G-Minor XII

[Tabarnak]

Damn...2 DoWs turn 155 broke 2 RAs. I captured both caps, made peace and resigned RAs. Bad bad thing. After Apollo, cities stayed idle 5-6 turns waiting for boosters and spaceship factories to be discovered. Add 4-5 turns before other parts for a total of approx 10 turns.
But i still finished at 214. Capital had over 180/turn. Still a great score for me

Martin is right. Somebody can push for a sub 200 game if everything goes fine.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Turn 84, three Unis up, Rationalism open (no Secularism, bit slow on the Oracle), RAs signed with everybody. Two Culturals and a Maritime from camp quests, about to get a second Maritime.

Sully DoWs from at least 30 tiles away. /wrists

 

[Sporaticus]

Damn...2 DoWs

Sully DoWs from at least 30 tiles away. /wrists

I didn't get any, but I finished on turn 268. I was slap up against Washington's borders too. I wonder if both of you were doing so good that it triggered some sort of extra level of hostility from the AI. It would really suck if everyone who is on track for a 200 turn victory gets DoW'd.

I'm starting to think that I may be able to get down into the 230's. I mismanaged my GSs and did not have factories ready when I needed them, so there is definitely some room to improve.

 

[vexing]

this is one of the prettiest city locations i've ever settled:

Spoiler :

five granary tiles, four luxuries tiles, two stable tiles, and a 6 iron.

 

[Martin Alvito]

That's pretty insane.

You're waiting an awfully long time to settle the second city.

 

[vexing]

yeah. one city nc start.
even better, i forgot this was science and not diplomacy =0

 

[Martin Alvito]

I really don't think that's a good idea on Chieftain.

I have a completely insane game going (turn 100, I've got Astronomy, Acoustics and Banking, Steel is the only Medieval tech left), but I think that AI cash limitations are going to shaft me. I decided to gamble on trying to smash it out of the park with an early wave of Classical RAs, and it looks like that may have been an error.

I think there's a way to get Rocketry super-early and have a lightning-fast finish as a result, but a lot of stuff has to go right in the early game.

 

[vexing]

i was just trying out a straight tradition run to see what happens. my game worked out alright even though i screwed up a bunch of aspects, i at least beat my warlord finish date.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Sub-200 is indeed possible. Things worked out better than I expected.

Sub-190 is probably doable.

Sub-180 probably is not.

 

[vexing]

Sub-190 is probably doable.

your probably there makes me wonder if we tied again

 

[Martin Alvito]

I got under 200, but not 190.

The game had two severe problems. AI cash limitations kept me from cycling three waves of RAs with most of the AIs (forcing me into fourth-wave RAs with the non-broke ones), and the camp quests were rare and in terrible locations.

Fix those things and I think you can go low 180s, though I think getting under 180 is asking a bit much.

 

[vexing]

I got under 200, but not 190.

The game had two severe problems. AI cash limitations kept me from cycling three waves of RAs with most of the AIs (forcing me into fourth-wave RAs with the non-broke ones), and the camp quests were rare and in terrible locations.

i only ended up signing 5 classical, then 3, then 5. i was too busy kicking napolean in the teeth for a middle RA with him (and i was broke regardless). i waited on my second wave a lot more than i should have - that and producing a GE for the UN with hagia sophia were some of my notable mistakes that could have shaved to sub 190.

my game had a great number of camp clearing quests - i tried to keep units all over the map to complete them as well.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Yeah, the game where Sully DoW'd me was one where I probably could have pushed a low 180 time.

Eventually I'll roll the necessary components.

 

[Tabarnak]

Already under 200 turns? Nice rumble between you two. I imagine a bit how you can do this.

Thing that i have not said, i gave 486 gold by mistake to an AI around turn 145 when i wanted RAs. Really dumb. I tought it was 500 each by that second of thinking. I was pretty tired and saved the turn after...another thing that hurt. Maybe getting no DoWs at all implies making an army just big enough and bribe another distant civ to fight your neighbor?

I rarely gives over 3 tries for a gauntlet. i will let time consumes a bit before deciding if i replay it or not.

 

[Sporaticus]

Well, 268 is the best I can do for now. Are there any good strategy articles that have not been rendered useless by the last couple of patches? I need to study.....

 

[oldfool1]

On the G minor IX thread the last posting is a pretty detailed strategy used by Martin A. for Science victory on warlord which is pretty similar to this challenge. I can't replicate it because I can't get my second city production high enough early enough to get the builds he recommends and have trouble finding good sites early enough to get the second city located but I assume a more experienced player would know now to get it done.

 

[Sporaticus]

On the G minor IX thread the last posting is a pretty detailed strategy used by Martin A. for Science victory on warlord which is pretty similar to this challenge. I can't replicate it because I can't get my second city production high enough early enough to get the builds he recommends and have trouble finding good sites early enough to get the second city located but I assume a more experienced player would know now to get it done.

Thanks!!! And thanks to Marvin Alvito also!!! I'm linking the referenced post for posterity.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=10742635&postcount=23

Now I can trash that Catherine game (where I'm getting my a$$ kicked), and try this one again! I still don't quite understand the median tech concept, but I think I can pull off the double-library-NC-GL part. Practice, practice, practice......pillage, pillage, pillage....

 

[Martin Alvito]

On the G minor IX thread the last posting is a pretty detailed strategy used by Martin A. for Science victory on warlord which is pretty similar to this challenge. I can't replicate it because I can't get my second city production high enough early enough to get the builds he recommends and have trouble finding good sites early enough to get the second city located but I assume a more experienced player would know now to get it done.

That's more or less the idea, although lately I've been running three cities early on and gaming the settings pretty badly to support it. That seems to be more effective on a difficulty like Chieftain where the constraint does not even loosely bind.

One thing that can help with the issue is pre-building the GL in the capital until Philosophy, chopping the NC, then finishing the GL.

Any way you slice it, a low finish time requires a fair number of rerolls. You need the right start, a fair amount of hut luck and no DoWs. Going really low is very start-dependent as well; some maps are a lot better than others, and the quality of your barb camp quests matters.

Now that I have the Internet back after two days without at home, I can get a much more detailed write-up posted in War Academy that should help with figuring out the RA issue.

 

[Sporaticus]

....running three cities early on ......

I gave that a shot early this morning and had a great early game going! Thanks!!!

Of course, Japan decided to go and plop a city down in sight of Athens and I had to take an aggressive preemptive action. Things got ugly from there and I lost all hope of breaking 250. I did get lots of pillaging in, so there was an upside to the experience.

I did notice something very interesting since I started incorporating the GL/NC/CS Quest tactics. I suddenly started doing much better, and drawing denouncements/DoWs. I can't figure out whether is is the technology lead or the friendly relations with the CSs, but something is definitely triggering a hostile AI response.

 

[Martin Alvito]

After a couple of failed home run attempts, it's pretty clear that GPP is the key to this one. Extra Great Scientists are beyond huge. If everything goes flawlessly, you might be able to go high-170s, but I doubt that sort of combination of luck factors will land.

As far as the AIs go, the key to them is to deal from a position of strength. A Militaristic ally or two from camp quests will more or less guarantee that you have the AIs outgunned. They won't mess with you if that's the case, even if you're fighting over the same city-states.