Grotius
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2002
- Messages
- 409
I have been playing on Prince difficulty level with Random settings, so I let the game choose my Civ for me. It chose about the last one I might have considered: Songhia. But this is why I pick Random -- to induce me to try civs I might not otherwise have chosen. I'm a builder, but Songhia gets a couple military-oriented bonuses. Still, the Mud Pyramid Mosque is nice for us builders -- 5 culture/turn for zero gold upkeep.
Here is where Askia, the great West African leader, found himself at game start. I'm still learning Civ 5, but that sure looks like a nice spot -- two silver to make money and happiness, plus dyes for more happiness, and access to the coast. No rivers in sight, and plains might be better than grassland for hammers, but on the whole it looks pretty good.
I founded my capital on the spot, and the warrior went out exploring. I had no idea about the size or shape of the world -- I'd chosen Random world size and type. I ran into Siam first to the south. Later I would find Germany and Persia to the west.
On or around turn 22, Siam and Persia jointly declared war on me, and Germany turned hostile. I was starting to think this was a small map, with 3 militarists (Germany, Persia, Songhia) crammed together. Fun! Anyway, I fought off the attack, barely. By 680 AD, my continent looked something like this. (This is the nifty strategic view, with the "political" filter on.) I loved the placement of Vienna -- a neutral city-state, surrounded by Alps, right smack in the middle of the continent. Military and political struggles over Vienna flared throughout the game. Persia and I vied for her diplomatic affections, and Persia also tried to beat her into submission militarily several times, while I covertly and overtly provided aid to the Viennese freedom fighters.
This time I decided not to wait for Siam to attack again. I made a Pact of Secrecy against Siam with Persia. A while later, Persia came to me and asked me to declare war on Siam. I asked for 10 turns to get ready. (Cool new feature!) After the ten turns were up, Persia and I jointly declared war, and we made slow but steady progress toward the Siamese capital. As our liberation forces neared, the Siamese leader had this to say.
I didn't want to talk about anything, actually -- I just wanted to see my former tormentor grovel, mwua. My forces took his capital and annexed it, paying a happiness cost. I razed his other cities and eventually founded my own in their stead. I had earlier annexed Hamburg after a brief war with Germany, also conducted in alliance with Persia. Germany stayed in the game but was never a factor hereafter. Anyway, this meant I had two annexed cities; next time I'll try going with at least one puppet, although it sounds like there's now some sort of puppet bug, so maybe not.
Persia and I spent several centuries consolidating our gains, building infrastructure, etc. Persia edged ahead of me in tech and, apparently, gold, for she was soon fielding a bigger army. Here Persian forces can be seen massing on my borders. Note the green troops to the northwest -- those are Viennese troops. Vienna kept a troop faithfully stationed on a crucial mountain pass for the entire game, blocking Persian access to my southwestern border.
War did flare up, but it was inconclusive. We made a grudging peace. Here's the continent at 1575 A.D. I had deliberately refrained from building new cities because I was still thinking about a culture win, and I wanted to keep my city count low. If I had to do it again, I'd have expanded faster.
Eventually both Persia and I did found new cities. By the 1800s, we'd also started exploring the New World, which appeared to be dominated by a country called Rome. I didn't find the New World earlier because I was slow to research Astronomy, because I'd still been focusing on culture-related tech.
Sorry for the fuzzy screenshots; they're compressed quite a bit. I'm embedding a larger-resolution version of a few, like this one, just for grins. In this shot, we see that Seoul (an ally of my nemesis Persia) far outstrips me in military tech as of 1840. They've got Infantry; I've got Longswordsmen!
By this point I was starting to doubt that I could get a culture win, or any win at all. I was behind on tech and military, and I wasn't making anywhere near enough culture per turn, even though I'd started allying every city-state I could get my hands on, including cultural city-states. Persia kept a constant tech lead. Heading into the 20th century I was behind Rome on tech too, but I started light-bulbing and popping Golden Ages with my dozen-or-so stored up Great People. (Each of whom costs maintenance, I read later -- is this true?)
Persia also maintained a slight lead in Wonders. But I did get the culture Wonders I wanted -- everything from Stonehenge to Cristo Redentor.
I'm also doubtful about some of the social-policy choices I made. Not sure Commerce was a good idea, as I wasn't really a maritime nation. And while Rationalism was nice, it meant foregoing the two free policies from the Piety tree. By the 20th century, I was still making far too little culture to have a chance. Moreover, Persia built the Apollo Program and started constructing a spaceship. Sorry about the over-cropped screenshot.
But I started to realize that I had a shot at a diplomatic win -- if I got off my duff and met the rest of the City-States in the New World. I was running good gold surpluses, especially during my frequent Golden Ages. By the late 20th century, I was almost constantly in a Golden Age, thanks to all the Great People I had stored up -- and I happened to get a "natural" golden age around 2000, too. Here's the strategic map in the 21st century -- click for higher resolution. Erm, yes, Rome had conquered almost all of the New World by now, but it was still waging war on the remaining city-states there.
Meanwhile, Persia and I had a Cold War from 1800 to 2018. Our military units stared at each other over the border. The only thing is, he had Helicopter Gunships and Arty and stuff, while I had riflemen, cannons, and a smattering of Infantry and Mech Infantry.
Even outside of Golden Ages, I was making OK money. Yes, I know I'm a newb for building Wealth at such a terrible ratio, but the only alternative is to build units and disband them for cash, which seems cheesy to me.
Anyway, I built the United Nations, and I started funneling huge sums of money toward City-States -- 500 gold every couple of turns, in some cases. Persia (who by now had built several spaceship parts) saw what I was up to and fought back! We battled for diplomatic control over Vienna and, especially, Seoul, his longstanding ally. At one point I had 160 influence with Seoul and still was only a "friend," heh. The UN voted in 1998, and again in 2008, and both times I came up one or two votes short. I was worried Persia would launch before the next vote, in 2018.
But Persia didn't launch by 2018, and by then I'd finally wrested control of Seoul from Persia's greedy little hands. Amazingly, he didn't declare war on me, or nuke me, even though I suspect he had nukes.
I win! My first Civ 5 victory!
My demographics at end of game. I won, but I didn't lead in any single demographic category!
The entry in my Hall of Fame. I have no idea whether that's a good score.
My tech status. I wasn't all that close to the end of the tree.
All in all, it was an exciting game. I didn't sufficiently emphasize how big a role Vienna played in the proceedings. She was the fulcrum of several wars, holding out against several furious Persian assaults, and helping me guard my own border with units superior to mine. I really like having a reliable ally in a civ game; that's a new thing.
I was pretty sure I was going to lose once I realized my culture engine wasn't going fast enough. I sorta stumbled upon the diplomatic option as a last resort.
I am still surprised that Rome and Persia didn't declare war on me, but I kinda like a civ game where the AIs don't automatically gang up on you as you're about to win. I had cultivated a Pact of Secrecy with Rome against Persia, and maybe that affected things.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to firing up another game tonight! I might play as Arabia on Prince, as that's the "gauntlet" challenge here at CivFanatics.
Here is where Askia, the great West African leader, found himself at game start. I'm still learning Civ 5, but that sure looks like a nice spot -- two silver to make money and happiness, plus dyes for more happiness, and access to the coast. No rivers in sight, and plains might be better than grassland for hammers, but on the whole it looks pretty good.
I founded my capital on the spot, and the warrior went out exploring. I had no idea about the size or shape of the world -- I'd chosen Random world size and type. I ran into Siam first to the south. Later I would find Germany and Persia to the west.
On or around turn 22, Siam and Persia jointly declared war on me, and Germany turned hostile. I was starting to think this was a small map, with 3 militarists (Germany, Persia, Songhia) crammed together. Fun! Anyway, I fought off the attack, barely. By 680 AD, my continent looked something like this. (This is the nifty strategic view, with the "political" filter on.) I loved the placement of Vienna -- a neutral city-state, surrounded by Alps, right smack in the middle of the continent. Military and political struggles over Vienna flared throughout the game. Persia and I vied for her diplomatic affections, and Persia also tried to beat her into submission militarily several times, while I covertly and overtly provided aid to the Viennese freedom fighters.
This time I decided not to wait for Siam to attack again. I made a Pact of Secrecy against Siam with Persia. A while later, Persia came to me and asked me to declare war on Siam. I asked for 10 turns to get ready. (Cool new feature!) After the ten turns were up, Persia and I jointly declared war, and we made slow but steady progress toward the Siamese capital. As our liberation forces neared, the Siamese leader had this to say.
I didn't want to talk about anything, actually -- I just wanted to see my former tormentor grovel, mwua. My forces took his capital and annexed it, paying a happiness cost. I razed his other cities and eventually founded my own in their stead. I had earlier annexed Hamburg after a brief war with Germany, also conducted in alliance with Persia. Germany stayed in the game but was never a factor hereafter. Anyway, this meant I had two annexed cities; next time I'll try going with at least one puppet, although it sounds like there's now some sort of puppet bug, so maybe not.
Persia and I spent several centuries consolidating our gains, building infrastructure, etc. Persia edged ahead of me in tech and, apparently, gold, for she was soon fielding a bigger army. Here Persian forces can be seen massing on my borders. Note the green troops to the northwest -- those are Viennese troops. Vienna kept a troop faithfully stationed on a crucial mountain pass for the entire game, blocking Persian access to my southwestern border.
War did flare up, but it was inconclusive. We made a grudging peace. Here's the continent at 1575 A.D. I had deliberately refrained from building new cities because I was still thinking about a culture win, and I wanted to keep my city count low. If I had to do it again, I'd have expanded faster.
Eventually both Persia and I did found new cities. By the 1800s, we'd also started exploring the New World, which appeared to be dominated by a country called Rome. I didn't find the New World earlier because I was slow to research Astronomy, because I'd still been focusing on culture-related tech.
Sorry for the fuzzy screenshots; they're compressed quite a bit. I'm embedding a larger-resolution version of a few, like this one, just for grins. In this shot, we see that Seoul (an ally of my nemesis Persia) far outstrips me in military tech as of 1840. They've got Infantry; I've got Longswordsmen!
By this point I was starting to doubt that I could get a culture win, or any win at all. I was behind on tech and military, and I wasn't making anywhere near enough culture per turn, even though I'd started allying every city-state I could get my hands on, including cultural city-states. Persia kept a constant tech lead. Heading into the 20th century I was behind Rome on tech too, but I started light-bulbing and popping Golden Ages with my dozen-or-so stored up Great People. (Each of whom costs maintenance, I read later -- is this true?)
Persia also maintained a slight lead in Wonders. But I did get the culture Wonders I wanted -- everything from Stonehenge to Cristo Redentor.
I'm also doubtful about some of the social-policy choices I made. Not sure Commerce was a good idea, as I wasn't really a maritime nation. And while Rationalism was nice, it meant foregoing the two free policies from the Piety tree. By the 20th century, I was still making far too little culture to have a chance. Moreover, Persia built the Apollo Program and started constructing a spaceship. Sorry about the over-cropped screenshot.
But I started to realize that I had a shot at a diplomatic win -- if I got off my duff and met the rest of the City-States in the New World. I was running good gold surpluses, especially during my frequent Golden Ages. By the late 20th century, I was almost constantly in a Golden Age, thanks to all the Great People I had stored up -- and I happened to get a "natural" golden age around 2000, too. Here's the strategic map in the 21st century -- click for higher resolution. Erm, yes, Rome had conquered almost all of the New World by now, but it was still waging war on the remaining city-states there.
Meanwhile, Persia and I had a Cold War from 1800 to 2018. Our military units stared at each other over the border. The only thing is, he had Helicopter Gunships and Arty and stuff, while I had riflemen, cannons, and a smattering of Infantry and Mech Infantry.
Even outside of Golden Ages, I was making OK money. Yes, I know I'm a newb for building Wealth at such a terrible ratio, but the only alternative is to build units and disband them for cash, which seems cheesy to me.
Anyway, I built the United Nations, and I started funneling huge sums of money toward City-States -- 500 gold every couple of turns, in some cases. Persia (who by now had built several spaceship parts) saw what I was up to and fought back! We battled for diplomatic control over Vienna and, especially, Seoul, his longstanding ally. At one point I had 160 influence with Seoul and still was only a "friend," heh. The UN voted in 1998, and again in 2008, and both times I came up one or two votes short. I was worried Persia would launch before the next vote, in 2018.
But Persia didn't launch by 2018, and by then I'd finally wrested control of Seoul from Persia's greedy little hands. Amazingly, he didn't declare war on me, or nuke me, even though I suspect he had nukes.
I win! My first Civ 5 victory!
My demographics at end of game. I won, but I didn't lead in any single demographic category!
The entry in my Hall of Fame. I have no idea whether that's a good score.
My tech status. I wasn't all that close to the end of the tree.
All in all, it was an exciting game. I didn't sufficiently emphasize how big a role Vienna played in the proceedings. She was the fulcrum of several wars, holding out against several furious Persian assaults, and helping me guard my own border with units superior to mine. I really like having a reliable ally in a civ game; that's a new thing.
I was pretty sure I was going to lose once I realized my culture engine wasn't going fast enough. I sorta stumbled upon the diplomatic option as a last resort.
I am still surprised that Rome and Persia didn't declare war on me, but I kinda like a civ game where the AIs don't automatically gang up on you as you're about to win. I had cultivated a Pact of Secrecy with Rome against Persia, and maybe that affected things.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to firing up another game tonight! I might play as Arabia on Prince, as that's the "gauntlet" challenge here at CivFanatics.
.
