Challenge-XVIII-07

[Noble Zarkon]

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While the general Hall of Fame is an ongoing competition, we are running a series of ten games called the Hall of Fame Challenge Series - "Fall of the Inca". Standard Hall of Fame rules (*) still apply, but your best submission meeting the settings of one of the games will be counted towards the Challenge.

(*) Please read the >> HOF rules << BEFORE playing!
(*) Games must be played using the >> BUFFY MOD 3.19.003 << or >>>BUFFY MOD 3.19.004b<<<.
(*) Games to be submitted via the >> Civ IV Hall of Fame Website <<
(*) New players, please >> register << using your CFC forum name
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Settings:

• Victory Condition: Diplomatic (though all victory conditions must be enabled)
• Difficulty: Deity
• Starting Era: Ancient
• Map Size: Small
• Speed: Epic
• Map Type: Continents
• Civ: America (Franklin Roosevelt)
• Opponents: Must include Egypt (Hatshepsut), Ethiopia (Zara Yaqob), Mali (Mansa Musa), Mongolia (Genghis Khan)
• Version: 3.19.003 or 3.19.004b
• Date: 25th January to 24th July 2017

Must not play as Inca.
The earliest finish date wins, with score as a tiebreaker.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

** Please note in response to some feedback re the number of Marathon games we have changed this one to Epic. **

 

[Thlypsis]

Giving this one a go with OCC option! I'm a bit rusty at Civ4 and googling didn't answer, so I beg the community for help:

It is turn 299. I have just completed the UN. I expect to be declared secretary general next turn. When is the next vote where I may choose diplomatic victory? Game speed is epic. I ask because I'd like to pay Mansa to switch to representation right before the final vote, then switch to universal suffrage myself. This would be to sway Gandhi's favor from Mansa to me. Mansa just built Cristo Redentor, so timing has to be spot-on. Thanks in advance!

 

[Pangaea]

Maybe it's every 12 turns on Epic, as most things are x1.5. However, you can check this by going to the Victory screen and Members (iirc). There is a counter for when the next votes are.

 

[Thlypsis]

Maybe it's every 12 turns on Epic, as most things are x1.5. However, you can check this by going to the Victory screen and Members (iirc). There is a counter for when the next votes are.

Ah, yes. Thanks! I'll post here if I score a win.

 

[Thlypsis]

Got it! 1440 AD. I sweated a little - that 'turns until next vote' counter goes to 0, but Mansa did not switch back to universal suffrage the turn after I bribed him to switch to representation.

I did OCC to enable Oxford University, and high seas to limit the AI's explosive teching. The big mistake (that I know of) was forgetting to bulb education with my parked great scientist then missing liberalism by a few turns.

After several maps of either getting steamrolled by of trying to ally with Genghis Khan, I got a great start with Mansa, Hammurabi, Zara and Gandhi on my peaceful continent. I was surprised to need so much focus on culture, as Gandhi's and Mansa's smaller cities kept swallowing up my borders.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Thlypsis' idea of playing a One City Challenge game was a wise decision. I hadn't even considered the possibility when I started my games, but I found it incredibly hard to get land for additional Cities, so I can see how OCC has its appeal.

I tried several times--stealing a Worker from Genghis seemed to consistently lead to a Conquest Defeat, whether he came at me with Chariots, Axemen, or even a stack of Archers. Hatty would often box me in with her fast-expanding Cultural Borders such that I couldn't settle a second City.

Finally, I settled on a map where I had Peter as a nearby neighbour and with his help, took over land from Frederick and Victoria, who were the only others on our continent. Mansa being on the opposing continent with Hatty, Zara, and Genghis meant that their tech pace was quite high, but when I finally did meet them, at least Mansa didn't go into We Fear You Are Becoming Too Advanced mode, due to not meeting him until relatively late in the tech tree.

Genghis set the stage by declaring war on me and later Zara joined in, so I made it my mission to capture their overseas lands. Meanwhile, Peter's Culture kept Culture-flipping my Cities or at least keeping my Cities from growing large, so I really needed the extra overseas land to avoid being up against Peter in the vote, who was my best buddy but who also had far more population points than I had.

In the end, Hatty also voted for me, with Mansa flipping to a conflicting Religion at the last minute, so I missed getting his votes. But, thanks to grabbing a lot of Cities myself, I'd only really needed my votes plus Peter's votes to pull off a win.

Still, it wasn't a fast win, and I can see how not needing to go to war (due to not being able to capture additional Cities in a OCC game making warring a far less useful approach) would have helped out a lot.

Maybe a non-OCC game could work, given enough early war success, but some of these Deity AIs field such large armies, and they nearly-instantly upgrade their Units when receiving the right Techs either through research or trading such that warring can be heavily stacked against you.