Gauntlet Returns

[BlackHat]

Per a wonderful suggestion from Spoonwood, I would like to take the honor of proposing the first HOF gauntlet in 5 years.

Level: Demi-god
Mapsize: Large
Victory Condition: Conquest

Since activity is pretty light for the HOF, an extended 3 month submission deadline seems appropriate. Please submit games by July 22nd, 2017 to participate. Hopefully the demi-god slot is low enough to be widely obtainable, yet the current table only has 4 games so all games should chart.

This particular table is interesting to me because the combination of difficulty and map size should force a blended conquest approach as opposed to the pure rush style of lower levels or the slower buildup of Deity. I'm really interested to see how people approach this challenge or if they can bypass it entirely with a successful rush. Seems like we have 5 or 6 active HOF players right now, so hopefully several different approaches will show up. All are welcome and encouraged to discuss an approach!

 

[superslug]

I will try and update the HOF today or tomorrow so the public tables are up to date. I'll also plan on the next update being on or just after July 22nd so that this has a hard-date conclusion.

 

[CKS]

I'll give this a try, I think. I'm hoping to finish up my current 100k game in the next few weeks, and I should have a bit of vacation time after the end of my semester but before the end of my kids' school to get started. Conquest and I aren't on friendly terms, so I expect that I'll be finishing up with modern armor. It should provide a nice contrast to some other games.

 

[Spoonwood]

Running some starts, I've felt surprised to learn that a large 80% pangea map seems to often have a lower domination limit than a 60% standard size pangea map.

 

[Spoonwood]

I did something which I believed similar a while back. Then I actually looked at the map. This isn't the same map, but it makes for another example which has the same sort of obstacle to a fast finish. I had a lovely 4 cow start, but I didn't see horses and it looks like I didn't need to worry about it:

I've also tried a no research game with The Aztecs on a 60% map for fun, but it became apparent that I wouldn't get to rails as soon as I would like and my workers would soon start running around kind of aimlessly. I also had a start with the Ottomans, but then I got snuck attack as I kind of ignored Sumeria's "Cautious" attitude. So, I think I'm going to try a game similar to my Mayan Deity game, though maybe I'll try 80% and see how that goes.

 

[Spoonwood]

This might be the closest gauntlet.

 

[Spoonwood]

Alright, so I finished a 670 AD conquest with the Maya. I played 60%, because I prefer that. I did research all the way out to Replaceable Parts, but I didn't build libraries or universities except for culture. I had my opponents as no one scientific and no one with Masonry. I did sell tech for gpt, but I didn't sell them Steam Power for a while so that they wouldn't get to Replaceable Parts. I ended up the only tribe that had both iron and coal, so every rail on the map I built. My first war was knights versus spears. Then cavs vs. muskets. Then cavs. vs. impi. Then cavs. vs. muskets. I did mobilize, but I didn't research Nationalism, it took the AIs a while to get there, so only towards the end (and I learned that I have to renew mobilization for each war, as I don't recall the last time I mobilized... I probably have NOT done so for a HoF game before).

I actually had conquered all of Portugal's cities a few turns before 670 AD, but Henry decided to start singing, but the link is kind of profanity loaded, so I'll refrain from posting it.

 

[BlackHat]

Finally got time to play again after a two week business trip.

Running mapfinder on this right now:

Generally trying to avoid agricultural or scientific opponents, and wanted to try out China and the Rider. It's not optimal compared to the Iroquois, but a lot more forgiving for early play. The big map should give a chance to use them pretty effectively.

 

[Spoonwood]

Why do you want the AI to respawn Blackhat? Also, I usually have SGLs on myself, and I did that in my game without thinking. But, does that help or potentially make things harder for a conquest game?

 

[BlackHat]

Why do you want the AI to respawn Blackhat? Also, I usually have SGLs on myself, and I did that in my game without thinking. But, does that help or potentially make things harder for a conquest game?

Sigh. Respawn was a mistake. Guess I've got to restart the mapfinding, because I can't see how that works out OK. SGL's... I did the same as you. I've always assumed that an SGL has about 5-10 x the benefit to a human player that they would to an AI, but there's no real basis for that assumption. I'm also considering SGL fishing since the game will extend out a bit.

 

[Spoonwood]

Yeah... an SGL for The Pyramids might be worth it.

 

[superslug]

I don't normally do spoilers about future updates, but the response so far to this gauntlet has been a little underwhelming. With a third of the allotted time gone by, there's been one submission thus far for that table. If you're thinking about playing this one, do it! As of this moment, the table still has five empty slots, so ANY finish time will make the tables.

 

[BlackHat]

I've got an SGL with horses now, so hopefully there will be a submission soon. Sadly, I found 2 SGL's in my first 5 or so starts, but in the first Korea (!) sneak attacked to take my undefended second town, and in the second I was on an island with 3 of the 6 opponents. I've only found 1 opponent so far in this game, so there's a chance I'll be searching for a fourth SGL.

But there will definitely be a submission... Eventually

 

[superslug]

I might actually take a crack at this one myself. Demigod was just past the upper range of my ability in my Civ years, but Conquest was a specialty of mine.

 

[superslug]

I've made it to 550 BC without anyone attacking me. I've got one 4-turn pump going, maybe two dozen cities working on barracks, and one size 12 city that just whipped up the Great Library. Horses and three luxuries means it's time to whip up a stack of Mounted Warriors and pick on someone without iron.

 

[Drazek]

I'm planning to participate in this. First I thought it would be easy to find good maps for this, but after running MapFinder for a while, and playing with 2+ cows starts it seems not so easy. The problem with 80% water pangaia is that it can be any landform. Smallest domination limit maps tend to be a single round landmass, but if you got a small island with a civ somewhere, it's not winnable in decent time.

Also, the landform can be S-shape etc. and that would mean lots of time before you can reach all areas, especially if you start at other end. So, finding a good map takes a while. I'm a bit disappointed with these findings. Still, this is much easier than finding high domination limit maps for Huge milking.

My plan is to play with Iroques with a river and many cows start. I like to research Philosophy and get free Republic so I can rush troops at the far front to speed up the final turns. Large land mass means higher tech cost, so it takes a while even with a great cow + river start, but then I can turn off research and gather gold.

 

[superslug]

I ditched an earlier start for something with more cows and found a great map. Three luxuries, a four-turn settler pump, a two-turn worker pump, two horses, iron, and I popped an SGL on literature to rush the Great Library.

Best part yet? My main neighbor is the Mongols, and they're going to feed my Golden Age where I build up an army.

 

[BlackHat]

Had a decent game going and cleared the home continent around 250 AD, but one civ was nowhere to be found when I finally got to the end of the landmass. Finished it as a domination game in 300 AD. Time to start over.

 

[superslug]

I'm not sure I'll get a submission in on this one. I'm just too rusty, and I'm in over my head.

 

[Spoonwood]

I'm not sure I'll get a submission in on this one. I'm just too rusty, and I'm in over my head.

What's the situation in your game superslug?