Aabra02: Hammy Builds a House

[Aabraxan]

Aabra02: Hammy Builds a House​

Welcome to Aabra02: Hammy Builds a House. That's right: a house. Not two, not a subdivision, but one lone house. This will be an Emperor-level game of the One Built City variant. Unsurprisingly, we'll play as the Babylonians.

The Statistics:
Version: Civ III Conquests
Level: Emperor
Civ: Babylon
Victory Conditions Allowed: TBD
Victory Condition On: Domination, SS, Diplo, Conquest, Cultural
Opponents: Random
Barbarians: Restless
Scientific Great Leaders: On
Land mass: Continents
Water: 70%
Map size: Standard
Age: 4 Billion
Climate: Normal
Temperature: Temperate
Max Players: 6

The Variant: One Built City
The Rules:

1. One Built City. The city built with our starting settler will be the only one we ever found.
2. Settlers popped from huts may not be used to found new cities. They may be joined to existing cities, however.
3. Cities popped from huts may be kept.
4. No ship-chaining.
5. Non-combat units may not be parked on resources in enemy territory for resource denial purposes.
6. No false peace treaties.
7. No RoP Rape.

Timelines:
I can't keep up with a "24 to get and 48 to play" game, so I'm going to make this one 48 to grab, 144 after that to play. That's 7 calendar days, so everyone should end up with at least one of their days off to play. Extensions will be freely granted when requested. I feel confident that everyone here will communicate with the team regarding schedules, skips and swaps.

The Roster:
Aabraxan
Beorn-eL-Feared
scoutsout
gmaharriet
Bede
Whomp

The Beginning:

The Save:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/94355/Aabra02_4000BC_Aabra.SAV

 

[gmaharriet]

Checking in.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

Short on food for the middle ages but great shield potential later in the game.

We're low on commerce but we need to conquer around ... do we want to max out gold ASAP or max out shields and keep just enough gold to fuel the military?

If we pop a tech it's Pottery, chop granary 1st if that's the case. Otherwise I'm not sure what to go for first - cheap temple? We need to chop this forest for the food bonus...

We only have 1 city, I'm less and less sure we'll want to settle on the spot just like that. Ground looks more fertile N-NE: grassland(s), sugar, lake(s), chops; I'd send the worker up there and see wether we can grab something more by moving up while retaining gems and deer. If we send the worker N he can see all the tiles that we're not spotting beyond the lake/coast N.

No one else is SCI, I'd keep BW to myself as long as possible and research IW first. We'll need swords. 4 of our opponents have pottery so we're bound to hit one sooner or later. Our barracks are expensive so they'll make a good granary pre-build when we start meeting people.

 

[Bede]

Since this is the last chance we get to pick our spot I am certainly not averse to wandering more than just a little, starting to the north. This is just too dry, not to mention a dangerous place to be. We want a spot that will give us the full 21 fields for working citizens.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

Another question that comes to mind is: do we want to play this one as an OCC to start off and then invade the neighbors or try to capture as much as possible really early?

If we go early conquests with some lucky iron or horses nearby, we could jump our palace altogether and make ourselves home somewhere. We lose our capital but we gain a small country.

On the other hand, it could be beneficial to sit back, build up wonders and wait for the AI's to settle near our own capital. It will take much more time but then we get to shoot for Colossus, GLB and early government + knights.

I'd do OCC at first because I like OCC, but this is purely sentimental.

 

[Aabraxan]

As I'm at a total loss here (having never played OCC, 5CC or any-other-CC), I'm open to suggestions.

 

[scoutsout]

Checking in

That start... just yech... A hilltop next to a river would be nice...

I'm with Bede... if we play this start we ought to wander a bit and find the best available spot nearby. If those are coastal mountains to the SE... it's good tactically. I wouldn't take the settler too far from the pond ...or the lux...

I say pop the hut with the worker, then Settler NE unless the worker sees something good. 1 NE gives us 3, possibly 4 forest chops into that site...

@Beorn: I'm not real sure you want to go building wonders in a OBC variant...

And do we really want to play this with SGLs ON?

Ah well... any way you roll it, this variant will be tough sledding.

 

[Bede]

Checking in

That start... just yech... A hilltop next to a river would be nice...

I'm with Bede... if we play this start we ought to wander a bit and find the best available spot nearby. If those are coastal mountains to the SE... it's good tactically. I wouldn't take the settler too far from the pond ...or the lux...

I say pop the hut with the worker, then Settler NE unless the worker sees something good. 1 NE gives us 3, possibly 4 forest chops into that site...

@Beorn: I'm not real sure you want to go building wonders in a OBC variant...

And do we really want to play this with SGLs ON?

Ah well... any way you roll it, this variant will be tough sledding.

20K OCC is an achievable victory as long as the neighbors are cooperative. I can even give you a reference. It required a whole lot more from the starting position than what I see here however.

20K 5CC (we would need to capture the other 4) is probably easier.

With the Scientific trait and SGL on a good case could be made for a Space Victory though as my last attempt at that one showed, depending on opponents, it could easily end in a late modern slugfest.

I can only reiterate that being in a hurry to settle down could hurt us more in the long run than help. I would not be shy about wandering more than one or two turns in hopes of finding a much better home. Losing immediate access to the starting luxury is not such a big deal in my opinion as it will take many worker turns to develop and will not be really useful until much later in the game.

Research path is another question. If we go the peaceful way than a push to Mathematics would be valuable if we have access to Ivory. Take a look at the relative cultural value of Wonders to see what I mean. Statue of Zeus is way up there on the scale relative to the other early wonders with the added kicker of a nice military unit. Another good one for 20K is Knights Templar.

If we can't find handy elephants than a push to Iron Working is indicated instead.

So let's explore a bit, start by moving north, and decide where to settle down on a turn by turn basis depending on what the map shows.

 

[gmaharriet]

That start... just yech...

I didn't want to be the first to say it. I was hoping our experts would point out some advantages I'd missed. If my fog-gazing skills are any good, it also looks like 2 or 3 desert tiles to the west and northwest.

And do we really want to play this with SGLs ON?

Methinks we're unlikely to be the first to any tech for the first 200 turns...if then.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

Methinks we're unlikely to be the first to any tech for the first 200 turns...if then.

Not having to send out settlers increases pop in the capital really fast and this means a big research powerhouse early on. If we can trade Alpha, I'd definitely shoot for writing and Philosophy. Being competitive in techs with an OCC is seriously feasible at Emperor.

 

[Bede]

Here is an even better story for a 20K victory written by T-Hawk the 20K Master

Same game as the one I referenced above, but he took a slightly different path, and finished a whole bunch of turns faster.

And the Bear is right - It is more than feasible to take an Ancent Age tech lead in an OCC.

 

[scoutsout]

And the Bear is right - It is more than feasible to take an Ancent Age tech lead in an OCC.

If we can find a site with a little better commerce potential... maybe.

Abraxan, are you starting us off? The ancient ages should be interesting....

 

[Aabraxan]

Yep, the start is, well, humble (to put it kindly). There may also be some desert tiles to the East, as well. And yes, SGLs are ON. If the team wants a different start, I'll put one up.

Edit: Yes, scout, I was planning on starting us out, though not without reservation. I was waiting for some solid input on how to proceed before I did so.

 

[scoutsout]

My thoughts are to send the worker to the hut, and see what you find. This is one of those rare instances where I hope we actually get a map... Unless the worker sees something good, the red line indicates where I'd take the settler. That forest 1SE of the hill might be coast...

Alternatively, you could move the settler 2 NE to the mountain to get a good look around.

You could always make your first couple of moves and post a screenshot... nothing in the rules says you've got to play your opening straight through without help/input.

 

[Aabraxan]

Tell y'all what . . . I'll pop the hut with the worker and follow Scout's plan. If the worker pops a map (and yeah, I hope so, too), I'll grab a screenshot and post it for discussion.

Edit: The hut didn't give us a map, but it did give us pottery. Moved worker and settler, and here's what we know. The water N/NE of the grass wheat is salty, but obviously, we can irrigate from the South. Does this change anyone analysis?

Scout's plan called for moving the settler 1 E onto the hill, but with that grass wheat there, I'm inclined to go 1 NW, plop and chop for the granary and water the wheat.

 

[scoutsout]

The problem with chopping into a granary this early is that we need some sort of military... if we want to move 1NW and plop, I'm tempted to say road that forest so we can come back and chop it at a more opportune moment.

Let the rest of the team weigh in before doing anything. I'm going to watch a football game.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

Salty water = good, especially a bay like this. My .02 to settle the hill, worker moves straight up to irrigate wheat first thing.

 

[Bede]

Take the settler and climb the mountain 1NE. Then let's take another look around while the worker heads to the wheat.

 

[scoutsout]

I'm with the Monk - take the settler to the mountain, to see what he can see from there.

 

[Aabraxan]

Done. Looking at what the Settler can see from the mountaintop:

I think BeF's got the plan. Park on the hilltop with the worker going to water the wheat. The water E of the settler's current position is also salty.