GOTM82 - First Spoiler

[civ_steve]

GOTM 82 - first spoiler, the Ancient Age

I hope you're not feeling like orphans! I'm back from vacation, but work and a few things on the home front that broke (A/C - not good when there's no A/C and the temp's over 100 every day!) while I was out have really occupied my time. I'll start the first spoiler thread, with no idea about the game, so it'll be really basic. (I may even play myself!)

Reading Requirements:

1. Must be able to research a Middle Ages Technology.
2. Must have contact with all remaining civs on your starting landmass.

Posting restrictions

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

How's it going? Have the Arab's attributes helped you? Any issues with the starting landmass and how did you resolve them? Plans for the MidAge?

 

[Chamnix]

To follow up on the German GOTM 81 where the Russians sacked my undefended capital on turn 20, here was my situation on turn 18 of this game:



There was no escape .

 

[Più Freddo]

here was my situation on turn 18 of this game

Oh, that hurts. I can see you also built the Granary from scratch, and just finished it this turn. The only difference I can see from my game is, that my Scout luckily went a bit further to the west.

I had met the Iroquois in 3700 BC, but there was no sign of them coming to visit. Actually, I built a Worker rather than a Warrior, then another Worker, then four-turn Settlers (except for the second one, which took eight turns). I didn't have a military unit until 2390 BC, turn 34!

But I never had to defend myself. Luckily, as it seems.

 

[axehaxe]

I went no Glib and fought my way into the middle ages. Rushed the Iroqouis a couple of times to make sure they don't become a runaway nightmare. I catch up in tech because I monopolized all the irons and traded them for like 2techs at a time. Korea looked like it was having a go at becoming the runaway AI so I had to get everyone to MA agaisnt to prevent Russia from being destroyed. The game is so far so good but the only annoying thing is I REALLY want to go to war with England but can't because I have a bunch of important 20 turn deals with them!! They are very weak militariily despite having 12 cities and fighting the Japanese. I could sack them in like 3 turns but then I'd lose my iron/tech ability, like 245 gold per turn, and 3 luxuries. Would hurt in the industrial age.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator class
Going for a Domination victory

At the very beginning, the Arab community decided to found their city
first, and send out their people to work afterwards. The Cattle that
thus was discovered in the south-east changed the plans in that the
Games Forest now would have to be chopped before the Dyes tile was
roaded, but the resolution to build a Granary immediately stood fast.

How had the Arabs come to this decision? The Dyes tile would provide
happiness tantamount to a Military Police Warrior as soon as it was
roaded. The Games tile alone would provide thirty shields during the
inevitable first eleven turns, that's half the Granary. The bonus
Scout would do the scouting. Detailed plans revealed, that the Granary
would finish just before population growth. So, there was no need for
an early Warrior, and the cost would be a whole population cycle more
without a Granary.

The Granary was followed by two Workers and then only Settlers. The
Dyes Forest tile was roaded and used in conjunction with the irrigated
Games and Cattle tiles to provide ample shields and commerce at +5
fpt. Two other Forest tiles were chopped, quickening two early
Settlers before the Settler Factory was finalised. In this way, every
Settler except the second one was built in four turns (on average,
there was a five-turn and a three-turn Settler in the series).

4000 BC Found Mecca
2670 BC Connect Dyes
2590 BC Found Medina
2310 BC Found Damascus
2190 BC Found Baghdad
1950 BC Found Najran
1725 BC Found Kufah
1650 BC Found Basra
1575 BC Found Khurasan
1475 BC Found Anjar
1375 BC Found Fustat
1350 BC Found Aden
1125 BC Found Yamama
_950 BC Build Forbidden Palace in Medina
_925 BC Found Mansura
_730 BC Found Aleppo
_730 BC Connect Iron
_690 BC Found Fez​

Medina built four Warriors and then the Forbidden Palace. Damascus was
used for diverse unit construction, including Galleys after Map Making
was learned. The decision where to build the Forbidden Palace had to
be made before the map was completely revealed. Medina was chosen as
it was more central. But it might have been the wrong decision,
because this way, the two cores eventually came very close to each
other, and potential of low corruption was lost through overlapping,
whereas the lands to the north-west proved to be very rich and large
indeed.

Baghdad and Najran were military training camps, whereas Kufah was a
Worker factory for a very long time.

The famous Arab scientist set about their work in a traditional
fashion: Alphabet, Writing, Code of Laws, Philosophy. Then followed
Literature and The Republic.

4000 BC Discover Pottery
4000 BC Discover Ceremonial Burial
2350 BC Discover Alphabet
2350 BC Learn Warrior Code
2350 BC Learn Bronze Working
2030 BC England discovers Writing
1950 BC Learn Writing
1625 BC Discover Philosophy
1625 BC Learn The Wheel
1625 BC Learn Mysticism
1625 BC Learn Iron Working
1350 BC Discover Code of Laws
1225 BC Learn Map Making
1225 BC Learn Horseback Riding
1075 BC Discover Literature
_850 BC Learn Masonry
_650 BC Discover The Republic​

The other tribes, which were then so helpful in providing knowledge of
minor matters to the Arabs, were all met by our friendly Scout on his
travel radially away from Mecca.

3700 BC Meet Iroquois
3150 BC Meet England
2900 BC Meet Japan​

As Map Making was discovered, the Arabs collected all the Maps, all
the Gold and all the Technology available on the Continent, built
Embassies and started a fake war in an Alliance tied to a Peace
Treaty. A couple of turns later they were rewarded with War Happiness
and the Alliance was reversed at first opportunity.

1225 BC Map Continent
1225 BC Embassy Japan Horses
1225 BC Embassy Iroquois No Horses
1225 BC Embassy England Horses
1225 BC War England
1225 BC Alliance Japan vs. England
1175 BC War Japan War Happiness!
1025 BC Peace England
1025 BC Alliance England vs. Japan
_650 BC Establish Republic​

At the time when the Arabs established their first and only Republic,
in 650 BC, the Iroquois foolishly built The Pyramids in their Capital
of Salamanca. The Arabs had already founded two cities in RCP5 north
of this city. They turned off research and prepared for war.

In 530 BC the Arabs bought Mathematics from the Iroquois and then
promptly decladed war. Three Swordsmen and five Arhcers, whereof one
elite, marched towards Salamanca, which was captured in 490 BC. In 330
BC the Horses close to the city were connected by road. There had been
no Mounted Warriors in this game.

The next cluster of events occured around 150 BC. On the previous
turn, the Arabs had been able to learn Currency. Now after meeting the
tribes on the other Continent they learned Polytheism and Construction
as well, ushering in the Arab Middle Ages. Other tribes had already
discovered Monotheism, Engineering and Feudalism. The Arabs started
their own research again, going for Chivalry over Feudalism.

One turn into the Middle Ages, Mecca was abandoned and a new Palace
appeared in Salamanca. In order for this to happen, the Arabs had had
to let two Settler troops settle down in Salamanca, thus mixing up its
ethnicity somewhat.

The Arabs now possessed two cores and The Pyramids and would soon be
able to build Ansar Warriors. The scene was set for the Middle Ages.

 

[Più Freddo]

13 Towns
27 Citizens
_1 Granary
_2 Barracks
_2 Temples
_3 Contacts
_1 Settler
11 Workers
_1 Slave
13 Warriors
_1 Galley​

Two turns from the Forbidden Palace.
Missing Masonry (!), Mathematics, Polytheism, Currency, Construction,
Monarchy and The Republic.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

Predator, going for military victory

I settled in place and started research on alphabet at max heading for republic asap. As usual when expansionist I built a scout first and then a warrior for mp. I really wanted to get another worker out before building a granary, but I would have wasted the chop started on turn 2. The first scout went west finding a lot of land and the second went south. I made contact with an Iroquois pikeman in 3650BC who explored around my capital a bit and then went away. Contact with England came in 3000BC and they had obviously done well with GH's as they were up 4 techs already and 3 ahead of the Iroquois. My scouts mapped out the continent and made contact with Japan in 1950BC but never spotted any GH's. The granary completed in 3000BC and I made one worker before starting on settlers and connected the dyes in 2800BC.

Alphabet was completed in 2710BC and traded to the Iroquois for warrior code. My workers helped chop the first settler and went on to irrigate the cow. Medina was founded in 2390BC at RCP3 south of the cow and Mecca occasionally made a warrior to allow regrowth for more settlers several of which were sped by chops. England and Japan both beat the Arabs to writing but we also picked up mysticism from Japan. Writing got the wheel and bronze working from the Iroquois. Of course, we had no horses and it appeared the Iroquois would have them available for MW's.

Code of Laws was our first monopoly tech and we got philosophy, iron working and horseback riding for it. We also established an embassy with the English, declared war on the Japanese and renogiated peace with England for an alliance against them. I had noticed a large stack of Japanese units moving north and thought it best to let them fight the English rather than coming for us. At this point we had 5 rcp3 towns and a pre-build for the FP started, but the Iroquois had claimed the nearest iron and we would have to fight for it. Barrack towns started to build archers to deal with barbs and prepare for eventual war with the Iroquois. By 1000BC we were 13 turns from learning republic and were still at war with Japan.

QSC stats were 9 towns(5 at rcp3 and 3 at rcp6), 22 citizens, 12 techs with 479 beakers in republic research, 3 contacts, 1 embassy, 1 granary, 4 barracks, 8 workers, 7 warriors and 8 vet archers.

In 950BC, England broke our alliance giving us our first dose of war happiness. They had been handled roughly by the Japanese and only had 4 towns. In 730BC we learned republic and revolted to become one in 710BC. The next turn we established embassies with the Iroquois trading them republic and made peace with the Japanese also establishing an embassy. We immediately declared war on the Iroquois to claim iron and made peace with the English for an alliance against them. Republic also gained masonry, mapmaking and mathematics while we started research on literature with a lone scientist. A few towns were switched to galleys to attempt to find the other continent but all died even though land and eventually another border were spotted in the ancient age. It would have been nice to have a pre-build for the GLHouse as its always useful on continent maps, either to find safe passage or cut down on the number of ships needed for a chain.

The war went well but slowly with only archers and culture expansion with a couple of cheap temples captured the Iroquois iron in 490BC and we connected it in 330BC immediately upgrading our 6 warriors to swordsmen. The other continent was unknown but far ahead of us as a barb uprising occurred in 350BC. They had also built all the wonders and the ai on ours never completed a single one. In 510BC the English broke their deal with us giving us back our war-happiness and we only had to deal with a few of their troops. The barb stacks stole a bit of gold and stole a few shields but generally did no damage.

Frustrated a bit by not making contact with the other continent we turned research back on learning literature in 290BC and started on currency. We traded for polytheism with Japan giving them literature. Finally, a stack of swordsmen arrived at Salamanca capturing it in 190BC. Currency was learned in 150BC and the next turn we made peace with England and traded our way to the MA. We were still at war with the Iroquois who were down to 4 towns as was England, but still had not made any other contacts. At this point we had 23 towns, 66 citizens, the FP, a few cheap temples and 1 library with several near completion, iron and 3 luxuries. The plan for the MA was to make more contacts asap and continue clearing our continent, while connecting horses and researching chivalry. It appeared we would also need to research to at least astronomy for safe passage to the other continent.

 

[ControlFreak]

Boy it's been a while for me, over a year since last submisson...

Reading your spoilers, I realized I forgot to take enough notes, so just a quick overview.

I saw the coast to the east in the fog and move my worker that way to explore. I decided to move the Settle SE to be on the shore, with the cow in the first radius. Built a scout and a warrior before starting a granary.

First scout got a free town way down south at the neck of the SE peninsula. The town would always be corrupt being so far away, but built a warrior, temple (to try to get some more food), and then 30 turn settlers to populate the peninsula.

Second scout found the fertile region to the NW. I decided to try to make my inner circle at R6 in an effort to get several towns in the BG plentiful area that were still productive. I think that strategy worked out in the long run, but made the initial development very slow.

QSC time had 7 towns, 2 at 6RCP, 2 at 9RCP and others grabbing iron and some land around the Mountains.

I basically kept research off or at minimum and took advantage of tech brokering to stay up. in 1675BC, England had writing and Japan/Iroquois had masonry and mystisim. I used the trading to get writing from England, the two techs from the Iroquois/Japan as well as all their gold, then declared on Japan and bought an alliance with England for Japans techs. This was a false war for me at this point, to keep the two from expanding and also to soften their military.

I built archers with the intent of rushing the Iroquois, but learned Iron Working early enough to decide on using a swordsman upgrade instead. We declared at 1050BC and took Salamanca (975BC), Niagra Falls (925BC) and Allegheny (875BC). Unfortunately, they whipped their towns down to size one and we ended up razing three. We ended up taking a peace deal for two size 1 towns mired in the jungle and all the techs we needed to catch up in 710BC, leaving them with Mauch Chunk as their capital and Grand River, an adjacent town in the desert incense.

I kept the fake war with Japan alive and was able to have England pay me in tech and gold to maintain our alliance. During this period, I was settling a ring of cities on the usable land outside the mountain range, as well as building galleys and chariots. I purposely avoided horseback riding in an attempt to use upgrades to save me on shields.

The war with Iroquois resumed around 210BC with the intent of removing them. I also upgraded horsemen to push the offensive on Japan. Their losses gave me a great leader in 150BC that was used to rush the FP in Salamanca. They were very intimidated and gave me four of their five main cities for peace.

A brief pause to get my units in place and then I broke the peace treaty and destroyed Japan. I had found the other continent and didn't think it was likely that any of them would find us soon since the owner of the GLight was far from the crossing point, I was hoping to destroy England before the other civs could learn of my treachery. The second war also produced a leader that was used to rush Sun Tsu's with the tech learned from the other civs.

After that, England first lost their coastal citys and the continent was ours around 340AD.