Plaza was the Tall option with governors, then Intelligence Agency, and the use builder to speed up. Traded luxuries heavily as needed and used the corporations to boost culture, gold, faith, and unit production. Don't think I got horse/iron points for use until Ren era due to hoarding points.

Maxed out alliance options to cut down on sabotage via spying - used early spy upgrade to protect home territory.

Zombies sucked a bit - but only one got inside my mountain area so I only had 1-2 spawn every once and a while there - had a few ranged units and one horse to take care of them plus walls. Desert city had some rougher hits but often had a spare hero on hand to help plus extra Encampments.

Some key great people helped a lot - big burst of Science in the push for Exo - had to escort across map to the 4 tile wonder - Son Wu Kong was key for that.

City State - had useless Mogadishu due to Himiko but traded the diplo points for money - Only 2 were left at the end between zombies and comets - Anshan and Mogadishu, which were the main ones I usually controlled.

I VERY challenging game, wasn't even with AI until well after T200. Had to be a miser with era score and max out my tile usage. Very fun - thanks again and Merry Christmas

Spoiler end :

Spoiler The visible damage :

Spoiler Version2 of desert city - this is less than 10 turns from settle! :

Spoiler the OG setup - pre-Apocalypse :

 

[Planktonic]

Sci Vic 311/312, but on my fourth try.

First time, saw the set up, decided to try to rush Inca with 3 Heroes and a siege tower. Was able to take the spill out desert cities but the core cities all put up Renaissance Walls and they were able to shoot up the Heroes pretty effectively.

Second time, tried to spam cities in the desert, thinking I could faith-plant districts and grow them through trade routes. Did not work well.

Third time I got Anansi and got a Golden Classical instead of a Dark Classical like the previous times. This run I played for > 200 turns, and was able to take out Korea. Could have kept playing but saw that climate change was *rapidly* developing; gave up when the very first comet took out my second city and massively reduced my science (to 150) while I was still very far from Exoplanet.

Finally made it work on the fourth try: cycled through Heroic tales until I got the Heroes I wanted: Hercules (to build districts and high combat strength); Maui (to seed resources in the desert); and the Twins (plan to deal with the zombies). Later was also able to get Beowulf. Was just a few turns away from Arthur as well- if I had been able to get him the game would have gone better.

As it was I was able to get a religion with three Holy Sites planted by Hercules (I see Eyswein's advice above re a dark classical- I did exactly that, and saved two settlers until after Classical era started since I knew I was going to be Dark). Took advantage of Monasticism during the Dark Classical, then made sure I got Golden every Era thereafter. Saved all faith for a Wonder engineer and 1-turned Petra for my 4th city (Frankfurt). Then built up troops/Heroes and went after Cree. Was *just* able to take out all Cree cities using all Heroes (the Twins were killed in the process).

Then, because I never play Apocalypse mode but knew that climate change was coming, I focused for a long time on culture to the detriment of science hoping to reach Global Warming Mitigation. Eventually I decided it was a lost cause and re-focused on science, figuring I would never be able to make up for all the CO2 the other civs were putting out. I knew comets would start to fall but I left Liang in my main Spaceport city defended by spies to eke my way through. I should have concentrated more on science all along and I probably could have saved a bunch of turns, but I'm happy to escape the planet with a win!

In the end I was helped by some very good turns of fortune: Got the scientist that gives a Eureka for Computers, as well as the one for Chemistry, greatly simplifying the tech tree. Also got Robert Goddard for the Rocketry Eureka, then Korolev. Since I had built Mausoleum he was able to 1-turn both the Moon Landing and the Mars Expedition. And I also got Sagan, so I also 1-turned Exoplanet. Another piece of just-in-time luck: got to Computers just a few turns before 1 meter tiles were submerged. I had been saving envoys so dumped them all into Valetta (which still existed at the time) and became suz, to instantly faith-buy flood barriers (although there seems to be a graphics glitch and they don't show up on the map).

I don't know how it went for others but the beginning was a huge problem: a barb camp spawned right on the geothermal fissure in the mountain exit channel. Scouts and then barbs in force were intruding into the mountain enclave almost from turn 1. I tried to hold off on killing them to avoid zombie spawns but in the end there was no choice: if I wanted to leave the mountain enclave at all I had to kill my way out. This lead to interminable zombie warfare through the whole game, which was exceedingly tiresome to deal with. I had repeated episodes of major population loss which slowed me down immensely. By the end the zombies were at combat strength = 127: stronger than GDRs, Hercules and Beowulf. I realized early this would be an ever-present problem, so deliberately recruited the Twins to try to make a zombie army of my own. It turns out your own zombies keep up with the mutation strength of all other zombies- a very useful characteristic. I spent almost one full Era just fighting zombies outside Frankfurt with the Twins to make a battalion of zombies for city defense. By putting Moksha in with his 2nd promotion (all units heal within 1 turn) this made the city invulnerable to zombies. Even better than a shield of builders, since regular barbs will plow through the builders but are powerless against 127 strength zombies.

By game's end I lost two small cities to zombies, and lost 2 small cities to comets but my main cities were relatively OK. Solar flare obliterated my science at the very end but it was too late- I had already researched Offworld Expedition. Solar flares actually helped me, as Hammurabi had completed the Mars Colony and was building Exoplanet. I sent a spy and a GDR to try to stop it, but didn't have to when a solar flare pillaged his spaceport.

All in all, by far the most diabolical Krampus set up yet. Fantastic game- kudos to you for the most challenging map yet! I have no idea how you programmed it so that Germany's tiles were floodable but the other enclaves were not, but that was a genius touch. Fighting the map is actually usually much more of the challenge than the AIs, and this was really interesting. Even moving units across the desert was a fraught exercise due to barbs and zombies everywhere! Looking forward to an even grimmer Krampus next year!

Here are the zombies besieging Frankfurt at game's end:

By contrast, the Cree cities are mostly free and clear:

 

[Planktonic]

Here are a few things I learned by playing through a few times:

1. When the Twins kill a zombie, it converts to your unit but doesn't restore to full health like a regular unit. So you have to plan/work to keep it alive until it can heal on its own a bit .
2. When the Twins kill a corps or an army, you only get a singleton unit in conversion, not the corps or army formation.
3. Beowulf's ability to kill an enemy unit using his charges is unpredictable. Sometimes I could use it, other times it wouldn't let me. Sometimes I had to move to a different tile and then I could use his special attack.
4. Beowulf's special attack works on other Heroes.
5. Beowulf is not able to use his special attack to kill air units that are housed in a city center.
6. When land tiles become submerged, you can then build Coastal wonders on them. In my third attempt I did get some submerged tiles and found I could build Colossus, Great Lighthouse, and even Venetian Arsenal!
7. When a Wonder gets submerged, it is completely destroyed and you lose its effects. In my third attempt I had Wonder Engineers who had only used 2 of the 3 charges they get when you build Mausoleum. But after Mausoleum was submerged (and vanished from the map) the Wonder Engineers were still around, but they no longer had a charge remaining to them.

One question that I never did get to answer: if you reach final stage of climate change and comets are falling, but you run so many Carbon Recapture projects so that the CO2 level decreases below that threshold, will the climate conditions on the map actually reverse?

 

[Rutseg]

Science Victory, T299, Score 1267, 34.5 h

Achievements through this play:

• Steel-Driving Man: Recall a Hero after the Industrial Era.
• The Mask of Baphomet: Earn all Governor promotions for the Owls of Minerva Secret Society.

Totally crazy game, I was many times at the verge of giving up, just for how advanced the other AIs were and how long the computer was taking to finish its turns.

Plan
From previous zombie games I knew it was best to avoid killing units altogether, so plan was basically play completely on peace and create a builder shield around my cities.

Early game
When the setting was uncovered, I thought about just restricting myself to the inner mountains. I planted my second city cutting the entrance to my valley and for most of the game I kept to that, leaving 1 charge on each builder to protect the entrance city. I was just so scared to get out of my mountain ranges... but in the end it seemed there were not as much zombies and barbarians as I previewed, so I started to expand out of my natural walls to work my volcano, but then I started to dare go even farther away and settled the desert around and some spots abroad, even conquering a few cities.

I lost control of my second city due to Dramatic Ages, and lost many turns crippled like that until it swapped back to me.



Diplomacy
Got an early war with Amanitore and I kept myself on war for the whole game with her because I had positive grievances against her. For the rest, I had good relationships and Alliances with everyone else except Mansa Musa that made an Emergency War with Amanitore when I conquered one of her cities. I kept the war against Mansa for a time, to raid his campuses and commercial hubs, but when I spotted a Death robot at my door I quickly signed peace with him and never again warred together.

Diplomacy was extremely useful in this game, I traded luxuries and favor for gold, and because I never had strategic resources myself, I had to trade with my allies to upgrade units and have energy for my factories and research labs. Also, a lot of trading for aluminum in the end. At the last turns I secured a copy of Oil, but was 1 turn away to build a well when the game finished.

Cities
16 cities, that is way less than I usually do, but I was so scared to get out of my valley for more than half of the game...
4 were conquered and 1 was from a captured settler.
1 was destroyed by an asteroid...

I placed my second city over the Geothermal tile, for 1 early extra science and to block the entrance to my valley.



Religion
No religion.
I was so scared of zombies that my start was completely slow. By when I funded a pantheon the only thing I found of use was the Fire Goddess. I figured out it will help having volcanoes as the only source of food in that endless desert.

Wonders
Build the Colossus once my valley flooded, just to have an extra trader, for more food means more desert populated. I was just so behind all the game that I did not even had the chance to try build any other wonder. The AI grabbed all.

For Natural Wonders, I believed there were no natural wonders in the map, for it took me to T207 to find the Eye of Sahara, and I only discovered all the others a short while later when my ally and good sharing view Poundmaker launched the Satellite on T225.

Barbarians and Zombies
I avoided them and they avoided me. They took my early heroes while I was trying to explore the map, but for the rest I killed very few of them.

As for zombies, I had played games with carpets of zombies putting capitals with 0 life at siege. I was scared, I avoided killing barbarians for this, I avoided zombies completely. And it actually worked. I think I saw like 3 or 4 reaching my territory and attacking a few units and they died one-shotted.

Corporations
Had Salt, Dyes, Jade and Silver industries. A Silver corporation (but it did not last long). The extra merchant points were useful to gain money and extra trade routes (more food).

The other AIs were very advanced and strong in culture, for once, I was not afraid to end with a culture victory.

Heroes
The only useful one I managed to get was Himiko, I called her 3 times. She helped me retain Mogadishu and a couple more city states, and gave me considerable faith.

Also claimed Arthur, Oya and Mulan, but aside from getting me heroic relics, I found not real use for them.

Dramatic Ages
Ages were going just so fast... I could not keep up in the beginning. Classical was Dark, and I had still no government with special card slots! I also lost control of my second city, which crippled me even more for a long time... but with some endurance and planning I managed to recover and had all Golden Ages afterwards.

Slotted the Monumentality card for the Medieval and Renaissance Era, then I started to use the one that gives production from campuses, and ended up with the Space and Sky to produce more quickly the Space projects.

Also, captured a couple cities other civs had lost to Dark Ages.

Doomsday
It was a real pain, specially the three solar flares that destroyed my research and spaceports. But overall I think this mode was one of the reasons the AI did not finish the Science victory before me. The asteroids took one of my biggest cities, the one with the Silver corporation, and a few districts from other cities, but overall the asteroids took more from the other civs.

The flooding was very bad, but when it happened I was very very very far away from Computers still... it just broke all my plans for placing Spaceports and had to go with lesser cities for them. Fortunately, my second city was away from the flood and I had 1 remaining spot for a Spaceport!



Final state
In the end, by use of Chokia mounds and nazca lines, I was able to make most of my cities pretty good (my early development relied almost completely on Commercial hubs for trade routes). This and extensive use of Spies, allowed me to close the gap in the last 50 turns, and then reused the spies to destroy rockets and industrial zones, until I managed to win.

Also, it was important many Campus projects and slotting Engineering point cards that gave me the Great engineer and Great scientist that boost Space Projects. Moksha, through faith build I think like 4 or 5 spaceports, and my first spaceport was hard built. It was all a close call but it worked in the end!

Extremely challenging game, I was close to give up many times, I really thought I had no chance and I could have done much better with a better understanding of the setting, but with some perseverance I won the Krampus in the end!!!

Spoiler Full log :

1 - Ancient Era; Arctica Aachen
11 - Pottery Builder!
16 - Code of Laws
19 - Mining
20 - Monument!
22 - Unmet city state
23 - Africa
25 - Animal Husbandry
26 - Foreign Trade
30 - Settler! Mogadishu
32 - Cahokia
33 - Amanitore
35 - Taruga
36 - Trader! Atlantis Arthur
37 - Unmet city state
38 - Sailing Magdeburg
40 - Slinger!
42 - Arthur! Builder
43 - Pantheon (Fire Goddess) Warrior
45 - Mu
46 - Writing Early Empire Buenos Aires Liang
50 - Arthur Heroic relic
51 - Classical Era (Dark Age) Magdeburg Rapa Nui
53 - Beowulf
54 - Settler!
55 - Mysticism
56 - Auckland
57 - Trier
61 - John Curtin
62 - Maui
63 - Zealandia Hercules
65 - Settler!
68 - Warrior!
69 - Hamburg Monument!
70 - Anshan Granary!
71 - Horseback Riding Theology
72 - Masonry
73 - Poundmaker
74 - Military Tradition Galley! Mogadishu♟ Himiko
76 - Irrigation
77 - Circumnavigation
78 - Builder!
79 - Archery
80 - Wheel
82 - Builder! Monument! Granary
83 - Bronze Working
84 - Archer
86 - Himiko! Joint war with John Curtin against Amanitore
88 - Water mill! Granary!
90 - Construction Anansi
91 - Medieval Era (Golden Age)
93 - Currency State Workforce Amani
94 - Pannotia Hunahpu & Xbalanque
95 - Political Philosophy Campus! Classical Republic🏛 Builder
96 - Campus! Sanguine Pact Seondeok Builder Pingala
97 - Iron Working Encampment! Mulan Heroic relic
98 - Library! Swordsman
99 - Celestial Navigation Military Training Monument! Oya
100 - Defensive Tactics Connoisseur (Pingala) Spearman!
101 - Hippolyta Government plaza! Grants (Pingala)
102 - Drama and Poetry Builder
103 - Games and Recreation
104 - Recorded History Sinbad Researcher (Pingala) Library! Builder Ancient walls! Granary
105 - Settler! Barbarian encampment (+30 gold)
106 - Campus!
107 - Catapult! Library! Archer
108 - Apprenticeship Swordsman
109 - Divine Right Library! Mansa Musa
110 - Cologne Granary
111 - Rapa Nui Audience chamber! Reyna
113 - Buttress Builder Armagh
114 - Shipbuilding Civil Service John Curtin (Military) Seondeok (Research) Poundmaker (Cultural) Valletta Nazca
115 - Theater square!
116 - Hansa! Water mill!
117 - Sun Wukong
118 - Education Harbor!
119 - Barracks!
120 - Commercial hub! Armagh♟ Hammurabi Met all civilizations
122 - Castles University! Hammurabi (Economic) Kalaharia
123 - Feudalism Builder Monarchy🏛
124 - Commercial hub! Market Monument!
125 - Military Tactics Lighthouse!
126 - Heroic relic
128 - Stirrups Hansa! Archer Archer Archer Builder
129 - Hansa! Hansa! University! Archer!
130 - Machinery Warrior! Soothsayer
131 - Renaissance Era (Golden Age)
132 - Crossbowman! Warrior!
133 - Naval Tradition Warrior
134 - Metal Casting Mercenaries Archer Warrior! Aqueduct! Crossbowman Pike and Shot
135 - Military Engineering Warrior Crossbowman Crossbowman Aqueduct!
137 - Bombard Pachacuti (Religious)
138 - Printing Valletta♟
139 - Workshop! Owls of Minerva Voidsingers
140 - Exploration Builder Man-at-arms Settler
141 - Campus!
142 - Guilds Intelligence agency (Spy)! Market! Amphitheater! Commercial hub! Owls of Minerva Moksha
144 - Trader! Heidelberg
145 - Cartography Comet (Knight) Granary Builder
146 - Trader! Crossbowman
147 - Trader! Writing
148 - Workshop! Armory! Pangea Ultima
149 - Medieval Faires Ritual (Owls) Monument
150 - Hansa! Aqueduct!
151 - Banking Trebuchet! University!
152 - Military engineer!
153 - Diplomatic Service Zhou Daguan Barbarian encampment (+30 gold)
154 - Astronomy
155 - Trebuchet!
156 - University! Military engineer! Hansa!
157 - Mercantilism Commercial hub! Builder Settler
158 - Theater square festival!
159 - Mass Production Frankfurt Granary Monument
160 - Beowulf Library!
162 - Siege Tactics Gilded vault! Spy!
164 - Comet (Knight)
165 - Gunpowder Reformed Church Oya Settler
166 - Niccolo Machiavelli Theater square festival! Writing
167 - Campus research grants! Campus!
168 - Market! Water mill
169 - Theater square festival!
170 - Ballistics Mimar Sinan Taruga♟ Taruga Auckland Valletta Trader! Campus research grants! University!
171 - Industrial Era (Golden Age) Astrology Gilded vault!
172 - The Enlightenment Workshop! Library! Liberated Rapa Nui♟
173 - Campus research grants! Sahara el Beyda Hermetic Order
174 - Industrialization Theater square festival!
175 - Workshop!
176 - Civil Service Builder Builder Builder Indoctrination (Owls) Holy site!
177 - Military Science Line infantry Line infantry Theater square festival! Shrine! Gilded vault! Crossbowman
178 - Economics Field cannon Field cannon
179 - Scorched Earth Temple! Comet (Cuirassier) Ulm Granary Monument
180 - Kamal Ud Idn Ancient walls Medieval walls Knight
181 - Humanism Landscape Hansa!
182 - Factory! University!
183 - Military academy!
184 - Replaceable Parts
185 - Stock exchange! Workshop
186 - Opera and Ballet John Spilsbury Art museum! Builder
187 - Rifling Coal power plant!
188 - Builder! Mulan Oya Heroic relic
189 - Builder! Builder! Builder! Campus research grants! Landscape Beowulf Heroic relic
190 - Himiko Commercial hub! Renaissance walls
191 - Nationalism Portrait Builder! Builder!
192 - Campus research grants! Market!
193 - Barbarian encampment (+30 gold) Campus research grants! Commercial hub! Settler
194 - Square Rigging Spy! Stock exchange!
195 - James Watt Santa Cruz
196 - Spy! Trader! Stock exchange! Workshop! Workshop Factory
197 - Scientific Theory Albert Einstein Market!
198 - Erfurt Granary Monument Ancient walls Medieval walls
199 - Holy site! Pachacuti (Economic) Basil (Religious) Market!
200 - Steam Power Factory! Shrine!
201 - Gilded vault! Spy! Cuirassier
202 - Spy! Trader! Temple! Builder Hansa!
203 - Ideology Shipyard!
205 - Refining Napata Granary Monument Ancient walls
206 - Buenos Aires
207 - Emergency war from Amanitore and Mansa Musa Hammurabi (Research) Privateer! Cuirassier! Gilded vault! Theater square! Gilded vault! Eye of the Sahara
210 - Cavalry! Factory! Soothsayer Soothsayer
211 - Modern Era (Golden Age) Capitalism Natural History Privateer! Amphitheater! Archaeological museum Settler
212 - Electricity Writing Campus research grants!
213 - Spy! Field cannon
214 - Water park! Ranger**! Berlin Granary Monument Writing
215 - Urbanization Medieval walls Renaissance walls Renaissance walls Bombard Bombard
216 - Chemistry Stock exchange! Line infantry**!
217 - Sanitation Mulan Heroic relic Theater square! Campus! Library University
218 - Nikola Tesla Oil power plant!
219 - Mobilization Laying of Hands (Moksha)
220 - Steel Line infantry
223 - Marie Katherine Goddard Sewer! Sewer! Wat
224 - Research lab! Archaeologist! Neighborhood! Sewer! Research lab! AT crew Nazca♟
225 - Colonialism Amphitheater! Builder Zhangye Danxia Paititi Delicate Arch Uluru
226 - Flight Sewer!
229 - Research lab! Art museum!
230 - Combined Arms Nuclear Program Hansa! Field cannon AT crew***! Research lab!
231 - Campus research grants! Hansa!
232 - Ferris wheel! Research lab!
234 - Nuclear Fission Class Struggle Neighborhood! Campus research grants! Communism🏛
235 - Campus research grants! Research lab! Campus! Workshop Builder
236 - Workshop
237 - Computers
238 - Mass Media Campus research grants! Harbor! Seaport! Stock exchange! Citadel of God (Moksha)
239 - Research lab! Stock exchange
240 - Lighthouse! Builder
241 - Builder! Library!
242 - Laser Campus research grants!
243 - Suffrage Aquarium! Builder!
244 - Food market! Nicomedia Granary Monument Soothsayer
245 - Campus research grants! Commercial hub investment!
246 - Water park! Soothsayer
247 - Plastics Campus! Library University Workshop
248 - Drone!
249 - Industrial zone logistics! Commercial hub investment!
250 - John Roebling
251 - Rocketry
252 - Bombard Bombard Government plaza! Builder
253 - Hansa! Sewer Workshop
254 - Professional Sports
255 - Aerodrome! Nuclear power plant! Campus research grants! Ferris wheel!
256 - Satellites Audience chamber! Drone!
257 - Synthetic Materials
258 - Conservation Ching Shih
260 - Robotics Food market!
261 - Colossus Flood barrier! Hansa! Field cannon Workshop Commercial hub! Commercial hub! University
262 - Research lab! Food market!
263 - Intelligence agency! Shipyard! Naturalist
264 - Stealth Technology Lighthouse! Cavalry AT Crew***
265 - Cold War
266 - Mathematics Builder! Neighborhood! Trader
267 - Naturalist Neighborhood!
268 - Advanced Flight Aquatics center! Builder! Theater square! Peace with Mansa Musa🕊
269 - Advanced Ballistics Rapid Deployment Builder! Research lab! Builder! Commercial hub!
270 - Carl Sagan Builder! Neighborhood!
271 - Composites Nanotechnology Radio Melitta Bentz Builder! Builder! Commercial hub! Market! Amphitheater Builder! Entertainment complex! Trier
272 - Builder! Spec Ops**! Diplomatic quarter! Market!
273 - Space Race Builder! Builder! Spaceport! Royal Society! Divine architect Spaceport Himiko Auckland
274 - Smart Materials Trader! Armagh
275 - Seaport! Food market! Consulate! Corporation (Silver)
276 - Trader!
277 - Cultural Heritage Machine gun***! Stock exchange!
278 - Gilded vault! Spaceport Builder! Theater square!
279 - Predictive Systems Sergei Korolev Preserve! Nicomedia
280 - Food market! Factory Oil power plant Shaat Barracks Builder
281 - Optimization Imperative Anshan♟ Builder! Launch Earth satellite! Launch Moon landing Grove! Amphitheater! Campus! Chancery! Broadcast center! Shipyard! Synthetic Technocracy🏛 Machine gun** Modern AT Builder
282 - Globalization Space Initiative (Pingala)
283 - Near Future Governance Market! Spaceport Campus Victor Builder
284 - Art museum! Builder! Research lab! Library!
285 - Offworld Mission Spy! Library! Settler Builder
286 - Environmentalism Rock band Campus! Builder!
287 - Ulm Library! Launch Mars colony! Arena!
288 - Launch Exoplanet expedition Factory! Seaport! Food market! University! El-Kurru Sewer Sewer Builder Anshan
289 - Builder!
290 - Future Tech Launch Lagrange laser station! Modern AT! Art museum! Sewer Builder Builder Builder
291 - Information Era (Golden Age) Distributed Sovereignty University! Gilded vault! Recommission nuclear reactor! Trader! Builder Builder
292 - Launch Lagrange laser station! Launch Lagrange laser station! Trader! Builder Builder
293 - Build Terrestrial laser station! Machine gun! Builder! Barbarian encampment (+30 gold)
294 - Launch Lagrange laser station! Spec Ops
295 - Future Tech Market! Spec Ops** Hansa Entertainment complex
296 - Spec Ops***! Spaceport Nuri Machu Pichu Builder Sewer Dortmund Monument Granary
297 - Social Media Launch Lagrange laser station! Launch Lagrange laser station! Builder! Builder! Master Plan (Owls)
298 - Builder! Research lab!
299 - Builder! Launch Lagrange laser station! Hansa!
299 - Science Victory

Spoiler Detailed build order :

1. Aachen (T1): Builder > Monument > Settler > Trader > Slinger > Arthur > Settler > Warrior > Granary > Galley > Builder > Builder > Water mill > Campus F Builder F Builder > Library > Spearman > Settler > Catapult > Theater square > Harbor > University > Lighthouse > Hansa € Archer > Archer > Crossbowman > Warrior > Warrior > Workshop > Amphitheater > Trader > Trader > Trader > Trebuchet > Trebuchet > Theater square festival > Spy > Theater square festival > Theater square festival > Trader > Theater square festival > Theater square festival > Theater square festival > Art museum > Builder > Builder > Spy > Spy > Shipyard > Privateer > Privateer > Water park > Sewer > Research lab > Ferris wheel > Seaport > Aquarium > Drone > Drone > Colossus > Aquatics center > Builder > Builder > Trader > Trader > Spy > Builder > Trader > Builder > Trader
2. Magdeburg (T38-51, 67): € Builder € Granary > Campus > Monument > Ancient walls > Library > Commercial hub > Hansa F Soothsayer > Aqueduct > Market > University > Beowulf > Gilded vault > Workshop > Factory > Coal power plant > Builder > Campus research grants > Stock exchange > Spy > Cuirassier > Spy > Theater square > Research lab > Amphitheater > Art museum > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Industrial zone logistics > Campus research grants > Repairs € Trader > Spaceport > Launch Earth satellite G Launch Moon landing > Launch Mars colony > Launch Exoplanet expedition > Launch Lagrange laser station € Builder € Builder > Launch Lagrange laser station € Builder > Launch Lagrange laser station > Launch Lagrange laser station > Launch Lagrange laser station > Launch Lagrange laser station
3. Trier (T57): Monument > Himiko > Campus > Government plaza F Builder > Library F Builder € Granary > Audience chamber F Builder > Water mill F Builder > Commercial hub € Market € Archer > Hansa > Warrior > Warrior F Builder > Intelligence agency > Workshop > Aqueduct > University € Builder > Gilded vault > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Campus research grants € Builder > Holy site > Shrine > Temple > Stock exchange > Builder > Builder > Builder > Spy > Factory > Trader > Cavalry > Campus research grants > Oil power plant > Sewer F Wat > Research lab > Neighborhood > Harbor > Lighthouse > Builder > Builder > Water park > Ferris wheel > Food market > Shipyard > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder F Himiko > Seaport > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder > Builder
4. Hamburg (T69): Monument > Granary > Encampment > Campus > Library > Hansa > Repairs > Barracks > University > Aqueduct > Commercial hub > Armory > Military engineer > Military engineer > Oya > Market F Water mill > Workshop > Gilded vault > Military academy > Campus research grants > Campus research grants > Stock exchange > Trader > Holy site > Shrine > Temple > Military engineer > Factory > Ranger** > Line infantry** > Research lab > Sewer > AT crew*** > Campus research grants > Harbor > Flood barrier > Lighthouse > Spec Ops** > Machine gun*** > Shipyard > Seaport > Modern AT > Spec Ops*** > Builder > Builder
5. Cologne (T101): € Granary > Monument € Archer € Settler > Campus > Hansa > Commercial hub > Library > University € Builder > Mulan > Market > Gilded vault > Theater square > Amphitheater € Archaeological museum > Archaeologist > Research lab > Stock exchange > Commercial hub investment > Nuclear power plant > Research lab > Neighborhood F Naturalist > Entertainment complex F Spaceport > Food market > Broadcast center > Arena > Recommission nuclear reactor > Build Terrestrial laser station
6. Heidelberg (T144): € Granary F Monument > Hansa F Settler € Settler > Campus > Library > University > Commercial hub > Workshop > Market > Gilded vault > Stock exchange > Neighborhood > Research lab > Aerodrome > Food market > Research lab > Builder > Builder > Stock exchange > Repairs F Spaceport € Builder > Research lab € Builder > Factory G Launch Exoplanet expedition € Builder € Builder > Launch Lagrange laser station € Builder > Launch Lagrange laser station > Build Terrestrial laser station
7. Frankfurt (T159): € Granary € Monument > Hansa € Workshop > Commercial hub > Market > Gilded vault € Settler > Campus € Library € University > Sewer > Research lab € Stock exchange > Commercial hub investment > Repairs > Neighborhood > Builder > Diplomatic quarter > Consulate > Chancery > Food market > Machine gun > Builder > Repairs
8. Ulm (T179-287): F Granary F Monument F Ancient walls F Medieval walls € Builder F Renaissance walls € Settler > Hansa > Campus € Workshop € Builder > Library > Commercial hub € University > Theater square > Market € Amphitheater > Gilded vault > Art museum > Broadcast center
9. Erfurt (T198): F Granary F Monument F Ancient walls F Medieval walls F Soothsayer F Renaissance walls > Hansa € Field cannon € Workshop € Builder € Builder € Bombard > Aerodrome > Commercial hub > Neighborhood > Market > Food market € Factory € Oil power plant > Campus > Library > Gilded vault F Hansa F Entertainment complex F Spaceport > Build Terrestrial laser station >> University
10. Napata (T205): F Granary F Monument F Ancient walls F Soothsayer F Medieval walls F Renaissance walls € Bombard > Hansa € Sewer € Workshop > Commercial hub > Campus € Builder > Library > University > Market > Repairs
11. Berlin (T214): F Granary F Monument > Hansa > Campus € Library € University € Workshop > Government plaza > Audience chamber > Intelligence agency > Royal Society > Theater square > Amphitheater F Rock band > Art museum F Sewer > Research lab > Builder
12. Nicomedia (T244): € Granary € Monument F Soothsayer F Soothsayer € Builder > Hansa € Field cannon € Workshop F Naturalist > Commercial hub > Preserve > Grove > Market F Spaceport F Campus > Library > University F Sewer € Builder € Builder > Build Terrestrial laser station > Build Terrestrial laser station
13. Shaat (T280): € Barracks € Builder > Repairs > Hansa > Workshop
14. El-Kurru (T288): F Sewer > Repairs
15. Nuri (T296): F Sewer > Repairs
16. Dortmund (T296): F Monument F Granary > Builder

 

[platypus10]

Science Win 217

I didnt fully follow the no reloads rule. I reloaded 3 times.
1) From T51 back to T49. I delayed ToA to conserve era score and finish on era roll over. The AI ****ed me on it, which was odd since they rarely build it. I just finished it in Ancient. I had forgot how little point there is to conserve era score in Dramatic Ages since I rarely play it. Had I remembered, I wouldnt have tried to delay.
2) I thought I settled in trade range of a another civ, but the trader went a different route even though I can counted 15 tiles, so I reloaded and settled on additional tile closer.
3) I realized I messed up 2 desert settles. I didnt mess them for any tactical purpose, but for the noble pursuit of yield porn. I was already far ahead of everyone, but wanted a beautiful terraformed desert and so I went back a few turns to relocate 2 cities, but did everything else basically the same.


Strategy
From prior zombies games, I know zombies barely matter if you make ranged units and dont settle with tight chokes. They will spawn dispersed and you can just kill them individually. This game was no different. From prior tech shuffle games, I knew to just boost as many things as possible to find out where the important techs were. I had trouble finding rocketry, which probably slowed me by around 2 turns.

At first I mainly planned on a desert Petra city, but then just thought I'd have to kill a few AI's. Then I found Nazca and Cahokia and my plan completely changed into TERRAFOM THE DESERT! I built a lot of units to protect key city states, but unfortunately the science city states both died fairly early and I wasn't able to save them from zombies/barbs. I made a culture aliance with Cree and Science with Korea. I forward settled both of them close enough to get a 3rd ring mountain tunnel. This let me have completely protected trade routes to both. Mali transgressed my plans for Alhambra, so I killed Mali at bombards and cuirassiers. Babylon transgressed my plans for colosseum and Potala, so my army just killed them next with bombards upgraded to artillery. Babylon fell very fast. It was lucky as well since I was only 3 turns from culture victory at the time I killed them and also around 3 turns from science victory.

Secret Society
I delayed SS a long time. I noticed the AI had voidsingers, so they must have had huts in their starting location. I waiting until getting voidsingers off the AI and took that for the massive stats off faith income from nazca lines.

Conclusion
This game is probably winnable in around 210 turns if played optimally. I didnt play optimally. My desert cities went CH>IZ>preserve>campus just for fun. Had I done Campus second, I could have shaved off some turns. Also I dumped a lot of gold and faith into building those cities for fun.That effort should ahve just gone into killing 1-2 AI sooner. It was a fun game and no starting strategics was a fun challenge.

Desert Transformation

 

[leif erikson]

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