GOTM109 - First Spoiler

civ_steve

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GOTM 109 - First spoiler, Zulu, the Ancient Age



Reading Requirements:

  1. Must be able to research a Middle Ages Technology.

Posting restrictions

  1. Feel free to discuss distant contacts and trades, but be discreet about locations or directions of any AI.
  2. No discussion of middle-ages (or later) including resource locations.
  3. AS ALWAYS, do not post Spoiler information for ANY other 'X'OTM contest.


Pangaea, regent and playing the Zulu - not sure if the Impi are very useful, but there shouldn't be many problems. Were the Impi useful? In fact, any good stories about using them? How is your game going at this point?
 
Civ Met. Trades Eliminated
Eng: 3000
Fra: 2470 310 BC
Ger: 2750 IW (2390) 70 BC
Iro: 3100 Wheel (bought), Math (1750),
Azt: 2950
Egy: 2410 Mas, MM (1225)
Bab: 3550 BW, CB, Myst (2670) 630 BC

In this game I only researched two techs, poly and mon, not counting Literature for which I used a lone scientist.

Zimbabwe: Scout*3,warrior,gran, settl,work,settl...

RCP4 ring.

4000 -
Settled in place. Research 0% on CB. In 3950(!) we popped Pottery.
Research is started in 2670 on Polytheism (finished in 1750.)
In 2190 we popped HB.
2110 - Popped Writing.
1830 - Popped Philosopy.
1500 - Settled a town adjacent to the bab horses.
1275 - Monarchy discovered. I got 4 turns anarchy, but rerolled for 6! Research off for good, except one scientist on literature.
950 - Captured Babylon.
925 - Captured Nineveh. Connected ivory.
670 - Captured Ur.
650 - Connected incense.
630 - Next target is France, but Paris will finish Pyramids in 12 turns, minus anarchy if I give them Monarchy. Of course, I give them Monarchy.
610 - France still in anarchy, but Salamanca has finished Pyramids.
570 - France still in anarchy. They will finish HG as soon as they get back on track. Good luck and... en garde! War, captured Avignon.
530 - France still in anarchy.
510 - Connected wines. Paris builds HG.
450 - Connected silks.
410 - Captured Paris, connected ivory. I decide to start my Golden Age. I do not yet have a Forbidden Palace, but otherwise the timing is right and the opportunity good - elite impi v/s redlined spearman. And what do you know! The impi spawns a leader!
370 - FP in Paris.
310 - Demanded newly founded town from Aztecs and got it. War on Germany.
250 - Barb uprising.
230 - Demanded and got an English town.
190 - Demanded and got another Aztec town, then made them declare war.
170 - Connected spices.
150 - Hurried 20 temples.
110 BC - 727 tiles to domination limit. Leader #2 spawned, saved for Great Library. Literature is 4 turns away.
90 BC - 683 tiles. Out of money.
70 BC - 670 tiles. Connected dyes, 8th lux. Discovered literature.
50 BC - 388 tiles. Great Library erected. Sold some temples to hurry 1 temple and 3 settlers.
30 BC - Leader #3 builds library in Tenochtitlan. Entered MA.
 
I wasn't sure where to post this.....but here I go anyway. This was my 3rd game of the month I have tried. The AI's have kicked my butt so bad in every one I am wondering if they are all this hard or just the ones I've tried (C3GOTM 107-109). I didn't even submit the last 2 I got crushed so bad. This one I at least didn't get defeated just gave in to every request the AI's asked for and watched them battle themselves (won't say who was strong so I won't spoil it for others). Any help would be apreciated, I read several good strategy guides but I am still wondering how to go about these games of the month, they seem so difficult even on the easy start.
 
lorddune, Here is some advice, whose main purpose is fast (early) military expansion:

Never build defensive units, only offensive ones. Just reflect on all the turns defensive units spend just standing around, doing nothing, giving nothing. In despotism, monarchy, feudalism they give a small boost to happiness as MP, but we can get that from captured luxuries or war happiness. Some players say that they like to build some defensive units and/or catapults to escort the offensive units. But I think this is normally completely unnecessary on all levels below demigod and of minor importance even on the higher levels. Instead, put a swordsman on a hill or a mountain when you move it into AI territory, and the AI wll probably not even attack it. Use the protection of borders so that the AI can move into your area but not attack, and you can easily pick them off next turn. But on the other hand, don't hesitate to sacrifize a few pawns. (Or, to buy time, send out captured workers and let the AI take them instead of wounded troops.)

Avoid the construction of buildings altogether, except barracks and forbidden palace. Aquaducts, for example, are way too expensive. Try to place as many towns as possible on rivers, and let those towns grow. Let the other towns build workers and settlers when they approach size 6, or let them work mountains, forests and hills with 0+ food but high production, and you have lost nothing or next to nothing and saved much time. Of course, there are exceptions to the "no buildings"-rule. If you go for domination victory, temples or libraries can more than double the territory of a town. (But there is little reason to build these until late in the game, when you are near the domination limit.) Secondly, diplomatic or spaceship victory will obviously require libraries, unis, etc., and maybe even courthouses and acquaducts. But there is no reason to assume that these buildings should be built before you build a sizeable offensive military. In PTW, conquering an AI and placing a forbidden palace in its ex-territory may well double your total research capability. And even though this means that you will have to build libraries later, it's worth remembering that if you fall behind in research in the ancient age, you can often trade your way up again. This brings me to my last piece of advice: Anticipate what the AI will research so that you can trade it instead of researching it yourself. There is an article on this in the forum called something like "What will the AI research next?" if you want details.

I consider it my biggest weakness in civ3 that I play it too safe.
 
lordune - first please allow me to commiserate. My first GOTM was 102. It was a simple warlord game. I knew I was better than warlord. What could go wrong? Oh, just about everything. That game almost made me walk away from the GOTM as a first experience - and it was a warlord game! But it gets better.

Reading the tips and training games on this site and chatting with the players here turned things around for me. I can now regularly beat Emperor and even if it is a struggle, I am confident that I can pull it off eventually.

I disagree with Megalou. I have seen his 'finish' times on conquest VC and I am not altogether convinced he doesn't set his hair on fire and run down the street for fun. I am not sure what 'play it too safe' means to him, but he probably rates me somewhere in the same league as watching paint dry or timing glacial movements. There are some really good players here (I'm NOT one of them, by the way). There is a lot that can be learned from them.

Seriously - read the forums, ask questions, participate in discussions. Play some non-GOTM games and post them on the forums and ask for critiques. If you have lost hope for a game, post it and see if someone can rescue it and will post what they did to pull it off.

I do find that that GOTM tends to be harder than games I have generated myself. 1) You don't get to pick the Civ. 2) You don't get to pick the land mass. 3) I find that the luxuries are usually spread a little thin in the immediate area of the player, which makes you work a little harder for those. 4) But you almost always have either Iron or Horses (or both) nearby, so that is nice. 5) You are almost always on some of the worse land on the map (at best mediocre). 6) You are either isolated on an island to start or you are in the middle of everyone. 7) Your capital is rarely in a good RCP-friendly location. 8) The cast of character is also a roster of the Civilizations you would LEAST like to see on that map.

Difficult? Yes. But they are excellent learning games as long as you don't take it personal. I believe I am a much better player for playing these competition games. Win or lose.
 
I also disagree with Megalou, maybe. My short "self-analysis" was quite meaningless and maybe not even correct. What I wanted to stress was that even though my games are quite offensive compared to anyone who builds a bunch of spearmen or thinks a courthouse would look pretty in the aerial view (no harm in that, as long as they enjoy themselves,) I don't take big risks at all. I often build too many units before I attack, just to be safe. I haven't lost a C/GOTM since my first submittal, GOTM15, although I did retire once, but it might be because I've been playing safe.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have been playing some of the older GOTM's for practice. I don't worry too much about being bad on these games, it's just that the rules state to play only once and my attempts were downright pathetic in previous months. In one case I was defeated by the AI in under 50 turns, ouch. Anyways, I look forward to trying out the all offensive strategy, as I enjoy conquering the other civ's versus trying to win any of the other ways.
 
Well, I was going to race Megalou to the domination limit but then I thought . . . yeah right. I am going to try for a Dipolomatic win this time. It should be interesting because I have never done it before.

REX no problem. I am short on playing time so I didn't keep a list. I switched to Monarchy early and got a 2 turn anarhcy. :woohoo:

I nabbed up the Hanging Gardens for the AA and connected 3 luxuries no problem. Happiness is not an issue. I thought I might conquer for the Pyramids but Germany grabbed them and I was going to let them live to push the tech pace. I'll have to think about that.

Because I am going for a diplo win, I thought I would be a peaceful Civ. Well, after I killed the Babylonians so I could build a second core. But I have entered the MA as a peaceful Civ and it's been a few hundred years since anyone's heard from the Babylonians and no one has come around asking any questions. :shifty:

Now I will settle in, peacefully fill in all the remaining cracks and only attack those that attack me. I might even try switching to Democracy to give it a whirl. I can't stand these non-industrius workers! Lazy bums. :whipped:
 
@lorddune - Welcome to CFC and the GOTM! :wavey:

I would recommend looking at some of the QSC entries and results. If you go to gotm.civfanatics.net and click on Civ3 QSC / Results on the left you can find lists of results along with the game save at turn 80 and a log (if they provided one). Click on the QSC score and you get a zip file with the save and log in it. You may want to go back to some of the earlier games to find a good set of differing results; the games and the QSC do not have as many entries as they used to.

The first thing to work on is your starting game. See what some of the top players are doing in their starting game and work to do as well. If you're significantly behind at Turn 80 (the end of the QSC), chances are you'll keep falling further behind. Simple decisions, such as how to improve the tiles around your starting location, where to place your capital, what Techs to research, often have longer term effects, so learning how to make good initial decisions builds up to playing better games. Happy civving!
 
I take it back: My biggest weakness is that I don't plan far enough ahead. I doubt that this id of general interest, especially since this forum seems to be as cold as Scandinavia at the moment, but things should be called by their true name as far as possible, I guess.
 
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