BOTM 285: DeGaulle, Prince - First Spoiler - 1AD

[MarleysGh0st]

BOTM 285: DeGaulle of France: Always War/Always Peace - First Spoiler - 1AD

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

Did you choose the Contender or Challenger save? Are you happy with your choice?

Reading Requirements
If you are participating in BOTM 285, 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

 

[nocho]

Entertaining game so far! As per usual I probably played a bit too quickly until now, but at least no major disasters have struck yet. I did settle in place, I wondered for a while whether to try and warrior rush some one, but decided against it as it looked a bit risky with these settings. In retrospect it might have worked, as of course we were safe from 3 sides and Berlin was only defended by one warrior for quite some time, though without strong hammer tiles closeby it might've taken too long anyway. Anyway, didn't want to risk screwing up too early what promised to be a fun game.

Second city went at stone/corn to the east, and was somewhat surprised to lose out on Stonehenge before 2000 BC, I thought that AIs would be more busy building units early on. I did get the Great Wall, though it was hardly important with the lay of the land. It did give a GSpy though towards the ADs, that so far I forgot to take out scouting. I have hardly scouted beyond Germany, though we do see some Dutch borders and of course Spanish borders across the northern shores. I'm only at 8 cities and 34 pop, but the land has been improved quite a bit and I'm heading to acquiring Germany soon. Construction is done and HBR will be next turn, so elepults should easily rip through Bismarck's possessions. On the wonder front, I also got GLH and the Pyramids, but should still adopt representation.

The Dutch and Celts seem to handle the hostilities just fine, poor Pericles seems toast however. Not a clue yet where he lives, but he has only 1 city and an abysmal power rating so that doesn't bode too well for Greece. I guess for me long term it's good news if my friends perish as that land will be easier to take under these settings.

 

[Conquistador 63]

Very nice setup indeed!
Kudos to our mapmaker for giving us a very protected starting area. We also settled in place.
With the resources around, tech path was Hunting/AH/Mining/Myst/BW/Fishing. Initial builds were worker/warrior/SH (completed in 2560BC)/settler.

Our 2nd city went at horses/clams/ivory to the SE, 3rd to corn/stone, then the next 6 ones were coastal, always grabbing some seafood and at least another resource, IIRC.
Early chariots were crucial to repel German archers, then proceeded to choke Berlin and its surroundings. Later, our axemen took and razed an ill placed German city next to an iron source to the SE, and at 0AD we have some 8 units prepared to capture Berlin next turn, and eliminate Bismarck from the game.

Apparently, we were the only civ in our game who bothered to build any wonder. Besides the very cheap and useful SH (for a CHA/IND leader), we built TGW (after connecting stone, just for the peace of mind, not really useful so far, but somehow got me 2 GSpies who are just scouting enemy lands); Mids; Oracle (CS in 500AD); and the GLH.

Techwise, we got Alpha from WvO early enough, and are up to CS; Currency; MC and Construction. 9 cities, 51 pop, 8 workers. Running Rep/Bureau/Slavery. Got Confu from CoL but did not bother to adopt a religion yet.

Next target should be Stalin. Izzy could be a problem, but I guess she will be too busy with WvO for a while.

 

[Xcalibrator]

I too settled in place, and have 8 cities and 40 pop, with the very recent addition of Berlin. Missed out on the Oracle, which went 875 to the Celts--I should have focused more. But I did get the Mids 400 and GLH 200, and Berlin has Stonehenge. I think my Moai city will be to the SW, that site with the two seafood, some floodplains, and a bunch of dry hills. Germany just hooked up some metal in their second city, SE of Berlin, but I pillaged it pretty quickly. Barbs weren't a problem at all, thanks to fogbusting. The warring AIs have been rather passive--only one or two units from Germany have ventured west, but I guess that's because I have a few of my own units lurking in their land to make them nervous. Kind of a big map, and not sure what I'm aiming for. Maybe Domination? And if that won't work then maybe Space?

 

[BornInCantaloup]

I played to 1 AD in something like 6 sessions. So I rather took my time.
I did hit some minor setbacks here and there. Our neighbour actually played his role rather well, well... for the most part . But, over all I was able to hit what targets I'd set for myself.
My basic strategy has been to focus on peaceful expansion, while I would use a minimal force of warriors and then axemen to control the threats. It is possible I have not been agressive enough but this still looks like a successful game.
Among the AIs own successes : I did let some archers slip through and camp one of my cities for a very long time. I captured a city and lost it to another AI just a couple of turns later. Just now I sent a settler forward but haven't yet been able to settle because I've met an invading force (of 3 archers). My espionnage points have been focused on our allies and, while I do not have vision, I fear Pericles might not survive this game. The Dutch have lost and recaptured cities to Spain but they are hanging on. It isn't only the AIs but also Barbarians keep entering foreign borders to stirr trouble and kill units.

At 1 AD, I can look at 11 cities and a wandering settler
+340 -124 at 100% slider ; +42 +105 at 0% slider.
Paris has reached size 16 with the help of the Hanging Gardens, completed this turn. This boost gives me 82 pop overall.
Completed wonders include : The Great Lighthouse 1080 BC, The Pyramids 850 BC, The Oracle 725 BC, The Colossus 225 BC, The Hanging Gardens 25 BC.
21 tiles are cottaged. 9 granaries, 4 libraries, 4 lighthouse, 4 forges, 3 monuments.

I got some fail gold from the Great Wall but really not much and this is probably another point I could have focused more on.

I researched Machinery to speed up the "war effort" and will complete my 2nd maceman next turn.
Tech wise, I want a Golden Age for a switch to Caste System and Religion, so I am now working on acquiring Music, Philosophy and The Mausoleum of Mausoles.
After that, I am uncertain whether to go towards Education or Banking first. As for win con, there could be merit to a UN win.