GOTM106 - Spoiler #2

[civ_steve]

GOTM 106 - second spoiler, France, The Middle Ages

Reading Requirements:

1. Must have contact with All remaining Civs.
2. Must be able to research an Industrial Age Technology.

Posting restrictions

1. No maps showing Industrial or Modern resources.
2. No discussion of Industrial Age (or later).
3. Absolutely NO Discussion of any other active 'X'OTM contest!

Middle Ages - time to leave the AI in the dust, hopefully! Did you start a Golden Age here? By Musketeer (if you're not playing Predator), or by Wonders? How did you take control of the game? What plans to you have as you exit the Middle Ages?

 

[Megalou]

20K, Predator
Here is a complete list of Orleans builds so far:
Pyramids 1250 BC
Temple 1075 BC
Great Library 450 BC
Library 350 BC
Colosseum 190 BC
Hanging Gardens 230 AD
Cathedral 270 AD
FP 340 AD
Sistine Chapel 380 AD
Uni 430 AD
Copernicus' Observatory 680 AD
JS Bach's Cathedral 810 AD
Shakespeare's Theatre 860 AD
Newton's Uni was ~12 turns away when I entered the Industrial Age in 940 AD.

I did what I predicted in the first spoiler, sacrificed a leader for Palace in Salamanca. This left Paris as a core town of Orleans and saved me the trouble of gathering 39 military units in Salamanca. The less than 39 military units attacked and ultimately conquered Germany instead.

The golden age was started as I took Colossus and Great Lighthouse from the Iroquois, in the break between the AA and the MA. That has been the best part of the game, since I took out the Iroquois with AA units, and not with many to spare, either. Not a single swordsman from those days is still around. (I which I could have erected Washington Memorial, 10 culture points, to their honor, although this is not a good comparison.)

I have done a decent job of combining culture in Orleans, research and expansion. I'm obviously displeased with the late completion of Shakespeare's Theatre, but that's what you get for playing the parasite with the Great Library. In 940 I was 285 tiles from the domination limit - not so hot, but at least the game is still open for leader fishing. I have left the Babylonians intact for luxury and cash trade and shall do so until tanks come in. The domination limit is within reach before this and I have started to fill up Germany and Zululand with milking towns (great fun?) The Vikings are still alive and a good target for leader acquisition. It will be interesting to compare, CKS.

 

[CKS]

It won't be that interesting. Although I've spent a lot of time at war, my military stinks, my invasion efforts have failed, and the RNG has been unkind. It isn't that I haven't won my share of battles, but that my regular sword kills a knight on a hill and my 5/5 elite knight dies attacking a longbow on grass. Thanks to landings on my island, I've had a reasonable number of elite wins anyway, but no leaders. I also bought a nearly 400 shield marketplace two turns before learning free artistry.

I may have to give up on 20K in PTW. I like fast research and building, not fighting. Maybe I should switch to diplomacy, although I'm not so great at manipulating the vote either.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator class
Going for Conquest

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, we uselessly learned Monarchy
and, a little bit later and more usefully, Engineering. The Great
Library then gave us both Monotheism and Feudalism, cueing me to
self-research Chivalry in four turns with a middle science effort.

_30 AD Learn Monarchy
110 AD Learn Engineering
260 AD Learn Monotheism
260 AD Learn Feudalism
300 AD Discover Chivalry​

The end game was far from perfect. I have played too few games to the
end lately. I hadn't expected having to go so far into the AD's. But
Babylon had upgraded all Spearmen to Pikemen, and they were quite a
few.

The Musketmen didn't present such a problem, but perhaps that was
luck. I amassed Horsemen and Swordsmen before attacking. At one
occasion, A Horseman single-handedly killed the defending Musketman,
whereafter two following Horsemen died to a Spearman without taking a
single hit-point off him.

A few Leaders appeared, who built The Hanging Gardens for happiness
and score, The Great Library for the precursors of Chivalry and
finally Sun Tzu's Art of War on the Babylonian continent for the
upgrades from Horsemen to Knights.

In order to connect Iron to Babylon, I rushed a Settler in spite of
Resistance by disbanding Galleys and red-lined Horsemen and then a
Harbor in the new city for units and cash. The remaining red-lines
could then be upgraded. But at this point I had a cash shortage
limiting the amount of upgrades. The surplus was about 300 gpt.

_90 AD Destroy Scandinavia
_90 AD Flip Konigsberg
150 AD Destroy Germany
170 AD Connect Wines
210 AD Emerge Great Leader 2nd Richelieu
230 AD Build The Hanging Gardens
230 AD Emerge Great Leader 3rd De Gaulle
250 AD Build The Great Library
270 AD Destroy Iroquois
300 AD Emerge Great Leader 4th Charlemagne
310 AD Build Sun Tzu's Art of War
310 AD Capture Babylon with The Oracle
330 AD Flip Ashur with Sun Tzu's Art of War
330 AD Connect Silks
360 AD Flip Babylon
360 AD Destroy Babylon​

Conquest victory in 370 AD, Jason score 11 k.

 

[templar_x]

i could not compete with Piu's date. my conquest came a couple of turns later than yours. good job!

and then, i saved the wrong file and thus lost my log. i am defenitely overworked.

i think swords and horses were enough in my game, as the AIs did not even reach muskets. i was able to disconnect their iron before they could build more than a handful of pikes, too. so i do not think there could have been any serious impact by better troops.

i see 3 difficulties i was not able to beat for a faster finish:
- TGLight: was built in the worst possible location and i could not get my hands on it until 3 or so turns before conquest.
- GA/wonders in general: were built at very uncomfortable places to trigger the GA. to get a good date in this game, in my eyes a GA as early as possible was key. mine started only in early AD-times...
- 6 turns anarchy... as lucky as i am with my MGL quota recently, as bad is my skill at revolutions.

re my MGL quote, i had 4 (!) MGLs with only about 25 elite victories! thats incredible. but i had nothing useful to rush, except of course the FP.

but it was a real fun game, even though i had only very limited time to finish this.

templar_x

 

[Megalou]

i could not compete with Piu's date.

But you could certainly "compete" with my result. So now I'll make a run for a better result in COTM75. Yes, I'm making it official: I want to challenge you for the top GR position and I won't sneak up on you. "I want to" because I may not have time to finish. Cheers!

 

[templar_x]

Megalou who?

ohhhh, it was your breath i kept feeling in my neck. i must have mistaken it for Lanzelot´s who has been there for a quite a while. if you want to overtake, thanks for indicating, now try if you can accelerate enough.

seriously speaking, lots of luck with cotm75. i surely cannot find the time to compete you there.

templar_x

 

[Megalou]

seriously speaking, lots of luck with cotm75. i surely cannot find the time to compete you there.

templar_x

It makes little difference. That game belongs to the same "month" as GOTM106, where you whipped me with a few thousand points.

 

[templar_x]

Well, it would matter if i could do that again.

But since you are not announcing yourself as my pretender WITH A SPACESHIP victory In the decisive Game, i guess there is no Chance to overcome the fierce Megalosaur in the cotm anyway.


Templar_x

 

[Più Freddo]

i think swords and horses were enough in my game

Certainly in mine, too. But what better than TGL could I have built with that Leader? Then researching for four tourns probably cost about as much as the use of Knights gained. It was more for fun that I did it.

wonders in general: were built at very uncomfortable places

I hate it when that happens!

6 turns anarchy

I had that, too, but got three on the re-roll.

 

[templar_x]

@ Piu - i had to read your post 3 times until i understood that TGL meant the big library here...

TGLighthouse was all that *I* wanted!

yes, re-roll... gave me 6 turns as well

templar_x

 

[Raliuven]

yes, re-roll... gave me 6 turns as well templar_x

Sorry for the question, but what does this mean? Are we allowed to restart one time upon triggering a revolution and then take the best results? I got a 5 turn anarchy and seriously considered :suicide:

As if the game needs more help killing me. I'm at about 1860AD and still duking it out in the IA. It seems that Babylon thought they were supposed to get 100K. It is all I can do to kill them before they reach the line.

Predatory class victory in 370AD? You MUST be playing a different game than me!

 

[Megalou]

Well, it would matter if i could do that again.

But since you are not announcing yourself as my pretender WITH A SPACESHIP victory In the decisive Game, i guess there is no Chance to overcome the fierce Megalosaur in the cotm anyway.


Templar_x

It will be decided in COTM76 or GOTM107. Be there! After that I will have no more empty columns in the GR table. If you're still the leader after that I will have to call you Arch-Master forever. Grrr...

Edit: Choosing the Spaceship vehicle would be to aim too high. Even for Megalou.

 

[CKS]

Sorry for the question, but what does this mean? Are we allowed to restart one time upon triggering a revolution and then take the best results? I got a 5 turn anarchy and seriously considered :suicide:

In PTW, if you learn a government tech and then use the big picture to go to the domestic screen and revolt, you can see how long your anarchy will be. When you leave the screen, you will then be asked if you wish to revolt. If your anarchy is long, you can say yes to the revolt, and then you will get a new length of anarchy (which may be the same as, better than, or worse than the first). In Conquests this does not change the length of the revolt, but in PTW it can occasionally help if you get a long anarchy the first time.

 

[Più Freddo]

TGLighthouse was all that *I* wanted!

Me too. I captured it in Zimbabwe first thing and then triggered my GA by finishing TGW the next turn.

I think TGLH is used for the Lighthouse, TGL for the Library and GL for the Leader.

 

[templar_x]

If you're still the leader after that I will have to call you Arch-Master forever. Grrr...

is there a possibility that i learn from the tone in your... umm, letters,... that you do not like to do this?

tbh, it´s very likely that you manage that, as i lack the time for a concentrated game currently. i may even have to pass both games.

but, should i still be able to play AND come out first after the next games, i´ll yield to your will and change my subline to "Megalou´s Arch-Master". Promised.

templar_x

 

[Raliuven]

In PTW, if you learn a government tech and then use the big picture to go to the domestic screen and revolt, you can see how long your anarchy will be. When you leave the screen, you will then be asked if you wish to revolt. If your anarchy is long, you can say yes to the revolt, and then you will get a new length of anarchy (which may be the same as, better than, or worse than the first). In Conquests this does not change the length of the revolt, but in PTW it can occasionally help if you get a long anarchy the first time.

Thanks CKS - I didn't realize that. So really the first time around you are 'checking' the lay of the ground? You still have to revolt and take what you get? Or is there a way to 'lock in' the results if you like it?

 

[CKS]

If you like the results, just say no when you are asked if you want to revolt the second time.

 

[civ_steve]

@Raliuven - you should check out the GOTM Reference Thread; the first post contains links to threads that discuss several 'strategies' that can help you improve your game, including how to get two chances for a shorter anarchy period (PTW only).

 

[Lanzelot]

In PTW, if you learn a government tech and then use the big picture to go to the domestic screen and revolt, you can see how long your anarchy will be. When you leave the screen, you will then be asked if you wish to revolt. If your anarchy is long, you can say yes to the revolt, and then you will get a new length of anarchy (which may be the same as, better than, or worse than the first).

I got 5 turns anarchy the first time, did not like it too much, re-rolled and got 7...

Anyway, this game wasn't one of my finest efforts... I'll provide a short summary in the final spoiler. At least I managed to submit before the deadline!

Lanzelot