Since that unlucky game when Saladin backstabbed me, I decided to think what I was doing wrong.
The CFC folks have proved to show me that my primary error in those games is just very slow growth. I gave that lesson to heart... and it succeeded in that victory.
I'm really proud, because it was really well-played, intriguing to the boot, and I have won TRUE diplomatic victory - not a pseudo one with conquering enough lands to vote myself. Well, it was also on Prince ("LOL that n00b is 0mgl0l0l! i cn win princ so e s nob"). There are no screens. The game started at about 14:00 and ended now. I wasn't expecting to win so there are no screens.
OK, so I chose Cyrus. In vanilla 1.52, he has Expansive/Creative. I really wanted to grow my empire to enormous sizes, and those two traits have really helped. Expansive have solved all my health issues (I had only a minor one in Susa!), and Creative gave me an upper hand in the early game... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's hear it for immortals, though, because since I am much more of a builder, I prefer to war only to get a land and useful cities, later I switch to builder mode until I find the need for more expansion. Immortals have helped a lot and created a shape of an empire that will last from very beginning of AD years.
Settled in place. I can recall that the territory was not awesome
, but it had a commerce potential, I needed just to grab Pottery and cut those jungles... and encourage fast growth, of course.
I immediately met Hatshepsut (Hindu founder) and Mao Zedong. Mao became later a threat to me, because he started on exactly the same penisula as I. He had no choice but to expand towards me. And that kind of sin cannot be forgivable. I would later on met also Huayna Capac (who will be a whiny crybaby piece of crap), Elizabeth (who, with several icebound cities, also won't be a threat, and she will be trying to thwack Incas on the head, only stiffling her tech pace. In fact, Elizabeth and Huayna Capac were really, really backwards in technology, even though they were Financial. You gotta love it.), Mansa Musa and Asoka.
Of course, I had to lock off the others from my place. I decided to not build Oracle nor Stonehenge (the latter won't give me much since I'm Creative, but both could give me so valuable Great Prophets.). If I would, I could stop my expansion, and that was in that case a no-no. Pasargadae and Susa were founded soon, even before I started to laid Cottages with Pottery. Persians in the BC were quite suffering because of the troubling maintenance.
So... Animal Husbandry... and go for these horses! As soon as I put the horses into use, I started to whip, chop and produce those Immortals. With six in hand, I began to wipe off China from the map.
A worthless city of some forgettable name got razed first. Then I claimed Shanghai (it would became a very important place for my Civilization). I started to rescue my economy by laying those cottages, but boy if it weren't for those libraries and Scientists that come with them, I could die before I would reach that beloved Currency and Code of Laws. Soon with Copper, Immortals/Axemen started to siege on Beijing.
First battle was unlucky, I lost with rather favourable odds or coinflips. Finally, I added an elephant to the stack and claimed Beijing - although it was quite a Pyrrhic victory, because I had only four injured immortals. That was, however, enough to destroy other Chinese cities. Destroy, because even on 0%, my economy was suffering and if it wasn't for the razing cash, I would put the units on strike. Mao Zedong was removed from the game. That rush was one of the most important things in the whole game - Beijing and Shanghai became crucial, and to the west there were some good resources (most notably rice, gems, clams and some spices as well.). My economy was in stagnation. With help of Slavery, I whipped needed libraries and started to assign massive scientists specialists, and later on whip/chop Courthouses as well. With time, I was able to sustain at serious 60% research. With help of several Academies (those Scientists really paid off) and Alphabet, I was keeping up with the other AIs.
So, I finally had 6 good cities - Persepolis (later on a commerce powerhouse with Oxford, and also nice production), Pasargadae (also an extreme source of science), Susa, Beijing (my Heroic Epic city later on), Arbela (resource-locker and a source of coastal economy) and Shanghai.
I knew that there are still some resources to claim and some unsettled places. I timed the build of Tarsus and Gordium with six courthouses, and Beijing (which was cranking military with Heroic Epic) started to build Forbidden Palace ASAP, because those two cities were giving me enough of costs to let me fall at 40% science again. It turned out that it was not wrong to lock the opportunity to build West Point in my military city, simply because it was the last war that I had (except one phony war with Huayna Capac in Medieval era, in which I only razed Ollantayambo. Or whatever it is spelled.). Beijing certainly helped with my scientific issues.
The funniest thing that AI avoided to build Parthenon. Well, I had marble on hand, so I tried to build that in capitol - and it WORKED! Parthenon in around 1300 AD is certainly ridiculous. I also built Colossus on, as I recall, about 1400...
I won the Liberalism race in 1340 and traditionally chosen Nationalism. I got also Divine Right from some trade with Mansa. I built very useful Spiral Minaret (it gave me a reliable source of income). By then, my economy was serving well on 70% science. Things were from this point looking good, and in fact no one could by then best me in techs. (at last those important - who cares about AI slightly tech lead when the game is over?)
Elizabeth came with a proposal to attack Huayna Capac. I agreed for a phony war. Well, not at all phony. I came all the way from India just to raze one city. Yeehaw. After that, Capac and I signed peace. And Elizabeth to the end of the game will be Cautious, so she would never became a significant ally).
The diplomatic situation was in great shape. Hatshepsut was my best buddy, especially when I spoiled her with Nationalism gift. Mansa and Asoka, even though they were heathens, were easy to tag along with. These relations were important. By about 1500 I thought of a diplomatic victory.
I never actually founded a religion. Sure, it would give me an economical boost, but it's certainly NOT true that you need a monk economy to survive. At last not at Prince. Heck, I hadn't even a Great Prophet (who is, IMO, an early REX-er best friend). That's why I am even more proud of myself
By 1600's, I began to worry. My cities were still in about 14-15 pace. I did my best to focus it more on food, and it worked perfectly. I really needed to pay more attention to the growth of my cities! Micromanaging is certainly a good trait to a Civ4 player.
The turning point of the game was when I discovered the ability of making those neat Defensive Pacts. I signed one with Hatshepsut and with Mansa Musa, and if I recall correctly, with Asoka as well. These pacts gave me later on diplomatic boosts that gave me diplomatic victory.
Things started to heat up around 1840. Mansa HAD ROCKETRY. It gave me creeps, because I knew that Mansa had an upper hand to Apollo. I started to build Ironworks in capital (it had very good production). However, to the end of the game, I won't get any message like "Mansa Musa completed Apollo Program". Heh. It seems that his message "We would rather like to win the game, thank you very much" was just a prank on me. Don't give the ol' Cyrus a heart attack!
Mass Media completed, and with help of a Great Engineer (I guess it was nice to build Hagia Sophia in Beijing.) I rushed United Nations.
Crossing fingers... First election for UN Secretary General. Voted myself of course. My rival was Hatshepsut. It was bad, because she was my friend, and it was certainly not good to waste this bond that we made. Well, I haven't even checked if Asoka and Musa voted for me - I simply clicked OK, after that I realized that I should check it. Hey, I drank only tea, and it was from a bag - not from tea weeds! Get it? Weeds? Weedy? Bueh. It was not funny.
First resolution - who will be the president? Cyrus or Hatshepsut?
Amazing win with 400 votes! PLEASED Asoka voted for me as well! And Musa! YIPPEE!!!
Well, it's the end. At 1888 the world submitted to the mighty Persia. I checked that I had only 25% of population, so I count that as a true diplomatic victory (Sullla would be proud!... Although he wouldn't certainly even read it. Heh.). It was awesome game, certainly my favourite.
Early on, I made only a weedy move by stopping Pasargadae and have forgotten to unlock it's growth in BCs after I received more happiness due to monarchy. Well, it wasn't a big mistake, but I have to pay attention more to those things.
I can post save and some ending screens for your convenience. If you want. Of course.
The score is around 18000 - I am Augustus Caesar!
I would like to thank very much to:
-Sullla and Sisiutil for their awesome helping texts.
-Cam_H for an effort to correct my mistakes in lost games.
-My family for a great dinner.
-Mansa Musa and Asoka.
The CFC folks have proved to show me that my primary error in those games is just very slow growth. I gave that lesson to heart... and it succeeded in that victory.
I'm really proud, because it was really well-played, intriguing to the boot, and I have won TRUE diplomatic victory - not a pseudo one with conquering enough lands to vote myself. Well, it was also on Prince ("LOL that n00b is 0mgl0l0l! i cn win princ so e s nob"). There are no screens. The game started at about 14:00 and ended now. I wasn't expecting to win so there are no screens.
OK, so I chose Cyrus. In vanilla 1.52, he has Expansive/Creative. I really wanted to grow my empire to enormous sizes, and those two traits have really helped. Expansive have solved all my health issues (I had only a minor one in Susa!), and Creative gave me an upper hand in the early game... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's hear it for immortals, though, because since I am much more of a builder, I prefer to war only to get a land and useful cities, later I switch to builder mode until I find the need for more expansion. Immortals have helped a lot and created a shape of an empire that will last from very beginning of AD years.
Settled in place. I can recall that the territory was not awesome
, but it had a commerce potential, I needed just to grab Pottery and cut those jungles... and encourage fast growth, of course.I immediately met Hatshepsut (Hindu founder) and Mao Zedong. Mao became later a threat to me, because he started on exactly the same penisula as I. He had no choice but to expand towards me. And that kind of sin cannot be forgivable.
I would later on met also Huayna Capac (who will be a whiny crybaby piece of crap), Elizabeth (who, with several icebound cities, also won't be a threat, and she will be trying to thwack Incas on the head, only stiffling her tech pace. In fact, Elizabeth and Huayna Capac were really, really backwards in technology, even though they were Financial. You gotta love it.), Mansa Musa and Asoka.Of course, I had to lock off the others from my place. I decided to not build Oracle nor Stonehenge (the latter won't give me much since I'm Creative, but both could give me so valuable Great Prophets.). If I would, I could stop my expansion, and that was in that case a no-no. Pasargadae and Susa were founded soon, even before I started to laid Cottages with Pottery. Persians in the BC were quite suffering because of the troubling maintenance.
So... Animal Husbandry... and go for these horses! As soon as I put the horses into use, I started to whip, chop and produce those Immortals. With six in hand, I began to wipe off China from the map.
A worthless city of some forgettable name got razed first. Then I claimed Shanghai (it would became a very important place for my Civilization). I started to rescue my economy by laying those cottages, but boy if it weren't for those libraries and Scientists that come with them, I could die before I would reach that beloved Currency and Code of Laws. Soon with Copper, Immortals/Axemen started to siege on Beijing.
First battle was unlucky, I lost with rather favourable odds or coinflips. Finally, I added an elephant to the stack and claimed Beijing - although it was quite a Pyrrhic victory, because I had only four injured immortals. That was, however, enough to destroy other Chinese cities. Destroy, because even on 0%, my economy was suffering and if it wasn't for the razing cash, I would put the units on strike. Mao Zedong was removed from the game. That rush was one of the most important things in the whole game - Beijing and Shanghai became crucial, and to the west there were some good resources (most notably rice, gems, clams and some spices as well.). My economy was in stagnation. With help of Slavery, I whipped needed libraries and started to assign massive scientists specialists, and later on whip/chop Courthouses as well. With time, I was able to sustain at serious 60% research. With help of several Academies (those Scientists really paid off) and Alphabet, I was keeping up with the other AIs.
So, I finally had 6 good cities - Persepolis (later on a commerce powerhouse with Oxford, and also nice production), Pasargadae (also an extreme source of science), Susa, Beijing (my Heroic Epic city later on), Arbela (resource-locker and a source of coastal economy) and Shanghai.
I knew that there are still some resources to claim and some unsettled places. I timed the build of Tarsus and Gordium with six courthouses, and Beijing (which was cranking military with Heroic Epic) started to build Forbidden Palace ASAP, because those two cities were giving me enough of costs to let me fall at 40% science again. It turned out that it was not wrong to lock the opportunity to build West Point in my military city, simply because it was the last war that I had (except one phony war with Huayna Capac in Medieval era, in which I only razed Ollantayambo. Or whatever it is spelled.). Beijing certainly helped with my scientific issues.
The funniest thing that AI avoided to build Parthenon. Well, I had marble on hand, so I tried to build that in capitol - and it WORKED! Parthenon in around 1300 AD is certainly ridiculous. I also built Colossus on, as I recall, about 1400...
I won the Liberalism race in 1340 and traditionally chosen Nationalism. I got also Divine Right from some trade with Mansa. I built very useful Spiral Minaret (it gave me a reliable source of income). By then, my economy was serving well on 70% science. Things were from this point looking good, and in fact no one could by then best me in techs. (at last those important - who cares about AI slightly tech lead when the game is over?)
Elizabeth came with a proposal to attack Huayna Capac. I agreed for a phony war. Well, not at all phony. I came all the way from India just to raze one city. Yeehaw. After that, Capac and I signed peace. And Elizabeth to the end of the game will be Cautious, so she would never became a significant ally).
The diplomatic situation was in great shape. Hatshepsut was my best buddy, especially when I spoiled her with Nationalism gift. Mansa and Asoka, even though they were heathens, were easy to tag along with. These relations were important. By about 1500 I thought of a diplomatic victory.
I never actually founded a religion. Sure, it would give me an economical boost, but it's certainly NOT true that you need a monk economy to survive. At last not at Prince. Heck, I hadn't even a Great Prophet (who is, IMO, an early REX-er best friend). That's why I am even more proud of myself
By 1600's, I began to worry. My cities were still in about 14-15 pace. I did my best to focus it more on food, and it worked perfectly. I really needed to pay more attention to the growth of my cities! Micromanaging is certainly a good trait to a Civ4 player.
The turning point of the game was when I discovered the ability of making those neat Defensive Pacts. I signed one with Hatshepsut and with Mansa Musa, and if I recall correctly, with Asoka as well. These pacts gave me later on diplomatic boosts that gave me diplomatic victory.
Things started to heat up around 1840. Mansa HAD ROCKETRY. It gave me creeps, because I knew that Mansa had an upper hand to Apollo. I started to build Ironworks in capital (it had very good production). However, to the end of the game, I won't get any message like "Mansa Musa completed Apollo Program". Heh. It seems that his message "We would rather like to win the game, thank you very much" was just a prank on me. Don't give the ol' Cyrus a heart attack!
Mass Media completed, and with help of a Great Engineer (I guess it was nice to build Hagia Sophia in Beijing.) I rushed United Nations.
Crossing fingers... First election for UN Secretary General. Voted myself of course. My rival was Hatshepsut. It was bad, because she was my friend, and it was certainly not good to waste this bond that we made. Well, I haven't even checked if Asoka and Musa voted for me - I simply clicked OK, after that I realized that I should check it. Hey, I drank only tea, and it was from a bag - not from tea weeds! Get it? Weeds? Weedy? Bueh. It was not funny.
First resolution - who will be the president? Cyrus or Hatshepsut?
Amazing win with 400 votes! PLEASED Asoka voted for me as well! And Musa! YIPPEE!!!
Well, it's the end. At 1888 the world submitted to the mighty Persia. I checked that I had only 25% of population, so I count that as a true diplomatic victory (Sullla would be proud!... Although he wouldn't certainly even read it. Heh.). It was awesome game, certainly my favourite.
Early on, I made only a weedy move by stopping Pasargadae and have forgotten to unlock it's growth in BCs after I received more happiness due to monarchy. Well, it wasn't a big mistake, but I have to pay attention more to those things.
I can post save and some ending screens for your convenience. If you want. Of course.
The score is around 18000 - I am Augustus Caesar!
I would like to thank very much to:
-Sullla and Sisiutil for their awesome helping texts.
-Cam_H for an effort to correct my mistakes in lost games.
-My family for a great dinner.
-Mansa Musa and Asoka.
