Bz8 - 5CC AWE (small map)

[betazed]

Bz7 died a long time ago and I went away from succession games. Time to come back.

The title says it all. Apart from map size and game variant nothing is fixed as of now.

This game will be in C3C. I would like to play in the latest patch but if the majority prefers 1.15b that is fine with me too.

Sign up and post your comments about civ type, map type etc.

Players:
Arizona_Steve
Mark1031
betazed
Greebley
Gengis Khan
jb1964

Roster Closed.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Since LotR13 runs relatively slowly, I'll sign up for this. Should be a fun challenge. I can play either 1.15 or 1.22 (I have both installed).

 

[betazed]

Steve, you are in.

Any ideas for which civ you would prefer?

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Hmm... My top choices in no particular order...

Romans - Commercial trait will help with unit support and research. Militaristic for cheap barracks and more leaders. Awesome UU in the Legionary.
China - Not so sure about the usefulness of Industious with only five cities, although it gives us walls from the start. Militaristic and an awesome UU make it a good choice though.
Greece - Commercial and Scientific, plus a UU that will help us in early war. Although a Despotic golden age might be a problem.

I personally like the Romans and Chinese. Golden Age would be better timed with Chinese riders. Scientific may be useful for the extra tech at each era. Religious, Seafaring, Expansionist, Agricultural are all relatively useless for this varient.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Map choices. Continents, any percentage (60% ocean would be the biggest challenge). Temporate, Wet, 4 billion years (wet gives us more rivers, and therefore fewer aqueducts).

Opponents. Might want to avoid expansionist as we will meet them earlier. Avoid Aztecs and Inca for the same reason.

 

[betazed]

Ok. So Romans it is. We will wait for others to join but if you so desire you can start a map and post it. I am currently at work and can only do so when I get back (in about 4-5 hours).

Let's make it C3C 1.22.

 

[Mark1031]

I'd like to join. What difficulty level? monarch or emperor seems possible.

 

[betazed]

I'd like to join. What difficulty level? monarch or emperor seems possible.

Welcome aboard mark1031. It is an AWE (Always War Emperor).

 

[Arizona_Steve]

@Betazed - I'm also at work right now, so I'll leave it up to you to start the game.

 

[betazed]

Ok. Here is the start and save.

This was the first start that came up. Looks good. We are on a river (as you said wet). We see a gold hill and we have a wheat. Let's get those 5 cities up and running.

The save.

Edit: Steve when you get the chance play the first 20 turns. As others join I will update the roster. We will go 20 turns for the first player and then 10 turns per player after that.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

OK. I'll play as soon as I get home (in about three hours).

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Initial thoughts.

The start position is not ideal. We will need to get the maximum productivity out of each city that we settle. If there are coastal tiles within the city's 21, we need to settle on the coast otherwise we lose one food per coastal tile as a result of not being able to build a harbor.

I see no single move that will put us on both the coast and the river. It looks like one move either North or North-West will give us a city that is on the river, but does not contain coast in any of it's 21. Of these two North-West looks like the better option, as it will bring in the wheat and one bonus grassland immediately, while grabbing the other three visible bonus grasslands once it's borders expand. We will also get that gold hill in range, while avoiding the tundra to the North-West of it.

So I propose moving the settler one tile North-West. Any other thoughts, suggestions?

 

[betazed]

makes sense. We do not want a water tile for our capital unless it is on the coast. I think towards the north there is tundra. I can see a little white there. I just hope moving NW does not bring a whole set of tundra tiles into the capitals border. I guess it is a worthwhile risk.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Umm. One problem. I founded Rome and immediately noticed that accelerated production has been switched on. This is definitely non-standard for a succession game, and I can see all hell breaking loose once we meet another civ.

I would prefer to restart without the accelerated production. Do you want me to go ahead and generate a new start?

 

[betazed]

Umm. One problem. I founded Rome and immediately noticed that accelerated production has been switched on. This is definitely non-standard for a succession game, and I can see all hell breaking loose once we meet another civ.

I would prefer to restart without the accelerated production. Do you want me to go ahead and generate a new start?

Oops. Sorry. Yeah sure, go ahead and start with a new one.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Generated the following map:

Small, 70% Ocean, Continents.
Temporate, Wet, 4 Biilion Years.
Sedentary Barbarians.
Emperor Level.
Accelerated Production off.

I took the first map that was generated.

 

[betazed]

Looks good. Let's go with this one.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

(0) 4000BC
I begin by moving the worker onto the bonus grassland. It looks like we have a nice riverside start that won't have any coastal tiles in it's 21, so we settle immediately.
Settling Rome reveals a goody hut just outside the border. Since we don't want to pop anything bad when the borders expand, I immediately order up a barracks.
Research set to Bronze Working @ 100%. Due in 19.

(5) 3750BC
Bonus Grassland mined. Road started.
I hit F10 at this time and note that our opponents are the Dutch, Japanese, Americans, Mongols and Spanish.

(8) 3600BC
Barracks complete, start warrior. Science down to 80%.

(9) 3550BC
Borders expand, and the friendly Gaul tribe give us maps of the region. We have a corner location (good for Always War), with wines and incense within easy reach.
Luxury tax up to 10%.

(10) 3500BC
Our worker has to lose a turn crossing the river to get to the wheat, but I wanted to get some production up and running first.
Luxuries to 10%, science back to 60%. Rome is now size 2.

(13) 3350BC
Our first warrior is trained, and he is sent out to scope a limited area around our capital. An archer is ordered up.

(15) 3250BC
Uh-oh. A Dutch warrior wanders up to our borders. This could get ugly fast. There is no way I will trade Warrior Code for the Bronze Working and Pottery he has on offer (particularly as we're due to get Bronze Working in 4 turns anyway). At least this means he'll send warriors our way for a while.
I have to pull our warrior back. Let's see if he goes for the worker.
War is declared on the Dutch.

(16) 3200BC
Mr Dutchman goes for our worker. I pull him back into Rome and our warrior joins him.

(17) 3150BC
The Dutch warrior fortifies where he stands. Waiting for his friends no doubt.
Rome grows to size 3 and 10% luxuries remains enough to keep the poplace happy.

(18) 3100BC
Begin forest chop to speed the next archer.
Science dropped to 30% getting us Bronze Working this turn, and netting us two gold.

(19) 3050BC
Bronze working has come in and I select The Wheel.
Rome builds an archer and starts another.
I send the warrior/archer pair to kill the Dutch warrior squatting in our territory. Luxuries have to go to 30% and science to 50%.

(20) 3000BC
The Dutch warrior moved next to Rome this turn, hoping for an easy conquest victory. Our archer takes him down without losing any hitpoints, and the warrior moves back into Rome. Luxuries go back to 10% and science to 70%.

Summary: We got contact a little too early for comfort. Expect the Dutch to send their starting units our way in the next ten turns or so.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

Damn the Dutch! I wanted to get at least a little exploring done before the fighting. The goody hut outside Rome's borders did give us two luxury-grabbing city sites though. I'd go for the Incense first, as I have a feeling the Dutch are in that direction.

 

[betazed]

A mite unlucky about the Dutch. We could have used a few more turns worth of exploration.

Mark1031 you are up.