Challenge-XXII-07

[Noble Zarkon]

While the general Hall of Fame is an ongoing competition, we are running a series of ten games under the Hall of Fame Challenge Series XXII called "The Weakest Link". 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 3.19.005 <<
(*) Games to be submitted via the >> Civ IV Hall of Fame Website <<
(*) New players, please >> register << using your CFC forum name

Settings:

• Victory Condition: Space Colony (though all victory conditions must be enabled)
• Difficulty: Noble
• Starting Era: Ancient
• Map Size: Standard
• Speed: Normal
• Map Type: Terra
• Required: No Tribal Villages, No Random Events
• Civ: Portugal (Joao)
• Opponents: Must include Byzantium (Justinian), Egypt (Ramesses II), Holy Roman Empire (Charlemange), Mali (Mansa Musa), Persia (Darius), Spain (Isabella)
• Version: 3.19.005
• Date: 1st July to 28th December 2020

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

 

[iggymnrr]

There doesn't seem to be any need to go overseas. The terra is big enough to conquer all of it while leaving the last AI with 1 city. Also testing indicates SoL should be worth it.

 

[iggymnrr]

I did some testing. AIs kick out a worker on turn 20ish. The player also appears to get 2 free wins against barbs. It is very possible to have 3 cities and 3 workers by turn 25ish. All that is needed is a pair of 2-warrior rushes each having a city raider warrior with experience gained from animals. So I will toy around with this with barbs turned on.

 

[iggymnrr]

Debating about generating maps to give this a shot. Small map with max opponents makes it relatively easy to get 3 cities and 3 workers by turn 25ish. The other hemisphere can be reached but either a cylindrical map and/or 3 settled generals in a coastal city is needed to speed up shipping time. But shipping is only needed for missing lux. Corporate play runs pretty well on the starting sphere alone. I was able to project a finish time of ~1400 AD using corps and a mix of HAs/chariots and epults/swordsmen. Axe may work fine too.

Warriors against bears isn't a real matchup when the first 2 encounters are free. I'll only try this with barbs on since its like playing settler getting 3 early cities so fast. Standard speed too. Barbs kinda makes it like huts are on. Even building 5-6 warriors at the start doesn't slow down the first worker by much. Options exist for consecutive 2-warrior or 3-warrior rushes. A small map puts neighbors very close.

 

[iggymnrr]

I tried this on a small terra with max opponents and barbs. It seemed like too many AIs that barbs didn't really matter. Pyramids got built without stone so police state was used for what turned out to be eternal wars with 60 HAs and other stuff. 45 cities. Few settlers got built. Warring went on until 1000 ADish. Testing had been done with minimum AIs and barbs which made thing easier. Not so here as AIS filled up space fast enough.

On turn 4 the first AI city was captured undefended with 3 gold and 2 clams. An island nearby had 10 sugar which made for a good corporation. Mining Inc. was worth 33 hammers and we never made it to the other continent. Gem start. 1575 AD finish time.

 

[Anysense]

33 seems rather weak for terra, usually I have 40-50. What held you back?

 

[ZPV]

In case you want to have another go at this, here are some milestones from my game:

4000BC - Lisbon founded; 1 gold, corn, pigs, grass cow, oasis, 4 floodplains + a bunch of grass rivers.
3200BC (t20) - Warrior rush 1 civ (corn, pig hill, gold, horse)
2240BC (t44) - Alphabet, BW, Wheel, Mysticism
1640BC (t59) - Horseback Riding
1280BC (t68) - Start the war with Horse Archers
950BC (t77) - Oracle-> Civil Service; 7 cities (4 capitals; 1 self-founded outside city)
500BC (t95) - 16 cities, Metal Casting, Calendar
125BC (t110) - 23 cities, Pyramids->Representation
25BC (t114) - Education (Oxford 150AD)
275AD (t126) - 28 cities, Hanging Gardens, Printing Press, Aesthetics
350AD (t129) - First golden age (MoM-boosted)
400AD (t131) - 30 cities, finished war/expansion, Philisophy, Banking. In total I built 29HAs (mostly with 5XP)
600AD (t140) - Steam Power, Taj Mahal
640AD (t142) - Liberalism->Assembly Line; 660 Scientific Method; 700AD Communism, Biology (lightbulbed). Revolt to State Property + Free Religion + Slavery
760AD (t148) - Kremlin (whip lots of factories, science multipliers etc)
880AD (t154) - 2-man golden age begins; Astronomy, Physics, Railroad
1070AD (t167) - Combustion, Industrialism, Plastics, Radio, Computers, Superconductors, 3 Gorges Dam
1100AD (t170) - Rocketry, 3-man golden age begins
1230AD (t183) - Launched spaceship (one turn of non-GA production into parts at the end)
1330AD (t193) - Victory screen

 

[iggymnrr]

33 seems rather weak for terra, usually I have 40-50. What held you back?

Not making any attempt to reach the other continent. ZPV didn't and didn't need to do so. If the early wars had gone faster I was going to set sail but it didn't pan out. (I was ready to get a 3rd city and 3rd worker by turn 25ish via warrior rush but went the wrong way ...)

@ZPV Thanks. You did what I did in my 960 AD Asoka standard speed settler game. Once a tech per turn pace is achieved corporations become pointless. I think I got to civil service faster than you but took the wheel/pottery path to alphabet and traded for AH.