G-Minor 18

[ParadigmShifter]

I think I was at about 30% land in 1580. The best strategy for quick times seems to be eliminate everyone except one AI and then spam settlers... as mentioned before in this thread. I went for the old fashioned "watch the map turn olive" approach myself.

 

[Denniz]

I had about 20% land in 1580. I have no idea how a win at that date could be possible.

After couple more attempts I am beginning to wonder if know how either.

I think you need to start in the middle. Preferrably towards the center. I took one player out using Jags and a few Elephants and made inroads against another pretty early. Once I had maces I took out the player above me so that I had a little over half the map to myself. Sounds simple? Yeah, me neither.

 

[WastinTime]

I think I was at about 30% land in 1580. The best strategy for quick times seems to be eliminate everyone except one AI and then spam settlers... as mentioned before in this thread. I went for the old fashioned "watch the map turn olive" approach myself.

I played with 10 opponents and I only wiped out 4 of them. I never touched the other 6. Then I settled the desert and won in 1030 AD. I'd recommend taking out 1 more AI because I cut it very close with only 1 extra land tile.

 

[KMadCandy]

Denniz! did you finish both gauntlets? and the major was your first complete game in ages? wowsa! and oh yeah, grats

 

[Ozbenno]

Well I just finished a 1500AD effort, which I'm pretty pleased at. Could have improved the time if I stopped the warring and actually started settling cities of my own earlier but as I was having too much fun .

After settling the capital in the south, my next 8-9 cities came via 3 different AI and then I started settling the gaps while taking on 4 northern AI before I realised I would win quicker settling my own cities.

Roosevelt, Alexander, Victoria, Tokogawa, Isabella and Hannibal were destroyed (in that order) and Napolean ended up my vassal. Managed to run at over 50% science the entire game (probably due to cottaging everything in sight and whipping markets, grocers etc).

 

[Denniz]

Denniz! did you finish both gauntlets? and the major was your first complete game in ages? wowsa! and oh yeah, grats

Thanks. I already had a minor gauntlet from before. I just did it for fun and cause it was noble.

 

[Thrallia]

hm...my current game would be much better if I'd had a good RNG.

I took out Cyrus in 2100BC, but should have taken him out in 3200BC when I attacked Persepolis with 3 warriors when he had a single warrior defending. Unfortunately, I lost and ended up just barricading him until I had some jaguars.

I'm playing with 10 opponents as well, and just finished taking out the 5 AIs in the south, and starting to vassalize the AIs in the north. I plan to vassalize all but one, the most advanced, and then start settling the deserts. I didn't build my first settler until 1000AD...no need, since I was constantly at war with Cyrus/Hannibal/Vicky/Napoleon/Ragnar?Augustus until then. I built my settlers then to fill in some good city sites that I hadn't let the southern AIs get to before killing them off. Off the southern AIs, only Ragnar was able to build more than 3 cities, and Napoleon was the only other one ever able to have 3 cities at once.

Ragnar vassalized around 500AD, and I gifted him CS and Machinery immediately so I could have his zerks helping me take down Augustus...took 2 of his cities, razed one, and then he vassalized. Right now I'm trying to get Alex to vassalize to me, I've taken and razed 3 cities, kept 1, and Caesar has taken 1 of his former cities back from Alex.

I think it would definitely be easiest and fastest to attempt to take out all but a couple AI and then spam settlers...I just had bad RNG On the plus side, I was able to take out all the AI up until Caesar with Jags, and up to Ragnar without Cats.

Harbourboy, if you decide to try again, perhaps try it with 10 opponents...not only does it mean the AI have less land each to spread to, making them weaker individually, but it also lowers the domination limit to 56%, which is the main reason I went with 10 opponents.

 

[WastinTime]

... perhaps try it with 10 opponents...not only does it mean the AI have less land each to spread to, making them weaker individually, but it also lowers the domination limit to 56%, which is the main reason I went with 10 opponents.

Other than that, it's also nice to have more, and closer, free cities

 

[Harbourboy]

It's 2008 AD and I am on 58% in population and land. This is very slow going. Each turn takes about 10 minutes at this stage. And I can confirm that the population requirement keeps changing. It used to be about 45% but keeps going up. It now claims to require 57% but an hour ago, the requirement was 54%. The land requirement has been steady at 64% for a long time now.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Harbourboy, you need to finish so I am not last on the leaderboard!

 

[Harbourboy]

It takes about an hour just to play half a dozen turns. Only 42 turns left in the whole game so I'd better hurry up.

It's slow going with no oil though. All the oil is miles away deep in Zulu country. So no air force and no tanks. Just got mechanised infantry though. What do they run on if they don't need oil.

 

[Murky]

It's 2008 AD and I am on 58% in population and land. This is very slow going. Each turn takes about 10 minutes at this stage. And I can confirm that the population requirement keeps changing. It used to be about 45% but keeps going up. It now claims to require 57% but an hour ago, the requirement was 54%. The land requirement has been steady at 64% for a long time now.

If it is that late in the game I would just go for the time victory and use it for the quatromasters slot then play the gauntlet with a new game.

 

[WastinTime]

If it is that late in the game I would just go for the time victory and use it for the quatromasters slot then play the gauntlet with a new game.

You could go for Time and Domination on the same turn. Would that count for both QM slots? or just Time?

...and would it count for the gauntlet?

 

[Harbourboy]

then play the gauntlet with a new game.

You're kidding, right? This so-called "minor" gauntlet has taken forever. No way am I going to do it again.

The last major gauntlet took less time even though I had 16 attempts, because cultural strategies seem to take far less time.

 

[AnitaGaribaldi]

I'm mad. Some times I really hate my machine. I was playing this gaulet for fun, I cannot really compete on two gaulets at same time ! This gaulet is over for me because my computer crashed. It cannot handle my massive powerful army. I'm slow at domination, but I was teching faster than the AI, I got grenadiers, cavalry, cannons. I had a wonderful holly city and I was going to declare war against Gandhi to get his. I got a vassal, one AI wanted to be my vassal, it had 49% of my land, 10 cities.

 

[KMadCandy]

oh anita that's terrible news! i've had games that were going well turn out not able to be used for HoF due to crashes too, i know the feeling and it's not a good one. they weren't even for gauntlets but i was still so disappointed, one i was so proud of cuz i was so unsure i'd be able to win. sometimes computers let us have a lot of fun, and sometimes they drive us completely crazy

i haven't tried this gauntlet, but my sense of oasis map is that 'standard' size on it is comparable to 'large' on a normal map. just because it's ALL land, no ocean at all, so it's really much much bigger than continents or pangaea. i know my computer fusses more on great plains than it does on continents, and oasis is more land than great plains even i think.

 

[WastinTime]

720 AD domination....

A lot of you seem to be enjoying Civ the way it was meant to be played. I'm jealous. Your game descriptions sound fun and I'm tempted to try that style. I recommend you all trying the fast domination. You will be glad you did.

I just had really fun game. After my first run I was able to set a target: Turn 150. That's very important to know so you can plant your settlers and give them time to pop borders. I was at 36.2% population and 55.2% land on turn 146. Both hit the limits of 37% and 56% on turn 147 (720 AD). If I do this one more time. I'd set my goal for turn 135.

Earlier I posted that population is never a concern, but I found myself working hard at it during the last 15 turns. Quickly trying to build a pasture before my workers all get disbanded. I knew my land was going to blow past 56%. I should play a few more turns and see, cus about 20 of my cities were about to make the 2nd border pop at 100 culture. Each city goes from 21 tiles to 37 tiles. Of course much of that is overlap or enemy territory.

My first try I only teched Bronze, IronW. This time I went for Alphabet, (trade for Bronze, etc), IW, Currency, Code of Laws and then stopped.

I only conquered 3 AI (instead of 4) this time, before focusing on settling the desert. I wish I could have stolen a few more workers. I think I only got 4 free. I didn't like wasting time building workers.

 

[AAA]

720 AD domination....

I only conquered 3 AI (instead of 4) this time, before focusing on settling the desert. I wish I could have stolen a few more workers. I think I only got 4 free. I didn't like wasting time building workers.

I can usually get macemen running around 400BC, at what date do you stop attacking and work on settlers?
And how do you produce enough? Slavery?
I have never used slavery, so I'm not sure how well it works.

 

[Harbourboy]

Finally finished in 2026AD. What a mission. I hope the game is accepted this time. How it is humanly possible to win by 720AD is beyond me.

 

[WastinTime]

I can usually get macemen running around 400BC, at what date do you stop attacking and work on settlers?
And how do you produce enough? Slavery?
I have never used slavery, so I'm not sure how well it works.

Seems like teching all the way to macemen is a bit too long. And even if it weren't, macemen are too expensive to build...and don't move any faster.

I only build 1 barracks maybe 2. Most of my military comes from the capitol.

I stop attacking when I see copper/iron is hooked up

I start settlers immediately on new cities as I conquer them. Unlike many people I can never seem to get slavery working in a way so it feels like it's helping instead of hurting my progress. That's a general statement about slavery in any of my games, not just this gauntlet. For this one, it really doesn't work for me. Most cities are size 1 (building settlers). My workers don't have time to improve food squares because they are chopping forests.