COTM85 - First Spoiler

[civ_steve]

COTM 85 First Spoiler - Celts, the Ancient Age!

Reading Requirements

1. You must be able to research a Middle Age technology.

Posting Restrictions

• Please be discreet about AI locations; however, feel free to discuss contacts and trades.
• No discussions of the middle ages (or later)
• No screenshots of any middle-age (or later) resources.
• Absolutely NO discussion of any other currently active 'X'OTM!

A very low level Warlords game, and on Pangaea! I'm sure you weren't too surprised to find yourselves alone. Where did you decide to found your capital? What plan did you put in place? How did your remote contacts go? (Assuming you made some.) And how were the AI doing, in general? Please do not post any maps beyond the starting land mass, nor any specific information on how you made contact, to prevent any information spoiling the games of players who choose not to seek the AI.

 

[Raliuven]

A very low level Warlords game, and on Pangaea! I'm sure you weren't too surprised to find yourselves alone. Not surprised by that, but I was surprised by the . . . umm . . . challenging size and land. And all the land available on the nearby islands . . . And the distance from my island to the mainland . . . .

Where did you decide to found your capital? I foolishly moved my capital 2 SE which is probably the worst place I could have put it short of walking into the desert. I missed the 2nd wheat tile and it remained unused the entire game.

What plan did you put in place? I spit out a LOT of ships and sent them on a oneway trip to the bottom of the ocean looking for the mainland. Lots of wasted turns there. As I decided on a space ship from the start I gave my cities enough room to grow which limited my immediate growth.

How did your remote contacts go? (Assuming you made some.) Built the GLH in 190BC and that helped. I lost many ships during exploration until I was able to move in the sea tiles. After that it wasn't a problem. Several times I thought I had reached the mainland only to find . . . NOT!

And how were the AI doing, in general? They were doing pretty well. Predictable the Iroquois were the big bully on the block. considering their starting tiles at the capital, not much of a mystery there.

As soon as I contacted the main island there was some good trading for the AA.

I didn't enter the MA until 310 AD.

Turn Log:

Spoiler :

4000 BC – move settler SE. Worker Moves NE to BG. See fur.
3950 BC – move settler SE. Hmm. Not good. Worker starts a mine.
3900 BC – Select ‘always wait at end of turn’ – not sure how that got turned off. Settle Entremont. Actually not a horrible place – now the wheat and fish will be in my radius, even if I have to deal with the swamp – and I get the furs too. Start a warrior and Alphabet at max.
3650 BC – Entremont warrior>warrior. Warrior #1 builds. Send toward GH. Worker roads.
3600 BC – GH gives me 3 angry barbs. Crap.
IBT – first barb sacks Entremont and takes all 10 of my gold. The second dies to Warrior #1 and promotes to Vet.
3550 BC – Warrior #1 kills remaining barb, -1hp.
3450 BC – Entremont warrior>Granary. Warrior #2 goes West.
3300 BC – see other wheat on GL and now I am sad.
3250 BC – worker has roaded to wheat and has started a mine.
2670 BC – hmm, this is not good. Very small island. So much for a Pangaea start. Straight to boats!
2430 BC – Build 1st Curragh.
2390 BC – 2nd city.
2310 BC – Find new landmass.
2110 BC – 3rd city.
1870 BC – 2nd landmass is a bust. What kind of Pangaea is this?
1700 BC – lose a curragh in a suicide crossing.
1600 BC – Find next crossing.
IBT – Curragh sinks trying to make the crossing.
1550 BC – pick up writing, go straight for Phil & hope to pick up MM for free. This is going to be along game.
1325 BC –lose 3rd Curragh. Sigh.
1250 BC – Pick up Phil & MM. Start CoL.
1125 BC – Build Galley #1.
875 BC – CoL>Republic. GH gives a warrior. Great. Just what I needed.
190 BC – Gain republic but put off switch because – build GLH this turn. Iroquois build Pyramids. Connect Grapes. Now revolt for Republic.
90 BC – May have found main continent?
10 BC – Zulu build the Oracle. Nope, this is not the mainland.
10 AD – Build Colossus.
150 AD – Finally find someone! See Bluish borders.
170 AD – Meet Germany and Iroquois. I’m up Lit, they have everything else. Trade Lit to Iroquois for TW, Myst & 51gp. To Germany, give Lit & 45gp for WC & Masonry.
210 AD – I can see that Germany already has pikes.
250 AD – Meet America – trade Lit for HBR.
260 AD – Meet Zulu – trade Lit & 110gp for Poly.
310 AD – Meet Carthage

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator/Conquest

As was clear from the pre-game discussion, we were on an island
disconnected from the pangaea, so my plan was to perform the Republic
sling-shot, hopefully at the same time meeting the other tribes using
Curraghs, whereupon I would send hordes of Gallic Swordsmen over with
Galleys, stop research and kill everyone.

I founded Entremont in place and started immediately on the
Granary. Using a mined BG and a Forest cut, the Granary and a Warrior
would be finished before the second population growth, when
unhappiness would set in (in predator class).

The factory was laid out to produce Warrior, Curragh, Settler every
ten turns using only two BGs and a Grassland tile. In 1990 I built a
Barracks in the capital and returned to the original pattern at a
larger population.

4000 BC Found Entremont
2630 BC Found Alesia
2350 BC Found Lugdunum
1650 BC Found Camulodunum
1475 BC Found Richborough
1400 BC Found Verulamium
1350 BC Found Gergovia​

The focus was on research, so Alesia went on the luxury in the
south-east, Lugdunum by the Fish (at distance 2 from the capital
because of the Marches) and Camulodunum went to the north by the
Sugar.

2390 BC Pop Hut Maps
1250 BC Meet Russia They offer 9 gold for Code of Laws!
1225 BC Meet America
1175 BC Meet Carthage
1125 BC Establish Anarchy​

After having sent Curraghs in many different directions, one finally
made it across and met the Russians and then, following the coast
line, one by one, the other tribes.

4000 BC Discover Pottery
2590 BC Discover Alphabet
1790 BC Discover Writing
1225 BC Learn Bronze Working
1225 BC Learn Iron Working
1225 BC Learn Ceremonial Burial
1175 BC Learn Mysticism
1175 BC Learn Masonry
1125 BC Discover Philosophy
1125 BC Discover The Republic
1125 BC Learn Mathematics
1125 BC Learn The Wheel
1125 BC Learn Warrior Code
1125 BC Learn Horseback Riding
1125 BC Learn Map Making
1125 BC Learn Polytheism​

The AI had researched fairly bravely, so we had to sell Philosophy and
The Republic to get all the Technologies. Now we were set for the next
phase. We had Horses and Iron available on the island and set up our
cities to be able to connect and disconnect Iron on a desert tile
using three Workers and a Warrior. The Horses tile would serve only as
an extra source of Commerce.

In the mean time we established Embassies and started phony wars and
tied alliances for happiness. We also could learn some Technologies.
What was needed was a way to reach the AI. I decided to build The
Great Lighthouse and hoped that that would be enough, because
researching all the way to Navigation just seemed silly and
boring. Many Workers mined Plains tiles and then joined the building
city.

290 BC Connect Iron
290 BC Build The Great Lighthouse​

As we connected Iron, we had 14 Warriors but couldn't afford to
upgrade a single one of them. Then in 30 BC, we learned Currency and
entered the Middle Ages, which means that this spoiler must end here.

 

[Lanzelot]

So basically we are playing a zero-trait civ, thanks a lot...

Well, I had the same problems as Raliuven: dozens of ships (curraghs and early galleys) sank -- four curraghs alone in an attempt to reach the island to the SE, only to discover that this was a dead end as well! Had I realized sooner that this was a dead end and not the mainland, I would have built the Lighthouse earlier. As it was, it came quite late, and even after it was complete and I sent out galleys, it still took a while before I met anybody. I think it was around 200BC, before I had my first contact...

Another mistake that I made was picking Map Making as free tech (hoping for early contacts... ). Like Piú I should have gone for the slingshot first.

 

[Più Freddo]

So basically we are playing a zero-trait civ

Why? In Republic, all city centres had three FPT. Cheap Temples made the territory larger and the population happier, both boosting the score. Cheap Aqueducts was also a bonus on our little island.

 

[Lanzelot]

The extra food is most important during the early despotic phase. Later on it's not that crucial anymore, the game is already decided anyway...
(And in order to make use of the desert tiles - which is the "other half" of the agricultural trait - we would need to wait until Electricity...! Clearly it doesn't make an impact anymore at that late stage of the game...)

Ok, half-price aqueducts are excellent, but again not a factor in the crucial early phase. (Construction being one of the lasts techs you get.)
And is it really worth to build temples on warlord?

 

[Più Freddo]

And is it really worth to build temples on warlord?

If you're on an little island, I think it is. What alternatives are there?

 

[Lanzelot]

If you're on an little island, I think it is. What alternatives are there?

You are probably right: I spent most of my shields on galleys and sent them to the bottom of the ocean, haha...

 

[PaperBeetle]

If you're on an little island, I think it is. What alternatives are there?

I thought of a funny variant: I built "granaries" in all my towns!
Not before I'd sent a Lighthouse's-worth of shields to the bottom of the ocean in the form of curragh and galleys, though.

 

[Più Freddo]

I thought of a funny variant: I built "granaries" in all my towns!

Sure, but only after Temple, Harbor and Aqueduct were built? Or Granary as an alternative to Harbor in small towns?

Well, my game was too short for that. I captured The Pyramids on the mainland and had Granaries all over for free in my corrupt cities.

 

[Lanzelot]

Not before I'd sent a Lighthouse's-worth of shields to the bottom of the ocean in the form of curragh and galleys, though.

Welcome in the club...!

 

[Naok]

So as a newbie, I played like one ..... . I still want to share my desaster game. Maybe I got some interesting comments ...... ... I played some times ago and I don´t have any notes. I will make an abstract.

I settled in place and founded my 20k city 2 SE. Then like most of you ...

I'd sent a Lighthouse's-worth of shields to the bottom of the ocean in the form of curragh and galleys.

... and didn´t get on the main island. I hated it.

In my 20k city, I had Colossus, Pyramids, Oracle. Until then it doesn´t looks that bad (regarding our isolated starting position). I then thought I should get the Lighthouse .... just to see my foreign advisor announcing me that the Iroquios has built it 2 or 3 turns before I would.

So now ...... I am around xxxAD on an island with no way to get in contact with the other civs until .... Astronomy (ohoh may be the Iroquois make me a visit for a cup of coffee ..... if they find me) and I want a 20k cultural victory ..... ..... At this stage of the game I closed my laptop and never started the game again .....

I will try to do better next month (hoping it won´t be a sid game)

 

[Memento]

... and didn´t get on the main island. I hated it.

thats frustated ever. first contact was with a galley around 450bc.
i have send a curragh to SW and find many landtiles, but no other civ

go in anarchy 850bc, stop research after MM.build Lighthouse and make very a big warrior-GS upgrade.
captured ToA and take domination victory