GOAL: While planning this game, I realized that I had never won an xOTM Contender Class save above Warlord level. This was my fourth BtS Civ game {ever} and my third BoTM. As you can tell, xOTM games are about all that I have time for in Real Life (RL),
actually more than I have time for according to my wife
. My goals were to win a Domination or Conquest victory on Monarch Contender Class save, and improve my early warring skills.
STRATEGY: Since I thought this to be a waterworld, I decided to make my priority a beeline to Astronomy, bulbing it with a Scientist. To do this I had to skip researching Meditation (to avoid the GS bulbing for Philo), and skip early COLaws and CivSvc, as well as Theology.
By 500AD I was questioning the wisdom of my strategy. I didnt even know for sure if Astronomy would be needed on this map (would Galleys do the trick?). I couldnt build monasteries or utilize the Bureaucracy civic. And my research rate was dropping rapidly. But even a bad plan is better than no plan at all, and since no plan is going to survive first contact with the enemy anyway
I wiped out the last of Pacal in 775AD. I was able to use my GS toward Astronomy and finished researching it in 105oAD. I achieved circumnavigation in 115oAD.
I started to deviate from my plans along about here. I suffered through a horrible, unsuccessful battle for Sitting Bulls Capital in which he wiped out my entire Stack Of Doom army (SOD). My plans didnt include a run for Liberalism, but that little teching fool, Mansa Munsa (M&Ms) helped me change my mind with tech trades. I guess he thought he had me beat to Liberalism, but utilizing a Great Spy for a Golden Age (what else are they good for?) I won the race and chose Nationalism free.
MEET MY LITTLE FRIEND
This was the first time I have built Privateers. What a wonderful addition to the game! Being able to attack those annoying AI caravels (possibly carrying spies) and Galleys/Galleons (possibly carrying Settlers), without declaring war, was way too cool! And they get tremendous experience for later upgrading to Destroyers! I think that my four Privateers killed about 80 caravels and other ships. I even knocked off one or two nosey caravels from Sitting Bull {who by now I had forced to capitulate and had become my Vassal}.
Just before 17ooAD, I began planning an invasion over there in France (they were number 2, just behind me in score). Jungles cut his nation into, providing what I thought would be some limitation on his maneuverability for reinforcements. And, there was a little three tile jungle island right there to allow me to stage additional assault troops to reinforce my first three Galleons within one turn after my initial beach assault. I was going to raze more cities, but I kept two on the coast. Then, circa (ca.) 1714AD, he counter-attacked. I managed to hang on, and achieve peace. But the sheer number of his troops made me rethink my entire war-mongering plan. Easily dissuaded, I realized that what I did have was a tech lead, a relatively secure homeland (after realizing how difficult an assault over the water was for me), and that I could go to Space!
I had delayed my warring way too long to be called early warmongering, at any rate. I was building way too much infrastructure, happy/health buildings, instead of just theatres for war weariness control with the cultural slider. I was always the bridesmaid (getting ready for war) and never the bride (actually DOWing someone).
Monty, whod been making me happy warring on the other side of the world, became a Vassal of France ca. 1786AD. I was utilizing the old Pacal capital as my GP Farm (although under Mercantilism and with some food resources, several other cities contributed Great People), and the old Sitting Bull capital as my military/production city. Babylon, my capital, was my sorta Science City (although I did build the Moai Statues there to add hammers to the water tiles seemed logical with Bureacracy-- perhaps forgetting that I could only build two natl wonders in any one city). I utilized Hereditary Rule (HR) throughout the game for happiness- needing the military presence in each city either way. Only late in the game did I disband a few warriors, bowmen and axes to reduce unit support $$$ and help the economy. They had provided cheap, portable happiness.
My two cities on the French continent were under constant soft threats of French spies stealing everything that was not nailed down, and destroying everything in their path. They even took a SpaceShip Casing now what the HeQ are they going to do with that? Originally, I conducted counterespionage operations against France, but once I gave up on the continent, I quit transporting spies there. I suppose, with BtS, that there was a way to simply make them a separate Colony {as opposed to returning them to De Gaulle}? QUESTION: Is there anything else I should have done to thwart spies other than building the Security Bureau in each city, and having one or two spies present in each city? Are three spies present better than one, or two? Lastly, does having a circle of spies around a city surrounding it, actually help {any at all}, or should they be stacked inside the city? I do understand that having a spy on top of a resource, or a tile improvement, might help with enemy espionage against that particular tile. But, in this latter case, you would need dozens of spies around your empire.
I think I grew about 26 Great People (not counting the free ones I received with Economics, Physics & Fusion.), which I thought was very good (for me). Some people seem to discount that last free Engineer from Fusion, because you cant use him on spaceship parts- except the space elevator which should be finished by then, but because you probably arent producing any GEs now, he may be the third or fourth different GP to start a nice late game Golden Age (GA). By the way, QUESTION: with respect to specialists, what is the little golden circle/square that sometimes appears around a certain class of specialist? How do you turn it on/off and what does it do?
The French DOWed me and took back their two cities on their Continent, as I had pretty much given them up. Then I had a long period of peace to build, and start on my journey into space. I had previously revolted to Organized Religion (OR), and spread Buddhism to every city, helping with building almost every building in every city where it would help. With Barbs founding cities to the North/Northeast and Northwest, I concentrated my navy near the Aluminum Island in the west-central/southwest, and controlled the Western & Southern seas, supported by my
not inconsiderable air force.
France DOWed me again ca. the 1940s or 1950s, with a multitude of Battleship and Destroyer escorted transports. This time, however, I was prepared, and I destroyed their entire SOD, thanks in no small part to Cannons and those wonderful blitz promotions that come standard in those nice new shiny armored vehicles! [I should also give honorable mentions to a couple of those old outdated and nearly abandoned catapults and trebuchets that actually came in quite handy here!]. My air force and navy also sank a few marauding, pillaging Battleships and Destroyers. When I offered peace, this time De Gaulle was quite ready enough to pay for it.
I tried to build the U.N., but lost by a couple of turns. I was still elected first UN secretary! I also built the Internet, just to try and help ensure my small tech lead.
Now I began to feel like the blind husband whose wife caught him Braille reading the lady next door. The wife moved the furniture around to get back at him
. Ha! As I started up the tech tree toward space, I realized that my notes were all wrong
at least unless someone had moved the tech tree around
LOL! Obviously, the BtS space techs are different than the prior CIV versions ones, but I finally bungled my way through it.
Well, thats about it. Oh, wait. I finished my space ship ca. 1973 and my astronauts arrived ca. July, 198o. It wont win any medals, but it was my first Monarch Contender Class save victory, and I was quite satisfied with myself [pats self on back].
Adama