GOTM 181 Spoiler

[Ali Ardavan]

This last period was primarily about the space race. A full space ship was launched as soon as it was ready. The second theme of the era was dealing with the rivals who were getting in the typical nasty mode of end game. Russians were conquered in this period and several Chinese cities were captured including their only coastal city to contain them. I could have wiped them out but the trade routes to their 4 remaining cities were too valuable and I decided containing them is fine. Sioux never attacked me despite placing units next to my cities. In one case I bribed the unit, in other cases they just withdrew. Expansion went on to the very end. The southern part of the map was fully covered but northern America and northern Asia had room for at least a dozen other cities. There was also plenty of unsettled space immediately north of the Himalayas. I ended with 143 cities.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

+1500 to end

+1505 Chinese move troops next to Minsk. Wandering Russian elephant sneak attacks in NE Asia and kills a None engineer. Labor Union -> Future Tech 1. Apollo built. Chinese declare war rather than move troops. 3 Chinese units killed. Lost a cavalry killing musketeer defending Sverdlovsk. 3 Russian units killed. Novgorod bribed for 146g. Vet spy escaped. Got 29g, musketeer, settler, and barracks. Domestic deliveries for 147, 138, 119.

+1510 Chinese Frigate kills a cavalry. Sioux elephant backs off. Senate backs me up against Russians. Future Tech 1 -> 2 -> 3. Freshly produced stealth fighter kills 2 Russian units. Sverdlovsk captured for 28g. Senate hands cease fire to Russians. Chinese cavalry killed. Artillery kills single defender of Tsingtao. The city is captured for 131g and marketplace. Dye to Sioux for 756.

+1515 Chinese steal Plastics. Senate hands them cease fire! Russians steal Fusion Power; I declare war. 2 Russian units killed in attack on my cities. Future Tech 3 -> 4. Space race starts with 3 modules. Kimbe founded. 2 defenders of Yakutsk killed and the city captured for 30g. Senate supports me against Russians. Chinese embassy established.

+1520 Chinese sneak attack and kill an engineer. They also lose a cannon attacking my vet cavalry in fort. Future Tech 4 -> 5. 2 Russian units killed. 1 Chinese units killed. Spice to Chinese for 328. Domestic deliveries for 2x148, 242, 210.

+1525 Chinese kill a cavalry. Future Tech 5 -> 6. 1 Chinese unit killed. Chinese Hangchow bribed for 725g. Spy lost. Got 134g, 2 soldiers, and a marketplace. Senate supports me against Chinese. 2 defenders of St. Pete killed and the city captured for 32g and barracks. Senate supports me against Russians. Tashkent and Palin founded. Domestic deliveries for 352.

+1530 Chinese kill a cavalry. Future Tech 6 -> 7 -> 8. Sioux embassy established. Sioux WoodLake subverted for 2x655g. Spy lost. Got 100g, 2 riflemen, a settler, an engineer, and 6 structures. 2 Chinese units killed. Stealth fighter easily kills 2 defenders of Moscow and the city is captured for 109g. Barbarian Rifleman in America bribed for 82g and turned None. San Diego founded. Beads to Chinese for 110. Domestic deliveries for 64, 132, 1064 (Uranium).

+1535 Future Tech 8 -> 9 -> 10. Russian Riga bribed for 47g. Spy turned vet. Got 18g and musketeer. Senate hands cease fire to Russians. Tblisi subverted for 2x37g. Vet spy escapred. Got 27g, musketeer, and barracks. Russian civilization destroyed. 2 defenders of Chinese Tientsin killed. 2 units reach the city with 1/3 movement and fail to take the city. Sioux Point of Rocks in southern California subverted for 2x640g. Spy lost. Got 102g, an Ironclad, a rifleman, and 2 structures. Domestic deliveries for 52, 84, 168.

+1540 Once again Sioux units back off. Future Tech 10 -> 11. Tientsin captured for 92g. Chinese cavalry killed. Senate hands cease fire to Chinese. Sitka and Tucson founded. Domestic deliveries for 160.

+1545 Future Tech 11 -> 12. Juneau and Timur founded. Raging Brook subverted for 2x417g. Spy lost. Got 68g, a musketeer, and a settler. Tblisi relocated. Spice to Chinese for 304. Wine to Tenochtitlan for 920. Domestic deliveries for 78, 250.

+1550 Chinese steal Fusion Power. I keep the peace as I have no intention of capturing their remaining 4 cities. As usual, Sioux back off. Future Tech 12 -> 13 -> 14. UN built. Dye to Sioux for 440. Domestic deliveries for 968, 178, 212, 788, 140, 128, 90.

+1555 Future Tech 14 -> 15 -> 16. Spice to Chinese for 148, 244. Domestic deliveries for 804, 1074 (Uranium).

+1560 Future Tech 16 -> 17 -> 18. Juarez founded. Domestic deliveries for 234, 464, 126, 352.

+1565 Future Tech 18 -> 19 -> 20. Deliveries to Sioux for 327, 747. Silk to Chinese for 212. Domestic deliveries for 116, 184, 234.

+1570 Sioux join the space race. Future Tech 20 -> 21 -> 22. Laos and Shimonoseki founded. Deliveries to Chinese for 232, 32. Coal to Sioux for 277. Domestic deliveries for 182, 100, 236.

+1575 Chinese steal Space Flight; I keep the peace. Future Tech 22 -> 23. Ketchikan founded. Deliveries to Chinese for 50, 634.

+1580 Future Tech 23 -> 24 -> 25. Matsuyama and Sevastopol founded. Tenochtitlan subverted for 2x677g. Lost spy. Got 111g, 1 boat, and 3 structures. Gold to Chinese for 328. Silver to Sioux for 575. Domestic deliveries for 295, 212, 310, 428.

+1585 Future Tech 25 -> 26 -> 27. Coal to Chinese for 55. Domestic deliveries for 225, 828, 595, 294, 165, 36.

+1590 Future Tech 27 -> 28 -> 29. Spice to Chinese for 112. Domestic deliveries for 651, 156, 138, 257.

+1595 Chinese join the space race. Sioux build Liberty. Future Tech 29 -> 30 -> 31. Full space ship launched. Oregon and Sapporo founded. Wine to Sioux for 470. Domestic deliveries for 1246 (oil). Tech bombed Sioux.

+1596 Future Tech 31 -> 32 -> 33. Banglore and Kwois founded. Copper to Sioux for 368. Domestic deliveries for 248, 210, 122, 1158 (oil).

+1597 Future Tech 33 -> 34 -> 35. Hakodate and Victoria founded. Domestic deliveries for 776, 215, 860, 524.

+1598 Sioux land a rifleman in Hawaii. Future Tech 35 -> 36 -> 37. Sioux rifleman bribed for 208g. Wine to Sioux for 504. Domestic deliveries for 154, 232, 460. T1L2S7

+1599 Chinese sneak attack and kill 3 soldiers and a freight. Future Tech 37 -> 38 -> 39 -> 40. 8 Chinese units killed. Ise and Rostov founded. Domestic deliveries for 850, 102, 212, 224, 170, 254, 215, 768, 966.

+1600 Future Tech 40 -> 41 -> 42. Domestic deliveries for 427, 80, 57, 78, 374, 1354 (oil).

+1601 Future Tech 42 -> 43 -> 44 -> 45. Deliveries to Chinese for 38, 70. Domestic deliveries for 2084(Uranium), 160, 255, 254, 208, 45.

+1602 Future Tech 45 -> 46 -> 47. 3 new pollutions appear. Canterbury relocated. Lakeview founded. Deliveries to Chinese for 84, 30, 236. Domestic deliveries for 340, 114, 1304 (Uranium), 311, 644, 292, 24. Gave all techs except combined arms to Sioux.

+1603 Future Tech 47 -> 48 -> 49 -> 50. 3 new pollutions; some in hard to reach spots. Xotan founded. Deliveries to Chinese for 102. Domestic deliveries for 89, 218, 490.

+1604 Future Tech 50 -> 51 -> 52. 2 more pollution and no time for clean up. Toyama, Sydney, and Denali founded. Domestic deliveries for 132, 128, 370, 1440 (Uranium), 186, 346, 52, 54, 232, 225, 15, 18, 5, 2, 24, 11. T0L2S8

+1605 Future Tech 52 -> 53 -> 54 -> 55. Oracle and Manhattan built. 4 remaining pollution cleaned up. Woodland and Fukushima founded. Domestic deliveries for 250. T0L10S0

+1606 Space ship arrives.

 

[Jokemaster]

By sheer curiosity, could you give me a report of how many cities you had, and how many libraries you had built in them? I can never seem to get 2-tech turns as quickly as the other guys, and I'm wondering if I'm overprioritizing wonders or something.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

As I said in my earlier response I ended with 143 cities. My earlier cities had all the necessary infrastructure for a mostly peaceful landing game where I am far ahead of the rivals technologically by the time the space race began. I built SETI in 1370. I have to look at my saved game to figure out how many libraries and universities I had, but if I had to guess, I would say close to 100 universities and at least 120 libraries. Other factors are city size (many of my earlier cities maxed out population in this last period), superhighways, terrain improvements, and trade routes. Even with all that only in 1599 and with science at 70% I managed to achieve 2 techs per turn from cities (and about 1 per turn from deliveries). I could only keep that up every other turn.

 

[Major Advantage]

Final part of my log. I think Grigor will be way ahead of me, but I was still happy with my game, with only two files to submit.

Stats at 500AD:
pop.: 2.98M; Cities: 45; techs: 26; gold: 869; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Pyr, LH, MPE, Sun Tzu, Michelangelo; TR: 0D/3F
units: 11 settler, 28 warrior, 2 phalanx, 12 pikemen, 1 chariot, 3 horse, 30 crusader, 13 boat, 3 dip, 0 van
Goals: Start conquest, England next turn, China and Japan soon after, Sioux will need some more preparation, Aztecs when Sioux are under control, Russia will take a while to get there

(Russians walk into empty Nerjungi!!! (City razed) That's a slight setback... we sign peace, don't want to lose our settler heading towards Russia)
520 University + pottery from huts; Red Devil, Pedro Bay founded; Demand English triute, get none, so we sneak attack, take Hastings (48+GL), capture London (32)
540 Capture York (22g)
(English kill a crusader)
560 Salzburg (island 32), Phoenix, Fairbanks founded
580 Urumchi, Lampang founded, kill defender in Canterbury, but nobody can take the city; Sneak attack Japan, capture Kyoto (44g+Astro)
(Japanese kill a crusader)
600 Kill an English Legion, capture Canterbury 52g; Capture Edo 50g, Osaka 61g, 2 japanese cities left, planned to be bribed next turn
620 Bribe Kagoshima 122 (55), Satsuma 87 (55), Japanese Civ destroyed; Decline english offer of cease fire and kill a settler instead; Sneak attack China: Attack Canton with city walls, need all 4 attackers to take out the defending phalanxes, raze Hangchow (12+Seafaring), Capture Chengdu (23); Borneo founded
640 Capture Xinjian 34, Canton holds,; Capture Coventry 27, Nottingham 30, England defeated
(Sioux warn us about violation of Killdeer, no fair, my units were there first! They also take Tenochtitlan and destroy Aztecs)
660 Nanking destroyed; Subvert Killdeer (2*88g, get 22, engineering + settler); Minsk is no longer rioting and would be 565 to bribe, too expensive
680 Prairie Island founded; Lose 2 crusaders attacking Canton, will need a bigger army for that city, Peking razed 19g, Chinese down to 2 cities
700 Hokkaido founded; 50g from last Australian hut
720 Kekra, Beringowski, Chabarowsk founded; 10 crusaders ready to hit Canton next turn; LBH on river with city walls might be hard to crack, attack in ~2 turns
740 Capture Canton 102; Yellowknife founded
760 Capture Shanghai 73, Chinese defeated
780 Bach built; troops moved into position to hit Sioux, Russian campaign will start 1 turn later
800 Panjin founded; hmm, a barb horse just outside Sioux Tenochtitlan...we will wait for 1 more turn
820 Sokcho, Aarhus founded; Now it's time for war: Attack on Smolensk: kill 1st defender, lose to 2nd, bribe Minsk for 590g (86 back), sneak attack Sioux, but 5 out of 7 crusaders fail in LBH, raze Cedar Creek (16+Wheel), raze Tenochtitlan 15, Capture Wounded Knee 45, capture Teotihuacan 27, kill all 3 units in Slim Buttes, Sioux down to 4 cities, but only 3 on our map...should have traded maps before attacking...ok, found it by left-clicking
(Sioux And Russians counterattacks kill some crusaders)
840 BB->Invention; Raze Slim Buttes 27, failed to kill defender in LBH but more troops moved into position, capture St. Petersburg 49
860 Chenega, Puuwai, Melbourne founded; Capture LBH (164+Colossus), raze Stony Lake 13, Sioux down to one city, Russia has 6, 1 unknown to us
880 Lots of riots, despite Mike's & Bach... West China, San Francisco founded; Ready to hit Moscow and Three Forks next turn
900 Capture Three Forks 76, Sioux defeated; Magadan, Papua founded; Capture Moscow (53 + HG)
920 Juneau, Elfin Cove, Blagowesch, Hainan founded; Capture Smolensk 41, raze Sevastopol 18
940 We discover the missing russian city; Dawei, Broome, Kahului founded; We should be able to finish in 2 turns, Kiev (city walls and on river) will be bribed, let's see if we can get another wonder done
960 Dimapur, Calgary founded, troops moved into position
980 GW built; Sneak attack Russia and capture Odessa 64, raze Tblisi 16 and we can easily afford to bribe Kiev, settle settlers, raise luxuries, hire entertainers and bribe the city for 310 (74), Russians defeated, game over

 

[Jokemaster]

@ali: At what point do you engage in mass library-building? Usually, when I play, my spare van revenue is always gobbled up by expansion/WoWs and SSC development, and I seldom get the opportunity to build my first libraries until after the late Renaissance/early Industrial period after coastal cities celebrate past size12 (and no mass libraries until after Automobile or even Flight. So no 2-techs until SETI). I'm not sure if I'm being too stingy with my commodity vans early on, or if the copper/dye MGE bug makes things harder for me by making trade harder than it should be. Could theoretically build libraries earlier, but I question their efficiency before size 12+ compared to vans or WoWs.

But I never seem to be able to keep up wonder-building with the pace of research either, so my science infrastructure falls behind on tech costs and I can't hit 2Techs/turn quickly enough. How do I play that mid-late game?

 

[Ali Ardavan]

I do not build any infrastructure while expanding rapidly in early game. All my shields and money go towards settlers, military if needed, and vans for wonders. In this game in +1 with 16 cities my infrastructure cost was still 0. In +500 with 24 cities my cost was a mere 16 and all of it for harbors, marketplaces, and aqueduct/sewer in science city. I have a comment in +1000 that I lack a single science structure in my 33 cities.