[BTS] BOTM 161: Pacal II Final Spoiler (game submitted)

[kcd_swede]

BOTM 161 - Pacal II

Did you like the vikings?

What happened?
What challenges did you face?
What was fun?

Reading Requirements

Stop! If you are participating in BOTM 161 then you MUST NOT read this thread unless

• You have submitted your entry

Posting Restrictions

• Do not post any savegame file from the game. Discussions and screenshots are fine but not actual games.

 

[mscellaneous]

Just submitted a 1530 AD conquest victory. Have to get to bed, so the write-up will come tomorrow.

Gotta love those Vikings, Buro in 3920 BC!

 

[kcd_swede]

Just submitted a 1530 AD conquest victory. Have to get to bed, so the write-up will come tomorrow.

Gotta love those Vikings, Buro in 3920 BC!

Yes, but what they do not tell you is that the Viking bureaucracy means you have to go to Tinget before you can do someone with a Blood Eagle.

 

[krikav]

I won a domination at turn 260 (1750AD).
I'm abit ashamed of myself for that. It has been a while since I played anything but Immortal, I had an absolute wonderful time the first session I played this map (4000BC -> 1AD), during the initial scouting, analyzing of the land and techpath etc
During the second session I lost focus at around turn 120-130.
I had just started to expand rapidly on Ragnars island, and he still only had 2 cities with all that wonderful land to settle. For all the first part of the game I had painted a picture of a formidable foe, possibly a bloody defeat. I guess I was abit dissapointed.
I started to lose focus and didn't pay attention and Ragnar declared at me and took one of my unguarded new settlements. I took it back some turns later and started to enter a "I push enter untill I win"-state, teching toward cuirs and cavalery. Just throwing the units on Ragnars few cities without looking at the odds. I also tried the same approachon boudica for a while but had no success. (Big suprise!) At some point during that haze (or perhaps it was during my third session today?) I got myself somewhat back to the game and decided to mop it up.

Toku peace vassaled to me during my buildup of units.
I built a few forts on ragnars island to move transports around and cavalery did most of the hard work, allthough cannons and infantery was in the mix. Destroyed sitting bull, capitulated Hammurabi and settled the barbarian wing, and when boudica capitulated I achieved the victory.

I really wished I would have had the clarity of mind to keep up the wonderful focus I had during the first session throughout the game and it would probably have been a nice map to get a very early space victory.

Thanks alot for a wonderful map!

 

[kcd_swede]

@krikav: I am happy that you made forts for canals. I am happy you won. I am happy you play like I do and lose focus. It is supposed to be fun, not a project. I am most glad that you had some fun, especially in the early game where you were discovering the world. Congrats on the victory!!!

 

[krikav]

Thanks! And thanks again for the map!

I had about 8 workers standing at the pig at one time in the game, constantly swapping from fort to pasture back and fort(h).

 

[Major Tom]

Got a religious victory 1590. Should have been 20 turns earlier if more lucky, first voting a missionary lacked 1 road tile to Tokugawa ( a vassal by force), then next vote, Ragnar ( a peace vassal) changed religion the turn voting was up.

What was wrong with Ragnar, not building more cities initially?

 

[krikav]

What was wrong with Ragnar, not building more cities initially?

I was very suprised by that as well.
My theory is that since he had so incredible resources in the few cities he had, he didn't feel the need to settle more cities.

 

[nocho]

Space win in 1740AD. I had hoped to squeeze out a 17th century win, but succumbed to sloppy play in the end and some really bad luck with great people. Anyway, fun game! I had enough room to expand that I didn't really have time to conquer AIs until cuirs came close, so as many other times it ended up a cuir-stomp to get enough land for space. Toku was wiped out first, then the army was shuttled to Central Island where Rag's nice cities were annexed. Last AI on the menu was Babylon, as Hammurabi had snatched the MoM which is always a good one for space. He was a bit tougher nut to crack but stood no chance really of course. I also got some nice barb cities out of the north-eastern quadrant (or sextant really) that had no AI starting in it. Had Ragnar indeed expanded sooner on his own island and then occupied all that space, he might have gotten really powerful. As it was, from there I turtled to space under communist leadership. Was too lazy to count sea food and metals to see whether corps would pay off. Thanks for the game!

 

[krikav]

I'm really amazed at these really early space victories. Can't really bend my head around how you get research speed up so quickly.

 

[nocho]

I'm really amazed at these really early space victories. Can't really bend my head around how you get research speed up so quickly.

I guess early is a relative concept, I'm sure the real pros can get it done somewhere in the 1500s. And then there are those that manage to launch in the BCs! Referring to WastinTime's game over at S&T in case you haven't read that.

Anyway, the usual recipe is getting enough land close, but not too close (for comfort), to the domination limit. Have enough workers around to improve all tiles with a good mix of farms, workshops and watermills. I usually only cottage for my bureau capital and maybe another city if it screams cottages all-over, but that's it. Often one of the AI capitals you capture may have mature cottages worthy to keep, but generally I'll put watermills on the river tiles and then a mix of farms and workshops. Prioritize early those techs that improve improvements (biology, rep parts, communism), workshops need guilds and chem and shine a bit more with caste. Steam power for levees and then asap to AL for factories and coal plants, get some health going with grocers and supermarkets. Build a lot of wealth to run 100% science, also build research if you have cities left that have nothing really better to build. A good IW city is key, usually better not in the capital. Also make sure you really use all tiles available. Often around 1000 AD I build filler cities that by the 1500s contribute also to the general cause.

Then there is always the question of state property vs corps (sushi and mining). State property is less work, but if there are a lot of resources available corps are significantly faster. If corps, the game revolves around getting to medicine (sushi) and railroad (mining) asap and also spreading them really as fast as possible. All space records are done using corps, but I'm usually too lazy for them.

 

[WastinTime]

After having a lot of fun in the 1st half, I just wanted to finish with some style. I got Ragnar as a peace vassal @friendly. That felt good. I thought (after taking all of Hamm's land) I'd have enough for domination, but I wasn't quite there. I had a sloppy finish. First I tried to just pop borders with caste artists. Then I tried whipping dozens of military so I could get vassals (didn't work.) Then I resorted to settling cities for 1 tile here and 2 tiles there, etc.
Where my plan really failed was Boudica would not capitulate. I had 40 war success by gifting her Hamm's old cities and recapturing. She was definitely well below average power. So I don't quite know what was wrong there. I thought I had capitulation rules nailed down.

Obviously, the 'right' way to play this one was to conquer the Vikings, or at least quickly settle the island and eventually conquer them. That gave you access to all the AI.
It was more fun to teleport a stack over the mountains. I was too lazy to teleport over to Boudica. I didn't think I'd need to attack her.

 

[kcd_swede]

After having a lot of fun in the 1st half, I just wanted to finish with some style. I got Ragnar as a peace vassal @friendly. That felt good. I thought (after taking all of Hamm's land) I'd have enough for domination, but I wasn't quite there. I had a sloppy finish. First I tried to just pop borders with caste artists. Then I tried whipping dozens of military so I could get vassals (didn't work.) Then I resorted to settling cities for 1 tile here and 2 tiles there, etc.
Where my plan really failed was Boudica would not capitulate. I had 40 war success by gifting her Hamm's old cities and recapturing. She was definitely well below average power. So I don't quite know what was wrong there. I thought I had capitulation rules nailed down.

Obviously, the 'right' way to play this one was to conquer the Vikings, or at least quickly settle the island and eventually conquer them. That gave you access to all the AI.
It was more fun to teleport a stack over the mountains. I was too lazy to teleport over to Boudica. I didn't think I'd need to attack her.

very interesting, and a big thank you for sharing your strategies with the community!