6otM188 AAR

[Eyswein]

Welcome to the 6otM188 After Actions Report (AAR) thread.

STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed and submitted your game.

In this thread you can post the results of your game. Please state your victory/loss turn/date (preferably in the post title) and describe your path to glory in this post! Please attach your victory save to your post. Players are encouraged to provide feedback on the game. Please use spoiler tags for any surprise details you'd like kept hidden. Thank you.

If this is a replay, please indicate 'REPLAY' at the top of your post. If you conduct regular restarts, please indicate 'RELOADS' at the top of your post. More posting helps us all get play better as we understand the methods of others, but want to clearly distinguish between a first run through without reloads and other submissions as it is much harder to recover in game from the mistakes we all make.

Some questions to consider answering.
- 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?
- Where did you settle your capital and first few cities?
- 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?
- 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/Golden ages?
- How did the map affect your gameplay?
- Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?
- Did you enjoy your game?

 

[lebedyan]

CV T236
The starting location is awesome. And one of first villages provided a relic I took pantheon "Lady of the reed and marshes" and then rushed for Etemenaki which provided juicy yields on marshes which are abundant on the map. Etemenaki was speeded up by chopping down three woods around capital. The first governor Amani, the second one Pingala in the capital. The second city was build to the north, where there are some desert floodplains and marshes. I almost did not build campuses as marshes provided enought science. Saladin built Great Library and Meenakshi Temple and got some works of writings, so I conquered two his main cities but have left Saladin in the game not to lose tourism recieved from him. After that it was routine. Building theater squares in all cities, also have founded two cities away from home continet in oder to establish trade routes to all civs. Overall I founded 14 cities and conquered 3: one from Rome and 2 from Arabia.

But choices were not optimal and the result could be improved at least 20-30 turns, maybe more. I was relatively late to meet civs on the other continent, have not built St Basil Cathedral to triple tourism output from relics and for many turns were at war with Rome which was culturually the most powerful civ - one emergency war and one protectorate war which was necessary to get missing era points for Golden Age. So for several dozen turns no bonuses from trade routes and open borders with Rome. Also in the capital city could be built more wonders with great works slots to maximize Pingala^s curator pormotion. I have built Hermitage, Broadway, Apadana. Other wonders with great works slots - Oxford, Bolshoi Theater, Great Library. I also missed Jacob Fugger who builds a bank with two great work slots. Lack of holy sites to produce enough faith to buy rock bands, overall had to wait because of that around 10 turns or so.

 

[Jovan Kukic]

Turn 200(1390.) culture victory, score 831. I played peacefully, except I counterattacked Romans after they attacked me, and took one of their cities and liberated Nazca.

 

[enKage]

CV t234 (was 256/254, but the game forced me one more turn so submission t235) with diplomatic victory coming in 5 turn. Basically I was shocked with so many catastrophic eruptions and floods and only 1 intervention, otherwise I would easily win earlier with 18/20 points waiting.

- 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?
No major plans early except for trying to set up theatres and campuses early for DV, delaying CH. I did not even changed delaying CH after realising by Great People generation that Mali is in game. I wanted temple of Artemis for Theatre inspiration and got it with ease before even 1st goverment. Meeting Arabia and Nubia = no rush for religion.
Early campuses gave me Hypatia
- Where did you settle your capital and first few cities?
SIP for cocoa in first ring. Second city went between cocoa and incense west for +3 campus and more plantations. 3rd nort east for another strong campus. 4th south for Entartainment complex and Colloseum, 5th SW for Gov Plaza, delayed so much

- What were your initial 5-10 builds in the capital or other early cities?
Capital and 2 cities went for Campuses to discount theatre in capital. No need for many units, barbs were not a nuisance this time
- Early order for technology/civics? What did you prioritize for technology/civics?
Unusually I made a detour for plantations. I took AH and archery very early for Temple of Artemis

- How did the leader bonus and civ unique ability impact your plan/play, if at all?
Sphinx are weak, I build one very latee to get medieval golden age, some more later to raise appeal for resorts rather than for sphinx tourism itself. I did not even had a chance to build Unique Unit.
OTOH early culture from resources on floodplains was useful, but appeal from floodplains was a center of my strategy of national parks on floodplains (I had 10 national parks in total, half of them on floodplains).
- How many cities did you settle and/or capture?
My core continent was 7 cities in range of colloseum and 2 more north. Later I also settled eastern island for luxuries. Rome was so unkind to capture Nazca, so I took Wolin's units and with a little help of Nubia we won intervention. Nazca lines were very useful for my faith generation, as I had basically no faith and holy sites till mid game.
I used this war to take highly defensive roman city in the south, utilising the fact all roman units were fighting near Nazca. Having only 2 available tiles to attack city walls was painfull though.

- What were key production/purchase focuses? Military units / Civilian units / Districts & city development / Wonders / Civ Unique Unit & Infrastructure? Most critical or interesting?
Most critical were ToA (2 camps and 6 plantations in range) and Colloseum for swimming in culture and ammenities and choosing to build Entartainment in 4th city not GovPlaza (I saw Rome competing for Colloseum)

- Pantheon chosen and why? Religious beliefs chosen, and why?
No religion, pantheon culture from plantation

- Was diplomacy/trading useful? How? Relations with other civs?
I was friendly / allied with anyone except Rome for the whole game

- When did you have Dark/Golden ages?
Forever golden

- How did the map affect your gameplay?
So many floodplaind made me settle 2 massive national park cities without caring of damage. Nice.
I was also a little angry about 1 tile bay, as there should be land for 8th ity benefiting from Colloseum.

- Any surprises/frustration/elations you ran into, how did you deal with it?
I was schocked AI built Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Not gamechanging, but strange.
- Did you enjoy your game?



Some screenies
Cities settled on home landmass - all in range of Colloseum except northern two

Spoiler :

AI settling unexpectedly defensive position (possible to siege attack only from 2 hills)

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Wonders/ theatres cluster and +8 industrial zone

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Core tourism area and Edfu national Parks with even 16 appeal tiles

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Northern parks area

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Great works

Spoiler :

 

[mad-bax]

CV T237.

I settled 2 SE of the start. Built 2 scouts then 2 settlers. Prioritised Holy sites until Feudalism then switched to Theatre squares as first build thereafter.
Because I took JE, I just chopped in the districts and prayed in the buildings. I had enough faith to do that and buy settlers and builders in monumentality.
My religion was Jesuit education, tithe and then Stupa and crusade - as I built a wonder that gave me apostles. I just wanted to try something else...
I went with a Pingala opening. It was difficult to beeline to currency because so many of the early techs were required either for amenities or era score. Getting golden ages was problematic. I missed one of them (second or third).

The sphinx and archer were not much use. I needed them for golden ages. I would have missed the first without Sphinx.

5 bad things happened.
1. a barbarian camp to the north east spawned a lot of units. They were a PITA
2. I missed Oracle by a turn. I got greedy and saved a chop. Poor choice.
3. Artist points were zeroed out at the second congress. I almost chucked it in here, but then carried on with diplo as a backup
4. I was at war with Trajan, Suleiman or Armanitore for most of the game.
5. I missed colosseum

It was a good game though. I feel like I'm learning quite quickly.

 

[Xtowers]

Turn 319 CV, Score 2925

I wanted to go big and wide in this game, and big and wide did I go. I took river goddess as my pantheon, and I built preserves all along the floodplains near the start to get some massive yields. I didn't get a religion, but I did spread Catholicism, which had the Feed the World belief. I engaged in a few conflicts here and there to take some territory, but didn't go crazy and let grievances get out of hand. I held onto 5 alliances for nearly the entire game. Getting this late in the game, I was surprised that I wasn't having to deal with anyone nearing a space victory; only Rome managed to launch the exoplanet expedition, and I was fully prepared to go to war over it. Thankfully, I bought out all the great works from the other civs and started maximizing tourism improvements enough to allow me to finally get the culture victory. It was a long game, but a satisfying victory.