G-Minor XII

[Denniz]

[img=right]http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/170/hofgauntlet.jpg[/img]While the general Hall of Fame is an ongoing competition, we like to run time-definite competitions between updates that we call Gauntlets. Standard Hall of Fame rules (*) still apply, but any games meeting the settings will be counted towards the Gauntlet.

(*) Please read the >> HOF rules << BEFORE playing!​

Settings:

• Victory Condition: Science (though all victory conditions must be enabled)
• Difficulty: Chieftain
• Map Size: Small
• Map Type: Highlands
• Speed: Standard
• Leader: Greece (Alexander)
• Opponents: Any
• Version: SV7 (1.0.1.332)
• Date: 1st to 15th September 2011

The earliest finish date wins, with score as a tiebreaker.

 

[Artingel78]

O Greek,Small map,Highlands, Science i think i can beat this.

 

[Martin Alvito]

The main question that this raises is whether you should go further horizontally when there are only five RA partners.

Greece doesn't bring anything interesting to the table, though the stealth boost won't hurt.

 

[Sporaticus]

My plan is to aggressively expand, but not conquer. If the AIs have money for RAs, so be it. If I have extra, I'll gift them the required amounts when RAs seem particularly beneficial.

Liberty, Tradition, Rationalism, Freedom, Commerce. No Patronage. I anticipate buying a lot of growth/research buildings and maintaining just enough military to discourage invasion (which won't be much on Chieftain).

Oh, I almost forgot the most important: All GSs get saved for era-jumping and/or modern-era techs.

 

[Tinknade]

Greece doesn't bring anything interesting to the table, though the stealth boost won't hurt.

Stealth boost?

 

[Tabarnak]

Got a nice start, sci. meth. by turn 140. Gave a LOT of money to AIs to sign RAs(average gift of 150 ). Try to get riversided cities because you will need a lot of income. 2nd city have 4 wheats, 2 gold mines and 1 sugar...woot!

 

[Martin Alvito]

Stealth boost?

The UA means that you'll be throwing less at maintaining allies. The winning game will almost certainly acquire several allies through camp quests. Further, I'm convinced that the best way to work the tech tree over on lower levels involves running down the left side of Rationalism ASAP, which requires Cultural allies.

That starts to change at Deity, where you need military techs to not die and get forced off the optimal line as a result. Fortunately for us, Deity AIs are swimming in and this makes an additional, earlier wave of RAs very possible. Not having to pay the era penalty also helps.

The strategy that vexing likes is to tech horizontally, avoid era jumps and start using RAs aggressively ASAP. I believe that early RAs are now an inefficient use of post-patch, and instead rush to the Renaissance to push the early number up with SPs. I figure that I'm going to be paying big bucks for the critical late game RAs anyway, and that it's best to start saving early. The solution that vexing usually employs is to punch someone in the mouth during the midgame.

 

[Sporaticus]

The solution that vexing usually employs is to punch someone in the mouth during the midgame.

That sounds intriguing! How does it work?

 

[Martin Alvito]

When someone Hostiles him, he kicks them in the shorts for pillage and to cripple them. The civ usually resets to "Guarded" since it's hopelessly outgunned, which means he can sign RAs again. He also gets extra GPT from the puppets.

I'd imagine that vexing could tell you more than I can.

 

[Tabarnak]

How a civ can be hostile at chieftain?

3 guarded, 1 friendly and 1 neutral. Since turn 50. No prob so far. AIs are always broke, guarded deals are still ok. But it's indeed interesting.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Cherrypicking the opposing AIs often does a lot for their situation. We all have our preferences, but if you look at the last gauntlet it's pretty clear that there's general agreement about letting a few specific civs into the game.

For instance, I never let Bismarck into the game because he loves to screw me out of a late Oracle, but he's one of the better producers out there. By contrast, everyone loves the Ottomans.

I've had neighbors Hostile me on Chieftain. It doesn't happen every game, but it happens.

 

[Tinknade]

I haven't figured out the set of opposing civs I like going against yet. All I know is that Bismarck broke 2 of my RA's in my game costing me at least 10 turns. He decides to DoW me with a warrior and archer and once I kill one or two units he asks for peace offering all his lux's.

Quite a few mistakes, but finished at turn 230.

How does city state tech work? I had a city state that was sitting on 3 coal and had a mine on it, but I didn't get it even though I was an ally. I presume he didn't have scientific revolution, so I eventually conquered the CS so I could get coal for my factories.

Also, I presume it takes less beakers to tech in Chieftain, so going wider for more raw beakers may be more efficient than mass-RAs. I went tall with 3 cities and gave tons of gold to sign RAs from Classical onward. I'll probably try again with a wide empire since there are a lot of mountains for observatories.

 

[Martin Alvito]

Nothing is more efficient than mass RAs on a map larger than Duel. The loosened constraint definitely makes it possible to go further horizontal than you otherwise would.

I'm not 100% clear on city-state tech. I think it's basically median tech rounded up, which is why they were such beasts to knock over on Settler once I had it down to just one player remaining.

 

[vexing]

The solution that vexing usually employs is to punch someone in the mouth during the midgame.

nice description =)

and yeah, it seems to be almost always advantageous on lower difficulties to puppet most of a neighbor.

 

[Sporaticus]

Quite a few mistakes, but finished at turn 230.

Nooooooooo! *wail* I'm doomed......

Especially considering that you will most certainly improve on that time....

*sob*

 

[Tabarnak]

Nooooooooo! *wail* I'm doomed......

Especially considering that you will most certainly improve on that time....

*sob*

I will be not surprised if Martin and vexing finish below 210. For myself, i think i will break, by far, my personnal record with this game. Turn 151, electricity opened, public schools everywhere, generating over 100 gpt without being in a GA. Found coal in the third ring of my awesome 2nd city, which can also have a solar plant and a windmill. All cities are riversided. I feel strong right now.

 

[Martin Alvito]

I'd say it's reasonably certain that we'll break 210, and the interesting question is whether we can break 200. Neither of us had a particularly good game on Warlord, and we finished in 208 with two more RA partners. The possibility of going much more horizontal on Chieftain should save a lot of turns before the finishing waves of RAs.

 

[Tabarnak]

The possibility of going much more horizontal on Chieftain should save a lot of turns before the finishing waves of RAs.

What can be done?

Early enginnering means cutting somewhere else. AIs? They are all broke for a long period of time. I entirely fund some RAs(gave approx 250 and added 100 from era penalty). Over 600 RAs are.... With only 200 turns, you don't have much time to grow cities very large.

With only 5 partners instead of 7, how can you be faster?

 

[Martin Alvito]

There are two things going on here.

1) The rules reduced the number of RA partners, but not the total number of RAs I can afford. Pushing RAs from the last two waves forward into a third wave decreases their efficiency, but it's not as awful as you might think.

2) It's all about the techs you can hammer out before the critical last two waves of RAs. If I can increase my output due to a loosened constraint, I can plow through Medieval and Renaissance techs faster and save turns that way.

 

[Sporaticus]

I will be not surprised if Martin and vexing finish below 210. For myself, i think i will break, by far, my personnal record with this game. Turn 151, electricity opened, public schools everywhere, generating over 100 gpt without being in a GA. Found coal in the third ring of my awesome 2nd city, which can also have a solar plant and a windmill. All cities are riversided. I feel strong right now.

Nice!!!! I can't match that, but knowing that it is possible will make me try a lot harder.