[BTS] BOTM 271: Hammurabi, Deity - First Spoiler - 1AD

[DynamicSpirit]

BOTM 271: Hammurabi, Deity - First Spoiler - 1AD

Use this thread to tell us what happened in your game, up to 1AD

Reading Requirements
If you are participating in BOTM 271, 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]

I would have appreciated some--any!--discussion of strategy and where to settle, etc in the opening thread, but couldn't wait for you slackers! I was tempted by the clams but ended up settling on the stone, which I think has worked out OK. Got SH and the Great Wall, but missed out on Pyramids by around 10 turns. Fred got the Mids (and MoM), which solidified the decision to attack him first. At 1 AD I have 6 cities and 26 pop after a fair amount of whipping to prepare an army, which consists of 4 axes, 4 bowmen, 2 WE, and 8 cats vs 3 lbows (yeah, Fred has Feudalism and also just got Xbows), 3 swords, 3 axe, 2 spears, and 1 chariot in his city by the chokepoint (which conveniently contains the Mids and MoM). I will attack next turn.

My first GP was a Prophet, whom I settled for the 2 hammers and 5 gold. Opinions on the wisdom of that? Next was a Great Spy, whom I'm sending into Germany to explore and snag as many techs as I can--my tech status is not great. America is first in score with 1074--not sure how many cities they have because Gilly just demanded I cancel my deals with them--don't want to annoy the bully just before launching a war on the other front. Sumer is #2 with 898, Germany 818, me 622, and another AI 608.

GLH (and I think Colossus?) have already been built elsewhere, which makes me sad. I'll just have to go capture them. No way I can roll over Germany with this first foray, but he'll continue to be my focus for awhile--Gilly's land is pretty crappy, at least the area near us.

 

[Jimmy Thunder]

I settled in place and was trying to get Great Lighthouse but was way too slow, losing it handsomely around 1180 BC. Freddie started plotting so I built up some axes to defend the "neck". This was the right play because he DoWd me but couldn't get through. Gilgamesh started plotting next so I moved my axes over to the west in time to stop his invasion. I pushed in one of his cities using just axes but couldn't get a good peace deal and ended up giving it back to him.

I managed to squeeze in 8 cities and have started build cats which will be followed by elephants soon to try and take Freddie. I'm expecting a lot of Babylonian casualties.

I got an academy not long before 1AD but haven't got any cottages going. I have been playing with just 2 workers for almost all of the BCs.

I struggled to get good tradeworthy techs, often having to choose techs that most AIs already had during my semi-beeline for construction. I could use some player advice here from people who think they did a good job min/maxing the early tech this game.

Quite a few mistakes; had to cash- upgrade a warrior->axeman for defense, whipped a useless early lighthouse since I missed the GL, some unfortunate DOWs, and probably shouldn't have thrown my axe army at the Gilgamesh city. But the game is not over yet by any means.

 

[MirrorGuard]

I settled on the stone. After Germany placed 2nd city within my sight, I decided to beeline BW to look for copper. The good news is, two copper spots are quite near; the bad news is, neither has food tile within the inner square. I hesitated for a long time and eventually made my choice: I placed my 2nd city 1S to the northern copper to share the dry corn. It was a bad decision as the capital city doesn't have a 2nd food tile. But it made space for a barbarian city among flood plains and gold. My original plan was to rush Frederich with axeman. This barb city gave me not only a free city, but also the exp to upgrade 4 axemen to siege2...I built 20 axemen, lost 11 and captured 4 German cities including the Confucious Holy city and Berlin(with the GW and Mids inside). Before AD1, I killed Frederich and my elepult army moved near the US border.

 

[nocho]

I also settled on stone and initially expanded to 5 cities and got the Great Wall. Germany built an annoying city NE of the corn that unfortunately wouldn't flip despite being 98% Babylonian at some point. Then he got culture into it and the hope of a free city slowly faded. Germany also took a barb city to the west next to the cow, so that stopped peaceful expansion, although could've squeezed in another city but it had to go onto the southern bronze so it wasn't all that worthwhile. I actually was pretty lucky early on that a gold popped on the hill that the settler started on initially.

Partly thanks to that my tech pace was quite okay for deity so I went for construction and HBR and prepared an elepult army for Fred. I declared and got the annoying city and the closest city to the choke point which had the Pyramids (yay!) and the Kong Miao. My advance petered out as Fred got magic longbows while I ran out of cats, so just signed peace in 1AD. I still have a decent number of elephants (that are probably not enough to smash into LBs on their own), so I'll likely restock on cats the coming turns and try to finish Fred off after that. I met all AIs, Boudica looks surprisingly strong as she's joined techleader with Pacal (neither of whom I know where their territory is), so that might be scary combined with her bloodlust.

I'll get CS in 3 turns which noone has yet. I got a GSpy that I ended up settling which hopefully will be worth it in the long run.

 

[kcd_swede]

I thought religious cheese was my best bet here... but was forced to get so many useful worker techs that by the time I got Theocracy, one turn later Roosevelt built the AP. I and my neighbors are pleased in Judaism, but now its Hindu that will matter. I have the techs for an elepult war, but Feudalism is out there so it is probably not a winning strategy. I have 5 cities and 21 population, latest techs are metal casting and horseback riding. I am way behind in culture, and not enough land for space (which is impossible at deity level, for me) so I am stalled at 1ad with only AP or Diplo as possible victory paths. Maybe there is a lot of land I could colonize, but I suspect all the AI will beat me to it. I think my only chance is to kill or vassal one of my happy neighbors, though I am sure this will lead to my downfall. It is deity, and an archer wouldn't help me in this situation, so balls to the wall (referring to WW2 bomber saying where the throttles were shaped in spherical form and pushing them to the wall meant full speed ahead), I will report my catastrophic failures in the next spoiler, probably ... unless Mike Johnson will allow a vote to get me the weapons I need to stay alive. LOL.