Arphahat
Chieftain
Ah.. thank you. I never really understood what determined the number of turns per tech, only that there was a 4 turn minimum.
COTM 09 First Spoiler: Ancient Age
- Thread starter Renata
- Start date
bradleyfeanor
King
Predator, supercharged and fixed barbs
PreGame Thoughts
The start looks like it was specifically designed without food bonuses, and I am guessing we will not find any nearby either, since it is a more difficult than usual Monarch game. I also suspect we may be alone on a small island: that would fit somewhat poetically with the nature of the Vikings, and the super barb galleys make me very suspicious.
SirPleb gave an excellent analysis of opening moves in the pregame thread. However, I like the quick granary option. For science I will go with pottery at max since I am assuming we may be alone. After that I will make a beeline for the slingshot to Republic.
I will road/mine then chop with my worker. Road first because my best prebuild is a settler, and that will run out if I mine before roading. This sequence will give me my first settler a total of 4 turns late, but it will allow me to build the granary before growth to 3. That will (in a way) make up for the settler coming late, because having the granary before growth will be like having 10 more food in the capitol. I used SirPlebs Opening Moves Spreadsheet to plan my start. I like it. It saved a good bit of time over using pencil and paper, and that allows me to explore more options.
Of course, if I meet an AI early, this plan may change in its entirety. My tentative goal is conquest victory, but if I find this will come very late for some reason (after 950ad), I may switch my goal to space or the cow.
Exploration
Having gone for a granary first, exploration suffered. My worker spotted what could be fresh water in the NW when he moved to mine a bg, but that was all I knew until 2550bc, when my first warrior was built. Even with the late exploration it did not take long to deduce we were on a small island.
I built a small force of 5 veteran archers to deal with the barbs, and they were more than sufficient. I was surprised that they were not more aggressive than they were, as they never took the initiative to attack my archers when they were next to them. I guess they didnt know they had the extra attacking power. The volcanoes on my island were hyperactive, and almost the entire northern area was covered with pollution. (The volcanoes also caused greater mischief, but that will have to wait for the next spoiler thread.)
My first curragh was built in 2270. By 1830 it had circled our island and the tiny island to the south, so its next mission would be a suicide run. He didnt make it. I built five additional curraghs: three sank like the first, but two survived and met AI civs in the following years:
Contacts
a 1175
b 1150
c 1125
d 1100
e 1025
f 900
g 875
Around 1500bc it became apparent that the AIs were far, far away, and I started to contemplate a palace jump with my military carried alongas Aeson is doing in his game. If this were PTW instead of C3C, that would definitely be a very strong strategy. However, since the FP does not create a second core in C3C, the corruption effects would be ruinous on the home island after the jump. I am not sure such a jump can pay off in this game unless it is doneat the latestin the early middle ages. I could be wrong though. It will be interesting to see how Aesons game works out. Since I could not get an AI city in peace negotiations until late in the middle ages, I dismissed palace jumping as a possible strategy in this game.
Expansion and Development
Trondheim, which was founded on the start, built its first settler in 2850bc. That second city also built a granary. Trondheim then built a barracks and 5 archers in between settlers. I sacrificed a bit of expansion in order to keep my research rate high while I was researching writing and philosophy, because I did not want to take a chance on missing the slingshot.
Most of my other cities concentrated on workers and curraghs until the end of the QSC period. I discovered Republic in 1250bc and revolted, drawing a 4-turn anarchy.
End QSC
15 citizens
6 towns
2 granaries
1 barracks
1 settler
7 workers
1 warrior
5 archers
3 curraghs
All first and second tier techs, all third except lit and poly. Also have Republic.
185g
Lit is due in 2, but I am losing 22gpt.
Firaxis 184, 3rd place (#1 has 215)
I thought this wasnt too bad, but then I saw Dynamics QSC stats: wow!
At this time a few cities began harbors. In 950 they were mostly building libraries, and in the early 600s a few moved on to markets and aqueducts. My goal was to get these necessary improvements built before switching the economy over to boats and military, as I didnt have enough cities to pay for the unit support.
Research and Trading
Since we were indeed alone on a small island, I didnt change my research goals from those I set before the game. I researched at maximum sustainable speed throughout the Ancient Age, except for a few turns in which I turned down science to raise money for embassies. I needed the embassies in order to foment war on the other continent.
Techs were acquired in the following order:
Pottery, 3400bc
Writing, 1950bc
CoL, 1425bc
Phil, 1250bc
Republic, 1250bc (free tech)
1100bc
Masonry, CB, TW +10g from civ d for Alph, Writing
BW +58g from civ a for writing
Map Making from civ c for Phil and 101g
Math from civ a for Phil, MM and 3gpt
IW, HR from civ d for Phil
Myst from civ d for Math
There was additional trading on this turn for gold. I ended up with all the gold in the world (257) except for the 46g civ a had. I was hanging on to CoL and Republic until I could get more for the techs.
Lit, 950bc
Currency, 710bc
Construction, 670bc (via trade I forgot to record)
So I entered the MAs in 670bc. In the process trading for Construction, I also put all the AIs at war with one another
Future Plans
The first goal is to trigger my GA as soon as possible via the Statue of Zeus and the Mausoleum. Otherwise, I expect MA research will be far to slow. Navigation is my first research goal, and then the conquest will begin with Berzerks. I also want to ensure that none of the AIs are ever at peace so that hopefully my units will be attacking no better defenders than pikemen. I am going to try to get a prebuild for Leonardo going, because the archer > berserk upgrade is very pricey.
After getting Navigation and Invention, I will probably turn off research in order to pay for unit upgrades. After that, there is a strong possibility that I will continue to research to Mil. Trad, as I am not sure conquering with Berzerks will go quickly enough. The boats would have to stay with them in order for them to move quickly, and that means I would need an entirely new set of boats to bring in reinforcements. I think all those boats would drive the cost of military support too high.
PreGame Thoughts
The start looks like it was specifically designed without food bonuses, and I am guessing we will not find any nearby either, since it is a more difficult than usual Monarch game. I also suspect we may be alone on a small island: that would fit somewhat poetically with the nature of the Vikings, and the super barb galleys make me very suspicious.
SirPleb gave an excellent analysis of opening moves in the pregame thread. However, I like the quick granary option. For science I will go with pottery at max since I am assuming we may be alone. After that I will make a beeline for the slingshot to Republic.
I will road/mine then chop with my worker. Road first because my best prebuild is a settler, and that will run out if I mine before roading. This sequence will give me my first settler a total of 4 turns late, but it will allow me to build the granary before growth to 3. That will (in a way) make up for the settler coming late, because having the granary before growth will be like having 10 more food in the capitol. I used SirPlebs Opening Moves Spreadsheet to plan my start. I like it. It saved a good bit of time over using pencil and paper, and that allows me to explore more options.
Of course, if I meet an AI early, this plan may change in its entirety. My tentative goal is conquest victory, but if I find this will come very late for some reason (after 950ad), I may switch my goal to space or the cow.
Exploration
Having gone for a granary first, exploration suffered. My worker spotted what could be fresh water in the NW when he moved to mine a bg, but that was all I knew until 2550bc, when my first warrior was built. Even with the late exploration it did not take long to deduce we were on a small island.
I built a small force of 5 veteran archers to deal with the barbs, and they were more than sufficient. I was surprised that they were not more aggressive than they were, as they never took the initiative to attack my archers when they were next to them. I guess they didnt know they had the extra attacking power. The volcanoes on my island were hyperactive, and almost the entire northern area was covered with pollution. (The volcanoes also caused greater mischief, but that will have to wait for the next spoiler thread.)
My first curragh was built in 2270. By 1830 it had circled our island and the tiny island to the south, so its next mission would be a suicide run. He didnt make it. I built five additional curraghs: three sank like the first, but two survived and met AI civs in the following years:
Contacts
a 1175
b 1150
c 1125
d 1100
e 1025
f 900
g 875
Around 1500bc it became apparent that the AIs were far, far away, and I started to contemplate a palace jump with my military carried alongas Aeson is doing in his game. If this were PTW instead of C3C, that would definitely be a very strong strategy. However, since the FP does not create a second core in C3C, the corruption effects would be ruinous on the home island after the jump. I am not sure such a jump can pay off in this game unless it is doneat the latestin the early middle ages. I could be wrong though. It will be interesting to see how Aesons game works out. Since I could not get an AI city in peace negotiations until late in the middle ages, I dismissed palace jumping as a possible strategy in this game.
Expansion and Development
Trondheim, which was founded on the start, built its first settler in 2850bc. That second city also built a granary. Trondheim then built a barracks and 5 archers in between settlers. I sacrificed a bit of expansion in order to keep my research rate high while I was researching writing and philosophy, because I did not want to take a chance on missing the slingshot.
Most of my other cities concentrated on workers and curraghs until the end of the QSC period. I discovered Republic in 1250bc and revolted, drawing a 4-turn anarchy.
End QSC
15 citizens
6 towns
2 granaries
1 barracks
1 settler
7 workers
1 warrior
5 archers
3 curraghs
All first and second tier techs, all third except lit and poly. Also have Republic.
185g
Lit is due in 2, but I am losing 22gpt.
Firaxis 184, 3rd place (#1 has 215)
I thought this wasnt too bad, but then I saw Dynamics QSC stats: wow!
At this time a few cities began harbors. In 950 they were mostly building libraries, and in the early 600s a few moved on to markets and aqueducts. My goal was to get these necessary improvements built before switching the economy over to boats and military, as I didnt have enough cities to pay for the unit support.
Research and Trading
Since we were indeed alone on a small island, I didnt change my research goals from those I set before the game. I researched at maximum sustainable speed throughout the Ancient Age, except for a few turns in which I turned down science to raise money for embassies. I needed the embassies in order to foment war on the other continent.
Techs were acquired in the following order:
Pottery, 3400bc
Writing, 1950bc
CoL, 1425bc
Phil, 1250bc
Republic, 1250bc (free tech)
1100bc
Masonry, CB, TW +10g from civ d for Alph, Writing
BW +58g from civ a for writing
Map Making from civ c for Phil and 101g
Math from civ a for Phil, MM and 3gpt
IW, HR from civ d for Phil
Myst from civ d for Math
There was additional trading on this turn for gold. I ended up with all the gold in the world (257) except for the 46g civ a had. I was hanging on to CoL and Republic until I could get more for the techs.
Lit, 950bc
Currency, 710bc
Construction, 670bc (via trade I forgot to record)
So I entered the MAs in 670bc. In the process trading for Construction, I also put all the AIs at war with one another
Future Plans
The first goal is to trigger my GA as soon as possible via the Statue of Zeus and the Mausoleum. Otherwise, I expect MA research will be far to slow. Navigation is my first research goal, and then the conquest will begin with Berzerks. I also want to ensure that none of the AIs are ever at peace so that hopefully my units will be attacking no better defenders than pikemen. I am going to try to get a prebuild for Leonardo going, because the archer > berserk upgrade is very pricey.
After getting Navigation and Invention, I will probably turn off research in order to pay for unit upgrades. After that, there is a strong possibility that I will continue to research to Mil. Trad, as I am not sure conquering with Berzerks will go quickly enough. The boats would have to stay with them in order for them to move quickly, and that means I would need an entirely new set of boats to bring in reinforcements. I think all those boats would drive the cost of military support too high.
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2001
- Messages
- 2,686
Offa said:
This is something I haven't looked at since way back when Civ 1.21f first came out, so I don't know the exact formula, but this is my basic understanding. The AI looks (mostly, maybe entirely?) at power (cities, units, techs, gold) for and against them. If you kill a unit (with no losses yourself), they are weaker in comparison to you. If you take one of their cities this power ratio can swing drastically in your favor (-1 city for, +1 city against) and so it definitely seems like doing direct damage counts, but I'm not sure it does. The other things I know count are how many civs are at war with each party and if there are MA's in effect.
I was a bit suprised that neither of my first two attempts worked out. The Zulu were close to giving one of their cities to me for a long time, but I couldn't quite get the power balance enough in my favor. The Hittites ended up building a couple new cities too quickly for it to have a chance.
I broke two MA's against the Dutch and so to the AI it looked like a 3v1, and the 2 other civ's strength counted in my favor at least partially. The city had just been pop rushed to size 1 and had no strategic or luxury resource in it's 21 tile radius.
The staff has agreed that it's not allowed in the present. I'm sure there would have been an official statement on it by now if Ainwood wasn't playing this game too.
My submission has been excluded already, so if anyone else follows this same path their game will almost surely follow suit.
jafa
Chieftain
Having now been lurking on these message boards for a month or so and honing my strategies I thought I'd give COTM9 a go as my first submission. I did a very thorough QSC log and can't wait to see how I stack up against the behemoths of the CivIII world! Any constructive criticism from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
jafa
Ancient Age (to 570BC)
Initial moves
Worker went SE, saw no reason to move Settler so settled in starting location. I was a little to nervous that I'd miss the Rebuplic Slingshot so I began research on Writing on max (Science 100%), and hoped I would be able to trade for pottery later.
Initial builds were Curragh, Curragh, Settler.
Curragh1 went North, Curragh2 South. Became quickly apparent that we are on a small island, and that some suicide runs would be needed to make contact with the other civs. As it turned out these suicide runs were absolute missions requiring many turns in the ocean to contact anyone else. I lost my first two Curraghs, but made contact with another civ with a (very) lucky run by Curragh #3 in 2350BC.
Cuuragh3 continued to meet with other civs and these relatively early contacts meant I was able to manipulate the trading of technology, managing to stay ahead of the tech race despite my isolation. In 2070BC another Curragh (#4) made it to land also and by 1475BC I had contact with all the civs.
Research and Strategy
I researched at 100% for the Republic slingshot; getting Writing in 2310BC, CoL in 1475BC, Philosophy in 1225BC, taking Republic as free tech. (this was the first time I have successfully pulled this off!). I revolted for a 1 turn! Anarchy (Rebuplic in 1200BC).
From here I self Researched Literature, then Currency. Then made peace in the (cold) war with the Hittites, getting Construction for Philosophy, CoL, +8g. Two turns later I research Polytheism, reaching the Middle Ages in 570BC, well ahead of any of my rivals.
- I guess I was lucky though in that my gamble to not to research Pottery paid off as I was able to trade for it. Still maybe in retrospect not the smartest of ideas considering how isolated we were
Expansion
On a small island the only check to my expansion were barbarians, which were a nuisance, but dealt with easily with archers.
At 570BC this is how my world looked (not to sure how to do attachments so hope this works)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=81582&stc=1
[end of spoiler1]
jafa
Ancient Age (to 570BC)
Initial moves
Worker went SE, saw no reason to move Settler so settled in starting location. I was a little to nervous that I'd miss the Rebuplic Slingshot so I began research on Writing on max (Science 100%), and hoped I would be able to trade for pottery later.
Initial builds were Curragh, Curragh, Settler.
Curragh1 went North, Curragh2 South. Became quickly apparent that we are on a small island, and that some suicide runs would be needed to make contact with the other civs. As it turned out these suicide runs were absolute missions requiring many turns in the ocean to contact anyone else. I lost my first two Curraghs, but made contact with another civ with a (very) lucky run by Curragh #3 in 2350BC.
Cuuragh3 continued to meet with other civs and these relatively early contacts meant I was able to manipulate the trading of technology, managing to stay ahead of the tech race despite my isolation. In 2070BC another Curragh (#4) made it to land also and by 1475BC I had contact with all the civs.
Research and Strategy
I researched at 100% for the Republic slingshot; getting Writing in 2310BC, CoL in 1475BC, Philosophy in 1225BC, taking Republic as free tech. (this was the first time I have successfully pulled this off!). I revolted for a 1 turn! Anarchy (Rebuplic in 1200BC).
From here I self Researched Literature, then Currency. Then made peace in the (cold) war with the Hittites, getting Construction for Philosophy, CoL, +8g. Two turns later I research Polytheism, reaching the Middle Ages in 570BC, well ahead of any of my rivals.
- I guess I was lucky though in that my gamble to not to research Pottery paid off as I was able to trade for it. Still maybe in retrospect not the smartest of ideas considering how isolated we were
Expansion
On a small island the only check to my expansion were barbarians, which were a nuisance, but dealt with easily with archers.
At 570BC this is how my world looked (not to sure how to do attachments so hope this works)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=81582&stc=1
[end of spoiler1]
Attachments
bradleyfeanor
King
Aeson said:
Disallowed in all games or just this one? I think it is a bad idea to ban palace jumping entirely.
juballs2001
The Sultan of Sweat
hey i just realized something, i have researched literature after code of laws, and then i would do the philosophy-free republic. and there was no need to do literature, i must have been getting lots of beakers per turn
Jonesy10
Chieftain
Hello all!
Conquest class
This is my first COTM (I may not be posting my screenshots properly) I played a little of GOTM39 but was a little overwhelmed by all the other civs in close proximity. This map suits me a little better. I welcome any comments/criticisms of my game play.
It became quite clear early on that we were isolated, so I immediately sent my Curragh and got lucky.
The next priority was to maximize research, as there was very little need for many units. The lack of iron was very aggravating and a definite disadvantage. I was forced to play a waiting game until invention could be researched for the Berserk unit. It was very unsettling not being able to do much early in the game.
Heres how my first years went:
4000BC Trondheim founded on the spot archer, sett, granary, sett, sett, sett
3000BC Researched Pottery
2900BC Bergen founded granary, sett, temple
2900BC Acquired Ceremonial Burial from Hittites for Pottery
2550BC Acquire Bronze Working from Babs for CB
2390BC Volcano erupts luckily, no damage
2310BC Acquire Masonry from Zulus for Alpha
2230BC Acquire the Wheel from Celta for Alpha + 8gp
2190BC Researched Writing
1830BC Acquire Iron Working from Chinese for Alpha + 31gp
1725BC Another volcano erupts no damage again
1700BC Copenhagen founded adjacent to lake spearman, temple, worker
1675BC Researched Philosophy, got free Code of Laws
1450BC Reykjavik founded granary, sett, barracks
1450BC Acquire HB Riding + Mysticism, +165pg from Celts for CoL
1200BC Oslo founded spearman, temple
1125BC Acquire Map Making from Zulus for Philosophy +15gp (expensive, but I was desperate)
1100BC Stockholm founded spearman, granary
Heres what my world looked like at 1000BC(sans other island):
650BC Got tired of waiting for Invention, had to do something to keep myself busy. Managed to get a settler over to the other island and found this gem of a spot and founded Birka. It was the only spot left on the island. Had to take it! I thought city walls would be a priority for defense. The other civs didnt like my presence too much though as I had numerous threats and fake wars. Americans and Hittites were the only ones to swing at me, and I managed to hold them off. Oddly enough, the Chinese left me alone when they were all around me. I think they were building more cultural improvements rather than military units.
650BC Researched Republic, begin Anarchy
570BC Vikings have a Republic
490BC Researched Literature
410BC Researched Math
210BC Researched Const
110BC Researched Poly
70AD Researched Currency, end of Ancient Era
Conquest class
This is my first COTM (I may not be posting my screenshots properly) I played a little of GOTM39 but was a little overwhelmed by all the other civs in close proximity. This map suits me a little better. I welcome any comments/criticisms of my game play.
It became quite clear early on that we were isolated, so I immediately sent my Curragh and got lucky.
The next priority was to maximize research, as there was very little need for many units. The lack of iron was very aggravating and a definite disadvantage. I was forced to play a waiting game until invention could be researched for the Berserk unit. It was very unsettling not being able to do much early in the game.
Heres how my first years went:
4000BC Trondheim founded on the spot archer, sett, granary, sett, sett, sett
3000BC Researched Pottery
2900BC Bergen founded granary, sett, temple
2900BC Acquired Ceremonial Burial from Hittites for Pottery
2550BC Acquire Bronze Working from Babs for CB
2390BC Volcano erupts luckily, no damage
2310BC Acquire Masonry from Zulus for Alpha
2230BC Acquire the Wheel from Celta for Alpha + 8gp
2190BC Researched Writing
1830BC Acquire Iron Working from Chinese for Alpha + 31gp
1725BC Another volcano erupts no damage again
1700BC Copenhagen founded adjacent to lake spearman, temple, worker
1675BC Researched Philosophy, got free Code of Laws
1450BC Reykjavik founded granary, sett, barracks
1450BC Acquire HB Riding + Mysticism, +165pg from Celts for CoL
1200BC Oslo founded spearman, temple
1125BC Acquire Map Making from Zulus for Philosophy +15gp (expensive, but I was desperate)
1100BC Stockholm founded spearman, granary
Heres what my world looked like at 1000BC(sans other island):
650BC Got tired of waiting for Invention, had to do something to keep myself busy. Managed to get a settler over to the other island and found this gem of a spot and founded Birka. It was the only spot left on the island. Had to take it! I thought city walls would be a priority for defense. The other civs didnt like my presence too much though as I had numerous threats and fake wars. Americans and Hittites were the only ones to swing at me, and I managed to hold them off. Oddly enough, the Chinese left me alone when they were all around me. I think they were building more cultural improvements rather than military units.
650BC Researched Republic, begin Anarchy
570BC Vikings have a Republic
490BC Researched Literature
410BC Researched Math
210BC Researched Const
110BC Researched Poly
70AD Researched Currency, end of Ancient Era
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bradleyfeanor said:Disallowed in all games or just this one? I think it is a bad idea to ban palace jumping entirely.
Not palace jumping, but unit teleportation in conjunction with palace jumping or palace relocation by leader.
OK, I'll state it, since I'm not playing.
Gifting a city primarily in order to teleport your troops to your Palace is an exploit, and will be added to the list of GOTM Don'ts in due course.
Gifting a city primarily in order to teleport your troops to your Palace is an exploit, and will be added to the list of GOTM Don'ts in due course.
Aeson said:
I moved my palace with a leader and AFAIK it was an allowed trick in previous xOTMs all together with free palace jump trick...
Does it mean my submission is going to be forfeit?
EDIT: I've checked code of conduct. Free palace jump is allowed and rushing palace with leader is never mentioned... I think it is silly to dissalow leader rushing palace but yet allow free palace jump trick
No, you misunderstood. Aeson's comment should be understood as "unit teleportation in conjunction with palace jumping or unit teleportation in conjuction with palace relocation by leader". This will certainly be added to the banned list; unit teleportation in general may as well, as AlanH suggested.
The palace jump in and of itself (however accomplished) has not been banned to date, and there are no ongoing discussions regarding its banning.
Renata
The palace jump in and of itself (however accomplished) has not been banned to date, and there are no ongoing discussions regarding its banning.
Renata
A'AbarachAmadan
Deity
Open, Barb Fix
AA Update 4000BC-0430BC
Started w/ the SirPleb recommendations in the pre-game discussion. Considered using the granary start, but the mention of fjords changed my mind just in case that was the map style. Oh, well.
Initial city builds: War-Cur-War-Set-Gra for builds
Second city also build Gra first.
Research: Pottery, Republic slingshot (1225BC); also did Map Making and Masonry before I was able to execute a trade; was first to MA in 0430BC, but two of three others on my heels; gifted Babylon into MA for future trading opportunity
Contact: I put seafaring to shame with sinking, sinking, and more sinking ships.
First contact was in 0750BC. By end of AA I had only met 3 civs. I traded too quickly in my opinion also as I could have gotten better deals if I'd waited till I met the 2d or 3d civ to start trading.
Wonders: Started building Great Lighthouse in my 3d city and after expansion mostly done started Statue of Zeus in 2d city. Target dates of 0210BC and 0190BC respectively. Of course they will trigger a GA, but usefulness will be discussed next thread.
QSC Stats: 6 Cities, 13 Population, 2 Settler, 4 Workers, 1 Warrior, 1 Archer (note the fact that there are NO boats )
Entering MA States: 9 cities, 26 Population, 10 Workers, 1 Warrior, 1 Archer, 2 Galleys (only 1 made it, the other later sinks )
Future Plans: Based upon my wonderful sinking boats and my count of ocean squares via the quickest route I've found, I'm going for Navigation direct while trying to trade to Invention. Hope to be able to wage war before Gunpowder is found. I know you just
as I did when I thought it. Hey, its only fun if you try. Will build only Archers and go for Leonardo's Workshop.
Sidenote: This is definately another map that could use two more threads, though I think it is very possible to reach domination in the MA.
AA Update 4000BC-0430BC
Started w/ the SirPleb recommendations in the pre-game discussion. Considered using the granary start, but the mention of fjords changed my mind just in case that was the map style. Oh, well.
Initial city builds: War-Cur-War-Set-Gra for builds
Second city also build Gra first.
Research: Pottery, Republic slingshot (1225BC); also did Map Making and Masonry before I was able to execute a trade; was first to MA in 0430BC, but two of three others on my heels; gifted Babylon into MA for future trading opportunity
Contact: I put seafaring to shame with sinking, sinking, and more sinking ships.
First contact was in 0750BC. By end of AA I had only met 3 civs. I traded too quickly in my opinion also as I could have gotten better deals if I'd waited till I met the 2d or 3d civ to start trading.Wonders: Started building Great Lighthouse in my 3d city and after expansion mostly done started Statue of Zeus in 2d city. Target dates of 0210BC and 0190BC respectively. Of course they will trigger a GA, but usefulness will be discussed next thread.
QSC Stats: 6 Cities, 13 Population, 2 Settler, 4 Workers, 1 Warrior, 1 Archer (note the fact that there are NO boats
)Entering MA States: 9 cities, 26 Population, 10 Workers, 1 Warrior, 1 Archer, 2 Galleys (only 1 made it, the other later sinks
)Future Plans: Based upon my wonderful sinking boats and my count of ocean squares via the quickest route I've found, I'm going for Navigation direct while trying to trade to Invention. Hope to be able to wage war before Gunpowder is found. I know you just
as I did when I thought it. Hey, its only fun if you try. Will build only Archers and go for Leonardo's Workshop.Sidenote: This is definately another map that could use two more threads, though I think it is very possible to reach domination in the MA.
bradleyfeanor
King
Renata said:
Thank goodness! I just saw "banned" and "palace jump" and panicked I guess. Banning teleportation is much better than banning palace jumps.
Still, I am a little surprised this move (teleportation) is being banned. It seems much like ship chaining to me, which isn't banned. In fact I consider it even less an exploit than ship chaining for a few reasons:
1) you have to pay a price to do it (you lose a city),
2) you have to plan for such a move and make sacrifices, and
3) in many games unit teleportation would be a waste of time and a bad strategic decision.
This makes it different than exploits which allow you to gain something without sacrificing anything--like infinite wealth for instance.
On the other hand, teleportation is completely unrealistic if you look at real life, so I guess I can't argue with it being banned. It seems a littler harsh to disallow Aeson's game since it wasn't a banned exploit prior to today, though. If he posts the best domination date, then I would say he earned it!
EDIT: Nevermind my last comment, I just noticed that Aeson was trying this for educational purposes only.
Just for the avoidance of doubt:bradleyfeanor said:
If a player wishes to use an unconventional tactic that takes advantage of odd behaviour of the game software, and it is not in either the Allowed or Banned lists, they should ALWAYS contact the staff for a ruling before committing to that tactic. The rules are explicit on this.
Re. the teleportation exploit, moving an entire army between continents in one turn is exploitative. It has almost zero cost and can have immense benefits. Sure you give up one peripheral city, then declare war and walk back in. You don't even miss a turn in that city, and all that's happened is that the citizen is now a foreigner.
Ship chaining comes nowhere near it. Suicidal ship chaining has a substantial cost in lost ships, and all ship chaining requires just as many ships as normal transportation, and only gains you few turns at the start of the sequence.
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
I'm going for a diplomatic victory.
Early Development
I settled on the spot and built warrior, curragh, warrior, settler.
Next I built a granary in the capital and it then started producing settlers and workers. My second and third towns built a granary as their first priority.
Science
Researching flat out I learned Pottery in 3150BC and Writing in 2070BC.
That was a rather late date to learn Writing. And with just three small towns I wouldn't be researching the next techs quickly. I thought that if somewhere out there most of the other seven Civs were in contact my chances of making the Republic slingshot weren't good. So I researched Philosophy next to be fairly sure of at least getting a free tech.
I learned Philosophy in 1600BC, got Code Of Laws as a free tech, and researched Republic next.
I learned Republic in 690BC and revolted immediately, drawing a five turn anarchy.
By this time I'd met most of the other Civs and had started trading.
After becoming a Republic I researched Currency and by trading it I entered the Middle Ages in 490AD.
Exploration
At 3150BC I'd explored the entire island. At 2670 I'd explored the entire coastline looking for a safe crossing to other waters and found none - suicide runs would be necessary.
I parked my one curragh beside the southern island to ensure that no barbarian camp could appear there and worked on development for a long time, preferring building up to exploring.
I had two barbarian camps to deal with on the main island. I had no losses to barbarians. A single archer displatched both camps and three warriors were all I built to patrol the land.
It was 1550BC before I felt I could divert some production to exploration, and 1275BC before I had my second curragh. After that they started coming more quickly. I sent a total of eight of them in various directions. The first five sank, the sixth contacted the Hittites in 900BC, the seventh sank, the eight contacted China in 825BC.
The two surviving curraghs explored the lands they'd found and made some additional contacts.
QSC Status
At 1000BC I had:
5 towns, population 12
1 settler
11 workers
3 warriors, 1 archer, 2 curraghs
3 granaries
Status at 490BC
When I entered the Middle Ages my homeland looked like this:
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
Sounds like good fun. I'm curious to read the rest of the story even though we've already been given a good clue as to the outcomeAeson said:
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
It does seem to me that this game has somewhat larger luck elements than usual.Doc Tsiolkovski said:
When I got Writing I had low research capacity and I'd delayed to do Pottery first. I thought the odds of making the Republic slingshot were poor. I figured that if most of the other Civs had contacted each other quickly, and/or they had good hut luck, and/or a few of them had high gold start positions then there wouldn't be much chance of making the slingshot. So I didn't try. It looks like I was wrong and the slingshot actually had reasonably good odds. But still not great odds and luck will therefore result in some people not getting it even though they play much the same as others who do get it.
Another thing comes from the unusual map combined with being seafaring. With good luck on this map one's first suicide curragh might reach a remote Civ. With bad luck a lot of curraghs might sink before one makes it. Neither case is extremely improbable on this map. So we'll probably see a fair bit of variance coming from this factor too.
A'AbarachAmadan
Deity
dmanakho said:I bet you pepsi-cola there will be players who will reach domination or conquests in MA and before 1000AD.
I'd have to mail you a pepsi now.
I think there are games that lend themselves to most going after Domination, Conquest and even 100K being able to complete before anyone enters IA and others that I think lend themselves to further development.
I've never actually entered the IA since I've been playing COTMs, but plan to do so this time. (Of course in my last one the AI entered the IA about 3 dozen turns before I reached domination.) I will reach IA this time, though. I want to do some city development since I already started on my main continent. Concentrating on score in lieu of speed for a change.
