GOTM 37 First Spoiler: End of Ancient Age

[Florian K]

Predator

4000BC Salamanca founded. Worker to irrigate cattle. Scout north then west to explore. Start building second scout; then build worker, then start granary; second scout explores south then west; start research towards mysticism at minimum

3650BC Meet Carthage; trade pottery, c.b., 2gold/turn, 8gold for masonry
3450BC Meet France; trade pottery, c.b for alphabet, 10 gold;switch research to mathematics
3250BC Meet India; trade masonry for bronze working, 87 gold
3150BC Meet Arabia; trade masonry for 10 gold
3100BC trade Arabia alphabet for 25 gold
3000BC trade India pottery for warrior code and 37 gold
2900BC Granary built in Salamanca; start building settlers exclusively
2850BC Pop goody hut right outside Delhi; get settler; start moving settler east towards incense to south of Salamanca
2550BC Niagara Falls founded at RCP 4 next to cattle/river NW of capital; start production of temple in Niagara Falls (this was the first item produced in every new city; if the cities were largely corrupt the temple was rushed for population after 10 turns)
2430BC Carthagians found Hippo at RCP 4 to w/sw of Salamanca (just as I was going to my second city there);
2430BC trade France 5gpt, 77gold for iron working; trade Carthage ironworking for the wheel; trade India iron working for 65 gold
2390BC Grand River founded near Hippo
2270BC Allegheny founded near incense south of Salamanca (with goody hut settler)
2230BC Cattaraugus founded
2190BC Trade France 1gpt, 109 gold fpr horseback riding; trade Arabia Horseback Riding for mysticism, 2gold; trade Carthage mysticism, horseback riding, 6 gold for writing; trade India mysticism for communications with Germany, 31 gold; trade Arabia communications with Germany for 20 gold; trade Germany communications with Carthage, pottery for 32 gold
2070BC Oil spring founded
1990BC Tonawanda founded
1830BC Carthage demands tribute of 26 gold - we comply
1700BC We discover Math; trade to India for Code of Laws, 76 gold, territory map; trade Carthage Math,C of L for Mapmaking, world map; trade Persia Math for 105 gold; trade France Math for 35 gold, world map; trade Rome Math for Philosophy, 1 gold, world map; about 8 more map trade for gold; start research on Republic at minimum
1700BC Mauch Chunk built
1675BC Carthage builds the Pyramids
1675BC St. Regis founded
1650BC France builds the Oracle, Persia builds the Colossus
1575BC Centralia founded; Akwesasne founded
1550BC Arabia demands world map, 48 gold - we comply
1550BC India demands World map - we comply
1525BC Buy Literture from France for world map, 152 gold; Sell literature to Germany for worker; sell lit to Persia for world map, 38 gold; trade Carthage Furs, lit for dyes, 20 gold (our people now have 4 luxuries)
1425BC Tydenaga founded
1350BC Kahawake founed
1300BC trade India Lit for worker
1300BC Persia demands 53 gold - we comply
1300BC Salamance starts producing temple, then barracks then MW
1075BC Caughnawaga founded
1075BC Trade Persia 40gpt, 249 gold for Currency; trade Carthage currency, wines for construction; trade Arabia currency for polytheism, 51 gold; sell polytheism to Germany, India, Rome for total of 131 gold; we enter the MA

1000BC Summary
16 cities
47 population
1 granary
12 temples
3 barracks
2 mounted warriors
10 worker
3 slave workers
4 luxuries

Surprisingly I don't believe there have been any wars yet, despite the higher AI aggression on Predator.

 

[WillowBrook]

Open Class

Unfortunately, Real Life will not allow me to complete this game. But here's a report on my first 3000 years. This is also my first CivIII deity game, other than a few Iriquois test starts.

Pregame Planning
Make sure there isn’t something else interesting to the SW, probably settle in place. Worker will irrigate and road the cow, and then chop the deer.
Salamanca will build Scout, Warrior, Worker, Granary, and Settlerssss.
The granary should be complete in 2950, with growth to 4 pop the next turn, if MM right.

I debated long on the second build: another Scout or a Warrior?
Several test starts resulted in barbarian destruction of almost-complete granaries too frequently, so I finally decided to go with a Warrior.

I’ll start researching Mysticism at minimum. There’s a good chance I won’t be first to get it, but the 40g not collected in taxes is probably less than I’d pay for the tech on the open market.

Actual Game
4000 BC
Salamanca founded, set research to mysticism at minimum
3950
Wow – 2 wheat to the southwest. I wonder if I’ll get there first?
3900
make that 3 wheat. And lots of rivers.
3750
Second scout sent out toward the north, warrior started, I meet the Carthagians to the W.
3600
Warrior will do a bit of exploring to the SE, Worker started, meet the Indians. Amazingly, they give me Alphabet for pottery and 18g.
3550
Aurghh!!! – I just moved my worker thinking I was moving the warrior! Well, I’ll still complete the granary in 2950 with the forest chop, but the deer won’t be irrigated for two extra turns.
3450
Second Worker complete, granary started. Yes! – an isthmus to our east. Hopefully we isolate a civ or two for a while.
3350
Sending warrior to isthmus, scout that found the wines will now go south. Scout in the west popped a hut for nothing and is headed north along a coast.
Traded CB, 11g and 2gpt for BW. I’m now sitting at 11g, no income
3250
meet the Arabs. They don’t have the Alphabet, but won’t give me more than 10g for it.
3000
find the French to the south
2950
second big mistake! I didn’t move my citizens to more productive land to get granary built this turn! It will be done next turn. And I’ll hire a couple of tax collectors for this one turn.
Got warrior code and 10g from the Arabs for Alphabet.
2900
granary done, start first settler.
Third mistake: lowered science instead of lux rate last turn, so still have 19 turns on mysticism
2750
Yes! The Romans are backwards! Trade CB and pottery for Masonry and 87g
2710
Uh-oh. Salamanca’s going to get sacked by barbs in two turns. Fortunately I’ll be able to get the newly built settler out of the way.
2670
barb messes up food, and Salamanca down to pop3. well, have to build a warrior anyway. But where to build the next city? I think I’ll build a 6-city distance 3 ring, and then at distance 7 as circumstances allow. This settler goes just W of the cow.
2630
the predicted sacking results in a loss of citizens. At least the granary is intact, so I’ll grow quickly
Niagara Falls founded, starts Warrior
Find the Persians near the Romans! They have the wheel and divulge its secrets for pottery, CB, and 21g. And there are two sources of horses nearby. Can’t complain.
Now, let’s hope the Russian Warrior who’s probably chasing the barbs to the N doesn’t turn to one of my towns instead.
2590
bought mysticism from the French for 80g (they offered; I was surprised)
2550
Fourth mistake: allowed civil disorder in Salamanca
Fifth mistake in the making: I don’t think I’ll be able to prevent contact twn the E and the rest.
2510
got IW and 22g from the Romans for mysticism
sold myst to Persians for 80g
Ahh – iron just to the west of Niagara Falls
2470
Fifth mistake averted! The French wandered away from the isthmus.
And Joan and Hannabiline can write.
We trade IW for writing from the broke French, and sell IW to Hanni for 139g.
Use my cash to establish embassies around.
Persians: pyramids in 27; Rome the same in 47; and in Paris in 45; Delhi has a completed settler, but won’t grow to 3 for four more turns; Carthage and Mecca have 57 and 47 turns respectively on the pyramids.
2430
and careless happiness management delays me once again.
2310
where is that eighth civ?
2190
sell writing to the romans for HR, contact with Germans, and 22g
Berlin will complete the Oracle in 11 turns
2070
Salamanca is now a 4-turn warrior/settler factory
1990
Carthage is getting in my space! Sabartha is at a good location, tho – maybe I’ll try to culture flip it.
1910
Another lost turn to disorder. This is pathetic!
1650
I should have traded around contacts for MM and philosophy. Now they all have contact and I don’t have the techs.
1375
bought math for 130g (France), COL for 4gpt and 140g, got phil for COL and 65g from the French, got MM from the Indians for COL and 45g
now I’m only missing lit and poly (poly coming in four turns) of the techs out there
1275
got poly and traded for lit. currency is out there
1225
construction is out there, too, but polytheism isn’t worth enough
1175
hmm – should I pay most of my gold and 11gpt for construction? Probably should

1000bc
11 towns
24 pop
9 temples (most pop-rushed, 2 more in production)
1 granary
1 barracks (2 in production)
9 workers, 2 scouts, 7 warriors, 7 spearmen
85 g (11gpt)
all required AA techs except currency plus literature, will get monarchy in 29 turns
horses and iron hooked up and a second source of each within borders
embassies with every civ
in a phony war with the Persians
last in score




outlook:
I should hook up my other resources for trading purposes (perhaps for techs?)
I should send out galleys, as there are nearly 200 land tiles “missing”
Carthage needs to be cut down to size – I want those cities bordering mine.

 

[socralynnek]

GOTM37 Open Class

Iroqouis - Deity

Goal: going beyond my horizon
I'm a monarch player. I had won COTM3 (Byzanz,demigod) but that was due to some lucky incidents.
Maybe I should play ConquestClass, but I'm playing this for a big,big challenge (for points, COTM is much better for me).
I have to adapt to the plain rules again, been playing C3C for the last months.


4000 BC - Scout N,NW to hills, Worker W, settle on spot, build warrior,research Mysticism at min

3950 BC - Worker irrigates, sent Scout northwards

3800 BC - Warrior built, set production to scout (in 4 turns, 2 turns using game, 2 turns cow, also done with warrior before)

3750 BC - Worker done, now roading. Scout sent to the west coast, because north there was nothing except a few nice city locations

3650 BC - Scout meets a Carthage warrior to the West. They lack Pot and CB, but won't give me Alph or Masonry for it

3600 BC - Carthage has found a city next to the dyes to the west.
Salamanca grows, Worker done with roading, Scout built, set prod to granary.
Scout finds hut, got map.

3550 BC - Meet Arabs to the west, they have no more tech than we have. Worker chops Furs tile.

3500 BC - Seeing a SOD of 7 Arab Warriors. If they are heading towards Salamanca then the turnlog will not have many lines to go.

3450 BC - SOD does not go east. That's good.

3400 BC - Stack of 7 French Warriors found in the South by second scout.
Gave CB, Pot for Mas,BW and 5 gold to France
Gave CB,Pot,BW for Alph and 5 g to Carthage

3350 BC - must set lux to 10%

3300 BC - see first barb, hope my scouts get through this.

3150 BC - see grey borders close to the French, but I have to get out of the way of a barb.

3050 BC - Chop done, Granary ready. set prod to settler, worker roads.

2950 BC - The three others now have Warrior Code. Give Mas to Arabs for WarCode and 10 g.

2900 BC - Road done. 10% Lux are enough now at Pop 4.

2800 BC - First settler built.

2750 BC - Our Scout has been destroyed next to French territory.

2630 BC - Found Niagara Falls on the river to the south of Salamanca.

2590 BC - CrpMapStat tells me that France has Wheel and Myst and Arabs have the Wheel.

2550 BC - If I don't get to them, they come to me, I spot a grey (Indian) warrior to the north of Salamanca.

2510 BC - Next settler built at Sal.Sent north to settle between Wine and Cow.

2270 BC - Found Grand River.Set prod to worker.

2230 BC - Carth has Writing.

2190 BC - Next settler.Sent to west between mount and cow.France has IW.Myst will be finished next turn, so I hope for a good trade then.

2150 BC - No chance for a good trade.

2070 BC - found Allegheny

2030 BC - Scout built in NiagaraFalls. Buy IronW for 150g from India. Sell IW fro The Wheel and 15g to Arabia.

1990 BC - Now, everyone except Carth. got Horseback Riding. So I buy HR for 110 g from India, and buy Writing for HR, 10g and 4gpt from Carth.
Now, I'm on par with techs with the four I already met.I spot horses north to a Carth. city, will be my next settling place.Oh, and I find horses NE of Sal, so I'm very convinced I'll get some.
Hmmm, sttler will be ready in 2 turns. I'm still thinking about getting to the iron SW.

1910 BC - Settler built. Decide to secure Iron first and get Horses with next settler. Will need more workers (now I'm having 2)

1870 BC - Scout destroyed. But my first one is still wondering around. Hope I can use Mounted Warrior to scout soon.

1790 BC - Built Cattaraugus next to Iron.NF builds worker.

1700 BC - Settler built. Decide to settle on the chokepoint next to the horses. That will secure me some land, I hope.

1675 BC - I surprisingly know the Romans and the Persians. Oh, for the last year, I have only been playing Conquests. I forgot the trading comm in ancient era thing.
The only thing they have to sell me is contact with germans. I want to know where Rome is, so I build an embassy for 40g.

1650 BC - Arabia demands 20g, I give it to them, I don't want a war right now. I know the germans too, they have nothing to sell me, but everyone else has Philo and a few have Map Making.

1625 BC - Persia has build Collossus. I settle on the chokepoint.

1600 BC - 3 civs even have Code of Laws.

1550 BC - Carthage has completed the Pyramids.

1525 BC - France completes the Oracle.

1475 BC - Some civs have Lit, the others have at least MM and Phil. Rushing a temple in Catt.

1425 BC - Get 25g from BarbCamp. Found Tonawanda close to the Carth. border.

1375 BC - The French have send a galley to bring a settler eastern of my chokepoint.

1300 BC - Arabs and Carth are at war and Rome joins in (against Carth.; they are far far away)
I decide I have every tech I need at the moment, will have Poly in 12 turns, no one has it yet.

1175 BC - blocking 3 foreign settlers with a wall of warriors and spearmen. Tonawanda pop rushes Temple.

1150 BC - Found St.Regis and have 2 more settlers ready to fill my northern peninsula.

1100 BC - Found Centralia.

1025 BC - Found Akwesane on the horses in the north.

1000 BC - Poly researched. Give Furs, Wines and Horses,World Map and 20g to Carth for MM,Lit and Math.
Give WorldMap and 370g to Rome for Currency.
We give Curr for Phil,CoL,TerrMap and 5g to India.
We give Curr+WorldMap for World Map and 18g to Arabia.
We give WorldMap for WorldMap and 2g to Germany.
We give WorldMap + 3g for World Map to Persia.
We give WorldMap for WorldMap+2g to France.

Summing up for QSC: (CrpMapStat says 5199 points)
10 cities (only 3 civs have more;and 1 settler will found one next turn)
Techs: not behind!(even have Curr which Germany doesn't have)
Units: 22 (1 settler, 5 workers,1 scout, 6 warriors, 9 spearman)
1 barracks, 1 granary, 4 temples
2 embassies
155 gold (making +25gpt) (Question: If I had given gpt to Rome instead of gold, would I have had more QSC points??)

Am I happy with this: definitely!
I am standing a lot better than I had thought. If I had realized earlier that there actually is a chokepoint, I could have made contact with Rome,Persia and Germany while the others wouldn't, up to MapMaking.
Then it would have been easier for me, because the tech pace would be much slower.
But I have no idea on how to become much larger now, not even thinking about winning this game. But in a few turns, I'll have some MWs, maybe we'll see then.
One negative point: I didn't make much out of one of my traits. I only popped one hut.And I sent my scouts to the wrong direction (otherwise I had found the chokepoint earlier)

950 BC - Researching Monarchy at min, 4 civs have Monarchy,5 Construction

900 BC - 4civs have TheRepublic

875 BC - Carthage has build the GL. Combined with the fact they have least cities, that might prove good for me.

850 BC - India builds The Great Wall.Found Kahnawake between France,India and Carthage.

750 BC - France wants TerrMap + 36 g. We give em what they want - this time...

730 BC - We get Construction from Germany for Curr + 8gpt

Entering the Middle Ages!!!!
I have survived the Ancient Age!

 

[Jove]

Arrrr, the jury's is definitely still out, but I might just lose this game. I haven't been able to take control the way I remember from past GOTMS. Drat!

 

[SirPleb]

1.27 Predator

I decided at the outset to go for a 20K victory in this game.

Opening Moves

After moving the worker west and scout west,south I settled at the start position.

My worker irrigated and roaded the cattle, then cleared the game forest. That gave me the food surplus I wanted for two turn growth so the worker moved on and improved some other tiles after that. Later on another worker irrigated the game so that a bit more food was available and could be shared with a city south of the capital.

My initial build sequence was scout (3750BC), granary (3150BC), settler (2950). After that Salamanca ran as a settler factory for a long time.

Exploration

My first scout met India, then Carthage, and then Arabia.

My second scout circled north, east, south and discovered the land bridge. After crossing it he encountered a barbarian camp and was killed without making any contact in the east.

France met me in 3100.

After that contacts were slow but in 1830 I made the final ones, meeting both Germany and Rome in that turn. At that date I had exclusive contact between the eastern and western Civs.

I popped two huts. One gave me 25g, the other was deserted.

Expansion

I decided on a ring 4 build.

My first settler headed northwest to claim the coastal cattle.

The second went south to share the irrigated deer. Before he reached his intended destination France settled on the coast south of me. So my settler went westard a bit and settled off the river.

My third settler went west to claim two wheat. At ring four this town couldn't use the wheats right away, it would have to expand its borders first.

That accounted for all the bonus food I could reach from a ring four build. After that it was a matter of expanding as quickly as possible to finish the ring four build and to grab all the land I could.

The expansion phase didn't last long. In 1100BC I founded my last city in that phase, Chondote at the east end of the land bridge. My world in 1100BC:



There was a bit of desert still available to the south and some jungle I could settle beyond the land bridge. Both seemed a waste of effort to claim at this time, cities there would be unproductive and vulnerable.

Research

I began with no research, waiting to contact another Civ or two. In 3600 I traded for Masonry and Alphabet and began forty turn research of Mathematics.

My 40 turn research of Mathematics paid off. In 1830BC I was able to trade it to catch up on everything else and to get most of the gold in the world.

In 1650 I traded for Map Making and maps.

In 1300 I traded for Philosophy and Code Of Laws, then began researching Republic at the maximum rate I could afford.

In 1275 a barbarian uprising made it clear that two of my rivals had entered the Middle Ages. I wasn't far behind. I was lacking just Construction, Currency, Polytheism, and Horseback Riding. And I could have had Horseback Riding long before, had been deliberately avoiding taking it in a trade.

In 825BC I learned Republic. I immediately flipped to it via the big picture. And I traded it for the remaining ancient techs I needed to enter the Middle Ages at that date. I was only a couple of techs behind the leaders at this point.

Conflict

The crowded start resulted in other Civs wandering through my area a fair bit in the early game. I ignored them and tried not to worry. They were helpful in dealing with barbarians - my only losses to barbarians were my second scout and getting ransacked once for 19g.

I only had two extortion demands. India demanded contact with Germany in 1650BC. Keeping exclusive east/west contact would have been nice, but refusing India's demand could have had nasty consequences - I gave in. A bit later Arabia extorted 52g.

In 925BC Persia attacked me. I immediately bought an alliance against her from Rome for 223g. I wasn't able to save my weakly defended town at the east end of the land bridge - Persia razed it in 900BC. But I was able to hold the bridge itself by hurrying much of my small military there. Without the Roman alliance it might have gotten very ugly there.

In 825BC when I learned Republic and traded forward to the Middle Ages, I included an alliance with Germany against Persia in my dealings to keep all of the eastern Civs busy.

And at the same date I started some warfare on my side of the bridge to weaken the locals a bit. I declared on Arabia and allied Carthage and India against her.

The stage was set for turmoil in the Middle Ages

QSC Status

At 1000BC I had:
15 towns, population 39
6 temples, 4 barracks, 1 granary, 1 forbidden palace
20 native workers, 2 foreign workers
8 warriors, 3 chariots
7 embassies
526g in treasury

 

[Ambiorix]

...My initial build sequence was scout (3750BC), granary (3150BC), settler (2950). After that Salamanca ran as a settler factory for a long time.
...

Did you consider getting out a settler first, before building a granary ?
I found the start rather crowded, and feared someone would claim the land NW and N of Salamanca before I got a settler there myself.
Is a food-bonus at the start enough reason to get the granary first, or is that too general ?

 

[WackenOpenAir]

If you build a settler factory, you could simply say that a settler before granary comes at the price of 2 settlers after granary since it will take twice the food.

Settler before granary is only potentially beneficial if there is another food bonus for a second factory. And then it is still not always better to do a settler first.

 

[SirPleb]

Is a food-bonus at the start enough reason to get the granary first, or is that too general?

The rule of thumb I use is "whatever gains the most food". That has some common results but I always recheck from this principle when starting a map. If I'm working it out in some detail but not absolute detail (not preplanning each turn's tile usage) then my current approach is:

I think of the food in terms of +N/turn and count the the total food for the Civ by adding the + values expected for all cities at any given date.

A "standard" city, i.e. one with no food bonus, can almost always run at +2 food by using grasslands or irrigated plains. So even in advance of seeing where they'll go I anticipate that building a settler is equivalent to adding a minimum of +2 to my Civ's total food.

I consider a granary to double the +N for its city.

As an example, if a city will have two grassland cattle in its area then I'll count it as having +5 food. (I assume I'll irrigate both. But I don't count +6 because that will make no difference, it will still grow every four turns. Instead I'll plan on having another city share one of the cattle and count +1 toward that city's food for it having one of the cattle every other turn. So if we're talking about the capital here that already means the second city will be at least a +3.)

Now how this applies to deciding whether to build a granary before or after settler:

If my first city is say +4 in food, then building a granary there will add another +4 to my empire. (This isn't exacly true because some excess food will have to be shared every third turn with another city. Not to worry, this is already complicated enough, I let a bit of error creep in.) Suppose that the best site I've seen for my second city can run at +5 food. In that case, settler first! OTOH, if the best site for second city is +3 or lower, granary first.

If there's a tie, i.e. both the first city and the best site for the second have the same food surplus, then I decide based on shield availability. And sometimes I decide on this basis anyway, when the capital has reasonably high production. My thinking here is that if I can produce a granary and a settler in not much longer than I can produce just a settler, then by building both I've added a lot more food. I've doubled the capital's food and I've added +2 by building a settler. This is most often a consideration when the capital has no food bonus. In that case it needs 20 turns before it can produce a settler because it has to wait that long to grow to size three. If I can build a granary before those 20 turns have finished, that's a way to add +2 food to the empire faster than it can be done by building a settler.

Phew, I hope all that isn't more confusing than helpful!

 

[Ambiorix]

Phew, I hope all that isn't more confusing than helpful!

On the contrary. Thank you very much !

 

[AlanH]

Did you consider getting out a settler first, before building a granary ?
I found the start rather crowded, and feared someone would claim the land NW and N of Salamanca before I got a settler there myself.
Is a food-bonus at the start enough reason to get the granary first, or is that too general ?

I built Granary first, and Carthage *did* settle two cities up my north west coast while I was focusing on the southern and choke point developments. One even bit into my RCP 4 ring. But it didn't break my game (yet!). Settlement by the AI can also be considered a donation of a settler per AI city.

 

[civ_steve]

1.27f

I've been at this point for a while, but our SGOTM5 team has been playing at such a fast pace , I've had little time to post or play on in GOTM37.

So a quick spoiler. Salamanca founded in place; initial builds were Scout, Worker, Granary. After Granary I converted my settler to a Spearman build (barbs were about with no AI to take care of them), then lots of Settlers for a while. I established a close-in 3.x ring, for support and to build lots of troops for mayhem! If my plans go properly, there'll be no need for any significant city development.

Contacts: Scout 1 went West, scout 2 went East. I saw coast, but then headed South, so I totally missed the chokepoint! Scout 1 met Carthage first, trading CerBur and Pottery for WarCode and 10 gold. Scout 2 met France, and managed to trade CerBur and Pottery for Alphabet! Then Scout 1, having hit the West coast and gone North, met the Arabs with no trade. Scout 2 headed West and met India. And that was it for a while until Rome contacted me out of the Blue (they already had Writing), offering to sell contact with Germany, which I took. And I got Persian contact a bit later.

Research: I picked up Bronze-Working from a Goody Hut. I started Research on Mysticism as fast as possible, and got beat to it by a few turns, so I got it for cheap, sold it around for Gold and picked up Masonry, too. Next was Wheel at Maximum, which was learned a few turns later by the AI. I picked that up on trade, and started on Poly at minimum, saving my Gold. Along the way I traded for Iron-Working and Writing. When I learned Polytheism (again, not the first), I started a War with Rome and tried to get allies, but Poly didn't have enough value to do that. Still I was able to trade for all the Known Techs that I was missing: Math, CoL, Phil, Lit and Map-Making. Next was Monarchy at Full; again I was beaten to it, but in 1000 BC, I saw the number of turns left to research it drop to 2, I checked around and was able to trade Wines to Carthage for Monarchy. With Monarchy in hand, I traded for Construction and Currency, and started my Revolution. Only AI Techs I was missing were HorseBackRiding (on purpose) and Republic.

AI Relations: I paid off about 3 demands during the AA. When the Arabs wanted 26 Gold, I figured they were far enough away that I told them to take a hike. Fortunately for me they did NOT get everyone allied against me, so I dodged a bullet there. But they did send a constant stream of units against me. Against Warriors, I kept the upper hand. Archers started to give me some problems. Swordsmen were taking a real toll (on my Warriors and Chariots; especially with the Jungle to the West!). They had a ROP with Carthage, and did raze St Regis on me. At the end they were demanding Tonawanda, my Westernmost city, and would accept nothing else! Finally, in 1000 BC, when I got Monarchy, they would sign Peace, for Monarchy, and give me Currency as well, which I thought worked out OK. Better for me to have paid the 26 Gold initially!

I also started the war against Rome that I'd mentioned before. He lost a bunch of Archers against my stack of units on the landbridge, so that war was OK, even if I didn't succeed on getting the world going at it.

The AI established some embassies with me, and I established several as well.

Anyway, as of 1000 BC, I know all AA Techs except Republic and Horsebackriding. I've got 10 or 11 towns. I'm in Anarchy, going to be a Monarchy next turn. Salamanca and 3 or 4 other towns have Barracks in them. I've got 5 or 6 Chariots and a few Warriors. Ready to turn up the Chariot production, trade for Horsebackriding, upgrade and get the MidAges going!

 

[ControlFreak]

It's been a while since I've even been on the forums. Came back in time to see this and it aroused the civ demons inside me. :devil2: Still don't have much time to play but it was fun to at least START a GOTM again. Thank you to AlanH for getting the QSC back in gear, giving me something to shoot for.

Just a quick spoiler (EDIT nothing I do is quick):

Builds
I settled in place and started on scout, worker, warrior and granary. In practice games, I had my capital leveled or sacked by AI's and barbs so I couldn't go with the full farmers gambit.

I still think of a granary as converting sheilds into food so I opted to leave the forest on the game and chop it only as the granary ended. My two workers set about mining one of the BG before chopping the forest. I calculated wrong and the forest chop was due 1 turn too late on the granary build. Thankfully there was an opportunity to buy two workers with a tech and they finished the chop to get the granary done 1 turn ahead of growth.

Exploration
My first scout when NE far enough to see wines and coast before heading West. He met all the Western Civs.
My second scout forage towards the east believing Ainwood put the jungle there to discourage some players from making early contact. I found the land bridge quickly and felt I was on the right track. When the jungle gave way to hills and mountains, I really started second guessing my decision but the next turn the view from the mountain gave me two of the three contacts to the east. Germany was found last as I circles around to the North.

Contact

• Carthage - 3600BC
• India - 3450BC
• Persia - 3300BC
• Arabs - 3300BC
• Rome - 3200BC
• France 2900BC
• Germany - 2630BC

Early Strategy
I thought I remembered Ainwood's favorite victory style was Diplomatic. (Is that true?) This layout seems well suited for that type of win and I had hopes I could finish it quick enough to submit (not looking good)

With contacts separated, I made plans to KEEP contacts separated. It would hurt my finish date but help me keep up with the Diety Research machines.

Having found the land bridge fairly early, I hoped that no AI had crossed it yet. I planted my first settle on the land bridge to prevent anyone from coming through. I decided to get Map Making as soon as the AI's knew it and build a bunch of galleys to block movements. (I had at least seven by the end of the QSC and had lost one to a barb.)

I had to waltz with a French Galley until I had enough galleys of my own and found the right position to discourage them from crossing my coastline. I rushed three galleys at the cost of one citizen per to maintain my blockades both North and South.

My first hitch came when the Arabs demanded contact with Persia. I had to say no and they declared. Luckily, I had writing by then and I pulled Carthage into the fray with a tech. This had three impacts, Carthage shot their GA early, The Arabs are now a non player, and I still had exclusive rights to the other continent.

My second hitch came when Susa (Persian) built the Great Lighthouse (1125BC ). I was hoping France would win the cascade as I was setup for war against them anyway (no iron). I opted to hit France first anyway to give me more room and to gain more of the coastline. After triggering my GA, and raising Rheims that was in a terrible spot, I loaded up five boats with MW and a spear and sent them after Susa. Investigation showed they had two spears as defense. I hoped that wouldn't change before my attack. I had to wait for my ROP to run out, landed on the forest within striking distance for my MW.

Persia had declared war on Rome earlier and all their units were up there. The sneak attack drew no attacks on the landing turn and Susa was grabbed on the first turn of the war. I'm not sure if I can keep it as Persia is becoming a gorilla both in culture and in strength. I may raze the city if I can't keep enough units in it to prevent flipping. Without the Lighthouse, AI Galleys can't get around my blockades until navigation.

Technology
Having exclusive contact is almost like having the Great Library. As long as I have cash, when two civs get a tech, I can buy it and sell it at twice the value on the other continent. I have had research set to 0% almost the entire game (Republic as fast as I could go and writing at min because I forgot to shut it off). I hit the Middle Ages in 1200BC through two-fers and three-fers. My trades brought Persia there with me. At that point, I couldn't afford their free tech and they manage to research a second before anyone else had a first. I'm planning on bringing Germany up when I think I can afford the techs. They're still down Currency and something else.

I popped two huts getting gold and Literature. As of writing this, I still have a monopoly on literature but have no intentions on the GL per my comments above.

City Planning
I've sacrified a lot of growth this game to keep the contacts separate. I hope to find out if it was worth it.

I planted the worthless land bridge city first (blowing Sir Plebs food analysis). My next two priorities were the NW cow and the NE wines for food. I had lost the wheats to carthage early on. The land bridge city set my ring size at 5-5.5 which worked out well except for the wine region, which built at R6 rather than on one of the wines. If I can every culture flip carthages wheat city, that will be at radius 5 as well. The remaining cities were to fill in the land available and to have as many coastal cities as possible for preventing contacts. These cities help build my navy through rushes.

I had only 9 or 10 cities by the end of the QSC, despite focusing first a settler factory (capable of 4 turn settlers in 2670BC) and then with a barracks, the warrior/settler factory (capable of veteran warrior/settler every four turns in 2230BC). When I stopped settler production, I set the warrior settler factory up for a MW and two workers every five turns. I missed micro management three times in the QSC period and each time built an extra building or higher sheild unit to recover in two or three turns.

It's been great fun Ainwood. I just wish I had more time to finish. And from the looks of it, next month will be just as much fun!

 

[Offa]

Hello ControlFreak. Always good to hear from relapsing addicts. Just drink one, you know you want to.

 

[AlanH]

Good to see you again CF. Interesting approach to the game, I can't wait to see if it pays off, but you don't have a lot of time left. Maybe you'll have to set up a mini-game with the challenge being to complete the diplo vctory from your last save?