ALC Ripoff #1

[Framesticker]

Well, we all once wanted to post a game like Sistu did back in the day, don't we?

So this my take on an ALC series. The focus will be on expertising in different civ aspects which I've not explored much so far (which has led me to being stuck at Emperor for the last decade or so). Most maps will probably be Fractal, with possible deviations to maps like Terra, Archipelago, Big & Small, etc. I'll also be trying to write the story from a both a player perspective (ie "I then built Stonehenge in Athens,") and from a storyteller perspective (ie "Pericles ordered a massive monument to his pagan beliefs be constructed in his newly founded city of Athens, one which will inspire every city in the state of Greece to new horizons of religous culture,").

Today we'll be playing this game



Our fearless leader is as follows



Declared by the CFC community to be one of (if not the) strongest leaders in the game, Huayna Capac of the Inca boasts advantage in pretty much all fields: economy, early rushes, expansion, wonder-whoring and many others. I can't think of a better leader to start such a series with.

And our start



Decent. I hope there are hidden resources in those empty grasslands (riverside horses with FIN is 3H/3C/2H IIRC, which is huge early on), though Quechas ought to do the trick for a couple of centuries. Early tech path seems something like Fishing/AH/BW, with a Quecha built as Fishing is being done.

I'll be trying to make this as entertaining and helpful as possible, but to do that, you have to help me too. Comment thoroughly and educatively (is that a word?), and you'll be rewarded with similarly entertaining posts

I'll playing the first round after a few comments have been posted. Let's do this!

 

[Fleme]

1) Games like this require for a save to be posted.

2) Is Sistu referring to Sisiutil? I know it is.

3) Monarch cries for Quechua rushing someone - even more so when you start on a plains hill. Locate enemy, build quechuas, go to town.

4) Horses are 2/3/1, riverside horses are 2/3/3 under fin, and that's food/hammers/commerce, not hammers/commerce/hammers

5) Fishing isn't that good. Going for a tech for just 1 clam isn't worth it. AH/BW take precedence, farm riverside for growth if absolutely necessary. Furthermore, 2N can feature food.

 

[vranasm]

* grabs a popcorn *

I dont think that going for those clams before cows is actually better course of action.

ha! Fleme beat me with the fish thoughts. Exactly as he said... you can farm grass, cow is strongest tile
You can build quechas on PH and hope that there is some AI nearby

 

[Framesticker]

1) Games like this require for a save to be posted.

2) Is Sistu referring to Sisiutil? I know it is.

3) Monarch cries for Quechua rushing someone - even more so when you start on a plains hill. Locate enemy, build quechuas, go to town.

4) Horses are 2/3/1, riverside horses are 2/3/3 under fin, and that's food/hammers/commerce, not hammers/commerce/hammers

5) Fishing isn't that good. Going for a tech for just 1 clam isn't worth it. AH/BW take precedence, farm riverside for growth if absolutely necessary. Furthermore, 2N can feature food.

1) I was DAMN sure I posted a save this time, but the game mocked me once again. I'll post it right away.

2) I never understood how that name was spelled... I thought it was Sistusiul or something like that. But you're right.

3) I've actually only tried Quecha rushing once, and it was back in my old Vanilla Warlord days. I may have another chance to do here

4) Yeah, I messed the numbers up. But riverside FIN Horses is awesoem nonetheless

5) I like going for Fishing resources first if I'm Financial because the 3C that comes with 4/5 food early on is big for getting other techs. I may be wrong here, though - I'll think about it.

 

[UWHabs]

Or, you know, settle in place and see what the fog reveals. Food 2N and going with a worker/AH makes sense. A fish 2W and all of a sudden fishing makes more sense.

Otherwise a solid cap. A bit low on production since you only have 2 hills, but not too bad.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Well, we all once wanted to post a game like Sistu did back in the day, don't we?

Only until I discovered for myself how much work it is. Sisiutil was a machine.

 

[madscientist]

Only until I discovered for myself how much work it is. Sisiutil was a machine.

HE certainly was, I am amazed at how well organized his games were presented and written. I have posted al lot of games but could never take that much time to post something so well as his games.

Onto the current game, You are coastal with good production and 2 good food sources you can see although neither is agriculture. A Monarch Hyuna to me calls for Oracleing Metal CAsting and getting the Colossus. However, a rush is certainly required if there is a victum close at hand.

I say explore and play the map right now. AH and fishing are the first 2 techs while building a worker to get the beef and build a few farms, next build should be the workboat for a 4 food/3 commerce tile. If you find a leader nearby, the Quechua rush should take priority.

Polytheism/priesthood/mining/BW/wheel/pottery should all be priority to get metal cast fast.

 

[z0wb13]

i'm with VoU. it seems like it would be fun, but then it ends up being work.

if you are going to do it, you need to plan how many installments you are going to write, so that you can keep track of how many turns you are taking and how long of a write up it will require. it's a lot harder than it sounds. you also have to decide what parts are going to be interesting or informative for the audience. people like details, but i.e. explaining why you work cow first over clams is only going to be an interesting topic when regarding your 1st and 2nd cities. by your tenth city, you need to talk about how city placement is going to benefit your empire.

just some tips. good luck! i'm with the consensus, settling in place, research AH and BW, then chop a bunch of quechas. do a thorough exploration of the surroundings so you will know who to target.

 

[iggymnrr]

Great idea. If you can make it through 1 or 2 games that would be stellar. Currently I'm resting from civ after a summer of too many workers, brain fried. Glad to read though.

 

[roberteriksson]

Looking for a game to play tonight, post the save and I'll be all over it

 

[huerfanista]

SIP, AH> BW, quechas x 5 then worker. Work grass hill until borders pop, then plains hill. Kill (if isolated, you've got spawnbusters). Worker first delays q-rush too much on normal. (works best on marathon and even on epic I'd go for quechas before worker).

 

[Paw]

Tagging thread for future

I'd move the quechua one SW onto the hill just to see what's revealed, but odds are you're settling in place will be the best bet.

Interested to see how the game plays out, how many turns are you planning on playing for the first round?

 

[Framesticker]

Here's the first of many for ya'll.

Huayna surveyed the countryside as he and his sole battalion of Quechas walked silently throughout the known land. It was well: with Cows and Clams to feast on, in addition to much fertile undeveloped land, would make a fine capital for the soon to-be Incan Empire.


"We settle there!" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the forested hill upon the majority of the Incan population rested. And settle they did:



"Research methods to harvest the animals on land on these creatures in sea," Capac ordered his hard-working brainheads. As they went along their duties, collecting men to construct a Worker unit, Capac beamed to himself. This city, with proper development and improving, would be a prime jewel in the crown of the empire. Cottages would blossom in the fertile southern grasslands.

The Quecha unit left Capac at Cuzco to survey the working civilians as they adventured throughout the land. Afer greeting a tribe of uncivilized humans, living in crumbling huts and tents, they recieved a detailed map of the...



sea. The villagers dispersed before their insults could be punished.

Meanwhile, back in the capital, a similar parody of an actual Incan city was met, with much better results:



The Incan leader was very pleased as a design of a Chariot was handed to him by the villagers. If beasts able to pull such instruments would be found, such units would be invaluable in fending off barbaric opposition to Incan expansion.

Meanwhile, the Quecha unit continued eastward and made quite the discovery:



With such a resource (and Capac's Industrious insights), the Pyramids become very attractive. Capac will consider them later. Along with this, a sck of 50 gold coins arrived at his tent, apparently from another band of ragged, uncivilized villagers.

On 3480BC, an alarmed brainhead rushed to Capac's tent. "See these maned beasts over there?"



Capac hadn't paid much attention to these creatues before. "We can use them carry our Chariots!"

"Brilliant!" Capac beamed at him. "Send a Worker unit there at once. We must put some sort of wall against them, so we can control them."

And the discovery of the first true military unit was not untimely, as Capac was greeted by a savage clan of barbaric people, self-named the Celts led by Brennus:



After spying on the man for a little, Capac found the man was an Aggresive, ruthless lot. He'd have to be either crushed, or punished sufficiently as to not be a problem.

On 3240BC, the brainheads came to another breakthrough on the use of the creatures in the sea, which they then called Clams. A fishing unit began construction immediately. Meanwhile, Capac surveyed the known world:



Now what?

--
That's where I stopped. I pretty much exhausted my literary stock for a while, so expect straightforward game updates for a while from now on

Anyway, we have a few critical decisions to make. I reckon Brennus is somewhere to the east, probably to the immediate surroundings of my scouting Quecha. We could block him from expanding with Chariots of Quechas by the way of choke if he's reasonably close enough (and if I can get 3-4 Chariots before he constructs a 3rd city). If he's to the immediate east though, we might be able to seal him off through blocking cities, settle as much land as possible before he gets galleys to sail around my culture borders, then crush him with a Medieval/late Classical army. Or even just go for a peaceful wonderhog trading fest - Brennus is peaceful enough (if I keep my Power rating high enough) to do that. All is viable at this point. A tech path is also required.

So what do you think?

 

[Fleme]

Well, there's Marble and Stone readily available. You could just sit tight and play a we/sse game if that tickles your fancy.

The point of ALC, as I recall it, was to display the individual qualities of each leader and also present a use for their uniques in the process. That in mind, Pottery is key for both leveraging financial and the terrace while the stone and marble will obviously come in handy with the industrious.

Land is clearly below average but the marble/wheat/floodplains site looks like a priority. Brennus seems 10+ tiles away so a Q rush on Normal is, in my opinion, out of the question but they make excellent barbarian counters so no Q you've built so far is waste.

If by some miracle Brennus founds a religion, you can definitely keep him happy just by using OR and sharing the faith.

I say go for wonders.

 

[Framesticker]

Well, there's Marble and Stone readily available. You could just sit tight and play a we/sse game if that tickles your fancy.

The point of ALC, as I recall it, was to display the individual qualities of each leader and also present a use for their uniques in the process. That in mind, Pottery is key for both leveraging financial and the terrace while the stone and marble will obviously come in handy with the industrious.

Land is clearly below average but the marble/wheat/floodplains site looks like a priority. Brennus seems 10+ tiles away so a Q rush on Normal is, in my opinion, out of the question but they make excellent barbarian counters so no Q you've built so far is waste.

If by some miracle Brennus founds a religion, you can definitely keep him happy just by using OR and sharing the faith.

I say go for wonders.

And what would you consider a sutiable tech path for the wonder-hogging strategy? Pottery/Masonry/Priesthood/Literature/etc.?

 

[Fleme]

Masonry is obviously number one. If you want to make a play for Oracle/MC then Priesthood is the second goal - I'm sure some would argue going for Oracle first - but I recommend you take note of the religion founding dates when deciding on the Oracle. Pyramids are key and as far as absolute essentials go, Great Library. Everything else is just icing on the cake but obviously in a we/sse all wonders are essential. Heck, if you do go for priesthood, go through Poly for the odd chance in Toa (which in Rep isn't half bad and in a WE/SSE it's great) and make plays for Pyramids, Parthenon... and pretty much everything you can get your hands on after those. The oracle gambit for MC would obviously help since that 25% comes in handy and nets you yet another wonder.

Before you commit you should find out where Brennus lives though, and how conveniently you can block him. He fights like a wolverine when he gets in the mood so you need to be prepared for that as well.

 

[madscientist]

Finish the workboat, pasturize the horses and let you population grow to 3 while spamming Quechuas. Fogbust with the Quechuas and then get a settler or 2 to the east (the river/wheat area looks decent).

Techpath should be mining/BW to chop whatever wonder you want, then meditation/priesthood/pottery. After that see where you are at.

 

[Framesticker]

Finish the workboat, pasturize the horses and let you population grow to 3 while spamming Quechuas. Fogbust with the Quechuas and then get a settler or 2 to the east (the river/wheat area looks decent).

Techpath should be mining/BW to chop whatever wonder you want, then meditation/priesthood/pottery. After that see where you are at.

No Masonry? Pyramids are critical to this so called wonder economy.

 

[vranasm]

I shadowed it a bit from your 3k BC save, played to 1AD...

Spoiler :

land is pretty poor, HC is great leader with great nation.
got only 7 cities, 8th is in the works.
Wonders - you name it, I have it (except for stonehenge), Great Library will be next since I have Engineer (2nd GP popped, first was prophet which I settled in cap).

 

[madscientist]

No Masonry? Pyramids are critical to this so called wonder economy.

HE's got time for that wonder and the third or fourth one should get the stone by then.