Community Deity Game #1 - Persia

[consentient]

As a Halloween gift, I bring you... the CDG!

What is CDG?

Apart from being the airport code for Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, the CDG is a community Deity game series. It is the successor to the popular DCL (Deity Challenge Line-up) game that ran in 2014/15. There are, however, notable differences.

What are the differences?

Spoiler :

Firstly, some games will have mods enabled, which were always avoided on the DCL, since the rationale was that it would exclude a lot of people that wanted to play, as not everyone may have been able to run them. But I think it’s become clear that only a hardcore of regular Deity players remain, plus a few who are trying to ‘move up’ to Deity. Additionally, many of us that have been playing Civ 5 BNW for a long time crave some extra variety, and some use of mods was seen as a way to achieve this.

Secondly, there will be suggested VCs (Victory Conditions) and a list of Achievements for each map. This will be recorded, and will take the place of the previous records spreadsheet which was focused on the ‘Top Finishers list’ and which has been abolished.

Map #1 - Persia - a.k.a. ‘Carpets of Fun’

Background:

‘Carpets’ is a popular piece of Civ jargon for seeing a large amount of units on screen, usually associated with that mass coming towards your empire or attacking it, often linked to leaders like Shaka, Monty or Oda.

The idea here is that you turn the tables on the AI and assault them with your own carpets.

Map Type:

Spoiler :

Pangaea

Starting Location:

Spoiler :

Suggested VC:

Domination (though you could always go for Culture and weave a different kind of carpet! )

Achievements:

A. Keep 10 Immortals alive to the turn of victory. You can upgrade them, obviously. - 3 pts.
B. Raze 15 cities throughout the whole game - 2 pts.
C. Enjoy 100+ turns of Golden Age across the game - 3 pts.
D. Win a DomV without ever having built trained (including bought) a ranged unit. - 5 pts.
E. Finish with a (base) points score of over 3000 - 3 pts.

Difficulty Rating:

Spoiler :

Hard (rating given for suggested VC only)

Mods Used:

Pikemen Upgrade to Musketmen - for the warmongers, this is to encourage use of the UU, and to make it possible to upgrade these from the Ancient Era right the way through the game. No one really wants Lancers, and since XBs are not always going to be enough, it’s nice to have some units that you don’t have to retire. Download Link.

Fixed Pantheons/Fixed Prophets - if you choose to go for a religion, you will be marginally more likely to found with these mods enabled. They make things fairer while retaining balance. Don’t expect this to help against Deity AI missionary spam, however Download Links here and here

Bob Morane kindly explains how mods work so you can be careful to load them correctly if you are unsure:

Spoiler :

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=14041508&postcount=76

No spoilers please!

and

Good Luck!

Future schedule:

CDG #1 - Persia (Domination/Hard/Modded) - 31st October
CDG #2 - ????? (Science/Medium) - 15th November
CDG #3 - ????? (Culture/Easy) - 1st December

 

[Grendeldef]

New game, new series - life is good while the arise of Oda lets one hungering the last piece of old world. Hail the (series of) new host(s).

Can't blame the start being overly difficult (looking one) but as there's a suggested VC the maverick in me might wanna go for something else just to be different. Some dl'ing as a literal foreplay before the genocidal tendencies kick in...

 

[Nigel_Tufnel2]

Excellent introduction to the new series!

 

[Gustavus Rex]

Nice!

I'll try and fail!

Libery-domination attempt. Since I guess no ranged means no artillery, bombers and stuff I will try to finish this with golden age-tanks.

t80

Spoiler :

I settled on the goldhill next to the mountain. Went for the pyramids but failed. Settled four expos. While they worked on their libraries I built the Oracle in the capital. It finished on t80 and I chose an engineer with the liberty-finisher. Normally I would use it for national collage but since nobody built Chichen Itza yet I will try my luck. If it goes I'll burn the engineer!

I chose religious idols over desert folklore because I wanted the extra culture. I still managed to found a religion, thanks to the mods I'm sure.

Now I spam immortals for defense. I'm totally clueless how to take down deity-cities without ranged units until the late game... I'm looking forward to see what you elite-players will do!

Details:

Spoiler :

Ruins:
75 gold, Pottery,

Tech:
Mining, Writing, Masonry, Calendar, Bronze working, Philosophy, -> Civil Service,

SP:
Liberty opener, Republic, Collective rule, Citizenship, Meritocracy

Persepolis BO:
Scout, Monument, Shrine, Scout, Library, Pyramids(fail), Settler, Settler, Settler, Immortal, Immortal, Oracle,

Pasargadae BO:
Library, Monument, Immortal, Immortal,

Susa BO:
Library, Monument, Immortal,

Ecbatana BO:
Library, Monument, Immortal,

Tarsus BO:
Library, Monument,

Gold buy:
Cow tile, Citrus tile, Deer tile, Gold tile, Spices tile, Dyes tile,


t1 - Settled Persepolis on gold/mountain
t13 - Stole worker from Egypt
t17 - First SP
t39 - Pantheon religious idols
t41 - Missed Pyramids
t45 - Settled Pasargadae
t51 - Settled Susa
t58 - Settled Ecbatana
t67 - Settled Tarsus
t73 - Founded Sikhism Tithe Asceticism
t80 - Oracle

 

[Grendeldef]

Quick look at the game as well, T75.

Spoiler :

Uncharasterically settled on gold and around T25 I really started to wonder WTH are my workers so I DoWed Ife & made peace soon afterwards since it was extremely crappy place to steal more and few turns later Pedro but only managed one from him as well.
All sorts of nices tiles everywhere so 1st expo by Kailash, Desert Folklore a bit later and eventually 4th religion, a crappy one but so were all the existing ones. 3 more cities and late/ish Pyramids as I really needed workers though everyone else was also rolling in iron & horses so I couldn't sell them anyway.
This got me pissed so I went for CBs instead of earlier NC and took Rio T74 GW as a nice bonus and Monte finished Pedro's life cycle few turns later.

Friends with India but perhaps not for long, I'd like to DoW Monte next but he's very friendly unlike rest of pack lead by hostile Cathy though I have still one civ playing hide & seek somewhere. Also Monte has so much iron that taking a city before Pikes would be a miracle.
NC will only start in few turns, Oracle is also available and for once I'm not in serious happiness trouble from the start.

----

Oh crap - were the achievements part in original post as well or am I just running blindfolded even before starting a game now? I used to be able to be awake at least through the opening screens in previous not-so-hectic games.
Either way, I've screwed my no ranged units mission with archers/CBs.

 

[Wild_Woojsha]

Honor, Commerce, Autocracy. Carpets of immortals, this will be fantastic. I'm gonna have fun with this one. It'll be weird, trying to surround cities with pikes and then muskets, rifles, and infantry. I'm gonna try it though, Persia is known for its carpets of doom lol...

 

[consentient]

Remember that each achievement is optional and independent, so if you don't want to attempt it, or it doesn't fit your playstyle, just disregard it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GenuineRisk]

Nice name for the new series and great civ to kick it off!

Spoiler :

After a bit of exploration, I saw how big the map was and the peaceful neighbours. The size of the map reminded me of DCL #33 (a map where I only played the first 100 turns or so) so I decided to pull from peddroelm's playbook and try to turtle and then rush the continent with Tanks/Modern Armor. Went 6-city Tradition, reached Scientific Theory on T160 and then went straight to Combined Arms. Monty was a bit too successful in the early game so I sent Cathy after him, which only turned her into an even bigger runaway... of course. Anyway, I had no money and only a few outdated units at around T200 but I decided to go to war against Cathy anyway. I took Moscow and 5 other cities but she still has 22 cities left between me and the eastern civs. Modern Armor with a bit of air support will still clear this map in 30-40 turns, but the Tradition wartime economy is what's really holding me back right now.

EDIT: Oh, there's achievements? How did I miss that?

 

[Wild_Woojsha]

Remember that each achievement is optional and independent, so if you don't want to attempt it, or it doesn't fit your playstyle, just disregard it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those Achievements really make the game more fun though, I'm going to shoot for them all. It'll mean saving the final capital for later to get my points above 3000 and get those 100 turns of Great Artist bulbs, but with the Honor Commerce Autocracy social policy strategy completed right it shouldn't be a problem at all. I might even have to learn how to record finally just so I can make a video of this, this will be awesome. Honor was built for melee units, this will make it even better.

EDIT: If I pull this off, I will be one lucky duck. I don't know why I said this won't be a problem, I definitely fall in the category of "trying to become" Deity player. I just don't view it as a problem. If I lose, I lose. I'm still going for those achievements!!!

 

[consentient]

T163 - I'd say the job is only half done

Spoiler :

Tough map. The central civ was a real monster to fight. I lost over 2/3 of my army pushing her back. Eventually, she has given me two big cities in a peace deal while I recover and push hard towards Dynamite.

3 city Liberty NC, CBs took Pedro. XBs and the help of Gandhi and Ahmad took the Aztecs out. Then I had to pump units and even rush some back W when Rameses DoW'ed me. A long slow war against him cost 10+ immortals, so bye-bye to that achievement, but he had the Itza and some other juicy stuff.

I'm lagging in tech (am flat last), but the cannons are one promotion away from logistics and I'll hit Dynamite in a few turns so we'll see what they can do to the two big Eastern runaways. Both are absolute monsters.

I'll need to think carefully about this, but the Golden Ages make warfare sooo much easier. I should be on course for the GA achievement at the very least, maybe the razing one too!

Sorry to those who missed the achievements. I've altered the OP to make the information more visible for newcomers.

~

 

[stormtrooper412]

Lots of growth potential. The easy way is Tradition into Commerce into Tanks

 

[consentient]

Yes. but those wanting to do it with only melee units and turtling until later will miss out on the Immortals achievement. I deliberately chose them so its really tricky to get all, but all styles are rewarded.

 

[Grendeldef]

Sorry to those who missed the achievements. I've altered the OP to make the information more visible for newcomers.

~

No worries from my part I as just wanted to know whether this was a L2Read issue for me or not. Besides, this surely wasn't the 1st challenge where I've ignored some crucial information in the OP.
On top of just being lazy I blame the game until Acken's mod truly kicks in as somehow knowing the map type etc isn't as important as it used to be and going blind might actually give some welcomed surprises.

 

[consentient]

I'm trying to be considerate on how much I alter the basic game initially. Because the biggest proportion of the people playing these games is now aspiring or weaker Deity players, I would say, I don't want to go too crazy at the beginning. So for the first 5 or 6 maps, there will only be 1 big change - either mods, or custom maps, or AI advantages, and not all 3 together. If people enjoy the maps and cope well with my tinkering, then later we might see some more detailed and inventive manipulations. Map Type is something I really want to make important again in later maps.

 

[stormtrooper412]

A bit unclear on 1. though, would Immortals have to show on the victory screenie or you just mean troops that carried all the way but started as Immortals? Either way, not sure I'd manage that one with my plan of Blitzkrieg

 

[consentient]

It means you carried them all the way from being Immortals to whatever they were when you won. That's the reason for the primary mod. No one has to prove anything, though. I'll take their word for it. The Honour system worked OK for the DCL barring some rather obvious cheating, but those people were only cheating their selves

 

[GenuineRisk]

T293 DomV

Spoiler :

That was rather exhausting. In my previous post, I mentioned that I went 6-city Tradition and turtled to Combined Arms/Lasers aiming to do a late-game sweep with Tanks/Modern Armor. I took Moscow and a few other cities from a runaway Cathy by T236 but I made peace before pressing further because my economy couldn't support the war. After recovering, I finally finished the job in the next war by taking Tenochtitlan and Onondaga from her and bringing Monty and Hiawatha back to life in the peace deal. All of the culture mongers went Order and I was getting crushed by ideological pressure, so I constantly gifted Monty and Hiawatha cities that I didn't need to stay above -10 unhappiness. After Cathy, I cleaned up Pedro in a few turns on the way west to deal with Ramesses, who just got nukes. He was single-handedly supporting my economy but the war was short and I then moved the Modern Armor carpet east to deal with the last two capitals. I blitzed through their bomber stacks without regard for losses as I really didn't want the game to go past T300 and I took Marrakech on T293.

Policies: Full Tradition, Rationalism to Secularism, Commerce 3, Autocracy 6
Capital order: T236 Moscow, T267 Tenochtitlan, T268 Onondaga, T271 Rio de Janeiro, T278 Thebes, T287 Delhi, T293 Marrakech

Only achievement I might have got is the score one - I assume this is final score, not base score? My final score was 4996 but my base score was only 2898.

 

[Sclb]

D. Win a DomV without ever having built a ranged unit - 5 pts.

I guess this is gonna be a tank/aircraft/nuke game then, I can't imagine doing DomV with only melee/gunpowder units pre modern era.

 

[BlackWizard]

I guess this is gonna be a tank/aircraft/nuke game then, I can't imagine doing DomV with only melee/gunpowder units pre modern era.

Arent nukes and planes ranged too?

 

[beetle]

Okay, giving this a try. Thanks very much consentient!

Note that these three mods are not available from the Workshop. I am on a Mac and was able to figure out how to do it manually. Well, the T0 save file opened. So I think that means success!

@Consentient, maybe use the QUOTE formatting syntax less in OP? QUOTEs are stripped out by the vBulletin replies, so it makes asking about OP take an extra step.

A. Keep 10 Immortals alive from the Ancient Era to the turn of victory - 3 pts.
B. Raze 15 cities - 2 pts.
C. Enjoy 100+ turns of Golden Age across the game - 3 pts.
D. Win a DomV without ever having built a ranged unit - 5 pts.
E. Finish with a points score of over 3000 - 3 pts.

For A, I am going to assume that upgrading them is okay.

For B and C, do you just suggest just keeping track by hand on scratch paper?

For D, I am going to assume that you just mean archers, CBs, and XBs. Since you specify “build”, I will be keeping any scarchers and CS gifts.

Plan for T0 from screen shot: Move warrior to gold. Settler to follow there if nothing crazy, otherwise SIP. But on lux on mountain on river? Looks good!
I will just go 4 city tradition, aiming to start conquest with arty, but prolly will use Oxford for flight or railroads.