Classic 36 Spoiler 1: End of Ancient Age

[a space oddity]

Open

I can't post my timline yet, since it's on my computer at home, but I like to sympathize with Minime, since I was in almost the same situation. The difference is that, after thinking about it, I decided to waste a couple of GA turns on the revolution. Man, that was tough. But I think it was the right decision since I managed to beat the AI to some sweet settling spots due to the faster naval movement.

I never attacked the Germans, since I decided to practice my Spaceship game some more, and Scientific Emperor AIs are worth keeping around.

 

[remconius]

I took a different approach, as I didnt see much point in moving the settler 1 or 2 postions, still not being near a river, or taking ages to irrigate the cows.

Built Londen where it was on the hills.

I moved the worker E to start to bring water to the cows. Then completed a road and moved to the BG south of Londen, using londen to pass the irrigation. Afterwards the cow could be irrigated and the other mined.

Londen built a settler and a granary. It is an excellent town serving as a settler factory for many years. And J.S. bach was built there.

I used a few extra settlers to gain a foothold on the Chinese island and to secure a luxury in the north of the Germans island. Another few towns were founded on distant islands.

During REX-ing I built warriors, and when I had connected iron I upgraded to Medieval Inf.

Between the town on my continent and the chinese were two sea squares allowing a galley to go up or down each turns. I set up a sea bridge with a few galleys and brought 20-30 medieval Infantries to prepare an invasion of the Chinese.

This followed shortly after. I came down half way their island, enough to get the extra luxury and sued for peace giving me a city on a distant island. The Chinese have 3 -4 towns left which will be conquered once the peace treaty is finished.

so far so good.

 

[Denniz]

[PTW] 1.27f - Open Class

Ancient Age

Goal: - Win on emperor any way I can

Opening Moves:
4000bc Wk->E, Sc->S->S, Set->SW
3950bc Wk->SE, Sc-SW->S, London building War, Sci=20%, Writing
3900bc wk Irrigate, Sc->E->E
3850bc Sc->E->NE (hill)
3800bc Sc->N->N see furs
3750bc Sc->N->N 2nd river
3700bc War->N, Wk->W, Sc->N-NE Lon building War
3600bc lux=20%
3500bc War built, Lon building Granary
3350bc lux=50, pop=3
3250bc lux=20, MP
3100bc lux=50, pop=4
2900bc lux=60, pop=5
2850bc Granary, Lon building Set
2710bc pop=6
2630bc Set built, Lon building Wk, lux=30
2550bc Establish York, Wk built, Lon building Set, York building War
2390bc Set built, Lon building Set
2310bc Establish Nottingham

QSC Stats:
12 Cities
28 Pop
2 Settlers
14 Workers
15 Warriors
1 Galley
Techs: Alphabet, Pottery, Writing, Map Making

Contacts:
975BC - Germans
825BC - Chinese
775BC - French
690BC - China Neighbor 1
670BC - China Neighbor 2
570BC - all the rest

Wars
Germany - 310BC into MA:
I prepared for my invasion by establishing a city next to iron on the coast before Germany has even attempted to connect it. I used that cities, I moved swords and horse there before declaring. Pretty standard from there. I find a mix of Horse and Sword to be best but Swords can keep up beyond the first couple battles.

Spain - 10AD into MA:
They DoW on me. Spain landed a warrior horse pair next to London and a couple workers. I only had a regular Sword and veteran Horse near undefended London. I put the sword in London and the horse covered the worker. I didn’t plan it, otherwise I wouldn’t have defended London, but RNG determined I should lose London for a turn which moved my capitol to York. The irony is that York is on the river and is a much better capitol.

Entered MA in 50AD.

Final AA Stats:[ /B]
Gov: Despotism
26 Cities
90 Pop
16 Workers
1 Archer
12 Swordsmen
24 Horsemen
4 Galley
Great Library - London 330BC
Forbidden Palace - Berlin ~10BC (leader)
All AA techs except Monarchy

 

[Renata]

This is the sort of thing that I wasn't sure about.

I think the easiest solution might be to allow discussion of all civs on the neighbouring islands (ie including France), yet for those that haven't discovered the full world map, lets not share that I'll update the first post.


Somewhat precipitated by the reluctance to do massive edits on Randy's post

It's just as well, I think, because I interpreted your first post (west and south) to mean Germany and France, not Germany and China as you apparently intended. So I was asking you to include China, not France.

Renata, stunned as usual by all the things people are accomplishing by 1000 BC. (Hey, I lost *three* (count 'em) *three* galleys to barbs by then, so nobody laugh when I post my QSC stats! j/k. But I am very impressed.)

 

[MOTH]

open class.

goal: 20K in city#2 with a GA triggered after Republic triggered by a wonder or possibly space if I have enough time to execute. I got Diplo wins in my first 2 GOTMs so I want something different.

The first 2 civs I met were to the east and west where I could see borders but no troops to establish contact. I got contact to the east just before my galley reached shore when I spotted a settler pair heading for MY spot. When I settled the moved back.

I knew the whole world and had traded for everyone's world maps before the end of the AA (pretty close to 0 AD). Everyone was paying me money until I gifted Scientific Civs into the MA.

I failed to get either Colossus or Great Light House so I haven't gotten a Golden Age yet. Maybe I will go for space and go for a Modern Era Golden age.

If I keep going for 20K I have only the Great Library at this time and I am targeting Hanging Gardens.

 

[horragoth]

Goal
This month's game is at emperor level, which is the top I can usually win in a random game. Thus the goal is simple - win. On the other hand GOTM starts are mostly better than those generated by a random game and thus I will probably have a good chance.

Opening moves
I started scouting south. From what I have seen I decided to not make my capital a 4-turn settler factory. My idea was to settle by the river instead to have prospect for a larger productive capital in more central location to allow distance 4 RCP. The capital was intended to use one irrigated cow to produce warriors and settlers (without granary) initially, and then switch the cow usage to a second city as soon as it complete granary to make a 4-turn SF. The image bellow shows my arrangement

The turnlog is here:

4000 BC Worker E, Scout SS, Settler S
3950 BC Scout EE, Settler E
	Worker road
3900 BC London founded, build Warrior
	Research Writing at min Science rate
3800 BC Worker to BG W of London, road,irrigate
3650 BC London built Warrior, next Settler
3400 BC Worker SW, Irrigate, road
3100 BC London built Settler, next Warrior
3000 BC Worker NW, mine, road
	Founded York, build Granary
2850 BC	London built Worker, next Settler
2630 BC MM London +4 Food
2550 BC	Worker S,SE, mine, road
	MM London 5 Shields
2510 BC	London built Settler, next Grannary
2470 BC	MM London, York - York +5 Food
2430 BC Nottingham founded, build Warrior
2230 BC	York built Granary, next Settler
	Nottingham  built Warrior, next Worker
2150 BC Woker go to clear forrest SE of London
2070 BC	Nottingham  built Worker, next Worker
2030 BC York built Settler, next Settler

Research
I decided for two 40 turn projects - Writing and MM. Probably I should insert quick Ceremonial burial in between.

QSC Stats
11 Cities
28 Citizens
629 Gold
136 Culture
2 Settler, 10 Worker, 16 Warrior

Wonders
I have built Lighthouse. My intention was to built GL as well, but I was beaten to it. I would appreciate comments on Lighthouse building and triggering late Despotism GA. I really could not decide if it was a good thing to do, especially as I got acces to better government during it and I had to postpone revolution.

End of AT
In 290 I bought Construction and reached MT. Peaceful coexistence so far ...

 

[CKS]

PTW 1.27
Open

I'm looking for a 20 K win, but as it's emperor, where I usually lose badly, I'll be happy if I get a win at all. A switch to diplomatic is a possibility later on if things are going poorly. It is the easiest for me to win, and it is easy to switch from 20K to diplomatic, so I'm hedging my bets.

I moved my worker north and my scout east twice. I put London 2 NE of the start position, on the river and with the game available. I researched writing an minimum, then ceremonial burial quickly, then literature.

In 2470 BC I finally got my second city built, my culture city. York is on the coast by the cows. It starts a granary as a temple prebuild, I swap after I learn ceremonial burial, and I get the temple built in 1675 BC. It starts building a granary again which gets switched to the great library. I'd rather build the library first, but I was anxious about getting the GLib. In retrospect, I probably had plenty of time. I finished the GLib in 550 BC, built the library in 410 BC, and started on the great lighthouse. When the great library paid out in techs, I swapped the lighthouse for a colosseum, short rushed an aquaduct, and started in on the hanging gardens, which finished in 310 AD, well into the middle ages.

The ancient ages sped by smoothly, which probably means I messed up somthing which only has long term consequences. I made contact quite late, Germany in 430 BC and China in 390 BC. In both cases it was frustrating because I could see their borders for thousands of years, but no people came by. I entered the middle ages in 90 BC, and I'm feeling pretty good about my situation.

 

[Florian K]

Predator

Move Settler SW to found London; Worker SE to irrigate from river bend
3950 BC London founded; start building granary; research writing at minimum
3050 BC Granary build
2800 BC First Settler
2630 BC York founded on nearby furs
2510 BC Nottingham founded
2430 BC Barbarian destroy scout
2310 BC Furs connected to London
2150 BC Canterbury founded
2070 BC Writing discovered

At this point I decided to take a chance that some other civ would come by to visit and instead of going for mapmaking decided to go for republic first (start researching philosophy). This was a mistake!

2030 BC Discover edge of German culture border
1990 BC Coventry founded
1790 BC Warwick founded
1700 BC Philosophy discovered somewhere around here
1675 BC Newcastle and Oxford founded
1475 Barbarian destroy settler
1425 Bc Another civ build Colossus
1325 BC Newcastle pillaged by Barbarians
1275 BC Dover, Brighton founded
1225 BC Code of Laws discovered; start research on Republic
1050 BC Reading founded

QSC Stats
15 cities
34 population
2 settlers
12 workers
3 granaries
only known techs are pottery, alphabet, philosophy and code of law

1000 BC - 650 BC sits around with nothing to do as island has been settled
650 BC Republic discovered; start revolution
550 BC Light Blue Civ builds town on north end of island to SE (first sign of other civs on this island); if only I had researched mapmaking first I could have built 8-10 cities on the northern half of this island by now
510 BC Republic enacted; research mapmaking as the AI civs have been completely unhelpful
430 BC Mapmaking discovered; another civ build Great Lighthouse
410 BC Galleys built; meet light blue civ and China; build Forbidden Palace
390 BC meet the Germans
390 BC Trade for all AA techs except Currency and Construction (which have not yet been discovered), as well as maps and contacts with all other civs
390 BC start researching currency
310 BC Currency discovered
230 BC Construction discovered; enter MA

My hopes for an early domination victory were dashed by my gamble to go for the Republic first . If it had worked I would have been much further ahead, would have had an early Golden Age and would not have had to raze so many cities later on (as the other civs had much more time to increase their culture). As it is I'm still slowly working my way throught the Middle Ages, and meeting stiff resistance as I go.

 

[klarius]

PtW Predator

My goal is just plain conquest . A decent score would also not hurt.

I settled southwest after scouting west and south.
Initial builds were warrior-worker-warrior-settler-granary
Science writing@min (what else )

My scout could hail a chinese warrior already 3300 BC.
That was nice, because I wouldn't have to research map making myself, but could concentrate on the republic path.
Right away I traded alphabet for masonry.

In 2550 my lonely starting scout had already mapped our island and fortified opposite to a blue border in the west. But I didn't have the same luck again.

In 2110 when writing completed I traded with china for CB, WC and TW.

In 1830 the trouble with the barbs started. I had to let them into cities 2 times in the following turns, once losing population in Hastings.

In 1450 the Chinese declared war. They didn't have MM at that time, so it was a completely phony war.

I ended the war in 1175 when I had a new tech to trade (CoL). And they dutyfully had researched MM by that time.

I met the Germans in 1125 and the tech broker career could start.
This round netted IW, HR, Myst and all the cash around.

In 925 a far away civ built the Great Lighthouse 6 turns before York could complete it. York changes to palace to eventually get the Great Library, which could be marginally useful.

In 775 we get contact with France and trade for some more contacts.

In 570 the Great Library completes in York. By that time we already have all contacts and maps.

In 550 we research republic and revolt for a 4 turn anarchy.

In 290 we enter the MA by researching currency. We just started our first real war against China.
China has to go soon, because it's where the second core will be.

Our little empire at 290BC (there is also a small outpost near Germany not shown):

 

[MiniMe]

Wonders
I have built Lighthouse. My intention was to built GL as well, but I was beaten to it. I would appreciate comments on Lighthouse building and triggering late Despotism GA. I really could not decide if it was a good thing to do, especially as I got acces to better government during it and I had to postpone revolution.

Ok, if you read my post above you will know that accepting a late Despotism GA might not be such a bad idea. If you want to be creative, try my approach: I made a very fine attempt to time the Lighthouse with fresh Republic. So when starting the revolution I only had 2 turns left on the Lighthouse. Towards the very end of anarchy some knitwit builds the Lighthouse and I feel at the point rather stupid. It was after all only 730BC when starting revolution so I felt I had a fair chance of getting it, even by waiting another 6 turns for anarchy.

 

[a space oddity]

Open

4000BC:
I send my scout south bacause a) our position on the minimap b) the nature of the land, flat for quicker movement.
Settler goes SW to claim both cows.
Worker south to start a road.

3950BC:
Scout to gold hill, discoveres another cow, no luxes yet.
Change my mind about the Worker, he goes W to start irrigation.
Found London, start Warrior.
Start Writing at 20%.

3900BC:
Scout turns SW, south looks like more coast.

3850BC:
Hmm, the island seems pretty small, more chance we are alone.

3800BC:
Fur near the river.

3750BC:
Another river! It makes me fearful of what's in store the rest of the game.

3700BC:
London Warrior -> Warrior
Scout reveals tundra in the NE.

3600BC:
London grows, lux to 20%.
Switch London to settler.

3550BC:
I think we are alone on this island. I decide I will build distance 3 and 6, and build the FP in the middle of the island, at distance 3.

3450BC:
Our scout spots another island.

3350BC:
London grows again, warrior hurries home to police the growing mobs.

3250BC:
London settler -> Granary

3150BC:
First cow irrigated, settler goes to spot at distance 3, NW of the fur
York founded, starts warrior.

2850BC:
York Warrior -> Worker

2630BC:
York Worker -> Rax

2550BC:
London: Granary ready, start settler

2350BC:
Road to Furs complete
London Settler -> Settler

2310BC:
Damn the RCP rings, the settler will take that other cow now, who knows how long it'll take before we are able to grow those cultural borders.

2270BC:
Found Nothingham, start Warrior

2110BC:
Discover Writing, start MM (jus in case they will NOT sail by in time.

2070BC:
York Rax -> Warrior
London is finally set-up to produce a settler every 4 turns, now on to the warrior in between.

1990BC:
London settler -> settler
The first Barb spotted.

1950BC:
Barb killed, first promotion.
Founded Hastings. Starts Worker.
An update tells us we're the smallest.

1910BC:
Canterbury founded, starts Warrior.

1870BC:
York Warrior -> Warrior
Nottingham Worker -> Warrior

1700BC:
Found Coventry, clearing the Barb village, they have Galleys and Horses so I'm behind already.
Start a pre-build for a Galley in Nottingham.

1600BC:
A barb shoves our shields in Nottingham down the drain.

1550BC:
Warwick founded, starts a Worker

1500BC:
London Settler -> Settler

1425BC:
***some civ*** start the Colossus.
Found Oxford, start Worker.

1350BC:
Map Making comes in, start Philosophy.
Switch Nottingham to Lighthouse.
Liverpool founded starts Galley.

1300BC:
London Settler -> Settler

1150BC:
France starts the Oracle.
Dover founded, starts Worker.

1125BC:
Finally, our first Galley! Load up a Settler/Warrior pair, on to the next cow!
Our Galley was attacked by Barbs but luckily survives and we set foot on the next island!
Philo comes in, start CoL.

1075BC:
Found Brighton, start Worker.
Meet China, and buy The Wheel, CB and BW from them for Writing and 103g.
They know ***some civ***, but contact is too expensive, hopefully they'll sell our contact to them.
Lo and behold, we have Horses next to Brighton, no wonder China stayed catious, we beat their settler!

1050BC:
Only now do I notice London has Horses too.

1025BC:
Ahh, tantalizing blue borders show up west! Our Galley is nearly ready.

1000BC:
Found Norwich on the 'Chinese' island completing our set of 13 cities.
The QSC score will not be too high since I've only met the Chinese, 2 other civs are around the corner, though. All in all I'm pretty pleased with this start, I've done worse.

I didn't knew then, that I would fail to save the game at that point... so not only did I not score to well I can't enter the QSC at all... ... oh well, there's always next time.

I went on to attack the Chinese to get their lux, and this is what my little empire looked when it entered the Middle Ages in 110BC:

edit: not showing are the two cities on another island claiming some gems.

 

[Lord British]

PTW Open

My goal in this game is a 2050 Milk run

Opening moves

4000bc scout s,s;worker s;settler sw
3950bc scout sw,s;worker sw; settler s

Upon discovering the 3rd cattle I decide to build london in the spot that will include all three cattle. This meant that I could have a settler factory using 3 mined cattle from city size 3 - 5.

1000bc

13 cities
42 population
1 granary
1 baracks
11 workers
13 warriors
3 galleys



Enjoying this game!

 

[rrau]

open ptw 1.27f

goal: to be determined.

4000bc Scout to S cow, worker E to bring irrigation to cows, settler SW. I need the settler factory more than I need the river at this point

3950bc Settle London, worker irrigates, scout s,se

3200bc ibt settler => granary

3150bc looks like we're alone, will park a scout by the SE channel

3000bc settle york


2710bc ibt a barb camp popped into being next to my fortified scout (I've never seen this happen before)

2030bc Settle Nottingham

1950bc Settle Hastings

1725bc Settle Canterbury

1600bc Settle Coventry. THE BARBS ARE A NUISANCE. I have had to hold settlers up for escorts.

1450bc Settle Warwick

1375bc Settle Newcastle

1175bc Settle Oxford

1125bc Settle Liverpool

1000bc stats: 10 cities, 23 citizens, 22 warriors, 8 workers, 1 settler, 3 rax, 1 granary, 1 turn from philosophy (at a minimum run which I had selected because I had seen the blue borders on the island to the west and assumed they would come calling soon), no contacts . At this point I'm thinking conquest or domination as victory options due to lack of infrastructure except rax

950bc Settle Dover (by the channel to the East and our border almost touches the blue border at the corners, but apparently not enough for contact

825bc Settle Brighton

650bc ibt finally learn mapmaking and can go meet the blue-border people who stubbornly have resisted sticking their heads out of their town and looking across the channel.

610bc Meet Germany and trade Writing + 41g for BW and CB. Everything else is beyond my budget.

390bc finally fought through all the barb galleys and met china
With a second civ, finally trades are affordable, so we host a massive trade conference:

Trade Germany MM, Philosophy, CoL for WC, IW, Mysticism, Masonry, Wheel, 256g

Trade China CoL, contact with germans and 29g for HBR and contact with the civ3

Trade Civ3 Contact with the germans and 4 gold for contact with the Civ4

Trade Civ4 contact with Germans and 60g for a world map

Trade Civ3 WM + 17g for Literature

Trade China Lit for 35g and WM

350bc Settle Richmond on Chinese island

310bc connected our iron and did mass warrior upgrade and will start shipping troops to Richmond on the Chinese island soon

270bc: ibt we were contacted by Civ5, Civ 6, and Civ 7

250bc Trade Civ5 WM + 85g for Math. I can't believe how slow the tech pace is and that noone knows a better government yet

90bc ibt: learned Republic and revolted. Checked big picture and got a 7 turn anarchy, re-rolled and got 3 .

70bc Widespread rioting. Trade China Republic + 65g for polytheism, construction, WM. Trade Civ 4 polythism + 10gpt for currency and enter the MA.

Plan for MA - war with China.

 

[Roland Ehnström]

got a 7 turn anarchy, re-rolled and got 3

Niiice!

-- Roland

 

[Civgeek]

GOTM 36 – English (Open)
Civgeek

Ancient Times (4,000 BC – 70 BC)

The Quick Skinny: Founded London SW then set-up settler factory and RCP at 4/7/10. Contact with other civs was late, after Map Making, followed by some tech trading then quick war against China with horses vs. spears/warriors. Set-up FP (rushed with leader) and second core in northern part of Chinese homeland. Built Great Lighthouse resulting in Golden Age which included 9 turns of Despotism, 6 turns of Anarchy (despite two draws) and 5 turns of Republic.

QSC Stats
13 cities, 37 units;
192 gold
138 culture
321 score

The Details

Pre-History: I think I will try for another conquest or domination victory, since it should be more challenging on an archipelago map. Will try to set-up a settler factory using two (!) cows, get a strong second city for barracks/military production and go from there. Research Writing to Map Making, then head for Monarchy.

Opening Sequence: Scout E, E revealing more grasslands and forests. Worker E (to start irrigating back to London), Settler SW. Next turn London founded. Starts by building a scout, then warrior, then granary (produced in 2900 BC), then settler (produced in 2710 BC). Set research to Writing on minimum (40 turns). Worker irrigates back to London, and then develops cows and bonus grasslands. After scouting around and realizing we were alone on this island, decide to use RCP at 4 /7/10 covering most of Britain and saving FP for another core elsewhere. Obviously didn’t need second scout, but it did help me make some decisions earlier about future city placements. Second city, York, founded in 2590 BC. From 1675 BC onwards, London was operating as a 4.5 -> 6.5 warrior/settler factory. Generated 330 shields in first 50 turns of production from this start, which is another excellent start for me, especially on Emperor.

Exploration and Expansion: Basically the two scouts explored the island very quickly, uncovering no huts and no other contacts. No contacts until Map Making as I wasn’t lucky enough to spy any other civs units across the seas, only their cultural boarders. Sequence of contacts with other civs was as follows:

1000 BC Chinese
1990 BC Another civ; Chinese traded them communications.
825 BC Germans
710 BC French
630 BC Another civ;
530 BC Another civ;
470 BC Another civ;

I did build the Great Lighthouse in York and continued to explore the coastlines for some time to come.

Military Endeavors: Declared war on China in 470 BC and bribed another civ to join us. Attacked with horsemen against mainly spears/warriors. Added a few swords later from upgraded warriors. Quickly captured northern portion of Chinese homeland and razed Beijing in 130 BC. Generated GL (Edward) in 190 BC assault of Shanghi and used him to rush FP in Manchester at center of captured lands (near cows on plains). Rapidly razed existing Chinese cities to start second core at RCP 3/6. Still fighting China as Middle Ages dawned, but will sue for peace and leave them a few cities on south end of island.

Technology and Trading: Research priority was originally to get to Monarchy, but once scouts confirmed we were alone on the island decided research was going to be unaided for a while so probably need to crank-up commerce by settling along rivers and heading for Republic instead. The main trading was with Germany, getting 6 techs for Writing and Code of Laws. Research was 40 turns to Writing then max to Map Making and on to Republic, then min to build-up cash.

4000 BC Masonry, Pottery (Start)
2110 BC Writing
1200 BC Map Making
1100 BC The Wheel (to find horses for army)
925 BC Warrior Code (from Chinese)
900 BC Code of Laws
825 BC Horseback Riding, Ceremonial Burial, Bronze Working (from Germans)
825 BC Iron Working, Masonry, Mysticism (from Germans)
750 BC Philosophy
610 BC Literature (from French)
450 BC The Republic
190 BC Currency
70 BC Construction (from civ xx)
70 BC Polytheism (from civ yy)

Wonders: Built the Great Lighthouse in 630 BC (triggering Golden Age; hhhmmm, forgot about that).

Outlook: Not sure. Will have to see how much pillage, plunder and destruction I can rain down with knights and, hopefully, a large navy.

 

[Roland Ehnström]

Civgeek, is that really how RCP works? As I understand it, you should count the closest way between the palace and the site in question, counting diagonal moves as 1.5 distance unit. This would mean that York, for example, in your game is a distance of 4.5 from London. Same goes for Nottingham, Canterbury and Norwich, while Liverpool and Hastings are at distance 4.0 from London.

Am I wrong?

-- Roland

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

PTW (latest patch)

Newby notes: Although I’ve loved playing Civ for a long time I wasn’t a ‘CivFanatic’ until recently. I wondered which is the best method for displaying results. This is my first major game Post and my 4th G/COTM (all since 1 Sep 04). Instead of doing it chronologically I did it by types of events; are there additional items I should be including or not talking about. If you consider yourself an average player really study some of the posts done by the experts; also, the War Academy has lots of great articles to enhance your game. I’ve changed my game based upon studying SirPleb’s posts – incredibly helpful. I’ve stopped protecting all my cities with defensive units; focusing on offense. I didn’t like AA fighting, now I love it! Yada, yada, yada. Any comments on the below would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Pre-History thoughts: Domination victory, probably with Cavalry or later at this level. After seeing the big boys start with a granary on the last game w/ an expansionist civilization instead of warriors/scouts to start I decided to give it a try this time. London (1SW of start) will become settler factory; plan on irrigating both cows and having a second city 3SW of capital to do a slower settler ‘factory’. Plan on one Wonder, the Great Lighthouse due to map type.

Ancient Era update: 4000BC-0130BC

INITIAL SCOUT MOVES
DATE DETAILS
4000BC E,E; E,E; SE,E; NE,NW; NE,N; E,NE; N; W; NW,W; S,W; W,W; NW,NW; NE,W; SW,W; S,W; S; S,E; S,S; S; S; S,E; E,S; SW,S; N,NE; N,E; E,N; N,SW; SE;Fortify; still used in era to ‘see’ land
Basically my scout started heading east, then looped north and west and finally south. I was initially discouraged that I must have started off in the wrong direction, but after seeing the relatively small island with no one on it with us I don’t think it mattered what direction one went, except I would have seen the close fur sooner and possibly switched the builds of my second and third cities.

INITIAL WORKER MOVES (first 40 turns)
DATE DETAILS
4000BC SE; SE; Irrigate; NW; Irrigate; SW; W; Irrigate; E; Mine; Road; SW; Irrigate, SW; Mine; E; Chop(x2); Road(x3); E,E; Chop
2190BC W; Chop(x2)
Continue to these to connect the close land for a while
Irrigate London cows first, then develop nearby area. I felt like I was VERY slow to get workers moving, initially focusing on making London and Nottingham Settler type factories. Entering the MA I have way too few, focusing on filling in land with Settlers instead of developing the land I have.

CITY FOUNDING & CONSTRUCTION (First 80 Turns, to 1000BC)
FOUNDED NAME PRODUCTION DETAILS
3950BC London(1SW) Granary(3050BC), Settler(2800BC), Settler(2630BC), Settler(2470BC), Settler(2310BC), Settler(2110BC), Settler(1950BC), Worker(1870BC), Worker(1790BC), Worker(1725BC), Worker(1675BC),Worker(1575BC),Worker(1525BC), Worker(1475BC), Settler(1375BC), Settler(1275BC),Settler(1175BC),Settler(1075BC); continue Settlers
2670BC York(3NE) Warrior(2510BC),Warrior(2350BC),Warrior(2190BC),Warrior(2030BC),Warrior(1750BC), Warrior(1675BC),Warrior(1600BC),Warrior(1550BC),Warrior(1475BC),Warrior(1425BC), Warrior(1375BC),Warrior(1325BC),Warrior(1275BC),Warrior(1225BC),
Barracks(1050BC); Archers, then Horsemen (when connected)
2550BC Nottingham(3SE) Warrior(2350BC),Worker(2190BC),Granary(1700BC),Settler(1550BC),Settler(1375BC),Settler(1200BC),Settler(1000BC); continue Settlers
2350BC Hastings(3S) Warrior(2150BC), 12 turns from Great Lighthouse
2190BC Canterbury(3E) Warrior(1990BC), Warrior(1725BC), 24 turns from Forbidden Palace
1990BC Coventry(3NE) Warrior(1790BC), Warrior(1650BC), Galley(1175BC), building Galley
1750BC Warwick(6SE) Galley(1100BC), building Galley
1475BC Newcastle(3E/3SE) Building Galley
1275BC Oxford(6S/1SE) Building Harbor
1275BC Liverpool(3S/5SE) Building Galley
1150BC Dover(6NE) Building Barracks
1125BC Brighton(3E/3NE) Building Barracks
1050BC Norwich(6E) Building Galley
1000BC Leeds(3N/2NW) Building Galley
Initial focus for cities was 2 settler factories (4t and 6.67t), building the Great Lighthouse and warrior patrols to keep away the barbarians (and fight those that appeared prior to heavy patrolling); then obvious focus on getting off my island and discovering the world.

INITIAL BARBARIAN ENCOUNTERS (First 60 Turns)
2670BC Warrior NW of York 2590BC-Bulgar warrior attacks York, taking 11g (at 12g total)
2510BC Warrior NW of York 2470BC – Warrior1NW of attacked by Bulgar warrior; wins, 1 damage
2430BC Warrior NW of York 1910BC – Warrior in mountain attacked, wins, no damage
2310BC Warrior NW of York 2150BC – Bulgar warrior moves near London, affecting production; Warrior attacks Bulgar warrior; wins, 1 damage
2230BC Warrior NW of York 2150BC – Warrior in York attacked by Bulgar warrior; wins, 2 damage
2190BC Warrior SE of Nottingham 2110BC – Hun warrior attacked Nottingham, taking 11g
2070BC Warrior SE of Nottingham 1950BC – Warrior attacks, wins, no damage
2030BC Hun Encampment SE of Nottingham 1990BC – Warrior attacks encampment, loses, no damage
1650BC – Vet Warrior attacks, wins, 2 damage
2030BC Bulgar Encampment NW of London 1830BC – Warrior attacks, loses, 1 damage
1625BC – Warrior attacks, wins, no damage
1990BC Horseman in Hun Encamp 1870BC – Warrior attacks 3NE of Encamp, wins, no damage, becomes Veteran
1750BC Horseman in Hun Encamp 1700BC – Vet Warrior attacked 1N of Encamp, wins, 3 damage
Various Barb Galleys - Prior to 1000BC I lost 1 Galley & have 1 down to 1HP after about 6 total battles; Only two early encampments, but they kept me very busy. Lots of enemy galleys causing problems.

GOODY HUTS
DATE LOCATION DETAILS
0610BC Near Germans 50GP – Poo!
0610BC Near Civ IV Maps of Region – Poo!! Poo!!
What a waste!!! Thought I’d find some closer to home.

TECHNOLOGY DATE/HOW
Pottery 4000BC, start
Alphabet 4000BC, start
Writing 2070BC, research
Masonry 1675BC, research
Map Making 1275BC, research
Ceremonial Burial 1175BC, research
Bronze Working 1175BC, trade w/ Germany
Warrior Code 1175BC, trade w/ Germany
Iron Working 1175BC, trade w/ Germany
The Wheel 1050BC, trade w/ China
Mysticism 1025BC, trade w/ Germany
Philosophy 1025BC, research
Horseback Riding 1025BC, trade w/ Germany
Code of Laws 0850BC, research
Mathematics 0730BC, trade w/ Civ V
Currency 0170BC, trade w/ Civ VII
Literature 0170BC, trade w/ Civ VII
Polytheism 0130BC, Prophets of Great Library
Construction 0130BC, Prophets of Great Library
Writing at 10-30%, Masonry at 80% (needed to really get pre-build going), Map Making at 80%, Ceremonial Burial at 40% (only 4-t, don’t want to waste trade), Philosophy at 80%, Code of Laws at 80%, Republic at 0% (1 scientist). I ended up getting my GA while still in Despotism!! Mistake two – going for Republic at 40t technique. Of course I’ll have gobs of money when I finally get Republic, but I was ahead in tech and am now behind, though the Great Library just fixed that. I couldn’t believe how well I kept up with the other civs in tech at this level. I expected to be WAY behind at the first encounter.

TRADES
DATE CIVILIZATION DETAILS
1175BC Germany Alphabet +Masonry +World Map for Bronze Working +Warrior Code +25g
Writing+40g for Iron Working +Territory Map
1050BC Chinese Writing for The Wheel +40g
World Map for Territory Map +15g
1025BC Germany Philosophy +Contact China +World Map +30g for Mysticism +HorB Riding +World Map
0875BC Civ III World Map for World Map +20g
0730BC Civ V Code of Laws +World Map +Contact Civ IV +10g for Math +Contact Civ VII/Civ VI
0630BC Germany Math for 57g + World Map
0490BC Germany Peace for City + 23g + World Map
0490BC China, Civ VI, Civ IV WM for WM + 26g: for 30g: for 40g
I’m not a micro-manager trader. I probably need to focus on this more (map trading and such) to avoid unwanted wars and get better trades overall. Basically got most of my tech this way. After I went for 40t Republic, the other civs really started to pull ahead in such a manner that it was hard to trade with them, but again, the Great Library saved me.

DATE
MET CIV
1175BC Germans
1050BC Chinese
0875BC Civ III
0730BC Civ IV
0730BC Civ V
0730BC Civ VI (trade)
0730BC Civ VII (trade)
Although I definitely thought I’d be to cavalry long before I was able to eliminate a rival on this level, I’m definitely thinking a Chivalry victory at this point, which is much earlier than I had originally planned. Hopefully Gunpowder won’t appear too soon, or at least no Saltpeter where it is hard to capture.

CONNECTING RESOURCES
DATE DATE
DISCOVERED CONNECTED* RESOURCE
3850BC/2750BC 1700BC FURS (to North East / to South East)
1175BC 0800BC IRON (North West corner of Island )
1050BC 0925BC HORSES (near London)
1175BC 0250BC GEMS (German Island); connect islands via harbor rush builds
1050BC SPICES (Chinese Island)
0875BC SILKS (Civ III Island)
0875BC IVORY (Civ III Island)
0875BC GRAPES (Civ III Island)
0730BC DYES (Civ V/Civ VII Island)
0730BC INCENSE (Civ IV/Civ VI Islands)
Never I hope SALTPETER
*to majority of empire using harbor, not just locally

WARS & MAJOR EVENTS
START END
DATE DATE CIVILIZATION / REMARKS
0710BC Great Lighthouse
0710BC 0330BC Golden Age (in Despotism!)
0630BC Forbidden Palace (Canterbery)
0630BC 0490BC Germany (11 swordsman & 1 archer initially); Heidelburg only remaining city
0510BC First Great Leader during war with Germany; Saved to build Palace in Leicester built at Center of German continent. This was an extreme help in continuing my expansion as instead of abandoning my ‘capital’ settler-factory and having to rebuild it, I didn’t miss a beat
0330BC China (16 Horsemen, 2 Swordsman, 1 Archer initially)
0210BC 0150BC Second Great Leader during war with Chinese; build Great Library in New London [dance]
This keeps me competitive against the AI (and humans) because I can now concentrate on expanding territory via culture for a while instead of splitting it with research

1000BC status
14 Cities, 40 Population, 1 Settler, 10 Workers
1 Scout, 20 Warriors, 1 Galley
Missing 8 AA Technologies
(I have a good picture, but deleted it due to what it shows)

0130BC, Entering Middle Ages
(I have a good picture, but deleted it due to what it shows)
All AA techs except Republic (5 turns away) & Monarchy
78 Gold per turn w/ 80% tax, 20% luxury
33 Cities, 87 Citizens; 2150 Gold
3 Settlers, 12 Workers, 16 Captured Workers
4 Archers, 13 Swordsmen, 29 Horsemen; 10 Galleys
Building: 2 Harbors, 14 Temples, 4 Settlers, 2 Workers, 3 Galleys, 7 Horsemen, 1 Spearman

Future
Construction: Cities near Forbidden Palace will continue military production; 1 Harbor per Island initially; exterior cities building Temples (territory expansion), then switch to Harbor (only if needed due to location), then workers or wealth; Original 2 settler factories continue; new capital and Great Lighthouse City have become mini settler factories

Military location:
10 military units on former German Island
5 military units on my original island
31 military units on Chinese Island

Expansion: I really, really, really need more settler/worker production. Plan on filling in conquered lands and other ‘empty’ areas I’ve found. Next victim will be Civ III to get all their luxury resources.

Research: I left Germany intact thinking to gift them into MA, trade, then destroy them. Not sure what I should do now that I have the Great Library. (Note: already past this in game, but interested in hearing comments.) I think going for Republic at minimum was a (big?) mistake. I’ll have money, but think the earlier Republic would have easily offset it, especially since I hit my GA while in despotism. After Chivalry, I’ll only worry about research after Gunpowder is discovered around the world; then I’ll try to get to Cavalry.

ALL COMMENTS HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

 

[Xevious]

Civgeek, is that really how RCP works? As I understand it, you should count the closest way between the palace and the site in question, counting diagonal moves as 1.5 distance unit. This would mean that York, for example, in your game is a distance of 4.5 from London. Same goes for Nottingham, Canterbury and Norwich, while Liverpool and Hastings are at distance 4.0 from London.

Am I wrong?

-- Roland

You're correct in how distance is calculated, BUT the value is rounded down to an integer. So 4 and 4.5 are both counted as 4. This gives a lot more settlement options for each distance.

 

[Civgeek]

Civgeek, is that really how RCP works? As I understand it, you should count the closest way between the palace and the site in question, counting diagonal moves as 1.5 distance unit. This would mean that York, for example, in your game is a distance of 4.5 from London. Same goes for Nottingham, Canterbury and Norwich, while Liverpool and Hastings are at distance 4.0 from London.

Am I wrong?

-- Roland

That's how I thought it worked as well, but a quick read through the RCP discussion indicated the game rounds the distance down before calculating corruption (i.e. 4 and 4.5 cities are in the same ring). Seems to work, as all 6 of the cities you mentioned above are showing about 10% corruption in Republic.

 

[Roland Ehnström]

Oh, glad I asked then!

Now let me re-play my game, doh!

-- Roland