BuShiDo - the Way of Exploit - Tackling 1 vs. 7 Deity Standard Pangaea

[maltz]

U. Infatry + Artillery

With Infantry's improved combat stats, melee units are again useful for taking cities whose defense is not higher than 50 or so. And they pretty much kill everything in a hit on their favorite terrain. This will make the rest of the game a lot easier.

Spoiler :

205. Upgrade complete! And Washington's Settler must not be allowed to pass! By this time I have burned down Tianjin and Hangzhou. So I guess the ultra-aggressive AI Settlers really want to pop a city in those empty space.

Spoiler :

206. The Second Division starts its assault on Edinburgh. Easily liberated.

Spoiler :

207. More enemy units appeared. They are now two geneartions behind! I wonder why the AIs took so long to get Rifleman?

Spoiler :

208. More French units attempt to cross from sea. More aiming practice.

Spoiler :

209. The AI team still has a large number of units. But they are quickly taken care of by Infantry. I can be bold to send them deeper into enemy's territory without worrying that they'll get killed in the end turn. There are two small French cities to the west.

Spoiler :

210. And there is a larger American city to the north. And here is something that should belong to a museum - a catapult! What is Washington thinking... no iron? The two tiles of Iron in Philadelphia have not been mined.

Spoiler :

211. With the help of more Artillery, the Third Division also advances west. Washington just popped a small city here. Nothing in it - razed.

Spoiler :

212. Here is my tech plan for the very end game - full speed to Electronics for Mechanized Infantry. There will be another Great Scientist (the 3rd one) from Kyoto soon. The actual turn might come a little earlier due to increased research rate.

Spoiler :

213. Almost let a French Settler sneak through. So close.

Spoiler :

214. Now I see there is indeed a barbarian camp in the shadow, and another mysteriously captured Settler! I love these camps. Somehow there is an uninjured barbarian Infantry there. I guess the AI escort unit was killed by something else, which has been killed, and the Infantry is actually a new spawn from the camp.

Spoiler :

215. The Second Division goes north and took Boston. Lots and lots of American units keep appearing, but the Infantry only had to make the last attack.

Spoiler :

216. The Great Scientist is here to invent Electronics some turns later. Have a good sleep for now. I have a total of 10 units of Oil in the capital. I don't really have any use of it. But I will build a well on it anyway.

Spoiler :

217. The Third Division easily liberated Vienna. Again, the Infantry only had to make the last attack. The Third Division has very weak melee. So I let Artillery do all the work.

Spoiler :

218. The First Division is ready to take the smaller French city to the north, Avignon. I will ignore Grenoble to the South since it has no strategic value. Then I will turn to Pheladelphia.

Spoiler :

219. Washington is in sight! So close, so defenseless, so hopeless.

Spoiler :

220. Napoleon and Isabella are still sending more units up. Easily demolished.

Spoiler :

221. Napoleon has a Great Scientist! Too bad it was just outside my Infantry's reach.

 

[maltz]

Spoiler :

222. Almaty gave me another unit! This time it is an Anti-tank Gun. Now where is the tank?! At least I can use it to maul down a few more units before it gets killed.

Spoiler :

223. Another 18 turns have passed to accmulated 1400 EXP. I really have no use of it, but I think it is too mean to sacrifice him to start an unecessary Golden Age at this point. So I sent him to the battlefield anyway.

Spoiler :

224. Washington has fallen!

Spoiler :

225. And the Himeji Castle finally belongs to Japan. Now the AIs will get killed even sooner when they step into my territory. But they probably won't even have the chance to step into my territory.

Spoiler :

226. The Third Division will take care of New York, while the Second Division can move on to Liberate Geneva. That's the last of the 16 City State.

Spoiler :

227. My amry size swelled and the AI's dwindle. The ratio has drastically reduced to 1:1.69. That's really misleading... the Most AIs unit die on the very turn that they appear on screen. My income is now exactly the sum of AIs!

Spoiler :

228. The Anti-tank Gun is actually a melee unit. So it demolished the Cannon with ease. Almaty is still alive and well. I am really curious why the AI still does not have Rifleman.

Spoiler :

229. One more policy to Planned Economy. 14 turns left! It actually come sooner since I am about to enter Modern Era, and Cultural CS's contribution will further increase.

Spoiler :

230. I have Aluminum at home, and it is already improved by Egypt 3000 years ago! Credit goes to Ramey.

Spoiler :

231. My Frigate finally traveled to Almaty and help with defense. Almaty lives!

Spoiler :

232. Geneva liberated by the Second Division. A large number of Spanish units appeared. Keep coming.

Spoiler :

233. The siege of New York starts!

Spoiler :

234. Washington has 6 wonders, three for each of his two starting cities. Thanks!

Spoiler :

235. Two more capitals to go! My land area has finally surpassed the sum of AIs.

 

[vanjito]

I wonder why the AIs took so long to get Rifleman?

I believe it's because the AI favors their UU's as 'something special' or maybe better cost/value unit so it's spamming them instead of Rifleman.
(Washington, Napoleon and Isabella all have Musketman UU's).

And once built money can't upgrade Musket to Rifle so you're stuck fighting 2 level inferior melee

 

[Rittmeyer]

maltz:

amazing thread, really. if you could take a request, I would love to see how you would play domination when starting with no acess to iron (and no UU like keshik or the songhai one). it could be in a game like this or even a normal deity game.

if you can't manage to post another entire game, some general strategy would be nice too.

 

[leflings]

Huge thumbs up for your effort and skill. You make it seem like a walk in a park to simply take on 7 teamed opponents on deity

How much of a difference would you say Japan's UA makes in this particular scenario?

 

[vanjito]

It's not such a big deal if you don't have Iron, just buy it from someone and conquer someone else that has it... A bit more fuss, but not much

On the other hand 1 vs. 7 without Iron 'all standard' seems impossible

 

[Rittmeyer]

It's not such a big deal if you don't have Iron, just buy it from someone and conquer someone else that has it... A bit more fuss, but not much

On the other hand 1 vs. 7 without Iron 'all standard' seems impossible

you are not adressing the problem. If you are buying from someone it means you DO have acess to iron, not just on your land. I mean if you can't buy it from the AI, take it from a CS ally or have it in your land.

also, "conquer someone else that has it" has absolutely no meaning, since I'm asking about how to conquer someone without having iron in the first place (on deity - son no warrior rush or something like that).

 

[maltz]

maltz:
how you would play domination when starting with no acess to iron

My first reaction is Ottoman's Janissary rush accompanied by Cannons (which can be covered by two successive Free techs from Porcelain Tower and the first G-Sci from University.). With Honor policy tree, they will quickly catch up to have March and Blitz. And Rifling is just around the Corner. I tried that before and was absolutely shocked by their Alien-like effectiveness all the way especially in their ultimate evolution (Mechanized Infantry). They will eat through a "sea of doom" like Packman on little yellow dots.

And before the rush begins, one can take a peaceful approach. Or, without UU it is still possible to cripple the first opponent (stealing their 2nd, relatively defenseless cities really early on) with some Warrior rush and secure a fat peace treaty. But it requires some luck. I believe pure NC start + RAs is still able to see the beginning of a Janissary rush relatively soon. As people can beat OCC games for any kind of victory with the use of RAs - even without!

 

[ds61234]

Hi Maltz,

If at all, how would you go about adjusting your strategy for a domination victory against AIs not teamed together? What about for the emperor difficulty level?

 

[maltz]

How much of a difference would you say Japan's UA makes in this particular scenario?

Thanks. I was able to get the March promotion a lot earlier thanks to the free Shock promotion of Japanese Samurai. That made a very big difference in early stages vs. China, Greece, France, and Spain all together (about turn 120-130).

I find the game quite a bit easier than I expected, as the AI team's technology "withered" starting in mid-game. I was expecting a lot more liberal usage of Great Scientists. I once teamed up with Wu Zetian in another game, and she popped 3 free techs for our team before Turn 200.

 

[maltz]

Hi Maltz,

If at all, how would you go about adjusting your strategy for a domination victory against AIs not teamed together? What about for the emperor difficulty level?

Early expansion with Long Swordsman is still the most straight forward way. You can do Research Agreements to pop Steel and save 3 policy points for something else (how about Honor for very early Great General and that 1.5X EXP bonus?). I know money is a little short on Emperor and the AIs are not rich enough to fund all your possible RAs. But a National College start followed by settling a few cities to grab resources should still help you to see Steel and hack down your first neighbor or two early enough.

I also suggest you find some Domination game reports to see what people do in better details. I learned a lot from people's experiences...

 

[maltz]

V. Mechanized Infantry + Artillery

Soon, the game enters the final stage with Mechanized Infantry and Artillery. Mechanized Infantry with Blitz promotion can make up to 4 (!) attacks on a city. So they can operate completely on their own to take down city after city.

Spoiler :

236. Suddenly, the First Division reported that Napoleon now has his unique Infantry Foreign Legion, almost completely skipped Rifleman in the middle (with one exception visible in the above picture). So I decided to avoid the tougher Napoleon and go for the weaker Isabella, who was still fielding Renaissance melee units. I pulled most of the First Division to join force with the Second Division - Barcelona is the next!

Spoiler :

237. Easy task. And more and more of my units are pouring into the area between Barcelona and Philadelphia.

Spoiler :

238. Napoleon's foreign ligion had their very important mission - to proect Settlers. So if I kill one unit protecting the Settler, the AI should send another unit up to defend it. Making them very easy stationary target.

Spoiler :

239. Here comes another Settler! No chance for you. With the Anti-tank Gun's help, Almaty seems to have repelled all invaders. Shame on Napoleon who lost to Anti-tank Gun and an un-garrisoned city.

Spoiler :

240. The AI team got their own Infantry, but that balance of power disappeared so soon - the Modern Era has arrived by the invention of Electronics. This is my 5th free tech of the game. I had been saving up for this upgrade for a while. Now I have 7887 gold.

Spoiler :

241. And after all Infantry are upgraded, I only have 2161 gold left! And I have a huge army of Mechanized Infantry, ready to wipe Napoleon and Isabella off the map! But first, the Destroyer will kick some ass on the sea.

Spoiler :

242. While upgrading my Caravel to Destroyer, I found the last remaining natural wonder sticking out in deep cloud. That's some insane visibility of the Destroyer.

Spoiler :

243. Division One, Two, Three piled up. With 7 double-attack Artillery and 2-3 of them with +1 range, there is nothing that can get even close to this cloud of death. But Napoleon was sneaky - one of his settler restored Avignon! It lasted for less than a turn. But my happiness again dipped to -10 while razing it.

Spoiler :

244. After the massive Mechanized Infantry upgrade, the soldier ratio of the both team are finally "equal" the first time in history.

Spoiler :

245. But it is far from equal in reality. More like... 110 vs. 16.2.

Spoiler :

246. Isabella brings her teammate to beg for peace for one last time. I can't help but noticed her 9188 gold in reserve. Why doesn't she purchase Infantry non-stop? At least she can survive a little longer.

Spoiler :

247. I started reseaching Radio, hoping to rush the Effel Tower (+8 Happiness) with my next Great Enginner. But my game ended sooner than that. Spanish Madrid in sight! Four elite Mechanized Infantry will finish that job! I recalled who agreed to my first peace treaty unconditionally. In order to show my return of mercy, I am going to skip ahead to the result...

Spoiler :

248. The Forbiddn Palace! Happiness again returns to positive. Positive 0 after taking into account of the city's own population.

Spoiler :

249. One last capital to go! That honor goes to Napoleon, who had been the most successful and powerful Civ among the 7 members of the AI team.

Spoiler :

250. The army moved south, consuming everything in its way. Orlean is next!

Spoiler :

251. Paris is in sight. Just one step away from the end.

Spoiler :

252. And just before the end, I gathered enough cultural point for the last major Happiness policy - Planned Economy. I have 24 cities. So it is +24 Happiness!

Spoiler :

253. Just before the final attacks. My Destroyers have joined from the southwest. They can't hit the city, but they can hit the workers.

Spoiler :

254. That's the end of the game! I have never had this much fighting in a single game before. I almost had my 8th Great General out. In a normal domination game the most I have was 5 Great Generals. I know a lot of people hate the one-tile-one-unit system for it largely reduced the military challenge of the game. I recommend trying a 1 vs. 7 - I guarantee that your cannons will overheat.

Spoiler :

255. The final stats. The AI team still has 82% of my military strength, scattered here and there.

Spoiler :

256. The final score.

Spoiler :

257. Paris has Notre Dame. I was building it in Osaka and lost the race to Napoleon. With Notre Dame, my happiness climbs up to +26 (that +35 has not taken account of Paris's population). But this is more of an illusion of my citizen's happiness, since even 4 turns ago it went down again to -10. My pace of expansion is not perfectly coupled with my happiness policy activation.

Spoiler :

258. List of cities. As I converted every riverside tile to Trade Posts in puppet cities, I controlled population quite well. Most of my units are actually Workers. Not until the final few turns did I start disbanding them. They rushed to connect my new territories and allow my army Divisions to move quickly.

Spoiler :

259. Final picture of the score. The French soldiers in Lyon felt their legs shaking, because those Mechanized Infantry and Artillery could have taken that down easily. But I just got lazy.

In the final section below, I am going to summarize the game and give some discussion on strategies.

 

[maltz]

W. Postgame Thoughts

I had a wonderul time with this game. It was very exciting and intense for the most part. And even when not playing, my mind was full of "what should I do next" during the few days that I was on it.

But the game is a little less difficult than I expected. I thought each AI would pop around 3 techs, so I will be running a very tight arm race - even falling behind sometimes. But in reality I was the military tech leader all the way to the end.

Spoiler :

262. I really missed the days when the end-game would show some historical curves. So I made a few based on my own screenshots. This one is the Literacy Rate (technology tree completeness). I showed an earlier version before. After the deadly crossing around T144, I was maintaining a stable lead to the end. The gap did not widen significantly as my own progress also slowed down. Maybe the AIs were finally popping techs in the late stage. That French Great Scientist was never seen again.

Judging from the graph, the turning point comes around T100, when I had University and Scholasticism to turn the table around. In reality, I think every rush on military tech as well as the earliest possible Education are critical to the game. City States did not make all the difference as it was only about 30-50% of my own research. But their other bonuses are really good to have, enabling me to get enough policy to sustain happiness demand.

Spoiler :

260. Another interesting comparison is military power. The AI's combined military power enjoyed an overwhelming surge between Turn 55 and 70. That correspond to my attack on Songhai. If I waited for longer, I would face a much stronger resistance like what I saw in Egypt. The AI continued to produce more and more soldiers even if they get killed at a very rapid rate. The appearnce of Artillery does mark the decline of the AI team's military strength. And it dropped like bubbled house market afterwards.

Spoiler :

261. It is interesting when I look at the Production values, which roughly translate to the military strength of tomorrow. AI's production peaked earlier - around Turn 135 or so. Beijing was fallen on Turn 136, and that is still quite early in the most intense war period. So the real turning point occured a little earlier than I observed. Just that I had to first digest the units that have been produced in previous turns.

I hope you had fun with the write-up. I hope you all have very exciting and memorable games. I will keep this one to my memory. I am sure many of you are capable of completing tougher challenges, and even the courage of taking a shot deserves a great story to enjoy for the evening.

 

[vanjito]

Great storytelling and great play Maltz!

I hope this hasn't exhausted the challenge of the game for you and that you'll write more stories

 

[Arilian]

I was 100% sure you will be fine for a while then got Nuked to the stone age

I could do this in Marathon, but not in standard, excellent execution.

 

[Rex_Mundi]

Great writeup!

After reading this I'm considering trying the same thing, only with Monty.
I hope the extra culture will help me manage my happiness.

Thank you very much.

 

[leflings]

Btw, you should check out the InfoAddict mod. Doesnt alter gameplay but gives you graphs and stuff

 

[maltz]

Btw, you should check out the InfoAddict mod. Doesnt alter gameplay but gives you graphs and

Looks very good! Thanks!

 

[sir_toast]

this strategy let me destroy on prince level. i was doing so well that i decided mid-game to go for a diplomatic victory instead and still got it in 1800's

 

[Shakira42]

What an excellent walkthrough, Maltz. Congratulations on a stunning, well executed game.

I really thought the AI would mass up and pulverize you around Iron time, but you played the war/peace cycles beautifully.
I'm also amazed that the AI never sailed a few settlers around the bend and settled all that open area in the east. You probably would have demolished them anyway, but I never get away with leaving area like that open.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to produce this for us. It is much appreciated.