A Noble Walkthrough

[pigswill]

Thought I'd do a quick tour of my cities. Going to be stuck with them for a while so its worth thinking about how to specialise them.

Amsterdam

Spoiler :

Without building a single farm its got 42 food, space for 14 cottages (12 riverside for added commerce) and some production as well. In the medium term I can just keep adding cottages as the caps increase. Happiness can be increased in the short term by warriors and Hereditary Rule and I've got a wine tile to be improved. Health is more problematic, got some clams, building a granary would give +2 health, maybe an aqueduct for another 2 health. Mustn't forget a library. Looking to use the first GS to build an academy here. Definitely want Civil Service to run bureaucracy.
The short term problem is that its my only fully developed city and I need more military before getting into some proper building.

Utrecht

Spoiler :

With a lighthouse it would just about have enough food as it is. Desert and sea-tiles stop it from becoming a major city but it should be ok as a commerce city with a few more cottages. Oasis makes it waterside so health is not a huge factor. Its also the Confucian holy city so a shrine might be nice but it would be a struggle to build the cash multipliers (market, grocer, bank) to exploit the shrine fully (I also need a Great Prophet) so I might keep the plains forests.

The Hague

Spoiler :

Despite the gems its going to have to be one of my production (unit pump) cities. Its got a couple more plains hills waiting to be mined but the main problem is food and it won't actually grow much further without irrigation (and Nap's got the riverside tiles). In the short term it'll knock out a worker (or two) so Amsterdam can grow while building units.

 

[pigswill]

And the new kids on the block:

Rotterdam

Spoiler :

Another potential commerce city, also lacking in production. Building the library is somewhat premature, better to go with barracks and units first.

Nijmegen

Spoiler :

Short of food so won't be working the hills for quite a while. Tempting to build a lighthouse but there are towns hiding underneath the jungle canopy. Yet another commerce site.

Maastricht

Spoiler :

Hard to decide what to do with this city. In the short term its going to be a small production city. Long term its a possible contender for a GP Farm, maybe keep the forests and go for forest preserves with National Park. Grassland iron is self sufficient in terms of food, cows and clams give enough spare food for three specialists (I think). There's not much alternative at the moment.

Middelberg

Spoiler :

First impression is 'mediocre'. Trust first impressions (in this instance at least). I grabbed the site mainly for the wine (and deprive the AIs of copper). Cows will allow me to work copper and couple more tiles. A hybrid and a bit of a runt. Still, it will pay its own way and keeps it out of the hands of the enemy (that's everyone else on this map).

 

[pigswill]

A pretty uninspriing collection but I'm the biggest civilisation at the moment. Bod and GK have some territory to expand in the south east of the continent. I've got a couple of warriors down there to look around.

Meanwhile its workers and units required. No chopping until mathematics. Its worth waiting 7 turns for +50% hammers per chop (I hope).

Judaism is awaiting its apotheosis. Napoleon remains agnostic. Monte has his hands full. My 'army' consists of two axes to the west and a spear and axe to the east. Interesting times.

 

[pigswill]

Played six turns up to 300bc.

(450. Change build in Rotterdam from library to barax).

425. Hague hits pop 4, now working rice, gems, iron and ivory. Barracks finishes next turn, may as well finish it because it adds to my nominal army strength and doesn't cost maintenance.

400. Hague barracks>worker.

375. Nothing happens!

350. Middelberg worker finishes cow pasture, moves to copper, want to get tiles improved asap. I sent a worker from Maastricht towards Middelberg to start a road connecting it to the Hague.
Amsterdam finishes chariot, starts archer to relieve axeman from garrison duties. Amsterdam grows to pop7, works an extra plains hill. Its at its health cap but growing more slowly.
Utrecht has grown to pop5 and starts working a cottage instead of copper to speed its growth to pop6.
Nijmegen whips granary (1pop).

325. Nijmegen granary>barracks (8 turns to build, 8 turns to grow).
Rotterdam whips a barracks (1pop).
Napoleon adopts Hinduism!

300.Confucianism spreads to Rotterdam.
Amsterdam archer>axe.
Maastricht's cows have been pasturised, workboat finishes next turn for clams so it'll have some food to regrow after whipping.
Judaism is founded in a distant land (either Bod or Monte coz they're the only AIs with polytheism (pre-req for monotheism)).
Mathematics>Construction (9 turns).

Checking out tech trade table Alex has discovered construction already! No-one's got any techs for trade.

Army has grown to 116k 'soldiers' (second largest, largest is 130k). Construction will allowme to build catapults and it speeds troop movement by ignoring rivers.

The real economy: 43 beakers/turn, +1 gold/turn.

A steady round. Plans to convert Napoleon to Confu have just got harder (would probably have to convert his cities by missionary and maybe even bribe him to swop faiths). We've now got a Hindu bloc of Bod, Alex and Nap, a Confu bloc of GK and Rags and a Buddhist bloc of Monte and Shaka. William remains uncommitted.
Monte still has his hands full but hasn't declared on anyone ( I suspect it'll be me or Rags, probably me). No-one else is preparing for war (though some AIs can apparently adopt a 'dagger strategy' where they declare suddenly without going through 'we have enough on our hands right now' first (I could be wrong on this, I'm not really much of an expert)).

 

[Infantry#14]

sorry for being a jerk, but shouldn't this thread be in the strategy forum? (I'll be quiet)

 

[pigswill]

You're not being a jerk and its a fair question. The walkthrough is a genre in search of a home. Most walkthroughs are posted in strategy and tips but they don't belong there as such imho.

I posted this in Beyond the Sword because it seemed to me that there are more noble level posters active in this sub-forum.

If there are any strong views I'll pm a moderator and ask them to move the thread.

 

[RRRaskolnikov]

Cool walkthrough Pigswill! Keep the good work! Walkthroughs are more usefull at this level imo to give pointers to new civers, it's nice that a good player like you takes the time to do this. You will probably have fun in the near future surrounding by Raggy, crazy Monty, Genghis, and Nappy...

 

[pigswill]

Another day, another segment played.

275. Monte adopts OR, probably a clue as to who discovered monotheism there.
Hague worker>worker. New worker heads towards Middelberg.
Maastricht WB>granary. Workboat becomes clamboat providing health to the empire (good job there's no salmonella random event ("bad clams, lose 2 pop in Amsterdam")).

250 zz. workers working away quietly.

225.Amsterdam spear>axe (or maybe axe>spear?).
Utrecht grows to pop 6 and starts working copper to speed up the monastery.

200. Workers working quietly away in a vinyard.

175. The first vintage.

150. A road is completed to export wine to the empire, happiness ensues.
Judaism spreads to Maastricht. Monte builds Temple of Artemis in Tenochtitlan.
The Hague completes a worker (which heads towards Amsterdam) and starts an axe.

125. What's this? Herbs? Do we eat them or smoke them?

Lots of temporary misery but no deaths and a permanent increase in health. Good stuff, these herbs.
Amsterdam celebrates by building another axe-person.
Nijmegen is more highbrow and start a library after finishing granary.

100. Ragnar drops by with a simple request (well, more of a demand):

Our people will give up their beliefs and convert to Confucianism immediately. Anarchy breaks out.
Meanwhile Middelberg grows to pop3.
Construction is discovered: its cool for cats. Maybe civil service next?
Our not-friend Genghis Khan now has enough on his hands (Monte still has his hands full!).

75. Anarchy subsides. To show there's no hard feelings we introduce Ragnar to the delights of monarchy:

And just like that he likes us:

Which puts him in a minority of one.

Slight growth in the real economy: 50bpt, +1gpt.
Army grows to 140k soldiers but falls into fourth place (biggest army is 163k)

 

[TheMeInTeam]

This has as much merit here as anywhere else.

For those who seldom read the strategy & tips forum ----> there are tons of games like this. Probably 10 or so on a weekly basis in one of the ongoing series or random games. If you find this informative, check those out as well.

 

[pigswill]

I've been caught up with other stuff (work,wife, Christmas, SGs) so haven't got much further. Been thinking about research. Here's the situation at the moment:

And some potential trades (none at the moment, hopefully later):

Techs are beginning to get more expensive.

HBR and Poly may become available later. Polytheism gives Organised Religion (OR) [Edit: several days later notice that polytheism is prereq for monotheism which gives OR ] which would help with building buildings but I'm looking mainly at units in the near future. HBR opens up both HAs and elephants which is kind of tempting.

In terms of improving economy currency and civil service (for bureaucracy) are useful.

If I want to wonder-spam then aesthetics and literature would be best.

Calendar, Compass and Metal-casting are all nice but not major priorities even though they do open up a couple of reasonable wonders.

Espionage has not been a factor up to now. I've only got the Palace producing 4 espionage points (eps), courthouses would get me +2ep each but they're not a priority build until city maintenance becomes a major issue.

I reckon currency will be the quickest way to boost my economy (7 cities each getting a free trade route will generate at least 14 commerce/turn which ain't bad. If HBR isn't available in trade then maybe that'll be my next target. As much as I'd like to build some wonders (Statue of Zeus and Great Library spring to mind) survival comes first.

 

[pigswill]

Played a few more turns.

Something I missed from the last report: Napoleon got a Great Spy in 150bc (from Great Wall) and promptly used him for a Golden Age .
The main advantage of the player over the AI is that the AI think short term rather than long term. Sometimes the major advantage the AI have over the player is that the player thinks long term and neglects the short term (building courthouses and wonders while AIs build armies and dogpile being a classic example).

75bc. Switch research to currency (8 turns).
Move units to form a single stack.

50bc.Ragnar adopts HR: progress on the diplomatic front, +1 for 'wisely chosen civics'.
The Hague has got a plains hill mine, will grow in 4 turns, work the mine and stagnate at 5 pop producing 15 hammers/turn. Hague axe>cat.
Amsterdam axe>cat. Adjust tiles for growth in 6 turns.
Rotterdam library>axe.

25bc zzz

1ad Utrecht gets its GS, sacks the scientists and works plains foreststo increase production. GS heads towards Amsterdam.
Maastricht granary>rax (to be whipped next turn).

25ad. GS arrives in Amsterdam, builds an academy for +8 beakers/turn (which will increase over time).
Utrecht confucian monastery> confucian missionary (conmiss). At happy cap so adjust tiles for no growth.
Maastricht double-whips barax, grows next turn, 25 hammers overflow.

50ad. Monte builds Great Lighthouse in Tenochtitlan. He's having a break from warmongering and getting into wonder-hogging.
Middelburg barax>cat.
Maastricht rax>cat. Grow in 3 turns, cat in 3 turns.
The Hague cat>courthouse (CH). City maintenance above 5, but still not sure this is the right time.

75ad. Napoleon's Golden Age has ended (he learned calendar).
Amsterdam cat>library (4turns).
Rotterdam reaches happy cap and stagnates. Axe>CH (14T, will be whipped before then).

100ad. Utrecht conmiss>conmiss. Conmiss heads for Amsterdam.
Economy -6gpt at 50% research, swop to +3gpt at 40% research.

125ad. Currency is in. +1gpt at 50% research (67bpt).
Amsterdam is converted to Confucianism.
Nijmegen library>monument.
Middelberg cat>monument.
Maastricht cat>monument.
Start researching HbR. Probably swop to Aesthetics after that. If I remember correctly Statue of Zeus (SoZ) needs 3 monuments.

Ragnar now has enough on his hands. He's pleased with us (+6) but that doesn't make us safe yet. GK and Monte still have enough on their hands. War is imminent, but who is the target?

Got a small army:

Not trailing too badly in power:

The economy is holding up:

Our cities are ignoring military at the moment .

Amsterdam is growing slowly:

Once the library has finished I'll probably start on a Confucian Temple to run a priest to hurry up a Great Prophet. Having committed to a religion I should work on spreading it actively and a Shrine will rake in a bit of cash.

 

[pigswill]

Few more turns have been played:

125ad. Adjust tiles in Maastricht and Middelberg to build monuments in 4 turns to coinicide with discovery of HbR.

150ad. GK proposes a deal. Is this the beginning of a thaw? I accept.

'Nasty little civilisation'?

175. Amsterdam pop 9, completes library, starts Confucian temp, max hammers to build it in 5 turns.
The Hague's borders have grown (a few turns ago), can now get some riverside farms!
Utrecht hits its happy cap and stagnates growth.

200. HbR>Aesthetics (oops, messed up, haven't built the monuments yet!).
Hinduism spreads to Middleberg.
Utrecht conmiss>conmiss. Send conmiss to Viking lands (3turns).

225. GK and Bodicea have fallen out over a wedding! Every little helps.
Maastricht monument>galley
Middelberg monument>ele(phant).
Rotterdam whip CH (2pop).

250. The Hague CH>ele.
Rotterdam CH>HA (horse archer).

275.
Oh dear. Someone's got fed up playing with their toys!

Never get those screenshots right. Montre's stack consist of a jag and 3 axes, couple of loose spearmen nearby. Our stack heads north to counter it.

Ragnar still has enough on his hands right now.
Utrecht conmiss>cat. Conmiss heads to Viking lands.
Nijmegen monument>CH.

300ad.
I mentioned a thaw in our relationship with GK. The trouble with a thaw is that sometimes it can trigger an avalanche!

Another messed up screenshot: GK's got a sword and 4 axes on top of the copper. Its a shame that Utrecht's defended by a single warrior. (Edit: wrong! GK actually has 2 swords, 2 axes and a spear)

Only one sword and no stack. Middelberg is well defended, its got a single archer!

The good news is that Amsterdam's built its temple and allocated a priest specialist to speed up the Great Prophet (let's hope I still have a holy city!). Other good news is our missionary has converted one of Ragnar's cities.

To be continued...

 

[pigswill]

Still 300ad. At war with Monte and GK, Ragnar is pleased (+8) but not friendly and has enough on his hands. Life would get very interesting very quickly if he's after us. Try a cheap trick: beg 10 gold from Ragnar which he can 'spare for a good friend'. The 10 gold isn't important. What's important is this:

I split up the stack: 4 axes,2 cats and spear head towards Rotterdam; 3 axes, 2 cats, spear and chariot head towards Utrecht. Utrecht spends 80 gold upgrading its warrior to an axe and double whips a catapult.
Still not looking good.

 

[pigswill]

325ad. Aestheics>polytheism (1 turn) to open up literature.
Ragnar declares on Shaka! (phew).
Maastricht galley(clam protector) > cat.
Middelberg ele>axe. City's fairly safe. Ele v hilltop sword 62%, don't risk it.

Utrecht completes its cat, 32 hammer overflow will complete archer between turns (in time to help Utrecht's defence). GKs stack now adjacent to Utrecht. Cat (barrage1) suicides against the stack at 30% and dies for little damage inflicted.The reinforcements won't get to Utrecht in time but will be in a position to wipe out GKs stack or retake the city.

Stack arrives in Rotterdam. Monte's stack of jag+3axes hiding in the woods, decide not to attack and hope they move into the open.

350ad.
Polytheism>Lit (4turns).
Utrecht's archer duly appears but RNG isn't smiling. Lose axe, archer and Utrecht, GK loses axe and sword. Stack counter attacks: chariot kills loose axe (97%), CR cat weakens sword (97%), CR cat weakens spear (98%), CR axe kills sword (99%), CR axe kills spear (99%). Recapture Utrecht. All its buildings have been destroyed, population has fallen to 5. Utrecht starts to build Statue of Zeus (22 turns, will aim to speed it up with ivory-powered chops).
Stalemate at Middelberg.
Monte suicide attack against Rotterdam. I lose an axe, he loses 2 axes and a jag, counter attack kills remaining axe. Block next force of jag and 2 spears.

Missionary in Viking lands spot axe/jag near Nidaros heading towards Nijmegen. The Hague completes ele and starts another (4turns). Ele head west to defend Nijmegen.

Meanwhile both Alex and Monte have discovered metal-casting.

No peace deals on offer.

No-one else has enough on their hands at the moment.

The economy is improving slowly (77bpt, +9gpt).

 

[pigswill]

And the war goes on..... (get used to that line, you'll be seeing plenty of it I'm afraid)

375ad. Jag and spear suicide against axes near Rotterdam.
Amsterdam axe>cat.
Espionage hasn't really rated a mention. I decided to invest my pitiful ep collection on a couple of AIs rather than get nowhere with all of them:

Having focussed on Monte and Bod up to now I'm switching to Ragnar. I'm hoping to get him up to friendly and trading techs freely so it would be helpful to know what he's researching.

400. Move some units towards Beshbalik.
Monte has some units posturing near Rotterdeam.

425. Lit>Civil Service(10 turns).
Start bombarding Beshbalik.
GK sends an archer/settler combo straight towards Beshbalik. Axe attacks at 88% and dies, chariot mops up and retreats leaving the worker-that-used-to-be-a-settler unprotected.
Maastricht cat>HA.
Rotterdam HA>Glib (start choppin').
Middelberg axe>lib (getting squashed by Celtic culture!).

450.The Hague ele>ele.
Lose the worker near Beshbalik (shrug).
Finish bombarding Beshbalik.

475.Battle of Beshbalik:

Splat defenders with cats (one dies in the process). Get a Great general in Rotterdam. He starts heading towards The Hague to become a military instructor there. Polish off defenders with melee (lose an axe at 99%!).

Boudica has enough on her hands.

500ad. Amsterdam cat>granary.
Maastricht HA>axe.

GK and William have had units pratting around between Turfan and Middelberg doing very little and achieving less.

Despite these shennanigans the economy continue to improve (86bpt, +6gpt).
Amsterdam gets Great Prophet in 12 turns.
The Statue of Zeus in Utrecht completes in 6 turns (no chops left).
The Great Library in Rotterdam completes in 11 turns (2 chops to go).
We're doing ok on tech:

We're doing ok in general:

In an ideal world Monte would accept peace leaving me free to annihilate GK and Bod would pick on someone else. Dream on .

 

[pigswill]

...because dreams can come true .

520ad. Lose a stray cat to a sword (stray cats are an endangered species in civ). Axe kills the sword.
Middelberg completes library, starts another axe.

540ad. Great General (GG) arrives in The Hague and becomes a Military Instructor ( giving lvl3/5xp units). Still need a lvl4 (10xp) unit so I can build Heroic Epic to turn it into a proper military city.

560. Skirmishes at Middelberg. Lose axe and ele, kill a sword. Not good.

580. Monte builds Colossus in Tenochtitlan.

With the aid of some chops ( each 60 hammers with marble and maths) we complete Great Library in Rotterdam. Rotterdam starts archer.

600. Shaka chances his luck:

What, mess up our carefully nurtured (but not yet consummated) diplomacy? I don't think so, pal.
GK suicides a sword at Middelberg, that's more like it!
GK axe kills cat (not stray, best defender on grassland). Chariot kills axe.
Bodicea declares...
On GK.

 

[pigswill]

620ad. Amsterdam granary>confu monastery (lost one at Utrecht).
The Hague cat>cat.
Maastricht cat>cat.
Middelberg archer>cat
(I like cats)
Utrecht completes it wonder and starts a granary:

Skirmish at Rotterdam.
Ele attacks Aztec axe and dies.
Axe attacks aztec jag and kills it dead.
Axe kills wounded aztec axe.
Monte is willing to talk peace:

But I look at the city screen:

Tenochtitlan is its Aztec name. The dutch (and french and norse and gallic) translation is actually 'TARGET'.
Greed strikes. Peace? What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!

I've also discovered Civil Service and do a quick revolution:

The stack outside Karakoram has been reduced to 2 cats, the city's got a wall, its going to take time to break it down.
Anarchy breaks out.

640ad. Anarchy subsides.
Start to reseach metal-casting (3 turns). Time to learn some military techs to avoid obselete units, machinery will be next.
HA kills an aztec chariot near Rotterdam.
Bureaucracy brings a rare outbreak of common sense. Let's finish one war before starting another. Monte is also becoming more 'reasonable':

So peace it is.

The economy has got a significant boost. Research up to 60%. 153 bpt, 0gpt is heading in the right direction. Prophet finishes in 6 turns for the Shrine.

 

[smackthewise]

Can you post the save file, I think i'll raze Tenochtitlan

 

[RRRaskolnikov]

Tenochtitlan is its Aztec name. The dutch (and french and norse and gallic) translation is actually 'TARGET'.

you always write something funny! Keep the good work!

 

[pigswill]

@smackthewise: Here's the 500ad save. Have fun...

Spoiler :

and watch out for the crossbows!