GOTM66 - First Spoiler

[civ_steve]

GOTM 66 - first spoiler

It's been a busy weekend, but the first spoiler is out! How are your Celts doing? With the bonuses at the starting location, you should be able to found a lot of cities quickly. Any problems with the local civs? Especially comparing Predator to the other classes, since the AI was tweaked a bit. So what are your plans for the MA?

Reading Requirements:

1. Must be able to research a Middle Ages Technology.
2. Must have contact will all civ(s) on your starting continent

Posting restrictions

1. No maps showing resources from middle-ages (or later).
2. No discussion of middle-ages (or later).
3. Do not reveal the locations of other continents or the civs on them. You MAY discuss when contact(s) were made and generic descriptions of any trades.
4. AS ALWAYS, do not post Spoiler information for ANY other 'X'OTM contest.

 

[Tone]

I haven't played an XOTM in a long time but this one appealed to me. I fancied a bit of GL fishing with one of my favorite units so I decided to play predator to increase the number of fodder for my Gallics. 20K was the goal.

I settled in place and sent a few warriors out to explore the surrounding location and look for my rivals. Getting a settler factory up and running was going to be important but I thought that with a couple of EXP civs around, maybe I should research something else. I decided to go Wheel>HBR, hoping to gain some of the other first tier techs (including pottery) in trades.

Well, how much can a game plan change? I finally met the Greeks in 1625BC, by which time I had also researched Pottery, Alphabet, Writing and I was on Literature. It was clear that they were too far away to help me create a stack of Great Leaders and I was pretty sure that we were alone on this huge landmass so the game plan changed to fast research for either Space or Diplo. The Greeks were to be my buddies, as they had plenty of land and so they might be able to help with research. When I find the others they will provide space for me to conquer new lands and resources. I then beelined for Republic, hoping that the Greeks would get Map Making for me but no such luck. I became a Republic in 775BC and soon after this I had Map Making and started sending out suicide galleys, but they kept sinking as soon as they hit deep water. It was to be a long time before I had a second contact.

Lack of contacts does not help fast research and so the only AA I could pick up in trade were Bronze Working, Iron Working, Masonry and Mysticism. Entering the MA in 250BC is hardly going to set the world alight I fear. Attached is a screenshot of my lands in the final turn of the AA.

 

[Mighty Dwaarf]

Damn it thought I was going to be first.

My game followed a much similar path to Tone's, planned for 20k, got settlers pumping out of Entremont, settled Mohacs which was to be 20k city taking all 4 plains cow tiles to east of Entremont. Only to find that my time militarily would be fighting off hordes of barbs, not much trouble at all with bonus at regent level and in fact provided the gold to be able research at 100% of what the lux tax requirement would let me, but no hope of any early leaders.
If I could pick one civ that would be a pain to be up against when you want to fight them for GLs, one of them would be Greece, they get a pikeman from the start without needing a resource.

My suicide galleys came and went, one of them got to within 1 tile of meeting someone, I could see their borders but was 1 move short of contacting them. At least I know which way to prepare an invasion force for once Astro/Nav comes in. I think those who mange to build GL might have an advantage in this game, although the decent coastal spots were very limited, maybe this was done on pupose!!!

In Mohacs I mangaed to build temple,FP,Library,colosseum,Oracle and HG. I missed out on GL and GW to far off land. Because I missed GL the far off civs managed to get to MA a few turns before me. So am a bit behind with where I wanted to be with culture city at the moment but I guess (from Tones story) that others could be having same problems in this respect.

One mistake I feel I did make was to go for Monarchy over Republic. I was at the point where I needed to change out of despo and Monarchy was the shorter path, but maybe Republic would have been better in the long run.
Especially when Alex the tight arse wanted everything but the kitchen sink for Feudalism after I gave him so many techs to get to that point.

Anyway I feel that although the diff level is low on this game it has come up with a few spanners for a few game plans for quick victories so will be interesting to see what happens. Although Im sure Klarius will still have conquered the world by the end of the BC years.

 

[megistatos]

Entremont was founded in place, and worker went to the cow to irrigate. Research set to CB. First I built a warrior, then a temple pre-built granary. I built a second warrior while Entremont was growing to 5, and then the settler factory was ready. This produced its first settler in 2750BC.
Now I had a huge decision to make- where to put my second city, and hence what ring to settle my core at. The cows to the south looked very tempting, so I went for RCP 5, preying that the other civs weren't too near. They weren't. My first ring of 6 cities was done complete around 1500BC, and I started a second at RCP 9, including Eboracum to the west of Entremont in 1150BC, which began work on the FP. I would have a powerful group of cities with which to build a spaceship.
Greece was met in 1000BC.
My stats were:
11 cities, 31 pop, 175 land
score 227, culture 332(14pt)
gold 52
Techs-BW,IW, WC, Wheel, CB, Pots, Alphabet, Writing,Philosophy, COL,(republic in 19)
1 settler, 8 workers, 8 warriors, 2 Archers
6 temples, 5 granaries

I got to the MA in 30BC, with my 28 cities covering almost all of the bottom half of the continent, plus a few in the greek half. The three "Great" wonders were under construction(perhaps as prebuilds), and the FP was half complete. My army was pitiful, but I had a workforce of 24 workers. I'm just hoping I can reach Alpha Centurai fast enough, as the tech pace is so slow.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

I decided to try predator for the first time in this game and settled in place. I set research to pottery after getting burned without it in other games and started a granary pre-build in Entremont after a couple warriors. The granary completed in 2800BC and Entremont was set as a 4-turn settler factory.

3450BC Pottery discovered
2670BC Alphabet discovered
2070BC Writing discovered
1830BC Masonry discovered (to allow pre-build for TGLHouse and Pyramids)
1475BC Mapmaking discovered
1275BC Literature discovered
1100BC Code of Laws discovered
1000BC Philosophy discovered

In 1225BC I finally contacted Greece and traded for BW, IW, TW, and mysticism by 1000BC. I founded 8 cities at RCP3 and in 1000BC had 11 cities, 24 pop., 9 workers, 1 settler, 14 warriors, and 2 archers. Wines and horses were connected and 6 libraries, TGLHouse, 2 settlers, and the Pyramids were in production with a complete continent map.

In 900BC I discovered mathematics, popped a hut for Polytheism in 850BC, and traded for HBR and discovered Republic in 670BC. Greece declared war for no apparent reason in 670BC, so I held off on revolt until peace in 510BC, discovering currency in 530BC. Greece got construction in 470BC and I traded with them to enter the MA and was able to trade Republic for Feudalism. I don't know what victory condition I'll be going for, but plan to settle the rest of my continent and explore for the other civs when the TGLHouse completes and have just connected iron. Greece is still some distance from my borders and I don't expect war with them soon.

 

[Midgardsormr]

I took the excellent advice proffered in the pre-game thread and settled in place, setting my research to Pottery, and building warrior, warrior, and a pre-build barracks for my granary. By 1990 BC my Settler factory was operating automatically--no intervention required.

After pottery, I set my research toward Monarchy, thinking that I would do well to wage war early, and the AI pays well for it in trade. Unfortunately, my first contact in 1025 was Greece, and it soon became apparent that they were the only other civ on the continent. I traded Mysticism, Polytheism, Monarchy, and Pottery for Bronze Working, Iron Working, Masonry, Alphabet, Writing, The Wheel, and 125 gold. I then settled a city on the isthmus, restricting Alexander from expanding southward.

By 1000 BC, I had 10 cities, 20 population, 1 settler, 9 workers, 9 warriors, and 5 archers. Score: 159, Territory: 121.7, Gold: 264, and I would learn Literature in 6 turns. I was pre-building the Great Library with a Palace.

Things stayed fairly static for the next few centuries. My empire expanded and I continued to research as fast as my treasury would allow. I entered the Middle Ages in 150 BC with 20 cities and 60 population, still in Monarchy, as Greece refused to trade The Republic to me.

I have not decided which victory to pursue. At this point, any victory type seems reasonable.

 

[choxorn]

This is my first GOTM, and all I can say is AARGH!!! I was playing Conquest-class.

I built Entremont in place and then just did some stuff, researched, built units. Unfortunately, I totally messed up with respect to the Settler Factory. I also messed it up several times. I expanded at about the same rate as the AI as a result, maybe even slower. I also met a lot of trouble with barbarians, as well as city location I met Greece circa 1500s BC. For a little while, everything was fine.

There was a chokepoint on the continent, and I controlled it for a while with a fortified warrior. Then, sometime around 500 BC (I forget the exact date) Greece declared war over this choke and killed the warrior. I wanted to take it back, obviously, and even managed to take a city (Knossos) before then. However, due to my slow rate of expansion, I did not yet have Iron, and they did, and well, Swords and Hoplites defeat Archers easily. The recaptured Knossos, and I just couldn't get a break. I managed to regain control of the chokepoint- for two turns. I finally got Iron, but before I could build any Gallics with it, Greece sent massive amounts of Swordsmen, Archers, and Warriors to my Iron city. The Iron was pillaged and the city destroyed. Without any way of defeating all those Swords and Hoplites, the situation was quite obviously hopeless. Even if they didn't kill me, I would be too far behind, and I'm not good enough to be able to win in a situation like that. I quit out of frustration.

If I'm not supposed to be here if I gave up, tell me because like I said, I'm new to this and there's nothing in the rules on this.

 

[megistatos]

@ choxorn: Hey don't worry about it. GOTM is for everyone to enjoy and learn from each other. Sounds like expansion was a serious problem though. The AI's a bully if you're not powerful enough. Maybe you should try the ancient age of this game again to see what you could do differently. Well... happy civving

 

[choxorn]

If I'm ever in the mood, I'll try it again. But I'm not in the mood right now.

 

[civ_steve]

Welcome to GOTM, choxorn! Although it sounds like a rough beginning. We support a Quick Start Challenge (QSC), where players submit their games with a save file from 1000 BC, and a log. These become available after the game is over, so you can compare your start with others and pick up some ideas on how to improve the starting game. Good Luck next time!

 

[dbarandiaran]

playing open class. since this game is at regent, i knew i would not be able to count on AI research, so i planned to keep research levels pretty high. good choice as it turns out. i made the settler factory and set an initial rcp at 3.5. after exploring a bit, i met the greeks, and traded what little i could. the barbarians were a real nuisance, they killed many of my galleys that were destined for deep sea voyages. i did find the other continent and found the ai not pulling ahead, which was nice. long term plans are as such: destroy greece and set up a fp ring in their land, move my current capital ring to be centered on the ring of rivers in our homeland, and go for a spaceship. ma was entered in 130bc. no govt change just yet, i have been building towards knights as quickly as possible to remove the greek scum as quickly as possible, but will then switch to republic, obviously.

edit: a quick note on wonders, i considered making the lighthouse, but didn't, and regret this quite a bit, since someone on the other continent made it, and are now beginning to send settlers over to my continent *grrr*

 

[eldar]

Predator, trying for 20K, and I still am (foolishly...?)

Founded on the spot, decided it would be the 20K city after umming and ahh-ing (that four-cows spot looked v. promising... in hindsight I should've used it!) Then went ahead with 20K in the capital.

All going well 'til I forgot to adjust the slider one turn and my Temple was sold. And the city rioted. So the Oracle was finished with no Temple. Re-built the Temple, got on with it.

Have I mentioned I still hadn't met anyone (aside from Barbarians)? I was getting worried. I did finally reach the Greeks, in 900BC or something silly like that.

Umm, then I screwed up research. I forgot to get Literature, so almost had nothing to build. Luckily I could use a barracks as a pre-build for a courthouse which became a pre-build for the Pyramids which was a pre-build for The Great Library. Not bad juggling of techs, and just as well Masonry was available to research! Annoyed at losing the Pyramids for a pre-build to a far away civ, mind Meant I had to build The Great Wall, and enter a Despotic GA, though I bit the bullet and flipped to Republic part way through.

I met the other continent, entered the Middle Ages, and traded for a couple of first-tier techs (needed Sun Tzu as a pre-build very badly... the gpt deal I did is testament to that!) in 150BC.

In 110BC I encountered a little crash issue which is still being debated "on high" (i.e. by the GOTM staff). So nothing since then.

Culture:
Temple (first version)
Oracle
Temple (second version, after the admin screw-up...)
Great Library
Library
Collosseum
Great Wall

Not particularly good Shoulda really gone Masonry as I could've had The Pyramids quite easily. And I left Pottery late as I thought I'd easily pick it up from neighbours. Hence I'd only just completed my RCP4 ring in 150BC

 

[Vidar]

Setled in place. Didn't write any kind of turnlog, but I tried to explore and expand as fast as I could. I was very surprised by how much space we had. Normally I play on tiny or small maps only, is it normal with this much free space on standad maps??? I finally discovered the Greek, and managed to put a city on the chokepoint.

When I realized that the Greek were our only company I started to build Great Lighthouse. The idea was to make it easier to contact other continent(s). That may have been a mistake. Perhaps I should have spammed suicide galleys instead. Anyway, the consequense is that I haven't yet met the other AI's.

No wars yet, but it may soon be time to kick Alex out of MY continent.

The empire of the Celts on the first turn of the Middle Ages. The chokepoint city is just outside the upper edge.

Edit: Oh yeah, when I read Zeppa's post I realized that I had totally forgot about RCP.

 

[frunobulax]

Playing Open class - no 20k, undecided! No turnlog.

Pretty much same start as everyone else - built my capital Entremont in place... contact with Greeks came quite early on, as I had a Warrior exploring east/north from very early in the game.

Now up to 260AD, switched to Monarchy c.50AD in one turn, and have a about 21 cities - Nemausus is on the choke point up in the extreme NE bordering the Greeks with several Gallic Swordsmen garrisoned there.

No Wonders built yet, as I have focussed on settlers/growth, with Entremeont pushing out Settlers (I got a Granary built there after initial Warrior-Warrior-Settler pattern), plus Camulodunum is pushing out a Worker every 4 turns - I have about 20 now. Three were sent to build a road down to the Spices luxury down South (near to where Augustodurum is now) and set up a colony with a Horseman on top to guard against Barbarians. Mohacs (my second city) did a Palace pre-build and then flipped to completing Forbidden Palace. Resource-wise, I have two Irons (Richborough and Isca), Horses, plus Wine and Spices.

There was one HUGE barbarian uprising in the SE near to Glanum, with about 12 (oddly) Celtic Horsemen barbarians and Warriors running around the place, but my Gallic Swordsmen soon sorted that out (got two Elite units out of that).

Was hoping to get Great Lighthouse underway, but not many of my coastal cities have enough production, so might do without. I have one Galley doing a circumnavigation of the continent looking for any routes out into the unknown. Also wondering if I should mount an attack on the Greeks...? Anyone else considering this? They have had no techs I could trade for and seem to be pretty ripe for the picking.

 

[Zeppa]

GOTM 66--Open Class, going for Diplo victory.

Settled in place, warrior-worker-warrior-settler-granery then settlers for the rest of ancient age. Cities settled at RCP 3 & 6. At 1000BC had 14 cities, 13 workers, 7 warriors, 2 galleys, all contacts, 8 turns to Republic. After meeting other continent with first suicide galley, traded up and never looked back research wise. Middle ages at 670 BC, building Great Lighthouse.

Plan to eliminate Greeks, fully settle home continent, and make nice with others for an early Diplo victory. It's been a long time since my last Diplo effort so this should be interesting.

 

[Taxpayer'sMoney]

Predator going for, well going for a submission. I have started almost every gotm/cotm for ages and have not submitted a game in ages. Mainly because I get toasted, or I run out of time.

I settled in place and produced the 4-turner like everyone else. Barbs picked off a worker or two quite regularly. At the QSC I had 12 cities and 3 settlers. Plus about 11 warrioirs and 3 archers. I built some libraries to get research going quicker, as I've got it in the back of my mind to go for a science game.

Contacts were few and far between. Greeks came quite early and there was some trading but not a great deal. I researched myself to the Medieval and did not reach the other civs until I'd got some way into the MA. No war yet, and none expected as I seem to be crippled by unit support costs at the moment. But I might need a brief skirmish to trigger my GA.

 

[DBear]

Settled Cardiff in place (I like the Civ2 city list better), and researched pottery. I meet the Greeks in 1575BC.

QSC STATS----------------------------------
Score: Firaxis 127, Greece 137, QSC 2298
Land: 88 squares, 8 towns.
Population: 8 happy, 9 content
Diplomacy: 1 contact w/embassy
Production: 70 food, 80 shields, 50 gold.
Buildings: 3 rax, 3 temples, grainary
Units: 7 workers, 7 archers, 1 horse
Experience: 1 leet, 6 vet.
Culture: Cardiff 164, Kells 30, Armagh 8.
Tech: All starters except mason plus IW, writ, mapping, HB. 2 turns
from mason.

The late ancient era is spent mainly fighting barbs. In 310BC I launch several horses against Greece that do little damage to their hoplites. They had law and wouldn't trade. A suicide run contacts the other continent in 70BC and I make the middle ages in time for Christ, with my gallics ready to rumble.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator, going for Conquest


In the Beginning

The set-up was, that the other civilizations on our continent would
not be co-operative, wheras the ones on the other one would. So we had
pretty much an off-the-rock scenario, only the rock was bigger. We
also had a four-turn settler factory visible at the start. So we
settled in place and started researching Pottery. The idea was to
maximise research in order to reach the other continent as fast as
possible using Astronomy or Navigation skills, and then kill off both
continents in parallel.


The QSC Era

The Worker went to the Cattle tile to irrigate and road, then to the
Wheat tile to road and irrigate. Entremont built two Warriors, a
Granary (2950 BC), a Worker and then Settlers, whereof only the first
took one turn more than four turns. Some two-turn Workers were
interspersed.

The first Warrior was for reconnaissance, the second for military
police. We searched south, east, north and on forever until we finally
found the Greek in 1625 BC, having first unveiled a whole lot of
Cattle to the south of the capital. The first other city went at RCP 4
by one of the Cattle tiles. We then went on to found more cities at
RCP 4, first along the rivers and where the land was fertile.

4000 BC Found Entremont
2510 BC Found Mohács
2390 BC Found Lugdunum
2230 BC Found Camulodunum
2070 BC Found Richborough
1700 BC Found Verulamium
1550 BC Found Gergovia​

The later settlement pattern was ruled by the presence of resources,
first of all the Cattle, and a size 5 Disk City Placement around a
planned Forbidden Palace in Mohács.

Eboracum was founded on the Greek side of the deep bay close to the
Spices. I figured it would be faster to hook them up this way than
from the deepest southern Tundra and I could use a bridgehead for my,
hrrm, contacts with the Greek. The connection was interrupted a few
turns by Barbarian Galleys, but that always happens in-turn and can be
amended with the Luxury Slider.

1450 BC Found Augustodurum
1350 BC Found Agedincum
1250 BC Found Eboracum
1150 BC Found Burdigala
1075 BC Found Cataractonium​

Research after Pottery went directly towards Map Making. To little
avail, since my two suicide Galleys both sunk at sea. At this point we
met the Greek and started filling up our gaps with their knowledge
while own reseach went on towards the Middle Ages over The Republic.

4000 BC Discover Warrior Code
4000 BC Discover Ceremonial Burial
3450 BC Discover Pottery
2750 BC Discover Alphabet
2110 BC Discover Writing
1675 BC Discover Map Making
1625 BC Learn The Wheel
1625 BC Learn Bronze Working
1500 BC Learn Iron Working
1500 BC Discover Code of Laws
1400 BC Discover Philosophy
1325 BC Learn Masonry
1050 BC Discover The Republic​

Our brave Warrior1 even popped maps from a hut in the northern part of
the continent before he boarded a Galley bound east with which he sunk
before making landfall. Some other general achievements in this era:

1830 BC Connect Wines
1625 BC Meet Greece
1425 BC Connect Horses
1050 BC Establish Anarchy
1025 BC Establish Republic​

Quick Start Challenge Results

12 Cities
32 Citizens
1 Contact
13 Workers
8 Warriors
3 Archers
2 Galley
1 Spearman
2 Granaries
2 Barracks
2 Harbors
2 Temples
Wines
Horses
Republic
Missing Mathematics, Mysticism, Literature, Horseback Riding,
Polytheism, Construction, Currency and Monarchy​

The Later Middle Ages

Having established Republic, Entremont could give the Wheat tile away
to Lugdunum and continue building a few Settlers until the discovery
of Currency allowed it to build a Marketplace. The placement pattern
remained the same: Ratae Coritanorum is the Iron city and the rest
far-away Worker producers with food bonuses.

690 BC Found Ratae Coritanorum
650 BC Found Tolosa
610 BC Found Nemausus
610 BC Found Lindum
490 BC Capture Knossos​

Research took the path over Literature because of our longer term
reseach goal of Astronomy or Navigation. We didn't trade Literature or
The Republic to the Greek, but saved them for their bonus Technology
at the end of the era.

925 BC Discover Literature
825 BC Discover Mathematics
670 BC Learn Mysticism
670 BC Learn Horseback Riding
670 BC Discover Currency
570 BC Discover Construction
490 BC Discover Polytheism​

The plan was now to attack Greece with a Gallic Swordsman on the turn
we entered the Middle Ages in order to start our Golden Age. Iron was
connected just in time and one of our brave Barbarian-fighting
Warriors upgraded and shipped to the other side. Unfortunately, Greece
got Feudalism as its bonus Technology, so we opted to simply gift it
The Republic and remain ignorant of such knowledge as would mean the
end of the Gallic Swordsmen. This would be a low-intensity war with
primary aim to produce a Great Military Leader.

710 BC Connect Spices
570 BC Connect Iron
490 BC Enter Middle Ages
490 BC War Greece
490 BC Enter Golden Age​

Of course our gifting Greece caused massive Barbarian uprisings to
occur. One hoard of Horsemen stole some gold in one of our newly
founded far-southern cities. Research was now set for Monotheism,
which was due in four turns.