GIII Epsilon

[Tone]

The perfect map? One where you and your rivals are in the same hemisphere. Perhaps I just want the moon on a stick though.

I didn't realise this thread was the civ 'wishing well'. Well I got what I asked for but maybe I need to add another key factor that I didn't explicitly mention in that post.

So if the RNG gods are still listening to me, I'm playing as the Iroquois and so if I am to get a fast finish, I would also like some horses within easy reach when I play my next attempt. Many thanks in advance. (Have you ever felt that you were playing the RL equivalent of Dudley Moore's role in Bedazzled?)

I'd neglected this until today. It looked so good at the start as the civs kept showing their faces one by one but my spirits gradually lowered as the fog around my lands gradually cleared without revealing any horses. Stacks of iron if I wanted it but the nearest horses were in the American and Spanish cores, about 30 tiles away each and no unclaimed horses anywhere.

Now in the meantime, I'm off to find a stapler for that milk game of mine...

 

[Bartleby]

Heh. I made a rash decision to generate a set of maps as the Celts, and I got Horses everywhere but no Iron.

 

[Tone]

It's a shame we can't swap!

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I am going to run a game for this - just havent' been posting, as I have been moving! and it's ridiculously hot here, too...

 

[Tone]

Having completed that Histo game of mine (followed by a couple of days to recover), I'm now back to this. I'm currently playing a game where I suspect that a civ is offshore and time is running out. (310BC and I've only eliminated the French and the Mongols. )

Anyway, onto the reason for posting. I was wondering if it would be worth playing this in PtW/vanilla. The ability to trade contacts and maps would enable me to track down these civs much more quickly and to decide if a game is not worth playing out. The downside? No agricultural trait for my beloved Iroquois and mapfinder is less powerful as 'quick start' does not maintain the same set of rivals AFAICS. I'm considering it though...

 

[Tone]

I've finally completed a game. Too many civs too far away and hidden behind jungle to get a best date but I finished in 90AD. Crafty Mongolians sneaked a settler out just before I took thier last town. Of course that meant that when they settled they got their quota of free units again and proceded to lay into my troops that surrounded their newly built capital. Still, at least it wasn't on a galley.

I've been thinking about SpiffyKeen's suggestion about going for Engineering. I've been switching off research after HBR to try and keep the tech pace down. I might try it next time though, but a start with no civ too far away

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I think I've been going at this all wrong. I've been power researching to republic and trading for wheel and HBR - but I'm not getting forces out until 900 BC or so on the attack. Maybe the key is to just research wheel and HBR (if iroquois) and go...

 

[sanabas]

Maybe the key is to just research wheel and HBR (if iroquois) and go...

Yep, that's how I see it.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I've got one much going much better now. A despotic GA isn't bad, as long as you plan for it and dont' bother mining anythnig that already makes a shield

I am planning on researching to writing, so I can try to encourage war throughout the known world, though... confusion to my enemies!!!

 

[AutomatedTeller]

ok - started *yet* another one, once I realized that I had generated a wet, warm world and half of it was covered in jungle...

not going to make any fast finish, though - it's 390 BC and I only have 2 civs gone, with america and spain on their way out.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

ouch.

that got ugly fast. I tried fighting a bunch of wars at once - this was a bad idea - wars on multiple fronts against emperor opponents.

 

[Bartleby]

I drew a blank with this. Out of (IIRC) 33 maps as the Celts I got four that had everybody on my landmass and with Iron reasonably close. It seems that I chose wet worlds too, as mine were very jungly.
But when a byzantine city flipped on the second turn after capture, taking most of my Gallic swordsmen, I quit. If I had the time over, I'd go with the Iroquois.

 

[Tone]

I tried arid and cool but the mass of jungle was still too much for me. I enjoyed playing this in small bursts but I just found the map size too big to play more than one attempt before wanting to try something else.

I'm still not sure about whether MWs are better than Gallics for this. I chose MWs because they are cheaper but they don't last as well when the target's cultural borders are deep. Losing some this way can be a bit annoying when they've just travelled a few thousand miles to get to that city. I presume that Gallics produce more elites due to their greater ability to survive a counter attack?

Also the research cost for getting to the AA tech is cheaper for the Celts than the Iroquois so if you have the required resource, you can get the first ones out more quickly. I'm not sure if all that compensates for the greater number of MWs that you can produce though.

Although it's too late for this Gauntlet, I'm tempted to try them out. Just on a smaller map.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

mounted warriors should work fine - but it *is* irritating to get them counterattacked.

Adding in some ancient cavs would help reduce losses to the MW, though.

 

[Bartleby]

Tone, you're right about the Elites, I definitely wasn't short of those; I think the biggest drawback is the cost of the Gallics. I usually upgraded a bunch of Warriors for my firs attacking force but I always felt I was waiting too long for the second wave.
I guess we both have a feeling that the grass is greener on the other side...

 

[AutomatedTeller]

*sigh*

another missed gauntlet. sad thing is that I tried an early huge map on chieftain and almost got the high score (kind of a way to warm up)

another month before my quartermaster..

 

[superslug]

[sarcasm]Just try not to finish before 1556 A.D.[/sarcasm]

Good thing I was being sarcastic...

THE GAUNTLET IS CONCLUDED!
Congratulations to sanabas for the win, guiding his Mounted Warriors to a 70ad win. Tone and SpiffyKeen7744 also used the Iroquois, respectively placing second and third.