COTM39 - Final Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 39 Final Spoiler; Game Submitted

Reading Requirements:
You may only read this thread if:

1. You have completed and submitted your game.

Posting Restrictions:

1. None! As long as its related to the GOTM, and within the forum rules!
2. And ... Absolutely NO discussion of any other active 'X'OTM contest!

Alright, you've made it to the end, finished your game and submitted it! Was yours a Modern Era Victory, or are there some good stories you'd like to post here? How did your Mayans conclude their game?

 

[scoutsout]

I had a "Modern Era" Victory. I went for a Milk Run... because apparently I needed to remind myself why I don't like Milk Runs.

Here's what the game looked like for me at 1916 AD:

Spoiler :

1916 AD: I've got troops stationed all over the forest to keep the barbarians from popping up at all. I've got 192 slaves, and frankly don't need any more. Most are fortified outside my capitol. I finally got so bored with them that I've sorted them by nationality. Among the slaves I have 5 Iroquois, 7 each Aztec and Incan, 11 each Chinese,American and Greek; 16 Persian, 21 English, 26 Indian, 35 Spanish, and 42 from "A Barbarian Chiefdom".

I just researched Integrated Defense at a 4-turn rate, running 20% research. I also have some SAM Batteries queue'd up so I can build the strategic missile defense thingy... why? Because I can.

I've got so many scientists in the empire that I will now research Robotics at the 4-turn rate, running just 10% research. If my calculations are correct I should spend the last 80 turns of this game researching Future Techs. Though SirPleb's article on Milk Runs dismisses the value of "Future Techs", I am keeping the scientists' candles lit because I've never had any future techs, so this'll be a first.

...and here are my thoughts as I reached endgame, with 80 turns to go:

Spoiler :

With Cure for Cancer, Longevity, and the Pyramids in hand...there simply isn't any way to get any more points for population.

At the moment my Metropolises are ocillating between snail's-paced growth and starvation... leading me to conclude that the game needs an additional specialist: The Vegetarian. This specialist would be super war-weary sensitive, but only need 1 food per turn to survive. This would allow me to stabilize the population in my metros.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator Class

AT THE DAWN of the Mayan Civilization, we decided to let the Worker
start mining where he stood and move the Settler SW towards the
forests visible there. We wanted to maximise early production in order
to be able to catch some Slaves with our Javelin Throwers as soon as
possible. Also, production means food if you are able to build a
Granary earlier.

THE INITIAL BUILD ORDER in Chichén Itza was three Warriors, a Granary
and a Settler, at which point we basically already had our 8-turn
2x30-shields combo factory running. We used the first run-up
production for two additional Warriors and the second, extended with a
forest cut, for a Barracks. Subsequently we built a Javelin Thrower
for each Settler and, once Horses were connected, a Horseman.

3950 BC Found Chichén Itza
2670 BC Found Copán
2310 BC Found Palenque
1990 BC Found Tikal
1675 BC Found Yaxchilán
1625 BC Connect Spices
1525 BC Found Bonampak
1250 BC Found Lagartero
1050 BC Found Quiriguá
1050 BC Found Calakmul
1025 BC Found Lazapa
1025 BC Connect Horses​

WE DISPATCHED our first Warrior to reconnoitre to the east, and the
second to the south. Soon we had met with our nearest neighbours.
However, two of the other tribes were not to be found at this
stage. We etablished Embassies and started wars and made alliances
tied to peace treaties in the hope of gaining war happiness. We made
sure to establish an Embassy before declaring war in order to be able
to reverse an alliance once an old one had served its purpose or run
out.

3700 BC Meet Inca
3500 BC Meet Iroquois
3150 BC War Iroquois
2510 BC Peace Iroquois
2430 BC Meet China
2230 BC Meet Persia
2070 BC Meet India
2070 BC Meet Aztecs
1950 BC Meet England
1750 BC Embassy Persia
1750 BC Embassy England
1750 BC Embassy China
1450 BC Meet America
1350 BC Embassy Iroquois
1350 BC Embassy Inca
1350 BC Embassy Aztecs
1350 BC Embassy America​

OUR SCIENTIFIC HISTORY started with the discovery of The Wheel, which
we could trade for much other knowledge. We then directed our efforts
towards discovering The Republic using the well-known path over
Philosophy. The Republic would also be our last scientific discovery,
for our goal was to conquer the whole world as soon as possible. The
one or other knowledge was then stolen from victim tribes.

4000 BC Discover Pottery
3150 BC Discover The Wheel
3150 BC Learn Warrior Code
3150 BC Learn Masonry
3150 BC Learn Alphabet
2430 BC Learn Ceremonial Burial
2310 BC Discover Writing
2230 BC Learn Bronze Working
1750 BC Learn Mysticism
1750 BC Learn Iron Working
1675 BC Discover Code of Laws
1500 BC Discover The Republic
1500 BC Discover Philosophy
1100 BC Learn Map Making
_900 BC Learn Polytheism
_710 BC Learn Construction
_630 BC Learn Currency
_210 BC Learn Literature​

A SPELL OF ANARCHY shook the Mayan Empire as the lore of The Republic
was disseminated in its lands, but in 1400 BC we regained control
under its name.

AT THIS POINT we realized having committed a strategical error in not
having irrigated Grasslands surrounding the Capital in time for the
more propitious conditions of Republican Government. Popular growth
alas did not fulfil its full potential at this time. As the error was
corrected, the growth rate in Chichén Itza eventually reached 5 fpt,
but by then it was no longer producing Settlers.

THE MAYAN QUICK START CHALLENGE RESULTS were in 1000 BC recorded as
the following:

10 Cities
24 Citizens
_4 Barracks
_2 Granaries
_8 Contacts
_9 Workers
_6 Slaves
_7 Javelin Throwers
_1 Horseman​

WHAT FOLLOWED was a bloodbath. A Golden Age of the Mayan people set in
and masses and masses of Horsemen were trained. In all five Military
Great leaders built a Forbidden Palace and then four Armies, whereof
the last was shipped over to England and filled there. Important was
the conquest of two English cities in an early peace deal. At the very
end, then, England fell victim of a base abuse of diplomatic
agreements, as troops lawfully present in England as guests to the
English court suddenly without any sign of warning in concert attacked
all English cities.

850 BC Enter Golden Age through Unique Unit victory
510 BC Destroy Inca
430 BC Exit Golden Age
410 BC Meet Spain
390 BC Connect Wines
350 BC Connect Gems
310 BC Meet Greece
310 BC Emerge Military Great Leader Blue-Quetzal-Macaw
310 BC Embassy Spain
310 BC Embassy Greece
310 BC Destroy Iroquois
310 BC Destroy Aztecs
270 BC Emerge Military Great Leader Eighteen Rabbit
250 BC Connect Silks
250 BC Build Forbidden Palace in Mayapán
230 BC Connect Incense
190 BC Destroy America
_90 BC Emerge Military Great Leader Cauac-Sky
_10 AD Destroy Spain
110 AD Destroy Greece
150 AD Right of Passage England
170 AD Capture Delhi with The Oracle
170 AD Emerge Military Great Leader
190 AD Emerge Military Great Leader Blue-Quetzal-Macaw II
250 AD Destroy India
270 AD Destroy Persia
310 AD Destroy China
320 AD Capture London with The Statue of Zeus and The Mausoleum of Mausollos
330 AD Destroy England​

FINALLY Maya was left alone.

Game status: Conquest Victory for Maya
Game date: 340 AD
Firaxis score: 6280
Jason score: 11221​

 

[TheOverseer714]

Wow, that's HoF material! My Conquest victory came, oh about 1300 years later for less than half those points on either scale. And yet it was still my best individual score ever. You elite guys are some scary-good players My stats for my victory was:

Entry class: Open
Game status: Conquest Victory for Maya
Game date: 1782 AD
Firaxis score: 2924
Jason score: 5213

 

[megistatos]

This was my first space race game and first regent game for a long time.
I expanded faster than the AI using quite wide spacing and putting most of my core cities on rivers made wars quite early on against the Iroquois, Aztecs and Incas, generating a leader and capturing the pyramids. They were all gone by about 600AD.

I managed four turn research from about 250AD onwards, from the mid-middle ages. Optional techs I researched were chivalry, music theory(how could I resist JS Bach), printing press(but changed my mind about needing democracy and stayed in republic throughout), and sanitation. Probably only sanitation was really necessary. Persia and Greece got me Medicine, Fission and Ecology.

Towards the end I wiped America, Spain and China for a bit more territory(tanks against spears is fun). I had been saving my leader for a capital jump but he made an army as the forbidden palace isn't as good as in ptw so it wasn't worth it(no great wonders either).

I must say it was fun not having to chase the AI at the start, although I remember really struggling last time I played regent(so I must've improved).

Space victory 1430AD
Firaxis:4358
Jason: 8460

 

[Paul#42]

My first ever Space Race. Nice video after the launch

Game status: Spaceship Victory for Maya
Game date: 1250 AD
Firaxis score: 5735
Jason score: 10645
Time played: 33:46:57

start
settle SW.
Worker mine, road BG, road BG, road BG, chop forest.
Warrior-granary (3200BC)
100% Alphabet.

events

Spoiler :

3700 meet Incan spear. Masonry behind.
3650 flood plains spotted SE.
3500 Incas know Alpha
3100 Meet Aztecs.
2950 Meet Iroquois
2230 Persia.
2150 China.
2070 America.
1990 Greece.
1575 England.
1550 Spain.
1400 Republic founded (after 5 turns anarchy)
570 India.
290 attack Iroquois, start GA.
50 BC peace with Iroquois for two towns, only capital still builds Pyramides (due in 7)
50 AD attack Incas.
70 Salamanca finishes Pyramides - for us
190 attack Iroquois, take Salamanca (Pyramides), Iroquois gone.
340 MGL - army.
390 Aztecs byte the dust.
460 Incas ripped.
560 Americans gone.
890 Persia eliminated
940 Apollo rushed with MGL (attacked China for farming)

research

Spoiler :

3000 Alphabet (self)
2950 Warrior Code (Aztecs)
2230 Bronce Working (Persia)
2150 Writing (self), Iron Working, Ceremonial Burial (Inca), The Wheel (China), Masonry (Aztecs)
1830 Mysticism (Greece)
1650 Code of Laws (self), Maths (America)
1625 Hoseback Riding (hut)
1525 Philosophy (self), Republic (free)
1375 Literature (self)
1100 Currency (self)
975 Construction (America), Polytheism, Monotheism (Greece) Persia also gets Mono
730 Theology (self)
570 Educaton (self)
410 Astronomy (self)
390 Monarchy (Greece)
330 Feudalism (England) finally
270 Banking (self)
210 Engineering (self )
130 Invention (self)
50 Gunpowder (self)
30 Chivalry (Persia)
30 AD Chemistry (self)
310 AD Metallurgy (self) -> Industrial Age Greece and Persia get Nationalism
320 Printing Press (England)
360 Steam Power (self), Nationalism (Greece)

From the start of the Industrial Age on we got all techs in 4 turns. No help from anybody, not even Replacable Parts
Much too late I realized I should have supported England, Greece or Persia. After Feudalism they did not get me a single non-optional tech which would be essential for an early finish date.
At least in Modern Times we get usefull free techs from Persia and Greece: Rocketry and Computers.
In the end I had ICSed most of my 60% land except for the core. I rushed through the turns and even built a Palace by accident

leading me to conclude that the game needs an additional specialist: The Vegetarian. This specialist would be super war-weary sensitive, but only need 1 food per turn to survive. This would allow me to stabilize the population in my metros.

Excellent idea

 

[PaperBeetle]

leading me to conclude that the game needs an additional specialist: The Vegetarian. This specialist would be super war-weary sensitive, but only need 1 food per turn to survive. This would allow me to stabilize the population in my metros.

Well it kind of does: the Treehugger. That's the citizen who works the forest (1f, 2s) which is planted on the grassland which could be mined and railed (2f, 2s). Another way to avoid the irritating oscillation of the oscillating irrigation is to miss the railroads from one of your watered tiles.

 

[Marsden]

My entry

Entry class: Open
Game status: Spaceship Victory for Maya
Game date: 2049 AD
Firaxis score: 8823
Jason score: 8668


I'm a bit disappointed, I was hoping for a better score. I killed everyone one at a time except England, who I let keep one coastal town that I choked with privateers. Cleared lots of marsh and jungles. I planted a lot of nice trees. Cleaned a lot of pollution, too.

 

[Red Horse]

Fun game, never played as Maya before.
Here's my stats:

Entry class: Open
Game status: Domination Victory for Maya
Game date: 1808 AD
Firaxis score: 2802
Jason score: 4806
Time played: 30:23:26

A typical game for me, started slow (building), picked on Inca, then moved on to Iroquois and Aztecs.

I played a little sloppy (lost 2 armies ) and didn't MM as I usually do. I downloaded the start late and wanted to finish so I rushed a bit.

Yeah, yeah, excuses excuses.
All in all, I had fun and am looking forward to next month.

 

[klarius]

Well, sorry Paul:
Game status: Spaceship Victory for Maya
Game date: 1180 AD
Firaxis score: 6624
Jason score: 11583
Time played: 46:26:24
I was one turn later in industrial age than you (which is usually what determines the outcome on regent), but had better luck with the scientific civs.
At the end I had 214 cities and researched the last few techs with scientists alone.

 

[Paul#42]

I was one turn later in industrial age than you (which is usually what determines the outcome on regent), but had better luck with the scientific civs.

I knew I should have killed these guys in anger after they both got Monotheism entering the MA...
Did they research anythin useful after Construction in your game?

I should have let one of them (or England) grow to some 50 towns early to benefit from their research capability at least for RP...

 

[klarius]

I knew I should have killed these guys in anger after they both got Monotheism entering the MA...
Did they research anythin useful after Construction in your game?

No. Greece got feudalism and I didn't even know Persia entering MA. I set several civs up for invention, but even that was too much for them and I had to research it myself. Chivalry, economics, printing press and very late nationalism was all the AI came up with by the end - not even military tradition.
In IA I had good luck by getting steam and medicine. But w/o nationalism, it was completely hopeless to get RP. So I bee-lined RP (worker speed) and just researched all myself.

 

[Più Freddo]

Game status:
Spaceship Victory for Maya
[...]
Jason score: 11583

Again an impressive score for a (nominally) non-military victory. Well done!

 

[scoutsout]

My 'milk run' ended up with a final score very close to Marsden's. Like Marsden, I had a Jason score that was lower than my Firaxis score as well.

 

[supersova_SU]

Open
Conquest Victory
260 AD
Firaxis score 6106
Jason score: 11095

 

[klarius]

Again an impressive score for a (nominally) non-military victory. Well done!

Well, it was pretty peaceful for me .
I never had a real war with Greece, Persia, China and Spain. I would also have stayed at peace with India, but he declared (at polite), when I didn't want to give him a tech for free.
The high score comes from the power of agriculture with an early (800BC) self built pyramids.

 

[Paul#42]

self built pyramids.

self built? On a Pangaea, 60% ocean?
Did some island civ rob you lately?

Anyway, 800 BC vs. 190 AD (I captured mine from Aztecs) might make a difference in score but not in research (this time)...

Well no reason to doubt the winning strategy...

 

[klarius]

self built? On a Pangaea, 60% ocean?

Well, what else to build in this time frame ?
Troops to auto-raze regent villages ?