[BNW] Enjoyable Deity Games

[beetle]

@mbbam, it Sounds like your Honor games go like mine! Tradition-Honor-Autocracy is something I can make work (sometimes). HCA at Deity, no so much. OTOH, Dom VC without Clauswitz would not be so much fun.

 

[mbbcam]

@beetle I'm glad it's not just me!

We really need @consentient to give some advice -- though he has already given as much as one could reasonably expect from anyone!

 

[Nizef]

Here is a recap of all games in the Enjoyable Deity Games Experience (EDGE) series so far:

1. Korea (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 1
2. the Shoshone (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Really Advanced Setup (RAS)), Page 1
3. America (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
4. Denmark (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
5. Byzantium (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS). Page 3
6. Germany (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
7. Polynesia (Small Continents Plus, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 4
8. Brazil (Continents, Standard speed, Large size, Modded with RAS), Page 4
9. Mongolia (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 4
10. Spain (Terra, Standard speed, Large size, Modded with RAS), Page 5
11. Carthage (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 5
12. the Aztecs (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 5
13. England (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
14. Korea 2 (Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
15. Venice (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
16. Egypt (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
17. the Huns (Oval, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
18. Japan (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 6
19. China (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
20. Babylon (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
21. Polynesia 2 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
22. Korea 3 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
23. Russia (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
24. Portugal (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
25. France (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
26. Germany 2 (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
27. England 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
28. Sweden (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
29. Arabia (Sandstorm, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
30. the Mayans (Tectonics map, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with both RAS and the Tectonics map template), Page 8
31. Ethiopia (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
32. Assyria (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
33. Poland (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 8
34. India (Pangaea, Standard speed, Small size, Modded with RAS), Page 8
35. the Aztecs 2 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Hellblazers map script), Page 8
36. Morocco (Sandstorm, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
37. Babylon 2 (Large Islands, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
38. Spain 2 (Inland Sea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
39. Greece (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
40. Carthage 2 (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
41. Indonesia (Archipelago, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
42. the Mayans 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety challenge, Page 9
43. Siam (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Patronage partial challenge, Page 9
44. the Shoshone 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 9
45. Poland 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Honor challenge, Page 9
46. the Netherlands (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Liberty challenge, Page 10
47. the Aztecs 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 10
48. the Celts (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 10
49. the Zulus (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge, Page 11
50. Austria (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
51. Persia (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
52. the Ottomans (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 11
53. Rome (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
54. Songhai (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
55. the Incas (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
56. Russia 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
57. India 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 11
58. Germany 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
59. Byzantium 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 11
60. the Iroquois (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge, Page 12
61. America 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 12
62. Sweden 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Petra challenge, Page 12
63. Morocco 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial Commerce challenge, Page 12
64. England 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial UN challenge, Page 12
65. Portugal 2 (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial elimination challenge, Page 12
66. Egypt 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 12
67. Polynesia 3 (Archipelago, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 13
68. Sweden 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 13
69. Germany 4 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded), War academy, part 1, DomV challenge, Page 13
70. the Huns 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 2, Page 13
71. Spain 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded), Page 13
72. Denmark 2 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 13
73. Venice 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DipV challenge, Page 13
74. Carthage 3 (Hellblazer´s Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Hellblazer´s map script), CV challenge, Page 13
75. China 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 3, DomV challenge, Page 14
76. Mongolia 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 4, Page 14
77. Brazil 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 15
78. the Shoshone 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 15
79. Assyria 2 (Terra Incognita, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 15
80. Indonesia 2 (Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Liberty challenge, Page 16
81. Portugal 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 16
82. Japan 2 (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Order challenge, Page 16
83. Persia 2 (Random map, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 16
84. the Netherlands 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 17
85. Denmark 3 (Tiny Islands, Standard speed, Large size, Raging Barbarians, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 17
86. America 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), No Tradition challenge, Page 18
87. the Incas 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 18
88. Korea 4 (Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 19
89. the Ottomans 2 (Continents, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 20
90. Arabia 2 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 20
91. Ethiopia 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Pantheon challenge, Page 21
92. Greece 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 21
93. France 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 21
94. Siam 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded),Incense challenge, Page 22
95. Byzantium 3 (Continents, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 22
96. England 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 23
97. Sweden 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 24
98. Babylon 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 24
99. the Zulus 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 24
100. Germany 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 25
101. Brazil 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 25
102. Austria 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 26
103. England 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, modded with RAS and Acken´s balance mod), Page 27
104. the Celts 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 27
105. Rome 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 28
106. Songhai 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 28
107. Poland 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 29
108. Russia 3 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 29
109. China 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 30
110. the Aztecs 4 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 30
111. the Shoshone 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
112. Korea 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
113. the Mayans 3 (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
114. Assyria 3 (Continents, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded), Partial domination challenge, Page 33
115. Japan 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 33
116. Egypt 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 33
117. India 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 33
118. Germany 6 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 34
119. the Zulus 3 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 34
120. Carthage 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 34
121. Ethiopia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety and CV challenge, Page 34
122. the Mayans 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 35
123. the Ottomans 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 37
124. the Aztecs 5 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 38
125. Mongolia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 39
126. Spain 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
127. America 4 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), SV challenge, Page 40
128. Egypt 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
129. Morocco 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
130. the Huns 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 42
131. Indonesia 3 (Tiny Islands, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 45
132. the Incas 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded, Raging Barbarians), Page 46
133. Siam 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 46
134. Arabia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 47
135. Persia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 47
136. Spain 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 48
137. Greece 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 49
138. Ethiopia 4 (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 49
139. Ethiopia 5 (Earth, Standard speed, Huge size, Modded with Y(n)AEMP map pack, 21 AIs on the map), Page 50
140. the Mayans 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 50
141. Byzantium 4 (Fractal, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 51
142. Denmark 4 (Fractal, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 52
143. Venice 3 (Shuffle, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 52
144. the Celts 3 (Shuffle, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 52
145. the Shoshone 5 (Shuffle, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 52
146. Austria 3 (Shuffle, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 52

The subseries MIDGE consists of:
1. Finland (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Finland), Page 26
2. The Papal States (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is The Papal States. You also need Austria-Hungary.), Page 27
3. Phoenisia (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is the Phoenician civilization.), Page 27
4. Norway (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Norway. You also need the modded civs Finland, Iceland and Scotland.), Page 29
5. Belgium (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Belgium), Page 30
6. Tibet (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Tibet), Page 49

 

[vadalaz]

To turn 155 in #142, not sure I have the patience to continue

Spoiler :

Casimir has been super annoying: Himeji, Great Wall and Red Fort, one-turning Winged Hussars, Rifling and Industrialization by ~T147 and he's also been buying all the CSs.



It's a shame the game went this way, really. There's very good synergy here with Sofia's Kris Swordsmen and Denmark's Berserkers. I have two Berserkers with Restlessness. With Blitz they'd have 4 moves and 3 attacks!

Getting the impression that no bribes favors turtling too much. Maybe this one was just bad RNG though.

 

[Mizzenmast]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum. I have been playing Civ 5 for a couple years and following this thread for a few months. There are some great players and discussion on here, and I love to see the parallel timelines between everyone's games. I have tried a few maps but was running into issues with EUI and file bloat, many thanks to vadalaz's recent unbloater link. (No one here seems to use EUI but if anyone out there is having problems with EUI and these games, just replace the latest beta with the earlier version!) With that addressed I decided to try the Shoshone Shuffle game #145, I've played to turn 126. My account is fairly detailed but I personally like when write-ups go into the nitty-gritty, so hopefully there are others who feel the same.

Spoiler :

I fumbled my first moves, went with it, and didn’t settle until Turn 7, although I liked the final spot. It grabbed Old Faithful from the nearby CS for happiness & observatory, had many forests, and was 3 tiles from England’s city of York! I planned to steal workers from her ASAP, then befriend her through an early trade route. Opening techs were mining, Animal Husbandry, Bronze Working, Pottery.

T8: Polynesia scouts me. I start war with England with a worker steal.
T12: Take tradition opener via culture ruin.
T18: Find my 2nd ruin, take the bowman upgrade, bring it back to harass England.
T31: Make peace with England and sell my embassy for gold, my caravan is almost done. I only got 1 worker and a warrior kill.
T34: To my surprise, I find a ruin close to my capital, and take the pantheon.
T35: I notice England has sent me a trade route back, a good sign. I have to pick my pantheon and it takes a long time to decide what is best. I scan the map and decide to make a bold settle in England’s jungles and take Sacred Path for it over Sun God, I want the border expansion and fast policies. I am mixing Tradition and Liberty this game. On the off chance I get a religion, I will found it in this jungle city.
T36: I give England a free Salt, I would like to secure a friendship before my forward settler arrives.
T40: England has a catapult, I take that as a sign that she needs a plaything as well if she is to befriend me. (Our peace treaty also ends in 1 turn...) So I pay her 11gpt to war Polynesia.
T45: Te-Moak is founded and makes a juicy initial claim, but unfortunately England has grabbed the third banana already. I may conquer her later. The city is weak, but it will be OK if I station rough terrain-bonus’d units on the surrounding jungles. I take the Liberty +1 production policy, usually skipworthy, since all 4 of my expos will be flatland. I am switching between available techs now to keep the caravan science high, I mainly need Monuments and units, as I am in a precarious defensive position.
T49: My third city goes on this grassland. It blocks all further settlement in that area and will allow for a sea trade route with my next expo later on.

T52: I rescue a Bratislavan worker and keep it.
T53: I crazily find more ruins near Bratislava and take the Prophet!! I will soon have an alliance with a faith-state which will hopefully take me to an unexpected religion with some late shrines.
T61: I have settled my fourth and fifth city, remarkably I don’t get any reckless expander modifiers (that they’re showing). (Yes that Pathfinder died next turn, he sacrificed himself to maintain the empire’s happiness.)

T74: I win a culture quest from Byblos; I am doing pretty well with the City states and I am generating a lot of jungle culture in my southern expos. I have renewed the free Salt to Elizabeth to try to keep the peace, since I am shirking defenses to get food buildings and now shrines. I take Legalism for 4 amphitheaters.
T78: I have managed to retain peace long enough for the treaty between my neighbors to expire. I pay Elizabeth 16gpt to war Kamehameha again. I will stop selling iron to her next turn, hopefully putting her swordsmen in the red.
T83: I finally get my Prophet. However, only 1 more religion can be founded so I would be taking a massive risk waiting 8 turns for him to get to my jungle city. But, England also has a religion with Pagodas, so I won’t be crushed if my Prophet ends up being a Holy Site somewhere. I send him off.
T85: I meet Washington, get his Ivory.
T89: Finish Writer’s Guild and work it ASAP as I take Landed Elite.
T90: I get very lucky and am able to found a religion in my jungle city. I am certainly thinking to go for a Cultural Victory at this point. I take Tithe and the Hermitage bonus. I’m not going to spread it, and on Deity I think that’s the best belief if you only have your holy city, for any victory type. I will further decline to enhance when I get my 2nd prophet; he is going to be all-purpose, working as a missionary to my other jungle city, an inquisitor there, and a backup copy of my religion if my Holy city falls to passive pressure (which I am anticipating in the mid-late game). Meanwhile Elizabeth builds Colossus, her first juicy wonder.
T92: Find France.
T94: Find Aztecs. They have gone defensive this game with Terracotta & Great Wall.
T100: Enter Medieval through Theology, start a garden in my capital right away.
T103: I ally Kyzyl through my 2nd consecutive Natural wonder quest for them! I’ve never had that happen before.
T104: I receive a joint declaration of war from England and Polynesia... I am not sure I’ll keep my expo, but I did build some units, and they seem to have small armies. I instantly lose 2 Caravans.
T109: The war is going well. Kam brought 0 units at first, clearly England had suggested the idea. However her army was weak and her swordsmen lacked my iron. I killed her initial force and went on to harass her with Composites. I captured a missionary of hers to spread Pagodas to my northernmost cities.
T115: France offers friendship after I send him a cargo ship. He is building a nice capital. I sell off 2 unique luxuries and borrow some gold to make 250g gifts to my 2 fading culture allies. My first spy will steal in just 7 turns from Washington.
T117: Washington offers friendship after I send him a cargo ship.
T119: Finish Tradition with my 9th policy
T122: Steal Education as I finish Civil Service
T126: I talk to Elizabeth and see says the end is near, although in reality I am completely broke for upgrades and my Composite Bowmen would not be able to take even one of her cities. She is offering York, in which she has just built the Great Mosque. I take it happily, but am a little bewildered when it has no Mosque! Is there a rule that religious buildings aren’t transferred in deals? Hopefully she will be friendly now and build Big Ben for me later. I will continue to train against Polynesia.

Here is my empire the turn of acquisition, I will be unhappy for a while and I am going to take the time to improve and work some mines and catch up on infrastructure. I actually have not built a library in MK yet, and am about to delay it further for my Artists' Guild :} But it is worthwhile to linger in the early eras anyway for faith purchases. 24 of my 97 science is from cargo ships.

Social Policies:

Tradition opener
Liberty, Worker, +1 production
Garrison bonus, Amphitheaters, Capital Growth, Capital happiness, Wonder%​

Next will be the Aesthetics opener, then road happiness.

To turn 155 in #142, not sure I have the patience to continue

Spoiler :

Casimir has been super annoying: Himeji, Great Wall and Red Fort, one-turning Winged Hussars, Rifling and Industrialization by ~T147 and he's also been buying all the CSs.

View attachment 598409

It's a shame the game went this way, really. There's very good synergy here with Sofia's Kris Swordsmen and Denmark's Berserkers. I have two Berserkers with Restlessness. With Blitz they'd have 4 moves and 3 attacks!

Getting the impression that no bribes favors turtling too much. Maybe this one was just bad RNG though.

I had a very similar experience in my game.

Spoiler :

I forward settled a nice swath of cities, but after paying Poland to war Rome he grew to crazy proportions. He went cultural/religious after he took Honor and got a religion with pagodas and Initiation Rites, and scariest of all, Just War, and by the time my game crashed around t150 he had 20 cities and 10k in the bank, Sistine Chapel among other wonders almost all the city-states, and he had converted my Holy City with passive pressure alone.

 

[Nizef]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum. I have been playing Civ 5 for a couple years and following this thread for a few months. There are some great players and discussion on here, and I love to see the parallel timelines between everyone's games. I have tried a few maps but was running into issues with EUI and file bloat, many thanks to vadalaz's recent unbloater link. (No one here seems to use EUI but if anyone out there is having problems with EUI and these games, just replace the latest beta with the earlier version!) With that addressed I decided to try the Shoshone Shuffle game #145, I've played to turn 126. My account is fairly detailed but I personally like when write-ups go into the nitty-gritty, so hopefully there are others who feel the same.

Hi and welcome to the series! Your midgame report was a pure delight to read and you immidiately set the bar at a very high level. I hope we can "lure" you into playing some of the other games as well.

 

[Nizef]

Based on the detailed report and the desire expressed by others for details: I have a very complex and challenging map (I abandoned my first try) with the Netherlands that we maybe could play "together". By this I mean that we would play perhaps 50 turns and then report what we have achieved so far and reading what others have done before playing the next 50 turns. If this is something that could interest some of you, please comment. Otherwise I will just present it as a "normal" EDGE game, because it is a map that is well worth your while.

 

[Mizzenmast]

Hi and welcome to the series! Your midgame report was a pure delight to read and you immidiately set the bar at a very high level. I hope we can "lure" you into playing some of the other games as well.

Well thanks, and thank you for creating and maintaining the thread. I would be down to do what you suggest with the Netherlands map, I don't mind the differences in scouting that will emerge.

 

[Nizef]

Well thanks, and thank you for creating and maintaining the thread. I would be down to do what you suggest with the Netherlands map, I don't mind the differences in scouting that will emerge.

To be more precise, I only played 50-55 moves and was beaten to one of the spots I wanted to settle. But the map has the potential for very different solutions and that is why I think it would be a good choice for an experiment like this. Not to mention a crazy amount of marsh tiles!

 

[vadalaz]

Welcome @Mizzenmast! Looking forward to reading how the late game in #145 goes for you. I've played that map to T140, still just trying to figure out how to play Honor properly.

Spoiler :

This game went better than #142 but again I don't know if I want to continue. I said goodbye to my no worker stealing rule and played the start very aggressively. I think you just can't afford to build workers with Honor, what you really need is archers and a few meatshields to cycle on citadel tiles and draw fire.

Spoiler T42 and that's a 200 xp Great General :

I planted that GG right next to York and had it kill 6-7 CBs. I think you can afford to be liberal with citadel use, especially early on when your units don't have any cool promotions and need all the help they can get. I didn't do this in #142.

Tradition opener then Honor, right side first. I razed York, upgraded to CBs, captured London and attacked Polynesia.

Spoiler T100. Off-screen is the capital finishing NC :

I got side-tracked and started building infrastructure. I think what I really should've done here is build a second army and either farm XP near Byblos, or get Optics and send the second army to find the other continent and attack someone there. Or maybe building infrastructure was the right call. It's hard to say.

Spoiler T121 :

Anyway, I razed Samoa, then captured Honolulu on turn 121 and upgraded to XBs. Unfortunately there's little for them to fight now, this continent is mine and on the other one there seems to be no space for a land army to disembark.

I suppose I could build unis, tech to Navigation and spam Frigates, but a Liberty or Tradition empire would've been so much better for that. It was a mistake to settle off the coast on a Shuffle map and I should've scouted better. I think I'll continue my Honor experiments only on Pangaea-like maps now, or large continents at least.

@Nizef, sounds interesting, count me in.

 

[beetle]

If this is something that could interest some of you, please comment.

This interested me, which is the style of the CDG and DCL. I just think think the game should get its own thread.

 

[raider980]

I like the Netherlands and I like comparison games so I'll play this one too.

 

[Nizef]

Good, good. I will post the Netherlands map on Monday. I am excited to see what will come out of this experiment.

 

[Tiberiu]

Based on the detailed report and the desire expressed by others for details: I have a very complex and challenging map (I abandoned my first try) with the Netherlands that we maybe could play "together". By this I mean that we would play perhaps 50 turns and then report what we have achieved so far and reading what others have done before playing the next 50 turns. If this is something that could interest some of you, please comment.

I am trying to restrict gaming time nowadays but this is a very interesting experiment and I would like to participate. It feels like a double competition in the sense that the player is encouraged to do well not only in his game but also as a comparison to the others. Which might lead to high-risk high-reward actions being employed in attempts to create something nice.

 

[Nizef]

I am trying to restrict gaming time nowadays but this is a very interesting experiment and I would like to participate. It feels like a double competition in the sense that the player is encouraged to do well not only in his game but also as a comparison to the others. Which might lead to high-risk high-reward actions being employed in attempts to create something nice.

Great! That means we will probably be 6-8 players. Your unconventional play style will definitely add to the diversity of outcomes.

 

[beetle]

Meanwhile, I am trying to roll a Spain map worth sharing. I want something where settling with Conquistadors is not counter-productive. Terra maps don’t seem to do. Large Islands maps is closer, but there seem to only be a couple loose NW with those, so it still feels more like RP than trying to maximize the UA.

 

[vadalaz]

Maybe try Terra with a Renaissance era start, so that Conquistadors are available right away?

Carthage #120 is lots of fun. I won a DomV on turn 203:

Spoiler :

I'm still trying to make sense of Honor and this is a great map for it. It's a great map for any victory condition, really. The idea I had for my next Honor experiment was to try a Gatling Gun rush. I think Gatlings are an overlooked unit. With Range, Logistics, March and double Cover they're very tanky and hit hard. The problem is getting all those promotions, and this is where Honor really shines.

I also had a bunch of Medic II units to support my Gatlings with March, so those guys healed 20 hp every turn and also pillaged tiles if necessary. They're really hard to kill for the AI. It's a shame Cover doesn't work properly and doesn't defend non-melee units from cities' ranged attacks though.

From the very beginning I knew that Honor would be strong here when I saw the borders of a CS and an AI on turn 2:


Tradition opener - Honor, but I went left side first this time. I followed this rough plan outline:

1) DoW Austria and Sydney for workers
2) Plant one expo to raise the unit supply limit
3) Get some archers and start farming XP
4) Range unit upgrade techs first, science boosting ones second, so Construction -> Philosophy, Machinery -> Education, Industrialization -> Sci Theory

5) Besiege Vienna. I planted a GG and cycled the Warrior and Spearman on that citadel. Generated a ton of XP there.


6) Take Vienna, build fast NC, plant another expo by London and do the same thing there. I wanted a citadel right next to the city tile, but London's borders grew just one turn before I could do that:


7) Tech to Machinery, and build a second army in the meantime.
8) Finish off England, take Medina and Mecca with well-promoted XBs.
9) Tech to Universities, focus on science a little bit to speed up Industrialization. Make sure to have a Great Writer ready to get Secularism ASAP.
10) Save up gold for Gatling upgrades. Build trading posts, get Great Artists for golden ages etc.

11) Upgrade to Gatlings and kill everyone:


I had Industrialization on turn 153 without bulbs or Oxford, so you can definitely get there a lot quicker. I had to delay my conquests a little bit until I adopted Order and got enough happiness to continue.

Overall a really fun map with a very strong starting location and Mt Kili nearby. I like this Gatling Gun + Honor strategy, and I think there should some melee-focused one as well.

 

[mbbcam]

@vadalaz Very interesting write-up, and I think you are right, particularly regarding the tech path. Farming XP is really tricky with Archers, and getting the Social Policy for more XP also makes sense. Having well-promoted units makes a BIG difference, I find. A problem I often encounter is some science runaway, but if you conquer fast enough I guess you can reduce that problem.

Thank you. I'll have a go at this strategy.

 

[beetle]

Yes, nice write-up @vadalaz, and also good suggestion to try Renaissance start with Spain. I kind of want OWN though too, to make the NW even more valuable.

 

[Nizef]

EDGE#147: Polders galore!

As promised, I now share the map for us to play in chunks of 50 turns. We play on a Tilted Axis map with Standard size and speed and the civ to play is the Netherlands. I am not saying it is best play, but there is the odd possibility to get a city with 12-13 Polders, if you want one! The start is a YASS (Yet Another Salt Start) and we start on a peninsula all by ourselves.

I will report back on my first 50 moves on Thursday the 10th of June. Is that a reasonable pace for the rest of you?

This time I will not provide any other information than the starting file. Enjoy!