[BTS] BOTM 212: Inca, Prince; First spoiler - to 1AD

[kcd_swede]

BOTM 212: Huayna Capac, Prince - First Spoiler - 1AD


Use this thread to tell us what happened in your game, up to 1AD
Tell us about your first few moves... where did you settle and why?
What was your research order for the first 3 or 4 technologies?
Have you thought about what victory condition you want to aim for, and how did that affect your early decisions?
Do you like the forests, or are they just in the way?


Reading Requirements
If you are participating in BOTM 212, then you MUST NOT read this thread unless EITHER

• You have reached at least 1 AD in your game, OR
• You have submitted your entry

Posting Restrictions

• Do not disclose ANY events or information gained post 1 AD.
• Do not reveal your final result if that happened after 1 AD.
• Do not discuss the location of resources that may not show up before 1 AD (Iron is OK, coal and oil are not)
• Do not post any savegame file from the game. Discussions and screenshots are fine but not actual games

 

[Xcalibrator]

Really, first? I tried the Deity save, and sorta followed what I mentioned in the pre-game thread--seeing nothing special after moving the worker to the SW, I moved the settler SE. A "settle here!" blue circle appeared to the E of that, and since I would still keep all the visible goodies in the BFC, took a chance and moved there, finding 3 fountain filled, food rich, Financial fueled oases. Cost me two extra turns to settle but it was worth it. (ETA: Initial tech order was Fishing, Mining, BW, Wheel, Pottery, AH.)

I settled the 2nd city 2W1N of the fish. This game I made an extra effort to expand quickly (something I'm bad at), but was foiled by Darius who beat me to the city site to the N with rice, ivory, banana, and 2 dyes, which also interfered with my plans to rapidly settle to the NE of there. I attacked with 4(?) quechuas against his archer and warrior (another archer had wandered outside the city) and took it! At 1 AD, Persia is hemmed in with 3 cities, Egypt with 4. I have 10 cities (2 on the big island) and 70 pop, which is unheard of for me. Gotta be because of all the rich land around us. Oh, and that free worker probably had a little something to do with it too. (Thanks, kcd!) My borders are demarcated by marble (toward Persia), wine and copper (by America), and horses, sugar, pigs to the east (by Celtia), with the eastern iron also under control. I'm first in score with 1025, am building catapults and measuring the Egyptian and Persian palaces for curtains , and feeling very optimistic--looks like this is a Deity(-lite) game I can likely win.

 

[nocho]

A pretty generous start it was indeed with all that land to expand into, besides of course the free worker and hunting. I settled on the elephants which looked most natural to me. The worker then could only scout the first few turns and after spotting Egyptians closeby started with farming the stone (I think that's the first time I ever did that ), after which he could start pasturing as I went AH first. Next techs were mining, wheel, fishing, masonry and BW.

I would have gone warrior/quechua rushing anyway, but with a worker in hand that was made even more obvious. Thebes was added to the empire in 3400BC, although I had 3 quechuas perish against the lone defending warrior, but luckily I was cautious and had brought a fourth. I was eager to add another capital with quechuas but it took time to find other borders through the northern and eastern expanses. Finally stumbled upon American borders and declared, but didn't fancy 4 quechuas against 2 warriors fortified on a hill so abandoned that operation, though got a worker from it. Meanwhile stumbled on Portuguese borders and stole a worker there as well. The Portuguese and Americans gave more workers later on. Anyway, the American q-force was directed to Persia after I found them and I did manage to get Persepolis. Didn't bother with a second Persian city as it looked pretty bad.

Meanwhile I expanded as much as possible and of course wonderhogged as well, getting Stonehenge, Pyramids, GLH, MoM and a turn from Colossus at 1AD. Unfortunately the Oracle went earlier than expected (1040BC) so missed out on a CS sling. Teching goes well enough though with CS, MC and Music (nearly) in the bag, but with the sling could've been close to education I think. Well, cannot have it all. Not unhappy though with 18 cities and 97 pop, 16 workers. Likely will head for space.

Spoiler Overview :

 

[kcd_swede]

<started with farming the stone (I think that's the first time I ever did that )>
Potatos are good for you.

 

[Conquistador 63]

My game was in some aspects similar to @nocho 's, but of course his one is a very tough benchmark to match.

I also settled on the ivory and brought 4 quechuas to take Thebes in 3400BC, but luckily just lost one Q in the process.
Early tech path was a bit different, though. I went Mining>BW>Fishing>AH, but also farmed that stone for a while.

Of course I sent the initial Q's searching for more neighbors, found Cyrus and GW, but the battle odds were very scary so decided to just pillage for a while to stunt their growth.

With all that land and forests available, I tried to focus on peaceful expansion in the BC's, but as usual, the results of my efforts weren't the best. By 1AD the inca empire has 14 cities (86 pop), some 10 workers (really need to improve this aspect), and about 131 /t @40% (or 317 /t -168 /t @100%).
In 150BC I took the 1st of 4 Persian cities, more should fall soon.

Until the late BC's my only WW was The Oracle for CS (950BC), but just before 1AD I also had GLib, HG and the Confu shrine (Colossus is a couple turns from completion). Resisted the temptation of building Pyramids so far, even as IND and with stone connected, as there is enough happiness resources and I'm not running too many specialists yet.

Techwise I have up to Lit, Machinery and Feudalism, and currently planning to use Knights for the next phase of expansion. Most likely will head to space as well.

 

[Powerfaker]

Different aspects but a similar state here to @nocho benchmark.

I didn't go after Egypt immediately. Focused on chopping and settlers/workers => expand towards the marble
Thebes was conquered 1100BC and Memphis, hiding 2 workers, no sooner than 600BC.

At 1AD:
15 cities / 98 pop / 23 workers. Last settler for city16 just reached position.
Techs completed include MC / CS (900BC Oracle) / Philo / 2T from Music.
Doing 180 bpt at break even with tiny welth help, but no specialists. The idea is to run artist specialists only...........
Mids+Oracle yielded me a GE, that will probably go in a GAge. Parthenon and MoM are also completed.

Spoiler :

 

[kcd_swede]

@Powerfaker what victory condition are you aiming at or other goals? Running artist specialists would make it seem like a culture victory, but 16 cities seems somewhat overkill for culture victory. Just wondering.

 

[Powerfaker]

@kcd_swede
True and true.
I tried to let the artist remark speak for itself.
And yeah, 16 cities is overkill and probably will delay my win date a bit. My higher pop level will give me higher score though I think, so it's not all wasted. Adds a bit of fun for me to play with more cities.

Edit: it was so easy to get those cities, it doesn't feel like delaying anything

 

[lymond]

wow...I've not played or reported on a game in ages. Hopefully, I can finish this one.

Started with settling on ivory which was just simply logical here. Quickly found Hatty and studied on killing her asap. I was a little bit leery of Q rushing on Prince against warriors, but she was just so close and the start productive. I think I built 5 Qs to be sure. Then I attacked. Ha...she only had one warrior, but I still lost 3 Qs to kill that one dude. Also, the turn I attacked her worker popped out...nice.

From there I used Wash as a worker farm and just completely harassed him for a long time until I got some Elies up there. I think I may have stolen a worker from Persia at one point but otherwise left him alone. Meanwhile I expanded as best I could and built some wonders, or as seen in the screenshot some are finishing. MoM and Colossus are 1 turn from finishing. Parth is close but I've been using it for fail gold. Some of my settling decision were based around the fact I have GLH.

Only 14 cities, 87 pop. 2 settlers are out and on there way to settle (1 more on island and another to fill land in the East. Persia will go down in short order.

I've been casual on the unit builds. Mainly 2 cities have been building units with Machu Pichu - the nice ivory/copper/nanner city that I settled early - doing a fine job on WEs and Cuzco builds cats so fast. I do whip a cat here or there in other cities for the OF. Took Washington. Instead of finishing I let him move his settler out and then capped him. Idea was he'd have enough land eventually to be decent, plus I really wanted to focus on taking out Persia asap. I'm ready to hit Persia in a couple turns (and I do take him out in short order). So basically in several turns I will have upwards of 22 or more cities, can't remember.

Funny thing is when I attacked Persia, Wash (my vassal now) moves some of his archers way out doing who knows what, so Cyrus takes New York with one roaming Immortal. Ofc, I take that later anyway with just one WE...ha. So no vassal, but still get the city anyway I let through.

I will kill Persia as he has all coastal cities and I want them. I probably vassal at least one dude...probably Joao or Zara at some point.

I get some fail gold so Edu will be done in a coupla turns. Plan will be to tech Curs which should be pretty quick, and mess with everyone - not sure on victory though. My tech pace is quite nice and there is hidden fail gold all over. I've not really focused much on gpp, golden age or bulbing, though I'm set up for it. I did get two GSs. Used one for an academy and Philo bulb, which really was not necessary. I should have thought that through but figured I'd run a golden age sooner, which actually I'm no where near ready for Paci.

Music dude is patiently resting near Cuzco. No clue now when I'll run a Golden Age. Also, not sure what I'll use Lib on since there is no rush at all to use it. Depends on what I do here.

edit: oh..and Brennus has been at war wit Joao, Zara, and Asoka for a long time. Brennus does not even have IW yet but nothing much has happened with that war. Brennus is my next target....after Persia

some pics:

Spoiler Mainland :

Spoiler Murica :

Spoiler Tech :

 

[Frederiksberg]

Challenger save.

I settled on the coastal plains hill because I wanted to use the small hammer/gold boost from the almost immediately improved ivory. Turned out to be an excellent decision with Hatty nearby and a quechua rush in the cards. Tech path was AH-Mining-BW to keep the worker busy and the hammers flowing. At size 2 Cuzco was producing 7 hammers/turn. I expected Thebes to be guarded by two warriors or a warrior and an archer in this early stage even at the Deity level, because of the Prince starting units. A stack of 6 quechuas should be enough, and in 2920 BC Thebes was captured for the loss of only two quechuas. I'll probably aim for conquest or domination with diplomacy as a back-up VC. The trees are great for wonder building and may also assist in building an army soon. Brennus is backward, and it may be possible to do an elepult attack before he gets longbows. He is currently (1AD) at war with Asoka. Washington is the strongest of the AI but he is pleased and Darius is not a threat.

@ 1AD the Inca empire consists of 14 cities and 78 pop. 700 gold in the treasury and 3000 spy points against Washington who is about to be robbed blind of all his tech.

 

[Frederiksberg]

<started with farming the stone (I think that's the first time I ever did that )>
Potatos are good for you.

Farming the stone sounds like the life of a Swedish farmer back in the day . Highlights the drawback of settling ivory (a dilemma planned by the mapmaker, maybe ). Settling e.g. the plains hill allows for improving the ivory immediately and working the 1f3h3g tile.

... Thebes was added to the empire in 3400BC, although I had 3 quechuas perish against the lone defending warrior, but luckily I was cautious and had brought a fourth. ...

That was really unlucky. By my estimate, an attacker/defender ratio of 3:1 should be quite safe. In my game I lost only two quechuas when I attacked with 6 vs 2 (warriors).

... I'm first in score with 1025, am building catapults and measuring the Egyptian and Persian palaces for curtains , and feeling very optimistic--looks like this is a Deity(-lite) game I can likely win.

I also like the "Deity-lite" games. They are easier during the early game (less chance of a very early attack) but quite challenging as the AI's grow.

 

[MarleysGh0st]

I also settled on the Ivory. My early tech path was AH>Mining>BW>Fishing>Masonry. Chopping those tree helped my build Stonehenge and the Pyramids.

Unlike the others, I didn't try a Quechua rush. When I attacked Hatty in 860 BC, I completely misjudged how many units I'd need against the archers she now had. It took into 350 BC to finally capture her two cities. In 75 BC, I attacked Cyrus and took a border city.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I also didn't do a quechua rush. Instead I decided to use Hatty as a worker source, relying on that she had ivory in her BFC towards my borders. Kept a couple of quechuas around there, and took her worker as soon as it appeared to improve the ivory. I then managed I think it was about 4 or 5 rounds of declaring war and capturing a worker before 1AD.