[BNW] Enjoyable Deity Games

[Nizef]

EDGE#89: All that land, part 2
Welcome to the "midsummer special". This one has a great map that makes it possible to expand. However, there are not so many unique luxuries. Anyway, you have a lot of land that rightfully is yours. The task is to play as the Ottomans on an unmodded Continents map with Large size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The starting position is a great Salt start and even if you don´t believe it, the starting position might connect to the ocean. Is there a gibraltaresque strait? I am sure you will like this one. Enjoy!

There is a short recap of my second game behind the spoiler.

Spoiler :

SIP and Scoutx2-Shrine-Granary-Settlerx3. 4 city NC on t93 and Education as late as t116. I founded a fifth afterwards. I stole two workers from Polynesia early and one from a CS. Participated in an early war against Mongolia without much action but liberated Tyre with the help of Polynesia. Siam and France both took cities of Genghis and he was pretty much out of it by t120. Fifth religion with Earth Mother/Tithe/Mosques/Plowshares/Messiah.

I was late to Renaissance and fifth to Industrial. Once again Russia was the forerunner in Science and also Siam was very strong. Siam went Freedom and I decided to follow, which turned out to be a decent move. Polynesia went Order and so did Russia. Napoleon took Authocrac(z)y and I used this by sponsoring some wars. Eventually France had a bad time as Russia and Siam ganged up on them.

Russia was first all the way to Information but this time I managed to build HST and this was decisive. There were wars all over the place beyond t300, but eventually I launched on t318. Russia would have needed less than 10 turns to finish and Siam´s CV was stopped only by Russia. SP: full Liberty, Commerce 2, full Rationalism and Freedom 8. The only I regret is that I didn´t engage in naval warfare as much as I had hoped.

 

[Nizef]

Here is a recap of the games in the Enjoyable Deity Games Experience (EDGE) series so far in 2020, (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
50. Austria (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
51. Persia (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
52. the Ottomans (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge
53. Rome (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
54. Songhai (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
55. the Incas (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
56. Russia 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
57. India 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge
58. Germany 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
59. Byzantium 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge
60. the Iroquois (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge
61. America 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge
62. Sweden 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Petra challenge
63. Morocco 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial Commerce challenge
64. England 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial UN challenge
65. Portugal 2 (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial elimination challenge
66. Egypt 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
67. Polynesia 3 (Archipelago, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
68. Sweden 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
69. Germany 4 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded), War academy, part 1, DomV challenge
70. the Huns 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 2
71. Spain 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded)
72. Denmark 2 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used)
73. Venice 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DipV challenge
74. Carthage 3 (Hellblazer´s Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Hellblazer´s map script), CV challenge
75. China 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 3, DomV challenge
76. Mongolia 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 4
77. Brazil 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
78. the Shoshone 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
79. Assyria 2 (Terra Incognita, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used)
80. Indonesia 2 (Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Liberty challenge
81. Portugal 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
82. Japan 2 (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Order challenge
83. Persia 2 (Random map, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
84. the Netherlands 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
85. Denmark 3 (Tiny Islands, Standard speed, Large size, Raging Barbarians, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used)
86. America 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), No Tradition challenge
87. the Incas 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
88. Korea 4 (Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
89. the Ottomans 2 (Continents map, Large size, Unmodded)

 

[RuntyBassoon143]

EDG #88
Game keeps crashing after turn 178. Currently 31 turns from finishing Particle Physics, at which point I will buy the last spaceship part. In 4 turns I will generate a GS and then purchase another GS for 1000 faith. The world hates each other, but Inca and Japan are friends with me.

Spoiler Recap :

Settled in place. Met Kathmandu and got the first pantheon. Considered taking God of the Sea, but with no natural faith generation opted for God King because I did not expect to found and figured the extra hammers from fishing boats would not last long. Early game exploring did not reveal any promising spots south or east, especially with France settling cities aggressively. For my cities I prioritized early hammers over growth to get external trade routes up for +5 and +4 science from Troyes then lighthouse, stoneworks, and stables. After National College, switched to internal trade routes (feeding Busan first) and kept culture low to open Renaissance after finishing Tradition and then started working writer and artist specialists. Finish Education after which I immediately signed 3 research agreements. And was able to renew with 2 of them and 1 new. Religions still available and quickly built Hagia Sophia. Chose Tithe and Religious Community, enhanced later with Swords to Plowshares and Messiah (3rd prophet spreads to Busan and 2 City States for quests). From there just followed standard SV strategy (public schools, Freedom with specialist tenets, research labs, GE to rush Hubble). Nobody ever threatened me as they were all at war with each other. Assyria could not be bribed into DoWing the Inca, who eventually became my Autocracy attack-dog. France hated Russia but got jumped by Japan and Inca on two fronts. Rome hated Japan, Russia killed Siam early. Overall very smooth game: added specialist buildings as population grew to immediately fill them, generated huge amounts of cash with external trade routes and merchant specialists. /SPOILER]

 

[Nizef]

EDG #88
Game keeps crashing after turn 178. Currently 31 turns from finishing Particle Physics, at which point I will buy the last spaceship part. In 4 turns I will generate a GS and then purchase another GS for 1000 faith. The world hates each other, but Inca and Japan are friends with me.

That´s sounds annoying. I don´t know what to say, the game is unmodded after all. However, I was happy to read that your game is going well. For some reason Russia has been trolling me big time lately, as in this game also.

 

[penguin74]

OK, I am now obsessed with 86. Im about to try my 4th go at it, and it's frustrating the heck out of me.

Spoiler :

1st game, I didnt build up enough units, and Genghis ran over me. 2nd try I made sure to defend myself, but fell so far behind Korea in science, I didnt think id ever recover. And Shaka was doing Shaka things, so that would be a mess to deal with. 3rd try I balanced science and military better, but Alex had firmly allied the whole world, and I didnt see anyway to stop him winning a diplo V. Called it quits when my happiness tanked due to not being in autocracy.

Not really sure what I'll do different this time. I'm having gold issues all the time and even with a decent religion, still have a hard time. If I cant make it this time, I'll try the Ottomans.

 

[beetle]

OK, I am now obsessed with 86. Im about to try my 4th go at it, and it's frustrating the heck out of me.

I tried this game since the early comments gave the me the impression it was a more-or-less casual Deity game. I did not find that to be the case at all! I lost by SV T347 and have been trying to think what I would do differently to try again.

1st game, I didn't build up enough units... 2nd try I made sure to defend myself, but fell so far behind [snip] in science, I didn't think i'd ever recover... 3rd try I balanced science and military better... Called it quits when my happiness tanked due to not being in autocracy. Not really sure what I'll do different this time. I'm having gold issues all the time and even with a decent religion, still have a hard time. If I cant make it this time, I'll try the Ottomans.

How far back have you rewound the games? Do you think you might settle different? I am also struggling with gold and an Autocracy SV. I think the main handicap I gave myself was one or two more expos than was optimal. So my next try will probably be rewinding quite a bit, probably before NC.

 

[raider980]

I tried this game since the early comments gave the me the impression it was a more-or-less casual Deity game. I did not find that to be the case at all! I lost by SV T347 and have been trying to think what I would do differently to try again.

Spoiler :

1st game, I didnt build up enough units, and Genghis ran over me. 2nd try I made sure to defend myself, but fell so far behind Korea in science, I didnt think id ever recover. And Shaka was doing Shaka things, so that would be a mess to deal with. 3rd try I balanced science and military better, but Alex had firmly allied the whole world, and I didnt see anyway to stop him winning a diplo V. Called it quits when my happiness tanked due to not being in autocracy.

How far back have you rewound the games? Do you think you might settle different? I am also struggling with gold and an Autocracy SV. I think the main handicap I gave myself was one or two more expos than was optimal. So my next try will probably be rewinding quite a bit, probably before NC.

I wonder if the biggest difference is how the AI's interact with each other.

Spoiler :

In my game, Atilla and Shaka both were against Alex so that kept him in check. Atilla also basically made Napoleon irrelevant early. And Atilla also kept harassing Korea so he couldn't run away in science. So I wonder if a strong Mongol Empire is key to this game - and staying friendly with him at any cost. I kept trade routes and lux trades up with Atilla. And I basically gave Atilla anything he wanted when he asked even if it was not really in my best interest except to make him like me.

 

[raider980]

Finished Edge 67 Polynesia. SV T349.

Another fun one. I like Archipelago maps. And Polynesia is a fun civ to try a cultural victory. I almost had a CV too. I just needed a little more time. There were Moai as far as the eye could see. I think if I'd have started converting land to Moai sooner I would have had it.

Spoiler :

I settled in place to found Honolulu on a nice river next to plentiful deer. While exploring I saw that my home island was part of a nice three island group with plenty of luxuries, fish other sea resources. Plus, very nice coastlines for Moai. The only problem was that the western edge of the far island was just across a narrow strait from Mongolia's home island with Karakorum a missle launch away. I decided to risk it and sent my second settler to found Tonga in a prime location on the western shores of the far island to set my borders. Luckily, Atilla didn't fare too well on this Archipelago world and was never a threat.

• T50 Settled second city on home island.
• T75 Settled Tonga
• T91 & T115 Settled 4th and 5th cities.
• T165 Settled a not too great city on home island to secure it from any other civs.

SP were Full Liberty, Full Rationalism, Full Aesthetics (finished this late) and 6 in Order. I was going to go Freedom to get 2 free tenets but Sweden had already taken Order and I figured most other AI would too. So I went Order for to avoid the ideological pressure since at that time I was behind in tourism.

It was a peaceful game for me. I was not in a single war. Although I don't know why Dido never attacked me, she went Autocracy and was attacking everyone - and I barely built any army until the very end of the game.

Spoiler My military is puny :

I was going for a CV but was building the spaceship as a backup. I had one spaceship part sitting in Honolulu for a while to see if I could get the CV. I was close, I was influential with 3 civs and popular and gaining with the other 3. But then Gustov build the Spaceship Engine on T348 so I got worried he would win so I finished my spaceship and got the safe SV.

Spoiler SV T349 :

Spoiler Moai island :

I went back and played it from the turn before I won to see if I would have gotten the CV. I wouldn't have - Dido launched her spaceship well before I could win the CV.

Spoiler My Culture at Dido win T358 :

 

[Nizef]

Finished Edge 67 Polynesia. SV T349. Another fun one. I like Archipelago maps. And Polynesia is a fun civ to try a cultural victory. I almost had a CV too. I just needed a little more time. There were Moai as far as the eye could see. I think if I'd have started converting land to Moai sooner I would have had it.

Funny that you won on the same exact turn as I did, even though I went for a CV. It sounds like you liked the islands to the W and so did I. Was this now your fourth Deity win? Anyway, nice report once again!

 

[raider980]

Funny that you won on the same exact turn as I did, even though I went for a CV. It sounds like you liked the islands to the W and so did I. Was this now your fourth Deity win? Anyway, nice report once again!

I did notice that when I read your writeup. I should have started Moai sooner and I also didn't have the wonders you did. When did you start building Moai or were you building them all along?

Yep, my fourth Deity win, I'm on a roll. I started the Ottoman game, I think my streak may be broken, even though there's land, like you said, luxes are an issue - and they're spaced out so that you can't get what you want in one city.

 

[Nizef]

EDGE#90: What is your Camel to Coal ratio?
We haven´t had a game with this civ all year, so I thought we needed one. The task is to play as Arabia on an unmodded Lakes map with Standard size and Standard speed. QC and QM are turned on and all VCs are enabled as usual. The starting position is a great Salt start but since this is a Lakes map there are not that many natural spots for expands. I would say that 2-3 expands seems logical, but you are welcome to prove me wrong. Enjoy!

I played according to HOF rules and submitted my win. There is a short recap behind the spoiler.

Spoiler :

SIP and Scoutx2-Shrine-Granary-Settlerx2. 3 city NC on t81 and Education on t105. I built some Camel Archers afterwards and took Jakarta afterwards as my fourth core city. However, for a (former) capital it was not very good. Third religion with Earth Mother/Tithe/Pagodas/Plowshares/IP.

Into the Renaissance things were otherwise looking okay, but my expands were smallish and thus I did not get the science going as I would have liked. After Indonesia also Babylon was killed. Russia was up to 12 cities very early and once more I feared a runaway. Polynesia was also doing well while Sejong had a bad day at the office. William took Busan very early on and Korea never really came back from that, finishing the game on just one city. I had no Coal and thus I had to wait for the AIs to get some. This meant that I was only fourth to Ideologies (two going Order and one Authocracy) picking Freedom. Eventually Korea also followed but I still had revolutionary waves all the way to the end of the game, having 37 unhippeness from Ideologies. I barely managed to stay in the positives.

The endgame was eventful. I had a close race with Russia for a SV and they were also dominating the cultural sphere. I figured I need some more cities and started a war against Polynesia and took two decent cities. At the very end we also had a second war, this time with nukes but I didn´t go for any cities. At the end I won a SV on t310. I think I played the first and the last third reasonably well, but the midgame was not good. Russia would have needed about 10-15 turns to finish. SP: full Tradition, Commerce 2, full Rationalism and Freedom 8.

 

[Nizef]

I did notice that when I read your writeup. I should have started Moai sooner and I also didn't have the wonders you did. When did you start building Moai or were you building them all along?

I started very early in my first expand (E of Honolulu) but after that my construction pace was not the greatest, I prioritized growth and production above culture. Also settling some expands only after NC, made this game slower than necessary. I also played much too fast, missing things here and there. However, I liked the map a lot.

 

[beetle]

I wonder if the biggest difference is how the AI's interact with each other.

Definitely a huge factor!

Spoiler :

In my game, Atilla and Shaka both were against Alex so that kept him in check. Atilla also basically made Napoleon irrelevant early. And Atilla also kept harassing Korea so he couldn't run away in science. So I wonder if a strong Mongol Empire is key to this game - and staying friendly with him at any cost. I kept trade routes and lux trades up with Atilla. And I basically gave Atilla anything he wanted when he asked even if it was not really in my best interest except to make him like me.

A strong and friendly Attila is key. In my games, Shaka and Attila basically each have half the world. Napoleon kept Paris though. Alex was killed off without any shenanigans from me.

Another fun one. I like Archipelago maps. And Polynesia is a fun civ to try a cultural victory. I almost had a CV too. I just needed a little more time. There were Moai as far as the eye could see. I think if I'd have started converting land to Moai sooner I would have had it.

Agreed, another fun map. I started on the Moai early, but was not at all close to CV. OTOH, I did not open Aesthetics. It would be fun to try running this map peaceful!

 

[RuntyBassoon143]

That´s sounds annoying. I don´t know what to say, the game is unmodded after all. However, I was happy to read that your game is going well. For some reason Russia has been trolling me big time lately, as in this game also.

I've had this happen on other saves too. It started after updating to Catalina.

I was surprised when you said this game was the roughest in the whole series. I was trying for sub T200, and likely would have just missed based on my current tech rate. I definitely could have shaved a few turns spending gold more aggressively and got lazy managing my specialists which cost me a GS.

Thanks for continuing to post these games.

 

[mbbcam]

I wonder if the biggest difference is how the AI's interact with each other.

I have often played a Continents map three or four times, and what happens on the other Continent can be startlingly different on different run-throughs. All the way from a certain AI being eliminated before I can get to Caravels, right up to that same AI being dominant in the whole game.

 

[Nizef]

I was surprised

Yes, you are right. I should probably be more cautious with stating easiest/most difficult etc. The more correct definition is that it was one of MY worst games in the series. Everything I tried just failed and Russia once again had a blast of a game. EDGE#42, #65 and #66 seem to offer above average difficulty and also #69, #72 and #86 might be worthwhile checking out for the same reason.

 

[Nizef]

I had another swing at EDGE72 with Denmark and won a SV on t307. Eventful game, going to war against Venice, Byzantium, Songhai and the Zulus respectively.

 

[penguin74]

I tried this game since the early comments gave the me the impression it was a more-or-less casual Deity game. I did not find that to be the case at all! I lost by SV T347 and have been trying to think what I would do differently to try again.

How far back have you rewound the games? Do you think you might settle different? I am also struggling with gold and an Autocracy SV. I think the main handicap I gave myself was one or two more expos than was optimal. So my next try will probably be rewinding quite a bit, probably before NC.

I tried this game since the early comments gave the me the impression it was a more-or-less casual Deity game. I did not find that to be the case at all! I lost by SV T347 and have been trying to think what I would do differently to try again.

How far back have you rewound the games? Do you think you might settle different? I am also struggling with gold and an Autocracy SV. I think the main handicap I gave myself was one or two more expos than was optimal. So my next try will probably be rewinding quite a bit, probably before NC.

Turn 317 loss to Korea on try #4. Gotta move on, cant do this again.

No idea how to keep Genghis a friend early on without giving up on good expansion spots. fought them off early without falling too far behind, but could not get him to fight Korea, they stayed friends the whole time. I was actually still close tech wise around the 50-55% range, but then somehow the AI snowballed and pulled away, which usually never happens late game. Even with great scientists, RA's and some stolen techs I could never catch up.

what's funny is that it wasn't just Korea. Shaka and Sweden were right there, and Shaka had half the world. I actually had 2 screenshots saved, but somehow lost all my save files last night, so cant. One would have been the wotrld map. Shaka was literally everywhere, he had at least 50% of the map. Monty had 1 city left, Genghis had falled way off, England only had a small area, they were on the verge of going. Alex and Assyria were gone totally.

The other screenshot I wanted to post I had never seen before. I knew I was probably going to lose, but I thought I could make it close. I had 2 GE's saved to finish spaceship parts, and was about 12-15 turns away from finishing the ones I was building, so I needed maybe 17-20 more turns. On turn 317, right before the game ended, I looked at the victory progress tab, and it showed Korea, Shaka and Sweden ALL had finished 6 parts, so it was just a matter of who launched first. I can only guess they were built in other cities besides the capital or someone would have launched the turn before.

I had tried going to war with Korea late to stall them, and bribed Shaka to go after Korea and Sweden, which they did happily, but it was too late. Gonna try a different one now, dont really know what I could do differently.

 

[raider980]

Edge 72, Denmark. Lost T198 by total destruction.

Spoiler :

I thought I was doing ok right up until the joint DoW from Venice and the Songhai. I even thought I could recover from that after losing one city to Venice. That's when Byzantium attacked with a massive force.

I got 3 cities up in good time. Good luxuries, a natural wonder and decent food and production so all seemed good. I should have built an additional city down by the dye SW of Copenhagen but all that tundra scared me away.

I went for the standard XBow path, which turned out to be a mistake; it takes too long. I have since read that with Denmark catapults to trebs is the way to go because its on the path of Berzerkers. I also should have went after the obvious targets that would align with my UA. But I was friends with Theodora so I decided not to do that; it turned out to be a mistake.

But my biggest mistake was something that I thought was an awesome stroke of genius at the time. Sweden was down to one city - the CS Sydney. So I figured I'd kill off Sweden and liberate a CS at the same time thus avoiding the diplo penalty for taking a Civ's last city. I assume that is incorrect and I got the massive penalty for killing off Sweden. That's the only explanation I can think of for both of my friends Theodora and Enrico suddenly turning on me.

Comparing my map to yours Nizef, I should have built Kaupang where you did, it would have been much more defensible but I got greedy and wanted that second fur and cows. I might have been able to hold off Venice but I still would have lost when Byzantium attacked; she had such an overwhelming force.

Denmark's UA requires more thought than others so I didn't grasp it during this game but I think it could be real fun. I'm going to try Edge 85 with Denmark. Tiny islands should be more favorable to the UA than lakes/seas.

Spoiler Map T150. Just after liberating Sydney and simultaneously killing off Sweden :

Spoiler Map T198. The Fall of Copenhagen :

 

[beetle]

I looked at the victory progress tab, and it showed Korea, Shaka and Sweden ALL had finished 6 parts, so it was just a matter of who launched first. I can only guess they were built in other cities besides the capital or someone would have launched the turn before.

I have seen this a (very) few times, but I am not sure what allows for the circumstances. I am 99% sure AI parts display (in the victory progress scree) only once they are added, not just built, and if that is the case — it is a significant bug.

EDGe 86 took me three tries more-or-less from scratch, but I think maybe because of the No Tradition Challenge.

First game I pissed off the nearest neighbor by settling the sweet 3-Salt tile five hexes from his cap. Big mistake!

Second game I was much more modest, but not aggressive enough, and lost by SV on T347 (the science-oriented civ had been eliminated, but I was taking too long).

Third game my expansion timings were much better, but my game was still not fast. I did 4 city NC (T113) then 4 more cities asap after that for Oxford on T219. I tried following Shaka into Autocracy, but happy was -38. So reload to be Fifth to Order, and a pretty straightforward (but slow and late) SV game. I did get Kremlin and Hubble, and only used GE for one part. I won by SV on T343, Shaka had 5 parts.

So I figured I'd kill off Sweden and liberate a CS at the same time thus avoiding the diplo penalty for taking a Civ's last city. I assume that is incorrect and I got the massive penalty for killing off Sweden. That's the only explanation I can think of for both of my friends Theodora and Enrico suddenly turning on me.

Liberating Sydney significantly reduced your warmonger penalty. You did not get a warmonger for killing off Sweden. Your “friends” DOW'd you because you did not have enough units. I think you should go back to T150 (or maybe a little earlier) and build nothing but the UU until you have at least six of them. Turtle until you unlock Astronomy and get 4 move while embarked. My guess is that it’s Songhai who has it out for you, and he asked Theodora or Enrico to join him with DOWing you (and since your military was so weak, they agreed). The other thing to try is bribing Songhai to DOW your “friends”.

Denmark's UA requires more thought than others so I didn't grasp it during this game but I think it could be real fun. I'm going to try Edge 85 with Denmark. Tiny islands should be more favorable to the UA than lakes/seas.

I agree that Edge85 is easier than Edge72, mostly since the AIs are even worse at naval combat than land warfare. I did get a Domination VC from both maps, but both were late (~T350). With Edge85 though, none of the AI were close to SV.

EDGE#90: What is your Camel to Coal ratio? ... We haven´t had a game with this civ all year, so I thought we needed one.

I could not get anywhere with CA, very sorry to say. First play through I lost by SV T314.

The task is to play as Arabia on an unmodded Lakes map with Standard size and Standard speed.

I was very disappointed to find that two AIs (because of the map type) were without their UA. Nevertheless, I didn’t like the loss, so I reloaded back to NC and didn’t try to do anything with the UU. I got a pretty straightforward, albeit slower than usual, Freedom SV on T332. Only bought one part.