[PTW] GOTM 201 Zulu Regent

[Più Freddo]

GOTM CCI Zulu Regent

Who will win the Battle of Isandlwana...?

Hail Shaka! You recently united the Zulu under your leadership as whispers of advanced civilizations settling on the shores -- confirmed by reports from your warriors sent across the continent -- are everyday more menacing.

The Zulu player starts at the center of the continent & with 4 special lmpis (modified Impis with no support cost) spread as scouts across the land.
Rumors has it 7 that advanced (halfway through middle-ages) European civilizations have started to colonize the shores of the continent. As an Expansionist & Militaristic civilization, the numerous friendly barbarians will gladly join and help you, while your warriors will fiercely fight even the most advanced opposition.

Will you be able to overcome the odds and stand the test of time?

This game was created by @ROH-Dora.

Rule Changes

Apart from the normal Rule Changes for the GOTM, in this game, you have:

• The "Lmpi" (or "lmpi" in small case, indistinguishable from the actual "Impi" with an i): identical to the Impi (including Golden Age), same Civilopedia entry, but not buildable otherwise...

Starting Position

Scope of the Game

• Regent
• Pangaea
• Normal map
• 8 players
• Water crossing is anecdotal indeed.

Time Plan

• The game is released on January 1, 2026
• Submissions are due by March 31, 2026

The Game Release Page Is Here

Spoilers are free. Please use your judgement!

@The_J
@Blake00

 

[Captain_Jack]

My Zulu will feast and revel tonight, but in the morning we begin the hard work of staking claim to our homeland. The Sanhedrin will convene and we shall eat the heart of a lion as they reaffirm their fealty. I admit I am concerned. If these rumored blue-eyed devils are actually advanced our deaths will be quick but glorious. We must trust in our gods, and in @ROH-Dora; there must be a way for our people to survive.

 

[Più Freddo]

Otherwise than previously stated, you do have to pay support for the extra four Lmpis in this game. Sorry for any inconvenience!

 

[Nata]

It was so much fun catching up on Science that I again decided on the Diplo game. By the year 1611AD I finally traded researched Tech to other Civs, the Tech being Chemistry.
Until then, got BW, Wheel, Math and Lit from huts, got Alpha, Wri, Phil after discovering first 3 Civs and trading contacts, then discovered another cluster of 3 Civs and traded for IW, CoL and HR by trading contacts between them, then noticed French warrior closing on Vikings and got MM, Rep and Poly by trading contacts of 2 groups to each other.
I kept my location secret as long as possible, and couple of Civs declared on me after I refused demands for Territory Map + cash. Destroyed some of their warriors and defiled their lands with my wondering Lmpis, which was enough to sue for peace and getting Cur+ Constr from them.
One English stray warrior reached my lands and I killed him with and Impi triggering GL. Only then I remembering not switching to Rep after getting it. So 1st turn of GL was spend switching to Republic and after that building Libs, martketplaces and upgrading warriors to swordsmen. Also finally got 4-turn settler factory going during GL.
Spain was the last Civ to be discovered, I traded its contacts mostly for cash.

I was researching Feudalism during GL for couple of turns, then decided to finally trade my almost fully discovered WM for Feud+Mono+Eng and spent the rest of GL researching Theo. Somewhere around this time France declared again, I harrassed it with wondering Impis again and they sued for peace by offering Chivalry and I built 3 Knights by the end of GL.

Currently I'm at war with England again, destroyed 2 of their cities and want to get Astronomy as part of a peace deal. Got Education from backward Vikings after Trading it for Chemistry. Forgot how I got Inv+Gunpowder, I think traded it for cash.

Taking a break now in 1611AD after getting my 1st MGL in war against England, on English lands. Need to decide what to do with it and how to quickly develop my empire to go fast through the the rest of MA and IA. Currently research rate is not great, need more workers to develop my vast lands and more settlers to grab nearby resources.

 

[Quintillus]

Uff da. That does not look like a favorable start. There is a river at least, and thus a chance to irrigate the plains, but if I take this one up, I'll be strongly considering scouting for more fertile land on which to establish the Zulu Empire.

I like the idea of starting with other civs more advanced, though. I did that once in the Stories and Tales forum, having all my rivals start one age ahead of me. It turned out to not be as much of a challenge as I had expected, for two reasons. One, later techs cost more, so the AI civs were researching very slowly, essentially 50-turn research, for a long time. And two, once they connected resources, their unit choices were more expensive than mine, so while they could build powerful units, their small cities took a long time to build them, and during the time they were building expensive medieval units, they weren't building workers or settlers. Thus, there was an element of "if I don't get crushed by them early, I'll probably be able to out-expand them."

I might have to dig out the disc versions to give this a try... and start a game in 1500.

 

[Nata]

1696AD: ToE gave Electronics and Radio. 4-5 turns per tech, cruising to Diplo.
I decided to keep my MGL for United Nations, to make things easier.

I didn't read the rule changes carefully and missed that all Civs lost their special units and traits. First I was surprised to see Viking Longbowman walking about, and then Germany and Russia didn't get free Techs after I gifted them into IA... Oh well, they both might have gotten Nationalism anyway.

 

[Più Freddo]

I didn't read the rule changes carefully and missed that all Civs lost their special units and traits. First I was surprised to see Viking Longbowman walking about, and then Germany and Russia didn't get free Techs after I gifted them into IA...

This isn't in the official (and intended) rule changes. Something seems to have gone awry in the game creation.

Did anyone else notice that all traits and unique units have been disabled in this game?

Does anyone know where this checkbox is located in the game editor, so that I can take a look in the .bix to see if it is checked?

 

[tenny]

This isn't in the official (and intended) rule changes. Something seems to have gone awry in the game creation.

Did anyone else notice that all traits and unique units have been disabled in this game?

Does anyone know where this checkbox is located in the game editor, so that I can take a look in the .bix to see if it is checked?

In the PtW-Editor it is located in the "Scenario" -> "Scenario Properties" -> "Game Options" menu -> Uncheck "Default Game Rules" and there you can check/uncheck "Civ-specific abilites". That is different from the conquest editor, where there is no option of "civ-specific abilities", which means that this option is unchecked in all conquest games/COTM, while checked in the GOTM games.

 

[Nata]

Ah, I see that it's not an intended change.
I might get the fixed version and replay for 20K just for fun. There are all the Wonders to build and other Civs are not in a position to build them for a long long time. May not be enough units to kill for MGL but if I keep disconnecting rivals resources they may build more cheap units. No 1000 year double bonus though...

Meanwhile, got Diplo victory at 1741AD, which got translated into 1255AD after submitting:

Game status:	Diplomatic Victory for Zululand
Game date:	1255 AD
Firaxis score:	1965
Jason score:	6708

 

[Più Freddo]

1741AD, which got translated into 1255AD after submitting:

Interesting! I guess the submission system just translates the turn count into a year and disregards the late start at 1500 AD.

 

[tenny]

This isn't in the official (and intended) rule changes. Something seems to have gone awry in the game creation.

Did anyone else notice that all traits and unique units have been disabled in this game?

Does anyone know where this checkbox is located in the game editor, so that I can take a look in the .bix to see if it is checked?

Apparently the civ specific abilites have been disabled, as well as allowing the restarting of players.

 

[Captain_Jack]

This was a fun and interesting game. I popped many advances from the huts and sent my impi everywhere until I needed them back home to deal with barbarians.
I am taking a break now as we left for the winter and I use a non-portable computer for Civ3, but victory is assured. I own the UN; no one likes me enough to elect me leader, but I will not allow elections. I have a dominant military and soon after we return I guess I will take a domination victory. I suppose someone could get to Space first, but it is not likely. Thanks to @ROH-Dora for an interesting set-up.

I don't really like to wage war in Civ, but with the Zulu I think it is inevitable and easier.