GOTM137 Ottomans - Final Spoiler - Game submitted or abandoned

[Più Freddo]

How did it go? Any comments on the game design?

 

[greatbeyond]

Thanks for putting it together.

I don't know if you tweaked the map at all, but the overall map layout gave a chance at getting in a good Deity start which is always critical. Even though the starting area wasn't too generous

It has been a while since I completed it but here goes the recap. I built mostly Settlers and Warriors at first and was grateful to see we were somewhat isolated. I did beeline for Literature and had a prebuild going from early in the game as I have lost out to the AI in Deity many times. The Barbs were a pain but not as much as they could have been.

I tried to stay friendly with everyone. However China, which was the powerhouse, decided to take some of my lands early on. I used Swordsmen and an alliance with Russia to beat him off.

Germany came in against Russia and I tried to use the opportunity to take a few German cities. I missed taking Berlin by one Swordsman which a misclick had sent to the wrong tile. I suffered terrible combat results in this attack with 18 Swords vs 4 Spears. I had to take peace and retry with MI later.

After successfully eliminating Germany with some help from China, it was time for Russia with Knights. I got about half the cities with China getting the other half. China was the biggest, most powerful Civ at this time. I had made contact with all the others civs. America and Rome were pretty backwards, which was unusual.

At this point I was able to reach Military Tradition before anyone else and converted all my Knights to Sipahi. I quickly eliminated all Chinese presence on that landmass and got all other civs to DoW on China. I took a Chinese city just across the channel but about twice my number of Chinese troops arrived and my troops embarked to head back across, then the city was razed. China settled for peace with me and shortly thereafter, my refreshed troops did the same thing but on the west side of the Chinese continent. This time I was able to wipe out his waves of attackers and then proceeded through the rest of their territory. I took peace to get his two island cities, then broke the agreement to take his last city.

At this point Carthage and Egypt had both grown quite advanced and powerful. I decided to try for a Domination win as I don't think I have ever been able to do so at this level in a GOTM. I took Egypt's second continent without many problems. I considered trying their home continent, but the sheer number of troops was a deterrent. It was off to America who was almost two eras behind and then Rome who was only about an era behind. It was either Hannibal or Egypt and Egypt looked to have the stronger position. It was hard fought at the end and I had to take peace at one point to get Hannibal's island cities and let my troops rest.

I ended with a Domination win in 1888AD. The date isn't anything to brag about and I wonder if I could have done it quicker going for space or the UN.

Overall this deity experience was better than most, but it was very close at the beginning.

 

[Più Freddo]

Thanks for putting it together.

You're welcome! I'm happy to get some feedback, because the forum has been pretty silent lately. I never knew if anyone played the maps at all.

I don't know if you tweaked the map at all [...] grateful to see we were somewhat isolated.

That was about all I did. A landmass of our own and contacts over water without boats. Happy to hear that the map was playable.

 

[templar_x]

thanks for waiting for me to finish my game as well! i did so, and i must say, this was a great set-up for a Deity game - thanks a lot for that. i especially liked how one could to some part connect the islands with the Lighthous and to some part could not, while you were able to reach all of them.

continuation of my write-up:
490 am first to currency and new age… due to unconcentrated playing mess up the gifting up, draw Mono, Germany too, and cannot trade
350 after an incredible number of galleys that all went to the bottom of the sea, finally one ship made it over to some unknown land.
310 meet Egypt, as the first nation. Of course they are backwards.
270 start war against Germany, make a mistake with trades and believe i lost rep. Land MIs against spears and swords. Army allegedly strong…
Lose lux trades, therefore lack happiness and trade for Mon and build HG with prepared wonder, even though this costs me 200 shields 
250 take Berlin
230 with my 1st elite victory, i gain my first MGL!!! And his name is AlanH!
I look at the map and decide to build the crappiest FP town i ever founded in the midst of the Russian/German island… but it allows to include a number of ring cities of them, when i have only limited ressources to build settlers.
10 Germany finally gone, which unfortunately triggers my war against Russia. I had a linked deal and hoped i would get some WH, since now i again lose the Chinese luxes…
Rush the FP in crappy FP town
Make only 2nd elite win, take first Russian town. 1st harbour to stay!
Losses in the following turns are very high, due to deposing towns as well as due unlucky rounds
130ad find barb island, with a camp on each tile 
170 take Moscow with Pyramids and GLib, again with too high losses. Two strong Russian towns left.
210 finish 1st ring around FP town
260 Russia gone. Finally.
i find that Istanbul will make 25spt easily with forest+bg+mined cow for 4-turn Sipahis
340 China built Sun Tzus, I make them declare on me
350 call me Memento. I kill 2 muskets on hill and 2 muskets in cities with no losses, and all horses retreat!
360 finally build all embassies. Have Rome fight China and Carthago fight Rome.
370 capture TGLightH with high losses
400 with my 16th e victory i get my 2nd MGL, cracker! The only use would be to built Leos, before i upgrade my horses…
420 MGL-rush Leos, triggers my GA. (somewhere around this time i get MT and switch off research, making about +600 gpt. Upgrade quite a few horses for some turns. No other useful research in the world, and that on Deity&#8230
460 throw China off their island, Carths give WH
490 one of strangest things i ever saw in C3C happened: i bought a ROP with Egypt and landed a few troops. In the IBT, Egypt declared on me! The very same turn!
I am at war with everyone now.
510 China eliminated
530 take first town on Yankee island
550 gain 3rd MGL „Ainwood“!
Nice turn. With a rushed settler and an PtW-Army i can take the Yankee capital, which did not appear possible at all.
570 gain 4th MGL „civ_steve“
580 last Yankee town taken but there must be a settler on a boat…
600 Yanks dead, Egypt dead!
Egypt did throw quite a bit at me on the beginning, but faltered quickly once i managed to set a foothold on their island.
Can set the lux slider back to 0% and now make +850 (+) gpt
630 i miss the dom limit by 39 tiles… but lots of more settlers and expansions were prepared… just for the fun of it i also ride one final attack against Rome, which i never invaded on their main island, and Carthago with my minor foothold.
Prepare everything for a domination victory in 640ad… and get the victory screen… and the game crashes 
It takes two more attempts… and then i see that i was 47 tiles over the limit now. Definitely lost a turn here, shipping too many units and too few settlers in the late stage. 
Carthago made it into the MA on the last turn, Romans were there for a turn or so. obviously they made peace after a long war i had drawn them into. My final invasion force stood ready but could not land any more by 1 single turn.
Firaxis score 10373
Jason 11***
What a fun game, and most probably the only XOTM for me for a while. Thanks for setting it up, guys!
t_x

Elite wins IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIII
MGLs with 1st, 16th, 27th, 34th e victory

 

[templar_x]

i saw Kuningas and Lanzelot submitted games as well. now i am really interested how this one went. i did not play a PtW-game in ages, this time i at least remembered that it requires rings of cities.
t_x

 

[Lanzelot]

i saw Kuningas and Lanzelot submitted games as well. now i am really interested how this one went.

Well, my game was ruined basically by two random events:

• In my early war against the Russians, I risked leaving my units in a captured town on the second turn after capture. The Russians did not have that much culture (I think I even had more than them...) and the town had barracks. I know that on the first turn after capture, a town cannot flip. Of course it flipped on the second turn! Taking with it about half my armed forces at that time. I had to build a new army from scratch, before I was able to continue the war. This meant: delayed second core (Moscow was my designated FP city) and prolonged war weariness. (I didn't want to make peace with them, as I still had an MA going on against them and didn't want to bust my reputation in a Deity game too early.)
• I lost the race to the Lighthouse by 2-3 turns, and of course it was build in far away Carthage. I made an attempt to capture it anyway: I signed a RoP with Rome, used a 2-phase ship-chain to ship an expeditionary force over the gap into Roman waters, and when I finally had a sufficient number of units shipped over, the Russians sneak-attacked me with galleys and sank half of my expeditionary force, before I was able to send it on to Carthage. Never seen something like this before: an AI conducting successful naval warfare...
  So I first had to fight down the Romans (while at the same time leading wars in China and Egypt) and this would have meant such a long delay in getting the Lighthouse, that I decided to research Astronomy. Of course, having to research Military Tradition and then Astronomy as well, delayed the game to much.
  
  BTW: I turned my missed Lighthouse attempt into the Great Library, but didn't get much out of it. The tech pace was so painfully slow, I couldn't believe it was a Deity game. Probably because of the small islands the AIs were already drowning in unit support in the ancient age?!
  If I remember correctly, I got like one AA tech and then one MA tech: I had left Germany and Russia alive as OCCs and gifted them up into the middle age. They got the same tech, which I then got from the GLib. Even by the time I finished Military Tradition, nobody had gotten Theology!! So I had to research everything myself.

 

[templar_x]

surprising that you still had the motivation to continue the game after two such painful setbacks. but i never have a stack heal in a town in danger to flip. never. unless it is enough units to suppress any flip risk.

did you calculate that taking the Lighthouse was still an advantage compared to research for better ships?

t_x

 

[Lanzelot]

I had enough free time over the Christmas vacation...

Re. Lighthouse: something like this is very hard to calculate, isn't it? My reasoning basically went like this: it is hard to predict, when the Roman waters would be free for traveling again, and how long it would take to get the necessary units (for both, subduing the Romans and capturing Carthage) across the unsafe passage, as any number of fresh ship-reinforcements might have to be produced and sailed to that spot. Also the longer it takes, the more units will inevitably have been accumulated in Carthage, and taking&defending the Lighthouse city will get more and more difficult. Not to speak of the flip risk...
Calculating how long it would take to research 3 more technologies was much easier. So I did that and avoided the tough Numidians... I still had enough targets that were reachable by galley (China and Egypt) while waiting for Astronomy.

 

[templar_x]

i did not mean your decision to go for Astro, which would have been my choice if the Lighthouse would have been built by Carthage first place. no, i rather meant why you initially even considered to still go for it... while i fully understand that you abandoned that plan.
t_x

 

[Lanzelot]

Hmm, now that I think about it: don't know... Autopilot?!

 

[templar_x]

where did you guys actually put your rings? pics of your cores would be nice...
t_x