[BNW] Enjoyable Deity Games

EDGE#49: The one-trick pony that learned something new: Aesthetics challenge
This is something else! I have always considered the Zulus to be quite a singleminded civ and I remember watching a video where filthyrobot called it a one-trick pony (albeit for MP games) but here I decided to do something totally out-of-the-box with them. We play on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The self-imposed rule is that we have to finish Aesthetics before the game ends. The map turned out to be one of the craziest Pangaea maps I have ever played. It makes DomV very tricky indeed and even if the starting location is fantastic, you will soon realize its limitations. This is, in my book, a lot tougher than many other games in this series but there are also hidden possibilities. Be bald and do something unusual!

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 two tiles to the N along the river and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Granary-Settler-Archer. The ruins were: Unit upgrade-Culture-Gold-Barbs-Map. First expand to the S on the Gems and the second to the NE on the coastal hill. Third or fourth religion with Tithe/Pagodas. Three city Tradition and NC on t82 and Education on t111. I built the Oracle before NC and continued by building HG and GMoD (everything hard built). Average start because Ulundi is fantastic but the expands are mediocre.

In the midgame I continued my crazy wonderwhoring spree: I hard built Sistine, LToP and Machu Pichu and used the GE for Uffizi. I was first to Archeology and managed about 10 ruins. Then I continued with PT and Eiffel. Mind you, that Egypt was in the game and they were very strong! Both of us went Freedom and that kind of made the other Ideologies impossible to sustain. With just three cities it took forever to get the techs needed for a win though.

The endgame was about ensuring a CV. I built SoL, SOH, CNTower and Neuschwanstein, I settled two more cities in the late game, one for another Museum and one that I sold to Ramesses. I had to use FOUR GMus to secure the win on t302. SP: full Tradition, Piety opener, full Aesthetics, full Rationalism and Freedom 7. This was one of my most satisfying wins ever!

 

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 Mayans 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety challenge
43. Siam (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Patronage partial challenge
44. the Shoshone 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
45. Poland 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Honor challenge
46. the Netherlands (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Liberty challenge
47. the Aztecs 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
48. the Celts (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
49. the Zulus (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge

 

EDGE#50: Fifty shades of red
I usually have problems when I play as Austria. As long as you have a good income, you have many possibilities, but it seems to me that I am making a lot of poor choices. In this game, the start is so fantastic that I just had to try it out. You play on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Epic speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There are no self-imposed rules regarding social policies but there are many CS nearby so you have to annex at least one of them through the UA. The starting location is quite central and therefore it could be interesting to try a DomV here.

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 two tiles to the SW along the river next to the mountain and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Granary-Archer-Settlerx2. First expand five tiles to the N of Milan to hook up the Wine and the second to the NE on a hill four tiles S of La Venta. Pantheon on t6! I took Earth Mother and got the second religion on t93 with Tithe/Mosques. Oracle on t119 and 3 city NC on t135. I also built the Borobudur on t164 and Machu Picchu on t182. Education on t156.

In the midgame I used the UA to annex Ife and Kabul. I also built Sisitne (t205), PT (t254), Louvre (t270) and Big Ben (t282), so you can see where I was going with this. However, England was developing really fast and made it really difficult to go for a CV. I also had to watch out for attacks from Dido, Genghis and Washington. The surprise of the game was Venice, who ended the game on 6 cities, including Stockholm. I took Order as my Ideology and thankfully England also picked it. Venice (!) was the only one to go Authocracy.

The endgame was about ensuring a SV and fighting pointless defensive wars. I conquered La Venta and built Kremlin and HST. At the very end I was engaged in a nuclear war with Venice (we both had nukes) and they nuked Salzburg. I launched on t434 and would have needed two more turns to conquer Venice. So it was very eventful to the very end. Enjoyable game all in all. SP: full Tradition, Aesthetics 2, Commerce opener, Exploration opener, full Rationalism and Order 6.

 

EDGE#51: Darius in Wonderland
Welcome to Persia. This is so smooth, that I would consider stating that this game is a suitable challenge for gamers, who would like to take on their first Deity game. The start is among the best ever seen and most strategic resources are handily close by. There is room for several expands, but only 3-4 that are appealing enough to bother. Hurry up with the first settler though! If you want more land (not really necessary), you can take cities from your neighbours because you will rapidly overtake the AIs in techs. As an example I was second to Renaissance and first to Industrial. You play on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. There are no self-imposed rules at all, only that you have to enjoy the ride.

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 to the N and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Granary-Archer-Settler. First expand five tiles to the NE on the Silver and the second to the SW on the coast to hook up the Furs. Fifth religion, not very strong but my neighbours had decent religions so no problem. Oracle on (about) t70 and 3 city NC on t80. I reached Education on t99. Fourth cith to the NW in the desert.

In the midgame I built Sisitne (t130), LToP (t142) and PT. I also built Big Ben and Eiffel. Dido and Theodora went down and for the rest of the game we were down to 5 AIs and for a while it looked like Washington and Suleiman would become dangerous. However they started a war between themselves and drifted furher behind. I was first to Ideologies and picked Order but only Ethiopia followed. Babylon went Freedom and the rest of the pack took Authocracy. Already here I was so far ahead that a SV was almost certain.

The endgame was about ensuring a SV and getting enough science for bulbing the scientists. With only four cities it took (as usual) a loooong time. However, on t280 I finally won. Smooth game all in all. SP: full Tradition, Commerce 2, full Rationalism and Order 8.

 

Thanks again for these @Nizef. I tried this once since the GotM beat me up so bad!

 

EDGE#52: The house of cards
As with a deck of cards this one is a gamble and maybe a house of cards. Here the task is to play as the Ottomans on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The self-imposed rule is to found a religion! Given the mix of AIs, this will most certainly mean that you have to open up Piety and maybe even take Organized Religion quite early because there are no helpful NWs nearby nor is the land very well suited for pantheons. My thinking behind this was, that even though the Ottomans were successful on the battlefield for centuries, the core of the empire was turning to religion and piety for guidence.

I have also been spoiling myself (and you) with Salt starts lately, so this time I wanted a "normal" start. Combined with the need to take 1-2 points in Piety, this game is far more of a challenge than most games in this series. Actually this is quite rough. You will need to play the cards you got with great care! Doom is only one step away for much of the game! Enjoy it if you can...

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

Spoiler :

For once I started with SIP and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settler. First expand five tiles to the SE along the coast on the Spices, second to the SW to hook up the Copper and third to the W for more Spices&Truffles. Two Workers from Austria and one from a CS. Fifth religion, (just barely!) and not a very strong one (Tithe/Happiness from Gardens) and the southern neighbour had a good religion and I actually let her religion stay in the first expand but converted the rest of my cities later on. 4 city NC on t94 and I reached Education on t120! Not very impressive. I founded a fifth city to hook up Mt Sinai after NC. I did not settle the Crabs to the N though, maybe that was a mistake? Thankfully I managed to hard build both HG and GMoD. The only thing this start had going for it, was the size of the land I could claim.

The midgame was all about catching up and I was last to Renaissance, third or fourth to Industrial, second to Modern and also second to Atomic! Actually the next wonder I managed was CR (the +8 cpt is not that great for all the hammers I had to put in but I was having a hard time getting enough Culture). Babylon was teching fast and their Tourism output was huge. The distribution of SRs were strange: I had four sources of Coal but NO Aluminium NOR Oil. Thankfully I could ally myself with Bucharest for the Aluminium. The Oil had to be bought though.

The endgame was about ensuring a SV and making sure that my buddy Byzantium stayed in the game, because Babylons Tourism was 724 per turn and only Theodora could hold against it. Half of the AIs and myself went Order but we had Revolutionary Waves (-30 happiness for me) thanks to Babylons stupid Freedom. I needed most of the happiness tenets in Order + all the normal stuff + Zoos in three cities + 4 Gardens + a lot of trading with luxuries + a few Stadiums to stay in the positives. It took me until t322 to win. A poor result, but funnily enough, compared to the Netherlands game which I threw away with my mistakes, I did not feel that I could have played much better in this game. Probably I made a truck load of bad decisions early on here as well, but I think this one is just that much more of a challenge. Rough game all in all. SP: Piety 2, full Tradition, full Rationalism and Order 7.

 

EDGE#53: Rock solid
No houses of cards this time around. Here we play as Rome on an unmodded Fractal map with Standard size and Epic speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. When you have scouted around, you will notice that this map is more of a Pangaea map than "real" Pangaea maps. Actually there is only four one-tile islands on the whole map, the rest is connected! The starting position is solid and you will have a great expand near a NW. With some early land grabbing, you can mostly do your own thing if you want to but there are also some nice cities nearby if you want to go down the warpath. Enjoy!

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

Spoiler :

First I moved the settler up on the desert hill to the N, so settle t1 and then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer. First expand (t39) two tiles S of the NW, second (t64) five tiles to the S of the capital along the river and third (t88) to the W for Ivory and Dyes (between Antium and Venice). One Worker from Siam and one from a CS. Second religion on t90 (DF, Tithe, Pagodas, Plowshares and Messiah). Venice got the first one. 4 city NC on t133 and I built Oracle before that (t118). I just barely met Morocco before they were wiped out by Mongolia.

My cities were growing nicely (except for the crappy Neapolis) so catching up went according to plan and therefore I also managed to build Sisitne (t196). A few turns later I conquered Venice as a fifth city. The nearby CSs had a rough time and after Mongolia burnt one of them to the ground, I founded my fifth city to the N of Rome. So six city play until the end. After achieving parity, I was thinking about going down the warpath. However Mongolia had a blast of a game! They ended the game on 33 cities after conquering Morocco, Siam and Byzantium. All the SRs could be found inside my borders except for Aluminium.

The endgame was about ensuring a SV and keeping Genghis from attacking me. I more or less beelined for nukes and after that the endgame was smooth and uneventful for the civilized Roman empire. The rest of the world was more or less succumbing to the Mongolian hordes. Antium was great and I built BB, Kremlin and Neuschwanstein in it. Rome built PT, Eiffel and HST. At the end I won on t426. SP: full Tradition, Commerce 2, full Rationalism and Order 9.

 

EDGE#54: Central station
Let´s say it, the way it is: the starting location is crazy good, but it is not without complications. I would argue that you have five neighbours! Here the task is to play as Songhai on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. You get to play one of the more "fun" civs and you have room for 3-4 nice expands. However, you need to hurry. In my game I had to declare war in order to settle the best spot instead of the AI. I would have liked a more "normal" start and I had a promising game that ended abruptly with a 30 (!) unit invasion on the brink of Modern. So I started again and rolled this. There are no additional rules this time, only that you have to enjoy it. If you like wars, you can pick and choose here but with cunning diplomacy it is possible to stay out of it all.

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

Spoiler :

It was not very self-evident where to settle. I opted for the hill to the N. It turned out to be a good location even if it was off river. In the late game my capital was pop38 and I did not feed it more than maybe half the time! Settle t1 and then my "standard" Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settler. After scouting around I decided to prioritize cultural buildings a little more than normally. First expand to the E to hook up the Silver and the second to the SW to get the Copper and more Salt. I should have settled them in opposing order, but at the end it was fine even if I had to declare war on Morocco to get the Copper spot. 3 city NC on t88, however I built the Oracle before NC and HG afterwards. Education on t107 and I felt that I was in good shape and settled a fourth city to the S.

I reached Renaissance as second and managed to hard build Sistine and LToP and I used the GE for Globe. But then William managed the "rest" of the cultural wonders and he was also first to Industrial. I was second and reached it on t168. He went Authocracy and so did Dido. I had no choice but to follow in the same footsteps (and so did Suleiman also). I was first to Modern and used a couple of GS for early bulbing to get both Plastics and Dynamite. At that point I joined the fun and together with Dido we took down William in perhaps 15 turns or so (he was on about 10-12 cities at that point). I kept the Hague and Amsterdam for myself and Dido took most of the others. We were fast approaching Atomic though and with my skills I was pretty sure that I would not be able to clear the map, so I stopped and took the SV route to victory. This was eventful and unpredictable all the way to the finishing line, because Dido and Suleiman did not want to fight each other, and my territory was in between theirs. However no DoW ever came and so I could win a hard earned Authocracy SV on t303. Interesting game all in all. SP: full Tradition, Aesthetics 2, Commerce 2, full Rationalism and Authocracy 5.

 

Another great looking map, thanks! It will be a while before I can play, but I think I will go 1 hex NE (to have sheep in 3rd ring, still touch 3+ forest, and have more desert in range). Should be easy to get a pantheon without out building a Shrine, so crossing fingers for DF.

 

I hope you will have an interesting game. The map has a lot of potential. I don´t know if you played out EDGE#45 or not, but that is another of my recent favorites. If you would like to try something different, then I recommend EDGE#20 with Babylon. If you are in the mood for self-destruction, I could also recommend EDGE#42 with the Mayans.

 

EDGE#55: Terrace farms rock
They have had to wait for a long time for a chance to shine in this series, but when they got the chance they really showed me their potential. I am of course talking about the Incas on this unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The starting location is very good but not overpowered (and no Salt). Make sure to scout a little before you settle. I would argue that there are better moves than SIP. Anyway, this one you just have to try, it is very smooth and your cap and first expand will both be huge. From there, you can go in any direction you want. I added Spain manually into the line up, I mean, I just had to have them as an opponent in this game! Enjoy!

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 settled on the Gold on t0 and then my "standard" Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settler. First expand to the W to hook up the Cotton and the NW and the second to the SE to get the Marble. 3 city NC on t84, however I built the Oracle before NC and HG afterwards. Education on t104. I was in good shape and settled a fourth city to the N to get the Pearls. Dido did not make it very far since Assyria conquered them early.

I was fourth to Renaissance but still managed to hard build Sistine, Uffizi and PT. The progress of the AIs was very impressive, since I was third to Industrial and second to Modern. I was pushing for a CV but it turned out that Brazil was going to be the cultural powerhouse to beat. Unfortunately they were very strong in military power as well. The AIs engaged in many lengthy wars, but still got the techs as well. My neighbour Babylon was the a**hole of the game. Even if we had not been at war, he started to steal my territory with GGs. Before he could use the third one, I declared war, beelined for some military techs, got Assyria to join the fun, and started to grind through all his units. Eventually I took Akkad and Babylon.

Brazil picked Freedom and I was anyway going in that direction, so I followed. Brazil was also first to Atomic and I could only overtake him on t250! The finish was fast and furious (as it usually is with Freedom). I launched on t281 but Brazil would have needed only 20-30 turns to win a CV! Assyria was the only one that Brazil was not influential with. It did help a lot, that I bribed them to go to war (actually I had to bribe Brazil to attack Assyria and not the other way around)! At the end Cusco was pop38 and Tiwanaku pop32. I had one tile with 6 food + 2 hammers in both cities and six Terrace farms each in both cities. That is massive! Five AIs made it at least to Atomic and Brazil was in Information (and had been for a while) at the end. Interesting game all in all. SP: full Tradition, Aesthetics 2, Commerce opener, full Rationalism and Freedom 6.

 

One of my favorite Civs, I've got to try this one. I'm almost finished the latest CDG so will be able to start this afterward. I'll make my initial thoughts now though.

You say to explore a bit before settling, but I'm not good enough to do that on Deity I don't think. River, mountain has got to be good for SiP. If that spice was next to a mountain I would settle there but doesn't look like it is. Can't decide whether to move the warrior to the gold or to the spice.

 

Remember that also the Settler can move into a hill tile with just one movement point. SIP is definitely not bad, don´t worry. Maybe it was more my flatland allergy (especially for capitals) that was shining through in the comment.

 

Do You have any suggestions for the civs that you would like to see in this thread? All civs except the Iroquois have appeared at least once. They will of course get their chance at some point and I will probably continue on unmodded maps with some of the civs that only have appeared on a modded map so far. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

EDGE#56: Yellow magic woman
This one is a riddle. As you can see for yourself, it is a YASS (Yet Another Salt Start) but there is only one tile of it within the three tile radius of the starting location. Still I consider SIP to be strong here. There is room for several good expands but at least I had to forward settle my neighbours in order to get some of the spots I needed. One of my neighbours had a blast of a game and still I won easily much thanks to him. The start is good and the expands are good, still I had a slow start but even with this slow start I had a smooth game. As you can see, a lot of contradictions. Anyway, here we are playing as Russia on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. Enjoy!

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

Spoiler :

SIP. Then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settlerx2. I stole two workers from America and two from Ormus. First expand to the W for all that Salt and a coastal city. The second expand to the N on a Cocoa tile and the third... well I was going S to hook up the Copper, but Indonesia took that spot so I had to go E and settled off river near the NW on the Copper and bought the Spices on the other side of the mountain. This was, as mentioned above, a strange game: with the third expand I pretty much knew that there would be an early DoW and I beelined for Construction (got it on t61). But to my surprise it was not Washington who attacked me but Gajah. The war obviously explains in part why the start was a little slow. I killed about 10 of his units before the war was over. Anyway I managed my standard opening routine with Oracle on about t80 and a late 4 city NC on t94. Third or fourth religion (Earth Mother/Tithe/Asceticism/Plowshares/Itinerant Preachers). Education on t112 and I was not impressed with my game so far.

But then something strange happened, I was last to Medieval but third or fourth to Renaissance and first to Industrial and reached Modern about 15 turns before Washington in second place. What a turn around! I built the Sistine (and Forbidden and PT) and built my Guilds in the first expand to be able to work them early. All in all my Culture output was decent from that point onwards. Still a CV was off the table because Washington was building all the wonders. I focused on growth and Washington on expanding and fighting. Even though I was first to Industrial, it took me a while to hook up the Coal and I waited with the third Factory for a couple of turns to see what Ideology Washington picked. He went Order and I followed. This way we became BFF. After this it did not really matter what the other AIs picked, at the peak I got 7 pressure from Freedom. Later on, I had no Ideology pressure at all. Rarely has the transition to Ideologies been as smooth as this. Once again the distribution of SRs was strange: I had one source of Coal and Uranium, but three of Aluminium and no Oil at all.

The endgame was a standard SV routine and I won on t287 and at that time I was 11 techs ahead of Washington and the rest of the pack (if alive) were far behind. America had a fantastic game and they ended on 55 cities! We fought some wars together and I also took Makassar as a fifth city (you know, the Copper spot to the S that I originally had desired). SP: full Tradition, Patronage opener, Commerce opener, full Rationalism and Order 8.

 

EDGE#57: Where is my grassland?
This one has vibes from GotM175. Also here the idea is to achieve a CV. You play as India on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The starting position is nice (it is a YASS, Yet Another Salt Start) and coastal as well. Somehow the grassland bias had been dumped! All in all, this is not the kind of start you are supposed to have as Gandhi. If you also like isolated starts, this one is definitely for you. You will have a couple of nice spots for expands and if you would like more cities, I would recommend to conquer a nearby CS or two. I am sure you will like this one! Enjoy!

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

Spoiler :

SIP. Then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settler. Fifth religion (DF/Tithe/Mosques/Plowshares/IP). I stole two workers from Tyre. First expand to the S along the river to hook up the Sugar and the Citrus and second expand to the N for the Salt and a second coastal city. I stayed at war with Tyre and took it as my fourth city. That turned out to be a good call. After that it was very peaceful and I built the Oracle (as always) and 3 city NC on t90. Education on t113 but I was not worried because I had already researched Sailing and Optics. This way the coastal cities were growing fast. Eventually I also annexed Tyre.

In the midgame I noticed that I could be first to Acoustics and that way I also managed the Sistine (even if the production in Delhi was poor/average for being a capital). I continued with the Uffizi and beelined for Archeology. I got 10 antiquity sites but I had only one inside my own borders, fortunately I had scouted around properly. Even with this approach I was first to pick an Ideology and obviously I chose Freedom, before beelining for Radio. I rushed Eiffel and hard built Broadway. I found Coal near Tyre and had Oil and Aluminium in abundance. Funnily enough, I had no Horses during the entire game.

The endgame was a standard CV routine and I won on t294. Austria was the AI to beat and needed four GMus to reach victory. My cities were pop 33-30-29-25. No AI wars at all for me, even if especially Egypt was plotting a lot against me and both they and China were hostile. A nice game for CV lovers! SP: full Tradition, full Aesthetics, Exploration opener, full Rationalism and Freedom 7.

 

EDGE#58: Was ist das? Bismarck rolled the X
I was looking for a more normal start (I rolled a couple of Salt starts, which I disqualified) and rolled this partial tundra start. It is by no means a weak start but it is not as OP as some of the latest additions into this series. The map in itself is interesting since the shape of the landmass reminds a little bit of the letter X, or perhaps of a running cat or dog. You play as Germany on an unmodded Pangaea map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. You will have a nice neighbour nearby and definitely enough room to expand. It is also a little more challenging due to the placement of the CS (of course only because we play as Bismarck). I found this one to be really interesting. I think that any VC is very possible here but you need to scout around well before deciding your direction for this one (DipV probably being the most demanding). Since the start is semi-isolated, also players who like to be "safe" in the early game, will like this one. This is a good one, enjoy!

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 settled on t2 on the S side of the mountain since it was hill/river. Then Scoutx2-Shrine-Settler-Archer-Settlerx2. Fifth religion (DF/Tithe/Peace Gardens/Plowshares/IP). I stole two workers from Byzantium early. First expand coastal to the S along the river to hook up the Copper and Sugar, second expand to the NE for more Silver and the third expand near Cahokia for the Truffles. No Oracle this time, since it went on t52! Late 4 city NC on t96 and I reached Education very late on t117.

Midgame: My cities were growing nicely and I was catching up. I could not get the cultural wonders for the desired CV though. Instead I built Machu Picchu and focused on getting to Industrial. In the middle of the process Boudicca and England asked, if I cared to join an united front to take out Byzantium. I said yes, and eventually I took Constantinople. However, England took Adrianople and Valetta. That was annoying, but I was not strong enough to take on England. Instead I opted to build up a strong friendship. I think it was the first time ever, that I managed to stay friends with Elizabeth to the end, despite us being neighbours with differing Ideologies. I took Order and she went Authocracy. For a while it looked like I was loosing happiness too fast, but I put a lot of effort into the my Culture and eventually it was fine. Mongolia (also Authocracy) was the unlikely cultural forerunner for most of the game. I was second to Modern but managed to build Eiffel anyway (and also Louvre after that, since no AI took Exploration). My science output was growing nicely and I decided to found one city very deep into the game (founded Frankfurt on approx t240), mostly to enjoy all resources up in the tundra.

The endgame was a standard SV routine and I won on t295. Only Babylon, England, Mongolia and 3 CS made it to the end!! Both England and Mongolia were going to attack me, but they opted not to go ahead, when I got my first Atomic Bombs. After that it was easy. Interesting game all in all! Cities were pop 33-23-23-22-18-9 at the end. SP: full Tradition, Honor opener, Exploration opener, full Rationalism and Order 7.

 

SV T320. This is only my second Deity win ever. My only other win was with Korea. Inca are such an awesome Civ I was able to do it again. Terrace farms definitely rock!

Spoiler Victory :

My capital ended up at pop 45, that is probably the highest pop city I've ever had. I was able to keep Assyria and Babylon fighting practically the whole game. That definitely helped because a couple times I was sure Nebby was going to attack me if not for Assyria DoWing him. Brazil attacked me early but Pedro couldn't break through my mountain pass. Then later in the game he got wiped out; serves him right. Funny thing happened, Spain took Rio which was in the middle of the Brazillian empire, not sure how they did that. England also got wiped out in my game.

Spoiler How did she do that? :

Both Assyria and Babylon were close to launching their spaceship, I think each had two or three more parts. But my massive gold reserves allowed me to buy the last three parts and get the victory.

Spoiler Final map :

 

I am happy that you had such a nice journey. Incas are really one of the best as long as you have some mountains nearby. As I said cap and first expand would be huge on this map and you really showed that that is the case! Isabella actually captured the brazilian capital without taking any other cities around it??? Major oddity!

 

EDGE#59: Holy diver
Ronnie James Dio had one of the most impressive and rare voices of the rock/metal era of the 1970-80s and beyond. He is still one of my absoute favourites and I was listening to his music while playing this map. In a way, it fits the theme very well. You play as Byzantium on an unmodded Fractal map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The self-imposed rule is to found a religion, but that is something you want to do with this civ anyway. It is also easy to found, as a benchmark I got the first one. If you are going to play this one, I want you to know that I rolled approximately 100 maps and played two whole games with Theodora before I finally rolled this "holy" start. For some reason the majority of my starts are jungle starts with either Truffles or Pearls, but here I finally got a YASS (Yet Another Salt Start). The map itself is very interesting and if you have Fractal allergy: have no fear, the Malaccan Strait is included, but it is only one tile wide. The bonuses you find in the early game are nice and strong, but this is still a very tricky game. Challenge yourself to face the unusual. Enjoy!

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

Spoiler :

SIP and then a more unusual Scout-Settler-Granary-Archer-Settler-Scout-Settler. First religion (Earth Mother/Tithe/Mosques/Plowshares/IP/Feed the World). I stole four workers from Ife. First expand coastal to the NE next to Mt. Sinai, second expand to the NW for Cocoa and Gems and the third expand up N to complete my own inland sea. 4 city NC on t90 and I reached Education on t111. So far so good. Annoyingly the Netherlands got conquered early. I would have liked William as my neighbour instead of Suleiman on a war path. It was also demanding in the sense that all the warmongers were to the W (except for the unfortunate William) and the peaceful AIs were all to the E.

Midgame: My cities were growing nicely (thanks to the internal sea trade routes) and I was catching up. I managed the Sistine and the Louvre but missed out on the Uffizi. Gandhi had a fantastic game and he also made it impossible to reach the desired CV. He was first to Renaissance, Industrial, Modern and Atomic! Because of his culture, I had to wait with Ideologies until he picked Freedom. I followed and never had any pressure from other Ideologies for the entire end game. I constantly had to bribe Suleiman to fight and it costed me a fortune. Annoyingly there was no Coal and no Uranium. Coal was actually a problem and I could only build ONE factory all game!

The endgame was a tight race between my spaceship and Gandhi´s culture. I won on t306. Suleiman finally attacked me in the Information era, but I built some Infantry, Bombers and Battleships and was able to defend myself just fine and eventually I could liberate Kiev. Instead of taking his cities, he offered such a great peace deal (gave me 99 gpt), which in fact secured my win, since I could buy the last spaceship parts. Very entertaining and demanding!. SP: full Tradition, Aesthetics 4, Exploration opener, full Rationalism and Freedom 6.