Fun and Valuable Lessons

[Tarvok]

I'm having so much fun with this game. This new expansion really makes it the best of the series, which is something I wasn't really able to say about 3 or 4 (though it was the spinoff SMAC that held the title all that time). I like writing about fun games, so I figured I'd post my stuff here, in case anyone's interested.

I recently graduated to King level (having not played that much before the release of BNW). A game as the Maya on Prince that I absolutely ran away with... and actually completed instead of restarting... convinced me I was ready for it. As an aside, I really like the Maya. They're like the Babylonians in Civ3: spiritual and scientific at the same time. I saw what their special building does, went wide so I could build as many as possible. Developed my faith and science, but ended up pursuing a cultural victory despite the fact that I choose to go with Rationalism instead of Aesthetics. Whatever. That game was for acclimating myself to the new systems, and I believe it served its function nicely.

My game setups at this point are pretty much all huge world, random map type, epic speed, random civilization. My first King game I got Venice... a very interesting playstyle, to say the least. During this game, I learned a valuable lesson, one that, oddly enough, I never learned from previous versions of Civ, even though it applies almost as well in them. The game generated an archipelago map, and on a neighboring island sat Atilla the Hun. I really should have known better than to trust that guy.

I was racing to keep my economy up with my rivals, used a merchant to grab a city-state that was well situated for trade routes. I had money coming in hand over fist. I was close to reaching Seafaring, and therefore the Venitians' Great Galeas. So I was building one, while at the same time saving up the gold to buy a second right afterward, to go do some conquering. But then I was like, wait. I could build a watermill. It would slow me down in the short run, but speed me up in the long run. So I spent the money.

Next thing I know, Atilla's at my front door with an army just big enough to take my city. I know it was just big enough because only one of his infantry units survived to actually take the city. (I have learned to ignore the ranged units until after units that can actually march in have been eliminated.) Now, had I not spent the money, I would have had a Great Galeas there as well... and Atilla's invasion force would have been insufficient. Essentially, I over-leveraged for the sake of a marginal increase in productivity, and payed for it.

This brought me to a concept I'd never found my twenty years or so of playing Civilization: the idea of a "hidden army". I've always felt like I had to balance between economic development and military preparedness. But now I realize that, so long as I've got enough gold saved up, I have a military... one that doesn't consume any resources until the moment I need it. I can be all helpless and vulnerable until the moment someone like Atilla declares... and then BAM. Instant Army. Diplomatically safe conquest.

With the right religious picks, faith can also be used as a repository for the "hidden army." Though I'm not doing it during my current game (Americans on a multiple continents map), I find myself imagining a gold/faith see-saw hidden army strategy, where I spend more of my gold when my faith tank is half full, and then let it build up to maintain my entire buffer when it all poofs into a Great Prophet.

I'm really loving this game. It's got me thinking in new ways.

 

[Tarvok]

My America game is going remarkably according to the narrative I had in my head. The plan was this: build nothing that doesn't enhance gold production. Build as wide as possible. Initially, I kept populations at just that level necessary to work all the special tiles in the radius, building granaries and/or water mills where necessary to feed that population. That was it: no monuments, no shrines, no nothing... but we DID find a ruin full of faith points, enough to found a pantheon. I chose Goddess of Protection, and named Her Lady Liberty.

It proved advantagous when the Mongols declared war, with the Portugese soon after. They were upset with me for founding so many settlements so quickly, and probably figured I'd go over easy with such a small army. However, I did have a large cache of gold, so my army wasn't so small once I knew I needed one. I may have overbuilt; they didn't really seem serious. Portugal sent a couple two-unit armies which were easily dispatched with the augmented city defense (most of my cities had walls in addition to Lady Liberty's blessing) and a chariot archer. Eventually, both of them gave up. The Mongols tried to get me to give up a city for peace... but I sent the peace offer back with no concessions, and Temujin agreed. The Portugese actually offered tribute.

My gold buffer had also proved useful earlier. There was a spot I hadn't settled yet, figuring it was more important to settle forward and get that spot later. Eventually, I spotted a Portugese settler and spearman heading toward that spot... but fortunately, if that's where they were headed, they would have to go through a narrow passage between Washington's city center and the coastline. At the last second, I bought a settler of my own and blocked them, forcing them to turn back, and grabbing that spot before they could.

I finished researching Currency during the war, and have built marketplaces in many of my cities. I'm even building libraries, as I beeline to Banking. I'm prioritizing the generation of Great Merchants, with which I will begin the process of building city-state alliances as well as making ever more gold.

As to the narrative I spoke of earlier, I finished Liberty recently (it's somewhere in the first century A.D.). I chose Great Prophet, and used it to found a religion. I took the Tenguist eagle, renamed it "Liberty", and took Papal Primacy (it was one of the few remaining, and it represents our role as the leaders of liberty-loving people everywhere) and Guruship... primarily because it was also one of the few left, and since I'm focusing so much on specialists it makes sense in terms of my strategy.

I STILL haven't built a single monument or shrine, though I do have pyramids and a writers guild. That's culture, right?

 

[Alziel]

Enjoying reading about your experiences, Tarvok and glad to hear that you're enjoying the game so much.

It's interesting that you have foregone Monuments - most people would say these are a crucial early build to get your borders growing quickly but with America and with your strategy of maximizing gold, this is somewhat offset by the fact that you can expand by buying land so cheaply. You also offset the lack of faith from Shrines by selecting a Great Prophet as your free GP from Liberty whereas most would go for a Great Scientist (to settle an Academy) or a Great Engineer (to rush an all-important Wonder). You could do with getting some more Faith rolling in soon though so that you can enhance your Religion.

Anyway, keep it up - I for one would be interested to hear how the rest of your game plays out!

 

[Tarvok]

Heh. The Great Prophet was a bit of a waste. Islam is now America's religion, and I'm pretty much fine with that. The Arabs chose to make both Mosques and Cathedrals available to the faithful, so my anemic faith supply (from a single shrine built when Washington had nothing else to build, and the desert tiles Washington was founded on which are now in use due to Desert Folklore) are being used to autobuild mosques, and once I'm done with them, cathedrals. Eventually, I'll be getting enough to try to re-establish my religion... but by the time that happens, I'll probably be better off using them buying other great people.

The Mongols declared war on me a second time, and this time, he was prepared. Little did he know, so was I. My army about doubled in size the same turn he declared war, and his invasion force ended up being little more than a raiding party that skidded along the edge of my border, taking heavy losses as it did so. Then I tried to take Old Sarai, a piece of his territory that juts out into mine (I boxed him in, deliberately provoking him as I did so). I took a few losses, and fell back to a defensive line of hills and jungles that he dutifully broke his army against. (Note: I didn't even have gunpowder yet. This was all fought with knights, pikes, composite bows, one catapult, and one treb with a second on the way.) Some healing later, we advanced to Old Sarai a second time, taking it this time. He sent one last wave against us, and finally offered peace a third time... this time not demanding tribute, but rather offering me a second city, Hsia.

I took it, and given that the Mongols are now pretty well hamstrung, while everyone else on my continent is either my friend or a friend of a friend (mostly the Arabs, who control the spiritual center of our collective civilization), peace has been achieved... in our part of the world.

During the war, I also got a caravel and a scout out exploring the world. My next target is likely the Zulu. Shaka has conqured much of his area of the world, and has approached me once asking for help in eliminating yet another rival: the Japanese. I simply said I wasn't interested, and went on my way... but once my gold reserves have refilled, I plan to either disband or donate the large part of my standing forces (keeping the most experienced vets) and begin a program of provocation similar to the one that ended the Mongols.

Come to think of it, that might be a good time to work on the re-emergence of Liberty as a religion. Maybe the first place to convert, after I get my own empire back on track (after I've built mosques and cathedrals) should be a Mongol city, since they're spreading protestantism. Or I could simply dedicate myself to the Caliphate, and use that as the provoker religion... though if I understand correctly, my GPs will be of Lady Liberty, correct?

 

[ToodleElNoodos]

Cool stories man! Love it, super exciting! More please!

 

[Tarvok]

Everybody hates the Japanese. Can't imagine why. Their little country is no threat to anybody, but there the Venitians were, asking me to go to war with the Japanese, only a few years before Shaka took Venice.

It wasn't long before I'd reached my third factory and chose my idelolgy: Freedom, of course. Among the abilities I took while climbing that tree was "Arsenal of Democracy." Most of my cities are set to focus on gold right now, except Chicago, which is set to focus on science, Washington, set to generate great people, and Philadelphia, set to production and producing naval units (it's my only coastal city), and one more city (San Franciso, I think) producing land units, and mostly giving them away to my allies (though this may soon change).

I received word from one of my allies that Shaka was marching (floating, more like) an army to Washington. I had a few ships in the area, and plenty of land units standing around, so I intercepted them easily enough. I didn't wait for him to start the war, though, and I didn't even wait until I'd found some of his invasion force. I instead launched a pre-emptive assault on Istanbul, capturing it, freeing Suleiman and placing him back on his throne. Most of my fleet stayed in Istanbul's waters for repairs, but I noticed one of my city-state allies to the north was under heavy assault by Shaka's forces. A few frigates that hadn't been damaged in the Battle of Istanbul moved to assist, delaying the city-state's capture. By the time Shaka's forces managed to enter the city, my fleet was mostly repaired and, more importantly, on the scene. That very turn, my ships (these were frigates and privateers, in case you were wondering) evicted the Zulu, held off a second assault, and then turned southward to take another of Shaka's cities... successfully. We left that city also in Suleiman's capable hands (though it wasn't his originally, Shaka having razed pretty much any city he's able to).

The fleet then headed northward, where Shaka had Venice in the grips of his cruel rule. It was likely to be a difficult battle, with only two sea spaces from which it could be struck either directly or at range. I figured I could pull it off, given time... but Shaka gave me an opportunity. He sued for peace on rather generous terms. I refused most of his tribute, preferring to take Venice as my victory prize. Enrico returned to his throne with gratitude. I've been in his position in a previous game: stripped of my capitol, a guest of a puppet ruler.

And that's where my game currently stands. The upside: I now have two other rulers in my debt, and Shaka doesn't have a single port on the west coast of his continent. During these turns of enforced peace, my navy makes its way back to the waters that divide my world from his. There are yet more city-states to free from his rule, so once that period is ended, I will likely resume hostilities, seizing his east coast cities, then using my complete control over the waters and my allies' control over the beachhead (I have no intention of directly ruling anything in the Western Hemisphere) to penetrate further into his continent, freeing yet more captured city-states.

If I understand how diplomatic victory works, this should help, I think.

 

[Tarvok]

Second Zulu war complete, same as the first. The battles went remarkably easy once the Persians adopted Order as their official ideology. Shaka's unhappiness penalty went from somewhere between 4% and 10% to a whopping 50%. My own happiness dropped as well, but I've had a decent reserve of extra happiness... though I'm being hit pretty hard by my lack of attention to culture early on in the game. I might have to switch to Order... but first, I'll build all the culture buildings I can and see what happens. All I need to do is get the UN going before the Persians successfully convert the world.

At any rate, my war with the Zulu is over, for good, this time. Every one of their coastal cities has been taken, and after the war was over I split them up among the other powers. I kept only a subcontinental city, on a bit of land that juts off the other continent but is completely isolated from the rest of it by by mountains. The Brazilians are back from the dead, and one more city state walks the earth that had been previously removed by the Zulu. The Zulu are pretty much broken at this point, and I can rely on the other civs to keep Shaka in check, at this point.

The year is AD 1953. My researchers are working on Radio. My army is small, and armies are very expensive to maintain, thanks to my pushing the standing army tax through the World Congress. My first archaeologists are going into the field. Aesthetics is being developed. Overall, things are going well... but the Persians nip at my heels seeking an alternative victory. We shall see how things go.

 

[Tarvok]

So Order became the Way of the World, and unhappiness reached the point where I was going to have rebellions and defections. So Order it is. I didn't really think much about it... until, for some bizarre reason, the Japanese went for Freedom! (I wonder how that's going to work out?)

So I suddenly realized... I'm playing Islamic, Communist, Americans. I even considered proposing Islam as the World Religion in the World Congress. It's like I'm going out of my way to piss off the right wing!

 

[Tarvok]

It's done. I had one more war with the Zulu, completely without action. The world was going to war, I decided to go along with the Persians, my uneasy ally (#1 in the world, with me just behind), to maybe improve relations, and because I knew I could get a piece of the peace without having to risk a single unit.

Mostly, my turns since the last update has been waiting for "next turn". That changed maybe ten turns before the end, when the Persians did the unthinkable: they broke the thousand year peace on our continent by declaring war on the Maya! Nobody else got involved, fortunately, but I denounced them and gifted almost my entire military to the Maya. They lost one isolated city, took the fight to the Persians, and peace was restored. Five turns later, I was elected world leader.

Watching the replay, I was fascinated by the history of events on the other continent. It seems the Zulu didn't actually destroy any civilizations. The Japanese conquered an unknown civilization and eliminated them from the map completely. I didn't even know it was possible to destroy a capitol, but I watched the unknown civilization's cities disappear shortly after going Japanese. Then the Japanese conquered both the Ottomans and the Brazilians. It was only after this that the Zulu took those cities away from them and hemmed them back into their original territory. By the time I arrived, the Zulu were in control, but I can see now why the Japanese had such a bad reputation. The Zulu's only act of original capitol capture was when they captured Venice, but I was already there to see it happen.

One thing I regret is jumping into the other continent's politics so early, both from a thematic and a strategic standpoint. It might have been better to wait for them to finish conquering their neighbors and then declare on me, both to keep with the "I don't start wars, I finish them" policy and to have more civilizations to "rescue from the dead". It didn't really matter in the end--it's the city-states that matter--but it would have been a cleaner strike.

I also wish I'd at least built monuments a bit earlier. The tourism influence from my neighbors was brutal when I had the "wrong" ideology, and I was forced to compromise, as a result. My cash strategy was enormously successful (at King level, anyway), and at a certain point, building monuments wouldn't have bitten too deeply into that strategy (particularly once I'd built workshops). I do wonder if it would have been enough. I also wonder how the Japanese tourism output would have offset Persian and Mayan, once they adopted Freedom. Finally, I wonder if keeping Freedom, rather than being forced into Order, would have inevitably lead to warfare with my communist neighbors.

Finally, I realized maybe two messages into this thread that I should have posted it in the stories forum. My next game will be similarly documented, this time with screen shots, in the appropriate subforum.