COTM65 - Final Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 65 Final Spoiler; Game Submitted

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You may only read this thread if:

1. You have completed and submitted your game.

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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!

So, how did your non-coastal floodplains-surrounded Spain do?

 

[TriumphSpitfire]

A very early submission by my standards – something to do with tearing a medial ligament last weekend and being stuck on my backside for a week!

We had entered the MA in 650 BC – I didn’t have any big problems with barb uprisings, though I did get to watch from a safe distance as 24 horsemen took Marseilles! In 470 BC my first galley went E, spotted the Aztecs but promptly sank – I managed to trade Lit around though for lots of cash. The second galley made it across for good in 50 BC, and went around the coast to the S meeting the Incas (~50 AD), Arabs (150 AD) and Ottomans (280 AD).

In 110 BC the GLH came up in Seville, and in 50 AD the Knight’s Templar in Barcelona, kicking off my GA. In the immortal words of Hannibal (unfortunately, given the context, the A-Team version rather than the historical figure) – I love it when a plan comes together. Build barracks & MI in prep for war with the French. In 150 AD a lone French archer wanders next to an elite swordsman. Bit earlier than planned but figured what the heck and declared – and got an MGL instantly! Signed an alliance with the English giving them my spare furs & wines and started stomping.

In 310 AD the Aztecs demanded 54g, I refused, and they declared. Soon after the Inca joined in, and a bit later the Ottomans too. About 200 years later the Aztecs landed a solitary MI, but that was the grand extent of their invasion. I had been researching at max towards MT, and around this time I got gunpowder – had a panic that I hadn’t any of that either, but I did, it was just in the desert and not hooked up.

In 410 AD I took the French down to one town deep in English territory (they got it in 460 AD before I could get there). Made the very nice discovery that the French had taken Oxford, which had some horses in its radius. Connected up ASAP and finished Military Trad (490 AD) – finally got Cav! Nothing to upgrade unfortunately, so started on a building program.

I declared on England in 510 AD – took 3 towns in the first turn, they took one back, I pushed again. After getting over their initial (and quite effective) longbow counter attack I was soon making progress, and finished them off in 620 AD. As I messed up a prebuild for Sistine and had 400 shields with nothing to do (the AI was unusually effective in picking up wonders quickly), I finally loaded a cav into the army I’d made 450 years ago so I could make the Academy (and then Epic). At that point I had the whole continent, with 43% area and 48% pop. Weariness started to be an issue during the war with England, given the (still) lack of luxes, so I made peace with the Aztecs and Incans, while trading Chem & Metallurgy for Theo, Ed, Bank, Astro and lots of gold.

After the English were done, I had to pick the next (and hopefully last) target. The Arabs had moved up to second on area & pop, which looked to be at the expense of the Ottomans (down to 2 towns), and could be just enough to get me home. As the Aztecs and Incans were also paying me the most gold, that sealed the Arabs’ fate. Rushed a few Caravels and settlers, made a beachhead by settling a couple of towns in small gaps where they had presumably taken Ottoman territory, and shipped most troops across (army with 1 cav, 7 more cav, 6 MI, 6 crusaders, 6 canon – more crusaders and cav coming almost every turn).

The attack began in 690 AD with me taking 4 towns in first wave. I also managed to trade Physics for Banking and Nav while persuading the Aztec and Incans to join in on them too – sweet! Entered the IA in 750 AD and turned research down to a nominal 10%, wiped out the Arabs in 800 AD, cash rushed a few temples and prepared for a quite finish.

Then in 820 AD the Aztecs go and declare on me, with units they still had behind my lines after the Arab joint effort (and the lone MI they landed on the home continent 300 years ago)! They took a couple of undefended towns but I immediately cleared them all out, generating only my second MGL in the process (that’s been a fair gap) – to go with the army I’d just built anyway. In 850 AD I crossed the territory limit but, for the first time ever, my pop was lagging. Took out the single Ottoman town in 860 AD (my only attack on them in a 500 year war) and a couple from the Aztecs, and joined a load of settlers to towns on the mainland. In 870 AD I reached the domination limit.

Entry class: Open
Game status: Domination Victory for Spain
Game date: 870 AD
Firaxis score: 7745
Jason score: 9885
Time played: 13:52:02

The floodplains were fine in themselves – good growth and I managed to go the whole game with no disease which was a surprise (though I suppose this luck was offset by the lack of MGLs). However it did leave a shortage of shields, so I ended up doing more early whipping than normal. I found the main problem to be the lack of luxuries – I spent most of the game with the slider at 20%, moving up to 30% at times during wars. I might have been better switching to Monarchy at some point given the short anarchy, though I decided the loss of commerce would have cancelled out any benefit – not sure if I was right on that. The lack of horses was also a big pain (though at one point I did think there weren’t any on the home continent at all – that would definitely have been harsh). The crusaders did prove to be very useful at filling in though, so I’m happy with the decision to go for a GA with wonders.

 

[Racinante]

After entering the Industrial ages, the peaceful Spanish continue their gentle ways. Eventually the citizens of Salamanca came to their senses and returned control of their city back to Isabella in 1000 AD (heh). Building the appropriate garrisons to satisfy the people ensures that Salamanca remains Spanish.

Science is the focus, and the Spanish scientists complete the Theory of Evolution in 1305 AD, leading to the immediate discovery of Atomic Theory, and Electricity.

Peace reigns for 140 years, when Arabia, a small 3 town civilization decides to rid the world of the Spanish. They attack my town in the new (to me, anyway) world with longbowmen, who prove no match for my infantry and guerrillas. Sending a transport over, I unload three Cavs and three Conquistadors on the land. RoPs with the Aztecs and Incas, the only other inhabitants of this new land, will allow me to move my mounted soldiers straight to the door of Mecca. Just to ensure they pull no shenanigans, I ally with both the Aztecs and the Incas. When the boat docs, I realize that two of the three towns have fallen and my encampment outside of Mecca faces wounded musket men. My cavs attack, killing two and redlining two others. Then the Conquistadors attack killing one and starting a golden age of discovery. Unfortunately my troops are insufficient to the task of eliminating the Arabians, and the Aztecs finish them off.

Eighty-five more years of peace follow, and Isabella magnanimously gives Combustion to all in the world except England, who receives a gift of Refining. The people are so pleased they elect Isabella, Queen of the world in 1530 AD. All voted for her except Montezuma, who voted for himself. (4-1)

Entry class: Open
Game status: Diplomatic Victory for Spain
Game date: 1530 AD
Firaxis score: 4160
Jason score: 6478

 

[IvanDolvich2]

After a pretty rough start and a terrible invasion by the Aztecs in the Middle Ages, I hung on and fought and fought.

When I got to the IA, I went to lone scientist research and built markets and banks for cash and switched to Democracy to bring in the cash (I used the religious trait to switch governments multiple times in this game). I traded GPT for techs and my only Iron to the English with GPT for techs. Got to Rep Parts and thought I stood a chance. Got a few 2-fers but mostly it was a new round of trading every 20 turns or so.

Aztecs declared war again and I kept France and England allied against them. Aztecs wiped out the Incas, Ottomans, and finally the Arabs and during their world wars, I was able to take most of the Ottoman Peninsula and get my first horses. ( Conquistadors) Finally Got a Golden Age in the IA and built infrastructure and purchased more techs. I finally got a leader after getting Motorized Transport and built a tank army, but lost it quickly in a culture flip to the Aztecs after they gained supremacy over all the other civs on their continent ( I still held most of the peninsula). I called a truce with the Aztecs as I rebuilt my army.

Once I got Oil I was able to use that to leverage more techs and finally made it to the modern age. I finally built the Heroic Epic and Military Academy and started pumping out 8 turn armies. The goal here was to create enough of a force to take the Aztec Capital and the UN and try for a diplo win. (If I own the UN, am I automatically included in the vote, or is it still the top two scoring Civs?). One Infantry Army, One Tank Army and a Conquistador Army for Pillaging (9 tiles pillaged per turn is awesome). Switched to Communism, War-time economy and invaded and moved to cut off the Aztec capitol. (The start of the Hundred year war) I used my arty and conq army on the second turn to disconnect Tenochtitlan (by road anyway) and then immediately lost the Conq army to Aztec modern armor. The Aztecs immediately took all of my holdings in the Ottoman Peninsula and with it my last source of horses (no more conqs). Slogging it out with Arty on the capital showed too many defenders and not enough combat power to take down the capital. I ended up with upwards of 25 arty parked there shelling their capitol. My bombers cleared the Aztec terrain on their coast and I eventually wiped out a few of their cities.

About this time an ICBM slammed into one of my cities (not a powerhouse (silly AI)), and France responded by Nuking Tenochtitlan! With the defenses down, I moved in to take Teno with my Infantry army. The Aztec Modern Armor counter attack wiped out my Infantry Army and Teno was back in Aztec hands. (the Nuke exchange between France and Aztecs hit about 3 cities on each side) At this point I realized that I needed to do a much better job of pillaging and so I sent two tank armies to pillage the Aztec heartland and up into Arabia and the north.

50 turn research on Ecology allowed me to save up enough to buy Synthetic Materials and Modern Armor. A purchase of Rocketry let me see and finally disconnect the aluminum. I bought aluminum from France and then upgraded tanks and made two modern armor armies before I hit my army limit (I could have ICSed more but didn't). More bombers and finally enough carriers to hit Teno allowed me to finally take it and hold it. I controlled Teno and was slowly taking out the cities to the East (already had taken care of those in the western toe of the peninsula), when I got the final notification of the Loss to France via Space. I never got the UN vote notification.

There was definitely a point that I thought the game was lost, and I was surprised at how long the game lasted. I had a glimmer of hope toward the end when I saw the Aztecs finally gassed, but that I suppose was because I didn't have spies with my rivals to track the Space Race. I had expected an earlier loss to the UN, but when the Aztecs built it, I was pretty sure that I was ok due to them being the global bully. Throughout the game, I lost 6 cities to culture flips from France and a few from Aztecs.
I kept at the game, because I knew it would be a good opportunity to learn. It reminded me in many ways of some of Zerkzee's classics "Is this game winnable?". I used many of his tactics in my play and it definitely extended the game.

Entry class: Open
Game status: Space Race Loss to France
Game date: 1912 AD
Firaxis score: 1278
Jason score: 1109

 

[templar_x]

i did not even nearly make it to the IA, so here is the rest of my story. i am still rambling about the decision where to settle. eager to see what turns out to work for the medals here.

THE MIDDLE AGES
entered in 825bc, set minimum research on Feud – first no hurry to get there.
750 London builds Colossus, Tenochtitlan the Pyramids
730 ally English against France
610 iron connected, upgrade 9 vet warriors to swords; Osman makes it into MA and causes the barb uprising. one camp left with me. he draws Eng. trade for it.
in the next turns i get rid of “my” camp. take first French town and it feels like good progress when another 20 barbs appear.
470 Inca build ToA
390 capture Paris, held by only 2 spears
330 destroy France and declare on England
250 lose 4 swords in a row with good odds. with wines, gems + furs 3 luxes are connected. 2 civs have Feud
150 learn Feud, after Mono i only want Chivalry and then no research. cannot see how i could make use of a GA here...

ad 110 connect horses
200 take London with Colossus
210 Aztecs build SoZ
250 English gone, get HG as well, helping with happiness
260 no MGL, so i finally hand-build the FP. reach +200gpt
280 first invasion of other continent in the north, shortly after 2nd and much less successful invasion in the south
290 CHIV in, upgrade 16 of 18 prepared horses, rest next turn (no connect-disconnect as always from here on)
370ad after so many elite victories, finally an MGL. only use is an army now.
4 sources of WH now +300gpt
450 everyone has learnt Chiv
480 gain a 2nd leader and take the Lighthouse, nice.
510 3rd MGL. more than +400gpt
520 Arabs destroyed
530 after killing 15 defenders in a city on a hill, i can take Tenochtitlan with SoZ, GW and Pyramids; Ottos destroyed
570 decide to let the domination happen although conquest could have been achieved within a couple of turns.

again, it proved very helpful to early instigate wars between the ais. so they used up many of their troops against each other and were weak when i attacked them. French and Arabs folded quickly, England and especially Aztecs put up a real fight. my "south" invasion probably was the big weakness in my game, so i do not expect a better placement. still the game played out like a very normal emperor game. never had a GA, though, just did not find a way to get it without wasting too much time/shields.

templar_x

 

[templar_x]

i played open class
domination victory in 570ad
Firaxis 9063
Jason 10776

here is my core by the end of the game. all productive cities maxed out pretty well.

templar_x

 

[Lanzelot]

480 gain a 2nd leader and take the Lighthouse, nice.
510 3rd MGL. more than +400gpt
...
never had a GA, though, just did not find a way to get it without wasting too much time/shields.

templar_x

Two questions:

1. what did you do with all your money, if you didn't use connect/disconnect? Shortrushing, I assume? I remember we had a discussion about this once, and came to the conclusion, that connect/disconnect is a bit better than shortrushing, but not that much (unless you have captured Leonardo's, of course). I think shortrushing, if used correctly, can be almost as effective as connect/disconnect, and I use it in most of my games now, simply because I'm too lazy to switch production back and forth all the time...
2. I do feel your game would have been even better, if you had a well-timed GA here. TriumphSpitfire used Knight's Templar and Lighthouse to start it. Wasn't something like this possible in your game? You had the Colossus already in London. Who built the Oracle? Or could you have taken Tenochtitlan (SoZ) earlier and then just hand-build the Mausoleum, if you can't get a leader? Or how about the Knight's Templar? (You live in Tomar, so you should have it every game, right? )

Cheers, Lanzelot

 

[templar_x]

@ Lanzelot

re 1. - shortrush, yes. i agree with you that shortrushing, if well done, can possibly be nearly as powerful as the connect-disconnect strategy. otherwise i would be even farther behind with my results than i often am. however, the one strategy to me is within the spirit of the game, the other is not.
and sure yes, as you say, i would hate to change my builds all the time.

re 2. - taking the wonder cities and then finish just any (cheap) wonder to trigger GA was the idea. But when i could have done it, that is after taking the English and the Ottoman (Oracle) capitals, there was no cheap wonder available any more. MoM would have been my choice, but it was already taken. All other wonders did not appear to be worth it, just too many shields. So i decided for no GA... btw, no leader-rushing of wonders in C3C!

Regarding Tenochtitlan, it was so heavily defended, that it took my three attempts to finally take it. For the 3rd attempt, i gathered about 20 knights and 8 MIs just to be sure...

Lastly, Tomar is not what it used to be. People simply don´t live the priniciples of only ora et labora any more. Even slaves just don´t want to hand-build the same, useless stuff over and over again...

templar_x

 

[Più Freddo]

shortrushing, if well done, can possibly be nearly as powerful as the connect-disconnect strategy

I sometimes shortrush Horsemen and then upgrade them...

 

[civ_steve]

...

re 1. - shortrush, yes. i agree with you that shortrushing, if well done, can possibly be nearly as powerful as the connect-disconnect strategy. otherwise i would be even farther behind with my results than i often am. however, the one strategy to me is within the spirit of the game, the other is not.
and sure yes, as you say, i would hate to change my builds all the time.

I believe you can change builds while in the F1 display with a RMB over the current build. Even better, you can click on the column heading, and organize the cities by what they're building; makes it really easy to rush all the builds of a certain type. Still have to enter the city display to rush, though, but you can do that from the F1 display as well.