COTM49 - Final Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 49 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!

There may be some games going down to the wire this month ... is this your game or have you decided to tell all in the final spoiler?

 

[DWetzel]

*exhales*

Entry class: Open
Game status: Diplomatic Victory for Celts
Game date: 1540 AD
Firaxis score: 5534
Jason score: 6189
Time played: 25:50:39

And I will give the full retelling of this epic tale (an early contender, IMO, for Game of the Year) later tonight. Suffice to say that my spoiler #1 was a VERY interesting foreshadowing of the finale.


So, when last we left our heroes in Spoiler #1, I had just captured the Great Library of Zimbabwe and catapulted back to something better than tech parity with most AIs, save the Iroquois, who had Electricity on me. Even at this point the Iros were a bit of a runaway tribe, with 31 cities (I was second with 21, the Ottomans third with 15), the tech lead, and the most population. And I was blissfully unprepared for a long war with them. Peace followed soon after Zimbabwe flipped back to the Iros a few turns after I captured it (most of my gallant tribe had left the city itself at that point, after pillaging all around it).

With part one of my comeback in the books, I figured step 2 was to get the ToE, get a tech lead, and laugh my way to victory.

Fat chance.

First of all, having vaulted into the Industrial Age, I was very very disappointed to find out that I had no coal. I was more disappointed to find that Viroconium, that bastion of Roman power, was planted on it. I discovered this pretty much as the Iros decided to take out their frustrations on Rome and wipe them off the map after Rome decided to declare war.

So, no coal. That means no rails. And with no universities in place, Electricity was going to take a good long time. Like, 30+ turns. Disappointing, but hopefully I could get some help from one of my buddies somehow. Yeah, right. Time to save cash and hope to buy.

In about the next 20 turns, only the Ottomans got as far as Sci Method to match the Iros. And I could either research it in about 30 turns, or try to buy it. So I went lone scientist and saved cash. By 970 AD I had 3794g, making 288 gpt. Which is right when the Iros started to build ToE. And I was not very likely to catch them but had to try. Which was hard since I didn't have Electricity yet, and nobody would sell it to me (refer to the screwing up my gpt rep early on). Well, when you can't research it, and you can't buy it, the only alternative is to steal it. So I did, carefully, from the Ottomans. Successfully. Which was nice. Now I only needed one more steal to get ToE (ha) or to research it. Also traded Industrialization to Aztecs for Sanitation + 23gpt + 50g + WM.

Of course, the silly Ottomans decide this is a good time to demand 100g + TM. I refuse. They declare. War happiness is a good thing.

My 990 AD notes say Sci Method in 16 at -67 gpt (2430 gold in hand). Palace prebuild due in 17. Will that be enough? MM Palace to be due in 14. I think I can shave a couple turns off SciM.

The war with the Ottomans was... uneventful, they being either across an ocean or having to traipse through three others to get to me.

Sadly, in 1080 AD, with 4 turns on both my prebuild and on Sci Method, the OTTOMANS finish ToE.

Which makes me panicky, as I have a Palace prebuild due now in 3 and nothing to do with it. So I try a risky steal of Espionage from the Iros. Yes, stealing Espionage. How droll. It works. Switch Palace to Intelligence Agency; this way I only lose 176 shields....

With getting Scientific Method a few turns later, I can wheel and deal a little bit:

Trade SciMethod + Espionage + 320g + WM to Aztecs for Replaceable Parts.

Trade Scimethod + Espionage to Sumeria for Corporation + 2 slaves (had no cash).

Iros have Refining, Steel, and Atomic Theory. Ottomans have just the first two.

And of course, I have no rubber either (I expected this). There's some in the crappy marsh near the lakes and mountains north of our chokepoint that are still unclaimed. Of course, I need to clear a spot to settle there first. So I load a couple workers up.

Shortly after that the Aztecs ally against us with the Ottomans, and kill those workers. Grrr.

In 1200 AD I revolt from Communism to Democracy (desperate to get some sort of commerce going). Also in 1200 AD, Iroquois start Hoover Dam.

Easy come, easy go: the Aztecs actually give me 80g for peace. Next turn the Iros demand 45g + TM (I cave).

1260: Iros finish Hoover. Damn!

1290: Plant spy with Aztecs. Steal Atomic Theory immediately for about 1500 gold. Trade it to Sumeria for Steel + 100g + WM. Joan's scraped up 8 gpt; I sell her Medicine. (Poor Joan. I liked her around; she made me less of a laughingstock).

I also founded Galoshes for All to claim that rubber. Rushing a temple and harbor and some other stuff to make it work. Of course, with all the Iro units streaming through it takes me 4 turns to get a worker onto the rubber.

1360: The Iroquois go modern. Actually it was probably before this but this was the first I noticed of it. It's time to get really aggressive with steals and hope they don't end up going for Fission, I guess?

1365 IBT: Iros start building UN. Uh, so much for that. They are also steamrolling over the Ottomans, with assistance from the Aztecs and Sumerians (but the Iros are getting the majority of the spoils). I could lose by domination. How humiliating.

1385: I would much rather do it from elsewhere, but for 3270 of my 3277 gold, safely steal Electronics from Iroquois. Sell it to Ottomans for Refining and their gold (which they soon will be relieved of anyway) (and somewhere in there I obviously made peace, but I didn't note it). Aztecs have Combustion but won't quite give it to me. Raise some more cash. Victory screen shows Iros with 42% land, 53% pop.

1390: Volcano in far south erupts, inconveniencing me.

1400: Electronics +575g + WM to Aztecs for Combustion. They have both Flight and Mass Prod. Ottomans are modern. They also have two cities, losing one to the Aztecs last turn. IBT: Iros start Manhattan. That's just what I need. (Maybe they switched from the UN, hahaha---uh, no it is in a different city).

1410: Aztecs destroy Ottomans.

1425: Sell Sumeria Combustion for 18 gpt, 70g, furs, spices. Keep my gems.

1435: Iros add SS docking bay!

It is at this point that I take note of the UN build, as there is no way (almost) that I am going to get it. It's being built in... Zimbabwe. Yes, THAT Zimbabwe, scene of my one military triumph. I spy on it. It's due in 12.

Sign MPP with everyone except Iros (two of them are happy to; Joan and her two cities demand Industrialization. Sign ROP with everyone including Iros.

My only hope at this point is to either disrupt the UN build and then somehow build it myself which requires getting three more techs which I would have to steal *deep breath*, or capture it. And quickly. And then win by diplomacy. Noooo problem.

I need 4650g to upgrade all my Gallic Swordsmen to Guerillas, only 90 years after I first spotted Iroquois tanks and destroyers.

1440: I haven't mentioned my lone scientist research in a while. Laugh if you will, but my monopoly on Ironclads is in. Sell it to Aztecs for 1700g, and to Joan for 2gpt + 1g (she's landlocked). Uh... Flight in 50. Sure.

I upgrade 31 Gallics to guerillas. I still have 36 not in towns with barracks.

The following years involve a lot of military buildup, cash raising, and hitting Enter. In about 1470 I start assembling a stack of guerillas, artillery, and some cavs next to Viroconium (the Iros and I each have barricaded infantry in the chokepoint, but with our ROP and a few galleons and transports, that's no problem).

The Iros complete the UN in the 1480 IBT, but don't call elections. I'm still assembling troops. In about 1500 I decide to move my stack of troops next to Zimbabwe, to sit until the time is right. I have also built a small town near Zimbabwe in a tiny culture gap between the Iros and Sumeria, to hole up in in case the ROP ends or something.

In 1520 the Iroquois decide that that size 2 town is just TOOOOOO good to resist. So they declare war. Triggering MPP declarations of war from every other civ in the game. And then they proceed to take that town, and Galoshes for All (no more rubber, boo)... and take about two potshots plus three bomber runs at my huge stack near Zimbabwe. They got distracted by all the shiny Aztec, Sumerian, and French units to attack (OK, not so many French).

So, at this point, my stack of about 9 cav, 10 artillery, and a bunch of guerillas (and two Gallics I never got to upgrade) goes after Zimbabwe, which has two mech infantry, one tank, one TOW, and one mobile SAM in it. My artillery did well. The cavs, not so much. The guerillas did just fine. And Zimbabwe was mine. Again.

Now, to hold it until the next election window.

This was surprisingly easy--the Iros made a few halfhearted runs at it (sure, one or two modern armor can be an inconvenience, and those bombing runs with, eventually, 8 bombers per turn did kill off a lot of citizens I didn't like anyway), but it was never in danger. I was holding my breath against a flip but with about 45-50 units in Zimbabwe I didn't THINK that would happen. And it didn't.

Meanwhile, they'd send one or two tanks or mech infantry or something crashing into my barricaded-on-a-hill infantry pile at the choke point. Those didn't do too well, and in fact I was able to bombard with some leftover Gallics (insert laughtrack here) and take THEIR barricade on a mountain, for extra protection. They had two stacks of battleship-destroyer-destroyer-transport sailing around my east coast, probably to land on the west coast where I had nearly no troops. I do wonder what was in those.

In 1530 and 1535, those MPP come up, which I happily renew, along with alliances against the Iroquois. (I couldn't renew the MPP with the Aztecs, but they gave ME 3 gpt for an alliance, hahaha).

Which made the vote at the start of 1540 pretty anticlimactic, as everyone voted for me except Hiawatha.



Needless to say, this game involved a HUGE amount of luck and two amazing events. I've not won a GOTM or COTM with a diplomatic win before, and certainly never done it in any game without, you know, Fission. Or, for that matter, coal. (Yes, I never had coal. My huge producer, my capital, was cranking out 40 spt at size 12 with a factory and hydro plant.)

I do not plan to try to win this way again. It is a good way to die young.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

Entry class: Predator
Game status: Domination Victory for Celts
Game date: 920 AD
Firaxis score: 11450
Jason score: 10228
Time played: 20:11:13

I had entered the IA in 600AD, thanks to capturing the GL and JSBach's in Paris. I resigned peace with the weak Aztecs with only 6 cities. My troops surrounded and captured French cities to keep the Sumerians or Ottomans from gaining territory while I also positioned troops for a strike on the Aztecs. The Sumerian culture was quite large and before France was destroyed a captured French town flipped to them even though it was near the new French capital. Luckily, that was the last flip or this game would have been much longer. I had quite a bit of culture myself to prevent flips and ended the game just a little over 12k. France was destroyed by 680AD.

War with the Aztecs was very quick, though I needed to surround their cities to prevent the Sumerians from capturing them. They were destroyed in 720AD. I then dow'ed the Ottomans and signed an MA, MPP, and RoP with the very strong Sumerians against them. By now, I was making cavalry and had traded with the Sumerians for the rest of steam power, so reinforcements arrived to the front quickly. The Ottos did have rifle, but I also had a decent amount of cannon and three GS armies with four units each after rushing the Pentagon with my last leader. I surrounded the majority of their cities, blasted with cannon, and attacked and captured them only when I had sufficient force.

In the meantime, settlers were claiming more territory and rushed libraries were expanding my borders as the Ottos were reduced to one surrounded city. The turn before I reached domination, I resigned the alliance with the Sumerians. They moved a lot of troops around in the IBT, before destroying the Ottos with their only cavalry that could attack. I was worried they might sneak attack, but they didn't as they had very few troops left with movement at that point. The game ended with domination victory in 920AD.

 

[axehaxe]

Wow congrats. My score wasn't so high but I'm also in the victory boat!

Open, Jason score = 4136, year 1898, Conquest victory

Basically I beat the ***t out of the AI. lol

I had the iroquois fight the sumerians until both of them became militarily weaker and weaker. They were both once very powerful and ahead in tech but I stole my way into the modern age with them even though they were 5 or 6 techs ahead. During that time and before though, I was using tanks against their mech and TOW infantry which I had no idea would work! Iroquois couldn't build tanks because I dominated the oil supply. Sumerians couldn't build anything like that either because I took their rubber city.

Towards the end it was just me, the romans, the iroquois, and the sumerians

I took Ur which had the UN and razed it just to be sure. After that, the game was simply about milking or TRYING to milk the score...

I did get to nukes. The sumerians tried to attack the privateer in one of my cities TWICE. Both times they ran over 3 or 4 of my cities but their laughter was kinda short lived....Sumeria looks good in orange.

Remembering that all those civs demanded gold like every 3 turns back in the ancient age, it was wonderful to see their faces after the victory! lol

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Entry class: Predator
Game status: Conquest Victory for Celts
Game date: 590 AD
Firaxis score: 13440
Jason score: 11401
Time played: 13:14:40

When last we chatted, our heroes the Celts had taken the last two AA techs for peace from the Romans. I didn't take great notes on what happened the rest of the game, but France got the Glib in Paris, so my basic plan was to beat up the Iroquois and Romans and start mixing in some horse builds.

470 BC - Capture 1st Iroquois town, Pisae. Iroquois war goes on for several centuries, during which time I see 1 MW and something I don't think I've ever seen - the AI using catapults offensively. not effectively, mind you, but offensively.

210 BC saw the end of the Romans at the hands of the French. At this point, both the Glib and Templar are in Paris. I have set up an ROP with France and proceed to be a bad boy and take Paris - all I want to do is hold it for a turn until I can get Knights, but France is pretty crappy and never take it back. 190 BC sees me at tech parity with everyone and I start upgrading knights.

Till now I have gotten 0 leaders, which has been annoying.

This changes, with 6 in rapid order (Vercingetorix 130 BC in the assault on Rheims, Oregetorix in 110 BC in open field warfare around Paris, Caractacus in 50 BC in the sack of Niagara Falls, Boudicca in the same year while capturing Alleghany, Cunobelinus in 30 BC while subduing Brundisium and Dumnorix in 10 BC in action near Lyons) - these gave me 4 armies, an FP in Rome and the Pentagon somewhere.

30 AD sees the start of actual war vs. Zulu (they had been fighting other people for me), as I took Ngome. But that was mainly for convenience - Aztecs were my next target after I finish off the Iroquois and French.

At this point, it's pretty much over, except for the dying AI's.

130 AD Iroquois
230 AD France (after Paris flips twice)

280 see the start of the Aztec war - around here, I think I turn research back on when I get education and figure cavs might be helpful.

390 AD sees the end of the Aztecs.
430 AD sees restart of hostilities with Zulu and Sumeria. Ur flips twice until I get sick of it and just raze it.

470 AD sees the end of Zululand.
510 AD sees the end of Sumeria.
Ottoman is a pain, since they have a lot of culture - it takes a while to slog through them, but Izmit is taken in 580 AD...

 

[LTJG Perry]

Firaxis score 3170
Conquest for Celts 1982 , Open Class
My first submit

My first worker built 1 road/mine and retired to Etremont. I built no more workers until the peninsula was pretty well civilized, and safe from barbs. I enjoyed the bombarding GS's; never even thought of building cats or trebs. Sumerians destroyed the Ottomans way early. I captured the GLb in 1000 AD in Paris by ROP "creative interpretations" and razed it next turn. Got it with 1 point on my only army and a small stack of mixed obsolete units (w/3 GS's for artillery support). None of those units made it back alive to Celtland. The Library granted techs all the way to Steam. Around this same time Rome was eliminated. I built TOE but got beat to Hoovers by Salamanca (pop 29). Now France is gone and Aztecs are 3rd rate. Most of the game was spent watching Sumeria and Iroquios hate on each other, they were the only real powers since the dawn of the MA. In 1600, I built UN, but never thought of voting since I never would have won with all the (mostly) undeserved fury I was getting. A funny thing happened that year when an Iro convoy of 3 Frigates and a Transport wandered up to a diesel sub. One frigate after another went down and the transport sat. Next turn, it was bombed, then sunk by that same (3/5) sub. I then made the costly mistake of going for SS victory, I built 4 damn parts before realizing I had to conquer or dominate. (Culture was even between us 3 top civs ~ 75,000 by the end). More RoP violations later (Oh, why did they trust me?), I destroyed the Sumerian Capital and its 6(2) spaceship. I alternately allied and warred with Iro's and Sumer's for a few centuries and destroyed about 6 SS's. I finished off the Aztecs when they got insolent. There was much nuking, the last city to go down was Aydin (Sum.) on the SW tip of the continent. My score was pretty trash, but I was so happy to finish a deity game, I didn't care.

 

[Chamnix]

The Middle Ages was a long period of shifting alliances. I had many peace treaties tied with military alliances until 350 BC when I accidentally trashed my rep by forgetting who I was supposed to be at peace with and signing a military alliance against the Aztecs despite our several current deals.

The French, Romans, Aztecs, and Zulu generally created few problems as I ran through them. The Iroquois were considerably more difficult as I reached maximum war weariness against them, but by then my 7 luxuries and marketplaces permitted to keep luxuries at only 10%.

I bought all first tier Middle Age techs plus Invention and Gunpowder and reached the rest of the way to Military Tradition myself completing it in 280 AD. I only used Gallics for a little while before I bought Chivalry and switched to knights. I used a disconnect/reconnect strategy first with knights, then with cavalry.

My final opponent was Sumeria – they made it all the way to the Industrial Age and drew Nationalism as their free tech. I got very sloppy toward the end fighting them – I kept thinking I had enough troops to reach domination, and it would only be another turn or two, so I would throw red-lined cavalry at rifles in cities and used injured armies instead of letting them heal. Instead of winning earlier, I just ran out of healthy units and lost my armies . I staggered across the domination limit by 3 tiles in 660 AD.

 

[krakedhalo]

Entry class: Conquest
Game status: Spaceship Loss to Iroquois
Game date: 1758 AD
Firaxis score: 2388
Jason score: 1123
Time played: 19:26:29

You guys amaze me. This was my first deity game, and my goal was simply not to get eliminated. The GLib was built in far away Zimbabwe, and I never had a chance. France and Rome were both pathetically weak throughout my game. I warred successfully against Rome and they were eliminated in the Middle Ages, but I was seeing Cavs and eventually tanks fighting my spearman. Iros were the runaway AI in my game, so after dog piling the Zulu and Aztecs, I instigated a World War against Purple. The only effect of this was to somehow piss off Sumeria, who took enough land to become the other dominant power, made peace, and marched all of their shiny new troops into my western conquered lands. After 20 turns, got all of 25g from Iros for peace. Apparently their stacks and stacks of infantry were afraid of my pikes. Sign them on to fight Sumeria, thinking I'd lose a town or two in the west and survive. Ha.

Sumeria brings 40 or so troops out of the fog, nearly cutting Celtia in half north of the choke point. At this point I employed the Civ version of the Redecker Plan -- All troops pulled back to choke, all citizens north of the choke put on science every turn. I figured they'd be overrun immediately. To my surprise, the Iros defended my empty towns and they all survived. For a while.

I never had so much as a knight in this game, and the French landed a settler on the Saltpeter in the desert on the home peninsula. They were the only ones who'd sell me tech, so I never attacked them til the very end. Anyhow, once the Sumerians started using bombers against my riflemen (no saltpeter needed) I took whatever peace they offered and turned turtle. All cities produced nothing but rifles, who fortified in place. It was enough to outlast the French (I eventually took their one last town on the saltpeter) and nearly the Ottos - they were down to 3 towns when the Iros launched their space ship in 1758.

So, not terribly impressive, but I did survive. And I was able to use what I learned from this game and from reading what others did to get my first deity win on my next try! (Kinda... Archipelago with max water, as the Dutch against all the Expansionist civs.)

 

[MarleysGh0st]

Entry class: Conquest
Game status: Conquest Loss
Game date: 1360 AD
Firaxis score: 2511
Jason score: 1181
Time played: 17:56:04

I didn't take detailed notes, since I was only playing Conquest class...

Early game went reasonably well, with some wars against Rome and France. One small highlight was the French landing a settler/spear right between me and a barb uprising. They absorbed a good many barbs attacks before going down.

The Zulu, Iroquois and Sumerians emerged as the big powers of the game.
They take a huge lead in tech. The Iroquois have the Great Library and I never thought of trying to take it, which, from the other reports, would have been my only chance to catch up. They weren't friendly enough with me to accept a ROP, so I doubt I could have fought my way to it, anyway. And then the Zulu and Iroquois sign a MPP; no way do I want to fight them both!

Sumeria declared war on the Zulu, only to be pounded to bits. Rome is eliminated by the Iroquois and I take my cav to wipe out the remains of the French. That, plus a stack of workers clearing jungle near the Iroquois border, proves to be too tempting for them, so they declare war on me in 1240, despite my just having given in to their demands for some gold, capturing one stack of a dozen workers. (I should never have offered them that temptation.) I manage to negotiate a MPP with the Zulu and believe that I'm saved; they'll come in on my side after the next attack.

And then...and then...

I decide to retake that stack of workers than had been marched over the border, forgetting all about the MPP the Zulu still have with Iroquois. The Zulu immediately declare war on me!

My advisors will warn me if an attack on a neutral power will trigger a war, so why, oh why can't they give me a similar warning if an attack on an enemy will trigger a neutral's MPP??? I sacrifice my military and foreign advisors in a wicker man to appease the gods. But the gods do not notice.

Never have I been overwhelmed so quickly. My war weariness shoots up to 80%, so my cities are basically shut down. By 1290, having been rolled back through the chokepoint, they each give me peace, for one more city each, and I'm down to 11 cities. In 1325, the Iroquois declare war on me again. By 1360, I'm history.



I know replays don't count, but I have been trying it over from the point when I triggered the MPP, to see what would have happened if I had avoided that monumental blunder. I've played it out to 1500 so far, with the Zulus joining me against the Iroquois, then (when the Zulu declare against me), getting an alliance against the Zulu, then back with the Zulu against the Iroquois. I've gained some ground, even managing to raze an Iroquois metropolis with cav armies going against a defenders that now included a TOW infantry. Promising, although I suspect the still increasing tech differential would prove to be overwhelming. And I've already seen what happens if they ever combine against me!

 

[Lanzelot]

Retired in 930AD, Jason Score around 1100.

I think the game is still winnable at this point, but it'll probably still be a hard long fight and a lousy score in the end, so last week I decided to start GOTM80 and see how it goes, and as I got a good start in that game, I'm retiring from COTM49 now. (If I had more time, I'd certainly continue, but real life keeps interfering, so I have to decide between either this one or GOTM80...)

The GS prooved to be a tremendous unit in this game. I conquered the Zulus, the Aztecs and Sumeria with it. Rome was destroyed by the other AIs.

At one point I was up to 43 cities, with the Iroquois following in second place at 25 cities. But then a MPP forced me into a war with the Ottomans, and their Sipahis took 6 of my weekly defended Sumerian cities. (Doesn't matter much, as they were totally corrupt anyway.) The situation now is as follows:
Celtia 37 cities
Iroquois 27 cities
Ottomans 25 cities
France 15 cities

Because of MPPs the Ottomans are currently fighting against the rest of the world. I'm hopelessly behind in tech as I stopped researching and trading when it became clear that the Great Library Elevator would be my last chance. So I got only one MA tech at the moment, while the others are already way into the IA. But I've parked a stack of 70 GS next to the Iroquois city holding the GL... As a matter of fact I was about to take the GL, when the unexpected Ottoman war changed the situation dramatically.

To continue the game from this point, there are two options:

1. Move my GS stack from the GL city down to Osmania. By that time France and the Iroquois will probably have made mincemeat of the Ottomans, so my GSs should be able to take a significant portion of their country. Afterwards march the remainder of the stack plus reinforcements back to the GL and finally take it
2. Take the GL anyway. This would then mean a war against all three (as Iroquois and France are still in an MPP), but my GS will probably be able to hold the chokepoint until I have build up a new army consisting of cavs and rifles. But this plan would very likely mean that I loose all of my weakly defended Zulu, Sumerian and Aztecian territory to the combined forces of the other three. So a long struggle to get all that back would ly ahead of me.

Even though it was tough, this was a very enjoyable game!

 

[AutomatedTeller]

btw - which AI UU's had defensive bombards? All of them? I think I only saw bombards from enkidu's and maybe impi's, though I don't remember if I actually saw any impi's. Course, Rome, France and Ottoman's never got to build their UU and I only saw 1 MW and 0 Jags.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

It was my understanding that all of them had bombard. I didn't see many UU's either, but the Ottos landed a couple of Sipahi's in my core. I noticed the animation for defensive bombard when I killed them, so my guess is it worked.

btw - Great game AT!

 

[TriumphSpitfire]

Hi all - first attempt at a GOTM and first post, so hope I've managed to do it right! Already found one mistake, didn't realise the QSC close before the main game so I've missed that - and since it's very late in the day, I'm putting my whole post here . (if anyone takes pity on a newbie and will let me submit a 1000 BC file let me know). Final result:

Open Class
Conquest win for Celts in 1260AD
Firaxis score 9348
No idea about Jason
Time 33:55

This was also my first attempt on deity, though I've been doing nicely on Demigod for a while so it was a perfect chance to step up. Overall thoughts were - GS is a magnificent unit anyway, giving it bombard makes it unrivalled for most of the early game. If the AI had it I might even say it's too good, but since I had it I'm perfectly happy . Saw some of the AIs use their UU to bombard defensively (particularly Zulu and Iroquois), but never offensively. Other thing was I seemed to get more MGL than normal (5 I think) - don't know if this was due to a setting change, blind luck, or the fact that the GS can retreat so more elites stayed alive? Not complaining anyway. I also had terrible problems with my computer overheating, to the point that towards the end I could only play for 30 minutes at a time before it died - how do I claim for a new PC? But to the game.

Settled Entremont in place - produce warrior, warrior, granary (finished 3100 BC), warrior (was going to be settler but barb appeared), temple, settler, warrior, then 4 turn settlers at size 4-6 (with the odd warrior / worker cycle thrown in).

First worker - mine and road BG to N, mine and road BG to SW, chop / irrigate / road game forest.

First settler founds Alesia (2470 BC) to SW on coast & river by the gems, second founds Lugdunum NE (2390 BC), both producing warriors to start as more barbs starting to appear. Third N towards choke founding Richborough on the hill (1725 BC), fourth heads east and founds Camulodunum on coast next to wines (and volcano) in 1870 BC. Verulamium founded on NW coast 1625 BC, Gergovia to N 1500 BC, Augustodurum by lake 1400 BC, Agendincum on coast / river S 1275 BC, Eboracum on coast SE 1175 BC, Burdigala on W tip 1025 BC, Cataractonium on W coast 1000 BC. Finish early expansion with Lapurdum on S tip in 875 BC.

First warrior explores W then N, just survives barb camp to N. Second warrior explores S then E, popped barbs from hut, returns to Entremont as a few barbs appearing and need to escort first settler. First warrior keeps going and gets to the hill at the choke the turn before a French warrior turns up on the mountain – he backs off and I fortify on mountain for a long time to stop anyone interfering with my expansion.

French are already up BW, Mas, WC & Alpha on me , though I do have CB and am about to finish mysticism. On finishing it and trying to trade I find she won’t give me anything for CB, so without giving it to her (no way) I can’t trade mysticism. And she’s now got the wheel too . Keep plugging on the path to Poly / monarchy at min in vague hope for monopoly, saving cash for trades at least. Sometime soon after she gets CB from someone else and still won’t give anything for Mysticism!

Around 2000 BC finally get another warrior up to the choke so send one off exploring, meeting Rome in 1910 BC (equally stuffing me on techs ). Second warrior heads off through 1800 BC. Both just manage to squeeze through between French and Roman territory and head off into the big wide world! Meet Aztes & Iroquois around 1500 BC, who already have Poly (checking around so have France & Rome now). Meet Zulus 1100 BC, same story, though they found an embassy.

QSC: 12 towns, pop 31, 8 workers, 13 warriors, still only know pott / CB / myst (poly in 2 turns), couple of temples & granaries, 346 culture (10 per turn), territory 152 tiles, 618 gold (first on territory, cities, pop, gold and single city culture – way down on techs). Score 490, above only France (just), know 5 civs.

Warning of massive barb uprising near Burdigala (W tip) comes to nothing as there are no unseen tiles on the peninsula.

950 BC finally complete poly. Figure GL is only way to catch in tech – though as buying will now be cheaper as I know several civs, get writing from the French (since they look the weakest ). Turns out nobody knows lit, so go for it at max (12 turns) – complete with monopoly in 690 BC. Initial plan is to set research to zero, switch Alesia from FP prebuild to GL. After one turn of thinking through this plan I realise that since everyone bar Rome is now in the MA this would mean I almost certainly bypass those lovely gallics . Change plan, trade lit around (get Mas, BW, IW, CoL) – start building / upgrading to Gallics so I can go steal the GL off whoever builds it, set research to Rep at min (as I’d like to be in it before my golden age) .

In 430 BC the Aztecs complete GL in Tenochtitlan – target identified. Although I can’t see it, I know where the Aztec heart is from my early exploration. Start moving GS across (have ROP with French). In 10 AD Joan asks for an alliance against the Iroquois – as she will throw Rep in the deal, and I’m nearly ready for the strike on the GL, I accept and switch (since the French are between me and the Iro anyway I don’t plan on doing any fighting with them). In 110 AD the assault on Tenochtitlan begins with the gallics – a mix of bombard & attack (bombard surprisingly ineffective) takes it in 2 turns. Learn Maths, Constr, Currency, Map Making, Wheel, HBR, Mon, Mono, Feud, Eng, Theol, Chiv, Invent, Ed, Gunpowder. I was pretty impressed with this until I saw DWetzel's result! Take two more cities over the next few turns then accept peace for a couple more techs.

Get to 350 AD - a surplus of GW, the French looking weak and having dyes and incense just over the border means they’re next – 100 years later they’re wiped out (and fortunately for later I now have the Great Wall). Find bombard works much better against units in the open. In 490 AD Rome is next – the Zulu join in against me but aren’t a big problem. However in 520 AD the Sumerians wander up to some of the old French cities . Being suspicious, and to hedge my bets, I trade Chemistry and Economics for loads of gpt – and after 1 payment they declare. Just manage to hold them off with a couple of cash-rushed musketmen, helped as their force arrived in bits over about 5 turns and got picked off by the gallics . To take the heat off me, get Zulu and Ottomans to MA against Sumeria which allows me to finish the Romans in 670 AD .

During this complete Shakespeare’s in Entremont & immediately add workers to prepare for ToE / Hoover slingshot. Keeping pace nicely in techs, on getting Steam find Iro short on coal, to go with Aztecs / Ottos / Zulus being short on horses and Aztecs / Ottos / Sumerians being short on saltpetre – very handy .

In 790 AD wait for ROP to expire then declare on Aztecs – my Cav army wipes them out in 2 turns. Still technically at war with Sumeria but nothing much happening until around 1000 AD when I start the push, helped by completing SM in 1080 AD, followed by prebuilds for ToE and Hoover coming up in 1090 and 1100 respectively . Trade with Iro for Rep Parts and gear up the war machine producing Inf & Cav. Stop research and accumulate cash for any rush builds - don't plan this to last very long now . Clear the Sumerians off the main continent in 1140 AD, leaving them on the island as a communal figure of hate to keep everyone happy with me.

Let armies rest up and then the final war. Pick on the Zulus as they’re still in the middle ages with longbows, pikes and tons of impi! Declare in 1170 AD, destroyed by 1200 AD. Rush a few temples, settle the gaps and culture expansion gets me over the limit in 1260 AD .

 

[TriumphSpitfire]

Oops, just realised it was a domination win! D'oh.

 

[Lanzelot]

TriumphSpitfire: Good job! And welcome to the GOTM!

When you submitted your save file, a generated email should have been sent to you, which tells you your Jason score. If you no longer have that mail, you can estimate your score by the other submissions here. For example PrinceMyshkin managed a very good domination win in 920AD, which gave him a Jason score 1000 pt lower than his Fireaxis score. Therefore with a domination in 1260AD you will probably get a Jason score somewhere in the 6000s - 7000s. Still an impressive score for a newbie!

Regards, Lanzelot

 

[Lanzelot]

PS: I just noticed the Jason Calculator at http://gotm.civfanatics.net/calculator/index.php already includes a template for COTM49. Your score would be 9115!

(This scoring algorithm surprises me again and again... I'd expect that if a dom victory in 920AD gets 1000 pts substracted from the Fireaxis score, then a dom victory 300 years later would get substracted even more, like 2000-3000 pts )

 

[Othniel]

Barely squeaked in this submission just before the deadline.

Class: Open
VC: Conquest Victory in 1120 AD
Firaxis: 9582
Jason: 9333

Congrats to AT and others. You guys blew this game out of the water.

 

[TriumphSpitfire]

Cheers Lanzelot - glad it's not just me with the Jason scores - and congrats to Othniel for beating me to the last submission!

 

[Paul#42]

I was heading for 100k but ran out of time as usual.
So my ~40 cavs ran over the mighty Iroquois in a hurry, even razing beautiful size 19 Entremont with Pyramides, Shakespeare's and TGL - just to keep ToA alive to speed up my domination.

Predator
Game status: Domination Victory for Celts
Game date: 780 AD
Firaxis score: 11378
Jason score: 10156
Time played: 19:09:55

 

[templar_x]

this was my first deity win. finally i find some time to post this.

domination victory for celts in 900 ad
open class
firaxis score 11157 (much higher than i would have guessed)
jason score 10061

there were too many ups and downs there and i didn´t write down much. so this is the short story after first spoiler: after my brakefree beyond the great lake-area i gained a nice amount of land from the french, the zulus, the sumerians and then the ottomans, always taking one at a time. just when i wanted to set up a huge area of science and cash farms in the whole lot of west lands surely the iros attacked me. i was just about to finish off the ottos at the other end of the world and had most of my army there. they obviously didn´t intend to wait until I felt it was their turn. i really struggled to stop their offensive right at the gates of my peninsula. couldn´t stop them taking some of my farm towns though – and this happened another time with the aztecs. i hate this happen!

i never made it into IA. however, fighting went much better when i had my cav army trained, but still my GS killed off quite a few cavs up to the last turn of the game and saved me more than one town against knights, when i had far too few troops.

i learned extremely much about playing on this level, regularly beating only emperor. congratulations to you guys who did the job straight, i´ll try to live up to that soon so i am able to submit one of the next gotms.