firstly it is a habit that I build stonehenge. But I must admit that I also like it how all other cities on the continent expand their cultural boundaries. This makes secondary cities good because you can place them in more optimal positions and by the time you have developed a few roads etc they have expanded and their boundaries now contain the resources that you placed the city there for in the first place.
GOTM 06 First Spoiler - 500 AD
- Thread starter ainwood
- Start date
Khalid
Warlord
This is my first time playing a GOTM.
I have read the pre-game discussion and decided not to do the obvious thing and I moved to dcout to the NE hill. I revealed pigs and founded Karakorum in place.
I build 2 extra scouts and got mostly gold from huts. One hut gave me exp and I promoted the scout to Woodsman II. He was really fast through the jungles. I revealed almost the entire continent, until all my scouts were killed by barbs (in the same turn all three).
I researched AH and hope to get keshiks fast, but when I saw the horses far away I researched BW. Build a worker, barracks, rushed settlers. My second city was W between the sheep and copper.
Now, around 300AD I have settled most of the peninsula. My swords and axes have dealt with germans (was a huge siege of Berlin without cats). They have 1 city left, when I accidentaly signed peace with them. Never mind, I will finish them 10 turns later.
Mongolia is recovering from the war and I'm heading towards Currency and CoL. I have managed to trade horsback riding and got almost all the religion techs for it, because I didn't research it. Me and Tokugawa were in the first 2 places all the time, but after the war with Germans i have a decent lead. I think i'll head for a domination win.
I have read the pre-game discussion and decided not to do the obvious thing and I moved to dcout to the NE hill. I revealed pigs and founded Karakorum in place.
I build 2 extra scouts and got mostly gold from huts. One hut gave me exp and I promoted the scout to Woodsman II. He was really fast through the jungles. I revealed almost the entire continent, until all my scouts were killed by barbs (in the same turn all three).
I researched AH and hope to get keshiks fast, but when I saw the horses far away I researched BW. Build a worker, barracks, rushed settlers. My second city was W between the sheep and copper.
Now, around 300AD I have settled most of the peninsula. My swords and axes have dealt with germans (was a huge siege of Berlin without cats). They have 1 city left, when I accidentaly signed peace with them. Never mind, I will finish them 10 turns later.
Mongolia is recovering from the war and I'm heading towards Currency and CoL. I have managed to trade horsback riding and got almost all the religion techs for it, because I didn't research it. Me and Tokugawa were in the first 2 places all the time, but after the war with Germans i have a decent lead. I think i'll head for a domination win.
JerichoHill
Bedrock of Knowledge
I'm in year 0 AD, the germans have been wiped out, and Qin is not long for this world either. He's down to 2 cities and my Keshiks are arriving in force.
My economy is well, not so great (30% research at 0gpt) due to keeping two German cities. But once my courthouses are built, and cats are in, I should be doing fine.
My fighting force consists of about 13 axemen and 6 Keshiks.
I took a gamble and did not build any military units until I hooked up my bronze. (settled my 2nd city on the isthmus, to get bronze, spice, sheep, corn)
Planning on settling a city at the furs to increase my gold, once the economy starts to rectify itself.
In hindsight, I would have been better off razing 1 of the german cities I kept (of the 2, their capital is wonderful).
I would be farther along in warmongering (and Qin would likely be dead), but since I knew I was going for domination, I built StoneHenge, Oracle (CoL sling), and Pyramids (for Rep)
EDITL: I built the Henge because 1) I could 2) because it was only 6 turns 3) I already had a huge army and losing gold and 4) Wanted to pop the GP for the shrine income sooner
My economy is well, not so great (30% research at 0gpt) due to keeping two German cities. But once my courthouses are built, and cats are in, I should be doing fine.
My fighting force consists of about 13 axemen and 6 Keshiks.
I took a gamble and did not build any military units until I hooked up my bronze. (settled my 2nd city on the isthmus, to get bronze, spice, sheep, corn)
Planning on settling a city at the furs to increase my gold, once the economy starts to rectify itself.
In hindsight, I would have been better off razing 1 of the german cities I kept (of the 2, their capital is wonderful).
I would be farther along in warmongering (and Qin would likely be dead), but since I knew I was going for domination, I built StoneHenge, Oracle (CoL sling), and Pyramids (for Rep)
EDITL: I built the Henge because 1) I could 2) because it was only 6 turns 3) I already had a huge army and losing gold and 4) Wanted to pop the GP for the shrine income sooner
Markus5
Code Monkey
I've learned more in this GOTM than in almost any game I've played so far. A couple of things just clicked.
Anyway, I settled to the west on the river and initially built the city to provide production. But, its ideal for commerce and research. Eventually, this became my research center, but initially I messed it up for that purpose. Because of the screw up, I missed the CS slingshot by 2 turns. The second city was on the isthmus hill and it also began as a production city. It became my financial hub. The third city was build south of the horses and it was built as only a financial and commerce city. All three of these cities cranked commerce, gold and research. The fourth city was to the east on the river and was build as a production powerhouse. The same for city five, built north on the coast by the stone and iron. I didn't get a Great Person city as such, but I tried to build these five cities with extra food to support specialists. The Statue of Liberty helps, too.
I built a few cities west and north onto the mainland and filled in on the pennisula. I placed two cities in just the wrong spots. You can't play in long sessions without making errors like that. I decided not to be aggressive. My first keshiks explored then came home to become worker escorts. KK in space, I decided.
Later, Japan got pushy and I razed enough cities to keep him in a corner. Germany started to weaken, and I took 4 cities in the midgame. One of them turned out to be a production powerhouse. I'm on the glidepath for a space victory and ready to stomp on anyone that gets in my way.
Anyway, I settled to the west on the river and initially built the city to provide production. But, its ideal for commerce and research. Eventually, this became my research center, but initially I messed it up for that purpose. Because of the screw up, I missed the CS slingshot by 2 turns. The second city was on the isthmus hill and it also began as a production city. It became my financial hub. The third city was build south of the horses and it was built as only a financial and commerce city. All three of these cities cranked commerce, gold and research. The fourth city was to the east on the river and was build as a production powerhouse. The same for city five, built north on the coast by the stone and iron. I didn't get a Great Person city as such, but I tried to build these five cities with extra food to support specialists. The Statue of Liberty helps, too.
I built a few cities west and north onto the mainland and filled in on the pennisula. I placed two cities in just the wrong spots. You can't play in long sessions without making errors like that. I decided not to be aggressive. My first keshiks explored then came home to become worker escorts. KK in space, I decided.
Later, Japan got pushy and I razed enough cities to keep him in a corner. Germany started to weaken, and I took 4 cities in the midgame. One of them turned out to be a production powerhouse. I'm on the glidepath for a space victory and ready to stomp on anyone that gets in my way.
Stormreaver
Warlord
First few turns
Decided to go SW,W with the scout, found corn and decided to found W of the settlers original position. Then of course the pigs showed up.. Decided to go scout > worker for Karakorum to avoid further unnecessarily bad decisions because of bad intel. Sent the first scout NW since he was on his way in that direction already. Second scout went SW to affirm I had only coast S of Karakorum, then along the coast around the (it turned out to be) peninsula.
Early tech path:
1. Animal Husbandry - find the horsies!
2. Agriculture - worker tech
3. Pottery - worker tech (was gonna cottage spam capital)
4. Mining - worker tech
5. Bronze W. - chopping (turned out I didn't use this much at all early on, bad decision to get it so early)
...don't remember exactly after that - I seriously need some kind of mod to log this for me.
Where am I going with this?
I pretty early got the feeling I was rather isolated and decided to go for a builder game. Not disappointed at all since I won a conquest victory in GOTM5 and wanted to do something different. Decided to build a production city to complement the capital 5E,1N and also that these two cities would be allowed to get rather big (size 7/6) before expanding further. This gave me pretty good research early on, and I went for the CS slingshot with my production city completing the Oracle somewhere around 800 BC (IIRC - again, I need a mod for this).
Where am I now?
At the cutoff (50AD) I'm researching Machinery for Macemen (have built 1 archer and a few warriors only so far, my scouts have been pretty successful denying barbs foggy squares to spawn in) so I can feel safe, and perhaps take some german cities before Bismarck gets longbowmen. I'm chopping Great Library in Karakorum, soon to be finished. The lesser cities are beginning to come along and contribute to the research effort. I feel I want another few cities (at least one more good production city), and the peninsula alone (planning two more cities there, one far NE, one at the chokepoint hill) won't suffice. I think I'm probably going for a spaceship victory, so I won't have to venture too far, that won't do me much good.
Edit: Fixes..
Decided to go SW,W with the scout, found corn and decided to found W of the settlers original position. Then of course the pigs showed up.. Decided to go scout > worker for Karakorum to avoid further unnecessarily bad decisions because of bad intel. Sent the first scout NW since he was on his way in that direction already. Second scout went SW to affirm I had only coast S of Karakorum, then along the coast around the (it turned out to be) peninsula.
Early tech path:
1. Animal Husbandry - find the horsies!
2. Agriculture - worker tech
3. Pottery - worker tech (was gonna cottage spam capital)
4. Mining - worker tech
5. Bronze W. - chopping (turned out I didn't use this much at all early on, bad decision to get it so early)
...don't remember exactly after that - I seriously need some kind of mod to log this for me.
Where am I going with this?
I pretty early got the feeling I was rather isolated and decided to go for a builder game. Not disappointed at all since I won a conquest victory in GOTM5 and wanted to do something different. Decided to build a production city to complement the capital 5E,1N and also that these two cities would be allowed to get rather big (size 7/6) before expanding further. This gave me pretty good research early on, and I went for the CS slingshot with my production city completing the Oracle somewhere around 800 BC (IIRC - again, I need a mod for this).
Where am I now?
At the cutoff (50AD) I'm researching Machinery for Macemen (have built 1 archer and a few warriors only so far, my scouts have been pretty successful denying barbs foggy squares to spawn in) so I can feel safe, and perhaps take some german cities before Bismarck gets longbowmen. I'm chopping Great Library in Karakorum, soon to be finished. The lesser cities are beginning to come along and contribute to the research effort. I feel I want another few cities (at least one more good production city), and the peninsula alone (planning two more cities there, one far NE, one at the chokepoint hill) won't suffice. I think I'm probably going for a spaceship victory, so I won't have to venture too far, that won't do me much good.
Edit: Fixes..
aviator99_uk
Warlord
Settled my peninsula, had a million year war with Toku just to keep him down. Keshiks are not that great, for taking 60% cities anyway, but ok for pillage I suppose. Qin and Mansa are up on tech.
Problems all associated with NORMAL speed and trying to be warlike, it just doesn't work well. what a waste.
Presently bored & fed up trying to dominate on a map which is going to take centuries to walk infantry from country to country.
Save the rest for a final spoiler, if I bother to finish it, domination is the only victory worth having, and on Normal speed that is just a joke.
Problems all associated with NORMAL speed and trying to be warlike, it just doesn't work well. what a waste.
Presently bored & fed up trying to dominate on a map which is going to take centuries to walk infantry from country to country.
Save the rest for a final spoiler, if I bother to finish it, domination is the only victory worth having, and on Normal speed that is just a joke.
drkodos
Emperor
mushroomshirt said:
For me, building Stonehenge was about both factors you stated.
If one is additionally trying the smaller Oracle slingshot into a religion/CoL, nabbing the early Prophet sets up the early Shrine. Once it became obvious that the other Civs in the contest were not dogged religious zealots, other resources were scarce anyway, and the fact that hooking up the Stone gave me a 7-Turn build-out....
At that point, it was quicker to build than another worker (!) and had already pumped out four warriors and three scouts. It was one of the few times I didn't have to chop out a wonder. I thought about going for Pyramids, but was daunted by the extended build time. In historical restropect, it would have worked (there was enough time--but who knew?) and it would have been the right move both tactically and strategically to grab some happy factor with the earliest possible civic switch to Rep. I'll probably try it in another go round (as well as putting the Capital of Karakorum on a site (within three moves) that puts corn, stone, sheep, and copper ALL inside the fat cross. Slower initial build out, but probably a later game powerhouse.)
Going to play a game with this pictured starting point for Karakorum and I think it will make a significant difference. I will post some results as I discover them (side by side comps). In going over my game it came to me that there were some really excellent city sites but i didn't find them first go round.
Best Possible Starting Tile !?
Also, I know there must be a more expeditious way of linking the horse/Keshik pipeline than what I used in the official game.
Shortest distances?
Linked up this nice Keshik pipeline (in my UNOfficial REDO Game). Too bad I didn't get it figured out onsight. This set-up would give a chance to roll up a domination victory, even with the large map, I think.
Pat the Snake
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 3
Settled in place.
Decided erly that for the first time will I go for cultural victory since I need to learn more about the game and the difficulity level is below my normal std´s.
Playing a cultural game is very much unlike anything other I normally do and though read a few posts about it will I probably mess things up a lot but still count on a win due to the difficulity level.
Karakoum was aimed to be my production city then becoming scienceoriented (GL). Went west with second settler for the horses and decidethat it would be the religous city. Founded Conf. there with the help of Oracle (Stonehenge built earlier - chopped). Then I started to pump out Keshiks for expansion (a cultural civ needs living space
).
Had made contact with all other through scouts. Went for Bsimarck since I liked his capital. Rolled him over (he had no spearman´s ) since he hadn´t connected his copper. Kept all his citys for strategic reasons and swept towards Tokugawa for some pillaging war (need the funding - Research down to 20%).
First Prophet used to found Christinanity (Berlin) and it spreads to Qin via missionary. Next Prophet used to found Church of Nativity and switch religion to become more friendly with Qin (trading partner and buffert zone).
Meanwhile is GL built in Karakoum, ishtmus city built and SC built in Berlin (Artist farm) and traded up all missing techs (Qin, MM & Elisabeth). Plan is now to fill up the peninsula and position my three legendary cities (Karakoum). Will try for Islam as my religion also, have got Judasim and Buddhism in one city already). Need a commercial city also soon to speed up my economy.
50k culture seems a long way to go.
Decided erly that for the first time will I go for cultural victory since I need to learn more about the game and the difficulity level is below my normal std´s.
Playing a cultural game is very much unlike anything other I normally do and though read a few posts about it will I probably mess things up a lot but still count on a win due to the difficulity level.
Karakoum was aimed to be my production city then becoming scienceoriented (GL). Went west with second settler for the horses and decidethat it would be the religous city. Founded Conf. there with the help of Oracle (Stonehenge built earlier - chopped). Then I started to pump out Keshiks for expansion (a cultural civ needs living space
).Had made contact with all other through scouts. Went for Bsimarck since I liked his capital. Rolled him over (he had no spearman´s
) since he hadn´t connected his copper. Kept all his citys for strategic reasons and swept towards Tokugawa for some pillaging war (need the funding - Research down to 20%).First Prophet used to found Christinanity (Berlin) and it spreads to Qin via missionary. Next Prophet used to found Church of Nativity and switch religion to become more friendly with Qin (trading partner and buffert zone).
Meanwhile is GL built in Karakoum, ishtmus city built and SC built in Berlin (Artist farm) and traded up all missing techs (Qin, MM & Elisabeth). Plan is now to fill up the peninsula and position my three legendary cities (Karakoum). Will try for Islam as my religion also, have got Judasim and Buddhism in one city already). Need a commercial city also soon to speed up my economy.
50k culture seems a long way to go.
Aah well, this was to be my first GOTM submission, but I messed it up royally.
This has got to be one of the most frustrating map/civ combo's I have played so far.. or maybe I just can't play ('though I am usually very sucessful at higher difficulties). I was out-researched, couldn't keep the barbs down, couldn't grow my cities (no luxuries or religion), failed to build a wonder, scouts kept dying, and for some reason just couldn't understand the map at all.. it just felt really un-intuitive. I'm guessing I should have expanded more at first.
Eh.. well I have replayed the first 2-3k years a few times and I can't get to grips with it at all.. so I'm off to sulk until next month :/
Would be interested to read some kind of blow-by-blow account of the first 40 or so moves from an expert at some point, because all I can see is I must be doing something wrong here.
Kudos you others who made a go of it!
This has got to be one of the most frustrating map/civ combo's I have played so far.. or maybe I just can't play ('though I am usually very sucessful at higher difficulties). I was out-researched, couldn't keep the barbs down, couldn't grow my cities (no luxuries or religion), failed to build a wonder, scouts kept dying, and for some reason just couldn't understand the map at all.. it just felt really un-intuitive. I'm guessing I should have expanded more at first.
Eh.. well I have replayed the first 2-3k years a few times and I can't get to grips with it at all.. so I'm off to sulk until next month :/
Would be interested to read some kind of blow-by-blow account of the first 40 or so moves from an expert at some point, because all I can see is I must be doing something wrong here.
Kudos you others who made a go of it!
I decided to go Culture again this time.
I settled Karakorum off the river to grab the sheep. It seemed good enough to be a culture city.
I got 3 warriors and a tech from huts. I was disappointed not to get settlers, but they were good for barb control and were able to steal workers from both Germany and Japan very early, keeping them stunted and giving me a nice bonus. One of the warriors over two wars got two workers, pillaged twice, covered tiles and killed two Japanese archers before being killed by a third. He didn't make it, but I call that one a nice shot!
Research-wise I basically rushed for Keshiks. Conquered Germany quite easily, destroyed them by 0 AD in fact, and we decided to make Berlin our third culture city.
I missed out on the early religions, got beat even to CoL. I did get the pyramids, but curiously didn't switch my government civics for many turns. And I'm starting to think everyone is right, a culture win is faster with the emphasis off wonders and more to fast cathedrals. Still, I pretty much had my way with the wonders. What was I thinking?
Well, eventually we attacked China and took most of their land, and from there just settled in and worked on culture. The AI wasn't any threat, but they did come up with an occasional tech or lump of gold. All religions haven't spread freely, so some conquering for that will be necessary later.
So, things are actually going pretty well, not a disaster like most of my Civ4 attempts. I hope I find the time to finish this one.
I settled Karakorum off the river to grab the sheep. It seemed good enough to be a culture city.
I got 3 warriors and a tech from huts. I was disappointed not to get settlers, but they were good for barb control and were able to steal workers from both Germany and Japan very early, keeping them stunted and giving me a nice bonus. One of the warriors over two wars got two workers, pillaged twice, covered tiles and killed two Japanese archers before being killed by a third. He didn't make it, but I call that one a nice shot!
Research-wise I basically rushed for Keshiks. Conquered Germany quite easily, destroyed them by 0 AD in fact, and we decided to make Berlin our third culture city.
I missed out on the early religions, got beat even to CoL. I did get the pyramids, but curiously didn't switch my government civics for many turns. And I'm starting to think everyone is right, a culture win is faster with the emphasis off wonders and more to fast cathedrals. Still, I pretty much had my way with the wonders. What was I thinking?
Well, eventually we attacked China and took most of their land, and from there just settled in and worked on culture. The AI wasn't any threat, but they did come up with an occasional tech or lump of gold. All religions haven't spread freely, so some conquering for that will be necessary later.
So, things are actually going pretty well, not a disaster like most of my Civ4 attempts. I hope I find the time to finish this one.
dalamb
Deity
I have never played above Chieftain before, so I expected to do badly -- and I did, but not quite so badly as I feared.
EDIT: I played the lowest category, so started with a worker.
With the Aggresive trait I assumed a conquest victory might be best. I was a little leary of this because I've always put aside the attempts when things seemed to bog down and get tedious.
I started off building Karadorum at the starting location, believing what someone said in some other thread that starting locations were usually reasonable. I built a second scout while waiting for population to increase. By the time I was ready to build a settler I'd found the stone, which is where I built the second city. After that I have trouble remembering my reasoning about where to build; the order was Karakorum, Beshbalik, Turfan, Ning-hsia, Old Sarai, and new Sarai, so I deduce I went for bronze after the stone, then for the horses, then for the marble, then for any old place.
I think going for the marble was a mistake. I'm used to lower-level games where it is easy to get wonders, and I wanted the marble to speed things up. But so far I've never used it. And that far-off city was a continual drain on the treasury. As it was, I might have had a chance at the Pyramids (to get all the government civics, to use Police State) if I'd focused on it earlier, but I lost out.
I think I must have made some mistakes in my tech choices. I usually go for polytheism to get a religion, then monotheism to get Organized Religion -- usually for the +1 culture, but also for the building cost reduction. This time I assumed someone else would beat me, forgetting that I'd need these techs later for Theology (so I could get Theocracy and the corresponding new-unit experience). As it is I missed out on founding all the religions. I then made the mistake of going for Code of Laws for confucianism, but missed it; courthouses are indeed useful, but I could have put it off by avoiding expanding too far from my capital. When I clicked on CoL, the game went for Meditation before Priesthood, instead of the Polytheism I'd eventually need for Theology, so there was another unnecessary tech that slowed me down.
The far-off coastal city prompted me to go for fishing and sailing -- which might still have been useful, since I also had 2 other coastal cities -- but if I understand correctly they also slowed me down for more useful techs. I went for Horseback Riding for the Keshiks, but so far I never used them (never even connected with the horses).
This is my BC100 screen shot; I forgot to save one later at 0AD. "Bigger is not always better" -- overexpansion to the north probably ruined my economy and research, just like the tip warns. As you can see from the screen shot, I was down to 30% research. I don't completely understand why I was so low except for the generic reason that my economy was poor.
I really don't see how someone managed to conquer several German cities by this point. I have a lot to learn!
What's a CS slingshot?
Edit: Attachment deleted.
EDIT: I played the lowest category, so started with a worker.
With the Aggresive trait I assumed a conquest victory might be best. I was a little leary of this because I've always put aside the attempts when things seemed to bog down and get tedious.
I started off building Karadorum at the starting location, believing what someone said in some other thread that starting locations were usually reasonable. I built a second scout while waiting for population to increase. By the time I was ready to build a settler I'd found the stone, which is where I built the second city. After that I have trouble remembering my reasoning about where to build; the order was Karakorum, Beshbalik, Turfan, Ning-hsia, Old Sarai, and new Sarai, so I deduce I went for bronze after the stone, then for the horses, then for the marble, then for any old place.
I think going for the marble was a mistake. I'm used to lower-level games where it is easy to get wonders, and I wanted the marble to speed things up. But so far I've never used it. And that far-off city was a continual drain on the treasury. As it was, I might have had a chance at the Pyramids (to get all the government civics, to use Police State) if I'd focused on it earlier, but I lost out.
I think I must have made some mistakes in my tech choices. I usually go for polytheism to get a religion, then monotheism to get Organized Religion -- usually for the +1 culture, but also for the building cost reduction. This time I assumed someone else would beat me, forgetting that I'd need these techs later for Theology (so I could get Theocracy and the corresponding new-unit experience). As it is I missed out on founding all the religions. I then made the mistake of going for Code of Laws for confucianism, but missed it; courthouses are indeed useful, but I could have put it off by avoiding expanding too far from my capital. When I clicked on CoL, the game went for Meditation before Priesthood, instead of the Polytheism I'd eventually need for Theology, so there was another unnecessary tech that slowed me down.
The far-off coastal city prompted me to go for fishing and sailing -- which might still have been useful, since I also had 2 other coastal cities -- but if I understand correctly they also slowed me down for more useful techs. I went for Horseback Riding for the Keshiks, but so far I never used them (never even connected with the horses).
This is my BC100 screen shot; I forgot to save one later at 0AD. "Bigger is not always better" -- overexpansion to the north probably ruined my economy and research, just like the tip warns. As you can see from the screen shot, I was down to 30% research. I don't completely understand why I was so low except for the generic reason that my economy was poor.
I really don't see how someone managed to conquer several German cities by this point. I have a lot to learn!
What's a CS slingshot?
Edit: Attachment deleted.
Khalid
Warlord
dalamb said:
I think that's the point. The city up north has really messed up your economy.
Also from the screenshot you posted I see a lot of unimproved land around your cities. While going for marble you spend a lot of worker turns to build that long road. You should use that mostly to improve your own land - hook up resources, cut down forests and build cottages for your income.
I managed to cripple Germans around 300AD, (I'm not that good at early war
) and take their 3 best cities. But uts mostly because I didnt research any religion techs and went straight for bronze and iron.I dont know what a CS slingshot really means, but I think its something like you research directly to that tech (civil service - macemen
) and do not research any techs wich are not on the required path.The CS slingshot is the strategy where you time completing the oracle at a time when Civil Service is available to take as a free tech. 'Slingshot' because perhaps you learn the last required tech the turn before the Oracle completes, zipping you up the tech tree.
Sorry to go a bit off-topic, but yeah, my understanding is that you get a free tech for the Oracle, at a time when you have just finished researching a quite expensive tech, so you can then get the even-more-expensive one down the tree after that one.I dont know what a CS slingshot really means, but I think its something like you research directly to that tech (civil service - macemen
Civil Service is very nice, since it enables a civic which gives +50% gold and +50% hammers in the capital: Bureaucracy. Macemen also follow together with another tech also required (Machinery), but it is Bureaucracy that is so nice for me.
The plan would be Mysticism -> Meditation -> Priesthood (and start the Oracle) -> Code of Laws -> research anything else, and complete Oracle for free Civil Service
Canadian_FBI
Chieftain
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2006
- Messages
- 2
I've played a few GOTMs, but this is my first post. I second those who mentioned that this was an interesting/fun game.
I've played quite a few games lately going for domination or something else that didn't get me to the modern age, so I started this one out thinking I might go for the space race. Seeing how far away the other civs were pretty much confirmed that choice. I settled 1 W, built my second city on the isthmus and the third city up in the NE to get horses. By the time I got the horses connected though I was already pumping out axemen to march on Germany (just because I'm going for the space race doesn't mean I can't do a little war-mongering).
I razed a couple of German cities and kept a couple, then decided to pick off a couple of Chinese cities in that thin stretch of land SW of Berlin. I kept one of those (the one closest to Beijing) but that ended up probably being a mistake since Beijing had so much culture that it was a constant battle keeping the conquered city loyal. All were developed enough to offset the distance penalties of keeping cities so far from my capital though.
My strategy at this point was to build on the main continent and fill in my starting peninsula second. Not great for maintenance, but it would give me a late-game size advantage and keep the Japanese in check by not letting them expand south.
That about gets me to the cut-off. I figured this wouldn't get me an overwhelming score, but I was playing this more for fun and the learning experience.
(screenshots of Mongolia circa 100 AD, just prior to the fall of Berlin)
I've played quite a few games lately going for domination or something else that didn't get me to the modern age, so I started this one out thinking I might go for the space race. Seeing how far away the other civs were pretty much confirmed that choice. I settled 1 W, built my second city on the isthmus and the third city up in the NE to get horses. By the time I got the horses connected though I was already pumping out axemen to march on Germany (just because I'm going for the space race doesn't mean I can't do a little war-mongering
).I razed a couple of German cities and kept a couple, then decided to pick off a couple of Chinese cities in that thin stretch of land SW of Berlin. I kept one of those (the one closest to Beijing) but that ended up probably being a mistake since Beijing had so much culture that it was a constant battle keeping the conquered city loyal. All were developed enough to offset the distance penalties of keeping cities so far from my capital though.
My strategy at this point was to build on the main continent and fill in my starting peninsula second. Not great for maintenance, but it would give me a late-game size advantage and keep the Japanese in check by not letting them expand south.
That about gets me to the cut-off. I figured this wouldn't get me an overwhelming score, but I was playing this more for fun and the learning experience.
(screenshots of Mongolia circa 100 AD, just prior to the fall of Berlin)
Attachments
Steve2000
Mighty Pirate
Lets see - at 500AD I had colonized the starting peninsula completely, my third city was put right at the bottleneck point and I didn't open borders with anyone until I had settled the whole area save for a bit down in the tundra.
I had my first war with Tokogawa - and took two cities in his south.
I did not found a religion, but confucianism spread to me, and it was the religion of the English, Germans, and Mali so as my relations with them were all positive anyway, I converted for the additional bonus. The four of us have been trading techs with each other in a vain attempt to keep up with Qin the runaway AI in this one. He has built every major wonder, and is out-teching my four-way alliance big time! I don't get it, because all my allies dislike him, so I am pretty sure he is teching all on his own. Alex can't help him because he is dead last about 15 techs behind and Tokugawa is as isolationist as always.
Things were looking good at this point, but I will be back in the next thread soon to tell my tale of woe.
Side note: why are there only 2 spoiler threads for this game? What about a you have reached modern era, but haven't won yet thread?
I had my first war with Tokogawa - and took two cities in his south.
I did not found a religion, but confucianism spread to me, and it was the religion of the English, Germans, and Mali so as my relations with them were all positive anyway, I converted for the additional bonus. The four of us have been trading techs with each other in a vain attempt to keep up with Qin the runaway AI in this one. He has built every major wonder, and is out-teching my four-way alliance big time! I don't get it, because all my allies dislike him, so I am pretty sure he is teching all on his own. Alex can't help him because he is dead last about 15 techs behind and Tokugawa is as isolationist as always.
Things were looking good at this point, but I will be back in the next thread soon to tell my tale of woe.
Side note: why are there only 2 spoiler threads for this game? What about a you have reached modern era, but haven't won yet thread?
dalamb
Deity
Yep. In the time since I retired out I've read a lot of the strategy tips, and learned about "commerce cities" versus "production cities" and about cutting down trees to hurry production (see, I was pretty ignorant, and probably remain more so than I like to think about).Khalid said:
I'm trying over, this time with some cottages along the river near the capital, and around a city to the east near the horses. Still not doing as well as the more experienced players report, but better than last time.
For the warmongers: I understand about going straight for bronze, but don't you eventually want Theocracy for the extra experience? Also, do you start out with just barracks-improved axemen before going for the Germans in this game?
A'AbarachAmadan
Deity
Goal: Fastest Conquest
Victory: 350AD
Score: 92+K
I dont think this one will be good enough for a Fastest Finish as I originally assumed that not all the civilizations would be on the same darn continent. I never checked the real percentages, but on 20 test maps I created only 4 of them yielded everyone on the same continent, so I took the good bet that they wouldnt be. Hopefully no one takes that chance. Overall Im pleased with the results as that is just too hard to guess. Ive done well so far by playing the percentages.
Initial assumptions and goals:
1) Enemy will require Astronomy to kill.
2) Start with quick local expansion and scouting to find starting continent layout.
3) Get any early tech needed for my initial worker, then go for Alphabet; a scientist will get Astronomy for free, so either Great Library or scientists from a library will be useful; use Oracle for high priced Machinery. After Alphabet, determine whether to beeline to Astronomy or get Horseback Riding to take out any local opposition.
4) Build Oracle for Machinery. Possible other Wonders: Colossus, Great Lighthouse and Pyramids for faster research.
5) See who I can take with Keshik or build to Maceman/Knights if needed depending upon land structure.
Afterthought) All my pre-game analysis turned out to be a waste of time. I spent more time analyzing how to get to Astronomy quickly and get my units to kill other continents than I did playing the actual game.
Founding of Karakorum
Originally planned on settling on Plains/River/Hill unless something else found, which it was.
4000BC- move Scout N,W to Plains Hill see corn; move Settler SW,NW for extra sight before move to hill see nothing
3960BC - move Scout NW,SW to other Plains Hill see sheep, change settler location; move Settler N,NW to Plains Hill that has corn and sheep
3920BC - move Scout W,SW to Sheep Hill, see nothing additional so decide to finally Settle
Initial Expansion (to 2140BC)
Technology: Fishing (3720-GH), Animal Husbandry (3640-GH), Agriculture (3600), Writing (3080), Alphabet (2040)
Neighbors: 3600 (Germany, by Scout 1, see border); 3400 (China, by Scout1, meet warrior); 3080 (Greece, by Scout1, meet scout); 2520 (England, by Scout1, meet warrior); 2400 (Japan, by Scout4, meet warrior); 2160 (Malinese, by Scout4, meet scout) I didnt see Mansas territory for about another 1000 years, so Im glad I saw a scout. After Alphabet I would have had to make a guess, which probably would have been that they were on the continent based upon its size, but I would have spent at least an hour on that guess before deciding what to do next.
Other: Scout1 gets Experience (to double woodsman) in 3400; Scout2 finds Scout3 from GH in 3080; Scout3 gets Gold in GH in 3000; 2960- realize no North East passage; 2720 Hinduism in Athens; 2680 - realize no East passage at all; 2160 Buddhism somewhere; 1840 switch to Slavery
Early War: Declare war on China in 3280 to pass through their territory (ends in 1520 after they kill one of my scouts just outside my territory and I see 3 Chinese Warriors on my border, which I later trap between my borders)
Karakorum (3920; 3W/2N of start) Worker (3440), Size2 (3200), Scout (3160), Scout / Size3 (3000), Settler (2640), Settler (2280)
Beshbelik (2600; 4E/2S of Kar) Worker (2160)
Turfan (2200; 9E) nothing yet
I use the two scouts (#s 3&4) that were going to be going east to reveal the fog to avoid animals so I can establish early cities without escort.
From above, starting scout went west, 2nd scout went northeast and discovered 3rd scout and horses, 4th scout went west, then north. For a while I was thinking that everyone except one-two would be on our continent, which would have been a nightmare, but finding all of them definitely got me to a late start researching techs I absolutely didnt need and letting the other civs grow larger than they would have compared to going right for HR. In hindsight starting with two scouts before the worker may have discovered the layout before I wasted time on Writing / Alphabet.
Conquest Preparation (to 1000BC)
At this point I decide to build two more city than I was planning (and workers for roads) when I thought Id have to go for Astronomy & then build barracks everywhere. I would have started a library in my capital after completing the 1880 settler build if I were going to keep researching. I go for HR now and then will mass produce Keshiks in my primary cities.
Trades after Alphabet: Greece (Archery + Mysticism for Writing); Germany (Mining for The Wheel); Germany (BW for Writing); Malanise (Pottery for Animal Husbandry); England (Masonry for Writing); Malanise (Sailing for Pottery)
Research: Horseback Riding (1240); then to 0% science for rest of game
Karakorum (3920; 3W/2N of start) Settler (1880), Settler (1520), Worker (1320), Barracks (1160), then only Keshiks
Beshbelik (2600; 4E/2S of Kar) Worker (1840), Warrior / Size 3 (1480), Barracks (1360), Warriors (1280, 1200), then only Keshiks
Turfan (2200; 9E) Worker (1720), Warrior (1480), Warrior (1360), Barracks (1160), Keshik (1040), then Settler, then only Keshiks
Ning-hsia (1760; 9E/7N on horses) Workboat (1480), Warrior (1320), Barracks (?), then on Keshiks
Old Saria (1400; 6W/5N) Warrior (1120), then Barracks and Keshiks
New Saria (775; 5S/2E on fur) focus was on increasing commerce, but did eventually build barracks and Keshiks
The Conquest
At first all my upgrades for Keshiks were Combat1, then vs. Melee units; after I realized most of my enemies didnt really have melee units I changed to straight Combat promotions. For the Axemen I would build later I took city raider upgrades. Im a little conservative with my attacks for example, if there are 2 defenders that I have a 70% chance to defeat each, I ensure I have at least 3 (preferable 4) attackers with only 2 attackers my chance of victory would be under 50% which I dont like, and dont like backtracking or slowing down follow-on forces, though it may be a good technique. A useful distracting technique I use is to set out a worker by itself and see if a defender will come out to get it. I think I sacrificed at least a 1/2 dozen workers doing this. On at least two occasions I approached a city with 3 defenders with about 70% chance of victory for each of my 4 Keshik attackers not good overall odds but one defending archer decided they wanted the worker, making it easy to capture the city and mop up the archer in the open. I also won and lost lots of battles in the open that arent shown below. Nothing like attacking a barb for an extra promotion with a 95+% chance of winning and actually losing the Keshik.
False War vs. China (850BC-650BC)
850 kill 3 warriors that became trapped between Old Saria and Karakorum since we didnt have open borders; give all 3 Keshik upgrade to +25% vs. Melee
650 China gives Polytheism for peace without further combat
Through exploration I see Beijing had copper next to it and was one of the first to get BW, so Im sure they will be formidable.
Other trades: 625- Greece gives Priesthood for Pottery; 575- Mansa gives Med+IW for HR (decide I want England before they hook up the iron; they didnt have IW in 575); 175- Mansa gives Monarchy for Alphabet
War vs Germany (675BC-575BC)
I move to take Hamburg first with 4 Keshik available since it has the copper near and send 4 toward Berlin thinking it would build back to have at 2 archers.
675 Hamburg (2 archers; no losses)
650 Berlin (1 archer; 1 loss)
575 Munich (1 archer, 1 axe; 1 loss)
After capturing Hamburg and Berlin I make them Axemen factories (after Barracks of course).
War vs Japan (500BC-300BC)
Set up to invade near Kyoto and Edo simultaneously with the bulk of the forces bypassing Edo.
500 archer in open so it doesnt make it back
450 Kyoto (4 archers; 3 losses)
450 Edo (1 archer, 2 warriors; no losses)
375 Osaka (2 archers; 1 loss)
300 Tokyo (2 archers; 1 loss)
I only kept 3 of the cities, which only produced defensive pieces and workers until too late in the game to make an offensive difference.
At this point I have 3 groups of forces.
1) A set of Keshik moving toward England to stop it from getting the Iron.
2) A set of 4 axemen from the former German cities moving toward Mansa along with some Keshiks. I think this was a big tactical mistake. I should have sent the axemen through China, which I eventually attacked with some, but it really slowed my progress as Beijing had lots of Melee units where Mansa did not.
3) Keshiks for the initial assault on China. These would reach their initial objective first, but would be stymied near Beijing.
War vs England (150BC-50BC)
Came to England with 9 Keshiks, one in advance and group the others for 4 to hit Hastings and 4 to hit Nottingham. Easier sweep north than expected with 2 archers caught in the open.
250 notice that England discovered IW (they didnt have it in 300BC; they were building a mine as I attacked which I discovered with the 1 Keshik that was way ahead of the main body; it stopped their plan and made for a nice archer only defense
150 capture worker attempting to build mine
125 Nottingham (2 archers; 2 losses)
100 Hastings (2 archers; no losses)
75 York (1 archer; no losses)
50 London (2 archers; 1 loss)
War vs Mansa (125BC-25AD)
With 4 Axemen (that really should have gone south) coming from the south, 2-3 Keshik that prep to take the mine, and 3 sweeping in from the former Japanese area the initial battles were easy, wiping out 2 cities easily. All forces then swept north to Djenne which was defended very fiercely.
125 Kumbi Salah (1 Skirmisher; 1 loss)
100 Gao (1 Warrior; no losses)
75 Timbuktu ( 2 Skirmishers, 1 Spearman; 2 losses)
25AD Djenne (3 Skirmishers; 7 losses 4 Axe & 3 Kesh)
This battle really sucked. It tied up 12 units as I didnt know if I would lose 2 or 3 per defender.
War vs China (175BC-250AD)
Definitely the biggest slowdown I had tactically was Beijing. Early forces bypassed it as when I first came upon it there were 8 defenders in the darn capital. I sent Keshik by it in groups of 3-4 until I had the forces to take it, though I did overdo it a little.
175 2 archers (just to East of border) and 1 warrior (clear up by Tokyo) in the open
175 Nanking (1 Axe, 1 Archer; no losses)
150 Greece joins for Alphabet+Monarchy+Meditation; I thought China and Greece would send military against each other, but I didnt know about the barb cities that had popped into existence between them; I dont think this did anything except increase the military might of both sides
125 Shangi (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 2 losses)
50AD Guangzhou (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 3 losses)
125AD Xian (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 1 loss)
250AD Beijing (1 Spear, 6 Arch; losses 3 Axe, 5 Kesh) I also coaxed out 2 Axemen and 1 Archer over the course of my buildup time with workers. This was the ultimate battle in amount of forces; I had 21 units when I finally attacked, though I only needed 15 in the end.
War vs Greece (125AD-325AD)
Greece was nice enough not to research IW or even connect up the copper just to its north. It had nothing but archers for defense, but since it joined me against China I think it built extra. When I scouted Sparta to see what they would have, it only had 2 archers, but by the time I got there it had 5 of them with walls; I hadnt gone as far south as Athens again, so I dont know how it got so many as Athens was full also. I also killed 5+ archers in the open near Sparta and Athens, which was easy, but unexpected. Had I guessed their size I would have left fewer units at Beijing and completed my conquest 100 years earlier. Initially I had the large remaining force from England sweeping to the south (I think it was 7-8) and they were met by some that had bypassed the cities in China at Sparta. Originally I thought the Northern force would take Sparta and the ones coming through China would take out Athens. Boy was that wrong; they had to meet up together.
125AD Thermoplae (2 archers; no losses)
125AD Corinth (2 archers; no losses)
225AD Sparta (5 archers w/ walls; 4 losses)
275AD I do a revolution to Hereditary Rule & Tribalism to get 2 turns of Anarchy so I dont run out of money
325AD Athens (4 archers; 3 losses)
350AD Conquest victory declared; of course, there are LOTS of minor tribes out there.
Victory: 350AD
Score: 92+K
I dont think this one will be good enough for a Fastest Finish as I originally assumed that not all the civilizations would be on the same darn continent. I never checked the real percentages, but on 20 test maps I created only 4 of them yielded everyone on the same continent, so I took the good bet that they wouldnt be. Hopefully no one takes that chance. Overall Im pleased with the results as that is just too hard to guess. Ive done well so far by playing the percentages.
Initial assumptions and goals:
1) Enemy will require Astronomy to kill.
2) Start with quick local expansion and scouting to find starting continent layout.
3) Get any early tech needed for my initial worker, then go for Alphabet; a scientist will get Astronomy for free, so either Great Library or scientists from a library will be useful; use Oracle for high priced Machinery. After Alphabet, determine whether to beeline to Astronomy or get Horseback Riding to take out any local opposition.
4) Build Oracle for Machinery. Possible other Wonders: Colossus, Great Lighthouse and Pyramids for faster research.
5) See who I can take with Keshik or build to Maceman/Knights if needed depending upon land structure.
Afterthought) All my pre-game analysis turned out to be a waste of time. I spent more time analyzing how to get to Astronomy quickly and get my units to kill other continents than I did playing the actual game.
Founding of Karakorum
Originally planned on settling on Plains/River/Hill unless something else found, which it was.
4000BC- move Scout N,W to Plains Hill see corn; move Settler SW,NW for extra sight before move to hill see nothing
3960BC - move Scout NW,SW to other Plains Hill see sheep, change settler location; move Settler N,NW to Plains Hill that has corn and sheep
3920BC - move Scout W,SW to Sheep Hill, see nothing additional so decide to finally Settle
Initial Expansion (to 2140BC)
Technology: Fishing (3720-GH), Animal Husbandry (3640-GH), Agriculture (3600), Writing (3080), Alphabet (2040)
Neighbors: 3600 (Germany, by Scout 1, see border); 3400 (China, by Scout1, meet warrior); 3080 (Greece, by Scout1, meet scout); 2520 (England, by Scout1, meet warrior); 2400 (Japan, by Scout4, meet warrior); 2160 (Malinese, by Scout4, meet scout) I didnt see Mansas territory for about another 1000 years, so Im glad I saw a scout. After Alphabet I would have had to make a guess, which probably would have been that they were on the continent based upon its size, but I would have spent at least an hour on that guess before deciding what to do next.
Other: Scout1 gets Experience (to double woodsman) in 3400; Scout2 finds Scout3 from GH in 3080; Scout3 gets Gold in GH in 3000; 2960- realize no North East passage; 2720 Hinduism in Athens; 2680 - realize no East passage at all; 2160 Buddhism somewhere; 1840 switch to Slavery
Early War: Declare war on China in 3280 to pass through their territory (ends in 1520 after they kill one of my scouts just outside my territory and I see 3 Chinese Warriors on my border, which I later trap between my borders)
Karakorum (3920; 3W/2N of start) Worker (3440), Size2 (3200), Scout (3160), Scout / Size3 (3000), Settler (2640), Settler (2280)
Beshbelik (2600; 4E/2S of Kar) Worker (2160)
Turfan (2200; 9E) nothing yet
I use the two scouts (#s 3&4) that were going to be going east to reveal the fog to avoid animals so I can establish early cities without escort.
From above, starting scout went west, 2nd scout went northeast and discovered 3rd scout and horses, 4th scout went west, then north. For a while I was thinking that everyone except one-two would be on our continent, which would have been a nightmare, but finding all of them definitely got me to a late start researching techs I absolutely didnt need and letting the other civs grow larger than they would have compared to going right for HR. In hindsight starting with two scouts before the worker may have discovered the layout before I wasted time on Writing / Alphabet.
Conquest Preparation (to 1000BC)
At this point I decide to build two more city than I was planning (and workers for roads) when I thought Id have to go for Astronomy & then build barracks everywhere. I would have started a library in my capital after completing the 1880 settler build if I were going to keep researching. I go for HR now and then will mass produce Keshiks in my primary cities.
Trades after Alphabet: Greece (Archery + Mysticism for Writing); Germany (Mining for The Wheel); Germany (BW for Writing); Malanise (Pottery for Animal Husbandry); England (Masonry for Writing); Malanise (Sailing for Pottery)
Research: Horseback Riding (1240); then to 0% science for rest of game
Karakorum (3920; 3W/2N of start) Settler (1880), Settler (1520), Worker (1320), Barracks (1160), then only Keshiks
Beshbelik (2600; 4E/2S of Kar) Worker (1840), Warrior / Size 3 (1480), Barracks (1360), Warriors (1280, 1200), then only Keshiks
Turfan (2200; 9E) Worker (1720), Warrior (1480), Warrior (1360), Barracks (1160), Keshik (1040), then Settler, then only Keshiks
Ning-hsia (1760; 9E/7N on horses) Workboat (1480), Warrior (1320), Barracks (?), then on Keshiks
Old Saria (1400; 6W/5N) Warrior (1120), then Barracks and Keshiks
New Saria (775; 5S/2E on fur) focus was on increasing commerce, but did eventually build barracks and Keshiks
The Conquest
At first all my upgrades for Keshiks were Combat1, then vs. Melee units; after I realized most of my enemies didnt really have melee units I changed to straight Combat promotions. For the Axemen I would build later I took city raider upgrades. Im a little conservative with my attacks for example, if there are 2 defenders that I have a 70% chance to defeat each, I ensure I have at least 3 (preferable 4) attackers with only 2 attackers my chance of victory would be under 50% which I dont like, and dont like backtracking or slowing down follow-on forces, though it may be a good technique. A useful distracting technique I use is to set out a worker by itself and see if a defender will come out to get it. I think I sacrificed at least a 1/2 dozen workers doing this. On at least two occasions I approached a city with 3 defenders with about 70% chance of victory for each of my 4 Keshik attackers not good overall odds but one defending archer decided they wanted the worker, making it easy to capture the city and mop up the archer in the open. I also won and lost lots of battles in the open that arent shown below. Nothing like attacking a barb for an extra promotion with a 95+% chance of winning and actually losing the Keshik.
False War vs. China (850BC-650BC)
850 kill 3 warriors that became trapped between Old Saria and Karakorum since we didnt have open borders; give all 3 Keshik upgrade to +25% vs. Melee
650 China gives Polytheism for peace without further combat
Through exploration I see Beijing had copper next to it and was one of the first to get BW, so Im sure they will be formidable.
Other trades: 625- Greece gives Priesthood for Pottery; 575- Mansa gives Med+IW for HR (decide I want England before they hook up the iron; they didnt have IW in 575); 175- Mansa gives Monarchy for Alphabet
War vs Germany (675BC-575BC)
I move to take Hamburg first with 4 Keshik available since it has the copper near and send 4 toward Berlin thinking it would build back to have at 2 archers.
675 Hamburg (2 archers; no losses)
650 Berlin (1 archer; 1 loss)
575 Munich (1 archer, 1 axe; 1 loss)
After capturing Hamburg and Berlin I make them Axemen factories (after Barracks of course).
War vs Japan (500BC-300BC)
Set up to invade near Kyoto and Edo simultaneously with the bulk of the forces bypassing Edo.
500 archer in open so it doesnt make it back
450 Kyoto (4 archers; 3 losses)
450 Edo (1 archer, 2 warriors; no losses)
375 Osaka (2 archers; 1 loss)
300 Tokyo (2 archers; 1 loss)
I only kept 3 of the cities, which only produced defensive pieces and workers until too late in the game to make an offensive difference.
At this point I have 3 groups of forces.
1) A set of Keshik moving toward England to stop it from getting the Iron.
2) A set of 4 axemen from the former German cities moving toward Mansa along with some Keshiks. I think this was a big tactical mistake. I should have sent the axemen through China, which I eventually attacked with some, but it really slowed my progress as Beijing had lots of Melee units where Mansa did not.
3) Keshiks for the initial assault on China. These would reach their initial objective first, but would be stymied near Beijing.
War vs England (150BC-50BC)
Came to England with 9 Keshiks, one in advance and group the others for 4 to hit Hastings and 4 to hit Nottingham. Easier sweep north than expected with 2 archers caught in the open.
250 notice that England discovered IW (they didnt have it in 300BC; they were building a mine as I attacked which I discovered with the 1 Keshik that was way ahead of the main body; it stopped their plan and made for a nice archer only defense
150 capture worker attempting to build mine
125 Nottingham (2 archers; 2 losses)
100 Hastings (2 archers; no losses)
75 York (1 archer; no losses)
50 London (2 archers; 1 loss)
War vs Mansa (125BC-25AD)
With 4 Axemen (that really should have gone south) coming from the south, 2-3 Keshik that prep to take the mine, and 3 sweeping in from the former Japanese area the initial battles were easy, wiping out 2 cities easily. All forces then swept north to Djenne which was defended very fiercely.
125 Kumbi Salah (1 Skirmisher; 1 loss)
100 Gao (1 Warrior; no losses)
75 Timbuktu ( 2 Skirmishers, 1 Spearman; 2 losses)
25AD Djenne (3 Skirmishers; 7 losses 4 Axe & 3 Kesh)
This battle really sucked. It tied up 12 units as I didnt know if I would lose 2 or 3 per defender.
War vs China (175BC-250AD)
Definitely the biggest slowdown I had tactically was Beijing. Early forces bypassed it as when I first came upon it there were 8 defenders in the darn capital. I sent Keshik by it in groups of 3-4 until I had the forces to take it, though I did overdo it a little.
175 2 archers (just to East of border) and 1 warrior (clear up by Tokyo) in the open
175 Nanking (1 Axe, 1 Archer; no losses)
150 Greece joins for Alphabet+Monarchy+Meditation; I thought China and Greece would send military against each other, but I didnt know about the barb cities that had popped into existence between them; I dont think this did anything except increase the military might of both sides
125 Shangi (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 2 losses)
50AD Guangzhou (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 3 losses)
125AD Xian (1 Spear, 1 Arch; 1 loss)
250AD Beijing (1 Spear, 6 Arch; losses 3 Axe, 5 Kesh) I also coaxed out 2 Axemen and 1 Archer over the course of my buildup time with workers. This was the ultimate battle in amount of forces; I had 21 units when I finally attacked, though I only needed 15 in the end.
War vs Greece (125AD-325AD)
Greece was nice enough not to research IW or even connect up the copper just to its north. It had nothing but archers for defense, but since it joined me against China I think it built extra. When I scouted Sparta to see what they would have, it only had 2 archers, but by the time I got there it had 5 of them with walls; I hadnt gone as far south as Athens again, so I dont know how it got so many as Athens was full also. I also killed 5+ archers in the open near Sparta and Athens, which was easy, but unexpected. Had I guessed their size I would have left fewer units at Beijing and completed my conquest 100 years earlier. Initially I had the large remaining force from England sweeping to the south (I think it was 7-8) and they were met by some that had bypassed the cities in China at Sparta. Originally I thought the Northern force would take Sparta and the ones coming through China would take out Athens. Boy was that wrong; they had to meet up together.
125AD Thermoplae (2 archers; no losses)
125AD Corinth (2 archers; no losses)
225AD Sparta (5 archers w/ walls; 4 losses)
275AD I do a revolution to Hereditary Rule & Tribalism to get 2 turns of Anarchy so I dont run out of money
325AD Athens (4 archers; 3 losses)
350AD Conquest victory declared; of course, there are LOTS of minor tribes out there.
Mad Professor
Deity
I'm having fun with this one. It's my first GOTM. I thought I'd go for domination. Had an early setback when my scout got eaten by bears, but not before I had scouted the south eastern peninsula that Mongolia started on and I could see as far as the neck of land that led towards where Germany turned out to be and I'd been to the eastern end of the land too.
I then churned out some settlers and started cranking out an army once horseriding was done, and started throwing keshiks and swordsmen towards my German border. I'd thought earlier of making it axemen, but quite frankly I didn't get organised fast enough. My exploration was poor (explained above) I tried for oracle and pyramids and was beaten to both
and people found me rather than the other way around, and I seemed doomed to mediocracy.
However, by the time ironworking came around, and with that iron not far from the starting position, I was ready to throw Keshiks and Swordsmen at Germnay. He'd put Cologne to the north east of Berlin, and Munich out the east towards me, and Essen up north of the neck of land. I had a city right near that neck of land.
I targeted Cologne, Munich and Essen and got them quickly, and then decided to march on Berlin. that was probably a mistake, as I didn't quite have the army to take it, and I claim too (of course!!) that I was unlucky. I didn't have construction yet, and was operating without catpaults, and when I saw him get construction ahead of me, and I saw his ivory south of Berlin, I figured it was time to take the three cities I had captured, and gracefully accept peace - for a while. So, resigned to mediocracy, but nevertheless determind to have fun I did just that. I can't remember where 500AD came into it exactly, but in the peace of 10 turns, he popped a couple of settlers straight out between Cologne and Munich to pland Stuttgart and another city north of Munich putting the culture squeeze on the three German cities I'd captured.
I did some tech trading with Elizabeth and Mansa Musa (who seemed the only ones really willing to trade) and kept up with the tech pace that way. I had serious money problems about the time I accepted peace with Germany but I nursed that a few turns and turned it around, but that put me back a bit. Grrr. It was silly - I should have seen it coming with my army extended, and the captured cities...
I haven't finished the game yet, but what else to tell will have to wait for when I've finished and can post it in the other thread.
I then churned out some settlers and started cranking out an army once horseriding was done, and started throwing keshiks and swordsmen towards my German border. I'd thought earlier of making it axemen, but quite frankly I didn't get organised fast enough. My exploration was poor (explained above) I tried for oracle and pyramids and was beaten to both
and people found me rather than the other way around, and I seemed doomed to mediocracy.However, by the time ironworking came around, and with that iron not far from the starting position, I was ready to throw Keshiks and Swordsmen at Germnay. He'd put Cologne to the north east of Berlin, and Munich out the east towards me, and Essen up north of the neck of land. I had a city right near that neck of land.
I targeted Cologne, Munich and Essen and got them quickly, and then decided to march on Berlin. that was probably a mistake, as I didn't quite have the army to take it, and I claim too (of course!!) that I was unlucky. I didn't have construction yet, and was operating without catpaults, and when I saw him get construction ahead of me, and I saw his ivory south of Berlin, I figured it was time to take the three cities I had captured, and gracefully accept peace - for a while. So, resigned to mediocracy, but nevertheless determind to have fun
I did just that. I can't remember where 500AD came into it exactly, but in the peace of 10 turns, he popped a couple of settlers straight out between Cologne and Munich to pland Stuttgart and another city north of Munich putting the culture squeeze on the three German cities I'd captured.I did some tech trading with Elizabeth and Mansa Musa (who seemed the only ones really willing to trade) and kept up with the tech pace that way. I had serious money problems about the time I accepted peace with Germany but I nursed that a few turns and turned it around, but that put me back a bit. Grrr. It was silly - I should have seen it coming with my army extended, and the captured cities...
I haven't finished the game yet, but what else to tell will have to wait for when I've finished and can post it in the other thread.
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