COTM41 - Final Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 41 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!

Tell us any additional final details regarding your game here. Any SS or Diplo victories out there? Or is everyone going for an early Domination or Conquest?

 

[pol1]

My first COTM.

Strategic resources and AI :

Spain, France, Aztecs (they placed 2nd city next to the mountain SE of starting location) 'had' iron & horses
Maya - iron, England - horses
Although Aztecs and Spaniards settled next to iron resource, they'd never built a road there! even near the end - ~750AD Spain had only spears and archers, though they had Chivalry... no horses, no pikes, no swords... strange - whatever, easier wars.
AIs have shown once again how not to manage workers.

i've only researched CoL, REP and Feudalism (latter was completely useless, only tech from MA) by myself. others were bought or extorted.

--
btw : my elite sword lost to fortified regular archer on tundra and didn't leave any scratch on him... well P~0,288%, P>0

 

[Niklas]

Predator, diplo win in 900 AD.

The Middle Ages
I entered the MA in 1050 BC, gifted the Maya along with me to have someone research Feudalism and some more. Well, turns out there wouldn't be any more, and they only came up with Feudalism 2 turns before I would have needed to go for it myself. Worst monarch AI I've ever seen.

The Aztecs declared on me in 1200 BC, but I wasn't ready to take them on yet. And archer took care of the one warrior they sent my way. In 1025 BC an Aztec warrior attacked one of my Chasquis and lost, resulting in a GA for me. Nothing I had planned, but in hindsight it was the best possible moment. I

In 1000 BC France declared as well when I told their SoD consisting of 4 warriors to leave my lands. My swords lost 1 hp taking them out, and one became elite, and more WH for me. Thanks a lot Joan!

The swords continued on to raze Teotihuacan, Tlaxcala and Tlatelolco, and capture Tenochtitlan, all in all I lost 2 swords. Peace with Aztecs in 710 BC for their two remaining towns, leaving them as OCC in the desert well into my IA. I colonized the gems, but I hadn't counted on the barbies, so it wasn't until very late that I actually got them hooked up for real.

My 16 surviving swords kept marching south towards England and France. On the way they were harassed by pesky barbarian uprisings, and so were a bit delayed. In 570 BC I declared on England, razing her northern towns. London fell 450 BC, York in 370 BC and I got peace for two towns, leaving her with two, one tundra and one desert.

At that point I still had 12 swords alive in former England so pushing on towards France was easy. But I made a blunder there, a french spear managed to move past me (I saw it but payed no mind to it) all the way up into Aztecia and captured an undefended Juli. I took it back shortly after, but that effectively killed any WH I had. Paris fell in 190 BC, peace with France leaving them with 3 towns. Only 8 swords still alive in the south at this point, but Paris had SoZ . Rushing a harbor in Rheims gave me dyes and ivory back home. Redeclared in 210 AD, took all their continental towns leaving them with two on the small island. The last one fell in 320 AD and France was the first to leave the game.

The Industrial Ages
One turns before France's demise, I entered the IA in 310 AD.

The IA were more or less only about continuously increasing my bpt maximum, to enable 4 turn research whenever possible. When I entered in 310 AD, my maximum was slightly below 500 bpt. When I entered the MT 590 years later that maximum had increased to well over 1300 bpt, more than I needed for 4 turns even on Atomic Theory. Building libs + unis + courts + wonders in productive or semi-productive towns, but most of all, ICS the former Aztec, French and English lands, irrigating and RRing to get 3+ scientists in each town. At the end I had more than 60 scientist farms, some (that had fresh water) running up to 7 scientist.

Some mop-up wars using cavs (I traded for MT from Spain) saw the Aztecs (650 AD) and England (750 AD) disappear. Maya and Spain were left to the end, declared on Spain on the last turn and an MA with Maya to ensure the vote went my way. Cuzco built ToE on the turn I researched Electronics, giving me Flight and Fission. Tiwanaku changed its palace prebuild to UN on the same IBT.

Diplomatic victory for Pachacuti of the Inca in 900 AD.

Comments:
Some sloppiness set me back a few turns from a perfect date. I didn't decide until pretty late that I was going for a tech win, though I always seem to play for a fast tech pace regardless. The GA couldn't have been better timed, except I should have gone for Literature much earlier and not during the GA. That likely cost me a turn or two getting through of the MA. Also I was way too late with some wonders. My top coastal researcher could have gotten the Colossus much earlier than 410 AD. That combined with a hesitancy to build the FP (I was hoping for a MGL for it), I finally build it in 370 AD, cost me one turn towards Steam Power. Still, for a fast and sloppy game (just over 20 hours total, I usually play much longer games) I'm quite pleased with it.

Spoiler Tech progression :

If nothing listed, then research took 4 turns.

1050 BC: Entered MA
1025 BC: GA started
_875 BC: Monotheism (7 turns)
_690 BC: Theology (8)
_610 BC: Literature
_570 BC: GA ends
_490 BC: Education (6)
_370 BC: Astronomy (6)
_270 BC: Banking (5)
_190 BC: Engineering
_190 BC: Feudalism (Maya)
_110 BC: Invention
__30 BC: Gunpowder
__50 AD: Chemistry
_130 AD: Metallurgy
_210 AD: Physics
_270 AD: Magnetism
_310 AD: Theory of Gravity

_370 AD: Steam Power (6)
_410 AD: Medicine
_460 AD: Electricity (5)
_500 AD: Scientific Method
_540 AD: Industrialization
_580 AD: The Corporation
_620 AD: Steel
_660 AD: Replaceable Parts
_700 AD: Refining
_740 AD: Combustion
_780 AD: Mass Production
_820 AD: Motorized Transportation
_860 AD: Atomic Theory
_900 AD: Electronics
_900 AD: Flight (ToE)
_900 AD: Fission (ToE)

Spoiler animated minimap :

 

[ignas]

good game Niklas!

 

[Aigburth]

I went for my favoured diplomatic victory condition, which was achieved in 910ad.

Ancient Age

Settled 1NE of the starting position to take advantage of the two cows, went straight for a granary as the first build. The capital worked as a 4-turn settler factory, towns placed near the flood plains built workers, lower food towns built barracks and concentrated on military building first chasqui scouts (to trigger golden age) then after that swords. I was not fooled by the map, as I never actually looked at the map settings!

For research I went straight for the slingshot achieving this in 1525bc, I became a republic in 1425bc. After becoming a republic I researched literature, currency, horseback riding and construction, the remaining AA techs of map making and polytheism were gained from the AI during this time, entered the Middle Ages in 950bc.

Screenshot from 1000bc: -

Spoiler :

QSC Stats:

13 Cities
1 Settler
47 Citizens
15 Workers
1 Warrior
1 Spear
1 Sword
2 Chasqui Scouts
1 Granary and 3 Barracks

Middle Ages

Even part way through the ancient age it seemed apparent that the core alone would not be enough to sustain 4 turn research through the industrial ages, therefore an early goal of the middle ages was to at least conquer the neighbouring Aztecs to provide space for some specialist farms. This fitted in nicely with golden age timing, for a research game I favour either an early industrial or early medieval golden age, early middle age usually gets the nod especially if I have an ancient age UU. In 900bc the opportunity presented itself in the form of a warrior escorted settler wandering along my border right next to where my Chasqui’s had gathered, it took 3 scouts to defeat that warrior!

The war against the Aztecs was slow as I tried to do it with a limited army, I cut military building early in order to build infrastructure, my army peaked at about 12 swords. In hindsight in would probably have been better to continue military building a little longer, I could have then gone on and conquered another AI, in the end I stopped after making the Aztecs OCC which probably cost me a couple of turns in the Industrial.

For research I first gifted Maya, Spain and England in the MA to hopefully research Feudalism or Engineering. I researched mono, theology, education (after which I gifted Maya and Spain up, I was hoping to get banking from the AI), astronomy then engineering. None of the AI had yet researched Feudalism so was forced to start on this myself, I was eventually able to buy Feudalism after 2 of the 4 turns I needed to research. From Engineering onwards it was mostly 4 turn research with a few techs at 5 turns, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get banking from the AI, entered the Industrial in 310ad.

Industrial Ages

Medicine, Steam, Industrialisation and Electricity each took 5 turns, all other industrial techs were done 4. I realised about half way through the age that I wouldn’t have enough specialist farms to do Atomic Theory and Flight or Electronics in 4 turns so performed a quick blitzkrieg on the Maya with knights and rail road crews, after which I also finished off the Aztecs.

! never got a single gpt deal from the AI to pay my maintenance bills so the industrial age was a constant battle juggling specialists between scientists and taxmen in order to scrape through a tech in 4 turns whilst at the same time keeping my treasury afloat! The final tech I researched was electronics at the end of 900ad, the capital completed TOE in the inter-turn providing flight and fission, a 1000 shield palace pre-build was switched to the UN also in the inter-turn. The usual military alliance against the biggest rival (Spain) ensured the vote went my way in 910ad.

Screenshot from turn of victory: -

Spoiler :

 

[Paul#42]

close finish this one...

Niklas, you're mean, you posted that you entered IA in 370, not 310
And Aigburth did the rest...

I did not take too many notes...

Settler NE.
warrior - worker - granary - settler - rax
4-turn-combo-factory.

1675 Republic Slingshot. Spread Republic to everybody.
1650 revolt - 7 turns anarchy
1150 BC Construction from Aztecs - we reach the Middle Ages
370 AD Industrial Ages

I ICSed like mad and kept 4-turn-research since education I think. But I was way behid you guys by then I guess...
I had reduced research at the start of the Middle Ages to gain control of Aztecs and Mayas. Wrong decision I guess...
Maybe my 7 turns of anarchy drawn in 1650 BC had their share of this misery.

Game status: Diplomatic Victory for Inca
Game date: 930 AD
Firaxis score: 6839
Jason score: 10733
Time played: 31:13:05

 

[Niklas]

Ah Paul, I'm truly sorry, I have no idea how I mixed the dates up - it certainly wasn't intentional! I thought you had me for sure since I knew I lost three turns through the IA.

It's really interesting to see how similar our games were, yours mine and Aigburth's, and the small places where we differed.

- The entry to the MA was really different for all of us - Paul entered 5 turns before me and 10 turns before Aigburth.
- Me and Aigburth both entered the IA in 310 AD, 6 turns ahead of Paul.

Although he didn't say, I'm guessing Aigburth went for Literature a lot earlier than me, so that accounts for the 5 turn difference between us into the MA. I squandered some of my GA research on Literature, but Aigburth squandered two of his turns towards Feudalism. Had Aigburth gone for Banking before Feudalism, he would have entered the IA before me. Aigburth, I'm a bit surprised that you started researching Feudalism when you still had Banking to go, getting help with Feudalism is a lot more likely that Banking in my experience.

In the IA, I lost 2 turns on Steam and 1 turn on Electricity, Paul lost none, Aigburth lost 1 each on Medicine, Steam, Electricity and Industrialization. Did you research them in that order? I went for Steam first since I was closer to Medicine in 4 than I was to Steam in 5. And going for the more expensive Electricity before the cheaper Industrialization allowed me to research SciMethod in 4 turns while building up towards Industrialization in 4 too.

All in all three good games, each with its own "mistake". Aigburth's 2 turns on Feudalism, Paul's slowed research in the MA, my GA Literature. I feel it was just luck that let me come out ahead. And there's still room for someone else to claim the top spot with an even better game...

 

[Aigburth]

The entry to the MA was really different for all of us - Paul entered 5 turns before me and 10 turns before Aigburth.

I think the difference was 4 and 8 turns since it is 25 years per turn at that stage.

Although he didn't say, I'm guessing Aigburth went for Literature a lot earlier than me, so that accounts for the 5 turn difference between us into the MA.

I did lit straight after becoming a republic, it only needed 3 turns since I ran a few scientists during the anarchy.

Had Aigburth gone for Banking before Feudalism, he would have entered the IA before me. Aigburth, I'm a bit surprised that you started researching Feudalism when you still had Banking to go, getting help with Feudalism is a lot more likely that Banking in my experience.

With hindsight you're right about the banking / feudalism thing, at the time though it was a difficult choice, there was no guarentee that an AI would get feudalism whilst I was researching banking, in which case I could have ended up getting no help whatsoever.

Did you research them in that order? I went for Steam first since I was closer to Medicine in 4 than I was to Steam in 5. And going for the more expensive Electricity before the cheaper Industrialization allowed me to research SciMethod in 4 turns while building up towards Industrialization in 4 too.

I went medicine, steam, indust, corporation then electricity.

 

[anaxagoras]

Well, I proved to myself what I knew all along: I need to work on my game. I didn't get my conquest victory until very late - 1335 AD, IIRC, shortly after we entered the IA. I kept waffling about what kind of victory to get, so that slowed things down, but I was also behind all the QSC posts I saw, so I have some cleaning up to do in my early game play. Maybe I'll get a black shield....

 

[ThinkTank]

Conquest victory at 790 AD. Conquest class, Firaxis score: 6461, Jason score: 8385.

Beeline to military tradition, then shut down research. The the cavs were useful in the last couple of turns, but the bulk of the work was done by knights. At the end I had 4 knight armies and 1 MDI army.

Not getting the VC straight soon certainly cost me time. Then not getting the attack plan right: first gathering a force of MDI and trebs at the Mayan border and then deciding to take out the French first.

My first COTM! I'll be back!

 

[Elear]

(Predator) I had to rush the milking to the extreme (didn't even bother going for hospitals or railroads), because I started this about 2 days ago, but I did it. Histographic win with 8021 points

There wasn't much to say after I got to the domination limit. France kept declaring on me, but I just took all the cities back. Most of the rest of the game was buying harbors, markets, and aquaducts as I waited for time to expire. I'm happy I pushed over 8k though.

Definitely a game with 10k+ potential, I think, I just didn't get there.

-Elear

 

[Paul#42]

(Predator) I had to rush the milking to the extreme (didn't even bother going for hospitals or railroads), because I started this about 2 days ago, but I did it. Histographic win with 8021 points

This sounds like a contradiction in itself...

Why do you go for histografic when you're running out of time?
Histografic without any railroads does not sound too promising to me...

 

[Elear]

I know what you mean!

The thing was, I was playing it that way from the start. Initially, I didn't realize the small map would take so much time.

By the time I realized this, it was too late to achieve any really fast conquest/domination, especially on Predator.

 

[The Professor]

My first COTM, as well. Played Open Class. Moved the settler to get the two cows, perfect 4-turn settler factory.

Researched Iron-Working first, by the time I got that, I had traded for writing, so I went for the Republic slingshot and got it.

I didn't have a lot of time to play this, so I thought, on a small map--once I discovered our archipeligo looked a lot like a pangaea--a conquest victory would be quickest. Turned the Aztecs into a OCC first. They were nice enough to build the Pyramids in Tenochtitlian right before I took it over. Used a Chasqui on a red-lined spear to kick off an early middle-ages GA. Used the GA to build Sun Tzu's in Cuzco, and the Forbidden Palace. Worked quite well. The only reason I left them one city is because they'd put a city on a small island, and it was easier to get that city in a peace deal than to put a couple swordsman on a boat.

Next went after the Maya. It was taking forever to hook up the horses in former Aztec lands, so I decided to skip the top half of the tech tree and beeline for Military Tradition. The AI was incredibly stupid in this game. They didn't expand well, stopped building cities while there was still plenty of room, and didn't do any research for me after the AA. Most battles were Medieval Infantry or Elite Swords vs. Spears and Archers. The longest part was getting from one city to another when they didn't build roads for me, and placed their cities CXXXXXC. Stopped research after getting MT.

By the time the Maya were done for, I had enough Cavalry to take on Spain and England simultaneously. England fell quickly, but it took longer to get through Spain's un-roaded mountain ranges to their far-away cities. I had terrible luck with Elites--I think I lost an Elite Sword to the same archer on the tundra that pol1 mentioned. Didn't get my first MGL until 600 AD, by which time the game was wrapping up. Did speed up the endgame.

Took on France while mopping up Spain. They had the Statue of Zeus, and had hooked up their iron, so I did loose a couple of cavalry on defense to attacking Ancient Cav's, but they didn't pose a serious challenge. Four turns before I took the last AI city, I took a city from Spain that had just completed the Temple of Artemis. Since I hadn't bothered to research Education, in the IBT after I took the last city, and my culture borders expanded to give me 67% of the land area, and I wound up with a domination and conquest double victory, purely by accident.

Finished in 740 A.D. with a Firaxis of 6691. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who beat that date for Conquest; it felt really slow to me, but I enjoyed the Incas and the small map.

 

[klarius]

Predator.
I didn't have much time this month so just a fast conquest.
Just swords and horses, though I reached MA.
Republic slingshot in 1575. Bought construction in 650BC for MA, though no benefit (no MA tech researched and no aqueduct built ). I originally wanted to milk it to domination for some more score so I hand built ToA.

Conquest victory in 250BC.

 

[Paul#42]

Conquest victory in 250BC.

You must be kidding!!

I don't want to know your jason score...

 

[Wotan]

BC conquest was definitely in the picture for this scenario. I had planned for a BC domination but failed to really push it due to some unforseen loses at the absolutely wrong moment. RNG gods did not really favour my plans this time so cost me half a dozen turns extra and got Dom in 110AD. Several of those turns might be attributed to my usual sloppiness. Also hand built the ToA. Started building it in my second or was it third city from the moment it was founded.