GOTM79 - Spoiler #2

[civ_steve]

GOTM 79 - second spoiler, 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!

I restrained myself. There's an off-continent civ ... and it's not France! How are you enjoying being on one continent with several Regent level AI's? Are you cruising along to victory, already there, or having a problem or two? And how about those Musketeers - did you make any?

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

Entry class: Predator
Game status: Conquest Victory for France
Game date: 510 AD
Firaxis score: 5647
Jason score: 10790
Time played: 11:05:59

Germany had just captured my new incense town as I left the MA. I had about 4 horsemen at the time and quickly got it back. Of course, a couple large stacks of barb horsemen showed up on my borders. These mostly attacked two towns taking about 15 gold one at a time a couple of pop points and a small amount of shields. The original force of archers I built handled the rest and disbanded many camps generating much gold. My horsemen took some time to get to the German borders and captured a town that they had got from the Celts. This was when the Celts made peace and declared war on me. I abandoned that town rather than let it fall back into the hands of the Germans as I now dealt with the Celts. Since I built libraries in the core it took some time to assemble a force to deal with the Celts and I was finishing feudalism by the time I really started dealing with them. They never built more than 5 towns or had iron so they were eliminated in 90BC. This war did produce a leader and I used it to rush Sun Tzu's. It was also about then the handbuilt FP was completed in my core.

Slaves and other workers were busy building a road to Persian and German territory as more horsemen and knights started moving to the front. I had gotten chivalry about 50BC. Germany didn't last too long with so many civs fighting them and were eliminated in 130AD. This triggered a war with Persia since the ma was tied to peace. MA's tied to peace were signed with the Vikings and Babylonians and another ma with the Arabs. The Persians fell rather quickly by 250AD. The Arabs wasted no time and dow'ed me about this time. It took a little time to build roads through the jungle to reach the Arabs and by now they were producing pikes and had built the Great Wall. My real target was Nidaros since they had built the Colossus and The Great Lighthouse and it would be my only means of getting a GA this game. It took some time, but the Arabs fell in 380AD. I had signed peace with the Babs tied to an ma against the Vikings after taking a couple of their new towns.

Nidaros was captured in 390AD, the very turn I finished invention with a lone scientist and a leader I got in 370AD rushed Leonardo's in Mecca in 400AD to kick off my GA. This didn't really help shorten the game much as I already had enough troops to handle the civs left on the continent. I had met the English by trading for contact with the Vikings shortly before the war with them started so my GA cash was mostly spent rushing galleys and extra troops to transport to their island. War was started with them about 420AD, the same turn Scandinavia was eliminated.

War resumed with the Babs and they were eliminated in 470AD. England fell in 500AD after a short peace to claim their southernmost island town for a 510AD conquest victory. If I had started war with them a little sooner I think I would have had at least a 480AD conquest. This game went rather well and nobody ever got gunpowder so I didn't and couldn't build a single musketeer. The palace never needed to be jumped as many knights that went east never saw combat anyway. The real flaw in strategy this game was not building either Colossus of the Great Lighthouse in the AA for a much earlier GA. If I had done so, this game would probably have ended much sooner.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator, going for a Diplomatic victory

As we entered the Middle Ages in 800 BC, we gifted Persia and Babylon,
and they got Monotheism and Engineering, respectively. We were not
able to trade either, but started research on Feudalism. In exchange
for Feudalism, we could buy Monotheism and start research on Theology.
Soon after, Persia and Babylon declared war on us as a result of
breaking alliances constructed for this purpose. We then made peace
with Germany and gifted them, too. They also got Engineering, which we
were then happy to trade for. In the peace deal, we entered an
alliance against the Celts, and a few turns later Germany gave us the
wished-for War Happiness.

At this time, 590 BC, Babylon built The Pyramids in their distant
land. This prompted us to take a closer look at this land, and it was
clear that the better and larger land as well as the weaker tribes
could be found north of the eastern jungle belt. We changed our plans
for our second core from Germany-Persia to Arabia. This would be an
invasion over sea, but the distance was small and we would soon know
Astronomy.

Finally in 530 BC our newly built Galley found England. An alliance
gave us War Happiness in 210 BC. Also in 530 BC, the last Settler left
the Paris Settler Factory.

In 110 AD, we built Copernicus' Observatory in Tours, our Forbidden
Palace city, and could estimate the beginning of our Golden Age to 380
AD -- the time it would take to build Newton's University. It should
be possible to capture the Commercial Wonders built in Scandinavia as
well as the Industrious Wonders built in Babylon before in this time.

Just before entering the Industrial Ages in 330 AD, we captured The
Great Lighthouse and The Colossus in Nidaros.

Research times were 7 turns for Feudalism, 5 for Theology, 6 each for
Education and Astronomy and then quite comfortably 4 turns per
technology for the rest. A bit disappointing. We did spend an extra 4
turns on researching Military Tradition.

650 BC Discover Feudalism
650 BC Learn Monotheism
610 BC Learn Engineering
550 BC Discover Theology
430 BC Discover Education
310 BC Discover Astronomy
230 BC Discover Invention
150 BC Discover Gunpowder
070 BC Discover Chemistry
010 AD Discover Metallurgy
090 AD Discover Military Tradition
170 AD Discover Physics
250 AD Discover Magnetism
290 AD Discover Banking
330 AD Discover Theory of Gravity​

Our overseas conquests started with Horsemen, but were soon continued
with Cavalry. Through connecting and disconnecting Saltpeter, we could
upgrade Horsemen to Cavalry and since we never learned Chivalry we
could still road all our Iron tiles for commerce.

The question is at this point how much before 1000 AD we can achieve a
diplomatic victory. The answer will lie in what happens to the bonus
technologies of the scientific tribes. How many will there be, and
will we be able to buy them at once?

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Predator, going for Space.

I entered the MA in 690 BC and gifted Germany, Persia and Babylon up. I was building The Wall and the lighthouse to get my GA.

1 got monotheism and 2 feudalism. I was able to trade for both and researched Engineering, Theology, Education, astronomy, and then Banking. Persia researched invention for me and chivalry.

The GA fueled infrastructure builds. A joint operation (germany and us) took care of the celts to gain land and leaderfish. I finally got Napolean in what will turn out to be the first german war and made the forbidden palace in Frankfurt. The rest of germany will soon fall, of course, once I decide whether it is worthwhile to destroy my rep.

I think everything after astronomy was 4 turn research. I hit the IA in 420 AD.

 

[Più Freddo]

I entered the MA in 690 BC
[...]1 got monotheism and 2 feudalism. I was able to trade for both and researched Engineering, Theology, Education, astronomy, and then Banking. Persia researched invention for me
[...]I think everything after astronomy was 4 turn research. I hit the IA in 420 AD.

Why did you spend on average 9 turns per tech for Engineering, Theology, Education and Astronomy?

 

[Scratcher]

Entry class: Open
Game status: Domination Victory for France
Game date: 560 AD
Firaxis score: 5637
Jason score: 10814
Time played: 20:30:14

Researched Chivalry and then Engineering. Research was switched off after this and many settlers and knights were rushed. The Celts, Germans, Arabs were wiped out. The persians reduced to a one city state. The Babs and English had many cities taken with the Vikings the only civ not attacked. I eventually got the domination win in 560AD.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Why did you spend on average 9 turns per tech for Engineering, Theology, Education and Astronomy?

I didn't build any libs until the GA kicked off, which is part of it, I'm sure, and I didn't get the FP until the end of the MA. I didn't war very quickly, either, nor make horsies - I went with archers/swords early, which was probably a mistake.