GOTM-02: First Spoiler:
- Thread starter ainwood
- Start date
DaviddesJ
Deity
I reached the spoiler condition at 380 BC. I just finished the Pyramids, in 220 BC, so I guess I'll post my first spoiler now. It's certainly going to be many more hours of play before I reach 500 AD.
I pushed for 2 great scientists quickly from London via library, then I switched to emphasize production to get the Pyramids built there. This probably wasn't the most efficient order to do things, but I wanted to build York as my first city near the copper, to get axemen out quickly (because I had heard that I should be worried about barbs), and to put my stone city in a place with access to pigs and gold, which meant it took quite a while to get an obelisk and expansion for the stone. Then I completed the Pyramids with a couple of chops and a 3-pop slavery rush. Next, I want to get the Great Library and National Epic; unfortunately, I don't have marble yet. I'd love to get a Great Engineer soon, but it's going to be hard now that I've pushed the GP cost up to 450 GPP.
If I had known that iron would pop up right next to London, I might have done things differently and not put the emphasis on copper, but I was glad to have several veteran axemen from York when the barbs really started coming. Also, having an early axeman made it easy to capture Teoihuacon, which is a pretty great city. I had one close call when a barbarian axeman stormed London, but I managed to win a 70% battle against him in the field, which prevented him from pillaging my improvements and bollixing my plans there.
I refused deals with Montezuma because everyone seemed to hate him and I thought it would be better to have everyone else like me. Also, having an enemy who is far off is not so bad. He declared war on me, but he just had a couple of units on my borders, which I dispatched with no problem. So that seems to be working ok so far.
At 220 BC, I'm power leader and tech leader, and everyone but Montezuma is reasonably friendly. Isabella got Metal Casting from the Oracle, but she's down a couple of other techs (Alphabet and Mathematics, I think).
I expect to see some similar games with better optimization of the GPs and Pyramids, but, so far, I'm happy with how this is going and enjoying it reasonably well.
4000 BC - London founded at start position.
3520 BC - Discover Agriculture.
2880 BC - Discover Animal Husbandry.
2240 BC - Discover Bronze Working.
1875 BC - Discover Writing.
1825 BC - Adopt Slavery.
1750 BC - Build York at 5S 1W (copper, gems).
1675 BC - Discover The Wheel.
1375 BC - 1st Great Person (GS - Academy in London).
1150 BC - Discover Alphabet; trade Writing for Mysticism, Masonry.
1125 BC - Trade Mining for Hunting.
1025 BC - Capture Teoihuacan at 7W from barbs (corn, cows, 2 wine, silk).
960 BC - Build Nottingham at 5S 5W (stone, rice, gold, pigs).
940 BC - Trade Mysticism, Writing for Pottery, Archery.
880 BC - Discover Iron Working.
800 BC - 2nd Great Person (GS - super specialist in London).
780 BC - Meet Cyrus; contact with all civs.
640 BC - Trade Iron Working for Sailing.
620 BC - First barbarian archer seen.
600 BC - Start Pyramids in London.
520 BC - Discover Mathematics.
500 BC - Isabella completes Oracle; Montezuma declares war on me.
440 BC - First barbarian axeman seen.
380 BC - Trade Iron Working for Polytheism; find Aztec territory (all civs found).
360 BC - Trade Polytheism for Meditation.
320 BC - Saladin completes Stonehenge; York's partial construction = 152 gold.
260 BC - Trade Mathematics for Priesthood.
240 BC - Complete Pyramids in London.
I pushed for 2 great scientists quickly from London via library, then I switched to emphasize production to get the Pyramids built there. This probably wasn't the most efficient order to do things, but I wanted to build York as my first city near the copper, to get axemen out quickly (because I had heard that I should be worried about barbs), and to put my stone city in a place with access to pigs and gold, which meant it took quite a while to get an obelisk and expansion for the stone. Then I completed the Pyramids with a couple of chops and a 3-pop slavery rush. Next, I want to get the Great Library and National Epic; unfortunately, I don't have marble yet. I'd love to get a Great Engineer soon, but it's going to be hard now that I've pushed the GP cost up to 450 GPP.
If I had known that iron would pop up right next to London, I might have done things differently and not put the emphasis on copper, but I was glad to have several veteran axemen from York when the barbs really started coming. Also, having an early axeman made it easy to capture Teoihuacon, which is a pretty great city. I had one close call when a barbarian axeman stormed London, but I managed to win a 70% battle against him in the field, which prevented him from pillaging my improvements and bollixing my plans there.
I refused deals with Montezuma because everyone seemed to hate him and I thought it would be better to have everyone else like me. Also, having an enemy who is far off is not so bad. He declared war on me, but he just had a couple of units on my borders, which I dispatched with no problem. So that seems to be working ok so far.
At 220 BC, I'm power leader and tech leader, and everyone but Montezuma is reasonably friendly. Isabella got Metal Casting from the Oracle, but she's down a couple of other techs (Alphabet and Mathematics, I think).
I expect to see some similar games with better optimization of the GPs and Pyramids, but, so far, I'm happy with how this is going and enjoying it reasonably well.
4000 BC - London founded at start position.
3520 BC - Discover Agriculture.
2880 BC - Discover Animal Husbandry.
2240 BC - Discover Bronze Working.
1875 BC - Discover Writing.
1825 BC - Adopt Slavery.
1750 BC - Build York at 5S 1W (copper, gems).
1675 BC - Discover The Wheel.
1375 BC - 1st Great Person (GS - Academy in London).
1150 BC - Discover Alphabet; trade Writing for Mysticism, Masonry.
1125 BC - Trade Mining for Hunting.
1025 BC - Capture Teoihuacan at 7W from barbs (corn, cows, 2 wine, silk).
960 BC - Build Nottingham at 5S 5W (stone, rice, gold, pigs).
940 BC - Trade Mysticism, Writing for Pottery, Archery.
880 BC - Discover Iron Working.
800 BC - 2nd Great Person (GS - super specialist in London).
780 BC - Meet Cyrus; contact with all civs.
640 BC - Trade Iron Working for Sailing.
620 BC - First barbarian archer seen.
600 BC - Start Pyramids in London.
520 BC - Discover Mathematics.
500 BC - Isabella completes Oracle; Montezuma declares war on me.
440 BC - First barbarian axeman seen.
380 BC - Trade Iron Working for Polytheism; find Aztec territory (all civs found).
360 BC - Trade Polytheism for Meditation.
320 BC - Saladin completes Stonehenge; York's partial construction = 152 gold.
260 BC - Trade Mathematics for Priesthood.
240 BC - Complete Pyramids in London.
the Beginning
My initial warrior move didn't uncover anything worthy of thought so I settled in place and began building a second warrior while researching agriculture.
The initial warrior went exploring north and west, the second warrior then eastward. My warriors found only a couple huts, one I remember getting 50 or so gold while the others were sightings only as I tended to meet AI at all the huts as they stepped on them getting the rewards (suspicious!).
After completing agriculture I began on bronze while building my first worker. That worker then started immediately on farming the wheat and then a chop which was to quicken the settler being built. The third priority was to mine the plains hill, after that it was mostly chops.
I ran thru quite a few plans on where to settle my second city. While the stone and gold looked nice, neither of them would promote growth and settling the stone too early would force masonry up the priority where it didn't belong.
Also since animal husbandry wasn't a high priority and monarcy wasn't a priority at all I ignored directly west despite that being a very good city location (Also while not apparent at that point going west first would have been harsh with all the barb activity.). So I went with the south location and then choose to get the sheep instead of the copper for reasons that aren't exactly clear at this point. I assume I had some idea of spreading some hammers to my third city for two fair midgame production cities.
After all the initial work was out of the way I decided to go with mysticism thru to priesthood and build Stonehenge and then eventually Oracle in York. With all the forests there that would be quickened with some chops. While its possible to go deeper with the free tech from the Oracle I decided to plan around Code so I could spend time on other things, and also this start is a bit gold poor so research is reduced. Plus getting both in York will give me an early prophet which is perfect for an early shrine. Stonehenge was also essential to expand the borders on the third city and get stone for a quick pyramids build.
This all played out according to plan and Confucianism was founded in Assyrian (barbarian town noted below). Which was also the location for the pyramid rush. Its almost perfectly suited for this as the forests were on many river grasses where cottages would eventually be placed.
By the time I got to the third city there was a barbarian city in my fourth location and with all the barb activity I sent a highly promoted axe and archer or two to capture it once it grew to size 2 and securing that location effectively for free.
At around 250 BC that all came together and then the rest of this early period up to 1AD was spent building infrastructure. This consisted mainly of barracks, granaries and city defenders. And research was given special attention to the point of micromanaging commerce tiles to improve the rate. After Writing and Alphabet was researched Ironworking became the biggest priority to clear those jungles and begin building the conquering armies. At 1 AD I was two turns from Iron.
I founded one more city to the southwest which got another copper resource as well as some calendar age resources.
---
This is the turn log output the eventlog program for the above time period.
1 AD
Toward the end of the last stage and also during this time I dealt with the most important aspect to the upcoming age of warfare which was to define my relations with my neighbors. Cyrus and Monte were too far away or seperated from by other civs so were on my potential friends list (of course thats just not possible with Monte). While, Mansa my near neighbor to the east would be a likely target I know he will build up a lot of Skirmishers which I'd rather avoid with my initial forces which would be swords and then maces so he was friend priority number one. Fortunately for me Cyrus and Mansa turned out to be number 2 and 3 in score and power so perfect choices for allies as they had resources and techs to trade. That left all others as my targets.
Saladin had the misfortune of being way too close to my borders, annoyingly aggressive with his city placement and in general very weak. So he was first to volunteer!
400 AD -
So Saladin stepped up and volunteered to be conquered first. Since my swords only had 4 exp I couldn't attack any strong city and expect good results so I started on one of his newer cities in the desert. I had no plans to work with his placement so I razed that one, and later razed his capital and placed ontop of one of the ivory resources.
The first war was a bit lame with such inexperienced troops, so I got some gold for a peace deal and gave him a 10 turn reprieve. I had been working towards civil service having already researched machinery and getting currency from Mansa I started amassing a stockpile of gold to do some quick mace upgrades and finish up with Saladin. This plan worked out well and I ended up with only a few losses (mainly my 4 exp swords that didn't see action last war) and gained a few Raider III and Combat macers.
Going beyond the spoiler time I started to see some unhappiness so amd playing around with cease fires while healing up and manuvering my units.
---
This is the turn log output the eventlog program for the above time period.
Beyond...
From here I intend to work on Isabella and then on to Monte. I did join with Cyrus when he was attacked by Monte but except for a unit I happened to have nearby exploring I didn't engage him at all. I figure my macers have quite a bit more life in them and certainly against the civs that are lagging in tech but once I have to move towards the more advanced I will be ready with redcoats.
The attached images are my four main cities at 1 AD. I had five total but the most recent was pretty new.
My initial warrior move didn't uncover anything worthy of thought so I settled in place and began building a second warrior while researching agriculture.
The initial warrior went exploring north and west, the second warrior then eastward. My warriors found only a couple huts, one I remember getting 50 or so gold while the others were sightings only as I tended to meet AI at all the huts as they stepped on them getting the rewards (suspicious!).
After completing agriculture I began on bronze while building my first worker. That worker then started immediately on farming the wheat and then a chop which was to quicken the settler being built. The third priority was to mine the plains hill, after that it was mostly chops.
I ran thru quite a few plans on where to settle my second city. While the stone and gold looked nice, neither of them would promote growth and settling the stone too early would force masonry up the priority where it didn't belong.
Also since animal husbandry wasn't a high priority and monarcy wasn't a priority at all I ignored directly west despite that being a very good city location (Also while not apparent at that point going west first would have been harsh with all the barb activity.). So I went with the south location and then choose to get the sheep instead of the copper for reasons that aren't exactly clear at this point. I assume I had some idea of spreading some hammers to my third city for two fair midgame production cities.
After all the initial work was out of the way I decided to go with mysticism thru to priesthood and build Stonehenge and then eventually Oracle in York. With all the forests there that would be quickened with some chops. While its possible to go deeper with the free tech from the Oracle I decided to plan around Code so I could spend time on other things, and also this start is a bit gold poor so research is reduced. Plus getting both in York will give me an early prophet which is perfect for an early shrine. Stonehenge was also essential to expand the borders on the third city and get stone for a quick pyramids build.
This all played out according to plan and Confucianism was founded in Assyrian (barbarian town noted below). Which was also the location for the pyramid rush. Its almost perfectly suited for this as the forests were on many river grasses where cottages would eventually be placed.
By the time I got to the third city there was a barbarian city in my fourth location and with all the barb activity I sent a highly promoted axe and archer or two to capture it once it grew to size 2 and securing that location effectively for free.
At around 250 BC that all came together and then the rest of this early period up to 1AD was spent building infrastructure. This consisted mainly of barracks, granaries and city defenders. And research was given special attention to the point of micromanaging commerce tiles to improve the rate. After Writing and Alphabet was researched Ironworking became the biggest priority to clear those jungles and begin building the conquering armies. At 1 AD I was two turns from Iron.
I founded one more city to the southwest which got another copper resource as well as some calendar age resources.
---
This is the turn log output the eventlog program for the above time period.
Spoiler :
1 AD
Toward the end of the last stage and also during this time I dealt with the most important aspect to the upcoming age of warfare which was to define my relations with my neighbors. Cyrus and Monte were too far away or seperated from by other civs so were on my potential friends list (of course thats just not possible with Monte). While, Mansa my near neighbor to the east would be a likely target I know he will build up a lot of Skirmishers which I'd rather avoid with my initial forces which would be swords and then maces so he was friend priority number one. Fortunately for me Cyrus and Mansa turned out to be number 2 and 3 in score and power so perfect choices for allies as they had resources and techs to trade. That left all others as my targets.
Saladin had the misfortune of being way too close to my borders, annoyingly aggressive with his city placement and in general very weak. So he was first to volunteer!
400 AD -
So Saladin stepped up and volunteered to be conquered first. Since my swords only had 4 exp I couldn't attack any strong city and expect good results so I started on one of his newer cities in the desert. I had no plans to work with his placement so I razed that one, and later razed his capital and placed ontop of one of the ivory resources.
The first war was a bit lame with such inexperienced troops, so I got some gold for a peace deal and gave him a 10 turn reprieve. I had been working towards civil service having already researched machinery and getting currency from Mansa I started amassing a stockpile of gold to do some quick mace upgrades and finish up with Saladin. This plan worked out well and I ended up with only a few losses (mainly my 4 exp swords that didn't see action last war) and gained a few Raider III and Combat macers.
Going beyond the spoiler time I started to see some unhappiness so amd playing around with cease fires while healing up and manuvering my units.
---
This is the turn log output the eventlog program for the above time period.
Spoiler :
Beyond...
From here I intend to work on Isabella and then on to Monte. I did join with Cyrus when he was attacked by Monte but except for a unit I happened to have nearby exploring I didn't engage him at all. I figure my macers have quite a bit more life in them and certainly against the civs that are lagging in tech but once I have to move towards the more advanced I will be ready with redcoats.
The attached images are my four main cities at 1 AD. I had five total but the most recent was pretty new.
Attachments
knupp715
King
This was my first GOTM. Still playing it. Doing quite well too. Going for a domination victory.
Anyways I will sum a few things up:
Aztecs were constantly at war with the Spanish on and off until they eventually destroyed the Spanish. Aztecs demanded that I convert to Buddhism and since I didn't go for any early religions I agreed. Me and him are best friends now. And we just ganged up on....oh wait, I better save that for spoiler thread 2.
Anyways I will sum a few things up:
Aztecs were constantly at war with the Spanish on and off until they eventually destroyed the Spanish. Aztecs demanded that I convert to Buddhism and since I didn't go for any early religions I agreed. Me and him are best friends now. And we just ganged up on....oh wait, I better save that for spoiler thread 2.
Qitai
.
How do I retrieve the turn log from the system? I did not keep much record of my progress since there is a turn log. But now I find that I am unable to retrieve it.
Anyway, in 580AD now and score is around 1142, more than double all AIs' score. Will post when I figure how to get the turn log out.
Currently, got every single wonder so far except Parthenon. Has enough lead to try building every single wonder for the remaining of the game. 12 Cities currently, including securing the only 2nd marble I can find on the map (have almost full map view now with 2 woodsman II warrior doing exploration and having open borders with all AI except Aztec. No wars at all by anyone so far.
Anyway, in 580AD now and score is around 1142, more than double all AIs' score. Will post when I figure how to get the turn log out.
Currently, got every single wonder so far except Parthenon. Has enough lead to try building every single wonder for the remaining of the game. 12 Cities currently, including securing the only 2nd marble I can find on the map (have almost full map view now with 2 woodsman II warrior doing exploration and having open borders with all AI except Aztec. No wars at all by anyone so far.
grahamiam
In debt to Mr. Geisel
Gyanthaar wrote a utility here -> http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=141769Qitai said:
should do what you need. Time to change that title to "out-of-retirement"?
Qitai
.
Okay, thanks.
Here is the turn log.
Here is the turn log.
Spoiler :
HiddenGrounds
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1
Introduction
I will start by saying that I am enjoying every game of Civilization IV. My best friend and I have played it constantly, sharing ideas and strategy, while learning about the game through trial and error. I am really glad that we have the GOTM now, since my devotion to real life activities have resumed, and that means I must use my time more efficiently.
After playing last month as Rome in GOTM-1and digging my way into destruction by Alexander, I looked at this months setup and was really interested by the new options of Lakes, Prince, and Elizabeth. Ive played her a few times upon Noble, and I really have not tried out a clear or dominant strategy, since I did not know what would work out well with her traits. Ill start with some opening thoughts about tactics.
Tactics
Ill put in the disclaimer now that the Chop Every Tree theory is necessary; given whomever you choose to play. Of course, I am still learning about this wonderful game, so I could and probably will be quite wrong. In this GOTM pre-game discussion, I was intrigued by a few folks who thought the premise of the Schoolboy theory would get the technological advantage up and running. Ive given it a name and added some of my own interpretation.
The Schoolboy theory involves swift expansion of cities and workers using the CET theory, while focusing on getting the Writing and Alphabet technologies. By doing such, the player should be able to gain advantages through technology trading and acquire culture through the building of libraries, while not building opposed structures like barracks.
I think this is an early game strategy that could work well with Elizabeth, and her traits of Philosophical and Financial can aid the transition into an effective mid-game strategy, depending on what type of victory you are going for. I am hesitant to not build barracks in my cities, due to the fact that barbarians could rain down from all sides or even an opponent will declare war upon my people. I think it is critical in turn management though, so I will opt to try it for this game.
Overview
This report is marked at several places so as to analyze my progress at different times, although I do have some personal input with each entry.
2480 BC
The original settler was in a perfect position, so our capital was built immediately. Since then, London has grown up one city level, having our first settler in queue and a worker building a farm in the wheat fields. To the south, a warrior is in position to defend the plentiful plains between the start of the river and the small lake. Our scientists are researching Animal Husbandry so we might put the sheep to use, and our only known opponent is Isabella to our southwest.
Oh my. I really dislike this opponent as I have been a victim of one of her crusades in another single player game, so I am pondering changing my strategy. I really dont relish the thought of conquistadors and catapults chewing me up like lunchmeat. It is really early on though and since we are on Epic speed, I choose to stay the course of using the Schoolboy theory.
1325 BC
York has been built in the south where our warriors were defending, and our scientists moved quickly after discovering Animal Husbandry to Bronze Working. With all the forests about in this tropical climate, the CET theory goes into full effect. Archery is our next science for defense, due to meeting several scouts and warriors from other civilizations. Research is at 90% and more workers and warriors are forthcoming. Our next settler has his eye set on the copper deposits to the east and west of York, while our troops have found some good land on the other side of the lake to our east. Being that Mansa is over that way, I surely do not want him to get a foothold, so I better get started on another settler.
So Mansa has shown his face with Washington, Montezuma, Cyrus, and Saladin. This is like getting a rock at Halloween. These civilizations, along with Isabella, have me really reconsidering my tactics. A majority of my games with any of these opponents have lead to a military conflict of major proportions. Now that we are on one giant world of lakes where we are not divided by oceans, I sigh as I remember that it is about time the barbarian hordes might begin to show up. Archery will serve me well as a defense.
920 BC
The hordes have assailed us, and we have not only withstood them, we have beaten them back as our empire grows. Hastings is built near the eastern copper resource and the southern jungles to keep an eye on Saladin. Nottingham is built on fertile river-lands to our east, and now we have an eye on Mansa. The lake has provided us with coin to handle our dropping research rate, which now lies at 40% as we look to get Writing in four turns. Schoolboy theory is in full effect as we race forward to our goal.
Many warriors and archers have been built, some being used to expand the fog of war and others to defend our homeland. Many are killed in the battles with the barbarians, but nothing has gone awry with any other civilization. Since our coin is low, any war would be a costly one and I really do not want to go below 40% in research. We might be able to make this theory work yet, though we need to make sure that we have good diplomatic relations.
40 BC
The Schoolboy theory is accomplished in 120 BC, and our diplomacy in the following years trading Writing and Alphabet gains us Mysticism/Masonry, Pottery, Sailing, Mathmatics, and Iron Working. Culture has strengthened in all four of our cities with Obelisks, and Granaries are aiding in our moderated growth. Open borders have been signed with Cyrus and Mansa, while our science has risen to 50%. Barbarian wars have made our green troops into veterans, and we prepare for future conflicts.
Current cities:
London - 5
York - 5
Nottingham - 4
Hastings - 2
Current scores:
Isabella 424
Washington 396
Cyrus 390
Montezuma 389
Saladin 387
Mansa 364
Elizabeth 334
Introspective
A critical event happened in the last few years: Montezuma and Isabella have been at war! Normally, I would think that the mad lass would make short work of the Aztecs, but in fact, the reverse has occurred through my scouts wandering about open lands. One colony city of Spain is razed and Madrid is captured. This gets me to thinking deeply about the type of victory I wish to play for, especially that Isabella still has a high score after such losses.
With Isabella hurting, should I switch to a militaristic society and leap at the chance to absorb her empire? Should I continue on the Schoolboy path towards enlightenment, striving to reach for Philosophy for the Pacifism trait? Can I afford to do such with Saladin, Mansa, and Washington so close?
I hope this was thought-provoking and Ill post the rest of my GOTM report in the next spoiler. Cheers!
I will start by saying that I am enjoying every game of Civilization IV. My best friend and I have played it constantly, sharing ideas and strategy, while learning about the game through trial and error. I am really glad that we have the GOTM now, since my devotion to real life activities have resumed, and that means I must use my time more efficiently.
After playing last month as Rome in GOTM-1and digging my way into destruction by Alexander, I looked at this months setup and was really interested by the new options of Lakes, Prince, and Elizabeth. Ive played her a few times upon Noble, and I really have not tried out a clear or dominant strategy, since I did not know what would work out well with her traits. Ill start with some opening thoughts about tactics.
Tactics
Ill put in the disclaimer now that the Chop Every Tree theory is necessary; given whomever you choose to play. Of course, I am still learning about this wonderful game, so I could and probably will be quite wrong. In this GOTM pre-game discussion, I was intrigued by a few folks who thought the premise of the Schoolboy theory would get the technological advantage up and running. Ive given it a name and added some of my own interpretation.
The Schoolboy theory involves swift expansion of cities and workers using the CET theory, while focusing on getting the Writing and Alphabet technologies. By doing such, the player should be able to gain advantages through technology trading and acquire culture through the building of libraries, while not building opposed structures like barracks.
I think this is an early game strategy that could work well with Elizabeth, and her traits of Philosophical and Financial can aid the transition into an effective mid-game strategy, depending on what type of victory you are going for. I am hesitant to not build barracks in my cities, due to the fact that barbarians could rain down from all sides or even an opponent will declare war upon my people. I think it is critical in turn management though, so I will opt to try it for this game.
Overview
This report is marked at several places so as to analyze my progress at different times, although I do have some personal input with each entry.
2480 BC
The original settler was in a perfect position, so our capital was built immediately. Since then, London has grown up one city level, having our first settler in queue and a worker building a farm in the wheat fields. To the south, a warrior is in position to defend the plentiful plains between the start of the river and the small lake. Our scientists are researching Animal Husbandry so we might put the sheep to use, and our only known opponent is Isabella to our southwest.
Oh my. I really dislike this opponent as I have been a victim of one of her crusades in another single player game, so I am pondering changing my strategy. I really dont relish the thought of conquistadors and catapults chewing me up like lunchmeat. It is really early on though and since we are on Epic speed, I choose to stay the course of using the Schoolboy theory.
1325 BC
York has been built in the south where our warriors were defending, and our scientists moved quickly after discovering Animal Husbandry to Bronze Working. With all the forests about in this tropical climate, the CET theory goes into full effect. Archery is our next science for defense, due to meeting several scouts and warriors from other civilizations. Research is at 90% and more workers and warriors are forthcoming. Our next settler has his eye set on the copper deposits to the east and west of York, while our troops have found some good land on the other side of the lake to our east. Being that Mansa is over that way, I surely do not want him to get a foothold, so I better get started on another settler.
So Mansa has shown his face with Washington, Montezuma, Cyrus, and Saladin. This is like getting a rock at Halloween. These civilizations, along with Isabella, have me really reconsidering my tactics. A majority of my games with any of these opponents have lead to a military conflict of major proportions. Now that we are on one giant world of lakes where we are not divided by oceans, I sigh as I remember that it is about time the barbarian hordes might begin to show up. Archery will serve me well as a defense.
920 BC
The hordes have assailed us, and we have not only withstood them, we have beaten them back as our empire grows. Hastings is built near the eastern copper resource and the southern jungles to keep an eye on Saladin. Nottingham is built on fertile river-lands to our east, and now we have an eye on Mansa. The lake has provided us with coin to handle our dropping research rate, which now lies at 40% as we look to get Writing in four turns. Schoolboy theory is in full effect as we race forward to our goal.
Many warriors and archers have been built, some being used to expand the fog of war and others to defend our homeland. Many are killed in the battles with the barbarians, but nothing has gone awry with any other civilization. Since our coin is low, any war would be a costly one and I really do not want to go below 40% in research. We might be able to make this theory work yet, though we need to make sure that we have good diplomatic relations.
40 BC
The Schoolboy theory is accomplished in 120 BC, and our diplomacy in the following years trading Writing and Alphabet gains us Mysticism/Masonry, Pottery, Sailing, Mathmatics, and Iron Working. Culture has strengthened in all four of our cities with Obelisks, and Granaries are aiding in our moderated growth. Open borders have been signed with Cyrus and Mansa, while our science has risen to 50%. Barbarian wars have made our green troops into veterans, and we prepare for future conflicts.
Current cities:
London - 5
York - 5
Nottingham - 4
Hastings - 2
Current scores:
Isabella 424
Washington 396
Cyrus 390
Montezuma 389
Saladin 387
Mansa 364
Elizabeth 334
Introspective
A critical event happened in the last few years: Montezuma and Isabella have been at war! Normally, I would think that the mad lass would make short work of the Aztecs, but in fact, the reverse has occurred through my scouts wandering about open lands. One colony city of Spain is razed and Madrid is captured. This gets me to thinking deeply about the type of victory I wish to play for, especially that Isabella still has a high score after such losses.
With Isabella hurting, should I switch to a militaristic society and leap at the chance to absorb her empire? Should I continue on the Schoolboy path towards enlightenment, striving to reach for Philosophy for the Pacifism trait? Can I afford to do such with Saladin, Mansa, and Washington so close?
I hope this was thought-provoking and Ill post the rest of my GOTM report in the next spoiler. Cheers!
DaviddesJ
Deity
HiddenGrounds said:
I haven't chopped so much. Certainly not compared to the fanatics who research Bronze Working before Agriculture or Animal Husbandry! As of 220 BC, I've chopped a total of 7 forests. And I'm doing pretty well, although I don't expect to beat the most aggressive choppers. (But I enjoy this style of play more.)
I forgot to mention huts in my previous spoiler. I had lousy luck with my early warriors, losing one to a lion that I was strongly favored over. Then I finally found an unpopped hut, after many, many turns, and got barbarians.
I think this is a pretty major random factor, in the early game. Even 40 gold from a hut is a Big Deal.In 220 BC, my score is 351. The AIs range from 328 (Isabella) to 299 (Mansa Musa).
Mîtiu Ioan
Deity
Interesting - until now I didn't fight any war at all this game, just resisted to barbarian invasions in the easrly game.
More details in the evening ...
Regards
More details in the evening ...
Regards
This is my first GOTM and my first Civ4 game, that I played without any reloading. Always thought that would be necessary for me to have fun.
I'm used to play on prince, but with reloading not allowed I startet much more defensive than normal. I produced two warriors in the beginning, then one Worker while researching Bronze Working.
Meanwhile my first scouting warrior discovered two villages in the west, discovering mysticism and a map. Then he made contact to the aztecs and the spanish.
With my worker I chop rushed another worker and Stonehenge. Then rushed a settler to build my second city York to the south-west, where I found stone. The second city also had much forest around. I built some more workers and a warrior and researched the wheel, pottery, meditation and priesthood. With 4 workers I chop rushed the oracle in about 1000 BC and discovered metal casting. Then I founded my third City south of london near the gems. Used the last forests near York to build the pyramids. Building the parthenon failed, but I got 160 gold.
Later I conquered two barbarian cities. I had almost no problems with barbarians in this game due to axemen on my borders and the stonehenge culture bonus. I also had no problem with other civilizations as my military is average and I did not convert to any religion, despite founding confucianism.
Status of the game in 480 AD:
-7 Cities
-703 points (1st), second is Mansa Musa with 534
-researching Music with 50% Science
Wonders:
-Stonehenge, building Great Library (London)
-Oracle, Pyramids, Heroic Epic (York)
-Kong Miao (Nottingham)
I'm used to play on prince, but with reloading not allowed I startet much more defensive than normal. I produced two warriors in the beginning, then one Worker while researching Bronze Working.
Meanwhile my first scouting warrior discovered two villages in the west, discovering mysticism and a map. Then he made contact to the aztecs and the spanish.
With my worker I chop rushed another worker and Stonehenge. Then rushed a settler to build my second city York to the south-west, where I found stone. The second city also had much forest around. I built some more workers and a warrior and researched the wheel, pottery, meditation and priesthood. With 4 workers I chop rushed the oracle in about 1000 BC and discovered metal casting. Then I founded my third City south of london near the gems. Used the last forests near York to build the pyramids. Building the parthenon failed, but I got 160 gold.
Later I conquered two barbarian cities. I had almost no problems with barbarians in this game due to axemen on my borders and the stonehenge culture bonus. I also had no problem with other civilizations as my military is average and I did not convert to any religion, despite founding confucianism.
Status of the game in 480 AD:
-7 Cities
-703 points (1st), second is Mansa Musa with 534
-researching Music with 50% Science
Wonders:
-Stonehenge, building Great Library (London)
-Oracle, Pyramids, Heroic Epic (York)
-Kong Miao (Nottingham)
Attachments
diamond geezer
Warlord
You're being silly. And as for later point you're being even sillier.Memphus said:
Anyway having mastered Eventlog I can give the event log (although I'm not sure how useful it is, seeing as I'm definitely a long way from expert).
Turn 0, 4000BC:
London has been founded.
Turn 11, 3560BC:
Buddhism has been founded in a distant land!
Turn 12, 3520BC:
You have discovered Agriculture!
Turn 17, 3320BC:
You have discovered The Wheel!
Turn 30, 2800BC:
You have discovered Animal Husbandry!
Turn 50, 2000BC:
Hinduism has been founded in a distant land!
Turn 51, 1975BC:
You have discovered Bronze Working!
Isabella converts to Hinduism!
Turn 60, 1750BC:
You have discovered Mysticism!
Turn 61, 1725BC:
York has been founded.
Turn 65, 1625BC:
You have discovered Hunting!
Turn 66, 1600BC:
Cyrus converts to Buddhism!
Turn 69, 1525BC:
Saladin adopts Slavery!
Montezuma adopts Slavery!
Turn 70, 1500BC:
Cyrus adopts Slavery!
Turn 72, 1450BC:
You have discovered Archery!
Turn 73, 1425BC:
Judaism has been founded in a distant land!
Turn 74, 1400BC:
Elizabeth has completed Stonehenge!
Isabella adopts Organized Religion!
Turn 81, 1225BC:
You have discovered Pottery!
Turn 86, 1100BC:
Mansa Musa adopts Slavery!
Turn 89, 1025BC:
You have discovered Meditation!
Turn 96, 880BC:
You have discovered Priesthood!
Turn 97, 860BC:
The revolution has begun!!!
Elizabeth adopts Slavery!
Turn 101, 780BC:
Washington adopts Slavery!
Turn 102, 760BC:
Isabella adopts Slavery!
Turn 106, 680BC:
You have captured Nubian!!!
You have discovered Writing!
Turn 112, 560BC:
Elizabeth has completed The Oracle!
Moses has been born in London!
Turn 113, 540BC:
Confucianism has been founded in Nubian!
You have discovered Code of Laws!
The revolution has begun!!!
Elizabeth converts to Confucianism!
Turn 116, 480BC:
Elizabeth has completed The Kong Miao!
Confucianism has spread in London.
Turn 127, 260BC:
You have discovered Iron Working!
Turn 132, 160BC:
You have discovered Masonry!
The Pyramids has been built in a far away land!
Turn 133, 140BC:
Mansa Musa adopts Representation!
Turn 138, 40BC:
Confucianism has spread in York.
Cyrus adopts Organized Religion!
Turn 142, 40AD:
Mahavira has been born in London!
Turn 143, 60AD:
Montezuma adopts Organized Religion!
Turn 149, 180AD:
Confucianism has spread in Philadelphia.
Washington converts to Confucianism!
Turn 150, 200AD:
You have discovered Alphabet!
Turn 157, 270AD:
You have captured Minoan!!!
Turn 159, 290AD:
Merit Ptah has been born in a far away land!
Turn 160, 300AD:
The Parthenon has been built in a far away land!
Turn 163, 330AD:
You have discovered Monarchy!
Turn 164, 340AD:
The revolution has begun!!!
Elizabeth adopts Hereditary Rule!
Elizabeth adopts Organized Religion!
Turn 166, 360AD:
Zoroaster has been born in a far away land!
Turn 167, 370AD:
The Kashi Vishwanath has been built in a far away land!
Turn 168, 380AD:
Confucianism has spread in Minoan.
Turn 173, 430AD:
Xi Ling Shi has been born in a far away land!
Turn 177, 470AD:
Confucianism has spread in Awdaghost.
Mansa Musa converts to Confucianism!
Turn 179, 490AD:
You have discovered Currency!
Mansa Musa adopts Organized Religion!
Turn 181, 510AD:
Elizabeth has completed The Hanging Gardens!
Turn 184, 540AD:
Imhotep has been born in London!
Turn 185, 550AD:
Confucianism has spread in Basra.
Saladin converts to Confucianism!
Game version: 1.52 Gamespeed: Epic (Turnlimit: 660)
Note that although the last three events come after 500AD it's still well within the tech limit set and also forms a good cutoff point.
Roland Ehnström
Prince
Civ IV GOTM2 - 4000BC-1AD - Roland Ehnström
GAME GOAL: EARLY SPACESHIP
------------------------------
The short(ish) story
Cities: My Warrior started by moving SW and saw the stone resource. This made me decide to move my settler to the fresh-water desert tile, and found London there in 3960 BC (more details on my reasoning below). York was founded in 2080 BC NE of London, where I guess most players founded London. Nottingham founded in 1725 NW of London, by the silk, corn and wine. Hastings founded W of London in 1275 BC, providing cattle, wines and rice. Canterbury founded in 1025 BC, S of the copper, also getting access to rice, gems and bananas. Coventry in 680 BC, next to the gold hill, also getting spices and pigs. By the time Coventry was founded, city maintenance had become a BIG problem, and put a premature end to my expansion-phase. Looking back, I guess it would have been better to aim at limiting the expansion to only four cities by 1 AD. I founded my sixth already in 680 BC, and it really hurt my economy.
Research: I started with Agriculture (finished in 3560 BC) to work the wheat. Then Bronze Working (2760 BC) to be able to chop forests. Next Masonry (2160 BC) for a quarry on the stone resource, and for the Pyramids. Then Animal Husbandry (1625 BC) to work the sheep in York. Next The Wheel (1300 BC) for roads. Then Pottery (1050 BC, for Granaries), followed by Writing (720 BC, for a Library in York), Sailing (480 BC, for a Lighthouse in York), Iron Working (200 BC, to remove jungle). In 1 AD we discovered Alphabet, and traded for Mysticism and Hunting.
Exploration: The original warrior wandered away NW to check out the river, before turning back south, eventually finding the gold. He popped two tribal villages - got one useless map and met a Barbarian Warrior...
Our second Warrior went SE and then E. He found Mali before turning back to help fight the Barbarians, but was tragically killed by a Bear on his way home.
Barbarians: The animals were no big problem - I just made sure all undefended units stayed within our cultural borders. The human Barbarians, however, were much more of a problem, especially from 460 BC to 200 BC, when I was fighting numerous Barbarian Archers and Axemen with my very limited number of Warriors and Axemen. At one point I was very lucky not to lose London to the Barbarians - that would have been the end of my game, because London was building the Pyramids at the time.
------------------------------
The long story
4000 BC - Warrior SW... OMG, this reveales stone further SW!!! VERY interesting... Now, my initial plan was to settle 1 N, to keep the visible fresh water desert tile as a potential site for city #2 (I wanted to keep the option for city #2 to use the wheat, since I am unsure about food availability down south - looks real dry). However, doing this would require a culture building in city #2 before we can secure the stone. Now that I see stone I really want to build the Pyramids - Representation would be really good 'cause I plan to go heavy on the specialists (we are Philosophical, remember). So now I'm thinking of wasting one move to settle London on the desert tile instead. Hmm... Yes, this is truly a good location for London: Working the three plains-hills, the wheat and two grassland tiles with farms, London will be +15 hammers already at size 6 - an early Wonder pump! City #2 can be up by the sheep, becoming an early GP farm. With a Lighthouse it will support three specialists already at size 5, or four at size 8. Said and done: Settler W, SW.
3960 BC - Settler S. Warrior NW - yay, another river! Settler settles London on the fresh water desert. We start researching Agriculture, to farm the wheat. London starts training a Warrior. It will be finished by the time London hits size 2. Then we'll go for a Worker, followed by a Settler and then probably a second Settler or Worker.
3920 BC--> - Warrior continues exploring NW before later turning south.
3880 BC - Warrior finds wines and silks by the river. Looks like a great site for a high commerce city. Only a bit low on food.
3800 BC - Corn west of the river - the food problem is solved. This site is a VERY good candidate for city #3, or even #2.
3640 BC - London's border-expansion reveals rice and wines to the west and sheep on a plains-hill to the east. Our Warrior enters a camp and is gifted an utterly useless map showing nothing but snow, ice and tundra.
3560 BC - Our Warrior kills a wolf. We discover Agriculture and start researching Bronze Working (chop, chop, chop...).
3480 BC - Buddhism has been founded in a distant land.
3320 BC - No luck: Our Warrior enters another camp and is greeted by hostile Barbarians. Good thing the camp was on top of a forested hill...
3280 BC - Our Warrior successfully defended himself against the Barbarians. We meet the Arabians as a Warrior of theirs stumbles in from the south.
3240 BC--> - Our second Warrior explores SE and then E. He spots Gems close to the sheep on the plains-hill. Could be a good spot for a future city...
3040 BC - Our first Warrior finds spices to the SW...
3000 BC - Pigs to the SW...
2960 BC - Gold to the SW... Hmm, this is starting to look like a great spot for city #4. Just hope the Arabians don't get there before we do...
2760 BC - We discover Bronze Working and start Masonry (to be able to build a quarry on the stone, and for the Pyramids of course). There is Copper just south of London.
2720 BC - We meet the Americans.
2560 BC - We find Mali in the far east.
2520 BC - Hinduism has been founded in a distant land. Rice and bananas found in the jungle south of the copper. Another good spot for a city!
2160 BC - We discover Masonry and start Animal Husbandry.
2080 BC - York founded by the sheep, where we originally planned to settle London.
2000 BC - We lose a Warrior to a Bear.
1750 BC - We meet the Persians.
1725 BC - Nottingham founded in the NW by the corn, silks and wines.
1700 BC - We meet the Spaniards.
1625 BC - Animal Husbandry discovered, start The Wheel. No horses...
1375 BC - Barbarian Warrior spotted W of Nottingham.
1300 BC - The Wheel discovered, Pottery started (for granaries, obviousely).
1275 BC - Hastings founded W of London, between cattle, wines and rice.
1050 BC - Pottery discovered, Writing started.
1025 BC - Canterbury founded down south by the copper. Oh dear, all that jungle is making the city unhealthy from the start!
***1000 BC***
Game Score: 188
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Mining, Pottery, Masonry, Bronze Working (12 turns to Writing).
Gold: 2 (-5 GPT at 60% science)
Cities: 5 (11 pop)
Buildings: none (4 Granaries in production)
Units: 6 Workers, 6 Warriors (1 Warrior in production)
940 BC - Judaism founded in a distant land.
800 BC - We finally meet the Aztecs.
780 BC - Stonhenge has been built in a far away land. London completes it's Granary and starts The Pyramids...
720 BC - We discover Writing and start Sailing.
680 BC - Coventry founded in the SW. But oh my god, the city maintenance is killing us! We're down to 30% science now...
500 BC - York completes Library and hires two scientists.
480 BC - We finally discover Sailing and start Iron Working (to be able to remove jungle). First Barbarian Archer spotted - and we still have only Warriors!!! Time to connect that Copper...
360 BC - Is that Barbarian AXMEN I see?!?
~300 BC - We lose two Axmen and two Warriors trying to defend ourselves from the Barabarians...
240 BC - London completes The Pyramids!
200 BC - Discovering Iron Working, we enter the Classical Age. We start researching Alphabet. There is Iron east of London.
180 BC - Having finally gotten the upper hand on the Barbarians, we can afford to have a revolution to switch to Representation and Slavery.
80 BC - Great Scientist born in York. He moves to Nottingham to start an academy.
1 AD - Alphabet discovered, Mathematics started (we need Calendar, and would like to build The Hanging Gardens). We trade Masonry to the Arabians for Mysticism, and Sailing to the Americans for Hunting.
***1 AD***
Game Score: 412
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Mining, Pottery, Masonry, Bronze Working, Writing, Sailing, Iron Working, Alphabet, Hunting, Mysticism (Mathematics in 6 turns)
Gold: 16 (+1 GPT at 40% science)
Cities: 6 (26 pop)
Buildings: The Pyramids (London), Academy (Nottingham), 5 Libraries, 5 Granaries (1 Lighthouse, 1 Granary and 1 Library in production)
Units: 7 Workers, 7 Warriors, 5 Axemen (2 Settlers and 1 Axeman in production)
-- Roland
GAME GOAL: EARLY SPACESHIP
------------------------------
The short(ish) story
Cities: My Warrior started by moving SW and saw the stone resource. This made me decide to move my settler to the fresh-water desert tile, and found London there in 3960 BC (more details on my reasoning below). York was founded in 2080 BC NE of London, where I guess most players founded London. Nottingham founded in 1725 NW of London, by the silk, corn and wine. Hastings founded W of London in 1275 BC, providing cattle, wines and rice. Canterbury founded in 1025 BC, S of the copper, also getting access to rice, gems and bananas. Coventry in 680 BC, next to the gold hill, also getting spices and pigs. By the time Coventry was founded, city maintenance had become a BIG problem, and put a premature end to my expansion-phase. Looking back, I guess it would have been better to aim at limiting the expansion to only four cities by 1 AD. I founded my sixth already in 680 BC, and it really hurt my economy.
Research: I started with Agriculture (finished in 3560 BC) to work the wheat. Then Bronze Working (2760 BC) to be able to chop forests. Next Masonry (2160 BC) for a quarry on the stone resource, and for the Pyramids. Then Animal Husbandry (1625 BC) to work the sheep in York. Next The Wheel (1300 BC) for roads. Then Pottery (1050 BC, for Granaries), followed by Writing (720 BC, for a Library in York), Sailing (480 BC, for a Lighthouse in York), Iron Working (200 BC, to remove jungle). In 1 AD we discovered Alphabet, and traded for Mysticism and Hunting.
Exploration: The original warrior wandered away NW to check out the river, before turning back south, eventually finding the gold. He popped two tribal villages - got one useless map and met a Barbarian Warrior...
Our second Warrior went SE and then E. He found Mali before turning back to help fight the Barbarians, but was tragically killed by a Bear on his way home. Barbarians: The animals were no big problem - I just made sure all undefended units stayed within our cultural borders. The human Barbarians, however, were much more of a problem, especially from 460 BC to 200 BC, when I was fighting numerous Barbarian Archers and Axemen with my very limited number of Warriors and Axemen. At one point I was very lucky not to lose London to the Barbarians - that would have been the end of my game, because London was building the Pyramids at the time.
------------------------------
The long story
4000 BC - Warrior SW... OMG, this reveales stone further SW!!! VERY interesting... Now, my initial plan was to settle 1 N, to keep the visible fresh water desert tile as a potential site for city #2 (I wanted to keep the option for city #2 to use the wheat, since I am unsure about food availability down south - looks real dry). However, doing this would require a culture building in city #2 before we can secure the stone. Now that I see stone I really want to build the Pyramids - Representation would be really good 'cause I plan to go heavy on the specialists (we are Philosophical, remember). So now I'm thinking of wasting one move to settle London on the desert tile instead. Hmm... Yes, this is truly a good location for London: Working the three plains-hills, the wheat and two grassland tiles with farms, London will be +15 hammers already at size 6 - an early Wonder pump! City #2 can be up by the sheep, becoming an early GP farm. With a Lighthouse it will support three specialists already at size 5, or four at size 8. Said and done: Settler W, SW.
3960 BC - Settler S. Warrior NW - yay, another river! Settler settles London on the fresh water desert. We start researching Agriculture, to farm the wheat. London starts training a Warrior. It will be finished by the time London hits size 2. Then we'll go for a Worker, followed by a Settler and then probably a second Settler or Worker.
3920 BC--> - Warrior continues exploring NW before later turning south.
3880 BC - Warrior finds wines and silks by the river. Looks like a great site for a high commerce city. Only a bit low on food.
3800 BC - Corn west of the river - the food problem is solved.
This site is a VERY good candidate for city #3, or even #2.3640 BC - London's border-expansion reveals rice and wines to the west and sheep on a plains-hill to the east. Our Warrior enters a camp and is gifted an utterly useless map showing nothing but snow, ice and tundra.
3560 BC - Our Warrior kills a wolf. We discover Agriculture and start researching Bronze Working (chop, chop, chop...).
3480 BC - Buddhism has been founded in a distant land.
3320 BC - No luck: Our Warrior enters another camp and is greeted by hostile Barbarians. Good thing the camp was on top of a forested hill...
3280 BC - Our Warrior successfully defended himself against the Barbarians. We meet the Arabians as a Warrior of theirs stumbles in from the south.
3240 BC--> - Our second Warrior explores SE and then E. He spots Gems close to the sheep on the plains-hill. Could be a good spot for a future city...
3040 BC - Our first Warrior finds spices to the SW...
3000 BC - Pigs to the SW...
2960 BC - Gold to the SW... Hmm, this is starting to look like a great spot for city #4.
Just hope the Arabians don't get there before we do...2760 BC - We discover Bronze Working and start Masonry (to be able to build a quarry on the stone, and for the Pyramids of course). There is Copper just south of London.
2720 BC - We meet the Americans.
2560 BC - We find Mali in the far east.
2520 BC - Hinduism has been founded in a distant land. Rice and bananas found in the jungle south of the copper. Another good spot for a city!
2160 BC - We discover Masonry and start Animal Husbandry.
2080 BC - York founded by the sheep, where we originally planned to settle London.
2000 BC - We lose a Warrior to a Bear.
1750 BC - We meet the Persians.
1725 BC - Nottingham founded in the NW by the corn, silks and wines.
1700 BC - We meet the Spaniards.
1625 BC - Animal Husbandry discovered, start The Wheel. No horses...
1375 BC - Barbarian Warrior spotted W of Nottingham.
1300 BC - The Wheel discovered, Pottery started (for granaries, obviousely).
1275 BC - Hastings founded W of London, between cattle, wines and rice.
1050 BC - Pottery discovered, Writing started.
1025 BC - Canterbury founded down south by the copper. Oh dear, all that jungle is making the city unhealthy from the start!
***1000 BC***
Game Score: 188
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Mining, Pottery, Masonry, Bronze Working (12 turns to Writing).
Gold: 2 (-5 GPT at 60% science)
Cities: 5 (11 pop)
Buildings: none (4 Granaries in production)
Units: 6 Workers, 6 Warriors (1 Warrior in production)
940 BC - Judaism founded in a distant land.
800 BC - We finally meet the Aztecs.
780 BC - Stonhenge has been built in a far away land. London completes it's Granary and starts The Pyramids...
720 BC - We discover Writing and start Sailing.
680 BC - Coventry founded in the SW. But oh my god, the city maintenance is killing us! We're down to 30% science now...
500 BC - York completes Library and hires two scientists.
480 BC - We finally discover Sailing and start Iron Working (to be able to remove jungle). First Barbarian Archer spotted - and we still have only Warriors!!! Time to connect that Copper...
360 BC - Is that Barbarian AXMEN I see?!?
~300 BC - We lose two Axmen and two Warriors trying to defend ourselves from the Barabarians...
240 BC - London completes The Pyramids!
200 BC - Discovering Iron Working, we enter the Classical Age. We start researching Alphabet. There is Iron east of London.
180 BC - Having finally gotten the upper hand on the Barbarians, we can afford to have a revolution to switch to Representation and Slavery.
80 BC - Great Scientist born in York. He moves to Nottingham to start an academy.
1 AD - Alphabet discovered, Mathematics started (we need Calendar, and would like to build The Hanging Gardens). We trade Masonry to the Arabians for Mysticism, and Sailing to the Americans for Hunting.
***1 AD***
Game Score: 412
Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Mining, Pottery, Masonry, Bronze Working, Writing, Sailing, Iron Working, Alphabet, Hunting, Mysticism (Mathematics in 6 turns)
Gold: 16 (+1 GPT at 40% science)
Cities: 6 (26 pop)
Buildings: The Pyramids (London), Academy (Nottingham), 5 Libraries, 5 Granaries (1 Lighthouse, 1 Granary and 1 Library in production)
Units: 7 Workers, 7 Warriors, 5 Axemen (2 Settlers and 1 Axeman in production)
-- Roland
(Report from Memory, don't have the game available right now.)
I had no particular pre-game-plans. Basically, i stuck to my custom civ3-opening-game, which lead to several mistakes. I expanded too fast, not being able to protect my cities. Researched Archery too late, had to face barb-archers with warriors. Omitted pottery for too long, giving me a severe maintenance-problem. Finally, I placed the cities wrong, trying to keep them close instead of going for resources, and so i missed out on stone, the second gem, the corn.
Founded London 1 north, for i though the attractive grounds to the south would make a good 2nd city. Founded York S, Nottingham to the S of the Sea east of London, Hasting to the West where the wine was, Canterbury to the SE of York, with the gem & pigs (and later bronze), and Coventry to the E of the lake (crabs & rice).
By 460 BC, darkness had fallen over England. The barbarians had taken Hastings (which wasn't defended - until then, i didn't know yet what happend when barbs got a city of yours in C4, i speculated that i would keep the city and they'd just take money. And yes, while others got their city in the W from the barbs, they took it from me), razed Nottingham and killed an archer, a warrior and a worker north of York, before a rushed archer saved the city.
If this hadn't been a GOTM, i likely woud've given up by now. But this stirred my pride. So, determined to turn the game around, I dismissed Elisabeth, alt-d'd to "King Arthur" and renamed London "Camelot", which seemed appropriate. Next, I build up a round table of Swordsmen and took Hastings back, which took quite a while and a considerable amount of swordsmen, being solidly build on a hill. I refounded Nottingham (forgot the new name) and founded London all the way east of Coventry (that is east of the crab-city.)
In order to put my swordsmen to further use, i attacked Isabella, taking three cities from here, including horses and the confuzian holy city. But now i was desperately low on founds, thus leading to the grotesque situation, that, as i moved my SM to the front, they were disbanding left and right. Just as i went for peace and tried to stabilize, Mansa Musa declared and took London. Another grimly fought war to my far east took place, always on the edge, but in the end I succeded to take London back, conquer a Mali-city and get peace. Finally, I got the opportunity to stabilize. At this point, I was leading pop-wise and in territory, but was far behind in techs.
So in this first part of the game, I was three times on the verge of losing or giving up, but so far i managed to stay in the game.
This game is a lot of fun, especially because it is challenging (for me). I don't know if i can finish it, though, epic might be too much for me, there is still a lot of time-consuming warfare ahead of me.
I had no particular pre-game-plans. Basically, i stuck to my custom civ3-opening-game, which lead to several mistakes. I expanded too fast, not being able to protect my cities. Researched Archery too late, had to face barb-archers with warriors. Omitted pottery for too long, giving me a severe maintenance-problem. Finally, I placed the cities wrong, trying to keep them close instead of going for resources, and so i missed out on stone, the second gem, the corn.
Founded London 1 north, for i though the attractive grounds to the south would make a good 2nd city. Founded York S, Nottingham to the S of the Sea east of London, Hasting to the West where the wine was, Canterbury to the SE of York, with the gem & pigs (and later bronze), and Coventry to the E of the lake (crabs & rice).
By 460 BC, darkness had fallen over England. The barbarians had taken Hastings (which wasn't defended - until then, i didn't know yet what happend when barbs got a city of yours in C4, i speculated that i would keep the city and they'd just take money. And yes, while others got their city in the W from the barbs, they took it from me), razed Nottingham and killed an archer, a warrior and a worker north of York, before a rushed archer saved the city.
If this hadn't been a GOTM, i likely woud've given up by now. But this stirred my pride. So, determined to turn the game around, I dismissed Elisabeth, alt-d'd to "King Arthur" and renamed London "Camelot", which seemed appropriate. Next, I build up a round table of Swordsmen and took Hastings back, which took quite a while and a considerable amount of swordsmen, being solidly build on a hill. I refounded Nottingham (forgot the new name) and founded London all the way east of Coventry (that is east of the crab-city.)
In order to put my swordsmen to further use, i attacked Isabella, taking three cities from here, including horses and the confuzian holy city. But now i was desperately low on founds, thus leading to the grotesque situation, that, as i moved my SM to the front, they were disbanding left and right. Just as i went for peace and tried to stabilize, Mansa Musa declared and took London. Another grimly fought war to my far east took place, always on the edge, but in the end I succeded to take London back, conquer a Mali-city and get peace. Finally, I got the opportunity to stabilize. At this point, I was leading pop-wise and in territory, but was far behind in techs.
So in this first part of the game, I was three times on the verge of losing or giving up, but so far i managed to stay in the game.
This game is a lot of fun, especially because it is challenging (for me). I don't know if i can finish it, though, epic might be too much for me, there is still a lot of time-consuming warfare ahead of me.
I'm curious where exactly people found the tribal villages? Unlike in civ3 I don't send my original exploring unit on a beeline to the other side of the world to meet the other civs, because I know the other civs will come meet me very quickly. Like I noted in my spoiler, though, it took longer than usual for the AI's to meet me due to the jungle and the sea to our east, but they did all meet me before 2000BC. But because of that I was able to explore almost our entire surroundings before the AI got to them and I turned up no goody huts at all. So did you guys find your goody huts close to our starting location or were you somewhere far away? I'm curious because I honestly thought the goody huts had been removed from the map. If only the goody huts near us were removed then that encourages exploring far away, which is against my normal gameplay. If none of them were removed then I must have just had horrible luck in exploring.
MaskedFrog
Chieftain
After disastrous results in GoTM1, I finally manged a reasonable game in GoTM2.
My goal was a Culture Victory. There were many times where I thought this would not be possible but I stuck it out.
Technology Goals
Bronze Working, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture. The straight to Priesthood for Oracle while working on Writing. Oracle eventually netted me Code of Laws and my first religion. I made an immediate push to Archery which in hindsight was not necessary as I was producing axeman already. I then went to Alphabet and straight to Music. I got Taoism as a religion and missed Islam by three turns. My next big push was to Liberalism. Then to Democracy and Rifling.
Cities
In terms of Cities I founded London in place.
Once London was Size 2 founded York right on the river south of London in range of both gems and copper.
I ignored the Stone for awhile and founded a city just north of the Mountains with Gold. Unfortunately this random number generator hated me and this city was razed by a barabarian archer that defeated my archer 1 turn before my Axeman was ready.
I also had the barabarian horde found a nice city near the silk, cows, and wine. My axeman had no problem beating up the warriors. I then refounded the city just next to the gold so it did not overlap this city.
I placed a city in the tundra NE of London to acquire the vital water resources as well as the only source of Marble I had found.
My axeman raised one Barbarian city on the SE side of London's big lake and acquired the Barbarian city on the next lake to the East acquire the other two water resources.
I also placed a city in the middle of the Jungle to the SW of York near the Rice and Pigs. This turned out to be my best city as it was mostly grasslands with cottages. Granted it took alot of work to get it there.
I also settled SE of York just below the mountain and eventually slightly N and W right against the mountain.
I did eventually start a in the desert near the stone in between all my other cities. It was never a great city but it did get me the stone resource I needed
AI Relations
As soon as I had writing, I signed Open Borders with everyone when they asked me. I also traded techs heavilly once I had Alphabet. Many trades were unfavorable to me which seemed to help my relations. Early on my only problem was Monte. Later on it was Saladin.
Monte decided to sneak attack the barbarian city I acquired with silk, cows, and wine. I had one archer defending with a good cultural bonus. His first archer was repelled and the second archer somehow managed to raze my city. The worst thing was I had an axeman nearby pushing back the fog to limit the barabarians that could have helped but I did not think Monte would attack the city. I though he would just raze some improvements. I ended quickly resettling that spot but it did set me back.
In retaliation I took my army of experienced axeman most with City Raider 2 promotions and a couple of Swordsman and took out his city to the SW right on the water near the copper. I had tried to get Monte to agree to a peace treaty before taking the city. I honestly did not think I had enough forces to take it. I had 4 Axeman and 2 Swordsman he had 2 Jaguars, 1 Archer, and 1 Warrior defending. When he refused I had to risk taking the city, I did lose both Swordsman but they hurt the Jaguars enough that the Experienced Axeman could mop up. After that he was much more receptive to a peace offering and I never had a proplem with him again.
Unlike most people I had great relations with Washington all game. I was worried about Isabella as she is know to attack for no reason but some favorable trades and not adopting a religion seemed to do the trick. Mansa Musa and I were best buddies most of the game.
Barbarians
Barbarians were only a minor thorn in my side. With York right near the copper and chop rushing an Obelisk I had early access to Axeman. I stationed the Axeman past the borders to push back the Fog. I was also able to use the Axeman to either capture or remove the Barabarian cities. Later in the game a Barabarian Horse Archer spawned from the desert area to the SE of London just below the lake. He managed to get to London which was only defened by a warrior I thought disaster was going to strike but fortunately all my early bad luck was gone and they held out. Next turn they were upgraded to a more useful defender.
Spoiler 1 Conclusion
At the end of 500 AD even with my setbacks, I was still progressing towards my Cultural goal with London, York and the Jungle city as my chosen cities.
In the next spoiler the trials and tribulations of not maintaining a good defensive military and the benefit of a strong economy.
My goal was a Culture Victory. There were many times where I thought this would not be possible but I stuck it out.
Technology Goals
Bronze Working, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture. The straight to Priesthood for Oracle while working on Writing. Oracle eventually netted me Code of Laws and my first religion. I made an immediate push to Archery which in hindsight was not necessary as I was producing axeman already. I then went to Alphabet and straight to Music. I got Taoism as a religion and missed Islam by three turns. My next big push was to Liberalism. Then to Democracy and Rifling.
Cities
In terms of Cities I founded London in place.
Once London was Size 2 founded York right on the river south of London in range of both gems and copper.
I ignored the Stone for awhile and founded a city just north of the Mountains with Gold. Unfortunately this random number generator hated me and this city was razed by a barabarian archer that defeated my archer 1 turn before my Axeman was ready.
I also had the barabarian horde found a nice city near the silk, cows, and wine. My axeman had no problem beating up the warriors. I then refounded the city just next to the gold so it did not overlap this city.
I placed a city in the tundra NE of London to acquire the vital water resources as well as the only source of Marble I had found.
My axeman raised one Barbarian city on the SE side of London's big lake and acquired the Barbarian city on the next lake to the East acquire the other two water resources.
I also placed a city in the middle of the Jungle to the SW of York near the Rice and Pigs. This turned out to be my best city as it was mostly grasslands with cottages. Granted it took alot of work to get it there.
I also settled SE of York just below the mountain and eventually slightly N and W right against the mountain.
I did eventually start a in the desert near the stone in between all my other cities. It was never a great city but it did get me the stone resource I needed
AI Relations
As soon as I had writing, I signed Open Borders with everyone when they asked me. I also traded techs heavilly once I had Alphabet. Many trades were unfavorable to me which seemed to help my relations. Early on my only problem was Monte. Later on it was Saladin.
Monte decided to sneak attack the barbarian city I acquired with silk, cows, and wine. I had one archer defending with a good cultural bonus. His first archer was repelled and the second archer somehow managed to raze my city. The worst thing was I had an axeman nearby pushing back the fog to limit the barabarians that could have helped but I did not think Monte would attack the city. I though he would just raze some improvements. I ended quickly resettling that spot but it did set me back.
In retaliation I took my army of experienced axeman most with City Raider 2 promotions and a couple of Swordsman and took out his city to the SW right on the water near the copper. I had tried to get Monte to agree to a peace treaty before taking the city. I honestly did not think I had enough forces to take it. I had 4 Axeman and 2 Swordsman he had 2 Jaguars, 1 Archer, and 1 Warrior defending. When he refused I had to risk taking the city, I did lose both Swordsman but they hurt the Jaguars enough that the Experienced Axeman could mop up. After that he was much more receptive to a peace offering and I never had a proplem with him again.
Unlike most people I had great relations with Washington all game. I was worried about Isabella as she is know to attack for no reason but some favorable trades and not adopting a religion seemed to do the trick. Mansa Musa and I were best buddies most of the game.
Barbarians
Barbarians were only a minor thorn in my side. With York right near the copper and chop rushing an Obelisk I had early access to Axeman. I stationed the Axeman past the borders to push back the Fog. I was also able to use the Axeman to either capture or remove the Barabarian cities. Later in the game a Barabarian Horse Archer spawned from the desert area to the SE of London just below the lake. He managed to get to London which was only defened by a warrior I thought disaster was going to strike but fortunately all my early bad luck was gone and they held out. Next turn they were upgraded to a more useful defender.
Spoiler 1 Conclusion
At the end of 500 AD even with my setbacks, I was still progressing towards my Cultural goal with London, York and the Jungle city as my chosen cities.
In the next spoiler the trials and tribulations of not maintaining a good defensive military and the benefit of a strong economy.
MaskedFrog
Chieftain
Shillen,
I never found a single hut. I was wondering if someone had turned the huts off. Apparently they were closer to the AI and my usual exploration pattern for a Cultural victory is to spiral out from my starting point to find optimal city locations.
I never found a single hut. I was wondering if someone had turned the huts off. Apparently they were closer to the AI and my usual exploration pattern for a Cultural victory is to spiral out from my starting point to find optimal city locations.
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