6otM163 AAR

[Planktonic]

Sci Vic, turn 232

I've been trying out some new strategies to see how they play; in this game they didn't help much and actually were suboptimal I think.

I did use Owls of Minerva for the first time, seeing as there were going to be many trade routes, which was (as others have pointed out) a good fit.

But I opted for Religious Communities for the first time, thinking the additional trade routes might make this a better option. In the end I don't think it helped the tempo of the early game much and was pretty irrelevant by the mid to late game. I won't use that option again, I'm sure.

Also had so much culture from Kumasi that I was (very unusually) way ahead in the Civic tree compared to the Science tree. So I invested some effort to building Amundsen Scott for the first time. This was in the end a waste, I think, since I very shortly thereafter reached Globalization anyway, which was itself enough to give me the science I needed to finish the tech tree. I doubt that I'll bother with it ever again.

Thanks for the game!

 

[Gghippo]

I just registered because of the GOTM-challenges, I really like the concept. Haven’t thoughtfully reflected on games before… This is my first post, so be kind

Thanks for the challenge. Great map - I enjoyed this game a lot… Chosen City States and Natural Wonders worked well for the VC.

Turn 205 SV / Score 1925

What was your plan for achieving the VC?

• Ignore religion
• Try to maximise gold output
• Use this gold to develop cities
• For this plan to work it will require a lot of cities… RND / Campuses / IZ or CH
• Owls (will guarantee suz of all city states by mid game + extra policy slots are a bonus)
• This will also work well with Lizzie’s unique abilities +3 gpt for every specialty district
• Strategically try to maximise production through clever use of policy cards, where possible
  • 50% settler discount
  • 100% defensive buildings
  • 15% wonder production
• Prioritise Reyna Promotions (to buy districts and space ports later on)

What events, if any, changed the plan in execution and to what new plan? Any interesting decision points?

#1 – How the plan evolved…

Spoiler :

Once I found the Great Barrier Reef on another continent, I then decided it was a great location to try for a mega science / culture city.

Pingala (15% science & culture) + Kilwa (30% science & culture) + Turtles Corporation (30% science) + Geneva Suz (15% science when not a war) + Diplomatic Quarter + Mausoleum at Halicarnassus + SC (+4 adjacency) + TS (+7 adjacency) + happy city 20% to all yields.

I checked at one point and had 330 science points and 250 culture points just from this city!

I also had Casa de Contratacion on the original capital continent and Colonial Taxes slotted.

#2 – How it continued to evolve….

Spoiler :

On this same continent I managed to get a mega production city using Magnus.

I found Mexico City after Mali declared war on Bologna. Shortly after saving Bologna I moved forces to declare war on Ottomans so I could liberate Mexico City. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use navy because the city wasn’t accessible from sea. Doh! At around the same time I missed out on Alhambra by 4 turns to Teddy… So used the salvaged production to build Statue of Zeus and moved those units in to Liberate the city.

In the end I managed to have several nuclear power plants within range of Magnus + Ruhr Valley and got his city churning out a respectable 550 production

#3 – The Final Pivot….

Spoiler :

Missed out on Big Ben… By one turn to Teddy…. *shaking fist*

I only had 1 Aluminum mine… So power was going to be key for space race projects. Found Cardiff, so declared war on Japan to get Suz of Cardiff. Powered up all my RND buildings. It just happened I could build Biosphere in location of Big Ben… Cardiff + Biosphere + Offshore Windfarms almost got me a tourist victory in the end. I had no issues with space race projects because of this circumstantial opportunity, but had to sell all great works to avoid the tourist victory.

When did you have Dark/Golden ages?

Classical – Dark Age (had a barbarian problem… considered giving up…)

But did manage to set up / plan out a neat government plaza + 3 campus combo with each campus having +4sc

Medieval – Heroic Age

I think this was where I could have shaved some turns. I chose to prioritise settlers using Colonization Card 50% production bonus + Urban Planning +1 Prod, in hindsight… I should have been using naval infrastructure 100% adjacency bonus – as I did have Free Inquiry… That would have moved me through tech tree quicker and given me more gpt…

Renaissance – Golden Age

Industrial – Golden Age

What Wonders were built?

Prioritised the Great Lighthouse… Wanted to build a wonder to get the civic boost. Figured I wouldn’t have competition as no one had build RND+ Lighthouse at that stage (other Civ’s Great Admiral points were only +1 or 0). I thought the wonder bonus would be useful for moving settlers across water a little quicker… Plus I thought it may help later giving 2 campus pillages from Sea Dogs (Great Lighthouse, RND, Mathematics)… Found out during the game that land pillages from sea used all movement points.

Managed to nab:

• Great Bath – probably shouldn’t have wasted the production
• Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• Kilwa
• Forbidden City
• Potala Palace
• Casa de Contratacion
• Ruhr Valley
• Amundsen-Scott Research Station
• Biosphere

One’s I tried for but missed out on:

• Colosseum
• Alhambra
• Big Ben

Also built the following, but these weren’t critical for the victory condition

• Temple of Artemis (late game build – as it was still available)
• Bolshoi Theatre (use left over Great Engineer charges)

What were your initial 5-10 builds in the capital or other early cities?

I didn’t have a predetermined build order… never do… As it changes depending on what is nearby, what you discover, etc. But at the back of my mind, I was keen to get to Political Philosophy as quickly as possible to insert Diplomatic League Card and then explore the world. So kicked off with a monument.

• Monument
• Builder
• Slinger
• Slinger
• Slinger (yep… I had a barbarian problem)
• Settler
• Builder
• Settler

Early Technology Order?

• Animal Husbandry (to get Ivory Camps online) – it revealed horses
• Mining
• Sailing – boosted (keen to improve to get 2 fishing boats online to get boost for RND)
• Pottery
• I think I then hard built astrology… to get to Celestial Navigation

Early Civics Order?

• Code of Laws (then slotted in Discipline and God King – to acquire pantheon God of the Sea)
• Craftsmanship – boosted
• Foreign Trade had to hard build… Unfortunately realised after researching it, I could have used builders to explore as I had sailing…
• Early Empire

Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?

#1 – The first Great Admiral (Hanno the Navigator) didn’t trigger Lizzie’s unique ability… I ran a harbour project to active the additional trade routes early… Found out her unique ability is only triggered for Great Admiral’s from the “standard ruleset”. It wasn’t the end of the world because I was guaranteed the next one as my great admiral ppt was superior.

#2 - Kept getting spies syphoning gold from my capital. Probably lost 10,000 gold over course of the game. AI was clever… multiple spies running same operation concurrently. My counter spy would kill one and then on the same turn a second spy would steal a heap of gold. This happened a few times before I moved in an additional spy.

Thanks again for the game!

 

[leif erikson]

I just registered because of the GOTM-challenges, I really like the concept. Haven’t thoughtfully reflected on games before… This is my first post, so be kind

Welcome to CivFanatics and Game of the Month!

Thank you for sharing your game with us. Best of luck in future!

 

[Jovan Kukic]

Turn 214(1515.) science victory, score 2277.
I joined Hermetic order. My conquests were actually triggered by AI attacks on me or city states.

 

[GaidinX]

T302 SV – T203SV, apparently I mixed the number-order up.



I won science on the turn rollover when my culture would have become dominant – I hastily wiped America’s last 2 cities to make sure of it instead of taking the chance. Was at 23 light years per turn within only a few turns – two cities managed to get three after within 2 turns of starting and I had 6 cities with Spaceports.



Very fun game. Went slower as I was having too much fun building out and ended up in some wars to keep city-states alive for the Kilwa bonus or to slow down culture victory chances. I built Biosphere with the gold-buy engineer as I started space boost projects, and it accelerated me VERY quickly towards CV - oops.



Basic strat: Lots of cities on continents different from my capital, all with Royal Navy Dockyards, the colonization and harbor cards, Owls for double trading and city-state control, and strong industry for wonder building with/without engineers.



Religion – None, but pantheon was Lady of Reeds and Marshes as that gave my empire an early, much needed production and science boost even if God of the Sea would have been better long-term. Worked out for several cities to the NW on the long snake towards Japan above Auckland – that CS made up for the skipping the sea pantheon.



Governors – Pingala in cap, all the rest of foreign continents to get the boost from Casa wonder. Reyna was great for doubling a big Dockyard with the double-harbor card and her ability to double that – bought in a Space Port for that city after a culture bomb gave me a flat time near the endgame.



AI – Friendly and allied with all until Mali tried to kill Bologna – kept it circled with levied troops for 30 turns, didn’t notice expiration and had to quick war them to save it – took once city as punishment but late game they tried again. Pillaged all their stuff and only wiped to avoid culture victory last 10 turns.



Japan wouldn’t leave Cardiff alone so went to late war with them as the Ottomans sneakily wiped Mexico City in a couple turns right after I allied with them – Had to raze a Japanese city and settle a new one with the handy free settler they gave me to get a canal open to reach most of their cities as I was mostly a naval power at that point – luckily the city next door of theirs had an encampment and I bought a load of engineers to speed up the district helped by England’s boost for them. Teddy declared war for some reason at the same time and I just pillaged him until I needed to quickly wipe at end to avoid culture victory – one Giant Death Robot, 2 bombers, a fighter and a couple modern tank armies make short work.



Really great game – thanks again. Need to try for efficient games without all the extra wonders and focus projects earlier just to do something different. Love to sim too much though so I get distracted easily.

Spoiler Victory screen :

Spoiler City Yields :

 

[djangoxv]

Didn't get it until turn 339
I had to start over twice before I got a religion, and was trailing in science until the end, where the Japanese almost made it to exoplanet before me
I did have a fun war with Mali along the way

 

[MaddAddams]

Science Victory, turn 222. Just barely staving off an accidental Cultural win (silly monopolies).

- 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?
Go wide, get yields, build space parts. I expected the AI to struggle with expanding on this map type so I clung to the top of the tree to ensure naval superiority in the late early & mid game. I didn't want to war too much, but Mali was doing such a terrible job building their empire, I decided to do them a favor and put them under the British crown.
- What were your initial 5-10 builds in the capital or other early cities?
Nothing too exciting here other than I made sure to snap up the Oracle.
- Early order for technology/civics? What did you prioritize for technology/civics?
HIGH priority to the top of the tech tree this game. Created one awkward situation where this meant I didn't pick up Machinery with any haste. Whoops! Kilwa would have been killer if I had it for more of the game. China built it instead. More on this in relations with other civs.
- How did the leader bonus and civ unique ability impact your plan/play, if at all? How did the game modes affect or impact your play?
Moved the game mode question up with this because they went hand in hand. I went Owls of Minerva and used trade routes & envoys to suzerain every city state. With Kumasi & Chinguetti in the game, and Elizabeth's bonus trade routes and bonus to trade routes, this all snowballed to give me insane Gold, Culture, and Faith yields. With these secure, I was able to build Campuses everywhere and gold purchase their buildings. Owls also made it beneficial to build Commercial Hubs in my cities with Royal Navy Dockyards. Therefore, oodles of Great Merchant points (especially once Mali was eliminated as a competitor). I was able to found four Industries, with the most important being Turtles (For Science!) in Bristol and Tea (ALSO For Science!) in Plymouth.
- How many cities did you settle and/or capture? Where did you settle your first few cities?
Mainland for the first few cities, but quick to spread out to neighboring islands once I ran out of room. Captured 6 cities to my South from Mali in the early midgame. Captured 2 cities from China in the late midgame. Settled 23 total cities (although a few of these were with captured Settlers)
- What were key production/purchase focuses? Military units / Civilian units / Districts & city development / Wonders / Civ Unique Unit & Infrastructure? Most critical or interesting?
The Oracle gave me a lot of GPP. I had a sweet Mausoleum city north of Geneva that you can barely see in the first screenshot. Since I decided to get a little, but not a lot, warlike, I built Országház to keep my Diplo favor up. Probably the most effective I've ever seen it, took me from +1 or +2/turn to +15ish. Shah Jahan built me a Maricana and a Amundsen-Scott. Military was naval units, with some cavalry for support.
- Pantheon chosen and why? Religious beliefs chosen, and why?
I was late to a religion, but it seemed better to have one than not. I ended up with some meh beliefs, like the +2 to all your yields for a city with a wonder and Stupas for an Amenity. I treated having a religion as a by product of building Holy Sites so that I could hard purchase Great People I wanted. Once I unlocked them, Inquisitors were the only religious units I used.
- What governments did you select? What key policy cards did you use? Why?
I went Republic - Monarchy - Theology - Communism - Synthetic Technocracy. After Tier 1, that's more or less my standard Science progression. Most important policy card? +50% yields from Pillaging. Not close.
- Which Governors were most important; when and why?
I got the usual good early game out of Pingala, Amani and Magnus. Midgame I worked on upgrading Moksha. Most of my 8 Spaceports were faith-purchased.
- Was diplomacy/trading useful? How? Relations with other civs?
I made friends with Cleo to my North and Catherine to the West early and managed to retain these Alliances throughout the game. No one cared about Mali when I started my Frigate/Sea Dog timing push. Except after I took a few cities I had an emergency called on me, with the Ottomans and China joining in. I refused to peace them out, and once I was done with Mali, sent my units their way. The only thing that really interested me in their land (considering the additional Grievances it would entail), was China's Kilwa Kiswani (screenshot B) in Shanghai. They weren't doing so well in tech though. After destroying their units/walls I pillaged every single improvement, building and district that the Ottomans had before peacing them out. I got tons of yields from this. Then I enacted a similar plan on China, except I took Beijing and Shanghai. I was expecting to need to take more to stabilize Shanghai's loyalty, but it turned out I didn't need to. So I didn't. I peaced out China about when my Spaceports started going up.
- When did you have Dark/Golden ages?
Normal in Classical, Golden from then on out
- Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?
It didn't matter that much but Japan conquered Cardiff right as I was set to start building Laser Stations. I wanted the Power! I happened to have a navy hanging around from my exploits in China, so I started an emergency and liberated Cardiff in one turn. Also, seeing Jane Drew and John Roebling when you want Sergei Korolev is frustrating! I think I win this a few turns faster if that roll of the dice worked out.
- Did you enjoy your game?
Very much so! I felt this map gave me the ability to map out my Science Victory similar to how I usually map out steps towards a Culture Victory. This is my fastest Deity Science Victory by about 20 turns.

 

[leif erikson]

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[Severion]

CV 240 / Score 1945. Whups!! Long time civ player, but first GotM completed. I rushed a bit, which is probably why I was a bit slow. Also, I hadn't paid proper attention to the target victory condition or I'd have done Science. Ah well, it was a fairly entertaining peaceful game. My amenities were out of control. I think London was +12 at the end (with +449 culture / +$860 / +330 faith output). It was mostly a cash and faith-based game. I ended up settling both to the northwest (8 cities) and northeast (3 cities) in a massive splurge. Interesting notes included the spit of land north of Auckland where I settled cities on either side of an isthmus, which enabled me to have industrial zones in each bordered by the canal and aqueducts. I think I only had 8 national parks, but I had one city to the northeast of Mogadishu with four, a preserve, and St. Basil's. Those were both fairly satisfying. 19 cities at the end, 4 of which I absorbed (3 from Mali, 1 from France). My build order was usually harbor + holy site + industrial zone + theater district/commercial hub, focusing on popping up theater districts with faith + cash purchased buildings at the end in my colony cities.

FWIW - I tried some of the more recent diety games and had to exit after some boneheaded moves. So I'm just going back through previous posts to try some of the games you guys have compiled.

Spoiler Screenshot :