Immortal University 101 - Julius Caesar

[Smilingrogue]

Question: Twice the Global Civic: Environmentalism passed, yet I remained in FM, what happened here?

Did you defy it?

 

[Jelloholic]

@Smilingrogue

Nope, just voted no; couldn't afford any unhappiness but extra corporate costs wouldn't have hurt too badly

 

[TheMeInTeam]

This one is pretty lulzy!

IMM/Normal

Spoiler :

SIP and prep for a PRAET RUSH...hmm. Weak , opened AG --> AH and spammed out some warriors (many struggling with barbs here do not take full abuse of spawn mechanics). Obviously praet rush isn't so good since I didn't even meet anybody during opening techs, so immediately swapped to GLH due to its obvious power in this situation (off coast cities available, no threat to own land). Got it ~1300 BC. After that went alpha ---> trade stuff ---> math/calendar, which I had by 1 AD. AI tech pretty slowly on this kind of map due to whip idiocy.

It took me a long time to get religion so I spammed out galleys/workers/settlers and later triremes. Good thing I did that with alex and hannibal nearby; hannibal declared but got his units sunk at sea . I'll probably be able to buy out before he can do anything actually threatening. I think alex is going for India but I'm not sure.

While silly not to get UU, the traits are sound for this situation. Nearly every city wants a lighthouse, and we get a discount on it, which also helps GLH. This is an awful map for cottages yet we want to spam cities; ORG and IMP allow us to cut into the cost of doing that.

IMO easy way to win this map will be theaters --> pick a city to get globe --> frigate/galleon/drafted rifle, cap a civ or three, then do whatever (and by whatever, I mean marines + fighters or nukes). Frigates can bombard so no need for siege, and cavalry don't get much speed advantage with all the water mobility. A couple things useful to note:

- Drafting doesn't depend on base available whatsoever, and the conversion ratio for rifles is tremendous. Also, the AI doesn't use that virtually ever since it inexplicably hates nationhood. Take advantage. Even drafting infantry is potentially valid, since are hard to come by.
- Airships are really strong for water battles, giving you an edge where otherwise none exists
- Take advantage of coastal ship bonus in early water wars
- Ironclads look pretty useless here; they're better on maps where you really want infantry/arty or something else early. In that case, you can use them to camp seafood tiles via sea patrol and shred everything that tries to pillage them. On this map, you want metal navy ASAP however.
- While doable of course, space sucks on maps like this since you can't whip or cash rush parts. Culture is similarly doable (especially with GLH + avoid corp and/or later with sushi), but similarly non-ideal. Military or diplo abuse is the way to go.
- Ship promos are a big deal if you can get them.
- Scout the AI and deny it oil. Hilarity ensues late game. Fighters can perma-pillage if you have the tech lead for it.

With spawn abuse, I faced 1 barbarian galley, 1 panther and 1 warrior. I had no other fights against barbarians, with warriors/workboats/galley as my defenders, though I did get lucky to the south as it took me a while to bother busting that and settling it.

 

[pandamancer]

I was reviewing my build order and mistakes in my 2 attempts, I want to have one last try on this map before finally giving up. So here goes my third attempt on Immortal:

Spoiler :

My short term goals:

• Build TGL
• Spam Coastal Cities
• Do a praet rush on Hannibal before he gets horseback riding
• Pillage Hanny's iron and horses ASAP to prevent retaliation of numidian and axe
• Ignore building barracks and libraries. Go straight to Praets

-----

Fast forward to 25BC

I traded alpha with iron working + hunting from Hannibal early on and then settled Arpinium for instant iron. Trained Praets thereafter.
...7 praets (4 praets are outside the borders of utica), I hope it is enough to rush Hannibal.

 

[pandamancer]

Immortal/300 AD

Spoiler :

After capturing Utica, I am on my way to take Carthage. Good thing the numidians are not yet showing up. But I noticed that there is a horse resource hooked up. I decided to delay the capture of the capital and try to pillage the horse resource should he plans to train the NC.

Anyway, I have Utica defended by an archer and 2 praets so should be fine. Also catapults are on the way to the island.

 

[pandamancer]

Immortal/ 450 AD

Spoiler :

Yes, Carthage is mine and is contains the Pyramids! The problem is I lost many of my men during the attack. I also place on praet on the hill should there any workers attempt to rebuild the horse tile.

*Should I be self-teching Philo? everybody is so slow at teching here.

Immortal/ 1000 AD

Spoiler :

I finally succeeded in taking up Hannibal. But then, the evil Alex backstabbed me. Sending his fleet of army toward Velitrae. I used the lone gallery in the north to lure his boats to catch me while giving me time to build triremes.

 

[pandamancer]

Immortal 1170 AD

Spoiler :

I have removed Hannibal in the map. And focus my efforts for a campaign against Alex.

I noticed that galleys can pass ocean tiles only if it is within your cultural borders. Can somebody confirm this?

Praets still rocks even in medieval period! I have taken Pharsalos and razed Eretria along the way.

My colony expense is getting high so it is time to build the forbidden palace in Kerkouane.

And yes 1 turn before Liberalism > Steel. Finally, I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[pandamancer]

Immortal 1350 AD

Spoiler :

Invading Alex is easy at this point. With Astronomy researched, I have Galleons and Frigates to tear apart his obsolete navy. As soon as my cannons landed his shore, his capital is mine. He capitulated after.

To be able to keep hand in hand in terms of tech since I don't have any infrastructure (except Rome). I used my GP to start golden ages. There my civic would be

• representation
• vassalage
• caste system
• decentralization
• free religion

And then run scientist or merchant specialists.

At this point in time, Asoka and Cleo declared war on Cyrus. Now this is really going to be fun!

My next phase of the plan would be:

• Invade Saladin before he gets too advanced
• While Asoka is fighting against Cyrus, take the chance to grab some of his cities

 

[pandamancer]

Immortal Conquest Victory 1775AD

Spoiler :

After vassaling Alex in the meantime I produce privateers to pillage and annoy asoka and cleo. They prove to be valuable to grant me small amount of gold per turn.

Take note that a well placed privateers allows trade route blockage for more than 1 city. In my case, I am getting 9 gold for that sole privateer alone/per turn. Also blocking enemy city with Temple of Artemis also grants double gold.

I move my forces to the other side of the globe to capture Saladin. He is the only AI with gunpowder + military tradition so it will be dangerous to let him alive. With the help of frigates/cannons and cuirs, I have taken his capital. He surrendered after that.

Instantly after war with Saladin, I start attacking Asoka. He does not have lots of forces to begin with because he is concentrating with Cyrus. But he has gotten huge. It forced me to take his 7 cities before he capitulated.

After that, I declared Cyrus and Cleo one after the other. At this point, the game has already been set for me to win. Both AIs are lagged behind in terms of technology, land and military might. By the time Cyrus has airships to attack my fleet, I have cavalry and rifles ready. A few turns later, upgraded my frigates to destroyers so it a victory for me.

Funny thing is that Cleo still does not have gunpowder near the end of the game. I invaded her territory to put an end to her agony.

Killed too many pesky caravels... produced 9 great generals for this game.

Cannot believe that I completed my first immortal game finally!

 

[hankinsohl]

1938 Diplomacy win. Emperor, normal, no huts/events

Spoiler :

An incredibly long but fun game. SIP, built one additional city and then bee-lined GLH. Once GLH was in, did noting but whip, produce settler/galley (and maybe an archer or warrior or two along with the occasional worker) and expanded like mad). Ended up with about 28 initial cities or so and a bit behind in tech.

Due to the map, I was slow to war, waiting until infantry were in. I walked all over Hathepsut, claiming all of her main landmass. Next up was Hannibal. Unfortunately, he had infantry too, so I had to wait a few turns to research artillery. Once artillery was in, Hannibal soon fell.

Hannibal had a defensive pact with Saladin so Saladin was the next target. It took forever to finish the game due to all of the cities and the fact that naval warfare dominated. I finished the game with 68 cities. The game was long over before 1938 - I think I had 5 great people of various sorts asleep doing absolutely nothing . Rather than slog through an actual domination win I simply built the UN and voted myself winner.

This game took so long - 19 hours, 27 min of play time - I could even have used air units - something I've never done before!

 

[Robert FIN]

Sorry for lazy HoF upkeeping. I'll list pandamancer's and hankinsohl's scores to 2nd too soon ! Congratulations for the victories!