Civ IV Hall of Fame Update

[Noble Zarkon]

The Civilization IV Hall of Fame has been updated - 17 games were accepted since the previous update.

Congratulations to @Dhoomstriker for the highest score of the update with a Small, Marathon, Emperor, Espionage game for 493,504 points.

@Ludwitch was the most active player during this update, submitting 3 games.

Only 2 players were brave enough to take on Deity this update:

@Anysense - 1160 AD, Tiny, Epic, Deity, Diplomatic game for 255,627 points.
@Anysense - 1100 AD, Standard, Quick, Deity, Domination game for 324,885 points.
@Swordnboard - 1120 AD, Small, Quick, Deity, Domination game for 251,144 points.
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Congratulations to @Ludwitch for winning G-Minor 237 with a date of 750 BC.

** New Gauntlet Starting **

G-Minor 238 - Religious, Warlord, Ancient, Standard, Normal, Great Plains, England (check options)


This game is part of the current Challenge series which has been extended to 8th February.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

New Number One Entries:

A number of players gained number one positions:

@Anysense with a 1100 AD, Standard, Quick, Deity, Domination game for 324,885 points.

@Dhoomstriker with a 1596 AD, Small, Marathon, Emperor, Espionage game for 493,504 points.

@Fractal Spiral with a 1140 AD, Small, Epic, Monarch, Diplomatic game for 34,678 points.

@Fractal Spiral with a 1520 AD, Large, Quick, Prince, Diplomatic game for 15,394 points.

@dogides with a 1565 AD, Standard, Normal, Noble, Space Colony game for 141,918 points.
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A number of players gained a composite table High Score (i.e. Any Condition):

@Anysense with a 1100 AD, Standard, Quick, Deity, game for 324,885 points.
@Swordnboard with a 1120 AD, Small, Quick, Deity, game for 251,144 points.
​

 

[Noble Zarkon]

New QM/EQMs

No new Quattromasters this month

 

[Anysense]

@Swordnboard nice of you not to beat my record I thought early rushes aren't very efficient on Quick, even went for good old Cuirs Rush last time, seems to work well.
I'd like to hear your opinion on 320AD save here http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/game_info.php?entryID=29842
First time I used this prewhipping trick in a "real" game.

 

[Swordnboard]

@Swordnboard nice of you not to beat my record I thought early rushes aren't very efficient on Quick, even went for good old Cuirs Rush last time, seems to work well.
I'd like to hear your opinion on 320AD save here http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/game_info.php?entryID=29842
First time I used this prewhipping trick in a "real" game.

I almost had you, too! Stupid 10 turn AP peace resolution cost me several turns. Anyways, looking at the 320 AD save it is quite impressive that you managed to finish at 1100. The prewhipping looks like it worked wonders. Your command of the cuirassier warfare & vassalization is quite good (I'm rather weak in that area so won't comment too much). I wonder, though, if this playstyle has come at the cost of a lot of unnecessary AI advancement. With the early rush approach (axes, then catapults, then elephants) I was able to choose maximum AIs to deprive them of productive space and lower the dom limit, steal workers frequently with impunity since I cared little about tech trading, and only face a couple of castles at the very end despite finishing relatively late. Nothing Cuirs cant handle, but we can see your AI with quickly-growing medieval stacks that mine weren't able to muster at all. With an early UU (like in your Cyrus game that holds the small record) it seems almost ridiculous not to rush early. Without I figure it might just be a wash, so I leaned towards the early rushes since I have more experience with that.

Not sure if this is common knowledge, but during warfare the AI's city builds differ quite a bit based on whether you are threatening the city (within 2 tiles with a military unit) or not. So even on quick when deity AI whipping defenders or just 1-turning archers is quite common, you can still be rather opportunistic by stealing a worker on the edge of some poor civ's empire, and unthreatening the city on the next turn to avoid any unnecessary military buildup (they may even start replacing the worker!) Of course you can then dart back in when they are ready to talk to secure the ceasefire. Mounted units can be even better (enter and exit on the same turn in some extremely advantageous setups).

 

[Anysense]

AI's advancement seems rather irrelevant when you really have an edge, like massive cuirs breakout. The only trouble was Gandhi, he had an early war and by the time I was ready to attack he had huge stacks.

Somehow I never had much success with worker stealing on Quick speed. The initial warrior is not much se for me, thus I usually pick AI which start with Hunting for Quick games.
Playing another Epic/UN game now and stole 9 workers from De Gaulle (actually 10, but lost one of them). Funny how things get different on slower game speed.

I doubt that Immortal Rush would be better than expansion with Imperialistic. If it was Darius... But what use are Financial and Organized for Domination? I could conquer one civ with immortals, but that would delay Construction. May be, I just do it the wrong way? Never got the hang of early rushes.

In Sury game I went for Cuirs and they apparently work better than Construction rush. I want to try it again on large map or Standard/Conquest. Perhaps, Isabella? Worse traits and techs but awesome UU. I have to use her somehow for Quattromaster, anyway.

 

[Swordnboard]

Worker stealing on quick is definitely a lot harder. Lots of roaming units around, and improvements are so quick you barely have a chance to move into position. So a starting warrior is a must, plus building a couple warriors of your own instead of a worker can increase your chances quite a bit. Have to be willing to cheese off all of your neighbors though, not just De Gaulle.

The same thing applies for early rushes. With a willingness to make enemies of everyone and the right settings (no city razing can help, Agg. AI as usual), you can utilize a small number of immortals really well, stealing archer-guarded workers and sniping off poorly defended edge cties and roving settlers. Don't be afraid to attack with smaller forces (4-5 immortals maybe) and fight multiple AI at once. City gifting to lure out defenders also works wonders. Even if the AI acquire metals they tend not to spam spearmen as long as you ceasefire quickly. Of course the penalty of this is giving up on some of your trading potential, so the game better not require cuirassiers.

Isabella sounds interesting. You're right about the lame techs and SPI < CRE, but maybe the conquistador would be worth it (plus she starts with a warrior, better IMO but maybe there's something I'm missing with the scouts). Other good generalist leaders like Willem, Joao, Cathy would of course be good here too but you've probably already played them for QM. Justinian, perhaps?