COTM 10 - spoiler 2: The Industrial Revolution!

[Jason Fliegel]

Open class.

I'm not really sure what to say about my Middle Ages. Nothing went wrong, but nothing went all that great, either. I had conquered the Russians in the Ancient Age (leaving them with one city); in the Middle Ages, I conquered the Koreans (leaving them with one city, too) and made a big dent in the Chinese. Almost everything on my side of the wall is Mongol, with the exception of a few stray colonies of other powers in the southwest of the continent and in the tundra. Japan also beat up on the Chinese, and wound up with most of the Chinese cities on the east side of the wall.

I triggered a golden age with my keshiks and built Copernicus's Observatory and Adam Smith's.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I may or may not conquer Japan, but I don't really want to invade the other continent. Culture is out -- I've built libraries and some universities, but no other cultural buildings. Diplomatic is a possibility -- I'm on good terms with the Portugese, the Celts, and the Vikings. But I think I'm actually going to go for a space-race victory (with some help from my science research slaves, Korea and Russia).

 

[DJMGator13]

Link to my AA spoiler

I kick off the MA by hooking up the gems and a period of pillaging by barb horses. From 690BC until 530BC I absorb about 60 attacks, while China took less than 5 attacks that I could tell. But overall they did no major damage. I quickly spent all my gold and removed my troops from 3 cities and I just let them pillage away at my very small treasury. In fact I think I only had 2 productions destroyed. Even playing with the barb fix they still do stupid things, like China landed a settler warrior pair right next to a Bcamp and a stack of horses and that pair survived until I attacked it in 450BC to kick off a war with China.

1st China War (450BC to 70BC)
I mainly attacked China to keep them from claiming the furs. I had a settler on the way but he was several turns behind. This was an uneventful war on my part because I was not really prepared to attack China. I razed their city by the furs and later captured Tientsin in 70BC. I made peace with them after capturing the city. Surprisingly this war generated a Great Leader for me.

1st Russian War (50AD to 270AD)
My iron city near Russia deposed to them in 130BC, so I start sending all my troops that direction, knowing that I was about to make peace with China. I formally declare on Russia in 50AD and capture 5 cities in the first 3 turns of the war. I capture 5 more cities including Moscow, which housed the Colossus and the Oracle, before suing for peace and gaining Engineering and Theology. This leaves Russia with 2 size 1 cities.

1st Korean War (320AD to 410AD)
I declare on Korea in 320AD after upgrading my horses to our UU. I capture 3 cities on the second turn of the war and kick off my Golden Age. I capture 2 more cities before gaining control of Seoul and the TOA and wines (my 5th lux) in 350AD. I capture 5 more cities before suing for peace, gaining 3 of Korea’s 4 cities and Monarchy.

2nd Russian War (380AD to 400AD)
I did not want to leave any cities behind my front lines as I geared up to take on China, so I declared on Russia for a second time and quickly capture their last 2 cities. However they did not disappear, I spied a galley leaving one of their cities on the last IBT so I quickly rushed 2 galleys and sank the Russian galley the next turn. Now they are gone from the game.

2nd Korean War (480AD to 490AD)
I’m ready to take on China now so I declare on Korea to eliminate their last city and reduce any flip chances.

2nd China War (480AD to 600AD)
After repositioning troops I ask China to leave my territory and they politely declare war on me, as I had hoped for. China has 14 cities and I need to get through the wall since my only 2 galleys are on the other side of the continent. China had no horses but they had built the SOZ so they had Ancient Cavalries, but thankfully no riders. Before the end of the war they had actually managed to obtain horses from Japan so I did see a couple riders. I did not have to build a city at the base of the wall because China did that for me. In 490AD I captured Tsingtao and punch a hole in the wall by killing a single wall guard. The war progressed nicely after that with the capture of Beijing and the SOZ in 520AD and saw the elimination of China in 600AD.

Victory Condition Debate
It was at this point in the game that I debated about pushing forward with what would have easily been a pre 1000AD domination victory or to try for a different win. I am currently in 2 SG’s (1 is SGOTM06) where we are playing for 100K and since I have not intentionally won a game under that condition I decide to shot for that victory condition here. I have 57 cities at this point and stand at 3604 total culture. Because of the TOA I’m also generating 180cpt but I have a major obstacle to overcome. The Pyramids are owned by the Celts on the other continent.

I need to try a different strategy. I decide to not push for COMM and to stay in REP and cash rush. I also look at the cpt generated by cultural improvements and decide to try and win without researching Education. I decide this for two reasons. First because this will keep the TOA in effect and every city I build will start with 2cpt. I have about 1000 tiles to work with and I should be able to put between 200 - 225 cities on the map. The second reason is that I'll be cash short and the high cost of universities will make them hard to rush. I know I'm passing up a 4cpt improvement but I can make nearly 7 settlers for the same amount of shields and by keeping TOA running those 7 cities will generate 14cpt vrs 4 cpt. Same thoughts works for building libraries (80 shields is 2.67 settlers), colosseum (120 shields is 4 settlers) and cathedrals (160 shields is 5.33 settlers). So my new immediate goal is to put as many cities on the map as possible.

Cultured Expansion
The period for 600AD to 1030AD was peaceful. I completed the Knights Templar, which gave me two unit producing Wonders. I also completed the Sistine Chapel in 890AD. At the end of 1030AD I was up to 168 cities, almost 19000 total culture and generating 532cpt, but I was running out of space for more cities. I had not estimated the number of cities properly. I was think that I only needed to work 4-5 tiles per city so that would give me between 200–250 cities. However, I forgot to factor in that you have to leave a free tile between cities, i.e. you can only build xCxCx. I need room for more cities, so I come up with the following plan as noted in my timeline.

OK, I looked at the map and made some dotmaps - If I take out JPN I gain 11 cities from them and then can place 21 more cities in that area. I can also place 7 more cities down in the SE are of the continent and I can squeeze in 4 more cities in my northern core area. This would take me to 184 cities. I'm currently averaging 3cpc and need to significantly increase this with cash rushed builds. The 43 additional cities will add 86cpt if I do nothing else to them, and I have already produced 20 of the 32 settlers needed to claim all this space.

It was at this point that I learned the worst news of all – Dynamic is going for 100K also.

1st Japanese War (1040AD to 1150AD)
I declare on Japan and make steady gains on them. I was unsure if this would be successful since I only had about 20 units in the area and I was average to them, plus Japan had Samurais. The war went a little easier than I expected but I had to move slower because of my lack of units. But I eventually remove Japan from the main continent, leaving them with a couple of cities on the bigger islands between the two landmasses.

A minor intrusion by the Vikings
In 1030AD the Vikings land some units next to an island city I got in the China peace deal. I had 2 spears in defense but did not want to go to war for that city so I gifted it to the Celts in an effort to stir up some trouble on the other continent. In 1130AD the Vikings land 3 horsemen behind my lines and declare war on me while I have all my troops at the front dealing with Japan. I send some troops back to deal with the Vikings but it cost me three cities before I recapture them and kill off the Viking troops. I also lost a few libraries in these cities. Eventually I make peace with them and the rest of the game is peaceful.

Culture push and some problems
By 1210AD I have 187 cities, just over 29K in culture and I’m generating 678cpt. But I only have room for a few more cities. I have completed most of the settlers I need to fill in the final spaces, so I do a major micromanaging event to start generating more income. Any city with +food hires taxmen until there is no more growth, but I do not reduce any city at +2spt or higher. I also set any city with a temple and library to wealth; seeing that I had over 70 libraries to rush and I wasn’t sure I could complete them all. Mainly through the hiring of taxmen I was able to increase my gpt from 423 to 718, which told me one thing. I should have done this awhile ago.

I build cities number 200 and 201 in 1310AD and from here I try to rush as many improvements as I can each turn. Here is what 201 cities looks like.

Surprisingly I rush the last of the libraries I needed in 1345AD, now all cities have temples and libraries. It was here that I discovered another mistake I made. I switched too many 1-shield cities to wealth earlier. I should have only switched about half of them. I was generating close to 800gpt now and could easily rush 3 or 4 coliseums or cathedrals to completion because they had self built over half of the required shields. Before the end of the game I actually had to take some cities off of wealth to be able to have something to rush. You can see the dramatic change in my culture push from the F8 screen.

I end with a 1555AD culture victory, not bad considering the Pyramids were on the other continent and I did not go the Communism pop-rushing route. I learned a lot and hopefully my second attempt will be better. Now to wait and see how badly Dynamic beats my date, since he managed the Pyramids in his game.

My best city was able to generate 23 cpt due to doubling and Sistines.

And because everybody loves culture graphs

 

[Jonesy10]

Managed an 84th place finish in my first GOTM (#40), but this one doesn't look very good at all. There are a total of 59 units directly to the East of Darhan, with 20 Cavalries and 1 Rider to the N and NW. I have just completed the war with Korea, wiping them off the main continent, then China declares on me. I have two Calv armies, but it won't be enough to get me out of this. I am amazed that China can support such a large military with so few cities, but I see they are a Fascist gov. I'm gonna need a miracle to get out of this one.

 

[DBear]

Ancient Age highlights
DBear's CotM10O Medieval Age highlights:

Towns founded:
10BC Choybalsan
130AD Erdenet
340 Tsetserleg
350 Baruun-Urt
430 Ereen
480 Batshireet
600 Choyr
690 Ulaangom
870 Tosontsengel
940 Atlay
1100 Uliastay

Technologies:
260AD Feud (learn)
400 Mono (learn)
520 Chiv (learn)
600 Theo (learn)
670 Invent (learn)
720 Guns + Ed (GLib in Moscow).
910 Chem (learn), Bank + Astro (trade)
990 Music (trade)
1050 Metal (learn), Nav (trade)
1100 Econ (trade)
1140 Mil Trad (learn)
1200 Physics (learn)
1270 Grav (learn), Magnets (trade)

Wars:
490BC-970AD Russia. Ally w/Koreans to 270 BC Ally again 480AD-680. Russians destroyed. No leader.
?-750AD Celts. Phony war. They tried to extort. Paid 'em 20.
760-840 Japan. Didn't want them to flip us. Got Matsuyama to avoid losing saltpeter.
1140- Korea. Waited until I had cav. Got leader in 1200. Formed Cav army in 1210, won in 1215.

Wonders:
700AD Leonardo in Karakorum
720 GLib, Colossus in Moscow taken from Russians.
910 FP in Almarikh

contacts:
130BC Portugal (embassy 920AD)
150AD Celts (embassy 1070)
1070 Vikings

Scores:
1033, 2nd. Celts have 1367.

Volcano took out my connection to gems that I was trading to China.
Now my rep's shot and it wasn't my fault.

Thought I had killed the Russians in 830 when I discover one isolated city at the southern tip of the continent, on the other side of Korea. Sign RoP so I can get at it.

540-740AD Golden Age

LOL: Portugese founded a city by the volcano on the southern tip of "Asia", and it gets wiped out.

Plans: Gather the troops, go commie, then get Japan in an alliance vs. China. The Celts got a big early lead in score but I'm starting to catch 'em.

 

[SirPleb]

(predator)

Going for 20K culture.

Link to Ancient Age spoiler

Uprisings

When the Middle Ages began in 270BC I thought I'd be ok with the barbarian uprisings. I had the entire northern region patrolled and most of the land to the south between me and Russia. No such luck though - a fair number of barbarians arrived from the south and killed two of my warriors, one settler, and ransacked a couple of hundred gold before things got back to normal.

Meeting the other Civs

When I finally felt I could spare production for them I built a few galleys and sent them exploring.

I met Japan in 70AD, Portugal in 230AD, Celts in 270AD, and Vikings in 280AD. I built embassies and saw that Vikings and Japan were at war.

Research

I wasn't in any hurry with science. I wanted slow progress so that I could get more of the valuable Middle Ages wonders in my 20K city without interference from the AIs. I also wanted gold to rush improvements. It was especially important to save enough gold to rush non-wonder improvements in Ta-tu as soon as possible.

I should perhaps have researched a bit faster. I lost the race to build Hanging Gardens and because I hadn't done any research, it looked like my prebuild would overrun the next wonder I could build. So I built Forbidden Palace in Ta-tu and in 50AD started research of Monotheism so that I could build Sistine Chapel.

After that I did enough research to always make my next target wonder available before Ta-tu would overrun its prebuild. I researched Theology, Education, Banking, Printing Press, Astronomy, Democracy, and Free Artistry, reaching the end of that sequence at 700AD.

By then my rivals had learned Feudalism, Engineering, Invention, and I'd traded for those. I didn't need another advance yet so I waited a while with research at zero. In 760AD I was able to trade for Gunpowder and I started research again.

I learned Chemistry, Physics, Theory Of Gravity, Magnetism, and Metallurgy in four turns each and entered the Industrial Age at 960AD.

Warfare

In 550AD I was able to trade for Chivalry. Two turns later my entire military of six Keshiks attacked Russia and triggered my Golden Age.

My progress was slow because I hadn't put much effort into building a military. In 640AD I got my first leader and used him for an army. In 710AD I got my second leader and saved him to rush Heroic Epic. In 760AD I gave Russia peace for three towns, leaving her with three. I wouldn't have been able to finish her off without a large effort because she had towns in the Korean area and on islands.

In 800AD I was up to 17 Keshiks and I attacked Korea. By the time I entered the Industrial Age at 960AD I'd taken Sun Tzu's from Korea and taken a number of cities. My world map at that date:

20K Culture Progress

In the Middle Ages Ta-tu built:
230BC Pyramids
210BC Colosseum
30AD Forbidden Palace
430AD Sistine Chapel
440AD Cathedral
450AD University
620AD Copernicus'
760AD Shakespeare's
770AD Heroic Epic
940AD Newton's

The Forbidden Palace build at 30AD was an unfortunate necessity. At that time I'd just missed on Hanging Gardens and had no other wonder available to build. I was a bit of research from being able to build anything else and would overrun a wonder. So I flipped to build FP, started research, and started a new prebuild for the next wonder.

On entering the Industrial Age at 960AD Ta-tu had 4807 culture and was gaining 75/turn.

 

[CKS]

PTW Open 20K
My middle ages were unexciting. I met the rest of the world and traded peacefully with them until the very end, when I invaded Russia. Nothing much happened there during the middle ages, though.

I build culture in TaTu, building a colosseum (320 AD), Sistine Chapel (630 AD), cathedral (660 AD), forbidden palace (760 AD), university (830 AD), Copernicus' Observatory (1030 AD), and Shakespeare's Theater (1250 AD). I missed a few turns because of lack of money for the cathedral, but the university was delayed while I got to education. (I hadn't turned off research because I was concerned about actually getting the great library, and then because I didn't know anybody. China, Korea, and Russia were not speedy researchers.) I missed both Newton's and Bach's, losing both in the same cascade, but I hadn't had much hope of either. Anyway, my progress was not horrible, but not particularly good, either.

 

[shortguy]

Two turns later my entire military of six Keshiks attacked Russia and triggered my Golden Age.

I would never dream of attacking a country with six Keshiks. I don't like close wars; in fact, I very rarely fight a war that isn't horribly lopsided.

Looks like I have a lot of learning to do.

 

[SirPleb]

in fact, I very rarely fight a war that isn't horribly lopsided.

Neither do I! That's an excellent attitude to have! Part of the trick is to realize when it is greatly lopsided in your favor and when it isn't, and how to make the odds come out that way. In this case triggering a GA helped change the equation.

 

[LKendter]

Open, Barbs are fixed.
Portugal was destroyed at 210BC before I even found them.

I finally make contact with the other continent in 480AD. It turns out the short gap I didn't explore due to dead galleys was the easy crossing point.

The first war begins in 790AD when I declare on Russia. They have Saltpeter and Iron. I needed someone to give me an excuse for a GA. I lost 2 elites keshiks in Moscow when it flipped. My leaderless streak continues with the GOTM as the bulk of the Russia fighting produced none despite being military and a ton of elites. The majority of the war only last 10 turns. The only reason I didn't sign peace was to take back flip cities.

The second war begins in 1000AD. Korea just signed peace with China, and I know that Korea is pretty much spent. This will is pretty much over before the Middle Ages ended.

The Middle Ages end in 1270 AD when a Magnetism monopoly lets me get the missing techs. I begin research on Steam Power and will be really annoyed if I don't have coal with kicking 2 civs of my continent.

My leaderless streak in COTM continues after a ton of elite victories and crippling 2 civs producing NONE.
All I have left with Korea and Russia is to chase them off some junk islands.

On the question of the Keshik value: They cost 10 less shields. I find early on it is a lot easier to get 20 shields, vs. 23 shields out of a city. I was able to produce a lot more Keshiks then I could with knights.

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Open, latest patch, barbs fix
Goal: Conquest
Middle Ages / Final update: 0450BC-0660AD

DATE
MET CIV
AA China, Russia, Korea, Japan, Portugal
0430BC Celts
0410BC Scandinavia

TECHNOLOGY - DATE/HOW
0230BC Engineering, research
0230BC Monotheism, trade Korea
darn Russians won’t trade Feudalism for Mono/Eng/Rep
0170BC Feudalism, trade Russia (only after China gets it)
0010AD Chivalry
Now I go to 1 scientist only and concentrate on military upgrades. I have 22 horses to upgrade!!
0660AD Invention

Captured Key Wonders
230AD – Statue of Zeus in Beijing
320AD – The Pyramids & Mausoleum in Kyoto
340AD – Sun Tzu’s in Moscow
410AD – Great Wall in Seoul
590AD – Temple of Artimis in Entremont
590AD – The Hanging Gardens in Alesia
640AD – The Great Lighthouse in Viking Capital


WARS & MAJOR EVENTS
0390BC – 0010AD False war vs. Japan, China joins
By 230AD: Embassies & RoP for all on Continent, 23 Keshik, 6 Horsemen

230AD-0320AD War vs China, breaking RoP, capture 5 (of 14) cities on 1st turn (expected more), but get Great Leader Ogodei outside Batshireet near the Chinese Wall, still have Chinese forces that were moving through my territory near some key cities; at end trade peace for 2 cities south of Korea, they have 1 city left at northern tip; 380AD – declare war, capture final city

260AD – build FP
280AD – Beijing deposed
280AD – Vikings build The Great Lighthouse
290AD – establish embassies with other three
290AD – False war w/ Vikings, get Celts & Portuguese to join
290AD – Japan has 8 cities, China has 1 near Japan, 2 south of Korea; start to move forces toward Japan (17 units) and Russia (8 units)

320AD – War vs Japan (16 Keshik), Great Leader, Jochi, in Kyoto creates Army – maybe shouldn’t have filled it; serious losses in Kyoto (city, hill) and only captured 3 on RoP abuse; 360AD – Tokyo deposed, 4 cities to take; 380AD – Nagoya deposed, preventing elimination; 390AD – capture final city, but they still remain in ship; 590AD – destroy remaining settler

340AD – War vs Russia (19 Keshik), Capture/Destroy 6 of 11 cities on 1st turn; in 350AD, get great leader, Chagatai, creates Army; at 390AD capture all on continent, they have one off the continent; 500AD – they fall

0410AD – War vs Korea (31 Keshik, including 2 Armies), capture 6 of 13 cities on 1st turn; get great leader, Tolui, in Wonsan, creates Army, did a ‘bad’ job of setup as I had 10 Keshik with nothing to do on 1st turn; 460AD – they give me all of their off island cities for peace; 480AD – they fall

0520AD – 50 units across to other continent

0520AD – War vs Portugal (50 units on continent, including 2 Armies), capture 7 of 11 cities on 1st turn; 530AD – Great Leader, Kublai in Sagres forms Army, all cities in core area captured; 590AD – capture final city

0590AD – War vs Celts (42 units attacking first round, including 2 Armies at capital), capture/destroy 8 of 17 cities on 1st turn; 600AD – capture 4 additional cities, 5 remain; 610AD - get Great Leader, Monge, on defense, creates Army; then get another Great Leader, Ogodei, move to create Army next turn; 620AD and Jochi in wilderness, moving to city; 640AD – Richborough deposes same turn I capture their formerly last city; 0650AD – recapture Richborough, assimilating the Celts

0580AD – War vs Vikings, first ‘hot’ contact while we’ve been at war for almost 300 years; capture first Viking city of 13 (have 1 Army & 4 Keshik in area); 580AD – make peace for RoP & give Engineering; 640AD – go ‘hot’ again, finally get on size 2 island after their worker built road & mine and moves back to city, capture 4 of 12 remaining cities; 660AD – capture/destroy remaining 5 cities, assimilating all cultures

I didn’t come very close to the domination limit as Conquest was my goal no matter what. A little surprising it didn’t happen on its own, but I was still over 200 tiles away when I finished. I broke an ROP with every culture, though I think setting up huge attacks sometimes actually slowed me down. I little better galley transporting would have helped also.

Overall I tried to keep the other civs at war with each other, then move my forces throught their territory and break the RoP when I had huge numbers in their territory. This made most of the wars go relatively quickly once I was able to actually start them.

 

[Dynamic]

I end with a 1555AD culture victory, not bad considering the Pyramids were on the other continent and I did not go the Communism pop-rushing route. I learned a lot and hopefully my second attempt will be better. Now to wait and see how badly Dynamic beats my date, since he managed the Pyramids in his game.

Just submit the game so I will write report later.
I reached 100K in 1190AD but I used different strategy then you.

 

[DJMGator13]

Just submit the game so I will write report later.
I reached 100K in 1190AD but I used different strategy then you.

I thought my date would be easily beat. I knew I was in trouble when the Pyramids was built on the other continent. I look forward to reading your report.

 

[Dynamic]

PREDATOR

Ancient Ages

After entering MA in 650BC I continued peaceful expansion and was researching Theology at 40%. In 490BC I built Pyramids and in 410BC ToA. After that I built some libraries and barracks and started horsemen as prebuild for Keshik. My curragh met all AI before was killed by barbs.

In 290BC I discovered Theology but Korea didn’t want to trade Feudalism! I started Feudalism myself and only after 2 turns Korea was agree for trade. I must explain why I went to Theology first: With high probability Korea must research Feudalism and because I didn’t hurry to Chivalry I decided to learn Theology for Sistine Chapel and trading for Feudalism.

I discovered Chivalry in 70BC. Then I stopped science for a while and then researched Invention and Gunpowder (really not is needed).
At this moment I had 16 horsemen and 500+ gold. I upgrade several horsemen Keshik and attacked Russia (without RoP rape) in 30BC. Moscow easy was captured and GA began. My main cities were building Keshiks and I went to war stage. My conquest wasn’t ASAP, I continued founding new cities. After Russia I attacked Korea (all next war used RoP rape), then Japan and China from 2 directions. Chinas Wall was opened by demand before RoP was signed. I cleared my lands from AI in 300AD. Japan and China have remote cities and alive. I got 3 GL from these 4 wars and rushed FP, Army and Heroic Epic.

After that I transferred my forces (40+) to Portugal and captured all cities in one turn (they escaped). At that time Celts declared on me so I couldn’t use RoP rape against them. I allied Vikings and attacked Entremont (Great Wall). Celts was strong enemy with many Medieval Infantries, Pikemen and Celtic Swordsmen. Before that I almost haven’t losses but Celts did it.
When Celts was weakened I finnaly declared on Vikings and killed them. During these wars I ended up remaining AI cities and in 620AD replaced last AI (Japan) to reservation. Domination limit was reached in 550AD and Conquest was possible in 580AD. I tried to calculate what could be if I not built Pyramids and ToA myself (900 shields = 30 horsemen) but can’t.

I got many leaders during the game (14 (2 before finish), thanks to militaristic civ) end in addition rushed 5 armies, Pentagon, 3 libraries and 2 marketplaces.

At 540AD I was close to cities placement and started revolt. After 5 turns of Anarchy I switched to Feudalism and my Dark Ages was continued to the end of game. I had 220 cities on the home continent and 40 – 25 (were abandoned during the game) on other.

In my cities I pop rushed Library first (Temple from ToA) then and Cathedral and Colosseum. Both Cathedral and Colosseum were rushed not in all cities. It was depended on food resource.
My big mistake was I forget to rush harbors on coastal cities for a long time (until 850AD) and it’s reduced my growth.

It was too tedious to rush building step by step (Barracks, Longbowman, Muscetman, Courthouse, Marketplace, Colosseum and Cathedral). So in 1000AD I stopped rush culture (I too tired) and after several Marketplaces switched all cities to wealth.

During the pop rushing my amount of happy citizens reduced in 2.5 times so from 58 score points per turn I was down to 34. At the end of game my cash was close to zero but never reached it (I used taxemen).

Several turns before the game ended Japan declared on me! It’s very strange, my forces weren’t on their territory. My Keshiks killed several archers and spearmens and I got last 2 GL (for marketplaces). This war gains war happiness for me so I was pleased to Japan for that.

I not built workers during the rush stage of the game and join only existing workers after they ended its work.

I’m happy with my victory date because I thought about 1400AD before starting. Mongols is not religious or scientific civ so the date is surprised me.

I must say this map wasn’t so bad as we thought at the start. Of course there are many deserts and mountains on home continent but I have all luxuries with Great Lighthouse (built in Moscow before capturing) and it’s allowed me successfully use pop rushing.

My culture graph:

Edit: Attachment Manager doesn't work properly in my case so I upload image to the main forum site.

 

[Gyathaar]

I find it amazing how much the best dates for 100k victories has been improved on in C/GOTM and HoF games the last few months

@Dynamic: your culture graph doesnt seem to work for me.. I get a page saying I dont have permission to view it..

 

[DJMGator13]

Dynamic, reading your post just reinforces the need for the Pyramids and poprushing versus cash rushing in a 100K attempt. But I had fun expirementing with that victory condition. I only need to complete a 20K game to have a "personal" eptathlon, but that is another VC I have never tried.

 

[civ_steve]

... entered the Middle Ages in 430 BC, already a Republic. Barbs ... didn't see a one due to the Age turnover; I had good presence in the northern tundra areas, and any AA barb camps had already been done in. Brought Russia and Korea also; they got Monotheism and Feudalism respectively, and I was able to trade Republic and some Gold to Russia for Mono. I headed down the Theology path and left Engineering to the AI.

I had Barracks in several of my cities, and started to build up a Horsemen force. Karakorum had a Granary and Barracks, and would alternate between Horseman and Settler. Two Floodplains cities built Settlers or Workers, and I gradually filled in the Northern part of the continent where I wanted cities. My other cities built Horsemen, and I'd switch out 1 or 2 at a time to build Libraries. Gradually I got 3 luxuries connected (Gems, Furs and Spice), and plotted to grab the Incense from Catherine.

I'd build a Curragh in the AA; it started sailing around the eastern part of the continent, and contacted Japan. As it went around, I saw land to the South, survived 1 turn in open ocean, and made contact with Portugal. I then chose to go SW around Portugal, encountered a Barb Galley and was sunk! So no contact with Celts or Vikings at that time.

The AI researched very poorly in this game. I made a deal with China to get Ivory, so I was up to 4 Luxuries, and I gifted 2 luxuries to Mao to keep him happy and productive, maybe something would come from him? Mao completed Great Library just before I learned Education. Chivalry came out, and I was able to trade for it; I was up to 20 Horsemen and I thought that would be sufficient and started upgrading to Keshik. My core cities started on Universities. Just as I reached Astronomy, the AI finally learned Engineering! So I was able to trade for that Tech, and not research it myself.

I positioned forces (Keshik and Horsemen), and in 300 AD, after a deal expired, declared on Russia! I took 3 cities and razed a 4th on the first turn (no ROP rape), and now had my 5th luxury, Incense, and a GA. Russia had no significant response; 3 of her core cities were building Wonders! I then used only Elite units to fish for a Leader. I captured two more cities, including Catherine's Iron city, razed 2 more, and finally got my MGL, which I used to rush FP in Hovd, located on the Gold Hill near Floodplains East of central Russia. Peace was declared soon after.

The rest of the Middle Ages was just build, build, build. Core cities build Library, University, Marketplace, if needed Courthouse. Non-core cities build Courthouse first. Aquaducts if needed (lots of cities on lakes or river, so I haven't built many yet.) Two floodplains cities (not Hovd) are cranking out Workers as fast as possible. After build up, core cities build Keshiks to disband in corrupt cities.

I was down to 4 or 5 turn research for the remainder of the MidAges. China came through for me and researched Banking, and either Korea or Japan got Navigation, too. I traded for both, and for all WM's, so I can see the Celts and Vikings, but still hadn't made contact by the end of the MidAges! That was all the help I got, so I self-researched through and entered the IA at the end of the 580 AD turn.

That's all for now. Time is really short, so I might not try a whole lot of tricks and just try to get through to a Diplo win. BTW, I liked the Keshik in this case. Not needing Iron is very nice, it was pretty easy to kick off the GA, but not being able to build more Horsemen could put a crimp in extensive warmongering.

 

[Paul#42]

Cotm 10 Mongols Open Game.
Ancient Times

460 Eliminated Korea. Now I need a strategie against China or Japan...

570 I need to get rid of these 30 chinese units on my territory.
Declare on Japan, sign in China for 17gpt, 215g...
Donated Matsuyama to Chinese - I can't keep it and they will hate Japan for burning it.

580 capture Japanese town by fur.

620 researched Engineering. Trade to Vikings for Monotheism, Monarchy and 34g.

630 Chinese research Chivalry... but they have no horses and no iron...
I'd rather disconnect my second horse...
700 Researched Invention. China will give us Chivalry and Ivory for it.
Maybe I shall ally them against Ragnar? But he's so far away...

720 Trade Invention to China for Chivalry, Ivory, 13gpt and 69g.
Let's collect some gold for Upgrading. 10 horsemen are waiting.

760 Japanese captured Chinese capital. Maybe the lack of riders hurts China too much...
I rather stay with China for another 20 turns. Sell them Iron, perhaps.

770 Chinese give us 108g for alliance against Japan. We do. Now they have nothing to offer for iron...

780 Researched Gunpowder. Just one single source of salt in all my deserts...

IBT Japan attacks "the Great Wall"...

840 Researched Theologie.

850 Japanese Crusaders storm the Great Wall. I retake it. Time to trigger Golden Age...

870 A Keshik kills a Samurai starting our Golden Age!

970 capture Japanese Bejing with Knights Templar. We make peace with Japan.

1010 Chinese declare war after we bootet them

1050 meet the Celts. We are pari in techs, they have 21 cities.

1060 meet Portugal. 18 cities, way behind in techs.

1100 captured last Chinese city - but a settler escaped on a ship...

1140 jump Palace with leader to Baruun-Urt. There's more Production around. Should I have done much earlier...

1150 traded some maps - last chinese town is on the opposit part of the world...

1260 researched Military Tradition.

1300 declare on Wikings - sign in Celts for insane Gems, Insense, 68gpr, 290g...

IBT Sneak attack by Celts!! ROP-rape, spoiling 19x68g, 6 lux... stupid Celts...
Celts capture Pusan (3).
three Bereserks land next to empty Uliastai (6)
1320 Declare on Japan, capture 4 cities (12,12,6,6), razing two of them.

1395 Japan eliminated. Squeezed in a city on the other continent. Who's next? Celts and Vikings are industrial already...

1425 Researched Democracy. Traded to Vikings for Magnetism, reaching the Industrial Ages.

Let's finish this game in a hurry, I'm already late on Gotm41 which seems to be more fun then milking a 100k-win out of this...
I will play fast domination.

 

[grahamiam]

Open, playing a no military variant (units allowed to be built are workers, settlers, scouts, and ships(prefer transports or non-military types))

Entered the MA in 530BC. Gifted everyone known (China, Japan, Russia, and Korea) to the MA as well. Korea drew Engineering, Russia drew Mono.

In 470BC, Ta-Tu completes the Pyramids

In 430BC, 18 barbhorseman show up near Karakorum and create havoc. They drop the town to size 1 and loot about 400g.

I met Portugal and Celts in 610AD, and met the Vkings in 630AD. I was a little slow in getting the galleys around the continent to meet people.

Tech’s thru the MA:
230BC: Fued (self research), Mono (trade), and Eng (Trade)
30AD: Theology (self research)
230AD: Invention (trade), Monarchy (trade)
Education ?? (but self research)
420AD: Astronomy (self research)
530AD: Banking (self research)
590AD: Chivalry (self research, needed KT to fall back on if SoZ fails)
620AD: Enter GA as Leo’s build fails and fall back on KT. Use the units from KT to disband in other towns to help improvements.
660AD: Chemistry (self research)
710AD: Physics (self research)
760AD: ToG (self research)
810AD: Magnetism (self research)
860AD: Metallurgy (self research)
Enter IA.

As can be seen above, I’m doing almost all of my own research. I gifted Physics around to everyone, hoping that someone would research Mag or ToG, but they didn’t. This basically happened throughout the MA and into the IA.

War

Map at time before war:

In 230AD, I had bought Invention from China for Theology and 14gpt. However, they decided to attack me anyways and beelined for my furs town. I immediately MA the Russians and Japanese against them for tech’s. I really thought this game was dead, and it should have been at this point. However, they only attacked with archers and warriors, no fast units, which probably saved me. They capture Choybabalsan (230AD, furs), Erdenet (250AD, 4T from capitol), Almarikh (260AD), Hovd (280AD, gems), and Ulaanbaatar (320AD, FP’s and Wheat, gems). Erdenent flips back to me in 310AD and I disband the pike. In 320AD, Chinese are willing to talk and I get peace and 17gpt for Education. I also gift Education to Russia and sell to Japan to smooth over the broken MilAlliance.

In 360AD, the Russians capture Ulaanbaatar. It would eventually flip back to me in 660AD, and the furs town would flip back to me in 680AD. Almarikh flips back to me in 1490AD, but by that time, I didn’t really need it. The other one (Hovd) stayed in Chinese hands till the end.

I continued the heavy gifting throughout this age, hoping to avoid another war. It was impossible to get the Russians from Polite to Gracious, even thought I gifted them Education (320AD), Gunpowder (520AD), Astronomy (560AD), Banking (570AD), and Physics (740AD). Korea, Japan, and China were all Gracious most of the time. Celts, Portuguese, and Vikings were either Polite or Gracious.

For wonders, I build Copernicus (510AD) and Newtons (900AD) in Karakorum as I knew the AI was going to do a lousy job researching. In Ta-Tu, I built Knights Templar (620AD) to kick off my GA as I lost the race for Leo’s.

Enter the MA in 860AD by self researching Metallurgy.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Open

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, I am at war with Russia (not my fault!), and a bunch of barb horsies are amassing in the wastelands to the north. Just as I start to battle with the barbs, I meet Japan, who are very backwards. The Celts build the Pyramids, which doesn't bother me too much since I'm not going for cow this time round (no time), and the Chinese build SoZ, which is slightly worrying.

Russian War: 530BC - 380AD

The beginning of the war was tough, since my forces had been stretched to deal with the barbarians to the north. I also needed to maintain a force to the east to protect against any further Chinese aggression. The long hilly front also proved a challenge. But, eventually, Catherine's forces were exhausted, and I begin conquest of Russia. During this time I meet the Celts and Portugal, and get my first leader which I use to build a horse army. Eventually I capture Moscow and can sue for peace. I gift Catherine into the Middle Ages and trade for their free tech, Monotheism.

It was about this time I realised my tech pace was reasonably fast, so I thought I'd give a space victory a shot. I learn gunpowder, see the salt, and realise the win is in the bag. I decide to take out China before they learn Chivalry, even though Korea would be an easier target.

Chinese War: 490AD - 690AD

Keshiks are actually fairly decent when faced with dodgy terrain. I've never played with them before but they did themselves justice in this game. The first objective was take control of the wall. Once this happened I could sit back and let China come at me and get trapped in their own wall. I enter my GA in 500AD courtesy of a Keshik win. From now on, I am going to be learning techs at a 4/5 turn rate, and this continues after my GA ends. I capture Tsingtao, their wall city, but lose my horse army in the process. I capture a few more cities, as well as Beijing in 590AD, which is where I get my 2nd leader. Use him to build a Keshik army, which is a formidable beast.

I decide to execute Russia because they are annoying, and by 650AD they are finished. In 690AD, I sign peace treaty with China and get all of their remaining towns. Next target - Korea.

Korean War: 710AD - 760AD

I meet the Vikings in 710AD completing my contact list. As soon as I learn MilTrad, I upgrade my Keshiks and quickly overrun Korea. I leave them one city so I can use them as a science pet. And that's all I can say about the Korean war...

Japan War: 800AD - 870AD

Japan only put up slightly more resistance than Korea, and were quickly exiled from the continent. I only spotted one Samurai during my conquest of Japan. I'm now learning techs at a four turn rate, and my promise to myself is to make sure this continues until the end. My cavalry are bored, so I ship them over to a nice little bit of unclaimed land in Portugal.

Portuguese War: 950AD -

Annoyingly, during my cleansing of Portugal, a couple of cities flip back, but that wasn't really a problem. Get a cavalry army.

I learn Banking in 980AD and enter the IA. I hope the Celts put up a bit more of a fight.