GOTM 37 First Spoiler: End of Ancient Age

[Sabre]

ptw 1.27 open

Opening Moves
I begin by moving the worker to the cattle and the scout west then south. Everything looks great so I just settle on the spot. With an east coast in view (yeah I missed that bridge too!) I figured 2 scouts would be enough and decided on an initial build order of scout, worker, granary, settler, barracks and then a 4-turn warrior/settler setup. The first scout made his winding way along the south of the continent while the second followed the north. For my first tech I chose the Wheel at minimum research. I strongly considered Mysticism but I've been burned by Ainwood's sometimes tricksy placement of resources and I was really wanting to play with the Mounted Warriors and I knew none of the civs started with the Wheel. Turns out I was beaten to the Wheel by about 10 turns and then I discover there were horses aplenty. My first gamble is a big old bust. I suppose I should have trusted Ainwood's generosity in a Diety game.

Expansion
I knew I had one great settler factory in Salamanca but I was not satisfied so my early settler founded Niagara Falls on the tile south of the cattle. This started a ring at 4 tiles and established territory closest to my nearest opponent, Carthage. Other than the early encroachment by Leptis Magna near the wheat that others have seen my expansion went as I planned and by 1000bc I had 13 cities and 3 settlers. At this time I also had 5 barracks and the beginnings of my Mounted Warrior horde.

Foreign Relations
3750bc - France (scout1)
3350bc - India (scout1)
3300bc - Carthage (scout2)
2950bc - Arabia (scout1)
It wasn't till 2350bc that I become convinced I've missed something and send a warrior to the east and discover the land bridge. Doh - well that's two early mistakes on Diety.
2190bc - Rome, Germany, Persia (AI contact trading)
The AI was very aggressive with the demands for gold. My combination of heavy gold buildup and weak early military was probably a factor in this. I gritted my teeth and paid up each time with the knowledge that the world would pay for their oppressive ways. I managed to keep up in the 1st tier techs through trading but because of my Wheel blunder I fell badly behind. I made one last gasp at catching up peacefully by researching Polytheism at maximum speed and in 1325bc I hit the jackpot with a monopoly. Total take was 8 techs, 360g, world map and 1 worker! I'm back in business and I'm just short Construction and Currency. In 410bc I research the Republic but I didn't bother checking for any possible trades. I'm only a few turns from completing my Mounted Warrior stack of doom and it's research by pointy stick from here on!

War!
My initial plans were to begin with France as I had no desire to face the Carthage Mercenaries but France put a kink in that plan by building the Great Library in Paris. No sense in taking that now when I'm nearly at tech parity so I build up a few more turns and bite the bullet by declaring on Carthage. My stack had about 30 Mounted Warriors and it took nearly all of them to take my first two targets on the first turn - Hippo and Utica. I could have taken an easier path by hitting Leptis Magna and Theveste to the south and sweeping west but I knew Carthage would be getting their Golden Age and I wanted to rip out their heart by taking two big core cities. It took 3-4 turns to fend off the counter attack and regroup my forces but Carthage was crippled and my own Golden Age enhanced cities were popping out MWs at about 1-4/turn including Salamanca's 1/turn pace. With only 1 temple and a Forbidden Palace in Niagara Falls to my name wartime flips were a problem but I just left a MW outside each ungarrisoned captured city and took them back without loss each time. In 30bc Carthage was reduced to 1 city on the west coast so I traded peace for Currency, Monarchy and Construction and made a late entry into the Middle Ages. On an amusing final note two turns later Carthage's one city allied with Germany against India. I think my attack must have rattled Hannibal's brains. Carthage was gone shortly thereafter.

Technology
4000bc - Ceremonial Burial (start)
4000bc - Pottery (start)
3300bc - Masonry (France for Pottery)
3300bc - Alphabet (India for Pottery, Masonry, 34g, 1gpt)
3300bc - Bronze Working (India for Pottery, Masonry, 34g, 1gpt)
2950bc - Warrior Code (Arabia for Alphabet)
2310bc - Mysticism (My only goody hut)
2150bc - The Wheel
1325bc - Polytheism
1325bc - Mathematics (Germany for Polytheism)
1325bc - Iron Working (Germany for Polytheism)
1325bc - Writing (Germany for Polytheism)
1325bc - Code of Laws (Rome for Polytheism)
1325bc - Philosophy (Arabia for Code of Laws)
1325bc - Map Making (India for Polytheism)
1325bc - Literature (France for Polytheism)
1325bc - Horseback Riding (Persia for Polytheism)
410bc - The Republic
30bc - Currency (Carthage for peace)
30bc - Construction (Carthage for peace)
30bc - Monarchy (Carthage for peace)

On to the Middle Ages
Well, I didn't start off very well but a lucky break and a successful war have put me back on track. My next target is going to be Arabia. Their UU is fairly unimpressive, my losses against the Carthaginians were small so I had 48 MWs, my cities were still in Golden Age production and I had 2000g in the bank. After that it's hard to say whether I'll be up to facing India's Elephants or whether I make my move on the Great Library. I'm thinking I may be able to flood India with MWs (or Knights if I can get Chivalry out of Arabia - that would require trading for Feudalism and Monotheism however.)

The Iroquois at 30bc:

 

[horragoth]

Starting moves
Salamanca was founded in place after moving Worker to Cow and Scouting south. I started with zero research and eventually used lux slider to fight unhappines. I built second scout first, then Settler immediately as I spotted the three Wheat location SW.
Next building orders in Salamanca were Warrior, Warrior, Settler, Granary, Settler,Archer, Settlers. Two settlers were produced before Granary to reach two good locations as soon as possible (before AI)
Niagara Falls was founded between the three Wheats in distance 6 from capital, used to produce Worker, Settler, temple, and then becoming a worker Farm.
Second Settler would arrive to its place one turn later then needed (see screenshot)

Therefore I settled where the settler was and abandoned RCP for good.

Contacts and Exploration
Carthage (3600), Arabs(3300), India (3250), 3150 (France), Romans (2310), Persians, Germans (2270 trade)
I have found 1 hut, which was deserted.
I have missed the landbridge completely, until a Roman Warrior appeared. Still I have managed to build a fort city on it.

Research
Zero. 10% Mathematics as allowed in 3150.
Trading went quite well, I had the tech parity throughout the Ancient age.

QSC
11 Cities, 38 citizens
10 Workers, 5 Slaves
16 Techs
2 Warrior, 1 Archer, 7 Spearmen, 3 Swordsmen, 3 Mounted Warriors
462 GP
7 contacts, 7 embassies

War with Arabs
Arabs DOW me in 710 BC. I lost 1 MW during this war, while they 2 Warriors and 4 Spearmen. In 610 BC I got Monarchy, revolted (1 turn Anarchy) and
immediately started GA by MW in 590 BC. The turn after that I concluded peace with Arabs, getting Currency and entering Medieval.

 

[DJMGator13]

Expansion
I got boxed in by FRA and CART fairly early and was not able to continue to expand. I created 12 cities, but stopped producing settlers in 1400BC. I could have founded a few jungle cities but I decided against that option. I did secure an iron and horses, but lost out on the wheat and dyes. I found the land bridge in 3600BC with my second scout. I discovered the final civ in 2390BC.

Techs
Surprisingly I have held my own trading with the AI’s and even managed to research a few techs. I have been at relative tech parity since about 3300BC and I have even been in the tech lead a few times. Currently, I am the only civ in the Middle Ages, however, I do not have Monarchy or Republic yet.

Highlights from my Timeline

4000BC
worker1 W / Mohawk (scout) N see another fur, decide to settle in place before 2nd move
settler founds SALAMANCA exposing the next layer of tiles on the whole eastern side
Mohawk NW to hill
only 1gpt difference to try MYST in 40 so I go for it for now
set build to scout

3750BC
Salamanca scout (Senaca) => scout

3650BC
Senaca E to next hill found a potential land bridge

3600BC
Salamanca scout (Oneida) => worker
CONTACT: CART, 2 cities, 10 gold, up MAS & ALPHA, down POT & CB, plus they have 3 workers in their capital are they under attack?

3450BC
Salamanca worker2 => warrior

3350BC
CONTACT: ROM, 2 cities, up BW, ALPHA & WC, down CB & POT
TRADE: POT & CB to ROM for WC and 8 gold
TRADE: POT, WC & 2 gold to CART for ALPHA

3300BC
Salamanca warrior => granary
CONTACT: FRA, 2 cities, 10 gold, up BW & MAS, down POT, CB & WC
TRADE: WC & POT to FRA for MAS and 2 gold
TRADE: MAS to ROM for BW and 27gold
CONTACT: ARB, 2 cities, 10 gold, down MAS & ALPHA
At tech parity with known world

3100BC
furs are hooked up

2630BC
SALAMANCA settler => settler (running as a 4turn settler factory now)

2590BC
CONTACT: GER, 4 cities, up Wheel & MYST
TRADE: buy WHEEL from GER for 127gold
TRADE: sell Wheel to CART for 70gold
TRADE: buy MYST from ROM for 79gold & 1 gpt
TRADE: Wheel, MYST & 2 gpt to FRA for IW
at tech parity again - I lost out on POLY in all my test games so I try for MATH this time
Note: I see where PER is but Senaca has a ways to go to get back there / still have not seen IND yet

2550BC
detour settler to go claim the only iron close to me
Rome must be researching IW because they offer less money to buy it from me this turn so I sell it
TRADE: sell IW to ROM for 112gold
TRADE: sell IW to GER for 49gold

2510BC
TRADE: sell WHEEL to ARB for 35gold (everyone else has it)

2470BC
Salamanca settler2 => settler

2390BC
CONTACT: IND, 4 cities, 46 gold, up WRIT
TRADE: buy WRIT from FRA for 199gold - holding on to my contacts with GER & ROM
TRADE: sell WRIT to ROM for 141gold and contact with PER
CONTACT: PER, 6 cities, 0 gold, down ALPHA, MYST
TRADE: sell WRIT to GER for 128gold
TRADE: MYST, IW & WRIT to CART for 2 workers (Abe & Ben)

2350BC
TRADE: ALPHA & 6 gold to PER for worker (Cal)

2310BC
Salamanca settler => settler

2270BC
TRADE: WRIT to PER for HBR
TRADE: sell HBR to FRA for 90gold

2150BC
Salamanca settler => settler

2110BC
On the IBT Carthage extorted contact with Germany from me – my military is almost nonexistent so I agree & they traded the contact around as I feared

1990BC
Salamanca settler => settler

1910BC
TRADE: c/IND, MYST & 17gold to PER for worker (Dan)

1830BC
Salamanca settler => settler

1750BC
TRADE: buy MAPM from GER for Wmap & 145gold
TRADE: MAPM to ARB for PHIL & Tmap
TRADE: sell PHIL to GER for 75gold

1700BC
Salamanca settler => settler

1675BC
learned MATH set to CURR

1625BC
I'm worried about getting a demand for MATH since I'm the only one with it
TRADE: MATH, WMap & 12gold to FRA for LIT and Tmap
TRADE: MATH, LIT & Tmap to PER for COL, Tmap & 90gold
TRADE: MATH & LIT to IND for WMap & 80gold
TRADE: Wmap to ROM for Wmap & 25gold
TRADE: Wmap to FRA for Wmap & 44gold
at tech parity and complete world map

1600BC
Salamanca settler2 => settler
cultural expansion brings horses into our border

1525BC
Grand River settler1 => barracks

1500BC
Salamanca settler3 => settler

1475BC
TRADE: LIT & MATH to CART for POLY, Wmap & 23 gold

1400BC
Salamanca settler1 => barracks (no more room to expand)

1275BC
Salamanca barracks => MW (every 3 turns)

1250BC
pop a GH south of IND lands and get CONST [dance]

IBT - FRA learned CONST / PER learned MONA

1225BC
no trade for Monarchy is possible, so I sell Construction for gold
TRADE: sell CONST to PER for 183gold & WMap
TRADE: sell CONST to GER for 113gold & WMap

1200BC
Salmanca MW => MW

1175BC
TRADE: sell POLY to ROM for worker (Eon) 33gold & Tmap

1125BC
learn CURR set to ENGIN (pushing towards cavs) - Enter MA
Salamanca MW => MW


Not Quite QSC Stats
12 cities
pop = 34
tiles = 121

City Improvements
2 granaries
5 barracks
2 temples

Military
1 scout
4 warriors
4 mounted warriors
9 workers
5 slave workers
lost 2 scouts to barbs

By 1000BC I should have 1 more barracks and 3 more MW, no more cities, and 4 cities will increase in pop. I also hope to buy Monarchy once it gets traded around.

Score I have 375, Rome is next lowest at 419 and Persia is highest at 642.

Middle Age Game Plan
Start some wars and try to conquer western half of world, let Persia and Rome clear out the jungle and then go after the eastern half. Hoping to do major damage with cavalry.



EDIT: Finished up the QSC time period and was able to become a Monarchy in 1000BC. Estimated QSC score from MapStat of 7580.

 

[WackenOpenAir]

The Settler Factory

After settling in place, i first started calculating my options.
I came to a choise between going for a granary immeadiately or doing a scout and worker first at the cost of 4 turns delay.
Since i always in the past have chosen to go for the granary right away (usually the difference is more than 4 turns) and this game has multiple things that favor the scout (deity, pangea, expansionist) i deceided this would be the moment to do something different for a change.

At the 11th turn however, i got the opportunity to buy a slave worker. I started calculating again and after a lot of puzling with different worker moves, i came to a solution where i could save as much as 3 turns on my settler factory by joining the slave worker. 3 turns almost being a complete settler, makes it obviously worth it to join the slave.
For the readers pleasure, i also included an excel file where you can see how i developed my settler factory. (doesn't accept .xls, just RENAME it .xls

Timeline

4000BC:
scout west and south wards because there are the best chances my capital could get even better.
Settle in place, start building scout, start irrigating cow, research alphabet @ min.

3750BC:
Salamanca Scout->Worker.

3600BC:
Salamanca Worker->Granary.

3500BC:
Goody Hut deserted.
Contact Carthage. Buy worker for Ceremonial, Pottery and 14 gold.

3350BC:
Contact India.
Get Alphabet for Pottery and 8 gold.
Research Writing.

3150BC:
Contact france.
Bronze working and 10 gold from them for Ceremonial and Pottery.

3100BC:
Salamanca Granary->Settler.

3050BC:
Contact Rome.
40 gold from them for Ceremonial.

2900BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
Contact Persia.

2710BC:
Contact Arabia.
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
Niagara Falls founded, starts worker. (next to a river and mountain so it's ok with those falls)

2590BC:
Grand River founded, starts warrior.

2550BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.

2390BC
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
Grand River Warrior->Worker.

2310BC:
N. Falls Worker->Worker.

2230BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
Alleghany founded, Worker started.
Cattaraugus founded, warrior started.

2190BC:
Grand River Worker->Warrior.

Intermezzo: 5 warriors from 3 nations and 2 barbarians are wandering around (not yet inside) my empire. They make me feel a bit uneasy.

N. Falls swiches to Warrior.

2110BC:
Writing, Iron Working and 7 gold from India for contact with Persians and Romans.
Writing to Persia for Warrior Code.
Contact with Germans and Masonry from Rome for Writing and contact with Arabs.
55 gold from India for contact with germans.
The Wheel and 70 gold from Carthage for Writing.
Horseback and Mysticism from France for Contact with Persia, Germany and Rome.
Worker from Rome for contact with Carthage and Mysticism.
50 gold from Arabia for contact with Germans and Persia.
54 gold from Persia for contact with Germans and Carthage.
54 gold from Persia for Mysticism.
Research to Philosophy now.

2070BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
Oil Springs founded, Worker started.

2030BC:
Barb takes 79 gold.
Deserted goody gut. (Oh i love expansionism, 2 deserted huts)
2 german workers for contact with carthage, writing, Horseback and Pottery.
Cattaraugus Warrior->Worker.

1990BC:
Grand River Warrior->Worker.
N. Falls Warrior->Worker.

1910BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.

1830BC:
Tonawanda founded, worker started.
Cattaraugus Worker->Warrior.

1790BC:
Grand River Worker->Barracks.
N. Falls Worker->Barracks.
Alleghany Worker->Warrior.
Maugh Chunk founded, Warrior started.

My borders are touching Cartage borders and i am trying to obstruct their settler pair from moving to my north penensula.

1750BC:
The history of the world tells my i am 4th on the list of most powerfull nations. Oh well....

1700BC:
Bad mistake, revolt in capital
St. Regis founded, worker started.
Oil springs Worker->Worker.

1675BC:
Another stupidity, i expected a free tech from Philosophy. Of course that did not work. Well, at least i have a monopoly on it.
Philosphy->Literature.
Math and 63 gold from Persia for Philosophy.
Map making and world map from France for Philosphy, Math and World map. (wow they have a pretty complete world map)
World map and 25 gold from Carthage for World map.
World map and 15 gold from Rome for World map.
World map and 70 gold from Arabia for World map.
Territory map and 40 gold from persia for World map.
40 gold from France for World map.
Cattaraugus Warrior->Worker.

1650BC:
Persia demands my map and 50 gold. I'll just pay them for now.
Mauch Chunk Warrior->Worker.

1625BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.

1575BC:
Alleghany Worrior->Worker.

1550BC:
Tonawanda Worker->Worker.
Cattaraugus Worker->Barracks.
Centralia founded, Barracks started.
Mauch Chunk Worker->Barracks.

The AI researched Literature, i chose it because its the least researched by the AI...
I quit my research alltogether now, i won't be able to research anything before the AI gets it. To bad i wasted around 100 commerce on Literature.
(2 empty huts, AI researching Lit, luck is not with me this game)

1525BC:
Salamanca Settler->Settler.

1475BC:
Roman Worker for Map making.
Literature from Arabia for 105 gold.
Code from Germany for Lit and 122 gold.
144 gold from Arabia for Code
Poly from Carthage for Code And literature.
42 gold from india for Literature.
(too bad, can't get back those 122 gold from Germany)
Researching republic at min.

1450BC:
Oil Springs Worker->Worker.

1425BC:
Allegheny Worker->Worker.
Salamanca Settler->Settler.
(I have one capital producing settlers, 6 cities at rcp6 producing barracks and 3 remote cities producing workers)

1375BC:
N. Falls barracks->Warrior.
Grand River barracks->Warrior.
Tyendenaga founded, worker started.

1350BC:
Roman Worker and 25 gold for Polytheism.

1325BC:
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.

1300BC:
Kahnawake founded, Worker started.
Tonawanda Worker->Worker.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.

1275BC:
Alleghany Worker->Worker.
St. Regis Barracks->Warrior.
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.

1250BC:
Caughnawaga founded, worker started.

1225BC:
Salamanca Settler->Marketplace (no more space to expand)
Mistake causes st. Regis to disorder.
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.
(there are 13 enemy units from 3 different civ's in my territory at the moment)

1200BC:
Oil Springs Worker->Barracks.
St. Regis Warrior->Warrior.
Roman worker and 25 gold for Code of Laws.

1175BC:
Construction from India for 450 gold.
Currency from Persia for 440 gold
315 gold from India for Currency.
110 gold from Francy for Currency.
96 gold from Germany for Curreny.
31 gold from Carthage for Currency.
Unfortunately, Persia is filthy rich now and has its first MA tech.
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.

1150BC:
Akwasasne Barracks->Warrior (with regular disband to get 2 turns at 4 spt)
St. Regis Warrior-Warrior.
It feels like there are more foreign settler pairs in my country now than there are free tiles on the world.
Cattaraugus Barracks->Warrior.

1125BC:
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.
Oka founded, Barracks started.
Tyendenaga Worker->Worker. (accidentaly put this one at the wrong place for crp, therefore its corruption will always remain absurd)
Allegheny Worker->Barracks.
Roman worker and 22 gold for Currency.
german worker for Construction.
Mauch Chunk swiched from barracks to marketplace

1100BC:
Akwesasne Warrior->Warrior.

1075BC:
N. Falls Warrior->Warrior.
Grand River Warrior->Warrior.

1050BC:
St. Regis Warrior->
Kahnawake Worker->Barracks.

1025BC:
Akwasasne Warrior->Mounted Warrior
Cattaraugus Warrior->Mounted Warrior
Grand River Warrior->Mounted Warrior
N. Falls Warrior->Mounted Warrior
upgraded 16 veteran warriors to swordsmen. "Compared to these guys we have a strong militairy!"
(not sure yet, might change those Mounteds to marketplaces)

1000BC:
St. Regis Warrior->Mounted Warrior
Upgrade 4 more veteran warriors to swordsmen.
Dyes and Insence from Carthage for Furs, construction and 2 gpt.

==========================================================
1000BC stats:

14 cities (38 pop)
22 native workers, 7 slaves.
6 warrior
20 swordsmen
184 gold
1 granary
5 barracks
All non optional AA + Literacy.
==========================================================

Ready to decimate France

I currently cannot make a jpg image, but i have 6 cities in a rcp 4 ring and 5 at rcp 7, 2 more remote and totally corrupt.

My plan was to not to research, build vet warriors, upgrade to swords, then conquer a neigbour. Carthage is geocraphically more attractive for me now, but they have strong defenders and i could trade 2 luxes from them.

I hope to get republic out of peace nagotiations.
I would like to get republic before golden age. Else i might temporarily go monarchy.

Unfortunately some civ's are going dangerously fast in tech (2 MA techs while i have none).

The pyramids are in persia and thus out of reach.

 

[Kuningas]

I have poor notes, so I won't submit qsc log. I'm going for conquest again. I plan to start
war preparations early and build nothing but barracks and units. Later in the game I built temples
as culture flips begin to be nuisance.

First target France. French are weak (spears and archers), they built Great Lighthouse and have two luxuries.
In QSC period my initial 22 swords army have captured two cities. I left rest of the war for later spoilers because in
1075BC I entered in the MA.

QSC stats
14 cities
41 citizens (7 resisting)
248 gold
All Ancient Ages techs except goverment techs

1 Granary
5 Barracks

16 native workers + 12 foreign workers
1 settler
2 reg warriors
20 veteran Swords (2 elites)
1 Great Leader
6 Mounted Warriors

 

[CKS]

PTW 1.27 OPEN

Well, I'm glad you guys are doing well. My game was short and not so sweet. Technically I guess I don't qualify for this spoiler as I never met all the AI civs, but since I've submitted my game, I'm going to assume that trumps the other rules.

My goals were to lose by some method other than conquest and to keep a turn log to submit for the QSC. I kept good notes until turn 32, when it became apparent that it wasn't worthwhile, and lost by conquest shortly thereafter.

I settled in place and started irrigating the cow. My first scout went north and explored the peninsula, then east to the other side of the continent. I built a second scout who went west, then a warrior, a settler, a granary, a warrior, and a settler in Salamanca. I start researching the wheel at minimum, because I've had a hard time in other games getting people to trade when I wasn't researching at all. This is probably just a peculiarity of those games, but it makes me uncomfortable not to research at all.

In 3600 BC I meet Carthage. They won't sell me any techs at a reasonable price, but they have 3 workers. I buy 2 for CB, pottery, and 1 gpt. In 3450 BC I meet Arabia and can't trade at all. In 3150 I meet Rome, and I manage to trade my way to equality with all known civs. The nearby horses look nice. In 3000 BC I meet India and in 2670 I meet France and Persia. I trade for ironworking, and I'm happy because it looks like I'll be able to get both horses and iron fairly easily. Because I've got connections on both sides, I'm doing okay in tech trading.

In 3100 I build Niagara Falls, 4 tiles NE of Salamanca and start building warriors. Barbs show up shortly thereafter and kill my 2 foreign workers and a warrior. This is merely a foreshadowing of things to come.

In 2590 BC a large stack of Arabian warriors is visible headed toward Niagara Falls. They sort of wander in, and 3 turns later they declare war, taking the city with no problems. The remains of the stack and an entire second stack converge at Salamance. A settler sneaks out of the city, but it doesn't help. I miss both my goals, losing by conquest in 2070 BC. I'm gone before Arabia will speak to me again.

This was my first diety game. It doesn't make me anxious to try diety again. (I may try this game again, since it looks like my situation wasn't much different than most people's when Arabia decided to attack me.)

 

[Demiurge]

1.29 open

Tough break CKS, but don't feel bad I'm submitting my first conquest loss this month as well, and with no opportunity to submit a better score in a second game. At one point I was actually in posession of the UN, couldn't get a vote, and within 100 tiles of domination. More on that later.

Like many others my only goal was a win and initially I had intended a tech-based victory. I had to rush through this game so I didn't keep great notes.

QSC stats
13 cities
37 citizens
20 gold

Units:
10 native workers, one slave
5 warriors
3 mounted warriors

Improvements:
7 temples
2 granaries
2 barracks

Research:
I tried a couple minimum gambles to no avail and ended up trading for everything. At 1000 b.c. I was ahead of a few civs and behind a few, lacking construction and a government. I entered the MA shortly thereafter.

My world at 1000 b.c.:

 

[grahamiam]

This was my first diety game. It doesn't make me anxious to try diety again. (I may try this game again, since it looks like my situation wasn't much different than most people's when Arabia decided to attack me.)

this happens sometimes @ diety, and there's not much you can do about it. the early diety rush can overcome almost anything a human can do by turn 21 (2950BC). at that time, i had a total of 1 warrior and 2 scouts and i'm sure i would've met the same fate as you if that happened in my game. the fact that you survived another 21 turns (turn 42, 2070BC) after the initial onslaught is an accomplishment in of itself.
if you do try again, try doing no research till you get into position to research an ignored 2nd tier tech, like math or poly. you can probably do this @ min, saving money for deals, while the AI goes after HBR and then writing, MM, CoL, Philo., and Lit. just be sure the wear out that F4 button at diety, it really doesn't make any sense to do early research as you'll be beaten to all 1st tier techs as well as IW and the writing part of the tree.

 

[shortguy]

PTW 1.27--Open

1st spoiler, 1st post, 1st deity game!!

I, lazy as I am, did not keep any sort of log, so I'll just have to go on memory. After settling in place, I built a scout. I built a warrior next, I believe, and then (perhaps there was another build here) I built a settler. Having only one warrior, I sent the settler out alone. I was going to send him to the coast, settling opposite the river from the cow (wheat? I don't have a screenshot handy). He ended a turn on the hill NW of the capital, and, much to my dismay, he found himself conveniently placed next to a barbarian! There goes the first settler....



Oh, well. I expanded as usual, with a 4 turn settler factory in Salamanca. I was able to claim the choke (and the horses on the hill next to it), the entire peninsula to my north, and three or four cities to the south and west. However, I narrowly missed out on getting both the iron to the south and to the west. The other civs were well into the MA when I finally got my MW stack ready. I chose Carthage, as they had a lot of outlying cities near my territory, including one with iron and another with dyes. I planted about 8 MW next to one, 7 next to anther, and 15 next to the iron city (I wanted this force to get the dyes city, also). After a deep breath, I declared war. I razed all 3 of my first targets with relative ease, and I progressed on to the dyes city. Surprisingly, I wasn't counterattacked at all! Somewhat taken aback at my good forutne--but not complaining!--I razed the dyes city. Still no enemy offensive troops. I proceeded to raze 3 or 4 more cities; in fact, I got to their last 2 core cities before I ran into a MDI brick wall. At this point I realized why there were no offensive troops. Looking at the far coast, I realized that Baghdad was Carthaginian. I had completely overlooked building embassies, and thus I had no idea that Carthage was also at war with Arabia. I couldn't believe my luck!

That done, I began to settle the former Carthaginian area. When I sent a settler (guarded this time) to claim the iron, though, it wasn't there! At least I got some dyes.

Summary: The Civ gods giveth, the Civ gods taketh away.

Anyway, things don't seem to be looking good for a victory, but I'm somewhat pleased with this effort, this being my first deity attempt. Let's just hope I have time to finish.

 

[DJMGator13]

@shortguy - Welcome to the forums

If you keep an eye on the minimap, you can sometimes tell when the civs are at war even without an embassy. For your first diety game sounds like you're doing OK.

 

[Megalou]

Great game, shortguy. You must be on top of things because the Carthaginians are seldom easy to deal with.

 

[WetSawdustDemon]

– Open.

Alrighty I’ve been playing here a few months but spent most of that time lurking, without really posting a whole lot myself. This is due mainly to the fact that I really don’t know how to post pictures here or put in those smiley things. Anyway I’ll give it a go, and if this post ends up looking like a big mess you’ll know why.

Right, first off I think this is actually my first ever game on Deity and my previous best was a win on Monarch in COTM04, so I think reaching the BC – AD transition will be a real achievement for me here.

The basic plan was to try and survive long enough to come up with a plan on how I might win. Anyway without further ado here is what happened:

4000BC – Worker moves west to cattle and the scout moves west and then south. Salamanca founded in place. Slider set to 8.2.0 research set to Mysticsm. Build order will be Scout, Worker, Granary, Settler, Settler…..
3950BC - Worker starts to irrigate the cattle tile. Our scout moves off into the distance to scout out the world (although it must be noted I did neglect to take a look to my east, which was a big blunder as it turned out).
3750BC – Salamanca builds a Scout who moves off into the distance (also not looking to our east, assuming the little bit of fog there simply to be coastline)
3700BC – Salamanca size two, slider is set to 6.2.2.
3600BC - Salamanca builds a Worker and the slider is set back to 8.2.0. Our first worker having finished improving the cattle tile moves southwest to work on the river bonus grassland tile. Our second worker moves south to improve the forest game tile. F11 shows Rome, India, France, Germany and Arabs.
3450BC – We meet Carthage and we’ve already met France.
3400BC - Slider is set to 8.1.1 as we are now making enough gold to support 10% research. We give France Pottery and Ceremonial Burial for Bronze Working and 10 gold. We then trade Carthage Bronze Working, Pottery and Ceremonial Burial for Masonary, Alphabet and 35 gold.
3250BC - Goodie hut gives us 25 gold.
3200BC – Contact with Arabians and India, they have nothing we don't. Salamanca grows to size three and the slider is set to 6.1.3 to compensate for the extra citizen.
3100BC – We move our first worker to the furs tile east of Salamanca.
3050BC - We buy a Carthaginan worker for 110 gold.
3000BC - Salamanca builds a Granary.
2950BC - Salamanca grows to size four. We trade Arabia Alphabet for 10 gold and Warrior Code. We then trade India Masonry for 36 gold as if we don't someone else will.
2850BC - Salamanca grows to size five.
2750BC - Salamanca builds a Settler which moves west and then southwest twice, ready to build a city next turn. Slider set to 5.1.4 after reshuffling the citizens in Salamanca.
2710BC - Niagara Falls is founded.
2670BC - Slider set to 4.1.5 after another reshuffle of citizens in Salamanca to allow Niagara Falls to get extra shields.
2590BC - Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves west and then north. Slider set to 6.1.3.
2550BC - Settler moves north one tile and will found a new city next turn.
2510BC - Niagara Falls builds a Warrior. Grand River is founded and reveals a barbarian camp two tiles away. We buy The Wheel from India for 111 gold, and sell it to France for 50.
2470BC - Warrior moves west and then north but it won't be able to save Grand River from barbarian attack.
2430BC - Barbarians steal 22 gold from Grand River.
2390BC - Niagara Falls builds a Worker. Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves south. One of our Scouts finds a super secret untouched goodie hut right next to India, hopefully we will get it next turn.
2350BC - Our settler moves west twice as there is a warrior on the site I want to build my next city, so I used the chance to move onto a hill nearby and at least get a view of our east coastline (Not a good enough view as it turned out). We get 25 gold from the goodie hut.
2310BC - Grand River builds a Warrior. Our settler moves southwest on a jungle tile and will found a new city next turn. Slider is set to 6.1.3.
2270BC - Allegheny is founded on the jungle tile three tiles south of Salamanca.
2230BC - Not sure what I did to deserve this but everyone has traded with everyone else except me. We now have contacts with everyone else and they all have Iron Working, Writing and Mysticism. Well except for Carthage who doesn’t have Mysticism, so this might be just what we needed to get back into the tech race. We buy Mysticism from India for 36 gold (We've nearly researched it ourselves so that's why it's so cheap). We then trade Carthage Iron Working and Writing for Mysticism, 84 gold and 5 gold per turn. This is good, as hopefully it will keep Carthage from attacking us for a while. Salamanca builds a Settler which moves west and then southwest twice. Research is now set to Polytheism.
2190BC - Our Settler moves southwest and then west. We collect another goodie hut but it is deserted.
2150BC - Our settler moves south right in the middle of three wheat tiles and will build a city next turn.
2110BC - Grand River builds a Worker. Our settler founds Cattaraugus.
2070BC - Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves west twice.
2030BC - Our settler moves west.
1990BC - Our settler moves west and will build a city next turn.
1950BC - Oil Springs is founded southeast of the iron source.
1910BC - Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves north and then east.
1870BC - Our settler, moves northeast and will build a city next turn. We buy Philosophy from Carthage for 104 gold and 3 gold per turn. We then trade Philosophy for Horseback Riding from the Germans. We then sell Horseback Riding to the Romans for 58 gold, France for 57 gold and India for 44 gold. Net result is: we have two more techs, 55 more gold but are losing 3 gold a turn.
1830BC - Niagara Falls builds a Barracks. Tonawanda is founded three tiles northeast of Salamanca. Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves west, northwest and then north. Slider is set to 8.1.1.
1790BC - Cattaraugus builds a Worker. Allegheny builds a Temple.
1750BC - France ask not so nicely for our territory map and 25 gold, we let them have it. We trade India 168 gold and 4 gold per turn for their Code of Laws, which we then sell to France for Map Making, 20 gold and their territory map. We then trade Code of Laws to Persia with 5 gold in exchange for their world map. Only now has the full horror of my mistake been fully realised, I could have almost certainly stopped any contacts between the eastern and western continents had I bothered to scout only a few tiles to my east. Obviously any chance to play tech broker between the two sides is long gone! We then trade Germany Code of Laws for their world map and 3 gold. We now have most of the world map. Our settler moves northwest.
1725BC - Our settler moves northwest and will build a city next turn.
1700BC - Mauch Chunk is founded to the northwest of our territory. Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves west and then southwest twice. Tonawanda builds a Warrior. Allegheny builds a Worker.
1675BC - Arabia demand Code of Laws, which we let them have. Our settler moves southwest and then south.
1650BC - Our settler moves south and will build a city next turn.
1625BC - St. Regis is founded. Oil Springs builds a Worker.
1600BC - Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves south. We build an embassy with Carthage, as we want them to not kill us if we can help it. We also do the same with France for very similar reasons.
1575BC - Settler moves south twice.
1550BC - Niagara Falls builds our first Mounted Warrior. Our settler moves south and will found a city next turn. We trade France our world map, 26 gold and 6 gold per turn for Literature. We then buy Mathematics from Rome for Literature, our world map, 16 gold and 1 gold per turn.
1525BC - Centralia is founded. We trade Arabia Literature and Mathematics for a slave worker, 17 gold and their world map. We trade our world map to Germany for 39 gold. Tonawanda builds a spearman.
1500BC - Salamanca builds a Settler, which moves north, west and then northwest into Tonawanda.
1475BC - Niagara Falls builds a Worker. Our settler with spearman in tow moves north out of Tonawanda.
1450BC - St. Regis builds a Worker. Our spearman and settler move north.
1425BC - Tonawanda builds a Worker. Akwesasne is founded two tiles north of Tonawanda. Grand River builds a settler, which moves north twice.
1400BC - We build an embassy with Arabia for 36 gold. Niagara Falls builds a Worker. Salamanca builds a settler, which moves west and then north twice.
1375BC - Our settler moves north three times.
1350BC - Allegheny builds a Barracks. Our settler moves north.
1325BC - Cattaraugus builds a Temple. Mauch Chunk builds a Temple. Kahnawake is founded two tiles north of Tyendenaga. We trade Carthage our world map, 8 gold per turn and 91 gold in return for Polytheism. We give Polytheism to India for 43 gold and their world map. We give Polytheism to Rome for 37 gold and their world map. We give Polytheism to Germany for 34 gold and their world map. We give Polytheism to Persia for 10 gold and their world map. We set research to Monarchy.
1300BC - Salamanca builds a settler, which moves east, north and then northeast.
1275BC - Allegheny builds a Worker. Centralia builds a Worker. Our settler moves north three tiles.
1250BC - Niagara Falls builds a Mounted Warrior. Our settler moves north.
1225BC - Akwesasne builds a Worker. Tyendenaga builds a Worker.
1200BC - Salamanca builds a settler, which moves west, southwest and then south.
1175BC - Grand River builds a Mounted Warrior. St Regis builds a Temple. Our settler moves south. We now set the slider to 9.1.0.
1150BC - Allegheny builds a Mounted Warrior. Centralia disposes to France, this is an annoying set back but we can deal with it. Our settler moves southwest.
1125BC - Oil Springs builds a Temple. Tonawanda builds a Barracks. We trade Furs, 233 gold and our world map to Carthage in return for Currency. Slider is set to 9.0.1. as a citizen in Cattaraugus is now a scientist.
1100BC - Salamanca builds a settler. Our old Settler moves south twice and will build a new city next turn. The new settler from Salamanca moves west and then southwest twice. We set the slider to 10.0.0.
1075BC - Niagara Falls builds a Mounted Warrior. Tyendenaga builds a Worker. Kahanawake builds a Worker. Oka is founded. We trade India Currency for their world map, 36 gold and a slave worker.
1050BC - Mauch Chunk builds a Barracks. Akwesasne builds a Worker. We trade Rome Currency for their world map, 18 gold and a slave worker. We build an embassy with India for 36 gold. Our settler moves west.
1025BC - Our settler moves southwest and will build a city next turn.
1000BC - Chondote is founded.

Quick start summary:
15 cities
43 Citizens
1 Granary
5 Barracks
5 Temples
18 Workers
2 Scouts
3 Warriors
1 Spearman
5 Mounted Warriors
All Ancient Times techs apart from Monarchy, Republic and Construction.

Score: 471
Quick Start Challenge Score: 6654

Obviously this is easier than your standard Deity game, but it’s still tough going, I’m expecting a horde of Persian Immortals anytime soon. My plan for future turns is to stay alive and build up a large enough army to avoid getting squished. I won’t be building any Libraries as I won’t be doing any research myself for a long time, so the slider can stay at 10.0.0. and I’ll try to buy my way through the middle ages. As for invading other countries, I think France are the best bet to start with, but I’ll have to be careful to avoid them dragging Carthage or Persia into an alliance against me.

 

[MOTH]

Open.

Going for survial. I might try to pull off a 20K, but the blistering tech pace will make it tough to keep the space race out of the picture.

I did not keep notes at all. This is my first Civ3 Deity game that I have not been slaughtered (the others were all back before I found CFC).

At home I built a 2nd scout, a worker, and another scout. Then I think a granary with a chop and then nothing but settlers for a long time. Each new city built a warrior or 2 and then a worker.About half my cities built temples and half built barracks and military.

I founded in place and sent my first scout North then West. He quickly found the Cartheginians and traded my techs+1 gpt for their workers (2 or 3, I can't remember). He found a goodie hut and got cash I think. He then found the Arabs and circled back south on the far side of Carthage. He spotted another GH just south of Carthage's border - popped it and got !! A CITY !!. Event this early in the game, it was very corrupt, so I decided that I would maximize food, build a temple asap, then a barracks, and then military (with pop-rush whenever I could). Later, during the first Carthage war, my only elite archer killed a redlined Merc and got a leader in the far-west. I didn't have decent enough units for an Army, so I rushed switched a Wonder build near Salamanca to FP (wasting 100 shields or so) and then rushed the Palace just south of Carthage.

Meanwhile, other key events:
2nd scout: went East and found the land bridge, danced with some barbs for a few turns in the jungle, who were killed by the valient Persians and found some friends with techs that my neighbors didn't know. This got me tech parity. Tech pace has been fairly fast.

3rd scout: went South and found France about the same time my 1st scout found India.

RCP5: When my first settler came out, I had a decent map of my surroundings and could see the choke point at RCP 5, so that was where I built. I forget the exact order of founding, but my RCP5 ring was only interrupted in 1 spot. I settled the NW cow 1 turn before Carthage got there, but they continued on to where the 2 wine and the northern cow were still in the fog. They settled in one of the RCP5 spots on the wine.

First Arab War: By the time a had several cities and a few swordsmen, Arabia demanded contact with Persia. They had one city on this side of the mountains, so I refused. It was war. IIRC, this was 1 or 2 turns before I researched Monarchy. I sell it for cash and Military Alliances with Carthage, India, and France. I also sold ROP to France at this point. I think this killed off nearly all of the surplus warriors the AI's on my continent started with. I was able to get a small stack down to the Arabian city and it Autorazed.

Golden Age: my first MW made an appearence and victory near the end of the Arab War. I was in Monarchy at this point.

1st Persia War: I was paying Persia big GPT, and they demanded something, so I got into a mostly phoney war with them. I had to pay for peace when their Horsemen were a couple turns from reaching the choke point.

Contacts: About 10 turns after MM was discovered, I finally sold contacts and world maps across the board. This brought me back to tech parity again. 3 turns later a French settler pair founded a city near Persia.

Resource Trading: I settled cities so that I denied Iron to France. I later traded my only hooked up Iron to France for GPT and Techs. I built warriors while I was connecting my second Iron.

Tech: I self-researched 2 techs in the AA. Monarchy on a max science trip funded by the French Iron deal (and then I was slightly negative). This allowed me to trade for all the writing based techs I didn't have and Math. I then did close to max science on Currency. My Golden Age was triggered. While researching it (2 turns to go I think.) I bought Construction from someone and sold it around where I could. It looked like I might be first to the MA while still in my Golden Age. Not so fast MOTH says the AI: In between turns, one (or 3) of the AI's researched it as well. This was enough that the research time for it came down and I self researched immediately.

1st Carthage War: I think I started this as my Golden Age was running out.

Moderator Action: References to MA events deleted

 

[Randy]

@WetSawdustDemon how did you get the screen shot of the whole world?

 

[horragoth]

@WetSawdustDemon how did you get the screen shot of the whole world?

Perhaps using some tool like CRPsuite ?

 

[DJMGator13]

There use to be a World view in Civ II, but I don't think I've seen it in Civ III. I'm interested in how you got the screen shot also.

 

[MikeH]

this happens sometimes @ diety, and there's not much you can do about it.

It can happen at other levels too. If it's any comfort to CKS, in a recent Emperor level Conquests game (not a COTM) I started with a bog-standard two warriors to scout and started a granary. In 3350BC a lone Aztec warrior strolled into my capital - game over. I hadn't even enough shields in the granary to switch to a warrior when the Aztec appeared and of course my scouting warriors were too far away.

 

[AlanH]

@WetSawdustDemon how did you get the screen shot of the whole world?

It looks like Snoopy's terrain, zoomed out, and either one screenshot on a *big* screen, or several screenshots stitched together.

 

[MiniMe]

@MOTH and some others that 'did not keep notes'
First, please dont get me wrong now. As much as I enjoy reading your writeups I would dearly encourage you to make notes of dates where important things happen. Personally I like reading these threads because I want to compare how I am doing. Without key dates there is nothing to compare

 

[WetSawdustDemon]

@Randy, Yep Alan’s got it, I took about six screenshots of the game zoomed out (zoomed in would have taken many more), and cut and pasted them together to make the big picture, using Paintshop. I had to resize it down so that it would fit on one screen, which looses a bit of detail, but I still have the original in .bmp form, only problem is its 10MB.

If I manage to work out how to put pictures in with the text I’ll try to do the same with my second spoiler

@MikeH, that’s really tough luck, I’ve spent many games in fear of an early attack, so much so that it’s really effected my development in those games, but if the attack comes there’s nothing anyone can do about it anyway. I count myself very lucky to have not been attacked during the first part of this game.