[Deity] The Beefeater (Stan/Norm/Fractal/NH/NE)

[CivNoobie]

saladin with 6 cities at 2000 BC

 

[Doshin]

@Grashopa

Spoiler :

I stayed at size 2, but Sitting Bull took the nice Wheat/Cow spot with his third city.

After that, the Pigs were a little too far away for my taste. So I settled on the Ivory and farmed the Bananas while working the mined GH (Chariot ---> Warrior ---> Chariot ---> Granary, IIRC).

I don't think it's worth growing to size 3 before producing a Settler. The Clam is a weak tile before a Lighthouse, and the Wheat/Cow spot is worth the hurry... even though I missed it .

@georgjorge

Spoiler :

You were a little unlucky that Sitting Bull grabbed a religion: he's the worst AI to attack with Elephants, and Saladin isn't much better either (Protective, unit spammer). But as long as you take a few cities before Feudalism, you should be ok.

Good luck.

 

[JSS]

Spoiler :

So... This is quite a long jump from the previous update, but I got carried away and played quickly after I had capped Saladin quite easily. I took almost all of his cities because he was not liked by everyone but Sittin Bull, and I begged gold from SB to prevent Saladin from peace vassaling to him.

After I had taken out Saladin, I was at 15+ cities. Everyone was just getting to Rifling then, so I grew my cities a bit, started a golden age, switched to Rep, Caste and Mercantilism, and got to Rifling and Steel pretty quickly.Then I chain-capitulated Darius, Willem and Genghis.

Now it's 1720AD, and I'm teching to Infantry/Artillery, and eventually to Tanks (Darius already has them). SB has completed Apollo program, so I'll attack him first. Roosevelt is not a threat to win the game atm.

My civics are Police State, Nationhood, Caste System, State Property and Theocracy. I've gotten unlucky twice in my NE city and gotten a wrong type of a GP. I'm getting another one in 9 turns, but I think I should switch to Representation now to get to the techs I need quicker.





I have 22 cities and SB has 13, but only 11 of them on the continent.

 

[georgjorge]

@JSS:

Spoiler :

Great job! When did you cap Saladin? I've started warring sooner but I think I won't finish my first conquest sooner due to higher losses (Cats against Longbows)...also weaker economy. Overall, attacking a bit later seems to be the right call here as there's enough land to expand into before Engineering. With my low tech-rate but high number of cities, I'll beeline Nationalism -> Constitution and go for an Espionage economy.

@Doshin:

Spoiler :

Sitting Bull's religion doesn't bother me as much as the fact that everyone else is having a Hindu lovefest (even Genghis doesn't want to be bribed into attacking anyone). At least I got a Buddhist shrine for my troubles...

 

[JSS]

@georgjorge:

Spoiler :

I attacked in 740AD with a stack of about 40 units. He was willing to capitulate in 1140AD, but I took a couple of cities more from him to extort more techs out of him in the peace deal. I eventually capped him in 1230AD. I got Music, Printing Press, Education and Guilds (partially researched) from him that way. He also had the Hindu shrine worth 49gpt.

 

[Doshin]

960 AD and about to declare on Saladin:

Spoiler :

 

[JSS]

@ Doshin:

Spoiler :

I think you're in a much stronger position than I was when I attacked. You have 3 more cities, and you blocked Sitting Bull from taking the southern peninsula. Making him easier to deal with later.

The GLH seems to have been a great wonder to build with this start and surroundings. The Colossus isn't bad either when you can get it, since it's very cheap.

 

[georgjorge]

The long long Elepult war of the French...

Spoiler :

So it began:



And so it ended:



Catapults were suicided in masses, Longbowmen held their ground. But the Elephants prevailed.

Of course, as Doshin showed, I could have gotten about that number of cities simply by, you know, SETTLING them. But an Elephant is cheaper than a Settler, and can get Combat 5, Formation and March if he fights well. A Settler can't.

Jokes aside, I could have ended the war much sooner, but chose to build non-Elephant stuff like Courthouses and so on instead. The tech situation isn't funny, but they say land is power (unfortunately, Saladin seems to know that as well). I hope whipping in fifteen Prisons, running three Spies in my National Epic city and turning up the slider gets me to Rifles + Cannons (+ maybe Machine Guns) soon enough.

 

[Doshin]

^^^ The best (most fun) thing about Charismatic leaders are the silly veterans you can cultivate, especially if you start early.

Bit pressed for time, but I finished this one up a week or so ago; here's a wall of screenshots:

Spoiler :

Thanks for the game, georgjorge. A worthy addition to the unofficial fractal series.

 

[JSS]

^^^ The best (most fun) thing about Charismatic leaders are the silly veterans you can cultivate, especially if you start early.

Bit pressed for time, but I finished this one up a week or so ago; here's a wall of screenshots:

Spoiler :

Thanks for the game, georgjorge. A worthy addition to the unofficial fractal series.

Nicely done. I suspected you might win this map easily from the position you were in in your previous update.

I haven't completed my game yet due to being busy. I'm not even sure I'll win it, haha.

How do people deal with nukes? I'm sabotaging all 3 Uranium sources every turn using spies. I have nukes myself, but SB maybe 6, and he also has SDI. Darius has completed Laser, but I don't think his SDI will cover me? I might have to get one myself, build bunkers in a few cities, and divide my army in them to take the hit from SB's nukes on turn 1 of the war. I'll need to declare at some point to stop him from going to space.

 

[georgjorge]

Thanks for the game, georgjorge. A worthy addition to the unofficial fractal series.

Thank you! I know the map doesn't fit in too well as it less frustrating than the other ones posted, but I hoped it would be interesting to play.

Good show with your win...I really didn't expect an initial REX to that number of cities to be succesful due to limited production capabilities and commerce.

@JSS: Can you not take out his nukes with your own upon declaration? Also note that SDI is far more effective against ICBMs than against tactical nukes (I don't have the exact percentages though) - might have to build a few Attack Subs and forts to use these on the first turn of the war. Enough tacticals (three for every stack and every city you want to take is a good rule) + Paratroopers are almost always enough to bring an opponent with less cities than yourself down.

 

[JSS]

@georgjorge: Oh, I had no idea that SDI is less effective against tactical nukes. I'll take that into consideration.

Afaik., nukes have no effect on nukes. Then again, if all SBs nukes are in one city reachable with paratroopers on turn 1 of the war, it should be doable to obliterate his defenses with nukes and capture and raze the city. I don't remember where his nukes are, though. I'll have to think about this when I have time to play again.

 

[The_Ambassador]

To T50.

Spoiler :

T1:



Start out moving warrior SE. Move settler 1E?

WASH: Will swap one forested RG (river grass) for another.
CON: Will potentially lose one RG.
PRO: 1) Gain one forest. 2) Possibility of MORE HILLS (decisive!)

Settle 1E. No hills gained. One RG lost . No biggie!

Research AH.

We send our warrior west. Floodpains and elephants is nearest known interesting settling target.

**
T7:



Stone!

**

T8: Pig!

**

T9: Native America from NE

**
T11:



Plan for our brave warrior: avoid the lion, scout off the tiles immediately to the west of pig, check out NE. SB is nearby, we have at least one (crappy) food, some trees - could be something good and close and time-limited over there.

**

T13: Horse. Research Fishing.

**

T14: Arabia from the west.

**
T18:



Get one tile overzealous with westward exploration. Warrior steps onto a grass tile and dies of a barb archer. 'Sok. He has done his duty in the west.

**

T19: Pasture horse.

**
T20: Fishing in.

Research Mining: Commerce will be OK for now with clam and horses and riverside cow; thus, no immediate need for pottery. Most interesting remaining tile for settler-worker-building cap is the RGH.

I have one turn left to finish building my dead warrior's replacement but opt to switch immediately to workboat, even though this delays exploration of the NE.

**
T22: Horses pastured.

**
T26:



A passingly interesting question ... worker completes 2 turns left on the grass farm 1S of cap, or immediately goes to the RGH to mine? Neither tile is of immediate use, but workers emerging from the cap can complete the farm whenever. RGH is more valuable now - send the worker to begin it ASAP.

**
T27: Warrior complete in capital, will go NE to scout nearby territory and Native America. We should grow to size 3 on something - either a chariot or warrior. 3 turns to grow, 3 turn warrior, so warrior.

Research BW: Pottery is a possibility, but we have no immediate plans to work cottages. Mysticism and possibly Hunting would be good before the first city, but we have time to spare on both. BW reveals copper and allows chops and offers therefore the most immediate tangible benefits (will probably wind up interrupting research on this, though).

**
T30:



Fun times with warriors.

Warrior1(NE): Uh oh. I once again step onto a flat tile and once again encounter an enemy. My dewy-eyed warrior will die next turn.

Warrior2(W): The newest warrior goes west. No need for a garrison right now. We want to keep barbs off our floodplains, because nice city sites = s*** and barbarians cites = flies.

Build settler in cap. The NE looks very good. Trees and two strong tiles that can be immediately worked by one city. Chop and settle PH between wheat and cows is a strong possibility pending a little more expl.

**
T31: Warrior2 about faces and heads to the NE to replace the function of dead Warrior1. Worker puts a turn into grassland farm 1SW of cap; next turn will go to forest 1NE of cap and start roading. Finishing the road before the settler completes is the immediate priority.

**
T33:



All the dreams of my youth (i.e., T31) have come to naught. SB settles and probably shuts down the NE altogether. My warrior will about-face and head to the FP-elephant site.

**
T34:




We start roading to the new city site, which will straddle the elephants and the floodplain. The quickest road will move straight SW through the elephants and finish by T40. Settler will then settle on T40 for insta-trade route. Worker will then move NW to farm the FP.

Research change to mysticism. We want to have mysticism as soon as the settler settles.

**

T39: Settler complete. What to build in the capital? Immediate second worker or grow to size 4?

We have exactly one warrior for a military and a juicy RGH to grow onto. Growth takes 5 turns. We can build a chariot in 4 and and a warrior in 1.

Chariot > warrior > worker.

**
T40:



A barb warrior kills a NA scout (good) and then I opportunistically kill it (better).

It is worth considering research of hunting since we have claimed the elephants. However, since our worker will be harrowing the flood plains for the next half-millennium, we have time to finish of BW. Research BW.

**
T43:



Notice NA borders. It's official, the entire East is a lost cause. At least my culture will shut out NA from further encroachment (!) and antagonism (!) on T50.

**
T50:



Fog-busting fun. I move my warrior out of Elephant River one NW to the red dot. The chariot is then freed up to go one NW to yellow. In the short-term, when I don't need happy garrison in the new city, this will allow me to substantially increase my busted area and keep barbs/barb cities, hopefully, off both my next 2 sites.





BUILDS- Capital has only 2 hammers left to complete its garrison warrior but we don't need it right now. >3rd Worker

2nd city whips off unimproved phants to complete monument (I forgot to switch to slavery while settler was in transit, switched on T47). Overflow into chariot; the phants will complete in 3 turns, the city will reach size 2 again in 4.

**

FUTURE PLANS:

* Capitol completes 3rd worker and then 3rd settler. Settler will take PH 1SE of stone.

*Try to chop the trees on the PH before I settle? ... not sure how many hammers that will be worth. 10 hammers would be worth it.

* Elephant River gets a chariot out for exploration. Then granary/grow. It may soon take over settler/worker duties if I manage to go mids in the capital. We have at least one more city to settle, either 1W or 1NW of pigs, depending on circumstances, worker turns, etc..

* Exploration priority is south, then west. The south looks like jungly crap but I could be missing something amazing right next door.

* (Goddamn remember to) target EP to SB.

 

[georgjorge]

Glad to see people still playing this map, which I think is a nice one!

I left my game lying around 1400ADish...but now I might take it up again.

Spoiler :

Whipping in Prisons and turning up the espionage slider for some turns got me Printing Press + Replaceable Parts + Rifling + Steel + Steam Power. Not bad, still have to get some EPs for Railroad. I'm already whipping and drafting a massive army of Rifles + Cannons and waiting for some Machine Guns...but I'm not looking forward to a bloody war against Saladin with as many cities as myself and two peacevassals

 

[Doshin]

Would you guys have any interest in another fractal map? I have an fun start that I played a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed.

@JSS, your game is probably well over by now, but as long as you start the war, SB won't be able to stop you. As georgjorge says, Tactical Nukes are intercepted far less than ICBMs, and are cheaper to begin with.

@georgjorge, just make sure that you wipe out Saladin's stack before Artillery, and you'll be fine. Cannons can break through Infantry, but Artillery receive a 50% boost against other siege units, and, with their immunity to collateral, they get very good odds against Rifles.

 

[JSS]

@Doshin:
I haven't had time to touch this game for a while because of real-life obligations (will be busy for another week still at least), but I'll trust your and georgjorge's advice, and build a ton of Tactical Nukes and attack SB when I have time to play again.

Go ahead and post the map if you found it interesting. I may join the fun later.

 

[georgjorge]

Ok, I'll have to take this one as a loss...seems like Elepult wasn't the strategy to go for here.

Spoiler :

First, the power of espionage from a desastrous tech position: Using minimal effort (whipping Prisons everywhere, making a Great Spy and turning up the slider)...









Then, the power of mass drafting/whipping over a number of turns:



Finally, the power of being a Deity AI with 15 cities and a tech advantage who didn't have to fight a single war all game long, thus having enough units to reduce said stack to this after a few turns of war:



A case could be made for waiting a few turns longer to add more Machine Guns to the stack, but Saladin got Artillery a few turns into the war and would have upgraded his ~15 Cannons instantly, so it wouldn't have mattered.

I had fun though!

@Doshin: Looking forward to your fun Fractal map...

 

[JSS]

Finally got around to finishing this...

1904 AD
Domination

Spoiler :

As suggested, I built a lot of tactical nukes and some paratroopers. I destroyed a couple of large stacks from SB and captured 3 of his cities on turn 1 of the war. He still hit me pretty hard with nukes, but I had spread my units around to avoid losing them all instantly.

From there it was easy, although Sitting Bull managed to launch his spaceship. Luckily I could reach Cahokia quickly.

 

[georgjorge]

Congrats on the win! Seems like a hard-fought one...

 

[JSS]

Thanks. I don't know if I could've stopped SB's spaceship had he launched it 5 turns earlier. Close calls like this always remind me that the game's not over until the very last AI has been mercilessly put down.

Attacking Sitting Bull's longbows with catapults is never pretty. When the war drags on too long and you're left behind in tech and a civ gets out of control, it's very difficult. You put up a good fight from the position you were in, though.