Conquest 04: First Spoiler

[LuuCkyJaa]

MiniMe,

Thanks for your advice. Hopefully, I'll get it right in the next spoiler.

James

 

[Cuivienen]

Okay, I discovered in a couple of runs on random maps with similar starting locations that the Mayans are perfect for the CxxC build, better than most civs. So that's what I did. I don't have details, but I built my cities very densely. When the Americans settled on the Silks, I declared war and razed Philadelphia, then got Atlanta, Boston and tech parity for peace. A brief early war with the Spanish captured all of their Workers, crippling them, and I got a tech out of that war, too. I was worried that someone on the other continent had acquired Philosophy before me when I got it in 1250 BC, but I guess I overestimated the AI. My screenshot is from about 700 years into the Middle Ages (entered ~800 BC), and I've just wiped out the American, who have just one city left north of Spain. At this point, I was already four-five techs a head of the AI.

The Javelin Throwers were very effectively used to acquire Barbarian slaves -- After I built my second city, it built four JTs to start. I had about 15 barbarian slaves by the Middle Ages. Not as many as I'd've liked, but enough

 

[Civgeek]

ainwood,

What did I do wrong when posting my timeline? It shows up in my browser much wider (and less easily readable) than the other posts. I hit "post reply" and copied-and-pasted the text from my WP program.

The width of a post, and any replies, seems to be impacted by the width of any images you include. Reduce the your image size to 800 (width) or less. If you are using Paint to get your screen captures from a 1024x768 game resolution, scaling the image by 75% seems to work fine.

 

[SniperDevil]

wow... looks like people did a lot better than the last GOTM

 

[Night_Rogue]

I didnt keep a timeline<To much hassle> but a quick rundown of my game.I got my settler factory up and running early and started to research wheel and iron working<Never though of slingshoting to republic have to try that next game>then went for republic.America beat me to the iron horses area so used my 14 warriors to declare war capturing the city,continued expanding and hooked the iron up upgrading all the wariors to swodsman then declared war on america.

Managed to take all but one of there cities but the price was heavy only had 3 swordsmans left,then I commited a big mistake when I switched to republic and disbanded any more then 1 spearman per city.The weakening of my civ made the aztecs feel like they could conquer me,Oh no!!!

Suprise attack by the aztecs starts a war between us I was still working on america and spain at the time<The spainish had tried settling into some of my american terrotry that I had just conquered>Having a war with three people at once.Not to worrh there though americans quickly signed peave having only one city left and Spain not to long after.Meantime Aztecs capture two of my cities and have about 20 units in my terrotiry,still havnt had a chance to rebuild my army sue for peace giving them a city.

4 turns later there back in my terrotiry I ask them to leave but of course they declare war luckily I got a few horseman up by this time and am battling it back and forth but another mistake almost costs me my capital one last pikeman with one red bar left!Well it survived and quickly reinforced my captial then sued for peace again this time giving them nothing or getting nothing.

This time they dont even have the patience to wait a whole 4 turns before there back in my terriotry with loads of units.I bring the iroquis into the war giving them 37 gold for rop and an alliance versus aztecs.That seems to work as the war suddenly shifts balance<Aztecs were running out of units when I bought iroquis in anyway there ga had ended>plus me sending a pikeman around to there iron and pillaging it hurts them even further.After a while of this war manage to recaputre the city I cedded them earlier then one of my cities they captured<The war is defintly turning around>Iroquis capture the other city the aztecs had captured then rop and alliance ran out they didnt want to extend it which was fine by me as I had just captured The aztec captial which had the prymaids and the hanging gardens

Sued for peace giving them monotheism and 100 gold for enginering and monarchy.Now it is late 750 ad<Man I am doing bad>4 turns untill chivilary which I am going to use to upgrade my 25 horses into knights and this time give aztec a piece of there own medicine.Sorry for no screenshoots but 1.I had a succefull suicider find an abonded island<pretty big one too and 2.I dont know how to make the things anyway.....

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Looking at these openings, i have a question to those who have 16/17 cities at 1000BC, hopefully opening some discussion.

I have build settlers only from my settler factory, and workers mostly from my other cities with granaries to give my remaining cities the opportunity to grow.
At 1000BC, i only have 12 cities, but with 44 total population vs 30 pop in darkness' 17 cities for example.

The difference is that you invest more in future growth by building settlers from your non settler factory cities as well.
The more you invest, the later your cities start growing tall and production will rise, but the bigger the production can be in the end.
On deity/sid, the amount of investment is mostly decided by what the AI lets you get away with (due to available ground and your lack of defence)

I don't have experience with the lower difficulties, but i would expect it not to be optimal to invest as much as the AI allows you. The AI is so weak, i would guess you can finish them off earlier if you make a lower investment. On the other hand, i could say the higher OCN favors a bigger investment on these difficulty levels.

So, i ask you to explain your reasoning behind your investment strategy on lower difficulty levels since i have very little experience with that.
(I started playing deity right away, and still stand by my oppinion that if you want to beat deity, you should not start at lower difficulties because it's just a different game at lower levels)

PS: I just explained my philosophy behind my strategy, i am not trying to convince anyone it is good or even better, i know you guys are top finishers in the gotm's. Thats why i ask you about your strategies.

 

[dmanakho]

OPEN class

and before I even start...
Ainwood, what have happened to you???
Are you tired of people complaining in the past on how hard you made maps and conditions to play???
This was by far the easiest GOTM/COTM ever... It's like the best starting position person can come up with... Perfect settler factory, nice rivers, 2 luxuries nearby, and what is very unusual for Ainwood to provide an easy access to both iron and horses (and, yes, i finished the game and i know about what you planned for the rest of the game, but it has really backfired on you Ainwood stil making this game so easy). Oh, and did i mention how crappy were starting locations AIs had?

Game started quite uneventful, moved settler, build 2 warriors, granary, established 4 turn settler factory ASAP and started pumping settlers, all new cities built nothing but barracks initially. met Aztecs first, then the rest of the gang.

After initial tech trading AIs became quite useless and the rest of the technology i had to research on my own. I researched writing, then code of laws, then philosophy and recieved free republic, next tech was literature and GL was the only AA wonder i built. ( i really didn't need it, i just like libraries , plus i wanted to deny AIs any free techs).

This was my 1st game of the month when i used totally new war tactics, Before i would always build bunch of swords, but after the latest SG i realised the power of horses and all games i play now i build horses instead of swords.
I truly believe that hordes of horses are more effective than swordsmen and have better upgrade possibilities.
I only built very few of unique units to ensure GA when i am ready.
I haven't seen any barbs really, continent filled so fast, barbs just didn't have a chance.

At around 500BC i was ready for war and Americans would be my 1st target, but i had to change plans. Aztec guy showed up and demanded literature, I laughed at him and he declared war... too bad for Aztecs. War started in 500BC i think...
I was already in republic so it was perfect timing to launch GA, so i did...
I entered GA in 470BC and shrunk Aztecs empire to just few tundra coastal cities. No leaders were generated during that war.

I entered MA in 310BC, perhaps late but i made a mistake waiting on AIs to bring me into MA (I had Great library remember?), but as i said AIs were too lousy researching.

Actually, running ahead this was quite lousy game in terms of leader hunting. I only had 3 for entire game despite constant and continious wars.

So, it's 310 BC and we are in MA. Aztecs are almost destroyed and i am thinking about the next war against americans... But this is a story for the next spoiler.

Thats all folks!

 

[Abegweit]

I started by moving the settler to the north east in order to keep both bonus grass in the city radius. The worker began building a road in order to bring water to the wheat. My granary was finished in 2950 BC and the settler pump moved into action.

In research I went all out for Republic, as I assume most other people did. When I met the Spanish I traded for Alphabet, which helped get things going in the right direction. In 1325 BC, I learned Philosophy and, as planned, I drew the Republic as my free tech. I next researched Math, Currency and Literature. After that I turned research off, hoping that someone would learn Construction but, in the end, I was forced to research it myself.

In 825 BC, I declared war on the Aztecs and moved in about 15 horsemen. In 510 BC I signed a peace treaty with them, reducing them to a single city. I had about 10 elite victories but no leader. As one of my last acts of the war, I attacked with my only Javelin Warrior and fired off my Golden Age.

In 470 BC, the barbarian uprising took place. The timing was very annoying because I was one turn from taking out their camp and had planned to put a city on the square. Next turn, I entered the Middle Ages myself. Tenochitlan is building the Forbidden Palace and Chichén Itza is working on the Great Library, which may eventually become Leo’s Workshop.

My immediate plans are to learn chivalry and take over the continent. I also need to find the rest of the world.

QSC stats
5 Granaries 4 Barracks
15 cities; pop 50
2 settlers, 12 workers, 5 warriors, 7 chariots and a curragh
In game score: 300, which is tops in the world

 

[Roland Ehnström]

Before i would always build bunch of swords, but after the latest SG i realised the power of horses and all games i play now i build horses instead of swords.
I truly believe that hordes of horses are more effective than swordsmen and have better upgrade possibilities.

I absolutely agree. Horsemen are really MUCH better than Swordsmen, mainly because of their ability to withdraw when losing. With six Horsemen you can expect to take any town defended by three Spearmen. Sure, you could do the same with five Swordsmen, but the difference is that you would then lose one or two of your Swordsmen in the process, while you would probably not lose a single Horseman if you attack with them instead. And because of their higher movement-rate, you get to the next town much faster, and can send in reinforcements much faster. And because they never lose, just withdraw, you'll soon have a bunch of Elite Horsemen, which could bring you leaders. And Horsemen upgrade to the mighty Knights (though it does cost a fortune) and then (almost for free) to the awesome Cavalry! I never build Swordsmen anymore, unless I have no Horses of course.

-- Roland

 

[Cryspen]

I'm new to CivFanatics, this is my first GOTM.

I've been playing Civ for a long time, and while I read in amazement the micromanagements that some do, especially in the Sid Games, I myself could never be bothered with that (nor do I take notes, is that a requirement to submit the results?). Nonetheless, on Monarchy level, my cavalry normally takes out a civ or two, and the rest of the world bows before my tanks... Though in truth, in many of my games, I'm not aggressive, and only go after those who declare war on me first.

With this game, I had several early thoughts/plans

With a UU of level 1 tech, I knew that a GA could be very early. In fact, I would have to be careful to make sure it didn't happen too soon.

Normally, the less units the AI has the better, but this time, I actually wanted lots of very weak (defense 1) units coming my way, so I planned to war early on.

Usually I go for Republic, but an early war meant strictly Monarchy. In fact, my plan was to race for Monarchy at maximum pace, switch, and go to war with everybody near by who can't pump out swordsmen yet. I dreamed of having a Pentagon before 0 AD, (which I've never done) with anything less then musketeers falling before my armies of Javelin throwers.

I also hoped to get at least 2 early Wonders. The Temple or Artemis and the Oracle are my first plan, as they allow for good military conquest. The temples provide culture to stop a culture flip, and the Oracle along with the temples help keep the captured city happy.

While normally I just place cities in the first decent spot I see, I decided I would try out this new fangled 'ring pattern' that I had read about online here. I wanted 6-8 size 6 cities (assumed most would not have fresh watter) that could do at least 10 shields, preferably 15, (so as to be able to really pump Javelin throwers), which can be tricky with corruption, prior to courthouses. The land allowed for a very nice placement of 8 cities at 3.5 from the capital. However, I quickly noticed that they had different corruption. A bit more of research here at CivFanatics showed that the Ring placement Theory is dead in C3C. Doh!

Well, I must say I haven't mis-managed an early start as badly as this one in some time. I totally botched my settler factory (5 turns instead on 4), and didn't produce nearly enough workers early on for all my cities. (in fact I think I may only have had two for 9 cities...) (This may or may not have to do with the fact that I played a lot of the game as a distraction while waiting for the pain-killers to kick in...)


I met the Aztec very early on, (I think turn 6-7)? Which made me nervous, for them to be so close.
I traded my masonry for warrior code & 10 gold.

I set up my ring of cities. My capital has built little besides settlers / workers.

The Americans closest city Philadelphia, was a little too close to the North.

To the east, my second city Copan, on the river, became my major production centre with 5 hills.

I built a barracks in my non-river cities, and had them each produce 2+ warriors for cheap MP (and useful swordsmen later on). Then I set them all to producing JTs.

In 1475ish BC, most of my cities had 1-2 warriors when the Aztecs demanded ceremonial burial from me, which I refused. We went to war. I wasn't ready for a real war, as I didn't have enough JT's, so I just waited. Not much came of things. Three aztec warriors came up, and were defeated. I got a never-to-be-used elite warrior out of it.

In 710 BC I got Monarchy

In 610BC The Aztec's again demanded something from me, again I refused, and we go to war.

In 550 BC I enter my GA. I'm a few turns from Temple of Artemis. I decided on doing something risky. I trade Monarchy (and the required techs) to America, Spain, and Iroquois, in return for all their gold and whatever Tech they had. Since I hope to capture many cities, I don't want them to rush-built their cities down to a size one, which can happen easily in Despotism. Plus, this way rush-building troops will help keep the AI poor, limiting their research.

The Mongols had beaten me to the Oracle in 925 BC, but I had kept the shields in a palace pre-build. I use those to help build the Great wall. I delay the Temple of Artemis by a turn or two, so that they will be built simultaneously, to help ensure I get them both. (I fear that somebody else's Temple of Artemis will become a pre-build for the Great wall). I then declare war on everybody I know (America, Spain, Iroquois, and was already at war with the Aztecs)

The Americans I fear are closest to having the Temple of Artemis, but since I gave them Monarchy, I hoped the Anarchy would delay them for a few extra rounds. Those rounds of Anarchy, plus the delay in sending troops over to me, should allow my GA cities to produce plenty of JTs to be ready for them.

In 490 BC I get both the Temple of Artemis and the Great wall.

Since then, things have been a bit slow.

It is now 470 AD.

I only built the Great Library in 450 AD, which has just moved me into the middle ages with Feudalism.

War on all fronts has stopped me from marching over any one civ, but I now have well over a 100 captured workers. I've probably lost a dozen or two from mismanagement as well. (Such as not noticing that some were fortified when I used 'X' to move a stack of captured workers under a JT, etc. Also, there seems to be a bug where that some units appear as 'active' on the right-mouse click list when they are in fact fortified). In hind sight, I wish I had lost a few more, used as human shields... 'Here..take your worker back, just leave my 1 HP elite unit alone' (Human shields by putting them -in between- me and the enemy, using up the enemies' movement by capturing a unit; not to be confused with what some consider an exploit with how the AI will always go for a worker over any other unit)

My dream of having a Pentagon prior to 0 AD didn't happen, but only by a bit. It was build around 100 AD or so (20 turns before the Great Library at 450 AD, whenever that is). Still in Ancient times though!

When I captured Washington, I took both the Hanging Gardens and the Pyramids!

Sadly, I've only just now have I gotten my fourth army. I've taken most of America, but I'm running very low on units. I've never really used artillery before, but I now appreciate what a stack of them can do (currently catapults), especially on defense. I wish I had been using them earlier, I'd probably have a lot more JT's left. I've lost dozens taking out pillaging Spearmen. Only Spain seems to have Iron, and only a handful of swordsmen have come my way, often to be defeated by an army of JT's.

I've only just seen two Midevial Infantry from Spain, but I'm not worried. I've about 20 catapults up north, who can beat them down, allowing for an easy victory from one of my two armies in the region, (or even a JT/Swordsmen/MI). I hope to take out the three remaining American northern cities (they have a few colonies way down south) before I see knights, at which point I may declare peace.

The Iroquois Mounted Warriors have been a nuisance as raiding parties, but not a real threat.

Some other interesting notes.

I've seen two Goodie-huts in post-AD era, both just a square outside of an AI's city zone of control (190 AD - which gave me a warrior, and 320 AD, which I only saw by boat.)

While a (or two or three!) Barbarian farm for workers/elite JT's would have been very cool, my cities never saw a single barbarian. An exploring galley to the NW was sunk by a stack of 10 of their ships though. (Spain has sunk any ship trying to explore NE) Way down south, on the other side of the Aztec empire, I did finally see Barbarian horsemen. A stack of ten, and of four, two, and one units, plus a camp with a warrior on it. Amusingly, and Iroquois settler/spearman landed by Galley that turn. The spearman was able to hold off 7-8 of them before falling.


The current remains of my once mighty army (I once had close to 70 JT's I think...)

4 Armies. 2 @ 4 JTs and 2 @ 3 JTs (which I may keep that way, so as too allow boat transfer prior to Tansport...)

6 workers
at least a 100+ captured workers

14 spearmen (will upgrade to pikemen soon, in turns to come)
13 swordsmen, (Again, will upgrade to MI in coming turns)
30 Catapults (probably more artillery then I've ever built before)
3 captured Catapults
2 galleys (lost 4-6 trying to explore)

40 Javelin Throwers

 

[Roland Ehnström]

While normally I just place cities in the first decent spot I see, I decided I would try out this new fangled 'ring pattern' that I had read about online here.

Hi Cryspen! I'm also pretty new to Civfanatics, having done only the three previous COTM's. I have learned very much from these games - I think you'll see your game improve very much too (though you seem to be doing pretty damn well already!).

Just a comment about the "ring pattern". I am afraid that this is obsolete with C3C. Corruption works differently in Conquests, so placing cities in a ring is of no use now.

-- Roland

 

[Denniz]

1.22f - Open Class

Ancient Age

I sent my worker west. I didn't see anything special, so I moved my settler NE and set up my factory. It sputtered a couple of times but overall my expansion was very quick. I met the Aztecs in 3600BC, the Americans in 3450BC, the Spanish in 2950BC and finally the Iroquis in 1675BC. The American must have poped a GH to found New York near the iron to the northeast. I had to put a city next in the hills to claim it. I got the horses and the 2 lux without any interference. The Republic slingshot worked like a charm wiht me switching to Republic in 1000BC. I used the show big picture trick but got 5 turn anarchy both times.

QSC:
12 cities
32 pop
2 settlers
10 workers
8 warriors
1 Swordman
5 Javelin
2 Curragh (I think I built 4 or 5 but losses high)
1 Grainary
4 Barracks

In 710BC, I had gathered a stack of 4 Swordmen, 3 Javelin, and 2 Horsemen northeast of Tenochtitlan and declared war. Both America and the Aztecs were weak compared to me. I started to go for the Americans but changed my mind and attacked the Aztecs instead as they had just built the Pyramids. In 670BC, I captured the city and started my golden age. In 590BC, I got 3 cities plus gold for peace. A short profitable war that left the Aztecs crippled with just 3 cities.

I rode the GA into the middle ages without further conflict. In 370BC, I discovered Construction to enter the MA.

Stats:
19 Cities
89 Pop
2 Settlers
15 workers
7 slaves (one purchase from Iraquois)
18 horsemen
1 galley
3 Javelin
1 Curragh

Tech:
3950BC Masonry; Pottery (Starting Tech)
3600BC Warrior Code (Trade)
3400BC Ceremonial Burial (Trade)
2950BC Bronze Working (Trade)
1990BC Alphabet (Research)
1650BC The Wheel (Trade)
1450BC Writing (Research)
1425BC Iron Working; Mysticism (Trade)
1150BC Code of Laws (Research)
1000BC Mathematics(trade); Philosophy(Research); Horseback Riding (trade); The Republic (Free)
900BC Map Making (Trade)
730BC Literature (Research)
550BC Currency (Research)
450BC Polytheism (Research)
370BC Construction (Research)

Wonders:
1600BC Colossus (Civ1)
1400BC Oracle (America)
900BC Pyramids (Aztecs, now Mayan)
590BC Temple of Artemis (Civ2
570BC Great Lighthouse (Civ3)

I was 4 turns from the Great Library and 1 turn from the FP.

 

[predesad]

I seemed to have lost some of my notes, so I am going partly from memory

To begin, I started by moving the settler NE worker road, found Chichen Itza and continued to set up settler factory building warrior, warrior, worker, granary, settler, from that point it was settlers every 4 turns for a long time form my capitol. No settlers ever from any other cities, preferred just to let them grow and give workers here and there.

I contacted Americans early and was alarmed by their proximity, then the Aztecs soon after that. Not too much longer a Spanish wariror was spotted, but the Iroquois I did not contact for awhile.

I started researching Alphabet @ 100% then Writing all the way to Republic slingshot in 1175 BC. After I had got republic I began trading writing and made some trades too easily take the tech lead. The Aztecs never contact anyone else until nearly the MA despite their having discovered map making early. I extorted the Spanish two or three times by renegotiating peace, once this netted me iron working. I had an early war with America which netted me a city and saw only two battles during the brief war, the kille done of my warriors, i attacked and lost a warrior to that same one, then another warrior killed theirs. They gave me Boston + a small amount of gold for peace.

I had placed a priority on settling near the luxuries and claimed both silks & spices. I accidently founded on top of the horse (i did not have the wheel when i founded) then later founded right between the iron and horse to the north.

The Americans built both the Oralce and Temple of Artmeis, I declared war ion them, they are small and I wanted their lands. I did poorly though, because the war is still ongoing. They have failed to even appear to invade me, but I have lost too many swords to their spears and I misjudged the number of swords I needed. They only have three cities left, one in the far north by spain. I once got Washington down to one spear, but had to take my surviving units out of their territory to heal, in the meantime i had built a few more swords and when I approached the capitol again they had 4 spears in there, they must have been pop rushing like mad. This time i worried not about an early capture of their capitol, instead I pillaged every tile in their capitol and now have a stack of about15 swords ready to take them out.

I really became distracted by the war which should have been over long ago and have remained a depotism, my plan was to eliminate America and take over theri land, switch to Republic and the n invade the Aztecs with swords and javs to initiate GA, easy targets for slaves with their jags and archers because they took a long time to hook up their iron. that is still the plan, but it has taken much longer than it should have, the year is 270 AD.

I just entered the MA about 240 AD, purposely extending it. After my Republic slingshot I researched literacy and then went with one scientist for currency. With the 50 turns, Spain still only managed to get currency 3 turns before I did and I racked up a ton of gold, 3725. I built the GL, but not by choice. I wanted the other GL, the lighthouse, but a civ on another continent beat me to it. I will continue to let the AI dictate the tech pace and rack up gold until education.

My goal right now is to overtake my continent and then go for a space race victory, i want all of my continent in case I dont have needed resources later for spaceship, i will have other extra resources to trade, and then i will only have to worry about overseas invasions. Once the GL is obsolete I hope to be able to distance myself in the tech race, but as of yet I have not contacted the other continent and I am certain they are ahead of us. No matter because I will catch up thanks to the GL. I did make a successful crossing though, finally, after several attempts and I hope to get some other contacts soon.

I have 22 cities, 1 settler, 27 workers, 1 warrior, 22 spears, 23 swords, 14 javs, 8 galleys, & 14 slaves. My core cities have granary, temple, barracks, and aqueduct where needed, also a couple harbors. I have built the forbidden palace in Bonampak which expanded my core. Have been adding courthouses, and started on markets, i will get those and libraries during GA and i hope to get contacts for monotheism so i can build cathedrals as well.

The game is going slow, but I vow to speed it up then make use of my huge cash reserve.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Hi, pretty new to the Game of the month - only found this fantastic website last month... should have had it like years ago ;-)

Welcome to CFC!

 

[eldar]

Open.

BC 4000 Worker W to Wheat. Looks like coast. Settler NE to river. Nothing interesting.
3950 Founded Chicen Itza. Research Alphabet at 20% (minimum). Worker will: road (2), NE (1), road (2), irrigate (3), SW+irrigate (3), NE+mine (4), E+S (1), chop (3). [Edit: I deviated somewhat, chopping before finally returning to irrigate the wheat]. Build will be warrior, warrior, granary, settler.
3700 First warrior out, and the road on the BG is done so I can hike research to 90%.
3650 Warrior spots spices to the SE. First settler spot if nothing better emerges.
3550 Second warrior ready, will go round the coast.
3250 Contact with Aztecs, I give them Masonry, they give me WC+10g.
3150 Goody Hut: Barbs :-(
2900 Granary completed.
2670 First settler pops out. Will go to spices site, and start making warriors for MP in Chicen Itza.
2590 Goody Hut: Maps :-(
2390 IBT: There are blue borders touching Chicen Itza's?!
2350 The blue borders belong to America - I bet it's a Goody Hut city They're up CB & BW, the Aztecs are up BW. Founded Palenque.
2270 Founded Tikal, backing onto the American city's borders but it's next to Silks and I can probably get it.
2070 Alphabet finished, start Writing. Trade Alphabet to America for BW+30g. Aztecs have the Wheel but won't trade (they have no gold).
2030 IBT: Aztecs DoW! They have a lone archer next to an undefended (and undefendable) Copan… which I promptly lose.
1990 Contact with Iroquois, sell Masonry and Get CB, Wheel, and 10g.
1950 Looks like the Americans either started very close after all, or got two Goody Hut settlers.
1910 Founded Bonampak, killed the Aztec Archer with a warrior.
1750 Copan Two founded. Now I know why the Aztecs wanted it… as well as the Spices, there be horses IBT: sign peace with Aztecs giving them CB+28g. Chichen Itza riots due to lack of War Happines.
1550 Quirigua founded. Trade away Writing to Iroquois for IW+25g, then IW to America for all his gold, and Aztecs for all his gold.
1475 IBT: A settler gets hit by a Barb horse.
1350 Calakmul founded, next to Iron. As someone mentioned… Chichen Itza can be a 3.5-5.5 settler factory!
1325 IBT: CivX completes The Colossus. An American worker finishes connecting the Silks for me, I've finished the temple in Tikal so I now have control of the square
1300 Sell Writing to America for Mysticism+25g.
1250 At long last, my first Javelin thrower comes off the production lines. Too darned late. The two grassland squares I've inherited from the Americans are irrigated. Why?!
1225 IBT: Spain contacts me. I decline her offer for now, but will go back to her.
1200 Sell Writing to Spain for HBR+6g. I can get Mathematics from America for CoL but I'll hold back for now to give me a better shot at Philosophy - though all the AIs now have Mysticism so chances are they're chasing Polytheism for the ToA. Lazapa & Kaminaljuyu founded.
1175 Sell Mysticism to Aztecs for 25g (from the Barbs they just broke up).
1050 I complete Philosophy and... Darn! - an undiscovered Civ already had Philosophy! I'll still research Republic, though, because I'd like the early govt.
1025 Trade CoL to America for Mathematics. Sell CoL to Spain for 35g.
1000 QSC position would be better if it weren't for the early Aztec DoW, and the loss of the Settler in the Calakmul position to a Barb. It turns out I could've escorted it, because my research gambit failed so the extra Lux tax wouldn't have bit. 10 cities (+3 more soon), 7 workers, 14 warriors, 3 javelin throwers, 233 gold, 27 population, researching Republic, missing AA techs Construction, Currency, (Literature), Map Making, Polytheism, Monarchy. Contact with 4 Civs (Aztec, America, Iroquois, Spain). Score 257 (#1 from 5 - next is Aztecs on 240). 1 granary, 3 temples, 3 barracks.

1000BC screenshot:


I've marked where my three settlers are headed for/are - I get all three sites

950 Traded Mathematic+CoL to Aztecs for Map Making+25g. Founded Uaxactun.
875 IBT: CivY completes the Pyramids. Bad, 'cos the Aztecs switch to the GL - must've been building Pyramids in a coastal city?! Possibly good news, because it's not going to be particularly productive. The Americans complete The Oracle.
825 Sold Philosphy to America & Spain for all their gold. IBT: CivZ completes the MoM - at least I know *who* was first to Philosophy now!
730 IBT: CivQ completes the Lighthouse - knew I shouldn't have tried for it. I switch Palenque to my FP. Might as well get it built nice and early.
690 Sell Philosophy to Aztecs for all his gold, and Map Making to America for all his. IBT: America get Construction. Still, I'm close to Repbulic - so I can use that to its full effect.
570 Repbulic discovered, immediate revolt (forget about the 'Big Picture' trick though). 5-turn anarchy though I'll wait 'til I trade it round, though - I can get Construction from America, but it's not really worth it, yet. They'll only sell on Republic. Sell Philosophy to Iroquois for all his gold.
510 Uxmal founded, next to one of the Furs south of Aztecs. I can't believe they didn't claim it - indeed, they had a Settler there in plain sight of my Galley, but went right past!
490 IBT: Aztecs demand Republic. I tell them where to go, they DoW. Their loss.
470 The stack of Javs and Swords I've built up ready to hit Tenoc, makes it move.
450 IBT: Boston flips to me And CivP completes the SoZ.
430 Start of my GA as a Jav takes out a Spear defending Tenoc. Give in and sell America Republic for Construction+62g. Still no-one has Poly. Tenoc captured. And I get my first slave from a Jav Then I 'forget' the stack of Aztec units sitting on a mountain and move the slave next to them... d'oh!
410 IBT: The Aztecs capture Uxmal, but that's no surprise given how deep in their territory it was. I hope my two warriors fought bravely (the first came on the Galley, the other had been down south scouting).
390 Complete FP in Palenque. This war will not be fun for Monty.
350 Finish Currency - still nobody has Polytheism, so I guess I ought to research THAT too. Still, it's a 4-turner thanks to my GA
330 Sell silks to Iroquois for 44g. Found Kabah right under their noses, too. Still, two wheat and a lake? I'll take it!
310 Sell Currency to America for Gems+15g. Still can't drop to 0% luxes, but I'm starting to build Marketplaces now (in preference to temples). IBT: Barb uprising near Kabah. There's an Iroquois spear/settler pair next door to that camp. That's nice for them.
270 Complete Polytheism and enter the MA. Start on Engineering.

A nice position to be in, but for the early DoW by Aztecs it would've been better (Copan would've been my early Jav pump, but got set back somewhat...).

[Edit] My GA was very nicely timed, even if a little unplanned. It boosted me into the MA, and I also got Markets, and some Courts, built in my main cities. Financially, I'm sound, which should make the rest of the conquest of this continent a simple job once I get Knights.

Neil.

 

[Darkness]

Looking at these openings, i have a question to those who have 16/17 cities at 1000BC, hopefully opening some discussion.

I have build settlers only from my settler factory, and workers mostly from my other cities with granaries to give my remaining cities the opportunity to grow.
At 1000BC, i only have 12 cities, but with 44 total population vs 30 pop in darkness' 17 cities for example.

The difference is that you invest more in future growth by building settlers from your non settler factory cities as well.
The more you invest, the later your cities start growing tall and production will rise, but the bigger the production can be in the end.
On deity/sid, the amount of investment is mostly decided by what the AI lets you get away with (due to available ground and your lack of defence)

I don't have experience with the lower difficulties, but i would expect it not to be optimal to invest as much as the AI allows you. The AI is so weak, i would guess you can finish them off earlier if you make a lower investment. On the other hand, i could say the higher OCN favors a bigger investment on these difficulty levels.

So, i ask you to explain your reasoning behind your investment strategy on lower difficulty levels since i have very little experience with that.
(I started playing deity right away, and still stand by my oppinion that if you want to beat deity, you should not start at lower difficulties because it's just a different game at lower levels)

PS: I just explained my philosophy behind my strategy, i am not trying to convince anyone it is good or even better, i know you guys are top finishers in the gotm's. Thats why i ask you about your strategies.

This could be quite an interesting debate...
Since you compared your game to mine, I'll answer as much as I can.

I build most of my settlers from my settler factory. Two cities were set to a specialized build (one had barracks, so it was pumping out Javelin Throwers. This did me no good though, since I didn't acquire a single barbarian slave. The other was doing a great wonder, can't tell which one in this spoiler, but I was succesful ). All the other cities were building workers and settlers as fast as they could.
Now to the why of my strategy:
Because I always go for republic ASAP happyness is an issue early on. I tend to keep most my cities relatively small to keep the luxury slider as low as possible (fast research) and because I always want to have a lot of workers, who IMHO are the most vital unit in the game! Most of my cities started to grow early on in the MA, because by then my peaceful expansion was over and I had enough workers.
IMHO it is always cheaper to expand as much as is reasonably possible, than to conquer other nations in the start. The real point is where peaceful expansion becomes more expensive (long settler treks, etcetera), that's when I usually switch towards a more aggressive approach.

 

[socralynnek]

Open Class

Since I am a monarch player, I decided I wouldn't need the few bonuses from Conquest class.

The Americans attacked me very early, but since they had no iron, I had no problem to fight them with my Javs and a few swordsmen.
I got two leaders in that war and at the end of the AA, America had only one city (to the south of Chichen Itza where I could control them...)
Washington had build Mausoleum, so I decided to build my FP there which was finished as I entered the Middle Ages.
The war with America was almost over when the Aztecs attacked me. I played a few turns defensively and got a leader from a defending spearman. i used that army to prevent them from connecting their iron.
Then I decided I would destroy the Aztecs, but the downside of this was that I would wait for Democracy to change governments.
When I entered the Middle Ages, I had conquered 1 or 2 cities of the Aztecs but the war went well since they only attacked with archers.
I had (almost) met all civs (my galleys were at that moment still on their way)and I was the first to enter the Middle Ages.
I had lots of workers (only 2 were build by myself)and was building the pentagon...
Have I already said that I love armies full of Javs...
I am the largest civ and when I finish the Aztecs, I should have a big lead...

 

[WackenOpenAir]

This could be quite an interesting debate...
Since you compared your game to mine, I'll answer as much as I can.

I build most of my settlers from my settler factory. Two cities were set to a specialized build (one had barracks, so it was pumping out Javelin Throwers. This did me no good though, since I didn't acquire a single barbarian slave. The other was doing a great wonder, can't tell which one in this spoiler, but I was succesful ). All the other cities were building workers and settlers as fast as they could.
Now to the why of my strategy:
to keep most Because I always go for republic ASAP happyness is an issue early on. I tend my cities relatively small to keep the luxury slider as low as possible (fast research) and because I always want to have a lot of workers, who IMHO are the most vital unit in the game! Most of my cities started to grow early on in the MA, because by then my peaceful expansion was over and I had enough workers.
IMHO it is always cheaper to expand as much as is reasonably possible, than to conquer other nations in the start. The real point is where peaceful expansion becomes more expensive (long settler treks, etcetera), that's when I usually switch towards a more aggressive approach.

Hmm, i reasoned to get some cities to size 7 asap when getting republic I got 4 size 7 sities when i got rep around 800-700 BC. Also built marketplaces in those.
I guess you built 4 or so settlers from other cities (since i am not too stupid to start and use a settler factory, i assume you also got 14 settlers from it by 1000BC), i think i will experiment some with the difference between these idea's by playing the same game twice and at the same time with both idea's after completing this gotm. I hope it won't take too long before i get to it.

 

[jazz_man]

hi!

I had a fairly peaceful ancient age focussed on growth and science.
Managed to gain lots of respect from my neighbours!

Some highlights so far.

Realized that when builds are close to an end It might pay off to
micromanage the shields better. As an example I have 2 towns that
can use the wheat & a good shield tile, so by swapping them around
when shields are about to be stuffed I can minimize the waste. Now
keep an eye on when things are about to become finished

Gotta love it when trespassers obediently run back home upon hearing
the thunderous voice of Maya power booming.

I decided to try and delay the golden age until I had some decent
towns & science. This worked out alright I think, just after getting
republic a javelin fellow got my civ into racer-gear!

Used the whip a bit since there was such an abundance of food on
the plains - built libraries.

Crushing the Aztecs, ho-hoo - got onto their capital with catapults
and horsies. There's an Oracle in their town that says I'll find
a really nice woman and live happily forever after.

Attach some pictures showing my empire, best towns & woman.

cheers,
john

 

[Offa]

Looking at these openings, i have a question to those who have 16/17 cities at 1000BC, hopefully opening some discussion.

I have build settlers only from my settler factory, and workers mostly from my other cities with granaries to give my remaining cities the opportunity to grow.
At 1000BC, i only have 12 cities, but with 44 total population vs 30 pop in darkness' 17 cities for example.

So, i ask you to explain your reasoning behind your investment strategy on lower difficulty levels since i have very little experience with that.

I am just lurking here as playing on a large map isn't appetizing. However, for what it is worth I agree with you that too much expansion at the cost of city size can be wrong. This opinion is largely based on Snaga's game in gotm23 (Monarch Arab pangea). In that game he built relatively few towns (? a dozen or so) before blitzing through the AI with breathless speed. I would refer you back to his write up: it certainly convinced me. If only I could play as well...