COTM35 First Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 35 First Spoiler

Reading Requirements

1. You must be able to research a Middle Age technology.
2. You must have contact with all civs (or their remains) in the game.

Posting Restrictions

• No discussions of the middle ages (or later)
• No screenshots of any middle-age (or later) resources.

So how's the bloodbath ... er, I mean your game, going? I trust you had plenty of food for your capital; how did the shield situation turn out? Any problems with the AI? Tell us your general plan for the game, how it's going, and what you see for the future.

 

[AVN]

Initially I wanted to go for a spaceship or diplomatic win, but when I found the iron and horses so close I changed my mind. I decided to go for a conquest with horses and swords to sharpen my tactical fighting skills.

Researched straight to Code of Laws and Philosophy and chose Republic as free tech. Acquired the other techs by trading. Didn't revolt and stopped research after getting Republic.

Went for the Zulus first (except one city), after that the Aztecs (with a number of allies, they appeared to be the strongest AI), Germany, Japan, Rome, Zulu (by that time last 2 cities) and the Vikings were the last to go.
Result : Conquest victory in 250 AD. A date, which can be improved a lot, by :

1) Not building swords, but only building horses.
2) Revolting to Republic. Cashrushing gives way more possibilities to rush troops. I had no possibilities now to spend my money, except for upgrading warriors to swords, but as I said, they were quite useless.
3) Better fighting order. Probably best to go for Aztecs first, after that Vikings, Germany, Japan where later build troops can go for Zulu and Rome.

I didn't build granaries in this game, I didn't consider them useful in this foodrich, but shieldpoor starting position. Only buildings were barracks.

 

[ajb civver]

settled beijing in place, saw bg & was happy, saw spices & was ecstatic

builds: warrior, warrior, worker, granary, settlers. research alph @ max

cities to build workers first then barracks then either archers / swords / horses depending upon resources (after discovery of whl decided to use horses)

3200 meet zulu, trade mas for pot & 10 g

2710 meet japan, trade alph & pot for whl, bw, & cb; granary finished ready to build settlers

2550 meet aztecs, trade mas for 65 g; meet rome, trade pot for 10 g

2430 trade cb & mas to rome for iw

2390 shanghai founded, meet germany

2310 trade iw to japan for hbr

2270 writing --> col

2190 canton founded

1990 nanking founded

1790 tsingtao founded

1700 col --> phil; xinjian founded; trade writing to germany for myst, then col for math, then traded math to everyone but rome for gold

1525 chengdu founded; phil & rep (free) --> lit

1500 hangchow founded; revolt for 6 turn anarchy

1375 tientsin founded

1250 lit --> cur

1225 trade math & phil to rome for mm & 25 g, then traded phil to a couple other civs for gold

1100 finally meet vikings; tatung founded

1075 curr --> poly

1050 macao founded

975 poly --> tbd; anyang founded

traded poly to germany for constr & 25 g & enter the MA

 

[Mistfit]

I ended up doing somthig similar to AVN.. I built pretty loosely at first which will probably adversly effect my ending date but I like the GOTM staff putting all of the resourses and Lux near us to entice the other Civs to come and try and settle near us. I covered as many of them as possible with cities as I could.

I took out the Zulu first and then took out Rome next.. They did not hook the iron they had in their territory.. Next on the hit list is the Aztecs..

I am hitting them in order of proximity.. Hopefully have a decent date. I will likely need to get to our UU to finish the game..

 

[TheOverseer714]

Weird how the AI can do things so differently. In my game the Romans quickly crushed the Zulu and had 3 Irons hooked up by the time i was closing out my expansion phase. I am not truly a warmonger, so I am going for Spaceship. I need to stop being so allergic to Anarchy, as staying Despot is very bad. I just wish Monarchy supported more troops. I will most likely win my game, but as probably last place of those who finish. I need to learn how to wring more production out in the early phase, and to love (cough cough The Republic).

 

[Ansar]

Well, everything was going well until I noticed that all the civs were the max agression level civs...how nice of you, civ_steve. I decided it was not going to be easy for me to get a spaceship to Alpha Centauri. No wars so far. Hopefully the AI will crush itself, though I think I'll have to do some attacking myself. Well, at least the Zulu are being peaceful, but I wanna eliminate them so bad...

I guess this COTM will help my warmongering skills and I'll get a chance to use the rider!

 

[TheOverseer714]

I am at turn 442 already, and am wondering when I should launch. Should I milk it til the next to last turn or go as soon as possible? Which decision is better to get the best "jason" score?

 

[eldar]

After moving the worker to the wheat, it was clear there was coast to the SE... so I gambled on settling in place. Yay spices, yay BG

It was quite clear that a granary would be a waste of time and shields. Beijing built a warrior, then a settler, then continued to build settlers. In Republic it was a 5-turn settler factory without a granary! Shanghai was founded inland along the river (I didn't have The Wheel by then...) and produced nothing but workers and settlers the entire game. I did build a granary there eventually, but not for a very long time.

The rest of the AA was spent gathering contacts, and preparing for war. The Republic Slingshot came in around 1500BC, and the MA was entered in 950BC. I'd not declared on anyone, but was preparing my forces to strike the Zulus. I was at war with Japan after a demand, which I was keeping going for the extra happiness - I'd killed a couple of their warriors who'd made the loooooong trek across the map to get to me

 

[Mistfit]

Did I miss the results of last months COTM?

I cannot seem to find them

 

[Desertsnow]

4000 BCE: Worker SE to the wheat; Settler E to the coast.
3950: Beijing founded; research set for Republic slingshot (this may change).
3650: Warrior completed--exploration begins.
3450: Encounter a Zulu scout; sell Masonry for Pottery and 10g.
2710: Writing discovered.
2630: Shanghai founded.
2110: Roman warrior encountered. Masonry to Rome for Ceremonial Burial and 18g.
2030: Aztecs discovered (border). No trade.
1990: Writing discovered.
1950: Writing to Aztecs for Bronze Working.
1830: Canton founded.
1650: Nanking founded.
1600: German border encountered. No trade. Japanese warrior encountered. Masonry and 39g to Japan for Ironworking.
1500: Border (Beijing) expands to include Spices. Happiness increases.
1425: Tsingtao founded directly on the iron source west of Beijing.
1375: Code of Laws discovered.
1300: Xinjian founded.
1200: Scandinavian archer met. Code of Laws to Vikings for Mysticism, Mapmaking, the Wheel and 15g.
1175: Philosophy discovered. Slingshot fails; research is set for Mathematics instead.
1025: Mathematics discovered.
975: Caesar tries (and fails) to extort Philsophy.
875: Hangchow founded.
750: Tientsin founded.
730: Montezuma declares war after a failed extortion attempt (23 gold).
690: Currency discovered.
610: Horseback-riding discovered.
490: Currency to Aztecs for Construction, 80g and peace.
470: Literature discovered.
330: Shaka unsuccesfully attempts extortion of something or other.
250: Caesar demands Currency. No.
230: Tatung founded.
210: Republic discovered. No revolt yet (road network looks weak)
130: Polytheism discovered. We enter Medieval time. Score: China 360, Aztecs 319, Scandinavia 292, Rome 290, Zulu 285, Japan 240, Germany 166.

The Aztec war was mostly a phony one, a few units sent here and there, but that's about all it amounted to.
Things are looking interesting at this point. I'm actually surprised that I'm doing so well. I usually get pwned in GOTM/COTM.
I'm not sure how I want to win this one, though. I might make a bid for conquest if I can improve my military. Or I might go for diplomacy if relations improve. We'll see.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator class, going for conquest

We started by taking a look at our competition: all militaristic. In
predator class, we were not. Not knowing Warrior Code seemed less of a
problem when 83% of the competition did (Japan knew The Wheel). But
Barracks would still be expensive.

Not seeing that the odds of finding a Bonus Grassland tile would
increase much by a move eastwards and not wanting to leave the
Mountain behind with so many Flood Plains, we settled in place and
luckily found the needed tile within reach. Contrary to what others
have opined, we found building a Granary worth the effort: while the
terrain is low on shields, the Workers are industrious and improve the
lands faster than is normal. By building a Worker before the Granary,
we could have four-turn Settlers coming from 2590 BC onwards. Also,
the 44 beakers needed for Pottery appeared to be a bargain price.

The first Worker roaded and irrigated the Wheat, roaded a Plains tile,
mined and roaded the Bonus Grassland and cut the Spices Forest. The
second Worker roaded and irrigated a Plains tile and then mined a
Desert tile, since no other two-shield tile was available for
on-growth bonus production.

Beijing built Warrior, Worker, Granary, Warrior and then four-turn
Settlers at population 5..7 -- that was the plan. But after the two
first Settlers, Disease struck and we had to build two more Warriors,
delaying expansion with five turns.

We placed the first city on the Flood Plains in the south-west to
produce Workers and later Settlers. Later expansion went mainly
towards the wide Bonus Grasslands in the north, but we also made sure
to settle Nanking close to the Furs and the Zulu.

4000 BC Found Beijing
3300 BC Meet Zululand
2850 BC Connect Spices
2470 BC Found Shanghai
2350 BC Found Canton
2190 BC Meet Scandinavia
2190 BC Meet Rome
1870 BC Found Nanking
1790 BC Connect Gems
1750 BC Found Tsingtao
1700 BC Found Xinjian
1625 BC Found Chengdu
1625 BC Connect Horses​

As expected, the lack of a Warrior Code could be easily remedied.
After the discovery of Pottery, a traditional run for The Republic
followed.

4000 BC Discover Masonry
3550 BC Discover Pottery
3300 BC Learn Warrior Code
2750 BC Discover Alphabet
2190 BC Discover Writing
1910 BC Learn The Wheel
1910 BC Learn Bronze Working
1725 BC Discover Code of Laws
1725 BC Learn Iron Working
1725 BC Learn Horseback Riding
1725 BC Learn Ceremonial Burial
1575 BC Discover Philosophy
1575 BC Discover The Republic
1575 BC Learn Mysticism​

We immediatetly revolted and were lucky to get only two turns of
Anarchy. Not seeing the need for further rapid expansion, Beijing now
built a couple of Workers and then Barracks and Horsemen. Shanghai
could later build more Settlers to fill the gaps. Most of the Military
Policemen were disbanded, only a few Warriors to ward off the
Barbarians were kept.

A Right of Passage deal with Germany allowed us to find the Japanese
on the other side of the German territory. At the same time, a
suspicious-looking Viking Warrior-Archer combo had approached, and, as
response to our ultimatum to leave our lands, the Vikings declared war
on us. We don't expect this war to be of very high intensity, but
nevertheless allied ourselves with the Germans.

1575 BC Meet Aztecs
1575 BC Establish Anarchy
1525 BC Establish Republic
1425 BC Meet Germany
1425 BC Found Hangchow
1275 BC Connect Furs
1200 BC Right of Passage Germany
1200 BC Embassy Germany
1150 BC War Scandinavia
1150 BC Meet Japan​

After the Sling-Shot, research was directed towards reaching the
Middle Ages and eventually Chivalry. We gifted Germany Construction
and then bought Monotheism for The Republic. Everyone else was then
also allowed to buy The Republic from us.

Reaching the Middle Ages is a good idea because of Germany's free
tech, which increases our mobility. All three possibilities are useful
in this respect, since the Rider moves three tiles per turn.

1425 BC Discover Mathematics
1275 BC Discover Currency
1275 BC Learn Polytheism
1275 BC Learn Map Making
1100 BC Discover Construction
1100 BC Enter Middle Ages
1100 BC Learn Monotheism​

Unfortunately, a report for the Quick Start Challenge is not possible
in this spoiler. Stay tuned to this channel for the next one.

The plans for the future are to attack the Zulu and the Aztecs as soon
as possible, to build a road westwards and to take the rest with
Riders.

 

[ignas]

open, going for 100K culture
Settled in place, built few warriors, settler, worker, granary and then settlers. Got Republic slingshot in around 1500 BC and revolted. Stopped research and in Republic rushed settlers with gold. In 1000BC had 15 cities and quite a few workers. In 550Bc enter MA and complete ToA, zulus are destroyed with Swords and am warring Rome, Horsemen soon will be in place to attack Aztecs.
Plan is to research Chivalry for GA,stop research, switch in early AD's to Feudalism and whip culture

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

Open Class going for domination

4000BC Found Beijing and start granary pre-build with barracks
3550BC Pottery discovered research set for Republic-slingshot
3000BC Beijing completes granary and builds settlers after two warriors for rest of QSC
2850BC Alphabet discovered
2710BC Shanghai founded on floodplain and builds workers for rest of game
2550BC First warrior contacts Zulu and Rome and I trade for the wheel and BW
2430BC Contact Germany and trade for IW
2230BC Writing discovered and contact Aztecs
BY 1550BC Contact Scandinavia and Japan; discover CoL and trade for mysticism, HBR, and polytheism; revolt to Republic w/2-turn anarchy
I then researched literature, hoping to trade for mathematics, but nobody had it when lit was discovered. These turns were lost since I didn't build a single library. Next researched math, currency, and construction to reach MA in 850BC. I lost 4 workers to barb horsemen, but made enough money to keep research at max. disbanding barb camps. By 1000BC, I had 9 cities with 25 pop., 5 barracks, and 6 vet horsemen. My plan is to gift Republic to everyone so I can capture cities rather than raze and then look to capture the Pyramids and ToA which are being built by all of the ai's. Wars will start soon.

 

[Mighty Dwaarf]

Open for space/diplo (just to be different)

Settle on spot use for settlers.
Research towards republic slingshot achieve 1450BC revolt 5 turn anarchy
(Is this length of Anarchy random, can anything be done to minimize it or am I just always unlucky??)
Trade for most other techs apart from currency and construction.
1000BC
8 cities (penned in now by other civs)
19 pop
all but construction
minimal army (for now)

710BC research construction enter MA.

 

[PaperBeetle]

Open for space/diplo (just to be different)
Research towards republic slingshot achieve 1450BC revolt 5 turn anarchy
(Is this length of Anarchy random, can anything be done to minimize it or am I just always unlucky??)
710BC research construction enter MA.

No you were lucky! I got 7 turns anarchy. And 2 pop lost to disease in the settler factory.
You get longer anarchy the larger your empire.

 

[Mighty Dwaarf]

No you were lucky! I got 7 turns anarchy. And 2 pop lost to disease in the settler factory.

Does this mean I may get to within a few thousand of your final score on this one??

You get longer anarchy the larger your empire.

IS there like a formula that works it out dpending on empire size or is it down to both size and luck??
Is it worth holding back a little just before switching to save a couple of turns??

 

[PaperBeetle]

Actually I'm not sure what effect the anarchy will have. Perhaps it came at a time when food was the only important resource anyway. And of course we maximise food during anarchy anyway, especially when we have so many luxuries available.
The pop loss was a pain, but like Piu I used the "regrowing" turns building military - an archer in my case. The guy is elite by now, so if he gets my first leader, I'll call it quits with the disease.

There is certainly a random element to anarchy periods, but the upper and lower bounds of that random duration are determined by empire size and difficulty level (higher level => longer anarchy). Without searching for it, I don't actually know if anyone has reverse engineered the formula. We tend to assume that the scholars of antiquity investigated every aspect of the game, but sometimes it is not the case...

I had the same thought (after getting that long anarchy period): should I build the settlers as usual, but hold back from actually founding the last two or three towns just to get a shorter anarchy? Refering back to my first point about the importance of food, the answer is probably no, but a short anarchy is always attractive. I played 20k a couple of games ago, and got a 2 turn anarchy because I only had about two cities. And becasue one of those was easily the mightiest city in the world, it researched the slingshot in a time frame which would have entirely acceptable for a normal settler-pumped start.

 

[Honda[SU]]

Open, Conquest

4000 – Beijing-city1 (Warrior, Worker, Warrior and 10 Settlers)
3150 – Alphabet
2790 – Shanghaj-city2
2750 - Spices
2510 – Writing
2350 – Canton-city3, Zululand
2270 - Rome
2190 – Nanking-city4
2150 - BW (AI), Pottery (AI), CB (AI)
2110 - Gems
2030 - CoL
1910 – Aztecs, Germany, the Wheel (AI), IW (AI), Mysticism (AI), HR (AI)
1870 – Tsingtao-city5, Horses
1790 – Philosophy, the Republic, 3 turns of anarhy and stop the science
1725 – Xinjian-city6
1675 - Japan
1600 – Chengdu-city7, Scandinavia
1550 - Furs
1525 – Hangchow-city8
1500 - Iron
1400 – Tientsin-city9
1375 – MM (AI), Polytheism (AI)

1350BC:
CM – 210
Culture – 108 (2 per turn)
Land – 106
Gold - 363
Cities – 9
Citizens – 27
Units – 3 Horsemans, 1 Setler, 15 Workers, 5 Slaves
Buildings – 4 Barracks, 1 Harbor
Resources – Horses (1), Iron (1), Spices (1), Gems (1), Furs (1)

 

[Scratcher]

Open Class Going for Conquest

4000BC - Worker SE to wheat, settler E to the river/coast tile.
3950BC - Beijing founded. Research alphabet @ 90% (28turns).
3300BC - A Zulu warrior is spotted. I have absolutely no defence!
2950BC - Shanghai founded. Alphabet discovered - writing @ 90% (20 turns).
2590BC - Canton founded
2270BC - Writing discovered - CoL @ 90% (23 turns).
2230BC - Aztec archer spotted. I trade masonry to Zulus for pots and BW. I trade Masonry to Aztecs for 27 gold.
2150BC - Nanking founded.
1790BC - Tsingtao founded. An elite German archer spotted. Spices are connected. Germany have writing so I trade it to Aztecs for IW and I discover I already have Iron connected. Not what I expected!!
1725BC - A Roman warrior is spotted. Rome has The Wheel and CB. CoL discovered - Philosophy.
1600BC - Barbs kill my archer (my only military unit - not including an exploring curragh), destroying my work on a swordsman. The vikings are spotted and I trade masonry + 10gold for the wheel. Horses are also available.
1500BC - Xinjian founded.
1475BC - I trade CoL to the Aztecs for HBR, CB + 36g, to Rome for Mysticism +34g, to Germany for 28g and I trade CB to the Vikings for 35g.
Philosophy is completed, I take Republic, and immediately change to anarchy(4 turns). Research Maths.
1375BC - China becomes a republic.
1275BC - Maths discovered - Construction @70% (15turns)
1250BC - Chengdu founded. Aztecs demand Philosophy, I decline and war is declared.
1225BC - Hangchow founded. I build an embassy with the Vikings, then trade CoL, mysticism, HBR for MM, 25g +MA against the Aztecs. I build an embassy in Rome but they refuse MA against Aztecs.
1200BC - I build an embassy with Zulu, then trade CoL, MM for 25g + MA against Axtecs.
1125BC - Tientsin founded.
1100BC - Japan contacted.
1000BC - Tatung founded. Construction discovered - currency @ 70% (8 turns).
825BC - Currency discovered.
800BC - I trade maths to Rome for Polytheism, 25g and MA against Aztecs.
I enter the MA and research Feudalism.

So horses and iron are available. I have met all nations and I am already at war with Aztecs with MA with Rome, Zulu and Vikings. The plan is to war relentlessly, research up tp Chivalry and then turn off and unleash the Chinese Riders.

 

[ControlFreak]

I sent the worker to the wheat and the settler to the east.

I built an early worker and also a granary. I figured, I'd be mining the plains which would eat into the food bonus from the floodplains. Using enough mined plains, and irrigating all the floodplains, I was able to make decent shields while staying at +5fpt so the granary was needed in my settler making. I kept building workers to keep my ratio of workers/cities high. I even used a worker to colonize the gems which gave me a free mountain road to get my settler to southern flood plains area faster. This town (Canton) would eventually become a super science city.

I went the farmer gambit for quite a while, but got nervous knowing all the agressive civs were in the game. I ended up building two towns in the BG rich grassland to the north and they built barracks and nothing but horsemen. They actually supplied all of the troops I would need for the ancient age.

I beelined to Code and managed the slingshot for the Republic in 1475BC, pulling a 4 turn anarchy. The AI had sold me all the non-writing techs. They would help me get Math, MapMaking and Polytheism as well, but the rest I researched myself, getting to the Middle ages at 950BC. Germany was gifted up a turn later (I waited because I didn't want the barb camp that I was about to kill to spew forth a bazillion horsemen) and got Engineering as their freebie.

I could see that most civs would not have iron anytime soon so I kept building horsemen exclusively.

The AI started to get uppity and make demands. I gave in to a few early on, but when the Zulu's came calling, I was ready for them. They declared and lost most of their cities in fairly short order. I pulled Rome in against them to let them reduce their army size. I was one of the lucky games where Rome had not connected their iron. I sat a horseman next to it to keep an eye when they sent a worker to the iron. When the Zulu disappeared and the Roman worker finally showed up on the iron, I made some demands of Rome and asked them to get out. They declared and further added cities to my growing empire. I have very few horsemen losses to the small town spears so my army actually was getting bigger through these wars.

Japan declared on me and I fought a phony war, pulling in the Germans and Aztecs. I periodically had to face some archer stacks and one-unit landings from Japan.

With Rome and the Zulu's gone, I consolodated my winnings by focusing on road building. I was still focusing on research where possible and squeezed in library builds in my two barrack cities who were still making the majority of my horsemen. When I had enough of a stack, I told the wandering Viking settler pair to get out and they declared. I pulled in the Aztecs with techs and got a ROP. My first target was their silk city on the border with Germany. We were well into the Middle ages at this point and Riders would become available shortly after the Viking war got to Scandinavia, so that puts the rest of the game out of this spoiler.

At this point, my game was going so well, that I might be able to submit by the deadline for the first time in over a year! (I submitted today!)