GOTM 44 Pre-Game Discussion

[budweiser]

EDIT: Or a chokepoint, but it looks to thin for it to be a land bridge tile.

This is a pangea map. It would be cool if it was a choke point, but we are probably on a tiny island all by ourselves. Mean while the other seven are crammed in close together and will be able to trade amongst themselves. Imagine isolation until navigation with only 2-3 cities.

 

[eldar]

Ultra-isolated with 3 cities and no resources? This might mean blind luck, in the form of whose suicide galleys survive and whose don't, could be a deciding factor.

Invasion with Spears+Cats+LBs?

 

[ionimplant]

based on the position of our starting point in the minimap, what's the chance of our being on a lonely island away from the mainland? 90%?

not many talked about the building sequences yet.. is it because it's on warlord?

 

[MeteorPunch]

Even if we are isolated (which I doubt), on warlord you do most of your own research anyway, right?

I'm going for 20k on this one.

 

[eldar]

I'm not going for 20K, because I suspect so many others will be! If isolated, I doubt BC dom/conquest will be on though because of the distance/luck factor needed.

Might go for OCC UN!

 

[DJMGator13]

not many talked about the building sequences yet.. is it because it's on warlord?

With only 7 visible land tiles there are too many uncertainties to make a plan for to many turns. I'd send worker w to the BG and mine and road it. This will help determine if the NW NW tile is indeed fresh water. Unless worker sees something better I'd settle in place, there's no reason to move away from the wheat.

First build will be a warrior for exploration. After that I'm unsure if I'll go for a second warrior, an early worker or start a settler. There's a lot of prep work to do to get a settler factory running, cut the forest and bring irrigation to the wheat, so the worker may be my second build.

EDIT: If there is fresh water NW NW, then I'd probably move settler NW and found on the forest (which loses the 10 shields from a chop but shortens the turns needed to bring irrigation to the wheat).

 

[gaccboom]

Why all the cynicism? Let's try to be optimistic! There's got to be SOME way to win this, so even if the start is on an island, there's gotta be a way to get to the mainland without walking on water.

I know I speak as a pretty low-level player, but, hey, how hard can a warlord be? I figure even I've got a chance to accomplish something - unlike the last GOTM, where I got completely clocked before I could breathe.

 

[budweiser]

gaccboom - I'm sure you are right, they wouldn't make us totally isolated. It wouldnt be fair to most players. For myself, I kind of wish it was isolated though. There's prabably a fairly easy island chain to the main land.

Warlord is as easy as it gets. The problem is the tech pace can go slow because the AI is totally ********. Tha'ts why I am interested in the colossus, to help research.

I'd like it if I could somehow win this game while the bowman was still the dominant military unit. Or at least finish the game with the bowman as the staple of my military forces.

 

[eldar]

I'd like to see the AI show some teeth - give 'em whatever they got given in COTM11!!

 

[Gato Loco]

Hmmm, can you win diplomatically if you never meet the other civs? Then again, after getting thrashed by two deity games in a row, this may just be a chance for paayback.

If we're on an island, shields will be the big problem, especially for 20k. We may have to leave those forests up. Then again, it's warlord. With raging barbs. I bet we find a number of empty islands totally overrun with barb horsemen.

 

[Zelda's Man]

On warlord you can replant and rechop forest for extra sheilds. Of course this won't matter until we learn the proper tech. Plus the sheilds won't help for wonders.

 

[DBear]

Zelda, level has nothing to do with that exploit, which was fixed by a patch.

 

[Durkz]

lot's of tundra and a smal island that's for sure

 

[Jonesy10]

Regardless of our isolation situation, I am elated this is a game I can actually play! Diety is just no fun at all.

 

[cas]

Isolated with tundra or not, all I can say is Hallelujah! Not a 3rd Deity game in a row.

Still slogging through COTM13. Deity on a 60% ocean/continents map is a huge time investment...

GOTM44 will be a welcome distraction.

cas

 

[jeffelammar]

First on topic: Sweet, I'm going to have to play this one for kicks. (Guess that means I better finish up Cotm 13 or just give up on it like I keep doing on these games)

Even if we are on an island, that isn't such a big deal. Get a city on the mainland and perform a palace jump over. Mapmaking/lighthouse and some suicide galleys if necessary.

Speaking of which, have we officially banned the city gift teleport exploit? It isn't on the list on the website, but then there are a bunch of prohibited exploits that aren't there.

91-0

Now that is an can of whoopaxx. When I was in High School my rugby club went on tour to NZ and Fiji. We held our own in NZ but were anihilated in Fiji (45-6 IIRC). It was unreal, no matter where they were, there was always someone right there in support. Guess I always judge Fiji rugby by that experience even if the actual pro level isn't even close to that dominant.

 

[Xerol]

OCC 20k, for sure, in an attempt to get the 20k Shield. Where we sit now, we won't be able to get that hill in our range, so I'll move 1SE and get that in range(after expansion). Opening builds will be Temple, Worker, Colossus. Shoot straight for GL, get it and then hang on until 2050. (And of course build a few other wonders in the process.) After getting literature, get Map Making, head out, and make some friends, keep trading. Also keep the Diplo option open. After making contacts, get to Republic ASAP, shore-cram the island with units(trade for as many slaves as possible), get half a dozen defensive units in the capital(in case anyone does come knocking before I can load up the shores). Keep population low unless building a wonder or prebuild, that'll keep the score down. Wouldn't surprise me if I had a Jason under 500 here. Obviously for lowest score I also want worst date, so 2040-2049 will be what I'm shooting for.

Between Colossus (2, 4 doubled), GL (6, 12 doubled), and the improvements (Temple, Library, Colosseum = 8, 16 doubled) I'll be bringing in 32 cpt after everything doubles, so I'll need a couple more wonders(and the middle age improvments - Cathedral, Univ = 7, 14 doubled). Get Bach's or Shakespeare's to finish up, that should give me enough CPT to get through to the late 2000's. If we have more than just a few tundra tiles off to the side, I might build a city there early on but disband it later once Babylon's culture can cover all the squares. Research on Max all the time until I get the GL, then ride the AI wave until Theology is mine - After that, go full-out on education and then wait.

Golden Age - Well, neither Colossus nor GL is religous, so I'll have to get one of those to get a GA(or wait for someone to attack and use a Bowman to knock out a redlined attacker). Completely passive play here.

(GOTM 43 was a complete disaster, I didn't even bother finishing it. Persia is one turn from launching space and I don't even have Tanks yet.)

I might just want to go for Diplo though. With everyone thinking a 20k is a piece of cake, it wouldn't surprise me if I wasn't the only one to finish OCC 20k in 2049. If I can't make the culture, or think someone's gonna beat me to the shield, I'll grab the UN and win that way.

 

[sohvan]

Firstly, I'd like to say hi to you all. I've been lurking in these forums for a while, and finally decided to register and maybe even start posting. I've learned a lot from reading some of the posts, and got myself out of the habit of reloading. Playing is a lot more fun this way. This is my second GOTM so far. I submitted a losing game in GOTM 43. I'm more comfortable with monarch and emperor. Hopefully, I'll be able to win this one.

Even if we are on an island, that isn't such a big deal. Get a city on the mainland and perform a palace jump over. Mapmaking/lighthouse and some suicide galleys if necessary.

I don't quite understand this. Won't a palace jump destroy your lighthouse? What if there's room for only one good city on the starting island? I'm assuming the lighthouse would be built in the capitol.

 

[Renata]

Here's a radical thought -- maybe it really is designed to be easy, and ainwood's just seeing how many people can manage conquest before the ADs.

(Given the tundra visible, I doubt it, but you never know!)

Renata

 

[Xerol]

Remember the last Greece GOTM? If it's on a lower difficulty, there's a catch. I'm betting something like "No Iron" on this one. Or maybe "No Aluminum" and people who are going for space will be stuck.

Attached is my fog guesses (Light Blue - Coast, Dark Blue - Sea, Green - Grassland, White - Tundra, Brown - Hill, Dark Green - Forest):

(Note: Multiple dots indicate I'm not sure.)