[BNW] Enjoyable Deity Games

I guess the only thing it does is to tell you that there were two previous kings called "Jan"!

Had to look it up: Jan I Olbracht (1459-1501), Jan II Kazimierz (1609-1672) and then Jan III Sobieski (1629-1696).
 
Here is a recap of the games in the Enjoyable Deity Games Experience (EDGE) series so far this year (games from last year are listed on page 9 of this thread:
42. the Mayans2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety challenge
43. Siam (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Patronage partial challenge
44. the Shoshone2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
45. Poland2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Honor challenge
 
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Trying the Maya challenge:

Spoiler :
No real plan for the game, just trying to ICS with Collective Rule -> Full Piety and see where that takes me. I've been carried by Pyramid science and got Theology in time for a T86 Great Person - I took a GS and planted an academy. Turn 101 bonus GP was a Great Engineer for Notre Dame.

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I've made peace with Carthage for now, I'll re-DoW once I get crossbows and take her capital.

Not the strongest religion (T60 founded 3rd religion, T78 enhanced) - Interfaith Dialogue, Mosques, +1 happy from shrines, +25% faster spread. I haven't used yet Interfaith Dialogue yet, but I should run out of Mosques to buy soon, so I can finally start spamming missionaries. I never take this belief so I don't even know if it's any good. I think the plan now is to just kill everyone with Artillery, maybe the missionary science will help me get there reasonably fast.


Update:

Spoiler :
So my lack of experience with Interfaith Dialogue really shows. I didn't know the best way to use it was to weaken your missionaries to 250 conversion strength first, so that they wouldn't actually ever flip any citizens. I don't have the Great Mosque here either, so I think I'll replay from some early save and try to really capitalize on IFD science. If you're spreading religion to a city with 10 citizens following a different religion, you get 100 beakers per pop, 300 total per missionary with Great Mosque.

I see two ways it could be useful. The first is to go wide, completely ignore actual science, only build units and try to end the game in Medieval-Renaissance, maybe even get Heathen Conversion and force some rebels to spawn. Sounds like a recipe to get -100 gpt very quickly, but IFD should get you all the techs you need to win. This should work, unless the game decides to start disbanding units.

The second approach would be to stay somewhat tall and use IFD to speed up some crucial industrial or modern era techs, perhaps trying to get to ideologies super fast for Futurism or Foreign Legions or whatever. You'd need a ton of faith from your pantheon though, I can only see this being really strong with Desert Folklore with a good desert start.

Maybe you could try to go wide and try to get a Sacred Sites + Futurism victory, but that's really risky.
 
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Taking another swing at EDGE42.


Spoiler :
This time I went for three cities and (with the help of Dido) conquered Rio as a fourth. NC on t93 and Education on t104 (picture). It would be okay if it was not for Salvador, which now belongs to Dido. You should also note the placement of Brasilia! It was settled two turns before Sao Paolo was conquered. On t82 I got a double DoW from Indonesia and Mongolia. So far they have only sent a Scout, and my own Scout surprisingly survived (he was at the Indonesian border at the time of the DoW). Now the idea is to catch up in tech and push Dido when I hit Machinery. So far SP: Piety 5 and Tradition opener. I got JE as Reformation. This is still crazy rough, but at least I feel that there is a way forward if I play well enough for the next 40-50 turns.

On more extraordinary thing with this game: Only 3 religions (Inca, Carthage) so far and only 1 pantheon (Brazil)! The barbaric peoples at the other end of Pangaea have not bothered with religious stuff. Really wierd when you think of the AIs there: England, Indonesia and Venice...
 

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Trying to adjust my approach in #42. Mostly built units this time, engineered Great Mosque on T86 and tried to weaken my missionaries before spreading religion. I also took the 30% cheaper missionaries enhancer.

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IFD science has been quite strong - I have #1 literacy in demographics despite only ever building 1 library (which I've deleted now). Reached Machinery on T98 with Theology and Iron Working detours. Heathen conversion has been very underwhelming - rebels don't spawn often enough and I only got junk units anyway. I delayed moving my troops to Cusco, as I was keeping my happiness below -10, trying to get some free Musketmen or Crossbows or whatever. Should've just taken Cusco 5-10 turns sooner.

Not necessarily trying to win here, just having fun and testing things I never use. I wonder how quickly I can make it to Artillery.
 
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EDGE#46: Liberty Challenge
For the best players on this forum, this does not make any sense, but for me it is a rare occasion to go Liberty on Deity, especially on Standard speed. So that is why I used the word "challenge". This time the task is to play as the Netherlands on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There is one self-imposed rule, you have to finish Liberty before going into other social policies. The starting location is kind of nice but as you can see for yourself, the luxuries next to Amsterdam are not the easiest to get online. When you have scouted around you will understand why I thought Liberty is the way to go here. But as always, you need to hurry if you want to expand.

I tried Tradition first before starting over with Liberty, so no HOF compability this time. However, I will tell about my own game using a spoiler.

Spoiler :

I started out with SIP-Scoutx2-Monument-Archer. I had limited luck with ruins: Barbs-Map-Unit upgrade-Gold-Tech-Map-Barbs. First expand to the N on the hill next to the river near a CS. Then two more to the NW to hook up Goldx2,Incense and Cocoa. 4 city NC on t83, then two further expands to the E to hook up Dyes, Wine and Furs.

That was too much for Dido and Babylon (and a lot of CS) so for the next 50 turns it was mostly about defending while I was trying to catch up in techs. Embarrassing enough Breda was conquered by a CS! The bastards set it ablaze, so I had to build a new settler to secure the spot. Babylon was running wild and conquered Venice. So the midgame was not about Wonders and (as always with Liberty) I felt that my development was slow and I reached Industrial on t177. Loomingly, I also had bad relations with Byzantium and that meant that I got a double DoW on t186 (Babylon/Byzantium). Again it was a long and tedious war and I gained no territory whatsoever.

The endgame was about shoring up a SV at least. I was very late with everything and it went right down to the wire before Spain won a CV on t329. I would have needed 7 turns more. Painful!
 

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Trying to adjust my approach in #42. Mostly built units this time, engineered Great Mosque on T86 and tried to weaken my missionaries before spreading religion. I also took the 30% cheaper missionaries enhancer.

IFD science has been quite strong - I have #1 literacy in demographics despite only ever building 1 library (which I've deleted now). Reached Machinery on T98 with Theology and Iron Working detours. Heathen conversion has been very underwhelming - rebels don't spawn often enough and I only got junk units anyway. I delayed moving my troops to Cusco, as I was keeping my happiness below -10, trying to get some free Musketmen or Crossbows or whatever. Should've just taken Cusco 5-10 turns sooner.

Not necessarily trying to win here, just having fun and testing things I never use. I wonder how quickly I can make it to Artillery.

I am just amazed by your level of play and I am sure I am not the only one! Engineering the Great Mosque! On lower difficulties I fooled around with IFD a couple of times but never came up with the idea that they should be weakened before use! Please let us know on what turn you hit Artillery. I feel like a Gatling Gun (rusty and without promotions) compared to Giant Death Robots like you!
 
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It's unfortunate that IFD is weak on low difficulties, as you need a high-pop AI city for it to really shine. But then on Deity there's no guarantee you'll even get it, or the 30% cheaper missionary belief, or Great Mosque. You also give up Tithe for it.

I'm on turn 166, 3 capitals left to take. The map has some annoying chokepoints and a lot of rough terrain, so progress is slow, and pushing into Great Wall and Longbows is particularly painful. I made peace with Indonesia and England five turns ago and I'm 4-5 turns away from Dynamite now. I did build some libraries to speed things up a bit and buff up the Mayan free GS. Just got three Cavalry from Heathen Conversion as well, unfortunately they spawned pretty far away from the battlefield. I haven't made good use of HC this game, I think it has potential though.

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The game is pretty much over at this point - just a matter of upgrading to Arties and grabbing Jakarta, London and Venice. AIs have a lot of units though, so it's probably going to be a tedious 190s DomV.

Update:

T183 DomV, things went smoother than expected.

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I went full Piety after Collective rule, so I only followed one of the rules for this challenge. It's just that opening Piety first feels weaker even for a religion-centric game.
 
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EDGE#47: Monty on Pangaea
Here the task is to play as the Aztecs on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There are no additional rules to take into consideration. Just go with your gut feeling and create your own wonderful world (and sacrifice as many opponents as you like). I must admit it was not easy to come up with an enjoyable Pangaea map for Monty. On Lakes maps it is easy, but here I wanted to make sure that you can settle at least four-five cities next to rivers. Unfortunately there are no nearby lakes but the Floating gardens are still amazing. I like them even more than the German Hanse, which I regard very highly. The starting location is kind of nice, but as you can see for yourself, the luxuries are average and a lot of nearby grassland as well.

I played my own game in accordance to HOF rules and also submitted my win. There is a short recap in the spoiler.

Spoiler :

I started out with settling on t1 on the hill and then Scoutx2-Granary-Jaguar-Shrine. I had "normal" luck with ruins: Unit upgrade-Gold-Culture-Tech-Map-Barbs. First expand to the W to hook up the Salt and the second to the N for the Spices. Four city Tradition and NC as late as t94 and Education on t111. I don´t know what took me this long - the answer is probably that I played the early turns poorly. I had a scare when Washington showed his newly aquired Minutemen on t90! He must have beelined hard! But luckily he was happy to attack Brazil instead and they went down like green coloured icecream on a hot summer day.

In the midgame I was worried about Washington. However, I was catching up nicely and was second to Industrial (t164) and first to Modern (t199). After Radio I immidiately beelined Dynamite to finally get some offensive wars going. I took a couple of cities from Washington. But then he went Order (as I did myself) and Elizabeth was turning on the best performance of her life. She conquered the Mayans, expanded everywhere and was first to Atomic! I decided that Washington was much more useful as a buffer.

The endgame was about ensuring a SV. London had pop52 at the end and overall England was doing really well: they managed 3-4 spaceship parts and was hammering Washington and Isabella. I took the safe route and launched on t301. It was a nice game and quite eventful with surprises all the way to Atomic and Information. This was not boring even if it ended with a SV!
 

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Started the Poland Honor challenge.

Spoiler :
BO: Scout x2 - Monument - Worker - Scout - Settlers - Archers. Should've probably built a shrine at some point, but I don't think it'll matter too much.

I met Zurich early and saw they were hostile, so I thought I'd kill them for that. Got 3 or 4 workers from them in total and took the city once I upgraded to CBs. Venice fell very quickly as well. I've had a nice DoF with France which I'm sure is going to end next turn with Napoleon denouncing me.

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I've finished Honor, and I don't really know what to do next. I suppose the options are 1) to develop my cities and try the Honor - Commerce - Autocracy approach for a change, or 2) go Liberty - Meritocracy, get Pyramids for insta-repairs and just kill everyone with crossbows or artillery if that fails.
 
I met Zurich early and saw they were hostile,

Nice that you gave those untrustworthy swiss bankers what they deserved! In my game they opted to ally with Venice when I attacked the purple people and later they allied with Egypt during the widely known Polish-Egyptian war. :)
 
I am playing the Aztec map right now. Quite a fun map!

Spoiler :

The relative crowdedness of the map led me to immediately go for Liberty for a warmongering game. Had issues with growing one of my expos, so pop isn't amazing, but I think the foundation is good enough,

T93 - Rio has fallen. 5 cities at T93 was more than any of the AI had, and the aggressive settlement penalty was looking ripe for Liz/Washington/Kame to dogpile me, plus the unhappiness was way more than I could handle even with a mercantile ally, so I ended up selling Sao Paulo back to Pedro for open borders +35gpt. Happiness and economy will be excellent for the next little bit, and I'll be hitting Machinery before T100. (delayed Education) Haven't been able to get great use out of Jaguars (they're very squishy), but I do have a core army of 8 CBs which I can promote to XB soon to quickly take down Washington. I'm not a great warmonger by any means, but with the proximity to the neighbors, winning with Cannons is very possible. Or maybe I'll take the 4 coastal capitals with Frigates, a rare treat on a Pangaea map...
 
I am playing the Aztec map right now. Quite a fun map!

Haven't been able to get great use out of Jaguars (they're very squishy),

I am pleased that you liked it! Jaguars are indeed very soft but I love to upgrade 4-6 of them all the way to Infantry. If the game is not over before that (mine are usually not), then those promoted Jaguars work wonders! It will be fun to read, if Liz&Washy gave you problems in your game.
 
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T122 quit. Might give Poland Honor a try, as I love HCA games.

Spoiler :


Washington falls T120. War was costlier than I wanted. I had unlocked Machinery at T99, but I waited a bit to go to war (building forts by Washington, which I never normally do, but thought I would try), which was a silly mistake, since I had enough gold to upgrade to XBs immediately. Denounced by and at war with every civ on the map now. England is the only real threat, and while I may be able to clean things up and hunker down until Artillery, not sure if I want to bother trying. Quite a humbling experience.
 
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T122 quit.

That is a schoolbook example of the kind of problems I usually face with early warfare on Deity/Standard speed. In my game, Washy got his UU so ridiculously early that a XB rush had no chance of being successful. I had no problem with Polynesia though: I adopted their fantastic religion and we fought together in wars as well.
 
EDGE#48: Life is Green
Here the task is to play as the Celts on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There are no additional rules to take into consideration. I think this map is very well suited for peaceful play, so my recommended VCs are CV or SV. DipV is probably the hardest to achieve here. Build your empire yourself and let it shine!

I played my own game in accordance to HOF rules and also submitted my win. There is a short recap in the spoiler.

Spoiler :

I started out with settling on t2 on the desert hill to the NE and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Granary-Archer-Settler. Obviously I was first to pick a pantheon and i picked DF. Still I only got the fourth religion. The ruins I found were: Culture-Barbs-Gold-Map-Tech-Culture. First expand to the SW to settle near the place I spawned and the second in the desert hills. 3 city NC on t73 and then a fourth city to hook up the Sugar near the long mountain ridge. I took Venice with XBs on (approximately) t125 and settled one more city in the late game (about t200) near the NW. I reached Education on t106. All in all I was satisfied with the opening and had two nicely growing cities and two average ones. More than enough for a smooth game.

In the midgame I opted to go for a CV, but that turned out to be dream: Sistine went 3 turns earlier, LToP I missed with 2 turns and Uffizi with just one turn. Gajah was first to Archeology and got a good portion of the nearby ARs. At least I was able to block the expansion of my neighbours and by going Tradition I grabbed a lot of land peacefully. But I figured that a CV will most likely not happen and redirected my efforts towards SV. There are Aluminium in abundance and two Coal resources. However I managed to build my cities in such a way, that both Coal were in the FOURTH ring from the nearest city. I bought some wasteland tiles and chopped the jungle on top of the Coal. That did the trick and cities expanded quite fast to the Coal tiles.

My endgame was solid, even though some AIs were plotting against me. At the end I reached SV on t300. At that point only 3 AIs were going strong: Assyria, Austria and Morocco. Indonesia and Venice were alive but both of them were down to 1 city each.
 

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EDGE#48: Life is Green
Here the task is to play as the Celts on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There are no additional rules to take into consideration. I think this map is very well suited for peaceful play, so my recommended VCs are CV or SV. DipV is probably the hardest to achieve here. Build your empire yourself and let it shine!
Celts, near a desert, sweet, I'm going to have to try this. Should be able to get DF on this one. I read that forests across a river don't count as adjacent so can't move north along the river to get closer to the desert**, I may test it frist to see if its correct. But then you're moving away from the deer and salt so not sure if that's the best option. Petra is not happening at Deity so that is not a concern for me.

**Edit. This is false, forests across rivers do count.
 
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Celts, near a desert, sweet, I'm going to have to try this. Should be able to get DF on this one. I read that forests across a river don't count as adjacent so can't move north along the river to get closer to the desert**, I may test it frist to see if its correct. But then you're moving away from the deer and salt so not sure if that's the best option. Petra is not happening at Deity so that is not a concern for me.

**Edit. This is false, forests across rivers do count.

I hope you will enjoy the map. I think it is very smooth, especially for peaceful play. Just to let you know, I did not SIP.
 
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